FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Present day.

--

Ayame stood in front of her restroom mirror while running a brush through her straight, long black hair one morning, moving her head that her purple eyes followed to reach various spots.

She couldn't keep her mind off of Friday. She would be inducted by her father-- its founder, into Unovanish in four days upon turning eighteen, a company that kept Unova 'clean', specifically the streets of Castelia City, where she resided.

Her father had signed a contract a decade ago with its mayor to establish headquarters and rid of most wild pokémon, with the exception of certain flying types, that occupied the metropolis.

To be fair, a loud minority of pokémon had started behaving erratically prior to Unovanish's implementation. They'd begun damaging residential and store property alongside stealing regularly, including assaulting humans.

She set the brush down upon hearing knocking and looked out the door in its direction, then left the restroom into her studio bedroom while tugging and fixing her gray tee, pulling the thin pink rope of bracelet up her right wrist as well. Ayame went to her dresser and slipped on a dark pair of shorts to match.

She lived at Unovanish's headquarters and had the best room in it, consisting of lush carpeting, a canopy bed with raised curtains, a spacious walk-in closet, a dresser with an espeon plush and miscellaneous items atop it, and a TV on her wall. She also had a mini fridge and tiled half-kitchen on one side, consisting of an oven, stove, and hanging kitchenware.

As for personal touches, Ayame had an art section on her wall by her bed comprising multiple paintings of popular landmarks throughout various regions, such as Kalos' Lumiose City and Verdanturf Town's Contest Hall in Hoenn, with one of them being her own from two years ago.

It was a detailed frame of Nacrene City's museum with several jagged edges, one of her favorite places in Unova that her father once took her to often.

Under her gallery was a wooden shelf hanging on the wall that had a phanpy, girafarig, and several more antique mini statues made of bronze and silver that she had collected over recent years. It began with the golden phanpy that had faded, worn spots her mother gifted to her before separation.

Ayame went to the front door and peeked through its hole. "Mhm." She opened it and went to the other side of the room to brush aside the curtains blocking her window, letting sunless light in. She lived on the fourth floor, so she got a decent view of the block.

Another teen, taller, entered and shut the door, shaking off her boots and leaving herself in socks-- and also a ropey pink bracelet on the same wrist. She wore a black jacket with pink cursive all over it, gray jeans, and had shades resting on her head, its temples through her mid-length blonde hair.

She beelined to Ayame's bed and sat on the edge. "Soo, excited to clean city?" she asked in a Unovan (NY) accent. She was a year older than Ayame and typically fit. She was slim and toned, while Ayame was thin but frailer and shorter in comparison.

Ayame turned around. Her accent was a discreet Fiorean (Japanese). "I'll leave it at I guess."

She shrugged. "There's... nothing to be nervous about?" She shook her head with a raised brow. "You've spent years in training for this day, no?"

"I'm not nervous, Katie," Ayame replied in a reserved tone. She went and sat beside her. "I'm reluctant, but it's not up to me."

"What for? It's not like we murder 'em." She lay back and stretched her arms over her head, resting them on the blanket.

"Just... how things are done. We capture and send pokémon to other habitats or regions entirely. We tranquilize and permanently separate them from their families."

Not all regions stood with Unovanish or worked with them. Many, including the SNDA: Alola and Galar, looked to the Global Union, an international organization responsible for keeping peace among the world, to threaten or impose sanctions on Unova and put a stop to inhumane treatment. The GU's headquarters were located in Unova, ironically enough.

Katie eyed her, smirking from the corner of her mouth. "Soft..."

"What?"

"You're soft."

Ayame started getting up but stopped after Katie grabbed her wrist.

Katie sat up, her eyes holding regret. "...Sorry." She sighed. "But it's crazy for you to feel this way when so much is expected of you, you know?"

Ayame shifted and set one leg over the mattress, looking at Katie. "Of course I do." However, she'd always had a sweet spot for humanity and pokémon especially; one couldn't while working a job like this. "For me, the last straw was when we started forcing pokémon to work under us, otherwise they were threatened to be sent to a region they'd never stepped foot in."

Katie kept silent, only staring.

"Do you enjoy doing this?"

"I enjoy the pay, it beats my other living situation more than it doesn't, and it's not like I have a choice. I can't visit my parents now 'cause of this." Katie stood from the bed and pulled her sleeve to glance at the watch on her wrist. "Why don't we walk or something? This got depressing."

"Mhm. Let me get dressed." She changed into a casual black skirt that cut off at her knees and put on matching running shoes with gray streaks, following Katie out the door after grabbing her key off her dresser.

The door locked automatically to ensure safety. Ayame stayed in room 430, a corner one. Twenty-nine more doors lined the marbled floor west toward the elevator.

Katie went and looked over the railing down at the open lobby, whose design resembled an open mall. There were thirty more floors above and beneath them and another twenty across from them on the northern end.

The grounds were relatively busy with human and pokémon employees alike. They buzzed in groups and came and left their rooms. Unovanish came alive and hunted at night, so everyone was dressed in their choice of clothing at this time. Employees wore specialized outfits while on active duty.

There was also armed security in black outfits patrolling the perimeter in shifts. All humans, as pokémon weren't eligible to work security. They strolled the path on each floor occasionally and checked this one at least a million times per day because Ayame lived on it.

Katie watched for a moment longer before jogging to catch up with Ayame, who was halfway to the elevator.

"Where exactly are we going?" Ayame called the elevator via its button. It used a transparent tube, so she tilted on her shoes to watch it come up.

"We could snag breakfast somewhere. You totally need to get out more and enjoy our city.

"Let's."

They took the elevator down and entered the populated lobby. The entrance to the restaurant's kitchen was ahead down a long flight of stairs.

A classy diner was present before the headquarters' lobby to shield its location from the general public, although Ayame's father had officially revealed Unovanish's location two years after founding it for transparency purposes. People had been catching on back then regardless, following or stalking employees during the night and posting their actions on Veela before it had been officially banned in Unova five years ago.

"It's freeing when I'm away," Ayame said while strolling down the vacant steps other than a few people walking up from the bottom.

"Mhm?" Katie nudged her. "Elaborate on that for me, Miss Nishimura."

Ayame shot her a faint glare. "You know already... In my eyes, the grounds are cursed and draped with an insulating dark veil. It drains me and strains every breath."

Katie looked up and shot her eyes around with curled lips as if pondering. "You know what that kinda sounds like?"

Ayame eyed her.

"Mightt just want to ditch for your birthday, then."

A subtle grin graced her lips. "And leave you?... It's essentially my fault you're stuck here." Ayame opened the door to the kitchen and pushed it so Katie could slip through, walking through the heated environment with two chefs working a smoking grill. The aroma of cooked ingredients told her she had an appetite.

Katie followed and took a side door to the far left with her, leading to more stairs that took them down a short, dark hall not to disturb the peace or alert dining customers.

The restaurant closed at 7 p.m. daily to reduce traffic surrounding the area. Unovanish's location may be public information, but the night bred deviants and an increase in criminal activity, so the emptier the block, the better so it was singled out.

"But you've gotta admit, running away does sound exhilarating," Katie said.

"You're trouble, Katie." Ayame took more stairs up at the end of the hall and through another door locked from the outside requiring a four-digit code, stepping into an empty alley. It was closed in by walls on all sides, so no one walking by would see them exit initially. An employee had to slip past the wall into civilization.

"Sometimes, but that's why you love me."

After exiting the alley, they were encompassed by people, owned pokémon, stores, and congested traffic up and down the roads. Unovanish headquarters was in the midst of the central commercial district, where tourism flourished.

Restaurants, stands, and markets sold food and overpriced valuables from regions worldwide to wide-eyed customers willing to toss money.

"Would you run? You have a career here now," Ayame said.

Traffic and pedestrians to and fro left no road or sidewalk vacant, nor parking lots and garages before packed malls and fancy plazas. Exorbitant apartments, condos, and hotels were abundant around Central and towered high alongside corporate skyscrapers.

"This way." Katie started through crowds of people in business-casual wear, some on the phone and others looking dejected and exhausted before the day even started. "And to answer your question-- not that I have anything to return to, but yeah, I'd dip if I could. Darting pokémon isn't exactly my 'dream' career. Beats my job before it, though."

Ayame squinted at her. "Okay, so you'd be able to sit in an office after years of playing hitwoman and reigning at the top of your game?"

"Alright, chill." Katie broke a smile. "I was thinking about enlisting if and when I'm free."

Vehicles laid on their horns constantly while lining the roads at slow-moving standstills. Some pulled into lots to park or pay valet, then got out to head into markets and plazas. Straight trucks pulled into alleys riddled with graffiti; the men inside hopped out to unload supplies to various stores.

Hundreds of popular restaurants and cafés were filled to the brim, with waiters and waitresses rushing from table to table, setting down menus, drinks, and checking on customers.

Ranger SUVs were among the traffic, black and white with sirens atop, searching for any reason to pull someone over while surveying the streets of Castelia.

"Enlist?... In Unova's military?" Ayame looked ahead at a line of people, some with pokémon, spilling onto the sidewalk out of a belt stanchion before a movie theater. They waited to purchase tickets at an outdoor station.

Katie brought Ayame aside by her waist as they approached so they could pass. She nodded. "I think it'd fit. Don't you?"

Ayame turned to her. "But what if you got deployed somewhere? Tension is rising globally."

Katie scoffed with another smile. "Wait, is this you worrying? I'm not saying I'd be fine, but I'd be fine."

"Mh..." She looked ahead with widening eyes, less than a foot away from walking into a man glued to his phone. Ayame stumbled against Katie tugging on her arm, who'd pulled her out of harm's way in record time-- and the guy hadn't so much as glanced up from his screen.

Katie let her go. "Dude was stuck to his phone, and Ayame was stuck on Katie. Heartwarming."

Ayame looked up at what would be a sunny day if a thick, cool overcast weren't present, bringing a somber palette to every building and gloom to the air. It dimmed the spirits of many and sucked happiness more than the city in its current state did. Still, it was considerably more refreshing than being at headquarters.

Katie looked back at Ayame, who had slowed while focused on the sky. She stopped at a crosswalk with others while waiting for the light to turn red, cars zipping by without rest. "Anyway, I was thinking we could revisit some years ago. It's been a while."

Ayame stopped next to her after catching up. "Not Wiki, right? Sonata."

"No way. Not Blux. It's gonna be annoyingly packed around this time, and we went there last week, silly. You were begging to get that new pamtre vanilla latte."

"...I was not begging. I just wanted to try it." They used to frequent Café Sonata as a hangout spot or when they had to study, which was one of Castelia's most popular cafés. She watched people boarding a bus at a stop across the street while taxis waited nearby to snag potential fares.

Katie used the wait to glaze over Ayame's slouched posture, reaching her free hand and pressing her fingers into her lower back. "Up straight."

Ayame grinned slightly and raised her shoulders.

---

"We'll get two small black coffees and two watmel muffins, please," Katie said to the blonde male employee behind the counter, who wore a black and yellow apron.

"Gotcha. Want the muffins warmed up?" he asked while ringing up the order on the kiosk before him.

"Please." Katie nodded. She glanced over at Ayame sitting at a corner table to save a spot, though only a couple were taken as the café wasn't a full house.

It was busiest during rush hour and was also in a calmer area next to a residential street.

The interior had red carpeting, played piano tracks from wall speakers, and had low lighting to set a cozy atmosphere.

Katie paid for their order after the worker finished and went to sit with Ayame. "Got us coffee and muffins."

"Thanks. How many? You used to get two just for you."

Katie tilted her head. "Uh, let's not. Keyword is used to." She leaned back in her chair. "I got two-- one being for you."

Katie then sat up and shifted in her chair, setting a more serious gaze on Ayame. "Also, I know I said it already, but I'm sorry I called you soft earlier. I wasn't serious, but it was insensitive."

"Yurusareta... Forgiven." Ayame nodded.

A female employee brought their order on a tray with two teaspoons just after that, which they thanked her for.

Katie edged a smirk and took three sugar packets from the container on the table, tearing one open and handing Ayame another. "You're growing up fast, by the way. Can't believe you'll be eighteen."

Ayame grinned and took it. "Hush. You're only a year older than me."

She shrugged. "I mean, two, basically. Really, though, how's it gonna be a few years from now?" Katie took a miniature cup of cream from the table and tore it open, pouring it in her coffee and stirring with her spoon before blowing steam off and taking a sip. She rested her chin on her palm. "We'll be in our twenties darting ferals... or living life if we aren't still at the company."

Ayame tore a cream cup open as well and glanced at the bracelet on her own wrist while pouring it. "We'll still be friends. That's what will matter most, right?" She set the topside of her forearm on the table and pushed her wrist out toward Katie at the table's center

Katie set her braceleted wrist atop Ayame's so they touched. "Always and forever."