FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Skye's eyes opened to a dark room. "Mh..." She rubbed them, wincing from a slight headache. She pushed herself off her stomach and sat up, blowing a few strands of loose hair out of her face. Being cautious not to wake Ruki, she slipped off the bed and went to set the heater to max.

She could hear what sounded like hoothoot hooting in mixture with kricketot rubbing their antennas together. She also made out kricketune rubbing their arms outside among strong breezes howling. It sounded uniquely melodic, which was a welcome change of pace since Skye was used to tropical pokémon and car horns.

She shook off her jacket and pulled off her arm sleeves. She also removed her shorts, which took extra wiggling to get past her upper thighs, and set everything on the floor at the foot of the bed, engulfed by cool air. She decided keep on her high socks since they were comfy and just as quietly got back into bed, but it was to no avail as it woke Ruki.

He lifted his head while stretching his hind legs.

"Sorry. Go back to sleep," Skye whispered and rested the back of her head on the pillow.

He stood slowly and took a couple of steps, standing over her.

"Yes?" She grinned. He acted as though he were her shadow, but she would never turn him away, especially when his new size rendered him a warmish blanket with personality. "Here." Skye raised her arms and held his body while guiding him to lie on her.

He rested his stomach and chest on her, nudging her cheek.

This time, Skye had much less clothing covering her lower area than before, and Ruki had laid between her relatively open legs. She hummed under her breath as his cool chest and stomach pressed against her skin. She ran her hand down the back of his neck, her fingers sinking into his fur as she reached his back, where his coat thickened. She stopped at his lower back, just above his hips. The light pressure from her hand was enough to push more weight from his body onto hers, resulting in a small bout of pleasure.

"Uh..." she exhaled and kept her eyes on Ruki, who didn't seem to notice and had leaned in to give her cheek slow licks.

While he did, she pressed with additional pressure, biting her lip and taking a breath in while closing her legs against him. Her ample thighs brushed against the fur on his sides.

Ruki licked her nose and the corners of her mouth since she didn't like him licking her lips, working to groom her well. This was still more than she usually allowed, but he wouldn't stop while she appreciated it for once.

She pressed harder while rubbing his back with curled fingertips and closed her eyes, grinning while he lapped at her face and coated it lightly with saliva tinged with a lingering chill. His crotch rubbed her clitoris over her panties. "Hmh..." Each one sent electrifying surges of pleasure up her body she couldn't resist. She began moving her hips against the motions she controlled, exhaling as the sensations grew in intensity.

Skye's breaths began to climb, as did her arousal to where she wished her panties were off. Her mind was full of lust and vivid, hot colors shooting around and pinging all the right spots; after almost another minute passed, she began slowing her movement. Everything died.

Skye faded her grin and opened her eyes, pulling her hand away and using it to rest his head by her neck. Her leg twitched from the lingering present excitement.

Skye had never been a poképhile. She never once looked at pokémon and desired them sexually. There was no way.

Her friends used to make fun of people who were into that and chose to be with their pokémon instead of a fellow human. They called it an easy way out and kapu, meaning forbidden in her culture, among other foul remarks.

It was strictly illegal in all regions except for a select few, such as Oblivia and the Unified Accord, due to a staggering increase in moral and societal degradation seen globally at an unacceptable peak when it was legal a decade ago.

It ranged from the subtle sexualization of pokémon in media, ads, and commercials, to sexual assaults committed in the wild, abuse in homes, and to an alarming decline in the human and pokémon population over time. It became a lustful addiction for many and less of a romantic, caring commitment as it was almost a hundred years ago.

Now, it wasn't the slightest factor in media under stricter than ever regulations. A person also couldn't have sexual or romantic relations with their pokémon under any circumstances, no matter the pokémon's level of intelligence. If someone witnessed or speculated and reported it, even if consensual, authority investigated the suspect. If they found evidence, they took the victimized pokémon from the owner permanently, and it had a possibility of being put down after professors evaluated its nature and behavior after having been a victim of abuse.

The offender faced jail time and was put on a permanent registry. In Alola, the sentence was nine years, twice higher than it was in many other regions. After two offenses, they could never own a pokémon again and had their capture license revoked permanently. Further offenses resulted in twenty years of incarceration and multiplied from then on.

Governments worldwide, excluding Unova, had introduced capture licenses a decade ago, which were mandatory for a person to carry if they wanted to capture and own one or more pokémon. Owning one to three required earning a class C license while three to six required class A, carried mainly by trainers.

To obtain either, a person had to undergo rigorous testing, more so for class A. They included a general sanity one and a written test one had to study and pass regarding laws surrounding pokémon treatment and responsibility both sexual and non-sexual, varying depending on the region. One could apply as young as age twelve; Skye had earned hers shortly after she'd caught Ruki with her parents' aid.

After catching a pokémon, one had to apply for the corresponding license and earn it as soon as possible. If a person were ever caught without one while not attempting to earn one, their pokémon was confiscated until they did. In some cases, jail time was a possibility.

Other than acts with quadrupeds being outlawed because it was a big deal worldwide for several reasons, Skye didn't know how Sinnoh handled any of it and never needed to. She knew so much about the laws in the first place because of her friends and what she'd looked up at home once out of curiosity.

Skye could now get a boyfriend if she desired, and she did. She just... she just loved Ruki. She swallowed, staring up at the ceiling while embracing his body.

---

Later that morning, she was dressing in light expedition wear she'd purchased in Alola before they left for Mt. Coronet. Skye had skipped applying makeup and gloss today since she'd forgotten to wipe it all away last night and wanted to let her face breathe.

"Knew I'd need this stuff," she said while putting on a cream-colored safari shirt. "I should have gone for a size or two larger, though…" Skye looked down and noticed her breasts pushed against the shirt.

While she put on matching safari pants, Ruki was busy nosing through her open backpack by their made bed for the malasadas.

"Ruki!"

He froze and pulled his head out, looking at her with a hint of fear.

She finished pulling her pants up, softening her eyes. "Are you hungry?"

"Nh..." A whimper laced his response. He was used to Skye scolding him for any and everything, although she'd eased up a lot from when she was younger.

She had even popped his bottom once or twice—like that one time when she caught him halfway through two packaged malasadas she had left on her bed for herself and went to the restroom for a minute after specifically telling him not to eat them. However, she'd felt bad after her initial anger subsided and started taking deep breaths or solely scolding him instead from then on.

"Aw, I'm sorry for shouting at you, baby." She kneeled beside him, holding and rubbing his cheeks. Skye reached into her backpack and fished around until finding the bag containing the donuts. "I didn't want you disorganizing my things, but you haven't eaten since yesterday."

She pulled a bittersweet one out and unwrapped it, taking a bite before giving it to him and reaching back in her bag for her tan high-laced boots. "I'll buy more snacks and water for us while on the way to the mountain. We're out of malasadas after that bag is gone."

She'd buy a few pokéballs as well. She could, by chance, find a pokémon while exploring Mt. Coronet. "You finished?" she asked while getting into her boots.

Ruki nodded while licking his maw, a yawn following. He'd swallowed quickly again and awaited another scolding, but she didn't seem to give it much attention.

Skye transferred her money from the shorts she'd worn yesterday to her current pants and grabbed the map from her jacket, then zipped up her backpack and straightened her outfit. "All set."

Ruki followed her out the door and looked at a bright and cloudless early morning sky, shaking out his fur.

"Cordial climate today." Skye unfolded and scanned her map. "Pastoria, Hearthome… Route 208."

She folded the map and slipped it into her back pocket. "We're walking through Pastoria first. I saw some pictures of it online. It's an open city with a lot of green," she said as they left the grounds and turned right, heading west down Route 213.

It was a short route, so Pastoria's entrance was less than a mile ahead in the clearing.

Ruki was busy watching a family playing in the beach's waves as they passed. He wondered how it'd feel to be around a kid since he hadn't before and if Skye would ever have one. If so, he would watch over and help care for them to the best of his ability, but it felt odd to imagine.

They entered the city minutes later and took their time ambling through Pastoria. They were close to Route 212 after an hour since they'd stopped to eat at a cute outdoor restaurant. It had seating on top of grass by a forest's entrance.

People walked Pastoria's verdant fields abundant in groups of fluffy trees while multiple pokémon frolicked in the open. Two elekid chased each other, a group of cleffa followed a clefairy, and a ralts pulled and gathered berries from a bush.

Ruki wandered far ahead to the shimmering river that ran through and spanned the city with homes on one side and small worn markets and wooden stands on the other, where people congregated and conducted sales.

They weren't dressed in modern attire, at least to a ninetales from Hau'oli. He was used to seeing extravagant designer clothes and business suits. These people were in tattered skirts and dingy shirts. It looked bland and casual, as did most of this city.

The shops sold general food, snack, and drink items from big corporations. The stands specialized in homemade or home-grown ones. A few sold items too, such as detailed statues of pokémon carved from wood, including porygon and milotic.

The rivers had bridges one could cross, and many were. People went back and forth, some with bags their pokémon helped carry; others roamed the grass by the water, like a well-behaved pachirisu and azumarill. Wooper and quagsire occupied the water, swimming and splashing about.

Ruki looked around after a resounding bang echoed and glanced at a squirtle and young girl playing in an automatic sprinkler in their yard. He kept searching until landing on a group of people working on top of a caved-in roof. He wondered how that happened. The house could be a thousand years old.

Now that Ruki was focusing on roofs, he looked at their neon colors. Okay, maybe it wasn't completely boring to look at, and he did like the nature Pastoria was based around.

Skye had been watching and wouldn't call for him since she wanted Ruki to enjoy himself on their first trip as much as her. There was no curfew, no overly worried parents, and no limit to how far or where she could go—a dream come true; however, the sudden amount of freedom almost overwhelmed her.

Ruki eyed the pokémon from a reasonable distance; they seemed to be doing the same to him. He wouldn't approach, but they were interesting to look at from where he stood. Ruki had seen countless foreign pokémon due to tourism in Hau'oli, but there were countless more around the world he hadn't gotten to.

"Maybe I'll catch you a friend while we're in Sinnoh."

He twitched his ear as Skye caught up to him then followed after she passed by. A kid was one thing, but Ruki had never thought about her getting another pokémon. His stomach tightened while picturing some eeveelution lying across her chest.

He stayed beside her during the twenty-minute walk through Route 212 since there wasn't much to it that Pastoria didn't have. However, when they entered Hearthome City, Ruki somewhat wandered past people to look at its modern homes and shops that had a different design and feel than Alola. The roofs of many buildings had a varied palette like Pastoria; trees sprouted and were prolific around and between them.

Living here would be unnatural to him, almost, and the air was even stuffier than Sunyshore's because oceanside breezes didn't clear it.

Tall businesses, offices, and stacked apartment buildings formed and towered in the commercial district as they ventured farther into the city.

Ruki spotted a few people walking past their windows, along with someone on a high floor closing their curtains. They hadn't seen him peek, right?

He let his paws carry him while focusing on his surroundings. He squinted at blue and orange posters hanging from streetlights, trying to make out what they advertised. A charmander and squirtle posed on them; underneath read 'Flames and Waves at the Super Contest Hall!' with a date.

Vehicles pulled out of parking garages in front of massive malls and department stores to join traffic; trash littered the sidewalk and lined curbs, and graffiti resided on walls.

Ruki ought to call this city dirty. Sunyshore held charm—not nearly as much charm as Hau'oli, but Hearthome gave a more somber, unregulated atmosphere that seemed bent on proving that millions lived here. Around him were people dressed in urban wear, like stylish jeans and logoed tees and jackets with unique designs, big earrings, and dyed hair.

People flowed in streams, entering and exiting fast food joints and through the automatic sliding doors of grocery stores. Some cars passed by with bass strong enough to vibrate anyone's being; ranger sirens blared in the distance.

Ruki noticed some shady, loitering types double-glance at him and point out himself or Skye and snicker or exchange words with each other. They seemed to shift their eyes to a clueless Skye, however, and eye her or what she wore. Ruki couldn't tell what that was about, but it concerned him enough to make him slow down so he could walk beside her.

Off-topic, one sizable dome-shaped structure at the center of the city caught Ruki's attention in particular. Populating its entrance and surrounding area were people taking pictures or entering with pokémon.

An older teen girl wearing bright colors knelt and brushed her delcatty's coat so it looked as classy and clean as possible. Another fed their purugly some kind of round bread while giving it a pep talk. Even the parking lot was full.

Skye pulled her backpack's straps onto her shoulders. "That's the Super Contest Hall. Your looks would do great in there." She wished they had the time to attend a show. Skye always watched the contests on television and wanted to be in the audience. The visual, dance, and acting competitions would be adorable up close.

He glanced up at her and then back at the structure. Oh, that was the hall. He remembered the posters and put both together. That's where Flames and Waves would be.

Skye glanced at her watch. "This way now. We've still gotta stop at a market." They went south into Hearthome and crossed a couple of intersections, and Skye shortly saw a small convenience store surrounded by restaurants and other businesses.

Fewer people and cars were in this area, trees were planted symmetrically along clean sidewalks. People walked and jogged down residential roads, and the restaurants and stores were upkept and more inviting.

Skye spotted a familiar logo on a café a block away. It was a circle, light purple sign with a darker purple half-filled cup in the center with two berries inside it. "Wikiblux..."

Skye entered the market after passing a couple more stores and scanned shelves holding junk food, drinks, and ice creams in the refrigerated aisle at the back. Skye passed the pokémon aisle with Ruki, which held everything from Chow and pokémon-safe food ingredients to type snacks encased in lock boxes, harnesses, cheap toys and leashes, and more.

She stopped at the back and took two cold waters out of the refrigerators. Then, she went to the older black-haired male cashier in a work outfit at the right counter.

Beside the counter in the corner was an area displaying best-selling novels on a shelf with prices stated underneath. They ranged from fiction titles like 'Bound to Black' and 'An Oshawott Who Loved Oran Berries' to popular non-fiction such as 'The World's Most Successful Tropic', 'Sinnoh's History Summarized', and 'On Becoming A League-worthy Trainer'.

"Hello there." The man nodded.

"Hi, just these." Skye set the waters down and eyed the array of shelved items behind him. "Actuallyy, could I get a max repel too?"

"Yup." He grabbed them off the shelf behind him.

She also grabbed a wrapped purple candy bar made from a seviper on the front called 'Vippy's' she took from below the front counter.

Vippy's was founded in Hoenn fifty years ago and manufactured one of Skye's favorite sweets she'd bought since she was thirteen. The purple bar's base was made from micle berries and had a consistency that stuck to one's teeth, containing salty nuts.

Skye glanced at rows of potions, revives, and encased poké and great balls on the same shelf. General markets were only allowed to sell those two balls. Official Poké Marts inside of Pokémon Centers could sell ultra, heal, premier, and any other balls. This also applied to hyper potions, max revives, stat-altering drugs such as Zinc and Calcium, and more.

She scratched the new pokémon idea as she didn't feel ready to raise another yet, and it would complicate the trip.

She watched the screen while the cashier rang everything up. The prices overall seemed cheaper in Sinnoh, although Skye hadn't been to nearly enough areas to make that assessment. Still, it would make sense since certain parts of Alola were more financially demanding to live in due partly to an increase in foreigners buying property and gentrification over the last couple of decades.

It now boasted one of the largest economies in the world alongside Kalos, Unova, and Galar, with Hau'oli being one of the world's most expensive cities.

Alola was also one of the biggest exporters of berries in the world behind a few third-world regions like Alma, Oblivia, Pasio, and Fiore, where nature thrived best. Alola also had a solid construction industry that constantly fast-tracked projects.

Alola was classified as a first-world region due to having a powerful military allied with several other dominant regions. Alola also had several military bases and embassies built in various regions from past wars but was divided by class at a social level.

The government filtered money mainly into Melemele and Akala island while Ula'ula and Poni saw neglect in comparison. Those two were where most of the citizens who couldn't afford to live among Melemele and Akala's rising prices over the years were pushed if they didn't ditch the region altogether. In turn, they had a poorer quality of life and education while Melemele and Akala grew in both aspects.

"1,100. Need a bag?" he asked, watching a TV hanging from the ceiling that played a reality show.

Skye smiled and took the money from her pocket, counting and handing over exact change. "Oh, no thank you. I've got a big one."

"Good day." He raised his hand but didn't take his eyes off the screen.

"Hope you have one too." Skye put the items in her backpack and stuck a water in its side pouch.

Upon exiting, Skye noticed a small bright green residence with a darker green roof next to the mart's left that read 'Poffin House' on a sign next to it. "No way. I didn't even see this. Who knew we'd end up right on top of it?" She tapped Ruki's back, who was busy looking around.

He flinched, pulled abruptly from his focus, and looked up at Skye, yawning and closing his eyes for a second.

"We're gonna take a quick detour. I want us to do something together I saw online." Skye walked and stood before the house with an open door, where a faintly sweet aroma alongside cooking bread lured her nose. She'd read while researching back home that the Poffin House here taught and allowed people to cook them.

Ruki sniffed the air upon catching whiffs of the same wonderful scent and noticed the sign she was reading, which displayed the name of the place and its hours. What was a poffin, and why was this house called that?

"In here," Skye said, entering the cozy home and looking around at its counters with various ingredients on them, and a door leading to another room. There was no furniture present, so they must have turned a home into a business.

Four people in aprons, teens and adults and two with their wartortle and clefairy beside them, stood at cooking stations. They consisted of low mini marble counters with large shiny bronze pots on hot burners, and the teen girl had a smaller one. They all stirred thick golden-brown batter with long wooden spoons that bubbled with rising steam.

Two young adult female employees, a blonde and a redhead in tees with stapled name tags, stood idle by the wall near the people cooking while conversing with each other.

However, a male employee stood beside the girl and her wartortle, walking her through stirring motions and assisting her with cooking.

Ruki sniffed the air and licked his maw. He couldn't see what was in the oven; they smelled almost as appetizing as malasadas, and that said something.

"Over here."

Skye turned to the left and saw a young Accordian woman wearing a sweater sitting behind a counter. She had short black hair and earrings. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't see you."

"Happens more than you think." The woman grinned. "Tourist?"

"Huh?"

"Tourist, right?"

"Uh, me?"

The woman nodded.

Skye tilted her head. "I am, actually. How'd you know?"

She leaned back in her chair and shrugged. "I'm a good guess." She sat up and nodded her head at Ruki. "And the pretty ninetales mayy have helped. You've got a cute little accent too."

Skye glanced back at Ruki, who was still invested in the activity ahead, then briefly shut her eyes. "Ohh, I feel like an idiot now." She giggled. Skye was so not used to being a foreigner. "We're out from Alola. I saw this place online and wanted to try it."

"The process is fun, and the taste can be terrific depending on the berry you choose. Where are you two staying?"

"Grand Lake over by Route 213. It's very pretty and even more serene. It's just so cold down there." Skye liked sitting outside and watching the sun go down. She'd freeze if she tried that here.

"Never been, but I have heard great things about it. I hope you two enjoy the stay. You'll never run out of things to do in Sinnoh," she said and held her chin. "No poffin case then, I assume?"

"Poffin case?"

"It's what coordinators use to store baked poffins in. The treats can boost a pokémon's mood and confidence, so many people come here before attending contests down at the Hall." She put up a finger. "But since we get curious and eager tourists so often, we also have a discounted option that allows people to make two large poffins out of a decent amount of batter." She nodded ahead. "That's what the woman over there with her wartortle is doing. Gentle one from Kanto."

"I've heard of poffins during contests on TV but never knew they had competitive advantages. We'll do it then. That sounds perfect."

"Alright then. That'll come out to n–" She shot her eyes between Ruki and Skye and cleared her throat. "...Fifteen thousand pokédollars." The woman rang it up on the register and looked over at her two female employees. "Rish! Monica!"

Both employees looked over, as did Ruki and the customers from the abrupt call.

"One of you come help our valued customer make poffins. Small batch!" The woman turned to Skye and took a sheet from a stack of paper, handing it to her. "Go ahead and choose the flavor you would like the poffins to be from this list. Lansat is five thousand extra due to its rarity."

"Got it, thank you. Give us a moment, please." Skye turned and crouched by Ruki, who met her. "I want you to choose the poffin flavor since I'll be the one cooking." She scanned the twenty options. "I'll speak them off; you can stop me when you hear one you like. Sound good?"

"Nin." Ruki sat.

She took a breath and held the paper up. "Topo, drash, chilan, niniku… never heard of that one," she mumbled. "Rowap, enigma, lansat–"

"Nine!" Ruki blurted.

Skye looked up. "Lansat?"

He nodded with enthusiasm. Those were one of the best berries in the existence of berries. They had a sweetly tangy flavor with a pinch of zestiness. The perfect blend.

"Bet." Skye stood and turned back to the woman. "We chose lansat." She liked Ruki eating lansat. This particular batch would be cooked and negate its nutritional properties, but lansat berries were beneficial to all pokémon. Their health benefits were extensive and overall outperformed all other berries; they also slightly rose a pokémons' base stats over time through consistent consumption.

After they paid, Skye left her bag with the woman and the blonde employee led them to a counter a distance from the Kantonian girl. She had freckles on her face and a black headband holding her hair back. Her name tag stated 'Rish.'

Monica went through the door and came out with an apron, a medium-sized pot, and a spoon minutes later, setting them all on the counter. "I'll put the apron on. Here." Monica unfolded and shook it out, standing behind Skye and putting the hole over her head. It rested around her neck and draped down her chest.

"Thank you." Skye tugged the ends and looked at the door. "Is like… that a storage place back there?" she asked, glancing as the male employee helping the Kantonian girl jogged into the back and brought some items for the other customers. They included metallic baking pans that had ten pockets to pour the poffin batter into perfect spherical dips.

"It is, yeah. Also where we clean dirty pots and store berries and ingredients in the fridge and cabinets. It'd clutter everything if it were out here," Monica replied. "And it's pretty cluttered back there, too, so I've got some organizing to do since Rish despises cleaning. Probably why she's still single. Happy cooking!"

"Ah, uh, thank you," Skye replied while watching her go back through the door. She looked into the pot, shooting Rish glimpses, who stood awkwardly. The pot had a bag of flour, butter, a measuring cup, a closed plastic container of thick, red blended lansat berries, eggs, and other ingredients.

Rish swallowed. "...I'm sorry." She spoke with a Galarian accent.

Skye smirked from the corner of her mouth. "Best friend?"

"Something like that." She sighed, shook her head, and went around to the other side of the counter. "Alright. I'm Rish. I'll be walking you through how to cook perfect poffins, but if you have any experience with baking, it should come easy. You can take out the ingredients. What's your and your pokémon's name?"

Ruki hopped up and set his forepaws on the counter to get a better look, watching Skye empty the pot and spread everything out on the counter. However, his eyes were fixed on the liquified berries that were meant for the poffins. Ruki had never tried a lansat smoothie because Skye's mother never wanted to give him a carton to lap up in five seconds for some reason.

"I'm Skye, and my boy's name is Ruki."

Rish glazed over his face, coat, and beautiful tails. "He's a handsome one, isn't he? I've only seen a few during my time here."

"Mhm, alolan pix aren't the easiest to come across. Luck is a huge factor."

"Can I pet you? Sorry," Rish said, tight-lipped with her eyes shooting between Skye and Ruki.

Skye gave her the green light with a beckon of her hand, and Ruki nodded.

Rish reached and pressed her palm to the back of Ruki's neck, her fingers lowering against his fur while drawing down his back. She repeated this action a couple of times; its soft texture made her exhale. "Dreamy. Thank you, Ruki." She pulled her hand away.

Skye was watching with held hands. "Oh, and about experience, the most I bake are cakes and cookies at home sometimes. Is that good enough?"

"Oh, yeah. You shouldn't botch it then." Rish glanced at the hand she'd touched Ruki with. "Be one sec. Have to wash my hands really quick. Policy."

---

In fifteen minutes, Skye had measured and combined all of the ingredients inside the pot with Rish's help and mixed them into a smooth white batter. She'd been stirring under the burner's heat for around five minutes, having to alternate between clockwise and counterclockwise often while stretching her arms. Sweat had formed on her head and cheeks that she wiped away often since she was standing over active heat.

The other customers had left minutes ago after receiving their poffins, although the girl with her wartortle still stood by the oven. She chatted with the male employee while her wartortle ate a warm one.

Rish leaned over and studied the batter. It had reached a bubbly light golden brown with aromatic steam filling the air. "Go ahead and switch directions again. It's got about five more minutes."

Skye stopped and went back to stirring clockwise. "What's the point of switching, anyway?"

Meanwhile, Ruki couldn't keep his nose out of the air. The aroma strengthened as the ingredients blended, and he couldn't see what Skye was stirring no matter how high he stood, which bugged him. The most Ruki noticed was steam rising from inside, and he could feel the heat the burner emitted.

"It brings out a stronger flavor in the poffins and evenly distributes the ingredients, or so they say. It's been tradition for as long as I can remember," Rish said.

"Better safe than sorry, then. How long have you been working here?" Skye switched hands and started stirring with her left.

She looked up for a moment. "Humm, my memory is worse than a goldeen's, but I wanna say around five years. My dad is good friends with the owner, so it was an easy land. Not a stressful job either. I like it, but 's not what I want to spend my life doing… Switch."

Skye stopped and began stirring counterclockwise, looking down at the browning thick batter, then shifting her focus back to Rish. "At least you have stability you can enjoy until you decide to move on. What do you want to do?"

"Working here actually awakened a passion I may—just may have for teaching. I just... don't know what I want to teach yet. You can cut the heat, by the way. It needs to sit for a while."

Skye turned the dial to 'OFF' and sighed, letting go of the spoon and stretching her fingers. She looked aside at Ruki with his forepaws still on the table's edge and set her hand on his neck. "That's interesting. People find their calling through so many different experiences. Like teaching at a school, a cooking course, or...?"

Rish shrugged. "Noo idea. I guess I'll see where the wind carries me. I'm not the biggest on school, but I did have a knack for math. To lead a cooking course, I'd need to take a few myself first."

After the batter sat and the pot cooled, they transferred it into a double pan and slid it into the oven. They waited another ten minutes for the poffins to bake thoroughly before Rish pulled them out with an oven mitt from the back room.

"Andd here's your finished product. Looks mega." She turned off the oven and took the pan out, walking and setting it on a counter nearby.

Ruki paced after Rish while Skye followed and giggled, standing and setting his paws on the counter. The bread looked plump, soft, and slightly bigger than malasadas. He leaned in and sniffed it, swishing his tails.

Rish grinned while watching Ruki admire the poffins. "Want to try them here or take them to go?"

"Hm." Skye brought up her wrist and checked her watch. It was a few minutes past noon. "To go. We're gonna go see Coronet; I don't want us to be out after dark."

"That's an idea. Let me fetch a bag from the back."

Skye took off her apron with specs of hardened batter on it, folding and setting it on the counter. She looked at the cooling poffins, then at Ruki. "I was thinking we could eat these when we got hungry later, maybe in the forest."

"Nn…" He was hungry now, but he could wait. The hungrier he got, the better they would taste.

Rish returned with a bag, plastic box containing two dips to fit the poffins, and a slim wooden spatula. She set the box and bag down and slipped the spatula into the grooves beside the poffins. She edged and pushed the bread so they wouldn't stick or break, then lifted and set them into the box, shutting it. "You're all set." She took a breath and smiled.

"Thank you so much. You were a great teacher. Made it a great time." Skye reached into her pocket but stopped. "Am I allowed to tip?"

She chuckled. "You can, yeah."

Skye took out bills and counted 2,500 pokédollars, then handed it to her.

"Oh my." Rish smiled again. "How sweet. I much appreciate it, Skye. You're one of the kindest people who has walked through our door."

"Awe, thank you so much, and you're from Galar, right?"

"Spot on, the region with the most sophisticated train system. I moved down here five years ago at nineteen for uni and decided to stay. I like the region a lot, but I'm due to return next month so I can help care for my mom. She's getting older."

"I'd be proud of having rails around the region instead of an outdated highway system too." Skye giggled. "About your mom, do you think it'll put your life on hold? I know family and especially parents are super important, but how do you feel about it?"

"I guess I was a tad bummed at first, but I could never abandon my mum. I wouldn't be able to sleep at night. I'll return and get back on track when life allows it."

Skye and Ruki headed out the door, with Skye stopping and telling the woman at the front how much she enjoyed the experience. Skye held their poffin bag while strolling the pavement, wiping her head with her sleeve.

She spotted a bus stop a block down by several small shops a moment later. "Hey, why don't we try the bus? It'll get us there quicker."

"Nin." Ruki hadn't taken one before, as he and Skye never had to in Alola. She had a license and took her parents' four-door luxury sports SUV if she ever had to go to the inner city.

So, they went and waited at it with a couple of others who gathered until they saw the large vehicle approach from down the road five minutes later.

"Look, it's coming." Skye stepped closer and ensured Ruki stayed back. He knew better, but she could never be too safe.

The brakes creaked as it stopped and knelt in front of them with a tired huff. The doors opened to let passengers out of the back while a monotonous male voice from the bus' speakers called out the route it took. Ruki boarded after Skye and looked down the aisle containing rows of occupied seats.

"Hundred fifty," the older male bearded driver wearing shades said coolly, keeping his gaze ahead.

He didn't seem friendly, and people waited behind her, so Skye fished in her pocket quickly and pulled out two folded bills, putting them in the bin. She barely saw what she'd inserted.

"C'mon, Ruki." She slipped past standing passengers and found one available seat among a full bus beside a brunette pre-teen girl in her school uniform: a navy blue skirt and a slim matching vest over a tee. She had earphones in while on her phone watching a film with 'Hitz' in black letters at the top right.

"Excuse me, could my pokémon sit?"

The girl glanced at Skye and paused her movie, then pulled her earphones out and looked up at her. "Hm?"

"My ninetales, could he take this seat?"

"Oh, sure." She had a modest Fiorean accent. She cocked her head while looking at Ruki. "How is she blue with curls on her head?"

Skye grinned. "He's Alolan."

"Huh." The girl sat back and put her earphones in again.

Skye held the bar above as the bus moved and swayed her body, looking around at cute pokémon occupying seats, such as a bulbasaur sitting by its male trainer playing on their phone, a delcatty lying halfway in an asleep older teen girl's lap, and a ralts standing next to its adult male trainer while holding his jacket to avoid toppling over. "Sit, Ruki."

He got up just in time for the passengers who got on with them to pass. Ruki looked out the window at the moving scenery while they drove and flinched after something grazed his side. He glanced and saw the girl pull her hand away and look back at her phone.

"Nn." Ruki didn't mind. He knew how it felt to be curious.

---

After getting off the bus by the city's exit almost an hour later—a bit of nausea involved after their first experience on a bumpy ride—they soon arrived at Route 208. The girl had gotten off about five stops before them, and Ruki had taken a liking to her along the way. She'd ended up showing him a digital list of her favorite pokémon on her phone from what she'd learned about the national pokédex in dexology class and even added alolan ninetales to it.

A tall and ominous mountain was visible miles ahead upon entering the route. Vibrant sunbathing green trees were laid out ahead along a path, an expansive forest to traverse.

"Breathtaking," she said, gazing at the slow-moving clouds looming at the mountain's peak like a gentle mist. She didn't want to spend the whole day watching the view, however, and the last place she wanted to be when it neared evening was deep within a massive forest.

Skye took off her backpack and set it down, kneeling and unzipping it to grab the repel.

"Shut your eyes." She shook the canister and sprayed it over her clothing and limbs to avoid run-ins with wild pokémon.

He did while the cool mist layered his fur and legs. Ruki opened afterward and shook out his fur since it tickled him. Nhch! He winced and sneezed through his nose as the misted lingered under it.

Ruki sniffled afterward. He wondered if he could fight off a wild pokémon. They weren't that tough.

"Stay by me." Skye began to walk. Ruki getting lost among miles of thick trees and bushes wasn't something she was up to deal with.

He made an extra effort to listen this time while walking under the greenery in the dimly lit forest. Enough sunlight made its way through, peeking between gaps within bundles of foliage and beaming to the ground in calming hues, so the environment was visible for the most part.

Ruki sniffed the muggy air, greeted by natural scents. Woody, damp, and earthy aromas integrated into a bundle of distinct serenity that the occasional breeze carried.

"We'll walk through the forest. It's big enough to host a full day." It had a limitless amount of nature and pokémon to offer. She'd seen several beautifly, bidoof, and an exceptionally cute buneary during the walk so far. It was almost safe to say that Skye hadn't had to use her repel.

A part of Ruki wanted to stray after he caught a whiff of a berry bush he'd never smelled before. He'd be walking aimlessly since he didn't know where it was, but Ruki was confident he'd find it. Skye told him to stay close, though; he didn't want to leave her alone in a forest.

"Has a different feel than the tropical forests in Alola, huh?" Skye glanced at thin tree branches moving against passing light breezes while dry leaves and twigs crunched and snapped under her boots and Ruki's paws as they ventured deeper.

Ruki couldn't put his paw on it, but it felt plain and straightforward in a way, although it was still nice to walk through. He liked how rich and unique Alola's were; it had the best beaches to him too. Maybe it was bias. If he asked a pokémon from Sinnoh, they would probably say the opposite. They'd be wrong, but still.

In a little over five minutes, Skye sat on a dirt patch and leaned her back against a tree after studying its branches. She didn't want a caterpie falling on her head. "We're getting far from our route," she said as Ruki sat in front of her. This break was more to take in nature and the ambiance than to rest. "You want your poffin and some water?"

"Nine nini!" He nodded while shifting his paws. He imagined so many different tastes, none of which could surpass malasadas—they couldn't, right?

While she took off her backpack, Ruki indulged in their surroundings and watched dead leaves fall from trees after passing gusts shook them free. He'd seen few trainers throughout their adventure so far, adding to its serenity.

Burmy hung idly from tree branches bending under their weight. They wore cloaks made of mixed green and dead leaves they'd gathered from the ground. Wormadam hung from thicker branches and were larger in size, wearing plant cloaks covered in grass with white flowers on their upper section.

Wurmple climbed and clung to trees using the strong suctions on their feet, eating at bark or tearing leaves from them that made audible rustling. Some concealed themselves within the leaves, branches, and under their crowns. They watched the skies and other trees to avoid taillow, swellow, and starly, who hunted them.

The most intriguing sight was a heracross standing before a thick tree far from the trails, clawing at its bark and sucking its sweet sap.

It scanned the area for trainers, as heracross were statistically one of the most caught pokémon in Sinnoh every year. Eevee, pikachu, and porygon had surpassed it this year. Yet, heracross had learned never to let down their guard over time.

"Ruki, here."

His eyes fell back onto Skye; he saw the bread and bottle in both hands, yawning for the third time today. She held the poffin in front of his mouth, which he leaned in and took. It was a soft, moist bread infused with lansatty goodness that melted in his mouth. He tasted a deep sweetness sided with a bitter, spicy edge and aftertaste.

Skye had taken a bite of hers while he was busy and found it to be more delicate and flavorful than malasadas. "It's good, right? Might have your donuts back home beat." She giggled a little while chewing.

He stared at her while swallowing the snack.

Skye giggled again, smiling. "Here, silly. Wash it down." She next offered the bottle to him, popping the remaining half of her poffin in her mouth.

Ruki opened his maw and tilted his head back as her hand guided the bottle upward for him to drink.

After him, Skye took a few sips and wiped her mouth while lowering the bottle, put their empty poffin bag in her backpack, then checked her watch. "Guess we'll walk for a while longer."

---

They stayed for half an hour more before they'd had their fill of exploration for the day. Skye wanted to take them only a short distance since they had to walk it back.

After they made it out of the forest and neared Route 213 from Pastoria, it was close to evening. They'd taken another bus through Hearthome to give their legs a rest. "Good day, right?" She glanced at Ruki while they strolled.

"Nine!" He looked up at her while flicking his tails. He had a splendid time and couldn't wait to find out where else they'd go during the week. Ruki had been enjoying the restaurants and new food the most and wished they could dine more.

"We'll do as much as we can, maybe explore close to a percentage of Sinnoh by the end of the week." Skye wanted to visit every city, town, and landmark, but not only would she die from fatigue—they'd also run out of money in a day.

They were eventually back on hotel grounds, heading back to the room, and a sylveon standing by the suite to the left caught Ruki's eye. He had only seen a few in his lifetime at the mall and Shopping District and thought they were visually unique. Ruki adored their living ribbons, and they'd surely feel soft to the touch.

"...Interested?" Skye rubbed her hands together and cupped them around her mouth, exhaling into them. She was some feet ahead but had seen Ruki stop to stare at the eeveelution. Shortly after, the suite's door opened, and the boy Skye had seen last night exited while doing something on his cell phone. Upon closer inspection, he was likely her age with short black hair and green eyes; he wore jeans and a thin sporty jacket.

"Oh… uh, I think I saw you yesterday," he said after looking up and noticing her. He slowly approached while slipping his phone into his pocket.

His accent resembled one of her friends from school of the Unified Accord's regions. "You did. I was drained from the trip here, though, so I wanted to collapse," she replied. "I'm Skye, you?" She extended her hand for a proper introduction. He was slightly taller than her with a slender but relatively toned build.

"Aaron. Where'd you come from?" He took her hand and shook it.

"Alola. Just me and my ninetales." She glanced at Ruki taking a curious couple of steps toward the sitting sylveon watching him. "You're out from the Accord, hm?"

"That's a stunning region, and yes, uh... Johto. I come down here about once per year or so and live in Kalos. Still learning the language."

While they talked, Ruki closed in on the sylveon and eyed its sleek body. He leaned in, asking silent permission to sniff that it granted him with a grin. When Ruki was inches away, it raised its ribbons to the sides of Ruki's neck, feeling his fur's texture. The sylveon seemed shy, but they did just meet.

"Vh." It also drew its eyes over Ruki's face, seemingly studying the ninetales' features and shooting glances at its hind legs.

This was kind of weird. Ruki never had anyone rub him other than Skye and her parents. The ribbons were as soft as expected, with a slight roughness. He used to wonder what their texture felt like, so this was something he could cross off the list he didn't have.

"They seem to be getting along." Skye watched the gentle interaction between both pokémon.

"I see that. Sylmi's usually pretty timid... He must have taken a liking to your pokémon."

He? Ruki's ears twitched; his eyes widened slightly, and his face warmed while Sylmi ran his ribbons along his fur.

Aaron and Skye chatted for a few more moments, and he soon bade her a temporary goodbye, walking toward the courtyard's exit with his pokémon.

Ruki's eyes were still wide. He should have looked at that sylveon's face and body more.

Meanwhile, Skye had the door to their suite open. "Ruki, come on. I need to get out of this shirt."