FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Cassidy closed the front door and flipped the living room light on. "Hey, you." She leaned down and ran her hand along Violet's back, who greeted her by brushing her sleek body against her leg. "I'll feed you and Añu in a minute. Did you get anything for yourself, Garna?" Cassidy asked while passing by the couch.

She gave Cassidy a gentle nod.

"I will shower, then, and you next, Fen."

He watched the bathroom door close and sighed before slumping onto the couch beside Garna, his legs aching.

'Where did she take you?' Garna queried after giving him a moment to wind down.

'To Pokémon Village.' He lay his head on the cushion. 'We had to walk through this annoying maze of a forest, but we found the entrance together, and it was this huge field of golden flowers and grass.'

'Ah, I adore that place.'

Fenny lifted his head. 'You've been there?' Then slouched. 'I mean, you've probably been everywhere.'

'It was two years ago, but I would never forget. It was the only time I had ever been in love.' Garna grinned; her eyes shifted from Fenny's direction.

He watched for a few seconds and looked her face over. 'Hey, well, don't keep it to yourself. I wanna know!' He didn't know enough about Garna. She was always wise and mysterious and kept to herself.

"Fenny!"

He turned his head to Cassidy's room, where she stood halfway outside the restroom door and beckoned him with her hand.

'You have to tell me later,' he told Garna before getting up.

Cassidy moved aside and let him slip through upon approach, closing the door again. She had a white towel tucked around her body from the chest down. "You can get in. I'll be out in a second." Cassidy faced the mirror and finished smoothing her hair over.

---

Fenny was lying in Cassidy's bed under the blanket and couldn't move much because she was asleep next to him. Her cheek rested atop his chest; her arm was draped over his waist.

He couldn't sleep, and it was almost midnight. A lot had happened recently, and so much more could happen as time progressed.

Cassidy had pulled him to bed after getting everyone fed, including herself, and he gladly went as he was beat. Fenny still found it hard to fathom his current relationship with her. He was the closest he'd been to her in his lifetime. His feelings for her were indescribable, and she had to feel the same way, right?

What he knew for sure was he needed to sleep. He wouldn't be in the mood to train if he had a headache, and he'd decided he wanted to fight for Cassidy when it mattered most. Fenny had no idea what hit for him to gain such an abrupt urge, but he would go with it. He wanted to support her as much as possible.

Fenny raised his forepaw and set it on her slim wrist, holding it, and that's how he drifted off.

---

The transition to morning was quick; Fenny felt rested enough to keep his eyes open. Cassidy wasn't lying on him and was turned onto her other side. The blanket didn't cover anything but her legs, but she had on black shorts and a tee.

Fenny sat up and dragged the blanket over the upper half of her body, then spent a few minutes flattening jagged edges sticking out on his tail from last night's shower. He also repositioned his branch, ensuring it was fixed in one spot and presenting the green bow he wore neatly.

Time passed quickly since he kept himself occupied. He heard her shift fifteen minutes later, looking as she sat up and rubbed her half-asleep eyes.

"Do you always wake up before me?" Cassidy looked at him.

'Sometimes. Did you sleep okay?'

"It helps when you aren't sleeping alone." She slightly grinned and opened her arms.

He went and sat before her crossed legs. 'It's the same for me.'

She turned Fenny around and leaned his back against her chest, which he went with. "We will leave for the next gym tomorrow. It's time to get back into it." Cassidy splayed her arms and hands over his chest. "Mais tu m'as donné une pause incroyable (But you gave me an amazing break)." She planted a kiss between his ears.

Fenny savored her hold, the kiss adding to its affection. 'Really?'

"Mh." She pulled him closer. "I'm glad you told me how you felt when you did."

'Was all of it temporary?' Fenny looked up at her to the best of his ability.

"It was going to be at first, but I think we have done too much for me to pretend it never happened... so, no, it was not."

Fenny brought his forepaws up to hold Cassidy's wrists and shut his eyes for a moment.

"Do you still want to train today?"

'I do.'

"I'll get us fed; then we will begin." Cassidy pulled her arms away and got out of bed.

She started to leave but double-glanced at her curtains and stopped, then walked to them. She parted them and winced against the gentle sunlight saturating her room.

Far ahead were sun-soaked mountains and waterfalls running off their edges, creating their usual lovely mists on impact against the water.

Ducklett swam in the water far ahead, who appeared almost like blue specs from afar; swanna flew over or flocked atop the mountains in groups. The best time to catch them was after sunrise.

She glanced at Fenny before going to her stack of books in the corner by her wall, kneeling before them and stacking a few that had fallen.

'What are those? I've never seen you read them.'

"Mainly books on training written by past and current League champions around the world. I used to read them often because I wanted to drill the lessons in." Cassidy picked one up that was titled 'Mastering the Art of Battle' and flipped it over to read the cover's summary. "Especially after..."

She set it back atop the pile and stood. "They helped in many ways, but if all I did was educate myself, I would only be educated. After I started training you guys, I retired these and bought no more. I even left many behind, but I brought the ones that helped shape my strategies and communication with my party."

'Then you went after the gyms, but how long did it take you to know you were ready to start?'

"I didn't." She started toward the door.

He watched her leave with a slight grin and heard her greeting Añu and Garna. Añu occasionally slept on the couch unless Garna already had it taken, and since he'd never question Garna, Añu usually slept on the poké bed Cassidy bought for him a long time ago. It was next to the table that the television was on in the living room across from the couch.

Fenny entered behind Cassidy while fluffing out his tail.

"What do you want to eat?" she asked while on her way to the kitchen.

'Just a few puffs. It'll hold me off.' He followed after her.

"Bien (Alright). We won't be out for long, anyway." She gathered a few different flavors.

---

"And one more flame charge!" Cassidy exclaimed.

Fenny inhaled and drew from his tired stores, cloaking himself with a wall of flames and holding it for as long as he could— a few seconds due to his energy levels, before letting it burst and releasing the pressured fire far in front of him.

It disintegrated in the morning air; he turned around, looking wearily at Cassidy while taking quick, shallow breaths.

Cassidy stopped her timer and walked until reaching Fenny. They'd trained in the yard as usual under a dull blue sky saturated with clouds. "We need to work on building your stamina some more. I can't have you tiring out during battles… but your offense is strong." Cassidy went to her Pokémon List and pressed her Pokétch to his side, holding it still until it loaded his stats. She turned it to him.

He looked the numbers over with her.

"Progress, hm? Your attack is almost sixty. It was fifty after our first session."

He nodded.

"And before we go in..." Cassidy pointed at the same tree. "Focus a different spot. If you must, pretend it is a real opponent, and remember what we have practiced and gone over. It's all in your hips."

Fenny turned to it and got into stance. He didn't have anything he outright despised, but he could picture it being the final pokémon he had to faint to win a battle for Cassidy— who he had to break in a single attack.

He peered at the tree and stiffened his tail, taking a deep breath and darting at it faster than last time. "Bh!" Fenny hopped again and targeted a higher section, whirling his upper body around first and rotating his hips, letting his tail follow. "Ai!" He struck the bark as hard as possible and heard a resounding thud alongside the tree's leaves and branches rattling.

Fenny lost his footing upon landing but regained himself, looking back at a slightly deeper gash and a thicker piece of bark on the ground. He looked as Cassidy approached.

She leaned over to pick it up. "What was different?"

'Uh, I imagined it being a gym battle I had to win.'

"And improved form." Cassidy tossed the bark aside and looked up. They'd been outside for over an hour. "Fini."

Fenny followed her while brushing any particles of bark stuck in his fur, tensing his tail with a slight wince.

"You can rest. I have to make sure I have enough information on the next gym... and brush Violet's fur," Cassidy said once they were inside.

She went and grabbed the brush in the restroom after washing her hands, then took it to her room, where Violet was.

The liepard yawned and lifted her head as Cassidy entered, looking at the brush in her hand and flicking her tail.

"I'm smoothing your fur over; hop down because you will shed all over the blanket."

Meanwhile, Fenny had drank two cups of water in the kitchen before setting the cup down and entering the living room. 'Hi, Garna.' He spotted her standing and leaning against the wall by the couch.

'How was the training?' she asked as he sat on the couch's arm by her.

'Cassidy said I did well. I still have a lot to work on, though.'

'We all do, dear. You'll get there as long as you keep at it.'

'Right… You haven't told me your story yet.'

'Ah, you still would like to hear it? It isn't much.'

'But I'm curious. I don't know much about your younger years," he said.

'If you insist... Over two years ago, when I was wild, I came across a zoroark in Dendemille Town. I was wandering as usual and had only recently evolved into what I am now.'

'Why was it there? Like, was it with a trainer?'

'Yes, he had a trainer, but his human had little interest in me. However, the zoroark hinted for me to follow him home as they left; he was appealing enough for me to do just that. That was my first time feeling any semblance of attraction toward a male, so I was curious enough to follow.'

Fenny watched attentively. He had more questions at the tip of his tongue but would wait to see if they'd be answered this time.

'While his trainer slept that night, we took time to form a light bond outside of their house, and it was the first time I'd felt warmth in my chest. It kept me going back whenever I could. Zen was his name.'

'And the village? Was it him you went with?'

She grinned. 'Of course, but that was also the last time I would see him. He took me there to tell me he and his trainer would transfer regions in some days and that he wanted me to go with him.'

Fenny lifted his head. '...You didn't go.'

'I couldn't. Cassidy had captured me a year prior, and I would simply be wild in another region. It likely wouldn't have worked out, but we were both young and lovestruck. Cassidy allowed me to go to the village with him. Deep down, I wouldn't have left the region I'd spent most of my life in for a pokémon I hadn't known long, anyway.' Garna sighed.

'Wait, could you and Cassidy communicate?'

'She was still getting the hang of it, so her speech wasn't always coherent, but yes. Our bond was strong, essentially the equivalent of what you two have now, though it was entirely platonic. It weakened significantly soon after you evolved. Cassidy has always been fond of you.'

'What?... D-Don't you want to talk to her?'

'I'm fine as I am. We've had our years, and I know she holds me dearly in her heart to this day. She has you, Fenny. Tu lui donnes la vie. Do you understand?'

'I-I give her life, right? I got it right?'

'More than you know. I want her to focus on what improves her.'

Fenny stared. 'Could I ask something?'

'Go ahead.'

'How was she?... before.'

A grin played across Garna's lips. 'A motivated trainer, of course. Pure of heart with a perpetual smirk. When not pummeling her friends' pokémon using me, she would often stand outside the gym for hours awaiting tougher battles, and I would keep her company... Cassidy has changed, Fenny, but in a few ways, she is as much the eccentric, determined girl she has always been.'

'Hm... Thank you.'

'I appreciate you listening. My life was and is quite slow.'

'I don't think so. I wanna hear more about it someday.'

'Is that so? Feel free to ask, but I would have to dig for stories.'

He was rapt by one alone. Garna had to have many more amazing ones. 'Deal. I won't abuse it.'