FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

https://archive.org/embed/km_20230815_360p_25f_20231216_022600-mc

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Six months had passed since Cassidy challenged the Kalos League. She and her team had failed their first attempt, which devastated Cassidy for an entire week. They'd gotten so close. That was what hurt the most. After clearing three out of four Elite members with her party, she'd gotten defeated by Drasna.

At that point, after Cassidy showed out and bested three of the toughest opponents in the region with increasing struggle as she progressed, half of the audience was cheering her on rather than their favorite Elite members, and she'd failed them at the very end. It wasn't a narrow beating either. She'd already had to revive Fenny and Violet from their last battle, so Cassidy knew what was coming would be dire. Drasna outplayed exceptionally and made Cassidy look like a rookie.

Cassidy had felt humiliated and vexed following the loss. She cried to herself in bed off and on after losing what she cared so much about and put hundreds of hours into.

When her emotions dimmed, she was able to come to terms and reset. Then it was back to training because she still had to complete her journey.

She'd rewatched her League run on TV and noted poor decisions and actions both herself and party could have executed better in every battle. She had even given in and attended a couple of battle meets in Lumiose, where Añu evolved, so she had a lucario now. She still hadn't gotten used to it.

She returned to the League after a solid month of preparation, fought through the first three Elite, defeated Drasna with difficulty, and narrowly beat Diantha. Afterward, they were added to the Hall of Fame, but as a dream once forewarned, it didn't do everything she thought.

She sat atop a steep grassy hill in Laverre City in a jacket and jeans one cool afternoon. It was where her life had begun and died with no warning. Without proper care and support from her parents, she wouldn't be the woman she was now.

Cassidy brought her knees up to her chest and held them, letting any tears she'd held in throughout her journey run down her cheeks without restraint.

Cassidy would give anything to have them back, but how would her life have turned out if Pomace Mountain never happened? Would she still be where she was now?

"Don't speculate." She sniffled and lay on her side, staring at the lively city miles ahead with her chest tight and eyes puffy. She extended her arm and clutched a patch of grass, eyeing her bare wrist. Cassidy whimpered while her eyes welled with more tears, blurring her vision until she wiped them away. It never hurt harder than it did now.

She hadn't bought a new Pokétch yet even though she still needed one, as if replacing her old one would disrespect her parents. She knew that if they were still here, they'd have instantly bought her a new one.

Cassidy knew that if they were still here, they'd be more than proud of her journey, that she'd worked arduously and defeated the region's Elite at eighteen.

The best she could do was continue for them, and it would be deadly if she settled. She'd already spent more time in bed and generally went outside less during her break. So much rest was gradually locking her back into a state of depression, an ocean she wouldn't be able to swim out of with ease as it gradually pulled her deeper.

Anything she used to ease the pain was a band-aid on a nasty flesh wound, meaning Cassidy could never stop; however, looking ahead at an unending road of pain and suffering until death didn't seem worth it.

What kept her wanting to stay on this road, then? The same thing that drove most: the people in their lives and goals ahead of them. In Cassidy's case, it was her pokémon fused with her desire to be better. Pain, passion, desire. Those fueled her— motivated her to do what she'd accomplished.

However, if all she had was battling and not a relationship, she may already have relapsed or feel even less fulfilled. In essence, all she did have was battling, but a healthy, loving relationship, with her pokémon or not, warmed her core.

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After an hour, she drove home and fed everyone after washing her face in the restroom to try and rid of her melancholic appearance. She then went outside and leaned against the wall by the door to watch the sunset. Cassidy's lengthy break from battling and training gave her pokémon time to rest as well, but she wanted more already.

It crossed her mind like a broken record. She was skilled at one thing— two if she counted the ability to communicate with psychic pokémon close to her, but one major thing, and that was battling.

She looked over as the door opened next to her and saw Fenny exit.

'Hi.'

"Hey."

"I've been thinking for a while now that I've had time to settle; I feel I shouldn't let what we've worked for go to waste."

'You mean battling?... You don't want to stop at Kalos?'

Cassidy shrugged. "Maybe I could make a name for myself. No one knows it once I step foot outside of Kalos, and I haven't accomplished enough to be trusted with leadership and influence." She stared at the scarlet sky. "I have more to do."

'I think it's right down your alley.'

"I don't want to go back to the way I was. Ever." Cassidy had no idea what region she'd consider next. She had many gyms and cities to research extensively if she committed to the decision. She'd earned a lot of money from defeating the Elite.

'I could say the same. You changed my outlook on battling.'

"And you helped alter mine on life... I stopped considering balance years ago. I went from drugs to only pursuing my goal. Battling was the better option, but I guess both were harming me."

'How do you see it now?'

"I guess I should let myself breathe more. When I used to sit and read for hours, it usually went toward my goal, but it let me apply strategies I would have missed and suffered through without if I only battle and trained all the time... Still, I don't want to let myself go as I once did."

'Like a perfect balance? That's hard to reach, but I'm also finding it now, I think.'

"It is hard, but I've been through both, and maybe I should embrace both." She rested her head back against the wall. "I think I understand it now, and I'm glad you do too. I still ache for my parents, but I know they're smiling at how I handled it."

'I am too.' Fenny grinned. 'I didn't even think I was capable of fighting a simisage once upon a time.'

"Because effort never fails, Fen. We just... overcame ourselves."

'And you know what's funny?'

She looked over at him.

'I never did knock over that tree.'