FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

A lucario sat on his bed that late afternoon. The mattress was stiff, but he was used to it. Recruited pokémon that were ranked one through three didn't get as good of rooms as humans had. The pokémons' were located by the east end of the lobby on floor one. Pokémon that were ranked four, the highest a pokémon could receive, had rooms on par with human employees, although they were still segregated.

Rank four rooms were located farther east through translucent blue double doors constantly guarded by security. One needed to display the appropriate rank to gain access. If by chance a human employee or low-ranked pokémon were caught attempting to or did get through the doors, they were forced to work without pay for two weeks. The amount of time steadily increased with each offense. No one knew besides rooms what was on the other side of that door, and no rank four's spoke of it to lower ones.

Ace's room had dull gray walls, an old restroom, a small dresser holding his work outfit, and another bed across from him. It felt like a prison sometimes-- which essentially is what this job was. There were two beds as every pokémon shared a room with another to conserve space.

No matter your rank as a pokémon, you couldn't leave headquarters during the day under any circumstance. Months before revealing Unovanish's location, Kado first released a poll. More citizens voted against pokémon that worked for the company to be allowed to roam during the day than for it. They saw pokémon that weren't owned and trained as nuisances, but Ace knew that was Unovanish's rhetoric at work. Not long after Kado established the company, there was a steadily increasing amount of propaganda in the form of news, TV commercials, and posters plastered around the city displaying how dangerous feral pokémon were becoming to public safety and how to report sightings to authorities accordingly. At times, clips taken by security cameras of bad apples committing illegal acts, such as breaking and entering or harming a citizen were played.

To this day, most of Castelia's residents saw pokémon living in the city as nothing more than ferals and continued reporting them. It pained him. Ace was technically owned and trained but was seen as degenerate by many.

Pokémon could be outside during the evening, however. No one bothered pokémon working for Unovanish as there were laws against it.

The door to the room opened, and in walked a braixen, her tail held high behind her. The pokémon's rooms didn't require a key to enter, but instead a four-digit code. "We're heading out at nine tonight," she said.

"Yes, ma'am." A pinch of sarcasm was present in his tone.

She gave him a side-eye, a glare he could feel piercing him. "Don't, Ace."

He rolled his eyes. He _hated _how much better Mille thought she was than him because of a meaningless rank. Pokémon that have faithfully worked under Unovanish for a minimum of three years and have high capture amounts are eligible for promotion. Mille had worked here for five. "Okay, Mille, nine it is." Ace lay back on the white bedsheets. She hadn't always been this stuck-up. During his first year, Mille was cordial with Ace. He had always found her physically stunning. She had large, soft eyes, delicate ears, a beautiful bushy tail, and a voice that'd be bright and soothing if her personality hadn't altered due to this job. It was a sad transformation that'd played out before his eyes.

"Hm..." Mille looked away and sat on her bed, holding her tail and grooming it. She was ranked three, which she'd recently been awarded for her work and stats on the field. As a result, she thought highly of herself. Ace had been working here for two years so far. He still had one more to go.

Mille sometimes wished she had an adequate partner at or near her rank, but while Ace could be lazy at times, he had to obey her orders. She preferred being in charge, so it wasn't a complete loss.

Ace turned onto his side and faced the wall to avoid having to look at Mille. She didn't deserve the perks that came with her rank. Mille gained exclusive access to meetings and events held by Unovanish and could dine at the restaurant for free twice per week. She even got paid for working. Ace could only gain that benefit once he received at least rank two. Until then, he had to take the cheapest dishes given to him at the restaurant up to twice per day like the rest of the new pokémon here unless he had money. He couldn't sit at the tables, either.

That's not to say Ace didn't have a workaround, however. He happened to be lucky Ayame was fond of him. She sometimes bought him food from the restaurant and occasionally checked on him. She was sweet and always enhanced his day. Ace met her a few weeks after being hired. Ayame was the only thing he looked forward to here. The other? Hoping he could leave. It wasn't easy when a near-microscopic tracking device was implanted in the back of his neck.

--

The hours leading to the evening were a drag, and it's not like Ace enjoyed working beside Mille and capturing pokémon. He'd lay lifeless in bed all day depressed while Mille had gone out several times to hang out with her fellow high-ranking associates and probably eat at the restaurant. Maybe she had no morals, but Ace did.

She'd be back any minute, scolding him as if she were his mother for not being suited and ready to go. He wasn't up to deal with that, so he got up and opened his drawer, taking out a black long-sleeved metallic vest to defend against impactful blows to the chest. It was somewhat robust. Ace slid it over his ears and head, fitting it on. He then took a loaded gray tranq pistol, a flashlight, and binoculars from where they sat under his vest. He pressed a button on the side to activate its safety, slid the pistol in its holster on the right side of his vest, and hung his binoculars and flashlight on the other. Finally, he pushed his radiophone to the back of the drawer. It was a small, screenless sleek black device every employee had to contact each other and Kado, but it was mainly used for emergency calls. It was optional to take on missions.

Fortunately, Ace was all set when Mille entered and made a beeline to her dresser. "Five minutes," she said while grabbing her vest and their sizable black cloth bag with rope inside. It had enough space to hold a fully grown ninetales. She threw the bag to Ace and ensured she had their cargo key, clear dart bag, checkpoint stickers, and scanner.

Every used dart was DNA tested by database workers a few buildings down to prove pokémon were shot with them. To ensure they were, Unovanish had a database of all pokémon exported to other regions when the ferry companies got ahold and confirmed them.

"We'll try to capture a few before going to cargo checkpoints, but I have something important to attend in two hours." Mille ensured the gray patch near her left shoulder was stuck properly by running over it with her finger. It was a badge displaying three stars for her current rank. She valued it more than anything.

"I know..." Ace mumbled quietly enough for her not to hear. It was all she'd been bragging about for the past week. She had a meeting with other pokémon that were ranked two and above. Ace didn't know what for, and he likely wasn't allowed to.

Once Mille was ready, they exited the room, Ace rolling the bag to make it compact enough to hold in one hand. There were fewer people present in the lobby as many were out hunting. Only a few hundred worked for Unovanish, not including pokémon, which added close to one hundred more. Ace didn't look at anyone while walking-- except up to where Ayame's room was. He had no friends here and didn't plan on making any. Ace didn't want to leave anyone behind if he ever were to try and escape. "Where are we looking tonight?"

"West past Studio Castelia. A few in my group have gotten a couple of big catches over there recently." Mille was good at making connections. Her confidence and demeanor aided her significantly, but it had never given her a mate. However, she did have a long-time crush on a zeraora that was a rank higher than her. Elee was his name, but that's about all Mille knew. She could never get close enough to interact with him at her current status.