FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 2

The wind blew the forest canopy softly as the Eevee hopped and jumped eagerly ahead of me. I walked calmly close behind him, watching with slight amusement and grinning. This Eevee seemed so full of energy. It made me feel nice and warm to see him so happy, after having everyone around me seem so negative.

"Hey so," He panted from his display of energy when he finally settled down and walked beside me, "What's your name?"

"Um, Ruli." I answered, "What's yours?"

"Axel." He responded and smiled at me, "It's nice to meet you and I hope our time as a team will be awesome!"

I blinked in surprise and felt that warm feeling grow stronger as I pumped a fist and smiled brightly, "Me too!" I giggled with him and we both blushed a bit from our over excitement.

After we walked for a bit longer in mutual silence I spoke again, "So, I heard you were here to try and figure out what evolution you want to become?"

"Um yeah..." He said and frowned a little, head tilting to the side with his ears flopping a bit. "It's a difficult decision to make..."

"What's to think about it? Be the coolest one, an Umbreon!" I pumped my fist again as I was walking, "Those guys are so cool! They shine in the moonlight and the darkness is their ally!"

It took me a moment to realize he was watching me and I blushed and rubbed the back of my head, "Sorry, I have a likeness for dark types."

"As a fighting type?" He asked, interested in what I was saying, "That's weird." He chuckled and I wondered what he meant.

"But it's not as simple as that though..." Axel continued and tilted his head once more. "Unlike me, you only have one possible evolution, you don't have to try and decide what you want to become for the rest of your life, what you want to do for the rest of your life for your clan..." He sighed softly.

"Your clan? Why does it matter?"

"To protect this world from humans."

I couldn't help the surprise I felt, my eyes widened and my ears twitched.

"Protect it from humans?"

Axel shook his head, "Sorry, I can't say more than that. But I will say, humans are evil creatures, and they would enslave us all if they manage to find our world."

"I haven't seen any human here yet." I said and he looked at me with an odd look.

"Yet?"

I jumped and realized my mistake, "I mean, I've never ever seen a human."

He hummed a bit and continued, "Be thankful you haven't. You probably wouldn't be here right now if you did."

He smiled, regaining his friendliness suddenly, "Anyway, don't worry about it though, my clan has every in control."

I wasn't so sure, because now I was extremely worried. Humans were considered evil in this world? What would happen if they really did find out I was actually a human in a pokemon body?

I was so distracted by my thoughts I didn't notice Axel had stopped moving until he called me back, "Hey wait!"

"Huh?" I looked back and he was standing behind me, looking at the side of the path.

"There's another path here in the bushes."

I looked at the brush and noticed that there was a small opening in the bushes, a slightly beaten down pathway leading deeper into the woods.

"Should we follow?" He asked me and I shrugged.

"I don't know, our flags could be in there. Infernape could've left any matter of clues or hints to where he hid them."

"Well let's check it out then, better to try all possibilities than to not." He said and I agreed with that, so we pushed our way past the barrier of brush and began to take the path deeper into the woods.

We didn't hear the others that emerged onto the path behind us from the other end of the path a few moments later.

"Hah, those two are clueless." A Hitmontop giggled as he stood next to another Hitmontop, his brother. A Timburr carrying a large log on his shoulder came out after them, grinning smugly as Machop then emerged after them, arms folded and in his hands holding two red flags,one with "Ruli" and the other with "Axel" printed on them.

"They won't be finding their flags guys." The Machop grinned and he held the flags in front of himself, ripping them apart multiple times before flinging the shredded bits into the air.

"Let's put Ruli in his place." The Machop chuckled and cracked his knuckles a bit, his gang chuckling with him.

________________________

I groaned slightly as I sat down on the root of a tree, letting the backpack fall onto the ground at my feet in exhaustion. We had followed the trail until it faded, then tried to follow what we thought were clues to where our flags had been hidden, but hours had past and at this point and we were now officially lost in the woods. The skies above the canopy looked like it was getting close to evening. If the sun set before we found our flags we would fail the assessment, and if we failed we would have to attend after school classes with Infernape for a week...

"This is bad." Axel sighed as he sat on the ground in front of me, his fur slightly matted from sweat and effort.

"I know...I'm sorry."

"About what?" He tilted his head at my apology.

"You were counting on my skills to find the flags." I sighed and closed my eyes. I felt terrible, I believed I had let down the Eevee, the only one so far who had been nice to me.

"Oh don't worry about that." He said cheerfully and smiled at me, "That's why we're all in school right?" Then he frowned and asked, "Hey, what happens if we fail this assessment anyway?"

"We have to take detention classes with Infernape for a week." I answered, and realized that Infernape probably knew I was going to fail cause of my inexperienced partner. Did he assign him to me on purpose?

"Well that's not so bad is it?" Axel started as he tilted his head, and I looked at him dryly.

"You haven't met him yet have you? He's not very nice." I sighed, realizing that even if Infernape had assigned him to me to fail me, I couldn't be mad, because I also had no skill out here what so ever.

"Maybe he'll go easy on us since I'm new." Axel said in a hopeful tone though I heard the doubt in his voice as well.

I shook my head, "I don't know..."

Axel looked at the ground a moment before he frowned and stamped the ground with his paw, "Well, let's not just give up! We gotta keep trying."

I chuckled as I laid back on the root of the tree, "I wish I had that same kind of optimism as you do Axel."

"Well..." He started meekly, "Why don't you?" He shuffled up next to me as I was looking up into the canopy of trees above us.

"Nobody ever got anywhere by giving up. If you give up, what was the point of even trying?"

"We did try, but there's not much to do about it now." I grumbled and covered my eyes with my arm so I couldn't see his eyes. My stomach growled at me softly and I rubbed it gently with my paw then and looked down at it. We had already eaten the apples hours ago. "Damn I'm hungry..." I growled myself as I laid my head back down to continue staring up at the leaves.

Axel sat on the ground next to me and sighed, "Yeah...me too..."

"Aw hear that guys?" The sudden voice made us both jump and I sat up on the root again, looking towards the voice as its source stepped out from nearby bushes.

It was a Machop, I remembered him from the classroom earlier. His muscles flexed as he threw an apple in the air repeatedly, catching it in the opposite arm as he did. The sight of the apple made me even more hungry, but his grin just took my mind off it as I remembered how much he irked me.

"The poor team's hungry." He said and then took a huge bite out of the apple, and I heard Axel gulp next to me, his jaw open with a bit of drool leaking from the side of his short muzzle. Machop tossed the apple behind himself into the bushes, and then a Hitmontop came out holding the apple, taking a bite of it himself. I didn't remember him from the classroom though.

"Yeah, a shame they don't know where to find the apple trees."

"They could if Ruli would pay attention in class enough." Machop chuckled as another Hitmontop and a Timburr soon followed behind him and stood at his sides, slightly behind him, the first Hitmontop standing behind his brother. By size it seemed he was younger than the other one standing next to Machop.

I couldn't help but scowl. Ruli might never pay attention in class but I always did. "What do you guys want?" I asked a little sourly.

"To give you a little bit of a beating." The Timburr said back while slapping that big piece of wood he carried in his other hand like it was a giant club.

My ears folded back on instinct, "What? For what?!"

"For all the crap you do in the town, but mostly for just for fun." The oldest of the Hitmontops grinned, the other one grinning with him and nodding.

"Hey hang on!" Axel spoke up now, standing beside me, his puffy tail held up high. "You can't just pick on someone else for no reason."

"We have a reason." Machop pointed at me, "This fleabag does nothing but get in trouble on a daily basis. It puts pressure on us students, the teachers, and our folks to put up with him. Honestly, I wish Pangoro had never saved him and left him to die. Just yesterday he was caught taking a nap in the woods, and I heard he's begun to lie and tell people he isn't Ruli."

"But I'm not!" I shouted out now, paws clenched up into fists.

"Yeah? Then who are you?" Machop shot back, "Ruli never put a fight either, perhaps if you really are someone else, you'll actually fight back."

I seethed, but though my fists shook I knew if he made to attack me I wouldn't know what to do. I'd never fought anyone before...

Just as I was trying to think about what to do or say, the Timburr made a move. He lifted the wood he held once more, but this time made to swing it at me. I froze as I saw what he was doing. I could've reacted and moved, I had plenty of time, but the realization that he was willing to actually hit me held me in place.

But before I could think any further, I was shoved away.

"Ah!" I tripped against the tree root and flipped over it from the force of the shove, landing on the other side on my left shoulder a little painfully, just as I heard the huge slap of wood hit the ground with a mighty crash.

"Shit!" I heard Machop yell, "Idiot!" There was a moment of silence, before I heard him speak again in a low whisper, "Let's scram..."

I heard them all hurry away in a rush, and I slowly rose, holding my shoulder with my opposite paw and wincing a moment.

"Assholes..." I grumbled out and I began to step back over the root, still looking at my shoulder, "Axel you okay? Thanks for that I-" It was then that I looked.

Axel laid flat on the ground, eyes closed, limp, and blood pouring from a massive gash along his head.

I froze again, eyes going wide, shock flowing through me. I couldn't think, I just continued to look at the sight in front of me, even as the blood pool grew bigger. I felt my heart hammering at the sight, my head spinning, my vision blurring. I felt ashamed, it was my fault. I could've moved and dodged myself...

I fell to my knees, looked again at the gash on Axel's head, the blooded and matted fur. I felt sick, he was looking right at me, eyes wavering, still conscious, but unable to move or speak.

Suddenly I heard a noise, like a soft hum, but I was unable to take my sight off of Axel. A yellow hand holding a coin and string reached down to touch Axel's forehead, whose eyes moved to the newcomer before suddenly closing. I felt another paw grab hold of my head and force my vision to look. It was Hypno.

"Sleep..." His eyes glowed blue, staring right at me, deep in my mind I felt his pull. Unable to resist it, my eyes closed and I fell into a deep sleep.

______________________

When I woke, I was safely tucked into a bed. At first I woke slowly, my eyes blinking open due to the sun filling in from the window nearby, before the image of Axel flashed from my memory and I shot awake instantly, heart racing once again. My paws clutched the blanket at my waist tightly as I sat up, looking around.

I was back into the room at the school, it seemed. The sun was just starting rise, shining right into the window. Axel wasn't here, but I remembered Hypno. I quickly rose and got to the floor, making my way to the door and outside. I clambered down the stairs as quickly as I could and made for Hypno's door, stopping as I realized it was cracked open just a bit and I could hear inside the voice of Infernape.

"I can't believe this really happened..." He said in clear disbelief.

"Well, it has and now we have to make sure we do everything we can to correct it." Pangoro's gruff voiced answered, "Hypno, are you sure about this?"

"Without a doubt, something beyond us is happening now. I do not believe it is coincidence that this Eevee came when he did."

"But what you're saying, about Ruli, that he's..." Infernape stopped, and it was now that I decided it best to push open the door and enter, finding the Infernape shaking his head in more disbelief before they all turned their heads at me.

"Ruli." Pangoro started, frowning a moment, "Or...I guess it doesn't matter..." He sighed deeply.

"Is Axel okay...?" I asked him quietly, ignoring the comment and rubbing my left arm with my opposite paw.

The big panda blinked a moment, before saying, "Yes, he is with the town's healer. He'll recover after a few days and the most I've been told he'll suffer is a scar. Until he is back on his feet though, we have no way of knowing if he'll suffer any kind of brain damage."

"Brain damage?" I asked worriedly, and now Infernape spoke.

"It is unlikely that he will though." He assured me, "All pokemon are very durable, afterall, we can live through things that would kill normal creatures."

"Oh..." I nodded and sighed softly, "All right..."

The Pangoro and the Infernape looked at each other, than at Hypno, who only stared back at them both. Pangoro then kneeled in front of me and asked, "Can you tell me what happened?"

I nodded and took a moment to get my bearings, "We were trying to find our flags and we couldn't, we ended up getting lost in the woods."

"You would have found them easily." Infernape grumbled, "Machop found them first and he tore them up."

"He what?!" I shouted, paws balling into fists again.

"Easy." Pangoro grumbled at me in his deep voice and I took another moment to calm down, continuing my explanation.

"We stopped to rest, and then Machop and his gang appeared. They threatened me and then made to attack me, but Axel shoved me out of the way and took the hit...I tripped over a tree root so I didn't see, but I guess they hit him instead and ran off."

"Makes sense..." Pangoro grumbled again.

"Sir?" I tilted my head a bit to the side.

He grimaced as he seemed to consider telling me, "Machop, or any of his gang, haven't been seen since last night, they didn't come home from the assignment after finding their flags."

"They've assaulted a member of the Eeveelutions family. It's a very considerable offense..." Infernape stated, "They're probably scared out of their minds now..."

"Why is that?" I asked, and again, Pangoro and Infernape looked at each other, and Hypno spoke up.

"Do you believe now?" He asked them both, as they looked at him and he continued, "Something has happened...what I don't know, but this Riolu," He looked at me, "Is not Ruli."

I gulped and felt my ears twitch back against my head as the Pangoro stared right into my eyes as I looked up at him as well.

"Is this true?" He growled lightly, and I stared a moment longer before I looked away and shivered.

"I-I don't remember who I am...I'm not Ruli though..." I shuffled my feet on the floor.

"Then who are you if not him? If not a Riolu at all then what are you?" Infernape followed up, "The Lucario packs are miles away from here." He glared over at Hypno, "This...is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard from you in all the years we've known each other."

"Is it?" Hypno questioned, "Four years ago we found a lost Riolu in the woods, miles away from the Lucario packs. Back then you said close to the same thing, that was nearly impossible for a Riolu to be so far away from the mountains. It is not impossible for this Riolu to not be Ruli."

"Regardless of all that." Pangoro rumbled, just before Infernape was about to continue arguing with the other pokemon. "For now, we have to work with what we know."

He eyed me again, "You may not be Ruli, but for now, that will be your name. I'm sure by now you've realized that Ruli isn't very well liked by everyone here. He was a...energetic individual, he always got into some kind of trouble."

"Or paid attention in class." Infernape added, "By the way, if you're really not Ruli, why did you go along with all of this? Why didn't you speak up?"

"I tried, you didn't believe me..." I stared at him a moment, "And well...I don't remember my name, but I remember who I am. I'm a good pokemon." I hiccuped as I said the last word. I almost said 'human'.

"I went to school...somewhere...I had a family." I grimaced slightly, trying to remember, why was it so hard? "I think...anyway. I went to sleep one night, and woke up in the forest with Infernape yelling at me."

The three pokemon stayed silent. Pangoro seemed troubled and torn between believing me and not believing me, Infernape's face told me he still didn't believe a single thing I said, and Hypno continued to stare at that coin of his as he swung in front of his own face. Did I mention Hypno are creepy?

"I'm sorry." I said quickly, "But...I'd like to go see Axel."

"Hmm oh, sure. I guess debating here isn't getting us any further." Pangoro nodded and he looked at the other two a moment.

"Before you go Ruli." Hypno said, continuing to address me with the name, "I would like to speak with you alone."

I gulped, but the other two didn't notice and walked past me to leave, Infernape closing the door behind himself, where upon I heard him start cursing and state as he walked away, "This is all a bunch of damn nonsense."

I looked at Hypno with a grimace, "They let him teach students? Every other word out of him is a swear."

He actually chuckled, which oddly made me feel good. "Infernape has his quirks, just as we all do. He keeps his anger in check around students. Let's discuss current matters though."

He looked at me then, "I know what you are."

I stared right back at him, eventually drawing up the courage to speech, "A-and?"

"Your kind are not taken to with favor here..." Hypno returned his gaze to his coin, "Somehow, you have been turned into a pokemon, and our Ruli has vanished. Perhaps though, you are Ruli, but you've taken over as host to his body. There are many possibilities..."

"When did you figure it out?"

"When you first came in here thinking I was the principal, it stuck me as odd but I didn't think any more of it at that time. But then after he got you all in the forest, Infernape told me how you tried to take a chair in the front row of class and that you were acting very uncharacteristic. He also told me how he had found you napping in the forest the day before and that; in his words, you were spouting something ludicrous about how you weren't Ruli. After that, I started to meditate and I followed you with my mind's eye."

"You were watching me?" I asked then I got upset, "Why didn't you help us when they were going to bully me!?"

"You misunderstand what I can do. I can see events happen from long distances, but only after they occur. What I saw was about a minute behind the present. When I saw Axel get wounded in my vision, that was when I teleported to you, but a minute had already passed."

I narrowed my eyes, "So you didn't teleport when they said they were going to attack me instead?"

"They attacked you often. Usually you would put up a fight, and send at least one of them back home with a few bruises of their own. It was not uncommon."

"Whatever." I huffed and folded my arms, turned and opened the door to leave.

Hypno spoke as I was halfway through the door, making me pause, "I know of your world, it is connected to ours. You will find that this world is much different than yours. It reacts to things in ways you would never understand. Be careful in what you do."

I finished closing the door after he spoke and stood there on the opposite end. Axel had told me his family was responsible for keeping this world safe from humans. What was it exactly they did to do that?

For now though, I wanted to make sure Axel was okay, so I made my way to the door to the school and stepped out.