FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

One year later.

--

“Fenny, dodge that thunderbolt and flame charge!" Cassidy shouted at her male fennekin wearing a mini green bow on his chest, pointing at a pikachu across the grassy field with its trainer backing it.

The trainer was a young woman, years and years older than Cassidy; they faced each other a distance from Laverre's gym.

With outstretched arms, a glare, and sparkling yellow-blue electricity flaring from the red sacs on its cheeks, the pikachu squeezed its eyes shut with a tense tail, its hackles standing on end. “Pihhh…" it growled with gradual rise in its tone, the sparks crackling audibly and expanding from its cheeks around the air to cover a wider, intimidating radius.

Meanwhile, Fenny's eyes wore wide, evident fear. He stood rigid while on alert, his limbs a quivering stiff.

“Kachuuu!" the pikachu roared and burst energy from its sacs, spurring the surrounding electricity into a channeled, static jagged stream.

The attack's blinding bright presence winced everyone's eyes, and the vicinity's static raised everyone's hair and fur.

The pikachu shot the erratic current directly at Fenny, who scrambled to move, but not nearly quick enough. His attempt at evading resulted in half the thunderbolt missing its mark, but the latter half, drawing itself to Fenny, struck.

“Nhknn!" Fenny pinched his eyes shut while the voltage coursed through him, shook his being, and spiked his fur. When it let up, he panted, stumbled over his paws, and fell onto his side with tears in his eyes while smoke rose from his char-stained fur. After gathering himself, he darted back to Cassidy and hid behind her legs with a tucked tail.

“Fenny…" She slightly twisted her body and narrowed her brows at him. “We are still battling. You must faint your opponent." She stepped aside, but he followed her legs to stay hidden.

She looked ahead at the pikachu and its trainer watching, which flushed her cheeks. “Ugh…" Cassidy swiftly reached into her hip bag and grabbed a pokéball, shaking to test its weight before pulling it out and pressing the release with her thumb to return Fenny in a swift flash of white.

Cassidy dropped it back in her bag and swapped with one that had more weight to it. “Alright, Añu…" She pressed the release and tossed her riolu onto the field.

---

Cassidy lay in bed atop the blanket as little more than a depressed puddle, amplified by the fact that they'd lost the battle earlier. Añu had done solid damage and Garna had gotten them close.

The curtains were closed; the room was dark. A book titled 'Battle Basics' from Paldea's Blueberry Academy was on the floor by the bed. It had been on the bed. Now it was on the floor.

Last she'd checked, Garna was helping Añu get food in the kitchen. Fenny was currently curled up at the bottom of the bed by Cassidy's feet.

She stared blankly into space. Her mind raced. For once, it wasn't about her parents or how increasingly dreary life felt nowadays.

She pushed herself off her hands and sat up, looking down at Fenny, whose eyes were closed. She reached and grabbed him.

“Nh–" he yipped and shot his eyes open while being lifted under his forelegs.

With her breath held to handle his weight, she eyed him without expression, holding him out and keeping him suspended in the air with his hind legs dangling. His body heat flared in her hands. “Why do not you want to battle?" Her eyes darted around. “...Mh, that sounds weird. What is it… don't?"

He blinked.

“Why don't you want to battle? This is our third try." Cassidy had adopted him two months ago and Añu more recently. She'd been attempting to ease them both into battling under her command, which Añu had adapted to quickly enough, having come from a background in battling.

Fenny, however, had been nothing but opposed to battling from day one, and she hadn't a clue as to why. He'd been willing to learn moves with her guidance, but against live opponents, he became entirely skittish.

She set him down with a short sigh. “You like flame charge, mh? It is your favorite to perform when we train."

He sat and looked up at her. “Kin."

“We have spent a lot of time harnessing your abilities. Don't you want to use them against other pokémon?"

Fenny didn't shake his head, but he folded his ears and slightly cowered at the question.

“...That is fine." She reached and patted his head, then lay back, her head hitting her pillow. Shortly after closing her eyes, she felt a paw on her arm and opened them, turning her head to see Fenny standing before her. Cassidy raised her hand against his stomach and drew with her fingers, so he followed, where she tucked him against her side.

He lay against her arm and curled up beside her, resting his chin on her tummy.

She hugged him with her arm and shut her eyes again. While Fenny didn't find battling appealing, he happened to be a great cuddler. He insisted on doing so often for hours at a time.

She shifted onto her side and hugged his body now with both arms.

In the blink of an eye or what felt like one, Cassidy opened hers. The room was darker, Fenny was still sound asleep in her embrace, and she felt a glaring energy.

'Did you sleep well?'

Her breath hitched. Cassidy tensed for a moment upon hearing a voice in her head, then relaxed. 'Garna?' she said through her mind and looked down at the gardevoir leaning against the doorway with clasped hands. 'I… did,' she replied with a slight wince and pursed lips.

Garna could communicate freely via telepathy. For Cassidy, while she now understood the art's basics, she had to strain to get her words through to her partner.

Garna grinned while studying Cassidy and Fenny. 'I'm glad you have him.'

Cassidy shot him a glance. 'It is– ss…' she winced tighter. 'Sad.'

'How do you mean?' Garna's grin faltered.

'Bec-cause.' She clenched her jaw and swallowed. 'You and h-ghim are all ah… I have.'

'What we have is all we have. We should appreciate what we have.' Garna narrowed her eyes at Cassidy as if studying her closer. 'You shouldn't reply. You'll give yourself a migraine.'

Cassidy dropped her strain with a deep exhalation; an abrupt onslaught of negativity struck her and replaced it, driving her to tears. They welled in her eyes, but she remained still without a sniffle.

Garna turned her face. 'I shouldn't have come.'

'No, I– I-Ihn…' Cassidy grabbed at the blanket as an ache swelled in her head.

'Tea?'

Cassidy stopped her attempt once more. She sniffled, and she nodded, and Garna slipped away.

Cassidy's head pounded, she didn't bother wiping the tears away, and her mind thought against her will. “I still need them back," she whispered.

Fenny had yet to stir besides a shift or two in his sleep, which was good. She didn't want the concern. She should have declined the tea, and she barely wanted to hold Fenny anymore.

Yet, minutes later, Garna reappeared at the door. 'Cassidy.'

And Cassidy found herself sitting across from her at the dining room table with puffy eyes, a slouched posture, and a steamy mug sitting before her.

Añu was lying on the couch, awake.

Garna lifted her mug by its handle and sipped. 'Herbs with traces of pecha. It should help ease you.'

Cassidy slumped back in her chair and watched the steam rise. “Nothing will." Her tone was as tired as she.

'I know.' Garna set her mug down. 'What makes you feel?'

She eventually sat up in her chair, grabbed the mug, and blew some steam off the top before sipping. It warmed her mouth and trickled down her throat. “Winning battles… but it does not last."

Garna didn't reply, and really, there was nothing to be said.

Cassidy blinked while watching the dissipating steam, then drew her eyes aside, her head following to focus on her bedroom door. "I will be back." She pushed her chair back and stood, going to her room and kneeling by her book pile. Due to the poor lighting, she squinted while glancing over titles and quietly moving book after book aside—until her eyes found what they were looking for. "Ah." She grabbed Hex Guidelines.

As she stood with it and started toward the door, she caught movement and stopped. She looked beside her to see Fenny sitting up. "Sorry to wake you."

He yawned and eyed her with question, taking a step toward her.

"I am going to read in the living room... Did you want to come?"

He nodded. "Fen."

"Follow." She left and returned to the table with the book tucked under her arm, picking up her mug. "I will take this to the couch."

'May I join?' Garna asked.

"Of course," Cassidy said. "You are always a good help." She approached the living room couch; Añu lifted his head and looked at her, Garna, then down at Fenny on the floor. "Move over, please.

He did and sat up, stretching his arms. Cassidy sat beside him, Fenny hopped up on her other side and snuggled by her hip and Garna sat by him and leaned over as Cassidy set the book in her lap and opened it.

"No more headaches..." Cassidy mumbled while flipping through pages to reach her last bookmark, then went back fifty and settled on chapter twenty. "Here."

'Revisiting telepathy and mental fortitude, are we?' Garna asked.

Añu leaned on Cassidy and tilted his head while staring at the page, and Fenny looked between everyone huddled.

"I must have missed something that I need to strengthen. We will reread," she said while scanning the first couple of paragraphs and bulleted lists beneath them.