FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Zye had to act quick, Thomas' increased struggles were causing more and more of the rigging to ensnare the man. It burst the inflatable pouch and bit at each strand of the ancient rope; the strange oily residue now coating it's tongue as a possible reason to the rigging's lack of deterioration in the briny deep. When Thomas' thrashing body went limp Zye began to fear the worst. Which is when the most peculiar of things happened.

"Thomaaaas..."

A howling voice rumbled through the water, screaming not so much for Thomas, but in a pokemon language unique to itself. Zygarde could sense whatever was behind the howl was very closely connected to his human companion. Bright blue energy resonated along with the word while specks of light green pulsed towards them from off in the distance.

"Thomaaaaaas..."

Zye stared intently towards the origin of the voice, trying to discern if it meant his friend harm. But sensing the purpose in the emotions behind the noise, he assumed the threat to be negligible. A decision he reconsidered as the voice's owner quickly made themselves known.

"THOMAAAAAAAS!"

A Gyarados swam towards them at breakneck speed, eyes wide and very, very determined. Upon seeing the semi-conscious human caught in the rigging, it lined itself up and charged, mouth open wide. Zye Grabbed ahold of Thomas with its paws as tightly as possible, attempting to yank the man out of the way, but it was too late; they were swept into the gaping maw of the massive pokemon.

Before Zye could consider their next move, the Gyarados pulled a sharp turn, tearing the rigging from it's mountings and shot for the surface of the water. However upon breaching it a hail of gunfire bore down on them. The pokemon's aura turned from a light blue to a dark yellow; fear overtaking him as it's thick armour-like scales began to crack under the weight of bullets. Whatever Zye was worried about faded quick as he realised the Water-type was there to save the trainer. 'Dive!'

The pokemon did as it was told without question or hesitation, drenching the surrounding traitorous Rangers and Rocket members alike as it made haste to the sea floor. 'There is a cave nearby.' Zye knew Thomas needed to breathe, and he hoped there would be enough air there to resuscitate the man. It was a matter of seconds for the Gyarados to reach the cave mouth, and another couple to navigate it's passage before reaching a small pocket of air. Zye leapt from the blue pokemon's mouth and onto a small sandy area above the water. The small space was lit by some sort of glowing green algae lining the walls along the waters edge,. He needed no air himself, but could tell it was breathable, so dragged his human friend onto the ground.

“Thomas?" The Gyarados asked.

'Yes.' Zye stated offhandedly as he leapt bodily onto the man's chest. 'Yes he is.'

“THOMAS!" He shouted happily before realising the little green and black dog was not sharing his joy. <What is wrong?> He asked, realising a living being should be moving more than Thomas was.

'He will die if I cannot revive him.' Zye was attempting to beat the water from Thomas' chest with his paws, with little success. 'His lungs still retain water.'

The Gyarados pushed Zye off Thomas' chest and looked down at the mans face. He pursed his massive lips and blew, focusing a recently learned move on the man's throat. A few painfully silent moments passed until a whirlpool of water cascaded from Thomas' mouth, and after a particularly forceful flick of the pokemon's tail against his chest, Thomas was startled awake. Zye all but collapsed in relief.

“Thomas!" The Gyarados exclaimed happily, wrapping it's massive bulk around the man in an elated hug.

“H-Hi…" He coughed in reply, tapping the scaly sides of the beast as an indication to release him. The Gyarados relended and Thomas took several haggard breaths.

'He saved your life when I could not.' Zye sighed, Thomas barely able to hear a tone of shame in the pokemon's psychic voice.

“Thank you." Thomas wrapped his arms around the Gyarados' neck as far as they could reach and held him close. “Thank you." He saw the dejected looking dog sitting in the sand, calmly looking on. “And thank you. I cou- *coughcough* - ugh… could tell you... were trying to free me... from the ropes." Zye looked no different, but something in Thomas could tell the Zygarde's mood had lightened. “So now who are you?" He ruffled the fins atop the Gyarado's massive head.

“Thomas! Tom, Tom." It replied. Thomas raised an eyebrow and looked over to Zye for an explanation. He knew some pokemon spoke in their 'language' by simply repeating their species name over and over. A strange quirk, but one everyone had come to accept as normal. Others grunted, groaned, growled and in the case of Dusty; whinnied. But never had he seen a pokemon adopt someone else's name as their language.

'He means to say he is the chosen seeker.' Zye said, before looking back to the Gyarados with its own confused glare. 'Seeker of what?'

“THOMAS!" The proud shout reverberated through the small cave at deafening volume. Thomas covered his ears as Zye's eyes bulged.

'You.'

“Me; what?"

'He seeks you.' The Gyarados then opened a floodgate of noise as Thomas' name was used to describe the entire journey from the rock pools to this cave. It was when the tale began to get recursive about him recounting what was happening in the cave and starting the story over again but in the third person that Zye stopped him and gave a simplified account to Thomas.

“So you were sent to find me?" The Gyarados nodded. “By a mysterious stranger." He nodded again, except raised up to proudly display the remains of the 'scarf'. It had been encased in a thin layer of the gyarados' plating upon evolution, the top having snapped when it outgrew the fabric, forming a greenish 'X' on one of the yellow plates under his chin. Upon the fabric was several scribbled lines, faded from what seemed to be some sort of water damage, but unreadable mostly because it lay behind a fingernails width of translucent armour plating.

The man's pokedex began beeping, breaking up the group's discussion. He looked to the bracer-mounted device and went bug-eyed at the text. 'Co2 Alert: Seek oxygen immediately.' “Thomas?" The Gyarados asked, curious as to why the man's arm was making noise.

“Sorry guys, we need to go. The air won't be breathable for much longer." Red eyes looked confused from Thomas to Zye, hoping for the other pokemon to explain what the human seemed concerned about. It took a moment before he seemed to understand the problem, though his reaction was not what Thomas was expecting. He opened his mouth wide and waited. “Uh…"

Zye indicated to Thomas to get closer. Thomas did so, looking into the gaping maw, but was still lost. 'Get in.'

“Excuse me?" Thomas looked dumbfounded, first to Zye giving him the order, then to the Gyarados who seemed fine with the whole thing.

'He is a water pokemon. He can filter oxygen from the water. He thinks he can re-direct some of that oxygen to his mouth, allowing you to breathe.'

“You want the Gyarados to swallow me, so I can leave the cave?" Zye nodded at the man's question. Thomas took a deep breath, considering his options. They were practically nonexistent. “Okay then." He took a step up onto the Gyardos' lip and then onto his tongue before being spat back out onto the sand.

'T-Thomas. Toh… mas?" He asked apologetically.

Zye tried to hide a grin. 'He's asking you to take your shoes off.' Thomas raised his eyebrows, but given the big blue 'mon just saved his life and was offering to do so again, he figured he should abide by the request. He took his soaked shoes and retractable flippers off. The Gyarados whispered something to Zye. 'And your clothes.'

“Sorry?" Thomas' heart stopped.

'He's requested you bundle everything up in those clothes so I can hold on to them. Otherwise he will be uncomfortable.' Zye grinned, and while at any other time Thomas may have been amused at that change of emotion, right now the man was more focused on what was being asked of him. But again, he reasoned the Gyarados had his best interests in mind and began to strip. He peeled off his top and halfway through removing the pants realised that given he'd probably end up in the water at some point, he'd neglected to wear any kind of underwear. Normally fine when going surfing or swimming, but Thomas couldn't help feeling exposed in front of this new pokemon. However with a mildly amused glare from Zye, the man sighed and continued to get everything off.

It took Thomas a minute or two for him to get it all tied up inside the swimming top and pants tightly enough it wouldn't just spill out into the ocean. He kept his lone bracer on while he handed the package - including the assortment of occupied and unoccupied pokeballs - to Zye, who took it in his mouth. The dog then leapt up onto the Gyarados' head and wrapped his scarf-like ribbons around the pokemon's forehead horns like reins.

He again took a step up, placing a foot on the massive white lip. It was much firmer than he'd expected, and rubbery in texture. Thomas could feel the pokemon's muscles tense and purse to take his weight as he shifted position, placing the other foot on the Gyarados' tongue. He shivered at the sensation; a wet slickness combined with a somewhat bumpy texture much like an enlarged version of his own tongue. A humid warmth blew past as he knelt down, The pokemon readjusting it's body to allow his throat to open a little wider for the man.

With a gulp followed by a deep breath, Thomas slid prone into the crimson void. 'Just relax, this will hopefully not take long.' Zye attempted to comfort the man, but there was little that could be said to reassure Thomas as he prepared to be half-eaten. The slickness against his feet turned from something akin to a primal fear to an entirely different sensation as he allowed himself to slip into the Gyarados' throat.

To start with, Thomas' shins were engulfed by rippling muscles pulling him deeper. He gasped as they squished and gulped him down, his thighs sliding against the slick flesh next. His legs slowly swallowed with such an intense sensation caused him to lose his balance and land on his thigh, the tongue's base pushing up against him at an angle to force him over onto his belly. As soon as he was repositioned his hands darted out to grab the Gyarados' lower fangs, the teeth providing just enough of a handhold as he allowed the muscles tugging at his feet to pull him fully inside the massive maw.

And then Thomas watched as the Gyarados' lips slowly came together, sealing him inside the tight, moist cavern. The man's heart was beating fast even though he was trying his best to steady his breathing and calm down. But as the pokemon turned to leave the cave, all thoughts of staying calm went far out the window. Every twist and turn the Gyarados caused it's muscles to wring his body in a way Thomas had never experienced before. The undulating movements of the pokemon were surely less extreme than would normally be the case, but it still had to move through the water in a somewhat serpentine fashion to be efficient and maneuverable. 'Are you comfortable?'

'Oh Arceus…' Tomas tried to think straight and respond appropriately to Zye's question, but the sensations wracking his body were more than he could take. 'It… it…' He could feel himself becoming aroused at the incredibly intimate and alien situation that had befallen him. As his cock pressed against the slick throat of the Gyarados, Thomas moaned.

'How interesting.' Thomas could feel Zye probe his mind for more information. 'You are having a different reaction than expected.'

'No shit…' Thomas couldn't help but think, the fleshy walls of his transport firmly massaging him, trying to pull him into a place further down the massive gullet than he was prepared to allow. He gripped the bottom teeth as tight as he could, but otherwise his arms were like jelly from the overflow of sensation.

'Do you like it?' Thomas' heart skipped a beat, his cock throbbing hard as he listened to Zye's words. It wasn't so much the question, but how it was asked. It hadn't phrased it as though asking someone what colour they prefer their car to be, but like someone asking their lover if they liked the box of chocolates after a date. There was a certain amount of expectation behind that question.

Thomas knew Zye would be able to see his aura, so there was no point in lying. 'Yes, though it's a bit… scary…'

'You know you need not fear being eaten. So is this fear of yours part of your arousal?' Thomas thought about that. Zye was right. The Gyarados meant him no harm, and the zygarde would certainly put a stop to anything if the pokemon did try something. So why was he feeling that way? Then a guttural gulp managed to wrench one unprepared hand free of the tooth it was holding on to, and Thomas' heart rate went back up. 'It is, isn't it…'

'I- I just…' He couldn't form the words into an appropriate sentence 'slippery and cock and oh gods it feels good but so tight and dark and i don't want to be eaten but I know I won't and oh the way he moves oh why do I feel like this oh don't go up don't go up oh gods he's going up…' The words flooded through Thomas' mind and into Zye's. A mess of wants, needs, fears and exclamations of lust.

Then something changed; the Gyarados began moving much more harshly, his body writhing up and down, forcing Thomas' body to conform to those same bucking movements. 'Do you like that?' Zye's commanding voice echoed through the man's mind. 'Do you like being eaten?' The zygarde must have asked their transport to move more naturally, or at least less gently than it had been.

Thomas almost lost it then and there. Zye was teasing him, and it was working. He didn't just like it. He loved it. Sure, it was a gross perversion even for him - the pokemon fucker - to enjoy being swallowed, but could anyone blame him? Naked, suspended in a Gyarados' throat as it wound its way through the waves? The feeling of his legs being slowly massaged deeper and deeper into the slimy gullet would have been enough to give him an instant state of arousal, but the way the throat constricted around Thomas, rippling down his chest and back and over his arse and thighs was something else entirely.

The trio bucked and weaved their way through a new cave system, unbeknownst to the human inside. Tight passageways and sharp turns forcing slower but more intense movements from the serpentine pokemon as they travelled, resulting in a myriad of glorious angles and constrictions along Thomas' body. “Unh…" He moaned, thrusting his saliva-coated cock against the fleshy wall tightly pressed against it.

'Yes, you do like being eaten.' Zye teased again. 'Does it feel good to be swallowed?' Suddenly the muscles around Thomas pulled tight, yanking the last hand from the tooth it had been holding onto. With a muffled yelp Thomas was dragged a foot deeper into the pokemon's gullet, unable to keep himself steady by anchoring to the beasts jaw. His body was squeezed and pulled one way and another as the Gyarados took a left turn, then a right, twisting through the caverns in a way that only seemed to push Thomas closer and closer to orgasm. 'Because he likes you in there; in his belly. He loves your taste.'

“Arceus, please…" Thomas begged, but even he couldn't tell what for. Release? Escape? At this stage he wasn't sure which he wanted more. His arms were forced above his head as he slipped another foot further in, his feet pushing up against a tight ring of muscle. He couldn't have moved even if he wanted to. Thomas was now helpless, his face angled just enough to keep his mouth clear of the tightly pulsing throat as it massaged him up and down.

'You desire release?' Zye's words were like fire in Thomas' brain. They seemed to exploit his wants and desires, his perverted need to be swallowed by their new friend. Thomas moaned an affirmative. 'Well, how do you feel about a creamy marinade?'

Thomas was a little confused as to the wording of the question until his mind boomed with the Gyarados' thoughts. 'Creamy Marinade!' The entire passage shuddered, slickly wringing the man from head to toe as the pokemon gulped in anticipation. It was too much for Thomas. His body shuddered, a sharp tingling sensation burning in his fingertips and toes only to cascade inward until his whole body felt like it was buzzing with electricity all the way to his erect member.

“AAaaaahhhh!!!" He screamed into the fleshy void as his cock fired strand after strand of jizz into the Gyarados' throat.

“THOMAAAAS!" The Gyarados exclaimed, feeling the flavourful bursts of the man's cum fire against his throat.

'Yes, feed him, Thomas.' Zye growled into the man's mind. But Thomas was already well beyond that point, bucking his hips with every twist and turn the Gyarados made through the subnautical caverns. 'What a good morsel.'

Thomas panted heavily, the miniscule supply of oxygen barely enough to keep him conscious laying still, let alone being pushed through such an intense sexual experience. “I... I…"As his balls tensed and relaxed over and over - his cock pulsing with seed - Thomas slid into unconsciousness.

---

Thomas awoke with a start as he felt his body pushed up through the fleshy tunnel and out onto cold, dry sand. He coughed a few times before inhaling a big lungful of crisp, fresh air. Blinking his eyesight back into focus, he looked around. The Gyarados - who was running his tongue around the inside of his mouth like someone trying to find that last bit of delicious food tucked away behind a tooth - was resting at the waters edge a few feet away while Zye had leapt down to investigate some stonework nearby. Thomas spotted his bundle of clothes in the sand, but looking around realised there was no need to get dressed yet and left it there for the moment.

Zye looked to the Gyarados, who stared back, they both nodded and the massive blue water type swam off. The green and black dog turned to Thomas 'He has gone to feed on something more… substantial.' The subtle grin was enough for Thomas to realise the pokemon was still teasing him, but the tone became more serious as it turned back to the stone. 'This is an ancient temple.'

“Temple?" Thomas asked, his voice echoing off the algae-covered rock; it's blue-green glow the only source of light available to them.

'Yes. Constructed by Pokemon of old in respect to my kin.' it pointed with it's muzzle to carvings in the rock. Thomas took a step toward it to have a closer look. Sure enough the hexagonal pattern across Zye's body was repeated across the shaped columns and archways tunneling into the structure. Several yards into what appeared to be the primary passage a massive stone door blocked the way. 'Sealing us away until we were summoned again.'

Thomas was about to ask why they had been sealed away in the first place, but Zye silenced him by slapping it's paws down against the polished stone floor. Groaning ripples spread outwards along the pathway to the doors, where Thomas could hear several crunchy clicks and the whirring of some sort of machinery. He looked on in awe as the massive doors slid apart, into the walls on either side. As they parted, nothing but darkness was revealed beyond. The man gulped. “We're going in?"

'Yes we are.'

Thomas grabbed for some of the algae on the walls and rubbed it on his bracer. The act of scooping it off caused the stuff to glow even brighter, which Thomas was thankful for as he and his mythical pal descended into the otherwise pitch-black tunnel. It took nearly a minute of walking, with enough twists and bends that the algae-lit cavern behind them was only a glimmer on the shiny stone walls. Whatever pokemon had carved this passageway had taken substantial pride in their work. The surface was polished to an almost mirror finish, with a hexagonal pattern carved throughout; each cell the size of Thomas' fist and all regular except for the occasional one with a dot in it's centre.

Zye led him further into the passage until at last the space opened up into a much wider cavern. Thomas gasped. The space was about fifty feet in diameter, and almost perfectly spherical. They had walked out maybe a third of the way up the side of the space, leaving a reasonably angled surface going down the sides to the bottom; which Zye wasted no time in sliding down. Thomas wisely chose to stay at the edge and look on.

'Interesting…' Zye padded through the ankle-deep water to a dais in the center. Another of the green pokemon like himself lay suspended in a kind of geodesic cage. Thomas couldn't tell if it was alive or not, but Zye seemed to pay it little mind. 'This one still slumbers.' The black muzzle prodded the cage gently, but there was no response. 'Well, that will make this much easier.'

Thomas watches as Zye placed a paw through the geometric bars of the cage until it pressed down on the green pokemon. Then a shimmering red light began to fill the chamber as the red shape in it's belly shone bright. It was hard for the man to see beyond the searing light, but he could just make out the green figure slowly being absorbed into the Zygarde's body. The hexagonal pattern down Zye's back shimmered and seemed almost to fall apart, like tiles that had been placed but not properly affixed to a floor being jostled around by heavy footsteps.

The process itself did not take long, with the red light disappearing from Zye's eyes not long after being accepted into its new body. But before Thomas could ask if the pokemon was okay, the walls and tunnel around him began to shift and crack. The man leapt out of the way as the hexagonal stones with tiny dots erupted, dozens of little zygarde cells pouring into the spherical chamber to flow up and into the green and black pokemon. The canine's bulk seemed to increase, but once all the cells were inside, with a deep breath Zyre returned to it's normal size. And collapsed to the floor.

Thomas leapt down the smooth sides of the sphere and splashed through the puddle of water to his friend's side. “Zye, are you okay?" He pulled the black muzzle free from the water, white eyes blinking up at him weakly.

'I require rest.' It managed to say, words barely perceptible in Thomas' mind. He breathed a sigh of relief, the pokemon doing fine for the moment. With a grunt, he lifted the now heavier zygarde up to his chest, and cautiously made his way back up the side of the cavern. Using the broken pieces of stone from the various cells escapes as footholds, Thomas made short work of the climb and eventually brought Zye back out into the larger Algae-lined cave. He placed it on the sand near his stash of clothes and collapsed between them himself.

Whatever Zye was, Thomas could tell he was growing in power. But what did it require the other core for? Did it just eat the other one? Or are they both in there somewhere? He had little time to think about it before the Gyarados returned.

“Thomas?" He enquired, looking to the collapsed Zygarde.

“Hey big guy." Thomas groaned, sitting up. “Oh him? He wanted to do a bit of exploring, and kinda found more of his kind. I think." The Gyarados looked the smaller pokemon up and down, then just nodded. Thomas looked to the way they came in. “Don't suppose you know the way out?" The massive blue and beige head swung heavily side to side. “Ah." Thomas reasoned they'd be stuck in there until Zye could lead them back out. “So where were you then?"

The Gyarados let out an almighty burp, a krabby claw lodging itself in the sand next to the man's leg. “Mas… Tom." He said somewhat sheepishly.

“Fair enough." Thomas' stomach rumbled at the thought of food, but he just readjusted his position in the sand. “Guess we gotta wait for Zye to wake up." Gyarados rested his head on the sand, looking at Thomas as ripples of water lapped against its cheeks. “What?"

“Thomas. Tom?" It looked from Thomas to the Zygarde, then to his clothes.

“You want to know what I'm doing here with him?" Thomas hiked a thumb in the zygarde's direction, and the Gyarados nodded. “Okay then." He proceeded to fill the pokemon in on his journey, from meeting Jeremy back in Milra to the various scenarios involving Rocket Rising, sneaking around and his various stints in Caves; the latter of which seemed to get the pokemon really excited. He made the Gyarados aware of how important the Zygarde was, and how they'd effectively managed to deal with the Rocket grunts for the time being, but now he was headed away from Vandimland, he had no idea who else would be after them.

Thomas talked about his crew, describing them each in turn with the Gyarados again becoming very excited with the mention of Carmen, though Thomas could not for the life of him understand why. The language divide was too great for that particular depth of conversation, and he decided it best to just keep going with his tale than to dwell on particulars.

Once he'd caught the pokemon up on everything leading to their meeting, Thomas stopped and thought aloud “I always wondered, how can you understand me? I mean… I don't understand you, us humans have to learn languages, but every pokemon I've met - wild or not - has been able to not only understand me, but understand pokemon that aren't even from this region."

'Humans forgot.' Zye moaned. Thomas' eyes darted to his friend, who was groggily attempting to stand. 'They once knew, but chose to think themselves better.' Zye shook its head, clearing it's mind before sitting calmly; if a bit woozy. 'Pokemon understand the natural balance, they speak with one language.'

Thomas was taken aback by the odd revelation. It was almost insulting the way the Zygarde talked about humans as being so arrogant. But upon thinking about it, the man had to concede the point; Humanity didn't have the best track record with Pokemon, especially once Pokeballs were invented. Questions poured into Thomas' mind. “But what about how some pokemon just repeat their species name. Or, well…" He gestures to the Gyarados.

'The words may be different. But the meaning is the same. Humans have forgotten how to understand the meaning. Some learn over time, like yourself.' Thomas blinked, confused. 'But even then it's more tied to one pokemon, than a species, or all at once.'

“Me? I… I don't-"

'Of course you can.' Zye padded over to the man and stared at him with a raised brow, their eyes level given Thomas was sitting and Zye standing. 'You and Jeremy are almost synchronised. Almost.' Thomas thought about it. They had had several times recently where he felt he understood Jeremy in more than just general gestures. He had caught himself responding to detailed questions, or snarky comments. And Jeremy had seemed almost surprised at his understanding, not to mention himself. Zye nodded, shakily strutting over to the Gyarados. 'It is time we left.'

The water pokemon slid into the water, dipping it's head down to allow Zye to mount it's neck like before; a pair of hexagonal patterned ribbons wrapping around the pokemon's horns as Thomas sighed. He'd have to get more answers another time. “Okay, just let me wash some of this sand off." He muttered, realising the trip back would probably involve a similar length of overstimulation. He tossed the soaked package of clothes and equipment up to Zye who caught it deftly.

Giving himself a quick rinse, Thomas stepped back into the shallows to look down the Gyarados' gullet. “Okay, no time like the present…" He grinned wearily, before hefting himself up into the crimson maw. “Just… be gentle…"

---

Cool blue light glimmered against the surface of the water as dawn broke over the ocean. Thomas had pulled himself up onto the Gyarados' back after a fair amount of help from the other two. His legs were barely working, the orgasmic trip up draining much of the man's energy. Zye passed him the bundle of gear and Thomas unwrapped it. After an awkward moment of trying to get pants on while straddling a pokemon, the man finally got himself organised enough to find the portable radio.

Thomas clicked the switch allowing him to talk. “Zana, come in."

“RARK!" Came a shout from the other end of the line. Thomas cringed, raising a sorry brow to the Zygarde who looked amused. “What time do you call this?!"

Thomas looked at his pokedex, still functioning thanks to the waterproof casing. “Five forty-seven." He realised as soon as he'd said it that he'd pay for joking around.

“It's been HOURS!"

“Thomas?" Carmen's worriedly excited warble scratched though the bad connection.

“THOMAS!" The Gyarados shouted back, hearing his mysterious stranger's voice.

“Thomas…" Zana growled, the man could feel her rubbing her temples through the radio noise. “We are going to have a talk when we get back…"

“Yes ma'am." Thomas sighed. He looked to Zye who shrugged, the hint of a grin crossed it's muzzle. The man sighed, shaking his head as a way to get his mind back to business. “Have the others come back?"

“You lost Jeremy... again?"

Thomas' hand dashed to his hips, the man breathing a sigh of relief as he found both Dusty and Jeremy's ball right where they should be. “No, no. He's here. I meant Twine."

There was enough of a pause for Thomas to realise he hadn't really gone into the names of all the rangers with the rest of the crew. “Who?" Or realised they didn't know where she was hidden, so wouldn't have tried contacting her to explain what had happened.

“Nevermind. I've got a ride back to shore, I'll be there… soon? Ish?" He looked to the Gyarados who nodded. “As soon as I can. Okay?" There was silence. He felt she may have been trying to get him to address her 'properly' over open airwaves. “I shall return with haste, Zana." It was a concession he'd be punished for later, but knew well enough that their communication was not secure. And given his tardiness in contacting her, his Mistress was going to punish him regardless.

“Very well. Be safe." She replied, the hint of a smile in her voice.

“You know me." Thomas said jokingly as he slid his shirt on.

“Exactly."

“Be safe." Carmen chimed in as well, giving both Thomas and the Gyarados a big smile.

“Okay you two, let's head back." With a roar and a jolt of speed Thomas was not ready for, the three of them shot off in the direction of shore. Plumes of white cascaded behind them as the Gyarados found a particularly speedy pace.

'We should keep watch.' Zye spoke into it's companion's minds, fortunately not having to compete with the noise of rushing water. 'The man known as Coil might be searching for us.'

“Doubt it!" Thomas shouted back with a smile. He showed the empty section of his belt that should be holding his emergency tracker. “Unless he bothered to check all his pockets!"

The trio were almost into Sidna bay when a Ranger dinghy pulled alongside. They handed him one of their radios, a relieved Twine on the other end. He couldn't tell them everything over the unsecured radio, so requested for Thomas to meet at their HQ as soon as possible for a debrief. He reluctantly accepted, figuring Zana would understand him coming back a little later than planned, especially given the Quilladin needed urgent medical attention.

The Gyarados followed the Rangers into dock and moped around the surface after Thomas explained that needed to go inland. One of the Rangers handed the man a blue patterned pokeball with a smile. The Gyarados seemed a little confused but once Thomas gave a brief rundown as to what the Dive Ball was about, he was more than happy to accept the offer of joining Thomas' crew. With a flash of light, the water type was inside the ball with an almost immediate ping. Clipping the newly acquired pokemon to his hip, Thomas ran his hands over the Quilladin's ball.

It took a little bit of convincing, but Zye agreed it might be best for trained professionals to see to the pokemon's 'unique' injuries. Thomas would head to the HQ, get the grass type healed and return it to Zye later. At that, Zye bid the man farewell and took off into the water to skirt around the industrial area and get back to the park near Ranger HQ. Another Ranger arrived in an armored car, apparently to give Thomas a lift to see Twine; which given Rocket Rising's persistence he was more than happy to take.

Upon arriving at the HQ he handed the Masterball to one of the staff walking past saying it was urgent, he disappeared off towards the HQ's medical station immediately while Thomas was quickly bustled into a meeting room. Rangers Twine and Braid sat waiting along with a third person. She looked similar to Braid - middle-aged hair done up in a bun, glasses and the same cut of uniform; except in grayscale as opposed to the others much more colourful garb. “Sorry I'm late." Thomas offered sheepishly.

Twine nodded as Braid couldn't help herself “We thought you… well…"

“We're glad to see you returned safe and sound, Mister Drake." Twine interrupted the Ranger. “I trust the Zygarde did not wish to join us?"

Thomas shook his head, a slight grin across his face “Given what happened with Ranger Coil, he thought it safer not to."

Twine looked at the other two Rangers with concern. “Indeed. I feel I must apologise, Mr Drake." He tapped at his pokedex and swiped towards a wall-mounted monitor. Ranger Coil's ID was enlarged to fit the screen, with a large red 'DISAVOWED' stamped diagonally across it. “I had known for some time that Team Rocket had a mole within our ranks, and I had my suspicions." He smiled, gesturing to Thomas “But it was thanks to your quick thinking that we managed to catch him."

“Me?" Thomas looked a little sheepish as the rangers in the room nodded in affirmation.

Twine placed the emergency tracker on the table in front of him. “Clever thing putting your tracker on him. If he tried to find you he'd be unable, and if we tried, we'd find him instead." Twine then pulled a small box from one of his jacket pockets. “You also made it so the Rangers could find me." He stood up and began walking over to Thomas.

“What happened? I kinda got dragged away…" Thomas rubbed the back of his neck as his cheeks went bright red.

Twine stopped in front of Thomas and opened the box. In it was a small pin; their spiral symbol in gold emblazoned on a purple triangular background. “When we got separated in the base, I was flung into an equipment room. I managed to get a scuba tank on before the water filled the room, but by the time I made it out, you were nowhere to be seen." He attached the pin to Thomas' shirt. “The tank was almost out of air, so I swam to the surface. Coil was still out cold, but his accomplices tied me up. Ten minutes later, Ranger Braid arrived." he nodded to Braid, who nodded back. “Along with two fully armed squads. Both the goons and traitors surrendered without too much trouble." He chuckled, polishing the pin before stepping back. “They thought they were coming to find you, because of that tracker. Instead we found our mole, and managed to nab a bunch of wannabe gangsters in the process."

Thomas looked down at the shiny pin. “Thank you. Uh, what is it?"

Twine pat Thomas on the shoulder “The Rangers Triangle. In recognition of your quick thinking and determination that saved the life of a Ranger." He smiled at the trainer before going back to his seat. “Without your bravery in the face of danger, I'd have no doubt died in that brig." He gestured to the pin.

“If we've gotten the pleasantries out of the way," The third Ranger spoke up “I'm Investigator Cord. I need to ask you about what happened on the R.R.S. Kyogre." Thomas looked a little confused. “The ship you raided last night. At one point Ranger Twine and yourself became separated. Could you describe the events to the best of your knowledge?"

“Which time? The first or the second?" Thomas asked, getting a raised eyebrow back from the woman.

She turned to Twine who just smiled and shrugged. “Let's start at the first one and go from there."

Thomas took a deep breath and began to explain the sequence of events from Coil's betrayal and attempted capture of Zye, to the abandoning of the ship and placing of the tracker; which he was again commended for by Ranger Braid. He then spoke of his dive down to the base and rescue of both the Quilladin and Ranger Twine. They asked for details regarding the pokemon and Thomas reluctantly gave them as good a description as possible, with Twine bringing up images from their medical wing he must have received during their talk. The Quilladin was unconscious on an operation table, the bolts driven into it's shell still firmly attached though much of the blood had been cleaned off. It was all clearly beginning to affect Thomas, so Twine made a few notes on his pokedex and turned the images off.

Thomas was prompted to continue, so after collecting himself he described the slow flooding of the base and their confrontation with Bruno. He tried his best to relay the events from there without blushing, the arrival of the Gyarados, their trip through the caves and eventual return to safety. They could tell he was staying quiet about something, but Thomas kept them from the lewd truth by hinting that one of the caves held something important to the Zygarde that he did not want to talk to them about. While curious, they respected the man's choice and allowed him to finish with his recount of returning to the surface, radioing his pokemon waiting at the hotel before being picked up by a patrol in the harbour.

“And I got driven here in the back of an armored car - which is a new one for me - where I was taken straight here." He sighed heavily, relaxing back in his chair. “Zye was worried there might still be Rocket goons posing as Rangers, so didn't want to come even remotely close. I hope you understand."

Ranger Cord pushed her glasses back up her nose, then nodded. “Yes, as Twine said, that's entirely understandable. Fortunately," She shot the older man a critical glance “Ranger Twine had the foresight to have all communication monitored by an external company, which while that would be grounds for immediate termination, it did provide us with the identities of every undercover Rocket agent within our ranks. Or at least, any of the ones that shared mission critical information."

“And Coil?" Thomas asked, trying to change the subject from the rather uncomfortable - but proud - Twine. “You managed to catch him?"

“Yes." Braid replied, her grin tinged with disappointment. “He's being held in a secure site, waiting full interrogation."

“And Bruno?" Thomas' words were met with concerned silence. He closed his eyes and sighed.

“Bruno took his leave before I made it to the surface." Ranger Twine admitted sadly. “I think he shot off north, but by the time I could muster a search party, he was long gone. At least we managed to get several of his high-ranking underlings in the bust, so Rocket Rising's presence here in Vandimland will have taken a pretty big hit. Which is something." Thomas could tell Bruno getting away was as big of a deal for the Ranger as it was for him.

“So… what next?" Thomas asked, not entirely sure where the whole Rocket Rising situation lay.

Cord looked to Twine, who indicated she continue. “With Bruno in hiding, all we can do is keep an eye on the organisation. Rocket Rising is going to be in a bit of an upheaval for a while. We've managed to get information on some of the more illegal activities from those we captured - thanks to yourself - so we've begun assembling units to take care of that."

“We think they're arrogant enough to assume we'd spend time dealing with our own issues regarding moles and the like before chasing them down." Twine interjected. “But we're gonna steamroll 'em while they're down and call in support from Almia until we've sorted ourselves out-"

“NOT that you'd know such things, being a Civilian and all…" Cord growled at Thomas as she glared at Twine. “Things best forgotten once you leave this room. Are we clear?"

“Uh, clear about what?" Thomas offered with a compliant smile.

“Good. Aside from all that..." Cord paused as she swiped several times across her pokedex “...you're no longer a person of interest in the Route 13 murders or Parker Simons case. You've had your travel ban lifted-"

“I had a travel ban?" Thomas asked, a little shocked.

“Only international." Twine offered “We wanted to make sure you didn't leave until the authorities had conducted their investigation. And thanks to Bruno's recorded testimony at the Wooloobell Opera House, all charges pending have been dropped."

“However," Braid piped up “we understand you require passage to Unova?" Thomas nodded, trying to take everything in. “Well, we have managed to acquire you passage on the S.S. Dianne. Boarding is Tomorrow at 5pm." She swiped across her pokedex towards Thomas, his device chirping to indicate a received message. “Apparently the only room they had left was in first class." She grinned.

“Consider it 'services rendered' for your help in dealing with the Rocket Rising problem." Cord stated, showing little emotion compared to her Ranger counterparts. “We are grateful for your help in the capture of these criminals, and the infiltrators within our organisation."

“And saving my life." Twine added, smiling.

“Yes, and the rescue of Ranger Twine." Cord conceded. “It is also our understanding that you are working on contract with the Dragon Institute. Should you return after your contract has ended and wish to seek employment, I am sure the Vandimland Rangers would be more than welcoming for someone with your… tenacity."

“Thank you!" Thomas blurted, unsure exactly how to take the hinted offer of a job. He'd worried about what would happen if the Dragon Institute thing didn't work out, and now he had a backup. A huge weight lifted from his shoulders as he let out a massive, happy sigh.

In the closest Thomas had seen so far to a smile, Cord bowed her head slightly in respect. “No, thank you Mister Drake." She stood, arm outstretched. Thomas pulled himself out of the chair - legs still a little wobbly - and shook her hand. Braid and Twine then offered theirs.

“There is one last thing I wished to talk to you about, if I may?" Twine pulled Thomas aside as Rangers Braid and Cord left the room. “What you did was brave and foolish and damn near heroic." He pat Thomas on the shoulder, giving the trainer a warm tingle all over from the admiration. “But it was not something a normal person should ever have to go through." He turned Thomas to face him. “I saw the look in your eyes when you got to my cell. I saw them again when I put those pictures up. Seeing that Quilladin…"

Thomas felt his throat close and his eyes water as the memories of that bloody room came back. “I-"

“No." Twine sighed, giving him a hug. “Not here." Thomas wiped a tear from his eye and took a few deep breaths, nodding. “I've organised for a good friend of mine to see you. She doesn't usually work Saturdays, but I convinced her it was necessary." He walked over to a bag under the table and held it out to Thomas. “Clean clothes. Strand reckons she guessed your size correctly."

“Strand?" Thomas asked, before remembering his manners “I mean, thank you. For the Clothes. But I was hoping-"

“Heh," Twine chuckled, slapping Thomas on the back “There'll be time for you two to catch up later. Besides, she's a little… occupied."

“Occupied?"

Twine pushed Thomas towards the hallway, getting the man to keep pace with him as they made their way through the maze-like corridors. “One of our patrols up north came across an anti-pokemon group a couple days ago. Their captured machines arrived last night and so far have proven… quite interesting…" Twine looked as though he was unable to find the right words, but shook his head and continued. “Strand's been obsessing over them all night. I don't blame her."

He guided Thomas down a corridor and into one of the interrogation rooms. Seeing the trainer's face, Twine offered an explanation. “Don't worry, you're not in trouble. We just didn't have a more appropriate room available." He opened the door to a Purple and cream pokemon with bright hazel eyes sitting comfortably on one of two recliners. She stopped scrolling through a digital tablet to look up at her visitors. “Mister Drake, this is Doctor Hazel." Twine all but shoved Thomas into the room, closing the door to leave the two alone.

“Uh, Good morning." Thomas said as politely as possible, looking the pokemon up and down.

His curious gaze prompted the Doctor to roll her eyes. “Go ahead." She sighed, pointing to his pokedex. Thomas blinked at the clear human words coming from her mouth, and if he'd not met the Croconaw Elder several weeks earlier, he might not have believed it.

But shaking away his surprise, Thomas slowly raised his arm to point the pokedex's camera in her direction. “Audino, the Hearing Pokemon. Normal-type. This Pokémon has a kind heart. By touching another creature with its feelers, Audino can gauge their feelings and physical conditions. This Audino is a Shiny Variant." The electronic narration came to an end, leaving the two in silence once more.

“Wait… Doctor 'Hazel'?" Thomas asked. His mind had finally clicked into gear and was trying to remember where he'd heard that name before. An image of the business card tucked in Jeremy's vest came back to him. “I think Jeremy may have been referred to you." He reached for the pokemon's ball but was stopped by a soft fuzzy hand.

“Please, let's just start with you." Thomas Nodded in agreement with the Audino's request. “Just relax so I can attune to you." Dr. Hazel placed her paws on his knees and leaned forward, antennae angling to press against his chest. She took a deep breath and stepped back. “Well that's… intense."

“S-sorry, I-" Thomas stammered, but was cut off by the Doctor holding a paw up to silence him.

“It's okay. I was not aware that Zygarde friend of yours had altered you so thoroughly." She said, a worried tone barely perceptible in her words.

“What do you mean 'altered'?" Thomas asked concerned.

“Somehow he has changed you to be more… receptive? I'm not entirely sure. What you feel is certainly all you, it's just…" She thought about it for a moment before coming up with a better description “Imagine if all you've ever been able to communicate with your whole life has been letters. And suddenly you have a full vidphone setup, but instead of being amazed by the fact you can both hear and see the person you're talking to, you just think it's normal; as though you hadn't been writing letters before." Thomas nodded half-heartedly “Meanwhile the rest of us are still using letters."

“So Zye's made it that I subconsciously see and feel things I don't even know I'm seeing and feeling?" He asked, still a little confused.

“In a way, yes. For me it's like expecting to find the equivalent of envelopes scattered around your mind as evidence of the 'letters' you've been receiving, but instead finding massive satellite dishes still buzzing with energy." She sighed. “What I wouldn't give to see what you see."

“But everything looks normal, I mean… nothing looks any different than it always has."

Doctor Hazel stepped between Thomas' knees and jumped up on one leg to look at him eye to eye. “Then look harder." He raised an eyebrow at the suggestion, prompting a frustrated sigh from the pokemon. “Okay," she held up a paw, with what looked like one stubby finger extended “keep your eyes on my finger." She moved it left, then right, then forward then backward. Then what Thomas thought was just one finger slowly revealed it was two placed close together with the fur brushed down to look like one, the digits barely moving apart. Between and beyond the two fingers Thomas could see colours writhing around. His pupils dilated in surprise. “Yes!" Dr Hazel said excitedly “Now focus."

“O-on what?" Thomas was baffled at what he was seeing, the colours spreading out and around her fingers. His mind knew they weren't really there, and every time he reminded himself of that they faded out almost to obscurity. But he forced them back by convincing himself they weren't a figment of his imagination. Then - as though some huge dam had burst in his mind - the colours flooded through his sight, the man holding his hand up in a vain attempt to stop the torrent bursting forth.

He watched as the darker yellows winding around his arms suddenly turned incandescent, becoming less like tightly wound brown bandages and more like free-flowing golden seaweed caught in a current. He looked to the Doctor in front of him and stared in amazement as patches of blue and yellow fog surrounding her merged into a bright green haze, his own golden tendrils feeding the cloud building around her.

Amongst the bright yellow Thomas could see a differently coloured spot, and looking down he saw it was coming from Jeremy's ball at his waist. At first he felt a bit confused, and a little worried - the yellow tendrils of energy wrapped around his arms scaling back to a golden brown - as he saw the faded colours surrounding the orb clash against each other. Jeremy's ball was wreathed in bright blue and deep red, each one almost seeming to be fighting the other, but leaving in their wake a shimmering purple sheen that glowed with a strange intensity.

“What do you see?" Dr Hazel asked, her voice barely a whisper.

“Colours. All sorts of colours." Thomas replied, matching her volume. He looked back at the Audino, her body still wreathed in a green fog with blue and yellow patches bursting to the surface only to be absorbed back into the green. “You're… green. Like, bright green, with blues and yellows."

“And yourself?" She asked after checking herself to see if she could see anything.

He looked to his gold-coated arms and down at his chest, a thumping blue heartbeat pulsing outward toward Jeremy's ball. It reminded him of what Zye had shown him back in the park with Zana. In fact, the more he looked, the more he realised it was exactly like that. “I can see it. The connection..." He gasped, running his fingers along the line between his heart and the pokeball on his hip. His fingertips technically felt nothing out of the ordinary, but somehow the line of blue made his skin tingle as it passed through.

Thomas spent a while trying to touch the various strands and clouds of energy surrounding both him and Dr Hazel. “I wonder…" he muttered, an idea springing to mind. He took a deep breath and thought about Zana. A thin purple line - darker than the flashes around Jeremy's ball - stretched off through the wall into the distance. Perspective broke as Thomas saw the strand did not end at the wall, but instead faded off several hundred feet beyond it; like the colours were part of some sort of x-ray specs. “I… wow…"

“What is it?" The childlike enthusiasm in Dr Hazel's voice was unbridled.

“I can see the links with my other pokemon if I concentrate hard enough." Thomas admitted, running his fingers along the purple line in astonishment. He then thought about Ranger Strand, an interwoven light yellow, green and purple strand stretched into the ceiling at an angle. He looked up and Dr Hazel followed his gaze. Before she could ask, Thomas answered “And Ranger Strand too." Thomas let out the breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding with an amazed grin spread cheek to cheek.

Dr Hazel gulped “Mister Drake, may I… try again?" Her antennae waggled about, serving to remind Thomas of their use.

He nodded. “Sure, if you can see what I see I'd be happy to share." She giddily stepped closer to him, the curled ends of her feelers pressing once more to his chest. Her eyes opened wide, but a look of sadness crossed her previously cheerful face. “What's wrong?" Thomas asked, honestly concerned something bad had happened.

Dr. Hazel sighed. “I can feel what you're feeling, just not see it." She admitted with a heavy sigh. “What you have is a gift, though most likely an accidental one."

“I mean I could talk to-"

“No." She interrupted. “Somehow I feel it's not something your Zygarde friend had intended to give you. If it had, it surely would have given you more instruction on its use."

“Maybe he-"

“Mister Drake,"

“I mean it wouldn't take-"

“Thomas." Dr Hazel's stern voice bounced off the walls, the echo hitting Thomas over and over until the room was silent. “I appreciate the thought, but until you understand this coloured sight of yours, it would be best not to mention it to anyone. And that includes your Zygarde friend. A gift given can be taken back; remember that."

Thomas huffed. “So what, I don't tell anyone about this and just hope it goes away?"

A look of horror washed over Dr Hazel “Arceus no! Use it! Learn it. Practice looking with those eyes." She poked him in the forehead, the suddenness of it causing the colours to blink away like they were a bubble that had suddenly burst in front of him “You've got a window into the way Gods see this world. Never let that go." She retreated to her chair and slumped back in it. “Bet it looked amazing though." She sighed, closing her eyes.

---

[So, I have a whole colour coding thing built up regarding the energies that Zye - and now Thomas - can see. If anyone would like it to be explained a bit more in depth, just say so in a comment below, and I'll post the chart. Some things like dark yellow representing fear might be obvious given what happens in the story, but the way mixing colours works, along with light vs. dark, Thomas probably won't get a full run through of it as Zye barely understands what these emotions mean, and Thomas doesn't fully understand the colours. So letting you all in on it could help with understanding it, but might also take some of the mystery away. At the very least I'll give you this: Blue is purpose and red is desire, so combined they make purple which is love. But it's a whole lot more complex than that.]

[In several chapters time I'm gonna be adding another pokemon to the roster. I want suggestions from you, my audience. After the next chapter I'll be compiling the suggestions and take the most suggested/upvoted pokemon to put to a vote. There have been some great suggestions so far, and only two chances left to get your suggestion in.]

[The only restrictions are: No legendaries (except Arcanine and apparently Delibird as well, because pokedex descriptions can be wacky). We've already got one ancient/mythical pokemon, more might be a bit excessive and mess with the plot. And no Wailord. Bit too big for what I have planned. If they can fit in a space roughly the size of a shipping container, that would be ideal.]

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