FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Thomas slid slowly into consciousness. Somewhere there was an alarm beeping at him. He looked across the bathroom floor and clumsily reached for his pokedex. With bleary eyes he scanned it's surface to determine the reason for it's annoyance and discovered it was just after 9am. Thomas growled a sigh, tapping through the various menus until the hotel's booking page came up. He selected his booking and added another day. There was no way he was getting up in the next hour, let alone getting everything organised.

Tossing the pokedex to the side, he flung his arm back around the sleeping Goodra and smiled. She sleepily smiled back, purring as she held her master tight.

Several hours later, another noise. It was the phone this time. Thomas ignored it. But he couldn't ignore the frenzied knocking on his door several minutes later. He grunted - the slime coating one side of his body causing him to move a little erratically - and threw on one of the complimentary bathrobes. “Yeah, yeah… one sec…" Stumbling he made his way to the door. “Did the payment not go through?" He asked, assuming the disturbance was about the hotel room. Instead, behind a rather nervous bellhop stood the Grey Suited man.

“Thomas Drake." the man grumbled, the hotel employee ducking out of the way to make a run for the office. The suited man looked to the retreating man with a raised eyebrow, shaking his head. Turning back to Thomas he cleared his throat. “You have something of mine."

“No, you have something of mine." He yawned. Thomas' brain was on autopilot, but his eyes had focused on the pocketwatch's chain. However, now that he was out of the forest, out of the rain and not in the middle of a fistfight, Thomas could take in the man's appearance. The Grey suited man was tall - nearly a head higher than Thomas - and dressed impeccably. It wouldn't have taken a fashion connoisseur to tell the clothes he wore were tailor made from a fine label. The jacket hid a reasonable amount of the man's form. But by the way the waistcoat and shirt beneath were tucked and buttoned, it was clear he was well toned and very capable of violence.

Everything about the man shouted 'upper class', except for the stubble across his jaw. It was as if he was happy to keep a five o'clock shadow as a permanent feature, the black and grey peppered hair showing a man of aging years. Thomas gulped. If the man weren't looking at him with an annoyed glare, he'd probably seem quite friendly. Which given his supposed position within the Rocket Rising organisation, only made him more dangerous in Thomas' mind.

“Thomas, we don't have to do this the hard way." He glanced to either side and several thugs appeared from around the corners in the hotel's courtyard. “Give it to me."

“Like I told those two the other day, it left me in the cave." Thomas grouched, stretching his back as he realised sleeping on a Goodra might not leave one in the best of shape come morning.

“Thomas, Thomas, Thomas…" He sighed. “You need to work on your poker face."

“I'm telling the truth, asshole." he growled, tapping his side where his pokeballs were unfortunately not currently located. The Grey suited man was about to say something but Thomas interrupted him. “Give me back my grandfather's watch and I'll take you right to the spot it left me. You can follow it's little hopping trail to your heart's content."

The older man sighed. “This was not your Grandfather's property. It was mine."

“B.D. Byron Drake!" Thomas pointed at the pocketwatch as the man withdrew it. “Engraved on the inside."

“Bruno Drekavak." Clutching the watch in one hand, he extended the other for Thomas to shake. And despite all the screaming in his head to deck the grey-suited man and take the watch by force, he instead took the man's hand and shook it with a grimace. “I commissioned your grandfather to repair this watch after meeting with your father to discu-."

“Before you had him killed." Thomas' fists were balled, his anger rising as the clouds pulled in overhead.

Bruno shook his head. “That was never the intention." Thomas could tell when someone was being sincere or not - one of the skills you pick up listening to folks on the street - and the man did seem to be telling the truth. Though words alone couldn't ease the pain of his family's death. “There was a... 'miscommunication'," He offered, hands turned palm up as a shrugged apology. “Threats were acted on at the wrong time and the world is a darker place for it." He sighed, thumb rubbing over the watch casing. “Exquisite workmanship, really. I thought this heirloom lost. And I have you to thank for it's return."

Thomas felt the truth in Bruno's words and it was like an arrow to the heart. That watch was one of the last ties to his family that he had, and it turns out never to have been theirs to begin with. He took a deep breath. “Piss off. I have nothing left for you to take." Thomas turned around - defeated - and tried to close his hotel door, but Bruno slammed his hand against it.

“Wrong. There are three things you have that do not belong to you." His tone shifted from polite to demanding.

Thomas paused, taking a deep breath before turning back around. “What - pray tell - do you feel I have that is yours? Hmm?"

The sheer anger and spite in Thomas' words caused Bruno to take a step back. Several Rocket Rising members in the courtyard uneasily placed their hands on the balls at their waist. It was a rare thing for their boss to be taken aback by anything. But the look in Thomas' eyes was building to a bestial rage, and the man did not want to be within striking distance. Several drops of rain fell into the courtyard, the sky seemingly taking a cue from the stormy situation evolving below.

Bruno cleared his throat. “I demand you release the Hakamo-o into my custody to stand trial for the murders of-"

“NOT gonna happen. Next." Thomas interrupted. Bruno's face turned a little red, but he waved towards one of the other rocket rising members.

“You've got my Noivern." Pete shouted from where he was, not daring get too close to the angry man in a bathrobe.

“You abandoned him! Piss off! NEXT!" His voice was almost pure rage as he punched the wall next to him in impatience. A fine layer of dust floated down from the doorframe.

“The Zygarde."

Thomas was ropeable. He shifted his body to take a step forward then thought better of it, abandoned that thought and took a step then changed his mind again. The thugs in the courtyard were confused as to what was going on, unsure if they were needed for support or not. Meanwhile, the heavens opened and rain came pelting down. The more timid thugs took shelter under what little awning there was while the rest concentrated on the situation brewing.

“You, you…" Words flew through Thomas' mind at a thousand miles an hour, no complete sentence to be formed. He needed more sleep, he couldn't deal with this straight after waking up. “You- you come here. To my room, to MY face." He shouts, jabbing an accusatory finger at the grey suited man. “And DEMAND my property as though you own me?" He gestured to the other suits staring at them. “Like I'm one of your minions?"

“No." Bruno growled, done with the conversation as he pulled out two pokeballs. “I have respect for my men." A flash of lightning arced overhead as Thomas watched the Magmortar and Electivire burst into existence either side of Bruno.

When he felt a shuffling behind him, Thomas chuckled; his face contorted into a satisfied sneer as the boom of thunder crashed down upon the gathering. Once the echo of the heavenly explosion ceased, he spat “Respect this."

As Thomas leapt back into the room a pair of angry green glowing eyes stepped into focus from behind where he'd stood. The Electivire and Magmortar launched a volley of electric and fire-type moves into the doorway, but the telltale flash of a Protect screen only served to char the door frame. They looked to each other in confusion as the eyes grew nearer the entrance.

“Goo-DRAAA!" Carmen bellowed as she threw herself from the doorway. Her body twisted, contorting to fling her tail out from the small hallway, pulling with it all the moisture in the air. Bruno's eyes widened as he realised what was about to happen. But it was too late, Carmen's Rain Dance had saturated the courtyard, and as her Aqua Tail gathered more water all the man could do was dive out of the way.

To his pokemon's credit, they did try to defend their master, with the Magmortar attempting to counter with a Flamethrower. But as Electivire's charge built up, Bruno just closed his eyes and hoped for the best.

Carmen's Aqua Tail created a tornado of water as it struck the two pokemon head on, Lightning slicing down through the sk. The intent was to strike her but instead it was dulled by hitting - and branching through - the conical cascade of water. The entire courtyard was lit up from that display, with the only pokemon or human left standing being Carmen, a few feet from her masters door and steaming from having her protective layer of goo zapped off.

“C'MON!" Came a shout from inside, Thomas having grabbed his bag and the pokeballs on the table before charging towards the back door. He looked through the room to see Carmen outside in the courtyard. She took one quick glance at the freshly electrocuted Rocket Rising goons before dashing back into the room. She vaulted the dining table and out the back door as Thomas slid it open.

A blast of water struck her side, spraying her trainer as he turned to see a Golduck down one side of the hotel. But Carmen needed no coaxing, she just lowered her head and charged. The Golduck attempted to confuse her mid-charge but was too fearful of the gooey freight-train barreling towards it to do so effectively, and was smacked to the side by Carmen's Aqua Tail along with it's trainer.

Thomas caught up behind Carmen as they pelted into the woods. The rain clouds that had been above them were soon gone, with the warm light of the Vandimland midday filtering in through the trees. He knew it wouldn't be long before some of the faster Rocket Rising pokemon caught up, and that Carmen - while having had her switch flipped to ass-kick mode - would not be able to take them all on. So with a deep sigh he came to a screeching halt, bathrobe blowing around as inertia set in.

He held the belt of balls out and struck a finger along them in one sweep. In a series of multicolored flashes his friends appeared. Each of them looked a little confused at the change of location, not to mention Thomas' state of dress. Except for Jeremy, who was hunched over, holding himself in crossed arms. There was a moment of silence as the two caught each others gaze, but Thomas shook his head, dismissing the frustrating thoughts as he focused on the problem at hand.

“Rocket Rising showed up, forced us out. They're still coming, so I'm gonna need everyone to be on the lookout." Thomas turned to the Noivern “Griff, Pete's there. Wanted you back." With a sigh, Thomas pulled the Noivern's ball from it's socket and tossed it at Griff. “Your-" But the noivern swatted it back into Thomas' surprised grasp. He grunted and gave Thomas the look the man had hoped for. The two nodded in understanding.

Then Thomas turned towards Jeremy. He took a step over and Jeremy turned away. “Bruno Drekavak was there too." Jeremy's body twitched. As he turned, he could see the fiery rage burning through the Hakamo-o's eyes. But the man just took another step forward, placing a hand on each of the pokemon's armored shoulders. “Another time, friend." Jeremy blinked, the rage dissipating as he looked up into Thomas' tired eyes. “There will be a time for discussion later. I've missed you."

As the man's arms flung around Jeremy, it only took a moment for the pokemon to return the gesture. They stood a moment hugging before Carmen cleared her throat. “Goo…"

“Yes, yes, we need to go." Thomas looked through the trees, spotting the tall hospital through the trunks and made up his mind. “Hospital, GO!" The collection of pokemon made a dash through the underbrush back towards the town. But sure enough Rocket Rising were waiting. As they burst from the clearing a hail of sharpened spines and leaves assaulted them, an Ivysaur and Beedrill peppering the group with ranged fire. Carmen's protect helped keep the majority of damage off Thomas, but Dusty took a direct hit and tumbled forward.

Mac began spinning up, chirping something to Jeremy as the dragon type passed him. Thomas looked back to see the Hakamo-o smile before lining his tail up. When Mac chirped again, Jeremy swung hard, tail connecting with a grinding clang as the metallic plates took the brunt of the bug's whirring carapace. And with a streak of golden light, Mac barrelled into the Beedrill like a cannonball, ricocheting off to slam the Ivysaur before crunching back into the flying bug once more.

With his hands free, Jeremy quickly hauled Dusty up over one shoulder while Griff soared above, looking down on the Rocket Rising members now pouring through the town, converging on the hospital. He dove down towards the Ivysaur - who had for the most part tanked Mac's attacks - and halted himself only a few feet away, curling his purple and black wings to form razor thin eddies that he forced forwards into the plant-type's bulb. Gashes opened up in the symbiotic florae, with green tendrils hurriedly pulling the pieces together as the frog-like pokemon dashed away. With Mac speeding off towards the hospital, Griff followed suit, checking to make sure the others were going to make it.

Just as they reached the front door, Jeremy passed Dusty to Thomas and planted his feet. He placed his claws on two of the few-remaining armored plates on his arms and held them tight. As a group of black suited men rounded the corner, they gave way to a rather furious-looking gentleman in a grey suit, flanked by an Electivire and Magmortar.

Jeremy growled, but they continued forward. He roared, shaking the glass doors and causing several flocks of pidgey to take to the skies. Everyone stopped, except for Bruno and his bodyguards; they continued. Jeremy sighed, yanking the two plates from his body with a tinge of pain before channeling all the hatred and rage that was flooding his body into heat within the two discs..

That stopped them.

With a deafening roar Jeremy let loose the two incandescent plates with the fury of a spurned god. They flew fast, and struck true, the Magmortar's belly sliced open from the glancing blow while the Electivire's right arm fell to the ground lifeless. Behind the trio the discs crashed into the ground, exploding upon the concrete to shower the Rocket Rising group behind them in razor-sharp shrapnel.

The message was clear. And despite the many injured humans, the group turned and fled the hospital, racing for their cars. The only one not retreating was Bruno. He had two pokeballs in one hand and his phone in the other. As the pokemon writhing on the ground beside him were zapped back into their balls, he put the phone to his ear and sighed, staring right at Jeremy.

His point made, Jeremy turned and walked into the hotel lobby, up to the shocked Thomas and pressed the button on his ball. In a flash the Hakamo-o was securely away and the shocked onlookers could finally take a breath.

Thomas zapped everyone else back into their balls, thanking each one for helping out, and promising to take Dusty straight to the pokecenter as soon as possible. He figured he didn't have much time before Officer Jenny was required to turn up and arrest him, let alone Jeremy. So he made a bee-line for Dr Coral's office.

It didn't take long before he was in the waiting room, pacing. He'd sent her a quick message on the way up and in a moment she opened the door. Thomas entered and upon seeing a somewhat sorry for himself Eric, he breathed a sigh of relief. The doctor gave him a quick once over. “Wake up on the wrong side of the bed?"

Thomas looked down at his bathrobe and blushed. “Still haven't woken up. Though those Rocket fucks certainly tried." The mention of that group got both Eric and Dr. Coral visibly agitated. “Don't worry, Jeremy gave them the message that they're not welcome at this hospital." He said, nodding to the window.

The doctor and the Hitmonlee looked out to the damage below. “Is that… an Electivire's arm?" A man in a black suit ran from one of the black four wheel drives that pulled up to grab the arm and return to the safety of his vehicle. Just beyond the severed limb were two rather impressive scorch marks that looked more like meteorite impacts than anything else. “Your Hakamo-o… did that?"

Thomas nodded. “They'll be back. Probably with Jenny. And plenty of folks downstairs saw Jeremy get himself back into his ball." he tapped the ball in question. “And while… a LOT of stuff happened last night that I should get you to check," he thought about the blackout in his memories, the egg and the strange substance that no doubt helped the egg get in there “I should just get my ear checked and run."

“Might want to get dressed too." The doctor mused, grinning with a slight look of concern on her face. “You freshen up in there, I want a word with your Hakamo-o." Thomas froze. “Don't worry, I don't think I'd be able to catch or trap him if I tried."She placed a reassuring hand on Thomas' shoulder. “Of all your pokemon, he's the one you've spoken of the most fondly. Whatever bond you have is phenomenal and I need to get something straight with him. Please."

Thomas nodded, tapping the ball's button to summon the pink and yellow dragon in a trainers vest. Jeremy, looked around a little confused as Eric straightened up. “It's okay, mate. Doc just wanted a word. I'll be out in a minute." He patted Jeremy on the pokemon's unarmored shoulder, before disappearing into the small bathroom with his pack.

Closing the door behind him, Thomas looked the room over. An open shower, a sink and a toilet, all crammed into a space he probably couldn't lie down in. He sighed, placing the bag on the toilet and took off his bathrobe and shoes. That's all he had on for the last half hour or so, and realised the hotel would probably charge him for taking it. Thomas sighed, growling slightly at the shitty day he'd had as the shower sputtered to life. But the soothing warmth of the shower was able to wash all that tension and dried Goodra goo away.

---

The doctor and two pokemon stayed relatively quiet until the whine of water through the pipes began. “Jeremy." Dr. Coral started, knowing they had little time before Thomas was done. “I need to know. Are you a killer?" Eric stood beside her, muscles tensed in anticipation of Jeremy's answer.

His understanding of the human languages was rudimentary at best, but he knew enough to be incensed with such a question. <I was keeping Thomas SAFE!> Jeremy roared. The Doctor looked to Eric, both of them a little on edge given the Hakamo-o's attitude. Eric made several hand gestures to Jeremy, asking that he calm down. Jeremy took a deep breath but didn't lose eye contact with the doctor. <Yes, I did kill them. The Dodrio was an accident; victim of a new move.> Pokemon knew how dangerous new moves could be, with cautionary tales of playful pokemon demonstrating their newly learned move to their trainers, sometimes fatally. <The Scyther wanted my head and the trainer… got in the way.>

The Hitmonlee's pupils dilated at that last one as he turned and gave the gist of Jeremy's explanation to the Doctor. She sighed but nodded. “And the guy on Route 13?" Jeremy turned and pulled back the trainers vest to show off the trademark shotgun pellet scar across his shoulder. “Self defense?" The pokemon nodded. “A pokecenter would have had that cleared up in no time. Why'd it scar?" Jeremy knew enough of the human's language to field that question without translation and mimed not having a ball. “I see."

<I don't kill everyone.> Jeremy whined, a tear forming in his eye. <I don't want to kill. I- I saved the Noivern.> He pointed out, and Eric was quick with his hands to let Dr Coral know. <He- he tried to kill me first, but I couldn't leave him there.> He slouched, his heart weighing heavy and breath short.

The doctor nodded with Erics frantic signing. “Okay, okay." She flicked through some papers on her desk. “Okay…" Her movements caught Jeremy's curiosity as she clearly searched for something. “Dammit… There's someone I want you to see…" She pulled open a draw and ruffled some papers within while Jeremy padded down the various pockets of his vest. Finding the right one he produced a business card for Dr Hazel and held it up for Dr Coral to see. “Oh!" She exclaimed, seeing the familiar name. “Where'd you get that?"

<Kangaskhan Valley Pokecenter.> Jeremy said, thinking to the Nurse Joy there that helped get Griffin back from deaths door.

Eric relayed the info and the Doctor nodded. “Dr Hazel's one of the best in her field." She looked carefully at the card. “Not sure which road outta here you plan on taking, but her office is in Sidna, and I can't recommend her enough." She sighed, staring at the Hakamo-o. “I can't condone the killing of anyone - pokemon or otherwise - but I do understand why you did it." She turned to Eric, giving him a weak grin before placing a hand on his head and rubbing it affectionately. “And between us," the Doctor's face turned steely cold for a moment “Any man that does what they did to Eric, deserves everything they get."

The sound of running water halted as everyone turned to look at the bathroom door. Jeremy walked over to Eric and pat him on the shoulder. <How you holding up?> Eric nodded sadly and showed how one arm didn't have quite the same range of movement as the other. But afterwards he gave a weak smile and hugged Jeremy in thanks.

“I may not approve of your methods, but you are doing a good job keeping Thomas safe. And for that, thank you." The sound of a motorbike pulling up out front prompted Dr Coral to look out the window. Below was the trademark motorbike of the Police force, with several black SUVs pulling alongside. “Dammit, Officer Jenny's here." Dr. Coral turned to Jeremy “And she has company." She cleared her throat before calling to Thomas “Time to go."

---

Thomas was drying off when the doctors voice muffled through the bathroom door. He grunted, quickly throwing some clothes on before bursting out of the small space, pack in hand. “What'd I miss?" He asked trying to remove the excess water from his normal ear with a finger.

“Rocket Rising have brought backup." Dr. Coral groaned as she marched over to him, taking a quick look at the implant and the flesh around it, looking for inflammation or infection.

“We'll blast through them as well." Thomas said confidently.

“Don't think Jenny'll like that." The Doctor mused as she gave Thomas the all-clear. “Rear staircase. Take it down to the bottom basement level."

“Basement? To hide?" Thomas pulled his pack on and tightened the straps.

“Nope. Northeast corner. There's a hallway behind the generator room. Follow that around and look for the sections of repaired concrete. There's a door near there and outside is a cave - like the one underneath the arena - if you follow the stream it comes out about halfway between here and Bait Bay…" She looked at the terrified expression on Thomas' face. “Oh, right, the… uh…"

<Crobat.> Jeremy said unamused. Eric translated as Thomas' fingers brushed along the implant buried in his ear..

“Yes, sorry. The Crobat." She took a deep breath and let it out in a huff. “Could try to hitch a lift in the underground garage?" The Doctor suggested as an alternative.

“Let's go for that." Thomas said, gulping. He turned to Jeremy - who was still looking at the ground, ashamed - and gave him a hug. The pokemon sighed into his trainers neck, wrapping his arms around the man to hold him tight. It lifted a massive weight from the Hakamo-o's shoulders.

“Sorry to break 'this' up," Dr Coral interrupted, taking another look out the window “But you're gonna need to get going. Like, now-ish." Thomas gave Jeremy one last squeeze. “Might be best for Jeremy to go back in the ball as well, a pink and yellow Hakamo-o is kinda conspicuous." The two nodded, and with a colourful zap Jeremy was safely away.

“Thomas, stay safe." Dr. Coral sighed, patting him on the shoulder. “Now GO!" She shoved the man out of her office and into the busy hospital hallway.

It took a moment of frantic searching before Thomas found the stair doors, but once inside the stairwell the silence allowed him to think. “Okay." He sighed before leaping to the stairs. Taking them two at a time, he practically flew down the flights, passing the ground floor and into the lower levels. The underground garage and ambulance bay was through a big heavy door marked B1.

He steeled himself and opened the door, glancing around the darkness for any signs of people leaving. He kept low and passed from car to car as quickly as possible. He'd made it about fifty feet or so from the stairs when the elevator dinged. Sliding behind a thick concrete column, Thomas held his breath.

“Looks clear to me." Came an impatient huff from the elevator.

“Quit bein' a baby and take that row." Another voice growled. “Check every car."

'Shit.' Thomas cursed himself from getting so far from the stairs. He looked out towards the exit ramp. If Arceus was kind there'd just be a boom gate and he'd be able to take flight outside. But as his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he could see the shadow of a steel mesh roller door blocking the way out. 'Give me something!' He grumbled, looking at a nearby car window to see the reflection of the Rocket Rising thug drawing closer. As he shuffled his feet, he felt his shoes bump into something.

Looking down Thomas spied an old rusted tin, half filled with sand and dozens of crumpled cigarette butts. His mind whirring, he slowly reached down to pick it up. Waiting for the beam of the man's flashlight to pass by his hiding place behind the concrete pole, Thomas stepped out and reared his arm back. With a stifled grunt, he launched the weighted tin can across the garage where it collided nicely with a rather posh car in the staff section.

The basement carpark was suddenly filled with utter chaos. The impact set off the sports car's alarm system; an ear piercing klaxon booming off each wall while orange lights flashed impatiently. Thomas was halfway back towards the stairs when he saw the familiarly colourful burst of light from an opened pokeball between the rhythmic pulsing of the alarm. Timing his action to the blaring horn, Thomas opened the stair doors and slid inside just as the elevator dinged a few feet away.

He cursed himself and turned to head up, but the flutter of feet cascading down the steps from above made him think twice. Thomas looked to the wall beside him; the up arrow had 'Reception' next to it, while the arrow down proclaimed 'Maintenance: Staff Only'. He grunted, knowing he only had one option. Leaping down the steps he bypassed level B2 and went straight for the bottom floor. “I can't believe I'm doing this…" he grumbled, pushing the door open.

As the door shut tight behind him, Thomas looked around the dimly lit area. Grabbing a nearby chair he jammed it under the doorhandle. It took a second of him standing there staring at the chair before he made up his mind, risking the need for anyone to come and rescue him over needing more time to get away. “Fuck it." Thomas grabbed one of the maintenance workers flashlights and took off into the maze of tunnels underneath the hospital.

He passed just about every room one could imagine being in a hospital basement; boiler rooms, server rooms, laundry rooms, equipment storage and more. But working his way to the north he followed signs to the generators and sighed with relief when he found it. Following the hallway around it led to a section that looked as though it had been replaced a dozen times over. Strips of caution tape were pasted to the ground several feet before the discoloured concrete. Looking around, Thomas spied a door on the outside concrete wall. In any other foundation, that door should lead to dirt, but Thomas knew better. Grabbing the handle, he tried turning it.

Locked.

“Of course." Thomas said sarcastically, though the logical part of his mind pointed out the hospital would be idiots to leave a door to an underground cave system within their basement unlocked; that would be just begging for a lawsuit.

“Thooooomaaaas…." The disembodied voice echoed through the halls. Thomas whimpered. He'd hoped for more time. At least this place was a labyrinthe. Maybe he'd have time to find a room and hide. The man shook his head, he knew there was no hiding. They'd search every single room, meticulously. This time Rocket Rising had the police on their side. “Come out now and we'll only take that Hakamo."

“It's Hakamo-o." Corrected a quieter second voice.

“He knows what I mean!"

“Shit." Thomas muttered under his breath as he weighed his options. At the very least he needed to get Jeremy out of there. Placing the large flashlight on the floor, Thomas braced himself on the wall opposite before shoulder charging the door. “Unf!" It barely registered the impact.

“D'ya hear that?" Thomas readied himself again, launching his body at the door. “That way!"

“Fuckin COME ON!" Thomas shouted, head tucked in as his shoulder crunched against the door a third time. The wooden door splintered near the latch, while the frame stood firm. Thomas grabbed a nearby stool and smashed it into the door handle and with an almost comical 'plink' it was fired off into the darkness behind as the door creaked open.

Light beams cast shadows down the hallway. “Round that corner, I think." Thomas stepped out onto a catwalk, shutting the door quietly behind him. The dim glow of a motion-activated light illuminated the immediate area, and Thomas felt a flood of emotions overtake him. Beneath the metal grid of the catwalk was darkness. Pure darkness. Somewhere off in the distance there was natural light flickering through the cave. Looking up and down the catwalk, there was no way out. It just ran the width of the chasm; forty feet at most. The cave ceiling was almost directly above him, so there was no going up either.

“Where is he?"

Thomas eased slowly away from the door as he heard the voices on the other side question what was going on. Reaching the furthest point from the door Thomas selected one of his pokeballs. Popping it open caused a flash he knew the others inside would've noticed. Griff stared at him blinking then looked around questioningly. Thomas turned his muzzle to face him. “Take these." He said, unclipping Griff's emergency pills from his belt and pushing them into the pokemon's small claws. “A-and these." Thomas unclipped his ball belt and wrapped it around the pokemon's chest like a bandolier.

“THERE HE IS!" came a shout from behind.

“GO!" Thomas commanded. “Keep them safe!" As Griff launched into the damp cave air, Thomas felt the catwalk below him shift. He spun around to see the two thugs sprinting towards him. Each step reverberated through the metal grate with greater intensity. Before Thomas could shout a warning, the closest man flung a pokeball to land just in front of him. The trainer prayed for a light pokemon, what he got was not that. The Pangoro landed with a clang in front of Thomas and the world around them slowed.

---

<Such tedium.> A pair of haunted blue eyes stared at the ground as their owner shuffled over the wet stone, one leg dragging slightly through muddy pools of rainwater. Above, a thin crack of sky shone down mockingly. Dozens of times they had tried scaling those steep, mossy walls. But try as they might, it only resulted in them injuring themselves further. <Stupid cave.>

They kicked a loose stone, the rocky reverberations plinking back and forth until it found it's way further down to the wet area with a plop. They had lost count of how many suns had passed over the crack above, after a while it was healthier not knowing. Passing by a fallen branch - the place of their second attempted climb - the being grumbled. <Wait an age for you to dry and what happens? Rain!> They smashed the branch aside, casting it to the soggy ground. <Bah!>

Lifting one of the twigs in a pair of dark claws, they snapped it in frustration.

BANG!

<Bang?> They looked at the twig curiously and snapped one of the longer halves.

BANG! The sound echoed through the cave, bouncing off each wall and vibrating up to the crack above, where a flock of pidgeys took to the skies.

Taking the next largest twig in hand - and with a deep breath - they snapped the wood for the third time.

BANG!

Slowly the four broken sticks were brought close to the two blue eyes for careful inspection. <Bang indeed…>

PLINK!

<Plink?> As they tried to assign some meaning to the new sound, a doorhandle crashed into the mud at their feet. Eyes narrowing, searching the cave, they finally spotted the cause of all the noise. Maybe seventy or so feet above was a dim light shining down through a catwalk Not once had they noticed that building there, they knew it must have ended somewhere up there as there seemed to be plenty of air between the catwalk and the bottom of the cave.

Suddenly a figure ran out onto the catwalk. <Human.> They said, disgusted. It looked like a man, though at this distance and in this light it was hard to tell. He had a sizeable pack on his back which jostled back and forth as he carefully made his way down the catwalk. They let out a harrumph, trying to decide whether they should stoop so low as to ask a human for help. They had been trapped down here for quite some time, and there seemed to be a shining golden doorway just above. But before they could so much as clear their throat there was a flash.

Onto the catwalk appeared a Noivern. <Ugh, a Trainer…> They growled, even less inclined to ask for help. She saw him hand something small to the dragon-type then <Was that his belt? Were those his-> Their train of thought was interrupted by a shout from the doorway. Two new men. <This is interesting> they said, a wicked smile spreading across their lips as they looked to the drama unfolding above.

“THERE HE IS!" The gruff voice bounced from wall to wall, sending shivers up through their muddy feet and into their back.

“GO! Keep them safe!" Came another cry from above as the Noivern leapt into the darkness. They looked up with a mixture of hatred and wonder as the pokemon quickly flew through the darkness before swooping up through the crack.

Another recognisable flash of a pokeball opening brought their attention back to the scene above just as a Pangoro popped into existence on the creaky catwalk. And with a wrenching screech, the twenty foot section occupied by the four figures detached from the wall and began it's long swinging arc downwards; being connected by progressively more bent metal to the rest of the platform.

They looked on in amazement as the Trainer tried grabbing the handrail, only to be bowled over by the unstable Pangoro, both falling from the catwalk while the other two men leapt back to the safety of the stable section. But the black suited men didn't have the attention of the two blue eyes in the darkness. They were instead focused on the slowly darkening figures plummeting to the cave floor.

Few times - if any at all - in one's life will they hear the sound of a body landing improperly on a hard surface from a great height. It is not a sound one forgets easily. Behind the blue eyes was a recognition of that sound as the two bodies came to a halt a couple dozen feet away. They limped toward the impact site, interested to see what had become of the two. From above one of the men shouted worried “Bandit?!" Then a crack of red light arced down from above, illuminating the Pangoro with the human atop its belly. The pokemon disappeared causing the human to crumple limply against the stone.

The humans above could be barely heard talking, their voices indistinguishable to those at the bottom of the cave. “Is he okay?" “Gotta get to the center." “What about Thomas?" “What about him?" “Boss said-" “Boss wants his pokemon, and they just flew off. He's worth nothing."

<So he did send his pokemon away.> She looked from the Thugs exiting through the doorway back to Thomas. <What are we going to do with you?>

---

A faint crackling sound and the taste of blood brought Thomas back to consciousness, he grabbed the sides of his neck in the flickering dark. “Gah-ah!" Fingers found only skin and the smooth hard scar tissue left from the attack nearly two weeks prior. He closeed his eyes and calmed his breathing. Upon opening them again he noticed the flickering flames of a fire lighting the cave wall.

“Calm down kiddo." Thomas gulped, turning slowly to see an old woman sitting on a rock on the opposite side of the fire. He looked around but there was nothing but darkness in all directions. “Come, sit." she offered, pointing to a rock a third of the way around the campfire from her. Thomas nodded, confused as he stumbled over.

Sitting down he noticed his pack, open and definitely having been searched through. “Did you-"

“Wouldn't have this fire without that flint from your bag." The old lady smiled.

Thomas sighed. “Fair enough." He looked around, they were definitely in a cave. He could just make out the dangling catwalk off in the distance, it's shape picked out at the edge of the fire's glow. “So then. I did fall."

“Like a sack of potatoes." She chuckled. “Fortunately for you there was a larger sack that fell first."

“The… Pangoro…?" The realisation hit Thomas fast. “Shit! Is it okay?"

“Okay?" The woman sputtered in shock her white hair seeming to briefly turn red in the flickering fire as she regained her composure. “Dear, it's a miracle that beast was alive enough to get back in it's ball." She prodded the fire with a stick, sending wisps of embers floating into the air. “But why should you worry? They were clearly not your friends."

“Does that matter?" Thomas asked without hesitation. The woman simply looked to him with her big blue eyes, waiting for Thomas to explain himself. “Griff," He sighed, realising he just sent the best pokemon to have right now off to… who knows where “When I met him, he was in a bad way. And even though he tried to capture my friends - and myself - a few weeks ago, I still agreed to help him." he sighed. “Fly straight dude." Thomas said staring up at the roof of the cave, worried.

The woman looked Thomas over once again. He was bleeding from his nose and a claw-like gash across his arm. “You should see to yourself. Before anything gets infected." She pushes the first aid kit across the ground with the stick. “I'd help but these hands aren't as nimble as they used to be."

The pain in Thomas' arm finally made itself known once pointed out, the man grimacing as he reached out for the red & white waterproof case with his good arm. “Thank you." He spent a few minutes dressing his wounds before getting up to look at - and re-pack - his bag. “Thank Arceus! Didn't lose the rations." He sighed happily. He pulled out two sets, one for him and one for the woman before the reality of the situation set in.

His pause set off alarm bells in the woman's mind and before he could ask, she spoke “You are wondering who I am, why I am down here?" She said, gesturing to the cave with her stick. “I may tell you, but first, I need you to tell me who you are."

He looked from the woman to the rations and back then exhaled in one big, long sigh. “Alright." Thomas chirped. “Why not. Life can't get any stranger." He held out the ration pack for the woman to take but she just remained in her seat. Shrugging he put it down on the cave floor next to her and sat back on his rock.

Over the next hour, Thomas filled her in on his life; practically from birth to that campfire. She asked many questions, though most had to do with clarification. She seemed to have an innate sense of when he was lying but was considerably more interested in the little gaps in his recounts, which generally had to do with the times he got freaky with other pokemon. Eventually she confronted him about it. “You certainly have led a rather interesting life this past month. But every time you get a twinkle in your eye you smirk, shake your head in the slightest way and talk about something else."

“A man's allowed to have his secrets." Thomas chuckled, having been caught out and all but admitting it. “Besides, I've told you a lot, I don't know if I can trust that kind of thing to someone I've just met."

“You don't feel you can trust me?" The old woman said, shocked. Though THomas could tell there was a small amount of mocking tone there, she left her question open, waiting for him to answer.

“If you met an old woman at the bottom of a cave who was more concerned about who you were than - say - getting you to a hospital for multiple injuries, would you be a little skeptical?" Having said it all aloud, Thomas realised he never got an answer to his un-asked question before. He leaned forward on the rock, elbows on knees with fingers intertwined. He huffed. “Who are you?"

The old woman chuckled “I am Madame Zana." She smiled warmly in the flickering flames. “Star of the Silver Web Circus. Well, quite some time ago that was."

Thomas nodded, memories of his childhood coming back of his family taking a trip up to Cannab to see the Silver Web Circus. He could remember the Joltik Brothers dressed in fluffy yellow costumes swinging around the big top, a Copperajah stomping through a parade of Mr Mimes and prancing Rapidash all with different coloured flames. But embarrassingly he couldn't quite remember Madame Zana. “Sorry, I saw the circus when I was much younger, I- I don't remember it all." Thomas admitted sheepishly.

Madame Zana snorted. “I wouldn't expect you to remember me. I doubt I was performing when you were around to see it." After a few seconds of silence, she took a deep breath and asked “Thomas, my boy, There are still some answers I'd wish to pry from you."

Thomas sighed. “Okay, but you must promise me something." Zana raised her head, turning it to better hear the young man. “After you get your answers, you've gotta tell me how you got down here, I have friends that need my help."

“Okay," SHe agreed, nodding. “Deal. But first, are these friends human or pokemon?"

“Not that it should make any difference, but Pokemon." Thomas could see thoughts whirring behind those glistening blue eyes as he prepared for her questions.

“Every time," Zana spoke, looking like she was trying to find the right words “Every time you smiled you skipped to later that day, or the next one entirely. Why?"

Thomas took another deep breath. He looked around. 'She's not gonna abandon me down here if I tell her the truth is she? I mean, I could just follow her out anyway, she's gotta go home sometime. Unless the cave is her home. Then how does she do shopping? Maybe she has a pokemon for that. Oh, does she have a pokemon? Where's her pokemon?' The thoughts were shooting through his head one after the other before he finally silenced them. “You really want to know?" 'Did I just say that?'

“Please." She asked, curiosity burning behind those sapphire orbs.

“Fine." Thomas twisted his fingers in his hands, uncomfortable and unsure of the wisdom behind telling this stranger the full extent of his love for pokemon. “After I clocked that Rocket goon with the branch and was knocked out in turn, I woke up in the cave with Jeremy; the Hakamo-o." He took another deep breath. “I… He… When-when we woke I could feel his erection against me."

The old woman's eyebrows shot up, her hair again flashing red in the firelight, this time a little longer and more noticeable. As Thomas stared the woman simply gestured for him to continue. “Please…"

Clearing his throat, he did so. “Well, I was a little freaked out at the time, but then the next night after I got back to Milra... remember how I said Jeremy, Carmen and Cav all slept on the floor with me?" She nodded “Well I woke up in the middle of the night and I felt Jeremy's erection again. But that time…" He gulped, feeling his face flush red. “We got each other off and, well, since then…"

The fire flickered a little differently, as though it was almost going out despite being still perfectly alight. Thomas blinked, trying to make sense of it. “So you've been sleeping with your pokemon." The woman nodded, an impressed grin across her face.

“Not just Jeremy." Thomas said before he could stop himself. He shook his head as the old woman stared at him, fascinated with what he had to say next. “Look, it's not what you think. At first it was the Zygarde pushing them to do it so they wouldn't kill or maim me. But after a while, I wanted it. I wanted to feel that connection." He looked at the stunned woman. “And yeah, I know how it sounds, 'Thomas is taking sexual advantage of pokemon'..." He said in a sarcastic tone. “But I'm not. They let me know they're up for it, and I'm usually the one accepting their advances, not the other way around."

“How… How many?" The Zana asked, her voice crackling along with the fire.

She cocked her head to the side as he tapped his fingers together, only realising after nearly a minute that he had been counting. “Nineteen pokemon I can definitely remember. I think there was a Kangaskhan in there too, but that's a little fuzzy. And does a Rotom Dildo count? Because if so that makes it twenty, maybe twenty one."

The fire, the woman, everything disappeared; leaving Thomas in the dark.

All the while Thomas had been speaking, Zana had felt more and more connected to him. His struggles, his kindness, they all felt so familiar. She could almost feel his pain talking about Jeremy leaving on Route 13, and the sadness he felt when the Hakamo-o admitted to murder. How Thomas' confrontation with his personal demon ended in him running, just as she had when confronting her own. They were two sides of the same coin. She wouldn't dare have called him a soulmate, but she was convinced their meeting was not mere coincidence. However, he needed to understand her past as she understood his. He needed to know, and with her illusion broken it was as good a time as any.

“Twenty years ago I lived with my family. We would hunt together, spend our days playing and our nights resting. It was good." Thomas felt the air grow cold and heavy all of a sudden, an oppressive feeling spreading through the cavern as the voice continued. “Then He came. He knew what he wanted and somehow knew where to find it, despite my parents best efforts. Turns out, the best way to find where someone is is to set fire to everything they hold dear and catch them when they run."

Thomas could hear the wavering in Zana's voice. “They sacrificed themselves to save me, and I didn't even get to escape. He captured me, and took me away. Taught me to perform. Forced me to make people happy, to give them whatever they wanted. Sure, during the day performing for kids was fine, they wanted magical things like flying rainbow Ponyta. But at night, at night…"

“Hey…" Thomas said comfortingly. “You're not there now. You're here. You're safe… as much as being at the bottom of a cave is safe." He coughed, getting his mind back on track. “You're with me. I'm not gonna let anythi-"

“Ugh!" Thomas felt that grunt against his face, as though she were right in front of him. “What is it with you humans."

“Human?" Thomas asks, the notion that he was talking to not-a-human throwing his brain for a six. “Wha…" He reached out for his back and fumbled with one of the pockets. Unzipping it he grabs a handful of glow sticks and pulls them out. But before he can crack them they are snatched away by a furry claw.

“No, I am not human. Surprised?"

Silence befell the cave as Thomas tried to come up with something useful to the conversation, while Zana waited for an answer. “What are we doing?" The silence continued, Zana clearly dumbfounded by Thomas' response. “Seriously, what are we doing. I fall, what; five stories into a cave - survive - and come across you, tell you my entire life story and you're getting pissed at me for being Human?" More silence. “There is a Mudbray in need of urgent medical attention, a Hakamo-o that is currently Vandimland's most wanted, a Noivern who…" Thomas tried booting up the pokedex on his wrist to check the time but he could feel the shattered glass face in the darkness “who probably needed his meds several hours ago to prevent falling into a seizure, and a legendary pokemon not seen in thousands of years who is currently who knows where doing who knows what with the full might of Rocket Fucking Rising out for it's blood."

Thomas stood, unsure where Zana was, but at this stage, not caring. “Not to mention a Goodra carrying my egg to term, a lonely Chespin, a Zweilous confused about what it wants in life and a Whirlipede that I swear is trying to break a land speed record every time I let him out of his ball. So if you don't mind, I'm gonna need one of those to find my way out back to those that need me."

There was a moments silence before the sound of cracking glass could be heard. Then a faint orange glow filled the small space as one of the glow sticks activated. It's dropped to the ground and Thomas finally got a look at who he'd been speaking with that whole time. The red claws that dug into a small patch of muddy soil led to powerful grey legs, dark fur rough and unkempt as though Zana had been down here for years. His eyes followed her legs up to her thighs and a narrow waist only possible for a pokemon to achieve before curving back out into a darker bust, crossing which were two grey arms, patches of fur missing to reveal scabs from injuries that looked a mix of old and new.

Then out from above those arms jutted a pointed muzzle, it's mouth edges turned down in a concerned scowl as sparkling black eyes glared at him. Thomas really hoped the eyes only looked black because of the light, but allayed his fears anyway by following the lines of the pokemon's face to her pointed ears and long, tangled mane. He recognised the figure from the list of pokemon to leave alone if encountered in the wild; a Zoroark.

“Zana," Thomas said, as calmly as possible “I can't speak for anyone else, but I promise you, I'm not here to hurt or capture you. I just need to help my friends."

“You talk about them like they are your family." She says, mouth not moving. An interesting fact that Thomas made note of to look up later.

“They are."

It was several seconds before Zana spoke again. “Then we will get you to your family." She huffed.

“Wait." Thomas said as Zana turned to walk away. “Your arms."

“Many times I tried getting out. Many times I failed." She rubbed her arms gingerly.

Thomas beckoned her to his bag. “Not sure if this is gonna help, but it can't hurt." he said, digging through one of the pouches. Retrieving a small spray bottle and hoping it was the right colour in this light, he squirted the potion onto her arms. Then for good measure gave her legs and feet a quick spray before gesturing for her to turn around. He sprayed around her mess of hair - not daring to touch it - and used the entire bottle in the process. “Give it a minute to-"

“It…" Thomas was a little worried as to why she would interrupt him, but became relieved when she turned around poking her scabs. “It doesn't hurt. I'd forgotten…"

“Still gotta get the dried stuff out of your fur, but the cut itself should be fine in a bit." Thomas scrambled around his bag for something else, a peace offering of sorts. “Here, I know why you didn't take my rations earlier." He offered her a full pack of poketreats. They were Sitrus flavour, and had an appropriate yellow wrapper.

She took them hesitantly. “Sitrus… Wouldn't happen to have… Nevermind." Zana began opening the pack but Thomas laid his hand on her claw. She took a quick breath, staring at him in shock as he opened the pocket to produce three more packs.

“Oran, Figy-Razz or Tamato." He smiled. Zana's eyes darted across the labels before she found her prize and quick as lightning she'd replaced the Tamato treats with the Sitrus ones, a childish smile wrapped across her muzzle. “They're yours. A reward for helping me out of here."

“Oh, I expect a much bigger reward than this." She chuckled, Thomas unable to tell if she were serious or not. “But it's a start." She took a step back and almost stumbled with both how well her leg had healed, and the fact it hadn't healed fully. “My leg…"

Thomas sighed. “Both Jeremy and Griff learned the hard way. Medical science has come a long way, and even serious pokemon injuries can be fixed at a Pokecenter in a couple minutes. But without going through one of those machines almost straight away," Thomas wasn't sure the best was to skirt around the issue so he just outright said it “some injuries can become… permanent."

Zana looked surprised and a little scared. Even in the dim lighting Thomas could tell her change in mood as she looked down to her slightly lame leg. “So this will never-"

“Not never. Never say never." Thomas shoved the things he was gathering on top of his bag and took a step towards Zana. Standing before her she was just barely shorter than him. The Zoroark took a small step back as he reached out to put a hand on her shoulder, but his reach was too great. His hand landed on her softly, and he could tell she missed the contact with the briefest of moans escaping her lips. But he also didn't want to push his luck, so he just kept it there. With his other hand he displayed the implant pressed into his ear and with two fingers pressed against the points where the Crobat's fangs had pierced him. “When the crobat got me in the cave, I thought this ear would be useless. But it's not."

“But you're a human. They'll fix humans, they don't bother fixing pokemon, they just find a new one." Zana muttered, attempting to turn away from Thomas.

But he held his hand firm upon her shoulder. She could have wrestled free if she truly wanted to but after a few seconds of her just standing half-turned to the man, Zana sighed. “Look," Thomas said softly “This group I'm doing all this for, they have money. They already foot the bill for Griff's meds, and for my implant. Maybe I can sweet talk them into helping you out too?" He smiled warmly in the neon orange glow from below “At the very least let's get you to a poke center and see what they can do. It's probably just something the potions can't tackle, but the machines can."

Zana stood staring at Thomas for several seconds. “You mean it, don't you." She sounded baffled.

“Of course. You're a friend in need of help."

“I'm not your friend." Zana stated factually, though her voice was somewhat unsure. “You've only just met me."

“Fine," Thomas sighed. “You're someone I've just met that needs help. I help you, you help me and when we're done you can do whatever you want."

“No human has ever…" She seemed floored by Thomas' kindness. “Deal. I get you out of this cave, you get me fixed. Then we're even." Thomas held a hand out for her to shake, but she refused, instead sitting down on one of the rocks and opening up her pack of Tamato poke treats. “Well, get your stuff together, I'm waiting." She smirked, watching Thomas gather all the things she pulled from his bag.

“This is how it's gonna be, huh?" He chuckled wryly, stuffing another shirt in the pack. Thomas looked up to the darkness above, muttering “Hope they're doing okay."

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