FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

<Author's Note>

A longer installation today, courtesy of a sudden bout of inspiration that struck me last night, and got me writing this bad boy. I know how much you all looooove cliffhangers (I have to give you some reason to keep reading don't I?), so there's one of those as well! Please comment, rate, fave if you like it etc.

Descendant: Chapter 3; New Developments

'Very good' Star stated, which took Leif's mind off how ridiculous he probably looked, and sent a tiny thrill of pride through him. 'Just remember that it's all in the body movement. A wrong move and you could be sending a completely different message'.

'Hello' Leif said again in pokéspeak, more confidently this time, 'My name is Leif'. His name, Star had informed him, as it was pronounced in English would be difficult to replicate by non-telepathic pokémon, but the introduction was still important.

'Much better' said Star, surveying him with a critical eye 'With regards to your name, each pokémon will pronounce it differently, so be prepared for some interesting titles'.

Leif smiled, progress was being made and much faster than he'd thought possible. His headaches had lessened over time and with continued exposure to Star's telepathy, but he was still keen on learning how to communicate with other pokémon. Over the two days the pair had been travelling, he had learned to distinguish a pokémon's tone solely through body language, and they were now moving on to complex words and phrases.

It was strange, he thought, how quickly he had picked up pokéspeak. The body movements and intricacies of the language seemed logical to him, and while the majority of people would have found the idea of communicating with what was essentially a single word daunting at best, he found the challenge simple, almost second nature, and with practise he found it surprisingly easy to learn.

He had commented on this to Star around the campfire on the second night, and something had flashed in her eyes, a satisfaction that disappeared from sight as quickly as it had come. 'Not surprising' she had told him, even his newfound knowledge of pokéspeak unable to determine anything from her unreadable expression.

Now, walking alongside the Absol only an hour's walk from the outskirts of Hearthome, he thought back to her response, and couldn't help but wonder if maybe there was something she wasn't telling him. Deciding to ask her about it, he turned his head to speak.

'Hey Star?' he began in pokéspeak, trying to impress her. The Absol's head whipped around, a stunned expression on her face.

'W-what was that' she spluttered, an incredulous expression on her face until she noticed his surprised look and burst out laughing, rolling on the floor. 'Did you just try to say my name?' she asked between bursts, tears of laughter running down her face now as Leif's cheeks grew steadily redder.

Her laughing fit carried on like this for at least a minute before she was able to gather herself, giggles still rocking her body as she picked herself up, mincing past Leif in an exaggerated strut, looking back at the indignant teen with a coy expression. 'What, you want a piece of this?' she asked him, before giggling again when she saw his expression.

Leif sighed; maybe he didn't have his pokéspeak to quite as high a standard as he'd thought. Star was still giggling as she tried to comfort him. 'Now now, it's alright.Your tone was... a little off is all'. She still had a huge grin across her muzzleas they started walking again. 'Arceus, I've never laughed so much in my life. So what was it you wanted to ask?'

Leif, still blushing furiously, and more than a little bit worried at exactly what he'd said responded in English this time. "It's just that, last night when I mentioned how quickly I was learning pokéspeak". He broke off as Star gave an amused snort, shooting her an annoyed glance before continuing. "You left out something important, I could tell".

Star's expression took on a more serious tone as she contemplated answering. 'Yes' she said finally 'There is something I did not mention. But for now it would be better off if left unsaid, please understand that it is nothing pressing'.

Leif nodded slowly, accepting that, whatever it was could wait. For now there was some much needed revision if he was ever going to communicate with Star, or any other pokémon for that matter in pokéspeak without completely embarrassing himself.

In the midst of their lessons, he barely noticed that the road on which they were travelling was becoming more and more crowded. Small buildings began to appear on the side of the road, and traffic out of the city was at peak time. People riding bikes and pokémon sped past, while the majority walked, either alongside pokémon or alone.

Pokémon battling was in full swing too, the pair passing dozens of scuffles along the side of the road. Leif noticed the way that Star looked at the battles.

"Feel like joining them?" he asked, and Star thought for a moment before giving a slow nod.

'It's been some time since my last proper fight' she replied, flexing her claws slightly. 'I need to keep my skills sharp somehow'.

"And ours wasn't a proper fight?" Leif asked jokingly, nudging her with his leg in mock indignation.

'No offense, but I wasn't making use of my full powers' she said, missing the joke completely. 'If I'd been fighting for real you wouldn't have gotten back up'.

"Whoa, easy there girl" Leif responded, laughing, before gesturing off to the side. "How about this guy?" The man in question was watching a battle between a Raticate and a Pidgeotto, an expression of mild contempt on his face.

'I'd be glad to take him down a notch.' Star said, stretching in preparation. 'Put me back in the pokéball first though'.

Leif was surprised to say the least. "I thought you didn't like it in there". Star had in fact, on many occasions voiced her supreme dislike for the capsule.

'Strategy' she replied, eyes flashing. 'If he doesn't know what he's up against then he won't have a chance to use a pokémon with an advantage against dark types.Well, not purpose anyway'.

The idea made sense, so Leif took her pokéball out of its holster and returned the Absol. Walking casually over to the man, who now had a look of definite disgust on his face as he watched the somewhat pitiful battle before him, cleared his throat loudly.

The man turned, assessing the teen that had called him out. "You want a battle kid?" he asked snidely, his hand going to his belt.

"One on one" Leif responded, his voice, thankfully sounding more confident than he felt.

"Works for me" said the man in a dismissive tone. Without any more ado he drew a pokéball from his belt, and threw it into the air. "Lets show this punk how men do battle. Let's go Kadabra!"

The crowd nearby paused as the psychic type appeared. Pokémon of real fighting quality were rare in the cities, and Kadabra were renowned for their offensive capabilities. Within seconds a small ring of spectators had formed around the duel, muttering to between themselves.

The other trainer looked smugly over at Leif, expecting a horrified expression. What he got though was a broad grin as Leif pulled Star's ball from his own belt. "Looks like you were right about the type advantage" he muttered to himself, holding the ball aloft. "Come on out Star!"

Leif was just as surprised as the spectators when Star left her pokéball. A burst of dark power engulfed the battlefield, and a roar that caused a shiver through the crowd erupted from the Absol as she leapt from her confines, striking a battle pose in front of the Kadabra, pulses of darkness erupting from her body.

Leif was stunned. He hadn't had Star's power level checked by the pokémon centre, and hadn't been expecting anything near this much power. Masking his surprise for the moment though, he looked over at the other trainer, whose expression was a mixture of shock and horror.

"K-Kadabra, use psychic" the man finally choked out, pointing at Star. The Kadabra gave a small sigh, knowing full well what would happen, but obeyed its trainer and readied its attack.

"Star, ignore it and use Bite!" Leif called. A blue aura appeared over Star's body, but had no effect on the dark pokémon as she dashed across the field. The Kadabra gave a brief cry as it went down, teeth snapping down on its shoulder. One strike was all that it took. The defeated psychic type collapsed in an unconscious heap as the crowd roared in approval.

The trainer's face flushed, turning a beetroot red colour as he recalled his pokémon. "You little shit!" he yelled across the field at Leif, who was congratulating Star on her win. They both looked up as the man drew another pokéball, still shouting obscenities. The crowd was backing up now, looking fearful as the man called out another pokémon, a Lucario, which looked fearfully at its trainer. "Get that mangy mutt" he yelled, and the Steel/Fighting type meekly took up a fighting stance.

"This was a one on one!" Leif protested, the crowd murmuring as the furious man spat back at him.

"Use Close Combat you useless piece of shit!" he yelled at his own pokémon, which ran across the battlefield at Star.

"Look out!" Leif cried, and Star leapt away just in time to dodge the majority of the blows. A stray kick caught her in the ribs and she yelped in pain, the fighting move dealing significant damage.

'This just got serious' she said via telepathy, eyes not moving from her opponent. 'The best move I have against this thing is psycho cut, but I don't really want to hurt her, it's the trainer's fault'.

"Your own safety comes first Star!" Leif called back, "Use Psycho Cut, but keep it controlled if you have to". Star nodded in agreement, bounding across the field. Her scythe glowed a purple colour as she brought it down, with enough force to send the Lucario to her knees.

"Get up you useless animal!" the man screamed furiously. "A double type advantage, what more do you need you c***!" But it was too late. The Lucario slipped into unconsciousness, Star standing over her limp form with a regretful expression on her face.

The Absol looked up at Leif and was about to make a comment when the teen cried out, "Star, watch out!"

The larger man was crossing the field and had almost reached Star when Leif yelled out. His face was drawn back into an ugly snarl as he pulled his foot for a savage kick.

WHAM! Star was sent flying as Leif pushed her aside and belted the trainer on the chin. He had never struck someone before, at least not on purpose, but the anger he felt against the brute who had treated his own, and Leif's pokémon with such casual cruelty overcame his pacifist nature.

The force of the blow sent the grown man sprawling, Leif standing over him with throbbing knuckles. The audience surrounding them was deathly silent. Then the applause began. It started with just one person, but grew as the whole crowd joined in.

"Look at you" Leif said calmly, and the crowd quietened. "You're the real piece of shit. It takes a special kind of coward to treat your own pokémon like crap. And if you EVER come near my pokémon again, I WILL END YOU!" And as he spoke these words something happened that would change Leif's life forever. Darkness, much like Star's own aura surrounded him. It filled him with energy, invigorated him, permeating his very soul. It radiated from him, like ripples of water in a still pond.

The other trainer shrieked, the emasculating sound bringing a dangerous smile to Leif's face, increasing the terror that the man felt. "Take her, take the bitch!" he yelled, pointing at the Lucario, still lying prostrate on the ground. "I don't fucking want her, she's useless anyway, just let me go!"

"Oh I will take her" Leif replied, the darkness fading somewhat. "And I'll see to her happiness, unlike you have you worm".

The man pulled the ball from his belt with a shaking hand, tossing it away before turning to run, the crowd, still in shock from Leif's outburst parting to let him through.

Leif bent down to retrieve the pokéball from the grass and turned to check on the Lucario. Her breathing was steady, and she didn't appear to be terribly injured, but the ribs visible through fur were indicative of her malnourished state. Leif gently pressed the pokéball against her, returning the canine pokémon to her ball.

He payed little attention to the crowd, which was rife with whispers, and even less to the way they drew back from him as he passed. Rejoining the road, he looked down at Star, who refused to meet his gaze and sighed. Answers could wait, but the Lucario's wellbeing could not.

The pokémon centre was located in the middle of the city, which they reached after a good half hours walk. They did not speak, the gravity of what had happened preventing conversation.

Leif strode through the centre doors and up to the counter. The nurse looked at him quizzically and he took a deep breath. "This Lucario was abandoned by her trainer" he stated, placing the pokéball on the counter. "She's malnourished and unconscious from a battle". The nurse frowned, picking up the pokéball and placing it on a machine, which projected a list of readings onto the computer screen. Reading through them she turned back to Leif, her frown deepening.

"It says here that she was registered to a trainer named Vaughn Harrison up until half an hour ago, so your story checks out" she said. "She is very malnourished, and there is excessive bruising, both internally and externally. You said she was injured in a fight?"

Leif frowned, "Yeah, Star, my Absol had to knock her out with a psycho cut, is she hurt badly?"

The nurse shook her head in disgust "These injuries are far more longstanding. I doubt she received them in a battle either. If you see that trainer again, tear him a new one for me won't you?"

"So how long will her recovery take?" Leif asked, real concern for the pokémon's wellbeing quashing his anger for the moment.

"She'll need to be in overnight" said the nurse. "And mentally, this kind of mistreatment can have lasting ramifications, I'd understand if you didn't want to..."

Leif cut her off. "I'll be staying overnight then, and picking her up in the morning" he said before gesturing to Star, who sat by his side. "I'd also like to get Star a check-up, as well as a power grading".

"That will only take a few minutes" replied the nurse. "She'll need to be in a pokéball though". Star grumbled, but after a little coaxing returned to her ball, and was handed over for healing.

"There is a waiting room off to the side" said the nurse. "And if you're looking for a place to stay, the centre offers free accommodation to pokémon trainers. Just go down the hall and to the left, there are beds made up."

Leif thanked her, and strolled to the waiting room. Taking a seat, the enormity of the day's proceedings finally hit him. Whatever it was he'd done, whatever that dark power was it terrified him. At the time it had felt natural, but looking back...

Star knew something, something important that had to do with this power. And what would happen with the Lucario? Her previous trainer had been such a brute, would she accept him? Leif sighed, rubbing his temples in thought. After what felt like an eternity, the waiting light shone green, and he went to collect Star from the front desk.

Instead of releasing her straight away, Leif made his way down the corridor and into the one of the rooms marked as free. Flipping the placard on the door to "occupied" he closed it behind him, sliding the bolt across.

He sat on the edge of the single bed for a moment with eyes closed, trying to calm the storm of thoughts in his mind. Sighing, he took Star's pokéball from his belt and let her out. The Absol glanced around, taking note of her surroundings and let out a similar sigh. Leif gestured, and she jumped up onto the bed next to him, finally meeting his eyes.

"We need to talk" they both said at the same time.