FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The light of a new dawn bathed the city of Avalon in its beautiful radiance. It was at around this time where the morning shift guards would take over the night shift watch duty. Dozens of pokemon can be seen roaming the streets, each on their way to wherever their business may lead them, with each district having their own flow of traffic. The Market District had a rather large crowd of pokemon, all moving towards their businesses or whatnot. The Military District had a rather scattered crowd, with only the changing guard shifts and the moving recruits headed towards the Academy.

Everyone's routine was rather normal, almost scheduled. However, someone had decided to take a route that he hasn't taken yet. A small, orange creature can be seen traveling up the hill where the Alexander residence is located. The Charmander looked rather exhausted in spite of the fact that he's just woken up. As much as he'd rather wait for his partner, Jason, back at the Academy, he had the strongest urge to just see his friend beforehand. He slowly walked towards the door and knocked on it, hoping that the Riolu would be the one to answer...

"Good morning, Charlie." The Older female Lucario cheerfully greeted as she opened to door to see the Charmander standing outside.

"Good morning, Mrs. Alexander." The Charmander greeted back, his irritation poorly masked by a voice of happiness and politeness. "Um... will Jason be attending today?"

The Lucario shook her head, maintaining the smile on her face as she answered the Charmander's question. "He will, don't worry. He'll just be a bit late. We can't seem to wake him actually."

"What do you mean that you can't wake him?" Charlie asked, a mixture of irritation and concern in his tone. He woke up early that morning feeling like he ran the triathlon and started vomiting nonstop in his sleep. And now, going through the trouble to check on his partner and... fr... frie... friend... he is told that he won't even wake up.

"This has been happening since the attack last week." The Lucario said with a small chuckle. "There are times when Jason would start squirming in his sleep and fires would start bursting from his body."

"You sound a bit casual for something like that." The Charmander said with a chuckle, surprised at how well Jason's mom was handling the situation.

"Well, his dad's up there working on waking him up." The Lucario sighed, her disappointment clearly evident in her voice amidst her loving smile. "Of course I can't enter the room seeing as I'm weak to fire. But..." she stepped to her side and gestured for Charlie to enter. "I'd appreciate it if you lent his lenient father a hand."

The Charmander sighed, but he could tell that Jason's mother wanted him to "force" Jason's awakening. He stepped inside the Alexander residence and followed the Lucario through the living room, up some stairs and stopping in front of a door, some smoke leaking out through the sides. The Lucario's hand glowed a soft blue light as he grabbed the hot doorknob. "You might want to step back a bit." She said as she twisted the knob and pushed the door causing a cloud of smoke to come rushing out.

"Hey, Nat. I've extinguished the flames now." Jason's father's voice could be heard from the inside of the smouldering room. "Oh, hey, Charlie, didn't know you were here too." The Blaziken said cheerfully as his head poked out amidst the smoke. "Jason'll be with you in a moment."

"Not with how you're dealing with the situation." The Lucario retorted. "I've brought Charlie up here to actually do something about it."

"Nat, I know what I'm doing." The Blaziken replied. "I know what's going on with him and trust me, it's best we let this pass."

"Is that so?" Natalie asked with a sly grin on her face. "Would you mind telling HIM that?" she said, gesturing towards Charlie who already had both his hands on Jason's shoulders.

The Charmander nodded to the Blaziken's greeting, but waited no more as he entered the room to wake his idiot partner. He saw that the Riolu was lying on his bed, pain spread across his; his eyebrows knit, his teeth grit as he groaned in discomfort. The Charmander almost felt sorry for him, but that didn't stop him from gripping the Riolu's shoulders and shaking him violently. "WAKE UP, YOU LAZY ASS!!!"

The Riolu's eyes shot open, and for a brief moment, the Charmander could swear that they shone pure gold. Jason's awakening was so abrupt that Aiden's warning should have been heeded. The Riolu's hand thrust upward, aiming to break the Charmander's neck in one, swift strike. The Charmander hadn't even processed everything that was happening when the Blaziken quickly pulled him away, narrowly saving his life.

The Charmander could only stare in terror, unable to comprehend what happened. The Blaziken had his arm wrapped around the terrified Charmander while the other was used for balance. "Wh... what happened?" the Charmander asked with a terrified, shivering voice.

"Aiden... what's going on?" Natalie asked, her own voice slightly shaking.

Aiden paid no attention to their question, focusing only on his son. He watched as the Riolu's hand slowly dropped and rested on his face, as the Riolu's chest rose slowly with every breath, as his son slowly calmed down. "Ha..." The Blaziken sighed with relief. "You two go on downstairs, Jason and I'll be with you shortly." He said, slowly patting the Charmander and gently pushing him towards the Lucario that stood equally terrified by the door.

Charlie slowly walked toward the Lucario, who placed her hand on his shoulder as though Charlie was her own child. The two still had several questions in their minds but they didn't protest. They left the room and Aiden could hear the faint patter of their footsteps down the stairs.

"Um... Mrs. Alexander?" The Charmander asked, still a bit shaken by what had happened. The two sat together at the dining table, cooling off over a cup of hot chocolate.

"I don't know what happened there to be honest..." the Lucario answered, aware of what the Charmander would've asked. "You know... you don't really have to wait for him. We wouldn't want for you to stain your reputation for Jason's sake."

The Charmander managed a chuckle. "Thanks... but with this trauma? Heh, I'd take patrol duty any day."

"Again, I'm really sorry for what happened." Natalie said as she put her cup down. "I didn't think that this would happen... that he'd attack..."

"I DID say that you should leave it to me didn't I?" Aiden said as he walked down the stairs.

"Thanks for saving me... Mr. Alexander." The Charmander mumbled amidst sips on his hot chocolate.

"No problem." Aiden replied, appearing to be shaken as well with the events that happened.

"Where's Jason?" Natalie asked. "How is he?"

Aiden pointed his thumb up the stairs. "He's fine. He's taking a shower right now." He then walked towards the counter where he too poured himself a cup of hot chocolate. "I didn't tell him what happened, and it's for the best that you two don't tell him as well."

"You and I are gonna a long talk once these two are out." Natalie said, holding back her anger so that Charlie wouldn't feel awkward between them.

"What happened to him?" Charlie asked, putting his cup down to listen intently.

The Blaziken sat down with them on the dining table and took a sip of his hot chocolate. "He was traumatized by the attack last week. Having a burly rogue, the leader of the rogues, stand over you with none of the others there to help... well... it took a toll on him." He paused for a moment to take a sip before resuming. "He has nightmares some nights where he's being attacked. Naturally, he'd fight to defend himself. I guess that's why he lashed out; he was still half-asleep."

Charlie nodded with the Blaziken's explanation, but he couldn't shake away the image of Jason's shining gold eyes as he woke. He felt that something was wrong with the Riolu but he didn't want to press his curiosity. Maybe he could ask Jason himself... hopefully the Riolu doesn't lash out like he did a while ago.

Natalie may not have seen what Charlie saw, but she felt something off. For a brief moment, just as Jason woke up, she felt that someone or something else was there. She felt a power beyond anything she has seen before... and she's seen a lot with all of her traveling in her youth. And that thing, whatever it was, was inside Jason.

All of their questions and confusion were soon masked by Jason's voice as he walked down the stairs. "Oh, Charlie, I didn't know you were here."

The Riolu looked like he was back to normal. His fur was a bit ruffled, moist and glistened a bit, unkempt after his shower. His sleepy eyes, which the Charmander was observing, were normal as well; not glowing in any color, just the usual white sclera and red iris. Jason sluggishly walked down the stairs, yawned a bit before being seated with the others.

"Good morning to you too, Jason." Charlie said in a sarcastic tone.

"Hold on, I'll go heat your breakfast." Natalie said as she stood up and turned on the microwave. The light inside revealed a simple meal of sardines which Jason would later pair with bread. "So, were you able to sleep well? You came in soaking wet last night."

Jason shook his head in response. "I don't know if it was the rain but... I had another nightmare. Nothing much though... just the usual. Other than that, I feel fine."

Natalie gave him a smile back. She knew Jason was lying but, according to his father, it would be best if they don't let Jason know what happened. "Well, I'm sure you'll soon get over those."

They were all silent after that; Jason was too drowsy to bother with conversations while the three were too deep in thought as to what happened before. After the microwave had finished heating Jason's food, after they ate (the others had slices of toast), Charlie stood up and stretched a bit.

"Well, c'mon, Jason." The Charmander said as he walked towards the door. "If we hurry up, we may be able to just be right on time."

"Coming..." Jason said lazily as he stood up, said his goodbyes to his parents, and followed the Charmander out the door leaving the couple alone.

The Lucario watched as the young ones vanished behind the closing door, then turned to her husband with a rather irritated expression. "Now then, you have A LOT of explaining to do."

The Blaziken sipped on his hot chocolate nervously. The truth was slowly dawning on them, and what's worse is that someone outside their family witnessed it as well. He thought about how events may unfold... but foresight wasn't really his forte, it was his wife's. "Hm... where to start?" he said with a sigh.

"You could start by answering 'what's wrong with our son?'." Natalie suggested, leaning on her arm and eyeing her husband.

Aiden let out a sigh, his mind processing as to how he was going to deliver his explanation. "I'm sure you've wondered why Jason is... gifted... with fire powers. It's... a secret passed down in my family... please understand that what I'll say to you right now must remain between us."

"I promise." Natalie answered as curiosity held her tight. "But... why haven't you told me anything? If it's a secret passed down in your family, can't I at least know about it?"

"It's something that a select few of my family know of." Aiden answered. "I doubt my biological father knows about it as well."

The Lucario leaned in closer to listen intently to what Aiden had to say. A secret only a few in his family knows... something that involves their Jason... "What is it then?"

Aiden let out a groan of discomfort and rubbed his fingers against his forehead. It was bad enough that someone outside the family saw what happened, but now he's going to share a family secret with someone outside the bloodline. Still, he trusted Natalie, especially with all that they've been through in life. And she's genuinely concerned for their son, and it's only right that she at least knows what they're dealing with. "Huff... alright..."

"So, how was your night?" Charlie cooed as they strolled through the district in a faster pace.

"Well, didn't expect to hear you speaking like that." Jason pointed out, referring to Charlie's childish tone. "Well... my night wasn't so good. I was attacked last night."

Charlie's eyes widened in surprise, the news sounding alien to him. Attacked at the Military District? That was impossible unless he meant that he was attacked by a hoard of enemies. "You were attacked? What happened?"

"I was on my way home and I was suddenly caught in some illusion or something." Jason said with a sigh. "One of the guards found me and snapped me out of it just before I left the district gates. He then took me home... although he did give me a small fright before that... ugh... it was traumatizing."

The Charmander couldn't help but feel concerned for his partner. Jason's change in mood was rather noticeable considering he hasn't even seen him smile all morning. "And none of Avalon's agents did anything about that?"

Jason shook his head. "I don't know. Harrison, the guard who helped me, said that he'd look it up but I haven't received word about it yet."

"I'll ask my dad and see if he's received any reports." Charlie said, his hand holding his chin like some pondering gentleman. "Meanwhile, my night wasn't so good either."

"Were you attacked as well?" Jason asked with a small chuckle, his first smile for the day.

"I don't really know." Charlie answered. "I don't really remember much from what happened last night. I remember watching you make a fool of yourself in the rain... then I think I was planning to do something after that... then the next thing I know, I find myself awake on my bed the next morning with my entire body feeling like shit."

"Maybe you were attacked as well." Jason suggested. "I wonder if anyone else was attacked by an illusionist last night..."

"Hey, if we're lucky my dad'll discuss this with the recruits."

"And threaten mass hysteria?" Jason pointed out. "I doubt it."

The two fell silent after that, focusing mainly on getting to the Academy quickly. The two were deep in thought, thinking about what the other had said. Both of them had complications that night but Jason seems to have full recollection. Charlie, on the other hand, couldn't remember a thing. The Charmander's mind just buzzed with activity, trying its very best to at least figure out the brief glimpses that he gets every now and then. Whatever was going on, Charlie sure as hell wouldn't let this day pass without getting some answers.