Pokémon: Live Wires

By SmashUniverse64

Chapter I: The Origin

"Oh, wazzat!?" I shouted as the sound of the waves of the nearby coast crashed up against the cliff. I realized that the ocean had woken me up again, and I grimaced. "Damn it… Oh, well. I needed to be awake anyway."

I climbed out of my small twin sized bed (I couldn't afford a better one) and dragged my tired self into my small living room. For being such a small house, it was a pretty homely place. A small TV sat in front of a blue couch. I loved sitting there because of the sliding door that had a great view of the ocean. It was` one of the few comforts about living in Dewford Town. I walked over to the sliding door and opened it slightly.

"Ah…" A gentle breeze blew across my face as the warmth of the sun touched my pale skin. I didn't get outside much, but this was a beautiful day indeed. "What a wonderful kind of day to stay inside and do nothing," I said with a small amount of cynicism as I closed the sliding door. I walked away from the door, picking up the TV remote and pressing the power button before tossing it back onto the couch. As the sounds of the news started to play, I trudged over to the small kitchen that was open to the rest of the living room. I pulled my fridge open, scanning it up and down.

"Oh, my Arceus, are you kidding me?" I didn't have any damn energy drinks left in my fridge! Just orange juice and lunchmeat! I sighed, rolling my eyes. I slammed the fridge door shut. "I can't believe I have to default back to coffee today. That sucks," I said, reaching for the cabinet above me. I fumbled with a box of instant coffee as my attention went to listening to the TV. The news had come on, although I wasn't exactly sure why my TV started on up on the news.

"An interesting story coming from the Unova region yesterday. Some Nimbasa City residents have come to the news with a sighting of a strange new creature." I turned around at that statement.

"A new creature in Nimbasa? Not a Pokémon?" I pondered these things as I loaded a pack of instant coffee into my crappy single cup coffee maker.

"According to some witness reports, a bizarre half-human, half-Pokémon creature was spotted around the city. No one has been able to provide any photo evidence of the creature, but many people have come forward with eyewitness reports of these so-called hybrids." I scoffed at what the reporter had said, disgusted by the absurdity of those claims.

"What is this crap?" I said, going over to grab the remote. I flipped the TV off, going back over to the coffee machine. "These guys are just making stuff up at this point. They wouldn't know real news if it hit them straight in the face." As an internet journalist, seeing stuff like that really made me mad. "Jubilife TV was so promising at first, and now look what they are doing." My coffee machine sputtered, the coffee getting ready to dispense into the battered coffee mug below the nozzle.

I shook my head, turning back to the kitchen and watching as the coffee machine slowly released a stream of the life-giving liquid into the mug. "Wonderful. I guess my boss will be wanting me to write a piece on this too." As if on cue, my holo caster that was sitting on the kitchen counter started vibrating. I groaned, realizing that I looked like absolute crap. I was not ready to deal with people, both physically and mentally. I pressed the answer button, watching as a familiar face appeared in the holographic projection.

"Andrew Barak! How's my favorite ONBS writer doing today?" the young man in the hologram said with no small amount of enthusiasm. Once he actually got a look at me though, he quickly changed his face to one of concern. "Woah… you look really tired."

"Yeah, you think?" I said, rolling my eyes and sipping the coffee. The black coffee tasted hot and bitter, just the way it should be. "I was busy last night, Nett. Been following some new rumor that has been popping up." As much as I didn't like having a conversation at seven in the morning, Nett was a pretty cool guy to talk to. I didn't mind so much that he was my boss.

"Would those rumors happen to be about those sighting of a human-Pokémon hybrid?" Nett asked. I nodded at his question, pulling up a stool and sitting.

"That's right." I gestured to the TV behind me. "Jubilife TV already did a report on it…" I shook my head, taking another sip of coffee. "Can you believe that? It's not like any of this is factual at this point." I saw Nett shifting around nervously, scratching the back of his head at the mention of our news rivals. I knew where this was going and I hated it. "Oh, come on."

"Sorry, but we gotta match Jubilife blow for blow on stuff like this," Nett said, hanging his head. "We are smaller than they are after all. We need good ratings just as much, if not more than they do."

"I would be fine doing this story if there was some actual concrete evidence of these so called hybrids, but right now this is just gonna be another clickbait piece!" I tried not to yell at him so much, after all I was getting paid by him. "Sorry. I'm just a little tired right now. I'll get on with writing up an article for the site." Nett nodded, looking a little guilty.

"Thanks, Drew. I appreciate it." Nett's hologram suddenly vanished, the Holo Caster ending the call.

"Nett… I love you man, but sometimes you really piss me off." I stood up and slammed the rest of the coffee, the bitter taste giving me the strength I needed to go with this stupid business. I sat the mug in the sink, not even bothering to rinse it out at the moment. I had to get on with my work.

As I headed back to my bedroom to sit down at my desk, I suddenly heard a knocking coming from my front door. I managed a small smile. "Aha. Looks like I do have energy drinks now." I quickly walked over to the front door, knowing what was waiting for me on the other side.

"Come to papa," I said, pulling the front door open and rubbing my hands together at the sight of the crate on my doorstep. The crate had the Lilycove Department Store logo on the side of it just like it always did. I picked up the crate and carried it inside. After I set it down on the counter, I smiled. Even though I had to unpack all of this stuff, getting my groceries by way of delivery was great. I didn't have to leave my house at all, and that was still exciting for me.

"I'll get started on my article before I-"

Brrrt.

"GAH!" I shouted as the box suddenly moved on the kitchen counter. It had scooted over quite a few inches. "What the hell?"

Brrrt. The box moved again, getting pretty close to the edge of the counter. "Is there something in there?" I moved to the box of groceries, aiming to open the top of it.

Brrrrrrrt. The box moved one final time, sliding it off the edge of the counter and then onto the floor with a huge crash.

"Shit!" I shouted, as the lid of the crate popped off. "Did they accidently pack a live Pokémon in there?"

"Zee!" A call responded to my guess. I leaned down to take a look inside the crate and my eyes widened.

"Huh. I guess that they did." Inside of the crate, next to all of the groceries was a pink bird Pokémon that was covered in a bunch of other colors that didn't look natural for it. The aroma coming from the box was powerful, but not unpleasant. I then noticed that all of the soap and shampoo bottles were open and leaking into the crate and all over the bird. "Oh… you got yourself covered in that stuff didn't you?" The bird looked up at me, and it froze.

"Z-Z-Zee?" it said, fear evident even in its sing-songy voice. I frowned, but I wasn't angry at it specifically. I was more upset that Lilycove managed to miss a live Pokémon inside of one of their shipments. At least the food was more or less intact. The bird didn't seem to have gotten into that.

"Aw, don't be scared little guy." I reached down to pet it, but the bird reacted with even more fear than it had shown initially. It backed away from my hand, closing its eyes and crying to itself. "I'm not gonna hurt you. I'm not even mad about the groceries.

"Sprit..?" it said, opening an eye and looking up at me. I managed a small smile, reaching out to it.

"See? I'm not mad at all. My name is Andrew." The bird was still apprehensive, but it eventually worked up the courage to walk out the box and into my hand. It tilted its head and looked me over.

"Sprit. Zee?" It climbed up my arm suddenly and hopped onto my shoulder.

"Hey, what are you doing?" I questioned, seeing the soapy bird get right next to my face.

"Spritzee!" It nuzzle up against my head, getting the soap/shampoo solution all over me. Even though it was a little annoying, the bird Pokémon actually seemed pretty happy, so I refrained from doing anything brash.

"Nice to see that you are feeling alright, little buddy," I said, standing back up to my full height. The bird jumped a little from the change in height, but it still stayed up on my shoulder. "We are gonna have to find out where you came from." I turned the box right side up again and stared at the department store logo again. "Damn idiots. This guy could've gotten hurt. Or he could've eaten my food!"

After picking up the crate and putting it back on the counter, I cleaned up the inside of all of the soap and shampoo. I wondered why the bird would open up those things, so I decided to do a little research. I reached into a drawer in the kitchen and pulled out my old Pokédex. It was dusty, but I knew that the batteries on these things never ran out.

"Alright. Let's see what we can figure out about you," I said, looking at the bird that was still on my shoulder. The Pokédex powered up, starting up on the old start screen. "Geez. I really should update the firmware on this thing." I hadn't used it in years. Being a Pokémon trainer just wasn't for me.

"Zee?" the bird said, looking down at the device.

"Don't worry, little buddy. This is just gonna scan you for a second." I aimed the Pokédex's scanner at the bird and it quickly downloaded the data.

"Spritzee, the Perfume Pokémon," the Pokédex narrated. I smiled at the memories of using this thing all the time. My trainer days were certainly some of the best days of my life, but all good things must come to an end. Ugh… I'd rather not think about that right now.

"Spritzee!" the bird said at the mention of its species.

"Ah, so that's what you are. Sorry I didn't know what you were when I first saw you. I haven't exactly been around Pokémon for a while." I scrolled through the data on the Pokédex. "You're from Kalos? Wow, that's quite a ways away." I wanted to ask how the Spritzee had got here, but I knew that it couldn't tell me. It's a pity that Pokémon couldn't speak to humans. I also saw another interesting detail on the Pokédex.

"Hm… According to this, you are a guy." I cracked a smile. "But look at you! You look so girly!"

"ZEE!" I was suddenly slapped in the back of my head by a little wing, but instead of getting mad I only burst into laughter.

"Kidding, kidding! You look one hundred percent manly to me, Spritzee." Spritzee looked pissed, but it was completely worth it. "Back to business though. Not that I want to get rid of you, but we had better get you back to where you came from." Spritzee suddenly jumped off of my shoulder and landed on the side of the crate.

"Sprit!" He was shaking his head with a look of absolute terror in his eyes. I tilted my head, confused at the reaction.

"Alright, calm down. We can talk about this later. I've some stuff I gotta do today before we deal with this. I got an article to write for my job." Spritzee looked relieved, wiping one of his wings across his face. I looked down at myself, seeing my pajamas still on me. "I'm probably gonna take a shower before I do that though." I chuckled. "You didn't spill all of the soap I hope."

I grabbed up the open bottles of soap and shampoo (which thankfully had remained intact for the most part) and quickly retreated to the bathroom. I poked my head out the door to Spritzee. "Hey, feel free to watch TV or whatever."

"Zee," he responded, flying over to the remote and turning it on. I watched the little bird perch on the top of the couch and stare at the TV screen. Jubilife TV News was on again.

"Crazy bird," I whispered as I closed the bathroom door. I couldn't believe the little guy had gotten into my groceries. I would have to deal with him at some point, but he was already proving to be interesting company. I could never deal with people, but there was something about Pokémon…

I shook my head, slowly removing my pajamas. No. I couldn't get too attached to him. I just had to get him back to where he came from and out of my life as fast as possible. I reached behind the curtain in the bathroom and turned the knob inside, making water start to spray out of the shower head. I stepped inside, grabbing the bottles of soap and shampoo and setting them down on the shower floor.

The hot water felt wonderful. Showers always were the thing in the morning that woke me up completely. And energy drinks. Both were equally important. I simply stood under the water for a moment and let the water wash away my stress.

"Ah…" I reached down and grabbed the soap, checking the label to see that it was ocean breeze scented. "Good. My favorite kind." I turned the bottle upside down and squeezed it, the soap falling onto my waiting hand. After setting the bottle down, I started to spread the soap all over my body.

Showers were actually pretty nice. If I could spend all day standing under a stream of hot water, I would totally consider doing it. When I realized that I had soap all over my body, I reached for the shampoo next. For some reason, I was suddenly getting a little bit itchy, but I didn't have time to sit here and tend to the itch. I was trying to get the shower done as quickly as possible today though. I had to get that stupid article done for ONBS. "Ugh…" I moaned, shaking my head. "That is such bullshhhhhh-"

My words died in my throat as my heart skipped a beat. That wasn't my voice. It was high-pitched and a little bit raspy… almost like… "What the… hell?"

I shook my head and took a deep breath. No. This isn't real. This isn't actually happening. Just the morning tiredness getting to me. I finished rinsing myself off under the warm shower before jumping out at high speed. I'm just gonna pretend it didn't happen, I thought to myself. When I passed in front of the mirror on the way out of the bathroom, I spotted an odd, out of place color in the corner of my vision.

What the hell is going on? I turned to face the mirror in hopes of seeing the strange red object. What I saw next was beyond my comprehension. I saw a patch of blood red fur in the center of my chest and there was a big bushy patch of black fur on my neck. That was weird enough, but that wasn't all: it was spreading. I stared with wide eyes as it rapidly moved out from my chest and to my arms.

Panic was overtaking my emotions as black fur creeped up my arm. I watched in horror as the fur passed over my hand, my nails sharpening and turning the same deep red as my chest. I couldn't focus on that terrifying scene for long, because the red fur on my chest was shooting downward. It traveled past my stomach and toward my crotch. I realized when I looked in the mirror again that I was hyperventilating.

Crrrack.

"Gah!" my feminine sounding voice screamed out as my torso's frame caved in, making me collapse to the ground in front of the mirror. When I looked down to assess the damage, I gasped. I was already pretty skinny the way I was, but this was ridiculous. I had become very lean in the stomach and the upper torso, but my hips were now unnaturally wide. It was all accompanied by the spread of the red fur, and more black fur around my thighs and hips.

I reached up with my clawed hands and grabbed the side of the sink, hoisting myself back up into a standing position. When the mirror came back into view, my face was no longer there to greet me. "Holy shit!" I stumbled back at the sight.

My face and head were entirely unrecognizable as my own. Spikey black hair, giant red ears with yellow fur on the insides, sharp teeth in my mouth, and golden eyes. A memory flashed into my mind as I stared at my own face. I almost collapsed again, but I kept myself against the wall to provide support.

I had finally put the pieces together. I was becoming some sort of human-Pokémon hybrid like the ones that were described on the news. Except it wasn't just any Pokémon. It was her. I caressed my face with my hand.I even had her face. I growled, my mouth twisting into an angry snarl.

"Why?" I spoke, my voice even sounding a little familiar now that I thought about it. "I don't know why this is happening, but whoever is doing this is gonna pay for making me remember." My hands were clenched into fists as the black fur spread down my legs, eventually becoming red again as it reached my lower leg. My feet changed too, the bone structure shifting and forcing me to stand on my toes, which were now down to three on each foot. Strangely, it wasn't uncomfortable at all.

The changes were coming to an end hopefully, but I knew one thing that was missing. I felt a pinch in my lower back as my spine extended outside my body, quickly growing out and becoming covered in black fur. I turned around and felt the new appendage. It was weird to feel an entirely new part of the body, but it didn't make my rage subside. I saw the familiar star form at the end of my new tail. My transformation looked to be complete… but something didn't feel right.

Suddenly, I felt a pressure in my chest. My eyes widened. "No." I saw two points on my chest slowly inflate like a balloon, growing larger and larger. They stopped when the new orbs were about as big as a volleyballs. The new weight on my body threw me off a little as I approached the mirror. My hands came up and felt them. It was so bizarre. "No!" Tears were forming in my eyes as my mind filled in the blanks of what was going to happen next.

Sure enough, the next point of pressure was in my groin. I quickly reached down to feel the area before it was gone. I was too slow. My manhood has already disappeared, and when my hands got there, they met a smooth furry surface where it used to be. I closed my eyes, tears now streaming down my face as the last thing that made me what I was disappeared. I threw my head back and slammed my fist on the sink counter.

"Nooooooooo!" I screamed, turning around and slamming into the door. To my surprised, the door flew off of its hinges, making me and the door tumble to the floor. "Gah!" I said as I fell flat on my face. The fall also hurt my new additions on my chest. "Shit…"

"What the?" a small voice exclaimed. My new ears perked up at the sound of the voice.

"Who was that?" I said despite everything that had happened. It was then that I saw Spritzee glide down from his place on the couch. He gestured to himself.

"Me, of course!" I was completely stunned. I had just understood the Spritzee like I would a human being. In plain and simple English. The Spritzee finally got a good look at me and gasped. "What? Andrew, is that you!?" My mind couldn't compute this information. My vision went black, and in moments I was out.