Derek Green slowly trudged down a small, muddy path in the middle of the woods. Tall, massive trees flanked him on either side, reducing sunlight to a trickle, with patches in a few spots.
He had just been bullied yet again because of his liking of a game called Pok mon. He was obsessed over it, playing the video games over and over again, collecting the cards, and writing Pok mon fanfiction on places like Deviantart. Of course, at his school, showing even the slightest liking towards something as nerdy as Pok mon was instant condemnation by the popular kids and constant bullying in your near future.
Sighing, the teen brushed some straggling specks of mud off of his red t-shirt and jeans. He'd fallen into a mud puddle when he tried to escape the daily teasing session with the school bullies outside after school, to no avail. His brown shoes fared no better and were almost completely beyond saving. He'd have to buy another pair, again . . .
One Pokemon in particular stood out to him.
Delphox.
The amazing psychic and fire abilities, plus the equally amazing looks was what attracted Derek to this pocket monster. He even carried a delphox notebook in his backpack. Back at home, Delphox posters and figurines lined the walls of his bedroom, with a few other Pok mon memorabilia scattered throughout.
Derek longed to live in the pokemon world itself, a loyal Delphox by his side, going on a journey together and win all the badges and be the top trainer in the land! He spent hours imagining himself fighting in an exciting battle against another trainer, his Delphox easily conquering the opposition, then throngs of girls would throw themselves at his feet . . . Ah . . . paradise. . . Sometimes, when he was particularly depressed, he would imagine what it would be like to actually BE a Delphox. To be able to see the future plus smite your enemies with a huge wave of scorching fire sounded pretty awesome, especially using that power to get revenge on the people who teased him!
But that would never happen. This was cold, harsh reality. Pok mon don't exist in this world other than in video games and stories, no matter how much he wanted them to appear in real life. Derek sighed sadly at this truth, kicking a small stone lying on the dirt trail.
Of course, he didn't have too much to complain about as a human, at least! Two loving parents, no major financial worries, and the worst problem he faced was the bullying problem at school! People undergo far worse than that and still pull through, so how bad can it be?
Still . . . he knew he was just spoiled, but Derek was depressed anyways. At times like these, after another session of wedgies and name-calling, he just wanted to disappear from the human world and longed for the bliss of training your own Pok mon.
Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, Derek saw something, half-buried in the dirt and covered by a pile of leaves.
It was a stick.
But something seemed wrong about it, like it just didn't fit in with the rest of the forest scenery. It was too smooth and unnatural-looking to be realistic. It was as if it had been carefully carved by someone-but who? For what purpose?
Curious, the teen yanked the stick out from the dirt's grasp and brushed it off, examining it closely in a patch of sunlight.
If he didn't know better, Derek would've sworn that it was a wand of some kind. One end was somewhat fat, tapering down to a thin, round point at the other end. It was slightly curved and smooth, with a stub jutting out from the top.
It also looked a bit like the exact stick Delphox uses when it fights in battle!
For a second, Derek considered whether it might possibly be an actual Delphox stick.
Then he remembered he was in reality, where pokemon don't exist beyond books and video games, Unfortunately.
He sighed longingly.
Well, it couldn't hurt to at least pretend, right?
Setting his backpack down on a stump, Derek swung his stick, imagining he was one of his favorite Pok mon, living in the magical universe of the Pok mon world.
Unknown to Derek, the stick really WAS a wand. A fellow classmate who was secretly a young witch-in-training accidentally lost it on the way to school, where it lay unnoticed in the woods before Derek unwittingly discovered it.
Another fact unknown to the teen was that the wand was feeding off his subconscious thoughts, emitting a strange red glow that gradually began moving into Derek's hand, up his arms, and throughout his entire body.
While Derek was fighting an imaginary foe, launching a massive fire attack in his mind, the mysterious energy began affecting his red t-shirt, causing it to become looser and looser on the sleeves and bottom, while tightening up around his torso. The bottom began to stretch downwards, condensing it against his jeans. The shirt's fabric began intertwining with the fabric of the jeans, gradually pulling the two closer and closer together. The shirt's color began leaking onto the jeans, staining them the same dark red as the t-shirt itself. As the dark red color spread across the pants, completely erasing the previous blue of the jean's fabric, the shirt continued to fuse with the pants, binding the two together until it was impossible to tell where the division between the pants and the shirt was, and it was now more like a jumpsuit than two separate pieces of clothing.
The pants billowed out at the waist, continuing outwards and down towards his feet. The same happened to the shirtsleeves, although to a lesser extent. The shirt, however, had tightened considerably, and was now pressing deeply into his chest and stomach, forcing his slightly round belly to cave inwards and disappear, as the bones and organs within his chest began to compress together slightly.
"So! You are no match for my mi-" Derek's boasting was cut short as he tripped over his increasingly baggy pants. He suddenly snapped out of his fantasy, looking down to catch the culprit to his landing face first into the mud.
"What the-?!"
The transformation stopped instantly as Derek lost his concentration on imagining the Delphox, beginning to panic.
Derek gazed upon his new, strange, clothes, softly grazing the fabric with his hand. What the heck happened?!
His shirt and pants had somehow fused into one, giving the appearance of a very strange, exotic, dark red dress. He clutched his chest, feeling a slight shortage of breath from the tightness of the shirt wrapped around his torso. The baggy "dress" seemed very, very familiar. . .
It sort of reminded him of a Delphox, even though the delphox's furry torso was yellow and white, while his was still red. Derek vaguely recalled the strange tingling feeling he felt during his daydream, which he had dismissed as lightheadedness or just part of the fantasy.
Then he saw the stick in his hand, still glowing red in his hands. He could feel the vast energy within it as it slightly pulsated within his grasp, still emitting the cryptic energy.
When he felt the potential power flowing behind the mysterious stick, a new possibility struck him. Any other time, and he would have dismissed this idea as ridiculous nonsense, a mere fantasy that could never happen. But now, it suddenly, strangely seemed to make sense.
was he turning into a Delphox?
The thought excited him as he looked at his "dress" in a new light. Could it be possible? . . . Could it actually be possible? . . . He smiled at the thought, eagerly considering the possibility.
He noted that although his clothes had begun to take the shape of his favorite pokemon, they hadn't fused with him yet. (he assumed they would do that later on) If this was permanent, which would certainly be a possibility, then this would likely be the last time he can back out if he wanted to. All he had to do was find a way to take the clothes off, find some suitable alternative clothing, and life could resume as normal. But from here on, there would be no turning back. There would be a chance he would stay a Delphox forever.
Now, if this incident had happened when Derek wasn't so depressed, he would have considered things like the life as a human he would leave behind, what being a Delphox long-term in the real world would be like and how it would affect him, and his family and friends (even though they were rather few). Now, though, he was thinking solely in the moment.
And at the moment, he wanted to be a Delphox.
Derek wondered how to get the transformation going again, having eagerly made his decision.
Perhaps imagining transforming into a Delphox? That usually works in the stories he's heard of.
Derek closed his eyes and imagined a Delphox, standing tall and proud. He tried to picture everything, down to the slightest detail. He imagined his human features slowly transforming into those of the pokemon he loved, shifting and reforming into vulpine characteristics.
After doing so for a few minutes, Derek opened his eyes.
Nothing.
Absolutely nothing!
Nothing had changed, not one bit!
Derek nearly threw the stick down in frustration. What had happened? What went wrong? Why hadn't the changes resumed? Perhaps he was just wrong about the whole transformation idea?
Then he saw the vest.
It was sleeveless and yellow, lying on the grass a few feet away. It was almost identical to the yellow tuft of fur encasing the delphox's chest!
Grinning, Derek eagerly ran and grabbed it- then dropped it into the ground, crying in pain.
It was hot! Steaming hot!
His hands felt like they had third-degree burns on them, and he could almost see smoke wafting from his palms. He couldn't put that on. . .
could he?
Delphoxes were fire-types, after all. Surely, he would get used to the scorching heat? Perhaps it was a test of his resolve, to see if he wanted to be a pokemon enough to be willing to risk serious injury for it. Or something like that, anyways. He was sure it would all work out . . . hopefully. . .
Anyhow, he will not be able to merely throw it off without any consequences. He would have to go all in, throw all the cards on the table.
Was he willing to make that choice?
Yes.
Yes, he was.
Hesitating for one final second, Derek quickly nabbed the vest, quickly transferring it from his scalding hands, through the armholes, and finally onto his shoulders. After a few failed attempts due to the sleeve's new bagginess, the teen finally succeeded in getting the vest on, wrapped snugly around his shoulders, and surveyed the vest on his body.
Without warning, the physical changes resumed as his clothes somehow seemed to begin changing their molecular structure, transforming from leather and cloth to skin and fur. Derek watched with complete awe and astonishment as his pants slowly became fur, a natural pants protecting his legs from the outside world. Even more astounding, these long hairs of dark red fur began attaching themselves to Derek's skin, fusing with and becoming a part of his body. A strange tingling sensation wafted throughout his legs during this process, accompanied by a slight itchiness. As Derek began scratching himself furiously, he suddenly felt his hands brushing against his new fur coat, down to the last hair.
The same thing happened with his arms, the dark red shirt transforming itself into fur and fusing with Derek's arm. The mysterious heat energy swept into his new fur coat, and Derek sighed happily at the feeling. It was like wearing nice, warm heated pajamas-except those pajamas were attached to you!
Then the teen felt a small twinge of pain as a small column of fire suddenly ignited, bursting out of his hands. Derek let out a small whimper as the flames painfully consumed them, turning them completely black, black as charcoal. Then his hands painfully shifted, small, sharp bones bursting out of his outstretched fingers as his fingernails fell off, blood dripping from his new claws. As if that wasn't enough, then two of his fingers and his thumb began to fuse together, forming a three-fingered sort of paw-hand. Derek, despite the pain radiating from his changing hands, couldn't help but watch with curiosity at this unnatural, strange process.
Small pawpads began to form on his hands, no longer feeling the pain from his-still burning hands. His skin began to break out in a blister, which formed in the middle of his outstretched palm and swelled, stretching outwards and developing a leathery texture.
Derek winced as the same revisions began happening to his feet, which began turning black, pawpads forming, and razor-sharp claws painfully bursting out of his skin as his nails fell off, a small trail of blood oozing from his toes. His toes began to shrink back into his feet, fusing with each other until all that remained were three small nubs with sharp claws protruding from them.
Next was the vest, following the same pattern as his pants and shirt, enveloping his chest in beautiful swathes of luscious yellow fur. The warmth continued to radiate from his fur, gradually increasing in strength and temperature, making Derek feel nice and snug in his new "clothes". The yellow fur parted down the middle, as the shirt revealed underneath seemed to melt off his body from the intense temperatures, exposing his bare chest. A sudden burst of pain from his exposed chest instantly faded as a huge column of white flame roared out of his torso, shooting out from the top of his chest and snaking downwards, ending at his thinning waistline. It then solidified and became White-hot fur, intense heat billowing both into his body and outwards.
By now, his entire body, although it itself still mostly maintained a human posture and shape, was now entirely covered in magnificent, warm fur, with the exception of his head.
But, that began to change.
The now familiar comfortable, warming, tingling sensation began to spread up his neck and into his head, making him chuckle slightly.
The yellow fur soon followed, stretching up from his vest, now his chest fur, and completely enveloping the neck in the warm, soft, yellow fur, although this fur was a lot shorter than the fur on his chest.
Derek's head began to feel numb as the surge of energy built up inside his head, pushing to escape.
The energy pressed harder and harder against his face, particularly against his nose and mouth areas. Derek felt like he was going to throw up as the energy relentlessly increased, fighting to expand and be free of its human constraints. He felt like his skin was going to explode!
Finally, his face gave way to the pouring wave of energy, his nose shooting forwards, followed by his mouth. The sensation was peculiar and slightly painful, and Derek watched with morbid fascination as his face lengthened and stretched, forming a long, thin muzzle of sorts. Derek suddenly coughed, then gasped in surprise to find that he was coughing up blood. Even worse, his own teeth were falling out! They fell onto the grass, accompanied by small spurts of blood, spit out by the transforming teen. New, sharp fangs burst from his changing gums to take the place of his old teeth, razor-sharp and fire-resistant. His tongue enlarged and grew, filling out the length of his new muzzle. Yellow fur began sprouting from the top half of the muzzle, while white fur grew underneath. The fur rapidly enveloped his entire face, covering it with a layer of short, thin fur.
However, the formation of Derek's new muzzle only temporarily satisfied the pent-up energy still increasing in his head. Derek whined as he clutched his head in pain, getting a massive headache from the overdose of energy filling his head, crowding out his brain and skull.
There had to be some way to release it all! Surely, there had to. . .
Fortunately, there was.
Derek's ears began to hurt as they began moving up the side of his head, growing by the second. In a few moments, they shot to the top of Derek's head, fanning wide into the air, forming a sort of vent for the energy inside. Finally, the energy had somewhere to go! It eagerly took this new opportunity, rapidly exiting Derek's body and expelling far into the air. Some of the energy turned bright red, transforming into bushy, long fur that sprang from within his ears outwards.
With the excess energy's release, Derek began to feel better.
Suddenly, he felt his eyes subconsciously close, and for a few seconds he was completely blind as his eyes changed. He lost his senses of sound and smell too, as his sensory organs revised and strengthened, becoming sharper and clearer.
Finally, the physical changes were nearly done, and Derek looked over himself in wonder at his new self.
But it wasn't over yet.
While Derek now looked like a Delphox through and through from the outside, he still had a mainly human body underneath all those layers of fur.
That quickly changed, however.
Derek winced slightly as his actual body began changing, modifying itself to not only withstand the ever-increasing fiery energy building up in his outer layers of fur and slowly leaking into his body itself, but to master it, to manipulate and control it at the slightest whim. His neck and chest thinned as his hips grew wider, giving him a slightly feminine appearance, despite him being a boy. That was one trait of Delphox Derek was not a huge fan of, and he sighed slightly at this new turn of events.
His disappointment was instantly forgotten, though, as the surge of power flowed throughout his changing body. This power . . . it felt . . . amazing! It was exactly what Derek had expected.
To sum up the changes, a lighter red patch of fur in the shape of a sort of crown appeared on the fur on his legs.
The changes complete, Derek surveyed his new body with an increasing sense of joy.
Derek had dropped the wand during the transformation, and now it lay in a bush several feet away.
"I wonder. . . " Derek thought to himself as he advanced towards the wand.
Gripping it with one paw, Derek hoisted it into the air, wielding it like a sword. He willed it to ignite, and the tip burst into a small yet beautiful flame, faintly illuminating the woods around him. He felt the magical energy surge within, and it was his to command!
As the new Pok mon began exploring his new powers, he began shoving thoughts of his family and friends to the back of his mind. He was focusing on the here and now! The wand began erasing any desire to turn back to a human, diminishing the joys of humanity and exaggerating the joys of being a Pokemon. The wand's sinister powers began to destroy his memories of happiness as a human, and the individuality and love of his family all disappeared into nothingness. The personal relationships and love he had with his family and friends was gradually broken, erased into oblivion. Derek could still remember his family and friends, but only as abstract figures that held no personal connection to him. Thanks to the wand's magic, being human no longer had any appeal to him at all. He began to dislike and disregard the human race, now considering them little more than greedy parasites bent on turning him into a slave to fight their battles with.
Derek grinned mischievously, looking at his surroundings. He was going to have so much fun in this new form!
Vanessa's P. O. V.
This is bad, this is really, really bad. . .
I clambered over a log, deep within the forest bordering my school. Twigs and bushes cut into my skin, and the mosquitos viewed me as an endless dinner buffet and attacked in swarms.
This would be soooo much easier with my wand . . .
But of course, I didn't have it. I can't believe I lost it on the way to school! Then to top things off, I couldn't look for it because then I would be late for school. So I run to school instead, and is late anyways! Then I get placed in detention for a hour and a half, farther hindering my search. I finally just got out five minutes ago!
If the headmistress, the head witch, finds out about this, I'm in deep trouble! I could lose my wand or be stuck in the magic world, never to return to the mortal realm again!
I picked up a stick then threw it down in disgust. No, that wasn't it. . .
Discouraged, I head back to the main trail to search farther down. It's gotta be somewhere down here. . . I really hope no one picked it up! Rogue wands are capable of anything, and are the main reason losing them can have disastrous consequences!
Delllpphhhoooxxxx!
"What the-?"
What was that?! That didn't sound like anything I'd ever heard of! It didn't sound human either . . .
Oh no, please no . . .
I broke into a sprint, dashing towards the source of the unnatural noise.
Please don't let that be my wand, oh please oh please don't let that be my wand. . .
It was my wand.
I skidded to a stop right outside a large clearing, gaping in shock at strange creature in the middle. Bipedal, unnaturally large ears, foreign- looking, . . . fire powers?! This didn't look like any magical creature I know!
Emitting another loud cry, the creature began making a massive column of fire, forming a huge spiral of flames. With another cry, the creature unleashed the flames at a cluster of trees on the opposite edge of the clearing, and I felt a huge rush of wind as the flames made contact, setting the entire area ablaze.
Wait. . . what was that creature clutching in one of its paw-hand-thingies? . . .
My wand!
Oh crud . . . I figured now was the time to call for some backup. The trees around the area that thing blasted were already alight. This could quickly spiral out of con-
"You called, witchling?"
Headmistress! I was half relieved and half agonized by her appearance. Feebly, I pointed to where that creature was readying yet another fire attack on a different cluster of trees, apparently unaffected by the fire.
"Oh my-" The witch's eyes dropped open in shock as she surveyed the situation. Shaking off the surprise, she instantly switched into serious mode, chanting an advanced spell that was several years ahead of my current studies. Then she thrust her wand in the direction of the sky, and there was a loud clap of thunder followed by a torrent of rain, extinguishing the flames instantly. The creature apparently doesn't like the rain, however, and ran into the woods, yelping in fright.
Having stopped the fire, the headmistress ceased the rain with a simple wave of her elaborate silver wand, then dashed off in pursuit of the creature, beckoning me to follow, which I did obediently.
The creature didn't get too far due to the rain, lying propped up against the tree, panting. It suddenly seemed very familiar. . . In an instant I remembered what it was.
It was one of those creatures from that game, Pok mon, those group of nerds played back at school! A delphox!
But what was one doing here?!
"Hmm. . . " the headmistress stated, seeing my wand clutched in the Pok mon's grasp, "By looking at the evidence, someone probably turned themselves into a . . . Delphox. . . or whatever it is. These "Rogue wand" cases can be quite common in the mortal world. Unfortunately, his memory appears to have been wiped. By this stage, the transformation is irreversible."
"Really?" I asked, staring into the pokemon's red eyes with pity. I wondered who the poor soul who turned himself into a Delphox was. . .
When the headmistress tried to snatch the wand, the Delphox let out a snarl and clutched the wand tighter, growling slightly.
"Hmm." The headmistress stared at the pokemon, figuring out what to do. "Normally, the victim gives up the wand after the transformation, but it seems as if the victim has incorporated the wand into its new form," She stated, rubbing her chin in thought.
Finally, she conceded. "I guess we're going to have to get you a new wand, witchling."
I sighed in admissive defeat. I am going to be in SO much trouble for this. . .
"There are only two things to do right now, since that Delphox won't give up your wand," She continued, reaching for her wand. "First, we have to "shut down" the wand."
Huh?
I observed silently as the headmistress uttered another incantation, and a small blue glow shot out from her wand to mine, which glowed a faint blue before fading. The Delphox didn't seem to notice the action, though, still growling slightly.
"What did you do?" I asked, curious.
"I took away the majority of the wand's powers," She replied, still keeping an eye on the Pok mon. "Now, it really is nothing more than a magical fire stick, identical to the type normal Delphoxes use. We don't want him using non-fire-based powers, do we?"
"I suppose not," I replied sheepishly. "Wait, why does it matter?"
"Because we're going to teleport him back to the Pok mon world," she answered emotionlessly. "Where he can live out the rest of his life as a normal pokemon."
I started to argue, but kept my mouth shut. As much as I didn't want it to happen, it was the most logical choice. He can't stay here, and he has no chance of turning back, it's really the best option for him, as much as I didn't like it.
I remained silent as the headmistress began forming a swirling portal with her wand. The kid'll never see his family or friends again. . . but at least he'll be happy! I hope . . .
Third person P. O. V.
The portal complete a few minutes later, the headmistress began leading the delphox towards the waiting portal.
Derek wondered what was going on. He had been chased and caught by two strange women, and now one of them was leading him into a strange, green glowing thing!
He whined with fear, the confidence he had before ebbing away along with the will to fight. If it wasn't for that sudden and mysterious rainstorm that sapped his energy and willpower, he would've easily kicked those two's butts! He clutched his stick cautiously as he was slowly pushed towards the glowing green portal, whimpering softly. Vanessa watched with pity as the squirming Pok mon slowly advanced forwards, pushed by the headmistress with the help of a few spells.
Finally, the struggling pokemon was pushed through, and both the headmistress and Vanessa stuck their heads in to observe Derek's reaction.
"Huh?"
Derek found himself in a small, grassy field, bordered entirely by trees. A small stream ran along the field's southern edge, bubbling cheerfully. The cries of dozens of different species of pokemon resonated in the air, and a few curious bug and grass-type pokemon peeked from behind trees and grass. Where was he?!
"Delphox?"
He glanced around, confused at his new surroundings. Vanessa and the headmistress watched the Pok mon intently, a flurry of emotions running through their heads. Would he like it?
When Derek saw the confused glances of the pokemon hiding in the shadows and a small flock of bird-type pokemon flying quietly in the air, he let out a small gasp of recognition as he realized where he was.
He was in the pokemon world!
His dream come true!
The wand had worked it's magic well. Derek had no desire to go back, and an increasing urge to run, jump, and have loads of fun in his new form, in this new world. So much to explore! He let out a happy yelp as he began trotting towards the woods, eager to stake out his land and get started on his new life. Right at the edge of the woods, something queer struck him, perhaps a small, final gasp of his dying memory. He suddenly whipped around, back towards the field, to see. . . nothing. Just an empty field.
Oh well! Probably nothing important! Derek gave one final glance of hesitation before bounding into the woods, strong new legs easily propelling him through the forest towards his new life, a new beginning.
"So, that's that . . . "
The headmistress sighed in relief as the portal closed, disappearing with a final plop.
She then turned her attention towards Vanessa, now quivering in fear.
" I will need to file this incident and report it to the magic council. Then we will decide your punishment," she said emotionlessly, beginning to walk back towards the school. Vanessa followed, sulking.
" In the meantime, you will need to stay here and finish things up," the headmistress continued. "Make sure no one knows of the Delphox or of us. Only a small fire and rainstorm happened here, understand?"
Vanessa nodded, silent.
"Good, witchling. You'll probably be able to figure out who that was by whoever suddenly comes up in the missing person files. Report back to me so I can decide what to do with the family. Do you understand?"
Vanessa nodded again, afraid to do anything else.
"Good! Now come with me to the magic realm so we can get you a new wand. After you finish things up here, you are to return immediately, where you will be grounded until the final punishment is determined. We cannot be losing wands willy-nilly! Understand?"
Vanessa nodded sadly. She really did enjoy the mortal realm. . . that stunk.
The headmistress grinned in satisfaction at having her message understood, and reached for her wand so she could make a portal back to the magic realm. Instead she suddenly paused, eyes wide open in shock.
"Where's my wand?!"