(A/N)

Offyerrocker: Oh hai! AND DON'T SAY IT.

Sarah: Why-

Offyerrocker: Ahem.

Sarah: [grumble]

Offyerrocker: Anyways, you're probably wondering about the third kid mentioned in the description?

Yeah… I'll introduce the third kid soon. But the aforementioned person needs a name, personality, morph species, gender, and… generally… everything. Suggestions appreciated. But I might have something in mind for the new character. Also, sorry about the lack of activity for a while… my sickness and Thanksgiving all took a LOT of my time.

Sarah: You're just being lazy.

Offyerrocker: My threat of fur still stands. Besides, you are literally me. Sarah. That's me.

Sarah: No you're n-

Offyerrocker: Fur.

Sarah: [Makes zipping motion across mouth]

Offyerrocker: That's better.

Michael: Hey, why are these Author's Notes written in script form? And where are the actual notes? All I see are pointless arguments written for the Author's amusement.

Offyerrocker: The fur threat goes for you, too.

Michael: I mean, Happy Birthday!!

Offyerrocker: Much, much better.

So sorry, again, for not updating. Final are this week… *sigh!* But anyways. I made some minor updates to this story.

So yeah. Minor changes.

Sarah: You know, you have to lower your standards… a chapter/update every day will not be easy for you.

Offyerrocker: Why thank you, figment of my imagination.

Read and Review PLZPLZPLZPLZ! Constructive criticism… needed! A LOT!

Also, my Microsoft Word (and MacBook Pro) have gone slightly crazy, resulting in annoying but persistent grammatical/spelling errors. For example, my keyboard doesn't work. At all. So I need to use an externally attached keyboard. Well anyway here's the next chapter of Effort Value!

10-A New Horror Every Day

In the Verdanturf Pokémon Center, Hoenn.

Michael screamed. Two yellow ears replaced his human ones, protruding from his skull, and a tail came from underneath him. His unfamiliar limbs ached; his sensitive new ears nearly burst following his initial outburst of horror, and he sat on his tail, causing himself intense pain. He sat on his bed, numb and stunned, for several minutes, attempting in vain to absorb these new occurrences. After a while, he got over the shock, and gingerly and nervously walked to the Pokémon Center's guest bathroom, covering his new limbs like an embarrassed child.

He looked into the mirror anxiously. There they were: two Pikachu ears, complete with black tips and inner ear functioning, and behind him, a Pikachu's brown and yellow lightning-bolt tail. An unfamiliar muscle twitched, and his tail jumped. He cried out, from shock rather than pain. What had happened? He felt his ears and…twitchy, yellow piece of bone and fur… to make sure they were still there. Yep. Still there. He pinched himself. Ow. He lightly slapped himself in the cheek. His reflection mimicked him. He was awake. This was real. These things were real, but they weren't his. They were from the DNA of a Pokémon. A Pikachu.

Somewhere in the world, a Pikachu has really, really ugly ears and no tail, he thought, and he, despite himself, smiled briefly. It vanished quickly, though.

Maybe it was something I did. What was I doing yesterday? Looking for some girl… To talk to her. But I never got far. I didn't even do anything, really. Nothing odd, no random injections, no strange food or pills. Nothing that would cause this. He thought harder. Maybe… it has something to do with that puncture mark that appeared last month… but no, that was probably a mosquito bite. Oh, shit! What is that!? Michael lifted his shirt and looked behind him. There, above the spot where his tail merged with his spine (!): two brown stripes presented themselves as birthmarks. So it wasn't just skin-deep…

Calm down. You will be fine, he told himself. Now you'll just have to learn to cope for the time being. It's not really that bad, is it? Take a deep breath.

He took a deep breath.

And fainted clean away.

"You can stay as long as you'd like."

That was what Celestic Town's Nurse Joy had said to me yesterday. After arriving approximately 18 hours later and 80 kilometers away, I arrived, utterly exhausted, at Celestic Town's Pokémon Center. Although the Nurse Joy there was kind and helpful (who wasn't? Gringy City's, probably.), Unable to appreciate the situation, I had checked in and instantly fallen asleep on the couch.

I looked around. I was sitting on the couch in Celestic Town's Pokémon Center, true enough. Thick, warm blankets covered me. Cozy.

Uh oh. What time was it? I checked my wrist- oh, right. Team Rocket took my equipment… Damn them. Profanity (in my thoughts, at least) had increased, along with my problems. And this was definitely not your everyday situation. But no, I'd been over that before. Pokétch, Pokégear, Backpack, all of it. I checked the clock on the wall next to me: 14:43. Shit! I'd slept in! I should be searching for a cure right now! Untangling myself from the comfortable covers, I stumbled to the main lobby, tripping over my tail and falling pathetically to the floor. I turned around. Swishing around behind me with a mind of its own was that damn useless brown puffball of a tail. It never did anything useful-why did I even have it? It-

I froze.

It was out in the open-my hoodie was gone. Oh, shit.

I looked around. There were some sleeping trainers, slumped in chairs. Damn. Close call. Dear Arceus, that made my heart stop… I relaxed. Knowing that nobody has seen me. Still, I hurried to the bathroom- every second out here was another chance to screw up and expose myself. I locked the door and looked in the mirror, intending to brush my teeth and shower, beginning my daily morning ritual. Instead, I stared into the mirror, not wanting to believe what I saw.

Every day is a new start, a new chance to be horrified at your drastic change in appearance.

"No," I whispered, mortified. There, around my neck, I could see the beginning of an Eevee's mane. I steadied myself on the counter; Fine white fur emerged from my neck. I mean, having a tail and a set of ears that wasn't yours was bad enough, but a mane? That was going to be hard. Very, very hard. And it wasn't as if I had experienced enough bad stuff recently. But this new thing… Oh, boy.
A normal person would not easily notice, but it had a separate and horrifying meaning for me. The mutation was progressing.

My mind drifted back to the nightmare scene when I escaped from the headquarters. Zela's grinning, bloodied face, cackling.

"You… chose… wrong." Had I injected myself with the wrong serum? Or was Zela playing at psychological warfare?

Or was I really wrong?

I broke away from the mirror's gaze and turned.

Man, I have had some really bad luck with mirrors and appearances lately.

The extra appendages were out in the open. I really had to be more careful. Tucking my tail carefully under my oversized sweatshirt, behind my back, and putting my hood on, I stepped confidently out to the main lobby again. I signed out on the clipboard on the counter and stepped out the door. I knew someone who worked at the Moomoo Milk Restaurant above Solaceon. But it was almost as long… I looked around. There was an unchained bike nearby… and it was an emergency...

I looked around for its owner. Nothing.

I walked casually towards the bike, apologizing mentally for what I was about to do.

What a dream. Michael thought as he slowly became conscious.

But why am I asleep on the floor?

…Or… did I faint? Yes. I fainted, didn't I? Hmm…

It was unlike Michael to faint under normal conditions. But in times of urgency… (If this wasn't urgency, he didn't know what was)… well, this was definitely not normal.

He sat up and looked around. He was on the floor, where he fainted. Right after… aw, crap.

He stood, rubbing his head.

Not a dream. Gee, thank my lucky stars it wasn't a Muk instead. Supporting himself on the counter, he walked over to his bedroom and pulled out some clothes. I can't go around looking like this… He pulled out a black beanie and put it on. It sufficiently covered his ears. Then he rummaged around in the closet for something that would hide his tail. My tail. What an odd phrase. Surprisingly, he was not too shocked after he had woken up. Thinking relatively clearer. Nothing was broken, he wasn't acting like a Pikachu (Thank Arceus!) and there was nothing he couldn't hide. He pondered his curiously calm state of mind while pulling on a sweatshirt. It was large enough to conceal his tail (That still sounds odd), but it was yellow. And right now, yellow was not exactly his favorite color…

He shook his head. DNA Crisis, tail, ears, fur, and I'm worrying about my dislike of yellow… There are more important things to do. Why would I think that?

Clearing his mind of all irrelevant things, Michael set off towards the Game Corner in Mauville. Rocket Base? You betcha. He disliked them, but they were the only ones who publicly did anything remotely related to this. Illegal Rattata experiments were irrelevant. Not important, compared to this. He would pay them to remove these if he had to.