(Meanwhile, back in the locked room with Alisa and Jake)
-MOMMMMMY!
-Ok! Seriously Jake. You have got to stop whining! My ears are going to explode. Stop!
-(Sniff) Ok. I'll stop. My name's is Jeswal now by the way.
-What? You're changing your name? Who is Jeswal?
-Me. I want to change my name since I'm going to be a girl! And you're not saying it right Awisa. It's Jeswal. Not, Jeswal!
-Awisa? Did you actually just call me Awisa? What the heck's wrong with your voice? Why can't you talk straight?
-Awisa, that's your name. Awisa! You're Awisa and I'm Jeswal. I can't say my L's anymore. I have to talk like a wittle cub. I can't stop it Awisa!
-Ok Jak... Jeseral. Say it with me. Jes-er-al. A-li-sa
-Jes-e-wal, A-wi-sa. There. That was perfect! I did it!
-Oh no. This has gotten way out of hand. Jeseral? Is that what you're trying to say? Is that your knew name now Jake?
-Yes. Jeswal! Exactly big sister. Awisa and Jeswal.
-Yah, this is a serious problem. I need to turn you back into a guy before mom or dad sees this. Where's that page at?
-Actually. Do you think I can stay as a cub? Just for a little while?
-What! What do you mean, you like it? I thought you hate being a girl? Look at you! You're like six inches tall!
-Yah, I know, but I'm just so cute! I can't stand it! I'm like an adorable yellow fuzzball of cuteness and adorability! I just want to curl up and sleep all day long.
-Seriously Jake... Jeseral! You like this? What the heck is wrong with you? What happens when mom finds out? She'll kill us both and I don't think you appreciate being less then six inches tall. You're not fooling anyone.
-I'm serious Awisa! I like being a cub. Now I get to whine and eat and sleep and play all day long and every adult that comes my way will be like, "Aww, wook how cute you are?" This is going to be so awesome. I wove being wittle!
-Jake, stop acting so immature. Here, I think this is the correct page. I'm writing you back in as my older brother. Help me find a pen sis.
-No! Don't change me Awisa. I'll cry again. Don't make me... Mommy!
-Ok! Ok. Stop. You can remain a little girly cub if you want , just don't scream anymore, my ears are already throbbing.
-Yayyy! What should we do first! I want to play a game! Pweeze can we play?
-No games right now Jeseral. We can play later, first we have to figure out to explain this to mom...
(Eseral walks in)
-What the? Jake? Is that you? Why are you so small?
-Hi mommy! Awisa and I are playing. She made me wittle!
-What on earth is going on here? Alisa, what did you do to your older brother?
-Mom? I can explain everything. Jeseral... Jake attacked me while we were messing with the story and I erased the part where...
-You touched the story! What were you thinking Alisa? Look at what you've done to your brother. Jake! Stop chasing your tail.
-Ok mommy.
-Alisa, your grounded!
-What? Why me? It was all Jake's fault anyways. Why am I in trouble?
-Because I can't punish her. She's just too cute!
-See, I told you Awisa. Adults love me now. (Stick's tongue out) Anyways, it was all your fault. I didn't do anything. She's lying mommy. Awisa's being a jerk!
-What! What do mean it's my fault! If you weren't six inches tall I'd...
-Alisa, don't talk to your sister like that. You're the oldest now so that means you're in charge of her. You're grounded for one month Eevee. I should double it for bringing your younger sister into this too.
-What! This is an outrage! Why am I in trouble? It was all Jake's fault. You can see the guilt on him. Just look at him.
(Jake stops chasing his tail)
-It was all her fault mommy. I was just waiting here when Awisa broke everything.
-Sounds truthful to me. You just can't deny that adorable face. Alisa, look at him. He's got the puppy dog eyes again.
-This is going to make me puke. I hope you turn back into hideous Muk you liar.
-Hey, that's a mean word!
-Anyways, Alisa? You're grounded. Go home now! I've got to talk to your sister alone.
(Alisa sulks off alone)
-Jake? You do hate being a cub huh?
-Yes! Pweeze! Make it stop. I can't stand it anymore. Why won't my tail ever hold still! (Starts chasing it again.)
-Ok, I think I can help, but just to be sure. You're tired of being small and girly? Are you aboslutely sure?
-Yes! Of course! I hate it! Help me mommy! Find the page so we can turn me back before I start chasing my tail and sucking my paw. Hey, that actually sounds like fun. (Chews on paw) No! Dang it! Make it stop!
-Sure thing sweetie. As long as you're sure. I'll turn you back. (Eseral gives him kiss. Jake doesn't do anything)
-Um, Jake? Why didn't you freak out? I thought you hate getting kissed.
-Hate it? Why? I'm a cub now, I like getting kisses from mommy.
-Wait? Let me get this straight. Since your a cub now, you don't mind if I kiss you? What else don't you mind now?
-Well, can I sleep by you at nights? I get scared in the dark. Oh, and I think I do a little cute snore now too. Oh, and you can kiss me on the cheek all the time. Oh, and you can pick me up again since I'm so small, and tell me to stop chasing my tail, and to stop sucking my paw, and crying, and I'll always be getting in twouble but when I do, I'll do this... (Puppy dog eyes)
-And, what else? Anything else you want to tell me before we change you back to being the big ignorant brother you were.
-Oh, and I love you this much mommy! (Holds paws out) Ok, I think that's it. You can change me now.
-Yah... On second thought, you're staying a little cub Jake whether you like it or not. (Picks him up) Bed time for you cutie pie.
-What? No! I didn't mean it. I'll start crying. Mom? I'm serious. Put me down! This isn't funny. Mom? Mom!
-You're going to be my little jolteon forever. I can't wait to show you to all the other mothers. Now, where's that piece of paper. Ah, here it is. (Rips it up to a million pieces)
-NOOO!
Chapter 20
The entire pack sat alone. It was midnight. The stars were shining bright, the wind gently blew. There was still no sign of Shadow.
In the front peering out over the grass stood Tailo. His eyes hadn't left the meadow all night. He had waited and paced and even gave up occasionally but he always returned to this very spot peering out where Shadow had ran off. There was just no sign of him.
The entire pack sat waiting, waiting for Shadow to return. He hadn't come back for over four hours and everyone was starting to lose hope.
It was four hours after the ambush. Jake had finally woken up from his faint and remembered the scene around him. He was stable, but somehow Tailo knew that something heavy was on his heart knowing that his mother was gone. Alisa was standing near Fenara and Cheddar, endlessly waiting.
"Do you think he's coming back?" Cheddar whispered.
"Shh!" Fenara immediately shushed her. "Quiet. I don't know but we can't upset Alisa."
Alisa heard all of it. She started to cry. "But, but he's my father. He, he can't just leave us."
"It's ok Alisa." Fenara tried to comfort. The young Eevee just pushed her away though. There was nothing that could comfort the Eevee now. Her mother was gone. She could feel the anger in her heart with each passing second spreading more doubt in her mind. It was torture waiting like this. She wanted to run and let her bloodlust consume her but she had more control than that. So she sat, and waited.
Fenara didn't know what to do. Eseral was gone? Shadow had gone out looking for her, but after four hours... There just wasn't any hope left.
What was she going to do without the Espeon here? She remembered Eseral helping her out when she was just a cub, telling her to leave when she was sneaking in on Fern and Fenray. Now she was just gone? It didn't make sense. It just wasn't fair. Every Pokemon in the entire pack knew the feeling of the loss of Eseral. The feeling sucked.
Not one Pokemon was sleeping, no one would dare fall asleep. When Shadow returned, they needed to know if she was ok or not, whether Eseral was truly coming back.
"Guys." Tailo stood back up. "He's coming. Shadow's here."
Everyone jumped up. Fenara and her friends pushed their way up to the front. Jake stood near his sister and hugged her closely waiting for their hope to be confirmed.
shadow limped up to the group unaware. When he looked up finding everyone there, his heart sank. How could he tell everyone the bad news?
Tailo could see it. Shadow's walk was slow and his head hung too low to the ground. He didn't even have to nod, it was obvious.
Eseral, was gone.
"I'm, I'm sorry." Tailo whispered trying to comfort the heartbroken Umbreon. Shadow just nodded collapsing to the ground.
One by one the Pokemon all started realizing it was true. Fenara felt like she was going to die on the inside. Anger sparked in every vien she had. Alisa's eyes were already turning red, from tears of sadness.
"But, no. No?" Jake started panicking. "But, she can't be. No. She's safe. She has to be."
Tailo looked over. Jake looked like he was panicking, this wasn't good. He had already fainted once in complete hysterics. "Jake stop. There's no use thinking like that." Tailo ordered.
"But, but she's safe. She has to be." Jake stared at Tailo but got the same response of doubt. He glanced over at his father, but there he just saw it too.
Even his sister had the look of doubt on her face. No one believed she was ok. What was this? His mother was just fine!
"No, no, no! You're all wrong. She's fine. She's ok!"
"Jake, stop it." Tailo ordered. He stood up ready to intervene.
"No! No! She's fine. She's been here the whole time/ Look! There she is now!" Jake pointed out in grass.
Alisa looked, but nothing was there. He just stood petrified. "Jake. Please stop. You're scaring me."
"No Alisa. It's true. Don't listen to them. They're lying. She's just fine. She's right there. Don't you see her!"
Shadow wouldn't have this. He ran right up to his son. "Jake. Enough. You're scaring your sister. She's not really there. Mom's gone."
"No, she isn't." The Jolteon wouldn't hear it. "She's right there! She's been here the whole time! Don't lie to me! Don't tell me that!"
Jake attacked. Shadow thrust him down to the ground so hard it nearly knocked him unconscious.
Jake lay there for a second, and then struggled to stand. His head was hurting like mad now. "What? But I."
Shadow helped him back up. "Jake. Please stop. You're scaring your sister, and me."
"But she's..." Jake stopped pointing. His mom. She was gone?
He let his paw back down. Was, was he hallucinating? She wasn't really there. What was wrong with him?
"Listen everyone?" Tailo suddenly cut in. Everyone turned towards him.
"I'm sorry. I am. Eseral was with us all." He hung his head, and so did everyone else. Jake forced himself to get over it and hugged his sister tightly. She looked like she was about to panic but was ok now that her brother was ok. She relied on him completely for her own sanity right now.
Tailo glanced over at Shadow. "Are you ok?" He whispered.
Shadow nodded, only to comfort his two cubs watching him intently. Inside, he felt like he wanted to die. He was definitely not ok. He was everything but ok.
Tailo saw it, so he stood up tall. "Listen. We have to get out of here."
"What do you mean? What are you asking Tailo?" Fern asked. All eyes turned to her.
Tailo continued. "This is the second time in two years. We can't stay here. It's not safe. They could come back any second and take more of us."
"You mean we're leaving?" Fenara yelled from the back. She could feel her heart panicking with fear. Leaving? Forever?
"Where can we go?" Shadow asked doubtfully.
"We'll head North. Past the Lake. There's got to be somewhere up there that we can find refuge that's better than this place."
"But, we've always lived here." An adult cut in from the middle. "This is the best place to live, it's near the lake, there's berries,"
"Yes, and two of our members have died!" Tailo suddenly yelled. He stopped himself. this wasn't the time for panicking. He needed control.
The adults fell silent. None of them wanted to move from home, but even more so they weren't wasting another second here while their cubs were in danger.
"We leave as soon as we can." Tailo got up and was ready to move.
"But, we can't just leave our homes. I grew up here." The adults panicked and everyone voiced their opinion at once.
Tailo stopped talking and stood up even taller. It was a miracle that he was finding strength in himself to carry on. He needed this pack to be under control. Arguing was going no where.
"Tailo's right." Shadow suddenly stood up wearily Everyone turned to him. "I don't like it, but we can't stay here. Eat and drink all you can, make sure everyone has there cubs ready and healthy. It's a long trip. We leave in one hour with the cover of darkness. I'll lead it, with Tailo."
Everyone understood. The adults scrambled about everywhere grabbing their young ones and explaining what was happening. There was a lot of crying.
Tailo glanced over and thanked Shadow for the support. Without it, he thought his own legs would have given out from the weight he felt.
Tailo could spot his daughter running up. She was crying.
"Dad?" Fenara asked. She walked right up to Tailo ignoring the confusion around her. "Dad, what do you mean twice? They only attacked once."
Tailo was crying. He didn't even bother to try and hide it. He let his daughter see each and every tear.
"Fenara? I'm, I'm sorry. I know how much this must hurt you."
Fenara tried to ignore him but it was no use. She wanted to run and cry in the corner. "Dad? Why are we leaving? We can stay. I, I don't want to leave. What about Fenray? He can't even move."
"We're leaving because I can't stand one more second in this cursed place. Louara..." Tailo growled, but stopped himself.
"Louara?" Fenara questioned lightly. "Do you mean, mom?"
"Yes Fenara. Exactly. Two years ago."
Fenara couldn't take it anymore. She felt the tears starting to come up. Disappearing was on thing, but taken by them? Her mother had died that way? It was, unbearable.
She ran, straight for home where she could be alone. Tailo let her go knowing she needed her space. At least until the hour was up and then they would have to accept the truth.
Fenara swore, if one more person she knew got hurt, she was going to kill them with her own paws. She would show those humans first for her mother. Then for Eseral. The fire in her heart burned brighter than ever before. It wasn't like the young cub.
"Tailo." Shadow asked. He looked over. "Help me gather up some of the cubs. Eseral's not here so I need your help."
Tailo nodded. He got up and got to work finding a million tasks to do for the confused pack.
Jake had ran off alone. When he finally found himself away from everyone else, he collapsed.
What was with him? He remembered his yelling before he fell unconscious. It, it was just involuntarily. He had screamed that his mother was ok. He insisted to everyone that she was just fine because he truly felt that she was. She wasn't dead. Was she? The answer was so obvious now.
He swore he saw his mother, standing right there in front of him!
"Jake?" Alisa asked. The frightened Jolteon turned around.
"Alisa." He stopped and sat back down seeing it was her. Alisa came over and lay down as well.
The two didn't say anything for a few minutes. They just stared in complete thought.
Jake knew what she was thinking. "I'm sorry Alisa. I know mom..." He couldn't finish his sentence. He could feel the tears coming up.
"Did you actually see her?" Alisa asked in complete wonder.
Jake looked up. Did she believe him?
He nodded. Alisa looked slightly angry.
"But, she wasn't there. You know that right?"
Jake nodded again. "I'm sorry. I don't know what happened."
"How come you can see her and I can't? Why can't I see her?"
"Alisa." Jake tried his best not to cry. "It's not like that. It was fake."
"Still!" Alisa held her tongue. A tear came out. "I want to see her again. How come you get to?"
Suddenly, her father was standing behind her. Alisa couldn't talk anymore so she just chose to cry.
"Jake?" He asked staring down at his son. "Are you ok?"
He nodded. "I think so. Do you know what happened? What's wrong with me? I swear to you she was real!"
Shadow held up his paw. Jake stopped talking. "It was probably just a hallucination. Please, don't do that to me ever again. I don't think I can take it. Not again."
Jake knew it would break his father's heart. He nodded but secretly, he wondered if it would happen again. He prayed it wouldn't but at least the next time he knew it would be fake.
Shadow walked up close to him. He lay his head down on his son's forehead.
Jake could feel the sorrow. It was like a million tiny needles pressing into his heart. He let the Umbreon press his tired head against his, feeling the comfort of what family he had left.
Alisa didn't care if it scared him or if he hated it. She ran right over and curled up as close to her brother as she could. Jake let her and then snuggled up as close to his father as he could get. He didn't care if it was embarrassing either.
Alisa accepted it. Jake did too, along with his father. There was an obvious hole in each of their hearts, a fourth person that was missing. They felt each other's warmth but inside, they were cold as stone.
They lay together and cried in silence for a full hour. It was the least they could do. No words, no thoughts, just pure suffering. Suffering for the one they had lost.
When it was time, Fern stood with the sick Fenray in her mouth trying to keep him stable, Fenara stood nearby to help her along with Cheddar. Alisa stuck next to her brother never able to let him out of her reach afraid she would lose it. Everyone had someone or something to stand by. Everyone, except Shadow.
Everywhere around Tailo stood Pokemon ready to leave home. They were ready to suffer however long it took to find a new home. It was awful, everyone planning to leave their beloved memories behind. Tailo took the first step leaving both Eseral, and his wife behind, on to a new home. They would never find a place as good as this one and he knew that but at least they could leave the memories behind.
Shadow started next. Jake and Alis followed leaving their mother behind. Everyone else followed, slowly.
Tailo was done with it. Done with the suffering, done with watching the pain when they were attacked over and over. Deep in his heart, something cracked that told him that If he ever got the chance, he would make sure every human being would suffer for both his wife, and Eseral. Even for his own daughter's safety. No one, was ever touching this pack again.
The father wanted one thing in this world, to make those human's suffer.
Shadow wanted one thing in the world, to carry on and pray that he got over this one day.
Jake wanted his mother back. Alisa wanted Jake to always be there or she would lose it too.
Fenara wanted Fenray to be ok and all her friends to recover. Whoever did this would pay. Fenray wanted desperately to wake up and see the world around him with his own eyes.
Everyone else, their thoughts drifted on the same idea. Everyone wanted something. Something that was irreplaceable. Something that was forcibly being left behind the minute they set foot away from their home.
Everyone wanted something.
...
Eseral wanted to see her family again.
For countless hours she had been locked in this black void. She had attacked, paced, slept, cried, screamed... She had done everything she could in the black void but nothing let her break free of it.
"Is this death?" She had asked herself countless times. She could hear only her own voice and nothing else. Not even her paw steps on the ground. Her own voice was the only thing she had left. "I hate it. I miss them. Where's my family!"
She smacked the invisible wall again as hard as she could. Her shoulder's were bruised, the cuts she obtained when fighting were reopening, but nothing got her out of the black void.
She remembered it very clearly. The three Pokemon attacked and she had lost. Suddenly, a small red ball, and then a bright light.
She knew that bright light, she had seen it happen to Fenara's mother. So, so this was definitely death. The mother of two was gone from the world and sent into this deep, dark, black void of nothingness.
There was no doubt, Eseral was dead. She was nowhere. Most importantly, Shadow, Alisa, and Jake... Were gone forever.
At this point, Eseral cried. She cried for hours oblivious to the time. As far as she knew, there wasn't any time here to begin with.
Little did she know what a Pokeball felt like. That was because most Pokeball's thrust the Pokemon into an environment they could enjoy and recover.
But her Pokeball was unregistered. It worked, but didn't obey the rules. Team Citadel was very cautious of this. They didn't register them for safety purposes from other agencies who could obtain their information. It meant Pokeball's could get stolen from their trainers, but at least their pokemon inside suffered. Exactly what they wanted when they brought them back out into the real world. Eseral's case was a prime example of how their training started.
So there was complete darkness. No one, out in the real world, knew she had been caught. Just a doctor and a girl who had miraculously managed to save her very life. The Pokeball was designed to make her suffer and suffer she did.
Eseral was sleeping when the sudden light attacked. It was the first sign of life she had ever had in here, she blinked from the blinding light, not able to even stare at it directly without blocking it with her paw.
It expanded, then came noise. Then a red glare. Suddenly...
She was standing before a human. A human that held the same red ball in her hand. She, she was alive!
"Ese Espeon!" Eseral yelled. The doctor took a step back from the Pokemon in front of him.
Jack knew this was a bad idea. What was he thinking letting out an untrained Espeon into his own presence?
"Listen. I don't want to hurt you." He fingered the Pokeball in his hand ready to use it.
"Espeon! Espeon!"
Eseral stood up and growled. Her ruby started to glow.
Jack realized the correlation. he looked at the Pokeball in his hand and immediately the Espeon jumped upright again. She stepped forward towards him.
Jack gulped, and let his only safety device fall to the floor. This was such a bad idea to have her here right now. But maybe the Espeon would come in handy with this experiment. His thorough plan needed a Pokemon outside of the machine once he was done.
Eseral stood where she was. When the Pokeball fell to the ground, she stopped growling and stared at Jack.
"Ese. Esy?"
Jack sighed and rubbed his face. What he would give to be able to talk to her right now.
"listen Ruby." He hoped she liked the name. "I only let you out because I need someone to talk to after all this." He pointed towards the machine. Ruby looked over.
Immediately the Espeon was intrigued. She sat back down, and stared at the professor. She never moved her eyes away from his.
Jack already hated that look. At least they were getting along.
"Well, my name's Jackson. Or Jack actually. I'm going to call you Ruby ok?"
"Espeon." Ruby answered.
Jack laughed. "Alright, just, well, don't touch anything ok?"
Jack rubbed his face and walked over to the computer. He had to cross paths with the Espeon that now stood in front of him.
He very carefully walked right in front of it, past the aggressive Espeon. Ruby just glared at him, never letting her eyes go.
Eseral didn't get it. She didn't attack solely because this wasn't the same human that had captured her. This one was different.
This human was defenseless, without a Pokeball, and as far as she knew, not dangerous. She let him walk past, but never moved her eyes from him.
She didn't know his name. She had heard plenty of words but none of them made sense. She figured he didn't really understand her either. She did hear the word "Jack" a lot from him. She wondered if perhaps that was either her or him. Probably him.
So, she sat and waited. It wasn't out of curiosity, it was solely for the fact that she was now under his control. This feeling that he was in charge never left her heart. When she finally escaped, she could careless about him.
But for now, she sat and watched.
"You know you can move right Ruby?" Jack laughed. The Espeon just sat and stared at him the entire time. She didn't even blink or shift her tail.
"Whatever. I think you're harmless. Thanks Ruby, I need a Pokemon assistant for this. Are you up to it?" The Espeon blinked. Jack was glad that he got something out of that response.
He pointed to himself. "My name's Jack. Ok? Jackson, that's me. You're Ruby."
The Espeon blinked again. She stood up and shifted her tail once.
Jack almost smiled. He got up and moved to approach her but immediately the Espeon yelled at him.
"Ese! Espeon!"
"Ok, ok." He went back to where he was and waited holding out his hands defenseless.
Ruby sat back down, and watched with her unmoving eyes.
"Remind me to tell you about your paranoia when this is over." Jack laughed again. This idea was crazy, he was going to talk to Pokemon soon. It seemed impossible.
Inside the big room were four things: A scientist, a paranoid Espeon, a video camera, and a machine.
The machine was huge. One large metal tube led down to the main cylinder in the center of the room. the container was large enough to fit any human standing up and even gave some room after that. The container was made completely of one inch thick glass. Jack couldn't break it even if he tried.
Plenty of wires ran through the machine but the biggest thing was the tube above the cylinder. Apparently Lauren had built it to work completely without touching the actual tester. Too cool for Jack to resist or complain. He wondered what the whole thing sounded like when it was on.
Jack looked at the poor quality video camera he had in his hands. It was over ten years old and back then it was still out of date. If it even worked, it would be in black and white. The greatest discovery of the world, and he was filming it with this piece of junk.
Jack didn't even know if it would work. Oh well, at least he would be living proof of it when the machine finished. This was going to work or he would at least fail while trying.
What could wrong? Nothing even touched him when he was inside the machine. Two years of work by Lauren, this was going to work for sure.
Jack glanced at the watch on his arm. Eleven-thirty. It was now or never.
He looked up at the shut lab door above the stairs. Did he need to wake up Lauren? Nah. It would be a surprise for her in the morning.
Jack took the camera in his hand and clicked the button. The green light blinked on, well at least he didn't need to go get new batteries.
On the video screen, there was a little fumbling and then Jack's huge face suddenly took up the screen. The scientist had completely forgotten that the camera didn't take audio either.
"Hey." Jake put the camera down for a second. Did he seriously just start a revolutionary discovery with the word, hey?
"Um, so, I'm Jake. This is my assistant Ruby." He pointed the camera over at the Espeon. She just whispered Espeon under her breath.
"So, yah. I'm a scientist under the PRD who's been doing research for over twenty years. My code number is four twenty, researcher Jackson," Was that it? That was all it took to describe himself? "Anyways, this machine here is very real. You'll see it in a second. With my research assistant Lauren, generous funding, and two years of work, we have finally designed a device to do the impossible."
Jack smiled. Time for the recording's big surprise.
"Well, we have designed a device to both translate Pokemon language for the user into an understandable language to the subject, a human, and be able to respond back in such a manner. Yes folks. We have designed a device allowing Pokemon to be translated just by the human ear."
Jack held his hand down. Anything else he needed to say?
"Oh yah, this is patented, so don't get any ideas thieves." He wanted to say that meant Team Citadel but he figured that was irrelevant.
"Anyways, here goes nothing. None of this has been enhanced in any way, My assistant here will be proof of this after." He smiled, this was so incredible. "Yes, I will talk to Ruby after this procedure. You just sit and wait."
He held the camera down out of sight. Was he really going to do this? It was too late. He had already started the video.
"Anyways, enjoy."
That was it. Jack put the camera on the floor and tried to position it so that it would face the machine. He managed to get everything in the shot except the last foot of the glass container on the top. Oh well, as long as they could see him inside it.
Jack stopped shuffling with the camera and walked off to the glass cylinder. It had recorded all the shuffling andwhile Jack walked up to the machine, there was even a quick shot of Ruby looking right into the camera's lens.
Jack turned around facing the Espeon. She stopped smelling the camera and just stared at him standing still.
"Espeon."
"Yah Ruby I know." He sighed. "I think Lauren's ok with it though."
"Ese, Espeon."
Jack laughed. "Whatever, I'll understand you in a minute. Just sit there and stare at me all day ok?" Jack knew she would do nothing but that.
Jack walked up to the glass container, and held still. Ruby just sat and stared before finally laying down on the ground next to the camera. She even licked her paw as if she was comfortable where she was.
Jack was glad she was comfortable. He felt everything but. He looked up at the large machine before him.
What if something did go wrong? Two years of building was a lot but, Lauren said not to use it.
Who cares what Lauren thought? Jack stepped up to the machine and reached out his hand. "Lauren, I'll prove you wrong. Wait until you wake up tomorrow and see what you've truly made. I'll talk to every pokemon in sight and impress you. You won't hesitate to use it."
Jack smiled. He was convinced. He had to do it now anyways because the video was rolling.
Jack reached his hand for the sliding glass door on the side of the machine. he grabbed the small handle, and pulled the door open. Inside it was actually quite chilly.
Jack had never been inside it before. He felt like a bug in a closed jar, or more like a lab rat. It was interesting to be inside something so foreign even though he had invented it.
The door shut behind him, Jack jumped when he heard the noise. Apparently it locked shut on it's own with a small click. Lauren had done a good job at this. All the little features were installed, even her screen device attached to the glass wall that she had worked on days before. Jack was surprised it didn't have a cup holder.
"Whatever." He walked up to the glass and waved to Ruby. She just blinked.
"Alright, I think it's sound proof but if you can hear me, see you on the other side soon." He waved to the camera and smiled. The camera didn't have a single audio recording since he even started the thing. Jack was making himself look foolish.
He took one last look around him. This was it. Time to test this baby for what it was worth.
He unhooked the screen device from the wall. The small screen suddenly blinked to life.
The entire machine rustled. Jack jumped at the sound of electricity and mechanics snapping into place, but he controlled himself. Come on Jack, this was all on camera. Try and act natural.
Jack looked at the screen in front of him. Three columns sparked to life, one on the right, one in the middle, and the final in the left. He realized that he could actually detach the screen to work it from the wall. It was a small handheld device. Pretty cool.
The words on the bottom read, "Choose your type" and pointed to the first column.
"What?" Jack laughed to himself. What was this? He had to choose a type? What on earth did that mean?
He looked at the list. It shuffled quietly through the options on the first list.
Jack couldn't believe his eyes. He remembered seeing Lauren working on the lists above. They were what she had written down.
The list read, "fire, ice, water, ground, electric, rock..."
Jack couldn't believe what he was seeing. "Wait? Does this mean?" He stood in complete surprise.
Lauren had just discovered something incredible. So Pokemon didn't just talk one universal language, they each had different types according to this list. They all spoke different languages, yet they could understand each other?
"Lauren? You're a true genius." Jack laughed and glanced at the list again. To think, he would have never known Pokemon talked like that.
He put his finger on the screen and scrolled down. All of them looked tempting, but he finally landed on the one he wanted.
"Psychic. Perfect." He clicked it. "Just for you Ruby." He winked at her.
Ruby just blinked. She sat down again and got comfortable watching the show.
Jack was happy to know that she wasn't scared. Pokemon could sense future danger right? Jack wondered if that was true considering that this Pokemon had just been trapped in a pokeball for hours. It's senses were probably all messed up. Or it just didn't care for his suffering.
"Choose second list." The device read.
"Oh shoot." Jack scrolled through the second list trying to find whatever he was supposed to select.
To his surprise, it read all the types of Pokemon. All the ones that were registered as a psychic type.
"Oh, well that's easy." Jack scrolled through the list of names and finally found the one that he was searching for. He noticed that the Pokemon weren't in alphabetical order, he figured that would be the simplest way to do it but hey, Lauren must've had a good reason for this nonsense.
He clicked the Espeon name. The third column popped up. An Espeon appeared to the finest detail in picture.
At least, sort of, the screen blinked, and then suddenly the Espeon was gone.
"No match." The screen read.
"No match?" Jack questioned. He stopped talking when he realized that the camera was still rolling. Oh boy, this was embarrassing.
He watched the screen intently. All three columns blinked, and then restarted the list.
"What? But I want to..." Jack stopped. The machine did something he wasn't expecting.
It chose something for him.
"Normal." the first column read. Jack tried to change it but he noticed that it was locked shut.
"Um, Lauren? How do I fix this? Hello." He tapped the small screen but again nothing happened.
Jack frowned and waited for the second column to stop spinning. The list of normal Pokemon went on and on and on.
Suddenly, the screen stopped. Right at the very bottom.
"No match." The small screen read.
"Great." Jack was about ready to just give up and turn it on by hand. "No match again? What am I supposed to do? Tell you that I'm supposed to talk to an Espeon?"
The machine flicked upwards. Suddenly, it landed on a pokemon type. It was as if it had heard his command.
"Match found." It read.
Jack was starting to get this feeling that maybe he shouldn't have spoken. Ruby watched intently.
Jack looked at the screen. He read the column as carefully as he could.
"Match found. Eevee. Continue?" The screen read. The third screen was still blank.
Jack didn't know what to do. An Eevee? Was he supposed to talk to an Eevee now? Was this thing broken?
"Um ok. Sure. Continue." To his surprise the machine actually heard him. It highlighted the name, and then continued on to the third column.
Jack sighed. "Well, maybe this won't be a total bummer. After all Ruby, you are related to Eevee's right?" He looked up at Ruby. She just blinked again and shook her tail.
Jack sighed and gave up. He stared at the third screen waiting for it to react.
"Oh come on! Don't freeze up now." Jack was about to tap the screen again when he suddenly noticed something.
The screen was loading. Very slowly though. It loaded the top of the Eevee's ears going inch by inch with the picture it had.
Jack watched patiently for the screen to load. It ran slower than an old printer with low ink.
"So, um, well the procedure is still underway." Jack looked back at the camera and held the screen by his side. "Don't worry. This procedure is very safe and sound. As you can see, the slow loading is a sign of our attentiveness to detail with this device. Obviously..."
Jack stopped talking. He glanced back down at the screen again. The screen had finished loading both ears now and was covering the face.
It wasn't the loading that scared Jack. It was the attention to detail. The Eevee was almost real to him.
He had never seen a more defined Eevee in his entire life. Every single hair, every single molecule in each strand was down to the finest detail and color. The way the fur shaped, the tips of the ears bending slightly, this wasn't just a picture, it was better than any computer design he had ever seen.
The screen finished loading the Eevee's face. Jack stared right into it's blue eyes. He could actually see a reflection in the Eevee's eyes.
Jack was speechless. Very quickly the rest of the screen loaded. Eventually, reaching the last hair on the tip of it's cream tail. The Eevee was complete.
Jack stared in complete wonder. This Eevee, the detail was unbelievable. Everything from each white strand inside it's blue eyes, to the coloring of each different hair was complete. Jack could almost see it staring right back at him through the glass. This thing was nothing short of walking out of the screen alive and smelling the air around it.
The screen blinked again. The Eevee took up the rest of the other two screens enlarging to the screen size.
"Continue?" It asked.
Jack shook himself awake from the image. He pressed the button and the screen flashed again.
The Eevee picture took up the full screen. It faded slightly still keeping it's detail. Jack wondered if perhaps he had somehow turned down the darkness on the picture because that's what it looked like.
"Um, well, look at that." He looked back at the video camera and smiled. "It seems the loading is complete. We do have a slight change of plans though, instead of an Espeon, I will talk to an Eeve..."
Jack stopped and stared at the screen. Some more words popped up.
"Transformation Commencing. 0%"
Jack stared at the screen. Now, his sixth sense was tingling. What on earth?
"Transformation Commencing. 1%" The faded Eevee's paws lit up.
Jack nearly dropped the screen. That feeling when the blood leaves your hands... Jack could feel every single finger on his right hand tingle with it.
Jack stared at the screen. What was this? What did transformation...
The screen blinked again. New words appeared.
"Transformation Commencing. 2%"
Jack could feel it. The feeling twice was bad as before. HIs fingers were shaking with the tension in them. He could barely hold onto the screen.
More of the Eevee's paw lit up. The new words came back up.
"Transformation Commencing. 4%"
Jack could hear the whirring of the machine behind him. it was on, full blast. This, this thing was doing it's job.
"Oh my..." He dropped the screen no longer able to hold it. His fingers were shaking so badly he felt like he was loaded with caffeine.
The screen flicked again. "Transformation commencing. 5% Beginning Changes."
It happened instantly, without any warning, there was no sign of it coming.
Jack's hands started turning brown. Right from the edge of his index finger spreading out like a sickness across his skin.
Jack realized what was going on. He collapsed to the floor and stared at his hand in wonder. As if by magic, the small humming from the machine was turning his hand brown.
The screen blinked again. "Transformation Commencing. 6%"
Jack didn't know what it was. It wasn't pain. It didn't tickle. His fingers were just turning brown.
Suddenly, they started enlarging. The bones in his hand stretched pulling towards each other. His fingers were forced into an odd shaped fist.
Ruby heard a cry for help from where she was resting. She jumped up to hear the piercing scream from Jack inside the whirring machine. She looked right at Jack confused. Was he in pain? She knew this big device wasn't a good idea.
Jack watched in horror. He tried to stop it. He slammed his hand against the ground painfully, he pulled on it with his other hand, he even bit at it but nothing was working.
Jack stared at his changing hand. The entire thing was dark brown all the way to his wrist and going. His fingers had enlarged to the size of small popsicles. They were pressing together.
The skin tightened his fingers. They pulled towards each other. Jake watched as his now completely brown hand was pulled together, and fused.
His fingers shrank. The bones pulled together. He could feel as each joint disappeared with a little prick and then nothing. his hand was fusing together, into something.
The final joint disappeared allowing no movement in his hand. Little pink skin blobs pushed out of his brown fingerless hand at each of the tips. One large one spread in the middle. Within seconds, his brown hand covered itself in small soft hairs and then stopped changing. Jack couldn't' do anything with it except bend it up and down from his wrist.
He could feel it, every hair, all four pads with the big one in the middle. He could feel every detail in his hand that the screen had showed him before on the image.
Hand? It wasn't a hand anymore. It was, a paw.
"Oh my, Holy..." Jack was speechless. He forced his eyes away from his newly formed paw and stared at the screen.
"Transformation commencing. 15%"
Holy Arceus. He was at fifteen percent. Jack could see Ruby on the other side of the glass getting frightened. She could see the whole thing. What the heck was wrong with his hand?
Jack stared at the screen. Both the Eevee's paws were lit up. He could barely make out the brown spreading from his fingers on his other hand. Already the brown had spread it's way past his elbow on his already transformed paw.
He stared at the screen in horror. The Eevee's nose lit up. The screen read twenty percent.
Jack could feel it. The brown color seeping at the tip of his nose. It spread quickly reaching his cheekbones and crawling it's way past his face. The tip where his nose started turned black.
"Oh no. Oh shoot." Jack scrambled to get up but fell back to the ground on his chest. His transformed hand tried to catch himself but only managed to smack his head against the glass floor. From there on out, everything made him feel lightheaded. The machine was whiring twoice as loud now as before.
He had to get out of here now!
He stared outside the glass. "Ruby! Ruby! Help me!"
The Espeon didn't know what to do. Jack watched as she shot upright and watched him horrified. She could see every single change take place.
Jack looked at his reflection in the glass. His entire face was turning brown, the color was spreading up into his hair and just touching his neck.
"Transformation commencing. 35%"
The tip of Jack's nose pushed out. The bones in each part of his face fused together just like his fingers. He could feel his teeth and skin pulling away in different directions. His face pushed outwards, his teeth grew sharper. His tongue swelled unnaturally.
Jack slipped on the ground and lay on his back. His back feet were tingling. He noticed both hands were complete paws. the screen had highlighted everything on the face and all four of the paws leaving the Eevee's body alone.
Jack's feet were already brown. The shoes that he was wearing fell off when the bones fused together. Just like his paws, they turned brown, his toes fused together. Soon, they were just one large appendage.
Then they extended, Jack didn't know it would hurt, but his feet grew to twice their size rapidly. They fused so fast that the pink pads formed on his paws before he could even blink. The paws shifted and all Jack could do was move them up and down just like his front paws. He couldn't move his toes at all. There was nothing there but an Eevee's paw covered in short brown fur. He could feel every single part of it right down to the claws on the tips.
"Transformation Commencing, 40%" the face of the Eevee lit up along with it's head.
Jack's head exploded with pain. He screamed so loud he felt like the whole world would hear it. Eseral was pacing on the other side and then made up her mind.
She had to help him. What the heck was happening to this human in front of her?
Jack could hear a loud thump. It made his head ring inside the glass. He touched his forehead with his paws but stopped immediately when he felt the brown fur. He noticed that somehow, it was a struggle to bring his paws up to his head.
The color's around him started to change. Blue's became deeper, red's seemed to fade into the colors around it. Everything became brighter, deeper, stronger. He could make out the numbers on the keypad at the door from here. His eyesight heightened until he could make out things he had never seen before.
The screen blinked again. "Transformation Commencing. 50%" The Eevee's brain lit up.
It didn't hurt, but Jack felt like he was getting dizzy. Everything around him held new meaning to him like he was waking up from a deep sleep.
His thoughts changed. The screen looked unfamiliar, something human, but his paws were totally ok. Unconscious thoughts sparked in his mind rapidly. His back paws pressed against the ground as if they already knew how to stand. He pressed against the ground with his paws already knowing how to use them. What, what was this? Everything he already knew naturally as disappearing and everything he never felt before registered in his mind as natural. Numbers, letters, they all disappeared. Paws, fur, the thoughts flooded his head.
Jack tried to yell for help but his voice box refused. His mind had convinced him that he only knew one word.
"EE,VEE!" He screamed. He slammed his paw over his mouth but stopped immediately.. he knew exactly what he had just screamed but to his ears, it rang out in, "help me!" What was he doing yelling like that.
"Eevee! Eev!" It was no use. Every word came out different. He could've sworn he was yelling for help. His ears on his head told him that at least.
Jack stopped moving. he reached above his head hardly able to touch his forhead anymore. No hair was there, just small short Eevee ears. Every sound he heard was coming from the top of his head where the hole's for his ears were. Every noise became louder. The soft cushy ears grew to twice their size along with the noises Jack could pick up.
Seconds later and he knew it was true, Jack could feel it now, his entire face had changed. His jaw shot out, his nose was black, every breath he took in had to pass over his super enlarged tongue. His entire face had changed. He could see the Eevee's bright blue eyes in glass reflection next to him. It's ears shot up in surprise, another natural brain reaction to his fear. Worst of all, he could feel his teeth and his fur on his face. when he pressed his paw against his cheek hardly able to reach, the fur on his face felt no different than the stuff on his paw.
"Transformation commencing. 60%" The entire rest of the Eevee lit up on the screen.
Jack fell to the floor completely immobile. The loud ringing thump happened again and he tried to cover his ears but this time his paws wouldn't even reach his face. He reached ands struggled buy they shrunk so quickly he could barely touch his neck. They grew smaller and smaller along with everything else.
His paws shrunk and stuck out directly in front of him. His back legs were forced up to the sky while he lay on his back. His neck shortened and pulled tight against his brown fur. Everything was turning tiny.
Rapidly, he was changing. everything else grew to big. He grew too small.
Jack kept shrinking but his bones realigned to maintain eh correct form. Some things stopped shrinking adjusting to the correct height. Just as he thought they were too big, his ears stopped shrinking with his head and flopped over to his side laying on the ground. His teeth stopped shrinking for a split second and then realigned. Jack bit his tongue painfully by accident. He hardly had any room left in his small mouth. His paws stopped growing smaller and only his body kept shrinking.
Soon, his paws were nearly as big as his face. He lay, on his back, ears down, staring straight up at the cylinder tube above him inside the glass chamber, Everything looked like it was miles away.
Jack wasn't sure what it was. He wished he could scream, but all he could do was lay immobile on the ground staring up at his four brown paws and the machine above him. Eseral smacked the glass again but bounced right off.
"Transformation commencing. 85%" The tail and neck lit up.
The fur on his back suddenly stretched out further passing his legs. It fluffed, bursting out onto the ground where he could feel it touch the cold glass floor. His fur grew rapidly stretching twice as far as he was long.
The tail bone formed right to the tip, the fur combed itself suddenly, turning white at the end like dye had been spilt on him. Jack felt like it had suddenly been dipped in milk and could sense the color difference, he could feel the color change.
His brain clicked, it registered the appendage immedialtey. he moved the appendage side to side knowing exactly how to. "Tail. Natural movement. Balance." His brain told him every word it knew about how the tail worked.
Jack suddenly felt like a soft pillow had been shoved around his neck. The white milky fur sprouted so quickly his head was almost lifted off the ground. It kept his neck super warm, his cream colored neck fur made the cold ground below him feel like nothing. He didn't realize it before in his half asleep state but his fur was keeping him super warm. It was soft, and warm, the best tightly wrapped blanket he had ever had. That, and he felt naked.
A loud boom. Jack tried to cover his ears but he couldn't even reach up to his face. He couldn't move his paws in any fashion except up and down and flexing his paws at the end. When he did, sharp claws suddenly jumped out and hurt his face. He stopped immediately and yelled.
"Transformation commencing. 95% Final changes advancing." The Eevee lit up, on the inside, right at the heart and sole so that the entire screen was bright with the perfect picture again.
Jack's breathing quickened until he was naturally taking in breaths ever half second. His heart suddenly jumped awake beating at a hundred beats a minute. Blood rushed to every limb he had snapping them awake and alive. He suddenly had an Eevee's heart. A fast beating rapid Eevee heart.
He could feel it. It wasn't there when he was human. Eevee's were a normal type but they still had something.
Deep in his heart, straight at the life source, Jack felt a little push. A little murmur. It beat slower than his now tiny heart but he could feel it.
The sense told him to survive. It begged him to stay alive. It screamed at him to stand up and get out. Anything to leave this machine but the feeling was just too faint to wake him up from his trance. The machine made sure the pain of the procedure was forgotten on Jack's mind.
It was the faintest subconscious calling he had ever had. The more scared he got, the more the feeling sparked. For the first time in his life, Jack could feel his real live instincts kicking in. No longer nonexistent. He had the survival will of a Pokemon. He could sense the danger around him.
"Transformation commencing. 99% Transformation Complete. 100%" The screen blinked.
"Transformation complete. Awaking subject."
Jack felt like a gun shot had suddenly gone by his face. He jumped awake, and sat there breathing heavily. Panicked. His fur jumped up on end and in one millisecond, he was up and ready to run from danger.
One second of feeling his body, one second of the new warmth from his unnatural brown and white fur, his long ears, his beating heart, his life source calling... His newly twitching tail. He felt everything for one second. he got a chance to look down for only one second.
Jack was so frightened, he fainted instantly. That's how scared he was.
Another loud thud. The small sound of cracking glass. Eseral backed up trying to ignore her throbbing head but she needed to get Jack free. Now!
She slammed into the machine, the glass shattered, everything inside it snapped. The glass cylinder shattered with tremendous force and noise blowing everywhere in the room. The tube fell to the ground crashing just a foot away from the Espeon who avoided the breaking machine. Everything else fell and bent out of place until the machine was hardly a working piece anymore.
The electricity flickered, and then all lights were off. Only the exit sign and the keypad by the door were on since they ran on batteries.
The light disapeared, everything turned black. The only noise in the room was the Espeon's hard breathing, and the small buzzing of a still working camera.
"Jack!" Eseral jumped up and ran straight to the Eevee. Her heightened eyesight caught the small Pokemon instantly in the complete darkness.
"Jack! Jack? Hey?" She pawed his face over and over but he just lay there, asleep. Unaware.
Suddenly, Eseral stopped touching him. It was, it wasn't possible. Really? She was staring, at a human Pokemon.
"Holy Arceus... What, I don't..." Eseral could hardly keep control of herself. This, this wasn't possible. What the heck was this witchcraft in front of her?
She wanted to run, but she trusted Jack. She couldn't just leave him.
She turned to run to the door. She could escape, go home, now.
But she couldn't just leave a helpless Pokemon to it's doom. Jack was one of her now.
Eseral started crying. "Jack, come on! Wake up! Please! We need to go." Eseral could only imagine what the humans would do to her if they saw this. She couldn't get caught again. She needed to leave. But not without Jack. Unfortunately as an Eevee. He was nearly as old as she was and he would be impossible to pick up by the teeth. Eseral figured he wouldn't enjoy that much either since it was his first time. He probably wouldn't enjoy a whole lot when he finally woke up.
Eseral yelled and screamed. She pawed the Eevee's face rapidly, she yelled in his ear. Anything to ge him awake but Jack just lay there.
The Eevee was completely asleep, laying on it's back with it's fur keeping it warm in the cold and dark basement. The Eevee's little paws were standing upright where they lay naturally when a Pokemon slept on it's back. It's ears were flopped lifeless on it's side.
Jack was sleeping on the best fury blanket he had ever known; his own fur.
As far as the sleeping Eevee knew, Jack was having one of the worst nightmares of his life before he finally fell asleep. The scientist couldn't wait to wake up from this nightmare in his own bed tomorrow morning. What he would do to wake up and tell Lauren what he had done. He could talk to Pokemon now? So cool.
The Eevee murmured something. Eseral whipped back around and stared at his closed eyes. He was talking in his sleep.
"Eev, eevee."
"Help, me."