Edit(ed) by: Andrizzi

{…look like a human?}

"{That one is actually answered quite easily. You see, my 'trainer', quote unquote, is in the possession of an absolnite, and he had it with him for a while. Yesterday evening, some sort of spark jumped from it to the key stone I have with me right now, but I though nothing about it. When I woke up the next morning, I discovered that I turned in a human nearly fully but found out quickly that it is possible to change between human and pokémon form. Side note: Clothes not included.}"

{Is a mega stone necessary for that?}

"{Probably not. Why? Want to have fingers as well?}" I asked in a teasing tone.

{No,} he responded, not having reacted to that in any way.

After that, he though a moment on how to formulate his next question, and I took the time to feel along my horn with my right hand.

Luckily, there were no other injuries beside the one crack near the base.

{You were the absol I showed the park, right?}

I nodded.

{Why do you not want people recognize you?}

"{Well, only a few know of my other identity. While I do trust you, I don't really want that it becomes known. You'll see why soon enough, though.}"

We eventually arrived at my house, and I opened the door, going straight to the kitchen, picking up a few leppa and oran berries for myself. After that, I came down as Adam, nodding to Imai before making myself a tea.

{Correct me if I'm mistaken, but didn't he look fairly differently in the arena?}

"{And now you see why I wanted to keep this, together with all the other weird things surrounding us, secret.}"

{Yeah… I remember someone talking about a human being able to fight with pokémon and win a while ago. Was somewhere near the earlier regions. Kanto, maybe?}

"{I'm not sure. I heard about it too, but that's about it. The problem here is that he simply looked to them like a powerful psyche, but usually he looks like this. If it becomes known that it's possible to switch between pokémon and human as easily as it is, they will search us out.}"

I looked down at my hands, and before I continued, I ate another leppa berry.

"{Luckily, I can explain this as an effect of the key stone, which is kind of true.}"

"But it isn't," I interjected as Adam, continuing the explanation.

"You see, the keystone is a catalysator. I was able to switch between this form and the pokéhuman form because of it, and similarly, Kyo here was able to turn into a human because the keystone kind of helped her with its structure."

Imai then looked at me.

{Then, why do you not stay in that form?} he asked, probably referring to my ability to turn into an absol.

"Two reasons. One: I do not want reporters and the like to barge in on my family or friends. As such, I use a different name and a different look while battling. Two: The drawback is quite painful, and while using the transformation on a lower level decreases the pain it causes, it still is a problem. I cannot stay transformed."

{And she can?}

"{Probably. I found out it's a bit easier to transform if you're a pokémon than if you're a human, though, and turning back causes me no pain.}"

Luckily, Lino had gone home, so it was just pokémon here, and Adam.

As such, I saw no problem with undressing and simultaneously transforming in my anthromorph form.

Imai looked a bit weirdly at me, though.

"{What?}"

{Isn't that something 'taboo' for humans?}

I snorted.

"{As if any of you would care.}"

{True, but what about him?}

'Adam' was just drinking his tea, not even looking in my direction.

After putting my clothes in an ordered stack, I then fully reversed my transformation, becoming quadruped again.

{Don't see why I should be concerned.}

"Fujita, may you leave for a second?"

{Kay! I'll search Skylar, then!}

As soon as she left, Adam sat down, looking at the manectric opposite of him.

"You know that she comes with baggage, right?"

He tilted his head, then blushed a second later. I allowed myself a small smirk; seems like I was right after all.

Still not sure what to think about it.

{Wha-what do you mean?}

"Do you know what multiple personality disorder is?"

He shook his head.

"It's when a single person – or pokémon – has more than one consciousness, is more than one 'person' at the same time. However, the opposite case is nearly never observed. Do you know what it is called when multiple persons have the same consciousness?"

{No, not really. You mean…}

"Yep. I'm not sure if if's emergence, a swarm intelligence or simply a being having more than one body, but in any case, you will have to deal with me as well. After all…" I said, leaning closer to him.

"{We are the same person.}"

I nearly shuddered hearing that two-toned speaking again. While I could stand a pokémon speaking the human tongue, this synchronization is just creepy, even for me.

Brings the point across, though.

"You may have realized that many things I do are to look like we are just a trainer with his pokémon."

{This is far more importantly to stay undiscovered than the fact that we are able to transform is.}

Having stood still for almost a minute, Imai jumped up, looking at us two, staring.

{WHAT?!}

He looked at us, then sat down again.

{Yeah… that makes sense. I have never seen such quick responses to commands before, but if you know what they'll be before they are even said, it's only expected.}

He groaned.

{I did not need that image in my head, though.}

"What do you even mean?"

{You see, I thought about possible futures.}

Blushing strongly, he continued.

{And… I saw myself with Kyo more than just one time. With you, I guess. And when I realized you weren't kidding when you said you were the same, I in turn thought about that again, but this time, it was a disturbing though.}

I nodded.

"Understandable. While I think I should be truthful about this to those close to me, I also will keep my pokémon and human life separated from each other as much as possible."

{You mean I won't have to worry about that?}

I shook my head.

"No, but you have to worry about 'me', quote unquote. I will try to act as if we're separated – that includes acting protective."

{What do you mean?}

"Since my instincts as human and as pokémon are quite differently from each other, I can see and do things in one form I'm unable to do in the other. As such, while the part of me that's 'Kyoyhoa' wants to trust you, I, as 'Adam' find myself a bit worried about you, since I was that long together with her. Don't make a mistake though: Misstep, and I'll go after you," I said, eyes narrowed at him.

After I said that, he threw his head down on the table.

{And here I thought that would be easy…} he groaned. I needed to stifle a laugh.

Blinking, the manectric looked at the egg in front of him.

{Why do you have this here?}

{The professor gave it to me. You see, this vulpix simply wasn't hatching, so I touched it with my mind. That seemed to have done the trick, as it started developing again.}

{I remember Okubo telling me about this problem,} Imai responded, looking at me.

{Maybe whatever happened to you was a lucky connection? Could this effect be reproduced?}

I grimaced.

{I don't think that is a good idea. You see, when I woke up in this form first, I thought I was dreaming, but then soon enough realized I was not. And I don't think it would be a good idea to give humanity the ability to gain another body, especially not since this would drastically raise the rates of pokémon fights and crime.}

{Maybe you can 'awake' those eggs so that they start developing again? As far as I see it, they end up all in this state.}

{Is an idea, but how do you want me to go over that? Additionally, with my horn in its current broken state I can't do anything.}

He now was staring me in the eyes.

{But you should! They are not linked to you directly, are they?}

I shook my head.

{I cannot feel myself inhabiting the body of the vulpix here, so no.}

{Then you should do it! Think about it! How many eggs are like this?!}

{Too much,} I responded, then picked up the tablet with my paws.

After running energy carefully in them to reform them in something resembling hands, I looked up the rate of those eggs known from pokémon breeding.

{It's about half a tenth of a percent. That means, of two thousand eggs, one is in such a state – way too many for my liking. Multiply that number with the nearly two hundred billion pokémon alone in our region… there are, what? A few thousand per year, at least.}

{Well, I'll look if I can find information about something like that happening around here.}

{What do you plan?} I asked in return, looking up.

{If I find them, I'll tell you about it. I know where I can find you, after all. You will help, or?}

Looking at him, I nodded.

{Yes, don't worry about that. If I can do the same I did with this egg, I will do it.}

He looked really relieved.

{That's good to hear. Before I go though, may you tell me how I can turn in a human, too?}

I blinked.

{Why?}

{Well, I do want to interact with them, to see how they react. I also want to see if it will help in battle.}

I nodded.

{It isn't that hard. You see, you only need a key stone…}