Hello everyone, a quick announcement about this chapter to give some clarity. If you are reading this after chapter 6 has been released for my main story, then this will not affect you, but for those that read it before, thanks for sticking with me. The main thing is that this chapter has been written before any changes have been made to chapters 1-5 of the main story. However, I have written this chapter with some of the changes I plan to incorporate in mind, so if some things don't make sense, that would be why, and I apologize in advance if that's the case. This chapter is still taking place before chapter 2's end, so as such most of the confusion will be made clear hopefully once those chapters are rewritten. There will be a few major changes to the first few chapters, thanks in part to my improved skill, due to Yellow deleting his story, and thanks to some inspiration I got from a story called 'I became a Vulpix' which I have been reading a lot of in the last week. With that said, I will try to keep you all updated here or in the discord server for Percentverse, where I am now a mod, so if you want to join in on the fun, DM me and I'll send a link. With that said, enjoy the longest chapter of this story so far!

12:45 am 22/08/2019

I step up to the first part of the course, ready to start when given the all-clear. I look back to Splinter to give a thumbs up, as he pulls out one of those guns used to start a race at an athletics event, then shoots it. I begin to run along the relatively straightforward course, just requiring a little balance towards the end. As I get to the platform with the control panel, I look back as Shade gets on his way.

I see a rather large wall, which seems to be held in place by a large metal frame, that looks as though it can be lowered. 'That must be the obstacle I need to lower using the buttons here' I think to myself as I watch Shade awkwardly running down the course, up to a rope similar to the one I needed to cross. I yell out some encouragement as Shade looks at the rope, nervous but determined as he runs across, barely making it across before he falls over. "Are you ok?" I yell to him, but he just nods as he gets up.

"Umm, it says Red-Blue-Red" Shade yells, as I press the buttons in that order and the wall slowly lowers. He begins running the last leg of the section, then gives me a thumbs up…?

'It's gonna take me a while to get used to that' I think as I begin running towards the next objectives. I see what looks like a pit of some form, a little too wide for me to jump over, but luckily there is another pattern on the other side. "Red Blue Green," I yell to Shade, and after a moment, a bridge comes up from the pit, allowing me to cross and continue.

1:00 am 22/08/2019

I stop as I reach the platform for the 6th section, a little tired but overall not very sore. I give Shade the all-clear as he begins running, a bit more confidently than when he first started. He gets to a pit but doesn't notice until it's too late, opting to try and jump the gap rather than try to stop and fall in. In a panic, I look to the control panel and press a random pattern of 3 colors, which is of course the wrong pattern. He begins to fall, unable to make this distance with his small body.

I try again, pressing another 3 buttons, which once again is incorrect, before finally trying 1 last time and luckily getting it right. The bridge catches Shade, just in the nick of time as it raises into position. Deciding it would be best to see if he's alright before continuing, I jump the course's fencing and rush over to him, climbing the fence and picking him up.

"Are you alright Shade?" I ask as he nods, but winces

"He appears to have injured himself on the landing, bring him over here," Splinter yells, as I begin walking towards the barn. When we get into the barn, most of the pairs are missing or leaving, most likely going to bed. Those that remained began giggling and laughing again, pointing to Shade and making remarks. "Alright, lay him down here, I'll take a look and make sure he hasn't broken anything too important."

Splinter starts looking over Shade, checking his legs and paws for any sprains or breakages. After around 5 minutes of looking, he stands up.

"Looks like just a rolled front left paw, nothing major, but he will struggle walking on it for a couple of days. I'll go get some ice, could you bring him inside?" I nod as we begin walking into the main house just up the driveway.

6:00 am 22/08/2019

I wake up, after a few hours of sleep, not as much as I'm used to but not so little that I can't stay awake. I walk down the stairs of the main farmhouse as I see Splinter and the 2 other people that were on stage the night before.

"Good morning, Galaxy wasn't it? We heard a lot about what happened last night, and we sincerely apologize for the way the others acted." Gerald says as he looks to Jeramy. Now that I could see them in a more up-close setting, it became obvious to me that these 2 were, if not brothers, at least related. "As for you though, you helped that Zorua without a second thought, making sure to keep his spirits up and keeping him safe the entire night, we don't see kindness like that around these parts very often sadly."

"Yeah, it has definitely become something that I have seen first hand..." I reply sadly.

"Oh? Seems like you know someone personally that's become that way?" Jeramy noted.

"Yeah, my son… or rather, daughter now." I sigh as I get ready to talk about a matter that I've only ever talked to my wife about. "She currently goes by the name Nova and became a girl a few years ago, ever since then, or rather, a short time before that, she has become more distant to the rest of the family. She has been spending more time in her room, or spending time with classmates, only really talking to her sister when she can. However, I found out about a year ago that she has been sending messages to her friends online that I am a horrible father, calling me names, basically calling me a monster." I look down, trying to hide a small tear as both Gerald and Jeramy look at each other, seemingly worried by what they had heard.

"Have you spoken to the young girl about it? Maybe there is a reason behind it?" Gerald suggests.

"No, I have never had the chance to, since either I'd be at work or she'd be in her room or with her classmates."

"Well, how was yesterday with her, given everything that's happened I'm sure she was a lot more, open?" Jeremy asks. I look down, even more, knowing how they'd react if they heard what I did. I decide to tell them about what had led up to this point first, before telling them.

"Well, I should explain what's happened over the past few years before telling you about that…" I start. "For the past few years, there's been a sort of war between myself and her. She has gotten friends of hers to come and egg my car, actively scratch it, etc. She's also had numerous late nights where she returned late at night, gave no reasons for it, and just slammed the door in my face when I tried to communicate with her. In reply to all of this, I held my nerve for a while, just talking to my wife about it since I could never talk to Nova about it. Then one day, I had just had enough, I heard that she had purposefully told some of her older friends about my car being expensive so it would be egged, so I locked her car in my factory, not allowing it to be driven by her."

I sat down at the table as I continued, the brothers doing the same as Splinter made coffee for us all. "Then, she was going out late and not coming back until well past the time I requested she return, so every now and then I would change the locks, not giving her a new set until around a week later, and making her stay outside the whole night. Then there was the latest incident..." I paused, knowing this was the moment I was dreading since while I knew what I did was wrong, but I felt that it was the only way to teach her, "She yelled at me about a week ago, crying and called me a dog, out loud… It was the most horrendous act she had done, since staying up late would mostly affect her and I can get my car fixed, but being called a dog, in front of neighbors... So when she became a Pokemon, or Elemental or whatever they are, specifically a Sylveo-" But I was cut off.

"You didn't!?" I nodded my head sadly, knowing that what I had done was wrong. Gerald sighs, "While I understand why you did it, you felt as though treating her like a dog was a good way to get back at her for calling you one, likely thinking that it would show her exactly what it was like to be one, I'm disappointed in you for doing it!" I looked down, knowing that what he was saying was right. "Do you even know how much pain she likely went through if she was awake while she transformed? Did you stop to think that doing this is just going to make your relationship worse?"

He keeps going, berating me with all these things, some I had thought of and others I had not. But after a solid 5 minutes of this, I finally snap and cut him off. "YES, I know that what I did was wrong, I regret doing what I did and even while I was doing it, I felt like I was going too far… That's why I went easy on her when I took her for a walk, that's why I only showed any form of physical form when she gave me no other choice, that's why I have felt so bad about it since I last saw her… BUT YOU KNOW THE BIGGEST REASON I KEPT GOING!?"

Both Gerald and Jeremy were dead silent now, and Splinter was just listening. "Because I knew that if I didn't, my wife would have treated her much, much worse… All this time, the majority of it never really got to me, I mean sure, I was sad and disappointed in her, but I felt that it was just a phase… but my wife has always had it out for her… ever since she became a girl and took away the one thing that made her stand out to her parents over her brothers, Nova having been the only Grandson her parents had… She felt it was a betrayal to her, and thus I knew she would just lash out at Nova, so I stepped in, telling her that I would punish her on behalf of both me AND her, making myself be the bad guy, so she would be safe from her mother's wrath."

I began tearing up, unable to control myself, I had not even told this part to anyone before, so it was a fresh wound that needed to be healed… "Sure, I was the one that locked her outside and made her sleep out there, but I was also the one that got her sister to take hot chocolates to her and telling her the reason she couldn't come in is that I was in a bad mood with her and would give a worse punishment if she came in, for both Nova and Naomi… Sure, I locked her car away from her in my garage, but I allowed Naomi to take photos of it, and also made sure I kept it spotless for her… And sure, I treated her badly yesterday, treated her like a dog and such, but I took it easy on her, I bought a purposefully weak collar for her and made sure it was just loose enough for her to take off if she needed to… I even gave Naomi food to give her, proper food like Apples and Pears, her two favorite fruits… So be mad at me all you want, I deserve it, but keep that in mind as you do so."

I stood up and started to walk towards the door, still tired and it was obvious, but the brothers stopped me and sat me back down.

"While yes, I agree what you did was wrong, and the way you handled those situations was somewhat atrocious, especially the last bit with her transformation..." Gerald sighs. "If what you said about her mother is true, then what you did may have saved her sanity, if not her life… There's no easy way of getting past any of this, but I do have one question: Why stay with your wife if she's that bad?"

I winced, knowing many reasons why I had never left but decided to keep it short and sweet. "Because she's the sort of person that would hunt you down and sue you to the ground if you cross her, and knowing me, I'd be away for life if that happened, which means she would have full custody over all of my kids… And I have no proof of anything I have said, since it was all experience and verbal, so it would be her word against mine."

At that moment, I noticed a small figure, black and red with what looked like fur standing just out of sight on the stairway, it was Shade.

6:20 am 22/08/2019

As I get into my car, I notice Shade running beside Jeremy to catch up to me. "Excuse me, Mr. Galaxy? I know it's short notice, but unfortunately, Shade has no way of getting home. We just got word that Steler's wife was taken about half an hour ago, and he needs to get home right away, so he can't take Shade home, so could you take him back? We figured out that he only lives a 5-minute detour from your path, so hopefully, it's no trouble?" They both looked worried about Steler, and truthfully, so was I. I decided to let him come with me, and after a few minutes, we were off.