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Almost immediately, all of the general dread I'd been harboring for the last couple of days condensed into a specific dread of what was to come in the next few minutes. I was peering out of my window, looking at the news anchors in the yard below me, and knowing that, much like having to tell my mother last night about turning into a Lucario, there was going to be no way out of this one.
Being that I was now a Lucario, I saw no need to wear clothes anymore, so I hadn't worn pajamas to bed. There was no need to get dressed, and, while I could have brushed my teeth (for Lucario still had those), I didn't feel like it at that moment.
I heard banging on my front door, which my parents and I kept locked at all times unless one of us was out on the porch enjoying the sunshine. As much as I didn't want to open that door, I had a feeling that it would be broken down if they continued doing that.
The second I passed the window in front of my stairwell's landing, I saw one of the journalists clapping. Clearly they had seen me coming down said stairwell and were very excited that they'd get an interview with me.
Am I going to give them an interview? Yes, I will. I have to.
I opened the door and stepped onto the porch. It wasn't easy to find space on the porch to stand, because there were literally dozens of reporters. It was like a swarm of bees, and my house was the hive.
"Go easy on me, guys" I said, trying to sound as casual as possible. "If you just hem me in like that, I won't be able to answer any of your questions. Please, just let me speak".
I wished that I could create an Aura Sphere and brandish it in front of the reporters, threatening to fire it if they came too close to me. Sadly, I just didn't know how; after all, I'd only been a Lucario since yesterday afternoon.
Fortunately, the swarm did dissipate slightly. Perhaps dissipate is the wrong word, but they did seem to get the message. And I did have a point; if they didn't give me my space, none of them would be able to hear me.
Am I just going to pour everything out like that? Tell them everything I know?
Unfortunately, I saw no other option. If there had been an opportunity to escape, any at all, you can rest assured that I would have taken it in a heartbeat. As it was, though, I felt trapped. The only way out of this one was, sadly, to tell them everything I knew...which, admittedly, wasn't very much at all.
"Okay" I announced, in a voice as loud as I could muster; my mouth tasted like sand paper. "Who wants to go first?"
It had been a mistake to say that; there was practically a fight to get to the front of the line. For a moment, I half thought that the reporters were going to go all Hunger Games on each other.
Luckily, that didn't happen. Instead, a man from Vulpix News made his way up to me, and he held the microphone up to my chest. Clearly, he wanted me to speak.
"So...what is your full name?" he asked me.
"Lucas Zantry Enfield" I responded. I saw no reason to answer that question; with the availability of websites that essentially amount to cyber-stalking platforms, it wouldn't be hard for them to find that out anyway.
"And your age?"
"Eighteen".
"When did you transform into a Lucario? How long has it been that this secret has been kept from us?"
By now, I was getting thoroughly irritated with all of these questions. I wanted to sink right through my porch into the Earth's crust, and then build a new life for myself underground, where no one would care that I was once a human.
I reluctantly answered the question. "I transformed yesterday afternoon, around three or so".
At this point, I was convinced that one of the news anchors was thinking, Wow, he's been able to keep this secret from the world for so long. How did he manage that?
Well, it was out now, and, once I had opened the Pandora's box of information, there was going to be no end to the conspiracy theories that would no doubt spring up out of the ground to try and explain why this had happened.
Then came the question I'd been dreading.
"Why did you turn into a Lucario? Do you have any idea what might have happened?"
I considered telling him about the locket I'd found on my bed, the one with the cryptic message about the animal inside of me. There was no way that it was a coincidence...but had it been that that had caused my transformation?
No, it can't be. I only touched it, I didn't wear it. I definitely didn't EAT it; eww, that would be gross.
More to the point, I started having those symptoms the day before I saw the locket, so that wouldn't make any sense now, would it?
I noticed that the reporter was starting to appear increasingly impatient with me. He couldn't wait to have his question answered, but, unfortunately, he would need to wait. I had to keep thinking about what I was going to say and how I was going to say it so as to mitigate the fallout.
Eventually, I said, "I don't know. It just happened". That was true, but not the whole truth.
"Any specifics?"
I was afraid of that.
"I suppose", I replied, "that there might have been signs beforehand". Damn it, why did I SAY that? Have I learned NOTHING?
"Such as..." the reporter asked. He was jamming the microphone towards my chest spike now, almost as if it were a knife he wanted to sink into my fur.
Now that I'd said that there had been signs, I saw no way out of this question. After biting the metaphorical bullet, I said, "I've been very hungry these last couple of days. And I mean very hungry, to the point that I fainted yesterday at work".
The reporter from Vulpix News, the one questioning me, gasped audibly at that revelation. Really, who wouldn't have? Before this, I had been hesitant to speak except when I was spoken to, but I felt the urge to say the following:
"I've read that Lucario burn up to nine thousand calories a day, so it's not surprising that I've been so hungry. I'm just adapting to my new form, I guess".
"Indeed" the reporter replied. "That could definitely be a reason, and it's good that you don't have diabetes or something like that".
I nodded. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have breakfast to make, and a life to live. All of you, please leave me alone".
I didn't know what I'd expected to happen after saying that. Perhaps they would disperse the way I wanted them to, or else that would egg them on to get more and more answers out of me, answers I didn't have.
"Okay" the Vulpix News anchor replied. "I think that's enough questions for now. Guys, he wants to be left alone, and can you blame him? Imagine if you'd just turned into a white-furred Lucario".
Sighing, I thanked the anchor, offering to shake his hand, which he declined. I could have hugged him, I was so grateful that he was going to let me live my life, at least for now.
Turning around, I closed the front door and headed back inside. I went back up to my room, where I took a knee and watched outside my window to make sure that the reporters were making good on their promise to get off my lawn.
Thankfully, they were. It was a good thing for them, too, because, while I didn't know how to use any of a Lucario's move set yet, I could have at least gotten them arrested for trespassing. I wouldn't even need to provide any evidence, because their interview with me would be all over the news within a few hours, probably a few minutes.
"Lucas? Are you there?"
I turned around to see that my mother was behind me; she'd entered my room without me realizing it. I turned to face her.
"Of course I'm here, but why would you need to...ah, never mind. How did you sleep?"
"I slept pretty well" my mother replied. "Especially considering everything".
I nodded; I really didn't know what else to do. A few seconds later, my mother said something else, something I hadn't been expecting, but I suppose I should have been expecting it.
"Dr. Donnelly called a few minutes ago, while you were out there giving an interview to the news anchors. He gave me the results of your blood test and EKG".
"What did they say?" I asked her, dreading the answer.
"The EKG was normal. There's nothing wrong with your heart whatsoever. Of course, it's a Lucario's heart now, but that's beside the point".
Is it, though? I wondered, but that question was immediately replaced with a general feeling of apprehension. For if she had to specify that the EKG had been normal, that meant that the blood test probably wasn't.
"What did the blood test say?" I asked, dreading the answer.
I could tell that my mother was trying hard to prevent her voice from breaking, but she wasn't entirely successful in doing so. This caused me a lot more worry; what on Earth could they have found?
"Dr. Donnelly thinks that there's something in your blood that hasn't been detected in a human's blood in a very long time. He was worried enough about it that he told the Greater Pastoria Laboratory about the result, and they'll be coming tomorrow to interview you again. But they're definitely concerned".
I gulped. It often seemed like my doctor had all the answers, even if that wasn't entirely true. If he was stumped, let alone worried, about something in my blood, that was definitely cause for alarm in my book.
"What does he think it is?" I asked my mother, once more dreading the answer.
"He thinks it might be aura. You know, the substance that is running through the bloodstream of every single Lucario on the planet".
Of course there's aura in my bloodstream, I thought. I'm a fucking Lucario now. This is great. Just great.
"I'm not happy" I said. "I really wish I could just live a normal life. Why does that have to be taken away from me so soon?"
My mother began stroking my back like she did when I was much younger and feeling nauseous. "It'll be okay, Lucas. It'll be okay".
"Are you saying that because you know it to be so or because you just really want me to think that?" I asked her. It came out a little harsher than I meant it to.
"Both. I have faith that we'll be able to get through everything. Do you want me to make pancakes again today?"
"No thanks" I replied. "I think I'll just have cereal".
She nodded again. "You sure? It's no trouble at all to fire up the griddle, and I'll do anything for you. I know how hard this must be on you".
It was now my turn to nod. "I am. Just not in the mood for pancakes". Truth be told, I didn't know if I'd even be able to eat cereal. I was so nervous about everything that the idea of eating anything at all made me feel like throwing up.
But I have to eat, to keep my strength up. Might as well at least have cereal.
Making my way into the kitchen, I made myself a bowl of cereal. As I was eating it, I thought about the nightmare I'd had the previous night. Some evil force had been pursuing me, that much I knew.
But what could it possibly be? Poachers?
Poachers were definitely something I'd have to worry about in the future. Right now, though, I was more concerned with how my story would most likely be trending on every social media platform in existence. PokeTube, Twitter...it would be number one on both, for sure. Even amidst everything else happening in the world, an 18-year-old man turning into a white-furred Lucario would definitely be the most important story in the world.
I turned on my tablet computer, afraid of what I might find. As soon as I saw the news, I felt my stomach drop.
To my horror, one of the stories that had popped up in the news feed on my home screen was indeed the one I feared most. There was absolutely no mistaking it.
An 18-year-old man from Gardenia, Sinnoh has transformed into a white-furred Lucario. Start your day here.
Clicking the home button, I swiped until I reached my Internet browser, and then I went to PokeTube. Just like I had thought, the breaking news section of PokeTube had my story plastered all over it, and it was nearing a hundred million views already. Not even the music videos from the most popular artists in the world achieved PokeTube fame that quickly.
Even the blizzards had faded largely into the background. It seemed that they were just an afterthought at this point, which, in light of a human turning into a Pokemon, might have been justifiable. However, I still couldn't shake the feeling that the two events were somehow connected.
It was the same story on Twitter. No one seemed to know or care about anything else. It had been less than half an hour since my interview, and yet the whole world seemed to know about my transformation. News never traveled that fast, but had there ever been anything more newsworthy? I didn't think so.
At first, I didn't think I would ever leave my house again. I didn't want more people to notice me out in the world than already had.
I then reminded myself that the story was trending already, and it didn't matter what I did, things would never go back to being normal. Therefore, I could just go out and show myself off. I'd heard the saying, "If you've got it, flaunt it", and, while that wasn't true in every case, maybe it would be true now.
No, that would be stupid. There are going to be so many poachers who will take notice of me. I won't know who to trust.
That realization didn't make me feel good, to say the very least. As soon as I was done with my cereal, I made my way back up to my bedroom and shut the door. I had to think of my next move.
Eventually, I decided that I needed to find something to cheer myself up. It wasn't going to do to just be depressed for the rest of the day, let alone the rest of my life.
When I ate lunch with my parents that day, I discussed my idea with them, and they were hesitant to give me their blessing to do it. Unlike me, they were still squeamish on the idea of me leaving the house, even if I'd already been outed to the world as a white-furred Lucario.
What was the idea, you might ask?
Well, it was the idea of going out to dinner with one of my friends. Could you call her my best friend? Maybe not, but I remembered her having told me that, unlike many of my other friends, she wouldn't be going away on vacation with their families, or else working at a summer camp or something similar. She was available all summer.
Her name was Angelina Hawley, and I'll admit it; I had a crush on her. It was a fairly minor crush, and I didn't know if it would ever develop into more than just that. I also didn't know if my feelings were reciprocated, but I very much hoped they were.
"Do you know how to drive the car as a Lucario?" my mother asked me. "I can imagine that working the gas and brake pedals might be a little more difficult".
"I'm sure that I can figure it out" I replied. "Besides, how much harder can it be? It's not like they have to be on specific parts of the pedals. Plus, there are Lucario who drive cars".
"Okay then" my father replied. The reason we'd had that discussion was because having one of my parents drive me to the restaurant I had in mind, a relatively upscale steakhouse, was a non-starter. I was 18 years old, practically an adult, and had a driver's license; I wasn't going to have my mother drive me to my date!
She's going to be very impressed with me, I thought. This is the type of restaurant you can only afford to eat at a couple of times a year, for very special occasions, it's that fancy.
After lunch, with my parents both having voiced their approval, I made the call.
"Ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, banana phone" I said into the phone. There was no particular reason I said it every time except that I thought it was funny. It might have sounded childish, but I didn't particularly care.
It only took a few rings for someone to pick up. I'd gotten her at a good time.
"Hello? Who is this?" Judging by the voice, the person sounded much older and male, probably Angelina's father.
"I'm Lucas Enfield, Angelina's friend. Is she available right now".
"Sure" her father said. "Just hang on a moment".
The other line went quiet for about a minute as Angelina's father searched for his daughter. Eventually, he said, "Here she is".
"Hello, Lucas" Angelina said. Hearing her voice was a definite relief; we'd barely talked all summer as I'd been in the belly of the beast with my internship. "So are the rumors true or not?"
"What rumors?" I asked, dreading the answer. At the same time, however, I knew what she was talking about. What else would it have been?"
"I'm talking, of course, of the rumors that you transformed into a Lucario" she replied. "Did it happen or did it not?"
"It did" I replied. There was no reason to lie; that would just get us off on the wrong foot. But then again, maybe we already were.
"So what does it feel like, being a Lucario?"
That was a question that I hadn't quite been prepared to answer, because I hadn't given it much thought beyond the fact that I was now scared and worried all the time.
"I suppose that it's just like being human. Except I'm a lot hungrier, I have a lot more energy, and it's really hot underneath all this fur".
That was another reason I was hesitant to go outside. It was late July, the hottest time of the year in southern Sinnoh, and temperatures outside were approaching ninety degrees. If I went outside in this weather, in my current state, I would most likely roast.
I heard Angelina chuckle on the other end. "Yeah, I can imagine that it would be hot. Anyway, why did you want to call me? Is there something on your mind?"
I was glad that we'd gotten the part about me transforming into a Pokemon out of the way quickly. Now we could deal with more important matters.
"Yes" I replied. "I was thinking of going out to dinner with you later at Le Resto-Grill".
Angelina gasped. "Really? That sounds amazing, I'd love to go!"
Angelina's family wasn't poor, but they weren't rich either; they were probably middle class, roughly. I'd grown up upper middle class and had no doubt been to steak houses more frequently than she had. I wondered if that was the reason she was so quick to accept my offer.
I really hope I'm not flaunting it too much, I thought to myself. I didn't have the courage to say it out loud to Angelina.
"Okay. I'll make the reservation. I'll see you there at...is six a good time for you?"
"That works out well".
I'd gotten what I wanted; Angelina was willing to go on a dinner date with me. Nevertheless, I was still highly nervous, and my palms were sweating like a beast. (And yes, I know that I was a beast now, but that's beside the point).
After retrieving my computer from its charging station next to my bed, I went to the restaurant's website and found that they did indeed have space available at the time we wanted. I booked a reservation for two at 6 PM.
This was going to be amazing!
For the record, "Le Resto-Grill" is French for steak house. I couldn't think of a better name besides Del Frisco's, which is the name of a steak house chain here in the real world.
I would love it if you guys would review and tell me what you guys think of this chapter. I can't wait to see your feedback, because it means a lot to me.
Until next time, this has been SnowLucario.
