Decided to post this a day earlier than I'd planned at first, just because I like hearing what people have to say about my chapters. If anyone wants to contact me on Discord, the tag is SnowLucario#5443; there I'll give updates on when chapters will be out and such. Plus if you just want to chat, I'm totally down for that.

Also, if anyone has any OC ideas for this story, just PM me with their name, gender, species, personality, background, etc., and I'll get to work and fit them somewhere in the story. I'm not running out of ideas, far from it, but I'd like to hear yours.

Here's Chapter 7 of Snowbound: Volume 1!


Mercifully, I didn't have any nightmares that night when I went to sleep. Surely, between the news media that had come to my house, the greedy fashion in which Angelina had eaten her steak and baked potato, and the news about the poacher who had burned up a home, there would have been some fuel to add to the fire that was my nightmares.

However, it was a dreamless sleep, and I woke up the next morning feeling refreshed for a change. I felt like I was ready to face the day, no matter what it might bring.

I brushed my fangs and then went downstairs to find that my mother was already up, even though she'd stayed out a lot later than I had.

"Good morning" I told her. "How did you sleep?"

My mother shook her head. "Not that well" she replied. "I just couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen. A sense of impending doom, if you will".

I realized that I hadn't been able to sense her emotions using aura. Had I been able to use aura properly, I would have been able to realize that she hadn't slept well and was rather stressed out.

And that thought made me feel rather vulnerable, even more so than I already did. I had all the drawbacks of being a white-furred Lucario, with none of the positives. Until I learned how to use aura and fight like a Lucario, I would be pretty much defenseless against anything that came to attack me.

In other words, I was a sitting duck. Being a sitting duck made me think that my mother's "sense of impending doom" was entirely justified.

"I'm really sorry to hear that" I replied, because I really didn't know what else to say.

My mother shook her head again. "It's really not your fault, Lucas. You didn't choose this".

"You're right" I replied. "I didn't choose this. I didn't wake up the other morning and think 'Okay, I really want to turn into a Lucario today and be on the news!'"

She laughed, and that made me feel better, albeit only marginally.

For me and my parents, life was about to get a hell of a lot harder, so the laughter was short-lived. After that, my mother just stood at the counter, making herself some coffee.

I don't drink coffee. Even as a human, I found that I had enough energy without it, and, as a Lucario, I definitely had enough energy without it. I don't understand how people can put up with just how bitter it tastes, because, to me, it's absolutely disgusting.

After making myself a bowl of cereal, I sat down at the table and, using my tablet computer, scrolled through the news. Almost immediately after I saw the latest, my stomach dropped.

To my horror, the image of Angelina leaning over her apple pie, her face covered in vanilla ice cream, had now gone viral all over Twitter. Any number of Internet memes were being made of it, and that made my blood boil. It seemed like lots of people were just trying to use my personal life to exploit for their own gain, and that was more than a little maddening.

"Mom?" I said. "You should look at this".

She came over to the table with her mug of coffee and looked at the tablet's screen with me. She chuckled slightly at the image of Angelina eating like a pig at the trough.

"Mom, this really is no laughing matter!" I exclaimed, somewhat exasperated with her.

"I know" she replied. "Sorry for laughing. It just looks so cute, the way she's eating".

Okay…

There was a long, awkward silence after that. I personally didn't think the way Angelina had eaten was cute at all, nothing remotely so about it. All it did was make me suspect that the fate that had befallen me was going to take a shot at her.

Eventually, my mother said, "I honestly don't know how you do it. Being the center of attention all the time sounds really tiring, not to mention annoying".

I snorted. "Oh, trust me, it is both of those things".

"I mean, how do you stay so strong? How did you hide it all for so long?"

I shrugged. "Sometimes, when you really have to do something, you're somehow able to muster up whatever you need for it".

We sat in silence for quite a while, before my mother said that it was about time for me to head to Cadillac Jack's for my internship, a thought that made me gulp with dread.

You see, the events of the last couple of days had really taken my internship at the diner out of my mind. I hadn't been giving it much thought, but I think I can be forgiven for that; when you've just turned into a Pokemon, it's not exactly the highest priority to ponder the job you hate.

I looked at the clock, and I found that if I didn't leave within the next few minutes, I was likely to be late for work. Traffic only increased the later it got, and it wouldn't do to be late for my internship. My supervisor wouldn't be happy with me.

But maybe if he fires me, that would be a good thing. The internship at Cadillac Jack's isn't exactly what I'd prefer to be doing. I don't need the extra stress, not when I'm a Lucario.

"I'll see you this afternoon" I told my mother. "It's like you said, I have to go to work now".

She nodded. "Have a nice day, Lucas".

I got in my car and drove to Cadillac Jack's. The whole time, I was bracing myself for the fallout that would no doubt come as soon as my supervisor saw that the news was true. I really was a Lucario.

When I arrived, it was just in the nick of time. Another minute and I'd have been late. I was generally one who liked to be punctual, and never wanted to arrive anywhere tardy.

Entering the store, I got quite a few unwelcome glances. Clearly, they were shocked to see me there, and didn't want to be associated with the teenager who had managed to turn into a Lucario. They probably figured I was some freak of nature.

My supervisor was standing in the kitchen, beckoning me over with a wave of his hand. I went over to where he was, and he looked directly at me with a stern expression.

"It's true?" he asked, sounding slightly bewildered, not at all in the manner that his terse facial expression would seem to suggest. "You really have turned into a Lucario?"

I nodded. "I've been like this since the afternoon before yesterday. Turns out I passed out because I was really hungry from my metabolism adjusting to that of a Lucario".

My supervisor nodded. "Well, in that case, leave".

My stomach dropped like a freight elevator whose cables had been cut. "Leave?"

"Leave and don't come back. We can't have you working here, it gives us too much attention that we really don't need. This is how it is and this is how it goes".

My mouth started tasting rather metallic. In spite of that, I was able to think of a quick joke. Sometimes humor can help with situations, but I was definitely a little foolish to use it in this instance.

"You sure you want me to leave? I'll be good for business if I stay. How many people would love to eat at a restaurant that the human-turned-Lucario works at?"

I wanted my supervisor to laugh, but he didn't. Instead, he looked almost as though he were going to have an aneurysm, he was so mad.

"Just go!" he shouted. "Go and stay gone! If you remain, you'll be arrested and charged for trespassing".

That was all I needed to hear. I was only 18 years old, after all, and I really didn't need a criminal record at this age. I left the diner and drove home.


On the way back, I started to take inventory of my situation. Spoiler alert: It was pretty grim right now.

I've turned into a Lucario. My potential girlfriend might also be turning into a Lucario pretty soon. I got fired from my internship and banned from Cadillac Jack's. Okay, maybe that's a plus.

I chuckled at that last line. It gave me a certain shrewd satisfaction to know that I'd never be going back to that place, a place of such bad memories.

By this time my mother and father had both left for work. They usually only worked from home on Wednesdays, but I suppose they'd each used one of their sick days to stay home and make sure I was doing all right in my new Lucario form. Now that I was a little more adjusted to being a Pokemon, they figured that I could do well enough on my own for now.

As such, I didn't see any reason to call them to let them know I'd been sacked. The moment of reckoning would come later today, and it wasn't a moment I was looking forward to. I just wanted this all to be over.

I sat down on the couch and reclined my long, lanky Lucario body. I didn't grab the remote to turn on the TV, though; the news was too depressing for a moment like this, and I didn't particularly want to see myself there. Nor was I eager to hear the reporters' spin on why I had gotten fired.

Eventually, I must have fallen asleep. I don't know how long I slept for, but the next thing I knew, the phone was ringing. According to the female robotic voice coming from the phone, the call was from Angelina Hawley.

Maybe she wants to hang out with me again!, I thought excitedly, instantly wide awake again. I made my way to the phone as quickly as I safely could, and then picked it up.

"Hello, Angelina" I said, in a voice that was neither seductive nor cold. I don't know why, but it just seemed to come out perfectly, in exactly the tone I wanted it to.

"Hey, Lucas. There's...something I want to show you. Could you come over here to my place for a bit?"

I didn't even hesitate. My parents wouldn't be home from work for some hours still, and they'd never have to know that I was at Angelina's house instead of at Cadillac Jack's. "Of course" I replied, trying to sound nonchalant. However, I was terrified inside.

If this is what I think it is…

I gulped, nervous for what I was going to find, whatever Angelina wanted to show me. Nonetheless, I got in my car and backed out of the driveway.

Angelina only lived about five minutes away from me, so it wasn't long before I was parking right in front of her home. It was somewhat smaller than mine, but not by very much. After shutting off the car's engine, I walked up to her door and rang the doorbell.

It was her mother who came to the door. "Hey, Lucas. How are you doing?" she asked me.

"I'm doing pretty well, all things considered" I replied. "I mean, it's not every day that you turn into a Lucario, but I hope that I'm managing it as well as I can".

Mrs. Hawley nodded. "Well, you can come in and see Angelina. She seems to be rather upset; I guess she thought that you could cheer her up".

Almost immediately, the chance of me having been right went up, in my mind, from about 85% to 99%. If I had been terrified before, I was just about ready to faint. I steeled myself, no pun intended, for what I would find.

In the Hawley family's living room, Angelina was curled up in a red and gold armchair. Except that it wasn't Angelina.

It was a Lucario with mint green fur.

"Angelina?" I asked.

"Lucas…" she said, and judging by the sound of her voice she must have been crying just recently. Based on her new physical appearance, she would have been entirely justified in doing so.

"You've turned into a Lucario, haven't you?" That was of course an unnecessary thing to ask, so I don't know why I said it. Probably more to convince myself that this was real life. Me and Angelina had both transformed into Pokemon.

She nodded, sobbing. "It was...so painful. Felt like a spike was coming out of my chest".

"Well, I suppose that's true. Look at that, you've got a nice new chest spike! Look on the bright side, Angelina".

She shrugged while continuing to sob. "I really don't see any bright side, Lucas. I should have known what was going to happen".

"What do you mean?" I asked her.

"I mean that when you scratched me, I just had a feeling that your state was contagious. You could infect anyone with this disease of turning into a Lucario, just by scratching them with the spike on the back of your paw".

My heart stopped as I realized that she was right. This breathtaking realization meant that I wasn't safe to be around anyone. I was a rather clumsy person, now Lucario, always liable to accidentally brush someone with the back of my hand. Except that now it would have disastrous consequences.

"We'll find a cure, though. I promise". I grabbed her paw and held it in mine. She didn't protest, even though we were far too old for that unless we were dating, and we weren't officially dating.

"And what if we don't?" I could tell that Angelina was a hard time keeping it together; she must have been holding back the floodgates of tears.

"If we don't, then I suppose we'll be Lucario forever".

Almost as soon as I said that, I realized that being a Lucario permanently might not be such a bad thing. Yeah, the fur was quite hot, and I didn't like the attention that being a Pokemon brought me, but if it made me rich and famous, something I'd often dreamed of when I was younger, than that was a win.

Plus, I could learn how to use aura, and that would really help me defend myself against any number of enemies that might have been going after me. I envisioned myself launching an Aura Sphere against a large crowd of attackers; that would be very satisfying indeed.

Right now, though, I could see why Angelina was so distraught at the prospect of never becoming human again. Perhaps part of it was because she'd had less time to get used to it than me.

"I started feeling really hungry just minutes after you scratched me with your paw" she told me. "That's why I wolfed down my food so fast. And I'm also sorry that I had your apple pie".

"Don't worry" I replied. "I'm over it now".

"I'd never known myself to eat so much in one sitting, and I was wondering what the hell was wrong with me. And now I know".

I nodded. "We're going to find a way to get through this, I promise. Have you left the house since you transformed?"

Angelina shook her head. "Too scared to. I don't want the news media to get ahold of me".

"That's definitely a good idea. You can always decline to be interviewed, too, I heard; I wonder why I didn't do that yesterday".

Just then, Angelina's mother came back into the room. "I made some sandwiches for the two of you, along with chips and lemonade. Come sit outside, it's really nice weather".

"Uh, Mom?" Angelina asked. "I'm not so sure that's a good idea".

"Oh, don't worry about it" Mrs. Hawley replied. "They're not going to find us in our back yard".

Uh...they found me in my bedroom, I thought. I didn't say it out loud, though.

"Really, Mom, I don't think we should eat outdoors today. I don't want any more attention on me than is absolutely necessary, plus I'd bake alive underneath all this fur".

"Well, there are hot summers here, so you'll have to get used to it" Mrs. Hawley replied, something that I thought was rather rude of her to say. She couldn't possibly have fully understood what her daughter was going through, because, if she had, she wouldn't have said something like that.

The sandwiches were peanut butter and jelly, one of my favorites. As we sat outside on the back porch, I could almost relax a little. There's something about sitting or lying down on your porch and being warmed by the sun that is just so soothing.

"Do you think we'll have to run away?" Angelina asked. Although she didn't specify a person, it seemed highly likely to be directed at me.

"No, why would you?" her mother replied. "It's not like you'd be any safer anywhere else. Besides, your life is here, with us. You've still got another year left of high school".

It was then that I realized that senior year of high school, which I still had to go through, would be an absolute nightmare. It was one thing to do it normally, having to apply for college while also completing the difficult coursework, but doing it as a Lucario, with the news of my transformation having had over a month to sink in...talk about out of the frying pan and into the fire!

"Sometimes safety is more important than schoolwork" I told Mrs. Hawley. Turning to Angelina, I said, "I really don't know what we're going to do. But, like I said, I'm confident that it will all work out".

At this point, I was really only saying that to convince myself that we'd be fine. I really didn't see this story having a happy ending.

As I was on my second sandwich, I felt my cell phone vibrate, indicating that I had received a call. I opened my phone to find that the call was from my mother.

"Yes?" I asked her. "I'm with Angelina right now, having lunch". I'd forgotten that I wasn't supposed to tell my mother that, but oh well. I supposed it wasn't too big a deal.

"I got a call from Dr. Andrew Dexter. He works at the Greater Pastoria Laboratory, and he wants to talk to you".

"Where is he?"

"He's currently at our home, waiting for you to arrive. He wants to take you to his lab".

Wow, does that sound sketchy or what?

"All right. I'll be right there" I replied, before hanging up.

"Who was it?" Angelina asked me.

"My mother. I have to go now; there's someone who wants to see me". Although I spoke quickly, as I tend to do, I was weighing every word carefully. I knew that one misstep might make Angelina feel suspicious of something.

"I hope it's not a news anchor or someone like that".

"Trust me, it's not" I replied. "But like I said, I really must be going now. I'll see you later, okay? As often as you want me to, I'll come over".

After bidding Angelina good-bye, I got back in my car and drove home. When I got there, I saw that an old-fashioned maroon car was parked in my driveway, so I parked in front of my house.

I went inside through the back door, where I found a man I hadn't seen before.

He was a man probably a few years older than my father, so in his mid-to-late fifties. He had white hair and a short beard, and, if I didn't know he was a scientist, I would have assumed he coached minor league soccer at the local elementary school field.

"You are Dr. Andrew Dexter?" I asked him.

He nodded. "And you are Sir Lucas Enfield?"

I chuckled. "If you'd like to give me the 'Sir' title, go right ahead. I like being flattered".

"Okay then. We should probably head over to my lab now. It's a ways away, it'll take us a while to get there".

"I have a question". Even though I said that, I was barely conscious of doing so, and yet I knew exactly what I wanted to say.

"Yes?"

"Why do you want me to go to your lab? Is there any particular reason?"

Dr. Dexter smiled. "It's because, Lucas, I have an offer you can't refuse".