WHAT? I'm an Azumarill that Turned Into a Human!

1st Edition

Chapter 2: Azumarill Meets the Professor, Learns what Human Food Tastes Like, and Doesn't Know How to Read a Room

A/N: Thank you to everyone who's read the story! Rescue Wolf, thank you for your review! I couldn't really find a place to put in how her clothes looked, I plan to this chapter. But if you don't want to read down that far and only clicked on the chapter to find out FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, IS AZU WEARING CLOTHES?!, then I've got some good news for you! She is! The title image is basically how I imagine she looks like, minus the ears of course. A cute frilly dress that is suspiciously patterned like an Azumarill's bubble pattern, no shoes, and dark blue ponytailed hair that hangs over her shoulders. A blue orb looking (SUSPICIOUSLY) like an Azumarill's tail is attached to the ties as well. IT'S ALMOST AS IF SHE LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE AN AZUMARILL THAT GOT TURNED INTO A HUMAN. SUSPICIOUS INDEED. Anyways enjoy the chapter k thx bai

May sighed quietly as they wandered along the trail that would lead them back to Littleroot, the exhalation being the only sound in an otherwise silent forest. Well, save for the crunching of the leaves under their shoes and Azu's quiet breathing. She glanced over at the sleeping girl, who seemed quite comfortable with her head nestled in Brendan's shoulder. Brendan noticed her looking at him, and gave May a small smile. "I don't think she's gonna wake up any time soon." He said, making sure to keep his focus on the path ahead of them. Despite her teasing earlier, May really was the worse one when it came to directions, and she relied heavily on Brendan to get them back to the lab. Luckily, he didn't make any remarks on it, although the smile still playing on his lips showed the irony hadn't escaped him. Well, he could smile at her all he wanted, but he knew that if he went any farther he'd get an elbow to the ribs.

…Well, maybe not right now, considering he was still carrying Azu on his back. But once she was settled in a bed somewhere? He'd get what was coming to him.

At the thought of the little girl, May looked over at her again, and this time Brendan didn't follow her eyes. But he knew what she was thinking about anyways, and his smile slowly shifted downwards. "...What do you think she was doing out there?" May asked, and Brendan sighed, his frown growing slightly more pronounced. "I don't know. But a little girl, that deep in the woods alone at night, apparently with no parents? Whatever happened to end her up there, it's not good." May nodded, quickly side-stepping away from a root in her path. "Yeah. She seemed really scared of us, too. And did you see how she hesitated when we asked her name? It was like she didn't trust us at all." Brendan was about to reply, but stopped short when they saw lights in the distance glowing through the woods. "Well, when she wakes up, we'll try and find more out. But for now, let's get her to your dad and make sure she's not hurt or anything." May nodded resolutely, and the two quickened their pace as Littleroot crept up on them.

"May Ruby Birch. Do you have any idea what time it is? I've been worried sick about you! You said it was just a quick trip to Rustboro with Brendan - oh, hello Brendan, your mother is very worried as well - is that a little girl on your back?" To anyone else, it would've been slightly disconcerting to see Professor Birch bounce from one emotion to the next, but May was more then used to it. In a way, it worked in her favor, as more likely then not he'd completely forget about being angry at her. "Sorry, Dad! When we were cutting through the woods, we heard crying coming from deeper in, and it turns out we got in really far. But we have a good reason! Azu here-" She gestured vaguely to the sleeping girl. "-was lost, all by herself! What were we supposed to do, leave her there?" Professor Birch motioned for Brendan to turn around, and he carefully took Azu off of his back. "Well, I suppose you have a good reason for being late. But next time you're out past curfew, I will tell your mother. Now come on," He said, and the two followed him over to May's house. "Let's get her set up on the couch." Birch whispered, but May shook her head. "Nah, she can take my bed, I'll sleep on the couch. Brendan, you wanna stay over?" Brendan grinned and nodded, heading back to the door before looking over his shoulder at her. "By the way, I call the blue blanket." May scoffed loudly at him as he retreated out the door, scowling before heading to set up the couch. "He always takes the blue blanket! It's like he just has to have the comfiest one."

After a lot longer than it should've taken, Brendan came back with his arms filled with the overnight bag he always brought when they slept over, as well as an apologetic look on his face. "Sorry for taking so long, my mom totally chewed me out. At least my dad isn't home, otherwise I bet I wouldn't even be here." Birch looked over from the kitchen where he was preparing some decaffeinated tea, waving off Brendan's concerns. "Don't worry about it, Brendan. You know you're always welcome over here whenever you want. Speaking of your dad, when's his next visit?" The professor asked, as he walked over with two steaming mugs for each of them. May's was so filled with milk it was a different color then the rest of theirs, and Brendan's had so much honey and sugar in it that it was a miracle it wasn't the consistency of sludge. Just the way they liked it! Brendan took a tentative sip of his tea, wincing as the scalding liquid burned his tongue. It took him a second before he responded to Professor Birch's question, and when he did his face noticeably clouded over. "Next week. He's gonna be home for a whole five days, and Mom's conveniently arranged for her and Lucas to go visit her relatives in Sinnoh." The professor reached over and rubbed his back, giving him a comforting smile. "You know you can always stay here if need be." Brendan just shrugged, eyes shifting down towards the floor. "Nah, I'll be fine. Dad's probably gonna be mad if I'm not home with him." May had always known about Brendan's slightly-strained relationship with his parents - practically the whole town knew about it. With his father being a gym leader, Brendan had a lot of expectations placed on him by both his parents, and based on the few things he accidentally let slip there were some pretty harsh words when he didn't shape up to what they wanted him to be. Even though what he wanted was to be Hoenn's next Pokémon Professor. It just wasn't fair, they didn't even take his dream seriously-!

"How's Azu doing?" Brendan asked suddenly, breaking the silence that had settled upon them as May ruminated on her growing dislike for Gym Leader Norman. Her dad smiled, blowing on his cup of tea. "She's fine. You don't have any old things that fit her, so I just used one of your shirts as a nightdress and put her dress in the wash. Actually, now that I think of it, her dress should be done by now." He set down his mug on their Pokéball-shaped coaster and stood up, heading over to the laundry room. May followed him as he took the dress out of the dryer and laid it out, curious to see what it actually looked like. To be fair, it had been quite dirty after Azu had tripped and fallen in the dirt, and she wanted to see what the pattern was. "Awww, that's cute!" It had a white bubble-patterning on it, exactly like an Azumarill's. Maybe whoever gave her this thought it was funny because her name was Azu. "She didn't happen to have any socks or shoes on, did she?" May shook her head, plopping herself back on the couch next to Brendan, who had somehow managed to fully get his corner of the couch set up with his sleeping stuff in the thirty seconds she had been up. "Nope, just a dress." Professor Birch didn't sit down, remaining standing and sipping at his tea thoughtfully. "So, she was wandering out alone in the dark without any shoes... Did she mention parents?" Brendan might've shook his head, it was hard to tell since he was fully buried in the blue blanket. "Nope, said she didn't have any." At this, Birch's look darkened as he got deeper into thought. "Hmm... Well, there's nothing to be done tonight. When she wakes up, we can ask her more." That was exactly what the two kids had been thinking earlier, but they didn't say anything. Instead, May just accepted a forehead kiss from her dad before settling into her place on the couch, lightly kicking Brendan's foot. He tried not to laugh and kicked back, as they did the familiar territory dispute over the middle of the couch. The professor smiled softly and turned off the light, heading to his own bedroom. "Goodnight, kids." They waited until his door had closed and the light had turned off, before sitting up and looking at each other. "What if Azu really doesn't have anywhere to go?" Brendan whispered, and May shrugged before yawning. "I guess she'll stay here, or maybe she can come with us on our journey." Brendan sighed, laying back down. "It's not a journey, we haven't even gone to the Rustboro gym." There was quiet for a few seconds, until he was whacked with a pillow. "It is so a journey. We're travelling by ourselves with Pokémon, pretty sure that's a journey." Rather than retaliate and start a battle he knew he would lose, Brendan just settled back into a sleeping position. "Whatever, whatever. Maybe she can come with us on our journey."

"I knew you would come around."

"Whatever. Night, May."

"Night, Brendan."

As much as I'd like for it to last forever, the berry dreams have to come to an end eventually, and I slowly drift awake. I sit up and rub my eyes, yawning all the while. Man, the sand is really comfortable today! ...Wait a minute. I'm still wiping my human eyes with my human hands - dangit, I'm still a person! I look down at the weird soft thing I'm laying on, the thing that unfortunately isn't sand. It's really soft and seems to be kind of bouncy, and I'm covered up by some Pokéball-patterned thing that keeps me warm. This must be what humans sleep on! I'm gonna be honest, this is almost as good as sand! Almost. I push off the Pokéball covering and try to stand up, but I'm still really not used to walking. And also, whatever these humans sleep on is really, really hard to walk on! I end up slipping on a Pokédoll and falling onto the sleeping-place, and just like I suspected, it was super bouncy! I get back up on my feet, somewhat steadily, and continue testing the bounciness of the sleeping-place. Hey, if I'm gonna be a human, I might as well learn all I can! Now, trust me when I say I know bounciness - I take care of Marill and Azurills, their whole thing is bouncing! So I definitely know what I'm talking about when I say that the sleeping-place was the bounciest thing that I've ever bounced! I dunno how long I spent bouncing, but I was still going at it when some random human walked in. I squeaked and dropped quickly, burying myself under the Pokéball covering. The man just laughed and wandered over, peeking under the covering. "Oh, it looks like you're awake! You're certainly a heavy sleeper, according to Brendan you slept through the entire walk home!" I looked back up at him, slowly uncovering my head and remembering how to talk. "Um... Yeah. I was super tired, so I fell asleep. Sorry?" I wasn't sure if that was time for an apology, but I offered one up anyways. But the man just waved it off, laughing. "Don't worry about it! May was happy to give you her bed and sleep on the couch with Brendan. Oh, by the way, I'm Professor Birch. May's dad! Now, would you like some breakfast?" I jump up from the sleeping-place (bed?) and scramble to the floor, managing to keep my footing this time. "Yup! I would love breakfast!" He laughs and motions for me to follow him, and I do so happily. Maybe the breakfast will be berries! Or maybe some honey! Or... berries!

But when we reach the room where there's food, I only see May, Brendan, and... A box? You can't eat a box. But maybe there's things... Inside the box to eat! Brendan grins down at me as May shoves something into her mouth without even giving me a glance, evidently not a morning person. "Good morning, Azu! Did you sleep well?" I smile back and climb up onto the chair next to him, inspecting the box in front of me closer. "Yup! It was the softest sleep I've ever had!" Professor Birch laughed and put a bowl in front of me, grabbing the box and shaking it. Oh, I'm meant to eat what's IN the box! A bunch of tiny multicolored balls came out of the box, and the professor poured some Moomoo Milk over it. He slid the bowl over to me, complete with a spoon. "I should say she had a good sleep, and a very bouncy awakening." He gave me a wink as I started eating the bowl-circles, my smile growing bigger with every bite. "Mhm! It was super bouncy!" May finally looked up from her breakfast, giving me a bleary look that might have been a smile. "Dad did make sure to get me the bounciest poss'ble bed." Professor Birch gave her an affectionate rub on the head, sliding her a glass of what looked like berry juice. "When you were little, you'd bounce for hours. I used to be worried you'd break the bed! But of course, you're far too old for that now." A look that I couldn't quite figure out passed over his face for just a second, but I was quickly distracted from it when he passed me a glass of berry juice. I was really hoping he'd do that!

"Anyways, Azu, I was hoping to talk to you about something?" I waited to respond until I had completely finished my berry juice, drinking the entire glass in one go. I'd like to see a regular Marill try that! "What do you wanna talk about?" Professor Birch rested his arms on the counter, leaning forward slightly. "I was wondering what a little girl like you was doing all alone in Petalburg Woods at night?" I freeze at the question, glancing at May and Brendan even though they can't possibly help me. What do I say?! I can't say that I suddenly got turned into a human, I can't say anything about the weird gem... "Um... Like I told May and Brendan, I got lost." Professor Birch doesn't seem satisfied with my answer at all. "Yes, but what were you doing in the woods in the first place?" Now I'm really in a trap! I scramble for something, anything to say. "Um... I was looking for berries?" I guess that part was true, in a way? Professor Birch still looked dissatisfied, and I slouched in my chair slightly. "And why couldn't your parents look for the berries?" I slumped in my chair even more, trying to find any way to buy myself some time. "Um... I don't have any?" Was that a good response? Evidently not, as Professor Birch got another look on his face I couldn't place. "...Where do you live, then?" Now, that I could answer. "Why, on Route 104 of course! The sand is super soft, and the trees can be fun to sleep in too!" I was really happy when I said that, but nobody else looked happy. May and Brendan kept sneaking glances at each other, and Professor Birch sunk deeper into thought. Jeez, do these people not know how nice sand and trees are to sleep in? "It-it's a really great place to live! There's tons of berries in the woods, and the Pokémon are all nice too!" May looked up from where she and Brendan had been whispering, looking interested. "You're comfortable with Pokémon?" Well, DUH! Wait, it's not obvious. I take the duh back. "I'm super comfortable with Pokémon!" Y'know, 'cause I'm one myself. Brendan turned to May with an intrigued look, and she grinned back. "Well, if you don't have anywhere else to go..." Brendan interrupted and finished her sentence. "You could come with us on our journey!"

"Absolutely not." Professor Birch said immediately, and May whipped her head over to him. "Dad, why not?!" He frowned and crossed his arms, May doing the same. "You two didn't get to go on your adventure until you were twelve. Azu is only... Er, how old are you?" It took me a second to realize he was talking to me. "Oh! Um, I don't know!" I said cheerfully, and Professor Birch got that look on his face again. "Alright... Well, she can't possibly be any older then six. I am not sending a child out into the world." Now wait a minute! "Hey, I can totally take care of myself! And besides, I wanna go on a journey with Brendan and May!" The three of us erupted into a chorus of begging and pleading, overwhelming the professor. Eventually, he held a hand up, stopping us. "Alright, alright!" He pinched the bridge of his nose, giving a resigned sigh. "Fine. Only because she doesn't have anywhere else to go. Azu may go with you on your adventure-" We cut him off with a cheer, but he quickly stopped us. "BUT! I will be asking for my friend, Mr. Stone of the Devon Corporation, to give you three PokéNavs. If anything happens-" May cut him off again, swooping over and giving him a kiss on the cheek before grabbing my hand. "Yup, we'll call you, thanks Dad! Now come on, Azu, let's go get you ready for your new adventure!"