Ketchum? You Betcha
by: Scott K. Jamison
Pokemon and its related characters are the property of Nintendo
and no infringement is intended. This story may be posted on free
sites, including Fictionmania.
Ketchum? You Betcha!
By Scott K. Jamison
Marcus was too old to go trick or treating, or so he'd been told,
but he was still young enough to be enamored of the idea of loads
of free candy. That's why he was lurking by the sidewalk in the
dark part of the block near the Van Owen place.
It was the farthest point from any streetlight, and the
overhanging trees cast deep shadows in which anything could lurk.
When Marcus had been a little younger, he'd always walked as fast
as he could past the Van Owens'. But he was sixteen now, and he
knew better than to be scared of a few shadows.
Besides, tonight, he would be the scary one. Marcus was wearing a
black sweatshirt, black pants, black trainers, and a black ski
mask. If, somehow, he got caught, he'd just claim to be on his
way to one of the lame-ass "safe parties" dressed as a terrorist.
It had worked last year, netting him three grocery bags full of
candy extorted from snot-nosed little wimps.
Ah, here waddled one now. Awful short one, too. But the tall
pointy hat with a wide brim was unmistakable in outline. Some
kid's mother had dressed her little darling up as a witch. Almost
here--
Marcus jumped out of the shadows. "Booga booga!"
The little witch jumped a bit, her decorated bag rattling, but
she held on to it. "Hey! You scared me!" she said in a fairly
credible croak.
"Thass right, little girl, and unless you give me your candy,
I'ma gonna hurt you bad." Marcus had watched a gangbanger movie
last week, and tried to imitate the dialect.
"You mustn't have my candy!" squealed the witch, holding the bag
close to her pudgy body.
Now that he was looking at her closer, Marcus could see that the
girl's costume might have been cliche, but the makeup was first-
rate. Her face was green and scaly, with an oversized nose that
had a hairy wart right on the tip. As she gasped, he could see
crooked yellow teeth with huge gaps between them.
"Tough break. You can get more. Gimmee."
Marcus snatched the bag from her hands--the decorations looked
like the squiggles in the astrology column his mother liked to
read. She even had the green makeup on her hands, with claw-like
fingernails.
"No--no fair! Y-you'll be sorry!" She was on the edge of tears.
"Oh, go away. An' don't go telling anyone, or I'll sneak into
your house tonight, and cut out your tattling little tongue!"
Marcus pushed her none too gently with his foot.
"Bklu, youte mkbno!" The little girl made some weird gesture with
her hand, then slunk off, crying.
"Weird-ass little girl," Marcus muttered as he slipped back into
the shadows.
The next half-hour passed slowly. A few kids came by, but all of
them were accompanied by parents or an older sibling. Marcus
wasn't about to challenge the school's wrestling champ, no sir.
To pass the time, Marcus reached into his loot bag, and grabbed
one of the candies. The wrapper crinkled a little bit, and it was
soft in his hand, like taffy. The taste was kind of like caramel,
but with a peppery tang, kind of like some Mexican candy the
Perez family had given out three years ago.
At last another lone figure approached. As it came closer, Marcus
recognized it. Tommy, a little wuss he'd seen around, and
bullied, before. His mother was one of those indulgent types, and
gave him a lot of lunch money--that Marcus had taken more than
once. This would be sweet.
Tommy's mother had obviously gone all out this year. He was
dressed as the lead kid from that cartoon, Marcus had seen it all
over, oh yeah, Pokemon. And not in some crappy store-bought
costume either. All the clothes were just right, complete down to
the Nike-style swoosh on the baseball cap. And a plush Pikachu
doll was Velcroed to his shoulder. The model with cheeks that
actually lit up.
Marcus felt a stab of jealousy. His mother had never made *him*
that good of a costume, even when she'd been sober. Oh yeah, he'd
enjoy this.
"Booga booga!"
Tommy took a step back, and looked real scared, but then his face
hardened as though he were trying to appear brave.
"Gimme your candy, kid, and that doll too!"
The smaller boy struck a defiant stance. "No! You can't have my
Pikachu! And if you're gonna do the Team Rocket thing, you should
have a better costume! And a partner!"
Does this kid really think he's some kind of cartoon hero? Marcus
asked himself. "Life ain't like the cartoons, wussy-boy. Gimme
the candy, or I hurt you." He cracked his knuckles to emphasize
the point. Maybe he'd beat Tommy up even if the wimp did give him
the candy.
"You can't scare me! I challenge you to a Pokemon battle!" Tommy
pointed at Marcus, whose eyes widened.
The little punk actually thinks he's a hero! "Okay, loser, you
asked for it." Marcus wound up for a punch.
"Pikachu! Thundershock, now!"
There was a bright flash, and a lot of pain. Marcus hadn't felt
this way since he'd stuck his finger in a light socket on a dare.
He twitched a few times, and then fell to the ground.
"Ooohh..." Was that smoke he was smelling?
Tommy looked down at Marcus; his eyes wide open in the pale
light. "It worked? It worked! Yay, Pikachu!" He patted the
stuffed monster. It glowed a little bit, and Tommy turned back to
Marcus.
"I won, so you gotta do what I say! Lessee... you're too mean to
be Brock, so you gotta be Misty!"
Marcus didn't quite follow what the kid was talking about, but he
was feeling better now, and just needed a little more rest before
beating the snot out of the punk. Then he felt a burning
sensation in his gut and up his throat. It felt like that candy
he'd eaten was trying to claw it way back out.
Marcus croaked, "Whass going on?" His voice seemed awfully high-
pitched. Then a crushing sensation started all over his body.
Marcus could actually feel himself shrinking, his muscles and
bones contracting in on themselves. He could actually hear his
hip bones pop as they moved.
He was able to pull himself to a sitting position, in time to see
his sweatpants start to shrink, wriggling up his legs like a
stop-motion snake, texture becoming denim as they changed into an
extremely tight pair of denim shorts. Marcus almost screamed at
the pinching they were causing his balls, but then the pain was
gone, and so, he knew, was his manhood.
Marcus' shirt was changing too, becoming yellowish, and thinner
fabric as it cleared his midriff. He shivered as the chill of the
night hit his exposed flesh. Red straps--suspenders--whipped up
from the shorts, over his shoulders. And under the straps, his
chest swelled slightly, with tiny breasts.
His trainers shrank and turned red, fitting his new small feet.
As a final indignity, his ski mask wriggled up over his face, and
pulled Marcus' hair into an off-center ponytail.
"No... this can't be happening, I can't be turning into a girl!"
Marcus patted himself down, hoping that somehow this was a dream,
or a nightmare he could wake up from.
"What are you talking about, Misty? You've always been a girl.
Here, take Togepi, and don't fall over again, okay?" Tommy was
handing Marcus a pillow that had been decorated to look like an
oversized egg.
Marcie took the toy in her arms, as strange thoughts filled her
head. Of course she'd always been a girl. How could she have
imagined something as stupid as being an icky boy? Especially a
mean one that took candy from little kids!
She looked up at her friend Tommy. He was okay, for an icky boy.
Even if he did take this Pokemon thing *way* too seriously. He
was insisting on acting just like Ash, and calling her by the
character name. Next year, Marcie would insist on doing Card
Captors instead, because in that one, the girl was the hero.
"C'mon, Misty! We got lotsa houses to go, and I gotta catch 'em
all!"
Still, there was something bothering her... hadn't there been
another bag of candy? One with funny symbols on it?
She looked back and saw the bag. It was being dragged into the
shadows. By a green, scaly hand with long, claw-like fingernails.
Marcie shuddered.
"Hey, Ash! Wait up!" And the children ran into the night.
FIN
by: Scott K. Jamison
Pokemon and its related characters are the property of Nintendo
and no infringement is intended. This story may be posted on free
sites, including Fictionmania.
Ketchum? You Betcha!
By Scott K. Jamison
Marcus was too old to go trick or treating, or so he'd been told,
but he was still young enough to be enamored of the idea of loads
of free candy. That's why he was lurking by the sidewalk in the
dark part of the block near the Van Owen place.
It was the farthest point from any streetlight, and the
overhanging trees cast deep shadows in which anything could lurk.
When Marcus had been a little younger, he'd always walked as fast
as he could past the Van Owens'. But he was sixteen now, and he
knew better than to be scared of a few shadows.
Besides, tonight, he would be the scary one. Marcus was wearing a
black sweatshirt, black pants, black trainers, and a black ski
mask. If, somehow, he got caught, he'd just claim to be on his
way to one of the lame-ass "safe parties" dressed as a terrorist.
It had worked last year, netting him three grocery bags full of
candy extorted from snot-nosed little wimps.
Ah, here waddled one now. Awful short one, too. But the tall
pointy hat with a wide brim was unmistakable in outline. Some
kid's mother had dressed her little darling up as a witch. Almost
here--
Marcus jumped out of the shadows. "Booga booga!"
The little witch jumped a bit, her decorated bag rattling, but
she held on to it. "Hey! You scared me!" she said in a fairly
credible croak.
"Thass right, little girl, and unless you give me your candy,
I'ma gonna hurt you bad." Marcus had watched a gangbanger movie
last week, and tried to imitate the dialect.
"You mustn't have my candy!" squealed the witch, holding the bag
close to her pudgy body.
Now that he was looking at her closer, Marcus could see that the
girl's costume might have been cliche, but the makeup was first-
rate. Her face was green and scaly, with an oversized nose that
had a hairy wart right on the tip. As she gasped, he could see
crooked yellow teeth with huge gaps between them.
"Tough break. You can get more. Gimmee."
Marcus snatched the bag from her hands--the decorations looked
like the squiggles in the astrology column his mother liked to
read. She even had the green makeup on her hands, with claw-like
fingernails.
"No--no fair! Y-you'll be sorry!" She was on the edge of tears.
"Oh, go away. An' don't go telling anyone, or I'll sneak into
your house tonight, and cut out your tattling little tongue!"
Marcus pushed her none too gently with his foot.
"Bklu, youte mkbno!" The little girl made some weird gesture with
her hand, then slunk off, crying.
"Weird-ass little girl," Marcus muttered as he slipped back into
the shadows.
The next half-hour passed slowly. A few kids came by, but all of
them were accompanied by parents or an older sibling. Marcus
wasn't about to challenge the school's wrestling champ, no sir.
To pass the time, Marcus reached into his loot bag, and grabbed
one of the candies. The wrapper crinkled a little bit, and it was
soft in his hand, like taffy. The taste was kind of like caramel,
but with a peppery tang, kind of like some Mexican candy the
Perez family had given out three years ago.
At last another lone figure approached. As it came closer, Marcus
recognized it. Tommy, a little wuss he'd seen around, and
bullied, before. His mother was one of those indulgent types, and
gave him a lot of lunch money--that Marcus had taken more than
once. This would be sweet.
Tommy's mother had obviously gone all out this year. He was
dressed as the lead kid from that cartoon, Marcus had seen it all
over, oh yeah, Pokemon. And not in some crappy store-bought
costume either. All the clothes were just right, complete down to
the Nike-style swoosh on the baseball cap. And a plush Pikachu
doll was Velcroed to his shoulder. The model with cheeks that
actually lit up.
Marcus felt a stab of jealousy. His mother had never made *him*
that good of a costume, even when she'd been sober. Oh yeah, he'd
enjoy this.
"Booga booga!"
Tommy took a step back, and looked real scared, but then his face
hardened as though he were trying to appear brave.
"Gimme your candy, kid, and that doll too!"
The smaller boy struck a defiant stance. "No! You can't have my
Pikachu! And if you're gonna do the Team Rocket thing, you should
have a better costume! And a partner!"
Does this kid really think he's some kind of cartoon hero? Marcus
asked himself. "Life ain't like the cartoons, wussy-boy. Gimme
the candy, or I hurt you." He cracked his knuckles to emphasize
the point. Maybe he'd beat Tommy up even if the wimp did give him
the candy.
"You can't scare me! I challenge you to a Pokemon battle!" Tommy
pointed at Marcus, whose eyes widened.
The little punk actually thinks he's a hero! "Okay, loser, you
asked for it." Marcus wound up for a punch.
"Pikachu! Thundershock, now!"
There was a bright flash, and a lot of pain. Marcus hadn't felt
this way since he'd stuck his finger in a light socket on a dare.
He twitched a few times, and then fell to the ground.
"Ooohh..." Was that smoke he was smelling?
Tommy looked down at Marcus; his eyes wide open in the pale
light. "It worked? It worked! Yay, Pikachu!" He patted the
stuffed monster. It glowed a little bit, and Tommy turned back to
Marcus.
"I won, so you gotta do what I say! Lessee... you're too mean to
be Brock, so you gotta be Misty!"
Marcus didn't quite follow what the kid was talking about, but he
was feeling better now, and just needed a little more rest before
beating the snot out of the punk. Then he felt a burning
sensation in his gut and up his throat. It felt like that candy
he'd eaten was trying to claw it way back out.
Marcus croaked, "Whass going on?" His voice seemed awfully high-
pitched. Then a crushing sensation started all over his body.
Marcus could actually feel himself shrinking, his muscles and
bones contracting in on themselves. He could actually hear his
hip bones pop as they moved.
He was able to pull himself to a sitting position, in time to see
his sweatpants start to shrink, wriggling up his legs like a
stop-motion snake, texture becoming denim as they changed into an
extremely tight pair of denim shorts. Marcus almost screamed at
the pinching they were causing his balls, but then the pain was
gone, and so, he knew, was his manhood.
Marcus' shirt was changing too, becoming yellowish, and thinner
fabric as it cleared his midriff. He shivered as the chill of the
night hit his exposed flesh. Red straps--suspenders--whipped up
from the shorts, over his shoulders. And under the straps, his
chest swelled slightly, with tiny breasts.
His trainers shrank and turned red, fitting his new small feet.
As a final indignity, his ski mask wriggled up over his face, and
pulled Marcus' hair into an off-center ponytail.
"No... this can't be happening, I can't be turning into a girl!"
Marcus patted himself down, hoping that somehow this was a dream,
or a nightmare he could wake up from.
"What are you talking about, Misty? You've always been a girl.
Here, take Togepi, and don't fall over again, okay?" Tommy was
handing Marcus a pillow that had been decorated to look like an
oversized egg.
Marcie took the toy in her arms, as strange thoughts filled her
head. Of course she'd always been a girl. How could she have
imagined something as stupid as being an icky boy? Especially a
mean one that took candy from little kids!
She looked up at her friend Tommy. He was okay, for an icky boy.
Even if he did take this Pokemon thing *way* too seriously. He
was insisting on acting just like Ash, and calling her by the
character name. Next year, Marcie would insist on doing Card
Captors instead, because in that one, the girl was the hero.
"C'mon, Misty! We got lotsa houses to go, and I gotta catch 'em
all!"
Still, there was something bothering her... hadn't there been
another bag of candy? One with funny symbols on it?
She looked back and saw the bag. It was being dragged into the
shadows. By a green, scaly hand with long, claw-like fingernails.
Marcie shuddered.
"Hey, Ash! Wait up!" And the children ran into the night.
FIN