INTERTWINE DREAMS
Chp.2- Learning to cope
"Here ya go, kid. Apple Grove Pokémon Center."
I thanked the driver and stepped out of the bus onto the sidewalk, calling for my Pokémon to follow me. Hey, isn't this where the bank used to be? Oh well, I thought as Furret and Feraligater hopped out of the bus, I guess that's not here in this world.
The Pokémon Center looked like one's I'd seen on the cartoon; glass doors, glass windows going all along the buildings next to the doors, Poké Ball on the roof with the big, "P" on it. Maybe I should just take a quick glance and make sure Seraph isn't already here, I thought. I studied it for a moment before going in, wondering what else I would find around here.
Pushing open the doors of the Center, I could see no one was around at the time. That was a surprise. I thought that the place would be packed with people. Then again, what do I know for sure in this world?
"Hello?" I called out. "Anyone here?"
"Hello?" That voice…it couldn't be…"Xavier? Is that you?"
"Uh, yeah. Hey…Joy." Sure enough, Nurse Joy came out of one of the back rooms. She had a mountain of Poké Balls in her arms, and seemed to be having trouble holding them all.
"How come you're here so early?" she asked, swaying a little to hold all the balls. "Your shift doesn't start for almost two hours."
"My shift?" At the mention of shift, I thought she was talking about shape shifting, like with a Hybrid.
"Yes, remember? You start at two-thirty today, and it's not even one yet." As she spoke to me, she went into another room.
"What?" Joy dropped a ball on her way in, so I ran behind the main counter to pick it up. As I looked at it, I couldn't help but think I was holding a real, functioning Poké Ball in my hands. "What does being a Hybrid have to do with any of this?"
"Being a Hybrid?! I'm talking about your job!"
"My job? I work here?"
"Of course you work here!" Joy peered around the door to look oddly at me. "Are you O.K? You sound like a person who just got hit with an Amnesia attack."
"What? That only…oh, yeah." It occurred to me that things like Amnesia wouldn't be the same as in the game. It might have been possible for it to be used on other Pokémon, instead of just raising the users attack. (I've never quite figured out how losing your memory would make you stronger, but it was just a game.)
"Sorry Joy. I…didn't sleep well last night. Just give me some time, and I'll be fine."
"Alright…" She sighed and looked around the room. "Well, as long as you're here, you might as well get started…"
For the next few hours, I was forced to help out around the Center. Well, I wasn't really forced, but I figured it'd look weird if I just left my job, and the last thing I wanted to do was draw even more attention to myself. I didn't do too much medical stuff, but I did do things like checking on the functioning of Poké Balls, taking inventory, and keeping little kids from running in the back and creating all sorts of havoc. Furret and Feraligater got checkups from Joy, and from there kept the injured Pokémon company.
As I moved about the Center, I couldn't help but think that not yesterday, I would've thought anyone who said that Pokémon were real was nuts, and now, it was totally opposite. If I tried to convince someone that Pokémon shouldn't exist (or Hybrids for that matter), they thought I was the crazy one. Just to be sure, I tested this theory on Joy later in the day.
"Hey Joy, can I ask you something?" I said as Joy was getting some tools for an examination.
"Yes?"
"Listen…let's say that, just yesterday, Pokémon and Hybrids didn't exist…"
"Alright…" She seemed to be following so far.
"O.K…bear with me hear. If I were to tell you that before yesterday, Pokémon was just a video game, and I created Hybrids as part of a extremely…alright, some-what…popular story, and that some weird virus somehow made them all real, what would your reaction be?"
Joy suddenly stopped moving. Slowly, she turned to look at me.
"I'd have to say you must've hit your head hard on something." she responded.
"Great…and I don't suppose telling you that only me and a few of my friends know that all this wasn't real yesterday, and that everyone else's memory has been affected to think that all this is normal when it's not is going to change your mind?"
"No…"
"And I assume telling you that you and your family only existed in the game, plus the cartoon based on the game, isn't going to help either?"
There was a long, awkward pause after that. A few seconds later, Joy had a thermometer in my mouth and was running some sort of device that looked like a hand held metal scanner up and down my body.
"Wha thar thou thouing?" I asked, not able to speak well with the thermometer in my mouth.
"Checking your mental health. Either your running a high fever that's making you delusional, or a psychic attack has affected your thinking…"
I protested this, to no avail. The device didn't pick up anything (even though I had no clue what it was looking for.), and my temperature was normal. Joy let me keep working, though looked oddly at me for most of the day.
A few people came into the Center, but only one Hybrid came in; a Ninetales Hybrid. She seemed to be only about 17, wearing a sweater that covered her arms and, while rather bunched up at the neck, I still could see some of her neck . Her hair was a little wild and was let out long, almost spiking everywhere. Her tails all swished around nervously as she looked around, as if the entire world was watching her. Her green eyes darted about, and she seemed very nervous. Her pants were baggy and in a parachute style, so they swished a little as she walked. Her fur was a very light tan, with a darker tan color at the tips of her tails.
Finally, about four in the afternoon, I was about to head out for my break. Seraphs house was only a two or three minute walk away, so it shouldn't have been too hard to reach. Of course, Joy didn't make my life any easier.
"Xavier?"
"Yes, Joy?"
"Did you inventory that new supply of medicine yet?"
"Yes."
"Did you check and make sure all those Poké Balls were working or not?"
"Yes…"
"And none of the Pokémon have been complaining while you were nearby?"
"No…" I was starting to get fed up with this. Joy apparently didn't see that, as she continued to bother me with similar questions over and over. Now, usually I'm a patient guy, unless I'm about to do something important. Then I'll give you a few seconds before I either start tuning you out or start getting really annoyed. In this case, I was starting to get annoyed with all this.
"Joy, may I please just go on my break?" I asked through clenched teeth.
"O.K…" I let out a sigh of relief. "Just one more thing…"
"WHAT?!" I snapped. My patience had just run out.
"Xavier! What's the…oh no! Xavier, calm down!" Joy suddenly sounded really worried. "You know what happens when you get angry…"
"What?!"
"You know…" She looked down the hallway into the main waiting area, almost as if she was afraid of someone hearing us.
"No, I don't." I started scratching at my left hand. It had started to itch really badly.
"You don't? How could you n…oh no…"
Joy rushed over and placed a hand on my forehand while using her other hand to hold out my left arm. The itching feeling was slowly starting to creep up my arm, becoming almost unbearable. I attempted to scratch at it, noticing how much warmer it had suddenly gotten.
"Temperature is at least 120 degrees…constant scratching… perspiration… damn it, why do you have to turn into Fire Storm now?"
"Turn into Fire Storm? What th…hey!" Someone came down the hall toward us, and Joy had caught me off guard, pushing me into a nearby bathroom and slamming the door shut as I stumbled in.
"What was that all ab…oh shit!" I looked at my arm and saw red and black hairs starting to spring up all over the place. I tried to hold back the transformation, until it occurred to me that I didn't know how to fight it.
I watched with a mixed reaction of fear and amazement as the hairs lengthened and grew as more came up, soon covering my arm totally in fur. The itching feeling had begun to spread all over my body, and I vainly tried to scratch it, but it only got worse. While I tried to scratch the itching in my hands, I could feel my palms and fingerprints starting to grow rough and thick, becoming the pads I'd felt when I first woke up.
"Eww…" I looked at the mirror above the sink and saw how far the transformation had gone. I still looked human, but a human covered totally in red, white and black fur. My mouth suddenly started to push out from my face, becoming the muzzle of a Growlithe. The upper halves of my ears started to grow limp, but before I could see anything else, my vision blurred as my whole face adjusted to take on a more canine appearance. By the time I could see clearly again, a Growlithe's face looked back at me in the mirror.
Everything soon started to get slowly smaller around me. I wasn't quite sure why this was happening, until I looked in the mirror. I was starting to grow taller with each passing second while my arms and hands grew slightly longer and bigger. I could feel my bones slowly growing and forcing me up and up. It didn't hurt, but it grossed me out. It's like when the dentist uses Novocaine before he drills. You know it should hurt like hell, but it doesn't.
After my growth spurt, I figured the transformation was done. Not so, as the muscles in my chest began to expand and press out. I quickly yanked off my shirt before it ripped, as it was already tight from the added height and fur bunched up underneath it. Even as I yanked it off, though, I could feel the muscles starting to bulge in my arms. The ones in my legs started getting noticeably stronger too. I would've probably felt them strengthening in my back and stomach as well, except my feet suddenly started to hurt really badly. What the hell was the prob…
BAM! BAM!
"Oops…well, I never really did like those shoes…" I'd forgotten to take off my shoes during the transformation, and my now huge feet simply burst right out of them. I kicked away the tattered remains of my shoes, pulling off my socks.
Now the transformation seemed complete. I'd shot up from my usual six feet and thin build to about six foot four inches and a lean, wiry kind of muscular build. I noticed how I also looked and felt older than as a human. My newly enhanced senses suddenly kicked in, all new sounds and smells hitting me all at once. I could hear a baby Pokémon crying in a room well down the hall from the bathroom. I could smell the perfume, sweat, and deodorant of people who hadn't been by in hours like they were standing right next to me. There were also a lot more unpleasant smells that lingered in the bathroom, but my nose filtered out those items. Just out of curiosity, I tried concentrating on my human form, just to see if I changed back. Nothing happened, which kinda made sense. One idea for the whole Hybrid changing forms thing I'd planned to add was that no matter how long a person had been a Hybrid, they'd have to wait a while after changing between human and Hybrid form.
SHLOOP!
"Ah man, what now?" I looked all down the front of my body, but didn't see anything new…maybe it was something outside.
Cautiously, I looked out the door to see if anyone else was coming. No one was immediately outside the door, so I stepped out. Searching around the back rooms, I found a locker that I hadn't seen before. It had, "X. Canin" printed on it.
"This must be mine…" I mean, how many names start with X? Canin is my last name now? Wait a minute…Canin…that's just canine without the e!
"Well, it's better than Ketchum…" I muttered, opening it up. There was a T-shirt that would fit my larger form, so I hastily put it on.
Unable to find Joy anywhere, I went back out into the main area, taking one last look around before heading to the door. Hmm, that Ninetales Hybrid is still here…wait, why is she coming over here?
"Excuse me, sir, but you wouldn't happen to know a guy named Xavier Canin?" she asked.
"Uh, yeah, that's me." Who was this girl? She hadn't seen me while I was working, and I didn't recall having any friends that were Ninetales Hybrids. Still, I've also supposedly been a Hybrid since I was seven, so there was a lot I didn't know.
"FireHybrid! About time you got here…what happened to you? You're huge!"
"FireHybrid? Who the…Seraph?"
The Ninetales Hybrid nodded. "I found out you had to work here today, so I came here to wait for you. How long have you been here?"
"A few hours. Didn't you see me at all?"
"No. I didn't think you'd be here already."
"Oh…what happened to you? You said you were a Vulpix Hybrid, not a Ninetales Hybrid."
"That…" Seraph reached into her pocket and pulled something out, handing it to me, "you can blame on this stupid thing…"
"What is it?" It looked like a ruby. It was in a rock-like shape with a glass red color, and felt kinda warm.
"Well, you've played the game. You know what item evolves some Fire-types."
"Yeah, I know. They evolve with…" I looked at the rock for a few more moments, then tossed it up in the air like I was Superman and I'd just been handed Kryptonite. "What the fuck are you trying to do to me?!"
"Hey!" Seraph caught the rock as it fell back down. "It's O.K. I sucked all the energy out of it already."
"Fine…just don't hand me a Fire Stone without some warning!" I took a few breaths to calm down. "Where'd you get that, anyway?"
"Well, it's actually kinda embarrassing…" she looked down at her feet. "I… accidentally found it."
"Accidentally?" I was missing something here.
"Well, I was walking out of the yard, and, well…fell…"
"You fell on a Fire Stone?!"
"Not on…over…"
"You tripped on a Fire Stone?!"
She didn't say anything, but I knew I was right. I sighed and shook my head. Only she would do something so stupid…
"Alright, let's get away from the fact that you're a total klutz. We've got other stuff to worry about."
"Yeah." We moved over to a pair of chairs in the lobby and took a seat. "I think the most important thing is why this is happening in the first place!"
"That, and why we're the only ones who know this isn't supposed to be happening!" I added.
She nodded and sighed. "Man, first the computer blows up, now this…"
"Wait a minute…your computer blew up too?! Geez, I thought it was just me!"
"It did? How exactly did it happen?"
I explained exactly what had happened in-between infecting my computer with the virus to coming to the Center on the bus to look for Seraph. The only difference in the computer explosions Seraph noted was that she had no warning; the whole thing just blew up on her at once. She also passed out as soon as the fire died down on her computer.
"Great, just great…" How could this have happened? I blow up my computer, Seraph's and God only knows how many other people's computers. What happened if someone didn't survive the explosion? I might've killed someone, just because I didn't fully read a stupid manual. My family is gone…who knows what happened for sure? Are they dead? Did they ever exist in this world?
"Seraph…what's your name now, anyway?" I asked.
"Serena. Serena Vulpos." O.K., that's not too weird…
"Alright Serena…you said you still have all your family members?"
"Yeah, everyone's still there. They think all this is normal, but they're there. I could've done without my sisters, but I guess I wasn't that lucky."
"Oh…that's nice…" I have to admit; I felt jealous. Sure, my family was a constant pain in my ass, but they're still family…and what about my relatives? God, I hadn't even thought of them. I didn't want to lose them too… well, losing Uncle Bob wouldn't be a tragedy. For a guy who's supposed to be my godfather, he sure likes to make me miserable.
We still couldn't figure out how a couple of exploding computers could've done all this. The best I could tell, it was some sort of weird phenomenon that no one discovered yet. Still, exploding computers? That's a bit of a stretch.
"So Serena…what do you think about being a Hybrid?" The only reason I really asked this was to get as far away from my family as possible. If I was going to figure out how to fix everything, I couldn't let my feelings cloud my thoughts.
"Well, it's kinda cool. I can understand Pokémon, and breathing fire is fun, in a weird way. Then again, there's them…"
"Them?"
"Yes, them!" She motioned over her shoulder at her tails. "There's nine of them! Joe, Bob, Al…how am I supposed to keep track of them all?!"
I had to laugh at that. At least Seraph somewhat insane nature remained intact. While it can get annoying at times, sometimes you just need to listen to some ranting lunatic to realize how good your life is.
"What about you? How do you like being a creature you created?"
"I dunno…yeah, it's kinda cool, but…this is just so wrong. My family's gone, almost everyone else thinks this is totally natural…it's just so confusing."
"You have no idea how that could've happened?"
I shook my head. "I have no idea how any of this could've happened."
My stomach growled loudly, making me realize how hungry I was. I guess the change must have sped up my metabolism. I stood up and faced Seraph, my back to the doors of the Center.
"I'm hungry. You want to head over to Burger King?"
"Now? What about your job? Your family?"
"Don't worry about it. I'm on break, and I'm pretty sure it's going to take a while to get things back to normal. In the meantime, I guess I'll just have to adjust."
While I waited for Seraph to get up, the doors of the Center opened. I didn't pay much attention to the person coming in. Seraph got up and started to walk toward the doors. I turned to follow, but was suddenly met with the sensation of someone throwing their arms around my neck and rubbing something wet and cold against the front of it.
"Hey there, partner." the owner of those arms said, rubbing the cold and wet thing all around my neck. The voice was kind of rough, but you could sense it was feminine. "You're here early…"
"What the…" It appeared to be another Growlithe Hybrid, or at least that's what it looked like, since all I could see was the top of her head. It took me a few moments to realize she was rubbing against me with her nose. She was nuzzling my neck!
"I've missed you so much…" she said, pushing away but still keeping her arms around my neck.
"Missed me? What…oh…hello…" I may have said, "hello" but my mind was thinking, "Whoa! We're being extremely forward!"
The female Hybrid that was currently hanging off my neck wasn't a Growlithe like I'd thought, but was in a fact an Arcanine Hybrid. She was maybe an inch or two shorter than me, and she had little muscle to her. Also, strips of white fur flowed out from each side of her wrists and ankles, the ones on her wrists going halfway down to her elbows, and the ones on her ankles went out about an inch or two behind the back of her foot. They seemed to hover there by no effort on her part.
She was a lot like me in other ways, though. (Except for the obvious differences between a male and female.) She had a mostly human shaped body, with bare feet like my own. Her face was that of an Arcanine, like mine was that of a Growlithe. The main thing that caught my attention, though, was her body. She had a slim build except for her chest, and that…you know how a lot of the older female characters in anime have very big chests? This woman was certainly no exception. She wore a plain T-shirt and tight jean shorts.
"When you get done here, beautiful, I'll be in the back getting ready. See you there." With that, she gave my muzzle a lick of her long, pink tongue before slowly proceeding into the back.
I stood there for a few seconds, just trying to decide if what just happened was right. It felt real, but the thought of some hot, sexy looking woman wanting me made no sense what so ever. (I was never very popular with the ladies.) What made even less sense, though, was that I wasn't excited by that at. In fact, my stomach felt like it was doing flips. I felt like I was going to barf.
"Seraph…" I said slowly. "Did what I think just happened happen?"
"You mean did some female Hybrid come in, nuzzle your neck, call you beautiful and lick you before heading into the back? Yeah, that happened…"
"O.K…and how should I be reacting to this?"
"I'd think you'd like that, but apparently you don't."
"How can you tell?"
"Your tail is totally still. If you liked that, it'd probably be going a million miles an hour!"
"My tail? I have a tail?"
"Yeah, it's that thing behind you, right above your butt. You know where that is?"
I looked over my shoulder, and much to my surprise, found out she was right. A white fluffy tail was hanging out behind me, wagging like it lived a life of it's own. It went down to my knees, and was full of life. Even now, though, I couldn't feel it at all. It just felt so natural, like it should've been there, I'd never noticed it before.
"I assume you're not coming with me?"
I shook my head. "I probably should find out what that was all about. I'll catch up with you later."
"Sure. Call me if you change your mind about her and get, 'tied up'." she said with a smirk before heading out the doors.
I smiled to myself and proceeded into the back. I stopped off quickly in the recovery room to make sure Feraligater and Furret knew what was going on. I found them both talking to an injured Lickitung.
"Hey guys." I said, sitting on the edge of the Lickitung's bed. "Do you guys mind spending some time here without me?"
"Why? What's going on?" Feraligater asked.
"A very, very nice looking woman just walked through the door, and I think she likes me…"
"Oh no, not Phoenix!" Furret cried out.
"Phoenix? That's her name? How do you know?"
"How could I not know?!" she exclaimed. They were making it sound like something was wrong. Before I could ask what the problem was, Joy looked in.
"Come on, Fire Storm. You can get your equipment now." she said.
"Uh…O.K." Equipment? What kind of equipment could she be talking about? "I'll see you two later, alright?"
"Uh…yeah." Furret and Feraligater kept looking at me really weirdly. They probably didn't understand what I saw in Phoenix.
There was a door in the back that had been previously locked that was now open. It appeared to lead into the basement. I went down the steps and looked around.
"Whoa…" Somehow I didn't think all this stuff belonged in a Pokémon Center. Various weapons, a large portion of them guns, lined the walls. When I looked them over, though, I saw they weren't regular pistols and shotguns or anything like that. Most of the bullets in the boxes around the weapons were soft and squishy like putty. There were other weapons that looked highly electronic with stacks of what looked like large batteries, but what they did, I wouldn't know without firing them.
There was a door down here as well. I went in and found a locker room. There were only two lockers, and they were labeled, "Phoenix" and, "Fire Storm". I opened my locker and checked out what was inside.
What the hell is this stuff?, I thought, pulling out a metal-grey colored shirt and pants. Both of them felt like spandex, which made me wonder what the hell it was doing in my locker. (Though I've never been very in with the latest fashions, spandex is well below me.) There was also a pair of jeans and a black leather jacket that would fit my current form just fine, and what looked like a small wallet. I picked up the wallet and flipped it open.
"Wait…this isn't a wallet…it's an I.D. badge." The inside had a picture of my Hybrid form, a bunch of information next to my picture, and the words, "Bail Enforcement Agent" above it.
"Bail Enforcement Agent…I'm a bounty hunter?!" Having watch, "The Huntress" a few times, I knew that bail enforcement agent was the official name of a bounty hunter that works for the government. Basically, whenever a criminal who's supposed to go to court skips out, bounty hunters can take up the task of catching the criminal. If they catch them and bring them in to the person who they took the job from, they receive a portion of the money that the criminal was originally supposed to pay for bail.
Well, this was just getting weird. I could here someone in a shower nearby, and I assumed it was Phoenix. God, I better hurry before she gets out and tries something…but why? She was a very nice looking woman who seemed to really like me, but the thought of doing anything even slightly intimate with her made vomit rise in my throat. It was like no matter what I thought of her, some part of me wanted to keep our relationship, whatever it was, from getting too personal. I was surprised with myself; I'm usually begging to find a girl who really liked me, and now when I found one, I wanted to do everything possible not to have a relationship with her.
Oh well; I'll have to figure it out later. I put on the stuff in the locker, figuring I was going to need it for something. I wore the skintight (or furtight, whatever you want to call it.) stuff under the jacket and jeans, as so not to embarrass myself. Phoenix came in just as I finished putting my other clothes in the locker, wearing only a towel around her dripping wet body.
"Oh…you're not getting a shower?" she asked, slowly walking over to me.
"Wha? Shower? Oh…no, I…" Like I said before, I have lots of respect for people, especially women. Still, when a very beautiful looking woman walks in wearing only a towel and dripping wet, you tend to forget about respect and focus on not making a fool of yourself. Besides, I kept hearing in my head, "Oh God, could she put some clothes on?! I don't want to see her like this!" What the fuck was going on here?! "I…got a…shower before I came…"
"I see…well then, I suppose I should get ready to go out. Why don't you go out and get our equipment…unless you'd rather help me here…"
"Help you?" Holy crap, she wanted me to help her?! Under normal circumstances, I probably would've said, "HELL YES!" (O.K., maybe not that extreme.), but my brain kept screaming, "HELL NO!". I thought that was just because I'd suddenly gone from having trouble getting normal women(I'd count Seraph, but she's far from normal..) to say hello to my face to having a woman who seemed to like me a lot…and the fact I had to swallow to hold back the vomit from escaping from my throat. "No…I'll get the equipment ready…"
"Again? All right…" she sighed. As I left, I heard her mutter, "Why are the cute ones always so shy?"
Wait a minute, I thought as Phoenix closed the door, again? I'd had opportunities like that before and I didn't take them? Something is REALLY weird here…
As I looked at all the equipment lining the walls, a thought occurred to me. What should I get together? In the end, I had grabbed mostly weapons that used the soft bullets, but I took two of the electronic guns just to be safe. I was barely able to squeeze the stuff into the two large backpacks that were down there. Phoenix came out just as I'd finished. She wore the same jacket and jeans as I did, and though I couldn't tell, I assumed she also wore the other stuff underneath it.
"Do you have everything ready for tonight?" she asked.
I nodded. "These things are filled to the brim. We should be more than ready."
"All right then. We'd better get going if were going to make it in time."
"Uh…sure." Make it where in time? Before I could ask, Phoenix grabbed one of the packs and headed upstairs. I grabbed the other and followed her out and around to the back of the Center and a garage.
"Should I drive tonight, or do you want to take the wheel?"
"Drive? I can't…" I started to say as she opened the door. When I saw what we were going to drive, all I could do was stare.
Some people say you can't fall in love with a machine. Obviously, they've never seen this car. It was a convertible painted jet black. There were two seats in the front and three in the back. It had a shine to it that could only come from great personal care and effort. The top was open, making it even better. It's kinda hard to explain without actually seeing it, but I can assure you; this is the car.
"Fire Storm? Fire Storm? Do you want to drive?"
"…No, that's O.K. You can take the wheel." Besides the fact I didn't know how to drive, I was in too much shock just thinking about riding in it. There was no way I was going to be able to drive it.
I tossed my backpack in the back before I hopped in the front side passenger seat. Phoenix got in the drivers seat, and we were off.
I sat back and tried to figure out if I had everything right here. I was sitting in a beautiful car with a beautiful woman who obviously liked me a lot. We were going somewhere were we'd need a lot of firepower, even if it wasn't very damaging, which added to the excitement of everything that had been happening. No way I'd be able to get these kind of adventures back home.
What was the rush, anyway? Why did I want to change all this? Sure, I'd probably start to miss my real family soon, but why not use this like a little vacation? Besides, it's gonna take a while for me to fix everything. Might as well take full advantage of this.
I must've dozed off pretty early during the trip, for the next thing I knew, Phoenix was nudging me awake. I blinked a few times and looked at the clock. It blinked 9:00 P.M. Geez, I must've been really tired.
I looked around quickly to see if I could tell where we were. I remembered this place. We were about ten minutes from the Center, at a place that used to be an elementary school. Now, it was an abandoned warehouse. We were off in a strip of trees, the whole car shut down.
"Come on partner. We gotta stay awake here." Phoenix said, scanning the warehouse.
"Yeah, right." I mumbled, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. I didn't bother to ask what we were waiting for. It'd probably be pretty obvious when it showed up.
We waited an hour. One hour turned into two. Two into three. Soon I was wondering if what we were waiting for would ever show up. It was getting hard to think of things to do while we waited. Phoenix, however, seemed to find something to keep herself entertained.
About 12:30, I felt a hand on my knee. I looked over at Phoenix, who acted like nothing was happening. I went back to looking around, but was distracted by Phoenix moving her hand up my leg. I looked over at Phoenix, who suddenly looked embarrassed.
"Sorry…thought I saw a bug." she apologized, quickly pulling her hand away.
"It's O.K." I assured her. Still, I kept an ear open for any more movement from her. She stayed quiet for a few minutes, so I assumed she gave up. Not so, as soon after, I felt a hand on my leg again.
"Another bug?" I asked. Phoenix's response was to turn her body all the way toward me.
"No. Just getting comfortable."
"You need my leg to get comfortable?"
"No…"
"O.K. then." I started looking around again, but quickly looked back when she finished her response.
"I just need you."
Before I knew what was happening, Phoenix was laid out on top of me, nuzzling and nipping at my neck. Her arms were around my chest, pressing me close to her.
"Are you being a little forward?!" I asked, surprised and disgusted. I swear I could feel my skin crawling under my fur.
"Well," she said, continuing to work on my neck, "I've always liked you, but you've been playing hard to get for so long. I figured I'd have to make the first move."
She continued to do this, and I wasn't sure what else to do but put my hands on the sides of her stomach to try and gently push her away. Sure, it felt nice, but the more she did it, the sicker I felt. Why did this feel so wrong?
FLASH!
"Xavier Canin! I thought I told you to pick up this room!"
That voice…it sounded like someone familiar…but not from home. It was from this world. Who could it…
FLASH!
"Mom?!"
"What?" Phoenix stopped nuzzling and looked up at me.
"I just had a flash of my mother…"
"Oh…" With that, Phoenix slowly got off me and went back to her seat. I'd officially killed any more advances from her tonight. Oddly, of all the other thoughts I'd had about her, the idea of her not trying to come on to me made me happy. Why was that? I'm not gay or anything, but it was like the less she tried, the better I felt I'd be. Great, just another thing to add to my worries…
At 1:30 in the morning, I was about to ask Phoenix if we could call it a night when a car pulled up to the abandoned building, followed about five minutes later by another car. The first person seemed to be alone, but the second one seemed to be dragging someone with them. It was impossible to get a good look at any of them. We didn't bring binoculars, and canine-Hybrid sight is the same as human sight.
We waited about two minutes before heading over. We both grabbed one of the pistols that used the soft bullets and the electronic guns, and ammunition for both. We made our way over on foot to one of the broken windows. It was easy to look in and hear the conversation that was going on.
Inside the building were three people, who all appeared to be human. Two older people wore large trench coats. One appeared to be very large, and the other very scrawny. They both wore large hats that covered up their faces. What caught my attention, though, was the third person. It was a human girl, gagged and bound with her arms behind her, a pair of handcuffs holding them there. She had long blond hair and green eyes. Her clothing consisted of a T-shirt torn at the sleeves and a pair of jeans that were all ripped up. I had to hold back the urge to charge in right then and there.
"Here's my end of the bargain." the scrawny one said, patting a large stack of boxes that were nearby. "I assume you'll want to see it?"
"If you'd be so kind." the large one responded. The scrawny one turned so I couldn't see what was happening, but there was a tearing sound, and soon there were ball shaped objects pouring all over the floor.
"10,000 Ultra Balls, just like you asked." He looked over at the girl. "She the real stuff?"
"Of course. You'd think I deal in anything less?" The large man pulled out a small cone shaped object. "I'll show you."
He placed the cone on the back of the girl's neck. There was an odd whirring sound, and suddenly the girl shook violently. She collapsed on the ground, not moving. For a second, I thought he'd killed her. However, when she was yanked back up, I could see her shaking, so she was still alive. I thought the shaking was from whatever the hell that cone thing was, but as I soon found out, that was not to be true.
Her skin slowly started to turn an orange-reddish color as she continued to shake. She seemed not to notice this, until she started to get taller, then she really seemed to start freaking out. It was hard to tell with her hair, but you could see two small horns rising out of them, like the horns of a Charizard. I wasn't totally sure then, but when the long, orange tail with the flame burning on the end of it suddenly appeared out of nowhere, that confirmed it. A few seconds passed, and suddenly a pair of Charizard wings burst through the back of her shirt, though there were no tearing sounds and no visible damage to any of her clothing. I later learned that clothing was often specially made for Hybrids when they shifted forms, to avoid ripping and damaging perfectly good clothing. This must've been a similar situation.
"What the hell was…hey!" Phoenix had moved to the nearby door and brutally kicked it in. It was all I could do to follow her in, holding the gun that used the soft bullets.
"Bail enforcement agent!" Phoenix barked, holding out her own I.D. in one hand while holding her gun pointed forward with the other. "Hands in the air!"
"What?! Oh, fine…" The large figure slowly reached into the air, but I've seen this stunt pulled before. I kept the gun trained on him, ready for any sudden moves. Two small cannons suddenly appeared over the shoulders of the big man through his coat.
"Blastoise Hybrid!" Phoenix yelled as she dove behind a stack of wooden crates. I ducked under the blast of water that came forth, but a little bit still dripped onto my head.
"Ah shit!" That stung! It's like someone just dripped highly corrosive acid on me. I rolled to the side to avoid another blast, then turned and pulled the trigger on my own gun. A large glob of clay flew out from the muzzle of the gun and hit the big guy right in the chest.
"Clay? You plan to stop me with a child's plaything?!" He seemed to find this very funny. He took off his hat, revealing his face. He entire head was a light blue color, which really showed with his bald head. His small brown eyes and tiny ears were hard to see on his big head.
"You take him! I'll get the other one!" Phoenix yelled before moving on after the other guy.
"Sure!" I called out, silently adding, "Give me the guy that I have the elemental weakness to!"
I jumped to my feet, only to barely sidestep another blast of water. Diving behind the crates Phoenix had been hiding behind, I tried to figure out how the hell I was going to stop this guy with clay. Well, I thought as I placed the current gun in my jacket and pulled out the electronic one, let's see what you have.
"Come out and fight, bitch!" A blue fist with small claws suddenly burst through the box I was hiding behind, missing my head by about an inch. I backed away and watched as the entire stack of crates was reduced to splinters within seconds. That scared the crap out of me, but I had to stay focused. I could be scared later.
"Eat this!" I yelled at the newly revealed Hybrid, pulling the trigger on the gun. There was a whirring sound, then the gun jerked wildly in my hands. Without the extra strength I got from being in this form, I probably have missed my shot by a mile, but I kept it steady enough to hold my aim. A ball of white light shot out from the muzzle and hit the water Hybrid in the stomach.
"AHHHHH!!!" Much to my surprise, and probably his, he flew backwards about twenty feet, knocking over another stack in the process. I wondered what the hell I shot him with, till I noticed the name carved on the side of the gun. The Zap Cannon 3000 had now become one of my most cherished possessions.
The Hybrid slowly got to his feet, despite behind blasted. His shell must've taken the worst of it. I braced myself, aimed and pulled the trigger again. That when I heard the last thing I'd ever want to.
CLICK!
"Oh-no…" I tried two more times.
CLICK! CLICK!
I got one shot?! I could understand the gun would've used a lot of power, but one lousy shot?! Damn it, now I'd have to reload…
WHOOSH!
Another blast of water came from the Hybrid. I dodged one stream, but the other got me in the hand and knocked away the Zap Cannon. While I tried hard not to think too much about the pain in my hand, I took out the clay gun again, realizing I was in a lot of trouble.
"Oh, did the little pup get wet?" he taunted, seeing I was in pain.
"Ha-ha. Everybody's a comedian…" I muttered. Still, I was pretty much screwed if I didn't think of something fast. This world may have been based on a video game, but there's no reset button on this game…video game…that's it!
Aiming at one of the cannons on his shoulders, I pulled the trigger twice, clogging up the cannon with clay.
"What the hell…" He tried to shoot out another stream of water, but it only came out of the cannon on his left shoulder (which I easily jumped away from). The right cannon, which was clogged with clay, refused to move.
"Damn you!" he swore. He tried a few more blasts, but with only one cannon to worry about, getting around them was easy. Just when I thought I was safe, he started to charge at me. It was a very slow charge, but it was a charge. With that kind of bulk, I guess you wouldn't have to worry about speed.
When he was about five feet from me, I stepped to the side, leaving out my foot. Apparently he couldn't stop, because he tripped over my foot and landed sprawled out on the floor. Before he could move, I placed the gun muzzle on the back of his head.
"Alright buddy. You move, I shoot. It might be clay, but do you really wanna think about what'll happen when a gun goes off in the back of your head?"
Judging by the way he didn't move, I guess he got the idea. I searched through my pockets, knowing I'd put Fearligater's and Furret's Poké Balls in there. I didn't feel bad about putting him in it; I have little sympathy for people who deal in slaves. Instead of them, though, I found another kind of Poké Ball. It was black and white stripped, and reminded me of the outfits prisoners wear.
"In you go." I gave the ball a gentle toss, hitting the Blastoise Hybrid. He started to glow red as the ball opened, then was sucked into it. The ball shook on the floor for a while, but after about thirty seconds, it laid still.
Well, that's one, I thought, picking up the ball and slipping it into my pocket. Better check on Phoenix. I reloaded both weapons, knowing how bad it would be if the other guy surprised me with a low supply of ammo.
"Phoenix? Phoenix! Where are you?" I kept the Zap Cannon out, searching about for Phoenix. I couldn't find her anywhere. Where was she…
CRASH!
A giant blade suddenly crashed through a box and about three centimeters in front my face. I quickly stepped back and watched as the other guy slashed his way through the boxes. This one still had his hat and coat on, but seeing the giant Scyther blade arms, it wasn't hard to tell what kind of Hybrid he was.
"Next!" he said gleefully.
"What'd you do to my partner?!" I demanded, seeing fresh blood on the blades.
"Oh, she just hit her head. She'll be fine for now, which is more than I can say for you!"
I tried to fire a shot at him, but he seemed to blur for a second, and then just disappeared. I hastily switched guns, having wasted my one shot with the Zap Cannon. Great, he's fast. If I could just hit him once or twice, I'd slow him down, but hitting him was going to be the problem.
Something moved in the corner of my eye, and I instinctively ducked. This was met by someone kicking my feet out from under me, knocking me onto my back.
"Now it's time to die!" A bladed arm stabbed at my face. At the last second, I placed a hand on either side of the blade. We struggled like this for a few seconds, the tip of the blade mere inches from my face. I seemed to have the strength advantage, but if he got smart and used his other arm, I was gonna get a real bad haircut.
"Hack! Hack!" God, I don't need to start coughing now! Each hack let the blade slip closer and closer to my face. Even when I push it back, another cough worse than the last would let it slip back down. Whatever was in my throat felt huge, too. If I didn't get it out soon, my neck might explode!
With one quick heave, I tossed the bladed arm aside. A second later, the thing in my throat finally came out.
FWOOOOSSSSHHHHH!!!
"AH!" the Hybrid yelled as my FlameThrower engulfed him and set fire to his coat and hat. He rolled around on the ground, trying to put out the fire. When the flames finally died down, I got to my feet, grabbed another one of the black and white Poké Balls from my pocket and threw it at him. He was quickly sucked in, and after a few seconds, was fully captured.
"Phoenix! Where are you?!" I quickly scooped up the ball and stuffed it in my pocket as I searched for my partner. I found her unconscious, lying against a crate. There was a long gash in her stomach and a large bump on her head. I placed a hand under her legs and another across her back, then lifted her up and carried her to the car.
Why do I feel like I forgot something?, I thought as I placed Phoenix in the front side passenger seat. I got both of those crooks in my pocket, I've got Phoenix in the car, both guns in my jacket…The Charizard Hybrid!
I quickly ran back in and helped the Charizard girl out of her handcuffs. There was a crowbar nearby which I jammed into one of the chain links. After working it around a bit, I broke open the link. Her clawed hands went up and worked the gag out of her mouth.
"Thanks. I'd thought you forgot me!" she said, rising to her three toed feet. She stood about 5' 8", with long blond hair and green eyes. Except for the horns poking through her hair and the orange-red skin, her face looked human. If you really looked when she smiled, though, you could see that four of her teeth, two on the top and bottom, where a little longer and a little sharper than the others. A pair of large Charizard wings stood out behind her, and a long Charizard's tail hung above the ground behind her. She had human shaped hands, but instead of fingernails, each finger was tipped with a white claw that looked like it could do some damage. Her bare feet reminded me a little of a bird's talons; three toed, each toe with a sharp claw sticking out of the end.
"Sorry about that, but my partner's hurt. I need to get her to the hospital."
"Oh…do you mind if I come with you? I don't want to stay here, and I have nowhere else to go."
"Uh…sure." I didn't just want to leave her here. Of course, I was going to have to drive, and I had no clue how to. Forget the fact that the hospital I used to know might not even be here anymore. Phoenix solved that problem quickly.
"Ugggnnnnhhhh…"
"Phoenix?" We ran outside to find Phoenix stirring in the car. She moaned as she tried to sit up, then clutched at the gash in her stomach.
"Shit…I don't need this…" she muttered, seeing the blood starting to collect on her arm. "Get the first aid kit out of the trunk!"
"Come on, Phoenix!" I said as I popped open the trunk. There was a box, but all that was in it were Super Potions and various Heals. "We need to get you to the hospital!"
I bought around the box to the front, wondering why I didn't hear a reply. It soon became obvious; Phoenix was looking at me with a face of pure terror!
"No! I can't go there!" she said frantically. "Take me home, please!"
"Phoenix? What's wrong? You're not scared of the hospital, are you?"
"No, but I can't go! Please, take me home!"
"Phoenix…"
"HOME! NOW!"
Despite anything I said, she refused to go to the hospital, insisting I drop her off home. Finally I just gave up, though she gave no reason for why she had to go home. I gave the box to Phoenix to let her take care of her wounds. She sprayed a Super Potion on the cut, though I saw nothing happen. The Charizard girl quietly got into the back, not wanting to get involved in any of this.
Driving was a lot easier than it looked. The car handled well, almost like it knew where I wanted to go. Phoenix gave me directions as I drove, and after a while, it occurred to me that we were on the main road that would eventually lead to my home. I didn't give it much thought.
When we reached an intersection, Phoenix instructed me to turn left, onto the road where I would have had to go on to get to my home. Hey, I thought, maybe Phoenix lives close to me.
At the top of the road (it's on a hill), Phoenix instructed me to turn right onto New Bark Circle. Geez, I thought, she lives on the same road as me!
We drove for a few more seconds, then stopped in front of a house; fourth one on the left, just like my house. Wait a minute…me and Mom are the only one's who live here. How can Phoenix…oh my God…
"Fire Storm? Are you alright?"
"Yeah, fine." I managed to get out, feeling the vomit rising in my throat. Phoenix got out and offered for both of us to come inside. The other girl accepted, probably not sure what else to do. I only accepted because I need to find some to puke in, fast.
Phoenix headed upstairs when we got in. I watched her go up, and as soon as she was out of sight, I ran right into the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind me before leaning over the sink and…well, do you really want the details?
"Uh…excuse me?" The girl knocked on the door about halfway through everything. "Are you alright?"
"Not really!" I managed to get out before losing it again. Finally after about four minutes, I gained control of my stomach, though I still felt sick. I cleaned up with a nearby towel before stepping outside.
"Are you sure your O.K?" the girl asked again.
"You know that woman who just went upstairs?" She nodded. "I think she's in love with me."
"And THAT made you sick?"
"She's my mother! That's what made me sick!"
"Oh…that's not natural where I come from…"
"It's not natural anywhere! What the heck gave you the idea it was different here?!"
"Sorry…I'm just not used to this place."
"This part of town?"
"No…this world."
"What?!"
"Look, this might sound crazy, but…things were not like this…what is it, Tuesday?"
"Yeah, it's Tuesday."
"Alright…You must think I sound nuts, but Sunday, Pokémon, Hybrids…things were totally different!"
It couldn't be…did I find someone else who knew this wasn't right? I'd better test them, just to be sure.
"Really…and what were things like two days ago?" I asked.
"Well, first of all, there were no Hybrids at all. I haven't seen any yet, but I'm guessing there are Pokémon here as well?"
"Yes, they're here."
"Okay…you probably think I sound nuts, but I come from a world where this doesn't exist except in video games and cartoons. I haven't had much of a chance to speak to anyone, except for that guy, and all he did was yell at me to shut up, but he seemed to think everything was perfectly natural."
I shook my head. "No, you're right. This wasn't here two days ago."(It was technically two days, since it was about 2:00 in the morning.)
"Really?! God, I though it was just me…"
"Nope. Actually, you can blame me for the Hybrids…" I said nervously, scratching the back of my head.
"What? How are they your fault?"
"Well, I kinda created them. It was just supposed to be a story, but it kinda, well, "evolved" into something more."
"You created them?…FireHybrid? Is that you?"
"Huh?!" She knew my pen name? "Uh, yeah, it's me. Should I know you?"
"You may remember my login name. Dark Raichu ring a bell?"
"Dark Raichu…oh, yeah! I remember you!" She was one of my online buddies who used to read my story on the small site I had it on before it shut down. I remember her in particular, not just because she was the second to ever comment on the story, but because her and the first person to review, DarkMutatedBrock, both had Dark at the beginning of their names, and I always thought that was a little odd.
"Well, I'm glad to see you still remember me. So…" she looked over her body, obviously surprised, "any idea how this happened?"
"I've got a theory, but not much else."
"Well, let's hear it. It's better than nothing."
I explained to her my idea about how somehow the explosions of the computers caused all this to happen, but I realized it wouldn't have made much sense unless she got that attachment.
"But I did get it."
"You did?!" Talk about coincidences! She pointed out something else, though, that I'd missed.
"You said you got a Growlithe before your computer blew up? And Seraph got a Vulpix?"
"Yeah…"
"I had my Charizard out first when mine went boom…it seems like whatever the first Pokémon we had out was the kind of Hybrid we changed into!"
"You're right!" Well, that wasn't much help, but it was something, at least. "Well…look, you'll probably want to start heading home soon. Why don't you call home and let your parents know where you are? You can probably hang out here for a while until they make arrangements to get you home. I need to check on Phoenix."
"Alright." She went off into the kitchen to use the VidPhone while I headed upstairs. Phoenix was in her…Mom's…their bedroom, lying on the bed. She was asleep. I slowly crept over to check on her, the pads of my feet combined with the soft carpet making no noise. The cut on her stomach had stopped bleeding and had closed a little, but was still pretty much there. I guess Potions don't have the instant heal affects on Hybrids like they do on Pokémon. Still, they're appear to be pretty useful for first aid.
"Hello…" There was a brown leather covered book lying on the ground next to the bed. Maybe it was a journal. Normally, I'd respect people's privacy, but this was a different matter. Besides, I needed to find some reason why my mother was having very affectionate feelings for me. I looked it over for a while, picking out the most relevant parts.
May 12, 1999: I'm beginning to worry about Xavier. He's acting very strangely, and after what happened back in the second grade with him, I'm afraid he might have figured out the truth. How could I be so blind?…
August 27, 1999: I managed to get a blood sample from Xavier when he went for a physical a few days ago. I've sent the blood to a lab that specializes in Hybrid testing. The wait has been hard on me. If I don't find out soon, my nerves will kill me…
September 1, 1999: The results are back, much to my relief. All testing proved negative for Hybrid DNA. I respect Hybrids; hell, I'm a Hybrid, but I don't want Xavier to find out what I've been doing. He might want to join me, and I don't want to risk getting him hurt.
April 14, 2000: I've met my new partner today. His name is Fire Storm, a Growlithe Hybrid, and a very nice looking one at that. He treats me so well, and seems very skilled as a bounty hunter. I was surprised to find out that he's 23; he should've evolved long ago…
September 9, 2000: I finally got the courage to ask out Fire Storm out on a date. He seemed surprised, but he accepted. He offered to pick the restaurant, and we went to the Barn Cider, my favorite restaurant. When I asked him how he knew this was my favorite place, he just smiled and said he had a hunch. He was great all through the meal, paid for everything, and even drove me home. A kiss eluded me tonight, but after what he's told me, I can wait. I can't believe he has Evolutionus Stoppius. It explains why he's still a Growlithe at his age…
January 1, 2001: I've made my resolution for this year. I'm going to try whatever it takes to get Fire Storm to love me. He always seems so hesitant and shy. For a man his age, he seems to take little, if any, interest in me romantically. I always have the opposite problem with other men; they constantly keep trying to get my attention, even when I make it clear I have no interest. Maybe I'm losing my touch…
Today: I've been working away at Fire Storm, but he refuses to show any signs of weakening. I tried a whole new approach tonight, but throwing myself right at him doesn't appear to work well. If anything, he looked sick when I licked his muzzle and walked in on him in only a towel. He did put his hands on my stomach, but he was just trying to get me off him. When I was in his lap, he thought of his mother, and…I'm sorry, but that's just a major turn-off. We got our money for tonight, but a damn Scyther Hybrid slashed me in the stomach and knocked me out early. Couldn't get anything to hit him. Fire Storm had to drive me home, and he's downstairs with a girl we rescued. This is the first time he's ever been here. I'd try to get him to come up, but after how he's already reacted to my other advances, now isn't the time. Besides, I don't want the girl to see anything she shouldn't; she's not even Xavier's age…
The last three appeared to be in a different handwriting than the rest. If my guess was right, Phoenix wrote the last three and my human mother wrote the rest. Another thing I guessed at; Phoenix was in love with my Hybrid form, not realizing that it was me, her son that she was in love with. She looked younger in her Hybrid form than she did as a human. Talk about an Oedipus complex…I wonder how long I've known. It had to have been a while, because it said I've been playing hard to get for a long time. Of course, I thought. Almost everything's changed, but my luck with women remains the same. I always wondered if I was the kind of kid only a mother could love, and…well, this was a little extreme, but it proved my theory.
I thought about telling her when she woke up…but what would I say? That I was flattered she loved me, but it was wrong for her to love her son? I mean, mothers and sons should love each other, but not like this! Besides, I couldn't tell her. It shatter her heart. Still, I felt I should give her a little something to at least make her feel her feel slightly wanted by someone who she thought was close to her age.
I knelt down and briefly touched my muzzle to her forehead. It was the best I could do to a kiss without using my tongue, and there's nothing wrong with a kiss like that. When I pulled away, I thought I saw a smile on her face, but it quickly disappeared.
I went back downstairs to check on Dark Raichu. I found her on the couch, close to tears.
"Hey, what's wrong?" I asked, taking a seat with her.
"I just called home…"
"Your number worked? Wow, none of my friends numbers did…so what happened?"
"My parents…" she turned to look at me. "They didn't recognize me."
"What?!"
"They said that their daughter was a human, not a Hybrid. When I tried to tell them that I changed, they refused to believe it and hung up."
"Oh…so why don't you become human and try again?"
"I tried calling again right afterward. They put some kind of password lock on it. Only people who know the code can call them, and I don't know it…"
"…I'm sorry…" was all I could say. There I go again, screwing up people's lives. Now I'm separating families because of all this… "Look, talk to Phoenix when she gets up. Tell her I asked if you could hang out here for a while, until we can figure out how to get you home."
"Sure…but where are you going?" she asked as I got up and headed to the door.
"I gotta go do some stuff." I opened the door and was halfway out it before I thought of something else. "Oh, one last thing…"
"Yes?"
"Don't tell her I'm her son."
She seemed confused, but nodded. I went out, started the car, and drove back to the Center. After putting the car in the garage, I unlocked the Center doors (there was another key on the car key ring.) and found Furret and Feraligater on beds in the recovery room, sleeping away. There was another empty bed that I curled up on, tired both mentally and physically.
Joy was shaking me awake around 8:30. (I would've liked to sleep till noon, but I rarely get anything I want.) She asked how everything went last night, and I told her, minus the conversations I'd had with Dark Raichu. She'd covered for me when I had to leave, and left a message on the answering machine at home, telling Mom I was going to running some errands for her and that I'd stay the night at the Center.
"Here, don't forget this." Before I even got out of bed, Joy handed me a Poké Ball.
"What's this for?" I asked, not sure why she was giving me a Pokémon, since I already have six.
"It's that abandoned Growlithe, Blaze. He'll cover for you if your Mom decides to go sniffing around your room and catches your Hybrid scent. She'll think it's him."
"Thanks…" I said once my brain caught up with what was happening. Furret and Feraligater were up, so I decided to shift and head home. Shifting to human was easier than changing to Hybrid form. I felt really weird when I started to shrink back down, losing my fur and muscle as well. My face felt like clay as everything changed, and by the time I could see, I was human again. After putting on my socks and borrowing a pair of shoes, the four of us (including the Pokémon.) caught another bus home.
By the time I got home, Dark Raichu was up with Mom, and both were in their human forms. I did my best to act surprised that there was another person in the house. Thankfully, I'm good at faking emotions. Surprise, fear, sadness, pain, honesty…wait… no! I didn't mean honesty, really!
"Excuse me...Mom? May I ask who this is?" I said, looking over at the blond hair girl.
"Xavier! Uh…this is Amber. She's…the daughter of a friend of mine. They went away, but couldn't take her with them, so she's staying here for a while."
"Hello." Amber said with a smile. "Nice to meet you."
"Hello." I yawned and stretched out. "Sorry, had a rough night at the Center. You get the message from Joy?"
"Yes I did. Well, I need to do some things. I'll leave you two alone." Mom put her dishes in the kitchen dishwasher, then went upstairs. I grabbed the required things for cereal and headed into the dining room.
"Amber it is now?" I asked, taking a seat.
She nodded. "Dark Raichu really doesn't work anymore if I'm a Charizard Hybrid."
"Makes sense. I'm Fire Storm in my Hybrid form, even though FireHybrid is kinda fitting."
"Yeah, you're right." she said with a little laugh. There was a pause for a minute, then I heard something I sure wasn't expecting.
"Thank you."
"Huh?" I thought she'd be pissed at me for what I'd done. Now she was thanking me? "What'd I do?"
"Well, you saved my life, to begin with. Now you're letting me stay at your house for who knows how long. Why shouldn't I thank you?"
"Well…it's my fault your life was ever in danger to begin with. Besides, what else could I do but let you stay? After everything I've done, it's the least I could do."
"You think this is your fault?" I nodded. "Fi…Xavier, you had no idea this would happen. Sure, you might've looked at those instructions and checked them out, but I didn't check mine when I got it. How many people do you think did? I'm willing to bet not a lot."
"Thanks…" I felt a little better, but not a whole lot. At least no had blamed me for this except me. Well…until I get this fixed, might as well enjoy it.
Besides, I thought as I took a spoonful of cereal, authors always trying to surprise their fans, and this was probably the biggest surprise any fan of mine had ever gotten. Let's just hope they like it.
Here ends Chp.2. I'm trying to write as often as possible, but it's hard getting private space to write this kind of stuff, and…I dunno, but I feel like I'm always being watched, for some reason.