I sit outside in the cold autumn breeze. It's been two weeks since the Big Event, and things in my area are calming down. There's been talk about a civil war on the horizon, but everyone in the state of Oklahoma seems to be keen to stay out of it. When the USA went through the Great Depression, Oklahoma was hit the hardest out of all the states. We didn't want to go through something like that again.
I guess I should explain some of what's happened in these two weeks. For one thing, me and Trixie made it official that we were dating. Everyone was happy for us, except for Jada. She still doesn't seem to trust Trixie, as to why I have no clue. Maybe a case of jealousy? Although Jada isn't the kind of person to get jealous...
Secondly, I've been doing really well with my new job as a police officer. The officer who gave me the offer was the one who trained me (I quickly learned his name was Chad), and he was almost always saying it was like I was born for it.
Third, my training with Tess and Cayde to control my future prediction dreams has been slow. All I've managed to do is control if I even have the dreams, I can't control anything about them beyond that so far. We've also nicknamed the power "dream-sight".
That about wraps up the past two weeks as far as what's noteworthy. I look into the swirling snowflakes around me, and remember it isn't quite real snow. The local community decided we've been going too long without a white Christmas, and so the elementals (I heard on the news the people who were transformed were given that title, not gonna lie it sounds cool as shit) who were capable of using snow-related pokemon moves and are using the collective power of those moves to create a artificial snow storm, slowly building it up for Christmas. I'm glad they decided to do that, the last time we had a true white Christmas was over ten years ago.
"Hey babe, what's wrong? You'll catch a cold out here."
Trixie startles me a little, I didn't hear her come up behind me, too lost in thought.
"Nothings wrong, it's just... Something isn't quite sitting right with me. My gut is telling me something big is gonna happen, and it's not gonna be good."
She snickers. "Bigger than the Big Event? Whatever happens we can get through it together."
She cuddles up next to me, and gazes out into the snow with me. "It really is amazing how much the world has changed. Sometimes I wake up and forget that this isn't a dream. I'm glad it isn't though, else our relationship wouldn't be real."
I lean down and kiss her on her forehead. "Yeah, I'm glad this isn't a dream either. You know, Chad was telling me he heard the mayor had a surprise planned for the police department, but he didn't know what it could be."
"That's interesting, what's your little gut telling you the surprise is?" she says smugly.
"Oh stop, you know I trust my gut beyond anything. It's probably something simple like a party, probably because we've managed to keep the peace so well despite all the confusion because of the Big Event. It's been pretty difficult, not gonna lie."
"If it is a party, you deserve it baby. I know all this rapid change has been hard for you, and the way I see it you're doing amazing in spite of it all."
"Thank you, that means a lot to me coming from you." She was right. My life has changed so much these past two weeks. Before, I was wallowing in depression unable to get over the fact Jada dumped me. Now, I'm in a happy and healthy relationship, have a steady and reliable job, and a literal new body to boot.
"You still haven't told me what you wanted for Christmas though, why not? You were practically bragging about how you already had the perfect gift for me."
"I wasn't bragging... Okay maybe a little."
We both laugh, and it's moments like these that I want to last forever.
I had gotten Trixie a very elaborate necklace, it had cost all the money I made in the police force up to this point. It was made of pure silver, with an ornate heart shape as the main decor. Small diamonds of various sizes studded it, and they were crystal clear. It was beautiful, just like Trixie.
"I'm not wanting anything for Christmas, I have everything I could ever want sitting right here with me." I say with a smug and flirtatious grin.
"Oh stop it, if you're not gonna tell me I'm either not getting you anything or just gonna get you a ten dollar gift card for some random store!"
We both laugh again. She has no idea what I have in store for her.
"Come on Will, let's go back inside before we get sick. Your mom says dinner's almost ready."
I follow her through the door she came through. My mom had installed doggy doors throughout the house so me and my dad (as well as any visitors like Trixie) could have the same freedom we had before the Great Event. It was a bit humiliating at first, but it was effective.
When I come through the door I'm greeted with the sweet smell of various foods, all mixing together in the air. My Mom and Trixie's parents were having pot roast, but me, Trixie, and my Dad had to eat differently than we normally did; when our bodies changed, so did our nutritional dos and don'ts. We were forced to eat much less processed food and had to eat more natural foods (goodbye spaghettios! I will forever miss you!), such as what we were having tonight; roasted chicken and steamed vegetables. It was strange to think that we had chickens as well as people who turned into pokemon who very closely resembled chickens at the same time.
My mom already has most everything set up, and everyone is sitting down to eat. Tess thanked my mom for making dinner for everyone.
"I absolutely MUST learn your recipe, this is delicious! I've made attempts at pot roast before but Cayde can tell you they weren't much of a success, haha!"
"You got that right, first time she overcooked the meat, second time the carrots and potatoes were undercooked!"
Everyone laughs, and my mom responds to the compliment with a smile and a shrug.
"It's really just a matter of finding a good crock pot! I've done it with cheap ones and they weren't much of a success either."
Trixie diverts my attention from the family, as it's not like we could talk to my mother directly anyways.
"Hey, I heard that the police force is doing something big, to stop some kind of drug op. Are you allowed to tell me anything about that?"
"I'm not allowed to give you exact details, but it wouldn't hurt to tell you some of the more broad details. What you heard was right, we are doing a bust. Lately there's been a series of small robberies and break ins to labs and other scientific areas by a mixture of elementals and normal people, and we have evidence that each crime is connected. We think we know where they're holed up, and we're gonna bust them in the act soon."
Trixie is fascinated in my words, and is getting excited. "Ooh! How soon? I wanna be sure I can watch you on TV afterwards! Haha"
"Yeah, that's the bad part. The op is so big it'll take a week minimum before we're allowed to release anything to the public."
"What?! It must be HUGE!"
"It is, and also very dangerous. It's very likely there'll be a firefight."
"That is really bad news. Just promise me you'll stay safe, ok?"
"I will honey. Don't worry, just because I'm suddenly ten times smaller than normal doesn't mean I can't handle myself."
We enjoy the rest of the night, talking and joking around. Soon it's almost 10:00 PM, and Trixie and her parents have to go home, and just as they're leaving Trixie gives me a kiss and reminds me to be careful.
The next morning I woke up super freaking early. We intended to get set up before any came to their hiding spot, so it would be less likely for us to get spotted. As I get there I'm greeted by some of my fellow officers, who got there not too long before me.
An officer who transformed into a Zoroark I had only met in passing greets me. "What's up rookie? You nervous or anything for this op? It is your first big operation after all."
"Just a little, I'm just curious as to what they're stealing all these chemicals for. Think they're trying to make some rudimentary dirty bomb?" (for those unaware a dirty bomb is a bomb made from various chemicals with the intention to seriously hurt or kill people with said chemicals. The explosion itself is merely a way to disperse the chemicals rapidly over a good distance.)
"Not sure, they stole a SHIT TON of different chemicals. Your guess is as good as mine."
He turns to the building we suspect they're hiding in. An abandoned apartment complex. Not the worst spot, and normally it would have plenty of different rooms to hide in or escape from, but the vast majority of the windows were boarded up, so you could get cornered easily. Bad for them, good for us.
We sat in our hiding spot across the street for what felt like hours, but looking at the time on other people's watches it hadn't actually been too long, about 40 minutes. Suddenly we see a tall and unhealthily skinny man nervously checking around himself, clearly an attempt to make sure they're not followed. He heads into the building, careful not to make too much noise and attract any attention. We take this as our que, and move in.
The Zoroark who greeted me instructs me. "Alright, be careful kid. We don't know exactly what we're walking into."
I nod silently. Soon we're inside, and we soon spot what looks to be a ragtag team of scientists with basic machinery. The man we saw enter the apartment complex greets them, even more nervous than he was outside. He hands them a small package, most likely his most recent steal for them. The scientist who took the package speaks to him in regards to his success.
"Good job, that's the last thing we needed. Soon we can make preparations for our plan."
Shit, if that was the last of what they needed, and by the sounds of it they're gonna do some kind of bio attack, we need to act immediately. I look to the other officers, and we share a collective nod to stop their plans here and now.
Soon it's a firefight just like I told Trixie, the scientists and their lackeys were smart enough to walk around armed. Flames, jets of water, lead, and more are swishing around me so quick I barely have time to react.
Among the chaos I spotted a scientist who seemingly ran out of ammo, as they threw their weapon away and were making an attempt to escape. I made sure at least one person on my side knew where I was about to go, because if I got seriously hurt it might be too late when they found me if they didn't.
"GET BACK HERE YOU BITCH!!!" I know they couldn't actually understand me, but it would be pretty obvious what I meant.
Upon hearing me the scientist turns around, frantic as to what to do. He grabs a small bucket of some unknown black substance, and starts running again.
After several minutes of this chase, the scientist eventually runs themself into a dead end. With no alternative, they dump the chemical they were carrying onto me.
I scream out in pain, every inch of my skin burning, and I feel myself getting physically weaker, my vision beginning to blur. I try my best to stay conscious and get back to the others, but it's all for naught. I fall over and black out on the spot, and the scientist escapes.
The next thing I'm aware of is various voices and noises, some I recognize and others I don't, all sounding very distant.
The Zoroark officer. "What the hell happened kid? We need to get you some help pronto!"
The sound of a siren.
An unknown voice. "We need to figure out what he was hit with two hours ago!"
Has it really been that long already???
Steady beeping noises. Am I in a hospital?
Trixie, and she's frantic. "You promised me you'd stay safe Will! Why did you have to do something so stupid?!"
"It's the way he is Trixie. He tries to be a hero to everyone no matter the cost to himself." There's a tone of sadness in this voice... Is it... Jada? I can't quite tell.
The same voice I heard earlier I didn't recognize. "Holy shit, this kid's brain waves are going crazy! What the hell was in that stuff?!"
My brain waves? I'm doing my best to wake up, but it's not that effective...
Suddenly I really do wake up. I'm alone in a hospital room. I'm hooked up to an IV fluid thingy, and I hear a steady commotion outside my room. I figure I might as well make it known I'm awake, so I reach for the call button (I think that's what it's called, I never spent too much time in a hospital for myself).
Soon a nurse runs into my room, shocked that I'm awake. "I'll be right back sir! Let me go get the doctor!" and she's out as quick as she came.
She comes back with the doctor however, just like she said.
"Well I'll be damned, you actually woke up! For a second we didn't think you were going to. Are you able to write?" He hands me a notebook so I can talk to him.
How long was I out?
"You were out for about a week. We didn't know if you were going to wake up because we couldn't figure out what chemical you were hit with."
A week? Shit, I'm glad I didn't miss any major holiday's at least!
Can you get my girlfriend up here? I want to talk to her.
Along with that note, I write her name and number in case they don't have it.
"We'll get right on that, I'm sure she'll be thrilled to see you awake!"
He leaves the room to call Trixie, and the nurse stays with me. "Do you need anything else sir? Something to drink maybe?"
Soon Trixie's in my room with me. She was practically talking to me before she even entered the room.
"You scared me half to death Will! You promised you would stay safe!"
"I know babe, I'm sorry. I was just trying to do my job the right way. Come here." I embrace her in probably the biggest hug I've ever given, and I almost immediately regret it. "Ah, shit. Sore all over."
After a bit more conversation with Trixie, she points something out to me.
"Hey, you're glowing a little!"
"What?" I look at myself, and sure enough I am. The glow seems familiar somehow.
A few moments pass by, and I realize why this glow is familiar. I'm evolving? I didn't even think that would be possible; but then again I didn't think turning into Pokemon while alive on earth was possible, so why am I surprised?
"Trixie, what do you know about the Pokemon show and games?"
"Not much, why?"
"Ok let me explain this real quick. Whenever Pokemon meet certain conditions they undergo something called Pokemon evolution. Imagine what happened to us when we turned into Pokemon but it's confined to just Pokemon, and each Pokemon species has their own evolutionary line."
"Ok, but why does this matter right now?"
"I think that's what's happening to me right now."
"What?! If you can evolve that means everyone could! We're all just getting used to these new bodies, changing again would start the whole cycle over again!"
"Don't worry, it won't be like that. The vast majority of Pokemon who evolve usually stay in the same overall body, they just grow bigger and stronger."
"Ok, that makes me feel a little better, but what are you changing into? Do you know?"
"Sadly I don't know exactly. There's EIGHT different evolution possibilities for eevee. We'll just have to wait and see."
I look at myself again, and I'm glowing even brighter now. Wait a minute... Aren't the lights for evolution normally white and blue in the show? Why is it red for me? Something is wrong. Do the chemicals I was doused with have something to do with this?
Soon I'm completely engulfed in red light, and I can feel my body changing again, and I close my eyes. This time it isn't painful, but it does feel incredibly strange though. It's hard to describe, so I'm not even gonna try.
I open my eyes again and I see maroon paws. That's strange, even counting shiny variants no eeveelution is maroon for the fur.
"Trixie, would you try and see if there's a handheld mirror in the bathroom? I need a better look at myself."
"Sure thing." She hops off the bed and heads to the bathroom. Luckily there was a mirror in an easy to reach spot, as she returned with it almost immediately.
"Alright, let's see here... What am I dealing with?"
What fox like characteristics I had were replaced with feline ones, as I have HUGE whiskers and ears. The maroon on my paws is consistent and is like that throughout the rest of my fur, and in the middle of my forehead is a black jewel, as if made from onyx (not the Pokemon, there's a gemstone with the same name. Look it up).
"Weird... I turned into an Espeon but... The color scheme is all wrong. Not complaining, I think this is a major improvement."
"You changed into a new pokemon and the color scheme is the first thing you mention? Wow." She rolls her eyes with a grin.
"Hey, you wanna know the cool part about being an Espeon?"
Trixie looks at me confused. "What is it?"
I smile the biggest grin I've made since we started dating. "I can use psychic moves."