AN: Thank you to everyone who's reading this story. It really means a lot to me! Let's get back in where we left off!

Disclaimer: As of June 8th, 2020, this chapter was heavily edited by R37uy. Expect a much smoother reading experience, although nothing has been changed plot-wise.

"Speech"

"Pokespeech"

'Thoughts/Telepathy'

Chapter 2: "The Language Barrier"

"Mom, you're home!" I exclaimed in surprise as I ran up to her. "Thank god, it's been awf⎯"

Her eyes widened dramatically. "Stay back!" She yelled hastily, stopping me dead in my tracks.

"Mom it's m-"

"Who are you?! Y-you better not have hurt my son!"

I slowly stepped back, trying not to startle her anymore than she already was. 'Damn, I really should have grabbed a pen and some paper.'

My mother gave me one last glance before shooting off up the stairs towards my bedroom. '...Great, this isn't going to go over well.'

Deciding to take advantage of her distraction, I bolted back through the kitchen and into the dining room. Spotting my target, I ran over to a chair in the corner of the room before standing against it on my hind legs and yanked a piece of colored paper off of it with my teeth. 'I've never been so glad to be unorganized in my life.' I swiftly deposited the light-blue sheet of paper onto the floor before glancing around for a pencil.

"Jack, this isn't funny! Stop hiding!" I heard my mother yell desperately from my bedroom.

"Crap, I'm running out of time..!" I quickly hopped up onto the dining room counter and swiped a pencil with my paw, knocking it to the floor.

Hopping back down to the floor, I rapidly came to an annoying realization. 'How am I going to write like this?!'

The answer came to me after a few seconds. 'Well, gotta do what I need to.' Taking the pencil in my teeth, I turned my head to the right and began trying to scribble down a basic message.

'This is way more difficult than it looks!' I thought as I butchered my first attempt and was forced to start over. Of course, my mother chose this time to start making her way back down the stairs.

"Jack?! Are you down here?!"

'Come on, write!' I thought frantically as I tried to finish up the last few letters, letting out a sigh of relief as I completed a sloppy "Im JAcK". It wasn't great, but it would have to do.

I heard a noise behind me and spun around, only to once more lock eyes with my mom, who had been watching me with clear apprehension.

"Uh, hi Mom..?" I said awkwardly.

"Stay right there! Don't come any closer!"

'Welp, it's now or never.' I thought, pushing the piece of paper in front of me in a single slow and careful motion. My mom's eyes fell on the note, and she fell silent. She stayed that way for nearly thirty seconds, and I was honestly beginning to get a little worried when she finally spoke up in a small and quiet voice.

"Jack..? A-are you in there?"

I simply nodded solemnly. There wasn't much else I could do.

She took a chair and sat down rather heavily in it, a look of shock and defeat spread across her face. I hopped up on the chair next to hers and gave her a saddened look.

"Jack, I-I don't know what's going on anymore…". she whispered, putting her face into her hands.

I decided to attempt to console her. 'Hey… It's alright. Everything will turn out ok. I'm here, you're here.'

Unfortunately, my attempt at comfort backfired miserably. "I can't even understand what you're saying!" My mother exclaimed, bursting into tears.

'Crap... I really should have thought that through.'

"Jack, I don't know what to do… the highways are crowded with wrecks, and these creatures are all over the place. Now I find out that you're one of those creatures, as well. I Just don't know anymore. What are we doing to do?" She questioned, sobbing and sputtering.

I began to open my mussel to reply, but my mother cut me off. "Don't answer that." She took a deep breath. "T-this is all too much for me. I need some time alone. ...I don't even know what you are anymore…"

I mentally winced. 'Ouch… You probably could have worded that better.'

"Oh, what am I saying! I can't believe I would say that about my own son!" She broke down again, the tears returning to her eyes.

I was beginning to feel a little uncomfortable with the situation. I wanted to comfort her, but I wasn't sure how I could do so without making it worse.

After a moment, Mom got up silently and made her way towards the stairs. "Alright, Jack, just stay put for now. I'll be up in my room. I'm going to try to get in contact with the rest of the family."

"Alright." As soon as she was out of sight, I hopped down from the chair and made my way into the living room. 'So… What now?'

I settled on simply thinking over how my life would change if I was truly stuck like this. 'What am I going to do with my life? I can't go to college like this. I doubt I can even work a job. I had my life all planned out and everything… Get high grades in school, make friends, make it into a good university, take courses in engineering, get a girlfriend, start a family, teach my kids lessons on living life to the fullest… Life is only a one time thing, after all. Hmm, I wonder if anyone was turned into ghost types. Are they immortal now? I guess that's not important right now.' I could feel myself growing depressed, so I decided to attempt to focus on the positive side of things.

'I can still do most of those things, like… uh, I can still make friends, and keep my old ones, of course! I doubt this transformation thing will change much in the long run, right? Maybe someone I know transformed as well. Then I would at least have someone I could talk to. Yeah! I can do this. Everything is going to be fine!'

I chuckled. 'I won't have any issues avoiding drugs now, that's for sure.'

A realization suddenly crossed my mind, and I couldn't help but be optimistically curious. 'Can I battle now? I wonder if I can use any attacks...'

I shook my head to clear my mind. 'I should probably focus on today for the time being. Mom's still upset, maybe I should go keep her company? I know she wanted to be alone, but…'

"Yes! I got through!" I heard my mom exclaim from upstairs. I'm a little surprised at how easily I could hear her. I suppose Umbreon have better senses than humans. That's a plus, right?

I could make out a feminine voice over the speakerphone, but I couldn't make out many of the words. I assumed it was my oldest sister, Allison. I like to call her Yaya sometimes. She's my oldest sibling, at over 30. She's also married and has a child, who therefore is my nephew.

From what I heard, Allison was unaffected by the transformation, which is a relief. Mom seemed relieved as well, and I can't blame her. She's been having a rough day and could use some good news, no matter how minor it may be.

I overheard my mom breaking the news to my sister of my transformation. I could tell that my mom was in tears again, and my sister probably wasn't much better.

"Yes, he says he's Ok. It's still him in there. He's downstairs right now.," I heard Mom say over the phone. My sister asked her something, to which she slowly replied. "He's some kind of black fox thing."

"Have you managed to get in contact with Missy yet?" There was a pause. "...No, you can't be serious!" She suddenly yelled, startling me slightly. Missy is the middle child of my family at 27. I'm actually the youngest. She also has a husband named Brandon.

I groaned. "Welp, so much for happier news…" I had a pretty good idea where this was going.

"What do you mean she couldn't talk to you?!" There was another pause, before… "Oh god, she became one too?! Allie, I'm scared for our futures. My husband is out of the state and I can't even contact him..! You're right, I'm sorry... I know I shouldn't take it out on you. I'm just so confused and scared."

"Everyone in town is treating this like the apocalypse! We should get the family together and report to the cabins until everything cools down a bit. I'm not sure it's safe here."

Since I have a really large family, we have a large reserve filled with modern cabins deep in the woods. It's quiet and remote, so we like to use it as a gathering place. We also go there n case of emergencies.

"Alright, I'll start packing now. Stay safe, Allie. I'll let Jack know now. ...I'm serious Allie, be safe, alright?" I heard a faint click as she hung up the phone, before I saw her making her way back down the stairs.

"...I'll be honest, Jack. I don't know what's going to happen, but I promise you we will get through this. We're reporting to the cabins today," Mom said seriously, before checking the time on her phone. It read 1:48 PM. After a moment, she sat down next to me.

She looked my body over with appraising eyes. "Jack, do you happen to know what you are?"

I replied with a simple nod.

My mom sighed and handed me her phone. "Can you show me?"

I gave another nod and tapped on the YouTube icon. I clicked the search button and began the grueling task of writing out the word 'Umbreon'. Luckily, I got results. The first video to pop up was an animated Pokédex video, so I clicked on that. It should be informative enough.

"Umbreon, the Moonlight Pokémon. Umbreon is a Dark-Type Pokémon With a quadrupled build, growing to the average height of 3 feet 3 inches, and weighing approximately 59.5 Pounds."

'Dang, this actually explains more than I was expecting.' I thought in amusement.

"An Eevee with strong friendship may evolve during the night into Umbreon. Umbreon are rarely found in the wild. Instead, they are usually raised by human caretakers. Wild Umbreon typically hide in the darkness With their dark fur. When it spots its prey, Umbreon pounces, going for the neck, before settling down to consume its catch."

I groaned. 'Great… Now Mom probably thinks I'm going to go kill something.'

"When night falls, the rings on its body begin to glow, and they recharge their energy using the moon's aura."

With that, the video promptly ended. I glanced at Mom, who was still clearly confused by all of this. "That was… Interesting," She said after a moment. "Do you feel any different Jack? Mentally, I mean."

I shook my head. "Nope, I don't feel any different."

She seemed a little put off by my voice but ignored it for the time being. "Alright, thank you. So you only changed on the outside?"

This time I replied with a nod.

"Did you happen to hear what I said upstairs?"

I gave another nod.

"Alright, I won't have to explain all of it again. We need to get somewhere safe so we'll be heading up to the cabins. Your sister, Missy… I-it happened to her too. She must be devastated…" Mom seemed to be holding back tears.

I put a paw on her back in an attempt to comfort her with little effect.

"Alright," She said, getting up. "Let's get packing."

My mother was in charge of most of the packing, including the food and water, so I focused on gathering anything I might want while we were away. I didn't really need much, seeing as I couldn't exactly wear any clothes like this. I packed my phone and its charger, before making sure to cram a few pencils and a massive stack of paper into my bag. I also grabbed some markers just for fun. At the last second I dropped 'The Giver' in because I could probably read that in my spare time.

It was a little annoying cramming all of the items into my backpack that was intended for school using nothing but my mouth, but I managed. By the time I was done, the bag was too heavy for me to carry, so I just dragged it out of my room.

"Are you ready to get going, Jack?" My mother asked from the front door, holding her bags.

I shrugged. "I'm pretty sure, yeah."

"I'll take that as a yes," she said, taking my bag. "Here, I'll carry that for you.

We walked out to the car, and I attempted to get in the front seat, quickly meeting a roadblock.

'There's no way in heck I'll be able to open car doors like this. Normal doors are hard enough, as it is.'

Luckily, after my mom put our bags in the trunk, she noticed my little problem and opened the door for me.

"Thanks," I said, figuring she'd be able to catch my meaning.

Starting the car, Mom turned to face me. "This will take longer than usual due to how crowded

We pulled out of the driveway and began the long trek towards the cabins. Neither of us spoke much during the trip, but after a few minutes of silence my mother spoke up.

"I… I'm never going to forget what I saw at the school today for as long as I live…" My ears perked up unconsciously as I listened intently. "Today was supposed to be a normal day of classes and for the most part it was, but…" She trailed off for a moment, likely contemplating whether he actually wanted to tell the story or not.
"It happened in the middle of my third period class… One of the students said he was feeling ill and asked to go to the nurse. I told him he could go, but suddenly several of the students… They t-transformed into these… 'Pokémon'. There were five or six of them. The class fell into chaos... The poor kid that got up to go to the nurse was having a spasm on the ground… I tried to help him, but I couldn't. none of the medical Training could have possibly prepared me for something like this. The transformation lasted around 5 or 6 Minutes; it was horrific. Halfway through the whole ideal, the loudspeaker ordered everyone to stay calm, but it was far too late. Students were already running out of the class. I ran out of the Classroom at that point. Everyone was just running and screaming...I bet this was even worse than a school shooting. I ran to the car and got the hell out of there. Luckily, I got out safely, but the streets Were filled with accidents…. People were screaming… It was awful."

'Wow, I can't believe I slept through all of that.'

"That ride home was the most stressful time of my entire life. I tried calling you but the phones were down. Eventually, I got home and found you, but… Jack, were you awake when it happened?"

I Shook my head, causing her to sigh in relief. "That… That's good at least. I can't even imagine how painful it must have been…"

Mom turned the car onto a bumpy gravel road. "Looks like we're getting close."

I could easily make out the shapes of the cabins in the distance. From the looks of things, several people had arrived before us. Getting out of the car, we made our way into the largest cabin.

That's the end of Chapter 2!

See you next time! - Jackboy0815
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