AILINGSTAR DOES NOT OWN POKÉMON OR WORM. BLEEP BLOOP.


Chapter 1-7 – Transform


Taylor sighed. This was not what she had expected making a new friend would be like.

The three of them – Taylor, her father, and Lisa – were all sitting at the table in tense silence. Well, she wasn't really sitting, but it was essentially he same thing.

"So, Lisa," Danny began, "tell us why you're here exactly."

"I have no intention of hurting Taylor, Mr. Hebert." from the look on her father's face, Taylor could guess that he had been thinking otherwise. "And I already told you why I'm here. I need help that being around Taylor will provide."

Danny narrowed his eyes. "And how, exactly, did you come to that conclusion? The only reason I can think of for you to know how powerful Taylor is would be if you had been spying on us."

"Or maybe I could be a thinker," Lisa retorted. "And, admittedly, I was spying on you, but trust me, compared to the only alternative I knew of at the time-"

"If you're a thinker," Danny interrupted, "then prove it."

Lisa gave a wicked smile, as if someone had just given her a bucket full of candy. "You're worried about how Taylor's transformation is affecting her mind, but you consider it better than the alternative. Taylor is wondering what was so special about me that she decided to trust me. Sophia Hess, Emma Barnes, and Madison Clements threw Taylor's flute, which belonged to her mother, in the dumpsters behind Winslow, second one to the left. It's still there, that one never gets emptied."

The two of them stared at Lisa, who shrugged. "Figured I might as well find it for you. Didn't have much else to do."

Taylor immediately teleported to the location Lisa had specified. Even if she wasn't depressed, that flute was still extremely important to her, and she wanted it back.


As soon as Taylor had appeared in the Alleyway behind Winslow, she looked around the area. The are was pretty open, since the school never quite seemed to give up hope for that new wing to be built.

As soon as she found the dumpster, she looked through her database of moves and abilities. One of them had to help her find the flute. Foresight? No, that was for breaking through illusions more than anything else. Oder Sleuth? Not only no, but HELL no. Detect? That was mostly for battle -

Dodge left

Yelping, Taylor moved to the side, just barely avoiding a crossbow bolt. 'What the hell was that for?!' She shouted at the attacker.

"...Hebert..."

Taylor paled. That voice was Sophia – of course it was, Shadow Stalker was the only cape in Brockton Bay who used crossbows – but something was off about her.

Cold, even.

"Hebert..." she repeated again, almost like a zombie, shuffling forward like one as well. "Hebert Hebert HEBERTHEBERTHEBERT!"

Taylor yelped as she floated to the side to dodge another bolt, then threw up a Barrier just as Shadow Stalker charged forward with a punch. 'What the heck?!' She yelped as she dodged yet another bolt.

...Wait, when had Sophia reloaded? Gah, that didn't matter! 'Confusion!' Taylor shouted as he unleashed her psychic attack at Sophia.

It did absolutely nothing.

'Crud, her powers must make her count as Dark type!' She yelped as yet another shadowy bolt flew past her. 'On the good side, she has terrible aim-'

She was cut off by a piercing pain in her leg. 'What the heck?!' She turned around to see that the arrow – which she only now noticed had a shadowy aura surrounding it – had struck her shadow.

Specifically its leg.

'Spirit Shackle...' Taylor gasped. 'But that isn't right, not even a parahuman should be able to use a move!'

Another feral scream from Shadow Stalker snapped Taylor out of her reverie. She quickly erected another barrier. But this time, Shadow Stalker was prepared. She shifted through the barrier in shadow form and, without even shifting out of it, struck Taylor hard.

'Shadow Sneak...' Taylor mumbled. 'Should have expected that... Alright then, take Ember!'

This time, the move had an effect. The flames scorched Shadow Stalker, even setting her costume on fire. Shockingly, she didn't seem too concerned by this turn of events, and just charged at Taylor again.

Taylor sluggishly moved out of the way – Spirit Shackle was really hampering her movements, but she still managed to dodge the punch, even using the chance to use Water Gun to douse the flames. She just wanted to stop Shadow Stalker, not kill her!

Unfortunately, Shadow Stalker had no intentions of stopping quietly. She thrust out her palm, which was steadily gathering dark energy – oh crud.

Taylor barely managed to erect a Light Screen in time to weaken the Dark Pulse. If it weren't such a life-or-death situation, she would be really proud of herself for learning so many moves in so short a time-

Turn and kick

Taylor yelped and spun around, blocking yet another punch with her free foot. 'I'm getting really sick of this!' She shouted as she launched another Water Gun at her opponent, who simply phased into her shadow form. 'Crud, when she's in that shadow form, she practically has Wonder Guard! And in the state I'm in, I don't know if I can beat her unless...'

At this point, Taylor was pretty sure what moves she learned were based on what she needed right then.

Not that she was complaining, mind you.

She gave a tired but triumphant grin as she thrust her palm forward. The air around her seemed to pick up, even shining slightly as Taylor put all her energy into that one final attack.

'Fairy Wind.'

The wind rushed to meet Shadow Stalker's shadowy form, and sure enough, it was completely blown back by the fey gale. By the time the move had ended, she had reverted back to her human form, unconscious, but free of the cold aura that had enveloped her.

Taylor floated there for a minute. She couldn't believe it. For the first time she could remember, Taylor had managed to beat Sophia Hess in a physical confrontation.

It... didn't really feel like Taylor had imagined.

"What's going on here?" Taylor turned to see Miss Militia standing there, alone and with a pistol in hand. "Your father called me on my personal phone, despite the fact I never gave him my number, saying that you were in danger, somehow. I arrive here and find you beaten up and Shadow Stalker unconscious. As I said, what the hell happened here?!"

'She knew who I was,' Taylor mumbled. 'I'm not sure it was really her though. Something was controlling her, boosting her to the point where she could use moves against me. If it weren't for that,' she pointed to the Spirit Shackle, which still had a bit of shadowy aura, 'I would have teleported away long ago. As it stood, I had to practically beat the... the coldness out of her.'

Miss Militia swore. "A Master/Trump that boosts powers to the level where you, someone who took on three members of the E88 all on her own, could barely defeat her... this is really bad."

'Tell me about it...' She flinched as she shifted her injured leg. She was starting to get a bit woozy, too. 'Ow... didn't think she had hurt me that bad...'

"Are you okay?" Miss Militia asked worriedly as she held out her arms to stabilize Taylor. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

As Taylor started to fade out of consciousness, something occurred to her. 'Yeah... That dumpster, second to the left... there's a flute in there, somewhere. Could... you get it for me? It's... really important... to me...'

After she had imparted her message, Taylor, exhausted by the day's events, released her levitation and slumped into Miss Militia's arms.


TH: This is revenge for me turning you into a Kirlia, isn't it.

AS: No, but I'm still mad at you for that. Could you at least turn me into a Gallade, at least! I'm a guy, for crying out loud!

Ahem, anyway! New moves: Detect, Barrier, Water Gun, Light Screen, and Fairy Wind Ex Machina. (Whoops, made a typo there.)

? Shadow Stalker: Dark/Ghost

Moves: Shadow Sneak, Spirit Shackle, Dark Pulse, Mega Punch

Ability: Wonder Guard (Variant: only active when using Shadow Sneak, does not give immunity to Electric type attacks)

Item: Annette's Flute

(Held)

When held by Taylor Hebert or Danny Hebert, all sound-based moves are 2x as powerful. When held by Taylor Hebert, sound-based Pokémon take 4/5 as much energy to create.

Cannot be sold.

Description: A memento from a beloved family member. When held by a Hebert, sound-based moves are boosted.

Sorry for taking so long to release this chapter. College is freaking difficult! In any case, remember, voting for Taylor's first created Pokémon ends on October 30th! And to be more specific, I'm counting votes Halloween Evening, and will be discounting any sent later then that. Don't wait, send in your votes ASAP!

LW: And as always, read and review!