A/N: Just a small author's note before we begin, I'd like to thank all of you out there that reviewed and subscribed for helping to support me. After starting a new fic after seven or eight months away from FF.N, this means a lot to me, and will only keep me going strong. Thank you for your support.

As a second author's note, the rest of this story will be written in first person, from the morph's point of view. Just letting you know. Also, it may be a few chapters before we actually get into the real meat of the story, but I'm sure that if you found the prologue that good than you can wait through a few more chapters.

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Chapter 1

"Tyler, get your lazy butt up off the couch!" I opened my eyes, and through narrow slits I glared at the owner of that voice. It was my older sister, Emily. Her dark brown hair hung over and around her face as she stared at me at me with her green eyes. "You heard me twerp, move it!" I frowned and slowly sat up, yawning, my red jacket sliding along the surface of the couch with a slight scraping noise. I moved my cap so it wasn't hanging over my face anymore.

"Alright, alright, hold your Ponyta little miss sunshine." I made my way to the other side of the couch and lifted myself onto my feet, still a bit sleepy after the nap I had taken. The TV was still blaring across the room from me. Apparently I had fallen asleep while watching it. As I turned to face Emily, I noticed she was still glaring at me. I rolled my blue eyes beneath my rather long bangs, which reached just down to my eyelids. "Okay, okay, I'll leave. Geez Ems, just hang on." Turning to leave the living room, I let my feet carry me through the doorway, adjusting the sleeves on my jacket as I walked into the kitchen. There was a fresh batch of muffins sitting on the counter, still in the pan. I took in a deep whiff before grabbing one, backing up a few paces and bouncing it between my hands for a couple seconds before managing to actually get a grip on the hot piece of food. Waving it around a bit to cool it down even further, I lifted my head and called up the fabric covered stairs, which were just outside the kitchen, in the hall that led to the front door. "Hey, mom!?" I waited a second as I heard footsteps shuffling upstairs before hearing a response.

"Yes!?" Taking a step closer, I raised my free hand to my mouth to help her hear me.

"I'm heading out for a walk, okay!?" I headed towards the front door without really waiting for a reply. I already knew what the answer was going to be, so I instead set my eyes on the inset glass in the door, colored a deep blue from the color of the sky outside.

As I reached for the handle, I heard her call back to me, "Alright dear! Don't stay out too late, okay!?" I closed the door without saying 'okay.' She didn't really mind, I'd done this tons of times before; besides, I was 16, I didn't really need someone to keep an eye on me. As I turned to face the street before me, I let the cool, fresh night air wash over me. It felt good to have something pull me awake after lying on the couch asleep for the past few hours. Placing my left hand into my jacket pocket, I raised my right arm so I could see my watch, still holding onto the muffin. What time was it? The little lit numbers on the analog clock stared back at me. The hands indicated that it was around 8:25. I shrugged a little. That gave me plenty of time. Raising the muffin to my mouth, I took a bite of the warm bread, taking a step down the stairs in front of our apartment as I did. It was good. From the flavor I could probably guess that it was a razzberry muffin.

My eyes scanned the street as I took the final step down onto the sidewalk. The florescent yellow lights coming from the windows of the apartment across the street seemed to shine out on me. I took another bite as I headed right, making my way down the street. I didn't really look both ways when I came to an intersection; there wasn't really much traffic around here anyways. I stopped as I turned onto Sabre St., my eyes wandering down to the half eaten muffin in my hands. What the heck, I wasn't really that hungry anyway. Tossing it into a nearby trashcan, I headed down the street once again, glancing up at the night sky above me, the stars twinkling like little guardians keeping watch over the city, making sure it was safe.

In a way, I was glad that they reminded me of something like that, even though I wasn't really sure why. I had already passed several blocks, and I could tell I was on the fringe of the city's boundaries as the sound of my shoes smacking the pavement turned to that of soft grass being crushed, a small squishy sound if you will. I sighed a little. Finally, finally I was here. This is why I had gone on this walk in the first place. Knowing what to do from experience, and sheer habit, I turned and headed into a little niche behind a tree and a small space between two buildings. It was blocked off from the alley by a brick wall that someone had built, meaning that almost no one knew about this place. I started stripping down, taking off my clothes and placing them on the ground. First my jacket, cap and shirt, then my jeans. I blushed a little, even though I knew no one was around. I always felt a little awkward about taking off my boxers, but I had gotten over that long ago. Afterwards, I looked down at the ground, the sloppy dogpile of my clothes over in the corner of the area. I smiled a bit as I let a little something else take over me.

Fur started to sprout from my body, brown and tan stripes all over. My hair started to retreat into my skull, and I could feel my ears making their way up to the top of my head, becoming pointed and sticking out. My body started to lose mass, shrinking down so I could fit my entire body down on the ground. Even though I had already shrunk, my spine lengthened just a little, making my neck a bit longer, and I could feel myself almost losing my legs, my feet basically attached to a point on my body. My arms shortened as well, leaving me with what some would call small stubs ending in hands stick out of my torso. My hands started to change into paws, as well as my feet. Then it happened. There was a small pain in my rear, which quickly disappeared as I could see a tail sprouting, immediately being covered in a fluffy mass of fur, and seeming to become almost one with my body, just as my head was doing. And then...it was over; the process was finished, and I...was a furret. I was a full grown furret. I quickly looked my body over before sitting down for a moment. The entire process had taken only half a minute, and it felt completely natural. In fact, my pokemon body felt almost more natural than my human body, if even possible. Scampering out of the gap between the tree and the wall, I dashed off into the woods, letting myself unwind and my mind relax.

Pidgies were calling out in the trees above me, preparing for the night, and I could hear the occasional Hoothoot as they started to waken from their daily slumber. It felt so good to be back out like this, to feel so alive. Approaching a berry tree, I leaped up, just managing to snag a berry off it. It was a chesto berry, and right then I didn't really care what it was for trainerwise, I just knew that I loved these things. I started to dig in right away. I could feel the juice gently splattering on the fur around my mouth, and I knew it would be rather sticky afterwards, but I also knew I could just wash it off in a stream nearby. I was down to the very last bit when I realized that someone was letting out grunts of effort at another tree nearby. I put down my berry and slowly made my way over, my tail flicking a little behind me as I did. It was a Sentret, and it looked to be barely a a few weeks old. As best as I could, I tapped it on the back. "Um...do you need some help?" He turned to face me, and I could tell that he was really trying. He panted a little, coming down from his former position on his tail as he did.

"No...no...I'm fine...I can do this..." He waited a moment to catch his breath, then turned around again and started trying as hard as he could again. He was jumping, and trying to climb the tree, but not really to any avail. I sat there, watching him as the light from the moon shown in through the gap between two trees, lighting up the tall grass of a nearby field. My tail twitched a little as I gently scratched an itch on my side. Finally, after almost five minutes, he sighed and turned to face me again, a sort of downtrodden look on his face. "Yes...yes...I could use some help." I smiled a little and made my way over to the tree. Leaping up, I knocked down one of the oran berries hanging there. I ran over, picking it up in my jaws, then I slowly made my way over to him.

"Here..." Placing it down in front of him, I took a step back to allow hit to get at it. He basically lunged at it and started wolfing it down. My smile fadded a little bit as I watched him. Was...he on his own? It was possible, and it certainly would explain his apatite... As I watched him swallow the last of the stem, I approached him with a sort of an awkward question.

"Um...are you...with...anybody?" I could see the Sentret closing his eyes just a little. I could tell that the answer was a little painful for him, so I gave him room to answer the question, and at his own pace too.

"N-no...my mother was...captured...by a trainer..." I waited to see if there was anymore. He sat down and looked at me, his eyes watering just a little. "She had left out nest to get some food for me, but...on her way back..." He stopped a tear running down his cheek. "On the way back, a trainer's pokemon started to attack her... She..resisted...but...he got her..." I sat there for a second, my tail hanging rather limply and my ears back on my head as I took in his sad tale. He sat there too, sniffling a little as he waited for me to respond. I walked forward a little and placed a paw on where I thought he shoulder would be. Being on your own could be tough, and I could remember when all I could change into was a Sentret, before my pokemon form had evolved. Without someone to teach me, I was sort of lost out there when I ventured into this sort of alternate world.

"There, there. Why don't you come with me for now, okay? I'm sure we'll be able to find someone to help you and take care of you." I put on a weak smile as he gave me an equally weak nod. Turning around and getting down on all fours, I started walking through the forest, looking for an area of shelter. The young Sentret made his way over so he was walking beside me. I turned to face him, feeling empathy for him. Not really sure what else to do as we walked through the woods, I made a rather weak attempt to strike up conversation. "So...um...what's your name?" He looked at me before muttering something weakly. I raised my head a little, perking up my ears so I could hear him a little better. "What was that?"

"Jem...my name is Jem..." I nodded, sort of at a wall here.

"That's a nice name...Jem..." I kept on walking, stopping at one point to glance upwards. I quickly noticed that the night sky was visible from where we stood on the woodland floor. The stars still twinkled down upon us from the heavens above. Jem stopped beside me, and as I looked at his face, I could see he was wondering what I was doing. I merely looked back up at the sky again, and after a moment, I started talking again. "The sky is beautiful at night, isn't it Jem." Once again, he looked at me, not really sure how to react at the moment. "The stars, twinkling down on us." Turning to face him, I continued. "Isn't it just amazing." Glancing up himself, he took in the sight, and I could see something in his eyes change. He no longer seemed worried, but instead calm, and in a way, willing to move on.

"You know...they are...I've just never really taken the time before to look at them." He seemed almost hypnotized. "They're calming..." I nodded, looking around, and noting to myself that the field across from us wouldn't necessarily be the best place to find shelter. I tapped him on the shoulder.

"Come on Jem...let's get going." He nodded and we started walking again. Truthfully, it felt like the stars were watching over us even more than they usually did to me. It felt like they really were there to help me protect him. I glanced at him. He was so...young. It wasn't really fair to have to have his mother yanked away from him at that age. But then again, life wasn't exactly fair. As we walked onwards, the leaves in the trees above up shook gently as the night wind blew through them, their green color tinging the moonlight that was fluttering in through the gaps between the green covering. The grass felt nice beneath our paws, slightly damp but pleasant at the touch. Luckily for us, it wasn't exactly as high here as it was out in the fields. We walked for a while, and I sort of wished that I still had my watch so I could tell what time it was. It was late, and I was pretty sure my mom would be worried about me when I got home, but right now, all I wanted to do was help this young guy. The silence between us was sort of pressing, so I gently started humming to myself to prevent it from unnerving me.

It wasn't that long until I spotted a little nook in the roots of an old oak tree. I nodded towards it and, after I got Jem to see what I was indicating, we both started making our way towards it. It was a nice and spacey area, and, after clearing out a couple nuts that had fallen off the tree, and placing a few leaves in it, it was rather comfortable. I smiled at him. "You can go in first..." I watched him slowly crawl into the area, and after feeling about for a moment and getting used to it, he curled up, wrapping his tail around himself to keep warm. He looked rather cute laying there, and I don't know if it was just me, or my pokemon nature, but, it just made me want to help him more. I slowly crawled in alongside him, and curled up, wrapping my tail around him so it touched the tip of my nose. I closed my eyes, and to the sounds of Hoothoots calling out in the trees above me, to the sound of the grass in the nearby fields swaying gently in the soft breeze, and to the faint sound of the city, back off in the direction that I came from, I let myself drift into a comfortable sleep.