Transformation: New Dawn

Chapter 5: New friends and old enemies

A/N: Hi! Well, here's another chap for New Dawn. I liked everyone's reaction to the last chap and Lord Nalthren definitely benefited from Nia's addition. Well what's next for our transformed heroine, Cindy? Well, let's find out! ^^

Disclaimer: I DO NOT own the Transformation series our its virus created by TurtlesandMonkeys. She created it, so it's hers. Nintendo owns pokemon. John and Sarah belong to Swack16.

-0-

Cindy and Sarah were walking along a part of the forest. There was less of a chance of running into most trainers in here, but they also didn't know where they were going. Sarah sighed as they passed another tree stump and looked to Cindy. "Remind me why we're in here again?"

Cindy stood up and sat on her back legs. "Well, other than safety from trainers, this is a forest right? And some pokemon live in the forest…" She looked around.

Sarah understood. "And some of those pokemon may be your friends…."

Cindy nodded with solemn determination. "That's right."

Sarah scratched the back of her head with a front paw. "Wouldn't you think it be better if you went to a city to get cured and all?"

Cindy shook her head. "Not without my friends. If I'm a pokemon I can talk to them better and understand them…plus I still think the HDC would rather capture us and store us away than cure us…" She felt her flames ruffle. "I'm not going to spend the rest of my life as a pokemon in a cage."

Sarah walked next to her. "You also don't want to be a pokemon for the rest of your life either." Cindy nodded. "Of course not…the sooner I find my friends, the better."

Sarah watched a flock of Pidgey fly by. "Well, one thing that would help is to know what we're looking for, there's a lot of pokemon out here."

Cindy looked around. "Yeah…" She closed her eyes as she remembered. "Lina became a Vulpix, Umi was bitten by a Skitty, and Maku turned into a Mudkip…"

"And John's stuck as a two headed Doduo…" Sarah added bitterly. "Ok So Vulpix, Skitty, Mudkip and Doduo, that's what we look for?"

Cindy sighed. "It's not going to be easy, any Vulpix could be Lina, any Mudkip Maku…plus it doesn't help that they probably won't even remember who they are…" She looked to the sky. "All we can do is hope that they'll have some bit of them left, just like John-lava…" She grasped her mouth as soon as that left her. "And soon…"

-0-

Cindy and Sarah began to look through bushes and tree's calling for their friends' names, usually spooking some pokemon or even aggravating some. Cindy's last calling in a cave resulted in her getting a face full of soot from a grumpy Torkoal.

"Well, they're definitely not in there…" Cindy coughed out as she wiped some of the soot from her fur. Sarah was taking some sticky string off of her. "I checked the west part, but ended up on the wrong side of a Spinarak Man, wild pokemon can be so rude…"

Cindy nodded. "Then again, they are kind of territorial." Sarah got the last sticky string off of her. " So, what do we do now."?

Cindy began to walk forward. "We keep looking, maybe east." Sarah groaned. "We don't even know if they've been captured or not. For all we know, they're probably cured already and are waiting for us."

Cindy looked back to her. "I wish I can be sure, but something inside tells me they're still out there and I have to find them. " She put her paws near her mouth. "Lina! Umi! Maku! John!" She then began to walk in that direction. Sarah sighed and began to follow.

Cindy continued calling for the names of her friends. I have to find them, soon…before I even forget who I'm looking for…

She stopped when she heard crying. Sarah bumped right into her as soon as she stopped.

"Sarah, do you hear that?"

Sarah shook her head from the impact and listened. "Crying…"

Cindy nodded and called out. "Hello?" The crying voice stopped. "W-who's there?" A young boy's voice sounded out. It didn't sound familiar to Cindy, so it couldn't be one of her friends, but it was still someone in need. She went to the bushes and peeked her head through. What she saw was a little Larvitar, tears stained on his green pebble face. He blinked. "W-who are you?" he stammered. Cindy tried to put on a gentle face. "I'm Cindy, a pokemon train…well, was a pokemon trainer when I was human, but I won't hurt you."

"You won't?" He got up. "My name's Steve, I was human too, but a Larvitar got me and now I'm one too…" he looked down. Cindy went to him and put a paw on his back. "Oh, are you all right?"

Steve looked at her with watery eyes. "After I turned into one, I was so scared that I ran into the woods, afraid the space men would take me away and put me in a cage…"

The HDC…poor kid's probably only 7 or 8 and this happens to him…Cindy thought to her self. "Well, it's going to be ok… me and Sarah will protect you." He looked behind her and saw the Luxray. "You will?" Sarah looked to Cindy with a bewildered face. "We will?"

Cindy nodded. "Of course we will. There's a cure for this virus, and we're going to get it soon, but I'm looking for my friends first." Steve stood up. "There's a cure?" Cindy nodded. "Mmm-hmm, and after we've found my friends we'll get the cure and be human again." He looked to Sarah. "Is she human too?"

Sarah shook her head. "No, but my master has been turned into a pokemon and Cindy is helping me try to find him too."

Steve stood up. "Ok, then I'll come with you and help you look for them too." Cindy smiled. "Thank you. Oh Steve, how long have you been a Pokemon?"

Steve rubbed the back of his head. "I got turned into one probably the day before yesterday…."

"Have you seen any pokemon like a Vulpix or a Skitty around here?" Cindy asked.

"Or a Doduo?" Sarah added. Steve shook his head. "No, I didn't…why, are they your friends?" Both nodded. "No, sorry."

Cindy smiled. "It's ok. Well, let's get moving." As she passed Sarah by she leaned close. "I think he doesn't know how to use attacks yet…" Sarah groaned. "Awww, I'm not going to teach him this time."

-0-

Cindy, Sarah, and their newfound friend Steve traveled together as the continued combing the forest. In the middle, Cindy would tell the young Larvitar tales of her adventures before this experience and what led up to it.

"…I led them to that city…and now they're pokemon. I was so crushed by the fact that I could do little to save them…then Quilava saves me one last time before she gets infected and turned me into one…the pain of the transformation couldn't equal the pain I felt from losing her." Steve looked down. "Ow, that must have hurt real bad. When I turned into a Larvitar, it hurt. I felt like a thousand Beedrill were stinging me all over."

Sarah snorted at the mention of Beedrill but Cindy told Steve not to mind it.

"So, why did they run away?" Steve asked.

"Well, the scientists, Sherice, said that the virus turned us into pokemon fully sometimes that we even forget who we are. My friends think they've been pokemon since the day they were born." Steve shuddered. "How creepy…"

Sarah stopped when she smelled something. "What is it?" Cindy asked. Sarah looked up. "Pokemon…smells like a bug." Her fur crackled. "Hate bugs…"

Cindy understood…most of the time Sarah gets attacked by bugs. Cindy stepped forward. "Let me handle it, I'm a more effective type against them." Sarah nodded.

Cindy looked around when she saw a Wurmple in a tree to her right. She ruffled her flames, having a brief flashback when Society members attacked them and they used a Wurmple against them. She leaned her head back. The Wurmple noticed.

"Ahh, stop!" A girl's voice sounded out. Cindy opened her eyes wide and opened her mouth, firing a plume of smoke at the worm. The Wurmple coughed and fell off the tree. "Ow." She said as she landed on the back of her squirmy body. Cindy and Steve walked up to the struggling bug. "Let me guess, you're human too?" Steve asked. The Wurmple righted herself. She nodded. "Y-yeah. I-I 'm human, my name's Sophie." Cindy reached a paw out. "My name is Cindy." The Wurmple looked at Cindy's paw hesitantly and reached a pointy digit out. Cindy felt the stubby digit and shook it the best she could. Steve then stepped forward. "Hi I'm Steve." Sophie did the same and had an anguished look on her face. "Oh man, I'm so gross, aren't I?" Steve closed his eyes in a smile. "No, actually, you're pretty cool." Sophie turned away. "No I'm disgusting! I'm a Wurmple, a dumb, stupid, squishy Wurmple!" Cindy patted her back. "Now now, calm down…how long have you been a pokemon?" Sophie looked up. I-I don't know…weeks, months…I'm lucky no one has captured me yet…I heard voices and thought it might be trainers or something…I then find out its only more pokemon who used to be human like me…" She looked down. Cindy patted her back. "What if I can tell you that there's a cure to this?"

Sophie then let up, her big eyes widening, filling with hope. "There is?!"

Cindy nodded. "And we're going to get it, when I find all my friends, we'll get it."

Sophie's eyes then watered and she suddenly squished her self against the Quilava, her suction feet sticking to her as she hugged her. "Thank you, thank you!" Cindy smiled a nervous one as the worm continued to hug her then squirmed off. "Oh sorry, it's a little habit I have, hugging when I'm real happy, and as you can tell, I haven't heard good news in a real long time…"

Sarah looked to Cindy. "Don't you dare go on with that "Darkest before dawn crap"…"

Cindy sweat dropped. "…right?"

-0-

As they walked down the forest, they all exchanged tales of their lives as Pokemon and prior to that. Once Sophie calmed down, she actually sounds like a nice girl to hang around with, talking normally. They picked up one more former human that day, A Ralts named Warren.

"…And then these people with markings just come out of nowhere and knock me out. I woke up to see my self in a cage and they bring up an angry Ralts and I'm sure you can tell what happens next." He tripped when he missed a step. Warren sighed. "You'd think after several months of being in this form I'd be used to these little legs, yet I still trip on this "skirt" or whatever it is. Cindy helped him up. "Well, Ralts are part Psychic, I think they float or have some one carry them most of the time." The little reddish pink eyes under the crown of green lit up. "Yeah, I guess you're right." He stood up and wobbled his head a bit, trying to catch his balance. "It's just, I can't stand being so short..."

Sarah whispered to Cindy. "He was turned by those crazy people." Cindy had a compassionate look. "He was turned by force…we kind of all were…"

Sophie began to go by a bush and her little mandibles started to gather some leaves and munch on them. She then shook her self and spat out the leaves. "What am I doing? I was doing it again!" She began to spit out some more. "Its been happening a lot lately, I get hungrier than before and randomly start to eat leaves." Cindy looked to her. "Maybe it's just something Wurmple do, you know, its instincts." Sophie shook her head. "But I don't want to be a Wurmple, I want to be me again."

Cindy sighed. "We all want to be ourselves, but first we have to find someone who'll help us." Sophie then began to eat at the leaves again. Cindy felt her own stomach rumble. "Well, I think it would be a good time to find something to eat…"

Sarah rested on her stomach, crossing her paws. "If we could find a river, I'd stun a few Remoraid or Magikarp and then you can finish them with a flamethrower or something." Cindy shook her head. "But they could be human too." Warren looked up. "I'm not one for cannibalism."

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Fine, berries then?" Cindy nodded. Sarah sighed. "Some one care to join me?" Steve stepped forward. "I'll help."

Sarah nodded and Steve began to follow her. Cindy, Warren and Sophie began to look around for some twigs to be kindling for a fire that night. They found a few, but Sophie eating the leaves actually contributed to the bulk of their fire wood, the Wurmple tossing aside any twigs after she stripped it of leaves. Sarah found a berry tree and crawled up it with her claws to get to a branch while Steve waited below for her to drop some berries. Sarah tried to shake them but some wouldn't budge. Steve then began to think for a while and stood next to the trunk of the tree and began to head butt it. Sarah began to cling on to the limb as the tree began to shake a lot more. "Whoa, hey! What are you doing?" Sarah asked as she hung on. Steve continued to head butt and the berries began to pour from the limbs. The tree stopped shaking and Sarah breathed a sigh of relief before the limb she was on snapped and she landed with a thud. She looked at the Larvitar with a disgruntled look. "well, at least we got the berries?" Steve asked with a nervous look.

-0-

Sarah and Steve were walking back to the sight of a warm campfire glow, Cindy standing proudly by the blaze. "My second one." She said. Sarah smiled. Steve took off the large leaf on Sarah's back that had the berries on it. "Ok everyone, dig in." he said. Sophie looked up from her resting spot. "Urp, No thanks I...I had enough."

Sarah found a place by the side of the fire and rested on her stomach and crossed her arms. "Man, what a day…it's nice being out here in the wild and all, but what I would give to snuggle up to John resting here right now…" The Luxray said while staring at the fire.

Steve perked up from eating a berry. "Oh, your original trainer?" Sarah nodded. "He's out there somewhere, stuck as a mindless Doduo, and I can't even help him…" She looked down and rested her chin on her paws. "And he did everything for me…he saved my life, raised me, loved me…and I love him so much yet I couldn't help him now in his time of need."

Warren nodded. "It hurts to know there's nothing you can do about some things…like I wish I could go up to my family right now and let them know its me, but I know that won't happen. Everyone is so strung over this virus that even a Pichu is enough to call in the defense corps…"

Cindy sighed. "Yeah, but there's always a way, there always is. Like my friend told me, it's darkest before the dawn, but the dawn still comes. It means that the day we've been waiting for will come, and we must not loose our hopes or dreams now or ever at all. As long as one of us still believes that the day will come when this virus nightmare will end, then that possibility will always exist. If we can hope to be reunited with our friends and family, that day will surely come. We just have to keep up our hope. Nothing can take that away, not even this virus."

Steve began to clap his little stubby digits when everyone looked at him. He sweat dropped. "What, it was a nice speech." Cindy smiled. "Thank you, Steve." Warren nodded. "Here, here." He raised his little white hand in the air. Sophie jumped up and down. "Yeah that was pretty awesome...its like I know things are going to get better."

Cindy smiled. "Thanks, I just came up with it now, but its true-lava…" She grasped her mouth. And turned her head. Is it? Or am I just blowing smoke, knowing that there's a chance we may never be saved, that I'll never see Lina or John or Umi or Maku again, and that I'll lose myself soon?

She heard a rustle in the bushes and turned with a gasp. Sarah stood up and her fur crackled with electricity. Cindy also got in a battle ready stance as her flames began to burn faster. "Who's there?" Sarah called out.

"Aw, see? Told you it's not him…" A gruff voice sounded out

"I was ssssooo ssssure it wasss him." A voice responded to the other.

A female voice sighed. "That Luxray looks and smells female, it's not Blake."

"Still, they surely aren't wild...maybe they could join us?" a cold voice said.

Cindy called out again. "Who's there?"

The bushes rustled and pokemon appeared. One was a fierce looking Shiftry , followed by an Ariados, which made Sophie shiver, and next was a Ninetales. Behind her was a Weavile, smiling with his arms crossed.

"W-who are you?" Sophie uttered. The Weavile snickered. "We're here to help rid the world of the human race, who've oppressed pokemon for too long."

Cindy stared hard at them. "What are you doing here? Are you with the Society?"

The Weavile closed his eyes and smirked. "No, though I do have to admit they are making the job a lot more easier. My name is Wilhelm, a pokemon released by this virus when it liberated me from my human master. When I was bitten, I was reborn and saw my true purpose." He spread his claws. "This world belongs to us, the pokemon. You humans have been taking it from us for far to long, preying on and separating families just to use in your battles of sport for your own amusement." He pointed at them. "The human race's time has come, we will use the liberation entrusted by us from this virus to take back what is ours.." He gave them a sly look. "But to do that, we'll need a liberation front, and we'll need more pokemon. Pokemon like you." Cindy widened her eyes. These pokemon wanted to use this virus to exact their revenge on the human race, and they wanted them to help. She shook her head. "We'll never help you, there's good in humans too. I know we may not always show it and we have made mistakes in the past, but not all of us are bad, we actually bond with our pokemon and treat them as friends."

The Shiftry snorted. "You're just saying that because you're human, you were never one of us, never watched as you trainers captured a seedling at take it away from its family, never had to fend them off to see more of your kind get enslaved and captured.."

"Never sssaw pokemon turn against pokemon just to enslave othersss…" the Ariados hissed.

"Never lived life confined as an object, seen only as something to flaunt and show off and collect…: the Ninetales added.

Sarah stepped forward. "Wrong…have you ever felt the warmth of companionship from a trainer, the bonding with them, the trust, any of that? Sure we may be taken from our homes and we may seem shocked at first, but my master was different, he did everything for me, and he only helped me become stronger than I ever could be, helped me learn to see the good that humans are capable of. I am a pokemon, but I don't see that as a reason to wipe out a race that has taught me so much." Her eyes burned with determination. "So you're dead wrong if you think I'll help you!"

Steve stood next to her. "me too!." Sophie scrunched next to him. "And me."

Warren stumbled next to Cindy. "I won't help you as well."

Wilhelm looked pretty disappointed. "You'll stand in our way?" He fanned his claws out. "Oh, so unwise."

Cindy noticed that a Growlithe was also among the group and only noticed it when it got into battle position.

Steve's eyes looked nervously from Cindy to Sarah. "So, um, we're really gonna fight them, right?" Cindy nodded. "Just listen to your instincts, they'll tell you what to do."

Warren pointed ahead of him. "If you are not with us, then you're are enemies, and you'll shall join us, or die. Attack!" The Shiftry and Ariados ran ahead for Steve and Sophie while the Ninetales and Wilhelm went for Cindy and Sarah. The Growlithe ran for Warren.

The Shiftry swung his arms and threw several razor leaves at Sophie and Steve. Steve felt Sophie hide behind him and closed his eyes as he stiffened up, his body becoming unmoving. The leaves bounced around him but did not cut him. He undid his hardening attack and sighed in relief when the Ariados fired a sticky web at him, ensnaring him, causing him to cry out.

Sarah crinkled her fur and let the electricity travel through her paws as she swiped at the graceful Ninetales. One of her paws contacted with the tails and the Ninetales growled and fired an ember attack, the scorching embers causing Sarah to jump back a bit. "No one touches my tails." She growled. Sarah growled. "Oh is this the part where you curse me?" She then roared as she released a thunderbolt at the fox. The Ninetales dodged and pounced at Sarah. "I'll make you wish you had to bear 10,000 years of suffering." The fox snarled.

Cindy tried to keep her eyes on the fast moving ice type and fired a flame attack into the air, the blast missing Wilhelm and he jumped with his claws bared, frost gathering at the tips. Cindy gasped and jerked her body in a roll, narrowly feeling the cold rush of air as the claws swiped at her, striking the ground and building up ice chunks. Wilhelm cursed as he was stuck and Cindy reared her head around and fired tiny embers at him. Streaking across his body as he hissed in anger and pain. He pulled his claws out in fury. "I'll make you pay for that!" He growled.

Warren was trying his best to run as the Growlithe bounded after him. He fell and the Growlithe jumped at him and he closed his eyes and reached an arm out, the dog suddenly striking a shining blue barrier and being deflected. Warren took this time to start running again while the Growlithe was still recovering.

The Ariados was pulling Steve closer as it readied a poison. Steve was struggling to break free but the web was ensnaring him. Suddenly, a poison sting came and hit the Ariados in its bulbous behind, the spider crying out as it reared up and let go of Steve. Sophie scrunched her body fast as she slinked toward the trapped Larvitar. "Sophie, you came in time!" he said with an expression of joy. "Ok now help me out!" Sophie tried to pull with her little digits but couldn't do much. The Ariados was beginning to get up again and the Shiftry was bounding around them from tree to tree. Sophie looked around with fear and squeezed her eyes shut as she brought her mandibles to the web and pushed it in her mouth, feeling the silky strand enter her throat as she began to chew on it. Ew! Ew! So disgusting! Ew! She thought to her self as she chewed.

Sarah tumbled with the Ninetales and twisted her body, kicking the Ninetales off. He Ninetales landed and reared her head back, releasing a flamethrower at her. Sarah's eyes widened. Oh crap! She closed them but before she did, she saw something jump in her path. She felt something bump into her as the flames knocked them back. She opened her eyes and saw Cindy there, panting after taking the flame attack. "Cindy!" She called out. Cindy coughed some smoke out then smiled. "Now you owe me one." Sarah looked to her. Luckily, her flameproof fur helped lessen the brunt of the attack, but she still felt a little tender from the force of the attack. "I think since I saved you that time in Lilycove, I'd say we're even."

Cindy and Sarah both turned to the Ninetales who was regrouping with the Weavile and Cindy and Sarah nodded and both hunched, Cindy releasing embers and Sarah shooting off a thunderbolt. The Ninetales tried to dodge this time but bumped into Wilhelm, the bolt striking them and the ember peppering them.

A loud screech filled the air, causing Cindy and Sarah to close their ears. They turned to see Steve using a screech attack on the Shiftry and Ariados , the pokemon appearing slightly rattled as Sophie began to fire some string shot at them, covering them with sticky goop. "Ha, how about that for your own medicine!" she shouted.

Cindy then concentrated hard and felt a fire burning inside, opened her mouth and hit the Weavile full on with her flamethrower, Wilhelm flying back and collapsing with a sigh as he fainted. The Shiftry broke out of the web and jumped to their fallen leader. He picked him up. "Everyone, retreat. Back to the forest!" he called out. The Ariados and Ninetales followed him back into the forest. "I told you we we're better off with Blake." The Ariados chipped in as they hid behind the trees and deeper into the forest.

Cindy and the others sighed in relief when suddenly they heard warren run by with the Growlithe still after him. Sarah fired a thunder wave at them, paralyzing both Warren and the Growlithe. The dog slid on its side and slammed its head into a rock before passing out. Cindy gasped and went to Warren and the Growlithe. "warren, you all right?" she asked. He looked to her with his red eyes under his green hair and blinked twice to say yes, but he was still paralyzed. Cindy then looked to the Growlithe, still breathing. "Hm, I wonder why it didn't go back with the rest…" She began to pull it near the camp. Sarah raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing?" Cindy looked to her. "It needs help, I'm going to try and dress its wound." Sarah shook her head. "are you crazy, it tried to attack us like the others." Cindy rested the Growlithe on its side. "I don't think it meant to, maybe it was just following what Wilhelm said. You know how obedient they say Growlithe are."

Cindy looked to Sophie. "Sophie, can you try and make a bandage out of your string shot and Steve, help me find some herbs or something that is disinfectant." Sophie nodded and began to work some string shot into her digits and began to weave them. "Good thing I took that weaving class in school." She told herself. Steve found a thick plant leaf that oozed some sort of sap. Cindy hoped it was enough to kill some germs and squeezed it on the Growlithe's wound and put Sophie's bandage on it.

"Ok, now we hope it wakes up and thanks us with out wanting to attack us." Cindy said. Steve yawned. "I'm tired." Sophie also yawned. "Me too." Indy saw Sarah yawned and looked at the night sky. "It is pretty late. Ok, we'll sleep tonight, we all deserve a rest after that battle." They nodded and began to find their places, Steve lying next to Sarah and Sophie rested on the Larvitar and Warren rested on Sophie. Cindy smiled at this and looked to the sky. Those pokemon…wonder what they would say if they saw this….

She looked to the Growlithe and found a place to rest and looked to the night sky. "Good night, Lina, Umi, Maku… John… " She then fell to sleep, hoping that when she woke up, she was still her….

-0-

Whew! Long chapter! XD! In this one, I wanted Cindy and Sarah to find some new friends and forge a sort of group like the one Missy had in the original story, when she was a Vaporeon. I also chose some pokemon you wouldn't expect, like the Larvitar and the Wurmple. I chose those names out of random but I think they fit. I also like the speeches in the middle of this chap, both from Cindy and Wilhelm. One day I had an idea that Blake's old pokemon invasion group from the first story try and seek their old master out, confusing him for Sarah since she is a Luxray like him. TurtlesandMonkeys mentioned in Ancient Society that Blake's pokemon group left him for another pokemon leader and I chose Wilhelm the Weavile. I think his ideas of the virus being a liberator isn't as extreme as the Society's love for the virus, but its close. Well, I hope you all enjoyed this chap. Please review! JonseyCat, out! MEE-YAA!