"We're almost there," Kyle said, looking at his Pokegear. "Celestic Town."
"I heard that strange things are happening there," Adriana said, clutching to Luna. The little bear scratched her face and growled at her.
Kyle raised an eyebrow. "I think you're squeezing her too tight," he said.
"Sorry, Luna!" Adriana said, putting down her partner. "I just keep on mistaking you for a teddy bear! You can walk if you want!" Luna looked at her questionably, and pointed at her bag. Adriana nodded, and let Luna ride in her bag.
Kyle sighed. The thing about the Garcia twins, they react to the smallest of things, he thought. Draco floated next to him, probably thinking the same thing.
"You know what's scary?" Adriana said. "An Eon Pokemorph tried to kill my brother! What if one's in Celestic?"
"Then we would just have to kick his butt," Kyle said. "That'll be ea-" He stopped when a Gulpin approached him. "Um, no food here!"
The Gulpin sniffed him, then looked at Adriana. "We ate all our food," she said.
"Are you sure?"
A short, chubby boy appeared behind Adriana. He pushed her to the ground and took her bag. He ran off, with the Gulpin close by.
Kyle quickly helped Adriana get back on her feet. "Are you okay?"
"Luna was in there!" Adriana yelled. "I have to get her back!"
"Okay, chill!" Kyle put his hands on her shoulders. "Draco, merge!" The usual happened: Kyle absorbed Draco, then the bright light, then Kyle reappeared as a Pokemorph. He held on to Adriana and flew to the place the chubby boy and his Gulpin ran off to.
"I think I'm gonna hurl," Adriana muttered, holding on to her stomach.
Kyle smiled. "I love flying."
-0-
"Wow, he runs fast for a fat kid," Kyle said as he caught up with Chubby Boy (temporary name) in Mount Coronet. Adriana was still holding on to her stomach.
Chubby Boy hissed at him, his eyes full with anger. "It's muscle, you freak!" He continued running, but tripped over his Gulpin. "Oishi! Chubbs!"
Then, the unexpected happened.
Chubby Boy was surrounded in a green light for a bit. When the light faded, he had a yellow feather on his head, weird looking hands, and slanted eyes. "Oishi, what happened?" Chubby Boy stopped, looked around, and ran away, leaving Adriana's bag behind.
Adriana took her bag and quickly unzipped it. "Luna! Are you okay?" Her teddy bear nodded, and fell asleep.
"I'm calling Toasty," Kyle said, taking out his Pokegear. "Let's get out of this cave first."
-0-
"Gulpin Pokemorph?" Tosan asked over the Pokegear. "I'll see what I can find."
Kyle nodded. He and Adriana were in the Celestic Town Pokemon Center. "Okay, I'll talk to you-" He stopped when he heard crunching on the other side of the line. "What are you eating?"
"Sunflora seeds," Tosan said, crunching on a handful. "Delicious."
"Okay then," Kyle sighed. He closed the Pokegear and walked up to Adriana. "Tosan's finding data on Chubby Boy."
Adriana sighed. "When I was back in the lab, I heard that they were planning to erase some of the experiment's memories," she said, taking out a jar of honey. She and Luna began to dig in. "The ones me and my brother freed probably don't remember a thing."
Kyle raised an eyebrow. "Okay, why haven't you told us this before?"
"Slipped my mind," she replied.
-0-
"Aaron John Ricafrente, where have you been?"
Aaron looked up at his mother, who had a stern look on her face. "Sorry, mum. I went exploring and I got jumped." His Gulpin was eating at the table.
"Big brother got in trouble!" Aaron's little sister smiled at him.
Aaron glared at her. "Shut it, Mae," he growled.
"Don't tell your little sister that!" His mother hissed. "You're grounded for a month. Wait until your father gets here."
Aaron rolled his eyes. "If he gets here," he muttered. He climbed up the wooden stairs to his room, as well as to a month of boredom.
-0-
"I got info on your Pokemorph," Tosan said over the Pokegear. "Aaron Ricafrente, thirteen. His father works for Global."
Kyle sighed. "That explains a few things," he said. "What's his ability?"
"He's basically a black hole," Tosan replied. "He could eat you alive if he wanted."
"Definitely didn't need that image in my mind," Kyle said, making a pukey face.
Adriana smiled at him from across the room. "I love that face."
Kyle stuck out his tongue at her. "No one asked you, so shut up."
"Make me."
Tosan sighed. "You two fight like a couple. Are you going out now?"
Both kids yelled the same thing. "HELL NO!"
"No need to cuss," Tosan said. "I'll talk to you guys later. Don't get dirty." He chuckled and hung up.
Kyle glanced at Adriana and blushed. If we were going out, Rio would beat the crap out of me...
-0-
An older girl, about fifteen and obviously ill, entered Aaron's room. "Yo, I heard you're grounded," she said. "What happened?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you, Marie," Aaron replied, looking down at his feet.
Marie sighed and ruffled his hair. "I'll believe you," she said, smiling. "I'll believe anything after you disappeared for a month."
Aaron smiled. "I jumped some travelers to find some ingredients for a medicine for your condition," he said. "They went after me, and one guy transformed into something... weird."
Marie raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"
"He looked half-Dratini," Aaron said. "I tried to run away, but I tripped on Chubbs and..."
"And what?"
"I became half-Pokemon," Aaron said, sighing. "It was scary. I looked like a Gulpin."
Marie looked confused. "How is that even possible?"
Aaron shrugged. "I don't know, but I want to find out. Too bad I'm grounded."
Marie raised her hand. "I'll get information for you!"
"You're condition is getting worse," Aaron said, putting his hand on her forehead. "I won't let you."
Marie smiled. "You did a lot for me," she said. "I'll feel guilty if I don't help you."
"Fine," Aaron said. "But if you get hurt, you'll be off the job."
Marie nodded. "Deal."
Unknown to either to them, Mae was listening to the entire conversation. Her eyes widened and went downstairs as quietly as she could. Should I tell Mommy, or not? she asked herself. Not.
-0-
"I'm getting supplies," Kyle said, slinging his bag over his shoulder. "Let's go, Draco."
It was a short walk from the Pokemon Center to the nearest shop, which was ran by a nice old lady. Kyle bought what he thought was useful: some potions, repel, and escape rope. Draco also added some gourmet Pokemon food and some mail.
Kyle raised an eyebrow. "Who are you going to send this to?" He put the mail back on the shelf. "I won't waste good money on mail. Adriana, on the other hand..." He shook his head and head for the cashier. Since it was getting dark, there weren't many people at the store.
"I haven't seen your face around you," the old lady said. "Are you a traveler?"
Kyle smiled a fake smile. "Yeah. I'm from Eterna."
The lady looked at him, surprised. "Is that so? We had a boy here who disappeared going there," she said. "He came back just recently, and with a Gulpin! It's been quite a pain."
Kyle's eyes widened. "What's his name?"
"Aaron," a little girl said from behind. She glared at Draco, then looked to Kyle. "Aaron Ricafrente."
The lady smiled at the girl. "Little Mae, were you listening all this time?"
Mae nodded, and put some money on the counter top. "I came to get Marie's thingy," she said. "It's getting bad. Very bad."
"I'll go to the shrine for her," the lady replied, giving Mae a small bottle of medicine.
Mae left the store, feeling kinda scared. "Half-Dratini, huh?" she said under her breath.
"The Ricafrente family aren't doing so good recently," the lady explained to the Kyle. "Aaron's short disappearance and Marie's illness are just a few things happening to them." She put all of Kyle's items in a plastic bag. "That would be one thousand yen."
Kyle nodded and digged out some money. He took the bag, and left the store. And he was attacked by a midget.
"Who are you and what did you do to my brother?" Mae asked, throwing a Pokeball. A small Skitty came out and growled.
Kyle raised his hands in surrender. "Hey, Aaron jumped me," he said. "I didn't do anything to him!"
Mae wasn't convinced. "Then why did he turn into a Pokemon?"
"I don't know," Kyle lied. "Leave me alone, kid!" He tried to make a break for it, but he tripped over the Skitty. "Darn it!"
Mae smiled. "Skitty, Double Slap!"
Kyle tried his best to keep Skitty away from his face. "Draco, Thunder Wave!"
Draco floated over to Skitty, and gave her a shock. Literally. Skitty fell on the ground, paralyzed.
Mae cried out in anger. "Skitty, return!" She took out another Pokeball. "Cheri, Sunny Day, then Solar Beam!" The second the Cherrim came out, the sunset became brighter, and it fired a Solar Beam.
"Let's go, Draco," was what Kyle was about to say, but instead, it came out as, "Let's go- Drat!" The Solar Beam almost gave him a burn. That's how powerful it was.
Mae ran toward him and kicked him below the belt. "What did you do to my brother?"
Kyle winced in pain. Darn, I'm getting beat up by a midget...
"Mae-Mae! Stop!"
Mae froze and looked behind her. "Bro! You're grounded!"
"Don't beat up random people," Aaron growled. "It's rude."
Mae sighed. "You jumped this guy earlier!"
Aaron ignored her. "You're a good kid," he said to Kyle. "Refusing to hurt my sister even though she beat you up."
Kyle stood up. "Aaron, do you know what you are?"
"I don't," he replied as his Gulpin rushed to his side. "I wanted to ask you."
Kyle explained everything to him and his sister. "So you're a Pokemorph; half-human, half-Pokemon. You can merge with your Gulpin when you want."
"Unbelievable!" Mae yelled. "Impossible!"
Aaron rolled his eyes. "Shut it, Mae."
"It's true," Kyle said, calling Draco. "Draco, merge." In a bright light, Kyle became his Pokemorph self.
Mae turned away. "I still refuse to believe it," she said with her nose in her air.
Aaron closed his eyes and his Gulpin, Chubbs, jumped into his lap. Then the bright light, then he was a Pokemorph. "You better believe it," Aaron said, waving his small hands.
"I still don't," Mae said, walking away. "And I'm telling on you." She ran away, probably to her house.
Aaron sighed. "She's so hard to convince," he muttered. "So are you taking me to your base?"
Kyle raised an eyebrow. "Do you want to?"
"Anything to get me away from this boring town," Aaron replied, smiling.
