NSO Chapter 29
(Day 3, Part 2)
I don't own Pokemon.
Cleo sat on the front lawn, feeling the blades of grass brush against her skin. It was now noon, and the sun was hanging at its highest point in the sky, sending scorching rays beating down on the earth. Since Cleo was a Water-type, the heat didn't affect her that much, but most of the neighbourhood wasn't as lucky as the Vaporeon. The streets and sidewalks were completely deserted, most Pokemon staying inside to beat the heat, save for the occasional Fire-type, which made it less desirable for Pokemon to venture outside.
Cleo shifted from side to side as she looked at her surroundings again. For some reason, how the grass felt on her skin was far from its usual pleasantness. The leaves poked into every inch of her, making the Vaporeon feel antsy all over. She squirmed, feeling uncomfortable no matter how much she adjusted her position. Giving up, Cleo stood and started to pace in circles on the lawn, shaking her body once or twice to try and rid herself of any clinging grass blades. Was she always this restless? Maybe it was just the worry kicking in late after hearing Zenith's ominous words. There shouldn't be anything to worry about with him around, should there? Cleo gave herself a final shake to remove any lingering anxieties. Of course there weren't. She trusted the Umbreon and whatever he came up with.
Cleo noticed her tub of water float out of her open window, enveloped in a light blue glow. Zenith stood in the tub, using Psychic to lower it down onto the front lawn. Cleo ran over to meet him as he stepped out of the large tub of water. He didn't even need to dry himself off, the small droplets of water still clinging to his fur evaporating quickly in the heat. Now closer, Cleo could see the Umbreon fidgeting like she was before, probably sharing the same worries as she had.
"Ready for the tests, Cleo?"
"Yeah. Do we really need my tub though? I thought it was just about trying to reshape my body."
"I thought I'd change it into something safer. Now I'm trying to test how… compatible water with your body."
Seeing Cleo's confused expression, Zenith decided to elaborate a bit further.
"Seeing that your body's molecular structure is nearly identical to regular water molecules, I want to find out if you can 'add' water to yourself to change your shape and size instead of trying to change your body directly."
"So... you want to see if water can become like a part of my body, and if I can control that instead, since my water control powers might not work on my own molecules?"
"Putting it simply, yes. Let's start with something simple first... how about adding a layer of water onto your body?"
"How thick?"
"A few centimetres should be good for now. Remember, any pain or discomfort and-"
"-And I'll stop everything immediately. Got it."
"Okay. Ready?"
"Yup." Closing her eyes, Cleo stood next to the tub, mind willing for the water to envelop her entire body. And as Zenith watched, a ball of water rose from the tub, to splash onto Cleo's back, the water covering her fully. The Vaporeon faded out of sight while this was happening, turning invisible in water to leave behind a featureless blob of water in the shape of her. Nothing happened for a minute, in which Zenith waited with bated breath, before a pair of eyes opened themselves once more, and Cleo's features reappeared in a slightly larger body.
Zenith circled Cleo, examining the Vaporeon as she stretched out her limbs as if using them for the first time.
"How does it feel, Cleo?"
"Hm..." The Vaporeon pondered the question as she trotted around the front lawn, doing jumps and leaps to test out how her new 'body' felt.
"It's more of a suit than it is a skin." Cleo stared at her paw, clenching ad unclenching it while the water that covered it moved along as well. She was going to get the water back off her body, when an idea popped into her mind, accompanied with a smile on her face.
Zenith was busy scribbling down notes as he heard Cleo call out his name. Looking up, he almost jumped in surprise as the eyes he stared into weren't of the Vaporeon he knew, but of another Umbreon-his. However, surprise was overridden by excitement and curiosity at Cleo's newfound skill.
"Cleo! That's you... right?"
"Yup!" It unsettled Zenith deeply to hear himself speak in such an upbeat, feminine tone, although he didn't let it show.
"This... is... amazing! It looks exactly like me! Shame about the colour though." Completing his thorough inspection of Cleo's new 'body', he had to admire her handiwork. As creeped out as he was, he was really impressed. Every detail on 'him' was spot on, and even the fur looked realistic. The only thing that separated the disguise from Zenith was the bright blue sheen of the water.
"Yeah, but I can't do anything about the colour. I CAN do this, though." Cleo closed his eyes, concentrating, before morphing her Umbreon disguise into a variety of different Pokemon. Zenith managed to catch glimpses of the Cleo's family members, his mom, school teachers and students, all of which looked perfectly like their real-life counterparts, before resuming her original form.
"Wow. I'll work on something for the colour. Also, what happens when you morph into something... bigger than you?" Zenith noticed that all of Cleo's recent shape-shifts were all around her size, and quadruped. "Like... Kurt...? Just be carefu- "
As some as the Nidoking's name left Zenith's mouth, Cleo concentrated once more, picturing the Poison/Ground-type in her mind. More water rose out from the tub as Cleo stood on her hind legs, the clear liquid surrounding the Vaporeon, wrapping around her body until she disappeared again, leaving behind a giant cocoon-shaped blob of water. Another moment of silence, and Zenith stepped backwards as tendrils of water extended from the water, thickening and twisting to form into the shape of the Nidoking. Like all of her previous forms, Cleo was spot on once again, causing Zenith to shudder involuntarily at the figure in front of him, before reminding himself who it actually was. Curiousity drove him forward again to poke 'Kurt' in the stomach.
"Um...I'm in an upright position. I guess I can still move this thing..." The Nidoking took a wobbly step forward, and then another. "It's like piloting a mech from that giant robot movie."
"The one where they fought kaiju?"
"Yeah. That one. And as for that poking- no, I can't really feel it. It's more of a tingle than a tap."
"It's like being in a partially pain-proof suit, then. Do you mind if I... attack you?"
The Nidoking shrugged, spreading out 'his' arms. "Try it anyway. I need to know too."
Charging up the smallest Dark Pulse he had, Zenith sent it straight at the feet of the 'Nidoking'. The detonation didn't seem to have any effect on the 'NIdoking', which surprised Zenith. Even his smallest attacks were still powerful. The surface of the water rippled as it took the move, cushioning the blow for Cleo. However, the Vaporeon's huge form was still knocked backwards from the shockwave that emanated from the orb. Landing on the ground, Cleo was unable to get back on her feet, still unaccustomed with her new form, so she shrank back into her original self, the excess water puddling back on the floor. She gratefully accepted the paw from Zenith, who pulled the Vaporeon back up onto her paws, checking her anxiously for any sorts of injuries.
"You okay? That was quite a fall."
"I'm fine. Didn't feel much of that Dark Pulse, but it looks like I still obey the laws of physics. Unfortunately. Do you have anything else you want me to do?"
"Yeah. One last question." Zenith finished writing on his scraps of paper and looked back up. "How big can you get?"
"Let's see!" Cleo eyes sparkled at the prospect of towering over houses and buildings. Concentrating even harder, all of the water on the ground swirled into the air, along with the remaining contents of the tub, encasing Cleo in a sphere of water, which was slowly growing to the size of the Torrent Residence. Zenith stared at the sphere in amazement as the sphere slowly moulded itself into the shape of a Vaporeon. Features added themselves shortly after, and Zenith found himself looking up at a two-storey tall Cleo. The humongous Water-type surveyed her surroundings, looking slightly disappointed at not being as tall as she expected. Looking down, she saw a minuscule Zenith shrugging at her, gesturing at an empty tub.
"How's it like up there?" Zenith's voice was barely audible from Cleo's perspective. She tried to respond, but as she did, she could feel the ground trembling under her feet, and so could Zenith as he tried to keep his balance on the lawn. Maybe shrinking down to converse with Zenith would be a better idea.
-Time Skip-
"So… you're saying you could have gotten bigger than… that?" Two Eeveelutions sat on the front lawn, enjoying the gentler sunbeams and the grass beneath them.
"Yeah. I just needed more water."
"Well, as long as you don't exert yourself. You sure you don't feel uncomfortable when doing this?" Zenith stared at the sky, which was starting to fade from a clear blue to the reddish glow of a sunset. As the sun slowly began to sink down the horizon, bringing its scorching heat along, the streets of the neighbourhood became more populated again, Pokemon enjoying the coolness of the evening.
"Looks like there's too many Pokemon around to continue. We don't want to attract any more attention." Leaping back into the tub of water, Zenith used Psychic to return it back into Cleo's room, with him along with it.
Cleo took the normal route back into her room, through the main door of her house. But as the Vaporeon pushed open her blue door, she immediately sensed that something was... off. Zenith was still sitting in the tub of the water. He was staring at his reflection, the expression on his face reminiscent of the one Cleo wore yesterday.
Looks like the Zenith comfort train has to make a few more stops.
The Vaporeon went over to Zenith, who scooted over to one side so that she could sit beside him in the tub.
"A penny for your thoughts?"
"Everything went out fine today. Perfect, even."
"I don't think I see the problem here. Isn't that supposed to be a good thing?"
"But that's the thing. Nothing bad happened, and in the end, we had less time to try out more of those experiments. I could tell that you really enjoyed them, but most of the day was spent on me worrying that you'd get hurt during these experiments. I should have just trusted you in the first place instead of fretting pointlessly about your well-being. If I'd done that, we would've had more time. If only I had put more faith in-"
The words that were tumbling out of Zenith's mouth were silenced as a wave of water crashed over his him, forcibly dunking his head to submerge it in the cold water. Fighting his way to the surface, he spluttered, trying to rid his mouth of the water that had sloshed its way inside. Bristling with indignation at the sudden act, Zenith turned to Cleo, wanting an explanation but faltered under the cold stare of hers.
"You done?"
Zenith opened his mouth to speak, but after some consideration, closed it again, nodding.
Cleo's gaze softened, and care could once again be heard in her voice. "I'm sorry for that, Zenith. I was calling out your name several times during your... ranting but you didn't seem to hear me. Look, all these things are in the past now. Your concerns were all valid, and you had all rights to be concerned about my safety. Let's just learn from them, and use them as stepping stones in the future. We all got something we wanted in the end, didn't we? I had fun, you got results, and we spent more time together! It's a win-win, with even more win! Who could ask for more, right?"
"...right."
"C'mon, Zenith." Cleo snuggled up to Zenith, burying her head in the Umbreon's chest fur, directly under his chin. "Stop thinking too much into this. Besides, I'd rather have you constantly worrying too much about me than have you not care about me at all."
"I guess you're right." Zenith scratched the back of his head in embarrassment at his previous actions. "You know, I guess the reason why I keep worrying about the past is probably because I-" The Umbreon was interrupted again by a splash, this time produced by Cleo falling into the water, before sitting back upright, rubbing her eyes.
"You okay?"
"Yeah." Cleo's jaws stretched wide open in a huge yawn. "All that stuff today was mentally taxing. I think I.. need... to..." Cleo couldn't muster any more energy, falling asleep midsentence. Zenith caught Cleo before she could fall into the water again, pulling her close to his chest, smiling at her adorable snoring features. He then lifted Cleo out of the tub, carrying the Vaporeon with Psychic, bridal style, and laid her gently on the blue mattress. Grabbing the neatly folded blanket placed in a corner of the bed, he tucked Cleo in.
"Sweet dreams, Cleo. I'll tell your mom to wake you up for dinner." Giving the Vaporeon's forehead a quick peck, Zenith quickly exited Cleo's room.
As Cleo's final hold on consciousness slowly slipped away, her mind couldn't help but go back to the unanswered question it had asked before: But on the other paw?
Well...
But on the other paw, maybe they didn't need romantic acts to make their relationship better. It was already great the way it was, and Cleo wouldn't give anything in the world to change it.