Rosa Santoro

Night had fallen by the time Zinnia began to stir. I had stayed by her the enire time, concerned for her well-being. Even with Mr. Newman's new special healing powers, I couldn't help but be worried for my friend. I sat near her on the couch, feeling incredibly anxious.

So when she stirred and began to wake up, I couldn't help but feel overjoyed. I cheered quite loudly as Zinnia's eyes opened, which had the result of completely startling her and caused the poor Dragonair to jump.

"Oops! Sorry!", I apologized, "I'm just glad you're going to be okay!"

Zinnia gave a pained moan. "Oof...I feel like I was hit by a truck..."

Then she blinked and realized I was a Roselia.

"Holy - you're a flower!", she exclaimed.

I gave a little nod and a twirl, showering her with petals. Zinnia sneezed on one, summoning a gust of wind that blew me right off the couch. Thankfully I landed on a nice comfy pillow, but now it was my turn to be astonished.

"How'd you do that!?", I exclaimed, "Even I'm not that light to get blown around by a sneeze!"

Zinnia frowned. "I'm sorry...my new powers are kinda strong..."

She looked somewhat depressed, and I felt worried for her. I wondered what had happened before she'd managed to get to the house. Judging by her wounds, it had not been good.

But she managed to hold back whatever emotions she was feeling, and pulled herself up gingerly. I ducked as her long tail swooped over my head, then asked, "How are you feeling?"

Zinnia sighed. "Sore. But surprisingly that's it. What did you guys do?"

I answered, "Ryan's dad managed to use Life Dew somehow. It healed the majority of your injuries in record time. It was pretty impressive!"

Zinnia smiled softly. "It sounds like it must have been. Where is everybody now?"

There was a loud thump, and Molly stood up nearby, knocking over a chair with a curse. She flicked her mane and recovered her composure, before saying, "Almost everyone's gotten here, save Sammy who we still haven't heard from yet. And unfortunately...everyone except Ryan and Jackson's dad that we know of have turned into Pokemon like us."

"It's that bad!?", cried Zinnia, "Oh god, those two must be freaking out! And so must everyone else!"

She tried to move, but ended up falling off the couch instead with a heavy thud.

"Hey, hey, you need to rest. Everybody's doing fine right now.", I said reassuringly, "I think so at least. Besides, it's night time now."

"WHAT!?", cried Zinnia, "Really?"

Mr. Newman nodded. "Unfortunately yes. The government has also deployed troops into the city to try to maintain order and subdue some rebellious Pokemon. So far though, they don't seem to be having the desired effect."

"It worries me how many innocent people are suffering because of this.", Molly said sadly, "While we're doing alright, there are probably thousands, no, millions of people who are not. It doesn't help that according to some reports that all the West Coast was far, far more heavily affected than most of the rest of the world. I'm talking a 90 percent transformation rate."

"Wow...that IS bad.", Zinnia replied, "No wonder there's so many of us transformed here. What are we gonna do?"

"Right now? We sit back and do what the government requests.", Mr. Newman said, "We'll just have to wait and see how the situation plays out. We have plenty of supplies so we should be able to hold out for at least a month if necessary. By then we'll probably have a more permanent plan of action."

Zinnia nodded. "Yeah...let's hope so."

She sighed and curled up, and I heard thunder shake the windowpanes. I'll admit it startled me. I watched as rain poured down the glass, and frowned.

"Anyone else find it weird that this storm only showed up after the transformation?", I asked, "It was, like, suddenly poof, there."

Molly nodded. "Yeah, it is kinda weird...huh."

Zinnia looked rather worried. In fact, she looked somewhat...panicked?

But I didn't want to try and pry. Since we were best friends, I knew she'd probably confide in me if she had a problem. It's what I would do if I were in her shoes.

Or at least, I hoped she would.

At that moment, there was a tapping at the door, and Mr. Newman frowned. "Huh...who would be here at this hour?"

He walked over and opened it, revealing a soaked Espeon with a camera bag. He looked terrified, and was breathing heavily.

"Can I come in!?", he said rapidly, in a familiar voice.

"Um, sure, of course you can.", replied Mr. Newman.

"Thanks!", replied the Espeon, dashing inside. Mr. Newman closed the door, and sighed.

"Sammy?", asked Zinnia, looking at the Espeon as he threw himself onto the towels she'd been resting on, unaware of the blood that was in them. He sighed in relief and shook the water out of his fur, proceeding to look embarrassed to have done so.

Then he answered, "Yeah. Yeah, that's me." His eyes widened as he took in Zinnia's form. "Whoa. Zinnia!? You're massive!"

Zinnia sighed. "Yeah, I know."

He looked around, frowning. "Jeez. How many of us were transformed?"

"Everyone except Mr. Jeffrys and Ryan.", I answered, "So a lot."

"Is Amanda here?", he asked nervously.

"Yes." Amanda appeared out of nowhere, and I almost screamed.

Okay fine. I did scream. But it was very short.

Sammy looked alarmed. "Amanda!? Are you alright!?"

Amanda nodded. "Yes...I think so. Just cold. What about you? Your, um, fur's a mess."

Sammy rested his face in his paws. "No...no I'm not. I should probably tell you everything."

He explained, "So after I was transformed, my boss forced me into an interview, I got to watch a lot of depressing footage, and even worse, saw my dad get taken prisoner by this one group of rebel Pokemon! Not to mention the man who came into the news station after that..he was some sort of preacher named Gareth. He's friends with Mr. Philly too. He demanded all the 'demons' to be kicked out of the building, and started preaching to the camera about humans needing to 'rise up' and fight against the coming of the apocalypse, which means fighting all who transformed."

Sammy sniffled, barely restraining tears. "So today I lost my humanity, my dad, and my job. It's...it's been awful."

Amanda drifted over and placed a hand reassuringly on his side. "Hey, it's okay. We're still here. I'm still your girlfriend."

Sammy looked happier. "Really? I was worried that, you know, the transformation would change things..."

Amanda scoffed. "Of course! I don't care what you look like, you're still the same Sammy I fell in love with. And I'm the same Amanda you fell for. This wouldn't change anything...or at least, I'd hope not."

Sammy smiled. "You have no need to worry about that."

The two snuggled, and I sighed wistfully. I looked around and spotted Ryan, and gave him a flirty wink. Of course, all it did was puzzle him.

Stupid handsome boys and their thick skulls.

"So, you said your father was taken prisoner, NOT killed, right?", asked Molly..

Sammy nodded sadly. "Yeah...not that that's any better..."

"Oh, but it is!", I declared, jumping onto the coffee table, "Because we can launch a rescue mission!"

"What!?", cried Zinnia, "I mean, it's not like I'm against it, but how on earth are we going to do it!? I nearly died just fighting ONE Pokemon!"

She looked depressed as she remembered it. The rain outside grew stronger. I was definitely beginning to suspect it wasn't just a coincidence.

Molly said, "We need to try. There's no way we're letting anyone lose a parent to this. It will take some planning, though. Sammy, do you know where these rebels are situated?"

"They've taken over Chinatown as their base of operations.", explained Sammy, "They seem to be led by a Charizard, a big scary one. They managed to hold off an entire assault by state troopers, so there's no way we're brute-forcing it. However, they seem to not mind seeing any other Pokemon in the vicinity - they're looking for recruits right now."

Molly nodded thoughtfully. "Hmm...I think I can work with this."

"What are you guys talking about?", asked Ryan sadly, "I can't understand a single word..."

Mr. Newman grabbed a notebook and scribbled down a rough summary of everything that had been discussed. Ryan's eyes widened as he read it.

"Wow. Um. Okay. Guess I'll get my ninja stuff ready.", he replied, hurrying off.

I looked towards Molly, starry-eyed. "He has ninja stuff."

Molly snorted. "You're hopeless."

Mr. Newman looked towards Zinnia. "I know you just woke up and all, not to mention the fact that you were just shot, but perhaps you'd like to check on Jackson? Maybe fill him in on what's going on."

She nodded. "Sure!", she replied, before hovering into the air, "Where is he?"

"Upstairs bathroom.", answered Mr. Newman.

"Thanks!", she chirped, flying up the stairs a little too fast. She smacked her head on the ceiling with a pained yelp.

Amanda said, "Oh, I hope it'll be alright. Jackson…wasn't exactly in the best state when I left him. Hopefully he's calmed down a bit now though."

Mr. Newman nodded. "I'm sure he'll be fine. He seems like a strong young man. I'm sure he'll bounce back from this in no time."

"I do hope you're right.", Amanda murmured.

I sat down against some books, looking nervously out the window. But I felt confident we could all get through this. (-o-)

Zinnia Wilder

I flew up the stairs, but when I landed on the second floor I felt a bit woozy. Possibly not the smartest idea to fly around after just waking up from such an injured state, even if Mr. Newman had healed the worst of it.

Mr. Jeffrys had fallen asleep in his chair, a book still open in his lap. I felt sorry for the poor guy, it must have been rough to hear his son was a seal and to have no one to talk to. I hadn't met Mrs. Jeffrys myself, but from what Jackson had said she was a very busy woman who never had much time with them.

I slipped into the bathroom quietly, where I noticed Jackson trying to pull himself out of the tub.

"Hey.", I greeted, "You all right?"

Jackson shrugged, slipping back into the water. "Yeah. Nah. I dunno. I was really feeling gloomy earlier and I think I scared Amanda off, so now I feel kind of guilty. But it also reminded me that I gotta stick around for you guys. Though it's very hard right now."

He looked me over and sighed. "So, I guess that means just about all of us got transformed, huh? Sammy too?"

"Yeah.", I replied sadly, "He just arrived. He's an Espeon now."

Jackson murmured, "Guess that means Ryan and my dad are the only humans left in our group. Hooray."

"It's okay.", I said reassuringly, "We'll figure this out. Mr. Newman's got a notebook so we can talk to the humans, and all of us are in this together. Look at me, I don't even have hands and feet anymore."

Jackson snickered. "Guess that makes two of us. These flippers are just about as useful."

He tried pulling himself out of the tub again, this time sliding over the edge and smacking his head on the tile. Thankfully, he seemed only a little stunned.

"Oof.", he grumbled, rubbing his head.

"Need help getting downstairs?", I asked.

Jackson shook his head. "Gotta figure out how to move around by myself. Can't sit in that tub forever. Seals can sorta move around, right? Just…very slowly."

He started using his flippers to push his chubby body along, leaving a trail of water behind as he dragged himself to the door. I slipped my tail out and wrapped it around the handle, opening it up enough that he could get out.

"Thanks.", he muttered, pulling himself into the hallway. He gave his sleeping father a sad look.

"I wish my dad didn't have to deal with all this. I can't even imagine how hard it will be to take care of a seal for a son.", he said, "I can't even do much to help anymore. I'm just dead weight."

I gave him a worried look. "That's not true.", I stated, "You're our friend. You're his son. You mean a lot to us all. I'm sure you will find something to help us all with as well, soon enough."

Jackson sighed. "At least you're optimistic. Oh well. Let's go see what all has been happening downstairs."

Unfortunately, as soon as he started trying to go down, it was revealed that seals could not exactly climb a set of steps carefully and precisely.

In other words, it turned into a very bumpy slide.

Jackson screamed as he slid down, bouncing about and cracking the banister. He went flying off the bottom step, ramming into the back of Mr. Newman's chair and tipping the poor Lucario out of it. Jackson squirmed, his horn stuck, as Ryan's little brother Ethan laughed hysterically, the little Bunnelby rolling all over the floor.

"Oh no!", I cried, "Are you okay!?"

I zipped over and wrapped my tail around his body, trying to yank him out. However, it seemed I was underestimating my own strength, because it worked too well. He popped free and sent us both crashing into the wall, knocking a picture frame onto my head. I groaned and released my coils, feeling a bit dazed.

"What is going on here?", cried Mrs. Newman, the Serperior slithering into the room. I noticed Molly helping Mr. Newman stand back up, as Amanda helped stand the chair back up. Sammy and Rosa both seemed to be trying not to laugh.

"I've got my ninja stuff!", Ryan shouted triumphantly, rushing down from his room with his arms full of random things. "I heard some crashing down here, everything alright?"

"Why are we grabbing ninja stuff?", asked Jackson, eyebrow raised.

Ryan smiled. "Oh hey, you came out of the tub! I guess the crashing was from you, huh? Glad to see you!"

Sammy stared at the pile of stuff in Ryan's arms. "You seem rather enthusiastic about this. We don't even have a plan yet."

Molly said, "Not yet we don't. Tomorrow though, I should have something for us. We should probably get some rest soon anyways. It's been a long day."

"No kidding.", I sighed sadly, my mind thinking back to all that had happened.

Mr. Newman showed Ryan the translated convo, and Ryan sighed, dropping his stuff on the ground.

"Are you guys serious? Every minute we waste could mean another minute that bad guy is hurting Sammy's dad!", he complained.

Jackson gave me a worried glance. "Say what?"

I did my best to explain the situation, and Jackson's face seemed to sink with every statement.

"So not only are we all monsters now…other monsters are kidnapping people? Including my friend's dad?", he commented, looking very downtrodden.

I winced. "Please don't call us monsters. But yeah. Things have…really taken a downturn lately. And it's only been a day."

Mr. Newman crossed his arms. "Now now, kids, I think we've had more than enough doomerism already today. How about we take Molly's suggestion and start getting ready for bed? Gonna have to do a bit of work with how many of you all are staying here."

No one decided to argue. With a sigh, I started trying to look for a way to help, trying and failing to get my mind off all the horrors that had happened today and would inevitably happen later… (-o-)