The thoughts, memories, and consequences circled like a Mandibuzz over her prey down below. Every step N had taken with Crystal, just a day or two ago, hurt like a stab to his chest. Walking past the Nimbasa City Amusement Park brought bitter sweet emotions back up to the surface; the trust he had felt from Crystal, the trust he had meant to reciprocate.
The trust he had broken.
He continued onto Route 16, and the small clearing of Lostlorn Forest. The edges of the clearing had tightly twisted and grown trees; but N knew better. He made sure no one was around, and then stepped through the treeline barrier. This small portion was only an illusion, after all, to protect the deeper, Dream Forest. As he walked, a Zorua joined him silently, matching his pace. N smiled down at him; but he had to get to the Entree. I can't stop right now.
N didn't have to go far into the trees, though they still grew together denses beyond the illusion, before coming to the waters around the Entree's clearing. Two bridges did connect the mainland to the clearing; however, N found that he could connect to the nature and Pokémon of Dream Forest more when he traversed the strange waters directly. Zorua knew this, too, and followed him in.
There was one more moat around the Entree itself, but first N walked over to the boarder separating the Dream Forest from its denser half; a dark place of tangled wood, where he could never go, but only watch the coming and goings of the wisps representing Pokémon. He often greeted the wisps before visiting the Entree.
This time, though, he saw something else. He saw a Liepard, and then, in a moment of horror, he saw a person materialize.
"I'll play right into their hands if I do fight back," a sourceless voice said.
Nothing he had ever seen in the trees was more than wisps of smoke, colored and shaped into their normal forms. The Trainer's smoke – he was sure it was a Trainer, now – shifted form and color – a cream, flowing fur and piercing red eyes, nine tails lashing in anger.
"I'll break sooner if I don't fight back."
N recognized the voice this time. Crystal?
He watched her pummel the Liepard with her nine tails, turning silver with the attack, wincing every time Crystal landed a hit. He wanted to scream, tell her to stop it, but he knew she didn’t know he was there, watching. She wasn’t really in the Dream Forest.
She stopped attacking just before the Liepard fainted.
“Wouldn’t it be merciful to her? It would, maybe, if N knew about her. But considering his stance on Pokémon cruelty and abuse, I doubt he knows about this place. Whatever I hold against him, he wouldn’t leave a hurt Pokémon to rot.”
The Liepard’s smoke dissolved; Crystal, as a Ninetales, laid down. For just a second, N saw her face clearly; clear enough to see tears in her eyes. Faces appeared around her, in the smoke: the scarred Liepard, then her Pokémon, then N, and then a younger, happier version of herself. Crystal buried her face in her paws, and then the scene dissolved.
N ran to the Entree. “What does it mean?!” he desperately asked it.
Zorua nudged his leg in concern. “What’d you see?”
“Something I caused, someone I am bringing harm to.” N reached out to the Entree. “Someone I meant to protect. Please, where is she?”
He heard more of Crystal’s thoughts, this time stemming directly from the Entree. “I can’t become their tool. Whatever the cost.” Images of Crystal's party appeared in the trees again, this time surrounding her, with happy expressions on their faces. “Except you.” She reached out to them. “I couldn’t be free without leaving you. I was lost, we lost, they won. Better you keep your freedom. I would have lost mine either way, and the torture of knowing everyone else could have gotten away... I never would have forgiven myself.” She pulled her arm away. They all vanished.
Crystal reappeared, in her normal form, with a hulking, massive golem staring her down. With a dread and horror that had no end, that kept growing inside of him with each mist vision shown, N recognized that hulking golem. They continued the Genesect Project. She was preparing a powerful move of some kind. “So this is Charizard's reward,” he heard. “If I lose control of this and it turns into Self-Destruct, it won’t matter what I do after that.” Another, final image formed in the dense trees: a small building on a small island. A familiar building and island. Crystal exploded, and so did the building and island.
N grew cold as he recognized the building and island, too. “The P2 Lab,” he said absently. How did this happen? How did I allow this to happen? “I have to get to the P2 Lab.”
The unease followed me into the waking world. I waited for my heart to calm down before I crawled over to Lucario and put a hand on his arm. He woke up, saw the look on my face, and sat up. “Crystal?” he whispered.
“I had a nightmare, Giovanni was there,” I said. “I think it had something to do with the chip. It felt real, like I can’t believe it wasn’t, even now. He was here.” I tapped my head. He listened intently as I told him what I’d seen in the dream, including Giovanni’s taunt. “I could use Transform so much quicker… and with no pain,” I finished slowly, as the realization set in. “I didn’t feel pain throughout the entire dream, though I should have. That was the only unrealistic part of it.”
Lucario said nothing – what could anyone say to this?
In the silence, I noticed something – Bill’s equipment had the same quiet hum that the dreamscape had. “We need to go,” I told him abruptly. “We have to get away from here.”
In the dark, I could just make out Lucario's concern. “Crystal, it’s the middle of the night. We should decide what to do next in the morning.”
I shook my head. The humming pressed in on me. I didn’t notice it in my panic to flee yesterday, and while we figured out what the chip did. But now, with nothing to distract me, with no certain next step, I couldn’t ignore it. I got out of my sleeping bag. “We have to leave,” I said again, rolling it up. “I can’t stay here.”
“Crystal, hold on,” Lucario said, worried. “You need to rest. The dream is over, we can wait until morning. Bill disabled the tracking feature last night, remember?”
“But we also don’t know what else it can do," I urged. "Bill said it could do more, but because he didn't know what it could do, he couldn't really search for what else. I heard Giovanni in the nightmare, he caused it, he had to have. This didn’t happen in Viridian Forest. Why now?” I indicated the room. “Can’t you feel the humming?”
“No, I can’t,” he said, reaching out and gripping my arm lightly. “Crystal, are you awake?”
“Yes! Of course I’m awake!” I hissed in annoyance to him. “I don’t know why or what’s happening, but I can’t stay here.” I grabbed my PokéBag, removed my X-Transceiver and PokéGear, pulled out a pen and paper, and handed Lucario his Pokéball. “You can come with me, or wait here until morning. I can’t stay here."
I set the paper on Bill’s desk, with my communication gear leaned up against it on the floor, and wrote out, I couldn’t stay. I’ll be in Mt. Moon. I can't take my gear. I’ll explain another time. Thanks for your help. I didn't sign it.
As I opened the door, and hesitated, I whispered over my shoulder, “Lucario?”
His quiet footfalls followed me. “I’m with you.”
I nodded, and we headed out, back to Mt. Moon, with the stars and moon as our only witnesses.
I brought out Persian to assist with Flash once we entered the caves again, and we found a small cave on the eastern end of Mt. Moon. I set up my sleeping bag in the farthest corner of the cave, let everyone out, and explained the new situation. “Bill knows we’re here, and Kevin will, soon. We can come up with a plan in the morning.”
The night passed easier than it had at Bill’s. Mt. Moon didn’t buzz, it didn’t hum, the tons and tons of rock surrounding us kept it remote. It blocked out the rest of the region, the rest of the world. All that existed was us seven. Time itself couldn't touch us.
A dreamless sleep brought me into a new day. My watch, not a fancy Pokétch, said it was around nine in the morning.
With little more to do than inspect rocks for Moon Stones – which was tempting in its own right – I decided to spend a couple hours trying to work with my ability, getting used to how Transform changed my body, the different shape as it settled, and some moves in the forms I took – mostly the familiar forms from early on in my party’s evolution trees. Riolu, Shinx, Snivy, Bulbasaur. The bipedal Pokémon, like before, came more natural to me than the quadrupedal ones. I could only manage a few forms before I didn’t have the energy or pain tolerance to shift again, the painful limit reached, but by then I understood Transform a bit better and could do it a little more efficiently. I could lean into the shift, instead of just initiating it.
After I exhausted myself with Transform, I took a nap – a long nap. My body was as heavy as a Wailord. More dreamless sleep.
I spent a few days this way, going out only toward dusk. I planted some berry plants, and they grew fast with Serperior and Venusaur's care.
On the third day of hiding in Mt. Moon, I woke up from a nap after I did some more Transform training, and I noticed Kevin sitting nearby, leaning on the cave wall, his Kadabra meditating by his side. Squinting through the almost-darkness, I saw him dozing along with me.
"Kevin?" I said quietly, but hopefully loud enough to wake him up, reaching for him. "Kevin, what are you doing here?"
Kevin's eyes opened in a momentary mix of confusion and recognition. Then his eyes adjusted to the dark and found me. "Crystal," he said, smiling. "I'm so glad you're safe!"
"I'm glad you're safe," I said. "What happened? I ran into a Pewter City officer and they said you were working with the Cerulean Jenny, but he didn't know anything about what you were doing with them."
"I want to first hear what happened and how you got away," Kevin said. "Bill told me, but I can't really believe it. Also, Bill says you're not allowed to leave in the middle of the night anymore," he added with a chuckle at the end.
"Ah, yeah, you guys don't know about why," I said awkwardly. "Alright. Well, they kept me in the stone for a while," I began, telling the last two days again, starting from when they put the chip on me all the way to me arriving at Bill's cottage, and including Bill identifying one of the chip's functions and the weird dreamscape. "I don't think it was a normal nightmare, and I think that being around technology for some reason allows them to access... well, me." I pointed to my neck, to the chip he couldn't see.
"Bill said that, too," he said. "He asked me to look at what data he could pull from the chip, to see if any fresh eyes could tell him anything else, or if I had any other ideas about what Roket might've put into the thing. Having something to look for would help, even if it was just to eliminate options." He didn't go on, and looked away from me, at the opposite cave wall.
"Did you come up with anything?" I asked after the silence drew out for a while.
"Actually," Kevin started, "I have the means to eventually figure it out." I didn't notice at the time, but his words came out in a monotone, almost emotionless.
"Really?" I jumped up. "Then let's go, I can't stay at Bill's for long but we can go—"
"We don't have to go to Bill's," he said, in the same, flat tone. "You don't have to go anywhere, actually, so you're free to stay here if this is where you feel safest."
"Then how can you figure it out if you can't look at it? It's kind of connected to, well..." I gestured helplessly at my neck
"I can get access to the computer that deals with it," he said, now avoiding my eyes.
"How?" I asked. "You can't just waltz into Rocket's HQ—"
"Crystal," he said. Not sharply, but with enough weight to cut me off. "I actually can. You'll need to trust me on this."
I just stared at his face, dumbfounded. "What do you mean?"
"I have access to their HQ. I can get in their headquarters pretty easily."
This news should have been a great thing. So why was he avoiding it, as well as my eyes, and acting so strange? "Kevin, please just tell me. Are you safe?"
"Safer than you," he answered, without really answering. "I can get access to their servers, if given time."
I didn't say anything, I didn't know what I could say, and I waited for him to continue the conversation.
He looked at Kadabra and stood up. "I should leave, I can't be so far off-grid for very long. I have to go back tonight, and it's already evening."
"But how are you going to get into Rocket's HQ? Don't do anything crazy, there might be another way."
He looked at me. "I'm... I'm currently working for Rocket." He turned away, motioned for Kadabra to follow, and left the cave. "I'll be back in a few days," he said over his shoulder, but not looking at me. "Stay safe, okay? Please be careful."
He left without waiting for my response, without saying another word.
My thoughts whirled. It could have been a minute since he left, it could have been hours.
Crystal, I'm so glad you're safe! I can get access to the computer that deals with it. You'll need to trust me on this. I'm currently working for Rocket. Please be careful.
Kevin was my brother, and he would always be my brother. I did trust him.
I practiced my ability to pass the time. I began trying second evolution forms when Kevin had been gone for three days, or that's how long he said he was gone when he returned. It sounded about right.
Kevin walked into our cave, again with Kadabra at his side. This time wearing his full Team Rocket outfit. "I found out what it does, and I'm surprised it's as small as it is," he began.
I listened as he listed off and explained what the chip did – what he found out. It's main function being a prototype of some simulation technology, to train Pokémon or even people in scenarios they can control with a linked computer. He talked about what they wanted to use the chip for, how to get the Ditto ability, everything. Everything they planned to do that their greed demanded of them. Ignoring laws to become more powerful. More destructive.
The busy Viridian Forest life for the most part allowed us to hide in peace. The Caterpie, Weedle, Pikachu, and Pidgey let us be. A few random Pokémon wandered close out of curiosity, but they never stuck around.
Venusaur actually led us deep into the trees. “Crystal, do you remember the rumors of the Bulbasaurs and Ivysaurs?”
“I do,” I said. “I loved imagining finding them with Kevin.”
“I have a sense of a clearing,” he began, stopping and shutting his eyes, as if searching. “We can find a safe place.” He opened his red eyes and glanced at me. “I thought you might like to keep imaging that this could be that clearing the stories told about.”
“You know me well,” I laughed. “Thank you.”
Venusaur nodded. “We need something light right now.”
He led us to the clearing he sensed. A large tree grew out from the center, and other big trees surrounded the clearing, creating a canopy cover. Sunlight only reached the outer edges, and pink and white flowers grew in the light as if creating a boarder. It was beautiful, and the perfect place to hide from an airship with a multi-colored party of Pokémon.
“This is like out of a fairytale,” I said in awe. Venusaur lumbered into the clearing, toward the central tree.
Serperior slithered after him slowly. “I miss knowing the land as well as you know this one,” he said to Venusaur. “Though I don’t know if I know of any place that is quite like this.”
Venusaur smiled. “We traveled Kanto extensively – Crystal always wanted to meet Mew, and rumors of Mew’s appearance had indicated Kanto at the time. She didn’t leave for a long time after the rumors stopped, and even then, had to revisit the old Gym routes to make sure she left no stone unturned.”
Our makeshift camp wasn’t great – I rarely traveled expecting to camp, and I usually had no problem getting a room at a local Pokémon Center. But I had a sleeping bag for the rare occasion my party and I got stuck away from a town or city while traveling. We made do with the rest of what we did have, mostly the natural cover we could help enhance from more leaves in the trees, under the top of the canopy, and berries I kept in my berry case. We planted a few in case we stayed for longer than a few days.
Once we got settled, as well as we could with my limited camping equipment, Lucario approached me. “Crystal, I think we should try and figure out what they put on you,” he said. “I don’t like it.”
I nodded. I sat down, and Lucario sat behind me as he called over Luxray. “I don’t, either," I agreed. "They never addressed it. No one spoke to me while they attached it to me.”
Luxray sat in front of me and watched Lucario attentively, waiting. “Anything?” she asked, after a moment.
Lucario let out a hiss of air in frustration. “I don’t know what it could be. Can you use your X-ray vision to see anything? Maybe inside of it?”
Luxray moved around, and Lucario got out of her way. I felt her sniff it, and then more silence. “It might be attached to more than just your skin,” she hesitantly said. “I can’t really see, but it might be attached to the bone. Attached to your spine.”
“My spine?”
After we informed the rest of my Pokémon, we uneasily got ready for night. No one knew what that could mean. I need to get a message to Kevin. Maybe I need to covertly get to Bill’s. Maybe he can help us figure out what this is?
We kept watch, trading off for half-night shifts in pairs. None of us slept soundly anyway, with the last day of events and the new revelation of the chip. Nothing came by in the night, no suspicious noises caught our attention, and certainly no airships flew over our temporary haven.
The morning passed without us seeing anything alarming – we saw people, but they were fresh Trainers traveling between Viridian City and Pewter City. We still kept a careful watch over whoever entered the forest, and meticulously kept any trace of our presence strictly to our clearing. We didn’t make any campfires last night, and we stayed quiet.
Around noon, I gathered my Pokémon. “We need to go see Bill,” I said. “I don’t know what Kevin is doing, but Bill might be our only real chance to get a message to Kevin, and they might be able to figure out what this chip is.” I pointed at the back of my neck. “We have to go discretely. We can sneak that way tonight.”
They agreed, and we began concealing our stay in the forest.
We heard the voices searching in the forest around mid-afternoon.
“Serperior!” I hissed. “Take a look.”
He slithered into the forest almost silently. The rest of us stopped and listened – Luxray stared intensely in the direction that Serperior disappeared. I recalled Persian, Venusaur, and Charizard as the rest of us waited for Serperior.
A few minutes later, he returned, but the voices had gotten closer to us as well. “Rocket,” he hissed.
I nodded, the resignation of becoming their prey steeling my resolve in a strange way. “Pewter City.”
I led us out of the forest, losing my way a few times since Venusaur had led us here. Luxray and Lucario kept an eye on the people (or their auras) surrounding us as Serperior and I tried to find our way – but he was native to Unova and had never been to Kanto before. None of them had.
Luxray shouldered me into a bush, while Lucario and Serperior hid in a leafy tree. Serperior helped cover Lucario’s blue-and-tan colors with his own greens. We were motionless when the footsteps wandered nearby.
“I never trust the new tech,” one, a man, said. “It says she’s in Viridian Forest, but I haven’t seen or heard anything from the others to indicate that she’s actually here. How could she have gotten this far anyway?”
“She had the entire night to get as far away from Vermillion as she could,” a second voice, belonging to a woman, pointed out dryly. “I guess this is a field test for it, and we get to see if it works. Quit complaining. Do you want to find her? Haven’t you heard the rumors of why we’re hunting a random Trainer?”
The man sighed. “It’s probably something else. She’s probably got a Ditto and tricked us.”
“You weren’t on the airship,” she said. “She exploded and ran, and then the boss’s Persian tricked her. She used Ditto’s Transform and turned into a Persian herself, and turned back into a human! The report is true – especially since the Poké-translator worked and Persian could add his account to it.”
The man made a dismissing sound. “But if she’s running, she must not be that powerful. What, isn’t she just a teenager?”
“She’s the Champion’s sister, and she’s travelled other regions. Haven’t you ever cornered a Rattata?” the woman scolded. “Do you actually want to find out what happens when she’s desperate? With all that experience, all those Pokémon? I sure don't.”
They strayed out of our hearing range. Once their voices faded completely, I counted to thirty, and then gave Luxray a questioning look.
“Clear,” she breathed to me.
I broke cover first, with the other three following suit. “We have to hurry,” I said. “If they’re here, we can’t be far from the main path. We just have to travel parallel to it.”
With one more close call, we made it back to Pewter City undetected and quickly made our way through. I returned my Pokémon while we passed through the city, since they could be recognizable to Team Rocket – while I wasn’t the only Trainer to go to a different region and carry foreign Pokémon, anything that could be traced back to me could give away my location or my destination. Somehow, they knew I was in Viridian Forest, I worried. We’ll hide in Mt. Moon until nightfall, then we'll make our way to Bill's.
the tall peaks of Mt. Moon, known for Moon Stones and sometimes Cleffairy, blocked some of the just-past-noon sunlight, casting a cold shadow on the western entrance of its caves.
I brought Luxray and Persian back out. “Let’s go and find a place to hide, I guess,” I told them, as we entered the cave. “Persian, Flash, please.”
Mt. Moon had one well-maintained main path through it to get to Cerulean City, but the dead-ends and other tunnels remained as they were, with little light and many pebbles and rocks littering the ground. Persian lit up the shadows of tunnels as the red gem on his forehead emitted Flash. Initially, the light started as a pink-red, before it glowed a burning white, like a palm-sized sun. I led the way down unfamiliar tunnels. Years ago, Rocket had a stake in searching this place, I remembered. I hope they don’t know I’m here. They had the manpower to overrun Mt. Moon back then.
Once we got to the end of one of the tunnels, I brought out the rest of my Pokémon. The tunnel could house all of us, even Charizard and Venusaur together with the rest. I turned to Persian. “You can drop it,” I said. “We just need to hide until dusk, then we can hurry to Bill’s.” Persian nodded, and Charizard’s tail-flame flickered on the walls, our only remaining source of light.
We waited, and we spent a majority of the time in silence, contemplating the implications when I shared that the chip might be a tracking device, “And who knows what else.”
The summer sun set late, so dusk came well into the evening. As best as I could estimate dusk, we made our way through the caves as I found the well-traveled and familiar path. Outside of the eastern entrance, casting beautiful fiery-indigo colors, the descending sun just barely cast its light on the water. The breath-taking scene gave us the opportunity to travel in near-darkness.
I returned most of my Pokémon, with the exception of Lucario, as we made our way to Cerulean City, and then north to Cerulean Cape. Night had fallen fully by the time we reached Bill’s cottage.
I knocked on the door.
”Hold on,” I heard his muffled annoyed voice. “Why’re you coming by this late?”
He opened the door and stared at Lucario and me for a moment in disbelief. “Crystal?” he breathed.
“I got away, I hid in Viridian Forest—”
Bill hurriedly pulled me in, Lucario following close behind, and shut the door. “Crystal, what— how—”
“I need your help first,” I said, the words rushing out of me. “They put a chip on the back of my neck, and I think it lets them track me.”
Bill gave me a blank stare before he nodded decisively. “I’ll take a look. Come over to my computer.”
I sat in the chair near his PC, the chair where this all started, as he got a program running. When he walked around and studied the chip, I heard him mumble to himself. He put a node – a different node than on his Ditto machine, since I could see all of those sitting unused – on the chip. He went back to his computer with a look of determination on his furrowed brow. He didn’t speak for a long moment. Lucario watched the door, attentive and ready should anything else go wrong.
“Tracking is part of what it does,” Bill said, almost absently. “I’m disabling it. It’s not complex, compared to the rest of what it does, though,” he continued. “I’m trying to figure the rest out. But while I draw that information from the chip, tell me what happened. Kevin and the Cerulean Officer Jenny worked to bring down the airship, but…”
“Right, no use,” I said. “They got me, they brought me out of the stone long enough to… apply, maybe? Apply the chip,” I began, explaining the frantic escape from the airship, the day of hiding in Viridian Forest, them tracking and nearly finding us, and our hiding in Mt. Moon for the last several hours. “Now I might be able to hide properly, if they can’t track me.”
Bill, refocused on his monitor and didn’t respond immediately. His eyes flicked across the screen; his fingers flew over his keyboard. “The chip does a lot more than just track," he reiterated, "but I don’t know what I’m looking for, so I can’t find out what else,” he said finally as he came around to peer at the chip, taking the node off. “Luxray said it might've bored into the bone?”
“Yeah, and it was pretty painful when they put it there, so I’d believe her.”
Bill returned to his PC and shook his head at the screen. “I don’t— I didn’t intend for this to happen. This all went south so fast. And Kevin…”
“Where’s Kevin?” I asked. “A Pewter City officer did say he was working with Cerulean’s Officer Jenny, but it was a secret thing and didn't go into specifics.”
“It is,” he said. “I wasn’t even allowed to hear the conversation. But Kevin stops by every few days, so he’s not unreachable. You’re welcome here, of course, Crystal,” he added. “But I don’t know when Kevin will come back. He doesn’t have his PokéGear or X-Transceiver on him," he pointed to the corner of the room, one not any more organized than the rest, but I noticed Kevin's equipment. "He had to leave it to do whatever Officer Jenny suggested.”
“Okay,” I said. “Though I don’t want to stay here long. Returning to the place I was taken from might be a bit obvious, since they’re currently combing Viridian Forest for me, and who knows where else. They weren’t in Mt. Moon yet.”
“Where will you go?” Bill asked.
“Maybe a different region,” I said hesitantly. “I don’t know. Maybe I can make my way over the Johto boarder and hide somewhere there. Maybe I can hide in Victory Road, or Mt. Silver. I don’t know.”
“You can decide in the morning,” he said. “You’re welcome to – uh, well, I can bring out an air mattress?”
“I was planning on sleeping in a sleeping bag on the rough forest floor, so I won’t complain.”
Finally in a safe place, with a friend, after the last two days of constant wariness and on-edge waiting, I let myself relax. Just for this moment. Just for tonight.
I opened my eyes to a strange, large room, one reminiscent of the kind of room Pokémon Gyms have for Gym battles, but every surface of it was a stark white. The floor hummed with electricity, with technology, like computer tower fans. Silent, yet very, very, present and tactile.
Something about my body felt off, and after a couple of moments I recognized the feeling as of that from being in any form but my own. I looked down, and noticed cream-and brown feathers, pale pink talons, and a beak. I’d seen this Pokémon many times while I traversed Kanto and Johto. Kevin had had one since we left Route 1. I couldn’t mistake it, I was a Pidgey.
Where am I? Why am I a Pidgey?
Four circles in the floor opened up in a semi-circle in front of me.
A Pikachu and Raichu rose up from the two circles on the left, while a Luxio and Luxray rose up from the ones on the right.
My Trainer brain kicked into gear immediately, frantically, as the four Pokémon focused on me. Type disadvantage! I launched myself clumsily into the air.
The room changed color as yellow-white lightning struck somewhere – I didn’t know where, I flew erratically over and past them. Part of me couldn’t control my flying very well, and the other leaned into it with the thought of being a harder target to hit.
I glanced back over my shoulder, as best as I could, and I nearly froze in the air.
The entire back wall, while it had been white just a moment ago, rippled with colors. No, not just colors. Terrain. I didn’t get a great look, as another bolt of lightning shot toward me and I had to dive out of its way, but as I winged around, I saw the patch of color, terrain, whatever, growing and spreading. Stalagmites and stalactites emerged from where the changing texture reached the floor and ceiling, and branches reached out from imitated trees on the other walls.
I smacked right into a large branch, scrambling with my talons and wings to hold myself up and keep my balance here. If I fall on the ground, they can pin me down, and it would be a miracle if they only make me faint.
I looked down, and the four of them stared up at me. Focus and determination, not eagerness, defined their stances and actions. They only watched, and the Pikachu and Raichu didn’t even have electricity sparking form their cheeks.
The terrain around us kept shifting. Ripples brought new pictures, new textures, new obstacles. The room’s appearance flowed from one thing into the next.
They’re waiting for me to fall, I realized in a panic. I have to get flying again.
But I didn’t know how to fly, and Pidgey had small wings in comparison to its evolutions. I wouldn’t be able to fly for very long.
Transform, I thought. But into what? The answer came immediately after I thought the question. Type advantage. Ground electricity, and it can’t hurt you. Sandshrew.
I focused on Sandshrew – the sandy-pale outer shell, the off-white underbelly, and the claws. The sharp claws made for digging.
Most of all, I thought of the type advantage – electric-type moves couldn’t touch ground-types.
The shift happened, almost instantaneous. I fell from the tree, upside-down – but I reached for the ground as I prepared Dig.
The floor beneath us looked like ground, it even had grass, but I slammed into it hard. I tried digging, forcing myself to make a hole before I stopped to assess if I had been hurt – Move before the pain sets in, I urged myself. But the floor, whatever this shifting illusion material was, it wasn’t dirt, and I couldn’t use Dig to get underneath it.
The Raichu used Focus Punch on me, from behind. My shell took some of the damage, but it still knocked me forward with enough force that left me breathless. I whirled back around and used Sandstorm – any sand from the shifting terrain got caught up in a huge gust of rushing wind, pelting us with sharp little grains of sand. They had to close their eyes and shield themselves from the sudden hostile weather.
Hostile weather. I smiled wickedly. I can use Earthquake.
I put my claws on the ground, summoning the ground beneath me. I might not be able to dig into the ground, but there has to be ground somewhere here.
I could sense the earth below us. Calm, flat, underneath. I pulled at it, inwardly, as I used Earthquake. The floor beneath me began to sink, lift, and crack as the earth started to quake.
“Thank you for your demonstration, Crystal Fairway,” a voice, a male voice, gloated. It had no origin, but it was clear as day to hear, and I recognized the sneering voice. “You’re dismissed. For now.”
Before I could wonder what Giovanni had meant, I shot up in my sleeping bag, wide awake and with my heart pounding in my ears.
Chapter Three - Turned into Stone (M(T)PJ: Book 1)
My (Twisted) Pokémon Journey: Book One Masterlist
Chapter 2
Chapter 4
2.9k words
The stone slowly released me, starting from my head. The sterile white walls outside of my prison blinded me for a moment, before my eyes adjusted.
Rarely, when J stole Pokémon, some were saved and recovered. Pictures of the clear displays made their way into certain news articles and on TV.
Horror mercilessly constricted my heart as I recognized my prison as one of those display cages. But as the stone receded from my body, as I regained my arms, I wondered aloud, "Kevin?"
Something behind me pulled my PokéBag off of me, and I turned to see a stranger in dark clothing taking it away, taking my Pokémon away.
Fury pulsed in my head, replacing the horror. "HEY!!" I tried turning, but I couldn't feel my legs – and then I looked down. My legs were still cast in stone.
Now someone out of view faced me back forward and held me still. Someone else moved my hair to reveal the back of my neck. "What are you—" I growled out, almost inhuman in tone, before I grunted in pain.
Something cold touched the base of my neck before it latched into place, firmly, painfully, almost boring into my skin.
"What are y—!"
I turned back into stone.
The next time the stone released me, Giovanni stood outside of my display cage, his hands behind his back, appraising me. J stood off to the side flanked by two of her henchmen, while several Team Rocket grunts accompanied their leader. I scowled at Giovanni but said nothing.
"Well, well, well, aren't you a blast from the past," he commented, his voice carefully controlled and smooth. "Who knew I'd be able to get you back for interfering in my interests those years ago? And now I even have some of the Pokémon that you did that with."
I bit my tongue, refusing to give him the satisfaction of a response.
"Oh, come, now," he said. "Don't you want to talk? I recall you always spitting out taunts or boasts, especially when you found your way into our little casino headquarters."
I finally noticed my PokéBag in one of the grunts' hands. "You'll regret this," I warned him in a low tone.
"Ah, there we are," he said to J. "Not as much of a spitfire as she was when we last stood face-to-face, but I digress." He turned back to face me. "I hope you realize that you get to see the new inside of our old headquarters. We have since... renovated. I think you will appreciate it when you see it."
I need to get out while I have the chance. Maybe I can work with other signature moves... like Voltorb's infamous Self-Destruct. "Any clues as to what you changed?" I asked sarcastically. "I doubt it's a guest suite." The energy, rotten and rotting, started growing in my chest. I had to keep him talking, to keep them distracted, while I prepared. "It can't be that impressive if you have to bring someone there against their will."
"It's truly pristine," Giovanni replied, mocking. "Not unlike Hunter J's accommodations here." He gestured to the empty and stainless white room and the dark, glossy floors. "Just a little less white, it's such a stark color. It doesn't quite suite the rest of our underground facility."
If I hadn't had a plan, if I hadn't had the power condensed in my body as I added more to it, that would have broken through my anger. I have to GET. OUT.
On that thought, I released the energy – a terrible, burning, bursting power – with me at the center of the near-deafening blast.
A heartbeat later, I heard glass as it fell with a clink, clink, clink, and as I opened my eyes the scene – once a calm, sterile scene with triumphant criminals gloating about their victory – that had become chaos, decorated with broken glass and scorch marks. Everyone in the room either got blown back against the wall or on the floor, some grunting and others struggling to move.
My glass prison lay, shattered, among debris of other equipment. I now could see I wasn't with other stone Pokémon, but a different cargo area. I didn't think about it much before I grabbed my PokéBag from the grunt, and ran. That was too much energy, I thought frantically, I can't spare anymore energy for that.
The lights dimmed, turned red, and a piercing siren reverberated around the ship, as I ran. I just ran. I heard footsteps, and ducked into a random room, a vacant one, luckily. I pulled out Persian – my oldest, stealthiest Pokémon. He looked at me, confused, once the white light dissipated.
"We're on J's ship, I was caught, they know," I hurriedly whispered. "I can't do much right now, I already used too much Teleport and I just did Self-Destruct. Team Rocket is here."
Recognition glinted in Persian's eyes as he got caught up to speed. He nodded.
"So we have to hide until I can get us out. But I can't do it alone. I need your experience."
He tilted his head. What do you have in mind? he seemed to ask.
"I don't know. We have to hide, but we won't be able to for very long."
Persian's ears swiveled toward the door. It wasn't long before I heard footsteps rushing past.
"We need to move, but we need disguises. We’ll stick out like a sore thumb, since the only other Persian is likely Giovanni’s," I said.
Then it hit me.
"Wait," I said. "Giovanni’s Persian. We can both impersonate him." If I can manage that, I added to myself. "We can only try and see, right?"
I had to focus, without any distraction. I had to turn into a Persian, not just a Meowth. And I couldn’t let the pain distract me from successfully shifting into a Persian.
I took a few deep breaths, while steps outside the door pounded past, and caused my own heart to pound with adrenaline and fear. I shut my eyes tight in anticipation of the pain.
Persian, I willed. I need to become a Persian.
The change started small, in my hands and feet. The bones shifted position; the muscles changed to a Persian’s physicality. Then Transform took my arms and legs, the tendons and tissue rearranging, they disconnected and reconnected with painful burning. My torso – it hurt to breathe. I almost didn’t feel the tail grow out this time, and my body rejected being bipedal. Then my head – my ears hurt as my jaw changed, a splitting headache jumped sharply into being. My skull became more malleable to change its shape, all of that inelastic bone bending with a potent, aching pain as it reset into its new feline form.
I gasped as the pain receded from my body, as I could breathe without sharp stabs into my lungs, as I recognized a feline Pokémon’s night-vision in the dark room, now I could see things in shades of grey. “Persian?” I panted. “Did I make any sounds? I need a second,” I added, as the pain gave way to a weak body that was still settling into itself.
“Yes,” Persian said. “But I don’t know how much they could hear past the door.”
“Then we need to move. Find a space where Charizard can take us away from here.”
He didn’t respond to that. I straightened up – as much as I could, both Charmander and Meowth are still bipedal, unlike Persian – and took a few steps to test out this new form.
I didn’t have enough time to adjust to this form. The door opened – a mechanical pocket door – as light spilled into the room that we hid in. I turned in time to see a silhouette – a man in a business suit.
“Two Persians here!” Giovanni called over his shoulder, out at someone in the corridor. “She’s one of them!”
I quickly grabbed my PokéBag in my mouth and bolted past him, with Persian on my heels. Numerous voices shouted behind us, but I didn’t look back. I struggled not to trip on my PokéBag, trying to keep my head up as I ran to avoid stepping on the straps.
Persian leapt over me and called, “Follow me!” as he ran on ahead.
I grunted and kept up as best as I could.
We got to a large room with J’s ground vehicles, and Persian ran over to a large, red button on the wall. Persian hit the button, and slowly the one end of the room – a kind of vehicle bay, I realized – as a ramp stared its decent. The vehicles must somehow be secured since I had to brace myself on the opposite side of one to keep from flying out of the bay. If I could use Transform, and then bring Charizard out, we could get away. We could at least get out of the airship.
“Persian,” I called. “I have to shift back, can you make sure no one interrupts me?”
Persian bounded over to me, watching the door, and nodded.
I took a breath, closed my eyes, and concentrated. Shift into me. Crystal Fairway.
The pain followed, much like the Persian pain, but becoming me felt natural. It was easier. It didn’t take as long, and I settled into my form much easier and quicker.
I opened my eyes and reached for Charizard’s Pokéball. “Okay, now—"
Persian was gone.
I cursed to myself and grabbed Lucario’s Pokéball instead. I brought him out with a flash of white light. “I got caught by J. Persian was with me, but he disappeared,” I hastily said.
Lucario didn’t miss a beat, he closed his eyes and the aura sensors on his head rose as he searched for Persian’s aura. A moment passed before he opened his eyes and said, “He’s not here.”
“What do you mean?” I asked. “He was just with me! He was here, he led me here.”
Concern broke through Lucario’s normally neutral expression. “There is another Persian here…” he said. “But it’s not our Persian.”
I stared at him in shock, then reached for the Pokéball that I thought belonged to my Persian. “Giovanni’s Persian saw me use Transform, he saw me turn into and out of a Persian. Giovanni saw us as Persian, but his Persian witnessed it.”
Lucario put a paw on my shoulder. “But humans can’t understand Pokémon. And I did sense a familiar Pokéball, though it could be anything. It might not be him.”
“But it might be.” I led the way back into the airship, with the ramp still open in the bay. “Maybe someone will come this way and think we got out already.”
“We have to move, none of us can stay here,” Lucario urged.
Lucario led the way as he searched for Persian’s Pokéball with his aura sense. I listened for Pokémon or people, but we didn’t see anyone since I saw Giovanni before.
Once we got into the room, I recognized it. The broken glass on the floor, the broken display cage. Behind where I would have looked sat a normal, red-and-white Pokéball. “That’s his,” Lucario said.
I carefully walked over the glass, grabbed the Pokéball, and we rushed back to the vehicle bay. While the sirens blared and the lights flashed, we saw no one on our way. No one was waiting for us. The ramp was still open.
“Charizard,” I said, with a white light. “We need to get out of here.”
Once the white silhouette dissipated, Lucario and I climbed up and Charizard wasted no time in launching himself out of the airship.
I looked around at the landmass, trying to orient myself and plan for a place to hide. Viridian wouldn’t be bad, with all of its tree cover and Pokémon. But where are we?
I noticed the sea, and a small town, and a cruise ship – The S.S. Anne! Vermillion City! We can use Diglett’s Cave to get to Pewter City, and then Viridian Forest. “We’re going for Route 10, Charizard,” I called to him. “We have to get to Viridian Forest discretely.”
He nodded. “We’ll be down there before they can see us.”
With all of the strength of a Charizard, Charizard got us to the entrance of Diglett’s Cave in less than a minute. I recalled him, and Lucario and I rushed inside, and down the ladder to the unofficial, underground route of Kanto. I grabbed the pink Heal Ball from my PokéBag and called out Luxray.
Luxray looked around. “What happened?” she asked us.
“J knows, I got captured,” I answered as I started leading them down the tunnel, “but we got away. But Giovanni’s Persian was with me for a bit, and he saw me use Transform.”
She nodded. “Where are we now?”
“Diglett’s Cave,” I said. “You guys wouldn’t know what it is, but right now we’re west of Vermillion, and it will take us just south of Pewter City. We’re heading to Viridian Forest.”
“How secret is this cave?” Lucario asked.
“Not very,” I answered. “But it’s more discrete than going to Viridian Forest in the air, and on the ground.”
“Crystal,” Luxray began, “what is on the back of your neck?”
I turned to them and reached around to my neck. “They did something, put something on me, before I spoke to J and Giovanni. I don’t know what it is, but it bored into my skin when they put it on. Let’s see about it when we get to the safety and privacy of Viridian Forest, okay?”
Luxray and Lucario shared a look of concern but said nothing as we continued along Diglett’s Cave.
We got to Pewter City without an issue. No Pokémon hunter airships, and no Team grunts.
“Viridian Forest is south of here. It won’t take us long to get off the main path and hide in the trees. We just have to stop in at the Pewter City Pokémon Center.”
Luxray scanned bushes and nearby buildings with her X-ray vision as Lucario searched with his aura sense. I just guided us in the familiar direction to the Pokémon Center.
One thing I did notice, however, as we made our way through the city was the amount of Officer Jenny’s officers around. While I didn’t often visit Pewter City, the number of officers seemed like that that would be found in Saffron or Celadon City.
One such officer noticed us, and deliberately made her way in my direction once we made eye contact.
“Wait a second, guys,” I said quietly. They stopped as they noticed the officer.
Her eyes searched my face. “You’re Crystal Fairway?” she asked quietly.
“Yes,” I answered hesitantly. “Is there something the matter?”
She glanced at Luxray and Lucario. “Your brother made a report about you encountering and being kidnapped by Pokémon Hunter J.”
“That is true,” I said. “Cerulean City’s Officer Jenny knows about the strike at Cerulean Cape?”
“Yes. But what happened? Kevin told us you got taken, but he only guessed that it was for your Pokémon.”
“I have to hide,” I said urgently. “I got away, but Hunter J is still after me— my Pokémon. I saw Giovanni on the airship, too. They’re working together. I have to hide,” I repeated.
She gave me a confused look. “Then we can protect you–”
“You don’t understand,” I said. “I can’t explain. But I have to hide. Can you get a message to my brother?”
She shook her head. “The Cerulean Officer Jenny is working with him covertly. I might be able to get a message to her, but whether or not she can get one to him…”
I debated inwardly. “If an opportunity comes up, I’m going to be hiding in Viridian Forest. Tell as few people as possible if you can get it to him only through others.”
“Please, come with me,” she said, reaching for me. “We can protect you from them.”
I stepped away and shook my head. “No, you can’t,” I said apologetically. “And the longer I stay, the more danger I am in as well as the people here. J is set on a huge bounty. I have to go.”
The officer’s expression was torn – she wanted to have me stay, but she also didn’t want to force me to. “I’ll pass on the message if I can,” she said. “Good luck.”
I thanked her before I continued on to the Pokémon Center. Once we entered, I let out a sigh of relief – I hadn’t noticed how stressed or tense I was while we walked around in the open.
I returned Lucario and Luxray, approached the Nurse Joy at the front desk, and asked her to heal my Pokémon. She asked me to wait a while, and I handed my Pokémon off to her Chansey.
I waited for a small eternity, with sharp glances every time the doors slid open for the young Trainers that passed through Pewter City. I couldn’t tell if I hoped I’d see Kevin, or Lidin, or if I dreaded someone from J or Team Rocket would walk through the door. The jolt of unclear emotion, with its unclear crisscrossing of boundaries, accompanied me in my impatience as desperation settled in.
When the Nurse Joy called my name, I hurriedly went up, thanked her, and took my Pokémon. “Thank you.” I brought Lucario and Luxray out once we exited, and then I quickly led us south of Pewter City, and to the familiar nostalgia of Viridian Forest.
In the morning, I woke up as a Meowth. Everyone got really protective last night, even though I looked like any other Meowth, and not many people paid attention to what happens at the cape – Cerulean City had the blackout, so if anything, the focus would be there instead of here, where out-of-regioners had their cottages. I just could talk – but I didn't have to.
"Morning, Crystal," Bill said when he noticed I was awake. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm doing alright so far," I said, pushing myself up. My sore muscles protested, but I managed, with a wince. "Very sore and a bit stiff, though."
"I think we all know what was coming for you," he joked. "Kevin just got up, he's outside with the Charizards."
"I completely forgot about them," I said, ashamed. "I didn't mean to leave Charizard outside..."
"I think they preferred it, really," Bill consoled. "They kind of guarded the house."
"Why?" I asked. "No one has even been by, and it's not like anyone watched what happened in here."
He shrugged. "They were uneasy. So was Kevin. Rather safe than sorry, I guess."
"Hm. Well, okay. I guess I can't change it. Though do you think I should change back? I can't really go anywhere like this," I gestured at my Meowth form.
Bill gave me a doubtful look. "Only if you feel like you're up for it," he hazarded, uncertain. "You know you shouldn't overextend your muscles while they heal."
"If I can't, I'll stop," I promised. "How about that?"
He sighed. "You're crazy... Alright. After that, let's take a moment so I can take notes on what we know so far, alright? And let's bring the Ditto back, maybe it can help, even if only for moral support."
I nodded as he turned on his PC. If I thought about Charizard and Persian, then how do I think about being me? Do I just do it? I opened my Pokémon Storage, brought the Ditto back out, and prepared to use Transform. One way to find out, I guess.
I shut my eyes, took a few slow, deep breaths, and focused. I made a mental image of what I would see if I were staring at myself in a mirror – long brown hair in a Ponytatail on the boarder between wavy and straight, hazel-brown eyes, freckles from time in the summer sun, my grey vest over a leaf-green tank top (as of yesterday), a black, nearly-knee-length skort with a bright yellow accents and a Team Instinct Zapdos insignia, and grey-and-white tennis shoes. Let me be me again, I willed.
The pain began, adding onto the burn of my muscles' protests, and again it reached deeper below my skin, my muscles, to my bones. This time, I could hear my bones as they reformed, the vibrations of sound racing up to my ears. Human. Crystal Fairway.
When my form settled into something stable, I opened my eyes, and glanced at my hand.
My human hand.
"Oh, thank Arceus, it worked."
Relief welled in Bill's eyes, and the Ditto watched me curiously, but it had happiness in its eyes, too. Bill glanced at it. "You are a beautiful work of nature's hand, Ditto, and it's allowing science to happen here today!" Pulling out a notebook and a pen, Bill asked me, "How was that? Being a Pokémon, and the transformation into and out of a Pokémon form."
We started discussing what we knew, what we've seen/experienced (with us comparing notes to his time as a Cleffairy). Shifting back to human was a lot easier than shifting out of it. Maintaining my form is a passive skill, whether Pokémon or human, neither required constant focus. Focus is required, however, when in the process of shifting.
I asked, "Did you try using a move when you were a Cleffairy?"
Bill shook his head. "It wasn't very long before you three appeared. Those questions are for you to test out. How the moves work, or what ones you have access to in different forms."
I wrote down questions in my X-Transceiver so I could try them out later. "Noted."
"How about you try—"
Kevin burst in the door. "A Rocket raid team's here." He caught sight of me, and the stress in his face softened slightly. "Okay, good. Get your Pokémon and help me fend them off. I don't know why they're here, but..." He didn't finish his sentence, motioning to Bill's machine.
"The blackout," Bill realized. He ran to his computer and started typing furiously. "I'm going to shut this down. I have to take the data from this project, and then lock it down. They can't know about this. Keep them busy. Keep them away from the house!"
We nodded and rushed back outside. I hurriedly called out my remaining party, noting the airborne Charizards and Kevin's Poliwrath, Raichu, and Kadabra as they caused their specialty of destruction in their trio, as five glaring white silhouettes surrounded me: Persian, Venusaur, Lucario, Luxray, and Serperior.
They joined the fray as soon as they could see it. Luxray and Persian worked together to take down some Rockets off to the side, Lucario and Serperior made swift attacks as if in a dance, and Venusaur planted himself in front of Bill's and used Frenzy Plant, keeping others away.
Once upon a time, I had been a child Champion. So had Kevin, before he actually became the Champion, so on those merits alone we were a challenge on our own, much less side-by-side. I never stopped training my Pokémon, especially ones like Charizard, Venusaur, and Persian who'd been with me from the beginning. I wasn't a Champion, but my Pokémon were plenty capable in battles, and could strategize for themselves in their pairs. Even better, our Charizards could pair up and cause destruction easily – they knew each other like brothers, and the same thing could be said about them and Venusaur.
Fire laced up onto Venusaur's Frenzy Plant, not really doing much damage to the flailing roots but instead helping it cause even more damage to Team Rocket's raid. Venusaur called, and my Charizard called back.
The Team Rocket grunts stood their ground. Although some of their Pokémon had already fainted under our onslaught, others weathered the attacks and gave it right back. But I could tell we were winning, we were beating back their offense with a defense and offense of our own.
I ran over to Kevin, grinning. "We're beating them."
"They weren't here for the blackout," he said, his eyebrows furrowed in thought. "They were supposed to be a quick strike team, not a full-on raid. They were going to try hacking the storage system at its source, and didn't expect that such resistance would be around for it."
"How'd you figure that out?" I asked.
"Magic." He tossed me a newer-model red-and-black themed PokéGear. "Whoever ran this operation clearly had confidence in their team, since the orders are all right here. No code, or cypher, or anything."
One of the Charizards roared loudly, triumphantly, drawing our attention back to the battle at hand.
Team Rocket started returning their injured and defeated Pokémon, many of them jumping onto flying-type Pokémon while others fled on foot. Now that the battle ended, we could see that there were less than ten people to the strike team.
Our Pokémon looked to us, waiting for new instructions. "We're safe," Kevin said to them.
My Pokémon nodded but still glanced to me. Venusaur kept up his flaming Frenzy Plant, determination on his face. "Relax," I said to him, to them. He grunted, and the roots lazily began to bend over, slowly retreating into the earth as Venusaur almost-comically plopped over on his side, exhausted. "You've earned a rest," I said to him. "How're the rest of you?" I asked.
As Lucario and Serperior approached, Lucario stepping forward, he said, "They weren't a challenge."
"Okay," I said, turning to Charizard as he landed, "Charizard, how're—"
He spoke! The thought rushed forward before I whirled back around to look at Lucario. Lucario tilted his head at me in confusion, reached out, and took a few steps toward me. "Crystal?"
I glanced at Kevin in shock. "Kevin!" I hissed. "I can understand Pokémon speech!"
He shot me a look, mixed with happiness and worry, before he motioned for the cottage. "Let's tell Bill what happened out here."
I glanced over my shoulder at the posse of Pokémon now out and around. I saw Kevin's Raichu talking with Luxray, his Kadabra and Poliwrath with Lucario and Serperior, the Charizards and Venusaur in a huddle. Persian bounded over to me and sat himself down outside the cottage looking for all the world like an ancient civilization's statue. So many strong and capable Pokémon here, I thought, yet something isn't right.
When we entered the cottage, Bill shot us a fearful look before he recognized us. The frantic typing he had been doing up until now paused as he sighed in relief. "Alright, what went on out there? They're gone, right?"
Kevin handed over the Team Rocket PokéGear. "They were staking out your house, and today was the day they wanted to break into the storage system. Though doing so despite seeing the Charizards outside wasn't their best move. Obviously, you weren't here alone, so why did they attack so rashly?"
"I don't know," Bill said, shaking his head. "Nothing I've ever done warrants that much of a desperate attack. Maybe we can hack into this and figure out something else, something less surface-level orders. After I can successfully get this Ditto stuff off my PC, or get it locked down behind some firewall. Maybe I can mask it and bring something else to the surface."
Kevin peered at the monitor. "Right. While we work on that, Crystal's got something to share about her new ability."
"I can understand Poké-speech," I blurted. "Lucario talked and I could understand him."
All thoughts and intentions of hiding his work left Bill's face. "You can understand them?" he asked.
"Yeah," I said. "But shouldn't we prepare if Rocket is going to come back?"
Bill blinked. "This can wait till it's hidden," he agreed. "Kevin, any ideas?" At the sound of his name, Kevin walked up and they started discussing options and ideas.
"I'll go and help the Pokémon keep watch outside."
"Don't do anything to put yourself in danger," Kevin said over his shoulder.
"Right."
The Pokémon were more-or-less as they were before. Small groups, close enough but scattered. A few glanced in my direction when the cottage door closed, and Lucario came over, with Kadabra in tow. His expression said, Are you okay?
"I can understand you now," I told him. "I heard what you said earlier. It's a shock."
His head tilted again. "Really?" he asked.
"Yeah." To Kevin's Kadabra I said, "Is there a pervasive feeling of wrongness, or is that just me?"
Kadabra shook his head. "No, you're right. That attack had an unusual feeling to it."
"That attack?" I asked. "I only got the feeling afterward."
"I'm more attuned to my psychic intuition. You're not quite just human anymore, are you?"
At that, Lucario gave me a sharp look. "What did you do?" he demanded.
I waved my hand, dismissive. "I helped Bill with something and now have a new skill. I shouldn't be talking about it in case anyone is still nearby."
Kadabra opened his mouth to say something, right as his large eyes darted up. "We might not need to talk about this now," he said, pointing to the sky. "A new problem has arrived."
Lucario and I looked up and behind us, and for the first time in my life, I regretted having all these strong Pokémon. I regretted that they were all in one place. Half of them were without their trainer and couldn't be safely recalled.
An airship, coming from the north, flew over us and halted, hovering. In all of the regions, I had only heard of one airship – the one that belonged to the infamous Pokémon hunter known only as J.
"Lucario, get Kevin," I said numbly. "He needs to be out here for this."
Lucario shot toward Bill's and disappeared inside.
Through our time in Sinnoh, I had heard the rumors of this ruthless and successful Pokémon hunter. I had had the good fortune that I never saw her or her airship in person. She only went after the strong and rare Pokémon, and even though most of Kevin and my parties had common Pokémon – Luxray, Persian, Kadabra, Poliwrath, Raichu, to name only a few — the ones we had were strong. They went through Elite Four challenges. Every single one has faced their native region's toughest trainers.
"Keep your distance!" I called to the Pokémon. "That's a Pokémon hunter!"
The cottage door slammed open. "Return everyone!" Kevin yelled. "Don't let her get any of them!" He already had Pokéballs in his hands, the red beam shooting to his Charizard, Kadabra, Raichu, and Poliwrath.
I grabbed for my Pokéballs, and returned them two at al time. Charizard and Venusaur were last. "Quick, Blast Burn and Frenzy Plant. Do as much damage as you can, quick!"
"Crystal, the local Officer Jenny is already on her way. Recall them!"
Charizard hesitated, but Venusaur didn't. The giant roots reached greedily for the underside of the airship, but it lifted out of reach. "Charizard, return!" I called. "Venusaur, keep that up!"
He grunted, and I could see the strain the move put on him. He can't keep it up for long, I thought. Not when he just did that to fend off Rocket.
Something flew out of the airship, something big and teal with red wings. Something with a person clad in black riding on its back. My blood ran cold, and I heard Kevin call out something.
Venusaur noticed the Salamance and tried hitting it with the Frenzy Plant, but J kept the Salamance out of range.
"Venusaur, return!" I called. No Pokémon. Now we're vulnerable because of her reputation.
The Salamance landed as the Frenzy Plant dissolved, and as she dismounted, we got our first look at Pokémon Hunter J.
She looked like the rumors and news reports; her short, platinum hair, the menacing, floor-length coat, and, most importantly, her wrist laser and the dark visor, things that aided her greatly in capturing Pokémon she deemed valuable.
"Ariados," she said in a monotone voice, nearly inaudible at our distance, holding a Pokéball. A white silhouette shot from the ball, in the form of an arachnid before revealing the red body and the purple-and-yellow legs.
"Crystal," Kevin said in a low tone, "don't do anything. Do not let her know anything."
"We might not have a choice in a minute," I hissed back.
"Can you use Teleport?" he asked.
Teleport. Abra's signature move. "I can try," I said.
"Something's abnormal, here on this cape," J called to us. "Do you want to show me, or should I pull it out of you?"
A clarity dawned on me. "This is what I talked to Kadabra about, something about the strike team felt off after, and he said the wrongness was throughout the fight."
Kevin tuned to me as he realized this was the worst-case-scenario.
"You shouldn't keep muttering amongst yourselves, why don't you invite to show me your anomaly?"
Kevin called out to J, "Quit playing your game, you just want our Pokémon. You won't have them!"
"Those would be a bonus," J said, checking her arm laser, or fiddling with the settings, "but I'm really here for one of you. How about you show me which of you gets a ride in my airship?" She brought out her Drapion. "Or I could just take you both, and let my client figure it out."
She brought her arm up, aimed at me, and fired. Kevin wasn't quick enough to jump in front of it.
I panicked and used Teleport.
The Teleport didn't take me far, since I didn't know the move well or have good control over my ability. But it saved me from the laser in that moment.
J's posture changed, turning into that of a predator catching its prey. "So it is you. Thank you for your demonstration."
"Crystal, get out of here!" Kevin yelled. "Go!"
"Oh, it won't matter," J called. "I've caught tougher things than her." She shot another laser off, and another, and another. Every time I used Teleport, she could tell where I would end up, and I'd barely land before I had to Teleport again. In that panic, she called her Ariados forward.
Sirens screeched to the south.
Kevin sent out his Charizard. "Blast Burn!"
Salamance stepped forward, flanking Ariados, and roared a challenge.
Everything that could have went wrong, went wrong in this moment.
I saw Charizard, heard Kevin's command and Salamance's challenge, and looked in the direction of the sirens – seeing flashing lights – and took my eyes off of Pokémon Hunter J. It took less than a second of my inattention for her to shoot off one more laser in my direction—
I had just gotten off of the S . S. Anne, returning from Unova and a casual journey I went on there.
I had been away for a few months, spending spring abroad, and missed my home and my friends. I missed Kanto. My first stop on my list was Bill's place north of Cerulean City, the cape with the beautiful sunset view in the evening. Charizard and I flew there from Vermillion City's docks, and I knocked on his door.
"One sec!" I heard a voice inside call. "I'm busy."
"Then mind if I let myself in? It's Crystal!"
"Sure, yeah," he replied. He almost sounded distracted. What are you working on now, Pokémaniac?
I opened the door, motioning for Charizard to wait outside. The inside of the cottage looked as it always did, with numerous papers strewn about the floor, Bill and his PC in the center of the main room, and, of course, on the back wall, the two teleportation pods. Bill's pride and joy and the very ones that had turned him into a Cleffairy when I first met him five years ago.
"What are you trying to do these days?" I asked, walking over to him. "Is the teleportation stuff any better than it was when Lidin, Kevin, and I first saw you?"
"Oh, ha ha," Bill mocked, but not taking his eyes off of his monitor. "Funny you should mention that, though. I actually started looking in a different direction, speaking of when you three heathens met me." He turned around with a huge, good-natured smile before returning to the screen – he was typing up some code. "I've been looking into Ditto's nearly-unique ability to use Transform. It shares that ability with Mew, so it being a non-Legendary or -Mythic makes that property an odd one."
"I never thought I'd see the day that you put aside your teleportation project," I said. "How much do you know about Ditto?"
"Well, funny you should ask that," he said, sighing. "You wouldn't happen to have one, would you, or Kevin or Lidin maybe? I go about twice a week, and for a few hours each time, to places they reportedly hang out, but I never have any luck. Once I did see one, but it got away before I could even engage it, much less throw a ball."
I blinked in surprise. "Of course," I said, pulling out my PokéDex. "I used to see them, and catch a few, right around the Cycling Road."
He whirled around to stare at me. "You caught multiple Ditto?"
"Uh... yeah. I've been catching Pokémon for five years, Bill."
"Could you bring one to me? Those devils allude me."
"Yeah, sure," I said. "Can I use your PC to access my Pokémon?"
Bill paused. "One more sec," he said, turning back to his monitor. "I have to finish these lines before I forget them. I'll need to go over it later on to make sure it's right, but between then and now, I can study your Ditto."
"I'll go ahead and let Kevin and Lidin know I'm in the region, while you do that, since I was supposed to meet them for a late lunch."
"Hey, your choice to stay or go. If you have a Ditto, well, you're saving me a whole lotta time from finding them and fighting them."
He was right, I could go and still get to Celadon City for lunch, even if I didn't use Charizard. But this idea was intriguing to me, too. No wonder why he set aside his teleportation project. Now that I looked, the two pods had a visible layer of dust on them. When was the last time he worked on them, I wonder? "Do you have access to my Pokémon storage from there?" I asked. "Since you made the storage system, and all."
Bill shook his head. "No. The Trainer ID chips and passwords and two-factor authentication I put on them, that even I can't just bypass, and all the other cyber security that I've upgraded over the years keeps me out. And the stuff Kevin's helped with, since he has a knack for that type of thing. I didn't want to risk the Rockets or anyone breaking into my stuff and having access to all of Kanto and Johto's Pokémon."
"Hm, alright, I'll be back later," I decided. "I don't know when, but I'll let you know when I'm on my way back up."
"Whenever works. See ya, Crystal."
I left the Pokémaniac to his most recent project. Charizard watched me questioningly. "I think I can walk to Celadon. I missed the sights of Cerulean, and even the busy streets of Saffron, and we won't be late anyway. It's only just now," I checked my Pokétch, "oh, just twelve-thirty. We have plenty of time to sightsee before we need to be anywhere."
We walked toward Cerulean City, and it was almost possible to imagine myself back when Kevin and I had traveled the region the first time, both of us with Charizards and Venusaur lumbering at our sides. "I missed them," I said to Charizard. Oh, thinking of Venusaur, I thought. "But I'm sure so did you, and the others."
I pulled out two other Pokéballs, both of them the classic red-and-white ones, and called out my other two Kanto Pokémon: Persian and Venusaur. Persian let out a happy trill when he recognized where we were. Venusaur smiled at me and let out a happy grunt before he turned and greeted Charizard.
"Ready to see our guys?" I asked them.
Charizard and Venusaur looked eager to put their abilities to the test, with Charizard punching one talon into the other. Persian sat down and licked his paw, as if to say, I don't need to prove that I can fight whatever they think they can throw at me.
"No promises that we're going to battle," I warned them. "This is supposed to be a chill visit."
All three of them looked at me, their expressions saying, Really? You expect us to believe that old routine?
I laughed. "No promises," I emphasized. "Is there anywhere you want to stop on our way to Celadon? We have time to kill, and we don't need to worry about time catching up too quick. Lunch is in an hour or so."
Without a preference, we all made our leisurely way to Celadon City, and to a small café that was new this summer. I didn't see Kevin or Lidin waiting around, but we were still a bit early.
I glanced toward the west entrance of Celadon City. Besides, I missed the region just as much as the people here... My old travels via Cycling Road called me to see it once again. "Let's hang out outside the city while we wait. It'll be nice to see Route 16, and the calmness from outside this busy place."
We waited for time to pass on the side of Route 16, as Trainers and others passed by, coming from and going to Cycling Road. Around quarter after one, we made our way back to the café to grab a table, if they weren't there already. And, when I didn't see another Charizard in the area, I assumed they were still on their way.
"Could I get a table for three, preferably outside?" I asked a waitress.
"Sure thing, follow me."
My Pokémon followed, but made sure to stay out of the way – especially Charizard and Venusaur. Persian, with his comparatively smaller size, could stay nearer to me, and with his feline grace, he had no problem staying out of the way.
The view wasn't especially spectacular, but since we faced the forest that bordered the south of Celadon City, it was peaceful. People came to eat at the café, but the Department Store and the Game Corner drew people – and their bustle – to the opposite side of the city.
I should let them know I've got a table already, I thought. I pulled out my X-transceiver and sent them a text – to Kevin, since they were traveling together.
Just as I had sent the text, I heard a Charizard call overhead, and its shadow passed over the café. My Charizard called out in response. That also works, those two would have called out to each other. The Charizard landed not far from the café, and I saw Kevin and Lidin slide off of the Charizard.
I waved to them, beckoning them over. "Hey! I have a table!"
Kevin, Kevin Fairway, is my younger brother. We started our journey when he turned ten so we could go together. We trained together all the way to Victory Road and the Indigo League. He defeated me when I was a child Champion, taking that title, and he just recently took the official title of Indigo Champion when he turned fifteen and could battle for it. While the League and Elite Four are off-season, he still traveled other regions, and even went to Hoenn for a short period of time before he claimed the Champion title.
Kevin walked over to Venusaur, our shared starter once upon a time, and patted his head. "Hey there."
"How was Unova for you?" Lidin asked me, nodding a greeting to Persian.
Kevin added, "Since you wanted to go the slow way." He grinned good-naturedly as he approached. Lidin elbowed him, but amusement dominated his face.
Smiling, I rolled my eyes. "Oh, because you saw even half of what I saw, rushing through and gaining your badges?" To Lidin, I added, "It was nice to visit, but it is very busy. Like if Celadon was basically the region. I did like the Pokémon, though, and I have a Serperior now, among other Pokémon."
Lidin chuckled in amusement. "You're still leaning toward grass-types, you know," he teased.
"Then I'll be a Gym Leader in a grass-type Gym one day," I said, going to hug him. "I missed you."
"I missed you," Lidin replied.
Lidin was an old friend. We all knew each other before Lidin, the oldest of us, started out on his journey, solo, two years before we started ours. We became a group of rivals, challenging and encouraging each other when we trained together. Even though we have always been rivals for as long as we have had our Pokémon, we were friends long before that. Lidin and I became close while he accompanied us on much of our early Kanto journey, before he went on to journey in Johto. We all had strong ties to each other, even though we've gone our own separate ways as we grew as Trainers.
I let Lidin go, and gave Kevin a quick hug, too.
"Champion Kevin," I joked, sitting back down. "How was Unova for you? Did you like rushing through the Gyms, and beating me home?"
"I didn't rush," he said. "You just have to look at every stick and stone you pass. But the Gyms were fun, I liked the challenge. Now I'm a proud holder of all of Unova's eight badges."
"No Elite Four challenge this time around? I remember when you made the attempt in Sinnoh."
He shrugged. "I'm already busier with being the Indigo Champion. I don't need to be a Champion of a region I don't live in. Besides, who would win against Cynthia's Garchomp?"
"Fair enough." To Lidin, I asked, "What about you? Did you go anywhere while we were gone, or are you planning your next journey?"
Lidin shook his head. "Well, I have time for one more journey – I really enjoyed Hoenn – before I go on to the next stage of life, but I haven't decided where, yet. Though I do want to hear about Unova, maybe that will be the last one before I stop for a while."
We caught up and chatted for a few hours, and ordered lunch as we did. Late afternoon approached before I realized it, with the unending summer sun.
I checked my Pokétch, surprised that the time flew by faster than it felt.
"Do you have somewhere else to be today?" Kevin mocked. "Are we not entertaining enough for you? Your brother and your boyfriend?"
I laughed. "No, sorry. I was going to help Bill with something today. I stopped by and he was working on a new project – I know, I was surprised, too – relating to Ditto and its ability to Transform. He was having problems catching one, but I have a couple in my Pokémon storage. After this, I'm going to let him see and study a Ditto."
Lidin nodded. "That sounds like him, though – wow. He really put aside his teleportation stuff for that?"
"There was dust on his machines," I said. "Saw it with my own eyes."
Kevin stood up. "I've been meaning to check in on what he was doing, so I'll go with you, if you want, Crystal."
I shrugged. "He was doing something with code, or programming, so sure."
"It is getting later," Lidin added, "so maybe I should be heading back. I have stuff to take care of regarding my future journey and also what I'll be doing after that. Let me know how it goes, okay?"
"We will," Kevin and I said.
Do you need a ride?" Kevin continued. "I can drop you off and meet Crystal at the cape."
Lidin hesitated before nodding. "Yes please."
"Okay," Kevin said, calling over his Charizard. "I'll meet you up there, Crystal. Fly safe."
"You guys, too."
I recalled Persian and Venusaur, then got onto Charizard's back. "Back to Bill's. Oh, wait." I pulled my X-transceiver out, and texted Bill that we were on our way, and that Kevin would be meeting up with us. "Okay," I said, getting a hold on Charizard to steady myself. "Now let's go."
The view of Kanto from Charizard's back brought back memories – training our way to the next Gym, the next challenge, catching new Pokémon and getting new Dex entries. The clear sky left nothing to shadow in the open cities, and as we flew back to the cape, a warmth for this region glowed in my chest. Kanto. My home.
We landed outside Bill's, and I knocked before entering. "How's the coding going, Bill?"
He didn't even look up. "I fixed a couple things. Give me another minute and you can get your Ditto."
I sat down in a chair near the door and waited. Kevin's arrival wasn't too long after. "Hey, Bill," he greeted.
"Ah, perfect," the Pokémaniac said. "Kevin, will you come over here and help me double check my code?"
"Sure thing."
I zoned out while they discussed the programming details of Bill's project. When they finished, and Bill called me over to bring out a Ditto, I could start following along.
"Hey, Ditto," I said to it, once I brought it out of storage. "Long time."
The Ditto nodded happily.
"Alright, Bill, So what do you want to do?"
Bill crouched down to the Ditto's level. "I just want to study it, and learn how it does what it does. All I've had to work with so far is just data, nothing actually tangible."
Bill studied the Ditto for a week, and I'd check in daily to make sure it was going alright. The Ditto seemed content, and even interested in some of what Bill said he was learning about it. Kevin also stopped by, but less frequently, to offer help with the programing Bill made. Sometimes he just gave a second opinion or could give a fresh look to the code as Bill poured over it.
By the end of the week, Bill started talking about testing it out.
"Testing what out?" I asked. "Aren't you just looking into how Ditto's can do what they do?"
Bill stood up and looked at me. "That's just part of it. What I want to do is try recreating it. I already became a Cleffairy, so why not take that a step further?"
"Wait." Did I hear him right? "Do you want to become a Ditto?"
Bill made a hand gesture like Kinda. "More of a hybrid, really, but yeah."
"And you're sure it's safe?"
"I have a safety system, if it's not compatible, it will halt the process."
"That doesn't sound like a very good idea," I hazarded. "Though I can't say I'm not curious, now."
"Well," he started, "really, Pokémon and humans were once not really all that different. And some people who die become Pokémon. So there is a connection. I'm just going to see if there is a way to revive that, to flip gene switches back into 'on' and get a slightly-Pokémon human. The best way would be with a Pokémon that can essentially shapeshift to make the process as easy and as likely as possible."
"Wow, that's insane! Do you think it will actually work?"
"That's what I hope to find out today. If your Ditto doesn't mind letting me take a sample?" He glanced down at the Ditto.
The Ditto thought for a moment, then enthusiastically said, "Di!" and nodded.
Bill carefully, slowly, deliberately, took a small, coin-sized glob off of Ditto. He placed it into a device that was almost as big as his desk that had multiple wires or tubes sticking out of it, each with nodes on the end. He started putting them on himself.
"Are you— are you testing it out now?" I asked him in alarm. "You only just got the sample!"
Bill shrugged. "This is how I tested out the teleportation pods. It's done, so why wait?"
"And that worked so well?"
"I don't want anyone to have to do this. You can reverse it if something goes wrong."
"This is a much more complex machine. More complicated than just hitting a button to reverse your mistake," I said. "If it goes wrong, shouldn't you be fully capable of fixing it and not be the only one who knows what's going on as the Pokémon, again?"
Bill raised an eyebrow at me. "Are you volunteering?" he asked uncertainly. "Crystal, I can't do that to you."
"But you have safeguards in place, don't you? And this is why you wanted to use Ditto DNA, right?"
"Are you not scared of this?" He waved his hands at the machine. "The concept? Anything?"
"Well, yeah, of course I am," I admitted. "But haven't you learned from last time that self-experimentation isn't a great method?"
He sighed, exasperated. "Alright. Only because you make a good point. Here," he said taking the one node off his arm and bringing over a chair near the machine. "It probably won't be painless. I'm messing with genes here, it might not be like any pain you've experienced before. Turning into a Cleffairy and back again was the most pain I've ever felt in my life."
"That's just part of it, if it happens, it happens."
"No." Bill looked me in the eye, holding one of the nodes. "This is something else. It can be very painful. You could Transform, and your cells aren't like a Ditto's more easy-to-manipulate structure. People aren't meant to change shape. Everything you physically are can change and that will hurt. Are you sure?"
"Yeah. I think I am."
Bill stared into my eyes for a moment, conflicted. "Alright. Sit tight, this process is supposed to be quick." He continued putting the nodes along my arms, on the back of my neck, and my forehead. He went around to his monitor. "Last chance."
"Just start it before my nerves take over." I watched him type a few things, and then hit a button.
A searing pain shot through the nodes, starting there but not ending at the skin. I involuntarily clenched my jaws together and squeezed my eyes shut as the pain reached deeper than I ever knew it could, to my muscles, my bones.
They started to break, and tear, burning my insides with only its shifting. The world dipped away, the breaking inside of me became my world, all I could see.
An eternity, and a heartbeat, passed like this, before it abruptly stopped. The aftermath of the initial pain lingered, not unlike an ache, but it hurt more to move, so I stayed where I sat.
"Crystal?" Bill asked tentatively. "How are you feeling?"
"Burn," I whispered, cracking open my eyes. "Fire."
"Well, you are a Charmander right now, so I guess that makes sense."
I grunted in surprise. Charmander? I'm a Charmander?
The cottage door opened. "Hey Bill, did you do— why is there a Charmander in here? Where is Crystal?" he added, demanded, a threat creeping into his voice. "I saw her Charizard outside. I saw Cerulean have a black out just now. Where is my sister?"
"Here," I got out, before Bill could say anything. "My choice."
"She thought it would be better to have me in control of it, in case I needed to fix something, instead of me as the subject," Bill explained. "I had plenty of safeguards in place, and if any of them got tripped, it would halt the process, it wouldn't even start it. You know, you helped me implement some of them."
"Not for use on my sister! And not so soon!" Kevin exclaimed. "That was so reckless!"
"I did all my research beforehand, I just needed to sample and to do it. This isn't just something I got up and running in the last week! I've spent a year on this-"
"Guys?"
Bill moved to my side, pulling off the nodes gingerly. I didn't even feel it. Kevin started looking at the monitor. "So, what did you end up doing?"
"She should be able to use Transform, like a Ditto," he said, indicating the Ditto that watched the scene uncertainly. "Since the PC is still open, though, maybe I should send the Ditto back. It doesn't look to happy to be here anymore."
The Ditto nodded and moved toward the computer as if to agree, Send me back.
The pain began to subside into a duller ache, and I tried moving my arm. Short, with talons instead of fingers, it was a feeling of un-belonging in the body that I inhabited. Not to mention the muscle stiffness and the pain as my body settled its usual physicality into this new form.
"Crystal," Bill said, "before you try moving too much, do note the flame on your tail, and the papers all over my house."
"New form," I managed. I'll change into something less flammable. Maybe a Meowth?
"Right, you have to get used to the new form," Bill said. "Just be careful with it while you do."
I shook my head. How did I become a Charmander? Thinking about Charizard? Can I think about Persian, and work my way to a Meowth?
Kevin walked over to me and crouched down. "Just take it slow. You need to just get your bearings in this body."
I shook my head at him. "New form," I repeated. Meowth.
I shut my eyes, and felt the change start again through every fiber of my body. The burning, the breaking, the tearing, and now with the addition of the new nerves in my tail. New follicles of fur sprouted all over my body, through formerly scaly skin, with whiskers poking out from my face. I opened my eyes, and the world had dulled – the color desaturated.
"No fire," I got out. Transforming is a lot, I thought dimly.
Kevin and Bill – who had seen me Transform twice – stared at me with concern and something unreadable in their expressions.
"Don't shift again," Kevin said. "You look exhausted and half-dead. Is that accurate?"
I nodded, closing my eyes.
I didn't notice myself fall asleep, but the muscle soreness and stiffness had already set in by the time I woke up. Well, my entire body went through a relatively quick spike of physical stress. Of course it's recovering.
I looked down at my hand – or, more accurately, my paw. My brown paw, and my cream forearm.
"Crystal?"
I looked over and saw Kevin standing up chair – he must have been waiting – and I caught the shift in his expression to worry and concern to relief. Still exhausted, I smiled at him. "Hey. How long have I been out?"
"A few hours. How are you feeling?"
"Like I got trampled by a bunch of Rapidash. Transform isn't easy to use."
He laughed. "Well, you used it right after you became a Charmander, according to Bill. So duh. We could hear your body reshaping itself, so you can do serious damage to yourself if you don't let it rest and settle into your new forms."
I glanced around at the mention of Bill. "Did he go somewhere?"
"Just to get some fresh air. We, uh... we were very anxious when you fell asleep. Hard. And you talking very briefly. And the sounds that came from you. Even though he kept repeating that it worked, and it was fine, mostly to himself, I think he still didn't quite believe it."
As if on cue, Bill opened the door to his cottage. "Kevin, how is sh- oh thank Arceus, Crystal, you're awake."
"Sorry that I worried you guys," I said. "But I'm better. That was just... overwhelming. That took a lot of energy out of me, not to mention the pain took a lot out of me, too."
"But that's it?" Bill asked.
I raised an eyebrow – or I tried to. "I'd hardly say it's just a huge energy drain and painful transformation process, but sure."
"No, no, no, sorry," Bill hastily said. "I knew about those. Making something, especially living things, do something so drastically outside of their capabilities as changing form needs a lot of energy. And, well, changing the structure into a new one with basically breaking and reconstructing one's form, yeah, I told you that it wouldn't be painless."
I sighed. "Well, I guess changing back into me would be a bit hard for today. My body feels very sluggish and heavy, not to mention sore and all that."
"Yeah, don't shift," Bill agreed.
"What if she can't change back?" Kevin asked, putting a spike of fear in me. "Or if it gets harder for her to as her body gets used to this form."
"Hm." Bill said nothing for an agonizing moment.
I cleared my throat. "Bill? Is the a possibility?"
"Not really," he finally said. "Your body was already more or less permanent when you changed to a Charmander, and to a Meowth. You're just sore from your body readjusting it's organs. If you can get stuck, you wouldn't have been able to change in the first place."
I let out a sigh of relief.
"Though, there is something you can do for me with this," Bill said thoughtfully. "Could you keep notes on what you find out about it? Like if anything is harder to shift into, or if you can only maintain a form for a limited amount of time, or—"
"I got it, Bill, yeah I'll keep notes for you."
And that was when my life changed for the adventurous.
After collecting badges through the Kanto, Sinnoh, Johto, and Unova regions, respectively, a sixteen-year-old Crystal Fairway returned to her home region to visit with some friends and family. This included an old friend of hers, Bill, at the Cape north of Celadon City.
Bill had started working on understanding the well-known Ditto move Transform, and transferring that ability to others. Crystal expresses interest, and gaging By Bill's success and confidence, offers to be the first to try it. This grants her the ability of a Ditto, including access to Pokémon movesets.
It doesn't take long for the ever-watching and ever-listening Team Rocket to find out about this breakthrough, and they aren't alone. They strike a deal with infamous Pokémon Hunter J to assist them in finding and capturing this human-Pokémon hybrid. Oblivious and in Kanto, Crystal learns what lengths people will go to in order to find her.
My (Twisted) Pokémon Journey Series Masterlist
This fic is written in first person.
That's how I started writing this story eight years ago, but I am changing that for the fourth book Ditto Defect since I feel it no longer fits the story I want to tell. It'd be a lot of work to transfer the entire other three stories to third person, so I'm just choosing not to. It's easier for me. But I will do third person going forward.
This, despite being the first book in Crystal's story, is a work in progress (that I am close to finishing). The original original is seven years old, and I can hardly read it for all the cringe of an unplanned story, so in March 2022 I began rewriting it from the ground up and posting it on AO3. I'm nine chapters in, compared to an original twelve, and I don't see myself going past ten chapters, if even getting to ten.
This series can have a tag list if anyone asks for it!
This will be posted little by little until I catch up to myself.
Reminder that it is posted up to Chapter Eight on my AO3.
