A/N: This is a long one, folks! "Got your Bell tea? The chappie's about to start."
Chapter 3
-Transformation-
In which a girl discovers her courage, and a boy begins to understand.
Ember slowly awakened, and passed her hand over her face. “Wow ...” she murmered, her heart beating a mile a minute. “That was a creepy dream.” Realising that she was sitting on Rayne, she leapt up with a quiet shriek. Walking over to a tree, where she slumped down, she scratched her head and felt ... oh dear. A pair of ears. “Omigosh!” she cried out in distress. “That dream ... was no dream! ESPAA-” She immediately clamped her hand over her mouth. What did I just say ...? She stood up again and jumped into a bush. “Why me ..?” she grumbled, trying desperately to squish down the ears that were protruding so obviously from the crown of her head.
~
Ember’s cries of distress woke Rayne from his slumber. He groaned loudly. “Ugh ... what just happened ..? I feel like I swallowed a bug ...” Rubbing his head, he felt something soft. It wasn’t hair. “Oh great. Just great. This is exactly what I needed, ‘bre!” His eyes widened. “Did I just ..? I didn’t. Did I?” Rayne leapt into a tree and tugged at his new ears. “Oh, god, no ...” he muttered in shock.
~
Ember crouched in the bushes, breathing heavily. “Dammit! Whatever Rayne injected into me must have done this ... but then, that would mean ... ARGH! Something must have happened to him as well! Espaa! Okay, Ember. Relax. As long as you don’t spill any information about Pearl, everything should be fine,” she told herself, barely believing it. She felt over her head. The ears were gone. With a sigh of relief, she pulled herself up and stepped into the clearing she had just departed. Rayne was nowhere to be seen.
“Hey, you!” Rayne shouted to Ember from his perch in the tree. “What the hell was that? Pokémon DNA?” he snarled. “I look like a freak!”
Ember looked curiously at him. “Hm? What’re you talking about? You look normal to me. What did you expect to be there, ears? And anyway, I have no idea what I gave you a shot of, and I don’t know what was in that thing you gave me, either. But I don’t seem to have suffered any major side-effects.” Aside from temporarily growing ears! Geez! I have no idea if they’re going to show up again! And what happens if-
Ember felt behind her and, as if on cue, felt something long and furry, and very tail-like. A small sound that sounded a little like ‘eep’ escaped her lips, and she quickly said, “I’m going to go find a place to bathe. Get on with your journey!” she called to Rayne. She decided then and there that keeping her secret a secret was more important than Team Pearl.
Rayne gulped. “Uh, okay. I mean, that is, um ...”
Ember looked at him curiously.
“Uh ... do you ... that is to say ...” Rayne swallowed his pride. For the team. For the team. “Djoowanatraveltogether?” he said very quickly.
Ember gave him another look.
“Would you ... Would you like to travel together?”
Ember giggled. “Okay! If that’s the case, stay here.” Without a seconds hesitation, and still guarding her rear-end, she ran to find some cover while she tried to get rid of the forked tail that had sprung from the base of her spine.
Rayne smirked. This mission ... it would be a piece of cake. Minimum work for maximum prize. It was a good feeling, but at the same time he felt almost ... dirty. As far as he could tell, Ember had no idea where he was from, and almost seemed to trust him ... He quickly shook away the thought. He couldn’t afford to think in such a way, not now that he was on his way to becoming an Opal administrator.
As he thought, a huge roar came from somewhere deep within the undergrowth. The snapping and crashing of trees as they fell filled the area with a crude, bone chilling music. He saw Ember turn back at the noise, then disappear into the cover of thick brush. He remained where he was. Whatever it was, this thing sounded huge. He struggled to retain his composure, and to keep a calm, emotionless face.
The roar came again, this time followed by the appearance of a giant gengar, much larger than usual, and with a strange pattern covering its body. It grinned evilly and struck a blow at Rayne, not noticing Ember, who was still hidden.
The blow was unexpected, and Rayne was thrown backwards into a tree. He cursed loudly, and took in quick, strained breaths. His face screwed up in pain, he glared at the monstrous pokémon as he struggled to his feet, clutching his arm.
Ember remained hidden, looking out with terror at the scene before her. She felt she had to do something, but ... She lifted her jacket sleeve to touch the bandana that was wrapped around her wrist. As she did, the knot unraveled, and a strange marking came into view. It had definitely not been there before. Ember touched it with a slender finger, and as she did, she felt that same strength she had felt in her dream rush through her. At the same time, she felt ears and tail pop up. She touched to her forehead, wondering, and felt a hard, circular lump there. Her mind began to race, and she wondered ... Concentrating on a nearby twig, she spent a few moments imagining it floating a few inches into the air. Before long, her eyes glowed a brilliant blue, and the twig did as she had imagined it. Smiling, she quickly took of her jacket and boots, and ruffled her hair, doing her best to look as different from herself as possible. Wearing only a thin strapped top and mini skirt, she felt a chill creeping over her, but it was soon dismissed by the warm feeling that was in her veins. Without further hesitation, she leapt into a tree that the gengar would soon pass by.
The gengar took another step towards Rayne, and still failed to notice Ember. It lifted a giant hand, ready to bring it down upon its victim. “Gen-GAAR!” it roared, looking menacingly at Rayne. He quickly tried to run, but found his foot trapped in a root. He swore, and tried to tug his foot out of the root, but to no avail. He looked up at the gengar, trying not to let his fear show.
As the gengar came closer to Rayne, Ember made her move.
Why am I doing this for someone I barely know?
She leapt in front of Rayne, making a point of hiding her face from him. “I’ll not allow you to bully the weak!” she cried in an assertive voice.
"Confusion!"
Her attack burst forth from the jewel on her forehead and took control of the gengar’s arm, leading it a few yards away from Rayne. Any distance was good distance. Leaping into the air with in-human speed and agility, she called out once more, “Confusion!” The attack struck the gengar squarely in the forehead, and it staggered away a few paces before dissipating into nothingness.
I’m sure he knows now.
Embarrassed by what Rayne might be thinking of her, she looked sadly at him for a moment. “Good bye,” she said quietly. Ears laid back, she turned, ready to leap forever into the bushes.
Good bye.
Rayne finally managed to break free of the root, and his foot was free. The umbreon ears and tail had gone, and Ember was nowhere to be seen.
He sat down, scratching his head, and looked curiously at the place where the mystery girl had disappeared. He felt he knew who she was, but ... no. She had already told him there had been no side effects. Why would she lie to him if she knew the same had also happened to him?
Ember, in her desperate attempt to get as far away from Rayne as humanly possible, wasn’t looking where she was going. As a result, she crashed into a tree, and returned to her normal self. The feelings of strength and warmth disappeared, and she quickly looked around for her coat. When she found it and her Pearl bandana, she looked down at the strange marking on her wrist. Why was it there? How had it got there in the first place? There were so many questions, and so few answers.
Tying the bandana so it once more covered the marking, pulling on her jacket, putting on her boots and hurriedly combing her hands through her hair, Ember made a decision that would be hard. What if Rayne had realised? She was a mutant, and she had lied to him. What would he think of her? Swallowing her fears, she returned to where she had left him.
“Are you okay? What was that thing? How did you get it to disappear?” she asked quickly, rushing over to him while putting on the best act she could.
Rayne blinked. “Yes, I’m okay, it was a giant pokémon, no-duh, and I don’t know how it disappeared. Happy?” He rolled his eyes. He couldn’t tell if it had been Ember or not. Maybe she was just a good actress. He had no real way of knowing. “Now was there, or was there not, pokémon DNA in that ... syringe?”
Ember shrugged. “I don’t know. I just picked it up, and when you grabbed my wrist I decided to take it as an assault and return the favour. Happy?” She rolled her eyes, mockingly imitating Rayne’s sarcastic expression.
There goes the promotion, Rayne thought. But maybe ... maybe there’s still a chance ... Rayne tried to give his best smile, but it was not as fake this time. This time ... he sort of felt like smiling. “You found it, then thought I was assaulting you?” He laughed. “Why on earth would you think that?”
Ember shrugged again. He must think she was a complete and utter imbecile. “I dunno. Maybe because I still have a mark from where you grabbed me,” she suggested, a hint of sarcasm in her voice. She huffed, and began to play with a lock of her hair.
Rayne grinned. “Sorry,” he said. He found that he almost meant it, too. “Now, let’s see what losers roam around here ...” Rayne looked around them. Nothing but trees, bushes, and more trees.
Two wurmple then scurried past the pair. Ember gave a loud squeal of delight. “Ooh! That is just too adorable! I must have it!” she cried, eyeing the wurmple with longing.
Rayne sighed and slumped against a tree. Women, he thought, rolling his eyes again.
One of the wurmple spotted Ember watching them and glared at her. Ember smiled happily at in return and released her chimecho. “Let’s go! Wrap!” she cried with surprising confidence.
The other wurmple gave an inquisitive glance at Rayne, then settled for staring expectantly at him. Rayne stared back at the wurmple, then released his carvanha after a moment. “Rouge, use bite attack,” he ordered. The wurmple was hit, then retaliated with a string shot aimed directly at Rouge’s mouth.
The wurmple that had been wrapped by Chimecho gasped for breath as the psychic pokémon wrapped its tail tightly around it.
Rouge was hit by the string shot, but it didn’t worry Rayne. “Rouge, use water gun!” The carvanha shot a jet of water out of its mouth towards the wurmple, its own string shot traveling with it.
“Hold on tight, Chimecho! Use astonish!” The chimecho used astonish while holding tightly onto the wurmple, apparently attempting to squeeze the life from it. “Not that hard, Chimecho!” Ember cried exasperatedly.
The wurmple was first hit by its string shot which pinned it to the ground, then was hit hard by Rouge’s water gun. The water attack washed the gooey strings off the bug pokémon and it fired a poison sting at Rouge.
The wurmple was now begging to be able to breathe, as the ever-enthusiastic chimecho appeared to be slowly killing it. The wurmple took in a quick, strained breath, then fainted in the chimecho’s grasp.
Rouge was hit by the poison sting, and took a critical hit. Rayne’s expression changed from confidence to annoyance, half from the wurmple’s attack, and half from the fact that Ember had knocked out her opponent before him. “Come on, Rouge, use water gun again!” The carvanha regained itself, and released a slightly stronger burst of water at the wurmple.
Ember grinned at her victory. “Yeah! Go, pokéball!” she cried, tossing one of the empty pokéballs that had hung on her waist. The sphere rocked once, twice, three times ... ‘poof!’ Wurmple was caught! Ember picked up the pokéball and whispered softly, “I’ll call you ... COOKIE!” She spoke the last word loudly. Returning her chimecho to its pokéball, she waited for Rayne to finish up.
Rayne’s wurmple was hit again by water gun, as its legs were too short to dodge, and this time, it fainted. Rayne threw an empty pokéball at the wurmple, more than a little sour that Ember had already caught her first pokémon. The ball rocked a few times, before making a loud dinging noise and holding still.
Rayne picked up the pokéball. “I won’t bother with names.” Turning to Ember, he said, “Might as well train for a bit before we move on to the next city.”
A loud thumping noise started to come from the distance, as if many little feet were stomping in unison on the ground. This thumping was followed by the loud chanting of, “Oddish, odd! Oddish, odd!” A green and blue blur began to move towards Rayne and Ember, and the thumping and chanting became louder.
Ember looked over towards the group of pokémon. “Oddish! Cute! I want one!” she cried, running towards the blur, only to realise there were at least thirty of the plant pokémon. How the hell do I get myself into these messes? Ember unclipped her two pokéballs. “Chimecho, use astonish! Cookie, use string shot! Go, go, GO!” she called happily, allowing her pokémon to carry out their orders. The chimecho began to cry loudly, while the wurmple began to spray half of the oddish with string shot so they couldn’t escape Chimecho’s attack.
“Rouge, use water gun on that group of nine!” Rayne yelled. The carvanha shot a powerful flow of water at nine of the oddish. “Wurmple, use poison sting on the six over there!” The wurmple glared at the oddish, then shot a volley of needles at the oddish.
The oddish that had been hit by Chimecho and Cookie’s combination attack were badly affected, but managed to keep charging onwards.
The oddish that were hit by water gun were barely affected, and attacked with sweet scent. The six that were hit by poison sting were affected greatly, but managed to shake off the damage and attacked with tackle.
Ember smiled. “Keep it going! Chimecho, keep up astonish! Cookie, start coating the ground around the oddish as well!” she called. The ground around the oddish immediately became as sticky as the oddish themselves, courtesy of Cookie’s efforts, and the chimecho continued its loud crying.
Rouge was hit by the sweet scent and fell into a daze. Rayne swore under his breath. “Rouge, don’t get distracted! Use rage!” The carvanha regained itself and snarled at the wurmple before charging towards them, snorting.
“Wurmple, use string shot on the oddish!” The wurmple shot out a sticky web at the oddish, gluing them fast to the ground.
Some of the oddish became stuck thanks to Cookie’s string shot, and fired absorb at the bug. Others were hit by Chimecho’s astonish, and used sweet scent in defense.
A blank expression came over the chimecho, at it floated in mid-air for a moment, gazing happily into space. Cookie looked up in terror, but thought quickly and directed its string shot at the absorb, rendering it useless. “Cookie, Chimecho, you’re doing great! Cookie, use your string shot as a whip and send the oddish soaring! Chimecho, shake off sweet scent and attack with growl!” Ember commanded. Chimecho used growl on the oddish, backing up Cookie, who was whipping at the oddish that were trapped by string shot.
Many of the oddish were held down by Wurmple’s string shot and hit hard by rage. Four of them fainted, while the other two struggled uselessly, trying to escape the strings. Suddenly, Rayne’s wurmple began to glow white. The battling ceased for a moment as the pokémon began to change in shape and size ... When the glow had disappeared, in the wurmple’s place was a cascoon! Wurmple had evolved! Cascoon’s cocoon began to shine a steely grey – it was using harden.
The oddish that had been battling Chimecho and Cookie were struck numerous times by Cookie’s whip-like attack. Any that remained conscious immediately tried to protect their ears from the chimecho’s growl, but failed, due to the fact that they had no arms, and fainted. Chimecho glowed blue, and rammed itself into a tree – it had learnt two new attacks – confusion and take down. At the same time, Ember’s wurmple began to glow also. When the light faded, in Cookie’s place was a silcoon! It too shone a steely grey, proving it, too, had learnt harden.
Eleven oddish remained, their courage faltering. In unison, Rayne and Ember smiled.
“Cascoon, use string shot!”
“Cookie, use tackle!”
The cascoon, with a more powerful attack, managed to glue the remaining oddish to the ground. One by one, Cookie rammed into them, and each fainted.
Then, together, both pokémon began to glow. Their bodies lengthened, and wings unfurled from their sides. At the same time, both pokémon had evolved – Cascoon into a dustox, and Cookie into a beautifly.
Rayne grinned and returned his dustox and carvanha. “Some training, eh?”
Ember smiled. “Yup. I still want to catch one, though.” Unclipping another empty pokéball, she threw it at one of the fainted oddish. “Pokéball, go!” The oddish disappeared into the red vortex, and the pokéball began to shake. When it released its dinging sound, Ember walked over and picked it up. “I’ll call you Pea,” she said happily, returning her other two pokémon and clipping all three pokéballs to her belt.
~
“Hm ... what now? It looks like it’s getting late” she asked, looking over at the setting sun.
Rayne looked to the golden orb in the sky, casting its golden glow over route 1. He and Ember both felt a strong, cold wind, and looked up as dark clouds began to gather. There was the crashing sound of rolling thunder, and rain began to pour down from the sky. Cold, wet, freezing rain.
Ember leant against a tree and hugged herself, trying to keep warm, but it was useless. She shivered, and pulled her coat closer around her.
Rayne looked over at her, and felt sorry for her. He took off his jacket and put one side over his shoulder. Walking over to Ember, he held the other side around her, and felt his face turning slightly pink. “Is that a bit warmer?” he asked, having no idea why he was doing what he was doing. Though he was only wearing a singlet, he didn’t mind. He didn’t even feel a little cold, which surprised him.
Ember blushed deeply. “Yeah ... thanks,” she said, smiling as she looked up at him. She felt the blood rush quickly to her face.
Oh no ... my ears will pop up ... she thought desperately. She looked down again and bit her lip. She felt nervous, but having Rayne’s arm around her was strangely ... comforting. Then again, she couldn’t have him finding out for sure what had happened. “I ... I have to go!” she said quickly, pushing him away and dashing into the undergrowth.
~
Rayne blinked and put his jacket back on. His umbreon ears and tail popped out and he heaved a sigh of relief. “That was close,” he muttered, tugging at his tail as if he expected it to come off. “Hopefully she’ll stay away long enough for me to get rid of these ears and tail.”
There was more thunder, and the rain pelted down harder still. Before long, hail began to fall.
~
Ember sat under a large tree, hugging her knees to her chest. Rain slashed at her flesh, leaving slight bruises and causing her hair to stick together. Hail danced around her and flayed her skin with its icy touch, causing her to flinch and shiver even more. She lifted the bandana from her wrist, the better to look at the strange new marking that had appeared there. No matter how wet it got, it did not smudge or fade a bit. Ember gazed blankly at it.
I bet he hates me now.
The thought preyed on her mind and made her uncomfortable. Although he was an Opalite, Ember regarded him as her friend, and while she disliked to admit it, maybe something more. After all, no person was truly evil. Maybe he could be persuaded to change teams. It was unlikely, but Ember dearly wished it could be so.
~
Rayne climbed up a tree, the rain blowing harshly against his face. He wondered where Ember had got to. Even though she was a Pearlite, his enemy, Rayne still thought of her as friend – perhaps something more, although it was a feeling he was unsure of.
Where ... the hell ... is she?
“Ember!” he called out, hoping for a reply. This was the worst possible time he could lose her, for business reasons, and because she was his ‘friend’. The umbreon ears remained, as did the tail, but he didn’t worry about it.
Suddenly, a rush of emotions hit him, swirling around in his mind. Rayne fell to his knees and clutched his head, and consequently plummeted to the ground. Injured and cold, Rayne felt himself change. He held out a hand before him, and watched it morph into a paw. He grew smaller and smaller, and fur began to cover his body. His eyes became wider, his vision more acute, and as he called out for help, all that escaped his mouth was a loud, “Umbree!”
No ...
The realisation hit him, like someone slapping his face.
He had completely changed into an umbreon.