Pokemon: A New Evolution

Chapter 4: A Little Help From My Friends

"So Aaron, what do you think is going on?" Zoey asked as she and the other Pokémon sat around the base's campfire. After the incident in the chasm, they had all walked back to camp together. Zoey had bandaged up her forearm and eaten a few Oran berries, so she was well on the way towards recovery. Despite all of the action that had taken place, it was only 9 o'clock p.m. Aaron shook his head sighing.

"I just... don't know," he said quietly, staring down at his new body with more than a little contempt. "The initial transformation was freaky enough as it was."

"On the bright side, you do look pretty cute when you look like me," Sparks chimed in happily.

"This mystery keeps getting bigger and bigger. Could this have anything to do with the Keystone?" Rin contemplated. Zoey nodded.

"That has to be it. It has been involved in all of the previous transformations." Zoey looked at Aaron. "Right?"

Aaron closed his eyes and felt the warm energy flowing through his body. "Something happened when I touched it the first time. That big shockwave that got all of us changed something."

"Obviously," Blaze snarked. "Before that blast I didn't see you turning into other Pokémon."

"Which begs the question," said Rin. "Does this new power mean that you could transform into hybrids of all of us?" Aaron thought for a moment before nodding slightly.

"I wouldn't doubt it." He looked at his yellow hands, clenching them into fists. "But that encounter tonight made me realize something." He looked at each of his Pokémon one by one. "Zoey, Rin, Blaze, Sparks. I don't like this situation we've been forced into. This transformation stole my humanity and my masculinity and forced me into this mess." He stood up looking towards the sky.

"But I sure as hell won't let it keep me down. I'm gonna need your help girls. This body is alien to me. Considering my outburst earlier, it could even be very dangerous. I don't know what it's capable of, nor do I want to find out without your assistance." He smiled. "But I'm confident that we can figure it out. We've come out of a lot of tough spots together, and this isn't gonna be the one that breaks us."

Zoey and Blaze smiled proudly while Rin nodded with her usual warm satisfaction. Sparks could barely contain her tears of joy as Aaron looked back to them.

"That means something else too." He grabbed his breasts in his hands and squeezed them. "I'm gonna have to get used to being a girl for a while."

Rin frowned. "We've been referring to you as male even after you changed."

"Does this mean you need a new name?" Sparks said, tilting her head. "That'll be weird." Blaze laughed.

"And all the rest of this isn't weird? Come on. A name isn't anything Sparks." Aaron rolled his eyes and sighed.

"That may be true, but Sparks is kinda right. It would be really weird. I really wish I didn't have to change it."

"Maybe you don't have to," Zoey said. "Erin. E-R-I-N. It's still pronounced the same way, but it's also a girl's name. How is that?" Aaron frowned, raising a brow.

"Hmm... It's good, but let's hold off on using it right now," Aaron said, looking a little downcast again. "Hopefully I won't be stuck like this for that long."

"Hopefully not," Zoey said, standing up and gesturing to the tents. "We should all get some rest. Today was pretty crazy after all."

"Couldn't agree more," Rin said as she stood up, Blaze and Sparks standing as well.

Aaron watched them retreat into their own tent, before standing and walking to his own. As he entered, he collapsed onto the blowup mattress that was already set up and stared at the top of the tent. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him.