by:pinkskitty11
All her life, Lucia felt trapped like a rat in a cage. Now that her father died and her mother is sick and bedridden, she had to be taken in by the mother's laboratory corporation. Ever since, the staff had been treating her like a lab rat and almost a slave, instantly signing her up for staff and making her do weird things. These things include being told to mix foul-smelling chemicals, testing exoskeleton armor on her, and forcing her to do exercise training that wore her to the bone. Her only leisure time a few minutes in the working day and at evening. She usually spends her evening with her Pokémon companion, an elderly Ninetales named Jane. She had Jane as long as she could remember, and always went to her when in stress or simple distress.
"Oh, Jane..." she would whisper in Jane's cream-colored ear. "If only I could be like you and be free from the near torture I face."
Normally, Jane could curl her nine silky tales around Lucia and nudge her affectionately. In a flash, Lucia's worries would evaporate and she smile instead of frown. Little did she know her life would change forever.
~~~~
All Lucia did was take Jane to the laboratory. Luckily, the staff let her keep her as long as Jane was on a leash. Lucia agreed, for she hated the idea of Pokéballs for some reason. Jane accepted the collar and followed daintily as she was led around on the long leash. Lucia that sat at her small working desk and began mixing bright-colored chemicals. The clink of the mixing spoon against the test tube glass was almost comforting to her. Jane laid down silently and watched Lucia do her work. Suddenly, her red eyes gleamed and she put her forepaws on the table, with her hind legs balancing her. She started barking at a cream-colored liquid that was contained in a lone test tube.
"Jane, what's wrong?" Lucia asked frantically, tugging on the Ninetales' leather leash.
"Hey, calm that animal down, will ya?!" snapped a cranky co-worker behind Lucia. "I'm trying to get some work done here!"
"Sorry!" Lucia apologized, panicking as Jane started barking louder and louder.
All of a sudden, Jane fiercely but gently clamped her teeth over the test tube with the cream-colored liquid and swiveled her head to pour it into a fiery orange liquid in a flask. The results were explosive-literally. The second a drop of the cream-colored liquid touched the fiery orange liquid, a cloud of red-and-cream colored smoke appeared and an explosion was heard. The reaction was enough to making Lucia fall backwards onto the cold tile floor. As fearful staff members try to evacuate and clean up the mess, Jane protected Lucia by curling around her with her limber body.
"What is wrong with you, Jane?! This isn't like you at all!" Lucia cried out in anger and fear, her eyes tinging a bit of a red color.
Suddenly, her arms and legs grew a shiny cream-colored fur and her eyes turned redder and redder. Lucia doubled over in pain; she felt as if a fire was burning inside her. Her hair turned poufy and cream-colored as well. Matching fur grew from her chest and became fluffy. Her face turned into a fox-like muzzle and her nose turned black. Then, all at once, nine fluffy tails shot out of her behind and turned cream-colored with light-brown tips. Her spine cracked and made Lucia fall into a quadruped position. The tails swelled up more and more until they were big and fluffy enough to curl around Lucia's body. Her hands and feet turned into paws and shrunk a bit. Her ears migrated on to the top of her head and became pointed with cream-colored fur. Finally, her entire body turned thin like a fox's. Her now baggy clothes slid off onto the floor, revealing her new skin.
"Lucia! Lucia! Good Acreus, speak to me!" a feminine voice cried out next to Lucia's ear.
"Who's that?" Lucia asked sharply, shooting up on her four feet. Her chest felt hot for some reason. She looked to her left and saw Jane with her ruby-red eyes filled with anxiety and concern.
"Oh, thank goodness you're okay." Jane sighed in perfect English. "I thought it would never work."
"JANE?!" Lucia shrieked, falling onto her back. "You're talking! You're talking! And wait-what did you thought will never work?"
Jane gave a nervous smile and led Lucia under a table to talk. Lucia stumbled a few times before getting there, for she was new to walking on all fours. She coughed to clear her throat and replied.
"You know how you tell me you want to be like me, Lucia?" Jane asked Lucia in a grandmotherly voice. "Just now, I sniffed out the wish for you. I saw a cream-colored liquid in a test tube that I knew will reshape your molecular and physical structure to turn you into a Ninetales. I mixed it with the orange liquid that will give you fire-breathing abilities and poof-you're now a Ninetales!"
It took a while for Lucia process what Jane had told her. She is possibly forever a Ninetales now, like old Jane. It was sweet of Jane to do this, but Lucia didn't know that Jane will take her wish so seriously. Though, it touched her heart to see Jane caring so much for her. Lucia understood Jane's reply, as much to the Ninetales' joy. Instantly, she began to exit the laboratory with Jane quickly but quietly hobbling behind her. The night air outside was very moist but cool in temperature.
"Thanks, Jane." Lucia said, hugging Jane warmly with her forepaws after they got out of the empty laboratory. "By the way, how long do you think the effects of the chemicals will last?"
Jane did a bit of sniffing before responding with, "Probably a week or so. Hopefully, your mother won't have a heart attack once she realizes you're gone."
"Don't worry, she'll probably think the staff and I are on another business trip." Lucia reassured, exhaling out hot smoke along with sprinkles of orange ember.
Jane nodded, reassured at the fact. Then in one swift move, Lucia jumped onto a crate by an apartment wall and jumped onto a stack of more crates. From there she could see Jane, the laboratory, the tops of small buildings, the narrow asphalt street, and the peaceful night sky dotted with white stars. She thought of all the things she could do within a week now that she was a Ninetales. Lucia felt like she could do anything now that she had the abilities of a Pokémon. Confidence and curiosity filled up inside her like water being poured in a glass now that she was free from the lab staff and their stressful work.
"Well, then," she called to Jane with a smile. "What are we waiting for?"
