[PXFIRE] PXFIRE II Roleplay: Convergence

[Neo Emolga]

Nathan "Neo" Winterfield
Avalon Apostles
South of Maris, Aluna
ARPers: @Morzone

Thankfully Kevin, one of the Avalon Apostle field medics, had come along, or else I'd be trying to bandage this mess myself. Usually I didn't need to resort to his expertise, but every now and then, one of these incidents come up. More often it was Dave who needed patching up because a Pokémon got extra bitey or slashy, but even the professionals don't always have a perfect day.

I had gotten treatment back at the helicopter, where he had been staying the whole time we had been out. On a good day, he wouldn't be needed for anything. But "good days" were rare. Though in most cases, usually it wasn't me getting hurt.

"Your arm's fine," Kevin told me, finishing up the bandaging. "I've seen bites much worse than that. Hope you didn't mind that I tried out some of the new hemostatic gels we have."

"Thanks as always, doc," I told him with a smile.

"There's... something odd, though," he told me. "Almost seems like you have atrial fibrillation. You look a little pale, too."

Oh great. I figured this was the part where he would tell me that Pokémon really was infected with something. Well, I couldn't afford that and honestly, I felt fine.

"I'm fine, we're needed in Erana anyway," I told Kevin, really feeling like a full medical check could just wait. "When we're done, I'll see if someone in Maris can look into it. Once we've taken our captives in."

"Understood, but just get that looked into when you can," Kevin nodded.

Shortly after, Dave and Vicky had arrived back. They looked like they were freaked out of their minds. I was expecting for them to have come back with that Grotle and that Ninetales, but instead they were empty-handed.

"There's... something bizarre out there," Dave muttered, looking really nervous. "We were going to try and capture that Ninetales, but some Gardevoir showed up and I think it used some psychic attack on us or something. We just panicked and headed back out of there."

"Might be one of the other targets the locals mentioned," I figured. "What happened to your equipment, though?"

"It's still back there," Dave confessed sheepishly. "I'll admit, we panicked. It's those damn psychic types. I'm sorry, Neo, I thought we were ready."

"I'll admit, I've never seen a Gardevoir before," Vicky replied, taking a glace back. "I don't know why it was so scary. Somehow that thing can control fear."

It was a rookie mistake, but nothing that couldn't be fixed. I'll admit, encountering psychic Pokémon was not really something fun for rookies to experience and I didn't think this assignment would involve them. A Gardevoir didn't sound like it was part of the sightings, but hey, people are mistaken all the time.

"Not a big deal, that's what psychic types do," I told them both. "It was probably trying to claim the area as its territory or something. We still need to go back, though. That equipment is expensive and we need that Grotle and Ninetales for research."

They didn't seem too thrilled about going back, but they seemed to trust me about this. Normally I wouldn't do this after a work injury, but those Pokémon would just cause problems again if they weren't taken care of and dispatched.

I eventually tracked where our Ninetales friend would be, using disturbances in the grass. She couldn't get far with the tranquilizers running through her body, but I wasn't sure about this Gardevoir. Dealing with psychic types is never fun.

I spotted the two, and I could tell the Ninetales was losing consciousness. However, when she saw me, her eyes lit up. She tried to get in our heads, probably trying to hijack our brains into becoming afraid and anxious. Usually it was very difficult to prevent this, but seasoned operatives could resist it a little longer than the rookies. However, with Dave and Vicky, yeah, they didn't even last a few seconds before their flight response kicked in.

"Let's just forget about this!" Vicky shouted. "This was a bad idea, let her have it, damn it!"

"Keep your cool and don't panic!" I called back to her. "We can get this under control."

Damn it, it was already too late. Dave and Vicky just made a run for it and unless I found a way to handle this myself, I was going to have to explain this mess both to my supervisor and the Maris reporters. Lordy, I didn't feel like dealing with that and making us all look incompetent.

I just decided to try and make this quick. Shoot the Gardevoir, go back and get thermal sensors, and then bag the two of these Pokémon when they both dropped from the sedatives.

I took aim but then when I last suspected it, suddenly my grip on the tranquilizer gun was loosened and then it was yanked out of my hands by the Gardevoir. I reached out to try and grab a hold of it before I watched it drift away in midair. It was well out of my reach before it just floated before the Gardevoir, obviously suspended in the air and controlled by some kinesis power. Holy crap. Forget it, Dave and Vicky were right, this definitely wasn't worth it. We could just try again some other-

I suddenly felt hot and faint for a moment. It made me feel delirious and dizzy and I tried to get away but I barely made it two steps before it became too much. I had to get down on the forest floor with my hands and knees and suddenly I felt very, very strange.

Psychic fear attack again? This felt very different though. And it almost seemed like it was coming from the Ninetales instead. What the hell was this now?

My skin began to itch and tingle as suddenly my few strands of black hair on my arms and legs was replaced by light yellow fur. I didn't understand, what was the meaning of-

And when the nine tails ripped sprouted out and through the seat of my pants, I suddenly realized what was going on as they formed a giant fan-shaped formation behind me. Was... was she turning me into a Ninetales too!? How!? And why!? Now this I never saw happen before.

I panicked, hoping there was some way to get this Ninetales to stop this. Even despite the shock of my nose and mouth turning into a snout and my hands and feet turning into paws and hind-legs, I had to at least try reasoning here! All of my clothes and gear had been ripped off from my body changing form and shape and for a minute I went completely deaf before my hearing returned as I suddenly now had fox ears coming out of my head. The sounds of my bones crunching and reforming was the worst.

"What the hell is this!?" I exclaimed, wincing as the transformation continued and suddenly my hair turned into a mane. "Stop, whatever this is!"

...Nope. It was definitely too late to stop as I was sitting there and looked like I was never a human in the first place.

The transformation completed, and I had no idea what to think of it. This!? This is what it was like to be a Ninetales? This was.. beyond ludicrous. I knew Pokémon had some pretty incredible powers but I never would have thought 1,000 year curses like this were on the list. How the hell was I supposed to warn the others now!? I could only talk... to Pokémon now...

"Consider yourself lucky," the Ninetales spoke to me. "Most 1,000 year curses are usually far more crippling and devastating than this."

"T-thousand year... curse?"" I asked, sound and feeling a bit odd I was actually talking to this Ninetales now as one myself. "W-what for?"

Do you have any idea what pulling the tails of a Ninetales does!? she asked me.

"No?" I asked, shrugging. "Besides stop it from moving for one thing."

A curse. A 1,000 year curse to be precise. And I can sense your honesty, but your ignorance won't be excused.

"What!?" I exclaimed, thinking that was a hell of a severe punishment for just a little three-second tug. "Are you serious!? That's kind of extreme for a short, little tug, don't you think!?"

Consider yourself very lucky. Usually these curses are far more severe, but this seems more fitting given the situation and it gives me salvation.

"What the blazes do you mean by that!?" I asked, having no idea what she was referring to.

Suddenly the Ninetales unleashed a Flamethrower attack, and I quickly jumped out the way. However, being totally unused to moving on all fours now, I stumbled a bit. But I quickly realized the attack wasn't meant for me. The Ninetales had incinerated most of my destroyed clothes and my ruined gear, leaving only ruined bits in a blackened crater.

"Wait just a minute!" I exclaimed.

And that was when the Gardevoir shot me with my own tranquilizer gun. Twice. In the same spots Vicky and Dave had shot the other Ninetales. Oh god, now I fully understood what this diabolically clever fox's plan was. I looked around in my last few seconds of consciousness, hoping Dave or Vicky witnessed this, but there was no one around. No one was going to learn the truth about this. When they did the search for the Gortle and to find out what happened to me, they were going to find me, but I was not going to be what exactly they were looking for. But they would have absolutely no way of telling what really happened here.

Let's go. The Gardevoir told the Ninetales, letting the tranquilizer rifle drop to the ground. I can only suspend the tranquilizer for so long, but I can take you to a safe place to rest it off.

And so it is. The Avalon Apostles will get their Ninetales to study, but they'll think you, Nathan Winterfield, was killed in the fight, and only these barely recognizable remnants will be all that remain. You'll take my place, which seems right. You'll know what it's like to be pricked, probed, encaged, and treated like some monster. For the next 1,000 years. At least be a good Ninetales and don't do anything stupid that would bring shame and disgrace upon my kind. Oh, I'm sorry. Our kind.

No way, I couldn't believe it.

I wasn't sure if it was the tranquilizer kicking in or if I was passing out just from how utterly defeated I felt. In a quick glimpse of light, both the Gardevoir and the Ninetales disappeared, probably teleported off to... god knows where. I tried to run as far away as I could in hopes that I could avoid letting that Ninetales's plan come to pass, but my attempt to get away quickly turned into a struggling walk, which became barely a crawl, and that turned into complete unconsciousness. I didn't nearly get as far away as I would have hoped.

I had to admit, despite all my usual means and optimism to make a bad situation better, this was not going to be an easy thing to get fixed. If it was even possible...