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Shifters: Chapter 5; Meet The Parents

Kai's Parents weren't the most ordinary of couples. His father wore a long white coat, reminiscent of every scientist who ever lived, his trousers were hitched up above his waist and his circular glasses, balding head and the Aipom that never left his shoulder completed the picture. He was the most brilliant biologist in the region and had been offered a position as the head of Verity Research Centre, though he had turned it down, he preferred a hands on approach to research.

Kai's mother on the other hand worked as a field agent for the Verity Lakefront Containment Centre in the same building as the Research Centre, and what a job that was. She was responsible for containing any rampaging or otherwise dangerous pokémon from causing damage to cities and towns in the south-western corner of Sinnoh, up to Floaroma Town in the north and Oreburgh City in the east, and her appearance matched her job description. She had long black hair with blond streaks, tight fitting titanium reinforced leather armour complete with trench coat, and a team to match. Her Charizard could take her anywhere within her jurisdiction in minutes and the rest of her team, consisting of a Rhyperior, Mightyena, Feraligator and Machamp could eliminate pretty much any threat in existence. She was a legend in the region, renowned as a top-quality trainer, and it was from her that many of Kai's own attributes drew.

So the pair made an unlikely couple, all things considered, though their relationship was strong, and sound. As the two came through the front door, Kai sat up off the couch and greeted them. His mother's eyes were instantly drawn to the belt and pokéball at his waist and she smiled as she hung up her coat. "So it was today" she said, walking over and giving him a brief hug "you're first pokémon! Dare I ask what it is? I'm guessing Chimchar; you've always been more of a fire type." Kai smiled, thinking about how apt a description that was and shook his head smiling.

His father joined in "Well then, how about Turtwig? I must admit I also thought you'd go for Chimchar but Turtwig is also a good pokémon" Kai shook his head again, grinning now. "Well then it must be a Piplup" said his mother triumphantly "why don't you show us?"

"Wrong again" said Kai. "Hope, come on out and meet my parents!" He tossed her ball in the air and in a flash of red light Hope appeared in all her silver glory, tossing back her golden mane and fanning out her tails in a remarkable entrance. For the first time since Kai could remember, his parents were stunned.

"Show off", he muttered as Hope pranced back and forth proudly, showing off her unusual colouration to his astonished parents.

Kai's mother was the first to break out of her daze. "Kai, this vulpix... wow" she said softly as she knelt down and run her hand gently through Hope's silver fur "You said her name is Hope?"

"Yeah, Professor Rowan had a heap of different pokémon for us to choose from but Vulpix and Ninetales are my absolute favourites, so I couldn't go past Hope here."

"And why would you want to?" asked his father "She's a looks like a great pokémon Kai, you look after her." Both Kai and Hope blushed at this.

"Of course Dad" said Kai "After all, we're partners aren't we?" He reached down and scratched behind Hope's ears, causing her purr loudly, almost like a cat. Both of his parents beamed at the sight, his father snapping a covert picture of the pair, without either noticing.

Hope stopped her purring after a while and turned her head to look Kai straight in the eye "You should tell them now, before we leave. You need to tell them what you are."

Kai straightened, nodding slightly in response. Turning around to his grinning parents he opened his mouth to utter the words he'd been putting off for two years.

"Mom, Dad, I need to tell you something".

Shifters: Chapter 6; Revelations

Kai's heart raced and his stomach felt like jelly as his parents looked at him questioningly, concern written on their faces as they noticed the state he was in. Hope leaned in to his leg and looked up at his face, calming him a little as he collected himself.

"Mom, Dad... I've been putting this off for a long time, but I think you need to know now, before I leave to take on the gyms". His father started to speak but Kai cut him off. "Just watch".

This time, Kai sped up his transformation, something that had taken months of practise. The exact sequence of transformation always changed, except for the eyes, which were always last. This time, the first change was the most dramatic, as his tails burst out in an explosion of fur behind him, causing both his mother and father to take a step back in alarm, looks of complete shock on their faces.

The rest of the transformation was over in seconds and standing in the middle of the small kitchen was a majestic creamy white Ninetales, a small silver and gold coloured Vulpix and two gobsmacked parents.

Kai looked up into his father's and then his mother's eyes "It's me" he said and they jumped to hear his voice coming from the Ninetales in front of him "I'm a Shifter".

The air seemed to freeze completely throughout the house, seconds turned to hours as Kai sat there, tails whirling behind him in agitation before his mother moved swiftly towards him. Kai flinched at first, but then his mother was pulling him into a deep embrace and it was all right.

"Why didn't you tell us sooner" she said softly as she hugged him in close "you know we'll always love you no matter what happens to you". His father joined in the hug and the three of them sat for a while, in the middle of the old log cabin.

Kai's mind was numb. His secret was now known by his parents and they had accepted it! This was a culmination of all the fantasies he'd had about telling his parents for the last two years and he couldn't be happier. He was surprised to find himself purring in pleasure, and so were his parents, who burst into laughter.

Hope looked over at him with a huge grin on her face. "Told you so" she said, padding over and sitting next to him, leaning against his leg.

Of course, Kai's parents had many questions for him about Shifting, mostly questions like did he feel any pain (Only the first time) or could he use attacks like a normal pokémon (Yes, but only those a normal Ninetales could learn), but the questions quickly became deeper like could he converse with pokémon, and if so, what did their pokémon have to say about them (A lengthy process which mostly consisted of his father's Aipom yelling maniacally how all-round great a guy he was). Once question time was over though, Kai lay in front of the fire as a Ninetales with Hope stretched out next to him as he lay gazing into the flames until long after his parents had gone to bed, thinking about the next day and what it would bring.

Kai's official pokémon adventure would begin in les than twenty four hours, and he couldn't help but think about the affect his Shifting would have on his dream to become the Sinnoh Champion. He wouldn't hide, he decided, and he wouldn't shut himself off socially either. Kai wasn't the most social of teenagers, but he did have friends in the form of two of his classmates, Jacob and Emily, who were also leaving tomorrow and had asked him to join them. As he nodded off in front of the fire, his thoughts turned to what their reactions might be to his secret ability.

Jacob was on track to becoming a great pokémon breeder, while Emily was the daughter of the local Officer Jenny, and was committed to her chosen career as an Officer. She was also a vocal member of the Sandgem Lesbian Rights Association, which detracted from the sexual tension that would usually cripple a party of two teenage guys and a girl.

Emily, he thought, would take it well. She had borne the brunt of many crude and hateful remarks for her sexuality; she would understand why he had kept his secret. Jacob would probably just find it fascinating, he thought as he slipped further towards sleep, the boy was obsessed with pokémon of all kinds, particularly fire types, and wanted to open his own fire ranch in the future.

Hope gave a little growl in her sleep and turned over, burying her head in his mane and for the first time in a long time all was well in Kai's mind.

Shifters: Chapter 7; Fighting Fire With Fire

It was the smell of smoke that woke Kai. He had slept that whole night through as a pokémon, and so as he woke it was his heightened sense of smell as a Ninetales that warned him of the presence of fire. After a quick glance to make sure that neither he nor Hope had incidentally set fire to something in the house his greatest fear was soothed somewhat, the fire was not in the house. Neither, he could tell, was the fire in close proximity to the house or the woods around it. The scent was being blown in by a warm morning breeze from the east. Directly from Sandgem.

He leapt up with a bound, startling Hope, who gave a quick growl of annoyance before catching a whiff of the smoke that now blew strongly on the breeze through the open window. Kai rushed upstairs as fast as his four legs could take him, to wake his parents.

Language barriers between humans and pokémon are an obstacle that has stumped the greatest scientists of the pokémon world, but despite this, most Shifters have the ability to speak both English and Pokéspeak in any form and fortunately, Kai was among that majority. Sprinting down the corridor as fast as he could he skidded to a halt outside his parent's room yelling at the top of his lungs. "Mom, Dad, there's a fire, a fire in Sandgem!" A flurry of activity ensued within the room and within moments his parents were fully dressed and at the door.

Kai's mother was the first out the door, pulling a pokéball from her waist as she sprinted down the stairs with his father close behind her.

Kai leapt down the stairs joining Hope, the two sprinting out of the door after his parents. His mother and father were in the process of climbing onto his mother's Charizard as Kai and Hope ran to join them. His mother glared down at them as her Charizard prepped for flight "You two are staying here!" she shouted as the Charizard gave a loud roar and leapt into the sky.

Kai and Hope looked at each other before simultaneously rolling their eyes and breaking into a run, the trees whipping past them as the two fire types gathered speed. Kai was livid, knowing at the same time that his mother was only trying to protect him, but honestly what harm could possibly befall them? They were both fire types, they could help out and they weren't about to get burnt now were they?

The pair was moving so quickly now that it took all of Kai's concentration to dodge trees and rocks that seemed to materialise out of thin air in front of his nose, but they were making good time. After another couple of minutes of solid running they finally came to a stop on top of a hill overlooking Sandgem town and it was there that they finally saw the devastation.

The lab was beyond saving, Kai knew as soon as he looked that the flames were too high, too hot for the building to survive. The fire had spread too, all the way across town spot flares were ignited by embers from the main fire and were in the process of consuming several houses. The whole town was ablaze and the attempts to put out the many fires were ultimately failing. They had to help.

Kai and Hope bounded down the slope to the nearest house, a small log cabin with smoke billowing out of the windows. Hearing screaming and noise from inside, Kai used a quick attack to bash down the door and leapt inside. The noises were coming from the second floor and Kai wasted no time in leaping across the room and up the stairs, flames licking at his heels as he ran, the heat was almost too much even for him as he reached the top of the stairs and ran down the corridor towards the screaming.

Kai burst into what looked like a bedroom, one side of the room engulfed in flame the other occupied by two people, a woman and a child, both screaming loudly as flames licked at the ground near their feet. The woman looked up as he rushed in, her face was red raw from the flames as she shielded the small boy from the worst of the heat.

Kai roared "Grab hold of me!" and the woman, after a moments hesitation seized his mane with one hand and the toddler with the other. Thinking quickly, Kai used Safeguard, a move that he knew would protect both the woman and the toddler from suffering burns. The blue waves of energy given off by the move enfolded the two humans and the three slowly made their way down the stairs, Kai practically dragging them both behind him, they simply had no energy left.

Meanwhile, a large crowd had gathered outside the house, the last on the street that was burning, drawn there by the shouting of a young man outside, whose wife and son were trapped in the building. The flames were too great for anyone to enter, and so they had all but given up hope when a figure appeared through the smoke.

Kai was bathed in the blue light of the Safeguard when he walked through the front door to the outside of the house, dragging the now limp forms of both mother and son. Flames roared around him, but he walked unmarked out through the front door to stunned faces. The Safeguard finally faded as helping hands surged forward to carry the two humans to a waiting ambulance while the young man pushed his way through the crowd to see his family. After being assured of their safety, he stepped away for a moment and walked over to Kai, who sat in the middle of a ring of incredulous onlookers, the whole town it seemed, had turned out, the other fires had finally burnt out or been extinguished. The young man bent down, as tears fell from his face and gripped Kai's neck as his sobbing intensified "you have saved the two people who matter most to me in the world" he said after letting go and looking Kai straight in the eyes. "Thank you".

Kai gave a canine grin as the whole town burst into cheers of approval. The entirety of the town was here and had seen him save two people. Now was the time, he thought as he stood and the crowd started to quieten down, watching him. Now was his moment. He threw back his head and Shifted.

Shifters: Chapter 8; Friends in High Places

The next few days of his life were at the same time the best and worst of his life Kai thought, stretched out on the couch in front of the fire with Hope snuggled up against him. He had been spending more and more time in Ninetales form since the whole town had seen him Shift, and while it was a different experience, it was one he enjoyed.

How many people had seen him Shift that day he had no idea, but that mattered very little due to the presence of a television crew that had arrived to cover the fire in Sandgem moments before he had emerged from the burning building.. The cameraman had been drawn to the crowd gathered outside the house and captured the moment that Kai had stepped out from the flames dragging the two burn victims, bathed in blue light which radiated outwards through the crowd. That video clip, as well as the one of him Shifting back into human form, had been played over and over on news stations around Sinnoh, making him a celebrity overnight.

Fame has many downsides however, and whilst the majority of people who watched the news broadcasts were understanding and open-minded, Kai had received an awful lot of hate from several less free-thinking members of society. Talk-back radio had latched onto the subject of Shifters and Kai was unsure of how much more he could take.

A knock at the door brought Kai out of his reverie; his mother's voice could be heard as she answered cautiously. Most knocks on the door recently were either press wanting comments for a news story, or the occasional bigot, but this was different. His mother's voice was warm as she answered and Kai's ears pricked up as he recognised the voice of the visitor.

Rising from the couch, Kai padded over to the lounge, where his mother was greeting a young man who Kai recognised as the husband and father of the two people he had pulled from the flames several days ago. The man gave a small smile when he saw Kai in pokémon form, an expression that soon changed to a look of wonder as Kai began to Shift to human form for a proper greeting.

The time it takes to Shift depends largely on experience, and with each successive Shift, Kai's prowess had increased to the point that his Shift was fluid, over in seconds; he stood and shook the young man's hand.

Clothing was one aspect of Shifting that had always puzzled Kai, he didn't know how it worked, but he could Shift in and out of human form, retaining his clothes. Just another peculiarity of his species, he supposed.

When the young man introduced himself Kai was brought out of his daydreams with an abruptness that left him gaping, mouth wide open as he stared at the young man that stood before him, reeling as he realised who he was talking to.

Keith Laurence was a star trainer from the moment he set off on his adventure, he hadn't lost a match in his career, and held the current record for the fastest dispatch of any Gym leader (his match against Roark had lasted just over a minute, including the time it took for the Gym leader to call out and withdraw his pokémon. He specialised in all grass-type pokémon, his team was legendary across all regions. He was also the Sinnoh Champion.

Keith laughed at the gormless expression on Kai's face. "I came here today to express my gratitude yet again for saving my family" he said, placing a small backpack on the ground and rooting around in it for a few seconds before taking out a small package and handing it to Kai, who blinked at the gesture before accepting the gift. Keith smiled as he handed the package over "A small token of my appreciation".

Kai's attention turned to the box, which he set on the living room table before opening. The contents were unexpected; to say the least- six pokéballs nestled in a protective sea of foam. The six balls were different to ordinary balls in that they were a pure unaltered white, without design or emblem. Kai looked at Keith, eyebrows raised in confusion.

Keith's grin grew larger as he walked over to stand by Kai. "These pokéballs are something else" he said, taking one out of the box and handing it to Kai. "A friend of mine is the designer and explained them to me like this; 'The spirit ball is imprinted with the resident pokémon's very being and alters appearance accordingly. No two spirit balls are the same, just as no two pokémon are the same'. I think you should just try it for yourself".

While Keith had been talking, Hope had entered the room and sat down next to Kai, following the conversation with interest. She looked up at him with enthusiasm, "I wanna try it" she said, bouncing around him excitedly "I wanna see what mine looks like!" Kai picked up the ball and somewhat hesitantly placed it against Hope's forehead. Blue light captured her, signifying a change of pokéball, engulfing her as she was drawn into the white ball, which began to glow. A bright flash momentarily filled the room, dazzling its occupants.

The pokéball pulsed with new vibrancy before fading away slightly until Kai, Keith and Kai's mother could see more clearly the pokéball that rested in Kai's hand. The ball had completely changed, now golden flames leapt at a silver chrome background, the overall result was beautiful, and Kai gasped, looking sharply over at Keith, whose grin had, if possible become even wider. "How much did these cost?" he asked, not entirely sure he wanted to know the answer. "Not a dime" replied Keith, satisfied with the reception of his gift "I just called in a favour with an old friend. He doesn't make these for money, and I doubt they ever will reach the market".

He exclaimed loudly before turning around and searching his backpack yet again "There was something else I wanted to give to you" he said, waving aside Kai's objections as he retrieved several sheets of paper from his pack and handing them to Kai. "I heard about the problems that the league registration committee was giving you because of you being a Shifter. Let's just say I smoothed over a few issues" he turned to leave, nodding to both Kai and his mother as he stepped out the door with one last remark "I hope to battle you soon at the league. I won't go easy on you, so train hard and come prepared and with a team that trusts and cares for you".

And with that he exited the house, pulling a pokéball out of his pocket and summoning a huge Tropius. Leaping onto it's back, he barked an order, and the grass pokémon threw itself into the air, disappearing out of sight in seconds. Kai's gaze returned to the paperwork he now held in his hand.

For the last few days, Kai had applied and reapplied for registration into the pokémon league, but despite all of his efforts, bureaucracy had won out, someone along the chain of command had obviously taken offense at him being a Shifter and seen fit to shoot down his league hopes. The document in his hands changed that, it was a receipt for his registration- he was officially enrolled in the league challenge. He walked upstairs and into his room, glancing at nags still packed, ready for their departure.

They would leave tomorrow. His friends had opted to remain in Sandgem for a time and assist with rebuilding efforts, but he would still be travelling alongside Hope, and that, he supposed, was the main thing, the only thing that really mattered. He made his way back downstairs to tell his parents about his decision to leave the next morning, releasing Hope on the way.

Fate was an uncanny thing, he reflected, taking the stairs two at a time. Sometimes it pays just to go with the flow.