Pokémon Lycan-crystal

[Jedi Shulk]

Lycan-crystal


Nik from the Orre region visits the Alola Region to see the various sites, mysteries and wonders… or at least that was the vacation plan until Nik found a usual brown crystal.​

Chapter 1 Site seeing around Akala Island.

yawn “The flight yesterday was exhausting.” Nik reached for his glasses and put them on. “Let me see here… so today I will be heading to Paniola town, Royal Avenue and (Route 7) Wela Volcano Park.” Nik spoke to himself. Nik proceeded to get fully clothed. “Phone check, headphones check, Pokémon repellent check, water check and… that appears to be everything.” “Now follow along route 4 and you should see Paniola town.” Nik read the navigation instructions. Nik left the nice Tide Song Hotel to sightsee the destinations of Akala Island.

Nik followed the navigation instructions on his phone closely. The walk from the hotel to this Ranch town was surprisingly short and uneventful. “So this is Paniola Town?” Nik said. The whole look and feel of the town reminded Nik of Orre. The rustic houses, the treaded ground and the Milktanks roaming around the ranch. “Well that was fun for a while, but now I'm bored.” Nik give a bored sigh. “Next stop Royal Avenue.”

Nik proceeded to move down route six the locals call it ‘Straight Street.’ Upon arrival Nik saw his destination, the loud and bright Battle Royal Dome. However in front of the dome is a beautifully arranged flower circle. “Wow!” Nik saw Oricorio pluck nectar from the flowers. However Nik noticed a Malasada Shop near by and checked it out. Nik ordered and sat down to have a Malasada. It’s sweet fried taste made Nik think back to his childhood in Orre. After Nik finished the Malasada he ordered a to-go Malasada and finally entered the Battle Royal Dome.

The inside of the dome was surprisingly tame with gray and white floors. Nik got a ticket and headed upstairs into the stands. The main arena entrances are giant heads of Charizard, Gyarados, Tyranitar and Haxorus. Nik took his seat and watched the battle. After the long fight Nik made his way to Wela Volcano Park which is a part of Route 7. The park was really unremarkable and didn't get all the hype surrounding it. So Nik quickly left the park and went back to his Hotel room to make plans for tomorrow and go to bed early.

Nik walked into the room and dropped on the bed like a Geodue. “Tomorrow Melemele Island.” Nik with what little energy he had left put his device’s on Chargers, undressed and went out like a light on the bed.

End of chapter one.

 

[WildBoots]

Hey, Shulk! Thought I’d drop by with a couple of quick thoughts.

I never played any of the Orre games, so I’m not super familiar with any of the characters, but the idea of someone visiting a place that’s really far outside of their norm is fun. I imagine most of what Alola and Orre have in common is sand! I found myself wondering what Nik was thinking about as he explored. Like, I thought it was a good idea that eating the malasada reminded him of his childhood, but I wanted to know more! Is he missing happier times or maybe a family member who used to make similar food? Is he homesick, or is he glad to be in a new place?

I did notice some spelling and grammar errors. Running your story through Grammarly before you post can help! (It’s free.) Though Grammarly won’t help you with pokemon names.

Charzird, Garados, Tiraunatar and Haxsares.

These are all misspelled! :c

Dropping into bed “like a geodude” was a cute touch, though. He did walk quite a bit.

It’s too bad we haven’t gotten to the turning point of the story yet, that promised “brown crystal.” I have to wonder if it’s going to be a Z-crystal or something else. We don’t know yet if Nik has any pokemon, so I have no idea if he could even use a Z-crystal, let alone what someone from Orre would make of it. It sounds like it’s going to upend his vacation plans, so surely it’ll create some trouble for him! It sounds like he’s thinking of home often during this visit, but maybe whatever happens with this crystal is going to make him want to stay.

I’m also curious who he might meet on this vacation. Alola has so many colorful characters, and (from what little I know about Orre) the culture is pretty different. With almost any of the canon Alolan cast, there would be lots of room for differences of opinion and taking each other by surprise!

You might be interested in checking out the 7 Day Fic Challenge thread. The first prompt was for folks to recommend fics they liked that feature Alola, Alolan pokemon, or beaches, so you might find some good inspiration there.

Cheers and good luck on your next chapter.

 

[Jedi Shulk]

The Orre region is where the Game cube Pokémon games take place. To answer the trainer question, Nick has no Pokémon. He gets through tall Grass with repels. This is the in game universe explanation of how non-trainers go through tall grass.

 

[Jedi Shulk]

Lycan-crystal


Chapter 2: Melemele Island and Hau’oil City.​

Nik rose out of his bed to get his phone. He opened his vacation plans on the phone so he will know what to do today. “Day 2 plans are… go on the ferry to Hau’oil City, check out the Battle Buffet, have a malasada on the Beachfront, get repels and explore the Hau’oli Outskirts.” Nik said this to himself so he wouldn't forget. Nik packed his possessions and left the hotel for the Ferry terminal.

On the ferry to Melemele Island the captain spoke on the ship’s speakers to all the tourists about the formal, informal, spoken and written rules of Melemele Island. Like keep the beaches clean and Nik didn’t catch all the rules because the captain spoke exhaustingly boring to the point where Nik napped for the rest of the voyage.

“Now arriving at Hau’oil City Marina.” A voice said over the Terminal speaker. Nik woke up from his nap because of the voice. Nik checked his plan’s again on this phone. “First stop the Battle Buffet.” Nik said to himself. When Nik got to the Buffet he was sad to see it was for Pokémon trainers only. So Nik cut his time losses and moved on to getting a to-go malasada and lounging on the beachfront in the sun nibbling on his sweet malasada.

 

[Jedi Shulk]

Lycan-crystal


Chapter 3:Hau’oil Outskirts, Iki Town and Ten Carat Hill.
​

NIk got up from his towel on the Beachfront to throw away the malasada wrapper and to check his phone. “Next stops are Iki Town and Ten Carat Hill on the Hau’oil Outskirts.” Nik spoke of the travel plan to himself. Nik packed up his things and set out for Iki Town. NIk followed the map on his phone to Iki Town.

Nik was just in time for the scheduled event about the Tapu legends and Z crystals. The event was held at the Kahuna’s home. “Everyone take a seat and put your phones in the bag until I’m done.” The Kahuna requested. The audient reluctantly put their phones in the bag and sat down. Nik hated not having his phone made him feel anxious. The telling started “It all started with the great battle waged between the Tapu and beasts of the Sun and Moon. It went on and on but neither side made progress. After the terrible battle settled the two sides found themselves to be equal in power. To make peace the two beasts gifted the tapu with crystals of an unknown providence. However these crystals would soon bring great harm to the islands.”

The Kahuna took a breath and sip of water then continued on with the legends. “The Tapu in ancient times chose the Kings of the islands and entrusted them with the special crystals from the two beasts. The Tapu also served as leaders in the armies of each island’s king. These battles turn into massacres from the power of the crystals. Because of this, the tapu took the Crystals from the kings and sealed the Crystals away across the islands and the tapu no longer aided human wars.” The small crowd clapped for the Kahuna’s telling of the legends. Nik sat up and went to grab his phone and head out for the final stop on this island, Ten Carat Hill.

Nik walked his way to the mouth of the cave that led to Ten Carat Hill. It was getting late and Nik wanted to get back to his hotel room so he was going to be fast with his visit here. Nik headed into the dark cave with his phone’s flashlight. The cave held salt in the air and each step Nik took echoed in the cave. Nik came out into a grassy clearing. Nik looked around the clearing and spotted a outcropping that overlooked the clearing. “I wonder what's up there.” Nik thought to himself. Nik walked back into the cave to get to the out cropping. It wasn't long until Nik had found an upward slope in the cave. This path led Nik to the outcropping and Nik found a sparkle ahead.

“What is that shine?” Nik asked himself. It was a small translucent brown crystal with some symbol on it and it was held in this ancient looking pillar. Nik moved forward and reached out to grab and examine it in his hand. With a closer view Nik figured out the symbol and checked his inference on his phone. It appeared to be a Lycanroc from what his qwink look up gave him. “This must be one of the crystals in the…” be for Nik could finish the sentence he heard a crackle of thunder from somewhere. “What the weather was supposed to be sunny?” The case of the thunder made its way to Nik by striking in front of the outcropping mouth. “Human put that back or you will be striked down!” Tapu Koko demands Nik with force. “Tapu..Koko? The.. NOW!” Tapu Koko started charging a move. “Okay okay I will put it back.” Nik tried to calm down Tapu Koko. However before Nik could place the crystal back a hole opened up behind Tapu Koko and out came an Alien life form that grabbed Tapu Koko and threw the Tapu into the clearing with remarkable force. Nik panicked and with no other options he jumped into the hole to escape the fighting.

End of chapter 3.

 

[Namohysip]

Hey Shulk! I'm here for the blitz, and while I thought you might have had Fay here, this is also the only work I'm aware of from you, so I may as well give this a read instead! So, I'm a big fan of Orre, so I hope I can see some references to that here and there later, such as Nik mentioning a bit about his past now and then? But as it stands, I don't think I have a whole lot to go by for what Nik's personality is. I think that's probably the biggest thing I want to see more of in the coming chapters.

There was a very, very brief moment of character when the narration suggested that Nik didn't like when he was away from his phone, and compared to everything else that was a strong reaction that the narrative went out of its way to depict. I think that would definitely be worth elaborating on so Nik is a more fleshed-out character. As of now the pacing of the story is a little too fast for me to feel grounded in any particular scene.

Additionally, while I don't usually focus on it, there are a few things in the prose that I think would be worth going over. For example...

Nik spoke to himself. Nik proceeded to get fully clothed. “Phone check, headphones check, Pokémon repellent check, water check and… that appears to be everything.” “Now follow along route 4 and you should see Paniola town.” Nik read the navigation instructions. Nik left the nice Tide Song Hotel to sightsee the destinations of Akala Island.

Your sentences all start off very uniformly, and that can make things feel repetitive even if the things that are happening aren't. Ry finding ways to start sentences without "Nik" at the beginning, for example, even if it means shuffling clauses around. Most readers like variation in how their sentences are presented.

“Well that was fun for a while, but now I'm bored.” Nik give a bored sigh.

Small nitpick, but you only need one "bored" here. Also, it's probably "gave a sigh" in this case, since we want to keep all of the prose in one tense, which I believe for you would be past tense.

Though Grammarly won’t help you with pokemon names.

Seconding this and building upon it, most browsers now have personal dictionaries, and grammarly might have similar functionality? I do know that once you look up the name once, you can add it to the dictionary and then you don't really have to worry about that again. I especially suggest doing that for Pokemon names and locations, because I think your autocorrect feature is changing Hau`oli to Hau`oil.

Overall, though, by the end of the third chapter it seems that we've gone past the exposition and into the inciting incident. Considering how tiny these chapters are, the pacing is very fast, with only a few handfuls of hundreds of words into this incident. It could certainly do for more buildup, but it's also good to see some action.

 

[Jedi Shulk]

These are all misspelled! :c

Fixed.

Ry finding ways to start sentences without "Nik" at the beginning, for example, even if it means shuffling clauses around.

I just wanted to be clear on the character in focus also by not Ry.

Small nitpick, but you only need one "bored" here. Also, it's probably "gave a sigh" in this case, since we want to keep all of the prose in one tense, which I believe for you would be past tense.

This was one of many Xenoblade references to come.

 

[WildBoots]

Hey, Shulk! Thanks for offering to do a review swap! Always a great idea.

I’ll give you some line-by-line reactions and then overall thoughts.

Spoiler: Line Reactions

so he will know what to do today.

Oops, slipped into present tense! Should be past tense to match the rest.

Nik said this to himself so he wouldn't forget.

Haha, mood. Me too, friend.

spoke on the ship’s speakers to all the tourists about the formal, informal, spoken and written rules of Melemele Island.

Lol wow he’s going all in listing any kind of tule he can think of.

Like keep the beaches clean and Nik didn’t catch all the rules because the captain spoke exhaustingly boring to the point where Nik napped for the rest of the voyage.

Haha, I like how the sentence runs right into him dozing off. You’ve got a grammar problem at the end here, though. Boring is an adjective, so it can’t modify spoke. You need an adverb (like exhaustingly!)

A suggestion: the captain’s speech was so exhaustingly boring that Nik napped for the rest of the voyage.

I also found myself wishing this had bitten him in the butt somehow. I love when not paying attention makes the protagonist miss critical information and gives them a mess to deal with as a result!

The event was held at the Kahuna’s home.

Oh wow, so intimate! Brave of him to host the public in his house. I wish we got to see a little bit of what this space looked like! It would be a great way to tell us not only what Halla (? I think? You didn’t actually name him here and I don’t know Alola that well off the top of my head) is like but also what Nik thinks about it! Is the furniture fancy, kitschy, or like something Nick’s grandma would own? Do Halla’s pokemon roam freely in the house, or is there plastic covering the furniture to keep it safe? Etc. Lots of opportunities here!

Nik hated not having his phone made him feel anxious.

This is the first time in three chapters we get a strong hint at what makes Nik tick! (Haha, accidental rhyme.)

The small crowd clapped for the Kahuna’s telling of the legends. Nik sat up and went to grab his phone and head out

I wish we had some reactions from Nik! The only emotion he’s expressed so far is boredom on the boat ... if you can even call boredom an emotion. Does he think this is interesting? Made-up? Scary? Does it relate to any stories he knows from back home? Does it make him more curious about specific things in Alola?

Nik headed into the dark cave with his phone’s flashlight.

Oh man, bold choice! I’m sure nothing could possibly go wrong here.

The cave held salt in the air and each step Nik took echoed in the cave.

Oh nice, getting some sensory details here!

from what his qwink look up gave him

Oops!

However before Nik could place the crystal back a hole opened up behind Tapu Koko and out came an Alien life form that grabbed Tapu Koko and threw the Tapu into the clearing with remarkable force.

Woah, we get Tapu Koko really suddenly, and before we can even digest that—boom, aliens! Since this is the first pokemon Nik has meaningfully interacted with so far in the story, I really think you’d benefit from slowing down. This can’t be an every day occurrence for Nik! Did he even believe legendaries were real before this?

We also know nothing about this alien! That’s fair because Nik has no idea what’s happening, but some hints for us, the readers, would be nice. I assume it’s an ultra beast, but I can’t even begin to guess which one.

Nik panicked and with no other options he jumped into the hole to escape the fighting.

Wait, he’s trying to get away from the fight, so he jumps into the hole the alien just went through?

One last grammar note: that last paragraph is really long! In particular, I noticed you have multiple speakers in the same paragraph, and that’s confusing to read. Each time a new character speaks (or performs an action) needs to be a new paragraph.

Sounds like we’ll be seeing a lycanroc soon perhaps? I wonder what the relationship is between lycanroc and Tapu Koko. Or between lycanroc and the pokemon represented by the other crystal!

You’re moving along at quite a fast pace! That’s definitely a benefit of short chapters. Good luck with the next one!

 

[IFBench]

I'm here for a review on chapters 2 and 3 of this!

First, a small comment. These chapters are very, VERY short. Maybe you could add a bit more to these chapters?

Second of all, you often state a lot of things rather than showing them. I'd personally suggest elaborating on things a bit more. For example, right here:

On the ferry to Melemele Island the captain spoke on the ship’s speakers to all the tourists about the formal, informal, spoken and written rules of Melemele Island. Like keep the beaches clean and Nik didn’t catch all the rules because the captain spoke exhaustingly boring to the point where Nik napped for the rest of the voyage.

Instead of just stating that the captain said things, actually have them say things. Perhaps as the captain goes on, parts of their dialogue are missing until eventually it cuts off entirely, showing Nik's losing of interest.

Here's a mockup of what I'm trying to say:

"First off, it is necessary to keep the beaches clean. Otherwise, the Pokemon there might try and eat whatever you leave littered around."

"Second off...out of their pokeballs during...make a mess if they're out."

"Third...keep out...employees only, and...large fine if you..."

"Fourth...before noon...don't forget..."

"Fifth..."

Something like that, with perhaps Nik's thoughts and/or feelings interspersed between the quotes, would probably feel a lot less jarring to read.

Also, instead of just stating this:

Nik hated not having his phone made him feel anxious.

Perhaps have him continue to hold onto his phone for a few seconds after all the others, and only putting it away once the Kahuna directly tells him specifically to put it away to show Nik's attatchment to his phone?

Also, I'd suggest removing the "End of chapter 3" bit. The reader will know they've reached the end of the chapter without that there.

I really like the lore you have with the Tapu and these crystals, though! It is very interesting!

Seems like Nik found the titular Lycan-Crystal, though! And in doing so, he's angered Tapu Koko! I wonder what consequences this'll all have down the line? Also, it looks like the Tapus can speak human language! A very interesting decision! I'm also very intrigued to see where that hole leads, as well as what's up with that alien lifeform. I look forward to see what happens next!

A few grammar mistakes I caught, and some things I feel could be improved:

“Human put that back or you will be striked down!” Tapu Koko demands Nik with force.

"Striked" should be "struck". Also, since the surrounding sentences are in past-tense, "demands" should be "demanded".

It appeared to be a Lycanroc from what his qwink look up gave him. “This must be one of the crystals in the…” be for Nik could finish the sentence he heard a crackle of thunder from somewhere. “What the weather was supposed to be sunny?”

"Qwink" should probably be "quick", "be for" should be "before", the ellipses at the end of Nik's first dialogue should be an em dash (—) since he was cut off, and I feel like Nik's second dialogue could be improved by changing the question mark into an interrobang (?!) to show Nik's shock at what just happened, and adjusting the beginning of the dialogue to make it feel more natural. Perhaps replace "What the" with "Wait, the" "What happened, the" or "What the— the".

It was a small translucent brown crystal with some symbol on it and it was held in this ancient looking pillar.

I feel like the word "this" in "held in this ancient looking pillar" should be changed to "an", and there should be a hyphen between "ancient" and "looking".

“Next stops are Iki Town and Ten Carat Hill on the Hau’oil Outskirts.” Nik spoke of the travel plan to himself. Nik packed up his things and set out for Iki Town. NIk followed the map on his phone to Iki Town.

I don't think you meant to capitilize the i in "NIk" in the fourth sentence, so that should probably be changed to "Nik". Also, I'm pretty sure the period at the end of Nik's dialogue should be a comma. Additionally, all three of the non-dialogue sentences here start with "Nik", and the last two sentences both end with "Iki Town". Perhaps you could change that so it's less repetitive?

Here's my suggestion on how to adjust this:

“Next stops are Iki Town and Ten Carat Hill on the Hau’oil Outskirts,” Nik spoke of the travel plan to himself. He packed up his things and set out for Iki Town, following the map on his phone until he got there.

I wish you luck with the rest of your fic!

 

[Rainfall]

Hey Shulk! Here for Blitz!

Orre desert resident Nik visits Alola islands, mm? Sounds like a fun vacation!

yawn “The flight yesterday was exhausting.” Nik reached for his glasses and put them on. “Let me see here… so today I will be heading to Paniola town, Royal Avenue and (Route 7) Wela Volcano Park.” Nik spoke to himself.

Setting the scene! Here for team glasses. I don't have a good sense of scaling for locations, and I don't know how many days Nik is going to be visiting Alola and how much time is reserved for Akala, but sounds like this could be your typical tourist blitzing jaunt!

“Phone check, headphones check, Pokémon repellent check, water check and… that appears to be everything.”

Always gotta make sure you have all your traveling gear with you!

Nik followed the navigation instructions on his phone closely. The walk from the hotel to this Ranch town was surprisingly short and uneventful.

Sounds like the first part and probably most parts of his sightseeing today will be on foot. This reminds me, how is the tech in this world? Does Nik have a battery bank for his phone?

The whole look and feel of the town reminded Nik of Orre. The rustic houses, the treaded ground and the Milktanks roaming around the ranch. “Well that was fun for a while, but now I'm bored.” Nik give a bored sigh. “Next stop Royal Avenue.”

I like this scene-setting! It's sometimes nice to see home away from home, depending on the situation.
I feel that there could have been a bit more writing on Nik wandering around in Paniola Town. It feels a bit like it goes from a nice description to an abrupt cut to Nik already having been there a while, and ready to move to the next place. Maybe this works! Maybe besides implying he's been there a while, you can talk about him walking about, seeing other things that remind him of Orre, and show that he's impatient to see and experience things that he's not familiar with : )

Upon arrival Nik saw his destination, the loud and bright Battle Royal Dome. However in front of the dome is a beautifully arranged flower circle. “Wow!” Nik saw Oricorio pluck nectar from the flowers. However Nik noticed a Malasada Shop near by and checked it out. Nik ordered and sat down to have a Malasada. It’s sweet fried taste made Nik think back to his childhood in Orre. After Nik finished the Malasada he ordered a to-go Malasada and finally entered the Battle Royal Dome.

Hey, I really like exploring places! I suppose I'd like that aspect of journeyfics a lot. Small notes: I feel like your prose is in literary past tense, so the "in front of the dome _is_ a beautifully arranged flower circle" was a little jarring. The "However" seems more like a "Just then,", and personally I feel that "noticed nearby and decided to check it out" is more fitting than "noticed near by and checked it out". Another small note, I believe it's "_Its_ sweet fried taste". I like the additional reference to his home region : ) And Nik really likes his Malasadas!

The inside of the dome was surprisingly tame with gray and white floors. Nik got a ticket and headed upstairs into the stands. The main arena entrances are giant heads of Charizard, Gyarados, Tyranitar and Haxorus. Nik took his seat and watched the battle. After the long fight Nik made his way to Wela Volcano Park which is a part of Route 7.

Hey, I like the contrast about tame colors vs other expectations, and the imagery of the four (gaudy) entrance guardians. I personally could use more emotion and telling with Nik as he's watching the battles! What's happening with the battles? I don't need a battle scene, but maybe some background as to how this fight is different or routine, and how crowded the stadium is, maybe whether the fight dragged on long or finished faster than expected, and maybe even a note as to whether Nik had any trouble getting his ticket or not! Did he have to churn in a crowd on his way out of the stadium? Sounds like it might have been an orderly exit, and he was able to keep to his sightseeing schedule! (which would be a win!) This could be mentioned as Nik being good at managing time!

to Wela Volcano Park which is a part of Route 7. The park was really unremarkable and didn't get all the hype surrounding it. So Nik quickly left the park and went back to his Hotel room to make plans for tomorrow and go to bed early.

Damn, I didn't know the volcano park was unremarkable! I can certainly imagine that, though, especially to a resident of Orre!

Nik walked into the room and dropped on the bed like a Geodue. “Tomorrow Melemele Island.” Nik with what little energy he had left put his device’s on Chargers, undressed and went out like a light on the bed.

Oh, I totally read this as Geodude! small typo : ) Haha, Nik seems very concise in his words. I feel that a comma after the "tomorrow" in there would help, but isn't strictly needed. "Chargers" is capitalised--is this intentional? Is this a particular brand-name product? "Devices" should not have an apostrophe.
I do like both of the similes in this final scene! Dropping like a rock and a Geodude onto bed, and going out like a light.

I enjoyed the first chapter! Sounds like it's mostly setting the scene, and perhaps there can be something tying this to the story, or more characterization of Nik. But again, I like the descriptions of the places Nik is visiting, such as Paniola Ranch!

 

[Jedi Shulk]

This reminds me, how is the tech in this world? Does Nik have a battery bank for his phone?

It’s around the gen 7 games level of tech. Smart phones last most of the day and Nik doesn’t have a battery.

I don't have a good sense of scaling for locations, and I don't know how many days Nik is going to be visiting Alola and how much time is reserved for Akala, but sounds like this could be your typical tourist blitzing jaunt!

The scaling is based on the Pokémon Sun map.

 

[Jedi Shulk]

Lycan-crystal


Chapter 4: Awakening Metamorphosis​

NIk woke up in his hotel room bed, sweating. Nik took a shallow breath and looked around the room. Everything was as he remembered it. The drawers, lamps and other furniture are in their proper places. “That was a dream vacation turned into a nightmare.” Nik said to himself. To confirm whether or not that his dream turned nightmare had been real or not, Nik opened the bedside drawer to get his phone and put some pants on. He got a small static shock from the drawer handle upon closing it.

After putting pants on Nik checked his phone only for it to be out of power. “Great this is just what I needed this morning.” Let out an annoyed sigh. Nik walked to the bathroom only to be given another static shock from the door handle. Nik looked at his right hand to check it after the second shock. It was a tad red and felt warm. Nik opened the bathroom door with his left hand and walked in. He plugged his phone into the big charging adapter for it to charge faster but it would not charge at all.

With the only one idea left, Nik headed down to the lobby to ask if there were any power problems with his room. However when Nik grabbed the door handle to the hallway he got a crippling static shock unlike all other static shocks. “Gah! There is definitely an electrical problem, my phone won't charge and I have gotten 3 sh…” Nik did not finish his thought because he began to feel hot. ‘What-t is h-happening?” Nik looked at his right hand. White fur started growing from the skin and his nails darkened and sharpened. His skin became more callous on his palm. The fur spread down from his paw? hand to cover his whole arm? Forearm? When the fur reached his elbow the fur turned a tan brown. “H-how why is my paw? … Paw!” Nik was beginning to think his right hand was a paw. Nik clutched his head with his hands. “What part of me thought that my hand was…” Before Nik realized the thought his face started to feel hot and he stumbled to the mirror in the room. The fur was now on his face and chest. Nik continued to look at the changes in the mirror as fur covered one half of his face. The fur forced his left eye to close for a moment and when Nik flicked it open his green eye turned blue.

But before the Nik could panic about it. Nik felt his ear change. They lengthened and pointed to a more canine appearance and the fur spread across his new ears. Nik was horrified by what he saw in the mirror. His hands have fully turned into paws with lethal claws. His ginger hair was being subsumed by the fur on his head and the fur was across chest and was close to his legs. It was at that moment the fur Started bulking up around his neck and Nik felt piercing pain coming from his new mane. Four sharp rocks emerged from his fur mane making Nik cry with pain. To add on the pain from the mane his clothes began to stretch and tear, fabrics ripping. Nik felt something protruding at the base of his spine. But before it could rip his pants Nik stumbled back on his changing legs crashing into the TV giving him a violent electrical shock that made him collapse on the ground. “Sweet relief…” Nik said as the world faded into darkness.

***

“Hello?...hello?...please wake up!” Some distant voice was talking to Nik. Nik could only slightly open one of eyes. “Who said that?” Nik thought to himself for he could not make his mouth move to speak. “One more should do it.” The distant voice sounded less distant and Nik opened both of his eyes to find the voice who was talking to him. “You're finally awake!” Nik looked in the direction where he heard the voice to see an Audino as the source? Nik blinked twice in disbelief. “Are you one of those special talking Pokémon and is this place a pokemon center you work for?” Nik asked the Audino. “Special talking Pokémon? Pokemon center what are you talking about? This is the Serene Town clinic and most pokemon can talk, you just talked to me, I don’t understand what's so special about talking pokemon to you. Now with all that said what is all that burnt and torn cloth doing on you?” Audino replied to his questions and questioned him back.

“Burnt and torn cloth? Do you have Something reflective so I can see myself?” Nik questioned back and Audino put up a Reflect for Nik to act as a mirror. The image in the Reflect was a Midday Lycanroc wearing torn up clothes with shock burns across the fur. “What...how...how I’m a Pokemon? A.. Lycanroc?” Nik did not want to believe he had changed into a pokemon. “Was that dream real?” “Where are my possessions?” Nik asked Audino. “The ones who found you may have an idea.” Audino answered his question. “Found me? Who are these people and where are they?” Nik demanded answers. “We found you half drowned in a lake.” Three voices responded to the question. Nik turned his head to see a Grimmsnarl and two Sylveons. “I’m Bohr and I got you out of the lake and carried you here. These two are Gina, my wife and Lora, my daughter.” Bohr introduced himself and his family. “Where is my phone Bohr?” Nik asked Bohr for the whereabouts of his phone. “Phone? Explain further?” Bohr asked back at Nik. “It’s a big golden Rectangle with a clear case all around it and I use it to communicate with people.” Nik explained. “My family and I did not see such a thing when we found you.” Bohr said.

Nik’s sank deep into the hay bed not because of the price of the phone he had the care plan and cloud data backup, but it was the possibilities of what he was missing from his ‘friends’ online. This has been the longest time he's gone without checking his phone since he got it for his birthday and he needed to know what he was missing. “Then I will find it myself. Where is the lake Bohr?.” Nik asked. Before Bohr could answer Audino stepped in. “Stop I haven't gotten your name yet and if this ‘Phone’ is underwater then how will you get it?” Audino asked Nik. “I’m Nik Walker and I did not think about that.” Nik answered Audino’s questions. Nik thought of where his phone could be and he forgot the obvious answer his front right jean pocket. With unconscious effort Nik used his right paw to reach into the pocket. It was his phone! However like a man without reading glasses and a library. Nik realizedthat he had a phone for human hands and he had Lycanroc paws.


Remember what the therapist said about deep breathing and the stress ball. In and out, in and out. Look for the seer. Nik grabbed the stress ball from the torn up left pocket and began squeezing it. “Ok Nik you can't use your phone because you now have paws. Calm down and don’t think of what your friends are doing, what TV shows you're missing, Major game launches or podcasts who I love listening to. Don’t think about what is mis…” before Nik could finish worrying he heard a deflating sound come from his stress ball. The ball was punctured by one of his crystal claws. “This is not fine.” Nik spoke out loud. Nik started to pant rapidly holding the now pierced stress ball. With no way to calm down Nik’s eyes began shifting to a red hue and his imagination turned violent from boredom. The rapid panting turned to feral snarls as Nik’s eyes changed color.

“You three restrain him and I'll get a sleep seed. In the meantime a single petrify wand casting should buy all of us enough time.” Audino ordered and casted a petrify wand at Nik. “Sleep seed…” Audino began searching for a sleep seed. Lora and Gina wrapped Nik in their ribbons and Bohr held Nik down. “Sleep seed!” Audino proclaimed and rushed back to Nik where he had Bhor open Nik’s jaws so the sleep seed could be administered. Before the sleep seed could take effect Nik almost got Audino in his jaws, but only managed to draw some blood before falling into slumber.