Phases Of Change | Chapter 3: Exposure

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon in anyway shape or form, all rights are reserved to Nintendo.

Chapter 3 is here on deviantart and I will be getting to editing others and continuing the story.

Mark and I walked into Professor Oak's Lab. Even though I haven’t been here since my father died, the haunting images creep up on me easily. Just the very thought makes me want to walk right out. I can’t, though, I’ve got important business with the good Professor.

We waited at the front room of the lab for the Professor to show up for about half an hour.

"Hello you two,” said Oak, waving and smiling like he usually did.  “Sorry it took me so long to get here, I had problems with some Cubone that wouldn't let me near them for a study, but I solved the problem... sort of.” He scratched behind his neck sheepishly. Pausing for a moment, his expression turned serious. When he remembered why we were here, he looked me in the eye., "I heard about what happened to you two days ago Sora. Are you ok?".

"I'm fine Professor, I was wondering if I could talk to you, alone?" I asked. Out of the corner of my eye, Mark raised an eyebrow. I knew he was asking himself why, I just knew it. Before he could speak up, I kept talking. “Mark is that okay with you?”

"Er... Sure, I got a few errands to do anyway. I will be back later today, ok?" Mark replied.

"Ok," I said. Mark waved goodbye to the Professor and I before stepping out. He’s barely out before I turn to the Professor.. "Is there somewhere private we can talk?"

"Sure, follow me." Oak guided me me down the hall, passing many rooms along the way. Most of these were testing rooms and others small medical bays; stuff in case things happened. The door Oak entered was at the far end of the hall. Inside, it was laden with monitors and computer equipment. So many machines. I wish I knew what they all did.  Oak stopped in front of a desk and turned to face me, "So you want to talk about what happened the other day?".

"Yes" I said nervously grabbing my left arm and rubbing it to  comfort me, "What do you know about Team Horizon?" I thought I would open up with this, if he didn't know who they were then no harm done but if he did then I want to know who they are. The Professor looked in shock.

"Were these the people that attacked you?" Oak slowly said, leaning against the desk.

"Yeah, they said that they were looking for you, they also said they were your friends." I thought back to what those men said, "I knew they were lying and I knew they were up to no good so I tried to stop them, and with the help of Tom we did drive them off."

The professor closed his eyes for a minute to think, he soon looked at me with a depressing look. "I'm sorry Sora, I didn't mean for you to get hurt in this nonsense" Oak said, leaving me confused.

"You mean you know who they are?" I asked.

"Yes” Oak got off the desk and walked around the room, “It was years ago but I know them, they wanted my help in their research in turning humans in Pokemon so they can get their hands on rare and powerful Pokemon for their own needs" Oak continued saying, "I didn't know it then, they told me they were trying to cure some kind of Pokemon disease and asked me for samples of DNA testing that I was working on, it took me a year to find out what they were up to and I soon broke off contact with them, with out my help there research would be put back years, if they were coming for me now it must mean they wanted something" Oak said nervously and turned to look at me but all he found was a scared kid fearing for his life.

"Professor... I..." I stopped, 'I can't do this!' I thought, I'm so scared right now that I can't even talk, 'These people did something to me that turned me into a Pokemon and they might be looking for me as I speak'.

Oak walked up to me and put his hand on my shoulder "You’re ok Sora, was it my story... I'm sorry I do ramble on sometimes?" he gives me a small comforting smile, "They won't be coming after you anymore, don't worry everything will be fine" but he doesn't know what happen to me when we were fighting, but if I want to get back to normal I'm going to need the Professor's help.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that Professor" I said, he gave me a puzzled look as he waited calmly for me to continue, I unzipped my jacket and took it off, the Professor stared at me with wide eyes, I could of died right then... that look is something that I never wanted to see again, he was just staring at my long black pointed ears and my bushy tail that is down from sadness.

"Sora... what is this, I don't understand?" Oak seems even more confused than I did back home, which is something I didn’t know was possible.

I swallowed and breathed in deeply to calm my nerves, "When.... when I was fighting those Team Horizon guys, one of them got really mad and pulled out a syringe... then stabbed me and injected me with some kind of liquid” I start to cry silently knowing that my life is never going to be the same, Oak just didn't know what to say either, he has never been in a situation like this before, he just continued to stare at me with a concerned almost frightened look, “And now I look like this”.

Puzzled on how to deal with this, the Professor keeps his hand on my shoulder and stares me at me, "It's ok Sora, we will find a cure, everything will be okay" Oak said, I couldn't stop crying but I manage to look at him staring him in the eye, "But they will be after you soon enough, they won't let there first test subject run off" I just looked at him thinking if he is trying to cheer me up or make me even more scared.

"I-If they came for you then wouldn't that mean that this was meant for you?" I Manage to say under my salty tears.

"Yes if you didn't try and stop them then I would be what you are right now and not you" Oak just looked away, thinking, "You can't stay, they will find you here and once word of this gets out I'm afraid you will have more than just Team Horizon after you, Team Rocket might take an interest in this, you will need to leave Pallet tonight".

His words just shocked me, "Leave Pallet, but my whole life has been here, I only left to go into the forest and that's it and you want me to leave for good!?" I was starting to be more angry than shocked but my tears still slowly trickled down my cheek with my sadness still very much with me, "What about Mark and Marry how am I going to tell them what’s going on, and what about Tom..." I stop myself from saying anymore, how was I going to tell my best friend, my brother, that I was going to turn into a Pokemon, that I'm going to leave home and never be able to see him again, “I don't think I can do it...” I started to cry even more at even the thought of leaving the people I care for so much.

Professor Oak shakes his head also saddened, "I'm sorry Sora but this is how it must be” I looked back at him, I manage to stop myself crying just so I could hear the Professor talk to me under my internal sobbing, “I'm going to leave soon as well" he told me, I just stared at him confused, didn't he say that he was going to work on a cure for me? "I'm going to head over to Cinnabar Island and work in the lab there, Team Horizon will be looking for me as well and I wouldn't be able to help you if they got me” he was right, if he was going to help me then he will need to go into hiding, "Sora I will need to take some samples from you so I can study them when I go".

"You mean like blood?" I said nervously confused.

"Hair and skin samples as well, maybe some fur samples" Oak said, fur samples, now that really did make me feel disturbed about my situation, "Also judging by your ears and tail you seem to be a pokemon called Umbreon" he finished saying while walking to get some syringes for the samples and returned to my side swiftly.

"An Umbreon? Never heard of it".

"Well it is kind of a rare Pokemon in the wild and around people, it's one of Eevee’s evolutions, I'm trying to think of why you are turning into one out of all the different types of pokemon out there" the Professor said while drawing blood from my arm.

"Ouch!" I yelped in pain, my ears went back and my tail started to wave around the place when that needle took some blood from my left arm, it is clear that the Professor only knows how to work with Pokemon.

"Sorry" he said, going around behind me to try and get some fur samples from my tail but it was moving too fast for him to get anything, "Sora can you control that thing so I can get some fur".

"Um... I can try" I stood there trying to calm down, trying to let everything go, trying to think of a good thing like ice-cream, I opened my eyes and glanced behind me to see my tail still waving behind me furiously, I sighed and tried again this time I thought about Tom and I playing with our Pokemon in the backyard, having a good time and training them to be there best, it was one of the best times I can remember, soon enough my ears perked back up and my tail slowed down long enough for the Professor to get some fur, "Ouch!" again I get hurt by this man, this is not my day.

"There I'm all set with the samples, now take this", Oak went to the other side of the room and grabbed an object from the table and returned holding a bunch of gear, "This is a Pokegear, it will help you stay in contact with me and others when you're not at the Pokemon Center, here let me give you my number".

"Thanks Professor..." I said pocketing the Gear in my jacket, "What about Mark and Marry, what am I going to tell them?".

"Don't worry I will talk to them for you".

"Alright Professor, but what do I do after I leave Pallet?" I asked, I have so much more questions to ask him that I think I'm getting on the Professor's nerves.

"Go on a Pokemon journey, this way you won't be in one spot for too long, oh that reminds me-" the Professor walked out of the room and returned shortly with ten Pokeballs and two Pokedex's on a metal tray, "Here, these are for you" he said while handing me the balls and the two Pokedex's.

"Um... Professor, why is there another set?" I cocked my head to the side confused.

"I want you to give the rest to your friend Tom, I was going to do it but now I don't think I will have the time" Oak explained.

"Okay, thank you Professor for everything" I ran up to him and gave him a hug, the Professor returned in kind. 

A few hours later Mark was back to pick me up, I put my jacket back on and made sure it hid my ears and tail as I made my way to Mark.

"Did everything go well Sora?" Mark asked concerned.

"Yeah everything is fine" I just smiled at Mark and he smiled back, we both waved good bye to the Professor as we walked back home.

Deep in the mountains where Team Horizon base is located.

"Sir you got a call coming in, its from the two you sent to get Professor Oak" the voice said on the intercom.

"Put it through" He asked eagerly awaiting for the status update from his men, he pressed a button that was located on his desk and a monitor came down from the ceiling and stopped just above the desk in front of him, a picture of two men lit up on screen looking rather nervous, "So was your mission a success?".

"Um... well you see Kerr, we kind of ran into some trouble when we got into Pallet" one of the men responded.

"What sort of trouble?" Kerr asked as he starting to tap his fingers on the table, making the two men a little jumpy.

"Well we ran into this boy and one thing let to another... he got injected instead of the Professor" one of the man explained while trying to hide behind his friend. Kerr put his head in his hands and shook his head in disappointment.

"Where is the boy now?" Kerr asked as the two men looked at each other.

"Well sir... He got away".

"Idiots!” He exclaimed loudly smashing his fist on the table in anger, “Do you have any idea how long it took to make that virus and you inject it into a kid and let him get away!" Kerr was fuming at the two idiots on the other side of the call.

"Sir he did have a strong Pokemon and-" He was cut short by his enraged boss.

"I don't care! You two manage to screw up ten years of work in a single week!" Kerr screamed.

"Well sir he is still out there and he does have the virus in him" The man calmly told him. Kerr slowly calmed down when he heard this, thinking about his options.

"Yes this is true, it's not the Professor but it will do, you two return back here, I'm going to send out people that can actually do their jobs" Kerr commanded.

"Yes sir!" The two men said as they hang up.

"Hmm... This might get interesting" He said leaning back into his chair tapping his fingers together.

Mark and I returned home, we didn't talk the whole time we were walking back, it was too quiet for my liking, but I think he just thought not to drag on the subject any further, might of been for the best as I was getting sick of the story that ended my life. As soon as I stepped inside I went straight to my room to think things over and to start packing, when I walked in I saw Tom lying on my bed.

"Hey Tom, what’s up?" I asked with a smile.

"Just making sure that your okay, I mean I don't want my best friend passing out on me again" Tom said with a chuckle in his voice, but I didn't follow along with him cause I know that I could pass out again in pain like last night, "Sora, you ok?".

"What? Oh yeah I'm fine don't worry, I have just been thinking a lot lately" I replied.

"Why couldn't you think like that when you're doing your homework" Tom said trying to cheer me up, it was working I chuckled a little when I heard his little joke.

"Thanks Tom, I needed that" I said with a bigger smile on my face.

"No problem, anytime you need me I'm here for you, just go easy" Tom got up from my bed and started to walk out, "Remember we're brothers" and with that statement he left my room.

Oh tom why do you always seem to make things hard, he cares a lot about me and I care for him and his family, but I just can't stay here I will be putting them all in danger. How will I tell them I'm leaving, that they will never see me again at least not the human me... Human me… this really hits hard knowing that your life is turned upside down and it will never be the same again, I can't believe that I'm going to turn into an Umbreon, I can't believe I woke up this morning to find I have a bushy tail and long pointy black ears, everything I now know is going to slip away from me. I started to cry while I sat on my bed thinking about how I'm going to live out the rest of my life.

It is now 6:00pm and I haven't even started to pack yet, I was just sitting there thinking, but I stopped crying many hours ago.

"Sora can you come down here" I head Mark call my name from downstairs, I wondered what he would want, maybe dinner? I got up from my bed and walked out of my room and down the stairs, in the living room is where I saw Mark, Marry, Tom and Eevee standing around, they looked concerned and saw that I have been crying.

“Sora are you okay, have you been crying?” Marry asked.

“No I'm fine, just been sleeping” I lied. Mark and Marry glanced at each other they know that I was lying, well I guess that's their job they are parents after all.

“Are you sure?” Mark asked raising one of his eyebrows, I just nodded in reply, "Well Professor Oak called not to long ago" Mark said, my heart stopped, the Professor told them I am leaving, I just hope he didn't tell them why, "He told us everything you talked about today", damn it Professor...

"He... he did, why?" I asked, I knew that Oak was going to talk to them about me leaving but I didn't know he was going to tell them everything that I wanted to keep private between me and him.

"He was concerned for you and so he told us everything, we're still not quite sure what's going on though" Mark went on saying, "Sora... what really happened that day?". I didn't know what to do, I was hoping to not tell them so I could protect them but I guess they have the right to know for looking after me for my whole life.

I sighed and took a deep breath not looking forward for the events to come, “These two men from some team called Horizon came looking for the Professor. They told me that they were friends of his but I know a lot of Oaks friends that come through town and they didn't match up... they demanded that I tell them where he was but I wouldn't” I paused for a short breathe, “We got into a Pokemon fight and Charmander manage to win but not before getting stunned” I looked around the room to everyone, they were all listening carefully to my story, they must of already heard this from Tom before but not all of it, “Then they wanted to teach me a lesson so we got into a fight without Pokemon and I landed some hits but that just pissed one of them off, he then…” I lowered my head saddened by my story again, ”He then pulled out a syringe and stabbed me in the stomach and injected me with some kind of liquid...” I stopped, I was about to cry over this story again, I looked up and everyone seemed horrified at what they were hearing Tom more so since I hid this from him, “That's when Tom found me and saved me”.

“Sora, what do you mean by injected, injected you with what!?” Mark demanded that I tell him everything but the tone of his voice was anything but demanding.

“I don't know what it was, but...” I thought about it and there is no way that I can hide this anymore, I unzipped my jacket and took it off, as soon as I did my ears bounced back up and my tail started swaying from side to side. The whole family was shocked with jaws dropped, I just stood there looking at them then I put my head down in shame, my ears laid back and my tail went down and motionless.

"Those are fake, they're fake right, mum please tell me they're fake" Tom kept saying, turning around he only saw his mum crying in Marks arms.

"I'm...I'm sorry" I said trying to keep my tears from showing, "I didn't want any of this to happen, I didn't want to worry you about this but now thats too late, but I must leave tonight so I don't put you in danger".

"What your leaving? You can't leave you’re my best friend, my brother!" Tom cried out, "If you leaving then I'm coming to!".

"No you can't Tom it's too dangerous" I said, "You will only get hurt".

"I don't care I'm-" Tom tried to complain but got cut off.

"Oh Sora!" Marry said, she ran to me and started to hug me until I couldn't breath, "I'm so sorry, this shouldn't happen to you not after everything you've been through!" my tail went from side to side at her touch but stopped soon after, Marry only made it harder for me to leave, but all I wanted to do now is cry and hug her back.

"P-Professor Oak gave me some Pokeballs and a Pokedex for my trip" Tom was surprised to hear this, "He also gave me a Pokegear so I can keep in touch" Marry soon stopped hugging me and backed off a bit.

"Mum I want to join Sora, he has been my friend for as long as I can remember and I'm not going to let him do this by himself" Tom said while punching the air with enthusiasm, I stopped crying and looked at him, he seemed so pumped about this but he can't come he still has a life here, I don't.

"Tom you always wanted to go on a Pokemon journey but you always waited, are you sure about this?" Mark asked.

"I'm sure" Tom replied with a nod.

"Wait, Tom you can't come with me, it will be too dangerous and if you get hurt... I don't know what I would do" I told him trying to keep from crying, again.

"Sora you can't stop me from joining you so you might as well suck it up" Tom yelled out, I'm surprised that he wants to help so bad, even after seeing how I look, maybe he just feels sorry for me.

"Ouch!" I yelped out, I turned around and saw the Eevee bit my tail to see if it was real, she got a really big surprise when I reacted to the pain, so did everyone else when they heard me yelp.

"Eevee, don't do that" Tom told her off. Eevee is what she said back with a sad look on her face.

"Well I need to go pack but I think I will leave in the morning instead now" I told everyone, with that I headed back to my room leaving everyone like they were going to have a mental breakdown. No one bothered me for the rest of the night while I packed and went to bed.

In the morning I made sure I have everything packed in my bag, I borrowed one of Mark's sleeping bag so I can use it when I leave. Once I was ready I put my backpack on and headed into the living room. In there waited Mark, Marry, Tom and Eevee, I saw that Tom had packed and ready to leave with me, he also borrowed a sleeping bag for the trip.

"I packed you a week's worth of food" Said Marry as she handed me a heavy bag full of food.

"Thank you" I was about to grab it when Tom reached for it and took it from my grasp.

"I will take it" he said as he strap it on to his bag.

"I got something for you Tom" I reached into my pockets and pulled out a Pokedex and the Pokeballs and handed them to him.

"Really this is for me? Neat!" Tom yelled out as he looked at his new Pokedex, seeing him happy made everyone perk up a little bit.

"You ready to go Tom?" I asked.

"You bet" He replied as he put away his Pokeballs and Pokedex. I started to put my hood on so I could hid my ears when Mark stopped me before I tighten the hood.

"Sora, you shouldn't be scared by what you look like, just be yourself and you will be fine" he said as he took my hood off and let my ears bounce up making the left one twitch, he then unzipped my jacket and pulled my tail out from underneath it and it swayed from side to side.

"Thank you" I said and gave him a hug, then I turned to Tom and he nodded at me and we left the house with Eevee in tow, turning back to wave goodbye to Mark and Marry before we set off the the road.