FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Misconception by Pent Ghelsburg

Disclaimer: Some characters in this story and have been created for use within the context of this story. Others are the original and rightful intellectual property of their creators. I use them with permission and respect. Additionally, characters are portrayed as underage and are purely fictional. Any resemblance to real-life persons is purely coincidental. Furthermore, there is a prominent micro-macro theme presented in this story. You have been warned.

"Things are not always as they seem.

First appearances deceive many."

-Phaedrus

In front of you sits something new and perhaps even shiny. Its luster may not even be noticeable, but to the viewer, it is nonetheless enticing all the same. The allure of the new and the mystery of the unknown is at the core of the nature of inquisition. Everyone has to make do with it no matter their age or situation. Of course, there are those of us suited to deal with such things and yet there are still many others who find themselves lost or otherwise unable to resist the temptation to fiddle with the unknown.

Gadget was a boy who often lived on the cutting edge of technology. He often pushed his parents to get the latest and greatest. His reasoning was simple, staying ahead of the curve would give their family just that much more of an advantage in everyday life. Some technologies do give certain benefits but that doesn't change that money often prohibits constant upgrading.

Regardless of that every time the television lit up with something new, Gadget approached his parents with the same topic. Sometimes the entertained the ideas but more times than not they turned him down. It wasn't like they were wealthy and they had other things to worry about other than buying new technology at every turn. At 13 years of age, the boy had little else to worry about besides school and his own social life.

As such the Chimchar put the bulk of his free time working on things and making them better. He was a chip off the old block of his father who shared his love for all things old. But instead of just restoring them, the pair often making them better than their original design entailed. His mother, on the other hand, was actual an executive at an IT firm and both of the boy's parents had a greater impact on their cub's lifestyle than they realized.

The family lived in the Sinnoh region of the world in the small city of Eterna. The town was famed for its history as well as it's connection to the Pokemon League. Of course, the most famous inhabitant was its gym leader, who was rotated regularly to keep things fresh. But it wasn't often that humans remained in the area before long. Even Team Galactic had long ago fled the city after it was overrun by the Pokemon armies from the east.

Nowadays the entire region was dominated by anthro Pokemon and humans were an anomaly. Even battles now occurred without any interaction with so-called trainers. Many considered it to be better than in the old days, at least those who remembered such times. The children of this generation were too young to have experienced the events and the details of it were often skimmed over in school. Regardless it wasn't something that most Pokefurs thought about these days anyway as it was a bygone era of little consequence.

Gadget went to the local secondary school and was already 2 years into the institution. He wasn't exactly what you called an astute student, but he got by. The Chimchar had a large group of friends who he hung out with. Most of them he had known only since transferring into the school but there was a small handful that he had known since his days in primary school. His best friend was a Shinx boy by the name of Robin.

Robin and Gadget had been friends since early into primary school. They had been to each other's birthday parties several times and Robin was one of the few teens who knew of Gadgets secret. The chimchar was biologically a girl and had grown up in a normal tomboyish fashion. However, he now preferred to be known as a boy and had continued wearing the same boyish type of clothing to give off the vibe. It wasn't something they focused on since the issue bothered neither of them but they still kept it under wraps to avoid drama.

The Shinx boy was much more active than his best friend. He was very much your typical jock, even if he didn't associate with that crowd. Robin was a good deal taller than his friend and more athletic. He had joined quite a few athletic clubs in his younger years but had grown into the frame of a soccer player once he hit puberty. He had even been invited to try out for varsity and while he didn't make it, the coach still decided to keep an eye on his development in the sport.

As such he was quite lean and even muscular in comparison to much of his age mates. He was very much at the apex of development for his bracket and it was something he took into his paw. Robin's event went as far as watching old videos of games so that he could improve his skills. Of course, he knew it was no substitute for practice, and often he spent his free time doing what he could to shoot on an empty goal or make solo footwork drills. All of this went noticed by the school's athletic staff.

Gadget readily supported his friend's hobby. He even made an activity tracker for the boy that kept tabs on his heart rate as well as his calories burned. But perhaps the most worthwhile benefit to his friends game was a robot that served as an AI opponent for Robin in Soccer. The robot wasn't exactly the most advanced of devices but it still served the purpose for its design. It even had a difficulty setting that could be dialed up or down according to how Robin wanted.

Over the past few years, Robin had gotten much better, mostly due to the help he was getting from his friend as well as his perseverance in the sport. One thing that motivated him was this support and the fact his family readily gave their time up to be at every one of his games. His father was especially glad since he was also a sports enthusiast, though he preferred Lacrosse. His mother on the other hand was more indifferent about the ordeal but still showed her version of support, which was far less enthusiastic.

Lately, though Gadget had been acting weird, at least through Robin's perspective. The Chimchar had been on a bit of an adventurous spree as of late. He had been going on about this legendary stone that supposedly provided an immense source of energy for the surrounding areas. He claimed that surveyors of the area had reported that it even lit up the immediate zone around it and even gave off an innate sense of warmth to those around it. Though Gadget was mostly interested in it for the source of power it could potentially provide.

Gadget had been talking about it for the past few weeks, almost incessantly. It wasn't something that Robin was interested in and so perhaps the Shinx exaggerated to himself but otherwise played it off as no big ordeal. Still one day, Gadget took his obsession to an entirely different level. The chimchar was lazing about his house when a newscast aired on the local networks. An Entei in a dark brown suit sat at a desk and held a small collection of papers in its paws.

"Good Afternoon Pokefurs. Today we are happy to announce that the mayor Eterna will be cutting the ribbon at a brand new museum. The museum will be taking over the building that was previously vacated by Team Galactic some ago. This afternoon it will be open to the public with its main attraction being the legendary evolution stones. Students and Teachers get a discount for the first week so be sure to check it out."

The Entei continued with another story as he went about his normal business sharing the daily news with the citizens. Instantly Gadget became disinterested in whatever was being said. He was more focused on what had just been shared. He began to wonder if this was the legendary stone had been wondering about lately. He knew the story behind evolutionary stones but had no idea what they could be used for outside of that purpose.

Gadget fished his cellphone out of his pocket and called Robin. It took a few minutes before the Shinx picked up the phone.

"Hiya. What's up, Gadget?" Rob spoke into the receiving end of the phone.

The chimchar sat back on the sofa and leaned his paws on the coffee table in front of him. "Remember that legendary stone I told you about?"

"Yeah. What about it?" The shinx rolled his eyes at the mention of the topic again.

Gadget hummed into the phone. "There is a new museum that will be featuring a similar stone to show the public. Do you want to go see it?"

"Sure, I suppose. But can it wait until tomorrow after soccer?" Robin secretly wanted to avoid going altogether and hoped the other boy would forget.

Gadget sighed heavily. "But I wanted to go today. Don't you want to see it? It should be so cool..."

"Uh...I guess. Where is it at exactly?" The shinx could see it meant a lot to his friend that he went so he decided to play along.

Gadget thought about it for a moment. "It's in the middle of town. Want to meet there in say an hour or so?"

"Sure. That sounds good. See you then." Robin hung up the phone and ended the call.

Gadget was happy that his friend had decided to go along. He started to ponder all the things he could learn from the stone while still remembering the protocol of museums in his mind. The only thing he wanted to do was examine it and perhaps figure out how it worked according to what he could based on observation alone. He could only hope it would be enough to develop his invention based on whatever he could find out.

The Chimchar did some simple calculations on paper for the next 40 or so minutes until he realized it was almost time to head out. He quickly changed his clothes from his two-piece

pajama set to a more casual green t-shirt along with some jeans and beat-up old tennis shoes. After all, he realized he needed to take his bike and didn't want to ruin anything nice he had hanging in his closet. Once he was changed he looked around his room to make sure he had everything he needed.

He looked down and noticed his shirt wasn't fitting quite as well as he had expected. He looked at the design in front of it and saw that it didn't appear to be any of his sleep shirts. It hung well below his waistline and even the sleeves dropped a little below his elbows than they normally did. Gadget figured the shirt must have been stretched or something. He decided not to worry about it since he was in a rush and didn't want to be late.

Gadget remembered to grab his bag once he saw it and took hold of his phone before heading out of his home. It was a warm spring day and the sunlight beat down on him with unabated ferocity. He shielded his eyes once he walked out into the open and began to dread the fact that he now had to ride a bike in this heat. He looked up into the sky and hoped that clouds would dampen the sunlight that was now blazing upon him.

As he walked to his bike, he continued to tell himself that it would be worth it. Gadget took hold of his handlebars and mounted the bike. Once he started to pedal, it wasn't nearly as bad. At least the breeze at least eased the head just a little bit, making it more bearable than it otherwise would have been. The travel from his home to the middle of town was about 15 minutes and he kept to the side streets as the idea of being around a lot of traffic didn't sit easily with him. He was even able to make a good time since he didn't take a normal route and continued to cut corners.

Once he arrived in the heart of the town, he looked around hoping that Robin had arrived. After a few looks around he decided that his friend was not there yet. He adjusted his shirt a bit which was looser than he was otherwise used to. Gadget began to wonder where his friend might be and even questioned in Robin might show. After all, he didn't sound that thrilled about the idea and the boy was a rather good judge of the character of his friend after knowing him for so long. Regardless he decided to wait for his friend and give him a bit since he didn't want to go alone.

It was a good ten minutes before Robin finally arrived. Gadget eyed his friend's bike from afar. From his perspective, Robin was going much to slow. It looked like he was intentionally going slow, but the Chimchar wasn't about to call his friend out on the issue. Eventually, the Shinx brought his bike over to where Gadget was waiting. Once he came to a stop, Robin waved over at the other cub and then proceeded to lock up his bike along with the other kids on the rack.

Robin walked over to where his friend was standing. "I'm here so where is the so-called museum that you so keen on visiting?"

"It's not far. It's over there in that building." Gadget pointed to a building that was across the street.

The Shinx looked over the other boy's shoulders. "Alright, let's get going then?"

"Sounds good. Let's go." The Chimchar took the lead and began to head in the direction of a crosswalk.

Robin followed closely behind but wasn't exactly excited about going along. Still, he kept a safe distance so that he could occasionally glance at his phone to look at other things to distract himself. It wasn't normally like Robin to focus on his phone but museums certainly weren't his thing and he wasn't into natural history. They continued together until they crossed over the cross-walk to the side of the street where the museum was.

It was a rather plain building. The only thing that set it apart was columns that held the roof up, though even they weren't that distinguishing. Once they were indoors, they were immediately hit by a rush of air conditioning. Gadget was especially glad to be rid of the heat. He brushed back his long brown hair out of his face and let it rest against the back of his shoulders. The Chimchar tilted his head up and lost himself for a second as the feeling of the breeze overtook him.

Robin soon passed him and realized that his friend was daydreaming a bit. Casually the Shinx placed his paw into the other boy and nudged him. This is all it took to snap him out of it. After he did, they were on there way again. Gadget looked around and searched for the ticket counter. Over on the left-hand side of the wall was a small window with an opening in it. The two young Pokefurs approached it as the person inside eyed them cautiously.

"How may I help you?" A dewott woman spoke from inside the glass.

The Chimchar dug his hand into his pocket and paused for a second. "I would like two student tickets for the museum please."

"Very well. Do you have your student ID's with you today?" The otter-like creature began tapping on the computer screen in front of her.

Gadget frowned once he realized he had forgotten his wallet. "Well no..."

"I have my ID with me and I can pay for both of us will that be alright?" Robin stepped forward and offered up his ID and had some cash wadded up in his paw.

The woman hummed. "I suppose that will be fine. He seems younger than you anyways. So I will take your word for it."

"Thanks, I appreciate it." Gadget couldn't help but blush in embarrassment.

The shinx put his arm around his friends back. "No problem. I know you want to go, so let's do it."

"Thank you for your patronage. Enjoy your visit." The woman took some of the cash from the boy and refunded some of it along with 2 tickets.

With that, the two boys were off again. The entrance wasn't far removed from the ticket booth. There was no one manning it. The only thing preventing their entrance was a small turn style. They had to insert their tickets into it to gain access to the museum itself. When they did an announcement sounded formally welcoming them to the museum. It lacked any sense of real fanfare so neither of the boys hardly noticed it. A volunteer approached them and handed them a map of the place so that they could navigate their way around.

Gadget opened the map and began to look it over. The museum was divided into 4 areas. Each of them was indicated by a different color on the map. It took him a moment to find what he was looking for but eventually, he found the section on Natural History. It was located in the western wing of the facility. The chimchar closed the map and began to head in that direction with his friend closely in tow.

Once they entered into the Natural History part of the complex, Robin found himself more engaged than he otherwise would have anticipated. The first thing they saw was a giant skeleton of a Tyrantrum. The frame of the beast was massive and it came just shy of touching the ceiling with its head. Gadget and Robin looked on it with simple amazement. Both of them feeling rather tiny in comparison. Fortunately for them, the species wasn't local to the area and preferred to roam about near the Alola region of the world.

As they moved on, they came upon other fossils. They were much smaller than the dinosaur in the previous room. Many of them were housed in glass frames and containers which were spread around the room for people to look at. They weren't nearly impressive either but still, Gadget took a close look at every single one of them. One of them was of the ancient Omanyte, which had been extinct for several generations. Nowadays you only saw the Pokemon when it was cloned and on television series about older species of beasts.

They took a little bit of time to navigate through the rest of the room. Eventually, they happened upon the Geological portion of the facility. There were all sorts of rocks posted around the room including a strange arrangement of coral that had been extracted from the seafloor. Behind each of them was a placard describing where they came from and why they were significant. Eventually, Gadget eyed what he believed to be the legendary stones that he came to see. He began to approach it and gradually the visage on his face turned to a smirk.

Now they were before the legendary stones of myth. There were several of them in front of them. Each of them glowed a distinct color and had a visible etching on their face. Gadget couldn't help but put his face almost squarely against the glass that protected them from being stolen. Robin felt ashamed that his friend was not obeying the normal protocol of museums and looked around. After he realized no one else was around, he didn't feel nearly as bad about it.

Eventually, Gadget pried himself from the casing and began to take notes. He even went as far as to draw the stone and take a picture of it. It wasn't quite as impressive as he originally believed and didn't emit as much light as he thought. Once he was done with that, Robin could only assume that his friend was finished with the place. Yet they continued through the rest of the museum visiting each one of the different parts of it.

Once they were done, the shinx couldn't help but yawn. This sort of thing wasn't his style and while some of the fossils were interesting, the majority of the museum didn't appeal to him.

"Thanks for coming. Want to get lunch or something before we leave?" Gadget suggested as he approached the bigger cub.

Robin gripped his stomach indiChimcharing that he was hungry. "Sure but I don't have any more money."

"I think food is included with the ticket." The Chimchar scratched his head as he tried to remember the promotion from the news segment.

The Shinx nodded. "Sure, let's go."

Gadget reached into his pocket and pulled the map out. He loChimchared the cafeteria in the center of the building and began to lead towards it. It was a short walk from where they were. When they arrived, they found themselves in a more crowded

area.

It was an open area with a skylight overlooking it. The sun still shone brightly down even with the glass overtop it. It was so bright that there was no need for lights. It was quite different than the rest of the museum which had artificial lighting. The Chimchar looked around, the place seemed to be a cafeteria with an open bar where Pokefurs could grab whatever they want and a drink dispenser station off to the side. The two friends made their way to the line that led to where the serving stations were

situated.

There were a few people in line but it didn't take long to get through it. Once they did the Chimchar chose a grilled chicken sandwich while his friend picked out a meatball hoagie. Both of them ended up getting fries since the only other option was a salad and neither of them was much for greens. They continued over to a table where they proceeded to sit down and eat. Neither said much as they enjoyed their meal.

When they were done, Gadget made himself useful and threw both of the leftovers away. As they were about to leave they were approached by a large Marill. The blue mouse had a tray in its paws and was wearing an apron. It appeared that they worked in the building in some capacity.

"Hello, boys. Would you like a free sample of a product?" The husky-voiced man held out a tray with small morsels on top.

Robin looked over the tray. "What are they?"

"Well, they are dynacookies based on the new dynamite substance. They are supposed to enhance Pokemon abilities. Would you two like to try one? All we ask is that you provide feedback on this sheet and send it back after a week or two."

Gadget put himself next to the two and looked over the paper. "Sure, I suppose. It sounds easy enough. I'm in. What about you, Robin?"

The shinx hummed and gave it some thought. "I guess if your in then I'm not about to be left out."

"Alright, here is your form. Please only take one. They are both experimental and expensive so we would like to know any side effects or benefits you experience. Thanks for your participation." The Marill handed over the forms and then let each of them pick a treat.

Both of the cubs took the paper and then grabbed a treat for each of them. They all looked the same so nothing distinguished them. The two of them wasted no time before plunging the small cookies into their mouth. Surprisingly they tasted like nothing and only left a faint aftertaste. Even more strange was how filling the small food item was, though this wasn't as noticeable since they just ate. But they couldn't have eaten anything else even if they wanted it.

Gadget shrugged. "It doesn't taste like much. You're expecting these to sell?"

"Well, it's a test product. It hasn't been finalized. We appreciate your feedback. However, it's not designed with taste in mind. It's more about performance. As I said, please keep us in the loop about anything you encounter outside of the norm in the context of battle."

Robin barged in between them. "Sure you got it! Come on...let's go. I want to do something else."

The Chimchar was in no position to deny his friend. He was not prepared for this sudden brash action but decided to just let it happen since talking to the Dewott probably wouldn't lead to anything anyways. In the spur of the moment, the two cubs dropped the paperwork that they were supposed to fill out. Little did they realize that it listed all of the warnings of the product they had just consumed. But it didn't matter to them as they cared little about that and continued their day as normal.

Robin led his friend back into the street. He took a deep breath and was glad to be out of the stuffy building. He much preferred being outside even on a day as warm as this.

"So...what do did you want to do?" Gadget asked in a confused tone.

Robin hesitated a moment as he wasn't entirely sure what his intention was. "Want to go swimming or something?"

"Sure but we'd have to go back home and get out suits. It's not like the pool allows for rentals or has any to buy for guests." The chimchar folded his arms expecting the other to be more reasonable than he was at the moment.

The shinx nodded. "Yeah, of course. It's not like we can go naked. We can bike home and then change and go out again."

"That sounds good." Gadget began to head back towards the crosswalk and they waited together before they crossed the street again.

Once they were across the street, they made their way to the bike rack where their mode of transport. Robin reached in his pocket to grab the key to unlock it. After he did the chain collapsed onto the floor and he coiled it on the bottom part of the bike.

The chimchar approached the bikes and held them up while his friend redid the chain around the bottom. Soon Robin joined him in standing. It seemed they were ready to go back home. It was still quite bright outside and Gadget could tell it was hotter. After all, it was later in the day and the sun wasn't as shielded by clouds anymore. The Chimchar was already starting to sweat, even know he hadn't been on his bike very long. As he mounted his bike, Gadget found that his right leg didn't quite reach the pedal when it was in the lowest position.

He passed it off as no big ordeal and waited for his friend to do the same. After he did they were on their way again. The two made their way to their respective houses, which were in opposite directions to one another so they didn't go home together. Gadget struggled to maintain himself on his bike, feeling rather awkward about it the entire time but managing all the same. When he got home he felt much more winded than he expected.

The whole journey was much more draining than he expected. Gadget was sweating profusely and breathing much harder than he had earlier on the same route. Sure he had done a few other things but it hadn't exactly been physical activity except for the bike ride. Gadget decided not to dwell on it since he knew that Robin wouldn't exactly be wasting any time. He knew that if there was one thing that his friend like, it was things to do with sports. Besides he had put up with the whole visit to the Museum, so Gadget wasn't about to let him down.

Once he was inside, Gadget was immediately relieved to be free of the sun rays. However, the sense of warmth remained with him. He chalked it up as being worked up from the bike ride as he wiped the sweat from his brow. The Chimchar went into his house and headed over to his room. He shuffled through the top dresser in his drawer to find his suit. He located some trunks he could change into. He hadn't developed his secondary sexual characteristics so he didn't quite have to cover his top half. Gadget quickly stripped off his clothing, finding it to be somewhat loose on his form. Even his shoes slid off easier than he recalled from earlier in the day.

It was a strange notion since the tennis shoes were old and he hadn't grown in some time. The fact that they required no effort to pull off was strange to him indeed. Regardless he paid it no attention and continued to disrobe. After he put on his swim trunks and tied a knot in it so it didn't run down his legs. He changed into a different shirt and then put on some sandals, hoping they would support his feet on the way back out of the house.

Gadget made his way back to the door and headed outside. The heat of the sun began to beat down upon him again and he tried shielding himself from its gaze. looked over at the bike. Already his body felt uncomfortably hot. Upon looking at his bike he recalled having much difficulty in coming back home and wondered if he would be able to manage a second time. The Chimchar realized he didn't have much choice in the issue. He slowly approached the bike and looked at it closely. He tried mounting it with one leg but soon realized his feet didn't reach the pedals when he tried to extend his legs.

The Chimchar got off the bike again and wondered what was going on. He couldn't figure it out and felt like someone was playing a trick on him. But the reality remained that no one was around so that wasn't a possibility. Gadget knew he couldn't dwell on the issue long and adjusted the seat. That small fix would alleviate the issue at least until he could figure out what was going on. He mounted the bike once again and made a b-line straight for the pool.

The community pool was over towards where Robin lived. The journey was much longer this time but since he adjusted the seat, he had an easier time managing his bike. When he finally arrived, he wasn't nearly as winded as he had been compared to earlier. The sun was still blazing down and even despite the easier trip, Gadget had managed to work up even more of a sweat and wiped his paw across his head to keep the water out of his eyes. By this point, his fur was matted down with the bodily liquid. He couldn't wait to take a dip in the pool.

The Chimchar got off his bike and chained it up at the bike rack by where a fence separated the street from the pool itself. Gadget could overhear some laughing and yelling from the inside of the social area on the other side of the barrier. He began to walk towards the pool, his sandals shuffling a bit. The shoes were wiggling around a bit more than they should have but he was still able to move and push his way forward. Eventually, he found his way into the main part of the pool.

Gadget looked around and saw that there were a lot of other Pokefurs about. Many of them were water type but there were a few other more surprising patrons. Even a few other fire Pokemon were about, though they weren't exactly in the water itself. The chimchar looked around for his friend. After a quick striding gaze, he found that Robin was nowhere to be found. He figured that the Shinx had to arrive at any minute, especially considering that he lived closer than he did.

While he was waiting, Gadget fiddled with his shirt which was almost a tent on him now. The piece of clothing was too big for him and to others, it might have looked like he was wearing some sort of handed down garment. He was tired of fighting with it and took it off, revealing his flat and lithe stomach. Gadget finally decided to sit down on one of the many lawn chairs. He didn't lay down but figured it would be better than just standing.

It was a few minutes before Robin showed his face. The shinx's lean figure pushing his way through the crowd as he continued forward to where his friend was standing. His own clothing looking to be too big on him too and Robin even seemed to struggle to move as if his pants were hindering his movement. The shinx's movement was small and calculated so that he didn't fall. The chimchar stood up once his friend was close enough to embrace with a quick and friendly hug.

While they were sharing the short embrace, Gadget noticed something was off. The Chimchar was used to his friend being several inches taller than him. All of a sudden he barely had to gaze upward to peer into his eyes. They were almost eye to eye and this was not normal by either of their standards. Robin wasn't sure what to think of it but had experienced the same issues that his friend had that day, though neither were aware of the other's plight.

Neither said a word and they remained in the awkward exchange for a few moments. Once it was finally ended the stood there in shared silence. The only sound that was obvious was the crowd noises of the public area.

"Want to go to the pool? It's really hot today and I feel kind of weird." The Shinx ground his hands together nervously.

Little did Gadget realize that his friend had gotten worked up over just that little hug. It wasn't noticeable though with his sagging bathing suit.

The chimchar nodded. "Sure that sounds good."

Robin took off his shirt as well, which took more effort than it normally did. His swimshorts barely hung on him and when Gadget looked upon him, he could see the dark abyss created by the space between the waistband and the shinx's fur. Of course, he couldn't see much but it was evident that the swimsuit was way too big for him.

"Come on!" Robin beckoned to his friend and even pushed him a bit.

The two friends walked in a hurried fashion over to where the pool was. Gadget wasn't really worried about the prospect of the water weakening him, so long as he got out before his body reacted badly. He confided in himself that it was much too hot to worry about that. Robin was the first one into the water. As he submerged himself, the electricity that he harnessed within his body generated a static discharge around him. He had learned long ago that so long as he took it slow, that he would not harm anyone around him so he always played it safe when it came to water.

It took him a few moments but eventually, he was submerged up to his shoulders. The shinnx waited for his friend who was understandably more cautious about his approach. Gadget slowly shuffled off his sandals and poked his feet into the water one by one. His body tingled as it normally did when he tried to assimilate himself in an aquatic setting. Step by step he continued his slow approach into the water. Eventually, he was almost at the same point his friend was in the water finding it to be a bit too deep for him before backing away. Awkwardly he still felt hotter than he thought he should have, especially considering the water was normally cold.

Before long Robin took off into the deep end. His body had now normalized itself to the water so he didn't generate anymore static when he moved. Gadget didn't hesitate and submerged his body and rocketed forward in an attempt to find his friend. There were quite a few people around and so he had to weave his way through each of them as he tried to avoid bumping into them. Occasionally the Chimchar lost sight of his friend in the water and as they were nearing the deep end.

The two managed to stay underneath the water for the entire length of the pool. The legs of various Pokefurs blurred by as they made their way from one end of the pool to the other. Robin was in such a rush that the movement of the water against his body was pulling his swim trunks loose. More and more they shifted down his legs. For a second they remained on the boy's paws before being completely free of their owner. Within seconds the swimsuit hit the other cub squarely in the face.

Little did he realize that it was his friend's swimwear and he continued swimming forward until he reached the deep edge of the pool. Once the bigger cub was near the end of the pool, he grabbed onto the edge. Immediately he noticed his friend was blushing. Gadget realized it was the other swim trunks and avoided looking down below. He had seen his friend naked before but never in a public setting. Robin meanwhile was covering his boy bits trying to maintain whatever sense of vanity that remained. The Chimchar felt bad and figured that the suit that had hit him in the face had to be Robin's. Quickly he went back to retrieve it and delivered it back to the naked boy.

The shinx quickly put back on the swim shorts but they didn't hold to his waist as they didn't have a draw strap as Gadgets did. So instead what he did to keep them from falling off was hold them up using his hand. The Chimchar felt bad for his friend but wasn't entirely sure what to do about it. They hadn't been in the water long and Gadget was just now getting cooled off. Instead of worrying about it, the smaller cub splashed some water into the other boy's face.

Robin shielded himself way too late. "Hey, no fair. I wasn't ready!"

"So what? Splash war!" Gadget continued to push wave after wave of water towards the other boy.

The Shinx wasn't able to put up much of a fight since one of his hands was preoccupied holding up his swim trunks, but he did the best he could with only one hand. One of the nearby patrons screamed at them a few others grumbled underneath their own muted breath. But they were far from the only cubs their and to complain about them would have likely fallen on deaf ears. Eventually, they grew tired of splashing each other as the activity wasn't very enticing for long.

The two stared into each other's eyes sharing an awkward silence for a moment. Gadget brought himself close enough so that the two could feel each other's breath blowing past them. The Chimchar seemed entranced by Robin's blue eyes and yellow pupils. The reflection of the sun on the water made them appear as if they were moving even if his focus remained fixed. Within moments their faces were mere centimeters apart. Being so close to him only made the warming sensation intensify ever so slightly.

Gadget suddenly leaned inward and kissed the other boy. Robin was caught off guard but did not attempt to break away and the locked embrace remained for several moments. The Chimchar even went as far as to explore the other boy's mouth a bit with his tongue. Eventually, he pulled away, and when he did he discovered that his friend was blushing red brightly. Gadget was embarrassed too though he wasn't exactly showing it.

The chimchar offered his paw to the other boy and Robin was more than happy to take it. The two made their way to a ladder which led out of the pool. The shinx took longer to climb up since he was still hanging on to his shorts. Gadget too was slower than he remembered, though it didn't alarm him since the slower boy went first. Robin waited for his friend once he was out of the water and on the relatively dry surface around the pool.

Once they were both standing, something seemed even more off than before. Gadget looked at Robin whose line of sight was now below his own. Either Gadget was getting bigger or Robin was getting smaller. The Chimchar blinked and rubbed his eyes to make sure this was the case. Sure enough, nothing changed once his eyesight returned to normal. He began to realize that something was amiss but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Gadget brushed off the issue for now and decided to deal with it later. It didn't seem to be bothering Robin, who unbeknownst to him was having his internal issue about the same issue. The shinx was unsure of what to make of it and didn't like being bested at anything. Now all of the sudden his friend was taller than he was and this wasn't something he was keen on. He tried his best to ignore it since it wasn't overly dramatic despite their change in perspective.

The Chimchar offered his paw to the other boy who willingly took it. Gadget began to lead forward, clearly having some sort of intention in mind. They pushed their way through the crowd as they wove back and forth. Perhaps one of the most alarming things to either of them was the fact that even younger-looking cubs than they were appearing taller to them. Some of them were bigger and visibly had a height advantage over the two of them Neither of them knew the ages of course but appearances can be equally telling for those in a state of concern.

Eventually, they found their way to the bathroom. But instead of going inside, Gadget continued completely around the complex until they were behind it. Robin looked around and saw that no one was around. The only thing other than the building that was the fence that separated the pool from the street surrounding it. The Chimchar was still somewhat hot and bothered from the kiss before, his body was sweating in anticipation, much warmer than it normally was. The bigger boy then got the keen idea pouncing on the smaller one before pinning him to the floor.

The Shinx's scent was nothing like Gadget had ever experienced before. It was invigorating and almost immediately he began exploring the smaller boys' upper body. The feeling of Robin's

fur against his own was completely alien to him and eventually, his paw made its way down into the smaller cubs swim shorts. Robin's butt was firm and supple as he groped it.

"Uh...what're you doing?" Robin was giving in to his own emotions despite not being unsure of how to deal with them.

Gadget didn't say anything and just pressed on wrapping his paws around the front portion of Robin's body. The Chimchar leaned in and pressed his wet nose into the boy. Robin felt the wet appendage pressed into him, before lightly pressing his lips in to kiss the other Chimchar's snout. The bigger cub's nipples were already hard from just exploring the smaller boy's lean body. Gadget wrapped his arms around the Chimchar as if almost an instinctual embrace.

Gadget hesitated for a moment before continuing. He looked up at Robin whose face showed no signs of protest. Picking up where he left off the Chimchar pushed rotated his paws around into the crotch of the Shinx. Unlike himself, Robin had male genitalia. He wasted on time in stripping Robin's lower portion, desperately wanting to see what it looked like. It took only a few seconds before t Chimchar managed to semi-disrobe his new friend from the waist down.

The Chimchar freed his friend from the prison of his clothing taking a second to examine his fleshy cock. Gadget didn't spend that long looking at it, and quickly took it into his palm before beginning to rub it. It was something he'd done before but he'd thought about it a few times in fantasy. Robin's face was priceless as his eyes rolled back into the back of his head. Gadget was satisfied the Shinx was into this as much as he was and continued to stroke the other cub's flesh.

Robin was experiencing a familiar sensation. He had masturbated before he knew all too well that he was getting worked up. By this point, his face was flush red with embarrassment but he did not attempt to stop his friend, instead of coaxing him further by relaxing his paw flat over Chimchar's grip. Gadget began to pump the cubs cock as it pulsated and throbbed to his attention. Before long he spasmed and spurted a few times.

"Wow...that was...." The smaller cub was unable to even convey his thoughts into words.

"Liked that, huh?" Gadget couldn't help himself and milked his friend a bit longer before finally releasing him.

"Uhuh..." Robin simply muttered his words trying to regain his composure.

It took a while but eventually, the Shinx came around. Robin's eyes were still glazed over with delight. He couldn't believe what had just happened and yet it was very much real. He rolled upward and sat more upright. Gadget was the first one who got up and he offered a hand to his friend who still had yet to get up. The shinx took hold of the offered hand and picked himself up with the other cub's help. After a second of resituating themselves, the two boys were standing upright once again.

Now that they were back up on their feet the two were fixed opposite of one another, though they were still relatively close in proximity. Gadget could now just about see over the other cubs head. It was quite evident that Robin was smaller than he was.

"Uh...what happened to you?" Gadget was beginning to feel concerned about this sudden change in proportion.

Robin looked up a little bit in an attempt to meet the gaze of the other cub. "I don't know...but you lost your pants as I did earlier."

The chimchar looked down and saw his trunks bundled around his bare feet. He hadn't even realized that while he was standing there idly that his trunks had fallen. Gadget quickly covered himself with one hand and bent over to collect his belongings.

Once he pulled them up, he tried to let it rest around his waist like it normally would. But without pulling the string inside even tighter, it was no use. Not to mention the end of the shorts that normally opened up around his thighs were now pushing well below his knees. It was becoming more evident to the two of them that they were becoming smaller.

"Are we getting...smaller?" Gadgets voice trailed off as he muttered those words.

Robin hesitated a moment before responding. "I think so...my swim trunks don't fit anymore unless I hold them up."

"Me too but I wonder why?... I mean aren't you supposed to grow up and not down?" The chimchar scratched his head in confusion.

The Shinx hummed as he thought about it. "I'm not sure...but maybe we should go home until we figure it out?"

"Maybe we should just go to your place since it's closer." Gadget suggested while trying to keep calm and collected.

Robin nodded and with that, the two began walking. They returned around the other side of the building where they found most of the people were now bigger than they were. However, none of them paid the boys any attention since they were just seen as small children. Most assumed their parents or other guardians had to be nearby. The two cubs continued to make their way back out of the community area of the pool.

Gadget wiped his forehead of sweat. The faint sense of a lukewarm heat had never left his body and he continued to ignore it. Once they were near the bike rack they were stopped by a large man who was confused as to why two very small children were outside of the common area on their own.

"What are you two doing out here alone?" Where are your parents?" A bulky Greninja crossed his arms awaiting their response.

Gadget murmured a bit before Robin stepped in to answer. "We are just about to walk home. Don't worry we are big boys we can handle it"

Despite the boy's size, he was both confident and persuasive.

"Alright, you two stay safe then. Take care." The frog stepped away and left the small cubs on their own.

When they arrived at the bike rack, they realized the situation was much direr than they realized. They sized themselves up next to their formerly well-fitting bikes and realized that they were much too big for them now. It seemed they would have to walk.

After settling on this issue, the two friends walked hand in hand down the street. Robin promised Gadget that the time-proven buddy system would hopefully deter any further questioning from concerned onlookers. However, they were still having to deal with the now much too large swim shorts, both of them which had to still hold them up with their spare paw as they moved. Luckily their tails offered a little bit of a buffer so they curled them upward to help keep the pants up.

They began walking towards Robin's house together. Gadget continued to try to protect himself from the warmth but it was no use. In no time he was already sweating. He was even feeling slightly weak but he was able to power through it, since Robin as along with him. Not once did they break holding hands. Some other Pokemon walked past them but none of them said anything since they were together. The clouds gathered overhead and offered a brief respite from the heat but it didn't seem to make his overheating issue any better.

Robin's house was a short distance from the pool. By bike, it was a 10-minute walk but on foot, it was twice the length. When they arrived, Gadget saw no signs of any vehicle and assumed that the other boy's parents were not home. The Chimchar was glad of this since he didn't want to do any explaining to anyone else. He was still very much searching internally for answers and had yet to come up with any real solutions let alone a plausible cause to their plight not to mention he couldn't kick the burning sensation that was still rocking his body.

They continued walking towards the main entrance of the home. Unlike Gadget, Robin's home was quite large. It was two stories tall with a sizable yard with a single soccer goal fixated near the far end of it. There was even a garden where the family had everything from trees and shrubbery to various types of produce and flowers. Both of Robin's parents participated in the joys of the garden and oftentimes they could be found toiling away in the dirt. However, it was only on the weekends that they enjoyed this and this day was a workday.

Once they were within their arms reach of the door, the entrance seeming much larger than he remembered it. After a few seconds of staring, Robin reached into his pocket to fetch the key. After a few seconds of moving his hand around and then repeating the same action in the other pocket, he realized that somewhere along their travels he had lost the key. Fortunately, he knew his parents kept a spare key in a flower pot next to the door.

The shinx bent over to search through the bottom of the pot. It was an awkward stance to maintain keeping his shorts up while bending over. Sure enough, there was a key just under the dirt surface. He angled it up towards the keyhole and inserted it inside before turning it. They were inside before long and the house was lukewarm since the family didn't keep the AC on while no one was home. Robin shouted just to make sure no one else was sound. There was no response and so he nodded back to his friend.

The two cubs made their way indoors. Robin reached back to lock the door before leading Gadget to where his room was. The boy's room was on the bottom floor of the home and was the second largest room in the house. Just like the Chimchar, the Shinx was an only child and his parents often went above and beyond to make him happy. Many outside of Robin's circle of friends considered him to be spoiled but many were afraid to confront him about the issue.

Once they were inside, Gadget had hoped the air conditioning would ease the sensation of warmth he had been dealing with all day. He was hot and sweaty which made his fur both matted and messy. Even indoors, it wasn't really better. While it certainly wasn't as hot as it was outside the strange sensation of lukewarm burning still wasn't leaving his body. He did his best to ignore it but it had been annoying him the entire day and was there was nothing indicating it was going away.

Gadget didn't care much about it and was more than happy to consider Robin to be his best friend. Once they were inside of his room, the Chimchar looked around. Everything looked off to him despite having been in the room several times in his past. They had accepted the fact that they were becoming smaller but the severity of their issue had truly been realized. Now that they were up close to things that were somewhat personal and familiar to them, it became even more painfully obvious that they were shrinking.

"So...what do we do about this?" Gadget looked down in looking both disheveled and defeated.

Robin shrugged. "Maybe we should see a doctor or something? Perhaps our parents would be able to help us?"

"I'm not really sure they could help. We could try the internet. There might be previous cases like ours." The Chimchar nervously gritted his hands together.

The shinx nodded and moved over to the side of the room where his char was. He was barely as tall as the chair was now and it took him a lot of effort in order to move the small piece of furniture. He climbed up on the chair and proceeded to kneel down so that he could reach the computer in front of him. Gadget tried to help move the chair closer to the desk but it was no use and the furniture didn't budge at all. Luckily the fact that he was sitting now meant he didn't have to hold up his swim shorts, since they weren't unobstructed as they were before.

He was still able to barely reach the computer keyboard while kneeling in the chair. Robin began to type into the search engine on the main screen of the internet. After a few minutes of searching, he came up with very little. What he did come up with was fantasy until he happened upon an article about the test substance Dynamite. The article mentioned adverse side effects that among other things included mentioned a drastic reduction in size.

Perhaps the most damning thing in the article was that it talked about how they were giving samples of the stuff to participants who were being asked publicly to participate. Then it occurred to him, they had been given some sort of sample at the Museum earlier that day.

"Maybe we were given this stuff at the museum?" The shinx pointed at the screen to indicate what he was talking about.

Gadget tried to look around the boy but couldn't really get a good look at it from his perspective. "What are you talking about? You think those cookies we ate were something more?"

"Well, it says here that this stuff was given to participants in public and that kind of matches what we experienced earlier." Robin looked down at his friend whose eyes seem to blacken with fear.

The bigger cub hesitated a moment. "I guess your right but what do we do about it."

"I'm not sure...give me a minute." The shinx turned back around in the chair and began to look for promising solutions to their problem.

The chimchar tapped his foot impatiently after a few minutes of waiting. "Well...?"

"I'm not really seeing anything so I'm not really sure we can do anything. We could just accept it and hope it wears off eventually?" The smaller cub shrugged his shoulders seeming to accept their plight.

Gadget shook his head. "Are you crazy? What if it doesn't wear off? What then...?"

"We don't really have much choice. Besides...think about it. It could be fun." The Shinx jumped off the chair and landed square on his feet.

The bigger boy sighed. "I guess your right..."

The Shinx couldn't help but look upon the other cub again. Robin considering him to look cute, but keeping the comment to himself. While not exactly muscular, there was definitely a lean figure to his form. The smaller boy found himself getting worked up again the longer he looked at the Chimchar.

Fortunately for him, Gadget did not seem to notice as the Chimchar was much too focused on their collective issue. Eventually, he broke his gaze away, though he was still blushing heavily. The two stood there idly for a moment before Robin burst out happily with an unexpected comment.

"Let's have fun with it!" The shinx's tail was even wagging as he said that.

Gadget cocked his head at the statement. "Are you...alright?"

Robin proceeded to explain himself and eventually the other boy came around. It took some convincing but the Chimchar came to accept that there was no other real option other than to have fun with it. The shinx took the other boy's hand in his own.

"We can do this...together. We'll figure it out." His words were both confident and convincing.

Gadget nodded and understood as he brought the other cub in for a hug. The two sharing the embrace for a moment. The shrunken boys remaining in the room for the rest of the day as they dwindled away bit by bit. Eventually, the burning sensation that had haunted them the entire day finally dissipated. When it did, they were but a fraction of a few inches tall. The now tiny cubs had a very different reality to live up to...