FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Deep in the woods of the Kalos region, a small party of four was walking down the road. In this group was the spiky, black-haired 18 year old pokemon trainer by the name of Ash Ketchum.

Ash was from the Kanto region and was here on his journey to become a pokemon master like he had done in many regions before. This time, he was traveling alongside an upcoming Pokemon Performer, Serena, and the blonde Gym leader of Lumiose City, Clemont, along with his little sister Bonnie.

"So, how much further till Coumarine City?" Ash asked the blonde. Clemont smiled as he pulled out a small pad from his pocket and tapped on the screen a few times.

"Well, according to the map, we should be there in a couple of days," he said

"That's good," Serena said, adjusting her hat as they quartet kept walking "It feels like we've been in these woods for days"

"I know the feeling" Ash muttered, glancing up

"Pika" his partner, Pikachu, muttered in agreement, looking up alongside his trainer. The two stared at the large green carpet that covered the top of the trees, which only allowed a few bits of light to stream through, and allowed the group a small sight of the sky, which was beginning to turn a nice, warm orange, signaling the setting sun.

"I think we should begin to set up camp soon" the raven-haired boy muttered as he looked back down.

"We should'' Serena agreed, giving Ash a small smile, which made the young man twitch a little and stare at the girl for a minute before looking down at his sneakers. Ash liked Serena, she was a good friend and a pretty decent trainer, but he always got a bit weirded out by certain things she did. She was always pretty damn quick to agree with him, especially in small things, almost without thought.

Sometimes, the young trainer was tempted to suggest something completely stupid and nonsensical to see if she would agree automatically. But if he was honest with himself, he was kinda afraid she would agree out of nowhere. He had no idea why she acted like this, and it frankly freaked him out sometimes.

"Actually" Clemont interrupted, saving Ash from the awkward situation that had been formed. Smiling, Ash looked over to the blonde gym leader "There seems to be a town close to here"

"Really?" Serena asked, drawing away from Ash and further getting rid of the awkwardness.

"Yeah," Clemont said, still tapping on the maps screen "It's a small town called Deerfield. The Town map doesn't really say a lot about it..." Clemont muttered

"Well, at this point I'll be really happy to sleep in a bed," Clemont's younger sister said, smiling at her brother. Her purse twitched for a second before it popped open, and out popped the smiling face of Dedenne

"De nenne!" the small fairy type chirped in agreement

"Yeah," Ash said, smiling "How far is it exactly?"

"Not far actually, it's in a clearing of the woods nearby, and the town in there"

"Probably explains why there isn't that much info on it," Serena said as the four began to follow Clemont, going slightly deeper into the woods "I don't think that many people go in here just to visit a tiny town"

"Yeah, I think that since they don't have a gym or anything like that, they usually get overlooked a wee bit," Clemont explained as they walked through the thicket, seeing a small, slightly overgrown road

"Guess they don't get that much traffic out here" Ash muttered as the group walked down, the dirt road being coated in ivy and bushes

"I'm not shocked," Serena said, as she stepped over a rather large clump of ivy "This forest is really, really big."

"Honestly, I'm surprised that someone built a town in here," Ash said as they kept walking through the thicket, leaves and twigs crunching underneath their feet.

"Deerfield.... That sounds familiar..." Bonnie muttered as the group kept walking

"What is it?" Serena asked, crouching as they finally reached a break in the tree line. The quartet broke through and gasped as they saw the town spread out in front of them.

The town was quite big for how out of the way it was, with huge, rather fancy looking buildings, massive, ivy covered walls surrounding a rather old looking castle at the top of a hill that looks like it hasn't been touched in many many years. Streamers, balloons and other festive looking decorations covering all the rooftops.

"Wow, is there a holiday or something?" Ash asked his friends, hoping the locals would know more

"Not that I'm aware" Clemont said with the shake of his head

"Nope, no holidays around this time of year at all actually" Serena said "Why are they-"

"YES!" Bonnie screamed at the top of her lungs, interrupting Serena and making everyone jump

"Holy crap, Bonnie what's wrong!?" Clemont shouted, rushing back to his sister, who was bouncing of the balls of her feet

"I know where I heard this town's name!" Bonnie said with a huge smile "I saw it on a special on TV before we set out! This town is known for huge parades themed around pokemon! They throw them every two months and from what I've seen they're awesome!"

"Huh, neat" Ash muttered, as he looked at the town. He could indeed see people running back and forth, with ladders, streamers and uninflated balloons "It is a bit weird though. This town doesn't seem that big"

"Yeah, a bit strange that they're able to throw big parades so often" Clemont muttered as the group started moving closer to the town "I mean, this town is really out of the way"

"Well, according to the TV, they also have a lot of really really rare pokemon they trade away to rich people and professors"

"So they trade pokemon to make a living?" Serena asked, crossing her arms as the quartet arrived at what looked like a makeshift dirt road that led up to the road itself. "That seems a bit... mean"

"Pika" the yellow pokemon on Ash's shoulder cooed in agreement

"Well, as long as the pokemon end up in good homes, I don't really see what the problem is" Ash said as they began to approach. Right before they could reach the city itself though, the nearby bushes began to shake rather violently.

Suddenly, a big green blob shot out of the bushes and stood in between them and the town entrance.

It was a rather big bipedal pokemon, with two golden horns with shining black pearls in the center. Its fur was a shimmering bright green that seemed to sparkle in the sunset

"Woah!" Ash said, putting out his arms to stop his friends from walking as the pokemon stared at them

"What is that? A Stantler?" Serena asked as she fished out her pokedex.

"Yeah. A shiny one" Ash said as he took a step closer, only for the Stantler to stomp the floor and growl at them "Woah woah big guy!" Ash said, putting his hands up "Calm down"

"Stan! Ler antler Stanl!" the pokemon shouted at them, stamping its hoof one the ground and wavint its head at them.

"I've never seen a Stanlter that angry before" Clemont said, as he reached down for his pokeballs

"Clemont, don't" Ash said slowly, stopping his friend

"W-What? Why not?"

"Stantler's can hypnotize people with the pearls on their horns" he whispered at the group "If it thinks we're being aggressive, it can use those before we can throw out our pokemon" the three blondes' eyes went wide as they understood, Clemont lowering his arm and holding out his hands to show he didn't mean any harm to the pokemon

"Stan!" the shiny kept shouting, stamping its foot and pointing at the woods with its nose. Pikachu tilted his head and looked at the Pokemon with pure confusion on his face.

"Any idea what it wants, buddy?" Ash asked, not taking his eyes off the Stantler

"Pika" the yellow chu said, shaking his head "Pika chupika" he muttered as he mimed fast moving mouths with his paws.

"He's talking to fast?" Ash asked, to which his best friend nodded, making the young man sigh. "Look, we don't mean you any harm. We just wanna go into town fo-"

"STANTLER!" it shouted at the top of its lungs as soon as Ash said that, charing at them.

"PIKACHU! USE THUNDER!" Ash shouted as he shoved Clemont and Bonnie out of the way.

"Piiiiikaaaaa CHUUUUUUU!" the yellow roden shouted as he jumped up and released a huge blast of electricity, which hit the Stantler right on the side

"TAN!" it cried, more in surprise than in pain. It gave the group a glare before taking off back to the woods.

"I have never seen a Stantler that aggressive before in my life" Ash panted as got back up. As the other clambered back onto their feet, the crunching of dirt rang out behind them.

"Hey!" someone shouted. Turning around, Ash saw a guy around his age, with a mop of brown hair and glasses over his eyes. He was wearing a bright yellow shirt with a deep blue t-shirt underneath and a backpack slung over his shoulders "Is everyone ok here? I heard a loud noise"

"Y-Yeah we're fine" Serena said, as he dusted dirt off her skirt "Just had a run in with a Stantler"

"A Stantler?" the guy asked, fornwing "Was it shiny?"

"Yeah" Ash said as he adjusted his hat back on "Do you know it?"

"Know it? Yeah I do. The entire town knows that pokemon. Its been a massive pain for years now"

"What do you mean?" Clemont asked

"That Stantler runs up to every single visitor and starts acting crazy, stomping the ground, charing at them with Take Down. Or it hypnotises them into thinking there's a giant rampaging Tyranitar or something and makes them run away." the man growled

"Wow, why would it do that?" Bonnie asked "This place looks sooo nice!"

"I don't know" the guy shrugged "Maybe it takes offense to the rare pokemon we trade, or maybe we caught its mate and its pissed at that"

"That would be unique, I've never heard of pokemon being that angry at a mate being caught" Clemont said, adjusting his glasses.

"Honestly I'm just guessing. The name's Micheal by the way, nice to meet you" the young man said, holding out his hand

"Nice to meet ya, I'm Ash Ketchum" the spiky haired trainer introduced himself, as his friends did the same.

"Heh, we don't get this many visitors at once around this time of year" Micheal said with a chuckle "You guys here for the Parade?"

"YE-" Bonnie shrieked, only for Serena to put her hand over Bonnie's mouth, her face bright red

"Sorry bout that" she said with a nervous chuckle "We're not really here for that. We got lost in the forest and we got a bit turned around trying to find the main road again"

"Ah, I see" Micheal said, his smile growing just a little, but none of the travelers noticed that "Well, the main road is a bit off from here" he explained.

"Had a feeling you'd say that" Ash groaned, his shoulders slumping a bit in disappointment "Do you guys have a pokemon center?"

"Center? Nope, sorry" the guy said, shaking his head, leading to groans from the entire group "We do have a hotel"

"Hotel?" Ash asked, frowning a bit "How expensive is it exactly?" he asked, a bit worried. The main reason the group mostly stayed at Pokemon Centers was that they offered free room and board to trainers with an active License. And Ash's wasn't exactly the best when it came to keeping money, and since Clemont hadn't really been running his gym for a few months now, he wouldn't get a payment until he himself participated in a gym battle.

"Oh, the rooms are free cause of the Parade!" Micheal said, leading the group into town proper.

"Wait, seriously?" Clemont asked, his eyes going wide

"Oh yeah" Micheal laughed at his reaction, as the group entered the town proper.

It looked like a typical Kalos town. Cobbled roads, old stone buildings combined with fancy looking street lights. What really set it apart was all the Parade decorations.

From the roofs, giant balloons themed around famous Kalosian pokemon floated up into the sky, staring down at the group. Streamers of every color the group could imagine hung in the space between buildings and hanging from the streetlamps

"See, the parade is a huge tradition for us" Micheal explained "So, whenever we hold it, the people who've moved out come back to spend the weekend here. And to make sure that they don't go bankrupt from a trip back home, the hotel just hands out free rooms for the weekend."

"Huh, that's nice of them" Ash said as they entered what looked like the town center. "Woah" Ash muttered as he saw a group of people around the big fountain in the center.

The fountain was drained and they seemed to be in the process of replacing the marble statue on the top with a new one, but that wasn't what drew Ash's eye.

No what drew his eye was the clothes they were wearing. It was a crew of around 6, four men and two women, and each of them was clad in a rather interesting looking costume.

One guy was wearing a bright orange wetsuit with a fake tail right above his butt, fake finns on his arms and a big, shiny yellow rubber disk around his neck. He had even dyed his hair a very bright shade of orange to complete the look. Next to him was a woman wearing what looked like a white tracksuit, with big round white and black ears popping out of her hair and a cloth attached to her arms that resembled wings. She even had yellow circles on her cheeks.

Every single member of the crew was like that, dressed up in some kind of pokemon themed outfit that seemed to pop out of the background with how colorful it was.

"Ah yeah, theres the second part of the three traditions of the Parade" Micheal said with a giggle as he saw Ash's face "Dressing up!"

"You guys dress up as Pokemon!?" Bonnie asked, a huge smile on her face as she stared bouncing in place

"Yup. We try to vary up what pokemon we dress up as each year. Last year I was an Absol. This year I'm thinking of going for a Mewostic."

"So does everyone dress up? Clemont asked, looking as the crew working on the fountain brough out what looked like a golden platform and began to screw it into place

"Oh yeah. The mothers of babies go on and on and on about what their going to dress their kid as for the next. It gets a little trying." he chuckled as he came to a stop in front of what looked like an old castle "Here we are, Deerfield Castle Hotel"

"Holy crap...." Ash muttered as he got a good look at the place.

It was huge, with about 4 towers that he could see, bridges in between all of them. Flags fluttered away at the top, barely visible as clouds formed around the enormous towers.

"This place makes the Parfum Palace look tiny...." Serena muttered

"Heh, thanks" Micheal chuckled "Always nice to hear we come on top of that spoiled bitch"

"Hey, careful with your language!" Serena chastised him, trying to block Bonnie's ears.

"Hehe, relax Serena" Bonnie giggled as she stepped out from under her hands "I've heard a lot worse from Clemont"

"B-Bonnie!" the blonde inventor stammered out, his face going bright red

"I mean, you should hear him when one of his inventions fails! According to our dad, he swears more than a sailor!"

"And with that we'll be going in!" Ash said, grabbing Clemont's hand and leading him inside "Thanks Micheal! See ya later!" the two dashed inside before either Micheal or either of the girls could respond. Inside was exactly what they expected. A rather fancy and well lit reseption area, that was filled with people, all of them dressed up in costumes already.

Ash didn't pay them any mind as he headed for the receptionist

"Hi. I'd look to book two rooms please. One for me and my friend here" he pointed at Clemont, who was still beet red "and one for his sister and another friend of mine"

"Of course sir" the woman behind the desk, dressed like a Chansey, said as she handed him a keycard "The Parade starts at 11:30 if you are interested in participating"

"Thanks! I'll keep it in mind" Ash said, giving her a friendly smile before dragging Clemont off to the elevators "Come on, I'm about to pass out"

"Oh please wait!" she called out, makign the three stop

"What is it?" Ash asked

"Pika?" the yellow pokemon on his shoulder chirped

"I'm afraid pokemon aren't allowed in the hotel rooms." the woman explained "We have a daycare for them to stay at however."

"Oh" both Ash and Clemont muttered, looking at each other. Sighing, they both handed over their pokeballs, and Pikachu hopped down from his trainer's shoulders.

"I'll see ya in the morning buddy!" Ash called as he led Clemont to the elevators, and up to their room for some much needed sleep.

---

Ash yawned as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, slowly opening them as a rather loud bang rang inside the room.

"Clemont?" he asked he slowly sat up, blinking as a beam of light entering through the window hurt his eyes "What's going..."

"Think the parade is in full swing" the tired voice of the inventor came from the other bed.

"Yeah seems like it" Ash groaned as he threw the covers off and looked at the alarm clock on the bedside table. The soft red light glowed rather strongly as it showed the time

3:42 AM

"Arceus it's 3 in the morning" Ash groaned as he threw his head against the pillow, a groan escaping his lips, as loud music and cheering flooded inside the room "Guess there goes sleep for tonight" Ash muttered as he heard another blast of pop music hit the room.

"Yeap" Clemont muttered as he grabbed his glasses, rubbing them clean as he looked around "Well, what do we do?"

"I dunno" Ash said, shrugging "Not really experienced in this kinda situation. I'm kinda more used to sleeping in the woods"

"Really?" Clemont asked with a mock gasp "And here I thought wild Hoothoot were infamous for their late night parties!"

"Pffft" Ash giggled, sitting up again "Yeah. You don't know a party till you spent a night with a Noctowl!"

"Hehehehe!" they both laughed, doubling over in laughter

"Oh man I needed that!" Ash chuckled, wiping away a tear

"Me too" Clemont said, coughing as he stopped his chuckles "Right... So, what now?"

"I don't know honestly" Ash said with a shrug "Wanna go check out the parade?"

"Uh?"

"I mean, we are here" Ash said with a shrug "And a big parade like this isn't something you see everyday. Pokemon floats, people in costumes, and I think I smelled someone cooking something"

"Huh, good point," Clemont said with a smile as he flicked on the lights. The two young men nodded at each other and hopped off their beds. Clemont's smile disappeared after he reached the foot of his bed though "Wait... Where are my clothes?"

"I don't know.... Mine are gone too" Ash muttered, frowning as he got on all fours and checked under the bed, finding nothing but an old crumpled up sock from the last tennant. "Is this a prank or something?"

"I don't think so" Clemont muttered

"What makes you say that?" Ash asked as he stood up, still frowning.

"Found this" the blonde gym leader said, holding up a small sticky note "We apologize for any problems, but our hotel rooms come with a complimentary laundry service. All your clothes have been taken to the washroom and it will be returned to you in the morning."

"Seriously? They took our clothes without asking?!" Ash groaned, sitting down on the bed "Guess there goes that pla-"

"However, in case you are interested in participating in the parade, we have provided various costumes in the closet. I hope that you find one to your liking and please enjoy your stay" Clemont finished the letter, looking up at Ash.

The raven haired trainer blinked before getting up and heading off to the closet. He opened it and blinked at the quantity inside. There were rows upon rows of costumes, all of them based on different pokemon.

The nearest one was the bright blue of a Meowstic, followed by a black and white Zangoose themed one.

"Wow, they've got a good selection," Clemont said as he grabbed the nearest one, a rather fancy looking Munchlax outfit.

"Yeah" Ash muttered, frowning a little as he looked through the closet. "Too big a selection if you ask me..."

"What do you mean?" Clemont asked, as he dug through the closet looking at a few more costumes "These look awesome!"

"I'm not denying that" Ash said with the shake of his head "But, why would they have so many costumes? This town doesn't seem that big and like that guy said, everyone makes their own costumes"

"Maybe these are old?" Clemont asked as he pulled out a black and red outfit. A headband with black cat-like ears, a tail hanging out from the pants and a pair of gloves and sneakers themed after the same pokemon were attached to the hanger with some string. And on top of that, there was a small bottle attached to a plastic bag that looked like it contained red makeup. "Oooh I like this one!"

"It is nice, yeah" Ash said, as he looked at the outfit his blonde friend had chosen "But these don't look old. They look brand new. I mean, look at this!" Ash grabbed one of the costumes and pulled it out.

It was a light brown outfit, with a cream colored front to represent the stomach. A pair of white gloves and a rather large boots with white toes hung from a rope attached to the hanger. The pants had a rather large tail coming out of the pants, just like the one Clemont had grabbed.

Unlike the thin cat-like tail of the blonde's, this one was different. It started off similar, a thin black strip, but soon it began to grow thicker and thicker until a soft, bright yellow thunderbolt like protution appeared. Ash grabbed it, feeling it was filled with plush, like a stuffed animal.

"This thing is brand new" he said, holding up the tail "Like, why would they store a brand new costume here in the hotel?"

"Maybe its there for the folks who live out of town?" Clemont offered as he began to take his costume off its hanger "I mean, they have to make plans to come all the way out here, clear their schedules and then actually make the trip. Which I'm guessing is a bit long since there isn't an airport here"

"That is true..." the raven haired young adult muttered, as he looked down at the outfit he was holding. It was really well made, and the sounds of the party outside echoed through the hotel as a whole, as if it was a personal message to him. Tempting him with a night of wild abandon and fun alongside a cute guy. Grinning, he started taking the costume off its hanger "You know what, your probably right" he chuckled as he grabbed the outfit and looked it over for a zipper "I'm probably being a bit paranoid"

"Being hounded by Team Rocket for eight years, I can understand why you are paranoid" Clemont joked.

The Kanto native couldn't help but chuckle as he found the zipper "So, what do you think these costumes are of? This one kinda looks like a Riachu, but I've never seen a Raichu with white spots on their paws, a tail like this"

"Me either. But I've heard certain regions have unique versions of other pokemon" Clemont said "Maybe it's a regional variant of Raichu?"

"Could be" Ash nodded as he slowly slipped into the costume. He shivered a little as he stuck his leg inside, the inside of the costume being a bit colder than he expected. He wiggled his foot until it popped out of the opening "I think I've seen a picture of that pokemon though"

"Yeah?" Clemont asked as he slid on the lycra body-suit of his costume

"Yup. I think it's a fire type starter pokemon" Ash said as he put on the boots, wiggling his toes inside, finding them quite roomy. "Not sure the name or what region its from though"

"Huh, neat" Clemont said with a smile as he put on the gloves and adjusted the headband. The two friends looked at each other and couldn't help but blush a little.

"You look really cute," Ash said, a big smile on the young man's face.

"So do you" Clemont stammered out, a smile on his own face. The two turned and looked at each other in the mirrors.

The costumes fit amazingly well. Not too tight, yet no part hung loosely off their bodies. The rubber of their shoes shone like it had just been polished and there was no trace of anything on the outfits themselves. Clemont grinned as he slipped the makeup into his new pocket.

"Might put it on later" he said as he headed for the door "Now, shall we?"

"Heh, yes we shall" Ash said with a grin as his friend opened the door and the two headed out into the carnival.

---

ONE HOUR LATER

"Hehe, better luck next time Clemont" Ash giggled as he dug some loose string from his friend's hair, the two walking away from the line of Carnival Game.

"That game is rigged" the blonde muttered as he clutched the cotton candy he got as a consolation prize. It was a mass of bright cyan sugar woven around a decorated stick, themed after the pokemon Clemont was dressed as. "The gun was designed to misfire the string shot. You have to intentionally miss in order to get anywhere with it, and even then it's a crapshoot."

"Sure... Whatever makes you feel better," Ash said with a small giggle, patting his friend's shoulder as they kept walking through the crowd of costume wearing parade-goers.

The festival was surprisingly lively, with all kinds of events available and the parade going nonstop down the main thoroughfare. That street, they learned, had actually been named Parade Avenue; a rather fitting name. Kids wearing more simple costumes rang back and forth, playing pretend battle against each other as their parents watched over them. Older people sat on benches, cups of alcohol in hand as they discussed what else was going on in their lives, and mothers with babies in arm talked about random things, a few trying to prove their children had the cuter costumes. Quite a few almost got physical until someone else stepped in and stopped them. Ash and Clemont bounced from stall to stall, casually gleaning to the parade every now and then, but clearly more interested in the carnival aspects of the festival. The couple was eager to see who could win more midway games than the other.

"How many games have you won?" Clemont asked, "I'm at four." he pointed at his backpack, which was filled with toys and various other bits

"Hmm... Well I was first through the hall of mirrors." Ash began listing off all of the midway games that he had won and Clemont had lost, "I beat you in the shooting game. I beat you in the ring toss. I beat you in the Ducklett game. I didn't throw up on the Gravitron, and..."

"Hey that last one doesn't count! You're cheating!" Clemont accused, punching him in the shoulder, "That's not fair!"

"Hehe" Ash giggled, sticking his tongue out as they looked around for another game to play.

As they did, someone stepped closer to them, two cups in hand and a big smile.

"Hey!" Michael said with a shout as he approached the two "Glad you two could make it! How are you enjoying the festival?"

"It's pretty unreal!" Ash and Clemont said at the same time, giggling at the serendipity.

"I've never seen anything like this" Ash muttered, his eyes shining in wonder as he looked around at the balloons and streamers. "I've been all over the world and this tops just about everything. Nimbasa City is nothing like this."

"This beats anything I've seen, that's for sure" Clemont said with a smile "This puts the Champion Inauguration parade to shame!"

"Wow" Michael whistled "That's high praise right there."

"It's well deserved," Clemont said with a big smile.

"Thank you" the local smiled. He was wearing a rather fancy costume of a Reuniclus, with his jacket shimmering as he moved. Ash and Clemont beamed as the shimmering costume dazzled them. The local looked down at them and nodded in approval at their costume choice, but also was curious about the headcount.

"Hmm... didn't you two come into town with a couple of ladies?" he asked.

"I think calling them ladies would be a little generous." Clemont said "I mean, calling Bonnie that just feels weird"

"Yeah. And Serena...." Ash just shook his head "I dunno, she's ok? But definitely not ladylike, I can assure you of that"

"Heh, I'll take your word for it" the man-dressed-as-a-giant-cell said "So, where are they?"

"They're still sleeping," Ash explained. "Those two sleep like Snorlaxes. They could sleep through Groudon and Kyogre brawls, so I doubt anything here could wake them up."

"That's a shame," Michael said, not fully understanding the reference. His voice made it clear that he really was disappointed, however.

"Hey, sorry man" Ash said, giving him a small smile "If it's any comfort, I doubt Serena would be interested. She seems a bit....single minded"

"Huh?" Michael blinked for a second, clearly taken aback by the comment. "N-No it's not"

"Relax dude, I'm just teasing" Ash giggled "Anyways, yeah they're still asleep. We checked on them before leaving the hotel."

"Oh well. Their loss, and your win!" Michael said, his tone changing back into what sounded like a cheerful tour guide "Here, I brought you these"

"What's this?" Clemont asked as the two took the cups. Inside was a fizzing brown liquid, and as far as they could tell it didn't smell of anything

"It's a drink we make for the festival. Well one of two" Michael said with a chuckle "We give that drink to a kid, and we'd end up in jail, trust me"

"Oh, it's alcohol?" Ash muttered, looking at it with a frown

"You could say that, yes" Michael said with a grin

"I'm not really a booze guy" Ash muttered as he swirled the cup "My mom was a bit of a.... Hard-ass when it came to that"

"Oh come on Ash" Clemont said with a giggle "Your mom's in another region!"

"And she has a Psychic-Type Pokemon that practically knows my every move before I make it!" Ash retorted, "You don't fuck with Mimey, Clemont."

"Just drink it." Clemont gave him a look. "It's one glass. It's not like you're gonna pass out the moment you drink it"

"Alright alright, I'm drinking the thing. If you do it at the same time" Ash said, jabbing his friend with his finger before downing the glass in one gulp. Clemont did the same. Bottoms up, the two gasped for air as the last of the drink passed their lips and went down their throat.

"Gyah! That's strong!" they gasped in unison. The thing burned on its way down, as if they had swallowed boiling water instead of a cold glass of homemade beer.

"Yeah, it feels strong on the way down" Michael said, putting his arms around the pair's shoulders "But trust me, when it hits your gut, it feels amazing"

Ash blinked as the drink did that, he felt heat run up through his body to his face, as his cheeks went a bit red. A weird feeling rang out through his body, as if was both standing yet laying in a big pile of fluffy pillows at the same time. His skin began to tingle lightly, as if someone was running a light brush over it.

"Woah" Clemont gasped, his cheeks equally red as he dropped the cup "That's... something"

"Feels nice, right?" Michael asked the two, leading them a bit towards the center of town.

"Strangely, yeah it does feel nice." Ash admitted, "I feel all... warm and fuzzy inside."

"Yeah, it's the trick of one of the ingredients" Michael said as he led the two to a rather large plaza.

It was a large square, made of shined paved stones with an enormous gold and bronze fountain in the center. Trees filled with berries of all kinds were littered around the edges. Stone benches were carved onto the ground, and were currently all occupied by kids, eating candy and drinking from cups with steaming liquids.

Strangely, unlike the rest of the town, there were no stands, no games or people selling food. It seemed strangely empty.

"Hehe, w-what's with this spot?" Ash giggled a bit, stumbling as he walked closer.

"Y-Yeah... R-Really empty" Clemont muttered, almost falling on his face if it wasn't for Michael holding him tight.

"This is the town square" Michael explained as he led the two closer to the center. As they got closer they realised it wasn't full. Or being used at all. The shimmering bronze bottom of the fountain was bone dry.

"S-Seems more like a ghost town if you ask me." Ash said, lazily looking around, "I mean where are all the *hic* f-fuckin' sheilas at, eh?"

"A-Ash are you *hic* cheating on me?" Clemont giggled, "D-Don't do that to meh. Th-Those sheilas aren't for you!"

"Oh? You two dating?" Michael asked as he led them to the fountain

"Hehe, not really *hic*" Ash giggled "I-I admit we've been thinking about it for a while though"

"Interesting" Michael said with a grin as he stepped into the fountain, "Come on you two"

"Wh-who are you?" Ash stuttered, seemingly forgetting who Michael was in his drunkenness, "Wh-Why are you telling me what to do?"

"Heh, I'm your friend. And you trust me" Michael said, tugging the two along.

"Y-Your our friend" Ash repeated, a bit more slowly than his usual speech pattern

"A-And we trust you..." Clemont said right afterwards.

"That's right." Michael said, the corners of his lips curling up into a smirk, as he led the two to the podium at the center of the fountain.

"H-Hey Clem?" Ash muttered as their guide pulled a hidden staircase from the side of the podium "D-Don't these things usually have sta-*hic* statues or something like that on the top?"

"They do, but we have a better use for this one." Michael stated.

The two intoxicated young men just looked ahead, blinking as if thinking was starting to become difficult.

"Seems it's starting to take effect. You two really can't stand drugs" he joked as he led the two up.

"Can't....stand...." Ash repeated slowly as he stood at the podium, looking out over the entire town. It seemed that whatever they were doing was a lot more interesting to the residents than their carnie games or their discussions. People were starting to fill into the square, abandoning the festivities for the drunkards on the fountain.

"Well then, I think it's time we get things started" Michael said, turning away from the two and looking at the crowd "Right! I hope you all had a good time so far! But now it's time for the main event!"

"M-Main event?" Ash muttered, his vision going a little woozy, and he could barely stand up. He looked over to Clemont, and saw that he wasn't doing much better. While his mind was fuzzy, he could tell that something was very very wrong, but he had neither the energy nor the mind power to fix the situation.

"Wait, weren't there four of them!?" someone from the crowd shouted

"Yes, but sadly the two are still sleeping" Michael said, with a series of boos coming from the audience. "I know I know, but remember, we only need two to fulfill this month's order."

"We'll have to deal with them tomorrow then" another person said from the crowd. Their tone was confusing to the two trainers. Gone was the joyful and cheery voices of the festival. Instead, the villagers sounded cold, aggressive, and unsympathetic. They seemed to encourage their plights, and weren't interested in lifting a finger to help them.

"Still, we've got very lucky with these two" Michael said as he turned around to look at them. The kindness in his face was gone, instead there was the look of a Mightenya about to dig into a fresh kill "We've got a big order from one of the older families for a couple of extra rares."

"W-What are you t-talking about?" Ash said, struggling to move his arms.

"Oh Ash" the guy said as he walked closer to the pair, pulling a bottle from his jacket "You haven't figured it out?"

"F-Figured it out?" Ash repeated, his head hurting a bit

"Right, you can't actually think at the moment" Michael said with a low chuckle "That's the drugs doing their work. Well, I'd say an explanation is wasted on you." he moved what he had pulled out from his jacket and showed it to them. It was a syringe with bright blue liquid "Now for your second dose"

"Second?" Ash stammered out as he saw the local stick the needle into his arm, right through the bodysuit the young trainer was wearing over his skin. As soon as the liquid hit his veins, he felt funny. The drug acted quickly, reacting with his blood instantaneously, and causing him to grow delirious. His vision became extremely hazy, and lights became obscenely bright to him. He was already struggling to think, and as the needle was pulled out of his arm, the full dose of the drug delivered to the trainer, his mind was nearly destroyed. Struggling, he watched as Michael moved to Clemont, who was handling this worse than Ash was, and gave him the second dose as well. While Ash had been able to keep himself awake, as soon as Clemont received his dose, he fell unconscious, the drug completely overpowering him.

"Well that's something, first time in a while they've passed out" Michael said with a chuckle. Ash struggled to move again, but his eyes did go wide as he looked at Clemont.

His friend's bright yellow, blonde hair was shifting before his very eyes. It slowly became coal black, with a sheen not normally seen in humans. It started as a small piece on top of his head, but it spread like fire, turning every hair into the black. But it didn't stop at his hair, it began to spread to his skin.

"W-W-What the h-hell?" Ash stammered out, "Wh-What's going on? What's h-hapenning t-to him?"

"He's turning into our next paycheck," Michael said as Clemont shivered as he began to shrink, as fur spread further and further down his body. His entire face was coated in black fur, with red markings on his forehead. "Don't be jealous, you're gonna start changing soon. I'm a little surprised you haven't yet."

Ash shivered as he heard that, his ears feeling as if someone was pushing them into his head

"Never mind, you're starting!" Michael said with a smile as he took a step back

"W-Why.....a-are you doing...." Ash wasn't able to finish the sentence as he felt a tingle all over his body, as light brown fur began to sprout from his skin. It spread fast, soon his entire arm was coated in it

"Well, better get these off" Michael said as he pulled a knife and slashed the suit Ash was wearing, leaving him in just his underpants in front of everyone.

But the transforming young man didn't really care, he was more focused on his transforming body and of his friends.

Speaking of Clemont, he was already around the size of his sister, his clothes being a huge tent over him. One of his hands was still visible, and Ash watched as it slowly shifted into a small, three toed paw.

Michael walked over to the pile and stuck his hands inside, pulling out a small kitten like pokemon from it. He turned so that Ash could see, and the transforming trainer gasped as he saw that the pokemon still had Clemont's hairstyle in the fur on top of his head.

"I think that might be the fastest transformation we've had in years" Michael said with a laugh. "Your friend makes a cute Litten, don't you think?"

Ash's eyes went wide as he heard the crowd laugh and he turned to look at them. His eyes scanned the entire crowd, seeing no single trace of pity or shame at what they were doing.

Not from a human anyways.

As he looked over the crowd, his eyes caught a figure behind the crowd. One that shimmered bright green. It was the same shiny Stantler that had attempted to scare them off town yesterday. It glowed a bright blue and Ash could hear a whisper in his head

I'm sorry it said in his head, through psychic I promise you, no one else will fall to this town. But I'm sorry I couldn't save you

"Nr-Nota.... Your faultchu" Ash stammered out as white fur began to cover his stomach and hands, and his new ears popped out of his head, twitching as the wind hit them.

"What did you say?" Michael asked, still holding Clemont, who blinked as he woke up

"Lit?" he meowed, yawning and stretching his legs

"N-Nochu" Ash blinked as his words twisted themselves. His eyes went wide as he quickly began to shrink. His underpants fell off as he reached a height barely above Michael's knee and he looked over his new body.

He was a chubby, soft looking mouse-like pokemon with a soft brown coat of fur and white on his belly and his paws. His bottom paws were quite big in fact, and his top ones were small, almost nub like. Before he could say anything else, he felt a strong tug on his tailbone

"RAI!" he squealed as he felt his new tail be pulled out of his rear. It was a thin black wire like thing, with a big, yellow soft thunderbolt shaped bit at the end, that he couldn't get to touch the ground. It floated a few inches above it.

"Heh, you turned out pretty well too, Raichu" Michael said as he grabbed the newly created pokemon, lifting him up.

Ash frowned and tried to wiggle out of his grasp, but he still couldn't move. Instead he just growled as Michael showed him and Clemont to the crowd

"We've got a sale here that's gonna get us set for the next three years!" Michael cheered, getting a giant whoop from the crowd

"Raichu rai rai!" Ash spat at the crowd, growling at them as he again tried to wiggle out of Michael's grip.

"Oh, Pancakes is being a rowdy chu" Michael quipped "Better get them ready for their new owner"

Pancakes!? Ash thought What the hell is he thinking calling me that!?

Before he could get an answer, another member of the town came up with two pokeballs in hand. Ash's eyes followed them as they slowly approached the two transformed mons and the person holding them.

He got a good look at them and frowned. Those weren't regular pokeballs. These things were painted a dark purple with a spiral pattern on the bottom half of the ball. On top a pair of round petrutions like those seen on a Master Ball poked out. Michael nodded and the guy tapped the Litten that used to be Clemont on the head. The ball popped open and sucked Clemont inside, showing another difference. The beam was a bright yellow. The ball pinged as the Litten was caught, but the button began to pulse lightly.

"Heh" Michael muttered as the guy with the ball brought it close to Ash "Bye Pancakes. It was a pleasure meeting you"

"RAI-" Ash shouted as the ball tapped his head and it popped open. His entire body tingled as he was sucked inside. It didn't hurt or anything like that, it more felt like he was being tickled lightly.

---

He closed his eyes as he felt the tickle run over his entire newly transformed body. Soon it stopped and he opened them again.

He was in what looked a great white void with a pillow next to him and what looked like a bowl of water

"So this is what pokeballs look like?" he said, hearing his new voice, which was a lot squeakier than his old one. The place seemed to go on infinitely "Guess I know why Pikachu doesn't like these....." he sighted and sat down on the cushion, his tail moving around him as he laid his head in his paws.

Before he could think anything else, he felt something tingle at the top of his head. He looked up and around, but he couldn't see the source. But that didn't help the sensation, which grew stronger and stronger.

"W-What's happening" he groaned as the tingle turned into a headache.

Beginning hypno program a voice rang out from nowhere, making Ash look around again

"Who said tha-GAH!" Ash cried as the headache turned into a splitting migraine.

Forget the voice hissed into his new sensitive ears

"W-What? What are you ta-GYAH!" he cried again as he felt another sharp smack against his skull. It felt like someone was smacking against his head with a thin needle.

Head is too full. Good pokemon have their minds empty, the voice repeated as the smacking continued. The newly transformed Alolan Raichu covered the back of his head in a vain attempt to stop the picking. But it did nothing, the needle kept pushing hard into his skull, despite his puffy paws covering it.

Good pokemon were never human it said as the needle kept pounding, making him cry out You are not Ash Ketchum

"S-Shut up!" the Raichu shouted "You t-took my body, but you're no-AGH!" he shouted as he felt the needle again. This time it was less painful, and more numbing. As if the pain had gone beyond the point of actual pain. It just felt like dull pressure at this point, and the Raichu didn't like it.

He stumbled over, falling flat onto the pillow with a huff, as the throbbing kept going, the pressure growing stronger and stronger.

"S-Stop it!" he cried, growling as sparks flew from his cheeks, a new instinctual defense mechanism. However, the electricity did nothing to stop the push.

You must be empty to receive your new life the voice whispered

"I don't want a new life!" Ash screamed as he tried to get up, however he still wasn't used to his new limbs.

The pressure just kept getting stronger and stronger, the needle feeling like it was going in deeper and deeper until.

The Raichu gasped as he felt a slight tinge of pain, and suddenly all the pressure disappeared. And more.

It felt like something else was leaking out too. He sluggishly reached back and felt the area, but felt nothing but his own fur.

"Wha..." he muttered, but that was as much as he could say before he blinked, his head feeling lighter. "W-What was I saying?" he muttered, scratching his head as it felt lighter and clearer.

You are a Raichu the voice whispered again, but this time he didn't reject it, he nodded along with it, looking down at his paws

"I am a Raichu"

You have always been a rare Alolan Raichu. You have never been anything else

"I have always been an Alolan Raichu" the former human repeated, his eyes dull as memories of his old life leaked out "I have never been anything else..."

You are named Pancakes the voice continued You have never had another name

"I am named...." he twitched for a second. His name was a memory a bit too ingrained "N-No... That's no...Gaah" he moaned as he felt the pressure hit the back of his head again, a dopey smile on his face as he felt more hissing out of his brain "Pancakes. I have never had another name"

You lived in Alola before you were caught and sold to your new owner. You can't wait to meet them and serve them as good loyal pokemon

"I lived in Alola before I was caught and sold to my new owner" the newly minted Pancakes accepted, his mind having been changed too much to refuse the new memories that began to pour in. Memories of being a Pichu, then a Pikachu. Of sneaking into restaurants on Melemele Island and gouging himself with nothing but pancakes, then getting caught after one of his post-evolution raids and being told he was going to be taken to a very nice home in a far away region. His eyes turned a little duller as he stared ahead, his brain reforming around his new thoughts.

His stance relaxed, his paws letting go of the tension they had as knowledge of his body flooded into his body, as knowledge of humans was leeched out. His tail began floating right below him and he sat on it, floating a few feet above the ground as more and more Raichu knowledge was poured into him.

And that was how he spent the next eight hours, sitting there with the knowledge of humanity leaching out and being replaced by the knowledge of an obidient pet pokemon. Soon though, his body began to tingle and felt as if he was being tickled. His eyes went wide as he realized exactly what was happening and he squeaked in joy. It was time to meet his master!

Indeed, everything began to go red as he was converted into energy and he felt himself flying out of his pokeball.

"Rai!" he chirped as he came out of the ball, looking around with curiosity shining in his bright blue eyes.

He was in a big room, with lots of glittering golden decorations, fancy looking couches and huge paintings.

"Ooooo! He's adorable!" he heard a boy squeak behind him. Pancakes turned around and smiled as he saw three humans standing in front of him.

The one furthest back was an older human with white head fur and a fancy red suit. Closer was a human with long blonde hair and a red bow on it.

"Rai?" he asked, looking at that one. He thought it was a girl. Telling with humans was weird, especially with the young ones. He shrugged and looked at the closest one. That one had short brown hair, and a pair of glasses. "Raichu!" Pancakes chirped, waving at the three.

"Oh Arceus.... He's adorable!" the one with glasses, a boy Pancakes guessed, squealed. He reached over and rubbed the spiky fur on the Riachu's head.

"Chuuuuu!" he moaned, leaning into the petting with a big smile on his face

"Glad you like him, Robert" the older human said "He's yours"

"Rai?" Pancakes blinked, looking at the smaller human before a big smile broke on his face, throwing himself at the arm of his new master, hugging it tightly "Chu! Rai Raichu!" he squealed in happiness. He's finally met his master

"Aw, I think he likes me" Robert said, wiggling his arm free and gently picking up his new Pokemon "Hi Pancakes! Nice to meet you!"

"Raichu!" Pancakes chirped, waving at his Master.

"Aw he's a lot more cheerful than mine" the girl muttered. Curious, Pancakes looked over, seeing that the girl was holding another pokemon.

It was a small Litten, who seemed to be more interested in licking himself clean than paying any attention to his master.

"Rai!" Pancakes chirped and waved at the Litten.

"....Lit" the cat pokemon meowed, giving Pancakes a small glance before returning to his important cleaning.

"Don't worry Elisabeth" the older human said, patting her shoulders "Suma will warm up to you"

"If you say so" the girl said, shaking her head and walking away. Pancakes just shrugged and turned to his master, a big grin on his face

"Yeah I agree with you, Pancakes" Robert said with a smile, as if he could read his pokemon's mind "Let her work out the issues with her Litten on her own. Come on I'll show ya around the house! That sounds fun?"

"Rai!" Pancakes said with a nod and a big smile. His master grinned and started walking, the Alolan Raichu still in his arms, and started talking about all the stuff.

As the two walked around the room, Pancakes overheard something on that weird glowing box humans liked using so much.

"And it has been confirmed that indeed, the small town of Deerfield has been totally destroyed. As far as authorities can tell, no one has been seriously hurt, but the town has been demolished. According to the residents, it seems a massive stampede of Stantler rushed into the town after a local festival...."

"Don't mind the news Pancakes" Robert said as he walked out of the room and started showing him some more paintings "Grandpa likes watching boring stuff like that. Anyways, this one is a painting off..."

Pancakes wasn't really paying attention. He was just happy to finally be with his new master. He seemed really nice so far, and he certainly didn't look boring!

All in all, the Raichu was happy with his new life. Even if he didn't quite know just how new it really was.