FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

<Authors Note>

Hi guys! after reading all those comments you left i have decided to re-release the last eight chapters in sets of four for ease of reading. As I write, chapters 9, 10, 11, 12 will all be released singally, then once 13 is written, those four will be combined too- this is so that you all get regular updates on the story rather than four chapters at once after 4 weeks of nothing at all.

If you think the new format works, leave a comment, if not... leave a comment and i will act accordingly.

Shifters: Chapter One; Enter Kai!

As far as appearances go, nothing seemed special about Kai Lane. Standing at 6"1' with brown hair, blue eyes and a slight cold, he was just another face in the crowd that cold, winters morning, standing outside Professor Rowan's Lab. Today was the big day, the day that they would finally begin their pokémon journey.

This day had been a long wait for the entire year group, and as the date approached, it had consumed the minds of every sixteen year old in the region of Sinnoh. At least, almost every sixteen year old.

Kai stood in the line with his friends, seemingly mirroring the excitement of everyone in the room- and it was true, he had been looking forward to this day, though not with the same fervour as his classmates. Even as he took pleasure in the knowledge that by the end of the day he would have a partner that would join him on the most important journey of his life, he had to sigh, thinking about all the difficulties that would arise with his having a pokémon.

Since his fourteenth birthday, Kai had known he was different. Different to his parents, different to his classmates, different to everyone else he had ever known in his life.

Absent-mindedly, Kai scratched at the small mark on his neck that set him apart. This mark had separated him from the rest of the world, from his peers and family and changed his life, for the better or for the worse.

In days past they had called them Shifters, or any number of derogatory terms, and had hunted down and killed them by the dozens, reducing the population of Shifters down almost to extinction. In more modern and accepting times, the few Shifters that cropped up from time to time in families where the blood ran strong, usually led normal, peaceful lives, albeit lives occasionally interrupted by the less accepting of the population and their hatred for all things out of the ordinary.

The recessive nature of the 'Shifter Gene' meant that, in many cases Shifters are born to normal, human adults and lead their lives unknowingly, without the knowledge that, at some stage in their life, the mark would show itself and the Shifter would receive their heritage- the ability to change form, to become a pokémon.

Kai had been fortunate in the timing of his mark, his parents had been out of town on a second honeymoon when his mark had appeared. The first change had been both physical and mental agony, his body on fire as waves of pain washed over him and he passed out. Upon awakening, the shock of finding himself in the body of a pokémon, a Ninetails, had been so great that he had very nearly fainted again.

Over the next two years, Kai had hidden his ability from the world, both for his parents' sakes and his own; he had not been ready to announce himself as a Shifter. Today though, he stood in line to receive his first pokémon, begin his new life as a trainer, and show the world what he truly was.

"Kai, it's your turn now" Professor Rowan said, as the last trainer to be called forward walked off, a grin on his face and a pokeball in his hand. "I'm sure we have just the pokemon for you".

Shifters: Chapter 2; A Fine Choice

"Right this way Kai", said Professor Rowan, as the two of them made their way into the lab towards the room in the back where the pokémon were kept in their balls awaiting their new trainers.

"We have quite a selection this year" explained professor Rowan. "Usually trainers choose from three 'starter' pokémon to begin their journey with, but this year there was a larger number of young trainers than usual, and so we have expanded the selection to include several new fire, grass and water types"

The pair walked into the back room, and Kai, forgetting his own problems for a moment, gave an involuntary gasp. The room was filled to the brim with pokéballs, shelf upon shelf stacked to the ceiling, shelving colour-coded for each of the three types of pokémon in the room.

Kai made his own way through the shelves to the fire type section, disbelieving, as he read through the names and descriptions of the many pokémon available, even as he knew which one he would pick.

And there it was, a gleaming red pokéball precisely at head height, containing the pokémon that would become his partner on his adventures. He picked up the info sheet that sat in front of the pokéball and skimmed through it, wanting to find out as much as possible about his new friend as he could.

Species: Vulpix

Gender: Female

Nature: Hardy

Additional Notes: Subject exhibits unusual colouration- further investigation advised

"I'll take the Vulpix" said Kai as he walked back to Professor Rowan and showed him his selection. "A very good choice" said Professor Rowan, beaming with pleasure as another of his young pupils took on the challenge of becoming a pokémon trainer. "There is of course paperwork for you to fill out, and an application to be placed for the pokémon league, should you choose, but nothing pressing. For now, I would advise you to head home and get to know your new Vulpix".

The ride home was a long one, Kai's parents lived a fair way out of town, in the woods to the west of Twinleaf, just to the south of Lake Verity. It was the remote location of the house that had allowed Kai to remain hidden for so long, when the urge to change became too great, he could duck out the back door directly into the thick woods and run as a pokémon. The longer the urge was left untended, the greater the danger that he may turn without meaning to, probably in front of everyone he knew, became, and as such Kai made an effort to change at least once every couple of days, to take the edge off.

As he cycled the last leg of his journey home, Kai's thoughts turned to the Vulpix inside the ball on his belt, and couldn't help but think if they'd get along well. She was 'Hardy', according to the info sheet in the lab, and he couldn't help but think of how that could be a good or a not-so-good thing. He also thought about what would happen when he told her about what he was, though he wouldn't really know until he did tell her. He had kept this secret for so long that it genuinely scared him to think about telling anybody, even his pokémon.

Eventually, he reached the small timber cottage that had been his home since before he could remember, and dumping his bike on the veranda, headed straight out into the garden to get to know his new pokémon.

Standing out on the grass behind the house, Kai took a deep breath and raised the pokéball. "Come on out Vulpix!"

Shifters: Chapter 3; Changes

The red light of the pokéball lit up the small patch of grass where Kai was standing. Since he could remember, his entire life had led up to this moment, and he watched, transfixed as the light began to take the form of his new pokémon. The light faded, and sitting in front of him was the most visually startling vulpix he had ever seen.

This vulpix had a stunning silver-grey coat, with black 'socks', but the most noticeable difference were in the tail and the curly tufts of fur on its head, which were a brilliant gold. The overall effect was magnificent, and Kai gave a gasp at the sight.

The vulpix looked around quickly, obviously surprised at her surroundings, before turning back to him and regarding him with Amber eyes before muttering quietly in pokéspeak "Oh crap".

Kai, confronted by the expletive, winced and shook his head in dismay. This was obviously not going to go well if he didn't act quickly. "Please don't be like that" he said in pokéspeak (One of the perks of being a shifter was that he could understand and communicate with pokémon in their own language) "I'm sure we'll get along, after all" he said, as the Vulpix's eyes widened as she heard him speaking her own tongue "we have more in common than you might think".

Vulpix was speechless. All of her life she had been treated like dirt by humans, experimented on because of her colour and bullied and teased, even by her fellow pokémon, and now this young human was behaving completely differently. Plus, he could apparently understand her! The obvious question sprang to mind.

"How can you possibly understand what I say?" she asked him, curiosity overcoming her usually reclusive nature.

Kai sighed and sat down on the grass facing her as he struggled to come to terms with sharing his secret for the first time. He took a deep breath and began;

"I've never told anyone about this, but because we're obviously going to be travelling with each other you have to know now before it becomes a problem. You see, I am... different to other people. I have an ability that they do not, besides being able to understand pokémon". "It would probably be easier to just show you".

Kai stood up, and took a step backwards, closing his eyes. Vulpix began feeling more than a little disturbed at her new trainers actions, but gasped when she noticed the first changes.

The change was no longer painful for Kai, more of an unpleasant sensation that ran all the way down his body in waves, growing in frequency and strength. The changes began slowly, his teeth grew longer and sharper and his hair began to turn creamy white, but soon pale fur began to grow from his entire body, his jaw elongated into a muzzle and his hands and feet began the transformation into paws. His hair grew longer until it reached down his shoulders, turning into a mane of fur, and he fell on all fours as the transformation neared completion.

The last thing to change was always the eyes, taking on the bright fiery red of a Ninetales and the transformation was complete. Kai stretched his legs quickly and looked over to the Vulpix, who was looking at him with utter shock on her face.

"You see?" Kai said, a grin showing across his muzzle as he noticed her reaction to his change. "We aren't so different after all".

Shifters: Chapter Four; Hope

A myriad of thoughts ran through Kai's head as he watched the vulpix in front of him struggle to come to terms with his sudden transformation. This had been the first time he had revealed his ability to anyone, and he didn't quite know what to make of her reaction. Sighing, Kai sat his haunches down on the grass and waited.

"You're a Shifter" the Vulpix finally managed to say. "I've heard stories about them; I thought they were all gone".

Kai laughed with more than a little relief, she didn't seem at all hostile to the idea, simply curious. "Not quite" he said, "There are a few of us left, though I don't actually know any others personally. Most tend to go into hiding, living ordinary lives alongside humans".

"And what about you?" she asked, her head cocked to one side as she considered his last statement "will you lead an ordinary life without telling anyone about being a Shifter?"

Kai looked down at his front paws at that point. "I'm not really sure" he said eventually "Lately I've felt like I need to tell people about my Shifting, but I'm just not sure how to go about it", he looked up at her as he said; "you are the first person I've ever told".

"So what about me?" the Vulpix asked. "Where do I come into this?" Kai smiled, "Just because I'm a Shifter that doesn't mean I don't share the same dream as any other teenager" he said with a canine grin "I dream of becoming the first ever Shifter to beat the Elite Four and attain the title of Pokémon Master!" His ears drooped a bit at the end though "although that would mean telling everyone that I can turn into a pokémon."

"So you want to take on the Gyms" the Vulpix asked. "Absolutely, with your help" Kai replied "which reminds me, I can't just keep thinking about you as Vulpix. You need a proper name if we're going to travel together."

"My mother named me" the Vulpix replied "before I was captured by humans because of my colour. My name is Hope."

"And my name is Kai" Kai replied "Pleased to meet you Hope." Hope gave a little smile, the introductions finished before adding "before we leave, there is one condition to my travelling with you."

"And what would that be?" Kai asked, regarding Hope as she looked almost pleadingly at him. "When we reach Veilstone City I would like to see my mother" she said "it would mean a lot to me".

"Of course" Kai said softly, "we'll stop by and you can see your mother for as long as you want, and if you feel like staying then I won't force you to come with me."

Hope looked up at Kai, leaning against his foreleg "thank you for that" she said "but I'm approaching the age that I should make my own way in the world without my mother anyway, I just want to see her, to let her know I'm alright." Hope gave her little smile again as she added "I'll see this adventure of yours to the end."

Kai and Hope sat there for a while more before Kai got to his feet. "My parents will be home soon" he said. "They're biologists working at the Verity Research Centre just north of here and their workdays end about now" he stood and changed back to human form. "Are you hungry Hope? There should be enough time for us to eat before they get home. We have all sorts of berries so you can have whatever you want."

Hope looked up at him with wide eyes "do you have any Mago berries" she asked "I haven't had one for months and they're my favourite." Kai's grin gave it away and she let out a little squeal of delight, dashing into the house. Kai smiled and followed her at a slower pace, as he walked into the kitchen, he laughed to see the little vulpix buried in a pink and white berry almost the size of her own head. His laughs startled her and her head popped out, her nose liberally coloured in berry juice, making him laugh all the harder.

As Hope finished her berry in dignified silence, Kai heard his parent's voices coming from the forest to the north. They were almost a kilometre away as yet, and he thanked his enhanced hearing as he cleaned up the kitchen before turning to Hope. "My parents will be here in a couple of minutes" he said "Is it alright if I put you in your ball for a while until i tell them about you?"

"That's fine" Hope said "but when we're on the road I really would prefer to travel outside my ball". Kai smiled "Ok" he said "I was kinda hoping you'd say that so I'd have someone to talk to" with that he recalled her, clipped the pokéball to his new trainer belt and sat down on the couch waiting for his parents to get home.