FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"Ben?"

"Summer?"

"What's happening?" they cried simultaneously. "I feel really weird!" Eventually the light parted just enough for them to see each other, though as they looked around in the purple prison, they realized they couldn't see their partner pokémon. Both of them sighed in relief, glad that their partner had come out all right. Their relief was short-lived, however, when they suddenly jerked their heads upwards in response to a tugging sensation on their heads. Summer was the first to recover.

"Ben! Your ears! What's that silvery stuff on them?" She pointed at his ears in alarm.

"My ears?" He felt them and gasped as he felt fluff instead. Ben was surprised by the slightly increased volume of the ocean waves. He could even make out the faintest sound of movement beneath the waves and the cries of their alarmed pokémon friends. He looked at his counterpart, noticing the white fluff where her ears once were, and pointed at them. "Your ears are fluffy too!"

Now it was her turn to gasp when she looked at her hands... or rather, paws, when she attempted to examine her new ears. Her arms had become very thin, and past her elbows were two red shells that covered her forearms and hands. Three claws replaced her fingers. Oddly enough, her Styler still remained attached to her right arm, though its size and shape had changed slightly to fit it. Summer noticed that the same thing had happened to her ally, only his shells were blue. Their gloves fell off, having been torn to shreds by their shells when they grew out.

"It can't be... Are... are we turning into them?! This has to be a trick or something! The Pinchers must have been onto us and set up an ambush!" she shouted worriedly. She believed she and Ben were simply seeing things again, but as their legs and feet faded away, she quickly began to doubt her words. Strangely, they did not fall; instead, they floated a few feet from the ground. The shorts they wore were torn by their expanding feather-coated torsos, falling off of them entirely once the expansion stopped. Short, jagged shapes grew from where their legs used to be. The bottom part of Summer's new body was red and had a small tail while Ben's was blue and lacked such a feature.

"Somehow, I seriously doubt that. This is definitely something they, or anyone really, couldn't hope to do," Ben said as he looked at himself. "It feels too real to be fake." Both of their necks elongated and were coated in the same down that covered their ears, causing their jackets and shirts to fall off. Two wings shot out of their backs, with Summer's appearing smooth in comparison to Ben's, which were angular in shape. All that remained of their clothing were their goggles, which, like their Stylers, adjusted to fit their new forms, and their yellow scarves, which hung on their necks loosely. "Whoa... it feels like my mind is expanding! What's with this surge of power?"

"I feel it too, Ben! We really are becoming the Eon duo! It's incredible!" Before she could say anything further, the duo felt their heads compress and become oval-shaped, with Ben's face narrowing to a tip. The same down that covered their wings, torsos, and arm-shells appeared at the top of their heads, surrounding a patch of the down that covered their necks and new ears. An opposite-colored, round triangle appeared on their chests as their eyes changed color and shape, with Ben's becoming red and slightly narrower than Summer's now amber eyes. The light that had imprisoned them slowly dissipated, and they found themselves in the familiar setting of Tilikule Island.

"Is it over?" both rangers wondered a minute later. To their surprise, the transformation had not caused them any physical pain as slow as it was. The only things that remained on them were their Stylers, their yellow scarves, and their goggles, with the rest of their clothes lost to the changes. Suddenly, even more visions flooded their minds, but this time they were able to understand them all. Summer looked at Ben, still surprised to see that he was now a latios.

"Now it all makes sense." She jumped upon hearing her own voice, which had become airy and slightly higher in pitch. "Our mission together isn't just a coincidence; it was meant to happen," she continued. "The visions, the feelings... Is this what that voice meant?"

Ben looked at her, mirroring her surprise. "I guess... this isn't just a mission anymore. Latias and Latios... We used to be them, right? That fire we saw in the vision... we did something that day. We helped the hero put a stop to it." His voice had also become airy, although it was slightly lower in pitch. The new Eon pokémon looked up at the moonlit sky. "This is all so much to take in."

The other new Eon pokémon smiled and hugged him comfortingly. "Don't worry, Ben. You're not alone in this. It is a lot to take in, but I'm here for you."

"Summer, what will the others think?" he asked worriedly, looking at her. "I mean, we were just turned into pokémon, legendary pokémon at that. It's certainly not going to be easy to explain, assuming they're even able to handle the fact that pokémon like ourselves would visit them. What about our duties as rangers? Can we still fulfill them?"

"Hmm... Well, you're right about us. Most humans will rarely have a chance to see legendary pokémon, much less interact with them," she admitted as she broke the hug. "But that doesn't mean we can't keep being rangers. Sure, our shapes changed, but our minds haven't. In fact, I feel more committed to being a ranger than I did before. I feel like we can do so much more for Oblivia now." Ben looked at his new paws, then at her.

"You mean... like we used to?"

"...While I'm not sure we're the same latias and latios as the ones in the visions, I do mean like we did before this happened. What makes us rangers is our dedication to the world we live in. Right now, we have to keep those Pinchers from waking Zapdos and unleashing something horrible on our ho- I mean Oblivia."

"...Well, when you put it like that, I guess it makes sense. If the visions are to be believed, we've always been rangers. In a way, we were meant to be partners."

"Speaking of partners, where did Pichu and Staraptor go?" As if on cue, Pichu and Staraptor returned from an aerial flight and ran over to the pair, confused and worried for their human friends.

"Who are you?" Pichu asked. Ben and Summer were surprised they were able to understand him perfectly, but quickly recovered.

"Pichu, Staraptor, it's us, Ben and Summer," Ben explained. "That light that trapped us turned us into Latias and Latios." Pichu looked at the torn clothing and squeaked in fright.

"Wh- where are they? What did you do?" Staraptor cried, just as disturbed.

"I promise it's not what you think, Staraptor," Summer said.

"Why do you sound like my friend?"

"It's just like Ben said. Those lights that separated us from you did this to us. Look, we're even wearing the same scarves, goggles, and Stylers."

"I... I don't believe it. Those Pinchers must have been on to us and set a trap," Pichu said resolutely as he looked around. Summer chuckled to herself at the repeat of her earlier thought.

"We're serious. Uke, why would there be shredded clothing here?" Ben asked, using the nickname Rand had made up for the pichu a while ago. "Do you really think we would willingly leave you two here without our clothes? Sure, it doesn't bother us as much as it used to, but still..."

"How did you... You read my mind, didn't you? Don't do that," he replied, annoyed by the name.

"Wouldn't that be cheating?" Summer posited. "Listen, you can deny it all you want, but the facts are right in front of you. It's just plain ridiculous to believe we would suddenly and willingly leave not just you, but all of Oblivia, and I could never call myself a ranger if I did that."

"Neither would I," Ben added, slightly frustrated. "If you truly won't believe us despite the overwhelming evidence, we can leave you with Booker and the others. We have to head for Layuda Island to stop the Pinchers." Summer looked at Layuda Island and visibly shuddered at the dark thunderclouds that obscured much of the mountain.

"That storm looks fiercer than it did last time. Maybe we should head over there in the morning. Murph did say the storm would probably keep them at bay."

"Good point. Besides, we won't be able to see where we're going without any sunlight." Ben briefly wondered how he could stop floating in the air before finding himself falling onto a small patch of grass. "Maybe we should figure out how to do this," he muttered, embarrassed as Summer and the others laughed.

---

The four of them woke at the crack of dawn to a slightly cloudy sky. As soon as they finished stretching, they looked at Layuda Island. Staraptor was understandably shaken by the sight of the storm that nearly struck her down and stepped back.

"It's okay, Staraptor," Summer said as she hugged her partner pokémon. "I won't make you do something like this. Listen, why don't you head over to Rand's? After everything you've been through, especially with having to carry us everywhere, you deserve a long break."

"The rest of us can resist the electricity," Ben added confidently. "We'll be fine." Staraptor sighed sadly and nodded, unable to deny that Layuda Island was simply too dangerous for her.

"You know, I'm willing to believe you two really are Summer and Ben," Staraptor said. "I gave it a lot of thought last night, and what you said really makes sense. Plus, I can still feel the bond we had before this happened. It's just gonna take some time to get used to things. This really has been an adventure."

"All right, then. Pichu, if you want, you can go with Staraptor. We understand if you still don't believe us."

"Actually, I'll give you two the benefit of doubt. I think it makes sense, too," Pichu replied, crossing his arms. "I want to stop something horrible from happening to Oblivia, and I could never call myself a ranger if I didn't play my part."

"Can pokémon be rangers?"

"Sure! Just look at you. You can still use those Stylers, right? Anyways, I'm coming with you," he said as he hopped onto the latios's back, to Ben's mild irritation. With that, Staraptor nodded and flew off toward Renbow Island after wishing them luck. Summer looked at the retreating figure and smiled.

"Just you wait, Staraptor. Your time will come." She then flew upward and faced their destination. "Ben, did you have the same dream I had? That voice spoke to me again and taught me how to move."

"Actually, I did. Also, I remember it taught me how to use my powers. It seems like this voice, whoever or whatever it is, wants us to get used to our new bodies as soon as possible. Let's see..." Ben's eyes glowed a light blue for a split second before returning to normal. He then flew to Summer's side. "Hey, Pichu. Try to jump off."

"From all the way up here? Why?" Pichu asked timidly. "That's such a weird request."

"Just try jumping to her. You'll be fine, I promise." Pichu shrugged and attempted to do so, but found he could not move a single inch.

"I made it so that any movement won't send you into the ocean, so to speak," he said smugly, sensing his friend's question. "Since we'll be flying really fast, you will also be protected from the side effects."

"Hold on tight, Pichu!" With that, they put on their goggles and soared toward the island.