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“Never going camping again, never going camping again, never going camping again, never going camping ag-”

The voice repeating their mantra suddenly went on a fearful shouting spree as they took a tumble down a hill they didn’t foresee, seeing the clear, moonlit sky zip in and out of their vision as they continued to roll like a slideshow on x24 speed. When they finally came to a stop, their vision didn’t stop swirling and left them nearly ready to puke. With the moon illuminating where they landed, it was easy to see that “they” were a young woman who looked to be barely climbing out of her teen ages with her modesty.

Though she looked to be a lot worse for wear with her tangled, brunette hair full of leaves and twigs, her torn denim shorts and her shirt which had been clawed at by something ferocious with how much blood had spilled from the wound left behind. She covered it up with her hand, meaning she wasn’t completely daft when it came to being cut by something sharper than a pin needle.

Then, a howl that sent chills down her spine sounded out from where she had just fallen and soon she was limping her way into a trot to get away from it. She has lost a shoe from the fall but it didn’t matter that she was bare foot running through the woods.

There was a lot more dangerous things out and about tonight.

Her limping picked up speed when she heard a branch snap in two on her right, her hyperventilating quieting down so that it wasn’t obvious she was running away from who did it until she broke into a clearing that led out to some grassy plains. She made it ...The outside of the forest.

Her relief was short-lived when something broke out of the woodlands behind her and barreled into her like she was being tackled by a Pignite.

The young lady began to panic, for the thing had pinned her down to the ground by her arms and sat on her stomach to keep her from being able to kick them off. As she worked on getting free, she heard others break into the clearing to join around them in a circle. Her hyperactive mind couldn’t register who or what she was looking at but all she saw was red eyes before the being on top of her suddenly bared their rows of sharp teeth and came down to her neck.

Her scream of terror was silenced shortly after it resonated throughout the forest.

---

“This summer’s been the greatest!” A voice spoke, only for the source to jump around in what appeared to be a wooden cabin loaded for a sleeping space. “I got to experience nature and really give camping the best try I’ve given anything to date!”

“Good for you…” Another spoke, coming from one of the beds near the far right window that the first voice’s being to stop around there and pout.

“Hey, don’t act like this summer’s been a whole letdown. Sure, we lost some folks ...heard lots of screaming at night ...and you may have messed up your first date with a girl…”

“Gee, thanks for being supportive.”

“Look, Tyler. I’m just trying to get around to my point that this wasn’t so bad! We only had a few blunders and mishaps, and the best part was that we didn’t get to be the Camp Losers this time around! Why are you not celebrating?”

“Because, Gram, while you somehow slept through last night like a log I was too busy listening to my first date screaming her head off as she was being chased off by whatever’s been stealing campers. So unless you’ve been having everyone tucked into your pocket like a sick going-away gift, I suggest you keep your happy-go-lucky and stuff it somewhere somebody else can care for it.”

At this, the jumpy lad Gram stopped being so happy and crossed his arms to show his displeasure to Tyler’s response. “Look, I lost friends here too. Grace, Monty, De'Jordan ...Don't act like you’re the only one who lost somebody here.” And with that, Gram walked off to his bed and grabbed a little notepad before storming out of the cabin with a slamming door in his wake.

Tyler scoffed, still feeling as if Gram’s usual childishness was far from making him eligible to have him snap at Tyler. Friends are nothing compared to somebody you genuinely liked ...only to be too late to tell them you liked them more as friends…

Oh, what did Gram know? How to lick boots like a cobbler about to lose his license?

Either way, Tyler ended up coming to a seated position on his bed, doing his best not to knock his head against the empty one above him, and dug out something from under the mattress. With Gram gone, it was easy to grab without a worry of being seen by prying eyes. After disposing of the wrapping around it that let it blend into the darkness during night time so no snoopers could tell it wasn’t just loose bedding, Tyler revealed it to be a scrapbook.

He cracked it open towards the end, where an empty page was titled, “First Kiss with Tracy”. Obviously, since he just got done telling Gram that his first date ended in failure then this was supposed to be devoid of anything to fill it with. And after looking at it and remember the portion of the night where it could have been possible, a tear fell right in the middle where a picture could have gone and Tyler sniffled.

Tracy shouldn’t have been hunted...It should have been him...She was too nice, too cool and too ...”in the middle”, so to speak. She wasn’t the best nor the worst at any camp activity, she wasn’t popular nor a loser, and she was neither here nor there when it came to who she preferred a romantic relationship with. So Tyler thought it’d be his time to pluck out which way she wanted to go for that matter and ...then they heard the screams...and the camp was down to thirteen instead of fourteen as of now.

He was an idiot, he tried to see if he could still be with her despite her shaken from losing her last cabinmate to the monsters and she slapped him for being so tactless before slamming the door on his face. That had been the last time they said a word to each other ...and now that it was morning, there was no finding time to apologize for being a dumbass hopped up on hormones and need for love. No, he was gonna find where those monsters took her and hope he’d at least be able to say sorry to her before he gets killed or something.

And thinking on that, he felt himself nodding with reaffirmed confidence. Yeah, that was one way to go out. Going back to Aspertia was not on his to-do list with how horrid this camping trip’s been. Tyler wrapped his scrapbook up and stuffed it in his bag, making sure to slide it all back under his bed before wiping his face for anymore tears on his way out. He was gonna enjoy the rest of today with his head up high, even if there was barely anything to do with all the danger out in the woods.

[[]]

Without the woods to go play-camping, go explore the wildlife, go to the lake for any water activities, nor be allowed anywhere near the cabins that were already left empty Tyler and the other campers pretty much spent most of their time either out trying to play catch with the camp Pokemon or staying in their cabins. It was already proven that being in or outside was liable to get one snatched up by the “Swinebowl Freaks”, but everyone that stayed inside was certain that the ones who got caught indoors left a window open or a door unlocked.

No matter the case, Tyler found himself tossing a ball back and forth between another camper-who told him his name was Josh-and a Lucario who seemed rather intrigued by the simple yet rhythmic game.

“...still, it’s gonna be impossible to try sneaking out to find her, man. Better off waiting until it’s your turn, or until they snatch the counselors so we can do whatever we want.” Josh was trying to talk Tyler out of sneaking off tonight to go find Tracy, and they had all the privacy in the world since they were the only two humans outside.

“I can’t man. That date’s been eating me from the inside out. I have to at least see her and tell her I’m sorry for thinking about myself first.” Tyler caught the ball then tossed it to the Lucario, who found that grabbing it within their mouth was a bad idea and using their paws were better. They flung it to Josh, who had to huff from the momentum the ball came sailing for him.

“Sheesh, not so hard, big guy! Told you, you’re stronger than you looked…”

“Cario.” The jackal rubbed their arm and looked to their feet instead.

At this, Josh tried to lighten up and lobbed the ball to Tyler. “Anyway, if you’re really gonna do this, you’re gonna have to plan ahead. The counselors have been making sure they have enough energy drinks to pull an all-nighter with their rounds. Gonna need a miracle to get past them come nightfall.”

“I don’t need a plan, just gotta run fast.” Tyler tried to give the Lucario another chance, them catching the ball in their paws again before they carefully threw it towards Josh like one shooting a b-ball for a bucket with no rimshot. The other boy caught it and nodded to the jackal who beamed at the success of their first normal throw.

“Uh, no, that’s not gonna cut it. If they can’t catch up, then they’ll get the Arcanine after you. And they’ll catch you the second they’re out of their Poke Balls.”

“Yeah, yeah. Extreme Speed, I know. But I know what tickles their noses.”

“Lake water?”

“No, bacon. I already got some ready as bait if the counselors get desperate.”

“So then what? You gonna wait for the smallest window of time to go for a run in the woods?”

“No, man. I’m gonna high-tail it as soon as we get done making smores. Bathroom break then, boom. Gone.”

“Well, good luck with trying that. I’ll just make sure to lock my cabin up tight in case you get caught by the Freaks and they smell me on you somehow.”

“Nah, you’re too low-profile. Doubt they’d come for you.”

“They came for William. Got him too.” At this, Tyler paused as he threw the ball to Lucario, who grunted as the ball nearly hit them on the spike before they threw it to Josh.

“I thought he was one of the ones who knew of the Freaks so well he had their weakness.”

“Guess he was wrong. Or maybe they caught him on a late-night bathroom break. Either way, he’s been gone for a little while now.”

“Never even heard him scream like the others….” That left an unsettling thought in Tyler. He knew William, personally even. They used to go to Trainer School together until he got forcibly dropped out by his paranoia-filled mother worried that he might get bullied for being a ginger. Granted, that never occurred and the faculty and his friends told her that he was doing just fine. William included. But she didn’t believe a soul, and thus she home-schooled William into the social pariah he came out to Camp Swinebowl to be.

He heard the story of the Freaks from his mother and told all twenty five of the campers on the first day that they’d be hunted by them. But no one believed him, to which Tyler was unfortunately a part of said naysayers. Up until Grace was the first to get taken.

And now it was Tyler, Josh, Gram and some other nine kids with the camp counselors and their Pokemon left and summer was near its end. Would they all ever come back…?

Tyler got smacked in the face with the ball and he dropped down onto one knee, Josh and Lucario running over to see if he was okay.

“Uh ...my bad. Didn’t know you zoned out.” Josh rubbed the back of his head in apology, since he was the one throwing it to Tyler in the first place.

“It’s... alright. Nothing broken.” Just a red mark on his face where the ball hit him. Lucario brought themselves to their knees next to Tyler and patted him on the shoulder.

“Car-rio.” Their aural sensors on the back of their head began to rise, their paws glowing a bright, mystic blue and slowly being brought to Tyler’s face. As soon as they touched it, it stung like a Mienshao lash, but soon the pain ebbed away until it was completely gone. Tyler looked better than he did just a second ago and he looked to the jackal, who beamed at the success of their healing.

“Thanks, bud.” And thus, Tyler got to petting the Pokemon and things went on from there.

The sun began to set, so the mess hall was to be loaded with everyone that was still around in the campgrounds. Tyler, Josh and their Lucario associate decided to sit together, while the two gals and seven guys still left sat in their own array of arrangements-Gram trying to act like he wasn’t left out from sitting with his cabin mate by sitting with the remains of his guy friends. The only ones not mixed together were the rest of the Pokemon, who all sat with the counselors of four plus the lone scoutmaster. The adults looked rather antsy, like they were doing their best to act casual about hiding something from being known and Tyler caught on immediately while he ate his steaming chicken leg.

The camp food had been the same as school food until the camper numbers started dwindling. The chef’s been rather lenient on letting them get seconds since they weren’t making a whole buffet of food for thirty people and nine Pokemon anymore and the quality of the food scaled up with disappearances.

“You know something funny, Josh?” Tyler started, getting the fellow boy to look over at him while he ate his slice of fresh bread.

“Yeah?” Their chatter made crumbs fly out of their mouth, so they wiped it up with a napkin.

“Call me crazy but...how come the Swinebowl Freaks never went after a counselor?” At this, Josh looked behind him towards the adult table, seeing the five of them whispering among themselves while their Pokemon ate in front of them like a wall to block them from being seen conversing something shady.

“What d’ya mean?”

“I mean...You know in those scary camp stories and movies, the monster or killer goes for everyone, not just campers. And it’s only been campers that have been getting snatched by the Freaks while they get off scot-free.”

Josh gave them one more glance before pitching in his own thoughts on the matter. “Come to think of it, the last time I saw any of the Freaks I counted five of them taking somebody from a cabin...The night before William got caught, even.”

Tyler’s eyes lit up and his gaze found the camp scoutmaster eating among the counselors, who seemed to be looking around for anyone watching which got the boy to bring his head back down before he got caught. “You don’t think ...?”

“It’s possible….” Josh glanced to Lucario, who was busy eating their chunks of Pokemon food with glee. Only when Josh cleared his throat did the jackal look up and notice the boys staring at them, to which they gulped down nervously.

“Cario?” They sheepishly asked, as if trying to make sure they didn’t seem too quiet to not be suspected of anything, but the boys weren’t deterred.

“You know anything about the counselors being ...Freaks?” Tyler nudged his head towards the table, just in case the scoutmaster was still looking around for onlookers. Lucario did a full-on gaze behind themselves to see, thankfully not being caught by any of the adults or their Pokemon, but only to shrug. “Damn…”

“Language, Tyler.” Suddenly, there was a Gram sliding into the only other free seat at the table, his friends walking off to the mess hall’s trash cans to dump the remains of their food before leaving. “Don’t want the counselors to give you a talking-to that you don’t come back from.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Tyler was still bitter from earlier’s debate, so he made it clear that he didn’t put it all under the rug. Though Gram seemed to ignore the hostility.

“It means you’re not the only folks thinking the Swinebowl Freaks are the counselors.” Gram nudged a finger towards the other camper tables, Tyler noticing that they were all giving the counselors and scoutmaster as much of a fleeting glance as they could without getting caught before they talked between each other in hushed whispers, and turned back when he saw enough.

“So? If everyone knows then how come no one’s done anything about it?”

“That’s why I came over here-to see if you’d be on board to try and expose them tonight.” Tyler narrowed his eyes. Tonight he was to go chase after Tracy and hopefully find her before the Freaks did something to her, and now Gram’s trying to get them all kidnapped or worse?

“Sounds like a plan.” Tyler’s gaze found Josh, who had responded to Gram’s offer with that, but when he was about to object, Josh winked towards him as best as he could muster with his rather short face and paused.

“Cool. Make sure your phones are charged and recording video and sound. We gotta make sure we get every bit of evidence possible. And try not to fall asleep.” Gram left them at that, bringing Tyler to look at Josh again.

“Why did you agree to that?”

Josh wagged his finger at Tyler before swallowing some food he had been eating. “Didn’t agree. Just left it in the air for either or. He took it as us agreeing so that’s his fault. You can still go do your thing, but if you don’t make it at least you don’t gotta worry about not being able to tell her, right?”

“Well that sure as hell sounds like a good luck…” Tyler felt a sweatdrop fall down his head, so he used the time to ease the tension that began to well in his heart. Tonight, he just had to find his way out into the woods then find Tracy without getting caught by counselors or Freaks-or both since the former’s being suspected-and possibly try to make it back home without dying….

In the middle of his thoughts, he didn’t realize that his gaze had fallen on the scoutmaster, and when he came to focus the middle-aged man was staring back at him. And the table’s Pokemon.

He held back from cursing but ending up awkwardly waving before turning away, still feeling all of their eyes burning against his skin like magnified lens for sun rays. The bell to go get ready for the campfire for activities and stories came up, so Tyler quickly made a dash for the door before something came up an-

“Mr. Briarton.” Tyler heard that in his ear just when he was a few steps from the exit, forced to watch the other campers stare back at him while the scoutmaster had a firm grip on the boy’s shoulder. He hadn’t even heard the guy coming, and just as Lucario left the mess hell, he was turned to look back at the brown-clad man with red hair.

“Y-yeah, Mr. Tropia?...” That gaze he was getting didn’t look promising, nor did seeing the counselors and the Pokemon they ate with moving towards the two of them.

“I’ve realized that you might be concerned about camp safety. You and your friends. I think it would do us folks a favor if you were to….drop some suggestions you had in mind, hmm?” Tyler could tell the older man was buying time so that he couldn’t run away, but despite them just being some notches away from surrounding him, the mess hall door opened and one of the blond camper girls was there-think her name was Lania.

“Hey Tyler, me and some campers are gonna try putting up a memorial for the kids that are gone. Wanna help?”

“Memori ...Oh yeah, right! Forgot about that, sorry. Mr. Tropia, gotta go.” Tyler had been a syllable from blowing what was obviously a ploy to get him away from the suspects in case the rumors were true, and he made sure his near-miss wasn’t capitalized on by rushing out of the scoutmaster’s grasp and walking with Lania towards the cabins. The second he heard those doors close, he whispered to her.

“Thanks for the save…”

“Hey, us campers have to stick together now more than ever. I don’t think you noticed but if we lose somebody else tonight, there’ll be more adults than teens.” As she spoke that, Tyler did a headcount in his head. And sure enough, she was right on the money; all the Pokemon that ate with the adults were their Pokemon collectively, while there were only twelve campers plus a camper’s Lucario. If they lose anyone else, things’ll start looking grim.

“You’re right….shit, I should have been more careful.”

“Don’t sweat it, Ty. I’m pretty sure you’ll be doing Tracy a favor by trying to expose those guys for who they really are.”

Tyler’s brow raised at that. “How’d you know I’d only do this for Tracy…?”

“She was a girl, Ty. Us girls stick together on our side, you boys stick together on yours. Was gonna find out sooner or later.”

“...Fair point.” That’s how the cabins had been separated when everyone got here; four to one cabin, three cabins to boot though the lone wolf William holed himself up in a barely functional log cabin made by the counselors so he was shut out but not ostracized. “Let’s just leave my motive outta this with the others, okay? It still hurts thinking she might b-”

“Ah ah ah”, She stuck her finger at his lips and cut him off from speaking, “we’re not gonna talk about it either. If it hurts, there’s no point in making it worse.” Lania had a point. If he wanted to focus on Tracy, then he should worry about being able to get out so he can find her.

“Okay, so what’s the plan?”

“Gram already told you but…” Lania brought him to the only girl cabin that was being used, opening the door and revealing all the other campers holed inside as if they had been waiting on the two of them. “It never hurts to do a recap for the sake of minimal mistakes.”

Tyler stared at everyone, watching them look determined to see this plan out to the end as if this was the final stretch. And frankly, after nearly getting cut off from the others, he was right along with them. It was time to make the Freaks leave. So he nodded to Gram, who nodded back and stepped forward after the door was shut behind the two newcomers.

“Alright folks, here’s the plan. We gotta make sure we catch every second of the counselors and scoutmaster so that we can see them for who they really are. It’s already been decided that they are in fact the Swinebowl Freaks, so let’s not go into a debate about ‘what if they aren’t’. Every time a camper was taken, there was always five sets of footprints; every time we heard a scream in the night and checked around for who was gone, the counselors and scoutmaster were nowhere to be seen; and every night when a camper was taken, the adults always made sure we were asleep approximately one hour before someone was snatched. So we have more than enough reason to suspect them, but we have plenty to know it’s them. We just have to make sure we have as much footage of them in the act as possible. And, we already have a hunch as to whom they might go for tonight thanks to a few minutes ago.”

At this, everyone stared at Tyler, who felt his heart drop to his stomach as he realized that his little daydream did get the adults to focus on him pretty hard. So Gram continued.

“All we gotta do is let Tyler bait them into following him around once the hour is up, bring them into the mess hall and expose every second of them being the Freaks they really are.” His words sparked a fire in them all, because they were cheering without a care in the world. “Liking the enthusiasm...Alright, make sure you got your phones ready for tonight. If you don’t trust that you can keep yourself steady for filming then ask Lania for help. I think she knows her way around setting up phones like security cameras.” At this, the blond in question nodded and flashed her pink-cased phone to the others. “That should be about it. Make sure you leave in pairs just in case the adults are looking for us.”

Gram and one of the boys left first, so it was just a matter of watching the crowd slowly dwindle while the sun continued to set. So Tyler went ahead and asked Lania:

“You really know how to do that stuff?” She turned to him with a smirk.

“I only got dumped into this camp because my parents got tired of hearing me fiddle with their home cameras to try and make ‘em better. It’s not my fault they don’t revolve or focus-it’s like they want someone to break in scot-free.”

“Sounds like you’re a tech whiz in the making.” Lania shrugged.

“Eh, I’m no Clemont, or Volkner or Sophocles, but I can do something with this brain up here. Provided people don’t think I’m dumb the second they see me.” Then Lania noticed that it was just the two of them left and decided to ask. “You wanna take a rest? Maybe tell me how you felt about her? I dunno how to make smores, so the others’re probably gonna fix that unless you know how to.”

Tyler had a feeling this was gonna come up, so he nodded despite his knowledge of knowing how to stick molten marshmallows between two blocks of chocolate and graham crackers. Lania offered him a seat by the unoccupied bed and took the one across from it, crossing her arms in thought before speaking after a minute of silence.

“So...did you really like her?” Yeah, she was barely good at girl talk as is.

“I...Well, yeah. I wanted to make sure I did everything right….”

“But then you started doing everything wrong.” He flinched at that, but nodded anyway.

“Yeah ...started thinking for what I wanted instead of for us both and she took it to heart...I just wanna be able to tell her I’m sorry for...for…”

“Being a dumbass?”

“...Yeah, pretty much.” Lania kicked her legs up to a cross and started drumming her fingers on her ankle.

“I wouldn’t blame ya, dude. If I were you, I probably woulda done way worse for her not paying attention to me. She was not the kinda girl you want slipping into someone else’s hands…”

Lania’s words thrummed something fierce in Tyler’s heart. He hadn’t thought that far ahead besides her possibly being dead or worse and now that Lania mentioned it, it was possible that the Swinebowl Freaks might be holding her captive just for him now that he’s been selected as a target. His moment of silence must have been a bit too long for Lania’s tastes, for she was snapping towards his face when he got out of his thoughts.

“Yoo-hoo, bold and brave. What’re you gonna do?”

Tyler shook his head and stood up. “I’m gonna get my girl back. No matter what it takes, she doesn’t deserve to be in the clutches of those Freaks.”

“That’s the spirit! Though, she’s not your girl yet, she might be if you rescue her. Might still hate you though.” At that, the young man’s vigor was swiftly deflated and he strolled to the door in dejected spirits.

“Gee, thanks for the confidence boost.”

“Heheh, sorry.” Tyler stepped out of the girl’s cabin, looking around to make sure he wasn’t being watched or followed before making a dash for his cabin. The smores fire was getting started near the middle of camp, so he waved to the campers that were manning it before he went to check up on Gram. Though he was about to go inside until he heard the scoutmaster’s voice come out from the window and he ducked down behind the staircase to listen.

“...ust me, understand? I only want what’s best for you kids and if you keep treating us like we’re just the scum of the Earth, then I dunno what you expect me to do.”

“I’m sure we’ll work something out, sir.” Gram’s voice sounded repressed, like he were trying to make sure nothing slipped while still complying to the scoutmaster.

“Figure it out sooner or later. At this rate, y’all won’t have much time to think…” There was a pause for a good minute, only for heavy footsteps to depart from the cabin and step out into the outside. The second Tyler saw brown, he covered his mouth and made sure he wasn’t sticking out as the scoutmaster stopped in place for something. The boy heard them hum and thought he was caught for good, then he heard them walk off and slowly made his way out of hiding and ducked into his cabin.

Inside, Gram looked shaken, as if the scoutmaster had already chewed him out and fed him psychoanalysis images to check on his mental health. He didn’t even react when Tyler quietly shut and locked the cabin door behind him, nor when he walked up to the guy to snap him out of it. Though when he made to walk away, the boy latched onto Tyler’s arm and then he saw those eyes.

Crazed with a red haze over them.

“Th-they know ...They know...so-somehow ...I can’t warn them ...or they’ll send me out as bait….You have to tell them to call it off…” Gram’s voice was laced with experienced terror, his eyes making his case a little sketchy but his trembling sure sold it.

“How did they fi-”

“H-h-h-he did something to me...I dunno what...but as soon as we made eye contact...he started asking and I was spilling things out without any control of myself ...It felt so surreal….”

Tyler brought him onto the bed so he could recover, letting him take some slow breaths while rubbing his back so he’d ease up some more. Then, Gram came to a slow calm and his eyes didn’t look like he just came down from an adrenaline rush fueling an anger like no other.

“Feel better?” Tyler asked to confirm, and getting met with a shaky nod.

“Yeah...Listen, Tyler. I know you cared about Tracy a ton ...and I know you want what’s best for her since she’s been gone ...so if you still wanna go after her...just tell the others to keep themselves safe before you go ...I don’t wanna go through with the plan now that it’s doomed to fail ...I dunno what’s wrong but...I can hear him in my head...telling me to go eat smores…”

Tyler wasn’t sure what that was about, but he was sure that was probably an aftereffect of being scared and just patted Gram some more. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure whatever they did to you won’t jeopardize exposing them some other way.”

The boy nodded and soon he clenched onto the bed and held his head in his free hand. “G-go…! Barricade the door on your way out...It hurts….” Tyler hesitated, wondering if there was something he could do, but he was shoved away and was met with Gram’s red-eyed gaze. “GO!”

Tyler kept looking, but soon he got himself in order and headed out the door, shutting it behind him and picking up a nearby log to block the door from being swung open from the inside. Wedging it in was easy, but it was making sure Gram didn’t think of some other way to break free to get them all caught that was difficult. Tyler saw the other campers getting near the fire, so he ran over as fast as he could before an adult showed up. He leaned up to the only other girl left-think her name’s Jonesly-and whispered to her.

“They know the plan, they got to Gram somehow. Tell everyone else, don’t shout.” Tyler waited on her shocked face to calm down before she nodded and nearly slapped him with her brunette pigtails before leaning in to tell one of the guys. And so Tyler told the others, going around until they both got to Josh and left him in shock as well.

“What do we do then? That was our best bet and now that they know we’ll be set up for the mess hall, we don’t know if we can even try a plan at this point.” Tyler shook his head.

“No, we can still do it. It’ll just be a different kind of bait. I’m not gonna run for the mess hall, I’ll run for the woods, just when the hour goes off. They’ll follow me, so I need you guys to follow them and make sure you catch them on-camera, okay?” They all looked at him like he were crazy, for everyone knew using the woods to get them to follow anyone was suicide at least. But he was determined, more so than ever since the adults were already trying to get them to betray each other, and now he had two things in mind when he went to find Tracy.

Then he heard a cabin door kick open and saw Lania come out.

Right away, he saw her with that same crazed look as Gram did when he finally opened up after being spoken to, and when he saw Mr. Tropia come out of her cabin he knew for certain and turned to the group behind them and gestured for them to huddle up. “He got to her too, now we really have to stay together and keep them away from us.”

They all nodded and soon the blond was joined among them on her own log. Tyler noticed that her face was trying a little too hard to seem casual, but whatever the scoutmaster did to her left it too obvious that there was tampering with her mind done. So they all stayed back from her while they warmed up smores from the nearby packets of marshmallows, chocolate bars for the squares and the graham crackers. As soon as they started eating, her head snapped to Tyler and she spoke.

“So...how you gonna do it? Gonna sneak out after hours when everyone’s asleep?” Oh yeah, she was definitely tampered with. If you’re going to snoop around and plan on something that’s against the rules, you don’t speak of it clear as day.

“What’re you talking about, Lania?” Jonesly spoke up, already halfway done with her smores to the point where her face was covered in brown and white residue. “We’re not doing anything.”

“But what about the plan? You know, to get those lousy counselors and that darn scoutmaster exposed once and for all.” It was painful to listen to her, and Tyler thought that Mr. Tropia had much better etiquette for the people he “talked” to.

“Nah, we’re gonna try a different way to get ‘em into the mess hall. Might have to use Quill as bait.” Josh said, much to the objection of one of the pink-skinned boys sitting next to Tyler.

“Hey, no fair!”

“Are you sure? You don’t wanna stick to the plan as is?” Lania’s repressive voice made Tyler wanna smack her to get her out of it. Mr. Tropia must have made her snap.

“We’re sure. Just make sure you get your homemade camera system ready tonight, okay?”

“I’m on it!” Lania giggled like a schoolgirl, which looked quite out of place for her personality, and thus everyone ignored her from there on. As time went on, Tyler realized that the sun was just about ready to fall completely under the horizon and he stood up. Much to Lania’s enjoyment, for she did so too and stepped over logs just to stand in front of him. “Where you headed?”

“To my cabin? Smores time is over, we all gotta go get ready.”

“Okay! I’ll go get ready!” She did a little happy dance and Tyler rushed to his cabin after she skipped off to hers. He didn’t know if Gram would still be sane or “converted” but whichever the case, he peeked in through the window to check up on him.

And what he saw horrified him.

Gram was on the floor, twitching up a mighty storm before he suddenly shot up and started tearing his clothes off like a mad man giving into anger. His eyes were red, but thanks to the waning day they were glowing in the darkness of the cabin and made him look more than just brainwashed to do Mr. Tropia’s bidding. Then Tyler noticed the boy’s hair suddenly getting a growth spurt on his head, brightening from the plain and simple brown to a bleach white until it grew over his head like an ‘80s mohawk wig that was realistic. All of that sudden comedic air was thrown out when Gram began to howl-suppressed by the cabin’s thick walls-and his body was taken over by a light as if he were evolving like a Pokemon.

Then Tyler uncovered his eyes from being blinded and saw that Gram was now a Pokemon.

Panting on the floor was not Gram, but a Lycanroc in its Midnight form. The boy-turned-wolf slowly got on his feet and howled with more vigor, to the point where the window Tyler was watching in from vibrated like it was gonna break. He ended up letting go, and the shock led to him falling down to the ground, and just in time for the impact to jolt his head towards the girl cabins.

Where the same evolutionary light was busy changing a certain blonde into a Pokemon.

Tyler saw Josh running up to him, coming down to get him back on his feet. “What’re you doing!?” Thankfully, he still whispered as he shoved a pack in Tyler’s hands. “Mr. Tropia’s been going around doing that thing he did to Gram and Lania to anyone else he gets his hands on. You gotta go!”

Tyler was frozen, the image of seeing Gram forced away from being human and being turned into a Pokemon against his will….It left him...mortified. Who would do such a thing without a thought for consent? It was cruel, and very far up the unusual scale...but Tyler didn’t get to dwell on it forever, for Josh decided to snap him out of it by slapping him as hard as he could without making it too loud.

The young man nearly went tumbling on the ground but caught himself just in time to turn and see Josh shooing him. “Wh-”

“Go!” Tyler couldn’t see, but when the cabin door suddenly forced itself open nearby, Josh turned and a look of sheer terror filled his eyes as he stood rooted there. Tyler smelled something sour, and looked down and saw Josh’s shorts dampen around his crotch. Poor guy pissed himself.

The stench definitely helped him out, for the young man high-tailed it for the woods behind his cabin and didn’t turn back when he heard Josh scream behind him. This was not going according to plan and with good reason. Mr. Tropia was turning the kids into Pokemon and it threw everything off-balance. How do they combat their friends when they’re wild animals ready to hunt like savage beasts? Tyler thought all he had to do to subdue Gram or Lania was tie them up and gag them to their beds or just lock them inside. Them being...turned...was not on Tyler’s lists of expectancies and he let the gnawing fear that those two will definitely be coming for him drive him deeper into the moonlit woodlands.

Every step he took made him feel like he was sealing his doom, because he always managed to break some twig or kick a branch over that rustled some fallen leaves. He wanted to take a breather, to alleviate the panic making his heart feel like it were seconds from imploding, but when the urge came to pass a third time, he realized what he had in his hand.

His bag. The one he planted bacon in for any search party that came for him.

He held Josh in higher lights and hoped he made it out of being turned into a werewolf as he dug into his bag and fished out the packaged strips of crispy meat, thankful that they were still warm enough to draw a scent and tore open the plastic keeping the smells contained and threw them all out as much as he could swing. When he was satisfied, he tossed the bag and kept running onward.

Tyler eventually broke into a clearing that had the faint smell of water in the air, feeling blessed that he got so far without an intrusion of any sort, only to bite the bullet and curse his luck as he heard a twig snap somewhere on his right. And, standing on a rock, was a beast unlike anything he’s ever seen.

Those red eyes nearly made him freeze, but after seeing what happened to Gram and Lania he looked straight down into the figure’s looming shadow as if the image was reaching for him. He made to keep running forth, but then he saw another figure with red eyes just ahead and he looked down again. Only to hear breathing directly behind him. He was surrounded.

And to think he didn’t even get far enough to reach Tracy….He felt a tear run down his face as he found his voice.

“What did you freaks do to Tracy!?” He put all of his heart into it, for he was sure the monsters around him could both see and smell his tears. Tyler didn’t care if he died-maybe he’ll meet Tracy in the afterlife if she was truly gone and he’ll apologize to her then.

Though he wasn’t expecting the beasts to back away from him like he were a zombie, leaving him with more than enough room to breathe and try to think of a way out from these freaks, but the one from the rock bound over to him, landing right next to him and making him fall. He felt that urge to piss himself from the suddenness come but he willed it back down as hard as he could as he crawled away from the assailant before him.

Only for them to lean up and ask, in a voice that sounded like it could grind boulders: “What do you want Tyler?”

He froze. “You...c-can talk?”

The beast seemed perturbed that he assumed they couldn’t and spoke again. “Of course I can talk, Tyler...I’m telling you now, aren’t I?”

That ...did make sense but still he was finding this hard to grasp in the height of unknown information coming to light and being shoved into his brain, so he shook his head. “Yeah...or maybe I’ve lost it.”

“He’s hopeless.” One of the others-the one that cut him off from running away some more-broke through into the clearing and the moon bathed them in light. It was a Houndoom, but on two legs-and thankfully wearing something to cover up those bits-and had hands were paws should be that looked big enough to crush Tyler’s head like an Oran Berry, “Just kill him and send his corpse to Swinebowl.”

“No”, the one who had spoke to him first objected, “I told you that if any of them escaped, then they can be of use.”

“How? He looked just about ready to shit himself the second he saw you.”

“You don’t get used to seeing a were-Mightyena the first time you see one, Daryl.” At that, Tyler decided to chance a look towards who was defending him and he gasped. It was indeed a Mightyena, and just like the Houndoom trying to get him killed they were also bipedal. The only subtle difference this one had between the other was the…

Boobs.

“Tracy, don’t put your hopes in some Swinebowl runaway. He’s not gonna help us get back at Mr. Tropia for trying to turn us.” At the name, Tyler’s hands shot over to the Mightyena before him and he trembled.

“Tr-tracy…? You’re alive!?” He couldn’t believe it-she wasn’t dead! Though the new body was definitely...uh...something, he couldn’t help but wonder if he somehow hit his head and didn’t remember when he did so.

The were-Mightyena he held stared at him with apprehension before drooping her head down. “Yes...it’s me…”

“Thank god! We thought we lost you-I thought I lost you!” Tyler couldn’t help himself, he hugged her. Hard. If it weren’t for the fact that Tracy looked about as built as a Machoke, he’d probably be hurting her. But then again, she was probably tougher than she looked off the bat anyhow.

“What’s it matter to you?” Her sudden lash made him let go and look up at her. “All you cared about was making sure I was still good for a damn kiss, why the change of heart for my whole well-being?”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry…! I didn’t realize what I had said until you...left me on the doorstep...and I couldn’t bring it up to apologize until it was too late ...It hurt...thinking about you, and I was gonna try and make it up to you by finding out what happened…”

“Some good you’ve done…” Her words were even worse now that her voice was scratchy, making him wish he were a dog with floppy ears to push against his head so he couldn’t hear. “Why should I believe you?”

“Because I-”

“He’s telling the truth.” A new voice joined in, stepping out from the shadows of the trees behind him and showing a rather muscular Absol with their arms crossed around their chest. Their upper body was so big Tyler couldn’t tell if it was a guy who focused too much on pectorals or a lady who lucked out on puberty before being transformed gave them a bigger boost. They went on before Tracy could object, “No boy strung up on love acts that desperate. He hasn’t stuttered once since telling you.”

Tracy snarled at the newcomer. “So what? Doesn’t change the fact that he didn’t care that I lost my best friend that night he was so ready to end our date with a kiss.”

“Look him in the eye and tell me to my face that he does not feel remorse for his actions.” The were-Mightyena did just that, glaring right into Tyler’s soul while he stared back teary-eyed. He didn’t know what she was looking for, but he knew not to blink so she could get whatever it was she needed to see he wasn’t lying. Doubtful of his own delivery, maybe, but not lying for a second. That would defeat the purpose of being out here in the first place. After about a minute of staring into Tracy’s eyes, she finally looked away and shoved Tyler away from her. Her strength was phenomenal, for he went tumbling to the ground like he got Tackle’d.

“No...he’s not lying...But it still hurts, Omen.”

“I wouldn’t put it past you to not get over it right away.” The Absol, whose tone of voice held a lot more authority than Tyler took it for, made their way over to the downed human and offered a hand for assistance. Judging by the lack of fur covering those rather obvious nipples, Tyler assumed this was a guy.

“Th-thanks…” The boy used the time he was back on his feet to dust himself off only to be stopped by that huge hand mid-sweep.

“No time for that. The lure you left for your trackers is about to run out and they will surely catch your scent again, so we must leave now.”

“There’s no way you’re taking him back with us.” Daryl objected, gone from being stern to full-on opposing with his teeth bared. “What if he’s just one of their puppets trying to leave us standing here like pups until their scoutmaster comes and tries to take us back?”

“He’s still human, Daryl. You know this and you can smell it too. Fortunately, you are right about one thing-Mr. Tropia is coming for us.”

“Then let’s go already”, Tracy hopped off the ground and into a nearby tree with a branch low enough to allow herself to be seen yet strong enough to hold her weight, “there’s no point in standing here waiting for him like a bunch of TV show heroes waiting for a villain to power up.”

“Ugh…” Daryl groaned his way back into the dark trees, following after Tracy once she bound her way out of view. Omen decided to guide Tyler onto his back and secured his legs around the Absol’s waist.

“Firmly now.” The boy held on tight anyway, leaving him to try to keep his mouth shut as he was effectively carried into the trees and out of the clearing.

A minute or so later, a hulking Lycanroc-Midnight, whose build looked ready to crunch metal within a hug, broke through from where Omen had been standing, bright red eyes looking like search lights in the dark night. Their breath was nearly hot enough to leave their maw in puffs as they panted. And after gazing about the empty clearing for a bit, they started howling towards the moon like an alarm, being followed by other higher-pitched ones…

[[]]

Tyler was thankful Omen was built to hoist him around with such ease and didn’t even know he was nuzzling into their back until they jumped in through a river and back out, which left him snorting out of his nose to get the Absol hairs out. The two of them came across Tracy and Daryl hopping around soon enough, the pair looking almost in sync despite the former only being out of Camp Swinebowl for a full day at this point. Tyler held back the envy that not only was she alive but well enough to leave him out of her concerns in exchange for this Daryl guy…

Soon, the four of them got out of the trees and came down into a path. One look towards where they were headed and Tyler squinted to try and make out the sign up ahead, but it was damaged from weather and time and he couldn’t make out the tanned lines left behind by long-fallen letters. But it looks like Omen expected him to try and see, and answered the question before it lef this mouth.

“Camp Serpentdart. An old competitor to Swinebowl before Mr. Tropia took over and snuffed out anyone that stole traffic. Whoever remained from his attack on the camp were forced under his rule and thus Serpentdart was left without any justice served and for time to erase. But...he’s been getting lenient.” The Absol walked along the path, past the rusty gate that looked ready to fall down and slash Tyler on the back once they got past it. “Most of the campers that either learn of the truth or learn of his secret ended up here, to join me in trying to fight back against him. Those that didn't ...they were put out of their misery by the old tyrant…”

Tyler eventually came to ask a question after spending so much time imagining this dark, desolate place with just about everything broken in sight fresh and new. “How do you know all of this?”

“I was the scoutmaster for this camp in its prime.” Tyler gawked down at the disaster canine he was still latched onto like a backpack, remembering that their visage looked way too chiseled to just be a run-of-the-mill camper and decided to just nod and accept it.

“I see….”

“When Mr. Tropia began cleansing the woods for any traces of camps that could steal his potential pack mates, I was forewarned in a dream and tried to relay the info to my counselors and the campers whose parents I promised I would keep safe but none of them listened to me ...And thus, they all perished under the moonlight almost like this one.” Omen brought Tyler towards a building which he could assume was the scoutmaster’s house since Daryl and Tracy weren’t following them anymore, the door looking like it was gonna snap when the were-Absol pushed it open and the dark interior grace Tyler with a chill that felt like Death was about to tear his soul out from underneath his nose.

“Why are we here…?”

“I need to ask you some questions, son.” Tyler felt a gulp run down his throat before he even made a noise to sync with it, getting hauled upstairs by the rather burly canine until his head looked ready to grind into the ceiling above. Only when the dark scoutmaster knelt down towards a room did Tyler get let off from that soft back.

He recognized the room, for it was nearly identical to Mr. Tropia’s back when he had his first fist fight with another camper and had to talk to him, and found that the only seat was the scoutmaster’s swivel chair. So he remained standing while the were-Absol took a seat once he shut the door.

And locked it.

“Right. I can’t let you in my decrepit sanctuary unless I’m sure you haven’t been tainted by that tyrant’s whim, so I’ll ask you this: Have you had a talk with Mr. Tropia that got ...fuzzy near the middle of it should you try to remember?”

Tyler was quick to try and pull up a talk that’d fit that description; he’s only ever talked to the man three times since being a Swinebowl camp-goer, and the third just so happened to be hours earlier in the mess hall. But he would make out every word and exchange from then, and the other two from disciplinary meetings with them, so he came to and shook his head. “No, Mr. Omen. All clear for me.”

“Right. Have you ever seen him look you in the eye and they weren’t your normal white?” Tyler knew where Omen was going with that. The gaze that turned Gram and Lania into...He shook his head to shake that memory off and to answer.

“No. He’s only used it on two people I know but not me. I swear on my dad.” Who was dead after a battling incident that left him in Intensive Care for a good hour before he eventually passed from the injuries sustained.

“I see. One last question son. Have you ever looked at the moon herself and felt the urge to howl at it?” Now he’s definitely heard of this shtick-a classic werewolf sign was the old “howl at a full moon on sight” urge that movies loved to depict, so he shook his head.

“No, just looked at it wondering why it always looked like it were focusing its light on the camp.”

“That is the whole reasoning behind having camps in this area of Unova. The moon is set in such a position to where it is almost always full every night, so thus it allows us who must bend to its whim every night to slowly adapt to our curses and see the benefits of being a beast rather than a human. It almost makes it rather simple for someone like Mr. Tropia to lay his curse on poor campers and have them rent from their stable state of mind to be a part of his twisted pack.”

Tyler felt Gram’s transformation come back to mind so he shuddered. The office around him was just about as bad as outside, looking like a tornado swept the area and left everything broken, shattered or torn only to be hardened with time until they were their own fossils. For a minute, Tyler felt the bile he had in his being for any thoughts towards Mr. Tropia. To think this whole time that stern glare was more than what it appeared to be on the surface ...and that he was a few seconds from being forced into it himself…

“Here, son.” Tyler was brought out of his rage-filled stupor to see Omen offering him a glass of milk. He didn’t even know there were still clean dishes in the place but here he was being proven wrong by the sight of the clear glass and the inviting nectar of Miltank swirling before him. He grabbed it, and felt the adrenaline rush finally fade from his being slow enough to let him drink and slowly fall back to his butt as the time made him sleepy as well. And with the warm milk, it was sure to leave him ready to fall under at any moment.

“Sleep now.” Omen stepped into his vision, just about filling it up thanks to the blacking-out and his rather large form. “You must be rested by the time of sundown later today and we will need you prepared to fight if necessary.”

Tyler didn’t even get to reply, feeling the milk rush into his being and paralyzing him long enough for sleep to wash him down into its clutches…

[[T]]

The boy woke with a start inside of a cabin with the sun blazing in from the torn roof, noticing he was still dressed and grateful that whoever put him inside didn’t strip him down. But at the same time, he felt the slimy recesses of his sweat sticking to his clothes since it was hot and thought that a shower was necessary, so he made sure he found his bag-which had also been in bed with him-before stepping out into the breach.

Camp Serpentdart looked like a husk of its former glory when it was day time; there was a fountain to mark the middle of the campgrounds that was broken down to mere pieces like it were the first and only victim of a construction team’s mistake in destruction, all of the cabins including the one Tyler was leaving either had broken or rusted doors, broken windows with foliage creeping in like serpents and roofs that looked to have barely survived harsh winters, and the mess hall looked like the kind of place you’d run to last if you were getting chased since it had no door to close nor windows mask what was inside.

However, it was dark, so Tyler went hunting for any bathroom or shower building he could clean up. Since Josh had given him his bag before he left, he still had his casual clothes on hand to change into. It’s gonna be hell living without any of his more stylish clothes or even his old handheld gaming systems, but it was better to still be alive than trying to save his menial things and dying before he could even leave.

Tyler came across the showers soon enough, the door so close to being off its hinges that the boy only had to push it back once and it slid open for him. He was thankful the floor inside was taken over by wildlife, for it muffled the noise the door made before he stepped inside and closed it behind him carefully. He knows he’s probably asking for too much privacy in a broken down place, but it never hurts to still treat it like it’s an up and running camp. He found the boy showers, since there were still discernible signs of gender-specific bathing areas, and placed his bag down before testing the waters.

Not only did they still work, but they were still clean too. He didn’t try to taste it, in fear of coming across rust as an aftertaste, so he stripped down as fast as he could without making anymore noise and stood in the cold stream. There was no soap, which probably should have been his priority, and when he checked his bag to make sure he packed other things besides clothes and bacon he saw that he didn’t bring a washcloth nor drying towel.

“Fuck…” He had to do things prison-style, except with no bar of soap to try too hard not to drop, and succumbed to feeling his bare hands scrubbing himself clean. He was as fleeting as possible to his junk, for he didn’t want to reignite his morning wood which had calmed down the second he went sight-seeing, and even more so with his butt since he was fearful of coming across something nasty. Thankfully, his journey to clean up ended off with just the smell of water and sweat mixed together and he used his camp clothes to dry off with since he had no other option nearby.

His new clothes would be somewhat damp, but at least anyone that found him would see he was a fan of Roxie’s band with the picture of her slamming into a hard chord and his dark green camo shorts.

The second he bagged his dirty clothes and made for the door, he nearly went flying backwards into the wet floor as Omen was there-or at least what Tyler assumed the Absol looked like during the daytime.

Buff guy, bluebeard, blue hair, sharp, black eyes and wearing what looked like Ursaring skin around his waist so he wasn’t too exposed from those torn pants he had on.

“I see I didn’t need to guide you towards washing off your scent in a more civilized manner.” And the voice was almost the same, just not as deep as you’d expect from someone like Daryl.

“Uh…?” The diction needed some dumbing down, that was for sure. Tyler was never taught on the best times to not speak informally.

“I’m referring to the shower. I was going to wake you and tell you to get clean anyway, in case Tropia’s scouts try and follow you here through your scent. It is rather pungent when you are frightened. Come, we must talk.” Omen departed from there, leaving Tyler to recover from the spook of the older man being there and feeling a bit offended that he just got told in a nice way that he stunk before he too began to leave. The door had been officially ripped off from its hinges, so he had to step over its remains to keep up.

Omen was already halfway towards the scoutmaster’s building by the time Tyler caught sight of where he went, and despite giving himself a running start the man still beat him there. Once he came up to the door, the scoutmaster began to speak again.

“I’d advise you go anywhere except the showers to clean yourself or my office. The cabins are for the resting bodies of the refugees I hold here, for they are nocturnal even when human and I’d rather you refrain from bothering them at any point. Come, you must be hungry.” And just like that, Omen was moving again and Tyler had to follow. Now that it was daytime, the scoutmaster’s building looked rather pleasant despite still having obvious damage from weather and whatever attack befell it; it had the fridge nearby, there was a couch for something of a comfort space in front of a broken TV set, and there were stairs that led to the office and another door that Tyler could assume was the be-

“Here.” While Tyler was busy taking in his surroundings, he failed to notice Omen walk off and retrieve some food. The boy stared at the steaming plate of ...whatever that looked like, for he didn’t recognize it as anything he’s ever seen before. All he did recognize was a glass of milk.

“Uh….”

“Cooked Feebas. I personally skinned it myself, if you were wondering why it looked like a deformed Magikarp. Try it, use the milk to wash down anything distasteful of it.” And just like that, Tyler had breakfast. He’s never thought of eating a Feebas at any point of time, but no matter how much he wanted to say this felt wrong his stomach would not be denied food with its steadily rumbling. He didn’t know where he would set the plate down, so he went to the couch and found a spot that didn’t have glass or dirt on it nor rose up any dust when he took a seat to lay the plate on his legs. He set the milk between his thighs so he could grab the fish since there was no fork and carefully picked it up.

It was at that point of hot where it was clearly cooked right but not untouchable without burning one’s hand, so he chanced a bite near where he assumed the neck was and went in teeth-first.

...Not...bad...He was expecting it to taste awful, because he was pretty sure Feebas had a lot more than naturally bad looks going for them, but once he found that it tasted almost exactly like Magikarp he dove in with a bit more vigor. Along the way, Omen joined him on the couch, obviously in need to relay a few words to him but deciding to wait until he was finished. Which was good, because Tyler was really diving into the Feebas like he had been starved for days.

When he got into drowning his throat in that warm milk that left his stomach tingly did Omen finally say something. “I take it you find the meal satisfactory?”

Tyler nodded, mouth still gulping down the refreshing nectar. “Mmm-hmm.”

“Good. If all goes well tonight, it won’t be the only thing you’ll be allowed to eat freely.” That didn’t sound good. Tyler’s throat nearly caught a coughing fit from how quickly he tried to swallow a big load of milk into his gullet, but he held tough enough to only need to sigh in relief.

“What’s happening tonight…?”

“We must deal with the other runaways from Swinebowl. My scouts alerted me that Mr. Tropia went on a cursing spree around the time frame of your departure and a few of them ran off to let the curse overtake them rather than stay under the tyrant’s wing. If we can secure them and convince them to our cause, then we have more than enough forces to combat that mad man.”

Runaways…? So there was a chance Josh might be alive? Tyler took all of this in with a slow nod. “How outnumbered are we?”

“At the moment, two to one. Once we collect the strays in need of an alpha’s guidance, we should be relatively even...Unless…”

Tyler didn’t like the look Omen gave him, but decided to ask anyway. “Unless…?”

“Unless you would like to be the bait to an ambush that your Tracy alongside Daryl planned before you came across their rendezvous. We can slay the strays and let their bodies draw Mr. Tropia out of hiding with or without his captive ‘pack’ so he can be taken out as quietly as he left my camp.”

Tyler felt sick to his stomach thinking of being the one to lead some poor kid to their doom. And why does every plan involve using him as bait!? He sighed, only to see Omen offering him ...more milk. How do they keep bringing these out without him even noticing? He didn’t even know the scoutmaster took the glass out of his hand! Nonetheless, it was good enough to take so he drank it anyhow. “Why am I the bait…?”

“You still reek of untainted human. To our kind, you stick out like a sore thumb to our senses, for you are seen and smelled as potential for a pack.” So that’s it. He was his own walking platter of bacon. Tyler felt a tad creeped out and used the milk to hide his discomfort, but Omen was already patting his back to soothe him first. “Have no fear, I will not turn you against your will as Mr. Tropia does. My betas are given the choice from start to finish and it is their decision to remain human or join me. This has led to a fair amount of deaths, however.”

“Deaths….?”

“Some of the campers from Swinebowl were attacked or damaged on their trip out from Mr. Tropia, and thus they panicked their way into the afterlife whenever I tried to offer them life. The only turnaround would be your Tracy-when I came across her, she looked a mere cut away from having her entrails pouring out of her stomach.”

And there’s a reason to puke. Tyler shoved the empty glass to Omen and ran for the door, heading off to the side of the building and heaving out the breakfast he just ate. He did not want to think of Tracy in such a gorey situation and with Omen’s bluntness it was a recipe to leave his throat stinging from the burns of vomit. Up until he felt the scoutmaster behind him, stroking his back like they were a father trying to make sure their son didn’t end up falling asleep in the toilet after a bad night of drinking.

“I do hope you steel yourself better. I have seen many things that would make my description of your fellow Swinebowl campmate seem like a poorly edited CGI monster.” Tyler eventually came to, glaring over his shoulder at Omen who found that as reason to keep his hands to himself.

“Let’s just not talk about blood and guts, okay? Stick to the point of things, no extra bits.”

“I was only answering your question, son.”

“I didn’t need to know about how you found Tracy…..I’m just glad you have her safe and sound ...But again, why am I the bait for your plans to get back at Tropia? Why can’t you...I dunno...use somebody that isn’t defenseless on their own against fucking werewolves?”

“Language, son. And I will reiterate that you are still human. From head to toe. You are not cursed and any one of us can see it clear as day that you are not tainted with the moon’s lure on one’s body. We can use that as a means to draw out Swinebowl’s pack and bring them to their knees, or simply bring out Tropia and end this war once and for all. The choice is yours-save your friends, or save everyone.”

Tyler had a feeling the “Save your friends” bit was the ambush plan, so he saw why Omen treated it like it were a foolish last-ditch effort rather than a concrete plan with no ways to screw it open. He sighed, and spat out anymore bile that lingered in his mouth before he was...offered another glass of milk.

When does Omen have time to make them so fast?

Tyler took it, but his skeptical glance at the scoutmaster must have betrayed wonder to them, for they answered his unspoken question. “If I told you the source of the milk, you would not drink it. And while it would be wise to tell you the truth, the milk I give you is the only safe drinking substance in my camp, as the waters are tainted with rust and nature’s repossession on the land. Only safe for getting clean in.”

...Suddenly, he found himself hurrying to gulp it down and shuddering as the warm aftertaste seemed to make the tingle surge anew. “And...where...do you get the milk?”

Tyler didn’t get an answer, so he looked to Omen...only to see them massaging their rather voluptuous pecs and seeing droplets of milk fall from their nipples.

….That explained why it was never cold…

“Right”, the older man spoke, “let us discuss a means to properly get you ready for a fight with our kind. You know how to use bait, but you will find none of that here. So I will teach you how to use lures instead.” Omen left him there with a pat on the back, and soon Tyler followed after him once his pile of vomit grew unpleasant to look at. Back inside the scoutmaster’s building, Omen was toweling off his chest with a dirty rag until he tossed it away.

“So…” Tyler decided to break the silence since he couldn’t taste the man’s...well, he didn’t know what he wanted to call it besides breastmilk, “What’re we gonna do for these lures you’re talking about?”

“Do you recall me telling you that it was good you showered since you were pungent?”

“Unfortunately.” Hey, no need to rub it in, old man.

“Well, I hope you didn’t plan on burying your previous ensemble, for they are your lures to aid in dismantling Tropia’s pack into a state of disarray. We will set them out in random areas of the woods and station my packmates there to ambush them. Even with the river’s washing to mask you, your odor still remained and continued to build when I let you sleep in an unoccupied cabin.” Well that explained who brought him to a bed in the first place. “So even if we had the entirety of my pack at one lure, none of Tropia’s betas would be able to resist coming for it with its ability to shroud any nearby scents.”

“So...we’re using...my dirty clothes ...to stop a pack of werewolves...from doing what, exactly?” Now that Tyler thought about it, he didn’t know what else Mr. Tropia was gonna do since the secret’s out. Was he really gonna try and recover any runaways from Swinebowl to force them into his pack? Was he gonna try hunting down Tyler personally and make him a beta of his against his will? Or was he gonna find Serpentdart and try to finish off Omen and his ragtag team once and for all?

“He’s hunting you in particular.” Oh…. “He can’t afford someone to go back to the mainlands and warn people not to come around to this sectioned-off portion of Unova, for he needs to keep building his pack up until it’s sustainable to take over the region city by city. From what I could gather behind his reasoning for attacking my camp. So he will use whatever means he can to make sure he can either kill you or turn you, and you didn’t let him turn you when he had the chance, correct?”

Tyler shook his head, still able to recall those few meetings with the scoutmaster that resulted in nothing but an awkward feeling. “Nope. Still human, like you said.”

“Then he’ll likely try to kill you. I will stay by your side until the needs of my pack grow too dire, then I will need you to hide and keep out of mind until one of us comes to retrieve you.”

Despite the offer, Tyler still felt very unsafe without somebody to keep his back clear of sharp claws and teeth. He hugged himself, trying not to think of what could go wrong, only for Omen to come and hug him from behind.

“Fear not, son. Tropia may be strong when the night is bright, but I have been saving an advantage for this very occasion. And with you, it will be much easier to accomplish. Are you familiar with Mega Evolution?”

Tyler nodded. He’s seen it on TV during school days ever since Kalos started going up on the radar for entertainment, and the results were always something inspiring. Unfortunately, Tyler wasn’t allowed to be a trainer of any sort, so he knew his chances of getting involved with Mega Evolution were slim to none. “Yeah, it’s pretty cool stuff from what I saw before.”

“Then you should recognize this stone in particular.” Omen pulled something out of the pocket of his tattered pants, Tyler keeping his gaze up unless the man was actually digging around somewhere else than what he assumed, and saw a glint when the hand came back up. It was a white stone with a bluish gray tint, a symbol similar to DNA visible in the center.

“Absolite?” His school did a course on Mega Stones a week after all of the identified ones were found.

“Indeed. One of my scouts were digging holes for latrines for when they let the curse take over and found this in one of their spots. When they brought it to me, I felt the beast within me swoon as if it had been given the greatest gift they’ve ever received. But, there is a problem with only having the stone.”

“Yeah ...You need a trainer and a Key Ring or something to use it.” And Tyler had none of those.

“Correct. However, I’ve heard cases of which Pokemon can obtain Mega Evolution without the means of a Key instrument, and even rarer cases where they did not need a trainer to pull it off. So for today, I will be spending as much time with you as I can to entice the snare of a bond between us. If all else fails, I will conduct the surefire way to ensure that we have bonded enough to trigger a Mega Evolution with my beast.”

Tyler felt lots of questions arise in his mind, but to soothe his brain from a headache that’d leave him grouchy he simplified the ones that he was sure he’d get an answer immediately. “Why me? Can’t your pack try and do the same with you?”

“If they could, I would not have met you as an Absol last night.” Oh. Right. He was normal for whatever counted as normal for a were-Absol. “With the surmount of failures, I could only assume that the only way I could ever achieve Mega Evolution was a bond with a trainer still pure from the curse. And with a stroke of luck, we came across you.”

“So….I gotta be best buddies with you until the stone allows you to mega evolve tonight?”

“You don’t have to treat it like it’s a job now, son. I know it’s awkward to feel forced to be best friends with someone you hardly know-and worse, older than you-but trust me when I say you will be doing my camp a great service and avenging those lost to Tropia’s fury.”

Tyler saw it for a split second, but there was a look of sorrow within Omen’s pupils that faded out of sight before he could make it out clearly, but seeing the man’s expression fix itself before he slipped reassured the boy that there was a lot more at stake than just saving this camp and the stragglers within from being killed. So...after some thought….he nodded and felt compelled to lay a hand on Omen’s shoulder. “Alright...I’ll try...buddy-buddy with you. Just try not to expect me to do a lot...When Swinebowl campers started disappearing, I didn’t get to exercise as much as I wanted to.”

“Do not fear, son. I know the limitations of the human body without the curse present. I used to be lazier than a Slaking before the attack.” That brought up a new question in Tyler.

“Oh yeah...How did you get cursed? If you were left behind by Tropia after the attack and he didn’t curse you, how did you get cursed?”

Omen seemed to have been waiting for this, for he adjusted his seat to face Tyler directly rather than just look at him. “After I came to from amidst the rubble, I prayed to Arceus above to give me the means to fight on for what I had lost, and I was told to wait for the Moon’s Full Set that night. And when it did come, I woke to being the beast that met you last night.”

“Wouldn’t it have been painful to wake up into that?”

“I can assure you that the supernatural means of my transformation makes it entirely painless. Though I suppose it being supernatural has left me with rather strange aftereffects.”

“...I’m guessing your milk didn’t use to be a thing….” Omen nodded, making Tyler regret chugging down four glasses of that stuff without a care.

“My hair was dirt-brown, not this silky midnight blue, and I was not this man who looked to have been keeping fit for my entire life. I was, by every definition of the phrase, your typical scoutmaster before Tropia attacked. And with my curse, I will use it to my last breath to stop him.”

Tyler nodded to that. All the people he knows to be cursed didn’t look like they suddenly shaved off every bit of fat in their body and bulked up quite a notch, nor did they suddenly gain an unnatural shade of hair on their body. Just Omen. “I’ll do my best to help, if that helps at any rate.”

“It helps tremendously, son. Encouragement is all the morale we could use for a boost, for the others don’t feel as if they’re ready for a full-scale fight against unruly betas. I can assure them that their discipline makes them stronger than savages time and time again, but their doubt is still evident in their body language.”

“They’ll come around. After all, your plan sounds like it’ll work for sure since it involves clothes. But that’s for later.”

“Yes, that is for later tonight.”

“...Hmm.” Well now that they’ve covered the basics of what they need to know about backstory from Omen, Tyler wasn’t sure what to ask. So he went through the bottom of the barrel for the next bit after a minute or so of silence and bird chirping outside. “Why do you call me ‘son’?”

“Well…..this might be a bit cliche of me”, Omen showed his first hint of bashfulness by rubbing the back of his neck with his beefy arm, “but you remind me of my son...He perished in the attack.”

“O-oh…” Oh, so that’s why Omen vowed to keep close by to him once the plan was set in motion. “That's ...uh…”

“My apologies. I didn’t mean to make things awkward ...Just ...He died before I could say ‘I love you’ to him one last time.”

“Did...Tropia…”

“No. One of the counselors he stole from my camp that he broke into his ranks did ...I couldn’t even recognize them as they took my boy from me...And I refuse to let them take anymore of my campers...my pack...It would leave me devastated.”

“Look, Omen”, Tyler had enough of the sudden moping and brought his hands onto the man’s shoulders, “don’t talk like that. It leaves too many ‘what ifs’ in your head and then you’ll second-guess your way to a mistake that you were sure to avoid.”

“Well...Thank you, son. Rather wise words for someone your age.” Omen’s head leaned closer to Tyler’s, as if curious as to where he got that saying from, but Tyler backed away and looked to his hands instead after withdrawing them.

“I, uh ...My dad...said it a lot whenever I got scared of exams...It always kept my head on my shoulders so I could do it without freaking out…”

“He must be a wise fellow with experience.”

“He was.” The context clues and enunciation dawned upon Omen and soon he was putting hands on Tyler’s shoulders.

“My condolences, son. I’m sure he would be encouraging you even to this day to see to it that peace is restored to this secluded area of Unova.”

“Yeah...I’m sure he’d be telling me not to piss myself and just fight the werewolves with everything I had even if I was unarmed, naked and only had one arm left.”

This brought Omen to a laugh, that after a moment got stronger after he took the time to back up into the armrest. Tyler was taken aback, for that had been a joke through and through, but seeing the older guy suddenly have his funny bone tickled by the horrid take on humor left him chuckling a bit. They looked joyous when they were smiling.

After a few minutes, Omen came back to earth gasping for air, massaging his sides and flicking tears away from his eyes before he fully calmed and the smile was gone. “Would you like to go fishing, son?”

Tyler hummed in thought at that request. He hasn’t been fishing in weeks, since Tropia closed off access to the lake once Monty went missing, and he hadn’t a clue what was what at this point now that his whole world’s been rocked by were-Pokemon. “Uh...sure. So long as it wouldn’t hurt.”

Omen smiled. “It’d be a good help to have more rods out in the lake. More chances to catch a Magikarp or even a Stunfisk.”

“I thought Stunfisk were bad catches.”

“Not if you know the best way to calm them.” Omen winked, bringing Tyler to have a questioning gaze on his face while the older man got up and walked upstairs. He was back in moments, carrying a pair of rods that-once Tyler raised his finger to ask as to why he already had two for this occasion-he elaborated on before they left, “I had gotten back from fishing with my son the night he was killed. He brought our rods upstairs while I made food for us.”

So, the boy took that as an acceptable answer and left the building with Omen. It felt rather ...refreshing to walk with the man rather than behind him. It was as if this bonding idea was a shoe-in to work, though Tyler tried not to overanalyze it unless he tried too hard to accept being friends with the guy. That’ll make sure it flops.

Though he found himself unintentionally keeping to Omen’s side as close as arm room could allow as he saw some campers rise out of their cabins like goths who preferred as little sun exposure as possible. They locked eyes with him and he tried not to look scared that they did, but they kept looking even when he was long since past the cabin they came from, leaving him to wrap a protective arm around Omen for the time being.

“Do not fret, son. My pack does not strike the innocent down like barbarians. As I said, while Tropia has a pack of savages, I have a pack of well-disciplined friends. Provocation of a petty degree would be the only way to get on their bad side.” As they came around to a path near the mess hall that led towards the woods around the camp, Tyler heard a door creak and turned only to see a rather frazzled Tracy step out. Joyed, he waved over to her, only to meet her stern gaze before who he could assume was Daryl as a human followed after her. He dropped his hand and sunk back to his walking pace.

Along the way, the hurt from being curved was left on his body and Omen asked, “She’s special to you, isn’t she?”

Tyler flinched, knowing exactly where Omen was getting with this. Sheesh, it’s like everyone around here knows he has feelings for Tracy. “Yeah...We used to be something like good friends after we met in camp. We did almost everything together...Then…”

“She lost her best friend.”

“Yeah...I don’t remember their name, but they must have been who she talked to whenever it was just them...And I tried to get a kiss out of her no matter what…”

“Yes, you made a mistake. And you made sure to voice your remorse for that event last night. But it seems it will not be enough for Tracy to forgive you.”

“Well, thanks for making it sound impossible….” Tyler didn’t know why he was still so hung up on her, but seeing her not smile at him made his heart throb like it was being pumped full of air. It reminded him of the night where they fell apart every time he saw that frown and it made him feel like he killed her cat rather than treated her best friend’s disappearance like a normal, everyday thing. Though, he knows he shouldn’t snap at Omen for that. After all, if it weren’t for them, she’d probably be dead. “Look…”

“Don’t mention it. It would be painful to keep dwelling on the subject matter when you need peace. Until you find closure, let us focus on the now and keep that for when the time feels opportune.” Their travels continued for a bit, leaving Tyler’s mood to simmer down into something of a no-nonsense type of stoic until they broke through some shrubbery and came across a wooden pier that led to Lake Blisstrail.

Though this was the side of the lake where the water was wider and not as narrow as the distant portion Tyler could make out once he squinted across the surface.

“Huh, never knew the lake was a shortcut towards Serpentdart...I probably shoulda took that to find Tracy faster.”

“Maybe”, Omen brought his arm back on Tyler’s shoulder, “but you would have found a quiet camp filled with beasts not tempted to ask if you are friend or spy for Tropia.”

“True….” Not to mention, Josh had forced him to run the way he did, so there was no time to think about circling around for the path to the lake anyhow. So with that, Tyler got himself on the pier and breathed in the air. Without any sweaty or dirty camper nearby, it was easier to take in the fresh water scent that the lake offered someone if they were curious and it helped ease him a bit.

“Now then, let me get the boat out there.” Tyler nodded and looked to check up on how Omen was gonna do it, but ended up looking right at the older man’s butt. Granted, they still had the Ursaring skin and pants on, but the angle hiked the skin up and left the drum-tight denim to hug Omen’s ass. Tyler didn’t know why but he blushed from the unintended view and it calmed to a faint hue on his face as they finally brought themselves up.

“All good?”

“Should be ready for drifting out.” Omen shot back down to that position again and Tyler’s blush came back right away, trying to focus on their bare feet instead while they slowly brought themselves into the boat to help push it out to the middle of the clear lake. Tyler got himself in gear before he made things weirder for not just himself and hopped into the back of the boat after making sure he got the rods out of his way of sitting still. Once the tether keeping to the pier reached its limit, they came to a stop and soon Omen took the forefront with his rod.

“Use as much bait as you like. I’m content if I even get a nibble, so it would be best if you have every means to try catching something.”

“Thanks, Omen.” Tyler missed the older man beaming at him while he got his rod ready, so he was left alone to his thoughts as he got up as carefully as he could muster and swung the line towards the waters. And once he sat down, his thoughts coursed back to Tracy.

The calm of the water let him picture her smile on the surface, letting him reimagine every good time he had with her; from their attempts at archery, to going swimming in the lake with a few other guys and girls brave enough to do it, to eating at the same table with Gram and his supposed “lady friend”, all the way until he asked her on a legitimate date and she said yes ...Then the frown came and he quickly swiped his line over the image to cut the sudden sorrow away. No, he shouldn’t mope about her, even if she was available to be talked to. The best way to prove he’s sorry is with action and he had to take it when he was able t-

Why was Omen’s butt visible now?

Tyler felt that blush come back with a vengeance as the water let that lone image in his head ripple on the surface, and before he could stop himself he felt himself get hard in his shorts. This brought a new conundrum to Tyler and he glanced back only to see the man’s back to him. Did he like Omen ...like that?

He...wasn’t sure...He tried to think about the one time he accidentally peeked at Tracy getting out of the waters in her swimsuit and his boner remained the same hardness within his clothes. And once he let Omen’s rear slip back into mind, his erection stayed true.

Was he...bi..?

Tyler didn’t get to dwell on it forever, for his line caught a bit and he nearly had it snap panicking to get his nibble. Though Omen came to the rescue, holding onto his arms from behind and helping him pull up.

Color them both frightened as a Gyarados came soaring out of the water and back down into the lake.

They got splashed, and it was enough to slip the hook out of the fish’s mouth so Tyler didn’t have to worry about ruining Omen’s son’s rod. Though once the shock was over, they shared a look and laughed together. Because frankly, that was something neither of them expected to happen and they made it out just fine in the end.

“Remind me...to put my luck into tonight...instead of my fishing…” Tyler spoke between gasps of air, wiping his eyes clear of both lake water and tears.

“If your luck is that great...then let’s hope we can spare some from then to here so we can have a big dinner beforehand.” Omen eventually pulled away, much to Tyler’s mysterious disappointment, and they both got back into the swing of things. Omen ended up snagging a couple of modest-sized Magikarp that didn’t somehow bring out that Gyarados again and Tyler only got a Barboach and a Luvdisc on his line that he was told they couldn’t cook up, so things didn’t start looking like lady luck had a hand in things until Tyler’s next bite.

He had just been about to call it quits to Omen when he felt his line getting pulled, and tried his best to give it a careful yank. But whatever he caught must have been an experienced fighter, for they kept themselves practically out of range of a free pull with their resistance and eventually he felt Omen jump in to help. But neither of them were prepared to feel their boat get pulled along by the line, leading to them taking a quick zoom across the lake like they were manning a speed boat over a section of an ocean. The catch seemed to be aware that they weren’t trying to crash into the pier and tried to shove them towards the log supports keeping it above water, but Omen ended up shoving his way out to the back of the boat and began to doggy-paddle his way towards disrupting the course. The disrupted momentum led to them merely bumping into the pier rather than smacking through the wood, but their prey continued on. Once they were safe, Omen rushed over as carefully as he would and grabbed at the line looking ready to snap off from Tyler’s rod.

“On three, we pull as hard as we can! We either lose it, or lose this rod and I’m not willing to take either of those chances sitting down! Ready son!?”

“Ready, Da-I mean, Omen!”

“One!” Tyler got his reel ready in case he had to slip it back as well.

“Two!” The both of them rooted their feet against the boat’s floor, Omen nearly stomping into the wood trying to keep steady.

“Three!” They both let out shouts of exertion as they pulled back on the line and pulled back towards the end of the boat. With Omen’s strength, they made what was giving them so much trouble come shooting out of the water in a column of water and when the veil finally burst like a balloon both of the men in the boat gasped in surprise.

It was a Crawdaunt, covered head to toe in scars, and it was huge!

Tyler thought this was just some fever dream from being out in the sun for what felt like an hour or two getting nothing but bad catches, but with Omen’s presence still on him getting him to blush he knew full well that this spectacle was not a dre-

He shut his eyes when the big crustacean landed on the shoreline, for it kicked up dirt in a crater from the impact and he didn’t want to have a reason to shower unless he wanted to go out naked. When it was sure he wasn’t gonna get rained on, he looked up to see the giant crab rattling their legs like a dying Galvantula.

“One second, son.” Omen stepped out from behind him, taking the time to brace himself in front of Tyler-much to his embarrassment-before he launched himself towards the land in a single bound. The boy thought they were gonna crash or break their legs into pieces, but then he remembered that the man was literally built for that kind of thing and felt the gasp of surprise that woulda came if he hadn’t brought that up to mind fade as Omen landed on the ground fine as a breeze and strolled up to the downed crustacean.

He seemed to converse with it, for they stopped chattering from a lack of air and chittered in a series like one talking in tongues, and then when they stopped Omen stepped away from it…

Only for Tyler to look away in a flinch as he punched their head off.

He dared a glance towards the scene only to see Omen stripping the shelling off of the carcass and looked away again. He felt himself cringe every time he heard a sickening *crrrrrunch* from their body and tried his best not to think of guts and entrails flying out everywhere until it was over.

When he looked back, Tyler...didn’t puke his bodily fluids out into the boat.

Omen was a lot more than adept at taking care of bodies, he knew the best way to sever and dice things to pieces to minimize splatter. Granted, his hands were covered in Crawdaunt blood but it wasn’t overexaggerated like one would see in horror movies. Tyler eventually came to a calm after seeing that the Pokemon had been successfully turned into a raw seafood dish and moved the boat to the pier with a nearby oar. When he reached land, he climbed out of the boat with their bucket of catches and rods, and made his way over to the scene.

Omen was back with his rear end in the air as he cleansed his arms of blood by wiping them into the grass, getting Tyler’s face to flare up with a new shade of red indiscernible by face value alone until he owned up to the boner in his pants and came to the man’s side.

“So...is this a lucky haul?” Tyler’s meek words got a look a concern thrown at him and he tried his best to be casual by clearing his throat and taking a quiet breather, but even he could tell he was being obvious though Omen was kind enough not to pressure him.

“Somewhat. A shame battle damage and fighting off other fishers left it rather mushy on the inside, or it’d actually be fresher to eat. But we cannot be choosers, for we are beggars.” Omen got up, brushing his hands off of any droplets before going back to the boat. Tyler kept his gaze on the sliced remains of the Crawdaunt in case he’d accidentally glance his way into an erection, and felt himself slowly calm back down…

“Hey, son. Mind helping me with the net?” Well so much for that.

Tyler did his best to adjust his shorts so he didn’t come off as obvious anymore than he’s done so far, and sure enough it came back trying to poke forth as he saw Omen struggling to lift the net out from underwater. It must have been set out as a preemptive means for big catches but the Crawdaunt must have knocked it out of place when they beached and now it was stuck. Tyler tried to go to the side and try to see how it was stuck but Omen pulled him back.

“Naw, just gotta pull harder. Think it’s stuck on some loose coral. Or a bundle of seaweed. Hold onto my waist.” As if the older man was so dead set on unintentionally making things even more embarrassing for Tyler, he went ahead and said that. Now the boy had to fight tooth and nail to will it still as he knelt down behind the man, gripping onto their midriff to help them pull the net out. Tyler could feel his shaft try to throb its way back up to a straightforward position, so he put all of his effort to get Omen out of this pose so they could get back to Serpentdart.

With more guttural cries, they shoved themselves backwards and soon the net broke free from its captivity underwater and cast itself over Omen’s legs. Unfortunately for Tyler, this left the older man to lay next to his boner.

He rushed to get up so he could help Omen free instead of giving him time to deduce that Tyler’s crotch wasn’t naturally “this warm”, and felt relief come over him as they said nothing but help get the net positioned right. Soon, they were tossing it over the Crawdaunt meat and Omen carefully tied the net together so he could carry it all over his shoulder. With that, Tyler carried the “small fry” and they were off back to Serpentdart.

Right away, Tyler noted that Omen wasn’t the least bit slowed by the extra weight he was hauling behind him, so he chalked it up as his curse making him a lot stronger than what looks perceived. Because frankly despite however old he may be, he still looked like he was just a cheat day from being elderly and losing his prime. Though Tyler didn’t realize he was using the time to check Omen out, because he came back to reality and saw his eyes had drifted to the man’s butt again.

Thankfully, they were too busy gazing ahead so Tyler didn’t have to worry about explaining why he was staring blankly a-

“You should probably take care of that in the cabin you woke up in, or in the showers with the water on.” The suggestions threw him for a loop so hard he couldn’t stop himself from asking,

“What?”

“Your boner. I can smell it even with all the crab meat.”

Tyler was about to clam up an excuse that he didn’t have one, then remembered that Omen was technically a werewolf by fantasy standards and probably had an improved sense of smell. “I’ll think about it.”

“Don’t. It’ll be distracting to the others if they smell it too.”

“Wouldn’t...j-just letting it calm down be better? I figured that if you can smell the erection, then cum would be even stronger.”

Omen stopped, and quite literally so since Tyler didn’t notice until he went face first into the net-ful of Crawdaunt flesh, then he fixed himself and kept walking. “You’re right. I’ll think of something.”

Tyler laughed it off and kept walking ...only to feel his blush return as he thought on that last comment. What was Omen gonna think of pertaining to his boner? And just like clockwork, those mental glimpses of the older man’s clothed butt came raging in like a river stream and Tyler was doomed to have to tend to himself. He doesn’t even remember the last time he jacked it. Maybe some time after he first met Tracy-after all, an eighteen-year-old’s gotta get the job done sooner or later-and that was last month.

He must be backed up if he’s getting horny to another dude’s ass being shown to him involuntarily.

The path from behind the mess hall came into view and Tyler felt a relief come over him as he saw no one was outside with them. He wasn’t sure where he’d put the fish but he knew he’d rather not let any birds fly off with them and went inside.

The inside was dark even with the sun beaming in through all the open holes lining the front, the dining area a mess of broken tables, overturned seats and rotting food left behind and never scraped up. Must have been in the middle of cleaning up when the attack occurred, for Tyler could make out the skeletal remains of a janitor near the door holding onto a dirty mop handle while still clothed. Judging by the dark stain seeping down their dusty shirt from where their neck would be, they must have gotten their throat torn open and left to bleed out.

Omen led him to the back, where the food would normally be served, and kept him going until they came across a freezer. The blast of cold air threw Tyler for a loop, for a camp this decrepit should surely not have power, right? Though it aided in literally cooling him down, he still felt a bit sad to see his erection shrink back down to normalcy.

“Just set that bucket right by the door. I’ll cook that first by dinner time.” Omen set all the Crawdaunt meat in the middle of the freezer and headed for Tyler, so the boy did as such and turned away to make sure none of the water tipped out and splashed onto the floor. When he came back up, he was startled by Omen’s suddenly close proximity. Like, if he were any closer, Tyler would have been face-deep in their chest.

“Uh…”

“Perhaps my building will be more inviting since no one would be able to hear you tending yourself from your cabin.” And before Tyler could object with the previous idea of using the shower, he was being pulled through the mess hall and back outside. He managed to see a different cabin that was neither his nor Tracy’s whose door closed when they got outside, so at least Tyler got an idea that there were more than just Omen and the two from last night here as he was effectively dragged to Omen’s bedroom. He couldn’t even will himself to speak clearly during it all, feeling his flustered expression dumb his words down to caveman speak as he was brought inside then brought back upstairs. This time, instead of the office where he had been questioned, he was brought to the left and into a bedroom that seemed almost completely untouched by age, weathering and damage if not for the broken-in flooring near the smashed window.

Omen let him off at the doorway and set the fishing rods down, calmly shutting the door and dragging the babbling Tyler to his mattress before shaking the boy aggressively. He felt himself bite his tongue several times until the pain wasn’t worth to choke on his sentences anymore.

“O-ow! Hey, stop that! Th-th-that hurts..!”

Thankfully, Omen stopped. “Sorry, son. But if you kept on with your ‘is he gonna’, I woulda had to put a muzzle on you so you didn’t disturb the campers.”

“But h-how would they he-”

“They’re cursed.”

“R-right ...forgot about that, sorry.”

“If anything, they know that when they hear the particular sound of my bedroom door being shut they tone their hearing senses to a minimum so they don’t listen to what happens.”

Tyler felt his blush come back for the umpteenth time, his face victim to it. “So...you’re saying…”

“No one would hear us make a peep unless you screamed out. Which I’m sure you’ll have sense to suppress unless you want Tropia’s scouts to find you sooner.”

Oh great, not only was he more than likely gonna cause a ruckus in the camp, but he might end up getting them hunted down if he nuts too hard? This was gonna be greaaaat.

Omen shocked him out of his grief by removing his Ursaring skin, reaching for his pants and getting Tyler to reach over and stop him. “Whoa whoa whoa, why’re you getting naked? I thought w-we were just gonna help me jerk off by giving me a private place to do it.”

“I’m helping by giving material.” Oh sweet Arceus, why does being cursed make it obvious you get aroused to people bending over in front of you? “I was sure I’d have to call Tracy to help you out but I was surprised when I realized that yo-”

“Let’s not ...discuss the details.” Tyler nearly shouted but caught himself before he made things difficult. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed to calm down. His face felt like it were a volcano bubbling to erupt. “So what, you’re just gonna stay nude and give me a reason to blow a wad so I can stop distracting you?”

“More or less. Just focus on shooting it on me and I’ll more than likely go wash it off.” Omen set himself to a relaxed position on his elbows and knees, keeping his chest low and his ass high. It helped set his hair-circled hole to a point where it looked ready for the taking and before Tyler knew it he was stroking his erection out of his shorts and getting to work. Guess the old man knew a thing or two about relief.

Tyler felt himself dribble precum out of his cock head and rubbed its warm fluids all over his shaft so he could stroke a bit quicker without hurting himself. Because trust him, with how into his imagination he can get, he can hurt himself while beating his meat. The more he stared intently into Omen’s taint, the harder he moved his hand. He tried to use the view as a means to think of Tracy and what she’d look like if she was in this position ready for action, and for a moment that seemed to jumpstart his loins into providing more and more copious strands of pre to rub into his dick.

But when he tried to focus on the image harder, he felt a whimper leave his mouth as Tracy’s clean-shaven nethers suddenly sprouted out blue hair, a fuzzy ball sack heavy with withdrawn seed drooping over her lips and a cock sagging low enough to be visible. The voice Tyler thought up to match her being needy for him grew deeper until it matched the fatherly tone of Omen, and soon the urge to come closer and take what he thought was his grew stronger…

Omen suddenly grunted, feeling a rather moist intrusion start pushing its way against his ass. He barely got to look back and notice Tyler posed over his back before that intrusion began its invasion inside of his hole and pushed his walls apart to make room for it. He was thankful the boy used some form of lube, but it was still discomforting to be penetrated without warning. And then humped without warning, as Tyler’s hips began to move before he even made it all the way inside. Omen grunted with each thrust, feeling the young man inch deeper and deeper into his body. He’ll admit that he wasn’t expecting the lad to be so endowed, but he’ll definitely own it up to rather strong genes held back by typical teen behavior as he felt those soft hands firmly grasp his shoulders to let him push in harder.

Tyler was in a haze, lust clouding his judgment and guiding him towards screwing the man who gave him sanctuary, food and exercise in the form of fishing. He was jeopardizing so much by going in as boldly as a Machoke lifting weights bigger than he were tall, but he couldn’t help himself. And it felt too good to simply stop what he was doing, so it was to no surprise that by the time he was hitting balls deep he was groaning harder from the incoming pleasure. His noises almost sounded like growling, something Omen noted immediately, but the icing on the cake was when somehow his rational mind kicked in to stop him from making too much noise and look for a means to quiet himself…

Omen had lifted his head up to check on the lad to see why he went silent for a bit longer than normal when his neck was suddenly claimed by their teeth, biting back a snarl as it smarted like a scorning bitch and left him stuck as he was while Tyler got busy. The scoutmaster felt a quiet moan leave him, for he’s never dealt with a young man so vigorous to seek release.

Most of the boys just accept a mutual jerk-off and leave it at that.

Omen sunk his head into his mattress as Tyler’s teeth sunk deeper into his neck, feeling a warm stream of spunk wash into his butt like a blast of sink water before it calmed down and came back. He could feel those balls grind up against his as they scrunched up to push things inside, leaving the older man relaxed while he accepted the boy’s seed. Here, he felt his own arousal flop towards his stomach from a lack of attention and reached a hand down there to stroke it.

But came to be surprised as Tyler flicked his hand away to do it himself.

“N-no…” The lad’s voice was husky in his ear, sounding like a beast in mid-transformation while his hips got restarted. “Let me...finish you off…”

“But…”

“No...I need this…” Somewhere in Tyler’s mind, being able to make someone cum from him purely fucking them was a dream come true, but he seemed content with simply helping someone out to reach that point. Omen didn’t mind one bit, bringing his hand back up to brace himself as the dual pleasure began to rock him harder than the boy rocked the mattress. This round seemed to be rushed, for Tyler was already getting into shooting precum consecutively and his hand was working overtime in an effort to get Omen to let loose. Though it was a shame, for Tyler didn't have enough reach to get a little further than Omen’s stomach, for his chest was bouncing like a cartoon porn woman being relentlessly pounded into from behind by some unidentifiable man.

While the scoutmaster shouldn’t be caving in so quickly, being stimulated by the boy’s fucking already and having barely experienced being fucked in the ass has led to him building up his own orgasm. He hoped the kids out in their cabins would forgive him for being just a slight notch of careless for the sake of seeing that Tyler wouldn’t be the camp nuisance while he was here.

Omen felt those teeth latch onto him again, thankfully just going into his shoulder rather than his sore neck, leaving him to brace himself against the footboard in front of him while he waited for Tyler to nut. And when he did, he merely sucked in air to truly sound finished.

Suddenly, Omen tensed up like he had been shocked by a taser and felt his own cock shoot white splooge all over the bed under him, getting quite a mess going thanks to Tyler resting his dick against the older man’s prostate. He’ll have to think of some way to chastise him for that, but for now he was content with being relieved and being relieved into. Though the scoutmaster didn’t get to relax right away, for he felt something warm drip up towards his collarbone then suddenly fall off, bringing him to look down between his arms to see-

He had lactated, all over the sheets. For the first time in a long time, Omen blushed. He’s never done that before...

Tyler came out of his second afterglow after he let go of Omen, feeling the shaft in his hand come to a calm afterwards and leaving him to bask in the heat of the moment ...then slowly have the cloud of desire dissipate and confused panic settle in.

“OhmygoddidIju-”

“Yes.”

“DidIevenu-”

“Yes.”

“Areyouok-”

“Yes, now be quiet.” Tyler’s babbling was actually more annoying post-sex, so Omen swiftly dealt with it with his hand, but his focus drifted away from the maniacally-speaking young man still deep inside of him to his discarded pants. There was a mystic glow emanating from the pocket and once he felt that Tyler noticed it too he let go of their face and reached for what was inside….

The Absolite was glowing.

“Is that ...?” Tyler started, panic gone for the moment as he gazed at the happening with rapt yet unsure attention.

“Yes...I believe so. You’ve done me a great service with this, son. I can’t thank you en-” But Omen didn’t get to finish his thanks, for the second he was about to nudge Tyler with his fist, he suddenly took on a glow similar to that of a human changing forms. Tyler watched the man before him grow in size like he was holding back his true height somehow, watching those muscles grow firmer, the hair on his face and head grow longer and thicker, and his ass get tighter with all the new muscle packed inside that passage to leave the lad quick to pull out before he got started again. When it was over, Tyler looked at the results and gasped.

Omen looked like he evolved like a Pokemon but stayed human. His beard was now joined into a mustache and hid his lips from view; his hair reached to his shoulders like he were a tree hugger hoping to save Vanillite from being accidentally eaten by Casteliacone lovers unaware of the difference; his back looked like it was made entirely of stone with how solid it was; his butt had gotten an upgrade with how bubbly it looked with Tyler laying behind the man; and his chest reached a point where it was hard to tell if he truly was carrying boobs or just had muscular barrels for pecs that had milk in them.

The scoutmaster straightened up to look over himself, astonished by how majestically he had been toned by the transformation. He flexed his hands, feeling the new power make his veins bulge out before he relaxed and let them hide once more in his skin. Then he turned to Tyler, who looked like a young teen who was caught having sex with a girl by his father.

“My boy…” Even the man’s voice was deeper, “we may have this war won for certain now…”

[[T]]

The sun was setting, marking the next moonrise to come and grace them all with their cursed transformations as everyone present in Serpendart gathered at the fallen fountain. Tyler was in the group of young adults, looking like the odd man out with his hastily put on clothes and slightly ruffled hair in comparison to everyone’s cobweb-ridden hairdos that left them looking like they got out of a wind tunnel in Mistralton and their somewhat tattered clothes. Omen was before them, only able to wear his Ursaring skin as a means of decency for his thighs had gotten too thick for his pants.

“My pack...The time draws near for us to finally take the battle between camps to the enemy and free the innocent from the clutches of Tropia’s evil. We will not all make it, I am sure of this thanks to what my scouts Richmond and De’Jordan tell me of the vile man’s forcible training, but we will go down fighting for those lost by his tyrannical rule and his vengeful ways; we will avenge those who died by his hand, or perished from his untamed betas left to hunt the innocent that dared try to escape; and we will bring peace to this accursed land. You have been fed, rested, and trained for this moment, and after finding the answer to what held me back from my true form I will be able to fight alongside you and ensure victory is in our favor from start to finish.”

Some of the campers looked at Tyler with unreadable faces, leaving him to shrink down as small as he could muster without bumping into whoever was behind him before Omen started talking again.

“We will keep any thanks we have to the reason I stand before you today evolved and prime for battle in mind, for we must reassure ourselves that we know the plan to attack from point A to point Z. Understand?” A collective batch of nods shook from the young adults and Omen nodded as well. “Good. It is a simple matter of leaving lures out stained and marked with our pureblood camper’s scent, allowing us to cut down Tropia’s numbers with each foolhardy beta of his undisciplined enough to tell the difference between a simply strong odor and an actual body. We will set them out in separate portions of the border between the camps and strike down anyone that we deem fit to be put down. Do not show mercy to your Swinebowl fellows, for they are too far gone into Tropia’s control to be reasoned with and would sooner kill you without a second thought than try to be friendly.”

Omen shut his eyes, Tyler having a hunch that the man was remembering one of Tropia’s counselors killing his son and gulping as quietly as he could.

“They may have us in numbers and intent, but we have control, discipline. We know how to tame the beast set within ourselves and we know the best ways to use them without losing our minds. Remember not to panic and tuck your tail, for your own death will come swifter than you can scream. Tonight, we end this war. Tonight, we set this land free. And tonight, we will be at peace!”

Omen’s words sparked up the inner flame in them all, getting them to cheer and pump their fists into the air. Tyler carefully followed suit, trying not to seem like he would be up to no good to any of them. And just as they came to a calm, the sun had set and the moon began to seemingly pulsate with energy. Right away, it washed over everyone in Serpentdart and Tyler quickly ducked away from the group as they all began to change. Mightyena, Houndoom, Umbreon, Lycanroc-Midnight and even an Incineroar burst forth from the clothes they all wore in evolutionary shimmers of blue light, leaving their lower halves covered by the remains for decency that of which Tyler was grateful for until he saw Omen and gasped.

In his normal Absol form, he looked like an Abosl perfectly capable of walking on two feet but with muscles and a big chest; now he was taller, he was strong-looking and radiating an aura of power, his horn was longer and more slanted, and his chest seemed to have gone from simply barreling pecs to practically being fur-covered balloons. Now that he was Mega Evolved, he had protrusions from his back like wings, and his hair seemed to cover up his eye until he brushed it aside. He took in some air, taking in the scents of his pack and Tyler, before letting it out slowly and opening his eyes.

The amber looked sharper in the moonlight and Tyler was spooked by it.

“Tonight”, Oh sweet Arceus his voice was even deeper now, “we will see the end of the war between Swinebowl and Serpentdart. As I stand before you, ready to fight to the last breath, I hope that you will stand and fight on until not even the strength of your curse can let you carry on. No wound is too great, no blood loss is too severe and no dismemberment is too distracting. We must see an end to the end, even if it takes until sunrise…” Despite the grim description, the collective of beasts growled, snarled or even chuckled in their gnarly voices and Tyler felt even smaller with everyone’s midsection being as high as his head would go standing near them. But then he felt fear try to gnaw at him as he heard howls in the distance, knowing full well they weren’t any of Serpentdart’s scouts coming back from a recon.

It was Tropia and his band of savages.

“And there’s our call. Tracy, you and Daryl will watch the west. If you must use the lake to dispose of our enemies, then so be it.” Omen tossed the Mightyena and Houndoom a sealed-off pair of socks. It had been Tyler’s idea to hide his dirty clothes in something that’ll let them retain their odor without bothering the other campers. “De’Jordan, Grace, you will watch the south. No doubt some of those betas of his will try to look for a way to our camp to find if we’re hiding our friend.” The big Mega Absol tossed the two Umbreons Tyler’s shirt, which looked overstained with sweat. “Lione and Megan, you will watch the far east. That area has been far too silent for my liking and I am sure your presences will throw off enemy focus.” His point made sense, as Megan happened to be a Lycanroc-Midnight as a beast and it’d surely get Tropia’s pack to confuse her as one of them when they see her as opposed to the fire cat that stood next to her. “And lastly, Paula and Wanda. Take the forefront and let the moon’s light grant you the speed to be swift enough to lay the first to draw our enemies to their doom.” The pair of Weavile, that Tyler just now noticed, nodded at Omen’s words and one of them caught Tyler’s shorts. That just leaves…

“I will guard our true bait, in the more than likely event Tropia and his band of my stolen packmates will come hunting for Tyler and I will do my best to strike them down one by one with multiple lures. You have your positions. Now go!” The man-beast pointed off towards the distance where the howling began and they all dispersed in a flurry of drool, fur and rage. That left Tyler to stay behind and watch as Omen focused his sight on him. As a Mega Absol, his gaze felt more intent. Like his very soul was open like a short fairy tale book for young kids.

Tyler felt compelled to say something but all he could mention was: “So….how does it feel…?”

Omen took a moment to respond, as he had been doing nothing but watch Tyler’s body language. “It feels like my body is fit to burst with the power I hold. It is nearly overwhelming, but I feel agile enough to not feel weighed down by my new form. I still cannot thank you enough for allowing me to achieve this, and I hope that-should we both make it-we will see the manners of which we can grasp with its true strength when dawn arrives.”

Tyler nodded to that. It was rather cool to think he helped the scoutmaster achieve an even stronger body to turn into at night, which made him wonder if he could have helped Daryl with Mega Evolving. Though it looked like Omen was more than capable of mind reading for he shook his head at Tyler.

“We never found a stone for him. He scoured every bit of the land for a trace of where he felt the potential hidden in the earth, but alas he came up dry and frustrated. Which was partial to his attitude towards you the night before.”

Well, that would definitely explain the sudden beef between him and both Daryl and Tracy. “I see...I’m sure Swinebowl has more places to look.”

“I doubt that. Tropia would have made sure there’s no means for any of us to have a reason to sneak into his grounds and go digging for more Mega Stones, even if we had a lead on any.”

“Yeah...he looked like the kind of guy…” Not to mention, the rounds he and the counselors did back when Tyler was still in Swinebowl just lucky to not have been aware of what really happened at night. Tyler’s thoughts were interrupted when Omen was before him on one knee.

“Listen son...about earlier, before I evolved…” Tyler felt his blush come back all the stronger, remembering only little of how he basically fucked the guy like he were an Arcanine rutting a bitch in heat.

“I’m still sorry about that, Omen...I don’t know what came over me ...One minute, I’m thinking of all those guilty thoughts I had for Tracy then you just…”

“Popped in?”

“...Pretty much.” Well at least they didn’t have to have repetitive awkward silences.

“I understand. It’s just...well, if you weren’t a pureblood human when you did that, you would have made me your beta and you would be alpha.” That ...threw Tyler for a loop and he gazed up at Omen like he was speaking nonsense. But he didn’t detect a sign of humor on their face.

“For real…?” The were-Mega Absol nodded.

“Indeed. That is mostly why I let you do what you did in my bedroom.”

“Mostly ...?”

“I don’t get laid often in such a manner. My stature is so intimidating to my campers that only the young women would dare go further than oral when they wish to settle the beast within them so they can start learning control.”

So Tyler broke into Omen’s cherry like it were virgin all over again, eh? He didn’t know if he should be ecstatic for being a good time or awkward for letting his instincts getting the better of him and lucking out. “At least it worked...Wasn’t sure what else we’d be able to do to keep bonding ...Unless you still had an ace up your sleeve.”

“No, sex was the ace up my sleeve.” Oh dear- “Had I failed to truly ring a bell of friendship or even an acquaintance within your heart, I would have suggested it to you before dinner was served so you could recuperate with something to fill you up.”

“...Man, you really make awkward talks sound normal.”

Omen shrugged. “I suppose that being half-beast makes it simpler to just accept things rather than mull over how new and strange they are to me like a lad coming to terms with puberty and what it does to his body.”

“I guess…” Tyler did not enjoy that period of time. Felt like every week, he had a new face of pimples to rub out with cream solutions.

“For now, let us prepare the bait. Your underwear should be pungent enough to leave marks in every portion of the camp and still keep its scent strong enough to still be its own lure.” Omen got back on his feet and Tyler watched him hop towards the cabins, seeing him go inside to no doubt mark the beds with the smell of sweat, nearly unwashed musk and the twinge of piss that he let out when Tracy jumped out at him. It seemed so surreal to him that just yesterday he went from making smores to running away from werewolves to being found by werewolves and being rescued by werewol-

He heard a branch snap somewhere behind the mess hall a ways ahead of him and ducked behind the broken fountain to hide, unable to run from whoever it was as their footsteps crunched louder and louder until they were certainly in the camp.

“...rats were definitely a pain to sneak past. But I’m sure we have everything under control for Tropia, right Lucario?” Tyler felt his entire body freeze like he got Ice Beam’d down his throat. He had forgotten about the lone Lucario that played with campers whenever they were outside.

They could sense aura. His aura.

Tyler wished he could call out to Omen still marking his “body” into the cabins for help, for he was sure he was doomed with no way to defend himself from an energy-sensing dog.

“Do you have a lock on them?” There was a pause after the gravelly voice spoke, and when they did again they sounded pleased. “Good...try to draw him out of hiding. If you hesitate, I won’t hesitate to remind you that the old hermit who ran this place probably told him lies.”

Tyler heard a pitiful whimper behind him and felt bad for the jackal. Must have been taken in to work for Tropia as a means to personally track Tyler in case Omen tried the tactic they were using now. That old man was smarter than he was evil, it seemed. Tyler prayed to Arceus that a miracle came to him, almost coming to pray to the moon beaming above the camp to let him slip freely from the clutches of what was obviously one of Tropia’s counselors.

“Rrrrrg, I smell him everywhere. It’s like he went streaking after rolling in some mud….Hurry up, you fucking mutt. We don’t have all night before the boss comes here himself, so let’s save our own heads and asses from being mounted on his wall and find the kid before it’s too late!” Tyler heard a blow that sounded painful and flinched in sympathy. Poor thing…

Though Tyler felt his breath hitch when he saw what was obviously aural lights beaming around the fountain.

“Around there, eh? Mmm, I smell ‘em too...Must have tried to give us the slip before we showed up...Nice job, mutt.” The stone crunching beneath the intruder’s feet almost sounded like bones snapping in two and Tyler felt sick again. That’s four times today he’s either puked or nearly puked. But he held it all in as the aural lights glowed brighter and brighter….

Only to reveal the palm projecting it and the body connecting it.

Lucario looked like they were whipped like a poor Team Plasma victim; their fur was cut in several irregularly-sized patches, they had lacerations barely managed and looking near infected with their purplish presence on their blue body and their left eye was swollen shut with the right being nearly the same. Tyler felt sympathetic pain run through him as he saw that their left arm was twisted in a way that let him know that all the bones inside were shattered and not to be used again without a Pokemon center or hospital with stronger machines.

With their right hand keeping him in the “spotlight” it let the figure guiding the jackal to come into sight and reveal who it was. Tyler held back his fear as he saw a were-Stoutland step into view on his right. They looked as crazed as a psychopath belonging in a mental ward with a straitjacket on thrice as tight, with their normally inviting fur being severed in so many places it looked like they got a bad haircut and wouldn’t recover and their clawed hands looking like skin and bones with how thin they were. Stoutland must not be as very built as what their fluffy bodies would suggest, and this creature was proof of that. They laughed once they made eye contact with him, letting Tyler see those rows of razors acting as teeth.

“Guess we get to bring you to the boss ourselves, you sniveling twerp ...Mutt, make sure he can’t run anymore-won’t be needing legs where he’s headed.” The giant dog’s joke brought them into another cackling fit, holding their starved gut like they just tickled their funny bone the hardest it’s ever been tickled in their life. Though when they stopped for a breather, they realized that Lucario hadn’t moved a muscle besides lethargically breathe and snarled before yanking the jackal towards them by the broken arm and Tyler covered his ears from the pained yelps that escaped the blue canine. “Listen, mutt. You get one chance. I’ve given you too much mercy as is for letting him escape when the jig was up, don’t make me kill you where you stand.”

They whimpered, more likely from the agony coursing through their nearly broken body rather than any fear, and they nodded their understanding before being thrown to the ground.

“Right. Now hurry up. You got me in a bad mood and you don’t want me in one of those on a night like this.”

Tyler felt his heart skip several beats as Lucario’s palm reignited with aura, growing brighter as that lone eye gleamed and their aura sensors rose up. A ball of energy began to form at their palm and they slowly aimed it down towards Tyler’s legs. Then it made sense.

They were gonna blow his legs off.

He knew he was done for, especially when that eye shed a tear that glinted in the light of their Aura Sphere. The were-Stoutland got to laughing again and before Tyler could even try to stop them he saw their arm cock back. Time slowed down and he looked from the beast on his right to the jackal on his left, feeling as if he was blindsided by Tropia’s intellect and brought to a foolish idea that he would have made it out just fine at the end of tonight.

But he was definitely short-sighted, because he and his assailants didn’t expect Omen to come barreling into the were-Stoutland and shock Lucario out of their attack.

Tyler’s eyes shot to their scuffle, seeing the tan-colored creature of a canine kick maybe once or twice before there was a *SHHHHNK* of claws swiping down on someone and they went still. Once Tyler saw Omen’s blood-dripping right hand, he knew that the were-Stoutland was dead. Though he was mortified when he saw the look in Omen’s eyes.

Primitive and enraged.

Those amber eyes fell on Lucario, who began to whimper and try to back away, but Omen was much faster in his new form and he was looming over them like a Snorlax loomed over travelers when they were trying to walk on a bridge. They were ready to die for being a part of these foul actions, shutting their eye and standing there waiting for the blow that’d send them to the afterlife and perhaps by a stroke of luck the Hall of Origins.

But their eye shot open and a confused “Cario” left them as Omen laid his clean hand on their shoulder.

“I know of your pain. And your grief. I know you are innocent in all of this. If you wish to make amends, then help me guard Tyler from Tropia’s wrath. If we make it, I will heal you myself.” Lucario took in those words like they were a blessing, tears leaving their nearly swollen eye and bringing them to hug the were-Mega Absol as tight as their weary arm could allow.

“Well isn’t that sweet?” The new, mocking voice seemed to come from everywhere until Tyler heard something land on the ground on the other side of the fountain and a presence smacking into him hard enough to send him tumbling towards the cabins. When the shock ended, his arm felt like it exploded in pain and he let out a strained scream in response as it teetered from being broken or simply numb. He looked up and saw another one of the counselors standing where he had just been sitting. A were-Arcanine, for their overly fluffy exterior was blatant in the moonlight, just like the sadistic grin they had stretched over their muzzle. “Ole Omen found himself some brat to play as his son and a traitor to take under his wing. Wait until I bring you all to Tropia and finally get out of his damn pack.”

This should have been the time to be scared of the newcomer, but Tyler found himself frightened by the anger emanating off of Omen.

“You dare show your face to me again, Sweeney?” The were-Mega Absol sounded like a true demon, voice nearly booming throughout the camp in his repressed rage. But the assailant wasn’t fazed, just crossing their arms and smirking.

“I don’t care how you look, Omen. This’ll end the same way as last year-all of your precious little campers dead, your staff where they belong, and your ‘son’ dead at my feet. Think this little knock-off might get a chance to scream when I squish their head like a melon, don’t you think~?” Tyler felt that urge to piss himself rise up as he thought of the Arcanine doing so with no way for Omen to save him, their glee growing more and more evident as the moon made those sapphire eyes glint with evil.

“I won’t let you take Tyler like you took my boy, Sweeney!” The lad behind the two beasts felt some of his confidence drip in at Omen’s declaration. But it was swiftly ripped out of him when the were-Arcanine disappeared and a gust of wind blew past him and a cut tore on his face and made him yell before he bit it down. Blood streamed from his face now and the canine reappeared just in time for Omen to snarl.

“With how long it took for you to notice that I just did that, I think we know you lose no matter what, Ole Omen. Why don’t you save me the fight and just let me kill him? You know I love licking tears-sweeter than any coffee with too much sugar…~”

Lucario suddenly limped into Tyler’s view, their fuzzy palm gracing his wound and making it sting as they slowly tried to heal it. Thankfully, Omen’s frame blocked the interaction from Sweeney and it let Tyler’s blood to merely stay in one spot before he ended up wiping it on his arm and making his scent more obvious. He nodded a silent thanks to Lucario, only for his head to snap back to the two beasts as they wrestled. Then disappeared.

No, really. They were in front of him getting ready to throw down like Hariyama in a sumo ring, then they snapped out of sight like they were never there. Then Tyler’s head snapped towards his left, having heard a blow that sounded like it hurt a ton but he saw nothing happening. Then again, he heard the same on his right but no pair of beastly men in the middle of combat. It took the boy a minute to ignore the searing pain of his healed wound to realize that Sweeney was trying to Extreme Speed to get Omen off of him to come for Tyler-for the blows were starting to get closer-but the Mega Absol was cutting him off. The boy was thankful evermore that helping Omen evolve allowed him to keep up with the swift fire dog for he was sure that doing this in his normal form would have left him in a heap.

Lucario had their eye shut now that Tyler took notice of them barely watching the action, their sensors quivering like a bug anticipating an incoming strike that they’ll dodge at the right moment, only for their head to slowly move around like they were a feline watching a red-dot laser move around them. Then it hit him.

Aura.

“Can you...try and hit the Sweeney guy with an Aura Sphere...buddy?” Tyler made sure to whisper, even though that the beast probably heard him even in the middle of the fighting, but he was glad to see Lucario was on board as they used their focus to hone energy to their outstretched palm for a strike.

Then, the two canines came into view as they skidded away from each other. Right away, Tyler noticed wounds on Omen, cuts near his face and along his body that made him bleed a near inky black with a hint of blue. Sweeney was worse off, heaving for air as he had an eye shut but fewer lacerations on his body. They panted once more before going back into the scape where no naked eye could track their speed. Tyler looked back to Lucario, hoping they had enough energy in them to perform the move while they continued to let the orb grow with power. The blows were getting audible now, most likely a result from them already getting out of a series and heading back in with new wounds to slow them. The boy hoped that Sweeney wouldn’t get the better of Omen…

And then he felt that fleeting hope get dashed as he saw the were-Mega Absol get sent flying to the fountain with a crash.

The impact made the stone structure break into more pieces, the beast in a heap that didn’t seem to be moving. Sweeney came back into view, heaving for air now as they held their hand over their right side. Blood was pouring from a wound that looked rather severe even for a were-Pokemon, but they seemed to be ignoring it for the sake of toughing it out.

“I owe you big time for the fight, old man...Definitely a lot more fun than kicking your ass without breaking a sweat and leaving you writing while I kill you son….but now...you’re back where you were all that time ago….Only this time...I’m gonna make sure you can watch closely….~” Tyler didn’t like those words, and he felt his heart fall into his foot as he saw the were-Arcanine disappear and felt his own body get lifted off the ground and thrown over to the fountain. Tyler grunted from the landing, rolling into the gravel of the campgrounds and feeling his pained arm get irritated again. He could see Omen’s face now, and those eyes were straining to stay open. Hitting the fountain must have dazed him, pretty bad. But Tyler didn’t get to stare for long, for he felt that gust of wind blow behind him and soon a fuzzy hand grip the entirety of his head and his panicked screams were muffled by those thick fingers. He kicked, he elbowed and he aimed below the belt, but nothing he did made the were-Arcanine put him down.

“N-no….” Omen’s voice sounded pained, like he had taken a blow that left internal rupturing that had yet to fix itself and he couldn’t move as a result.

“Oh yes ...Even with your shiny new form, you still couldn’t save your little boy ...What a bad streak of yours...First your blood son...and now your fake son…~” The fire dog cackled like the mad man he truly was, his grip getting tighter on Tyler’s head and reigniting his panic as he felt the fingers start digging into his skull.

“N-no…!” Omen snapped out of whatever ailed him, and willed himself to move, but a pang of pain made him fall back against the fountain as he tried to get up.

“Say goodbye to your boy, old man. I’m sure Tropia’ll make sure you see him soon after you killed Wallab-”

Tyler had thought it was all over, for he was sure that *crrrack* he heard was the result of the were-Arcanine succeeding in the beginning of breaking his skull like he was a can of soda, but then the hand about to seal his fate with no Omen to save him suddenly let go and he fell to the ground as a throbbing migraine settled in.

“ARRRRRGH! You slimy sonuvabitch! Shoulda known...that Wallaby was too soft on your furry ass this morning…!” Tyler dared looked back and saw ...Sweeney's thigh had been shot by something that left a hole in his leg, showing the sinew, flesh and snapped bone like a sickening display at a health museum. He held back his bile as he found the cause.

Lucario had succeeded.

The jackal was standing off to his right, in which he saw a twig split in two beneath their foot-which must have been the crack noise he heard-and his palm was devoid of any Aura Sphere. After all, if they found a target then the move can’t miss. But Tyler felt his heart come up to his throat as the jackal began to fall forward, their eye looking hopefully but lost of any of it at the same time as they fell.

Lifeless.

“S-so much...for a triple threat...Guess I’ll at least be able to live comfortably without that old jackass trying to make an example out of us with every little mistake he finds with both of your heads…” Sweeney had been reduced to one leg to stand on, and it was clear that the wound pouring blood down his ankle into the ground was making him grieve on the inside. It grew even more blatant when they tried to Extreme Speed their way to Omen but fell halfway there howling in pain from their torn limb. He tried to double back and crawl for Tyler, the were-Arcanine looking even more twisted when he was downed but not out. The boy crawled backwards as fast as he could, doing his damnedest to avoid those long reaches nearly gripping his ankles. But the gravel worked in the fire dog’s favor and soon, their smile was back.

“I can’t wait to taste your blood, kid...Bet pure human’s better than traito-” Tyler flinched just in time to hear Sweeney’s chest get burst through by a strong hand, keeping his eyes shut in case there was a follow-up and feeling proud of himself for guessing right as there was indeed another loud *CRRRRRUNCHHH* of bones being snapped as the hand removed itself from within Sweeney. His lifeless body went slack on the ground at Tyler’s feet, a faint pumping bringing his attention up to Omen and seeing the beating heart still trying to give life to a body it was severed from. He didn’t dare look into those eyes, for he knew that they were at their base primal and would terrify him immediately. Thankfully, he didn’t have to since the scoutmaster walked away and he felt his own heart settle back in place.

This was getting...too much...he could feel...vomit getting ready to shoot out of his mouth at the sight of the were-Arcanine before him unmoving, seeing a pool of blood slowly seep out from beneath their body with their look of shock and anger. He slowly scooted back, thankfully not being followed by a demented dog, and found a tree to scoot upwards on so he could get on his feet. His arm still hurt like something else but he could ignore its twitching state in favor of seeing what Omen was doing while he gulped down the sick trying to leave his throat.

The were-Mega Absol was at Lucario’s body, seeingly checking to see if the poor jackal was still alive. Tyler was sure they had long since passed on to an afterlife fitting for their sacrifice to make sure Omen and Tyler weren’t felled by the rambunctious Sweeney. He felt the sorrow of losing someone kinda close to him hit and a tear fell from his eye.

He didn’t remember which Swinebowl kid owned them, but even after they lost their trainer they still played around with others instead of mourning their loss. Being that sentient pair of eyes willing to be a guide, or a means of assistance if need be. All to the very end….

Then he saw them twitch from between Omen’s legs and he gasped.

The jackal was moving, coughing as if their breath had been filled with dust and they had to get it out before they had an explosive allergy attack trying to cure it and slowly pushing themselves up with their one arm. Tyler felt himself rushing over to the scene, but remembered that Omen was there and slowed down before any sudden moves got him sliced into two by those sharp Absol claws. Just in time, for the hulking beast slowly turned back and he saw those amber eyes.

With intent to kill.

“No more...innocents…” Their voice was really getting into the groove of suppressing anger while still trying to be fatherly, leaving an icy chill to fall down Tyler’s spine as they kept staring at him while they stood up straight. He noticed Sweeney’s heart was gone and Lucario’s muzzle was caked in dirt and blood too dark to be their own…

“You...you made them…” Omen didn’t nod nor shake his head but Tyler had a feeling he knew the answer already.

“One life to save another ...That is the way to peace ...as it seems to be…” As Lucario got on their feet, they slowly held up a palm to Omen and he finally looked away from Tyler to see them try to talk. He wasn’t sure if it was thanks, disgust or somewhere between the two for he was still with only one eye despite being brought back to consciousness-if he was just on the brink of life and death, that is-but he knew that they were bowing their head with pain making them shake. Or maybe it was fear. Either way, Omen petted them with his bloody hand. “Move the bodies. Tropia is coming.”

Tyler thought the were-Mega Absol was kidding, but then he heard a blood-curdling howl towards the moon that was loud enough to come from seemingly everywhere. But once he saw Omen looking towards the camp’s gate, he turned to see what they saw and felt fear run into his soul.

A hulking giant of muscle, blood and claws was panting for air, red eyes shining in the night like lighthouse beacons for travelling ships, and a hunched-over build was glaring their way towards the pair-as Lucario had moved on to do as asked. Tyler didn’t need to guess that this was Tropia in their real form, for they were followed by smaller variants of themselves that looked like they belonged in a psych ward with their erratic movements while they prowled forth with their alpha.

“You still live, I see, Omen…” Their voice felt like an earthquake to his ears and that pissing feeling was being shoved forth with each tremble. “I see my subordinates could not kill you.”

“Your subordinates need a better alpha to teach them manners.” Omen bared his claws towards the giant werewolf, getting them to cackle like they were having the time of their life and refused to let anyone tell them otherwise.

“Do you think you have a chance in hell? Your little band of failures all fell to my pack, proving that no matter what befell them you made them weaker...more beta than a beta…” The little Lycanroc-Midnights next to their towering twin began to cackle in their own sequence, making Tyler sick from how close they sounded like-

“And your band of cowards fell to my hand. So it proves that even your teaching is lacking…”

“Wallaby and Sweeney were expendable...They could never match me nor to my standards no matter how much power they gained turning innocent brats...I sent them to die here…”

“Hmph. An alpha that treats their closest hands like trash is an alpha with a packless future.”

That laugh sounded like something of nightmares once it rang again, getting Tyler to start crawling back from the two canines. “You think this is my end, Omen? I will break anyone that sets themselves in my sights...I broke your staff like feeble branches….I broke your pets like meager bones...And now…” That pause happened to be where Tyler felt the most scared he ever was in his entire life, because that monster locked their gaze on him. “I’m going to break your parental rebound…”

Tyler felt the two of them make eye contact, the boy paralyzed in his growing terror at the sight of the barely damaged Lycanroc giving him the most sickening grin he’s witnessed tonight. Then, he felt his brain suddenly shut down and he went slack right then and there.

All was black.

[[I]]

Tyler gasped awake, finding himself floating in an endless void of darkness while he was the only light source with the shimmering glow emanating from his body. He looked around, for calling out didn’t work with his lack of a voice, and saw nothing but black everywhere his eyes could see. He heard something, but it was muffled by whatever force surrounded him.

Then, his body was jerked forward by something unseen, and before he could wonder why it occurred he was being propelled forward instead. His silent scream made him look like he was on an amusement park ride in Nimbasa with no protection from shooting out of his seat. Then as suddenly as it came up, it stopped and he was rooted where he was left to float.

Only for a pair of familiar red eyes to shine down on him like evil suns.

“Bend to my whim...My pack is your safety ...My pack is your home...My pack is your salvation…” Tropia’s voice made Tyler scream as it rang through his head like it were being shouted in a room full of mirrors, leaving it to keep rebounding on itself and get stronger and stronger like his head was going to explode. “Your life will never be perfect without me...You will always feel sorrow, regret and misfortune without me ...Join me...And I will guide you towards greatness…”

Tyler thought his ears were bleeding and thought he felt blood seep out of his eyes, but he couldn’t smell nor see what was pouring out from beneath his irises so he had no choice but to pay it no heed as he hoped that Tropia’s presence within his subconscious-which is where he assumed he was-was done trying to kill him from the inside-out. Then, as silence filled the area-besides an odd rumble that was far too recessive to be made clearly-the black around him began to light up like one turning on a TV and Tyler was forced to watch…

His memories.

He saw when he was six, he had a Mr. Mime to his birthday party that played a dirty trick that left his pinata’s candy flying away into the horizon never to be seen again all because he didn’t accept their balloon monstrosity of an attempt at an animal; he saw when he was seven, when he accidentally spilled red paint on his father’s shirt and got a pack of Rhyhorn to stampede after him in a sudden fit of rage; he saw when he was eight, when he laid next to his father as he died holding onto his head; he saw when he was nine, when he tripped over his loose shoelace and fell face-first into his school lunch and got the whole cafeteria laughing at him; he saw when he was eleven, when he was trying to sneak off to train with his school friends at a practice battlefield only to be held back by his overprotective mother who scorned him so hard he ended up running to cry in his room in front of his entire neighborhood; he saw when he was twelve, when the panic of his changing body was left ignored by all as he dealt with the developments of his boyhood and the fall of his prepubescence with tears in his eyes; he saw when he was thirteen, getting beaten up by older kids who didn’t like that he spied on them playing with Pokemon every chance he got; he saw when he was fourteen, being rejected by his bottom-of-the-barrel choice for junior prom and the resulting depression leaving him with pissed pants; he saw when he was fifteen, watching on as his old friends cheered at his departure as the moving truck he and his mom drove in zoomed out of Castelia towards the south side of Unova; he saw when he was sixteen, being told off by his mother to a point where she blamed him for his father’s death in a drunken fit and left him about ready to break down; he saw when he was seventeen, when he was introduced to a new school and swiftly given a newcomer’s welcome by the school’s local bullies in the form of a beatdown that left him nearly hospitalized….;and he saw Tracy...reject his advances as he tried to woo her despite her pining the loss of her best friend, Stacy….

Tyler was in shambles, for he had buried all but one of these memories in the dark corners of his mind so he could live his life without remembering the bad times, and having them all shoved back into the limelight with no way to stop them had his subconscious self in tears. And much to his woes, Tropia’s presence was back. And the burning sensation in his eyes slowly felt like a rumbling heat that made it look like his eyes were glowing red as well.

“Yes, you understand. Your life will never stop being filled with disappointment, tragedy and sorrow without your place in my pack.”

“...er…”

“You will never find peace...closure...nor happiness unless you give in and join me.”

“...yler…”

The two voices were barely contesting one another, leaving Tyler to feel like he was gonna suffer the worst death he could ever dream of-within his own sleep. It felt unfair, to perish without even being awake to warn somebody that you were inches from death’s clutches, and it felt even more so that he was gonna die without telling Tracy...nor Omen…

“Give in...and join my pack...Feel the riveting power that I can give you to take your life’s reins and mold things to how you wa-”

“MASTER TYLER!” The new voice finally overtook Tropia, sounding loud but soothing enough to get the boy’s subconscious to open his eyes and look around. His memories were gone and he noticed the red eyes above still droning on, but he saw a blue flame ahead and focused on it instead. He didn’t recognize the voice for a minute, but they kept on. “DO NOT GIVE IN, MASTER TYLER! IT IS TROPIA’S PLOY TO USE YOUR GUILT TO MAKE YOU FEEL YOU HAVE NO OTHER OPTION! DO NOT LISTEN TO HIM! FOCUS ON THE GOOD IN YOUR LIFE!”

Tyler mouthed “The good in my life”, for the dreamscape he was stuck in still wouldn’t permit him with the ability to talk, but it didn’t matter that his voice was null here for he saw the darkness fill up with more showcases, but not of the haunting memories.

They were of good ones.

He saw when he was six, when he played soccer alongside a little team of his friends and the neighborhood Growlithe being the goalie; he saw when he was seven, when he had the best birthday of his life, despite himself not even receiving a gift; he saw when he was eight, being comforted by his father’s death by a wild Riolu; he saw when he was ten, when he had an official Pokemon friend away from the school-assigned ones for the first time-which happened to be that same Riolu-and they became best friends almost immediately; he saw when he was twelve, where he revelled in his new changes after finding out that he was growing chest hair and his cock was starting to finally show signs of growth after being stuck at a mediocre four inches; he saw when he was fourteen, where he went out to the woods after being rejected in a fit of sorrow and came across his old friend now turned Lucario; he saw when he was fifteen, watching as Josh and some ragtag team of others introduced him to the neighborhood and gave him the rundown on what to expect being a new resident; he saw when he was sixteen, when he first discovered...ahem...masturbation; he saw when he was seventeen, where he came home from school with a report card of straight As and Bs and made his mother smile genuinely for the first time in almost ten years since his father’s passing; and then, he saw himself with Omen as a human having a good laugh while they fished for food.

Seeing all of that had dried his tears, and the icing on the cake had definitely been having a Pokemon friend and building a bond with Omen, which all aided in cleansing the red “haze” in his sights. He always wished that jackal the best and loved the way they smiled after being treated to a berry.

“Master Tyler...Keep it up...You’re fighting the transformation...Happiness exists even in little things. No matter how small you can perceive them, you can always find yourself smiling at the things that others cannot understand. It does not need to be as grand as a birthday or as extravagant as a party, but so long as it satisfies you enough to leave you with more fight to continue living as you then there is no sorrow...no grief...and no loss strong enough to take your light.”

That last tidbit...brought his subconscious to a smile and before he knew it the memories went on a loop and the red eyes of Tropia had disappeared without so much as a last word. The blue flame that had started this new stream of positivity floated before him, burning brighter and reaching up like a hand until it morphed into a familiar furry palm.

It was Lucario, fully healed and smiling right back at him.

Tyler found that he could speak now that they were here before him, “How…?”

“Because I never forgot you...as you may think…” Right there, the memories of him playing with the Riolu and when he hung out with them now evolved into a Lucario stayed up, playing behind the jackal like he were a teacher playing a fun movie that he was about to unfortunately pause. And then, it hit him.

“You…? It’s been you, all this time…?” They nodded, their furry palm coming up to his chest where his heart was.

“Your old friends may have scorned you for existing...but I remained vigilant on seeing you grow. So I followed your truck to Aspertia so I could continue being your friend without your mother’s watchful gaze for me.”

“My mom..?”

“She found me one night. The night she told you the news that you were moving. I tried to leave you a gift so you didn’t forget about me once you were fully packed ...but she caught me coming into your room and forced me to leave…”

Tyler didn’t know if this was a good time at any point, but he was sure he had to ask why they still had this moment. “What...was it…?”

Lucario’s smile faltered a bit, but they righted themselves as they shut their eyes. Their palm left Tyler’s chest and joined its twin in facing each other like they were to clap. In the background, the two memories became one and focused on the two of them being younger and Lucario back to being a Riolu as they played a game in the woods. Then, a blue light metamorphosed between their paws and soon they extended outwards to give room for the…

Femur bone.

“This...was the only remnant of my father when he perished to an incurable toxin injected into his blood stream through acidic injection. This bone was the only anchor I had to remembering my father...and when we met you were grieving yours.” Right on cue, Tyler saw his younger self crying up a storm while running down a street that led towards the woods. “When we met, I was sure you were simply crying because you scraped your knee or something similar, but I could make out what you were sniffling that day ...And so...I used our pain not as a means to avoid you...but to bond with you.”

Tyler saw them meeting for the first time, both of them having remnants of a tear in their eyes as they stared wondering if the other was gonna do something sudden. The memory kept playing out, with Tyler ending up slowly extending a hand towards the bone-wielding Riolu that watched his every move like a Braviary, and even slower did the pup reach out for the boy. Their fingertips slowly came together and the memory exploded in pure, effervescent lights and brought Tyler to a spook.

“That day was the start of our bond...The only way I knew where I could find you…”

“But...why didn’t you tell me you were the Lucario from back then…? It makes sense, but...now I feel like a selfish jerk for ignoring why you were always so nice around me…” Tyler felt his memories flash up, playing every moment of his first summer at Camp Swinebowl-around the time before it started going to hell-and Tyler was there enjoying the camp activities alongside Gram, Josh, Tracy, Stacy and Lucario. In each showing, the jackal either gave him an extra treat, helped him with activities so he didn’t come in dead last in anything competitive and helping him to bed when he sprained his ankle during a three-legged foot race with Gram. They all dispersed in the same light as he continued. “I always thought it was just a thing your species was known for...and just took it for granted…”

“It’s okay, Master Tyler. Even if you couldn’t tell the difference between an old friend and another average Lucario, I was still grateful I got to spend time with you again. Without your mother getting in the way.” The jackal was determined to make the downtrodden teen realize that none of their lost time was his fault in any way but the boy couldn’t help but feel guilty for missing out on a potential reunion that was much more gracious than this.

“I just wish...it didn’t take you dying and being brought back into this situation for me to realize that you were my friend, buddy.”

At this, Lucario laughed, which rebounded in a way that seemed to soothe the last of the aches left behind by Tropia’s influence. “Master Tyler, you may not know this...but I swore to make sure you would never die by such means. When you needed to rest...I whispered to you...that I would never let you die to the camp’s dark secret...And all I’m doing is keeping it to my last breath ...Even now, Omen’s revitalization method is waning and I will soon perish from the weight of my wounds regardless of having energy to fight on.”

At that, Tyler looked around into the darkness, trying to see if there was a way out for them only to see nothing but Lucario and his blue-glowing form. “But...we should be helping him! I dunno what it is, but something tells me he’s not pulling through a fight with Tropia no matter what.”

“He...isn’t...We are only having this chat because I sealed us away from the clutches of that mad man’s twisted goons. I do not know if the fight has ended...but the last I saw of him before making sure you didn’t turn, he was taking a beating from all sides.”

“We gotta go then! I can’t stay here and let him die!” Tyler felt that he could move around again and thrashed around looking for a way to escape this scape, but every time it looked like he was gonna make a breakthrough he was left duped and to flip around in place until he found himself drifting back to Lucario. They didn’t have a promising smile on their face, just one that seemed ambiguous, so Tyler went on to finding his exit. “C’mon, we can’t just let it happen! I’d rather die than float around in my head!”

Lucario’s form began to shimmer again, a tear falling down from their eye as they watched Tyler’s subconscious continued to fight on, their smile looking ready to crack at any moment. “I can’t…”

“Why the fuck not!? He saved me, he saved you! We owe it to him to save him too! It’s only right!”

“Because…”

“C’mon now, let’s hear it! We don’t have all night until I wake up and see nothing but blood and guts everywh-”

“If I break the connection we have, I will die without a trace…” Tyler froze, feeling the bombshell’s weight crush him even in his thoughts like a spiritual anvil destined to make one feel the guilt of a past event, no matter how much therapy they get.

“Wh-what…? No no, you can’t...I can’t…”

“I’m sorry, Master Tyler. But as I said, Omen’s help only prolonged my death for a short period of time.” Tyler refused to believe it for a second, but then he saw Lucario’s body slowly get brighter and more...wispy…

Like he were fading.

“N-no...Please, you can’t leave me again…! I don’t want to be left alone…! Not with my mother! Not with these werewolves or whatever they are! Not without you!....I can't ...!” Tyler couldn’t stop the tears, but he was thankful that Tropia’s presence didn’t see it as an opportunity to break back into the scene while he broke down. “I can’t lose you!”

Lucario hugged them, not needing to be weary of their chest spike as it had already faded. “You won’t lose me if I stay as is...If I perish while we are connected, then in a way I will not be dead. I will live on within your soul...like a conscious…”

“Why…?” Tyler was sobbing, feeling his world crumble to bits and pieces only visible by a microscope with lens able to zoom in to atomic levels of power. “Why ...is the world...not fair to us…?”

“Let’s not blame the universe for this one. It will always be...a series of misfortunate events…”

“You ...jerk…” Tyler punched the jackal, but it carried no power nor did it even touch the remains of Lucario since he was only a head at this point. “Why...would you bring up...my favorite book...at a time like this…?”

Lucario beamed at his chagrin, leaving them with a kiss on the forehead-like one’s father would their son when they were fast asleep. “Because...I knew it’d let you stop flailing around my new home...as your friend in spirit…”

[[I]]

“And that’s why you’re weak…” Tropia flung Omen to the fountain, leaving him a bloody heap as he came to lay there like he was on his last legs. Which was somewhat accurate; his right arm had been torn off and the remaining chunks were still bleeding, his wings had been turned into bloody stumps, and there was a visible hole in his ballooning chest-but sadly no heart visibly beating. Meanwhile, the monster of a Lycanroc was only missing an ear, had his face bloodier than a young girl’s personal trash bin during ‘that time of the month’ and missing a few digits on both hands. Yet still, he stood strong above the rest and howled at his victory.

Omen didn’t move a muscle, his blood falling into the stone of his once proud landmark. He fought the good fight, slaying his old friends turned against him, getting rid of Tropia’s savage whelps, yet without Tyler...he felt….

Powerless.

“Now, let’s make sure that my prize isn’t too far gone. I waited all night to see someone precious to the old man bend like a dog to my power…” The evil Lycanroc stomped over the remains of his packmates, kicking whoever didn’t matter to him and crushing whoever wasted their time trying to impress him with their rebellion against his pack. Tropia didn’t need them. All he needed was Tyler…

For a pureblood was more precious than any beta with a massive reserve of power.

The monster had left him off with a warning glare, something to make sure he didn’t go thinking this night would end in peace, and that dirty mutt had rushed over to his body and shielded him from his slaves. So after Omen killed them before they could make any headway to bust the shield, he tended to the were-Mega Absol himself so he could force Tyler to be his. Tropia knew how to treat betas as opposed to what the old man thought.

All they needed was someone to make them bend themselves backwards, not some father figure to talk them into being well-trained puppies.

The blue barrier covering up Tyler and the traitor was short work for the all-powerful Lycanroc-Midnight, feeling glee refill him as he saw their exposed forms laid out for him like silver platters. He saw an Umbreon brat nearby-must have been one of Omen’s-but he kicked her away from his prize. Tropia lifted the jackal off the boy, looking at them dangle like a sock puppet made of meat before flinging them off into the distance like a rock that once promised meaning only to disappoint in the end. This left that bright gaze to fall on Tyler and his motionless body.

Tropia giggled as he brought their chest to his working ear and heard that delicious heart of theirs beating still. Mmmm, maybe one day when they boy stops being useless he’ll rip it out of their chest and make them watch him eat it in one bite. That’ll be fun. Tropia shook the feeble human, making their eyelids lull for a moment before he simply forced them open with his remaining fingers after waiting a bit.

“And now, boy...You’ll be the beginning ...of what I rebuild…” Those red eyes began to burn brighter and their sheen seemed to bleed into Tyler’s retinas for red began to climb up to his pupils. But...Tropia growled in confusion as they didn’t wake up and shook them when the state continued after checking to make sure they didn’t die on him the second he stopped checking their heart by checking their pulse. “Why ...Why won’t you turn, boy…?”

At this, the sounds of a weakling began to fill Tropia’s ear and he turned to see Omen struggling to lift himself off the remains of his destroyed, derelict fountain. The Lycanroc-Midnight beast spat out some saliva mixed with blood from his internal bleeding and snarled at the were-Mega Absol. “Still breathing, old man? How many times do I have to show you that your glaring weakness makes this fight pointless?”

They didn’t answer him, merely falling off the fountain in a trembling heap and making the werewolf sigh as they slowly forced themselves onto their feet. They looked about ready to fall back onto the ground by the time they stood upright and Tropia couldn’t be bothered to walk over there to put them back down.

“Rrrrrng, look at yourself. You know you lost. Your foolhardy attempt to oppose me even after I showed you what happens when you don’t fall in line where you belong...I’ll make your rebound drink your blood out of your body once I figure out how to wake him back up.” The Lycanroc-Midnight tossed the boy’s body away from him and stomped over to the resisting canine before him. Tropia knew this was a useless fight, but some shrewd attempt of hope kept bringing Omen back up from certain doom. No matter how many times he tore at those tendons; no matter how many times he clawed at their face, and no matter how many times he bit into their arm until it was enough to bite it clean off then spit it out for its flesh disgusted him, Tropia still couldn’t bring the guy to stay down. Hmph, maybe he really should stop showing mercy and use a m-

Wait….he never heard Tyler hit the g-

Tropia went flying as he was hit by pure blue energy, sailing into a cabin and leaving a Lycanroc-shaped hole where the door was as he continued to fly back and eventually breaking through the back wall and fall into a heap on the ground back outside.

Tyler had done it, awake and surrounded by aura.

He slowly made his way over to Omen, the were-Mega Absol looking about ready to cry rather than throw a punch with his remaining arm. When the boy reached him, the beast looked up at him and their amber eyes-having been filled with a despair desperate to rise up like a volcano getting active-lit up with disbelief.

“....Tyler...S-son…?” The boy merely nodded, gesturing a hand towards some place in the dark and amid the bodies. Something came off the ground and flew towards his palm, the white fur stained in blood proving to be Omen’s severed arm. The Mega Absol marveled this power that the boy seemed to suddenly have, missing the last dregs of a light floating over the gruesome scene as Tyler waved his hand over where the limb was removed. “N-no...you can’t….”

“Watch me…” His voice...Were the two of them...Omen didn’t get to put two and two together fast enough, for he gawked at the sight of his flesh reattaching itself to his body until the fur that was left naked in patches regrew good as new. And soon he could feel beyond just the stump that had just been there, his wings jut out from his shoulder blades like a Salamence freshly evolved for flight and his heartbeat safely within his closed chest.

“...” Omen was nearly in tears...He was sure things were over when those gremlins downed him and made him watch Tropia eat his arm off like a Mandibuzz too impatient to wait for their carrion to come, that the fight was over and he would surely die. But seeing Tyler...the boy he held high hopes for...heal him like his mortal wound was just a small flesh injury...gave him new vigor. And the strange, medical miracle didn’t end there. The wounds he suffered from Sweeney, Tropia’s goons and other stragglers from his pack before the big man himself got his licks in were all cleansed of his midnight blue blood and sealed up like they never happened, leaving Omen with just the fatigue of fighting the long fight instead of feeling the lethargy from being fatally wounded but forcing his body to fight through it.

“End this...Or it will all be for naught…” The scoutmaster was gonna ask how and why, but the boy’s glowing faded and he soon fell to the ground, catching himself on one hand and seemingly recovering from a hangover. This was where Tropia made his grand reappearance, livid as any dog who got teased for a treat but instead got neutered.

“I don’t know...how you’re back up ...or how you have your arm...but I’m glad your son allowed me a second chance at tearing them both off at the same time.” Tropia pounced, getting himself into a prowling start to rush into the newly recovered were-Mega Absol. But Omen wouldn’t have it, swearing not to fail his boy for his gift of renewed energy by disappearing from sight and leaving Tropia to chomp at air before skidding to a stop. He slammed his paw into the ground, looking for where that white-furred cretin had run off to for hiding and tried to sniff him out.

But when all he could detect was his own blood, Tropia snarled. “No matter, I’ll just kill your boy just as I planned and break you for good. Maybe I’ll get some use outta him like I did your old ma-” Tropia had brought a paw over where Tyler had landed to recover himself, but suddenly, the boy was whisked out of sight and Tropia was left posed like a rising nightmare from someone’s bed failing to secure their prey. And it left the werewolf miffed. “Get out here you little wretch! This running away shit’s exactly why you deserve to die. Along with your little camp. No one crosses me and gets away with it….”

“Fine…” The dark scoutmaster was back in view, Tyler in his hands like he was cradling a newborn before putting them down on the bloodied remains of the camp’s fountain. “Let’s end this like a pair of savages fighting to see who fights their alpha for pack leadership.”

Tropia...laughed at Omen’s little simile, finding himself cackling to the moon above as her light began to dim with the approaching dawn, for it did not matter as each ray kept him as fueled as a gas-hungry truck. “How many times must I tell you that you can’t win? It doesn’t matter if you try solely with heart….It doesn’t matter if you try cheating your way to victory ...and it doesn’t matter if you get a saving throw from a wildcard with healing abilities...I will never go down by your hand...and you will fight your way to a lost battle you old fool!”

Omen took the other scoutmaster’s words with a grain of salt, making sure Tyler had not exerted himself with mending his wounds by checking his pulse, before letting him be and glaring towards the mad Lycanroc. “I don’t care if the moon gives you vast power ...You will die tonight...even if it takes until morning.”

“Betting on the sunrise was what got your camp destroyed-what makes you think it’ll work now?”

“Simple...I’m not human.” And like that Omen was out of sight, Tropia smirking still as he assumed the were-Mega Absol was simply trying to impress him with quick feet, only to grunt as he was punched square in the face by the flying fool and sent skidding back a few feet before a nearby body stopped him in his tracks. It was one of his, but he quickly stomped their skull to pieces to get a running start towards Omen and the two were fighting again.

Each of their blows slowly woke Tyler up from his stupor, the world a dizzy haze around him as the night barely illuminated the two beasts trying their hardest to claw at each other as they grappled like two luchadores trying their damnedest to overcome the other for an opening. Despite Omen’s rejuvenation, he was still panting from the fights he endured; and despite his injuries, Tropia could still fight on thanks to his transformation being purely fueled by the moon since he was a werewolf even by Pokemon standards. Without anymore severe wounds on the were-Mega Absol however, they were pretty much even.

The boy looked around, seeing dead bodies of both scoutmaster’s packs littered all over like they were an audience but got blown back by a strong attack that they didn’t get time to dodge. Severed limbs, mushed heads and cleaved halves greeted Tyler as he got on his knee, his fatigue from mending Omen making his body too sluggish to vomit from the gore before him.

“You can still save them...As Omen said, one life to save another…” Lucario’s voice rang through his head like a passive rationale, bringing Tyler to notice that most of the two men’s pack died next to each other.

“Would it still ...work…?”

“So long as they remain in their cursed states….the transplant of energy will revive them...then you must heal their wounds before they go out again…”

“But I can barely ...move...let alone stitch someone’s toes back together…” Tyler was winded, feeling like he’d fall flat on his face even if he got a running start towards an exit to anywhere.

“Trust me, Master Tyler. Just focus on the light I showed you when I finally passed on within you.” With that grim reminder, Lucario displayed the image of the blue flame that had greeted Tyler when Tropia was trying to convert him into his pack by force. “My aura is our aura. Don’t falter.”

“I’ll...try…” The boy kept that in mind as he flipped over the dead Lycanroc-Midnight in front of him, nudging the body next to them that had both arms ripped off to disgusting stumps of their former glory to see who it was. Paula… Tyler did his best to ignore the fact that he was digging his chest around in the body of who was once a young adult like him as he searched for their heart, feeling its beat guide him to its location near the center and feeling a relief as it came without much of a fight. As it pumped blood from its severed veins, Tyler held his breath before bringing it to the were-Weavile’s mouth. He wasn’t sure how Omen did it, but he was sure it involved putting the heart inside of them since he wasn’t holding Sweeney’s when Lucario came to. He did his best to be careful with her teeth, for he didn’t want to suddenly lose his pureblood status from a dead were-Pokemon, and let it clamp shut after stuffing the heart inside.

He waited patiently, head snapping to his left as he saw Omen go flying into the cabin Tropia went through earlier and bringing it down on the were-Mega Absol. He hoped he wouldn’t need to sneak back into that fight to keep Omen up and running, but he was grateful to see them toughing it out by jumping out of the debris and shooting back after the werewolf. He heard a cough, and turned back to see Paula coming to. She didn’t open her eyes though...but Tyler figured out why she didn’t as he looked at her face more clearly.

They had been slashed clean across. She was blind.

“Wh-wh-who’s there…?” She called out, barely audible over the sounds of two grown men fighting like savages nearby. Tyler looked around, finding her arms slowly trickling blood into the ground as they lay untouched and undisturbed, and slowly stepped around the now-officiated carcass of his old campmate before grabbing the dismembered limbs and bringing them to Paula. Figuring out which went where was a bit tricky, since her claws looked to not have thumbs, but soon he used his own hands for models before finding it out and then slowly bringing that blue flame to focus. Waving his hands over the stumps as he did for Omen, he slowly let the energy pour out of his hands and wash over Paula’s fore arms. She whimpered, for the mending process reignited the pain of having them get slowly torn but in reverse, but once all the muscles stitched back together she slowly came to a pained calm that left her breath shaky as if she were cold. Unfortunately, no amount of healing was gonna fix her eyes, so he tore his shirt at the waistline and made it into a makeshift blindfold for her.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t heal that for you…” The were-Weavile slowly sat up, feeling like she was on the brink of passing out from the ache all over her body.

“N-no problem...T...Tyler...Just help the others…” She tried to get on her feet, but her stomach felt like it was trying to digest shredded iron and she felt back to cradle it instead. Tyler came over to drag her towards a tree to rest on. Out of the way and out of the fight, which was good timing for rocks had suddenly flung out from beneath the earth like sharp pillars of death along where the two of them had been standing.

“Don’t stress it. I don’t have a good hang on this power just yet, so let me get things done then you worry about leaving.” Paula looked to where she thought she heard him speak and nodded slowly, letting him smile for a split second before he went back to carefully tend to the others.

He didn’t see Wanda anywhere and slowly felt himself praying to Arceus that she was living on peacefully in the afterlife; the remains of Lione looked like something out of a slasher flick that Tyler bravely skipped out on for the sake of his guts and dreams, but he eventually got all of his limbs back in their proper place for healing after reviving him with two hearts since one didn’t get them kicking; Megan was hard to discern among the rest, for she was a Lycanroc-Midnight just like every other one that lie dead on the campgrounds, so Lucario was enlisted to help find her dying aura so that he could properly bring her back so he would sew her chest back closed; Richmond-who happened to be an Absol like Omen used to be-was only with half a face, teeth looking permanently bared with the lack of flesh covering the bone from being visible for a live autopsy and his torn throat was gruesome to watch swallow a nearby cursed heart that Tyler had to be careful not to crush in his hands from yanking out; De’Jordan and Grace died on opposite ends of the cabins-and opposing gender-specifics-so the two Umbreons were brought together and quickly had their severed heads identified correctly before they were brought back to the world of a living for a bitch of a healing; Daryl was definitely the worst to look at, because it look like his whole upper body had exploded rather than get ripped off by a slash that went right through him like a knife through butter and his body had been left on his bent knees, but Tyler bit back the vomit and the embarrassment of a rather uncalled-for grisly display of a hell hound’s butt so he could give them life once more; but alas he could not find Tracy.

He even checked the woodlands to see if her body had flown further than others or near the camp’s entrance or mess hall since those areas were closest to Blisstrail, but no matter where he looked he could not find his treasured friend. So he asked Daryl after the were-Houndoom was back and breathing normally if he knew where she was.

“She”, the young man-beast coughed up blood, for his ribs had not been fully mended despite Tyler’s best efforts to not let jealousy claim his ability to treat others like a travelling doctor, “didn’t come back w-with me...She went to go...save Wanda...and told me to come back…and fight with Omen...”

“Do you think sh-” Tyler was cut off as he heard Tropia howl towards the moon, seeing its pristine glow grow dimmer and dimmer and barely illuminating the werewolf’s torn face as he went charging after Omen again. “Do you think she made it?”

“I-i don’t know…*cough cough* she was pretty banged up before we split…” Tyler took that the wrong way and found himself smiling, but before the were-Houndoom caught him he straightened his face up. But Lucario was quick to chide him for it.

“Fore shame, Master Tyler. Truly loving things means letting them go.”

“I know…” “Well let’s hope she did, because I don’t think there’s anymore hearts to spare her.” Tyler found himself hauling Daryl onto his feet, the man-beast snarling from the pressure applied to his chest before the boy led them towards a nearby cabin. It had also suffered damage from Omen and Tropia’s scuffle, so all Tyler had to do was lay the were-Houndoom out on the floor before stepping back. “You stay safe right here until it’s over...okay?”

“G-got it…” Tyler left it at that and looked back towards the fight, seeing the two men skid back from each other from another rushing stalemate. In spite of the waning night, Tropia was still standing and the wear-and-tear befalling Omen was making his new cuts pour blood everywhere whenever he breathed out.

“You’re slipping, old man...Didn’t think you’d last this long...but it doesn’t matter...I want this to end…” And Tropia proved it with his paw suddenly glowing a dark purple and suddenly shooting out of sight, Omen’s paw taking the same hue before he too vanished. Their blows made the remaining bodies fly out towards the outskirts of the camp, Tyler making sure he didn’t get hit with a dead werewolf as he ducked towards the showers. He smelled a whiff of blood he didn’t recognize on his hands, only to look in fright as he saw Wallaby and Sweeney’s heads lolled towards the doorway like taxidermied carpeting.

“Apologies, Master Tyler. I wanted to make sure I got back into the swing of things before Sweeney did something terrible. Though I’m not sure how the Arcanine got here.” That did leave Tyler confused too, for he had blacked out around the time Omen tore the Arcanine’s heart out to feed the jackal.

“Honestly...they might have been related...crazy tends to go together with crazy…”

“Let’s leave it at that...Take Wallaby’s heart, you might need i-” And just like every other interruption that has happened thus far since the fight between Swinebowl and Serpentdart, the conversing parties were interrupted by a body flying into the area. Though Tyler was glad it was Tropia this time, he quickly realized that it was probably a bad idea to be anywhere near him and letting him near any way to recover. So while they tore through the showers after caving into the washing area, Tyler quickly moved Sweeney’s body over as best he could. However, the were-Arcanine’s carcass proved harder to displace so he could get to the were-Stoutland and he felt panic well up within him as he heard Tropia start to get up after muttering a few expletives that would have gotten him with five bars of soap in his mouth if he ever uttered them near his mother.

His relief of finally getting the fire dog’s lifeless form so he would tear into the rescuer canine’s chest for their heart was short-lived, for the sickening *crrrrunch* that he caused alerted the werewolf getting onto his feet in obvious fatigue and his color drained for his face as their eyes locked.

“You…” The hulking monster slowly took a step towards Tyler, who took one back to keep them away from each other. “You’re becoming a nice little...n-nuisance...but I’m sure you’ll redeem yourself if you give me that heart…” Tropia held out his giant paw, looking to be bigger than what Sweeney could pull when he had Tyler in his clutches. The boy kept on backing up, but all it did was get the werewolf following after him.

“Why should I help you…? All you’ve done is try to control me...and kill my friends..”

Tropia snarled at Tyler, nearly jumping up that pissing urge in the boy as they stomped a little harder on their way to keep him somewhat out of reach. One more scoot left Tyler hitting something solid-the werewolf had used Stone Edge again. “You think you have the moral high ground, boy!? This world has been a stain! My kind should not be forced to die off because my methods are not seen as right! I have to do everything in my power to make sure us were-Pokemon don’t fall to the ravages of time. If you don’t see it, then you deserve to die by my hand.”

“You’re done killing innocents.” Omen’s voice was projected behind Tropia...and before the werewolf could snap back to swipe the were-Mega Absol away, that dark hand pushed right through the Lycanroc’s chest and his heart went flying out towards the fountain. It was still beating, but the sound of Tropia’s coughing brought Tyler back to looking at him.

“You...f-f-fools ...Now...no one will e-ever ...know...that we ...exist…”

“No one should be aware of the curse that the moon imbues on the innocent, for it is a psychological nightmare as much as it is a physical benefit. This power belongs to no one but gods...and we are not gods…”

“D-don't ...t-t-t-try being the bigger man here...you’re still cursed, you idiot…” It seemed Omen was done with insults, for he snapped his hand back through Tropia and kicked him to the ground.

“I asked to be blessed with the means to stop you, and I was granted the curse. As tiresome as obtaining it was, getting it removed for the sake of others should be easier. Unlike you...born with it like it were a disease and spreading it to poor people that don’t deserve to have their minds ripped apart for you to fix with your will…”

Tropia coughed up a glob of blood, big enough to have it splatter towards Tyler’s feet and making him back away to avoid getting any on him in case he had open cuts that’d get him infected. “Your b-band...of merry ...misfits...a-are still c-c-cursed ...you're no...b-b-b-better than me...making them fight...against the greater g-g-good of our kind…”

“I will figure out a means to set them free, as I am setting the world free from your rampage. Tropia, your crimes against humanity must be met with punishment...And after all you’ve done to these poor children…” Omen gestured to the bodies of Lycanroc-Midnights strewn all about like tree branches broken from a hurricane, “you still think you deserve the right to live?”

Tropia took one last glance to Tyler, the boy getting prepared for any last-minute transmission of the werewolf’s curse but coming to gaze down to the ground as they took one last dying breath. “No matter ...h-h-h-how you kill me ...my...blood...will remain ...wi-within the new generation...one way ...or another...Were-Pokemon...must not...see the end…”

The werewolf coughed just in time for Omen to bring his hands down to their head, barely putting up a resistance to the were-Mega Absol’s attack until those razor-sharp claws tore into his neck and sliced their way up until the Lycanroc’s head was detached from their neck. The blood rain that fell from the exposed flesh lasted only for a bit, as Omen threw the head somewhere into the woodlands and left it to rot before his amber gaze fell to Tyler.

The boy was lost. Was it over? Did Omen somehow become the new villain by killing Tropia-the villain of this war? Was Tyler still keeping the curse deep within his body despite fighting the transformation? Or were things truly at peace with the werewolf’s death? All of this and smaller tidbits buzzed through Tyler’s head as he watched the remaining scoutmaster step closer to him. Their footfalls felt like mini-quakes with their proximity and for a moment Tyler thought the man truly was gone in favor of the beast to take control and kill off the last human available for the picking.

But Omen walked right past him, leaving Tyler to let out a breath he did not know he was holding as he watched the beast come towards the middle of the camp where the fountain was. Tropia’s heart was still there, pumping with activity despite not being in a body and the boy worried that Omen was gonna eat it and try to take its sustenance. But a sense of accomplishment washed over his troubled mind as the were-Mega Absol stomped the organ to a bloody pulp and bringing the injured campers to a cheer-fest nearby. Tyler jumped, for he had forgotten that they were still alive and still in their cursed bodies. Which means Tropia had been right…

How would Omen get rid of their curse?

The answer came when the beast slowly gestured to the bright moon above, somehow getting even dimmer with the approaching sun creeping over the horizon a tad but not enough to blanket the satellite from view. “Hear my call, lunar goddess! Bathe this camp with your rays and cleanse those of us who you imbued with your mighty allure and desire for power now unrivaled! Clear the curse that of which you’ve given us and let us be free from the damnation of the call of the Were-Pokemon!”

Tyler thought nothing was going to happen, because for a good minute Omen looked extremely silly just holding his arms out to the moon like he was waiting for it to come to Earth and hug him before it left in favor of daylight. Then...just as the sun was brightening the sky some more, he heard Daryl cry out as his very being began to shimmer with a light...like a moon ray….

---

Camp Swinebowl….A monument to your fun, everyday camping activities and promoting the idea of going out an experiencing nature with only aquatic Pokemon to come across and fish for as a means of game...was now condemned and blocked off from public access.

Tyler, Daryl, De’Jordan, Grace, Paula, Lione, Megan and Mrs. Erial-one of Omen’s counselors that had been captured by Tropia and forced to work for him to stay alive-stared at the remains of their once-proud camp from the outer side of the gate that kept it out of reach for them to go to. Body bags to be recovered by paramedics incoming to the scene were littered almost everywhere, some bigger than others.

“Did he really…?” Tyler started, looking up to the only adult present within the group looking forlorn at what was once a good place to spend the summer.

“He did…” Her voice sounded bruised, like she had been whistling and took a baseball to the throat and was cursed to talk like she was always exhaling, adjusting her black and unkempt locks so they didn’t block her face from view. “When he started his gathering...anyone that opposed weren’t cursed...he or Wallaby and Sweeney killed them on the spot ...None of our Pokemon were on board…”

Tyler felt a pang of sorrow course through his mind, knowing it wasn’t just him who mourned the loss of those innocent Pokemon dragged into the madness of the power-hungry Tropia. And thus, he sighed and let things end off there. Though after staring at the path that led to his old cabin, he got up to talking again. “We should...go to Serpentdart. See if there are any words that need to be said…”

A few of the campers nodded but some remained still, for it was still a pain to think of the friends and cabin mates they had to kill or be killed by last night in the fight for freedom. So Tyler looked to Mrs. Erial and she nodded before walking down the dirt road to her car. She had an SUV-the kind with multiple seats-so all she had to do was unlock the doors and let whoever wanted to come inside. It ended up being Tyler, Daryl, Paula and De’Jordan in the end, as the rest decided to keep waiting by their belongings to get picked up by the bus to come bring them back around to Aspertia. And after the four campers got their things inside Mrs. Erial’s car in case they didn’t make it back in time to catch the bus themselves, she drove off towards Lake Blisstrail.

The vehicle was silent, no one making a peep despite the bumpy ride rocking their butts and making their mouths jolt open before closing back in place. No one commented on the blood splatters that lined the lake’s shore nor the crater of which Tyler noted was where that big Crawdaunt was beached, and no one said a word when Mrs. Erial had to park her car outside of the path leading to Serpentdart so they had to walk the rest of the way.

The woods carried an air of sadness that crept into all of them. There was too much loss hanging over them and there was no way anyone could look at any bright side to still be alive when they experienced camp among friends, not strangers. Tyler led the way, since he remembered walking each step alongside Omen when they got done with fishing, and soon he saw the remains of a body that they missed on they way past the mess hall.

Camp Serpentdart had been cleansed of bodies, and its front entrance had been gated once someone found the service to phone authorities of its desolate state, but they didn’t cover the side paths and it was easy to simply see what was left.

All the cabins were destroyed, caved in from the fighting that transpired between Omen and Tropia; the showers were left to look like a garage that was the victim of a bad thunderstorm that tore its roof off and caved in what remained; the scoutmaster’s building looked to have been smashed in by a wrecking ball but was spared a few times too many until it looked like the front was trying to bow towards any visitors; and the mess hall was pretty much as condemned as Swinebowl with its exposed interior now made worse with the big holes where the door and some of the windows had been.

But no one was looking at the structural damages. They were looking towards the fountain.

Lined in front of it were graves mounted with simple, makeshift epitaphs that only said names. With no room for birth years, anyone who came across this condemned, ruins of a probably well-established camp would see that the bodies of Wanda, Jennifer, Lania, Gram, Josh, Isaiah, William, Tito, Sharon, Stacy and Lucario were resting and wished not to be disturbed. There were three other graves nearby with no epitaphs, bigger than the others already seen, but Tyler glared at them like they were speed bumps on the road unmarked for one to be alerted by.

The biggest one got him a pat on the back from Mrs. Erial, who took notice of his venom and brought him back to a calm. He shouldn’t mull over the cause of all of these deaths, but rather be glad that the cause was put down for good rather than waking up in fear as they stood over him like a-

“Guys…?” A voice called from the entrance. The five of them turned quickly, Paula getting whiplash on account of her somewhat recovering neck. Outside, by the gate that blocked off official entry…

Was Tracy.

““Tracy!”” Tyler and Daryl ran over to her, keeping neck and neck until Daryl slowed down to continue letting his body rest while the former went on until he came up to the metal grating.

“Calm down you two. Just me.” She laughed, trying to hide the fact that she was in pain with her broken right arm being cradled by her left hand. There was a scab over her right eye and dried blood trailing down to her neck, but other than her ruined shirt and bra she was somewhat okay.

“We thought...we lost you for good…” Daryl caught up, bringing his free hand to the gate since he was using the other to keep a check on his pulse.

“We found Wanda...but not you...and assumed that you got...you know…” Tyler didn’t wanna finish, since thinking of Tracy in any mangled state was like begging his body to heave up his dinner last night.

“Nope...After I realized I couldn’t save her, I just...dealt with who had a hand in it and took a rest somewhere down the river ...I wanted to fight but...this arm’s my best arm-ow.” She held up her useless limb, bringing it back after a sharp jolt of pain made her put it back.

“So long as you’re alive…” Tracy pouted at the relaxing boy, but it ended up turning into a smile once she focused her gaze on Daryl. This both hurt and healed Tyler, for now he knew the truth between the two.

They were an item before he came across them.

“Circle around towards the mess hall and we’ll gather up there...You can say your goodbyes if you want..then after that we’re moving on towards getting home.” Tyler offered, trying not to seem like he was stepping between them having a reunion. They only stared each other in the eyes for a bit longer before Tracy looked away and nodded.

“Alright, Ty. Glad to see you made it.” She hadn’t smiled when she said that, meaning that all was forgiven but not forgotten. He accepted it, nodding to her departing form and bringing himself back to the graves where the others were waiting.

“I’m proud of you, Master Tyler...You’ve finally let her go.”

“Just wish it were on better terms than this, but ...this is definitely a lot better than moping.”

“A step in the right direction, nonetheless.”

Lucario’s presence within the boy’s mind was always something of a soothing ideal to get behind, for it meant that no matter how ostracized he felt being with a group of people who were forced into being were-Pokemon-or werewolves since Lycanroc-Midnight already was something of a were-Pokemon-to fight for camp dominance, he still had someone to talk to when things got tough. Since he didn’t have Gram nor Josh for it anymore, it was just a matter of coping with having a voice in his head that wasn’t generated by his brain.

Technically.

Tracy came into view after a bit of waiting, Daryl coming to hug her first before De’Jordan and Paula followed suit. Though the brunette was quick to realize Paula’s blindfold.

“Paula…?”

“It’s okay, Trace. It’s better than being dead, honestly.”

“Then how are you…?” They all broke out of their collective embraces a bit to point at Tyler, who found himself rubbing the back of his head at the sudden gathering of attention on him. But it didn’t end at the sight of his sheepishness, for Tracy broke out of the group hug and walked over to him. She didn’t say a word for a bit, just looking at the guy over who was doing his best to be humble that him rescuing them all from death was officially recognized, then put a hand on his head. “So you saved them…”

“I uh, tried my best to help those who I could...wish it could have been everybody but…” Tracy nodded, understanding that he couldn’t have simply gone out of his way to run for anyone who had been dealt with in the woods.

“I see...Well, good on you Ty. Whatever you did made sure this whole thing didn’t end with just you...and whoever Tropia didn't ...you know.”

“Yep…” Well this was awkward. Here’s Daryl to the rescue.

“So”, He brought his hand around the both of them, noticeably more firm grasp on Tracy’s shoulders, “how about we head on home? Tired of looking at this dump.”

Tyler found himself chuckling, just as Tracy giggled at Daryl’s blunt disdain of Serpentdart. “Alright, let’s leave. Hopefully no one even thinks of remodeling this place or anything like that.”

“Who knows?”

[[T]]

“Oh Tyler, sweetie!” The boy felt a sweatdrop trail down his temple as his mother came out of their house, barreling into him and bear-hugging him right on the spot. “I saw the news and thought that you were gone for good! They kept showing so many faces of your friends and your classmates and I assumed the worst!”

“It’s okay mom, I’m fi-”

“That’s it-no more activities! You are to stay in the house unless absolutely necessary!”

And there’s the nagging. Tyler sighed and felt a presence in his mind cringe their way into a corner as the boy was dragged into his house with his bags barely holding onto his body. From there on, it was just a means of watching the news.

“...odies yet to be recovered, for there are still a few missing campers unaccounted for in the Grisly Unova Slaughter of these poor, innocent children.” The living room TV displayed all the happy and joyous faces of everyone Tyler knew or barely knew well enough to know their names, seeing Gram, Lania and Josh pop up as missing rather than confirmed dead. Though it probably wouldn’t matter if they were listed as “missing”, since people counted that as dead but no body found yet. Tyler’s mom mumbled something about putting bars on his windows before going in the kitchen to make some breakfast for him since he didn’t get back til around lunch time, leaving the boy to just watch the news continue to relay that Swinebowl survivors made it home safely and those lost should be mourned. He ended up changing the channel to something his mom would watch before heading upstairs to his room.

Tyler was a simple guy. Where other boys his age would have posters of their favorite champion, their favorite renown trainers, their favorite music and a slew of other memorabilia around their room, Tyler only had curtains as a means of decor. His mother was adamant that hanging up posters on his wall would build rebellion in his mind and he’ll develop himself into a societal terrorist trying to hang out with others, and no amount of disbelief nor proof from the internet would convince her to have a heart. So thus, he planted down on his basic blue sheets and kicked his shoes off.

“Breakfast is ready, dear. Be sure to eat it up fast, I won’t be here all day to make dinner.” Her words were fleeting, as she had left the platter of sausage patties, eggs and toast on his desk and left right back out, leaving Tyler to scoot up and lean towards his wooden desk to grab the plate and come back onto the bed. It felt...peaceful just being here instead of some desolate cabin, or even just a cabin in general.

The last two days have been a trip and thinking back to every painstaking moment left Tyler to eat slower and slower…

“Master Tyler?” Ah, right on time Lucario. Was wondering when you’d make a return.

“Don’t worry. Just...thinking back to what...Tropia said.” Talking with your mouth kinda full was still somewhat dangerous by Tyler’s mom’s standards so he went ahead and did that anyway despite being able to converse with Lucario with his mental voice.

“What part of that mad man’s crazy plot to rule Unova still rings a bell in you?”

“The part...where he was on about his...kind dying out…”

“What are you getting at, Master Tyler?”

Tyler gulped down the rest of his sausage and sighed. “I’m saying...what if he was wrong...and there are still some more out there...hiding out just like he did with Swinebowl?”

“I...well…” Of course Lucario wouldn’t have a certain answer right away. Neither did Tyler, for hearing those words play out in the back of his mind was like trying to forget a catchy song that plagued one’s life so bad it gave them a new phase. The jackal came to soon enough. “It would need a matter of time to know for sure that there’s a chance one or more exists in the world.”

“The world? I only meant Unova but…” Shit, what if this region wasn’t the only one with a hidden were-Pokemon problem? Tyler was still lucky to be alive, but he knew he wouldn’t want to get tangled up with the likes of anymore. Especially after...Sweeney.

“Do not fret, Master Tyler. I doubt your mother would think of leaving the region after what happened with Camp Swinebowl. In fact, I believe she is going to make things a lot more cumbersome for yourself since you made it out alive.”

Tyler sweatdropped. “Gee, thanks for leaving me with such high hopes.”

“We both know she’s not letting this go until she herself dies.”

“Ugh ...true...Bet she’ll call me everyday if I moved out to tell me not to go camping.”

“Do not worry, brother. I’ll be with you every step of the way if you choose to get away…” Lucario’s words trailed off as the sound of approaching footfalls came up, leaving Tyler to look and see his mom glaring at him. He was confused, for he didn’t remember doing anything wrong when he came insi-

“When are you showering? You smell like you rolled in Emboar guts left out in the rain and mud!” Her nose was plugged up by her fingers and she still fanned the air around her face with her free hand. Tyler bit back a chuckle for ignoring his own hygiene.

“I’ll do it right now, mom. Since I’m done eating.” He held up his empty platter to prove it.

“Good.” And with that, she was going back downstairs and left Tyler to pick out clothes to wear. Since he didn’t have any camp souvenirs, there was literally no trace of the fact that he had even left for Swinebowl except the bloody shoes he took off.

“Try not to think naughty thoughts in the shower. I just got a feeling you were gonna plan on doing something like that now that you’re alive and well.”

At this, Tyler scoffed in mock offense and held his hand over his heart like he was just told he was gonna die in seven days. “Well, I never! You know I’m more dignified than that!”

“Careful Prince Charming, your ego is showing.” The boy blew a raspberry at that, ignoring his mother’s wondering as to who he was talking to as he went down to the bathroom down the hall to get clean. Now that all was said and done…

He smelled like trash left in the sun for a month.

[[Epilogue]]

Tyler was busy bouncing a Poke Ball down to the floor to bounce off the wall to sail into the air in an arc before he caught it to do it all over again. No, it’s not a real one-his mother would kill him-it’s a rubber one, of which she paid for herself back when he was ten. He had gone through his closet an hour ago to see if he had any means of entertainment hiding in the dusty remains of his forgotten belongings and happened to see it before he knocked it to the floor. One cleansing later and it was good as new.

Night had fallen, and Aspertia was quiet as it was during the day. Nothing really happened here, other than novice trainers being sent to Professor Juniper for a test course to determine if they’d get a starter Snivy, Oshawott or Tepig ever since the minimal age got bumped up to 18 after an eleven-year-old kid started his journey and died three days later falling down a cliff near Route 4.

Tyler heard his mom muttering stuff to herself whenever she walked past his room to go to hers or walk downstairs to check outside since none of the bedrooms had a window meant for the front of the house. He ignored her, for he had yet to find himself bored enough to go browsing online and he had to wait for her to officially leave the house so she couldn’t come across him looking up naughty stuff or generally things she wanted him to avoid, but eventually he started smelling perfume and got curious enough to stand at his door while she was walking towards the bathroom.

“Uh mom? What’s the rush?” She didn’t answer until she checked to make sure her blue lipstick was thick enough to be noticeable yet not so much that it seemed like her lips were covered in plastic casing to look like she had some make-up on for the umpteenth time.

“If you must know so badly...I’m going on a date.” Tyler actually perked up, for if he thought back hard enough he could have sworn he remembered his mother telling him that she wouldn’t see other guys as his father was the only one for her.

“Well, look at you. Getting out in the world and seeing people.”

When she came back out, her look was not pleased with his comment and he backed away with his hands up. “Make sure you apply for as many jobs as you can while I’m gone. Just because you walked off your school’s auditorium stage with a diploma doesn’t mean you’re completely free from responsibilities.”

Tyler groaned. He forgot that she wanted him to a means to fund for the house alongside her commitment and so he’d stop asking her to buy things for him. Though the benefit of being able to buy things with his own money had been too tempting when she proposed the idea to him at lunch, so he agreed much to his chagrin now. “Yes, mom.”

“That’s what I thought. Now, I’ll be back by 11. No parties, no friends over, no wild Pokemon, no late-night snacks and you better be in bed by then and don’t think I won’t check to make sure you’re actually asleep this time around.”

“Mom, come on. I’m eighteen years old!”

“And lucky to be alive to still say that. My roof, my rules. If you wanna have your own rules, then get yourself a living.” And that was that, since she walked away and left him to deal with her still present bedtime. At least it was better than having to be asleep by 10-his old bedtime-because by then he’d still be digesting dinner. For now, he watched her walk downstairs as stiff as a board until she suddenly perked up as someone knocked on the door.

“Oh, he’s here! Remember what I told you, Tyler! Eleven or I’ll have your games locked away!”

“Yes mom, jeez. Just go have fun already.” He didn’t know what was worse: being told that he was essentially still a little kid by his mother with all of her criteria and rules to keep him from feeling like a free young adult who can fend for themselves or Lucario snickering in his mind like a little brother who liked seeing their older sibling suffer punishment after punishment. He wondered who was the unfortunate sap that happened to get convinced by his mom to go on a date with her as she opened the door to let them inside…..

Tyler thought he was gonna give himself pink eye rubbing his fists into his eyelids trying to make sure he was looking at this correctly.

In a tuxedo that looked like it barely fit him, fitting with trousers that looked drum-tight against his thighs and shoes that were almost too big to be actual sizes one could buy at any store that sold them...was Omen? Tyler didn’t want to just assume it was them, though the silky, midnight blue beard that covered his mouth from view and his long hair combed back to look presentable rather than wild were unmistakable.

“It is him…” Even Lucario was taken aback by how clean the guy looked when he was in formal wear.

“Okay dear, let’s get a move on! I don’t want those reservations bought for nothing-the manager sounded stern about letting us have backroom seats.”

“Of course, madam.” Tyler’s mom giggled at his baritone voice and hugged onto her date before sliding her way to the ajar door behind her.

“Let’s go, let’s go!” She pulled them by the arm, leading the man to look back at Tyler as he stood at the stairs frozen like a Deerling in headlights. Their eyes flashed a bright amber and they winked, before mouthing a word towards the boy and shutting the door behind him.

“Did he say….’control’?” The jackal was definitely perturbed, for he wasn’t sure what that was about at all, but then Tyler went up to lock the door behind the departed adults and suddenly went down to the basement. “Uh, Master Tyler?”

The young man didn’t answer, opening the door towards the lower levels of the house and letting the wooden blockade slam shut on its own thanks to its unique hinges. It was dark down there thanks to it being night but Tyler flicked the light on to reveal a blank area of stone flooring within the rays’ reach. He stood in the middle and then it dawned upon Lucario.

“You’re….”

“Right before he left, buddy….” And slowly, Tyler began to concentrate, no signs of aura gracing out towards his body but veins bulging on his head. It looked like he was trying to fight the relief of a constipated system finally trying to let him have some release, but once he relaxed and stood up straight, it was clear what he was doing.

For he opened his eyes, and his pupils were a bright amber.

---

Hello, hello, thank you for reaching the end of this story. I am ashamed to admit that I didn’t plan on it being this long, and frankly this was supposed to be a story about a camper who had the hots for a girl then met a guy who he slowly got the hots for as well that turned out to be a were-Pokemon that he came to accept as part of the reason he loved them, only to unintentionally become one himself and they live off in the wild to hide away from society.

Once I got to the point where he was supposed to meet the guy, the plot sorta...took control of me, so to speak? Either way, thank you for looking at every-or most of this-bit of this, for it was another testament to me trying to develop my writing beyond just cheap, bottom-of-the-barrel smut that you could always get better samples off elsewhere.

Anyway, onto questions you may have:

“Will the story continue?”-No. I planned on this to be a one-shot and it ended up being its own story that I see no means of continuing from where things are left off.

“Why were there ‘McGuffins’ in the story(Omen’s Mega Stone, dead were-Pokemon hearts being used as revive items and Tyler gaining Aura Powers)?”-My original mapping of the fight would have ended with both normal Absol Omen and Tropia killing each other, with no means for anyone to have a second chance at life, and Tyler being left traumatized at being the only one standing only for Tracy to be his anchor towards sanity until she finds out Daryl was dead and tries to cope by being with him. The whole system behind the “hearts” was a little tricky to tack down for a basic explanation, but in essence the ‘curse’ is still alive and keeping the heart beating, so if a cursed being ate the cursed heart they would be allowed to live until the curse they just ‘ate’ finally died.

Lucario’s case was different, for it merely prolonged his demise as said and mostly because he was still left fatally wounded. His revival was purely to make sure we didn’t have that ole “main character trying to hard not to turn ending up getting turned by the enemy” trope.

“What happened to Omen, and what happened to the fourth counselor?”-Omen simply went off to get to the mainlands in a less public manner, because I’m pretty sure a man of his stature would have enough eyes on him for someone to assume he was behind the attacks. The fourth counselor died in Swinebowl, as mentioned by Erial.

“Why was Omen still cursed?”-I’ll let you decide on why.

“Why is Tyler cursed?”-Let’s just say Tropia is a lot more imposing psychologically than what Lucario assumed, but Omen is keeping things in check by being the boy’s mother’s love interest.

“Will there be a spin-off on the other were-Pokemon in the Pokemon world?”-I feel like just giving Unova a taste of what it’d be like to have beasts such as described in the region was enough to give the concept a try.

“Why was there a were-Incineroar and were-Weavile?”-If you didn’t guess the theme between Omen’s pack and Tropia’s pack by now, then you’ll love to know that Omen’s betas were all Dark types and Tropia’s were any kind of canine Pokemon.

“Why was Tracy the MC’s love interest, then Omen cut in?”-That was just me trying to think if I wanted him to be straight, bi or homosexual. In the end, the story wrote Tracy and Omen off as potential suitors so Tyler’s not getting any of either.

“What would Tyler’s cursed form be like?”-I think we all know what it is.

And with that, I leave you to think about what you’ve read today.

Toodles.