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Pokemon: Further Evolutions

CH 14

Lingering Bitterness

The rain pelted Zeke's form as he rushed past the trees of the forest in a hurry. The sounds of his pants mixed with the pitter patter of the rain drops and the heavy, hurried stomps of his feet filled his ears, but he was far too deep in his thoughts to acknowledge any of it. Legends among us, I hope things haven't gotten out of hand, he thought to himself nervously. Off to the side, he caught sight of Celest, who was hovering quickly towards where he assumed he was headed as well. As the psychic type floated over to his side, he asked her, "'Do you know how things are going?'"

She shook her head. "'I only now got here, same as you.'" Zeke let out a groan.

"'I just hope that we won't be too late...'" As they neared their destination, the chaotic sounds of growling and shouting filled the morphs' ears. This alone made him run just that much faster. Running past the last bunch of trees, the two of them were greeted with a less than calming sight. A huge crowd had gathered, with an empty line of space dividing it into two halves. On one side, several morphs were bunched up together, with the ones in the front shouting out words and phrases that could by no means be passed off as polite, or even passive. On the other side, normal pokemon of various types and species were screaming at the morphs with equal intensity. Eyes were narrowed, claws were drawn, and teeth were bared, nothing displaying a welcoming demeanor. A closer look revealed the reason the crowd had been split in two, that being the two morphs Garo and Sheena who stood between them whilst making sure neither side got out of hand. Off to the side, Zeke took notice of Drake, whose arms were folded, and his chin upturned in disapproval.

"'What happened here?'" Zeke asked Garo as he walked up next to him.

"I'm not too sure, I'm afraid,'" the Garchomp answered, "'I just know that a dispute broke out between the morphs and the pokemon. For what reason, I'm not sure.'"

"'Well I am,'" Drake's voice rang out. Garo bared his teeth and growled at him, but the Tyranitar didn't acknowledge it. "'You see Zeke, those morphs of yours tried to invade the homes of these pokemon--'"

"'We were just trying to find some shelter!'" shouted one of the morphs in protest.

"'Yeah!'" shouted another, "'Most of the huts around the island were damaged from the storm, so we needed to find proper shelter!'"

"'Well you should all find shelter elsewhere!'" shouted one of the pokemon, "'Stay on your side of the island!'" Several other pokemon joined in on shouting at the morphs.

"'You've taken over half of the DAMN island already!'" shouted another, "'Stop trying to take away more of what's rightfully ours, you FOREIGN invaders!'" This sparked another uproar in the crowd, forcing Zeke to take action.

"'Everyone calm down!'" he roared over the crowd, eventually getting them to stop, "'Listen, I'm sure that it was an honest mistake by their part.'" He then turned towards the morph side of the crowd. "'Listen up everyone. Until the ship returns with the proper equipment to repair the huts, everyone with damaged homes will be staying in either a friend's hut, or in one of the shelters.'"

"'But the shelters are already crowded as they are!'" said one of the morphs, "'We already checked! That's why we're here!'" The other morphs nodded in agreement, confirming that they were telling the truth. Zeke rubbed his fingers against his temples as he tried to think of a solution. Thankfully for him, Celest spoke up instead.

"'Then I shall make efforts to house you in my own hut,'" she informed them in her calm, smooth voice, "'There are many of you, yes. However, I believe that there should be just enough space for everyone here to stay, at least to shelter yourselves from the storm. Hopefully it will not last as long.'" Hearing this, the morphs appeared to settle and calm down a fair amount. But this momentary instance of peace was taken away as another pokemon shouted at them from the crowd.

"'Yeah! Go back to your section! We don't need any more humans running around and taking land away!'" This set the crowd right off. Immediately, the morphs turned back and shouted, sending the crowd back into a bitter uproar. All the while, Drake stood silently, with his arms still crossed and his eyes closed solemnly. He had no need to contribute his thoughts. The crowd spoke for itself after all.

"'Everyone!'" Zeke shouted out desperately, "'Please calm down! There's no need to fight amongst ourselves like this!'" But the crowd wouldn't listen to him this time. Everyone was far too caught up in their own anger to so much as acknowledge his presence. Even more hateful words were being tossed around now. If anything, it was even worse than it was when the Persian had first arrived on the scene. He continued to cry out and seek their attention, but no one would grant it to him. Slowly and gradually, the crowds began to inch closer and closer as they shouted and screamed, making Zeke hasten in trying to get their attention. But once Garo saw that he wasn't getting it, he stepped forward to intervene.

"OY!!!!" he barked, immediately silencing the crowd, "THAT'S ENOUGH! YOU'VE ALL MADE YOUR POINTS! NOW SHUT UP AND LEAVE EACH OTHER BE!" Thankfully, he didn't need to repeat himself. Due to his intimidating stature, no one wanted to be the one to argue with him. Satisfied with the result, he turned to face the group of morphs. "All of you," he began in a firm, commanding voice, "Follow behind Zeke and I. We will sort out this issue elsewhere." At that, he turned away and began to walk. It took the morphs a moment to remember that they had control over their own feet. Once they did, they began to silently follow the dragon type through the forest and away from the pokemon. Said crowd of pokemon also began to walk away and disperse.

"Good riddance!" one of them shouted out, making one of the morphs whirl around in anger. Before she could spout out anything back, a warning look from her friend left her discouraged from doing so.

With a relieved sigh, Zeke walked down the hill. As he did, he passed by Drake, whose eyes were still closed. With an inwards growl, Zeke spoke to him. "'I'm sorry if...this inconvenienced you in any way...'" The Tyranitar huffed.

"'Hmph, yeah. Inconvenience is a word that can be used for this...'" He didn't say anything else after that. At least thankful that he didn't need to spend any more time with the dark type, Zeke hurried off to catch up with Celest and Sheena, who had taken up the rear of the crowd. As he joined them, Celest took his side.

"'Well, that went better than the last dispute at least,'" Zeke sighed with a shake of his head.

"'The conflicts are getting worse,'" Celest snapped, "'and they will only continue to grow worse with the next batch of morphs coming to the island.'"

"'Yeah, I know...thanks for reminding me,'" said Zeke sarcastically.

"'Zeke, we really need to take action now,'" the Gardevoir continued, "'I'm afraid it may be coming close to the time we resolve to...that...decision...'" Hearing this made Zeke stop in his tracks. Noticing this, the other two leaders came to a halt and turned to face him. Zeke looked up, meeting the solemn expression across Celest's features.

"'I can't help but agree,'" Sheena spoke up, "'If we don't do anything soon, the pokemons' temptations to force the morphs off of the island...won't be a temptation for much longer...'"

Zeke sighed deeply. This was one of the things he didn't want to have to think about today. Clearly though, this was a problem that needed to be handled sooner than later. He so greatly wanted to put this issue off for another time, as he had for much of his time as an island leader, but it was becoming apparent that he was running out of time to put it off to. "'Okay,'" he began, "'I'll try to see how things go for a bit longer. And...if things don't improve soon...well...then I'll see whether or not that decision will be necessary...'" No other words were exchanged from that point on as they walked. None needed to after all...

***

Some time after the storm clouds had passed, allowing the sun to shine upon the island once more, Kyo and Grovyle were making their way up the beach, headed to their usual pond.

"Honestly though," Kyo said to her, "the hot springs aren't as bad as you make them out to be. They're honestly pretty relaxing."

Grovyle shrugged slightly. "'I dunno. They're just too hot for my liking. Plus, I feel like they'd make my leaf tails crust up.'"

Kyo paused for a moment. "...Do they...not grow back?" Grovyle let out a chuff before playfully elbowing him in the gut, making him huff out unexpectedly. The two of them laughed as they walked past the various palm trees and shrubbery. "Seriously though, I think you should still give the hot spring a try one day. They really help with relaxing the muscles."

Grovyle tilted her head thoughtfully. "'Well if you give me a massage, I'm sure it'll produce the same result.'" Kyo's cheeks reddened as he blushed. Grovyle blinked and looked back at him. "'What? Would you not do it?'"

"N-no-no-no, I would," he stammered, "I-I wouldn't mind at all really." Grovyle couldn't help but smile at that. With a slight swish of her tail, she happily took hold of Kyo's hand as they continued along the path. As they neared, they began to catch on to the sounds of splashing and...laughing? Confused, the two morphs walked just a little faster. They were so used to the pond being vacant for the most part, so every time they went there, they assumed it would be so. But as they came closer and closer to their destination, it gradually became clear that, at least for today, that wouldn't be the case.

Walking past the last batch of foliage, the two of them were greeted with a surprising sight. All around the pond were child morphs of various species playing around with each other. Some were relaxing by the edge, whilst others were either splashing around or casually swimming along. Off to the side, the two of them noticed a normal, jolly Bastiodon, laughing as several young morphs crawled atop his large, metallic body. It took a moment, but Kyo eventually recognized him as Ben, one of the many leaders of the island.

"'Hahaha, okay, okay,'" said Ben as the morph children clamored over his head, "'let's not get too excited now. How 'bout you kids head over to the pond and cool off for a bit, huh?'" They all giggled excitedly as they hopped off of him and ran off, save for a young Fletchling boy who seemed rather reluctant to go. Seeing this, Ben let out a jolly laugh. "'Okay Flint, you can play for a bit longer. Just don't overexert yourself, ya hear?'" The boy tweeted happily as he hopped onto the top of the steel type's head with surprising skill. Ben laughed again and lumbered forward, only to come to a stop as he noticed Grovyle and Kyo. "'Well, well, well. If it isn't the stars of the beginner tournament. Greetin's to the both of ya.'" The two of them returned his greeting by waving as they walked over to him. "'Not quite sure if any of ya know who I am, but even if ya do, I might as well remind ya.'" He winked at them playfully. "'My name's Ben, and I'm an island leader.'"

"'Nice to meet you, Ben,'" said Grovyle with a polite bow, "'If you don't mind us asking, what exactly is going on here?'"

The Bastiodon tilted his large head slightly, causing Flint to waver in his balance only for a moment. "'Oh, you mean the kids? I'm just watchin' over em. Been doin so for quite some time actually. Not continuously of course, an island leader's got stuff to do after all. But this sort of became my secondary job at one point or another. I looked after a couple of kids one day, and since then, parents have been comin up to me and been askin me to look after em for them.'" He glanced up at the sky. "'The weather today was so much hotter than I expected for a day with a morning storm, so I thought I'd let the kids play in the pond.'" He smiled. "'It's nice n' all, but it sure does make me wonder what the humans out there are doin to the planet.'"

Kyo's heart dropped slightly at hearing this. He suddenly felt Grovyle's hand gently grasp his shoulder. Looking over to her, he saw the affectionate look on her face as she squeezed his shoulder caringly. That at least made him feel a little bit better, so he smiled at her in thanks.

"'It's surprising to see so many children here though,'" said Grovyle, turning to face Ben, "'I very rarely see any out in the open with their parents.'"

"'Heh, you'd be surprised at how many more there are,'" Ben replied, "'There are a lot more kids on this island than I'll bet either of you realize.'" The two morphs raised their eye ridges at this, both quite surprised at this statement. "'Most of the time they're kept inside the families' huts, es_pecially_during heat seasons. A lot of their parents keep em in since they don't really know about the responsibilities that come with mating. But, in general, they just wanna keep their kids out of unnecessary trouble.'" He then glanced up at Flint, who was happily balancing himself on Ben's head. "'They're still kids after all. Might as well let em enjoy their youth while they can, ya know?'"

Kyo smiled and nodded, "Yeah, I get what you mean."

"'Yeah...'" said Grovyle, "'I...I agree as well...'" Kyo glanced over to her, noticing that she was acting rather glum now. Hastily bidding Ben farewell before walking Grovyle off to the side, he looked to her and planted his hand on her shoulder.

"Hey..." he began gently, "you...okay?"

Grovyle looked back up at him, tears gathering in her eyes. "'Kyo...'" she began, her voice trembling slightly, "'please...tell me something...'"

"What?" Kyo asked a bit eagerly, "What is it?" Grovyle sniffled slightly.

"'Please...tell me everything will be alright,'" she asked, "'Tell me that...that I'm never going back to that...that...'" She clenched her eyes closed, unable to bring herself to finish her sentence. As she began to break down, Kyo drew her in closer to him, holding her closely.

"It'll be alright..." he said in the most soothing tone he could manage, "You don't have to worry... You're never going back to them... I'm here for you..." Grovyle nuzzled up against him, her tears finally coming to an end.

"'...Thank you...'" she said to him, her voice in a low whisper, "'Thank you...for being here for me...'" She closed her eyes as she sunk into him slightly, allowing her comfort to whisk away the memories that had been brought back up. Kyo pet her shoulder gently as she rested against him.

And here I was, feelin a little mopish just a second ago, he thought to himself, just goes to show; there's always someone that has it worse off than you... He pushed the thought aside. Grovyle needed comfort now, his own feelings could wait.

Eventually, Grovyle stepped out from his arms and smiled at him, wiping the tears away from her eyes. "'Well then,'" she began, "'how about we get around to doing what we came here to do in the first place?'"

"'And what would that be?'" said a gruff, yet feminine voice sounded out from behind the two of them, "'I don't mean to poke, but I like to know what my former pupils do at times like these. Heh.'" Confused, the two of them turned around and faced the mystery female. As soon as Grovyle saw who it was, recognition filled her eyes.

"'Oh wow, Arcanine!'" she said with genuine surprise, "'Hi! I didn't expect to see you here!'" The fire type smirked and swished her bushy tail.

"'Heh, I would've greeted you sooner, but it looked like the two of you were having some uh...personal time.'" Grovyle blushed before turning to Kyo.

"'Kyo, this is Arcanine, the morph that helped me train for the tournament.'"

"Oh, she is?" he replied, turning to face the fire type and offering his hand to her, "Well, nice to meet you, Arcanine." Arcanine folded her arms underneath her bosom as she gave the water type a look over.

"'Hmm, so I finally get to meet your rival,'" she said to Grovyle as she scanned over Kyo, "'Hmph, well I'm glad to see that the two of you made up, at least from what I could tell.'" Kyo laughed a bit and scratched the back of his head. Arcanine suddenly leaned in towards him, shielding her muzzle from Grovyle's view with a paw. "'By the way,'" she whispered to him, "'just thought you'd like to know; she couldn't stop talking about you whenever she had the chance to. That pretty much sold the fact that she liked you a ton.'"

"'H-hey! 'Don't tell him that!'" Grovyle exclaimed in protest.

Arcanine laughed and straightened up, flicking her ears in amusement. "'What's the big deal? You two are together now, it would seem. Love birds and all that?'" The two morphs blushed madly at that. The fire type laughed before patting the two of them heavily on the back, staggering them slightly with her strength. She then glanced behind her. "'Speaking of which... Hey! Love!'" As she called out, a Ninetales sitting by the edge of the pond raised her head, looking towards the group. She smiled at her before cupping her paws around her muzzle. "'Do you wanna meet the morphs I told ya about?'" The Ninetales smiled back at her and nodded happily. Satisfied, Arcanine turned back to the two of them. "'Come on you two love birds. I want you to meet my family. Ninetales has wanted to meet you two ever since I told her about the tournament results.'"

"'Oh, sure, I'd love to,'" Grovyle replied with a nod before turning to Kyo, "'What about you, Kyo? Wanna meet her family?'"

"Yeah, sure," he answered her happily, "That'd be nice."

"'Great,'" said Arcanine, her tail perking up, "'follow me then.'" At that, the group walked over to where Ninetales was seated. Once they were there, they were able to see a child morph in Ninetales' paws that had been hidden from view from where they had been standing. Oddly enough for Kyo, he couldn't exactly pinpoint what species the morph was. If anything, it appeared to be a hybrid between a Vulpix and a Growlithe. Arcanine walked over to Ninetales' side before leaning down and kissing her lovingly. "'Is the water nice and cool, love?'" she asked her affectionately.

"'Hmm, yes, very nice,'" Ninetales replied, smiling back at her lover, "'Well come on now, why don't you join me?'"

"'Heh, first let me introduce you to these two at least,'" Arcanine said with a gesture towards Grovyle and Kyo. The other fire type looked over to them and smiled. "'The grass type is Grovyle, the one I told you that I was training.'" Grovyle bowed to her politely, and Ninetales bowed back. "'And next to her is Kyo, Grovyle's rival, and now by the looks of things, her mate.'" Kyo's face reddened at the statement.

"Uh...I-I wouldn't say we're that far yet," he stammered, "B-but yeah, the two of us are pretty close.'" Grovyle smiled and hugged his arm before leaning against him. Ninetales swished her tails behind her before motioning with her paws.

"'It's nice to meet you both,'" she began, resting a paw on her cub, who was splashing the water playfully, "'Now come, sit down in the water and enjoy yourselves. It should serve to cool everyone down nicely from this humid weather we're having.'" Arcanine didn't need to be told twice. Letting out a sigh of relief, the larger female sat herself beside her mate, wrapping a protective arm around her. The two of them leaned against each other lovingly. As Grovyle went to sit down with them, Kyo slipped off his shorts as fast as he could before wrapping his tail around himself and tossing his shorts aside. Still being uncomfortable with being completely nude around anyone else but Grovyle helped him learn that it was better to not make a spectacle out of stripping. That way, no one stared at him for as long. Once his shorts were placed within reachable range, he sat down with Grovyle, who ended up wrapping an arm around him. He smiled and did the same to her, with the two of them settling in comfortably. "'So Grovyle,'" Ninetales' voice sounded out, "'how was it, training with my mate?'"

"'Oh, it was intense to say the least,'" she answered her, "'It _certainly_wasn't easy.'" Ninetales laughed at that.

"'I wouldn't have believed otherwise,'" she chimed, "'Arcanine was never the type to go easy on anyone.'"

"'Heh, you damn well know it,'" said Arcanine, nipping at her mate's neck playfully. Ninetales giggled and blushed, rubbing against Arcanine happily. Kyo blushed as the two of them showed their affection to each other. In an attempt to get his mind off of...things, he turned his attention to the kids playing in the pond. If it weren't for all of the different furs and muzzles, he never would've guessed that they were all pokemorphs. They all played the same, laughed the same, squealed the same, there really wasn't much of a difference at all outside of physical appearance.

He jumped slightly as he felt some water splash into his face. He turned back to look and saw the hybrid cub splashing away at the water. Ninetales giggled at seeing this and scooted her child closer to her. "'Sorry honey,'" she said apologetically, "'It's not often Growlix gets to play in water, so shi's making the most of it.'"

"Heh, I see," said Kyo, wiping some water droplets away from his face. So that was what the cub was named. Whether it was the official name of the species, or if it was just a name shi was given by hir parents was beyond him.

Shi...where had he heard that term before?

"'So Kyo,'" continued Ninetales, taking him away from his thoughts, "'what was it like, training with our friend, Lucario? I doubt that it was any easier than training with Arcanine.'" The mentioned fire type nudged her mate playfully.

"Well, it certainly seemed that way to me," he chuckled, scratching the back of his neck, "Lucario was always making sure that I didn't slack off at all. She always kept me on my feet, and my breaks were few and far between."

"'Hmph, certainly sounds like her,'" Arcanine commented, making Kyo laugh slightly. Slowly, his attention went back down to Growlix, who was still playing around with the water.

"'I see you've taken somewhat of a liking to our child,'" Ninetales said with a slight giggle, "'Are you curious about hir?'"

Kyo blinked and looked back up. "Oh sorry, I didn't mean to stare." Ninetales waved a paw dismissively.

"'Don't worry, honey. It's alright.'" She looked down lovingly at her cub, petting hir head gently. "'Shi is very special to us all. Shi came about in a rather special way.'" There was that word again. Shi... Where had he heard that before? Come to think of it, he hadn't thought about how the two females could have this cub in the first place. He was very sure that both of them were female on account of the fact that literally EVERYONE else on the island was naked. "'It is all thanks to our lovely mate, and hir loving father.'" After saying that, she glanced up as though she had taken notice of something. She squinted her eyes before a happy smile spread across her muzzle. "'And speak of the devil, shi's coming this way as I speak!'" Raising their eye ridges, the two reptiles turned towards where Ninetales was looking. And it was just as she had said. There was a morph walking towards them, one unlike any that either of them had ever seen before.

Like Growlix, shi appeared to be some sort of hybrid of two different pokemon. But unlike the cub, rather than being a combination of the two fire type's first evolutions, shi seemed to be a combination of Arcanine and Ninetales. Nine soft, flowing tales, and black stripes running down hir form. And this time, it was practically impossible to not recognize hir as a herm, because unlike him, shi didn't hide her genitalia under a pair of shorts, or hide them beneath the water. Hir maleness hung from hir proud and out, and her breasts swayed prominently with every step shi took.Wait a minute, Kyo thought to himself, herm? ...Pokemorph? ...WAIT A SEC! He suddenly came to an unexpected realization. He had remembered where he had last heard the term from. It had been a good while since he had heard it here on the island, but there was only one person he had learned of with that kind of identity.

This was the other ex-human.

Kyo stared at the morph in dumbfounded disbelief as shi walked the rest of the way up to them, an apologetic look on hir face as shi approached the other three fire types. "'So sorry I'm late everyone,'" shi apologized in a pleasant, light toned voice, "'I was talking with mum about a few things and lost track of time.'"

"'It's okay Arctales,'" Ninetales replied, "'Now come on, meet our new friends!'" She gleefully turned back to Grovyle and Kyo and motioned to them, prompting Arctales to look to them. "'This is Grovyle, and sitting next to her is Kyo.'"

Arctales smiled and waved to them happily. "'Hello you two. Nice to meet you all.'"

"'Nice to meet you too,'" Grovyle replied, a bit surprised at seeing an adult herm but otherwise remaining pleasant. Kyo on the other hand only continued to stare, too deep in his shock to realize that shi was speaking to them. Noticing a lack of a response from the water type, Arctales glanced over to him. As soon as shi made eye contact with him, he snapped out of his trance.

"N-nice to meet you too," he replied, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. Arctales laughed a bit.

"'Nice to meet you, Kyo,'" shi said to him, stepping into the water alongside Ninetales and letting out a content sigh, "'Ahhh, that feels nice...'"

"'It sure does, love,'" commented Ninetales, nuzzling her two mates happily. At that, the three fire types began to chat amongst themselves, telling each other about their day. Whilst they did so, Grovyle turned to Kyo and spoke to him in a hushed tone.

"'Hey, are you alright Kyo?'" she asked in concern, "'You seemed a bit distant when Arctales arrived.'" A smirk suddenly crossed her muzzle as she thought of something. "'Oh, is it the extra...um...I don't know very many euphemisms...uh...'" A blush rose on Kyo's cheeks as he realized what she was trying to say, and quickly spoke up about it.

"N-no it's not that," he answered her, "Well...some of that...but not all of that..." Grovyle couldn't help but giggle. For a moment, Kyo hesitated on telling her. He had been told by Captain Shino back on the S.S. Gyrados that Arctales' identity as an ex human was to be kept a strict secret. He wasn't sure if he was even allowed to tell her. But looking into her concerned eyes made it hard for him to not want to. They had been through so much together at this point, and he felt bad keeping any secrets from her. (Heck, he had even told her one earlier in the day.) So with a defeated sigh, he went on. "Okay, I'll tell you, but we need to move away from the others for a bit."

Grovyle raised an eye ridge. "'Really? Why?'"

"You'll get it after I tell you," he answered, "for now, let's just get away for a bit."

Still a bit confused, but otherwise understanding, she nodded and turned to the three fire types. "'Hey, um, Arcanine.'" Arcanine raised her head at the mention of her name. "'Kyo and I need to talk in private for a bit. We'll be back later.'" As the two of them got up, Arcanine raised her brow slightly. Noticing their temporary departure, Ninetales looked over to them.

"'Alright you two,'" she said to them, "'we'll be here if you need us.'" With polite bows, the two of them excused themselves and started for the trees.

"'And try to keep it down while you're over there!'" Arcanine shouted after them with a playful smirk, "'We don't want the cubs over there to catch on to your dirty antics.'" Kyo's cheeks flushed red as they walked the rest of the way, catching on to the sound of Ninetales playfully swatting Arcanine's shoulder. After stepping through the trees, Kyo let out a relieved sigh.

"'So what's up, Kyo?'" Grovyle asked him, "'What was it you wanted to tell me?'" Kyo looked around themselves to ensure that they were indeed alone. Once he confirmed that they were, he looked back to the grass type.

"Okay...you saw Arctales over there, right?" Grovyle nodded.

"'Shi was kind of hard to miss considering shi introduced hirself to us, but yeah, I noticed hir,'" she answered, placing a hand on her hip, "'Why? Was there a reason you were gawking at hir for so long?'" Kyo fumbled over his words for a bit before he managed to respond.

"Well...yes...b-but not for the reason you're thinking!" Kyo paused. "...Well...m-maybe that reason, b-but there's another reason I was staring at hir-I mean no! Uh, there's a legitimate-"

"'Oh just spill it already,'" Grovyle said with a slight giggle, "'We already went through this a minute ago, so you can just tell me.'" Kyo blinked.

"...Right, sorry..." he cleared his throat before speaking again, "Well, the reason why I was staring was because Captain Shino told me that there was _another_pokemorph here on the island that is _also_an ex-human." Grovyle gasped, covering her muzzle with her hands. Kyo waited for her to take it all in before he went on. "From what he told me, he said that the morph was a hermaphrodite, and has been living on this island for over a year now. He also told me that shi has started a family... And...well...I think you can guess where I'm going with this..." Nodding in silent shock, Grovyle turned and looked to where they had left the group behind, peeking at them through the trees. "Hey, listen," said Kyo, returning her attention back to himself, "make sure you don't tell anyone else about this. I wasn't even supposed to tell anyone else in general...so...yeah..."

Grovyle nodded again and looked back to the three morphs once more. "'That definitely explains why you were acting so weird once shi got here.'"

"I was caught off guard," Kyo explained, looking to the group as well, "I was sure that I'd never run into hir during my time here. And yet, there shi is...just sitting at our usual pond..." The two of them watched Arctales for a bit, almost as though expecting hir to do something miraculous.

"'...Are you gonna talk to hir about it?'" Grovyle eventually asked him. He hesitated for a moment.

"Honestly...I'm not sure if I should... Besides, there are a lot of people around here."

Grovyle raised her brow slightly. "'And yet we're here, completely able to talk in private.'"

"...Touché..." Grovyle chuckled, "but...I doubt that shi'd be comfortable with talking about it, least of all with a complete stranger. I sure as heck wouldn't be... And I mean...shi might have had a really traumatizing experience, and it might make hir uncomfortable if I have hir bring it up..."

Grovyle placed a hand to her chin, thinking things over in her head. She glanced at Arctales again before shrugging her shoulders. Without another word, she stepped out from amongst the trees and walked back towards the group, leaving Kyo confused and questioning. She could feel his eyes on her back as she walked away, but she paid no mind to them. It wasn't long before she returned to the group, who greeted her cheerily as they noticed her return. "Hey, uh...Arctales," Grovyle asked, "is it ok if you come and talk with Kyo in private?" She then turned and pointed to where she had left Kyo and went on. "He's hiding over there, behind the trees." As soon as she had pointed to his location, he let out a small yelp and hid back out of view. The three fire types exchanged glances, everyone fairly caught off guard by the request. Arctales was the first to speak up.

"'...What do you two think?'" shi whispered to hir mates, "'Should I?'"

"'Just be careful, dear,'" Ninetales answered.

"'Yeah, and we'll be here if anything happens,'" Arcanine pitched in, making Arctales smile. After thanking them, shi stood up and followed Grovyle as she lead hir to their spot.

What the heck is Grovyle doing? Kyo thought to himself, still unaware of what was going on, She's not inviting them over here, is she? Cautiously, he peeked through the trees again. And to his disbelief, he saw that Grovyle was leading Arctales over to where he was.

And they were rather close.

Letting out another little yelp of surprise, he scrambled around a bit before hiding himself behind a large leaf, unaware of the fact that his tail was still waving around out in the open. And as the two morphs walked into the small enclosure of sorts, it was the very first thing they took notice of. Glancing at Grovyle, Arctales cleared hir throat before speaking up. "'Hey...um...Kyo?'"

Realizing the futility of his efforts, he sighed to himself inwardly before coming out from his hiding spot. "Oh, hey Arctales," he began, trying to act as casual as possible, "I d-didn't expect to see you here. I was busy...uh...inspecting this here...leaf..." He gently patted the plant. "...It's a good leaf..." Grovyle walked over to his side and hooked her arm around his.

"'Right...'" said Arctales, "'So...anyways, Grovyle said that you wanted to talk to me about something?'" Kyo hesitated, keeping his gaze between his feet and Grovyle's eyes. Arctales tilted hir head. "'...Is there a problem?'" Kyo looked to Grovyle, giving her a look that told her that he just couldn't go through with telling her anything.

And after realizing that, Grovyle sighed and turned to Arctales. "'So hey, Arctales,'" she began, catching the herm's attention, "'you're the other ex-human on this island, right? Because Kyo is one as well.'" Both of the other morphs chocked on absolutely nothing.

"'I...I-I'm sorry, what?!'" Arctales exclaimed. Kyo on the other hand was silently screaming in his head. He glared at Grovyle in silent fury and shock, asking her with his eyes alone why she had gone and done something like that. The grass type merely shrugged before continuing.

"'Kyo wanted to talk to you about it, but as per usual, he was too shy and scared to actually go through with it.'" Kyo's jaw fell slack. Had it not been connected to his head, it surely would've dropped straight to the sandy ground at his feet. Arctales was more or less the same, though to a lesser degree than him. Shi looked down at hir feet as shi took all of this in.

"'...Sorry...I...need a minute to process this...'" Awkward silence fell between the three of them, making Kyo feel worse and worse. What if he had been wrong? What if this was just some other herm on the island? There could've been others! He knew enough people back home to know that people were attracted to them! He knew how to turn off safe search whene-- "'H-hold on, I'll be right back.'" Before either of them could stop hir, Arctales vanished between the trees as shi hurried back to where shi had left hir mates. While this didn't help Kyo in feeling any better, it did give him time to finally speak with Grovyle.

"What was that about?!" he exclaimed ecstatically, "Why would you do that?!"

"'Come on! I was only doing what I felt was right! This is probably going to be your only opportunity to talk with hir!'"

"I-I know that! B-but you can't just--" An abrupt rustling was heard, snapping their attention away from each other. Once they turned, they saw that Arctales had returned and Arcanine was now with hir.

"'Alright, what's going on?'" Arcanine growled, pounding a fist into her palm, "'Are these two threatening you?'" Arctales placed a paw on the side of her arm.

"'No, no, it's...not anything like that,'" shi assured her, causing her to settle down a little, "'But I'm afraid it's...just as serious...'" Arcanine growled again.

"'What are they trying to do then?'" she asked tensely, keeping her eyes on Kyo. Arctales squeezed her arm slightly.

"'Nothing, Arcanine. But...'" Arctales raised her muzzle to Arcanine's ear before whispering, "' ...they're claiming that...Kyo is...well...also...an ex human...'" Upon hearing that, Arcanine's expressions immediately changed. She stepped back in shock, looking at Arctales, then back to Kyo, then back to Arctales again, and so on. And as she did this, Kyo shifted his weight between his feet nervously. After about her fourth round, Arcanine leaned over near Arctales' ear and hid her muzzle away with a paw.

"'Arctales, they could be lying,'" she whispered silently, "'How do you know if they're telling the truth?'" Arctales looked to Kyo, who kept his gaze to the ground.

"'I just...don't see any reason for them to do so...'" Arctales furrowed a brow. "'...But...how did...you know that I was an ex human in the first place?'" Arcanine caught her breath in surprise, having been caught off guard by this fact. Kyo's gaze finally raised. He looked to Grovyle, but she merely gestured for him to explain. With a sigh, Kyo turned to face the two fire types and spoke up.

"W...well," he began, hesitating, "the thing is...Captain Shino...the captain for the-"

"'The S.S. Gyrados,'" Arcanine cut in, "'Yeah, we know him. What about him?'"

Kyo gulped slightly. "Well he...kinda...told...me...about hir..." Arcanine chuffed and looked off to the side in agitation.

"'That guy...'" she growled lowly, "'I'm gonna have a good talk with him when I get the chance..."

"P-please don't be mad at him!" he stammered, waving his hands around, "H-he was just trying to cheer me up for the trip to the island." Arcanine huffed, keeping her arms folded underneath her bosom. She was clearly still rather disgruntled about this.

"'It's...fine...for the most part,'" said Arctales dismissively, "'It was probably more reassuring to know that you weren't alone in this whole...situation...'" Shi laughed nervously, hir nine tails waving around anxiously. "'To be honest...it probably would've been helpful to _me_as well... Ever since I've come here to the island...I was convinced that I'd be the only ex-human morph that would ever come to be...'"

Kyo laughed nervously, swishing his tail softly behind him. "Yeah...before I knew that you were one as well, I also thought that I was the only one..." He continued to laugh nervously, and to his surprise, Arctales joined in as well. For a good minute, the two ex-humans' laughter filled the air around them, gradually ridding the place of the tense atmosphere that had hung over them all just mere moments ago.

Eventually, Arctales let out a sigh and smiled. "'Wow, a fellow ex-human, huh?'" Shi looked to him, hir nine, striped tails perking up attentively. "'So, how did you take the change?'"

Kyo tilted his head, looking up in thought as he tried to recall. "Well, I can definitely say that it was...almost overwhelming to me at first.'" Arctales laughed lightly.

"'Same,'" shi replied, "'it was a lot for me to take in too. If it weren't for my mates, I doubt that I would've been able to take the transition as well as I did.'" Kyo smiled at that.

"Heh, same for me there. Thanks to my friends and family, I was able to take the change a lot better than I probably would have initially." He felt his heart swell as he remembered Totodile's unwavering support of him when he first opened his eyes after the change. After that came the image of his family and partner all together, giving him a thumbs up as he started his official journey as a morph. A broad smile spread across his muzzle, and a single tear trailed down his cheek. Fortunately for him, it was on the opposite side of where everyone was facing him.

"'Hm, I see,'" Arctales replied cheerily, hir tails perking up behind her, "'I'm glad that we were both able to get through our changes relatively okay.'" Kyo smiled and nodded in agreement. "'Hey...is it ok if I ask you a personal question?'" Kyo couldn't help but laugh.

"Well, I mean, we've gotten about as personal as we could at this point, but sure. Go ahead." Arctales chuckled before continuing.

"'Well...I'm curious about how you ended up transforming, because I have a feeling that we didn't exactly become morphs through the same...ahem...circumstances.'" Behind hir, shi could hear Arcanine holding back a cackle.

Grovyle placed a hand on Kyo's shoulder, knowing that this memory was one that he didn't relish bringing back up. But the water type placed his hand upon hers and looked to her with a smile. Wordlessly, he told her that it was ok. This was what he had anticipated in the first place. After Grovyle returned his smile, he turned back to Arctales and spoke up again. "I became a morph because of this...weird...purple crystal me and my partner found in this weird cave we came across one day." Kyo didn't notice it, but as he mentioned the purple crystal, Arcanine's expression changed to a far more serious and attentive one. "The cave itself was kind of odd... It was just one straight shot. Only one turn, and it was at the end, where we first saw the crystal. Once we found it, well...you can probably guess what happened from there, heh..."

"'So wait,'" Arcanine spoke up, catching Kyo off guard, "'If you and your partner both came across the crystal, then why didn't you bring him or her to the island with you? They also transformed into a morph, right?'"

Kyo shook his head. "No actually. I was the only one affected by the crystal." Hearing this, the two fire types exchanged confused glances. "I don't know why it happened. My only guess is that the crystal I encountered didn't work like the ones that changed all of the other pokemon into morphs."

Arcanine sighed and shrugged dismissively. "'Well, we never figured out how the stones that changed us worked, so what the hell ever.'"

"'It is weird though,'" said Arctales, putting a paw to hir chin thoughtfully, "'I never expected there to be a stone that changed a human into a pokemorph, rather than a pokemon.'"

Kyo's head tilted in confusion. "So wait, were you not changed by a crystal too?" Arctales shook her head.

"'No actually. It played a part in my transformation, but not entirely. When I was changed, I was with my mates, Arcanine and Ninetales, who were the ones who were originally changed by a purple crystal as well. The thing was, though, that Ninetales took in more of the crystal's properties than Arcanine. As a result, the energies inside of the crystal were stored in her body. Of course, that energy didn't stay inside of her for long. After spending enough time-'"

Arcanine snorted. "'Yeah, 'spending time' is definitely what I'd call what we did.'" A bright blush rose on Arctales' cheeks.

"'O-okay fine. After mating with my mates,'" at that, Kyo's cheeks lit up red, "'and sleeping in their presence, the trapped energies inside of Ninetales were unleashed onto me, causing me to become...more like the both of them...as you can already tell.'"

"...Wow..." Kyo replied unintelligibly, completely unable to come up with a better response than that.

"'Yeah,'" continued Arctales, "'It seems that, for the both of us, we ended up transforming under some extreme circumstances, huh?'"

"Heh, can't argue with you there," said Kyo, "It's no wonder why we're the only ex-humans here."

Arctales smiled. "'Well actually--'" Before she could finish her statement, the sounds of rustling leaves nearby silenced everyone. They all turned to look and saw Ninetales walking in with Growlix in her arms.

"'What's going on?'" she asked in concern, "'Is something wrong?'"

"'Kyo here is apparently an ex-human as well,'" Arcanine explained bluntly, earning a shocked gasp from the fellow fire type. Kyo bit his lip lightly and looked down, shuffling his feet around uncomfortably.

"'Oh my gosh, I'm sorry,'" said Arctales, noticing his discomfort, "'You must've had a heart attack just now. Don't worry about your identity getting out there. Your secret's safe with us.'" This made Kyo feel at least a little bit better, though he still couldn't help but feel uneasy. Arctales smiled and added, "'Besides, they've managed to keep my secret for so long. So you have nothing to worry about.'"

"'Damn straight,'" said Arcanine with a confident smirk, "'And if it somehow does_get out, then I'll _personally make sure that no one rats you out.'" She punched her fist into her paw to punctuate her point.

"'That's right dear,'" Ninetales chimed in, "'You can trust us. We promise not to tell anyone.'" Kyo smiled and bowed slightly in thanks.

"So then," he spoke up, "this...doesn't change your...opinions on me?" A brief moment of silence passed before the three fire types burst into laughter.

"'Of course not,'" said Ninetales in a pleasant tone, "'That doesn't matter to us at all.'"

"'Yeah,'" said Arcanine, pointing a thumb at Arctales, "'Besides, if that _did_matter to us, this little drama queen wouldn't be standin' here among us today.'"

"'We judge a person for how they treat others,'" said Arctales, "'What their body is, or even what it was doesn't matter to us. I know it's a bit cliché to say, but I really mean it when I say that it's what's on the inside that counts.'"

A bright smile spread across Kyo's muzzle as he began to tear up. "Thank you... Thank you all..." Smiling as well, Grovyle wrapped an arm around his side and embraced him lovingly. Mirroring their smiles, Ninetales moved closer before leaning against him and enveloping the water type in some of her numerous tails, which ended up catching Kyo off guard. Hir heart warmed by the sentiment, Arctales couldn't help hirself from moving closer and doing the same to him as well. And seeing everyone in one big bunch, Arcanine just gave a shrug before walking over and joining in the giant group embrace. And with so many caring morphs around him, Kyo found his build up emotional restraints break down, causing him to fully break down into tears of happiness. "Thank you all... Thank you all..." he repeated again through a few hiccups, "I was...so afraid...of being hated...and isolated...just for my identity alone..." Hearing this, Arctales couldn't help but cry as well. Apparently, shi had been holding in some of hir own emotions as well.

"'It's no problem at all, dear,'" said Ninetales happily, "'As far as I'm concerned you're already part of the family.'"

"'Whoa, whoa, whoa,'" cut in Arcanine, raising a paw, "'Now I wouldn't go that far just yet.'" Ninetales gave her a look, making her laugh before continuing. "'But we've got you covered if you're ever in need of some friends to talk to.'" Kyo smiled all the same.

"That's perfectly fine by me..." After a brief moment of Kyo letting everything out, everyone began to untangle from each other. "I'm just...so happy right now."

Arctales laughed, wiping some of the tears away from hir eyes. "'How do you think I feel? I'm happy to know that my mum and I really aren't alone in this.'" Before Kyo had the chance to question what shi meant by that, he felt a pair of tiny paws pat at his arm. He turned to look and saw that it was Growlix, who was pawing at him playfully. Ninetales smiled and looked to her child.

"'You see?'" she asked Kyo, nuzzling her cub lovingly, "'Growlix is proof of how superficial physical appearance is. So long as a person bears a good heart, there isn't a single thing that can't be looked past.'"

Kyo smiled and nodded. "I couldn't agree more."

Ninetales booped Growlix on the nose, making hir yip in excitement and squirm around in her arms. Once she managed to calm hir back down, she turned back to Kyo and Grovyle before asking, "'So would you two like to join us for today? The water is very nice today.'" The two morphs looked to each other with bright smiles before looking back to Ninetales, both of them agreeing, with Kyo doing so especially happily.

***

By sunset, the group found themselves walking out from the trees and onto the sandy beach floor. As Growlix energetically crawled around, Ninetales followed alongside hir, watching her lovingly. Kyo and Arctales were the next ones to emerge from amongst the trees, walking just a bit faster than Ninetales and eventually taking the head of the group as the two morphs talked animatedly. The last two to emerge were Arcanine and Grovyle, who were walking side by side. As they walked, Grovyle's gaze was fixated upon Kyo as he conversed with the herm. Though she didn't want to admit it, watching the way Arctales made him laugh and smile, she couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy.

"'Heh, don't take it too seriously,'" came Arcanine's voice, making Grovyle snap her gaze away from the pair, "'He's just found a person he can relate to at a very close level is all.'"

"'Yeah, I know,'" Grovyle replied with a slight sigh, returning her gaze to Kyo, "'I just...wish I could do so as well...'" Arcanine frowned a bit upon hearing this, but the grass type didn't take notice. "'Yeah, I'm still kind of mad at him, but I also want to make up for how badly I treated him...'" Arcanine patted her shoulder reassuringly.

"'Listen,'" she began, "'I was never good at this emotional bonding kind of stuff, but you can trust me when I say this. You can relate to him. Maybe not in the way that Arctales can, but you can still relate to him in your own_way.'" Arctales and Kyo suddenly began to laugh. And seeing that, Grovyle couldn't help but smile. And seeing _that made Arcanine smile. "'Say, while we're here, you wanna spar for a bit?'"

Grovyle tilted her head slightly before turning to the fire type. "'But I've got nothing to train for anymore.'"

"'Heh, so?'" Arcanine grinned widely, showing off her pearly whites, "'Who says we always have to train? We can just spar for fun. Besides, if it really matters to you, this can count as training for next year's tournament.'" She suddenly took on a stance, playfully pawing at Grovyle's shoulder and bouncing lightly on her heels. "'C'mon. It'll be fun.'" Grovyle smiled before deciding to play along, batting at Arcanine playfully as they started a light mock-battle.

"'Just be careful, you two!'" called Ninetales, "'And watch yourself when you're near Growlix, Arcanine!'"

"'Got it!'" Arcanine called back as she suddenly grappled Grovyle, making her yelp and giggle in surprise. Off to the side, Arctales and Kyo seated themselves down on the sand, watching the rest of their group happily. Their gazes focused mainly on Arcanine and Grovyle, the latter of whom was trying to wriggle herself free from Arcanine's grasp. Arctales chuckled.

"'It looks like those two are having fun, huh?'" shi commented. Kyo laughed and sat back slightly.

"I'm just shocked that they're able to, especially in this kind of weather."

Arctales laughed this time. "'You think so? I feel like it's cooled down a fair bit by now. Then again, I guess since my family's made up of fire types, it would be hard for us to notice.'"

"Heh, good point," Kyo replied, "Grovyle and I are both cold blooded, so I guess that makes us especially sensitive to the weather around here."

"'Also a good point,'" said Arctales, also deciding to sit back, "'What's it like to be one, by the way?'"

"It's...a bit odd," he explained, "I guess it's like moving between an air conditioned room and a non-air conditioned room over and over again."

Arctales nodded thoughtfully. "'I think I get what you mean. And you're right; it does sound pretty odd.'" The two morphs laughed at that.

"Hey...Arctales?" said Kyo after they settled back down, "is it alright if I ask you something?"

"'Go for it,'" Arctales replied. Kyo hesitated for a moment before continuing.

"What was it like...transitioning from a male to a hermaphrodite?" Arctales fell silent for a moment. Shi looked down at her lap as shi thought things over in hir head.

"'In all honesty,'" shi began, a soft smile spreading across hir muzzle, "'it didn't really matter all that much to me...after a while...'" Shi tilted her head slightly. "'Yes, it was strange the first time around. But eventually, it just...became normal. It just became a part of my identity.'" With a smile, she looked over to him and said, "'It's like I said before; physical appearance doesn't matter. Things like gender, species, everything pertaining to that kind of stuff is all just superficial. Becoming a hermaphrodite, even becoming a morph, those things may have changed what I am, but they didn't change who I am.'"

Looking past your new body, you're still the same person you were before.

Nurse Joy's words echoed through Kyo's head at that, making it hard for him not to smile. "'And that's why I eventually stopped caring about my gender,'" shi went on, a blush beginning to form on hir cheeks, "'and...well...it's also why I eventually got over not wearing shorts all of the time.'"

Hearing that made Kyo blush as well. Quickly wishing to take his mind off of that, he turned back to watch Grovyle and Arcanine spar with each other. "Yeah...I think I get what you mean," Kyo replied, "...Thank you...for answering such a deep question."

"'And thank you for letting me get that out of my system,'" shi chuckled, letting out a content sigh, "'It feels like a huge weight has been lifted off of my shoulders.'" They laughed again, and Arctales looked over to him. "'And hey, if you're ever in need of any help, I just wanna let you know that you can come to us.'"

Kyo smiled and glanced back at her. "Heh...thanks. And the same goes for you. I'd be more than happy to help you out if you ever needed any."

Arctales smiled and bowed slightly to him. "'Thanks to you too then. That's definitely good to know.'" With that out of the way, they turned their attention back to the two sparring morphs. And after a bit...they turned to each other and decided that they too wanted to join in on the fun.

***