POKeARTHROMORPHS

CHAPTER 1-Ana

"So where is the cave?" I heard Chris ask Marcus.

Marcus grinned as he ran ahead of us. "It’s around here somewhere. Over here I think."

Marcus led the twelve of us towards a cave. It was covered by bushes and tree branches, so it was fairly hard to see.

"What’s inside?" Carla asked quietly.

Marcus shrugged. "I’m not sure. I haven’t been inside yet." He walked inside the cave as if it was a lolly store or something.

"Yeah, that’s right, just walk right in." I said sarcastically. Despite my words, I did walk right in without hesitation. "Did anyone ever thought that there could be Ursarings or Houndooms in this cave?"

Jennifer shook her head. "Ursarings and Houndooms don’t live in Kanto, so where pretty much safe."

"Hey, come look at this." David’s voice called from somewhere in the darkness of the cave.

"You know, you shouldn’t wonder off by yourself," I said to him as I made my way over to him in the darkness.

Daniel whistled in disbelieve when he saw what David wanted to show us. On the ground where eleven necklaces.

"There’s one for the each of us." Chris said, stating the obvious.

I nodded and moved closer. Each necklace was made from a silver chain. Except for one. It was made from a gold chain. I picked it up. Hanging from the chain was a carving of a Charizard made out of crystal. I hang it around my neck and instantly the crystal Charizard glowed and then went back to normal.

The others had found a necklace and had claimed it for themselves. Marcus had a Raichu necklace, Chris had an Articuno necklace, David had a Nidoking necklace, Daniel had an Espeon necklace, Theo had an Aerodactyl necklace, Jennifer had a Persian necklace, Nick had a Lugia necklace, Clarence had a Vaporeon necklace, Carla had an Umbeon necklace and Derek had a Steelix necklace.

"They’re really pretty," Jennifer commented as she looked at her Persian necklace that was around her neck.

I nodded in agreement. "Yeah, they are. Come on. Let’s go home before it gets late."

Katz sighed and we looked at her. She was the only one without a necklace. I smiled apologetically at her. "Sorry, Katz. I forgot that you are new to this group."

Katz shrugged. "Doesn’t worry me. I don’t need a necklace."

"You sure?" Jennifer asked.

Katz nodded. "Yep. Go on. Keep them. I don’t mind."

I smiled as I watched the others leave, including Katz. She did look slightly sad, but she seemed to be happy enough to talk to Jennifer and Carla. I joined in on the girl conversation as we walked out of the cave.

_____________________________________________________________________

The next morning I woke up to the pitta-patter of paws, but I didn’t worry too much about it. I could also feel something small and light walk across my legs and then sit on my stomach. I ignored the pressure on my stomach and tried to go back to sleep.

"Meow?"

I opened my eyes slowly to see a cat face with grey and black fur and green eyes. It was Belle my tabby cat. She had somehow had gotten out of her room and had come to my room.

I sat up and stroked Belle’s soft fur. "What’s up Belle?" I asked tiredly.

"Meow," Belle said, sounding slightly worried.

I signed and shook my head. "I have no idea what you’re trying to say, but I’m going straight back to sleep. Wake me up later."

I settled down to get more comfortable, but it was completely hard when you have something bony under your back.

Belle stood up on my stomach, turned around and sat back down again, so that I could only see her back. She was watching something with great interest. I sat up and watched her. That’s when I noticed the long lump on the end of my bed.

Quickly I threw the blankets of my bed and saw something that I thought I’d never see. On the end of my bed there was a long red thing. I’m not really sure what it was. It was so long that it hanged at the bottom of my bed and almost touched the ground.

I looked at Belle. "Is this what you wanted to show me?"

Belle meowed and pawed at the long red thing at the end of my bed. She then reflexed her claws and drew her paws back, preparing to strike. Suddenly she lashed her paw forward without warning.

"Yeeeeeeoooooooowww!" I leaped up into the air. Belle had only enough time to jump off me before I had decided to yell and jump into the air and land on my stomach on the bed.

I turned to look at Belle and gave her an accusing look. "Did you miss and scratch me instead?"

Belle looked at me innocently and meowed guiltily as she layed down on the floor and put both paws over her nose. I could see her peeking at me over her arms with her bright green eyes.

I looked around. I couldn’t see the red long thing anywhere.

THUMP! THUMP!

I turned to look behind me to see the long red thing slam a third time against the wall. I sat up, so that I was on my hands and knees. My head was still facing behind me.

I yawned and sat at the edge of my bed. Belle was still staring at me with curiosity. Like she hadn’t seen me before. She stood up and jumped on my lap. She then stood on two legs, using my right shoulder as a paw rest. She then used her right paw to tap something above me. The problem was that whatever she had seen above me was obviously apart of me, because I could feel her right paw.

I moved my head around, so that I could see what the huge heavy thing was on my back. Whatever it was, it was huge! It was also red and dark blue and was spread across my back. It reminded me of a pair of dragon wings.

Signing, I reached with my right hand to scratch the top of my head, but my hand never got there, because I had stopped moving it when it reach my face. I stared at it. The tips of my fingers were tipped with long, curved, sharp claws. I looked down at my feet. The toes were also tipped with long, curved, sharp claws. I ran both hands threw my hair and stopped when I felt something long and bony.

I got up from the end of my bed and slowly walked up to my mirror. I was shocked when I saw myself. At the back of my head where two red crests. Looking closely at my face I could see that my once hazel eyes where now dark blue. My mouth and nose had stretched out into the long jaws of a Charizard. The huge red and dark blue heavy thing on my back was a pair of dragon-like wings. The long red thing was also connected to me. I then noticed why it had hurt when Belle had scratched it. It was my tail.

As I stared at my reflection in my mirror I heard a knock on my bedroom door. I kept silent. I didn’t want my parents to see me like this, so I pretended to be asleep.

"Hey, Ana." My brother’s voice sounded urgent as he called through my bedroom door. "Open up. I have something to show you."

I signed. I would have to tell everyone eventually. "Alright, alright. I’m coming. Hold your Ponytas."

I opened the door to see Nick standing in front of me. I blinked. We looked at each other.

"Wow!" Nick said in amazement. "You, too?"

I nodded as I looked at Nick’s new added features. Some kind of dark blue blade or shield surrounded his eyes. His mouth and nose had bulged out to look like a beak. His back was almost covered by dark blue spines or blades. On his back was a pair of silvery-white wings highlighted in very light blue. Connected to his spine was a long, thick silvery-white tail highlighted in light blue, and had two dark blue spines or blades at the end.

"Amazing!" I said in wonder. "I was beginning to think I was the only one."

Nick laughed. "Yeah, me, too. How do you think it happened?"

I shrugged as I closed my bedroom door and locked it, so that Nick and I could have enough privacy to talk. "I’m not really sure. Maybe it has something to do with those necklaces."

Nick nodded in agreement and pulled out his necklace from his pyjama top. His fingered the crystal Lugia hanging down from its silver chain. The crystal Lugia glowed twice and then stopped. "It probably does have to do with these necklaces. You have a Charizard one and I have a Lugia. Why is your chain gold instead of silver?"

Again I shrugged. "I have no idea. I suggest we find the others and see if anything has happened to them. You don’t have any claws, so you can write the note to Mum and Dad, and tell them that we have gone out."

Nick nodded and opened my bedroom door. "Right. I’ll just get dressed and I’ll meet you at the front door."

I nodded and Nick left.

I walked towards my wardrobe and pulled out a light cream T-shirt, a bluish-grey jacket with pale silver on the collar, and a pair of black pants. The hardest part was fitting my wings through the two slits on my T-shirt and jacket, but I managed it. I then cut a hole in my pants and pulled my tail through.

I signed a little as I picked up my green backpack with the brick red coloured straps. I hope I don’t have to keep ruining any clothing.

Five minutes later Nick and I was out of the house and was walking down the quite streets.

I noticed that Nick was dressed in a choice of a white T-shirt with the words ‘Heavy Metal’ written in blue-green, an emerald green coloured jacket and black pants.

As I walked, I could feel my tail swinging side to side. It was a very weird feeling. I never even thought that having a tail would feel like this. It also was so easy to command. I could move it from side to side, or up and down. Or I could not move it at all.

Belle had decided to come with us. She was walking somewhere behind me, sniffing my tail. I was a little nervous that she was either going to bite it, or scratch it. I hope she doesn’t.

It didn’t take long to reach the cave. I noticed that someone else was already there. She had silvery-blond hair. On top of her head was a pair of white ears with black edges. Her fingers and toes were tipped with long curved claws. A long creamy-white tail swung from side to side in a gentle swift motion. She wore a silvery-white T-shirt and a red coat that was given to her by Chris as a birthday present. She also had a pair of light cream shorts. On her back was a red backpack with rosy pink straps.

"Jennifer?" I called out quietly to the girl sitting on a rock outside the cave.

Jennifer turned around and I could see a bright red gem on her forehead and her cat-like muzzle. She smiled. "Its nice to see you two here. I can see that the same thing has happened to you."

I nodded and sat down on a rock next to Jennifer. Nick also sat down on a rock on the other side of Jennifer.

"Chris is also here," Jennifer told us. "He’s part Articuno."

"Hey, Jennifer, Nick, Ana!" Called out a voice from far away.

The three of us looked over towards a boy with dirty blond hair and red coloured eyes. He had a pair of icy-blue wings on his back. His toes were tipped with icy-blue claws and his mouth was an icy-blue coloured beak, instead of a human mouth. Blowing in the wind as the teenager ran was a long icy-blue feathery Articuno-like tail.

Jennifer stood up. "Chris!" She yelled happily as she ran towards him. The two embraced briefly and then let go.

Chris grinned, as he looked Nick and I over. "Whoa! Has it happened to you, too?"

Again I nodded. "Yep. Nick and I think that it’s the effect of the necklaces."

Chris scratched his chin thoughtfully. "So, that must mean that the others have also changed."

Something tapped me on the shoulder and I jumped. I quickly turned around to see a pair of purple coloured eyes stare into my dark blue eyes. I moved back and grinned.

"Daniel. Fancy seeing you here on this lovely weird day."

Daniel laughed and stood back, so that the rest of us could admire him. He had two large silvery-purple ears on his head. A red gem glowed brightly on his forehead. His eyes were purple instead of their usual pale grey. A small cat-like muzzle had replaced his human mouth and nose. Almost dragging on the ground was a long silvery-purple tail that split into two at the end.

I smiled. "You’re part Espeon."

"And you’re part Charizard," Daniel grinned. He turned to the others. "I saw Derek and Carla walking together. Derek is part Steelix and Carla is part Umbeon. They should be here at any minute now."

"Well, what great timing." Chris muttered.

I looked over at the distance and could see Derek and Carla walking towards us. Derek had steel-blue coloured eyes and a long steel tail. Carla had a pair of jet-black furry ears with a gold band around them. She also had a muzzle instead of her usual human mouth and nose. She also had a long jet-black furry tail with a gold band around it. When she came closer, I could see that her usual pale blue eyes were now dark red.

"OK, now we just have to wait for Marcus, David, Theo, Clarence and Katz." I said.

"David and Theo are already here." Nick told everyone.

I looked at David. On his head was a pair of large purple and blue-green ears. A long purple horn jutted out of his forehead. His fingers and toes were tipped with sharp claws, and connected to his spine was a long thick purple tail.

Theo’s arms had a flap of lose skin that looked like the one that Aerodactyl had to make wings. The other new feature he had was a long purple tail that had an arrow at the end.

"I wonder where Marcus, Clarence and Katz are." Jennifer said.

I pointed behind her and she turned to look. "Over there. I think that’s them."

A pair of black eyes replaced Marcus’ bright green eyes. Sticking out through his jet-black hair was a pair of orange-brown furry ears with yellow on the inside. His mouth was produced into a small muzzle with a black dot for a nose. His cheeks were also yellow and a long black wiry tail with a yellow jagged end jutted out of his pants.

Clarence had a pair of fins for ears and a fin crest on top of his head. Around his neck was a fin frill. His mouth was also a muzzle. His eyes were black and a light blue dolphin-like tail swung from side to side.

Katz was completely normal as far as I could tell. She wore a reddish-pink T-shirt and a rich copper coloured jacket. She also had on a pair of pink shorts. Hanging loosely around her neck was her Dratini, Ryder.

I noticed that everyone had brought his or her Pokemon with him or her. I had Gover, Anemo, Lightning-Storm, Toxicity, Hyeto and Ace with me. Marcus had Zapper the Pikachu, Shocker the Elekid, Jolt the Jolteon, Gizmo the Magnemite, Torby the Voltorb and Fleece the Mareep. Chris had Snowy the Seel, Clamp the Shellder, Smooch the Smoochum, Icy the Lapras, Deliver the Delibird and Snuggles the Swinub. David had Venom the Nidoran Male, Bunny the Nidoran Female, Slither the Ekans, Smokey the Koffing, Sludge the Grimer and Drillin the Beedrill. Daniel had Duel the Espeon, Teleport the Abra, Zee the Drowzee and Psy the Natu. Theo had Powder the Butterfree, Gnat the Venonat, Webby the Spinarak, Blade the Scyther, Lady the Ledyba and Guillotine the Pinsir. Jennifer had Kitty the Meowth, Risky the Chansey, Star the Cleffa, Knight the Eevee, Buffy the Igglybuff and Hyper the Rattata. Nick had Feathers the Pidgey, Spear the Spearow and Talon the Hoothoot. Clarence had Bubbles the Horsea, Goldy the Goldeen, Swirl the Poliwag, Vapour the Vaporeon, Squirtles the Squirtle and Dile the Totodile. Carla had Shadow the Umbeon, Dour the Houndour, Murk the Murkrow and Soil the Larvitar. Derek had Rusty the Skarmory, Metal the Scizor and Lix the Steelix.

"OK," I said as the others sat on a rock, so that we were facing each other in a circle. "It’s more then likely that the necklace we are all wearing, except for Katz, did this to us." There were a couple of nods in agreement from some of my friends, so I continued. "We are not going to let this effect our lives. Who knows? Maybe we can find away to get back to normal."

"What really bothers me is the fact that there are twelve of us." Jennifer said with a sign. "Why didn’t Katz get a necklace?"

"Katz isn’t really part of this group," Chris pointed out darkly. "Besides, they probably were for whoever found them. We were just the lucky ones."

I nodded. "Chris’ right. There’s no reason to think that these necklaces were left for us."

"I still can’t get pass the fact that I’ve grown a few extra features." David said.

I laughed. "Yeah, I see what you mean."

Jennifer gently grabbed her tail and examined it. Belle wasn’t happy, because she wanted to play with it herself. When she found that she couldn’t do that she moved towards Daniel’s tail and that playing with that.

"Ow! Jeez!" Daniel yelled as he jumped up. He snatched away his tail from Belle’s grasp and gave me an accusing look. "Ana, can’t you control your Cat?"

I shrugged and pointed at a scratch mark on my own tail. "You’re not the only one that she’s attacked today. Besides, she’s just curious."

Daniel rolled his eyes. "Yeah, curiosity killed the Cat."

I looked at him in shock and instantly put my hands over Belle’s ears. Jennifer gasped at him.

Daniel blinked in confusion. "What? What did I say? I didn’t say anything bad did I?"

Chris laughed and slapped Daniel playfully on the back. "Hello, Belle’s a Cat."

Daniel rolled him eyes and replied sarcastically. "Really? I thought she was a Jack Russell."

"Why did you gasp, Jennifer?" Katz asked.

"Well, because I’m a Persian, and they’re Cats." Jennifer laughed. "I just hope ‘curiosity’ doesn’t kill the cat part of me."

"So, what are we going to do?" Marcus asked. His tail was flicking from side to side.

"You know, we have quite a team with us." I mused. The others looked at me, puzzled, so I continued on. "Thank about it, Guys. I’m a Fire-type, Marcus is an Electric-type, Chris is a Ice-type, David is a Poison-type, Daniel is a Psychic-type, Theo is a Flying and Rock-type, Jennifer is a Normal-type, Nick is a Flying and Psychic-type, Clarence is a Water-type, Carla is a Dark-type and Derek is a Steel-type."

Daniel looked at me. "What exactly are you saying?"

"What I’m saying is that maybe we should practise our abilities."

Daniel rolled his eyes. "Ana, it’ll probably take forever. An Espeon is a Psychic-type. What makes you think I can create a Psywave or whatever?"

I shrugged. "It was just a thought. Any way, we still have to think about how we are going to break this to our parents."

Jennifer sighed and shook her head a little. "My parents would be shocked and amazed if they see me like this." She fingered her muzzle thoughtfully. "We could tell them slowly."

I frowned and looked at my snout. It was so long that I could see it just by looking downwards. "Ack! I have a snout, but the weird thing is that it’s actually quite comfortable."

Chris grinned in a weird way. Probably because he had a beak instead of a muzzle and you can’t smile with a beak, but you can do a lot better with a muzzle. "I find having a beak weird."

Daniel screwed up his face in disgust. "If you don’t mind, I rather have no muzzle."

"Why? You’re not the one with a long snout sticking out of your face." I said.

Daniel looked at my snout quizzically. "Isn’t it heavy or annoying?"

I shook my head a gave him a toothy grin. "Nope. Not at all. I actually find it quite pleasing."

"Oh." Daniel started to finger his own muzzle. He then grinned at me briefly, showing small, but sharp needle cat-like teeth. "I can’t figure out if Espeons are dogs or cats. I mean, it looks more like a cat, but the other evolutions of Eevee look more like dogs. I find it quite weird."

"You know what’s really weird?" Katz asked. "A bunch of weird-looking kids talking about things being weird. Now that’s weird."

Clarence laughed. "I actually quite like it. It’s pleasant in it’s own way."

David nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I see what you mean. I could be like this forever."

I smiled a little at that. "Do you really think we will be like this forever?"

Chris shrugged. "I know it sounds corny, but I do. I would like to stay like this."

"What? Just live your lives as freaks." Katz asked in surprise. She waved a hand at all of us. "Come on. You guys are walking experiments. You can’t just go out in public."

"We are going to have to tell the world eventually, Katz." I said quietly.

Katz smiled. "I know that and I’m with all of you every step of the way. I just want to let you all know to be careful. There are lots of crazy people out there. School is back in two weeks. We should use the time to get used to our new features, and maybe even enjoy them, but not miss the danger it can cause you guys. I’m actually quite jealous. I would actually do almost anything to be part Dragonite."

"Why a Dragonite?" Theo asked.

Katz shrugged. "I just like them. They’re Dragons and they can fly. If Ana weren’t a Charizard, then I would have loved to be one. But she is and I rather be a Dragonite if I had the chance to be part Pokemon."

"Yeah, Dragonites are actually quite cool." I said. "But I’m happy being part Charizard."

"Did any of you guys notice that you have the Pokemon’s instincts about being cautious with each other?" Clarence asked.

I shook my head. "No, I don’t think so. What do you mean?"

"It’s simple. You, David and Theo are keeping right away from me, because you’re a Fire-Type, David is a Ground-type and Theo is a Rock-type. I’m a Water-type and I’m not going anywhere near Marcus. Because Nick, Theo, Chris and Ana are Flying-types they’re also not going anywhere near Marcus. Nick and Daniel, being Psychic-types, are doing their best to keep away from Carla."

I nodded in agreement. "I get what you mean. I’m keeping away from you, because you’re a Water-Type. I also have to keep away from David, because he is a Ground-Type, but because I’m flying he can’t hurt me, but Marcus can. I also have to keep away from Marcus, because he’s an Electric-Type."

"I have to keep away from David." Marcus said with a rueful smile. "I’m weak against Ground-type attacks."

"I have to keep right away from Ana." Chris said. "I’m an Ice-type and Ana’s a Fire-type. Yet, she’s also a Flying-type, so we’re effective against each other, because fire can melt ice, but ice can freeze the wings of Flying-types, which makes it hard for them to fly. Plus, being a Flying-type myself, I need to watch out for Marcus’ electric attacks."

"I have to keep away from Clarence and Chris. I’m a Ground-type, and Ground-types are weak against Water and Ice, and they also have no effect against Flying-types."

"This is kind of fun," Daniel said. "Let’s see now." He gave Carla a weak smile. "No offence, Carla, but you’re a Dark-type, so if you don’t mind."

Carla shook her head. "Don’t worry. No offence taken. I understand. Psychic is weak against dark. You better watch out, too, Nick."

Nick laughed. "Yeah, I should also keep away from Marcus and Chris. Electric and Ice do not go well with Flying-types."

"Same here," Said Theo with a small laugh. "Especially Ice-types, because I’m a Flying and Ground Pokemon. And Water isn’t good for me either."

"I’m not weak against any of you guys, nor am I effective against any of you either." Jennifer said.

"Yes you are," David corrected. "Nidokings can learn Fighting-type moves naturally. Double Kick remember?"

Jennifer frowned. "Oh right. That."

"Yeah, and Charizards can learn Fighting-type moves by TM." I added.

"If you really think about it, we’re actually effective against each other." Theo pointed out.

Daniel signed. "We could talk about this all day, but there isn’t actually really an end to it. Besides, we still have to break the news to our parents."

Chris shrugged. "I already know what my parent’s reaction will be. My Dad will just be gasping at me."

"And what about your Mum?" Katz asked.

Chris grinned cheekily at us. "My Mum will just end up on the floor."

We laughed. It actually felt good to talk to your friends when they have the same trouble as you. Even Katz was laughing and talking and she seemed to be taking things quite well. She didn’t really seem to mind the fact that her best friends were part Pokemon. In fact, I actually think she was enjoying having friends. Part Pokemon or not.

A few minutes later Daniel stretched and yawned. "Has anyone been awake long enough to see or feel the changes. I didn’t. I was sleeping like a baby."

I wasn’t," Clarence said. "I was reading in bed. I had just finished the fifth chapter of my book when my mouth started to get itchy. I scratched it and it got worse. It only lasted for two minutes and when it had finished I didn’t bother to check if anything was wrong, I just fell asleep. When I woke up early today, I found myself like this."

"Unusual," I said. "I was asleep, but I got woken up by Belle." I gave Belle a loving pat on the head. She was on my lap and was purring contently. "She wanted to show me something. It turned out to be a tail. I found out who’s tail it was the hard way when she scratched it. Ouch! It really hurt."

Daniel laughed. "I see what you mean. Only Belle bit my tail. Not scratched it."

We all laughed.

"Seriously, though, it does seems weird." Chris said.

I gave him a Charizard grin. "Serious? Chris, I have never known you to be serious. That is defiantly the last thing that you would do."

Chris laughed. "You got that right. Any way, I have to go. Might as well tell our parents and get it over and done with."

I nodded. "Chris’ right. Everyone tell your parents, brothers and sisters, but no one else. Katz, you’re fine and you don’t need to tell them anything. Alright, we’ll all meet back here after lunch."

"Oh, good." Nick said. "Ana and I left without having breakfast." He grinned as best as he could with a large beak for a mouth. "First time ever. And you can defiantly guess why." He stood up. "Coming, Ana?"

I also stood up. "Of course. See you around, Guys."

We said goodbye to each other and left. Chris had offered to walk Jennifer home. Katz came with Nick, Daniel, Marcus and I, while David, Theo and Clarence went together. Carla and Derek live near each other, so they also walked home together.

Nick, Katz and I walked through the door at the front of my house. Not literally of course. Our parents weren’t home, so I asked Katz and Nick to come in my room. Together we just sat and talked. A couple of times we just played cards and other time Nick and I had to stop Belle from attacking our tails. Half an hour later I could hear my parents open the front door and walk into the kitchen. Nick and I got up from our position on the floor and slowly walked towards the kitchen. Katz also followed us closely behind.

"Hello!" Mum called out. "Anyone home? Nick? Ana?"

"We’re home!" I hollowed loudly.

"Come help your father and I with the shopping."

I sighed and tried to change the subject. "Katz’s here."

"That’s nice. If she wants to, she can stay for dinner." My Mum answered. "Now come on you two. It’s time to pack away the shopping."

"I’ll do it." Katz spoke up quickly. "I don’t mind. Nick and Ana have to do some things any way, so I’ll just help with the groceries."

"Well, if you’re sure you don’t mind." Mum said slowly.

Katz smiled as she walked into the kitchen. "Of course not."

I smiled in relief and Nick and I walked up into my bedroom. Belle was still in there. When I had sat down on the end of my bed Belle jumped up on my lap and sat down. I gave her a couple of reassuring pats and she meowed.

"That was close," Nick commented as he looked at my bedroom door. He then turned to Belle and I. "So, how are we going to tell them?"

"Let’s leave that to Katz. She has the most amazing way of explaining things. She can make weird things seem totally normal. Trust me. I’ve seen her do it."

Nick nodded and sat on the floor in front of my bed. "Ok then. We’ll wait."

But we didn’t need to wait, because at that very moment there was a knock on the other side of my bedroom door.

"Nick, Ana. Katz said you had something to your father and I."

"Sure thing, Mum. Just wait in the lounge room and Nick and I will be down there in just a few minutes."

"Alright," Mum said and I could hear her footsteps getting softer as she walked off. "Don’t be too long."

"So, how are we going to tell them?" Nick asked me.

I shrugged. "Like I know. I’ve never been in a situation like this before. I guess we just go out there and tell them."

"Fine by me. It’s not like we have any other choice."

I stood up with Belle in my arms. "Good. Then let’s go."

Once again Nick and I walked slowly towards the lounge room. We didn’t say anything to each other on the way. Nor did we think about anything. We just walked right in as if we were completely normal. Whatever our parents thought we were going to show them, it defiantly wasn’t this.

Our Mum gasped while our father just stood there with a shooked look on his face. Surprisedly it took them only a few minutes to recover.

"But how?" Mum asked.

I held up my Charizard necklace for her to see. Like before, it was glowing. Nick’s was also glowing. "With this, mum. It changes the person who wears it into a half version of the Pokemon on the necklace. It happened over night and ever since then our necklaces won’t stop glowing. I think it means something."

Mum still had the surprised look on her face, but she still walked over to us. "Well, you don’t have to worry, because your father and I still love you. No matter what you look like."

"I know that, mum." I said. "And I’m really glad."

"Is it just you two?" Dad asked.

Nick shook his head. "Our other friends are like this as well. Only Katz is normal."

"What are they?" Mum asked.

"You mean Pokemon?" I shrugged and said simply. "Marcus is a Raichu, Chris is a Articuno, David is a Nidoking, Daniel is a Espeon, Theo is Aerodactyl, Jennifer is a Persian, Nick is a Lugia, Clarence is a Vaporeon, Carla is a Umbreon, Derek is a Steelix and I’m a Charizard."

Things actually turned out OK. Katz left an hour earlier to go home for lunch. She said she’ll meet us at the place where we found the cave later on.

I sat on a chair in front of my desk. My tail was lying across my lap. Thinking about it I booted up my computer. I clicked on the mail icon and out popped five different e-mails. After checking them all out I wrote a bit of my story. An hour later I looked at my watch and then turned off the computer after I had saved my work.

Grabbing my Poke’ Belt, I left my room and almost bumped into Nick who was also leaving. Our parents already knew that we were going to meet our friends again, so we just went.

Only Katz, Jennifer and Chris were there. Marcus, Theo, Clarence and David came a few minutes later. Carla and Derek came together. Then finally Daniel appeared by himself.

"Well, here we are again." I said just to start the conversation. I held up my necklace. "Has anyone figured out why these things haven’t stopped glowing? It’s starting to annoy me."

Theo looked at his Aerodactyl necklace and shrugged. "I’m not really sure. I haven’t had a chance to study it. My brother kept on asking me questions while I was working on a theory." Theo gave us a rare smile and shrugged again. "Of course, it’ll probably take me weeks to figure it out."

"Has anyone tried taking them off?" Marcus asked. Before anyone could say anything he reached out and took off his own necklace.

Suddenly there was a flash of light and when it cleared Marcus was laying on the ground. He was shaking as if he was being electrocuted.

"What’s happening?" Katz cried out in a scared voice.

"We have to help him?" Jennifer said frantically.

"I don’t think there’s anything we can do." I said grimly. "I guess you’re not surpose to take the necklace off."

"Well put it back on!" Daniel yelled.

I knelt on the ground besides Marcus who was still shaking. His eyes where closed and his breathing was shallow. I picked up the necklace, but it ended up giving me a mighty powerful shock. Surprised, I quickly tossed it away. "No good, guys. The necklace keeps giving off electricity. I can’t even touch it."

"I’m a ground-type," David said. "It shouldn’t effect me."

I nodded and moved over so that David could get near Marcus. David picked up the necklace in one hand and lifted Marcus’ head with the other. He then slipped the Raichu necklace around Marcus’ neck. Instantly Marcus stopped shaking, but he didn’t get up. His eyes were opened, but he looked as if he was paralysed or something.

"I think he’s in shock." Carla said worriedly.

Derek put his ear to Marcus’ chest. "He’s still breathing. I think he’ll be alright."

After Derek had said that Marcus groaned and slowly sat up. He put a hand to his forehead and mumbled, "I am never doing that again."

"Are you OK?" I asked in concern.

"Oh yeah. Just great. I absolutely love being electrocuted."

"Sarcasm. He’s OK." Carla commented with a grin.

I laughed and helped Marcus up. "You had us worried there."

"I was also worried," Marcus said with a tight smile. "I felt as if I was being electrocuted. It also felt as if my insides were melting."

"Yeah, it was scary." Jennifer commented. "I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it."

I held up my necklace in front of my face. In the eerie light it was still glowing. "We still need to figure out this glowing that it keeps doing. It’s driving me nuts. It just keeps going on and off. When is it going to stop?"

"Maybe it’s a warning." Derek suggested. "Or maybe it has some other meaning. It could be anything."

"I know one thing," I said. "It’s a pain in the rear. These things are now apart of us. We can’t even take them off without feeling pain."

"Maybe there’s a way to take them off without feeling pain." Theo said. "If you give me time, I’ll try to find out."

"Granted," I replied. "Although, I’m not really sure if it’ll actually help. But I guess it’s worth a try. Just don’t do anything to harm yourself."

Theo nodded and rushed off back home.

"I hope we don’t have to learn anything else the hard way." Jennifer said.

"Neither do I," I said. "But look what these necklaces has done to us. And we’ve all seen what it had done to Marcus’ when he took it off. Obviously the glowing means something. What, I don’t know. But we really need to find out."

"There has to be someone that can help us," David said.

I shooked my head. "I don’t think there’s anyone. At least no one that I can think off."

_____________________________________________________________________

I spend the rest of my time at home. Away from other people, so that they wouldn’t see me. School would be back in thirteen days and my friends and I was in hiding until then.

After a few hours I couldn’t find anything else to do. I had read, wrote, drawn, played with Belle, played the Playstation, used the computer and had done many other things, but now I was bored.

The only place that my parents would let Nick and I go to was back at the cave where we had found the necklaces. Half an hour later Nick and I were already there.

The others were also there. They were each sitting on a boulder and were obviously waiting for Nick and I. I waved to them as we arrived and they waved back.

"We seem to be meeting here quite a lot," Daniel commented with a small grin.

I laughed a little. "Yeah and I reckon we’ll probably be seeing a lot more of each other later on."

"So, what are we here for now?" Katz asked.

I shrugged and said in a casual tone. "I was bored. I called you guys over here for a special reason."

"What kind of special reason?" Chris asked in wonder.

I grinned. "I think its about time we put our abilities to the test."