Chapter Text
First to show signs was Blue.
Though it wasn’t much of a difference between him and Red, he had definitely been the first Dex Holder of them all-- and apparently, to this weird disease, (for lack of a better term), that meant something.
He spent the night at the Pokemon Centre, only to wake up to the concerned expressions of one of the other bunkers in the place.
His body temperature was high enough for a very, very worrying fever.
But Blue felt perfectly fine. After assuring them and the Nurse Joy that he’d be alright, (though he couldn’t refuse the medicine they got for him,) he left the town not thinking much of it.
When he rubbed his hand against his wrist-- he couldn’t help but notice his watch no longer fit well.
His wrists were in different sizes-- the left was nearly twice the right, and the skin-- it was scaly, rough-- almost reptilian.
His fingers were swollen.
And maybe-- just maybe, his nails were a little more opaque than yesterday. It was growing-- thickening-- into something. He didn’t know what.
The symptoms didn’t stop there.
He woke up with a tail, which was beyond anything else, just very weird. He could hide it at first-- then it just grew larger, pants were getting harder to find, and then--
--and then, a fire lit at its end.
“ [To conclude, I believe I am turning into a Charizard,] ” Professor Oak read the letter with the most incredulous expression he could muster. “ [Regards, Blue.] ”
He turned the letter over, but that was all of it.
The Professor squinted at it. “What did I just read?”
Red didn’t notice his own signs at first.
He would simply feel less hungry, or opt to sleep in the sunniest spots all afternoon, and sleep again once night came, like resting was all he ever did.
Then came the leaves.
He would wake up to a pillow-full of leaves. He would brush his hand against his hair and find a leaf or two, even if he didn’t go anywhere near a forest.
Eventually, Pika found a vine within the roots of his hair, twined together like a crown of thorns on his head. When the crimson flower bloomed at the crook of his ear-- he realized, with dread, that he could no longer ignore it.
He told Misty first, for no particular reason than the fact that she happened to be there.
“Wow, isn’t that cute?” Misty had teased him at first, but she was quick to know what to do. “I wonder what flower it is? Let’s ask Erika.”
And they spent the day in Celadon. Unable to identify the flower that sprouted from his head, they’d begun filling Red’s hair with flowers and twining it between his locks.
They didn’t question a thing, simply accepted it and then used him as a flower crown doll, and Red was grateful for that jejune attitude, even if he was embarrassed.
He hadn’t eaten a lick of food in nearly three days, but he wasn’t hungry enough for dinner that night. His flower wilted in the fall, leaves turning his hair a bronze glaze of autumn, before blooming again in spring in a seasonal cycle.
Patches began to grow on his skin.
In the centre of his cheek, a dark green rectangle, sported at its side by a few triangles.
He checked it in the mirror and found another patch near his arm. By the time he took off his shirt, he'd found them all over his body, like a pattern-job gone wrong on his skin.
Pika gave him a concerned noise, but he chuckled almost sadly, turning to his Venusaur. Feigning a cheerful voice, he smiled.
“Look, Saur. We match now.”
Green saw her change coming.
She adored any news of the 9th League Winner’s newest record, or rumours of the undefeated wandering Trainer being spotted around Cinnabar or Vermillion.
She kept track of them, fervently stayed in contact, and loved to accidentally bump into them in cities just to steal a trade or stone from their pockets.
So when they began to hide from public news, she grew worried. And when she found them, stuck in an infected body-- she was horrified.
And she realized it was going to happen to her, too.
She had received her Pokedex later than the two, so she had some time to prepare herself, mentally.
Green saw her pointed ears as a disfigurement, and tried desperately to hide them. She took extra care of her appearance, making sure no one would catch the fangs hidden between her molars when she spoke. When the furry, water-resistant tail began to sprout from her back, she wore longer skirts.
“She’s over there!”
“Capture her!”
She really needed to break her habit of infiltrating suspicious buildings, but she had gotten something out of it, at least. There were Rocket remnants here, surviving on the dredges of… no one in charge, apparently. They were just idiots.
She’ll have to bring this memory chip back to anyone that could help-- maybe the Professor? She’ll think about it later.
“Jigglypuff, take this and get back to the secret base” she handed the memory card to her only flyer, along with all her pokeballs except Horsea. She would use Blastoise, but she had left it in the Center for recovery this morning. “I’ll distract them.”
She threw herself into the waterway, trusting her Horsea to guide her to safety.
But she had underestimated the currents.
When she woke up, not too long later and far from the building-- she found herself laying on bedrock, and her Horsea was crying in relief.
She was still under the sea, surrounded by the shine of the corals and the company of the aquatic Pokemon, gleaming from the sun’s rays.
And she was breathing .
Like a spell, she began to walk. The world was so beautiful down here, and the Pokemon didn’t consider her a threat if she didn’t alert them first. They passed her by with at most a brush of fin against shoulder.
Her hair blew back, revealing the slightly bluish, wing-shaped deformed ears.
Her tail escaped from the back of her dress, the fur swirling enjoyably in the serene waters, feeling right where it’s supposed to be.
And this was so wrong.
They weren’t ignoring her. They were just treating her with the respect and nonchalance of a fellow Pokemon. Because that’s what they determined her monstrous figure to be.
She felt the breath come in and out of her lungs, so painfully natural, like it was meant to be, like she was-- like she was no longer human.
She held herself and cried into the sea floor.
It was impossible to hide it forever, especially with Red being sensational news in his disappearance and Blue beginning to grow wings.
Green faded out of the radar, and Professor Oak grew worried.
Then Yellow came by, the Elite Four stuck, and… and well, everything came to light.
They came upon each other in Cerise island, and though everyone’s eyes were trained warilyon the ex-Team Rocket associated Gym Leaders, Blue kept his eyes on Green.
She looked normal, in contrast to his large cloak that barely hid his tail, his premature wings, and his disfigured arm.
Something had to be wrong. He could smell it on her.
(He also had the nose of a dragon, after all.)
Then he noticed it.
Green was wearing a jacket, even though it wasn’t particularly cold out. She never wore a jacket, so why now? Other than insurance and her usual trickery, that is.
(He turned away after that. This wasn’t the time yet to talk about it.)
He didn’t miss the minute glance Green gave him, where she surmised him up and down and looked a little like she wanted to say something, but didn’t.
Blue kept his disfigured arm under his sleeve and didn’t entertain her with a response.
Green got through her battle with Lorelei fairly easily, except one problem.
After separating from Ditto, a load of debris fell on them--and Green ducked down, curled into herself-- and let her back shield both herself and Sabrina from the harm of crusted icicles toppling from above.
She was unscathed when they crawled out, and Lorelei was ready to call out on that bullshit.
“But that’s impossible! I saw one shard fall straight onto you, you should have been impaled!” she exclaimed, backing away, “what kind of trick did you--!”
Green thought it better to just smile and let her panic.
But when the fight was over and they hurried toward anywhere else, Sabrina brought Green’s ripped jacket to their attention.
“You’ve gone for a more stigmatic look than last I saw you,” Sabrina muttered, giving Green’s shoulders a look before she rolled her eyes, “why’d you keep the jacket on? Hiding them from your boy Blue?”
Green shrugged off her jacket, knowing she couldn’t quite hide anymore. In the scuffle her hair had come out of place, so she adjusted them over her ears and tucked her tail back under her skirt, making sure the edge didn’t peek over anymore.
Her shoulders were marred over in a deep blue, scale-like texture, spreading quickly around her shoulder blades, past her upper arm almost reaching her elbows.
The rough, thick skin of a Blastoise, thick enough to brace against blunt, brutish hits. It’s nothing compared to having a shell, though, but she doesn’t need one. She’s human. She beyond relieved that she wasn’t showing signs of growing a shell of a cannon-morphed spine anytime soon, because she didn’t know how to deal with that.
She smirked against Sabrina’s attempted taunt. Stigmatic look? Sabrina must be mistaking them for strange tattoos and body alterations and actually, that’s a good cover for someone of Green’s swindling reputation.
“Oh, jealous of my new look, Sabrina? Well, that makes sense,” she snarked right back, giving Sabrina a once over before scoffing mockingly. “Tattoos don’t look too great on a figure like yours, after all.”
“ Excuse me ?” oh, Sabrina was much too easy to tease. Green loved this.
“And while I’m on the topic of appearances, you could really use a new haircut, Sabs. You’re looking super generic except for your delinquent-looking mean-girl eyes.”
“That is irrelevant to the situation, just outright rude, and most of all, none of your damn business, Green!” Sabrina snapped.
Green chuckled.
She looked toward the sky, and let her mask slip back on.
Blue felt the effects of the paralysis on his eyes terribly.
Pokemon moves not meant to be used on humans, and his mutation didn’t make it any better. He really has the worst luck with these, from Confuse Ray to Dream Eater to everything else the world seems to like dishing out on his psyche.
“What’s wrong with you?”
He avoided Koga’s eyes, tugging one end of his cloak tightly closed.
“Nothing,” he said, knowing full well that lie wouldn’t work. “It’s not your business. And it’s not like you’re obligated to care, are you?”
Koga had looked obviously miffed, “I’m not.” he agreed. “But I have a right to know what I’m trusting my back to.”
Blue glared. “Trainer. A Pokedex owner from Pallet Town. Professor Oak’s grandson. Someone who kicked your ass. I’m a lot of things, take your pick.”
“You know that’s not what I mean.”
They finally defeated Agatha’s Arbok, but the various instances of his cape flying just a little too far from his body was hard to ignore.
Finally, Blue conceded.
He pulled his human arm out of the cloak, and parted it just a little, before stretching out the dark beige wing to its full, one meter of length.
Koga’s silence was expected.
“Only one’s grown in this far but I’m thinking it has to get another meter larger before I can fly with them,” was what he decided to explain, because he’s awkward like that and he hated every second of it, “I don’t know why this is happening.”
He didn’t know why this was happening.
Blue hurriedly adjusted his cloak again, nervously looking toward the shadows. Perhaps his inherent dragon instincts are telling him something. “Don’t worry, it’s not infectious or anything. I only know three people that have shown signs like these.”
But Koga’s next words surprise him.
“So you, Red, and the girl with the Jigglypuff?”
Blue didn’t manage to hide the startled flinch.
Koga shrugged when Blue gave him a confused look. “There’s a common denominator between you three,” he said. And then he left it at that.
They made it to the finals of the Pokemon League. They were from Pallet Town. And most of all-- they received a Pokemon and a Pokedex from Professor Oak.
Oh.
Oh, he knows it now.
Blue turned away. “Now if that answered your question, we’ve got company,” he jabbed a thumb in the direction of his shadow.
Red was sick.
It’s pure coincidence that Lorelei just happened to be an ice specialist, but Red was struck by the attack and the air hurt now. Being released from the shell only made the pain worse, because at least when he was frozen his senses were frozen too.
From the lingering, chronic frostbite to the increased sensitivity in his skin, sunlight was his only solace, which made sleep impossible at night.
He hid it well, but that was only because people were more distracted by the new revelation with Blue.
Blue’s appearance made the news, was broadcasted on various platforms as scandalous paparazzi shots until finally, a professional reveal and explanation had to be conducted by Professor Oak.
Blue hid away even more after that, which was understandable, but even Red could tell that it was taking a toll on his mental state.
Green hadn’t shown her face in ages, too. She was terrified, and last Red had heard, she came into contact with her brother and was off doing something else relatively cryptid again in another region.
Red? Red was going to try for the Viridian Gym, his first public appearance since the Elite Four fiasco. And he knew he had to show up without any makeup on his skin.
(Blue was forced to show himself. Red had to do it too, it’s only fair.)
(Green didn’t deserve this reputation, so it’s fine she stayed in her shadow.)
Yellow had his back, and though their hat hid the edges of their ears well, their hat was growing a little blonder, spiking in its edges and curling apart from its previously sleek and straight texture.
Red highly suspected that Yellow had a tail, wound around their stomach and tightly under her clothing. He’s resistant to it, but Daisy had frequently mentioned the consistent bouts of static electricity that would happen when they brushed shoulders.
Yellow only had the Pokedex for a brief moment in history, but it’s definitely considered a hallmark of fate’s path, because they, too, were suffering from it.
But Yellow, of the Viridian Forest, was the strongest in facing these problems than the rest of them. And Red was envious of that if anything else.
(Red fails the test, Blue takes over the position. He trades for a Charizard, finds a Blastoise in his box, and takes off for Mt.Silver where he eventually hikes and spends his time recovering in the guise of training.)
He’s the Fighter, after all.
He’ll persevere.