Night of the Were-Lugia Pt 1

The light of day slowly faded over the forest path, swiftly leaving only faint starlight and moonlight. Peter cursed himself for starting home so late, slowing his pace as his ability to see the path before him faded. Thankfully, he knew that there were no forks in the trail, but it would be easy to find himself wandering off the path, and once that happened, it would be hard to get back onto it. The canopy of the forest was sparse, thankfully, and so there was enough light from the sky to continue, until, at least, clouds began to roll in, covering the sky.

"Damn... I really hope those aren't storm clouds..." Peter muttered to himself as he kept walking on, trying to pick up some speed as he continued down the simple pathway. Looking at his watch, it was just gone ten o' clock at night, and he really didn't want to be out much later than he needed to be.

As if to answer his words, a light sprinkling of rain began to fall from the sky, leaving him damp and cold. He winced and grimaced, rushing as quickly as he dared down the path. The wind began to pick up, gradually blowing stronger, than suddenly falling away again. Repeating this cycle over and over as if some enormous fan was turning on and off, and faintly, in the distance, he heard a soft and soothing cry of a wild creature.

"What on earth was that?" He stopped, standing still for a few brief moments as he turned towards the cry in the distance. The bursts of winds seem to be getting slowly closer and faster now, stronger as well. "What could be causing that..." As if to answer him, the creature cried out again, much louder this time. Peter didn't know weather to get closer or to run, but he thought that it could be a rare Pokémon. With a burst of determination, he began to track the cry down.

To his frustration, after only one more cry, it fell silent. Only the sounds of the wind and rain filling the air. A feeling of dread washed over him as he suddenly realized that he had left the trail, and the clouds continued to obscure the light of the moon and stars. He turned, trying to re-orient himself back toward the trail, thankful that there were few turns in the path. "If I can at least get pointed close to the right direction, I'll get back on the path."

He mumbled to himself softly as he headed back, trying to steal his nerves, but his voice seemed to attract attention, as loud, pounding footsteps began to sound in the air; leaves crunching and branches snapping.

"Ok, this is starting to get really annoying..." He groaned to himself, trying to shake parts of him dry as he heard the pouncing motions of the creature. From the shaking ground and everything, he knew that it must have been some sort of big Pokémon. It couldn't have been any of the more familiar ones though, as he knew that Snorlax were not native to this forest.

As the noises grew ever closer, he began to carefully reach for one of the Pokéballs on his belt, preparing to call out one of his companions in case he was attacked.

Bursting free of the foliage nearby, a pair of vast, blue pools came into vision, staring at him. The eyes felt as though they were piercing through his mind, his limbs growing numb as they fell limply to his sides. The eyes grew closer, glaring through him, examining him from the inside out. The creature's form was all but totally obscured by the darkness, but the warm, musty breath flowing over him made him know it was only a few inches away. With a soft growl, it drew even closer, touching his shoulder with its face, before snapping its mouth open and biting him firmly where it had bumped.

Pain swirled through him, a dizzy feeling piercing his brain as the eyes quickly retreated, fading back into the foliage before releasing him from its paralyzing glare, leaving him free to collapse to the ground. Oddly, despite the pain, the wound felt mostly superficial. Touching it, he felt torn cloth, but almost no blood, the pain and dizziness swiftly fading.

"What..was that..." he gasped for breath, trying to turn around quickly. He saw that the creature had managed to escape, but as it disappeared into the sky, he caught a glimpse of a large, white creature.

"Ok...that was pretty weird." He said, getting back to his feet, still a little bit shaken from the sudden attack. "Maybe it was a flying type in a bad mood." He rubbed the bite mark a little bit as he went back to following the pathway.

Thankfully, he found that the clouds were beginning to part. "Some sort of storm-based Pokémon, perhaps?" He mused to himself, the increase in light from the bright moon shining down allowing him to see the trail in the distance. Wincing as he made his way back, he jogged out of the forest, hoping that the creature wouldn't decide to return.

Thankfully it didn't take the human too long to get back on track, managing to make it out of the forest some ten minutes afterwards. His hand was still resting on the bite mark on his shoulder, still wondering just what it was that lashed out at him like that. He was thankful that there was no blood spilt, as now that he could see it, it looked like a very serious bite.

"What was that Pokémon..." He thought silently as he walked through the nearly empty streets, his house just a few minutes away now.

He made his way inside, immediately preparing to treat the wound. Disinfectant, and bandages applied, he felt thankful that he had a first-aid kit on hand. Yet, when he tried to sleep, the wound refused to let him. Throbbing deeply, it acted up whenever he was about to nod off, snapping him back to full wakefulness. The moon was still high, and he began to feel awkward lying awake, getting back up, to do something to take his mind off of the aching injury.

"Ah, damn it..." He sighed a little bit as he put on the TV. He thought that he'd be able to watch a few shows before he'd finally drift into slumber, but every time he got close to, he felt a jolt run through him. It was like his body refused to let him sleep. "Whatever bit me must have poisoned me somehow..." He said as he plugged in his laptop, booting it up whilst he watched the TV. If he wasn't going to be able to sleep, he might as well try to keep himself entertained through the night.

Pausing to consider what he just said, he leaned over to his pack and grabbed an Antidote, spraying it liberally across the bandages and letting it seep through onto the injury. "There. That might help." He stretched back, realizing he wasn't really that tired anyway. The adrenaline rush from the attack would probably keep him going for a good while longer. He dreaded to think of the inevitable crash the next day, as his lack of sleep caught up with him, but there was nothing he could do about that right now. Leaning back in his chair, he let the sounds from the television wash over him.

The clock on the wall nearby clicked onto five o' clock as Peter was still sitting awake, watching the TV and browsing things on his computer. The adrenaline rush should have faded by then, but for some strange reason, the more hours that passed him by, the more alert and awake he was beginning to feel. In this time he had tried to look online to see if he could find any information about the forest, and if there had been any attacks there in the past, but he found nothing.

"Whatever that thing's done to me...I don't know weather to be thankful or worried." He chuckled a little as he played a few games on his computer.

The sun slowly began to creep over the horizon, bringing with it a slight drowsiness that quickly faded. Standing from his chair and stretching, he yawned before grabbing the injury as it twinged with pain. Glancing down at it, he saw that, despite his application of Antidote, his skin was turning a little pale around the bite. Wincing, he turned back to his computer to look up hours for the local doctor.

"I'd better get this looked at." He mused to himself, quickly marking himself in for an appointment before preparing for his day, grabbing an apple as he headed out the door.

He couldn't remember the last time he left the house this early in the morning, but it was a pretty refreshing change - the streets were quiet, the Swellow and Pidove could be heard singing above, and he could see many of the shops opening up, preparing for their business that day. He smiled to himself a little as he headed into the heart of the city, which was starting to quietly awaken from it's slumber. He saw the doctors building a few shops down, and headed in there.

To his (pleasant) surprise, he had managed to get there ahead of anyone else, and was the first in line to be seen. He sat down on a chair in the waiting room for a few minutes, reading over a magazine until he was swiftly called in.

The examination was quick, and to his slight frustration, fairly routine. The doctor noted that the bite probably was venomous, and took a sample, but other than that, merely recommended the wound be kept tightly bandaged and Antidote regularly applied.

"There aren't many venomous Pokémon native to the area, so we'll be able to tell what it was and get you a proper cure in a day or two. Just don't engage in much strenuous activity to keep the poison localized. We'll give you a call as soon as we identify it, alright?"

"Ok, thank you!" He said as he left him the number for his X-Transceiver, making his way out of the doctors as he was given a few Antidotes to get him through the day. Putting them in his backpack he made his way out of the doctors and back into the town. It was still fairly early, too early to get lunch.

"Hrm...might as well get some breakfast." He told himself as he decided to head to a nearby cafe.

Stopping inside and ordering some bacon and eggs, he nodded to a familiar server. Breakfast was filling, and got some strength back into his numb shoulder. Resisting the urge to rub and massage the wound, he noted with concern that it seemed that the poison had spread. Much of his skin was a little pale, barely noticeable to those who weren't looking for it, but still there. What was noticeable, however, was the tinting of his hair near the roots. It was as if his black hair was the result of dye, and a natural silver was creeping back in at the roots of his hairs.

"This is bizzare..." He looked on wide eyed at his reflection in the nearby window, looking at his silvering hair. "Whatever bit me must have had some form of pretty powerful venom... next thing I'll know I'll most probably drop dead or start howling at the moon or something." He tried to chuckle. With his meal eaten, he paid the waitress and left the building.

Looking outside, he noticed that the streets were slightly more busy now, people filing in and out of the shops. "Hrm... nothing better to do right now rather than browse the shops...I might as well give Alex a call, see if he wants to join up with me." He said, dialing up the number on his X-Transceiver.

The screen flickered to life after a short moment, the groggy-looking face of his friend staring out at him. "Oh... Heya, Pete. You're up early. You dye your hair or something?" The figure rubbed his eyes and yawned, "Anyway... Why are you calling?"

"It's a bit of a long story that I'll explain later." He said, looking at his friend on the mini-video screen. "I called you to see if you wanted to come down and spend the day with me in town. I've got nothing better to do, and I'd like to spend a bit of time with one of my best friends." He smiled.

"Sure." He smiled back, eyes half glazed over. "Let me just have a nice warm shower and some coffee and I'll meet you down by the Pokémon centre, ok?"

"Ok, I'll see you soon then." Peter said as he hung up.

His friend arrived about half an hour later, coffee cup in hand, and looking much more awake. Alex waved him over, wincing at the sight of the bandages. "Yikes! You hurt yourself? Looks pretty serious." Gesturing to the bench to his side, he offered an invitation. "C'Mon! Sit! You look kind in pretty poor shape."

"Yeah, I've had a bit of a rough night." He told his friend as he sat down beside him.

"Well are you willing to explain what happened? I understand if you don't want to."

"No, I can explain. I got a little lost last night trying to get home, and whilst I was in the forest I got attacked out of nowhere by some random Pokémon that I couldn't identify." He rubbed the wound a little bit. "I got back home and got it bandaged up, but for some reason I couldn't fall asleep or anything. I've been up all night, and I don't feel tired at all. That and now I've got silver hair for some reason, not to mention I'm going somewhat pale."

"Sounds pretty rough." Alex took a sip of his coffee.

"Yeah well I went to the doctors, they did a blood test and everything. They said they'll call me when they find out what the cause of this is, and to just keep using some Antidote every once in a while. Speaking of..." He pulled one out of his backpack, spraying it on his wound.

Alex winced as Peter slid the bandage aside. "Yike! Looks like it got you pretty badly. Most Pokémon aren't that aggressive. Maybe it was some kind of new species? That might explain the odd affects of the poison."

"Maybe. Doubtful that I'd be the first one to see it, though. It would figure that if I was, I couldn't actually see it, and it attacked me. You know how my luck is around these sorts of things."

"Sadly, yes. I hope they give you a call back soon, either way. It looks pretty uncomfortable."

Peter nodded, sliding the bandages back on as he put the empty bottle back in his pack. "They said they'd call pretty soon. It shouldn't take long for them to identify it." He paused briefly, gazing longingly up at the sun, now nearly halfway up the sky. "Think you might want to head out for a walk along the beach?"

"Sure, I'd love to." Peter said with a smile as he got up from the bench. "Let's grab a couple of drinks and some snacks, and we can have a mini-picnic!"

"Sounds like a good plan, I'll go along with it." Alex smiled back to Peter as they popped into the nearby shop to grab some supplies before they left the busy city to head to the beach.

"Sandwiches, chips, soda.... Sound good?" Alex nodded in response, pulling out a few bills to pay for the food.

"How're we going to head down there? Train? Bike? I'd have to head back home if we're going to bike there." Alex frowned slightly, examining Peter briefly. "Umm... Pete? Weren't you shorter than me a few minutes ago?"

"What do you mean? You look like you've actually shrunk a little bit!" Peter said as he looked down at Alex.

"I haven't shrunk, you've actually grown a little!" He exclaimed as Peter turned to look at his reflection. He had indeed grown a little bit, from a 5"10 to a somewhat 6"04.

"Ok, this is getting weirder by the second. First I can't sleep, then I'm getting paler and my hair's turning silver, and now I'm growing! What in the name of ARCEUS is going on here?!"

Alex scowled darkly. "Don't know.... Maybe we should check you back into the doctors? This seems quite out of the ordinary. Maybe you're having some sort of reaction to the bite? Either way, I don't feel comfortable heading down to the beach all of a sudden. Maybe we can just eat in the park across the doctor's office? That way we wouldn't have to wait inside, at least."

"There's no point of me checking back in because they are still more than likely working on the blood tests. Once they are done with them I'll know just what is wrong with me." He looked down at his friend. "And don't be like that. I know that this is quite sudden and jarring, but whatever is wrong, I'll get over it, don't worry." He smiled to Alex.

"Well... I suppose so." He looked up at his friend, a bit upset that his friend was suddenly taller than him. "But as soon as they confirm what is wrong with you, we're taking you right back to the doctor, you got that?"

"I got that, don't worry!" Peter chuckled, giving his friend a pat on the back. "Now come on, let's get some snacks!"

Alex nodded, still worried, but feeling a little brighter. "Right.... Want to get some fruit rolls?" Strolling out of the store, he gestured into the distance. "Train station's that way. Do you still have your pass?"

Peter nodded.  "Thanks for coming. The beach sounds really nice right now, and it's always better with a friend."

"Yeah. Glad to be here helping you. I just hope you get over it soon!"

"Me too. Although, being taller is nice!" He chuckled softly as they opened the door to the station.

"Hey, don't push your luck now!" Alex laughed as they waited for the train to turn up, pulling in at the station five minutes later. They stepped onto the train and sat down, the train starting up a few moments later.

"It's been some time since I've last been to the beach... I guess I just got so busy with everything else that I've had very little time to have fun."

"That's too bad. It's a good thing we've managed to get some time to do so. It's been a while since I've been down here, too!" The door to the train slided slowly shut as it pulled out of the station, slowly picking up speed as it left.

"It's kind of sad, really. We live so close to the ocean, and almost never see it 'cause we're too busy."

Alex nodded, settling back into his chair. "Thankfully, the ride's not too long to get down there."

"Indeed." Peter said, gazing out the window as he looked at the sea in the distance, smiling to himself as he gazed upon the gentle waters. He could see a flock of Wingull flying off into the distance.

"We'll be there in a few minutes, Peter." Alex said as he saw him looking out at the ocean. "So I wouldn't go too far into your daydreams."

Peter noted that, despite being up all night, he still felt well rested and refreshed. Perhaps a side effect of his body fighting the poison? "I'll be fine. Don't feel sleepy at all." He sighed and leaned back as well, nudging his friend's foot a few moments later.

"Our stop, Al."

Alex stretched and stood, the two making their way out of the train station slowly. As the doors outside swung open, Peter took a deep breath of the crisp ocean breeze, a grin breaking out over his face as he felt it wash over and through him. It had been too long since he had been here.

"Mmm..." Peter let out a gentle sigh as they stepped out of the train, walking towards the beach. The waves were gently washing up against the sandy shores, several trainers were out relaxing with their Pokémon whilst some were out surfing, having trainer battles in the water and trying to find rare sea-based Pokémon.

Alex looked over at Peter and saw the look of pure content on his friends face. It had been quite some time since he saw the trainer look like that.

"So then, shall we find a nice spot to set down and eat lunch?"

"Of course! There's a nice spot away from the others over on those rocks."

The pair went through their food slowly, enjoying the sight and sound of the ocean. Glancing up, Peter noted that the sun was almost halfway down already. Sunset would come soon, and with it, another restless night.

"Strange that they haven't called back yet, don't you think?"

Alex nodded. "They probably just have some more important things that need attending to first. Still, I do hope they get back to you before they close up for the evening. They only gave you the one day's worth of Antidote, right?"

"Yeah, but I have a couple in my bag to spare. If I run out, I guess I'll just have to head back to the Poké Mart before I go back home and buy a new lot of them. I've got money on me so it's not too much of a problem." He said as he took another one out, gently spraying it around the wound.

"I know, but it's gotta be a real pain though - buying all those Antidotes just to use on yourself."

"It is, but until they figure out what is wrong with me, I can't really do much about it... no point dwelling on it for now, so how about we get some food down us?" He smirked as he began to unpack their snacks. As he set them all up, his X-Transceiver started buzzing.

"Wonder if that's them..." Snapping the device on, the face of his doctor sprung to the screen, a glum look on his face.

"Peter? We've been testing the sample of the venom and, well, we've yet to be able to identify it. Whatever it is, it isn't native to the area. The lab says they're going to need a few more days to come up with an anti-toxin for it. I'm very sorry."

Peter cursed softly under his breath, turning to his friend with a bitter smile. "Just my luck, eh? I bump into a rare, unknown Pokémon, and it decides it wants to bite me. That's just great."

Either unaware or uncaring, the voice continued to come through the X-Tranciever. "If you want, you can come back down to the office and we'll give you a week's supply of Antidote, or if its really bothering you, we can take you to the hospital for care there. The venom seems to be relatively harmless, though, so hopefully that won't be necessary."

"I'll stop round for the Antidotes later on then. Thank you for your time." Peter said as he ended the call, looking towards Alex woefully.

"Peter, you'll be ok." Alex said with a soft smile, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. "They said it isn't serious, and the side effects so far have been...somewhat beneficial."

"Yeah, I know... but what if it ends up building to something that could be potentially fatal?"

"If the venom was designed to kill you, would it have made you taller and silver haired?" Alex said with a chuckle. Peter paused for a moment before a laugh left his mouth. "Yeah, I guess you're right there."

""Still, I think we'd best head back before too much longer. I don't want to bump into an angry Pokémon in the dark like you did."

Peter nodded. "We've got time, though. We can still finish up our picnic, at least!"

The two continued to listen to the sound of the surf as they packed their bags, preparing to head back as the sun touched the trees. The heat of the late afternoon sun was beginning to chase off the tourists, and as a result, the train station was much more crowded than on the way out.

"I guess we won't have a chance to daydream this time, eh Alex?"

"Not really." He chuckled as he gathered his stuff, putting all the rubbish into a plastic bag and placing it in a nearby bin. "The train's about to leave, so we better hurry!" He laughed as he ran towards it, Peter giving chase beside him as they got back on. As the doors close, Peter watched through the windows at the beach once more, the train pulling away from the station as it started to disappear into the distance.

"Maybe we can return here again tomorrow, if you wish." He smiled to Alex.

"Well if you don't get me up as early as you did today, then sure!" He grinned.

"I need to stop off at the doctor's office, though. That's on the way to your house, right? I'll walk with you that far."

Alex nodded, the train beginning to slow as the city station drew into view. "Sounds fine. It was nice taking a day off and spending it with you, to be honest."

The shadows running along the streets were lengthy and the light beginning to fade as they left the station, Peter frowning as he checked the time. "Looks like they're going to close soon. Let's run!" Breaking off into a jog, Alex quickly overtook him along the mostly empty streets.

"Hey, wait up!" He grinned as he gave chase. As he began to run, Peter started to pick up tremendous speed from out of nowhere. He was almost a blur as he passed by Alex.

"Woah, slow down!" Alex yelped out as Peter complied with him. "Where did that burst of speed come from all of a sudden? I've never seen you run that fast!"

"I really don't know...Like I said, I've felt well rested and really energetic all day!" He smirked to his friend.

"Well I know I'll never beat you in a race again." He said as they got to the doctors, the people working inside preparing to close up for the night.

"I've made it just in time." Peter smiled. "Wait out here for me whilst I grab the Antidotes." He told Alex as he headed inside.

Pacing outside restlessly, Alex waited for a few minutes before his friend emerged. "Got 'em?"

Peter nodded. "They had them waiting on the counter. I'll see you tomorrow, Alex!"

"Ehh... I'll walk over to your house with you. It's not too far, and I don't think that a hostile Pokémon is going to approach a town and pick me out."

Peter shrugged. "Suit yourself. I want to get inside before the sun finishes setting, though. Most everyone's already back home already."

"Yeah, I thought it was usually a bit busier of an evening in a town like this." Alex said as he followed alongside Peter.

"Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't. You can never tell with this place." Peter sighed. "Besides which, if you're REALLY worried about being attacked by a vicious Pokémon, why don't you spend the night over at mine? We can play games, watch TV, it'll be fun!"

"Mmm...it has been a while since I've had a sleepover with any of my friends...so why the hell not?" He grinned wide.

Peter winced momentarily, pulling an Antidote out and applying it. Alex looked at him, concerned, as he slowly slipped the empty bottle back into his pack. "You okay there?"

"Yeah. Just a bit of a twinge. I want to head home as soon as possible, though. Maybe we can shortcut through the park?"

Alex nodded sharply. "Sure. Let's go! Don't want you to get hurt, though. Let me carry your bag."

"I'm fine now, but, if you want to, go ahead!"

The two slowly made their way into the park, a dull laughter sounding in the distance. Alex winced at the noise. "Ugh. Why can't people hold their parties indoors? It's almost dusk." A slightly concerned look came to Peters face as a quartet of large, leather-clad men came into view along the park trail.

"I don't think they're here to have a party, Alex... Unless it's at someone else's expense. They look like Roughnecks."

"Well what do we have here?" The leader, a tall looking fellow, looked over Peter and Alex. "Looks like we have a couple of trainers who look like they've no business being in the park at this time of the evening."

"And what's it to you if we are heading through here? You don't own this park!" Alex stated to them.

"Maybe not now, but we feel like hanging around for a little while, having some fun. A pair of pipsqueaks like you don't belong here!" One of the other Roughnecks laughed.

Alex backed away a little as he noticed Peter standing his ground, his arm reaching for one of his Pokéballs should he need to call for help.

"Well it looks like this kid has some guts, wanting to stand up to us. How about we make him regret it?" His statement was followed up by cheers of agreement from the other three.

"Neither of us want any trouble..." Peter said in an eerily calm voice. "But if you are looking for a fight, I can put you all in a world of hurt without having to raise as much as a finger to you." He dotted the statement with an arrogant grin. Alex looked on at his friend, he'd never seen or heard Peter say something like this before.

"Tough words, guy. Too bad your shoulder's busted, eh?" One of the lackeys gave Peter a firm shove to his injured shoulder. To his surprise, he found he barely felt the blow, standing still, his hand dropping calmly from his belt. There was no need to bring out a Pokémon. These goons were harmless to him.

"I wouldn't do that. Turn and leave, or else I will make you." The group was starting to look clearly perturbed at the confidence radiating off of Peter, stepping back slightly as if waves of pressure were pouring out of him. Even Alex could feel it: an almost physical determination pushing off of him.

The groups leader, however, did not react well. "So you're so tough, are you? Well, I'm sure your friend over there isn't!" With a smooth motion, he pulled out a wicked and balanced knife, holding it primed to throw, glaring intently at Peter

"Do it...and I won't be so forgiving..." He said in a dangerously low growl to the man.

Alex barely had time to blanch in terror as the leader yelled in defiant fury, his arm and wrist snapping forward as the knife left his hand. He flinched in terror as everyone turned to face the blade, but as Peter turned, he felt the calm force holding him erupt into burning anger, searing his eyes and face. The blade stopped. Held in the air by a shimmering field of red and blue. Colors that were reflected in Peter's eyes, each one gleaming a separate color, light almost pouring like a liquid from his livid face. As the blade clattered to the ground and he turned to face the horrified thugs, he felt his anger welling inside him. Burning, searing, raging in his chest, building like bile in his throat.

"I gave you a fair warning..." He said with a cold, chilling hiss, his eyes wide in anger. "Now I won't hold back!" He growled as he threw back his head, taking in a deep breath. Alex, still trembling, looked on as Peter suddenly threw his head forward, letting loose a stream of whirling energy, shrieking like a whirlwind, aimed right at the quartet of thugs, sucking the air around it into a violent and destructive tornado. They let out a scream as they were thrown about like rag dolls by the powerful attack, launched skywards for a brief few seconds before they crashed down to the ground, the attack ceasing.

"Now then...do you still want to prove how tough you are..." Peter chuckled as he approached them, his eyes still glowing ruby and sapphire.

The thugs shrieked with terror, clambering to their feet and bolting directly away from the pair through the fading light, Peter groaning and clutching his shoulder as they left their sight. Alex bolted upright, coming to his friend's side with a mixture of wonder and horror on his face.

"Peter!? What the hell was that!?"

"I have no idea whatsoever..." He panted a little as he gripped the wound tighter, feeling it pulse slightly. "I don't even know what came over me...perhaps I should try and get home and relax a little before anything else happens."

"Yeah, we better do that." Alex said as he noticed the glowing die down, his eyes no longer a pure hazel color. His left eye was a brilliant sapphire blue whilst his right eye was crimson red, the pupils slightly slitted. "That venom is really doing a number on your body...who knows what'll happen next." He told him as they started walking.

"Your house isn't that far. We'd best hurry, you're looking really pale right now." The pair began to jog through the park, Alex supporting his friend as he winced and shivered. "There's your house. C'Mon. Let's get inside. I'll get some Antidote on you once we're in."

Peter fumbled for his keys, barely able to find the right one in the last remnants of daylight. "I'm going to lay down on my bed.... Just grab one from my bag, if you could?" He felt weak and shaky as he collapsed, as if his body was about to fall asleep but his mind was still wide awake. As Alex  pulled aside the bandage to apply the Antidote, the pair saw that the injury had been replaced by smooth and shimmering silvery skin, completely unmarred.

Alex stepped back. "What in the-` His voice was suddenly cut off by a deep, musical wail from Peter, his body beginning to twitch uncontrollably.

"What's happening to you?" Alex asked as he heard his friend's stomach begin to gurgle loudly, his belly starting to slowly bloat outwards. His shirt was slowly rolling up past his growing gut as he grasped it, feeling it gain mass. As it continued to grow, the two of them saw deep purple feathers beginning to sprout over his expanding form.

"I...I don't know...gurrraa..." He groaned as he rolled onto his back, his shirt starting to strain a little as he felt the rest of his body starting to swell alongside his stomach.

Alex stepped back in alarm. "Peter! Want me to call the doctor!? This looks bad!" He fell over backwards as his friend arched his back, moaning as his shirt began to tear and split. A long ripping sounds came from his back as a series of long, flat spines tore the back of his shirt asunder.

Collapsing back to the bed, Peter wailed in a low, deepening voice as his neck began to crack and snap loudly, lengthening and thickening, tearing apart the collar of his already ruined shirt. "Gurraa.... Gyuurrraaa... Gyyyuuuhhh.... GYAAAAA!!" He let out a long scream as silver feathers began to pierce through his skin, quickly covering him, leaving only his swollen belly marked in violet.

"This really isn't normal! I'm going to call the doctors!" Alex panicked a little as he noticed Peter was starting to outgrow his bed a little bit, his feet hanging slightly over the edge of the bedframe, groaning and panting as his left arm hung over the side of the bed, his hand brushing against the carpet as the silvery feathers consumed the majority of his form. He let out another low wail as he tried to lift his head up to face his concerned friend.

"Nnnoo... Stay." Peter's groans were soon covered by the creaks and cracks of his bed, beginning to strain and buckle under his weight. Alex paused momentarily, unsure of what to do, before darting back to his friend's side, pushing and tugging in an attempt to roll him off the rapidly collapsing wooden frame.

"C'Mon! We have to get you off of that! You're going to break it!" Peter weakly pushed with his hand against the ground in an attempt to help, but his limbs were soon caught in the throes of the affliction, twitching and spasming. They slowly lengthened, his arms growing thicker as his fingers grew broad and flat. "Nnggguuhhhh.... M-mooooorrreee..."

"Seriously, what's happening to you?" Alex stammered as he was barely able to get his friend off the bed before it broke, the changing human landing on the floor with a heavy thud. The floor creaked a little under his bulk as he stared up at Alex, a smile on his face. "And how can you be smiling at this..."

Peter was able to lift his arm up a little, looking at the growing limb as he flexed his flat, broad fingers. "Guhhaayyaa....This...is pretty...nice...Lyyuu..." He moaned, feeling his legs pulse and ache as his weight pushed them apart.

Alex stepped back cautiously, his friends grin growing broader and toothier. He stretched his mouth open with a dull growl, revealing sharp fangs that glistened with a silvery venom. As he closed it again, his mouth began to creak loudly, sliding outward, his nose flattening into the growing muzzle as an additional pair of fangs sprouted from his gums. With a groan, he let his maw droop open, his skull beginning to produce an awful grinding noise as it scraped backwards, tapering out into a point as his forehead vanished into his fully inhuman head, his hair tumbling free and falling to the floor, leaving him only adorned with the silvery down.

"You're...turning into...a Lugia.." Alex gulped as Peter brought his winghands to feel his beak, purring contently. "We...we need to get you out of here, you'll be too big to leave normally if we don't..." He said when he realised just how big his friend had gotten, past the ten foot mark and most likely still growing, his form growing broader by the moment. A bump began to form at the base of his spine as his trousers began to strain.

"Taill...." Peter murred, a look of pure delight on his face, too consumed in the change to care about anything save what was happening to him. Stretching and arching his spine, the bulge quickly grew, tearing free from the clothes into a massive, thrashing tail. "Gyuurrr... GYAAASSS!! M-MORE~~GYUAAASSS!!" With a groan, he collapsed back onto the ground, his tail continuing to swell and lengthen, forcing him to roll onto his chest.

As Alex took a step back, Peter's tail lashed out, wrapping around him and pulling him closer. "Stayyuughyaa.... This is so wonderfullLYYUUUU!!" With another wail, a pair of small purple spikes slid from the end of his tail. His body continued to grow, having exceeded fifteen feet even without the addition of his tail. With a crack, a pair of long spines pulled free of his face, surrounding his eyes in a pale violet mask.

As his tail finished off, the final changes hit his legs, the limbs shrinking a little bit as they grew larger and broader, becoming more haunch like in appearance. He felt his shoes starting to get painfully tight, soon bursting open as his feet grew larger, the toes swelling in size, fusing into three large rounded digits as the undersides of his flatter feet gained large pads, pressure being shifted to the balls of his feet as his heels raised upwards, ending it all.

"Peter? Are you okay?" Alex stepped forward cautiously, resting a hand on the now mostly still form of his friend. He remained silent, save for the odd groan as he slowly lifted himself from the scraps of wood and cloth that scattered the floor. He glanced about the room, pulling Alex closer with his tail before beginning to growl contentedly. "Y-yes. I'm fine. Better than fine. I'm wonderful... Lyuuu~~gyaaa..."

"How...how did this even...I mean, that bite COULDN'T have done this...could it?" Alex looked confused at the roughly twenty-foot-tall Lugia that laid on the floor, his chest slowly heaving in and out with each breath he took.

"It must have..." He purred gently, looking at his friend."I guess the thing that bit me was some kind of...shall we say... Were-Lugia" He brushed his head against Alex's body.

Ales carefully brushed his friend's head smiling. "Wow... Your feathers are so soft... You really do like this?"

Peter nodded happily. "And I'm starting to like it more and more..." He lifted his body from the ground, carefully inching around his, now far too small, bedroom. "Tch. I'm going to need to make this bigger..."

"Speaking of making it bigger, you're going to have to make a hole in the place just to get out of here. I mean look, you're filling up a good portion of this room!" Alex laughed.

"True, true...oh well, if I have psychic powers, using it to restore the place shouldn't be too hard...then again, I might also be able to use them to make some alterations here and there, redecorate, make this place fit for a Were-Lugia!"

"That's true. Do you have psychic powers, though? I mean, we're not really sure how much it changed you, are we? Maybe if you were to try them out..." Alex grinned. For some reason, he felt kind of excited rather than scared now. Maybe his friend's eagerness was spreading, or maybe he was just in a state of shock over what had happened, but he couldn't see anything wrong coming from this.

"Nothing to do but see, is there?" Peter closed his eyes, but liquid light soon began to seep out of them nonetheless, the deep red and blue glow resembling the colors that they had seen what seemed like ages ago, in the park, but was in fact only a few short minutes prior.

"Looks like it's working...woah!" Alex looked on in awe as the wall in front of them began to slowly dismantle itself, the pieces hovering in place. Peter pushed himself back up to his feet, taking a leap out of the window. He grabbed Alex in the process as the Lugia landed with a huge thud, turning to look back to his room as the wall put itself back in place, completely untouched.

"Well, I'd say I have psychic powers!" Peter said with a smug grin.

"Yeah yeah, don't rub it in." Alex smirked.

Standing up slowly from the ground, Peter gazed up at the sky, a grin beginning to grow over his face as he lifted Alex off the ground, placing him on his feathery back. "Hold on tight... I've got an idea!"

Alex clung carefully to his friend's large purple spines, giving his friend a worried look. "What are you... WOAH!" With a joyful screech, Peter leaped into the air, spreading his wing-arms wide and spiraling up into the air. Alex turned pale with fear for a moment, clinging to his friend tightly before slowly letting himself relax. Peter leveled out in the air, wailing into the night breeze with joy. "Gyaaa!! Gyaaaaaassss!"

"I'm really flying on a Lugia's back...well I'm flying on my friend's back...still, I'm riding on the back of a Legendary! This is awesome!" He laughed, still holding to Peter's spines for dear life as the Were-Lugia sang happily to himself, looking proudly up at the moon as they flew past the clouds.

"Gyyyaahhahh....Lyyyuuu~Gyyyyaassss!" He crooned loudly as he peered down through the clouds, looking down on the city below him.

"Wow.... This is glorious! Thanks for taking me along, Peter!" Alex's friend did not respond with words, but instead, a wave of pure joy pouring out from him in a psychic burst. Alex grinned, leaning close to his friend's body and letting the fierce wind blow over him. "Man... I wish I could fly like this. I guess that bite was a lucky chance, wasn't it?"

Peter nodded slowly, a distant, instinctive thought entering his head. An urge, reinforced by Alex's words, thoughts and feelings of longing. The desire to join his friend in the skies and seas. Carefully, he lifted his head up and twisted it around to look at his giddy friend atop his back. A grin slowly spreading across his face as he felt a thick, silvery venom drip from his fangs onto his tongue.

"Er...why are you looking at me like that?" Alex gulped a little, watching the Were-Lugia baring his fangs, a gleam in his red and blue eyes.

"Because...I want to share this with you, Alex..." He purred as his head lunged forward, biting the human's right shoulder, causing him to let out a yelp of pain. If it wasn't for him keeping such a tight grip on his spines, he would have fallen off of the great beast.

"Ack, what was that for?!" He protested before he suddenly realised - it was a bite from a Were-Lugia that caused Peter's transformation, and now that he was a Were-Lugia, he had just bitten him...

"Sadly your metamorphosis won't happen until tomorrow night." He purred, pulling away from him, licking the remnants of the venom from his fangs. "But until then, you're welcome to spent the rest of this evening with me, if you so desire."

"That sounds... good...." Alex winced, clutching the massive wound on his shoulder. "Although, you could have warned me first. It's not like I would've said no to it. Ugh. And now it itches and burns... It's no wonder you thought it was bad at first!"

Peter smiled as he straitened himself out in the air again, slowly descending closer to the ground. "I didn't want to wait, and knew you'd understand. It'll be wonderful, tomorrow, when you change..." He sent fragmented memories of his own metamorphosis to the friend atop him who was now not-quite-human, increasing his anticipation. Alex shuddered as the thoughts flowed through him, when a thought of his own sprang up.

"Do you think you'll stay like this forever? Or will you change back to a human form when the night's over? I mean, you're calling yourself a Were-Lugia, but we're not really sure whether it'll really work that way."

"Hrm...I guess when the night's over I'll most probably turn back to human... but I suppose that with a bit of insight into this form, I'll be able to change at will after a short while. Although with the were-suffix, I'll likely change at night time and full moons anyway against my will. Not that that's a bad thing." He winked to his friend.

"I guess. It's just that, well.... We don't know anything about this except what's already happened, do we? Maybe we ought to look for the one that bit you in the first place?" Alex mused to himself, considering the possibilities. "I don't suppose you can sense others of your kind or anything, can you?"

"It shouldn't be too hard to track them..." He closed his eyes for a moment, focusing on the one that was responsible for the bite that caused his metamorphosis. After several minutes passed, his eyes snapped open. "I think I found them. Wanna come with me and find out?"

"Well I'm on your back still, so might as well!" Alex smirked, holding tight once more.

"Good, well hold on tight once more!" Peter laughed as he suddenly pulled back up, zooming into the night sky.

Alex clung tightly to his friend's spines, feeling the chill of the air as they pulled higher and higher into the sky. He took deep breaths as felt the air grow thin, and was about to call out in alarm when Peter tucked his wings to his sides, diving down with a joyful cry.

As the two leveled out, still hundreds of feet above the ground, Peter laughed with glee. "This is glorious! I have to tell them how wonderful this is!" He spun about in midair, Alex barely clinging to him as he inverted momentarily, lost in the wonderful joy of flight.

"I can bet it is, but if you keep doing this, I think I'm going to either pass out or fall off!" Alex tried to chuckle as Peter did a few more spins, still crying out happily. "Lyyyuuu~Gyyyyaasss!"

"Then again, he's having fun." He smiled - he can't remember the last time he had seen Peter this happy, but it seemed like he was having the time of his life, and it wouldn't be ending any time soon.

Just as he let out another cry, a familiar voice called out from the distance. "Well well, it looks like we've found our friend!" Peter purred as he turned to fly towards it.

Straining his eyes, Alex scanned the clear skies for any sign of the source of the sound, but to no avail. "You sure, Peter? I don't see anything." Peter turned to him and smiled silently, continuing his flight with determination.

"I'm certain. I see her, your eyes are just unchanged so far. Ahh.... What I wouldn't give to stay like this." Peter purred softly to himself as his friend looked at him quizzically.

"Her?"

He nodded in response, crying out softly into the dark skies, the return cry coming back shortly thereafter, a large, elegant creature slowly coming into view from the night. It was vast and silvery, and yet, different in some ways from Peter. Its feathers were a paler shade, almost a pure white rather than the silver of his own body, and where he was a bright blue, the other was a brilliant, firey orange.

"Looks like we've found her" Peter smiled as he approached the female, gently flying around her.

"I should have known that the person I bit would come and track me down...not that it's an entirely bad thing." She said in a somewhat flirtatious voice, eying up the male Were-Lugia. "Looks like I did some pretty good work on you...nice and big, and powerful looking to boot!"

"Indeed. I hope you didn't mind me and my friend tracking you down, but I just had to find you. I really wanted to thank you for sharing this gift with me." He purred, gently nuzzling the Shiny female.

"You're more than welcome." She blushed a little, returning the nuzzle. "I didn't think you'd warm up to it so quickly, but you look so happy."

"Why wouldn't I be, I'm a Lugia now!" He grinned. "Which begs the question... Is there a way that I can stay like this if I wished to?"

She nodded happily. "Of course there is. It simply takes a little bit of time for the venom to finish working its way through you. A few more nights, and then, you will be like this always. Unless you want to force yourself back to your old, human form.But, I can tell that you wouldn't want that..." She licked him softly on his muzzle, Alex blushing slightly in embarrassment and wishing there was a place he could be to give the two flirtatious Lugia some space.

As if noticing him for the first time, the female turned to face him, sniffing at the air for a moment before turning back to Peter. "And who is this? I see you haven't been shy with your own venom so far."

"This is Alex, a friend if mine. After being blessed with this form, I wanted him to feel the same feelings that I went through when I underwent my metamorphosis."

"Aww, that's very kind of you." She smiled, kissing him. "Tomorrow then he'll go through his transformation, and then he'll be bale to join you as a Were-Lugia."

"Sounds good to me...as for going back to what you said, I know I'd love to stay like this forever. I think the chance that I'd need to shift back to being a human would be pretty rare though, thankfully. You'd have to be mad to not take full advantage of this form."

"Oh, I know... The moment I saw you, I knew you'd be one who would fully appreciate this. Though I didn't think you'd understand so quickly. That's why I didn't stay, tell you what I'd done. I hope you can accept my apology for leaving like that."

"It's alright... No harm done. Just, thank you so much for this..." Peter glanced back at the human clinging to him desperately. "I had best let him down to the ground. He can't fly quite yet. I'll be back in just a moment, though. I want to know more about our kind from you."

"I'll be waiting here for you." She smiled as Peter dived back down towards the ground, unfurling his wings and stopping mere inches from the ground. He lowered his back and wings as Alex slid off from the Were-Lugia's back.

"I'll try not to keep you waiting too long - at least you won't fall asleep waiting for me." He giggled.

"In this situation, I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing!" He laughed as Peter took flight once again, reaching the female within seconds.

"I'm sure once he's changed, he won't be able to keep his feet on the ground." Peter purred.

"Flight is so wonderful, isn't it? I can't remember the time when I couldn't fly. It was so long ago." She sighed, smiling happily at the thought of years of Lugian existence. "I'm sure that you will come to love it even more." With a quick glance, she smiled at him. "You haven't dove into the ocean yet, have you? We had best correct that."

"Indeed. I was at the beach earlier, and I'm surprised that I didn't feel like taking a dip at that time. Oh well, now's the perfect time to go swimming. Let me just get Alex." He grinned as he dove back down, swooping on Alex from behind, grasping him in his feet.

"H-HEY! What are you doing?!" He yelped, held tight between Peter's toes.

"Heading down to the beach with my new friend. Going late-night swimming!" He smiled.

"You mean at the beach? That should be fun, seeing two Lugia in their natural environment...well, Were-Lugia."

Peter grinned silently, soaring back toward the familiar beach that he had visited that day. There was no one there, now. Just the surf slowly washing up and down the sand, as he dropped Alex gently to the ground.