A Ranger's Tale: A Pokemon TF

My name is Cyrus and I was once a Pokemon Ranger. Then, I met a Croconaw and my life changed forever.

It all began on my first day at my new post in Mahogany Town. The lake east of the town was said to house a plethora of aquatic Pokemon. Of course I had to check it out. The Ranger Captain, named Yeager, had given me five pokeballs to catch a partner Pokemon. I love Croconaws and as a chance to catch my desired partner, I was assigned here.

I meandered about town until I had a break. Then, I sped off to the lake. I licked the sweat off my upper lip as I passed the famous Mahogany Gym. When I saw the clearing ahead, I stopped and took out a pokeball. I want to be prepared. I approached the clear blue lake and stared into the crystalline water. I swiftly pulled my shirt, hat and footwear.

My hat was not the usual cap that a ranger wears, it was a rather nerdy looking visor with a red ribbon on it. The ribbon had a fleur de lys on it. I was from a faraway sector in the Orange Islands and we adopted the insignia. But, I digress.

Well, I jumped into the frigid water and took a deep breath. I dipped my head underwater and opened my eyes. There was a black abyss under me and an infinite horizon of blue in front of me. Suddenly, I looked and saw a shadowy Pokemon swimming over to me. I instantly remembered that I need to breathe. I frantically swam vertically until I reached the surface. I coughed and sucked in enough oxygen to leave a room breathless. I felt a tugging on my pantleg. I hopped out of the water and saw a crocodilian Pokemon flailing. It was gnawing on my pants. I stared at it. It stared at me. It released and I picked up a pokeball from my belt. Its expression changed from skeptic to battle-ready. It jumped back and spit out a little piece of my pants. I got ready. This is it. This is my Croconaw.

"Crrrroconaw!"

It shot out a bullet of water. It hit me in the chest, knocking the wind out of me and thrusting me to the ground. I grabbed the other pokeballs, just in case. I got up and threw a pokeball. The Croconaw deftly dodged it. The ball collided with a tree and broke. I panicked and threw two more. He caught one in his mouth and crushed it; the other fell into some nearby weeds. A trainer will find it later. I had two pokeballs left. The reptilian Pokemon leapt at me. I grabbed it. It spit a little water at me and then pushed off of me using his webbed feet.  I threw another ball at it. It shot another jet stream of water; stopping the ball in its tracks. I plopped onto the ground. I give up. I looked at the enigma baring its teeth in front of me. It opened its mouth and it pushed its body towards me. It was about to use Bite. I threw my arms in front of my face. I need to keep my face intact. I don't want to look like Captain Yeager. He was attacked by a band of Houndoom. He looks like was killed and reanimated. He acts like it, too. The guy is manically depressed. But, again, I digress.

The Croconaw clamped onto my forearm. I screamed in pain. The Pokemon let go. And then, wierdly enough, it leapt into the water and swam off. I ripped my pantleg and wrapped the cloth on the throbbing half-moon bite. I threw my shirt on and put on my oh so sexy hat. I took one last look at the numerous cuts before throwing my sleeve over it. It looked kind of blue. I must have an infection.

I ran towards town. But then, an otherworldly feeling came over me. I staggered over to the nearby woods. It must be my bite. I ripped off the makeshift bandage. There was no longer a wound. There wasn't a single scar, either. But, there was one problem. The skin near the now missing wound was sky blue. That's when I panicked.

I took my shirt off. I had sky blue and white splotches on my body. And the spots were expanding. My skin was slippery and slick. I flexed my hands; they were on fire. My fingers shrunk considerably and my fingers became pointed at the ends. The same thing happened to my feet. My shoes popped and I was taken aback. This isn't real! No way!

My tailbone started to point out near where my spine meets. It burst out of my pants, becoming a tail about a foot in length. The trees around me looked as if they were growing. No! I was becoming shorter! The aquatic skin colored blue and white now replaced my human skin. I was now pretty much a short animal with a human like head. My nose sunk into face and was simply two holes now. Then, my face began pushing out. It became a crocodilian muzzle. My teeth fell out and then new canines came out, sharp and glistening white. A red fin burst from my cranium, one from my neck and one resembling a spearhead appeared on my tail. Lastly, I had a small spasm and I felt my organs jumble around and set in new places. I sucked in to yell but all that came out was...

"Crrrroconawwww!"

Oh, damn! What am I going to do? I am a Pokemon! But, as odd as this sounds, I liked it. I wanted to frolic in the ocean, I wanted to play some games and I wanted some fish. I clawed the ribbon off my visor and I put it around my neck. It's something to set me apart from the other Croconaw. I sneezed and looked into the sky. Then, I ran to the lake to join the other aqauatic Pokemon. I am going to have to get used to this. That won't be a daunting task.

--------------------------------- One Month Later--------------------------------------------------

Yeager was looking for a new partner. His Smeargle had run away after an encounter with a Tyranitar. He then broke the ball housing Smeargle in fury. Naturally, this was a releasal. Bizarrely, he had the urge to go to his past rookie's last known post; Mahogany Path. He felt as if he was going to catch a new partner.

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Once he got to the small lake, he saw a Croconaw with a red ribbon around its neck. It was sitting by the lake edge with its feet in the water. It was staring at Yeager like it already knew him. He appraoched Yeager and touched the open Pokeball in his hand. Yeager looked at the ball as it vibrated in his hand and the middle button glowed red. He let the Pokemon out and picked it up.

"I'll name you Cyrus after the best damn rookie I had. You better live up to that name."
"Croc-Croconaw!" ( You know I will!)

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