[Spark and Arlo are on an idyllic hill overlooking the city, and have just finished a picnic so are lying on said hill cuddling. Arlo is wearing short sleeves, so the current extent of his scales is visible. They've grown to full thickness and opacity over the FIR emblem tattoo / injection site where it started and there's some forming elsewhere.]
A: "Thanks for suggesting this -- I wouldn't have thought about a picnic, but this has been really nice. I've actually, like, had more of an urge to go outside lately than usual? Which is weird. Like, especially, I've been opening the windows in my lab and stuff because I crave sunlight. Which you know isn't like me; I would spend all my time during the day in my dark basement and only go out at night if I had my way."
S: "Well, you're sort of part reptile now, right?" *reaches over and pets the scales*
"Wow, those are a lot thicker than last time; they've really been coming in. At least you don't have to worry about getting that tattoo covered?"
*Arlo chuckles* "Yeah, but now I probably can't get any more because they'll just get scales growing over them... speaking of which, I should call Dr. Peyton about scheduling my yearly checkup, and maybe switching to gel. I've had to start doing my injections on the other arm because I can't get the needle through the scales anymore, and I think some are starting to grow where I'm injecting on the other side already so I don't know how long it'll last."
S: "So you think it's hormonal? I guess that makes sense -- you'd expect skin texture changes and hair growth and stuff where you do T injections normally, right?"
A: "That would make sense, at least. Not sure how I'm gonna explain it to the doc, though... he said when I started that I might not end up looking like my dad, but would probably ultimately end up something like some of my male relatives. And I guess if my relatives far enough back are dragons..."
S: "Anyway, about the sunlight and actually wanting to go outside during the day, reptiles need to have their scales in the sun so they can make vitamins and keep texture and stuff, right? Maybe you need to do that now with the parts that are scaly?"
A: "Problem is that my human skin is still hella pale and can get sunburned... I wonder if I should get one of those seasonal affective disorder lamps? Or hell, the kind they sell for lizards. Think Ronnie and Tia have basking lamps in the stables for winter, actually. I can probably borrow those."
[A Dreepy floats over and starts chirping in Arlo's direction.]
S: "Huh. I didn't know those lived around here."
A: "They live around water, I think, and there's a creek back that way." *points* "I think they're supposed to be rare in our area, but maybe a couple live in there. Not sure what it's doing here by itself, though. They usually go invisible around people and migrate in groups. Hey, little dude."
[Arlo pulls a Dragon-type treat from one of his side bags and offers it up in his hand to the Dreepy, who consumes it and cheerfully chirps, then jumps up onto his shoulder and snuggles in place.]
S: "Looks like you've made a friend. Don't they like sitting on stronger Pokemon, if they don't have their evolved forms around?"
A: "That's what I've heard. They can survive and hunt by travelling in groups, but they're pretty weak for pseudo-legendary dragons so they tend to hang around stronger dragon Pokemon if they want to evolve in the wild. Normally Drakloak or Dragapult would do that, but if the population just migrated here, none of them might have evolved yet, or maybe their elder died or got caught by a Trainer. What's going on, little guy?"
*reaches up and gives pats. Dreepy makes a cute noise, then jumps up off Arlo's shoulder and wriggles in midair a bit. Several other Dreepies de-invisible around Arlo and start sniffing and cuddling him from all sides. Spark pulls out his phone to take a picture and smiles because it's adorable.*
S: "Looks like you passed the vibe check."
A: "If I'd known this was gonna happen, I'd have brought more treats... I don't have enough Dragon type pellets for all of you, but I have some Ghost ones... I'll need to make more next time I'm downtown and have the supplies. All the Pokemon food production stuff is in the main complex and Archer won't approve funding for me to get some for my building."
S: "You might as well catch them. They clearly seem to like you, so they'd probably follow you home even if you didn't."
A: "Plus ghosts tend to make good Shadow Pokemon and I don't think we've looked much into species from Galar yet... how about it, guys? I've got plenty of dragon friends for you and more treats where those came from, and I can help you get stronger!"
*Arlo produces several Pokeballs from his belt and side bags, which five Dreepy push the buttons on to capture themselves. The first one, still on his shoulder, flies in front of him and licks his face before doing the same. Arlo pockets the Pokeballs.*
A: "Huh. That was odd. I'm not used to Pokemon coming up to me in the wild like that. I guess maybe they could have smelled Tia or Mr. Wiggles on me? I know that smaller Pokemon tend to be scared of mine, though, even if they're the same line. I think the shadow aura throws off their senses and makes it hit some kind of uncanny valley, so they can't tell if the bigger version of them is quite right or not. Like, I ran into a Bagon once while I was training with Tia and the poor thing was terrified."
*Spark runs his fingers over Arlo's scales again.*
S: "Uh, dear, I don't think it was Tia or Mr. Wiggles that they were sensing..."
A: "What, you think that I've got the animum emissions or pheromones or something of a dragon now? There's no way that's -- I mean, especially for evolution lines like that. Releasing enough animum that they'd recognize me as something strong enough to take care of them would be beyond the limits of..."
S: "Human physiology? I don't think that's the realm we're playing in anymore, honey. Never mind that you've had fangs for years and I'm not totally sure you aren't physically glowing. You're anatomically changing into a goddamn dragon. I suspect that the Dreepy think you can help them evolve because you're..."
A: "Evolving."
[Arlo pauses, murmuring something unintelligible under his breath, staring out at the horizon and running his fingers over the lines of his scales and deeper into the skin around them.]
A: "This isn't going to stop, is it? I mean, I've known that there's something not quite human about how my body works at this point for a while -- the whole Reverse Mode episode with the visible aura and the permanent fangs made that impossible to deny, I haven't needed to use hair dye for the red in years, and my biometric screening and strength test numbers have been higher than they should be for someone of my size and muscularity since they started doing them for us in 2019, and have only gotten more off. And it's not that I've been working out more. But, like, that's all... you know, I'm still just some guy, just a little stronger than you'd expect and with sharper teeth, but this is something else entirely. I'm not a human being anymore. I'm not even sure if I'm still a mammal, or in the non-animum clade. I was expecting that oh, it'd just be one patch of scales, it's just cosmetic, but I can feel them growing under my skin, not just on my arm but all over. I -- you're right that sometimes I catch myself in a mirror and my outline's a little distorted, or my eyes are glowing when I'm staring at my screen in the dark. Look at my fingernails."
[Arlo shoves them in front of Spark's face.]
S: "I was going to ask about those, actually. Did you start wearing --"
A: "It's not nail polish and it's not something lodged underneath them. They're getting darker, and thicker, and the ends are sharper, and they're growing really fast. Every time I cut them, it feels like they get back to where they were quicker than before, and they're getting harder to cut with regular nail clippers. Also, like, I've accidentally scratched myself and drawn blood a few times, even with them trimmed."
S: "So you're growing claws."
A: "It's... it's every part of me. When I scrub myself down in the shower, I can feel scales forming under my skin. I think I can see better in the dark. My glasses have basic animum tracking, and the readings from me keep getting higher; I can kinda feel some sort of pulse of energy or heat every time my heart beats. Like I said before, I actually like being in the sun now? And just in general, I've been craving warmth. Like, having you around is great because we can cuddle and I can absorb your body heat and also kinda feel the same energy, staticy stuff, so maybe I'm absorbing animum from you too... I actually got one of those microwaveable heated stuffed animals for when I'm working at my desk, because unless I've got that reptile heat stuff, I can't sit still. Like, you know that my mind is always running, but I, even when I'm at work or at a Pokestop or reading on my computer, I want to be up and moving around. I want to run and chase things down and maybe hunt and kill and eat something and get stronger and -- they haven't arrived yet, but I ordered some hand weights so I can do some lifting with one hand while I'm working with the other, and I wanted to talk to you about signing up for a gym. I never wanted to do this before. I'm fine with being a twink. But there's something in me now that hungers for that strength and that wants to bulk up."
S: "Sure. I know we both get in plenty of exercise with our Pokemon, but signing up for a class or gym or something could be fun. Gives us something to do every week or so. I'll ask the prof if there's anything I get deals on through the Pokemon League, or maybe one of Blanche's book club friends knows someone. I know gyms can be pretty hypermasculine, so I want to make sure you're comfortable."
A: "Aww, thanks. But the point is, it's not that I don't feel like myself, but something about how I work and how I interact with the world and every part of my body is changing on a fundamental level. I can feel it. Honestly, it feels a bit like when I first started T, except way faster and I don't have a pamphlet to tell me what's going on. Like you said, it's not a flash of light and done, but I think I'm evolving. There's been enough... I've managed to fuck myself up badly enough and put so much animum into my flesh over the past 10 years that I'm not remotely human anymore. I'm turning into some sort of unidentified shadow dragon, and if I'm already restless and craving violence and growing sharp edges on my body now, where does it stop? I'm... like, this is legitimately really cool. It's gender affirming. I like seeing the scales in the mirror and at this point, I can't really picture myself without them. It feels... right, and natural, like it's a logical extension of my transition. But I'm flying blind here, science is no help, and I can't help but feel like I'm, I don't know, a fucking werewolf or something and I'm going to lose control and start tearing apart livestock."
S: "I promise that if you turn into an uncontrollable weredragon, I'll chain you up in my basement and feed you raw meat until we can turn you back. I won't let you hurt anybody, or any unscrupulous horror movie scientists take you."
A: "I want to go to Hoenn."
S: "Pardon?"
A: "Meteor Falls. My... grandma lives there. Mom's side of the family. I haven't seen anyone there since I was 6 and my great grandma died so my mom and I went to her funeral. I told you that story, right?"
S: "The one with your ancestor who fought in the Hoenn / Sinnoh war and maybe turned into a dragon?"
A: "Yeah, that one. I've... this feels just fundamentally wrong and against my worldview, but I don't think anything about the 'scientific' view of animum or species divisions is going to help me now. I've been doing scans and samples and all that on myself, and all they're telling me is that yeah, I'm a dragon now and only becoming more of one. But I feel like... maybe this is just me trying to cope and coming up with shit with no evidence, but this doesn't feel like it's random chance from all my Shadow formula exposure and bad practices back in the day contaminating my animum systems, and that mixing with hormones and maybe genetics. There's a reason for this. This means something. The... the dragon in me is trying to tell me something, and I don't think scientific explanations are what he wants. Draconids have been working with transformation and Mega Evolution and dragon energy and shit for centuries, millennia, even. They've -- we've? -- there are these ornate genealogical histories that trace all of the houses going back to when people first settled in Meteor Falls. I don't really know anything about my family or heritage. I've always just said that I'm from Kanto, and even that I've abandoned and kinda tossed out since my mom kicked me out. But, like, I'm descended from people whose whole core of their culture is being dragon trainers and having this connection to divine dragons, and I've got ancestors who are supposed to have turned into dragons...and I'm growing scales and feel like my reptilian urges are building faster than I know what to do with them. I want to talk to the Loremaster. I want to see my family. I...I don't know if this'll work. But it's the only thing I can think of. And I want you to come with me."S: "Sure. We haven't been on a honeymoon yet, after all, and it's pretty traditional to reconnect with family you haven't seen in a while after you get married. Besides, I've been all over this continent, but I've never been overseas before. It'll be fun!"
[Spark beams and pulls Arlo in closer to him, petting his hair. Arlo doesn't say anything because his brain is still spiraling, and all he can think about is that he feels what he thinks is animum pulsing through him and being carried to him from Spark.]

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Pub: 11 May 2026 22:29 UTC

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