The next morning, I am awoken by a light kiss and the calming scent of cinnamon. I snuggle into the nearby warmth that emits a steady thumping noise, refusing to open my eyes. It takes me a few more minutes until my brain fully wakes up and I finally open my eyes. A sleepy smile graces my lips as I see my red-haired angel before me.
"Mornin~" I whisper, not wanting to really wake up. The current situation was just too comfortable.
"Morning to you, too sleepyhead," Flannery responds just as quietly as she gives my forehead a gentle kiss. "How are you feeling?"
"Better, the world doesn't hurt today at least."
"Well, that is a good thing. So what happened?"
"You know how some changes have been happening to me?" I ask her as she nods in acknowledgment, "well, the short of it is that my hearing is much sharper than it was… to an extreme degree."
"How so?"
"Well, despite us whispering, it sounds as loud as talking normally. Or that I can hear the steady rhythm of your heart, and the sounds of our Pokemon breathing. I can hear the muffled sounds of feet walking past our door." I tell her as I quirk my head to the side slightly, attempting to catch all the sounds around us. "The room must be soundproofed, as any outside noise is muffled."
"That's…" she starts as her coppery face suddenly turns pale as she remembers the battles yesterday. "It was all those sound-based moves!" A look of horror comes over her as she connects the dots to my state yesterday.
"Un…" I let out a soft sound of affirmation as I gave her a small nod. "It started during Bea's fight, but either it was the distance or the barrier, as I didn't notice anything odd besides the moves being irritating. Yet during my battle, Surge used a single one against me and nearly made me forfeit the battle."
"Should we have Nurse Joy check you over to make sure?" She asks while giving me a tight hug.
"It wouldn't hurt… I need to send Lono to Grandpa anyways. He evolved on me, and there were some changes, like with Zephyr."
"It's never going to be dull with you around, is it?" She jokes as she gives me another sweet kiss on the lips and flips off the covers, revealing her toned, naked body for my viewing pleasure. She gives me a small wink as she gets up and walks towards the shower with a hefty sway in her hips.
"She's going to be the death of me…" I groan as I slip the covers off me, letting the cooler air caress my body for a moment as I stretch and make my way after my lovely mate.
*~*~*~*
I slowly sit up from the comfortably cool scanning table and perform a lazy stretch. I hear the nearby typing pause for a moment as Nurse Joy and I see her looking me over with an appreciative gaze, to which I give her a small smirk. I swing my legs over the edge of the table, turning towards Nurse Joy, who finishes up a moment later.
"Alright, so while your data is not baseline human, it is not the strangest we have seen," Nurse Joy starts as she stands up from behind the desk and grabs a printout before walking over to me. My eyes slide over her well-accented curves in her nurse uniform. It's not often that you would get to see a Nurse Joy not behind her desk. As if noticing my wandering eyes, she shifts slightly and adjusts her neckline, yet as she pulls her hand away, I notice I can see much more of her cleavage than before. She gives me a wink before continuing.
"Your body temperature is much lower than normal, around fifteen degrees, which is less than half of normal, but that is likely due to your ice heritage."
"That explains why even normal temperatures feel hot to me," I remark with a small smile. "It has influenced my outfit choices while I was growing up," I motion to my bikini top and tiny jean shorts sitting on a nearby table.
"I don't think anyone minds your lack of clothing too much, I certainly don't." She smiles back at me before continuing, "Your muscles are more compact as well, but are mostly type II, or fast twitch. This means that you do well in short but rapid bursts of activity, like sprinting, rather than running a marathon. Though your training seems to have mitigated some of that.
"Your bones are more dense than normal, but not to anything extreme. Overall, your body is at peak human values. Though I am sure you already knew that." I give her a small smirk as I puff out my chest a little in pride. "Though that isn't exactly what you came in for. Your ears are a different shape from normal, on the inside and slightly pointed on the outside, resulting in your current predicament. Your hearing is somewhat of a mix between an Audino and a Ninetails. You can hear quiet sounds as far as a kilometer away in perfect conditions, but more reliably at around eight hundred meters, and are sensitive to high-pitched noises.
"I expect your sensitivity to lower as your body finishes changing, but for now, it might help to find something to protect your ears like earplugs or headphones. Your last change is something interesting, your eyes are taking on characteristics of bird-type Pokemon, but not any one type, but all types. Increased reactivity, greater peripheral vision range, polarization, which allows you to see into water or through natural effects, low-light visibility, and sharper eyesight at a distance. Needless to say, you won't ever need glasses." I giggle slightly as she finishes.
"So I have super hearing, super eyesight, and a perfect yet cold body. Do I have that right?"
"In a few words, yes," Nurse Joy answers with a slight giggle, "but as you are still growing and things are likely to keep changing. You said that most of these changes happened recently, besides your body temperature, so I think you are experiencing a delayed puberty type event as your Pokemon heritage develops. It would be best if you stop by another Pokecenter for a check-up if you notice any other changes."
"I'll have my girlfriend help me keep track of any changes, as I usually don't notice unless it is something sudden like my hearing," I say as I swing my bare legs in the air. "Anything else I should take note of?"
"We don't really have any non-invasive ways to check your brain for any changes, but if you, or your group, notice you acting differently than normal, please make note of it. We have found that some people with stronger Pokemon heritage will act on certain impulses that they normally would not."
"Such as?" I ask with my head tilted to the side with intrigue. I never heard of people acting less human.
"From what I know or have seen documented, the urges can vary widely. Some have reported increased appetite or a preference for a certain diet rather than a normal omnivore-centric diet. Shifts in your natural sleep cycle, or needing less sleep overall, or a dislike for being clothed, are actually very common. There have been reports of darker urges, such as increased anger or murderous thoughts, though those are more common in dark or ghost-type lines." Nurse Joy rattles off as she ticks off her fingers while looking blankly towards the wall as if reading a mental document.
"Ah, I can say for certain that I need less sleep than I used to and totally dislike clothing…" I say as I think over what she just told me.
"Well, just keep track of anything that seems off and let us know. Now, I've held you up long enough. Get dressed and pick up your team. Everyone is waiting for you."
"Thank you, Nurse Joy." I hop off the table and land silently on the balls of my feet. I grab my clothes from the side table and slip on my white bikini-style top, letting the back strings hang loose as I grab my shorts and step into them. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice that Nurse Joy is watching me dress without any shame, so I slow down my motions and make them a bit more exaggerated, bending over more than needed, and spreading my legs slightly wider. With only two tiny pieces of clothing, the reverse strip-tease doesn't last long, and I stand back up slowly and turn my back to Nurse Joy, and start putting my hair back into my standard ponytail.
Without saying anything, I hear her step forward and grab the strings of my bikini top and gently tie the back, all the while her fingertips brush against my skin, causing me to shiver lightly in pleasure. I decide that I am feeling a bit frisky and don't bother to zip or button my shorts, letting their natural stretch hold them on my hips. I turn back around and give Nurse Joy a sweet smile and a wave as I exit the room a moment later with a slight sway of my hips.
A few minutes later, I have my team from the front desk and look around to find Flannery and Bea at one of the tables in the lobby. My girlfriend has her Eevee out and is grooming the flooffy creature, who makes tiny yips in contentment. Bea seems to be nursing a cup of something as the two of them chat. I smile at the sight of the two of them and approach from the side. Flannery is the first one to see me as she gives me a huge smile that is quickly followed by a wolf whistle.
"Damn, babe, it looks like you had a good time in the back," my cinnamon-spiced lover teases as I get closer.
"Only the best~" I wink at her as I sit down next to her, pushing her deeper into the booth with my hip. She leans over and gives me a quick kiss on the cheek as her free hand slips onto my thigh.
"Everything alright?" Bea asks as she finishes taking another sip of her drink. The dark notes of roasted coffee hits my nose a moment later, prompting me to pick up the menu and order a cup of perfection for myself.
"For the most part. Nurse Joy seems to think I am going through a second puberty, only for my Pokemon heritage. We will need to keep track of anything that might change, though." As I wait for my drink to arrive, I tell them everything that Nurse Joy told me and what to watch out for. Just as I finish up with the information, a Comfey floats over with my drink levitating in front of it, and sets it down. I thank the Comfey and softly pat its flowers, causing it to trill happily before floating away.
"Overall, it doesn't sound too bad. Before we leave the city, we should pick up some earplugs for you until you can handle noise normally," Bea says as I take a sip of the elixir of life in my hands. "Speaking of leaving, what is our next destination?"
"We can do Celadon, Saffron, or Fuschia cities quite easily. Though I think we should get a bit more powerful before we attempt Sabrina," I say offhandedly.
"That leaves us with Celadon and Fuschia. I'm partial to Celadon as it should be a fairly easy win for me," Flannery says a moment later.
I let the two of them discuss the pros and cons of either gym; I am fine with either choice, but we have time. My eyes stray to her Eevee, who is now sleeping on the table and curled up like a giant fluff ball. My empty hand floats down to my pokeball holster on my thigh and brushes against Skadi's pokeball. With a practiced movement, I detach and enlarge the pokeball before hitting the release and causing my sweet little fox to appear.
"Vulpix!" With a small bark, my first partner looks up at me and then hops into my lap before lying down. Her cold fur feels pleasant on my bare skin as she turns into a fluff ball of her own.