Pokemon: Power & Responsibility

Chapter 2: Metamorphosis

The morning sun slowly crept through the bedroom window in Ash's home, hitting the young man's bed where Pikachu cuddled up next to him. The warm light hit the electric Pokémon and young man in the eyes. The yellow mouse was irritated by the light, slowly opening his eyes, and letting out a Pikaaa... yawning. Pikachu slowly got to his feet and made a small leap off the bed and onto a small desk. He made another stretch, and afterward turned his gaze toward his trainer who was unconscious. The Pokémon sighed before making another leap off the desk and onto the floor.

A few moments passed and Ash didn't show a sign of getting up. The only signs of movement that occurred was when he rolled over, which only confused Pikachu and Delia even more. He had been out cold since that Spinarak bit his hand, and they had no idea why that happened. Sure, they were poisonous, but the small bug type was known to not be dangerous, or at least as dangerous as its evolved form.

The electric Pokémon turned around, but before he could leave the bedroom, he heard Ash let out a yawn, which caused him to squeak with relief. The Alolan champion looked like he couldn't even breathe when he fell unconscious which scared the pokemon and his mother. He didn't yawn, snore, or even toss his clock to the wall. Pikachu looked at his trainer, and saw him moving his arm upward.

He was awake.

At that moment, the young champion slowly got up and let out another short yawn. The bright morning light filled his blurry vision, as he rubbed his eyes. He felt very tired, but he had enough energy to get out of bed and start his day like he always seemed to. Pikachu crawled up the short ladder onto Ash's leg and gave him a nice lick on his cheek. The Pokémon trainer laughed and glanced at his longtime friend and partner. The Pokémon trainer fully opened his eyes upon feeling his partner nuzzle him affectionately.

"Hey, buddy!" Ash said and hugged the electric mouse.

Pikachu squeaked happily seeing his best friend and trainer being awake and seemingly feeling better from that bite. Ash rubbed his hand across Pikachu's head up and down, which caused the electric Pokémon to squeal in delight.

He soon got out of bed, but something felt a little different today for the trainer. He felt better than he did before he got bitten by that strange Spinarak, but also, felt a little taller as well. He soon took off his jacket and T-shirt and saw something even weirder to him in the mirror by his dresser. To him and Pikachu's surprise, Ash had looked more muscular than usual, which made the trainer puzzled. Sure, he was healthy for his age, but he didn't ever try to work out. He now had visible abs across his chest, and his arms and legs widened by half an inch or two. Pikachu arched an eyebrow, just as confused as his trainer was.

He had spent the last six months training hard to defend his championship title, but it wasn't anything crazy. The only sort of exercise he normally did was running, and simple push ups, and even then, it was a stretch. Most of the time, he was simply training his Pokemon, namely his Charizard and Sceptile.

Was he sleepwalking? Maybe his travels got him stronger than he thought? The champion wasn't sure,

but his mind was quickly interrupted by something.

The young man blinked before he glanced to his alarm clock.

"What time is it?!"

Ash hurried and got dressed, haphazardly throwing on a blue and white jacket, with a black, red spiked, T-shirt underneath. Along with that, he wore a clean pair of jeans, white and red lace-less sneakers and as usual, black fingerless gloves with red cuffs. His left glove also contained a silver stone on it, which was commonly known as a keystone. Lastly, he donned a red cap that he got from Professor Kukui before he went back to Kanto.