“Will the separate timelines continue or will you be ‘pruning’ them like in Loki?” Chad inquired, shuffling in place as he fidgeted with his claws.
“So, what do I need to dooooOOOOAGH!” Chad began roaring, his voice dropping in pitch to a deep tremor as the room shook. His body went pure white before expanding in all directions. His tail doubled in length, bending after impacting the wall and being diverted. His head shot upwards as his height doubled, with a significant boost coming from his new long neck that now sported a head with two horns extending back from both sides of his skull.
His hips expanded sideways, pushing his stance wide while both legs almost doubled in thickness, retaining their previous length. Lastly, a pair of massive webbed wings erupted from his shoulder blades, the tips touching both sides of the room while the knuckles scraped the ceiling.
As the light faded, an orange Charizard took in his new appearance, eyeing his right wing before grabbing his rotund belly. Giving it a shake, his arms fell to his side as his head drooped with disappointment.
“Ooo! You can fly now!” Ginette commented in excitement, climbing up Chad’s back and gently moving his wings while making ‘flap, flap’ sounds. “No more ground travel for this team, we can just zip about!”
“Not quite,” Chad began, retracting his wings to free up the space. “I’ll need to pass a certification exam in Lumiose City first before we’re allowed to fly around. And that could take a week or more depending on if they even let me sign up.”
With a sigh, Chad sat down and swept his attention across his teammates. “Thoughts?”
“We can fly now! Why are you so focused on minor things; you think Luca can fly? He’ll be lucky if he can run as fast as you do!” Ginette spoke up first, firmly putting herself in the camp of ‘Don’t even think about asking me to walk anywhere again’.
“I have no reference for your species, and I can understand why you may dislike the aesthetic changes. But I would remind you that there are going to be many pokemon who will not see a ‘fat dragon’, but rather a powerful dragon not native to this region.” Lucielle went next, attempting to compliment Chad and elevate his mood.
“I find myself at a loss for context here, but you’ve grown from a scraggly little lizard into a man. You exude power, and need to start acting like it. I refuse to accept the presence of a wingman with no confidence.” Alexandre stated in annoyance. His pun earned an open smile from Ginette who managed to convince the giant to give her a fist bump.
Gaston, having deliberately waited, raised himself up as the final contributor. “There are many things in our lives we chose, and many we have no say in. If this form is not of your choosing, what you do with it will be. Don’t give up just yet.”
“Thanks everyone.” Chad accepted the group hug including everyone but Alexandre, Gaston, Lucielle, and Ginette. “So, Narrator, what happens next?”
“Wait, what– “
“So what do I need to do?” Chad asked, as he stood there with nothing happening.
“What present? I don’t– “ Chad began before noticing the box sitting on the bed, wrapped in back sparkly paper with a bright blue bow. Nervously, he undid the bow and shredded the black paper, revealing a plain box. Inside the box however, was a perfect sphere, swirling with red, black, light blue, and indigo. “Isn’t this a mega stone?”
Chad eyed the large sphere skeptically. “Eat it?!”
“Phrasing?” Ginette asked, receiving a bonk on the head from Lucielle. Eyeing the sphere, Chad gulped before stretching his mouth as wide as he could. He froze as the orb touched both his tongue and the roof of his mouth, removing it.
“Are– Are you sure this is the only way?” He asked weakly, his hands shaking.
Chad’s face shifted to abject fear as Lucielle pinned both his arms behind him, Ginette catching the orb in her webbed hands. Alexandre effortlessly restrained Chad’s legs, while Gaston bit down and held the flaming tail in place. “Say ‘Aah’!” Ginette instructed, shoving the orb into her teammate’s mouth, pushing down his throat until he swallowed and coughed. The lizard violently coughed, not having been prepared for the ordeal.
Nothing happened, however. “Did you seriously just force me to eat a mega stone for noooOOOO–” Chad’s body shone white, his body beginning to grow outwards and upwards as his voice dropped to a deep tenor. His hips widened, legs doubling in thickness. His tail doubled in length, growing thicker at the base to match his new torso. Doubling in height, much of it due to his new long neck, his single horn split into two atop his skull with one on either side, curving upwards to two points.
On his shoulders, four new horns grew with two on the front and two on the back, each curving up to make a pointed-tip ‘U’. From his back erupted a pair of webbed wings which managed to touch two opposing walls and the ceiling. Interestingly, the wings had points sticking out the bottom which were reminiscent of feathered wings.
As the white faded, his new body was revealed to have swapped to a color scheme of black scales with a blue underbelly and light blue webbing on his wings. The blue perfectly complemented his eyes, which were now scanning his form in confusion. “Why am I black?” He asked, eyeing his new form, noting that even his tail flame had changed colors to a soft baby blue.
“Doesn’t matter; you can fly AND you look bad-ass!” Ginette cheered, climbing up Chad’s back using the newly-sprouted spines as footholds. She stood upon his shoulders, locking her feet using the shoulder-horns. “Now Team Blue has our third member!”
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Chad, looking down, grabbed his belly and shook it with a sigh. “Guess some things are just constant…” Eyeing the other three teammates, he folded in his wings and stood tall. “So, Ginette has shared her opinion. What are your thoughts?”
“Downright menacing!” Alexandre cheered with a fist pump. “You’ve graduated from the whiny little lizard with some skill to the beast who commands respect and fear. The energy you’re putting off has me itching for a spar right now.”
Gaston lightly smacks the battle junkie with his tail. “I echo my impulsive compatriot’s sentiments. While you may be disappointed with your body shape, do not let it distract you from the raw upgrade in power you have been granted. I take it by your expression this form was unexpected?” Chad nodded. “Then that just means this form must be superior in some regard, and the only one unhappy with it is you.”
Lucielle eyed Chad closely, before reaching out and touching his arm. She seemed to be intently focusing on something, as wisps of white energy floated about her. “Your new typing seems to be fire and dragon, which explains the raw feeling of power you give off. I don’t dislike it, but I worry someone with your mentality could be… difficult if empowered by draconic energy.”
Chad took a deep breath in, then out, as he smiled and basked in the support of his teammates. “Thanks, everyone. So, Narrator, what’s next?”
“So what do I need to do?” Chad asked, as he stood there with nothing happening.
“Maybe it has something to do with this?” Lucielle asked, motioning towards the black gift box with a blue bow sitting on the bed.
The room was quiet, waiting for an explanation, because dear Narrator you can’t just say something like that and not expound on the steps and goal.
“That sounds like it could take a while.” Lucielle commented, comfortably seated on the bed beside Ginette as the two held hands.
“You mean you’ll lock me in a makeshift hyperbolic time chamber?” Chad asked with a sly smirk, sitting cross-legged on a pillow on the ground. The other four exchanged confused looks, but he didn’t let it slow him. With each iteration of psychic energies coating his head, Chad’s breathing began to slow. Upon completing the fourth application, the psychic energy spread to cover his entire body.
At least up until the dome shattered with an audible crack, his form completely coated in a bright glow. His tail doubled in length, but seemed to keep the original thickness, which made it long and spindly. His legs doubled in length, now thin and more athletic. His arms gained some definition, as the fingers seemed to shift around for better grip, while also lengthening to accommodate his new body. His torso stretched out, increasing his height but without much of a shift in his shoulder width.
Lastly, his horn split in two, with each migrating to frame both sides of his skull to match as two long whiskers sprouted from the tip of his snout. With the changes seemingly complete, the light faded, revealing an orange elongated dragon with a light underbelly. Standing upright, Chad was now roughly the same height as Alexandre, but much thinner and leaner, with a tail that could easily be as long as he was tall. “Huh.”
“Aww,” Ginette whined. “I was hoping you could fly. Now you look like a stiff breeze could carry you away.” The visual earned a light poke from Lucielle into the frog’s side, causing the amphibian to squeak.
Clicking his claws together, Chad slowly turned his gaze to Ginette before furrowing his brow and intensely focusing. She was shifting nervously, rolling her shoulders, until with wide eyes she threw herself forward furiously scratching at her back. “Aaaaaah! Stop! Stop, it itches so bad!” She shouted, as Lucielle attempted to help scratch the hard-to-reach areas. The itching began to fade as Chad laughed in amusement.
“Oh yea, this feels right. Before I go test it, thoughts?”
“I don’t appreciate being the test subject, but you’re going to be a nightmare to fight against now.” Ginette commented, sitting back upright and burying herself in Lucielle’s soft fur. “I’ll have a double type advantage and will probably still lose.”
“Oh dear, don’t fret too much. I’ll just teach you Korrina’s anti-psychic techniques.” Lucielle whispered, offering a smug smile towards her team leader. “That said, I worry how this will mesh with your previously all-in offensive style. That body doesn’t look super durable, if anything you might be more fragile.”
“She has a point,” Gaston agreed, eyeing Chad’s thin limbs. “Your new form seems to be specifically tailored for special and ranged attacks. You may need to rethink your strategy and develop some new tricks.” The fire dragon nodded, though he clearly wasn’t 100% paying attention as he slowly began to float off the floor.
“Though that could work out for us; I know you were trying to follow in my huge footsteps, but there’s no need to force yourself to fit my shoes. We needed a ranged attacker, and it seems fate has arranged for you to don the mantle.” Alexandre’s gaze traced up and down his leader’s new form, before settling into a grin. “On the plus side, you may be able to put on a dress and win a beauty contest.”
Chad’s harsh gaze drilled into the pink rabbit. “Narrator, please tell me I can thrash this meathead now?”
“No matter which timeline becomes reality, please ensure I give Alexandre a much-needed beatdown.”
“So what do I need to do?” Chad asked, as he stood there with nothing happening.
“That… does it involve screaming or anything?”
Chad widened his stance, squaring his feet with his shoulders, before coating his body in Ki and flexing. The first stage was quick, barely toning the muscle mass, before he leapt straight into the second stage. Expanding his muscle mass to be distinctly visible, the phase took several seconds to lock down, forcing him to pause for a breather.
Centered and focused, Chad coated his body with Ki for a third time, pushing his muscles to the absolute limit as his body began to look more like a Mister Universe contestant (sans the shining oil). Without the pressure of battle, Chad took his time, almost a full minute, to complete the transition. While catching his breath and panting hard, he seized the moment to appreciate just how swole he could go.
“Chad, this– I have never heard of anyone doing this. Please be careful, the body has limits for a reason.” Lucielle warned from the bed, as Ginette draped an arm over her shoulder.
“Thanks, I’ll try, but you heard the Narrator. I need to push beyond. And on that, I apologize for the noise–”
“It’s still going to be loud for us.” Chad admitted, as he began to coat himself in Ki once more. At first nothing happened, so he flooded himself with increasing amounts of fighting energy. The brown energy began to shine as it thickened, with parts even beginning to flicker away as they drifted away from the main mass.
Clenching his teeth in pain, with blood dripping from the side of his mouth where he clenched too hard, Chad quickly abandoned holding it in. “Aaaaaaaaaaa–” he began to shout, pumping in even more Ki until the aura was a full five centimeters around him like a bubble. The surface was turbulent, rippling as the energy sought to escape from the crowded mass.
“Haaaaaaaaaa—” he continued to scream, pumping the aura to the point it began to expand, now a full twenty centimeters from the surface of his body, rounding out into an egg with the edges breaking off akin to the fringes of a candle.
“HAAAAAAAAA–” he screamed even louder, as the Ki bubble doubled in volume again for a few seconds before it rushed into his body. Now glowing with the familiar light of evolution, Chad’s height shot way up, with his head firmly above Alexandre’s, the iconic dual horns poking out from either side of his skull and tapping the ceiling.
His legs, arms, and torso all lengthened; now much closer to a humanoid structure. That was when everything started to get thicker; biceps, thighs, calf muscles, forearms… His shoulders also widened until he was an inverted pear shape. The light began to fade, revealing an incredibly muscular orange dragon, with a short neck, medium length tail, and enough definition to use his body as a guide to every fiber in a humanoid muscular system.
Chad gave a few test flexes, checking his flexibility while grinning like a madman at what he saw. “Now THIS, this I could get used to.” His voice was infectiously alluring, and he chose to strike a pose for his teammates, not noticing the four pink energy hearts which flew out to impact each of them.
“Maybe I was too hasty back when we first met. I would be happy to share a tent with vous any night.” Alexandre complimented with a suggestive smile and a wink.
“Nonsense, if he’s to spend the night in anyone’s bedchambers it shall be mine, by right of the throne.” Gaston asserted, locking eyes with Alexandre as sparks flew between them.
Ginette and Lucielle shared a look. “Is it cheating if you do it together?” Lucielle asked softly, feeling out her girlfriend’s opinion.
“No, that’s just sharing. And I am not against proper sharing…” Ginette answered, as the two slowly crept forward to avoid drawing the attention of the feuding royals.
“Uh, Narrator…?” Chad took a step back, trying to keep the four hungry predators in his sight, with both hands extended outwards with flat open palms.
“Veto? VETO! Can I veto this one, please?!” Chad pleaded, as his four teammates quickly shouted ‘No!’.
So, Narrator, what’s your take? Which do you think will win?
Sounds like you’re pulling for either the flying or dragon routes. Well, let’s see what happens.
Rough reference images of the four, in order of appearance
Choose Chad's Fate