New Life

[Alex(is) "Lexi" Patterson]

So tired… groggy… the world was spinning… wasn’t he supposed to be going in for surgery…? The last thing he remembered was lying on a gurney waiting to be wheeled into the operating room, and now he seemed to be back in his hospital bed, as if nothing had happened…

The first thing he felt was… warm. Not a hot warm, but a gentle warmth all over his body. He couldn’t find the strength to focus quite yet, the anesthesia still working to dull his mind. He felt like he was trying to swim through clouds, like he was in a dream state, and couldn’t wake up. His entire body felt alien, as if it didn’t belong to him, like he was living someone else’s life, a window he was looking out of but couldn’t escape from.
Where am I…? WHO am I…? Why do I feel so strange…? He tried to move his body, to do something, anything, but he felt paralyzed, unable to move.

Slowly… slowly but surely the mist clouding his mind started to fade, the colors around the room sharpened, and his world came into focus. It was like waking up from a dream. A weird, strange dream that had lasted eighteen years. He held a hand…—paw? No, it was still a hand—up to his eyes, flexing his fingers to make sure it was really his. So strange… his hand seemed to be covered in a fine pink fur. He lifted his other hand to feel it, and noticed for the first time that his wrist held an IV, and a pulse oximeter (pulse meter) had been placed on his finger. Did he really need those…? Without thinking about the consequences, he removed the finger monitor, but wasn’t brave enough to take the IV out himself.

With his finger freed, his hands sought to explore the changes in his new form. The first and most obvious change was the fur. Soft pink fur covered his entire body, with white plumes extending from his shoulders and if he looked under his hospital sheet, his waist. His chest area was… well… he had chosen a female-exclusive pokemon species for a reason. It wasn’t large, but it didn’t need to be; it was noticeable, and that was more than he had as a human male. He put a hand up to his head; his hair… his hair… he had hair… he brushed through it with both hands now, brought nearly to tears with emotion. The chemo had ravaged his body and stolen all of the hair on his body, causing it to fall out in clumps long ago. The chemo… he had been so distracted by his new form, he had forgotten all about that wretched treatment. As a human, life had been a living hell of pain, baldness, fatigue, nausea, weakness, and no appetite. He felt so normal now he hadn’t noticed it right away; he felt normal. NORMAL. No pain, no baldness, no fatigue, no nausea, no weakness… He was legitimately overcome with emotion at this point; he started to cry, actually cry there on his hospital bed. He had a new lease on life, he wasn’t going to die, he wasn’t going to die!

[Gemini Saria]

A soft alarm broke Gemini from his moment of rest. What...? He glanced over and noticed that it was the alarm for the new Blissey Pokemorph. Oh, there was no telling if it was something awful or something simple... He hurriedly swiped his hat, placed it upon his head, and rushed over to the room. Thankfully, as Gemini entered, the reason became clear. The nurse shrank softly against the wall, not wanting to disturb him from his new moment as a Pokemorph. It was always a beautiful moment for someone who had been dying... Gemini knew he couldn't stay back too long. The alarm would bring some unwanted attention for this moment.

Hurrying quickly, the nurse came over to the machine and shut it off. The sound of the alarm in the background quieted itself, coaxing a happy sigh from Gemini. He smiled softly at Alex. "Good morning. I hope I'm not intruding on this moment for you. It's always a beautiful one... but... I need to ask you some questions. I just need to make sure everything's okay. It won't take too long and it won't be taxing. I promise." Gemini pulled the clipboard free from the bed and prepared to write. "I want to preface with any questions about pain. Nothing hurts? Nothing feeling too stiff or uncomfortable?"

[Alex(is) "Lexi" Patterson]

He had been so preoccupied with his hair and being alive, he hadn’t noticed the nurse enter the room. As she approached the machine and shut it off however, Lexi was made aware of her presence, momentarily surprised.

“Oh, h-hello there,” he greeted sheepishly, wiping at his eyes. How embarrassing… crying in front of the female nurse. “No not at all,” he reassured her, sitting up in his bed, still a little groggy. “That’s fine.” She proceeded to ask him about pain. Pain? What pain…? He felt better than he had in years, a literal miracle.

“No ma’am, no pain whatsoever, I feel fantastic,” he confirmed. Getting a good look at her, he could tell she was rather cute; he’d never seen a gardevoir pokemorph, let alone an odd colored one. Exotic. Beautiful. His illness had sapped the will to do anything other than vomit and lay around the house, so as you can imagine, he hadn’t gotten any attention in the way of flirting in years.

“It’s like I’m in heaven…” he said softly, with a subtle hint of amazement. “It must be heaven… why else would I be greeted by an angel as I woke up?” He gave the coyest of smiles in her direction, looking up at her with the cutest smile he could muster.

[Gemini Saria]

Oh, he was feeling fantastic! Excellent... Gemini wrote down everything he needed to in the proper places on the clipboard. The gardevoir was always quietly pleased when the procedure went to plan. There was always a small margin for error... But it didn't take away from that moment of pure joy. As he went to move on to the next section of questions, Alex's voice pulled his attention from the clipboard.

Heaven? Oh, that was nice... A-Angel?! Blush bloomed like a timid flower upon his snowy complexion and his body seemed to retract inward, pulling the clipboard close to himself. A nervous giggle escaped his lips, tapping his fingers along the clipboard. "W-Well, um... We don't normally have patients who are so, uh, quick to... um... flattery? I appreciate it though..." Chalked up to simple compliments, Gemini was able to look back at the patient's pages and try to find his place once again. It was a struggle to keep his mind from going in full romance novel mode. Ohhh, the fantasies his mind could create if he just let it... The places it would take him in the illusory journey into the possibilities that Gemini could have with- N-No! Get a hold of yourself! You are a professional, Gemini!

[Doctor Ivan Moonstone]

Heaven? Angels? Doctor Moon chuckled to himself from a chair in the hall outside the room. His angel permit was revoked long ago! These days he just works commission for the real ones on occasion.

One day off a week and it's blown on a call from king city's hospital. Patient: Small child riddled with cancer, physically weak from chemotherapy. Lined up for a procedure, yet concerns rose for the patient's ability to survive it. A delicate surgery was called for, one that only the best of doctors could pull off! Best of doctors were too expensive; 'better call Doctor Ivan Moonstone, we can subsidies his pay with a few assorted samples for his DNA research!' Hospitals were still a business after all. He didn't mind the budget-saver alternative payment too much; hospitals get so many more exotic donors than his clinic.

The 'chair' Doctor Moon was sitting on happened to be a repurposed gurney; damn city hospitals needing to keep their hallways clear. One does not simply maintain a finely-focused Heal Pulse over the course of an entire operation and NOT be absolutely drained afterwards! That being said, the surgery was not ENTIRELY over, for there were still two tumors the procedure could not eliminate in itself. As far as he knew, the parents were still unaware of the DNA choice made by their son. They would eventually be coming down this hallway to check up on their child now that he was conscious, and the first person they would encounter upon noticing his post-operation appearance would be the surgeon that made it happen.

And unlike all these hospital nurses, he didn't risk losing a job by talking back to upset parents.

Still a good few minutes before the nurse relayed the message of her patient waking up. Maybe enough time to record his thoughts on the matter, into his super-deluxe retro tape recorder! Incompatible with modern computer systems to keep those private thoughts private. "Medical Log 6/10/20XX. Pokemorph Transition Operation. Patient: Alex Patterson......."

[Alex(is) "Lexi" Patterson]

Lexi grinned, the kind of grin a predator might get when they know they have their prey cornered. That adorable blush, the coy giggle, this was the best reaction he could have hoped for. He might not have been so sure about his IV when he woke up, but now that he was awake and aware of his surroundings, he was more confident. He’d been around IVs pretty much the last year of his life, this was nothing; plus, there was the whole pokemorph DNA saving his life thing, which probably meant the IV was doing next to nothing at this point. He swiftly removed the tape—which hurt a lot more than he gave credit for, since he now had fur instead of skin; goddamn that hurt! He held a straight face and played it off as nothing—and then unceremoniously pulled the IV from his arm. Now free of any tethers or cords attached to his body, he swung his legs off the side of the bed and peered up at Gemini from behind her clip board.

“But madam…” he offered with a coy little grin, “it’s not flattery if it’s the truth, eheehee~” he giggled softly at her, hopping off the bed and moving in closer, almost nose to nose at this point; “If being a pokemorph made you this cute, I would have done this a long time ago~” he teased, giving her an innocent, sweet smile.

[Gemini Saria]

Gemini blinked as the boy slipped out of bed. He moved to tell Alex that he really needed to stay in all of that before getting up and moving, various tests and slow progress... But Gemini was suddenly nose to nose with the Blissey and he just, oh goodness... A soft squeak escaped him and he hid more behind the clipboard. He needed a way out! Something to pull away from this flirty nightmare! O-Oh! The Doctor! "I-I need to let the Doctor know that you're awake, he'll want to ask questions, a-and cover some things with you... Please sit back down! We'll be right back!"

Gemini escaped into the hall, taking a moment to breathe. He nodded softly and headed over to the Doctor. "Doctor Moonstone? The patient has woken up... U-Um... Would you like to head over?" Maybe that would curb the flirtation... N-Not that he didn't appreciate it, but it just made him nervous and it put him in a spot and then his mind would go to all sorts of places that it didn't need to go in a workplace environment...

[Doctor Ivan Moonstone]

"Huh... ah, excellent! Please hold chair for me; don't want vanishing in halls while absent." Doctor Moon hopped off the gurney and reached for his notes, pretending to have not overheard the conversation within the room. Species Traits... fur that senses sadness.... egg that brings happiness.... nope, no DNA traits to attribute behavior to. Hormone readjustment... maybe. Age 18... more likely. Teenagers are crazy like that. Of course, being well past the age where those drives had any kind of pull, the Clefable felt confident in his ability to resist and maintain professional demeanor. Lady Science was the only one that could claim his heart.

A quick pair of three knocks would beckon the replacement's entrance into the room, a small binder of notes by his side. Mixed medical notes, patient history, a blank template for a new physical that would need to be performed some time in the future. And oh look, the patient is standing already. Incredible constitution in that genome, for sure. Might even be fit enough to push forward with the new records.

"Yes, hello! Name is Doctor Ivan Moonstone. If you are recognizing me as lead physician for surgery of you, hospital is of needing better anesthesiologist!" HA! Medical humor! Surely they didn't cut corners with the pass-out gas, right? "Er, that is doctor joke. You seem not dead; shall mark surgery as success. Might wish you were once patient sees all paperwork that comes with changing species. EVERYTHING needs redoing!"

"We begin when ready. But first, you have questions? I answer them for you. Been through procedure as doctor and patient; know both sides of coin!"

[Alex(is) "Lexi" Patterson]

If Lexi were a cat pokemorph, he could have almost purred at Gemini’s reaction. Progress. His expression changed to a mix of annoyance and amusement as she quickly gave him an excuse to go fetch the doctor. Yes, run… but I know you liked it… he mused to himself, allowing a sly smile to play at the corners of his mouth. Everyone liked being flirted with, and those were good reactions he was getting.
“Hurry back,” he called to her sweetly, “I’ll be waiting for you!”

And then the doctor came in. Augh, what a boner killer. (Not literally… that would just be inappropriate. Besides, he hadn’t got that far. Yet.). The doctor was just as pink as he was, but not really his type, per se. Or maybe he was? He tried to imagine laying in the doctor’s lap… Well… they did make a lot of money, right? And he was a fellow pink pokemorph, though more manly than the female-ONLY pokemon he had chosen. Eh… he would see how it played out first.

He… wasn’t sure what to make of the joke, he supposed it would be funny to doctors? He gave a fake giggle to be polite. This doctor sure had a funny way of speaking, almost like a robot. You seem not dead, shall mark surgery as success. He couldn’t quite place a finger on it, but that made him genuinely giggle… a lot! These weren’t fake as he laughed at that statement.
“I feel very not dead,” he agreed with a smile. Though he had to frown a bit at the thought of paperwork. It wasn’t new to him, but his parents mostly handled that since he was too weak to function most of the time. Well… he used to be too weak to function. Did he have to do all of that now that he was better? Bollocks.
“Don’t you have like, computers and stuff?” He asked hopefully. He wasn’t expecting much, but just maybe. “First, where’s my phone?” He asked, looking around. He probably had about a million messages wishing him better and asking if he was okay, and he’d like to get through the eternal slog of answering them all. Plus, he had to get those digits from that cute gardevoir, that was very important. “And second, am I really okay?” He asked, looking serious for a moment. “I feel fantastic… but… it almost feels like a dream, like I’m not myself, like I just got put in someone else’s life. Did it really work?”

[Doctor Ivan Moonstone]

Computers?

...that's a good point. Doctor Moon sortof stared into space in deep thought over the comment. How come all this paperwork had to be done by hand? Even worse, it goes from hand to scanner TO the computer! So inefficient! This is why he refused to work at a larger hospital; twas way too commonplace. Clipboard nurse didn't even seem to mind!

"Umm... phone? Maybe ask nurse; not familiar with hospital storage procedures." Maybe there was a drawer somewhere, or a table? Not many places where one could stash one of those things. Regardless, the clefable would drop his small stack of papers on a nearby non-floor surface and take a quick look around while talking. "As for second, feeling of disconnect very common. Amputees get same feeling... kindof. LACK of feeling. Mind adjusts through doubt. Give it week, feeling will pass."

Aha! Bedside table, second draw from floor! The perfect place for a room-visitor to discretely swipe a valuable piece of technology from! He placed the device on top of the table; rude to look through a patient's phone. "If you want proof of operation success, try cheek-pinch. Reaction to stimuli supersedes mental illusions. Not too hard; arm strength maybe increased. Might break skin. Very bad."

[Alex(is) "Lexi" Patterson]

Ah, his phone! There it was! He quickly swiped it and turned it on. 157 text messages, 54 missed calls, and other countless social media greeted him. Fantastic, he’d get to that later.

“So this is common? Good to know,” he mused, stroking the egg in his new pouch fondly. He reached up and tugged at his shoulder tuft; it hurt, like pulling hair! He then pinched his cheek. That too hurt. Guess it really was real after all. His hand wandered back to his egg as he ran the smooth shell beneath his fingers.

“Yeah doc, I do have a question, actually…” he blushed a little, this was all new, and seemed a little… intimate.
“What… is this? I mean, I know it’s an egg, but what do blisseys—I mean we—do with it? It’s… so new and weird.”

[Doctor Ivan Moonstone]

Unfazed by the question, Doctor Moon quickly browsed through his medical notes. These operations usually result in the development of new organs, most of which shoot fire or lightning, sometimes exploding when triggered. Keeping species biological information handy was a great way to not have the recovery room explode from a fit of curiosity.

"On base genetic level, egg sack is reproductive organ. Like bird; fertilized egg make child, unfertilized makes breakfast. Unlike normal egg, Blissey egg contains enough dopamine to turn any frown upside down. New one grows quickly when pouch empty, faster or slower depending on heart rate. Near infinite supply in battle, hour or more in noncombat situation."

...they do in fact explode if used as an attack. Well then, those notes are already paying off! And speaking of bombshells, "Also important according to notes. Blissey female-only species. Patient originally male. Depending on pouch fertility, potentially both now. This is reason post-operation physical so important." These kinds of species were always troublesome to morph for this exact reason. Not to mention the paperwork, or the occasional requirement of 'the talk'; nurse would have to handle that. Not being paid nearly enough for that speech.

[Alex(is) "Lexi" Patterson]

“Oh…” he exclaimed softly, listening to Doctor Moon go on about his, er… reproductive thingey, blushing a little bit more. It was scientific sure, but… well it was still new to him, and hearing it referred to as a reproductive organ made it feel more like genitalia than an external body part. Normal blisseys don’t cover their eggs… he reasoned, feeling his own. It felt odd, he wasn’t used to it’s gentle pressure and bulk yet.

“Yes,” he confirmed, almost as an afterthought, “I did choose this species on purpose. It was the cutest of the female-only pokemon. It's... a life decision.” he admitted. The doctor’s next words made him blush even more! “O-oh gosh… um… not sure how to feel about that one…” him, an asexual reproducer? Now there was the game winning thought of the day. He’d have to be careful during, uh… well… natural moments.

“Weh!” He gave a gasp of surprise as he accidentally removed the egg in his pouch, which shrank down without an egg to hold. It felt weird, it was the weirdest sensation he had felt to date, but not uncomfortable. Just… foreign. He held a hand to his flat stomach; he almost had a normal figure now. Good to know… he mused, studying the egg in his other hand.

“So is it, like… uh... goopy in there, or something? I don’t want to accidentally make it a bomb, I’m not even sure how I’d do that…”

[Doctor Ivan Moonstone]

The clefable scratched his head in confusion. "Egg is egg on inside? Not sure how egg works; Moonstone is Geneticist, not Zoologist. Know which genes MAKE egg, not function." The easiest course of action would be to break open the egg and see what's inside. Of course, that might be a rude thing to do or suggest while the patient was hugging it so fondly.

In fact, the egg fondling left Doctor Moon an opening to start on some of the papers! First thing on the list; size chart for clothing. A small coil of measuring take was procured from the doctor's coat paired with two sheets from the paper bundle. Given the patient's animosity towards gender, Ivan wasn't going to risk asking which gender clothing he/she/both would be shopping for upon leaving the hospital. Both charts would have to be filled.

The doctor would spend the next few minutes taking various measurements as he talked. "These charts go with small pamphlet made by Doctor Moon. Tips and advice for post-surgery adjustment. Includes list of tailors and stores that cater unusual sizes and appendages present in pokemorph anatomy. Labcoat with wing holes very hard to find."

[Alex(is) "Lexi" Patterson]

“Oh… that makes sense I guess,” he agreed, studying it closely. Smooth, textured just like an egg should be. Should he break it? How would he dispose of it? Was there a… trash bin? It wouldn’t exactly fit in a lavatory… though the thought that he might be throwing away a potential child was kind of weird. It’s not fertilized, he told himself. It’s just an egg. How many times had he eaten eggs without a care in the world as a human, giving where they came from and what they were no thought? Now that he could make them, it felt a lot more… personal. Before he could ruminate on how to dispose of it, it suddenly transformed itself into an orb of light, swirling around his body, and vanishing altogether. He felt a boost of… something, he definitely felt better. Oh, right… blisseys have a move called softboiled… is that what I just used? Amazing...

His attention was caught by Doctor Moon’s tape measure circling various parts of his body.
“Oh! Right… this is all so new,” he admitted. “I’ve never really needed any special clothes, but I suppose morphs don’t exactly conform to one body type like humans.” It would make sense to have a pokemorph tailoring industry, with all the custom clothes one must need. He wondered if it would get expensive… he didn’t exactly have a job, and what with the medical bills and such, he really didn’t want to be a drag on his parents any more than he had to.