Playful Freedom

He could barely breathe, this was the moment many trainers strove for and exceptionally few ever got to experience. He’d tracked rumours and legends and even alleged sightings of the elusive Pokémon and finally his persistence was paying off. He was crouching behind a bush, while in front of him floated a sleeping legendary Pokémon! And not just any legendary, but Mew! Said to be the original Pokémon! Or at least descended from it.

           And he was going to be the trainer who finally caught it! He stepped forth from the bushes, he silently approached the Mew who floated unaware and!

           He was pushed from behind, stumbling straight through the illusion of the Mew, tripping over a rock and falling off a small cliff, landing with a splash in the lake below!

           He quickly rose to the surface, sputtering out water, climbing out onto a rounded rock perfect for laying on. It was quite warm from the sun, and had an elevated bit too high to get wet unless it was stormy, so it was a rather nice place! Unfortunately, aside from the cliff behind him, the nearest exit point from the water was rather far away, this was a remote location, more for Pokémon than humans.

           “Heeheehee, that was close!” a giggly voice said. The trainer turned, to see Mew floating near him. “You know, if I hadn’t noticed you getting close a few days ago!” He growled, he’d tried so hard! This Mew led him on!

           The Mew frowned, shaking his head. “Nono, none of that! I can read your mind a little, and I have a liiiiittle proposition!” Proposition?

           “What do you mean?” the trainer asked. Mew grinned, zipping around him so he could look at the Mew easier.

           “Well, Mister Leroy,” Mew said, “I was thinking maybe we could help each other a little! I know somebody here rather loves Dewgong!” Leroy nodded hesitantly. He definitely loved Dewgong, it was just so beautiful and graceful! Unfortunately, he was in Hoenn, far from the Arctic chill that the seal-Pokémon loved, so he’d only seen a few, but each one stayed in his mind longer than nearly anything else.

           “So? What?” he asked, now curious what the Mew was offering.

           “I was getting bored, so if you’ll stick around and be my toy for a bit I’ll turn you into a Dewgong!” Mew declared proudly. Leroy was stunned, staring at the feline.

           “Impossible,” he breathed. He had heard about people turning into Pokémon and vice-versa, but those were just rumours and legends! Then again, those were what led him to this Mew in the first place.

           “Oh totally possible! I can even let you shift between human and Dewgong!” Mew said cheerfully, patting Leroy’s spiky hair. “All I ask if you be my toy for a while! I’m awfully lonely!” It sounded like a good deal, all he had to do was play around with Mew and he would gain the ability to turn into a Dewgong and back, was there a downside?

           The Mew clapped.

           “Perfect!”

           “Wait, I didn’t say yes!” Leroy blurted out quickly, but Mew wasn’t listening, the creature was beginning preparations for play!

           “You were going to!” was the response that came along with a giggle. “Now you get to be my toy! For as long as I want!”

           “Yes well,” he realized as he said it that he had just verbally said yes to something slightly different to what he had intended to agree to. Mew did too!

           “Hahaha! Got you!” She cheered, doing an aerial backflip in delight. “Silly human! Not for long though!”

           Oh no, what was going to happen? It began quickly, so Leroy didn’t have to wait long. He felt it in his belly first. He lifted his shirt, looking down. What? A…nozzle?

           He reached down and touched it. Hard plastic. Definitely a nozzle. And his belly, it was expanding! He pressed his hand against his belly, feeling his hand sink into it. He didn’t feel any muscles or fat, just air? And his skin…It felt like vinyl? Like a pool toy.

            A pool toy! A toy! Mew wasn’t going to play with him, Mew was going to use him to play! He ran his fingers through his hair, his dark hair falling from him as it was touched, he felt a little jab as his horn began growing. A Dewgong pooltoy!

           “Aww, you figured it out so fast!” Mew complained, frowning, “I was hoping you’d get all flustered and stuff! Guess I’ll just have to enjoy you as a toy!” His flesh paled from flesh-tone to cartoon white, his body inflating straight out of his clothing! His skin smoothed, with a few seams along his sides. His fingers merged as they blew up, giving him flippers.

           “Please stop!” he asked, his head being forced to look straight ahead as it merged with his main body, he couldn’t stop smiling.

           “Hmm, nah!” the Mew grinned, watching her toy come into being, his living smile turning into a simple painted on decoration as did his eyes. A black nose dotted the front of his nose. “You agreed I could play with you as loooong as I want!” She said cheerfully, patting his horned head.

           Leroy could really do nothing now. His legs were all he could move, and even so barely! They appeared to be fusing together into a single tail, it looked like he was getting his wish, he was getting turned into a Dewgong!
           Unfortunately a Dewgong made of vinyl and air. In fact, even his thoughts were changing. Focusing became hard, thoughts growing fuzzy as he endlessly stared forwards with a wide grin. He was a trainer! I’m a trainer! He repeated that thought in his mind, not noticing as every few times he would switch trainer with pooltoy, and that occurred more and more until he was chanting that in his mind, growing happier with each repetition.

           I’m a toy. I’m a toy. I’m a toy! I’m a pooltoy!

           It was a cheer now, not a chant! The Mew laughed, tossing Leroy onto the lake, grabbing onto the handles growing out of his sides.

           “Don’t worry, I always keep my promises!” The Mew giggled, resting on Leroy as the two floated on the lake. Leroy kept smiling, not that he had a choice or didn’t want to. He was being used! He was a good toy! This was the best day of his life! “I’ll just keep your clothes safe for now.” A pink bubble appeared around Leroy’s discarded clothes and PokéBalls before winking them out of existence and into the Mew’s own private pocket dimension for when she eventually turned him back.

           It would take a long while for that though, she was going to get her usage out of her new toy!



           Leroy lost track of how long he was a living pooltoy for the Mew. He didn’t carry such omnipresent human concerns as the unending passage of time. His only worries were not being used and getting popped. Whenever Mew got off him, he felt a pang of loneliness, even when she wasn’t going far, toys were meant to be used!

           When she occasionally went inland for the night and left him resting on the beach he would have cried in distress, were he flesh and blood. The long hours alone were unbearable, but made the reunion in the morning all the more joyous.

           The days when Mew found friends to play with made everything even better! When Mew got off him invariably another Pokémon climbed on him. Sometimes they played games with him, using him for a game like King of the Hill, where he was the hill. That was always fun, if a little rough. It got scary one time when Mew let a Rhydon ride him, he worried he’d get popped or burst but it turned out he was incredibly buoyant and sturdy, the Rhydon didn’t harm him at all.

           Eventually, one day, he found that the waters he floated on were growing colder. No, please! Not the winter! I can’t handle a season being alone! Long ago he’d practically forgotten his memories of being a human, getting lost in the pleasure of being a vinyl floating toy. They still lingered on the edges of his mind, but were far less important to him after all this time.

           He felt his belly brush up against a snowy beach, he would have whimpered if he were able to. He watched the Mew float in front of him, smiling at him. She stroked his cheek, a brief flash of warmth against the cold air surrounding him.

           “Hey, guess I’ve kept you long enough huh?” she said, smiling a little sadly. No, don’t be sad! Keep playing with me! He thought, feeling the warmth from her paw spreading over his thin body. “Huh, two weeks goes by fast, doesn’t it?” Two weeks? It couldn’t have been that short a time! It was winter! He felt his body settling down against the snow and sand, was he deflating?

           No, it wasn’t deflation, he was gaining weight! His tail fell from its slightly curled up pose, laying flat on the water. Strange, what was happening? It took him far longer than it should have to realize what was happening. In fact, it took until he blinked.

           He was changing from vinyl and air to flesh and blood.

           His flippers, once unable to be moved at will soon felt water lapping over them, both side of them! They were a little frilly looking, but strong, able to swim through anything! He even regained movement of his body, allowing him to tilt his head around, still made of vinyl save for his eyes, to look over his sleek, silvery-white furred body. It wasn’t winter, Mew had brought him all the way to the Arctic! It wasn’t even feeling cold anymore, it was feeling really nice, especially the water.

           He slowly began slipping into it.

           “Hey hey, wait a minute!” Mew said, holding him with her psychic powers. She dropped in front of him, tapping his mouth, the last thing that needed to be released from the vinyl prison. First he felt two fangs pop out, lips unparting like they were stuck with glue as he filled his improved marine mammalian lungs with their first, crisp breath of Arctic air. He took several more before saying anything.

           “Yeah?” short and sweet. His mind was returning with every breath, clearing up his prior airheadedness.

           “I gotta tell you some things before I let you go swimming across the world or something’,” she sat down on a conjured pink bubble, holding up three fingers. “First? You’re gonna be stuck as a Dewgong for a few days, just to get used to it. You’ll know how to turn back; you just need to get on shore before doing it. Also, try and be alone? You’ll be naked.”

           “What?”

           “Yeah, but naked. You aren’t wearing anything, are you?” Mew and Leroy both looked him over to confirm that, indeed, he was stark naked, as a Pokémon should be. “But, when ye return to being human your clothes and bags and stuff’ll appear with you, so that’s good, right?” Leroy nodded.

           “That’s very kind of you, I assume when I switch back to Dewgong you’ll magic away my stuff again?” He asked, to which he received an affirmative. How convenient!

           “Second? Don’t get caught by a trainer. Seriously,” she frowned, “It’s inconvenient for me to deal with, and I might just leave you to your fate!” Leroy’s eyes widened, that was scary. On one hand, if he stayed in the colder regions trainers would be far more rare, but on the other trainers were everywhere in the world, especially for Pokémon they loved or wanted. Maybe someday he’d let himself get caught, probably by a friend, but for now he wanted his freedom.

           So he nodded that he understood. She said ‘might’ too, so even if he got caught, it didn’t mean she would force him to remain caught forever! She dropped her finger, floating right up to him, face to face.

           “Finally?” She patted his head, causing long silvery hair to grow, some falling over his eye, marking him as very distinct from other Dewgongs, and potentially making him appear extremely rare to trainers. “I might call on you to play with me again, whenever I’d like! Have fun!” She didn’t even give him time to react or say something before she winked out of visibility, teleporting somewhere far away in the world.
           That meant her psychic bindings were gone! Finally freeing Leroy to slip into the ocean! He was free, free to go where he liked and explore a whole new oceanic world! It was liberating, and so clear! He saw a small group of Seels and Dewgongs in the distance. He grinned, time to make some friends!