Pokémon Sword: Genetic Mutations

Chapter Six.... CREEP ATTACK!

I yawned as Gloria and I walked the dimly lit streets of Motostoke. We had decided to take me clothes shopping before leaving for Hammerlocke, but I didn't expect to wake up before the sun had a chance to! "Gloria, how long will this be?" I asked, rubbing my tired blue eyes. "It'll only be a bit. We're going to get you at LEAST three outfits, and a coat. You can never be TO prepared, especially knowing our climates!" She replied, propping the shop door open for me to enter. "Welcome to our Boutique! Is there anything I can do for you ladies today?" The shop keeper asked kindly. "We're just browsing for now, but we'll give a holler if we need your services." Gloria replied, closing the door behind me before dragging me off to a clothing rack. "Let's see here. Shall we go with cute, sporty, or trendy?" Gloria asked, holding up a puff sleeved, skin tight, semi low cut orange crop top to my upper body. "Yeesh! Could we prehaps find something with a little more coverage? OH! This blouse would look FANTASTIC with these leggings, and some jean shorts to top it off, yeah?" I said, showing her the loose, flowy cloth with the black leggings and tattered looking shorts. Gloria scrunched up her face before shuddering, and she replied, "The contrast in styles clash too much. Not to mention the ivory color would wash you out entirely! How about something with more pigment, like a red to bring out your natural beauty, or prehaps a turquoise color for your eyes? Oh! Look here! This dress is not ONLY cute, but I can see those sapphires in your head glittering like mad." She held up a casual dress with a ribbon waist belt, and though I was drawn into the modest top, the skirt left something to be desired. "Do they have something like that but with a longer skirt?" I asked, continuing to dig through clothes. "No? But the skirt isn't TOO short, so you should be alright. If you need extra coverage, we could get you leggings to go with the built in shorts!" Gloria suggested, putting it over her arm before grabbing a pair of white stockings from the shelf. "Ah! Errr.." I groaned uncomfortably, giving a defeated sigh in the end. Gloria's only trying to help, I know that, but I've never felt really confident in wearing the cute, low cut, skin tight, short looking clothing because of my body shape. Let's just say that, unlike most Alolan girls my age, I have volume in a couple places where most girls don't really ask to HAVE volume! I continued to sift through, finding a light pink pair of baggy sweats, a black tank top, and a cute, gray, short sleeved, sporty crop top. I'm opposed to crop tops, but I can live with wearing something under it as to not offend anyone, and a tank top as long as I have the cover I need. As I continued to look for modest clothing, the same eerie feeling of being watched overtook me again, like it did when I left the motostoke station with Hop, Nessa, and Milo, and I dared myself to look around. The store was virtually empty, all except for the shop keep, and a single boy with ashen brown hair. Something about the boy struck me, and I couldn't help but feel the ice in my blood taking form as he glanced over his shoulder at me. "Eep! It's just a random guy... it only looks like who I think it is...." I told myself, looking back to the shelves to look for socks. As I browsed, I snuck a peek over my shoulder once more, and the boy had gone back to shopping, which both embarrassed me for being paranoid, and relieved me that it wasn't him. I took a pair of white ankle socks, and some sporty sneakers in my arms, and Gloria waved me over to the dressing room. Once I was there, she placed the blue dress, and two more outfits in my arms before sending me off to try them on. I closed the curtain behind me, and I set all four outfits out to look at, the first one being mine, and the rest of them being Gloria's skin tight, short length picks. To satisfy Gloria, I picked up the casual dress and the stockings going with, and began to change out of my pajamas. Once I was done, I stepped onto a pedestal in front of a large mirror to assess the look, and Gloria beamed as she fawned, "It looks so pretty on you!" "Pretty," I began, fiddling with the skirt uncomfortably, "and REALLY short! My hips are far too large for a design like THIS." "Are not. You and I are exactly the same size, body speaking of course!" Gloria replied, measuring her hips before setting them on my own, "See? Just the same!" "But when I turn around, the shorts are exposed!" I whined, trying to pull down the skirt bit, but having no luck. The creepy feeling came back a third time, and I glanced over my shoulder to find that it WAS the boy staring me down with familiarity.... Oh lord.... It WAS him! I tried to resist the urge to scream as to not confirm to him my identity, and I quickly stepped off the platform, and threw on another of Gloria's picks: a tight fitting, purple sweat shirt, with a yellow, frilly miniskirt. The sweat shirt I was okay with since it covered, but the skirts... Why were the skirts in Galar so short!? I stepped out of the dressing room, and back onto the pedestal, still grabbing at the skirt and trying desperately to pull it down as Gloria said, "It's a MINISKIRT. It's designed to look like that, Lele!" So much for concealing who I was! I looked over my shoulder again, and this time the boy's whole body was faced in my direction. His suspicions were confirmed when Gloria dropped my name, and the crazed twinkle in his eye came to him as he grinned a toothy smile. Now all I had to go on was sheer dumbness should he approach us, but if it was who I thought it was, it would be hopeless to even try! Without a word, I ran back to the dressing room, threw my pajamas back on, scooped up the outfits, and quickly said, "You know what? I changed my mind. Let's get them all!" "Hm? But you only tried on two of them!" "I-I'll try on the rest back at the Inn, just, please, let's get out of here." I begged, trying to conceal my fear from her, but completely giving myself away in the process. "Is there a problem, Lele?" Gloria asked in a low whisper, and I shook my head as I lied, "Nope, nothing! Just anxious to get back to the others is all." Sensing something was off, Gloria raised a brow, and looked about the room when she saw him as well, his glistening eyes pinning me down like a spike, and knew immediately why it was I was so quick to leave. "We'll take this lot here, ma'am." Gloria said to the shopkeep, and after she rung us up and Gloria paid for the clothes, we quickly began to leave.... or we TRIED anyway... A firm hand seized my wrist, and I turned in horror to find the creepy boy as he began casually, "Hey! Forgive me if I'm mistaken, but do I know you from somewhere? A restaurant prehaps? Maybe a public transport?" His dark green eyes looked Poké hungry, and he reached his hand into his pocket for, what I feared would be, one of those spherical prisons called a PokéBall! I trembled in his grasp..... He knew it was me, and he knew I was frightened! "N-No? I'm afraid that I've never seen you a day in my life! Y-You must have me mixed up with a different person." I gulped, attempting to throw him off, but he was smarter than that... Of COURSE he was smarter than to believe that little ruse! He gripped my wrist tighter, and his smile became bigger, and the crazed look in his eyes sunk in deeper, shaking me to the very core! I was stuck.... TRAPPED! "Hey, Lele! Making friends, are we?" A voice asked, making us both look into the direction of Gloria as she came back for me. She threw her arm over me as she stared at the boy back, and she began, "Aren't you cute! Pity that your manners leave something to be desired." She pointed down at his hand around my suffocating wrist, and he quickly released me. I pulled my hand back, and grabbed onto Gloria as she continued, "Did you need something from us?" "Wh-Who are you?" He asked, seemingly angry by her intervention, but poorly trying to hide it. "I'm Gloria! Lele's good friend. We were just about to go to a Café for breakfast, and if you'd like you could join us!" Gloria offered, smiling knowingly at him, and his anger turned to discomfort as he quickly declined, "N-No thanks! S-Sorry for your.... Inconvenience......" the boy then quickly rushed off, subtly glancing back at us every now and then. Once he was out of view, Gloria turned back to me and ushered me towards the heart of Motostoke, saying, "Let's leave before he changes his mind, and comes skulking back!" We were practically running to get back to the Inn, looking over our shoulders along the way to see if we spotted him. Once inside, we stopped by Leon's room, and Gloria explained the whole ordeal to him as he put a hand to his face in concern. "Lele, do you know WHO the boy was?" He asked. I nodded fearfully before sobbing, "I can't believe it! I can't believe he ACTUALLY followed me from Alola to Galar!" I sat on the bench in the hallway, Gloria and Leon taking a seat beside me as Gloria asked, "What's his name? Who is he?" "When I first arrived in Galar, I told Hop that I had a hunch about who it was that tipped off the Poké researchers, and that he wasn't happy when I refused to be caught in those blasted Balls and call him my trainer! His name is Miko, and, before he tried to force me into a PokéBall, he was my first love interest. He was so kind, and protected me with his life! He was the first to make me feel like I wasn't a freak. He had told me that he liked to collect Pokémon, OBSESSED even! That should've been a red flag from the moment I met him because after I told him my lineage, he looked at me as more of an asset to his collection, than someone to spend his forever with. He grew angry that I wouldn't be his Pokémon, and while he was in a fit of rage, I fled from him and told my mother what had happened!" "Did she call the coppers?" "No. She punished me harshly though! She told me that I would be impossible to love, being half Ditto, and that there was no way any human would truly love me without seeing the Pokémon within.... That only she would love me like the human I was born to be!" I went silent, reminiscing that day and feeling misplaced among the other people. Leon sighed frustratedly, and said firmly as he placed a hand on my shoulder, "Your mum is wrong! She had no right to bully you around like that. Now that we know who this "Miko" is, and what he looks like, we can take swift action in preventing him from getting to you again!" "He's relentless, Leon. He'll stop at NOTHING to contain me in a PokéBall, and adding me to his dank, and dirty collection! And if he did tip off the researchers, it's only a matter of time before the straw on the Numel's back is once again broken, and the researchers come flocking to Galar to find me." I panicked, shuddering at the thought of having nowhere to hide. "We WON'T let that happen! I made a promise to you, Lele, and when I make a promise, I keep it. Don't believe me? You can ask my little brother to vouch for me!" Leon assured, patting me on the back. "And the rest of us will do what we can to help him!" Gloria added, hugging me tightly. I felt happy that they were willing, and ready to fight for me, but something inside me still remained uncertain..... How far will they go before their limit breaks?