Lane landed with a splash, sending warm water cascading away from him in all directions. He sank, and for a few terrible seconds it felt like he was going to keep sinking.
Even if it was too dark to see, he could feel Mew hovering over him, and he kicked towards her. He broke the water a second later, coughing and spluttering. "Are… you… trying to drown me?"
A soft amber glow sprung up just beside the water, suddenly illuminating the room. He swam towards the edge, getting a good look around.
It reminded him a little of a hotel spa, though one built into a facility far nicer than anything he could've afforded. Smooth granite had been used for the spa, which felt gigantic but couldn't be much bigger than a sink. As he reached the edge, he found a raised lip around the outside, probably meant to be a seat.
The room itself was carved from the same black stone as the ruins above, though instead of completely overgrown, this space was orderly. It wouldn't take much to keep humans away, given the ceiling was only a little taller than Mew would've been standing. Maybe two feet, with doorways leading off in a few different directions lifted off the ground near the ceilings.
Lights were mounted to the wall at regular points, glowing together just enough to be comfortable—though some part of Lane told him it was also quite a bit dimmer than a human would've liked.
The water might've startled him at first, but now that he wasn't in the dark, it actually felt quite nice. It was pleasantly warm and just faintly salty, like an indoor pool. He was covered in mud.
He rolled back around in the water, letting himself sink below the surface. When he popped back up again, he already felt better.
At least until the water jostled, and something splashed in beside him, over twice his size. Mew took hold of him with her paws, looking down on him with a pair of bright blue eyes. "You're getting clean one way or another," she said. He stopped struggling.
She dunked him several times, stroking one oversized paw along his back until no more mud came free. Finally she let go, depositing him on the floor just outside the water. A section of floor covered in something soft and absorbent.
"How long are you going to keep this up?" he asked. He probably shouldn't be trying to look so comfortable, but it felt so good to rub that towel against his fur. He rolled, pressing up against the towel from all sides until his fur started to fluff up. "Just… change me back, Mew. I'll go, and you'll never have to see me again. I'll even fix the jacket. Pointed ears, longer tail, wrong pink. I'll remember."
Mew was still in the water, sunk most of the way down so that only her head emerged. She didn't bother physically answering this time, probably so she could stay low in the water.
"Change yourself back, kitten. If you want to transform so badly, do it. If that melted sack of DNA can copy humans, it shouldn't be hard for you."
Being out of the water brought that crushing weight down on his chest again. The longer he lay on the cushions, the heavier his breathing became. "I don't… know how…" he said. "You just changed me, Mew! How would I know how to fix it?"
"Fix." Mew floated out of the water, nudging Lane up into the air and out of the way. She pressed herself up against the walls and floors as Lane had done, and somehow they dried her off just as quickly. "Please make me back into a slowly rotting dumb, blind, idiot. That's what you sound like right now."
Lane wanted to scream, but somehow it came out as a whimper. It didn't help that he was drifting slowly away from her, powerless to do anything about it. He bumped into the ceiling a second later, then started floating back down. "I don't want to be a Pokémon!"
Mew floated ominously towards him, seeming even bigger than before. Or maybe that was just the effect of her damp fur fluffing up a little. "I'll spell it out if I have to. I've given you more than any human deserves. I would've done it sooner, if I'd found the right human. You seemed to appreciate mew, well lucky you!
"Now you get to help us not go extinct. I know things are a little scary when you're young—small as you are, you must be under a century. Don't worry, I'll teach you everything I know. Instead of using your primitive science to make monsters, you can use your psionics to make more of us! Or biology, whichever comes more naturally."
Very little of what Mew said made any sense to Lane. But there was one thread through all of it, one that should've made him furious. Instead it made his eyes water, and his body curled up defensively into a pathetic little ball.
He wouldn't keep quiet, that would just be letting her win. He fought through the tears, even if his voice shook and cracked. "What if I don't want any of that? What if I just want to be me again?"
She caught Lane in the air, turning him so he was facing her. "If you don't want to stay with me, then… I'll fix that." She bent down, opening her mouth wide.
Lane kicked and scrambled away, but he was much too slow. Mew got her mouth around his neck, and… a wave of relaxation washed across his body, making him go instantly limp. His paws and tail dangled down from Mew's mouth, as she carried him through a doorway into a mew-sized hall.
A mural of gemstones decorated the floor in spectacular complexity, but Lane was too relaxed to care. The whole world was a blur, and the only thing that mattered was Mew's voice.
"You're already so little. I'll just get rid of all these memories, until you realize you're my kitten."
Through another little doorway was a… bedroom? Or maybe a nest. The entire floor was soft and padded, with many layers of overlapping fabric. Mew bent down, dropping Lane into the center. Instead of the bright illumination of the spa, this bedroom was lit by hundreds of little pinpricks on the ceiling, twinkling like stars.
"You're my kitten either way, kitten," Mew declared, landing just beside him. She twisted around him, pulling him up against her. More of Lane's human memories rebelled—this was an animal, he was naked, he was vulnerable and she was huge—but the thoughts weren't terribly strong. "Just tell me which you want."
Mew might be big, but she smelled so… safe. Her words said she would murder him without a thought, but his body didn't seem to care.
"Lane," he squeaked, as defiantly as he dared. "If I'm going to be… stuck this way… at least use my name."
"Lane," the mew repeated, tucking him under one of her forelegs. "It's small enough. If you're good, I'll let you keep it."
Lane wanted to fight, at least part of him did. But the lights dimmed, and the warmth of Mew's body was almost as effective as when she bit him.
"And I'm Korina, the best big sister you ever had. Unless you make me start fresh, then I guess I'd be your mom?"
She bent down, licking at Lane's head with a gigantic tongue. Somehow it didn't feel completely disgusting. Lane yawned, and in a matter of seconds he'd already started to drift. With Mew so close, he didn't feel heavy anymore…
[hr]
Lane did not sleep well. His usual dreams of finding and speaking with Mew had come true, and parts of them were even similar to what he'd imagined. Make a few adjustments to include a camera and maybe an interview with Mew about what life was like for her, and all that needed to change was the ending.
But instead of the usual dream where he found mew, revolutionizing the understanding and study of mythical Pokémon, Lane dreamed of falling.
He was a shooting star, his whole body aflame and trailing black smoke. He passed through a ruin of incredible size, through gears with broken teeth and shattered glass. He passed through the heart of vast reactors, and could do nothing to stop his fall despite the oversized tail dragging behind him all the way.
It wouldn't have been so bad if he was alone. There were other things in that ruin. Pokémon his mind was not meant to comprehend. Their terrible eyes were all on him, judging him. He was an intruder here, and not a welcome one. They found him wanting.
Then Lane hit the ground, and he finally woke up. He jerked up into the air, as though he'd fallen right through the floor of the dream and kept traveling up.
He slowed to a stop, still dazed. My cameras vanished without ever catching Mew. I'm out of food, and my friends will be worried. Time to do the walk of shame.
He floated through the air towards the exit to his tent, still drowsy with sleep—until he bumped his muzzle up against a flat stone wall, and realized he was flying.
Finally he blinked one oversized blue eye open, and everything came crashing back. He was in Mew's bedroom. She would erase his mind if he didn't play along. I wanted to find Mew. At least I did one thing right.
He spun around, but Korina the mew was nowhere to be seen. A ceiling that had looked like stars now glowed with warm yellow light. And… yes, there was a mirror against the far wall.
Lane didn't so much fly to it as he fell sideways, tumbling and rolling through the soft blankets until he touched against the mirrored metal wall.
Guess I should see what the damage is.
He squirmed, struggling for air. That weight again, crushing his chest and pressing him into the blanket. He fought, kicking away from it like pushing off the bottom of a swimming pool. He lifted off the bed into a bobbing hover.
It was easy to see why Korina wanted to call him "kitten." Soft pink, with eyes that seemed oversized even for a Pokémon. His ears twitched and flattened while long paws dangled under him.
He turned over in the air, until his paws were over his head. Completely naked like this, he caught a brief glimpse behind his tail.
If I ever get back to Celadon University, I'll have to tell them they were right. Mew are all female.
He twisted his legs tightly together, turning away from the mirror. It didn't help, though—it was like seeing an optical illusion. Now that he'd seen what wasn't there, he couldn't help feeling what was.
How about focus on getting out of this. Reclaim your humanity first. Getting your junk back is second.
It would be hard to keep his relationship with Elisa alive as a fluffy pink kitten anyway.
"Look who's floating all on her own." The doors were all up by the ceiling, obviously intended to float through rather than walk. Lane had to look up to see Mew hovering there. "I told you levitation was natural! It's as much a part of you as breathing."
The more Lane thought about it, the more unsteady in the air he became. He wobbled, thumping back down into bed. He rolled to one side, curling up and closing her eyes. "It's not fair what you did to me," he said. Now how high and soft that voice sounded made sense. It didn't belong to a man anymore.
"No," Korina agreed, poking a little further through the doorway. She held something in her forepaws, a ripe oran berry, that made the whole room smell like fruit even from here. "I was way too generous. Do you want a morning meal, Lane? I think the human word is 'breakfast'. I'll share my oran with you if you can fly over on your own."
Lane glared up at her—then she kicked off into the air, swimming up until she bumped into Korina's shoulder. "I'll be mad in a minute. Hungry is more important."
Korina giggled in response. "That's my kitten."