A New World, a New Lifestyle

by Omega_code

Prologue

The soft sound of a pencil tapping against a wood desk wrapped out as a Zoroark had his arms resting on top of it, one of his hands propping his head up while the other held the pencil between his three clawed hand. His light blue eyes staring down as they skimmed an open book, quickly reading it to refresh his mind.

“-the subject is arrested and put to jail until trial starts. The proper sentence can be years to a life time in jail depending on the charges for Pokephilia,” he read out loud, his voice quiet and soft while doing so. He paused in tapping his pencil as he frowned slightly. He held a morbid thought, knowing that was a bit of a lighter ‘punishment’ than in the recent decades. His body shivered for a moment before shaking his head and he went on reading through his law book.

His door lit up as several knocks rang from the other side, catching him off guard, causing him to jump. “Ah... um, one minute,” he said before quickly transforming to his default disguise. He appeared as a tall human, with an average build and jet black hair reaching around the bottom of his neck. He also appeared to be wearing some khaki pants and a simple black t-shirt.

The disguised Zoroark did one final check of himself, making sure none of his original body was showing before he opened the door slightly. “Um yes, may I help you?” he asked, his voice altering a bit to a more confident tone than before. However, it was unnecessary as his eyes shortly registered who was standing at his door.

“Oh drop the act Xerox, it’s just me,” a red haired woman said with a small chuckle, a single hand on her hip as she awaited entrance. She wore a red jacket over a black shirt and jeans, a small belt holding three Pokeballs on it.

“Oh... Scarlet... it’s just you,” he said with a small relieved sigh, though his eyes glanced over her shoulders and throughout the hallway to make sure.

“Yep, so are you going to let me in?” she asked, gesturing at the apartment door.

“Oh yeah, of course,” he said, nodding his head as he step back and fully pulled open the door.

“Thank you,” Scarlet said with a small polite nod of her head as she walk inside the small apartment.

It was a very simple looking apartment, with basic greyish white carpets with blue/green striped wallpaper covering its walls. It had a living room no bigger than maybe a simple bedroom, with only a large couch, doubling as a sleeping bed,a small T.V. sitting in front of it. A kitchen was set up on the west side of the apartment, equipped with a stove, oven, sink, refrigerator, and a microwave. Which was the only thing that looked new among everything else. There was a single window to the east, but it was blocked with thick black curtains, allowing no light to shine through. Making the lamp stand settled in a corner by the desk the only source of light in the room.

The desk itself was only about three feet by two feet in size with a small set of drawers running down the three feet of height. Above it was a wall bookshelf with four filled slots of books organized by alphabetical order. Most of them mystery novels or regional law books.

“So umm... what are you doing here?” Xerox asked, his voice returning to it’s uneasy and docile tone as he closed the door softly before dropping his illusion.

“I’m just checking up on ya,” Scarlet replied, glancing more closely at the desk to see the small stack of textbooks along with scribbled note pads. “I see you’re studying for your final exams.”

“Yeah... just making sure I got everything straight....” he replied, his claws tapping against each other a bit anxiously. “I want to make sure I’ll be able to pass them and finally be able to graduate,” he said, a small smile forming on his lips before a thought occurred to him. “Ummm... do you want anything to eat? I can probably whip up something real quick if you like” he offered, pointing towards the kitchen.

The woman held up a hand as shook her head. “No thank you, I already ate and I don’t want to make your late for your test,” she said genuinely as her voice softened a bit. “I know you’ve been waiting a long time for this moment, so I came to wish you luck and offer my help once more.” Her posture straightened up just a bit as her arms crossed, her voice carrying a bit of seriousness to it now. “I know you’re probably still iffy on the subject, but I would be honored that after our co-op has ended, you join my team full time.” She pulled out one of her arms and held up a hand.

“I’m not saying I’m going to pull you completely out of your lifestyle or anything. I just want to provide a way for you to use your skills to their fullest,” she explained, lowering her hand back down. “I have lots of favor with the Rangers Corp, I’m sure they won’t find out about your secret or anything. Even if they do... I’ll make sure everything you work hard for won’t be taken away from you.” Her voice dropped back down to the soft and genuine kind voice. “Trust me on that Xerox.”

Xerox’s ears flattened a bit as his claws continued to fiddle with each other. “I understand... I do really. Working with you has definitely helped in more ways than I can imagine. I even trust you will keep true to your words... but it’s just....” he trailed off. I’m too frightened that it might not be enough... he said in his mind before taking a deep breath and letting it out. “I’m not sure if fully joining the Rangers is the right thing for me to pursue for a full time career.” He left a hand to rub the back of his head through his long strain of red mane. “I’m still a bit... indecisive of your offer...” And frightened of the worse possible outcome altogether...

Scarlet frowned slightly, her eyes giving him an inquisitive look, but she closed them and slowly nodded her head. “I understand, and I respect your decision.” She walked up to the Zoroark and placed a hand on his shoulder, smiling lightly. “Good luck with your exams, and if you need any help after you graduate, don’t be afraid to ask me okay?”

“Okay... and thank you,” Xerox said with a smile, his fiddling becoming less fidgety.

“You’re welcome,” the woman said, giving his shoulder a light pat before she removed her hand and headed for the door. “I can let myself out, don’t want to trouble you anymore.” She waved a hand over her shoulder. “See you later.”

“Yeah, you too,” Xerox replied, waving a hand goodbye as Scarlet open the door and left, she made sure to close the door quietly.

The Zoroark let out a held in sigh, feeling the tension in his body vanishing. Scarlet was one of the very few humans out in the world he trusted with his secret life, but even so he gets anxious talking to her. Not that there was anything wrong about her, no, she was an aspiring Ranger, one of the best. She was a person he look up to, right next to Sherlock... granted he’s a fictional character, but it still counted in the Zoroark’s mind. It was just mostly his fears holding him back.

I trust you Scarlet... I do... you helped me gain a bit more confidence in myself and even showed me what it’s like working for a law enforcing group. He took in a deep breath and let it out. But I can’t just shake this feeling that one day you will come knocking on my door... and it won’t be that friendly face I always see... but one of regret as you will have to detain me and... force me to be captured.

Xerox closed his eyes and took in another deep breath to calm his nerves. Worry about that later Xerox, right now I need to get ready for my Criminology Exams, and it’s time to take my role as Steven.

He made his way to the kitchen and open a cabinet, pulling out a glass with a toothbrush and toothpaste stored inside it. He filled the glass with water and dabbed his brush with the paste. He then dipped it in water and began to give his mouth and teeth a good scrubbing, making sure his breath smelled minty and did not smell anything close to that of a Zoroark’s breath. He rinsed his mouth very thoroughly before putting everything back into the glass and putting it back into the cabinet.

Next, Xerox grabbed a can of deodorant, shaking it for a good half a minute before he sprayed it under both his arms and around his chest. Hopefully masking the smell of his fur enough that any human won’t think twice about it. I hope some Pokemon won’t take notice of my scent... he said with a small frown as he capped the spray can and put it back.

Last, to complete his transformation, Xerox closed his eyes and drew upon his illusion ability. The jewel fast around the end of his mane glowed faintly as his body was covered in light and grew back into the human disguise he took a few minutes ago.

Xerox open his eyes and glanced to a mirror hanging over the stove. He no longer saw the Zoroark he was, but now Steven. A good hearted citizen getting a degree in criminology to help fight the crime running wildly on Earth. And only one thing now stood in his way of his goal.

He took in a deep breath and slowly letting it out, before checking on the suit and tie he conjured up for his clothes. After making sure everything was in place he headed over for his desk and bent down to grab his backpack, quickly packing two of his text books, his notepad, and a couple of pencils inside it.

He strapped the pack over his back and let out a short breath. “Well... here goes nothing,”he said to himself.

Xerox walked to his door, opening it and closing it quietly before heading down the hallway to the elevator. However, halfway down the hall, his mind suddenly become foggy and his eyelids grew heavily. He stumbled down to his knees, losing hold of his illusion causing it to drop as he fell flat on his face. The last thing he heard was an ethereal male voice speaking.

“Rest now my children, for when you awake a whole new world shall be your home.”

Comments

[DarklightArk]

Oh that timing

[HaveANiceDay]

I liked the premise, but there seem to be a lot of grammar mistakes that prevent me from really enjoying the story. The biggest issue appears to be verb tenses.

Also,

He filled the glass with water and dapped his brush with the paste.

dap: verb. past tense: dapped; past participle: dapped
fish by letting the fly bob lightly on the water without letting the line touch the water.

I'm pretty sure he wasn't fishing in his apartment...

[Omega_code]

5082547

Yeah... tenses always get to me... and it was supposed to be dabbed. Thank you for pointing that out.

[Tobyc]

Prolouge

Prologue