The soft caress of a warm wind against my skin causes me to stir. I am unsure of how much time has passed, but everything from the top of my head to the tips of my toes and all the way to my bones seems to be filled with an ache. Moving my arm feels like it has a Munchlax clinging to it as my muscles twitch and spasm.
Ever so slowly, my muscles stop protesting, and I start moving normally. Or at least I assume it was normal as I launch myself into the air when I push against the ground lightly. Yet, instead of flailing in the air, the world seems to be in slow motion as I end up flipping and land softly on my toes with nary a sound produced. I know I have never been able to do that before, but it felt as if I had all the time in the world to perform these actions. Quirking an eyebrow, I look towards where I lay a moment ago, only to blink in surprise as it is a good five meters away. I step forward, only to close the wide distance in an instant.
Realization dawns on me as my brain starts to quickly catalogue what is happening. It looks like my cultivation grew massively and affected my physical body in return. I vaguely recall some of those old wuxia stories mentioned about needing to get their new strength under control, but I didn't realize just how much of a change would happen. I take a quick look around to see what has happened since I fucked up.
Instead of the spacious cavern with the giant Ice Stone in the center, I am currently in the middle of a meadow with tall trees blocking any attempt to see in or out. I do happen to notice a pair of blue light flowers near the edge, but I put them out of my mind for the moment. Next, I see Skadi and Aurora sleeping while curled up with each other nearby.
Next to them, I see something sparkling, and what looks to be my thigh bag. I need to find out who made that bag, as it seems nearly indestructible. Focusing on the sparking item, which I can suddenly see as if it is in my hands, I realize it is my qipao that I was wearing, but it looks vastly different from how it did. Instead of the ice-blue silk with darker blue edging and snowflake patterns that it had, the entire thing looks like it is made of enlarged snowflakes. Feeling the need to get a better look, I take a step to get closer.
It takes me several tries, usually ending up much farther away than I intended with each step, but eventually I am able to pick up the outfit. My thoughts of it being made from snowflakes are further strengthened by the fact that the outfit is nearly weightless and impossibly sheer. The material has a diaphanous quality to it as the moonlight passes through the translucent aquamarine dress effortlessly. Its pattern reminds me of a frozen soap bubble, but as I run my fingers across the impossible fabric, I feel tiny pieces of something in the negative spaces. Looking closer, I can't tell if they are diamonds or extremely clear ice, as they feel cool to the touch but lack the other indicators for it to be ice.
It takes me a long moment to realize that if my dress is in my hands, that means I am likely naked… again. I look down at my body and confirm that I am completely naked, but that also allows me to take note of some of the other changes that I haven't noticed yet. For one, the ground seems to be a bit further away than I remember. I was tall for a girl before, but now I can cosplay as Cartethyia without an issue. Especially because my body is nearly a mirror of hers, only with some well hidden muscle. There is a faint tracing of a six-pack on my abs, and my biceps and legs look nearly carved out of marble.
Out of curiosity, I reach up to my ears, and I do find them elfin in shape, but more Tolkien Elf than the long-eared type popular in anime. Luckily, they can easily be hidden with my hair. I look down at my feet once more and notice that a small patch of icy mist or frost is curling up from the ground where my feet touch, but not spreading. A quick glance around doesn't reveal any other spots of frost, so it must be short-lived. Looking at my feet again, I notice I gained yet another pair of tattoos. These don't seem to shine like the others do to my senses, but they look like a pair of matching ice blue life-like feathers with the quills starting between my two largest toes and gradually wrapping around my ankles and halfway up my calves. The way that they wrap around my skin makes them look like a modern version of Roman sandal straps.
I let out a sigh as these will be much harder to explain away, as my other tattoos seem to hide from sight. A quiet whistling from above has me looking up to see Zephyr diving down into the meadow. On a whim, I lift one of my arms and bend it at the elbow, like a perch, which causes my pretty bird to flare her wings and kill her dive suddenly as she flaps to maintain a hover just out of my reach as she studies me. The wind from her wings fans the loose bits of my hair out behind me. She apparently came to a conclusion and landed on my outstretched arm, which holds as still as a statue.
"Hey thEre, beautiful. It's still mE." I tell her as my voice cracks slightly from my strained vocal cords. With my free hand, I rub at my throat lightly for a moment before bringing her closer and softly stroking her neck feathers. That seems to have been the correct thing to do as she leans into my caress, letting out a pleased hum. I hear the sounds of movement nearby and notice my two recently evolved Pokemon stirring.
"WhA-" I cough as my voice breaks again, trying to clear it. "What do you think about heading back?" I whisper as Skadi and Aurora approach and gently brush against me, their fur feeling absolutely delightful against my bare skin. Skadi's fur is like a soft cloud made solid, whereas Aurora's feels like silk from how thin each hair is. Despite both Pokemon being known to chill the area around them, they just feel soft and warm to me.
In response to my question, the three of them let out an affirmative sound. I grab my thigh bag and double-check to make sure I have everything. Lono and Tir seem to have returned to their pokeballs at some point, but seeing both of them sitting in their spots lets me sigh in relief. I leave the two of them alone as I reach for my dress, intending to wear it, but I pause after picking it up. I glance back at my bare body and chew my bottom lip lightly before I take the dress and fold it neatly before slipping it into my bag. It was late enough at night that no one was likely to see me… and the breeze felt particularly nice against my bare skin. I brush a stray strand of hair out of my face before heading towards the pair of light flowers.
A surprised squawk from my arm and two more yips from far behind me make me realize I just took a larger step than intended. I look back and find my two fox-like Pokemon almost ten meters away, looking at me with flabbergasted expressions. Using my free hand, I sheepishly scratch my cheek as they race after me, catching up a moment later as I try to control my steps again. Before I can take another step, Zephyr takes flight from my arm and circles around us fairly close to the ground. Luckily, it seems that whomever sent me to the hidden Ice Cave is willing to help me out, as the lit trail seems to go on endlessly as I continually try to adjust. Some steps only take me a few centimeters, more of a stutter than a step, while others send me five, ten, and at one point twenty meters away.
Eventually, I start to get the hang of how to walk again, but the process ends up making me walk like I am on a catwalk. I allow myself to smirk a little at that thought as I shift slightly to walk on the balls of my feet, like they are in high heels, and pull my shoulders back and straighten my posture. My catwalk-like stride turns into a true model strut as I let a playful smile sit on my lips, and I lift my chin slightly. The slight shifting makes me feel like I am Venus strolling through a mystical forest filled with glittering lights. I enjoy the caress of wind and moonlight on my bare skin as I pass by a seemingly random tree and find myself in the middle of Celadon City once more.
Looking around to get my bearings and find that I am near the gym, which is at the end of this current street, and in front of a seemingly random perfume shop. It's not uncommon to see perfume shops in cities, but they are normally located near the rest of the market, whereas this one is a child's throw away from the gym. I feel a small tingle in the back of my head as I look at the dark store, as if I know it from somewhere, but I can't seem to remember it.
I stare at the shop for a few more moments, wondering if I can recall when I seem to be missing, but besides the tingle, nothing stands out. Giving a little shrug at my Pokemon who are looking at me as if I have all the answers, before turning to study the nearby gym. Even in the middle of the night, without a single artificial light around, there is an imposing aura to it that just seems to suppress everything. I do notice that it doesn't feel nearly as intimidating now that I am practically in front of it as when I first saw the gym from across the city. The gym seems to be built around a huge golden flower whose petals dance softly in the night's breeze.
In the center of the gym is a tree that would take nearly ten of me, at my new height, to wrap around it. Unfortunately, I can not see any more as the building part of the gym blocks the rest from view, but I know I will be able to see inside soon enough. I can feel my pulse start to quicken at the thought of my upcoming battle. We will need to sign up for our matches in the morning.
"Oya? What do we have here?" Asks a refined voice from a nearby alleyway. I turn to look in the direction of the voice and find myself stunned by what I see. Before me stands a beautiful woman, in her mid twenties, with straight dark chocolate colored hair cut in a pixie style. Her hair is held back by a red Alice Band with a white pokeball pattern offset to one side. Her eyes are a smokey-gray color that contains a bit of curiosity and appreciation as well as a bit of lust. I can feel her eyes slide over my skin, sending a pleasant shiver down my spine. What surprised me, though, is what she is wearing, or rather what it signifies.
Her legs are covered with a vermillion hakama that hides much of the shape of her body, except from the chest up. Her top is a bright yellow kimono, which is hanging loosely off her smooth milky shoulders, nearly letting her large breasts hang free. On the collar of the kimono is a blue tag with a pokeball on it, denoting a gym leader. Specifically, the gym leader I am looking forward to facing soon, clothed and in the arena. Erika.