(M to Raticate)


Kyle nibbled at the treat in his hands, a quiet guilt filling him. On the one hand, he was eating PokeFood. On the other, he was also hungry, and it was the only thing that Team Rocket had given him to eat.

The man ruefully shot his captor a glare. She was a redhead named Liza, and that was probably why he’d let himself be taken in with her. She’d smiled and looked in his general direction, and he’d gone back to “her place,” which she’d said was a little hole in the wall.

That much was true—their hideout was disguised behind a hole in a casino’s wall. And apparently, said hideout has several impromptu prison cells. Though they were disguised as comfortable rooms, Kyle was under no illusions as to his chances of escape.

Currently, Liza stood guard at the door to his room—though perhaps that was a bit of an overstatement. She lounged casually against its frame, checking her Poketech with an air of disinterest.

Kyle was relatively sure that her boredom was a ruse. Before he’d started snacking on the treat she’d laud out, her eyes had often wandered towards it. That was part of why he’d chosen to give in and try the snack.

“So… Why kidnap me?” He asked, trying to break the silence. “I mean, aren’t you in the business of kidnapping Pokemon?”

A small smile formed on her face, the sort that looked as though she was trying to keep from laughing at Kyle’s expense. That was the most he got by way of reply, and the man dropped onto his cell’s bed, propping his head up with a hand on his cheek and his elbow against his knee.

“Fine… I mean, if you don’t want to talk, I guess I’ll do the talking for you.” He nibbled a bit more at the treat in his hand. It wasn’t terrible, all things considered. There was a sweet and smoky flavor to every bite, with a pleasant aftertaste.

He mulled over the treat in his thoughts for a second, wondering how many calories they had. Would it be enough to count as a meal? Would it be less? It would be somewhat amusing if he’d end up getting fat on PokeFood.

“Good job talking,” Liza said, chuckling to herself.

Kyle’s cheeks colored as he realized he’d spaced out. “I mean! I wanted to tell you, you know. I’m not rich. I don’t know people who have money either, so there’s no real profit to this.”

“We’re not interested in your money,” Liza laughed. She put a stress on the last word, and Kyle found his interest piqued.

“Well,” he began, smacking his lips slightly. Now that he’d finished eating, his mouth felt funny. It was a little tingly and dry, ever so slightly unfamiliar. “You know I’ll never join you guys, right? I’m not suited to be a Pokemon Trainer either.”

“We know you’re not supposed to be a Trainer,” she said, once more emphasizing the last word.

“So… What then?” Kyle’s upper lip twitched, and he shifted his hand. In the process, he squished his cheek against his palm, alerting the young man to the fact that his cheek was soft enough to be squishy. He blinked, slowly pressing his hand a little closer to his cheek, trying to be as discreet as possible.

“That’s a secret.” Liza’s smile widened as she looked at Kyle’s cheeks. “Something the matter?”

He blushed, giving up the pretense of stealth in favor of pressing his hands against his cheeks. They were unusually puffy, to the point where he found himself growing concerned. “Hey, was there something in these? Like, something that I could be allergic to?”

“No, but I think I see the problem,” She hummed, and pushed her ample backside against the door, popping herself towards him. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it.”

“Take care of,” Kyle began, only for his cheeks to flush as she pressed her fingers gently against his cheeks. She kneaded them softly, humming to herself as she massaging him.

“Th-thop…” Kyle slurred, blushing a little harder. As if it wasn’t bad enough that he was having some kind of allergic reaction, now he was slurring because of it. “I’m feeling funny…”

“Of course you are,” Liza cooed, pushing a finger against his nose. “Boop.”

The slight force of her finger was somehow enough to make his body yield like clay. She pushed his nose upwards on his face, and Kyle crossed his eyes in disbelief.

“Whathgoin on!” He bawled, pawing at his changed nose. To his surprise, it felt slightly fuzzy, with small hairs stretching from his skin. These hairs were joined by more and more, spreading across his features like wildfire.

“You’re joining the Team. Just not in the way you might expect,” Liza said with a wink. She pressed against his chest, surprising him with her strength… Or with his weakness.

Kyle was suddenly aware of the fact that Liza looked a little larger, and that his clothes were a little looser. He pawed at his baggy shirt, realizing that he was shrinking and that there was nothing he could do about it. “Joining the team? I don’t wannacate joitticate!”

An animalistic cry slipped into his words, and he whimpered loudly, connecting dots in his shrinking head. He lifted trembling hands towards his ears, confirming his worst suspicions: they were growing larger, rodent-like.

“Aw, you’re so cute! Trying to talk like a person when you’re really just a pet. Don’t worry, I’m not the kind of Rocket who’ll treat you like a tool. You’re gonna be my most precious Faticate ever!”

“Yatticate meanticate Raticate?” Kyle tried to emphasize his breed’s name—the breed’s name. It wasn’t his breed. Probably.

Liza chuckled, looking down to the man. He’d started the day a foot taller than her, and now was a third of his size. She lifted his shirt with ease, tugging it off him like an oversized blanket. “I really don’t. See, I’m gonna be stationed in Alola, and that means that I need to have a certain regional variant…”

As she spoke, her hands drifted towards his belly. Kyle followed the motion with his eyes, seeing her fingers sink easily into the lush, brown fur of his belly. It felt like heaven, a belly rub that only grew better as her fingers drifted towards his sides and the dark black fur there.

“Rrratttarat…” Kyle feebly stammered, a haze settling over his thoughts. He knew that he loved being pet like this, but wasn’t it bad that a Rocket was doing it? Even though he was sure that he had some connection with her…

He shuddered, back arching slightly as his spine lost its natural curve, gaining a better posture for scampering around on all fours. He also started to swell, his belly and hips bloating and rounding, swelling almost like a ball.

“Aww, Alolan Raticate’s are the best! Don’t you think? Well, obviously you don’t think, that’s why you have me as your Trainer,” Liza rambled, adopting a sweet tone people generally reserved for their pets. “Too bad for you, because you seemed like such a smartie!”

Kyle was having a hard time following what she was saying. He was having a hard time following much of anything at all, to be honest. The man was too busy pressing his hands against his chubby cheeks, feeling how they were as soft as the rest of his rotund little body.

“Aatta-aattaa!” He groaned, flicking his tongue against his teeth, and finding himself pleasantly surprised by the fact that they seemed a little larger. That was good, because he liked nibbling on things, and he needed his teeth to be as big as possible for that.

Right?

Kyle’s fuzzy brow furrowed, and his hands slowed their motion. He was relatively sure that he hadn’t had a history of nibbling like a Raticate. That was odd, because he was reasonably certain that he was a rodent Pokemon…

“Aw, someone’s all confused! It’s because my little Tubbycheeks was trying to think, isn’t it? You should remember that I’m the one who tells you what to do.” Liza picked Kyle up, cupping her hands below his underarms.

As she lifted him, his arms and legs began to recede in towards himself, retracting into his body. It left him looking like something close to a pillow with hands and wriggling feet. Naturally, that meant Liza had to cuddle him like one too.

The sudden pressure on his body forced a tail to squirt from the Raticate’s backside, and he squealed in delight as his new appendage flicked to and fro. The confusion from earlier was utterly forgotten, replaced by a quiet delight that soon turned loudly vocal.

“Ratta-atta! Catecate!” He accompanied his contented cries with a chatter of his oversized teeth, though the sounds of both were soon muffled by Liza’s ample bosom.

“That’s more like it! I knew that you’d come along sooner or later,” hummed Liza. She played her finger gently along her new pet’s cheeks, giggling as overlong whiskers tickled back at her hands. “Just one last thing to go…”

Raticate tilted his head curiously, then felt his hands and feet begin to shudder and spasm. He looked down and let out a quiet cry of delight as the unnecessary two digits on each appendage retracted towards his body, giving him the tiny paws of his breed. He curled his tiny paws delightedly, burrowing his chubby self as close as possible to his Trainer.

“And, of course… I think that my sweet little pet should get all the treats he deserves!” Liza hummed, reaching into her bag and revealing one of her Pokemon’s favorite treats. She gave it to him with a smile and a giggle, lightly scratching his head as his eyes lit up.

Raticate greedily took the treat in his hands, jiggling his fat cheeks as he had his second treat that hour. Unlike the first time, there was no shame or guilt in snacking on the muffin-shaped treat. Instead, all he felt was quiet, warm content.