Work Text:
Late one afternoon in Lumiose City, Paxton walked inside the towering structure that was the corporate headquarters of Quasartico, Inc. He gulped a bit nervously… being invited into the headquarters which have forever changed Lumiose City wasn’t something that you got an invitation to without doing something important.
“Well, here I am. Still, I wonder what was so important that Vinnie of all people requested by presence.” Paxton said as he once again looked down at the letter penned by Vinnie, asking him to meet him in his office. He was the only one of Team MZ who could attend, given that everybody else on the team was out of Lumiose City doing other things. And it was that thought of the Z-A Royale that got him thinking. Maybe reaching a high enough rank was going to reward him? Maybe this was the first step in getting rewards from the Quasartico CEO herself, Jett?
Naturally, Paxton’s head was filled with more questions than answers, even as he approached the front desk of the lobby and greeted the young woman behind the desk.
“Hello. I’ve been asked to see Vinnie.” Paxton said as he handed the letter to the woman, who gleamed over it for only a few seconds.
“Okay, sir! I will program the elevator to take you to the floor of his office. I take it you know where the secretary’s office is?” the woman asked.
“Yes, ma’am.” Paxton said with a nod.
“Okay! Go on up.” the woman said with a smile while Paxton watched the elevator open up. He clenched his fists and walked inside the elevator, watching the doors close and feeling it taking him up quickly.
When the doors opened, Paxton got the sense he was walking on air seeing Lumiose City sprawl out outside the nearby glass windows. But he didn’t let the view distract him for much longer. He shook his head and focused, walking amongst the many doors until he found the one labeled SECRETARY VINNIE. Paxton gently knocked on the door and heard a male voice on the other side.
“Come in!” Vinnie shouted. Vinnie looked up from his laptop screen at the door opening slowly, seeing Paxton gingerly walk inside.
“Errrrrr… hello, Mr. Vinnie, sir. I’m Paxton from Team MZ. You asked to see me?” Paxton asked. Vinnie quickly stood up from his chair and closed his laptop.
“Ah, yes, I did, Paxton. Thank you for coming. I know you’re very busy in continuing to rank up in the Z-A Royale…” Vinnie said.
“No, it’s fine. I could use a break from all that training and battling, anyway.” Paxton said as he and Vinnie shook hands.
“Good. Now then, please follow me to Science Lab 6.” Vinnie said as he walked outside the door before Paxton could ask any more questions. Paxton hurriedly followed suit, shuffling his shoes on the carpeted floor.
Paxton followed Vinnie briskly across a couple more elevators and security-locked doors… including security guards who Vinnie assured Paxton was authorized to follow and see what he had to show.
“There sure is a lot of security in this part of Quasartico, Vinnie.” Paxton said.
“As there should be. The things we’re developing here not just for Lumiose City, but for the entire Kalos region and beyond are sure to change the world. We definitely don’t want our competitors to get any ideas.” Vinnie said. The two finally opened one last door, where Paxton was already looking at something covered by a big white sheet.
“Here it is. Please help me get this off.” Vinnie said as he walked towards the sheet and grabbed as much of it as he could. Paxton did the same thing, and the two worked together until the sheet was completely off, revealing a yellow-covered vehicle that Paxton’s eyes opened wide at the first sight of.
“Oooooooh…? What’s this? A giant off road car?” Paxton asked. Vinnie, after a deep breath, tapped his hand against the vehicle.
“This, my friend, is the One-Zero. An all-encompassing vehicle that can drive, swim, and is able to fly. It’s designed to navigate all sorts of terrain… perfect for getting close to groups of Pokémon and studying them in their natural habitat, especially in areas not meant to be traveled by humans, such as inside a volcano or over a lazy river.” Vinnie said.
“I see…” Paxton said as he walked around the machine, looking it over further.
“Granted, I can’t take all the credit. My old friend, Professor Oak, designed the original machine that started it all, the Zero-One. However, I’ve taken the original blueprints and made my own modifications. One in particular I’m most proud of and can’t wait to test.” Vinnie said.
“What’s that, Vinnie?” Paxton asked.
Vinnie then took a deep breath and exhaled, smiling and beaming with pride.
“In order to allow the driver to get closer than ever before without being noticed by the Pokémon, and potentially scaring them off, I have developed a shrinking mechanism inside the vehicle, allowing the One-Zero to shrink to a minuscule size along with everyone and everything inside.” Vinnie said.
“A… a shrinking mechanism? As in reduced to itty bitty size!?” Paxton said as he pinched two fingers together to give an illusion of shrinking.
“Precisely.” Vinnie said.
“That’s amazing, professor! I can already imagine flying deep inside a Pikachu, examining its yellow fur from within every single strand…” Paxton said.
“Haha! I’m glad you’re already getting ideas, Paxton. Which is why I’d like you to help me run some field tests.” Vinnie said.
“Huh? Me!?” Paxton asked.
“Yes. I would’ve asked others on Team MZ, but alas, they are all out of town, from what I understand.” Vinnie said.
“Yeah. Naveen and Lida are traveling together helping to promote the Z-A Royale, and Taunie got asked by someone here at Quasartico to attend a conference and convince traveling people from other regions how Quasartico can benefit them.” Paxton said.
“I must say… they’re all as hard working and training as you. It impresses me and no doubt by boss, President Jett, as well.” Vinnie said.
“Thanks. I’ll help out, Vinnie, but… where would we test this device? Surely I’m not going to get thrown into a Wild Zone already, am I?” Paxton asked.
“No, no, no. With this being the first shrink test, I want to keep the risk minimal. That’s why I propose you shrink and go inside Hotel Z.” Vinnie said.
“Huh? Hotel Z?” Paxton asked.
“As I understand it, there are currently no guests staying at the hotel, so therefore there shouldn’t be a risk of being stepped on or anything like that.” Vinnie said.
“Hmmmm… that’s true.” Paxton said as he put a hand to his chin and thought.
Still, the young man had further questions.
“There’s still so much I want to know about this thing before I say yes. Such as how does it run? What kind of power does it require?” Paxton asked.
“The machine runs off pure electricity. No gasoline or other fossil fuels required. It can even run through a stout light source, such as sunlight. Energy efficiency at its finest, if I say so myself.” Vinnie said.
“And what about the shrinking part? What makes that possible?” Paxton asked.
“The same condensing energy that allows a Poké Ball to shrink a Pokémon and fit it inside, whether it’s a Pidgey or a Groudon. That said, because this is a prototype, right now it’s prohibited to carry Poké Balls or any kind of communication equipment inside the One Zero, including phones! I don’t want any possible interference to cause any technical difficulties.” Vinnie said.
“Wait… does that include the Pokémon I already have?” Paxton asked. Vinnie nodded.
“Correct. You’ll have to leave your Pokémon behind when testing the shrinking part of this device. My apologies, but then again, we’re just testing the shrinking capability of this device. You won’t need anything else.” Vinnie said. Once again, Paxton paused to think, and then nodded as he came to a decision.
“Okay, Vinnie. I’ll do it!” Paxton said.
“Ahhhhhh… this means so much, Paxton. Thank you! I’ll have the machine delivered tomorrow morning to Hotel Z with final instructions. Thank you again for doing this.” Vinnie said as he offered to shake Paxton’s hand.
“My pleasure! For research, right?” Paxton asked.
“Exactly!” Vinnie said as Paxton walked away while Vinnie attended to the One Zero once again.
The morning sun over Lumiose City of the next day didn’t stream in so much as it fought its way through the scaffolding and half-finished girders of the Urban Redevelopment Plan. Inside Hotel Z, however, the chaos of the city’s massive overhaul felt worlds away.
Paxton awoke to a silence so profound, it felt heavy. The hotel was, as it was yesterday, currently a ghost ship. Paxton often felt more like a museum curator than a guest, even though he was granted permanent residence as thanks for being a member of Team MZ and furthering Quasartico’s research… and of course competing in the Z-A Royale.
He sat up, the sheets rustling like parchment. He took a moment to center himself, staring at his reflection in the mirrored wardrobe. He didn't look like a hero of legend… he looked like a man about to do a very strange job. Nevertheless, he pulled on his Team MZ attire, especially the hat, and then walked outside his room. The elevator ride down was a descent through a vertical cathedral of silence. The lobby was an open expanse of wood flooring; the check-in desk eerily silent for the time being. His footsteps echoed, a rhythmic click-clack that seemed to bounce off the ceilings and return to him from the shadows of the lobby.
Paxton pushed through the front doors, stepping out into the crisp Lumiose air. The construction drones were already buzzing in the distance, but his attention was caught by the machine parked directly on the grass to the side of the entrance. It was the One Zero. The craft was shaped like a teardrop made of brushed yellow titanium, hovering just an inch off the ground on passive repulsors. It looked like a piece of the future that had arrived a century early. Taped to the curved glass of the cockpit was a neon-green sticky note. Paxton peeled it off.
“Paxton. The stabilization struts are locked, and the energy cells are at 100%. Today’s the big day: the shrinking test. Remember the Golden Rule: Do NOT engage the thrusters until the shrink sequence is 100% complete, or you’ll end up smeared across the pavement like a Sitrus Berry. Also, leave a window open for yourself. I don’t want you stuck outside once the shrinking finishes, as it will be tough to get inside otherwise. Good luck! Vinnie.” Paxton read out loud. Paxton chuckled, crumpling the note and stuffing it into his pocket.
He turned back to the hotel. He hadn't yet opened any windows on the ground floor, as the security system was usually airtight. He walked back inside, his shoes pressing against the wooden floor. He unlatched a small, ornate ventilation window, one of the few that could be opened within reach, and propped it wide. The morning breeze whistled through the gap, a tiny portal into the massive structure.
Paxton walked back outside and approached the One Zero. The canopy hissed open as he touched the biometric scanner. He climbed into the pilot’s seat, which was surprisingly plush, smelling of new leather. The dashboard was a dizzying array of toggles, holographic sliders, and buttons that hadn't been labeled yet.
"Alright, Vinnie said the shrink button was near the primary navigation wheel. Or was it the secondary power toggle? Ugh… he could’ve found the time to label these buttons for my convenience!" Paxton whispered, his fingers hovering over the console. He began pressing buttons tentatively. The internal lights flickered from blue to a warm amber. A cooling fan whirred to life somewhere behind his head. He then tapped a large, unlabeled square button on the center console. For a second, nothing happened. Then, the world screamed.
It wasn't a sound, but a sensation… a sudden, violent stretching of reality. Paxton gripped the armrests as the Hotel Z exterior wall began to grow. The cobblestones beneath the ship didn't just recede; they expanded into jagged, mountain-sized boulders. The cracks between the stones became soul-crushing chasms. The sky seemed to lift away, the atmosphere thickening as his perspective shifted from man to mite.
The sensation stopped as abruptly as it began. Paxton sat panting, his heart hammering against his ribs. He looked out the canopy. A single blade of tall grass, previously a mere nuisance on the sidewalk, now towered over the ship like a vibrant, green skyscraper. A nearby pebble looked like a weather-beaten monolith. He had done it. He was no larger than a toy car.
“Whoa! It worked!” Paxton said. He didn’t waste another moment, already driving around and maneuvering around the enlarged terrain. It was like driving through another world.
"Okay. Hover jets. Let’s see if this thing actually flies." Paxton said. He eased the throttle forward. The One Zero hummed, a low-frequency vibration that rattled his teeth, and then it rose. The maneuverability was incredible... at this scale, the air felt thicker, more viscous, allowing the craft to bank and turn with predatory grace.
He swung the nose of the craft toward the hotel. The front door, which he had walked through moments ago, was now a gargantuan cliff face of wood and brass. He followed the wall, flying past the colossal Z emblem that now looked like a sprawling metallic continent. He spotted the window he had left open. From this distance, it looked like a glowing rectangular nebula against the hotel exterior. He throttled up, the hover jets glowing a soft violet as he surged forward. Passing through the window frame was like entering a different dimension. The transition from the bright morning sun to the shaded interior caused the ship’s auto-dimming sensors to flare.
Paxton gasped as he leveled out inside the lobby. The empty lobby of Hotel Z was no longer a room... it was a vast, echoing kingdom. The wooden floor stretched out like a frozen ocean, reflecting the distant, massive lights above. The dust motes floating in the air were no longer invisible specks; they were shimmering, translucent orbs that drifted past the cockpit like lazy Gastly. The reception desk loomed in the distance, a plateau that seemed to reach the clouds. The silence he had noted earlier was gone, replaced by the magnificent, low-frequency thrum of the building’s hidden heartbeat… the pipes, the distant hum of the city, and the wind whistling through the very window he had entered.
"Vinnie, you’re a madman, but this is beautiful." Paxton said to the empty cockpit, a grin spreading across his face. He angled the One Zero downward, gliding over the 'ocean' of wood. The Urban Redevelopment Plan was meant to change the face of Lumiose, but as Paxton hovered in the center of the gargantuan lobby, he realized that sometimes, to see the true scale of progress and further research, you had to become very, very small.
That’s when Paxton felt he just had to see what his room looked like. And so he increased the power of the jets, allowing him to fly like a Zubat (and perhaps even sized half like one) up the stairway. There certainly wasn’t any way he could operate the elevator at this scale.
Once making it to the second floor, Paxton looked out through the canopy. Before him rose a vertical cliff of dark, polished mahogany... his bedroom door. He tried to reach for the door handle. He engaged the vertical thrusters, the One Zero rising with a smooth, azure glow from its underside. But as he ascended, the handle, a lever that he had turned a hundred times without thought, loomed like a continent suspended in the sky. It was too far up, and even if he reached it, he lacked the leverage to move the heavy mechanism.
“Right. The door is a fortress. Think, Paxton. You’re suppose to be the brightest mind this side of the Prism Tower.” Paxton sighed, the One Zero sinking back toward the floor. He landed the craft near the base of the door. From this height, the gap between the bottom of the wood and the floorboards looked like a cavernous maw. To his current six-inch stature, it was still a tight squeeze... the weather stripping was a thick, rubbery ceiling that threatened to snag the top of the vehicle and potentially rip it off. And he quickly assumed he did not want to return this device to Vinnie with damage.
“If I can’t go through the door, I’ll go under it!” Paxton whispered. He looked at the Shrink Dial on his dashboard. It was a shimmering button marked with the symbol of Mega Evolution, repurposed for compression rather than expansion.
“But I’ll need to go smaller. Much smaller.” Paxton said. His thumb hovered over the secondary engagement trigger. As soon as he pressed the button, the world didn’t just get bigger. Space itself seemed to stretch like pulled taffy. The groan of the hotel’s structural beams sounded like a car motor being started up. The light from the hallway lamps shifted into the ultraviolet spectrum for a split second before snapping back into focus. When the vertigo subsided, Paxton gasped.
The One Zero was now the size of a grain of sand. The door above him was no longer a door... it was a sky of dark timber, stretching out into an infinite horizon. The dust motes floating in the air were no longer specks… they were jagged, crystalline boulders tumbling slowly through a thick, soup-like atmosphere.
“Time to drive!” Paxton said, his heart hammering against his ribs. He pushed the throttle forward. The One Zero didn't just move. It skittered across the floorboards. The wood grain, which had looked smooth from six feet up, was now a treacherous landscape of deep canyons and jagged ridges. He navigated the vehicle into the darkness beneath the door.
The transition was eerie. The gap was a massive, echoing tunnel. Above him, the underside of the door was a landscape of splintered splinters as large as pine trees.
Then, he broke through to the other side. He had emerged onto the carpet of his bedroom. To a human, it was a standard-issue rug… cream-colored, plush, and well-vacuumed. To Paxton, sitting in a craft the size of an ant, it was a jungle. The carpet strands rose up around the One Zero like towering, translucent pillars of amber and silk. They didn't grow straight. Rather, they twisted and curled in a chaotic, woven canopy that blotted out the ceiling. Sunlight from the window filtered through these fibers, creating a cathedral of amber light, casting long, dramatic shadows that danced as the wind from the room's ventilation system blew through the makeshift forest.
“Unbelievable.” Paxton breathed, slowing the One Zero to a crawl. He nudged the vehicle between two massive fibers. They were thick and rugged, covered in microscopic scales that shimmered like a Dragon-type’s hide. As he drove, the carpet shifted around the weight of the One Zero, the fibers groaning with a sound like bending metal. He steered the craft through a clearing, a small patch where the weave was tighter. In the distance, he saw a mountain of white cliffs. It took his brain several seconds to process that he was looking at the leg of his bed. The turned wood was a monumental pillar that seemed to support the very heavens.
Beyond that, a discarded sock lay on the floor. At this scale, it was a fallen woolly titan, a mountain range of soft, tangled white peaks that looked soft enough to swallow a whole city.
He practiced a few maneuvers, weaving the One Zero in a figure-eight around a stray thread that stood up like a lonely redwood tree. The vehicle handled beautifully, its thrusters kicking up tiny puffs of silver dust that floated away like sparkling nebulae. He felt a profound sense of isolation, but also an intoxicating power. He was an explorer in a world that existed right under everyone’s noses, a pioneer of the small.
“I’d say the navigation test was successful. The environment is... it’s majestic. We talk about rebuilding Lumiose City, about the grand architecture and the towering spires of the future. But we haven't even begun to understand the architecture that’s already here. There is a universe in a square inch of fabric.” Paxton said as he shook his head.
“Heh… I’m sounding like a bonafide explorer all of a sudden. Anyway, I’d say the shrinking test is a resounding success! I better get out of here and get back to Quasartico and give Vinnie the good news.” Paxton said as he navigated the One Zero around a cluster of giant carpet threads, anxious to drive the vehicle out of his room and eventually out of Hotel Z entirely, restoring the vehicle and himself back to their normal sizes.
However, it wouldn’t be much of a story without something going wrong, and that something came in the form of the giant door suddenly opening in front of him.
“What the… whoa!!!” Paxton said as a powerful gust of wind thanks to the door swinging open picked up the One Zero and flung it backwards, causing it to tumble around with Paxton bouncing inside the cockpit of the vehicle as a result. As for the reason the bedroom door opened? It was because it had been opened by the pink-haired Taunie, dressed in her usual attire of dark blue shoes with red laces, white shorts, red shirt with midriff showing, and brown jacket. Taunie only briefly allowed the door to rest against the bedroom wall when she spoke out.
“Paxton, I’m back! Coach got sick and so they had to cancel the Z-A Royale promotional event early, and Vinnie’s not answering his phone, so here I am taking the rest of the day off!” Taunie shouted almost all in one breath. But she didn’t hear Paxton’s surprised voice or anything else in the room, causing her to blink her eyes and look around.
“Huh? Paxton?” Taunie said as she slowly stepped inside the bedroom and looked around.
“I guess he’s not here. He must be out and about in the city doing research.” Taunie said as she further walked inside. Of course, she had no idea she was about to step on Paxton, who was shrunk along with the One Zero.
Paxton, meanwhile, shook off the mental cobwebs from the bumpy ride he took.
“Oooooooh… that was quite the bumpy…” Paxton started to say until he was enveloped in a shadow that cut off the lamp lights in the room. Paxton looked straight up and gasped when he saw the enormous Taunie approaching. My gosh, he thought. She’s gotta be bigger than Prism Tower itself! Indeed, because of how small he had shrunken to, Taunie looked almost more like a titaness who could crush an entire section of Lumiose City ten times over if she were enlarged. But Paxton couldn’t wonder anymore about that as he saw the underneath of one of Taunie’s shoes hovering above.
“Waaaaaah! No, Taunie! Stop! You’ll crush me! Waiiiiiiiit!!!” Paxton screamed as he closed his eyes, thinking the end would come any second. But it didn’t. Luckily for him, Taunie had stepped past where he and the One Zero were resting, although the soft booms of her shoe crushing numerous carpet strands, some of which he had driven around only seconds ago, left him unnerved.
“Whew… that was close.” Paxton said as he watched the ‘giant’ Taunie continue to wonder around the room, swinging her head around as she looked around the bedroom.
“Heh… all this time with Team MZ and Paxton’s still leaving a mess before he heads out the door. I’m hoping it was just because he was in a rush to leave!” Taunie said as she rested her hands on her hips. While she observed the bedroom, Paxton was busy trying to get the One Zero fired up. He did so and then tried adjusting the shrink settings on the console, hoping to grow back to a more manageable size that would allow Taunie to see him. Instead, he was greeted with a few loud beeps and an error message on the console.
“Size manipulation components damaged!? Attempting to self-repair. Well, that’s terrific.” Paxton said as he slumped back in the driver’s seat.
Meanwhile, Taunie finally came to grips that Paxton was not in the room.
“Oh well. Guess I’ll just chill while Hotel Z is empty for now.” Taunie said. She was about to sit down on the bed until she heard her stomach growl.
“Errrrr… after I get something to eat from the kitchen downstairs! It has been a long trip, after all.” Taunie said as she turned and walked out of the bedroom, once again narrowly missing stepping on the shrunken Paxton and his One Zero. Paxton, after ducking down and feeling the wind of Taunie’s giant shoe passing by, looked and saw Taunie walking out and looked at the dashboard of the vehicle.
“Arrrrgh! There’s not enough fuel in the jets to keep up with her. There’s gotta be another way to fly…” Paxton said as he reached down and pushed another random button. That’s when he watched a series of blades pop out of the top of the vehicle, essentially turning it into a helicopter.
“Oh! That’s convenient.” Paxton said as he heard the blades spin to life, lifting the One Zero off the ground and above the ‘forest’ that was the giant carpet strands. Paxton gripped the flight stick and guided the One Zero through the air to the best of his ability.
By the time Paxton flew down the stairs and made it to the Hotel Z lounge, Taunie was sitting on the couch, clearly munching away at some kind of snack that left a loud crunch with each bite. He moved the One Zero closer and closer towards the ‘giant’ Taunie.
“Taunie! TAUNIE!!!” Paxton screamed with all his might, hoping either his voice or the whirling of the blades keeping the One Zero airborne would be picked up by Taunie’s hearing. While her hearing was sharp (it had to be for her to be a great Pokémon trainer), she wasn’t responding to Paxton’s words. He spoke out loud the clear and obvious realization why Taunie wasn’t responding.
“Ugh… I’m just too small. There’s no way she can hear or see me… unless I get a lot closer. Hoo boy, this is going to be quite daring…” Paxton said as he flew the One Zero closer towards Taunie, the sheer size of her already giving him goosebumps even though he was more than a few yards away.
As Taunie finished munching on her snack and reached into her backpack on the floor to pull out a magazine she had bought during her trip, she also started munching on her sandwich she had made in the kitchen. With one hand holding her sandwich and the other fumbling with her magazine, Paxton flew closer still to Taunie. After briefly debating whether to fly near her ears or her eyes, he chose her eyes, hoping the mere sight of him will catch her attention. And so, he directed the One Zero in front of her light blue eyes.
“TAUNIE!” Paxton once again screamed.
This got a reaction from Taunie… but not the one Paxton was hoping to see. Taunie’s eyes refocused from the magazine as she saw the minuscule dot float in front of her. When she heard the faint buzzing that she didn’t realize was coming from the spinning helicopter blades of the shrunken One Zero, that was all she needed to go into fly swatting mode.
“Ugh! Stupid gnat!” Taunie said in an annoyed tone as she set down her sandwich and rolled up her magazine into a log, all with seemingly the speed of a Pikachu using Quick Attack. Paxton gasped as he saw Taunie’s actions, especially the rolling of the magazine.
“Yikes!” Paxton said as he took evasive action, just barely dodging out of the way of being knocked out of the air. Taunie took a couple more swings, prompting Paxton to make further wild moves that sent the One Zero nearly spiraling out of control. The wind also generated from Taunie’s fierce swings also made flying the One Zero tricky, but Paxton managed to keep it under control, and most importantly stay alive too. By the time he caught his breath and regained control of the One Zero, Taunie was on her feet, scanning the room for the ‘gnat’ she almost swatted out of the sky.
“Where are you, you little creep…” Taunie whispered as she tiptoed around the room, staying ready to attack again. Paxton, meanwhile, flew towards the table that Taunie had set her sandwich down on, watching his giant friend move around the room. He knew the approach he took as far as her eyes went was a bad idea now.
“Ooooookay… definitely not going to do that again. That was very risky… but also funny in a kinda sorta cartoonish way.” Paxton said. He then spun up the blades again, anxious to get back in the air again. No sooner than he did that, however, was when he saw a shadow over him. It was Taunie, who had spotted the ‘bug’ and held up her rolled up magazine.
“Gotcha!” Taunie shouted as she swung downward. Paxton tried with all his might to steer out of the way, but alas, the edge of the magazine clipped the vehicle, sending it spiraling out of control. Paxton grunted and heaved with the flight stick, trying to regain control of the One Zero. As he fought, he heard the machine’s female robotic voice speak out again.
“Shrinking mode engaged. Shrinking set at maximum potential level. Stand by…” the voice said.
“Maximum shrinking!? What does that mean!? Waaaaaah!!” Paxton said as he screamed watching the table close in at a rapid pace. He didn’t even pay attention to the fact that he and the vehicle were glowing with blue energy again, the same one from the previous two times they shrunk.
Taunie, meanwhile, leaned in on the table, looking for the ‘fly’ she had been trying to swat. She squinted her eyes but couldn’t find any trace of it, not realizing it had shrunken so small now, it couldn’t be seen by the naked eye.
“Hmph. I guess I got it. Oh well, that takes care of that. I gotta talk with AZ when he gets back… I know he’s not crazy about pests either!” Taunie said as she unrolled her magazine, stretching it out as best as she could to smooth it out, and walked back towards the sofa.
As for Paxton, he shook his head after he realized he had stopped flying around now. He looked outside the cockpit… and almost everything looked like a blur.
“Why is everything so blurry? It can’t be me… I can see the control panel clear…” Paxton started to say until he looked at the message readouts on the screen. What he saw made him gulp nervously. First was the part of the next phase of shrinking completed.
“Final shrinking phase completed. Now at maximum shrunken size… 0.3 millimeters!?” Paxton said. As he processed how it was even possible to be that small, he turned his attention towards the next flashing red message.
“Uh oh… flight controls damaged.” Paxton said. Indeed, he looked up where the helicopter blades should be and saw a few of them either badly bent or broken, so flying was definitely out of the question. And as mentioned earlier, he didn’t have the energy tanks high enough to use the hover jets.
“I wonder where I landed anyway. This surface looks kinda soft…” Paxton said as he fired up the machine again and prepared to drive it on land. As he moved the vehicle forward, he tried navigating it above the pillowy surface, although there was a steep incline ahead that the wheels just couldn’t get traction on.
“Hmmmm… I guess I landed in a big hole.” Paxton said.
Suddenly, the young man felt a vicious tremor in the air, bigger than any ground Pokémon’s Earthquake move. He peered out, expecting to see the walls or the towering legs of a table. Instead, his gaze traveled up and up, and up. His breath hitched in his throat. What he had perceived to be the horizon was not a wall or a ceiling, but a mountain range of skin, glowing with a soft, peach-hued warmth. It was Taunie. His friend, usually a grounded, comforting presence in his life, was now a titaness of unimaginable scale. She was reclining on the sofa, her posture relaxed, filling the entire sky above his current position. Her hand, a sprawling landscape of fingerprints and soft, warm flesh, was moving toward the surface he was perched upon.
"Gah! Taunie! Stop, I’m down here!" Paxton screamed, pounding on the cockpit glass, though he knew his voice was a whisper against the winds of her movement. But to Taunie, Paxton was nothing more than a microscopic speck of dust, or perhaps a crumb, on her lunch. She adjusted a magazine in her left hand, the pages rustling like falling timber, and with her right, she reached down. The sky went dark for Paxton, who didn’t have time to process the sheer terror of it. The "ground" beneath him lurched upward, defying gravity. He looked out the glass to see he was being hoisted into the air. It finally dawned on him where he landed.
“Wait… I’m… I’m on her sandwich!!!” Paxton shouted. He slammed the One Zero into reverse, his treads spinning wildly. He needed to get off the bread. He needed to find a grip on the colossal, porcelain-white cliffs he now realized were her fingertips. But the bread was soft, porous, and utterly uncooperative. The treads of the One Zero just sank into the dough, churning up crumbs like rubber on asphalt. He couldn't find the grip... he was sliding, helpless, toward the center of the slice.
As the bread tilted, Paxton felt the sickening sensation of a free fall. He looked back through the rear view port, his pulse racing, and watched in horror as the vast cavern of Taunie’s mouth opened. It was a dark, humid abyss, lined with glistening, ivory monoliths that could crush a skyscraper with a single snap if she had grown. The heat hit him first… a humid, tropical blast of breath. Then, the descent.
“Waaaaaaah!!!” Paxton screamed as he searched for something to hold onto. The One Zero tumbled through the air, catching the edge of her tongue. It was a slick, muscular floor, vibrant pink and textured with thousands of tiny, shivering taste buds that looked like dense forests. The vehicle slammed down with a metallic clack, bouncing violently. The One Zero bounced, skidding across the tongue. Paxton saw massive, jagged debris… the rest of the sandwich, bits of lettuce like green canvas sheets, and slabs of ham like sheets of red rubber. The vehicle careened off a massive, boulder-like crumb of sourdough and went airborne once more.
Then, the floor dropped away. He was falling into the throat. The darkness consumed him, the echoes of his own screams dying out as he plummeted into the wet, contracting channel. A moment later, he hit a liquid surface with a violent splash. The sound of acid reacting with the One Zero’s hull rang around the cockpit. Paxton grabbed the stabilizer controls, switching the vehicle to hovercraft mode as it bobbed in the churning, corrosive sea of Taunie’s stomach.
The view outside was a nightmare of shifting, pale walls. The chamber pulsed rhythmically, a slow, inevitable heartbeat that shook the very foundation of the vehicle. Through the view port, he watched as a chunk of sourdough drifted past, dissolving rapidly in the bubbling, acidic broth. But the One Zero held. Its hull, coated in a hyper-resistant molecular shield designed to withstand the core of a star, shimmered with a dull blue light, repelling the gastric juices.
“Whew… at least the One Zero was built to withstand stomach acid. If I survive this, I’m going to thank Vinnie ten times over.” Paxton said as he collapsed back into his seat, his hands trembling as he gripped the armrests. He was safe for now, encased in his miniature bubble, drifting in the most dangerous environment he had ever known.
He looked at the digital readout on his dashboard. The sensor showed Taunie’s internal temperature as stable, almost peaceful. She was likely laying back on the sofa, turning the page of her magazine, totally unaware that the her best friend was currently drifting in her stomach.
"Okay, Paxton, you’ve survived the bite, the tongue, and the splashdown. Now, you just need to figure out how to get out of a giantess of a friend." Paxton whispered to the silence of the cockpit, his voice thick with a mix of dread and determination.
As for Taunie, she indeed was laying back after setting her sandwich back down on the nearby table. She had also set her magazine down on the table, albeit temporarily as she reached down and undid the laces of her shoes, slipping her feet out of them.
“Ahhhhhh… so relaxing.” Taunie said as she wiggled the toes of her bare feet. She reached over for her magazine and read through it again, while also taking more and more bites of her sandwich.
Inside her stomach, Paxton was putting his thinking ability to overdrive. He knew he couldn’t stay in Taunie’s stomach forever, as there was surely only so long the protection of One Zero could do its job. At the same time, he had to dodge more giant pieces of sandwich falling from above. If one of the crumbs or even pieces of something else like a tomato were to hit the One Zero and sink him beneath the stomach acid… he shook his head trying not to picture the outcome. He thought back to the lessons of human biology he was taught in school, lessons that he never thought would come in handy (as he wasn’t the best in paying attention in school except of course when it came to Pokémon!).
“I know! I’ll drive in circles and stir the stomach acid… maybe it will get her to burp!” Paxton said as he did just that, firing up the One Zero and driving it in circles. He also hoped the stirring engine underneath the vehicle would cause the stomach acid to bubble up as well.
At first, nothing. Just a persistent, miniature wake trailing behind the vehicle. But Paxton persevered. He widened his circles, then tightened them, creating a vortex, a tiny whirlpool in the vastness of Taunie’s stomach. As he did so, he saw another warning light flash on the dashboard.
“Battery low? Oh boy… I’m running out of time…” Paxton whispered. Slowly, imperceptibly at first, tiny wisps of gas began to coalesce. The churning current he created caught them, forcing them together. More bubbles formed, rising to the surface, tiny spheres of trapped gas. He kept driving, his hands aching, his mind focused. The acid seemed to resist, thick and unyielding, but the One Zero was a marvel of Lumiose engineering.
A larger bubble finally formed near his frantic circular path. Then another, and another. They merged, drawn together by the turbulence. Paxton watched, his heart pounding, as a bubble the size of a park bench coalesced, then rapidly expanded, fed by the continuous stream of gas his frantic driving provided. It grew larger, then larger still, until it was big enough to dwarf the One Zero.
“Yes!” Paxton exclaimed, a triumphant cry. He expertly maneuvered the One Zero into the path of the growing bubble. With a final surge of thrust, he pushed the vehicle onto the surface of the bubble, its delicate frame clinging to the curved, transparent sphere. The bubble, now the size of a modest orb, detached itself from the acidic surface with a soft plunk and began its slow, majestic ascent.
The journey upwards was surreal. The muscular walls of Taunie’s esophagus loomed around them, a dark, contracting tunnel. Paxton felt the rhythmic squeezing, the powerful peristaltic waves that pushed food down. He was going the wrong way, against the current, but his bubble was buoyant and resistant. He could hear Taunie’s distant, normal sounds. She had no idea of the incredible, microscopic drama unfolding within her.
The air grew cooler, gradually less acidic. The walls of the esophagus seemed to close in, then relax, propelling him further upwards. He clutched the controls, filled with a renewed sense of hope. He was going to make it.
Suddenly, the muscular contractions around him intensified. A feeling of immense pressure built, a sensation of being squeezed and compressed. The bubble holding him tautened, stretched, and resisted. He heard a low rumble, a familiar sound, growing louder, closer. Then, with a force that sent a jolt through the One Zero’s miniature frame, it happened. A violent, explosive rush of air. The world lurched, distorted, and Paxton felt himself propelled upward with incredible speed, a blur of pink and white. The One Zero, still clinging to its bubble, rocketed onto Taunie’s tongue with an audible BURP! The sound was prodigious, echoing through the lobby.
“Oh, dear! Excuse me!” Taunie mumbled as she covered her mouth. She felt a strange tingling sensation on her tongue, but nevertheless shifted her attention back to the magazine she was reading.
Paxton, meanwhile, was somewhat relieved to be out of the giantess’s stomach, but knew he wasn’t out of the woods yet as he recognized the giant lumps around him of Taunie’s tongue. All it took was the wrong movement from the girl to send him careening back into her stomach. He tried to get the One Zero moving… but the engine died as soon as he pushed down on one of the pedals. He looked down at the dashboard… and nothing. It was completely devoid of any life. The only sound were the winds of Taunie’s breaths as they shot out of her mouth.
“Oh no! No no no! Not now!” Paxton said in a state of panic, but there was no getting around it. The vehicle was completely out of energy. It was a sitting Psyduck.
Meanwhile, Taunie had tried to get back to reading her magazine, but she couldn’t get over the smell coming from out of her mouth as a result of that burp. She set down her magazine and leaned towards her backpack on the floor.
“Whew… that was a stronger burp than I thought. Surely that sandwich couldn’t have given me that much gas! Oh well, nothing a little gum can’t fix as far as my breath goes!” Taunie said as she dug into one of the backpack pockets until she found a stick of gum. Without hesitation, Taunie unwrapped the gum and folded it into a perfect square, sticking it into her mouth as she chewed and chewed.
Inside her mouth, Paxton watched as Taunie opened her mouth wide. Taunie’s jaw descended, and a flood of light poured into the mouth, blinding him. He felt her lips part, and then, something eclipsed the sun. It was a perfect, pink square. To Paxton, it looked like a falling skyscraper. It was a piece of gum.
"Taunie, wait! No!" Paxton shouted. The gum descended with agonizing slowness. As it entered her mouth, a wave of saliva… thick and viscous at his scale… washed over the One Zero. The fluid acted like the world’s strongest adhesive. The One Zero was instantly glued to the side of the gum.
Paxton watched in horror as the pink mass hit the tongue. He was pinned between the gum and the taste buds, his vehicle vibrating as Taunie began to move the mass around. He felt the terrifying pressure of her tongue pushing the gum, and him, toward the back of her mouth.
The molars loomed. They were mountainous grinding stones, wet with saliva and glistening in the light. If the gum moved between those teeth, the One Zero would be crushed like a tin can, and Paxton with it.
"Please, please, just spit it out..." Paxton whimpered, curling into a ball on the floor of his cockpit. He felt the gum being mashed against the roof of her mouth, flattening the One Zero into the pink sugar-paste. The sound was deafening… a squelching, rhythmic thud that echoed through the hull. But then, the movement changed. Instead of being pushed toward the grinders, the gum was being maneuvered toward the front.
He felt a sudden rush of cool, fresh air from the outside world. Taunie was using her tongue to flatten the gum against the back of her front teeth. Paxton looked out and saw the gap between her incisors. Beyond them, he could see the blurred, gargantuan shapes of the lobby. He saw her lips from within purse, forming a tight O-shape. Suddenly, a massive gale of wind hit the gum. It wasn't the wind of a storm... it was Taunie’s breath. The gum began to stretch. The One Zero, still stuck to the surface, was pulled along with it.
The pink wall turned translucent. It thinned out, stretching thinner and thinner until Paxton could see through it. He was being pushed out of her mouth, encased in a growing sphere of pink latex. He realized what was happening just as the pressure stabilized. Taunie was blowing a bubble.
“Whoa…” Paxton stood up, pressing his hands against the glass. He was suspended in the center of a giant, shimmering pink orb. From his vantage point, he could look back and see Taunie’s face… her nose as large as a mountain. Her eyes, twin lakes of focused light blue looking right at the bubble, but not at him. Paxton held on tight as the bubble continued to expand.
“How big is this bubble going to…” Paxton started to say until… POP! The bubble burst, much of the pinkness landing against Taunie’s face, much to her amusement.
Paxton was not so lucky. Because Taunie was looking over the sofa when her bubble gum popped, gravity took hold of Paxton and the One Zero, sending them both plummeting down below.
“Waaaaaaah! This is going to hurt!” Paxton said as he fell and fell and fell until… CRASH! The glass dome opened from the shockwave, and the force of the impact sent Paxton flying until he landed on a mix of a hard and soft surface. At least, that’s what it felt like to him… as wherever he landed was shrouded in total darkness. As he worked his way back to his feet, groaning slightly in pain, he was overcome with a powerful odor that almost made him gag.
“*cough cough cough!* What the heck is that smell!? It smells like a mountain of old gym socks… *cough!*” Paxton said as he wobbled around trying to shake off the smell. Then he looked back at where the light was shining from above, and it was there that he found the One Zero… at least what he could see of it through all that bubble gum that was stuck to it. Other than that, it was still in one piece, dents and bent sheet metal and all.
“Wow… that’s quite the resilient vehicle that Vinnie built. Then again, he said it came from Professor Oak’s blueprints, and the things he builds are as tough as his… ummmmm… sense of humor on his radio show?” Paxton said with a nervous look on his face. As he looked around his surroundings and then walked towards the One Zero to look up at the light, he could see the familiar ceiling of the Hotel Z lobby far above him. That’s when it dawned on him.
“The smell… now it makes sense! I’m… *gulp*… I’m inside one of Taunie’s shoes. Oh, please, Taunie… pleeeeeeeease stay barefoot for, like, an hour!” Paxton said.
Sadly, Paxton would have no such luck. First, he heard Taunie’s booming voice from above as she let out a yawn.
“*yawwwwwwwn* Guess I’ll go take a nap now.” Taunie said as she reached over and put her magazine back into her backpack. She then, with a couple grunts, worked herself back into a sitting position and then moved her feet towards her shoes on the floor… one of which included the shrunken Paxton and the One Zero.
Needless to say, Paxton felt a deep rumble, and by the time he looked up, he saw Taunie’s giant bare foot descending down into the shoe he was trapped in, almost instantly cutting off all light from outside.
“Shoot shoot shoot!!!” Paxton shouted. He first thought about running AWAY from the One Zero, but quickly brushed that off knowing he was way too small to outrun the giant foot. Then there was the One Zero itself. If it can survive a fall from what felt like a mile from Taunie’s mouth, surely it could protect him from being crushed a thousand times over by Taunie’s foot. And so he raced into the One Zero and pressed the button to reseal the glass dome above him. At least there was enough energy to get that working, he thought. Right on time too… as Taunie’s sole pressed down on the vehicle. Paxton cringed as, through the darkness, he heard the vehicle groan and contort as it did its best to hold off the sheer weight of Taunie’s giant foot.
As for Taunie, she cringed somewhat as she shuffled her foot into the same shoe that Paxton and the One Zero were trapped in without her knowledge. She brushed it off, attributing it to maybe her feet just getting used to being inside her shoe again, and picked up her backpack. She then walked to the staircase and ascended step by step upwards to reach the second floor where most of the guest quarters as well as the quarters for herself and Paxton were. As she approached the door to her room and unlocked it, she once again cringed over what she was feeling underneath one of her feet.
“Ugh… a piece of tomato must’ve somehow landed inside my shoe. That’s gotta be what I’m stepping against.” Taunie said as she opened the door to her room.
It was nothing but torture, meanwhile, for Paxton. The shaking, the pressure, the strong smell of her feet. It was all making him very dizzy, and even though all that dizziness, he started to have doubts the One Zero would survive another minute underneath the weight of Taunie’s foot.
“Must… get out… here…” Paxton said between exhausted breaths as he wedged his way out from the One Zero, deactivating the protective glass dome. If there was any consolation for Paxton, Taunie had very soft feet, so even at his minuscule size, while it was a lot of weight coming down from her foot pressing against the bottom of the shoe, it wasn’t impossible to move around. Eventually, he worked his way to the side of Taunie’s foot, latching his hands onto as much skin as he was allowed to grab. Right on time too, as Taunie started to lift her feet out of her shoes.
“Whoooooa!” Paxton shouted as he held on for the ride.
Taunie, meanwhile, after taking off her brown jacket and throwing it onto a nearby chair, lazily collapsed onto her bed.
“Ahhhhhh… nothing like an old, creaky bed to lay down to after many days on the road.” Taunie said as she laid flat on her back on the bed and gently closed her eyes, resting her arms to her sides. Paxton, meanwhile, held on until finally the force of the movement caused him to lose his grip. He tumbled around for a few seconds before landing in a sitting position, shaking the imaginary cobwebs loose.
“Oooooooh… now where am I? Huh?” Paxton groaned as he rapidly blinked his eyes, readjusting to the bright light. Paxton pushed himself up, his hands pressing into something soft, warm, and deceptively vast. He looked out at the horizon and his breath hitched. The horizon was actually a gentle slope rising into a mountain range of soft, pale skin, ending in a massive, rounded peak. He wasn’t looking at a landscape; he was looking at an ankle, specifically that belonging to the giant Taunie.
"Taunie?" Paxton whispered. He scrambled to his feet, stumbling over the uneven terrain of her skin. A single pore near his own feet looked like a crater, and the faint, peach-fuzz hairs rising from her skin resembled a forest of translucent, towering stalks. She was sleeping, her body sprawling across the bed like a sun-drenched desert of warmth.
The panic flared, cold and sharp in his chest. But beneath it was a singular, desperate clarity: Taunie was his only hope. If he could reach her, if he could somehow wake her, she could help him. She was his lifeline… really, the only lifeline available to him in all of Hotel Z.
"Okay. Just get to the face. Easy." Paxton muttered, tightening his shoelaces.
The young man sprinted, almost as if he was trying to run away from a wild and angry Rhyhorn. Running across her calf was like sprinting across a vast, sun-warmed plain. Every step was dampened by the soft elasticity of her skin. He had to dodge the occasional stray hair, which stood like a giant, swaying pillar in his path. He could hear the distant, thundering thrum and thump of her heartbeat… a deep, resonant sound that shook the very ground beneath his feet.
He reached the edge of her white shorts, which looked like a shimmering, woven wall of synthetic fabric, white as snow and vast as a cliffside. Climbing them was grueling. He had to dig his fingers into the gaps of the weave, pulling his tiny body up against the force of gravity. He gasped for air, his lungs burning, as he crested the fabric and rolled onto the red cotton of her shirt.
“Whew… gotta… keep… going…” Paxton said as he gasped for air, which felt like was becoming harder and harder to find the further he trekked across Taunie’s giant form.
From here, the world was even more daunting. The fabric of her shirt was a deep, vibrant crimson, the fibers looking like colossal strands of wool. He sprinted onward, his eyes locked on the distant peak of her chin. He felt like an ant traversing a mountain range. Every few seconds, the ground beneath him would heave as Taunie breathed deep in her sleep, creating a seismic shift that threatened to throw him off balance. He gripped the fabric, riding out the motion, his heart beating in counterpoint to her giant, steady pulse.
"Come on, Taunie, just wake up." Paxton said.
After about an hour of running and walking through the forest that was her red shirt, Paxton reached the base of her neck. This was the steepest part of the climb. Her skin here was softer, warmer, and pulsed with the frantic, vital energy of her blood flowing just beneath the surface. He began the ascent, his hands clinging to the delicate skin of her throat. He finally reached her chin, pulling himself up onto the hard, smooth ridge of her jawline. He was exhausted, his muscles trembling and his clothes drenched in sweat, but he had done it. He stood up, ready to shout, ready to jump and wave his arms.
But as he stood, a sudden, powerful tremor rocked the world. Taunie sighed, a sound like a rushing wind, and shifted. Her head rolled to the side, turning away from the ceiling and toward the pillow.
“Whoa!” Paxton shouted. The movement was catastrophic for Paxton. The ground beneath him tilted violently 45 degrees. He lost his footing, skidding across the smooth curve of her jaw. He tumbled, rolling through the air for what felt like an eternity before slamming into the plush, cloud-like surface of the pillow.
He groaned, his body aching from the impact, but he didn't have time to recover. A colossal shadow fell over him, blotting out the light of the room. He looked up, and his heart stopped. Taunie’s face was inches away. Or rather, her eyelid was. Despite the precarious position he was in, Paxton nevertheless ran up to the eyelid and kicked it.
“Taunie! Down here, Taunie! Wake up!” Paxton shouted. Alas, the giantess continued to sleep. Paxton could only mutter if only he were a little bit bigger.
But he was determined to get her attention, no matter what it took or to what great lengths he would have to go to do just that. He rushed up to her lips, using them as leverage to climb up. Once he felt he was high enough, he made his way over to her nose, making sure to hold on as Taunie rolled back onto her back. Paxton held a firm grip as he continued his crawling and climbing, eventually making it onto the tip of her nose.
“Sorry, Taunie…” Paxton said as he punched, kicked, tickled, rubbed, and even bit down on the skin beneath him, hoping in an act of desperation all these acts would be enough to wake her up.
To both his relief and astonishment… it worked! Or maybe it was by sheer coincidence, but either way, Taunie finally sat up on the bed and stretched her arms upward.
“Mmmmmmm… that was refreshing. Minus the itch on my nose, of course.” Taunie said as she reached up towards her nose to scratch it.
“Here it comes!” Paxton said as he looked back and saw the giant finger approaching. With a bold leap that could’ve gone very wrong, Paxton leapt out and landed on the skin of Taunie’s finger, just underneath the nail that was scratching against her nose where he was only seconds ago.
When Taunie felt the itch subside, she looked down at that same finger, wondering if any debris was stuck on it from her nose scratching. She squinted her eyes and noticed a faint dot on her finger.
“Huh? Is that a flea?” Taunie asked as she moved a thumb towards that finger like she was going to rub off that ‘flea.’ However, she suddenly heard it squeal in a high pitched voice. That voice, of course, was Paxton, who was desperately pleading for Taunie’s attention.
“NO! DON’T, TAUNIE! LOOK, IT’S ME, PAXTON!!!” Paxton screamed with all his might, hoping against all the odds stacked against him that he wouldn’t be crushed flat.
Taunie became very curious about the ‘flea’ now, and so she reached for the nearby table and opened one of its drawers while keeping her finger steady. She reached inside and pulled out a magnifying glass, holding it against one of her eyes. Then she moved it closer and closer and closer until…
“*GASP!* Paxton!?” Taunie shouted, finally recognizing the ‘flea’ she had been holding was not a normal flea, but rather a flea-sized, perhaps even smaller than one, Paxton. Taunie felt her heart beat against her chest in a mix of surprise and excitement as she looked over the microscopic Paxton from top to bottom.
“What happened!? How did you shrink so small!?” Taunie asked. She could see Paxton trying to speak, but of course, as small as he was, hearing him from this spot was impossible.
“Wait… hold on, Paxton!” Taunie said as she gently moved her finger towards one of her ears until she faintly heard Paxton’s voice.
“Can you hear me now, Taunie!?” Paxton said.
“Yes, though barely!” Taunie said.
“Okay, good. Here’s what happened…” Paxton said.
For the next couple of minutes, Paxton explained everything that happened leading up to right now, including all the close calls he had to go through to reach Taunie.
“Goodness, Paxton! That was quite dangerous for you to go through all that! Maybe next time… don’t shrink so small so that I can notice you… especially inside my shoe!” Taunie said.
“Yeah, definitely a lesson learned there. Still, with the One Zero out of energy, you better call Vinnie!” Paxton said.
“I’m on it.” Taunie said as she worked her way off the bed, walking around on her bare feet. After gently setting Paxton inside the edge of her ear, allowing him to sit comfortably just outside the ear canal, Taunie reached for her phone sticking out of her backpack and dialed Vinnie, who answered a few seconds later.
A few seconds later, Taunie was back in her shoes and standing outside the entrance of Hotel Z, holding both the shrunken Paxton and the broken and battered One Zero on one of her fingers and a magnifying glass in the other hand, doing her best to keep still to avoid rocking and rolling the two. She then watched as Vinnie came jogging up to her holding some sort of ray gun in his hands.
“Secretary Vinnie! Thank goodness you’re here.” Taunie said.
“Yes, and thank goodness I had this molecular respacer handy in case of emergencies like this.” Vinnie said.
“Molecular what what?” Taunie asked with a look of confusion on her face.
“Ah, yes, forgive me. Some of these science terms are still foreign to you. To put it simply, the energy that comes from this way will enlarge whoever or whatever is zapped by it. Thus, by shooting Paxton and the One Zero with it, they’ll return to their normal size. So where are they?” Vinnie asked.
“Right here.” Taunie said as she held out the finger holding Paxton and the One Zero on it. Without the magnifying glass in his hand, Vinnie had no way of seeing the two from where he stood.
“Right… I’ll take your word for it, Taunie. Please set them down on the ground.” Vinnie said.
Taunie nodded and, using the magnifying glass to watch Paxton’s progress, gently knelt down towards the ground, slowly moving her finger towards the cobblestones. She watched as Paxton jumped down and landed firmly on the ground. Taunie then tipped her finger, allowing gravity to take hold of the One Zero, watching as it thumped onto the ground next to Paxton.
“Be careful, Taunie!” Paxton shouted, even though his words were unable to reach Taunie’s ears now.
“Okay, Vinnie. They’re down there.” Taunie said.
“Alright! Now please stand back… given how small Paxton and the One Zero are, I had to turn the power output of this ray quite high.” Vinnie said. Taunie did just that, taking a couple steps back. As Vinnie aimed the molecular respacer towards the ground where Paxton and the One Zero stood, Paxton took a deep breath, anxious to return to his good ol’ normal size.
“3… 2… 1… FIRE!” Vinnie shouted as he clicked the trigger on the ray gun, with everyone watching as a firm red ray came shooting out of the run. As the ray enveloped around Paxton and the One Zero… unknown to everyone, a few red embers bounced up off the cobblestones and hit Taunie in the ankle.
“Oh!” Taunie shouted.
Meanwhile, Paxton felt the world around him shrinking rapidly, no longer looking as massive as it once did. Bigger and bigger Paxton and the One Zero grew until they were back to their normal sizes.
“Woohoo! Back to normal! I feel like I’m a mile tall, all of a sudden. Thanks, Vinnie!” Paxton said with huge relief clearly in his voice. Vinnie, however, was not feeling as happy. In fact, he looked as if he had seen a ghost.
“Huh? What’s wrong, Vinnie?” Paxton asked.
“Ummmm… you may feel like a mile tall, Paxton, but…” Vinnie said as he pointed upward and behind the young man.
When Paxton finally turned around and followed Vinnie’s gaze and point… he gasped. No wonder Vinnie was so stunned to talk.
“Yikes!” Paxton shouted. It turned out Taunie had somehow gotten caught in the blast of the growth ray’s beam… and she was very, very, VERY large. Over a mile tall in fact!
“WAAAAH! WHAT HAPPENED!? THE PRISM TOWER… IT’S SO SMALL…” Taunie’s voice boomed, sounding like it came from a thousand speakers and forcing Paxton and Vinnie to cover their ears and various alarms to go off throughout the city. Somehow Hotel Z was still standing, but numerous surrounding buildings were crushed flat underneath Taunie’s shoes, the look of which made Paxton feel smaller than an ant again despite being restored to his normal size.
“Whoa! Taunie’s huuuuuuuge!” Paxton shouted.
“I’ll… I’ll go get my shrink ray back at the lab! Whatever you do, Taunie, DON’T MOVE!!! Not unless you want to take the whole city with you!” Vinnie shouted as loud as he could before turning around and running off.
Taunie did just that… remaining as still as she possibly could. Sweat ran down her head knowing that one false move could very easily take multiple blocks of Lumiose City out. All she could do was admire the city sprawling out before her like a map.
“UGH… I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS! I DREAMED ONE TIME I WAS A GIANTESS, BUT THIS IS TOO BIG!” Taunie boomed once again.
“Well, look on the bright side, Taunie… at your size, you’ll definitely attract an audience for Lumiose City and the Z-A Royale now! Heh heh heh…” Paxton shouted.
“OOOOOOOH… YOU’RE SUCH A COMEDIAN, PAXTON.” Taunie said as she rolled her eyes. She was tempted to kneel down and poke the ‘tiny’ Paxton with one of her fingers, but thought better of it. All she could do was stand there and view and listen to the sights and sounds of a stunned Lumiose City.
END