For those who don't know the story of Aspen, this fella has gone through a fair bit! He used to be human, for starters...a hiker and researcher of Pokemon out in the wild who had a fair bit of notoriety, and loved his work. One day on a hiking trip, he discovered a brand new type of plant, possibly a Pokemon - but unfortunately, the plant demonstrated a fascinating but dangerous ability. The poor human was ensnared, then force-fed a transformative sap, turning him into a chubby Leafeon! The sap stuck around in his belly too, regularly triggering hunger pangs that forced Aspen to keep himself fed and fat...as if he didn't, he would easily go feral until his gut was filled!

After some adjustment to his new situation, and upon collecting his nerves, the ex-human returned to his hometown. Reintegrating himself into human society was hard, but thanks to his form being not-quite-feral, he was able to hold himself up on two legs and even dress himself like a proper human (even if he had to shop in the kids' clothes section now!). He even managed to convince his work contacts to keep him hired, assuring them that his unique condition would allow him to study Pokemon in an even more natural way.

However, that sap still grumbled his belly on a regular basis, a pesky interruption for Aspen. He had no desire to be fat, but also little choice...though he tried to overeat as little as possible. Sometimes he would slip up with this goal, in the wrong situation...such as here. A nature magazine publisher office the Leafeon had happened to visit was hosting an anniversary party with lots of food, and thanks to Aspen contributing many strong articles to the publication in the past, he was heartily invited to join in. His attempted decline was deflected, his growling belly and drooling snout as he side-eyed the buffet of food giving him very little ground to argue!

"Well, just a plate or two wouldn't hurt." he reasoned. "After all, it's only polite."

But as was the way with the fat Eeveelution...two plates turned into four, then eight... His inhibitions only lowered further the more he ate, as it all the food was alcoholic - and with his condition, it was just as addictive! His focus did return, at last...though too late. As he ate his umpteenth cupcake, his poor stretched shirt finally surrendered, a button flying off like a bullet with a 'pop!' as his belly heaved outwards, wobbling and grumbling contentedly~ The unfortunate Leafeon paused mid-bite, a blush flushing his freckled cheeks as he realized how much he'd eaten...

Suffice to say, he kindly excused himself from the party, feigning a need to return home and write a new article. A paw desperately held his shirt together best he could to keep it appearances as he departed, while his other paw still held that last plate of food, reflexively not wanting to waste anything even under such a circumstance~

Oh goodness...what an embarrassing day! Though with such a tasty buffet... <3

Ahh man, I love this picture of Aspen. <3 This was done by   xAshleyMx, and I adore the professional human clothes she put him in~! This is what he dresses like when around humans, to stand out from being just another Pokemon. He's trying to be all proper, but it just makes him look that much cuter!

I honestly felt a little bad for a while about posting this continuation of Aspen's story without making a big 'ol chapter like the other story images for him received. But really, the two chapters that exist over on SoFurry are his origin story, and so deserved the level of detail I gave them. From here on out, I think I will write little digestible segments of Aspen's (and Twig's!) life in short stories in the descriptions. ^^

Maybe he'll get another big story at some point, who knows~ My writing muse is unpredictable. But I can promise you guys something cute to read with each image of Aspen and friends - they are 'storyline' characters after all. :3

On that note, I'll have a couple more Aspen pics up the next few days, though I've yet to decide if one/both of them should be canon or not. I guess I'll mull it over~