Ash brought in the package. He did not even have to look at the sticker to know who it was from. The package was wrapped with vibrantly-colored wrapping paper, patterned like an extravagantly-decorated Easter egg. He knew who this was from and he knew what was inside. He was not especially excited, mind. In fact, he knew it would be quite embarrassing, but a bet was a bet, he had lost it, and he would now be wearing the contents of this package for the rest of the day.

“Pika pi…” Pikachu said, also quite aware of just how embarrassing this would be for his trainer. Sure, there would be a part of him that would find it quite amusing, but the greater part of him felt more sympathetic than anything else. Not that it was exactly the end of the world, but he still knew it wasn’t something Ash was looking forward to.

For what it was worth, as he opened up the wrapping paper, Ash wasn’t entirely dreading the experience. He had heard that the costumes this company made were incredibly comfortable, so at the very least that would be a plus. And indeed, once he opened up the box, what he saw was promising. The costume’s fur looked very soft and comfortable indeed, a sentiment confirmed when he ran his hand along the fake fur. It not only felt real, but it felt so very soft and silky, he couldn’t help but enjoy it. Though then again, a bit of reality came crashing down on him as he realized this would probably mean the suit would be very hot with all the fake fur covering it. Oh well, he would deal with that as he got to it. First, he needed to make sure it would fit properly.

The first sign was promising. When Ash pulled it out, he saw that it did indeed seem to be just the right height for him. The costume was all in one piece, with a large zipper on the back that would open up the suit so he could get inside. When he pulled the costume out, he saw there was a sticker at the bottom of the box. It had a cute chibi image of a Lopunny on it, as well as the words “LOPUNNY COSTUME – MADE WITH TRUE EASTER SPIRIT!”

Ash couldn’t help but chuckle at the cheesy line. But regardless of what the costume was truly made from, it was time to put it on. “Well, I guess it’s time,” he said to Pikachu, then he unzipped the zipper, placing one of his legs inside, then the other, feeling the smooth, comfortable interior fabric against his legs and feet as they slid inside, before his feet finally came to rest inside the costume feet. It was a perfect fit. And indeed, it was just as comfortable as the company reputation said, if not even moreso. At the very least, that would be a silver lining to this embarrassing situation.

Pikachu watched as Ash continued putting on the costume, next the arms, before moving on to the head. Ash found it quite surreal to be looking out of the costume’s eyes, his view limited as a result. Not by a huge amount, of course. After all, Lopunny eyes weren’t particularly tiny. He reached back and, with some trouble due to the awkward angle, zipped up the costume. Once more, he couldn’t help but be impressed by how comfortable the costume felt around him. In fact, despite the embarrassing nature of the situation, he couldn’t help but look forward to the rest of his day now, at least a little bit.

“Wow, this is a really great costume,” he said, his voice muffled from being inside the costume. Pikachu smiled at that. Ash began walking around the room to test out how it felt wearing it in motion. After just a few steps, he found himself walking on the tips of his feet. For some reason, in this costume, it felt more natural than walking normally. After a few more steps, he even began to walk with a bit more of a spring in his step. In his mind, he felt like he was simply getting into the spirit of this costume far more than he’d expected to.

Pikachu, who could see quite clearly that the costume’s back now lacked any form of zipper, had a different perspective on the matter. He tried calling out to warn him that something was wrong, but of course, his trainer misinterpreted it. “Yeah, this costume’s pretty amazing, isn’t it?”

“Pika pi…” Pikachu said, concerned.

Ash took a few more steps, relishing just how nice this costume felt. How soft it felt, how warm he felt, how when he stepped it didn’t really even feel much like he was wearing a suit at all, how nice it felt as the air from the nearby fan blew through his fur, and… wait, he shouldn’t be able to feel that, should he?

he thought aloud, becoming quite alarmed at the fact that it came out not as human speech, but as Pokémon speech. And it looked like the muzzle of the costume was moving as he spoke. In fact, it felt a lot like his mouth was part of a muzzle now. He definitely felt like he had a muzzle, a feeling confirmed as he rubbed the top of the costume’s muzzle, feeling the forepaw gently moving against the muzzle, even feeling the fur being temporarily displaced along the way.

He felt along his face, feeling the sides of his face and the tip of his rounded muzzle. His forepaw moved upward, feeling his eyebrows, which were no longer anything like human eyebrows, instead reaching much higher, well above his head. He reached up further, feeling his ears, which were now standing up from the top of his head. His felt along their lengths with his forepaws, feeling as they angled down, going from short fur to long puffy fur, reaching down well below his waist.

He looked at his arms, which were covered in short brown fur, giving way to thick cream fur at his wrists, as if his wrists had been engulfed by miniature clouds. And at the ends, of course, were his cute little brown forepaws.

He looked down, his gaze lowering from his brown-furred front, to his wide fur-covered hips, to his legs, to his cream-colored hind paws, with cream fur extending up from them as if he were wearing cute fuzzy socks.

Reaching back, he tried feeling for a zipper, but there wasn’t one there anymore at all. In every single way, now he looked and felt just like a Lopunny. And as he found out earlier, he even spoke like one now. It wasn’t just a costume anymore. He was, in fact, a Lopunny.

He continued looking himself over, in utter disbelief, wondering just how this could all be possible. Then, Pikachu came up to him, speaking again.

Ash blinked twice.

Pikachu asked.

Ash said, before looking through the box, seeing if there might be anything left in there that might provide some sort of hint. He did find a small pamphlet… maybe that might tell him how to reverse this? But at the same time… did he really want to worry about that right now? This was a once in a lifetime opportunity! Did he really want it to end so soon?

No, instead he had a better idea. He gave a smile toward Pikachu, then said,

Pikachu couldn’t help but smile. The situation was unusual and there was the question of whether Ash could change back, but they could worry about that later. For now, Ash was right. Today was a day for fun, not for worry! And the two of them together could no doubt have lots of fun with this indeed!

And so, they headed out, leaving the box and the pamphlet behind, to have their day of fun.