Hello everyone! Guess who is officially back with his first story commissioned from the wonderful  LtColonelWhipper !

Pokemon is one of the greatest games out there, and for some reason it is the game series I have almost NEVER played. It's fun though learning about different pokemon and different abilities, and using the concept of a Sphinx Pokemon Human Hybrid was a fun story to write!

I hope you enjoy this story!

It is not just Pokemon trainers that seek out great adventures. The Pokemon themselves have gone out to search for new lands, new experiences, and new friends.

It isn’t that strange to see Pokémon native to one region travel across many miles just to explore new and different lands.

For Meganium, it was her first time venturing out of her usual habitat. She wasn’t alone though, as she traveled with her two best friends, Mukrow and Arbok.

Even with their different specialties and different forms.

Arbok was the most flexible, able to easily navigate the tightest of spaces.

Mukrow could fly sky high and see for miles ahead.

Meganium was the most sensory of the group, able to sense traps, food, danger, and even hidden passages based purely on instinct.

They couldn’t be any more different in skill, but it makes them the perfect team for adventure.

“Ssssssso… Meganium, tell me again where you said you wanted to go?” Arbok asked.

“Oh! It’s a place called the Pharaoh's Temple! I heard it’s supposed to be one of the most artistic and beautiful temple on the continent!” Meganium says with an excited tone.

“What makes the Pharaoh's Temple different from other temples?” Mukrow asks with curiosity.

“This temple is known for its rare Sphinx statues and artifacts! There were even rumors that Sphinx pokemon might exist, but no living being has ever been able to confirm it.” Meganium explains.

“Living? You mean people have died?” Arbok asks with skepticism.

“Oh gosh no! No one ever dies! I didn’t imply anything when I said "living” Arbok!” Meganium says, chuckling.

“You’ve done quite a bit of research on this! Where did you hear about it?” Mukrow asks.

“The library around here caters to people and pokemon as well! It’s fun to learn about the world!” Meganium tells Mukrow.

“How do we even enter thissssssss temple? If it was easy to accessssssss, more adventurers would visit, ssssssso… what is the trick to get in?” Arbok asks.

“From what I read there are secret switches hidden in some trees in this forest. They are not only well disguised but are in tight spaces. But thanks to my special senses, I can detect where they are! Here’s one of them now!” Meganium says as she brushes some of the grass with her foot and presses a camouflaged switch.

A low rumble shook the ground, like a small earthquake.

“We don’t have to hit all of them at once do we?” Mukrow asks.

“No, but we have to press all three buttons within an hour, or it will reset. Not just the switches but the location of the switches.” Meganium explains.

“Ssssssay WHAT? You mean we would have to ssssssstart completely over and from scratch?” Arbok asks, shocked.

“Relax Arbok, I know where the other two are. There’s a little hole in the ground that leads to a tunnel with the second switch.” Meganium explains.

“Ahhhhh… ssssssssay no more! I am a master of getting into tight sssssssspaces!” Arbok says grinning being able to put their skills to great use as they quickly slither to the hole.

Using their slender body, Arbok slithers and digs their way further and further down. A bit deeper than they originally thought. Finally reaching a little cavern at the end, Arbok slithered around the cavern feeling around for anything looking or feeling like a switch.

Suddenly, Arbok heard a *click* sound as they finally found the switch.

Arbok began to hightail it out of the cavern as Meganium told Mukrow to pluck a specific leaf on one of the trees. “That leaf is the final trigger to reveal the temple!”

Mukrow flies up and pulls the leaf, a big shake in the ground revealed some of the trees to be a mirage revealing them to actually be statues of Pokemon Sphinxes and towers of tunnels and passageways.

“Hey! Could you have waited till I got out? I thought the hole was gonna cave in on me!” Arbok shouted, making out of the hole.

“Sorry Arbok! I may have been a bit too soon on the third step, but I didn’t want to risk going over the time limit! Well, the good news is that as long as we are within a mile of the perimeter, this area will only be visible to us, or to anyone that finds the hidden switches.” Meganium explains.

“Wow! Thisssssss was definitely worth the journey! You weren’t lying when you said how grand the temple was!” Arbok says.

“This is absolutely breathtaking! Maybe we can run into one of those Sphinx pokemon too!” Mukrow says.

“Not just pokemon, but supposedly humans as well! Any living thing in theory could become a Sphinx under the right circumstance!” Meganium explains.

“What are we waiting for? Let’ssssssss explore this place!” Arbok says slithering towards the main entrance.

“Wait Arbok! Let’s stick together so we don’t get separated! I don’t have a map or have a memorization of a map, so we could easily get lost!” Meganium says as she sprints towards Arbok as Mukrow rests on her back.

For the first hour, it was a non-stop adventure of looking into rooms, admiring the art and sculptures, and finding new passageways.

That’s when Meganium sensed something unusual coming from one of the rooms.

“Hey, there’s a weird sensation coming from that room! I have never felt anything like it before.” Meganium says as Arbok opens the door.

“Oooohhh! Look at this room! So colorful and look at that special tablet in the middle!” Mukrow says, flying towards it.

“What isssssss that?” Arbok asks.

“It’s some tablet, but I don’t know what it does, be careful obs-“ Meganium began to explain when Mukrow landed on the center of it, and that’s when something got realized in the air over all of the group.

“AHHHHH! I’m sorry, I meant to land on the edge!” Mukrow screamed.

“It’s ok! Keep calm! Don’t panic! It looks like… some pathogen… maybe panic a little!” Meganium says, unable to keep calm as they tried to fight off the pathogen with futility.

“Sssssssay! My face issssss ssssshhhhhrinking!” Arbok says, wiggling around as her face becomes less serpentine, and more human looking. Her eyes turned a dark red color, her fangs multiplied into full rows of human canine teeth, though retaining the sharpness of her serpentine fangs. Eye shadow began to form around her eyes, matching the color of her purple lips, showing that even with a human face, Arbok still has a snake-like attitude.

“Hey! This feels weird! My mouth is becoming more flexible!” Mukrow shouts as her beak becomes a pair of lips. Unlike Meganium and Arbok, her face wasn’t as standing out, but still beautiful by all means, a bit of a short hairdo with black hair covering her neck as her transformation.

“We must be becoming Sphinxes ourselves!” Meganium realizes, her face becoming human in nature, and her leaves around her mane turn into beautiful, flowing orange hair. Her eyes maintain their reddish color as a thin pair of glasses appear on her nose, now a small triangular shape. The transformation of her and the others’ faces was a short, but swift one into that of the heads of females.

For Meganium though, the changes seemed to be a bit more, her arms were also changing, turning from a light green, into a pale tan color. Skin was forming into a smooth texture on her arms and hands, which turned from paws into hands.


“You know, not much has really changed if you think about it!” Mukrow says, “All that’s changed for the most part is our faces!”

“Physically that is all…” A voice from behind the walls says as the group jumped back startled.

“Who goes there?” Meganium asked in fear.

“Your new family.” A Sphinx Lapras says, swimming through a hidden chamber of water, splashing the group playfully.

“So, the legends are true, pokemon Sphinxes do exist!” Meganium says to Lapras.

“Please! Call me Pearl! With a human face, having a human name makes a little more sense don’t you think?” Pearl tells the group as she swishes her wave-like blue hair with white streaks to match with her water type nature.

“Ssssssso, what now? Do we stay here for the rest of our lives? If no one has ever sssssssseen a Ssssssphinx pokemon before, are we trapped here forever then?” Arbok asks.

“Well, actually, there is no such rule, we just know the unusualness of our nature could bring panic to both humans and pokemon alike. Both species can sometimes have trouble dealing with things they can’t understand.” Pearl says.

“Maybe that’s what fate had us come here for! To challenge that fear!” Meganium says in a brave tone of voice. “I’ll be Megan, Mukrow can be Mukuro, Arbok can be Aria, and we will remove the fear and mystery from this temple, so anyone can visit. If they want to become a Sphinx, they will be welcome! If they just want to browse and leave, just as fine! The world deserves to know the full beauty of the Sphinxes!” Megan shouts in a voice filled with hope and optimism.

“Actually, I’ll sssssstay with Arbok if you don’t mind.” Arbok says, Megan realizing in her heightened state that she had named her friends by accident.

“I’ll go with Muki! It’s a cute name!” Muki says, cheerfully celebrating the name she chose for herself.

As everyone in the room was conversing, two more sphinx pokemon emerged.

“Hope we didn’t miss the party!” A Charizard sphinx said. Megan turned around and noticed that he was a bit like her in the sense that it was more than just a human head with dark orange pigtails for hair, but also a human arm and leg proportionately fitting to his body.

“I’ve been like this for two weeks, and it’s still hard to get used to this new form!” A Starmie sphinx says, trying to gain control of her movements. Unlike the others, Starmie only had the face of a human and not the whole head, as the biology of a Starmie wouldn’t make having a regular head an option.

“Oh, that’s right Star, your pokemon species tends to float like a ghost. Comprehending movement without arms or legs, is definitely no walk in the park.” Charizard says.

“Maybe we can help with that! I’m Megan, and this is Arbok and Muki!” Megan says introducing her group to the other sphinx pokemon.

“Nice to meet you all! I just don’t know how much help you’d be able to be. Pearl is the senior member here, one year old, I’ve been like this for 8 months, and as you heard, Star here is only two weeks in this form. You’re all barely minutes into being sphinxified, what would you know that may help us?” Charizard asks politely.

“Well, why does this place need to be hidden in the first place? Why not share this with the world so everyone can watch in glory! With human faces and pokemon bodies, we can help teach everyone new things!” Megan says joyfully.

“Um, I’m nervous about how people might react. I’m very shy, and I even found this place by sheer luck in finding the switches all in the same place.” Star says, looking down on the ground nervously.

“Well, we are a family! We help each other! And maybe others want to become sphinxes too! We’d just make sure to direct those that don’t want to transform away from any rooms with pathogens.” Megan says, trying to comfort Star.

“Aren’t we forgetting one important detail? How do we make a temple thisssssss big visible and no longer hidden?” Arbok asks.

“So funny story, you know how when you hear the word temple, and you assume it’s ancient?” Pearl starts. “This temple is actually only two years old. Some of the artifacts are indeed ancient, just the temple itself is not.”

Everyone looked dumbfounded. “WHAT?” They all said collectively.

“Actually, I was one of the lead designer’s pokemon. I had wandered into this room where like the rest of us, I got turned into a sphinx. He saw me and realized that he didn’t want to risk anyone else possibly getting changed against their will, so he designed a mechanism to hide it away, but not destroy the temple. He has a supposed master key that can instantly unlock access to the temple and make it public. I heard him mention a control room somewhere in the temple. Supposedly it will stick out like a sore thumb as it is clearly technological in nature.”

“What are we waiting for, let's go!” Muki says. “Uhhhh… actually I don’t know where to go. Pearl? You better lead the way!”

“Righto!” Pearl says, leading the gang through the labyrinth of tunnels until they reached a doorway with a camouflaged red button on the wall. Pearl pushed it, and it revealed a highly modernized control room.

“From what I saw, this should be the button that would make this temple fully visible.” Pearl says.

“Hold up a ssssssssecond, before we make it visible to the public, ssssshouldn’t we put warning ssssssssigns on any room with thosssssse pathogens? If people involuntarily transssssssform, this whole place is liable to be torn down.” Arbok points out.

“Yeah… that’s a good point. I have an idea! Now that I know how to sense the pathogen, I can enter each room and mark off what to stay out of! I see a closet full of supplies, we could put caution tape over each room!” Megan says.

“Won’t that take hours or even days? This place is huge!” Star asks.

“Way ahead of you! He left a digital map here. Chandra? Megan? I think you two should team up with me as you have human hands that can actually set up the tape. It’ll take 24 hours for the temple to fully unhide itself, so we better make haste!” Pearl tells everyone as Chandra, the Charizard Sphinx, takes the map and Megan takes the caution tape.

“What shall we do?” Muki asks.

Pearl pushed the access button and said, “Now that we have started the publicization process, we are free to get out of the temple. Just be careful not to make a huge commotion as panic is the last thing we need.”

“I think we’ll sssssssee what’s out there for us.” Arbok says as she slithers away on her own towards the entrance.

“I’ll wait with Star at the entrance. Maybe I can help you adjust while they set up the tape!” Muki says with a cute smile.

“Ok… can we go slow please? I don’t want to make any mistakes.” Star says, moving at a slow pace while Megan and the others rapidly begin taping up the pathogen rooms.

“Say someone wants to become a sphinx, how would we handle that? And if someone wants to revert back? Can’t we synthesize the pathogen to reverse the process?” Chandra asks.

“It would have to be a scientist as this place is not equipped with the required equipment. As for those that want to join us, they’d just have to tell us, and we will give them access to one of the rooms.” Pearl answers.

Outside, Arbok took a big whiff of fresh air. “The temple is nice and all, but I love being outdoors,” she says to herself as she spots a young male and female walking close by.

“Hmmmm… you know, I’m curious to see how my hypnotic powers could work on thessssssse people… make them act like ssssssilly animalsssssss!” Arbok says, slithering up to the couple who at first screamed until Arbok put them in trance.

“You’re getting ssssssssleepy. Let the human ssssssside of you ssssssslip away. Let me see you behave like a Pikachu dude,” Arbok says as the man acts like a Pikachu, trying to shoot lightning and shouting “Pika! Pika! Pikachu!”

“Now, lady, behave like a sssssssquirtle!” Arbok says as she spins on her back pretending to spray water like a Squirtle.

“Hahahahah! I’m going to have a lot of fun with thissssssss…” Arbok says to herself.

Muki and Star make it to the entrance of the cave where they sit on the steps. Well, Muki sits and Star floats closer to the ground.

“I am going to take a guess and say you were a human when you entered this temple?” Muki asks.

“Yes. I was the only one of the group that started out human. If I was a Starmie originally, it would be much different, but dealing with non-human appendages and movement is hard to wrap my head around. I’ve banged into so many walls these past few weeks trying to navigate.” Star tells Muki.

“Maybe it’s because you just need a little more room. I have an idea! Just watch!” Muki says as she begins drawing lines and curves in the dirt and sand in front of the temple entrance.

“Like me, you can be airborne. I have to use my wings to fly, but you are naturally air buoyant! It’s just a matter of control, so all you have to do is try and fly over the lines while maintaining your shadow over it. That’ll keep you on an easy to navigate path.” Muki explains.

“You think I can do it?” Star asks.

“Of course! Just don’t push super hard. Take baby steps… I mean flights! Start with the straight line, then the circle to practice curving. Then we have the square to practice corners, the hill for elevation, the U-Turn, and the squiggly S-curve! Megan told me that humans like obstacle courses, so this is a little mini one for you! Think of it as fun!” Muki says.

“I greatly appreciate this!” Star tells Muki.

“Of course! Megan helped me when I hurt my wing, so I want to help her in supporting the sphinxes and the opening of this temple! By the way, have you seen Arbok? She was leaving ahead of us.” Muki asks.

“I hear some weird noises coming from over there.” Star points out with one of her star arms.

“Hey! You were able to use one of your arms like normal!” Muki says proudly.

“It’s because you gave me confidence to accept my form!” Star says as they head in the direction of the sounds.

“ARBOK! WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING?” Muki shouted seeing Arbok hypnotizing the two humans into behaving like pokemon.

“Don’t worry Muki, I’m just having a little fun with thesssssssse people. They were close to the temple, and they were perfect practice for my hypnossssissssss,” Arbok tells Muki and Star.

“I wouldn’t think it would be a good relationship builder. If people see you hypnotize others, they’ll want to stay as far away from us as possible.” Muki tells Arbok.

“UGHHHHH! Fine! It’s not like they are going to remember this anyway.” Arbok says taking the couple out of trance.

“Whoa, what just happened?” The guy asks.

“I don’t know, say these are some strange looking pokemon.” The woman says.

“Well, technically…” Muki began to speak as the couple jolted again.

“YOU CAN TALK? YOU HAVE HUMAN HEADS?”

“We’re… sphinx pokemon. There’s a temple near here, just becoming visible the next day. And well, we’re some of the sphinx pokemon that live there.” Star explains, a very nervous expression on her face.

“Oh, sorry for being startled. I hope we didn’t offend you in any way. Obviously we never knew sphinx pokemon existed.” The man says apologetically.

“No sssssssweat, we recently became sphinxes oursssssselves. There’s a pathogen that changessssssss you into a sphinx.” Arbok explains.

“Fascinating, you know honey, I think you’d make a great Squirtle!” The man tells the woman as Arbok has a grin that says “I told you so” to Muki and Star.

“And you are a definite Pikachu! Maybe it would be fun to become sphinxes! It’s not like we have many commitments waiting at home!” The woman tells the man.

“Can we enter this temple and become sphinxes?” The man asks.

The group looked surprised. This was not an answer they were prepared to give.

“Uh, I think maybe you should speak with Megan. She’s the main supporter when it comes to these matters.” Muki explains as they lead the couple into the temple.

Running into Megan, Pearl, and Chandra, they were surprised to see a human couple here. Megan, playing it cool, welcomed them.

“Hello! You’re the first visitors to this temple of sphinxes! What can we show you?” Megan asks.

“Well, we kind of want to become sphinxes like you!” The man says.

“How can we become one? Your friends say they recently changed, so the process should be simple to find and replicate!” The woman asks.

Megan was also surprised, but she quickly explained, “All you have to do is go into one of the caution taped rooms and push a button on the central tablet. A pathogen will be released once it is pushed, and you will transform into a sphinx pokemon. The species of which I can’t guarantee. Hopefully it works out the way you want it.”

The couple looked at each other and nodded. “We are ready, and I assume there is a way to change back in case we get cold feet?” The man asks.

“When this gets fully visible tomorrow morning, we plan on contacting a scientist to develop a reversal process for those that either transform on accident or want to return to normal.” Pearl explains.

“Normal human, normal pokemon, or normal form when they first started?” The woman asks.

“That I couldn’t tell you until more research is done. Follow us and we will show you the closest room.” Chandra says as they all head to a cautioned-up door.

It was a room with a lot of lakes and pools. “Let me sing a song as you enter to help calm the changes down.” Pearl says as she hops in the water and sings a calming, siren-like tune.

The couple approached the central tablet, and as they listened to the calming song, they smiled and held their hands, pushed the button as the pathogen was released on them.

Remaining calm, the man starts to change, and to their delight, becomes a Pikachu Sphinx pokemon. As fate would have it, the woman became the pokemon sphinx she wanted; Squirtle.

The transformation took little time as Pearl finished her song.

“Well, how does it feel?” Megan asks.

“It feels amazing! We’re going to have a lovely time as Sphinxes!” Pikachu and Squirtle say happily.

As everyone was celebrating the newest members, Star left towards the entrance to practice. Megan took notice and followed behind.

“What’s wrong Star?” Megan asked.

“Why was it so easy for them to adjust and not me? I’m technically the third oldest sphinx pokemon yet experience wise I have the least it seems. It isn’t coming as natural to me as everyone else.” Star says, starting to tear up.

Megan wipes a tear from her face saying, “Awww, don’t cry, that is why we are here to support each other like a family. I see Muki made up a course for you. Why don’t we practice a little? Help build up your confidence! What do you say?” Megan asked as Star sniffled and nodded.

“Ok! Think of it like a balance beam. You only want your bottom star legs straddling the line on both ends. You want them not on the line, but on both sides of it. Lean your body forward to help with the control and direction. Take whatever strides you feel are comfortable!” Megan tells Star as she approaches the start of the course.

Taking a few deep breaths, she takes Megan’s advice and leans forward, slowly pulsing her way across the straight line. It was a little slow, but she stayed on track.

“I did it!” Star said proud of herself as Megan nuzzled her face with delight.

“See? You can do anything you put your mind to! Now, try it again, but see if you can do it faster, and work up to zooming straight through! Almost like flying a plane or remote-controlled drone!” Megan says, thinking up a perfect analogy for Star.

“Ok! I think I can picture a drone. They can take sharp corners, and shift speeds. Some can even change colors, but as far as I know I’m not a color changing Starmie if that even exists! Imagine a temple somewhere with those types of pokemon. What a story that would be!” Star says, chuckling as she decides to take a big leap and attempt the whole obstacle course.

Going faster on the straightaway, she got more comfortable navigating with each lap of the course, until she finally got the hang of it all.

“I DID IT! I REALLY DID IT!” Star says with a burst of joy as she hugs Megan. “I CAN EVEN CONTROL THESE STAR ARMS AND LEGS NOW!”

“I always believed you could do it! You just needed the right support group! Now that we will be out in the open, there’s nothing to fear anymore!” Megan tells Star as they proudly head back in.

The group cheered when they saw Star fly around carefree and happier than they had ever seen her before.

“Doing great Star!” Pearl shouted.

“Sssssspectacular!” Arbok says.

“I’m glad the obstacle course worked!” Muki says.

“Simply amazing Star! Glad you’re more comfortable now!” Chandra tells Star as she heads back down to their level.

“It’s a whole new world now! The worry is all gone, and I can now be happy about this form!” Star says as the group embraces in a warm hug.

“We are definitely one big happy family! And for anyone else that wants to join in, they are all more than welcome just like our Pikachu and Squirtle!” Megan says.

“And anyone that just wants to visit shall be greeted with proper hospitality!” Muki adds.

As the sunset for the night and morning hit, the temple became visible for all to see. A few dozen people were brave enough to venture on to the temple and witnessed a true spectacle.

Muki, Chandra, and Star put on a neat flying show for everyone. Arbok played nice and offered to hypnotize volunteers from the audience to act like animals. Pearl swam in a lake in one of the temple rooms and sang a siren song for everyone.

Megan of course, being the one who absorbed the most knowledge of the temple, was the tour leader. Explaining the historical legends and history of sphinx pokemon and the sphinx temple. She explained the importance of not entering into a cautioned room as there are pathogens that will make people and pokemon become sphinxes.

Sharing her tale, everyone understood the dangers and risks involved.

“You know, if an accident does happen, can I take a pathogen sample to my lab so I can observe and maybe find a reversal for it?” A senior white-haired male asks Megan.

“Of course! Just wear an airtight suit. These pathogens aren’t able to penetrate clothes, so if you don’t breathe it in, you’ll be safe from transforming. Just be sure to neutralize the pathogen before taking your suit off!” Megan explains to the scientist.

All the pieces have now fallen into play. Sphinx pokemon have become public to all, the mystery and fear surrounding the temple has dissipated, and the sphinx pokemon are now comfortable existing with the outside world.

Throughout the weeks, two people and three pokemon chose to become sphinxified, joining the existing group. The scientist was able to mutate the pathogen so it could undo the effects of a sphinx transformation. He found that it would revert the individual back to their previous state, and not either just a pokemon or just human.

As Megan headed to the top of the temple’s highest floor, she watched the sunset. It was the best adventure of her life, and she found complete happiness and satisfaction with what she became.

“I am so thankful for everyone!” She says to herself as she falls asleep looking up at the stars in the sky. A happy end to a happy story.

THE END