#It was originally going to be Beheeyem instead of N

[bespectacled-bookwyrm]

Grimsley: You lost a lot of blood and passed out. Do you remember anything?

Colress: Only the ambulance ride to the hospital.

Grimsley: There wasn't an ambulance - I drove you.

Colress: But I heard sirens?

Rosa: That was N.

N: I was WORRIED.

[rayveewrites]

pokemon and hermitcraft are my hyper fixsations, and i love love love the ather foundation, could you give more info about that au you mentioned? -arrow

Arrow, I don't think you realize what you're about to unleash.

Premise:

The Hermit Pokémon AU is... complicated. Basically, while Lusamine was going off the rails, she hit on the utterly fantastic idea of fusing humans with various pokemon to... make them more beautiful. Or something. Nobody's really sure.

The project was top-secret- Faba was aware of it, but Wicke was completely in the dark. The few scientists that were involved were strictly monitored 24/7, and were originally chosen for their extreme loyalty to the foundation. The project was dubbed Project Hermit, so even if it was heard of in passing, any outsider would be aware as to what was truly going on.

The thing was, they needed test subjects. And after some initial tests and a lot of theory, they came to the conclusion that the ideal subjects would have to be fairly malleable. Like young children.

Their first subjects are actually bought and paid for from their parents, who were either desperate or just didn't care. Of those subjects, only one was successful- a young boy who was successfully fused with a Larvitar, although he did lose both an arm, and half his face in the process.

Then one of the scientists with poor morals got a Hypno and they realized they didn't need to buy all these children! They could just kidnap them instead! Yes, this is very messed up. Thanks for noticing.

As time wore on, they managed to make the effects subtler, better controlled, although there were a few cases where there were no visible changes (XB, Mumbo), and a few where they were more drastic than expected (Iskall, Joe).

After the events of Pokemon Moon (we're going with Moon), Gladion took over the Aether Foundation. The second he found out about Project Hermit, he freaked, shut it down, and tracked down their parents to return the poor kids. He apologised personally, and made sure they had all the support they needed for their experimented-on children. Because Gladion is a half-decent human being who feels an ounce of sympathy.

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Additional notes:

Their pokemon halves are capable of evolving! When and how this happens depends on the hermit, the circumstances, and how said pokemon evolves.

The relationships between the hermits are... complicated. They went through hell together as young kids, and forged a special kind of bond as a result- they only had each other for a long time. Some have tried to move on and forget, others are fine with their inhuman features and made peace with what happened.

The only one not sent back to his family was, of course, Doc, who was actually bought by the Aether Foundation for the sake of the experiments. Gladion didn't exactly want to send him back, because there was no way that would end well, but fortunately Professors Kukui and Burnet were willing to take him in and give him a loving home. And an arm. And Kukui's fashion sense.

Cleo was originally sent to live with her parents, but they clearly either didn't know or didn't care what to do with a half-pokemon daughter. So she did the obvious thing and basically moved in with Joe and his parents instead. They've unofficially adopted her now.

A handful of them are shinies! And by a handful I mean three. Which is frankly a lot, considering the odds.

Doc wasn't the only one left scarred by the experiments! Scar was pretty heavily injured in the process (though he didn't lose any limbs, thankfully), TFC lost a leg, Iskall lost an eye (just the one), and Xisuma was branded on the face to send a message to the other kids. X wears a helmet to hide his mutilations.

Evil X, Helsknight, and Pungence are all here! EX is Xisuma's twin, Pungence is Bdubs' younger brother, and Hels is Wels' really weird cousin.

All of them, regardless of physical appearance, are capable of learning pokemon moves. Whether or not they actually use them depends on the individual.

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The List:

Bdubs: Tangela-> Tangrowth

Cub: Unovan Yamask -> Cofagrigus

Doc: Larvitar -> Pupitar -> Tyranitar

Etho: Froakie-> Frogadier -> Greninja

False: Honedge -> Doublade-> Aegislash

Gem: Deerling -> Sawsbuck

Scar: Skitty -> Delcatty

Grian: Rufflet-> Braviary

Hypno: Drowzee -> Hypno (low-hanging fruit, I know)

Jevin: Shiny Ditto

Impulse: Rotom

Iskall: Pawniard -> Bisharp

Joe: Mimikyu

Keralis: Stakataka

Mumbo: Nosepass -> Probopass

Pearl: Swablu -> Altaria

Ren: Rockruff -> Midday Lycanroc

Stress: Oddish-> Gloom -> Bellossom

Tango: Kantonian Ponyta -> Rapidash

TFC: Drillbur -> Excadrill

Beef: Elgyem -> Beheeyem

Wels: Shiny Rookidee -> Corvisquire -> Corviknight

XB: Lillipup -> Herdier -> Stoutland (tenuous, so if anyone has any better ideas please share; I'm genuinely not sure what to do with XB)

Xisuma: Type: Null -> Silvally

Zedaph: Mareep -> Flaaffy -> Ampharos

Cleo: Shiny Cubone -> Alolan/Kantonian Marowak (A mix of the two; physically takes after the Kantonian shiny, but abilities are closer to the Alolan variant).