Himbogatchi

Originally posted on Tumblr:  Dec 31st 2024

 

*Warning this story is completely stupid and straight up nonsensical. But if you are willing to buy into the weird and fantastical just know I cannot be blamed for the loss of brain cells. Continue reading at your own risk. *

“This device is supposedly new, but it’s so fucking busted.” Jayden held out a small, round, and sky-blue handheld child’s play toy, with a small digital screen. The hard plastic packaging that the toy had come in was discarded on the floor. 

“What is this, like those old Digimon pet games?” Finn asked, reclined on the couch, while Jayden sat on the floor next to him, back against the arm of the couch.

“Well kind of, my mom knew I used to like Tamagotchi when I was a kid, but everyone thought it was for girls, so I never got one. She was thrift shopping and saw this and thought, “Oh hey, Jay used to talk about these all the time. And this one is definitely for boys.” Jayden let out an exasperated sigh.

Finn raised an eyebrow, “You know there’s nothing wrong with liking Tamagotchi, or even girl things?”

“Well, yeah, I know that NOW, but child me in the early 2000’s wasn’t going to get picked on for that.”

Finn leaned over and picked up the package on the floor, “Himbogatchi from the makers of…Create-A-Himbo? Damn, this sounds way off brand, no wonder that shit doesn’t work.” He flipped the packaging over to the back. “You should just tell your mom you’re not fucking 10 anymore and don’t want this shit. At least she would get her money back.”

“Actually… I still want it.” Jayden shook the device holding it up to his ear. There were no sounds and no other signs of it turning on. “It’ll be a nice nostalgic trinket regardless.” He sighed and put the game away in his pocket. 

“Dude, get a load of this. Written on the back, it says: ‘Grow along with your new friend! Turn each new pal into an amazing himbo. So many variations, which road will you take your pal down? Cute? Studly? Sexy? Beautiful? Handsome?  Will they be a drop-dead gorgeous model? An Olympic athlete? A pro bodybuilder? Or a winning combination of any of the options. Is your himbo a bumbling buffoon, or simply a personification of a golden retriever come to life? So much more awaits to be discovered!’ Wow, this isn’t even off brand, this is straight up imported from another country and probably mistranslated.” Finn laughed, dropping the packaging back down.  

“Sadly, I think it was made here.” Jayden admitted

Nudging the packaging with his foot Finn said, “My cousin said there was always a way to cheat these things, like if you pressed multiple buttons. It was basically a cheat code, but in actuality it was probably manual testing.  Though he did show me, I think I can do it again. Want me to try?”

“For a game that won’t even turn on, what’s the point?” Jayden sighed.

Finn’s phone began to buzz, “That’s my girl, better go pick her up.” He got off the couch, put his shoes back on, and patted Jayden on the shoulder before leaving.  “See you next week!” The front door to Jay’s apartment closed. Jay wasn’t sure when he’d see Finn again outside work. When Stacey was in town the two had a habit of never leaving the bed.

Jayden got on the couch as a small *Bloop* came from his pocket. He was already staring at his phone on the coffee table in front of him, so he knew it wasn’t that device, which left only one option. He pulled the Himbogatchi from his pocket. There was an egg on screen twitching. 

“No way!” Jayden screamed more excitedly than he meant, even jumping up a bit on the couch. The egg bounced before falling over to the side. The top of the digital shell plopped off and out crawled…a human baby. Jayden certainly wasn’t expecting that, he blinked a few times. He wanted a red dinosaur or a yellow mouse. Digital pets were supposed to be, you know, pets. He bent over to the packaging; perhaps he did need to take a closer look at this. The front had pictures of shirtless guys and men posing. He thought it had been classic 90’s early 00’s mis-marketing denoting the game was for boys. However, now he was starting to have embarrassing flashbacks of standing in the underwear section at a clothing store. 

“Alright,” Jayden sighed, leaning over to find the instructions. Not that he was going to read all of them. He wasn’t fucking 4 years old. He really just wanted to know what the basics were. He skimmed through the first pages, how to feed, clean, and take care of the baby himbo. The main idea of the game was to keep your himbo raising skill points. Activities will always make the fitness level go up but also reward you with skill points to spend on other stats. Doing special activities will reward the himbo with element levels. However, all activities will reward you with money. The harder the activity the more money rewards but also cost more time and energy from the himbo.  “Cool, cool.” He tossed the paper onto the table. “Let’s do this.”  

He had to start with a name. “I-S-A-A-C” Jayden whispered to himself while typing it out. He had a small basic fund. The only thing he could really do was give it milk. He wanted to level up his little friend quickly, so he slammed the button. By minute five he was already bored. Then a short jingle played. A white light engulfed the digital baby before its shape began to reform into the shape of a toddler that then sprung up into a child. 

Jayden had to admit if he was a kid he would have loved this. Keeping track of a digital being and helping it grow… “Really, game?” he said as the realization of what the game was dawned on him. “This is a proto fitness tracking app.” Jayden sighed. It all made sense. If a kid had this, they’d probably enjoy watching themselves grow alongside their pal. Problem was he wasn’t a child, and he just didn’t have the time to–

*Bloop bloop* 

The device grabbed Jayden’s attention. There was a message on the screen. 

*Isaac would like to give you a gift. Will you accept? *

*Yes/No*

A chuckle escaped Jayden’s lips. Isaac was holding a package in his hands for Jayden to collect or deny. “Fine.” He accepted the package, and it disappeared off the screen. Isaac disappeared behind the gift as it spun forward in the center of the screen. The gift bounced as small fireworks went off, then everything vanished. Jayden clicked on the buttons; the whole screen was blank. 

“How crappy is this thing?” Jayden thought. For it to glitch/mess up after receiving a gift was confirmation of what a cheap knockoff it was. 

There was a knock at the door. Jayden got up to answer. Swinging it open, there was no one there. He stuck his head out into the hallway of his apartment complex. Completely empty. He was just about to close the door when he spotted a small decorative box on his welcome mat.  He got it off the ground and brought it inside. He didn’t remember buying anything recently, but perhaps it had slipped his mind.

He sat the box down on his table as he heard music from his Himbogatchi. Isaac was on the screen, dancing. Jayden, happy that his toy was back on, returned his attention to the box. He used his house keys to cut the tape and open it. Inside all he found was a calendar. The words were written clear as day across the front, though they were over the picture of a male model’s face. Jayden gave a quick flip through, and his eyes went wide. It was a pin up calendar, and each month had a corresponding picture with a male in various stages of undress above it. Jayden was in shock. This was probably supposed to go to one of the women on his floor. Jayden knew the kind thing to do would be to put it away and turn it into the main office. Though one more peek wouldn’t hurt. This time Jayden did more than glance this time; He tried to sear the images into his brain; He was particularly interested in the sexy fireman one. when he noticed a caption and little stat bars on the lower left side.

 

 

Intellect 7

Social 9

Arts 0

Funny 0

Brave 10

Sexy 8

Fitness 10

 

Flipping back through, each of the men had various scores for 7, but ‘fitness’ was always included, so it was truly just 6. Jayden couldn’t make sense of why a calendar was made this way until he spotted the small text in the opposite corner. The Himbogatchi trademark symbol. Jayden’s mind didn't compute. What did it mean? Did the toy company go out of business and have to start making calendars? He flipped through to the back. There was a listing for each month along with the captions. He looked at June for the fireman caption:

Did someone turn up the heat? To dive into fires, one needs to be brave and sociable. Keep your growing himbo interested in activities relating to fire. 

All the other captions were written with descriptions like that, until the very end where a description read:

Of course, depending on your choices, the adult himbo stage may vary. The pictures used here are only of the basic template. There’s a wide variety of himbos to discover! What skills will your Himbo make use of?”

“There’s no way…” Jayden said in disbelief before googling on his phone Himbogatchi Fireman adults. Sure enough, results did pop up. It sent him to a link with many of the variations. First was a Fireman with zero intellect, but sexiness up at 10. Then there was a fireman who had maxed both Sexiness and intellect.

 

Jayden put his phone down going back to the calendar. He went to the next month, July, represented by a lifeguard. At least that’s what it denoted; the man wasn’t wearing anything that hinted towards that profession. Instead of flipping to the back Jayden read the caption right there. 

 

Abandon your worries and ride the waves to good times. Take the plunge and turn your himbo into a man of the water. Oceans, rivers, and even the deep seas, nothing can stop him! Sociable and Smart will win you this man and his heart. Activities related to water will open up the lifeguard stage. 

Jayden went to August. Profession: Teaching

 

Time to go back to school! Bury your nose in the books and rise to the top. This himbo certainly did. Intellect and Arts are the skills you’ll need to master to achieve this life stage. Oh, and what’s this? This professor has a gaming chair. Not quite the standard. Perhaps he isn’t only a professor ;).

Jayden was thrown off a bit by the image. The guy was hot no doubt, and the muscle showing through on his shirt was damn good, but the gaming chair was strange. Sure, if the company now solely made calendars, it’d make sense, but this calendar was referencing a toy that came out in the late 90’s and probably stopped production by 2005. Yet gaming chairs weren’t popular until 2011.  So why would a calendar referencing an old game have that? Regardless, Jayden could find the solution later. He decided to look up the lifeguard profession next on his phone. 

Help! I accidently made my Himbo a navy man instead of a lifeguard! Was the first link that popped up. Feeling a little intrigued Jayden clicked on it. A post begging someone how to change a Himbo’s profession once they reach the adult stage. Reading through, the original poster did some things here and there that slightly altered the outcome. But based on the comments the creators of Himbogatchi wanted that; a game with various choices that gave a variety of end stages with different abilities. 

“Abilities?!” Jayden said surprised to himself. That was more along the lines of what he wanted. A cute little monster to take care of that could evolve. And these [insert element here] activities the calendar kept going on about just meant the type of element the Himbo would be. Which essentially meant that these himbos weren’t exactly digital humans. Jayden couldn’t contain his excitement; he had to know all the elements.

 

Water

Fire

Earth 

Air

Electricity

Steel 

Normal

 

Jayden rolled his eyes at ‘Normal’, that was so boring. The teacher didn't have anything in the caption about an element, so it was probably a normal evolution. If you could have a creature with abilities why not play with that? Fuck Air too, that was probably not much different than normal. Jayden had to look up final stages for the other elements though. He bit his lip finding the three main stages of each element.  Earth, Steel, and Electricity had Farmer, Mechanic, and Electrician as their staples.

“This is awesome!” Jayden said, eyes locked on his phone. If he was a kid and had this back when digital pets were booming, it would have been too much power. A small digital hunk designed to get people into shape. Since the website and calendar used actual models, he was curious what their digital forms were supposed to look like. 

*Bleep Bloop*

The Himbogatchi made a noise again. Isaac was hungry and bored. “This is my moment.” Jayden said, hyping himself up. Isaac probably wanted to do an activity, but which activity? He pondered. There were a few locked out, but it didn’t matter Jayden knew he wanted the fireman path deep down. The others were nice, but his heart had already locked him to that first one. 

“Okay then, experiment with a magnifying glass under the sun!” Jayden clicked on the activity. Isaac bent over pulling out a magnifying glass. Nothing happened. A message popped up saying that perhaps if Isaac kept trying one day he might discover the trick and he made a few coins. Jayden rolled his eyes that was lame. Where was the fire? The heat? 2 minutes went by and still nothing. Jayden decided he’d just have to select that option when he was watching a movie, that way Isaac could just sit until he learned it. But for now, Isaac needed something else to do. Jayden selected the option to play in the dirt.

After that, Isaac got dirty and Jayden had to clean him, then put him to bed. He tossed the Himbogatchi onto the coffee table. He didn't have the patience to play if it was going to take all that to enhance the fire element. He flipped on the TV turning it into a movie he could just watch passively. Soon enough his eyelids got heavier and heavier until he was out.

When Jayden awoke, it was because something was poking at his face. The texture was like the eraser end of a pencil, but it was more warm, moist, and as he came to realize opening his eyes, it was a finger. There was a childlike figure standing over him, Backlit by the TV. Jayden couldn’t make out any of the invaders' features. But what he could do was scream. And screamed he did, jumping from the couch, and running to his bedroom locking the door. Having swiped his cellphone, he speeds dialed Finn.

“Uh hello? Do you know what time it is Jay?”  Finn said groggily at the other end.

“Man, you got to help me. I’m about to be killed! You know those stories about children with black eyes that knock on your doors? I think one is in my house. Oh god this is it for me man. I didn’t even answer the door. It’s not fair.” Jayden began to push his dresser in front of his bedroom door.

“Dude, did you get high again without me? Didn't I tell you; you smoke too much on your own.” Finn said.

“Hey, that was one time! But I’m serious, there's a kid in my apartment. I woke up and he was just there poking my face. This is how horror movies start. Strange kid equals a dead me.”

Finn groaned, “It’s 2 in the fucking morning. Think about this rationally. How about you left your door unlocked and a kid from one of the other apartments in the complex wandered in. It’s a really simple answer if you think about it. Get the kid back to his parents and go back to sleep!” The call ended with that abrupt reply. 

Finn’s response did make Jayden feel a bit stupid. Where else could the kid have come from? Duh, he had to be a tenant's kid. That was just logic. Jayden cautiously unbarricaded the door and set outside making sure to note where his umbrella was…on the off chance the kid was a demon, and he needed to make an escape. Jayden came out into the living room where the kid was sitting on *his* couch swinging their legs. Now that Jayden wasn’t bogged down by grogginess, he could see the stranger was a boy. No mutant eyes, or strange monstrous hidden limbs. The little dude was a brunette with hazel eyes and was dressed in firetruck Pj’s.  A normal looking kid– 

“With murderous intentions! No, no, I can't think like that.” Jayden shook his head. “Hi, are you lost? He asked, putting on his best ‘concerned’ adult voice. 

“No, I’m Isaac,” The boy said chipperly.

Jayden pouted. He wasn't going to get far with this kid if all the answers he got were from misinterpreted questions. 

“I mean do you live in the building with your mom or dad?” Jayden was doing a quick rundown of all the people he could remember seeing with kids. He walked over to his front door. As he reached for the top lock, he noticed the door was locked. Either the kid had locked it–doubtful given his small stature–or it had always been locked. Which meant the kid got into a locked apartment. Jayen spun around, back pressed against the door. He couldn’t take his eyes off the brat. One wrong move and the kid could slip into the kitchen, grab a knife, and the end. Jayden fumbled trying to unlock the door without taking his eyes off Isaac. He didn’t care anymore, Isaac, the mystery child, could have the place. Jayden would do the same if a large spider appeared. Unfortunately, Jayden’s sweaty palms made him repeatedly fumble with the knobs and botch his escape.

“I’m hungry.” Isaac said innocently.

“OH god he’s going to eat me!” Jayden’s internal thoughts screamed.

*Bleep Bloop* 

The Himbogatchi lit up on the coffee table. The gears in Jayden’s head started to turn. With all the “excitement” he’d forgotten about the digital person he’d been taking care of. “Wait.” His hands stopped at the door. He studied the boy, got a good look, brown hair, the fire truck pajamas. “Isaac? you’re Isaac, my Isaac?” He slowly approached. He had used a fire truck in order to lean him towards the fire element, but he’d been so disappointed with the game he hadn’t actually made a stronger mental note. 

Jayden got closer and snatched the Himbogatchi from the coffee table. He kept one arm extended as if keeping Isaac back like a wild animal. There were two messages:

*Isaac is happy to meet you! *

*Isaac is getting hungry. *

“No way, you’re from the game?” Jayden asked, but Isaac just stared at him. The messages disappeared and Jayden was met with an empty space where usually the digital life form would be. However, the other tabs for alternate windows were still around the screen. The top, Health, Food, Bathroom, Skills, the bottom with Activities, Bag, Bed, and Store. Could Isaac really be from there?  He used some of the money he had in the game, went to the store tab buying a simple bag of chips. In front of Isaac a bag of chips fell out of the sky right onto his lap.

Isaac happily opened the bag before munching in. Jayden put his arm down, watching Isaac munch on the snack. A message popped up on the Himbogatchi. 

Isaac enjoys the meal!

Unable to process anymore Jayden fainted. By the time he woke up. The morning sun was coming into his room. He shot up; he had work this morning! Why was he on the floor? Rushing to his room he spotted Isaac sleeping peacefully on the couch. Jayden shook his head he’d deal with that later he had to get to work. But could he really leave this child in his house alone? That gave him pause. He went over to the couch and gently shook the kid awake. “Hey, can you take care of yourself for a bit?” 

Isaac tilted his head to the side. It didn’t look like he understood any of what Jayden said. Jayden slapped his forehead. “That’s right,” the game was HIMBO-gatchi. The himbo’s were either dumb as rocks or just extremely naive to the world. Unfortunately, since Isaac hadn’t earned skill points, he was both. Jayden sucked his teeth.

“Can you spell your name?”

“I-um…I forget the rest.” Isaac whispered ashamedly.

“No, it’s fine. How about…do you at least eat, or go to the bathroom by yourself?” Jayden was only rewarded with a continued blank stare. Jayden got up, grabbed a spoon, poured two bowls of cereal, then poured milk into two medium glasses. No way was he going to let a kid pour out a gallon of milk on his kitchen table. “If you get hungry you pour the milk into these bowls then you can eat it okay? I have to go to work, strange digital one.” Jayden gave a wave and Isaac adorably waved back.

As he walked away from his apartment, he got a message on his Himbogatchi. The screen had gone from color to black and white. Isaac was back on screen sitting on a digital couch though the top right corner said this was Away mode. Jayden tapped at it. He wondered if it was a view of Isaac at the apartment. Though if it was connecting from there, the little device had quite a signal. Jayden shook his head; he couldn't focus on that.

The first person he saw at work was Finn, chugging down the usual morning coffee. Finn smiled upon seeing him. “Though you totally messed up my night sleep. I’ll forgive you since you look like that high effed you up enough. Do you even remember calling me about some ghost?” Finn chuckled to himself pouring another mug.”

“Yes, I remember, and I didn't make it up. That Himbogatchi I got…a kid came out of it, look “He pulled out the toy showing it to Finn. Finn scrunched his eyebrows.

“You brought it to work with you? What are you twelve?” Finn took a sip of coffee. “Oh, which reminds me. That Himbogatchi…it’s like raising your own personal trainer. I looked it up after Stacey and I got home. Kids help the digital kids out, the himbos grow up and give the kids health tips and exercise routines. So that’s pretty much why that brand went out of business, and customer complaints about one of the features, but I was bored with reading by that point

“Finn, listen to me I am telling you Isaac is real and sitting in my house, watching TV!” Jayden held up the Himbogatchi.

“Or maybe,” Finn raised a finger. “You got high after I left. Had a nightmare and because we were talking about Himbogatchi you just plugged that into your mind where a monster should have been. “He took off his coffee before continuing, “Also even if he was real all you would have to do is play the game, right? It’s not like it’s fucking Jumanji or something.” Finn snorted walking away,

Jayden admitted to himself Finn had a point. There was zero consequence for indulging in the game. So, normally he couldn’t wait to dive into a day of architectural design at work. Today he found himself staring at his Himbogatchi throughout the morning. Himbos weren’t designed to sit around watching TV, they needed exercise, so Jayden selected an activity. Pushups, then followed up with, play in the dirt and the magnifying glass under the sun once more. The activities lined themselves up like a queue. Thankfully it wasn’t until lunchtime when Jayden got a slew of messages. Basically, saying Isaac had fun today and had earned skill points and Himbocoins that could be spent at the in-game store. The only message other than that was a message denoting, Isaac needed a bath. A quick rubba-dub-dub, Isaac was clean! Jayden decided to go to the Himbo store and buy new items for him. 

Heading home Jayden was excited to see Isaac again. Perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad raising a Himbo. As he made his way to his floor of the apartment complex, he spotted his apartment door, cautiously he walked over and peeked inside. Isaac was at the table in his new clothes, jeans and a polo shirt pouring milk into the cereal. “Hey little dude, why is the door unlocked?”

“I just left it like that when I went to go play outside.”

“Ah you mean when you were playing in the dirt.” it clicked for Jayden, “That’s well and good but you can't leave the apartment unlocked.

“Why?”

“Cause someone could break in?”

“Why?”

“Because they want to steal my things…or they’re plain nosey.”

“Why?”

Jayden shook his head, and he could not go down this rabbit hole. He pulled out the Himbogatchi and spent that unearned skill point on Intellect.  

“Never mind, I think I understand.” Isaac answered. 

Jayden let out a sigh thankful he didn’t have to play twenty questions. He went and collapsed on his couch. He closed his eyes ready to take a quick nap after a grueling day at work. Too bad his eyes snapped open when he felt a tug on his shirt. Jayden groaned. He’d forgotten that quickly he had a digital ghost haunting him. 

“I’m bored,” Isaac stated. 

Normally Jayden would have told the kid to watch TV or something, but Isaac wasn’t a normal child. He needed mental or physical activity, such as a himbo’s life, just like when Jayden was at work. Jayden was still invested like he was before, but he did really need a nap. He pulled the Himbogatchi from his pocket. “Okay I’m going to keep trying to help you master the fire skill, alright? He held up his palm waiting for Isaac.

Isaac simply said “Okay” happily and nothing else.

“You’re going to leave me hanging.” Jayden said, looking between his palm and Isaac’s face before realizing the boy didn’t get it. “It’s a High five. You’re supposed to–” Jayden leaned forward and gently grabbed Isaac’s wrist and slapped their palms together. “Like that.” Jayden released Isaac and said, “Try again?” Jayden presented his palm and Isaac went for it. “Success!” Jayden cheered in his mind. That intellect point was truly doing something.

Jayden clicked on the Himbogatchi, “So let's learn fire…” Jayden’s eyesight went black as sleep finally took him.  When he woke up it was the smell of smoke. Jayden sprung up thinking he ‘d left something in the oven and his apartment was about to burn. Luckily the first thing he saw was Isaac in the corner, by an opened window, holding up a magnifying glass to a napkin. There was certainly smoke coming from there.

*Bleep Bloop* Another message from the Himbogatchi. 

*Congrats Isaac has gained a skill in fire! He can now set small objects on fire with his magnifying glass. *

Immediately Isaac’s napkin burst into flames. Jayden quickly pulled Isaac away and threw a glass of water on the napkin. “Okay maybe we shouldn’t have you practice inside the apartment. He picked Isaac up and gave him a piggyback ride downstairs. Isaac seemed to enjoy it, giggling along the way. Jayden dropped Isaac off in the shared apartment complex backyard “Alright go crazy.”  He quietly snuck away back to his apartment to doze off. He left his door unlocked in case Isaac decided to come back.  As soon as Jayden reclined on the couch he was out like a light. 

*BANG* One loud knock jolted Jayden awake as he fell out of the couch onto the floor. “What the hell” he said to himself.” Were the cops at his door or something? Upon opening the door, he spotted a woman scowling at him with her hand latched around Isaac’s wrist. 

Jayden had to do a double take upon seeing the boy. Isaac was taller than before as if he’d accelerated from kid to pre-teen. The clothes Jayden had just gotten him were too small. Jayden didn’t get time to study much else because the woman had quite a lot to say.

“You got some fucking nerve leaving a child to play while you’re up here. Do you know how dangerous that is? “She was irate with her pushed back ponytail and mom jeans. Jayden figured she probably had kids of her own. “Your son was burning patches in the grass.”

“Oh, he’s not my son.” Jayden said it without thinking. First of all, he was way too young to be a dad. Secondly, Isaac was technically more of a ‘pet’. Though Jayden couldn't say that to the lady. Also just thinking it out had Jayden reconsidering how he probably needed to rethink that term.

“Well take your brother, nephew, or godson I don’t really care!”  She pulled Isaac into the room, then finally released his arm. She turned around leaving in a humph. Jayden bent down trying to ignore the previous interaction and looked at Isaac's arm. “You, okay?” There was a fading red mark where the lady's hand had been.

“I don’t like her, she's mean.” Isaac said with tears in his eyes.  

“Okay well, I’m going to kiss it and make it better okay.” Jayden leaned in and healed the boo-boo. Part of him was surprised Isaac was crying out like a little kid. Jayden was thinking he’d have a miniature badass. But Himbogatchi didn’t seem to be lying on the ‘raising’ part. Though he didn’t think digital creatures were supposed to stay young for long. Though Isaac had certainly gotten bigger since he left the house. “You know how about we have some ice cream?” That was something kids liked, right? 

“Ice…cream?” Isaac stared blankly.

“Oh boy,” Jayden hopped back up, “Don’t worry you’re going to love it.” He walked over to his fridge prepared to open it. 

*Bleep Bloop* 

On cue Jayden retrieved the device.

“Congrats Isaac has aged up. There are more activities for him to try. New items to buy in the shop! Take a look, and make sure to spend those skill points!”

Jayden was surprised to find Isaac had racked up skill points. Was it all for learning the first step in fire or was it because he grew too? Jayden quickly strolled through the store. First, he checked out the newest items, work out material. “Oh, little dude, so now you got dumbbells, a mirror, a workout bench, and I don’t know what this last one is.” Jayden’s days of not hitting the gym were coming back to haunt him. His knowledge of exercise equipment only went so far. He decided to just buy the first three.  

A mirror popped into existence in the corner right of the TV.  Jayden released a yelp. He hadn’t realized the game would make the workout items real too. Then dumbbells appeared from nowhere hovering a few inches from the ground then fell causing a rumble. Jayden knew his neighbors were going to complain about that.  Then the fucking weight bench rumbled the whole fucking place as it came into existence. Jayden sighed; no way his lease was getting renewed. 

Jayden wasn’t going to buy anything else, from the workout item section. His apartment couldn’t handle it. He went back over to the food section. IN BIG BOLD LETTERS READ:

PROTEIN ICE CREAM.

Jayden rolled his eyes, was the game trying to tell him to feed Isaac better? Anyway, he selected it and watched a bowl fall from the sky in front of Isaac. The boy caught it as a spoon, a cherry, appeared on the chocolate desert. Isaac began to shovel the food away into his mouth. Upon the first taste his eyes went wide as he pulled the spoon back out clean, “THIS IS ICE CREAM? … AWESOME!!!” 

—

The next morning when Jayden woke up, the first thing he heard was the sounds of grunting coming from the living room. Jayden wasn’t concerned. He already knew it was Isaac. After spending some well-deserved skill points last night, he watched the boy start to work out then went to bed. The Himbogatchi bleeped.

*Isaac would like to say good morning, *

There was a smile on Jayden’s lips as he read the message. Fuck being a Pokémon master or whatever he would have loved when he was 10 this experience was a thousand times more interesting. He got out of bed and walked into the living room. Isaac was standing in front of the mirror, wearing workout clothes, doing arm curls with one of the pairs of dumbbells from last night.  Jayden sleepily walked over and rubbed the boy on his head, before realizing that Isaac had grown once again. Isaac looked more like a high schooler now. Isaac simply smiled at Jayden from the mirror.

Then that’s when Jayden smelled something horrible emanating from Isaac. The older man threw a hand over his nose. “Little dude we gotta get you in the shower or something you reek. 

Isaac lifted his arms and sniffed. “I don’t smell anything.”

“Of course you don't, it's your smell, but trust me my guy. YOU NEED IT.” Instead of walking Isaac to the shower, Jayden pulled out his Himbogatchi and selected bathtime. Isaac set the weights down before disappearing. Then, Jayden heard the shower start running before he heard Isaac just pop in there. Jayden looked at the Himbogatchi as the words BATHTIME rolled on screen.  With that settled Jayden decided to get some breakfast. 

When Isaac strolled out of the shower, he had a towel wrapped around his waist and his hair was still damp. He happily began to stroll back to the dumbbells; Jayden looked down at the Himbogatchi noticing Isaac’s energy was low. 

“No more working out. Time for you to get some sleep.”

“But I’m not tired.” Isaac sucked his teeth brushing it off.

Jayden rolled his eyes. He didn’t have time to fight with a teenager. “Not according to this.” Jayden held up the Himbogatchi.

“Shit!” Isaac said. 

“Hey, language” Jayden stood up putting his empty cereal bowl in the sink. “Alright so you’re going to need new pajamas.” A press of a few buttons, a t-shirt and boxer-briefs appeared on the teen’s body. Isaac was ready for bed at 7am in the morning. Isaac pouted clearly, unhappy with being sent to bed.  “Look if you want to grow more. You’re going to need some sleep. I might not be an exercise expert but even I know that much.”

“Really? “Isaac asked, his pout wavering.

“Yes.” Jayden nodded. 

“Well, I guess a little sleep is fine,” Isaac began walking to the couch.

“Where are you going?”

“To sleep on the couch.” Isaac said, as if it was obvious.

“Dude, just use the bed, I have to go to work anyway, you’re all fresh and clean so I don't have to worry about your teenage cooties.” Jayden joked but Isaac didn’t laugh. “Definitely going to have to give you a funny skill point later.” Jayden watched Isaac Walk to the bed and crawl in barely 5 minutes passed before Isaac was out like a light

The Himbogatchi beeped softly before playing a music-box tune denoting Isaac was asleep. Jayden finished getting ready for work and quietly left the apartment. 

Thanks to Isaac having needed to rebuild his energy back up. Jayden didn’t have to worry about getting distracted at work today. Though Finn stopped by his desk around three to pester him for a bit.

“So, my girl's going to be running a few errands which means, we’re free to hang out at your place.”

“Uh, today's not really.” Jayden realized he never actually told Finn what happened after the whole debacle with Isaac.

“What, you got a hot date or something.” Finn playfully nudged him.

“It’s not that. Just remember that kid I told you about. He’s actually still at my place and–

Finn arched his eyebrows, “Why didn’t you just take him to the police?”

“No, he’s not….” Jayden groaned, unable to think of what to say next.  He just let Finn walk away confused as the workday came to a close. They headed out together, and Finn followed Jayden home from work. The Himbogatchi bleeped but based on the sound Jayden was sure it was just a notification letting him know Isaac was awake. He was way too stressed about how to explain it to Finn. When they got to the complex, they walked to Jayden’s place together but as they reached the door. Jayden couldn’t hold it in anymore. Before he put his key in, he spun on his feet.

“Okay so, Himbogatchi is real, like it makes a literal real child, and they grow up superquicklyandthatboywhowasinmyapartmentwasn’taghostbutahimbointhemakingand–

Finn held up a hand, “Dude you got to slow down, and I get your super into that toy. I shouldn’t have made fun of you for it, but can we talk about this inside?”

Jayden sighed, deciding to just get it over with. He unlocked his door, pushing it open. Finn strolled in after him.

“Woah dude when did you start working out?” Finn walked over to the dumbbells and eventually to the work out bench.”

Jayden walked to his bedroom wondering where Isaac was. He got his answer finding Isaac sitting on the floor of the bedroom at the foot of the bed. Jayden’s mouth dropped open; Isaac had gone through another growth spurt. Apparently sleeping after working out *was* really good for him. Though instead of being naked on the floor Isacc had a pair of briefs and tennis shoes on. Jayden pulled out his Himbogatchi.

*Isaac rested well! *

*Congrats, Isaac has aged up once again! As a reward, we’ve provided free underwear and shoes set based on the element they’ve aligned with. New items to buy in the shop! As always, spend those skill points! * 

Jayden took a quick look to see if there were any new skills available under fire. And there was ‘Learn fireball’ sitting nice and pretty on the display screen. Jayden never got a chance to press it because Finn finally came up behind him.

“Dude why are you just standing outside your door?” He put his head on Jayden’s shoulder to peer in. His eyes quickly found Isaac sitting on the floor. “What the fuck?” 

“I can explain.” Jayden spun around.

“Why do you have a college kid in your apartment?” Finn batted back. “Wait, he's like your boyfriend or something. Is that why you didn’t want me over? I didn’t know that was your type— 

“Stop! Don’t get this confused. This is Isaac. He’s the one who was in my room the other night.”

“When you said a kid, I thought you meant an actual kid. This dude’s a little too big to… 

“This is Isaac from my Himbogatchi.”

“Are you funking insane?” Finn asked. They both looked over to Isaac still sitting on the floor as his underwear and shoes changed from green to red

 “What the hell? How did…what was,” Finn pointed a finger towards the young man. 

Jayden hit the side of his own head” The game said it was aligned to his element. Green must be earth, and red fire. I did make him play in the dirt so maybe he gets both.” Isaac finally decided to stand up. He hugged Jayden with a “hello,” then walked past the two friends to go into the living room. Jayden heard the bench press being used before he even turned around.

“Look, I don’t know what kind of play, or fetish I walked into here. But I’m going to go.” Finn started walking backwards. Jayden, however, rushed to the front door blocking it. 

“Finn, just wait it’s not like that. He’s not real.” 

“The dude's working out in his underwear in your living room. What do you mean he’s not real?”

“Bad choice of words,” Jayden admitted. “Just watch this.” Jayden bought a tank top, then selected it for Isaac to wear. The clothing suddenly appeared on his frame as he lifted away.

“What the hell?!” Finn said, taking a step back. “There’s no way that just” Jayden was holding out the Himbogatchi for Finn to try. Cautiously Finn snatched it from Jayden. Then he pressed a few buttons. A cell phone appeared on Jayden’s dining table then a radio in a corner. “This is wild.”

“Okay, don’t spend all my coins.”

“Then how about these skill points? You've got way too many just sitting here.”

“Hey those are important! I already know what I need to spend them on. Brave so he can be a firefighter, but I also want to make him funny and smart, and just well-rounded overall.”

“Well then let’s do it!” Finn began pressing away on the device. “Remember, there were always ways to hack these old 90’s toys. We can get more bang for your buck!”

“No wait!” Jayden tried to reach for the device, but Finn was able to keep it out of his grasp. There were a few bleeps as Finn smiled. Jayden looked over to Isaac worried about the teen. However, Isaac seemed more focused than ever lifting away the barbell. He started to gain speed as Finn and Jayden watched. Jayen hadn’t taken notice of the weights Isaac had chosen, until then. Isaac was lifting 400 lbs., 200 on each side. Jayden knew Isaac wasn’t human so he shouldn’t have been surprised but it was still a sight to see. Isaac was hyper focused, taking less and less time to complete a full rep.

Isaac’s chest exploded outward as his pecs enlarged. He was growing on the workout bench. The transformation flew right into his arms as the distance between his shoulders grew wider. From there his biceps and triceps were the next victims of the strange growth. However, his lower body started to change as his glutes inflated, causing his underwear to shrink. Though it was truly Isaac’s cock and balls spilling out the left leg hole that made Jayden’s jaw drop. The cock was growing along the side of Isaac’s thigh. Not getting harder but simply longer and thicker. His balls pumped up once, then twice; they had perfectly doubled in size ensuring he’d need very supportful underwear moving forward. Meanwhile Isaac’s thighs were the final key to ripping the underwear apart. And as the growth flowed down into his legs it was no surprise when his feet ripped through his shoes. 

“So much for the free set.” Jayden thought.

“Dude, you got to look at this!” Finn’s eyes had gone back to the screen, then held out the device to show Isaac’s fitness skill had gone up to 8. Jayden couldn’t believe it all that from the work out bench. And Isaac had been rewarded with even more points to spend.

“I told you; more bang for your buck.” Finn said smugly, tossing the device back to Jayden.  

Jayden caught it then looked over to Isaac “You are feeling okay, little man?” Though that descriptor would not work anymore. Isaac was anything but. 

“Yeah, just need some new clothes…again,” Isaac said in a deep sultry voice as he rose up off the bench, tank top stretched against his massive frame.

“No need to rush, you can take it easy if you want, I know you just went through a big change.”

“Are you kidding me, this is the best time to keep my muscles pumped. What do you want me to do next?”

“Uh well, I was going to have you learn fireball but–

“Perfect.” Isaac cheered, cutting Jayden off. Jayden scrolled over to the learn fireball option on his Himbogatchi and selected it. The process of learning the skill however involved Isaac eating a bunch of spicy dishes. Which perfectly worked out since he hadn't eaten anything. Isaac began ravenously consuming meals that popped into place on the table. A spicy chicken sub, spicy curry with white rice, spicy ramen, the options went on and on. After Jayden and Finn watched as Isaac made it all disappear down his gullet. Every single plate that appeared was licked clean, and right before the last plate was set down by Isaac. His stomach rumbled. Suddenly Isaac stood up and belched as flames erupted from his mouth. 

*Isaac learned Flamethrower! *

“That’s not what I put in to learn, that wasn’t even an option?!” Jayden scratched his head.

“Why are you surprised that a janky looking game is janky?” Finn shrugged.

“Finn, be serious the smoke alarm could have gone off.” The Himbogatchi began beeping loudly. It all had to be a result of Finn's meddling. Now there was a surplus of skill points he HAD to spend. The fire skill was even artificially inflated. Was the game even designed to offer that many skill points? Jayden pressed away, dumping the first few points into brave and social, then spread the extras around. There was no time to think he just wanted to stop the beeping, which sounded very pointedly angry. He soon finished staring at his screen with his final distribution.

 

Skills:

Intellect 9

Social 10

Arts 5

Funny 7

Brave 10

Sexy 10

Fitness 10

 

Elemental Skills:

Fire 10

Earth 1

 

Out of nowhere there was a flash, as Isaac’s body was engulfed in a flame that made his body appear as a silhouette. The tank top burned away. Jayden and Finn backed away from the initial heat released, but the flame itself didn’t burn or destroy anything around it. Jayden was worried when he heard Isaac’s voice uttering noises. Without thinking, something propelled him to the fire. He had to know Isaac was okay. Turns out, Jayden was very much a softie for the Himbo he was raising. He prayed this wasn’t some cruel form of a reset for cheating the game. The closer he got the less intense the heat was in the room. Jayden stepped into the flame wrapping his arms around Isaac. Pressing their bodies close together as the flame overtook him too, Finn shouting behind him, Jayden learned the real heat was generating from within Isaac himself. 

Now bodies on each other, Jayden realized Isaac wasn’t groaning, he was moaning. In truth, the flame only served to highlight the change in Isaac’s form as his muscles thickened across his body. His dark figure looming larger as the flame, burned away his former self. Isaac’s voice dropped even deeper as the fire burned at his vocal cords, charring away any remaining tenor for a deep baritone. As Isaac grew taller, Jayden’s head lowered, dragging across the himbo’s body until his face rested in Isaac’s chest. The pecs were swelling with a burning fury, that made Jayden want to rest his head there longer. They were as comforting as pillows and as inviting as a warm blanket. 

The abs over Isaac’s stomach grew stronger and more prominent as each ridge was seared into his form along with a V line on his hips. Jayden’s arms were pushed further apart, unable to stay connected with the muscles being woven into Isaac’s body. His hands unlocked first and got to experience the defined anatomy of every back muscle, as Isaac’s back grew broader. Absent-mindedly, lulled into a lullabying comfort, Jayden’s hands went further down till they grazed over Isaac’s ass. Both cheeks were inflating faster than buns tossed in an oven. Maybe due to the simple fact each one was its own furnace. Jayden groped, squeezed, prodded, and jiggled the massive muscular ass forming. Meanwhile in the front, it was impossible for Jayden not to notice the hot rod poking him, trapped between their torsos. The reach of that specific cylinder-shape’s heat kept stretching further up Jayden and gaining mass. Then there were two heat generating orbs that rested on Jayden’s thigh expanding and growing hotter as sperm churned away within them. 

Isaac’s thighs roared to life alongside the flame’s cackle, blazing a beefier form for themselves, swallowing up the visage of Jayden’s thighs from behind. That power catapulted down into Isaac’s calves and shins igniting their own transformation as they competed with the rest of his body to grow among the raging flames. This left Isaac’s feet to be scorched away, but they refused, maneuvering through the flame to arise larger and better adapt to handle his new body. During this, Isaac’s own arms were wrapped around Jayden. The inferno around them had kindled their growth as well. Veins rose to the surface, running over Isaac’s biceps and flowing into his hands. A flicker of the flame would reveal more size added on, as if it was a trick of the light. But there was no fooling what Jayden felt. Issac’s hands and knuckles popped as Jayden listened to its former state sizzle away.

Finally, the shadow over Isaac fell away like a charred layer, turning to ash outside the fire, revealing a man covered in glistening sweat. The two men locked eyes. There was a large throb on Jayden’s torso, and then another. Jayden didn’t even have to look down, knowing what was about to happen, as Isaac rolled his own head back.  Cum erupted out of Issac’s cock and splattered onto the underside of Jayden’s chin. Three powerful shots coated Jayden’s neck in white and then the other ones soaked his clothes. Everywhere the cum landed was like lava, dripping and coating his front and yet Jayden didn’t scream.

The flame around them morphed into a bright white light.

Jayden woke up to the sound of his Himbogatchi going off.  He was lying on the ground, back on cement, face to the sky. Turning to pick up the toy next to him he saw there was a display with confetti and bold words:

*Congratulations, Isaac has evolved! *

“What?”  He muttered to himself, then sat up remembering what had just transpired.

“Come on,” Finn said standing off to the distance, tapping away at his phone to clearly no avail as he got more disgruntled.

“Finn, what happened?” Jayden stood up, wiping himself off.

“That himbo of yours swallowed up the apartment with that light show. Now we’re halfway across town, with no car! And I can't get a Lyft or Uber to get us.” He continued tapping away. “Fuck it, I’m calling Stacey.”

“What happened to Isaac?” He worried if that was it. The end of the game was a bright light.

Finn rolled his eyes, “Why don’t you go see for yourself?”

“Huh?”

“Are you serious,” Finn said to Jayden as he held the phone up to his ear, pointing behind them “Have you not even noticed where we are?”

Jayden paused, then looked around. They were outside a firehouse. He wondered if that possibly meant. Himbogatchi in hand, he sprinted into the firehouse, calling out Isaac’s name. But there was no need to go too far. The fanfare from the device grew louder with every step he took until he was staring at a figure undressing in front of him

“Isaac?” he asked.

The man paused for a moment, giving a smoldering smile before continuing, this time eyes locked directly with Jayden as he dropped his pants, revealing his red underwear.