Chapter Seven: Body Switch/Kantoville
Shade, Pyro, and Felicia started snickering at their two newest friends. Psy giggled, but covered her mouth with her hand.
"What's so funny?" Ace asked, his voice coming from Shadow's body?
"Oh, nothing." Felicia said, trying and failing to hold in her laughter. "But, I have to ask: how do you feel?"
"Why?" Ace in Shadow's body asked, confused.
"Well" Pyro said, scrambling quickly to think up an excuse. "You did just enter someone else's mind. That's got to put some strain on your body."
"Well" Shadow in Ace's body said, focusing on herself so she could see her body's condition (a Psychic type skill that could be taught to others). "I'm in normal condition, but I feel a little bit heavier than normal (Ace weighs about forty pounds more than Shadow)."
"I feel a little lighter than normal." Ace in Shadow's body said, focusing on himself. "Also I feel off balance. Something is making me slightly heavier, particularly in my chest area."
Pyro and Felicia were rolling around on the ground as they laughed as hard as they could. Shade turned red in the face, but was bent over laughing and Psy was wiping away tears as she tried her hardest not to laugh at her friends, but the young Kirlia was failing miserably.
"Seriously" Shadow in Ace's body said, confused. "What's so funny? You guys have been laughing at us ever since we got out of Shade's mind."
"Nothing, nothing." Shade said, now trying to hold in her own laughter.
"Really?" Shadow in Ace's body said, stepping closer to the four beings. Pyro thought for a quick response.
"Ace!" she shouted. "There's something on your chest! You need to get it off!"
Shade smacked Pyro in the back of the head as Ace in Shadow's body put his hand up to his chest out of instinct.
"What is this?" he said, confused. "And why can I feel it?"
He looked down, seeing exactly what he was holding. His eyes widened and his mouth opened in shock. He let go as his breathing became shallow.
At this point Pyro, Shade, and Felicia were struggling to breathe due to the fact that they were laughing so hard. Shadow in Ace's body looked back at her best friend and gasped.
What she saw was her. Or more likely Ace in her body. She looked down at herself, realizing that she was in Ace's body. She began to look over her body to make sure it was actually Ace's. She summoned a mirror made of shadows and peered into it, realizing she truly was in Ace's body.
By this time Ace had recovered from his little shock and walked over to Shadow in his body.
"So" he said, his attention directed towards Shade and the others. "You think it's funny, do you?"
"No." Shade said, her and the others stopping their laughing and getting slightly worried looks on their faces.
"We think it's hilarious." Felicia said, the four of them laughing even harder, if that's even possible.
"But" Psy said, stopping her laughing. "We do need to try to find a way for you two to go back to normal."
"When did this happen?" Shade asked.
"When they exited your mind, dumbass." Felicia said.
"Oh" Shade said sheepishly. "Right."
"Well, it can't be so bad being in each other's bodies." Pyro said.
"I am a guy!" Ace in Shadow's body shouted. "I am in a woman's body. That's not natural!"
"And not to be rude" Shadow in Ace's body said. "But I hate being in a male body."
"Well" Shade said. "We have no idea how to change you back."
"Maybe my sister would know" Ace in Shadow's body said, thinking.
"Your sister?" Shade asked.
"Yeah." Ace in Shadow's body said. "You've met her."
"Please tell me it's not my mother." Shade said.
"No." Ace in Shadow's body said. "But, I'd be the badass uncle of the family if it was."
"Sorry." Shade said. "My uncle Alucard has that taken care of."
"His name is Alucard?" Shadow in Ace's body asked, curious. "What does he wear?"
"Red." Shade said. "Usually a trench coat and hat."
"Does he have guns?" Ace in Shadow's body asked, now intrigued.
"He has two pistols in his trench coat, I believe." Shade said.
"Awesome." Ace in Shadow's body said.
"So" Psy asked. "Who's your sister?"
"Hey guys." Darkora said, suddenly showing up in front of the group.
"hey, sis." Ace said from Shadow's body.
"She's your sister?" Shade asked.
"Yep." Ace in Shadow's body said. "Twins."
"Hi, um, Shadow?" Darkora said, confused and unsure of what to say at this point. "It's good to see you."
"It's good to see you too." Shadow said from Ace's body.
"Wait." Darkora said, realizing something might be very wrong with her brother and his best friend. "What's going on here?"
"Well." Ace in Shadow's body said, trying to find the right way to say what he had to say. "Me and Shadow kind of switched bodies."
"HA!" Darkora laughed. After about ten seconds of laughing, she was bent over in half from laughing. After she stopped, she walked over to Ace in Shadow's body and put her arm around his neck.
"You should feel lucky." She said, her tone almost jokingly seductive, causing Shade, Pyro, Psy, and Felicia to snicker. "Not many guys have ever been in a girl's body. It must feel good."
"Oh, he felt it all right!" Felicia said, causing the other girls to laugh even harder and Ace and Shadow to blush. "And you should have seen the look on his face. Priceless."
"Why, Ace." Darkora said, her voice now in a definite joking tone. "You naughty boy."
"Jokes aside" Ace said, his tone serious. "Let's try to find a solution to this problem."
"Right." Darkora said, thinking. "Did the two of you enter someone's mind together?"
"Yeah." Shadow said. "Shade's."
"Well" Darkora said, thinking. "Every time more than one person enters the same mind, there's a chance they could switch bodies. When you entered Bianca's mind, there was no chance because Bianca was a powerful Psychic type and could prevent it, but Shade is inexperienced with Psychic powers and on top of that, she's just manifested her Pokémorph powers which she both has no idea how to use and even had no idea she had."
"Well, what's the easiest way to switch us back?" Ace asked. "Aside from entering someone else's mind, I mean?"
"Well" Darkora said, an idea coming to her. "We could link your bodies and try something with that."
"Darkora." Ace said, a look on his (well, technically Shadow's at this point) face that said 'really?'. "Do you remember what happened the last time me and Shadow linked our minds?"
"No." Darkora said, trying to remember.
"Do you remember what the biggest fight Shadow and I were ever involved in was?" Ace asked.
"Was it the one with…?" Darkora trailed off, remembering.
"Exactly." Ace said. "We're not unleashing that monster back into the world again without good reason."
"Right." Darkora said, thinking. "We could use a Manaphy's Heart Swap ability?"
"Where are we going to find one?" Shadow asked. "It's not like in our time when we lived with one. They might not even exist anymore."
"Good point." Darkora said. "But, in my time working with the professor and in my other job, I've heard sightings of a Water Pokémon that has antennae somewhere out near Dragonsdale."
"That's on the other side of the damn map!" Ace said, expressing his opinion of that idea.
"We can use Shadow Force." Shadow reminded her best friend in her body.
"We've never been to Dragonsdale." Ace reminded his best friend in his body. "Shadow Force only works on places we've been to."
"Oh yeah." Shadow said, remembering. "Well, there goes that idea."
"You guys can use Shadow Force?" Felicia asked. "I thought the only beings that could use Shadow Force were the Death Gods."
"Who do you think taught us?" Ace asked, grinning with Shadow's face.
"Giros?" Psy guessed.
"Who the f #$ is Giros?" Ace asked.
"Giros is the current Death God." Darkora explained.
"Oh." Ace said. "No, he wasn't even around when we were growing up. We were trained by Giratina."
Shade and the rest of the group gasped. Giratina was regarded as the most powerful Death God. To be trained by him was said to be an achievement.
"Giratina trained you guys?" Psy asked.
"Well" Shadow said. "He did some, but Arcey trained us mostly."
"Arcey?" Pyro asked. "As in Arceus?"
"Yeah." Ace said. "She was practically a mother to us."
"Woah!" the group gasped again. Arceus was regarded as the most powerful of the gods, the leader of the Hall of Origin (when it still existed).
"Yep" Ace said, sighing with Shadow's lungs. "We had some fun in the Hall of Origins."
"It's too bad the Hall doesn't exist anymore." Darkora said.
"What do you mean?" Ace and Shadow asked.
"The Hall was destroyed." Pyro said. "In the Great Cataclysm."
"Great Cataclysm?" Ace and Shadow asked.
"I read about it in the Kantoville library." Darkora said. "It was a war fought with unknown combatants for an unknown reason. Afterwards, most of Sinnoh was wiped out. I took a look at the place where the Hall was, but there was nothing there. It was destroyed."
"Arkorean is pretty far from Sinnoh." Shade said. "When were you there?"
"I can teleport." Darkora said.
"Oh." Shade said, shrugging her shoulders.
"So" Ace said. "Back to the problem at hand. How do we fix the little predicament me and Shadow have gotten ourselves into?"
"We could check out the Kantoville library." Darkora suggested. "It might provide us some clues as to how to reverse the process."
"Cool!" Shade said, an idea popping into her head. "It'll be just like Scooby Doo. We even have a pet: Maura!"
"Yep." Ace said. "Except there are real monsters in this one."
"Well" Darkora said, beginning to walk towards the town. "What are we waiting for? Let's go!"
Darkora started to walk to Kantoville, the others following her. They entered Kantoville, looking around at the city.
"This place is frickin' huge!" Pyro shouted, taking in the sights.
"Amaura!" Maura said, most likely in agreement.
"Meh." Ace said. "Seen bigger. Not impressed."
"The library's just over there." Darkora said, pointing to a large building with lots of windows. "We should hurry in case they close."
"Right." The group said as they walked towards the library. Maura gave a cheerful 'Amaura!'.
When they were about twenty feet from the library, a group of guys walked up to them, standing near Ace in Shadow's body.
"Hey there." One of them said, stepping closer to Shadow (Ace in Shadow's body). "How'd you like to hang with us?"
"No thanks." Ace in Shadow's body said with a slightly feminine voice, almost ignoring them. "You're not my type."
"Well, then." The guy said, slicking his hair back. "What is your type?"
"Less bitchy." Ace said plainly. Shade and the others were snickering at this point.
"You know what?" the guy said, taking hold of Ace's (technically Shadow's) arm. "I'm not really in the mood for this."
"Funny." Ace in Shadow's body said, pulling the guy's arm off of him and crushing his hand. The guy's expression went from irritated to extreme pain in less than a second. His friends were shocked at this girl (they didn't know Ace and Shadow had switched bodies and also Shadow doesn't look very powerful at first glance) "Neither am I."
"Wh-what are you?" the guy asked, finally pulling his hand away from Ace (well, actually, Ace let it go).
"What's wrong?" Ace said, chuckling insanely. "Never met a girl stronger than you?"
"He's really playing this up, isn't he?" Felicia asked Darkora.
"Well" Darkora said, shrugging. "Shadow is just as strong as Ace, so he's not wrong there. Also, he's teaching them not to mess with Shadow."
"Well" Shade said, looking at the other guys' expressions. "I'd say that they're learning well."
"Now." Ace in Shadow's body said, his voice returning to its normal octave. "If I see any one of you guys pulling something like this again, I'll personally escort you straight to the Distortion World."
The guys got very scared looks on their faces as they turned around and ran away from Ace in Shadow's body.
"That should solve that problem." Ace said, wiping his hands together.
"You didn't have to do that." Shadow said.
"Shadow." Ace said, putting his hand on his best friends (technically his) shoulder. "I haven't been a single good fight since we got here. I needed that."
"True." Shadow said, sighing. "I guess you did need something to use some rage on."
"Well" Darkora said, entering the library. "Let's find a way to change you two hopeless romantics back to normal."
"At least I can find a date." Ace said, following his sister into the library, the others following behind them. Maura began nuzzling Shadow's hand (with Ace occupying her body), realizing that Ace was in Shadow's body (she'd imprinted on Ace).
Kantoville Library—main floor
"What section should we look in first?" Ace asked from Shadow's body.
"Just look around." Darkora said.
"Whatever." Ace said.
Ace, Shadow, and Maura went to the "legends" section. Shade, Pyro, and Psy went to the "supernatural" section. Darkora and Felicia went to the "movedex" section (basically the section that tells moves, data, and minor facts about Pokémon).
With Ace, Shadow, and Maura—legends section
"This book looks interesting." Shadow said, pulling a book off of the shelf. The cover read 'Lore of the Hero'.
"Lore of the Hero" Ace read the cover. "Interesting. What's it about?"
"I'm guessing some kind of hero." Shadow said, opening the book.
"Excuse me, sir and ma'am." A librarian said, walking up to the three of them. "But, we do not allow Pokémon in this library."
Ace in Shadow's body turned around. He looked at the librarian with confusion.
"I don't see any Pokémon." He said, making his voice feminine so as not to attract unwanted attention as he turned back around. "All I see is three friends looking for a book."
"just" the librarian said, quickly realizing she'd get nowhere with this argument. "Make sure it doesn't cause trouble."
"I'm sure she won't." Ace said in his normal voice (he was turned around so the librarian couldn't tell he (in Shadow's body) was the one who had said it.
"Fine." The librarian said, walking away.
"That was annoying." Ace said. "Now, let's look at this book."
"Amaura!" Maura agreed cheerfully. The three of them opened the book to see what looked like lore.
"Since the beginning of time, the Darkness has battled the Balance for the fate of the universe" Shadow read. "The cycle ever going. During the greatest war of the Darkness and the Balance, two Heroes were born. The Heroes defeated the foes in front of them, protecting the universe. The Heroes became great and powerful, facing the Balance and putting an end to it for the duration of their lives. However, after the Heroes passed on from the world, a new Hero rose up to face the Balance, two others by its side. And so the cycle continued."
"Hmm." Ace thought. "That sounds more like a prophesy than a lore."
"Right." Shadow said. "But, it's odd that the 'Balance' is the foe instead of the 'Darkness'."
"Right." Ace said. "It must be referring to something. But I can't figure out what."
"I just had an idea." Shadow said.
"What?" Ace asked.
"We could do "that"." Shadow suggested.
"Alright." Ace said, shrugging Shadow's shoulders. The two of them took each other's hands and took a deep breath, ready to try their technique.
With Darkora and Felicia—movedex section
"Why are we in this section of the library?" Felicia asked Darkora, confused as to why the female Darkrai had walked into the "movedex" section of the library.
"Because" Darkora explained herself. "If we're going to find a move to change them back, it's most likely going to be in here."
"I thought you said something about Heart Swap?" Felicia asked.
"Unfortunately" Darkora said. "It's only usable by a Manaphy or Phione. It can't be taught to any other Pokémon. Truth is, it's one of the few 'signature' moves that can't be learned by another Pokémon, the others being Judgement, Spatial Rend, and Roar of Time."
"Wait" Felicia said, thinking. "Isn't Shadow Force on that list also?"
"Well" Darkora said. "It would be (and it is by human standards), but both Ace and Shadow know it because Giratina taught them."
"Hmm." Felicia said, thinking.
"Wait" Darkora said, pulling a book off of the shelf. "This should be in the "legends" section."
"What book is it?" Felicia asked. She looked at the title, but found herself unable to read it (normally Pokémon can read human text).
"This title" Darkora said, studying the characters (apparently she couldn't read it either). "From what I've learned from working with Professor Evergreen, I can translate this title to mean 'Dragonica'."
"Dr-dragon?" Felicia asked, now nervous.
"You're afraid of Dragons?" Darkora asked.
"Yeah" Felicia admitted. "I know I shouldn't be, but a Dragon type is what killed my mother."
"that's so sad." Darkora said.
"All I have left to remember her by" Felicia said, pulling out the stone she had shown Ace. "is this stone."
"That's a pretty stone." Darkora said. She looked closely at the stone, noticing a few characters (symbols) on the stone.
"Thanks." Felicia said. "I don't know what the symbols on it mean, though."
"It resembles the text that says 'Dragonica'." Darkora said. Felicia looked at the stone.
"Here." Darkora said, putting some string through a small hole in the stone. She then tied the stone around Felicia's neck, making the stone a necklace.
"Thanks." Felicia said.
"Well" Darkora said. "You couldn't keep it in your hair forever, could you?"
"Guess not." Felicia said, shrugging. "So, what's the book say about the Dragonica?"
"It's said" Darkora said, opening the Dragonica book. "That the Halflit might have worshipped them in ancient times."
"What else does the book say?" Felicia asked, now curious.
"It says" Darkora said, reading the book quickly (more like flipping through it and looking at the pictures). "That the Dragonica were among the most powerful Dragon types to exist, the only more powerful ones being legendaries. They were capable of wreaking mass havoc over the civilizations and were feared by almost every species."
"They sound very intimidating." Felicia said. "Which sounds awesome."
"Well" Darkora said. "Not if you were the target of their wrath. They were capable of completely annihilating a village with a single ranged attack. They were also capable of breaking a mountain with one punch. No non-legendary Pokémon could stand up to them as equals."
"Could you stand up to a Dragonica?" Felicia asked.
"Probably not." Darkora said. "I'm not quite legendary class. Now Ace or Shadow on the other hand…"
"Just how powerful are Ace and Shadow?" Felicia asked.
"Well" Darkora said, thinking. "They're two of the most powerful beings that I've ever met."
"That's not saying much to me." Felicia said. "I've not very many powerful beings. Most of the humans around here are weak. I may look like a human—"
"A short human with a severe case of bipolarity" Darkora joked.
"Whatever." Felicia said, ignoring Darkora. "But, I've not met many powerful humans. Ace might be one of the first."
"Well" Darkora said. "Let me tell you about Ace and Shadow's biggest fight…"
With Shade, Pyro, and Psy
"Why are we in this section?" Psy asked as Shade led them to the "supernatural" section.
"Because." Shade explained. "If there's a spell that could switch their minds back, then this place might have it."
"But you don't know anyone who can use spells." Pyro said. "Also, this holds way too many supernatural references to know exactly what our problem is."
"True." Shade said. "But, let's take a chance anyway."
Fifteen minutes later
"Damn it!" Shade shouted. "I can't find a damn thing!"
"Oh well." Pyro said. "I guess we could see how the others are doing."
"Fine." Shade said, frustrated.
With the others
Shade, Pyro and Psy met the others in the main area of the library. Once they had all gathered, Darkora walked over to the body of Shadow.
"Well, Ace." Darkora said, in a mock hurt, pouty. "I couldn't find a book for you. I guess you're stuck in your attractive girlfriend's body for a while."
"Better get used to it." She said, wrapping her arms around Shadow's body's neck. "I know you want to."
"Oh, Darkora." Shadow said from her body. "you think I'm attractive. Well, I'm flattered, but, I'm already spoken for."
Darkora let go of Shadow pretty quickly.
"How did you get back to normal?" She asked.
"We used Psychic powers." Ace said.
"We actually got lucky." Shadow said. "It probably wouldn't work again."
"Well." Darkora said. "Since this problem is solved, let's go to Rustown to get Shade's next badge."
"I'm game for that." Shade said, everyone agreeing with her. Maura even added a cheerful 'Amaura'.
The eight friends walked out of the library and off to their next adventure in Rustown.
well, they got their bodies back. How did they do it? They'll talk about it next chapter.