Chapter eleven

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Over the next four days, I stocked up on items such as Poke balls, potions, and berries. Each day, I'd store them down into the HQ. I was searching under my bed for my pack, and I discovered that there was a rip in my carpet. I almost called for my mom, to ask if we could fix it, but I pulled it up and discovered a small door. I morphed into Plusle, grabbed Mimi's arm, and we both went underground. It was another route to the HQ! My dad certainly was smart when he built it!

But that also provoked some thoughts in me. Was I meant to find it? Did my dad leave that for me, knowing something would happen? Or did he intend that room for Hiro? Hiro was older…and a boy…

But I was determined to keep the HQ a secret. The Pokemorphs would be able to enter HQ by morphing, and we'd drag Chobin in somehow. …That'd actually be pretty funny…ah, the images…

Well…I still had three days left before my team assembled in my room for a meeting. I thought that calling our basement the HQ was pretty…similar to the HQ I happened to live in…I'd bring that up at the meeting. But my new name for it was not decided yet. I guess we'd find that later.

On the fifth day, I opened my dad's book for the second time. I turned to the second page, and I saw a picture in there that made me stand for ages. It was him…my dad…much younger. He was in the middle of a group, and his arms around his friends' shoulders. My dad had messy brown hair, and his eyes were alight. I noticed that I looked a lot like him. Well, except for my hair. The boy on my dad's right was the perfect description of a troublemaker. He had that look on his face, that look that says you've just done something that you probably shouldn't have. He seemed to have that look permanently. The boy to Dad's left was more of the bookworm, I could tell. He wore glasses, and he had a book in his hand, the one that wasn't wrapped over his friends' shoulders in the picture. The final boy, the one to the troublemaker's right, was like my dad a lot. Messy hair, normal appearance. Nothing too special. I wondered immensely who these people were.

Sighing, I closed the book. I placed it on our table, and then I narrowed my eyes. "The C.O," I murmured to myself. "The Control Office… That's the name of this place now."

*****

Jace's Point of View

*****

My name is Jace. For a few months now, I have been what is called a Pokemorph. I have the hidden ability to transform into any Pokémon I can touch. This special power is only known to my friends and me…at least, I think so. I don't know if anybody else has the power. Anyway, my friends and I started a little organization to work with our morphing abilities. Then, on the news, we heard of Team Snagem. After that, we all ran away from home to destroy them. So far…no luck. We've been at it for months. We are wanted as runaways, and we are the top troublemakers of Team Snagem. But we have had no luck in bringing them down.

One day, we had made our camp in a forest. It was a good camp, actually. I walked into camp with more firewood to see my friend, Oliver, cooking food over the fire.

"Hey, you're back. Good, the fire's completely dead." Oliver rushed over and grabbed the wood from my arms. I grinned and fell back into some leaves.

"Hello to you too," I said. I sighed. "This place is awesome."

Oliver mumbled to himself for a moment, trying to make the perfect fire. It never worked, but Olive found real pleasure in it. After about a few minutes, Oliver looked up at me. "So, did you hear any news?"

I pointed with my thumb to the forest. "In the forest?" I asked incredulously. "You'd have better luck in the desert, Olive. Where's Corey?"

Olive pointed to the tent. "Inside."

I nodded and stood up. I brushed my pants off and turned to the "tent." I stepped inside to see my other buddy Corey brushing off a Poke` ball with a duster. I raised my eyebrow and stepped back. I crossed my arms casually and leaned against a thick fallen branch. "So," I began, "how's the search goin', Doctor?"

Corey turned and glared at me. "Well, sir," he mocked, "so far I know that the Poke` ball was stolen by Team Snagem from another trainer. It is not property of them. Thus, I've come up with a theory to find the trainer, so I'm dusting it for fingerprints."

"Brilliant, Sherlock," I said in this nasally voice. For some reason, to me, it seemed appropriate at the time. "Just brilliant." Changing my voice back to normal, I asked, "What's the Poke mon inside?"

"I don't know."

"Yeah…can you morph?"

"Yes."

"Here's an idea," I said, clapping my hands together. "How about you let the Pokémon out, morph, and ask the Pokémon who its trainer is?" I raised my eyebrows. Corey looked at me with a vacant expression.

"Yeah…" he said slowly, and then said really quickly, "didn't think of that." He shrugged. "Okay, good idea," he admitted. Corey picked up the Poke` ball and threw it against the ground. A white beam of light shot out, and it formed a Venomoth. Corey's face lit up. "A Venomoth!" he murmured. "Poison/Bug, level 24, knows Silver Wind, Tackle, String Shot, and…" Corey's face looked puzzled for a moment. Yet again, it was Corey. In a split second, he looked triumphant. "Poison Sting." Without another word, I saw him begin to shrink. His hair shot back into his head, and his whole body started to change color from a peach color to a light shade of blue. A tail curled behind him, and a shell was built around him for protection. Soon, the transformation was complete, and Corey was now a full Squirtle.

"Squirt, Squirtle, Squirtle. Squirtle squirt?" he asked the Venomoth. It looked confused a moment, and then it nodded.

"Ve-veno. Venomoth, Veno, Ven! Venomoth, Venomo-o-o-th!"

"What is it saying?" I asked. Corey turned to face me.

*Yeah, it was stolen,* he confirmed.

I rolled my eyes. "Well, we knew that!" I snapped. "Who's its trainer?"

"Squirt? Squirtle. Squirt, Squirtle."

"Venomoth. Veno-veno-Venomoth."

*Some kid named Aaron,* Corey explained. *Apparently, he and Aaron live in Agate Village.*

"Figures," I huffed. "The town next to us…and the one under Team Snagem's eye…"

Corey demorphed really quickly. "Don't worry," he said, "You'll figure something out. I know you will. You're Jace. That's what you do." He gave me a thumbs-up.

I grinned and returned the thumbs-up. "Thanks," I said. "I needed that." I sighed deeply and stared at Corey. "Pack the gear," I ordered. "Tell Oliver we leave in the morning. We'll eat, and then we head out."

"Our undercover names?" Corey asked. To keep ourselves hidden from the police, our parents, and Team Snagem, we always had disguised names. We never used the same disguise twice, unless it had been a long time.

"We're doing a school project and studying the uses of Bug type medicine, and we're getting help from Aaron. You're Alex, Olive's Nick, and I'm Leo," I said. I heard the call of a Swellow overhead, and I sighed. "I think…" I murmured, "it's time to get the Pokemorph Stone out again…"

"You want to make this kid a Pokemorph?" Corey asked.

"Yeah…" I murmured. "I have a good feeling about it."

"The famous last words…" Corey joked.

"Yeah…" I looked up and saw the sun peek through the branches. "I have a lot of them, don't I?"

Interesting? Who's Jace? How'd he become a Pokemorph? Will he and Jovi meet up somehow? Will Aaron be bad luck to Jace's team, or is Corey wrong about it?Find out next chapter! Forgive me for the long wait…I've been super busy. It might be summer, but I've been going on vacation, and away from internet… So, as a surprise, I'm giving you TWO chapters now! So, click that "next chapter" button and enjoy!

-NP