I felt wrong. Perhaps there was a better word or phrase I could use, but that was the best way I could describe what I felt in my dizzied state. I felt wrong in every way imaginable. My torso felt wrong. My head felt wrong, my legs, and even my thought process felt wrong. There was nothing that felt right. Whatever that magical explosion did made me feel wrong to an absolute degree. My body felt unnatural, much like it had when I first arrived. Did the explosion remove my already tenuous ability to walk? I hoped not, I still often tripped over my own two- four feet! My eyes slowly opened. Surrounded by dust, debris, and unconscious allies, I wasn't sure what was wrong.
The sun was shining down, which mildly alarmed me before I remembered what happened. With a quiet groan, I tried to sit up. I was dizzy, though not in much pain, oddly. Lucky break, I figured. One of these days I had to be lucky somehow, so at least it was this day when it mattered somewhat.
I looked up to the sky, noting the extremely large hole in the ceiling. Figures could be seen waving and gesturing around it. The silhouette of a familiar shining ovoid stood out to me, his shining chrome reflecting the sun in my eyes. I looked away to not be permanently blinded. Voices shouted from above, not exactly distinct due to my mind not focusing. I shook my head, not really focused. A wave of dizziness washed over me as I did so. Clutching my head, I groaned. Even my voice sounded wrong. What did that explosion do to me?
I wiped the dust of my arms and legs, not processing what was going on. A familiar voice shouted to us. I raised my head and tried to focus. It was Ayrill rushing towards us. She seemed extremely panicked. I would be too; the guild had just been blown up and three sinister figures were sent flying away. The dizziness faded, leaving my head surprisingly clear. More small miracles, I guessed. It was lucky we didn't get ourselves hurt, or worse.
"What's going on? What happened?" She questioned. That was a difficult one to answer, but I would try my best.
"Three weirdos came and tried to harm us, and we had to fight them. We weren't strong enough, but the scarf gave everyone each other's powers for a limited time. We combined this into a giant blast which exploded us into the wall and put a hole in the ceiling." I explained. My voice sounded unusual, but I shook my head, figuring my hearing was just being weird for the moment. I just hoped it wasn't permanent. Ayrill stepped back, processing this new information.
"I knew the scarf was powerful, but this... Hmm. Luckily, I was still nearby and hadn't left yet. I was able to explain that this was another guild training area that we kept secret from the kids as it was much more dangerous, but somehow you found your way in it anyway. The explosion was the result of natural gas seeping through from deep underground. That's what the story is. We can't let anyone know the truth, got it? Ugh, this is a nightmare." She stated, burying her face in her paws. Soon after, she flung her arms flung in the air, and she turned around. She was clearly upset, but not at us, oddly. I guess she spent way more time than she wanted trying to explain the impossible explosion. Miraculously, we hadn't revealed the powers in spite of being 4 toddlers and a self-admitted lunatic. Even our big fight against that fox in the main square had no witnesses. Thank goodness for small miracles, I guess.
I stood up, wobbling a bit but managing. A bit of groaning occurred, and I turned to my friends. Star, Nera, Squared and a Zorua. I took a half a step back, which is when I realized I was standing on two feet again. Looking at my body, my paws were blue, with a small white raised growth on my forearm. Turning around revealed a long, blue tail. My mind was too confused to process just what was going on. A figurative puzzle piece clicked into place my head, and I knew what happened.
"Body swap episode. This was sooner than I expected." I thought. This was going to be a great, fun mess to explain to Ayrill. However, I knew that could wait until my friends were up. "Star" woke up, shaking his head, followed by "Squared" and "me".
"What happened? Why do I sound funny?" "Star" wondered. This was going to be a mess to explain to everyone. My mind was trying to think of some way to undo this when "I" spoke up.
"I feel weird. M' arms feel wrong." Judging from that adorable lisp, Nera was likely in my body.
I looked towards Ayrill, who seemed a bit confused by this. I sidled up to her, quietly whispering an explanation to to her.
"I think our minds were swapped." I stated.
"Wh-what!" She exclaimed. She staggered backwards, almost tripping on some debris.
"My fellow acquaintances? What is wrong with everyone?" "Squared" questioned. I took a deep breath. I could explain gently, or I could just rip the bandage off. I could have weighed my options, thinking about what would be best for the kids, but I didn't want to. Of course I was going to rip the bandage off! It was way too good of an opportunity to waste!
"We swapped bodies." I responded. For a moment, nothing. Then their eyes went wide in realization as panic set it. Their mouths opened to scream, their lips curled back in an expression of horror, yet no sound came. They were choking on their own screams. They looked like they were going to vomit. A colossal, mischievous grin grew on my face. Their faces were completely perfect. It was everything I could have hoped for and more. I laughed; I couldn't help it. Their surprised expression was just far too hilarious to me. Of course, this snapped them out of their confused and panicked state as they all glared at me in anger.
"At least one of you is having fun. What's going on? What happened?" Ayrill wondered. I looked to the others, who were busy inspecting their new bodies.
"Uh, magic explosion?" I stated, shrugging. Her guess was as good as mine, and she probably didn't have a good guess either. For several seconds, we all just stood around in various amounts of panic. My stomach growled, reminding me I needed a snack. Wait, but Ray didn't need to eat so much, just me. Was that not because I was low on nutrients? My stomach growled again, and I felt hunger creep in. It seemed no matter what body I was in, I was cursed with hunger.
"Great. Looks like my hunger followed my body with me." I stated, looking at Ayrill. Ayrill's mouth opened and closed like a fish gasping for oxygen. My utter nonchalance was baffling the blue bunny. I took a few breaths, attempting to ignore the stabbing feeling of hunger. We had to go somewhere else to talk about this. The library was probably quiet, I hoped it was anyway.
"Come on, everyone, we should go somewhere less dusty." I stated. Grabbing "Star" I began to pull him away from the hole we were lying next to. As I began to exit, I heard several footsteps follow, and several quiet thuds as Nera was getting used to walking on four limbs. "Nera" constantly tripped as they couldn't walk quite the way they were expecting. The trip was completely silent, everyone more focused on figuring out how to walk than talking.
With a quiet sigh, "she" resorted to hopping like the actual Nera did. It took several minutes, and "Squared" had to be carried, but we managed to not get ourselves brutally harmed by tripping up the stairs as we made our way into the library. I stopped by the kitchen and ate several apples before I returned. Just as abandoned as before, this was a quiet place for us to discuss everything that had just happened. It seemed they were waiting for me.
"So, to recap for everyone, the massive rainbow explosion we conjured has magically switched our brains." I stated. The others looked around, unsure of what to say or do.
"We need to figure out who's who, alright?" I questioned. They suddenly turned towards me and jerked their heads back somewhat.
"I'm Nera." Nera stated. She raised her front paw but stumbled and fell flat on her face.
"Slow steps, Nera. Focus on walking for now." I stated. I could sympathize with the bunny girl's struggle. I still had to deal with trying to walk on four limbs, so who knows how she would deal with it.
"I identify as Star." Star said. He was speaking like his brain ate a thesaurus. Star speaking that way almost felt like an accent, oddly. Much like the impossible southern US accents in this world, I didn't know how or why this happened, but ultimately just had to accept it with a shrug. It was probably something Squared consciously stifled so others could understand him easier. I'd have to ask him if that was the case, though, so I made a mental note to ask him sometime.
"I'm Squared." Squared stated, raising his little green Larvitar arm.
"Ray here." Ray stated, slowly raising his fluffy brown Buneary arm. This was a mess and a half, I knew it. We all knew it. However, now that I knew who each other was, we could begin to figure out what to do next.
"What do we do?" I questioned. I looked over at Ayrill, who folder her arms, pondering. This wasn't exactly a good sign, but I sighed and let her think. We had to get back into our original bodies, that much was obvious. The question was how? I doubted we could recreate the events that caused our minds to be switched. Not that I wanted to do that, anyway, this guild had one giant hole in it, making another was just asking for trouble.
"There's a Pokémon named Manaphy. It's also known as the Prince of the Sea. Its signature ability is Heart Swap, which can apparently be used to swap minds. It might be able to help you. We could say there was a strange incident with a portal and your minds were swapped. It's weird, but because no one really knows how they work it's believable." Ayrill stated. Her eyes were still closed in concentrating. Something gave me a bad feeling. Was it not very friendly?
"The biggest problem is it lives in the Cold Ocean Crevice in the Northwest Straight." Ayrill stated. I jerked back. What was going to happen then? Were we just trapped in each other's bodies? I could get used to having this new body, especially since I was on two legs again, but what about the others? Nera and Squared were struggling to walk, Star couldn't figure out his psychomagnesis to float, and both Ray and Nera were in different gendered bodies. At least they were still kids, so they had more times to adapt to that. I looked at Ayrill, notably worried.
"If only we could get it out of the dungeon." Ray stated, looking to the floor. The quiet apprehension was an odd look on Nera, but I pushed those thoughts to the side.
"What about the ocean part? I don't know about you, but I don't think I can survive that, unless of course I have your powers. Wait, do I?" I wondered. I turned to Ayrill who blinked rapidly. This was far more complicated than I expected. Still, I knew somehow it was going to be resolved. That's how it always worked in the TV shows, and this adventure was proving to not be any different. I looked to Ray-Nera.
"Try to climb up the stairs and back quickly." I asked. He looked at me and at the stairs. He nodded. With a breath, he ran to the stairs, almost literally flying up them, flinging into the back wall with a loud crash. I winced. He was going to feel that for sure.
"Be careful with that body!" I called out, mildly worried. He stumbled back much slower, apparently having dizzied himself with his magnificent leap. I swear his eyes were swirls. Given how this world was, I was pretty sure they were. He fell to the ground, but shook his head soon, standing up once again. As soon as I knew he was alright, I let out a small chuckle.
"Ten out of ten, a perfect dive." I stated with a cheery sarcasm. A wide smile was on my face, and a few chuckles escaped my lips. Ray looked confused for a second at my odd statement but ultimately shrugged. Ayrill rolled her eyes and looked to the rest of us.
"It seems we now know what happened to your powers. It seems they are locked to the body rather than mind or spirit. Interesting, very interesting. Unfortunately, this doesn't help us much. When the guild is healthy again, we may have to launch an expedition to try and find Manaphy." Ayrill stated. My words of command echoed through my mind, worrying me. I never gave it a time limit! That was why they slept through the impossibly loud explosion and rumbling a few hundred feet from themselves. I had to- no. Nera had to wake them up.
"Nera, I put them into a deep sleep. Do you think you can wake them up?" I asked. She shook her head, trying to walk, but fell flat on her face. I helped her up and began leading her out towards the door.
"I got this; you figure out what we need to do next. Firstly, figure out how to walk." I stated. The others nodded, and I carefully led Nera's stumbling four-legged form down the stairs without major incident. Into Dragonite's room, I pointed to him. She began to nudge him.
"Hey? Way up! Naps over." Nera stated. She was still an astonishingly adorable toddler even when she was in a completely different body. The dragon did not budge or acknowledge her.
"You need to use my powers to wake him." I explained. She nodded, but turned to him, but quickly turned back to me.
"How?" She questioned. I didn't really know; it was mostly instinctual. I assumed it was like her speed powers, however.
"How do you use your speed powers? It's probably pretty similar." I responded. She tilted her head but eventually nodded. Stumbling to his face, tripping once, she walked over to the very top of his head. With the grace of a caveman, Nera began jumping up and down, stomping on his antenna while shouting at the top of her lungs.
"Wake up!" I didn't exactly know how her powers worked, but I was ninety-nine percent sure that was not what she did to go fast.
"No- no! Stop!" I shouted. She quieted. I sighed, a little frustrated at this. What exactly did she think mind control involved? No, I don't think I want an answer for that. How was I supposed to properly explain it? I never really tried to use it, I just thought about it and wanted it to happen. I took a deep breath, knowing I could only try my best.
"It-It's more instinct than anything physical. You just do it, not thinking about it. Just want it and it works." I stated. She nodded vigorously, seeming to get it.
"Finally." I muttered, quiet enough she didn't hear. Or maybe she did and chose to ignore me, either way, she walked to the side of the sleeping dragon's form.
"Wake up. Wake up. Wake up! Up!" She screamed. Flinching at the power of my own voice, I shook my head. Dragonite turned in his sleep, completely oblivious to the screaming child
"The powers're weird feelin' weird. Like liking at Unown letuhs. Do ya get it?" She complained. I did not get it. The power of controlling the mind seemed far too complicated for Nera. No, it wasn't that complicated. Even Nera should have been able to accomplish it. The powers worked on instinct, built into the body and mind. Her brain just couldn't understand it, like Unown letters. Most Pokémon couldn't understand them, and not due to a lack of intelligence. It was genetic for lack of a better word. The ability was hardwired as something they could do, from what I could tell. The realization struck me like a hammer as I rushed out, ignoring Nera's confused grumblings. If Nera couldn't wake them, they'd be asleep until she learned how. However, since it seemed she couldn't learn how as her brain wasn't wired the right way, the others might never wake up.
"Suddenly the stakes are higher. Shut up brain! Run!" I thought. This was no time for joking for once. Rushing up the stairs, I slid a few feet as I rushed up the stairs. Down the dark hall, nearly I nearly tripped on my way to the library. With heavy footsteps, I kicked open the door. The four of them jumped, turning towards the door. I was panting in exhaustion, though my lungs didn't hurt. Ray's power was coming in handy, it seemed. With a deep breath, I quickly walked over to them.
"We have a problem." I stated.
"Hey!" A voice shouted. It was my voice; Nera was down the hall it seemed.
"Wait! Oof! Hey!" Nera shouted, apparently tripping. With a few stumbles and thuds, Nera managed to successfully enter the library. Continuing to stumble over to us, she had a confused and mildly annoyed look.
"We have a bigger problem than we thought." I stated.
"How's that?" Squared questioned. I took a deep breath, explaining everything that I could. I explained that because Nera didn't have the same brain, and that my power was more designed with me in mind, she may never be able to use this power. With the analogy of Unown letters Nera provided, it was easy enough to explain what I meant.
"To sum it up, things have gone really bad, and now Dragonite and the others lives depend on us getting to Manaphy." I stated. The others looked shocked, stumbling, before falling onto their stomachs. Ayrill looked at me, and at then Nera. She took a few breaths, trying to calm herself. This was a bigger mess than anything she could have imagined. She closed her eyes and placed her hand on the side of her face, a "thinking" face of hers.
"We can't tell anyone about your powers, so we can't send out a mission. We can't send you to the dungeon now that you switched bodies, but we can't let things stay this way. Urgh. I- I don't know. I don't like our options." Ayrill groaned. She shook her head. She made it clear she was unsure about what to do, and if she didn't know none of us would be able to figure much out, either. The only option I could think of was sending some of us out whie the others stayed behind. Ray wasn't doing too badly, and I was fine as well. I brought this up and Ayrill shook her head.
"If you knew how to safely use your powers, I would be fine with it. However currently this isn't possible. The only one who would be safe to send out is you, as Ray's powers are less destructive. Since only you can even do anything. I- Ugh. It's dangerous to go alone, yet that truly is our only option. You must brave the dungeon on your own." Ayrill stated. I shook my head. Couldn't she at least go with me? When I asked, she shook her head. Apparently, she had some damage control to do, she probably couldn't leave the guild for the next week until she had fully explained everything and paid for any damages. She sighed, seemingly just as annoyed and frightened about this as I was. How were we even supposed to get to the location, let alone to the bottom of the ocean! When I voiced my concern about this, Ayrill simply smiled.
"Mystery Dungeon's are strange You'll be perfectly fine from the ocean pressure while inside of one. As to arriving at the destination, you know exactly how you're going to get there." She stated. I took a step back. She wasn't suggesting I get back on that flying metal death trap, was she? As she wandered up the steps, she opened the door through some password entered by magical means and tapping, as if the door was a giant keyboard. I gulped. I really did not like that thing, but none of us had a choice. I took a breath, reminding myself this was for the guild. She walked out, but returned several minutes later with a short, hastily written note. It wasn't her finest handwriting, but it was reasonably legible.
"Unforeseen circumstances have forced me to send Jake to see you. A strange magical occurrence had forced the five of them to switch bodies. I do not claim to understand how or why this event has occurred, only to state that it is completely the truth, though farfetched as it may seem. Sending this singular child might seem dangerous, but I lack any choice. Regardless, you know me well enough to understand that I would not do such a thing if it were not an absolute emergency.
Thank you sincerely,
Ayrill Alicia Azumarill III, Second-in-command of the Dragonite Guild."
I blinked. Did she know Manaphy? If so, how? A mission with Dragonite, maybe? Was it simply her reputation that made it seem this way? She was the third Azumarill in her family to have that name? My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the metallic doors of the mad metal ship creaking open. I jumped, feeling my heart quickly beat for several moments, threatening to jump out once or twice. Taking a breath to calm it down, a sudden thing came to my mind Was this ray's heart or mine? Well, it was mine while I was borrowing it. I had to treat it as such, anyway. Ayrill's voice broke me out of my thoughts once again.
"Show this to Manaphy and Fergot, but no one else. Do you understand?" She questioned. I was going to ask who Fergo was, but she turned me around to face the airship. My legs locked up. I couldn't gather the will to go back on to the far to rickety metal flying carriage. I shook my head before feeling something pick me up from behind and physically throw me in. During my short journey through the air, I saw the annoyed look on the big blue bunny's face as I landed upside-down with a loud crash.
Dazed, I barely heard her shout for the doors to close. The metal coffin shuddered once more, slowly lifting off to parts unknown. Being upside-down during this process was somehow even less fun than otherwise. I felt my stomach churn and release the semi-digested apple remains. A few "ews" were heard, except from Star who was probably feeling lucky he had a different digestive track, otherwise he certainly would have vomited alongside me. Trying to get my mind off the flight and the mess in the corner, I checked our supplies. Ayrill had given me everything I needed for survival but failed to pack a snack for us. We'd be hungry by the time we got there, and starving by the time I got out, assuming I got out, that is. I shook my head. I couldn't think like that. This wasn't the time for pessimism.
"It's not the time for optimism either. Shut up brain. I love having a chaotic brain that always wants to argue with itself. Ugh, why brain, why." I thought. I sat down on the far side of the airship, away from the vomit, thinking about what I was supposed to do. Unfortunately, my stomach was churning too much to think much about anything. I could do some thinking when we landed. The airship shook and rattled again, bringing up the fear that this entire thing would break on us, plunging us into whatever lay below. In this tough body I would certainly survive falling from any height, at least. I shook my head harshly. I did not want to test it or even think about it. I closed my eyes and tried to relax. Each shake and shudder simply made me feel horrible, I couldn't relax. I was in for a long and arduous journey, I knew it. Several hours of pain and misery passed as the vomit pile began to stink up the entire room. None of the group were happy. Nera looked ready to throw up herself. At least we were all miserable, so there was solace in that, oddly. Then it happened.
No, we hadn't arrived at our destination. I wish we reached our destination. A sudden shudder likely caused by a gust of wind mixed with the unbearable stench caused Squared, unused to feeling any turbulence and the terrible sensation of vomiting, released the mostly liquid contents from his stomach. Thus began the series of vomiting, as Nera and then Ray soon followed. I knew exactly what was happening. This was a moment of "comedy" which TV show writers think twelve-year-old boys find hilarious, when really, it's disgusting to most people, twelve-year-old boys included.
I could live without these stupid, arbitrary moments of unfunny "comedy", thank you very much world. In a TV show the vomit is usually cleaned up mysteriously, but we had to suffer through the reality of a vomit filled, horribly smelling, old and rickety metal zeppelin carriage. This was misery at its finest. Several hours of the worst day of our lives wasted away, growing colder and colder as we traveled in a direction which I assumed was northwest. Soon enough, the familiar shuddering occurred and our decent began. Our misery would soon be over, but I had a feeling something worse was about to come. I could already feel the temperature difference. I hadn't checked where we were, but the cloudy skies dropping snow on the windows told me we were probably off the Sand continent. I assumed we were on the Mist continent, as it was the second coldest continent, aside from the Frozen Continent they had recently discovered.
It was apparently a one of the most beautiful places in the world and an absolute must-see place to visit, but horribly expensive continent to live in due to this. Part of the issue is many towns have tried to establish guilds as not many guilds operate on the continent. This is mostly due to the perpetual chill that plagues the continent. It's too hot for cold loving Pokémon, but far too cold for the majority, meaning most who live there tend to have sedimentary lifestyles.
They often stay indoors where it's either warmer or colder as they prefer, only traveling for work or when required. Not much need for guilds when no one is out doing much of anything. The famous Pokémon Paradise is the only real guild, and it's more of a small town operated by Team Hope. However, as the leading authority on teams on the continent, it has been officially designated a guild as well by HAPPI.
The door creaked open, letting in the frozen air, refreshing compared to the stench that is indoors. The vomit had frozen to the floor by this point, but the lingering stench remained as if to taunt us. The five of us stumbled out, barely able to think straight. I hated my life, I just wanted the day over
"Uh, hello? Where's the adults?" A voice questioned. A giant blue bipedal alligator with spines on it's back looked down towards us. It towered over us, even in my current form I didn't make it to his knees. I groaned, remembering the letter.
"I'm looking for Fergot?" I questioned. The creature's eyes narrowed.
"That's me. Fergot the Feraligator" He stated. I wasn't sure I believed him, but I was too woozy to care. Handing him the letter, I laid down face first in the snow, groaning. I never wanted to go back on that thing again, but I still had one last trip. I felt tears well up in my eyes, and my chest tightened at the sheer dread of that. I looked to the others. They were shaking, and I doubted it was because of the cold. It was going to be a horrible, terrible return flight, I could tell. After a minute, Fergo looked at me, then back to the letter.
"Well, I can't say I believe it, but I know Ayrill isn't the type to joke around like this, either. If she says it's true, then it probably is. Don't worry, if Ayrill sent you, you're probably going to be fine." He eventually spoke. Listening to his voice, he sounded gruff. He sounded almost like a pirate, but without the "yar harr Poirat" kind of inflections. Something told me he was a sailor, regardless.
"I'll have my boys clean your airship up as well, it smells like a decaying Spheal in there." He stated, waving his hand in front of his face. I opened my mouth to ask how he knew what that smelled like. However, I let my head slam my jaws shut. I wasn't curious enough, nor had the stomach to handle the answer. Also, I didn't know what a "Spheal" was, but I guessed it was a sphere seal. I was slowly memorizing the Pokémon. I remembered up to Electrode, and I still have almost a thousand to go. A few moments passed. The snow fell on our cold forms. I felt the wind washing over me, feeling like a calm, cool pat on the back. It was like nature itself pitied our existence. I hadn't realized how hungry I was I felt my stomach growl. I was starving, as were the others, certainly. The pirate guy looked at us, clearly having heard our stomachs desperate plea for attention.
"Heh, it was a long flight for ya. Why don't we stop by my shop? Then we can get you some grub." He stated. I looked up and smiled. None of us were going to say no. Following a huge stranger who also was probably a pirate into a strange new town was not smart, but there were several different issues on my mind, so I ignored it. It wasn't until we had sat down at the table being served fish and potatoes that I realized just how dumb I was being. It was shortly after that I remembered the words of King Arthur and realized I was probably fine if I just went with my gut.
Gnawing at the fish while recalling the words of King Arthur, my mind drifted to how the adventure had been so far. It was absolutely insane! I was turned into a fox, made friends with four quirky companions, I was adopted by a dragon, met a mythological king, was eventually given superpowers, fought against several super villains, and I have just met a pirate alligator who apparently also runs a sea food restaurant. My life has been in complete chaos the moment I arrived, and I was all for it. Whatever was next, I couldn't wait to see!
I guess there was a silver lining to the day, after all. This world was amazing and full of many amazing people.
"Don't worry about paying, either. This one's on the house." Fergot stated.
"Thank you!" The others stated, bowing deeply. Squared had a bit of fish juice drip down his lips, which he wiped away.
"Oh, Thank you." I said after, bowing slightly less. This got a roaring laughter from the blue alligator.
"Quite respectful. That's quite nice." He stated. We finished up our meal quickly. It was unusual, to say the least, but Fergot completely understood the situation was quite unusual. We walked outside and the snow had begun to fall even heavier. The four of them looked to the sky, wondering what was going on. That's when I realized this may be the first time they had ever seen snow. I smiled at this. Turning to Fergot, I asked if there were any good open fields for them to play in, since they've never seen snow before. Smiling, he gestured to a strange rocky creature, almost like the thing that white fox creature was disguised as. The big rock monster took the four of them away to play in the freshly falling snow. This was stupid of me, I know, but I didn't think about it at the time. With some guidance from Fergot, I headed out to the icy depths that Manaphy apparently called home. Along the way, we remained mostly silent, but Fergo spoke up once.
"You're pretty calm for being in such a strange situation." He stated. I shrugged. Deciding to baffle the Pokémon, I told him the truth.
"Strangeness is always welcome. Besides, it's not the first time I've been thrown into a new body. I used to be human, after all." I responded. I turned towards him, flashed a smile and continued. He stopped for a moment, his mouth hung open bit, but closed soon after, silently catching up to me. His reaction was a bit disappointing, but I guess he believed me. How else could he explain my complete lack of care, after all?
Fergot couldn't follow me past a certain point, but he assured me it was mostly a straight shot there. Getting to the dungeon was a difficult task. Onto a series of disconnected floating icebergs, the long line of ice chunks seemed to continue for longer than I could see. One slip and I would wind up in the icy cold waters several feet below. Sidling like I was some action movie a star, I felt the winds blow harder and harder, as if warning me not to continue this path.
However, I was undeterred, unwilling to stop myself. I also wanted to stall for as much time as possible before getting back on the airship. Forward slowly, inch by inch. Soon enough, the endless sea of icebergs eventually stopped. Looking down, instead of the vivid blue of the ocean, it was a deep, almost black coloration. It seemed I had found the dungeon. What did Fergot say again? My nerves were getting the best of me. I shivered a few times in fear and nervousness. A pit of fear welled up in my stomach, threatening to send the fish I had just eaten back into the ocean.
"The Northwestern Straight, which leads directly into the Ocean Crevice. At the Ocean Crevice Depths lies Manaphy." The words repeated in my mind until I caught myself speaking It aloud.
I had an escape orb if I needed to leave, but that didn't change how terrifying this was. I had to leap into the abyss. I shook in fear, Ray's powers prevented me from negatively feeling the effects of the cold so far. I had no reason to doubt they would save me from the icy water. I just had to jump, simple right. With a deep breath, and without thinking further, I leapt into the unknown. Far from courage, this was haste allowing me to be stupid, something I was far too familiar with. I twisted my body around, scrambling at the ice in attempt to get back onto the ledge. This was stupid! I desperately clawed at the ice behind me, trying everything to not drop into the dark abyss. However, the ice was, unsurprisingly, impossible to grab onto as I plunged into the depths of the ocean.
I instinctually tensed, holding my breath, and tensing my body in preparation for the unforgiving cold. However, the chill never came. I expected the frozen black water to be bone-chilling, but it felt like water. Neither warm no cold, just completely the same as my body. I could feel the water surround me as the murky darkness overtook everything. Clawing towards the sky, the light from the sun quickly began fading away as I sunk deeper into the dungeon. I knew I was protected by the cold not by Ray's power, but the mysterious powers of the Mystery Dungeon.
The snow fell on the cold, ice-coated port town. This was not an unexpected or unfamiliar sight to the natives, quite the opposite in fact. However, to four young visitors the sight of snow was both new, and somewhat scary. It was like rain, but far colder. It even became water once it landed on their bodies! It was a bizarre, but fascinating sight. The four children huddled together, unsure of what to think about this new weather phenomenon. The large Pokémon gestured to a large, open field which a few other kids were playing in. Cautiously, the four walked into the field, nervous about being in a new town. With disregard to the strangers, one small yellow mouse Pokémon rushed up and began talking to them.
"Hello! You're new around here, I can tell!" The creature exclaimed. Its hyperactive nature was beyond obvious, as was its friendliness. The four children didn't know how to respond to this, so simply nodded.
"You're weird, what're your names?" The yellow mouse asked. In a quiet, nervous tone, they all gave their names.
"Oh? Weird names, but okay. I'm Chuston the Pichu! Nice to meet you!" Chuston stated. In their minds, they all thought that name was even weirder than any of theirs. Standing silently for a few seconds, the kids had no idea what to do. None of them were especially capable at making friends, they never really interacted with others around their ages before. The only ones who were around their ages were the Kricketot twins, who tended to not talk or play with the orphans much.
"Hello? You're all staring off into space? You alright?" Chuston wondered, wildly flailing his small yellow paws in front of their faces.
"Uh, huh? Wha?" Nera wondered. This seemed to amuse the small mouse, causing him to start giggling wildly. A small spark was accidentally let out of his cheek, only to dissipate in moments.
"You're weird, you know that? Oh well, it doesn't matter. Do you want to make a snowmon with me?" He asked.
"Snowmon?" Squared questioned. He had heard of it in various books, and had even seen examples, but had never seen one for himself, nor knew about the process of building one aside from the likely apocryphal tales he knew. The Pichu leapt backwards in utter shock.
"Have you never seen a Snowmon before?" The four children glanced to the ground, rubbing their feet and paws through the fresh snow. This awkwardness was all the Pichu needed to see to realize the answer.
"You must've come from pretty far south, huh? Here, I'll show you how to do it. I'll even introduce you to my friends!" He exclaimed. The Pichu began running towards a small group of Pokémon. The four nervously looked at each other before glancing back to the rock Pokémon which led them there. He gave a reassuring smile and a nod. With an unusual amount of caution, the four of them traversed the short distance. The Pichu was finishing up an explanation about how they had to show these southern Pokémon how to make a snowmon.
"So, you've never made a snowmon before?" A small white and red bug questioned. Thew four shook their heads.
"We've never seen snow." Nera helpfully added, wincing at their surprised reaction. Nera had elicited a small gasp from the four young Pokémon. She briefly wondered if she shouldn't have said that but didn't get much time to think on it.
"We'll show you right away! Just do what we do, and you'll be pros in no time!" A small, fluffy yellow bug exclaimed.
"I'm Joti, by the way! Joti the Joltik. This is Lavis, the Larvesta. Finally, this is Quoos, the Wooper!" Joti stated. The three of them enthusiastically leapt into the air. With a lack of grace, the four children began to make several large snowballs. Well, large for them at least. With their combined might, three snowballs of various sizes were placed on top of each other, creating a crude tower of round snow spheres. Squared was surprised, the process of creating a fabled snowmon was exactly as he had read!
"Okay, now you try!" Lavis stated.
"It fun!" Quoos cheerfully stated. The four looked upon the others with extraordinary expectation. The four body-swapped friends looked at each other. By this point, they all could traverse in each other's bodies without a huge issue, using each other's powers couldn't be too hard, right? Forgetting for the moment they were meant to keep them a secret, Nera's speed was combined with Star's strength to aid in the process. Rushing through the field, nearly every possible flake from the freshly fallen snow was devoured by the of the three spherical mountains.
This created three monumental, impossibly colossal spheres. With aid from the extremely limited control of his new psychic powers, and the ludicrous strength in Star's rocky form, a monument of a snowmon was created, dwarfing some buildings in height. Utilizing a limited understanding of illusions and done mostly out of desperation to try and be useful, a large, bright rainbow appeared over the snowy form. The four local kids stood there, unable to comprehend what they had just witnessed. Their words were caught in their throat, their mouths handing open in complete shock. Mentally facepalming and physically cringing, the kids realized they probably should not have used their powers.
"We have accomplished many similar tasks with boulders and sand as we wished to alleviate our unyielding boredom. This snow is roughly three point five six two times lighter, thus making the task of building a so called "snowmon" far hastier and with less difficulty than any one Pokémon might expect." Star responded. The kid's eyes were wide, but they slowly nodded, believing the Wailord of a tale they had just been told. The empty field was slowly gathering more and more snow, but for the moment remained a barren dirt field. The kids looked towards their chaperone, who seemed busy looking elsewhere. It seemed none of the adults had even noticed the giant sculpture that the town had gained. They would soon, however. How long was it going to take before Jake returned, they wondered. Feeling cold, the four wanted to go somewhere to warm up. Noticing the kids were shivering, the rock Pokémon walked up to them, seemingly oblivious to the sculpture and baren field.
"Cold?" He questioned. The four nodded vigorously. He quietly laughed, and ushered them to follow him, heading back to the shop. The four children had their fun, and now they went inside for some warm drinks. While they were not particularly hungry, the herbal tea was a welcome addition to their stomach. Feeling the heat resonant throughout their cold forms, they were happy. Minutes passed; an hour passed, and more time passed than that. Before the kids could worry, the familiar sight of a Riolu wandered into the fishy restraint, gesturing them to follow. Rushing outside once again, many adults were walking past as they made their way to docks. Pointing to the ocean, the four stared deeply into the icy blue water. With a splash, a blue creature with two long tendrils on its head popped out.
"Hello! You had a problem with some strange, weird magicy stuff, right? I can't say I get it, but Rilly wouldn't lie, either." The blue form stated. This was the Prince of the Sea? It was far less regal than they were expecting.
"Hello? You need help, right? Just say who's who and I'll fix ya up!" Manaphy stated. They shook their heads, realizing they had been staring at the blue Pokémon for a time. Either missing or ignoring their confusion, Star spoke up first.
"I am meant to be a Larvitar. Swapping the two of us first should give us a reasonable demonstration of your capabilities." Star stated.
"Don't trust me? No, I get it. I got weird but cool powers ya know! It'd be hard for me to believe it, too!" It exclaimed. The five friends went completely silent. The only sound came from the water splashing on the docks, and the light breeze which blew. Seemingly missing the awkwardness, the Manaphy continued unabashedly.
"Okay, swap time!" Manaphy stated. A strange red light flew into the two of them. Their eyes glazed over for a moment, before they jerked back, seemingly panicked for a moment. Looking over their forms, soon the two Pokémon jumped and cheered, having safely returned to their bodies.
"Okay, now you three, right? You said you were Zorua, and Ray's in the Buneary body, right? Then I'll fix that right away!" They cheered. With no time to mentally prepare themselves, the three felt their minds fill with a haze before suddenly finding themselves out of it. Shaking their heads, they inspected their bodies. It was entirely true; they had finally returned to their bodies!
"This is great! Thank you!" Squared exclaimed. The blue Pokémon seemed to blush, waving their small, stubby blue arms in a sheepish manner.
"It was nothing. Any friend of Dragonite is a frienda mine! If you ever return, I'd like to play with you more. However, it seemed there was something important or something. I don't get what. Anyway, see ya!" It cheered. It waved its arms to the five. With a massive leap and splashdown which coated the five in chilly sea water, the Prince of the Sea had disappeared once again into the cold ocean depths. Left shivering, the five stood for a few moments. It didn't long before they made their way to the metal flying machine they had to use to return to warmer sands.
"So, how was your first day in the snow?" Jake questioned. He already knew their answers, judging by their intense smiles. While wandering back to the airship, the others would not stop talking about their day. Looking over the village from the vantage point where the Airship landed, he noticed the colossal snowman and the large crowd which had gathered. Realizing an awkward and hard to explain conversation would ensue, he quickly ushered his friends into the airship. As much as he didn't like the thing, it was better than being questioned for hours about how a bunch of toddlers made a house sized snowman. True to his word, Fergot had indeed gotten someone to clean the airship, assuming he didn't clean it himself. It didn't smell, but the memory of the stench lingered. Once they were all inside safely, he questioned how to turn the airship on.
"Uh, it's time to return?" He questioned. Despite the uncertainty in his tone, a small electrical sound signaled the engines were turning on. Slowly, the propellers slowly began to rotate, and the metal carriage shuddered lightly under their feet. In only a minute, the five friends were once again airborne, traveling back to warmer weather. The trip was rough, but they managed to not lose their supper this time. Along the way, Jake made a point to say they would not tell anyone about the snowman, or snowmon as he learned it was called. By the time they got back, the sun had long since set and the toddlers were barely holding on to consciousness. The only reason they were awake was due to the turbulence and shaking preventing them from relaxing. Once they had landed however, their tiredness caught up with them. With the remainder of their strength, the four stumbled into the library.
Reaching the limit of their endurance, the five curled up next to one another, falling asleep next to a table on the balcony, just to the right of the door leading to the airship. Their rest was undisturbed by anything until the morning, when Ayrill shook the five of them awake and escorted them to their beds. Extremely tired still, the five silently stumbled their way into their rooms. Moments from sleeping, Jake realized he still needed to the others up.
He was about to let them stay that way until later, he got up anyway. After this whole ordeal, Jake was unwilling to take any risks. One by one, each of the guildmembers were freed from their unyielding slumber. Unaware of the events which transpired, the exhausted Zorua stumbled into his room. Nera quietly snorted in the bed next to his, followed by Squared, Ray and Star. He closed his eyes, only needing a few minutes to completely fall asleep once again.
/ / / / / / / / / /
This was filler until the next chapter, which will have more plot to it. I've been planning what comes up next for quite a long time, since early February, 2022! So at least a month. However I had enough ideas that I just kept writing! I guess it's just that I was focused on adding to the characters as much as I could, wanting to ensure each personality was distinguishable from one another. Hopefully I've done a good job on that. Anyway, Read, relax, review, have fun, and eat a bagel if you have one. See ya!
