Foreword: First off, after uploading the last episode and doing some last-minute proofreading, I noticed that this site butchered my writings everytime I wrote a URL. I've tried to fix all the episodes that this dirt hole had screwed up, but I'm not sure if everything's alright now. So, if you come across a sentence that makes absolutely no sense and actually appears to be fragments of two unrelated sentences, please e-mail me immediately and tell me which episode you found it in and at which part. Thanks! ^_^

(And by the way, as I said before, if you want a list of URLs I attempted to use in the last episode, just e-mail me.)

Secondly, just for the record, I've never seen Trading Spaces, the TLC show. It's just EXTREMELY popular in my school, and I prefer making fun of the social bandwagon rather than getting on it. *ducks as someone throws a brick at her before holding up a sign that reads, "Please do not throw dangerous objects at the author!"*

Okie dokie! On with the show!

***
Episode 07--
Trading Spaces

"Alright, Ziggy! Try it now!"

WHAM!

"OW!!"

"Get away from the door, genius!"

Bill hopped away from the door a little, shaking his foot after the door had been closed on it.

"Talk about getting your foot caught in the door," Ziggy muttered. "Sorry about that, Bill."

"Oh, no problem," he replied with a hint of sarcasm. "It's not like I was going to use that foot too often today anyways..."

Ziggy rolled her eyes. "I said I was sorry..."

Bill muttered something which Ziggy couldn't hear, but the word "damn" was involved quite a couple of times in the sentence.

He continued to work on the door. Actually, the door was part of his new security system. Maybe it might not completely stop Team Rocket, but it surely would slow them down a bit. Plus, everything was operated by Ziggy, so, through the use of a few security cameras, more of the lighthouse could be protected at one time, even while Bill was on a shift.

The door to the cellar was replaced by a metal one (not too heavy to push open, but hard as hell to knock down), which was yet another piece controlled by Ziggy (it, like the front doors and many of the windows, could be opened and closed by her). Unfortunately, during the testing, she... closed it a bit fast.

Luckily, Bill's shoe took most of the damage.

"Alright, I've limited the speed and force with which you can possibly close the door," Bill told her. "It can be done quickly, just not so fast and so powerfully that you sever a body part. After all, I want this place to be safe, not filled with amputated limbs."

Ziggy rolled her eyes again and tested the door. Apparently, Bill was satisfied with this. He stepped away (partially limping on the foot Ziggy had slammed the door on) and nodded to himself before taking his toolbox down the steps with him.

"Alright, Ziggy. It's all set up," he said. "You know what to do, right?"

Ziggy narrowed her eyes. "How can I not? It's like you wrote those directions for a freaking Slowpoke!"

"Hmm... Touché."

"Now that the lighthouse is fortified more than Alcatraz, do you mind taking a shift?" Ziggy inquired.

Bill raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by 'more than Alcatraz'?"

"You did go a bit overboard."

Bill shook his head. "Because I don't have time to argue, I choose to ignore that."

Ziggy jumped around her program window in happiness. "WOOHOO! I won!"

Bill rolled his eyes and proceeded to shift out.

~~~

Two and a half days*1* went by before we meet up with our hero again. In this shift, he occupied the Farfetch'd of a recovering alcoholic, and his mission was to help his host's owner by keeping him away from liquor just until the middle-aged man could find a job to keep his mind off of alcohol.

It wasn't easy. This man would frequently attempt to sneak into bars and liquor shops, but luckily, Bill was not far behind and ready to jump in and stop the former alcoholic.

As Bill followed the man down a street, Ziggy appeared a little ways away to check on him as usual.

"So far, so good," she muttered to herself. "If Bill's plan involving that pamphlet works, then he'll only need a few more hours."

"Spying on your boyfriend? Naughty little girl..."

Startled, Ziggy screamed and turned around to see Oracle behind her.

"Who... who are you!?" Ziggy asked urgently as she blinked rapidly.

"My name is Oracle," she replied in a smooth, devious tone. "I'm just like you, only I fight for the side that actually has its perks. After all, Team Rocket can get whatever they want, whenever they want, however they want. It's an honor to be working for someone who can do all that."

"You work for Team Rocket!?"

"Honey, did you honestly think someone who looks as good as I do WOULDN'T belong to the world-famous Team Rocket?"

"Good?" Ziggy scoffed. "I'm WAY prettier than you are!"

Oracle laughed. "You? Sweetie, don't kid yourself. You're nothing but an old, chubby bat."

"I'm not a bat; I'm not old, and I'm NOT CHUBBY!!" Ziggy snapped as she jumped and aimed a kick for Oracle's head.

As Ziggy's foot went through Oracle, the evil hologram burst out laughing.

"You're not too bright, are you? If you were a bit smarter, you would know that physical violence doesn't affect me," Oracle informed her counterpart with a cold tone.

Oracle held up the back of her hand to her mouth and laughed like Emerald*2* into her wrist for a moment before holding her hand away from her mouth a bit. "I'd love to stay and chat, creampuff, but I've got places to go, things to do, and shifters to guide. Au revoir!"

The darker hologram turned, allowing her cape to fly up as she disappeared.

"Augh! She's an annoying little prima donna AND a bitch queen!" Ziggy sneered, balling her hands into fists. She relaxed at a sudden realization. "Shifters to guide...?" She gasped. "Oh crap! Bill was right! I'd better warn him! Those shifters might be after him right now!"

With that, Ziggy vanished.

~~~

{I turn around for one moment, and he disappears!} Bill growled.

He ran down the street, looking for a familiar figure, holding a pamphlet for Alcoholics Anonymous under the wing with the leek. His plan was simple. Get the charge*3* to join Alcoholics Anonymous, and there might be a good chance that he could get over alcoholism.

Of course, a disappearing charge is never good.

{Where did he go!? Oh...! At this rate, I'll never finish this mission! Ziggy, I need your help!}

A Meowth poked his head out from an alley Bill had just passed. He had heard Bill speak to himself, and at the sound of his voice*4*, the scratchcat grinned and snuck up behind the Farfetch'd.

{McKenzie...}

Bill jumped and turned around in time to see the Meowth pounce on him and pin him to the cement, holding one paw-filled claw barely inches away from his face.

{Oh great! A rabid Meowth!!}

{Tell me... what else do you know!?}

Bill's eyes widened. {Loki...?}

At that moment, Loki screamed and began to shift, marked by a bright, blood-red light. Bill, who still felt endangered by the Meowth, couldn't help but join him. Both sparks of light left the Pokémon's bodies at the same time and rose into the air, twisting around each other before splitting and vanishing.

Just then, Ziggy appeared. Meowth screeched and ran back into the alley.

"Hey, Bill! Did you call for me?"

Farfetch'd cocked his head for a moment, gave a shrill cry, and began marching away, leaving the pamphlet behind.

"Huh?" Ziggy blinked. "If that wasn't Bill... Then where is he...?"

~~~

First, there were the hushed voices buzzing around him. His entire body ached, just like it had after the first time he had shifted. Finally and slowly, Bill opened his eyes.

When the world came into focus, he knew something was wrong. He was slumped at the bottom of the Time Capsule Beta in a dark and cold room, surrounded by scientists.

"Welcome back, sir," Crocus said with a grin. "I apologize for doubting your decision. Apparently, all went well, am I correct?"

"Where am I...?" Bill asked cautiously.

"You don't know?" Crocus looked at him with a shocked expression. "You're at Team Rocket Labratories, in the building used for Project Antiwarp."

"Team Rocket Labratories...?" Bill whispered to himself holding his head.

'What kind of twisted nightmare is this!?' he thought. 'And why are these people looking at me like... What?'

As he fully came to his senses, he noticed his voice had changed,*4* and so did several other aspects of his physical self as well. He glanced to his right to find a bare piece of metal inside the Time Capsule Beta. Where he should have seen his own reflection, he saw a stranger sight.

Loki.

"Oh boy..."*6*

~~~

Loki awoke to find himself alone, in the cellar of the lighthouse. Well, not quite alone.

"Hey! What's the big idea of leaving a shift like that!?" Ziggy snapped.

"I was forced to," Loki replied dryly.

He stopped in realization and muttered quietly to himself, "What the hell is going on!?"

"Yeah? Well, that's not much of an excuse! You have control over when you shift out, right?"

"Listen, I'll talk to you later," Loki said as he stood and walked toward the steps. "I just need to rest for awhile."

"Fine," Ziggy said with a sigh. "Go get some rest, Bill. Maybe you'll still have enough time to save your charge. You can try again later."

'Bill?' Loki stared vacantly at Ziggy. 'Did she just call me Bill?'

"Ciao, Bill!" Ziggy waved for a moment and disappeared as the computer shut itself down.

As soon as the screen went black, Loki bolted up the stairs.

'Oh god! I need a mirror!' he thought frantically. 'Don't tell me I'm in...'

He found the metal door and knelt down low enough to look at his reflection. Instead of seeing his own, he saw Bill's.

"Dammit!" Loki pounded the door. "We must have gotten mixed up when we both shifted! And that means I'm..." He growled and shut his eyes. "...I'm stuck in this goody-two-shoe's body!"

Then, he paused, grinned, and opened his eyes. He glanced behind him, into the cellar.

"On second thought, this might work to my advantage..."

~~~

Bill stood in the men's room, splashing cold water on his face, hoping that there could be just a slight chance that this all could be a dream. He opened his eyes, pulled a paper towel from a dispenser beside the sink, and wiped his face dry. As he put the paper towel over the bottom half of his face, he paused and stared in the mirror.

'Great,' he thought. 'Just perfect. First, I lose my way on the way back to my body and end up in Loki's, which means he's most likely in my body. And I just finished installing a security system so he WOULDN'T wander around in my lighthouse! Second, I try to shift out, but I can't. And to top it all off, Ziggy won't answer me!'

He removed the paper towel, held the edges of the sink basin, and looked up toward the ceiling.

"Ziggy, I could really use your help right about now!"

No answer.

"Just great..."

Bill sighed and rubbed the back of his neck as he shut his eyes.

"Well? Now what?"

He opened his eyes and looked at his reflection once more.

'I've got to get back to my lighthouse,' he thought. 'Loki isn't stupid. He'll try to take advantage of our situation and steal whatever documents he doesn't already have.'

He looked over his shoulder, toward the door in the upper left corner of the room.

'Gettting there will be easy,' he figured. 'Loki constantly wants something from me. I can just ask his toadies*7* to take me there. However, I just hope I can stop him when I'm alone and without any of my usual tricks...'

He took a deep breath and released it slowly as he stood straight. He paused for a moment, running his fingers through Loki's notable long hair before putting it back in a ponytail and leaving the restroom.

~~~

After allowing a few hours to pass, Loki reentered the cellar and began looking through the stacks of paper on almost every flat surface in the cellar (save for one counter strewn with wires and metal and, of course, the floor).

About an hour later, Loki looked through the last stack.

"Nothing!" He growled for a moment. "Not one of them could tell me anything about Warp!"

He looked back at the computer.

"Hmm... Perhaps his Ziggy can tell me..."

He booted up the computer and waited. As soon as it was ready to use, Ziggy appeared.

"Ready to try again?" she asked.

"Not right now, Ziggy," he replied, trying his best to act like Bill. "First, I need to access some files..."

Ziggy cocked her head. "I'm not quite sure what's up with your priorities today, but okay. I'll help you. Just tell me what you want."

Loki grinned.

~~~

"So, let me get this straight, you want us to take you back to McKenzie's lighthouse," Clyde said.

"That's right," Bill responded with a nod.

He walked down a darkened corridor with Bonnie and Clyde, the first Rocket employees he came across, save for scientists, the scientists' assistants, and a janitor. He hoped he was headed toward the exit, but in all honesty, he had not a single clue to where he was in the labratories, nor where he was headed to. He figured he was going in the right direction because neither Bonnie or Clyde spoke up. Of course, they could also be waiting for a command to tell them where to go...

He didn't realize they were exchanging glances, wondering if their superior was psychologically healthy.

"You do know that we've got everythin' we need from that dump, right?" Bonnie inquired.

'Ignore that,' Bill told himself before nodding and speaking aloud. "Yeah, but I've got a feeling we've missed something."

"Don't mean to be rude or anythin'," Bonnie said, "but did you discuss this with Master Giovanni?"

"Do you really want to tell him that we might have failed?" Bill inquired smoothly.

"No, sir!" Bonnie and Clyde quickly answered. "We'll take you there! Don't worry!"

Bill gave them a nod as they turned around and walked toward the REAL exit. Hiding his embarrassment, he followed the Rocket pair.

'That wasn't too bad,' he thought. 'Now for phase two...'

~~~

As soon as Ziggy found the documents for Warp (not before giving Loki strange looks), Loki dismissed her and began saving each document to what few blank discs remained. (He didn't quite read them all the way through, however.) When the last one was saved, Loki put each disc (three of them) in a box and took the box with him as he ascended the stairs.

He left the cellar and made his way to the front door. He stopped as soon as he saw the telephone.

"Hmm..."

He grinned as an idea came to mind...

~~~

Clyde was piloting the helicopter over a forest as Bonnie leaned back in the seat next to him and as Bill stared out the window, waiting for a specific point...

"Boss, may I ask you a li'l question?" Bonnie asked.

Bill jumped at the sound of her voice (mostly because no one had spoken much since take off) and turned to her. "Sure."

"What's your obsession over McKenzie anyways?" Bonnie inquired.

'Egotism, perhaps?' Bill joked mentally.

"I mean," Bonnie continued, "You're constantly plotting his downfall and his death..."

At this point Bill looked away, eyes wide. 'I didn't just hear that...'

"...Or insulting him," Bonnie finished. "I think it's a bit unhealthy."

Bill shrugged, as if he were Loki. "He deserves it."

Bonnie opened her mouth to say something more, but the spot Bill was waiting for came up.

"Land here," he instructed.

"Here?" Clyde asked. "Sir, don't you want to stop right at the lighthouse?"

"And ruin the element of surprise?" He shook his head. "Land here."

Clyde shrugged. "You're the boss."

Clyde carefully landed the helicopter in a clearing in the middle of the forest near the lighthouse. Bill immediately got out, followed by Bonnie and Clyde.

"Wait here," Bill ordered them. "I want to deal with McKenzie alone."

Bonnie and Clyde looked at each other and then at Bill's back before protesting. "But sir...!"

"Just wait here," Bill repeated. "I'll call you if I need help."

"Yes, sir," both agents finally said quietly.

Bill walked away, into the forest, headed toward the lighthouse.

About twenty minutes after he left, Bonnie's cell phone rang. She answered the call.

"Hello! Bonnie speaking!"

She listened for a moment. Her eyes slowly widened with excitement.

"Oh! That's GREAT news! I'll tell Clyde right away! See you later!"

She hung up and turned to her partner with happy eyes.

"Clyde, headquarters just called to tell us that McKenzie called in. He surrendered and agreed to join Team Rocket!"

Clyde smiled. "I think the boss would LOVE to hear this..."

He began to walk toward the forest.

"Wait! He gave us orders to stay here!" Bonnie objected.

"He'll forgive us when we tell him the news," Clyde assured her.

Bonnie thought about that for a moment and nodded before following Clyde into the forest.

~~~

At last, Bill emerged from the forest and ran the rest of the way back to his lighthouse.

'Home sweet home,' he thought. 'Thank god it's still in one piece!'

He burst through the door and looked around. No sign of Loki.

'The cellar!'

Quickly, he ran toward the cellar and descended its steps. There, he saw himself, booting up the computer.

"Loki!"

Loki turned around and smiled deviously.

"Well, hello, there!" he greeted. "Nice to see myself again..."

Bill stepped forward courageously. "I want my body back."

"Oh, but I'm just beginning to have fun with it!" Loki replied. He held up the box which held the discs. "See this? Inside, I have discs with useful bits of information about Warp on each. My guess is that Master Giovanni would be INCREDIBLY happy to be in possession of these..." Loki let out a short laugh. "...But that's only one thing I'm going to give them..."

"What would the other thing be?" Bill inquired with caution.

Loki laughed darkly and slipped past Bill quickly. Bill tried to grab him, but Loki already made his way up the stairs.

"I'm giving away..." Loki began.

Loki reached the top of the stairs and looked back down toward Bill, who had stopped halfway up the stairs. He smirked.

"I'm giving you away," Loki told him. "As far as Team Rocket is concerned, you just phoned in to tell them that you've agreed to join Team Rocket."

Bill gasped. "You didn't...!"

Loki backed away a bit further. "I did. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a rendezvous with a couple of agents to get to. Bye now!"

"Loki!!"

Bill ran up the last half of the steps, only to have Loki slam the door in his face. When he tried to open the door, the knob wouldn't move.

"I've got you now, Loki!"

Bill shook, startled at the sound of Ziggy's voice.

"There's no way out!" Ziggy announced. "No doubt Bill's going for the police!"

'Just great!' Bill thought with a worried glance down the steps.

Bill ran back downstairs and frantically tried to convince Ziggy to open the door.

"Ziggy, let me out! Loki is getting away!" Bill told her.

"What's wrong with you? Get hit in the head too many times!?" Ziggy snapped. "YOU'RE Loki!"

"No, Ziggy! It's me! Bill! We shifted back to the wrong bodies!" he explained. "You've got to open the door!"

Ziggy looked away and closed her eyes. "Sorry, kiddo. I don't buy it."

"Please, Ziggy!" Bill pleaded. "I know it sounds crazy, but it's true!"

Ziggy's face suddenly lit up. "I know! I'll ask you a question only Bill would know the answer to! If you get it right, then I'll know you're telling the truth!"

There was a moment of silence. Bill sighed and calmed down.

"Alright. Whatever makes you believe me." Bill nodded.

"Alright, kiddo! What Pokémon were you most afraid of?"

"Fearow."

Ziggy paused. "Loki would know that too, wouldn't he? Hmm... Alright, then besides Pokémon researching, what do you do to pass time?"

"Play chess or read one of the works by Jules Verne or H.G. Wells. That is, if I'm not on a shift."

"That would be easy to find out too..." Ziggy thought for awhile, narrowed her eyes, and smiled mischieviously. "Alright, kiddo! Here's a tough one surely nobody except Bill knows and that no one else can find the answer to! What's my real name, and how did I get it?"

Bill froze. Ziggy's smile grew wider.

"Zigurat Alpha," Bill finally said softly. "Alpha because you're only the alpha version. I originally intended on making a beta version, but I couldn't bring myself to get rid of you. Zigurat because... That was the name the computer gave itself whenever I played games of chess on it. That inspired me to create you."

Ziggy's smile vanished, and her eyes widened. "You ARE Bill..."

"That's what I've been trying to tell you!" Bill told her with a hint of impatience. "Now, please, Ziggy! I need to get out of here!"

"Wait!" Ziggy closed her eyes for a moment. "Zero's telling me something."

Bill paused to listen.

Ziggy went on. "She says there's only one way to get back into your own body. If you and Loki touch when you both are completely willing to return to your true bodies, then your minds and souls will cross over into the right vessels. Got it?"

Bill nodded. "Thanks, Ziggy."

She smiled and opened the door. "Go get him, Bill."

Bill smirked before turning and running up the stairs and out the door.

~~~

Loki ran for where he had said he'd meet Team Rocket. Everything was going his way. And if the rest of this day went according to plan (which it would because there's no way it could fail), Team Rocket would be in possession of all they needed to know about Warp, and as soon as Loki and Bill had switched back, Bill would have no other choice but to serve Team Rocket. It was perfect.

Suddenly, someone knocked him down. He looked up to see his own face staring at him with a triumphant gaze.

"Hello, Loki. Did you miss me?"

"You!" Loki got up and pushed the other out of the way, attempting to run away again.

Bill dashed forward to block Loki's way. Loki tried to throw a few punches, but missed and was pushed down again.

"Oh, so you still haven't gotten used to being me, have you?" Bill inquired mockingly. "That's too bad. Especially since I've gotten used to being you…"

Loki stood and tried to throw another punch, but still missed.

"Stupid, weak body," he muttered angrily.

Bill grabbed Loki by the wrist, wrenched the box out of his hand, and threw it behind them.

"What I lack in strength, I make up for in intelligence," Bill told him as he closed his eyes. "I believe now would be the time where you give up my body…"

"Not quite…" Loki growled.

"I'll get him for you, Boss!"

Clyde charged out of the forest as Bonnie remained in the bushes, watching. He dove at Loki and tackled him, having seen him attempt to attack Bill (who Clyde thought was Loki, even though he wasn't and… er, never mind*8*). Bill flinched as he watched Clyde beat Loki senseless.

'That will definitely hurt in the morning,' Bill thought. 'Perhaps a few more mornings beyond that as well…'

When Clyde was finished, Bill knelt down and spoke with Loki.

"Now?" he asked.

"Now," Loki agreed.

"Good!"

Bill grabbed Loki by the wrist again and closed his eyes, allowing his consciousness to pass back into his rightful body. He groaned a bit in pain (Hey, his body just had the crap beaten out of it by a burly thug!), but he was able to pull out a PokéBall to summon a Pokémon*9* to protect himself and the documents.

He didn't know what happened next, due to the fact that he blacked out in exhaustion and a few blows to the head.

~~~

"Do you want me to ask?"

"Not really, but go ahead."

"Okay. I will." Ziggy pointed at him. "What the hell happened to you!?"

"Like I said," Bill replied. "When Loki and I shifted back after he found me on my last case, we went to each other's bodies, rather than our own."

"Yeah, that's nice, but I meant what happened to you physically?" Ziggy asked. "You look like you got run over by a traffic jam!"

"Well…" Bill gave her an embarrassed glance. "Let's just say Clyde was just trying to be loyal…"

Ziggy cocked her head. "Ouch. Why didn't you order him to stop?"

"If I hadn't, Loki wouldn't be so eager to get out of my body," Bill replied with a sigh. "Just a few minor injuries, but it's worth it, in my opinion."

"Right..." Ziggy rolled her eyes in sarcasm. "It looks like Clyde performed Riverdance on top of you, and you only walked away with 'a few minor injuries.'"

"They ARE minor. Besides, at least I'm still alive."

"Yeah. You're just in incredible pain."

"Yes, that's true..."

Ziggy rolled her eyes as a period of silence fell between them.

"Hey, I'm sorry for not believing you," Ziggy apologized as she closed her eyes halfway.

"It's alright," Bill replied. "Perfectly understandable."

Ziggy smiled. "At least you're not angry with me."

"Why would I be?" Bill inquired as he searched through the first aid kit on the desk he sat at.

"I don't know," Ziggy replied with a shrug. "Because I didn't trust you, maybe?"

"Ziggy, I was in Loki's body," Bill reminded her. "I can understand why you wouldn't trust me. Besides..." He drew out a roll of cloth bandages from the first aid kit. "I never really become angry at my own friends."

Ziggy didn't reply as she watched Bill slowly begin to wrap his arm with the bandages.

"Do you honestly think that would help?" Ziggy inquired as she narrowed her eyes and put her arms behind her head.

"I only have a few bruises and a sprained wrist," Bill replied. "It's not like my arm is broken."

Another period of silence.

"So I guess you finally failed a mission," Ziggy reminded him softly as she opened her eyes fully.

"Don't remind me," Bill said with a sigh as he stopped wrapping his arm for a moment. "I can't express how sorry I am about that, but I had no choice. I felt as if I were in danger, so I shifted out on instinct."

"Sure, Bill," Ziggy replied with a shrug. "But what did Zero say about failing a shift?"

"She said I'd take a piece of my host with me, whatever that means," Bill answered as he continued to wrap his arm.

"Hmm..." Ziggy sat and thought for a moment. "Well, I've got nothing. Sorry, Bill."

Bill kept himself from shrugging (as even that was painful) and only glanced at Ziggy as he got to the end of the roll.

And as the episode ends, I take you outside where there had been a beautiful, rose sunset sitting on the horizon of the sea which the lighthouse looked out upon. All was still then, and all was quiet.

"KYAAAAAAAAA!!!"

Except for that.

"You're not supposed to pull on it,*10* genius!" Ziggy snapped.

"Accident..." Bill explained simply with a painful groan.

~~~

End episode 7*11*

---
Footnotes:

*1*: I've cut a lot of the shift out because, frankly, it's not important in this week's episode. You get the general idea of what happened during it though, right? *rereads the note, snickers, and starts imitating Uncle from Jackie Chan Adventures* Shift not impoooortant! XD (Sorry. Mai-chan got herself worked up through a fun little session on Furcadia. =D)

*2*: Reference to Sailormoon R. Emerald is a green-haired (come to think of it, green-obsessed) general of the Negamoon with a super-loud and incredibly annoying laugh. On the other hand, she could do pretty nifty things with that red fan of hers... =D (For those of you who took that the wrong way, shame on you!)

*3*: Because I'm tired of saying "host's owner" everytime I'm refering to this anonymous man, I've simplified the phrase into one easy word -- charge(s). So, for future reference, remember that a charge refers to the person who owns the host and is most likely the one a shifter is supposed to help. Unless of course the host is occupied by an Antiwarp shifter, or the situation is like Bill's in the last episode, at which point then it would just be the host's owner. I know. Confusing. I never said this was going to be easy... er, to read. *whacks herself for listening to too many Quantum Leap sound clips*

*4*: I know it's a bit early to be replying to reviews, but in the last episode, Light Sneasel pointed out that it was odd that Mondo could find Bill. I thought about this for a moment and came up with an explanation that might cover this. (Of course, you can also always think of it as a plot hole. Like the one in episode two where Ziggy knows that Bill is afraid of Fearows, though she technically wasn't around when he gained that phobia. I only recently noticed that myself. O_o;) Both Mondo and this Meowth (who is, and I apologize for the spoiler, occupied by a shifter) heard Bill's voice. Now, to normal Pokémon, Bill would sound like the Pokémon he inhabits temporarily (same thing as normal humans), but to other shifters, every watcher (Ziggy and Oracle only, at this moment), and Zero, he keeps his human voice. Why? Don't ask. THAT'S the plot hole.

*5*: Note three doesn't apply when shifters are in human bodies, regardless of whose it is. Why? Because returning to your own species is almost like returning to your own self, so many rules that apply for normal shifting don't apply in this scenario. Confused? Well, it's about time I've lost you in this episode... ^_^; (Gomen!)

*6*: This was actually added in later. The scene could have ended with a little suspense thing going involving just Loki's name, but then I thought, "Hey! Let's make a Quantum Leap reference here!" So I did. And I put in what many people claim to be the most overused line in the series. Hense the "oh boy." =p

*7*: For those of you who don't know, a toady is a submissive follower/flatterer. (And "toadying up to someone" means that you're doing your best to flatter them. Ah, the things you can learn from Princess Maker 2... =D)

*8*: Wow, this whole thing is confusing. Even I'M a bit befuddled... o_o;

*9*: Yes, I'm aware that Bill had said that all of his Pokémon were stolen in the last episode. He was exaggerating. He still has a few Team Rocket hadn't found, but otherwise, most of them are gone.

*10*: She means pull on the end of the bandage after you're done wrapping. The explanation behind this is that Bill was trying to secure the end and ended up pulling on the bandage. Now try that to a sprain. Hurts, doesn't it? (Yes, I've actually done that before. And I'll never do it again. o_o)

*11*: Wow. That was done quick. O_o This took the least time to type up at only four days. (I started it Sunday and finished it Wednesday.) It's a bit fast-paced and a bit confusing (note footnote #8), but I thought it was entertaining, and it was fun to type up. I guess I still have a bit of sadism left over from episode six... ^_^; And by the way, if I had made no sense whatsoever at any point in this episode and/or gotten half of the characters OUT of character, just remember this: I typed most of this episode at night. So sue me. -_-