Franklin Ryan was certain he could hear tapping, but just beneath the veil of slumber it was hard to distinguish whether the noise was originating from his dreams or otherwise. Slowly sitting upright, the man reached out a hand across his bedside cabinet in a bleary-eyed attempt to retrieve his glasses. His fingers clasping around something cold, Franklin raised his arm and consequently smacked himself in the face with the contents of his hand. The object fell into his lap, chattering.

“Wily?” Franklin was quick to hush the tones of his startled voice upon recognition of the noise and the purplish blur within his vision. “What are you doing in here? I’ve told you not to enter my room - Molly will have a fit if she sees you.”

“Sai bly bly” the Pokémon explained hurriedly, waving its arms around as Franklin finally caught hold of his glasses and put them on. “Saible!”

With that final remark Wily leapt from the bed and vanished through the wall. Groaning softly, Franklin turned his head to make sure Molly had not been woken by his Sableye’s exclamations and, upon sight of his wife’s sleeping form, silently swung his legs out from under the covers and into his slippers before shuffling out of the room after the Pokémon.

“This better be good, Wily,” he grumbled, looking from the clock in the hallway to the Sableye’s frantic expression. “It’s 4am in the morning and you know how much I need my sleep”

As if in reply, the Pokémon skittered across the carpet away from Franklin, scaling the ladder at the end of the hallway with incredible ease and passing through the ceiling, out of sight. Franklin raised his eyebrows; such unusual behaviour from Wily was good cause for concern, since the Sableye was usually a very calm one for his species. Ascending through the now-open hatch, the man craned his neck as he surveyed the area of his laboratory.

“Okay… what’s the matter?” he inquired at last. Wily leapt atop one of the nearby computer terminals and pointed a clawed hand firmly downward at the screen below him.

“Bly! Sai-bly!”

Franklin shuffled over to take a closer look at the source of the anxious Pokemon’s gesticulations. Then his mouth dropped wide open.

“Good heavens…” the man stammered. “Those psychic energy readings are way above normal levels, aren’t they?” Wily nodded, while his owner began tapping furiously at the computer keyboard in some effort to try and pinpoint the source.

“It’s no good” he mumbled, displeased after a few minutes passed. “The elevated energy is interfering with my detection equipment.”

“Sai-bly?” the Pokemon looked up expectantly.

“We must keep calm,” Franklin stated with deepest seriousness. “I cannot imagine this boding well, whatever it is. But panicking will do little to help.

Let us prepare ourselves.”

 

***~~***~~***~~***~~***

 

Caley began to smile to himself as he drifted from sleep into consciousness within the confines of the snug quilt cover. The nasty aches of tiredness and psychic trauma from the day before appeared to have passed during the night - his mind was clear of any distressing thought and for the first time since he had left home he felt truly at peace. The trainer may have paused to question the unusual circumstances if he had not been enjoying them so much. For the next few minutes Caley watched the morning sunlight as it danced upon the ceiling above his head…

…then something interrupted the mellow atmosphere. Caley yelped upon hearing the disgruntled growling, tensed his muscles and frantically looked across the room at his companion who was currently veiled in blanket.

Whatever dream Adam is having, he pondered, rubbing at his stomach. It certainly must be a weird one.

The growl was uttered again, and this time Caley managed to put two and two together. He looked down, chuckling sheepishly.

Guess it wasn’t Adam after all, the figure thought, swinging himself out from under the covers in a lively fashion and strolling across the room toward the door. Funny, though… my stomach’s never complained that loudly before. I suppose it’s to be expected after skipping dinner last night.

 

Better go and make up for that, eh?

 

The trainer grinned widely to himself as he walked briskly toward the stairwell. Thankfully Molly had granted her guests free access to the kitchen for breakfast purposes. Rose had made a joking remark soon after that Molly wouldn’t have done so if she had known about the appetites of three particular members of the group. Still, why let such a generous offer go to waste?

Skidding into the kitchen in his excited enthusiasm, Caley searched the nearby cupboards for the breakfast cereals, prepared himself a bowl of Moko Pops with lashings of milk and settled into one of the lounge chairs to consume them.

I could get used to this unworried feeling, the figure thought happily, shovelling a spoonful of partially sodden chocolate chunks into his mouth. No thoughts of success or failure, no concerns over time or what shall happen tomorrow…

…if I didn’t know better I’d swear I had someone else’s brain this mor-

It was at this point Caley had caught sight of his chin-length bluish lavender haired countenance staring back at him from the bottom of the cereal bowl.

 

“AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”

 

Panic flooded into his previously placid thoughts, driving Caley back up the stairs and toward the door of the room he had been staying in as fast as his lengthier legs would carry him. Suddenly this all seemed like a very bad nightmare, and a large part of him was desperately hoping it was.

“Guys! Guys!” Caley spluttered, lunging for the doorknob and wrenching the aperture open. “I don’t know what’s going on… I’m not who I’m meant to be!”

The trainer then caught who he was meant to be, staring with equal horror straight back at him. Both figures let out equally amusingly high-pitched yells, causing the concealed lump in the opposite bed to stir and groan loudly. A moment later a shock of nut brown hair slid its way into view, followed by a very grumpy-looking face decorated with unflattering lines under the eyes.

“What’s your problem?” came the snapped inquiry.

“Somehow… James and I seem to have swapped bodies” Caley uttered a sigh. “But luckily it only seems to have happened to him and me. I’m glad you’re okay, Ad’.”

The aforementioned figure stared down at his bedcovers with one hand to his throat, shoulders twitching as his pupils appeared to contract violently. In one swift unexpected movement Adam left the bed and darted across the room, shoving Caley aside and vanishing through the open doorway. James handed his companion a puzzled look but Caley was too occupied with his concern to take note. Instead he had chased Adam down the hallway, prompting James to make a curious pursuit. What he discovered soon after was a room full of the deepest consternation. Jessie was perched on the edge of her bed, her face considerably paled as Adam looked on almost accusingly. Caley in James’ body uttered a dispirited moan, aiming his glance at the magenta-haired woman for a moment.

“You’re Adam, aren’t you?” he spoke finally.

“I’m…scarred for life” came the shaken reply.

“What the hell is going on?” Jessie-in-Adam’s-body yelled. “Why have I suddenly been turned into a twerp?”

“Hey!” Adam-in-Jessie’s-body exclaimed, conveniently forgetting all about his dilemma. “Who are you calling twerp?”

“This isn’t just an isolated situation, Jess,” James remarked, rubbing at his head as a result of the rising ache that was culminating there. “Caley and I have somehow swapped bodies too. I’m getting the feeling this is the work of that Sableye.”

“If it is I won’t be hesitating to give it a good talking to…” Jessie grunted. “…with my knuckles.”

“That Sableye couldn’t possibly be responsible,” Caley shook his head. “Energy-based structures of Ghost Pokémon don’t allow them to displace consciousnesses in such a fashion.” The trainer stopped and looked quite baffled for a moment as the others gave him surprised looks. “Now however did I know that?”

“Being in eachother’s bodies must be giving us subconscious access to eachother’s knowledge” James relayed helpfully. “Wonder if that works for other areas too?”

“I would believe so” Caley nodded, recalling the unreasoned carefreeness he had experienced earlier.

“This is no time for debates!” Adam spluttered. “How do we fix this messed up situation?”

Just then another high-pitched screech was heard from the next room, causing Caley and Adam to immediately swing round in response. Without a word between them the two figures exited hurriedly, both dashing down the hallway, scrambling for the handle and falling over each other as the door swung open. There, sat blubbering in the centre of the floor was an extremely ruffled looking Meowth.

“Nyaaa! The mutation’s come undone!” it wailed, in a tone strongly tinged with the feline nuances of a voice box struggling to manage such speech.

“Errol? Is that you?” James inquired, peering out from behind Caley’s shoulder as Jessie attempted to see into the room via any gap possible.

“Just about” came the dispirited reply. “Nyaw...this is so upsetting.”

“Where’s Denise?” Adam cut in with a frown.

“Myna, how should I know?” the Pokemon muttered irritably, playing with its tail. “I’ve been in the same room as Jessie and James!”

The figures in the doorway exchanged slightly weary looks before Jessie forwarded the likely explanation.

 “I seriously doubt you being a Meowth has anything to do with any mutation reversing itself,” she told Errol. He responded by furrowing his brow and folding his arms.

“Nyu? What makes you so sure, kid?”

“Have you listened to yourself lately?” Jessie persisted, ignoring the ‘kid’ remark. “Your voice is unusually high, wouldn’t you think?”

“Yeah…” Errol murmured. “But I just figured it was because my voice box got all mangled in the reversal, nyaw.”

“Try to be realistic, will you?” Caley groaned. “You’re not speaking high pitched because of any kind of damage to your larynx. It’s because you’re in another body.”

Errol’s face became saturated with an expression that looked like he would have laughed, if he hadn’t been so utterly infuriated about the disbelief of those around him.

“Nyaa! That’s a fine thing for you to say, Jimmy!” he exclaimed, causing James in Caley’s body to look rather taken aback at the fact he was getting blamed for something he never uttered. “Telling me to be realistic and then saying I’m not in my own body.”

“Hate to break it to you, but neither are we,” Jessie remarked dryly. Errol’s jaw dropped.

“What? You gotta be kidding me…”

Jessie didn’t even have to open her mouth in reply - the look on her face spoke volumes. It was the kind of look that could have frozen a Vigoroth in its tracks - one that said plainly and simply, ‘do I, trapped in the body of a temperamental pubescent rookie-twerp, look like I’m kidding around here?’. Errol took the hint, and thus tried to find somewhere else to cast his view.

“Nyuu… isn’t there something you can do to fix this, Caley?” he spoke up with a slight whine in his voice. James helpfully redirected the Pokemon’s gaze, while Caley-in-James’-body shook his head sadly.

“I don’t have access to my abilities while I’m like this. So unless James suddenly works out how to use them (and I’d prefer he didn’t try, just in case something worse happens) we’re going to be stuck in eachother’s bodies for a while.”

“Peachy,” Adam commented with the deepest sarcasm.

 

***~~***~~***~~***~~***

 

Back in the lounge, the atmosphere was a far more relaxed and unrestrained one. Jake had been chuckling profusely to himself from the confines of his easy chair for the past few minutes, as Triply-in-Cory’s-body sat on the opposite side of the room looking most confused. The unfortunate Pokémon had no idea how to keep the human shape it was previously in, and as a result had become an amusing mixture of shapes Cory had memorized. Medium sized Kenjoko-like wings sprouted forth from a tan-coloured shell upon his back while a long thin tail with a light blue bauble at its tip waved around uncertainly from behind.

“What a spectacle!” Jake guffawed, finally collapsing into a coughing fit as a fire extinguisher hose suddenly made itself present upon Triply’s chin like some ridiculous snaky beard. Rose-in-Triply’s-body couldn’t help breaking into giggling herself, and the result was quite infectious. Soon the entire room’s occupants were rife with hilarity - even Triply, though it wasn’t particularly sure what it was laughing about.

As the amusement died down into particularly wide smiles and a gentle chatter, Joseph turned to Cory-in-Denise’s-body with a rather admiring look in his eyes.

“You’re taking this rather well, I must admit” he remarked.

“I'm a shapeshifter, I'm used to looking like someone else,” Cory told him, leaning back and putting his hands behind his head. "Besides, we’ve all been through some strange situations. This doesn’t really rate particularly high on the ‘wack factor’ scale.”

“So you’re not concerned?” Joseph inquired, raising his eyebrows. “That this might be… y’know… permanent?”

“Nah. It ain’t the first time I’ve been displaced from my body” Cory chuckled. “Caley was the one who helped me back into it that time. It could well be his abilities that have caused this situation to befall us.”

“Abilities?” Jake echoed, leaning forward from his sitting position in deepest curiosity. Denise gave a nod.

“Yeah. Psychic abilities… ones that, though he’s managed to get under control for the most part, can still become unpredictable.”

“Especially when bombarded by jolts of electricity,” Cory muttered, glowering very accusingly at Jake at this point. The aged figure looked quite alarmed for a split second, before his shock became a guilty defiance.

“Hey, no one ever told me about that guy having any psychic power” he snapped. “If they had I wouldn’t have tried anything on”

“Ignorance is not an excuse,” Cory remarked haughtily.

“Nya, depends who you are” came an amused voice, causing everyone within the lounge to look across the room. Errol-in-Sia’s-body stood in the centre of the doorway, a mischievous smirk upon his face. “In some people’s cases, it’s their only excuse, myaw.”

“So…” Adam grunted, shoving Errol rudely out of the way as he entered.

“Who’s who in here?”

“From what I’ve gathered…” Denise relayed. “Rilly is Kota, Sia is Cyzel, Triply is Cory, Kota is Rilly, Rose is Triply, Cyzel is Errol, Cory is me and I’m Rose. I’m guessing the same thing happened to you too?”

“Sadly, yes,” came the dry reply, as James winced from trying to remember the identities of everyone shuffled. “She’s got my body, the blue-haired bozo ended up with Caley’s and the ex-Meowth got reinstated. Go figure.”

These descriptions caused a tremulous fury within the trio of countenances standing behind Adam, while the latter fell deathly silent. He had recognized the expression of definite concern upon Denise’s face over a certain trainer’s whereabouts and as such, his stomach had begun to churn. He couldn’t quite pinpoint why, but all of a sudden he was also feeling angered. It wasn’t a comfortable position to be in.

“Caley’s stayed upstairs” James explained, noting Denise expression and making use of the quietude. “I think he must have had a brainwave.”

“Which is certainly quite a feat in your body,” Jessie mused, with a smirk.

“Don’t make me thump you,” James muttered. “It’s all the more tempting when you look like that.”

Errol groaned as the exchange of insults between his companions rapidly deteriorated into yet another of their trademark arguments, but it wasn’t to last long. Rilly (who never enjoyed conflicts of any kind) shut its eyes, uttered a cry of anguish and suddenly became surrounded in a blue aura. Jessie and James were promptly silenced, their mouths tightly shut by the effects of unintentional telekinesis.

 

“For once, consequence worked in our favour” Denise simpered as her Aquarill looked on, rather sheepishly.

 

“So it was as I had feared,” Caley sighed brokenly, casting his eyes over the printout of the information that Franklin had gathered earlier in the day. “It was my abilities that caused me and my friends to end up in eachother’s bodies.”

“What a predicament,” Franklin commented, taking a sip from his mug of tea and watching Wily attend to one of the nearby machines. “But nonetheless, a most remarkable one. For you, a human being, to have a power akin to that of Pokemon. And with such intensity, no less. The level of psychic waves I was detecting were on par with those of an Alazakam, maybe higher.”

“And yet I seem to have little success with keeping them under my control,” Caley muttered. Franklin gazed back at the disgruntled figure, smiled and gave a slight shake of the head.

“How long have you known of these abilities, Caley?”

“Only a few months” the trainer replied, with some hesitation. “But-“

“Exactly” Franklin cut in. “You’re expecting too much of yourself. People with great skills, like Pokémon, need time to hone them. I think you’ve done marvellously well, especially considering the circumstances you have been through.”

Caley couldn’t help but smile over this adulation but his expression quickly altered as a loud beeping filled the air. Wily erupted into a cluster of frantic chattering, dancing across the top of the console and causing Franklin to run over to the other side of the room.

“Oh dear dear..” he stammered, staring down at the screen as Caley approached out of interest. A moment later the trainer found himself staggering to the side as Franklin swung round and headed briskly past him toward the exit hatch. Wily dutifully followed and Caley decided to do the same; just because he had no idea what was going on as yet, there was no reason why he couldn’t pursue the one who did and find out.

 

***~~***~~***~~***~~***

 

“A what?” Jake exclaimed in horrified tones as he stared up at his father standing solemnly by the lounge doorway.

“A Dusclops,” Franklin repeated. “The system picked up its powerful Ghost-type energy signature a mile to the south.“

This piece of news brought a mixed reaction upon the group. Caley listened as his companions chattered warily amongst themselves while Joseph glowered into nothingness and Jake pressed his withered hands against the glass of the window near his chair and stared anxiously out at the green expanse beyond.

“Wasn’t it a Dusclops you said that Team Rocket member owned?” Denise inquired.

“Yes," Franklin nodded with a deep sigh, as Molly approached Jake and carefully wrapped her arms around the violently shaking figure. “And that’s the entire reason for our apprehension. If it is that very same Dusclops that took its trainer’s fury out upon poor Jacob, then the trainer can’t be far behind. I calculated he would be here in less than ten minutes.”

“He must have come for us,” James remarked in lowered tones, while Triply scratched its head ponderously. “What irony that he should be heading exactly into your path.”

“How I have waited for this moment,” Joseph spoke acridly. “To finally come face to face with the heartless piece of scum that destroyed my brother’s life, to show him that same pain that I felt back then.”

Molly did not say a word, but the look on her face made it clear that she didn’t approve to this kind of revenge system. Still, justice or none their property had to be defended, especially if those approaching really did happen to be members of Team Rocket. The woman released Jake from her warm embrace and stood up slowly.

“I’ll go get my Pokémon,” she said, before walking past Franklin and going back upstairs. Joseph waited until Molly was out of earshot, before turning to his father with a deeply stern expression.

“I don’t want either of you two get involved with this guy,” he spoke protectively. “At least I got a better chance of surviving if what happened to Jake is repeated.” Joseph noticed Franklin’s concerned expression at this point. “Don’t worry about me, dad. I’ve been training for five years now; it’s about time I stood up for my family and show just what me and my Pokémon are made of. I want to battle this guy alone.”

“In that case…” Cory began, getting up from the sofa and wandering across toward Cyzel. “At least let me give you something that may assist you in achieving that.”

With those words, Cory motioned to Cyzel to lift his arms. As he did so, Cory moved forward and searched through the figure’s pockets until he brought out a small shiny red object, not much bigger than a jewellery box that one would use to keep a ring in.

“Errol told me it’s a Technical Machine,” he said. “A device that is capable of transferring knowledge of new skills to certain Pokémon who are capable of learning them. It was given to me as a reward by a police officer in Kalnya, but no matter whom we tried it on neither me nor any of my Pokémon companions here are compatible with it.”

Joseph looked studied as he turned the case over and over in his hands. He seemed to be hunting for something.

“How weird,” came the remark after a minute or two of silence. “There’s no number or registration code of any kind to tell me what ability this TM contains.”

“I believe it is Mirror Coat,” Cory told him. “Denise is very technologically adept and she spent some time studying the markings on the underside that are imprinted for documentation purposes. She guessed that because this particular skill is so rare in TM form it hasn’t even been designated a number yet.”

“Well I don’t know if it will be compatible with any of my Pokémon,” Joseph shrugged, reaching for his belt. “But there’s only one way to find out.

 

Come on out, Tyg, Donni, Tips!”

 

A moment later a Persian, a Calagtite and a Skitty were all poised expectantly in front of their trainer. Joseph leant forward a little, letting his fingers hover carefully over the release buttons either side of the TM container.

“Now one of you could well have the privilege of learning a new move today,” he explained, as Tips stared at the object in Joseph’s hands with shiny eyes. “Which of you is going to be the first to see if you can handle it?”

Tyg took a sideward glance at the excitedly bouncing Skitty and decided it was hardly a good idea to let the guy loose in a decisive battle with a new ability. With that thought in mind, he stepped forward causing Tips to look rather forlorn. Joseph chuckled at this, before placing the open halves of the container either side of his Persian’s ears. Nothing happened.

“Doesn’t look like you’re compatible with Mirror Coat, Tyg,” Joseph remarked, as the cream coloured Pokémon slunk back in disappointment. “Who’s next?”

Donni’s face erupted into a knowledgeable smirk as Tips began bouncing furiously once again. Gently, he used his tail to push the stunted red form toward Joseph who repeated the process he had used with Tyg beforehand. And still nothing happened.

“Sorry, Tips. No prize for you this time” Joseph shrugged. The Skitty let out a little whine while its ice blue companion patted it on the top of the head consolingly. “Okay Donni, you’re up.”

Calmly the figure wandered forward and presented itself before Joseph. The trainer opened up the TM container one more time and lowering it across the Calagtite’s ears. The remaining figures in the room watched in awe as all at once the innards of the container began to glow. Donni closed his eyes and inhaled slowly as the aura surrounded his head for a moment before vanishing instantaneously.

“Congratulations,” Joseph remarked, withdrawing his hands before connecting the TM container halves back together. “Looks like you’re the new owner of a Mirror Coat.”

“Rowrr,” Donni grinned, a look of satisfaction on his face. But it was to be short-lived. Adam cried out in alarm as a thunderous sound from outside caused the floor to shake under his feet and the very foundations of the building to tremble. Outside the window, a felled shaft of steel now lay amongst the immense cloud of dust that its impact had created.

“My observation mast!” Franklin spluttered in horror, shuffling toward the stairwell. Caley and his companions had backed away from view now, with Jake rapidly pulling himself out of sight below the windowsill.

“Whoever this guy is that we’re dealing with…” James remarked, peering over the top of one of the armchairs. “He’s certainly packing a lot of firepower. We’d better leave.”

“We can’t leave!” Denise exclaimed. “Look at us! Not only are we a mess but we’re defenceless too.”

“Nya..she’s got a point” Errol gave a nod. “The Pokémon aren’t in any condition to fight; they wouldn’t know any of the attacks assigned to the bodies they’re in.”

“Except by accident” Adam smirked, recalling Rilly’s unintentional psychic Jessie and James mouth-shutting episode.

“Well, what do you think?” Cory inquired, glancing in Caley’s direction. The latter figure’s brow was deeply furrowed in thought.

“Until we’re back to normal, we ought to stay here. That’s what I think,” Jessie muttered, still most unhappy with the body she was in.

“Oh sure, sit in the line of fire… that sounds like a marvellous idea,” Adam remarked with gushing sarcasm. “Got any other gems you wish to share with us?”

 “You better watch your mouth, brat” Jessie growled icily, beginning to advance.

 

“Or I’ll-“

 

A noise like nails over glass caused the figures within the room to fall silent and look up toward the front of the house. The windows and doors were now coated with a thick layer of ice, preventing any kind of exit without some considerable force.

“I guess he really meant it when he said he wanted to do this battle alone,” Jake murmured, with a note of shaky admiration. Franklin ran to the window, his eyes creasing up at the corners with anguish as he struggled to see through the glistening frozen wall. Sure enough, his fears were confirmed. Standing firmly beyond the shield of ice was his youngest son, accompanied by his three feline Pokemon, prepared for the onslaught.

 

“JOSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPH!”

 

The youth turned his head slightly as his father’s desperate yell coursed through the icy glaze and reached his ears. He understood Franklin’s concern for his safety; after all, seeing what happened to Jake was bound to have shaken him greatly. It had shaken Joseph too, but now was not the time to be afraid. Now he had to be strong.

“Show yourself!” Joseph bellowed, his expectant glare aimed firmly toward the central portion of the cloud. The dust had already begun to thin; soon the outlines of five approaching countenances could be seen striding forcefully toward the house.

“How threatening,” a darkly calm and somewhat disinterested voice echoed from amongst the cloud. Joseph and his companions looked on as a Machoke drew into sight, cracking its knuckles and wearing a sickly grin upon its succinct features. It was followed by a particularly mean looking Raichu and a Persian whose creamy fur was adorned with copper coloured patches. Lastly the speaker made himself present, emerging from the cloud like a survivor amidst a previously torrid battle.

He wore a red band around his shock of oak brown hair; part of which curved neatly down the left hand side of his bearded face in what looked to be an unplanned fringe of sorts. A brown leather jacket was slung across his shoulders, leaving his deeply scarred arms visible for Joseph to see. With a wave of his hand, the man drew the entire group to a standstill before raising his head and letting his cold blue eyes make contact with those of his opposition.

“Now I haven’t got all day…” the figure remarked bluntly, the unusually large Dusclops keeping closely to his side. “So if you cease your fruitless efforts and hand the exiles over to me without a fuss, I might consider sparing your property.”

“Never,” Joseph snapped, while Tips growled at the Raichu. “Unlike you, I actually have a regard for human life!”

“Except your own, it seems,” the man snorted, somewhat amused. “Do you even know who you are talking to? I am Orren Cathal, the highest ranking Team Rocket special agent there is.”

“And your motives are despicable,” Joseph said frostily. “At least I wouldn’t order my Pokemon to kill my opposition!”

The Persian looked up from washing its blood-stained paws as if to say ‘Who, me?’, while Orren simply uttered a hearty laugh at what he considered to be a naïve exclamation.

“Fair play doesn’t exist in our book, kid” he smirked. “We play to win. Ria, Ray, Scry? Keep the novice busy.

 

Krunk, open the door”

 

The resulting force of the fighting Pokemon’s charge sent shards of ice and glass flying in all directions as he penetrated the frozen barricade and forced his way through the window and into the lounge. Molly screamed and ran toward the hallway as the remainder of the figures were thrown backward from the blast, struggling to get to their feet once more and follow the woman out of sight. Orren peered into the gaping hole Krunk had left behind and cast his satisfied eyes over the debris within. Then his view settled upon Jake, and the previously neutral status of his mouth broke into a slimy smile.

“Well well…” Orren remarked, watching the figure quaking under his gaze. “If it isn’t that smart-mouth trainer I battled outside Mauville. You’ve certainly changed your tune since we last met. I guess wisdom really does come with age.”

He turned his head casually toward Joseph, who was deeply engrossed in battle with his Persian and Raichu.

“Wisdom is something your brother needs to learn. It takes a wise man to know when he’s outclassed. You learnt that the hard way”

“You shouldn’t have come here” Franklin spoke icily, Wily snarling from his shoulder. Orren raised an eyebrow before reassuming his collected poise.

“If you had any ounce of sense, then you wouldn’t be getting involved in matters that don’t have anything to do with you” he stated.

“This has everything to do with us!” Franklin yelled. “Not only did you destroy my son’s life but now you seek to tear apart our fragile society as we know it!”

“Society is confining, and full of puffed up ignorance,” Orren spat. It seemed Franklin’s defiance was at last beginning to irritate the man. “People like you make me sick.”

“My sentiments exactly,” Franklin replied, eyes narrowing. In a split second he found himself dragged up into the air as Krunk clasped a massive hand around the figure’s neck. Jake was frozen to the spot in his state of terror but Wily took it upon himself to leap at the fighting Pokémon, bombarding him with a blast of dark energy and causing him to drop Franklin to the floor in the process. Wily found himself flying through the air soon after as Krunk’s massive fist made impact with the side of its body.

“Well I must admit I’m impressed,” Orren commented, a little calmer than before, as he stared down at Franklin’s groaning form. “You certainly have quite a talent to annoy, to be able to get under my skin like you did. It takes a lot to be able to do that… maybe I’ll make a suggestion they use your DNA for a Rouba morph once I’ve finished with you. But not before.

I wouldn’t want to miss out on any enjoyment I’d get from listening to you scream.”

 

***~~***~~***~~***~~***

 

            “Everyone okay?”

 

In the partial darkness of the basement, shaken and bruised figures sat and listened to the sounds of relentless combat above their heads. James continued to nurse his cheek after accidentally mistaking Adam for Jessie and receiving harsh retaliation in exchange for his attempted comfort. Adam had taken to grumbling on top of a washing machine next to Cyzel in the opposite corner of the room while Errol and Cory exchanged weary expressions and Jessie held Triply tight, partially to calm it down but mostly to stop its terrible wailing. Rose sat beside Denise as she comforted Rilly also, her gaze passing over Caley’s deeply thoughtful face as he paced the room.

“As okay as you can be when some psychotic weirdo is trying to drag you back to hell,” Adam snorted. It was clear that out of all the travellers, he was the one finding it the hardest to handle this unforeseen circumstance.

“It sure was lucky Molly was able to show us down here before she went back to help the others,” Denise remarked.

“Are you kidding?” Adam snapped, turning on her. “Now we’re trapped like Rattata in a cage, all ready for that creep to waltz down here and-“

“Adam!” came the communal protest. “Will you quit with the pessimism already?”

“Least I’m being realistic,” the figure muttered under his breath, before falling silent. Errol turned to the others, folding his arms.

“Nya, so we got ourselves extra time to figure some way out of this,” he remarked. “Anyone got any bright ideas?”

“If I could just get back into my own body, then maybe I could undo the mess that I put us all in…” Caley pondered. “Then we could defend ourselves against that Team Rocket agent. But I’d need some kind of other psychic influence to be able to return to normal, and Kota is out of the question…”

The trainer uttered a heavy sigh, sinking into his own thoughts for a moment.

“It’s times like this I wish that Jigglypuff that used to follow the twerps around would appear,” he remarked. “At least with its ironic timing, we may have had a chance of getting out of here in one piece.”

Suddenly James sat bolt upright, the light of excited discovery present in his eyes once again.

“That’s it!” he exclaimed.

“What’s it?” Caley inquired, feeling rather baffled over yet again recalling events that he’d never experienced.

“Jipu has psychic abilities,” James told him. “And since she wasn’t out at the time when yours ran haywire she’ll still be in her own body!”

Suddenly the realisation began to dawn on Caley also.

 “Of course!” he cried. “All we got to do now is get her to focus her sleep waves on as small an area as possible and once I find myself again I can finish the job and get you guys back to normal too. It’s flawless!”

“Actually…” Denise spoke up with reluctance. “There’s one itsy bitsy problem with that idea. The Pokéballs… they’re upstairs in your bag.”

Caley groaned, and slide down a nearby wall, his hopes swiftly crushed.

“Well that’s torn it” he sighed. “Going back upstairs to fetch them would be far too noticeable.”

Rose looked up, before skittering across the room and tapping the trainer upon the knee. She then raised one stubby arm toward the wall, and a metallic opening that had been built into it.

“Trip, Triply trip leee” she suggested. Errol gave a nod.

“She’s got a point (myaw). How’s about we help Rose up that laundry chute (nyuu) and then she can fetch Jipu’s Pokéball back for you?”

“Okay!” Caley grinned, somewhat more lively than could have usually been expected of him.

 

“And I’ve know of just the thing to give you that extra lift.”

 

There was a swift rattle as a cream striped shape tumbled from under the laundry hatch and onto the carpet, having been rather unceremoniously boosted up the passage by Jessie with the use of a broom. Taking a moment to compose herself and regain her bearings, Rose quickly bolted down the hallway she was certain led to the room that Caley had been sleeping in earlier. Then something caused her to screech to a halt just beside the door before cautiously peeking round the frame. She was certain she had heard movement from within the room, and surely enough her suspicions were confirmed when her eyes lit upon two human figures standing in front of the open window. One was about 6ft 2” in height and bore a forelock of smooth cinnamon coloured hair that reached down to his chin. The other was two foot shorter and sported messy reddish hair, but despite the drastic size difference showed no timidity whatsoever toward her associate.

“What excellent timing, I must say” the man smirked to himself, consulting the watch on his wrist like he needed some extra confirmation. “With the owners of this place duly occupied by that oaf Cathal’s petty grudge match, I can just slip in and gather the spoils. Marc Bristo, you never cease to astound me.”

Rose lowered herself toward the ground as she continued listening. She wasn’t certain who these figures were but instinct rightly told her they were far from good. Especially if they knew the Team Rocket operative engaged in battle outside.

“Well if you quite finished talking to your ego..” the female grunted. Marc looked up, his face a mixture of surprise and embarrassment.

“Of course, Ruka,” he replied, uttering a nervous cough. “I believe the observatory is in the east wing. We don’t have much time… knowing Orren, if he finds out what we’re about to salvage then no doubt he’ll snatch it and take the credit that rightfully belongs to us.”

“I’d like to see him try,” Ruka snorted, cracking her knuckles and causing Marc to wince.

“Now now,” he said, a hint of panic in his voice. “Best not to risk what we can avoid, eh? I’d prefer the equipment to the injury.”

Marc shuffled away toward the door, causing Rose to bolt out of sight and into the next room. Ruka followed him, her arms placed nonchalantly behind her head. Rose peered back into the hallway yet again, an anxious look on her face. Her conscience was nagging at her again; was she to apprehend these petty thieves now, or release Jipu and deal with them later? The figure decided on the second option, since she was in hardly in any condition to collar any wrongdoers.

Making sure that both Ruka and Marc were duly occupied, Rose slipped from her point of concealment and entered the room in which Caley’s bag lay. It had been partially concealed beneath the bed he had been sleeping in, which was fortunate, as either of the two thieves could have easily salvaged the bag’s powerful contents had it been more visible.

Pulling out the yellow coloured receptacle, Rose reached for the zip that kept the main compartment sealed and attempted to slide it across without causing too much noise. But the stubby cream coloured paws she had currently been left with weren’t making a good job of moving the zip in any way whatsoever. Rose struggled to contain her own irritation which was fast being amplified by the primal spirits of her Triply body. She wasn’t able to divert her concentration between opening the satchel and keeping the anger at bay, however, and the latter took her by surprise.

Ruka started as her ears picked up the reverberations of a feline snarl rapidly followed by the sound of tearing fabric. Leaving Marc to continue his search of the ceiling for the location of the observatory hatch she carefully made her way back down the passage toward the where she was certain the noise had come from. Surely enough, as the redhead entered the doorway her eyes lit upon the two Pokémon standing amidst a scattering of shiny spherical objects. The first was purple with a blue swirl upon its belly and looked to be about 4ft in height, with facial features mostly akin to that of a Jigglypuff. Its mouth, however, bore more similarity to that of a Wobbuffet and was currently downturned in the sourest manner possible. The smaller cream coloured feline with a lengthy mane of magenta coloured hair happened to be the victim of this doom-laden expression, and it didn’t seem too comfortable about the whole thing.

You ruined Caley’s bag! Jipu snapped telepathically, unaware that they were being watched. Rose, on the other hand, was perfectly conscious of her audience. He’s going to be so mad at you, you mangy furball!

<Believe me, we have far more important things to be concerned about right now> Rose replied hurriedly, trying to will Jipu to look round by use of subtle eye movements. But the hint just wasn’t strong enough. The Pokemon uttered a sharp gasp as she was picked up by the scruff of the neck and swivelled round to face Ruka’s cold blue-eyed gaze.

“Well well. What have we here?  Genetic Pokemon, Jipu.”

She paused her sentence to raise her free arm and counter Rose’s attempted tackle as easily as one might swat a fly. The figure hit the wall on the opposite side of the room and slid down it, temporarily dazed.

“Now what type of Pokemon trainer could possibly capture something this powerful?” Ruka pondered, Jipu shuddering in her grip. “One learned in the workings of Team Rocket technology, no doubt.”

A dark smile spread across the youth’s face as she clenched her right fist and brought it high above her head.

“I do believe…” she remarked.

 

“That I’m about to hit the exile jackpot.”

 

It was at this point that Jipu opened her mouth and uttered a shrill burst of sound directly into Ruka’s face. The figure staggered backwards, violently disorientated as the bedroom window and mirror shattered from the sheer pitch of the emission. Not wishing to waste a moment, Jipu followed this aural bombardment with a flurry of impacts to her assailant’s cheeks. Ruka yelped and, landing upon her rear in the doorway, took to clutching at her face.

“What was that for?” she exclaimed. Then her eyes widened as she took in the sight of the angered purple form before her.

What have you done with Caley? Jipu yelled psychically, causing the adolescent to wince as the Pokémon's voice forced its way into her mind. If you’ve hurt even a hair on his head ill-

The Pokémon fell silent as Ruka placed a hand over its mouth. It was the only thing the figure could think of to silence Jipu, despite it communicating telepathically. A screech soon followed as Jipu retaliated with its sharp teeth.

“Jipu, stop this and listen to me!” came the woman’s exasperated protest.

No! the Pokémon stomped its foot on Ruka’s boot with a force sharp enough to cause her to yell out yet again. I demand to see Caley this instant!

“I am Caley!” the figure exclaimed, hands raised to defend yet another possible assault. But Jipu simply fell back, eyes wide and puzzled. The eyes of the two countenances met once more as an unusual silence ensued.

You do look different somehow, Jipu concluded slowly. You feel different too, now. But why…

“Why am I in this body?” Caley spoke up, finishing the Pokemon’s inquiry. “There was an incident last night…my own powers got out of control while I was sleeping and this morning, we all awoke to find that we weren’t ourselves any more.”

Jipu’s previously guilty expression at the hurt she had caused her past saviour quickly shifted to anger yet again. She turned away from Caley-in-Ruka’s body, arms folded.

Well being in someone else’s body was no excuse to come in here and attack Triply, came the moody remark. Caley groaned heavily at this unexpected wasting of time.

“I wasn’t in control of this body before” he explained. “That sound you just made must have caused me to switch from the body I had been in control in to- WHAT?”

The statement Jipu had made a few seconds ago about attacking Triply had just sank into Caley’s mind. He quickly strode over toward the shards of the mirror that were strewn across the bed he had been sleeping in and peered down into them. A messy red-haired female countenance dressed in a black thermal all-in-one outfit stared back up at him, causing the trainer to pale rapidly at the sight.

“Oh no… not her!”

You know this human? Jipu asked, picking up Triply’s semi-dazed body and carrying it out as she trailed Caley.

“Sadly, yes” the figure replied. “Her name’s Ruka and I met her in Owstonville during an unfortunate gender-swap situation. Because of our altered appearances she never recognized us as the exiles Team Rocket was searching for, but Denise had the misfortune of being on the wrong end of her brutality.”

Caley wandered over toward the window, carefully making his way through the fragments of glass before peering out of the opening at the ground below. The figures upon the grass were all still engaged in relentless battling; it seemed that the waves Jipu uttered had not managed to reach them.

“This is not good,” the trainer remarked shakily, unaware of the tall cinnamon-haired figure descending from the hole in the ceiling behind him.

“Now Ruka’s downstairs amongst my friends, and they don’t even realise it. They’re all in grave danger!

 

We must get down there as fast as possible…”

 

There ensued a loud cry as Jipu dropped her cargo to the ground and flung herself past Caley and at the man about to strike. Both Pokémon and human scrabbled across the carpet while Triply struggled to its feet in a daze.

“Get off, you stupid thing!” came the annoyed exclamation. “That girl is not a friend! Don’t you see the uniform? They’re from the same place that’s trying to destroy us all!”

Jipu paused in mid Doubleslap attack and looked firmly at her target who was currently shaking from a mixture of anger and pain. Finally, she turned her gaze toward Caley who had been watching this escapade with much puzzlement.

It is the emotionally retentive cynical one that is speaking, is it not? she concluded.

“Yep, sounds like Adam to me” Caley replied, finding it hard to resist a good chuckle over this definition of his younger companion. “Sorry you had to get caught up in the swap, buddy.”

“Oh it’s no trouble” Adam-in-Marc’s-body remarked sarcastically, finally realising who he was really talking to. “I’ve always loved a good game of psychic mind roulette.”

We shall have to do this again sometime then! Jipu smiled cheerily, innocent to the acrimony. But now isn’t the time for games…

Caley needs to get back in his body, and fast!

 

***~~***~~***~~***~~***

 

Outside the house the fight raged onward. Orren stood at a distance, casting his eyes over Joseph and Franklin’s perspiring faces with their anxious but deeply determined expressions as they frantically barked orders. His vision moved onward, passing across Molly who was defiantly standing over Jake while her Sunflora held a Light Screen over them both. He then diverted his gaze from one pair of battling figures to the next; Tyg and Ria clashed in a flurry of claws, spattering blood across the trampled grass. Tips and Ray were caught in a conflict of speed versus power; the latter whipping its lengthy tail from left to right as it tried and gouge the pointed end into the body of its swiftly dodging opponent. Wily continued to baffle Krunk by phasing out every time the Machoke threw a punch, causing the monstrous creature’s fists to pass straight through him, resulting in a volley of infuriated bellowing. And Donni had confronted Scry without hesitation, firing chilled blasts of air in the Dusclops’ direction in the hopes that the resulting temperature drop would cause the creature to become sluggish.

“When hope of victory is all you have…” Orren murmured to himself impassively. “What happens when that hope is crushed?”

His emotionless face suddenly broke into a dark, unsettling smile at this point.

“Let’s find out, shall we?

 

Scry… Earthquake, NOW!”

 

The Dusclops thrust its foot downward, causing a thunderous tremor to reverberate across the ground. Jake felt the blast hit him like a charging Ursaring, throwing him into the air amongst a thick cloud of dust littered with clumps of mud. He heard his mother’s scream followed by the sounds of shattering glass, as she too was caught up in the violent strike of retaliation. Then agony coursed through his body as the floor returned to meet him head on.

Resurfacing into consciousness, Jake began to wince as peals of callous laughter pestered at his ears. Orren stood, proud and relatively unscathed amongst the debris of his apparent triumph, Scry poised threateningly at his side like a portent of oblivion. Allies and opposition littered the ground before them, wounded, stilled and some barely breathing. Jake managed to shakily lift his head and take all this in, his mouth dropping open as he caught sight of his mother lying out cold amongst the broken pottery and transparent shards of the greenhouse.

“Entertaining!” Orren began to clap slowly and sarcastically. “But pathetic, nonetheless. Nothing more than a circus sideshow.”

Tears of anger welled up in Jake’s eyes. All that battling had simply been for Orren’s own sick entertainment. He hadn’t even cared that his own Pokémon had been in direct line of his eventual planned assault. He felt his body beginning to shake with the deepest fury; this had to stop. Orren caught sight of the shuddering figure in the corner of his vision and turned swiftly, causing Jake to flinch instinctively.

“I gotta hand it to you,” he chuckled, removing his glasses to wipe off the layer of dust that had culminated there. “You’re a hardy old fossil when it comes down to it. Pity you’re so soft on the inside…just like your brother; he’d have made a fine commander had he owned an ounce of sense.

 

Still… at least he’ll make a good meal for Scry.”

 

In that very moment Jake felt his lungs erupt in the loudest roar he had ever heard himself utter. The adrenaline charged his battered figure with energy, his withered hand grasping a Pokeball from his waist and flinging it before him.

“Jumbo! Psychic!”

“Claaaaai!” the Claydol cried loudly. He could feel his owner’s intense anger - the stone-faced Pokémon knew just how deeply Jake wanted to protect his brother. There was no way he was ever going to let Joseph suffer from the same fate that befell him.

Scry wailed as it was engulfed in a blue aura, causing it to release its unconscious prey. Orren’s face began to darken steadily - it seemed that at long last he was no longer able to stand at the sidelines and witness such foolish heroics. With a snarl he dashed toward Jake, thrusting his fist directly into the aged man’s stomach. Sensing his owner’s discomfort Jumbo whirled around, ready to administer support only to collapse forward in pain as a Shadow Ball hit it in the back.

“Your Pokemon are as spineless are you are!” Orren sneered; bringing Jake’s violently coughing form to his eye level by means of grasping the man round the neck. “How did you ever expect to win?”

Jake could not reply, but the expression that graced his blood-streaked, wrinkled countenance clearly delivered his resistive message of hatred. Upon seeing it, Orren gave the man a sharp reprimand across the face before bellowing in his Dusclops’ direction.

“Scry, destroy that kid this instant!”

 

***~~***~~***~~***~~***