FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"University District Arcade. Seattle's Cutting Edge Gaming Hub."

Ethan read from the sign above the establishment's double front doors. Flashing red and yellow lights ringed the bold letters.

"You're gonna love it, promise," said Brendan at his left shoulder. He flashed Ethan one of his characteristic one-sided grins.

Ethan tried to return it. "Aren't we a bit old for arcades?"

They were college juniors on a Saturday night, not middle schoolers looking to win a stuffed animal or a pack of cards. Granted, they were gangly nerds who would sooner play five hours straight of video games than hit the gym. Even so.

As an answer, his friend pulled open one of the doors for Ethan to enter. In a matter of seconds, Ethan knew he was wrong. The arcade was packed. Not with screaming children and exasperated parents, but young adults their own age. Couples, groups of friends both male and female, buddies like Ethan and Brendan. Yes, there were families, but this was not the type of arcade that Ethan recalled from his childhood. Instead of bright lighting, the many, many game machines seemed to be only displays and lights floating in shadow. The floor was smooth and black, not a cheap-looking carpet with dropped slices of pizza. People were holding beer bottles and red cups.

"This way," said Brendan, tugging at his light autumn jacket. "The new game hasn't caught on yet. There shouldn't be a line."

"Conventional, VR, or AR?" Ethan asked as they made their way through the rows and groupings of attractions. Roller ball games, pinball, racing games with LCD screens, racing games with virtual reality headsets, a one-on-one fighting game with a cheering crowd around the combatants, a crane game so big that the player had to stand on a stool to get a better view.

Brendan glanced back at him wearing this time a smile that covered both halves of his face. "None of the above."

The pair reached a wide spiral staircase leading upward. Brendan skipped the second floor, leading Ethan to the third and final floor. Here the atmosphere was quieter thanks to the lower number of customers. Ethan noticed the games here were more niche. They wouldn't appeal to everyone, so they weren't installed on the first floor. There were old-fashioned imported Japanese machines, like rail shooter light gun games. A four-player DJ dueling game with a control set-up that probably should have had an instruction manual hanging on the wall. Two versions of giant mecha battle games.

Brendan came to a stop, folding his arms with a satisfied air. He watched Ethan for his reaction.

An empty rectangular arena of packed dirt took up the entire back wall of the third floor. It had to measure at least fifty feet by, hell, two hundred. Regularly spaced around the edges were short poles with softly glowing white tips that Ethan recognized as basic force field emitters. Two metal turnstiles at opposite ends of the arena served as entrances. Outside each, there was a podium with a display and slots for bills or coins.

"Huh," said Ethan. "I don't know what to make of it at this point. Knowing you, it's probably some strategy game where you command holographic armies."

Brendan laughed, then parted his uneven black bangs and readjusted his glasses. He badly needed a haircut. "Good guess. Let's check out the screen. Should be five bucks for each of us."

Brendan's quick fingers scrolled through the menus on the touch-screen, but Ethan's eyes were glued to the title of the game that was listed at the top. His chin jerked up from the screen. He squinted at the very center of the arena.

There it was. The famous icon of the series, painted in white over the dirt of the battlefield.

"Shit, it's Pokémon!" Ethan exclaimed. "Pokémon Battle Simulator. Shit! This game's bound to be fantastic if it had the Pokémon brand backing its development."

"It's rare for a game in this franchise to flop," added Brendan. "Even if it's a game for an arcade setting. Can't believe Pokémon's been around for...hm, about forty years. And it's still good."

"Yeah. The earlier games are still the best though. Don't get me started on the anime."

Brendan half-smiled again. He inserted a five dollar bill and signed a brief on-screen waiver, then stepped aside for Ethan to do the same. It was an automatic procedure at this point. Waivers like this were so common with the way that electronic entertainment had started going in the late 2010's. It warned about immersive experiences that could be confusing by distorting perception, and the risk of bodily harm when moving about the play area. Blah blah blah.

After they'd paid, the screen took them through a game set-up full of settings. Brendan could have selected Quick Start, but as a self-respecting gamer, he didn't hesitate to select the Manual option.

Brendan fiddled with the digital buttons and sliders as Ethan looked on. "Let's see. Two players, same team, AI opponents. Six Pokémon each, just like in the games. Randomized Pokémon selection? Sounds good. No Legendaries, they're overpowered and unfair. Gen one through seven only because those were the best. No substitutions; why not? Hm. It recommends no HUD for a more 'immersive' experience."

"Guess that means you can't easily tell HP, PP, status effects. That'll be new," said Ethan. "Let's do it."

"Okay. And, lastly..." he glanced at Ethan for his opinion. The last option was difficulty setting. Easy, Normal, or Hard.

"Hard," Ethan said.

"I know we're veterans both to games and Pokémon, but maybe we should go with Normal for a guaranteed win."

Ethan gave him a look. "Dude. We've both played like six Pokémon titles each. Minimum."

Brendan shrugged before jamming the Hard button. They stepped through the turnstile into a small area on their side of the arena. White paint in the dirt marked out a spacious rectangle for them. It was the space for the trainer to stand as they commanded their Pokémon. Once they were both inside, the form of an enemy trainer materialized on the other end of the arena. Must have been a projected holograph. She looked like she'd been plucked straight from the Pokémon universe. Vibrant outfit, running shoes, and a silly cap with a ridiculous hairstyle that Ethan couldn't name. She wore a determined expression as she tossed a Poké Ball up and down in one hand.

"Okay, which one of us is gonna be the trainer?" asked Brendan.

"Huh? I thought we'd take turns. Strategize together."

"Nah, I set it up so one of us plays the trainer, one of us plays as the Pokémon."

Ethan's brow furrowed as he wrapped his head around what the gameplay might look like. "Interesting. Well, you can be the trainer this time, and I'll take trainer if we play again." He took a step toward the battlefield proper. "Wait, how will I know what Pokémon I'm supposed to be? What are my moves?"

Brendan's smile was wide as he replied, "Oh, I wouldn't worry about that. I saw a video online of people playing this game. You'll figure it out quick."

Ethan felt exasperated, though he couldn't help but chuckle at Brendan's enthusiasm. He'd play along. Brendan had been so excited to show him this one game that they'd walked here from the campus solely to play it. He hoped his friend had a solid head for battling. Then they'd be able to brag that they beat Hard mode on their first try if this game later became popular.

When he stepped out of the trainer's area, there was an electronic sound from behind him. A brief tone of ascending pitch. Then another. Ethan turned to watch as six shrunken Poké Balls sprouted into being on Brendan's right hip. The game had recognized who would be playing the role of trainer

"Cool." His friend plucked them from his belt one at a time to read some small text that must have been inscribed on the balls. Each one grew to fit snugly into his palm whenever they were off his belt. A spotlight above the center of the arena came to life, shining onto the trainer at the other end.

"Let's have a great match!" the enemy trainer called out. Predictably, she sounded like an overly enthusiastic thirteen-year-old girl.

"Go, Simisear!" She tossed her Poké Ball underarm into the air in front of her. It burst open, allowing sparkling blue light to rush out. As the light swiftly formed into her chosen Pokémon, she caught the empty Poké Ball rebounding back to her hand.

The Simisear stood only about three feet tall. It looked like a red monkey after a trip to a hair stylist obsessed with fire. It bounced in place while regarding Ethan with a silly, cheerful expression. Not exactly an intimidating opponent. Then again, this was a Fire type Pokémon that would soon be attacking him. Ethan was no stranger to AR, or Augmented Reality. The technology had come far since becoming popular in the 2020's. Ethan had fought ninjas, outlaws, dragons, and more in AR games before. Nonetheless, this felt different. This wasn't a game he was familiar with in the privacy of his own room. He didn't know how he was meant to fight the Simisear. The realistic arena setting with an actual force field perimeter wasn't helping him to relax, either.

He turned to see Brendan wince as he was illuminated by the arena's second spotlight. A speaker high above began to play some corny upbeat battle music that would fit right in to any handheld Pokémon title. Ethan wasn't thrilled by it, much as he wanted to be. The butterflies in his stomach grew more restless. He opened his mouth to ask Brendan more about how the game worked, but his friend wasn't looking. He'd picked a Poké Ball from his belt and was shifting his feet to a throwing stance.

"Simisear's Fire, so we'll do Water," Brendan murmured before raising his voice. "Okay Ethan, you got this! Go, Feraligatr!"

"Hey!" Ethan cried as the Poké Ball was hurled right at him. He turned, shielding himself with an arm and leg as it struck. Oddly enough, it was quite a gentle blow. Like an inflatable beach ball. The blue light washed over him with a sound like liquid energy. Not even a second later, it appeared to have seeped into his body. He heard Brendan catch the empty Poké Ball.

Once again, he opened his mouth to ask Brendan how the game worked. Then his jaws exploded with growth. They grew outward on the sides while extending forward, pulling his nose along with them. His nostrils became slits on the end of a bulbous blue snout. After his human teeth had vanished into his gums, ten sharp fangs emerged instead. Some of them poked out of his mouth along his hard lips. His tongue had grown massive to fit his new, monstrous jaws.

The rest of Ethan's body was transforming simultaneously. His clothes vanished shortly after the transformation was underway. While his chest swelled markedly, his belly was like a water balloon being filled by a hose on full blast. Both legs were pushed sharply to the side to make room for his huge belly. They thickened to twice, three times, four times the size of his scrawny human legs. The three great, clawed toes of a Feraligatr subsumed his tiny human toes. A broad tail burst out from his tailbone, forcing his already wide stance even wider.

His arms bulked up too, though not as much as his legs. Each fingernail shot forward into a sharp claw as each finger lost dexterity in exchange for strength. A hump seemed to grow between his shoulder blades as spiky red fins erupted out of his spine there. More of the rigid fins burst out between eyes that were now on either side of his pointed face, and near his chunky tail's tip. Patches of his smooth skin raised up an inch as they grew hard like armor. They were mostly concentrated on his arms and kneecaps. Lastly, the skin of his lower jaw and a 'V' shape on his belly changed color from the sky blue of the rest of his body to tan.

The entire transformation had taken about five seconds. Ethan, in his blue-skinned strong-jawed reptilian glory, was now a seven-and-a-half foot tall Feraligatr. The Big Jaw Pokémon. He opened his heavy jaws and roared his guttural battle-cry.

"Holy shit!" Brendan yelled, hopping from foot to foot in delight. "It's just like in the videos I watched! Ethan, buddy, is your brain human or Feraligatr?"

Ethan cocked his head as he looked back at his trainer with one yellow eye. Brendan was talking to him, but he didn't understand the question. He answered with a questioning grumble.

"What's that supposed to mean? Here, nod your head if you're a human, and shake your head if you're just a dumb Feraligatr."

Ethan broke eye contact, sadness passing over his ferocious features. His trainer thought he was dumb? Or was he not understanding the question? He faced his opponent, the Simisear. Here he was, completely healthy and ready to fight, and his trainer was asking him confusing questions instead of telling him what moves to use. He didn't understand, so he'd just wait until he was commanded to fight. Better to worry about questions later.

"Shit," Brendan muttered. "Uh, sorry Feraligatr. Or is it Ethan? Wow. This tech is surreal."

Ethan wanted to tell his trainer that it was okay, that he didn't need to apologize. What for though? He didn't understand. He let his battle anticipation show in his tail, swaying back and forth just above the dirt thanks to his heavy belly being so close to the ground. Let him at that Simisear!

As if an invisible timer had expired, the spotlights suddenly shifted onto the Simisear and Ethan. The enemy trainer reacted.

"Simisear, move up and use Fire Blast!"

The monkey dashed forward toward the middle of the vast arena. It inhaled deeply before spewing out a five-armed design of angry flames. Ethan raised his arms protectively, though he knew it would do little.

"Oh, crap, Feraligatr look out!"

The flames engulfed his large form. He clenched his massive jaws through the intense heat. Fire became black smoke that quickly dispersed. That was fine, that was okay. He could still fight!

"Ouch. You okay?"

"Grawwwr!" Ethan bellowed. He scooted one foot back and turned his head to glance at his trainer. What should he do?

"Right." He glanced at his empty Poké Ball for a moment. "Go ahead and try Hydro Pump!"

Ethan reared back as he readied the move. The Simisear was dead ahead. All his. Ethan jabbed his head and chest forward while throwing his arms out to the side. A swirling column of water blasted out of his maw. The euphoric sound of rushing water filled his skull.

He propelled his water right into the Simisear. The monkey yelped before being completely enveloped by the rushing water.

When he closed his jaws, it was clear that the Simisear was done. No puny Fire type could withstand a Hydro Pump done right!

"Come back, Simisear!" The girl held up her Poké Ball, converting her Pokémon back into energy that was hastily siphoned away. She didn't hesitate for a second before picking her next Pokémon.

"Now go, Metagross!" The energy resolved into the four-legged Steel and Psychic Pokémon. Ethan could feel the shake through his clawed toes when its weight slammed into the ground. The hunk of metal was more robotic than anything else, and it weighed over a thousand pounds.

Its red eyes, surrounded by black, silently bore into Ethan's. Not that he was intimidated. Or could be intimidated. Ethan slammed the ground with his tail as he roared at the new challenger.

"Nice job on the Simisear," Brendan said. "It would have been embarrassing to lose that when I got to pick which Pokémon to send out as a counter. Even so, good work."

Ethan's tail lashed again, this time with happiness, as he turned and nodded at his trainer.

Brendan returned the smile. "Hey, do you...do you remember being Ethan?"

After thinking for a second, Ethan nodded again. He remembered the delicious sub he had for lunch, the stupid essay he had due on Monday for Dr. Mitchell's humanities class. He remembered his life. He was a university student who had come to this arcade for the first time a few minutes ago.

"...but you're not freaking out. You're a Pokémon and you're cool with it."

Ethan nodded a third time before turning back to the Metagross. Once again, Brendan was asking him weird questions. He was a Pokémon in a battle, and Pokémon in battles fought. Nothing else really mattered. And definitely not this second.

"If you're cool with it, I'm cool with it. Let's get to winning. Use Crunch!"

"Metagross, use Zen Headbutt!"

Ethan charged forward. Dark energy filled his jaws as he prepared to use his Crunch. He opened wide as he stomped toward the enemy.

The Metagross's center shifted backward while his four spiked feet kept him anchored in place. Ethan's mouth slammed down on the top of one leg. He squeezed shut with all his inexorable might. The feeling of his teeth crunching through the metal was glorious. He could feel the Metagross's leg deforming from the power of his attack.

Then the Metagross's core shot forward. The metallic 'X' slammed right into Ethan's snout. The psychic force of the move helped in throwing Ethan into the open air. His feet and tail followed his head as he did a full backflip onto the arena floor some twenty feet away.

When Ethan hit the ground, he tried immediately to stand up. It was a big effort, but he could do it. He just needed to get his right leg under him, and...and...he collapsed. That attack had pushed him past the point of no return. He sighed out a grumble as he lay with his huge chin resting on the dirt. All he wanted to do now was rest. Hopefully he'd helped enough for Brendan to win.

"Fuck, what an idiot I am!" Brendan cried from somewhere far away. "Metagross's Defense stat is super high. I shouldn't have had you use Crunch. My bad, dude. Okay, Feraligatr, come back."

Ethan felt a bizarre sensation he had never felt before in his life. It was as if someone were ripping twenty articles of clothing off of his body at once. Mask, scarf, hoodie, long-sleeved shirt, gloves, pants, long underwear, socks, boots - anything that could possibly be worn was being forcibly torn away from him toward Brendan. Every square inch of his Feraligatr body was peeled of. It didn't burn. It didn't smart. There was no pain. Only the feeling of everything being ripped away.

The sensation extended to his mind. As he watched his own body become sucked away as energy, he felt like the shroud of fog around his thoughts was being sucked away with it. His eyes widened as the Ethan that had stepped into the arena came back to him all at once.

"Holy shit," he muttered. With tentative hands, he felt his chest. The fragile little ribs he felt beneath his shirt and jacket were so...inadequate compared to the broad chest he'd had seconds ago. He squeezed his waist and belly, then patted around his thighs through his jeans. Again, so feeble, so human.

"Holy shit," he repeated to himself. He was little old Ethan again. Glancing at the Metagross that was standing ready not far away, he remembered what it had felt like to bite into it. The strength, the glorious simplicity of hearing a command and acting on it. A sort of ignorant bliss. But that was the Feraligatr talking. The obedient but battle-hungry Pokémon that he had been.

"Welcome back," said Brendan, watching him with some concern. "You doing okay? How was it?"

"Brendan! This tech is insane! I was a Feraligatr! I mean, I really was a Feraligatr!" He gesticulated wildly, trying to convey the magnitude of the excitement coursing through him. "When you were asking those questions, I heard you and understood you and knew kind of what you meant, but I couldn't really wrap my head around it when I was a Pokémon. It didn't matter, you know? I wanted to battle. I still knew who I was though. It's hard to explain."

"Was it awesome?"

His chin bobbed up and down like a bobble-head. "Yes yes yes, it was awesome! I can't believe I really attacked that thing! Wait, it won't attack me right now, will it? I don't think this human body can take a Zen Headbutt. That hurt. Well, it wasn't so bad, I guess."

Brendan ran his fingers through his dark hair as he laughed at how fast Ethan was talking. "No, Pokémon only attack other Pokémon in this game. Thank God."

"No, thank Arceus," Ethan said, laughing too. "Shit. I still can't believe this. This is more than VR or AR. Last spring I read articles online that said a couple of companies were working on technology like this. I had no idea it was already out in public venues like this arcade."

"Yeah. One of the perks of living in Seattle, right?"

"It felt so real, when I used Hydro Pump. I had to hold my tail real still. I was concentrating so hard. And biting down on the Metagross, there was so much strength in my jaws..."

He trailed off. With a start, he glanced at Brendan's eyes while he felt his cheeks warming. Under pretense of reminiscing, he turned away in the direction of the Metagross. For reasons he couldn't explain, he felt embarrassed. Was it because he enjoyed it so much? No, maybe because he was describing something so intimate to someone who was just his friend? That wasn't it either. Fighting as a Feraligatr had been amazing. Describing it aloud, however, felt strange. He had no reason to be ashamed. No reason to keep his opinions of the experience bottled up inside. What, then, was the source of this embarrassment?

"Mm." Brendan responded to his words. "That's why they call it the Big Jaw Pokémon. Totodile, Croconaw, Feraligatr - they're all about them jaws." He chuckled again. It sounded like he had lowered his face to read over the text on the Poké Balls.

Ethan was lost in thought until his friend spoke again. "Ready to fight some more, or have you had enough of this game?"

"No, I think..." Part of him was screaming to fight as a Pokémon again. The more reserved part of him was rebelling at how new and different this was from anything he'd ever experienced. It was unnatural. Unknown. He'd had far from enough time to work through his thoughts and emotions about being a Feraligatr. He'd had almost no time to process it all.

Time was ticking. Brendan was waiting. He tightened his core muscles around the butterflies stirring in his stomach.

"I think I want to go again. This game is too incredible for us to not get our time and money's worth. I'm ready."

"Alright buddy, this'll be a really favorable match-up for us. Go, Talonflame! Take to the air!"

Talonflame? The mental image of the Fire and Flying Pokémon flashed in Ethan's mind. The Poké Ball hit him on the back of his shoulder. Before he could brace himself for what it would feel like to become a bird, the changes had begun.

His shoes and socks vanished to reveal that three of his toes on each foot were extending sharply forward as they thickened. The remaining toes withered, while a new toe extended out the back of his feet. The distance between his toes and ankles increased threefold as his tiny ankles rose off the ground. The moist human skin dried and cracked into the countless yellow scales of a bird's talons. Tiny holes appeared in the dirt where the long black claws of his new talons dug inside.

There was a split second of terrible itching as feathers sprouted everywhere from his ankles up. His chest, legs, and the underside of his arms were quickly overtaken by gray plumage covered with fiery red oval markings, while most of the back of his body became that pure fiery red. The hair on his head, as well as everywhere else, was lost amid the explosive growth of feathers.

Something his trainer Brendan had said echoed in his mind. He lifted his arms out to his sides even while the rapid changes swept his body. His chest swelled with flight muscles, bulging forward into the breast of a bird. Both arms narrowed and his fingers stretched outward as they lost their definition as individual digits. Ethan squeezed the toes of his strong talons into the dirt before pushing away and sweeping his feathered arms downward once. He rose, but his heavy weight began to pull him back down.

Four great black tailfeathers, the central two marked with yellow stripes, burst out above his rear. His beautiful flight feathers - primaries, secondaries, and more - shot out behind his wing bones. The longest feathers near the tip were black like his tail. He bent his wings, raised them up past his head, and flapped them down again. His transforming body lifted up, but still he began to fall earthward.

Ethan's teeth fused into a single mass as they grew outward, forcing his lips open. But his lips thinned and disappeared. His nose sank into the mass to become a yellow cere with two nares. His dramatically changed teeth darkened to black before resolving into the hooked beak of a raptor. The coloration around his eyes shifted to yellows and blacks while the red-orange plumage finished covering the rest of his face. The profile of his skull completely changed, most apparent in a forehead that sloped backward. His ears sank into the bright plumage. The feathers on the back of his head lengthened to become a plume.

A third time, Ethan lifted his wings and brought them downward, scattering dust from the surface of the dirt. As he did, his body finished shrinking. Now he was under four feet tall from talons to head plume, with a greatly diminished weight. His wingstroke launched him upward. Again, he flapped, and again, until it was the smooth rhythm of flight. Ethan, a newly fledged Talonflame, screeched as he hovered in place thirty feet in the air.

"Great, now use, um...use Razor Wind!"

"Metagross," the girl called. "Hyper Beam!"

"Crap," Brendan murmured.

Ethan wasn't worried. He was focused. Whatever attack came his way would not distract him. His Razor Wind was going to be perfect. He flapped his strong wings in the pattern he knew would inspire a whirlwind. Great volumes of wind began to spin in front of his beak, spinning faster and faster until a whirling vortex could be seen.

His excellent vision didn't miss the gathering energy between the Metagross' eyes. The Hyper Beam was coming...now! A white beam of energy blasted out toward him. He tucked his right wing close to roll away. Not fast enough. The beam scorched along his left wing. A pained cry was torn from his beak. He wouldn't dare call it a squawk. He had more dignity than that. It was a simple matter to regain his balance in the air while continuing to build the whirlwind.

"It'll have to rest after using that Hyper Beam," Brendan called up to him. "Send that awesome Razor Wind when it's good and ready. Take your time."

Ethan made a short screech as acknowledgment before devoting all efforts to his attack. He didn't even spare a glance at the Metagross. He trusted his trainer that the enemy Pokémon wouldn't be attacking him again just yet. The winds grew into a wild force from the flaps of his wings. Loose dirt particles were being pulled from the ground, spun upward, and sprayed out toward the ceiling. A few seconds later, when he began struggling to contain the destructive gyre, he gave one final, parting wing-beat to send the whirlwind at the Metagross. He sounded his confidence in the Razor Wind with a shrill cry from his dangerous beak.

The Metagross lowered the core of its body close to the ground. Its legs shifted into a stable, protective stance. As the cutting winds and dust slammed against it, it managed to stay anchored to its position. It squeezed its eyes shut and its body trembled through the rage of the attack. When the gyre had passed, beginning to dissipate, Ethan's eyes scanned the Metagross for signs of damage. He was rewarded with evidence of precisely seventeen surface gouges in his opponent's body.

Its eyes remained shut. Slowly, one of its legs began to tip over. Its posture collapsed all at once. The Metagross landed in a heap.

"Alright!" Brendan yelled. "That had to have been a critical hit!"

Ethan allowed himself to fly a tight victory circle, even letting out some of his internal heat as embers from between the feathers of his wings. Of course, he'd expected the Metagross to fall before his excellent technique. That didn't mean he wasn't allowed a short celebration.

"Wanna rest those wings for a second?"

Ethan called out an acknowledgment while his eyes spotted Brendan's proffered arm. His vision was fine enough to make out the individual fibers of the sweater's material. He stretched his wings out and glided a lazy arc toward the back of the arm that Brendan held out like a perch. A couple of back-flaps slowed him enough to gently grasp his trainer's forearm with his formidable talons. He wouldn't forgive himself if the strength in his feet accidentally hurt Brendan.

"This can't be real," Brendan said softly.

Ethan could only chirp quietly in response. Humans had expressive lips, teeth, cheeks, eyebrows. His own face was little more than a beak. He could not offer a reassuring smile.

Brendan lifted the fingers of his other hand, hesitated, then stroked the long red feathers of Ethan's back. Ethan nodded as smoothly as he could, before turning his intense gaze elsewhere to put his trainer at ease. Brendan would likely jostle his plumage out of its perfect arrangement, but that was easily fixed with some preening.

"You're one hundred percent Talonflame, aren't you? Right now, I mean."

Ethan tilted his head with a questioning chirp. His trainer began to clarify when motion from the other end of the arena caught his attention. The enemy trainer was tossing a Poké Ball out into the air. She'd already recalled her Metagross.

"Show them what you've got, Crawdaunt!"

The energy formed into his next opponent, a crustacean with a color pattern not dissimilar to his own. A large yellow star adorned the tip of its tapered red and white head. It shuffled forward mostly using its two main legs. The Crawdaunt raised and opened its large pincers wide before slamming them closed.

Ethan regarded the display with perfect coolness. It could threaten him all it wanted. That wouldn't change the outcome of the battle, for Ethan would not be intimidated. His eyes flitted to the side to meet Brendan's, through his glasses. His trainer wore a grimace.

"To be honest, this isn't looking good. I want you to get in some damage while you can. Use your Brave Bird. Dodge whatever it throws at you to make sure you land that one good hit. Okay?"

Ethan raised one wingtip to his tiny brow in a mock salute, drawing a smile from Brendan. When Brendan's arm pulled back, Ethan leaned forward and raised his wings. Brendan swung his arm forward. Ethan angled his wings to take him high into the air. For ten beats, Ethan flapped as hard as he could. Speed, he needed speed. When he'd reached his maximum speed he brought his wings close to his body. Blue energy enveloped him. His beak pointed at the Crawdaunt but he was ready to roll left or right to avoid any projectiles.

The seconds until impact fell away. The Crawdaunt did nothing. Its trainer issued no commands.

The moment arrived. Ethan stabbed straight into the yellow star atop the Crawdaunt's head. The impact was tremendous. It took a mighty toll on his own body, though he knew the Crawdaunt would take even more damage.

"Crabhammer!"

Before Ethan could flap away, the Crawdaunt's closed pincer buffeted the back of his neck from above. Water fountained outward, drenching Ethan as he struck the ground and bounced away. The air was forced out of his beak in a most improper squawk. He ended up spread-eagled in the dirt. His feathers must have looked a mess. Not a chance he could do anything about that in his current state though. He was drained, thoroughly beaten.

The worst part was that the Crawdaunt was still standing. Irritating.

Brendan gave a curt sigh of pent-up breath. "Not unexpected. Talonflame, return."

Ethan heard the sound of the Poké Ball beginning to resorb him. He closed his eyes for the nice, long rest that awaited. He was met with that outlandish sensation of his body being torn away, even while some of him remained. It felt like fingers were grasping every one of his feathers to painlessly pluck them out. His skin was being peeled away with them. His second skin. The same could be said for his beak, for his talons, for his wings. His entire form was stripped from him, and his old self emerged from beneath.

While he stretched out his new body, Ethan's human identity reasserted itself. He'd never forgotten anything, never believed he wasn't who he was. The Talonflame's perspective had merely overlaid his own. The identity of Ethan was effectively moved from the driver's seat into the passenger seat. That was the best way that Ethan could describe it to himself, at any rate. Although, the fog analogy he'd imagined after his time as a Feraligatr was also accurate. He'd have a lot of online reading to do tonight to understand the process better.

After standing up and brushing dirt off his jacket, he wiggled his fingers in front of his eyes. Hands were very nice to have. The extreme visual acuity he'd had seconds ago had also been very nice though.

"Hey, any bruises? How's your back and neck feel?" Brendan asked.

Ethan turned to face him. They were the same size now, of course. "I feel fine. More than fine. My heart's beating like after a good work-out."

Brendan chuckled, saying, "I didn't think you'd ever done a work-out before. You're skin and bones, dude, no offense."

"So are you," Ethan returned with a smile. His gaze dropped as he ran over the details of the battle. One moment in particular made him cringe. At the time, it had felt perfectly natural. Remembering it was a different story.

"Brendan," he said. "Don't you think it was a little weird when you had me fly to your arm like a trained falcon? And you stroked my back like a pet!"

God, recalling the moment was so, so strange. The sensation hadn't been like a massage. Brendan's hands running through his feathers hadn't physically felt good. No, it was the mindset. He'd obediently sat still because he was making his trainer happy. That in turn had made him happy.

His friend had the decency to look a little ashamed. "You say that like I was manipulating you when you were drunk or something. It wasn't like that at all. Do you feel like it was?"

Part of Ethan wished the awkward conversation were over. At the same time, he wanted to get to the bottom of this. There were no social conventions for your friend being transformed into an obedient Pokémon. How was he supposed to feel? What boundaries should there be?

"No, it was perfectly normal at the time. The issue is when I'm me again, I remember everything."

Brendan shook his head. "Sure, but you're only you right now. After the fact. A minute ago, you were my Talonflame. A different person, so to speak. One with a different personality than yours, judging by the way you were acting. I can't speak to you or treat you as if you're Ethan."

"Why not?"

Brendan put a hand on his hip. He only did that when he was ill at ease. "Consider this. If you were a little Caterpie, maybe you could use some encouragement when the AI sent out a big scary Pidgeot. If you were an Electivire, no way. You see what I mean? I have to work with the Pokémon I've got. I have to treat you as the Pokémon you are at the time."

Ethan shrugged. "That's one way to look at it. I'm still human afterwards though. That piece can't be ignored."

"I mean..." His friend seemed to deflate. "Listen, I don't want to keep playing this unless we're both having a good time. If this is gonna be weird later, let's stop."

"No, it's..." Ethan pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried to sort through his feelings. Tumultuous. He considered Brendan's perspective. He was the one commanding the Pokémon he saw before him. The creature behaved entirely like a Pokémon with no apparent trace of the person it used to be. A magnificent quasi-magical beast, in the flesh. Since it was friendly and fully obedient, it was sensible for Brendan to want to see the life-like beast up close. Feeling it, petting it, was that so strange? Had it been Ethan in his place, he'd want to connect with the Pokémon as much as possible, too.

"I'm the one making a big deal about this, when it's not. You're right. It wasn't me who was perched on your arm. It was a Talonflame with all my memories. I'll always remember what happened afterward, but it's only weird if I pretend like it was me. I can't blame you for treating me like a Pokémon when I am a Pokémon." A small smile crept onto his face. "And if you turn me into a grumpy Charizard, you won't blame me for ignoring you."

"Ha, I like it. Are you sure though? I don't have any control over what kind of Pokémon you're gonna be. In here, I mean." Brendan tapped a finger to his skull.

Ethan hesitated but waved his friend off. "It's fine. Thinking about it isn't going to matter after you hit me with another Ball. I'll be thinking like a Pokémon. Waiting for your orders, totally focused on the battle --" He cut himself off. Again, he felt embarrassed when he described aloud what it was like.

"You sure you're sure?"

In truth, his heart was already beginning to race with the anticipation of battle. The arena's technology was so visceral, so immersive. It was like no other game he'd played, let alone any experience he'd lived through. He had to play more regardless of the magnitude of any uncomfortable social situations that might arise. He yearned to become a Pokémon once more, physically and mentally.

He turned his head to nod. "Let's crush this Crawdaunt."

"I've got the perfect choice for the job. I choose you, Serperior!"

Wait, Serperior? A mental image of the Pokémon appeared in his mind. That Pokémon had no legs! Or arms! Too late. Ethan had already heard his friend enthusiastically throw a Poké Ball. It struck him in the small of his back while he was torn between dodging and letting it strike him.

Not unexpectedly, Ethan's upper body stretched away from his legs. His trunk widened from back to front until he was perfectly tubular. His hands and arms lost their rigid structure, changing shape until they resembled two pieces of a partially peeled banana skin. Curled and floppy. His head and neck, then, were the banana fruit itself, and the lower half of his body was the unpeeled banana.

The change pressed his thighs together so that they merged to smoothly join with his mid-section. Knees, lower legs, ankles, then feet followed. As his toes became naught but a single rounded stub, Ethan's morphing body was falling over. It was simple for him to ease his fall onto the part of his length that had once been his knees. His upper half barely even moved, but instead remained upright. Another few feet extended in serpentine fashion along the arena's ground. The very tip of his tail curled as three green tri-tipped leaves emerged a little farther up.

Concurrently, his 'unpeeled' head and neck lost all their angles and edges in their change to the tapering head of a snake. His ears shot upward behind his head into tall points. His eyes grew larger while narrowing into an elongated almond shape. They roamed down his length with appreciation, as his skin had finished its transformation into an elegantly regal color scheme. Donned in emerald and lime greens and accented in heavenly white and golden yellows, his form was exquisite. Ethan arranged his length to a tight coil in readiness while he peered silently at the Crawdaunt.

The spotlights were upon them.

"Crawdaunt, Night Slash!"

"Serperior, stop that crab in its tracks with Leaf Tornado!"

The Crawdaunt scuttled forward on its stout legs. Both of its pincers were raised menacingly.

Ethan eyed the silly creature with disdain before uncoiling himself with speed. Around and around went the tip of his tail. Fresh green leaves began to swirl around it. Just before fully uncoiling, he snapped his tail-tip back toward himself. That unleashed his attack toward the Crawdaunt. It was a whirling tornado filled with tokens of the most distinguished and superior element: Grass. The leaves would suck up all the Crawdaunt's water as they cut his opponent to shreds.

"Don't stop!" called out the opposing trainer.

Ethan turned his head to eye his own trainer. As expected, there was no small measure of awe in Brendan's eyes at the mesmerizing tornado Ethan had produced. With a languor that he'd certainly earned, he returned his attention to the action.

The Crawdaunt was buffeted by the winds and leaves. It staggered this way and that as it struggled to push through the attack. Somehow, it succeeded. Ethan raised his serpentine upper body higher - a natural reaction when he was surprised by something. Before he could recoil, the Crawdaunt was raking a hefty pincer at his body. The sharp tips left streaks of dark energy in the air as they slashed across the emerald green design of his belly.

Ethan was sent twisting through the air. How oafish. Utterly oafish. After his nose's intimate meeting with the arena floor, he wriggled into a battle-ready posture. That Crawdaunt needed to be taught a lesson in respect.

"Leaf Blade, Serperior, that'll finish it off."

"Okay Crawdaunt, this one's for the win! Another Night Slash!"

Again, Ethan summoned the energy of his element into his tail. This time, he gathered it into the three leaves near the tip. He slithered toward the Crawdaunt to gain speed while the Crawdaunt charged toward him.

Brendan's voice called another command to him. Unexpected. "Hey, launch yourself into the air to come down from above!"

Ethan glanced at his trainer, who seemed to almost shirk away. Ah, that would be the intimidating gaze inherent to his noble face. He'd have to apologize later with a deep bow. He contracted the long muscles along his length to spring himself into the air.

"After him, Crawdaunt!"

The crab gathered its legs beneath it then jumped into a collision course. It raised a pincer.

Ethan whipped his tail forward with all his might as a human might snap forth a twisted towel. He could feel the satisfying stretch through his long body that meant he'd achieved maximum power. The leaves gouged the Crawdaunt's face in a direct hit.

The solid impact sent Ethan rebounding back into the air before the pincer could touch him. The Crawdaunt, his silent opponent, fell downward to the ground. It appeared quite dazed. Ethan's suspicions were confirmed when the Crawdaunt landed on its back and stirred no more.

Brendan's fist shot into the air as Ethan lightly returned to ground. "Boom, just like that! Nice one, Serperior."

It was a nice one. Undeniably so. He smirked, though not without giving a gracious nod to his trainer.

The Crawdaunt was called back to its Poké Ball. The young girl at the other end of the battlefield tossed a fresh one into the air. The energy became a Scyther.

"I knew your Speed was higher so we could risk a head-to-head clash like that," said Brendan. "Heh, seeing my strategies play out right before my eyes like this is amazing."

Ethan simply nodded his pointed snout. If such things made his trainer happy, all was well, even if the words meant little to him. Following Brendan's gaze, he eyed the Scyther. The four bug wings on its back buzzed in what might be eagerness. It sharpened its blades on one another with metallic rasps.

"Of course the AI has a Bug with Flying. Of course." Brendan sighed. "Let's get this over with. Use, uh, Wring Out. Not sure what it does to be honest."

As Ethan began his approach, the girl cried an order. "Scyther, X-Scissor!" For some reason, that made Brendan groan.

The Scyther leaped forward. It looked like it was covering an impossible amount of ground until Ethan noted that its wings were buzzing almost invisibly. The Scyther drifted slowly downward to meet Ethan as he slithered.

Before they collided, Ethan jerked his head to the left. He had to encircle the Scyther to use Wring Out. His opponent was way too fast however. The Scyther screeched. Its two scythes bit deeply into his side, instantly eating away his remaining strength. His muscles failed when he was halfway around the Scyther. He collapsed, his length forming a semi-circle around the Scyther's back. The stiff green collar by his neck crumpled against his head as he hit the dirt. The Scyther slowly lowered its blades to a resting stance. Ethan admired its poise. He heard the click of Brendan's Poké Ball calling him back.

Again, his Pokémon guise was shed from his body and mind. Ethan welcomed the return of the legs that had emerged from his previously serpentine body, though he felt unstable for a few seconds when he stood. Strange, the way his two little supports were now responsible for keeping him upright instead of a long belly and tail. He swayed, almost falling over, when he imagined himself having his previous body's torso that extended to the ground and several feet further. Like a transformation vertigo. He clutched his head between his hands to fight the disorientation. Mm. Arms and hands were nice at least.

"You okay?" Brendan called.

Ethan took a deep breath before jogging back to his side of the arena. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the Scyther buzzing back to its side. The memory of facing it as a Pokémon reared up in his consciousness.

He stopped a few feet from Brendan, who watched him with a considerate expression. "I'm fine. Dude, I just can't get over how realistic this tech is. The Scyther, the Crawdaunt, they all feel like real creatures. They feel solid when you hit them or they hit you. They're expressive. They make noise."

Brendan nodded, moving his black bangs out of his eyes. "Yeah, this game is cutting edge. You can tell how much time the devs spent fine-tuning every detail."

"They put all those Pokémon franchise dollars to work."

Brendan plucked the three remaining fresh Poké Balls from his belt to read over the text on their surfaces. "I read in the comments of the video I saw that this is the first arcade in the US to get this game. It'll be getting popular in every urban center within a few months. On days like today, I'm really damn happy I live in Seattle."

Ethan could see the text on each Poké Ball's shiny metal surface. It revealed some details of which Pokémon was inside, like which moves it knew.

"Still so bizarre becoming something else," he said. "Hey, I want to try an experiment this time. I want to see if I can...hold onto my human thoughts. If that's even possible. I figure I just need to concentrate on my train of thought as I'm transforming. Think it'll work?"

Brendan glanced at the Scyther across the field, back at his Poké Balls, then at Ethan. "Sorry. Um, maybe? Probably not. You're not gonna be able to use your moves if you're still thinking like a human, right? The devs wouldn't have wanted that." He shrugged. "You should still give it a shot though. It'll be interesting."

"Yeah, I'll try. Give me a minute to concentrate."

"Fine by me. I need some time to think strategy. How can I best make use of our three remaining Pokémon? I don't think there's a time limit..."

Ethan stopped paying attention to Brendan, and started focusing on his inner monologue.

I'm a human. A human, not a Pokémon. I'm going to hold onto my human mind. Brendan's my friend, not my trainer. I don't have to listen to him. The next time he gives me a command, I'm not going to listen. I won't obey. I'll think for myself. I'll look at him and shake my head to let him know that this time, I'm a human, not a Pokémon.

_ _

A minute later, Brendan's hand settled on his shoulder. "Ready?"

Human, not a Pokémon. "Yeah." He strode into the fighting area. The phrases repeated in his mind.

"Then here we go. I choose you, Galvantula!"

Wait, isn't that a spider? The ball struck his shoulder and poured the Galvantula energy onto him. Fuck, I don't want to be a spider, but it's too late! Gotta focus on staying human inside.

_ _

His chest and belly bloated like a balloon to become the bulbous abdomen of a giant spider. Salmon and yellow colors overtook his skin in a bold, jagged pattern. As his hip joints melted away, forcing him onto his broad new belly, his legs swung up to join his arms by his neck. All four limbs turned cobalt blue. His fingers, thumb, and wrist grew together into points that sunk an inch into the dirt. His ankles and toes did the same, leaving him with four nearly identical appendages with only a single joint each. Each joint twisted and rose into the air above his head, which naturally lifted his abdomen a few inches above the ground. It bobbed there, free-floating except for its attachment to his head through his shrinking neck.

Only two or three seconds had passed. Ethan's thoughts were racing despite singular focus on his goal. Or rather, his attempted focus. I'm Ethan, a human, not a Pokémon, a human, ugh my stomach's huge, not a Pokémon, a human, not a OH my legs oh that's gross, I'm, I'm a Pokémon, no a HUMAN, not a Pokémon, a human, --

A spider's smooth posterior remained where his buttocks used to be. Dense blue hair like a tarantula's sprouted there on both sides, creeping sideways along the border between the ceiling-side and ground-side halves of his abdomen. Complementing the blue, four shockingly yellow puffs of hair burst from his limbs below the joints but above the pointed ends.

-- not a Pokémon, a human, human with four creepy spider legs, ick, can't bend my neck, neck's gone, I'm a Pokémon, a Galvantula, NO I'm a human with a Galvantula body, gotta focus on that, I'm not a Pokémon, I'm a human, a human, a human, --

All the while, his head was undergoing a dramatic transformation. The salmon and yellow color ate up both his ears. Then his chin. His nose. His nostrils. All his features except for his eyes were flattened, making his head more like a sphere.

-- a human, so I won't obey, won't obey, ignore all the gross changes, won't obey --

_ _

Ethan hadn't noticed that he'd shut his eyes until his eyelids were peeled back by his bulging eyes. His neck could barely bend, and now he couldn't close his eyes. Ethan was forced to stare straight ahead at his opponent, the Scyther. The Pokémon that had defeated him as a Serperior.

-- won't obey, but we're gonna beat that Scyther this time, human or not, gonna win, gonna beat that Scyther --

His two main eyes were pushed to the side as four tiny eyes bulged out from the fuzzy skin between them. Seeing with these new secondary eyes was like looking through fogged-up glass - only hazy light presented itself to his brain. With his lips gone, only a tiny slit marked the entrance to his mouth.

-- gotta beat that Scyther, just listen to your trainer and don't take your eyes off that Scyther --

Pedipalps, the long mouthparts of a spider, extended out into the world from the corners of his tiny mouth. They were the same shade of blue as his other appendages. Yellow hair to match his color scheme burst along their lengths. Ethan welcomed the sensory information as his pedipalps swept the dirt just below his 'face'. Since he couldn't move his eyes, it made sense for his pedipalps to be able to 'focus' on an object of interest right in front of him.

-- not taking my eyes off that Scyther. The ground is almost perfect for crawling. I can move quickly on this dirt. I will --

His trainer's voice interrupted his thoughts. "So, you human in there buddy?"

The question gave Ethan pause. He wasn't happy about taking his eyes off the Scyther, but his trainer had just asked him a direct question. He worked his legs to rotate in place. Though he had very limited range of motion, Ethan was still able to jerk his face left and right in the same way a human might shake their head.

An emotional expression crossed Brendan's face. Puzzlement? Pity? No matter. It wasn't for Ethan to worry about. He only hoped he'd answered appropriately. What a strange question. He supposed he was human, but that couldn't be right, because he was a Galvantula now. Still, something tickled the back of his mind, like a pinch of static electricity jumping between his fine hairs.

"That answers that question," said Brendan. He hesitated before finally giving a command. "Galvantula, climb halfway up that force field pole on your left. No, the one a bit farther down-field."

The Scyther's trainer had called out some command in response. Ethan wasn't listening.

"Yeah, then use Electroweb. That should be super effective."

Ethan scuttled up the narrow pole as if he were climbing a tree. Its tip glowed a luminescent white as it emitted energy into the protective translucent planes around the rectangular arena. Beyond the force field, an audience of humans watched him. He hadn't noticed them before. Ethan paused three quarters of the way up the pole. The audience wasn't large. He counted fifteen. Half of them held up their phones close to the force field, presumably recording the battle. The people looked excited and engaged. He perched perfectly still as his eyes, unblinking, took in the information.

"Galvantula!"

He spun in place to face his opponent. He raised his pedipalps in surprise at what he saw.

Four Scythers dashed toward him, blades raised in identical postures.

"It's Double Team, Galvantula. Hit any one of them, I don't care which!"

Electricity surged through Ethan into his pedipalps. He moved them precisely but rapidly to weave the shape of a spider's web. The Scythers spread around the pole. Each leaped from the ground at the same time. He could see them with all six of his eyes, all around him. Relinquishing safety for duty, he propelled the web of electricity at one of the Scythers.

The web curled to enfold his target. The Scyther shimmered as the strands of electricity passed through its body. The Electroweb wrapped about itself and vanished with a flash of yellow. The Scyther illusion had disappeared along with it.

"X-Scissor!"

Ethan felt two blades slash across his bulging abdomen - a juicy target. He curled his head and legs inward so that when he struck the dirt, he rolled like a ball. As he slowed down, he straightened his legs into the dirt facing the Scythers, ready for the next move.

"Galvantula, I have an idea. Get ready with Electroweb again."

Ethan produced the attack as quickly as he dared while his opponent and its illusions closed in on him. As one, they raised their blades after the opposing trainer called for a Slash.

"Cover yourself with it!"

The web buzzed and sputtered as Ethan flung it over his body. He manipulated his internal current to produce an external electric field. The web stiffened into the shape of a dome in response to the force. He pulled his legs closer to his body as the edges of the web anchored themselves in the dirt.

Three blades swung into the dazzling net. Two passed through the strands of electricity, as well as through Ethan's legs and head. Harmlessly. Then they shimmered and dissipated like smoke in the wind. The final blade stopped short a couple of inches through the web. Electricity arced all over the true Scyther's form. The motion captivated Ethan's main eyes, while the pleasant yellow glow of his web filled the view of his accessory eyes. The Scyther stood stiff in that striking pose, mouth frozen in a grimace.

The web's energy was quickly expended. The Scyther collapsed in a boneless heap.

"Way to go, Galvantula! Perfect, dude!"

Ethan silently returned to his place on his side of the field. His trainer was pleased. He was pleased. As the Scyther was recalled to its Ball, Ethan stood ready. The attack the Scyther had landed had certainly weakened him, yet he was still capable of fighting.

"Enticing as it looks, I'm not gonna pet that blue fluff you've got." Brendan was smiling, by the sound of it. "Touching any Electric Pokémon sounds like an awful idea."

The girl at the opposite side of the arena tossed out another Poké Ball. Her second to last. The blue light formed into a Pokémon that looked like a light blue fox.

"Glaceon, huh?" Brendan murmured to himself. "Pure Ice. Ice and Bug, no interaction. Ice and Electric, nothing. Looks like no type advantages for either side."

"Glaceon, move up!" The girl flung out an arm to point dramatically forward. Even Ethan could tell that was a little over the top.

His trainer's voice rang out, confident. "Hold there, then Absorb!"

Ethan stood motionless on his four legs as commanded. The Glaceon bounded toward him. The dangles hanging from its head shook and bobbed. Its flat tail waved rhythmically behind it like a pennant in the wind.

"Use Ice Fang!" said the girl.

Ethan was faster. He raised his pedipalps toward his foe. He could feel the unseen life energy in the Glaceon. It quivered in response to his technique. Ethan mentally yanked on the reservoir. Green light like droplets burst out of his foe. They streamed through the air and into Ethan's body. The damage done by the Scyther's first X-Scissor was healed by about half.

The Glaceon hadn't even stumbled from the Absorb attack. Icy cold teeth bit down on Ethan's face. The Glaceon's front paws clutched his head so he couldn't throw the nimble creature off. Cold lanced through his pedipalps, filling his abdomen, creeping into his legs and down to their points. Ethan endured it silently. At last, his foe threw itself into a backflip to land ready a few steps away.

Ominous. He hadn't felt the texture of the Glaceon's paw pads as it pushed off his face. Indeed, he could not quite feel where the points of his legs met the ground. The sensation was numbed. It was as if some thin barrier now coated his body. He tried to scuttle backward, away from the Glaceon. His joints strained against the barrier. He could not turn his head. He could not move. Ethan was at the Glaceon's mercy.

"Don't tell me..." murmured Brendan. His voice sounded distant despite how close he was.

"Glaceon, Hail, let's go!"

The Glaceon closed its gem-like eyes. As its tall ears perked up, its tail and head dangles fluttered as if in a breeze.

"Galvantula, use Bug Bite?"

He tried to comply. Whatever the Glaceon had done to him persisted, however. The cold barrier around his body completely nullified his attempts to move, and thus, to attack. He wished he could signal that information to his trainer. Then again, Brendan's querying tone suggested he knew something was amiss.

Ethan felt a wave of cold sweep through the arena. The Glaceon opened its eyes, again lightly crouched in a battle-ready stance. What sounded like tiny rocks started to strike Ethan and bounce off. Hailstones. When they met the earth, they quickly melted and disappeared.

"A what, ten percent chance that Ice Fang causes the Freeze status condition, and this Glaceon gets it first try? Come on! If the Hard difficulty setting means the opponents can fucking manipulate the RNG, this game's bullshit!"

His trainer certainly was agitated. Ethan tried again to use Bug Bite. It was no use. He wished he could be of greater utility in the battle's outcome.

"Glaceon, now use Barrier!"

Cerulean energy swirled and glistened just beyond the Ice type's tiny nose. The energy became a floating rectangle large enough to shield the Glaceon's body from most oncoming attacks. Gradually, its light faded into invisibility, but Ethan knew its protection would persist for the remainder of the battle.

"Dammit, now they're just buffing their stats for later. Smart. Galvantula, try constantly to break free. I don't know if that will hurry it along but it's worth a shot. Use Bug Bite as soon as you can."

Ethan struggled. And struggled. And struggled. That thin layer of solid ice held him fast. The relentless hail pounded the arena and his body. The Glaceon stood in peak condition. Obviously it was not harmed by the weather. Even through the ice, the hail was slowly draining Ethan's energy. It was getting to the point where he'd be unable to stand once he thawed.

"Ice Fang!"

Was that a sigh from his trainer he heard? The Glaceon bounded forward to sink its teeth into Ethan's head once again. He heard the ice splitting as his foe's fangs pierced through, as well as a growl from the Glaceon's throat. Cold shot through his entire body again. And the Glaceon leaped backward.

Finally, the ice surrounding Ethan's body shattered to pieces. His legs joints, weak with the chill, allowed his abdomen to strike the earth. His head followed. Now that he was able to move, he found he had absolutely no energy to do so. He had lost.

"Come back, Galvantula," Brendan mumbled.

The Poké Ball exerted its pull. Ethan felt everything stripped from his body and mind. The sensation of his four identical legs splayed in the dirt. The stream of information fed to him by his highly sensitive pedipalps. The comforting weight of his huge, fuzzy abdomen. The wide field of vision granted by his six eyes. All of it dulled, faded, and shrank into the confines of the Poké Ball.

His eyes felt dry. He blinked. Slowly and deliberately. The movement wasn't quite second nature anymore. He'd been staring ahead without blinking for the last couple minutes, no problem. He took a deep breath before standing. Automatically, he brushed the loose dust off his chest and legs. Brendan eyed him as he returned to the trainer's area at their end of the arena.

"Welcome back, Spider-man," Brendan said. Despite the joke, Ethan could hear the hidden frustration in his voice. He chose not to comment on that, for the moment.

"You know, I was pretty horrified when you threw the Ball and called out 'Galvantula!' Once you are the Pokémon though, it just...it feels natural."

"So what you're saying is you want to be a Muk? Or a Jynx?"

Ethan took a step back, mouth agape, as his mind raced through the implications. Brendan threw his head back and laughed.

In the lapse of conversation, Ethan noticed something weird about the hail that was still raining down in the arena. He couldn't feel it. He held his palm up. The little hailstones shot straight through. Turning around, he squinted at the Glaceon. Yes, the hailstones were bouncing off the Pokémon. Interesting. This technology, however it worked, was incredibly well-programmed.

"No, we're not ghosts," said Brendan. "The hail is some kind of holo I think. Could you feel it, as a Galvantula?"

Ethan nodded. "The projections must be perfectly synced with the false sensations this game feeds you as a Pokémon. Amazing. Do you think if we wait a minute, the hail will stop?"

"Nah," Brendan said. "Don't think so. It lasts X number of turns, not X amount of time."

The battle music continued to play from the high ceiling of the arena. It didn't pause during these interludes. Ethan peered upward, trying to locate the speaker, but the glare from the spotlights was too much. He blinked rapidly and looked at the relative darkness outside of the arena to restore his vision. The darkness resolved into human faces.

"Did you notice we have an audience?" Ethan asked quietly.

"Mm. I noticed before we battled the Scyther."

There were still about fifteen people watching - probably everyone on this floor of the arcade who wasn't in the middle of some other game. Because there was a force field instead of a physical wall, they had a fantastic view of the action. Many of them were taking pictures or videos to share on social media. Ethan might have done the same. This game, this technology, the Pokémon Battle Simulator experience was an up-and-coming phenomenon. The sort of experience that was very exciting to watch, to predict, to mentally participate in from the sidelines. It would capture the attention of thousands and thousands as it was shared online.

On top of that, the game was absolutely incredible to play. As more arenas were set up in the Seattle metropolitan area or in other major cities, more people would become real life trainers or Pokémon for the first time. The craze would sweep the nation. It would sweep most of the world. The game's popularity would last, too. It was a spectacle with strategic depth and perhaps most importantly, replay value. Instead of catching them all, you could command them all. Or be them all. And, while the rigid Pokémon rules that nearly everyone knew were present, there was plenty of room for creativity. Speaking of which...

"Brendan, remember when you had me use Electroweb but cover myself in it?"

He nodded as he studied the text on the two remaining Poké Balls in his hands.

"How did you know the game would allow that? In the other Pokémon games, the move always shoots outward."

Brendan cracked a one-sided grin. "Glad you appreciate my creative side. I wasn't sure it would work, to be honest. I love that it did. Dude, this game takes the Pokémon battle system to the next level. Smart players will be able to do so much with just four moves to work with!"

"Yeah, I was just thinking about that. It's awesome." Ethan thought back to when he'd climbed one of the force field emitter poles. "The arenas should have different kinds of battlefields available though. Or this one could have rocky obstacles or something so the battlefield isn't so empty. I was great at...I mean, Galvantula is great at climbing, so it's at a big disadvantage if there's nothing substantial to climb.

"Yeah, but this game is only--"

"It's only just released. This installment in this arcade is practically a beta test. I know."

"Plus," Brendan added, "the game has to be fun to watch. The devs don't want the audience to have their view blocked by trees, sand dunes, or whatever. Plus plus, different stages or obstacles would probably be way more expensive."

"True, true."

Brendan returned his attention to strategizing. He cast appraising glances at the Glaceon through the hail every few seconds. His brow knit together thoughtfully. He readjusted his glasses. Ethan opened his lips to ask to see the Balls in more detail, but two thoughts rose to stop him. First, playing the trainer was Brendan's role in this match, not his. He should allow his friend total responsibility of the strategy element so he got his money's worth. Second, Ethan realized he wanted to be surprised. What would he become next? What amazing moves would he be able to use? How would his personality change?

"I don't know why I'm thinking so hard about this," Brendan muttered. He sounded frustrated again. "We only have two options left. Two versus two. Ugh, I still can't believe that lucky ten percent Freeze chance was triggered on the Glaceon's first Ice Fang."

"Just as likely as any other Ice Fang," Ethan remarked.

Brendan shot him a peeved look before glancing back down at the Ball in his right hand. He rolled it around in his fingers. Raising his head with a decisive air, he spoke to Ethan with his eyes downfield.

"Right. This is the best move. Let's crush this Glaceon. Ready?"

"Yeah, but I want to try to keep thinking like a human again. Last time I was freaked out because I was turning into a spider. This time, I'll be prepared for anything. Brendan, can you just keep giving me some dumb command? Repeatedly? Like, tell me to jump up and down."

"Sure, fine. As long as once the Glaceon starts to attack, you listen to all the commands I give that aren't dumb."

Ethan was striding into the play area. He turned so he was walking backwards. "I don't think I'll have a choice."

Brendan's expression changed. Embarrassment, or some other kind of discomfort. Ethan didn't spare it more than a couple seconds' thought. He wanted to focus on his plan. Outwitting the game's mind rewiring process would be an accomplishment.

Ignore Brendan. I'm human. I have free will. My own free will. Not anyone else's. He can't boss me around.

"Go, Excadrill!" He took a deep breath. "Jump up and down, jump up and down, jump up and down --"

The Poké Ball struck him lightly on the shoulder. Ethan spread his feet in a ready stance as the blue light rushed to soak into every inch of him. He acknowledged what he would be transforming into, then gave it no more thought.

Ethan's torso swelled massively until he was nearly spherical. His neck followed, becoming thicker than his head. Together, they gave him a pear shape. His legs bulked up even as they shortened dramatically until he was locked in an apparent squatting position. The same powerful, wide-based stance as a Feraligatr.

"--jump up and down--"

Ethan shook his head atop his muscled neck. He kept his focus.

His five toes were gone. In their place were three flat digits packed closely together. Abruptly, his foot was an earthy brown color. The coat of fine fur rushed up his stout legs, over his big torso, covering his arms, and stopping only before coating his face. Discrete patches of the fur on his belly and back tingled as their hue lightened to a subdued red. They looked like old gouges from some monster that had opened him with its talons.

"--jump up and down--"

Ethan grit his teeth, trying to shove away the words that were so loud in his ears. All of his mass was settling earthward. He felt grounded. Stable. He could do this! He just had to ignore those stupid commands.

He raised his arms away from his body. They flattened and widened to imitate the shape of paddles. Thick, concave paddles. His fingernails turned silvery like fine steel. The metal shot up his arms, obliterating his elbows. In a flash, his forearms and hands were gone, replaced by huge three-pointed digging claws of gleaming steel. They were longer than the rest of his remaining arms, longer than one of his entire legs! Eying those impressive implements, satisfaction bloomed in Ethan's mind.

"--jump up and down--"

The muscles of Ethan's legs twitched as the words again reached him. Not enough to jump, but to bounce in place. A reluctance in the corner of his mind had dampened his exuberance. Yet his body was a tool and a weapon. His eyes flitted to his claws. And narrowed. The shiny metal built into his form was practically screaming to be put to work. Was he not meant to be used? Was he not meant to obey? No, even if they were commands, he was his own person. A human. He was human.

The glare of the spotlights high above were shielded from Ethan's sight by the large metal blade that extended from his forehead. His nose led his face in a burst of growth as well, as if trying to follow. In a flash, he had a cone-shaped face tipped by a pink nose. Two short lines of that dull red on his cheeks marred his otherwise white-furred face, like wounds long scarred over. Hardened red spots emerged from key points on his body: the tip of his spine, the sides of his arms, the space where his ears used to be, and his kneecaps.

"--jump up and down--"

His trainer's voice rang with command. That absolute authority demanded obedience. Ethan hopped up and down. Easy. Despite the steel of his body, he didn't weigh very much. It helped that he was less than three feet tall. He yearned to dive into the earth, to pierce and spin through it is as easily as a Dragonair in a lake. That would get him out of this irritating hail, too.

"--jump up and...oh. You can stop now." Brendan let out a thoughtful sound. "Good-bye Ethan, hello Excadrill. Guess I don't need to tell you to focus up."

Ethan raised his claws with a spirited yell. His eyes were on the Glaceon. A dainty, pretty little thing. He sneered at it. Its pleasant expression did not change.

He heard the whip of Brendan's sleeve as his trainer made some sharp gesture. "Metal Claw!"

Ethan charged forward. Time to put himself to good use! His waddling gait might look silly - it even felt silly - but he could move sharp-like regardless. Of course, he'd rather be drilling underground toward his target, but his trainer hadn't ordered that.

"Icy Wind, Glaceon!"

Too late for the little blue fox! Ethan's claws tore through the air with a metallic peal. A beautiful if brief song. The barrier in front of the Glaceon blared to life when struck. Ethan cut right through, but not without his attack losing some of its strength. The barrier hummed with defensive energy. A song of its own.

The Glaceon hissed as Ethan's blow shoved it backward. It regained its footing without falling down. A cone of howling wind erupted from its mouth, enveloping Ethan. Guided by the cutting winds, the hailstones zipped into Ethan as well. He stood firm to endure it like any tool exposed to harsh weather. The elements would not break him. The steel of his head and arms fortunately deflected much of the attack. The stones made pleasant pinging noises when they struck his metal, not quite lost in the howl.

"Damn that Barrier! Excadrill, Dig!"

At last! Ethan dove backward with the dying winds. His arms came up to his face in a motion as natural as breathing. The tips of his three metal components met at a singular point in front of his nose. The ultimate drill bit. He plunged into the loose earth.

"Glaceon, run the perimeter!"

"I dunno if you can hear me down there," came his trainer's voice. "If you can, I want you to land a really good hit when it feels right. That should be enough damage for a KO. We are not losing this battle."

The words were distorted when they reached him. More tactile sensation than sound wave. Still easy to understand. With his face enclosed in the drill, Ethan spun his way through the ground toward the Glaceon. He could feel its light footfalls. The dirt, the delightfully smothering dirt, it shifted and shook with every vibration. His foe could not hide. And, he could picture exactly where he was under the surface. It was easy. That was how his brain worked. It was what he was built for.

The Glaceon, admittedly, was faster in the surface world than he was in the earth. After a few seconds, he realized he wouldn't land a hit by simply following beneath. Ethan veered his course inward. He'd cut the Glaceon off. It was turning at the corner of the arena now. Soon it would turn at the next corner. A few more seconds...and...

Ethan burst out of the ground at top speed directly beneath the Glaceon. It all but shrieked as Ethan's drill tip jabbed into its belly, bearing it straight upward. The barrier hummed in protest. He ripped his arms downward with an exultant cry. The Glaceon flailed its limbs wildly as it spun into the air.

Brendan shouted his joy while the female trainer watched with the same strong-willed expression. A few from the audience gasped. Many others cheered. It sounded like most of them were rooting for him!

Ethan made an expert landing. Almost. His feet planted on either side of his exit hole. His left leg buckled, causing him to sway. He straightened and curtly shook his head to banish any feelings of weakness. After that Icy Wind, the Hail was starting to wear on him. Nonetheless, he was more than ready to use another move.

"Ice Fang!"

"Fuck, uh, dodge. And use Metal Claw!" his trainer called.

The Glaceon descended on Ethan all too quickly. He tried to leap backwards. Cold teeth chomped down on the ample furry flesh of his right shoulder. The Glaceon squeezed tightly with its four paws to keep its perch on his arm. He jerked his arm once, twice, three times to try to dislodge his foe while it delivered its icy attack. Cold lanced through his whole body. The unwelcome sensation reminded him of the time this Glaceon had attacked him a few minutes ago. As a Galvantula. Another life, completely irrelevant to him now.

The Glaceon backflipped away. Ethan lurched after it. Hailstones showered him. He raised his left arm high, already savoring the blow he had yet to deliver. Though his mind was beginning...beginning to feel sluggish, he would...not...

Ethan's belly hit the ground. He poked the tips of one arm into the dirt to use as leverage to stand. His body couldn't do it. He was out of commission. The hailstones were sending him off to sleep.

His trainer was cursing repeatedly. Ethan's eyelids drifted closed as he grumbled an apology. He couldn't defeat the Glaceon. How...useless.

"Return, Excadrill." The sound of his Poké Ball clicking open.

The solid metal of his claws and forehead blade were siphoned away. Long legs emerged from previously compact bulk. His droopy snout seemed to fall away from his flat human face. The squat and rotund proportions of his body stretched out as his fine fur coat evaporated. Human clothes fit for a chilly night materialized about him, ensuring everything was covered as he became more human than Pokémon. The transformation finished. His exhaustion was gone, quickly replaced by a swelling irritation.

"Screw you, Glaceon. And screw you, AI." Standing, Ethan flipped the bird at the girl across the arena. She did not react. Her pleasant but determined expression was glued to her face.

Brendan was still swearing as Ethan returned to his side. He did not hear any of Brendan's most eloquent curses, which meant he'd already used them. Brendan's anger had been roused in a big way.

"Hey." Ethan clapped his friend on the shoulder. "I realize this game is unfair. It's an arcade game after all. It has multiple random elements. And you've never played it before. We might not win but that's okay. It's a game."

"And it's on Hard mode," Brendan said. "I get it. We're actually doing really well, all things considered." He scowled. "That fucking first try Ice Fang Freeze, man."

Ethan couldn't help but laugh. Brendan soon joined in, though only for a moment. He grew serious again.

"I want to win this. We're gamers, Ethan. We're better than this."

"You just don't want to embarrass yourself in front of the audience, huh?"

Brendan rolled his eyes, recognizing the joking tone. "Uh-huh."

"I'll be happy whether we win or lose. If you want to finish strong though, let's give it our best, dude. You know I will."

His friend flashed him a half-smile. He pulled the last Poké Ball from his belt. It grew in size to fit his palm. "I shouldn't be complaining. You're the one that's actually fighting, the one giving it his all on the field. The one getting beat up over and over."

"The one who can't even stop himself from roaring some shitty battle-cry, like I'm from that god-forsaken Pokémon anime," Ethan said.

Although he gave his words a light-hearted air, it felt profoundly strange to think back on that moment as an Excadrill. His roar had been straight from the soul. He'd wanted to signal to his 'trainer' that he was absolutely raring to go. That he would be one hundred percent compliant with any order given. His goal in life had been to please Brendan by being useful in the battle.

The Glaceon wasn't real! The enemy trainer wasn't real! The battle wasn't real! It was all smoke and mirrors. It was a simulation. Everything about the experience was effervescent, like bubbles in a glass of water soon to burst. An hour from now, his time in this arena would be naught but memory. As fleeting and unimportant as playing pretend with a five-year-old, or playing a casual game of chess with a buddy.

Yet seconds ago, the battle had been his entire world.

Time and time again, his mind was fundamentally changed to give him a new existence with purpose, personality, zest. It was incredible. The novelty of becoming a Pokémon had worn off. Each time the next Ball hit him though, that no longer mattered. Ethan would be gone. A new being who lived for the battle would be taking his place. And that could never become old.

Ethan blinked out of his reverie. Brendan had chuckled at his anime joke before studying the last Poké Ball in his hand. There were two Pokémon remaining to defeat: Glaceon, and some unknown final Pokémon. Though the Glaceon had been damaged, likely heavily so, it would be a tall order to win the match. There was a low chance that Brendan's final Ball would match up favorably against the Glaceon. Otherwise, he would have used it instead of Excadrill. There was no guarantee that it would do well against the unknown Pokémon, either.

Oh well. Ethan's time in the Pokémon Battle Simulator had been well worth the five dollars, win or lose. He glanced around, taking in his surroundings before the final fight. Self-conscious, he gave a thumbs-up to the audience. They hooted and hollered their excitement in return.

"The hail stopped," Ethan commented.

"Mm. Stopped after the Glaceon beat my...beat us when you were a Excadrill. I think it lasted five turns. By the way, seemed like your second experiment didn't go so hot."

Ethan shook his head. "You can't stop the Pokémon from taking control. It's impossible or close enough to it. Even if you were to close your eyes and ignore the changes, you can't help but lose yourself in those few seconds. I think the game forces your mind to latch onto something. Then it's all downhill from there."

"What did you latch onto for the Excadrill?"

Ethan looked at his shoes. "My claws."

"They were quite nice." Brendan laughed heartily.

Ethan smiled. "Excadrill's design is neat. Not my fault."

"Hey!" Someone shouted from behind them. The pair turned to the turnstiles that had admitted them into the rectangular arena. A couple of girls, maybe ten or eleven years old, stood just outside. Evidently they were forming a line at the podium where the game settings could be entered.

"Could you guys get on with it? We wanna play," the taller one said. Her arms were folded in a way that might have been close to intimidating were she not four and a half feet tall. Instead, she was adorable.

"We're gonna play with Pikachu only, 'cuz Pikachu's the cutest!" said the other girl, bouncing on her feet.

"Right, right," said Brendan.

"We're on our last Pokémon," added Ethan. "Shouldn't be long."

Together they faced the Glaceon. The Glaceon that had mopped the floor with Ethan as a Galvantula, then out-matched him as an Excadrill. He took a deep breath and was surprised to feel his fingers curl to fists. Yes, he wanted to win. He wasn't as frustrated as Brendan, but he wanted to crush that little fox.

"You're gonna be a Tyrantrum," said Brendan. An image of the Pokémon appeared in Ethan's mind's eye. Obviously based off the T. rex, it was a very impressive Pokémon. A fitting end to their line-up.

Brendan continued, "It's Rock and Dragon. Ice will be super effective against you. Not good. The Glaceon will be weak though, so it'd be great if you could knock it out on the first move."

"Got it," said Ethan. Adrenaline filled his veins with the thought of the monster he would be in mere seconds. "Let's fuck this Glaceon up, then fuck up whatever the trainer's last Pokémon is."

"This is our last chance. We can do this. We play games every day. Let's prove it."

Ethan nodded decisively. He could see the Poké Ball ready in his friend's hand. Their eyes met. "Hit me."

Brendan's expression became a mask of determination. He threw the Ball at Ethan's chest. "End this, Tyrantrum."

Sparkling blue light flooded into him. As the Ball bounced back into Brendan's hand, Ethan turned to the battlefield.

Then, he sprinted with all he was worth toward the Glaceon at the other end of the arena.

Ethan drew his arms in close to his chest as they simplified to rudimentary forelimbs. His five fingers merged into two inflexible digits tipped by dull black claws. In contrast to his dwindling upper limbs, he felt his feet transform at the ends of burgeoning legs. Once his shoes and socks had disappeared he could feel three substantial claws dig into the earth with each step. His gait changed between footfalls. His heels, now drawn upward toward his big thighs, no longer touched the ground.

That excited Ethan. He found himself leaning forward toward his enemy, the Glaceon. A fleshy tail extended straight backwards as a counterbalance. Ethan leaned even farther until his back was at a forty-five degree angle to the ground. His tail compensated, growing longer and thicker, enlarging his pelvis, forcing his legs into a theropod stance. He had to have a third of his weight in that tapered tail. With his posture inclined so aggressively forward, Ethan felt positively predatory.

All of his skin dried and hardened into large brick-red scales. His flexibility was preserved as his armored hide split around numerous joints on his body, especially down his back. Like medieval plate armor, the surface layers of his scales slid over the lower layers. The edges of the upper layers lightened to orange accents. More orange appeared in the form of two spikes just before the tip of his swaying tail, and five spikes encasing his eyes and forehead. His belly tingled from chin to tail-tip as the scales softened somewhat and became a continuous stripe of gray flanked by white. Ethan's breaths came larger and larger, enabled by his limber chest.

Ethan clenched his teeth. Raw strength had filled his growing jaws. With the tip of his huge new tongue, he felt all his teeth sharpen. A few orange false teeth extended down from the scaling of his now-hard upper lip. They spread apart as his nose pushed outward into the fearsome snout of an apex carnivore. His image of untamed power was shifted by the shaggy and spiky white fur that sprouted from his chin and neck. They became a short but distinguished beard, and a flared mane like a royal mantle. His appearance was ferocious but illustrious, like a feared warlord.

All the while, every part of Ethan's body except for his arms had been growing. His jaws. His head. His neck. His chest. His belly. His tail. His thighs. After every step toward the Glaceon, he took on more and more mass. Mass with which to crush any puny Pokémon that stood before him. Mass to make him an unstoppable force. He'd grown to the weight of the heaviest human bodybuilders in a couple of seconds. A second later, and he was even with the heaviest of Sumo wrestlers. Another second, a typical grizzly bear. He topped out at about 600 pounds.

Ethan had started off with a dash across the arena ground on light, human feet. A swift rhythm. He had ended on the colossal stomps of a behemoth. His last two steps, still at top speed, had been a nearly full second apart. His massive toes sank into the dirt with every step of his ponderous weight. Where he trod, he now left behind the footprints of a prehistoric king.

"Holy shit. Tyrantrum, Stomp on that Glaceon!"

The trainer girl reacted. "Glaceon, use Icy Wind!"

Ethan was charging at full speed. The Glaceon didn't have a chance. As it leaped into the air, head rearing back with an inhalation, Ethan raised one leg high. He caught his foe on his middle toe. Demonstrating the profuse strength of his hip and thigh muscles, he thrust his foot into the ground with lightning speed.

A cloud of dust rippled outward. Ethan took a step back to reveal his footprint eight feet below his regal gaze. Inside it, the Glaceon lay on its side. It pawed weakly at the dirt from the borderline of consciousness.

Ethan's tiny slit nostrils flared with his intake of one, huge breath. An ear-shattering roar filled the world. He swung his head left and right to ensure that every living creature could hear clearly the sound of his dominance. His great lungs emptied. Ethan glared a challenge at the enemy trainer. Let her send out her last Pokémon. He'd crush it too.

"Holy shit," Brendan said again. "Maybe you should be the one giving commands!"

As he backpedaled slowly to the middle of the arena, Ethan turned his head upon his neck to lay an eye on his trainer. He let out what he hoped was a discouraging rumble. Some things were absolute. The authority of his trainer was one of them. Still, Ethan couldn't stop the amused swing of his huge tail as he entertained the idea. Ordering little humans to punch and kick each other with their feeble limbs. How droll.

The Glaceon had been called back to its Poké Ball and stowed on the girl's belt. She drew out another, the one at the end of the line. The sixth.

"I choose you, Venusaur!"

The Grass and Poison type formed from the blue light. Its legs were like tree trunks. It opened a gaping mouth to issue a bellowing challenge. The leaves and flower on its broad back danced with the roar.

Brendan mumbled some phrases about strengths, weaknesses, statistics, and other such trainer particulars. From his tone, Ethan knew this would not be a victory that was easy to claim. Nonetheless, it would be a victory. With his trainer's help, he would make sure of that.

"Tyrantrum, use Dragon Tail. Wait, no, do...do Ancient Power!"

"Venusaur, Sleep Powder!"

Ancient Power it would be. Ethan took a small step forward to stamp one foot into the ground. At his bidding, a few boulders rose out of the earth and into the air. A vitalizing sensation rose within him, too. It felt as if the ancient earth beneath his claws was investing him with energy. Ethan felt faster, stronger, and hardier than ever.

The Venusaur shook itself, rustling the leaves and petals. A plume of green powder wafted up and out from the center of its flower. As Ethan mentally commanded his boulders to fly at the Venusaur, his foe's powder swept into him. The particles coated his scales and he couldn't help but inhale some. Nonetheless, most of the boulders flew true. The Venusaur heaved itself out of the way of a couple with surprising speed for such a big Pokémon. The rest broke upon its knobby blue skin.

Brendan was speaking his next command. The words were distant though. So was the Venusaur. Too tired. The world...the lights...fading...so...

...

...head...heavy...eyelids...too heavy...

...

...pain...sharp pain on his chest and snout...

...

...so...so tired...

...

...battle...middle of battle...had to, he had to wake up. He could do it. He could open his eyes. Ethan's eyes creaked open. The fuzz filling his brain was diminishing. The Venusaur was standing in the same spot. Its red eyes stared past his own. Concentrating. Motes of light were drifting into its flower, which pulsed and waved as if beckoning them in. A nimbus of light began to emanate forth.

"Tyrantrum! Get him while you still can - use Crunch!"

His toes dug inches deep into the ground as he fired himself forward. The power of Dark Pokémon filled his jaw and mouth. He chomped down on the Venusaur's head using all of the formidable power of his jaw muscles. The Venusaur winced but continued charging its attack. Ethan bit harder, squeezing the flesh and bone between his teeth with all the strength he could muster. If he beat this Venusaur, he and his trainer would be victorious, as they should be!

"Dodge the beam!" shouted Brendan.

Ethan's eyes flicked to the flower. The motes of light were gone, leaving only a healthy golden glow shining out of the gaps between the petals that were furled shut. Now, the Venusaur collapsed its front legs and pointed its back as much as it could at Ethan. The flower's trunk bent the remainder. All at once, the petals unfurled.

Ethan's world became light. Shining, vivacious, white light. The rays streamed out of the Venusaur's flower into Ethan's face. He could neither see nor hear. He was no longer standing. No, he was drowning in the luminous beam.

The Solar Beam ended. Ethan's back slammed into something warm. He bounced off, fell through the air, and landed heavily on his left flank. With a whip of his tail and neck, he righted himself and took stock of the situation.

He'd been blasted into the force field at the side of the field, far from the Venusaur. That was quite an attack! Ethan felt greatly weakened. One attack more, perhaps two, and he'd be bested. He had the sense that he'd been harmed while asleep, too. Something sharp had cut into him in many places.

"Tell me you're alright, Tyrantrum," called his trainer. He responded with a passionate roar of defiance. He would be the king of this battle!

"Perfect, now give it another Ancient Power!"

"Synthesis, Venusaur!"

Ethan used his technique to pull more boulders from the earth. Again, the Venusaur was unable to dodge the majority of them. It grumbled as the impacts took their toll.

The Seed Pokémon's whole body glowed with light. Not just its flower. Its eyes opened wider as some of its missing energy was rejuvenated.

"Whatever," said Brendan. "Hit it with another Ancient Power!"

"Synthesis again, Venusaur!"

Once more, Ethan pressed a foot into the ground, feeling the rocks of the earth rise up at his call. They soared through the air to strike his foe, bursting into dust and shards of rock. Once more, the Venusaur glowed with the light of regeneration to heal some of its damage.

"Fuck, I wish I could tell how its HP was changing," Brendan said. He was seething. "Can you, Tyrantrum?"

Him? He snorted, and shook his head left, then right.

"Better try something different. Can't use Dragon moves though, they're ineffective. Another Crunch. Go!"

"Razor Leaf!"

"Shit."

Ethan closed the distance as quickly as he could. His tail was extended straight behind him. It shifted with his stride to enable perfect balance. He hoped that he could withstand the Venusaur's leaves. Being defeated here at the very end would be disgraceful. Thus, unacceptable.

He opened his fearsome jaws wide.

Sharp-edged leaves shot out from the greenery atop the Venusaur's back. They sliced at Ethan's crest, his arms, his belly, his tail, his back. One even cut his tongue.

Ethan endured it all to finally reach the Venusaur. He bit down on its right front leg. His foe had tried to scoot out of the way of the Crunch. Too slow. Ethan imagined his jaws squeezing the life out of the Venusaur, second by second. Its disdained roar was like an oak tree creaking and moaning in a thunderstorm. Finally, it shoved him off. He stumbled a couple of steps away. His great tail curled to keep him upright.

Brendan murmured something about the Venusaur having too much energy. Then he said, "We have to use Head Smash. It's the logical best move. Do it, Tyrantrum! Finish the Venusaur for good!"

"Venusaur, your foe's weak! Finish with Razor Leaf!"

She wasn't wrong; another Razor Leaf would knock him out. That could not be allowed to happen!

Ethan took a last deep breath before loosing it in the most intimidating roar he could produce. The Venusaur responded with a gravelly roar of its own. Ethan spotted most of the audience members covering their ears. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Brendan did not. A worthy trainer, he was.

Ethan crouched. He felt the muscles of his legs bunch up.

The Venusaur's leaves began quivering. Its attack would come in a second or two.

With all of his strength, Ethan launched himself at the Venusaur's face. He threw caution to the wind. His legs were out behind him. He tucked his chin so his rock-hard crest would strike the Venusaur.

The two titans collided. Ethan's head bowled the Venusaur over. It rolled twice, trailing dust, and ended up on its belly with its limbs splayed out.

Head ringing, Ethan slammed into the dirt on his belly and jaw.

They both groaned. Then the battlefield was quiet for a moment.

No Razor Leaf attack came at him. Did that mean...surely that meant the battle was over?

Ethan blinked, slowly. That attack was brutal. A Head Smash took a big bite out of his stamina.

"Get up, Tyrantrum." Brendan's voice was urgent. "Get up, and we win!"

Get up? Such a task would not be easy. His energy was gone. Maybe not completely, but enough to deserve a long rest. Why couldn't Brendan just call him back to his Ball?

"Please." Ethan wearily brought an eye to bear on his trainer. "Just stand up. Show that you're not down and out. Please."

Hm. He could try. For his trainer. Ethan bent his spine to push against the ground with his shoulder and tail. Braced, he pulled his legs into place beneath him. First one, then the other. The effort was too much to bear. His energy gave out. He slumped on his feet, lying on the ground from chin to tail.

"No! It's not over! One last effort, Tyrantrum, one last effort!"

No. He was too tired. He allowed his unfocused eyes to begin drifting closed.

Brendan paused before giving a harsh laugh. "And I thought you were the king of this arena. Pathetic."

Ethan's eyes shot open. He commanded his legs to straighten. They shook. They trembled. But they did not give in. Ethan refused them that luxury. He _was_the king of this arena, and he was going to act like one! A hoarse grunt signaled the last of his strength.

Ethan the Tyrantrum stood tall over the fallen Venusaur.

Brendan screamed his jubilation. The upbeat battle music from above changed to a joyous fanfare. Ethan closed his eyes. He allowed his tail to droop. Dignity, and the image he had to maintain, could wait. It was over. He had proven his rightful place. And now he was certainly deserving of the return to his Poké Ball.

The spotlight warmed his scales. The audience cheered and applauded. His trainer was running to congratulate him. Well, the current circumstances were pleasant enough. Yes, he would remain here to recuperate.

"Tyrantrum, you did it!" yelled Brendan, running between Ethan's legs. He spun on the spot once he was in front. His arms were opened wide.

Oh, fine. Ethan bent his great neck. Brendan encircled his snout tightly. Ethan couldn't help but thrum contentedly. He could sense his trainer's happiness clearly. Brendan drew back with a few extra pats on the tip of his rough snout.

"Great battle!" the other trainer said after recalling her Venusaur. "You make a strong team. Better keep training though. I won't go so easy on you next time!" She turned and walked toward the turnstile at the far side. Before she reached it, her form dissipated.

"Up yours! That was your most difficult setting!" Brendan shouted after her. He was grinning.

Ethan was careful to avoid hurting his trainer as he let himself slump to the ground. The king had performed his duty. His exhalation came as a prolonged, deep sigh. He glared up at Brendan, unsure if he was pleading or commanding.

"Yeah, alright. Come back Tyrantrum." He held up the Poké Ball.

Ethan's second sigh was lost as his Tyrantrum body was peeled away. The vicious teeth and claws. The natural armor of scales. The long tail, along with the enhanced balance it provided. The height and mass. All the Tyrantrum sensations withered as his humanity regrew in their place.

His satisfaction at winning remained in his chest, warming him more than the heat of any spotlight could. Ethan raised a hand. Brendan gave him the high-five he wanted.

Brendan, his trainer no longer, glanced at where the female trainer had vanished. "We beat the game's hardest most on our first try. We rock, dude."

"I can't take all the credit. Even if that Head Smash was the best Head Smash in the history of the world."

"You kidding me? That winning strategy was mine, you...punk!"

Ethan rolled his eyes in mock condescension. "Your strategy had me using Ancient Power three times instead of spamming Crunch. I'm positive that Crunch does more damage."

"Psh, Ancient Power triggered the stat boosts, didn't it? I saw you stand a little taller after the first one. Those stat boosts won us the battle."

"Crunch is--"

The shrunken Poké Balls at Brendan's hip shrank even further, one by one, until they disappeared. Each was accompanied by a descending electronic tone like in the old Pokémon video games. It was the inverse of the sound produced when they first appeared at Brendan's hip. The fanfare stopped playing.

Ethan inspected the battlefield. Now, all signs of the many battles were gone. The dirt was free of gouges, holes, pieces of rock, scorch marks, and wet patches. Pristine for the next match. The arena was perfectly empty and silent, except for Ethan and Brendan.

"That's our cue," Brendan said.

The two girls eagerly fed their money into the podium once Ethan and Brendan had exited through the turnstile. Ethan wished the girls luck. They thanked him in distracted fashion. Some of the audience members intercepted the pair as they moved toward the stairs.

The questions they asked were predictable. Almost all of them were directed at Ethan. He politely responded, though the stress of the match was catching up to him. He'd sleep well tonight.

"What was it like?"

"Fascinating. Exhilarating. Eye-opening. You become someone else."

"Did the moves hurt? That Solar Beam, man."

"Kinda. Lots of adrenaline."

"Did you really think you were a Pokémon, or was it an act?"

"No act."

He kept his responses thoughtful but short. Ethan wasn't a naturally out-going person. The questioning from these strangers was no fun. He'd rather be discussing the match with Brendan. The way he felt about his friend had changed. They had fought as partners in a series of engrossing, realistic battles. As realistic as Pokémon battles could be, at least. It was as if they were war veterans from the same squad. No. No, that was ridiculous.

The questions kept coming. He noticed a girl in her twenties recording a clip for her social media. After half a minute longer, Brendan must have noticed his discomfort. Or, he was exhausted himself.

"Alright, we're heading out. You're free to try the game yourself. It's only five bucks each. See ya."

The pair pushed through the doors, leaving University District Arcade. The walk back to the campus was only a few minutes. Ethan planned on chilling out to some relaxing music, going to sleep, and finishing his schoolwork in the morning. Maybe he'd jot down some thoughts about the game before he forgot the details. Tomorrow night there would be time to research the technology, see what other people were saying about the Pokémon Battle Simulator.

The pair reminisced about the most memorable parts of the battle. Even now, Ethan found it hard to reconcile the battling of the match with the meek human he now was. The Pokémon he had become were like separate lives. Separate 'people'. He chose not to bring up the petting of his feathers as a Talonflame, or the hug as a Tyrantrum. Brendan didn't breach the topic either. It was what it was. A strange experience.

Brendan had his phone out, thumbing through whatever websites he liked to check. "If we ever play again, I'm sure you'll like the trainer role too. It's weird, because you're giving voice commands like in any other game with voice commands, but you know it's your friend you're ordering around."

"Yeah. It's not really your friend though. Not at the time."

"Mm, I guess. I'd have to experience it for myself."

Ethan turned to his friend. He could squeeze his planned research into the time between classes tomorrow. "Then let's battle again. Tomorrow night?"

Brendan lowered his phone, surprised. Then he flashed Ethan a one-sided grin.