An endless void of darkness surrounded me, merely a handful of buzzing lightning arcs generated some light as they danced around me, leaving behind a neon purple glow. My senses were completely numb. I couldn't move, I couldn't feel my body, I just… existed.

Lightning finally converged from all directions, forming a humanoid face.

An ethereal voice, monotone and neutral, called out to me.

 

"Greetings, Ace." the voice said, "you have fought well, both in and outside the realm of Pokémon."

"Who are you?"

"They call me PRS. I have long forgotten what I used to be before."

"What happened? Am I... dead?"

 

"I am not familiar with the concept of death. However, you will have to make a choice for your vessel has been damaged badly. I will make it easy for you - just think about the best outcome you can imagine. Thoughts are the purest form of energy. Remember: Without a vessel, your remaining energy will soon expire."

 

Following the instructions, I made up the ideal scene, the best outcome I could hope for. I thought of Norah, her cute face, her little freckles, her lilac strand of hair. She was smiling happily and walked towards me.

 

"I am afraid that I can not allow a duplicate ID to exist. Prepare for combat."

"Duplicate? No! I don't even know how that thought thing works!"

Pierce rules defined.

Cause: Norah(unique). Combat Type: 1v1. Items: Disabled. Range: Unrestricted.

 

Inside the darkness, a platform solidified, only visible because of the perfectly reflecting surface and the glowing purple lines drawing a Pokéball symbol and rectangular outlines. Each corner was marked by a glowing beacon that reached into infinity.

Within one half of the arena bounds, a body was constructed by a flurry of light beams and crude, colored voxels, progressively refining, assimilating Norah's body. A few steps away, on the other half, a lilac Trainer Norah was constructed in the same way.

 

"I surrender! It's not fair! Let me try that thought thing again."

Surrendering will forfeit your duplicate. Continue? Y/N

 

"Please! Tell me! What does it even mean?"

Without a vessel, your remaining energy will soon expire.

 

There was no way out. While the opportunity to change my life for the best possible outcome sounded great, the rules and repercussions remained unclear.

"Fine then. Let's get this over with."

 

My disembodied self was pulled closer and closer towards Trainer Norah, as if it was slowly falling, attracted by a funnel of concentric lilac circles. Even though it was her trainer avatar, her body seemed so real, making it uncanny as it stood there, stiff and lifeless.

Following the circles I was now moved towards her head. Blending into it, all of my senses that I thought were lost went haywire.

 

The first thing I felt was intense pain in my feet as the welding process started from the toes up. I yelled in desperation, but no voice would come out. Each nerve that got connected multiplied the amount of pain coursing through me, wave after wave.

A band of plasma rushed upwards my legs. Gravity kicked in. With my toes curled and knees collapsed, I smashed onto the arena floor, unable to stand, unable to slow the fall. More nerves got connected, electrocuting my body. Gasping with burning lungs, my trachea scorched one cell at the time; my tongue felt all the tastes on overdrive as a searing sensation flooded through me, igniting my insides.

What felt like thousands of needles simultaneously stitching skin to my flesh, weaving in frozen nerves, reminded me of my new arms and hands.

My head was pounding, almost exploding from pressure. My ears activated with a sub bass boom, leaving behind a stinging tinnitus. A flood of colors blinded me, so I squeezed together my flaming eyelids and squealed through my new mouth, louder than ever, until my breath gave out.

Contestant 1. Ready.

 

As I regained consciousness, a devastated, yet cute face blinked at me from the arena floor. The girl mirrored my every move. "Hey there," Norah's voice greeted myself. Clasping my hands over my mouth in shock, I addressed the PRS once more.

 

"What have you done? Do you think this is funny? You're supposed to regulate Pokémon, not humans! We also use Pokémon to fight, not trainers!"

 

The other Norah - the real Norah - blinked and started to move cautiously. An exclamation mark was floating above her head. "Hello? What's going on? Is that a bad April's Fools joke?"

Thoughts. Conditions. Data. They all are the same.

Memory. Levels. Hard Disks. They all are the same.

Humans. Pocket Monsters. AI. We all are the same.

 

Duplicates are not allowed. This is imperative. Contestant 2. Ready.
Commence battle.

 

"Norah, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean for any of this to happen!" I replied.

"Another pierce? Tell me ASAP what's going on, duplicate me!"

"It's not what it looks like! PRS welded me into a copy of your body. It's me, Ace!"

 

The girl rushed towards me, tears in her eyes, slapping me in the face with full force, knocking me over.

"Liar! I saw Ace being murdered by an SUV moments ago. The car battery short-circuited. If he hadn't died from impact, the power surge would have finished him off! Besides, if you hadn't initiated combat, you'd hardly have that exclamation mark pointing right at your face!"

 

Rubbing a hand against my burning cheek, I rose from the ground again.

"I survived. My thoughts have. I guess. Somehow, the surge must have established a connection to reality."

"Stop lying to me, you floozy! Whatever all that duplicate-body-copy-crap may be about, you're going down. Bring it on!"

 

Evading her high kick, I was glad in a way that I ended up inside a well-trained body. My old self wouldn't have been able to pull that off.

"I'm not the enemy. Team SPECTRE is! We need to find a sol-"

"You first! SPECTRE is going down next."

 

Her punch landed square on my chest. Another followed instantly.

In addition to the bruises pulsating painfully, a life bar flashed in the corner of my vision, indicating that I took damage.

Crossing my arms in defense, I tried to talk her to reason again.

"Norah, please stop, I'm losing HP! You're going to kill me!"

"That's the plan, you terrible imposter!"

 

Another flurry of blows chunked away at the life bar that now reached the critical section. I've had enough.
With a high-pitched yell, I spun around, kicking her legs from the side to force her to the ground.

Sitting on top of her, my hands pushed hers against the floor. I pressed my forehead against Norah's, making sure she'd finally hear me out.

"Listen up, young lady. I did everything for you. It was me stalling the bus so you could get on, it was me guiding you along the road network, through the butcher's store towards the next station. It was me who saved you from the SUV... losing my body in the process."

Norah blinked and shed a tear, ceasing to fight against my grip.

"... Ace? But that's impossible!"