Manaphy hid behind the reef, not expecting to run into Caster again so soon.
After escorting Caster and the Chinchou to Blue Point Isle last time, it had found an underwater cave to rest in for a while.
Because it had healed so many Chinchou with its song, its energy was pretty depleted and needed time to recover.
But it hadn't even gotten a full night's sleep before being woken up by the massive commotion from Gyarados and Pichu's electric-type moves.
Seeing Caster dozing off with his eyes closed, Manaphy felt a bit bored. So it swam over to where little Pichu and Gyarados were training and started observing them sneakily.
On shore, little Pichu was continuously practicing its newly mastered electric-type moves. The crackling of electrical arcs filled the air, occasionally accompanied by thunderous booms.
Gyarados only discharged electricity now and then, but its massive body submerged in the seawater kept twisting and churning up waves, looking every bit like some vicious sea dragon.
Watching this scene, Manaphy suddenly had a mischievous idea pop into its head.
The two antennae on its head pointed at Gyarados and Pichu respectively, their spherical tips glowing with a hazy light.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Two beams of light shot out, hitting Gyarados and Pichu. Their bodies instantly froze, as if time itself had stopped.
Before long, when the two Pokémon regained their ability to move, they both got quite a shock and seemed rather confused.
From Pichu's perspective, it felt like it had suddenly become a giant. Everything around it had become incredibly tiny.
Most importantly, it could see "itself", a small yellow mouse wriggling on the ground like a Caterpie.
Pichu called out, but its voice was no longer soft and cute. Instead, it came out as a thunderous roar, rough and fierce.
Pichu curiously examined itself, only to discover in surprise that its body seemed to have become just like big brother Gyarados.
In the reef pile by the shore, several Krabby were foraging for food.
When they saw "little Pichu," fear immediately showed on their faces as they fled in panic.
Seeing this, little Pichu suddenly thought this wasn't so bad after all.
In its original body, it was just a tiny thing. Everyone who saw it would look down on it, even actively coming over to bully and pick on it.
But now it had become super huge. Everyone who saw it had to act all humble and didn't dare mess with it. Some Pokémon didn't even dare look directly at it.
Impressive!
This was seriously impressive!
Pichu roared again, feeling quite pleased with itself.
It felt incredibly powerful right now!
Contrary to Pichu's experience, Gyarados's situation was rather unfortunate.
After regaining consciousness, it was surprised to find that it had clearly been in the ocean just moments ago, so why had it suddenly ended up on shore?
It tried to swim back into the sea, but discovered that a distance that should have taken just a few strokes now left it exhausted after barely wriggling a few meters.
Just then, from a tree in the forest, a Pokémon jumped out.
Most of its body was purple, with cream-colored inner ears, face, belly, foot pads, and tail tip. The end of its tail was shaped like a hand.
It was a Normal-type Pokémon, Aipom!
Seeing "Gyarados" wriggling on the ground, Aipom immediately burst into laughter up in the tree, mocking it mercilessly.
This Pichu must be crazy!
Seeing this little monkey daring to laugh at it, Gyarados immediately roared with a fierce expression, only to find that the sound it made was incredibly soft and cute.
Gyarados's eyes went wide as it suddenly realized something was very wrong.
It looked down at itself and indeed discovered that it had transformed from a mighty, muscular powerhouse into an adorable little cutie.
In that moment, Gyarados felt like the sky was falling!
Watching Pichu's angry display, Aipom found it even more hilarious.
Because the sight of Pichu trying so hard to make a "fierce expression" looked absolutely ridiculous.
You're just a Pichu. Who are you trying to scare?
You can't scare anyone!!!
Seeing that "Pichu" still seemed to want to attack it, Aipom immediately made as if to strike back. "Pichu" got scared right away.
Seeing this, Aipom became even more amused.
In the end, "Pichu" wriggled away all huffy!
Watching this comical scene, Manaphy found it absolutely delightful. It clapped its hands happily, its laughing eyes curved like crescent moons.
Faced with this bizarre phenomenon, Gyarados could only seek out Caster for help.
"Huh?"
When he saw "Pichu" approaching, Caster's face was full of confusion. "Pichu, why are you wriggling on the ground like a Caterpie?"
Tears welled up in "Pichu's" eyes. It was suffering!
I don't want to wriggle either, but, I don't know how to walk!!!
"Pichu" cried out frantically, pointing at itself, then pointing at the "Gyarados" in the sea swimming around triumphantly, twisting and diving with glee.
This situation was getting pretty complicated. Caster didn't quite understand what was going on, but he recalled Gyarados anyway.
Hearing its trainer's call, "Gyarados" immediately swam over happily, excitedly crashing toward Caster's embrace.
"Wait, no!"
Caster nearly jumped out of his skin in terror.
A Gyarados crashing into its trainer? Aside from that super rookie from Pallet Town and Champion Bruno, who could possibly withstand that?
Caster definitely knew he couldn't!
So he quickly pulled out a Pokéball and returned the overly "enthusiastic" Gyarados. And as Gyarados was recalled into the Pokéball, Pichu and Gyarados finally returned to normal.
Finding itself back in its original body, Pichu felt quite dejected.
It was a tiny shrimp again!
Next, Caster released Gyarados again. After questioning them both, he was absolutely stunned.
"This situation... Heart Swap?"
Caster's eyes gleamed thoughtfully.
In the games, Heart Swap was a move that exchanged all stat changes with the opponent.
But in reality, it had a different effect.
But none of that was the most important thing!
Most importantly, this move could only be learned by Manaphy and Magearna.
Magearna was a special artificial Pokémon, and there certainly weren't any in the Johto region.
Which meant there was only one explanation!
"Manaphy, where are you?"
Caster suddenly jumped to his feet and called out loudly toward the sea. "The changes that happened to Gyarados and Pichu just now, that was you, wasn't it?"
Now that the prank was over, Manaphy felt a bit disappointed. But when Caster's shout rang out, it immediately shrank back.
It had been caught red-handed by the victim?
Manaphy pouted while also feeling quite curious.
Why did this boy know so much about it?
Whether it was singing or Heart Swap, there should be other Pokémon that could learn these moves besides itself, right?
So why was it that every time it used an ability, he immediately figured it out?
Its antennae glowed again, carefully sensing the emotions of Caster, Pichu, and Gyarados. After confirming they held no ill will toward it, Manaphy finally peeked half its face out from behind the reef.
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