Swap: Life

From one moment to the next, Ash was met with a strong feeling of disorientation as her field of view had changed completely. In fact, she was now in an entirely different position!

Now sitting instead of standing, she was facing what looked to be the backside of the reception counter. From her current point of view, the taller front of the counter was forming a partition between the lower desk section and the lobby area, partly blocking the room from her sight. Most of her view was taken up by a stack of documents, a calculator and the remote, which was now placed on the desk in front of her. In its place, she was now holding a pen, its tip resting right at the end of a half-written word as though she had just been using it.

In an attempt to sort out her situation, the first thing Ash did was to look down at herself. This had clued her in on many changes in the past, and it wouldn't be any different this time. What greeted her the moment she lowered her gaze was the sight of a white apron draped over a light pink dress with short, puffy sleeves. Seeing the distinct outfit in place of the clothes she had obtained just earlier, she noticed that the sensation on top of her head had changed as well. In place of the hat she had worn before, there was now something somewhat lighter, though she could only guess as to what exactly it was.

Speaking of her head, the shift in focus caused Ash to realize another change to her appearance. Namely, her hair having undergone a distinct change of style. In the front, she felt as though her hair had gained even curls right above her forehead instead of drifting off to the side. Meanwhile, the bulk of her hair was now tied into two large rings towards the back of her head. Even if she couldn't see them directly, their unique shape and the way they moved with her head clued her in fairly quickly.

The hints were pretty obvious, so it didn't take Ash long to put the pieces together. She had swapped with Nurse Joy, that much was clear. But what exactly was it that she swapped with her? It wasn't just her clothes that she had taken on, but also her hairstyle and even position. Just what kind of trait could entail all of these factors?

Hoping that another perspective could help her observations, Ash adjusted her position in the office chair so she could better look over the top of the counter. The sight that greeted her on the other side was a striking one to say the least.

Standing in her exact position was now Nurse Joy, dressed in the light blue top and red skirt Ash had worn before. Her reddish pink hair, now topped by Ash's white hat, had lost its curls in the front and was flowing down freely behind her back. She was talking to Mallow, seemingly having continued on right from the moment Ash had swapped away. Of course, thanks to the remote's power, neither of them noticed that anything was amiss.

What surprised her even more, however, was the way that Nurse Joy was behaving. As she chatted with Mallow, her entire demeanor and even body language seemed completely different from her normal self. Gone was her calm, composed and polite aura, replaced with a still friendly but more outgoing and casual attitude. In fact, the way she was acting looked very familiar to Ash. It was almost as if she was looking at… herself?

Processing what she had just seen, Ash lowered her gaze once again. This change had encompassed so much more than any of the ones she had performed before it. Nurse Joy was seemingly living her exact life now, at least without the presence of the remote. Was this what she had swapped then? It seemed like the most reasonable assumption she could come up with, so she decided to stick with it. The only problem was that she had no idea which button it was that she had pressed.

Stuck in her own thoughts, Ash didn't notice Mallow splitting off from her new companion and walking over to the reception counter.

"Excuse me?" the Alolan girl approached the newly-minted nurse.

Ash was unsure about this new situation, but had **** but to respond. "Y-Yes? How can I help you?" she gave a polite smile, not noticing how similar it was to the real Nurse Joy's.

"My friend and I were wondering if dinner is still available," Mallow began, unaware that her actual friend was sitting right in front of her. "We saw you were busy, so we weren't sure and wanted to ask."

She had no idea, but obviously Ash couldn't tell her something like that in her current position. Instead, she said the first thing that came to her mind, "Oh, you don't need to worry about that. Chansey is taking care of the kitchen, so feel free to head over and enjoy your meal."

"Great!" the green-haired trainer beamed. "Thanks a lot, Nurse Joy!"

With the brief exchange over, Mallow returned to the side of the real Nurse Joy and the two of them headed out of sight into the dining area. Ash, meanwhile, couldn't shake this weird feeling about what she had just told her. She had no idea about how this Pokémon-Center was organized, yet what she said didn't feel false or made up… Was there even more to this swap than she thought?

She returned her attention to the stack of documents in front of her once more. Firming her grip on the pen in her hand, an idea had formed in her head on how to test this feeling of hers. Lowering the pen onto the half-filled document at the top of the stack, she started writing what felt right to her without giving it too much thought. To her surprise, after she had completed one of the sections, the result seemed to be exactly what was supposed to be written down there. And it didn't end there, as even the handwriting was a perfect match for the rest of the document.

At this point, Ash had gotten a pretty clear idea as to what was going on. The remote hadn't just swapped their lives, but it was also helping her live this new life. She'd been able to access some of Nurse Joy's knowledge on instinct when needed, and with everything else the remote was capable of, she was certain that she could access even more on top of that. That device really came in handy when necessary!

This also made Ash wonder whether the same was true when it came to other changes. Could she have made use of Mallow's cooking skills after swapping their occupations? She'd have to find out another time, since she didn't own those skills in this life anymore.

For now, Ash had to consider what she could do now. Nurse Joy and Mallow were currently eating dinner out of sight, so she couldn't use the remote from her current position. Getting closer to them would draw at least some attention from either them or the other guests, so swapping back was probably out of the picture for the time being. Since she was already occupying her life, she might as well get some work done for Nurse Joy with her borrowed knowledge. On the other hand, she might as well try to explore this new life for a bit before changing back…