Hello again everyone. I hope you liked the previous chapter, and I'm sorry about taking so long to update this. Still busy with real-life stuff, including moving to another part of Japan…again. Anyway, for this installment, the other characters show up. The Rockets, Duplica, Ash, Misty, Brock, etc. They're all curious over what's going on and what they all should do. Oh, I also apologize in advance…there's one part in this chapter – okay, maybe two – that's completely irrelevant. I was tempted to drop it altogether, but decided to keep it in…for nostalgia purposes. lol

Now, as always, I do not own anything dealing with the Pokémon franchise. Nintendo, 4Kids, Gamefreak, etc., have those rights, and here are the age reminders once again...

Ash/Duplica: 13
Misty/Todd: 14
Kenji/Jen: 17 going on 18
Joya: 18
Brock/Mondo: 19
Jessie: 22
James/Cassidy/Butch: 23

Part 20: "What just…happened?" Duplica's Mysterious Power!

Last time, we saw that Todd had been captured by the one, and only, Giovanni, who is now planning on using him against Ash and the others somehow. Giovanni fears Duplica and those close to her, but still doesn't fully understand why. Also, Duplica was being held captive, but thanks to a blunder by the overworked professor, she managed to escape. What'll happen now?

Ash Title: Duplica's Mysterious Power!

Duplica, in a flash, appeared in the shopping district of the town, with her Ditto by her side, who was in the form of Kadabra. Some people looked on at the girl and her Pokémon, wondering how she'd managed such a thing, while others ignored it, realizing that Kadabra was a psychic type. Just the previous day, on the news, Mayor Imité had told the citizens of Kage Island, "not to worry" and that the "attacks will soon stop" and that "everyone is working hard to solve this mystery". Ironically, like Duplica, Mayor Imité had also never been involved in an attack, something else Laura and the others had been pondering over.

"I can't believe what just happened," Duplica said to Ditto. "I'm so glad you were with me. We wouldn't have been able to teleport out of that cold place if I'd left you behind." Kadabra nodded in agreement. "We need to tell the others about this and about that strange Pokémon that attacked me. I'm not sure if it was a psychic type or not, but if it was, I guess I'm not immune after all." Duplica noticed the looks some of the inhabitants were giving her; they were fearful. "Ditto, please transform back to normal. People are still a bit nervous around Psychic Pokémon."

Kadabra transformed back into Ditto, and went back into its Pokéball. The girl began making her way through the shopping district that Todd, Ash & Misty, along with the former Rockets, had been earlier. While there, she spotted Brock and Joya coming from a party favor shop with some bags.

"Brock! Hey, Brock, Joya-nee!" the girl called, running up to them.

Brock looked around and saw the blue-haired girl running towards them. "Duplica?"

She stopped short in front of them to catch her breath.

"What are you doing here? Takeshi-san and I came here to buy some decorations for the party tonight. We knew that you were napping, and didn't want to wake you. I hope you didn't mind our leaving without you."

"We also ran into your cousin on our way out. She told us that she'd fill you in once you awoke."

"Never mind that now," the younger girl told them urgently. "Something strange is going on, and I have this feeling that Mewtwo of Ashie Boy's is connected in some way."

Both gave her a curious look, which prompted Duplica to explain all that had happened to her, and how her cousin had been responsible for her kidnapping.

"No, no!" Joya protested in denial. "I've known her for many years! She would never to such a thing! It couldn't be true!"

"Well, she did," Duplica replied with a depressing sigh, a frown on her face. "I don't know why she did that. I don't know what to think right now. First my uncle attacks me and hurts Todd, and now Laura-nee has me kidnapped…" She felt like crying. 'Why is this happening?'

"Did you get a good look at the person you were taken to?"

She shook her head. "Sorry, Brock. When I woke up, my vision was a bit blurry, and it was a little dark. I did overhear a guy talking about Mewtwo, then he rushed off. I also heard him say something about 'master' and a 'teleporter' and 'gym leaders' or something.

"After he fully left, I got a glimpse of his hair. It looked short and wavy. I then checked to see if I still had Ditto, and was grateful that I did and we both teleported out."

"Should we split up and go look for the others?" asked Brock.

"I don't think that'll be necessary. Everyone could be on their way back to the house. We should head there first and get rid of these bags. If no one is there, then we can go out and search around for them. We can check the gym, the Pokémon Center, the park…"

With the decision made, Brock and Duplica agreed, and rushed back to Jen and Joya's place…
x x x x
Meanwhile, back at the house…

"So, what've you guys been up to?" Ash asked the former Rocket members slightly absent-mindedly, still trying to think of a way to return to the gym.

"Well, as you already know, Butch, Mondo, and I are still running the Viridian City Gym, and so far, we outrank all of the other gyms, with the exception of the newly remodeled Cinnibar Island gym, the Saffron City gym, and the Fuschia City gym."

"Yeah," Mondo concurred, "we have a 95% winning rate."

"*I'm glad I got my badge without having to actually battle for it," Ash murmured under his breath.

"Oh-ho!" Misty shrieked, overhearing the trainer. "You mean getting a badge out of pity or charity?"

"I've never received a badge out of 'pity or charity'!"

"Hm, let's count now, shall we?" She put up her hand, and started counting off. "Now, you got the Boulder Badge because Brock felt sorry for you; my sisters gave you the Cascade Badge because you saved our gym; you got the Marsh Badge out of pure luck because Haunter made Sabrina laugh, throwing off her concentration; you got the Rainbow Badge because you saved Erica's Gloom from the fire Jessie, James, and Meowth started; you got the Earth Badge because Cassidy and Butch gave it to you." She counted again. "So let's see…that's…five pity or charity badges out of eight?"

"You don't have to rub it in," Ash muttered quietly, poking his index fingers together innocently.

"It's true, though."

"But you have to admit that if it weren't for Team Rocket busting into your sisters' gym, I would've beaten you!"

Misty laughed heartily. "Beat me? Yeah right!"

"Your Starmie was low on energy!"

"I was winning!"

"You might've beaten my Butterfree, but I was making a great comeback with Pidgeotto!"

"I bet if," she pointed over to the quiet, embarrassed Jessie, James, and Meowth, "they hadn't have busted in there, my Starmie would've whipped your butt!"

"Oh yeah!"

"YEAH!" Misty pulled out one of her Pokéballs. "Okay Mr. Pokémon Master, how about we battle? Same Pokémon as before?"

"You're on!" Ash went towards his belt, but stopped after coming to a realization. "Wait a minute! When I battled you before, I used Butterfree and Pidgeotto. I don't have Butterfree anymore since I released him. You used Staryu and Starmie, and *you got your Starmie back from your sisters weeks ago! No fair!"

"Hey yeah, you're right." She put the Pokéball away and smiled triumphantly. "I guess this means that you still only earned three out of eight badges on your own, and until we have an official rematch, we'll never know if you truly earned the Cascade Badge or not."

"So, what about you guys?" Ash suddenly asked, wanting to get off the topic.

"Have you guys ever heard of J & J's?" asked James.

The trainer crossed his arms. "Nope. How about you, Misty?"

She shook her head. "I don't think I have…"

Meowth shook his head in disappointment. "Da only thing kids think about these days is pizza."

"Why don't we show them what J & J's is all about, Jess?"

The woman nodded. "Roger!"

"My name is James. Who is this 'Roger' person? Please don't tell me that you're cheating on me with someone named Roger. How dare you Jessie!" His voice grew slightly whiny, yet cute, and tears began streaming down his handsome face. "After all we've been through together. We've been together for so long that I can't imagine a time without you in it at this point! I am shocked and appalled! I'm going home to mother! I-"

Everyone sweat dropped from James' overly dramatic outburst and Jessie, while shaking her head, smacked him lightly with her fan.

"Stop acting foolish and let's get on with this! I meant that I was ready!"

Meowth rolled his eyes. "Here we go again…"

The room suddenly went dark. A spotlight then shined down on Jessie, who was now wearing a fry cook uniform and holding a tray.

"Jessie!"

Another spotlight shined down on James, who was standing back-to-back with Jessie. He was also in a fry cook uniform and holding a tray.

"James!"

Jessie took out a plate, which held a big hamburger with a side of fries. "Want a burger and fries without trouble?"

James took out another plate, only it held more food than Jessie's did. "If you're really hungry, make that double!"

Jessie gracefully twirled, and handed her plate to Misty and Togepi. She also took out some drinks, and handed them out to the two teens, Togepi, and Pikachu. Once done, she struck a pose. "To protect the world from hunger and thirst!"

James handed his plate to Ash and Pikachu, also striking a pose, winking sexily and now holding a rose. "Our food isn't bad, at least not the worst."

The two hugged onto one another, Jessie's left arm outstretched, while James' right arm was outstretched, the two still posing. "The J & J restaurant blasting for a bite!" Jessie continued.

Both then finished up, "We stay open all day; we stay open all night!"

"That's right!" Misty exclaimed while snapping her fingers. "I'm pretty sure I know this place."

"Yeah, I remember it now!" Ash added. "Brock was reading about it in the paper a good while back. It was about a newly established restaurant and how it had gotten four stars."

"We didn't know it was your restaurant. It's one of the best new places around."

"We'd never heard that motto either. I'm sure if we had, we would've realized it."

Everything went back to normal, the pair back in their normal attire. "It became a dream of mine to open up that kind of place," James told them dreamily, his eyes starry. Coming back to reality, he then added, "For a side job, Jessie models."

"That is so cool!" Misty squealed, as her eyes became as starry as James' had. "Maybe I should become a model."

Ash laughed playfully at the girl. "You're too scrawny to be a model."

Everyone stepped back and/or moved away from the young trainer, who was still guffawing. They knew what was in store for him as they saw Misty's eyebrow twitching. A big mallet fell upon Ash's noggin. "I meant scrawny in a pretty way!" he said in defense, falling over.

Pikachu shook his head sadly. ":Stop acting dumb, Ash…:"

Misty shook her head, still holding the mallet. "I'm starting to wonder if he's actually acting, Pikachu."

Pikachu laughed a bit as Ash came to. "Hey, I heard that!"

Misty put the mallet away and smiled sweetly. "I was just teasing, Ash. I know you're not dumb."

":Are you sure?:"

Ash stared down at his Pokémon friend, looking a bit hurt. "Pikachu!"

Right at that moment, Joya, Brock, and Duplica rushed into the house, stopping in front of the living room. Seeing that they had company, they entered it.

"Hey guys, what's up?" asked Ash. He noticed their looks. "What's wrong?"

Ignoring the fact that the living room was filled with former Rockets, Duplica hurriedly explained her story once again.

"You mean your own family turned on you?" asked Cassidy in surprise.

"She wasn't acting like herself. She seemed slightly cold and distant to me…almost like she was in some kind of a trance."

"Wait, does this also mean that you're not immune to being attacked?" asked Misty.

"I don't know, but I'm going to say that I'm not immune. I'm not all that special anyway. Guess the other times were just coincidences." She looked over at Ash urgently. "Ash, that Pokémon you were worried about is a super strong psychic-type, right? The strongest in the world, right?"

"According to Professor Oak, he is…so far, but-"

"He must have something to do with what's going on," she continued, panic-stricken. "The guy with the distinguished voice I heard, kept going on about Mewtwo and gym leaders."

'Damn…I knew something was wrong….but where could Mewtwo be? I have to go back to that gym. I don't know how…but that gym definitely will have some answers…'

"Have either of you seen Jen-san or Kenji?" asked Brock suddenly.

Everyone shook their heads. "We ran into the former Rockets here after my match at the gym. We then picked up a few things in the shopping district along the way, and then we came here. I wanted to go back out to the Pokémon Center and give Joya-neesan Bulbasaur to heal up. I gave him another one of those Revitalizing Potions after I got back here, though."

"Wait, wasn't Camera Boy going with you to the gym?"

"Yeah, but he went to the shopping district. He told Ash and me that he'd come by the gym afterwards…" Misty trailed off, a worried feeling in her stomach.

"Oh no…he's not with you guys!" The girl ran her hand through her hair, and uttered softly, "Ever since I woke up from my nap, I've had this strange feeling regarding him, but brushed it off as nothing, figuring that maybe I was overthinking things…worrying for nothing, you know? But now…what if he is in some kind of trouble?" Her face burrowed in a bit of distress, and anger, and her eyes seemed to glisten slightly with tears. "If that distinguished gentleman guy managed to get his hands on Todd, I'll-"

Before Duplica could finish her statement, her entire body began to glow majestically. The glow subsided, but seemed to flow down to her right hand. The glow remained there for a moment, and then without warning, launched itself towards the couch that was directly in front of her in the form of a white beam. Mondo ducked behind the couch just in the nick of time, avoiding the ray, which hit one of the small cushions instead.

Everyone stared at Duplica with looks of confusion and amazement. The performer was too stunned to reply at all.

"Wh-what was that?" asked the gym leader assistant after he poked his head back up.

"The Ditto kid is possessed!" squealed James.

"Knock it off!" Meowth shouted, refusing to believe what he'd just witnessed. "It's probably just some type of…an-an illusion! Yeah, that's it! An illusion!" he managed to get out. Even though he was trying to approach the situation with logic and reason to convince everyone that all was okay, it sounded more like he was trying to do so for himself. "She's a performer and she was just performin' a trick!"

"She is not a magician or an illusionist!" Jessie pointed out shakily, unsure if she wanted to distance herself away from the girl, or remain in her spot.

Butch stood up calmly and picked up the now smoking cushion. He tossed it to Meowth. "Can an 'illusion' do that?"

Ash looked at the girl, who still was frozen in place, and still too shocked to speak. "Duplica?"

Joya, who was in the same state as the others, finally asked what everyone else had been thinking. "How did you do that?"

Duplica swallowed slowly as she finally found her voice. "I-I don't know. I was thinking about Todd, hoping that he was okay and how upsetting it would be if something had happened to him, and then," she pointed to the cushion, "that happened."

"How did you feel when you did that?" asked Ash curiously.

"I-I guess I was okay. It all happened so fast...but my heart…it skipped a beat..."

"Hm, maybe-" Misty began, but was soon interrupted. Togepi started to shake violently in her arms. "Togepi!"

":Uncle Snap…trouble…Uncle Mew…trying contact…father….Aunty Imité…only hope…three others…:"

This time, Pikachu was able to catch what Togepi had said, as did Meowth.

"Togepi, what's wrong?!" He stopped jarring and looked up at Misty like he had before, and wondered why she seemed so concerned and worried.

"Dat's strange. Togepi said somethin' about 'Uncle Snap', 'trouble', 'Uncle Mew', 'three others', 'Aunty Imité', and somethin' about 'hope'. What does all of dat mean, anyway?"

"Uncle Snap, trouble?" Ash questioned. "Togepi must mean that Todd's in trouble, and that Mewtwo is too! 'Uncle Mew' is Togepi's name for him!"

Misty gasped. "Is this what Togepi has been trying to tell us this entire time?"

"I'm not really understanding this completely," Mondo started while he scratched his head, "but maybe we should find your friends."

"Yes," Joya nodded in agreement, "let's go, everyone. We must find Jen-chan and Kenji-san. What if they're in danger or run into the same trouble like Toru-kun presumably has or Lauira-san?"

"Someone should stay behind just in case they return," Brock suggested. "I'm sure some of you have a mobile phone. We can exchange numbers and contact one another if they do return."

"As gym leaders, it's required for us to," Cassidy spoke up.

"Yes, and we have phones as well," Jessie spoke up.

"I'll stay here," Misty volunteered. "I really feel I should watch over Togepi right now."

"Yes, that is quite wise. The rest should be good for Togepi," Joya said as she gave Misty a gentle, sympathetic smile.

"Okay, we'll catch you later, Mist," Ash told her.

"Yeah…" she replied quietly, a slight uneasiness in her voice.

With everything set, and Ash leaving Bulbasaur with Misty, they all went on their way to look for Todd, Jen, and Kenji…
x x x x

Author's Notes

Note 1: I was tempted to drop the entire scene here…but decided to leave it in. Looking back, though, I just couldn't see Ash actually saying that if the Cerulean gym ep is any indication. He actually didn't want to take the badge because he didn't earn it and only agreed because the girls were adamant about it. Satoshi said something similar as well and how he didn't feel right about not earning it through battling.

So yeah, this is only a note to let you all know that I was going to get rid of it altogether but left it in for nostalgia purposes and to lighten the mood some. This was originally written because of a writer's block.
x x x
Note 2: This is a reference to the prequel of this story. In the last story, when on the way to Viridian, the gang met up with Kenji. Kenji had just come from Cerulean when on his way to Viridian. He was called in to do a portrait of the Cerulean Sisters. After finding out that he knew Misty, they gave him two Pokémon to give back to her when seeing her. One was Starmie and the other was a Vaporeon. So yeah, Misty has a Vaporeon in her team. Earlier, it was mentioned that Ash battled against one of the captive kids that Giovanni has and that Ash lost to him due to an interference caused by Misty, disqualifying Ash from the match. Misty called out Vaporeon to attack the Persian that particular trainer was using (forgot which one right off), and there was a reason for that…but that's in the prequel. I'll go back to attempting rewriting it someday, but it's difficult since the majority of the story is literally "lost".

Anyway, regarding the whole Ash vs Misty thing in Cerulean…it was definitely a draw and they didn't actually finish the battle. Even though Starmie was low on energy, Staryu was still okay just as Ash's Butterfree was still okay to battle. Still would've been nice to see that battle done again with their same Pokémon. Outside of the Waninoko (Totodile) battle and the one for Togepi (which really didn't count since Psyduck popped out), have they ever battled? I haven't watched the show in a long time, but it would be nice if she were brought back and the two battled to show off how much both have grown as trainers, especially with Misty being a gym leader now.

Fic Chapter Changes

There's only one change, really, aside from some extra dialog here and there, and that's the addition of mobile phones and the former Rockets having them.

I also cut the ending, which included what happened to Kenji and Jen, which you'll find out about next chapter.