Chapter 20: Discoveries and False Plans

Sandra sighed, gratefully plopping down on her bed. She, Lucar, Luv, and Carlos had just returned from rescuing a Golem's Psyduck friend from Waterfall Cave. The mission netted them the TM Rock Slide and 20 Exploration points, putting them at 95 points total.

"What a long day!" the Eevee cried. "I'm exhausted!"

"Me, too!" Luv agreed, collapsing in her bed.

"Well, sounds like you guys had fun. I overheard Chatot saying that they would be announcing who would be going on the expedition tomorrow morning. They leave tomorrow afternoon." Joy said.

"Really?!" Sandra cried. "I hope we're picked!"

"Yeah! I want to go!" Luv said, smiling. "I've never been on an expedition before."

"Neither have I," Sandra commented. "But I know it's going to be a ton of fun!"

Carlos sighed and got up. "I'm going to take a walk."

"Aren't you tired?" Joy asked.

"No," Carlos replied.

"Are you—" Joy started.

"I'm sure!" Carlos snapped. "I'm going for a walk. Don't follow me." He turned and left the room at a quick pace.

Lucar decided now was the time to voice his suspicions. "Haven't you noticed that Carlos has been acting…odd ever since the copycat appeared?" he asked.

"Yeah," Sandra nodded. "He's just stressed. The expedition's coming up, after all."

"Not just that! He's been snappier and hardly helps us in fights. And he always seems to want to be away from us." Lucar said. "And that odd aura I sense coming from him is making me worried. This isn't the Carlos we know!"

"Maybe you're just tired," Sandra said.

"I was wide awake yesterday when the copycat appeared." Lucar argued. "The copycat's aura matched Carlos' perfectly! I think our Carlos is the copycat, Sandra."

"Lucar, stop it! You're just stressed out, too!" Sandra cried.

"Well…that would make a fair bit of sense." Joy admitted. "Carlos loved watching over Michael with me, but now Carlos won't even get near him."

"Admit it, Sandra. Carlos is acting weird." Lucar said.

"…Okay, maybe he is acting a bit weird." Sandra admitted. "But I'm sure he'll come around!"

"And what do you have to say about my aura-sensing skills?" Lucar asked.

"I…don't know," Sandra muttered.

"Maybe we should ask Carlos what's wrong. Maybe it is just stress." Joy said. "Whatever it is, we'll figure it out and fix it. That's what friends do."

"Yeah!" Luv nodded.

"Alright then," Lucar reluctantly agreed. "We'll ask him when he gets back."

"Okay," Sandra agreed.

/It's too bad Lucar's theory was right. I was in denial because I thought I knew Carlos well enough to notice if somebody disguised themselves as him. Unfortunately, I didn't know Carlos well enough. And my mistake would nearly end up destroying our friendship. It's a good thing Guildmaster Wigglytuff was around. Why? You'll see…/

Meanwhile, Carlos stopped in front of Wigglytuff's chambers. This is it, he thought. All the money and treasure the Guild has ever laid hands on is hidden inside of this room. All I need to do is sneak inside, steal it, and get away before anyone notices me. This is almost too easy! So much for the impenetrable Wigglytuff Guild. This'll get me in history!

"Carlos! What are you doing?" a voice asked.

"Huh?" Carlos turned to see Chatot hopping toward him. "Oh, nothing! I was just going to see if Wigglytuff was in, that's all!"

"Well, I'm sure he is. If you want to visit, go ahead but if he's sleeping, leave immediately. Understand?" Chatot said.

"Right," Carlos nodded.

"Well then, carry on! Oh, yes. I have another piece of information for you." Chatot added. "Forget about going on the expedition. After your failure with the Perfect Apples, I'm not certain how reliable you really are. I'm sorry but that's the truth. Don't get your hopes up about being picked to go."

"Right, Chatot. I'll make sure to tell everyone else." Carlos promised.

"Good," Chatot nodded. Turning, he hopped up the ladder and vanished to the floor above.

Carlos growled and shook his head. What do I care about some dumb expedition? Even if there's treasure involved, I'm about to hit the mother-load here. Stupid Guild…

Pushing open the door, Carlos entered and closed the door behind him. The Pikachu sighed in relief when he saw Wigglytuff sleeping in his chair. There was a door just behind the chair that led to the treasure room…the room Carlos wanted to break into. Slowly tiptoeing toward the door, his fur slowly rippled as he lost his shape. He was becoming a Ditto…Phantom Thief Jealousy.

As the Ditto slowly made her way toward the treasure room, a particularly loud snore from Wigglytuff startled her. Clapping her hands over her mouth, Jealousy glared at the Guildmaster. As she stepped forward, she suddenly tripped.

"Ow!" Jealousy whined. "That hurt! Stupid floor!"

Looking down, she noticed a strange blue orb behind her. It was the thing she had tripped over! Blinking curiously, she reached out to pick it up when she heard a loud yawn. Wigglytuff was waking up!

"Shoot!" the Ditto hissed, turning back into Carlos.

"Huh? Who's there?" Wigglytuff asked, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

"Just me," Carlos replied.

"Hey, where is my…? Oh! There it is!" Wigglytuff cried, jumping out of his chair and scooping up the orb. "I thought I lost it for a second!"

So, it belongs to the pink bunny. Great, Carlos thought.

"Hey, what are you doing in here?" Wigglytuff asked. "Dinner will be soon. Did you come to say hi?"

"Uh…yeah! I came to see you, Guildmaster!" Carlos nodded.

"That's nice of you, friendly friend!" Wigglytuff cried, moving forward to hug him.

"Don't!" Carlos yelled.

"Huh?" Wigglytuff stepped back. "Is something wrong, friendly friend?"

"No," Carlos replied. Yes, there's something wrong! You woke up when I was about to steal all of your treasure! Now I'll have to get it tonight! Urgh!

"Are you sure?" Wigglytuff asked.

"Yes, I'm sure. Just…leave me alone, okay?" Carlos growled. "See you tomorrow, sir."

"…Okay," Wigglytuff nodded.

Wigglytuff watched as the Pikachu stomped out of his room, heading down the hall to reunite with his teammates. Carlos never yelled before, Wigglytuff thought. Why is he acting so mean now? I thought friendly friend was mad about copycat Carlos, but now… Suddenly, Wigglytuff remembered what the copycat had said to him in the sentry tunnel.

Wigglytuff took Chatot's place and looked down at Carlos. "I won't ever let you hurt my friend, Carlos!" he vowed.

"Wigglytuff, please! It's really me! He's the copycat!" Carlos begged.

"I'm sorry. Bye." Wigglytuff replied, ignoring his pleas. "Yoom…"

"Wigglytuff, no!" Carlos cried.

"TAAAAAAH!!" Wigglytuff screamed, unleashing Hyper Voice.

"WHAAA!!" Carlos screamed as the voice of the attack sent him flying down the tunnel.

Wigglytuff whimpered. "Uh-oh…I think I made a boo-boo." Tears suddenly appeared in the corners of his blue eyes. "CHATOT!!" he cried.

In seconds, the Flying-type burst into the room. "What is it?!" he asked, panicked.

Wigglytuff cried, hugging Chatot. "I made a big mistake, Chatot! Friendly friend Carlos has been acting mean ever since copycat Carlos came! I thought it would pass but it won't! Copycat Carlos was telling the truth!" he wailed.

"What?! Telling the truth about what, Guildmaster?" Chatot asked.

"About friendly friend Carlos actually being copycat Carlos while copycat Carlos was actually friendly friend Carlos!" Wigglytuff cried.

"What?!" Chatot yelped. "You think we made a mistake?"

Wigglytuff nodded. "Copycat Carlos was nice and didn't try to hurt us. Friendly friend Carlos is mean and yells at everyone."

"Carlos yelled at you?!" Chatot cried.

Wigglytuff nodded again. "I miss copycat Carlos!" he wailed, crying harder.

"Ah! Guildmaster, please don't!" Chatot begged. "Look, I'll check up on the Carlos that's in jail and see if he turned back into a Ditto. Ditto can only retain their copied forms for so long. If he hasn't, then we'll fix this mess right away. Okay?"

"Okay," Wigglytuff nodded, sniffling.

"I can't believe this! We probably had Jealousy hiding among us this whole time and we didn't know it! If that's true…oh my. Carlos might never forgive us!" Chatot fretted, hopping around. "I'll send Team Heroes to check up on this immediately! This'll be sorted out before the night is over!"

A loud ringing caught their attention. "Dinner!" Wigglytuff cried, running out of the room.

Chatot groaned. "I guess I'm on my own for the moment," he said.

Leaving the Guildmaster's chambers, he hopped up the ladder and flew away from the Guild toward Team Heroes' exploration base. Landing at the front door, he knocked with his beak and greeted Tangrowth when she answered. Entering the base, he proceeded to give the Gold-ranked Exploration Team their mission.

Back at the Pokemon Jail…

Carlos coughed as he left the darkness of the underground levels, sighing in relief that the sun was almost completely set. Cliff was bringing him to the interrogation center, the last place he got to go before he was returned to his cell for the night. It was time to set his plan in motion.

"Hey, I overheard Rhydon saying he was going to break out tonight." Carlos said casually.

"Impossible," Cliff replied. "I told you before, Jealousy. Escape from here is impossible."

"Are you so sure?" Carlos asked. "I heard him say that he had stolen a few items from the underground levels and that he managed to get his cuffs off last night. He's going to rush the guards tonight and break out."

"You're lying," the Growlithe accused.

"And what if I'm not? Are you really going to take that risk?" Carlos countered.

Cliff growled but carried on, his muscles tense. "…Why are you telling me this?"

Oh great Arceus, here we go, Carlos thought, swallowing back his fear. He batted his eyes like a woman and smiled. "I'm telling you this because I think I like you, Cliff. Those guys are so mean, calling you Half-Breed and all. How cruel,"

"Yeah," Cliff nodded. "They've been calling me that ever since a couple of guys read my files and found out about my parents."

"How mean of them," Carlos said, making his voice sound genuinely upset. "Look, maybe you and I could work together to get them back. They'll learn to respect you, Cliff. All I ask is for you to take off these chains."

"What? Forget it! You're a prisoner, Jealousy!" Cliff snapped. "I don't need revenge to get respect from my teammates! I'm not helping you escape! Thanks for the info, though. I'll put it to good use."

"Awww!" Carlos whined. Inside, he was laughing like a maniac. Bingo! He actually believes that's going to happen! Hah! Now that the trap's set, I just need to wait until tonight for it to spring.

"Here we are, Jealousy. Welcome to the interrogation center." Cliff said.

They had reached yet another set of double steel doors. The Machamp stationed there pulled the doors open and the scent of burnt fur reached the Pikachu's nose. Cliff shoved him forward, leading Carlos toward the far back. Another set of double doors were opened and they entered the room. Carlos was instantly sweating in his fur.

The room was big and the floor was only a big platform in the center of a lake of magma. It was so hot that even Fire-types hated to be in the room for long. Sitting in the center of the platform was a beautiful Arcanine. She was Pyro, the leader of the K-9 Police Force that served under Sheriff Magnezone. She smirked as Carlos was brought into the room, standing up.

"Well, well, well," Pyro chuckled. "Look what the Meowth dragged in. Phantom Thief Jealousy, I'm honored that you were brought to my prison. Then again, this is the only prison in the entire region!"

"I'm not Jealousy," Carlos growled.

"We'll see about that. Aren't you going to turn into a Fire-type?" Pyro asked. "It would make this less harsh on you. Or are you intent on making yourself suffer just to escape?"

"Oh, I'll escape alright." Carlos said. "I'll escape and prove that I'm not Jealousy!"

"Have fun with that," Pyro replied, smirking. "Now then, on to your interrogation. Where did you hide all of the treasure you've stolen?"

"How should I know?" Carlos countered. "I'm not her!"

A huge paw hit him, sending the Pikachu flying across the platform. The chains jerked on her wrists, stopping him just a good two feet short of the magma. Coughing, he struggled to his feet and glared at Pyro.

"Don't worry," she said. "The magma's only here to make you uncomfortable. I have no intention of allowing you to die in such a cruel fashion. Now then, where is the Sapphire Star of the Underwater Kingdom ruled by the Starmie royals?"

"The what?" Carlos asked. "Starmie royals? I've never heard of them!"

Another smack and Carlos was sent flying to the other side of the platform. "Wrong answer," the Arcanine said. "Where is the Crimson Orb you stole from the Dragonite clan of the west?"

"I don't know!" Carlos cried.

"Wrong again," Pyro replied, striking him once more. "The sooner you answer me, the soon this will end."

"Then I guess this will never end!" Carlos growled. "I don't know what any of those things are! I'm not Jealousy!"

Pyro growled, furious. "You'll talk, even if I must send you to the edge of death to do so!" she roared.

"Go ahead," Carlos dared. "But I'll die knowing I was innocent all along."

"You little—" Pyro snarled.

Carlos screamed as the Arcanine bit him, fire exploding from his back as her fangs ignited. Shaking her head, Pyro tossed him across the platform and stalked toward him. Grabbing him again, she kept throwing him around in a rage while demanding answers to questions Carlos didn't know.

/Cruelty is Pyro's forte. She can break even the bravest of Pokemon's will and tear through even the toughest walls a Pokemon has put up around their hearts and minds. She can expose your worst fears and use them against you. She's the ultimate jailer we known of, even if she's the only one. And it's not only prisoners that are on the receiving end of her cruelty./

Cliff and a few other Growlithe were forced to intervene after a while, telling Pyro to stop before she killed 'Jealousy' and left them with no answers at all. Cliff dragged the wounded Pikachu back to his cell, closing the door behind him. Carlos smirked anyway. He got what he wanted.

Dusk peered in from his own cell. "Man, you took quite a beating!" the Banette noted. "Did you get it, Carlos?"

"Yep," Carlos nodded, dragging himself up to peer through the door's barred window at Dusk. "One Iron Thorn,"

The Pikachu tossed it through the bars, throwing it just hard enough for it to sail through the bars of Dusk's window and into his cell. The Banette quickly snatched up the Iron Thorn, picking the locks on his cuffs with it. A loud click signaled his release and Dusk gently set the cuffs on the floor. He was free.

"Finally!" Dusk cried.

"Okay, I did my part. Now get me out, Dusk." Carlos said. "Or are you going to go back on your word?"

"Normally I would, but I'll make an exception this time." Dusk replied.

The Ghost-type phased through the walls of his cell, the nullifying effects of the cuffs eliminated at long last. Phasing through the walls of Carlos' cell, Dusk grabbed him and phased him out of his cuffs. After passing through the wall and escaping the cell, both Pokemon became solid again.

"Let's get out of here now, Carlos!" Dusk growled.

"Not yet! I've got to get Buzz out now." Carlos argued.

"Buzz? Who's Buzz?" Dusk demanded.

"A Yanmega that was the first criminal my teammates and I ever defeated. He thinks I'm actually Jealousy." Carlos explained. "While we were both in the sublevels, digging, we came up with an escape plan to get past the fences."

"All this while I was doing above ground work? Clever, Carlos," Dusk chuckled. "But why didn't you tell him who you really were?"

"He would've killed me," Carlos replied. "Where's cell 389?"

"One level below us," Dusk replied.

"Can you get us there?" Carlos asked.

"What do you think?" Dusk smirked. "Hang on tight, Carlos."

"Don't worry, I will." Carlos promised.

Grabbing the Banette's arm, the pair phased through the floor to the level below. Carlos searched for cell 389 and, upon finding it, had Dusk phase them through the door. Buzz was startled to see them suddenly appear in his cell, but relaxed upon seeing Carlos. The Pikachu grabbed the second Iron Thorn he'd managed to get his hands on in the underground tunnels.

"Here, Buzz," Carlos said, picking the Yanmega's cuffs until he freed the Bug-type's legs. "Let's get going. Rhydon should be busting out of his cell any minute now."

"Did you drop the hint?" Buzz asked.

"Yep, and Cliff believed me." Carlos nodded.

"Cliff?! Hah! You got the Half-Breed as a guard!" Buzz laughed.

"Why do they call him Half-Breed, anyway?" Carlos asked.

"He's the offspring of a Weavile and an Arcanine," Dusk replied. "As a result, Cliff is unable to use any fire-based attacks. No Ember, no Flamethrower, no Fire Blast. You get the point. He's a Growlithe with no fire to use."

"How's that possible?!" Carlos cried.

"No one knows! Let's just get out of here!" Buzz demanded.

/You'll learn more about Cliff's story later on. This won't be the last time we ever see him or the K-9 Police Force. This also won't be the last time we see Buzz and Dusk. We always seem to have multiple encounters with people we've come across on our journeys. Fate sure is a funny thing, I'll say that much./

"Hang on," Dusk ordered.

Buzz and Carlos grabbed Dusk, who phased them through the cell door and into the corridor beyond. Suddenly, the ground was shaking. Buzz hovered, escaping the effects of the explosion from a few floors above. The trio could hear a large amount of roaring and yelling.

"Well, well," Buzz chuckled. "Looks like it's begun! Let's get going!"

"Yeah!" Carlos agreed.

Carlos, Dusk, and Buzz ran down the corridor and burst out the row of windows in another corridor, landing in the courtyard. Prisoners of all kinds were breaking out of their cells, charging toward the fences…toward freedom.

Outside of the Pokemon Jail…

Team Heroes stopped at the front gates, showing their badges to the Machamp guard to prove their identities. Rhyperior groaned. It was pretty late to be sending them on a mission but it wasn't like they could refuse. This mission came directly from Guildmaster Wigglytuff himself! They had no choice but to accept, out of respect more than anything.

Rhyperior led his team down the path toward the huge prison. Jealousy probably won't be awake, he thought. What's Wigglytuff thinking? Of course we caught the real one! He's probably just being paranoid. This will put his mind to ease.

A loud rumble caught the Exploration Team's attention. Lickilicky whimpered, pointing to the prison. "Boss? I think we've got a problem," he said nervously.

"Huh?" Rhyperior looked up and stared in shock.

Prisoners were breaking out of the windows of the prison and, eventually, the entire south wall crumbled. Prisoners charged across the yard, charging toward the fence in order to escape. A flash of yellow caught Rhyperior's eye and he turned, spotting Carlos leaping out of a window.

"No way," Electivire said. "How did they…?"

"Doesn't matter! Boss, what do we do?!" Magmortar demanded.

Rhyperior couldn't speak. This mass outbreak of prisoners was even bigger than the one that happened six years ago! There was no way they could possibly stop this many prisoners at once!

"I…don't know," Rhyperior said. "I don't know,"

The five Pokemon just stood there as the prisoners attacked the gate, led by an Exploration Team leader that was mistaken to be Phantom Thief Jealousy. Carlos knew he could really be jailed for doing this…but he didn't care. He wasn't going to let a criminal ruin him and his team's lives.

Jealousy, here I come!! Carlos thought.