Chapter 19: Konikoni City
"Mwehehehe, the gods of fire have awoken from their slumber!" Sapphire and Claws were cackling, Claws sitting on one of Sapphire's shoulders and Sapphire holding the Firium Z to the sky. "Now that we have witnessed the glory of Inferno Overdrive, no other Z-Move can give us the rush of power that this has! None shall stand before us!"
"I'm losing brain cells watching you two," Cobalt groaned from his seat on Sapphire's other shoulder. He held his head in his paws as tears from witnessing the dumbness of his Trainer streaked down his face.
After completing the three Trials of Akala, it was time to prepare for the Grand Trial. They were wandering down Akala's main road, as the Professor had sent them a message that everyone was meeting at some place called the 'Dimensional Research Lab.'
Yeah, not ominous at all.
As he approached the address given to him, he heard Lillie's familiar voice, and he entered the lab's parking lot to witness Lillie standing in front of a confused looking Nebby, with Nebbles watching on. "N-Nebby, use Splash!"
"…Pew?"
Lillie sighed at the Pokémon's confusion and glanced away with a blush. "Sorry… Both of you, whenever you're hurt, it hurts me just as much… and if I… if I could be stronger… I just want to be more like Sapphire, or Willow, or Hau. they're all so confident, and can stand on their own, meanwhile, I'm…
"Hey, if you want to be like me, I'll give you a crash course." Lillie 'eeped' as he suddenly spoke up from behind her. He threw an arm around her shoulders and pointed at Nebby. "First up, don't use Splash. Seriously, I don't know why that move exists. Secondly…" he removed his arm and struck a pose. "You most pose, dramatically! Research shows that posing dramatically increased a Trainer's chances of success in battle!"
"R-Really?"
"Of course! The power of science has never failed! POSE WITH ME!"
"O-Okay!" She began weakly striking poses, trying to copy him, and he shouted to encourage her.
"More power! Feel the passion surging from your heart! Be confident!" Lillie's poses became stronger, and he nodded. "Come on, shout with me! Yell to the world how nothing will hold you back!"
"R-Right!"
"I can't hear you!"
"Right! I can do this! We're the best!"
"That's right!" He grinned and held his hand up for a high-five, which she accepted. "Now, you're just as epic as me! No one can beat you! Isn't that right?!"
"I… guess?" Lillie blushed and let out an 'EH?!' as Willow answered, having apparently watched the entire time.
"Ah, when, how, wh… Shouldn't you have gotten here before Sapphire?! He was at the Grass Trial and you were at the Fire…!"
"I'm guessing she slept in. Again."
"No, I didn't!" Willow looked away and blushed, which basically confirmed it.
"Suuure."
"Maybe we should just go inside," Lillie sighed, accepting the embarrassment. They all entered the building, Sapphire grinning the whole time.
"So, what is this place? Dimensional Research Lab sounds like something that shows up at the start of some crossover episode."
"W-Well, it's just like it says, it's a place that studies the dimensions."
"Well, yeah, but aren't the dimensions just like… length, width, and height or something?"
"That's the conventional definition," Willow spoke up, "but I'll assume that the dimensions spoken about here has more to do with Multiverse Theory. You know, multiple universes, how making choices creates more universes, and there's an infinite amount of universes, ranging in differences as small as maybe your eyes being a slightly different shade of brown or to a universe where Pokémon don't even exist."
"Man, you sound like Gearface right now…" Willow blushed and looked away and he laughed. "Hey, that just means you're smarter than me, though that isn't a very tough feat."
"So, how were your Trials? I've heard that depending on how many Trials you've completed, the Trials are adjusted to always be difficult for you."
"Really? You know, Gym Leaders do the same thing in Kanto. Depending on how many badges you have, they have different teams to battle you with."
"I assume the Totem Pokémon know how to hold back, or something similar. In any case, it was difficult, yes, but that made it more satisfying when we finally won."
"Heck yeah, that's the whole point of a challenge after all! Winning when it's easy is nowhere near as nice."
"That's good to hear," Lillie smiled, "I know how strong you both are, I'm sure I would have had a much more troubling time."
"Nah, I bet you'd be a great Trainer, Lils! Just like me, Wils, and Hau!"
"Hau, Wils, and I," Willow corrected him.
"Shaddup."
Inside the building, they got into an elevator and took it up to the third floor. As they got out, they were greeted by the Professor. "Alola, you all popped up like you were using Shadow Sneak, yeah!" They followed him around a corner and beheld a large room filled with dozens of computers and the like. "Hey there, honey, they've arrived!"
The woman Kukui was waving at turned away from the scientist she was speaking with and smiled, walking over. When she reached them she extended a hand in greeting, and they quickly shook it. "I'm Professor Burnet, I run the Dimensional Research Lab, and I'm also this lug's wife."
"Hey," Kukui laughed, and he grinned.
"Nice to meet ya, I'm Sapphire!"
"Alola, Professor, I'm Willow."
"Hm, Lillie's told me about you two. She said that you're both very reliable and trustworthy."
"Yep! No one more reliable or trustworthy!" He puffed out his chest and Cobalt rolled his eyes. Claws just flicked his tail against his nose.
"Then I suppose I can tell you both this… three months ago, I found Lillie lying on a beach unconscious, alongside Nebby and Nebbles." Before she continued she looked around and hummed. "No Hau today?"
"Oh, Hau? He's out doing his own thing. You know, he'll be the real deal someday… He could even become a Kahuna, just like old Hala before him!"
"You really think so?!" Sapphire and Kukui jumped as Hau suddenly shouted, having entered the room without them noticing.
"Whoa-ho!" Kukui placed a hand on his heart before laughing. "Well, yeah, I really do."
"Hey, you gotta call me when you become Kahuna so we can have a battle!" Sapphire pumped his fists and Hau nodded, excited.
"You bet!"
Burnet smiled seeing their interaction, "Good to see you again, Hau. It's been a while since I last saw you."
"Anyway, I brought Sapphire and Willow here because I wanted you to tell him about some of the mysterious phenomena here in Alola."
"I'd be happy to," Burnet nodded in response to Kukui. "Let's see. The Mysteries of Alola, huh? Then you've got to mean… The Ultra Wormhole!"
"Sounds dramatic. Tell me more…"
"It's extremely rare, but sometimes a hole opens in the sky over Alola. It appears that this rift leads to a different dimension."
"A different dimension? Why do people think that?"
"The reason is because of the legends of fearsome Pokémon appearing from the Ultra Wormhole."
"How powerful were they?" Sapphire questioned with a gleam in his eyes.
"Very. It's very weak as proof, of course, but I can't ignore it. There is also plenty of evidence for the existence of different dimensions because of other Pokémon, such as Giratina and the like."
"I get they were strong, but fearsome?" Hau asked.
"Even normal Pokémon sometimes attack people, right? The Pokémon from the Ultra Wormhole went way beyond that. They were called Ultra Beasts… and they were feared. If the stories are to be believed, the guardian deities of the islands fought desperately against them. Of course, as I said, it's all legends and folktales. It's hard to know how much is true."
"Jeez, and aren't the guardian deities like… minor Legendaries or something? Pokémon that could go up against them…"
"I would be very happy if I could somehow unravel the mysteries of the Ultra Wormhole by studying the dimensional disturbances! We've recorded several known relationships between Pokémon and different dimensions in books that you can find at the back of the lab if you'd like to learn anymore."
"I might read some of them, yes," Willow nodded.
"That isn't really my thing, but I bet Ant would like to learn more. I'd rather fight these Ultra Beasts!"
"Well, besides the books, you can always come and ask me if you'd like to learn more." With that, Burnet smiled and walked away, talking with one of the scientists. Willow followed, wanting to ask more questions, while Sapphire hummed.
"Hey, Lils," Sapphire suddenly turned to Lillie, "What happened that you were unconscious on that beach three months ago, or whatever Burnet said?"
"Oh," Lillie adjusted her bag and nodded. "Well… I had wanted to learn more about Nebby and Nebbles… or, Cosmog as they're called, and so I went to see Professor Burnet. I got lost on the way though and ended up passing out on the shore. She listened to my story, staying up all night to hear it all. And then, she even got her husband, to lend me his loft to stay in. She even told him to help me research Cosmog's origins…"
"Wow, that's super nice of her."
"Yeah, and she's still trying to help me find a way to get Nebby and Nebbles back home… She's been like… like a real mother to me." Lillie's eyes gained a faraway look, and Sapphire decided to back off.
"Hey, Sapphire, what'd you think?" Kukui suddenly walked over with Hau and grinned. "Ultra Beasts… I wonder what kind of moves they can use!"
"Probably powerful ones," he chuckled.
"True! Anyway, you've finished Akala's three trials, which means it's almost time for the big matchup against Olivia, the Kahuna! You ready for the Grand Trial?"
"I'll be switching my team up and doing some training, but I feel like I'll do just fine." he grinned and cracked his knuckles. "What about you Hau?"
"I'm ready as I'll ever be!"
"Well, good luck with the Grand Trial," Burnet smiled and walked over alongside Willow and Lillie. Olivia's house is past Diglitt's tunnel in Konikoni city."
"I still have some things I want to talk with Professor Burnet about, so I'll be staying here," Lillie spoke.
"A'ight, see ya later, Lils! Come on, Wils, Hau, let's get to Konikoni city!"
"Yeah!" They got into the elevator and rode it down, before exiting the building. As they walked towards the street, Sapphire suddenly stopped and looked around. There was something in the back of his mind telling him that something wasn't right. A noise began vibrating through the air, and he looked up to see some kind of white slit or crack in the sky, and simply looking at it seemed to hurt his eyes. It wasn't bright or anything like that, but it was like his mind simply couldn't comprehend what he was looking at.
The crack swiftly disappeared, and Willow and Hau looked back at him in confusion. "Sapphire, what's up?"
Did they just not notice it? Was it only him? "Uh… Nothing, don't worry. Just thinking? I guess?"
"Huh. I was just thinking too… that I'm kinda hungry! I'm gonna go get some malasadas, see ya in Konikoni!" Hau jogged away and Willow looked back at him.
"Are you… sure you're alright? We called your name a couple of times you know."
"Really? No, don't worry, it's nothing. I thought I saw something…"
The inside of Diglett Tunnel was just barely dark enough to make finding your way around difficult. Luckily for both Sapphire and Willow, after switching his team around for Olivia's Grand Trial, he still had Claws on the team. The cat set himself on fire and walked ahead of them, becoming a walking light source. "It must be hard to micromanage so many Pokémon at once."
"Yeah, it's kinda hard sometimes knowing who to keep on the team and who not to. But I feel like everyone should have an equal amount of time on the team, even if the next obstacle might be difficult for them to overcome, ya know? It's just an extra challenge!"
"I see…" She smiled and shrugged. "I'll admit, having just six Pokémon as I do makes things easier since I can focus on training each one at all times."
"Think you'll stick with just six, or will you get more?"
"Most likely get more. I won't get too many Pokémon, just a small team, but a few more should be fine."
"Sounds neat." They continued in companionable silence, Claws' paws and their shoes being the only noise in the cave. As they rounded a corner though, somebody began shouting.
"Yo, who goes there, yo?!"
"Oh, you're joking…" Claws flared his fire a bit brighter and revealed two Team Skull Grunts squatting in the darkness. "Really? Here? What are you even doing?"
"We were riling up some Diglett's, yo, to make it harder for you punk trainers when trying to get through the tunnel! But then we got surrounded and beat up, yo…"
"Oh my god…"
"These are the Grunts you said are always harassing you? Excuse me, but if you can't handle my f-friend Sapphire, then why did you think you could handle all of the Diglett in this cave?" Well, she stuttered on the word friend, but she'd get there.
"Yo, don't mock us, brat! Looks like we've got to beat up on you to get back at!"
"...At what?"
"I dunno, I was gonna say at you, but that doesn't rhyme with brat."
"Fair." The two Team Skull Grunts threw out two Pokéballs, releasing a Salandit and an Ekans. "Hey, a double battle! Ready, Willow?"
"Oh, uh, yes! Cream, I-"
"No, no, if we're gonna be in a double battle, we should combine our catchphrases!"
"What?"
"You know, your catchphrase is, 'Pokémon, I require your assistance! While mine is a pun that depends on my Pokémon's Typing! We should combine that!"
"Yo, are you done, yo?"
"Just a sec."
"Alright…"
"So, what, Cream, I require your psychic power? Or something like that?"
"Yeah, that's great! Okay, from the top! Cobalt, I require your Fighting spirit!"
"Uh, Cream, I require your Psychic power!" Cream and Cobalt jumped off their Trainer's shoulders, while Claws moved to the side to get out of the way.
"Cobalt, start strong with Aura Sphere!" Two blue spheres of energy spun up in his paws and he blasted them forward, causing Salandit and Ekans to dodge to the side. Of course, with the sphere's tracking properties, that didn't do much to help and the balls simply changed course to explode against them.
"I thought Riolu only learned Aura Sphere upon evolving into Lucario?"
"Ehehe! All thanks to my genius!" As the two Poison-Types stumbled backward, they fell onto inactivated Psychic Mines, which quickly erupted and blew them even further back. Cobalt leaped forward and used Bullet Punch, battering them into their air, where Cream grabbed them and telekinetically slammed them into the ground.
As they attempted to recover Cobalt slammed down onto Ekans before kicking them into Salandit. "Cream, Psycho Wall." A wall of psychic energy appeared, moving swiftly towards Salandit and Ekans.
"Yo, do something about that wall!" The Pokémon scrambled around, trying to find a way around or over it, but the wall was too large. It crashed into them and the super effective attack quickly knocked them out. "Oh come on!"
"pretty quick, only a few attacks. Not bad… we should go for less next time." Sapphire nodded and muttered to himself as the Grunts returned their Pokémon and ran. "Those two should have learned their lesson by now. I dunno why they keep trying."
"Hm. Come on, let's keep going." Their Pokémon hopped back onto their shoulders, and Willow walked ahead. As Sapphire made to follow something in the rock walls of the cave caught his eye. Slightly unearthed by the explosive force of one of Cobalt's Aura Spheres was a fancy looking rock, and he kneeled to dig it out. It was certainly odd, as in the rock itself there was an almost egg-like shape with a band over it. "Sapphire?"
"Coming!" He pocketed the stone and got up, jogging after Willow and Claws. The rest of the cave was a breeze to get through, and they quickly exited onto Route Nine. "Fresh air once more…"
"We were barely in that tunnel for an hour," Willow smiled.
"Hush." They wandered along the route and eventually reached Konikoni city. It was a coastal city, going along the edge of the island and with a lighthouse at the very end, with shops and houses between it and the gates of the city. As they walked down the street, Sapphire tapped a man on the shoulder. "Excuse me, where is Kahuna Olivia's place located?"
"Ah, just down the street, see the building with that hammer sign outside?"
"Thanks, sir! Have a good one!" He made the Alola hand gesture, and they walked over towards the house.
"You act so naturally when you talk with strangers."
"Hm?" Sapphire blinked. "Oh yeah… well, I want to say something like 'just be yourself' but I don't think that would help much." Willow just smiled at his words, seeing he was trying to help even if he wasn't good at it.
"I just need to get used to people not trying to befriend me for my popularity."
"Yep. Nobody knows you here! The only reason people might try and befriend you is because of how cute you are!" Willow's face lit up with a blush and he snickered at her reaction.
"W-W-W—"
Sapphire blinked at her stutters. "Crap, did I break her…? Wils, you there? Sorry if I said something weird, but I thought we were close enough that I could start making jokes like that…"
"U-Uh, n-no, it's fine… I just wasn't ready. So… that was a joke?"
"Eh, partially. You are cute, but saying it out of nowhere to get a reaction was a prank on my part. That's just kind of how I am, if you were to see me and Anthony hanging out in person, half the time we would be trying to kill each other, and the other half you'd almost think we were a couple."
"It's true," Cobalt confirmed.
Willow's mind quickly blanked at the thought of Sapphire and Anthony doing… things. "Oi, oi, get that look off your face. I'm not gonna be the star of any yaoi fiction anytime soon… I'm into gals, and so is Gearface. Probably."
"Yaoi…?"
"Manga featuring romance mostly of the dirty variety, between dudes. I'm from Japan, remember? I sometimes slip into Japanese like you sometimes slip into French."
"I think you do that on purpose to be quirky, and I don't think I've slipped back into French once…"
"Come on, you're always talking about baguettes and surrendering!"
"That's racist to everyone from Kalos."
"Oui oui, mon cherie, ma petite ce fleur! C'est la vie, I surrender! And other such famous French phrases."
"You don't even know what any of those mean."
"Hey, I kind of maybe paid attention in Language class! It's mandatory if you want to be a Trainer, after all, we travel the world so you've got to know at least a basic amount of everything."
"Then why was that sentence such a mess?"
"Duh, because I only bothered to learn, like, English. That's the most common language, ain't it? Oh, and Latin. If only so that I can write epic Latin orchestral music for when someone enters the second phase of my boss fight. Besides, you can't understand my Japanese!"
"…Yes, I can."
"..." they walked in silence before they both began laughing. Cobalt rolled his eyes and pantomimed kissing at Cream, and the Espurr giggled as she agreed with his assessment of their Trainers. They entered Olivia's store and beheld a person working behind a counter and assisting a customer, and a Pokémon that Willow identified as a Probopass hovering in the corner. After the customer left, the clerk noticed them and brightened up. "Ah, Sapphire and Willow, right? Olivia told me what you look like, she had a letter for you."
They took it and began reading it over, "blah blah… change of plans… yada yada… tomorrow? Eh, guess I'm fine with that. It just means that we have some extra training time."
"I agree," Willow nodded. "We should get a room at the Pokémon Center, and spend the day training."
"Why not explore a bit? I mean, new city, new sights!"
"I suppose…"
"Hey, I'll get us a room, and you get a head start on exploring the city."
"Al…Alright, I'll do it!"
"Atta girl! Be confident in your shy self! Or something! Yeah! Wow, I tried to help Lillie be more outgoing, and now I'm trying to get Willow to show her shy side… my life is weird."
After Sapphire got Willow and himself a room, he exited the center and realized he had no idea where Willow was. He briefly thought about sending a text or calling to see where she was, before realizing her exploring the city on her own might help her. Instead, he turned and explored on his own, walking down the main street.
There was a multitude of shops and he enjoyed looking through them for new items to use in battle or just to have. When he passed a Technical Machine shop he stopped and bought a couple that looked useful to him, and one for Willow as a gift.
Further along the street he spotted a herb shop and Cobalt immediately gagged. Sapphire snickered, "What, don't like bitter herbs?"
"You don't like them either!"
"Psh. Might as well get some good tasting ones, I ain't a culinary mastermind but I can make some stuff." He walked to the shop and began looking over the spices that the hiker behind the counter had for sale, and picked up several. "'Scuse me, how much are these?"
"..."
"...Uh, you okay dude?"
"Ditto."
"...hoo boy." The man suddenly flashed and became a familiar blob Pokémon, and Cobalt jumped forward to kick it away as it surged forward. "Why the heck is a Ditto impersonating somebody?!" Ditto morphed and became a copy of Cobalt, and they immediately began trading kicks, small explosions of flame going off when one of them decided to use Blaze Kick. "Everyone, back away!"
"Is that one of the Ditto Five?" A passerby asked, moving away to a safe distance.
"Ditto what."
The person nodded at his deadpan question, "Ditto Five, they impersonate people to cause pranks and chaos. I hear there's a large reward for anyone who manages to catch one, let alone all five."
"COBALT, WE'RE GETTING THAT REWARD!" Ditto was surprised by the sudden fierceness of Cobalt as his attacks suddenly became much more powerful and much swifter, as both the Trainer and his Pokémon began salivating at the thought of the reward.
It tried throwing a Bullet Punch, but Cobalt flipped over the attack and brought his leg down, smashing Ditto's copied face into the pavement. A moment later and it transformed back into a puddle of goo, and Sapphire quickly picked it up. "To the police station!"
"Tally ho!"
They sped through the streets, eventually reaching the police station and kicking down the doors. "I have captured one of the Ditto Five!"
A police officer behind a desk jumped and held his chest at his sudden entrance, cursing to himself. He then realized what he said and turned towards him. "What'd you say, kid?"
Sapphire dumped the unconscious blob on the desk and nodded. "This here is one of those evil Ditto Five, defeated by me! I'd like my reward, please."
"Besides it being a Ditto, is there any proof that it's one of the Ditto Five?"
"Uh… a bunch of people saw it Transform and watched the battle, I could get one of them."
"Eh, no need. Ahem, I, as an honorable Riolu, give my word that what this man says is true!"
"Uhh…"
"While I couldn't understand your Riolu," the officer started, "it seemed to be saying that the Ditto is indeed one of the Ditto Five… I know enough about Riolu to trust your words. Wait here."
"Rotom, what just happened?"
"Zzt, Riolu, and Lucario, azz a speciezz have an innate sense of justice. Besidezz not following a Trainer if they don't have a good heart, they cannot stand for evil actionzz being performed, and will never commit a crime or evil themselvezz. Cobalt simply confirming your story would be enough for anyone to believe you."
"Huh. So if I were to steal from a bank and have you testify that I didn't…"
"Don't even think about it."
The policeman returned and transferred money into his account, causing him to grin. Sure, winning battles against other trainers got you some money, but if they were as broke as you were it was barely anything. And it was proportional. If you had way more and they had way less, the amount subtracted from their account was incredibly small. It was designed that way so veteran trainers couldn't just challenge newbies over and over again to make easy money.
"Well, there you go. I'm glad at least one of those troublemakers is off the streets."
"What'll you do with the Ditto?"
"I'll have to ask my higher-ups. Anyway, if you defeat any more Dittos bring them here. and if you capture any you can keep them. Can you throw a Pokémon in a jail cell?"
"…dude, you're the officer here, you should know." Another officer walked by and picked up the Ditto, nodding at them and walking away. "Is that your partner?"
"Yeah. He's been off today though, hasn't been talking."
"Yeah?" Silent and off? No way would this work. "Uh, Rotom?"
"Zzt, scanning. Yep, that'zz a Ditto.
"…Ditto."
"Cobalt." The human-shaped Ditto dropped the unconscious Ditto and began morphing into Cobalt, but before they could finish Cobalt leaped forward and knocked them out. "So, I get a second reward, right?"
"Wha— how did you know?!" Were… all the people here dumb like that? Did none of them try scanning anybody acting oddly or silent with their Pokédex's? There must have been some Trainers in the city. "I'll get your next reward ready. Since you can somehow tell who the Ditto are, you should try finding the rest of them!"
Yeah… he would be more excited, especially with a reward on the line, but the sheer stupidity he was faced with kind of lowered his enthusiasm. "Sure. You got it."
Willow sighed as she approached a small area overlooking the ocean, and sat down on a bench, stretching. "Well, that was a long day… That guy was really intense about wanting to see a Z-Move."
It was kind of romantic though, wanting to witness one to bolster his resolve through a Z-Move's passion and intensity, Cream thought to her while giggling. Still, I can't believe we couldn't find Mr. Sapphire or Mr. Cobalt at all during the day.
"It's weird, the city isn't that big, but somehow they were nowhere no matter where we looked."
Why didn't you try calling them?
"…I forgot I could." She blushed in embarrassment at the oversight and sighed. "Well… we at least know he got a room. Let's rest here before heading to the Pokémon center for the night."
They relaxed for several minutes and watched the sunset before a scuffle behind them drew their eyes. Two boys rolled into view, a bag being tossed to the ground as they dragged each other to the ground. They wore— wait, why were there two Sapphire's?
Sapphire One grabbed Sapphire Two's cheeks and pulled, yelling at him. "Oi, ya damn fake, quit plagiarizing me!"
"Fake?! I think you're the fake one here!" Sapphire Two reached up and pushed Sapphire One's face away, and they began rolling in the dirt as they fought.
"Umm…"
"Of course the last Ditto we find can speak… just great." Cobalt walked over and sighed. "Alright, which one of you is—"
"I am!"
"Me!"
"Cobalt?"
"Oh, Willow. Nice, you can help."
Cream began translating for her, and she nodded. "What exactly is happening?"
"Well, we had captured four of the Ditto Five, but when Sapphire found out the fifth one was capable of mimicking humans…"
"Let me guess… his flair for the dramatics demanded that he tell it facts about himself so they could have a 'who's who?' battle?"
"Right on the money. And now I've got to figure out which one is which, and I swear to the freaking Creator I'm going to…" Cobalt's speech dissolved into mutters as he glared at the two boys, and Cream giggled.
"Well, he couldn't have told Ditto everything. We'll just have them tell us things only Sapphire could know."
"There has to be a consequence though," Sapphire One cut in, "otherwise it isn't dramatic enough!"
"That's Sapphire," Willow deadpanned.
"No, I agree," Sapphire Two stated.
"Oh by— fine, Rotom, you're up."
"We order you to not scan us!" Both Sapphire's stopped fighting and glared at Rotom, who beeped in confusion. They then both stood up and struck matching poses. "A situation like this," Sapphire One started…
"Must be solved with flare!" Sapphire Two finished.
…Is this normal for Mr. Sapphire and your team?"
"Unfortunately. Why don't we just knock them both out and see who reverts into a Ditto?"
"Evil," Sapphire Two gasped.
"The lot of you!" One continued.
"You would really—"
"—Harm your friend—"
"—To find the handsome—"
"—Ditto culprit?!"
"Alright, I'm losing all the brain cells I had remaining watching this, I'm killing both of them." Cobalt cracked his neck and moved forward, causing Two to look down at him with a blank stare and creepy smile.
"No one can escape time; it delivers us all to the same end. You can't plug your ears and close your eyes. The Arcana is the means by which all is revealed, and truly, Death is nothing to fear…"
"Stop stealing lines from Persona 3, you are nowhere near as cool as Door-kun or Nyx." Cobalt continued walking forward with the intent to beat them both to a pulp, causing One and Two to hug each other and screech.
Maybe we should just go along with their game, Cream suggested. Ditto is bound to slip up eventually and reveal himself.
"Ugh… that'll only encourage them in the future."
"Pokéballs, go." As Cobalt and Cream shot ideas back and forth, Willow picked up two Pokéballs and tossed them. One hit Sapphire number Two and bounced off his forehead, doing nothing but giving him a bump, and the other ball hit Sapphire One, and he was drawn into the ball.
The real Sapphire grumbled and rubbed his head, while the ball wobbled and eventually cracked open. Ditto popped out and grumbled at them, crossing its goo arms. "Would it have killed you to go along with that?" Sapphire sighed, stretching.
"Yes. Very much so. Now let's turn in the Ditto and get money."
"I dunno, me and Ditto are on the same wavelength, I might want to add him to the team!"
"Ditto," Ditto nodded.
"Why isn't it speaking human now?"
"It was mimicking my vocal cords earlier. Apparently, other Ditto don't do it because it is too much work. Or too hard. One or the other."
"Wait, you want to add it to your team?"
"I can only wonder at the chaos that would cause," Willow sighed.
"Uh, doesn't he have a bounty on his head?"
"I'm pretty sure the police guy said we could capture them or turn them in."
"Ugh…"
"How 'bout it, Ditto? Want to join the team?"
"Ditto."
He said sure, Cream supplied.
"Just… great. "
"Man, that ranch is gonna be real wild from now on. Alright… hey, how about Mimic for a nickname?"
"What, like D and D?"
"Not just Dungeons and Dragons…"
Ditto says that is fine as well.
"Cool, welcome to the team, Mimic!" He tossed a ball, and Ditto allowed himself to be captured, the ball vanishing after only a few wobbles.
"Well, that was an eventful day… how about we get to that Training we said we'd do earlier?"
"Oh yeah, totally forgot… Welp, let's get to it!"
Guzma groaned and rubbed his eyes, looking at Noct with annoyance. "This is why I don't send you out on missions. You either nap while the Grunts do the work, or get too into a battle and don't focus on anything going on around you!"
"Then don't send me on missions," Noct yawned.
"You… Whatever, we got enough Pokémon from that ranch that it doesn't matter. She already looked them over and selected a few she deemed 'cute' and beautiful' enough for her." He rolled his eyes and scoffed as he remembered her words. What the hell do looks have to do with a Pokémon's worthiness? That woman was crazy…
"How upset was she that she didn't get that shiny Ponyta?" Noct stretched lazily, but his eyes had a sheen of amusement in them.
"Pissed. If she gets that crazy about normal cute Pokémon, then she's downright maniacal when it comes to shinies."
"Man, wish I could see that."
"Yeah, no."
"Alright. I'm going to take a nap. Night."
"It's barely seven."
"Yeah. Night."
"...Ugh…"
Uploading an hour early today since I couldn't yesterday. More of a transitionary chapter between big events, and we got to see a bit of Konikoni. Sun/Moon has a lot of side missions and events before post game doesn't it? I was planning on Ditto/Mimic showing up later, but because I completely forgot about the Ditto Five, I saw it as a great opportunity to add it early.
I cannot remember where I heard that thing about Riolu and Lucario having natural senses of justice, but I like it enough that I'm keeping it in. As for Ditto being able to speak, if they can mimic moves and all that, why can't they mimic the ability to speak? Something I wondered about for a while.
Anyway, Omake. The idea wasn't mine, I just saw the joke online and extended it to Omake length.
Omake Name: The beauty of space
Sapphire and Willow camp under the stars.
The wind flowing by his body and causing his hair to tickle his face slowly woke Sapphire from his sleep. His eyes opened and he beheld the endless stars that made up the Milky Way. He blinked as he stared into the endless abyss that was space, and adjusted himself in his sleeping bag, slowly pulling his arms out and stretching before looking to the side.
Willow was asleep next to him, hair framing her face as she silently slept, and he carefully reached over to nudge her. She had to sleep in his tent for the night, hers being damaged earlier in the night as they battled a Pokémon after having set up their tents. "Wils… Wils…"
She slowly stirred, yawning cutely, before opening her eyes. She blushed slightly at seeing how close he was, before smiling. "Ah, Sapphire… Um, is there a reason you woke me up…?"
"Wils…" He turned onto his back and waved lightly at the stars. "When you look up, what do you see?"
"In the sky?" Willow turned and pulled up her sleeping bag a bit, smiling as she beheld the beauty of the infinite abyss. "I see millions of stars."
"Yeah, I do too." He turned onto his side and propped his head upon his hand. She blushed at how close he was, and he twirled one of his chocolate-brown locks around one of his fingers, leaning forward. "And what does that tell you?"
Willow hummed, turning away so that she wouldn't be distracted by his closeness and thought about his question for a few seconds. "Astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets."
"That's true…"
She smiled as she watched a shooting star streak across the sky. "Astrologically, I can observe that Saturn is in Leo."
"Really? Fascinating…"
She pointed at the position of the moon, "Horologically, I can deduce that the time is approximately a quarter past three."
Sapphire checked the asleep Rotomdex and nodded. "Right on the money. Can you tell anything else from them?"
She sighed, closing her eyes placing a hand over her breasts, a feeling of emptiness filling her heart. "Theologically, I can see that God is all-powerful and that we are small and insignificant."
"Hm… Were he to exist of course. I'd love to ask him many questions… but are you sure there's nothing else that you can tell?"
She opened her eyes again and tilted her head slightly. "Meteorologically, I think that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow, with just a few clouds to give us shade on our journey."
"Ah, that's good to know. We should keep that in mind. Nothing else?"
"No… what does it tell you, Sapph?"
Sapphire closed his eyes. "Just like Anthony… you're too smart for your own good."
"What do you mean?"
He turned and waved his hand at the sky. "You aren't wondering why we can see the stars right now after we went to bed in my tent. I can see the stars right now… and it means that someone STOLE OUR DAMN TENT!"
Grand Trial is up next. That'll be fun. I keep worrying that I'm forgetting a new Pokémon, or maybe that one evolved whenever I make the post-chapter list of Pokémon, even when I look it over a dozen times, lol. Probably doesn't help that I usually have half of the next chapter done whenever I update and I'm thinking of the next chapter's Pokémon. Anyway, leave a review on everything you liked in the chapter or just a 'nice.' Both are always great to read.
Sapphire:
-Riolu, Cobalt
-Litten, Claws
-Midday_Lycanroc, Chrysant
-Charjabug, Storm
-Haunter, Spooks
-Noibat, Blast
-Talonflame, Inferno
-Seadra, Wave
-Rotom
-Eevee, Puffball
-Ponyta, Spirit
-Ivysaur
-Chinchou
-Ditto, Mimic
Willow:
-Espurr, Cream
-Dartrix
-Slowbro
-Grimer
-Murkrow
-Leafeon
See y'all next time.
