Outside, Gary talked to his grandfather.
"Do you really think it could have been hurt by people before, Gramps? I thought humans didn't come this far up the mountain."
"But I did, remember?" The Professor reminded him. "Generally people don't come up here, but what about the occasional adventurer or thrill seeker?"
"Hmm, I guess that's true."
"But did you notice its eyes?" The Professor said ominously. "They never left you, even when it bit Jean. It's like it wants something from you."
"Maybe it's grateful I saved it," Gary said hopefully.
"Or maybe..." The Professor shook his head."
"What, Gramps?"
"Oh, it's nothing. Say, have you let your pokemon out lately? They must be getting cramped and hungry by now."
"Oh, you're right. Thanks, Gramps. See you later."
In a clear spot near the camp, Gary let his team of pokemon loose. There was Flareon and Charizard, Kingler and Steelix, Sneasel and Ursaring. He had purposefully chosen these pokemon for this expedition, since they were could handle the cold. They even enjoyed it, playing in the snow while Gary watched. He munched on a Sitrus berry and thought about the injured Glaceon. Could it have been the shiny thing he saw in the crater last night? Maybe the meteorite had hit it. But shouldn't that have killed it? Gary shook his head. None of it made sense.
He was eating the last bite of his berry when he looked up and saw a Dragonite sail down from the sky. Before he could react, he noticed Shane get off its back.
"Great job today, Ditz," Shane said. The Dragonite crooned cheerfully, before melting into a large, pink blob.
"A Ditto?" Gary said in surprise.
"Oh, hey Gary," Shane greeted. "Yeah, this is my Ditto, Ditz. He's extremely helpful on expeditions, because he can turn into any sort of pokemon that he's met."
"Even big ones?" Gary said incredulously.
"Yeah. I have to admit I don't understand how he can do it. It doesn't make sense scientifically, but there must be some way to explain it that we haven't discovered yet." He paused when he noticed his Ditto shivering. "Hey, don't be an idiot, Ditz. Transform into a Delibird so you won't feel the cold."
The Ditto chittered and morphed...turning into the ice and flying type pokemon, Delibird.
"Pretty sweet," Gary commented.
"Yeah, but he won't change into another pokemon unless I tell him to. All blob, no brain."
Gary wondered if the Ditto was insulted, but it seemed to agree with its owner, as it chirped cheerfully.
"Anyway," Shane went on, "we had no luck finding any Minior on the west side of the mountain. How about you?"
"Nah. But I did find an injured Glaceon. There's something weird about it, though."
"Glaceon?" Shane looked surprised. "Well, I did do a dissertation on Eevees and their evolutionary forms, so I know quite a bit about them. Can I take a look?"
Gary shrugged. "Sure. I left it in the medical tent with Jean and Chansey. I'll take you."
Gary and Shane ducked into the medical tent.
"Hey, Jean?" Gary called. "I brought Shane to have a look at the Glaceon. Are you in here?"
"Uh, back here."
Gary walked to the back, where the enclosure was. Jean seemed to be locked inside it.
Gary rushed over to unlock the gate. 'what happened?" Where's the Glaceon?"
"Oh, it was the darndest thing," Jean said as she stepped out. "I was going to give more food to the Glaceon, when it rushed out of the enclosure and slammed the gate behind it before running off. I guess the latch fell shut and locked me in. I'm lucky you found me."
"Uh, what about Chansey? Where is she? She could have helped you out."
"I guess she had to go," Jean said with a well-meaning shrug. "And speaking of which, I need to go, too. Thanks again."
She walked past Gary and out of the tent. Shane waved at her, but she didn't seem to notice.
"I guess it was urgent," Gary guessed.
"No kidding," Shane muttered. "She didn't even put on a parka."
"Well, I guess the Glaceon got away. Jean said it ran out of the enclosure when she was feeding it. So now you can't see it."
"Well shoot," Shane said. "But I guess it wasn't meant to be. At least the Glaceon is well enough to be running, though. I'll just go and look over the observation equipment now."
He went to leave the tent, nearly crashing into Jean. She was now wearing a parka.
"Hey!" She said in surprise. "What are you guys doing here?"
Gary gave her a puzzled look. "I was going to show Shane the Glaceon I found, but you said it got away. You got locked in the enclosure?"
Jean looked at him strangely. "I've been at the south side of camp for the past hour. One of our Machoke strained a wrist when it was moving boulders for the the survey teams."
"But we just saw..." Shane trailed off. He was looking past Jean, through the opening of the tent. He could see another Jean, the one that was not wearing a parka, striding away.
"You're not part of the Joy family, are you?" Gary asked. "You know, the one that has all the girls that look the same?"
"Of course not," Jean retorted.
"Well, there's a girl out there who looks exactly like you. And she's right there." He pointed, and everyone looked. The other Jean broke into a run, crashing into an unsuspecting researcher who had been walking between the tents. The other Jean pulled the researcher into the nearest tent with her.
Gary, Shane, and Jean ran to the tent and barreled in...only to see the disheveled researcher.
"What happened to the girl?" Jean demanded.
"Uh, what girl?" the man said.
"The one that pulled you in here," Gary said in irritation. "What are you, stupid?"
"Gary, I hope you're not insulting one of our best sponsors."
Professor Oak poked his head inside the tent.
"Gramps?" Gary said in confusion. "I was just, we were..."
"Whatever you were doing, you barged into the tent of Professor Bosc. He is THE leading authority on mountain pokemon."
Gary looked the man over, noting his thick chest and massive arms and legs. He certainly looked like a mountaineer, though he was wearing a white coat and glasses. Professor Bosc looked evenly at Professor Oak as he straightened his glasses. "No worries. These young'uns were just curious, is all. They seem to be chasing a girl, or a ghost of one."
"Is that so," Professor Oak said sternly. "Come with me, you three. Let's have a talk."