Chapter 12: Taffy Power

Ziggy didn't live far from where Jonathan was, and was able to climb the tree next to the fire escape very easily. "So it's ok to hit them with chairs?" she asked.

"Yeah and sometimes tables too!"

"Ziggy, can you peel this banana?"

Jonathan and Ember were showing Ziggy the wonders of television. Just as that one tough guy was about to hit that other tough guy there was a sudden interruption courtesy of the news. "This just in. Team Orion, who had gone into hiding five years ago, seems to have resurfaced and have been seen performing nefarious deeds within the vicinity! If spotted, citizens are advised to flee and contact the local police immediately! More news at ten."

Team Orion, huh? It had been years since Jonathan had last heard of the team. They were well known for their illegal activities, such as kidnapping important political figures, and selling weapons to far off countries. He was eleven when they had last appeared on the news.

Officers had, after much searching, finally discovered Team Rocket's hidden lab which was used for genetic engineering. Just as they were about to retrieve important information from the computers Team Orion Grunts had broken in and knocked them all out. When the police woke up, all the info and tools were gone without a trace.

"Team Orion? Wonder when they'll be caught," Ember said.

"I don't think it'll be that easy. I remember hearing about them a long time ago. They always managed to escape somehow," Jonathan remarked.

"Aren't I older than you? What do you mean by 'you remember'?"

"Can we change the channel?" Ziggy asked, "This is starting to bore me."

"What?! No! That one tough guy is about to win!" Ember exclaimed.

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Jonathan, Ember and Ziggy got permission from Jennifer to go ahead and explore outside on their own. Using the tree next to the fire escape, they climbed down.

They were heading towards the park, when a car ran over a puddle which splashed all over Jonathan. That's not important, it's just something that happened.

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Howler wasn't at the park that day, so they were able to enjoy the day in peace. They all agreed to play a game of hide-and-seek to pass the time.

Due to the difficulty of hiding a burning tail, Ember was chosen to count first. Ziggy ran into the tall grass to hide while Jonathan jumped behind a rock.

After a while, Ember jumped onto the rock, "Found you!" he yelled.

Jonathan would've replied to that, had his horns not started acting up again. This time, it felt like someone had been interrupted from a relaxing state. And it was coming from the rock Ember was on. "Ember, I think you should get off that rock."

He didn't have time to, for suddenly, the rock flung him into the air. "Yawn! Who woke me?" it stared to say.

Jonathan, dumbfounded, gawked at the rock. Did it just talk? He was sure that it didn't have a face or arms, so how did it speak? His question was answered when the rock suddenly turned pink. "Who are you?" Jonathan asked, having nothing else to say.

Two dotted eyes and a big smile stretched on its face as its hard mass turned flabby. "My name's Taffy! How do you do?"

"Fine… were you a rock just now?"

"No, silly, I was a stone!"

"Ok, how did you do that?"

"Like this!" a glow surrounded the blob and before Jonathan's eyes Taffy's shape changed and transformed into one mirroring his. Before him was an identical double, like Jonathan in almost every was. "It's the power of Ditto! Nice bowtie, by the way."

Ember, who had been pulling his head out of the ground, had just returned and saw two Jonathans. "Whoa, there are two of you!" One of the Jonathans suddenly ran up to Ember and pushed him to the floor. Holding back a laugh, he ran off in some random direction. "What did you do that for?!" he yelled towards the fleeing Ralts.

The real Jonathan then came and helped him up. "Remember the rock that threw you off itself? That Ralts was that rock. He's a pokemon known as a Ditto."

"Ditto, eh? I've heard a bit about them. They are capable of transforming into anything they see. They also are capable of copying their opponent's powers!"

"Well, let's go find Ziggy before he does. He'll probably make me look like a fool," bird dropping fell on his head causing Ember to crack up.

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Ziggy was hiding in the tall grass, wondering if it was safe to make a run for the tree they had labeled as home base. Suddenly, she felt someone painfully tug her tail. When she was dragged out, she was shocked to find it was none other than Jonathan. "Hiya, Zigzagoon! How do you do?"

"J-Jonathan?"

"Yay!!! Disguise works! My name's Taffy, who are you?"

By now, Ziggy knew this was not Jonathan. This thought was further confirmed when a second Jonathan, accompanied by Ember, arrived. "Ziggy, that's not me!" Jonathan yelled.

"I know, he said his name was Taffy."

"Oh. I thought he was going to try and take over my identity like in the movies."

"What a great idea!!!" Taffy exclaimed. Suddenly, he disappeared from view and appeared next to Jonathan.

"Wait, how did you do that?!" then Taffy made both of them teleport onto two different spots.

One of the Jonathans yelled, "Don't believe what he says! I'm the real Jonathan!"

The other Jonathan yelled, "YOU TELEPORTED ME ONTO AN ANTHILL FULL OF FIRE ANTS!!!" Due to the fact that they found out who was the real Jonathan very fast, Taffy decided to give it another go.

For round two, Taffy thought it best to make up some rules for his little quiz. "Both of us'll keep quiet until you ask a question. Then you pick who answers! It can be me, him, or both of us!" he turned to Jonathan, "Talk before a question and you get the anthill!"

Once they were teleported in front of Ember and Ziggy the game began. Ziggy asked the first question, "What was the name of the Tyrogue who attacked the Murkrow. Left Jonathan, you answer."

"His name was Brick!" he answered.

"Correct! Now it's my turn," Ember said, "Right Jonathan, where did you first meet me?"

"My home."

"Right," Ziggy said, "Right Jonathan, what's your favorite attack?"

"What attacks? I just hit people with whatever I find laying around."

"Correct… this'll take too long," Ember then thought of a great idea to figure out the real Jonathan, "This question is for both of you. Jonathan, what is your eye color?" This statement made the left Jonathan cringe.

"Drat! I have no idea what a Ralts's eye color is! You win, congrats!" Taffy then transformed into a paper airplane and flew away, "See ye later! How long is later?" he hollered as he flew away.

"That guy was weirder than the Tyrogue," Ziggy said.

"They probably know each other," Jonathan responded.

"It would explain how he knew who the Tyrogue attacking the Murkrow was," Ember concluder.

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They had decided to go home after the hyper Ditto's quiz. They had their fill of the park for the day. "Hey, Jonathan," Ember began, "What color are your eyes, anyways?"

"Huh? I thought you already knew, with you asking the question and all."

"Actually, I had no idea. Since Taffy had never seen your eyes, he couldn't have copied them."

"Smart. My eyes are red, by the way."

"Really?" Ziggy asked, "Can we see?"

Jonathan moved his hair out of the way to show them his eyes. "Cool," Ember said.

"Wow, you do have eyes!" Ziggy said. She then noticed the relic hidden within Jonathan's hair, "Hey, what's that?"

Jonathan pulled the relic out, "This? It's the relic we went to find that the Murkrow stole. Do you know what pokemon this is?"

Ziggy stared at the relic for a while before answering, "I can't remember. I remember seeing it somewhere, but I can't remember it's name or where I saw it."

"That's ok Ziggy, you'll remember eventually," a car then splashed Jonathan as it sped by.