And now back to the one-shots. Not a lot of funny in this chapter, it's more to add personality to characters who haven't had that many lines.

Chapter 28: Not Every Chapters Need a Ralts

Howler gave a yawn as he waited for his friends to arrive. They were to meet at the park like they usually did, but they seemed to be late. Leaf was most likely there already, for she was known to enjoy being stealthy. Powder, it'd probably take him a while to arrive.

"I know you're there, Leaf. Come out already," Howler called. There was a small thump behind him and he turned around to see the Oddish.

"How did you know I was here?" she asked, dumbfounded, "I did everything to hide myself!"

"I actually didn't know you were here. I've been saying that sentence for the past fifteen minutes, knowing you would show up eventually."

"Sneaky puppy, I won't fall for that trick again!" she announced.

Then you'll fall for another one, Howler thought. "So is Powder with you?"

"No, do you think he can be stealthy? But I'm sure he'll be here eventually," Leaf responded, "Speak of the devil, here he comes now!"

Powder walked up to his friends, trying to keep something on his back from falling off. "Hello," he said.

"It's about time you got here! Why are you late this time?!" Howler asked.

"Sorry, Howler. Leaf asked me to get something for her," Powder responded.

"Oh, you got it?!?" Leaf asked, her eyes lighting up in eagerness.

"Um, it's strapped to my back. It's not that easy to miss." Leaf tackled Powder to the ground and undid the ropes that tied her package to Powder.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!!!" she repeatedly said, holding the graphic novel in her leaves.

"You're welcome. It wasn't too hard taking it from my trainer's bookstore." Powder said to his wild friends as he got up.

"I don't see what you like about those books, Leaf. They're stories about humans! Why not find one about pokemon?" Howler asked.

"Because pokemon in those stories are not ninjas!" Leaf explained.

"Who cares, they're humans either way! I bet I could beat them up!" Howler boasted.

"You ran away from a Ralts with no attacks," Powder pointed out.

"SHUT UP ABOUT THAT! He got me by surprise, that's all…"

"So what are we going to do today?" Leaf asked, hoping to change the situation into something more enjoyable.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…Hide and Seek?"

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Powder was the slowest in answering 'not it,' so he was currently searching for Howler and Leaf. Now where would I hide if I were them, he thought.

Howler is smart enough to know how to camouflage his dark fur against the shadows, and Leaf probably buried herself to look like a weed. Powder looked around his surroundings carefully for signs of hiding. Then he thought of a simpler approach.

He closed his eyes and sniffed the air, eventually making out a sweet scent. He followed it until he found a lone weed next to a tree. There you are.

Powder approached the weed to tag it, but before he could, he triggered a trap beneath his feet. A rope suddenly tied his legs together and flung him into the air upside-down. Up upon the branch the rope was connected to he saw Leaf with a smug grin, "I can't believe you fell for that!" she laughed.

"Let me down Leaf!" Powder yelled.

"Yeah, right, like I'd do that. If I do, then you'll tag me! I'm gonna go hide again." She jumped down from the tree, stumbling a little as she landed, and began to leave. Powder, however, was a step ahead.

He swiped at the rope, though not entirely. The false attack cut the rope partway through, and gravity did the rest.

"Hey, Leaf!" Powder called. Leaf looked up to see Powder falling onto her, "You're it!!"

WHAM! Powder quickly got off of Leaf and ran off to hide somewhere before she could get up. "I should've added a second trap beneath the first one…" Leaf muttered to herself.

She got up and thought about where the best place to find Howler would be. Knowing him, he would attempt to hide in the shadows with his black fur. She noticed a rock formation that formed a miniature cave big enough for Howler to fit into, but small enough to completely hide whatever went in there.

Certain he was hiding in there, she ruffled her leaves and sent in some spores she was sure would stun him; otherwise he would run away at the first whiff of her. After a few seconds, she was sure there was enough spores in there to knock out a Donphan. She ran inside to tag Howler while he was down.

She ran straight into a dead end, however. Just as she was about to leave disappointed, she heard giggling from behind her. Turning around, she saw nothing but a rock. Perhaps Howler was hiding behind it? But then again, Howler wasn't the kind of guy that giggled.

She peeked behind the rock, but saw nothing. Suddenly, someone yelled, "BOO!!" Leaf, surprised at the sudden exclamation, fell on her back and struggled to keep her heart from racing. The rock began to laugh hysterically.

As the rock laughed, it turned pink. It then gained a face and taffy like body, "Hahahaha! That was funny!!" the Ditto laughed, "Oh, and nice try with the stun spore, but I'm too limber to be affected by that!"

Leaf looked at the Ditto, awestricken, "Whoa, did you just transform?! Can you teach me how to do that?!"

"Sorry, blueberry, you have to be born with it!" Taffy said, "Now lo and behold as I transform once more!"

Taffy began to glow as his body began to change shape. He became more circular, grew leaves on his head, and grew legs as well. Once the glowing faded, before Leaf stood a mirror image of her.

"Hmm, I've got no arms in this form, but I didn't have any in my original!" said Taffy as she examined her new body. "At least I have legs now!"

She then ran out of the cave, knocking down Leaf in the process, "You cannot catch me!" Taffy chanted as she ran away.

"We'll see about that," Leaf muttered, taking on the challenge.

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"Get outta here!!" Howler shouted as he scared away a couple of Hoppips from the location he had chosen to hide in. Tall grass may not be the most original place for a wild pokemon to hide in, but he was betting Powder or Leaf would try to find him in the shadows he usually hid in.

"BANZAIIIIIII!!!!!" yelled a voice as it flew behind him. He turned around in time to be buried into the ground by an Oddish.

"(Cough) (Hack) What're you thinking tackling me like that!!!" Howler yelled.

"'Cuz it was fun," she responded.

"No, I mean what happened to all that ninja stuff you usually try to pull off?! I was expecting you to try to sneak up on me, but instead you jump into the air screaming at the top of your lungs!! Did you hit your head or some-" He didn't get to finish that question, for she suddenly darted to the side in time to dodge a tiny needle that shot past where she was standing a few seconds ago.

It hit Howler, who was in the projectile's path. Some of his energy then flew out of him and absorbed into a second Oddish who had tried to sneak up behind the first. "Whoops, sorry Howler. I was trying to hit my imposter," Leaf said.

"You'd better be sorry!! I'm gonna have to get you for that!!" Howler exclaimed. A few seconds later, he was tackled by the Leaf impersonator who was yelling 'banzaii' again. "GET OFF!!!"

Just then, Powder, who was watching the series of events unfold from a nearby hiding place, walked into the scene, "I take it the game's over now?" He looked between the two Oddishes. He at first thought that the new Oddish was just a random one that had wandered in, but at a closer distance he noticed that the Oddish looked exactly like Leaf. "What's going on?"

"I am facing down an imposter who is posing as me. Bet you've never had a doppelganger!" she bragged.

"So he's impersonating you, then?" Powder mumbled. He walked up to the imposter and asked, "Are you a Ditto?"

"Yup!" responded Taffy.

"Um… what's a Ditto?" Leaf asked.

"Who cares! The thing attacked me from behind and absorbed my energy! She must pay!" Howler yelled.

"That was Leaf that did that, remember?" Powder commented, "As for your question, Leaf, Dittos are one of the only pokemon confirmed to exist that are capable of transforming. Of course, there are exceptions, such as-"

"HUGS!!!" Taffy yelled before Powder could complete his sentence. She then wrapped her leaves around Powder, causing him to turn from a brownish green to red.

Leaf's face was also red at the sight, "Quit doing things in my form!!"

Howler's mood changed from one of anger to pure laughter, "HAHAHAHAHA!!"

"S-shut up!" Leaf yelled back at Howler. She then turned back towards Powder to find the Ditto missing. Powder was still in a state of shock, so he didn't know where she went.

She then spotted Taffy standing a few yards away. "You can't catch me!" she taunted. Angered, she ran at full speed towards the imposter. However, when she stepped into a strange looking patch of grass, her foot began to burn due to acid that was hidden. On reflex, she jumped, stumbled, and fell face first into a pile of dirt.

The sight was funny to behold to the Ditto, and she was holding back a laugh. It didn't last long, and she ended up clutching her sides in laughter. As she did this, her color changed back to pink and her form changed into a blob. She was a Ditto once again.

"That… was… hilarious!!" she said between breaths. "Well, that was a good laugh for the day! See ya later!" she then transformed into a paper airplane and flew off.

"Get back here you pink blob!!!" Leaf yelled, throwing her razor sharp leaves as the Ditto flew away. All the leaves were dodged and the plane escaped safely, much to Leaf's dismay.

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The day was getting dark, so the three friends were saying goodbye. "I'll see you tomorrow," Powder said, still recovering a bit from the shock. He then left for his trainer's bookstore.

"Yeah, see ya later," Howler called.

"Bye, Powder," Leaf then turned to leave, "I'll see ya too, Howler. I've got to clean myself so it doesn't look like I got into a fight, as well as hide the book Powder gave me. Reading this isn't 'proper,' after all."

"Why would your parents worry about you being proper?" Howler asked in curiosity.

"Uh… you know, over-protective parents and stuff!" Leaf quickly replied, "W-well, bye!" Leaf ran off.

Meh, might as well go back home myself, Howler thought as he headed in the direction of the Arc Empire.

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Meanwhile, out in the forest, two blue figures wandered around.

"Art thou sure this be the place where thy parents said they tracked the Spearow?"

"I'm not sure, they said they couldn't follow it. It disasapeared around this area."

"My lady, I fear for thy safety. May we return back home and rest? We are perfectly capable of continuing the search in a fortnight or less."

"(Sigh) All right..."