Chapter 5

It had been a couple days since the incident at Mt. Alp. However, Barry was still smoldering as it had just happened. It also didn't help that he and Joe had been looking to catch a strong Pokemon for hours to no avail inside a field of tall grass.

"C'mon Barry. Lighten up. I'm confident you'll find something soon"

Barry hesitated before answering. "We're just wasting too much time. Each minute we spend doing nothing, Team Rocket gets stronger. Not to mention, Dr. Eggman. Who knows what he's up to? And here we are searching for hours with nothing to show."

"Well, I believe there is still some value in hard work alone. Besides, this is something we have to do." said Joe, raising his voice to be heard through the dense foliage.

The two stepped into a clearing, and Barry saw Joe with blank expression. "Yeah, but if we had gotten lucky, we could have had better results without having to waste so much time."

"Sorry, didn't quite catch that," Joe said, puzzled. Barry turned around: Joe was behind him.

"Wait a minute..." Barry looked at the Joe before him a little closer. His eyes were dots and his smile was strange. "A Ditto!" Barry exclaimed finally catching on. He took out a Pokeball and tossed it. However, his target had been fast and danced into the bushes before the Pokeball had left Barry's fingertips. "No! Come back here! You imposter!" Barry chased after the Ditto wildly. He thought he might have lost it when suddenly, he made it to a clearing with the form of the puzzled Joe in the middle. Barry was quick this time. Joe hadn't even realized what was going on when the Pokeball bounced of his head, and still didn't realize what was happening when nothing happened to him. "Ow. That hurt, Barry."

"Oh. Uh. I thought... you might have been a Pokemon."

Joe frowned. Barry was about to explain further when he saw a tuft of white hair cutting quickly through the fields to his left. "Gotta go," he said leaving Joe without any further explanation. Barry ran after the Ditto with a Pokeball at the ready, trying his hardest to keep track of the Ditto between short glimpses. Finally, he reached another clearing. The Pokeball left his hand the instant he spotted his target. This time, it wouldn't have any time to react.

"Ow. Barry, this isn't a fun game."

Barry gave Joe a defeated look and slouched down now out of breath.

"Why do you keep doing-" but Joe's question was cut short by the appearance of himself. "Well, there's a handsome fellow."

Barry stood up straight "Go, Machoke. You do the running," he said, still half wheezing. Barry lifted and threw a Pokeball into the air. Machoke now stood opposite of the Ditto. This time, the Ditto didn't run. "Close combat!" commanded Barry.

Joe watched, horrified as his likeness was pummeled into submission a few feet away.

"Well, you know what they say. Third time's- third time you don't throw it at Joe," Barry said, his Pokeball dully bouncing off the defeated Ditto.

Joe looked down, slightly aghast as the Pokeball rolled to a stop and made a familiar clicking noise. "I'm going to have nightmares now," said Joe.

Just then, a white glow started to fill the clearing. The source of this glow was none other than Barry's Machoke. The two friends stood there in awe as a Machamp slowly formed in front of them.

Barry let a smile fill his face. "Looks like today wasn't much of a waste after all," he said, with a hint of glee.