Imposter beamed with pride as it sauntered through Route Four. Battling trainers, chatting up wild monsters, being laughed at by Froakie, sometimes losing, mainly winning - but regardless, Imposter did not care. It was a human trainer, and that was special.

It soon approached a rather different-looking building. There was no door, just two open walls, and one could easily see through it to the urbia on the other side.

Seeing this lack of security, Imposter figured it would be no crime to continue through it.

Froakie looked backwards. "Hey, 'Pasta."

"Am I a noodle?"

The Water-Type giggled. "Not - currently," he admitted. "But, uh... Don't you think you've been at this for a while? Like it's time to go back home to your trainer in Vaniville?"

Imposter stopped walking and sent a sharp look to Froakie, who recoiled slightly. "I am my own trainer now," it insisted. "Got my own Ball right here in my bag. I'm not going to stop when I'm on such a roll."

And it continued walking without allowing Froakie to protest. "W-Wait-" he hopped along. "When I signed up for this, I never thought you'd make it all the way to-"

The two finished his sentence at the same time, as they stepped out of the gate - Imposter with a respectful awe and Froakie in an almost fearful whisper: "Lumiose City."

Shauna's voice grabbed their attention. "Look, I found him! He was just really behind, that's all."

Curious, Imposter approached the girl, and Froakie had no choice but to come along. Serena eyed it. "You get your badge yet?"

It nodded in confirmation, and Serena grabbed its wrist. "Come on. The professor's been waiting to see you."

It and Serena followed her into one of Lumiose's many tall buildings and up its single elevator. At what Imposter figured was the top, Trevor and Tierno were there to greet them.

The group, four humans and two Pokémon, entered the office. The first thing Imposter noticed was the amount of pictures adorning the walls. Was this professor friends with Viola, or did all humans specialize in photographing Pokémon?

"Children, you are here!" The man announced, "Thank you for coming all this way. I'm Professor Augustine Sycamore... but of course, you could all just call me Professor Sycamore. Now, you-!" He pointed out Serena.

"Me?"

"You. You just moved here, right?"

Serena nodded. "From Hoenn."

His eyes widened. "That far away? Très bien! You must need a proper welcome to Kalos, then!"

She flushed. "I-I don't know about that. It's already been a few wee-"

"I insist." The professor reached into the pocket on his lab coat, and Imposter was the only one to notice the gleam of a Poké Ball in his hand. "Forgive me if it's a bit sudden, but I want to see how far along you are as a trainer."

They all could notice Serena's smile when he asked, "Would you please do me for a battle?"

Withdrawing her own Chespin's Ball, she laughed: "Funny. Are all Kalosians that formal?"

Sycamore smirked, motioning to her style of dress. "Are all Hoennites that fabulous?"

And with that, the battle started. "Say, that's a fine Chespin you got there," Sycamore observed. "You are aware that it is..?"

"Shiny?" Serena guessed. "You don't even want to know how many soft resets..."

Speaking of starters... where was Froakie?

Imposter looked around for him, and saw him standing around the corner. He was motioning with his hand to bring it over.

The Ditto bent down behind the wall where nobody could see it. "What's wrong?"

Froakie played with his hands. "Listen, you aren't telling this to anybody, y'hear?"

Imposter shook its head.

"I don't like this place."

He let that sit in the air for a moment. "What, you ain't going to ask why?"

"Okay; why?"

"I ain't telling ya."

Imposter straightened up, crossing its arms.

"Well, fine. Ya see, that man battling your friend?"

The professor? "He was my first trainer. Then you. Then squat, because I'm released now. Follow? Problem is I wasn't supposed to leave you. Me an' Fennekin an' Chespin were all supposed to stay 'BFF's fer-ev's' with our new trainers, and if he finds out what happened, it's back in a Ball for me to be given away to some other human. Froakie aren't easy to come by in the wild, and that man is resourceful as - as - something with a lot of resources."

Imposter looked up in realization as well: "And he also probably doesn't know that, uh - I'm not really a - you know."

Froakie blinked. "Whatever makes you say that?"

"Well, he probably thinks I'm Calem. Even though he already started his adventure."

"I was being facetious. You not being a human is so obvious, I'm shocked no one's noticed it yet."

"I noticed it!" Serena's Chespin was calling from his battle. So he was eavesdropping!

"Hey, this isn't your conversation!"

Froakie quickly realized his error. "Aw, shoot, there's no way they didn't hear me. Dude! We need to get outta here. We're toast."

"Maybe not?"

"What does that mean?"

"...Uh... Ditto?"

The Pokémon turned around to see Shauna peering around the corner at them. "Oh, you two. Having fun with Amie while Serena's having such an important battle? Come on in. It's getting pretty heated."

Imposter and Froakie shared a look, knowing they had no choice. They followed her inside.

It was Chespin against Charmander. Shauna was right; the combatants were all over the place. Chespin had at some point climbed on top of Sycamore's desk, while Charmander - despite having the type advantage - was clinging ironically onto Serena's leg.

She tried to shake it off. "Chespin - use - let go! - Vine Whip!"

Before attacking, Chespin locked eyes with Imposter. "You got it! Hyah!"

The Ditto, paying less attention than it appeared, hardly had time to duck when the attack came flying towards it. It shouted in surprise, grabbing at its nose. "Ow."

"Chespin," scolded Serena. "How'd you miss with such an accurate move? Be more careful not to hit anybody else, okay?"

Chespin shrugged, his smug expression readable only to Imposter. Sycamore cut the tension, however, by ordering his Charmander to move.

"Ember."

He spat an Ember out from across the room. Chespin was almost down. Serena had one chance. "Now... Vine Whip for real this time!"

The Grass-Type, apparently done with Imposter, launched himself off of his opponent's desk and slammed the move into Charmander with a special boost of power from Overgrow. The opponent finally let go of Serena's leg and fainted.

The trainer let out a breath. "Ah. Great job, Chespin. Come on back."

She sprayed a Potion on him, and he returned. "Good fight, Sycamore."

Her opponent stepped back. "Hey, that's 'Professor' to you," he joked, but he was smiling modestly. "Say, you're quite something. Do you-" he took out the Balls of the three Pokémon he had just battled with. "Would you want to take one of these? It seems at least one of them has taken a bit of a liking to you."

Serena laughed, as they all knew it was true. "Do you really mean it?"

"Of course!"

"Okay... who should I pick, then..?"

Charmander's Poké Ball was wiggling in his trainer's hand.

"Well... guess it'll have to be... Bulba-! Just kidding. You can come on out, Charmander."

The small Fire-Type did. Sycamore grinned and replaced the other two. "Now, Serena. Look at what Charmander's holding, would you?"

She bent down, and the kids all gathered around to see. The rock in its hand almost glowed black and blue.

"That there's a Mega Stone," Sycamore explained. "We don't know much about them, but that they allow certain species of Pokémon to become even more powerful. The reason I called you all here is because I want you to find out more about this strange phenomenon. It's called Mega Evolution."

Trevor recoiled. "Wait, what about the Pokédex? I thought that was what you wanted us to do?"

Sycamore put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "If that's what you want to make of your adventure, please do it," he insisted. "That's why I have four of you here to help me out."

Four? Imposter soon realized it was not included in Sycamore's count. No one appeared to have noticed, except for Shauna, who had looked backwards to it in confusion.

"Now, go on, children! Have an adventure, meet lots of Pokémon, find out what it is you want to do, and then do it! Just remember to keep old Sycamore in your thoughts, okay?"

The human children were smiling in anticipation, but Imposter and Froakie were left looking suspiciously at each other.

"Thanks for the Pokémon," Serena called behind her shoulder as she left the lab with Shauna, Trevor, and Tierno.

"Thanks for the battle," Sycamore returned.

Content with this goodbye, Imposter turned to leave with its friends. "Wait there, young man," Sycamore warned, turning it back. Imposter's eyes were sharp in alarm. Froakie looked upwards to his former trainer, trepidation written on his face.

Sycamore looked Imposter up and down. "Le fantastique... I cannot believe it. You are so - similar. It is truly marvelous, how have I not seen it before?"

Imposter blinked. It was caught. It knew it. That was the end. It was just about ready to Transform back in defeat when Sycamore continued: "And to think Calem never even told me he had a twin brother."

Oh. So there was a misunderstanding. "Don't you worry. Your mother wrote me before, telling me all about how you'd always wanted to go on an adventure, but were too shy to start at the same time as Calem."

Imposter opened its mouth to object, but Sycamore raised a finger and interrupted. "She told me about the... incident with the Fletchinder, too. I do feel very sorry for you. It sounded traumatizing. If it were me, I wouldn't even leave my apartment, much less speak!"

Incident? Fletchinder? Trauma? Its... mother? Had Grace really made up an entire story about why her second "son" was unable to speak?

Its heart went out to her now as it realized how much she cared for its one crazy dream. As it sat there pensively reflecting on this, Sycamore stood up straight.

"So in acknowledgement of that, I would like you to consider that Froakie and that Pokédex a couple of gifts. I'm not asking you to do anything special for me; completing the Pokédex, or researching Mega Evolution. It would please me enough just to see someone as - conflicted - as you are out and enjoying yourself. Okay? So use what I've given you as much as you'd like, but no pressure to get back to me on any of it. Of course, I'll still be checking that 'Dex of yours, just in case, but that Trevor fella is already on it. Don't worry about letting anyone down."

All Imposter could do is stand in silence. This could not actually be happening - could it? It was not simply too good to be true?

"Now, downstairs, my boy. Your friends are waiting."

"So do you think I'm off the hook, then?"

Imposter looked up at Froakie. Now that it finally had a minute of privacy in the elevator, it was entirely ready to take a break from being Transformed so long. It had just reverted back into its normal purple Ditto form.

"...What do you mean?"

"I mean, is it okay for them to know - that I'm released? If you're allowed to be mute and do whatever you want with me and the Pokédex, are you allowed to just hang onto a released little froggy like moi?"

"I-I don't know. Anyway, it's probably just easier to let them think I'm still your trainer, as long as you're going to be travelling with me. After that, it's whatever you want, I guess."

Imposter still did not know Froakie that well, and on top of the responsibility of acting as a human trainer, there was no way it could commit to covering for Froakie whenever he needed it to. They would have to figure that out later.

The Ditto reached around in its bag, and pulled out a big, plump Sitrus Berry. Froakie gawked, just as it expected. "Where'dya get that?"

"Found it."

"On the ground?"

"No, out of your ear."

Froakie's hands went to his hips. "Alright, wise guy. Am I getting any?"

"I dunno. They're always saying never to feed the wild Pokémon, so..."

He gasped. "Aw, come on..!"

"Give me a break, okay?" It tried to be polite through a mouthful of berry. "I can only stay Transformed for so long, and who knows when I'll have the chance to relax again? Humans don't eat berries they find on the ground, either. If you really want one..."

It tossed Froakie an Oran, and he did not hesitate to start digging in - not even to thank the one that gave it to him.

Imposter rolled its eyes. Wild Pokémon.

The elevator slowed to a stop, and Imposter stuffed down the rest of its meal. "Shoot. Gotta do this quickly."

Froakie saw this and panicked. His hand darted into its bag, withdrawing Imposter's reference. "Here! Trainer Card! Do it now."

Oh, okay, then. By the time the elevator dinged open, Imposter was Transformed enough that the rest of the process looked just like it was shifting its weight.

When it reached the lobby, its human companions had already left the building, leaving enough time for Imposter to look down to Froakie. "Did you just help me?"

Froakie stammered. "Uh - well, I can't have people seeing a Froakie without a trainer. In Sycamore's building? They'd eat me up."

Imposter 'hm'-ed. It stepped out of the elevator to find itself confronted by yet another human.

"Calem! Wow, long time no see. How are you today?"

What? Imposter saw Froakie eyeing it, as if waiting to see how it would handle the situation. Sweat appeared on its face, a new and, blunty, uncomfortable sensation.

"Is something wrong? Normally you're a lot more - talkative."

Imposter blinked, then nodded. It was sure Calem usually was much more talkative than this.

"-Oh." The white-clad person looked around the room, then gestured outside. "Do you want to talk about it? Somewhere else, perhaps?"

It shook its head vigorously. It wanted this confrontation to end.

"Anyway, there's someone I want you to meet. Come with me to the café."

Imposter's face contorted into confusion. The café. There were fifty cafés in this city.

"Don't be silly, boy. You know which one - the one I always go to."

Imposter nodded slowly, only to feel like it was participating in the conversation.

"I'll see you there."

Imposter and Froakie shared a look as the human walked away. Imposter did not entirely know, yet, what it wanted as a human, but it did know interfering in Calem's life was not a part of the plan.

"Uh... Ditto, finally. There you are," Serena called. "Here he is. Let's go in. There's this guy in here who says he knows something about Mega Evolution."

Imposter nodded; might as well. Inside two adult humans were sitting at a table across from each other: one, a tall male with equally tall red hair, and the other, the person it met in Sycamore's lab earlier.

"And you wouldn't believe whom I saw again today..." the latter was saying. "Who but that Calem. Ugh, I asked him to come here to meet you, but it seems he stood me up again."

"Um, hullo," Serena interrupted. "I found my friend. What is it you wanted to tell us about-"

"You! You know that boy? Calem, you're late as usual. I've been wanting to introduce you to my acquaintance here."

Shauna coughed. "Um, with all due respect, miss, his name isn't Caleb. His name is Imposter."

"Y-Yeah, or at least that's what he goes by," Serena agreed. "He lives right next to me. You're probably thinking of someone else."

The woman (apparently she was female, according to Shauna's use of 'miss') inspected Imposter. "Oh. Well, gee, I-I'm sorry. You look just like someone I've seen, from time to time. Do you have a brother?"

It nodded in spite of itself. That would be its story, then. "In that case, sorry for the confusion. Anyway, you five wanted to know about Mega Evolution, right?"

'Yes'-es and 'sure thing'-s and 'uh-huh'-s and even a 'Ditto' met her offer. "Well, that isn't exactly my forte."

She looked at the man across from her. "That's where I come in, then," he decided, standing up. "I am Lysandre. Pleasure to meet all of you."

He shook each of their hands, one by one, moving down the line from Tierno to Imposter. He held onto the last for longer than Imposter would have liked; it did not know whether or not anyone else noticed, but upon touching its hand, Lysandre's face seemed to harden. The shake was firm, and by the time he pulled away, Imposter's hand was hurting.

"It is true that I am capable of Mega-Evolving my Pokémon," he revealed. "If any of you would like to battle me, I would be glad to demonstrate."

All five recoiled. Battle an adult? Sycamore was one thing - he was friendly and unintimidating. But this man was the size of two Imposters - nay, two Calems - and was going to use the special new trick they just learned about today! Unsurprisingly, no one stepped up.

"Good," he decided, after a second. "It pleases me to know none of you are foolish enough to battle in such a fine place. It would destroy the furnishings, after all." He motioned to the woman sitting down at the table. "It is her favorite café in the whole city, and believe me, she has fine taste."

She smiled pensively. "While you are correct, I'm convinced that they're simply looking out for their Pokémon. Let's not battle for now. If you want to learn about Mega Evolution, you should head for Shalour City."

Then she stood up. "Now, if you'll excuse me, it seems I have some unfinished business to attend to. I am a trainer as well, you know, and just as busy as the next."

She stood and left. Imposter watched Lysandre's eyes, transfixed on the young woman. Suddenly those eyes were on Imposter.

"You. I can tell you know a thing or two about the beauty in this world... We will battle someday. I will be sure of it."

With that, Lysandre strided off.

A beat passed. "That was weird," Shauna observed. A round of nods came from the others.

"So, who even was that person?"

"Corn chip haircut or old lady haircut?"

"Uh, th-the second one."

Froakie furrowed his brow. "Dun' really know. She would hang out with Sycamore all the time, but never when I was around. He'd talk real nice about her, all staring-wistfully-at-the-horizon-like. But I never paid attention to what he said."

Imposter shook its head. "Strange that no one thought to introduce me, though. Let's just keep going."

Froakie shrugged. "Quicker we leave Lumiose, the better."

The two stepped through the gate to Route Five, where once again, the four humans were awaiting them; this time, however, there was another female speaking with them. Two humanoid Pokémon accompanied her.

Imposter walked up silently, and none of them seemed to notice. "That's right, I am. Korrina, by the way. If you want to challenge me, Shalour isn't all that far away. It's a little up past Cyllage City... but you'll need some stronger Pokémon if you plan on winning."

She gave a laugh. "Imposter." Shauna poked it. "This is the Gym Leader of Shalour City. Where we need to go. Mega Evolution and all that?"

Imposter nodded in recognition. It saw Serena chuckling at the jab, but the Leader's face hardened. "You think I'm joking? We can battle right now, if you want a taste."

"Oh... I think I'll pass," Serena decided. She motioned to the rest of the group. "Wouldn't be fair to the rest of these guys, you know?"

Korrina did not laugh. "Alright, well, I best be on my way. These Lucario won't sit still for more'n five minutes, and myself no more than four! Good luck in your challenge."

With that, she skated away, her two Pokémon following.

"Well," Serena began, "Now we know how to get there. We just have to keep trekking."

The others agreed, and were on their way.

It was the first time Imposter had truly travelled alongside them, rather than always falling behind, and it was surprisingly pleasant. It got to hear Serena's big dreams of her Gym challenge, and Trevor's raving about the Pokédex ("Can you believe I saw a wild Masquerain?"). Shauna walked close to the Ditto the whole time. Tierno began beatboxing at some point, and Serena halfheartedly added some lyrics; before long the whole group was engaged in a hearty travel song.

"...And, Imposter!"

One could almost hear the record scratching. Imposter was so taken aback by the sudden cue that it had stopped walking, its legs almost literally turning into mush. It straightened them out again, of course, but that could not stop the problem of being unable to vocalize.

"Um, it's - your turn. You can go," Shauna offered. Imposter blinked, clutching the strap on its bag. Everyone was looking at it again. Tierno dropped the beat just to stare, to see what would happen.

They all just stood there for a few seconds. Serena ended up saving it by deciding, "Hey, it's okay if you don't want to join. Improvising isn't for everyone."

"Yeah," Trevor was the first to agree.

Shauna pouted, as she was the one that cued it. "Aw, I wanted to see what he would come up with. He hardly ever says anything, don't you want to make him feel included?"

Imposter shrugged. It was fine the way it was, and its face showed it.

"...I'm sure if he could have said anything, he would have," Serena guessed. "Let's just - let's get to Camphrier Town."

"Yeah, I agree."

Imposter nodded. "Ditto."

Imposter Fact of the Day: Imposter's alleged 'trauma' involves Fletchinder because that evolutionary line is one of my least favorite in the game. For so many reasons.

Ah, I love the nickname 'Pasta. X3

Anyway, take note of Serena's being from Hoenn, as it's the start of another altered-character-AU thing. This isn't animé Serena. Of course, I won't tell you every time when there's an important hint - what's the fun in that? - but this'd be a good way to get you aware of what to look for. Happy searching!