The rocks felt wonderful underneath Imposter's stony feet.

It would never go so far as to think it was tired of being a human, but it was always nice to experiment with becoming other things too. And, because it now found itself faced with crossing a rocky path, the Rhyhorn nearby was the perfect subject to try out. It had to carry its bag in its mouth, but other than that, it looked just like any wild Rhyhorn. It felt like one too.

Rhyhorn was a slow creature, it soon learned, but as one, it was entirely fine with that. It had been in no rush to do anything for the past day or so. Was it even a day? A week? It did not know, nor did it care. All it understood was that it was now light outside, and the last time it had seen either the children or Froakie, it was dark. It had just been mindlessly wandering forwards since then, trying to avoid as much human interaction as possible. Route Seven was behind it, as was the Connecting Cave. Ambrette Town offered little to Imposter, but it cared enough to give its team a rest at the Pokémon Center. Then onto Route Nine. It was surreal, and Imposter remembered all that time the way one would a dream.

It continued to battle, of course. Nothing, it was convinced, could shake its love for that. But it seemed that even its Ditto companions failed to notice something was wrong, save Limber, who only looked at it strangely and stopped asking after only one denial.

Humans. A cave ahead. It tried entering as a Rhyhorn, but was stopped by a Ranger who said something about "keeping wild Pokémon in their natural habitats." Imposter was too indifferent to question why a cave would not be the natural habitat for a Rhyhorn, so it turned around, found a hidden piece of flat land, un-Transformed and napped there for a few hours, and turned back into a human for a proper go at the cave.

There were wild Pokémon. It battled them. Some rocks shone in translucent colors - greens and blues and reds. Running its hands along them caused bits to crumble off, their dust collecting on its fingers. It pushed forwards until it reached a clearing.

A brightly-colored and aggressive-looking trainer stopped it for a battle. It took him down easily and thought little of it, until another - this one slightly different - stopped it again.

It moved around an Oran Berry in its mouth, sucking away the juice until it became a tart, dry sack of fruit skin. It swallowed, sprayed some potions on its team members, and kept walking.

"Hey, who do you think you are, threatening people like that?"

Imposter heard voices; that one was female, and the next, the opposite.

"We're Team Flare. And we don't get messed with by little kids, so get out or we'll have to battle you."

"Both at the same time? Fine, but that's pretty unfair!"

"Does it look like we care?" This third voice was female, too. "Let's see that Pokémon you got there, heh."

"Yeah," the male agreed. "It's pretty tiny. Whatcha gonna do with that small a Water-Type? Spit on us?"

Imposter bumbled along until it turned the corner to see who was speaking. "Hey, I'll have you know I can spit really strong!" Froakie's voice shouted as he shook a tiny fist towards the red-suited duo. "What am I even saying?"

Froakie... that's right, it knew a Froakie.

It sprinted up to the three humans. Serena was in trouble, it realized: it sent out a Ditto.

All three humans stood shocked at its sudden appearance, while Froakie looked appalled. "You - you're back."

"Uh... Ditto," Serena interrupted. "I mean, Imposter - you want to fight with me?"

Even if it did not, it was too late; for the grunts ahead of them had already sent out their battlers, and Froakie had hopped down into the fray.

He looked up at it. "We'll finish this conversation later."

Serena poked it. "Hey, you don't mind..." She pointed to Froakie.

Imposter looked back and forth between the Water-Type and her, nodded, and commanded its Ditto to use Brick Break on the Scraggy into which it had already Transformed.

"Great, and Froakie, use Bubble!" Serena added.

Froakie cut in front of Ditto's attack, shooting out the water first before Ditto could land the supereffective hit. Once the Brick Break came down, however, the opposing Scraggy fainted quickly.

"What"-s came from both his trainer and the Croagunk battling alongside him. Froakie pointed and laughed, receiving a Faint Attack for his taunting.

He gasped. "Egad, you took the wind outta me!" Then, without waiting for orders from Serena, sent another Bubble the Croagunk's way.

Ditto was quick to finish the opponent off with another Brick Break, and the defeated grunts were sent running.

Serena adjusted her hat so that it rested neatly above her ponytail. "Ugh, I've battled some more of those Team Flare guys before. Said they were looking for fossils?"

She exhaled. "Anyway, thanks for coming back. You-you can take your Froakie again, too."

"Ain't its Froakie..." the Water-Type muttered. "Ain't anyone's Froakie..."

Imposter just grinned and nodded. "Come on. I've already gotten what I needed from here. The next stop should be back to Ambrette Town to restore this Sail Fossil, then on towards Shalour to hit up Korrina on that battle I owe her."

She started walking, and Imposter caught up. "How was Viola, by the way? I never asked. Guess because it was so easy for me."

Imposter knew it was not a complete lie to agree, so it did. "Ditto."

Serena chuckled. "Okay, then. Good luck with Grant, but he was a piece of cake, too. Shouldn't be a problem for you."

They walked in silence the rest of the way to Ambrette Town. Her occasional attempts at conversation were quickly shot down every time by its muteness, but it did not mind. It was back with a human and Froakie, and accepted by both. That was what Imposter cared about now.

It was raining in Cyllage City, so Imposter opted to stay in the Pokémon Center whilst riding out the storm. It found a private room in the back, curtain and all, as Froakie had asked to please speak with it. Always ready to take a break as Ditto, it agreed.

"So what's up?"

Froakie looked at it flatly. "No, what's up with you. Scared a' some humans, or what? Why'dya run away?"

"Um..." It did not really itself know. Maybe it was scared of some humans. Maybe what. It did not know. "Yeah, I guess." It shrugged.

Froakie inhaled. "They missed you, you know."

Imposter smiled fondly. "Well, that's sweet."

"Not for them. You know how bad you messed that one up?" he retorted. Imposter made a face. "I made a whole 'Nobody likes you' song-" he started giggling deliriously. "Anyhows, I ain't one to hold a grudge. Good to have ya back."

The Ditto smiled.

"But still," Froakie reminded it, "You better watch your stunts."

"Heheh."

A pause, then Imposter noted: "Hey, good battling back there, by the way."

Froakie grinned. "Yeah, wasn't it?"

The Cyllage City Hotel was happy to admit Imposter to a room for the night. It would have rathered to keep in its Poké Ball, nestled in its bag hidden somewhere, but Froakie convinced it that it should have a place to be if any humans came looking. Besides, he argued, where would he keep to (now that he was a 'released little froggy') and what would happen if a thief came across the bag, unguarded and full of Pokémon?

So there Imposter was, but the Froakie was still unable to convince it to sleep outside the Ball. The room was locked, it argued. If someone knocked, it would come out and Transform again before opening the door.

It awoke the next day more dizzy than it had ever remembered being. Vaguely, the sounds of a lead marble rolling around a track came from outside the Ball. It hardly felt itself spinning, but with the semiconsciousness it had, it saw the faintest stripe of black moving down, and appearing again at the top of its vision, and coming back down, and repeating this motion...

Eventually Imposter realized that it found this annoying.

Well, there was one way to fix that, and of course that was to leave the Ball. When it did, it opened its eyes to see Froakie cringing in worry.

"Oh, no! I broke it! Nonono, what will I do?"

"...Froakie?"

"Gosh, I was just batting it around... It's not like I was tossing it or anything..."

"Ahem."

"And it just splits in half-" he grabbed the Ball, and knocked on it as one would a door - "'Pasta, you in there? I didn't mean it, I swear to ya-"

"Froakie."

"Yes?" The Water-Type looked up and recoiled. "Weh!" He hopped backwards, something Imposter did not think was possible. "Um, uh, hi. Didn't - see ya there."

Imposter was not even mad. It reached for the red and white contraption. "Were you playing with my Ball?"

"No." Froakie looked like a child that knew he was in trouble. "...Yes."

Imposter shook its top section (as it lacked a head) and rolled the Ball into its bag. While in there, it shuffled around for its Trainer Card. "Come on. There's a Gym in this city, and I'm feeling a challenge today."

Rock walls. It had to be rock walls.

This was only Imposter's second Gym challenge, it remembered. Balancing on a spiderweb was one thing - a thing which it felt particularly accomplished doing. But what these humans expected of it required balance, control, grip, strength... The list of things Imposter lacked went on.

It gulped. "What, can't do it?" Froakie guessed. "Don't tell me you're chickening out right here and now. I really thought you'd get farther than this... What a disappointment..." He turned and hopped away.

"Froakie, no; I'm going to figure something out. Get back here."

It put a hand to its chin, a gesture it sometimes saw humans do when deep in thought. It scanned the room; "Kind of wish there was a Mankey around here somewhere."

"Why don't you look in here?" Froakie suggested, pulling out the Ditto's Pokédex. "Should be something useful there."

The Pokédex... That's right. "Froakie, I think you might be a genius."

It opened up the machine, waiting for its three-dimensional interface to load. Scrolling through, it was disappointed to find that it had not yet registered Mankey, but it did find some things that would be interesting to try out on its spare time. Regardless, there were a few primates registered, and while they did not guarantee the climbing prowess that a Mankey did, they looked to provide the closest thing to it.

"Alright. Cover for me?"

"You got it, boss," Froakie agreed with a mocking salute. Imposter rolled its eyes and hid behind a bench they found overlooking the Gym's indoor waterfall.

It stuffed its Pokédex into its bag, which was much heavier now, and walked out the spitting image of a Pansage. "What do you think?"

Froakie raised its brow. "Wow. It worked."

Imposter grinned. "Might as well begin."

The wall seemed much taller to Imposter now, but curling and uncurling its hands gave it confidence that this form would do just fine. Inhaling, it swung itself up and grabbed hold of a piece of wall.

Yes, this was going to be easy.

At the top of the first wall, it looked down to the Froakie, his mouth agape. "Hey, don't follow me or anything."

One more landing, and Grant would be there, Imposter knew. This was the last rock wall in sight, anyway. It also knew it would have to climb this one as Calem.

So it turned towards the wall (Froakie was watching) and shifted. Its bag, noticeably easier to carry, was now slipped onto its shoulder. It was ready.

If only it could get up this wall.

Four or five times it tried, but fell down shortly and was too shocked by the landing that it kept shifting back. "Need some help there?" Froakie offered, but Imposter saw through the question.

"How could you help me?"

"Eh, I wasn't going to. Just asking if you needed it."

"Hm."

It grabbed a couple of the colored ledges again, wondering how it had been so easy to scale them as a Pansage. It got no more than five feet off the ground when it fell on its back again.

"Ow..."

Its form wobbled a bit, and it would have succumbed to the change if not for Grant's head appearing from the top.

"Hark! Are you a challenger?"

Imposter nodded.

"Do you - need some help?"

It nodded again.

"Well, technically I'm not allowed to provide any, but there's been a lot of racket coming from over there. And I don't want you getting hurt; it's a lot of paperwork, and besides, then you'd be hurt."

Imposter bit its lip, not understanding. "Anyway, if you really need it, I could suddenly have a bout of clumsiness and drop a rope down there, or something."

The Ditto held up a finger. "One... one end? Sure, I guess, but what are you doing with one end of a rope?"

Imposter shrugged as Grant tossed it down. "Whoops."

The Ditto grabbed hold of its end and placed a foot on the wall. It tugged a bit on the rope to make it taut, and the other end came down.

"So you did want the whole thing. No need to limit yourself, you know. Now here, toss me up an end and I'll secure it to one of these rocks."

Imposter almost questioned his logic, but was too focused on getting up there. It reared back and somehow tossed the rope up on the first try.

It bobbed in Imposter's hands as Grant tied it up. "Now give it a shot," he suggested.

"Eh, what kind of help is that," Froakie complained, although it was not his place to. Imposter was more grateful.

Slowly this time, the Pokémon made its way up to Grant's level, its partner following behind. "There you are," the Gym Leader said. "Say, you look a lot better up close than from all the way down there. Your team all ready? I say we get this show on the road."

"Ditto."

Grant quirked an eyebrow. "So he does talk! Anyway, well, go, Amaura!"

You are challenged by Leader Grant!

He sent out Amaura, and Imposter's Ditto Transformed.

Thunder Wave. The Amaura knew Thunder Wave, Ditto was telling it.

That paralyzes Pokémon, Imposter once learned in a skirmish against a Pikachu.

It had a Pokémon that could not get paralyzed.

It could make the Gym Leader waste a move.

It withdrew Ditto. "Go, Limber!"

"Another Ditto," Grant observed, cracking his neck. "Amaura, Rock Tomb."

In addition to getting hurt, the surprise of the hit slowed poor Limber.

"Imposter, what? Is this a Gym fight?" Limber asked, its voice shaking. "You know I'm not good enough at Transforming to do this."

"Limber, use Transform."

Limber practically sighed before acquiescing to do so. Before it was done, however, Amaura shot an Aurora Beam out.

The Ditto gained footing, now as the quadrupedal Ice-Type. "Okay, now what?"

"Paralyze it."

Amaura Rock Tomb-ed again, and Limber was nearly finished, while Grant's Pokémon had yet to be touched. Limber swiftly put an end to that by using Thunder Wave. Now it would be faster.

"Good, now Take Down."

Without hesitation, Limber ran at the Amaura with all the force it had. It slammed into her, but was the one that looked more surprised: "Is that an Ice-Type move?"

"Refrigerate," explained the opposing Pokémon, who had kept quiet until now. She blowed some air out from inside her, which Imposter soon realized was preparation for another Aurora Beam.

"No, Limber-" Imposter cried, seeing its friend in trouble. "Avoid it!"

But Limber could not, and so it went down. "I'm sorry," it breathed before its trainer called it back.

Imposter bit its tongue again. The Amaura took Limber, making its pessimistic friend feel even less confident in its battling abilities. Frustrated was a word Imposter had picked up recently, and very much was feeling now.

It sent out another. "Ditto, Aurora Beam it."

"Amaura, Rock Tomb!"

Ditto went first, shaking the opponent. It took the counterattack poorly, but Imposter felt fine.

Ditto used Rock Tomb!
Amaura used Thunder Wave!
Ditto is paralyzed! It may be unable to move!

Imposter's tongue was about to burst from chewing so hard.

"Ditto, Rock Tomb again."

"Same for you, Amaura."

Both battlers were now considerably whittled down, and Imposter did not want to face Grant's next one in this condition. It switched in another Ditto, which took the next Rock Tomb well.

It delivered one last hit, and Amaura went down.

The next was Tyrunt, another Pokémon Imposter had never seen before. But it was not deterred. It commanded a Take Down.

Tyrunt looked like it was hurt. Taking Imposter by surprise, he opened his large maw and shouted: "Hey, what gives, Amaura? Did you get traded away? Why're you attacking me?"

Imposter was about to correct him when Ditto interrupted. "Hun, you know exactly why."

"W-What?"

Grant inserted his input: "Tyrunt, Rock Tomb."

Hesitantly, Tyrunt did, and Ditto shook it off. "Amaura... don't you... like me anymore?"

Imposter was able to see that the opposing Pokémon was flustered, just not why. Cautiously, it kept on: "Use Thunder Wave."

Tyrunt gulped. Ditto executed the move expertly, keeping up its shtick well enough that the opponent did not even move. "Now Aurora Beam."

"Why are you doing this to me..."

But Imposter liked how much damage the move did, and after Ditto evaded a Bite, it commanded it to go in for the win.

"Ditto, use Aurora Beam again."

Tyrunt reacted. "Ditto!?"

But it was too late to explain, because immediately after the secret was blown, the finishing move had hit and Tyrunt had fainted.

You defeated Leader Grant!

Grant smirked while the trainers called back their Pokémon. "Hey, good job, challenger. Here - for your efforts."

Imposter received the Cliff Badge from Grant!

Wow, Imposter realized - it now had two badges. Both of them were pinned in the velvet case in its Trainer Card, ready to show off whenever it felt so inclined.

It smiled in gratitude, then turned to climb, somehow, back down the wall. "Yo," the leader called, "There's a ramp down this way, if you feel like those rocks'll be giving you more trouble."

It gladly chose the ramps.

~End of Part Two~

Imposter Fact of the Day: Couldn't find a good place to put it in the story, so I'll say it here: Imposter was caught in a Premier Ball, my personal favorite. I just really like the color distribution.

Team Flare, yesss. Most of the best chapters in this story involve them, so hold onto your 'Dexes, because things are going to start heating up real soon.