"No?"

Lysandre's face was unexpectedly hard upon receiving Imposter's answer. Surprised by this reaction, the Ditto took a cautious step backwards. "No? Why would you ever choose not to accept this offer, when you outright agreed to it?" Despite his disappointment, his voice was soft. "I said I would pay you. Does that not matter?"

Froakie tugged at its jeans. "Hey, what the heck are you doing? Th-This could put us on our feet again! Do you know how much two nights in the hotel cost? Not to mention all the restores, and a few things you need to pay Shauna back for-"

"Not right now," Imposter interrupted with a sigh. "I have to think about some things. Plus-" it gestured in the direction of the Gym - "I think we aren't quite done with Anistar City, are we?"

Froakie looked incredulous, but did not continue arguing, so that was Imposter's decision. To make its point clear to Lysandre, it more obviously pointed at the Gym.

Lysandre's eyes widened. "You... You want to stay here," he interpreted. "You're conforming to your own agenda, no matter what I ask of you?"

Yes, that was pretty much the case. It nodded, in spite of Froakie.

Lysandre's mouth became linear. "I see. I was wrong about you, Imposter. I was hoping you were doing all this for a better reason, but it seems you're just helpless and delusional."

Did he know that Imposter would not understand the meaning of that word? It was confused. Did it just make another human angry?

"What a bother," Lysandre continued. "Well, there is another way of paying you that will do just fine for my purposes. Goodbye."

Just like Serena had not a half hour ago, Lysandre turned and left, leaving Imposter more confused with each passing second.

Eventually, Imposter stepped into the Gym.

That was, it thought it was the Gym. It had the Pokémon League logo out in the front. But once it was inside, the room seemed to be part of a house. Perhaps Mr. Clyde's, as he was the only one inside.

As always, it brushed off his advice and started exploring. There was something to be done in here, apparently.

It only took about another half hour before it stumbled into the exact middle of the room, and everything completely shattered.

It spun around, flabbergasted at the change in scenery. Froakie next to it recoiled; "Whoooah, I'm tripping!"

As if his work was done, Clyde marched out of the door, shutting it tightly behind him.

The room had opened up into an area significantly larger than it was before; it looked like a different dimension. The floor curved around in layers of a globe, and the picture of a night sky complete with constellations resembling Pokémon surrounded it on all sides. Maybe it was tripping.

Then it noticed how to get around in this Gym. Teleporters again. This could be hard. The Gym Leader could be sighted this time.

Imposter quickly learned that not only was this true, but that she also had access to seeing the future. For before it was able to even try the teleporter, a woman exuding great majesty had appeared from it, wearing a giant purple cape matching the starry background to the Gym.

"I'm Olympia," she introduced. "You wish to challenge my Gym. I see your future."

Imposter took a frightened step back. Froakie took a curious step forward.

"The teleporters. You will have trouble with them. So I meet you here." She tossed some purple hair back. "It is only fair. In the spirit of fairness, however, I must..."

She lifted off the ground, something Imposter had seen certain Pokémon do, but never a human. "...Use the team of Pokémon normally reserved for those with seven badges."

Seven? But Imposter had six. How was that fair? Well, it supposed, she had removed the need for it to progress through the Gym. Just like Valerie's furisode girl had, albeit unknowingly. And just like Valerie, Olympia was going to place a handicap on the battle. It glanced to Froakie, looking for confirmation that he was sharing this thought process.

"At this moment, I know the outcome of this battle. You'll see soon enough."

You are challenged by Leader Olympia!

As always, Imposter was ready for the battle, but as always, it did not know what was in store for it. Olympia sent out a Pokémon she called Sigilyph; the Pokédex showed that it had met one before, but it failed to remember the occasion.

Nevertheless, it sent out a Ditto, and the battle started.

This opponent was faster; Sigilyph did not attack, but the psychic aura surrounding her showed the Calm Mind setup she was executing. Imposter would not hesitate, however. It commanded Ditto to throw an Air Slash.

The move did a little to throw off Sigilyph, but the Pokémon hardly stirred. "Now, my Sigilyph," began Olympia, "Air Slash. Put the opponent's futile moves to shame."

Imposter was baffled at the difference in power between this one and its friend's. "Ditto," it called, "Can you - are you okay?"

Ditto shook. "Fine..." it mumbled. "Gym Leader. Strong. Not something I wasn't expecting..."

"In that case, try a Sky Attack!"

Of course, Imposter did not know how the move Sky Attack worked, and its heart jumped when it saw how long it was taking Ditto to charge the move.

"Hm... It does not know what it is doing. Psychic," Olympia commanded. Ditto flew backwards upon taking the attack, but continued charging. "It is nearly done."

Finally, Ditto rebounded and launched forwards in the Sky Attack. This was the first time Sigilyph looked like it was taking damage, and the Ditto relaxed a little.

"Good. C'mon, bud... One more Sky Attack should do it," Imposter decided. "Hang in there for long enough, please!"

Olympia chuckled as Ditto began charging again. "You silly trainer," she started. "Sigilyph... Show them your own. Sky Attack, right now."

Sigilyph was somehow able to release the move immediately after her trainer's command. "Power Herb," she taunted, a second before knocking Ditto to the ground.

Imposter gritted its teeth. "F-Fine," it stuttered. "Ditto, come back."

It sent another, nullifying the advantage Sigilyph had from the Calm Mind she previously used. Ditto took a Psychic, then gave an Air Slash, and Sigilyph fainted.

Olympia sent out a Slowking. Ditto was faster, unsurprisingly; it prepared a Sky Attack (Imposter was becoming more fond of the move as the battle went on), but was unable to finish due to being knocked out by an incoming Ice Beam.

The third Ditto was also the third to last, and this time Imposter decided this would be Limber. After all, Slowking was slow and bulky enough for it to Transform and take any hit relatively well.

"You're good, Limber," it insisted before the battler could object. "Transform."

Surely, it did, and Slowking wound up for another move. As Imposter predicted, Limber took the Power Gem with astonishing expertise.

Then Slowking released another, and Limber began panting. Worried for it, Imposter did too.

"Use-Use Psychic," it ordered. Slowking was hardly shaken. Imposter's tongue snaked its way between its jaws and it bit down.

"Again, Psychic!"

Slowking blinked, then released another Power Gem.

Limber fainted!

Imposter was too frustrated to give its normal pep talk after such a loss, so it raised Limber's Ball and called it back before any words could be exchanged.

Olympia looked deep in thought. "I must commend you. Despite currently losing, you're a good trainer."

Was this just a taunt, or did the Gym Leader truly have judgement good enough to say this with the limited battling she had seen it do? Or were all Leaders obligated to treat their challengers with this respect, regardless of whether they earned it? Korrina did not. It remembered that much from its experience in Shalour.

Imposter sighed, fourth Ditto out. "Psychic," it commanded. "Psychic and don't stop."

Ditto seemed to be trying as hard as it could, but it went down before Slowking started to look tired. Last one. Imposter gave the same order, and Olympia gave Slowking a Hyper Potion. This one went down the same way.

The Gym Leader's feet finally touched down. "I win, although... that does not surprise me much," she said, gently. "Good try; come back soon."

Imposter breathed forcefully from its nose. It returned Ditto to its Ball and walked away without saying a word.

Of course, Imposter did come back. What else was it to do? Besides, this was the reason it had decided to stay in Anistar City and not to help Lysandre; if it gave up this quickly, it would feel as though it was cheating him.

Olympia's words after each battle stayed in its mind, serving as motivation to keep trying despite all the losses. In Shalour, it was Serena dragging it along and keeping it going; now, it had to find that drive in the cryptic words of the Leader.

"Know that I can see every move that you will use. Use this, and adapt."

"You keep trying, but... it is all for naught if you do not learn and grow."

"Are you so desperate to defeat me that you don't take time to prepare?"

"A good battler is resourceful enough to win, despite troubles."

"Ditto is such a versatile Pokémon. Perhaps too much so..."

It was not until the next day that something disturbed this pattern of losses; this was not a win, but instead, a phone call.

More accurately, a ringing on the Holo Caster. Olympia was poised to throw her Sigilyph's Ball, starting the next battle, when they were interrupted.

"You will indeed find... this battle is the very-" Then each of their devices chirped. "-Wait, hold on a sec."

Olympia reached into a pocket in her cape and withdrew hers, while Imposter felt its own buzzing simultaneously. Curiosity taking it over, it opened up the message.

The two were met with the same image: that of Lysandre, the man known as a friend to Imposter and to most of the rest of the Kalos region.

"Greetings," the hologram began, his face serious and determined.

Froakie hopped onto Imposter's shoulder, looking excited. "Hey, it's Lyz again. Greetings to you, too!"

Lysandre took a breath, and looked down briefly in thought. "This is a message from Team Flare to the entire Kalos region," he continued, and Imposter's face distorted into confusion. "We are going to use the ultimate weapon from three thousand years ago and rid Kalos of the selfish humans plaguing it. To the heroes who wish to stop us, think about what you are protecting. An awful world where nothing is shared and no one is happy?" He shook his head. "To the dear friend and professor who has helped to make this possible, I give my thanks for having known you. To the Pokémon whom I've been following thus far, I want you to know you had the chance to stop this. You were the last hope I've had that humanity was good enough for saving. But you weren't who I thought you were."

Through the hologram, Imposter could see Olympia's eyes flicker to its own. No words could be exchanged, however, before Lysandre's last message.

"To everyone else, everyone outside of Team Flare. I deeply apologize, but this is adieu to you all."

The hologram cut off after that.

Stunned, Imposter stood still for a minute, its mouth slightly unhinged.

Olympia composed herself quickly. "This is... unforeseen," she admitted calmly. "I will defend Anistar. You go: stop Team Flare!"

It had to go? If Team Flare was involved, it wanted to make sure everything was okay. It spun around. The door signalling the exit to the Gym was right there behind it. It sprinted out and into the hot sun, its movements stressed. How would it continue from here?

Froakie's panicking ("Oh gosh oh gosh oh my flabsolutely flying goodness 'Pasta what are we - oh gosh!") was certainly not helping the mood, but it might have helped with something else.

"Wait, what was that?" Imposter hurriedly asked its friend.

"Oh gosh?"

"After that."

"Oh goodness?"

"No. What did you say before-"

"Oh gosh again?"

Imposter stomped. "No, what kind of goodness. What's your goodness doing?"

"What kind of question is that?"

"Never mind! We're flying out of here!"

It did not wait to find a Flying-Type, remembering at the last second that Fearow was registered in its Pokédex. It would invest a few seconds, but no more than that, in ducking behind the Gym for privacy before shakily Transforming.

It was one of the most poorly-executed shifts it ever performed, but it would get them in the air, and that was all that mattered. In its rush, Froakie and its bag were only halfway secured before takeoff.

"Oh gosh," Imposter repeated Froakie's words once they reached a certain altitude. "Where are we even going."

Froakie wailed. "I don't know!"

"Hey, hold on tight. Don't need you falling off - wait, are you crying?"

"I'm-I'm-"

He was crying. Water dripped onto its back. "I'm perspiring through my eyes!"

Imposter nervously caught an updraft. "Breathe, man. We can - this is - just-" Imposter's genuine inability to positively spin the situation showed its direty. It expected to devote today to winning a Gym battle, but instead it had to deal with this.

Before the Pokémon could get too lost, a familiar shade of red caught their eyes. "S-Say, is that-"

"Charizard, yep."

"And on his back?"

"Don't know. Get closer."

Imposter flapped relentlessly, regretting every moment it spent not practicing flight. Slowly the figure cleared.

"Yep, it's Serena," it confirmed. "They're going really fast. Don't know if I can keep up."

By now it was panting. "Imposter, you better stinking keep up," Froakie demanded. "She's gotta know where she's going. She's the hero here, remember? She's going to stop Team Flare. If we're going to be any help, we. Have. To follow her."

Windburn seared at Imposter's eyes, forcing them to water. Its breaths were short.

"Hey, I know you can hear me!" Froakie yelled over the sound of the moving air. "You can't give up now! Matter of fact-"

The next thing Imposter knew, something sharp was pinching it in-between its shoulder blades. It faltered mightily, and if not for a last-second catch, its bag would have fallen off its back and the weight would have sent them plummeting into a nosedive. Serena and Charizard grew increasingly farther away as it fell, Froakie gripping the base of its neck. If he was screaming, Imposter could not hear it over the wind. Its wings hurt like they were struck by a Thunder, but it was alert now.

Only once it was fully back on track would it speak. "Froakie, are you still there!?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't ever do that again! I am flying!"

"I-" Froakie was crying again. "Sorry-"

"Just hold tight. We need to not lose Charizard, remember?"

"Mm-hm."

It slowly caught its breath. A flock of Wingull boasted a higher altitude than they did. It would recover from this. It had to.

Minutes later, to Imposter's immense relief, Charizard slowed and he started coming down for a landing.

Poor Imposter was more than happy to follow. Soon enough it was back on the ground, humaned up, Froakie clinging to its jacket. Its heart dropped, however, when it noticed where it was.

Lumiose City. And Serena was doing nothing more than visiting a red-painted café.

A café. She was ordering a coffee when the region was in serious trouble. And Imposter had followed her all the way from Anistar City to see her do this.

It voiced this frustration, still panting. "This? A random visit to Lumiose is all we - flew all the way here - to see?" it wheezed.

Just before it turned to look for a better plan, something started happening in said café. A huge noise sounded, followed by Serena's voice ("Quickly, Chesnaught! Kalos is in danger and every second is gold!"); smoke erupted from the windows, and a couple of Team Flare Grunts were booking it out the door.

Imposter retracted its previous statement. "Nope. We're definitely in the right place." It gulped. Froakie quivered in its arms.

"Man..." he bawled, "I've never liked this city."

~End of Part Seven~

Imposter Fact of the Day: Not exclusively for this story, but has anyone noticed that Olympia only speaks in haiku? That's why her dialogue sounded - wonky at times. Anyway, pay attention to her words. There's a clue hidden in them.