HELLO ALL! Before the chapter, I have some announcements to make. I understand we left off at an intense point last time, so I'll make this quick. The update schedule for this is changing; instead of Wednesdays and Saturdays, we're going straight Wednesdays from now on. Because believe it or not, Imposter is, as much as I wanted to play it off like it wasn't, a WIP. I know, I know, throw all the Tamato Berries you want, they'll only make me slower! (*ba-dum tss*)

And, because I'm going on vacation, there won't be an update next week either. We'll resume on July twelfth. To make it up to you, I've made this chapter super long. Longer than the last longest chapter, even! Anyway, it's important and climactic, so read it! Why are you still reading this bold, non-story message up here? Read the chapter!

Darkness.

Silence.

Fear.

Humidity.

Nausea.

Then, light.

Clicking.

Anticipation.

Life.

Clarity.

But it did not feel good.

Imposter held onto its form for as long as possible, but the recent battle had worn it down so much that upon the blackout, its senses had received too drastic a change in input, and it was not strong enough to keep from collapsing back and deforming.

It would have searched out its bag and tried to human up again, if it could find its Trainer Card, but something was happening in front of it. A blue light was coming out of the withered tree growing in the middle of the room. It and Froakie watched in awe as the light took shape into two lines, crossed perpendicularly against each other, two perfect diagonals.

"An - 'X'?" Froakie whispered. Imposter just stared.

The light grew larger, enveloping the tree. One could hardly see the shriveled plant anymore; Imposter's blurry eyes shrunk down in a Ditto-exclusive kind of squint. Froakie was attempting to shield his eyes using his forelegs, although they were much smaller than any of his facial features and did not end up helping.

After a few seconds the swirling light in the middle of the room burst out, and in the center was no longer the dead tree, but something that looked - alive.

Imposter's eyes grew. Alive. This creature's eyes scanned the room before it burst out of the machine that had been holding it. It landed directly in front of Imposter. Froakie scrambled backwards, but the Ditto was glued in place.

The quadruped standing there gazed at it, and it wobbled in fear. What would it say? What would the creature say? It was a Pokémon, right? Imposter could not even be sure of that.

Wait. It could be sure of that.

It inhaled. Whatever this being was, it was about to become Imposter's newest subject.

Instincts kicked in.

Four bladed legs. A tail. A long neck. The biggest antlers Imposter had ever seen. It copied them all. Its eyes, crossed out in stark 'X' shapes, shot opened. It was done.

The feeling coursing through Imposter was indescribable - unlike anything it had ever felt from becoming anything else; not even a human. It felt powerful, energetic, alive. It saw in sharper color than it had thought possible.

But what was it now? Clearly it was a Pokémon, with a Type and an ability and moves. But what species, it had no idea. Imposter had never seen such an individual.

It gave its head a shake. The antlers atop it were every bit as heavy as it had anticipated they would be. Its legs were thin and difficult to balance on, but it would manage.

As amazed as it was about its new form, and as excited it was to explore it, Imposter was more interested in the Pokémon it had become. The two had locked eyes and each refused to blink. Down below, Froakie had been staring in shock, eyes wide and mouth agape. So Imposter figured it might as well break the silence.

"...Who - are you?" it asked, voice wavering.

The other Pokémon slightly raised its head. In a moment of suspense, it looked as though it was about to speak, and then the lights turned back on.

The Pokémon snapped around, trying to find the source. Finally a voice broke out from overhead.

"Xerneas!"

The three turned towards the sound, and standing in the entranceway was the figure of a large human. It took an eerily long time for Imposter to realize that this was Lysandre.

He wore a pair of glasses like the headsets his scientists had, keeping his eyes invisible. Attached to his back was a large mechanical box, out of which sprang three long metal arms ending in machines that resembled Bug-Types.

He paced forward, his right foot connecting with Froakie's side. The man grunted, booted the little Water-Type out of the way, and continued forwards.

"You two are the last Pokémon I want to deal with right now," he spat. "Ditto, you know what you've done wrong. And Xerneas, breaking out of that machine was a huge mistake."

The contraptions on the ends of Lysandre's robot arms started glowing, and he spoke again. "My hatred for you is the blast that shot through the sky and destroyed Geosenge, lowly Ditto," he confessed. "It is the wrath of the greatest fires of the sun, the scorn of the thousands of innocent Pokémon you could have saved, the evils in the world that I am going to eradicate today. Show yourself, you lying coward, who would go so far as to impersonate the legendary Pokémon just to hide from me, a measly human! Rid yourself of that hideous façade and let me obliterate you first, in your own pathetic, true form. Or else-!"

His robot arms took aim. "Or else I will destroy Xerneas, and the world will have one less legend. What do you give, marvelous creature? Life, was it? Ditto, surely you would not want me to end all life on this planet, would you?"

Xerneas - that was the name of the Pokémon into which Imposter had Transformed. And it was the legendary Pokémon. And it, the Ditto realized giddily, was the legendary Pokémon!

That that could be breaking a fundamental rule of the universe did not occur to Imposter, as it was too caught up in the fact that it was currently one of the most powerful beings in existence. Lysandre's threats almost did not matter anymore, it felt so mighty.

Suddenly Xerneas let out a battle cry, shook its head around, and bounded around the room. Dazed, Imposter figured it should follow. Perhaps the legendary had a plan.

Lysandre gritted his teeth. His armlike weapons locked onto Xerneas, seeming ready to fire, but then Imposter ran in front and they directed onto it. This exchange continued for a while until Lysandre decided he had had enough.

He connected eyes with one of the Pokémon, looking certain that he had the correct one, muttered sorrowless goodbyes to the Ditto who had so tormented him, and fired.

Everything that happened next did so quickly. Imposter flew backwards, knocked back off of its razor-thin legs, onto its side.

When the dust cleared, Xerneas's blue fur was singed and matted. It attempted to pick one leg up at a time, but fell down immediately. The legendary Pokémon, with its energy already drained from the machine, had fainted.

That left only Imposter. Shakily, it stood. It would have to do something, but when the full-time legendary was just there lying unconscious on the cold floor, the Ditto was rightly worried about its capacity to make any substantial difference.

Lysandre was now standing over Xerneas where it lay, investigating it. Suddenly he whipped around to face Imposter.

"You!" he snapped. "You deceived me again, and for the last time. Here Kalos's legendary is, defeated, all so you could remain untouched? What kind of hubris does it take to stand back up after that? To try to take me on when the mighty Xerneas couldn't? Would you dare?"

Imposter did not figure it had much of a choice. It pushed itself to its feet, shakily.

Suddenly it looked up, a voice ripping everyone's attention to the entrance of the room.

"Oh my gosh, what did you do to Xerneas!?"

Everyone looked to see Serena and Shauna standing boldly in the doorway, looks of pure shock on their faces. "You sick man," the former drawled. "There's a reason Xerneas is one of a kind, you know. The legendary Pokémon isn't yours to - clone, if that's what this is! Look at them, you're obviously causing them pain-" she gasped. "That one is fainted! You need to be beaten down, before you do anything else this crazy. And I'd be happy to administer," she suggested, withdrawing a Poké Ball, "but before that, don't think I haven't noticed who's missing. Where is Imposter?"

Lysandre faced them fully. Shauna looked like she was about to faint. "The Ditto trainer?" he seethed. "Your so-called friend? Why would you care; you'll never see it again anyway."

"I never said it-he was my friend," Serena claimed. She nodded sideways to Shauna. "But he is hers, and I'm not about to let you get away with any funny business. Where. Is. Imposter?"

Behind the shades, Lysandre's eyes narrowed. "You want to know so badly?" he asked. "Blind fools. See for yourselves." He motioned to where Imposter was, finally standing up at full height, overlooking everyone in the room.

Heart rate quickening, it gazed at each of the humans. What was going on? The girls' faces were stricken with some kind of indescribable emotion. Slowly Imposter started to put the pieces together.

Serena stammered. "Y-You're saying he turned into another Xerneas?" she questioned. She exchanged glances with Shauna, then strode past Lysandre until she was standing right in front of the Pokémon. "Imposter, is that you?"

She bit her bottom lip. "Who am I kidding... I know it is. I wasn't sure at first, but I've always kind of known you weren't exactly - a human."

Shauna's hand flew to her open lips. "Wait, what!?" she shrieked. "What on Earth does that mean?"

"Shauna," Serena began, "Whenever you see Imposter battle, what Pokémon does he use? What is the only comprehensible word you've ever heard him say? What's the only Pokémon with access to the ability he uses as a name? What is our group's very nickname for him?"

Shauna gasped a little, then looked down. "Uh..." she started, studying her feet. Her eyes glistened. "Ditto."

Serena nodded. "I'm sorry you had to learn this way. I know you were pretty - attached to Imposter here, but-"

"There's no way!" Shauna blurted. "Tell me you're lying, that this is all a big prank! Imposter can't be a Ditto, he can't be!"

"Silence!" Lysandre shouted, "No more wasting my time with this. This Pokémon isn't deserving of any friendship. Of any love. It lied to everyone; it hurt you; a Pokémon! When humans waste away the world in evil, Pokémon are those one depends upon to restore decency to it. But this one... I gave it all the chance it needed to prove it was deceiving us for noble reasons, yet it was only out of selfishness. Enough talking now; I must activate my ultimate weapon and end this."

"Oh no you-" Serena was about to challenge him, but then Xerneas started stirring. "Good gracious, the legendary Pokémon! Uh-"

She looked about the room. Shauna was on her knees, peeking through her fingers straight at Imposter, who felt ready to keel over. Its secret was out. Its adventure was over. Lysandre's robot arms were charging up another shot. Suddenly Serena began bursting out orders.

"Imposter! I know you're going through a lot, but I need you to hold off Lysandre for me, just long enough for me to handle Xerneas. You're a legendary now, remember - you can do it!"

She sprinted to Xerneas' side. What did she want Imposter to do? Lysandre. Hold him off? With what - a battle?

Being a Pokémon had never stopped it from doing that before.

In a fit of adrenaline, Imposter reared back and sent Lysandre a warning glare. The man finally looked like he was ready to take it seriously.

"Fine," he decided, his weapons powering down. "If it's a battle you want, well, it was going to be your funeral anyway."

Furiously, he tossed his Mienshao onto the field. Imposter glanced around for Froakie and its bag: it was hoping they would be nearby enough that it could use their help, but its Water-Type friend had moved off into a corner, out of harm's way.

It would have to fight this battle itself, then.

Moonblast. It knew the move from Meowstic in its skirmishes with Serena. Mienshao stood no chance against the supereffective hit.

Gravity. Imposter figured this would give it some kind of advantage over the Honchkrow Lysandre sent out next. However, the Flying-Type was still able to attack with a Steel Wing while on the ground.

Imposter bent forward. That move delivered more pain than expected. Honchkrow needed to be taken seriously, too. Moonblast again.

Honchkrow was weakened, but undeterred. He sent another Steel Wing. Imposter was feeling it now. Another Moonblast and Honchkrow bit the dust.

Lysandre was screaming the whole time, launching insults the way a Pokémon with the Skill Link ability would launch Pin Missiles: rapidly, sharply, and relentlessly. He sent in his Pyroar.

Imposter locked eyes with the majestic Fire-Type. His glare stopped Imposter in its tracks. Only at the last second did it remember it had to attack.

It and Pyroar exchanged moves until the latter joined the rest of his fallen teammates. Singed and scarred, Imposter tried to pull itself together. It had to remember the difference between battling as a trainer and battling as a Pokémon.

While considering this, Imposter recalled another rule of Dittodom that had eluded it for most of its adventure: Pokémon moves were difficult to replicate in a battle, and Ditto were more prone to Struggling than their subjects were. It had only happened a couple of times to Imposter, but those were its most unpleasant days. It was always thankful that humans could not use moves, or it never would have gotten past Santalune City.

All of this was important now because as Lysandre sent out his final battler, Imposter realized it had run out of Moonblasts.

The last opponent was the largest on Lysandre's team - larger even than Imposter, currently standing at the height of the legendary Pokémon. He burst out of his Poké Ball with as much rage as the trainer behind him. The serpentine behemoth sparkling red in front of Imposter was called Gyarados, and the wrath in his eyes made him look ready to slay even a legendary.

Imposter quivered. What were its odds - where were its allies? Shauna was nowhere to be found, Froakie was - somewhere - Imposter was sure, and Serena was still tending to the knocked-out Xerneas. It remained helpless.

But if Imposter was afraid when Gyarados entered the field, it was terror-stricken when Lysandre raised his arm, and identical red and black glows emanated from the stone on his hand and the one on his Pokémon.

Mega Evolution - the trick it had seen Serena and Korrina use before, but never someone as intimidating as Lysandre. Its mind flashed back to that day in Lumiose City, when it had first encountered the man; the first thing it had learned about him was that he was capable of this power, and now he was proving it.

Suddenly Imposter felt itself sinking. It knew immediately what the problem was; this always happened in the worst possible situations. It was rapidly deforming in cowardice and instability.

No, it told itself, today it would have to pull through. It would not faint; it would not wither. It would not be defeated by the worst it had seen of humanity, the species it loved the most. It could not be a Ditto now - now, it would have to be Xerneas, the legendary Pokémon.

It had to defeat a Mega Gyarados.

Its eyes narrowed as Gyarados writhed and roared in the air. Something was wrong. Lysandre was slamming his other hand onto the gauntlet that held his Key Stone, spewing expletives as he went. There was genuine pain in Gyarados's eyes.

Imposter's heart skipped as it realized what was happening. It did not blame the opponent for having trouble changing his form, as Imposter had more practice than any non-Ditto in doing so. But just as a Ditto could not attack while Transforming, Gyarados could not attack while it was Mega-Evolving.

Now was the Ditto's chance. It had no more Moonblasts to work with, but it did have Megahorns.

It sprinted forward, spotted an opening, and thrust its rack of rainbow-colored antlers into the beast. If it was lucky, Imposter could end the fight right there.

A critical hit!

Imposter, of course, was lucky.

Gyarados was knocked against a wall, Imposter's horns ramming into him with the force of a Rhydon. Even the now fully Mega-Evolved shiny Gyarados was unable to battle.

Imposter finally stepped back, catching its breath. But it could not deform now, as there was no telling what Lysandre would do - and it had to be ready.

In a fit of rage, the man tore off his headset and flung it forcefully at the ground. Slumped over in defeat, he muttered his final laments of the battle.

"It's finally done with... I can't cleanse the world, and my ultimate dream will never be fulfilled. Are you pleased?"

If that meant Imposter had just single-handedly saved the human race, than yes, it was incredibly pleased. It looked down on Lysandre, the power of the legendary Pokémon still coursing through its veins. Victory tasted like sweet relief.

Serena looked up from where she had been tending to Xerneas. "Imp-Imposter, have you done it? I only needed you to stall him for a bit! I was going to defeat him and his awful team!"

Lysandre shuffled back to a straightened standing position. "I am no longer able to produce a blast large enough to clear the entire Kalos region," he admitted again, "but there is enough energy to show you what the weapon can do to the remains of Geosenge! If anything, I will at least have my revenge on you lot!"

Serena locked eyes with Imposter as Lysandre lifted his arm once more. The Ditto got the message. It located Froakie and its bag, scooped them onto its back, and followed Serena out the door where a bawling Shauna was huddled in the corner.

Serena grabbed her arm. "No time to be heartbroken now," she snapped. Imposter leaned down so that the two could pile on with Froakie.

A loud noise kept anyone from clearly making out whatever Serena spouted about Lysandre and Xerneas. The sound was massive enough, however, for the Ditto not to notice the mysterious decrease in weight upon its back, and it began sprinting away. If had hesitated any longer, it did not know if any of them would have survived.

Imposter ran and ran, long strides carrying it and its passengers over huge lengths of land. It refused to stop until it was about a quarter mile away from Geosenge, where they all could hear the blast from the ultimate weapon crashing into the village.

Shauna was crying the whole time, but it had not been listening to what she was saying until that point. "Imposter, stop!"

The Ditto halted, its momentum carrying them forwards clumsily onto Imposter's face. Shauna and Froakie rolled off - dirty, but otherwise physically unhurt.

"We don't have Serena," Shauna drawled. "Did you even notice? You left without her!"

Imposter got up and looked around. Somehow she was correct. The other female was nowhere to be found.

"Now what do we do!?" she wailed; by now, Imposter was unaffected by the sound of her crying. "She's all alone in there, helpless - if she's even alive."

Imposter shook its head. She definitely had her team of Pokémon with her, and depending on where she was, she may also have Xerneas or Lysandre to keep her company. Her being alone was nothing to worry about.

"This is - so-" she stopped, sat down on the grass, and hugged her knees. "I-I can't believe everything that's happened today. I can't believe you're a-"

She could not even say it, apparently. "Ditto," Imposter chipperly finished for her. She just barely looked up enough to see it.

She sighed. "I really thought you were a nice kid," she admitted. "I thought we were such good friends... was all that Lysandre was saying true? Were you just deceiving us for your own good?"

Imposter thought it had an answer for that at first, but after some consideration, it realized the question was much too complicated for it to want to think about.

"I-I kissed you," Shauna went on. "On the lips! And you're - you're - I think I'm losing my mind. If that really is you, Imposter, then turn back into the person I know. Become human again."

That it could do. Trainer Card located, it let the process happen.

It put a hand on her head when it was done, and she looked up. Eyes watering, she opened her mouth to speak, but then stopped.

She bolted to her feet, wrapping her arms around it tightly. Once again unsure how to react, it hesitantly placed the side of its head on the top of hers. That was probably comforting.

She started squeezing tighter, and because this was uncomfortable and it wanted her to stop, Imposter whipped its head back up. But she did not stop, much to its chagrin. Instead she was wetting its sweatshirt with some kind of moisture from her face - likely tears, possibly saliva, probably both.

Now Imposter really had no clue what it was supposed to do, other than wait. So wait it did.

Shauna was speaking unrhythmically into its chest, although her words were indecipherable. It shared a look with Froakie. What was it expected to do?

Finally the human pulled away just enough to wipe the redness away from her eyes. "I'm-I'm so sorry," she began, "but I-I kinda needed that."

She looked around. "Geosenge is destroyed," she said, bringing the two back on topic. "And Serena... We need to go back."

Imposter looked into her broken eyes. Thinking it an appropriate response, it encircled her with its arms in what was trying to be another embrace, this one even more awkward.

Shauna hummed a bit in uncomfortable confusion, but then relaxation settled on her face. For a few seconds she hugged back, more gentle this time.

Imposter's back was sweating.

Since the Ditto was so bad with directions, it allowed Shauna to lead it back to what was left of Geosenge Town. Incidentally, this left it ample time to catch up with Froakie on the situation.

"So you - aren't mad?"

"Not at you," the Water-Type pouted. "It's that Lysandre fella who's got me so rattled. He was supposed to be our friend, giving us free tech and all, but he just turned out to be a crazy whack. Wanting to make all Pokémon extinct? And any humans who weren't part of his group? And he said you were the one being deceptive. I hope he got real hurt in that blast. Brought it upon himself, he did."

Imposter blinked. "M-hm. I meant about her." It pointed forwards to Shauna kicking a rock along on her way. "I promised I wouldn't let her get that upset again, but-" Its face turned red with the realization of just how much it had messed up.

Froakie exhaled. "Okay..." he began, "That wasn't really your fault. You didn't try anything since we had our talk, and it's not like you had a choice in her finding out about this. Then she overreacted, and what's done is done, I s'pose. Anyway, she's young, and hasn't even known you for a month. She should get over it - my dad's situation was more... long-term."

Imposter nodded as if it understood any of his words; Froakie sounded like he was saying something intelligent, and it was too embarrassed to admit it was not comprehending it.

"Anyway, what about you? Now that they know and everything, what's it going to be like from now on?"

Imposter's heart skipped. "I don't know," it admitted. "But I'm scared about it. I don't want everyone thinking of me as that person who's actually a Pokémon, I just want to be a trainer like everyone else. Now I don't know if I'm even allowed to keep doing that."

It let that sink in. "Huh. Guess that's right," Froakie realized. "But you saved the day, didn'tcha? They have to let you do whatever you want. You were a legendary for while there! How'd that feel, by the way? Being so strong?"

Imposter looked wistfully up, finally grinning. "There's no way to describe it. You have to go through it yourself. It was the best I've felt in a long, long time."

This garnered a smile out of Froakie, but it was short-lived. "Now, about Serena," he added.

Imposter gulped.

"How did you not notice when she got off? And with Shauna and I screaming at you to wait for her - how did this happen?"

"Uh..." It was unsure itself. It cringed. "It's not like I had much of a choice. If we didn't start running (I mean, if I didn't start running) when I did, none of us might have made it."

Froakie looked like he wanted a better explanation. Imposter did not blame him.

"And, you don't know what it's like to be a Ditto. When a situation gets to be too intense, you start coming undone - we call it deforming. Of course, if you try hard enough, you can keep holding onto your form. But it gets harder and harder as time goes on. Eventually you lose control of your senses, and the only ones that still work are the ones that keep you alive, but you really strain yourself using even those. To be honest, it's extremely unhealthy for a Ditto's body, even life-risking, probably, but this was already a life-or-death situation."

It rubbed its eyelids. "I'm sorry. I'm usually better than that, when it comes to staying Transformed well. Just, with everything happening..."

Froakie looked up, showing an expression not of disappointment, but of sorrow. "No, no, I should apologize," he realized. "I didn't know all that. I thought you - just didn't care, or something."

"Mm." Imposter turned forward. "That wasn't your fault, either." A second, then: "Hey, wait up a moment! I'm up by one again!"

"Up by-?" Froakie gasped. "Gosh diggity darn it," he spluttered. "You are, aren'tcha? And Team Flare's all gone now, so there's no way to catch up."

He started pouting. Imposter glanced at him with a sort of disappointed smirk. "It's not that bad," it reminded him, but he only looked away and kept hopping along. "Oh, now you aren't talking to me? You bugger," it joked. They kept on going for a few more yards before reaching a clearing.

Shauna turned around, panting. "So we, uh, made it," she announced. "Are you ready? You aren't going to make me explain about Serena, right?"

Imposter opened its mouth, but did not say anything. "Oh, right, you can't speak," she sighed. "Fine. Let's just go."

The three strode into the village, a large crowd greeting them. The first pair of humans to see them enter were the couple Imposter had met on Route Thirteen.

"Oh, Shauna," the female cried. "And Imposter! How good to see you've made it out safely."

"Yeah," her partner agreed, although there was hesitance in his voice. "We thought you two were goners."

Shauna turned to Imposter. "Wait, you know Sina and Dexio?" she asked.

Sina giggled. "Yeah! We've met all sorts of trainers on our mission to put an end to Team Flare. Then you've gone ahead and done it, huh?"

Dexio took over. "That's what it looks like. I'm sooo proud of you."

Imposter flushed with the praise. It did not remember these trainers very much, but they seemed a bit familiar.

"Y-Yeah," realized Shauna. "You did save the day, didn't you, Imposter? Pretty impressive for a P-" she caught herself. "...For a person... who isn't even an adult," she corrected.

"Hey, is that Shauna and Imposter?" another voice chimed in. It was Tierno, waving them all over a few feet away.

"Oh!" Shauna ran up to where he, Trevor, Olympia, and Diantha were waiting. "You guys made it too. Where are all the others?"

"Coming," Trevor assured. "Where's Serena?"

It was an innocent enough question, yet it changed the entire mood of the conversation.

"Yes," pried Sina, "where is she? She was one of Team Flare's strongest opponents. I want to thank her personally for all her help."

Imposter and Shauna looked to each other, then the former looked down to its feet. "Um," the girl began, "We uh... we don't really know."

Gasps overtook the crowd. Shauna began tearing again. "We only barely made it out ourselves. We thought Serena was with us, but then when we turned around, she wasn't..."

"Poor baby," Sina consoled, patting Shauna's back. "Anyway, the important thing is that Team Flare was taken down."

Dexio nodded. "Your friend will be missed, but her disappearance is no need to delay a celebration. You finally beat us."

"-To the catch!" Sina corrected. "What he means is, you got to 'em before we did. Boo."

The others shared nervous laughs, seemingly not ready to quit the topic of Serena, but not wanting to bring it up in front of Sina and Dexio, who seemed to be over it.

"Anyway, I think we had better be on our ways," Dexio said. "Got a lot of important things to take care of."

"M-hm," Sina agreed. "Toodles, all."

Those two left, somewhat inviting the others to join them. "Well, if Team Flare's finally out of the way, I really should get back to working on the Pokédex," Trevor decided. "Besides, it's been a lot of excitement for one day. Can I make my leave?"

Shauna sighed and nodded. "Sure, Trevor." Tierno raised a finger; "You too, Tierny."

He nodded. "Good luck on trying to find Serena. I know you can do it."

The next to make her leave was Olympia. "My young challenger, good fortune as you do good," she said to Imposter. "Our battle awaits."

Then it was only Imposter, Shauna, Diantha, and Froakie. "My, they all file out fast," Diantha observed. "I'm still worried for that girl. She was well on her way to defeating the Pokémon League, and I was looking forward to battling her myself."

"Yeah, she always wanted to become Champion," Shauna lamented. "I think we can still find her. She's got a lot of good Pokémon protecting her. We have to at least try."

Diantha 'tsk'-ed. "Her poor father. He isn't going to like this."

"Isn't going to like what?"

The voice came from a new figure, touching down in Geosenge on a Swellow. It took a second for Imposter to place the face, but Froakie got it immediately.

"VW," he whispered. "That's our guy, 'Pasta."

Imposter's eyebrows raised. Now it recognized that jutting collar.

Diantha must have known she would have to break the news herself, since for the first time, she looked genuinely nervous. "V-Veteran Wuh..."

"Diantha," he greeted. "What happened here? Was Lysandre defeated?"

Shauna giggled nervously. "Yep. The whole Team Flare thing is all put to rest."

His eyes were soft, but his face was steely. "And where's my girl?"

Diantha's eyebrows turned in, worry dripping down her face. Facing away from Shauna and Imposter, she leaned into VW's ear to whisper something.

Slowly his expression turned from one of curiosity to one of fear to one of shock. "What do you mean, she's missing!? She couldn't have been in there alone, I hope?"

"Sh-She wasn't," Shauna admitted carefully. "Imposter and I were in there with her... We didn't see what happened to her. Lysandre was about to fire his big weapon, and we all had to leave - I wanted to go back for her, but by the time I noticed she was gone, there was no time to. I'm really sorry, sir."

VW stood in shock, singular tears rolling down his cheeks. "My baby girl," he started, "still down there... How could I have let this happen?"

"It wasn't your fault!" Shauna insisted. "It was ours, for leaving without her! Don't blame yourself. There was nothing you could do, kept up in Lysandre Labs."

"How old are you?"

"Fifteen."

"And I'm her father, at forty-two. I'm the adult here, and it's my job to make sure she's safe, even when she's by herself..."

"Now, now, let's not focus on placing any blame," Diantha stepped in. "What matters is that she needs help, and we don't even know where to start."

"We-We could try the Holo Caster," suggested Shauna, pulling hers out. "I have her number."

VW looked her up and down as she dialed. "Are you two close?"

She looked up. "Me and Serena? Yeah, great friends... I'm calling her now."

The five waited in silence as Shauna's Holo Caster rang for a second, then cut out. She bit her bottom lip.

"Doy," she realized. "She's underground. There's no way there's a signal."

VW shook his head. "There must be another way. Okay; you two are trainers, right? You participating in the Pokémon League challenge?"

"Me, not really," Shauna said. "I've tried a whole lot, but I just never seem to get strong enough. This guy on the other hand-" she pointed to Imposter - "he's doing really well at it. Trying to get his, what, seventh badge?"

The green-haired man nodded. "Then you both should get on with that. Don't worry about Serena. If I know anything about my girl, it's that she can take care of herself. Diantha and I will have her back up here in a few hours, tops."

Shauna and Imposter glanced to each other. "No, we have to help you. Besides, she'd never forgive us if we don't!"

Diantha looked sympathetic, but agreed with VW. "It's much too dangerous for youths like you two."

"She's right. We don't know what will happen down there, and we can't have any more young trainers going missing. Besides, Serena could be hurt, or worse, and you'd only get in the way. It's nothing personal; we just can't take any risks here." His voice was gentle, despite the urgency, and firm. He gave off a truly concerned mien.

Shauna's lip quivered. "You might not know what's down there," she argued, "but we do. We've already dealt with Lysandre and everything. We can help you!"

Diantha was the first to respond. She sighed. "I know you're not going to rest easy until you've found your friend, and after all you've been through, you deserve at least that much. But you've had your share of danger today. Right, V?"

V shook his head. "We don't have time for this - we have to get down there now. Diantha and I are Kalos region Champions, you know, and we have our Pokémon's help. No offense, but we aren't in dire need of yours."

Shauna was speechless for a second. "Well-" she began, clearly defeated, "what are you waiting for? Go bring her back safe!"

"Don't worry," VW insisted, "We will. As a Champion and a father, you have my word."

Imposter Fact of the Day: Full disclosure; out of the two, my pick for the initial Generation VI games was Pokémon Y. This is based on X because it was the extra cartridge I used to play Imposter, so that my main file on Y wouldn't be deleted for it. But I mean, Xerneas is pretty cool too.

So there you have it! Told you it was an important chapter! What became of Serena? What will Imposter do now that its secret is out? WHO IS VW? We'll all have to see! In all seriousness, I really hope I did well with this chapter. The Xerneas/Yveltal cutscene has got to be my favorite out of all the mascot legendaries, and I wanted to do it justice here. Now, I don't normally ask for reviews 'cause I hardly ever give them, but now that there's some time in-between updates, any and all thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks in advance, and see you in a couple weeks!