Heeey guess who's back

And check it out! A wild cover appeared! If you haven't seen it yet, there's a new cover with some more stuff going on. Like the Team Flare Admin redesigns for Sina and Dexio, as well as VW over in the bottom left. And I know, yes, the quality is SO BAD. Colored pencils and MS Paint aren't friends, apparently. Doesn't have anything to do with the fact that I'm amazingly bad at drawing. (Ok, it does) Would have done it digitally like the first one, but it would have taken... very, very long.

Anyhow, cliffhanger over! Thanks for waiting out this long!

Imposter had not been in a battle since it had beaten Lysandre's team yesterday, but it would admit, it was doing rather well in this one.

At this moment, Limber was Transformed into Olympia's Sigilyph, having just taken down her Meowstic with a lucky critical Air Slash. The battling Ditto still had most of its energy left: about three quarters, if Imposter had to guess. The Meowstic was the third Pokémon Olympia had sent out, and normally, this meant the battle was over.

But there was still the handicap it was getting from not having to progress through the Gym itself. Olympia was eager to remind it of this.

"Commendable work, but remember your promise. Go, my Medicham."

The next opponent was new to both Ditto, but they decided they were able to take her on anyway. Until their confidence was shaken by the purple glow enveloping her and her trainer.

Imposter knew the battle was going to be difficult, but it did not know that it would entail Mega Evolution.

"All Kalos Leaders have a Mega Pokémon," Olympia explained. "For eighth-badge trainers."

Imposter immediately thought back to its battle with Korrina atop the Tower of Mastery. So using her Mega Lucario was not allowed? It was working on its third badge at the time, not its eighth. Anyway, that seemed like something Korrina would do. It began to swell with pride - it had beaten an illegally difficult battle without even knowing it, right at the beginning of its adventure.

It voiced this to Limber, whose face seemed to soften. "I guess that's true," it realized. "You think we really can do this?"

Imposter smiled. "I think we can."

By this time, Medicham was finished Mega-Evolving, and was staring straight ahead at Limber, awaiting orders. Imposter swallowed, ready to make the first move. "Limber, quickly - you have the thing?"

"I have the thing."

"Good. Sky Attack!"

Imposter had been saving this move for a reason - it was one of its new favorites, and it had been planning to finish with it. Limber charged it quickly, the two watching as Medicham's fist crackled electrically in preparation for a Thunder Punch.

Imposter's eyes grew. "Limber, now! You have to go now!"

Limber nodded best it could with Sigilyph's head. "Alright!"

Its wings stretched out, and it darted around rapidly until it was a suitable distance away from Medicham. Her face showed suspicion about how it was able to charge the move so quickly.

Limber smirked. "Power Herb," it taunted, then launched itself forwards.

Medicham flew into the wall, looking defeated. She pushed herself to her feet. Even though the supereffective attack was executed so elegantly, it seemed that it was not enough.

Limber muttered terrified regrets as the Thunder Punch approached. Imposter cringed. Its friend was done for, even after the two had planned for this part of the battle. They were so confident that the Sky Attack would finish it, yet here they were.

"Limber, I'm so sorry," it whispered. "It was my fault. I didn't know she was going to use a-"

"It's okay," Limber coughed from the ground. "Neither did I, and you didn't - lose yet. Finish her."

Imposter lifted its Ultra Ball. "I will."

The next Ditto Transformed with the speed and precision Imposter was more used to. "Psycho Cut!" the trainer decided.

Medicham was truly down and out this time.

Olympia gently raised her arm and called her back. "Well, my team has lost," she lamented. Her face straightened. "And to a Ditto, at that. You are impressive."

To a Ditto? No; to many Ditto. The confusion must have shown on Imposter's face.

"I see the future," the Gym Leader explained. "I saw my teleporters making you deform."

Imposter's head hurt. How long had she known - whom did she tell?

"Relax; the other League members are the only ones who also know. I'm all about rules; withholding information would be illegal. Take this Psychic Badge. It is an apology and a well-earned prize."

Imposter received the Psychic Badge from Olympia!

"You do deserve it," she went on. "Thank you additionally for your help before."

Imposter grinned softly. Even though she knew it was a Pokémon, she was showing it gratitude. For that, it wanted to thank her in return. "Ditto," it chirped.

Routes Eighteen and Nineteen were long and challenging, riddled with trainers asking for battles. Imposter took on all of them. It relished in every opportunity it had to show off how far it and its friends had come in the past few weeks.

Its team battered and dirty, but perpetually full of spirit, it came to a small valley joined by a rope bridge. Imposter, not quite smart enough to fear heights, marched clumsily across it.

"Wait-! Imp- hey! Imposter, wait-!"

The Ditto turned at the familiar voice. It was Shauna, out of breath, her face anxious. "Hey. The-They found Ser-Serena," she panted. "But it's not good. She-"

She grabbed onto a rope to stabilize herself and catch her breath a little. "Hookay. Like I was saying, they found Serena."

Imposter nodded, inviting her to continue. "But she's... in really bad shape. She's actually in Shalour City's hospital right now. They said she was trapped underground for a few hours, and..."

Shauna played with the frilly bracelet on her right arm. "I heard she was caught under a bunch of rubble, and somehow her arm broke."

She looked up in thought. "No, not her whole arm; her wrist. But still... They didn't even let me in to see her, but the doctors say she's gonna be okay. It's just, I can't help feeling that this was our fault, you know? She was being heroic and going back to save Xerneas, and we didn't even wait for her."

She looked Imposter in the eye. "Do you even know any of what I'm saying? It's so weird knowing what I do now, about you - being a - yeah. I mean, you probably didn't know what you were doing. It's such a shame, isn't it?" She breathed deeply. "None of us really could have prevented this. I guess we're lucky that we all made it out alive, in one way or another."

Imposter was trying its best to pay attention, but so many questions were swirling about in its head. Human limbs could break? The bone, perhaps; they were a lot softer than many Pokémon ones. Still, it sounded painful, so why would Serena choose to do it? And what became of Lysandre? Geosenge? Xerneas? Did Shauna even know? It longed, once again, for a way to express these ideas. Speech was something Imposter had wanted so much, and how much humans took it for granted made it sick.

"Hm? Are... Are you okay, Imposter? You don't totally look... here."

Upon hearing its name, the Ditto was brought back to reality. Shauna was looking deep into it again, like she did. Of all the humans it had met in its lifetime, she was by far the most confusing.

"Uh... yeah," it muttered, forgetting momentarily that she would not understand. "I'm - fine."

Its tone was somber enough that she must have gotten the message anyway, for her face scrunched into pity. "Oh, I didn't really mean all this was your fault. Er, I guess that's part of what I just said, but if you really didn't know what was happening, no one can really blame you for trying to escape, huh?"

She looked down, her words somewhat inaudible. "It's just like... Well, like my feelings for you, I guess. I had no idea what was really going on, or who you really were. I just thought you a tall, handsome fella who was real fascinating - bluh, now that I'm saying it all out loud, I feel really gross about it, but I can't say it never happened. I got a crush on a Ditto. How-How crazy is that?"

She scratched at the back of her neck, laughing nervously. "Oh! Wait a minute, I'm sorry!" She must have seen Imposter's face, because she went on to say, "That's probably a really sore spot for you, not being a - real person, and all. But I think it's very interesting, I really do! That you were able to get this far as a trainer, even when a lot of humans like me can't, that's so impressive! I don't want you to think you have to keep that a secret.

"Besides, I've been doing some more training with Korrina since yesterday, and she said she already knew. Olympia told her. She said all of the Gym Leaders knew, and here's the thing! You must not be breaking any rules, or anything, since they're still letting you be a trainer. You're free to tell everybody in the whole Kalos region-" she raised her arms to the sky and proudly exclaimed, "Imposter of Vaniville Town is a Ditto!"

Her face twisted from joy to embarrassment when she heard the bridge creak behind her. Imposter's was mortified. Trevor and Tierno had just came up behind them, in perfect earshot of Shauna's declaration.

The latter broke the silence first. "Shaaauna..? What are you saying..?"

The girl whipped around, blushing wildly. "What? Oh, my friends! Hey, didn't - uh - see ya there! How's the 'Dex coming, Trevs? How 'bout that dance team?"

Her jovial finger guns failed to affect the two stoic trainers. "No, wait up a second," Trevor insisted, "What are you talking about? Imposter's a Ditto?"

"Uh..." she turned back nervously to Imposter, searching its face for ideas. "I mean, no, hah, that's ridiculous! I was going to say - Ditto fan. Yeah, because he uh, uses them so much. Probably the biggest Ditto fan out there, wouldn't you say?"

"But Shauna, his feet are turning purple."

The girl yelped and spun to see if this was true. Imposter itself realized that it was, and carefully picked each foot up, trying to give them their proper shape.

"Er, I mean, I - well, yeah, they are! What, did-did you think this was the real Imposter? Nope! This is one of his team members just Transformed into him, playing a trick! A double imposter, if you will! Y-You got us, Ditto, what a mischievous prankster you are!"

She was delirious, and Tierno and Trevor remained unconvinced. "Shauna," Trevor started, "Shauna. What are you trying to hide from us? We're your friends, and you can tell us anything. What really happened in Geosenge?"

He crossed his arms. "You know we aren't going to get the story from Serena, and obviously, Imposter doesn't speak."

Shauna swallowed. "Well..." she turned to Imposter. "I guess we kind of have to tell them now." She paused. "Or would you like to show them? You know, I still haven't seen you in your true form."

That, like many things recently, did not leave Imposter much of a choice. Meeting each of the trainers' eyes once, it slowly removed its bag.

It honestly thought they would react more disgustedly to seeing a member of their species dissolve into gelatin, but perhaps they were too mesmerized by the revelation to have a definite reaction at all.

Shauna, standing the closest, delicately reached down and picked the exhausted Pokémon up. She turned so that they could all behold it together.

Of course, it was pelted with questions, but it was more focused on not falling out of Shauna's unsteady grip.

"Wow, what's it like being a Pokémon?"

"What made you want to be a human?"

"Do you have a trainer?"

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"Can you become any Pokémon?"

"Can you understand other Pokémon, like the ones you're battling against?"

"Yeah, what's that like?"

Its head was ringing. The humans had to know that it was unable to answer them, so why did the questions keep coming?

Shauna must have felt its uncomfortable contracting. "Y-You know, I think he's feeling a little overwhelmed right now," she realized. It was Imposter's favorite thing out of her mouth all day.

The other two ceased their inquiries, instead looking ashamed. "Yeah, I probably would be, too," Tierno admitted. "It's just, this is a lot to take in, y'know?"

"You're telling me!" Shauna exclaimed. "Anyway, what it was like under Geosenge..."

Imposter did not care much to listen to her recap; living through it once was enough for it, and besides, it had no way to correct or add to anything she said, so it could have not even been there. As far as it could tell, Trevor and Tierno were attentive listeners, and it figured Shauna could deal with two out of three of those. It closed its eyes; as much as it would have preferred this never to have happened, it was grateful for this opportunity to take a rest as a Ditto. That had happened even less than usual lately, and for a few moments, all its cares were suspended.

"So what do we do now?"

Imposter was not sure who had asked it, but it had the same question. It wanted to continue its adventure, of course, but before that, it had to deal with these three.

"...I dunno, now that I think of it," Shauna realized. "Well, I guess it's up to, uh... Ditto over here."

They all looked down to it. Trevor whispered sideways to Tierno, "Are we still calling him that?"

"Are we still calling him 'him'?"

Shauna glanced at them flatly. "All that doesn't matter. You know what I came here for? Well, other than to tell him about Serena?"

"What's that?"

"Well, now that we all know - he's a - yeah-" Imposter could not help but feel embarrassed when she phrased it like that - "and since I've been working so hard with my own team of Pokémon, um..."

"Um?"

"Well, I kind of figured I wanted to have a battle with him. I haven't in sooo long, anyway. What do you think?"

The last question was directed at the purple blob in her hands. A battle? Imposter was quite up for that, as long as it was allowed to Transform back first.

It wobbled around, trying to express this. If it could at least be put back down, it could do the rest on its own. It only took a few minutes to get the point across.

The three looked on in curiosity as it changed back to human form, but it wished they would not. As natural as Transforming was to it, it was bashful in front of an audience.

It tried not to meet their eyes by shuffling over to its bag and hoisting it on. But it had to face them at some point, and when it did, their reactions were surprisingly positive. Trevor was grinning proudly, Tierno looked impressed, and Shauna, while she appeared happy for it, also looked like she was about to faint.

"Uh - buh - I have so many questions!" Trevor blurted. "What the - who the - how the - why the - ugh, there's no way you can even answer me, is there?"

He slumped over. "Well, you're supposed to get a lot closer to people when you battle them, right?" Shauna suggested, "Maybe when it's done with me, you can have a go with it."

Trevor touched his chin in thought. "I guess that might work. Anyway, get on with it! If it's my turn next, you ought to get started."

Shauna giggled. "Sure thing, Trevs."

The two trainers took opposite ends of the bridge. "I hope you're ready, Impo, because we've trained pretty hard for this! Er, I guess your team has too. We both have to be ready then! No matter what we are, or who we might be inside, we are Pokémon trainers, after all!"

Trevor and Tierno watched on from the back as the battle begun, monsters leaping out of their Balls and into the fray. The Pokémon Ditto Transformed into was a Delcatty, a new species to its team.

But it would make do. The battlers flung themselves at each other, abiding by their trainers' commands. Imposter and Shauna would sometimes catch each other's eyes, and the latter would briefly look down and blush before shaking her head and continuing to spew orders.

Eventually Imposter learned it could take advantage of this. Ditto had gotten paralyzed somehow, and looked like it was about to go down, when Imposter flashed the opposing trainer a small, toothless smile.

Her trainer officially distracted, Delcatty received no order to attack, and was susceptible to Ditto's immediate Play Rough move.

She was knocked out, and Shauna was upset. "Why, you did that on purpose, you little, uh, Normal - Type Ithinkisthataninsult?"

Tierno snickered at her inability to think of a good comeback, while Trevor rolled his eyes. Imposter just shook its head in amusement. Calling someone a Normal-Type was a compliment, as far as it was concerned. Besides, it was winning, and that was important.

Shauna bit her lip. "Fine! You're gonna get the big guns now!" she taunted. "Get 'em, Goodra!"

Imposter's eyes widened when the slimy Dragon-Type took the field. Something about it seemed mighty familiar.

Shauna looked ready to make another confession. "I know what it looks like," she began, "and I'll admit, when I caught him as a Goomy, I thought he was a Ditto. The whole purple blob thing, you know... I wanted one because it reminded me of you."

Goodra made a motion of cracking his knuckles, throwing everyone through a loop when the sound of actual joints popping emanated. "So you're this Imposter Shauna's so crazy about, eh?" His voice was deep and - spunky, if Imposter had to choose a word. "You ain't half bad. This'll be fun."

Unsure whether or not to take that as a threat, Imposter hesitantly ordered another Play Rough. Goodra cried out, indicating a good hit, but was quick to retaliate.

"Dragon Pulse!" Shauna cried, a bit too excitedly. If the move had been any more powerful, it might have destroyed the bridge.

Ditto went down, curled up in defeat. The next one was hardly paying attention to the battle, looking over itself in fascination with the fact that it was now a Dragon-Type.

"Ditto, what are you doing? Get your head in the game! It's your turn to use Dragon Pulse now."

But Goodra was faster, and seemed to have a better idea. He laughed at the order Shauna gave, and eagerly carried it out.

The human girl must not have been thinking straight, having her Pokémon use Earthquake in the middle of a rope bridge. That was what Imposter told itself.

Everyone hung onto the railings as tight as possible as the unsturdy flooring rattled underneath. Imposter had to hold its hat down to be sure it would not fly off - it was still technically a part of its Ditto body, even though it was detached from its human body, and losing it would be like losing a limb.

When the shaking finally stopped, Ditto was down for the count. Goodra was busy tauntingly inspecting the site of his nonexistent fingernails.

Imposter cringed. Losing now would be too embarrassing. It sent another, who was immediately knocked down by a Dragon Pulse, but held on just long enough to shoot out its own and defeat Goodra.

Flustered but not frustrated, Shauna called him back. "Fine," she whined, "I still have four team members left. Let's see how you handle this!"

What she sent out next made Froakie have a physical reaction. It was the Fennekin he had grown up alongside, but looking much different - stronger, even.

Shauna called her a Delphox, but Imposter still called her an opponent. It knew Earthquake would do a lot of damage, but given the location, Imposter would do good not to put the bridge and everyone on it through another one of those.

That is, it would do good, if it was smart.

When Ditto was finished, Trevor and Tierno were clutching each other in fear, Shauna was grasping the rope handles looking for a plank solid enough to put her weight on, Imposter had fallen facefirst into a mouthful of splinters, and Delphox was bent down, catching her breath. Imposter almost forgot to pick itself back up, if not for Shauna's muttering.

"Not the brightest one on the team, are you?" she realized reluctantly. "I mean, I guess that makes sense..."

Imposter's wood-filled face scrunched into confusion, unsure whether or not it was being insulted, and what the appropriate response would be.

Shauna shook her head. "What I'm tryna say is, please don't use Earthquake anymore-?" She shook her head. "No, wait, this is a battle, for goodness' sakes, I can't tell your fighter what to and not to use! How insensitive of me - I've gotta take it into my own hands to make sure you don't use anything anymore. Delphox, take it out with Psychic!"

And so Delphox did. Two left. This time, it would save Limber for last. The next one traded Psychics and Mystical Fires with Delphox until she was defeated.

Froakie looked relieved to see her called back, but then a little downtrodden. "We never got along, she and I," he admitted. "Looking back now I kinda wish we did." Wanting an elaboration but too busy battling to properly receive one, Imposter made a note to ask later, if it remembered.

The next Pokémon would be a familiar sight to both Imposter and Froakie. "Well, it's a little sad that we still haven't gotten the evolution thing to work," Shauna lamented, readying the Ball, "but she's still a fighter! She must be, I mean, Serena was her first trainer, after all! Go, Phantump!"

The undead Grass-Type was noticeably larger than she was the first time Imposter had met her on Route Fourteen, showing off the training she must have done with Shauna. Ditto's eyes widened, just barely.

But Imposter was unafraid. "Ditto, keep using Mystical Fire," it decided, remembering its Type advantage at the last moment.

"Um, well-" Ditto wavered, "I'm... I'm out of those."

Oh, no, the five Power Point rule! For some reason, that had not started becoming a problem until recently. Imposter chewed its lip. "F-Fine, go with Psychic then."

Ditto gladly did so, and when the visual manifestation of the move faded, it appeared that Phantump had been wisped away with it.

Shauna acted surprised and worried that her Pokémon was gone, but there was a gleam in her eyes that revealed the presence of something else. Imposter and Ditto scanned the scene vigorously for the invisible Pokémon. Hesitantly, and out of the corner of its mouth, it commanded, "Calm Mind, Ditto."

The poor battler was in the middle of its meditative setup when Shauna screamed out: "Phantump, now!"

Now Ditto's eyes really widened, as the opposing Pokémon congealed into a tangible form right in front of it - while shooting forward in a terrifying Phantom Force.

Poor Ditto stood no chance.

Hand shaking, Imposter called it back. Now it was losing, and to the human that had apparently admired it since their meeting. The first battle they had, Imposter remembered, it had won. Granted, that was before either of them had obtained or trained either of their teams; just before Froakie released himself - or was it after? Anyway, that mattered not. What mattered was not losing now, but as much confidence as Imposter wanted to have in its friend, Shauna still had three strong Pokémon left, apparently. That would be a lot to handle with the pre-evolved Phantump as a subject.

Then again, if anyone could do it, that was Limber.

It decided not to reveal yet that this Pokémon was its last chance at winning, as the panic that would cause would almost certainly ensure the loss. Instead, it started to give the order to Transform, but it seemed Limber was already on it.

"Hey, nice initiative," Imposter laughed. It knew that Ghost-Types were difficult to replicate, too - what with Transform being a Normal-Type move, not to mention that most Ghost-Types did not provide much in the way of DNA. That was the perfect guide for how to put together a body, as long as it was there. Transforming into inanimate objects and any Pokémon that lacked DNA required a lot more improvisation on the Ditto's part. In addition to that, ghosts - similar to Porygon-Z, the Pokémon Froakie described the other day - were made of something other than matter. Poké Ball technology proved that it was possible for Pokémon to be that way, but Imposter would be the first to admit that changing from one to another was one of the hardest things a Ditto could do.

In sum, Imposter was putting Limber through something tremendously difficult, and was mightily impressed by how its fiend was handling the task.

Shauna hummed. "Okay, now it has your super-high Attack stat," she conferred to her Pokémon. "What should we do about that?"

Phantump cheered, then released a Will-O-Wisp straight for Limber.

"Nice! Now, you know what to do."

Imposter knew what too, and hurriedly ordered for Limber to follow with its own Phantom Force.

"She's gonna disappear!" It shouted. "You have to do that quickly, before she-"

But Phantump was already nowhere to be found. Limber's eyes darted about, clearly unsure of where her opponent went or how she so vanished.

"Just - use Phantom Force! Hurry."

"O-Oka..." it spun around, and without further hesitation, faded out of sight.

...Only to reappear a short moment after, closer to Shauna.

"Hyah!" it cried out, zipping around. Unfortunately for the team of Ditto, Phantump was still hiding.

Shauna grinned. "Now!"

Limber's face, burn and all, distorted into pure fear.

The supereffective move knocked it out of the air and back onto the bridge at Imposter's feet, completely deformed, totally unconscious.

Imposter gasped and fell to its knees. The bridge rattled and gave with the impact, yet Imposter failed to notice. Its friend was defeated, once again. Wordless this time, Limber was lying there in the Pokémon's most vulnerable state.

With a sigh, Imposter withdrew the Ultra Ball, returned its friend, and shakily stood up.

It was shocked at the loss, but Shauna was grinning ear to ear. "Oh my gosh, great job Phantump! We-We actually beat him! I can't believe - we've all gotten this far. It's actually... pretty special, that after all this time, we all make such a good team."

Then she put Phantump away in its Ball and addressed Imposter. "And look at you! Losing to a girl, haha. Anyway, uh, I guess - I'm sorry? I couldn't stop thinking about all this time we spent together, and all that I must have put you through. Like, how weird it must have been to have a human care so much about you in the way that I did. Looking back on it now it's almost funny."

Imposter did not think that being so confused about everything and getting ridiculed by Froakie for it was funny, but it mustered a chuckle for her sake. She looked down.

"Anyway, remember how I said I was training with Korrina so much? I've been thinking about a lot of things lately, and I realized I actually do have most of the Gym Badges - I haven't been taking the League Challenge very seriously so far, but seeing you and Serena work so hard at it is kinda inspiring, you know? And because they took her to Shalour where Korrina lives, I'll get the chance to catch up with her some.

"W-What I'm saying is, after all this gets sorted out, I think I want to battle the Elite Four. Since she won't be able to for a while."

She was silent for a second, allowing Tierno to off-handedly whisper something to Trevor.

"...That's one reason why I wanted to battle you so much," Shauna went on. "Korrina says Pokémon battles are all about strategy, and I figure it'd be even more so when you're battling with a bunch of powerful Ditto. So if I could beat you," she reasoned, "I could beat anyone! Heheh!"

Imposter blinked, while Trevor and Tierno rolled their eyes. That seemed like a compliment, and Imposter was fine with taking it that way.

"Anyway, that's why I was headed to Snowbelle City - the Glacier Badge is one of the ones I still need, and I knew you'd be coming for it too. That being said, you wanna-"

She giggled a little. "This is like when we first started, before the first Gym. And here we are before your last one... Listen, I know a lot has happened recently, but I-I still want to continue going on an adventure with you. Ditto or not, you're still my friend, and I still have to treat you like one. So, will you come and finish this with me?"

Imposter stood there in consideration. Was that not already the plan? It nodded. It and its team had little else to do, and little farther to go at this point. It would have finished its journey with or without Shauna.

She smiled. "Alright! Well, what's a better time to get a move on then now, eh? Let's all go together!"

Trevor and Tierno exchanged glances. "Shauna..."

"Hum?"

"You know, I wanted to battle Imposter next!" Trevor whined. "I'm not going anywhere until I do."

Shauna blanched. "Oh, that's right, I'm so sorry. Here, I'll heal up his team, and you'll be good to go!"

Imposter grinned. More battling? It no longer cared that it lost; this was what it lived for.

Trevor and it sent out their Pokémon. The Ditto felt ecstatic.

Imposter Fact of the Day: Like Korrina's, Olympia's Gym battle was a challenging one for me during the Imposter playthrough. Mainly for the reason that I was almost out of healing items, and was too lazy/kept forgetting to go back and get more. Thus Impo here had to get stuck for a while on her as well.