Imposter was never fond of the cold, but after its experience in the Frost Cavern, it absolutely dreaded it. Therefore, its chagrin when it discovered its reward for stopping Team Flare was getting to spend time in an Ice-Type Gym - in a city named Snowbelle, at that - was understandable.
Clutching its jacket tighter, it strolled out of the Pokémon Center, figuring it must have Transformed something incorrectly - it should not be this uncomfortable as a human, if that species had chosen to create a civilization here. That made no sense.
Through its visible breath it saw the outline of a tall man standing outside of the Gym. His green hair and suit, contrasting with the white snow, gave him all away. Froakie gasped a little, but before he was able to say anything, the man turned around.
"Ah, I was waiting for you," VW said. "Wulfric told me you'd be coming here for your last Gym badge. He's a good friend of mine, who's been a Gym Leader since before I even came to Kalos. That was already almost a decade ago...
"Anyway, I sought you out because I've heard you were good friends with my daughter, and she just wouldn't shut up about you. All the things she said about you being a Pokémon, impersonating a human, stopping Team Flare by taking on the form of Xerneas? You're quite the specimen, aren't you?"
Imposter did not know how to react - Serena, who was just days ago steaming upset about it, now regarded it as impressive?
VW laughed. "Anyway, I'd like to assure you she's doing just fine. She'd acquired a small injury to her wrist, however, and will have to have it casted for a few weeks, likely more. So... she isn't going to be returning to Victory Road until that all passes. You're welcome to visit us in Vaniville Town whenever you would like to, but I understand you're in the middle of your own challenge, so I wouldn't want to keep you from that."
Imposter looked down remissly. What was this Victory Road that everyone spoke of so reverently? Was it expected to go there, to do something? Apparently. It inwardly shook its head. It could sort all that out later. What VW had to say was more important.
"I do feel bad for the girl, though. It was her right hand, too, her throwing one. Apparently she was wearing a Mega Ring on that arm, but it was crushed into pieces. Luckily we were able to salvage the Key Stone, the important thing, but we haven't had time to see if it still works..."
He looked Imposter up and down. "Say, you're a Pokémon, aren't you? Awfully quiet. Do tell, do you know how to speak our language?"
"Dit-Ditto..." it admitted.
He nodded slowly. "I see. It was a long shot, but I was just so curious to see if there was anything I could learn from you. About Pokémon, or anything. But I guess not.
"But that's not a problem. Really, I wish you luck, with whatever it is you're looking to do. Anyway, I must be making my leave now. Have to bring my girl home."
With that, he invited his Swellow back out, mounted, waved, and flew off. Imposter and Froakie were left standing outside the Gym.
Shauna had gotten a Holo Caster call saying that Serena was being released from the hospital earlier than she had thought, so she had flown back to Shalour shortly after the two had made it to Snowbelle City. Once VW had gone to join her, the Ditto was once again lacking in human companionship.
This left it to explore the city by itself for however long it wanted, although that was not quite so long as with certain other towns - it wanted out of the cold as soon as possible, and even Froakie started to feel anxious about the temperature after a bit.
Said frog was the one to find the solution: to the west of the city was a large forest, and Froakie's love of trees coupled with Imposter's disdain for the cold got the two inside quicker than a Rapidash wearing Running Shoes.
It was a trek lasting almost half the day, but eventually Winding Woods emptied out into a decently-sized clearing.
Imposter's heart stopped.
It guessed that Froakie was speaking to it, wondering what was wrong, but it had no answer to give and no voice with which to give it. Something was weird about this place. Something was a bit too - familiar.
It looked around: the area did not seem like much at first glance, just a field of flowers and some hills enclosed by the trees. Small shelter-like pieces of architecture sprinkled in the less densely-grown sections of ground implied that there was some kind of civilization here, but it did not look human.
Then Imposter had gotten it.
It had never really gotten to know this place from the perspective of the height it currently had, so the recognition had taken a while, but now it finally knew.
The Pokémon Village. The site of its youth.
It had been years since the last time it had been here, but it remembered the details clearly. And with its normally awful long-term memory, it was feeling slightly proud about that.
The more Imposter thought about it, the more it remembered. This was where it met Grace. And on that day, it had followed her through a large forest and into a very cold place filled with large structures and many of the tall creatures that had piqued its interest...
More memories surfaced, and suddenly it was back there again.
This was one of the colder nights in the village, the young Ditto realized with annoyance. It shrunk further into the grass. The blades sometimes did well to retain heat, but nothing would help it more than finding a subject and turning its senses off. So that it did.
The elder Ditto had always spent the night as stones, to keep from being bothered by anything like the weather or other Pokémon. It always had trouble with lifeless objects, but it was cold enough that it would still try.
Just as it was about to undo its eyes, it sensed a shadow befalling it. Instantly it sprang back to form.
The Pokémon casting said shadow was immensely tall - almost as tall as the resident Snorlax, it would bet - but much thinner. Different body type from most of the creatures that lived in the village, it was sure to note. Except maybe Gothorita.
Eyes trained further onto the Pokémon, Ditto realized it had seen ones like this before. Yes, that was right - members of this species would come here occasionally, bearing berries or sometimes even honey. Ditto adored the honey.
Bashful as it was, however, it realized as the unfamiliar Pokémon walked further away that it had never once become one itself. The other Pokémon seemed to dislike them, and would never let it close enough. But what kind of Ditto would it be, not to spring on the chance to test out a new form?
So it shuffled forwards, trying its best to keep the Pokémon in sight. It would do this right, this time.
Four limbs, one head, no visible tail. Opposable thumbs; interesting. An endoskeleton. Warm-blooded, slightly more cold-resistant than Ditto. What appeared to be hair, found throughout the surface of the body but mainly concentrated at the back of the head, where it was the longest. The Pokémon looked slightly to its right, providing a convenient profile for reference. Two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, one mouth. It seemed this individual was a female, bearing significant differences from the one that came most often. The biggest of these differences was the outer layer of what Ditto assumed was skin, covering most of the torso and feet. To Ditto's chagrin this was made of mostly abiotic material, but it tried its best.
But wait - something about this Pokémon was wrong. She had no ability to speak of. No Type. And knew no moves, to boot! This had never happened before! All Pokémon had all three, it knew, even Ditto. It knew the move Transform, for instance; it was a Normal-Type, and its ability was called Imposter. This Pokémon lacked all of that, and Ditto was certainly befuddled.
So it decided instead to focus on polishing its form. Maybe all that was still coming. Was there anything it had missed? That was feasible, since this organism felt more complicated than most of the ones it was used to. But anything it failed to form voluntarily should have been taken care of by the genetic guidelines it was receiving.
Ditto looked down, inspecting its feet. They were so - far away. In a moment of fear it realized it may never have been this tall before; and as a biped, walking would be... difficult at best, torturous at worst.
Well - here goes.
Left foot up. Not balancing! Left foot down. But wait, it did not seem to advance. It would try again. Right foot up. Weight distribution unequal! Right foot down. Still have not moved. Could this species levitate? That would be immensely easier. So it tried.
...
...No, this species was incapable of levitation. Drat. Back to the feet again. Deep breath through the nose. Right foot up; right foot forward-
Right foot down! Right foot down! But its right foot was not down. It was way up in the air, the rest of its body having tumbled backward onto the grass. Pain spreading through the pelvic and spinal regions. Eyes secreting a liquid similar to salt water. This was all going... poorly.
It blinked away the liquid in order to regain vision, notably sharper than what its usual eyes allowed it. Finally letting its right foot down, it gazed up to see its mysterious subject - who was watching it all along.
She was laughing; that was good, because it meant she was not offended. Ditto did not want to offend her. It wanted to learn more about her.
When she spoke, her voice had a different quality to it than it was used to; perhaps due to the change in ear structure. "Boy, you're a curious fellow, aren't you?"
Wait, what would it say? It had not thought of that. It shyly spluttered out the first thing that came to mind. "What-What's your ability?"
She giggled again, but did not answer its question. "That's funny. You'd think after being around Ditto so long I'd be used to seeing them in my body, but every time is as surreal as the first. I'm Grace, by the way."
Finally, a name for the creature. Ditto was thinking now that the longer it stayed Transformed into the wild Grace, the more it liked her species.
"Um, I'm Ditto," it went on. "I live here in the village, but I haven't seen you around before... where did you come from?"
"Sh, sh... I know being a human is a little weirder than being a Pokémon, but you don't have to freak out. It's okay. You can change back whenever you want, you know."
Being... uhyoomin? Ditto was always bad with words, but it wanted to know what this one meant. The way she said it implied that if it was uhyoomin, it was not a Pokémon. But she had to be a Pokémon. Non-Pokémon were things like rocks and trees and the sky. They could not talk or think or move because they were not Pokémon. This Grace was talking, thinking, and moving. She was a Pokémon, by that logic - not a plant or an item.
But she had no Type or anything. Maybe... It would require further inquiry.
"No offense, but, what exactly are you?"
"So how do you feel? Do you like it?"
Now this was becoming frustrating. She was answering none of its questions, ignoring every word. "I-I don't know, but why aren't you answering me?"
She must have sensed its distress, for she backed away a few feet at that. "Now, now, no reason to get upset. I'm not a Pokémon, you know. I can't understand your language."
Ditto's eyes widened. If that was a confirmation of its suspicions, it was an unsatisfying one.
"O-Of course you're a Pokémon. You're not a plant, or a mushroom, and you're alive - you have dee-ennay."
That was what the other Ditto said to look for in living subjects, the source of the genetic information that would aid a Transformation. "If you weren't alive you wouldn't have that... right?"
The wild Grace laughed again. "It's okay, it's okay," she repeated. "See, I can prove it. When you Transform, you always know the moves of whatever you turn into, right? And the ability, and the Type? Well, I don't have those. I'm what's called a human... We're a different kingdom from Pokémon entirely. More similar to them than, say, plants are, but still radically different. You understand?"
This speech did explain away the differences a little, Ditto admitted. Fine; it had nothing else to explain it, and nothing really to lose by trusting her.
"So... you really can't understand what I'm saying then?"
She shook her head. "And because of that, I can't really understand what you're saying. I'm sorry."
Ditto sat there in confusion. This was becoming an odd night indeed.
"Anyway, I'm here looking for Ditto like you. My job is to collect the best of them, give them a nice home, and train them for the battles of their lives. You like battling? They say most Pokémon do. What do you say - you seem to have great potential. And a hidden ability! I've been wanting one of those."
Did Ditto like battles - of course it did, what kind of question was that? It adored them, but mainly when it won. Most people were like that.
But she was making it an offer. Go with her, and be trained, possibly learning more about these non-Pokémon Grace, or stay here and continue its life in the Pokémon Village. This - demanded some thought.
"But oh, don't take my word for it," Grace added, pulling out a small black, yellow, and white sphere. She then tossed it in the air. "Go, Limber!"
To Ditto's surprise, the sphere opened into two halves and a light came from it - no, not a light, for it was materializing... into what else but another Ditto.
At this point, Ditto was halfway convinced all this was a dream. Suddenly embarrassed in front of another member of its own species, it rapidly deformed.
"Uh - hey," it spluttered once its mouth had the correct shape. "S-Sorry about that, I was-"
The other Ditto hummed. "It's okay, that happens a lot more than you'd think." It tilted its head pensively. "Anyways, they call me Limber. I'm guessing Grace has taken a shine to you?"
Ditto eyed the Grace, who was smiling sweetly. "I guess."
Limber wobbled. "That's cool. She probably took me out to convince you to come with us, then.
"It's your choice entirely, of course," it went on. "But I don't regret a moment of it. I've been around the world, battled tough Pokémon, became even tougher ones... it's riveting. You have no idea how many Pokémon there are in the world until you go on a journey like I did. If I'd stayed... boy, I'd never have gotten as good as I am at Transforming, I promise you that.
"But I know you probably have some friends here too. You'd have to leave them, I'm sorry to say, but if you're like me, that wouldn't-"
It stumbled over its words. "That wouldn't be so hard."
Friends... Ditto knew some of the Pokémon here at a personal level, but it would not say it particularly liked any of them so much that it would miss them if it left. It had not even been around long enough to make those kinds of connections, it realized. Limber was right. That would not be so hard.
A few contemplative moments later, it had made up its mind. It wanted to learn more about these Grace, and becoming a better battler in the process would be a welcomed change. It would trust Limber with this one.
It wiggled affirmatively. Whatever was coming for it, it would be ready to try taking it on.
"Oh, brilliant!" Grace cried. "Let's see, what kind of Ball would you like?"
Ball? She shuffled around in her pockets. "Oh, I know! This one's perfect."
The sphere she took out now was dominantly white, a red stripe crossing the middle. "Now, this might feel a little weird, but it'll only work if you don't resist it, okay?"
Ditto jiggled slightly, oblivious to what she meant. It would not be the first time.
"Alright. Now hold still, I don't have quite the best aim."
Then she threw the sphere right at it. Told not to move or resist, it had no choice but to brace itself for the impact.
Then the sphere tapped its top, but gently; it did not hurt. Then it retracted, opened like Limber's did, and allowed another light to flood out.
Ditto felt itself coming undone in a way completely unlike deforming - like the very fabric of its body was unraveling. All it felt was the sensation of being pulled in... and something about it was enjoyable.
It heard a clicking sound as all went dark. Its body was still out of shape, but it could still hear and feel and - it was discovering, as in the hypnagogia that surrounded it - see. But its senses were all muffled. It shuddered.
It was told not to move or resist, so it quelled its curiosity for just long enough that its container stopped moving and it experienced, for the first time in its life, true stillness.
Then everything heaved. It was being picked up. No; thrown upwards. What was happening!? If it was in its normal body, it probably would have heaved and thrown up itself. But it did not want to think about that.
Suddenly it felt an opening, and light. It felt warm. Then it materialized, as if Transforming from nothing into a Ditto. That would take getting used to.
It blinked a few times. Yes, this was itself; its own body. And the Grace was standing in front of it.
"Good choice," she said. "Welcome to the team..."
She looked it up and down. "...Imposter."
Froakie's voice snapped it out of its flashback. "Dude, what was all that? Dreaming or something? Whatever was just goin' on in your head, I couldn't see it, you know. Spill!"
Imposter blinked back to reality. It shook its head. "Oh, it's nothing... I was just thinking... um..." Well, Froakie had told it his personal secret, and it might as well return the favor. "This... this is the place I came from before... before Grace found me. It's crazy, how much I'm remembering about it."
Froakie's eyes widened. "Oh." Then, "So wait, that means there might be Pokémon here you used to know! Wouldn't it be exciting to meet up with them again?"
Imposter's face dropped. "I-I mean, I was right when I decided to leave," it lamented. "I might have said it before, but I don't really miss them."
As if pondering the best way to continue the conversation, Froakie paused. "Well - it might be good to anyway. To at least say a proper goodbye. I don't really miss all my siblings, but - I mean - I would have wanted to say goodbye to them."
Imposter hummed. "Guess you're right, but... I mean, these aren't the nicest Pokémon you'll ever meet. Most of them don't really like people, for some reason... they wouldn't let me get close enough to ever Transform into one, not until Grace."
A moment of silence, then it spoke again: "I do miss her. I had no idea how lucky I was that she picked me, how nice of a person she is... I want to see her again, Froakie. Soon. While I'm still close to the last Gym, I should challenge it, and then I want to fly back there. She's going to be proud."
It felt awkward realizing it had said all that out loud to Froakie, knowing he would be taking it all in. But it was already out there. It just had to wait for a response.
"Well - I'm down for anything, I guess. I'd rather stay there than Coldsnow City."
"Snowbelle City?"
"Whatever."
"Come on, you weren't even close."
Froakie shook his head, then reached far down Imposter's right arm and hopped off its shoulder. "I'd like to take a look around here. Even if I don't get to meet any of your old buddies, it's still a nice place to be. Look at all the flowers..."
Imposter gazed around at the field. Wrapped up in its memories, it did not even get the chance to realize how pretty it all looked. Hesitantly it lowered itself to a sitting position, knees bent halfway in front of it and arms holding its weight backwards. It closed its eyes. There was a breeze. This was nice.
After a while it felt Froakie lean against its leg. After another while it heard him yelling.
"Hey, whatcha doin' over there? Paws off that bag!"
Imposter's eyes shot open, its gaze darting around the scene. To its left a Gothorita was rooting through its bag, tossing out balls and berries. "Uh - hey, what do you think you're-"
A voice much lower and raspier than expected for a Gothorita replied hastily. "Grahh. Got me. Guess I'll just look, a flying Diglett!"
Imposter whipped around to where the Gothorita pointed, having fallen for the obvious distraction; it whipped back to find that Froakie had not, and was chasing the Pokémon - who was clutching various balls in his hands - into the flowerbed.
"Hey, come back here with those! My friends are in there!" it cried above Froakie's angry yells. The smaller Water-Type unleashed a Hydro Pump up to the opponent's face.
As if witnessing a deformation, Gothorita's image flickered and was quickly replaced by something much larger, darker, and more menacing.
Imposter recognized the Pokémon fairly quickly, but could not recall its name. He and Froakie kept exchanging moves and insults, with Imposter sitting there in panic.
That was it. "Z-Zoroark!"
The two combatants froze and looked to it. "I-I know you. How could I forget - all those times you used your Illusions to trick me into thinking you could Transform too - what are you doing with those balls?"
Zoroark stuttered. He looked confusedly to Froakie. "What is this imbecile talking about? I'm rescuing these Pokémon from him. Humans have no right to confine and use them like that."
Imposter swallowed, then shook its head. "No, no, wait, I'm begging! You don't understand, I'm a Pokémon too! I'm-"
It decided to show him firsthand; it deformed on the spot. "I'm a Ditto."
The look of disgust on Zoroark's face could not have been more intense if he had just witnessed the digestive process of a Swalot.
"Why the heck-"
"Can I have my friends back?"
He stopped. "What-What are you going to do with them? What are you even doing, going around like a - like one of those cretins?"
"Listen, people aren't so bad," Imposter started. "I think they're real neat. They've been nothing but nice to me since the day I left this place."
Zoroark paused and slightly sneered.
"You, on the other hand," the Ditto was slowly realizing, "You never liked me at all, did you? Do you even remember all the days you'd tell me you could Transform better than I ever could - that you could turn items into other items, or even change other people? You just did that to mess with me, and whenever one of the kind old humans came along, you were hostile to them. Just like you tried to be to me, just now."
"I-I don't... I don't know what you're talking about. Just - get out of here."
"Not without my friends."
Zoroark growled. "Whatever's in these balls, they don't deserve to be carried around by some clown like you..."
Imposter sighed. "Figures you wouldn't understand. Froakie... I know you want to. Go ahead."
"Heh." Froakie laughed. "Didn't need your permission, was just waiting for the right time. And with that-"
Froakie used Hydro Pump!
The wild Zoroark fainted!
Froakie nabbed the stolen balls, bounding along back to the Ditto. "Mm. I see why you weren't thrilled about meeting anyone here. If everyone is like that, maybe we should just leave."
Imposter thought a bit. "I guess so. It's - well - I'm really sorry you had to see that."
"See what? You didn't do anything wrong. Pokémon are jerks all the time. You think I haven't seen worse? I grew up with Chesnaught."
"No, I mean, I... I don't know what came over me. I'm never like that. Never... what's the word..."
"...Angry?"
Imposter stopped. "Er, I think, yeah. It didn't feel right. Like I could have handled it more civilly, you know?"
"Hah!" The look Froakie had confused Imposter. It was too proud. "You handled that perfectly! Finally sticking up for yourself, not being such a pushover anymore. You gotta remember this. If someone's treating you badly, ya can't just let them. You tried convincing him the right way, but some people just don't listen. I won't hold it against ya. Here, take your balls and let's get outta this place. You've got a Gym badge to grab, right?"
~End of Part 8~
Imposter Fact of the Day: Serena was already going to wind up with some kind of injury as a result of the Team Flare plot, but choosing where took a bit of thought. How well the wrist works out is funny enough because that was the site of my worst injury too - same wrist and everything. It wasn't a fracture though, it was a sprain. (If you must know, I slipped on a rock that I knew was wet. On the first day of vacation. It was more annoying than painful, I'll admit.)
Double fun fact (this doesn't really have to do with the story, more the games), your rival's dad can be found in Snowbelle City. His dialogue changes depending on their gender, meaning that has to be him. So have a VW, on the house.
Oh, Imposter. Little guy grew up so fast. Erm, something about writing the flashback part has me all feelsy right now, so I'm just gonna go...