Author's Note: Zoroark illusions work different in a lot of different fics. Since it's so heavily focused on in this fic, I made a post on my tumblr explaining how illusions work in this fic. I recommend reading it since it contextualizes what Ingo is trying to do. Since this website doesn't like links, the easiest way to find it is by going to my ao3 account, finding this chapter on this story posted there, and hitting the link there.

Ingo selected Luxio as the first illusion he'd use to leave the camp.

It actually wasn't his first choice. His faded memories permitted him a glimpse of a Liepard and Ingo proceeded to fall in love with its beautiful, dark fur. The spotted markings proved to be too complicated for Ingo to copy though. It wasn't even an issue of consistency. He just couldn't do it, which was incredibly frustrating and didn't help his progress in the slightest. He wasted more time than he'd like to admit stubbornly trying to make it work.

Ingo eventually tried to go for Purrloin. It was smaller, therefore easier, and its markings were a lot less intricate. Ingo thought he could do it, he really could, but then his father caught him practicing and told him Purrloin wasn't native to Hisui. Purrloin would make a pretty bad disguise and the goal here was to make a good disguise, not a pretty illusion. So, Ingo gave up on that effort.

His sister was doing remarkably well while Ingo was trying and failing to master his own illusion. By the time Ingo checked in to see if his siblings were having any luck, she'd already gotten a pretty decent Shinx and had moved onto Luxio. Runt was still working on Shinx himself but he was doing pretty good. It was humbling to see his siblings doing a far better job than he was after Ingo had excelled from the start. Arrogance and stubbornness were the enemy, it seemed.

That was the leading reason Ingo didn't jump right into trying to disguise himself as a Luxray. He was proud but not foolish. He wanted to get out of the camp. He wasn't going to waste more time giving himself unnecessary challenges.

Still, something in the back of his mind pushed him to try Luxray. He needed to match with his siblings. That was a fact ingrained into his very being. Ingo ignored it though, as much as it pained him. As much solace as his brother and sister gave him, it was Ingo's team that he needed to get back to.

He mastered Shinx around the same time as his little brother. Their father told them that Shinx were still easy targets and Ingo found that a reasonable claim and set his sights on getting Luxio down. His sister had dabbled with Luxray a bit already but she was getting a strong enough grip on her powers that she started to play with other forms without devoting her time to master each and every individual one. That was what every Zoroark excelled at. Illusions like that were what they were meant to do.

There was some jealousy there on Ingo's part. He was the one with the most reason to master this power. He imagined Runt felt that jealousy too but he showed no sign of it and that made Ingo feel guilty. Not a good combination of emotions. At least he could hide them behind an illusion.

But eventually came the day he was permitted to leave the territory alone. Alpha wasn't thrilled about it, nor were Ingo's mother and siblings, but they had an agreement and Ingo held up his end of the deal. Taking his Luxio form, Ingo trekked toward the Highlands and started sniffing for his team.

He found Gliscor, Machamp, and Alakazam at the edge of the river running from the Celestica Trail to the Fabled Springs collecting water in large leaves and some of Ingo's canteens. It'd been the group's main source of water when Ingo was human. It was nice in a bittersweet sort of way to see that tradition continued after his passing. Ingo wasn't going to linger on those feelings though. Machamp's back was turned as he scooped water. Perfect chance to strike.

Ingo knew Alakazam sensed him. It was a weakness in his illusion, he knew, but he'd trained her Psychic powers to be some of the best and didn't think he could ever bypass them. Gliscor's sharp hearing was his main concern at the moment but a Zorua's pawsteps were light so Ingo didn't have an issue getting close. The biggest issue was jumping high enough to get on Machamp's back. He had to use a little bit of Shadow Sneak to help with that.

Ingo yowled victoriously as he landed squarely on Machamp's back, all four paws balancing neatly between his shoulder blades. Machamp cried out in surprise and jerked forward, clumsily fell face first into the river. Alakazam caught Ingo in a Psychic before he could fall in after him but Alakazam made sure he got a face full of water when Machamp began splashing around. He deserve it, he knew.

"Machamp!" Gliscor called out in concern then looked back at the Luxio on the shoreside. Ingo shook out his fur and dropped his illusion. "Ingo? Ingo!"

Gliscor launched himself toward Ingo, gathering him up in his claws and hoisting him up into a hug before Ingo even knew what was happening. He wasn't complaining though. His wagging tail told everyone just how little he was complaining. "I'm glad to see you too. It's been too long."

"Way too long," Gliscor agreed, cuddling Ingo against his cheek.

"I'm less glad after you knocked me into the river but I'm still happy to see you, boss," Machamp said as he pulled himself out of the water. He shook himself, trying to mimic what Ingo had done moments prior with little luck. "That was a good move there. Wouldn't help you in a real battle though."

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. Well, I'm here because I wanted to see you but I also want your help with something," Ingo spoke up. Gliscor set him down, sensing a more serious tone coming. "I need to get better at my illusions and I can keep practicing but there's only so much I can do that. I need to get stronger."

"You want to evolve?" Alakazam guessed, scratching her forehead with one of her spoons.

Ingo shook his head. "No. Well, yes, eventually, but not yet. I'm starting to remember a bit from before I came to Hisui–"

"That's great!"

"-and I remember a bit of this special type of training you can do to get the stats you want stronger. Like Speed and Special Attack."

"You think honing your Speed and Special Attack will help you get stronger illusions?"

Ingo nodded. "Illusions aren't moves so maybe it won't but I'm hoping…"

He trailed off, leaving a lot of words unsaid. Machamp, Gliscor, and Alakazam were sharp Pokémon. They could figure out what he wanted to do, what he was aiming for. The question was just whether or not they supported it.

"What do we need to do?" Gliscor asked, flashing his signature toothy grin.

If Ingo could smile, he would. Instead, he let his tail curl up in delight. "I don't think it's really done in Hisui. The basics of it is that battling with certain Pokémon causes you to push certain skills more and then those grow stronger. It's called EV training, I think."

"So… You fight a bunch of Eevee? Or Eevee evolutions?"

"Um, no. Well, you could but Eevee gives…" Ingo trailed off again, wracking his brain for the answer. Wherever he was from, there was some way to check. There had to be, even if he didn't remember it all that clearly. There were a lot of Pokémon, far too many for any one person to remember which ones gave which EVs. He'd studied it at some point though. Ingo was fairly sure of that. He didn't know all of them but he'd learned some of them at some point. The knowledge was in his mind somewhere. "Special Defense?"

"Not what we need," Gliscor nodded, tapping his claw on his chin. "What can we fight for Special Attack and Speed?"

"Pokémon that can be found nearby," Alakazam added. "I could Teleport us but I'd rather not."

Ingo wracked his brain. "Glaceon gives Special Attack."

Gliscor shivered. "We're not hunting down a Glaceon."

"Easy training though!"

"Maybe for you, Machamp."

"Um, Piplup I think?"

"Piplup are hard to find," Alakazam pointed out. "I remember Rei talking about how hard it was for him to catch one."

"Plus that Alpha Empoleon is never far from them," Machamp added. "I could fight the Empoleon off but I don't think it'd be very happy if you went after all the little Piplup."

"I think bird Pokémon usually give Speed," Ingo tried, glancing between his Pokémon. "There are always Starly by the Jubilife gates."

"Too far," Alakazam vetoed.

"They're easy to fight though," Gliscor argued.

"Maybe for you," Machamp huffed, crossing his arms. Fighting-types never did like birds. "Plus Ingo's a Ghost-type and Starly are Normal-type. It'd be hard for him to fight them too."

Ingo was too preoccupied in his thoughts to give Machamp a bravo for remembering his type match ups. "I think Stunky gives Speed."

"The Scarlet Bog is pretty far," Alakazam noted, "and Stunky's Dark-typing might prove a challenge for you."

"But, we do know a Stunky who lives nearby who isn't all that good at fighting," Gliscor pointed out, a mischievous glint lighting up his eye. Ingo cocked his head, not quite sure what he was getting at.

Machamp grinned and cracked his knuckles. "That precious little poof ball won't know what hit him."

Ingo suddenly understood. "We're not going after Melli's Stunky."

"We are definitely going after Melli's Stunky."

They were going after Melli's Stunky.

Ingo had been glad he found Machamp, Gliscor, and Alakazam first. They were the rascals of the group, more mischievous than the rest. They'd commit fully to helping him with whatever plan Ingo's tracks set him on, no matter how foolish. Maybe even make it more foolish. There was fun in poor-decisions, Ingo was realizing. His Pokémon agreed wholeheartedly.

The Moonview Area wasn't all that far from Lady Sneasler's den. Machamp ended up putting Ingo on his shoulder for the journey but it wasn't for long. Not long enough for Ingo to really process that he was going to participate in a Pokémon battle as, well, a Pokémon. One moment he was getting lulled into drowsiness by Machamp's even footsteps and the next he was being thrown into Lord Electrode's hollow.

"Good luck, Ingo!" Machamp called, backed by cheers from Alakazam and Gliscor, as Ingo pulled himself to his paws. That had not been a graceful landing, though he supposed it wasn't really his fault.

"A Zorua?" a familiar voice said aloud and Ingo froze. It was a human voice, not a Pokémon's cry. Ingo had been focusing on Stunky. He hadn't thought about what exactly visiting Melli's Stunky entailed. This was a man and Pokémon he'd known. Almighty Sinnoh, Melli had been his friend, or at least one of the closest things he'd had to a friend for most of his time in Hisui.

Ingo stared. He wasn't exactly sure what to do. He wasn't sure what this meant. Reuniting with his Pokémon was one thing but they were a world away from his human life. They had been before he was a Zorua. Melli was too, in a way, but he was closer to the bonds he had in the Pearl Clan and among the other humans than any Pokémon ever could be. And now, he was facing him here months after his death, completely and utterly unrecognized.

"Shoo! You- you don't belong here!" Melli stuttered, waving a hand in Ingo's direction in a way so Melli-like that Ingo had to chuckle. Stunky didn't seem to like that though and took a threatening step forward to both Ingo and Melli's surprise. "Stunky? Stunky, get back here! That Pokémon's dangerous!"

Ingo blinked a few times. Melli had spent so much time dotting after his Stunky, praising its perfection and puffiness, that Ingo had assumed it wasn't much of a battler. Assumptions weren't fact though. Had he misread Stunky? It was quite difficult to read the other Pokémon's expression. Ingo had no idea what was about to happen.

"Stun," Stunky said, wordlessly murmuring as he ambled forward. Again, Ingo blinked. Was that a translation error? He knew Pokémon could communicate with only a few syllables but he hadn't understood Stunky at all. Was he just making noises? Or was there something wrong here? Ingo didn't know enough about being a Pokémon yet to know.

Distracted by Stunky's words, or lack thereof, Ingo didn't notice Stunky turn and prepare an Acid Spray to nail him right in the face. "Ow! Hey!"

Stunky growled again and Ingo shook his head. The attack hurt but not in the same way it would if he was still a human. If he was a human, Ingo knew his eyes would be burning from the acid. Now- Well, it was hard to explain. Pokémon didn't get injured like humans. Physical injury was still possible, of course, but battles were uses and drainings of energy. Ingo's HP went down. His Special Defense too, though Ingo couldn't tell if he knew that because he could feel it or if those instincts that came from being a trainer were so deeply ingrained into him that he couldn't comprehend Acid Spray any other way.

Point was he'd lost some HP but not much. Dark versus Ghost was a bad match up for Ingo but at least he resisted the Poison moves. Now it was time for Ingo to strike. Flaring his ghostly aura, Ingo slipped into the shadows and shot forward, slamming into Stunky before quickly slinking away back to safety. Stunky… Sinnoh, Stunky looked barely affected.

Melli was fretting over his Pokémon taking a hit but Stunky looked as sturdy as ever, stoutly standing in the middle of the hollow looking as if nothing more than a sharp wind had blown through his fur. Ingo heard Gliscor muttering to Machamp above but he flatted his ears against his head, tuning out their words and focusing on his next attack. Shadow Sneak had proved fairly useless but that was Ingo's best move. He was still a pup. He didn't know many moves, let alone ones particularly useful for this battle. Snarl would weaken Stunky's future attacks but it wouldn't do much damage. Ingo was working on Swift but he'd ceased his training in favor of practicing his illusions so it wasn't all that- Illusions! Ingo could use those to his advantage.

Or at least he would if Stunky wasn't so quick to attack. He was fighting Stunky to get faster so he supposed he should've been prepared for a quick attack but Ingo had been too caught up in his thoughts to see the Night Slash coming until it was too late.

The Acid Spray had hurt in its own way but Night Slash was something totally different. Poison was poison. It hurt in a corrosive way. Ingo knew that from caring for Lady Sneasler's last couple litters of kits. But Poison-type moves, as he noted before, weren't very effective. Dark-type moves were the total opposite. Super-effective moves– and a STAB one to boot– hurt a hell of a lot more.

Stunky's paw was pretty small but the Dark energy that surrounded it was not. Claws made of energy slashed across Ingo's body, the dark power working its way into his very being and tearing into his ghostly essence. Type match ups didn't always make sense but right now, this one most definitely did. Dark energy seemed to disrupt whatever made him Ingo, or a Zorua, or whatever he was. It tore into him and then flooded his vision and left him lying in a weak little pile.

Okay, maybe those last two complaints were because he lost the battle. Alakazam grabbed him with her telekinesis almost immediately, quick to get her former trainer out of danger. Machamp grabbed him the moment he cleared the edge of the hollow and Gliscor was already squeezing Oran Berry juice into his mouth to restore some of Ingo's health, not all enough but enough to take the edge off the current condition of his body. Ingo wanted to protest but the blow left him pretty dazed. Even though he didn't like it, his Pokémon were right to try to care for him.

Ingo would've liked to say he got right back up and went back to the battle but he didn't. He didn't return the next day either. It felt a bit like he was giving up but Ingo knew he wasn't. He needed to get back to the den before his father came looking for him and never let him leave the den again. Then the next day, he had to visit Lady Sneasler and the rest of his Pokémon. He couldn't visit half his team and just ignore the rest. What kind of trainer would he be if he did that? But, when Ingo returned to his nest the following night, he knew he'd run into a rut.

"You look like you're thinking about something," Ingo's sister commented as she kicked him with her hindpaw, trying to get him to scoot over in the nest. They were getting a bit big to share. Their mother had long since returned to her own nest, no longer needing to sleep beside her pups, but the littermates hadn't yet figured out what to do about their own sleeping arrangement. Maybe something to do tomorrow. If Ingo was going to be leaving the territory more, not having his littermates in his nest would probably be the first step in being able to stay out for longer periods of time.

Runt poked Ingo's shoulder with a paw. "Come on, you can tell us."

"You're just being nosy."

"So there is something!"

Ingo snorted at his brother's triumphant tone. "It's nothing exciting. I had my first battle the other day."

Ingo's brother and sister froze.

"Not that kind of battle!" Ingo quickly clarified, waving his tail as if it could wash the scared expressions off their faces. "I was- Not all battles are how Dad says they are. They're not all for survival. This wasn't like that. Sometimes Pokémon battle for fun, sometimes they're to learn about other Pokémon, sometimes they're to get stronger."

"To get stronger?"

"You know, training. Like how we were practicing our illusions."

"Are," his sister corrected. She shouldered Runt lightly. "Just because you left doesn't mean we're not practicing."

"Are," Ingo amended with a tip of his head. Oh, how he missed his hat. If he had it, he could pull the cap over his eyes. "And I haven't stopped either! I think I'll be able to hold my illusions better if I level up a bit m- oh, um, get stronger."

"So, who'd you fight?" Runt asked eagerly, tail tip twitching in barely contained excitement.

"A Pokémon I knew from before," Ingo answered truthfully, not seeing any reason not to. It wasn't like his brother or sister would snitch to their parents or the older members of the pack. He could trust them with things like this. "I thought he would be an easy opponent. He wasn't."

"You lost?"

"Badly."

"Ah. That's too bad."

"Are you going to challenge him again?" Runt asked, putting his head down on his paws and leaning against Ingo. He was getting tired, Ingo observed. He was too but now that they'd started talking, Ingo wanted to figure this out before he fell asleep.

"I want to. I just don't know how I'd win," Ingo explained. "I only know a few moves and I don't think any of them would help much."

"Zorua don't just battle with moves," Ingo's sister reminded. "Use your illusions, snow brain."

"That's right!" Ingo yelled loudly, startling Runt and prompting his sister to slap her tail over his mouth. Ingo ducked his head and tucked his ears back sheepishly. "Right. Volume. Sorry."

His sister waved her tail dismissively. "I don't really care. But Runt and I are pretending you woke us up if Mom or Dad come sniffing around."

That was reasonable. Ingo flopped back down, snuggling back up against his little brother's flank. "I don't know how I didn't think to use my illusions."

His sister shrugged. "They're pretty new and it's not like Zorua fight much. You know what illusion you're going to use?"

Ingo frowned. "I don't know. Something not weak against Dark-type moves?"

"You said you knew him before," Runt spoke up. "Maybe someone you know he knows so he's not expecting it."

"Isn't that mean?" Ingo asked worriedly. He wasn't sure if he could hold a transformation into a human yet but using his human body to attack Stunky in front of Melli sounded cruel.

"Zorua aren't known for being nice," his sister pointed out. "Just turn into some local Starly or Bunnelby or something. Just some Pokémon he'd recognize enough to think it wouldn't attack."

Oh, that was what they were getting at. Not assuming his old identity, not yet at least. "That's actually not a bad idea."

His sister smirked. "That's why I'm the smart one. Now shut your muzzle and get some sleep. You have a Stunky to beat tomorrow."

Creating the illusion of a specific Pokémon was very different from what Ingo had practiced but it wasn't exactly difficult. The hard part was deciding who to disguise himself as. His sister's suggestion of a local Pokémon wasn't a bad one, except Ingo didn't know them well enough to make an illusion good enough to convince Stunky. He wasn't even sure if Stunky interacted with the local wild Pokémon. It wasn't exactly something he'd paid attention to before.

That narrowed down the list of Pokémon Ingo could choose from but not by much. He could easily transform into one of his own Pokémon but that seemed almost as cruel as transforming into himself. He was fairly certain Melli had visited Lady Sneasler and his team since his departure. Lady Sneasler wasn't saying anything but Ingo was pretty sure he was right. It felt wrong to take advantage of what they'd built like that.

Lady Sneasler and Lord Electrode were out for obvious reasons. That left his friends' teams. Zisu had a lot of good options but Ingo couldn't remember if Zisu and Melli were friends. He was pretty sure they weren't, which was unfortunate because they were probably the best friends he had. His best friends were supposed to get along, or at least that's what the ever-present inkling in the back of his mind was telling him. He must've had two best friends before coming to Hisui. Hopefully they were looking out for each other.

Ingo knew Rei's Pokémon far better than Akari's but the whole Liepard incident was leaving him a bit less confident. Most of Rei's Pokémon were big and the ones that weren't had unusual scents. Ingo didn't even know if scents could be masks but he definitely wasn't skilled enough to do that yet. Akari's Pokémon were a lot smaller, though she'd been getting better lately and her Pokémon were starting to evolve into their final forms. That was a problem. What if Akari's Pokémon had evolved since he last saw them? It had been some time.

Akari did have a Pikachu and Clefairy though. Those two were harder to evolve, if Ingo remembered correctly, and they were small enough he could make a convincing illusion. Now the question was which one. He knew Pikachu better but this wasn't about the perfect illusion. There was a battle to prepare for and Clefairy was the clear choice. If Stunky knew anything about battling, he'd go right for the Poison-type moves, not for the Dark-type moves. That might buy Ingo the chance he needed.

Stunky had led with a Poison-type move last time and Ingo had still lost. He swatted that thought out of his mind each time it surfaced. He had a strategy this time. Not necessarily a good one but still a strategy.

"Good luck," Akakazam told him as she lowered him over the edge of the hollow and down into the indent where Lord Electrode's home was. Gliscor and Machamp were at her side just like before hovering nervously. Ingo wished he could give them a reassuring look but he didn't even have it in him to reassure himself, let alone them. "I'll be here to pull you out if you need it."

"I won't need it," Ingo replied, trying to sound confident. He twisted his image just before he dropped into the hollow, taking Clefairy's form, and tried to get a feel for the new shape. Maybe he should've practiced a bit before this. Clefairy was bipedal and that wasn't exactly new to him but Clefairy did have a rather distinct way of movement. Plus, they were very vocal. Ingo was too but speaking in an illusion was a dead giveaway. There was probably some way to mask his voice though, right? Something about auditory illusions tickled his mind but Ingo shook the thought away. He could remember things later. Now, he had to focus on being a Clefairy.

Clefairy were light on their feet. Lucky for Ingo, so were Ghost-types. He bounced across the clearing with a sense of whimsy Ingo himself hadn't felt- well, ever. He wasn't a whimsical guy. This was quite a bit harder than Ingo thought it would be. He couldn't even smile for Sinnoh's sake. Why did he think he'd be able to pull off Clefairy's happy demeanor?

"Clefairy?" Melli called out, sounding surprised and delighted at the same time. He'd been spotted and it seemed Ingo had made the right choice choosing Clefairy. Melli, of course, was partial to Poison types but ultimately he enjoyed any Pokémon he found pretty. Clefairy fit that bill pretty well. Or, at least that was what Ingo thought until Melli frowned. "What's the matter?"

Was there something wrong with his illusion? Or was he just a bad actor? He wished he'd gotten the chance to look at his reflection in the river before coming here. Or better yet, a mirror. He had no idea if his frown translated to his illusions. That was probably something he should've asked about earlier.

"Clefairy?" Stunky asked, tipping his head and ambling a few steps forward. "Everything good?"

Not knowing what else to do, Ingo opened his mouth and used Swift, sending a stream of energy stars right in Stunky's face. Melli screamed in alarm. "Stunky! Clefairy, what-?"

Ingo didn't wait for Melli to finish. He felt guilty doing this but the tide of battle was in his favor and he desperately needed to win. He'd just keep coming back if he lost and he really didn't want to go through another streak of stubbornness right now. His sister was already getting so much farther ahead with her illusions. Ingo's training plan was taking a very different direction but he didn't want to get set back any more than he already was. Defeating Stunky would do him wonders.

Ingo jumped on Stunky. It wasn't a move, not even a Tackle, but it kept Stunky unbalanced enough for him to ready another Swift. Stunky's paws flailed blindly, trying and failing to land a Scratch or maybe a Fury Swipes, before Ingo nailed him with another Swift. It did more damage this time, Ingo could tell. It was probably just the closer range but it might've been a critical hit. It was difficult to tell when he was in the battle himself, not just standing on the sidelines.

Stunky used Acid Spray. It wasn't well-aimed, more a last-ditch move than anything, but it still worked. Again, Ingo felt the Poison hit, not hurting as much as he thought it should, and his Special Defenses drop. His illusion dropped at the contact but by this point, it didn't matter much. One more Swift right to the face and Stunky was down.

"You again!" Melli yelled, jabbing a finger in Ingo's direction. Ingo blinked up at him innocently, unable to keep his tail from wagging. He'd done it! He'd defeated Stunky! He could celebrate it later though. Hisui natives were not opposed to throwing hands with Pokémon when it came down to it and Melli looked ready to physically kick Ingo out of the hollow for what he'd done to his Stunky.

"Alakazam!" Ingo howled, running back in the direction he came from. "I won! Now get me out of here!"

Author's Note: Again, reccommend checking out that tumblr post. It explains some of my choices for Ingo's training. I don't want to make him overpowered or a metagamer but there is a reason for the training being the way that it is.