After Ash successfully won a Rivet Badge from Irene at the Ironriver City Gym, and even walked away with a new addition to his party, the group is now on their way towards Orbarrow City, site of the next Gym and even a Pokémon Pageant. However, it seems that things are getting dark out.

Ash and Vernon finished setting up the tents, pounding the pegs into the ground. They and Serena were yawning out loud, pretty exhausted after a day of travel.

"Finally, we're done," said Vernon.

"Good, I'm so tired, I could sleep through a twister," said Serena.

"Alright, I say we should sleep now," said Ash. "Time to put everyone back in their PokéBalls."

However, Serena looked over to where the Pokémon were still eating their dinner. No, they weren't tired in the slightest. They were all still wolfing down all that delicious food that Serena had made with the supplies she bought in Ironriver City.

"C'mon, guys, I think it's time to sleep," said Serena.

RotomDex floated down over the Pokémon and said, "Yeah, I don't think they're going to bed anytime soon."

"What about you, Rotom?" said Ash.

"Well, I live in a machine," said RotomDex. "I don't need sleep."

"Ugh, well, we're exhausted, so we're gonna hit the hay," said Vernon as he, Ash, and Serena walked into their tents. "Goodnight, and try not to cause any trouble while we're sleeping."

"No worries," waved RotomDex. "I promise I'll keep an eye on everyone!"

A few yards away, Team Rocket was also exhausted. Jessie and James were resting against a tree, their eyes too heavy to stay open.

"Ugh, alright, everyone, I think it's time to rest for the night," said Jessie.

"Oh, yeah, these guys aren't resting anytime soon," said Meowth. He looked over to Napiat, Choaking, Solarfly, Possneak, and Mime Jr., who weren't exactly tired. Possneak was happily tormenting everyone with jumpscares, while Mime Jr. was chuckling and helping him pull them off.

"Ugh, well, we need some sleep," said James. "I guess you'll be watching everyone, then."

"What? I ain't no babysitter!" said Meowth. Unfortunately, by then, Jessie and James were fast asleep. Meowth sighed as he looked over to see Possneak spooking Napiat into stumbling back into their food box, spilling its contents all over.

"Gak! Watch it!" said Meowth. "I hope you don't expect me to eat off the ground! C'mon, you guys, help me pick it up." The other Pokémon shrugged and began picking up the scattered food.

One by one, they brought some food to Meowth, who put it back in the basket. Mime Jr. brought him a sandwich. "Thank you, Mime Jr." Solarfly brought him a head of lettuce. "Thank you, Solarfly." Amoonguss brought him a piece of cake. "Thank you, Amoonguss."

That was when Meowth did a double take and said, "Wait, what?" He and the other Pokémon looked at the Amoonguss that had suddenly appeared in their group. "I don't recall there bein' an Amoonguss among us!" said Meowth. "The only Amoonguss I know it back at Team Rocket HQ."

The Amoonguss said nothing, but then it spat up a Stun Spore. It almost enveloped the group, but Solarfly, thinking quickly, blew the dust away with its wings. Once the dust cleared, they saw the Amoonguss hobbling over to the tree where Jessie and James were sleeping.

"Don't even think about it, pal!" Meowth said. He ran up to the Amoonguss and slashed it up with Fury Swipes. The Amoonguss fell to the ground, before it suddenly glowed white. Everyone was stunned to see it turn into a Ditto.

"A Ditto? What's a Ditto doin' here?" said Meowth. The Ditto quickly stood up and slithered away as fast as it could.

"Oh, no, you don't!" said Meowth, running after it, the other Pokémon close behind.

The heroes' Pokémon were finished eating, now laying on the ground with large bellies. "Maybe we bit off more than we could chew, hmm?" RotomDex said. The Pokémon ignored him, but then, they heard screaming within the brush nearby.

"What was that?" said RotomDex.

Pikachu walked up to him and said, "Pika, pika."

RotomDex nodded. "Yeah, we should check it out. Everyone else just stay right here."

RotomDex and Pikachu walked through the brush, looking for the source of the noise, until suddenly, Meowth ran into Pikachu and knocked it down.

"Ack! Watch where you're goin', pal!" said Meowth.

"Meowth!?" said RotomDex. "What are you doing here!?"

"I'm on the hunt for a Pokémon," said Meowth, before adding hastily, "but don't worry, it's not you."

"What Pokémon are you hunting this time?" said RotomDex suspiciously.

Suddenly, the Ditto slithered past them, and Meowth pointed at it, "That Pokémon!" Once Meowth said this, the Ditto quickly ran away as fast as it could.

"Was that a Ditto? What's it doing here?" said RotomDex.

"It was disguising itself to infiltrate our camp," Meowth explained. "But then it started attacking us! I swear, it's up to something!"

"Pika, pi!" Pikachu said suddenly, pointing towards the heroes' camp. "Pikachu! Pikachu!"

"Huh?" said RotomDex. "It went towards the camp?"

"Oh, no," said Meowth. "Don't you guys see what's happening? That Ditto about to infiltrate your camp just like it did ours!"

"What?!" said RotomDex. "Come on, let's get back there right now!"

The three of them ran back towards camp, but once they arrived, they were stunned to see that all of the heroes' Pokémon and Team Rocket's Pokémon were all standing before them, as if they had been waiting for them.

"You guys?" said Meowth. "Did anyone see the Ditto enter here?"

The Pokémon all looked confused and shook their heads. "But I know the Ditto went into this camp."

"Braixen, brai, brai," said Braixen.

"You all came together a few seconds ago?" said Meowth.

"Wait, then that means..." said RotomDex.

"One of the Pokémon standing before us..." said Meowth.

...is an imposter!? said the narrator.

Everyone actually looked around in confusion, before Meowth actually looked up at the sky, and said, "Uh, yeah, we just about to say that, Mr. Narrator."

I know, it just feels more dramatic when I, the narrator, say it.

"Yeah, whatever," said Meowth. Looking back at the Pokémon before him, he said, "Okay, look, one of you is secretly a Ditto. And that Ditto has malicious intent. And we intend to snuff it out."

"Platide, platide!" Platide said.

"'How do we know the three of you aren't the Ditto?'" said Meowth. "We all saw the Ditto walking into camp together! We're the only ones it can't be!"

"Pika!" said Pikachu.

"Char, charmor!" said Charmor.

"'How do we snuff out the imposter?'" said RotomDex. "Well, we're still working on that."

"Braixen, brai-" said Braixen.

"Okay, okay, hold up," said Meowth, before looking at the camera. "I'd rather not have to keep repeating everything you guys say just so the readers know what you're saying." He looked up at the sky again. "Hey, narrator! Can you help us out here?"

Oh, sure. I understand everyone just fine.

"Good," said Meowth. He looked back at the Pokémon, but then he noticed something. He saw that Zubat had a little bit of yellow stuff on its lip. "Say, Zubat, what's that yellow stuff on your face?"

"Bat, bat, zubat!" said Zubat. It's just mustard from that sandwich I ate.

"Looks awful powdery to me, like the Stun Spore attack the Ditto used earlier!" Meowth said. "Get him!"

Every Pokémon present then leapt onto Zubat, tackling it to the ground. "C'mon, we know it's you!" said Meowth. "Just change back right now and tell us where the real Zubat is!"

"Bat, Zubat!" I am the real Zubat!

"There must be some way we can test if someone is an imposter," said RotomDex. "There's gotta be some kind of tell!" He then paused before saying, "Wait, I got it!"

Who's that Pokémon?

Its short wings mean it cannot fly long distances. It's reckless nature causes it to stand up to even the largest of Pokémon to protect its territory.

The Pokémon, restraining a struggling Zubat, made their way to the tents, and RotomDex carefully grabbed Zubat's PokéBall from a sleeping Vernon. It then aimed the Ball at Zubat and tried recalling Zubat. It worked, and Zubat was absorbed back into the PokéBall.

"Okay, I guess Zubat was not the imposter," said RotomDex.

"Pika, pika, chu!" said Pikachu. Good, then we can let it back out now, right?

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" said Meowth. "No way! We should leave him inside. At least then there's one less Pokémon for the Ditto to impersonate. Besides, it'll be safer."

All the Pokémon reluctantly nodded, but then, Meowth looked at Floattery, who was close to the ground, and seemed to be slithering.

"Hey, Floattery, have you always slithered like that?" said Meowth.

"Float, Floattery!" said Floattery. I have no legs, that's just what it looks like!

"Then why don't you float?" said Meowth. That was when he snuck back into the tent and emerged with Floattery's PokéBall. However, he succeeded in pulling Floattery back into it. "Well, Floattery was not the imposter."

"I know what we should do," said RotomDex. "We should gather all PokéBalls, and be ready to recall everyone into them. That's how we can see who's not an imposter. The Ditto won't be absorbed into them."

After gathering all the PokéBalls from the heroes' camp, they made their way to where Jessie and James were sleeping. After gathering all those PokéBalls, RotomDex and Meowth suddenly noticed that Wobbuffet was mysteriously missing.

"Uh, guys? Did anyone see where Wobbuffet went?" said RotomDex.

"Wobbu?" came Wobbuffet's voice. Everyone turned to look at Wobbuffet standing off to the side.

"And where were you?" said RotomDex.

"Wobbu? Wobbuffet?" I thought I saw something moving in the brush. I figured it could be the Ditto, so I went and looked.

"Sounds like something an imposter would say!" said Meowth.

"At! Napiat!" said Napiat. Yeah, if you left, for all we know the Ditto could have kidnapped the real you to take your place!

"Wobbu!" What's the big idea!? What're you all turning on me for?

"I've heard enough!" Meowth whipped out Wobbuffet's PokéBall, recalling it. "Oh, okay, Wobbuffet was not the imposter."

Everyone was gathered around a small pond, giving each other suspicious looks.

"Alright, one of you is a fake," said Meowth. "And I'll snuff you out if it's the last thing I do!"

"Pika, pika!" said Pikachu. Let's be logical about this. Let's have everyone give their alibi for where they were when the Ditto went into the camp. We'll see if any of the stories contradict each other.

"Braixen, brai," said Braixen. I was trying to clean up all the food after we were done eating.

"Charmor, char," said Charmor. I was finishing off the last of the PokéPuffs.

Everyone gave an account of what they were doing when the Ditto wandered into camp. Every alibi seemed to line up, but when it came to Team Rocket's Pokémon, their alibis were just a little bit more shaky.

"How can we be sure of anything you say when you were the last ones to enter the camp?" said RotomDex.

"Charmor, char!" said Charmor. Yeah, sounds like a perfect opportunity for a Ditto to sneak in.

"Napiat, nap!" Napiat said. We all walked into camp together. We can't all be a Ditto.

"I suppose you got a point," said Meowth. Suddenly, however, he noticed a face missing: Choaking.

"Choaking? Where'd you go?" said Meowth. He rose up, Pikachu and RotomDex right behind him. They all went into the brush, and saw Choaking looking out into the distance.

"What are you doing, Choaking?" said RotomDex.

"Choaking, Choa!" said Choaking. I saw a big Pokémon out there. I think something else is about to sneak into camp.

"Sounds like something an imposter would say!" said RotomDex. Meowth quickly whipped out Choaking's PokéBall and recalled it.

"Nope, Choaking was not the imposter."

"Pika, pi?" Um, guys? Where are the others? The three turned around to see that everyone else was mysteriously absent.

"I thought they were right behind us!" said RotomDex. They all ran back to see the other Pokémon waiting for them. "Why didn't you guys follow us?"

"Braixen, brai," said Braixen. Hey, no one knew where you were trying to go.

Meowth, however, noticed the frizz on Braixen's tail. "Say, Braixen, was that always there?"

"Braixen, Braixen!" Relax, my tail just snagged on a bush!

However, everyone looked at Braixen suspiciously. "You're lookin' pretty sus to me, pal!"

"Huh?" said RotomDex.

"You know, 'suspicious'," said Meowth.

"Why not just say suspicious then?" said RotomDex.

"Never mind that!" said Meowth. "I smell an imposter!"

"I agree!" said RotomDex, pulling out Braixen's PokéBall. Braixen was recalled into its PokéBall, leaving RotomDex to say, "Well, Braixen wasn't the imposter."

Suddenly, they heard more rustling. Looking around nervously, they suddenly saw a Dingrowl emerge from the brush. It growled and prepared to use Magnet Bomb, but Pikachu quickly jumped forth and knocked it out with a Thunderbolt. However, everyone quickly heard some howling around them.

"Oh no, there's a pack of Dingrowls surrounding us now?" said RotomDex.

"Pika, pi," said Pikachu. I bet that's what Choaking saw earlier.

"Ugh, I bet those Dingrowls have the entire camp surrounded," said Meowth. "How are we supposed to get rid of them?"

"I wonder if the Ditto is one of them?" said RotomDex.

"Platide, plat!" said Platide. We have to protect our trainers! I think we'll have to split up and defeat all the Dingrowls!

"What? We can't split up!" said RotomDex. "Then we could lose track of the imposter!"

"Beat, beat, humbeat!" said Humbeat. We don't have a choice! At least this way we can see if any of the Dingrowls are the Ditto.

"Ugh, okay," said Meowth. "But everyone had better keep an eye on each other!"

Pikachu, Meowth, and RotomDex found one Dingrowl walking up to the heroes' tent, but Pikachu quickly zapped it into submission. However, it did not transform back into a Ditto, so they quickly turned around as it walked away.

Charmor, Platide, and Humbeat fought against another Dingrowl and defeated it, but it did not change either.

Lunoth and Solarfly were able to defeat another Dingrow, but it merely laid on the ground after being defeated.

Mime Jr. and Napiat took down another Dingrowl, but it did not transform either.

Eventually everyone regrouped, all saying that none of the Dingrowls turned into Dittos.

"Great, so now, we're back at square one," said Meowth.

Suddenly, RotomDex noticed something. The pattern of scales on the back of Charmor looked... off. "Hey, Charmor, what's wrong with your back?"

"Charmor, char," said Charmor. I don't know, I can't see my back.

"Someone's lookin' pretty sus to me, pal!" said Meowth.

"RotomDex quickly recalled Charmor before saying, "Well, Charmor was not the imposter."

"After all that, we can't trust anyone!" said Meowth. "You know what, forget it! RotomDex, let's just recall everyone right now!"

Oh really? Wouldn't it have been easier you guys did that from the get-go?

Meowth looked up towards the narrator and said, "We were stressed! Sometimes we forget the most obvious thing we could be doing!"

"Why didn't you suggest it?" said RotomDex.

I'm just here to translate.

RotomDex and Meowth recalled everyone exxept for Pikachu, proving none of them were the imposter.

"So, none of them were imposters?" said RotomDex.

I told you. Would have been so much easier.

"We got it already!" said Meowth. "So that means... the imposter is-"

"One of us?" said RotomDex. The two suddenly looked at Pikachu, who got into a defensive position.

"Pika?" What are you guys looking at me for?

"Well, you're the only one left who can go into one of these PokéBalls," said Meowth. "You wanna prove you're not an imposter? Get in the ball."

"Pika!" Pika cried. No way!

"Sorry, Pikachu, but we have no choice!" RotomDex aimed Pikachu's PokéBall, but Pikachu quickly dodged the beam of light and began running away.

"Come on, pal, no need to make this harder than it already is!" said Meowth, as he and RotomDex ran after Pikachu.

RotomDex and Meowth tried relentlessly to recall Pikachu into its PokéBall, but the mouse Pokémon was just to fast for them, dodging every beam of light and staying ahead of them with its superior speed. Eventually, Pikachu had disappeared into the night.

"Great, just great," said Meowth. "Pikachu's gotta be the imposter! Why else would it be so afraid to enter its PokéBall?"

"Well, Pikachu's always too afraid to enter its PokéBall," said RotomDex. "I wish we had caught it, though, just to make sure."

"Yeah, it's good that we got these PokéBalls, otherwise we'd never have narrowed it down this far."

"And to think, Pikachu's the only one who hasn't gone into its PokéBall yet."

"Well, except for us, I guess."

Once Meowth said that, thought, he and RotomDex suddenly looked at each other a bit more... suspiciously. "Yeah, because we were never captured in PokéBalls..." said RotomDex.

"So it wouldn't work on us anyway..." said Meowth.

"Which would be the perfect disguise!" they said simultaneously.

"I knew it! You were the Ditto all along!" said RotomDex, pointing accusingly.

"You knew nothing! Because it was you all along!" said Meowth.

"I bet you're just looking to Sneasel your way into my camp, hide among us, take over our group!" said RotomDex.

"Oh, but it was my group you were after!" said Meowth. "I bet you were gonna pretend to be Jessie or James next!"

Suddenly, they both had a horrible realization. "The camp!" They said simultaneously. Without another word, they ran back towards where their respective human companions were sleeping.

Both Meowth and RotomDex looked their human companions over, before they both got an idea. Taking empty PokéBalls, they tapped the buttons onto them while they were still asleep, but nothing happened. That was good, they thought, because contrary to what some idiots on the internet think, humans cannot be captured in PokéBalls.

But after that, they both sat outside their friends, looking around into the forest suspiciously.

"I can't trust anyone..." said RotomDex.

"That Ditto's still out there..." Meowth muttered.

However, by this time, their human companions had finally taken notice of all the commotion, and were waking up. Ash, Serena, and Vernon came out of their tents and saw RotomDex floating and shivering.

"It's out there... somewhere... That Ditto! It thinks it can assimilate my friends! We'll see about that!"

Suddenly, the sound of a twig breaking was heard, and RotomDex looked over to where it came from and screamed, "You! I know you're out there, Ditto!" It then took off into the forest.

Meanwhile, Jessie and James woke up to the sound of Meowth's teeth chattering, and saw him in fetal position, rocking back and forth, muttering to himself, "C'mon, Ditto, where are you! You can transform all you want! You can't hide from me!" Then, he too heard a twig snap, and yelled, "Aha! I'm coming for you!" and darted off into the woods.

All the humans who had just overheard this all collectively said one thing:

"Did he say there's a Ditto among us?"

RotomDex could not find the source of the noise, so he reluctantly went back to the camp. However, once there, he bumped into Meowth.

"You! I knew you'd return!"

"Oh, it's you! You're not gettin' a slice of me, ya hear!?"

However, they both suddenly heard some rustling. Looking over, they were stunned to see an Amoonguss dragging away a full sack from where the camp was.

"Hold it right there!" said Meowth, causing the Ditto to stop. "Just where do ya think you're going!"

"Rotom? Rotom?" called out Ash, as he, Serena, and Vernon wandered through the woods.

"There's a Ditto hiding among us?" said Serena.

"D-don't worry," said Vernon. "It can't possibly imitate us too, right?"

Serena wasn't exactly comforted by Vernon's words. In fact, as he said that, she began looking him and Ash over, looking to see if something was off.

That was when they heard more rustling in the brush. The three froze, afraid to move, until they saw Jessie and James step forth.

"Huh?" said Jessie. "Oh, it's just the twerp posse."

"Unless... one of them isn't," said James.

"What are you talking about?" said Ash.

"We know there's a Ditto out here, and it's hiding among us!" said Jessie, before pointing her finger accusingly. "Alright, which one of you is it!?"

Vernon narrowed his eyebrows before saying, "Oh, yeah? How do we know one of you isn't the Ditto in disguise?"

It's Spearow!

The Amoonguss looked at Meowth and RotomDex for the longest time before coughing up a Stun Spore attack. The two dived to the side to avoid it, but the Amoonguss began hobbling away. But before it could escape, it was struck by a stray bolt of electricity. Meowth and RotomDex looked up to see Pikachu triumphantly diving down from above, as the Amoonguss glowed white before turning back into Ditto.

"Pika, pi!" Pikachu said. You're welcome!

"Pikachu! It's you!" said RotomDex, flying up to Pikachu. "Oh, I'm so glad we caught the Ditto."

Meowth walked up to the Ditto, who was rising off the ground, grabbing and pulling it close to his face. "Alright, pal, what's the big idea!?"

"Ditto! Dit, Ditto, dit!" said the Ditto. Please don't hurt me! I didn't mean any harm! I was just so hungry and saw all the food you guys have!

"Do you have any idea what you put us through tonight!?" said Meowth. "We've been accusin' each other left and right because you decided to hide among us!"

The Ditto, however, looked confused. "Ditto, dit? Ditto?" Hiding among you? I never did such a thing. I was over by the food stashes, collecting stuff to eat.

"Wait, what?" said Meowth.

"Are you saying you were never trying to disguise yourself as one of us?" said RotomDex.

"Ditto, dit, ditto," said the Ditto. Yeah. I just wanted food. I wouldn't have wasted my time with that.

"So, wait a minute," said Meowth. "If there was never a Ditto among us..."

"Then we were accusing and attacking each other for no reason?" said RotomDex.

Yep, turns out it was your own fear and paranoia that caused all this trouble. Perhaps that was your true enemy here today.

"Oy, Mr. Narrator is right," said Meowth, pulling out his friends' PokéBalls. "I can't believe I did that to my friends."

RotomDex looked at an angry Pikachu, who was tapping his foot in annoyance. "I'm sorry, Pikachu. I shouldn't have put you through that. You were innocent all along." He pulled out his PokéBalls. "Everyone was."

RotomDex and Meowth threw the PokéBalls into the air, letting everyone back out. "Uh, hey guys," said Meowth, rubbing the back of his neck. "We kinda owe you an apology. There never was a Ditto hiding among us. But we let our own paranoia get the better of us."

"Yeah, but we never should have hurt you guys the way we did," said RotomDex. "Can you ever forgive us?"

The Pokémon all looked at each other, before nodded towards Meowth and RotomDex. Sure, we can.

"Ah, what a relief," said Meowth. "I'm glad all that's over."

Suddenly, they could hear a lot of yelling, and looked over to where it was coming from. The Pokémon walked towards the noise, and saw their human companions in a heated discussion.

"I think you might be the Ditto!" said Ash.

"Oh, yeah? You're looking pretty sus to me, twerp!" said Jessie.

"They all look sus to me!" said James.

"Sounds like something an imposter would say!" said Vernon.

"Or is that what an imposter would say, Vernon!" said Serena.

"Oh no, what have we done?" said RotomDex.

Suddenly, the humans saw a tall, black-haired man walk between them. They looked on in confusion before the man got a mysterious grin on his face, and glowed white before turning back into a Ditto. They all screamed in shock as the Ditto couldn't help but chuckle to itself.

Well, wasn't this an interesting night? More to come...

The Ditto suddenly invaded the camera and said, "Ditto, dit, ditto!"

As the journey continues!

TO BE CONTINUED...