Here's the next chapter, I hope you'll enjoy it.
Reviews for A Maid For A Trade:
pokemonking0924 - Thank you so much, I'm glad that you enjoyed it. In the future, maybe when we get closer to the Indigo Plateau, I'll expand on Thackery's backstory and what he got up to on his journey. Now that I'm thinking about it, I might add some new rivals for Charles to battle so the lead up to the tournament will be greater. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter.
Djinn - Thanks. I really liked hopip in the games and I thought it would be fitting for Leaf and, of course, I had to write about a stufful; those little guys are cute. I wonder what would happen when the team come across a bewear, however. Thanks for reading.
SkullGreymonX - That's so kind, thanks so much. The pyroar was my favourite as well and, in fact, I did based the joke on the scene in Jumanji. Thanks for reading.
Kunoichi69 - She sure is; It's a shame she never turned up in the anime (well, not to my knowledge anyway) I think she would be a cool character. Now her and Uku are best friends and will get stronger together as they face off against other gym challengers. Oh and you're right, Charles is definitely going to have nightmares about Titan. Thanks for reading and I hope you'll enjoy the next chapter.
Sonic07 - I know what you mean. Hopefully, his miming skills would improve at least a little throughout the journey. You're right about Uku, there's nothing greater for a hopip than riding the breeze and soaring across the skies. Being locked in a giant menagerie all the time would be awful. Thanks so much for reading and I hope you'll enjoy this chapter.
Guest2 - Leaf's pranks on her friends and the other residents of Pallet Town are notorious. Let's just say that Charles, Benny and Flo learned early on to always take what she said with a pinch of salt. Titan was one of favourites as well as being one of the hardest to write for. It takes time to censor all those curses. Thanks for reading.
NeoReviewer - Yes. I will have to see about getting another chapter out before the New Year. I still have other stories that are in desperate need of updating so it's depends on how well that goes. Thanks for reading and I hope you'll enjoy this chapter.
Guest - Aha! You will have to read and find out. I hope you'll enjoy it.
wellingtonlucas282 - No problem, thanks so much for reading
HalloweenSpirit - You're wish is my command. I hope you enjoyed it.
Hypnotist - Haha! I hope that you liked what I written in the last chapter.
Spedyalarm - [Falls of chair] ...o-okay, I see what I can do. Please don't shout at me.
Reviews for the Halloween Special:
Pokemonking0924 - Thank you so much, I'm glad that you enjoyed it. I also hope you had a happy Halloween as well. A Captain Marvel costume does suit her, so… yeah, why not? At least it's better than dressing up as Team Rocket.
Djinn - Thanks so much. I heard that they had great fun and Alice was able to fill up three sacks by the end of the night.
Kunoichi69 - Thanks. If I have the time then, sure, I'll see if I can write a Christmas special this year. Thanks for pointing out the mistake. My autocorrect can be bad at times. I can always add a bisharp to the Potential Pokemon list…actually, I like the idea. So, I'm going to do it now. Thanks for reading.
SkullGreymonX - Flo, unfortunately, had to suffer for her art. I just know that her mother wasn't too thrilled about that when she heard out.
I guess Alette could have been dressed up as Luna since there's the moon connection. All you had to was put her in a cat costume and then she would have the perfect costume. Thanks so much for reading and I hope you'll enjoy the next chapter.
Lovely - Hmm, there might be probably. Let me check…oh! Apparently, there are 63 Pokemon/Sailor Moon crossover stories. Who know.
FanSuperAnime - Thanks so much and Happy Halloween to you too...although, it's closer to Thanksgiving now.
Guest2 - Good idea. I heard there's a new game coming up so there's a chance I can base it off that. I also loved the movie as well. Thanks for reading.
Guest - Well, that's a shame, but thank you for trying anyway.
Chapter 41: The Imitation Game
Kanto Prison
Somewhere in eastern Kanto, inside a prison of the regions worst poachers, Pokemon hunters, and scammers were locked up, Officer Jones wandered down the hallway towards Cell Block 9 and whistled to himself. He stepped into the lobby that led into the cells and spotted his fellow officer Tom sat at his desk, reading a book with his feet up. As soon as Tom noticed him, he yelped in surprise, hid the book under the desk, leaned back in his chair and started to snore, pretending that he was asleep.
"You think sleeping on the job is any better than goofing off!?" Jones shouted at him.
Tom dropped his act and smiled sheepishly, "Oh right. Sorry, panicked there. Anyway, what's new?"
Jones rolled his eyes, "I came down here to see how are things. I've been busy ever since I got promoted so I thought I come down from the main office for a visit."
"Well, nothing much is going on," Tom shrugged, "It's quite boring. The prisoners don't do a lot."
"That's not unusual…considering this is a prison and everything. None of them have…tried escaping have they?"
"Aww, that only happened once and I said I was sorry," Tom complained, "I just get a little confused sometimes that's all."
Jones rolled his eyes, "Fine, fine. We'll I better head back-"
"Oh, there was one thing," Tom said interrupting him, "When you next see the cleaner, can you tell her when she's going to return my pokeballs."
…
…
…
"…The what?"
"The cleaner," Tom repeated, "She came by a little while ago and offered to clean my pokeballs for me down in the laundry room. She's a very nice lady."
Jones stared at him for what felt like hours before he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as he felt a migraine forming, "Tom…what did this cleaner look like?"
"Oh…err…" the guard hummed as he scattered his chin," She was pretty tall, shoulder length brownish white hair, wore an orange jumpsuit, pretty blue eyes, stubble on her chin-"
"Stubble?"
"Yeah, I know, but I thought it was impolite to point it out," Tom said, "She also had a scar on her chin and she was quite muscular. Why do you ask?"
"Because Tom," Jones sighed, "we don't have a cleaner."
"…are you sure?"
"Yes!" he shouted at him, "Even if we did, we would at least let the prisoners out in the exercise yard first! We don't just let members of the public just go in there without the right precautions!"he yelled before he placed a hand over his face and moaned tiredly, "Okay, answer me this. Did you see this 'cleaner' enter into the cell block?"
"Now that you mention it," Tom said, his eyebrows raised in realisation, "No, she didn't. I just found her locked away in the cell block. I thought to myself that that was no place for a six foot, muscular, evil-looking young lady and let her out instantly."
Jones raised an inquisitive eyebrow, "You mentioned her hair earlier…did it, by any chance, have greyish tassels, floppy, slightly damp and looked like the head of mop?"
"Huh!? How did you know?"
"And who was the actual person on cleaning duty?"
"Leslie Humperdinck, I think. Although, he's been awfully quiet for a while now," he said as he stroked his chin, "Very suspicious. I wonder what's he planning."
Jones groaned and reached for his radio, "Warden, Jones here. We have an escaped convict. I repeat. We have an escaped convict. Leslie Humperdinck has escaped prison!" he informed in deadly serious tone.
Once again, our heroes greatest foe, Leslie Humperdinck (A.K.A Striker; A.K.A Crusher) has escaped his confinements in order to enact his revenge. Charles, Benny, Flo and Alice have no idea of his nefarious plans and his sinister wit that he will spring on them when they least expect.
Will they persevere…or will they fall into the dastardly villain's trap.
…
…
…
"So, should we look for him after lunch?" Tom suggested.
"YOU'RE FIRED!"
Country Path, South Eastern Kanto
"Use Horn Attack, Hoss!" Charles commanded.
The tauros bellowed and charged at his opponent and swung his horns at him, but the Pokemon nimbly dodged out of the way by jumping back a few meters. It put up its furry fists and growled confidently, goading them to do better in their battle.
After leaving Leaf a couple of days ago with her new hoppip Uku, the team were along the coast path of south eastern Kanto and were heading towards Grandpa Canyon to the north. However, their morning was interrupted by one troublesome Pokemon.
It was tall bipedal Pokemon with yellow fur with patches of black fur that formed a zig zag pattern, resembling a thunderbolt, across its body. Its feet had two toes with sharp nails at the end of them and its strong yellow black striped arms ended in large human-like hands; it had a yellow and black ring tail and a flat head which had two antennae, sharp eyes and a large wide maw which displayed two sharp teeth.
As Charles and Hoss opposed the the Pokemon, Alice and Benny, who was perched on her shoulder watched on from few meters back while Flo flicked through the pages of her Pokemon book. Finally finding the right page, she showed it to her friends.
"I've got it. It's an electrabuzz. An Electric type Pokemon 'Normally found near power plants, they can wander away and cause major blackouts in cities'," she told them as she read out its entry.
"Well, we're nowhere near any power plants and the next city is at least eight hours away," Alice remarked as she scratched her head, "What's it doing out here? And why did it attack us?"
"Hmm, it also says that they've been known to scale trees and wait for thunderstorms," Flo added, "Maybe it's a little irritated because of the nice weather the area has been having lately."
"That's not it," Charles called back, not taking his eyes of his opponent, "He just wants to battle us. I think we've wondered into his turf."
("You got that right, punk,") the electrabuzz berated with a toothy grin, ("This is my turf and nobody passes through here without my permission.")
("You scoundrel,") Hoss huffed as he scraped his hood against the ground, ("This is a public path. It belongs to everybody, you ruddy rapscallion.")
("That's where you're wrong, punk!") the electrabuzz roared as he charged at them.
He raised his powerful and aimed a Thunder Punch at Hoss' head.
"Hoss! Dodge it!" Charles commanded before the tauros moved his head to get out of the way, "Now use Zen Headbutt!"
Using his failed attempt against him, Hoss reared back his head and slammed it into the electrabuzz stomach, sending him back a few steps. The electrabuzz growled in anger before he leapt into the air and slammed his hands onto the ground; as soon as he landed, a wave of electricity shot out from his fur and headed straight for Hoss, making Charles wince.
'Damn, a Shock Wave. There's no way of avoiding that…unless,' he thought before he called, "Hoss slam your hooves into the ground until they're buried. You have to take the hit, I'm afraid."
("Right o!") Hoss mooed before he did what he ordered and slammed his hooves into the ground.
The Shock Wave hit him hard, causing him to cringe in pain and grit his teeth tightly. Thankfully, most of the electrical discharge flowed through his body and into the ground via his hooves, meaning that less damage was done. Once the attack was over, he stumbled backwards and shook his head to relieve himself of the remaining electrical charge.
"Hoss are you alright? Can you still fight?" Charles called out to him.
The tauros shuddered slightly before he scraped the ground with his hoof and snorted in determination.
("A puny thing like that…won't take me down, my boy. Tally oh!") Hoss proclaimed.
("He's sure fired up,") Benny remarked with a small smile, ("Say what you like about him, but he does have that fighting spirit.")
Charles smirked and nodded in understanding, "Good to hear. Use Rock Tomb!"
Hoss bellowed his raised his front legs and slammed them down in the ground. The ground around him ruptured and burst which led all the way towards the surprise electrabuzz. The Pokemon tried to leap away but when suddenly the ground around him burst and trapped him up to his shoulders, trapping him in a layer of stone. Using the opportunity, Charles gave his final command.
"Finish him off with Assurance!"
The tauros mooed and charged head first towards the trapped electrabuzz. The Pokemon tried to break free, but it wasn't quick enough as Hoss slammed his horn head into his stomach, sending him flying off his feet and land on the ground a few meters away. The electrabuzz groaned in pain and tried to get up…but flopped down with swirls in his eyes.
He was completely defeated.
Charles sighed in relief and wiped his brow, happy that he managed to finally defeat the troublesome Pokemon. He walked over and gently petted Hoss' pelt with a smile on his face.
"Thank you, Hoss. You fought really well," he told him as he took his pokeball out, "Go and rest for now," he said before he returned him to the pokeball.
Flo jogged over to the fallen Pokemon and whipped out her medical bag from her rucksack in order to tend to the Pokemon's wounds.
"Well done. You fought really well," she told the Pokemon soothingly like any good nurse would, "Now let's get you patched up and you can-"
She was about to start her treatment when suddenly the electrabuzz reached up and slammed her arm away and jumped onto his feet.
("Don't touch me, you damn human!") he snarled at her, making Flo retreat back.
Charles and Alice immediately stepped in front of her and glared down at the Pokemon.
"Hey! What was that for?" Alice questioned sternly, "She was trying to help you."
("Bah! I don't need any help! I know you cheated! I'm the boss around these parts and nobody beats me!")
Benny rolled his eyes, ("Stop being such a sore loser and let us mend your injuries.")
The electrabuzz growled at him before he half-marched, half-limped away back into the forest; grumbling bitterly to himself all the way. The team watched him leave before they exchanged unsure looks with one another.
"Well, I guess some Pokemon are just too stubborn," Charles muttered, "Are you alright Flo?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," she told him with a concerned frown, "Never had a Pokemon deny my treatment before."
"Sorry about that."
"It's fine."
Benny's ears twitched slightly as he heard something from the long grass next to the path. Curious, he leapt down from Alice's shoulder and scampered over to where he heard the noise and listened intently. He heard nothing at first, only just the swaying of the long grass, when suddenly he heard something shooting towards him.
He leapt out of the way before a pokeball, that shot out of the long grass, could hit, sailing over his head by a few centimetres. He gulped at how close he was before he heard somebody come crashing out of the long grass and leap on top of him.
"Got you!" the figure shouted as they jumped on him and picked him up, holding him tightly to their chest, "I finally got you!"
The figure, who had currently captured, Benny was a young girl around their age with long green hair which was tied up in two ponytails, brown eyes, thick green eyebrows and fair skin. She wore a pair of knee-length jean shorts and a red t-shirt with a yellow star on it.
The mysterious girl twirled around and whooped in joy, celebrating the capture of the pikachu.
"I've got you! I've got you! I've got you! I've got you! I've-"
"Ahem!"
"Eh?" she uttered, she stopped as she finally noticed the others glaring at her, "Oh…sorry. Didn't see you. How can I help?"
"Well, first of all, you can let go of my brother?" Charles asked, pointing at the struggling Benny.
"Your brother?" she questioned in confusion as she looked down at the Pokemon.
"Yes, that pikachu is my brother."
The girl blinked blankly at him before she smiled at him, "Oh, this isn't a pikachu," she told him as she held him up, "Easy mistake to make. I don't blame you."
"No. I think you're mistaken. That's a pikachu."
"Nope. Pikachu's fur is yellow while this one clearly has darker fur," she explained, "They may look similar, but this one here is a ditto. They can transform into any Pokemon including their appearance, their speech and their-"
BZZZZZZT!
Tired of being handled, Benny shocked the girl with his electricity; making her yelp in pain and her hair to stand up straight as her muscles spasmed. Once it was over, the girl coughed smoked and winced in agony.
"…and…their…abilities," she finished before she shook off their pain, "There's no doubt about it. This is definitely a-"
"Ditto!"
She stopped at the squeaky cry, her eyes widening in shock. They all turned back to the long grass to find a rather unusual looking Pokemon. It was light blue, amorphous blob with two beady eyes and a thin mouth that was curled up in a whimper as it quivered in fear. The girl stared at the Pokemon and then back at Benny and then back at the Pokemon, her eyes widening in realisation.
"Wait!" she cried out.
But it was too late, the Pokemon squeaked in fear and shot into the long grass again, disappearing from view in an instant. The girl's jaw dropped in disbelief at it running away and released an annoyed groan as she bowed her head. Sadly, she passed Benny back over to Charles and sighed wearily.
"Of course, I would run into another shiny Pokemon," she moaned, "Just my luck."
Copycat Mansion
A little while later, the girl, who introduced herself as Duplica, invited them all to her home as a way of apologising for her earlier behaviour. Her house, to their surprise, was a large wooden mansion in the middle of a field not too far away from the main path. It was too big for just one person to live in, but, as they entered it, they found that it also contained an auditorium and entire dressing room filled with costume of all sorts. It was warm and cosy inside the sitting area that she had built herself at the back of the mansion; they were sat at a coffee table and, while they had the comfy sofa, Duplica rushed around to set up a tea set.
"…so you're Ash's, Misty's and Brock's friends. They came to my house a few days ago. It's so nice to meet you all. Again, I'm really sorry about the mix up earlier," Duplica sadly said as she offered them all cups of tea.
"It's fine. You really don't have to keep apologising," Charles said as he took the tea, "Thank you so much for inviting us to your house."
He reached down and petted a Pokemon which looked similar from the one before, but instead of it being blue, it was purplish pink. It giggled happily at his petting and melted into his lap with a content purr. Charles used the opportunity to scan it with his pokedex.
Ditto: It's capable of copying an enemy's genetic code to instantly transform itself into a duplicate of the enemy.
"Interesting. I never met a ditto before," he said to himself, "They feel like a water balloon."
"This house is pretty big," Alice observed, "Is this all yours?"
"Well, it's technically owned by my grandpa," she said as she sat on a wooden chair across from them, "He used it to put on plays and musical acts back in the day. But ever since he retired from show business, it became a little run down. Ditto and I have been coming here every weekend to spruce it up a little and now it almost looks back to what it used to be. Then we'll put on a show for anybody who's passing by."
"Oh, so you're a performer."
Duplica grinned proudly at that, "Why of course. We are masters of imitation. We can impersonate any Pokemon or person. You name it, we'll copy it," she declared before she stood up, "Watch this."
She ran out of the sitting room, followed closely by her ditto as it leapt off his lap, leaving the team alone to wonder what was going on. Suddenly, to their surprise, a person stepped inside, but it wasn't Duplica, but another Flo. She had them same hair, the same clothes, the same everything. If it wasn't for the unusual large eyebrows, it would have been spitting image of her. Besides her was a chansey which they had never seen before; although, something in the way it acted, gave Charles the idea that it actually her ditto.
"Hello, my name is Flo. I'm going to be a nurse just like my mother and my aunts," she greeted with a charming smile before she ran back out of the room.
It wasn't until a few seconds later that she returned wearing clothes that looked just liked Charles. Her ditto now having transformed into a non-shiny pikachu on her shoulder.
"The name's Charles and I'm going to be a Pokemon master!"
("That's right!") the ditto chirped before she ran back out of the room again.
She returned once again just as quickly now dressed up as Alice and with ditto having transformed into a growlithe.
"And I'm Alice. No crime goes unpunished when I'm around," she declared with a thumbs up.
("Let's catch some crooks,") the ditto giggled before it began to morph back into its original form.
The team laughed and applauded their small act.
"Impressive," Flo said, "So, you can initiate anybody."
"Any person and any Pokemon," Duplica grinned proudly, "Ditto and I am be anything with a few costume changes, a few wigs and a touch of make up," she told the before she sheepishly rubbed her arm, "Although, getting the height is a little difficult. Especially for you, Alice. It's funny, really. I've got plenty off equipment to make me look taller, but nothing to make me shorter."
"Alright! Listen here, eyebrows!" Alice shouted before Charles reached over and grabbed her before she could pounce.
Flo chuckled awkwardly and decided to move the conversation along, "Anyway, so why do you need that shiny ditto? Looks like you've already got a pretty good show on."
"I guess we do," she said before she sighed and slumped forwards, "However…because of a few problems with ditto and his transformations, we haven't been getting many people coming here like we used to," she said as the ditto whined sadly, "We needed something that could draw the crowds back; something unique and spectacular that'll knock the socks off even the harshest critic. I was walking through the forest, trying to figure out what we could do, when suddenly I found the shiny ditto. I couldn't believe it! That was exactly what we were looking for. If a ditto can transform into any Pokemon then surely a shiny ditto could turn into any shiny Pokemon! That would get everybody's attention. The only place when you can see any shiny Pokemon in a split second. That would be spectacular!" she proclaimed as pumped her fists in their air.
"…But you haven't captured them yet."
Duplica physically deflated as tears began to pour from her eyes, "No. They are…elusive. No matter how many pokeballs I throw or sneak attacks I spring on them, they always manage to escape. I'm starting to run low on pokeballs and I don't have enough money or time to keep this up for long," she said before she slumped in her chair, "I only just need one show. That's all."
The team shared a look as they watched Duplica bow her head in depression, her ditto rubbing its body against her leg comfortingly. Eventually, they all silently agreed on what to do.
"Tell you what," Flo said, "maybe all you need is a different approach."
Duplica perked her head up at that, "Different approach?"
"Yeah, it's clear that this ditto is having trouble connecting with humans," Charles hummed, "So, maybe we should try and find them one more time and, instead of capturing them, we'll try talking to them. Take it slow and steady."
"Slow and steady," Duplica repeated with a frown, "Well…I guess we can try that," she said before a smile broke across her face, "Alright, let's do it!"
"Great," Alice said before she pulled her map out of her rucksack, "Now where should we start looking?"
However, unknown to them, a shadowy figure was spying on them through a nearby window; keeping his eyes focused on the team while he listened in on the conversation.
"A shiny ditto, huh?" Leslie Humperdinck whispered to himself as a cruel grin cross his face, "That sounds valuable. Definitely more valuable then any of their Pokemon. All I have to do is is follow them and then it before they can," he said before he sneered, "But I can't battle all of them. I only managed to get a couple Pokemon from that stupid guard while they have eighteen all together and that's not including that pikachu," he spat in annoyance, "How am I going to do that?"
("Damn humans! I want them out of my territory!")
Leslie raised an eyebrow curiously at the angry muttering of a Pokemon. He looked around and was surprised to see an very annoyed electrabuzz peeking through the window right next to his, glaring at his targets furiously.
("If only there's a way I can avenge my pride,") he snarled as his yellow fur began to spark in irritation.
The hunter stared at him for a few seconds before he suddenly had an idea, "Hey," he called to the Pokemon, making the electrabuzz look around in sunrise, "You hate those brats as well, don't you?"
The electrabuzz stared at him in confusion before he gave a definite nod.
Leslie grinned, "Well, how about this…"
Forest
An hour later, the team were trekking through the forest in search for the shiny ditto; they looked through the bushes, searched in the high trees, checked under rocks and beside streams; Charles even asked a few local Pokemon if they know of its whereabouts. Sadly, they have found no sign or trace of the Pokemon, much to Duplica's concern. They watched as the girl, along with her ditto on her head, stared down at the ground miserably as she dragged her feet on the ground; Charles frowned in worry and patted her shoulder reassuringly.
"Hey, don't worry. We'll find them. Maybe if we spread out the search party a little more-"
"It's no use!" Duplica suddenly shouted as she stamped her foot on the ground, "I've been searching for them for days! Why did I think that I could do this!? It's like looking for a needle in a haystack…or a shiny ditto in a…in a…in a forest or literally anywhere!"
Charles took a step back from her in surprise while Duplica had a miniature tantrum; the ditto on her head almost falling off by her flailing. Flo sighed and rubbed the side of her head in irritation.
"Well, Duplica, you have to admit that you've set the bar pretty high," she told her.
"Flo," Alice lightly scolded as Duplica slumped in misery.
"I'm right, though. I mean, it's already pretty rare to find any shiny Pokemon, but a shiny Pokemon that can shape-shift into any Pokemon," she said as she crossed her arms in front of her, "They could be anyway. They could have transformed in to pidgey and flew away or turned into a diglett and hid underground or that ditto over there and…"
…
…
…
"HUH!?"
They snapped their head to the right and saw, to their shock, the shiny ditto underneath a bush, looking at them from its hiding place. The shiny ditto squeaked at being discovered and was about to make their escape when Duplica called out to them.
"No wait!"
The shiny ditto stopped and turned their face back at her, shyness and concern evident in its body movement. She was about to approach them when Charles put a hand on her shoulder and whispered to her."
"Remember what we told you. Slow and steady."
"Got it," she said before she slowly approached them and got onto her knees to make herself look less intimidating and began talking to them in a gentle voice, "I'm not going to hurt you, okay? My name is Duplica and this is Ditto," she greeted while her ditto waved a blobby part of its body at them in greeting, "I'm sorry if I'm being scaring you for the past few days. We're both entertainers, you see, and we would love it if you can join our troupe. I never met such a special Pokemon like you…"
("They're not that impressive,") Ditto muttered in jealousy from on her head.
("That's rich coming from the living blob,") Benny quipped with a roll of his eyes.
"…and I feel that you would an essential part. All you have to do is turn into different shiny Pokemon. I'll take care of you, provide you with food, shelter and everything you need. I promise you it'll be fun. What do you say?"
The shiny ditto quivered slightly shyly as they thought about what she, ("W-well…")
Suddenly, to their shock, a net flew past Duplica and hit the shiny ditto, sending the Pokemon back a few feet as it got tangled up in the mesh. Duplica gasped in horror while the others cried out in shock as they tried to figure out where it had come from. However, a very familiar evil chuckle alerted them of who the culprit was.
"Well, well, well. We meet again, you stupid brats," the Pokemon hunter proclaimed as he leapt out of the bushes with a net launcher in his hands, grinning menacingly down at them, "Did you miss me?"
"Leslie!" they shouted in shock.
"Leslie?" Duplica uttered in confusion.
"Don't call me that!" he shouted at them, "The name's Biker now! So don't you forget it!"
They sweat dropped at that, "Honestly, these nicknames are getting worse," Flo muttered. "He doesn't even have a bike on him."
Duplica growled in anger and stepped up to him, "What are you doing!? Release them now!"
"No can do, eyebrow brat," he chuckled, earning a snarl from her, "I wouldn't be much of a hunter if I didn't hunt Pokemon, right? Thanks so much for leading me to it. A shiny ditto is gong to fetch me a pretty penny."
"Why you-"
Before she could do anything, an electrabuzz leapt from the bushes in front of her and roared threateningly. She reeled back; almost tripping over how own feet if Alice and Charles didn't catch her. The electric Pokemon chuckled cruelly at them as it flexed its arms, its fur crackling with yellow electricity.
"Hey, it's you!" Flo pointed out, "You're the Pokemon from earlier."
("What are you doing?") Benny cried out as his cheeks sparked with electricity.
The electrabuzz sneered at them and pointed an accusatory finger, ("You humans humiliated me. So, I've come here for payback and to kick you guys out of my territory by any means necessary.")
"He's still mad about earlier," Charles translated, "He wants us out of territory and so he's working with Leslie."
"It's Biker!" Leslie yelled, "Now, unless you guys want to be fried to a crisp, you'll hand over that Pokemon."
("That's right!") the electrabuzz cackled. However, as his eyes happened to drift towards the ditto, he quickly noticed that it was gone, leaving only an empty net behind, ("Damn it! It got away!") he yelled as he pointed to the empty net.
At his cries and pointing, the others immediately noticed as well. When they weren't looking the shiny ditto had shrunk down to the size of a Pokemon who could slip through the net and made their getaway.
"Oh no! Ditto!" Duplica cried out while Leslie growled in anger.
"Damn!" he muttered before he turned to the electrabuzz, "Let's go after it."
("Right!")
They were about to run after them when Charles got in their path and threw a pokeball into the and released Ichigo.
"Oh no you don't," he said as he the tyrogue and Benny prepared for battle, "You're not going anywhere. Alice, Flo, Duplica; you guys go on and make sure ditto is safe while I deal with this guy."
"Right. Let's go," Flo agreed before she and the others ran after the direction they think the ditto ran towards.
"Electrabuzz. Don't let that ditto get away," Leslie snarled as he pulled out a pokeball from his pocket, "I deal with this little punk."
("You got it,") the electrabuzz said before he leapt into the forest before Charles could do anything.
Leslie opened the pokeball in his hand and released a growlithe on to the ground before him. The growlithe looked around in confusion, wondering why he was no longer in the prison anymore, but his training started to kick in as he stood to attention.
("Growlithe No. 1113120181. Reporting for duty, sir!") the growlithe barked as he got into a battle stance.
"Now," Leslie growled as he cracked his knuckles, "Time to to teach you a lesson."
"As if you've got anything of value to teach me anything," Charles replied as he got ready for battle.
Somewhere In The Forest
Alice, Flo and Deplica, with her ditto still on her head, tore thought the thick forest as they searched for the shiny ditto; looking high and low for any sign of them and any potential hiding places that they could conceal themselves under. Flo frowned as she scoured the tree line as she ran before she jumped over a root that stuck out from the ground and made a displeased hum.
"I can't see them anywhere. This is exactly the same problem we had earlier but now we have a Pokemon hunter to deal with," she said.
"We have to keep on trying," Alice told her, "We can't let Leslie get his hands on them."
"Who is this Leslie anyway?" Duplica questioned, "And why does he want ditto?"
Alice shook her head in annoyance, "He's a Pokemon hunter. He captures Pokemon and sells them to others. He's tried to steal our Pokemon twice now."
"That's awful," Duplica cried as she ran a bit faster, "I can't let him get to them. We need to hurry," she cried before she came to a sudden halt, "Wait a minute," she said as she spotted something up in a nearby tree, "That pidgey up there. Does it look strange to you."
Flo and Alice turned as well and saw that she was right. Perched on a branch a few feet above their heads was a pidgey, but instead of it having brown and white feathers, like usually pidgeys have, they were tinted slightly yellow and it's beak was a lighter shade. They stared at the pidgey while the Pokemon gulped, looked away and began chirping as if it was trying to be nonchalant, as if it was pretending to act normal. They blinked blankly at it before they shared a look.
"What are the chances that this is just a shiny pidgey trying to live its life?" Flo asked.
"According to what I read, one in six hundred and fifty seven," Duplica replied, using her knowledge of shiny Pokemon that she had accumulated over the past through days for good use.
"And what are the chances that this is the shiny ditto that we have been trying to find?" Alice asked.
"I mean...it's possible," Duplica said as she slowly approached the tree, "Ditto?"
The shiny 'pidgey' looked down at her but suddenly snapped its head away as if remembering that it was supposed to be hidden.
("It's them,") her ditto said from atop of her head, ("I can tell.")
("No, you can't,") the 'pidgey' said before it yelped and looked away once more.
"There's no reason to be afraid. We're here to help yo-"
"Duplica! Watch out!"
First she heard the crackle of electricity and then something zip past her head and slam against the trunk of a tree, causing her to yelp and leap back. The electrabuzz, having it used its fist to strike the tree, grinned savagely at them. The force of the punch unexpected punch loosened the grip of the 'pidgey' and made it stumble on its perch before it eventually slipped and fell, landing perfectly in the electrabuzz's hand. The electric Pokemon tightened its grip and took off into the forest before they could do anything.
"HEY!" Duplica cried as she and the other two ran after him, "COME BACK HERE!
The electrabuzz cackled gleefully at his catch that was struggling in the palm of his hand, ("Got ye! You little whelp! Now you're coming with me!")
The 'pidgey' squawked and cried as it tried to get out of his hand. Seeing no way of getting out, they tried the next best thing.
("HUh?") the electrabuzz cried as, suddenly, the 'pidgey' began to glow brightly.
It began to morph and move, getting bigger and bigger until the electrabuzz could no longer hold on to it. Before he knew it, his body grew round and squishy and two tenacles began to grow from the base of their body; the electric Pokemon cried out as it the shiny ditto turned into a 'tentacool' with a purple body and blue spheres on the top of its head and slipped out of its grasp and jumped to the ground. Before it could hit the ground, the 'tentacool' began to glow again and grew smaller with four small legs and a curly tail; transforming into a 'ratatta' with golden fur. As soon as the 'rattata' landed, it scampered into the bushes and disappeared in a second.
("That little-") the electrabuzz spat before it took off in the direction it went of to.
Flo, Alice and Duplica saw what happened and ground to a halt as they watched the electrabuzz take off into the forest.
"Thank goodness, they got away," Alice sighed."
"It's still not over yet," Flo said, "Let's go!"
The three and the ditto took off after the electrabuzz, passing through thick bushes and long grass as they went.
"I hope they're alright," Duplica said in concern.
"Don't worry," Alice told her, "Now that we know that any shiny Pokemon we come across is almost certainly going to be the ditto, finding them would be much easier."
"...Well...not necessarily," Duplica replied.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, from what I read, that there are some Pokemon who look very...very similar to to their shiny counterparts," she informed them, "But that's really one Pokemon in Kanto like that."
"W-wait! What if we run into them?" Flo cried.
"Don't worry," Duplica said, "I mean, what are the chances that we will run into a..."
They burst out of the treeline and stood on the edge of a forest clearing, standing right beside the electrabuzz who had stopped his pursuit. He stood with his wide mouth agape and his eyes wide at the sight before him...and they understood why. The entire forest clearing was completely filled with a pink Pokemon; they had round bodies with stubby legs and arms, two triangular ears with a strand of hair coming down in front of their face in between them. They had two big, round eyes and thin mouths which made adorable cries as they talked, laughed or slept beneath the warm side. They're had to be hundreds of them and Duplica's jaw dropped in sheer shock of the sight of them.
"...an...entire colony of jigglypuff," she uttered in despair, while the ditto on her head whined sadly, "Okay, this is going to be difficult."
"...Ichigo uses Bullet Punch!" Charles cried out before the tyrouge zoomed towards its opponent with its hand ready to punch.
"Dodge it, you mutt," Leslie growled, "And then use Fire Fang!"
The growlithe yipped and leapt out of the way of the punch before he turned around and pounced at Ichigo, the fangs in his mouth bursting into flames as they headed towards him.
"Use Protect and get back here!" Charles ordered.
Ichigo raised his arms and created a green forcefield in front of him, that deflected the growlithe's attack. He then leapt back to Charles' and Benny's side of the pitch, maintaining his fighting stance as if ready to fight. Charles wiped his brow with the sleeve of his coat and took a deep breath as he calculated his next move.
"What's wrong, brat," Leslie sneered, "You want to give up now."
"Not a chance. I'll never give in to a Hunter like you. Especially one that tried to steal my family."
"It's nothing personal. It's a win win situation for me. I get money from stealing dumb Pokemon. The rarer they are; the more valuable they are."
"For Arceus's sake, Leslie," Charles snapped, making the Hunter growl at his name being called out, "Can't you see that Pokemon are living creatures who deserve our love and respect. They're not items for you to sell on."
Leslie snarled at him, "You don't know Pokemon like I know them. You think that they're all your friends, but they'll turn on you in an instant," he growled, "We can't be friends with them. Never!"
Charles and Benny growled angrily at that.
"What did Pokemon ever do to you? What made you think like that?"
"Oh, you want to know, huh?" Leslie called out, "I tell you then!"
Benny sighed, ("He's going to give a backstory now?")
"I know. How cliché can you be."
-Many, Many Years Ago-
Countryside
In a green a pleasant countryside, a few miles away from Vermillion City, there was a cosy thatched cottage surrounded by a beautiful garden filled with flowers in bloom. The door to the cottage opened and a young boy of four years old with rosy cheeks and large bright eyes skipped out, whistling merrily to himself. He wore a pair of baby blue shorts, a pink shirt and a blue baseball cap with a picture of a pichu stitched onto the front. From within the cottage a sweet woman's voice called out to him, making him stop mid-skip.
"Leslie, dear, don't go out too far. You lunch will be ready in a few minutes," she sang cheerily, making the young boy stop.
"Of course, mama. I promise!" Leslie called back to her.
"Oh and I've backed the cookies you love for dessert."
"Yay!"
-Present-
"Wait! That's you!?" Charles and Benny shouted in shock, "I can't believe you were such a total wimp!?"
"What did you say, you brats!?" Leslie snarled at them, "I'll gut ye for saying that!"
Charles shook his head and smiled apologetically, "Sorry…just wasn't expecting it, that's all. At least it explains your name."
"I told you I didn't want to talk about it," he grumbled in reply.
-Many, Many Years Ago
Leslie skipped happily through garden, giggling happily as he went. Suddenly, he heard a noise from somewhere and stopped and looked around; his eyes widened and he gasped when he spotted an oddish walking along the green grass, chirping happily as it soaked up the mid-sun. Leslie grinned happily as he ran up to it; his arms outstretched and ready to hug the Pokemon.
"Wow! An oddish! It's so cute!" he cried as he scooped up the startled Pokemon and cradling in in his arms, "I'm going to bring you back and show you to mama!"
The oddish, not liking the sudden interruption to its day, whipped its head forwards and slammed its leaves into Leslie's face like a whip, knocking him to the ground in an instant and forcing him to loosen his grip to allow the oddish to escape into the forest. Leslie groaned in pain and picked himself up; he felt a stinging pain on his chin and touched it with his hand. He pulled it back when the pain got worse and saw, much to his horror, that there was blood on his fingers. His eyes welled up with tears as he got to his feet and ran to his home, crying all the way to his mother all the way.
Later that night, Leslie sat on his bed in his room and listened as a storm raged on outside his window. He sniffed as tears flowed down his cheeks and used his hand to feel the bandage that was placed over the cut on his chin; his mother said that it might scar and the pain would leave after a couple of hours and yet he still felt the searing pain gnaw away at him.
In his young mind, his pain slowly turned into hate and hate turned into rage.
"Pokemon are…bad. They hurt me," he mumbled to himself.
He spotted his pichu themed cap that was on the bed next to him. The Pokemon's face made the young Leslie snarl in anger; her grabbed it and threw it to the floor as thunder boomed outside his window.
"If they hurt me…then I'll just have to them back. I'll show them! I'll show them all!" he cried as lightning flashed and thunder roared.
-Present -
"You see," Leslie sniffed as he wiped his tears with the sleeve of his jacket, "You see the pain they caused to an innocent boy? The trauma that I had to suffer through? I only wanted to be friends with it, but it attacked me," he said through gritted teeth, "I learned a lesson that day. That there is no friendship between Pokemon and human. That there's no hope that we can work together as one. I gave up on those ideas years ago...and now I have embraced the life as Pokemon hunter. Nothing will ever stop me! Not even a little brat and his shiny pikachu!" he declared proudly into the air, his fists clenched at his sides.
...
...
...
...
"What? That's it?"
Leslie opened his eyes in disbelief and stared at his opponents. Charles, Benny, Ichigo and the growlithe were staring at him in utter bewilderment; as if what Leslie had bravely told them was the most ridiculous think they ever heard.
"What do you mean 'that's it?'?" Leslie questioned with a frown, "Ever wondered how I got this scar?" he asked, pointing to his chin.
"No...not really. But, Leslie...Benny and I used to hurt each other all the time back when we were kids," Charles explained, "I mean, not on purpose, but still. I can't remember how many times I've accidently rolled over in my sleep and crushed Benny when he was a pichu when we sleep in the same bed. Or how many times Benny has electrocuted me. I mean look..." he looked up at Benny, "Electrocute me."
Benny gave him a look as if he was asking he was serious. After a few seconds, he shrugged and zapped him with a little bit of electricity.
BZZZTT!
Once the pikachu was done, Charles shook his head slightly, blinked a few times before he took a deep breath. He didn't even make a single sound or flinch by the attack.
"See," Charles said with a shrug, "It's happened so many times that I'm not effected by it anymore...I only just have a lingering taste of blood in my mouth and my vision's only a little blurry."
Leslie's eyes bugged out of his sockets, "Kid! That's not a good sign! You should probably stop that!"
"My point is that just because a Pokemon has hurt you in the past doesn't mean that they're all going to hurt you. We all share this world and we have to know how to live and work together. Pokemon can't communicate with their words and so they have to tell us in other means like scratches and bites. However, don't always mean to do us harm," he took a step forwards, "Leslie when was the last time you actually gave a Pokemon a chance instead of capturing them and shipping them off to the highest bidder. Have you thought about how scared and confused they are? Maybe...you should open your heart to them a little bit. That way you might think differently about everything. It's not too late to change."
Leslie glared at him in silence, seemingly contemplating his words for at least a few seconds; eventually, he took a deep breath and said...
"...Nah. I don't get paid for being nice."
Benny rolled his eyes, ("Can't say I didn't expect that.")
"Shame," Charles murmured before he pointed at him, "Ichigo use Bullet Punch again!"
And so they're battle continued on. Each of them, trying to establish dominance over the other.
Forest Clearing
"…right, so this is a jigglypuff," Flo said as she held up her Pokemon book for Duplica and Alice who stared at the picture carefully, "The bio says, 'When its huge eyes light up, it sings a mysteriously soothing melody that lulls its enemies to sleep,' so make sure to keep that in mind. Now this," Flo said as she turned a page to the shiny version of jigglypuff, "As you can probably tell, they look almost identical except for their eyes. Instead of blue and shiny jigglupuff's eyes are green. So, we just need to go in there, making sure not to cause any disturbance, and check….every single jigglypuff's eyes. Everybody understands?"
"Yeah," Duplica said with a nod.
"Got it," Alice said.
("I see,") the electrabuzz hummed as he stroked his chin.
….
….
….
"YOU'RE NOT PART OF THIS! BUTT OUT!" they shouted at the electrabuzz, comically throwing him off his feet.
He grumbled bitterly, picked him himself up and began to scour the crowd of jigglypuff for any signs of one of them being a shiny.
Flo huffed in annoyance before she pointed at the jigglypuff, "Come on. Let's get searching."
They began that intense search for the shiny 'jigglypuff'; they split up, Alice took the left, Duplica went down the centre and Flo took the right; carefully stepping over and around the small Pokemon. The jigglypuff looked up at them with some interest and maybe mutter to themselves what they were doing, but, otherwise, didn't see them as a threat and continued on what they were doing. With sharp eyes they tried to look out for jigglypuff that were all on they own or didn't mingle with the rest before they tried to see what eye colour that had. But none of them seemed to be the one they were looking for.
The electrabuzz stomped his way through the clearing, glaring at each jigglypuff that came his way. He stopped when he spotted one of the jigglypuff who was asleep on their side; it's eyes closed and it's small mouth open slightly as it snorted away. The electrabuzz snorted, stomped up to it and picked it up, raising it up to his face and shaking it awake.
("Hey! Wake up, weakling!") he shouted, startling the Pokemon and making it open its eyes. The electrabuzz growled in annoyance when he saw that its eyes were blue, ("Bah! Wrong one. How annoying.")
The jigglypuff, irritated at being rudely awoken, puffed out its cheeks, raised its stubby arms and slapped his face as hard they could.
("AH!") the electrabuzz shouted in pain as the smaller Pokemon continued to pommel his face.
Eventually, he collapsed onto the ground his cheeks swollen and red as he groaned in pain. The jigglypuff floated down to the ground and huffed in annoyance.
("How rude!") she spat before she waddled off to find another place to nap.
Flo hummed as she studied the jigglypuff that surrounded her, being sure to keep a keen eye for any who acted unusual. She was so wrapped up in search that she almost tripped on a passing jigglypuff; she stumbled slightly, but managed to catch herself the last moment. She sighed in relief when she was alerted by a noise down below her; she looked down and saw a pokeball lying down on the ground next to her feet.
"Huh?" she uttered before she felt her pokeball belt, discovering that one of them was missing, "Must have knocked one of them off accidentally," she said before she picked up the pokeball and put it back on her belt.
However, as she continued her search, she didn't notice that the pokeball she picked flashed a few times before it disappeared into thin air.
Meanwhile, Alice's eyes darted from jigglypuff to jigglypuff, making sure to not step on any of them as she made her way through the crowd. Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted one jigglypuff that didn't act like the others. It seemed to be looking around nervously, its ears were pressed against its head and seemed to shake slightly as if it was afraid. She focused on it and noticed that its eyes were green instead of blue, making her gasp gently. She glanced towards the electrabuzz and noticed its attention was away from her and softly crept towards the shiny 'jigglypuff'. The Pokemon's eyes widened slightly as it saw Alice casually approach and gave a frightened squeak as she crouched down; it looked as if it was going to take off, but Alice whispered to them.
"Wait, don't go," she softly said, "Do you remember me from earlier?"
The 'jigglypuff' looked up at her nervously but nodded, ("I-I do.")
"Good. My friends and I are trying to help you. If you got caught by the electrabuzz then…then…it's going to really bad for you," she told her, "We'll protect you from them, okay? You'll be safe and sound with us. After all, my family protects Pokemon from bad people," she explained with a kind smile.
The 'jigglypuff' thought about it for a few seconds as if trying to find any deceit in her words. Finding none at all it waddled over to her and nodded, allowing Alice to pick her up and hold her firmly to her chest. She smiled contently as she sat back up…when she heard a vicious sparking noise behind her. She glanced back and grimaced at the sight of the electrabuzz grinning at her with his hands raised at her which sparked and crackled with electricity.
("Thought you could get away, huh?") he said with a smirk, ("Well, you have to better than that to catch me off guard, hum-")
THWACK!
("-AH!")
The electrabuzz cried as he was suddenly hit in the face by a jigglypuff, catching him off guard. As the Pokemon began to batter his face again, she heard Flo fall out to her.
"Alice! Run! I'll try holding him off," she told her as she picked up another jigglypuff as tossed it at the electrabuzz, "Get the shiny ditto out of here!"
"Did you just throw a jigglypuff at him!?" Alice shrieked in shock, 'What sort of a nurse are you!?"
"They're fine! They can inflate to twice the size and can take hard impacts! Now get going!"
Alice nodded and ran towards the tree line as fast as she could, trying to avoid the other jigglypuffs in her path. Duplica watched Alice carry the shiny 'jigglypuff' away and saw it transform back into its original ditto form. She nodded in determination before she began to run after them.
"I'm going after them," she called back to Flo, "Let's go Ditto!"
("You got it!") Ditto chirped.
Meanwhile, the electrabuzz finally tore the two jigglypuff off him and growled angrily, his face bruised and red from the beating he had been receiving.
("Oh no you don't,") he snarled as he sprinted after Alice, leaving Flo behind.
Alice, having entered the forest once more, ran as fast as he could while holding the ditto in her arms safely, trying to get back to Charles as fast as possible. Suddenly, the electrabuzz jumped from the trees and got in her path, preventing her from going any further. She flinched and backed away from the electric Pokemon while the ditto whimpered in fear.
The electrabuzz chuckled and waved his hand to himself, ("Come on. Hand it over, human. Or else I'll fry you to a crisp.")
Alice gritted her teeth and glared at the electrabuzz crossly, "I'm not going to lay a single finger on them."
"Nor will I!"
Alice, the ditto and the electrabuzz perked up in confusion as a new voice called out to them. Alice was especially confused, considering that the voice sounded just like hers. Stepping out from behind a tree, another Alice appeared with a blue ditto in her hands. She dressed the same, sounded the same and looked the same…except that the new Alice's eyebrows was a little more bushier. The first Alice's eyes widened slightly in surprise.
'No way, Duplica?,' she thought in her head as the second 'Alice' stepped up to her, 'Of course, she must have changed to look like me to confuse him and even got her ditto to look like the shiny one…wait, she had that costume all this time?'
'Alice' gave the electrabuzz a serious look, "As an officer of the law, we have put these two dittos in protection," she firmly told him, making him flinch.
"Correct," Alice replied as she played along, "These Pokemon are under our protection."
The electrabuzz stepped back slightly in confusion; his eyes darting between the two as he tried to figure out which ones which, ("Damn, they look identical. I could just attack one of them…but the other one might have the real shiny and run away. I can't take that risk. There must be a way,") he grumbled to himself.
"Looks like we're got him, Alice," 'Alice' said with a smirk.
"You got that right, Alice," Alice replied also with a smirk.
The electrabuzz gritted his teeth and thought harder and what to do.
Left?
Right?
Left?
Right?
Left?
Right?
Suddenly, he stopped when he noticed something. He lifted his hand up, horizontally and held it up to just above their heads and narrowed his eyes. He looked at the Alice on the right and saw that her head reached the palm of his hand, but the left Alice was a few inches shorter. The electrabuzz grinned and pointed at the real Alice.
("You there! You're the real one!")
"Huh!?" Alice cried out in surprise, "How did he know!?"
Duplica facepalmed in annoyance, "Damn! I forgot about how short you are. I should have crouched!"
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SHORT!" Alice yelled in anger.
However, as soon as she was distracted the electrabuzz swiped the shiny ditto out of her grasp and ran off into the forest, cackling cruelly as we ran into the forest.
"Oh no! Ditto!" Duplica cried while her ditto morphed back into its original colour.
Alice flinched and frowned guiltily, "Ah! Arceus! I'm so sorry!"
It was then that Flo ran over from the forest clearing, her breathing was ragged and deep, "Guys are you alright?"
"He took Ditto!"
"I know, I saw the whole thing," Flo said before she turned to Duplica, "You couldn't have crouched down a little. You know how short Alice is."
"I know. I forgot."
The young Officer Jenny gave them both cold glares, "If we weren't in an emergency right now. I'm pommel you two," she hissed angrily.
"You can do that later," Flo said, "Let's get him before he gets away."
"…finish him off with Bullet Punch!" Charles commanded as he pointed at the exhausted growlithe.
Ichigo sped towards his opponent, raised his fist and aimed a swift punch at him. It was too late for the Pokemon to dodge and so he was hit with the full blunt of the attack, knocking him of his paws. The growlithe landed a few feet back with swirls in his eyes, completely knocked out from the fight. Leslie cursed at the sight and returned the Pokemon to its pokeball.
"Useless mutt," he grumbled as he threw the pokeball onto the ground.
Benny leapt down from Charles' shoulder and stood beside Ichigo, his cheeks sparked with electricity while the tyrogue got into another battle stance. Leslie grimaced at the sight of them before he glared up at the younger boy.
"What now, you little brat? You going to arrest me or something?"
"Actually, I have some questions," Charles said as he fixed a glare at him, "The last time we met, you mentioned an eevee and her siblings."
"Yeah so?"
"I want to know where they are and who you sold them to," he said before he looked down at his Pokemon, "Benny, Ichigo; make sure he doesn't get away."
("You got it.")
("Understood Sensei.")
Leslie raised an eyebrow at him before he chuckled darkly, "What? You think it's that simple?"
"What do you mean?"
"Buyers don't come to me asking for requests and, even if they did, do you really think I would leave a paper trail," Leslie explained, "Pokemon I capture get passed onto black market dealers and organisations who then sell them off to anybody interested; mainly people who could afford it and don't mind the lack of morals behind it," he said with a grin, "That eevee family you want to know about…I haven't a clue. All I know is that I past two of them on to a company in Johto and another two in Hoenn and the rest came to Kanto. The others…well, you just have to find them, don't you?"
Benny growled at him, ("You think he's lying?")
Charles frowned as he studied Leslie's grinning face before he sighed, "No, I think he's telling the truth. He doesn't know where they are."
"Precisely," Leslie chuckled darkly.
Suddenly, bursting out of the bushes, the electrabuzz ran out, holding the shiny ditto in his hands proudly. Making sure to keep a better hold of them than last time.
("I've got it! Let's go!") he cried out at he sped away.
Charles and Benny's eyes widened in shock at the sight, "Oh no! He's got the ditto!" Charles cried before he turned back towards Leslie…only to find that he disappeared as well, "Damn it! He got away!"
("He sure can move quick when he's escaping,") Benny muttered.
Tumbling through the bushes, Flo, Alice and Duplica emerged from the forest from where the electrabuzz had come from and ran past him in pursuit. Charles swiftly returned Ichigo, while Benny jumped onto his shoulder, and sprinted after them, eventually running beside them through the forest.
"Come back!" Duplica cried, "Come back here!"
Flo looked over at Charles and frowned sadly, "I'm sorry, Charles. We failed to keep the ditto safe."
"It's fine," he told them, "How did the electrabuzz catch them?"
Alice narrowed her eyes and glared at the ground, "It doesn't matter how. Get over it," she snapped at him.
Charles and Benny sweat dropped, "O-okay."
They burst out of a forest and stumbled out onto a country lane; they instantly spotted Leslie and the electrabuzz both sat on a black motorcycle that was parked on the side of lane and the shiny ditto locked in a cage that was held up by the Pokemon. Leslie laughed and revved up the motorcycle engine while the electrabuzz cackled in glee.
"Looks like you lose, brats," Leslie cried as he began to cycle away, "So long!"
("This is what you get for messing with us, you stupid humans!") the electrabuzz jeered.
("Help! Help me!") the shiny ditto cried in their cage.
As they helplessly watched the motorcycle drive away, Duplica's face paled in horror as she attempted to run after them, "No! Ditto!"
"No wait!" Charles told her, getting her to stop in her tracks. He quickly pulled a pokeball from his belt and released Hoss from it. The tauros looked around in intrigue, wondering who he was about to battle, but Charles did something different, "DITTO!" he shouted as the motorcycle drove away, "TURN INTO HIM!"
The shiny ditto, whilst still trapped in their cage, turned its beady eyes up at the shout and spotted Charles pointing at Hoss. They blinked in confusion as they processed his words before he suddenly realised what he meant. Leslie looked over his shoulder as well at his shout before he rolled his eyes and looked at the front.
"What are they doing?" Leslie shouted over the roar of the engine.
The electrabuzz shrugged ("Don't know. Whatever it is, it ain't going to work now,") he smirked before he looked to the front…when he noticed that the shiny ditto was glowing again, ("Err…human,") he uttered as he tapped him on the shoulder.
"Quit poking me," Leslie complained, "I'm trying to focus on driving."
("…human,") the electrabuzz gulped as he furiously tapped him on the shoulder.
"What did I say about tappi-"
BANG!
"Huh!?"
Leslie turned around and grimaced in shock. The cage was broken, the pieces falling off the motorcycle as they drove away, and in its place was a tauros which was completely crushing the electrabuzz. Its pelt was like green, the fur covering its shoulders was a forest green and its whip-like tails charcoal grey. The 'tauros' mooed angrily and flailed atop of the motorcycle, kicking it hooves and whipping its tails with all of the attacks hitting Leslie on his back.
"Ah! Ow! Ah! Stop! Ahhh! Ow!" he yelled as he was battered by the flailing, losing control of the motorcycle in the process and driving off road, "Ow! Ah! Ow! Oof!" he cried out in pain. Before he was able to do anything, the 'tauros' shrunk down back into a ditto and leapt off the motorcycle, landing safely on the ground, "Oh thank goodness!" Leslie sighed in relief while the electrabuzz groaned in pain.
However, his eyes widened in shock as he realised that he was driving the motorcycle towards a cliff that overlooked another thick forest down below. He slammed on the breaks as quickly as he can…but it was too late.
Both hunter and Pokemon flew off the cliff edge and hurtled down towards the forest below, screaming and yelling in fear all the way down. They crashed into the trees, sunk through the spiky leaves and-
CRASH!
-crashed down the ground below. The only thing that remained was the smoke from destroyed motorcycle billowing out from the trees.
The team ran up to the cliff edge and peered down over it; they saw the snapped branches and the ruffled leaves and grimaced at the sight of the black smoke.
("You think they're alright?") Benny asked.
"DAMN BRATS!" a furious cry came from the forest below, "I'LL GET YOU NEXT TIME!""
Charles shrugged, "They'll be fine."
"Ditto!"
They turned and saw Duplica run up to the shiny ditto, scoop them up in her arms and embrace them gently.
"I'm so glad you're alright. I was so worried," she softly told them as her ditto squeaked happily.
The shiny ditto seemed a little weary about the embrace at first, but soon settled into her arms with a small delighted squeak. The team watched them contently, happy that they finally got together after so long.
"Another day saved, huh?" Flo whispered to them.
"You said it," Charles agreed while Benny nodded in agreement.
"Oh!" Alice suddenly cried as she clicked her fingers, "I get it now. He wanted to be called Biker because of his motorcycle!"
…
…
…
"Oh right!" the other three said in realisation.
Copycat Mansion
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Duplica brightly said from the front door to the mansion, "I can finally put on another show and bring this old place back to life."
Charles smiled at her enthusiasm, "You're welcome, Duplica," he said before he looked behind her inside the house where the two ditto were playing with each other, "I'm sure they're going to love being here. Just make sure to not train them too hard."
"I promise," she said with a nod, "Are you sure you guys won't stay the night? I've got plenty of room. I can even show you guys a dress rehearsal."
"That's kind of you, but we really need to get going. We're on a tight schedule," Alice told her.
"Maybe we'll swing by again and watch your show then," Flo suggested.
Duplica giggled at that, "I would like that. Oh! If the show gets really popular, maybe I can do a tour," she gasped eagerly, "Wow! That sounds like fun."
"Well, whatever you do, we wish you all the best," Charles said as they turned and headed for the path, "bye Duplica!"
"Bye guys! Thanks again!" she called back with a wave before she disappeared into her house, closing their door behind her.
As they walked across the field towards the path, Flo sighed as she rubbed her face tiredly, "That was…a weird day…in a good way, of course," she said before she turned to Alice, "So, how come Leslie escaped from prison again? I thought they would have tightened security since the last time he escaped."
"Can't say personally," Alice said, "I'm sure he had a deceitful plan in place. It's not like the guards would just let him out easily. Although, now that I think about it, I wonder if we could have demanded him where the rest of Titania's siblings were. I'm sure it would make it easier for us to find them."
"I did actually ask him," Charles pointed out.
"You did? What did he say?"
"Nothing that we didn't know already," he answered, "Despite how he looks, Leslie is pretty smart. He kept dealings with his buyers simple and quick and he made sure he didn't leave a trace. Like Halcyon said, the siblings were split up and there are two more to finds in Kanto. Leslie did say that he sold two in Johto and two in Hoenn. Where their mother is, however, is still a mystery and this is all assuming that they haven't moved out of the region since then."
"Damn, there's so many places they can be," Alice hummed, "Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos, the Orange Archipelago, the Alola islands."
"Don't forget Galar and Paldea," Flo added, "I thought we would at least narrow it down a little."
("My only regret is not having Titania here,") Benny amused, ("I'm sure she would love to beat him up.")
"Benny," Charles lightly scolded before he shrugged, "But fair enough. Anyway, let's think about it later. We still need to get to Grandpa Canyon before we meet up with Ash, Misty and Brock."
"Right," all of them agreed as they headed down the country path, continuing their journey across the rolling hills of the Kanto countryside,
Somewhere In The Forest
"Damn brats! Damn stupid Pokemon! Damn…everything!"
Leslie clambered through the thick bushes and the thickets that littered the forest floor and stumbled onto a clearing, much to his relief. His clothes were torn, parts of his arms and legs were scratched and he was covered in sharp brambles that irritated him. He tore them off and limped forwards into the forest as he tried to find his way out towards any sign of civilisation.
"I'll get them next time," he growled, "Bunch of lousy, goody two shoes, little-"
He was mid-grumble when he heard a sorrowful sigh come from somewhere to his left and turned to see where it had come from. Sitting on a log, looking utterly miserable in his defeat, was the electrabuzz; he held his head in his hands and stared down at the ground; wincing ever so often with the brambles stuck in his yellow fur. Leslie blinked in surprise at the Pokemon; he wasn't expecting to him so soon after the crash. Usually, Pokemon he had encountered stayed away from him as quickly as possible. The electrabuzz noticed his presence and looked up; the two locked eyes from across the clearing, neither one of them knowing what to do. Eventually, the poacher was the first to call out to him.
"Err…hey…" he said with a wave,
The electrabuzz waved back and nodded in acknowledgement.
"See you survived…that's good to see. You injured?"
The Pokemon responded by lifting his arms and flexing his muscles, demonstrating that he was perfectly fine. He then pointed at him as if he was returning the question.
"You kidding me? I've been through worse," he told him with a smirk. He cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his head nervously, "Anyway… thanks for the help today. We…almost got them, huh?"
The electrabuzz shrugged and nodded, ("Yeah, too bad,") he said, even though he knew he wouldn't understand him.
"I'll get them next time."
An awkward silence fell between them as the both tried to find something to say to one another. Eventually, Leslie jabbed his thumb to the side and began to walk away,
"So…bye, I guess."
("Oh…err…see you later,") the electrabuzz replied back with a wave.
The poacher began to make his trek through the woodland towards the nearest city when he stopped and looked over his shoulder at the Pokemon. The electrabuzz was back to resting his head in his hands in misery, wallowing in another failure he had suffered. Leslie stared at him for a few more seconds and frowned slightly at how lonely he was. Preparing himself, he took a deep breath and turned back towards him.
"Hey," he called out, catching his attention, "You know, if you want, we can head into town and get something to eat. You don't have to if you don't want to. Just thought I would ask."
The electrabuzz blinked at him in surprise before a smile appeared on his wide face as he leapt off the log and ran to his side.
("Yeah, sure,") he agreed with a shrug.
"Alright then. We should get there before sun down," he told them as they began to walk, "So, what did you think of those brats?"
The electrabuzz snarled in response.
"Yeah, I think they're annoying too. But I think I've got an idea to take them down."
("Oh really?") he hummed in interest.
"Yeah, so get this, I'll wait a few days and let them think I've stopped chasing them and then…"
The poacher and the Pokemon talked and discussed how to steal the team's Pokemon as they began to journey through the forest; cooking up schemes and plans until they were too tired to talk anymore. And with that a sinister duo was formed by the friendship of human and Pokemon.
That's it for now, I hope you enjoyed it.
Sorry this took to so long to come out. I was on holiday for a few days and didn't have access to my laptop. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it.
Because, according to my research, ditto is genderless so I referred to them as 'them' rather than he and she. I'll also try my best to write another chapter before the New Year. It depends on how fast I can update my other stories.
There's also a poll on my profile, so if you would like to vote for your favourite story then you're more than welcome to do so!
Edit: Fixed some mistakes. Thank you Guest2 for pointing it out.
Thanks for reading :)
Potential Pokemon List:
Charles
Gastley
Drowzee
Goldeen
Aerodactyl
Onix
Grimer
Hoothoot (Johto)
Octillery (Orange Islands)
Pinsir
Salamance (Hoenn)
Metagross (Hoenn)
Dewgong
Elekid (Johto)
Poochyena (Hoenn)
Chikorita (Johto)
Bisharp (Unova)
Flo
Psyduck
Cubone
Jolteon
Shellder
Weedle
Qwilfish (Orange Islands)
Exeggcute (Orange Islands)
Igglybuff (Johto)
Snubbull (Johto)
Sunkern (Johto)
Miltank (Johto)
Beautifly (Hoenn)
Slugma (Hoenn)
Mandibuzz (Unova)
Alice
Rattata
Poliwag
Spearow
Lickitung
Spinarak (Johto)
Umbreon (Johto)
Rhyhorn (Johto)
Wobbuffet (Johto)
Smeargle (Johto)
Nosepass (Hoenn)
Swinub (Sinnoh)
Vanillite (Unova)