Unbroken Disguise

With the contest over, and Dawn’s first ribbon in hand, there was no reason to stay in Floaroma. Route 205 looked much the same as the routes they had explored so far, but seemed to be home to more aquatic Pokemon, likely due to the large river that ran adjacent to the section they were on. A group of orange faced Buizel kept their heads above the water with what appeared to be yellow inflatable tubes around their necks. Bright pink Shellos that stood a bit shorter than Mimikyu, at least with his disguise, slowly oozed their way between patches of tall grass. Two wild Aipom swung from branch to branch at the edge of the treeline, quickly outpacing the group and moving out of sight.

“It’s strange to me, seeing Aipom out in the wild here. Ash brought his from a different region, didn’t he?” N idly asked Mimikyu as the purple Pokemon disappeared into the forest.

“Yeah? I think Ash’s is probably from the Johto region. Why is that weird? Ain’ like Pokemon are confined to a cer’ain area or nothin’.”

“Well, you don’t see any Pokemon native to Unova running around here, do you? I suppose since the other League regions are so close together there are more opportunities for their native populations to intermix, but with how isolated Unova can be…”

The ghost on his shoulder hummed a tune of disagreement. “I dunno about all that. You sure that Unova don’ ‘ave Pokemon from other regions?”

“I suppose I have heard rumors of them being found here or there in small swarms, but I have yet to see any of them for myself. Whether there is any truth to said rumors isn’t something that I could give a definitive answer to. Though since Unova’s joining of the League is relatively recent, I suppose the number of foreign Pokemon in the region is likely to increase going forward. We’ll probably end up with a lot of trainers who just release their Pokemon wherever they please…”

“Well, maybe-” Mimikyu’s words were cut off by Ash’s rather loud and unnecessary groaning.

“I’m starving! I say we stop for lunch!”

“I told you that you should have eaten more for breakfast.” Brock’s tone was teasing, but he was right. They’d barely made any progress into the route at all. “It’s probably a bit early to be stopping, but the map says that there’s a Pokemon Center a bit off the usual path not too far from here. If we wait until then, we would probably be able to have a better meal.”

“Really? Well, I guess I can wait then. Maybe there will be some interesting Pokemon there!” Ash replied with a smile.

N wasn’t sure what to make of the self satisfied smile that Brock gave in return. He didn’t particularly mind stopping at a Pokemon Center for lunch, they always had better facilities for cooking than what they could manage on the road, and thus often made for a more diverse selection of food. No, his problem was the ease with which Brock was capable of manipulating Ash.

It was a subtle thing. Rarely used in big decisions, but N had noticed that Brock was always able to steer the younger boy in the direction that he preferred. Perhaps it could be attributed to the fact that the ex Gym Leader had apparently all but raised his siblings on his own, in addition to the time that he and Ash had been travelling together, and many would be happy to chalk it up to knowing how to handle younger children.

But N was not an average person. His goals, his dreams, they stood in a stark contrast with the average. He knew to look deeper where others would happily turn a blind eye. It was possible that it was completely innocuous, that there was nothing sinister sitting just beneath the surface, but could he be certain of that?

“Stop it.” Mimikyu reprimanded him. “Ya got that look in yer eyes again. Like yer plottin’ yer evil deeds or somethin’.”

“I do not plot evil deeds, Mimikyu,” N defended himself from the baseless accusation. “I’m just thinking.”

“Riiiiight,” Mimikyu’s tone was as sarcastic as could be. “Well, Mr. Just Thinking, maybe try ta think withou’ glarin’ at Brock and I’ll believe ya.”

Glaring? Had he been glaring…? Surely Mimikyu was mistaken…

Those thoughts of self reflection filled his mind until they reached the Pokemon Center.

Or at least, what they assumed was the Pokemon Center? Rather than the typical orange roof, large glass windows, and automatic doors that everyone was used to, this place looked… perhaps rustic would be a polite way to say it?

The building was styled more like a traditional Johtonian home than any sort of public building. The only thing that denoted it as anything other than that was a large, golden P hanging over the doorway, similar to the ones that you might see at a typical Pokemon Center.

“Is that really the place?” Ash voiced the group's doubts.

“I think so…” Dawn hesitated.

“It’s got the letter on the front.” Brock pointed out.

The group stood in silence for a moment, wondering what the right course of action was.

“Let’s go check it out, I guess?” Ash walked up to the front door, sliding it out of the way.

He promptly screamed and jumped back, trying to get out of the way of a group of Ghost type Pokemon that quickly floated off into the forest, laughing and giggling all the way.

“What’s the big idea?!” He shouted after them. “I guess they’re just as I remember them…” Sighing, he walked into the building, prompting them to follow after him.

Mimikyu, his ever so helpful friend, gave him some details on the new Pokemon. “Ghastly. Ghost and Poison types with the ability Levitate. I’m pretty sure they’re found just about anywhere…”

Anywhere besides Unova, perhaps. Though the Pokemon Sinnoh being unfamiliar was nothing new to him.

The inside of the building didn’t look like a Pokemon Center either. N felt a bit like they were intruding on someone’s home as they walked down the hall, shuffling and scuttering noises sending the hair on the back of his neck straight up. Was this building abandoned? That would explain those ghosts…

“Mimikyu, you’re not leaking any fear, are you?” He whispered to the fairy.

“Why’s it always gotta be me? I ain’ the only Ghost type around, ya know! Maybe there’s more Ghastly or somethin’.”

When Ash got to the door at the end of the hallway, he opened it without a care in the world, revealing a kitchen and a mouth watering aroma.

“Something smells really good!” The boy exclaimed, walking further inside. “I wonder what they cooked up.”

A sudden shriek had all of them jumping in fright.

“Stop right there! What are you trying to do with my dinner?!” A childish voice cried out. “Are you thieves here to steal my food?!”

When N finally made his way into the kitchen, he found something that he found slightly unsettling.

Not a ghost, out to haunt them for the misdeed of trespassing. Not a criminal, ready to do them harm with no regard for their lives.

It was a tiny Nurse Joy.

Having spent all of his life seeing the Joy family as practical clones of each other, seeing one now that was so small was… unnerving, almost. He’d heard tales of children being surprised to see their teachers outside of the school in larger cities, having assumed that because they only saw them at the school that they must spend all their time there. Perhaps this was something similar? It was like his perception of what a Joy was was fractured in that moment.

His mini crisis was put on hold when the child Joy smacked Ash in the face with a broom.

“I’ll teach you thieves a lesson!” She shouted out as Pikachu jumped off of his trainer’s shoulder.

Ash landed on his rear, clutching his head and holding his other arm out to defend himself. “I’m not a crook, I’m just hungry!”

“What is going on here?” A familiar voice demanded. Having just opened a door on the other side of the room, a Nurse Joy who N couldn’t tell apart from any other he had met walked into the kitchen with a bag full of groceries. Beside her was a girl around Dawn’s age who also appeared to be a young Joy.

Out of the corner of his eye, N saw Brock’s face light up in excitement. It quickly disappeared when the initial little girl called out “Hi mommy, hi Marnie!”

“...mommy?” Brock whimpered.

Their simple stop for lunch was shaping up to be quite an ordeal.

They did end up getting their lunch. The Joy family was nice enough to offer each of the humans a plate, and the group were properly introduced to the children. The younger of the two introduced herself as Paige Francis Lynnelle Joy, and the older introduced herself as Marnie Francis Lynnette Joy.

“Huh. Four names? Or is one of ‘em s’posed ta be hyphenated? I guess Joy jus’ bein’ their last name makes sense, but it ain’ somethin’ I ever thought about…” Mimikyu had admitted to him.

N doubted it was something many considered at all. The average person didn’t do a lot of travelling, so they might know their local Joy, if any at all. But people who got around? He had found that many got over their initial shock of seeing a “twin” at their second Pokemon Center rather quickly and then gave up on questioning it.

Though could he say that he was much better? He had been just as shocked only a short while ago upon seeing the children for the first time. The genetics of the Joy family must be quite dominant for the girls to look so like the rest of their family, even at such a young age. And yet he’d yet to meet any young men with pink hair and blue eyes… did it somehow only happen with the women?

It felt rude to outright ask that sort of thing though, so he allowed those thoughts to fall to the wayside.

“N, was it?” Nurse Joy asked him between bites.

“Yes?” He slipped another Cheri berry out of his supplies for Mimikyu. His friend said that “Pokemon Food”, as it was often marketed, was both gross and degrading. Staying stocked up on berries to feed the picky eater was a bit of a pain, but he couldn’t exactly argue that it wasn’t gross and degrading, so here he was.

“Would I be correct in saying that you’re from Unova?”

“Yes, I’m from Unova.” Why would that matter though? Had Cynthia sent out another report about them or something? They’d not gotten into any trouble since the Hunter J incident, so it couldn’t be anything new… unless it was a report on that incident itself, perhaps?

“Wonderful!” Joy’s face lit up with a smile. “As you can probably tell, this Pokemon Center is a bit out of the way, and we don’t exactly get the funding that the main ones do. Us Joys have to ensure that the money we use helps as many Pokemon as possible, so places like this where there are only a handful of visitors a day, if that…” She shrugged. “Anyway, my point is that while we do our best out here, there are a few areas we struggle with. If my family is to be believed, you’re struggling with a few things as well, is that right?”

If her family was to be believed? “What are you getting at, exactly?”

“Well, my cousin over in the Nimbasa City Pokemon Center had sent out a message a little while back. Something about a boy and his Mimikyu who was struggling with a bit of ghostly quirkiness? Then, of course, there’s all the nonsense that Champion Cynthia has been sending out about Fairy types and the ‘threat they pose to the League’,” she said, rolling her eyes. “And my cousin in Jubilife said something about fairies and was acting a bit off…”

That was… concerning? Was he really that big of a deal among the Joy family? Sure, his appearance and the fact that he travelled with Mimikyu might make him stand out a bit more than the average trainer they might see, but for her to list all of that off…

“Wow, N, you’re a popular guy!” Ash remarked, his mouth stuffed full of food.

“I suppose he is!” Nurse Joy giggled. “Now, being that we’re in League territory, I’m not any better than my cousins you’ve met when it comes to knowledge on Fairy types. There wasn’t ever much point in studying them when we’d never have to treat any… I do, however, know a thing or two about Ghost types, as you might have gathered from the Ghastly who roam around here. Outside of the trainers who specialize in them, like Fantina in Hearthome, I’m probably one of the best sources of information around! So…” she hesitated for a moment. “If I were to spend a bit of time today helping you and Mimikyu out, would you do a teensy little favor for me?”

Mimikyu had largely gotten the fear leaking under control by this point, but it probably wouldn’t hurt to have someone who actually knew what they were talking about take a look at things… Plus, someone like her might have better insight into why Mimikyu was struggling with his moves…

“...what sort of favor are we talking about?”

Though they didn’t have any deals going on, beyond perhaps an attempt to pay the Joy family back for the meal, the rest of the group ended up helping out around the Pokemon Center.

Ash and Dawn found themselves doing random chores. Hanging towels out to dry, sweeping up leaves and other debris, just about anything that could be done without supervision.

Brock found himself assisting Nurse Joy with the patients, given that he actually had some medical knowledge.

And N….

“I want to go to the store.” He repeated for a fifth time, speaking slowly for his audience.

“A-i wa-n-to tu go tu da suto-ru!” Paige mimicked.

Marnie’s frustration was clear on her face, but she gave it another shot. “I wanto to go to da storu.”

…N was stuck giving lessons on Unovan. Or rather Galarian as their mother had called it, but what did she know…

According to Nurse Joy, being stationed and living outside of an established settlement meant that in addition to the funding problems they faced, there was also an education issue. They could go into Floaroma and get all the lessons that the rest of the local children would get, sure, but if they wanted to have the same job as their mother one day, they’d need a bit more than a standard education.

Working in the family business meant being able to treat as many Pokemon as possible, and that often required knowing the language of the trainers. He’d seen as much in the Nurse Joys that he had met in the past.

However, there was only so much time you could dedicate to learning other languages if you were also trying to become a medical professional. “Back in her day”, Joy had told him, it was really up to the individual what languages they learned. She had gone with Kalosian and Alolan, despite the very limited number of people who spoke the latter nowadays.

Unova had joined the League in recent years though, and as N could attest, they weren’t exactly big on teaching the League language in the region. So, to better help the uptick in Unovan travellers they expected, the next generation of Joys really needed to learn their language.

With her not having studied it herself, and the people of Floaroma not having any interest in the language at all, that left the possibilities for her daughters to learn the language very limited.

So here he was, acting as a Unovan tutor.

“Want. Not wanto.” N reminded them.

“This is hard!” Paige complained, switching back to League.

“I want to go to da storu.” Marnie tried again, improving just a bit.

“Want and store migh’ be possible,” Mimikyu chimed in, “but I wouldn’ get yer hopes up for anythin’ with a ‘th’.”

Studying the League language with Mimikyu was bad enough. Trying to teach these kids Unovan was practically torture.

Nurse Joy better be extremely helpful after putting him through this.

Just when N was about ready to rip his hair out in frustration, Ash interrupted their lesson.

“Hey, is this lunch box supposed to be just lying around? It wasn’t in the kitchen, so…” He held up a grey box with a black shoulder strap.

“Oh no!” Paige gasped. “Daddy forgot his lunch again!”

Marnie sighed. “Guess I’ll have to bring it to him. Again.”

They were still in the middle of their lesson… but frankly, N would take any excuse to stop at this point.

“Where is your dad?” Ash asked, handing the lunch over to Marnie.

“He works at the Valley Windworks. It’s a power plant further down the river,” she explained as she led them outside. “It’s a bit of a trip on foot, but luckily I have friends to help me out!” Cupping her hands around her mouth, she shouted out. “Drifloon! I need your help!”

Drifloon? That was an unfamiliar name.

While they waited for Marnie’s friends, the rest of the people at the Pokemon Center made their way outside.

“Oh dear, did he forget his lunch again?” Nurse Joy sighed. “Make sure you’re careful out there, and that you hold on tight.”

“Hold on tight? What do you mean by that?” Dawn asked.

It was then that Marnie’s friends rounded the corner of the house. Light purple balloons, wispy cloud like hair, a large yellow x on their faces, and string like arms hanging below them. There was more head than body, and N wasn’t certain that if he saw one from behind that he would recognize it as a Pokemon at all.

“You called?” The center one of the three called out, its voice high pitched and squeaky. Or at least, he thought it was the center one that spoke? It was a bit hard to tell with the lack of visible mouths.

The other two giggled as they floated over to the group, several feet off of the ground.

“I have to hold on tight so that I don’t fall to the ground.” Marnie explained as she put the lunch box’s strap around her shoulder.

“Wait, what?” Mimikyu sounded bewildered. “Don’ tell me yer… ain’ there some whole thing about Drifloon stealing away children? And she’s suggestin’ that she’s gonna let them carry ‘er?”

N was familiar with flying Pokemon giving rides to people, but based on their appearance, the logistics of Drifloon flight worried him just a tad.

Dawn held up her Pokedex. “Drifloon often approaches children, but will run away if they play too roughly with it.” The robotic voice read out. “Often called a Signpost for Wandering Spirits, children holding it sometimes vanish. It loves damp, humid weather.”

“Has Professor Rowan still not fixed that?” Nurse Joy sounded annoyed. “How many times do I have to tell him to stop spreading rumors like that around?”

“What do you mean by that?” Dawn asked.

“I assume it’s a similar case to Absol and Mimikyu. They’re spoken of as if they’re a danger to people, when that’s not really the case.” Not any more than any other Pokemon, anyway. Well, in Absol’s case at least. Mimikyu’s effect on people still concerned him, and they hadn’t exactly tested full exposure on anyone yet…

“Pokemon professors can be a bit… sloppy when it comes to certain sections of their Pokedex projects.” Brock explained. “If you want to know height, weight, type, and whatever other hard data, they’re the best in the business. But the blurbs that they read off can be… not the best.”

“If by ‘not the best’ you mean inaccurate on a good day and downright dangerous lies at worst, then sure.” Nurse Joy added on. “I mean really, I know Professor Rowan is a busy man, but surely he could just have one of his researchers go through them all and do it properly? You shouldn’t have baseless rumors and theory mixed in among the hard data. It creates a false perception that it’s factual. Especially since he hands them out to 10 year olds! I’ve seen far too many fresh trainers touting their “scientific literature” that was written by some geezer telling ghost stories or an enthusiast trying to paint their favorite Pokemon in a more favorable light.”

“Well, a part of it is pressure put on them by the League,” Brock hesitantly argued. “When I was working with Professor Ivy I was shocked at how much they tried to interfere with her studies.”

“I’m aware,” Nurse Joy sighed. “But I suppose I shouldn't be complaining about the League to a group of trainers, now should I?” She gave a dry laugh before turning back to her daughter. “Make sure that you fly safely, dear.”

“I heard you the first time, mom.” Marnie rolled her eyes as she grabbed two Drifloon arms with each hand.

“Wait!” Paige shouted. “I’m coming too! Come on, Drifloon!”

Sure enough, a fourth Drifloon drifted around the corner of the Pokemon Center, making its way over to them. “Okayyy!” It squeaked out, sounding just as childish as Paige.

“Paige, you’re still too small.” Marnie frowned at her younger sister.

“But I wanna go!” Paige stomped her foot.

“Now, now.” Nurse Joy stepped in between them. “There’s no need to argue. Besides, you can’t go with your sister because I have a very important job for you, Paige!”

Being refused again had the girl looking like she was on the verge of a full blown tantrum, but the mention of the job held her off for the moment. “You do?”

“I need you to deliver these cookies to the forest Pokemon! They really look forward to getting treats from you, don’t they Paige?” She held up a cloth bag.

“Hmmmm.” Paige squirmed, looking between Drifloon and the bag of treats. “Yeah… they’ll be sad if I don’t give them cookies.”

As soon as her sister took the bag, Marnie took off into the air. “I’ll be back later!” The trio of Pokemon effortlessly carried her above the treeline.

“Is that really safe?” N found himself muttering.

“She’ll be fine,” Nurse Joy assured him. “The Drifloon here at the Pokemon Center have been specially trained for carrying human passengers. They help me get around all the time, even if it takes more than three for me. It’s just a mother’s worry, you know?”

A mother’s worry?

He didn’t know much about that at all.

But his thoughts didn’t slow down the rest of the group. Now on a new mission, Paige turned to Ash. “Do you wanna come with me to see the wild Pokemon?”

“Sounds like a plan!” The boy easily agreed, following along as the girl led him into the woods.

N was about ready to follow along with him, eager to meet all the local Pokemon, but Nurse Joy’s words stopped him before he could take the first step.

“Now, I believe I owe you some assistance?” She looked between him and Mimikyu.

The wild Pokemon would have to wait.

N didn’t know what Brock and Dawn were getting up to, and frankly, he didn’t care either. He was much more focused on Nurse Joy at the moment, and the gaggle of ghosts she had invited to their discussion.

The Drifloon that Paige had called out to before loomed behind her, watching over the meeting from near the ceiling of the room. A Ghastly giggled as it slowly swirled around him, amusing itself by occasionally sending a chill down his spine. A Misdreavus stayed over in the corner, smirking at him in an uncomfortable manner.

He was certain that he heard giggles and laughter from more Pokemon than were present, but those three were the only ones making themselves visible for the moment.

“Before we begin,” Nurse Joy started, “I’d like to remind you that while I do know more than the average person, or even the average Joy, when it comes to Ghost types, I am by no means an expert. I can give you some answers, but if you want something more in depth you would be best served visiting Hearthome.”

“Hearthome… you mentioned it before. Something about a Fantina?”

All of the ghosts in the room, with the exception of Mimikyu, giggled at the name.

“I like Fantina!” The Drifloon announced.

“Yes, Fantina is the Gym Leader there, and she specializes in Ghost type Pokemon. If you really want to know something, she’d be your best bet, but she’s both a Gym Leader and a big deal in the contest world, so she’s a bit lacking when it comes to free time. You could probably get the assistance of some of the trainers who work at the Gym with her if you have questions that I can’t answer.

That said, though my cousins have mentioned you, I don’t exactly have time to dig into every little thing that they say. Why don’t you explain to me what problems you’ve been having and I’ll see what I can do for you?”

“I dunno if this’ll really ‘elp us at all, N. I mean, my issues are more specific ta me, ain’ they? Or at least Mimikyu in general? An’ if she dunno nothin’ about fairies…”

“You think you’re special?” The Misdreavus asked with a chuckle. “Distortion is Distortion. Even when you try to hide it, I can feel so much of it from you.”

That was an interesting comment, but N couldn’t exactly mention it without making it obvious that he could understand Pokemon, and he’d been informing too many people about that lately. Luckily, Mimikyu realized that, pulling out his notepad and starting to write.

N had other questions in the meantime though. “Well, the Nurse Joy in Nimbasa was telling me that Mimikyu was causing terror, and that it’s quite common in young Ghost types. Mimikyu himself was unaware that he was doing so. She informed me that it was often a problem that went away with time, and that learning and using Ghost type moves would help speed up the process, but… well, there have been a few problems with that. He’s a lot better than he was initially, I’m certain of that, but…”

“Hmmm, I see.” Nurse Joy replied, but clearly her focus was on Mimikyu attempting to scribble out some League on the notepad. “Well, she’s not wrong about what she said. Drifloon here is still relatively young, and we’re working on it with him at the moment. Isn’t that right, Drifloon?” She tilted her head back, looking up at the Flying type.

“Yep! I practice Astonish every day!” The balloon bobbed up and down in the air in a way that might vaguely be considered “happy”.

“Right, and Mimikyu has been trying to use Shadow Sneak on a somewhat regular basis, but it tires him out rather quickly and there’s… something strange about it. It’s like every time he uses the move he gets physically smaller. The first time we noticed I took him to the Jubilife City Pokemon Center, but there weren’t really any conclusive results regarding that issue.”

“Using Shadow Sneak made him smaller?” Nurse Joy’s tone made her confusion evident.

The Ghastly tittered and floated next to Mimikyu. “What a funny prank! Did you use Minimize? I bet they’ve spent hours trying to figure it out!”

“What’re ya talkin’ about? It’s the truth! I ain’ no prankster,” the fairy tried to defend himself.

“Mimikyu,” Nurse Joy continued, not having understood the Pokemon, “did my cousin do any real testing with your size and the Shadow Sneak?”

Mimikyu shook his head no, and then held up the notepad. “やがみは何ですか？”

“Distortion? I suppose that does sound familiar, but I can’t place it… Why do you want to know?”

Mimikyu started scribbling again, so N continued on. “There’s also another issue that we’ve been having. Have you ever had cases where a Pokemon… can’t use moves? Maybe that’s not the right way to phrase it… where they can’t learn moves?”

“They can’t learn moves? I take it that Mimikyu is the one experiencing this?” N nodded in response to her question. “That’s… hmm… well Pokemon can become too exhausted to use moves, but I think it’s safe to assume that you wouldn’t be coming to me about it if it was that simple. Some Pokemon have very limited movepools, so it could be a case of having already learned all the moves you naturally will, or not having grown enough to reach the next one. Pokemon in that first pool are limited enough that even without knowing much about Mimikyu we can probably rule it out immediately, so I guess that would leave one option. What sort of training do you two do? If you’re struggling to learn new moves, you could try upping how much time you spend on it daily.”

“Well, Mimikyu isn’t really the battling sort of Pokemon, but we don’t think that’s the issue. Or at least, it’s not the whole issue. You see, Shadow Sneak is the only move that Mimikyu knows how to use, and he only used it for the first time shortly before that visit to the Jubilife Gym. I’ve not found any resources on the subject myself, but Mimikyu seems confident that he should have some other egg moves at the very least.”

“Well, only knowing one move isn’t terribly common, but it can happen. A Ditto will only know Transform while in its natural state, there are wild Bug types that only know Harden until they evolve, a young Bidoof can start out with nothing but Tackle… “

N and Mimikyu’s displeasure with her answer must have been apparent, because she trailed off with a sigh. “Look, it is my professional opinion that if you want that problem to change, you should do more intensive training. Maybe I’m wrong, but if that’s the case then I truly have no idea what the problem is. If you’re against training completely, then your only other option would be technical machines, and I’m certain you know the problem with that.”

Mimikyu perked up at those words, pausing in his writing. “Wait, what problems are there with TMs?”

N sighed, responding to both at once. “The price.”

Nurse Joy nodded. “Exactly. A trainer challenging the Gym circuit could probably afford a few of them, but if you and Mimikyu aren’t even training enough to learn new moves, I get the feeling that you’re not the type to do that.”

N’s defeated sigh was more than enough for an answer.

Mimikyu held up the notepad once more, apparently finished with his response. “彼らは私からそれをかんじることができると言います.”

“They can feel it?” Nurse Joy turned towards Misdreavus. “You can feel this distortion stuff coming from Mimikyu?”

“Yes.” Misdreavus gave a nod, or at least the closest approximation that she could, given her body type. Now that he thought about it, weren’t all of Nurse Joy’s Ghost type friends basically just heads? It made him wonder if beneath the disguise, Mimikyu might just be a head with those shadowy arms…

“I see…” she said, thinking on it for a moment. “Is distortion just what you call Ghost type energy?”

“Hmmm… wouldn’t you like to know?” the ghost responded before breaking out into a giggling fit, her friends joining in on the laughter.

“I was afraid of that,” Joy sighed. “At least you’re in a jokey mood and not a scary mood.”

N wasn’t so keen to let it go, however. “Could you please give us a straight answer?” He pleaded with the ghosts.

The Ghastly floated up in front of his face, mere inches from touching him. The room grew still and quiet. The hair on the back of his neck stood up.

“Nope!” The Ghost type licked his face and the room broke into a cacophony of laughter. By the type he had wiped his face clean they had all scattered, leaving only Drifloon behind.

“I’m so sorry about that!” Joy apologized. “I guess it’s been a while since they had the opportunity to mess with someone new and they couldn’t help themselves…”

Drifloon was still laughing at him, even when the rest of the voices had gone quiet.

All except one other.

He turned to his ghostly friend, the false Pikachu face shaking as it stared up at him. “Is something funny, Mimikyu?”

“Ya gotta admit N, that was pretty good!” Mimikyu said as he tried to stop his laughing fit.

N frowned. “You mentioned some testing earlier, didn’t you Nurse Joy? Perhaps we should start that. Feel free to be as thorough as possible.”

Mimikyu wasn’t laughing after that.

Though all that N could see of Mimikyu’s true form was what he assumed were the eyes through those tiny slits in his disguise, he was fairly certain that his friend was glaring at him.

Oh well. Serves the little punk right for laughing at him getting a giant tongue to the face.

“I hate you, N.” The fairy said through panted breaths.

“You’re the one who wants to learn new moves, don’t blame me.”

Before it could develop into a real argument, however, Nurse Joy spoke up.

“I’m really not sure what to make of these results.” She held up two pieces of paper, comparing the data on them. “All of my measurements indicate that you really are getting smaller every time you use Shadow Sneak. The amount seems to vary, but averages to about one percent of your normal body mass going away each time. That’s only 7 grams, but when you’re so small to start with…”

“Now you see why we’re concerned. I’m not exactly well versed with Shadow Sneak, but I’m pretty sure that’s not normal.”

“Not at all, no,” Nurse Joy agreed. “Disregard what I said earlier about training more. I’m worried about what it might do to you. What’s your routine right now?”

The duo looked at each other before shrugging. “We don’t quite have a routine? Mimikyu has just been using Shadow Sneak a bit whenever our travelling companions stop for training.”

“Routine is hard when yer on the road.” Mimikyu agreed.

“And you haven’t noticed any lasting effects? Everything goes back to normal eventually?”

“Assumin’ I’m properly rested, yeah. Though I defini’ly feel best after gettin’ treated at a Pokemon Center.”

“That’s correct.” N answered.

“That’s… I suppose if it’s been fine until now there’s no sense in telling you to stop completely… I really don’t know enough about Mimikyu to give any solid answers though…” She set the papers down, looking over at them.

“Where are you two headed next? Floaroma or Eterna?”

“Eterna.”

“In that case, I want you to go to the Eterna Pokemon Center as soon as you get to the city. It’ll take some coordinating, what with the different time zones and all, but I’ll make sure that my cousin there gets the information.”

“Uh, what information?” Mimikyu questioned, a shadowy hand scratching at the fabric where his head was.

“I’m going to have one of our Alolan cousins send over the information you two need. Nobody around here knows anything about you, but if we go straight to the source we can probably get something in depth. It’s not a guarantee, but I’m hoping that something in there will explain all of the problems you’re experiencing.”

Another delay in their answers then. It was better than no answers at all, though, so he’d take it.

“Thank you very much, Nurse Joy. We appreciate it.”

“Tell ‘er I said tha-” Mimikyu started before suddenly stopping.

“Mimikyu? Are you okay?” N knelt down to examine his friend, but the fairy suddenly started looking around wildly.

“Do ya feel that?”

Before N could answer, he felt it.

He hadn’t noticed how congested he had felt before until a breath of fresh air flooded his lungs. His skin felt cleaner, his eyes sharper, all of the aches and pains throughout his body, however dull and faded, suddenly washed away.

The most noticeable change though, was the breeze. The hair not held down by his cap began to sway. The loose ends of his shirt started to pull away from him. His necklace gently bounced against his chest as the wind tried to take it away. It wasn’t strong enough to risk losing his hat completely, but the fact of the matter was that he suddenly felt the breeze…

…while they were in the middle of the Pokemon Center with no open doors or windows.

His hair began to stand on end, even in the absence of all the ghosts, sans Mimikyu.

But he’d long grown used to Mimikyu. He knew what Mimikyu’s fear felt like.

This was different. More powerful, despite its relatively weak effect. More pronounced, maybe?

More primal.

The effect was somehow both minuscule and enormous. Like it was barely affecting him at all, and yet a wrong move would destroy him. Like the small fear that Mimikyu occasionally let off, yet as terrifying as when Cynthia’s Gallade had forced his friend to shroud them in darkness.

And then, as soon as it began, it stopped.

It felt like a weight had been lifted off of his chest. The breeze stopped tugging at him. But strangely enough, the sense of cleanliness remained. Like all the sweat and grime built up on his skin had been transformed into pure water.

There was a tense silence in the room. Neither N nor Mimikyu knew what to say. So instead, he turned back to Nurse Joy.

She was awfully tense as well. But in a different way than them. Where they were shocked and confused, she looked as if she was hiding something. As if a secret was about to be revealed.

“Nurse Joy… what was that?” N slowly forced the words out.

“Oh, the breeze?” She laughed awkwardly. “I’m sure it was just one of the wild Pokemon. You know how they can be sometimes.”

“Does she actually think we’re gonna buy that?” Mimikyu asked. “That ain’ no Dustox usin’ Gust.”

N knew how these things worked though. If she was going to try hiding the truth, poking and prodding for more information would just pit her against them, and it wasn’t exactly a good idea to do that with the Joy family. Especially not when she’d just offered a tangible lead into Mimikyu’s problems.

“...I see. Just a wild Pokemon. I suppose I still have a lot to learn about the ones that live here in Sinnoh.”

“Right? There’s always a new one out there to discover!” She forced another laugh out. “Why don’t we check up on your friends? I’m sure they’re growing bored!”

Ash was amazed.

They had so many cool wild Pokemon here!

He and Paige had given treats to some Teddiursa, Bellossom, Sandshrew, and a Bellsprout at a clearing in the woods. It had been a while since he’d seen some of them!

Then she took him to an old wooden bridge that went over a creek, and they threw some treats down into the water for some Goldeen, Wooper, Quagsire, and even a Wishcash!

None of them were new faces to him, which was a bit disappointing since he was in a new region and all, but that hadn’t taken away from his enjoyment in it. New discoveries might be one of the high points of going on journeys like this, but seeing familiar faces was always a blast too! Although, did they count as familiar faces? Sure they all looked the same as Pokemon he had seen before, but now that he thought about it, that phrase normally referred to seeing people you already knew, didn’t it? If you ran into a person, and had only met their twin before that moment, did that count as a familiar face?

He’d have to ask N and Brock later. They always had interesting things to say about those sorts of questions.

Paige must have realized he wanted something a bit more though.

How could he turn down the opportunity to give a treat to her secret friend? He figured it was just a rare Pokemon that the Joy family just didn’t want poachers coming after or something, since apparently Marnie had told her not to share the name with anyone. That was a common enough thing, and after the recent encounter with Hunter J, the consequences of making the location of rare Pokemon known was fresh in his mind.

So he had followed Paige deeper into the woods with a smile on his face. When they entered a cave, he thought it might be a Larvitar or maybe a Dragon type or something. He was a bit confused when the cave turned out to be a tunnel that led to a lake though. A super rare Pokemon at a remote lake? It could be a Milotic maybe, those were pretty rare…

He never expected Suicune though!

Seeing it brought back some bad memories of the Celebi incident… but also a lot of good times back during his Johto travels!

Suicune was one of the rare Legendary Pokemon that hadn’t caused him problems at some point, and he could appreciate the Water type for that.

If only the rest of them would follow its example…

Oh well, it is what it is.

At least now he could brag to the rest of his friends about getting Suicune to eat a cookie out of the palm of his hand!