What is my destiny...?

Copycat wandered aimlessly around the halls of the Guild, keeping an eye out for places that were off-limits or overly-crowded. She had shifted back to her normal form at the door for "footprint identification" (and nearly melted into the grate in the process), and now she was keeping an eye out for anyone who might be staring or want to make fun of her. Fortunately, most of the Pokemon that passed hardly gave her a second glance, too busy with their own tasks to worry about making fun of a "freaky pink blob." The Ditto gave a sigh of relief.

But there was one question still present in her mind: What was she going to do here? Oswald had suggested that she come here to look for work while she was in town, but what could she do? She could find an exploration team, but was she really a fighter? Sure, she could transform into any Pokemon that she faced and use its moves against it, but would she know how? What else could she do here that would be useful?

"What can I do...?" Copycat murmured to herself.

Mercead the Shieldon walked quietly through the guild halls, heavy steps leaving deep prints in the ground. She kept her head low, but her eyes stayed up and were slowly growing angrier and angrier at the incessant yattering of her partner. Said partner, "Handsome" the Hoppip, was supine on her back, leaves on his head pressed against Mercead's shield. "I mean, don't get me wrong, you look good and strong. I mean, a few more levels and you could probably take a freight train to that face of yours and not even break your nose...do you even have a nose? Whatever. But honestly, when they said my partner was going to be a classy young steel type woman I was expecting...I don't know, a beautiful Mawile or Empoleon or something. Maybe even a lovely Lucario. I wasn't expecting a dinosaur."

The Shieldon snorted, trying to ignore him. She looked over and saw Copycat wandering around. She tilted her head curiously which was enough movement to knock Handsome off. "Argh!" The Hoppip yelled, "What is the meaning of this? What are you staring a-" He halted mid-rant upon noticing the ditto. "...well hellO..."

Handsome shook his leaves into place so one fell over his left eye then sauntered towards the ditto. Mercead shook her head and followed him.

Dramatic irony. Noun. Irony that is inherent in speeches or a situation of a drama and is understood by the audience but not grasped by the characters in the play. In other words, something the audience knows that the characters don't. One may be wondering why the definition of this word is suddenly coming up. Copycat certainly wouldn't know, but the fact that she was technically genderless would probably be important to the womanizing Hoppip approaching her. The only reason she referred to herself as "she" in the first place was because she exhibited behavior that is considered "feminine" by most people in society, and calling herself "it" or some other series of awkward gender-neutral pronouns would have only made things complicated.

Regardless, Copycat nearly jumped out of her... goo?... when the two strange Pokemon suddenly approached her. (Well, strange in the sense that Copycat had no idea who they were.) Every fiber of her being told her to run before things got bad, especially considering the overly-confident stride of the Hoppip. Unfortunately, there wasn't really anywhere she could run. She had no idea how to navigate the building, and the only familiar exit was blocked by the approaching Pokemon. She was desperately beginning to wish that she had kept her previous form before entering. Little did she know that that would have only made things worse.

"Um..." she murmured as the two closed in on her. "H-Hello..." Maybe they wouldn't be hostile, after all. After all, Oswald said that the people in the guild were supposed to be nice. Still, something about the way the Hoppip carried himself made Copycat feel distinctly uncomfortable.

"It is a true pleasure, ma'am." Handsome said, "Or sir, whichever you may identify as. My name is Horus, but most folks call me Handsome. You can too if you like. Let me tell you," at this he put on his biggest grin, "I have always been curious about Dittos. Tell me, is it true what they say about your sort and their habits of-OWWWWW!"

His sentence was cut off by all fifty seven kilos of his partner stomping on his tail. "Ignore partner," Mercead said in a nearly silent, low voice, "if you want to talk, you can talk to me. You just seemed...out of place?"

She was partly grateful to Handsome (who sat cradling his swollen tail) for instigating the conversation, something she'd never do. And this Ditto's nervousness had been what made her curious. Were they kindred spirits in their awkwardness, maybe? Either way, Handsome had helped, but she was sure he would undo the good he'd done just as fast if she let him.