A Stranger in Town

I am beautiful...

I am confident...

I... picked the wrong Pokémon to turn into.

The Froslass floating through Grassveil Town covered her mouth with her arm to mask her soft sigh. (Well, at least that looked graceful...) Today had been the mother of all slow days as far as Pokémon leaving town went, and Copycat had been forced to settle for the Snow Land Pokémon as her disguise for the day. There wasn’t anything particularly wrong with being a Froslass, but Copycat felt like she was playing opposites, so to speak.

Just stay calm, she thought to herself. Just pretend that you really ARE a Froslass, and everything will be fine...

This was definitely going to be one of those days.

A messenger bag chock full of various dungeoneering supplies hung off Oswald's side, the bag nearly bursting with how many items were contained inside it. Of course, none of these were Oswald, as he was just restocking the entire guild's emergency medical supplies, the kitchen's ingredients, and various other things. As a fighting type, he wasn't affected much by the heavy weight on his shoulder.

He would occasionally wave to passerby, being the social pokemon that he was, he felt that it was always a good idea to give off a positive impression. As he walked by, he noticed something of an anomaly floating towards him. It was a Froslass, or at least, it appeared to be one. Upon closer examination from Oswald's trained eyes, he could tell that it's form wasn't quite right in very, very minuscule parts. Anyone who hadn't seen a Froslass before would've been completely fooled.

"Hello there miss!" Oswald said, waving politely to the "Froslass" as he walked over to her, a welcoming smile on his muzzle as he greeted her.

Darryl plodded through town. The ice bird Pokemon had his flippers placed behind his head casually as he grinned to himself. It was the start of a good day. Things had gone well for the day. Although he hadn't quite made it to becoming a guild Pokemon, he didn't mind. The good weather and nice Pokemon were enough to make his day a good one for sure.

Stretching out his arms, Darryl placed them to his sides again in a normal position. He noticed a Mienfoo up ahead, greeting some Pokemon. "Hm?" He said tilting his head as he walked closer. There was a sudden connection in his head. It was as if the gears started turning rapidly as he put two and two together. "Oh man! I can't believe it's you!" Darryl said as he rushed over and cut in front of Oswald in sheer excitement. "What the heck are you doing in this part of town! Shara, long time no see!" He said with a grin.

Darryl recalled the Froslass, which was nearly identically to a Froslass he had met when he trained with his father. He had grown a soft spot for the calm and relaxed Pokemon, but hadn't been in contact with her since.

Wiesel wrote:

"Hello there miss!" Oswald said, waving politely to the "Froslass" as he walked over to her, a welcoming smile on his muzzle as he greeted her.

Copycat froze (no pun intended) as the stranger approached her. She quickly went through her mental list of introduction to find one suitable for this form. "Greetings," she replied in a cool voice. (Darn it, she was punning again!) Before she was forced to fumble her way through any awkward conversation...

❍ᴥ❍ wrote:

"Oh man! I can't believe it's you!" Darryl said as he rushed over and cut in front of Oswald in sheer excitement. "What the heck are you doing in this part of town! Shara, long time no see!" He said with a grin.

The Froslass floated back an inch or so in surprise. Okay, maybe the casual conversation with the Mienshao would have been a bit more preferable to this... A million more thoughts went through her head. Who was this Delibird? Had she seen her before? Had she used the alias "Shara" before? Maybe that's the name of the Pokemon I copied...

"I apologize," she said after a moment, "but you must have me mistaken for someone else." She could only hope that her voice didn't sound too much like this "Shara" character.

Oswald nodded respectfully in response to the imposter's greeting, and was about to introduce himself until a Delibird came up between the duo and started to joyously welcome his "old friend". Oswald couldn't help but chuckle lightly, deciding that he would just let the scene play out before him, rather than be the bearer of bad news.

"Ah, hello there, who might you be?" Oswald asked, having seen glimpses of the Delibird around town. He certainly wasn't a guild member, and up till now, Oswald had no reason to speak to the Delibird, as he was much too busy with training and spending time with Vanilla. But, now that they were both curious as to who this imposter was, now would be a great time to at least find out his name.

The Delibird wasn't surprised at her comment. He merely laughed in amusement. "Ah Shara, you were always a joker. Quiet, but a joker regardless. What in the name of Arceus are you doing in this part of town?" He asked. The Froslass looked like Shara, sounded like Shara, and certainly had the same tone to her voice. Yet something seemed off to him, but he pushed it aside regardless.

Darryl turned at Oswald's voice. "Hm, oh hey there. The names Darryl. Darryl the Delibird of course." He replied casually. "Don't mind me cutting in here. I got excited about seeing an old friend is all..." He said with a grin and placed his flippers behind his head.

Copycat used the moment that Darryl was distracted by the Mienshao (whose name she still did not know) to sort through her memories again. This Delibird was so sure that she really was this "Shara," but she couldn't recall a single time she had ever gone by that name. Heck, she was almost positive that she had never even been a Froslass before! She frowned a bit. The poor Delibird had been so excited about seeing an old friend, but Copycat wasn't sure she would be able to pull off an imitation act.

"I'm sorry," she said again, "but I'm not Shara. My name is Icia." It was the first name that came to her mind, but luckily, it seemed to fit.

Oswald bowed in respect, despite the fact that they weren't members of the guild. Not that such a status would've mattered to the Mienshao, for he didn't particularly care for ranks as he didn't really feel superior, regardless of his status as a guild member. He looked between the two and jovially introduced himself, "I am Oswald, it is a pleasure to meet the both of you..."

However, upon hearing "Icia's" response, revealing that she was not the Froslass that Darryl was searching for, Oswald couldn't help but pipe up, "I'm afraid she is correct, Darryl. She is not Shara, nor is she a Froslass, correct Icia?"

Oswald wasn't at all upset or even perturbed by Icia's mimicry of another pokemon, as she certainly didn't look like the type who would try to cause any harm to the town. He was simply curious as to what the "Froslass" really was behind that nearly fool proof disguise.

Darryl blinked for a moment. "What do you mean you're not Shara? You look like her, you sound like her. You act like her too. If you're not Shara then what are you?" He said and grabbed his bag-like tail. Darryl tended to grab and hold onto his tail when things got awkward. It was a strange instinct for the Delibird, but he did it regardless. He tilted his head to one side.

"And what do you mean she's not a Froslass? Why wouldn't she be one?" The Delibird said. He wasn't the brightest Pokemon, and he was incredibly confused about what Oswald meant. "So are you a fake Froslass then?"

Copycat suddenly felt very nervous... and kind of guilty, too. It was clear that this Mienshao had figured her out, and not only that, but she was sure that she had copied this Delibird's friend! Oh gosh, oh gosh, oh gosh... The Ditto-turned-Froslass had only three options at this point: lie, tell the truth and hope that she wouldn't die of sheer embarrassment, or run (er, fly) away. The third option seemed like it would be the easiest--after all, she could just copy another Pokemon and pretend like nothing had happened--but something about that seemed... wrong. Darryl deserved an explanation as to why this Pokemon who looked so much like his friend was floating through town, at least... With a sigh, Copycat began to speak:

"He's right... I'm not really a Froslass. I didn't want anybody to see what I really look like, so I transformed into one of the Pokemon leaving town. I guess I must have turned into your friend, Darryl, since you say I look so much like her... I'm really sorry."

She held her hands together and stared down at the ground when she finished, hoping that she had made the right choice...

Oswald smiled, "I'm glad to see that you finally got that off your chest. Now please, don't be self conscious about your true form. We have a number of illusionists and transforming pokemon here in Grassveil, so there isn't any need to be shy."

The Mienshao quickly deduced which pokemon there were in the world that could transform at will, and was able to run it down to three subjects. The first two were Zorua and Zoroark, and honestly, it would be rather weird to find a Zorua or a Zoroark who depreciated their natural form's appearance. After crossing those two off the list, Oswald smiled, and asked, "So tell me, Icia you said? Would you happen to be a Ditto?"

Darryl shook his head. "Woah! You're a Ditto! You had me fooled. That much I can say." He said with a small smile. "Hey it's no big deal. I can hope that I'll see her again at the least. Besides that, why can't you show yourself? There's all kinds of Pokemon, you're not going to be a freak or anything." He said and shrugged. "And anyone who does call you that will get a flipper to the back of the head if I have anything to say about it." Darry said and gave Icia a roguish wink. "So is your name REALLY Icia too?"

Wait... What?!

Saying that Copycat was confused was a huge understatement. Every Pokemon who had ever seen her true form had called her a "freak" or some variant of that. These two were acting like it was no big deal! Heck, Darryl was even offering to defend her from anyone who called her that! What was going on?

"I... Uh..." It took a few moments for Copycat to finally get her thoughts together. How had Oswald managed to figure her out so easily? Well, as long as the Meowth was out of the bag... "Y-Yes... Yes, I'm a Ditto... and, uh, no, my name isn't really Icia. It's... It's Copycat."

Oswald smiled, and bowed his head in respect before replying, "Well, it's nice to meet you Copycat. And you don't have to worry about any sort of prejudice here. We members of the guild do our best to keep other pokemon from being bullied around in such a manner."

The Mienshao then returned his gaze to Copycat, with a more genuine, welcoming grin on his muzzle as he asked, "So, where do you hail from Copycat? My teacher and I came here from Icicle Woods."

Darryl raised a flipper. "Hey. Nice to meet ya Copycat. Yeah what he said. If anyone does say anything, don't listen to them. The majority of the Pokemon around town, at least in my opinion, are good guys." He said, placing the flipper down after giving her a greeting. "Besides... Being a Ditto must be cool. You can use practically any move! I bet you'd be a fierce battler!" He said, raising a flipper yet again.

Despite having put it down just moments ago the thought of being that tricky in battle got him excited and riled up. There was a spark in the Delibird's eyes. He was imagining the possibilities for a moment, but snapped back to reality. "Ehehe.. Sorry about that. I guess you look at it a different way though huh?" He said while rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.

Confusion finally eroded away into a sense of relief. For probably the first time in her life, Copycat felt genuinely safe. Not safe enough to transform back to normal in the middle of town like this, but safe, nonetheless. She smiled as she answered Oswald's question: "Oh, I'm from a little town pretty far away from here... I've been traveling a lot, so that's how I ended up here."

Darryl's enthusiasm for battling seemed a bit strange to the Ditto-still-turned-Froslass. Truth be told, she hadn't done much battling in her life--just enough to learn how to defend herself from wild Pokemon. Having the potential to wield virtually every move in existance wasn't really something that had occurred to her. "I guess I hadn't really thought about that..." was her simple reply. She briefly wondered what moves her current form knew...

"I do admit, having such a wide variety of moves can be beneficial. However, it can be unpredictable. After all, how would you know what moves your opponent knows until you use those attacks yourself. Not only that, but you will be at a disadvantage during one on one fights, as the opponent will know much more about their move pool and how to use it than you would." Oswald deduced, not trying to be a downer or anything of the sort, but simply explaining some of the drawbacks transformation has.

He smiled, and patted Copycat on the shoulder before he replied, "But don't worry, as long as you have a friend, you can surprise the enemy and both you and your friend can take the assailant down with their own medicine. At least, that's how I would see it. Regardless, you should carefully consider what pokemon you are going to copy, as timing and careful planning are always important when in battle."

Darryl sighed. "Man, don't be a total letdown. At least make it positive considering the moment. Ruining the moment, not cool." He said and placed a flipper again his forehead. The Delibird had obviously been living in a fantasy dream for a brief moment, only to have his bubble popped by Oswald's reality check. Careful planning or not, the idea was still exciting to him and he bounced back quickly from the brief feelings he felt.

"Besides, think of how cool it would be... Maybe you could even turn into a legendary Pokemon. Or turn into a bird and fly away or a Water type and dive into the ocean. Oh man the possibilities. Think positive about it! Even if it's not fighting, you can do some awesome stuff!" He said and raise the flipper he had just used to press against his forehead into the air in a fist pump motion. He was obviously all excited again just at the prospect of being able to explore in different forms. "Woah." He said and snapped out of his current state. "Sorry about that, got all excited again. So you've been traveling huh? Are you planning on sticking around?"

Copycat carefully thought over Oswald's words as she rested her hand on her chin. Something about being told this from a new acquaintance instead of her teacher or even her parents was kind of ironic, but it did make sense--after all, her parents had never really been the battling type, and her old teacher hadn't really known how to handle training a Ditto. He would usually just tell her to copy his son and use his moves. (Well, at least it was comforting to know that if she had to fight a Machop, she would have a good handle on that...)

Her train of thought was interrupted by Darryl's continued ramble, which she couldn't help but smile at. She had actually transformed into Flying- and Water-types many times before in order to blend in with her surroundings. To her, it was really nothing spectacular after the first several times, but to a Pokemon who was always the same shape no matter what... Copycat couldn't really imagine what that was like. Normal, perhaps?

"Are you planning on sticking around?" Darryl had asked. It wasn't like she hadn't been asked that before, but in the past, she had always said no out of fear of being discovered. These two already knew her secret, though, so that excuse was out of the question...

"Perhaps," she replied, her Froslass persona still evidence in her voice. "I'm not sure where I would stay, though..."

Oswald couldn't help but perk his ears up when Copycat told them of her need for shelter. Practically ecstatic in his behavior, Oswald gave her a toothy grin and replied, "Well, I do know of a place. Why don't you try the Guild? They provide free housing and food, it's a fantastic way to meet new people, and you can go on an adventure whenever you want. Unless you want to do some part time work around the guild, helping the staff of course."

Oswald knew that there were other ways to earn your keep at the Guild, but he could never subject himself to such mind-numbing tasks, for he was a warrior and explorer at heart. Not that he didn't respect the guild staff. Heck, if it wasn't for them, the guild would never have their missions updated, or even have food available!

"Of course, if you don't want to, it is perfectly fine. The life of a guild member isn't cut out for everyone." Oswald continued, not wanting to give off the impression that he was ramming this offer down Copycat's throat...metaphorically speaking of course. After all, such a thing would be horridly uncharacteristic of him, and it would paint the guild in a negative light!

Darryl caught Oswald's suggestion of going to the guild. "Hey! Why not?" He said and tapped his flipper against his chest. "I've been meaning to go there anyways. The guild's a great place you know? Great! I'm telling ya! Supposedly there's all kinds of work there and they aren't gonna bias you cause you're a Ditto or something." He said and crossed his flipped.

"I'll even go with you! Considering I've been... Putting it off and all." The Delibird said with an embarrassed smile while rubbing the back of his head. In truth he had been a bit nervous about going to join the guild. He didn't have a team to join, and he didn't want to go in without knowing at least one Pokemon... Although he knew he definitely wanted to explore all sorts of areas.

"The guild?" Copycat echoed. She scratched her chin as Oswald gave his enthusiastic explanation. (Boy, people around here sure got excited about things, didn't they?) Would she be cut out to be an adventurer? She wasn't entirely sure. She had done quite a bit of traveling since she left home, but she usually chose to flee from battles if she possibly could. Maybe working for the staff would be easier on her...

Only one way to find out, right?

"All right," she said with a smile. "If you guys think it's a good place, then it's probably worth checking out."

"Right, it's settled then! Please, follow me and I'll show you the way to the guild," Oswald replied, walking around the duo and motioning them to follow. He knew the path like the back of his paw, continuing to say hello to the various pokemon walking amongst the streets. He had completed missions for quite a few of them, so his reputation was becoming more wide spread amongst the townsfolk. Still, he wasn't famous or all that well known, which was fine for him, since he felt that the extra publicity would only be a hinderance. But none of that mattered now, for Oswald was simply a guide. Soon enough, the town was behind them as they made their way towards the guild's entrance.

Oswald stood over the large grating in front of the entrance, and just waited patiently as the staff identified his footprints and opened the gate for him. He motioned for the duo to follow him as he walking towards the entrance, stopping as he allowed his two guests to be registered by the workers down below before letting them inside. It wasn't required to have guests be registered upon entering, but the staff got really annoyed when they weren't, so it was always best to just follow the rules and avoid all of that hassle. The Mienshao had to wonder what would happen with Copycat though, as identifying her would be incredibly difficult for the staff.