"Hi," I said, unsure of what was going on.
My friends looked at the scene, in shock, then,
BANG
The cop fell on me and I shoved him off. Behind him was another cop. His gun had a tiny bit of smoke curling out of it from the shot that was fired. His badge told me his name was George.
George kept his gun trained on the fallen cop who had to be dead. "Blasted Ditto 5!"
I took a step back. "The what now!?"
He barely glanced my way, eyes on the fallen cop. "Konikoni's been invaded son. Dittos have disguised themselves as most, maybe all by now, the residents and hid the real people."
He cocked his gun. "Like my partner. He's missing and the Ditto impersonating him is right here. "
Suddenly, the fallen cop morphed into a wave of purple ooze and disappeared into the ground. The cop here tried to shoot it, but he was too late.
He turned to face my friends and I. "Kahuna Olivia has been at the Ruins of Life for days now and hasn't returned yet. I've quarantined Konikoni off. No one but me is allowed in."
He gestured towards Digglet's Tunnel. "You four need to leave. I'm going to quarantine this whole section of the island. Maybe that'll stop the Dittos from spreading."
I didn't argue. "Two Team Skull grunts came out before us. You might want to go after them."
George growled. "Just what I need. Dittos impersonating Team Skull."
He rushed off towards the direction opposite of Konikoni City.
Once he disappeared, I sighed. "C'mon guys."
I started walking towards Konikoni City.
"What are you doing!?" Hissed Alex.
"Yeah," Robert agreed. "He told us to leave."
Hau joined me. "Oh come on guys. We just took on a freaking giant Dugtrio. I think we can handle a city of Dittos disguised as humans."
"Famous last words," Alex muttered just loud enough for us all to hear.
"And it's getting dark out," Robert pointed to the setting sun.
I looked at him. "Then we'd better not split up like they do in horror movies."
I began to run towards Konikoni City with Hau beside me. I heard Alex and Robert give chase after us after a second.
When we reached Konikoni, there was a huge gate in front of it.
Hau looked up. "That must be at least 15 feet. How are we going to climb it!?"
I held up a pokeball. "Who said we were going to climb?"
...
George was coming back when he saw the four kids from earlier use a Decidueye's Phantom Force to get inside Konikoni.
"Blasted kids," he grumbled.
...
I came out of the Phantom Force on my feet. "That still feels really weird."
Hau groaned. "You're telling me."
I kept Decidueye out since I figured if we ran into trouble, we would need a fast notcher.
The city was a ghost town and no lights were on, not even street lights. There was no one around-
"HEEELP!"
I looked at my friends and we ran towards the cry for help. We turned a corner and saw a hiker on the ground.
He looked at us with wide eyes. "HELP ME!"
Then something dragged him into the darkness and down a man hole. His screams echoed from below and petered out.
I peered down the man hole. "We need to go down there."
"Uh Zeno," Alex started. "There's someone up there."
I looked to see where she was pointing. There was a large house and on the farthest up window, I could see the silhouette of a person, maybe an old lady.
I pointed at Alex, Hau, and Decidueye. "You three, go to the house and check it out. Robert, you and me buddy, in a sewer.
"I thought you said we were not going to split up," Robert exclaimed.
I cocked a smile. "I guess I lied then."
Then I jumped down the man hole.
...
The sewer actually wasn't sewer like. There was no disgusting water and no horrible smell. Just a large empty pipe that went straight and turned left. There were also side tunnels, so that made it more difficult.
Robert landed beside me. "They're going to check the house out."
"Good," I said. "Now all we have to do is find that hiker dude."
"Not going to be a problem," Robert said, pointing to some purple slime on the ground, leading down a pipe just to our right. "Just follow the purple slime."
I nodded. "Let's get going then."
...
"I don't like this," Alex said, in front of the front door of the house with Decidueye behind her.
Hau, despite the situation, looked cheerful. "Oh come on Alex, what's so bad about a front door? Just knock?"
Alex glared at Hau and knocked twice. Nothing happened.
"Okay," Alex said. "Let's go-!"
The door creaked open and Alex jumped back.
Hau took a step into the dark house and did a full 180 degree turn, facing Alex. "See, nothing-!"
A purple arm of sorts curled around Hau's chest and heaved him backwards into the darkness.
"HAU!" Alex yelled, switching on her flashlight.
She ran into the house, swinging the beam of light everywhere. There was no sign of Hau.
...
Robert and I turned a corner, still following the purple slime.
"So," Robert said, obviously trying to start a conversation. "Why do you think the Dittos are taking people and transforming into them?"
I swung my flashlight as we turned left. "Maybe they finally realized they could become us, and be a better us."
We turned right and saw the hiker slumped against the wall.
He saw us and tried to stand, but failed. "Thank Arceus you found me. I need your help."
Robert moved to help him, but I stopped him. "Robert, look at the slime."
Robert looked. "Yeah, I see..."
His eyes followed the trail of slime, which ended just beneath the hiker.
Robert took a step back as the hiker smiled. "You caught me."
Then his body collapsed into a wave of purple ooze and sprang at us.
...
Decidueye followed Alex into the dark house, arrow nocked.
Alex aimed the beam of light on a stairway leading up. "Follow me Decidueye."
While Alex went up the stairs, something snatched Decidueye without a sound.
Alex reached the top and saw she was in a hallway. She swung the beam both ways, then settled on going left.
Purple ooze plopped down from the ceiling behind her and quickly formed into Decidueye.
Alex turned around, wide-eyed, but when she saw Decidueye, she relaxed. "Keep an eye out behind us."
She turned back to look down the hallway just in time to see a door creak open slightly. Alex cautiously tiptoed up to the door and pushed it open slightly more.
Suddenly, something pushed her from behind, forcing her into the room. The door slammed shut behind Alex as she stood. Then she saw the old lady rocking in a chair. Purple ooze dripped from her body as she stared at Alex.
"Hello dear," she croaked. "Shall we play a little game?"
Suddenly, something fell from the ceiling and smothered Alex in ooze.
...
I tackled Robert out of the way and the purple ooze wave smacked into the wall.
I pushed Robert down the pipe. "GO!"
We ran as the purple ooze morphed into an athlete runner.
"That's just not fair," Robert complained as we ran.
"Then let's not play fair either," I growled and whipped out my knife.
I stopped, turned, and sliced upwards. The upper body was split apart, purple tendrils waving wildly at I ran after Robert.
Robert looked back, saw the half man half split body with purple tendrils, and looked back ahead. "I think all you did was make it look scarier."
Suddenly, my vision flickered.
"No," I thought. "Not now!"
Then I stopped moving and fell, slipping away into the darkness.
...
I sat up in a white landscape. In front of me was a throne made of shadows. A man also made of shadows with glowing red eyes sat upon it.
I glared at him, knowing he was the Shadow. "Get me out of here! My friends are in danger!"
His empty gaze rested upon mine and spoke, though he didn't have a mouth. "Traveling with you, that's asking for dangerous things to happen."
I growled. "Why did you bring me here!?"
He laughed. "You and your friends were going to be taken no matter what. I just decided that I could help you, if you make a deal with me that is."
"Why would I need your help!?" I growled.
It felt like he was grinning. "Because you are going to wake up soon and you will be faced with a decision. One that could mean life or death for you and your friends."
"Though," the Shadow held up a finger. "It's rigged. Made so you'll get it wrong."
"How do I beat it then?" I asked.
The Shadow shook his finger. "Nuh uh. I'll tell you, but you'll owe me a favor. Do know that double crossing me after the deal will be the death of your friends. A painful death."
I knew the Shadow needed me for his rise, but my friends needed me.
I was about to shake his hand, when I remembered something my father had told me once. One of the only good things Giovanni ever said to me.
"To make a deal with the devil," he had said. "Is to lose your own soul. And to lose your soul is to lose everything you hold dear."
I don't think he was in his right state of mind at the time.
I retracted my hand. "No deal Shadow. I can save my friends myself."
He didn't seem surprised. "Even though you don't want it Zeno, you are the Hero Born of Darkness. Farewell, for now."
He waved his hand, making shadow ripples in the air. The shadows grew until they smothered me in their darkness.
...
George shook me awake. "You okay there son?"
I nodded weakly. "Yeah, I think so."
Somehow I wasn't in the sewers anymore. I was on the street in Konikoni.
"How'd I get back up here?" I asked groggily.
George shrugged. "I found you here."
Then he grabbed me by the neck and hoisted me upright. "Turn around Zeno."
I turned and gasped. In front of me were my friends, bound, gagged, and blindfolded. But there was another group of my friends, identical to the other group. Each group was surrounded by dozens of normal looking Dittos.
I looked at George. "You're not really human, are you?"
He gave me a maniac grin, purple ooze dripping from his chin. "I'm the leader of the infamous Ditto 5 and my plans of world domination begins here on Akala!"
He handed me his gun. "You have a choice here Zeno. Shoot any one person in whichever group you choose. If you shoot a Ditto disguised as your friend, you all get to leave alive. If you shoot your friend, you all die."
I remembered what the Shadow had said. This was rigged. I couldn't win, but I knew there had to be a way out of this or the Shadow wouldn't have tried to make a deal with me.
Realizing I had no choice but to guess, I switched off the safety. Then I noticed something off about me. My fingers were blurry. My trigger finger was disfigured while the rest looked like they split into two. I knew instantly what had to be done.
I turned the pistol in my hand and pressed it against my temple and faced "George".
He looked at me in shock. "What are you doing!?"
"Choosing," I said and pulled the trigger.
...
I woke up with something on my face. I pulled it off to see it was a Ditto. Anger fueled me, nothing else. I held Ditto in a tight grip as it tried to escape.
"Oh no you don't!" I spat and threw Ditto onto the ground away from me.
I heard my friends behind me, calling my name, but I ignored them as I pulled out my knife. "You are going to pay Ditto!"
It morphed into George from my "dream". "How'd you know!?"
I held up my hand. "My fingers. They look different when you're dreaming, so I knew what was going on."
I backed him up against the edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean. "Now, you need to get going."
"You'll never get rid of me!" He yelled and prepared to charge me, but I had other plans.
I let out Gyarados and he roared. "Gyarados! Use Hyper Beam!"
Gyarados fired the powerful energy beam and the Ditto was blasted across the ocean, disintegrating, his essence spraying the ocean.
I returned Gyarados and sat on the ground, exhausted.
My friends rushed up to me and I looked at them. "What happened?"
Hau explained. "We got out of the tunnel and suddenly a Ditto attached itself to your face. We tried to get it off, but we couldn't. What happened!?"
I looked at my three friends. "Oh do I have a story to tell you guys."
...
1 month later
On the shores of Kalos, the waves washed something ashore. It was a gloppy mess, but it shaped itself into a regular looking Ditto. After a while of traveling undetected, it made its way to Lumiose City.
The Ditto looked at a huge building, waiting to be bought by a wealthy business man. The Ditto morphed into a business man with a suitcase full of money.
It, he, smiled to himself. "I'll be waiting for you Zeno. One day, you'll see me again. And when you do, I'll be ready."
HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY! INDEPENDENCE DAY! WOOHOO! Okay, I'm good. Anyway, hoped you enjoyed this little horror chapter. And don't worry, the one month later applies only to the Ditto, not for Zeno and co. Next chapter things will be in the present, with Zeno going to challenge Olivia. Oh and the polls are in. Flareon: 1. Glaceon: 2. Looks like Glaceon won. Though, if someone wants to change it within a day, do so now. Because tomorrow I start writing again. Also, new cover is made by artsynderella and is willing to take requests to make covers. That's it. You all have a good day/night. Toodles.