WHO'S THAT POKMON?!

Confusion filled the arena, and every single person watching the battle as the image of a little pink blob with a face was broadcasted all over the world.

"WHO'S THAT POKEMON?!"

The referee asked the same question going through every single person's mind, to which only a few of those present knew the answer. One of which was the very same professor that was currently acting as a commentator for the battle.

"Well, I suppose we were going to have to reveal it eventually. That everyone, is a Ditto." Professor Oak announced to the entire world.

"DITTO?" The referee asked.

"Yes, a Ditto. They are a rather extraordinary pokemon that has only been recently discovered, by none other than young Ace Ketchum."

Every eye in the arena turned towards Ace, who sighed with more than a little exasperation at the situation.

"Yes, I discovered a colony of Ditto while exploring Kanto with several of my companions, May, Dawn and Joy. We then caught all of them that we could find to send back to professors Oak, Birch and Rowen for study. And thanks to a certain trait of theirs, I know that they will revolutionize the breeding programs for all pokemon all around the world. Observe."

Leaving everyone even more confused, and a select few intrigued, Ace then turned towards his Ditto in the arena and gave it an order.

"Ditto, use Transform!"

The entire time since it had been dragged out of it's pokeball, Ditto had been looking at the large crowd of people around it timidly since it had never seen so many people before, or been the center of attention like this. But the second Ace gave it an order, it's expression hardened.

"DITTO!"

The next thing all of them knew, the little pink blob had disappeared. And in it's place stood a powerful Salamence.

"SALAMENCE!"

Ditto roared with all of the ferocity and strength of it's opponent, also copying it's Intimidate ability to unnerve Salamence on top of the fact that it had suddenly transformed into it.

"Oh! It can use the same illusions Zorua and Zoroark can!" Iris exclaimed from the commentator's box.

"Close, but not quite." Professor Oak said with a wry smile.

"The reason Ace thinks it will revolutionize breeder programs is because Ditto doesn't just look like it's opponents, but because it actualy turns into them. Biologically speaking, that right there is a second Salamence, right down to it's DNA. As for whether it can breed with Salamence or not..."

"Actually professor..." Ace called up from the arena, drawing attention back to him.

"I received news from the breeder I gave one of the Ditto to, and they told me that they now have TWO eggs from breeding Ditto with their own pokemon. One from a male partner, and the other from a female partner. So not only can Ditto breed with other pokemon, they can breed with both male and female pokemon."

Professor Oak's jaw dropped as the very same theory Ace gave them from the beginning about Ditto was apparently proven, which DRASTICALLY increased the value of Ditto. It actually wouldn't be an understatement to call it one of the most valuable pokemon in the world now.

And now MANY people knew it.

Already the heads of numerous breeder programs were making arrangments to contact Ace and professors Oak, Birch and Rowen, while the other professors present at the SS. Anne were making similar plans. Especially profesor Ivy, who specifically specialized in breeding.

Right now though, Ace had a battle to win.

"Alright Ditto, let's show them what you can do!"

"Salamence, that's only a copy! I know you can defeat it!" Brendan similarly ordered on the other side.

***

'Dragon Pulse!' I mentally ordered Ditto.

"Dragon Pulse!" Brendan similarly ordered from the other side.

*DOGOOOOOOOON!*

The air itself seemed to vibrate as the two draconic attacks collided and exploded outwards, neither giving way to the other as they fought for supremacy.

My lips curled upwards at the equal displays of power, showing everyone that Ditto was no weaker than the pokemon that it transformed into.

'Now Fly up!' I mentally commanded Ditto, who immediately flapped it's wings to launch itself skyward. Thankfully, it had plenty of experience flying due to having it Transform into Pidgeot and such, though this was it's first time flying as Salamence.

"Show it what it means to actually Fly Salamence! Then use Twister!" Brendan declared.

"SALAMENCE!"

With a roar, Salamence summoned a powerful Twister of draconic power around Ditto, seemingly trapping it inside.

'Now, use Dragon Rush!' I told it, resulting in Ditto cloaking itself in it's own draconic energy.

'Use the power of the Twister.' I guided it, turning the power of Salamence's own move against it as Ditto tucked it's wings and dived.

Like a draconic comet, Ditto plummeted out of the sky and collided with Salamence with enough force that they came crashing down to the ground, with Salamence pinned beneath Ditto.

*CRASH!*

A small mushroom cloud formed over the arena where Ditto and Salamence impacted, before clearing to reveal two Salamence, one battered and bruised while the other was alright.

"Salamence, use Iron Tail!"

'Ditto, use Iron Tail.'

*CLASH!*

A deafening noise assaulted all of us as the two powerful tails collided, preempting the shockwave that rocked the entire arena around them.

"AGAIN!" Brendan cried out, and Salamence swung it's tail at Ditto once more.

'Dragon Pulse.'

Disregarding defense, Ditto expelled a powerful torrent of draconic energy right as Salamence swung it's tail at it. The result was Ditto being knocked back while Salamence was bathed in draconic energy, which was super effective against dragon type pokemon.

But even that, on top of the earlier Dragon Rush, was not enough to bring Salamence down.

"Truly a powerful dragon~!" I exclaimed in awe of the pokemon's tenacity and strength, which also made me excited to see how powerful my Dratini would be when she eventually evolved. Dragonite were the OG dragon types after all.

But just because it was powerful, didn't mean it couldn't fall. It was just a matter of if Salamence would be defeated before or after Ditto's Transform wore off.

'Fly up and use Dragon Pulse from above.' I commanded Ditto, who readily complied as it flapped it's wings.

"Go after it and use Dragon Claw!" Brendan told Salamence, who readily spread it's wings and gave chase.

But, with all of the practice Ditto had from using Transform to turn into Pidgeot and Crobat, it was far more agile than Salamence in the air. As such, it was child's play for Ditto to avoid the attack from Salamence before sending it's Dragon Pulse at it.

The attack hit Salamence hard, stunning it briefly and giving us another opening for a follow-up attack.

'Now finish this with Iron Tail!'

Ditto let out a roar as it performed a front flip while it's tail shimmered with steel type energy, sending Salamence crashing back down to the ground once more. At the same time, Ditto's Transform finally wore off from the energy it had used up, causing it to fall to the ground below.

*SPLAT!*

The little blob hit the ground HARD, splattering in every single direction to stun the spectating audience, before reforming itself as the little dropplets gravitated back towards the original.

"Ditto!" Ditto cried out victoriously once it was completely reformed while Salamence stayed down, making the result obvious.

"SALAMENCE IS UNABLE TO BATTLE!" The referee declared, announcing Ditto's victory.

"That little blob beat a Salamence?"

"Can a 'copy' really be that strong?"

"I can't believe it!"

I smiled smugly at the comments of awe and disbelief at my little Ditto, who also seemed to have gotten rid of it's earlier nervousness as it pulled itself back together.

"You did really well for your first real battle Ditto." I said while it made it's way back to me.

"Ditto!" It replied happily, stopping by Mightyena so it could stay out of it's pokeball as well.

I just hope that I won't need to deal with too many problems from revealing Ditto so suddenly. Though I do suppose this was better than me giving an actual presentation like the professors were talking about before...

Meanwhile I could see Brendan on the other side looking as if he were having an internal crisis from watching his Salamence lose to a small blob. And now he was down to just two more pokemon.

But then he clenched his fists with visible determination as he reached for his next pokeball.

"Let's go, Aggron!"

"AGGROOOOOOOOOON!"

The armored pokemon roared out as it appeared, as if it was dead set on avenging it's fallen comrades.

"Let's try this again." I said while grabbing one of my pokeballs. "Tyrantrum!"

"TYRAAAAAAAANT!" Tyrantrum roared as he appeared, obviously pissed from being forced to return previously. And even more pissed when he saw that Salamence was no longer in the arena.

"Get over it. You should be grateful that Ditto managed to finish up that battle." I told Tyrantrum bluntly, making him even angrier as he glared down at Ditto.

"Ditto!"

"Grrrrrrrr..."

Tyrantrum only growled at Ditto before turning his attention towards Aggron, wisely deciding to take his anger out on his opponent rather than the little blob.

"Aggron, use Steel Head!" Brendan commanded to start the battle, prompting Aggron to charge at Tyrantrum with it's horned head lowered.

'Use Earthquake.' I ordered Tyrantrum, who immediately slammed his foot down onto the ground as hard as he could.

*RUMBLE!*

Immediately the entire arena began to shake and quake beneath our feet, making Aggron lose it's footing while also recieving a significant amount of damage from being doubly weak to ground type moves.

'Now use Fire Fang!'

"Tyrant!"

Tyrantrum charged forward as his fangs were engulfed in a raging inferno, making the ground shudder with each step he took towards his prey.

"Quick Aggron! Use Iron Tail!" Brendan called out urgently.

"AGG!"

*CRASH!*

Tyrantrum was sent reeling as Aggron's tail slammed into his head, nearly knocking him to the ground as he staggered on his feet.

"Now keep it up with Heavy Slam!"

"AGGRON!"

Aggron tackled Tyrantrum with all of his might, driving them both to the ground with the former on top of the latter as it pressed it's weight down onto him.

"AND TYRANTRUM IS DOWN! WILL IT MANAGE TO GET BACK UP BEFORE IT IS CONSIDERED UNABLE TO BATTLE?!"

I frowned as Aggron got off of Tyrantrum, leaving him laying there on the ground.

"What do you think you're doing Tyrantrum?" I asked him as the timer counted down.

"Is this all a 'king' amounts to?"

"!!!"

Right as he was about to run out of time, Tyrantrum opened his eyes as a low and deep growl came from his throat.

"Tyyyyyraaaaaaaaant....."

"Aggron, don't let it get up!"

"Aggron!"

I furrowed my brow as the rock/steel type pokemon roared and charged at Tyrantrum while lowering it's head to point it's three horns at him.

"Thunder Fang!" I ordered out loud.

"TYRANT!"

With electricity arching in his mouth this time, Tyrantrum sidestepped Aggron's attack before lunging at the armored plates directly behind it's head, and bit down hard.

"!!!"

Even I was shocked to see Tyrantrum's teeth sink into the metal plating of Aggron's body, before the electric energy coursed through it's body to stun it.

"Tyyyyyyy..."

Growling through the other pokemon it was holding in it's jaws, Tyrantrum put strength into his entire body before actually throwing Aggron across the entire length of the arena, despite it weighing several hundrd pounds more than Tyrantrum.

*CRASH!*

Aggron hit the ground, HARD, more than making up for the hits Tyrantrum took previously. But apparently he wasn't done yet.

"!!!"

Even I blinked in surprise as Tyrantrum lowered his head and charged at Aggron, an illusionary drill appearing around him as he did so.

"Horn Drill?!" I exclaimed, as Tyrantrum hadn't managed to learn that move yet. Yet here he was, using it to finish the match against Aggron.

Horn Drill was a unique move that granted an automatic KO if it manages to connect with it's target, but on the other hand it has a very low chance of actually hitting the target. However, with the damage Aggron had taken until now, coupled with what looked like paralysis from the Thunder Fang before, it was uable to move as Tyrantrum's Horn Drill connected.

*DRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR-CRASH!*

As the attack connected, Aggron was sent flying into the arena wall this time before slumping down to the ground, unconscious.

"TYRAAAAAAAAANTRUUUUUUUUUUUUM!"

"AGGRON IS UNABLE TO BATTLE!" The referee announced.

"And then there was one~!" I said with a light whistle while looking to Brendan expectantly, already knowing which pokemon he had left.

"Tyrantrum, return." I called out, recalling Tyrantrum to his pokeball. He appeared less than pleased from me doing so, but he didn't act out or try to act defiant.

As soon as Tyrantrum was returned to his pokeball, I immediately grabbed the next one I wanted to use. The sixth and final pokemon I was able to use in this battle.

"Its all left to you now, Sceptile!"

"Tile..." Sceptile hissed as he appeared with his usual 'too cool for school' attitude. And as he did so I could have sworn I saw Brendan's eye twitch slightly. That was to be expected though, considering what his final pokemon more than likely was.

"It's all up to you, Swampert!" Brendan called out, before throwing out his final pokeball, which undoubtedly contained his strongest pokemon.

"SWAAAAAAAMMP!"

The amphibious pokemon roared as it appeared in the arena, apparently fully expecting to avenge the rest of it's fallen comrades.

In a way is resembled a large blue frog, with yellow and darker blue fins sticking up around it's body. But then Brendan did something that somewhat surprised me.

"Now let's take it to the next level Swampert!" Brendan declared, holding his glove up yet again.

"Swampert!" His pokemon answered, before it was enveloped in a sphere of multicolored light. And when the light shattered, it revealed that Swampert had grown several feet taller, and all of it's limbs had grown thicker and heavier with muscle, while it's yellow fins turned red.

"I say we answer in kind, Sceptile." I told my pokemon as we gaze upon Swampert's Mega Evolved form, to which he looked back at me with a smirk on his usually taciturn face.

"Let's go!" I declared, kissing my ring before holding it up dramatically, which apparently shocked Brendan as well as those around us.

"Sceptile!"

With my pokemon crying out in response, he too was enveloped in a sphere of multicolored light that shattered after a few seconds to reveal his new form.

Now Sceptile was at least a foot taller, with a pair of leaves that crossed one another in an X on his chest, while the seeds on his back were larger and his tail elongated significantly while also gaining a red tip. And the Cheri berry on top? We had already confirmed that when he Mega Evolved, Sceptile also gained an entirely new typing just like Ampharos and Charizard, the dragon typing.

"OH! Its a double Mega Evolution battle!" Professor Oak exclaimed excitedly from where he was commentating.

"Hey hey! Is it just me, or is Sceptile a dragon now?!" Iris demanded from her spot, making me want to face palm since I wasn't sure if Brendan knew that or not. But if he didn't, then he definitely did now.

"Swampert, use Blizzard!"

Of course...

'Detect and Leaf Blade.' I told Sceptile mentally, prompting him to shoot forward right into the Blizzard. With Detect though, Sceptile was able to take the path through the Blizzard that inflicted the least amount of damage to him as he moved in.

The nice thing about fighting against Swampert, it was the exact opposite of Sceptile in the speed department.

So Swampert was completely unable to react as Sceptile shot in and slashed it with the leafy blades at his wrists, dealing significant damage to the other pokemon due to it's water/ground typing. If it weren't for all of the thick muscle covering Swampert's body...

"Give is an Ice Punch!" Brendan ordered his Swampert, now that Sceptile was in close.

'Jump back and use Magical Leaf!' I mentally commanded him, and Sceptile just barely managed to miss the powerful explosive punch from Swampert before his tail shimmered with grass type energy as he swung it.

Multicolored leaves rained down onto Swampert as they actively sought it out like guided missiles, striking it all over it's body to deal even more damage.

"Swampert, use Surf!"

"Swamp!"

I cocked my brow as Brendan had Swampert use a water type attack this time instead of another ice type, which would be nowhere near as effective against Sceptile. But as the arena was covered in water, he then ordered Swampert, "Now, use Ice Beam!"

Really?

I couldn't help but to shake my head as Brendan tried to use the same tactic Floatzel and I used against his Shiftry, saturating the arena and then freezing it to seal Sceptile's movements.

"Leap up into the air to avoid the ice." I ordered Sceptile out loud, and he complied by jumping with all of his strength before his feet were frozen to the ground. But then Brendan did something I wasn't expecting.

"Now Swampert, use Earth Power!"

"Huh?"

The next thing I knew, Swampert smashed it's fists downwards and the frozen ground erupted with ground type energy to send chunks of it flying upwards, right at Sceptile.

"Well played~!" I whistled in admiration for the combo. "Though it still won't be enough! Sceptile, use Leaf Blade to slice through the chunks of earth!"

"Sceptile!"

Angling himself at my command, Sceptile swung his arms at the first chunk of frozen earth to come at him to slice it into two, before doing it again and again to cut it into several pieces.

"Now, use them as footholds to attack Swampert!" I told him, and Sceptile did just that.

My leafy boy shot around the air as he used Swampert's own attack against it, preparing another Leaf Blade as he did so.

"Now Swampert, use Chilling Water!"

"SWAMP!"

Swampert roared as it summoned a deluge of ice-cold water that poured over the entire arena, soaking Sceptile and chilling him to the bone as he began to visibly shake.

"Now follow with Scald!"

Immediately Swampert unleashed a pwoerful shot of water that was actually boiling this time at Sceptile, obviously intending to put him into shock by the rapidly shifting temperatures. I'll have to keep that in mind to use with my Milotic in the future.

For now though...

'Double Team.' I mentally ordered him once more.

Instantly more than a dozen copies of Sceptile appeared in the air around Swampert, with only one of them disappearing as it was hit by the Scald.

"Damn-!"

I heard Brendan swear as he and Swampert tried to figure which direction Sceptile's attack was coming from, too late.

"Sceptile!" he cried out while bringing his hands down in a double Leaf Blade attack onto Swampert's back.

'Now, follow it up with a Giga Drain!'

"TILE!"

Sceptile immediately took some distance from Swampert to avoid another potential Ice Punch, simultaneously sapping a ton of energy from his opponent to leave it drained while also restoring his own and recovering the slight amount of damage he had taken until now.

"Damn it... Swampert, use Blizzard and put everything you've got into it!" Brendan ordered with urgency in his tone, obviously feeling the pressure now.

"SWAMPERT!"

The big, blue pokemon bellowed as it summoned a powerful gust of freezing air to cover as much of the arena as possible.

'Sceptile, use Detect and try to charge for a Solar Beam!' I told him, hoping he'd be able to do both at the same time.

Detect required the pokemon's total concentration, which also meant that the longer it was used the more likely it would fail due to straining them too much. A couple seconds like earlier when he also used Leaf blade was one thing, but on the other hand, Solar Beam required time to build up the energy necessary if the sunlight wasn't intense enough. And unlike Exeggutor earlier, Sceptile didn't know Sunny Day.

Sceptile fought to stay ahead of the Blizzard while simultaneously charging his Solar Beam attack, trying to use Detect as little as possible to keep his concentration on Solar Beam. I also helped by channeling my aura into Sceptile similarly to when I synchronized with Lucario, or used 'Harmony' as Ilene called it.

"NOW!" I called out as Sceptile reached full power, and unleashed the attack onto Swampert right as it seemed to finally be petering out with it's Blizzard.

"SCEPTILE!"

*CRASH!*

The impact from the Solar Beam created a cloud of dust that momentarily concealed Swampert from view, before clearing to reveal it still standing there.

"To take a grass type move as powerful as Solar Beam, and remain standing afterwards. That Swampert truly is a monster." Professor Oak said, giving voice to what what I was sure was going through everyone's minds. I knew for a fact I was thinking the same thing. And then...

*Crash!*

Swampert fell forward and collapsed to the ground roughly, before his form shimmered as the Mega Evolution came undone.

"SWAMPERT IS UNABLE TO BATTLE! SCEPTILE WINS THE MATCH, AND ACE WINS TO MOVE ON TO FINALS AGAINST CALEM!" One of the referees announced, before everyone began cheering excitedly from the match. Everyone except Brendan and a certain trio that I noticed in the stands, Max, Norman, and his wife.

Still, now my participation in the finals was guarenteed as I recalled Mightyena and Ditto to their pokeballs before walking out to meet Brendan in the middle of the arena, which was now destroyed thanks to Swampert's previous attack.

"Well done." I told Sceptile, who appeared indifferent outwardly despite his aura swelling with pride.

I then recalled him to his pokeball before meeting Brendan, and reaching out a hand to him.

"It was a well-fought match." I told him, though he only silently accepted my hand to shake. Judging by his aura, this was probably his first defeat. And not only that.

I fought the urge to roll my eyes as Brendan looked at the place where I had been standing throughout our battle where the girls were busy cheering and celebrating my victory.

"Come on." I said, pulling him with me as I headed back.

"Huh?!" Brendan exclaimed, struggling against my grip in futile as I dragged him back where the girls were cheering. Or more specifically, May.

"Ace! That was amazing!" Chloe said as she ran up and gave me a hug.

"Yes it was! I can't believe you turned all of the pokemon with advantages around on Brendan!" Dawn stated after her, before mouthing that she was sorry to Brendan beside me.

"Thank you. And here." I said, shoving Brendan towards May, who appeared confused.

"Huh? Why did you bring Brendan with you Ace?" May asked while cocking her head cutely.

"Well, I think Brendan was planning to confess his feelings to you if he won our battle." I told her, making him look at me like I had betrayed him.

"Really?" May asked, before turning her attention to him.

"I'm REALLY sorry Brendan! But I can't be with you! I love Ace, and already plan to marry him when the time comes!" May told him sincerely, her fingers reaching for the amber pendant that was hanging from her neck as she did so. The same pendant that decorated Dawn, Misty, Joy, Chloe, and Daisy's necks as well. It was my promise to them, basically this world's version of an engagement ring.

"But that doesn't mean we can't be friends! If you are willing to settle for that..." May concluded while looking at Brendan expectantly. After all, I knew the two of them had the same hometown, even if Brendan only moved there fairly recently, and both of them were sponsored by her father to boot. It only made sense that she would want to remain friends with him if possible.

"I-I guess." Brendan said disheartedly, to which May smiled while giving him a quick, platonic, hug before rejoining the other girls.

"Thanks for that." Brendan said to me in a sarcastic tone as we watched May walk away.

"Any time buddy!" I said while pating him on the back, to which Brendan just scowled at me.

"Listen. You may not belive me right now, but I did you a favor in the long run." I told him seriously.

"Oh yeah? How so?" He snapped.

"Because, otherwise you would have just continued pining over May despite the fact that she has no romantic interest in you. This way, she knows how you feel, and you know how she herself feels. So that means you can spend a couple days pouting that the girl you like doesn't like you back, then you can go out there and find a girl who DOES want to be with you. And after this tournament, I can bet there will be PLENTY."

For a moment Brendan continued glaring at me for derailing what I'm sure he considered might have been a touching and heartfelt moment between him and May, before all of the anger in him seemed to deflate.

"I suppose that makes sense..." He said, looking back at May one last time, before turning as he started walking away.

"Tell you what, after all this bullshit with Team Rocket is over, I'll help you get some ass to cheer you up." I offered to him, which I sensed actually may have helped him crack a smile.

"Thanks." He said wryly, though I could tell he was considering my offer. And I wasn't joking either.

Not just the facilities and all of the people on the SS. Anne, but Celedon city was also somewhat infamous for some of the seedier places, like the Game Corner, which was the biggest gambling den in all of both Kanto and Johto. As well as a front for the true headquarters of Team Rocket.

There wasn't a single doubt in my mind that I could get Brendan laid in the next few days to get his mind off of May.

Man, when did I start becoming this nice?

Anyways, now that Brendan's one-sided feelings for May were sorted out, which will hopefully diffuse some of the tension he developed towards me, I headed back towards my dressing room to await my battle with Calem. It wouldn't be until five in the afternoon though, to give our pokemon plenty of time to recouperate before then.

As I entered the hall though, I found quite the group of people waiting for me, ALL of the professors aboard the SS. Anne, and even Lance and Ilene.

"Ace, please tell us everything about that Ditto of yours." Ivy immediately requested, in a tone left no room for refusal.