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Brock awoke from his bed in the middle of night from the sound of a phone ringing. He sighed as he got up to go check it, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He was having a very good dream back there.
Brock reached for the phone, picking it up. “Hello?”
From the other end of the phone was the voice of none other than Dawn. She sounded worried, which Brock knew was a very bad sign. He immediately steeled himself for whatever news was about to follow.
“Brock! It’s urgent, can I ask you something?”
“Anything. What’s wrong?”
Dawn briefly paused on the other end of the phone as she began to recount her tale. “Alright, so I was with Ash and his friend Goh the other day, but… there was something off about Ash.”
Brock raised an eyebrow. “Something wrong with Ash? Ash is normally a bit bizarre, but what could possibly be that-”
“Brock, he began chasing around a ball of yarn after I dropped a bundle of it from my bag.”
Brock paused. “Why do you have a ball of yarn?”
“Buneary likes to get creative sometimes! But seriously, Ash may sometimes be a bit… odd, but this seems a bit much, even for him.”
Brock nodded. “I have to agree, but one unusual event shouldn’t make you that convinced. Did something else come up?”
Brock could hear Dawn mutter something at the other end of the phone. “Er, uh, sorry Brock, Pachirisu is trying to drag me somewhere! You know how he is, one second!”
Brock stood there as he could hear some miscellaneous sounds from the other end of the phone. After a few moments of Dawn mumbling something to what was presumably Pachirisu, he heard Dawn scream. He immediately flew into a panic.
“Dawn! Dawn, are you alright?”
A moment later, Dawn’s voice came from the other end of the phone.
“Oh, hi Brock. Don’t worry about it, I’m fine. Just knocked something over. Don’t worry about it. I’m fine. Gotta go Brock, see you!”
And with that, the phone went dead. Brock stared at it for a few more moments. He knew something was wrong. That may have been Dawn’s voice, but… that wasn’t her. It lacked all the intonations and hallmarks of how he knew his friend spoke. She was in danger, and there wasn’t a second to waste.
Brock dialed the phone, this time to someone else. “Cilan? I’m sorry if this is bad timing, but it’s important. How quickly can you get from Unova to Sinnoh?”
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The trip to Sinnoh had been relatively quick, if a bit bumpy. Crobat was incredibly fast, but turbulence wasn’t helping much. Normally, he’d have taken the scenic route, but this was no time for sightseeing if Dawn was in trouble.
He landed just outside of the Resort Area. Since Dawn had become such a big hit in the Coordinator scene, she had found enough money to move to her own place, though Brock was still questioning Dawn’s financial judgment about purchasing an entire villa in the most expensive spot in Sinnoh.
“Ah, Brock, it’s good to see you my friend!”
Brock turned to find Cilan, who was descending from the sky as he hung on to a trio of Jumpluff. The three Jumpluff happily landed before immediately pouncing on Brock in a flurry of cuddles, though Cilan quickly recalled them to their Poke Balls.
“Sorry about them, they’re a bit… overzealous.”
Brock rubbed his head. “No worries. Besides, we’ve got bigger Magikarp to fry.” The two looked down from their vantage point as Cilan handed Brock a pair of binoculars. “Thank you for coming, by the way. I understand it must be inconvenient on such short notice, but…”
Cilan gave a confident smile. “No worries, as you said. If something’s happened to our friends, then you’ll need all the help you can get.” As Cilan surveyed the villa with his own set of binoculars, he glanced at Brock. “By the way, is there anyone else coming?”
Brock shrugged. “Everyone else I know is busy. Misty’s got the Gym, Tracey’s out in the middle of nowhere, May is busy with Contests, Iris is doing Champion duties, you get the drill.”
Cilan nodded as the two continued to stake out the villa. Despite the fact that the lights were on, they couldn’t see the recognizable shadow of Dawn’s outline appear in any of the windows facing them. They did see brief flashes of shadow, but they lasted barely a second before they vanished again.
“Nothing. Something bad must have happened.”
Both men turned to each other and nodded. They needed to go in there.
Cilan pocketed his binoculars as he resolved himself. “Let’s knock on her door first. For all we know, it might be a false alarm.”
Brock nodded, and the two left the comfort of their stakeout point to go and head to the villa directly. As the two approached the front door, they mentally prepared themselves for what was to come.
Cilan made his way towards the door, but as he prepared to knock on it, the recognizable shape of Dawn appeared in the doorway.
“Oh, hey guys! Funny seeing you here, I was just about to leave! Come in!”
The two men looked at each other. They both knew something was up.
“We’d love to, if you would permit us, Dawn.” Cilan bowed, and Dawn lightly giggled.
“Sounds good! Make yourselves at home!”
Dawn jauntily re-entered the house as Cilan and Brock hesitantly followed. The two kept their hands on their Poke Balls in case anything happened. They weren’t sure what to expect here.
As they entered the villa, they found that it was in relatively good condition. It didn’t look too messy beyond some obvious dusting needed on the furniture, though there were some fractured pieces of pottery on the floor near the fireplace. Brock could tell that it must’ve been what fell during yesterday’s call.
…Or at least, that’s what he would have said, if it weren’t for the fact there was no sound of smashing pottery during the call. Something was up here, and that wasn’t even beginning to mention the fact of how quiet it was. Dawn liked to let her Pokemon run loose, and yet none of them were making any noise, not even the more hyperactive Pokemon.
…And come to think of it, how could there even be a thin layer of dust forming? Togekiss was constantly here, and she was a clean freak to the max. Unless Togekiss was on loan somewhere, something was seriously wrong.
As Brock entered the room, he heard a light thunking of glass. He looked to his left, finding a hastily set up fish tank. He could tell it was very recent, given that the price tag was still on its side, and that there was nothing in the tank barring water and its sole occupant: A Lanturn, who was looking terrified out of its mind right now. The Lanturn nervously glanced at Dawn, who had begun laying out plates on the dinner table in another room. Its antennae began to anxiously glow as it began motioning for Brock and Cilan to leave. However, as soon as it had begun, it suddenly stopped, leaving the two men very confused.
“Oh, are you wondering about Lanturn?”
Brock was caught off guard. He hadn’t even heard Dawn move over to them. “Er, uh, yes. I didn’t recall you having one of these.”
The Lanturn angrily glared at Dawn, who smiled. “Oh! She’s a very recent catch, and she is just the sweetest little thing. I fished her up the other day, and so here she is, though the arrangement’s a bit… new.”
Lanturn nervously blipped her antennae as Dawn chuckled. “Please, come over and take a seat! I can quickly prepare some food for you, if you’d like!”
Both men looked at the Lanturn before nodding. “We’d be happy to have something, if it’s not too much.”
Lanturn began to thump against the glass of her container nervously, with the volume steadily increasing as Brock and Cilan took their seats at the table. Dawn smiled as she poured some water for them.
“Here, I’m going to go and make some Poffins! Won’t be more than a few minutes!”
As soon as the two could confirm that Dawn was out of earshot, they began to whisper to each other.
“Cilan, you’re thinking what I’m thinking, right?”
Cilan nodded, glancing over his shoulder. “Indeed. That’s not the real Dawn we’re talking to right now.”
Brock gravely nodded. “This is completely unlike how she normally acts. Not to mention poor Lanturn over there has had the living daylights scared out of it by something . Dawn would never be this nonchalant about a Pokemon so scared under her ownership.”
Cilan looked over at Lanturn, who kept trying to signal for their attention. “Indeed, and that’s not to mention the fact that Dawn is cooking Poffins, a food for Pokemon . Whoever this is, she’s not familiar with how humans work.”
Brock nodded. “Could it be a Ditto? Zorua? Latias?”
Cilan shrugged. “I don’t think so… Ditto can’t speak human, and we’d have noticed if she was using telepathy.”
Brock scratched his head. “Then what do we do?”
Cilan thought for a moment, and smiled. “I have a plan.”
Dawn re-entered the room, carrying a tray of Poffins. As Brock and Cilan looked closer, they both saw that every single Poffin on the tray was burnt to a crisp.
“So, how’s it been hanging?”
Cilan smiled. “It’s been going great, Dawn, though your cooking seems to be degrading. Is everything alright?”
Dawn nearly stumbled over herself as she heard Cilan’s comment. The Poffins on the tray nearly spilled as she steadied herself. “I-It’s going great, Cilan! Don’t worry about it!”
Cilan’s eyes narrowed, but he soon regained his usual smiling self. “Ah, alright, my apologies. I’d love to dive into this chat immediately, but I came here by Jumpluff, and I need to…” He coughed. “...Relieve myself. Could I use the bathroom?”
Dawn smiled. “Of course! Go right ahead!”
Cilan smiled and bowed as he got up, before leaving the room. Brock smirked. He knew that Cilan had never been here before, and thus didn’t know where the bathroom was, but “Dawn” likely didn’t know that. He would need to stall for time. Perhaps he could worm some information out of her himself.
“So, Dawn, I was wondering…”
“I assume it’s about last night?”
“Yes. Are you alright? You sounded very shaken up.”
Dawn nervously chuckled as she bit into one of her burnt Poffins. She looked… pained, for lack of a better word, but was doing a remarkable job at making eating charred food seem normal.
“I’m fine, as I said! Nothing more than a minor cut!”
Brock’s eyes narrowed. “A minor cut? Where?”
Dawn laughed. “Don’t worry about it! It was just a minor nick on my leg!”
Brock raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. “Ah, I see. Did you take care to properly disinfect the wound? Even in your own home, infection is still an ever present danger.”
Dawn smiled. “Of course, what kind of idiot do you take me for?” She giggled again. “Seriously, you sure do know a lot of medical knowledge. It’s always good to have a smart friend.”
Another red flag. Brock knew he was dealing with an impostor, but she seemed… remarkably unresearched. If someone was trying to replace her, they were doing a very poor job.
Before Brock could say another word, Dawn leapt up. “Oh, shoot! I left the oven on!”
Dawn ran off to the kitchen in a panic as Brock sighed. This impostor truly was incompetent, wasn’t she?
Still, if she was going to be gone for a little while… Now might be the best time to take a look around and see if he could notice anything else amiss. He would tear this impostor apart where she stood. No one was replacing his friend on his watch.
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With the help of Pansage and Jumpluff, it didn't take long for Cilan to find the path to Dawn’s attic, and it took even less time to lockpick the entrance. Cilan hesitantly opened the door.
Cilan knew one thing about impostors: If they attempted to replicate someone, they always liked to keep evidence of the original alive somewhere… whether that be alive, or…
Well, he tried not to think about that. In any case, anything he needed would be somewhere where no one usually went. Cilan, thanks to his standings as a villa connoisseur, knew that every villa of the Resort Area always came standard built with an attic. If an impostor wanted to hide anything, this would be the most logical place.
Cilan cautiously walked up the creaky steps to the attic. It was clear Dawn never normally came up here, for the entire place was covered in a thick layer of dust. Cilan coughed as he swatted the dust away, but he soon laid eyes on just what he was looking for.
Tied up to a support beam was none other than a Pachirisu, just like the one Brock said Dawn owned. Cilan rushed over to the support beam, and had his Pansage cut the ropes around Pachirisu. He held the unconscious form of the squirrel in his hands, looking it over. It didn’t appear like it had any injuries barring being knocked out and tied up… but what was it doing up here? Wouldn’t the impostor put it in its Poke Ball?
That is, unless the impostor didn’t know that it had a Poke Ball. But that meant…
Cilan panicked as he heard a faint mumbling. Had Dawn found him? Was there someone else in this attic, was-”
“Cilan! It’s so good to see you man!”
Cilan stopped, confused. That voice was the voice of… Ash? What was he doing here? He didn’t see any people shaped outlines in this attic, how could he have-
As Cilan turned around, he found none other than…. A Mew? But that was a Mythical Pokemon! How was it up here, and where was-
“Cilan!” The Mew called out to him. “Could you hurry up and cut me loose already! These ropes are really uncomfortable.”
Cilan, though confused, did as the Mew commanded, and ordered his Pansage to cut the ropes. As soon as the Mew was freed, it stretched and flew up to him.
“Oh man, thank goodness you’re here Cilan! Let me tell you, it is not fun up here. I am so lucky I don’t have allergies-”
“Ash?”
The Mew blinked, and then looked down at itself, before seemingly realizing something. “Oh, right, I forgot to tell you! So recently, I was with Dawn and my friend Goh! We were looking for Mew sightings in the area when I went off by myself and BAM!” The Mew made a punching motion. “I bumped into it, literally! Then suddenly, I looked down and found that I looked like this now! Then I felt really sleepy, and then I woke up here!”
Cilan blinked as he processed the information. “So you were turned into a Mew?” Ash nodded, happily doing mid-air cartwheels. Cilan sighed. Only Ash could ever do this.
“Would you happen to know about anything related to Dawn?”
Ash cocked his head. “Huh? Oh yeah, now that you mention it, yesterday night I was trying to sleep when-”
The two stopped as the door to the attic creaked back open, and footsteps could be heard on the staircase. Cilan looked on in horror, but prepared his Pansage and Jumpluff for battle. He wasn’t going to let this impostor stop him from helping his friend!
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Brock had looked over every nook and cranny in this villa, and yet he hadn’t found much amiss from what he had noticed earlier. Even Marshtomp hadn’t noticed anything off yet, though it did seem to keep glancing upwards…
Brock had taken to looking at the Lanturn, who was looking even more sad then when he had first entered. It seemed to have given up trying to signal to them. He sighed.
“You wouldn’t happen to know anything, would you?”
The Lanturn immediately perked up, and began mumbling something that Brock couldn’t understand. Marshtomp, on the other hand, was listening closely, and its eyes went wide.
Once Lanturn finished, Marshtomp ran over to Brock and pulled out his PokeNav. Marshtomp flicked through the “Call” option and scrolled before landing on a specific person. It pointed at the person, and then at Lanturn. Brock took a step back.
“But that-” He glanced at Lanturn, who was looking happy. However, it soon turned fearful as it shrunk back into its tank. Brock was confused, turning around, only to find Dawn right behind him.
“Oh, were you chatting with Lanturn! She’s just adorable, isn’t she?”
Dawn bent down to pet Lanturn, but she just avoided her hand. Dawn sulked as she stood back up, but as she did, she sneezed. Brock raised an eyebrow.
“Sorry, Jumpluff pollen, gets everywhere this time of year.”
Brock knew then exactly how he could debunk this impostor, right here and now, and that last statement of hers was the last thing he needed to seal the deal.
“What have you done with Cilan?”
Dawn froze up at the mention of Cilan, and lightly chuckled.
“C-Cilan? He’s doing just great, don’t worry about it!”
“And how would you know that? You just went to the kitchen to turn the stove off.”
Dawn began to panic. “I-I have n-no idea what you’re-”
Brock smirked. “And funny that I should mention this, but I’ve got this all figured out! You’re not Dawn, you’re an identical impostor!”
Dawn staggered back as Brock began his explanation. “Ever since you spoke to me during that call last night, I realized that the way you spoke sounded nothing like Dawn. But of course, I had to verify that my hunch about all of this was correct before I did anything drastic. So I phoned my friend Cilan for help.”
Brock rubbed his hand against the mantel, causing a thin layer of dust to blow into the air. “Now, this house normally is very loud. I’d know, because I’ve met the causes personally. But my friend is an experienced Coordinator, which is why…” He pointed at the Lanturn in the tank. “That is completely wrong! My friend would never leave a Pokemon who’s scared and afraid in a newly bought store tank as she sauntered away!”
Brock glanced around. “And that’s not even beginning to mention all of the inconsistencies. Why is there dust around the house when Togekiss is normally there to clean things up? Why are none of her Pokemon running around playing?” Brock pointed at the broken pot. “And why is there a broken vase over there?”
Dawn scrambled to speak. “Er, uh, that, I... it broke! Yesterday! During the-”
“...Phone call? Yeah, no. There was no sound of pottery breaking during our call yesterday. I would have heard it if it did.”
“W-well, maybe you just didn’t-”
“But there’s two more things that lead me to my final conclusion of your true identity. The first is the fact of the Poffins you made. Not only were they poorly made, unlike my friend’s, but they were Poffins . Only Pokemon eat Poffins, which meant that whoever had impersonated my friend was unfamiliar with human culture. This meant that you…” Brock glared at Dawn. “...Are a Pokemon in disguise!”
Dawn took a step back, but Brock continued. “And that leads me to my last point. From what my Marshtomp has told me, this Lanturn here isn’t actually a Lanturn.” Brock bent down, taking his PokeNav from Marshtomp. “Rather… this Lanturn is actually the real Dawn!”
Dawn blinked. “Wha-what-”
“I don’t know how it happened, but if Marshtomp trusts what Lanturn has told him, then I trust what Lanturn says. And that leads me to the conclusion of what your true identity is!”
Brock pulled up his PokeNav, and began to type something in. “See, I’ve met a good deal of Pokemon over my many years with my friend Ash, and these include Pokemon of myths and legend. And as a result, I’ve learned a lot about these Pokemon, both from him, and from numerous acquaintances of ours, which includes various Professors. And I’ve heard of only one Pokemon capable of changing someone’s species while also being able to transform itself.”
“And that Pokemon…” Brock flipped his PokeNav around, revealing the image of a certain pink Pokemon on it. “...is Mew!”
Dawn stumbled back, tripping over herself as she fell on the floor. She panickedly stared at Brock, but soon calmed down as she sighed.
“I… fine, you got me.”
“Dawn” suddenly shifted appearances, and in a literal flash of light, transformed back into her regular self. Where Dawn had been before now stood, or rather, floated, a Mew.
Mew huffed as Brock glared at it. “Mew, would be so kind as to explain why you turned my friend into a Lanturn and stole her appearance?”
“Fine, I’ll take it from the top.” Mew sighed. “So yesterday morning, I was happily flying about the Resort Area and all, when some idiot kid in a cap bumped into me!” Mew glanced off to the side. “And I may have… ever so slightly… accidentally… turned him into a Mew.”
“You what.”
Mew panicked. “Hey! I’m being honest this time! No lies or deception from little old me!” Brock facepalmed as Mew carried on. “Anyway, thinking fast, I made him go all sleepy and sent him to my pocket dimension where I could work this out, but unfortunately, I thought so fast that I forgot to explain this to his friends!”
Brock mused to himself. “So if I’m correct, then after this, you chose to mimic Ash’s appearance so it looked like nothing was wrong.”
Mew sighed. “Yep, exactly that.” Mew puffed up with pride. “And personally? I think I did pretty well!”
Brock chuckled, remembering Dawn’s concerns. “Sure, we’ll roll with that. But what happened afterwards?”
Mew spun about happily. “Well, I went to go and buy some really sweet pastries after that-”
“I meant in regards to Dawn, Mew.”
Mew huffed, but continued. “Fine, if you really want to know. I still had Ash in my little pocket dimension, but I only remembered him after impersonating him for a bit. Ash’s friend Goh went off and left earlier that day for some “Sear Eyes Lab” or whatever, so it was just me and Dawn. I went to go and explain the situation to her Pachirisu and then explain it to her after getting some advice, but-”
“I assume Pachirisu went to Dawn directly, and then she stumbled on your unrevealed self.”
“Correctamundo. And then I kind of panicked, and-”
“...Turned Dawn into a Lanturn.”
Mew sighed. “Yep, and I’ve been trying to cover it up ever since. From what it looks like though, I really haven’t been doing a good job.”
“You really haven’t.”
Mew sighed as Brock continued. “And I assume you tried to “cover it up” by dealing with Cilan?”
“Yeah, I kind of… accidentally…”
Brock let loose a frustrated sigh. “Turned him into a Pokemon as well, I’m guessing?”
Mew smiled. “Yep! And then I locked him in the attic with Ash and Pachirisu!”
“You did what-”
“Don’t worry about it! I was feeding them!”
“...With burnt Poffins ?”
A silence held over the two of them, as Mew began to sniffle.
“Look, I’m trying my best, okay?”
Brock sighed. “Can you at least turn my friends back into humans?” Dawn angrily huffed in her fish tank.
Mew grew panicked. “I, erm, uh…”
“Mew, is there something you need to say?”
Mew began to nervously chuckle. “I… well, it’s just that…”
“ Mew .”
“I don’t know how to turn them back, okay!”
The two stopped, as a long pause held out between the pair once more. Brock simply stared at Mew as it nervously chuckled and tried to back away.
“I’m, uh… very sorry?”
“Tell that to Dawn, she looks like she wants to kill you herself right now.”
Dawn shot a Thunderbolt at Mew, causing Mew to collapse to the ground. Brock sighed.
“This is going to be a long day, isn’t it?”