Unbroken Disguise

Mimikyu inspected the disk in Fantina’s hand. “So uh, ‘ow do these things actually work? Never seen one in action.”

“Bzzrt!” Rotom came in close, eyeing up the disk from right next to the Fairy. “Technical machines were first created by the research team that created the initial Porygon! In their attempts to replicate Pokemon moves, they discovered that it was possible to encode and pass that information on not only to their artificial Pokemon, but to a wide range of natural born Pokemon as well! Obviously Pokemon that are capable of learning the move through experience are capable of using the TM, but, through means that are still being researched, it seems that even a handful of Pokemon outside of that scope are able to use many of them!”

Mismagius rolled her eyes. “While your brief history is appreciated, I believe Mimikyu is questioning the application.” Fantina’s Ghost levitated over to them. “You will be returned to your Pokeball, the ball will scan the disk, the ball will implant the data into your mind, and upon your next release you will be capable of using the move.”

While Mimikyu’s introduction to the intricacies of TMs was interesting, N found himself drawn to the disk itself. It didn’t look quite right, in his eyes.

“Fantina… is it just me, or does this TM look faulty?”

Now, N would never claim to be an expert. He’d never used one of the things himself, having never used a Pokeball before Mimikyu’s, but he’d at least seen plenty of them. They were often sold in the same shops that he would buy his berries and other supplies at, after all. And the one before them now wasn’t quite what he had come to know. The disk looked thinner, more flimsy, and there was a slight discoloration to it.

Fantina sighed. “If only it were so simple. Non, what you are seeing is a single use technical machine. I was shocked when I first saw this tragédie as well, but it would seem that Silph Co has managed to convince the league to allow such a thing. Though your réaction tells me this has not yet spread to every corner… They are cheaper than the ones you or I might be familiar with, but the data is intentionally corrupted after the first read, so they do not put effort into ensuring the physical disk will last beyond that.”

Single use? That couldn’t be right. In Unova you could use them as many times as you liked, and he had even heard rumors that if one broke that they were under warranty so you could get a new one free of charge. He knew that human greed knew no bounds, but to think…

“Wait,” N had a thought, “are you telling me that every time someone tries to teach a Pokemon Cut, they have to buy a new HM? I’ve seen the overgrowth patches!”

Fantina shook her head. “Ah, pardon, the one stipulation with that deal is that hidden moves be the exception. Normal technical machines are still used for those.”

“I feel like I’m missin’ somethin’ ‘ere.” Mimikyu chimed in. “Overgrowth patches? What makes hidden moves special?”

“Hidden moves are moves that are exceptionally useful for clearing obstacles while out in the wilderness and available to a wide variety of Pokemon! Bzzrt!” Rotom answered.

“Human foolishness is what makes them special…” Mismagius lamented.

Having caught on to the topic thanks to Rotom’s translation, Fantina took over from there. “Ah, I am supposing that it would not make sense to a Pokemon, would it? You see… many young trainers, they are thinking that they are exceptionnelle, that because they win a few battles, nothing can stop them. They do not see that the League, or whatever other system is in place, works hard to ensure that the main routes are safe for their travel. But the League cannot be everywhere, oui? We ensure that the main routes between cities are clear for normal travel, but that does not include say… side paths, or dangerous routes though the mountains. And so a system was put in place to give… direction to those who would wander. On a regular schedule, League employees set up various barrières around the region to keep unprepared trainers away. A petite danger might be blocked off with overgrowth patches, like N mentioned, which can be cleared easily with Cut. A more serious danger might be blocked off with large boulders, which can be moved with Strength. These are not barrières that are impossible to cross without these moves, but for many trainers these moves are the easiest way to bypass them, and so until you can get your hands on an HM, which are difficult to come by without League approval of your skills, it is an effective way to keep them out of dangerous areas. And then there are also the HMs which are simply good for travel, like Surf and Fly, and the League cannot justify limiting their uses...”

The Kalosian shrugged. “It is a topic of some controversy, so you will find that even outside the League there are differences between regions. My home has this system, but I am told that regions like Galar and Alola do not. Some say it is a matter of freedom of movement, some say that only certain regions are dangerous enough to warrant it. Either way, it is not something that you will likely worry for.”

N nodded. “We’ve not needed any yet, and I doubt that will change any time soon.” He pulled out Mimikyu’s Pokeball, leaning down with it so his friend could recall himself. “If you’re certain that you want to do this… then it’s probably best to just get it over with already.”

Mimikyu hesitated for a moment, before tapping the button and disappearing in a red flash.

Being inside a Pokeball was an unpleasant experience. Or at least, Mimikyu thought so, and Pikachu seemed to agree.

It was a rest without true sleep. Void of life, and yet it was not death. The goings on of the outside world were vaguely recognizable, but it was… muffled. Distant.

It was like damping all of your senses, and stopping just short of cutting them off completely.

Though even through that thick fog over his mind, the whirring of what he assumed was the technical machine being put to use was pretty clear.

They never did give me a proper explanation beyond “the disk is scanned and the data goes into you”, did they? That doesn’t actually tell me much. Is the sound from the disk? Or is it the ball? It might be the disk spinning so the data can be read, but it could also be some sort of fan keeping the ball from overheating…

But even as the data was becoming a part of him, Mimikyu could not tell the difference. Not with how his body felt so far away at the moment.

The whirring stopped.

There was a flash of light.

And suddenly, it clicked.

When Pikachu explained his Source, he said it was like a ball of electricity inside him, so all this time I’ve been thinking I need to uncover some sort of… core or something. Some small well of energy. When I used Shadow Sneak… or, well, not shadow sneak I guess, I was just focused on that frustration I felt when I first experienced it, and trying to replicate that feeling every time I used it.

But this… that’s why I couldn’t find it. I was thinking too small. If Pikachu’s Source is a ball of electricity inside of him… then I guess my Source is more like… fuck, how do I describe this… a cloak of shadows? It’s like I’m… wearing it, but… it’s also inside me? Like it’s the muscle and flesh and organs draped over my skeleton.

Do I even have any of those things?

My body is so weird…

Mimikyu ignored the many eyes on him at that moment. Though his physical form had been returned to him, he was still in his own little world.

To use Shadow Claw… I need to expel my Source… I need to coat my “hand” with my “skin”.

…I need to work on these analogies.

A shadowy tendril stretched out from beneath his disguise, forming into a makeshift hand in front of his eyes, the “fingers” being more like sharp claws. Black as night, appearing to be composed of solidified shadows.

Mimikyu focused.

Shadow Claw.

Mimikyu felt the newly discovered cloak shift inside him, a portion of it rushing towards his hand. It was a bizarre feeling. When thinking of giving his hand a part of the cloak, his initial visualization was like a piece of the “fabric” being ripped off and moved elsewhere, but in reality it was more like individual fibers from all over it suddenly shifting on their own, taking away some of the cloak’s mass in a way that was hard to notice as they moved to his hand instead.

The fibers of the cloak took less than a second to weave themselves together in a new shape, extending beyond his shadowy arm, reaching into the outside world with an off-purple glow.

They were fibers but also muscle and flesh but also energy that radiated from him in a display that made it known to everyone present that it had worked.

He could feel the raw power behind it. It gave his hand an extra weight, even if not a physical one. Experimenting a bit, he allowed his hand to swipe through the space before him, cutting nothing but air.

Damn, this is kinda starting to get hard, isn’t it?

With no target to take the attack, he felt strain begin to build up, and quickly released it, letting the fibers/skin/energy dissipate into the air.

There was a slight bit of exhaustion now, a tiny bit of him gone, but…

Unlike with Shadow Sneak, I don’t feel like I shrunk. Or if I am, it’s to a much smaller degree at the very least.

An improvement.

His very first “real” move.

I understand.

N, Mimikyu, and Rotom spent a bit of time at the Hearthome City Gym after that, but ultimately they had hit the boundaries of what Fantina could do for them. And with the way Fantina had clammed up earlier in the conversation… N felt it best to avoid the topic of the Shadow Triad’s secret techniques for now. It wasn’t like they needed to be able to cross great distances or detect Ghosts. Not at the moment anyway.

And it wasn’t like they couldn’t talk to her again later, either. Apparently she was going to be doing some travelling soon, so they might even run into her on the road.

“You have given me much to be considering,” she had told them. “I must stay in Hearthome for one more challenger, but I am thinking some research needs to be done, and I cannot do it all from here.”

Lucas and Ash were probably going to be pissed about that, but it’s not like N was going to pressure the woman into staying for Gym battles of all things. Though he had sat through a few now, he still despised them.

And if her research happened to turn up something that could help Mimikyu? Well, that was even better than just stopping some Gym battles.

But with the Gym left behind, they were making their way back to their room for now, walking past the sliding doors of the Pokemon Center. Nurse Joy gave them a nod as they entered, and a few people bustled about the lobby area.

“Finally havin’ a proper move ta use is nice, an’ I guess Fantina’s righ’ abou’ it givin’ me a good startin’ point for learnin’ other moves, but knowin’ that my Shadow Sneak ain’ really a Shadow Sneak is really gonna bother me. How am I s’posed ta figure out what it is?”

“Don’t look at Rotom! Rotom already told you that Rotom barely counts as a Ghost! If Fantina does not know… you might have to ask a Legend!”

“Yeah, ‘cuz that went so well the las’ time…” Mimikyu mumbled.

N really hoped it didn’t come to that. Their last encounter with Legends had been an absolute mess, and it was likely they’d have to employ the help of a specific Legend for a problem like Mimikyu’s.

Probably this “King of Distortion” that Rotom had mentioned, given the explanation on Ghosts they’d just received. But with a title like that, the Legend sounded as dangerous as Palkia and Dialga.

Hard pass.

“Well, Rotom thinks if you really want to know, you could always go back to Mismagius and have her study you! She seemed very interested in getting to know all about you.” The electric type let out a strange, staticky giggle.

Mimikyu replied in a dry tone. “Is that what ya call it? Like I told ‘er then, I think I’ll pass. There’s no need ta…”

Mimikyu trailed off as N opened the door to their room. It seemed that Lucas had returned from his outing as well.

And he had gotten his hands on an Ice type?

N wasn’t sure how else to explain all the snow in their room.

Lucas looked up at him in a panic, his head peeking up over the side of his bed. He looked like he had been trying to get something from beneath it, maybe?

There was an awkward silence.

“Rotom likes what you’ve done with the place! Bzzrt! Cool temperatures are ideal for preventing the overheating of electrical components!”

More awkward silence.

“Sooo….” N began as he closed the door behind him. “Would you mind explaining…” he gestured vaguely to the snowflakes and rapidly forming pools of water everywhere, “...this?”

Lucas hesitated, tossed a Pokeball, and then ducked back behind the side of the bed.

When Grotle materialized, he immediately turned to glower at his trainer. “Really?” The poor Grass type seemed rather fed up with the situation already.

Lucas didn’t give a response, and Grotle let out a low sigh, trying to avoid the coldest spots on the floor as he meandered over to them.

N wasn’t thrilled about Lucas creating a mess and then hiding away instead of explaining, but if he was being honest, even this Pokemon of seemingly few words would probably get them caught up faster than Lucas and his writing.

“So did Lucas catch an Ice type, then?” N prompted.

Grotle shook his head. “No. Brat did it.”

What did that even mean? Was he referring to Togepi? N knew basically nothing about the Pokemon, but a move that could do this would be… surprising to see in its moveset.

Mimikyu seemed to piece it together first.

“Togepi learned Metronome, didn’ he? Only thing I can think of ‘sides a TM. What ‘appened? Call a Blizzard or somethin? Or maybe it was Hail or Snowscape…”

“Snowscape? Rotom has not heard of this move!” his flip phone queried, but went ignored.

“Blizzard.” Grotle nodded solemnly. “Problems all day…”

“Pri-pri!” the tiny shout was damped by the snow, but they heard it all the same as Lucas… fished Togepi out from under the bed? The boy held the Normal type aloft, and then seemed to remember the warning regarding Mimikyu, quickly returning Togepi.

“Metronome…” N searched his memory. “I’m afraid I don’t know that move. What does it do?”

“Metronome is a normal type move that has the ability to create the effects of almost any other move! The moves it cannot call are typically signature moves or moves that have effects similar to Protect, although given its random nature, it’s possible that these moves are possible to be called by Metronome, and simply have not yet been documented.”

N nodded, and then actually processed that information. “Hold on, you said almost any other move?”

“Yep. I guess I shoulda seen this one comin’, given it’s a Togepi an’ all, but I sorta figured it’d be a hot minute before the little guy learned it…”

Mimikyu had a point there. Togepi couldn’t even speak properly yet. There was no way it should be battling at such a young age. His eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“Lucas… how exactly did Togepi learn Metronome?”

Lucas visibly cringed, but tried to keep up a plastic smile as he reached into his bag and dug out… some sort of device. Brushing some of the snow off the bed, he set it down in front of him.

When he saw Rotom start to approach with clear interest, he snatched his phone out of the air. “Rotom, please stop trying to possess tech that doesn’t belong to you.”

“Rotom was only going to look at the new device, Rotom swears!”

“Is that s’posed ta be an EXP share?” Mimikyu muttered.

Of course Mimikyu recognized the strange device. N wasn’t sure what he expected anymore. “What is an EXP share?”

Lucas broke out into a sweat, despite how cold it was in the room at the moment.

“Gift from Professor,” Grotle explained. “Grow fast from watching.”

Grow fast from watching? And a name like EXP share…

“So you’re saying… that this device allows a Pokemon to learn by watching other Pokemon in battle?”

“Yeah, that’s ‘bout right.”

“How interesting! Bzzrt! Rotom has never seen anything like it! It must be experimental technology…Did Professor Rowan ask you to test this?”

Experimental technology. Test.

And Togepi had learned at least one new move.

N took a deep breath.

“Lucas… am I correct in saying that you ran an experiment on a Pokemon that has only just recently hatched?” He calmly asked.

Lucas hesitated to answer.

That was good enough for N.

“Lucas… I think you and I need to have a little chat. I’ll even help you clean up this mess while we do. Doesn’t that sound nice?”

Lucas’ eyes darted to the door.

Grotle took up a spot in front of it, blocking his own trainer in.

“Accept your fate.”