Hideo didn’t hesitate when Melody called for his help. It was actually for a job he’d heard about fairly recently - a Ditto causing havoc by transforming into other Pokemon. A rough situation for anyone that it victimized, and surely something that they had to put a stop to.

Hideo waved up hearing her call his name. “Hey Melody!” he shouted back, making his way towards her - followed closely by his Beeheyem, a Pokemon that would no-doubt prove useful in sussing out the imposter. “Got here as soon as I could! The Ditto’s somewhere on this route, right?”

Even more important that they catch it before it could cause trouble here: his Gracidea flower was coming along nicely, and he didn’t want the Ditto to destroy it in its escapades. “Any leads where it could be right now? Or we just gotta wander around until it finds us?”

Melody Miro

For something as deceptive as a Ditto, it was no surprise they didn't have any leads. "Guess we're working from scratch, then," Hideo said with a shrug. "At least we know it's somewhere on this route."

Fortunately, it seemed like Melody also brought a handy Pokemon, though said Pokemon decided to get personal with Hideo very quickly; had his Beheeyem not warned him of the incoming Herdier, he wouldn't have braced himself in time.

Hideo managed to avoid falling, though his sweater had some Herdier fur on it. "It's alright," Hideo said, dusting himself off with his hand, "I got more affectionate Pokemon than that."

Once the Herdier started sniffing around, Hideo knew they were on a trail! After a quick pee break from the dog, it went off, Melody encouraging them to follow. Hideo nodded, his Beheeyem ready to guide him along.

Though there was the slight issue of his Beheeyem actually keeping pace - useful as he could be at guiding Hideo, he wasn't a fast Pokemon. But not a problem: the Beheeyem floated up in the air, extending one hand forward. Hideo grabbed on, pulling the Beheeyem along as he kept himself aloft and making sure Hideo didn't trip on anything.

But a new complication arose: as Hideo was close to meeting up with Melody, a Smokescreen emerged, enveloping Hideo and his Beheeyem. The boy lost his grip on his Pokemon's hand, who was trying to disperse the smoke as best he could.

When the smoke cleared, Hideo got the Telepathic *ping* telling him where his Beheeyem was.

Then he received a second one, a small distance away from the first.

It wasn't clear to Hideo what was going on just yet, but to anyone with a functioning pair of eyes, it would be obvious:

There were two Beheeyems now.

Melody Miro

“Oh.” Hideo realized why he was getting mixed messages when Melody told him the current situation: Telepathy always got funky when two different Pokemon were sending different messages. “It must’ve been watching us this whole time. Sneaky Pokemon…”

And unfortunately, Melody was right about her Herdier being unreliable, though there was no surprise there. “Ditto can be thorough like that: I got one of my own, and it’s really hard to tell it apart when it’s transformed. The easy answer is to put my Beheeyem back in his ball, but the Ditto might try something before I get him back out.” And with the Herdier’s (un)reliability, it was too risky.

The two Beheeyems looked at each other, neither acting out just yet.

“I could try to quiz them, but I won’t know which one is giving me the answers. Telepathy is weird like that.” He held a hand up to his chin, trying to think about a way to tell them apart, something only his Beheeyem would do.

And he reached an answer. “I got it!”

He took a dozen steps back, the two Beheeyems watching. “Alright: I want you two to come over to me!” The two Pokemon looked over at each other, shrugging.

One of the Beheeyems floated up in the air, Psychically floating over towards Hideo. The other one walked along with ground, its stubby feet crunching dead leaves. The floating one was faster, even as the walking one noticed and tried to increase its pace.

Neither reached Hideo before the boy raised a finger, pointing right at the walking Beheeyem. “That’s the real one. The floating one is the Ditto.”

The floating Beheeyem paused, its eyes opening wide as the walking Beheeyem kept moving on.

Melody Miro

Thankfully, Melody’s Herdier finally lent a hand, bringing down the fake Beheeyem, whose disguise faltered under assault. Hideo could feel the real one reach him, the boy reaching over and patting him on his large head.

As for how he knew? “The funny thing is that most Beheeyems do float around. It’s faster for them ‘cause their legs are kinda small, and they’re pretty good psychics.”

A light red tint found its way on the Beheeyem’s cheeks. “But Elga always tries to make sure I know where he is. It was easier when he was an Elgyem, when he could just sit on my shoulder. But now he’s too big for that, so he has other ways to tell me where he is. Usually he can do it telepathically, but he couldn’t with that Ditto making things confusing, so he just let me know where he was with his footsteps.”

It helped that the Beheeyem made sure to step on dead leaves on the way over.

“I’ve had him since I was eight, so I know him pretty well! And he knows me! He can even read stuff for me: he’s the only Pokemon I got that’s literate.”

Knowing his team well paid off in more ways than just for battling: learning their habits, what they liked, and what they specialized in went a long way in making a solid team. As any (aspiring) Champion should.

Melody Miro

Hideo's cheeks reddened slightly, though he wouldn't refuse the praise. "I've spent so much time with him, it'd be weirder if I didn't notice those kinds of habits. A lot of my Pokemon are like that, and the Pokemon I have with Telepathy are really good at helping me out."

He was glad his Pokemon were so helpful, especially with the way he was living now. "With enough practice, it's like our minds are synced up! And that's not just 'cause of the Telepathy." Even with his other Pokemon, he was quick to catch on to how they acted, and that knowledge made it so much easier to train them.

It was the kind of knowledge that had gotten him through so many gyms, and would get him through the Elite Four and to the Champion.

Heck, it seemed like he'd already impressed Melody with his skills.

Melody Miro