As Zev's image dissipated, he looked down to see a small Zorua back away carefully. The fact that a wild Pokémon had concocted an illusion imitating him prompted him to raise an eyebrow, but the noise of a scuffle drew his attention away.[break][break]

The false Kouji had just punched the real Kouji.[break][break]

Instinctively, Zev stepped in and snapped his leg up, driving a powerful side kick into the false Kouji's torso. A strange wail came from the doppelganger's mouth, and it scrambled back, almost falling into the rift.[break][break]

Then, before Zev's very eyes, it morphed, taking on his form. But Zev was not wearing a mask or a hood, and when the creature transformed, it possessed a Ditto's beady eyes and dumb smile.[break][break]

"This is stupid," the hitman muttered as he tossed a Pokéball. His Crobat emerged in a flash of light. With a flap of her wings and a high-pitched screech, she intercepted the Ditto before it could attack her master.

MADE BY GUNSMILE

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Illusions and fakery were a strange concept, Kouji couldn’t help but to think of that fact as blood dripped through his finger, as Zev covered him, he couldn’t help but wonder which one was the real him?
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To attack first, talk later, that had been his ethos for as long as he could remember, to steal without hesitating, to attack without hesitating, to never retreat.
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Yet he had leapt back, and the Ditto had attacked. Even now, as it leapt forward to attack Zev, it was stopped by Crowbat, a blow that pushed it back until it had hobbled, and wobbled around the hole, mere couple meters from Kouji.
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It wasn’t a matter of thinking things through, Kouji knew it, and so he jumped up to his feet. A pokemon across from him, another by his partner. ”You’re up Meowscarada.”
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His pokemon came out in a flutter of grass, she stood there and looked at the strange copy of her Trainer, and tilted her head to the side. ”That idiot face ain’t me, use Flower Trick.” He told her as she threw a Bouquet that exploded on contact, which seemed to cause the Ditto to fall into the hole, to fall into nothingness, the darkness itself.
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”The hell? I didn’t know Ditto could take human shapes, didn’t look anything like me though.” He joked to lighten the atmosphere ever so slightly, and then brushed the dust off himself.
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He looked at the theater and then the pokemon, before he shrugged. ”Don’t think we’ll find anything good there, those two pokemon seem like natives…Maybe released trainer mons? Ain’t sure.”

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Zev watched with satisfaction as the Ditto was hurled into the sinkhole. Seeing the Pokémon disappear, the Zorua decided to save its own hide and flee. The men were alone by the theater again, accompanied only by their Pokémon.[break][break]

Zev gave Kouji a nod of approval. "Good work," he said to the boy in a voice devoid of warmth. Praise came rarely from the Beast.[break][break]

He recalled his Crobat back into her Pokéball. "I've heard about Ditto taking on human shapes before, but this was my first time seeing it. Thankfully, the faces still don't work. They're still dumb Pokémon in the end."[break][break]

Turning away from the theater, Zev began looking for a way to cross the fence. "Let's report back at headquarters. There's nothing else for us here."

MADE BY GUNSMILE