Celestial Dragons would occasionally visit this place, and among the entourages that accompanied them, there were always some strange individuals who took the opportunity to sneak in. Who's-Who's job was to keep an eye on these people. This was also the new task Tesoro had informed him of earlier via Rotom.
It wasn't until Tesoro returned here that he temporarily ended his tailing, switching instead to using Rotom monitors to continue observing their actions.
While monitors were convenient, they were ultimately not flexible enough, nor easy to maneuver. Sometimes, having living people tailing targets was still very necessary.
"So, how was it? Did that group do anything?"
Having just returned, Tesoro immediately slipped back into work mode and asked Who's-Who about the recent situation.
"It was a typical Celestial Dragon outing. No major trouble occurred, and no suspicious movements were observed from that group. Perhaps the time for their action hasn't come yet."
"It doesn't matter. This time, we'll make the first move. You said that Celestial Dragon likes seeking thrills, right?"
"That's right. That one is quite different. He has little interest in women or money, but is instead fond of dangerous activities.
"The Donquixote Family really does have a lot of oddballs. The Celestial Dragons of that family all seem a bit different."
"Perfect. Go arrange for someone to tell him that we have a haunted house that's about to open, and see whether this 'honorable Celestial Dragon' would like to experience it."
"Is there a new plan?"
Tesoro wouldn't arrange something like this without reason. Who's-Who had already sensed that something unusual was going on.
"We're just planning to slip someone in. This Celestial Dragon happens to be the perfect opportunity."
With the Levely approaching, Celestial Dragons would usually suspend their outings for a short time. The one on Gran Tesoro could be considered one of the few who hadn't returned yet.
He was also accompanied by several World Government officials. The Beasts Pirates planned to take advantage of this opportunity to plant a spy within the Levely.
During this period, the information of the accompanying personnel had basically all been uncovered. Among them, there was one particularly taciturn individual whom Tesoro had already set his sights on.
"Disguise? Sneaking into Mariejois isn't especially difficult, but if you want to stay there long-term, disguises are very easy to see through."
"Of course it's not that simple. Without using Haki to pay special attention, can you tell which one is me?"
A mass of pink, clay-like substance slid off Tesoro's arm and, after a moment of wriggling, it transformed into another Tesoro.
Height, clothing, appearance, eyes—even the details of the hair were exactly the same. Relying on sight alone, even Who's-Who couldn't spot any problem.
"This is…?"
"This time, Lord Arceus gained quite a lot. The Pokémon that came back with me increased as well."
It wasn't just Gholdengo that returned with Tesoro. Gholdengo served as both a money-printing machine and a counterfeit detector, while this Pokémon was one born for undercover work.
"Alright, change back for now. This is your target, you'll be taking on his appearance shortly."
Tesoro placed a photo of the chosen target into the hands of the other him, and the other Tesoro once again reverted into a plump, pink blob.
Transform Pokémon - Ditto. It has no evolutions and only a single move: Transform.
It looks like nothing more than a mass of pink putty, with a pair of dot-like eyes and a mouth like a thin slit, yet it possesses an unprecedented ability to disguise itself.
Ditto has extremely strong control over its own cells, able to manipulate and restructure its cellular composition.
With just a single glance, Ditto can instantly copy an opponent's cellular makeup, reshaping its own cells to become exactly identical in appearance to the target before it.
Not only can it copy and imitate others, Ditto can also control its cells to turn into inorganic matter—stones, soil, dead leaves—there's almost nothing it can't transform into. However, if the gap in strength is too great, what it imitates will be nothing more than a hollow shell.
Depending on how well they can control their bodies, Ditto's transformation proficiency also varies.
Every Ditto has things it's good at and things it's bad at when transforming. The Ditto Tesoro had put its talent points into transforming into people. It was especially adept at imitating humans.
Some less skilled Ditto have flaws in their transformations, such as retaining their dot-like eyes no matter what they turn into, but those are exceptions. Most Ditto don't have such drawbacks.
After all, transformation is Ditto's only means of self-preservation. To avoid being attacked, Ditto usually transforms into objects that won't be targeted while resting, such as fallen leaves, stones, and the like. Ditto with noticeable flaws often die young.
This kind of Pokémon isn't a pack species. Because of their transformation ability, Ditto can get along harmoniously with any race. Their companions are almost unrestricted by species and depend purely on mood.
However, when facing individuals of the same kind, Ditto becomes aggressive, relations turn extremely poor, and cooperation is basically impossible.
As long as its stamina isn't exhausted, Ditto's transformations are perfect. The only weakness is laughter; once it starts to laugh, Ditto will weaken, causing its transformation to cancel.
That was why Tesoro deliberately chose such a target: someone with a bit of reputation but poor interpersonal relationships. Taciturn, expressionless, and someone no one would joke with; perfect for Ditto to imitate.
Over the next period of time, Ditto familiarized itself with that person's appearance.
In fact, Ditto's transformation ability is even stronger than the Clone-Clone Fruit, or rather, the two each have their own strengths and weaknesses.
Ditto doesn't need physical contact; it only needs to know what the target looks like. However, when transforming into something not currently in sight, it has to rely on memory. If the memory is inaccurate, it will affect the transformation and produce flaws.
Because it can copy the opponent's genetic code, Ditto can also control its cells to imitate blood, alter the shape of its vocal cords to mimic voices, and may even evade detection by genetic testing. It can truly be called an excellent undercover agent.
"This ability is terrifying…"
Who's-Who knew very well what such an ability could achieve. Although personality still had to be learned manually and could easily be exposed by acquaintances, it was still a rare infiltration genius.
If the World Government had something like this, who knew what they might do with it.
"So the haunted house is for replacing that person?"
"That's right. In a dark haunted house, no one will notice that someone has disappeared. That guy will be delivered to you, and your job is to keep an eye on him. After that, Tanaka will cooperate with you to transfer him to a safe location."
Tesoro still needed some information, so he had no intention of killing the target outright, and that gave rise to a new problem.
"But where is this haunted house? I've never seen it before. And how will you ensure that this guy will definitely walk right up to me?"
"Geh heh heh heh."
A chilling laugh suddenly echoed by his ear. Who's-Who instinctively threw a punch, but hit nothing.
"What was that?!"
In an instant, Who's-Who entered combat mode. He didn't believe in auditory hallucinations, and his body was telling him that the surrounding temperature was dropping, a cold, eerie sensation wrapping around him.
"Don't be nervous, Who's-Who. This is one of Lord Arceus's creations. It just really likes playing pranks."
Then Who's-Who noticed that his shadow was laughing, no longer matching his own movements.
Along with that eerie laughter, his shadow began to swell, and finally a plump purple figure jumped out of it.
Deep purple skin, crimson eyes, a split mouth revealing neat white teeth. Its short arms and stubby legs made it seem less terrifying, and its small tail swayed back and forth behind it.
"It's been in my shadow the whole time? Since when?"
"Just now it was in the shadow of the table. When your shadow merged with that one, it seized the chance to slip in. Didn't you notice?"
"Impossible to guard against…"
Even someone like Queen, who suffered from severe persecution paranoia, wouldn't keep Observation Haki active 24/7. This kind of intrusion was simply impossible to defend against, one moment of carelessness was all it took to be followed.
"Geh heh heh heh."
It seemed very satisfied with Who's-Who's reaction. Even some of the spikes on its body stood up, and its tongue flicked out to lick Who's-Who in a show of affection.
The Shadow Pokémon - Gengar. A frequent guest in ghost stories of the Pokémon world, and one of the standard tools parents use to scare children.
[If you don't go to sleep, Gengar will eat you.]
[Gengar loves to catch naughty kids the most, so you'd better be obedient.]
There are many similar sayings, such as, [Don't run around at night, or Dusknoir will take you away.]
Ghost-type Pokémon have replaced demons and monsters in this role, becoming the new instruments of fear.
As a result, many people have an instinctive fear of Ghost-type Pokémon.
But in reality, most of these are just rumors. People know very little about Gengar; everything about it is shrouded in mystery. Its love of pranks and the fact that it steals some of the surrounding warmth whenever it appears have only caused the scary legends around it to multiply.
A drop in temperature, shadows beginning to move or laugh.; those are signs that Gengar has arrived.
Curses and darkness have always been associated with Gengar, yet many Trainers in the Pokémon world still adore this type of Pokémon.
"Is it an employee of the haunted house? That ability really is frightening."
"No, no, no. You'll find out tomorrow. It's not just a simple employee Pokémon. Oh, right, let me remind you of one thing, you'd better go wash your face."
"What's wrong?"
"Gengar is poisonous."
As Tesoro said this, the Gengar beside him even gave a thumbs-up and stuck out its tongue. Only then did Who's-Who belatedly realize that his face felt a little numb and tingly.
"It's fine. My ability isn't afraid of poison, it's a minor issue."
As he spoke, a layer of steel-like fur appeared on Who's-Who's face, using the change in type to mitigate the paralyzing toxin on Gengar's tongue. Still, he decided to wash up first. Once he cancelled his transformation, he wouldn't have this kind of resistance to poison anymore.
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