After finishing dinner and returning to his room, Tetsuya first contacted Pryce.
For the time being, he would send the "Poison Team", Weezing, Drapion, and Ariados to the glacier falls for focused training. Of course, it would not be for long, only for the period he was staying with Duplica's family.
The main reason was that his methods for training Poison-types were too ruthless, and some were highly unconventional, making him seem like a villain… cough!
Therefore, they were not suitable for a household of three women like this.
It would be better to have them train some more at the glacier falls. Although Duplica and her sister had seen these Pokémon in the forest before, they had only seen them and did not know about his usual training methods. Even if they asked, he could simply make up an excuse.
Sure, there was no need to answer them; but after all, he did need something from them…
Tetsuya transferred the three Pokémon to Pryce. Pryce did not have much to do right now, so he could also help Tetsuya train them, which would be greatly beneficial for their battle experience.
Arriving in the backyard of Duplica's home, Tetsuya sent out all of his Pokémon: Ditto, Mamoswine, Golurk, Houndoom, and Miltank. Their Pokéfood had also been prepared, and they all began enjoying their dinner.
"You have so many different types of Pokémon!" Duplica came outside for a stroll after feeding her Ditto.
"These types are considered pretty uncommon among Trainers, aren't they?" Tetsuya said.
Duplica nodded and said, "That's true, but Ditto is still my favorite because as long as I have Ditto, it can Transform into any Pokémon! That means I can have every type of Pokémon too~"
Duplica really was innocent and carefree, but how could things possibly be that simple? Even though her family was second to none when it came to raising Ditto, it was still impossible for one Ditto to Transform into every type of Pokémon.
Even after Duplica became famous later on, as far as Tetsuya knew, she had more than ten Ditto, each specializing in Transforming into different types of Pokémon.
"It's just a shame that okaasan still hasn't taught me the secret methods for training my Ditto… She's only taught me the disguise arts. Sigh… Maybe it's because of Brodie…" Duplica said.
"Just what kind of person is this 'Brodie'? Why would your mother make this a condition before she's willing to teach me?" Tetsuya asked. It was also something he was curious about. Why would Duplica's mother begin teaching an outsider like him before she had even taught her own daughter?
"Brodie has very deep ties to our family." At this moment, Duplica's sister walked over.
"Brodie came to our home when he was very young. Back then, my little sister hadn't even been born yet. He was the only descendant of okaasan's family, so she always treated him like her own son.
Oh! Right… now that only she's left, she's an Imite.
I had no interest in Pokémon battles and didn't want to learn these things either, so okaasan passed all of her secrets on to him. Brodie was also very intelligent and learned everything as soon as he was taught, so his strength improved very quickly.
When my little sister was two years old, our otousan sacrificed his life while fulfilling a mission. Okaasan was devastated…
At the time, our family had lost its pillar of support, and she even came to rely somewhat on Brodie. However, after Brodie left the family under the pretext of 'traveling to get stronger', he never returned.
The next thing we heard was news that he was committing all kinds of crimes. Sigh... It could be said that Brodie is okaasan's deepest source of pain." Duplica's sister let out a long sigh as she spoke.
Tetsuya also nodded. So-called "good people" and "bad people" simply had different values in life.
Having lived secluded here for so long, Brodie had not known what was good or bad. After leaving, he believed his current life was carefree and enjoyable, so naturally he would continue farther and farther down this path. No one would be able to bring him back.
Moreover, whether it was Team Magma or Team Galactic, both sought to dominate the world, and the ideals they instilled were portrayed as wonderful and perfect. Someone as inexperienced in the ways of the world as Brodie was especially susceptible to falling into their trap and becoming unable to extricate himself.
Otherwise, he would not have joined underground forces like these twice in succession…
"Humph~ In any case, Brodie has made okaasan so sad and caused her to blame herself like this. Tetsuya, even if you fail, I'll make him accept his punishment someday!" Duplica said.
"Mm, he will definitely be punished." Tetsuya said it casually, then continued adding food for his Pokémon.
---◓---
After the Pokémon finished eating, they exercised for a while before going back to sleep.
The next day, Pokémon battles never stopped in the castle's backyard. Naturally, all of the opponents were Duplica's Ditto. Tetsuya was essentially just letting Duplica experience Pokémon of these types. Even so, aside from Miltank, which had no opportunity to battle, all of his Pokémon won.
Duplica also recognized her own shortcomings and realized that there was much more she needed to learn. This was especially true for a Trainer specializing in Ditto.
It could even be said that whenever she encountered a particular Pokémon's move combination, she needed to record it so she could make use of it herself. At the very least, the next time she encountered a Pokémon using that kind of move combination, she would not suffer a loss because of it again.
On the third day, Duplica's mother brought Tetsuya into a room, preparing to begin teaching him the skills they had agreed upon.
"Tetsuya, today I'll teach you how to counter the disguise art, but this method can only be used to capture Brodie! You absolutely cannot use this to harm anyone from this family. Can you do that…?" Yuri asked.
At this moment, Tetsuya naturally had to agree. Although as far as he was concerned, using this skills to capture Brodie would be enough, this was a good sign. At the very least, Duplica's mother was going to teach him. Once the precedent had been set, what was there left to worry about?
"Then we'll begin now… I can tell you that the disguise art also relies on Ditto. You still aren't very clear on exactly how it's executed, but that's something for after Brodie has been captured.
Since the disguise art also relies on Ditto, naturally, countering it requires relying on Ditto as well," Yuri said.
Tetsuya was also very curious. Even canine Pokémon could not distinguish the disguise. Even if Ditto Transformed into this type of Pokémon, its sense of smell could not possibly surpass theirs. So what exactly could Ditto rely on?
"Mm… Ditto's eyes.
It's even better that you have a Ditto of your own. Your Ditto will need to train here with me for about a month, focusing specifically on training its eyes until it can 'see' the physical structure of the Ditto on the other side." Yuri's words left even Tetsuya completely puzzled.
'???'
Tetsuya had never heard of Ditto's eyes possessing anything special. If what she said was really true, did that not mean Ditto possessed X-ray vision and could see directly through the skin to the body's physical structure!!!?
Tetsuya certainly would not leave even half a step during this month!
He truly wanted to understand how to raise Ditto to develop the key card needed to subdue Brodie.