Ten Pokémon, all of which had evolved using Evolution Stones, were worth a considerable amount of money.
Tetsuya contacted Archer directly and sold all ten Pokémon to Team Rocket for a fixed price of 500k Pokédollars.
Now, apart from having an additional half mil in his account, nothing else had changed. Tetsuya went peacefully to sleep.
The Imite Family's location was exceptionally well hidden. As a "Kakure Meika[1]", they maintained no contact with the outside world. Even though Tetsuya had visited several times before, it still took him a full three days to find the direction of the Imite Family's settlement, followed by another day of traveling through the mountains before he finally entered their town.
Duplica was the one who welcomed him. After resting for the night, Tetsuya went to meet Duplica's mother, Yuri.
In the main hall of the Imite Family, Yuri was already waiting for Tetsuya. It seemed Norman had already informed her of Brodie's death.
"…I already know what happened. I will certainly fulfill your request," Yuri said.
"Thank you." Tetsuya said with a nod. 'Now that Norman has already spoken to her, there is no reason for anyone else to contact her… let alone someone from a League in another region.'
"Ditto have a special capability that can be developed through training, and that is cell division. Ditto is naturally a cellular Pokémon, and its body consists entirely of special, transformable cells. Ditto itself has no gender, and it also reproduces through cell division.
Using Ditto to change a person's face also relies on Ditto dividing its own cells and transforming them into a specific 'mask'. Because this mask is also made of cells, it can merge perfectly and seamlessly with a human face, making it completely impossible to detect with the naked eye.
…I will now teach Ditto this ability," Yuri explained.
Tetsuya nodded and handed Ditto over to Yuri.
"Then, is there any way to make Ditto stronger…?" Tetsuya asked.
Yuri immediately became furious and snapped, "There is no such method! As a Pokémon Trainer… do you really need to ask me how to make your Pokémon stronger?"
'…' Tetsuya had nothing to say in response. He felt that her expression had changed far too quickly, as though he had somehow crossed a line. In any case, while Yuri was training Ditto, he could spend some time asking around the town. Hopefully, he would be able to gather some useful information.
It seemed Brodie had deeply wounded Yuri, and she was now unwilling to share the Family's methods of raising Ditto with outsiders. Even when teaching Ditto the disguise art, she insisted on training it personally rather than explaining the specific method to Tetsuya, precisely to prevent him from spreading the technique to others.
Had she not already made a promise to Tetsuya, Yuri probably would never have passed on the family's art again…
'In the end, it looks like I'll have to do it…'
---◓---
Yuri isolated herself every day to train Ditto, leaving Tetsuya with nothing to do. He wandered around the town each day, but his efforts failed to produce the results he had hoped for. Useful information was extremely scarce.
Tetsuya eventually grew tired of going out and simply stayed at Duplica's home, peeking through various books in the hope of discovering something worthwhile.
"Tetsuya, do you have some free time?" Duplica asked with an innocent, sweet smile that was difficult to refuse.
"…Sure. What's up?" Tetsuya replied.
"I've been thinking that someday I'd like to leave the town and travel around, to see what the outside world is like. Could you tell me some interesting stories about your travels?" Duplica asked.
Tetsuya patiently told Duplica about various things from the outside world, naturally focusing on pleasant and interesting stories to grow closer to her. After finishing his stories, he once again asked Duplica about some of the things happening in the town.
Duplica naturally told Tetsuya everything without holding anything back, growing more enthusiastic as she spoke. After all, she had grown up with all her familiars in the town and had long since grown tired of them. Now that a new "friend" had finally arrived, and was even staying at her home, she naturally wanted to spend more time talking with him.
"There are more than two hundred people in our town now, and we have a total of 366 Ditto. Every single Ditto is registered with my okaasan, and they're all brought to her for inspection every year.
There are lots of fun places in the town. There are more than a dozen people around my age, and we have a great time every day!
But the town's ritual shrine can only be entered on the day of the annual ritual, and only under the Family leader's supervision. It's kept securely locked the rest of the time, and the Family leader is the only person who can freely enter and leave."
Tetsuya listened carefully to Duplica's account, comparing it with what he had observed in the town over the past two days. Although almost everyone had one or two Ditto, these Ditto were not particularly powerful. He had yet to witness the full might of Yuri's Ditto.
If her Ditto were powerful, then as the leader of a family dedicated specifically to raising Ditto, she must have some special raising methods.
The unusual anger she had revealed when he questioned her that day also seemed highly suspicious. He would have to find some way to force Yuri to make a move…
After carefully considering his options, Tetsuya ultimately decided to use Mamoswine.
That very day, Tetsuya asked Duplica to invite several of her friends from the town to hold Pokémon battles in front of the shrine.
Against the very first Ditto to enter the field, Tetsuya sent out Mamoswine.
Right from the start, Tetsuya ordered Mamoswine to use "Icicle Spear", but Mamoswine deliberately used Icicle Crash instead.
Although it defeated the opposing Ditto with a single move, Duplica still questioned him. "Tetsuya, eh… why didn't your Pokémon attack according to your instructions?"
Tetsuya scratched his head awkwardly and said with an embarrassed expression, "W-Well, my Mamoswine always battles on its own. It doesn't listen to my commands…"
"Huh? Wouldn't that mean it's completely out of control!?" Duplica asked, sounding somewhat worried, completely unaware that Tetsuya had planned everything…
---◓---
In the following battles, whenever Tetsuya commanded Mamoswine to attack in one direction, it attacked in another, behaving as though it had absolutely no regard for Tetsuya.
After defeating every opponent, Mamoswine suddenly let out a tremendous roar. The temperature plummeted, and hail and blinding snow began swirling through the sky. With its Snow Cloak Ability, Mamoswine's figure became completely invisible amid the snow.
"Oh no… Everyone, run! Mamoswine's gone berserk!" Tetsuya shouted.
"Hurry up and recall it into its Poké Ball!" Duplica shouted.
"I can't! With all this snow and hail, I can't even see Mamoswine… Unless another Pokémon can subdue it, we'll have no choice but to wait until its rampage ends!" Tetsuya said.
Mamoswine's rampage also alerted many townspeople, who hurried to the scene. More than thirty Ditto were sent out one after another to stop Mamoswine, but every single one was knocked out with a single move.
Even with so many Pokémon, they could not bring Mamoswine under control!
The plan was proceeding remarkably well. Next, Mamoswine charged aggressively toward the shrine, bringing the raging blizzard along with it…
•.
•.
¹. Hidden Family.
[1] Hidden Family