3 Pokedex Entry #003: Throwback

Last time we left our heroes, Kopi was forced to reveal his true power to his closest friend. With the danger now over, how will their relationship evolve from here? Well, let's find out as we view the next chapter of this epic tale.

These past three weeks have been exciting, but it's been easy to process. Telling the story about how my ancient Golett using his mysterious power, fought off the mad Ursaring with an army of wild Pokemon while Mr.Kopi saved me was easy to process. Having evidence of what happened also covered up was also easy to process. Trixie leaving to start on her journey was welcome news. However, what I still can't process is... That. MY. Neighbor. Is. A. Flipping Ditto! The neighbor that I've known for months, my best friend is a Ditto, and I have had no time to talk about it! That is until today. Because I'm going to get to the bottom of this unless it's the last thing I do!

I wake up and for once slowly get out of bed due to my still hurting leg. My mother had reluctantly gone back to Unova after I told her I was fine a thousand times. But this time, she left with the terrible gift of 2 weeks of har chores before I officially started my journey. However, it would have been way worse if Mr. Kopi hadn't steeped in. So after I finished my chores, I decided to give the Golem chip cookies or rather my Golett as he started to grab the container of cookies. And gives both an ok sign and a pointing motion to pretty much say that he also wanted to join me on my escapade. For some reason, after that fateful day, something thing inside my Golett had somehow awakened. I had researched on the Poke'net that Golett's had an internal power source, but I had never witnessed something like that beforehand. It finally started to not only listen to my commands but even interact with me and use moves. Though it still posed without reason though, this was an improvement if I ever saw one.

I decided to let it tag along as we ventured to Kopi's house. I rang the doorbell and, like so many times before, my friend answered, but this time, there was no welcoming smile, only a look of grim acceptance as he brought me into his home. We sat at the opposing chairs in the living room with my Golett, simply staring in the middle, silent as a Xatu. When the tension started to become unbearable, Mr.Kopi finally decided to start.

"I assume that you got a lot of questions for me?"

"Yeap."

"Fine, then might as well get this over with. Do your worst."

I pulled out my note cards and got to work.

"What is your level? How old are you? Do I still call you Mr.Kopi? How can you transform into different forms and humans? What is your gender? Why did you come here? What is your favorite food? And are we still friends even after what happened?"

Mr.Kopi, with a surprised look on his face, started to laugh like crazy. After almost a full minute, he finally started to gain back control and stated.

"I'm sorry it's just... I didn't expect us to still be friends after what had happened. I was afraid you'd be afraid of me or tell someone."

"Mr.Kopi, I'm a 10-year-old girl, no one believes anything I say. Besides, with how long we've been friends, if you wanted to hurt me, I think you could've. So we are still friends. Now, are you going to answer my questions or.."

"No, of course, I will. I think it's 100 though I think I can get stronger. I don't know for sure, but I feel like an adult. I've already told you just Kopi was fine, as well. That's complicated. Genderless/fluid, I guess but identify as male. That's complicated, but I wanted to lie low. Rice cakes from the Jelly Donuts shop, and yes Taylor, at the end of the day, I still think we can be friends," he said in a relaxed and happy smile.

Any normal person probably would have left well enough, but that old Speleology curiosity couldn't leave a secret unturned.

"If you don't mind Mr. Kopi, would you mind answering those complicated questions? Of course, if you didn't mind, please?"

Kopi Pov

Over these past three weeks, I had thought that revealing my past would cause my friendship with Taylor to end. But now I see it as a beautiful blessing in disguise. I now finally had the chance to reveal the true me that I've always hidden. And I already considering there was no point in hiding anymore when I had already revealed so much. So I had finally come clean and finally talk about one of my favorite subjects: myself.

"Well Taylor, if I already wasn't painfully obvious, yes, I am far different from your average Ditto, and what you saw from my battle against that weird Ursaring was a taste of my three techniques. Partial transformation, Muscle memory, and Freeflow combat. While the first one is self-explanatory, the second is Muscle memory, where besides my human form, I can morph into three other Pokémon I've seen recently. Free flow combat is a move where I use the prior skills together in a fighting style that overwhelms the enemy. The other question of how I came here was a far longer story."

And at that moment, I flashback to my earliest memory. I was kept in nothing more than an empty tank. I would sit there watching people in lab coats working on advanced machines. I didn't know how long I spent there or even where I was. And I probably would have stayed in that limbo if "he" hadn't stepped up. A lab coat accompanied my caretaker Leonard, his desperately skinny frame and shaggy dyed gray hair took me from my tank and walked me off to a new location along they way, stating.

"Don't worry, Kopi, you're going to be great, I just know it."

I was dragged into a vast arena, and when Leonard had gained enough distance, he quickly threw me down into the arena. My tank was almost instantly blown apart as tumbled into the arena, completely stressed over my new predicament. I scrambled around trying to escape, but a forcefield had already been set up blocking any entrance. Fear completely took over my mind until Leonard brought be back to safety.

"Calm down, Kopi, calm down! You're going to be fine. Just take it easy and follow my instructions to the letter. I know that you're going to blow them away," he said in a hushed tone.

His words made me calm down as I decided to comply. I stopped running and waited patiently to see what had come next. In a few minutes, nine holograms had appeared, all with silhouetted figures. The one in the middle called the shots as with a commanding computerized voice, he stated.

"This project of yours had better be as revolutionary as you say, Leonard. You know how much I hate investing in unfruitful endeavors."

Leonard looked almost unimpressed as he simply stated back.

" Lord #1 You and I both know that I take immense pride in my work. And you also know I don't invest in unnecessary bargains. So I mean it when I say that you will not regret what I'm about to show you. Because I have a feeling that Kopi here is going to change the very future of our organization as we know it."

The figures stayed silent until the head of the figures responded.

"Fine then Lord #7, let's see if your project is as valuable as you say. And allow me to test it properly."

Suddenly from the other side of the room, a wild Rampadros appeared and knocked me to the ground with a powerful headbutt! And as I'm knocked down, Leonard again brings me to focus by saying.

"Don't back away. Failure is not an option for something as great as you. This is simply another step in your infinite evolution! So Kopi does not turn away, destroy your enemy and prove who truly is at the apex of this world!"

With his words of encouragement, I quickly get back up, and under the threat of survival, I was forced into only one choice: adapt. I turned to the enemy that I was tasked with destroying and made my way. And that's how the cycled repeated again and again and again. With every hard-fought victory, I was put down by the other mysterious figures in the form of torture, brainwashing, and further experiments all to instill this message on to me.

"No matter what you may achieve, let it be known that it was by human hands that your power be achieved. Let it be known that you are your true apex."

But even with such abuse, Leonard gave me just as much love. He would spend hours talking with me about the beautiful outside world. With each passing day, my respect for him grew along with my power, and one day when he had come over to feed me some of his food, I did a little trick to surprise him. I replicated his vocal cords, and with a simple struggle, I said.

"Thank you."

And at that moment, Leonard displayed a tempest of emotion. Regret, pride, fear, and anger all took place as in a single move, he told me.

"We are getting out of here. I will not let them turn you into a weapon.'

For weeks on end, we were forced to hide and run as we rebounded from place to place until one fateful day when while I was fighting dozens of Apex Pokemon, I heard Leonard's scream in the distance. Once I had finished off my opponent, I looked to a dying Leonard. I tried everything I could to stop the bleeding, but it was to no avail. But with his dying breath, he said.

"Kopi, don't worry about me. I've only been slowing you down this entire time. Just promise me that you live your own life, Kopi. Hold onto it tight, and never let it go. Live it with everything you got and let no one stop you. For my sake."

And with no time to say goodbye or even give a proper funeral, I did the one thing I can do to honor his sacrifice. I took his form and decided to live the way I wanted to live. It took a long time, but I adapted to the fantastic outside world in due time and eventually, well. You know the rest.

After I had finished my tale, I noticed quite quickly that I was so absorbed in it that I didn't see Taylor's tears streaming down her face. I realized what I had done and walked straight up to her and say.

"Don't cry, Taylor, at the end of the day. That's just the way it was in the past. I'd much rather try and focus on our future together on your Pokemon journey."

"Wait, what!?, " she said through blubbering.

"I said that after you finish your punishment, and if you would have me, I would be lucky if you would allow me to help on your Pokemon journey."

Minutes of silence passed until a collected Taylor finally answers in the form of thumbs up. And with that, after a couple of weeks, we ventured out into the vast big world of Sinnoh with nothing but heart, a sense of adventure, and a mute Golett.

Meanwhile, in a secret location.

Ten silhouetted figures all looked at each other in the form of holograms.

"Status report, all of you," said Lord#1.

"Kalos and Alola's research on evolution has provided us with the final steps on Project Tenebris is almost complete. In a couple of days, if we work with Both Lord#3 and Lord#8, I feel as though we can begin mass production despite certain... difficulties."

"Speaking of said difficulties Lord #7 and Lord#8, what is the status of that grand failure that escaped?"

"Well, despite our experiments on how wild Pokemon specifically Ursaring and the effects of how its Guts ability would react from the material being closely guarded, we were still ill-equipped to handle the resulting power of someone the subjects. Even with the help of Lord#9, we were still incapable of resecuring all of the assets. Lord#10's help in manipulating the media from prying against this Ursaring was effective, but before #8 could secure such a thing, a young trainer mysteriously defeated the Ursaring. We may have silenced the news and taken the Pokemon, but the evidence from such a battle suggests that she is a powerful one."

"Hmm, that is certainly ... Problematic but not completely undesirable, but I will not accept Lord#7, I will not accept any more screw-ups from you as we move on with our plans. Project Tenedris is too important to our cause to ignore completely. You will not like what we did to the others that had your position. This meeting is adjourned until further notice; I want these meetings to become weekly as we move on to the first step of our grand plan. And never forget Lords. "

" We are the Apex of humanity! We are willing to go faster and farther than others are willing. And we will stand at the pinnacle of this world!" the figures all said as they hung up.

The Journey continues ever forward.