The self-imposed night watch was as much a tedious, mind-numbing affair as I had worried it would be. After that brief spike of activity when the Zubats decided to fly too close to the pasture's wooded section, absolutely nothing interesting happened. It was a totally quiet, peaceful night. At least I had time to myself to think.

After rolling around in circles to watch the area over, and over, and over... well, at least I felt like I was getting more resistant to the dizziness of this mode of travel. Maybe I can loosely say that I'm getting some practice in for moves like Rollout in the future? But hours ticked past, and I started to feel the ache of transformation in my body again.

I let my transformation into Geodude release, and I felt the tiredness that had been subdued by my rocky form hit me like a truck. I'd been watching the better part of the night, though it was hard to tell exactly how late into the night- or possibly how early in the hours of the morning, depending on how you saw things- it was at the moment. I needed to get some rest myself, as I wasn't going to be able to stay awake twenty-four-seven just to keep watch, no matter how anxious I felt about the things I imagined happening the moment I stopped keeping watch.

Well, I can only blame myself for being unlucky if something happens. It would be just as bad if I was too tired to help out later because I refused to sleep. Besides, I had a favor I wanted to ask of Mable when morning rolled around, and a few hours of sleep would do me good. I bounced my way back to the back door of the house and leaped for the handle to let myself in, but I rather awkwardly landed on the firm, unyielding doorknob. It refused to turn when I did my usual side-to-side swinging, and I realized that of course Mable would lock the door at night. Well, I guess it's off to bunk with the Bidoof gang in the dam, then. At least I know I'll have a reliable alarm clock.

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'Breakfast!' 'Come on, time to eat!' 'You're stepping on me!' 'Hurry up, you're in the way!'

There's that alarm clock I knew I'd be getting. The ruckus of the Bidoof stirring and all trying to shove their way out of the relatively cramped enclosure of the dam through the single narrow entrance to the grassy lawn outside wasn't something you could sleep through. Doesn't that seem like some sort of fire hazard, though? But I noticed that the far end of the dam had an exposed area of water, the edge of the pond, and some of the less-patient Bidoof who didn't mind getting soaked first thing in the morning were taking a faster, more aquatic path out to breakfast. I guess that answers that. I wasn't a fan of chilly morning swimming, particularly as I didn't want to transform to take advantage of their water-resistant fur, so I waited for the horde to meander out before I exited as well.

I was only slightly bleary-eyed as I moved to the rear of the house, joining up for breakfast by hopping onto my usual spot on the counter top. "Good morning, Ditto. How was the night watch?" Mable asked, sounding amused at my slightly-sleepy state, but there were undertones of concern in her voice as well. "I take it nothing happened, since you didn't bother me last night." I nodded absentmindedly, wondering if I should wave her down, but I figured I should get some food in me before breaching any topics of conversation. That, and if I held Mable up and delayed everyone else's breakfast, I'd feel bad and they would probably be annoyed with me. I had my usual morning meal of berries, and then moved into the house to find the little notepad I had been using for the past couple of days now.

I found it on the kitchen counter, and after nabbing a nearby pen, I pondered how exactly I wanted to make my request. To sum it up: I wanted more forms, but I also wanted to try and gather them in a safe, controlled fashion. Sure, I picked up some new forms from my little foray into Santalune Forest, but it was also a whole fiasco of a trip. I also recognized that I got more out of my forms if I saw a particularly strong individual of their species to mimic. After all, the Scyther I had the good fortune to copy was significantly large and the instincts I had in that body felt more honed and easier to follow. I couldn't be sure, but I felt as if the instincts were from the individual I copied as well as a general set of 'species-wide' instincts.

All that meant that the young, relatively inexperienced Pokémon on the pasture weren't the best for me to copy. I wanted to go into town. I had enjoyed the Growlithe transformation I had gathered from the police who came out to the pasture, and the chance to see what else was walking around to try my luck was appealing. More than that, though, I wanted to get into a Pokémon Center, for obvious reasons. There was no way I was going to find Pokémon capable of healing just out in the wilds.

Well, that's not true, there were many varied ways for Pokémon to heal themselves. Recover was a fairly species diverse option, while there were more narrow options like Ingrain for plant Pokémon or Aqua Ring for water-type Pokémon. What I wanted most, though, was the ability to heal others. There were a growing number of Pokémon that I considered friends as I interacted on the pasture, and after the Noctowl incident, I wanted to be ready to help out if any fights went badly. The main examples capable of what I wanted, Chansey and Audino, were most likely only going to be seen at a Pokémon Center.

If it followed the logic of what I had 'seen' in the past, Pokémon Centers shouldn't be biased against wild Pokémon. After all, certain protagonists carried injured wild Pokémon in for treatment in the media I've seen in the past. But almost always, those Pokémon wound up joining as members of their team shortly afterward. In short, while I was sure I could go in and get treatment if I needed if badly, I'm also pretty sure that wild Pokémon who get treatment probably don't just get released back into the wild. So, getting myself injured and hoping I get treated was a dumb idea, one that even I was smart enough to dismiss as an option. All sorts of things could go wrong. I could get caught by someone on the way there, they might not be as altruistic as portrayed in my memories and turn away a wild Pokémon...

So, how could I smooth all that over? Well, I needed a trainer. Even if just for temporary purposes. I'd been thinking about the idea of getting a trainer quickly ever since that thief tried to catch me by force in the night. If I was already caught by someone, his Pokéball wouldn't do a darn thing to me. Then Mable had said that she'd thought about catching me herself, if only she felt like she would ever be a battler again.

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I admit, if I didn't know I could force my way out of a Pokéball in a worst-case scenario, I wouldn't even be considering this. Even as amazingly nice and sweet as Mable had been to me, something about just putting myself entirely at someone else's mercy like that... it rubbed me the wrong way. Now that I know I have a way out if I absolutely need it, though, it could serve to be relatively convenient and also as a safety net. That's the first part of the plan, and I'm pretty sure Mable will agree with at least this much. It's the rest that I'm not sure she'll agree to.

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"Absolutely not!" Mable's raised voice reverberated off the walls of the kitchen, lifting her gaze from my scribbled planning on the notepad to frown in my direction. "Are you completely out of your mind, Ditto? This is you going too far because you're in a hurry again, and the fact that you won't meet my stare means you know it, too!" Hands on hips, she eased into a full-on lecturing tone, complete with waggling her finger in my direction.

"I don't mind catching you, if that's something you're sure you want me to do. Heck, you fit right in around here, and I was only concerned that you'd get restless stuck here with me if I caught you before. I understand how you're worried after nearly getting kidnapped and forcibly dragged off. That makes perfect sense to me. But then you're trying to convince me to get you into a battle, so you can lose it?! You come up with the most Buneary-brained schemes I've ever heard of. If you want to get into a Pokémon Center, you don't need to get yourself beat up to do it!"

Sighing heavily, Mable finally seemed to calm down a bit, just shaking her head. Yeah, that had been the best idea I could come up with: get in a fight, lose it spectacularly, and spend some time in recovery in a Pokémon Center to copy as many forms as I could get my greedy little nubby hands on. I flashed a guilty smile, waving my hands in a placating 'calm down' gesture. Surprisingly, it actually seemed to be working. That, or Mable had already decided to calm down from her lecturing already regardless.

"Don't think I don't know what you're up to, you little troublemaker. I know darn well you've been transforming into everything you see on the pasture. In this case, though, you're lucky that I also think this is a good idea. You being able to copy a healing-capable Pokémon would be a nice added benefit to the pasture. Just expect to be putting it to use when needed. What we can do instead, as tempting as it might be to see if whatever opponent I can find you can beat some sense into you, is schedule you for a check-up. Don't look so surprised, do you think that Pokémon Centers are just there for emergencies and after-battle care?"

My disbelief must have shown on my face. Is it really something so obvious? It's just like a doctor's office for Pokémon, I suppose, but I had been still treating it as some sort of post-battle trauma-center out of habit. Well, that does make me feel a little silly, now.

"It's something we'll have to call ahead for, so you'll have to wait a few days if they don't have a scheduled time available, but we might be able to get you in today if things aren't too busy. That's all for later though." Mable's demeanor shifted, losing the lecturing tone and becoming solemnly serious as she dropped herself down onto one of the kitchen chairs, just staring in my direction. "I won't lie and say I hadn't ever thought about catching you. It's not every day I see a Ditto wander up to my front door. Honestly, anyone who wants a Ditto practically has to get them from specialized services at this point. Finding one in the wild is a real rarity. You're a nugget on the roadside and you don't even know it. I haven't made an addition to my team in years and years, though."

Mable seemed to be talking to herself more than me as she continued. She was looking in my direction, but it didn't feel like she was really looking at me. "I told you about my team I had, and what happened. It took the wind right out of me. Honestly, starting work here on the pasture and the Pokémon here that needed me are just about the only things that kept me going, afterward. You won't get the kind of training from me you might get out of a proper trainer, and I can't even begin to speak of how much rust there's going to be on my battling instincts. Because yes, I know that getting involved with you is going to mean you're dragging me into battles one way or another." Only now did it feel like she was looking at me again, and with a fond smile.

"If you really want me to catch you, though, I'm still willing to. I know the trouble you'll bring, so it's only fair you know what you're dealing with if I wind up as your trainer. So, are you sure?" Mable seemed to be warning me off, but the intensity with which she asked if I was sure, the demeanor she had talking about taking me in as her Pokémon... I realized that she seemed to actively want me to agree. It struck me again how lonely it must be, to care for a pasture full of Pokémon, all by yourself, and continually see them sent off with promising young trainers. She likely never had the same Pokémon around to bond with for more than a couple years at a time at most, barring Bibarel. No wonder he followed her around everywhere. Yet she always seemed so upbeat and energetic. How much of that was just a mask?

I felt a strong sense of guilt in my gut. I had talked about her catching me, but I couldn't just tell her it was initially for convenience sake, or that I had been thinking about it being temporary. I figured she might humor me and play along, before releasing me after this little incident, or finding a trainer who wanted to travel and letting me transfer to them eventually. She was treating this like a serious partnership, though. Would she expect to tie me down to the pasture and never leave, being just one more companion to keep around? Maybe she could slowly get back into battling, and I could at least help her wrap up that long-unfinished gym circuit she abandoned? I hadn't expected the situation to turn this way, so I was utterly unprepared for the sincerity she showed on the matter. Mable had clearly considered this partnership more than I had. Had she been waiting to see if I would ask?

Before the pause stretched long enough to grow awkward, I nodded my head in a sharp, decisive fashion. Mable grinned and scooped me up into a hug. "Alright, then. It's settled. Well, let's get things sorted out and get on the schedule with the Pokémon Center for a check-up. When we can get in, we'll stop by the market and get a Pokéball for you. I don't have any on hand. It might be a little premature, but welcome to the family, properly, Ditto. Oh, I can't wait to tell Bibi."

She seemed so pleased with my decision, and honestly the energy was a little bit infectious. I grinned in return, hoping that the roiling in my stomach wasn't showing on my face. It may have been an on-the-spot decision, but I still felt better about agreeing than rejecting it. If I kept waiting for the perfect trainer, I might never find one. That, and I would keep the fact that I could leave if I ever really wanted to close to heart.