While I wasn't able to mentally calculate exactly how fast I was, I got the feeling that no matter how speedy I was compared to the average ditto, I was honestly pretty slow in my natural form. While doing something like bounding along after Mable at a walking pace on the pasture wasn't a problem, someone at a light jog could probably leave me in the dust. "So I've been going on assumptions, but never actually asked, I assume the tests are being done on my natural form to gauge my healthiness? After all, I could demolish this speed test if I was able to transform beforehand."

Audino nodded absently as she lowered her clipboard after wrapping up her brief notes about my speed test, "That's right. You're also going to have to do a strength test and an endurance test, as well as a general physical examination." My expression must have shifted at that last bit, and she laughed quietly into one hand, "Relax, nurse Joy is in charge of that. I'll keep any examinations I have of you strictly unprofessional."

This girl, I swear! Knowing she was digging for a reaction from me, the best thing I could do was weather the remark without acknowledging it. "So, is there anything else I should get out of the way? If I can get any of the other testing done ahead of time, then I won't have to keep Mable waiting around all morning and I can get out of here quicker."

"Aw, and here I thought we were bonding. Not enjoying my company anymore?" Audino remarked, with an extraordinarily faux expression of sadness.

I rolled my eyes at the display, "You've been excellent company. Mostly. But unless I'm going to start working here, I'm pretty sure I still have to go home at some point."

Audino perked up and her expression shifted so rapidly it was almost concerning, her face wearing a broad, mischievous smile. "Well, now that you mention it, I'm sure that there's a place for a Ditto to take up work in the breeding-"

"Not a chance!" I shouted, very vehemently interrupted her. "No. No. Don't even think about it." A shudder ran through me, and I made a face. "Get your mind out of the gutter and tell me where I need to go for the next test?" Hopefully diverting her with a suggestion of actually doing her job would keep her from even attempting to mention such a thing again.

A huffy sigh drifted from her, and a prolonged "Fiiiiine..." declared her protest. Still, she reluctantly allowed herself to be guided back on track, "We should do your strength testing first, as the endurance test is specifically designed to leave you worn out and testing your limits. The tests actually vary from species to species. Normally we have a participant exhibit the entirety of their breadth of moves in a strength test, or at the very least their most frequently used abilities. In your case, the test should be over rather quickly. All we have to do is measure your physical attack output. Basically slam yourself into a punching machine and we're done!"

Yeah, if I wasn't allowed to transform, aggressively throwing myself at a target was about the only effective 'attack' I had. I suppose it's the equivalent of Struggle. Forgoing any sort of technique and just blindly applying physical force. Still, it made me start to think that I should start planning for some sort of eventuality that I need to battle in my normal form. After all, being Taunted by the Murkrow in the past and being unable to transform... it left an impact on me.

It wouldn't matter as much if I got Taunted after taking a form, but before I could do so... that was a problem. Even just refining a single attack would be great progress. After all, what was the actual difference between Struggling and, for example, Tackle. It should just be down to technique, right? I refused to believe that I couldn't even learn the most rudimentary combat maneuvers in my base form. I needed to play around with the energy that I used for transformations later, and see if there was a way to channel it into other uses. If I could master something as simple as a Quick Attack, it could be a nice little surprise in a pinch.

Audino continued speaking, seemingly unaware that I was no longer paying her the strictest attention due to my wandering thoughts. "On the other hand, your endurance test is also going to be more unique. Your results are going to be primarily how many successive transformations you can maintain before finding yourself unable to shift any longer. After all, one of the most important facets of a battle-ready Ditto is maintaining their versatility. Oh, and for a form to count, you'll have to actually make an attack in that form. No cheating and trying to recycle the energy between forms."

That made sense to me. After all, until I really committed to a form, my body was essentially in limbo. I've tried to think about ways to take advantage of this in the past, such as starting to transform into one species to bait an attack, and then finishing the transformation into another species that took advantage of the attack. I could transform into a fire-type Pokémon, bait out a water move from my opponent that saw the shape I was turning into, and then shift into a Pokémon with Water Absorb, for example. That might be a trick I could pull off with more training and access to a wider variety of forms, but for now I had a feeling it would just leave me vulnerable. Trying to shift my focus like that mid-transformation created an awkward lull where I had to 'shift gears'.

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"Honestly, I would have expected the endurance test to involve how long I could stay in a single form. Isn't that more important? After all, if you can't hold a transformation for a long enough duration, that's worse." I voiced my thoughts, and was met with a scathing snicker from Audino.

"That's not part of the test because that's almost assumed. If you can't even maintain a transformation for the duration of a battle, your trainer shouldn't be bringing you in for this examination. You're being evaluated for healthiness in expectation that you'll participate in battling. How are you going to do that if you're a one-minute wonder?" I cleared my throat at the awkward phrasing, but I understood the point as she continued.

"In a battling environment, your ability to react and shift forms is more important due to how competitive battling limits the number of swap-outs a trainer is permitted. If an enemy trainer is willing to have their entire team fight until disqualification, they may not typically use their full allotment of swap-outs. Against a Ditto, one of the main strategies you should prepare for is for your opponent to use their swap-outs as a resource against you. It's why the endurance test requires you to use a move in a form for it to count toward your testing progress. A trainer may wait for you to transform, call a swap to shift to an advantageous matchup. Then as soon as you shift to adjust, they call out another swap to put you in a bad matchup all over again. Imagine losing a battle without the enemy landing a strike on you, just because you wore yourself out transforming over and over!"

My eyes widened slightly at the explanation. I had expected that my flexibility was solely an advantage, but I hadn't accounted for the fact that opponents weren't going to just sit around and battle into a type disadvantage unless they were overwhelmingly confident in their abilities. Underhanded tactics like that swap-out spam might have a cost, as they could be forced into bad match-ups later in the battle if they used them all in such a fashion... but if it was successful in wearing out the Ditto, it essentially removed a wildcard from the opponent and turned it into a simple slug-fest for the remaining Pokémon.

"I hadn't ever considered that. I've mostly been practicing my fighting against individuals so far, whether it's in sparring or the actual fighting I've had to participate in..." I remarked, and Audino nodded her head.

"Yep. I assumed as much as soon as you asked. I may not be an expert on actually battling, but I've tended to enough wounded battlers to know what I'm talking about. After all, everyone wants company when they're laid up in bed for healing. After a while, you run out of other things to talk about. Besides, battlers love to brag about the tough fights they've been in, the tight spots they got themselves out of. That, or to complain about the dirty tricks that caught them off guard and got them put in the Pokémon Center in the first place!"

Audino tapped the side of her head, "I've got a lot of trade secrets up in here. I don't mind sharing a few common tips to keep you from getting too beat up... even if it means I might not see you around as often. Anyway. We've been chattering on long enough, didn't you want to do some more tests before your trainer shows up? Back inside, we'll go to the punch machine!"

Nodding my head in agreement, I bounded along after her as we moved back inside, a rumble of thunder reverberating through the air just as we made it to the doors. While nothing was coming down yet, it felt like the storm was taking a deep breath in preparation of unleashing its fury. The grey skies had darkened to almost black, with the intermittent crackle of lightning sparking between the clouds to illuminate them.

"If the weather gets too bad, you might not be leaving as early as you wanted, anyway. It's starting to look real nasty out there today. I just hope it's not going to wind up in a tornado or anything..."

"Why would you even say that?" I asked, tossing my hands upward in a show of exasperation. "Now you've done it. You've said it out loud, so it's at least twice as likely to happen now! Why did you have to go and be a jinx?" If there was actually a tornado heading my way, I was going to at least make sure it sucked up Audino first, for speaking it into being.

"Oh come on, don't be so superstitious. Besides, I'm not a Jynx. I'm an Audino, silly." The cackle of laughter she released at her own stupid joke made me realize she had probably set me up for that one. It might be half the reason she called out the possibility of the weather taking a turn for the worse in the first place. ... Would that make it my fault if a tornado appeared, because she had only said it to bait me into a dumb Jynx pun? No, no. There's not going to be any tornado... and even if there is, I'm not taking responsibility for it!

"That was awful. Just truly awful. Hurry up and show me to where the strength testing machine is, so I can at least hit something and feel like it's productive." I sighed heavily with exasperation, deciding to move on.

"Such a grump. Lighten up. It's like you've got a storm cloud over your head or something. Relax, we have a basement specifically designed to be a shelter if something really does happen. And we just had a disaster yesterday. What are the odds we'd have something go seriously wrong two days in a row?"

I swear, I wanted to scream. Instead, I took a deep breath as I glared at her. "Stop tempting fate like that!" Arceus, she's the one saying it, not me. If you're going to suddenly decide that this is a great spot for a record-breaking tornado, please wait until after I go home. "If you say one more word about it, I'm going to leap up and forcibly cover your mouth!"

"Don't threaten me with a good time."

"I swear I'm going to set a new Ditto-species record on that punching machine."