One of the great things about having illusionary powers is that it's easy to sneak away from anywhere you please. That's a perk one young Zorua learned after being caught and sent far away from his original home. The new place the pokemon arrived at was a frightening place, one with lots of bright white instruments strewn about and noisy beeping. By instinct the Zorua transformed to mimic one of the humans wearing labcoats once their backs were turned, wanting to head to safety before they tried sticking one of those needles in him again. The trick worked... until someone noticed that he forgot to hide his fluffy black tail. One mad dash outside the door and into the woods later, the Zorua was able to evade his perusers once he mimicked one of the Hoothoots it saw. Once again, the pokemon was free thanks to his defensive ability.

	It wouldn't take long until the dark fox creature was able to find keener usages for his illusion powers. After enough time honing its ability and observing humans, the little Zorua learned to walk and talk like a human-- or at least convincing enough to fool the hairless sentient beings with enough mouth flapping and thoughts from its mind. The Zorua learned enough that this new place was called "Johto" and that they have buildings that give food better than mere berries you can find out in the woods. Of course, the pokemon still wasn't adept to the whole "pay" thing with "money" these humans yell about, but the Zorua learned that he was a lot quicker runner than many of these now-angry workers at these food buildings. The pokemon found it so hilarious the few times that it ran by the same human it mimicked for these food quests only for the authorative men and women in blue caught them instead. Turns out these tricks could be used for fun as well as food and safety.

	For many cities, the Zorua dined and dashed his way around, keeping one step ahead of his antics before the humans realized. During these adventures. the pokemon began finding many peculiar things while pretending to be one of the many men and women around. One was that humans do their waste business in special rooms and not merely outdoors. Along with that was the fact the humans in those blue uniforms would go after you if they catch you not using those special rooms. Oh, and that humans are picky which room you use, as trying to go into one filled with females as a male almost got him bludgeoned. Along with that nonsense, the Zorua found that certain kinds of humans make for the best pranks, or at least get special reactions. Dressing as one of the ones wearing black with red Rs on their chests made everyone distrust you, while dressing as one of the ones in blue made everyone respect and follow what you say. That and certain humans seem very popular, like those that as always on display on poster or monitors. Naturally, plenty of mischief was had abusing these kinds of mimickry, spreading scandal and ridicule among the masses. Town after town was left with the nusiance caused by one wild pokemon snickering all the way to its next meal.

	Funny enough, with all the nameless variety of humans the Zorua met, only a few of them did it run into more than once between towns. It wasn't the similar looking nurses and police officers, since they had unique scents to them. No, it was a trio of kids and 2 older ones with a Meowth in tow, along with many pokemon that listened to their orders. The pokemon found it funny how little these "smarter" beings roamed compared to these select few. By the 5th time it had something of repeated run-ins, the Zorua was able to learn their respective attitudes and mannerisms better, rather than being a mere blank slate unassuming type all the time. This led to being able to mimick better with certain types of humans as it travelled around, finally stumbling to a place they didn't call "Johto". The pokemon found it strange, seeing how nothing really seemed any different, yet somehow this area to the east past some hills and trees was supposedly different enough for them, it figured. And somehow, quite serendipitous, it ran into something quite familiar to go along with those few it kept running into and hearing about.

	The place it headed to was a smaller town, smaller than the one it just left. As the Zorua drew closer to the pockey of civilization, it found the faint scent of familiarity, reminding him of that one boy it saw many times, the one with a cap on. Subconsciously, the pokemon took on the form of the kid in question, feeling like it blended in better with this small town, like it belonged. Pretty soon, some people there smiled and waved at the disguised pokemon, calling him by that boy's name. They must know him here, the Zorua thought, merely smiling and waving back as it looked for a place to find a great meal. As he looked around, the sneaky poke strolled by a quaint home, only to be startled as the lady watering the plants outside the house cried out in joy and ran up, grabbing hold of him in a tight embrace.

	The woman left out a delightful squeal of glee, pressing the Zorua into her bosom to the point he almost smothered. "Oh Ash, I didn't know you were dropping by! You usually call beforehand!" she exclaimed, finally letting go so the illusionary pokemon could gasp for air. His soft hairless cheeks were planted with little kisses as the lady added, "Oh come right in. You're probably exhausted from walking halfway around the world. I'll brew up some nice tea and make you a sandwich, okay?" The prospect for food was enough to entice the Zorua to nod and follow the woman inside her home, her scent not too far off from the boy's he was pretending to be.

	The interior of the quaint house was inviting. The Zorua masquerading around as Ash took the time to scope and survey the rooms, which didn't quite seem off-putting to the lady. "Oh Ash, I know it's been a while since you visited, but nothing major's really changed around here," the woman stated with a giggle at her supposed son's snooping, adding aloud towards him, "Your room still the same as it was since the last time, if you're worried about that." The Zorua was able to piece together that this woman had to be related to that familiar boy, which would explain the scents being not all that different. He stood silent as he pet the Mr. Mime that he found, his disguise fooling the other pokemon well enough to not see him as an intruder. The Zorua pondered which word to call the woman, knowing human families have special names for each other but couldn't place which was the appropriate one for this relation. The dark-type pokemon became so lost in thought that he didn't notice the taller lady sneaking up behind him, her presence startling him enough that he almost broke his illusion as the woman's head tilted over his shoulder.