Ep 17. Imitation Confrontation

Ash and his friends make their way to Blackthorn City, where Ash hopes to obtain his eighth and final badge from Clair, the Blackthorn Gym Leader. As they explore the city, they notice an unusual amount of Ditto sightings and begin to investigate.

In the midst of their investigation, they encounter a group of trainers who are training Ditto to imitate powerful Pokémon in order to win battles and become stronger. The group is led by a confident and aggressive trainer named Duplica, who challenges Ash to a battle.

Despite Duplica's impressive Ditto imitations, Ash is able to come out on top in the battle. However, Duplica doesn't take kindly to her defeat and challenges Ash to a rematch.

As they prepare for the rematch, Ash and his friends begin to understand the true nature of Duplica's training methods. They realize that she's training the Ditto not just to imitate powerful Pokémon, but to take on their personalities and fighting styles. This leads to the Ditto becoming increasingly unpredictable and losing their sense of individuality.

During the rematch, Ash and Duplica's Ditto engage in a fierce battle. Ash uses his own Pokémon to counter the various imitations of Duplica's Ditto, but soon realizes that Duplica has been pushing her Pokémon too hard. Her Ditto start to lose control and become more aggressive, attacking everything in sight.

Ash and his friends step in to help, but end up getting caught up in the chaos themselves. In the end, Clair and her Dragonite appear and are able to calm the Ditto down. Clair explains that with proper training, Ditto can become incredibly powerful, but only if they're allowed to retain their individuality.

After the dust settles, Duplica apologizes for her behavior and agrees to train her Ditto in a more responsible manner. Ash and his friends continue on their journey, eager to obtain their final badges and take on the Elite Four.