16-year-old Anderson Pear sat at his desk, reading a Pokémon Mystery Dungeon fanfic he found recently. It was incredibly long but completed, which sparked his interest even though he knew nothing of Mystery Dungeon. His table was filthy, covered in dust, fur, and random objects. It's been a while since he last cleaned his room. When he finished the chapter he looked at the clock in the corner of the screen and took a deep breath to calm the excitement that followed his read.
It was around 11 pm on a school day in early April. Of course, since he was living in a bum-ass climate, snow was supposed to fall tomorrow. It looked like he wasn't going to get rid of the puffy jacket and ski pants he had worn since October. It wasn't cold enough to warrant all that since he usually took off the ski pants during the day after school when the sun came out, but he didn't like the cold on his legs in the morning, so they stayed.
He turned his computer off and spun around in his brown leather chair to his right to face the couch that served as his actual personal bed. A thin, but soft mattress was covering it, so it was comfortable, and since the couch was at its widest configuration it was basically a double bed all for himself. He noticed balls of fur on the floor at the end of the couch and realized he really needed to clean his room. The producer of the fur slept like a ball herself at the end of the couch where his legs went. The middle-aged kitty was of black, brown, and beige coloring. Positively adorable and fluffy, with no clue about her specific breed, but she looked like a tabby.
When he stood up, Spot curled herself around and presented her spotty, furry belly, showing where the name came from. Anderson couldn't resist and immediately flopped onto his bed and started petting Spot while nuzzling the kitty. A loud purr started almost immediately, and she nuzzled back.
He lay there and petted the somewhat fat cat for a bit before standing up and heading out of his room. He walked through the hallway that held multiple doors to the bedrooms where his little sister and dad slept and then down the stairs to the second floor to the kitchen. His dad was sitting on his phone in the kitchen while picking his nose. There was a small metal fireplace that weighed a lot to Anderson's left and a wall-mounted TV to his right that was playing something Russian. He didn't understand Russian well at all, so he couldn't make sense of what the two men in coats were saying.
He walked past the fireplace and the table on his right, then past the stove and dishwasher that were next to the fireplace, and past his dad on his right who was sitting in a lounge chair before stopping in front of the sink. He took his toothbrush, wet it, put toothpaste on it and began brushing before turning to stare at the two men in coats conversing in Russian. His electric toothbrush was broken, so he didn't turn it on. It still worked somewhat but made a terrible noise after the head of the brush was smacked into something and bent.
Anderson became disinterested in the show and instead looked around aimlessly. Most of the floors were wood, and the walls were old brick that was placed some 40 years ago by his late grandfather, thankfully covered in painted plaster so it doesn't look ugly, but the outside was dull, old, white brick. When it was finished, it was a cold old box with no insulation and a septic tank for the toilet. Thankfully, renovations were done over the years, and there is insulation on the foundation and a modern toilet, but it still got cold fast during winter if he went even a single night without the electric radiator in his room or the assortment of fireplaces and a single AC on the ground floor.
The bathroom on the second floor next to the kitchen is more of a tiny cubicle with a toilet, with the washroom being below ground. The washroom being down there meant that he couldn't go for a shower during the winter unless the sauna had heated the room for an entire day, which was done once a week. You might call it disgusting to not wash for a week, but he didn't train, so he didn't sweat much, and if the smell got bad, he had wet wipes, so it really wasn't all that bad. Might even be healthy according to some people.
He finished brushing his teeth and washed his mouth and brush in the sink before leaving the room after a quick "Good night". It was weird for him to say good night since he usually just went to bed silently, but he felt like it. Not to say his family relations were bad, they were great, mostly, but he was just unused to saying stuff like "Hello" or "Good night". Of course, he didn't say "Good night", he said "Head ??d" in Estonian. That also meant his actual name wasn't Anderson Pear, rather a translation of the name into English. He went back up the stairs and another "Head ??d" followed him up.
Estonia was a small country in the northern hemisphere, south of Finland, hence the 'bum-ass' climate. The land was flat as shit and most of the country was covered in bogs and forests with 1.3 million people to its name, with a couple hundred thousand of them being Russians and lesser numbers of different Nordic or Baltic groups.
Anderson made it to his door, flicked off the light switch, and settled into his bed. Spot rose and cuddled next to him with a purr and began kneading his face with sharp claws. He turned away from the sharp claws and tried to fall asleep.
He sat up when he realized he forgot to put the notebooks and books that he needed for tomorrow in his bag and did just that. He was one of the smartest people in his class, second only, debatably, to one guy who put more time into learning than he did, but that didn't matter much when all his grades were 5-s, the equivalent of A-s. In fact, his last year of middle school has gone by without a single 4 (under 90%) in any of his semester grades, in any of his subjects, meaning he has gotten more fives than fours during the two previous trimesters and earned himself the best semester grades possible.
Now, in his opinion, they weren't really grades to be proud of since he didn't put much work into them. It's not that he was lazy(even though he kinda was), unmotivated, or cheating, but more so that learning came easily to him. It was natural for him to get good grades like it was supposed to happen. That didn't make him some know-it-all though. Anderson had superb short-term memory, but that apparently came at the cost of not having great long-term memory; for example, he couldn't remember what a word meant in Russian even though he memorized it just 1 or 2 weeks prior.
Sometimes it only took a day to forget. But if he was given a reminder, then it was back in his head clear as day. Even a mention of an event or thing is usually enough for the memory or knowledge to spring back into his mind. Frankly, he thought it would weird people out if he remembered something obscure from some random trigger, so he plays dumb quite frequently. With his books set, his phone on charge, and tomorrow's Sociology test revised, he settled back in, pet Spot a bit more, and turned to his side to sleep.
I awoke in darkness. I couldn't feel my body. I don't think I was actually seeing darkness, it felt like I didn't even have my eyesight anymore. I felt nothing. I don't know how I could even feel the feeling of nothing, but it was so cold. I started panicking. The longer I stayed here, the more it felt like my mind was slipping away. 'Mida vittu!' I tried to fight it, but felt myself gradually lose conscious thought. Right before I felt that my mind would pass the point of no return, I redoubled my efforts and began thinking of anything and everything, trying to keep my mind as active as possible.
My life flashed in my mind, it started on the day that I awoke in my old apartment in my old bunker bed at 5 or 6 years old, where I felt true consciousness for the first time. It was surreal, it felt like I was back right then and there, but the cold seeping in around the memory dispelled the illusion. I sat up in my bed and looked around the room I was in. It was so weird to me then, I knew everything that was in my room, but I had no memory of anything, I just knew.
I knew my name, but I didn't know what happened the day prior. I knew the names of my parents and the names of the objects around me, but I had no memories. I hopped down onto the red armchair that sat in front of the small monitor/TV that held all my favorite shows on the kid's channel: Adventure Time, Regular Show, and Steven Universe, just to name a few.
The memory started to blur, and I lost most of my visual information; only emotions were left. The apprehension of knowing my parents and knowing their names, but having no idea how stuck with me. The cold crept into the edges of my blurred memory, but I held strong and kept cycling through my entire life in flashes. Days of going to school, sitting next to Mike on the first day, learning, then heading home, remembering the code for my apartment, watching shows on the TV from day to night, repeat, day in and day out. I really didn't spend time with friends after school; I just went home. Only during school breaks did I play something like tag or hide and seek with my friends. Sometimes I even brought Beyblade stuff.
The flashes continued for what felt like actual years. Days of school stretched on forever... Hot summer days on the family field full of annoying labour... How I felt when we moved into the big house... The fear, uncertainty. Things stabilized as life continued, I still went to the same school as before even though I lived on the other side of the city. Having all this presented to me like this made me appreciate the fact I decided to stay in the same class, my classmates are great.
While I was reliving the day that the lockdown was announced, the cold started to recede, before I was violently lurched into feeling all my senses returning. In a flash, I felt my body, my lungs, my skin, my muscle fibers, my hair, my fingers, my legs, my arms, and my heart beating fast. Something was off though... They didn't feel like my body parts. I was blinded by my sudden ability to see, and I felt I had gone deaf from the sounds I could hear, even though there weren't any. My constant thought slipped and I lost consciousness immediately after.
I found myself waking in darkness yet again, but different from the cold of before. I could feel my body resting somewhere soft and warm. I experienced insane amounts of vertigo when I finally registered my tiny body. It felt like I was glitching while my brain tried to adapt between two completely different bodies and nervous systems. I could feel my consciousness slipping somewhere again after the sudden upset, but unlike the void I felt it slipping into before, I knew it meant that I was stirring awake.
I didn't want to go anywhere right now so I brought the experience of the void to the forefront of my thoughts and found myself detached yet again. I still felt the connection to that body but it was so muted that I could dismiss it. Now that I felt nothing was happening, I let my mind run a mile a minute 'Ou mida vittu oli see just praegu?! Mis toimub?! Kas mul on mingi sleep paralysis v?i midagi? Miks ma m?letasin enda mingi tervet elu nagu mul oleks flashbackid? Nagu ma oleks surma saamas ja mu life flashed before my eyes? Kus ma olen?'
I looked around the darkness around me. Instead of the void of nothingness, I saw what looked like little lights off in the far distance, like stars. I was floating in that darkness and I saw my normal body respond to my wants with a weightlessness to every movement. My head was on a swivel, which threw my shoulder-length brown hair around, trying to make any sense of what was happening. I took a deep breath in, even though there wasn't oxygen in this place. I tried to calm my nerves, just like when I was doing my math exam, by holding my nonexistent breath and releasing slowly.
'Mees, this is some fucked up dream. Millegi p?rast ma ei tunne enda keha nagu tavalises unen?os... T?iesti perses, miks mu m?lu nii hea seal pimeduses oli, miks ma m?letasin enda tervet elu p?him?tteliselt? Tegelikult, miks ma praegu ka m?letan k?ike, mida ma n?gin? Seal oli nii palju, aga k?ik tundub klaar...' I kept on thinking for a long while but came up with no answers. I dragged my hands down my face and then felt a pull. I turned towards it and saw a bright light getting closer. I suddenly lurched toward it and the starry plane whizzed past. I frantically tried to do anything that would stop me, but then felt myself collide with the light and be consumed by it.
My eyes shot open. I found myself lying in a bed that was not my own. I sat up too fast and felt my vision darken but I still tried to take everything in around me. I was in a bedroom, with a wooden interior. It was barren, a wooden desk with a wooden chair in front of it sat under a window on the other side of the room. The orange glow of the morning or dusk sun peered in through the window. It was barely above the horizon. I noticed a blue circular rug on the floor next to the bed.
My observations brought me to a few conclusions: 1. I was not in my room. 2. I'm scared as hell and I can feel the sweat pooling on my back and the heat across my body. And 3. I felt my legs shiver which brought to attention my short as shit legs. I took off the covers only to see exactly what I had felt. I noticed my tiny hands holding the cover. I shivered even though it felt like I had a fever going and covered up my hands and legs. I felt my nose tingle like it always did before I usually began crying. I couldn't think anymore.
I felt a weird instinct and my head snapped to the door that I had missed in my observations to the left of the desk. A split second later the door slammed open and.. and... I saw a blue and black bipedal furry creature standing in the doorway, staring back at me. In fact, it seemed familia-. Then it clicked, it looked like Lucario, the Pokemon was uncannily real, but... That couldn't be right... right? The feelers on the back of its head vibrated and flowed in midair. I watched it slowly observe the room before it turned its attention back to me. When it walked closer I wanted to say something like "?ra tule l?hemale" but my mouth didn't work. I froze.
It approached my bed and laid a paw on my head. I twitched violently at the touch, but then I felt my heartbeat slow and the shivers die down as a warmth spread from the point of contact down my whole body. I was stuck in a daze while it happened, so when it suddenly pulled me close and hugged me I freaked out, but my flailing died down once the warmth spread to my fingertips and I felt numb. I felt like I couldn't do anything even if I wanted to, the bloody creature was so strong that it wouldn't even budge and had muscles as hard as steel. At least I wasn't being crushed to death.
"Ririo, lucar ru lura" It whispered growls into my ear making me very uncomfortable. I heard footsteps running closer which made me realize that I didn't hear the thing hugging me right now at all. My head started to feel light and I lost all train of thought because of the continuous warmth. That was when a woman with long blonde hair and green eyes in dark green sleepwear appeared in the doorway. "Lily, what's wrong?" The woman asked before she realized 'Lily' was hugging me. "Kunio! Everything okay?" 'Kunio...? Who's that...' I thought in a daze until the newly dubbed Lily pulled away and turned toward the woman.
The daze cleared up a bit. "Ririo rar ru lurio, ri cario luc" Lily said incoherently, but it seemed like the woman understood what she had said. "Oh, a nightmare?" She responded to the incoherent mumbling. The woman walked up and kneeled down next to Lily. Now that her face was closer and with the daze slowly disappearing, I could almost come up with a name... "Did you have a nightmare, Kuni? It's okay now, mama's here" She said with a smile while patting my head.
Even the warmth in my body couldn't smother how uncomfortable I felt and it seems Lily picked up on this since she tilted her head in confusion at me before muttering something to the woman. She gasped in response "He's finally Awakened, you think?" She giddily looked towards me which creeped me out. "Can you remember anything yesterday, Kuni? How about my name?" When I shook my head, she nodded. "I'm Julia Angel," I felt some whiplash when the face finally connected to a name, even though I'd never seen this person before. "-your mama, but you should know that at least, and this is Lily" She paused after gesturing to the Lucario and I waited for her to continue.
Julia's face scrunched up in thought until Lily said something that Julia understood right away somehow "Oh right, thanks, Lily! I uh... kinda forgot what I was supposed to do in this situation." She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly before standing up alongside Lily "Let's go get some breakfast sorted, okay?" Julia said to me. With the warmth still coursing through my body, all I could do was numbly nod and slowly stand up. That was when I noticed a few things, my mind worked with the experience of longer limbs so the stubby legs felt mighty wrong, and yet muscle memory not my own reassured me that this was all normal.
I walked with a stumble, because of the opposing feelings swirling around my legs, out of the room alongside Julia and... Lily the Lucario I guess. I was silent the whole walk down the hallway. Lily went into a room on my left where I spied a bed much like my own before continuing with Julia into the spacious living room that featured an aged couch, coffee table, and two windows beside an old box TV stationed on a cabinet. Straight ahead past the living room was the kitchen. Old and wooden seemed to be the theme around here. There were some windows on all the walls, a small dining table to my left with 4 chairs beside 2 windows. The corner of the room to the right was occupied by the countertop, fridge, and stove, alongside wall cabinets. The front door seemed to be straight ahead if the mat and shoes were anything to go by.
The place had a strange nostalgic air and smell to it that I couldn't place, but that did little to distract me from the growing dread in my gut. For some background info, when I stepped into a high school that I wanted to enroll in, I was anxious as fuck, for no reason in my opinion, from just walking into the building itself. Now? That feeling was turned up to 11 because I had no fucking clue where I was. Everything was different, even my body. Sweat pooled on my back and palms as I stood still in the middle of the house, Julia had gone into the kitchen by now.
I jumped when a familiar left paw landed on my head, followed by the same warmth as before. The tension in my back eased as I turned around and looked up at Lucario who had a frown on her face. I then noticed the egg cradled on her right, with a white base and blue splotches in random places. She noticed me staring before it seemed like an idea popped into her head. She took the egg with both hands and held it out for me to take. I stood there for a few seconds, unsure of what to do, before she moved it closer. I gingerly took the egg into my hands and held it close. Almost immediately, I noticed the egg was really warm, and that the feeling was familiar to me. As if... I had held it before. I felt my body relax when I held onto it for longer.
"Ruu" I looked up at Lily to see she was smiling at me. She nodded and then walked into the cooking area, satisfied. I was a bit dumbfounded, what was I supposed to do with this? Despite that, I held onto the egg for dear life. I needed something to distract me so I don't go crazy(Even though I might already be crazy and hallucinating all this since this doesn't feel like a dream) and this egg did just that. It felt heavier than expected, I don't know how I knew what to expect.
I walked over to the dining table and sat down on one of the chairs since it didn't seem like I had anything else to do. I noticed the bowl of fruits in the center of the table and felt my mouth salivate. I felt restless doing anything other than nothing, but the feeling of hunger that I hadn't felt in what felt like years made me reach out and grab a blue berry. An Oran berry, my brain supplied when I got a closer look. 'T?iesti perses, kas ma olen tegelt ka pokemoni maailmas?'
I took a bite of the strange oversized berry and felt my mouth explode with flavor. 'Oran berries taste amazing after not having a sense of taste somehow. The fact that I can compare that really reminds me of the time during my first ever memory.' I felt my brain draw a connection, now that it was brought up 'She said that I finally 'Awakened'. Does she mean gaining conscious thought? All of this is really similar feeling-wise to that time...' I thought while eating the fucking Oran berry in some random house
My gaze moved to the left when the sound of a door opening down the hallway. Out came an old man with graying hair, walking slowly. 'He reminds me of the old dojo master guy in the Isle of Armor, with the teal tracksuit and stuff, but that can't be him, could it? If it is, are there other game characters here too? Where is here even? How am I in the Pokemon world?!'
The man yawned and began speaking, cutting off Anderson's train of thought. "What are you lot doing up so early? You aren't going to go training, are you?" The man directed the question towards Julia, who looked in his direction and smiled "Morning Pops, Kuni finally Awakened which triggered Lily's feelers" She said after turning her attention back to the stove.
Pops snorted "About time". He looked at Anderson with a keen eye, who fidgeted a bit. "Something's different alright, he's not jumping around like an idiot. I hope you haven't forgotten what to do, Julia." He directed the last part towards the woman who faltered a bit. Lily quietly snickered while cutting up berries expertly "Y-yeah, gotta refamiliarize him with everything again, just takes some time. Introduce yourself Pops"
The man walked around the table to sit diagonally from Anderson for some reason. He sat down and began speaking "Im Kujō, your grandfather. A good thing you Awakened before that egg hatched, wasn't keen on finding out how a Riolu reacts to being forgotten by its egg-keeper. Maybe you just needed some time here instead of the troublesome big city." He mused.
'Can't remember the Isle of Armor guy's name, but Kujō isn't ringing any bells so I guess it's not him' "Whe-" Anderson tried to speak but coughed instead. He also found his voice to be much higher-pitched than his old one. Once he felt his throat was clear, he began again "Where is... here anyway?" He squeaked.
The old man sighed. Anderson blinked in confusion "Seems like you've forgotten a lot more than people usually do, must be because this happened unusually late, though I don't see exactly why that would affect the confusion or memory loss to this degree... Do you even know how old you are?" When Anderson shook his head, Kujō spoke "At least you haven't lost the ability to talk. You're 8, Awakening usually happens at around 5 or in some cases 6. This place is called Springleaf Village, basically a retirement home for weathered trainers or a crash course for young Riolu trainers."
Something darted to my mind immediately during his explanation '...Leaf Village... that houses Naruto-running ninja-dogs that can use the blue energy said to exist in all living things... What in the Naruto is this?' He looked out of the window behind Kujō and didn't see anything like the sprawling Konohagakure of the Naruto world. Just plain old forest. 'It doesn't seem like some naruto crossover thankfully, but what do I know? Fuck me, am I stuck here?' I hugged the egg closer to try and ease my nerves. It helped a bit. 'Did some developer's references bleed into this world? Oh god, are there going to be more? I don't recall any other Pokemon that are such obvious plagiarism, but that could just be my shitty memory talking...'
The scent of something good hit his nostrils and yet again he was overwhelmed by feeling. He turned just in time to see Julia and Lily bring over plates of food. 'I can't remember the last time I wanted to eat something this badly' I thought while looking at the steak in front of me. A nice tan brown with juices flowing everywhere, half from the meat and half from the sliced Oran berry on top. 'Do people eat steak for breakfast? Eh, it's fictional BS' A video of Ash's feats of strength comes to mind
'... but, it's not funny fiction anymore if I'm here... can people seriously lift trees and heavy-ass Pokemon like it's nothing?'
He was snapped out of his thoughts by a paw landing on his shoulder. He looked to his left to see Lucario sitting down next to him. "Ra, lu" Lily said with a smile before moving to dig into her own, larger meal. Anderson followed suit and bit through the steak instead of using a knife since he was holding the egg in his right arm. The soft and juicy texture alongside a heavenly blend of salty and sweet made him scarf down everything on the plate in quick order. Energy coursed through his limbs nearly instantly due to the Oran berry speeding up the process. The meal was finished quickly.
Anderson set the fork down and breathed out. That went down so smoothly that he didn't even feel full, even though it was a pretty sizable steak. A thought struck him. 'Wait... If there are only Pokemon here... where did the steak come fro-' "Wanna walk around the village, Kuni? Refresh your memory?" Julia spoke up which halted his train of thought. It seems everyone had finished. He looked towards her and then Kujō snorted "There ain't many memories to refresh, it's like his mind has been wiped clean" Julia's smile slipped and she turned towards Pops "There's bound to be something. How was it like for me?" She asked.
Pops scratched his chin "You at least knew who and where you were and the names of me and your mother. Just needed a brief history lesson and some time with your friends before you were noticeably smarter than previously. He, meanwhile, forgot the who and where of everything and is completely different. This ain't usual Juli'" He paused for a moment "Hmm... Perhaps a check of the mindscape is in order, something might have happened during the Awakening"
The word mindscape made Anderson twitch in alarm. At first, it was the word being associated with Naruto, and then the implications sunk in quickly after. 'Shit shit shit, I've read moments like this countless times. If they see my memories of another reality I am so screwed. How am I supposed to explain basically killing her son? I can't even say anything against the search cause that would make them suspicious and then they would search my mind to find out why instead of just observing. Wh-' He was cut off yet again when Julia spoke up.
"You really think it went wrong somehow?" She said with worry clear in her voice "I uh.. wanna try the normal way first, just to be sure"
Pops shrugged his shoulders "You decide, I'm just telling you what I think" Julia nodded back.
Anderson then noticed Lily staring at him with confusion and curiosity, it seemed like. He blinked 'Did she see my reaction? Please don't say anything...' When the Lucario didn't speak up after a few seconds and instead went to help clean up the plates, he discreetly sighed in relief. The relief was gone the instant he remembered that Lily could probably read his emotions. 'Shit'
I slumped in my seat 'I don't think I remember ever being so stressed. Why am I here... I just wanna go home...' I held the egg closer. The egg twitched in response which surprised me. The others didn't seem to notice. I then saw Julia returning from her bedroom, which made me wonder how long I had spaced out for since Kujō had also disappeared somewhere. Julia had on dark green cargo pants and a white t-shirt. "Come on, put your shoes on." She said as she passed by me.
Lily stepped up next to her and I proceeded to walk over as well to put on the shoes that looked to be my size. While putting them on I also observed the clothes that were on me, those being dark green shorts and a plain black T-shirt. The shoes were just some black and white sneakers which reminded me of Nike. We headed out as one into the streets and found myself staring,
'Village' didn't seem to be the correct word for the place, given that there were only a dozen or so houses. It was more like a hamlet, surrounded by lush forests. Paved dirt made up the streets, of which there were mainly 2 with houses lined up on both sides. There were only a couple people around. To his left, the street stretched on for only a couple of houses and ended in a circular flat field where he spotted a few Pokemon alongside their owners training. 'Fucking Pokemon, man. I think the egg or my experience in reading fanfictions or a combination of both are making me unable to take it in.' The intrusive thoughts of him not being able to ever get home were pushed away and shaken off 'Nope, not now. Think later. Actually, scratch that, I need to figure out how to stop the mindscape invasion they're gonna try to perform on me'
He got lost in thought and mindlessly observed the rest of the settlement. One house down to the right was an intersection between the longer street and an offshoot going in the direction that their house was facing. At the end of the shorter street was a bigger building with a red Pokeball on the front of it. 'Now, call me crazy, but I think that's a Pokecenter, or rather a custom one because I don't think actual medical help is anywhere near here.' The wooden walls instead of the white sterile ones that they are usually made of enforced this theory.
In the middle of the intersection of the two streets was a strange blue outcrop that jutted up. I felt a wave of something hit my entire being when I looked at it intently, causing a shiver to run down my spine. 'What the fuck am I looking at?' Another pulse washed over me which made me look away from it. I looked past the thing and to my right with one eye closed and saw the main street split off into many smaller paths at the edge of the forest after a few houses. They all disappeared behind various shrubbery and trees. Looks like they hunt and gather in that section of the forest.
I was brought out of my observation by Julia starting to move toward the flat training ground alongside Lily. I caught up quickly and walked while looking around in curiosity. The houses were much the same as the one I woke up in, wooden in design. A couple outliers with more modern looks to them were here and there, so this place probably isn't some secret tribal gathering completely disconnected from the outside world 'Oh yeah, Kujō said that this was a place for retirement or training. How did I forget that?' I shook off the thought of my memory starting to fail me now of all times when I found myself entering the perimeter of the circular training ground.
Another woman who stood a bit of a distance away to the right seemed to notice us and wave us over. As we walked closer, I found myself staring 'Is everyone here beautiful? I wonder how I look... I didn't see a mirror anywhere in the house' The training ground only had a couple other people and their Pokemon, but one thing was common among them all, man, woman, or Pokemon, they were all good-looking. 'Must be the unnaturally nutritious food...' I mused. The woman who waved us over met us halfway which made me pry my eyes off the the big as hell Staraptor a distance away beside an older man. The bird was two times bigger than me, which led to the intrusive thought that he could probably bite off my upper body in one go.
"Heya Julia, you're up early," The short-haired brunette with blue eyes said with a smile. The stranger was wearing a gray T-shirt alongside black shorts with a watch on her right wrist. She also had on black trainers. Beside her was another Lucario, but this one seemed bigger and broader, making me wonder if it was a male. The Pokemon smiled at Lily and then turned to me with a curious expression. Well, it looked curious considering he was staring intently at me. The appendages on the back of his head vibrated silently. He then turned and had a staring contest with Lily for some reason. After just a single second he seemed to blink in surprise before turning yet again to me with a definitively curious expression.
"Hey, Violet Mey," Julia said the person's full name with an obvious nod to me which made Violet blink. "Kuni finally Awakened this morning, but it seems like he's forgotten basically everything," She said with a slight frown. I had noticed her stealing glances at me while we walked, I guess she got her answer when I didn't react to anything. 'Fuck... I could've pretended to recognize the place.' My bout of irritation must've confused the emotion-sensing Pokemon.
Violet was surprised and turned to me "Huh... Does this place really not seem familiar at all to you kiddo?" She asked to which I shook my head. She turned back to Julia "D'ya think it has something to do with Awakening later than usual?" Julia shrugged "That's what I thought too but Pops said there shouldn't be any connection. He said that something might've happened to his mindscape" She responded.
Violet had a thoughtful look on her face and cupped her chin in thought. "Well... Awakening happens when the brain starts to begin rapid development in a specific area, which leads to higher thought that the rest of the brain needs to catch up to, causing short-term confusion..." She thought out loud. "It shouldn't be affected by when it happens really, it should just happen naturally when the body and rest of the brain are ready to handle it. I guess something prevented a key preparation and he Awakened before he was ready or something made him Awaken. Your Pops is right" She said with a frown. The 2 Lucario seemed to be a bit concerned as well.
I froze before slumping in resignation. 'There's no way I'm getting out of the mind fuckery now. I don't even know how they're going to do it so I can't plan much. I'm cooked' Julia frowned even more, worry on her features, before turning to me to lay a hand on me. I flinched again which didn't go unnoticed, unfortunately. "Oh, Kuni.. The only thing I can think of that's different here from the city would be the Spring. It might've done something to him while he was asleep" She said, then glanced backward towards the blue outcrop that I had noticed before. I glanced at it as well but quickly turned away before it could send out another creepy energy wave. This also didn't go unnoticed which made me curse in my mind. "Kuni? Is the Spring actually affecting you?" Julia asked
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
I was silent for a moment. "It sends weird waves whenever I look at it. It's creeping me out." I said to their surprise. 'I suppose that's not normal... I'm digging my own grave here dammit.'
"It's reacting to you? I've never heard of that happening before... The fact that you can sense it is also unusual, your Aura should still be dormant if you Awakened just this morning." Violet stated. She turned towards her Lucario "Ray? Is his Aura still dormant? I'm not sensing anything." Violet asked the Aura Pokemon whose appendages on the back of its head started floating. He nodded and spoke in a deeper voice than Lily "Ri rucarilu".
"Okay... Kunio, could you turn towards the blue rock over there again?" Violet asked. I was hesitant, that shit was unnatural as hell. It felt like my body was being pierced but without pain, just the push, and made my hair stand on end. Seeing their expectant expressions made me sigh. I spotted Lily's feelers floating before I turned around to face the so-called Spring some distance away.
A second passed by before I felt a tug across my whole body, as if gravity changed directions for a split second, toward the rock. I cringed and a sense of nausea washed over me before I turned away and closed my eyes. It felt different this time. I heard the Lucario mumble to their trainers before I opened my eyes to the surprised expressions on the creature's faces.
"A tether... Connecting him and the Spring, that only appears when he stares at it? And his dormant Aura that's fluctuating for some reason was pulled as if it was going to be sucked into the Spring?" Violet asked to make sure she heard right, to which Ray nodded.
"What is that thing anyway?" I asked. Violet turned to me "Well, we aren't exactly sure what material it is, but it's some sort of rock that has absorbed tremendous amounts of Aura, it's tougher than even the strongest of Aggrons and has been here since before this little place existed. Lucario across Sinnoh gather here once they sense it, usually within a couple kilometers or so. Since Aura is easier to manage here than anywhere else because of it, and the constant stable flow from it that energizes people and Pokemon, this village was established. Oh, sorry, Aura is the energy that exists in all living things and we live in a region called Sinnoh, should've said that first"
She must have thought my confusion came from not knowing what she was talking about, but it actually came from me wondering where the hell this came from and why it's connected to me. 'Was I brought here by this? What fanfiction am I living in...'
The talk was interrupted by a child the same height as me running up to us alongside a Riolu. "Hey mom, Kunio, what are you talking about?" The boy asked curiously next to Violet. He had the same hair color as his mother but instead of blue eyes, he had light brown ones, like milk chocolate. He was wearing a yellow T-shirt and dark blue shorts with sneakers. The Riolu next to him was up to his waist in height and was looking at us curiously. I noticed Ray the Lucario grin down at the smaller Pokemon.
"Oh! Uh. Kunio Awakened you see, so he has forgotten most things. I'm explaining things to him again" Violet replied and the boy turned to look at the one in question "Kunio, this is Ralph Mey" She gestured to the boy who waved since he had already experienced his own and one of his friend's Awakening.
"Why don't you go find Raya and then you two can show Kunio around?" Violet suggested. The young boy nodded easily and turned to Riolu "Cmon Riolu, whoever finds her first wins!" He ran off with Riolu quickly catching up after being caught off guard. I blinked 'Huh, wonder why that Riolu doesn't have a name like the two Lucario...'
Once Ralph was out of hearing range, Julia spoke up "I guess the Spring really did make him Awaken, but I have no idea what the implications of that are beyond completely forgetting everything and potential mindscape damage." She was the one that cupped her chin this time with a bit of a frown. She seems to be frowning a lot. "Why did it react to him...?" After muttering to herself she turned to Lily who shrugged. Julia sighed, looked towards me, and laid a hand on my head. "Why did it have to be my little Kuni..."
I felt a bit bad, even though I shouldn't since I didn't ask to be taken here and to replace her son. The topic brought to mind my own mom, but I shoved the thoughts away as soon as possible. A silence washed over the group which made me fidget a bit until Violet broke it "Well, if we need to check his mindscape, then we need to unlock his Aura first, even though the little Riolu hasn't hatched yet."
Violet's words gave me an idea 'If I can somehow resist the unlocking, then I can avoid the mind fuck for a little bit.' The thought gave me hope. Julia nodded and then turned to Lily "You wanna do it?" The Lucario shrugged and nodded. "Okay, let's go into the forest a bit and sit on the grass" Julia moved forward toward the right edge of the grounds and the rest followed. Once on the grass and under the shade of the trees, Julia sat down on the ground and patted the spot a bit in front of her. I sat as instructed with Lily to my right between me and Julia. "Make yourself comfortable, this could take a bit." I did as I was told and I felt determined to resist the unlocking as much as possible. Yet again I wanted to facepalm when Lily looked at me, reminding me that my emotions weren't only privy to me, no matter how good of a poker face.
While trying to ignore the eyes boring into my head, I finally got comfortable and then nodded to Julia. She nodded back and then motioned for Lily to move forward. Lily did just that and laid a paw on my head. This time it was different, no warmth spread through my body at the touch, and I watched her close her eyes in concentration with the appendages on the back of her head beginning to float. I was left in a trance, then, I felt it. What felt like a tiny warm flame burst into being at my core.
It disappeared and reappeared like a flickering light. I wondered how to stop the unlocking for a moment before I just tried to encase the thing in an invisible sphere of will and stop the flame from expanding. I felt the process falter and the flame flicker off for a second. I had tried to make my actions discreet, but I don't know how proficient Lily is so I have no idea if it looked like it flickered out on its own or if she sensed my intent.
Nevertheless, I heard her rumble a low trill and then sensed her efforts redouble, causing the flame to flicker once more. I tried to stop it, I really did, but when I saw the Lucario's one eye open slightly to stare at me in suspicion, my concentration immediately faltered, and the sphere of will shattered along with it, causing the flame to rapidly expand out into a small ball of blue energy that flickered no longer. I felt the ball branch out energy tendrils- no, the paths were already there, I was just 'seeing' them for the first time as they began to fill. They spread from my gut to all around my body. The source died down to a small, persistent flame, no bigger than one of a candle.
Lily retracted her paw and looked at me with glowing blue eyes before nodding. She opened her maw to speak to Julia and my heart leaped to my throat. Since she was still in tune with my emotions, this caused her to falter and turn her eyes back to me. I discreetly moved my head so that Julia wouldn't be able to see it. 'Please don't say anything' My eyes basically screamed at her.
The interaction piqued Ray's curiosity, judging by the eyes boring into the back of my head after feeling the emotions no doubt swirling in my being, but at least he didn't say anything... yet. Lily watched me for a moment before turning to Julia. I slumped in defeat when I heard her speak with Julia and held the warm egg closer. Unexpectedly, Julia sighed in relief "Thank goodness it went well, at least the Spring isn't affecting his Aura constantly. That's good!" She said with a smile.
'Huh? Did Lily not say anything?' I looked towards the 'mon in question to see her with her arms folded and gaze towards me. Now, I've only seen Pokemon's expressions for about an hour, but I am pretty confident that one means 'We'll speak about this later'. I have no clue why she accepted my plea, but I'm not about to look a gift horse in the mouth.
"Seems like everything Kunio does goes slow and maybe not so steady, that took quite a while" Violet's words made me blink. I stood up when Julia and Lily did and turned around to ask her how long it had been but then noticed the two children next to her: the boy from before, Ralph, alongside a black-haired, light red-eyed girl. Because of the constant obvious Naruto references, this next thought appeared in my brain: 'Hello female Itachi'.
I almost snorted, a close one that, because she had much the same hairstyle as the missing-nin, only much longer at the back. The only things she was missing were darker red eyes with black spots in them, the tear-troughs, and a more masculine face. She was wearing a black long-sleeve shirt alongside dark gray pants and black shoes. She and Ralph seemed bored, as did the Riolu at the latter's side, which reminded me of the question I wanted to ask.
"How long was that going on for?" I asked Violet. She looked at her watch and replied "An hour and a half." Taken aback, with surprise I thought: 'That long? It felt like 5 minutes max' I noticed the sun had now risen to be right above us. "Now that that's over with, you'll need some time for your body to adapt before we can see if anything has messed with you" Violet continued.
She turned to the 2 kids who were paying attention by now, though they were visibly confused as to why Kunio had his Aura unlocked. "That's where you come in, kiddos. Show Kunio around and be nice, alright?"
"Okay," They chorused. Ralph turned to me with a smile "This is Raya Mey" He said with a gesture to the black-haired girl who waved "Now let's get going, I gotta show you and Raya this new trick dad taught me by the river" Raya turned towards Ralph to ask about it and they began moving back to the main street alongside the Riolu.
"Uh, sure..." I began moving but stopped when I remembered the egg in my hands. I thought for a moment. Reluctantly, I turned towards Lily and walked over to hand the egg back over to her. 'Man, even though I don't want to give it back, I don't think she trusts me with something precious like this anymore' I held the egg out.
Lily blinked in surprise before studying me for a moment. I had seen her look at me like that multiple times before, but now with my Aura unlocked, it felt uncomfortable for some reason. I guess she liked what she saw because she smiled and waved me off "Ra Ri"
I blinked. "Huh? Really?" I hope I wasn't misinterpreting, but it definitely looked like she wanted me to hold onto it. When she nodded, I actually smiled my first smile in this world and held the egg close. I nodded back and ran off to catch up to the two kids. Running was apparently a bad idea because I almost fell over due to the difference in body. I slowed down to a fast walk. The egg wobbled again in my arms.
"She isn't?" I asked Ralph
"Yeah, mom said she found Raya one day in an alleyway back in the city, with little memories of how she got there. She said Raya probably Awakened at a bad time while walking through the alley." He explained while walking back towards the village through the forest. The sun was starting to set. "Mom searched online for any missing notices and brought her to the police, but nothing came up. Then mom decided to adopt her after a while"
I turned to the girl who fidgeted a bit "You don't remember your parents or where you lived?" I asked. She was silent for a bit before responding "I remembered my dad's face, but not his name or mine, and all the buildings looked the same. Now that years have gone by, I've forgotten that too..." She said quietly
I realized I shouldn't have asked, the answer was obvious in hindsight. "Sorry about bringing it up" I looked away after apologizing. I did wonder how a 5 or 6-year-old girl thought that an alley was a good place to be, but I reasoned that maybe she was passing through or something. The Pokemon world in fanfics is usually leagues better than mine so the alleys could actually be normal ways to get through the city, but without seeing one, I couldn't be sure.
What I was sure of was that these two were far more mature than I remember being at 8, and once the ice was broken, even tolerable. I didn't exactly remember being eight but when I remembered seeing 8-year-olds running around in my school, yelling brain rot, the first thing I thought then was 'I don't like kids' and second 'How stupid'. In Estonian obviously. I relayed these thoughts to my classmates and they agreed, even saying that they are gremlins/little shits which made me laugh back then. The thought of my friends made me homesick, but I pushed the thoughts away. The warmth of the egg helped tremendously as always.
These two, however, were different, maybe a bit behind me and my 16-year-old mind, but enough to be tolerable. Thank god I haven't heard anything I would call brain rot from these two. Again, what I couldn't be sure of is if this is the norm or if these two were an exception. Why I couldn't be sure is the same reason as before.
"It's fine, Violet is nice to me" Then came the awkward silence. I felt really uncomfortable but was soon distracted by the egg in my arms shaking once. This time it didn't go unnoticed and both Raya and Ralph looked at the egg. The latter smiled "Hey! That means it's gonna hatch soon!" He said excitedly. Raya looked at the egg in silent wonder. I shrugged "Sure seems like it. Did you have an egg too?" I asked.
Ralph nodded "Yeah, Riolu here was in the egg for quite a while, but I took good care of it, and now look at him" He picked up the Riolu who squeaked. He thrusted the baby Pokemon into my face with a giddy smile, as if I couldn't see it on the ground before. Riolu flailed around a bit and almost hit me so I took a step back. Ralph put him back down and the Pokemon huffed with its arms crossed. Ralph had a sheepish smile on his face. Raya seemed to be a bit melancholic for some reason while staring at Riolu.
I smiled a bit, Pokemon were awesome. "I wonder what this little guy's going to be like," I said while looking down at the egg in my arms. I noticed we had stopped walking after Ralph had picked up Riolu so I started walking again and the others scrambled to catch up once they realized the same thing.
We continued walking on the path through the forest and soon found ourselves back in the 'village'. Raya had familiarised me with the place after showing off Ralph's trick at the nearby river. It was less of a trick and more of a power. Ralph had, with a grin on his face, waterbended. As if he was the Avatar or something.
Of course, it wasn't exactly waterbending, nor as powerful, he told me he sent some Aura into the bucket of water which bonded with the liquid and allowed him to move a little bit of water around in his hands. I assumed he had used a bucket because running water would be impossible to control. Nevertheless, I was thoroughly impressed at the admittedly weak waterbending.
Raya didn't seem to agree with my sentiment and stared at the water with a bored look. She said moving around water like that didn't really matter when water Pokemon existed, to which I had agreed. Ralph whined a bit, saying that it had taken him hours to control his Aura like that.
The most memorable thing though, was Riolu walking up, sticking his hand into the water, and causing it to all float up above us. Ralph cried in dismay at the display while Raya and I blinked in surprise. Ralph cried out again when Riolu got this evil glint into his eyes before dropping the volume of water onto his trainer. I chuckled then, an honest to god laugh. It felt great to laugh again. It reminded me of the antics between my two classmates... who I would be hard-pressed to see ever again. The thought sobered me up real quick.
The reason we were coming back from the forest a second time was that the first time around Ralph needed to get dry clothes, which led to me being shown around by Raya. It felt really awkward being alone with her. Not because she was a girl, I am thankfully only a bit awkward around girls my, well, mental-age and above, so it should've been fine. It was rather because our personalities did not mesh well, she was quiet and I was quiet which led to uncomfortable silences. I also felt like I couldn't be myself around her without Ralph around so I was just polite and not much else. This dynamic uncannily reminded me of the way things were between me and two classmates of mine.
After Ralph returned with some lunches from Violet, we headed back into the forest since the boy wanted to show off their hideout. In actuality, it was just a tarp nailed between three trees with a picnic blanket underneath. There were a couple other things, but I was distracted by the Pokemon scuttling about in the forest. At least the hideout was a comfortable place to hide in the shade, especially with the scorching Sun bearing down everywhere else. Raya must've been cooking in those dark clothes, but she didn't seem bothered by it. It also made me wonder what month it was...
Ralph's voice brought me out of my thoughts "We'll see you tomorrow, Kunio!" He said and Raya waved at me before Ralph turned around to run down the street that led to the small infirmary. Raya ran off to catch up. I opened my mouth to say the same but then I noticed where I was looking. I quickly turned around and closed my eyes. 'Almost looked at the Spring again. Ugh, I hate that rock...' I sighed.
I began my walk past the stone, without looking in its direction, and towards the house I would be living in until I found some way back. The thought didn't fill me with any hope, how the hell was I supposed to hop dimensions with the intent of appearing back in the same place, much less with my original body.
I walked to the door that I was sure was the right one, but I still second-guessed myself and checked the other houses first before opening the door. 'Feels like I almost forgot...' To my relief, I was right and was treated to the sight of Lily and Julia cooking something up for dinner on the left. That's when I realized I was hungry. My stomach growled a bit as I closed the door and took off my shoes. Then I headed to the kitchen where Lily turned to greet me with a "Ririo", whatever that meant. That made Julia look up from the stove and towards me with a smile "Kuni! Did you have fun today?" She asked, to which I nodded. "Ralph and Raya showed me around and we spent time in the forest"
"Did anything seem familiar?" She asked next. I considered lying but the emotion-sensing ninja-dog next to Julia made me tell the truth. I shook my head "No". Her smile faltered a bit "Well... You can always make new memories Kuni. Oh! Can you remember the things you did today clearly? Or is it foggy?" She asked as if she had remembered something. I was about to say yes, but then I tried to recall what happened in the morning and at noon. My mouth twitched. I was deeply disturbed when I didn't know. I started to panic a bit. 'I... I... What the fuck, why can't I remember?'
They must have noticed my panic. Their eyes were wide with alarm. "Kuni? You can't remember? How we spoke with Pops and then headed out to the training ground and unlocked your Aura with Violet?" When she spoke about the sequence of events, the memories resurfaced violently and I felt nauseous. I held my head which started to hurt a bit. "Ugh... I remember now, but I feel sick..." This obviously didn't ease their concern. Lily reached my side first since Julia had to dry her hands and placed a paw on my forehead. The familiar warmth spread from the contact and washed away any lingering vertigo. I sighed in relief and cringed a bit when I just now felt how sweaty my back and palms had gotten. Julia approached and kneeled down next to me.
"Something must have truly happened to your mindscape then, if you cant even remember without a reminder what you did today." She said with worry laced in every word. She sighed "We shouldn't have come here... Why don't you go and get Pops? Tell him dinner's ready and that I need to speak with him. Down the hallway, first door on your left... You do know which side is your left, right?" She added the last part after a moment, and I nodded. Julia sighed and muttered 'Small mercies' under her breath. She kissed me on the head, but I was numb to it because of the lingering warmth.
I turned around to do as instructed with nary a thought in my head due to the buzzing energy. Once I reached the aforementioned door I knocked on it. I heard no response. I knocked again. "Coming, coming..." I heard the old dude mumble behind the door and footsteps before he opened the door.
"Dinner's ready and Julia needs to speak to you," I said. He raised a greying eyebrow when I said Julia's name before he shrugged and followed me to the living room. I went to the dining table and sat down in the same spot as before while Kujō went towards Julia in the kitchen. I saw them speak in whispers so I couldn't figure out what they were saying, but it seemed unpleasant for both of them.
After their talk, they walked over and Julia alongside Lily set down plates of food for the four of us. We ate dinner in silence. I was thinking about my entire day and realized I had begun to forget the things I wasn't reminded of a few minutes prior. 'Is something wrong with me? I don't feel like I'm thinking differently, my body is obviously different, but I feel like kids this age don't forget what they did some hours ago. So, what the actual fuck?'
When we finished, Kujō started speaking, more to himself, with a hand to his chin. "If he's losing the memories he made just hours prior but is otherwise of sound mind, then I'd put my money on something in his Mind Palace being royally screwed." He turned towards Julia on his left. "You say he remembers after being reminded but feels nauseous, which tells me that his short-term memories are sending a rippling shockwave through his mind back to the event in question. That's what I think is happening anyway, I've never delved deep into the subject before, so this is just experience talking." He said.
"Well, whether you're right or wrong, we need to check his mindscape as soon as possible. Given that he had his Aura unlocked today, It's probably going to be impossible for anyone except Lily to bridge the gap. You up for it Lily?" She said the last part after turning towards Lily who nodded. 'Well shit, all I can do now is pray Lily doesn't find anything. Now I find myself actually wanting the check-up if what the old guy said was true.'
Lily stood up and I took that as my cue to follow her to the living room couch. She sat down and I landed to the left of her. I reluctantly laid the egg down to my left and then turned towards Lily. She moved to hold my head in both arms and took a deep breath in and closed her eyes.
Suddenly, I was not in the living room anymore. This place wasn't unfamiliar, however. 'This was my mindscape? It's empty as hell...' I was back in the strange empty void that had little lights in the distance like stars. The feeling of weightlessness washed over me just like back then. I searched for any signs of Lily but found nothing. I did notice, however, a few lights bunched together below me that weren't there last time, separated from the rest and less shiny.
I began to worry that I had hallucinated the entire day and that I had just always been here before Lily suddenly popped into existence beside me. Her eyes opened wide and she flailed about without gravity 'Whoa! What is this?' I heard a feminine voice coming from the direction of Lily. I blinked and watched her gain her bearings 'Did I just hear her thoughts?' 'Yes, you did'
Her responding to the question in my head startled me "Oh. You can hear me too... I take it isn't supposed to look like this, huh?" I watched her look around while slowly floating further away from me. 'No... There should be something here, not, well.' She gestured towards the expanse of nothingness 'This. Before we begin, I wanted to ask you why you resisted the un-' She cut herself off when she turned towards me and I saw her eyes widen.
Confused, I looked at myself and found that I had my old body again. 'Shit'. The feeling of my slicked-back shoulder-length brown hair and long limbs only registered to me now. "I can explain, I swear," I responded to her look. I scratched the back of my head 'Well, no getting out of this I guess. Wait, she can hear me.' I used my mouth to speak next. "I'm... not Kunio, my name is Anderson Pear. I don't know how or why I am here, I... went to sleep in my world and ended up in the body of Kunio just this morning. I think you can sense I'm not lying"
She silently nodded after a moment, but it seemed like she was confused about something. I hazarded a guess but my voice started trembling more the longer I spoke. "Right, the reason I said 'my world' is because I come from a place, a universe, without Pokemon" Lily was taken aback by that one. "They still existed which is why I knew about your species, but only in fiction." I moved to sit down but found my legs coming up to me instead 'Right, no gravity.' My words were more like mumbles by now."Before waking up as Kunio... I spent what felt like... years where we are now, cycling through my memories." She looked around after hearing that.
"That's about it, really... The rest is just... me living my normal life in a different dimension... I don't think I can go back..." I stayed silent when my explanation came to an end. I 'sat' there and waited for her to process what I had just said. I felt like crying, like I always did when I spoke to someone I considered to be an adult like this. I kicked myself mentally. I hated feeling this way. Back in my world, even with the constant reminder that nothing could happen, and knowing nothing would happen, I still felt this way against my will. It was even worse now... I really hated it.
After a long, agonizing silence I hazarded a look towards her and found myself staring at a face full of nothing but sadness and pity. I watched with a mystified expression as she moved her hands and then suddenly a piece of land materialized beneath us. Gravity seemed to be back in effect and I promptly fell onto my ass. I looked back up after a second to see an outstretched paw in my face.
I took hold and pulled myself up, but then she pulled me into a hug. I was incredibly surprised and tensed, I did not expect an outcome like this to happen when I saw my original body here. The familiar warmth spread through my body and I felt my body relax. Once the initial shock passed I brought up my arms and clung to her. The soft fur under my hands reminded me of my cat. The moment and the thought of my cat made my nose sting and my eyes begin to water, not even the warmth was able to fill the emptiness I felt at that moment.
'It's gonna be okay, I don't blame you for what happened to Kunio. I believe you, I don't think you're crazy'
The tears flowed down my face as I cried silently. The words 'It's gonna be okay' meant everything to me. I was still scared and the emptiness couldn't be gotten rid of this easily, but holding onto this Lucario made everything a bit better.
After a bit of time, she pulled back and patted my head. I must've looked pitiful. 'I can't keep my connection to your mindscape for long, your uncontrolled Aura is resisting so we'll have to fix this place another time. For now..." She stepped away and lowered the paw that was patting my head to the ground and out from it came a small white light in the shape of a ball. It hovered in place just above the rock. 'I'll place this here so you don't ever forget.'
When I looked at it, the memory of what had just happened came to the forefront of my mind. I rubbed my eyes a bit "I don't really know what exactly that ball is... but it seems to be a good memory. Thanks" My voice choked a bit but I said that with a smile.
Lily looked back up and smiled. Her form began to flicker which made me jump in surprise. Then a thought hit me. "Wait, please don't tell the others about me." I pleaded. She seemed to think about the situation in question before nodding 'I doubt that they would be able to believe something like this without emotion sensing anyways. Say the words "Exit mindscape" with intent and you'll be able to leave.' She said the last part just before disappearing, leaving me alone on a rock in space. I looked back towards the white orb once more before doing just as instructed.
In a blink I found myself back on the couch, same as before. I was glad that my eyes weren't puffy with tears, that would be hard to explain...
I pushed away the lingering emotions so I didn't cry in front of the adults. I saw Lily stand up and stretch a bit, before turning towards the other two occupants in the room who were standing to the left of the coffee table with expectant expressions on their faces. I took a breath to calm myself and silently watched Lily explain things to the two human adults in the room 'Still don't get how they understand what she's saying...' I idly thought.
"So... I was a bit right and a bit wrong. Not having a Mind Palace is concerning considering his age." Kujō began after hearing the full explanation "Even without being Awakened, his mindscape, that is, his Mind Palace, should have been steadily developing as he gained more and more experiences. Instead of my theory that his memories ripple from the reminder, it turns out he actually lacks a place to store them, so the reminder is probably violently ripping them from his subconscious. Good thing he hasn't slept yet, or the entirety of today would've been lost."
'I do remember hearing from somewhere that the brain does... maintenance? I guess, during sleep. In this context it probably means all my hard-earned memories falling into the void... Hm... No, this time I saw those lights that weren't like the others and they were in the void just fine... I don't know... ' I thought for a moment.
For some reason, they began conversing quietly enough that I struggled to hear from my place on the couch. I blinked. 'Oi, shouldn't I be informed too? That's my mindscape you're talking about.' It made me realize that the adults were never really speaking to me, I was just overhearing their talks. They think most of this would probably go over my dumb little 8-year-old head, don't they...
Fair, I supposed, but I felt insulted. Though, I wouldn't want to explain mind concepts to little shits either and that would take time. I lay down on the couch and realized I felt incredibly tired. I was tempted to fall asleep right then and there, but Pop's words made me stay awake. I was just resting my eyes, I swear. My mind began to drift...
Then, after some time, I suddenly noticed a shadow looming over me. Lily stood there in front of the couch and made a 'get up' hand gesture once she noticed I was looking. I did just that and turned to Julia who walked up as well.
"Okay Kunio, I need you to head back into your mindscape and do a couple things. First, you have to build a house for your memories to live in and a wide field. Try to imagine something that you can make in great detail, something familiar like Springleaf Village. The more details, the better. If you do this, then you won't forget as easily, alright?" She asked to make sure I understood, to which I nodded.
Lily mumbled something to her and I watched her nod in response. "While you're there, try to look into the distance. From what Lily tells me, you need to look for a rock much like the one she made. It should be the thing that keeps your recent memories so try to also build a connection to it." When she finished, Lily sat down next to me like before. I nodded to Julia "Imagine a place and find a small island, got it."
"Lily won't be there with you this time, you can't control your Aura yet and it's resisting her prodding on its own. She is able to send you there though." Julia explained. I turned to Lily once more and she placed her paws on top of my head.
I popped into existence on the rock from before and began thinking. 'Something familiar and in great detail to house all my memories? Well, I can't think of anything better than my house and neighborhood... or rather, my old house and neighborhood.' I sighed.
'Being dragged here without my consent sucks major ass but...' When I think of a situation where I am presented with the choice to remain in my normal world or the chance to go somewhere like the Pokemon world... I don't know what I would choose. I was content with my life then, it obviously wasn't perfect, but I could ignore the bad things in day-to-day life and live with excitement.
Guess I didn't live long enough to make attachments that I couldn't let go of... With the way I lived, I suppose that was something nigh impossible since I had never been one to be emotional with others.
I liked joking around with my friends but I never told them anything about me. Even after 9 years in one class together, I doubt they knew much about me. The thought of telling itself even made me a bit anxious. 'Whenever I try to open up I choke on my words no matter what, even with things that aren't important, which makes me avoid doing it like the plague. I hate it...'
But then I was reminded of what happened here, on this rock. I actually opened up. Of course, it was out of necessity and I couldn't keep the damn tremble out of my voice which embarrassed me to no end. Still, the hug and feeling of acceptance after? In one word: Amazing. How pitiful I must have been made me cringe a bit, but less than I thought it would, I guess it was easier to speak to a Pokemon than a human.
I shook off my train of thought before I spiraled further and got back to doing what I was here for. I closed my eyes 'Well, this is my mind right? I should be able to just...' I visualized a green wave emanating from me and in its wake appeared flat grass. I imagined it going on forever.
When I opened my eyes, I found myself in a grass field, just like how I had imagined it. The starry sky added a dark blue tint to everything and the memory orb close by emanated a soft white light onto the blades of grass. I looked around me, appreciating the coolness factor of literally imagining things into existence before I noticed a structure emitting light far in the distance. I reasoned that I was able to see it now thanks to the light bouncing off the ground since without the underglow I would've mistaken it for just another star in the distance.
'The location of my house shouldn't matter, so I guess I'll go build next to whatever that thing's supposed to be' I reached down to pick up the orb before standing back up. I closed my eyes and used the power of imagination to visualize myself appearing right next to the glow. Just like before, I opened my eyes and found myself right in front of it.
The structure was a wooden box. It was far from normal, however. The walls looked like wide brush strokes of brown and they flickered at the edges a bit. It was like an animated watercolor picture, only in 3D. The other thing that caught my eye was the amount of white orbs just spilling out of what looked like a doorway. Unlike the ball that Lily had made which glowed without its edges being discernible, these had a clear volume to them, in the shape of a white glowing marble.
I picked up the one closest to me and was hit with memories. The flood lasted only a couple seconds and depicted me listening to Julia's instructions. Once over, I felt the ball in my hand and likened it to a palm-sized crystal sphere. 'I'm no mind expert, but this seems to be the place that short-term memories pop out of. I guess these orbs are literally memories, this feels like Inside Out... I'm gonna go crazy if my emotions personified appear in my head one day'
The thought filled me with a bit of dread. Just as I had finished thinking, another ball blinked into existence which fell to the ground and pushed around the other balls next to it. This one depicted the event that had just happened.
The little action of the marbles moving made the logical part of my mind start working. If the place this house was situated on was anything small like the rock Lily had made, then that means...
I looked down at the grass. I imagined a hole appearing behind me so that the marbles wouldn't fall in. Lo and behold, I was right above the little lights I had noticed before. I was supplied with the memory of Pops talking about me not falling asleep being a good thing when I gazed intently at them. 'Logic states that if I went to sleep with those things down there, they probably would've disappeared. Going off of what Kujō said, my subconscious is probably the void down there.'
I imagined the marbles appearing behind me next to the others, which happened instantly. I closed the hole in the ground with a thought and turned back to the pile and weird house.
I cracked my fingers. All the things I needed to find had been found, so it was time to put my brain to work.
I flopped down onto the bed I had woken up in and felt my back make the old mattress creak. I groaned quietly 'I can barely keep my eyes open, feels like I've been in this world forever, but it's only the first day...' Who knew imagining took so much energy.
I weakly dragged myself up to the pillow before laying down the egg beside it. With a sluggish grace, I tucked myself in slowly and turned to lay on my side. I grabbed my favorite egg and snuggled up to it. 'Wonder how Spot is doing'
The thought of never seeing my cat again made me tear up. I breathed out a low, humorless chuckle 'I also wonder what that says about me, the fact I think about my cat first before family.' I shakily inhaled and held the egg closer. It wiggled in response again
'I forgot how uncomfortable it is to sleep without my blanket.' I have, well, had something I discovered is called a security blanket. I had read about the fact that apparently, many adults have a similar thing which made me feel less embarrassed about it. I... wanted to stop using it because I felt like adults shouldn't have such things, but it was incredibly difficult, almost impossible to sleep without it so I gave up before it affected my day from lack of sleep.
Without it, without anything that felt familiar, without anything to feel comfort from, I began crying. The feeling of nothing to ground me scared me. The warmth of the egg couldn't even stop my tears. Out of all the things that I missed, my cat and my blanket were the most important things to me right now.
After a long while of releasing my fears in the form of tears, I finally succumbed to exhaustion and fell asleep with only the warmth to keep me company. The egg wiggled one last time.
To classmates and people I know: (Palun ?ra ütle midagi kui sa actually saad aru, kes ma olen. Ma ilmselt delete'in k?ike seda kui selline asi juhtub.)
AN: Well dear readers, if there are any that made it through this slog of emotions, that is the end of the introduction. This story is going to be equal parts fun Pokemon adventures and self-discovery. The introspection should die down after this introduction, if you find that you don't care much about me and only care about 'Ooh ninja-dogs with cool powers that humans can also use'. I also want to pick up the pace, that was a lot of words for a single day in fiction time.
Writing this many words is hard, I went back and forth a lot and changed things, so some things might feel disconnected. I reread through it of course, but that is from the view of an author since I have no one to beta for me. (I guess I am open to applications? I don't know yet.) The parts that are in Estonian don't contain important information, just rambling.
I find it weird that I'm completely fine with posting something like this to strangers but if one of my classmates were to find out I'd probably die of embarrassment.
Fun fact: In Estonian, there are 14 common inflections/letter combinations, that go at the end of words. You can use these to make the sentence and word mean something different. There are a LOT of exceptions.
(I cleaned my room after describing what I saw. The fat fuzzy fuck called Spot has already produced more fur (I love cat))
Next time: Talking to high-IQ animals is great!
