"Oh, no...that's quite enough for me...thank...you?" The mumbling pokemon woke up from a confusing dream. It wasn't a nightmare or a particularly good dream, but rather hard to understand with logical thinking. As he awakened, he realized his body was weak and in severe pain, which only became bad if he tried to move around. The pain was relatively tolerable had he kept still. It didn't take long for him to realize he was inside some sort of cave, covered in bandages that produced a vomit-inducing stench. They were obviously dipped in something before application.

"Oh yeah...for a moment there, I forgot I was a Smeargle..." He thought, inspecting his frail body as he tried his best to remember what might have put him in this state. No use. It was a severe case of amnesia. He tried his best to inspect his surroundings with minimal movement. He quickly found a note beside him along with a bowl of fruit, and beside it another bowl filled with water. He took the note and began reading it.

If you're reading this, that means you're awake...or that some pokemon stumbled into the cave and took this note, in which case, don't bother reading past this point.

...

If you ARE the Smeargle I found, I'm glad you're awake. I left some oran berries and water for you in case you were craving a snack or drink. I've also taken the liberty of spraying the cave entrance with a repellant that SHOULD keep any wandering pokemon away from you until you wake up. I would have loved to stay until you woke up so you can thank me and tell me how much you appriciate all of these things I did, but I'm in a hurry. I was already plenty busy before I found you, so doing all of this took me WAY off schedule. Be grateful! Okay, I'm gonna wrap this up by saying that there is a town nearby where you can get some real food and rest. Simply exit the cave and turn left. Keep going straight until you find a path, and it will take you straight to town, can't miss it! Good luck, kid!

"This would explain a lot..." Smeargle eyed the oran berries for a few minutes before he snatched one and ate it. He then picked up the bowl of water and chugged it down to the very last drop. He was much more thirsty than he was hungry.

"I'm guessing the pokemon who wrote this has no idea what happened to me either. They pretty much saved my life...I wish they at least signed this thing so I could find and thank them." Smeargle sighed and placed the note down. He knew that in his current condition, he wasn't ready to walk much further than a few steps without collapsing. He decided to rest a little more.

"What...happened to me?" He thought over and over again, trying his best to trigger any kind of memory that would give him some clarity.

"...No good...I really can't remember. Come to think of it, I don't really remember anything before waking up." He began to freak out a little. Smeargle tried to remember a name, or even his family or any friends that he might have had. Nothing.

"Clean slate..." He trembled a little. What did any of this mean? What exactly happened to him? Who was he from birth until yesterday? He began asking himself all of these questions over and over again. This resulted in a bad headache and more irritation. Sitting in a cold cave and being unable to move proved to be a strain, both physically and mentally.

Roughly two hours passed.

"I've got to get out of here..." He had finished eating all of the oran berries that the stranger left behind. He's been without water too, due to his greedy chug, and now he was getting chilly. The moist bandages that covered most of him got extremly cold, and the stench he was forced to smell constantly didn't go away.

"I'm ditching these bandages, and I'm getting out of here." He thought, standing up with just a bit less pain than he would have had to deal with two hours ago. Smeargle wriggled out of the damp wrapping and began making his way to the exit of the cave.

"Yeah, those are claw wounds. A Weavile or...maybe Zangoose...deep, too." He was inspecting his wounds. As he got to the exit, and his eyes began burning up very painfully.

"GAHHH THE STUPID REPEL STUFF!" He yelled out loud and took a quick left turn and ran, trying to deal with all of his pain until he got away from the nasty stuff.

"Why is any of this even happening..." He leaned against a tree to catch his breath and let his body recover. He had slept through the day, and the sun was setting quickly. Judging from the time he had woken up, he came to a conclusion that he was attacked very early in the morning when it was still dark out. He didn't want a repeat. Smeargle moved quickly as the note instructed, and very soon he found the path it foretold. The second part, however, didn't instruct which way he should take the path. Although he had a 50% chance of taking the correct direction, he glanced over the note once more.

"...give me a break..." He looked both ways for any signs of a town or even pokemon walking through. Nothing. Darkness quickly overcame the forest, a few shimmering rays of light still clinged onto the tops of the trees. Time was of the essence.

"Left, right, left, right, left...right..." He couldn't decide. Choosing the wrong direction could be the worst mistake of his life. Or not. He didn't know.

"Alright, let's see...I'm a righty, so I'll go right!" He quickly made an illogical decision. At least he chose a direction. Lucky for him, it was the correct one. Right as visibility in the forest became zero, he reached the entrance to what looked like a very busy town. Despite the late hour, most of the shops were open and full of business. Young pokemon were outside playing, and everyone went about their lives in a lively manner.

"Maybe it's a nocturnal community..." he thought, making his way down the busy street and into the heart of the town. A lot of thoughts popped into his mind as he walked, some of which made him very reluctant about pressing forth. What if he was from this town, and his friends and family are looking for him? What if someone tries to call him by name, and he doesn't respond? Wouldn't that be awkward? Most importantly, what would he say?

"-Oh, goodness, I'm so sorry." Smeargle bumped into a Bearctic by accident.

"Watch where you're going, kid. I'll knock ya out next time." The Bearctic shoved him forcefully to the side and kept walking.

"Believe me, that wouldn't be the first time someone knocked me out..." Smeargle whispered under his breath, tearing up a little at the immense pain that shove caused him. And his body was doing so well, too. Smeargle had no idea what he was doing in this town, and realized this as he aimlessly headed for the heart of it. The note said he could get some proper food and rest, but both of those things cost money, which he didn't have.

"So wait, this was all for nothing, wasn't it?" He thought, sitting down on a bench after he powered his way through the busiest part of town.

"What am I supposed to do now? I've got no money, I don't know or remember anyone...I don't even know the layout of this town." He sighed, laying down on the bench. A wind blew, and he shivered.

"Must be winter...or fall or something...I can't even remember that?" He found the magnitude of his amnesia somewhat hilarious and couldn't help but smile. He was in a most desperate situation, way in over his head, and yet he could found himself rather tired from his voyage. His body needed more rest, so he curled up and hugged his own tail to keep warm. He was tired of asking questions he obviously had no answers to. Starting tomorrow, as soon as he woke up, he planned on walking around town to look for some kind of part time job. He didn't really care what kind of job it was. He could live off of the stuff that can be found in the forest, like oran berries. Plus, there was surely some kind of stream or river, or even pond that had fresh water. He tried to think positively about his near future, and his priorities seemed simple enough. Find a job and get some income. Until then, see what the forest has to offer. As he created ideas and plans, the wind eased and the temperature became just warm enough for Smeargle to fall asleep.

To Be Continued.