Intro

It's a cold, winter evening. The snow is slowly falling from the sky, covering everything in white. I walk out of the Kanto League building and make my way towards home, where my boyfriend is waiting. Lately, we haven't been spending much time together, and today I was ecstatic to find out that we finally have time for one another. Things have changed ever since we started going out three years ago, but I'm still holding on tightly to this relationship. I can't really help it when it comes to Steven. He's, after all, truly one of a kind.

I stopped by the side of the road, waiting for the pedestrian light to turn green. Before I can go back, I need to take my Dragonite back from Nurse Joy. Dragonite and Steven doesn't really get along, especially when Dragonite still can't accept the fact that I won't be sleeping next to him anymore. I tried to make him happy by letting him sleep with me during afternoon naps, but that can only result in less time to work, so no arrangement has really work out for the three of us.

Suddenly ,the pedestrian light turns green, I look left and right, before crossing the street. However, when I reach the middle of the road, I could hear a terrible screeching noise resounding throughout the air. I don't have any time to react. It all happens so fast.

Pain shot throughout my whole body as the black car hits me. I could see for a glimpse, the face of a grimacing man behind the wheels, before I was painfully thrown back by the brute force. The last thing I saw is the snow slowly falling on me, before my consciousness finally slipped away...

Xxxxxxxxx

Forgotten

Even if I couldn't see a thing around me, I could make out some voices calling out for my name. At first it was just a background noise that I tried to ignore, but it gradually becomes louder and louder. My consciousness slowly returns, and I opened my eyes.

My vision was blurry at first, but I could still see the silhouette of several people looking down on me. My head hurts, as if someone is hitting it with a mallet over and over again. My vision slowly cleared up, and I could make out the faces of some people I can quickly recognized.

"He's alive!" One of them shouted.

My head throbs painfully when I heard that booming loud voice. I can't quiet make out anything right now, my head hurts too much. I wanted to tell him to stop being so loud, yet no voice came out of my mouth.

"Stop shouting, you're making him uncomfortable," A feminine voice angrily snapped.

"Karen...?" I finally found my voice. "So loud... My head hurts."

The female dark-type trainer then proceed to shushed everyone in the room, and the continue talking to me in a much gentler voice. "Calm down Lance, everything will be alright now..."

"You're making me sick," The headache is killing me, but her voice isn't helping at all. She's no good when it comes down to helping people feel any better. There's always this disturbing hint of dark tone in her voice that no one can ignore.

"Fine!" She shouted. "Then I don't care!"

I winced when I feel the headache coming back. What is wrong with me? Where am I anyway?

"You had an accident," The person I quickly recognized as Bruno suddenly speaks up. "Hit and run, we still can't get the guy, but Koga and Will is working on that now."

"Lance," Another person suddenly makes his presence known to me. "How are you feeling? Are you alright?"

"Steven, they did a full body scan on him, just like you requested," Karen sighed. "And they did it twice! What else could be wrong with him?"

I studied the face of that silver-haired man for a moment, before wrecking through my brain to see if I know anything about this guy. He looks unfamiliar, but why is he acting so friendly towards me. I tried and tried, I searched through all the list of the people I know, in the end, I still couldn't recognized this guy.

My head suddenly throbbed once again, "Damn," I cursed as I winced in pain.

"Should I get the doctor?" That man asked.

I look at him and asked, "Are you... From the insurance company?"

Everybody froze at that moment, and they all stared at me with shocked expression written all over their faces.

"Lance..." Karen carefully asked. "What year is it?"

Through several questions Karen threw at me, soon I found out that the accident caused me to forget everything that happened from three years ago until the accident that happens only a few days ago. Those three years worth of memories are gone, erased, and there's a very small chance of getting it back.

The man who I can now identify as Steven seems rather upset by this revelation, though I'm not quiet sure why. I've never seen him before, and is he really not from the Insurance company? With the suit and all, he really looks like one.

I'm not really sure how to take this news. As if the invisible mallet is not pounding my head hard enough, now everybody is choking this news down my throat. I felt terrible, I want to go back to sleep so badly, I want to wake up knowing that none of this is really happening. I'm probably just having nightmares from working too much.

"Three years..." I could hear Karen mumbled in the far corner of the room. "I don't know about you, but nothing much has changed in the League for the past three years. He'll have no trouble adjusting. I can bet on that."

"What about you, Steven?" Bruno's voice was louder. "Three years together and he remembers nothing about it. He doesn't even recognize you... What are you going to do with him now?"

"... I'll figure something out," Steven said with a sigh. "I'll tell him about it later on. From that point onward, it's best to let him decide. Even if we're close, I have no control over his decision, do i?"

I don't understand what they're talking about, and I don't even want to know. For now, all I care about is to get a good rest. I'll deal with them later...

Xxxxxxxx

When I woke up the next morning, my head didn't hurt as much as before, and I was grateful for that. It's still throbbing slightly, but it's a lot better compare to yesterday. No one else is around in the room, and I'm all alone.

I know there's supposed to be lot of things going on in my mind, and I know I have a lot of things to sort out. However, strangely, I couldn't get my mind to focus on anything right now. It's like all my attention is scattered miles and miles apart. So in the end, I only sit there, and stared out of the window, waiting but not knowing for what.

"Good morning, Sir Lance," A nurse suddenly came up to me with a very bright smile on her face. "I'm Eliza, but everybody calls me Liza. I'm here to help you recover."

"... Eliza..." I repeated her name. "How am I going to recover...?"

The blonde woman smiled gently at me. "We'll start off slowly, then make our way from there. Don't worry, everything's going to be alright, trust me."

I absently nodded, not knowing what else to say.

"So... The report says you're capable of identifying your old friends, but you cannot identify the man you met three years ago. And the last memory you recall is from three years ago, am I right?"

"Yeah..."

"You don't have to worry about anything, this case of amnesia is mild. The chances of you getting back your memories is high, maybe by going through normal day-to-day events, you'll remember something. However, for now, let's begin with something simple, shall we?"

"Okay..."

The session lasted for hours. It took so long not only because we talk about so many things, I also took my sweet time trying to recall things that have become clouded in my mind. However, it went well, and soon, I find my attention and focus slowly returning. By lunch time, Eliza seems to be really pleased with my progress.

Just as we were about to wrap it up for the day, the door to my room was opened, and the insurance guy from yesterday entered my room.

"Oh, hi, sorry for disturbing," He quickly said when he noticed Eliza there.

"Not at all, Sir Steven, we're done for the day," Eliza offered him a polite smile as she stood up. "Lance has been making a great progress. I'm sure he'll recover in no time."

"Thank you," Steven replied.

"I'll see next time, Lance," Eliza throw me one last smile, before finally exiting the room.

Steven then sat down on the chair previously occupied by Eliza, and asked, "Feeling better already?" He asked.

"Yes," I replied, somehow, still finding it weird that I'm conversing with this man I barely know.

"That's good to hear," He smiled more to himself than to me. "Do you recall anything about me?"

"No." The answer seems to be the same no matter how hard I tried.

He sighed as he took his gaze away from me. "I was afraid of that."

"Why?"

"It's complicated. It's not the right time to tell you about it, but soon enough, you'll see."

I don't know what he's talking about, but I do get curious. There's something this man is hiding from me, and from the sound of it, it seems to be considerably important.

"Well," He suddenly stood up. "It's a bright day outside, want to go for a walk?"

"Sure."

It's indeed a nice day for a walk. The sun is shining brightly, the clouds are gently rolling by and the breezes are particularly cool. I could see several Pokemon flying by and chiping happily in the sky. Even though our walk is restricted inside the hospital ground. It's still great to experience the open air.

"Are you from around here?" I suddenly asked as we sit on one of the available benches under the huge tree.

"No, I'm from Hoenn." He replied, yet he kept his gaze fixed at the blue sky above.

"That's quiet far away, isn't it?" I couldn't hold back a frown. What is he doing all the way here then? Is he really here just for me?

"It is," He nodded, "But my Pokemon can take me mere in a matter of less than an hour, so... The distance don't bother me at all."

Speaking of Pokemon, I suddenly remember my Dragonite. I don't know where he is right now, and I don't see any Pokeball lying around in my room.

"Your Dragonite is fine," As if reading my mind, Steven replied my question without missing a beat. "Before the accident, you checked him into the Pokemon Center. Nurse Joy still has him."

I curiously observed him. "How do you know what I'm thinking about?"

For the first time, he turned his gaze towards me. "You always make that face whenever you're worried about your Dragonite." He pointed at me and offered me a gentle smile, "This time too... Some things really dont' change, huh?"

"... Who are you, exactly...?" I couldn't help but to ask. "Why do you know me so well?"

He seems rather surprised by my question, and I could see the hesitation in his eyes for a brief moment. He then turned his gaze to me again and said, "Let's just say, for now, that we're both very close... We met three years ago and we got really, really close."

That's unexpected, as far as I can remember there is nothing more I loathed than opening up to another guy for no good reason at all. I consider myself o be a very reserved man, a misanthrope even, yet how come this guy knows me so well? What really happened in that three years time? Did I finally lose my sanity?

"That's not possible," I finally told him. "I don't get close to people."

Steven chuckled, "Well apparently, we did. I know it'll be hard for you to believe..."

"Seriously, how are we related to one another?" I asked, no longer being able to contain my curiousity.

"Trust me, you don't want to know, just yet," He smiled. "When you get better, I'll tell you everythig you need to know."

I decided not to pry. I know he's doing this for a reason, though I can't seem to be able to figure it out by myself. Why is he so reluctant to specify the nature of our relationship? Are we acquaintances? Best friends? Enemies?

"Don't think too much about it," He told me. "It's nothing too important."

Not knowing how to respond, the best I can do is to nod. We were silent for the rest of the walk, even as we walk back to my room, not a single word is exchanged, and I have no idea how it became this awkward.

"I'll see you tomorrow then, Lance," Steven told me when we finally arrived in our room. "Eat your meals properly, and if there's anything you need, don't hesitate to ask for it."

"Thanks."

"See you." And with that, he left.

I sighed as I lay down on my bed. This sure is a long day...

Xxxxxxxx

"If this keeps up, we'll be able to let you go home tomorrow," Eliza chirped happily the next day. "Your head injury is healing up incredibly fast, and I think you're mentally fit to go back to society. Just make sure you do a regular check-up with me, come back at least once a week, okay?"

She handed me her business card, though I'm not sure what to do with it. She winked at me, which may or may not suggest something, before disappearing. As if on cue, Steven entered the room.

"She seems particularly happy," Steven commented as he closed the door behind him. Did you say anything to her?"

"She gave me her business card," I told him as I showed him the card. "And her personal phone number written on the back." I'm not dense, I've been around women long enough to know where this is going.

Steven looks surprised, "Seriously? He took the card from my hand and observed the number. "Wow, she's into you?"

"Apparently," I took the card back. "She seems nice enough..." I couldn't hold back a smile. "A dinner wouldn't hurt anyone, would it?"

Steven adopted a concerned look on his face, I don't know what he's thinking, but I don't think he agrees with my idea. "Yeah, good for you..." He mumbled, though his face completely contradicts his words.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing," He quickly replied. "So, what are you planning once you get out from here?"

"I figure I would probably go back to the League," I told him. "Pick up from there, maybe I'll remember something."

"I see..." He smiled, yet from the way I see it, he's obviously hiding something behind that smile.

I wanted to pry, but I don't have any valid reason for doing so. I still don't know the true nature of relationship and I'm a very cautious person when it comes to dealing with other people. Still I couldn't help but to wonder, what's that smile hiding?

"You'll be going back to the League," He suddenly said. "Once you get back, don't overwork yourself. Eat healthy, don't mistreat others just because they're not as smart as you are. Most importantly, be safe, okay?"

I absently nodded, not sure on what to say.

"Why do you care so much?" I asked.

He once again flashed me that mysterious smile, "One day soon, I'm going to tell you everything..."

"No, tell me now," I insisted. "What's there between us? Are we friends? Best friends? Co-workers? Are you my brother? Stop making me so confused... I just want to know."

"You wouldn't..." He hesitated "You wouldn't understand. This is hard for me too... You don't remember a thing about me, and I'm the one who knows everything. And... I'm scared. Scared that you wouldn't believe me..." He once again flashed me a smile, this time, its filled with a pain that I can't comprehend.

I don't know what to say anymore. He took the words away from me. The way he looks so upset somehow moved me in a very peculiar way. I can't tell why, but I do know that I can't stand to look at that expression on his face.

"I'm sorry," He suddenly stood up, "I have something to do. I'll see you soon." And without another word, he left.

I clenched my fist, what is wrong with him? Who is he? How can he make me feel this way?