Chapter Two: Sitting Around the Campfire

Snowpoint City, Sinnoh Region

The blizzard had forced nearly everyone into their homes. Three heavily cloaked figures wandered through the deep snow, headed for a building in the distance.

"Seriously, where are we going?" one of the figures asked. He was the second tallest in the group, and he was roughly fifteen.

"Snowpoint Temple," replied the smallest in the group. She was at the head of the three of them roughly age fourteen, and all of them were wearing heavy brown cloaks that covered most of their bodies, keeping their identities secret.

"What for?" the teen boy asked, a hint of a whine in his voice. "It's so cold."

"We need to leave the package in a place we know he'll find it," she replied, holding up a small object. "Once he reads the files on the flash drive, he too will know the truth, and the hardest part about it all."

"Are you sure that he'll be here?" The tallest figure asked, speaking for the first time in hours.

"Positive. Celebi went to the future and told me upon her return." She sighed, and put her hands into her hood to rub her temples.

The tallest figure, who was roughly thirty years old, folded his arms. "That's the thing about time travel. Even the slightest event can change the future. I'm not a big fan of it."

The teen girl shook her head. "Time travel is the only reason you know what's going on," she said. "Celebi also showed me the future if we fail in our mission."

"I get the feeling that I'm not going to like this," the teen boy sighed.

"It was all dead. Time had ceased to flow. Space was unstable. Life couldn't exsist." She paused, letting it sink in. "The fate of the whole world rests in our hands."

Pokemon Research Lab, Orre Region

"So, you got a name?" Dawn asked, leaning against the wall as we watched the moniters that displayed David's battle.

"Yeah," I replied, folding my arms. "But I don't know it."

Dawn shook her head as David's Salamence used Dragon Claw on the enemy Metagross. "He thinks that since Salamence is a Dragon-Type, that Dragon Claw would be effective," she said, "but he doesn't seem to know that Steel-Types are resistant to Dragon."

"That's something a skilled Trainer would need to know," I agreed, shoving my hands into my pockets. "His Salamence knows Earthquake, which should be what he needs to use."

"Yep." She looked over at me. "Have you ever been to Sinnoh? I think I might have seen you around before."

I shrugged. "I couldn't tell you," I answered. "But I would doubt it." I handed her the picture of me and the Pokemon. "I think I came from Unova."

Dawn studied the picture, and then pointed at a person in the background. "Who is she? Can you remember?"

I took the photo back, and started the girl in question. It was something I had overlooked, but there was a teenage girl just a few feet behind me in the photo. She had pink hair, with pale skin. Wearing a leather jacket and tight black jeans. My mind struggled to put a name to the face, but nothing was connecting.

"I can't remember..." I admitted after a few seconds. Was this the Maddison girl I knew?

Sighing, Dawn frowned. "I really want to help you, but I have no idea how." She looked up and smiled. "For the time being, I'm gonna call you Red," she pointed at my ginger hair. "It's the name of the Champion of Kanto."

I gave her a faint smile. "I doubt that I was that famous."

"Perhaps with a bit of tutoring from the Sinnoh champ, you can become the Champion of any reigon you want," Dawn said, folding her arms as she stared at me, waiting for me to reply.

I thought it over. Maybe I didn't need tutoring. Maybe I was the Champion of a region, and simply went to Unova to keep traveling... I laughed to myself at the idea. If I truly were a Champion, I'm sure that I would have been recognized by now.

"What the heck," I said after a minute, returning the picture to my pocket. My thoughts were that I could possibly remember something through her training, or something like that.

Grinning from ear to ear, Dawn nodded. "Alright, then we'll need to get you your own Pokemon, unless you know the whereabouts of your Unovian Pokemon...?"

"Not really," I answered, shaking my head.

"I know a good Pokemon to get you," Dawn said. "I asked Rowan to send it over on the SS Libra. It should reach the port in a week."

"What is it?" I asked, out of morbid curiousity.

Dawn clasped her hands behind her back. "It's a secret. But I know you'll love it when you see it."

I nodded. And then I realized something. "Aren't we supposed to be doing something?"

"Um...oh! We're supposed to help David with his battle!" Dawn realized, eyes darting to the moniters.

"Don't even bother," David said, as he walked over with a sour look on his face. "It was over before it began." He rolled his eyes as he cracked his knuckles. "Thanks for you help by the way, I might have won if you had helped."

"I'm sorry," I apologized. "I should have payed more attention."

David smiled slightly. "I wasn't talking to you. I was talking to the always eager to help Champion."

"Sorry," Dawn muttered, looking at the ground. "I was trying to help Red here regain some memory."

"Red?" David asked, raising his eyebrows. I responded by pointing at my red hair. David nodded as he rolled his eyes. "Whatever," he said as he rubbed his hands together. "Let's get lunch. I'm starved."

The lunchroom in Orre's Pokemon Lab was very unimpressive. Five tables, with four chairs each, crammed into a where there was already not enough room. Stacks of paper and other research were piled messily onto one table, while two others were occupied by some researchers.

Dawn dropped her bag by one chair at an empty table, and the three of us went to the buffet. Despite the small space, the food was great. They even took take out orders for Trainers on the the go.

I looked down at the food options, feeling a strange sensation. Like deja vu. I squeezed my eyes shut as I tried to force some lost memories back into my mind. I remembered something...a buffet in a big city...then it faded.

Blinking back into the real world, I sighed, ticked that I had lost the memory. Grabbing a plate, I filled it with some food, and returned to the table, where David and Dawn already were. David's plate was piled high with assorted food, and he was scarfing it down. Dawn had less than David, but was scarfing it down with the same feriocity.

I shook my head sadly as David paused the assault to pull out a single Pokeball, and releasing the Pokemon inside. It was a Eevee, which I recognized, only from a part of my mind that stored info like that.

The Eevee hopped onto the table, and stole a piece of corn from David's plate, and commencing to devour it. Stopping for a second, the Eevee looked up and at Daivd and asked; "Can you pass the salt?"

I had been taking a giant swig of root beer at the time, and now I spit it out all over the floor.

"Um...you okay, Red?" Dawn asked, looking down at the puddle of root beer on the floor.

"The Eevee...the Eevee just asked for the salt..." I was trying to sort it out. "It just talked...what in the hell?"

"No, it didn't..." David said, eyeing me suspiciously. He looked down at his Eevee. "Did you ask for the salt, Eve?"

Eve nodded.

"...okay..." David slid the salt over to Eve, who took it in both of her paws and struggled to get some on her corn. "So you heard her talk, right?" he asked me.

"Yeah, and you didn't?"

"Nope."

I did the math. "So I can understand Pokemon, and no one else can?"

"Apparently so," David replied. "I've heard of this happening, but it's quite rare. You'd be the first person I've met who can do that."

"Just when I thought my life was as screwed up as it could get," I muttered, watching as Eve still fought with the salt shaker.

"Look on the brightside," Eve said as she spilled salt all over the table. "You have opposable thumbs."

Dawn decided that it was her turn to input her opinion. "Believe it or not, I've met someone with something like this before shortly after I became the Champion." She thought for a moment, before continuing. "Lucas visited Lake Verity, and came back claiming that he had met Mespirit, who had given him the power to understand Pokemon so he could help her on a quest."

"...and?" I asked, taking another sip of root beer.

"...and no one has seen him since," Dawn finished. "I still get texts from him sometimes, telling me to let his parents know he's okay and that he'll go back home once he's done helping Mespirit."

David snapped his fingers and pointed at me. "Perhaps Mespirit was using you to help her, and then something happened, and you lost you memory, so Mespirit used Lucas to take your place."

"I doubt that very highly," Dawn said, swirling her Pepsi around in the can. "The time frames don't match up. Lucas disappeared over four weeks ago, and Red here just appeared."

Eve grabbed the corn cob in her teeth and dragged it over to the pile of salt that had accumulated on the table. Dragging the cob through the pile several times, she seemes satisfied. "If you ask me," she said, despite only I understood her. "He probably got wasted and smashed his face on a rock, like all the others."

"Well, Krane probably wants to see me about how the sim was," David said, standing up and stretching, completely oblivious to Eve's remark. "So that's where I'm heading. Maybe I can walk off the shock."

Dawn stood up and grabbed her bag. "I'll go too. Red?"

"I've got nowhere better to go," I answered, standing up and brushing stray crumbs off of me. "Let's go."

...

"The battle coach was slightly disappointed with you loss David," Krane said. "But that is not the problem. Apparently, I made the Metagross' stats too high."

"What? Really?" David asked, sitting up in his chair. "You mean it wasn't really my fault?"

"It wasn't you fault," Krane replied, tapping a pen on his desk. "I ran some test with other Trainers, and you lasted the longest, which was good for a Salamence facing a Metagross twice as strong as it."

A smile grew on David's face, while the woman next to the Professer's desk frowned.

She had brown hair up a ball on her head, with a pink coat like top with three rows of two buttons running down the middle, and a matching skirt. "With all due respect, Professer Krane," the woman said, "I'm not overly fond of the prasie my children get around the lab. I don't want David or Jovi getting spoiled."

Krane chuckled as he stood up and patted her shoulder. "Relax Lily, David did pretty well in a battle that was impossible to win," he said, smiling as he folded his arms over his chest. "He deserves the prasie that comes his way. Someday, maybe Jovi will also grow up to be as good as David is."

David was practically beaming right now, and I looked back down at the folded piece of paper, reading the quote on there.

A great love is lot like a good memory. When it's there, and you know it's there, but it's just out of your reach, it can be all you think about. Then you can focus on it and try to force it, but the more you do, the more you seem to push it away. But, if you're patient and you hold still, well maybe, just maybe, it'll come to you.

Questions bounced around inside my head. Why did I have this? Where did it come from? Is it some sort of messege telling me just to let my memory come back slowly? Why in the hell can I understand Pokemon? Internally groaning, I put the note back into my pocket, and looked up to see what everyone else was up to.

Lily's eyes widened in realization. "I haven't see Jovi since..." she glanced down at her watch. "Three hours ago. Can you go and find her, David? You friends can help too if they want."

David nodded as he stood up. "Um...sure." He looked over to Dawn and I, who were patiently standing by the door.

"I'll help," Dawn said, taking a step foreward.

"I'm sure the two of you can handle a task such as this," Krane interjected. "I would like to have a chance to...discuss this young man's situation." He pointed at me.

Lily shrugged. "Then I guess I have some paperwork to do somewhere else." She left the room, heading for the elevator.

Krane turned to David. "I left a PDA in your room, so be sure to grab it on your way."

"No prob," David replied, as he and Dawn headed for the elevator. "Anything else?"

"Nope, that's all," Krane answered, and the two left, leaving me with the Professer. "So tell me, what have you remembered, if anything?"

"Well...not much," I said. "I remember a buffet in a big city, and I learned that I can understand Pokemon."

Krane was writing in a notebook, and he looked up. "...okay, right," he replied, as if he thought I was lying. "Now anyway, about this buffet...in a big city?"

I nodded.

"Was it Saffron City perhaps?"

"I don't think so, it doesn't sound that familiar."

Krane scribbled a few more notes. "I see. What about Goldenrod City?"

I shook my head, not remembering a Goldenrod City.

"Then was it Veilstone City?"

Veilstone City sounded familiar, but I didn't think that was the right city. "I remember a Veilstone City," I answered. "I don't think that was where the buffet was, though."

Krane nodded. "We'll come back to that. There are only a few more cities that I would classify as large left. Casteila City, Slateport City, and Lilycove City. Any of those ring any bells?"

My mind raced as I thought as hard as I could. "Casteila seems familiar," I answered. "That might've been where the buffet was. And, Slateport, it just seems to slightly ring a bell, but nothing major."

Writing some final notes, Krane sat down in his chair behind his desk. "Okay then. You can go catch up with David and Miss Hikari if you so choose," he said as he typed on his computer. I honestly didn't know why he reffered to Dawn as Miss Hikari all the time, but that was nothing I really cared about. Maybe he was being polite or something.

"Alright, then," I said, standing up. "I guess I'll see you around." I left the office and took the elevator to the bottom floor, where I saw David and Dawn walking through the doors. "Wait up!" I called as I ran after them.

"Did you learn anything?" Dawn asked, sticking her hands in her pockets. David slung a backpack over one of his shoulders, letting it holding on by a single strap.

"Nothing real interesting, just something about a buffet in a large city," I replied, getting strange looks from both David and Dawn. "Long story."

Shrugging, David pointed out in a direction, south of the lab. "Jovi ran off to Dr. Kaminko's lab. Fortunately, she isn't causing any trouble, and Dr. Kaminko is quite happy that someone so young can take an intrest in his work." He rolled his eyes. "The sun is setting, so we're just going to get as far as we can before it gets too dark, and then we'll camp out."

"It's been a while since I last camped out," Dawn said, smiling. "I hope someone brought marshmellows."

"Oh, I wasn't expecting something so extravegent," David admitted. "I'm sure that we don't have any marshmellows in the lab at all anymore. Sorry."

Dawn pouted, and started walking ahead of us. "This is going to be the worst camp out ever. Of all time."

"Not my fault. Some Munchlax ate all the marshmellows," David responded. We walked in complete silence for an hour, and stopped just as the sun set across a mountain, leaving us in the dark. Literally.

"Okay," David threw his backpack to the ground. "This is where we'll camp for the night. Dawn, get some sticks for the fire, and Red, get rocks to put around the fire, while I dig a small pit for it."

We went off to do our assigned jobs, and soon we had a nice fire going. I was sitting next to Dawn, whle David sat on the opposite side of the fire. We sat and stared into the crackling flames for a little while, until a voice called out.

"Hey, can I share your fire?" It was a man, roughly in his early twenties or late teens. He had long green hair that went down his back. The man had a white shirt on, with khaki pants, and a black cap.

David shrugged, and looked down at Eve, who was asleep by his feet. "Sure, why not?"

"Thanks," the man said, and sat down on a tree stump a few feet from the fire. He removed something from his back, and leaned it against a tree nearby. It was an acoustic gituar, with a large white dragon painted on the front. He tossed a black backpack next to it.

"So," Dawn said, breaking the slightly awkward silence that had fallen over the camp. "What's your name?" She looked at the man with questioning eyes, trying to figure out whether he was a creep or some threat.

The man smiled and folded his arms across his chest. "Why do you ask?"

"Um...well, if you're going to share our fire, then we ought to know your name and stuff," Dawn replied, leaning back against a log behind her.

"Fair enough," he replied. "My name is N."

David glanced up at N. "Is that short for something? Like Nate? Or Nathan? Or Nathaniel? Or-"

"Yes, it is short for my full name, which I choose not to tell," N answered. He looked over at me, and frowned as he furrowed his brows in thought. "You're Trevor, right?"

This question caught me off guard, as I could be Trevor, but then again, maybe I wasn't. So I remained silent, trying to think of a way out. I really wasn't in the mood to tell a total stranger that I had amnesia, but if that was my name, then he could have valuble information.

"This ought to be interesting," Eve said, after just waking from her nap. "Amnesia can be a bitch."

Fortunatly, that's when Dawn came to my rescue.

"Why would you want to know?" Dawn asked, sitting up.

N pulled his bag closer, and reached into a side pocket. "I found this on the side of the dirt path, and I picked it up." He tossed an object towards me, and it landed in my lap. N smiled as he looked at Dawn and I, sitting next to each other. "You two make a great couple."

"We're not a couple!" Dawn blurted out, turning slightly red.

N's smile faded. "Oh. Sorry."

I held the object to the fire, so I could make out what it was. It was rectangular, and made of worn leather. I realized that it was a wallet. I opened it, only to find that most of the contents were gone, save for a single photo, and a Trainer ID card.

Dawn took out the ID card before I even had a chance to look at it. Not that I cared at the moment, I was busy staring at the picture. I hoped it would help me condition, but all it did was confuse me even more.

The picture was taken on a sunny day, out in a city. A younger me stood there, about a year younger than the other picture me. Dawn was in the photo, putting her head on my shoulder, and I had my arm around her. The date in the corner indictated that it had been taken over two years ago.

Well, that explained why N could've thought Dawn and I were a couple. But if even if we weren't, if Dawn was in the picture with me, then why didn't she remember me. I decided to keep this matter quiet for now.

"Here," Dawn said as he handed over the Trainer card. "It has some rather useful information on it."

The info on the ID card was quite helpful. According to it, my name was Trevor White. Currently, I am fifteen, since it was issued two years earlier when I was thirteen. My Sinnoh Trainer ID number was 35061. My mother's signature was on it, from when she had signed off for the card. Her name was Johanna White.

"You can run the information through the computers at the Pokemon Lab once we get back," David suggested. "That could help you clear up some of these mysteries."

"Amnesia is quite troubling," N agreed. "I could help, perhaps."

I looked over at him. "How did you know?"

N smiled and pointed down at Eve, who was curled up in a fluffy brown ball in front of the fire. "A little Eevee told me."

My eyes widened. "You can understand Pokemon too?"

N nodded. "I find it quite interesting that you can speak with them as well. I thought I might have been alone."

I scoffed. "Sometimes it ain't that great. Sometimes they have quite interesting things to say."

"Yeah, I've met one or two that cursed me out, but they weren't my Pokemon," N said, closing his eyes as he remembered something. At least he could remember something.

"I didn't catch your names," N said after a minute, looking over to Dawn and David.

"I'm Dawn, that's David," Dawn answered, staring straight into the fire. "You wouldn't happen to have marshmellows on you, would ya?"

"I'm afraid not," N replied, reaching over towards his gituar. "However, I could play a few songs, if I don't mess up horribly. Playing the gituar is a new concept to me. I've been learning, but-"

"Just shut up and play already," Dawn cut in, leaning against the log the two of us were sharing. I saw the reflection of the fire in her blue eyes, and let's say, I felt something. Something I couldn't quite describe.

"Alright, but if it doesn't sound right, let me know." N began to pluck a few stings. "Oh, and if you know this song, feel free to start singing."

After a few seconds of a melody, Dawn suddenly starting singing, keeping her unfocused gaze on the fire.

I set out on a narrow way,

Many years ago.

Hoping I could find true love,

Along the broken road.

Her voice was angelic, completely beautiful. N looked up at her and nodded, messing up on a few notes. He got right back on track though. Dawn began to sing the next verses, and David joined in.

But I got lost a time or two,

Wiped my brow and kept pushing though.

I couldn't see how every sign,

Pointed straight to you.

I smiled as I stared into the fire, letting the music wash over me. I didn't know the words to the song, but I let them continue, and I patted the ground with the beat.

Every long lost dream, led me to where you are.

Others that broke my heart, they were like northen stars.

Pointing me on my way, into your loving arms.

For the next hour, we sat around singing songs, most of which I didn't know. Then, we decided to call it a night.

That was about an hour and a half ago, and I sat staring into the dying flames. It was roughly three in the morning, and I couldn't sleep.

"You still awake?" Dawn asked, yawning as she sat up. She was using her bag as a pillow, and her jacket as blanket. Underneath her red jacket, she wore a simple white tank top.

"Can't sleep," I replied, poking the embers with a stick.

"That's gotta suck," she said, blinking her tired eyes. "Any reason?"

I released a deep breath. "I'm afraid of my dreams. They might show events that happened in my past."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"What happens if I don't want to know what happened in my past?" I asked. "What if I had a terrible life?"

Dawn thought for a moment. "Since you don't know your past now, try to live as good a life as you can. That way, when it all comes back to you, if it was terrible, then you'll have a new life. A better one."

"A fresh start," I muttered. "It might just be what I need."

"And if things get rough," Dawn continued. "I'm here for you."

I smiled. "Thanks."

"What are friends for?"

I leaned back, propping my head up on the log, using it as a pillow. I'd wake up with a sore neck, but I didn't care at the moment. All I wanted to do was sleep, and that I was going to do. As I drifted off, I hoped that my dreams would be about fluffly bunnies and kittens and all that nice stuff.

But we don't always get what we want.