"W…where am I?" Salle asked to no one in particular. As he stood up, he tried to remember the events of last night. "Oh, right…I took my 'friend's' place in the Ninetales's curse…What am I again?…Oh, right, I'm a Floatzel." For some reason, Salle didn't think this would be so bad. Sure, he'd have to avoid the common trainer that would come along and some of the pokemon, but he would no longer have to take hold of the pressures of human life anymore. Plus, he had really cool swimming abilities, such as floating on the surface with his flotation sac.

"It may get a little rough, but I believe that I'll pull through eventually. Who knows, I may even enjoy being a Floatzel. But I know that I have to get stronger if I'm going to survive," Salle stated, hopeful that he would come to enjoy his new pokemon life. His stomach began to growl.

"Hmmm…I should first hunt for some food though…"

"Must've fallen asleep on the way, the lazy bum," a passerby commented as he passed by Ridge's home, which was in Veilstone City. Apparently, this made Ridge shuffle and wake up… to find out that he had a pair of legs standing in front of him, complimented with a tapping foot.

"Ridge, were you out drinking again?" said an impatient lady. Ridge gazed up at the woman who appeared to be in her mid-fifties. She wore a pink dress with matching shoes as though she was about to go to the Game Corner to gamble.

"I'm sorry, Mom. I…must have drunk a lot because I don't remember what happened last night," replied a drowsy Ridge.

"Well, just as long as you're ok, I think you should go inside and get some sleep first. You look like you had a rough night. I won't trouble you further," Ridge's mom suggested.

"That's a good idea, Mom," Ridge responded as he picked himself up and groggily dragged himself to the small home, where he collapsed on the couch into a deep sleep.

"…You should be thankful that I spared your life," a voice hissed in his head.

"…What?…Who said that? Don't make me bash your face in," he stupidly challenged, trying to sound tough.

"I wouldn't dream of bashing YOUR face in, when I could do it for real. Watch me…you wor--" the voice was cut off as Ridge physically flinched, pulling him away from the nightmare.

"What was that voice? And who was speaking to me?" he pondered. He decided to try sleeping again and didn't face that nightmare this time.

Salle managed to catch another fish in his mouth during his underwater hunt. After failing twice, he got the hang of fishing. He found out how long he could hold his breath underwater (60-70 minutes), how to control the flotation sac, how to swim using his two tails as propellers, and how attacks are used. Using what he learned, he caught five fish and plucked 10 Magost berries he found in Route 209's forests. He built a nest inside of a tree near the bank so that he was close to the pond. After eating (where the fish tasted surprisingly better than before), Salle decided to do some training. Unknown to him, he was being watched by someone whom he had met before…

As he woke up from his four-hour nap, Ridge felt confident in himself again. He felt like he could take on the world. He would definitely share this emotion with a close friend…if he had one. As he was getting some cereal, his mom came in.

"Ah. It's good to see you're awake," said Ridge's mom.

"So how was it at the Game Corner?" he asked.

"Terrible. I lost at every game."

"Your game skills suck, mom. Why do you even bother?" This earned him a smack on the forehead. "Hey! They just need polishing. Anyways, I think you should go visit your friend, Salle. He's probably ready to see you again after last night," suggested his mom.

"That sounds goo-- wait a minute, who's that?" Ridge questioned.

"…Ahhahhahahahaha! That's a good joke, son! Ridge, you must've really drunk a lot. You're recovered now, so please tell me you were just joking," his mom started to worry.

"Hmmm…" he began to think. He tried to think about any memories of Salle that he had. He thought long and hard about the battles he watched, the contests his friend admired, and he games they both won.

…He couldn't recall anything about Salle.

"I'm sorry mom, but I really don't remember anything about this Salle person," Ridge responded sadly.

His mom became despondent as a sad silence hung in the home. After a few minutes, she spoke up.

"You have a really bad case of amnesia. It must've been from all the heavy drinking you've been doing. I knew you should have been 30 instead of just 18 years old. We've got to find out how to get your memory back. I'll go to the store to find a book about this. You try to keep calm and relax. I don't think a 15 year-old like Salle would go drinking with you, so I'm sure he still remembers you. We should go visit him, see if he can cure you," suggested Ridge's mom. "Just so you remember, his hometown is in Pastoria City. Got it?"

He had set up some targets along Route 209's riverbanks.

The targets were actually small rocks that he found and brought to an area near his nest.

"Now… what are the moves I can do?" Salle pondered. He remembered the Water Gun he used to pluck some of the Magost berries. Standing on two legs, he attempted to shoot out the water naturally made inside of him. It turned out to be a Hydro Pump as it pierced a hole in the rock. It continued to blast towards the pond. He aimed that way not wanting to hurt any pokemon with his attack.

"So, I can use Hydro Pump, but le--" he was cut off as he automatically used Swift on another target, damaging it. "Okay, I can use Swift. I should try Aqua Jet." He concentrated on charging towards the target with water surrounding his body like a shield. He hit the target at full speed and came out unfazed.

"I didn't know I could go that fast!" exclaimed a clearly astounded Salle. "What about Sonicboom? Where would that attack come from?" he pondered. He thought about flicking his two tails in the same direction and sure enough, a Sonicboom shot out from his tails to the rock, destroying the target completely.

"Now that I know what moves I can do, I should train some more," he resolved. For some reason, he became a bit suspicious of the environment.

'Is someone watching me?' he thought. To his surprise, his suspicions were confirmed as another Floatzel appeared from the bushes. Apparently it had been watching him when he had woken up.

"Hello, Salle," the Floatzel greeted. Salle could tell it was a female because he noticed the one mark on her back.

"Hello, ummm…what's your name?" Salle asked.

"I don't have one."

"Oh…Would you like me to give you one?"

"That'd be nice." Salle began to browse through a variety of names in his head. Finally, he seemed to find a suitable name.

"How about Allie? Will that work?" he suggested. She took a moment to consider it. After 5 seconds, she accepted the name.

"It works, Salle," she responded.

"I have a question, though. How do you know my name?" he asked.

"I was watching you when you came here. I know what had happened to you when I heard you talk about it to yourself," Allie explained.

"You probably think I'm weird for that and what happened to me."

"No, I don't think so. I actually think that was a really nice thing you did for your friend. But how did this happen again?" she asked.

"My friend insanely insulted the fortune teller, who revealed herself to be a Ninetales. I decided to take the curse in my friend's place so that he could live. His curse was to die…I guess she was lenient to me because of the Fire Stones I gave in addition to the pay. However, my friend was to never remember I existed," Salle explained sadly. "But I don't think it's all bad. No more human pressures have to be dealt with, at least until I get caught by a trainer."

"Wow… You really know how to stay positive, especially when your former life was taken away from you," Allie commented.

"I just wanted to protect a friend, even if he did cause all of this to happen. I also know that if I went insane, it would just make me miserable. I don't want to make my own life difficult, or anyone else's. This is all the resolve I need," Salle explained proudly. Allie must've been just about ready to faint from that statement, as it was the most noble statement she had ever heard.