Author's Note
Misty's POV
"Have we met before?"
Around the room, everyone froze up.
Brock was looking at Ash, searching his face. Brock looked like he couldn't decide whether to frown or to laugh. He laughed.
"Hahaha, very funny, Ash, very funny. You almost had me there, straight face and all." Brock continued laughing, waiting for Ash's expression to change.
It didn't. Instead Ash just shrugged and rubbed his head again. "I'm sorry – I really can't seem to place you right now."
Brock's laughter died in his throat. He stepped back suddenly as if the words had hit him physically.
Everyone was now standing up slowly. I found myself clutching at the wall to support myself.
Brock now looked dead serious. He moved toward Ash and held him by the shoulders. Ash and Brock searched each other's faces.
"Ash, it's me! Brock, your friend!" I realized that it wasn't seriousness in Brock's demeanor. It was fear, frozen on his face but thawing with every second Ash looked back at Brock blankly.
Brock let go of Ash's shoulders and stepped back. "He – he's serious…" Brock said in disbelief. He looked back up at Ash, then around at the rest of us. "It hasn't even been a month since we split up."
"Split up?" Ash asked blankly.
Brock looked desperate. "Before that we traveled four regions together, Ash! What –?"
I couldn't stand it anymore. I had to know…
I moved in front of Ash and met eyes with him. I tried to keep my voice level and failed. "Ash. You… you remember me, right?"
I saw the answer on his face before he verbalized it. "I'm sorry."
I stepped back involuntarily. Brock didn't even have the presence of mind to stop me from bumping into him.
So it wasn't just Brock. I'd been vain enough to hope he would respond to me, but now I didn't even care as long as he responded to someone. I looked around wildly at all the others, who were just watching, immobilized by disbelief.
I held Ash by the shoulder and motioned around the room at everyone.
"Anyone? Do you remember any of the people in this room?"
May and Dawn looked hopefully into Ash's face. Tracey had his jaw set and fist clenched. Poor Max looked like he was watching a movie playing on fast-forward and couldn't tell what was going on.
Ash sighed. He ran a hand through his hair. "No."
Imagine having the floor open up under you and plunge you into endless darkness. That's a bit like how I felt then.
May's face was frozen. Dawn looked like she was about to cry. She ran up to Ash suddenly and grabbed him by the front of the shirt.
"Stop it, Ash!" she cried. "If this is a joke, it's not funny! You don't remember me? We traveled Sinnoh together. You taught me how to throw a Poké Ball, for Arceus' sake! It's me Ash, it's Dawn, your friend!" Ash looked at her blankly. She buried her face in his shirt and sobbed. "I – It – It's me…"
Ash took Dawn gently by the shoulders and pulled her away from him. He wiped her tears away gently with the crook of his index finger and then tilted her head up by the chin and met her eyes.
Holy Ho-Oh, it was confirmed that this was not Ash.
"Well, this is Ash, alright."
Brock had moved to the other side of the room, near the bed. In his left hand he held a green backpack with red and white circles imprinted on the back. In his right he held some kind of half-ribbon, some cutlery, and…. a handkerchief and a lure shaped like me!
I heard a sharp intake of breath behind me. May rushed past me and took the half-ribbon from Brock's hand. She ran a hand over it tenderly and then walked to Ash. She unzipped her waist pack and pulled out a similar looking half-ribbon which I realized must actually be the other half.
"Look, Ash," she said softly. She fitted the two pieces together, forming a full, beautiful ribbon with a sun-like center and pink frill. "Do you remember this?"
Ash stared for a second, but then he just shook his head. May's hands dropped to her sides and she tilted her head down so her bangs hid her eyes.
"How can you not remember anything?" Max yelled suddenly. His eyes looked watery. "So you go through Hoenn and Kanto with Brock and my sister and me and you don't remember? You don't remember all the cool battles, all the legendary Pokémon? You don't remember promising to battle me one day?" His voice weakened toward the end.
"I'm sorry, little guy." Ash said regretfully. He then raised his hands suddenly. "Listen, everyone. I can see how upsetting this is and I don't mean to be insensitive, but none of you and none of the experiences you're talking about are familiar to me."
He took a breath. "But it's more than that." Ash looked around. "You guys seem like you honestly know me," I would've punched him for saying that under any other circumstances but I let it slide now, "so I guess I can tell you about it."
"You see," he said, scratching his head, "I don't even remember anything about the things in my backpack or on my person. I don't even remember anything about myself."
I stood in shock at the enormity of the statement, but apparently Max was still skeptical of everything, because he quickly countered.
"Oh, yeah?" He said bitterly. "Why are you even acting like Ash, then? And how did you introduce yourself to everyone this morning?"
Ash smiled. "You're a smart kid. But here, I'll show you." He reached into his pocket and pulled out an advanced Pokédex, maybe one made for the Sinnoh region. He opened it up, pressed a few buttons, and pointed it towards Max.
"I'm Dexter, a Pokédex programmed by Professor Oak for Pokémon Trainer Ash Ketchum of the town of Pallet. My function is to provide Ash with information and advice regarding Pokémon and their training. If lost or stolen, I cannot be replaced."
"Of course," said Tracey, the only one who seemed to have any of his wits about him. "It explains the short introduction and the vague information he shared – name, trainer class, hometown – all information the Pokédex stores and can spit back."
"So, ah, uh, Ash." Brock was trying to get himself together. He took a deep breath. "You're telling me you know nothing about yourself except what you've deduced from your belongings?"
"That's right," replied Ash.
I took a deep breath and moved to sit on the bed. This was too much. May and Dawn sat on either side of me and we leaned on each other.
Brock put a hand over his face and I could tell how much this was affecting him. "Then what's your earliest memory?"
We all looked to Ash to hear what he would say; this would surely give us some clues.
He looked around at all of us.
"I know how weird this must be for you, to think I have memories and experiences that I don't. I'm sure it's hard. But please, you've got to see that's it's just as hard for me, if not harder. I – I've got to know I can trust you guys before I tell you anything. Could I at least have some introductions?"
Again, something I would've slapped him for if he was really… him. Boy, this would be hard.
"Alright," sighed Brock. "Just a quick overview from each of us about how we know you. I hope you can understand that we don't really want to think about the details right now." Ash nodded.
Brock cleared his throat. "My name is Brock. I was a Gym Leader before I was part of your first traveling group and ended up traveling with you the longest of anyone here. Together we journeyed through the regions of Kanto, actually twice for that one, and Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh. But after Sinnoh we were going in different directions and we split up."
Tracey was the most composed, so he went next. "I'm Tracey. I was a Pokémon watcher before I met you and I joined you for your journey through the Orange Islands. Afterwards I became an assistant for Prof-," Tracey sighed, "for a Pokémon Researcher and so I had to leave the group."
"I'm Max." I was surprised Max decided to go next, but at least it meant he wasn't completely stupefied or anything. "I first saw you battle on TV in the Johto League Silver Conference and I – I thought you were a great Trainer. You stopped by my Dad's Gym one day and we met up, and then next thing you know I got to go with my sister and you on a journey through the Hoenn region and through Kanto. It – It was a dream come true, really. I would've kept traveling with you but my sister stopped, so I had to leave, too." Max's voice started cracking during the last two sentences and I felt like he cut it short to stop himself from breaking down.
"And I promised you a battle?" Ash asked gently.
Max could only nod. Ash walked over to him and patted him on the shoulder.
"You'll get it, Max. We'll sort this out and you'll get just the battle you want, wait and see."
Max didn't say anything. Ash sighed and looked up for the next person.
My voice left my mouth without my brain telling it to – not that my brain had yet caught up enough with what was going on to do any telling anyway. "I'm Misty." It felt bitter in my mouth, having to introduce myself to my best friend. "I was a Water Pokémon Trainer from the Cerulean Gym in Kanto and I wanted to be a Water Pokémon Master. When you came along journeying through Kanto I thought it was a good opportunity for me and I joined up with you for the experience," I neglected to mention my bike or the other things that had drawn me to travel with him, "and became, along with Brock, part of your first traveling group. I traveled with you through the Kanto region, the Orange Islands, and the Johto region. I had to leave after Johto because I had to take charge of the Cerulean City Gym." I took a moment to mentally curse my sisters.
Ash smiled genuinely at me and I found it hard to resist the temptation to associate him with all the old experiences and feelings. May spoke up, breaking me out of it.
"My name's May." She said softly. "I – I met you when you first came to Hoenn to travel and I just kind of tagged along. Everyone expected me to be a trainer, but I didn't really want to, and traveling with you helped me decide I wanted to be a Coordinator. I participated in contests throughout Hoenn while you competed in Gyms, and after we went through Hoenn we took on Kanto: you for the Battle Frontier and me for more Contests. It – It was a blast." She looked down. "I had to leave the group because I wanted to go to Johto for Contests with the rest of my rivals and you'd already been through there."
Ash nodded and turned to the last person: Dawn. The poor girl – her face was flushed, her eyes were teary, and on the whole she looked in pretty bad shape. I realized that she must have a strong connection to Ash. I berated myself mentally: of course she did – I knew firsthand what it was like to travel with and bond with him. In addition, she'd spent the least time away from him out of all us, except Brock. The change would feel a lot more sudden for her, explaining all the shock. May and I put hands on the girl's shoulders.
Dawn sniffled. I didn't think she'd be able to talk but she did. I was surprised, but I shouldn't have been - she was, after all, one of Ash's traveling partners and was surely tough at the core. "I'm Dawn. I always knew I wanted to be a Coordinator and you – you – showed me how. You weren't even a Coordinator, but I was a beginner and you taught me all about Pokémon, not just through what you said to me but through the way you battled and the way you were with your Pokémon." She sniffled and cleared her throat. "We traveled together through the Sinnoh region. You participated in Gym Battles and I participated in Contests. Afterwards I had to take one of my Pokémon somewhere and I wasn't sure about my plans so… so we split up. Oh, Arceus, that wasn't even a month ago." She sobbed quietly to herself. I noticed May had started to as well.
And, Holy Ho-Oh I was, too. I didn't bother wiping the tears off to try to put on a strong front. It didn't seem to matter right now.
"Thank you all for that," Ash said gently. "I know it wasn't easy but it's helped me out a lot."
"How?" Max challenged harshly.
Ash shrugged. "I wouldn't have believed it before, but based on what you guys have told me, you're my best friends."
We all waited for Ash to continue.
"If I've got my stories straight, I traveled through Kanto with Misty and Brock, the Orange Islands with Misty and Tracey, Johto with Brock and Misty, Hoenn and the Kanto Battle Frontier with May, Max, and Brock, and Sinnoh with Dawn and Brock. Shortly after Sinnoh something caused me to forget all this, and now we're all here. But you all say I was a Trainer. And everyone who's ever journeyed with me on my travels as a Trainer is in this room. You all are probably therefore some of the most important people in my life, and that's important to know for me before I go on."
It wasn't hard logic, but the realization only kicked in when he said it. If Ash had said it himself (well, the remembering Ash) the pause that followed would have been tender and emotional, but now it just felt stressful.
"Hold on," Max said, still unsatisfied. "If you didn't know any of this before, how do we even know you're really Ash? You could just be someone who looks like him who took his possessions and who's trying to take his place!" Max pointed his finger accusingly.
It was the most liberating explanation. If we accepted it, we could believe that Ash was still out there just like his old self and we just had to find him. But if we accepted what was going on, then we had to accept that Ash himself had been compromised, which was much harder. Sure, I wanted to believe that this was just some impersonator feigning memory loss and not actually Ash, but…
"No, it's Ash." To my surprise my voice came out at triple the volume I'd intended and found that May and Dawn had spoken with me.
The boys were looking at us.
"How do you know?" Tracey asked.
"It's Ash," Dawn said adamantly.
"Just trust us," May followed up.
"It's a girl thing," I said to keep any questions at bay.
Max's shoulders slumped. Tracey rubbed his back.
"So there's no way around it." Brock said. "You're Ash, just… different now. So, now can you tell us what your earliest memory is? Might shed some light on this… situation."
Ash nodded. "Yes, I know I can trust you, now." He took a deep breath. We all leaned forward. "My earliest memory is coming to consciousness in a wooded grove somewhere. I had no idea why I was there or how I got there or who I was. I was actually lying up in a tree when I woke up, which made things even more absurd. When I came to, I got down from the tree and tried to find my bearings, but everything still felt muddled and fuzzy; I felt weak and I sat down for a while."
There was complete silence in the room as everyone listened. You could've heard a pin drop.
"But before I could get myself together a man came by. I was still groggy then so I can't remember all the details, but I do remember that he was dressed in a long brown trench coat and was very official-looking. He addressed me by the name I later found on the Pokédex, Ash, as if he knew me. But he looked like he was in a rush and I don't think he realized I didn't recognize him. He just helped me up and took me to a path through the forest. He pointed one way and told me to book it as fast as I could to someplace called 'Viridian City'; then he wished me luck, bid me goodbye, and took off in the opposite direction of where he'd pointed. I wanted to follow him and ask him questions about what was going on, but I realized I'd better just follow the advice he'd given me, so I went to Viridian City."
"Did this guy introduce himself?" I asked. Ash shook his head.
"Like I said, I think he thought I knew him already."
Tracey spoke up. "If he knew you, chances are you met him on one of your journeys, which means chances are one of us met him, too. Anyone remember a guy by that description?"
Thoughtful expressions, then slow head shakes all around.
"Alright, we'll continue thinking on that, but Ash," Brock asked curiously, "what about the team of Pokémon you have on hand? Did you wake up in that forest with them?"
"No." Ash shook his head. "I had no idea even what my name was or of the fact that I was a Trainer until I started searching my clothes for clues and found the Pokédex. It told me my name, my hometown, and that I was a Trainer. But it wasn't until even later I found the belt for Poké Balls on my waist and even then I didn't realize what it was for at first."
"So you didn't have any Poké Balls on the belt when you came to?" Dawn asked. "How about Pika –," she closed her eyes and sighed, "I mean, was there a little yellow mouse-like Pokémon around anywhere?"
Ash shook his head again. "Neither of those."
"Then where'd the six Pokémon you have on hand now come from?" asked May.
"They came to me," said Ash seriously. "While I was wandering around Viridian City, one by one each of them just came to me. They seemed like they knew me and they made me feel safe. Eventually I found out how to put them in Poké Balls and I did so."
We all looked at Ash amazingly. "That's incredible." Brock said. I thought it was worth mentioning how those Pokémon were significant to Ash, who didn't know, but Ash cut back in to finish retelling events.
"Yeah, it was. I waited for a while after the sixth Pokémon, Butterfree, came, but I saw there were only six spots on the waist belt and when no other Pokémon showed up I figured that was it. I decided to try to figure out more about myself by looking more thoroughly through my backpack." Ash walked over to his backpack and reached in, pulling out a manila envelope. "Sure enough I found a letter addressed to me from this place, PokéCamp, and thought coming here would be the best way to figure things out. I used a computer in a place called the Pokémon Center to sign up, and then flew from Viridian City to Vermilion City on Charizard. From there I made it here and checked in this morning; I made it to my first class a little late, and from there on you guys know the rest."
I looked around the room incredulously, seeing if the others could believe this. From the looks of it, they didn't know what to think, but Ash had sounded completely sincere in what he'd said.
"So do any of you know what's up with me?" Ash asked.
Oh, I wish I did Ash, I wish I did.
Brock took the reins. "I don't, but based on the timetable you're telling me your memory doesn't go back very far. Assuming that, before that earliest memory of you waking up clueless in the forest, everything was ok with you, that means you were doing fine for a while after the two of us split up, which was when I had to return to Pewter City and you had to go to Pallet Town."
I could see where Brock's logic was going. "Which means after splitting up Ash probably made it home fine and spent a while there before all of this happened. So if we want to fill in some more details, we'd better find out what went on in Pallet Town after Ash got back and before he lost his memory. So…" I glanced at Brock.
"Yes," Brock said. "It's about time we made a call to Mrs. Ketchum."
Author's Note
Next Update: 07/18/13, by 4:00 AM UTC