"Do you want to come with us tomorrow?" Mades asks as she fixes her bed.
She and two of her Pokémon, plus Saur, are staying inside one of the many rooms of the city's Pokémon Center, on the second floor.
Sitting on a nightstand, Saur looks away from the city night scene outside the window and gazes at the busy trainer.
The young trainer continues: "I scheduled battle appointment with Whitney is tomorrow." Done with the bed, she stands proudly at her handiwork and turns to the grass-type with a cheery smile. "Justin is confident that we can win, and so am I."
Ellise, the Sentret, jumps on the bed from the floor. "And so am I!"
"You won't be if you mess the bed again," the trainer tells the normal-type with a frown.
The Sentret sticks her tongue out at her as the Cyndaquil slowly climbs up the bed.
Saur chuckles and slowly shakes his head. "I don't think I'm fit to battle yet."
Mades turns and blinks blankly at him. She scratches her head. "Yeah, uh, I didn't understand all that, sorry." After getting a translation from Ellise, she nods and smiles back at Saur. "Don't worry. I'm not asking you to battle." She winks. "Besides, I'm not your trainer. I'm just taking care of you until you feel better to return to the wild." She shrugs. "Or until your trainer finds you." She frowns. "I just hope that, if you really do have a trainer, that it wasn't them who..."
Silence fills the room.
She shakes her head and smiles a fragile smile at him. "A-anyway... Do you remember anything yet?"
Saur exhales as he shakes his head.
"I see. Well, don't worry." She pats his head. "I'm sure you'll start remembering things soon."
After a few more exchange of words, the young trainer turns the light off, shuffles into the bed, and greets everyone goodnight as her two Pokémon curls up beside her.
Lying by the footboard, Saur gazes outside the window, at the night sky, barren of any stars, probably due to the light pollution the city is emitting.
So many questions, yet at least he now knows for certain that this female trainer is not his trainer. She found him badly hurt and she took him here to heal.
He smiles a gentle smile. If the old couple hears about this, they'll spoil this young girl rotten for sure. Which reminds him...
He's not a wild Pokémon. At least he isn't as far as his memory goes. If she found him hurt in a random route somewhere, that would mean he was far away from the daycare. Which meant the old couple must have set him free already. How long ago was that, he wonders.
Regardless, he's sure it won't hurt to visit them. Perhaps something there will help him remember things.
With a hopeful smile, he wishes goodnight to the trainer, her two Pokémon...
...and to a certain purple someone that keeps on teasing his memory.
"Not bad," a pink-haired lady says as she recalls her fainted Pokémon back to its Pokéball. She is down to her last Pokémon while her opponent still has her two Pokémon active and ready to battle. "But I'm not done yet!"
"I know..." Mades nervously whispers to herself. She notices Justin, who is on the field, turning to her and smiling a confident smile. Nervousness quickly forgotten, she returns his grin with her own and nods. "We're ready!"
"I know you are," Whitney declares as she tosses her last Pokéball with a bounce...and a jiggle that causes the audience to cheer...cheerily.
Saur, sitting on the benches on the challenger's side with Ellise, smiles an awkward smile at how loud the crowd gets. The snap of the Pokéball opening hooks his attention back to the arena, where a quadruped cow appears and is standing on its two hind legs, smiling cockily at her familiar challenger.
"Ready, Justin?" Mades asks loudly, her voice barely audible to her Pokémon. After seeing him nod, she throws a punch in the air and shouts: "Let's show them the fruits of our training!"
"Use rollout, hon!" Whitney shouts, her voice piercing through the audience's loud chorus of cheers.
The Miltank jumps ahead and suddenly starts rolling while still in the air, and as soon as it lands on the ground, it immediately rolls toward the Cyndaquil.
"Smokebomb!"
And Justin immediately exhales large and black fumes of smoke, covering itself and a large chunk of the battlefield.
This doesn't faze the rolling cow however, as it continues rolling through the black smoke, leaving a clear pathway behind itself and almost rolling over Mades who barely manages to jump out of the way. It turns and rolls through the smoke again, and again, and—
"Use Ember now!" Mades suddenly shouts, almost startling the gym leader.
And almost immediately, a plume of red flames bursts out of the smoke, and the rolling cow is rolling directly straight at it.
And a direct hit.
But it doesn't faze the Miltank.
"Justin jump out of the way—!"
The Miltank rolls through and leaves a flattened Cyndaquil behind its wake, making Ellise, Saur, Mades and even the audience to wince.
Grunting, Justin slowly returns on its feet and—
"Headbutt!"
A horned head slams itself on the Cyndaquil's backside, sending him flying up in the air, and lands back on the field with a puff of dust and dirt.
"Justin, nooo!"
And the crowd cheers wildly.
Mades returns her unconscious starter in defeat, and slowly looks back at Ellise.
The normal-type gulps and nervously prays to Arceus that she can get out of here alive...
...and not hurt too badly.
She is hurt so, so badly. She just wishes she is unconscious so she doesn't have to feel how painful her everything is as she and the unfairly-unconscious Cyndaquil are being wheeled to the recovery room by a Chansey, their trainer hopelessly watching and standing by the counter.
Nurse Joy smiles a supportive smile. "Don't worry. Your Pokémon will be in top-shape in the morning."
"T-thanks, Nurse Joy," she replies downheartedly. She sighs. "Can I still use the room I used last night?"
The nurse nods her head. "Of course." She hands her the key to the room as newcomers arrive and start to crowd the counter.
Not wanting to get in the way, Mades sluggishly begins her return to her room, with Saur following close behind.
He wants to say something, to at least help her feel a little better, but the language barrier is in the way.
Minutes later and they arrive in front of the room. She opens the door with the key, pushes it open, enters, closes the door behind her, drops her bag on the floor and depressingly drops herself on the bed, the key rolling off to the floor with a clang.
Saur picks it up with a vine and places it on top of the nightstand. He climbs up the bed and smiles a Saury...a sorry but patient smile at Mades as he pats her shoulder with his vine.
She sighs, rolls on her back, grabs a pillow, covers her head, and groans. "We'll never win against her..." Slowly removing the pillow, she turns her head and tearfully smiles at the grass-type. "Sorry for that poor show, Saur."
He shakes his head and carefully wipes her tears with a vine.
She chuckles quietly. "Heheh, thanks..." She looks up at the ceiling and stares at it. "We'll be battling her in two days. Again." She sighs. "And then we'll lose again..."
Language barrier be dammed. That didn't stop a purple blur from trying before. He feels like he needs to tell her something, just like she once did. Something that can help her lift her spirits, if only a little bit. Saur tells her something. Mades doesn't understand what he is saying, but she is sure that he is trying to make her feel better.
She smiles at him regardless, and pats his head. "I'll be okay, Saur." She sighs. "And I'm sure Justin and Ellise will be okay, too." She frowns. "I just hope that they can forgive me for losing again."
She's sure that they will forgive her, and she's somewhat sure that that is also what Saur is telling her right now.
She let's out another sigh. "Well, moping about it won't change anything." She sits up. "I've gotta think of something." She jumps off the bed, opens her bag, and pulls out a towel and her change of clothes for the night. "I'm gonna take a quick bath before I journey to dreamland. You wanna come with?"
Saur shakes his head. He had enough bath already, when Ellise pushed him and Justin in the fountain while they were heading to the gym earlier.
She shrugs. "Suit yourself." She opens the door. "I'll be back in a few. Or not. Thinking about strategies might put me in the showers longer though..." She shakes her head. "Guard the room, 'kay?" After receiving a nod from the grass-type, she smiles, walks out the room and closes the door.
Left alone, Saur turns to the window and thinks about purple.
That purple is a she. He is sure of that now, but who? And how important is this purple she in his life, anyway? Perhaps very important, if she's the first thing he's starting to remember. It's still not quite a big recollection, but he's glad that he's starting to remember things, remembing her, albeit sluggishly.
His train of thought comes to a halt when he notices a strange blue bird that suddenly lands on a streetlight a few feet outside the closed window, its head turning this way and that, as if searching for something.
Seconds later and the bird adjusts its black hat, spreads its wings wide and flies away.
He blinks a blank.
Odd...
That bird looked familiar. Perhaps he met that bird before?