Red's last member suggestions: Houndour, Tyrogue, Forretress, Bellossom, Jumpluff

Blue's last member suggestions: Houndour, Marill, Aipom, Chinchou, Swinub

Green: Ok, so . . . Renny doesn't want to talk to anyone other than to say 'on with the show' like normal, so she's threatened-

Renny: . . .

Green: Uh . . . requested me to say stuff for her instead. Since this is gonna be my chapter to- uh- do the disclaimer on, Renny thought that it was a good idea. Of course, I usually do the message stuff for her, so no difference here.

Renny: . . .

Green: Will you stop glaring at me. Anyway, she says 'thank you' to anyone who didn't call her a 'cheap bitch' but said they had wanted Umbreon, since they were actually nice and accepting about the fact that Umbreon wasn't gonna be in the story, and also to others who were sort of on her side. She also wants to say 'thank you' to anyone who didn't care either way and understood that it wasn't really the reader's choice, but it was actually her choice, so yeah.

Red: Did you miss anything out?

Green: Ummm . . . well, she didn't write it down, so I dunno. And she's not gonna be talking at all for a while, so I'm not entirely sure what she wants.

Renny: . . .

Green: I'm gonna ignore that hand. Um, Renny doesn't own pokemon.

Renny: . . . On with the show.

OOOOOO

So apparently 'good dreams' meant rainbows and weird looking Rapidash. Ok then.

Green woke up completely confused as to why he was suddenly craving cookies, but he shook it off since he had seen rainbow cookies in his dream, and pegged it all down to the fact that Tick was probably hungry for something weird. Being a normal/flying and secretly psychic pokemon (holy Mew he had three types, was that even legal?) Tick was bound to have strange tastes.

It didn't explain why the heck Green got them as well, and in the middle of a dream to boot. Green could at least somewhat explain the Rapidash- he liked battles, not so much now since it basically meant torture for him, and the Rapidash were kind of battling- but the rainbows and the cookies? No idea.

So, he went down to the cafeteria that morning feeling weirdly hungry yet somehow refreshed, and sat down next to Red and Blue, who gave him worried looks.

His first words of the day:

"Never let Tick give you dreams while he's hungry."

Neither of them had a response to that, so they just shrugged and ordered some breakfast. Luckily for Green the place seemed to be out of meat, so he was spared from having to explain why 'Green the Jerk' wasn't eating the things he 'hated so much'. Though the waitress still gave him suspicious looks when he asked for cookies and cereal.

"Why cookies?" Blue asked, staring at him like he had a new head or something.

"Tick's dream had these rainbow cookies in it." Green mumbled. "And actual rainbows and Rapidash, too."

" . . . Why so many rainbows?" Blue blinked.

"No idea, ask him."

By the time their breakfast arrived, Green was even hungrier. He quickly thanked the waitress, who looked incredibly startled, and devoured his food in seconds, much to the shock of his two friends and the waitress, who was giving Red and Blue their food.

"What? M' hungry." Green muttered through his food.

"Ok, that's it, no more Tick dreams for you." Red said oddly. He paid the waitress and gave her a tip, probably for having to deal with Green's weirdness, and then she was gone.

Finally. She was annoying.

"Green, are you alright?" Red asked quietly. He was looking around the cafeteria for some reason, looking like he wanted to be anywhere but here.

"I'm just hungry." Green sighed, rolling his eyes as he finished off the last cookie. "What's wrong with that? It's basically Tick's fault anyway, he gave me the dream."

"I think that dream had an effect on his mind." Blue said.

"What mind?"

Red promptly agreed with her after Green said that. He had no idea why.

He was still confused a few minutes later when they were in back in the pokemon centre room. Red had muttered something about Tick to Blue, and both had dragged Green up to the room which was actually big enough for all three of them plus all of their teams. Twin was sitting on a little perch thing for flying pokemon, Tick next to her, and surprisingly enough she was chatting easily with him. Normally she just acted like a royal pain. Maybe she was getting better at social stuff?

"Tick, uh, can we talk to you?" Red asked hesitantly.

Yeah, sure. Tick replied. What do you need?

Green's other pokemon, and Red and Blue's teams, wandered over silently. Likely because Red never used his 'concerned' voice unless it was serious, but Green was more interested in sitting on the floor and trying not to yawn too much. He still felt tired, but if Red was gonna say something important, then he should probably listen.

"That dream you gave him, what kind was it?" Red asked.

"I do not understand, you gave Green a dream?" Twin frowned, glancing down at Tick.

"Mom wanted a good dream. I . . . gave him one." Tick quickly explained. He switched back to telepathy for Red and Blue's sake.

"What did you say?" Blue blinked. Of course, she and Red were the only ones in the room who couldn't understand them.

Twin wanted to know what I did. Tick said. But anyway, you want to know what the dream did to him, right?

"How do you- . . . Stop reading my mind." Red groaned.

Tick looked sheepish, but he carried on regardless. Um, well . . . the dream, which he obviously told you about, was something . . . like a distraction from something I wanted to do to him.

"What did you do to Green?" Ice demanded.

Um . . . w-well . . . I gave him that dream and made it weird so that his mind would be focussed on that, while I . . . kinda went into his subconscious.

"You told me you couldn't get into that." Red accused Tick. "Unless you screwed up my memory?"

No, no, nothing like that! Tick cried. Ok, how do I explain this . . .? Oh! It's like this; when you're awake, you're partially connected to your subconscious mind. I know for a fact that's how everyone works, even dark and rock types.

"I could have told you that." Amethyst said, blinking. She sat down next to Green, but she didn't look angry. She looked more curious than anything.

Right, sorry. A-anyway, Tick went on. When you're asleep, your subconscious mind is . . . well, umm . . . you're fully connected to it. So basically, what I told Red about Mom's subconscious being cut off to me was technically true; however, when he was asleep, I noticed that I could pick up subconscious thoughts, like when he asked for a good dream. He wasn't thinking it in his conscious mind, since he was kinda still reeling from that battle against Gassy, but it was subconscious. That's when I realised that all I had to do was get Mom to go to sleep.

"But if you heard a subconscious thought, then wouldn't you have been able to do whatever it is you did when he was half-asleep?" Blue asked, now sitting down as well. Red was still standing, but he looked incredibly confused.

No, actually. Tick smiled. It seemed like he was enjoying explaining his abilities in the dream world or whatever it was. I can only pick up thoughts from the subconscious when he's half-asleep, but when he's fully asleep, I can go into his subconscious and . . . well . . .

"What did you do?" Red repeated, sitting down next to Blue.

I went into his mind. Tick sighed. Basically what I did was give him a weird dream to force his conscious mind away from the subconscious for a while. To be able to understand what I wanna tell you all, I should tell you this: think of his subconscious and conscious minds as two separate things. Yeah, I know they technically are, but thing of it literally. Anyway, I kept his conscious mind away from his subconscious, and went into his subconscious.

"Then what?" Blue asked.

Um, I looked at a few memories that he had . . . I know how he got that scar thing. Tick murmured. Since it was telepathy, everyone still heard it clearly.

And they were all shocked. Green wasn't really sure why, as far as he was aware, the only scars he had were ones from when he was going around Kanto. Oh, and the few that he got in Johto as well, but that was it.

"H-how did he get it?" Amethyst asked, glancing at Green briefly.

I can't tell you. Tick said.

"WHAT!?" Most of the room shouted.

No, I actually can't. Look, the memory causes pain every single time Mom tries to think about it directly. He can have it just under the surface of his conscious mind without any pain, but if he tries to recount it out loud, or if he goes through the memory in his mind consciously, then it causes him a lot of pain. Sort of like how he had that panic attack yesterday, but worse. Much worse. And . . . I don't want to risk undoing what I did to his mind by telling everyone.

"Well, at least someone knows." Ice said. "Carry on then, what did you do to him?"

"Tell us what you did then." Red said almost at the same time. Green would have called him out on repeating Ice's words, but then he remembered that no one else could understand the Feraligatr, so he ignored it. What Tick was saying was more interesting anyway.

I . . . I erased the memory from his mind. Tick said slowly.

There was silence. Green counted the seconds that the silence lasted for a while until Red broke it, jumping up and yelling wordlessly.

"W-why would you do that!?" Blue cried, apparently too shocked to actually get up herself.

"Tick, you don't just erase someone's memory!" Eon cried, horrified. "I know you're cool and all, but that doesn't give you permission to do that!"

"I do not know what it means to lose a memory that important, but I do know that this is considered something akin to mutiny." Twin squawked, fluttering her wings angrily.

"Tick!" Amethyst gasped out, looking as shocked as a living rock could. Which was very, actually.

Green would have to look into how emotions affected rock pokemon like Graveler or something.

I'm sorry, but I didn't want Mom to be in almost constant pain! Tick yelled against everyone's voices. They all quietened down quickly. Look, the memory may not have been there everytime he's awake, but just from watching the memory and feeling the pain that he gets everytime he tries to think about it made me make my decision. I took it away from Mom, and now he's better.

"Tick, the kid doesn't even realise what this means for him." Ice said, standing up. "Look at him, does he look like he cares or even knows what we're talking about?"

Tick looked at Green, and Green looked back at Tick curiously. Why were they making such a big deal out of this? Was it because he'd had those cookies? Besides, he didn't know what they were talking about anyway. He had no scar or memories that caused him pain.

No, he . . . doesn't. Tick eventually said. I-I knew that getting rid of the memory would change him, but . . . I just didn't want him to be in pain anymore . . .

"What you did was noble." Ziba said, stepping forwards. A couple of Red and Blue's pokemon backed away from her, but she didn't seem to notice at all. "However, what you did was also foolish. You did not want the child to be in pain, yet by getting rid of the memory you have changed his very nature. I've not been on this team long, but I know already that his full memory is important enough that it defines his character. Without the memory you erased, he is indeed different, and this will affect everything he has ever done. What about memories that are partially linked with that certain memory you erased? He would not be able to make sense of those memories, and by looking into those he may unlock the one you got rid of anyway. Wouldn't it have been kinder to get rid of the pain instead, so that he may speak of the memory himself?"

I-I'm not powerful enough for that. Maybe if I was a Togekiss, yeah, but . . . Tick sighed. S-so, what do I do? I mean, I got rid of it, and yeah I can get it back, but right now . . . I don't know if I can even get into his subconscious.

And now Green was starting to get a bit creeped out by the conversation. Originally he didn't really care much, but they were talking about his memory, and yes, he did have a few he didn't understand at all. But . . . was it really because Tick got rid of a single memory? Surely a single, tiny little memory shouldn't be that important? He forgot stuff all the time, and never really remembered some of that stuff, but that didn't affect him at all. So . . .

So what was different about the memory that Tick supposedly erased?

"Then put him back to sleep." Amethyst announced. "You know, like you did when you wanted to get rid of it!"

I suppose I could do that, yeah . . . But I'm wondering if I can get into his subconscious now, without that memory. Tick said.

"Um, can someone explain to those of us who don't speak pokemon what just happened?" Blue asked.

"Ziba told Tick that he had good intentions but he was still foolish for doing it, and she also said that he could have just taken away the pain." Green explained, somewhat startling the whole room. He still didn't understand it himself, but he may as well have explained what the pokemon said. "Amethyst said that he could put me back to sleep to get the memory back, but Tick wants to know-"

"We can understand Tick, telepathy, remember?" Red reminded him gently.

"Oh, right."

So . . . should I put him back to sleep? Tick asked hesitantly. Because . . . well . . . I don't really want to miss this opportunity . . . as much as I hate to admit, I kinda want to find out if I can look into his subconscious mind now.

" . . . I don't think we should risk it." Blue said after a few seconds' silence. Everyone turned to her in question. "Well, think about it! If Tick goes into Green's subconscious while he's awake, and succeeds, and then gets the memory back, what would it do to Green? If Tick gets back the memory and Green's awake, then wouldn't he be thinking about the memory? Tick said it causes him pain everytime he does that, so what would that do?"

"Good point." Red nodded. He turned back to Tick. "Put him back to sleep and then do it. At least with Green asleep we don't have to worry about him having a massive panic attack like you said he'd have."

I . . . didn't exactly say it would be a panic attack, but . . . I see your point. Tick nodded back. I'll put him to sleep, and then I'll give him the memory back. Um . . . Amethyst, could you hold him? I don't know if he'll start thrashing around, and you're the most physically strongest.

"Got it." Amethyst said. "But I'm not gonna hold him too hard, I don't wanna . . . crush his bones or, you know, crush him arms and pull them off or something . . ."

Alright.

Instead of protesting, Green allowed Amethyst to take a gentle- or as gentle as a rock pokemon can get- hold on his arms with her upper arms. Her lower ones went around his waist just as gently.

"Mom, I'm sorry." Tick whispered, fluttering towards him.

"I don't know what exactly you did, but whatever it was, I forgive you." Green told him, smiling slightly.

" . . . Thanks." Tick smiled. He put a small hand (paw?) on Green's forehead, and then the world dimmed for a second.

The dimming came back after a couple more seconds, and then suddenly Green was asleep.

oooo

Green woke up, yawning. The first thing he saw was that it was probably night, so he wondered just how long he'd slept. Was his panic attack really that bad? The only time it had been like that was when- no thinking about it.

"Green?"

The boy blinked and sat up. He glanced over at the end of the bed he was on, where a small post had been set up. Twin was watching him with a concerned expression, which confused him greatly. She hardly ever went beyond angry or blank or something, but it was nice to see her caring.

"Are you well?" Twin asked, fluffing her feathers up briefly.

"Yeah, I'm better now." Green nodded. "What, uh, what time is it?"

"I do not know. I am still having trouble reading those so-called numbers of yours." Twin said.

"Huh, well that makes two of us. What time of day is it then? It looks like night time." Green mused, glancing at the blinds.

"It is sometime past . . . evening, I think Ice called it." Twin told him. "I wish to enquire, are you well? You look as if you would like to . . . what is the word . . ."

"Vomit?"

"That is correct, yes."

"Like I said, I feel fine. Um, I got a question though."

Twin tilted her head. Her feathers went back to normal as she shook her body, and she blinked slowly.

"Yes?"

"How long was I asleep?" Green asked.

"Is that not the same as asking what time it is?" Twin frowned.

"Uh, well . . . I dunno if there's a difference, really. But . . . do you know how long?" Green asked again.

"You woke up once for a little while, but then Tick put you back to sleep." Twin reported. "I am sure you remember the events. They were . . . odd, to say the least."

"Um . . . No?" It was now Green's turn to be baffled, though it was obviously stranger than numbers on a clock.

"You . . . do not remember?" Twin seemed shocked for some reason.

"How can I answer that if I don't know what you're talking about?" Green said flatly.

"I . . . I cannot tell you." Twin murmured. "I am sorry, Green. But . . . I can say this. Your memory, despite what you may think, is more important to you than you could probably imagine."

That completely confused him, but since Twin said she wasn't going to tell him, Green said nothing more about the subject. When Twin said she wasn't doing something, it normally took the combined efforts of the whole team to get her to change her mind, but for some reason Green thought that no one would want to tell him anyway.

But he couldn't really shake the feeling that he'd missed something incredibly important.

OOOOOO

Green: Renny said that she was originally just going to focus on the dream and have the story-me be put into a sort of dream-state, but then the idea of memories kind of came into her mind, and so she went into that instead.

Red: I think the memory thing's better.

Green: Mm-hm. Anyway, she also wants to remind people that the Q&A is still open.

People available for Q&A:

Green Oak

Red Hawks

Blue ?

Green's team: Ice (Feraligatr), Twin (Pidgeotto), Amethyst (Graveler), Tick Tock (Togetic), Eon (Flareon), Ziba (Scyther)

Red's team: Quil (Quilava), Reep (Flaaffy), Woop (Quagsire), Noct (Noctowl), Cloud (Eevee)

Blue's team: Bailey (Bayleef), Batty (Golbat), Gassy (Gastly), Butty (Butterfree), Mint (Eevee)

Green: She also wants to say that, as a reviewer pointed out, Twin and Amethyst may have accidently gotten shafted to the side a bit. So, she says that she'll make up for this sooner or later.

Red: Is there anything else, or is that it? And also why am I just saying this and not everything Green says, Renny? I mean, he's not that enthusiastic about it.

Green: No arguments there.

Renny: . . . Because he's my favourite and you're the second favourite. Read, review and ask questions if you want.