Falling…. Falling…. Numbing… so very numbing. But he couldn't remember where he was falling… Was he falling into death? Falling forever? An eternal punishment? To him, this was unknown. He was just… falling. His mind was blank. He felt a tug though, he knew there was something wrong here, but he couldn't pinpoint it.
Falling below him, he swore he could see the face of someone. Occasionally, he would see the sparkle of a red robotic eye flash in the darkness. Although eerily familiar, he didn't understand what it meant.
"N…! N…" came the deathly call of a familiar human. He whipped around, looking for the man who had called his name. But still, there was nothing but darkness.
"N… N…N…" The voice became rhythmic.
Instinctively, he wanted to go to the voice, but he couldn't stop falling.
"N… N… N… N…"
"Bl-black!" He managed to call out desperately for the man.
"N… N…-
-..Beep… beep… beep." The familiar voice turned into a high pitched beep. I finally blinked open eyes, only to see the blinding color of white. It was a shock from my dark dream. I attempted, slowly, to lift my head from the lying down position it was in. I looked around the room I was in, which were all colors of white. On either side of me was an array of machines I didn't recognize. One of them made the beep sound that seemed to be the only noise in this white room. Something caught my attention; there was a straw in my arm. It was stuck there with tape, and there was some pain. It was connected to a bag on a metal pole filled with some sort of liquid. I stared at it for awhile, eyes narrowed, trying to make sense of it. Why… is there a straw in my arm…? And… where am I..? I thought… falling..?
"N-N..? You're awake!" The voice sounded echo-y, un-human. My head slowly turned to the noise. Bianca was standing at the door, blinking with shock. "Guys, he woke up!"
"W-woke… up?" I repeated. My voice was almost caught in my throat, it was difficult to talk.
I heard several footsteps before White, Cheren, all of Black's pokemon (except for Zekrom) and even Black's mom burst into the room. They all gathered around my bed, all saying different things. It was overwhelming- why were these people here?
"N!" Everyone shut up when a familiar voice shouted from the door. Black was at the doorway, sitting in a wheelchair. His face was impossible to read at first. It was an awkward moment that could have easily lasted only a second, or several minutes. Then, spinning his wheels he launched his wheelchair across the room, almost slamming into my bed, "WHY DID YOU DO THAT!" he screamed as he got close. I was a little taken back. He dropped his head and arms onto my torso, saying inaudible words. I flinched. For some reason hearing such a booming voice made me want to hide under the covers. But the fear seemed to fade when he lifted his face again. He was crying. Black was crying. It wasn't profuse, only a fear tears but he was effectively glaring at me while he did it.
"Wh-what did I..?"
"You let go, and I thought you died. Died!" Black shrilled.
"I… I let go?" I repeated, confused. But I had been falling…. Falling from… From where?
"Black you know that doesn't matter now. What matters now is that N is awake. They expected him to be unconscious much longer." Black's mother told her son soothingly.
Un…conscious? But… I was falling…
"Pppdddrrrr." Simon chirped, licking my face.
"Everyone, I told you not to all come barging into his room the second he wakes. His condition is still extremely unstable." A woman walked into the room and looked around the crowd disapprovingly. She was a short brunette who wore a uniform similar to Nurse Joy's.
"…Unstable… condition? What…?" I asked.
"N, c'mon, snap out of it!" White crossed her arms, "You're stronger than that."
The nurse looking lady shook her head, "He's not very strong I'm afraid. It'll still be awhile before he can even leave this bed."
"But… I was… falling…" I told the nurse, giving her a serious look.
"N, do you not remember? My hydreigon saved you." Black told me, frowning.
"Hydreigon…?" I repeated. At the name of the species fear once again flooded me.
Gaycheese, who was among Black's pokemon, stepped forward to the bed and looked at me. I blinked, trying to make focus of the three-headed dragon. "When I had awoken from the forced sleep, I actually had a good guess of where those three guys had taken you and Black." The dragon spoke to me in its language. "You're lucky I gave enough of a raticate's ass to try and find you two."
"….I knew where they took Black too, I just couldn't get there!" Squishy began flailing.
"…Three guys? Why are you speaking nonsense…?" I asked the dragon.
He gave me a dumbfounded look, and then shook his middle head, "Black, this guy is truly an idiot. Why you hang around him I don't even…"
"N, do you… do you not remember?" Black leaned in with a questioning face.
"I… was falling…" I replied slowly. All I remembered was falling. I remembered the faces of these people, but when I tried to remember anything about them nothing came up. I shook my head, "I was… falling…."
"Nurse, what the hell is wrong with him?" Black turned to the lady who was writing things down on a clipboard.
She looked up with a pitying look, "I believe he developed dissociative amnesia, or more commonly known as a repressed memory. Whatever caused him to become so injured his mind has blocked so he won't remember. It might block out other things similar to the incident."
"What happened..?" I asked, attempting to properly sit up.
Nobody answered right away. Finally the nurse sighed, "I'd like to see you all outside. Mr. Harmonia needs some rest. You can visit him individually later. Please, lie back down and try to sleep." She added to me as she walked out from the room.
"B..but.." The people in the room said their goodbyes and filed out of the room. Black remained though, he leaned against the bed and watched me. "Black..? What does she mean by a repressed memory…? I do not… understand…" I asked him. My body slipped back into the pillows, "Why do I feel this way..? Black…?" My voice slipped away as I closed my eyes again. I suddenly felt very tired.
"I don't blame you for being so weak. Try not to think about what you've forgotten. "He told me with a sigh.
I turned my head to face him, opening an eye, "Where am I Black..? And how long have I been here…? Why am I here… I was falling…"
"You're in a hospital." He said bluntly, beginning to play with my hair, "You've been unconscious for about six days or so. I was in bed up until yesterday. Now I'm in a wheelchair because it's difficult to walk because of intense bruising." He sighed, looking away out the window. "Lying in bed all this time made me think." He went on. I nodded slowly, unable to speak. "What it would have been like if you had died…"
"I… almost died?" I whispered. Was I really falling into death?
"Try not to remember what happened. And I'll try not to think about it." Black answered, "I realized I probably would have… Well, been all sad n' stuff if you died, y'know?" I was aware he began stumbling with his words. "Point is, I'm glad you're awake and sad now. And I'm sorry."
"So…rry?" I echoed with a slur in my voice.
"Yeah-"
"Black, come now, the nurse said leave N alone." Black's mom appeared in the doorway, frown on her face.
"My mom was worried about you too." Black added, "They all are." He wheeled backwards, the rolled his way out of the room. I was suddenly alone again, and I didn't like it. I closed my eyes once again. Everything was... I couldn't even think about anything. My mind was completely blank. I wondered why..?I
But it wasn't long before my mind slipped back into the darkness of sleep. But I didn't fall again.
"Alright Mr. Harmonia, you've been here for a week and a half. Your condition has stabilized. Your leg is still strained, but that should heal up soon. You have a lot of open wounds on your body, so put some ointment on that and you should be good. When you get home, try to rest a lot." The nurse reeled on. She put down her clipboard and smiled a generic smile at me. "Oh, and my personal advice is try not to remember what caused these injuries, okay? You're primary goal now is healing physically."
"It is appreciated, thank you." I replied politely from my bed.
"Hey N, it's gonna be a long car ride. Because our apartment building is... well, inexistant anymore. So we're staying at my mom's for now." Black told me as he helped me off the bed. He was out of a wheelchair now, but still complained from occasional pain. I still wondered what happened for him to hurt his butt so bad.
"What happened to it, Black?" I asked quietly, finally standing up right on one foot. He got crutches from the nurse and handed them to me. He had to show me how to effectively use them. I nearly fell over several times, but eventually got the hand of it.
"Before we go back to my home town, we're stopping by the Pokemon Center." Black went on. His voice was distracted like always as he gathered the needed medicines and whatnot into a bag.
"We need to visit Reshiram and Zekrom of course." He told me as we left the room. I noticed his slight limp.
Black's mother was in the lobby, along with Cheren, Bianca, and White. The three friends of Black all said their goodbyes to both of us.
"Bye Black, N, we'll see you soon. I hope you get better." Bianca hugged us both.
"Try not to injure yourselves anymore by doing rough activities." White sighed, giving us both a side hug.
Everyone looked at Cheren expectantly. He became conscious of this and coughed. "I'll miss you Black, come back here soon." He hugged Black. Despite my weakened state, I watched carefully, not missing the look the two shared. Cheren glanced at me, and then side hugged me. "Miss you too, N." I flinched away, but with crutches I couldn't move away properly.
"Alright, I want to get home back before nighttime. There are some messed up drivers at night." Black's mom declared.
"…Like you, mom?" Black asked with a smirk.
"Hey, hey… At least I don't text and drive. Let's go." She waved an arm and led us to the car. I didn't like cars, but I didn't have much of a say as I struggled into the back seat. It was a short ride to the Pokemon Center, and once there we went to one of the larger rooms for giant pokemon. As I stared at my old friend, Reshiram, I still remembered nothing. She laid there, patches of fur missing and covered in an array of scars, scruff marks and wounds. She lay on a special pad designed for large pokemon such as her.
"Black, what happened to Reshiram..?" I turned to him, "Is this part of what I cannot remember."
He nodded, "And don't try to remember. But I'm sure she'll be comforted to see you."
Still inexpertly using my crutches I made my way over to the sleeping pokemon. Feeling my presence roused her from sleep, and she looked at me, letting out a growl of thrill once she saw me. "N, you are awake! For this, I am happy." She said in her language.
"You do not look good." I sighed, petting her once-soft fur,
"It is not as bad as it looks. The sooner I get out of the watchful eyes of humans, the better."
"Do the humans know you're here?"
"Aside from those who work here, Black, and his friends, no. And it shall stay that way until I am well enough to travel."
"I hope that's soon, Reshiram. If the humans found out you were here…" I trailed away, not wanting to think about what some humans might to do a rare pokemon such as Reshiram.
"Do not think about it, dear N." Reshiram purred, nuzzling my face, "I am going back to sleep so I can heal up and leave this place. Give Black my best." She said, putting her head down on her paws.
"Good bye, friend. I will see you soon I hope. Once you are better, visit Nuvema Town. Black and I will be staying there until we are better as well." I put a hand to my chest, nodding to the legendary pokemon before awkwardly walking back to Black. "I wish I knew what happened to her…" I sighed once again, much heavier this time.
"It's… best if you didn't." Black replied darkly. "Try and not think about it, N. It's best that way."
I slowly nodded, following Black through the hospital hallways. I felt painfully hollow at that moment. I couldn't remember how I ended up with all the new wounds and scars on my body, why I had a broken leg and why Black couldn't walk right. Why Reshiram was so injured, and why I didn't feel the same familiar paranoia I remembered feeling so often previously. I couldn't quite remember why I was always so paranoid though… It felt like it was on the tip of my mind.
"I was at our apartment the other day to see the damage. Everything was destroyed or burned from... Uhm, something you won't remember. Most of my room as well as Cheren's had been burnt to the ground. The apartments around us were also damaged. Luckily we don't have to pay for all of it…" Black explained as we headed to the car.
"Alright…" I replied quietly.
"I did find something though." He stopped outside the car door and dug into his pocket. "I found it under the burnt table in the living room; I don't know how it survived without any damage." He plucked out a small figurine out of his pocket. It was of the black and red pokemon zorua. I looked at it for a moment. It was familiar, very familiar. A feeling of safety flooded over me as I took it from his hand and looked at it closely.
"Thank you, Black." I told him sincerely, looking back up at him.
He smiled slightly, "Yeah. And listen, I wanted-"
"Come on you two! We need to keep moving, unless you want to fly back on that archeop's back." Black's mom sounded from the car. She honked the horn to let us know she was serious.
"His name's Simon, mom." He said, reaching into his pocket and letting out the early bird pokemon. "And actually, that doesn't sound too bad. It's better than your reckless driving…"
She scowled playfully, "Just get in. And Simon can sit on your lap again for that statement."
"Not again-!" But Black was already shoving him into the car. I chuckled as the two squabbled. I felt like I knew Simon well, like he was a source of happiness and amusement. But I couldn't remember why. I got into the car as well, maneuvering awkwardly because of the crutches. Once we were on our way, I sunk back into the seat and watched the world go by the window. Simon chirped, saying nothing in his language as he nuzzled me. I pet his bald head, my eyes not leaving the outside of the car.
It wasn't long before I felt something around my hand. It distracted me from the mind-numbing view outside. Black had taken a hold of my hand with his, and when I glanced over he too was looking out the window so I couldn't see his face. Leaning against the back of the seat, I couldn't help but realize this was the first time I felt something other than hollowness since I woke up.
