Magmortar, the Blast Pokemon. Although long known to the scientific community and the public, with many examples of societies that venerated volcanoes worshipping them as avatars or spirits of the volcano, it is only in recent years that any scientific study of Magmortar has become possible. They are highly territorial and rarely leave their volcanoes or mate. It is nearly impossible to forcibly dislodge them from their volcanic habitats, and attempts to do so are rarely successful.

The first cases of Magmortar being used by human trainers appeared roughly seven decades ago by a Warden of Stark Mountain. By studying this Magmortar, the scientific community was able to confirm that the mysterious Magmortar were genetically related to Magby and Magmar and proved that Magmar 'evolved' into Magmortar after years of surviving in a volcano. Due to high levels of competition, only the strongest Magmar are able to claim a volcano's magma chamber for themselves. As a result, the number of wild Magmortar is extremely low.

After roughly a decade of experimentation, members of the renowned Cinnabar Institute succeeded in the creation of a 'Magmarizer' in PIL 959. This device was designed as a synthetic workaround for the extremely demanding requirements of a natural semi-instantaneous metamorphosis of Magmar into Magmortar. By heating to temperatures surpassing the normal heat levels of a volcano for several seconds, the Magmarizer is able to induce 'evolution' in a Magmar by sparking a physiological response that normally only takes place after years of surviving in magma chambers.

Due to the extreme destructive potential of Magmortar, many governments worldwide severely restrict their use. Special permission, testing, and psychic evaluation is required by the National League, the Vertress League, the Lumiose League, and Wyndon League.

She looked away from the PokeDex with a sigh and tossed it onto her rumpled comforter, then threw a pillow over it to block out the light. It was on minimum brightness and still burned like a thousand suns. She'd never hear the end of it if Jonathan woke up.

With the light gone, the Mahogany Pokemon Center's room went completely black except for the faint glow slipping in beneath the door crack. A pair of muffled, laughing voices passed by outside and Amelia waited for them to pass before huffing.

Ugh. How did Ash of all people get special permission to have that crazy Magmortar of his? Personally, she doubted either Ash or Infernus would pass a psychic evaluation. She couldn't think of a reason aside from him somehow being in the Elite Four, anyways. She still hadn't been able to needle out all the details on that. Amelia didn't even think he realized how tight-lipped he was most of the time.

That was being unfair, though. She didn't want to sound mean. Ash was great, albeit a little frustrating on a regular-but-really-constant basis. Amelia didn't think he could really control, it though. She bit her lip as some of the things he'd told them that night by the campfire, or when they'd been walking back to meet Jon and that bastard - ahem, Gary - after he'd given her some pointers.

At first she'd been thrilled. Ash was like a brick wall with a few bits missing. Every now and then you could see a little chink in his armor, but you would never get anything past him.

Then he'd told them about the Legends. It still made her head spin. All the stories were supposed to be just that: stories. Legends. Myths. They weren't supposed to be real (and, from what she suspected, much worse than the stories could ever describe).

The world was a lot scarier now. There were things out there. Things that they couldn't fight. Things that Champion Lance couldn't fight.

Right now she just wished she could ask Jessica about it, or maybe mom and dad. They'd know what to say to calm her nerves, that inner cord that threatened to snap. But she couldn't. Ash had been pretty clear on how secret this was. It was a privilege and she wouldn't prove herself unworthy of that trust - and she'd make sure Jon didn't either.

It was a lot, though. She definitely wouldn't mind Uno cuddling up to her -

Well, there went her mood. Great. She bit down a scream of frustration - Jon had just gone to bed and he'd never stop pestering her if she woke him up. She loved him, but he could be such a doofus sometimes. She'd always loved Uno too. He was so cute, and she'd spent hours playing with him when Jessica stopped by Pallet after coming back from the Sevii Islands.

And now she learned the Unown were some kind of evil hive mind or something. Ash never let the specifics slip, but she wasn't stupid enough to miss him toying with that necklace he always wore when he talked about Greenfield. Amelia couldn't help but shiver at the thought of that place.

It had been bad enough when she saw the news with Jon. They'd just gotten back from training and were relaxing and hanging out with those three nice rookies from New Bark Town when they saw the reports, and then they saw Ash up on the TV scaring some reporters on behalf of the League.

That was only the first of many times Amelia realized Ash was one of the scariest people she'd ever met.

He looked like a madman up there with his wild (yet too-calm) eyes and raspy voice and everything else he'd become. It was weird seeing the quiet boy with so much authority, but she thought it suited him in a way. Still, it had certainly raised some questions that she'd almost been afraid to have answered.

Amelia slipped out from under her comforter and tossed and turned. The stupid heater was up too high because of the cold northern winds sweeping through - she blamed Ash. That seemed like the safe thing to do.

She gave into her insomnia and pulled her PokeDex out from beneath the covers. To be honest, she was tired of thinking of Ash so she scrolled through the different pages, marveling at how thorough the PokeDex's archives were. Professor Oak had really outdone himself.

Next time she was visiting her parents she'd have to swing by the Professor's laboratory and see if he'd be willing to speak with her so she could ask a few questions. That wasn't exactly a guarantee with how busy he was. Professor Oak rarely allowed anyone to interrupt his work, and her parents liked to tell stories about how dismissive he was in the lab. Not to his researchers, of course, but he liked to leave the countless League and private officials swinging by to ask for something or another to wait for hours on end. Nobody could just walk in and talk to the Professor. Even Champion Lance would have to set up an appointment.

Amelia stared at various entries in the PokeDex. It was good practice, she had to admit. It wasn't as if she'd never looked through the entries before, but after Ash's recommendation she'd tried to make a habit of it. She'd tried to get Jon to start too, but he kept getting bored and looking through the recorded battles - it was better than nothing, she supposed. At least now the mystery was solved of how Ash always seemed to know exactly how to counter whatever he ran into. Ash must have studied this religiously.

She thought back to her future. Where would it lead her? Amelia would have to be an idiot to think she didn't have a bright path ahead of her. How many people could say they made it to the Top 32 as a rookie trainer. It was impossible not to hold that as a point of pride - her and Jon had beat out hundreds of older, more experienced trainers. They'd fought their way through the grueling preliminary rounds - which were completely full since most people couldn't beat that son of a bitch Giovanni - and through tons of other powerful trainers that had pushed her to her limits.

Her parents never failed to remind her of that either. She smiled a little bit as she remembered the party they threw for her and Jon when they got back. Even Jessica had shown up with her lazy Persian and Uno fluttering at her shoulder. They were so proud…

Things had been easy back then. To be fair, they'd been easy just a few weeks ago before Greenfield and Ash and ugh. She punched her pillow a few times and her frustration went away. That was about as good as she was going to get without another trainer to beat up. Sometimes she just wanted to hurt something. It felt good. Satisfying.

If only it was so easy all the time.

After a few minutes of staring aimlessly at the blank ceiling and inane thoughts jumping through her head, she rolled out of bed. Quietly, of course. She threw on her belt, even if it didn't fit right because of her pajamas. She felt a lot more comfortable with her team at her side, though, especially as she left the Pokemon Center and wandered the empty streets of Mahogany.

A few Murkrow glared at her suspiciously, eying her for any shiny trinkets, but lost interest as soon as she released Raichu. Her buddy sparked his cheeks at them and swished his tail and they vanished. Ha! Cowards.

She smirked as they scattered. It was a good thing Jon wasn't out here. He'd managed to overcome his fear of flying-types since their journey began, but Murkrow definitely still freaked him out. Sometimes he'd curl up in a ball with his blankets at night - she just assumed he was still dreaming of when Jessica's Murkrow used Nightshade on him.

It was just a little pain, right? No big deal. He'd only been sick for three days afterwards. Normally exposure to a Murkrow's Nightshade would put you in the hospital. Maybe Jessica's Murkrow secretly liked him after all.

The odd streets, shielded by a heavy canopy of trees and concealing fabric, were utterly silent except for the squeaks of a few pokemon. She wondered if anybody else was even awake right now. Then again, what kind of weirdo just wandered the streets at night? Everyone else she knew was probably quietly tucked away in bed. Amelia couldn't imagine Gary going to bed later than nine - he would want his beauty sleep.

More than a small part of her savored Gary stuck out in the freezing winds of the Ice Path. A spoiled brat like him would never survive out there. He was lucky he had Ash with him. That thought left her shivering. Maybe he wasn't so lucky.

Ash would be great for survival. If she was stuck on a desert island, he's who she'd want by her side. Jon had more going on in his head than most people would think, but he wasn't very practical. He would probably goof off and they'd all starve to death horribly. What a shame.

On the other hand, Ash had a knack for getting into things he shouldn't. She shivered in a way that had nothing to do with the sudden breeze that whipped through the street. Everything he'd told her reared up in her thoughts: the Legends, the fights, the Rockets… awful stuff.

That rotten bastard Pierce still haunted her. She didn't think his flat, Sharpedo-like eyes or mocking words would ever leave her. When they'd escaped from the doomed St. Anne and heard his voice again she'd nearly broken down, but she had to stay strong. Jon had shattered the moment Pierce's voice rang over the intercom…

A traitorous part of herself whispered cruel thoughts into her mind. If you hadn't run into the Rockets, would you have been strong enough to survive? Would Magikarp have been desperate enough to evolve if Jon wasn't blubbering?

She cut them off and tucked them away.

The wind tickled her face. Raichu shivered, and she smiled as she picked him up in her arms. He was heavy, but it wasn't so bad when she tucked him into her shoulder. Raichu hummed happily and coiled his tail around her arm. He was a warm, steady presence with his soft fur and tingling cheeks. Even the cutting wind couldn't yank her from her good mood.

Of course, the moment she thought of what was behind the northern winds her mood soured immediately. Her hands shook ever so slightly, and she clutched Raichu tight. He cuddled into her and she immediately felt better with his soft breath against her cheek.

Suicune. The Beast of the North Wind. A true myth, a part of history. Something that people worshipped. Her dad had tucked her into stories about Suicune.

And Ash had called it. He'd played that gorgeous melody on that flute - and she'd never seen anything like it, perfectly smooth and silver and unnatural in every way - with skill that just wasn't right for him. She didn't know Ash that well before they'd left Pallet Town, but she knew he hadn't so much as touched an instrument more complex than a drum or triangle. He didn't have a gift for art, even though he'd always been great at the majority of their classes which were science-based.

Then he'd just whipped it out, played that haunting melody, and all of a sudden the weather itself had twisted for him. Clouds, rain, a stiff breeze that had left her too relaxed and utterly freaked her out (at least as much as she could be) and then that thing showed up.

Suicune.

She'd never seen such a beautiful, awful thing before. Even from a distance it towered over them all. It must have been seven feet high at the shoulder, and far, far larger than that when that billowing rain cloud that burst from its back was taken account, let alone that unnatural crest of glacial water that hung suspended on its head. And the eyes, the bright eyes that burned like the sun…

Oh, she could see the beauty. Everything Suicune had done was filled with beauty and grace and elegance she couldn't hope to compete with in a billion years. The way it had effortlessly swatted down their teams, with Ash following its every move so easily. It was like he'd known exactly where it would be. The way it had jumped from raindrop to raindrop, or twisted so fast that something like Bastard - Gary's Arcanine would be ripped in half.

It was breathtaking. Whatever doubts she had about Ash's tales - and there had been quite a few - were extinguished in the rain and wind. Suicune wasn't just a pokemon. No matter how little she truly knew, she was confident in that. She'd have to be an absolute idiot to think otherwise. The way it moved, the way the world moved with it… that wasn't right.

For all its beauty and grace, Suicune scared the crap out of her. It shouldn't exist. She hadn't gotten too close to the thing, but it wasn't hard to tell that it didn't breathe. No flesh and blood, just water and wind it carried with it.

Unnatural. Impossible. Inexplicable.

Real.

They were out there. Ash wasn't just a headcase after spending too long out in the wilderness. He hadn't snapped.

If anything, he was the sanest of them all. That scared Amelia more than anything.

It wasn't that she thought he was crazyor stupid. Far from it. If anything, Ash reminded her of Professor Oak. He always knew what to expect. Nothing rattled him. It was like he'd seen the worst the world could throw at him and took it in stride.

Now that she knew exactly what he'd been through, she couldn't blame him. It wasn't the first time that she'd desperately wished she and Jon had managed to track Ash down in the stormy sea that fateful night the St. Anne sank…. They'd looked. They'd screamed. They'd cried when the St. Anne sank underneath the beam of that thing and they'd been forced to swim away on Gyarados' back to escape the powerful current that wanted to suck them into the watery grave.

She still dreamed of it. They'd thought Ash had died there. Someone just like them gone in an instant, sucked underneath the waves. All she knew was that little Torrent had evolved to save Ash from that fate - they hadn't found out until weeks afterward and they'd been useless.

Amelia ran from the unpleasant thoughts. She waved to a lonely Hypno that wandered by. It looked at her oddly and quickly shuffled away into an alleyway. Not quite as friendly as Dazed, then. No surprise there. Hypno were kind of weird at the best of times, predatory and manipulative at the worst.

Her thoughts were constantly pulled back to Ash, or at least the revelations he'd thrust upon them. It was all she'd been able to think about for days now. A part of her wished that she'd never known about it all - it was easier that way, right? Let the big people of the world take care of that craziness.

People like Ash. The grim, too-quiet boy with too many scars and too empty a stare. What did his mom think of all the changes? He hadn't really mentioned her during the trip. If she was Ash her mom would've been panicking all the time, probably trying to force her to come home and be a good little girl and knit sweaters or whatever it was good little girls did.

To be honest, she was worried about him. He seemed happy, but sometimes he would hide away for hours at a time. As soon as they got back from a joint training system by the Lake of Rage he would scramble off to spend time with his team - it was like spending time with her or Jon burnt him.

Were they that bad, or was Ash just that antisocial? He hadn't been like that at the start of their journey. He'd never been the loudest, but he wasn't this haunted boy with the inhuman work ethic or moments where he didn't look human at all.

Ugh, some mysteries would never be solved. She grabbed an empty can off the path and tucked it into her deep pajama pocket as she meandered her way past a shrine to one of the Beasts just by the uneven stones of the path - Suicune she noted with a little distaste. All sorts of unpleasant feelings filled her head.

The longer she wandered, the more her head spun until she found herself back in front of the Pokemon Center. A vast canopy of stars rested above her, bright and brilliant with Mahogany's lack of light pollution. She'd always admired the stars. They were so simple but so beautiful. Her dad and Jessica liked to point out the different constellations to her - Lugia's Wing, the Raticate's Tooth, and the Champion's Horn all glittered up above her. They were her favorites, and when they were out in the wilderness she often relied on them to guide her way when they decided to be adventurous and travel by starlight.

She smiled fondly. Simple, bright, and warm. Yes, she liked the stars. They reminded her of the good things in life, not all these mysteries and headaches and weirdness.

Maybe she shouldn't even bother with all of this as long as she stayed safe. She'd help Ash if he needed it without a second thought, but she couldn't imagine him asking her for help. She didn't think he knew how. All she could ever hope was that he would confide in her if things got to be too much, like he'd just begun to do at the end of their time on the Lake of Rage.

She'd miss her friend Ash Ketchum. She hoped that one day he'd find himself as just Ash Ketchum again.

But for now, this was her lot in life. She had her team. She had Jon. She had a family.

No, she had what she needed. What she wanted.

She was a normal girl with big ambitions: Take the Celadon Gym and put it in good hands (her own). Make her family proud. Keep Jon by her side. Become a great trainer that she could admire, someone that another kid could look at like she'd always looked like Jessica.

Let Ash be the hero. She didn't want any part in that, and she'd drag Jon back by his scruff if he tried to get in on the action. Amelia didn't particularly want to be the best there ever was - she was happy and content and she loved her life. She didn't want to be a hollow shell of a person seeking glory, or a husk ruled by things bigger than her.

Yes, let Ash walk that path. It wasn't for her, and she hoped it never would be.

She would be happy. Jonathan would be happy.

And when Ash came back with more scars and blank eyes and fewer words, she and Jonathan would be their for their friend Ash. They could be a home for him to come back to, no matter how far he wandered or what horrible things he met.

Amelia wandered through the dark halls of the Pokemon Center (and waved to Nurse Joy as she headed in) and finally slipped back into her bed. She watched Jonathan snore and squirm under his comforter and she couldn't help but smile as he nearly rolled off the bed. Raichu settled in next to her and curled up into a tight orange ball, happy to be asleep at long last.

No, that didn't sound like a bad life at all.

A/N: I hope everyone enjoyed this Recollection! I feel like Amelia has needed one for a while. My original plan for this chapter was much different, but just never felt right so I ended up going with this. I hope this chapter gave a little more insight into Amelia's mindset and hopefully Jonathan as well! It's always fun exploring a character's POV like this!

Honestly, I didn't want this chapter to keep revolving around Ash so much. In a future Amelia chapter I'd like to focus more on her character. It felt right since this is set just a few days after Ash and Gary left her and Jonathan, though. Ash dropped some massive bombs on her and she's going to be reeling from that for a while. I hope I managed to drop enough about her family and personality to keep you interested!

Thanks for reading! And if anybody is interested in joining the Traveler Discord, please PM me and I'll send you a link. It's been a blast so far and I'd love to see more people join.

Please leave your thoughts!