I have returned. Welcome back! Took me a few weeks to get an update down, but life happens. If you count the previous chapter as the prologue, that makes this chapter officially "chapter 1".

Anyway, let's begin!

There is nothing new except what has been forgotten…

Marie Antoinette

What do I remember?

Well, not much.

I remember waking up in Frank's cave, but I blank on everything before that. I don't remember anything before that, and that was four years ago. Apparently, I got a nasty head injury somehow and that's how I lost my memory, and Frank was nice enough to help me recover up in his mountain home. He told me that he carried me miles up the mountain through a winter storm up to his cave, and sometimes when I would frustrate him when I couldn't learn something the first time, he would joke that he should have left me bleeding out at the bottom of that hill.

Frank was a good guy though. He didn't like most people, which is why he decided to go live up in the mountains. He had been up there for about 30 years when he found me, and was pretty sure that people had forgotten about him at that point. Not to mention he was far enough up the slopes that nobody ever ventured up there and found him. It seemed I was special though, and he took a liking to me. Since I couldn't remember anything, he let me stay with him as long as I wanted. I stayed up with Frank for about eight months, give or take. We forgot to mark the day down a few times, something that we would occasionally do after hiking a bit too much and passing out when we got home.

He taught me how to live up in the mountains, how to befriend the wild pokémon and get them to lead potential trespassers away from the mountain cave, how to forage for food, etc. He had a good relationship with the wild pokémon, even if they were anything but tame. I befriended a fletchling under his care, which has followed me ever since. It isn't "my" pokémon, and pecks at me whenever I get too close, but I can tell it cares about me. It never flies too far away where it doesn't know where I am.

Frank was the one who named me too. Aaron. He said once a few days into my recovery that I reminded him of his childhood friend, and decided that since I couldn't remember my name, he would call me Aaron instead. I liked the name, and decided to keep it. Eventually I decided though that as much as I liked Frank and his odd hermit lifestyle, I needed to return to civilization. I thanked Frank for his care and promised to return to him someday to let him know how I was doing, and headed down the mountain. I walked many miles the entire day down to the nearby city of Snowbelle, and didn't stop there. I didn't know if I lived there in my previous life, and I wasn't about to go figure it out. I kept walking for a few days, surviving off the skills that Frank taught me, until I reached Santalune City. That city felt weird to me. It's an odd feeling that I can't describe, but something about that city felt "right" with me.

It was there that I talked with a random passerby on the streets. I asked him where people go for a fresh start, and he told me Lumiose City. Apparently, his brother owned a restaurant in the city and was looking for a dishwasher. Restaurant Le Yeah, I'm sure you've heard of it as its just down the street from here. Well, I got the job and managed to impress management after a few months of working thanks to my good work ethic. I ended up making friends with the chef there, Albern, who asked the owner to make me his assistant chef, and that's what I currently do there.

I ended up dating the waitress there, Talia, for two years. She was good to me, and I was happy for a long time. She always told me I should go to the local therapist to try hypnosis theory and see if I could get my memories from my previous life back, but I always refused. I was happy where I was. I had a good job, a good apartment, and a good girlfriend. Why would I change that? Well, I did change that. Something began to feel "off" about my relationship with Talia, and I couldn't explain it. I began to feel like she wasn't "the one". I broke up with her, and now she hates me. I finally decided to go to therapy to see if I could get help getting my memories back, and that's why I'm here.

Aaron looked down at the questionnaire he was working on, re-reading what he wrote to make sure it was correct. Satisfied with his work, he signed the bottom, checked a few boxes saying he didn't have suicidal thoughts, and handed the clipboard to the receptionist.

He walked to the chair he was in a few moments ago and patiently sat down. Turning towards the window, he saw Restaurant Le Yeah a few blocks away, as well as his familiar old fletchling sitting on a power line, watching him. He smiled and waved at the bird, which nodded in acknowledgment. He was fond of that bird, even if it didn't like him getting close. A few minutes passed with Aaron idly twiddling his thumbs to pass the time until a short dark-skinned lady came out of her office door with a smile on her face.

"Aaron, could you come with me please?" She asked. She had a smooth voice that Aaron thought was nice to listen to, and he stood up to follow her inside of her office.

He entered the small room and acknowledged a waiting Alakazam with a nod of his head. The pokémon responded in kind with a wave of one of its spoons, and Aaron took a seat on the chair opposite of the pokémon. The room he was in was very plain, with tan-painted walls, and bookshelves on both his left and right. There was a small window that was open, allowing the cool autumn breeze in, which Aaron was thankful for. He loved the outdoors, no doubt because of his time with Frank. There was a small laptop computer sitting at a foldable table with an empty chair next to the Alakazam, and it was there that the therapist took a seat at, across from Aaron.

"My name is Dr. Rosemary Carter, and judging by the fact that you are here, I'm sure you know what it is we do here, don't you?"

Aaron nodded. "Yes, but I don't quite understand it fully."

Dr. Carter nodded as well and chuckled, holding up the clipboard that Aaron was previously working on a few minutes ago. "That's not surprising, Aaron. Most people don't understand how this works, so I certainly don't expect you to." She pointed at the psychic pokémon patiently standing next to her. "This is my best friend and partner, Alakazam, who has incredible psychic powers. He is trained to be able to enter the minds of patients and help them draw out memories that they had repressed or forgotten, and you convey that information to me and I can help interpret them to see why you may have forgotten those things." She tapped her pencil on Aaron's clipboard, taking a moment to look over what he had written. "Although, it says here that you lost your memory from a traumatic head injury?"

Aaron nodded, and she continued. "I mostly deal with patients who have repressed memory from great trauma, so I don't exactly know how this will go with an amnesiac patient, but we can give it a try."

"So Alakazam will enter my mind and make me remember things? Am I hearing that correctly?"

"You are indeed hearing that correctly, Aaron. That is what we are intending to do here." She flipped a page and nodded once upon seeing how much Aaron had written, before returning to the front page. "You've got a lot here, so I'm just going to read this over for a minute before we begin, if you don't mind."

"Nope, go right ahead."

Aaron gave the doctor the few minutes it took for her to read over everything he had written. The question asked "If you have a history of forgetting, do you know the cause of it? If so, what is your earliest memory?" Aaron admitted he might have gone a little overboard in his answer to that question, but he would rather be safe and get everything out as best he could than be sorry that he didn't. Glancing over at the window behind the doctor, Aaron was pleased to see his faithful Fletchling perched on a tree planted just outside the building, watching him like usual. He entertained himself by watching the bird clean itself off while he waited for the doctor to finish reading his essay of an answer.

"So," She began, looking up at him with a smirk. "Your girlfriend spent two years trying to get you to come see me, and you only do it when you break up with her? Very interesting."

Aaron shrugged with an awkward chuckle. "Well, I figured that she was right all along, and I only realized that when I decided that she wasn't right for me."

Dr. Carter crossed her legs and adjusted her stance so that she was sitting straighter. "If you don't mind me asking, why did you break up with…Talia?" She glanced back at the clipboard to get the girl's name.

"Well, it's hard to explain. I guess it just wasn't working out."

She raised her left eyebrow. "Any specific event that made you realize it wasn't working out?"

Aaron shrugged. "I guess not? I mean, when I realized it wasn't working out, we were watching some contests from Hoenn on tv. She was from Hoenn and used to perform in contests a few years ago, and she kept up with the contest season even though she lived in Kalos." Aaron averted his gaze towards the Alakazam that was watching him intently so that he didn't have to look at the prying gaze of the therapist sitting across from him. Staring made him uncomfortable. "The contest wasn't anything special. I guess…I just began thinking that she wasn't the one for me. I tried to continue in the relationship for a few weeks, but the feeling wouldn't go away, and that was when I decided to break it off. That was a month ago or so. I don't know how to explain it."

"Do you still have feelings for her?"

Aaron took a deep breath then. That was the golden question that he had asked himself a hundred times in the month it had been since he broke up with her. "I think so." He responded, slowly. "It wasn't like I cared about her one day, watched a contest from Hoenn, and then all of my feelings went away. That's not how it was at all. I think I may have been drifting away for a while, and the contest was just the thing that made me realize I was. I don't "love" her anymore, but there's still something there that I can't figure out. It's hard to explain."

Dr. Carter hummed and wrote a few notes on her clipboard. "Love is a complicated thing, Aaron. It has its ups and downs, and when you think you may be over someone, you find that something happens that reminds you that you aren't quite there yet. As for your relationship with Talia, it is entirely possible that your feelings began to wane as you started to naturally reclaim your own memory. You may be on the path of recovery even without my assistance."

Aaron rubbed the back of his neck and averted his gaze to his fletchling perched on the tree. "That doesn't sound very fair to Talia."

Dr. Carter smiled. "All's fair in love and war, Aaron. Your feelings for her weren't and aren't "wrong" or "false", but with the reclamation of your memory, you may find that certain feelings for another mystery person may return as well."

"You mean someone I liked before I lost my memory?"

"Precisely. Maybe you had feelings for someone before your head injury, or maybe you didn't. Maybe you had a girlfriend or even a boyfriend, but there's no way of knowing at the moment. Your memories and feelings from your past life are all still there. They're just locked away in a treasure chest of some sort. I have the key to help you unlock that chest, and that's why we're here." Dr. Carter took a few moments then to write something down before she put her attention back on Aaron. "Those may have seemed like odd questions to ask, but trust me, everything I ask you has a reason behind it. Your feelings are important to me, and I'm determined to help you figure out who you were. As for contests, they may have had something to do with your previous life, and that's something we'll have to figure out. Do you have any interest in contests yourself, or in performing here in Kalos?"

"Not really? I mean, I only watched contests because Talia wanted to. It was nice, but not really my thing. As for performances, I tried to get into it, but I would only watch the first performance before getting bored and turning the channel."

Dr. Carter wrote some more words on her clipboard before shrugging. "We'll have to dig more into that at a later date, I guess. As for performances, I quite like them myself. The Kalos Queen as of a few years ago is really good too. Never seen anyone perform quite like she does, so it's a shame you never saw her perform, as she's usually the last one out during the showcases. Her match against Aria to take the title was spectacular."

Aaron nodded, feigning interest. He wasn't kidding when he said he didn't really care for performances. "I'm sure she's really good, she's the Kalos Queen after all."

Dr. Carter nodded, writing a few more notes on her clipboard. She cleared her throat then, gesturing towards Alakazam. "Alright Aaron, I guess we should actually begin today's session. I'm going to ask you questions throughout your time here, of course, but the main event is the retrieval of memories thanks to my psychic friend here. Together, he and I will do our best to help you remember who you were before your head injury. Got it?"

"Yes. Let's do this." Aaron said, a little bit of nervousness finding its way into his voice. He had wondered for the past four years who he was before waking up in Frank's cave, and finally he had decided to figure it out. Who knows who he was before? Maybe he was famous? Maybe he was a wanted criminal? Why was he up in Snowbelle City? All of these were questions he wanted answers to, and he hoped that the therapist would be able to help him figure them out.

"So, I want you to close your eyes." Dr. Carter began, slowing down her voice.

He obeyed, and through the blackness of his eyelids, Aaron listened intently to what Dr. Carter was saying.

"Alakazam here will enter your mind, and you might feel an odd feeling come over you, like you're standing on the shore and the water is lapping at your legs. That's his psychic power. Don't fight it, just let the water come over you…"

Aaron concentrated on what Dr. Carter was saying, and soon enough, he did feel the feeling she was talking about. Her description was surprisingly accurate, and he did indeed feel like he was standing on the shore and water was lapping at his feet. It was an odd feeling, and it made him slightly uncomfortable, but per his instructions, he did not move or try to fight it. He sat in his spot and let the psychic pokémon draw out whatever he could.

"How do you know if it's working?" Aaron whispered out, closing his eyes a little tighter as the feeling got stronger in his head.

"You'll know, Aaron. Just calm yourself and let the feeling wash over you."

Aaron did that, but was beginning to let the unease of the feeling get to him. The "watery" feeling felt like it was getting deeper, and after a few minutes of an uncomfortable silence, Aaron felt like he wasn't getting anywhere. Silently, he began to doubt it was working at all, but right as he was about to open his eyes, the watery feeling suddenly enveloped him, and he succumbed to the waves in his head.

Images of himself waking up late in an unknown room conjured up inside his head. He put on his clothes and raced out the door to a building he didn't recognize, but got a familiar feeling about. He saw three pokémon, an orange lizard with a flame on its tail, a blue turtle, and a green lizard with a plant on its back smiling up at him. He then remembered all of them being chosen before he arrived, and a man wearing a white coat talking to him. A yellow mouse pokemon came into view, and he remembered falling down the stairs in his haste to get it. He picked up the yellow mouse, and introduced himself to it, before it electrocuted him violently.

Pikachu

Aaron quickly opened his eyes, breathing heavily, as if he felt the shock from the yellow mouse in the present moment in addition to in his memories. He looked at Dr. Carter, who had a satisfied smile on her face, and at Alakazam, who gave him a slight bow of his head.

"So, what did you see?" Dr. Carter asked.

Aaron put his hand on his head, still breathing heavily as he looked down at the floor. "I saw myself waking up late to get my starter pokémon, I think. I didn't get any of the three starters, and got a yellow mouse that I'm pretty sure is called a pikachu…"

Dr. Carter smiled, writing on her clipboard with great intent. "There is indeed a yellow mouse pokémon called a pikachu. That must have been your first pokémon?"

Aaron nodded quickly. "Yes! I remember! My first pokémon was a pikachu! Oh, I wonder what happened to it?"

"I'm not sure. That's something we'll figure out in time" Dr. Carter replied with a thoughtful tone. "Do you remember what those starter pokémon were that you missed out on?"

Aaron put his finger on his chin and looked to the side, deep in thought. "Well, there was an orange lizard with a flame on its tail, a blue turtle, and a green lizard with a plant on its back. Although I can't remember their names…"

"Those sound like Charmander, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur, Aaron. That means you started your journey in Kanto, which is likely where you are from, if that's the case."

"Kanto…" Aaron repeated to himself wistfully. Saying the name out loud felt familiar to him, like remembering the name of someone you thought you forgot. It felt nice in his head, and gave him a feeling of comfort and safety. "How did I end up in Kalos then? Isn't Kanto really far away?"

Alakazam and Dr. Carter both shrugged. "That's something we'll figure out with time, Aaron. For now, let's get back to our session. We've already made progress today in figuring out who you were, and we should continue while we can."

Aaron nodded and closed his eyes again. In a few moments, he felt the uneasy feeling of water at his feet again, but this time, he did not let his impatience get to him. He waited for a few minutes, waiting for something to happen, and he was rewarded for his efforts.

Memories of a warm forest and children laughing played in his mind. He was much younger than when he got his pikachu, but he didn't know how old he was. He remembered walking through the forest looking for a small blue pokémon, and chased it through the trees and branches. During his search, he crashed through a big bush, and saw a small girl in front of him, sitting down on the ground with an injured leg and tears in her eyes. She wore a pink dress and had a straw sunhat on her head. The first thing he noticed were her beautiful blue eyes and her hair that was the color of sweet honey. She looked startled to see him, and without a moment of hesitation, he went over to help her. He fixed her leg with the help of magic and a handkerchief, helped her up and gave her a hug, before leading her out of the forest back to the clearing where the other children were.

Aaron opened his eyes, breathing heavily again as these memories were forced out of his subconscious. He retold what he saw in his head to Dr. Carter, and the Alakazam gave a small smile and nod, obviously proud of its work.

"So, you were a small child and found a girl in the forest when you were chasing a pokémon?" Dr. Carter reiterated, writing important notes on her clipboard. "Do you remember anything in particular about her? Something defining, like her name or a feature?"

Aaron thought for a long while, humming in concentration as he desperately tried to dig the information out of his head. With a sigh, he relented, looking down at his feet on the ground. "I can't remember her name…I can only remember her pretty blue eyes and her honey-colored hair. That seems like all I can see when I picture her."

Dr. Carter chuckled, writing this down on her clipboard. "She sounds like your first crush, Aaron." She said with an amused tone. "Don't worry about her name though. Alakazam only brings some memories back. These things come back sometimes in short steps and sometimes great leaps. Some things will come to you before others, and those other details will come with time. You just have to be patient."

She clicked her pen and set it down on her nearby desk. Petting Alakazam's head and handing him a treat, which he graciously accepted, she turned her smile towards her patient in front of her. "Alright Aaron, I think this is a good place to stop. We can't do too much in one day, as the body has to take time to recover from this type of work."

Aaron put his hand on his head, noticing that he did feel the beginnings of a headache coming on. Despite that, he still formed a fist and gave the therapist a look of determination. "But I want to remember as much as I can as quickly as possible! I want to know what happened to my pikachu or who this girl was!"

Dr. Carter laughed and stood up, prompting Aaron to do the same with a sigh. "It's okay Aaron. Remember, be patient. We cannot rush these things. I don't want you to get hurt." She handed him a small card with her name on it. "Come back and see me in a few days and we can continue, okay? Schedule an appointment with my receptionist, and if you need anything for any emergency reason, call that number. Sometimes the process of retrieving memories can be dangerous if too much is done at once."

Aaron nodded in defeat before reaching out to shake Dr. Carter's hand. She escorted him the short distance out of her office and into the common room. Aaron walked immediately over to the receptionist and scheduled another visit in a few days' time. Today was Monday, and his next appointment was Friday later that week. He could hardly wait, and nearly ran out of the building with a wave to Dr. Carter and the receptionist as he raced down the street back towards his apartment.

Looking up by habit, he saw his faithful watcher, Fletchling, following just above his head in the sky, and he smiled to himself. Shaking his head, he turned around the corners of a few blocks and arrived at his apartment in no time. Luckily, he didn't live very far from his workplace and Dr. Carter, so he arrived at his home in just a few minutes thanks to his brisk run.

Opening the door to the building and running up a few flights of stairs to his apartment, he arrived at his door breathing heavily. He rushed inside once he opened the door, closing it tightly behind him with more than a little force, and looked at his apartment with a small smile on his face. It was a nice apartment for the area and he made decent money as an assistant chef to a middle-rating restaurant. His boss, Yannick, liked him and treated him well, so he didn't have much to complain about. He had worked there for about three years, and was good friends with all of his coworkers, save for Talia now, who hated him.

Regaining his breath, Aaron walked into his living room and looked out over Lumiose City. He was a few stories up and could see over a few of the surrounding buildings. In the far distance, Prism Tower could be seen, the symbol of Lumiose and of the entire region. Aaron stared at the horizon for a few moments, picturing the pikachu and mystery girl as he looked at it. He felt an unfamiliar happiness well up in his chest, and he laughed to himself. Never did he think that remembering things would make him feel so fulfilled. And he was just starting too!

Needless to say, he was excited for Friday, and couldn't wait to begin remembering more of his previous life. He hopped over his couch and turned on the tv, content with spending the rest of the night in peace. He spent a few hours attempting to find something to watch, but gave up. Making himself some quick food, he ate in silence, watching the Lumiose city traffic go back and forth outside his apartment, before deciding to go to bed earlier than usual. He had a slight headache, but it didn't bother him too much. He was thankful that he could remember a few details of his life, and felt that a headache was a small price to pay for figuring out who he was.

He got ready for bed with a smile on his face, and turned off the lights. He fell asleep quickly, thinking about what roles the honey-blonde girl and his partner Pikachu played in his life, and wondered if he'd ever meet them again…

So you've reached the end of the chapter. The restaurant and characters working at the restaurant are all from the games, if you were wondering. Alakazam is also like a god-tier Pokemon. You ever read their pokedex entries? Man, they're smart. So I thought that their powers combined with a therapist could make for a cool combo. Imagine if we had that stuff in the real world.

Anyway, I'll see you in the next chapter.

Twilly.