Such a devastating rush of fear. Only one word and Marshadow was brought to his knees. Fleeting memories that appeared just as quickly as they left. What he knew for certain was that he had been to Oreburgh before and it hadn't gone well.

The images he had seen, before they had been so forcefully torn back out of his mind, were wrong. The perspectives were completely off. He'd been viewing scenes from a taller position and shouting normal human words in a voice that sounded foreign to anything he had heard recently. They all, also, felt right. They felt more like him than his current circumstance somehow. How he felt more natural in a vision than in his own body, he did not know, but he didn't trust that city.

"Is everything okay, Marshadow?" Alexis asked, but Marshadow didn't respond. He just retreated further into the shade of the tree they ate their lunch under. So many things were wrong and he couldn't make sense of even the first step, let alone the whole maze. As much as he hated to admit it, he needed to go to Oreburgh. He needed answers so that he could finally stop second guessing every thought he had.

"What the hell does any of this mean?" Marshadow said to himself, muttering loud enough that Piplup could hear. "I'm not a human. I'm a, whatever this is. But my memories?" His mumblings were disconnected and made little sense to him, or to Piplup, who was listening to every word.

Piplup looked like he was going to ask a question, likely to query what was going on, but he thought better of it and shrugged it off.

"Nice, Alexis has picked up a nutcase," Piplup said, walking away from the mumbling Pokémon.

The remainder of the day was spent with little conversation as Marshadow continued to work up his courage to return to a place he barely had memories of. At least, not his memories exactly. He didn't know what was putting such a fear inside him, but everything in him was telling him to run the opposite way.

Marshadow was grateful for being able to bed down for the night and, hopefully, leave his concerns behind as he explored his dreams.

...

...

...

The clean, white tiles made up the room around the bed he lay in. His eyes were closed, but he could see around himself. The bed was tightly tucked in. He couldn't move his arms. Was it due to the covers? No. His arms had been left over the covers. Exposed. Useless. How long had he been lying here, waiting for any sort of spark to relight this abandoned vessel? Visitors were less frequent these days, less hopeful too. He could tell they were considering it. He didn't want to put it to thought, but his time would soon be up. He was sure of it. He tried to sigh. Nothing. He tried to shed a tear, even out of frustration. Nothing. How could he have been left behind to suffer? Why was he the one that had to stay? It wasn't fair. It wasn't-

...

...

...

Marshadow woke up. He had tears in his eyes. He tried to wipe them away, but they were already evaporating. What sort of dream could have brought him to such an emotional morning? He wished he could remember even a scrap of the fading embers of the night.

Alexis was still asleep. She was turning back and forth and mumbling. They weren't full words for Marshadow to make out, but it was clear she wasn't having a good sleep. He watched her for a moment longer and then she sat bolt upright, her eyes wide and sweat still sticking to her forehead. She threw a hand to her throat and looked at Marshadow, jumping backwards slightly in her sleeping bag.

"Oh, sorry," she said after a moment, "you startled me, that's all. Let's get a move on. If we keep the pace up, we can get to Oreburgh by nightfall."

Piplup was still in his Pokéball. He really wasn't an early morning Pokémon and, if waking up early made him grouchier than he was the day before, Marshadow was happy to leave him in there.

Marshadow, while he acknowledged he didn't know the region well, if at all, due to his current memory issues, he was confused. Didn't they have to go through other cities or towns to get to Oreburgh City, from Eterna Forest?

He wanted to ask Alexis, but he wasn't sure how to get the question across, seeing as he couldn't speak any more than one word. He decided it wasn't worth questioning and just walked on beside Alexis, feeling her initial panic from waking up gradually subside and increase once more in the form of excitement.

He tried to use Alexis' cheery personality and mood to mask his own apprehension and dread of returning to Oreburgh. Returning? Marshadow thought, I've never been before. Have I?

Then why the memories?

Alexis let Marshadow know that they were getting relatively close to Oreburgh- as the sun was also getting close to setting- when she noticed something that she stopped to stare at.

Marshadow looked through the darkening light at whatever Alexis might have been staring towards and then she pointed it out. She was staring at a bird Pokémon.

"The more the merrier," Alexis said hopefully, "I hear this gym leader is fearsome, so any help we can get is a good thing. Any chance you could help me catch that… I think it's a Starly? It's a little dark to properly make it out."

"Marsh," Marshadow said. Sure.

Marshadow knew he needed at least a little practice with his moves before going up against a gym leader and Pokémon that had trained for possibly years to fight away Pokémon like him. A Starly wasn't much, but it would do.

"Let's try to sneak up on it as much as we can," Alexis suggested, "then you can use a lighter move to weaken it for catching. I'd suggest the move, but I don't know what you're able to do."

Marshadow nodded. He wanted to reassure her, as he could feel her nerves, but he had no words; and no ability to use any anyway.

The two of them moved into position, crossing the grassy hill as quietly as they could to sneak up on the Starly. Marshadow sunk into the gradually increasing shadows and Alexis simply had to hope he was nearby. He kept his eyes on Alexis and silently snuck over to where the Starly was resting. Standing upright, Marshadow was significantly taller than the bird, almost three times its size.

Marshadow looked back at Alexis who was giving the thumbs up to where she hoped he was standing. He flashed his eyes to show her that he had seen the sign. He then steadied himself and swung out at the Starly, slamming a fist into its unsuspecting form with Shadow Sneak.

Before the Starly could properly react, trying to pick itself up off of the ground to respond to being attacked by thin air, Alexis had thrown a Pokéball at it and the entire bird was enveloped in the same red light that Marshadow had seen as he exited his Pokéball.

Both he and Alexis watched the ball roll around on the floor as the bird attempted to escape, but, eventually, it lay still. A spurt of sparkles was emitted from the Pokéball and Marshadow couldn't help but feel sorry for the Starly. He wouldn't wish that empty void on anyone, least of all an innocent Pokémon just enjoying its free life. Not free anymore.

Are you free?

Marshadow tried to push the questioning voice down once more. He didn't like how it was getting more and more vocal the closer they got to this mystery city.

"Nice one!" Alexis cheered as she moved in to pick up the newly occupied Pokéball, "so you can use Shadow Sneak? That's good to know. I should've expected it, really, considering how you're always trying to sneak in the shadows."

Alexis laughed a little and Marshadow tried to share in her happiness. She had just claimed her second- third- Pokémon and was close to her first gym battle. Of course, she would be excited. If only Marshadow was able to replicate the feelings for himself. They felt hollow, like a costume, when he tried to feel what she felt to cheer himself up.

"Let's leave the Starly inside to get acclimated and then we can introduce her to the rest of the team. We all need to be on the same page when facing this gym," Alexis said, clipping the Pokéball back on her belt and starting to walk off in the direction of Oreburgh. "Other than Piplup, we aren't really suited to fight them, so we need to be at our best when we do."

The sun had completely set by the time they arrived in the city and Alexis took Marshadow straight to a Pokécenter to get the Starly healed up and so that the both of them could put their feet up after such a long walk.

"There's a little somewhere to stay in town after we're done here," Alexis said, "my mother let me know about it. Tomorrow, I think we should go to that museum and hopefully work out exactly what sort of Pokémon you are. I can't very well be going into a fight with so many unknowns, can I?"

Marshadow agreed. He was actually looking forward to that idea. To be able to research up about his kind and hopefully figure out some answers, any answer, to why he was suffering from such strange thoughts and memories while missing others.

After the Pokécenter, Marshadow followed Alexis through Oreburgh, trying to keep his mind in check as the concerns and worries threatened to overwhelm him. She stopped outside a small home and walked on in without knocking.

Marshadow saw the interior and was confused.

It was a quaint little place with a small desk and bell. It was a bed and breakfast. Alexis dinged the bell and Marshadow watched as an elderly man walked out to greet them. Marshadow wasn't sure why or how, but he was terrified of this man. Instead of running, however, he closed the distance to the man and then moved in to hug him.

"I'm sorry," Marshadow said, "I'm so, so sorry."

"Aw, how cute," the man exclaimed, "it looks like your Pokémon has taken a liking to me."

"I would take it all back if I could. I regret it all."

"I must ask, though," the man continued, oblivious to Marshadow's true words, "what is a Marshadow?"

"That's what I hope to find out," Alexis said, smiling at the man, "it's sort of a side adventure while I'm staying in Oreburgh."

"Taking on the gym, I presume?"

"You bet."

"Well, in that case, let's get you into a room and well-rested," the man said, smiling sweetly.

Marshadow did not know the reason he felt such deep-pitted remorse when faced with this man, in this setting, but he needed to make sure the man knew how terrible he felt for whatever the cause was. He was beginning to hope he would never regain his memories, if they were the key to unlocking such awful secrets as to why he felt such a way to a complete stranger.

Marshadow followed Alexis up the stairs, trying to keep his grip on the here and now, but as they were let into the room they would be sleeping in for the next night or two, Marshadow's panic began once again.

Blood. Screaming. The door. Shattering. An ultimatum. Wasted.

Marshadow slunk into the shadows in an effort to comfort himself. This was the last place he wanted to be. What was it about this place that was causing his mind to throw such horrific images at him. Surely, they had nothing to do with him. He was a Marshadow. There was no Marshadow that he could see in any of those piercing snapshots of the past.

Is it the past?

Marshadow tried to get to sleep that night, as he watched Alexis fall asleep with ease, but the amount of stress he was experiencing kept him from being able to bed down at all.

A monster. There's your answer to your searching.

...

...

...

"What do you mean she had you battle?" Piplup demanded.

Alexis had let both of the other Pokémon to socialize before the big day ahead of them. Piplup was irate that he hadn't been the one to fight and help capture Starly.

"I told you to watch yourself," Piplup said to Marshadow, as Starly and Alexis both watched on.

"Calm down Piplup," Alexis laughed, patting him on his head, "you'll get your chance to fight today."

"I'm still here, you know," Starly chirped up, "anyone going to ask how I'm feeling?"

"Not exactly," Piplup grumbled.

Marshadow looked over at the Pokémon he had ambushed and attacked the day before. She appeared to hold no animosity against him. How? Surely, she would despise him for being the reason she's now captured and be prepared for a fight? Marshadow decided he really didn't understand other Pokémon.

"How pleasant of you," Starly sneered back at Piplup.

"Look," Alexis said sternly, looking down at the bickering Pokémon. "If you can't play nice, you'll both be going back into Pokéballs."

"Suits me," Piplup shrugged.

A few moments later and it was just Marshadow and Alexis back in the room together.

"That was… something," Alexis laughed awkwardly and Marshadow nodded in agreement. "Come on. Let's go do some research."

Leaving their belongings in the room for when they planned to return, Marshadow and Alexis left the bed and breakfast, in search of the Oreburgh Mining Museum.

Oreburgh City was simple and dense. Not in a mean-spirited, insulting one's intellect sort of way, but quite literally Oreburgh City was built out of dense rock. Every building looked capable of weathering one hundred storms before they'd even realize that so much as a breeze was going on outdoors. The roads were roughly placed stone slabs above dirt, if not just packed down dirt on its own. Everything was built with purpose in mind first, before anything else.

The Museum itself was unimpressive to look at. Like much of the city, they didn't put too much effort into the aesthetics of the architecture, instead opting for function and formality. It was a place built out of rock, built to last- not to look flashy.

Marshadow stuck close to Alexis as they entered the museum. While not prohibited, it was slightly frowned upon to allow Pokémon to walk the museum halls freely. Marshadow would have to be on his "best behavior" as the condescending ticket vendor told him on their way in.

Marshadow was a little in awe at how much information had been stored upon the shelves of this modest-looking museum. Rows of books lines the bookshelves, while old scrolls and fossilized relics sat within glass cases to be observed safely.

Marshadow wasn't tall enough to look into any of the glass cases as they walked by them, but he could see the tops of the fossils in cases further down the hallways, from his low angle. While the museum was clearly old and built for purpose, the windows were large and allowed in a wealth of light.

Marshadow was more used to the light by this point, so he just accepted how open the inside of the museum felt.

"So, Marshadow," Alexis asked as they walked through the corridors, "what do you think we should be looking for? What sorts of secrets are you hiding?"

Too many to count.

Marshadow was unsure how to respond, even if he was really able to. He knew Alexis was just asking to make him feel involved and to chat to someone, but he still wanted to be able to reply. Why did everything have to seem so geared against him?

"Well," Alexis thought out loud, "you're a shadow-based, ghost Pokémon who I found in Eterna Forest, so there are a few different leads we could try there. We could look in the archives for Pokémon under the letter 'M', we could see what sorts of old ghost stories pop up around you, or we could see about shadow Pokémon? Any of those take your fancy?"

Marshadow shrugged. He was very much out of his element. It was the easiest question ever, "tell me about yourself", but he was uniquely unable to answer it. He had no idea which path that Alexis proposed would lead to an answer; especially not a correct answer. He had a feeling his questions didn't just lie with being a Marshadow, but deeper. He had questions of the soul.

"Keep calm and nothing bad will happen."

A clear, loud voice called out over the respectful hush that blanketed the museum halls. Marshadow tried to look for whoever was speaking, but Alexis pulled him back to hide behind a bookcase. They were tucked away, at the far end of the hallway from whoever was talking. Somehow, the two of them had visited the museum at the one odd time some other people attempt some strange crime. Marshadow was curious, but Alexis held tight to his form.

"If you don't stop struggling," Alexis whispered, "I'll put you back in the pokéball."

Marshadow stopped fighting her grip. He knew she was just trying to keep him safe, but he wanted to see who was invading the museum. They both stayed as still and silent as possible as they heard multiple people laughing and smashing glass. The rough sounds got closer and closer to where they were hiding. They could hear other members of the public crying out; not in pain, but fear. It was likely, although Marshadow was only guessing, that the bad guys were only threatening the public, without actually doing any lasting damage. They were there for a reason.

After what felt like the longest wait ever, the loud voice spoke up once more. They had heard the group of museum marauders talking to one another, but it was clear that this man was talking to everyone else when he spoke in such a tone and at such a volume.

"Thank you for your cooperation," he called out, "we hope you all have a fine rest of your day- and sweet dreams."

With those parting words, Marshadow and Alexis listened to the mystery criminals' voices fade away as they left the museum.

"I wonder what all that was about," Alexis said quietly as both she and Marshadow rose to their feet.

"They were stealing things," one old lady tutted, explaining the situation to Alexis as she had overheard the question.

"What sort of things?" Alexis asked.

"Oh, I wouldn't know," the lady said, "but I wouldn't doubt they're just trying to make a quick profit by selling some rare artefacts to some shady dealer. It's all what the young are doing these days, let me tell you-"

Marshadow switched off from listening to the old lady ramble about her thoughts on the differences between the generations. He was much too interested in who the thieves were and what they took. He couldn't explain why he was so invested, heck, he hadn't even answered a single question that they had come to the museum to solve.

The questions surrounding those thieves, however. Those questions needed to be answered. Marshadow could feel it.

He looked about and noticed a couple different glass cases smashed and their contents stolen. He couldn't reach high enough to read the plaque on the stands of each of the stolen items. He looked over at Alexis, half the hall away, still trapped in conversation with the old lady. He didn't want to do it, but he had to.

Marshadow turned and left the museum to follow after the thieves. Something about them felt weird to him. He hoped Alexis would understand that his temporary absence would be useful in the long run. He couldn't worry about that for now, however. He needed to catch the thieves and he would need to be perfect to avoid being spotted alone when out and about. He was still an extremely rare and likely valuable Pokémon.

Marshadow ran out into the sun, the glare of the light forcing him to pause for a moment and readjust. He was getting quicker at doing so each time he needed to. He looked down each of the closest streets, hoping to see any shady looking people, but he was irritatingly unable to see anyone. He ran down the road, closer to the edge of town. Perhaps these thieves wanted to leave town straight after their big haul and he might be able to see who did it before they got away.

Marshadow ran as fast as he could towards the outskirts of town. As he got closer to the outskirts, he heard the distinctive voice of the man that had commanded the people within the museum. Marshadow wondered what it was that drew him towards these criminals, but thankfully he was the best being there was at being stealthy. They didn't appear to be in any rush to leave the city, so Marshadow slunk into the shadows of the city streets, and kept an eye and an ear out for what these people were saying.

"We've got the orbs," one of them was saying, "we don't need anything else. Let's go."

"Why would we just go when we have a captive audience to help pay for our organization?" Another argued back.

"Force them to pay and have them hate us forever more?"

"I didn't realize we were so high strung about the public's approval of us."

"If the public like us, then we can use them to gain an upper hand in this rebellious fight of ours."

"Good luck with that," the second man said, "what's the actual plan? Like, really the plan?"

There was a pause that almost got Marshadow to look closer at what was transpiring. He didn't want to risk capture or exposure, but he needed the right angle to best spy from within the shadows.

As Marshadow failed to adjust his viewpoint, he just had to continue listening in and hope they passed by him at some point.

"You know that I cannot reveal the larger steps to the forecast of the fates," the original commanding voice said, speaking for the first time in the bicker-filled conversation.

"I-I know," the secondary man said, "but I just, well, I thought-"

"Does it matter one bit what you thought?"

"No, sorry, sir."

Marshadow heard footsteps and made sure to melt into the shadows even more, just in case. It did not, however, stop him from seeing the clothes that these criminals wore- even as they openly conspired in the city streets.

They each wore black uniforms, with belt buckled adorned with the letter 'C'. Brass buttons all in the shape of 'C' lined up the criminals' overcoats. Marshadow had no idea how he knew this, but as his mind was wracked with pain and bombarded with image after image, he knew who these people were. He could also guess what it was that they had stolen from within the museum.

They were Team Cosmic.

The Silver Espeon: Thank you so much for this review. We're super glad you're enjoying the story so far!