Episode 117: Down Memory Drain

Ash and Brock are in the middle of a battle out in the wilderness by their campsite. Ash is using Curemodo, and Brock, presumably as a favor to Ash, is using Solurtle. Ash orders, "Now Curemodo, use Dragon Claw!" Curemodo leaps at Solurtle to attack with its claws.

Brock quickly counters, "Keep it away with Rapid Spin!" Solurtle quickly pulls into its shell and rotates rapidly, knocking Curemodo away before it can land its attack.

During this sequence, no one seems to notice, but a concentrated streak of golden light goes across the field, flashing into existence for only a split moment before vanishing again. A gust of wind radiates out from where the light was.

Having not noticed the light, Ash advises, "Remember Curemodo, you're not as agile as you were when you were a Heala. Using your Cold Blooded ability against Blake was great, but we have to find a more permanent way to compensate for your decreased mobility."

Curemodo nods and flicks its tongue out. "Modo."

Ash suggests, "Your close-range attacks are great, but maybe some long-range attacks thrown in could be what we need." Ash thinks for a moment. "Your only long-ranged attack is Venoshock, so let's do some practice with that. Leap back and prepare your strongest Venoshock!"

"Modo!" Curemodo does as instructed. It puts some distance between it and Solurtle, then prepares to attack. However, instead of prepping a Venoshock, Curemodo begins to glow with a purple energy.

Ash asks, "Huh, what's that?"

Brock suggests, "It looks like a new move."

But before Curemodo can use its new move, an excited voice suddenly exclaims, "Oh my goodness! It's a Curemodo!" A boy comes running in. He wears a simple blue t-shirt and tan shorts. His hair is brown and slightly spikey. A Sporout is spread out in a lazy position atop his head.

The boy is filled with excitement. He rushes up to Curemodo, and begins to rush around the Pokémon, observing it at all angles. This interruption causes Curemodo to lose its focus, and the attack it was preparing ceases. The boy exclaims, "Curemodo are awesome! They're so big and powerful!"

Ash laughs. "They sure are, and mine is one of the strongest."

The boy looks to Ash eagerly. "Really?" But before he gives Ash a chance to answer, Solurtle catches his eyes. "No way! A Solurtle!?" He rushes over to it. "I've never seen one of these up close before!" He runs all around Solurtle, slightly to the Pokémon's annoyance. He suddenly comes to an abrupt stop. "Wait… that's not right… is it…?"

Ash walks over to the boy. "Is something wrong?"

The boy sighs. "I don't know. It's hard to explain…"

Brenda, cradling her egg in its incubator, comes and explains, "Hey, I know you. Aren't you Chris?"

The boy looks to Brenda with surprise. "Oh hey, you're Brenda! What a crazy coincidence, meeting someone else from Launch Town way out here!"

Ash asks, "You two know each other from Launch Town?"

Brenda nods. "Yeah, Chris lived a few houses down. He was Brandon's neighbor."

Chris tilts his head. "Brandon…? Who's that?"

Brenda's slightly surprised. "You lived right next to him. Don't you remember the boy who lived next door?"

Chris contemplates for a second. "The name sounds familiar. I think I know who you're talking about, I just never knew him that well." He hesitates. "Did I?"

Brenda states, "Oh well, it's no big deal. Anyways, what brings you out here?"

Chris sighs, suddenly losing all of his previous energy. "I wish I knew…"

Brock looks concerned. "What does that mean? How do you not know why you're out here?"

Chris sighs again. "Well, I hate to admit it, but my memory of recent times is a little shaky. I know I left from Launch Town with Sporout here as my partner a little while after Brenda left. I know I went straight to Kanaveral, but after that, I'm not entirely sure. I suddenly found myself in Opti City. At first, I didn't question it. As strange as it may sound, nothing seemed wrong to me. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized something wasn't right. My memories weren't lining up. Since then I've been traveling around the area, trying to see if I could remember anything." He hangs his head. "But I've got nothing…"

Sporout pats the top of his head reassuringly. "Rout sporout."

Ash shakes his head in disbelief. "Wow, that's rough. I can't imagine what you're going through."

Chris adds, "The worst part is, I can't shake the feeling that whatever it is I can't remember is something really important. Crazy important."

Ash suddenly declares, "Well, my name is Ash, this is Pikachu, and that there's Brock. You already know Brenda. And we're up for doing anything we can to help you get your memories back."

Chris can't believe it. "Really, you only just met me and you want to help me?"

Ash smiles. "Of course. I see someone in distress, and that's what I want to do, help them."

Chris looks beyond happy. "Wow, that's so cool. I'm not used to people wanting to help me." He sighs. "Most people just think I'm annoying and want me to leave them alone."

Brenda contemplates something. "Well… I wouldn't say that's not the case." She laughs, making a joke of it. "But that doesn't mean I don't want to help."

Chris laughs too, able to take a jab.

Brock looks up from his Pokéssistant and says, "Hey, listen to this. I was looking up unusual cases of amnesia, and there's a news report from just a few days ago of an entire town with amnesia. Nobody knows how it happened."

Chris gets excited. "That could be related to my amnesia!"

Brock adds, "And we're in luck, we're not far from the town right now. We could be there after only a little while of walking."

Ash declares, "Then let's go."

Chris shouts, "Yeah!"

As they prepare to leave, a figure watches them from afar. It's too hard to make any details of the figure out, as it glows with a blinding light. It then disappears in another streak of light.

Ash glances back, having felt the sudden movement, but the light streak is already gone.

Ash and the others walk through a quiet town. It seems a little too quiet. Nobody's out and about. There's almost no movement. Brenda notices someone staring out a window at them, and tries to wave at her, but the woman promptly closes the curtains.

Chris speaks up first, "This isn't right. Something's weird."

Brock points out, "How would you react if you got amnesia and everything and everyone around you was unknown? These people are nervous, and rightfully so."

Chris nods. "Yeah, that sounds right."

Brenda comments, "I wish we could do something to help them…"

Ash suggests, "Maybe we can. We're trying to figure out something to help Chris with his amnesia, after all."

Suddenly a man comes running up to them. He appears somewhat unhinged and disheveled. He asks in hysteria, "You! You're new! Do you know me!?" He grabs Ash by the shoulders and begins to shake him. "Please tell me you know me!"

Ash is unsure of how to respond. "Um… no… I'm sorry… I don't know you…"

The man drops to his knees and shouts, "Why!?"

From behind, a voice with a heavy accent says, "Now, now Alex, vat have ve talked about?"

The man, Alex, slowly gets back to his feet. "Yes, sorry." He shamefully walks away.

From behind Ash, three people walk up. All three of them bear thick and pointed gray goatees, despite the fact that two of them have vibrant blue and red hair on the top of their heads. Also, despite the facial hair, the red-haired one looks almost feminine in form. They also wear small, circular rimmed glasses, and suits. The red-haired one states, "Ve apologize for ze intrusion. Alex is von of our trickier patients."

Ash turns around, "No worries, it's totally understandable, given what he's been through."

The moment that Ash faces them, the three freeze up. The blue haired one says, "If you could please give us a moment. Ve'll be right back." He and the others rush off to hide under a nearby stall.

Dropping the apparently phony accent, the red-haired one says in a voice that is clearly Jessie's, "Why do the twerps always have to appear where they're wanted the least?"

The short one, Meowth, responds, "It's like a Venomoth to the flame, it's in their twerpish nature."

James points out, "There's no need to panic, they'll never recognize us in our cleverly crafted costumes. We just need to stay in character and they'll never suspect us. We'll succeed in this scam."

Meowth nods in agreement. "Yeah, let's get back out there."

Meanwhile, Brenda comments, "Those are some interesting people. Kind of hard to understand them with that heavy accent."

Brock explains, "According to the article I read, three world-class psychologists were dispatched here to try to help the people recover their memories. That must be them. If anyone could help with Chris, maybe it's them."

Team Rocket returns, back in character. Meowth asks, "So, vat is it zat brings you here?"

Ash explains, "It's Chris here." He beckons to Chris, who waves at Team Rocket. "He's experiencing memory loss too, and we were wondering if it might be related to what happened here."

James nods as he strokes his fake goatee. "I see. Very interesting. As far as ve know, the amnesia experienced here is a localized phenomenon. Ve suggest that you talk to Dr. Richards. He has been studying ze possible causes of zis unexplained amnesia."

Jessie seems to like the idea. "Yes, yes. Talk to Dr. Richards and leave us to our work. You vill find him on ze other side of town."

Ash nods. "Thanks for the advice. We'll head right over."

As they leave, Team Rocket breathe a sigh of relief.

Who's that Pokémon!?

It is attracted by feelings of jealousy and vindictiveness. If someone develops strong feelings of vengeance, this Pokémon will appear in a swarm and line up beneath the eaves of that person's home.

On the outskirts of town, Ash knocks on the door of a large but lonely house. The door cracks open and a voice from the other side asks, "Do I know you?"

Ash shakes his head. "No, we're new to this town and were told to ask someone named Dr. Richards about amnesia."

The man sighs. "Sorry, Richards isn't here." He slams the door.

Brenda questions, "That's not right. This is his house, right?"

Brock nods. "It is."

Chris steps forward and pounds on the door. Without opening the door, the voice shouts, "Just leave me alone. That's all I want."

Chris pleads, "Please, sir, I need your help. My life is a mess. I've lost so much, and I don't even know what it is. I can't live like this. It's like a nightmare. I'm nothing without my memories, I need them back, and you're the only person I know who can help. Please, sir. Please."

The man sighs. The deadbolt can be heard unlatching and the door opens. On the other side of the door is an older man with a balding head, wearing semiformal clothing. "I'm sorry to hear that you're experiencing this as well. I'll help. I may not feel like him, but I am Dr. Richards."

Brenda's eyes widen. "Wait, you're affected by the mass amnesia too?"

Richards hangs his head and hesitates to answer. "I was in the town when the amnesia-inducing event occurred. As it would turn out, I was the town's scientist, so everyone is counting on me to find a solution." He sighs again and looks to Chris. "So, you have amnesia?"

Chris nods. "Yes. I was wondering if it might be related to the event here."

Richards shakes his head and says with certainty. "No, completely unrelated. Something else had to have caused your amnesia."

This catches Brock's attention. He asks with suspicion, "How could you possibly know that? If you have amnesia too, you certainly couldn't know if Chris was affected."

Richards pauses, caught off-guard by Brock's questioning. "I couldn't tell you. I just do."

Brock slowly nods, suspicious of Richards' imprecise response.

Richards presses on and asks, "Tell me, what are your memories like? How severe is the amnesia?"

Chris explains, "I think it's my memories of the past few months that are missing."

Richards nods. "Then it is indeed true. Everyone here in town has complete memory loss. No one can remember anything. Your amnesia is something different."

Chris hangs his head. "Oh…"

Richards, seeing his disappointment, adds, "But, seeing as I have come to learn many things about amnesia in recent times, I am willing to do what I can to help you recover your memories."

Chris' face light up. "That would be awesome!"

Richards smiles faintly. "Okay then. Come, sit down in my living room. We'll start by asking you some questions." Everyone except for Brock go to sit on Richards' couch. He asks, "Let's start with something simple. What's the last thing you remember before your memory loss?"

Chris sighs. "I'm not certain that's so simple. My memories are like a tangled mess. Whenever I think I've made it to the end, I find another knot..."

Richards contemplates the answer. "So, you're saying that there is no clear divide between what you can and can't remember? Your memories are distorted around the time where they go missing?"

Chris nods. "Yeah, that about sums it up. The harder I try to think about it, the harder it is recall anything."

Richards slowly nods as contemplates this. "It sounds to me like there's some kind of block on your memories. They're still there, but something is preventing you from accessing them. Very interesting. Let's go through a few more questions before I say anything for sure." Chris nods.

While they continue their questions, Brock is looking around the house. He says to himself, "Something's not right. Richards is hiding something…" He looks at the wall of a hallway, and notices square patches on the wall that appear cleaner and more vivid in color than the rest of the wall. There's also a nail towards the top of each of these squares. This makes Brock curious. He looks around the house at various tables, walls, and shelves. "Huh…" He walks back into the living room and asks, "Dr. Richards, if you don't mind me asking, I noticed you don't have any pictures in this house."

Richards looks to Brock in a moment of hesitation. "What are you asking?"

"Well, it's just that I would expect a family household like this to be full of photos, and surely those would be helpful in trying to remember your past."

"And who says this is a family household?"

"The size, this house has more rooms than one man living alone could ever need."

Richards crosses his arms, appearing upset. "So what? I may not remember my life, but isn't it obvious that I have no family? Clearly, I live here alone, and I would appreciate it if you dropped the topic." After a few moments he sighs. "I'm sorry. My life before the amnesia event is a touchy subject for me. I'd appreciate it if you didn't push me any further in those regards."

Brock nods. "Yes, of course. I'm sorry I brought it up." However, this response seems to have only made him more suspicious.

Richards looks back to Chris, but before he can pose any further questions, the ground begins to rumble. Brenda shouts, "What's going on!?"

Ash yells, "An earthquake!?"

Richards beckons his arms in a request for them to calm down. "It's no need to worry. It just means that it's lunch time."

Ash, Brock, Brenda, and Chris all ask together, "Lunch time?"

"Come outside, I'll show you." The shaking stops.

Everyone moves outside. Ash climbs atop a hill and looks around. "I don't see anything. What caused the-" The ground beneath Ash begins to shake again. "Earthquake!?"

From a wider point of view, it's clear that only the hill Ash stands on is shaking, not the rest of the floor. The dirt on the hill begins to crumble away as something from beneath the floor rises from the ground. Ash falls from the "hill," shouting in a combination of surprise and fear as he does so.

When the dust settles, it turns out that the hill wasn't a hill, but rather a massive Pokémon that looks like a turtle. Aside from its size, the most notable trait of the Pokémon is its shell, which is colored with patches of green, brown, blue, and white. It looks like a globe, an entire planet on the shell of this turtle. The turtle itself looks more like a combination of a sea turtle with a tortoise, with flippers rather than legs, but with a very long neck and the shell shape of a tortoise. Its scales are colored a greenish-brown, and its eyes are a vivid yellow.

Once Ash gets up off the ground, he promptly pulls out his Pokédex. "Galapaglobe, the World Turtle Pokémon, and a Water and Ground Combo-Type. This Pokémon is known for its extremely long lifespan. Throughout its life, it never stops growing. Ancient people believed that the Earth was a giant Galapaglobe. Evolves from Galapelago at level 33."

Brenda says in awe, "Wow, it's so massive!"

Ash agrees, "It's beyond massive!" He looks to Dr. Richards. "Is this your Pokémon?"

"Well… it would seem that is the case. A Pokémon this large eats a lot of food." From a nearby shed he pulls out a large bucket crammed full of various berries. "Okay Galapaglobe, open up!"

The Pokémon opens its mouth and roars in a low yet booming voice, "Glooooooobe!"

Richards tosses the berries into the gaping mouth. As Galapaglobe chews the food, Richards strokes the top of the Pokémon's head. It seems to enjoy that. Richards looks back to Chris. "Okay, sorry about that interruption. Let's get back to our analysis."

It's Shuppet!

Team Rocket sit in a room wearing their costumes. They each sit in a chair surrounding a woman lying on a reclining couch. James asks, "So, vat seems to be ze problem?"

The woman looks at him with disbelief. "Are you serious? You should know what my problem is by now."

Meowth chimes in, "Vat he means to say is zat ve need to know vat other problems have been plaguing you since ze amnesia began."

The woman lies back down. "Oh, right. Well, with no memories of my past, everyone around me is a stranger. The thing is, I think I might have had anxiety attacks induced by strangers before the amnesia."

Jessie nods. "I see. So vat you are telling me is zat no matter who you talk to now, it induces feelings of panic and anxiety, yes?"

The woman nods. "Exactly. I can't talk to anyone anymore."

James nods back. "Zat does sound difficult. But tell me, do you know anything about a Pokémon known as Gardevoir?"

The woman appears confused. "Gardevoir? What does it have to do with my anxiety?"

"Maybe nothing, maybe everything."

This only confuses the woman further. "Well… I don't know anything about any Gardevoir."

Meowth nods slowly. "I see. Zat is too bad." He suddenly shouts, "Next!"

The woman objects, "Hey, what about my anxiety?"

Jessie snaps, "Go see a zerapist!"

The woman leaves, grumbling, "That's what I was doing…"

James looks at a clipboard. Dropping the accent, he says, "That was our last appointment for the day."

Jessie, also dropping the accent, breathes a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank goodness. This accent has been killing me."

Meowth responds as chuckling, "I don't know, ze accent has been growing on me."

Back in character, James calls, "Okay, how about you come out now."

Slowly, a Gardevoir steps out from the next room timidly. "Voir?"

Meowth shakes his head. "Sorry pal, no luck on zis round. But don't worry. Ve vill get your memories back. You'll remember your precious trainer, ve promise you."

Gardevoir lowers its head in sadness. "Garde…"

James reassures, "Look, go back to your meditation. Try to remember vat you can. Ve'll keep on working on it from our end."

"Gardevoir…" The Pokémon sadly leaves the room.

Once it's out of earshot, Jessie crosses her arms. "If that Pokémon wants a trainer so badly, why don't we just give it one. I could make a great trainer for a Pokémon as beautiful and elegant as Gardevoir."

James reminds her, "Gardevoir are one of the most loyal Pokémon there are. If we don't do this right, it will never want to stay with us."

"Fine."

Meowth points out, "Besides, we're just about ready for the next phase of our plan. Then Gardevoir will be all ours."

Jessie sighs. "And not a moment too soon. I'm so sick of this act."

Wobbuffet appears to agree, "Wobbuffet!"

Jessie sighs as she recalls it. "You're making me think that I'm the one in need of a therapist…"

Chris and Dr. Richards have continued their session. Ash and Brenda are eating some snacks that Richards put out on a table. Brock is back to looking around the house. Clearly he still feels something is off.

As he walks, he notices something sticking out from underneath a door at the end of a hallway. He tries to open the door, but it's locked from the other side. This intrigues Brock. He instead reaches down and pulls out the object from the under the door. He looks it over. It looks like piece of garbage colored purple. Brock says under his breath. "Specialized Pokémon food for Psychic-Types…" He puts it back where he found it and walks back to the living room.

Richards states, "Okay Chris, I am now confident in my prior diagnosis. You are dealing some sort of mental block, rather than true amnesia."

Chris asks, "What does that mean?"

"It means that I may know the solution to your problem. Hypnosis. A well-trained Psychic-Type Pokémon using Hypnosis could unlock your blocked memories."

Brock asks with suspicion, "Do you have a Pokémon that knows Hypnosis?"

Richards is caught off-guard and freezes up for a moment. "Well… I'm afraid I don't…"

Ash asks, "So all we have to do is find a Pokémon that can use Hypnosis then, right?"

Richards nods. "Hypothetically." He looks to Chris. "However, I must warn you. There could be a good reason that your memories were repressed. It could even be a natural reaction to a traumatic experience. Sometimes it's better to forget than it is to remember. Memories can be painful…" He pauses as a wave of emotion washes over him. "Are you sure you want to go down this avenue?"

Chris looks down to the floor as he contemplates his response. "They're my memories. They're a part of me. I don't care why they're gone. I need them to be whole. I'd rather live with any pain they may cause than live with the empty hole they left behind. Surely you must understand that, given your amnesia situation."

Richards is taken aback. "I… I… I don't know…" This seems to have hit close to home for him. Brock takes note.

Before anything further can be said, there's a knock on the door. Richards is relieved for an excuse for a change in topic. He rushes to the door and opens it. On the other side is James and Meowth in their costumes. James greets, "Good day, sir. Ve have a couple of questions to ask you, if you don't mind."

Richards nods. "Of course, whatever you need."

Meowth says, "Ve have found a Pokémon vith amnesia just like ze rest of zis town. Unlike most Pokémon afflicted, it vas not immediately obvious who zis Pokémon belonged to. Vould you happen to know?"

James and Meowth step aside to reveal Gardevoir. It questions, "Gardevoir?"

Richards freezes up, momentarily, but then forces himself to ignore it. "No… that's not my Pokémon…"

James nods. "Just as ve zought. In zat case, Gardevoir, ve have talked to everyone in town, and ve now know exactly who it is that used to be your trainer."

Gardevoir looks hopeful. "Voir?"

"And she's right over zere." He beckons back behind them, where Jessie, without her costume stands.

Jessie announces, "My precious Gardevoir! I'm so glad to see you again!"

"Voir?"

Ash pushes out from the house and objects, "Jessie!? You're not Gardevoir's trainer!"

Jessie asks, "And just how would you know that?"

"Because I know you've never had a Gardevoir!" He looks to James and Meowth. "You guys have made a mistake, Jessie is lying to you!"

James and Meowth laugh together.

Jessie declares, "You think they care? Then you better prepare for trouble!"

James steps up next to her and declares, "And don't forget to make it double!" Ash, Brock, and Brenda gasp, realizing what's going on.

"To protect the world from memory loss!"

James casts aside his costume and continues, "To remind all people who is the boss!"

"To denounce the evils of bad memory!"

"To extend our reach with extra sensory!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth, that's right!"

"Wobbuffet!"

"Mime mime!"

Ash shouts, "Team Rocket, it was you who caused the amnesia!"

Jessie makes a buzzing noise. "Wrong!"

James states, "But that doesn't mean we can't benefit from it!"

Chris asks, "What's going on?"

Brenda explains to him and Richards, "That's Team Rocket, they're really bad guys who want to steal powerful Pokémon."

Richards says under his breath, "And now they have Gardevoir…"

Ash shouts, "Pikachu, stop them with Thunderbolt!"

Pikachu leaps forward. "Pikaaaaaa chuuuuuuu!"

Jessie chuckles confidently. "Gardevoir, my darling, reflect the move with Light Screen!"

Gardevoir looks once more to Jessie, not entirely sure how to react to everything. It makes up its mind and raises a barrier of light that blocks the electric attack, protecting Team Rocket.

Jessie grins. "Thank you my sweet Gardevoir, it's just like old times. Now, how about you use those psychic powers of yours to grab us that Pikachu."

"Voir." Gardevoir extends an arm and uses Psychic to grab Pikachu pull it towards Team Rocket.

Ash shouts, "Pikachu!" He leaps at it, trying to grab it, but Pikachu is yanked away too fast. He quickly gets back up, and prepares to send out another Pokémon. But before he can, Gardevoir uses Psychic again, this time to pin them all up against a wall.

James laughs. "So this is what it feels like to win! I knew all we needed was the right Pokémon!"

Jessie adds, "You're doing wonderful as always, my dear Gardevoir!"

Brock notices how Richards is fixated on Gardevoir. He shouts, "Enough is enough, Dr. Richards! You can't let this continue, or Team Rocket will get away with this!"

Brenda asks, "Brock, what do you mean?"

"I mean that Richards hasn't been completely honest with us, and it's time for him to tell the truth, both to us and himself!"

Richards sighs. "I never once told a lie to you… I just avoided the truth…" He closes his eyes and clenches his fist, as a look of pure emotional distress takes him over. "I can't do it… I can't say it…"

Brock encourages, "I know it's hard, but you have to! You have to be honest with yourself! You have to say it aloud!"

Richards begins to visibly shake. Tears begin to pour from his eyes. In an emotional release, he shouts, "Gardevoir! You may not be my Pokémon, but you were my wife's!"

Gardevoir is taken aback. "Voir?"

Chris asks, "But how could he remember that?"

Brock states, "It's because he never had amnesia to begin with. Right, Doctor?"

Tears continue to pour from Richards eyes. "It's true! My beautiful wife was everything to me! When I lost her, I couldn't imagine life without her! My memories of her were like a prison, and I needed to escape! So I devised a way to erase my memories. I had Galapaglobe use Amnesia, and had Gardevoir use its empathic powers to transfer the effects of the move to me. I was supposed to forget everything, but fate was too cruel! I still remembered everything! I was the only person in town to remember anything! The experiment had gone completely wrong! What I couldn't have predicted was that Galapaglobe's Amnesia was so powerful, it wiped the memories of everyone else in town." He hangs his head in shame. "And it was easier to use the failure as an excuse to pretend like I had forgotten everything than it was to live with myself." He looks back up to Gardevoir and shouts, "Gardevoir, please! You're all I have left of my wife! Leave Team Rocket and come back to me! I'm sorry I let you down!"

Gardevoir looks confused, distressed, and conflicted. It has no idea what to make of this. "Garde…?"

Jessie shouts, "Don't listen to anything he says, darling Gardevoir! He's trying to come between us!"

Richards shouts, "Gardevoir!"

Jessie shouts, "Gardevoir!"

Gardevoir looks back and forth between the two of them. Completely torn. "Voir!? Garde!? Gardevoir!?" It breaks out into a complete panic. "Gardevoir!" A sudden storm of psychic energy explodes out from the distressed Pokémon.

The psychic storm begins to rip up everything around it. Then, just as it seems it can't get any more destructive, the psychic energy is suddenly pulled back into Gardevoir, condensing to an extremely thick covering around it. Moments later, a critical mass is obtained, and swirling black maw envelops Gardevoir.

Ash and the others are dropped to the floor. Brenda asks, "What's going on!?"

Brock shouts, "It's Gardevoir! Gardevoir have been known to use their psychic powers to create black holes in order to protect their trainers! In its distress and panic, the process must have gone horribly wrong! It's going to suck in everything!"

Team Rocket hear this and look to each other in panic. Before any of them can say anything further, the effects of the black hole suddenly sucks them, then slingshots them back out, sending them hurtling into the sky as they shout, "We're blasting off again!"

Richards shouts, "Gardevoir! You have to stop this before you destroy the town!"

Brock shakes his head. "It's no use! It's too late for Gardevoir to control this! We need to figure out another way!"

Chris looks distressed, but a look inspiration suddenly crosses his face. He shouts, "We need to make it go quasar!"

Brenda asks, "What in the world does that mean!?"

Chris answers, "I don't know! But it's what we need to do! I just know it! I can feel it!"

Brock speaks up, "I know what he's saying! Quasars are black holes that take in material so fast that they eject much of it back out! If we can pump enough energy into that black hole, we might be able to turn it into a quasar, which would make it unstable, and maybe even stop it!"

Chris nods. "Yeah! That's exactly it! We need to do that!"

Ash declares, "In that case Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"

"Pikaaaaaaaa chuuuuuuu!" Pikachu begins to pump electricity into the black hole.

Brenda throws a Pokéball. "Glitterfly, use Solar Beam!"

"Glittererererfly!"

Brock sends out Blissey, "Use Secret Power!"

Chris shouts, "Sporout, use Energy Ball! As many as you can!"

The attacks are all effortlessly absorbed into the black hole. Brock shouts, "It's not enough! We need more!"

Richards shouts, "Galapaglobe! We need your help!"

The ground shakes even more than it already was, and Galapaglobe comes stomping in. "Gloooooooobe!"

"Galapaglobe, use Earth Power!"

"Glooooooobe!" Galapaglobe opens up fissure beneath the black hole, and energy erupts up and out of the ground, into the black hole.

The black hole begins to fluctuate, but it still continues to suck in everything with little change.

Brenda says in disbelief, "No way, even with Galapaglobe, it's not enough!" Large objects begin to be ripped out of the ground and pulled into the black hole.

Chris shouts, "We need more power!"

Ash shouts, "We can't give up! Everyone in this town is relying on us! Gardevoir is relying on us! We have to do this!"

A streak of golden light rushes by like earlier, then from above, a massive beam of intense golden light bursts down and into the black hole.

Chris shouts in shock, "What's that!?"

With the added power of the light beam, the black hole suddenly reverses its rotational direction. Brock shouts, "That's it! The polarity has been reversed! Everyone take cover!"

Everyone leaps away right before the black hole suddenly shoots an extreme beam of energy straight up into the sky. As this beam fires, the black hole begins to shrink. Seconds later and it's gone completely, leaving Gardevoir floating unconscious in the air. Gardevoir falls.

Richards runs over to it, in order to catch it just before it hits the ground. "Gardevoir, are you okay?"

Gardevoir slowly comes to and looks up to Richards' face. "Gardevoir, do you remember me?"

Gardevoir stares at his face, then suddenly everything becomes unlocked. Its eyes widen as it remembers everything. That's not all though, a psychic shockwave bursts outwards from Gardevoir, enveloping the entire town.

As the wave washes over the townspeople, looks of realization and clarity cross their faces. As their memories return, former friends and family embrace each other in joy.

A tear falls from Richards' eye. "Gardevoir, can you ever forgive me?"

Gardevoir smiles as it reaches up to comfortingly stroke Richards' face. "Gardevoir."

Richards hugs Gardevoir tightly as he breaks down sobbing.

Watching this display of emotion, Brock says, "Sometimes the hardest thing someone can do is simply to remember."

Chris adds, "But it's memory that makes life worth living. Without memory, what are we?"

Chris is sitting on Richards' couch again, passed out asleep. Gardevoir stands in front of him, waving its arms in a circular pattern.

Richards asks, "Chris, tell me, as you enter this room within your mind, what do you see?"

Chris answers in a monotone voice, "I… I see a face…"

"Good, do you recognize this face?"

"It's… it's the face of my best friend…"

"And what is the name of this friend?"

"His name… his name is… his name is-" He suddenly bursts awake. "Huh? What happened!?"

Richards sighs. "I'm afraid the hypnotherapy was unsuccessful. The block on your memories are too strong. Any attempt to remove them instantly snaps you out from the hypnosis."

Chris hangs his head. "So, what you're telling me is that my memories are gone."

Richards shakes his head. "No, they're not gone, they're just waiting for the right time to resurface. I'm afraid there is nothing more that I can do for you."

Chris slowly nods. "I see…" With a sudden burst of optimism, he declares, "In that case, I'm just going to have to replace all those old memories with new ones!"

Ash cheers, "That's the spirit!"

Chris looks to Richards, "Thank you for trying."

Richards shakes his head. "No, it should be me thanking all of you for what you've done for me. You were right. Living in denial of my memories was no life at all." He looks back to Chris. "Chris, I truly hope that someday you get your memories back. Until then, may you live your life to the fullest, and make new memories your forgotten friend would be proud of."

Ash asks, "So Chris, what are you going to do now?"

Chris contemplates his answer for a moment. "After today, all I know is that I want to help people. I want to make the world a better place. Memories of helping people are what I want to fill myself with."

Ash smiles. "That sounds great. Good luck."

Chris smiles back. "You too. I hope we get to see each other again."

Ash nods. "I bet we will."

Ash, Brock, and Brenda are back on the road. They have already parted ways with Chris. Brenda comments, "You know, it's a good thing Chris was able to suggest that quasar thing, or who knows what would have happened."

Ash ponders something. "Come to think of it, we still don't know what the beam of light was. If it wasn't for that, we probably wouldn't have managed."

Brock comments, "Whatever it was, it had some extreme power behind it, and we should be thankful for its help."

What the three don't notice is the flash of light as something speeds by them once more. The light streak ends at the top of a cliff above them. Standing there, observing them intensely is the Legendary lightspeed Pokémon Velocivity.

Today our heroes learned to cherish their memories, for there is nothing more important, or perhaps nothing to life at all, other than making new memories to cherish.

Some time later, Chris arrives in a city. He stands in front of a large building. He looks up to Sporout and says, "This is it, Sporout. If we want to help people, this is the best place start. With them, we'll be doing everything we can to make the world a better place."

Sporout lazily agrees, "Sporout."

"Come on, let's go!" He runs into the building. As he does, the sign atop the door is revealed to be a logo featuring a stylized P, the Team Planetary logo.

As the mood changes to something more ominous, the narrator concludes, Stay tuned…

To Be Continued…

Confused about who Chris is? Read his story in the Cosmic Chronicles, a series of special episodes posted exclusively to the Cosmic Quest Official Website.