Location: Serene Village Plaza
Date: June 17th

Every morning, Nuzleaf and I say our good mornings and begin eating breakfast. Usually about halfway through, he'll stop to ask me what my plans are for today. My response is normally short and sweet, sometimes inviting him to merge his plans with our own if something comes up that he wants me to be part of depending on what we've got going on for that day. Then we'll clean up and I'll grab my gear and leave while Nuzleaf gathers his own belongings for his plans, shouting my goodbye at him as I race out the door.

I mention this because Nuzleaf and I had breakfast and casual banter this morning like we did most mornings, but part of me found that a little disturbing. If you listened in on our conversation, you'd never know we had a serious talk yesterday or that there had been any problems between us whatsoever.

I feel like there used to be an unspoken rule about not mentioning past conflicts or…unpleasant occurrences. Much like my instinct of not disturbing Nuzleaf with my nightmares or not crying in front of others, I have no recollection of anything prompting me to feel this way. Part of me figured it was just another feeling to disregard, but…that didn't seem right either.

I mean, I have it for a reason, right? These instinctive feelings are supposed to keep me safe in times of stress or danger, and they developed in me when...something happened, right? It's disturbing I can't recall these critical events that made me feel this way. They must've been major to leave such a strong imprint on me, yet I remember none of them.

Okay, but there's literally nothing stressful nor dangerous happening, so this feeling shouldn't arise. Yet here it is, butting into my life like I asked for its damn opinion on anything.

Annoyed with my irrational anxieties, I decided to do what Lyra does best and throw caution out the window. I asked Nuzleaf if this casual banter thing after yesterday's events was a little on the disturbing side, or if it was just me.

Nuzleaf uh…heaved a heavy, possibly overexaggerated sigh and stretched both of his arms across the table in a dramatic way…after pushing his breakfast safely to the side, of course.

He said he's glad someone said something because he'd been thinking the same thing but wasn't sure if it was appropriate enough to ask or if the feeling was even mutual. I admitted that I wasn't sure myself if the question should've been asked. I cracked a joke that from now on if there's an awkwardness in the air, then we shouldn't hesitate to voice it in the form of two sports announcers. He raised an eyebrow at me, and I decided to give the following example:

"Oh, lookee there Jim! The Chikorita child just mentioned a human thing her companion knows very little about and thus furthered his confusion! Mm, what a strange "soggy cucumber" the two are in. I wonder how they're gonna get out of this one."

"Well, it was a good bonding attempt on Irau's part, Steve, but unfortunately her target is very dumb."

Ha, he quickly jumped on the wagon and took his best swing at the joke himself.

"Oooh, harsh words indeed, Jim, but though her opponent ain't the ripest fruit in the forest, he sure knows how to tussle with the best of 'em once he's properly introduced to the gimmick at play. D'ya reckon the Chikorita child has what it takes to walk the walk with her old man, or do you think he'll beat her at her own game?"

"Hoo boy, hard to say at this point, Steve. Though she certainly didn't hesitate to challenge her rival with an example of an awkward situation, I ain't too keen on her chances of keeping up with his expertise in pointless goofs and lil' comedy bits. He has years of this silliness to rely on, whereas the lil' bean has maybe…"

Aww…he'd been doing so well when he stopped to ask me what my age was. It then occurred to me that…that's a question I asked myself on like entry one or two, and he's only asking me this now? I admitted that I don't really know. I know I'm much older than I look, but I don't know my actual age. I reassured him that not knowing has been haunting me since I first arrived here.

Heh. My opening!

"Talk about a big oof there, Steve. Nuzleaf is only now asking Irau her age! Talk about an extra L on Nuzleaf's part, there's probably loads of stuff he never knew about his "lil' bean"."

Ah, but as I said that and Nuzleaf started looking discouraged I decided to add on, "But the playing ground's even there, Jim, since there's very little Irau knows about Nuzleaf. For example, what is his age? Nuzleaf actually asking her directly gains him a point. Nuzleaf 1, Irau 0."

Heh. Though my silly bit made him smile, he admitted that the information flow's not gonna be very even. There's a lot he needs to know about me to take better care of me, but there's only so much he can tell me about himself since there's not much to tell. I said any information, even if it's seemingly boring, would be fine. If there's stuff he'd rather not share that's fine too. I'm sure there's some stuff I might not want to share…if I even remember anything unpleasant not worth sharing, that is.

Well, that little uh…exchange? whatever you call it…made the morning a tad more interesting. Even if there's awkward tension in the air, we have a way of working around it in our own goofy way.

That's what I like about my relationship with both Nuzleaf and Lyra – they both leave room for goofiness. Neither of them are stiff, strict or cold when they interact with me. While there are times where seriousness is necessary, we can laugh and goof around during other times.

It really does add richness to my life, and I won't lie…it's incredibly relaxing. Even if stuff like what happened yesterday comes up, it's nice to know that we can revert to our silly ways. I guess that's one telltale sign of a healthy relationship – when you can joke around and goof off together as well as have serious moments.

Ah, I'm rambling now. I should get on with the rest of what happened this morning.

I'd say nothing noteworthy happened once I left the house, but…there was a bit of strange news we heard from Raticate and Lombre. Apparently, Vice Principal Watchog was found unconscious at the school last night while he was doing his rounds. Lombre said he claims to have seen something so frightening it made him faint, though he doesn't remember what it was. Raticate and Lombre laughed it off as the VP making up stories to hide how he'd fallen asleep during his rounds.

I mean…that could have happened. This is Watchog, after all. He's known for being a little…overdramatic to save face. Still, I can tell their story rattled Lyra a little. Scary stories really get to her, and I feel bad I can't really make others stop telling them. They're part of life.

Even so, I…I don't like seeing her be so unnerved or downtrodden because someone told her a scary story. That's not how Lyra should be – she should be peppy and energetic like she normally is. To see her so…so gloomy isn't natural.

I wish I could take that way for her so she didn't have to dwell in it.

Location: Home (before dinner)

After our expedition, I decided to tell Lyra about the vision I had yesterday. Naturally, she was confused and horrified when I mentioned the thing about the belt…even though I had to explain what a belt was.

I was talking about how I have a gut feeling that silhouetted person might be one of my previous parents – my biological parents. If they are, what are we gonna do if I get sent back to that violent person? I was sent here, so it's possible I'll get sent back, right?

I admitted the possibility terrified me, and Lyra said that if I get sent back that she hopes she gets sent back with me so she can convince that person not to hurt me anymore. I questioned her choice, asking if she'd really be willing to leave her pops and everything she knows and loves behind in favor of convincing some stranger not to hurt me again. She admitted she didn't like the idea of leaving Carracosta and her friends and world behind.

However, I'm her friend too and if I got sent back to that person, then I'd need her help more than anyone here. She said she couldn't just abandon her endangered friend because she didn't want to say goodbye to her loved ones. That'd be selfish and awful! Besides, she was sure we'd find a way to make my parent stop hurting me and return to this world so my real parents could meet Nuzleaf and give him a proper thanks for looking after me so well.

Ahhh, Lyra…so delightfully innocent and hopeful. Chances are good that if that is my proper parent that I saw, they aren't gonna be that easily swayed from their uh…past discretions. Even if they were, I'd have a hard time forgiving them and certainly wouldn't trust them enough to bring them here. This world's done more for me than any of my memories have, why the hell would I bring a toxic element from my memories here?

But if they'd hurt Lyra and asked for her forgiveness, they'd get it immediately. Lyra's just that kind of person, and it's one of the reasons I want to look after her.

I told her that I don't think many folks would have such a hopeful and optimistic viewpoint about that kinda situation.

"Well, not many folks have a friend like you, Irau."

Euagh, my poor icy delicate heart! I'd take a bullet for this kid, I swear to Arceus. Too good for this cruel world…

Location: Home (after dinner)

After we had dinner, Nuzleaf sat me down and ran me through a list of really personal questions. I guess he didn't like waiting this long to ask that age question from this morning. We were only doing a comedy bit, but maybe it bothered him more than he let on. And if he hadn't thought to ask my age, then maybe these were things he reflected on and didn't like not having the answers to.

What's my favorite color? What's my favorite food? Do I have any flavor preferences? Do I have any food allergies? What minor things do I remember from my days of being human? Do I have a favorite Pokémon? Is it Chikorita? Is that why I was turned into one? Do I know if I have any family members out there who might be looking for me? Things of that sort.

He asked a LOT of questions and kept insisting that we keep going even when I whined about being tired. Even if he hadn't thought to ask these until now, what's the rush? Some things in life were better discovered when they became relevant. Like, how was I supposed to answer the "what minor things do I remember from my days of being human" question? That's so vague and there are so many things I either didn't think of at the time or haven't recalled yet, so the answer's always changing.

Oh, before I forget, I wanna get the current answers to those questions down. The answers might change in the future depending on what I experience or come across, so this little information bit might be interesting to read back on later:

My favorite color is sky blue. Dark blue, that is, not that light blue crap. I don't know or remember what my favorite food is, but so far my favorite thing has been Nuzleaf's Apple Smoothies which consists of various berries mixed with apples in a deliciously smooth and slightly tart smoothie. Always willing to try new flavors of that when he comes up with them. Yum!

I don't have any flavor preferences or food allergies, but I cannot eat anything bitter. I've tried so hard to eat dishes Nuzleaf made that are bitter, and I just...I can't. I feel bad, but I can't.

As far as I know, I don't have a favorite Pokemon. I can't remember if past me had one, but I don't think it was Chikorita. No way to know for sure though. Do I have any family members who might be looking for me? Can't remember that either.

Well, after some time I begged Nuzleaf to stop so I can rest up for the night. We had more expeditions to go on tomorrow, and Lyra wanted me to get up really early to prepare. He was…annoyed, but he relented and said we'll get through the rest tomorrow night.

I wonder why he's so eager to know the answers to these questions now? Like I said, there's no rush. Now that I think about it, I don't know the answers to those questions from his perspective. What's his favorite color? What's his favorite food flavor?

Well, tomorrow's question-asking session might be more interesting than I anticipate.