Location: Home, Main Room
Date: July 11th

Huh. Guess my sleep schedule includes waking up before Lyra now. Granted I was awake for only a few minutes before her, but still.

Ugh...I hate putting it off repeatedly, but this morning didn't feel like the right time to tell her about the deal Ampharos and I made. We just got over a little spat the day before yesterday, and I get the feeling this is gonna spark another one. We need a little breathing room between fights.

Hm. Anyway, Lyra was amped up to go on an expedition today, but I told her I was gonna stay behind. I wanted to have some one-on-one talks with the Society members now that they knew of my human history. With the air cleared, I wanted to have open and honest discussions with them.

Lyra asked if I was sure I was up to all that talking, and I said my voice might be hoarse for the next few days, but this was important. You can't drop a knowledge bomb like that on someone and not discuss it afterwards. That's awful! I have more tact than that.

So, Lyra and I hugged before she left to do her thing. I decided to start on the top floor with Jirachi and work my way down. He's the one who told everyone else, after all.

Location: Jirachi's Observatory

Jirachi didn't have much to say, just that he was glad everything worked out. I asked him if he had any questions about what he heard or saw yesterday, but he just kinda shrugged.

"Is there anything you needed to explain in further detail? I got the gist of it yesterday when you and Lyra were talking to Nuzleaf."

Ah, good point. I couldn't think of anything else to add. Me being human, losing my memories, and the Beheeyem chasing me made up the bulk of the information they needed to know.

Oh, but Jirachi did have one question he wanted to ask. Yesterday, I told Nuzleaf that the only memories that had resurfaced were a couple of my "scum memories". What did I mean by that?

Ooh...yeah, forgot he didn't know about those. I told him they were obscure memories that only painted a grim picture of what my life was like. They just sorta come back to me when I faced upsetting situations. Usually in the form of a dark room with a sudden light source silhouetting a menacing attacker, or a cone of light falling on a human I didn't recognize. These memories covered various forms of unpleasantness from physical abuse, to verbal abuse, to abandonment.

Jirachi stared at me silently for a bit, then floated over and tried his best to hug me with his tiny arms. He said he was sorry that I had to endure something like that. I told him he had nothing to be sorry for. I don't even fully remember those situations. He said maybe not, but I remember how they made me feel, right?

He...had me there. It was those negative feelings that made those memories resurface. I'm not even sure if I can properly label them as memories. They were like visions more than anything.

Regardless, it didn't matter. I'm not with those awful people anymore, am I? I'm here. With him.

Aw, that revived his adorable joy. He said that in addition to keeping me safe, the others can help me make joyful memories to replace those awful ones. Just as we can be Dedenne's family, they can be mine too.

Jirachi is such a precious little star.

Location: Home, Nexus Room

I decided to talk to Ampharos next, who was with Dedenne.

Ampharos asked if it's a huge relief now that everyone knows of my past, and I said yes. I admitted that I'm so used to keeping it hidden and being on edge that it feels a little surreal to have everyone know. I also thanked him for keeping it a secret. Couldn't imagine how unpleasant that must've been, keeping secrets from his friends. He kinda shrugged it off. It was a necessary evil now and then.

How did he know, though? Nobody else in the Society caught on except for him. Dedenne said it wasn't surprising to her. Whenever she'd transmit to me, she always felt there was something a bit different compared to other Pokémon.

Ampharos said I had a certain...strangeness about me. More than just my silence. There was a certain way I carried myself, a certain way I behaved and did things that seemed off. Unusual. Un-Pokémon.

How I carried myself? Was this one of those Pokemon instinctual things I wasn't picking up on? In what way was my behavior different?

I wanted to ask more questions but he said he was quite busy, and it'd have to wait for another time. So, I left.

Well then. Mawile's room, I guess.

Location: Mawile's Room

Mawile was really pleased to see me. She'd been hoping to discuss the matter further and asked me to have a seat on the floor. Er...strange, but okay. After I sat, she came over with a stethoscope and monitored my heartbeat for a while. She mumbled something and tossed the stethoscope aside, then grabbed a book and started flipping through it.

She said that it's truly fascinating. Even my heartbeat was that of a normal Chikorita, yet I used to be a human. She set the book aside and sat across from me.

"Why are you here in this world of ours, Irau? That is the mystery which I find most fascinating. I imagine we would get some answers if your memory returned to you, but..."

Well, that's the biggest roadblock for everyone, isn't it? If I got them back, I imagine we'd know why I got turned into a Chikorita and why my memories got erased to begin with. Yet here we are. No answers. No clues. Just me and my patchy, unreliable memories.

Mawile said that I'm truly a marvel. I have the intelligence and deductive reasoning of a human, yet I inhabit the body of a Pokémon. One would think that'd make me a superbeing of limitless potential.

Ha! I told her that she gave humanity far too much credit. "You Pokémon are the real superbeings with limitless potential. You're all faster than us, stronger than us, smarter than us, and better than us in every way. You even have natural instincts that tell you things that I never picked up on since arriving here."

She found that amusing. Despite their strengths, Pokémon choose to obey humans instead of the other way around. This is because no single Pokémon can achieve their max potential on their own. Except, of course, Magikarp, but let's face it, that's not much of a challenge.

Ohhh, that's why Magikarp can be found at level 100. I see.

Her point was, no individual Pokémon was superior to humans in every aspect. Take Mewtwo, for example. They're stronger, faster, and smarter than humans...but not compassionate. That emotional link that forms bonds and brings folks together could be a Mewtwo's undoing.

Humans may not be as smart, fast, or strong as Pokémon, but on an individual level we're capable of much more than a single Pokémon. It's because of that potential and respect that trainers can get a team of six Pokémon to obey them. And it's how those trainers unleash their team's potential that show who they really are.

Anyway, my presence here could mean that their world was facing a problem that no Pokémon could solve. They need the assistance of a human.

So, she meant...

Yeah. It could be that I'm the only one who can reveal the cause of these stone incidents, and even cure them.

Bah...I told her that I seriously doubted that. Of all the humans in the world, I was chosen? I was brought here to resolve their problems? No. There must be some other reason I'm here. So many other humans would be better suited for dealing with this situation. A scholarly human, for example. Or a scientific human. Or even a well-learned martial artist. Not some stupid loser kid who just happened to stumble into this world.

Hm. She commented on my lack of self-esteem. I replied that the memories that I have slowly recovered haven't been useful at all. They were just relics of a past I don't want to face.

Well, in her opinion, I was selling myself far too short. After all, I wanted to help Lyra achieve her dream of joining the Expedition Society. Here we are now. According to Ampharos, I had to fight a trio of Poliwrath Brothers to track him down. And I did that. Successfully. Finally, Lyra and I faced a legendary Pokémon yesterday and wanted to defend our Society colleague. We did just that. Everything I set out to do, I did. There was no half-completion or giving up. I saw my missions through to the end. Maybe that's why I was chosen. Maybe that's what set me apart from other humans.

At least, that's what Mawile thought.

Anyway, that was enough speculating for one day. If she had any further questions or requests, she'd track me down later. I asked if I could have a few minutes to jot all this down in my journal, and she said that was fine so long as I kept quiet so she could read.

She certainly gave me a lot to think about...but I'm afraid she's mistaken in this instance. I wasn't chosen because of sheer determination or stubbornness. I wasn't chosen because of a grand destiny set before me. I came here because I probably did something stupid and ended up here instead of an actual hero.

Maybe their problems would already be resolved if I hadn't done something stupid. Maybe even the folks in Citruse Village...

Bah. I'm beating myself up too much. There's no way to know that for sure, and getting myself worked up over a false scenario I made up in my head won't help anyone.

On to the next room!

Location: Kitchen

Swirlix didn't have a lot to say about me being human. She only asked about what kind of foods we had in my world and if they were tasty.

So...I sat down and wrote out every recipe I could remember. I also did a little translation page on what certain things were called in my world compared to hers. Her little eyes lit up with excitement as she stared at the list of exotic foods and strange names I gave their ingredients. She was more confused about pronunciations than anything.

"What's this word? Sugger?"

It's pronounced "sugar".

"And coo...king oeel?"

Cooking oil.

Needless to say, I wasn't about to waste my whole day doing that.

Location: Lively Town Plaza

I ran into Buizel, and he said I had nothing to worry about. The Pokémon coming after me wouldn't stand a chance against him and the rest of the Society.

Ah, sweet Buizel. Totally over how badly he got whupped by Entei. Well, who was I to ruin his mood? He was determined to keep me safe and had nothing to add about me being human. I thanked him and went about my business.

I ran into Krokorok and Krookodile in Café Connection. Krokorok said his boss has been in a foul mood lately, and if I didn't want to get hurt, then I'd better steer clear. Curious, I decided to talk to Krookodile myself.

"It ain't my fault I do bad things. This world's the one to blame for that. I'm a product of my environment. Nothing can save me."

I...really dude? Really?

Okay, I have my own opinions and thoughts on that, but...I'm lazy and don't feel like writing paragraphs of text over something only I'm gonna read. Unless I decide to let others read this later. Dunno, haven't decided yet. Either way, don't feel like writing that mess.

I'm gonna walk around town some more, then head back. I was hoping to talk to Bunnelby and Archen, but I guess they're out on expeditions.