Location: My old home (morning)
Date: September 29th

After I'd told Eris that I was tired and wanted to turn in, she suggested we crash at Nuzleaf's. Naturally, I was incredibly apprehensive. I mean, the guy wasn't home and it wasn't even my home anymore...was it okay for us to crash here without his permission?

Eris argued that Nuzleaf was my appointed guardian before the Dark Matter incident, and considering he never denounced that role during or afterward, that technically still makes him my guardian. His abode is my abode. Besides, the dude only grabbed a few things before hitting the road. The place hadn't been cleaned or dusted in a long time. Was I really okay with leaving my home in such a state?

She had a point...and we were both horrified by how right she was once we entered the house. Rotten food glued to the wooden table and crates via mold, weeds poking up through the floor, thin vines stretching up a few walls, and the DUST! Oh Arceus, the dust!

Did Nuzleaf ever return to this house after I left!?

Despite how tired I was, I knew we couldn't leave the mess if we wanted to crash there for the night. Eris and I worked together pulling vines off the walls, disposing of the food (All the food. Some of it was probably not rotten, but we were tired and unwilling to take chances), scrubbing dried food bits off the tables and crates to avoid drawing bug Pokemon, and dusting. We reasoned that the weeds were fine for now so long as we watched where we stepped.

By the time we crawled into our sloppily made hay beds, we were bone-tired and disgustingly sweaty. We were lucky it wasn't summer or we would've had to sleep in the sweltering heat. Even though I was totally wiped out, I heard Lyra enter the room at one point and ask if we wanted to spend the night at Carracosta's. Since Eris was snoring away and I was all groggy, I told Lyra we were fine where we were but she was welcome to join us if she wanted.

I mention this because I didn't find it weird that there were three hay beds in the room when I woke up this morning, but it was weird that only Eris and I occupied ours. Where was Lyra?

Mmm...honestly, I don't wanna crawl outta bed. I mean, Lyra and I were first blessed with proper hay beds the night we returned to Lively Town, and you'd best believe we were useless lumps soaking in the lovely comforts of home the following day. Still, waking up here in Serene Village is so so damn nice. So peaceful and quiet. No hustle and bustle of our Society coworkers to jar us awake on and off, no stress or worries – just absolute bliss.

However, it's been a long journey. Lyra might have a lot on her mind that she wants to talk about. I...I think now's a good time to bring up the gravity of the situation we faced, as well as the Dark Matter fight itself. I mean, we're home. Things are peaceful. Things are alright. We're both relaxed and...and we've gotta talk about it eventually, right? We can't let that keep hanging in the air.

I'd say my inevitable disappearance is another thing we have to talk about, but I'm not sure if that applies here. I wrote about this as we were traveling to the village, but Sam, my original humanoid self and the embodiment of my missing memories, is in Ozu, the land of the forgotten. That means I've been completely forgotten about in the human world, right? How can I be sent back to a world in which I'm forgotten? And how can I be sent back as a human if Sam exists? Would I have my old human memories, thus erasing Sam from Ozu?

What of my Chikorita memories? Would the embodiment of my lost Chikorita memories exist in Ozu? And my journal! Would my journal be left behind, or would I bring it back to the human world and just have a random book filled with footprint writing I don't understand? Would enough time pass in this world where I'd somehow be forgotten? Or would my Chikorita self simply exist as a legend in this world?

The only reason I'm assuming I'll disappear from this world is that it must've happened last time. If I truly did come to this world in the past to fight Dark Matter, I must've been sent back, right? Otherwise, how would I have "returned" here to fight once more?

If I'm somehow doomed to return to a world in which I'm forgotten, then...that fucking sucks.

I'm gonna sound like a broken record, but I really do love this world. This is my home. These Pokémon are my family. Even if I'm a human with human relatives and a human life to live, I want to stay here and be Irau the Chikorita. Fuck the human world! This is my world!

Unfortunately, I don't think I can change it. The powers that be decided to send me home last time, so...yeah. I'm not okay with it, but it's beyond me.

Arceus, even now I don't have the power to decide my destiny. Hey, speaking of the god, Lyra and I did Arceus a solid in saving His world. Can't He do anything to let me stay here? Or do we not have brownie points with Him?

...

...

No good. I have no clue where we stand with Him and I'm not even sure how we'd find that out. I mean, the god of this world only spoke to us when He desperately needed our help. Something told me we weren't allowed to just converse with Him whenever we wanted.

Well, if I don't disappear today or even tomorrow, then Lyra and I will make the most of the time we have left.

Another topic I wanted to talk about was the Cold Snap case. What happened at Citruse was awful, but that scoundrel's targeted other villages and destroyed many lives. Now that Dark Matter was taken care of, he was our next target. I wanted to talk about possible clues or leads we could follow up on here in the village. Yes, we're here to visit and recuperate, but since we're already here we might as well see what we can find out. It's highly improbable anyone knows anything given how remote the village is, but you never know. We learned of the stone incidents way out here back in the day, so it's not impossible.

Speaking of our old days in the village, I want to lament how far we've come and everything we've faced together. We aren't the same Pokémon we were when we met. Maybe we'll talk about having her proofread my journal and decide when I'll loan it to her, I dunno.

But first, I gotta find her. She probably didn't leave the village, so I'll just wander around until I find her. I'll write more later.

Location:

Lyra disappeared. She's gone.