Welcome back everyone! This is chapter 4, officially. Technically if you aren't counting the prologue, it's only chapter 3. But whatevs. I noticed that I messed that up a few chapters back. All good. We aren't missing any chapters or anything, so don't worry, if you even noticed.
Typing this one out was an adventure. I finished the chapter a bit ago but when I pulled it up again the next day to edit it, I noticed that for some reason my autosave feature had turned off, and my manual saves hadn't worked. Had to rewrite over half the chapter. I'm not a fan of this version as much as my original, but I deemed it worthy enough to be published, so here we are. Anyway, see you at the bottom!
To live in hearts we leave behind is to not die
Thomas Campbell
Aaron awoke the next morning with a pained moan, still lying on the hardwood floor of his apartment. The morning sun was shining in through the partially shut blinds over his windows, and the sounds of various pokémon making noises outside his window could faintly be heard, but he paid none of it any mind. Slowly reaching his arm up to rub his forehead, the only thing Aaron could think of was how he couldn't think straight at all. His mind felt like it had a veil over it, and every thought rolled into the next without finishing. Attempting to figure out how he ended up sprawled out on the floor of his apartment in front of his door only brought confusion, a dull headache, and more questions than he had answers.
What did he do last night? Did he drink too much?
No, that couldn't have been it. Aaron didn't like making a habit of drinking so much that he blacked out. He did it once with Talia a few months into their relationship, and she made fun of him for the ridiculous stuff he did and said for months afterward. He swore to never blackout again.
Sitting up brought soreness in his back from sleeping on the hardwood floor, but it needed to be done. Groaning as he went, he slowly got up and in doing so, he saw his phone a few feet away from him on the floor. How it ended up over there, he had no idea, but he saw the little light blinking on the top, signifying that he had notifications to look at. Eager to figure out what had happened, he snatched it into his grasp, and pressed the "on" button.
23 missed calls and 31 unread text messages.
"Wow…" Aaron said out loud.
He scrolled through the missed calls first and noticed that all of them were from Albern, George, and Jack. All except for one. Near the end of the list, right before the last four calls, all of which were from George, was a single call from Talia. She only called once, and Aaron's heart immediately filled with dread at the thought of why she had potentially decided to call him. It had been weeks since she last did that. He thought she hated him after breaking her heart. Certainly, her behavior since the breakup proved that.
Deciding then to look at the numerous unread text messages, Aaron tapped a few buttons and brought up the correct screen. Once again, almost all of the 31 texts were from Albern, George, and Jack, except for one. One text was from Talia. Glancing over her name just long enough to catch that it was from her, but not reading its contents, Aaron nervously decided to start with Jack, who apparently texted him last.
Hey dude what's up?
Come on man this isn't funny
Were you a runner? Where did you learn to run so fast?
George was telling me you were staring at my woman. She's mine. Stay away from her. ;)
Well we don't know where you went. Hope you're okay
The rest of Jack's texts were all along these lines. His texts were usually sarcastic and/or ridiculous, so nothing seemed out of the ordinary there. So, Aaron narrowed down that they must have done something together last night. He couldn't quite figure out what it was yet though, as his mind still felt clouded. Moving on with a tap on his phone's screen, Aaron pulled up George's and Albern's unread texts from last night. They were similar to Jack's, asking where he went, expressing worry for his condition, and apologizing for possibly offending him and promising to make it up to him when they saw each other at work.
Work.
Nervously tapping on his phone to bring himself back to the home screen in the blink of an eye, Aaron let out a sigh of relief upon seeing that it was only 6:50 AM on a Saturday. He didn't have to be at work until 7:30 on Saturdays. He still had time to get ready, thankfully. He couldn't be late again after being late so many times in a row during the week. Yannick might actually fire him if he was late again.
After looking through all of the missed calls and most of the text messages, Aaron saw the final notification that he was dreading to look at.
Unread text: Talia
Taking a few seconds to work himself up to reading the message, Aaron looked away and rubbed his temples. His mind still felt like it had a thick blanket over it, much to his chagrin.
Aaron took a deep breath and tapped on the message notification. Talia's name popped up, revealing her text.
Hey, George called me. He sounded pretty worried. I wouldn't call you unless I thought something had happened, so that's why I did that. Anyway, George mentioned the showcase and how you ran away. I hope you're okay. When you get this, let me know. I know we aren't really on speaking terms right now, but I still don't want anything to happen to you. See you tomorrow, hopefully.
The showcase.
It all came back to Aaron as soon as he read that word in Talia's text. The performances of all the girls, crowded seats, Jack's embarrassing comments about each performer, and finally, the mystifying performance of the Kalos Queen.
Serena
The image of her hurt blue eyes flashed in his mind, and briefly his dull headache flared up. Groaning and putting his hand on his temples, Aaron slowly stood up with difficulty, having to use the nearby wall for support. He hobbled over to the cabinet to get his stash of pain medication, and eagerly swallowed four of the pills.
The memories of the showcase all came flooding back into his head, but they stopped at the image of the Kalos Queen staring at him for the briefest of moments. He remembered their eyes meeting, his headache exploding, and then looking up to see the pained expression written on her face, and then blackness. After that, everything is an incomprehensible blur. He somehow ended up at home without his companions, lying face down on his apartment floor, and nobody seemed to know where he was. Did he run away? When did he do that? Did he talk to anyone? Why did Serena cause his headache to flair up? Questions for later, as he had no answers at the moment.
For now, he sighed and looked back down at his phone. He decided to type up a single message to Talia that he would just copy and send to his other friends as well. His fingers were slower than he remembered, but he blamed it on fatigue and his messed-up mind.
Sorry. I wasn't feeling very well yesterday, I guess. I'm at home right now. I'll see you at work and we'll talk about what happened last night. Thanks
Feeling as if that was a sufficient-enough reply for everyone, Aaron sent it to Talia and then to everyone else as well. Glancing at the clock, Aaron saw that it was 7:01. He had 29 minutes to get ready for work. Concentrating, he willed himself to walk to the bathroom to begin a shortened version of his morning routine.
His routine passed by in a blur, as he found that he couldn't think straight enough to concentrate even when brushing his teeth. It was irritating to say the least, but there was nothing he could do about it at the moment. His appointment with Dr. Carter wasn't until Monday. Putting on his white chef's jacket, Aaron shook his head in frustration with himself as he closed the door to his apartment loudly and walked down the stairs.
Fletchling was up in a nearby tree grooming itself just as Aaron briskly left the apartment building and turned on the sidewalk towards Restaurant Le Yeah. It called its name in greeting as it flew a few circles over Aaron, who waved back in reply. He often considered naming the bird pokémon, but decided against it every time. He hadn't been within seven feet of the bird in months because its hatred for human contact. Yet, it still followed him everywhere. Life was filled with confusing problems like that, wasn't it?
The walk to Restaurant Le Yeah was brief. The weather was calm for once and the temperature was a little higher than usual, considering the Fall weather, so Aaron spent the walk thinking about what he was going to say to his friends when he walked into the building. He never got very far each time, as his mind interrupted itself continuously. Muttering in frustration, Aaron opened the door to the restaurant sharply and walked inside.
It was quiet inside the building, as there were only a few customers. Saturday mornings could be very busy or very slow, depending on several factors. The showcase last night likely kept people up late, so it would probably be a slow morning until the populace woke up. Turning the corner and entering the main dining room, Aaron briefly noticed Talia's worried stare at him as he hurried towards the kitchen. She was standing in front of a table and was in the middle of taking an order, but she stopped writing to watch Aaron fast-walk towards the other end of the restaurant. He gave her a quick glance, nodded once in acknowledgement, and burst through the door into the kitchen, making Albern and George jump in fear. They were not far to the left of the door at the appetizer station, likely reading through an order that George wrote on with too-small of handwriting.
"Arceus Aaron! You scared me!" Albern yelled with a hand on his chest. "You'll kill me if you do that again, I swear!"
Aaron sheepishly looked at the floor, noticing the worried stares his friends were giving him as soon as the initial fear of his loud entrance wore off. "Sorry guys. It's been…an interesting morning…"
George threw the order paper at Albern, who struggled to catch it in the air, and walked over to Aaron, putting his hand on his shoulder. "Hey, what happened last night, man? Are you okay?"
Straight to the point. That was George, alright. "I'm…not sure…"
"You're not sure!?" Albern balked. He shoved the order into his apron-pocket ungracefully. "You made a sound like you were hurt pretty bad and next thing we knew, you took off!" He pointed at George. "These two younger men chased after you, but I stayed behind. I think we both know I can't run anymore."
"Did you get hurt and we didn't see?" George asked, his eyes wide with worry.
"No, I didn't."
George leaned in close then. "Did the performance remind you of Talia and you had to leave because you were so heartbroken?" He whispered.
"What?" Aaron asked, narrowing his eyes in confusion. "What about 'I broke up with her' do you not understand?"
George shrugged. "Sorry man. Just wondering. But seriously. How do you not know what happened?"
"I just don't know!" Aaron replied, throwing his arms up in the air. "One second I'm watching the performances and then all of a sudden my head starts hurting and I couldn't take it anymore, so I left!"
"Yeah, but you were pretty intrigued by the Kalos Queen's performance, weren't you?" George pointed out much more calmly than Aaron was acting.
"Yes, I was. It was much better than I thought it was going to be…" Aaron admitted, crossing his arms and looking away.
"And it was during her performance that you ran away!" George added, his voice raising slightly as it seemed he was putting pieces of evidence together, much to Aaron's chagrin. "It was also right after she fell! Did you have something to do with that?"
"What!?" Jack yelled as he poked his head out of the dish room. He stomped over to Aaron and poked him violently in the chest. "I was worried about you for a while, but now I hear that you messed up my queen's performance!? How could you?"
"I didn't do anything!" Aaron replied, pushing Jack away with little effort. "It was all a coincidence."
"I don't think it's a coincidence that you've been having headaches for days and then on a day where it appears as if they're a lot worse, you end up fleeing right as the Kalos Queen fell on stage…" Albern said, crossing his arms. His face softened "I'm worried about you, Aaron. What happened?"
"Can we please just not talk about it?" Aaron pleaded. "I'm okay now? I don't know what happened yesterday. If I knew, I would tell you, okay? The headaches just got really bad and I couldn't take it, so I left. I don't know what the Kalos Queen has to do with that…"
To forcefully end the conversation, Aaron turned sharply on his heel to go and grab his hat and apron, but was met by Talia standing just a few feet away. Her green gaze looked worried, and Aaron found it impossible to turn away from her just like he had to the others.
"Please Aaron. Are you okay?"
Aaron took a deep breath and looked away at the floor. He found it hard to look at her when she appeared so worried about him. His frustration at the situation soon began turning into shame for reasons he didn't want to confront at the moment. "Yes, Talia. Thank you…"
"Are you sure? Even I can see now that you don't look very good…"
"I'm just having a little trouble with something. I'm figuring it out, and last night was just a minor setback, okay?"
She didn't appear convinced, but nodded anyway after a few moments of awkward silence. She walked past Aaron, gave Albern his order, and left without another word.
"Lesser men would have broken under that stare, Aaron…" George commented with a snicker. "Even I can admit that. You sure are a hard nut to crack."
"Well I ain't crackin', George." Aaron said, a smile beginning to tug at his lips. He appreciated the topic changing away from whatever happened last night, and was eager to change the subject again. "How has it been so far today?"
"Slow." Was Albern's short reply. He chewed on the inside of his lip and sighed. "But don't think I'm going to let this drop just like that, Aaron. You're my friend and I care about you. If you ever want to talk about something, just let me know."
Rolling his eyes, Aaron put on his chef's hat. "Thanks, Dr. Albern. I'll keep that in mind."
All of Aaron's hopes for a normal day were crushed within the hour. He messed up an order for a salad, and gave the customer the wrong type of dressing. While some may consider that minor, it was something that everyone working at Restaurant Le Yeah knew was a mistake that Aaron would never make. He also added several of the wrong spices into the soup, effectively ruining the entire batch for the day, and kept forgetting instructions that Albern would give him. He and Talia went back to their streak of not speaking, but every time she came into the kitchen, she would sneak a glance over at him. She also seemed to be coming into the kitchen a lot more than usual, Aaron noticed.
As the hours drug on, Aaron became increasingly unable to even hold a conversation. George would attempt to joke with him, and it was met by Aaron becoming confused every time. To Aaron, the "veil" over his mind only got worse as the day went on. He found he couldn't think straight any more, and every time he attempted break the awkward atmosphere that persisted in the kitchen, he would brutally fail, and silence would return.
Finally, after Aaron messed up yet another meal meant for a table of four, Albern sighed and looked over at Aaron struggling to grate cheese. "Enough, Aaron…"
"What?" Aaron said, looking over at Albern. "What do you mean?"
"You aren't okay, no matter how much you say you are."
"But I—"
Albern raised his hand, interrupting Aaron. "No, lad. I've had enough for today. Just go home…"
Dropping the cheese grater, Aaron stared at his friend with wide eyes. "Go home? I can't do that, the day isn't even halfway over!"
Pointing up at the clock with minimal effort, Albern kept his stare on Aaron, a hint of disappointment etching into his features. "It's almost 5 PM, Aaron…We close in an hour."
"Oh…"
Albern walked up to Aaron then and put a hand on his shoulder. He was a few inches taller than Aaron was, but he didn't look disappointed any longer as he looked down at his friend. Instead, he looked sad and afraid. "I don't know what happened yesterday, lad, but it's obviously still bothering you. You should just take what's left of the day off…"
"I can—"
"No, Aaron." Albern interrupted again. His baritone voice was very good at doing that, apparently. "I won't change my mind on this. I'll tell Yannick that I told you to go home. Hopefully on Monday you'll be in a condition to work. Until then, just try to get better, okay?"
Aaron nodded, accepting that he had to listen to Albern. They may have been friends, but Al was still his superior in the kitchen, and had the right to make the decision that he had. Aaron sadly went to over to the kitchen sink and washed his hands. Removing his apron and chef's hat, he caught Talia giving him another concerned glance as she entered the kitchen, but she quickly looked away as soon as their eyes met.
Aaron turned back towards Al just as he was accepting the order from Talia without a word. The blonde left the room in a hurry while Aaron was walking over. "Thanks for looking out for me, Al. I…appreciate it."
Albern gave a small smile. "Anything for you, lad. Now go home and rest up. We need you here in good condition. Not…whatever you've been in for a week now."
"I'll try my best, Al. Thanks."
With that, Aaron waved goodbye to Albern and walked out of the kitchen. He gave a similar wave to George as he passed him on the way to the door, and a much more hesitant wave to Talia, who was taking another order again. She acknowledged him with a small nod of her head, and Aaron exited the restaurant.
His fletchling greeted him with confusion, not used to Aaron leaving the building earlier than usual, but kept the same distance he always did. Aaron took a bit longer to get back to his apartment than usual, as he turned at the wrong street a few times, but did eventually reach his destination. He scoffed at himself as he fumbled with his keys, since he couldn't remember which one was the key for his door. Eventually he resorted to trying all of them, and of course, the last one he tried was the key to his apartment. He entered his silent living room, changed into his night clothes despite the fact that the sun was still out, and immediately went to sleep.
Restaurant Le Yeah was always closed on Sundays, which comforted Aaron as he awoke in the late morning several hours later. It made him feel less guilty about screwing up so many times yesterday. He slept like a rock, not waking up even a single time during the night. Despite this though, he still felt like his mind was covered in a fog. He slept for over 12 hours and still felt exhausted somehow.
Aaron got up and dressed himself. He made a quick meal for breakfast and took a seat watching the Lumiose City traffic below his apartment. The hours passed by in a blur. He attempted to find things to do that could occupy him, but he couldn't seem to concentrate for long enough to devote himself to a single task. He attempted to cook to pass the time and to practice his skills, but messed up halfway through and he barely managed to salvage his meal with a less-than-appetizing replacement. He set out pokemon food on his balcony for his fletchling, who eagerly came to eat it only when Aaron was inside and the glass door was shut. He attempted to watch tv, but forgot the plot of the show he was watching and got bored. In no time at all, the sun was setting, and Aaron was only feeling marginally better than when he woke up. He could barely remember any of the day, which made him feel worse. Briefly, he thought of the card that Dr. Carter had given him with her number on it for "emergency use". He decided against using it as soon as the thought crossed his mind. His therapy appointment was tomorrow anyway. No use rushing something when he was already going to get help within 24 hours. He would have to survive until then.
With the entire day passing by in a blur, Aaron decided to go to bed again, hoping that the next day at work would be better. He laid in his bed, staring at the ceiling, wondering about who he was before he lost his memory, and reminisced in his head about his Pikachu. His eyes closed, and his dreams claimed him.
Aaron woke up the next morning with a fire in his heart. He jumped out of bed, and the morning sun greeted him through the window in his room. Glancing at the time on his phone, he saw that he still had over an hour to get ready for work. Silently thanking his internal alarm clock for kicking itself back into gear with a smile, Aaron set out to get ready for his day.
The fog that previously covered his mind had mostly subsided, thankfully. Aaron was able to make a simple breakfast for himself, pick out the right clothes for work and even the right shoes, and he was able to think in complete sentences, for the most part. He still struggled with a few previously simple tasks here or there, but it was nothing like it was on Saturday. Today was the day he would redeem his mistakes from before, and he would prove himself again to Albern.
After getting sufficiently ready, Aaron closed the door to his apartment loudly and sprinted down the stairs, emerging from the building with great force, throwing the door open. Fletchling greeted him by calling its name loudly and flew a few circles over his head, and Aaron responded with a wave and a smile. The weather was actually nice for once, three days in a row it seemed, and the temperature was a bit higher than usual. Aaron spent the calm Monday morning walk to his workplace wondering about Brock and Misty, and if they ever remembered him.
Arriving at Restaurant Le Yeah with vigor, Aaron threw the door to the restaurant open. There were a few tables occupied at the moment, which wasn't surprising. It was still the early morning after all. After being closed on Sunday, Monday was usually a busier day for the business. People were eager to get back and have some of Chef Albern's locally famous food, it seemed.
Aaron met eyes with George, who together with the table he was helping, looked at him with surprise. He must have scared them by his abrupt entry into the restaurant. Sheepishly waving at them in embarrassment, Aaron walked as quickly as he could to the back of the restaurant to get to the kitchen.
He was right about to push the door open himself when it came flying at him with great force, smacking him right in the face. Yelping out in pain, Aaron covered his nose with his hands, already feeling blood beginning to pool before he even opened his eyes.
"Oh my, Aaron! I'm so sorry!"
It was Talia. Of course, it just had to be Talia.
Aaron slowly opened his eyes to see Talia standing in front of him, guilt written all over her face. Her hand was over her mouth and she stood in place, seemingly not knowing what to do.
Aaron offered a reassuring smile that was mostly hidden behind his hands, but hoped she could see it anyway. His face was already sore to the touch, and he lightened his grip on his bloodied nose "It's okay, Talia. Just a little nosebleed. I'll be fine." He said nasally. Walking past her to enter the kitchen, he went over to the sink and grabbed a few paper towels, but was followed by an obviously anxious Talia. Holding them to his face to stop the blood from flowing, he made a mental note that Talia was very capable of hurting him if she wanted to, judging by the strength that she opened the door with.
"I didn't mean to! I thought George was at the other side of the dining room and I didn't know what time it was so I didn't think you were coming in yet because I thought it would be too early for you to show up considering how you were on Saturday and it hasn't been that busy this morning and I just gave Al an order so I thought you—" Talia ranted on, seemingly without taking a single breath. Aaron used to think it was adorable when she would do that, but now it only made him feel guilty. He pushed that thought from his mind.
"Seriously, Talia. I'm fine." Aaron said again, not able to suppress the chuckle from escaping him. He held the paper towels to his face tighter, hoping to stop the nosebleed before he needed to switch them out as he grabbed his chef's hat off the wall with his free hand.
Talia laughed a little then. "You may say that, but the bloodied towels tell me something different."
"This isn't my first bloodied nose. Just gotta wait it out and hope that Albern doesn't see."
"Good luck explaining it to him, because Al's coming over right now." She commented with a sly smile. She was right. Albern was walking over with a distressed look on his face. Aaron glanced back at Talia, noticing her smile as she looked at him. The thought briefly crossed his mind that this conversation was the first positive interaction they had shared since their breakup, even considering the circumstances. He blinked to push that thought from his mind too.
"Aaron! What happened!?" Al yelled out as he reached his two younger coworkers.
"Just a little nosebleed, Al, nothing to worry about."
"A little nosebleed!?" Al said. "It's pouring out of your face! That's hardly little! How did that happen?"
Talia opened her mouth to respond, but Aaron beat her to it by raising his hand. He didn't want her to start nervously ranting again. "Talia accidentally hit me in the face as she was coming out. Not the first time its happened, and it was an honest mistake." He then shrugged and looked down at his shoes. "I kinda deserved it too…"
The message behind that last sentence wasn't missed by either Talia or Albern, judging by the looks on their faces, but neither said anything. Both just looked away awkwardly.
Albern put his hand on Aaron's forehead. "How you feeling today, Aaron? Any better?"
Aaron shrugged, adjusting the paper towels on his face. He could feel the blood flow beginning to slow down. "I can't lie to you, Al. I still feel a little fogged. But I'm much better than on Saturday, and I'm ready to redeem myself by working hard."
This apparently wasn't the answer Al was looking for, as he shuffled his feet and looked down at the ground. "That's…unfortunate, Aaron."
"Why?"
Albern sighed and gave Aaron a look that was a mixture between sad and frustrated. "Because I—"
"Did I just hear what I thought I heard!?" Came Jack's voice as he jumped out of the dish room, soap suds still on his hands.
Albern didn't reply, but simply nodded once, which made Jack literally jump with joy. "Yes!" He yelled out, pumping his arms.
"What's going on?" Aaron asked, switching his gaze between Albern, Talia, and Jack, who couldn't seem to contain himself as he jumped around.
"Well…" Albern started. He pinched the bridge of his nose and tightly closed his eyes, as if it almost pained him to say what he was about to say. "Yannick wasn't very happy about Saturday. He told me that if you're feeling even a little "off", that we shouldn't risk upsetting more customers."
"We got a lot of complaints, Aaron…" Talia added shyly, glancing at Albern once.
"Indeed…" Al continued. He pointed then back at Jack, who was beginning to stop his cheering for a moment, as if waiting for what was about to be said. "Yannick told me that you're to be washing dishes today, and Jack is going to be my assistant." Then he looked back at Jack and gave him a stern glare. "Just one day, Jack. Don't cheer too much."
"But I'm feeling much better!" Aaron protested, removing the paper towels from his face. Dried blood was smeared beneath his nose and all over the top of his mouth.
Albern sighed. "I believe you, lad. But I must follow what Yannick has ordered. It's just for today, too." He glared at Jack then. "Jack has been extra slow recently, and we've been backed up for a while. I know you're a good worker, Aaron, and you should be able to catch us up."
"That's what he says, Aaron," Jack said as he excitedly ran over and snatched the chef's hat off of Aaron's head, plopping it proudly on his own. "But after I impress everyone today with my skills, I'll replace you as assistant chef in no time!"
Aaron dejectedly looked down at his feet. Talia quietly mouthed "sorry" as she walked away, exiting the kitchen, while Jack did another dance of joy. After watching him for a few moments, Aaron was overcome with a great desire to punch Jack. Realizing that such a thing was a very viable option, as George did it all the time, Aaron punched Jack in the shoulder as he walked back towards the dish room.
No more words were said as Aaron looked at the dish room and the gigantic pile of dishes that awaited him. Al wasn't lying. The pile must have been growing for days at that point. Putting on the dish apron, Aaron sighed once at the sorry state of the dish room, but inwardly resolved himself to prove himself even with this task. After washing the blood off of his face, Aaron narrowed his eyes with determination. He set out to accomplish his job.
He worked harder than he ever had when he was a dishwasher, determined to redeem himself anyway, even though he wasn't cooking. The hours passed by and the pile grew smaller and smaller, even as more dishes were brought back from both the waiters and Albern. Wiping the sweat off his brow just as he finished washing the last pan that Jack had left for him, Aaron looked up at the clock hanging above the sink. It was a little after 11 AM.
Smiling at his progress, Aaron replaced his sponge and went back to work on the dishes that George had just brought back for him. A few more hours passed and Aaron peeked his head out of the dish room like he often saw Jack doing, and couldn't stop his smirk at the scene that was developing in front of the stove.
Jack was rubbing his nape with an embarrassed look on his face as Al was pinching the bridge of his nose again, his face literally red with obvious frustration. He and Jack, while still friends, had a rather strained relationship at times. Al was holding an order and was probably just ranting about how small the handwriting was, and black smoke was billowing up from something that had burned on the stove. Judging by Jack's embarrassed face, he obviously had something to do with it. Aaron laughed and went back to work.
The day passed by quickly, and Aaron had to admit that washing dishes for the day may have actually helped him. He was proud of his progress and felt like he effectively redeemed his image as a good worker. The veil over his mind had nearly gone away too, likely because of the lack of stress of dishwashing, and Aaron looked proudly on the nearly spotless dish room before him. As he finished cleaning up the room at the end of the day, Jack approached him with a sorry smile on his face.
"Maybe I'm not meant for cooking just yet," He said, looking down at the ground "I may or may not have messed up every single thing that Al gave me to do today."
Aaron smirked, lifting an eyebrow and crossing his arms. "Is that so? Well, I'll be taking my place back as assistant chef again then." He quickly snatched the chef's hat off of Jack, who didn't try to stop him, and put it in its rightful place back on his own head.
"Al was pretty angry today. I'm gonna stay away from him for a while now." Jack replied with a chuckle as he went to wash his hands. Aaron followed him and did the same, putting his chef's hat back on the wall with a proud smile.
Everything was cleaned up and Yannick was going over the day's inventory with Albern in the office as Aaron waved goodbye to everyone. Pushing the door to the restaurant open with vigor, Aaron went home to change out of his dirty clothes, feeling happier than he had in days. After setting out some pokemon food for Fletchling to eat later, Aaron nearly skipped to Dr. Carter's office.
He burst through the door, greeted the receptionist, and took his seat in the waiting room to wait his turn. Several minutes later, Dr. Carter emerged from her office and beckoned for him to join her.
"Aaron, come on in." She said with a smile.
Aaron jumped up from his chair and merrily walked into the office, giving a small greeting to Alakazam as he took his seat.
"Someone seems to be in a good mood today…" Dr. Carter commented as she grabbed her water bottle from her desk. She took a quick drink from it before she ruffled some papers on her desk, clipping them to her clipboard.
Aaron shrugged. "Well, today was an odd day. I wanted to prove myself after messing up and worrying my friends over the weekend, and even though I had to wash dishes at work instead of cook, I feel like I accomplished what I set out to do. Not to mention that it feels good to be in good condition again"
Dr. Carter raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"
"Well, this weekend was kind of a bad time for me." Aaron said hesitantly.
"How so?" Dr. Carter asked. She clicked her pen and put it down on her clipboard, ready to start writing.
Aaron looked down at the ground, embarrassed. "I started getting pretty bad headaches after our session on Friday, and you told me to not do anything stressful, so I thought going to the showcase in town here would be something I could do. I was wrong."
Dr. Carter wrote a few words on her papers and hummed. "Yes, I watched the showcase on tv. It's a shame what happened to the Kalos Queen. If that happened to anyone else, it would be career-ruining. Hopefully her image recovers from this." She glanced up at Aaron then. "How was the showcase stressful though?"
Aaron cleared his throat awkwardly. "Like I said, I got a really bad headache after our last session, and I went to the showcase with my friends thinking that it would be okay." He creased his brow then, a dull headache beginning to form in his head. "But every time I heard my friends talk about baking or macarons, or anything about the Kalos Queen, my headache would get worse."
Dr. Carter took a few moments to write this down, but said nothing. Thinking she wanted him to continue, Aaron averted his gaze to the tree just outside of the window. It had lost most of its leaves because of the time of year. "The performances were okay, I guess. I didn't really pay attention until the Kalos Queen came out. But when she did…" Aaron was unable to stop himself from chuckling. "I couldn't believe it. I had never watched something so amazing before. It was like she was gliding across the stage and wasn't trying at all. I was…stunned…"
Dr. Carter grinned as she wrote on her clipboard, recording this information. "She has that effect on people, Aaron. You're not alone in that. Some call her the best performer of her generation, and I believe it." Her expression returned to seriousness though and she eyed Aaron again. "I going to assume that your headaches got worse though, right? When did they?"
Aaron scoffed at himself, looking down at his feet again. "Yeah, my head felt a lot worse as soon as I heard her name. When she was on stage, I was amazed, but my head was also killing me. And then…" He paused then, remembering the moment that she did her flip and landed on the edge of the stage. His headache in the present briefly flared, making him wince, which didn't go unnoticed by Dr. Carter or Alakazam, judging by their faces. "She came to the end of the stage, right before the finale, I think. She and I saw each other. When I looked into her eyes, my head exploded. That's…about the best way I can describe it. I looked down to try and stop the pain but it didn't work, and when I looked up again, she was on the ground, looking at me, and she looked…hurt…"
Dr. Carter hummed, writing this down on her clipboard. She glanced over at Alakazam and they shared a knowing look, but neither commented out loud on it. "I watched her fall live on the tv. I didn't notice it at the time because I was so shocked, but you're right. She did look like someone had hurt her."
"Yeah, like someone said something really mean to her. Not as in physically hurt. And after that, I can't remember very much." Aaron rubbed his nape then. "I think I ran away, and the next thing I know, I woke up on my apartment floor in a complete daze. I couldn't think straight, like a blanket was over my mind. It took until today to disappear, actually."
"I noticed that you looked like you were in pain a few moments ago, Aaron." Dr. Carter commented. "Do you have a headache right now?"
Aaron nodded and put a hand on his forehead. "Yeah, I do. It's not nearly as bad as it was when I was at the showcase, but it still hurts."
Alakazam stood up then, and Dr. Carter wrote a few more notes on her clipboard. The psychic pokemon took a few steps closer and put his spoon on Aaron's forehead. Feeling a little ridiculous, but refusing to comment on it, Aaron simply waited for Dr. Carter to finish writing so she could explain what was happening.
"The thing is, Aaron." Dr. Carter began as she clicked her pen and leaned forward. "Therapists such as myself and Alakazam may be able to perform what some call "miracles", but these miracles come with a cost. In order to retrieve your memories, the cost of that is mental fragility. Alakazam's psychic powers can sometimes be too much for our human minds, and it can overwhelm us." She adjusted her chair and leaned back again, waving her hands in the air as she talked. "Last time, I recall you remembering a large number of memories, and then becoming fatigued afterward. That is why I warned you to not do anything stressful, as your mind was particularly vulnerable after such a large retrieval. Of course, you had no way of knowing that going to the showcase would be stressful for you, so that isn't your fault. Headaches seem to be how your body is showing this mental fragility, and the "brain fog", as you described it, is another symptom of your mind being especially overwhelmed."
She pointed at Alakazam then. "Luckily, while our sessions may have caused this, we can temporarily fix it as well. Alakazam here will use his powers to calm your mind, which should temporarily stop the headaches, and we can delve a bit more into why this keeps happening to you."
Aaron nodded. "That must be why he is holding his spoon on my forehead."
Dr. Carter chuckled. "Yes, that is why. Just let him do his thing. Sit and relax as best as you can."
Aaron closed his eyes, thinking that it would help with whatever the psychic Pokémon was about to do. After a few moments of an awkwardly warm spoon pressing against his forehead, Aaron began to feel the sensation of water at his feet again. Instead of it being like he was sitting on a beach like all the other times, this time it felt like he was standing in a fast-moving river up to his knees.
The current began to pick up, and an odd feeling suddenly overcame Aaron. The feeling of water splashing against him at great speed almost knocked him over, but he adjusted his stance and kept standing. As the current increased and the level of water got higher on his leg, the headache in his head slowly subsided. The fog began to disappear, and for the first time in days, Aaron felt like he could actually think clearly. He felt calmer than he had in months, actually, and he opened his eyes as his headache completely disappeared, his mouth tugging up into a smile.
"I've got to get myself an Abra and train it to do miracle-work like that…" He commented.
Dr. Carter laughed while Alakazam went back to sit in its spot, obviously proud of its work. The doctor grabbed a Pokémon treat and gave it to him, petting his head. "Alakazam sure is talented, isn't he? He's great at what he does." The psychic pokemon blushed lightly at this praise and awkwardly moved its spoons around. Dr. Carter pet him a few more times before turning her attention back towards Aaron.
"So, how do you feel?"
"Amazing." Was Aaron's immediate reply. He didn't even have to think about it, and surprised even himself with how fast he responded.
Dr. Carter looked amused as she wrote a single word down on her clipboard. "That's good, Aaron. Then we can continue our session without the need for worrying about your headaches." She wagged her pen in the air. "This is temporary though. Alakazam's calming effect will wear off, so still try to refrain from participating in any stressful situations, okay?"
"I'll do my best, but no promises."
"Your best is all I ask," Dr. Carter said. "So, tell me, what did you feel when you watched the Kalos Queen at the showcase?"
Expecting a headache to come on, Aaron inwardly flinched, but was more than pleased when he realized that Alakazam's calming effect seemed to have worked. His head wasn't hurting at all. Instead, he put his finger on his chin and thought.
"Well, when I was watching her, I was amazed. I thought she was a really great performer and…" He paused for a moment, as if trying to figure out how the words sounded in his head before he actually said them. "…I felt a lot of things I couldn't understand."
"Like what?" Dr. Carter asked, her pen wildly moving on the paper as she wrote.
"I felt…proud…for some reason." Aaron began. He was satisfied with how this sounded so he continued as he looked out at the leafless tree out of the window. "I felt like she worked really hard to reach the position of Kalos Queen and that she deserved all of the admiration she was getting. I couldn't take my eyes off of her as she was up there, and I feel like that was part of it…Like I was proud to see her succeed…" He waved his hand then. "But that is something you could say about every Kalos Queen, I guess." He added quickly.
"Interesting…" Dr. Carter commented. She glanced over at her partner again, and they shared another look. "What does that name "Serena" mean to you?"
Serena
"Well, that's her name, isn't it?"
"Yes, it is." Dr. Carter said. "Think about her name and what it means to you. We'll see where that takes us."
Aaron did that and he narrowed his eyes in concentration. He thought about her name for several moments, and the image of the honey-blonde girl from his youth in Kanto popped into his mind. Once he thought that, the image wouldn't leave his head every time he thought about her name.
"That's…impossible…" Aaron said, shaking his head.
"What is?"
"When I think about her name, I think of that girl I told you about last time. The one with the pretty blue eyes that I rescued from the woods back in Kanto."
Dr. Carter chuckled and raised her eyebrows as she recorded this on her clipboard. "That's far from impossible, Aaron. Stranger things have happened, actually. Serena may very well be this pretty-eyed girl you once knew."
"So, you're saying that Serena is that girl from Kanto? How could that be true? That's across the world from here!"
Dr. Carter shrugged. "We've already figured out that you spent a lot of time in Kanto, and you somehow ended up here in Kalos. So, it isn't a stretch to say that she may have done the same." She put her clipboard on her desk and exchanged it for her water bottle. She took a large drink from it then before setting it back on her desk. "I actually have a theory that you and Serena knew each other more recently, as in, older than however old you were when you rescued her in the woods."
"Do you?" Aaron asked.
"Yes," Dr. Carter said, nodding her head and gesturing with her hands as she talked. "You get headaches every time someone talks about her or you hear her name, and she had a "hurt" look on her face when you two looked at each other at the showcase. You also had several emotions you couldn't identify when you saw her perform on Friday, including pride for some reason. This, and she also seems to match a description of a girl you once knew, not to mention that this same girl is the one you picture when you hear her name. All of this points to the idea that you and her knew each other when you were older, at some point." She shrugged then. "It's just a theory, and there's no telling on when you two knew each other, but the evidence is pointing towards that conclusion."
Aaron hesitated for a moment before digesting this information. Honestly, he didn't quite know what to think of it. "But…" He began, "She looked hurt when she saw me! So, if I knew her from before, and she looked hurt when she saw me, that's bad, isn't it? I didn't mean to embarrass her in front of literally everyone when she fell!"
Dr. Carter's face garnered a small smile then. "Of course, you never meant to embarrass her like that. That's something you couldn't help. But, to me, it's obvious that when you two saw each other, she remembered you. She probably wasn't expecting to see you there, since she hadn't seen you in who knows how long, and she was just shocked, is all."
Aaron crossed his arms then, looking away. "Is this what it's going to be like when I see people who I knew from the past? I don't want to hurt people."
"There's no way of telling, Aaron. Looking at some of the evidence I laid out earlier supporting that you knew Serena when you were older, none of it implies anything negative between the two of you." Dr. Carter waved her free hand in the air as she reached to grab her clipboard again. "This is all part of the magic of being human though, Aaron. She remembered you. While she, or any of your other friends like Brock, Misty, or Pikachu, may have no idea where you are, or even if you're alive, you still have lived on within their hearts. Their memories of you are with them, and you are on the path to recovering who you once were. You just have to be patient. Someday you will reclaim you who were, and you may be able to make new memories with your friends, adding to the old ones they had of you within their hearts."
"How long do I have to wait?" Aaron asked.
"Only time will tell, Aaron." She replied, before standing up. "Unfortunately, we will not do a memory-retrieval session today."
"Why? I still have so many questions though!" Aaron said, not standing up just yet. Dr. Carter looked at him with a sad smile.
"Despite Alakazam's calming powers, your head is likely still too vulnerable for another retrieval. It's best if we try again next time, and you try your best to refrain from any extra-stressful situations."
"But I want to know why my headaches are so much worse when I think about Serena! Why her, and not any of my other memories?"
Dr. Carter shrugged again as Aaron finally decided to stand up. She put her hand on his shoulder. "I don't know the answer to that yet, Aaron. I still have my theory that she has something to do with your memory loss, but I don't have enough evidence for that yet. We'll just have to be patient."
"Okay…" Aaron replied, dejected. He was escorted out to the receptionist, where he scheduled an appointment for Friday, later in the week. He would have enough time to rest up between now and then, and hopefully would be able to retrieve memories next time.
Waving goodbye to Dr. Carter and the receptionist, Aaron began his short walk home. Fletchling flew overhead yet again, and Aaron watched him passively as he turned a few streets, arriving at his apartment building not long after. He walked up the stairs, opened his apartment door, and immediately walked over to his pokedex.
He brought up the search feature and typed in "Serena Yvonne" into it, tapping on the first link that popped up. It was her personal performing page, and it was covered in bright colors, pictures from past performances, videos, and an official showcase photo with her posing next to her Pokémon. He briefly considered exploring the page to learn more about her, until he saw a section titled "Biography", and tapped on that instead.
Her biography was lengthy, as it apparently included details about her entire life. Aaron began reading over it, hoping to find something that would help him. Skipping around a few sections to try and save time, he read about her past, her performing history, her journey's through Hoenn, and her recent adventures since being crowned Kalos Queen. One of the things that caught his eye though was that she apparently was from Vaniville Town in Kalos, which was confusing to him.
"Why was she in Kanto, then?" Aaron asked out loud.
Reading on, he saw her favorite things to do included baking, performing, making Pokevision videos, and watching Pokémon battles. She's held the position of Kalos Queen for two years, and apparently, her inspiration for striving for the title was because of a past friend who inspired her to never give up, no matter what, and she became Queen to honor this friendship.
Aaron thought hard on the phrase "Never give up", as it seemed to resonate within his mind. He felt like he was on the cusp of remembering something great, but couldn't quite grasp it. He sat in silence for several minutes, trying to force himself to remember why that phrase felt so familiar, but nothing came to him. Briefly, he wondered if he was the friend that Serena had referenced as her inspiration for becoming Kalos Queen, but immediately dismissed the thought as soon as it came. He still wasn't convinced that they actually had known each other when they were older, and hearing that she was raised in Kalos only confused him further. After all, there were countless blonde haired blue-eyed girls in the world, weren't there? What were the chances that the girl from Kanto was Serena, who was born and raised in Kalos, and was current Kalos Queen?
Frustrated, Aaron put down his pokedex and went over to the kitchen. He figured he'd spend the rest of the day lounging and taking Dr. Carter's advice to avoid stress. It was almost dinnertime, and he didn't want to risk getting another headache by cooking anything complicated. He had to solidify his redemption for Saturday by proving himself tomorrow at work as a cook this time, not as a dish washer. So, Aaron made a simple of a meal as he could come up with: buttered noodles.
After he was done making his food, he jumped onto his couch and turned on the tv. Taking a few bites of his noodles, Aaron would stay on a channel for a few seconds to see if the program was interesting before turning to another one, trying again each time. He must have repeated this roughly 20 times before he came on the Kalos news channel. A middle-aged man wearing a lab coat with long black hair was standing in front of an important looking building, and Aaron immediately recognized him as Professor Sycamore. Everyone in Lumiose City knew of the professor and his research into mega-evolution. Going across the bottom of the screen was a repeating message that said:
Missing Person: Ash Ketchum
"Ash, if you're out there, please listen to me…" Sycamore said, sounding and looking quite distressed.
Aaron hummed, and began feeling a headache coming on. Alakazam's calming spell must have started to wear off. Figuring his headache was brought on by his research of Serena Yvonne several minutes earlier, Aaron pressed the button on his remote to change channels. This next channel was a documentary on the history of Kalos. While considering if he was going to stay on this channel or not, Aaron briefly hoped that Professor Sycamore would find the person he was looking for. Unfortunately, in a city as big as Lumiose, people went missing all the time. There was no telling just what would happen. For the lead professor of the region to get involved though? This "Ash Ketchum" guy must have been rather important.
"I hope Ash Ketchum is able to listen to that message." Aaron thought to himself as he took another bite of his noodles, turning the channel again.
Thanks for making it this far! Not as much happened this chapter, but trust me, things will start going again. As you can tell from Professor Sycamore's message on the tv, people have restarted their search for Ash (Aaron) again! We'll have to see what happens with that. :)
Thanks to everyone who has reviewed and followed/favorited! I really appreciate it. This is my first multi-chapter story in years, so it's cool to see people reading it.
I'll see you in the next chapter!
Twilly