Secrets are not a new concept by any stretch of the imagination. Everyone has one that they wouldn't tell to a single soul. Some have more than others, and when it is shared it ceases to be one.
Now, when one wants to explain something, but doesn't want to reveal said secret for fear of being locked in the looney bin… or worse…
Locked in a lab to be poked and prodded.
I was under no grand allusions that if I weren't careful with my own grand mystery that certain organizations wouldn't come hounding me for every droplet of information and potential power they could gain from such knowledge.
In the Pokémon world, such organizations were very much real and alive.
Team Rocket, Team Magma and Aqua, Team Galactic, Team Plasma, Team Snagem, and Cipher were by far the most dangerous organizations that I was aware of, and I was sure there were undoubtedly more.
So, when faced with these particular threats, the human mind uses a tactic that was probably as old as time itself.
I would lie.
I was currently in a nice hotel room sitting across from Agent Looker on a couch, while he was facing me from a chair he'd gotten from a desk in the room. He seemed to be writing something down on a notepad after I gave him my full account of my conflict with the punks over a cute little Poochyena.
Said Poochyena was now resting in my lap, her tail wagging with happiness as I kept good on my promise of a lifetime of free pets. I could see a contented smile on her face, which inevitably put one on mine.
I had discovered the Poochyena's gender after a quick stop to the Pokémon Center.
The Pokémon Center was not stationed by a Nurse Joy, thankfully, as I didn't really want to deal with the horse garbage logic I'd have to wrap my head around for such a ridiculous thing to be possible. Though the absolute horse garbage medical science wahoo was a topic I didn't exactly feel like breaching currently, so the less said about that the better.
Anyways, back to the topic at hand. It was now the morning of the next day after the incident.
After I had told him I wasn't staying anywhere, Looker had offered me his bed in the hotel, citing that he wouldn't be using it anyways since he had some documents to go over, and then proceeded to inform me he would take my account of the events in the morning for legal purposes.
Sure enough, I awoke to find him asleep at a desk across the room with the desk light still on.
I had entertained the thought of leaving right then and there to avoid any uncomfortable questions that could land me in hot water.
I knew that this decision would just lead me to putting off the inevitable. If I wanted to go on the road and enter a gym circuit, I'd need at least an identity should I run into any trouble.
What? You're saying I'm just being pessimistic?
Get real. I was summoned from another world. There's not even a single universe in existence where I don't get into trouble.
Are you asking what if one actually does exist?
Then that world had simply come to an end.
As I listened to Looker scribble his notes down, I blinked, realizing that throughout the chaos of yesterday evening, and the suddenness of this interview, he had yet to ask me for my name. This put the initiative in my court.
Well, I was a big fan of going first.
Speed control, baby!
"Um, Agent Looker?" I let out what I had hoped was a worried voice. The sound of scribbling stopped as he looked up from his notes. "Where are we?"
He looked baffled for a moment, unsure of what I was asking him, Poochyena was even paying attention now and was looking up at me in curiosity.
Agent Looker seemed to absorb this question in before he answered me.
"We're in my hotel room? You didn't tell me that one of them had managed to injure you."
He was implying that I might have been brain damaged. I almost wanted to laugh. But that'd hurt my case. Besides, it was my fault for not being specific enough.
I merely shook my head, as if he had given me the wrong answer.
"No, I mean, what city are we in?"
It'd seem that'd be the last time I'd catch him off guard as he immediately responded with a question of his own.
"What do you mean?"
I sighed, knowing that this could be a while.
"I don't remember how I got here, my name, or where I come from."
A simple lie was always the best, and just to sell it even more I threw in the bit that I didn't remember my name.
I did remember my name, but we gotta sell the illusion here.
I also noticed that he didn't give me the city name, probably in an attempt to catch me in a lie.
Sucks for you since I actually don't know where I'm at, sucker!
"Again, you didn't tell me that one of them had managed to hit you in the head." He pointed at his own to emphasize his point.
I shook my head again in slight exasperation.
"They didn't injure me. You can go ahead and check for yourself."
He immediately stood up and walked over to me, causing Poochyena to squirm in my lap in worry.
I managed to calm her down by stroking her back.
Looker parted my brown hair, inspecting for any bruising or swelling. He wasn't being forceful, but I could definitely feel him poking and prodding. Finally satisfied, he took his seat across from me.
"What's your earliest memory?" He looked me straight in the eyes for any signs of me lying. I really felt like I was being interrogated now. His line of questioning about my bout with those punks was tame in comparison.
"Yesterday evening, when I woke up in the middle of the street."
"In the middle of the street? I don't remember hearing any incidents like this before now."
"That's because when I awoke I was standing up. Like my two feet had carried me there somehow. I didn't seem exhausted or anything, so I don't think I was running from anything."
This caused him to put a hand to his chin in thought.
"Hypnotism by a psychic-type Pokémon maybe?" He questioned aloud.
I merely shrugged my shoulders in response. I'd let him speculate whatever he wanted. As long as I got a credible ID, I didn't really care what conclusions he drew from all this.
Then it was time to seal the deal. With one request I would seal any and all doubts about my story.
"You're a detective right?"
He paused for a moment, perhaps thinking of a way to explain his job before replying.
"In a way, yes."
"Then can you help me find out my name or maybe even where I came from?"
For someone to request such would mean there would be no conceivable reason why they would lie, especially if they were merely trying to hide their identity. To ask such a thing would mean giving the inquirer all the chips to conduct an investigation with as many stipulations as they wanted. With enough time and effort, they would be able to crack a person's identity in no time, especially in a modern society like this one.
Browser history, purchase history, Pokédexes, credit cards, travel history, medical records, you name it. These proverbial footprints could be used to identify someone, even in my old world, aside from the Pokédex. Should I mention that feels weird to say?
Anyways…
Everything you did could easily be viewed by a third party source if they had the means to do so, and your identity would inevitably leak as a result. Sure, you could try and cover up all these breaches of privacy, but eventually you'll slip up. Nobody was perfect. It could be something as simple as not paying your taxes to the IRS for them to identify you and finally bring you to court.
In this case, there would be nothing to be found. I hadn't done any of those activities here. His search would bear no fruit, and I would be registered as an anomaly. Thanks to my selflessness in helping Poochyena, when I had no reason to, would give credibility to my character on top of it all.
If Looker was as kind as he were in the games, then he would surely pull some strings to give me an identity I could use to get me up and on my feet.
All these facts were confirmed when Looker's interrogative disposition suddenly melted away into one that made him look far older than he probably was.
"That's a real big headache you just put on my plate."
I merely smiled with a shrug, as I looked down at Poochyena's face to see her looking at me with a worried frown.
I just patted her head.
"Well, I found an adorable little Poochyena for my troubles, so at least one of us is getting something out of this."
I heard Looker sigh, chuckling under his breath.
"So what do you need me to do?" I asked, ready to give in to any demands he had to speed up the process.
"A blood sample will obviously be needed, and you're sure you don't remember anything else at all? Do you have a Pokédex on you or some other identification?"
"I only had a single Pokéball, which I used on this cute little pupper here." I patted Poochyena for emphasis, resulting in a soft bark.
"Very well, come with me." He stood up from the couch with a grunt.
I stood to follow him. Feeling satisfied that I was going to be getting out of this scot free.
Okay, perhaps I miscalculated a bit…
I was on day three now of sitting around in the hotel room waiting for results to show. Boredom was a price I was paying for in spades. I'm not really surprised that these things take time, a week in fact according to Looker, which was a lot faster than I expected.
But I was still ducking bored!
I was currently lounging on the bed I had been sleeping on for the past three days, my arms tucked behind my head as I watched the TV. It had been novel to watch what TV was like in a different world, considering the cultural differences as well as the fact that there were, well, Pokémon.
As you'd expect in such a world, a lot of the news did revolve around them to some extent.
Tauros stampedes, a sudden outbreak of bug Pokémon in Viridian Forrest, erratic weather patterns and news anchors to speculate on if it was a byproduct of the sudden change in local Pokémon in a particular area, and finally a story that revolved around a Ninetales that wandered the world killing Pokémon and people alike wherever it went.
It sounded far too gruesome from what I was used to associating with Pokémon, but I if I existed here then things like this were bound to happen. I could wish all I want that this world be more like a children's game. But such a thing was just that, wishful thinking.
The news anchor was talking about how recent reports talked about sightings of the Ninetales along the borders of Sinnoh and Johto.
"The body count by this aggressive Ninetales is said to toll in the upwards of 400. Sources say this Ninetales has been roaming for the past two years between regions and shows no sign of stopping. No motive can be discerned as it seems to strike without reason. We urge viewers to exercise caution if they happen upon a Ninetales with blood soaked fur. In other news, you won't believe what this boy did with his Magikarp!"
I rolled my eyes at the segue and turned my eyes away from the TV, growing disinterested. I looked over at Poochyena as she still bounced around on the bed, still fascinated by how bouncy they were despite having played on them for the past few days.
I smiled and wished I had a cell-phone to record this. The novel idea would surely pass her before too long.
I then started to think about my change of appearance. While my overall appearance hadn't changed much, I still had the messy brown hair, the same face, and the somewhat pale skin tone. The only major differences were my age and eyes. I noticed my body had reverted to the ages between 17 and 18. I wasn't exactly a grumpy old man back home, but such a thing was shocking nonetheless.
As for my eyes…
They weren't the dull blue that I remembered from back home. It was almost like someone stole any and all luster that possibly remained in the orbs, turning them into a dark grey color. It was definitely the most jarring experience I had when I looked in the mirror to stare into dead looking eyes that didn't look like they belonged there.
I heard a knock at the door to the room.
"Pizzas here!" I shouted out, bouncing off the bed to answer the door with a Poochyena hot on my heels as she barked in excitement.
I swiftly opened the door and stepped to the side as a cart was wheeled in by a maid, said maid began to place the platters on the desk that I had already managed to clean up in advance from Looker's paper lead tyranny.
The maid was a year or two younger than me and wore the typical getup, which surprised me a little, but she told me that it was just the uniform around here since they got such wealthy patrons on a regular basis.
She worked for her father, who happened to own the hotel I was staying at in order to make some extra cash before she started on her own Pokémon journey. Probably the most distinct feature about her was her shoulder-length bobbed bright brown hair that matched her bright honeyed eyes.
"Afternoon, Amber." I greeted as Poochyena barked up at her, the hyena excitedly jumping up and pawing at her maid gown.
"Afternoon, Mr. Amnesia." She teased as she bent down and picked up the overexcited gray hyena. "And a good afternoon to you too, cutie." She practically cooed as she hugged and stroked the Poochyena.
I sighed at the nickname.
I had actually been talking to her for the past two days whenever she would deliver my food during lunch. She probably wouldn't have even given me a single glance if she hadn't noticed a timid Poochyena lying on my bed observing her when she was putting the food on the desk.
Turns out owning a Pokémon was a great conversation starter.
I found out from my brief talks with her that most members of her family were actually dark-type specialists, and she instantly knew how to interact with the hyena. It didn't take long for them to warm up to each other.
She's the first person I informed of my situation besides Looker.
"Just call me Aster for now."
She snorted at the name.
"Where did you get that one?"
It was the name of an old DnD character I had.
"I heard it on TV and I thought it sounded neat."
"Whatever floats your boat I guess…"
Aster was an astounding mage that could summon familiars made from the elements of fire and wind! You're just jealous!
Ignorant to my inner complaints, much to my surprise, after placing the platters down around the table, she walked over towards the door of the room and shut it before going to the desk to place a tin lunchbox down, and took a seat at the desk.
What?
She seemed to notice my baffled staring as she merely blushed.
"You don't mind if I join you for lunch today do you?" She asked, shifting her eyes to the side, her eyes blinking rapidly in a fashion that reminded me of an embarrassed school girl.
I might have fallen for this ruse if it weren't for the smirk that she was barely managing to keep off her face, judging by the twitching corners of her mouth.
She was just trying to use her cute charms to get what she wanted again.
I rolled my eyes.
"Fine…"
Wait! That's not what I wanted to say! Damn you body and your weakness to cuteness! You were supposed to accuse her of slacking off from her work!
"Thanks! By the way, you were the last delivery on my stop today, so I'm not actually slacking off…" She stuck her tongue out at me, as she pulled out a sandwich from her lunchbox. She also took out a bowl and what looked like Pokémon food kibble from the commercials I had seen on TV.
Also did she just read my mind?
What sort of witchcraft is this!?
"Do whatever you want." I grumbled in begrudging acceptance as I took off the metal lid of one of the platters, where a dish of pepperoni pizza greeted me. I put a slice of it onto a plate and put it down on the floor for Poochyena.
She immediately began to scarf it down as if someone was going to steal it.
As I was about to admonish her, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Amber looking at me with an admiring smile on her face.
"What?" I asked with a tilt of my head at the unusual behavior. She actually looked legitimately embarrassed as she turned her head and coughed in her hand with a blush.
"…I just find it endearing that you always feed your Pokémon first before yourself… A lot of people I know don't really do that."
I considered what she said, but didn't really find how anything like that was really special.
I shrugged in indifference.
"If you say so. I'm just keeping a promise I made." I quickly explained as I took a slice of my own and took a bite.
"Do you mind if my Pokémon joins us?" She was already moving to take out a Pokéball from her maids dress.
She is so presumptuous…
I gave her a thumb up in reply as my mouth was full.
I made to sit down at the edge of my bed since she was taking up the desk. With a pop and a flash I was greeted to the sight of a black bi-pedal mammal with a small normal looking black ear while the other ear looked like a short red feather on top of her head. I recognized it as a Sneasel immediately, and it was a female one to boot.
Scanning the room with her twitching ears, she spotted me and gave me a cute eyes closed smile.
"Snea-sel! I heard her speak her name in greeting.
I responded with a wave and a smile of my own. She did the same thing to Poochyena, but she was far too concerned with her pizza to notice or care.
This put a frown on the Sneasel's face.
Amber noticed this and immediately placed a bowl down for her and filled it up with the Pokéfood.
Completely distracted by this, she looked up at her trainer with a smile, gave another muttering of its name, and dug in. I watched as the Sneasel would pick up one of the kibbles in its hook-like claws and pop it into its mouth.
It still amazed me that I had the opportunity to actually see something like this in person.
"So what were you watching?" I heard Amber ask as she gestured to the TV.
"I was just watching the news." I answered in a bored tone. "I swear, if I hear about that damned Magikarp one more ducking time…" I grumbled under my breath.
Amber seemed to have heard me as she giggled.
"Yeah, it must suck to be holed up in here. You said this sketchy Looker guy wouldn't receive any news until this Saturday right?"
I nodded my head. Though sketchy was a bit of misnomer, he was more awkward and goofy than anything else. I was really hoping to get out and maybe start training Poochyena for the inevitable journey I'd be going on.
Looker, however, forbade me from going outside. Especially since he wasn't sure my memory loss was a symptom of a greater problem that could be reoccurring.
I couldn't exactly blame the guy since I'd probably have the same thoughts as him, but that's the price for knowing the truth and he the lie I suppose.
I had noticed Amber grow silent for a bit, and just when I was about to do some dumb small-talk…
"I have a proposal for you actually…"
"I'm sorry, but my maiden heart isn't ready for a relationship right now. I have my adorable little Poochyena, you see, and she requires my utmost attention at the moment. I'm sorry, but it wouldn't work out right now. Feel free to try again some other time." I said as I bowed to her in apology. I looked up at her only to see she wasn't really amused with my fake rejection and proceeded to pull out a piece of paper from her dress.
"That wasn't what I meant, Aster."
This was the first time she was using my name and it was already being said with such venom!
"My apologies… I only meant it in jest."
"No girl likes being rejected. Fake or not…"
I started to sweat under her glare.
"R-right, again, sorry about that…"
She kept the glare on me a little longer before showing me a piece of paper.
'Jubilife City's Doubles Saturday Smash' was printed at the top in bold stylized letterings. Judging by the name, it appeared to be a doubles tournament.
"I was hoping you'd be my partner for this month's tournament." She explained as I was reading the paper.
"But I can't…" I stopped myself short as a thought occurred to me.
There really shouldn't be any problem with me going out so long as I had another person to accompany me. The only reason Looker wasn't able to go with me was because he was taking care of some business to do with the International Police. I glanced at Amber to see a smarmy smile on her face. She probably had the same thought, hence the proposal.
I swear this girl can read minds...
"I'll even cover the entry costs and take you out during the evenings to train."
I opened my mouth to say how this still sounded like a date, only for an unamused glare to appear on her face.
I understood why she did so the first time, but she was usually a lot more playful than this as she had been unabashedly brutal to me with her teasing the past couple of days.
Unless…
I got up and approached Amber, my hand outstretched.
"Mind if I have a look at the flier real quick?" My request was innocent enough, her glare turning into confusion at my sudden change in demeanor.
"Oh… sure."
She handed the paper to me with no hesitation.
Inspecting the flier, I looked for more details. I read that the battles were apparently going to be televised on the news channel I had just been watching, insinuating that the influx of relevant news was in a lull if the fact they wanted to televise a bunch of rookie battles was any indication.
I suppose that's checkmate then.
This would be the final nail in the coffin to have Looker let me participate in the event. It would certainly get my face out there for identification purposes.
There was the matter of only requiring a single Pokémon to enter, which would mean the battles would be fairly quick.
As for the piece of information I was actually looking for…
Ah, there it is!
The registration dates were from the Monday of last week to the Friday of this week.
I narrowed my eyes at this revelation.
"You'd been planning to ask this the moment you saw Poochyena, didn't you?" I said in a calm, almost accusatory, tone.
I saw her jump slightly when addressed this way, and her only response was to look away from me, suddenly finding a spot on the wall to be very fascinating.
"I-I'm not sure what you mean…"
I had been wondering why she was being so nice to me. Especially with the praise she gave me concerning how I fed Poochyena, which was most likely fabricated.
I wasn't the type of fool who believed I had any charm whatsoever. Not to mention my appearance was completely mediocre and unworthy of note. I certainly wasn't going to chalk it up to suddenly gaining EX-rank Charisma just because I was in the world of Pokémon.
Get real.
To compound my own thoughts on this, the first time we met she clearly showed disinterest when I opened the door when I ordered room service. The life in her eyes didn't show until she had a look at a certain gray hyena.
All the pieces lined up when I considered it in the context of a doubles tournament. Being a dark-type specialist, she would find it easier to come up with strategies or synergies with another trainer that used a dark-type Pokémon of their own, considering her wealth of knowledge on the subject.
The fact she couldn't look me in the eyes spoke of her guilt.
For most people, the blatant manipulation she was trying to pull by using my own teasing against me, for her own sake, would put most people off. I probably wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't been paying attention to our brief exchanges over the past few days.
I'm sure some people would have started shouting in anger out of sheer embarrassment of being manipulated so easily, and kicked her out of the room.
Her fidgeting demeanor made me believe she thought I would do just that.
I wasn't like most people.
In fact, I actually felt relieved.
To finally unmask the ulterior motives of someone who'd been lying to you, the rotten ugliness they kept up behind a charming smile, and the selfish wish they wanted to see come true…
It grounded me in a reality that wasn't so different from my old one. I hadn't really changed my mindset that I used back home, knowing that this world, at the end of it all, wouldn't end up so differently just because it had supernatural critters running amok.
Friendship speeches were a load of malarkey as far as I was concerned.
The power balance might have changed, but the way people approached their own problems and vices hadn't.
Amber was a rotten person.
Just like me.
My lack luster eyes could see that much.
There was still one question on my mind, however, before I accepted her proposal.
"You didn't lie about Poochyena being cute did you?" I questioned, leaving my face impassive. Folding my arms, as I silently challenged her to look me in the eyes.
Her fidgeting stopped and was replaced by confusion as she looked back to me to see what I was playing at. Not gaining much from my intense staring, she looked down towards the subject of my question.
Poochyena had stopped eating her meal, probably sensing the sudden tension in the room. I saw splotches of pizza sauce around her mouth that made me want to take a picture if I had a cell-phone.
Amber looked back at me with the most agitated expression on her face.
This time I could tell it was genuine.
"What kind of stupid question is that? She's probably the most adorable Poochyena I've ever seen. And if you knew my family, you'd be surprised how much that actually meant." She gave her opinion without a hint of remorse, as if she were asked the most mundane and stupid question imaginable.
After a minute of intense staring, I could see her eyes eventually beginning to turn worried, most likely not used to being called out and confronted like this. I had no doubt her fox-like charm duped many people. In fact, that same charm is what lead us to even having this conversation in the first place.
I'm probably the most pessimistic and rotten person I know, so she really didn't stand a chance.
I looked down at a sitting Poochyena to see her tail wagging after hearing Amber's answer.
I smiled at this.
And I accepted her proposal without a second thought.
