Save State

By: Aviantei

File One: Memory Error

"Oi, —, you gonna come help us today?"

"Sorry," I said, "but I can't. I have something important I need to do."

Fri sighed, shaking her head. Strands of her hair swayed with the movement. "—, you've been making the excuse for weeks," she complained. A disgusted look crept onto her face. "Every day it's 'something important,' but you just lay around in the house doing nothing. It's not like you're doing the housekeeping this place so desperately needs. We could all really use your help, you know."

"I know, I know, preparations for the summer festival, right?" I sat up on the couch, stretching, but moved no further. "I get that it's a busy time, but I just can't help out. I mean, if it's something important that won't take too much time, sure. But if it's some time-consuming, week-long project like I know you love to take part in, count me out."

"You're not doing anything else with your life, anymore, —." Fri frowned, glaring down from where she stood over me. Even her hands were planted firmly on her hips. It was an impressive sight. "I thought pushing you to go on a journey would be good for you. And for a while, I was right. But now you're worse than you were before. Being the Champion has made you complacent. You don't strive for anything anymore." She turned, heading towards the door. "If you ever decide to do anything again, I'll be helping with the ceremony preparations."

I winced as she slammed the door shut, then laid back down. I couldn't say Fri was completely wrong. I hadn't done much of anything in the past month and a half. I stayed in my house half the time, played with my Pokémon the other half. If anything, the incident with Wicker seemed like a dream, and that was the last time I had felt motivated. I still hadn't told anyone about the incident.

What if it was a dream? I couldn't shake the feeling it wasn't, but didn't want to take the chance. I had even checked the inside of the vacuum out of paranoia. Not even my ultra ball was there. Wicker at least understood, nudging me on every time I took care of her. Sometimes when she called out, it was terribly sad, like she knew something was missing, too.

If I were to lie around the house all day, Fri would just come back and yell at me some more. If I went out, she might see my by chance, and also yell at me some more. Further, she might also succeed in dragging me around this time. Not being able to accept that as the outcome, I chose to exert some energy now as opposed to later. I was a harder to find target if I was changing my location, anyway.

Outside it was peaceful. As always, the remains of Mom's flower garden were somehow still perfectly healthy. I walked on. Like it should be during summer, it was definitely hot. Even so, the world was alive through the heat that had discouraged my own activity.

The silence didn't last long. I was only able to make it off the path that led from my house into town before I could hear it. There were shouts of instructions and the general hubbub of excitement. I could even hear the sounds of handheld construction. They really were going all out this year.

Even though this was my own hometown, I stayed cautious as I walked down the street. There were a lot of people I didn't care if they saw me, and I lot of people who I wouldn't mind if they saw me, but there were still a lot of people I definitely didn't want to see me. In particular, there was one person I couldn't afford to be seen by, and that person was Fri.

"Yooo, —~, looong tiiime nooo seeeeeee," a voice drawled out as a force attached itself to my leg. Fuji was someone that I could safely say fell into the neutral category, though her alliance could easily be changed. This could serve as either an advantage or a disadvantage. The small girl pulled closer, attempting to latch onto my sleeve and crawl up my arm. "Nee-chan's been complaining about you, —, whatcha been up tooooo?"

"Fri's complaining that much, huh?" I muttered, trying to ignore the idea. If even Fuji was catching wind of it, her sister must have been getting really sick of me. Fuji stared up at me with expectant eyes. I picked up the small girl as a distraction. I was in no ways prepared to give a satisfying explanation for my actions. "Look at you, Fuji-chan, don't you look cute in your festival clothes!"

Fuji-chan's expression brightened right on cue, a smile covering her face. "You think?!" she exclaimed. I sat her back down, watching her spin around. The sleeves of her yukata fluttered in the wind, but she mis-stepped mid-spin, causing her to trip in her sandals. The resulting fall ended with Fuji-chan's face pressed against the front of my legs. This did nothing to dampen her mood, and she freed her mouth from the obstruction I was causing to her ability to speak. "Nee-chan finally said it was alright to wear her old yukata!"

I smiled. Fri was unnecessarily possessive of her belongings. I had taken one of her toys as a child and was hence beaten up for it. Fuji had a serious admiration for her sister, actually wanting hand-me-downs to become her own. In opposition, Fri was reluctant to give up things, even if she didn't use them anymore. This was, thus, a great victory for the younger of the siblings.

"But the festival still isn't for another few weeks," I said. I know you're excited, but you need to be careful. There's a lot of paint and such flying around here. You don't wanna get your sister's yukata dirty before then."

"Eeeeeeeeh?" Fuji looked as if the idea hadn't even occurred to her. "I've been suuuper careful though. I even decided not to work on our class project today and just pass messages between everyone. And if I only wear it for one day before then, there's no way it'll get dirty, riiiight?"

That wasn't an accurate description how probability worked, but I decided not to tell her that. Much like her sister, if Fuji was confident, she'd get the results she wanted. If not, she'd worry so much to the point that something would go wrong as a result. Besides, the fact that I didn't want Fuji in trouble, I could only imagine how much of the already stressed out Fri's irritation would be dumped on me if something happened to the yukata she was probably still clinging to in her heart.

"I'm sure you'll take care of it, though," I said, just as extra assurance.

Fuji-chan smiled at me, a complete antithesis to any expression her sister had given me recently. I hadn't seen Fri smile at me at all since I had become the Champion, a smile of true happiness that I had achieved a goal I had been trying to accomplish for so long. I probably could have seen a lot more of that smile if I had stayed in town. Instead I had run off on a quest to find legendary Pokémon, unlikely as it was. She had smiled when I left, too and smiled when I came back then…

Then what? I knew nothing. What the hell was I supposed to think of that strange dream, one I could have sworn mixed into reality but held no real influence over it, no real truth? Something had to have happened at that time, to cause my change in attitude. To make her stop smiling at me.

"Oooiii, —~, you okaaay?" Fuji-chan pulled on my sleeve again, this time staying rooted on the ground. "I'm gonna take good care of the yukata, so don't worry about it, alriiight?" Her eyes were wide as she stared up at me, almost like she was scared something had happened. She really did look like Fri did when we were kids. It was nostalgic, making me wish for something beyond a smile of a few weeks ago.

"Don't worry, Fuji-chan, —'s just spacing out again," a voice commented. I turned my head towards the voice, scowling at their analysis. Errat grinned at me, streaks of paint marked across his face. I couldn't tell if they were made on accident or intended as a declaration of war they were so chaotic yet organized. In his hands he held a few cans of paint. "And not to be rude, don't you have a message to deliver down to your sister?"

"Aaaah, yeah that's riiight…" Fuji-chan said slowly, looking up to the sky as if to check if that was the right answer to give. I looked up as well. A few clouds drifted by, not even bothering to block out the sun. It was definitely one of those days. "Ya seeeee, I haven't talked to — in so long I figured it could wait, ya knoooow?."

I directed my gaze back to Fuji-chan, who was sticking out her tongue cutely "If it's something you were supposed to tell your sister, you should probably go," I said without hesitation. Fuji-chan started at the words, looking surprised and disappointed at the same time. "She's been working hard and if it's something important she'll need to know as soon as possible. It's only something you can do, Fuji-chan, and people are counting on you."

"Right!" Fuji-chan exclaimed, expression determined. "I'll go find Nee-san right now! I better see you later, —, got it?!" Before I could even give a proper response, the small girl ran off in the direction I guessed she needed to take to get to Fri. I made my own mental note not to go that way, plus a short prayer that Fuji-chan didn't trip over her sandals again.

"Fri's been working hard, huh?" Errat said behind me one she was gone, a small smirk on his face. "—, you've been inside the whole time we've been working on the festival, you don't know that. I mean, sure, it was a nice encouragement tactic, but it just shows how ignorant you are. Do you even have any idea of what Fri's been doing this whole time?"

I frowned, glaring daggers into Errat as best I could. "Of course I know," I said in defiance. "She's been working on the ceremony procedures and set up, right? Good for her, she's always wanted to work on that. She'll work herself into the ground like she does every year, but it'll be spectacular, I can tell you that much."

"Close, but wrong," Errat rejected. I could feel my confidence deflate. "She's in charge of the ceremony this year. And as you know, that means she was nominated and accepted onto the main planning committee. Not to mention, she's doing a stellar job of organizing everything, even if she doesn't need to. Give here a few more years and Fri will be running the entire summer festival."

For some reason, I felt a spike of pride at the idea. I hadn't accomplished anything, but Fri was going on to do something she really wanted to do. "Guess she'll have reached her goal in just a few more years… Maybe we should plan a party or something…"

"Hey, now." Errat gave me a sour look, placing the paint cans he was carrying on the ground. I backed up a few steps, but he was able to back me against a tree without any easy escape routes. "You're telling me Fri achieves her childhood dream and she gets a party, but I achieve mine and get nothing? How freakin' unfair is that? You jerk, if anything I should get my party first!"

I did my best to push Errat back, at least for the sake of some breathing room. "Whoa, whoa, you serious?" I said, trying to put together the pieces. "What do you mean you went and achieved your dream? I've heard nothing about this, Errat. You're the unfair one if anything."

"Man, what do you think I'm hauling these cans around for?" he asked, pointing to his cargo. "It's the head's job to gather the essentials and instruct the rest into success. This here is me doing my job to pitch in and make the lives of every employee that will be working the Noda stand during the festival easier."

"To be honest I thought you were helping someone else out…" I admitted scratching the back of my head. Errat pouted, but the expression quickly gave way to one of happiness. "Sorry, I should have known there's no way you'd go and do anything else until the family stand was done. So when'd you get put in charge?"

He considered it for a moment, trying to get the exact date in mind, no doubt. When he failed, he settled for an estimate. "Three months before the start date for the festival," he said. "Mom said that was the minimum amount of time she could afford to give it to me and still have the stand be a success. I would have liked more but…" Errat shrugged. "It just feels good to have your dream come true, you know?"

"Congratulations," I said, the grin on Errat's face becoming contagious. "Though if it was that long ago, why didn't you tell me? I have a phone, you know. I would have been more than willing to take a break from traveling and come home. It wouldn't have bothered me at all…"

Errat placed his hand in the air, a genuine "stop" motion. "No way," he said, the refusal serious.

"Eh? Why not?"

"Because," Errat said, his tone light again, "there's no way I could distract you from your journey with something like this. You're the only out of the three of us that decided to leave town. There's no way Fri would've let me get away with distracting you from the world out there. Besides, I knew you would come back for the summer festival anyway. It's not like I wouldn't get to tell you. And we held off on the celebration, anyway. It'll be a special dinner open to the whole festival that no one will ever forget!"

I was still disappointed, but I took some comfort in the fact that I would at least be able to celebrate with them. Errat had been dreaming of the chance to take over his family's business ever since we were little kids. The succession had happened sooner than I had expected, but I was definitely happy for him.

"I bet that Fri's pissed off she doesn't have the time to be in charge of your party, though," I commented.

"Seriously, —? As if she'd let anyone else do it." I stared in shock at Errat, mostly because the actual cause of my surprise wasn't here to direct my gaze at. He gave me a look that was playfully criticizing me for thinking that things would have gone any other way. "Of course Fri's been planning my party. Even if she didn't want to, I don't think I could stand the idea of her not being the one to do it."

I thought about it. I don't think I would be satisfied had anyone else set up my celebration for becoming Champion. Fri was our best friend, and knew us better than anyone else. She would set up things we didn't even know we wanted until it was right in front of us. Despite all her OCD tendencies, the result would be perfect.

"But wait," I said, putting the pieces together. "That means Fri is on the committee, in charge of the ceremony, planning out your celebration, and she still has the time to come to my house and bother me to come and do work? What kind of monster did she grow up to be?"

Errat laughed, raising an eyebrow at me. "Maybe she's trying to guilt trip you," he suggested. "If Fri didn't have to babysit you, she'd have a lot more time to finish up all of her other work." I sighed. If that was her plan it had just gained a very high chance of success. I hoped I would be able to somehow make it through the narrow escape route that was provided for me. "More realistically, I'd say it's because she wants you to be involved. Fri's doing her best to see you achieve your dream, too, —."

My cheeks heated up a bit. It was more out of shame than embarrassment. Fri was encouraging me in her own way while keeping up with the pressure of achieving her dream. I was sitting around doing nothing, waiting on something I needed to do without knowing what it was. It was pathetic in comparison on Fri's efforts and Errat's success.

"Speaking of dreams…" I started, not knowing where I was going with the sentence at all.

"Ah, that's right," Errat said, placing his hand on his chin. "In comparison to Fri, you sure have a ways to go. At this rate, you'll be the one to finish your dream last. And you know we all agreed to a punishment game for whoever achieved their dream after the others."

"I don't know what you're talking about…" Out of all times, I didn't want to think of the promise we had made as kids now. I was dealing with enough already.

"Don't give me that! It was your idea!" Errat said, calling my bluff. I avoided eye contact. "You can't just back out now because it looks like you're going to lose! It doesn't work that! This is freakin' war and you will accept the consequences!"

"Yeah, yeah…" I agreed, if only to prevent a scene. Causing too much of a commotion would only attract Fri's attention, and she'd be obligated to check on it as a member of the committee. I was sticking to my plan of avoiding her at all costs. Errat smirked, a light coming into his eyes I wasn't particularly enthused to see.

"I remember it like it was yesterday…" he said, wistful. "Good old Fri was doing her best to organize us for some act she wanted to put on at the festival. After a not-so innocent question by a not-so innocent someone, we were graciously informed of her dream to one day run the festival committee. Thus I felt obligated to say my dream was to take over the family restaurant. And then, one sweet, naïve, almost pathetic—"

"Please don't describe me like that," I interrupted.

"Fine," Errat conceded.

"Also please stop telling this story."

"No way. Then you said, eyes big and full of innocence and hope, 'I'm going to catch the Pokémon that blesses our shrine every year!'" Errat added a flourish to his movements, sweeping his arms out for effect. "Man, we were so stunned that we didn't know what to say. No one had ever gotten close to the Pokémon to see it clearly, let alone to catch it. And then you shoved the dream-achieving challenge down our throats, and the rest is history!"

My face had just recovered from blushing, but was now reverting back to its previous state. I grimaced, not in the mood for a retelling of my own childhood experience. "I know. I was there," I gritted out, trying to become one with the tree I had been leaning against. "Do you have to tell that story every year? It's embarrassing."

"Would you rather I tell it at the opening ceremonies? Or better yet, how about I tell it during the blessing ceremony to all the kids? Fri's in charge of that, so she'll have to hear it, too. Then the legend of your impossible dream can be passed down to the new generation!" I made a sour face, and Errat laughed.

"Don't you have work to do?" I snapped, putting an end to the conversation. He turned back to his cans, picking them up with ease. "Do me a favor. When Fri checks in on how the Noda stand is coming along, don't tell her you saw me. If you do I'll forgive you for reminding me of that event."

"Can do," Errat said, saluting. It was a miracle he didn't hit himself in the face with the paint can. A few drops did leak out from the seal, adding to the splatter across his cheeks. "And thank you for your kindness." He winked. I walked and tossed a wave over my shoulder, remembering to take the opposite direction that Fuji had gone. It would take a bit longer to get where I was going, but it would be worth it. Errat set off on his own, back to wherever his family was setting up shop.

"It's impossible but if anyone can do it it's you, —," he said, just loud enough for me to hear. "I believe that. Fri does, too."

"Yeah, I know…" I muttered. I knew his words were fact, but I just couldn't feel them. There was something preventing me from taking their belief seriously when I knew there was no way to achieve what I had started my journey for.

Something important I had to do.

Whatever it was, it was potent enough to distract my attention from the desire to catch the Pokémon that blessed our town every year. The prime opportunity to do so, would be in a few weeks, when the festival happened. I should have been able to focus on it, with everything I had, but I just couldn't. No matter how much Fri and Errat believed in me.

I tried to remember. I really did. I tried to remember the dream-like experience I had had, what it had felt like. What had happened and what had been driving me on? What did it leave desired, what did I have to do to get over it? What could I possibly do to get over this feeling, to focus on what was really important to me?

"'Return… to the title screen and…'" I muttered, recounting the only part of the dream that had held any meaning. And what? What was I supposed to do?

"What the hell does that even mean, anyway?"

I am really amazed that two people even decided to follow this, given how weird the prologue is. Even so, I thank pokekid543 and DanielsRage for their follows. I hope you enjoy this quick update as a special treat, as well as accept my apology that updates from here on out will probably be no where near this fast.

I really had a lot of fun starting to develop the world and characters that surround our protagonist's life. I also enjoy writing in the protagonist's point of few. It makes me remember that I should seriously write more first-person stories.

Ah, there's a lot of weird formatting and quirks that go into this. Since they're intentional and I know why they're there, I would really appreciate someone telling me if it's still comprehensible to read. It makes perfect sense to me because I'm an author. How about you as a reader?

Next time we'll look at more of the town, meet some new characters, introduce Wicker, and the protagonist will talk to themselves in for a very, very long time. Please look forward to it!