Chapter 33 – Aura Storm
"After Celadon… well it all just went downhill from there. We found Ash, but he'd lost himself somewhere in the process, and I think everybody thought that by then he wasn't the same person anymore. They were wrong. He was the same, but more of a muted reflection, twisted and broken, until it was unrecognisable." Gary
[08:35AM] – 7th November 2006 – Kanto – Cinnabar Island – Cinnabar Laboratory
He woke, eyelids flickering in the harsh white lighting, groaning slightly at his weighed, numbed limbs. The air was hot and dry against his parched throat, tainted with chemicals. His body was weak, unable to move or respond to his commands, and he felt paralysed… chained down.
There was movement in the room, but he couldn't find the strength to focus and look for whoever it was. There were voices, talking, but he couldn't hear what they were saying through the mind numbing fog.
He managed to twitch a finger, and as if setting off a response, it triggered the influx of pain, racing down his nerves like liquid fire, burning and consuming. His muscles screamed in agony, and he let his eyes flicker shut. He didn't think he could scream if he tried.
There was something horrible missing and he couldn't work out what, in the world of ice and fire. He didn't know anything else, other than the burning pain, for that was his world, and it was all he could recall.
It was all he had ever known.
He let out a ragged cough, something sticking in his throat. He had no idea where he was, no clue who he was, and he knew that there should be something there, to fill that gap. People and faces that didn't exist, and if they did, the memories were so torn and shattered that he could not see them anymore. Random facts floated around, but with nothing to tie them down, loose leaves drifting down a river.
Who was he?
Through the haze of pain, he tried to search for imaged of his past, and somewhere between there and here, he slid back in merciful unconsciousness.
[09:47AM] – 7th November 2006 – Kanto – Cinnabar Island – Cinnabar Laboratory
When he next awoke, it was to muted voices drifting in through the walls. The pain was still there, but muted, as if he was used to it, and after a cautious twitch of his fingers, he realised he could move, albeit slowly.
There were still the missing memories, and even if he tried to search for them, they would flit out of his reach, leaving nothing but stupid, random knowledge and unrecognisable fragments. Curios, and souvenirs, of places he didn't recognise, creatures he should know well (Pokémon, his mind helpfully supplied) but couldn't identity.
He closed his eyes, and opened them again. In a sudden panic, he tried to sit up, to see his surroundings. It was a bad idea, sending the world spinning. He clenched his eyes closed again, drawing his knees up to his chest. He tried to control his breathing, calming the feeling of nausea and of utter confusion that reigned. Slowly, like a rocking boat the waves of pain and sickness began to subside. He cracked open one bright, pale blue eye.
He was alone, in a softly lit room, sitting on a mattress with a single blanket that must have been casually tossed over his sleeping figure. A single chair sat in the room, and soft light pooled in through the window. The man stared with only mild curiosity at the bars that crisscrossed the gentle sunlight.
He was wearing… well… not much in that department, but there were clothes scattered on the chair. He picked them up, running a hand over the fabric. They were clean, but somebody had failed to wash out the bloodstains out of the blue jacket, and there was a rip in the black t-shirt. He disregarded that, grabbing the clothes which he recognised as his own.
There was a horrible sense of irony to that. He knew they belonged to him, but he didn't know his own name.
Awkwardly limping to the door, he let his full weight rest on the frame, muscles beginning to seize up again. He tried the handle, silently snarling when it did nothing.
He was locked in.
He was a prisoner.
Well if he had it his way, he was going to get out sooner rather than later.
As if responding to his mood, the door handle glowed blue briefly, the lock clicking open. The man grinned to himself, and tried to slide through silently.
It worked all right for the first three steps, and then he tripped on something and found himself sprawling on the floor, unable to get up again. There were voices echoing around him
"I thought I told you to lock the door."
"I did! It's not my fault he's a bloody aura guardian."
An aura guardian; the man tucked that thought away for future reference. He was an aura guardian. The term came with images of rocks and blue spheres, energy, flowing through him like living fire, but not burning, muted and soothing like an ocean.
"He's a what?" Someone else obviously wasn't entirely sure of what it was either. "Why didn't you tell me? I have Lucario cells I could have used!" The voice complained, as the supposed aura guardian sat up, leaning on a filing cabinet and realising that even if he managed to climb to his feet and get out now, these people would get in the way.
He wasn't strong enough for that. Yet.
"Where am I?" he asked instead, glancing up and around the room. It was a series of science desks, with Bunsen burner taps and large lockers and shelves dotted around it occasionally. At the far end there was a large metal table, with cuffs to keep somebody chained down.
His blood ran cold.
A person appeared in his sights, wearing a white suit, with a red R on one pocket. The man blinked. That had to mean something. The person tilted his head, examining him, his hair a bright blue, one hand stroking his chin thoughtfully, but not speaking.
A woman marched up to him, a white dress similar to the suit making the raven haired man think it was a sort of uniform. Her red hair was shoulder length, cascading down around her shoulders. It was pretty, but something inside him told it was the wrong colour, too deep, too red and not enough orange. The raven haired man narrowed his eyes at the two of them.
The woman cast a sharp glance at her partner then smiled all too charmingly at the hurt man. "You're safe. We're in a lab somewhere."
"Safe?" he laughed, "Is that why I was locked in?" he glanced up at the red R, wondering what it meant. R. Must stand for something. Although why he pictured a talking cat and two more strangely dressed people reciting a poem was beyond him.
"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light."
Although there might be something in that.
"Cinnabar." He gasped out, not knowing why. "Cinnabar Island, Kanto South."
He at least knew what region he was in, thank Arceus. (Arceus? Wasn't that the big… thing… for lack of a better word, which tried to kill them? He wasn't sure who 'them' was, but then he wasn't sure of a lot of things.)
The two of them flinched, "How did you know?" the teal haired man asked, trying to be nice.
"No idea." He laughed. "I can't remember. Did you do that too?" he latched on to any images he could to try and taunt them reaching out through the darkness. "What do you do here anyway, other than lock people up? Cloning? People? Pokémon? Mewtwo?"
The last name he could actually recall quite clearly, what with that business with a storm and clones, and some sort of big battle. It was the clearest thing actually, that he remembered, yet he had a horrible feeling that before he came here, he had no memory of that incident.
"What did he say?" The whiny voice hissed. "What does that mean…that name…Mew…two…" he seemed puzzled.
The raven haired man opened his eyes, looking slowly towards where an elderly man, frizzled hair and wide, grey eyes was stooped over; glasses perched on the end of his nose.
Another man with purple hair and a crooked back sneered, "Probably another failed experiment that your senile old mind has forgotten."
"Shut up Petrel!" another man snapped his hair turquoise and a black cap resting on his head. He stalked forwards and glanced at the raven haired man who had started shivering slightly, glaring defiantly around at the five people.
"You can relax," the teal man said. "We're friends."
The raven –haired man curled his lip. "No you're not." He disagreed. "If you were I wouldn't be locked up, and you'd have answered my questions. I also wouldn't get this horrible feeling that you're going to steal my Pikachu." He paused, musing over his own words. "I have a Pikachu." He repeated, blinking.
The four with an 'R' on their clothing glanced at each other. Teal hair shook his head, "No you don't."
The man blinked calmly at him. "Don't patronise me. I have a Pikachu. Give him back."
They looked at him. He glared back. Purple-hair turned and shuffled away, not seeing the annoyed looks that his companions gave him. The red-haired woman rocked back on her heels, crossing her arms, "His attitude hasn't improved," she commented tartly. Her golden ear rings jangled.
"What can you recall?" the teal haired man asked, curiously.
The aura guardian glanced up at the considering. "Well I don't know who you are." He admitted. "Although I think the scientist idiot is called Fuji. The one who lost his daughter."
The scientist blinked, "I don't have a daughter," he commented, dryly.
The man on the floor smirked, "Oh he made you forget that too did he?" he asked, but provided no further information. He glanced up at the 'R' wearing people. "You're Rocket Executives." He noted.
"My name is Archer." The teal haired man introduced himself. "This is Proton." He gestured towards the turquoise haired man, "And Arianna." He motioned to the woman. "The other moron is Petrel."
"Hey!" Petrel complained re-entering the room. He dropped a blanket on the floor, kicking it forwards, and there was a pained cry from within. "Damn rat." The purple haired man skulked over to Archer. "Nearly shocked me before I could get the insulation blanket over him."
"KaChu," (Moron!) the mouse shook off the blanket, insulting the man with a beady glare. The raven haired man blinked.
"Rai"
The mouse turned around. Its fur was yellow and its ears spiky. The ears were tipped black, and the tail was notched through the middle with a large scar. Brown stripes rested on the mouse's back and two red cheek pouches sparked weakly with electricity. The base of his lightning shaped tail was also brown.
It was a Pikachu, but the blue-eyed man ignored this for a more important fact.
It was his Pikachu.
Although why he had nicknamed it after its evolution he wasn't sure.
"PikaPi?" the mouse asked. (Brother?) It blinked and shook its head, as if there was a fly buzzing around it, "KaPichPikachu," (I can't remember anything) it announced sadly.
The man sighed. "I can't remember anything either." He glanced sharply at the men around him. "That was you too – wasn't it? Wiping my memory?" When there was no reply he threw out more questions, "Who am I? What is my name?"
"Well your mind wiping worked slightly," Proton remarked to Fuji, eyes gleaming.
Adrianna winced. "Slightly. He remembers enough not to trust us."
"Trust you." The man laughed bitterly, "Yeah, I'm going to trust someone who locks me up and experiments on me and my Pokémon, stuffing Pi in a cage and forgetting to feed him.
The scientist blinked, peering through his round spectacles, "You can understand him? Wonderful," he began to make notes.
Blue-eyes flickered distastefully over him, "I could always understand him," he commented and the scientist dropped his pencil in surprise.
Archer interrupted before the elderly man could begin to ask questions, "What did you actually do to him?" he asked, referring to the half dead looking aura guardian, but asking the scientist.
"I'd like to know too," the man remarked dryly, and with dignity for his current position, propped up against a filing cabinet.
The scientist pushed his glasses up his nose from where they were sliding off. He cleared his throat. "Well, we discovered some old fragments our Team had retrieved of Mew. Traces of DNA were achieved from the eyebrows of this legendary Pokémon and have sat in our system for who knows how long…" the scientist blinked, the confused look coming over his face again before he continued, "Well, we wanted to see if we could create a human poke morph. You were nearly dead when these four brought you to me. Two bullets lodged in your chest…" he whistled in amazement.
"You refused to die. Well, we expected you to anyway, and introduced these cells into your body. No idea what effect they will have," Dr Fuji sounded all too cheerful about this.
The man narrowed his eyes, his gaze dropping and looking in his reflection in a steel cabinet across from him; blue eyes and black spiky hair. He frowned, running his hand along his hair, eyes narrowed. The blue seemed wrong, unnatural, but almost as soon as he thought it, the blue shimmered into a brown hazel colour, colour shifting.
"Well what now?" the Executive repeated his question. "We have this man with no memories, who can do who knows what. Is he recovered?"
"I'm not going to work for you if that was what you intended." He remarked dryly, still leaning heavily on the filing cabinet, one hand supporting him on the ground. "You rockets can burn in hell for all I care." He winced, his muscles till felt like lead. The Pikachu had crawled over to him, chirping softly.
Dr Fuji shrugged, "You'll come around to our views in time," He blinked.
The aura guardian raised an eyebrow in doubt. "Really? I'll work for someone who forces Pokémon to evolve against their will and splices people's genomes with legendary DNA?"
"We didn't actually get your Pikachu to evolve." Fuji protested, "The thunderstone broke and reformed into what we call a light ball. I've never seen one made before and it was remarkable."
He said this as the Pikachu showed a golden sphere materialising on his tail. The inside swirled with electricity.
"A Light Ball," the blue eyed man murmured. Then his gaze flickered up to the scientist, "Can I see the Eevee too?"
The elderly man nearly fell over in shock. "What Eevee?" he blustered. "Didn't know you had an Eevee?"
He blinked calmly, "I do now," he spoke softly. "I'd like to see her now, before you chop her up to feed to any more of your monsters."
Archer flinched at this, blank face flickering with emotion before blanking again. "Just give him the damn Eevee. It's one thing less for us to worry about," he snapped, and Petrol scuttled away again to do his bidding.
He returned shortly, bringing a metal cage with a small brown fox perched inside, snarling and trying to bite his fingers. It succeeded and the purple haired man dropped the cage with a squeal. It clanged on the floor, and the fox struggled upright as it rolled sideways.
The fox was brown, but it had major faults, marking it out as different from others of its species. Somewhere in the back of his mind, a voice whisper 'clone' but the thought was quickly gone. Its tail was black tipped, as were the ends of its ears. Paler fur, like the colour of its fluffy collar ringed its ears, separating the black and the brown, and its paw tips were the same colour. Its dark eyes stared angrily around at the grunts, a vicious snarl ripping through its teeth.
"Hey there," Red sat up, wincing and with one hand he opened the cage. The small fox's eyes widened.
The people expected it to lunge for his fingers as they worked the clasp. But it crouched there, "VuiEve?" (What are you doing?)
"Helping."
The cage door swung open. The fox blinked. Then it leapt over to where Pikachu was sat. Its ears were pressed back against its head and its eyes were wide but it squeaked something at the raven haired man. "Evee Eee Vui," It nodded its head in respect towards the raven haired man. (You're different from the rest.)
He smiled gently at it. She trusted him.
Archer stepped forwards, observing how the small brown fox snarled slightly as he passed. He reached out a hand to help the man to stand. "You need to get up on your feet. Otherwise you're not much use for anything."
The guardian accepted the hand but his eyes narrowed. He winced as he stood and stood there for a few seconds before staggering sideways. Archer moved forwards to help.
"Dammit."
Archer blinked. The man was no longer in front of him. Instead he was now standing across the other side of the room having just knocked over a pile of papers to lean on. His hands clutched at the desk and his head span dizzyingly. He was swearing. His blue eyes glared angrily at Dr Fuji.
"What the hell did you do to me?"
Fuji's first reaction was elation, to reach for a notebook and start recording observations, but at seeing the deadly look in the nameless man's eyes fear began to fill him.
"I … the ability … psychic from Mew … you just teleported."
He decided to be blunt about it, but it obviously wasn't the best way, for the brown eyes flickered to red and then the man had vanished, the air warping around him, onto to appear in front of him, hands gripping his collar and shoving him backwards against the wall. The scientist struggled to breath.
Archer moved to intercept, but a sparking Pikachu leapt in the way, and Proton following his leader's example, managed to trip over the brown fluff ball of an Eevee.
"Put me down." The scientist demanded. "Now!"
"I'm not a dog." The raven haired man snarled, spinning around. He was vaguely aware that he had switched locations again, back to the desk with papers on. He dropped the white coated man upon it, limbs trembling with the effort. "How do you reverse it?"
The scientist laughed. "Reverse it? You can't! Why would you want to?"
Instinctively, the man formed a blue blade of aura, driving it into the desk and inch from the man's neck His limbs were shaking, but he stood firmly. "It might save you your life." He snarled. "Don't interfere." He glanced at the four executives. "Just turn around and run away, and I might forget you played any part in this."
"You can't change it." Archer scoffed. "And killing him won't help the fact you're now a freak of nature."
The dark haired man grabbed Fuji by his collar once more, whirling around and somehow managing to teleport back to the wall he had stood by earlier. Blinking disorientated, he shrugged. "Probably not," He admitted. "But it might make me feel better."
Seeing the look in the man's eyes, and observing the Pikachu and Eevee (why did he give the guy back his Pokémon?) Archer thought that might be for the best. The cherry on top was the sound of gunfire from outside. He cursed. It seemed like SECTION had finally managed to find their missing elite.
Although, he mused, as he backed quickly out of the room, along with the rest of his gang, if they discovered their precious aura guardian as he was now, currently listening to Fuji's screams of pain, they might not like what they found.
[10:17AM] – 7th November 2006 – Kanto – Cinnabar Island – Cinnabar Laboratory
Misty had insisted going on this mission. She had to find Ash, to know he was alive, and that he wasn't dead (she didn't think she could bear it if he was dead).
Lance had stayed behind, with Gary, but Brock with here with her, acting as 'gym support' which was just a fancy term for saying they were on Cinnabar Island, and rock types won out in the elemental rock-paper-scissors against fire.
So did water, but Misty, for some reason, didn't like the barren rocky island with a volcano as its main feature.
Brock had kept her back while they sent in the main forces, Pokémon ready for their commands. The building had been emptier than they thought it would be, the lab practically abandoned with the odd rocket grunt hanging around. The only problem had been the four executives, who had put up a fight, seemingly panicked, and managed to get away.
They still hadn't found Ash.
Gary had promised he was here, and she believed him, but she still couldn't help but wonder what state he was in.
She marched down the corridor to the room at the end, pushing open the door. It was a large science-like lab, filled with filing cabinets. Several doors led off it. She noted some soldiers gathered around a red mess, and turned away when she realised it was a man. A dead man, in a white coat, skin lacerated with what looked like a mix between knife marks and burns. His head lolled at an odd angle.
She recognised the signs of an aura blade when she saw it.
"Check that one." Misty gestured to one of the doors, trying not to think about that, "I'll take this one."
"Be careful." Brock warned.
The red-head grimaced, and glanced at the orange weasel by her side. Floatzel practically lived at her gym, and he was her partner for this mission. "Zel will look after me." She said, and the orange weasel nodded determinedly, before bounding towards the door, going first into the unknown.
The next room was dimly lit, with papers scattered everywhere, and gruesome diagrams on the walls. There was a small pen at the far side, next to a glass cabinet filled with various syringes and liquids. There was a metal table at the centre, with a dark shape perched on it.
"FloatzelFlo!" the water weasel bounced forwards, jaws parting in a grin. Misty caught her breath, and stepped forwards.
Ash was sitting perched on the table, with Pikachu and a brown Eevee curled up next to him. He was talking in a low voice to a pair of Kanto starters, a small Squirtle and a Charmander, with funny markings, but Misty could have sworn she had seen something like it before. An image flashed in her mind of psychic-stone-clone-storm-island-hate-dead-tears and then it was gone, and she moved on, the thought already forgotten.
"Ash?" she called out and he glanced up. She flinched at his wary gaze, blue eyes wide.
Wait … blue…?
"Ash?" she repeated, quieter.
He blinked. "I'm sorry." He said, glancing around. "Are you talking to me?"
She nodded slowly. What was he doing?
"Who are you?"
"Ash?" she repeated, "What are you playing at? It's me! Misty!" she took a step forwards, and the little Eevee let out a growl.
She glanced at her boyfriend (was he still, after all that had happened?) and saw the look in his eyes. Her heart stopped. "I…I'm sorry. I don't remember…anything…"
It felt like her world was falling. How could he not remember? All their times together… just gone?
He didn't know about her or Lance. There was relief there, but it was dampened by the overwhelming emotion that he didn't even know who Misty or Lance were. She was nothing to him. Nothing at all - just a name and a strange face that one might pass by in the street…
"Nothing?" she asked. "Are you sure?"
"Pretty sure," He shrugged, glancing down at the yellow mouse that mimicked his expression. "Do you know me?" he was staring at her, head tilted curiously.
Misty nodded mutely. "You don't remember anything? I … Are you okay?"
She saw him hesitate, but he nodded. "As well as can be expected I guess," He shrugged. "Sorry… you were Misty, right?"
The Cerulean Gym leader nodded. "And you're Ash Ketchum," she told him, feeling a bit stupid for doing so. "Aura guardian, electric elite…" the one person I love the most in this world…
She noticed the blood then that was staining the table, and his jacket, the same one she had last seen him in with the torn fabric from the bullet, but no wound.
He was alive. The relief ran through her and unable to stop herself, she launched herself forward and latched her arms around him.
Misty felt him flinch, and pulled back, hearing the Eevee growl and Pikachu squeak in alarm. "I'm sorry." She whispered. "I'm just… glad that you're alive. I thought you were dead."
He looked so uncertain… so lost… but he nodded, accepting this.
"Come on." She took a step back. "Let's get out of here."
She didn't want to stay there for a moment longer than necessary.
[12:11AM] – 7th November 2006 – Kanto – Flying over Route 1
She couldn't stop staring at his eyes. They were the wrong colour, but every time he caught her staring, they would flicker brown, their normal auburn brown. Yet even as she watched they would turn grey, or green, constantly changing tones.
What did they do to you? She asked herself, but she kept her voice level as she talked about their journey together. She talked until her voice was hoarse, with Brock sitting there in the plane, talking alongside her, helping her story. He sat there and listened, trying to take it all in, but seemingly overwhelmed, and she could see that much of it was unfamiliar.
"I sound like I was a pretty stupid kind of guy." He said, at some point during her tale of their Johto trip.
"Incredibly," she smiled, "but that might be partly my fault. I used to hit you a lot with my mallet,"
"So you gave me brain damage," he joked, eyes, now green lighting up. But she could see the edge to them that wasn't there before.
"You remember Pikachu?"
He nodded his spiky raven head. "Yeah, he was my first Pokémon. We didn't get along. These idiots kept trying to take him away." Of course he would remember Jessie, James and Meowth, but not her.
It seemed horribly ironic.
"So what did you think your name was?" she asked, trying to see things from his perspective a bit.
He shrugged. "I don't know. I thought of a colour actually. I saw blood and I thought Red. That's what people used to call me. I know that. I was Red. There was a girl…Green and a guy with spiky hair…Blue."
She crossed her arms. "Really? People call me that too. Because of my hair."
"It's more orange. Pretty. Like flames."
"Uhh…" she felt herself heating up, "Thanks." Even if he didn't recall the fact that they were dating, and she hadn't yet enlightened him with that fact, he still seemed enraptured with her. Brock shot her a knowing look and she glared back.
There was a squeak from the Eevee curled in his arms, which he had kept with him. The Charmander and Squirtle had been taken by someone else, but the brown fox refused to leave her new master.
She winced as she saw Pikachu's now ragged tail. He must have got that in the fight.
Rai didn't remember much more than his master.
They landed shortly afterwards, in Viridian, and Lance was first outside to greet them.
"Ash," He moved forwards, as the raven in question stepped backwards, in alarm, and Brock moved forwards to explain. He looked so lost, and Misty wanted to comfort him, but what could she say.
"This is Lance." She told the aura guardian. "He's the champion, and a close friend."
You should know this already, she wanted to scream.
"Dragonite..?" Ash frowned. "No, I'm sorry. That's all there is."
Lance was staring now with horror at him friend. "That's right." He said slowly, "You… you really don't have a clue who I am?"
She could see Ash considering it carefully, thinking hard about it. He shook his head, and Misty's heart plummeted. She could see the champion's devastated expression, as he excused himself, whirling around with his cape billowing out to try and cope with this himself.
The Cerulean gym leader got the impression that Ash would do this himself, except he didn't know where to go.
[13:22AM] – 8th November 2006 – Kanto – Cerulean SECTION Base
She had taken Ash back to Cerulean with her, giving him his own room to sleep in, although he had shown no recognition. She had dragged him to the SECTION HQ to try and find a psychologist, but the raven-haired man had protested vehemently, and she had to settle for stealing Leaf's office to talk to him in.
Misty had considered joining SECTION, which was why she had been going on the odd mission, but after the disaster of the Celadon Incident, she had dropped the idea entirely. She'd stick to being a gym leader for now, looking after her town and its people. Ash included.
"So… do you remember anything?" Misty asked the raven haired man as they headed towards Leaf's office, having gotten mislaid the first time. She glanced sideways at him. He looked lost somehow, without his memories, and with only the pathetic scrap of brown fur and yellow mouse at his side.
Ash shrugged, "Bits. It's all jumbled together but… it sort of makes sense when I think about some things. Such as… you like water Pokémon… right? You… you have sisters? This weird guy tried to flirt with them… there was a giant vacuum cleaner…" he frowned, "No, that can't be right."
Misty let out a laugh, smiling. "You used to get stalked by these three idiots who wanted to steal your Pikachu. They used to come up with all kind of crazy ideas."
"They had this annoying… rhyme… they used every time I met them." Ash frowned. "Something like 'Blasting off at the speed of light' or something..."
"Yup – they called it a motto but it was their chance to show off really. What else?" the red head prompted.
"I don't know." The trainer blinked, shaking his head, "Things come and go. It feels like I'm looking at someone else's life… not mine. But… you and that red headed guy I saw yesterday – are you close?"
Pain welled up in the Cerulean gym leaders eyes. She had hoped he wouldn't remember this so quickly. That she would have time to explain, to reassure him, to tell him that she loved him.
She was suddenly aware that Ash had stopped walking.
"Hey?" she spun around, a smile on her face. "Are you okay?"
Please don't remember, please don't remember…
He looked troubled, but nodded, continuing on down the corridor. She glanced at him nervously, but followed. "The red-head's your friend." She told him. "The other red-head, not me…" She added, nervously. "Lance. He's the champion, I told you yesterday…" she paused, suddenly frightened. What if she managed to get Ash back, only to lose him again when he woke up once again with no knowledge of who she was, and she had to go through this again?
He nodded. "Champion with the Dragonite... Dragon user then?" he asked, "Blackthorn probably… related to…" he paused struggling with the name.
"Clair." Misty prompted. "Blackthorn City gym leader - They're cousins. Actually on that matter I think he's related to Cynthia who's the Sinnoh Champion. Half-siblings, or was it step…?" she frowned. "I get those two confused."
It was slow. Horribly slow to try and help Ash. And she hated to admit it, but she thought he did better without her nagging him all the time, 'What do you remember?' 'Do you remember this?'
But with each new fact he recalled, she knew he was beginning to see the larger picture of the puzzle.
[19:22PM] – 30th November 2006 – Kanto – Cerulean SECTION Base
He had come to her, scared and confused with the facts he was slowly piecing together. She had hesitantly told him what happened, during the past few months leading up to the Lab Raid. Now words, bitter and pained, were flowing between them. She didn't know who started it, but they were arguing, something which had been brewing for ages, and for a moment (just a moment) she let herself forget that he had lost his memories.
"You betrayed us!"
All the pain and hurt was thrown into those words. Why did he have to be so damn noble? He could have done anything… told someone… double crossed the rockets themselves… Why did he have to choose the path that would, and had resulted in the worst possible outcome?
"You betrayed me!"
And that stung, the knowledge that he was well within his right to leave her forever, yet still he stayed, clinging to what little he knew about her. There were times that his personality was reflected through the memory blank, but warped and distorted like a watery reflection. She could see the hints of his former self, and the hints of the love that they had, that she had had to let go during this period.
"You can't even remember!"
She saw him flinch; saw the eyes, a beautiful auburn flare to an aura blue, a visible reminder that something had changed. She was digging in, and she really shouldn't, but she was angry, and when she was angry or hurt she lashed out…
"It doesn't change what happened!"
She wished it did. She wished he could forget and they could be happy, but she knew that even if that fantasy worked, she would still remember. She needed Ash back, her Ash, and she needed him to forgive her.
Misty needed to forgive herself.
"No, it doesn't. And I betrayed you and you betrayed me so there - we're even all right! We made stupid mistakes and I regret every second of it!"
The raven fell silent, eyes wide and lost, the blue lightning until they were almost grey, stormy emotions swirling within. Finally he sighed, "Until I can remember everything this conversation is over," he spat, whirling around and turning away from her.
He was always running, she noticed numbly. If Lance wasn't avoiding him, then he was avoiding Lance. When she wanted to find him he was never around. He'd done that before, it was a personality flaw, to run away from issues like this. She had left him to journey alone, so he had run to Hoenn. He'd lost in the Sinnoh semis and so had hidden in Sinnoh and Johto until finally returning home.
Seeing him turn, stalking away from her down the corridor, running away once more from her, Misty thought her heart broke then - just a little.
[06:02AM] – 02nd December 2006 – Kanto – Cerulean SECTION Base
There were times when he woke up again, not knowing who he was. That always scared him the most, and he would spend the next hour or so with Pikachu and Eevee, Rai and Eva, just talking. He would solidify facts and names and images, preserving them in his head, trying in vain to fill in the blanks.
There were still gaping holes, and he would never admit this to anyone, but the blank soothing spaces of nothingness was preferable to the half-faded, static images which made no sense, holding only the emotions of a happy time long tone, or a tear once shed.
He still wasn't sure what the pretty red haired girl meant to him. It had been just under a month, since they had rescued him from the laboratory, and he knew enough to get a picture of her personality, but very little when it came to their relationship.
There was an overwhelming sense of betrayal, making him bitter and frustrated. Their argument the other day hadn't helped. He still felt a strange sense of endearment towards her, and he genuinely enjoyed spending time with her, if it wasn't for the looks she sent him when she thought he wasn't looking. It wasn't pity, it was stronger than that, as if someone had torn out her soul and he held it in his hands and it scared him, slightly.
Maybe it was pain. She had known him well. Brock had mentioned that they had been dating, before looking really guilty at mentioning it. She obviously loved him, and he would say he loved her too, but there was pain there too, hidden under layers of indifference, and he didn't know what to feel. She had known him for almost ten years, yet he had only known her for about a month, along with images and memories that felt like they belonged to a stranger.
The champion kept staring at him, when they met in corridors, and it seemed like he wanted to say something but could never find the words. The dragon tamer alternated between avoiding him or actively seeking him, the former to avoid the guilt that was plain in his eyes, the latter to try and help in any way he could.
He wasn't always that helpful either, and the guardian guessed that was why he spent most of his time avoiding him. Lance popped up a lot in his memories, but nothing helpful, lots of them torn and broken, and he was still picking up the pieces. Their best conversation had fallen into an argument. Half the words weren't his and the other half weren't either. It didn't take long before Eva had darted forward in a snarl, black ear twitching and his Dragonair had appeared, writhing and flailing.
They had battled, and he would have said it was a six on six except he didn't feel right, instructing Pokémon he knew, yet at the same time didn't really – ghosts of someone else's life. But Va and Rai were quite enough as it turned out to take down three of Lance's dragons – his Dragonair, and Altaria and they were working on the Salamence when Blue had broken up the fight.
No wait… his name was Gary…
He shook his head, staring at the sunrise; Eva curled up in his lap and Rai on his shoulder. There were times he almost didn't want to remember, and just wanted to leave this all behind. He hated seeing faces he recognised day after day, but with no knowledge of them. It was growing tiring, and he found he was spending longer seeking seclusion, to avoid the repetitive questions and pestering.
There was one thing he hated more, more than the pity, the looks people sent him when they thought he wasn't looking, even when he could feel the emotion pouring out of them. The worst thing was the teleporting.
He hadn't told anybody. He wasn't planning on it.
Misty, in between her endless questions and tales had asked briefly about the dead scientist (he deserved it) and what had happened (revenge). There was a strange lack of guilt surrounding that issue (enjoyed it) and the man had gotten what he deserved.
Most people probably assumed he was just very good at disappearing, even he unconsciously split dimensions, pulling himself and his Pokémon through and out again. He didn't even think about it, and the hardest thing was not doing it without realising, when he stepped back in alarm. He had once, but the blue haired Platinum…
No wait… her name was Dawn…
The hyper coordinator hadn't even noticed so engrossed she was in telling him all about contests. He had been back before she noticed he had gone.
And so things remained the same, Sapphire (May) and Platinum (Dawn) regaled his in epic tales of adventure… Lance avoided him… Misty alternated between stalking his movements and vanishing from his sight… Blue (Gary) insulted him… Pikachu stealing ketchup… Eevee hiding… pictures began to creep back slowly, sometimes with, and sometimes without the annotations to go with them.
Some things would never come back, and others… well – he would have to wait and see.
[12:00PM] – 25th December 2006 – Kanto – Route 1 – North of Pallet Town
"What happened?" the raven haired man asked her, gaze switching around from the ruined dust strewn rubble behind him and the smoking rock out to sea. Maybe this had been a bad idea, asking to see this place again. Yet the memories were there now, if battered and faded. (He needed to see).
"You don't remember?" she asked, tersely, teal eyes staring at him, trying to work out where they stood.
Silently he shook his head, gaze switching to where Eva and Rai were playing in the dust. He was lying, but she wouldn't know. He just wanted to hear it, on this cold Christmas Day, hear her voice talking to him. He needed to try to reassure himself that everything was going to be alright.
"There was a bomb." Misty said, quietly, "Pallet was the home of Professor Oak, a renowned expert on… well… everything."
"Did they kill him?" He wasn't quite sure, whether the professor had died or not.
She flinched slightly, at the callous tone. "No." Of course he wouldn't. He'd live a long, aging life, while his mother died. Why was it that was how it always worked? "He was among one of the ones they evacuated to Hoenn. Gary, his grandson…"
"Blue." Gary, Blue, what did it matter? They were one and the same anyway.
"Yeah… him… he took over his grandfather's duties researching along with the running of the Viridian Gym."
The raven haired man turned to look out to sea once more. "What… why am I sad?" She was dead. He knew that. He had mourned for her months ago, yet the feeling of choking sadness still welled in his chest. He hadn't cared about the death of that scientist, but his mother… what was the difference? "When I'm here… it feels like I've lost something."
The red head tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, staring at some nondescript point on the horizon, "We couldn't get your mother out in time. I'm sorry." She was blunt, and he appreciated that. "You found her later, and she died of her injuries. You… you'd been on a mission to intercept some executive in Viridian Forest with a shipment of weapons. We… we don't know what happened, but you got caught for a week or so. It was then that you agreed to turn over information in… in exchange…"
He remembered that. It was easy enough once he pinned down the elusive event leading to that domino of events. Domino huh… wasn't there a rocket elite… ex-elite… he and Lance had burned down her supplies of tulips… He corrected Misty, keeping a mental note of that train of thought to revisit later, and follow. "I would spy in exchange for your life." His tone was flat, stating the facts with no emotion behind them. He wanted to see her reaction.
She swallowed. "And Lance's..." (Why was it always about Lance?) "They'd just killed your mother and you were… you were so angry. You were out all the time, training, fighting… I… was so scared of losing you and… Lance was there… we were drunk…" (Try to split the guilt. She's guilty, she regrets it, she's trying to apologise…)
"Don't." his voice cracked slightly. "Don't."
"About three months later…" Misty continued, as if nothing had happened, "There was another mission to Celadon, leading troops to the secret entrance to their base under the Game Corner. There… there wasn't one. It was a trap you'd led us into. We lost all of our troops to the rockets and injury bar me, Lance and three others. Five out of two score left alive. The rest were dead."
"And I ended up on that island." Ash stated, looking at the spiral of smoke. Was that Cinnabar Volcano in the distance, smoking like that? "With no memory..."
"It will come back." Misty expressed, "It has to! We're all helping and…"
"Misty." His voice stopped her words. "Some of it… I don't think it ever will."
And there it was: the truth. He was admitting to the gaps, the blanks that despite Dawn's chatter (Platinum) and Brock's tales on love would just not fill.
They remained, cold, empty and black.
[11:50AM] – 4th January 2007 – Kanto – Cerulean City – Cerulean Gym
Lance had been avoiding Ash since the Lab Incident; it was obvious for all to see. Yet the memory addled elite didn't seem to mind that much, too busy trying to put his shattered memories back together.
They all knew that Ash had betrayed them, and Misty reckoned he had worked that out a while back, although whether it was because he remembered or because he had overheard people talking, she wasn't sure. Actually on that note Misty thought Ash had figured out a lot of things, but was staying silent, observing from a distance.
It was the only sensible thing to do.
Everybody knew Ash was a traitor. Everybody knew he didn't even remember it clearly. Everybody knew that the only reason they had amnesiac elite staying on base was because he had practically sacrificed himself to save her and Lance.
Misty and Ash seemed to mutually agree that he wasn't staying with her at the gym. They seemed to mutually, and silently agree on a lot of things, including letting the guardian vanish for long periods on end, before turning up with a sleepy Eva curled in his arms, or Pikachu chewing happily on a ketchup bottle.
Misty wondered, sometimes, whether Ash had ever intended to come out of that battle alive.
"Ash..?"
"What?"
The raven haired aura guardian turned irritably to face the red headed champion. Their last meeting had gone better than the previous, but the tension between the two was still obvious. From where she was standing, Misty flinched, and any other passing stranger immediately vacated the area.
Lance shifted uneasily, before speaking, "I'm sorry about before … okay? I just wanted to help you remember. You were acting so differently."
"I'm not the same person Lance," Ash said quietly, glancing away, "I might not ever be."
"I accept that. But you're still my friend and that's all that matters."
The raven glanced up, surprised, eyes a pale blue that even as Misty looked, they darkened slightly to a more neutral aqua. "So you don't care? That I'm not him?"
"You are him," Misty said, hesitantly, from where she was standing. "Your memories might define how you act but your heart defines who you are. You are still the man I fell in love with, even if you don't remember being the stupid kid who wrecked my bike. You still have the same heart, the same compassion to take in a Pokémon," she gestured to Eva, "And treat it like a best friend. You're still the same teenager who beat Lance five on six with a Pikachu that somehow knows magnet rise and a Luxray that sits through earthquakes."
"I thought we agreed to never mentioning that," Lance sighed, running a hand through his spiky hair, "I swear, I don't know what I was thinking giving you that challenge."
"Maybe you weren't thinking," Ash shot back, instinctively.
"Says the reckless teen who thought trying to wake up Lorelei at eight in the morning was a good idea and then got roped into what she calls a training session."
"You're just jealous you missed your opportunity to chase after me with a flaming sword."
"That was one time! One time! I was sick of having to dodge aura spheres ever two seconds."
"I didn't need you to teach me how to fight! Riley was a far better teacher than you were."
"Riley was your mentor. I was a friend trying to make sure you didn't get killed."
"What sort of friend attacks a guy with a freakin' flaming sword?"
"Pikachu," the yellow mouse sitting at Misty's heels gave a sigh. The Eevee next to him burst into laughter.
"He hasn't changed has he?" Misty smiled, as she glanced down at the mouse, "Look at the pair of them. Men. They go from arguing over something from one minute to friendly bickering the next."
The mouse followed her gaze. "Pi PiPika ka Pikapi. KaChuPi KaPChu?" (It's Lance and Ash. What do you expect?). He said, as if that explained it all.
And maybe it did.
October 2013 - I have no experience with memory loss, so you're going to have to accept my Ash, with an extremely patched and shattered memory. He can put things together, slowly and over time, but not without help. I also think he got a few of Mewtwo's memories in the transfer, due to psychic connections and stuff, along with the memories of the first movie.
Interesting fact, Rai is in fact named after my own Raichu on my SoulSilver cartridge, who knows Volt Tackle after I successfully managed to steal Red's Pikachu's Light Ball, then traded the Pichu to Diamond and back to my restarted game. Yay for my thieving focus sash holding Pidgeot!
Hopefully now the reason why when Archer, Petrel and Arianna bumped into Ash in Saffron and immediately vacated the premises is now obvious. I imagine they were thinking something along the lines of 'okay, let's just turn around and run away from the homicidal aura guardian, because we'll die a very painful death otherwise'.
Thank you for the reviews. I'm a bit confused as to how this story manages to be on 82 favourites but only gets 2-4 reviews per chapter. For those of you who do – you make my day! Honestly, It's a great reassurance that you're still reading and enjoying! It's been a long ride, and currently I estimate three more chapters to wind up this massive story (I swear, I did not intend for it to get so long!)
Enjoy!
~Eclipse