I really need to mind my temper.
Admittedly, back when I was told that I was being cliché, I made Tarsa and his group on the spot.

Now I can't believe that it took me 30 chapters put my entire story back on track.
On the bright side, I got a chance to deepen the story behind all my characters.

It may not come as a shock to you, but this a huge deal for me.
Now I'm going to reveal the secret that I've been keeping since the beginning…
Mind you, since I was first given the first chapter of this story.
The very first thought that came to my mind, when I started this story.
Over a whole year ago, I'm almost scared to reveal it…

National Suicide Hotline Number : 1-800-488-3000

Secrets are made to be found out with time, but this was way too long. - Charles Sanford

"Where is he," Ma tapped her foot and looked at her watch for the umpteenth time.

"Hey, sorry we're late," Brandy and his group ran up to us, "we kind of got side tracked."

"What took you so long," Ma turned to the four of them. I recognized Brandy and Tyler, but I didn't recognize that other human and Charmander.

"(Hi mom!)," Tyler ran up to her, but something was off about him.

"Tyler! How is my favorite little Torchic," Ma pet Tyler lovingly. I was certain that Tyler would react, but not how he did.

"(I'm your only Torchic, Mom!)," he then looked at me, "(how are you Kiki?)"

"(Um… I'm fine? Are you alright?)"

"(Never better.)," Tyler chirped, "(well, as far as I can remember at least.)"

I tilted my head in confusion.

"Let's get inside," the other human was sweating profusely, "I feel like I'm going to self-combust."

"Who is that?"

"This is Rio Elric and he's…"

"Dying from this heat," Rio moaned, "why aren't you two suffering?"

"It's actually cooler now than it was earlier," Brandy explained.

"So what are you complaining about," Karen asked, leading everyone inside the Pokémon Center.

Inside, Nurse Joy was happy to great us as usual, but us Pokémon stepped to the side to meet, greet, and talk.

"(So did you think about what we spoke about earlier?)"

"(Um, I don't know. What were we talking about?)," Tyler looked as if he was being honest with me.

"(But how can you not remember what we spoke about this morning?)"

"(That's what we're here to find out.)" the Charmander began explaining everything that that had happened so far.

"You must be joking," I said, "do you honestly expect me to believe that you can't remember anything?"

"I swear to you that it's the truth," Brandy crossed his heart, "I don't remember who John Lawrence is. I'm almost certain that if you ask anybody else in school that they'll tell you the same thing."

"What about him," I pointed to Rio who was bowing to Nurse Joy, because he got his Pokéball back.

"Rio? Well, he just needed to pick up his Pokémon. I don't think he's ever met John," Brandy sighed, "but he's staying with Ms. Cambell."

"I've been meaning to ask you about that," Rio interrupted our conversation, "Why does everyone call her Mrs. Lawrence if her name is Ms. Cambell."

"You're kidding right," I'm not sure what they were talking about, "Mrs. Lawrence has been her only name as far as I can remember."

"Then…," Rio stopped and waved his hand in front of his face, "never mind. This town is weird enough as it is."

"Who are you calling weird," I snapped.

"He didn't mean anything by it," Brandy waved his hands in front of him as if it would help me to calm down, "so what exactly did I do anyway?"

"Give me your backpack," I didn't bother waiting for him to take it off. I spun him around and pulled out the papers that I had seen earlier, "Right here. What are you doing with John's poems?"

"His what?"

"Stop playing dumb," I was about to snap again.

"She's right," Rio took a look, "all of these poems were written by Tyler's owner."

"Tyler doesn't have an owner," I shouted again.

The Nurse at the counter shushed at me this time, but I didn't give it a second thought.
Regardless, I paused a moment, "even if he did, John couldn't be his owner. He died before Tyler was born."

"Then why did you lie to me," Rio looked at the confused Brandy, "you said that John was Tyler's owner."

"He is… was… God, this doesn't make any sense," Brandy rubbed his head in frustration, then stopped at a new thought, "unless… "

Brandy turned to the three Fire Pokémon that were huddled together.
They almost looked like they were having story time or something.
They just finished up when Brandy spoke again.

"He belongs to himself," Brandy whispered to himself with his eyes wide open.

"Eh? Now you're the one that's not making any sense."

"John's not Tyler's owner… No, he is, because Tyler is John."

"That wasn't funny the first time that you tried to convince me of that."

"There was a first time," Brandy asked stupidly, I only glared at him, "if I tried to convince you before the ceremony today then that must be it."

"No, that was just a cruel joke that you tried to pull on me earlier," I shivered, but I don't think that they noticed.

"(But it is true… Tell her you are John.)," Kiki pushed Tyler forward.

"(I can't tell her that. I don't even know if it's true or not.)"

"(Then ya can at least wing it, can't ya?)," Blair laughed a second, "(no pun intended.)"

"(Okay, I could try, but she might not like it. I mean… How will she react?)"

"(Sounds to me like our little talk had an impact even though you don't remember it.)," Kiki licked Tyler on the cheek, "(I'm so proud of you.)"

"(Hey, don't do that!)," Tyler chirped, "(It gives me nightmares.)"

Tyler then walked up to me, then stopped and turned back to Kiki.

"(So how am I supposed to prove to her that it's me, when I don't even remember who 'me' was?)"

"Well, we could start by proving to her that I can understand you," Brandy acted as if he was talking to Tyler.

"(And how do you expect us to do that?)," Tyler chirped a response.

"Well, she already thinks I'm crazy as it is."

"She's not the only one," Rio sighed, "and frankly if you are telling the truth then I'm angry at you for lying to me before when you said you only guessed what Tyler was saying."

"Hey, I didn't lie. You accused me of being a Reborn, but I'm not. Tyler is."

"Stop trying to convince me that my Milkshake is m…," I coughed, "is John. It's not possible."

"Hey, it's more than possible," Rio nodded to himself, "let me take a wild stab here. Did John die by some kind of blow to the head before Tyler hatched?"

"How could you possibly guess that," I snapped without thinking.

"He was right," Brandy almost squeaked in shock.

"You probably told him," I pointed an accusing finger at Brandy.

"No, he didn't. It's in the book I read," Rio explained, "Reborns sometimes develop unusual features such as freckles, body fat, and wounds that they received while when they were still alive."

"So, you were only shooting in the dark when-," Brandy asked, I had to hit him for saying something so insensitive, "ow! What was that for?"

"You can't say something like that," I raged, "even for a joke!"

"What did I say," Brandy honestly didn't know. Knowing how serious Brandy was after John's suicide… that meant…

"It really isn't a joke," I slowed down, "is it?"

Brandy shook his head. That was all that I could take.

"(So I was shot?)," I asked as Karen left the room to express her frustrations to the heavens.

"(Yes!)," both Kiki and the Blair shouted in unison.

"(And how did you know that?)"

"(Oh, I'm Reborn too. Did I forget ta mention that?)," Blair rubbed the back of her head, "(Although accord'n to Mr. Tightbritches, ya lost da will to live and then ya 'supposedly' committed suicide.)"

"(Why did you do that with your claws?)"

"(Oh, humans put there fingers up 'like this' when thay use a direct quote when they don't mean what thay say exactly.)," Blare explained, paused when she realized what she said, "(but how can you 'supposedly' commit suicide.)"

"(I'm still trying to get over the fact that my previous life was ended like that.)," I wasn't depressed at the moment, just confused, "(I don't feel like that's something that I would do. No, I'm certain of it.)"

"(How can you be so sure?)," Blare asked me, "(I saw you do it, clear as day.)"

"(It's something that Terry told me before.)," I explained, "(He said that I wasn't that kind of person and if I was then he'd be the first to know.)"

"(So you remember who Terry is?)," Kiki asked.

"(How can I forget? He is- was my closest friend.)"

"(But then how come-)"

"(We already told you, we figured out that they was hypnotized into forget'n who John was, not who he knows.)"

"(Terry assured me that I wasn't the kind of person to-)," then it hit me, "(wait, what if I was hypnotized?)"

"(We've already established that you were. Remember?)"

"(No, before that! I mean…)," I got quiet so that Brandy couldn't overhear me, "(what if I was somehow hypnotized into committing suicide.)"

"(Now that ther's an interest'n concept,)" Blair nodded, "(it ain't exactly murder because ya did it yaself, but it ain't suicide 'cause you ain't in control of yaself.)"

"(Hypnosis isn't supposed to be able to work like that. Hypnosis wont make you do what you wouldn't be willing to do.)," Kiki growled, we stared at her, "(What? You find it strange that I know how a Pokémon Move works? I am the only real Pokémon here you know.)"

"(No, you're right.)," I sighed, "(even under hypnosis that wouldn't work.)"

"(I think I have an idea…)," Blare stated after a moment of thought, "(Once, when a wild Drowzee attacked us, she tried ta use Hypnosis on me. It didn't work because tell'n me 'to relax' is like cut'n da fuse ta a bomb with a pair of flame'n scissors. It only makes me want ta explode more.)"

"(And what does that explain exactly?)," I interrupted.

"(I was get'n to that!)," Blair snapped, "(it was a little later that I realized that if that Drowzee had coaxed me differently then she could very well have put me to sleep. It would have taken longer, but she would have succeeded eventually.)"

"(So then-)," I remembered something else Terry had told me, "(The nightmares. Terry said something about me getting nightmares… If I didn't know what was a dream anymore, then anybody could have put a gun in my hand and let me do the rest.)"

"(Wait! If what you're saying is true, then that means that some puppeteer pulled you to kill yourself. Somebody made it appear as an ordinary suicide.)," Kiki looked at Karen she was still crying at the moment, "(what if that somebody comes after Ma too?)"

"(I don't think da yella bellied coward would,)," Blair thought, "(Don't forget. Da entire school was also hypnotized inta forgett'n who he was. If dat is da same as de one dat hypnotized da school, then it looks ta me like John was da only real target.)"

"(That's good.)," Kiki sighed out of relief.

"(On da other hand…)," Blair pointed out, "(if it is da same person that made everyone forget about John, then there could have been more than one victim and ain't nobody be'd da wiser.)"

"(Careful, you're starting to sound like Phineas.)"

"(You should try spend'n an afternoon with 'm)," Blair groaned, "(Thanks ta him, I still can't stop think'n about how da entire Unova Region was renamed because of a single company.)"

That's it.

My biggest secret.

Please review.