Revised.

Chapter 15

5/27/0046/Midday

Route 37

"Ah, here we are!" Lana exclaimed happily, pointing downward toward an object that wasn't Blake's field of vision. Completing his trip to the top of the tall hill, Blake found what Lana was pointing at to be a set of large red wooden gates at the border of a large thriving city.

The entire landscape below was eerily familiar to Blake as stared down at the traditional metropolis. Unlike cities like Goldenrod or Olivine, it wasn't urbanized. Every building resembled the old Shinto style housing that was used specifically in this city throughout the Old Days. The city was surrounded by a tall red wall, with three gates to exit at the west, east and south. As he observed the city, Blake could see that the whole thing was divided up into four districts by two intersecting roads that traveled through the center of the city. Orange colored pagoda trees were inside and outside the city, giving it the feeling as if it were fall year round.

But what instantly caught his attention was two buildings, one of them being of great height and prominence during the Old Days which it still had today. This one was know as Bell Tower, once believed to harbor a Legendary Pokemon, but the theory had been discarded at the end of the Dark Days since all Legendary Pokemon had disappeared. The other building was the same height as the regular buildings in the city, but it area is covered was much larger with a low wall surrounding the property. Obviously it was some kind of compound for some of high stature in the town.

Blake felt a shiver run down his spine as several pictures flashed through his mind. He could see a dark silhouette leading a small boy by the hand. He could see the same boy seated underneath the shade of a pagoda tree, staring up at the leaves that were being blown about in the wind. He could see a group of five tall female shaped silhouettes standing in front of the gates of a large house, their arms outstretched as if to welcome him.

"Blake-kun, where are you going!" Lana called out as he took off in a full sprint, racing down the hill toward the city gates.

Ecruteak City

Blake entered the city, using the main round that was crowded with citizens were dressed their traditional garbs. Hastily making his way through the crowded street without actually bumping into anyone, Blake couldn't hold back a smile from forming on his face. Everything felt so familiar to him, the clothing, the city, the vibe of the area. It was like he had lived here all his life.

"Blake, don't run off like that." Lana whined as she caught up with him, taking a moment to catch her breath. Blake had stopped earlier in front of the pathway leading off to a small side street, away from the shopping areas that were located on the main roads which gave Lana some time to catch up with him.

Staring at the side street, Blake's mind was becoming filled with scenes he had never seen before. Once again he saw that same boy with a Pokemon on his head, happily trotting along on this very road.

Blake took off again, leaving a exasperated Lana to call out for him as he left her for the second time. He wasn't going crazy...was he? There had to be a reason why he was seeing all these images.

Kimono Girls Estate

This large compound was the one Blake had seen from the hill. The number of people it housed in comparison to its size was awkward. Only six girls lived inside this home, and four of them were currently away, one was tending to the house to make sure it remained tidy, and the last one was about to return with Blake.

A young woman held a small watering can, dressed in a red kimono with a repetitive white flower petal design. Quietly humming a tune for the small purple Pokemon beside her, she was happy to finally to stop wearing the make up that the elders of the city made her and her sisters wear during the winter, but once spring arrived, it was no longer necessary. But on the downside, she was expected to keep her long black hair tied up into a tight bun.

She was accompanied by the Pokemon of the estate as she watered the flowers near the entrance of the compound. You could say the small Pokemon was its protect with its vicious bit and powerful headbutt.

Just then, a panting Blake charged into the estate, coming to a skidding halt. The girl watering the plants came to a stop, frozen in place as she stared at Blake who spotted her as well. He was about to request her name when his gaze shifted to the small Pokemon beside which he was staring at him oddly. It was then that Blake's mind, body and cool exterior betrayed him as a whole new feeling completely overpowered his character.

"Ryuu-chan!" Blake shouted almost childishly upon recognizing the Dragon type Pokemon. Hearing the name that only one person addressed it by, the small Pokemon found itself getting crushed in a hug by Blake who pressed his cheek against its own.

"Blake-kun?" The sound of the tin watering can hitting the ground brought Blake back to his senses, this resulting in him immediately releasing his hold on the Dragon type Pokemon, allowing it to drop to the ground.

"What the hell!" Blake shouted, staring down at his hands as if they had been soiled. He could only wonder what had caused him to suddenly want to hug something.

"Blake-kun? Is that you?" The woman asked one again, stepping toward him.

Blake only spared her a glance before his usual glare set in.

"How do you know my name?" He asked, directing his sharp gaze at the girl.

"It's me Blake. Your onee-chan." She said, motioning to herself.

"Onee-chan?" Blake muttered. That word sounded very familiar to him, but he couldn't place his finger on it. "I don't even know what that means. And I don't know who you are either...I just thought this place looked familiar. Anyway, I'll be going now."

Blake turned around, slowly beginning to move toward the exit of the compound before he felt a slight tug at his pants. Looking down, he found the same Pokemon he had hugged latched onto his calve, trying to hold him back.

"Ba!" It called out, refusing to let go.

"Blake!" The woman shouted, getting a rather irritated groan from the boy. Deciding to turn around an assure her that he didn't know her, Blake felt his shoulder go numb.

Next there was hard strike to the side of his torso that sent a jolt through his body before he felt limp. He could only support himself on his right leg, but before he question the woman's actions verbally, he found her finger tips pressing against the center of his chest.

In a split second she closed her hand into a fist, smashing it into Blake's chest which sent him flying backward into the trunk of one of the pagoda trees next to the entrance/exit of the compound. Blake groaned as he landed on his bottom, trying to figure out how she made the left side of his body unresponsive.

"Knock him out Bagon!" She shouted to the small Pokemon that had risen beside Blake, climbing onto his body. Blake stared at the Pokemon before cursing mentally when he found that his Poke-balls were all on the left side the belt. The darn thing would never stay in one place whenever he stared running.

The Bagon that was now standing on Blake's chest, face to face with him, leaned back a bit before hitting Blake on the forehead with its own, a deafening thud marking the two of their heads meeting. Bagon waited a moment before it felt Blake fall backward, resting against the Pagoda tree now, out cold from the hit to his head.

"Good job Bagon." She said, approaching the small Pokemon who was now studying Blake, checking out how much the boy had grown up since the last time it had seen him before the fire. "Sorry about that Blake-kun, but we can't afford for you to disappear a second time."

A few moments later, Lana entered the compound, gasping for air after losing Blake a several minutes before.

"What'd you...do to him Yumi?" Lana asked in between deep breaths of air.

"Making sure he doesn't leave us a second time." She replied, watching Bagon poke Blake's cheek with the tiny stub that acted as its arm.

"Ba?" It asked, looking up at Yumi.

"I'm sure he'll be happy to see you when he wakes up." Yumi said, giving the small Pokemon a pat on the head. "Lana, help me take him into one of the bedrooms. And give a call to my sisters. Tell them that Blake-kun has returned."

"It's nice to see you all again." Yumi said plainly, looking at the five other girls in the room with her. Four of them were dressed exactly like her with a minor color chance to the kimono they were wearing. "Rei, Nozomi, Miyu, Hiroko, Lana."

The group of six sat in a semi-circle around Blake who was resting on the floor, unconscious.

The serious atmosphere in the room was dropped when five of the six girls enveloped each other in a group hug, happy to see each other after their long separation.

"It's so good to see you all again." Yumi said as they separated, observing her three younger sisters that went by the name of Rei, Hiroko and Miyu and her one older sister Nozomi.

"So you found him Yumi. Figures since you spent the most time with him." Rei mumbled, rolling her eyes.

"I can't help it if children are naturally drawn to me. I'm a nice person compared to the rest of you." Yumi replied with an innocent smile, getting a scoff from everyone in the room that was awake.

"So how've you guys been doing?" Miyu asked kindly, looking toward her sisters who had left the compound to search for Blake years before.

"Well as you can see, the five people who left for several years had a fruitless search while the one person who stayed back in Ecruteak City had Blake-kun show up on the doorstep." Hiroko stated, sounding slightly annoyed by the outcome of multiple years of searching across the Johto Region.

"Actually, I found him on Route 35." Lana interjected, pointing to herself with her thumb.

"We can argue about who found him for hours, but we finally have him back. We're still searching for Grace, but Blake comes first." Nozomi cut in, ending their argument before they could start. Everyone became quiet, fearing Nozomi's wrath. "So is there anything we should know about him Lana?"

"He's suffering from amnesia. He can't remember any of us, or anything about the Crests." Lana informed them of Blake's dilemma.

"Amnesia…no wonder he was acting so strange when he saw me." Yumi mumbled out loud, looking up in thought to recall what had happened earlier today.

"We have to restore his memory. His Crest is incomplete." Lana stated, motioning to his right wrist.

"The completion of his Crest doesn't matter right now, the Johto Legendaries have yet to make their choices with the exception of Grace and Lana. His Crest will reform eventually, even if he doesn't get back his memory." Nozomi explained calmly. "Now that we've found Blake, we should focus on search for Grace now."

"But I think we should give him back his memory. Even though his Crest will be reformed, he won't know how to do a thing without his memory." Miyu reasoned tentatively.

"Yeah, I agree." Lana chimed in. "I want my Blake-kun back."

"Fine, we'll go by a majority vote." Nozomi said, lowering her head and shutting her eyes. "All who want Blake-kun to receive his memory."

Everyone except Nozomi rose their hand.

"Nozomi. We all know you want him back too." Hiroko said, giving her older sister a narrow glance with a smirk.

Nozomi sighed and rose her hand as well, causing the rest of the girls to cheer happily.

"Yeah, let's bring back Blake-kun!" Lana declared, getting a nod from the Kimono Girls who motioned for her to step away. This process required that no one interfere or else they could be trapped within Blake's subconscious for the rest of their lives.

Nozomi, being the oldest, sat before Blake's head, placing both her hands on his forehead. Yumi, Hiroko, Rei and Miyu star around Blake's torso, placing their hands on his chest, one on top the other.

"Are you guys ready?" Nozomi asked, looking at her younger sisters who gave her one collective nod.

Nozomi closed her eyes as did her sisters, a blue halo igniting around their hands. Nozomi felt her stomach drop as she was pulled into Blake's mindscape set.

Her entire perspective changed from that of room within their compound with her sisters to a long black corridor that was filled with numerous doorways. While she couldn't find a light source, Nozomi could see in the dense darkness since she appeared to be the light source.

'It's so dark.' Nozomi noted as she observed how Blake kept himself organized.

Beginning her trip down the corridor, Nozomi came to a stop at the first door which possessed a white outline to tell her where the doorknob was located. She threw open the door without a second thought, peering inside to see what the room held. As she stepped in, her heart began to raced. Each of the walls besides the one where the door was built into had a scene being projected of Blake battling numerous trainers. She could tell that he was battling in the Goldenrod Battle Dome based the unique design of the Battle Dome.

'My hearts speeding up. Why?' Nozomi asked herself, trying to figure out what could possibly make her feel like this. 'It almost feels like I'm nervous about something…Oh, I get it. I can see and feel how Blake feels during different events."

Nozomi left the room to test her theory which was true. Her heart rate slowed down upon her exit. Thus began Her trip through Blake's memories starting from his most recent events. From room to room she traveled, seeing Blake's Pokemon journey from his current point all the way back to when he received his Cyndaquil from Professor Elm.

As she finished exploring Blake's life as a Pokemon trainer on a journey to become the best, Nozomi was worried about Blake's emotional activity, or lack of it. All she really felt from the boy was the various things that angered him, disappointment in himself and a kind of nervous excitement that comes on whenever he was in a Pokemon a battle. Although she had to credit Lana for making him so uncomfortable during their first meeting.

But the most emotion she had gotten out of the boy was when he was in Azalea Town. He had stumbled onto Jerry's family who had been attacked and injured by Team Rocket. Anger was definitely the first thing that Nozomi felt, anger that was directed at Teak Rocket for making these innocent people suffer. Following that he directed his own anger at himself for failing in his duties. The moment Blake accepted the job of helping the Committee members with the issue in Azalea Town, Blake felt as though he had to protect everyone in the city from getting heart. He was upset with himself for failing to do that.

All of that put together directed a lot of Blake's fury toward Team Rocket. He wanted to a chance to strike them down for what they've done. That anger was lying in wait for that moment where Blake could hit Team Rocket with all his strength and cripple them.

Nozomi had to admit, she was worried about Blake being so involved with Team Rocket and the Committee. All that anger was sure to get him into trouble, especially if it continues to build.

With a mental note to check on the boy set firmly in her mind, Nozomi moved onto the part of Blake's childhood which he spent in the New Bark Town orphanage. She watched as Blake went back in years until he was about the age of nine, but he displayed none of the natural affection children his age could normally give off with ease. Trust, love...they were non existent in the boy.

"How did he end up in New Bark Town? That's what we need to know." Nozomi said as she stepped back into the hallway, looking down the corridor where there were still many doors to go surrounding Blake's childhood.

Nozomi briskly walked down the hallway. She would have to skip a few doors if she planned to figure out how Blake got to New Bark Town. As she moved the the hallways at a semi-fast pace, Nozomi hit an unseen wall which put her on her bottom.

"Ouch." She said, holding her nose as she looked up to see what she had bumped into. 'Huh?'

The rest of the hallway Nozomi was looking at was hazy and hard to look at, an invisible wall blocking her off from venturing into the hazy area.

Nozomi turned to her right, looking at the one door that she was still able to enter.

'Maybe this will shed some light.' Nozomi muttered to herself as she entered the room.

The room was drastically different from all the others in the fact that two of the three walls were in shambles, scattered all over the floor. Only one screen was projecting an image, an image of a boy that Nozomi recognized.

A small boy, no older than five slowly rose up from the pile of trash bags he was resting on, rubbing his eyes. It took a while for his eyes to become focused, but when he did, he found himself in unfamiliar surroundings. It was pouring rain, the ground was soaked along with his cloths and he couldn't stop his hair from falling down in front of his eyes.

"Hello?" He called out, looking around the two tall buildings he was resting in between of. He didn't know where he was...or what he was doing there. All he had in mind was a name, and one statement.

'You were abandoned...'

The small boy nervously shuffled out of the alleyway he had been sleeping in before quickly returning when a car zoomed by followed by multiple police officers on motorcycles. Once the noise had passed, he left the alleyway a second time to take a look at the buildings from the front. Flashing neon lights were in every direction, and he could here what sounded like a couple screaming at each from one of the open windows above.

The statement changed. 'Your family abandoned you...'

His attention was drawn to a door not to far away from him which was opened abruptly before a small green creature was thrown out of the building. "I can't believe I wasted money on a Pokemon like this. You're not even worth the trouble of trading to someone else." A male voice muttered before slamming the door, leaving the small green Pokemon to rest on the street for a moment before it hastily ran onto the sidewalk to avoid getting hit by another car.

Hiding inside the alleyway, the boy peaked out to observe the green Pokemon that was headed this way.

The statement changed. 'You're alone...'

Once it came to close, the boy jumped backward, trying to avoid beings spotted by it. But this action resulted in him stepping in a small indent in the ground which he sent him stumbling backward into a group trashcans. This awakened a group of cat Pokemon with a golden coin on its head.

The group of three cat Pokemon hissed at the boy as they surrounded him.

The statment became a question. 'What will you do...?'

Each of them extended their thin but sharp claws from their front paws before they pounced onto the boy.

The question returned to a statement. 'With your own power...'

The boy screamed as the cat Pokemon swiped at him with their claws, cutting through his clothing and skin with each attack. He was sure people could hear him screaming, but no one was even trying to help. Was the world always this cruel.

Suddenly, a chunk of cement hit one of the Meowth's on the head, knocking out the feline Pokemon with one hit. The group looked toward the entrance of the alleyway where the boy could see the green Pokemon from before. It had another piece of cement in hand and ready to hurl at its next victim. The Meowth's hissed at it before the remaining two swarmed it.

The statement changed. 'By yourself…'

The boy rose from the ground, glancing at the pack of Meowth's that were attacking the small green Pokemon who couldn't defend itself since it was outnumbered. The thought of running a way at this moment entered hi mind.

The statement became a command. 'You must survive...'

But the thought of leaving vanished as well. After hastily wiping away his tears, the boy rushed toward the pack, kicking the first Meowth with all his might which sent the Pokemon tumbling across the ground. This action gained the attention of the remaining Meowth who immediately jumped at the boy.

The green Pokemon jumped into the scuffle, easily tipping the odds in the boy's favor so that they claimed victory over the Meowths, ending their battle. The two of them were breathing deeply, leaning against the wall before the green Pokemon approached the boy.

"Larvitar." It said, extending its small arm toward him.

"Blake." He said in reply, accepting the Pokemon's handshake.

The command continued. 'and you must become strong...'

"Per." Another cat Pokemon entered the alleyway, this one being much larger than the previous group Blake and Larvitar had just fought off.

"Lar-Larvitar." It said, glancing at Blake who nodded to Larvitar.

Together the two of them rushed out of the alleyway, deciding that they weren't looking for another fight. Larvitar pointed out a place for the two of the take shelter from the rain.

That command became a goal.