Chapter 35 - What Was Lost

It was a very quiet morning inside of the Rescue Society. Almost eerily quiet.

Sparks sat at the table in the common room, gently sipping from his cup of coffee. The whole room was still and quiet. Usually at this time of day there was at least some sign of activity, most often from active team members going in and out of the dorms and preparing for the day ahead. Not today, though. All but a select few of the active team members were either out on the job early, or had been given the day off.

In fact, most of the lower floors of the building were devoid of activity. Through a headache-inducing amount of scheduling, most of them were working somewhere outside of the building.

It was a big day, and Sparks was one of the few who remained.

The Raichu glanced over at the couch, where Ziggy was sitting. Once again, he found the Buizel admiring the shiny new badge that he was holding in his paws. His new recruit's badge, the old plain grey one, was gone. Ziggy now held an identical badge, except this one was bronze.

A warm smile was on the Buizel's muzzle. He got like that every time he looked at his new badge. Ziggy was no longer a recruit. He had officially joined the guild now. In fact, he had just received this new badge from Carmen yesterday. Sparks still got a chuckle out of how surprised Ziggy was, specifically by the lack of pomp and circumstance. It had been rather funny to explain to Ziggy that the ceremony they'd held when they recruited him was not something they normally did, and badge rank-ups were quick and dirty affairs handled as quickly as possible by their very busy guildmaster.

Those wonderful smiles that Sparks loved so much were back. Ziggy was quite happy to look at his new fancy bronze badge.

But Ziggy's new position in the guild wasn't why this was a big day, especially since it had happened yesterday. Ziggy was just here with the rest of the group, patiently waiting. Sparks glanced over at Danika, who was sitting on the other side of the couch and twiddling her claws impatiently. Then, he turned and looked at the fourth occupant of the room.

"Terry, would you relax?" he spoke up.

The Eevee looked over at him. "Huh?" he said, giving Sparks a good view of the stressed-out look he wore on his face.

"If you keep pacing like that, you're gonna wear a groove into the ground. Carmen's not gonna be happy about that."

Terry looked down at the floor, as if he could actually see the hypothetical groove Sparks was referring to. The Eevee had been wandering around in circles for the past hour nonstop.

"Just sit down and try to be calm. There's no use getting agitated…"

"Mnn…" Terry sighed as his ears drooped. Sparks hadn't seen much of the Eevee in the past week. Apparently Terry had been continuing his work for the guild, but it was just somewhere that Sparks couldn't see him as often.

"Come sit with me!" Ziggy piped up, looking over at Terry with a welcoming smile and patting the couch cushion next to him.

Terry turned towards Ziggy and stood indecisively on the spot for a moment. He eventually relented and shambled over to the couch. He sat down between Ziggy and Danika, though he did so in the most stiff and rigid position imaginable. He looked like a cub who had just been sent to time-out by his teacher.

The common room door opened. Everybody's head snapped in the door's direction at the speed of a lightning bolt.

It was Carmen. Everyone let out a quiet sigh and went back to whatever they were doing. The Braixen looked over at Sparks, though she remained in the doorway.

"I'm heading out now," she said, "I just wanted to wish you all the best of luck. I hope this all works out."

Sparks smiled at her and said, "Thanks Carmen. We appreciate everything."

"Call me if anything comes up."

"We will."

Carmen briefly glanced at all the others in the room, especially Terry, and gave them nods of encouragement.

"I'm sorry I had to pull Lupe away today, but city hall wasn't going to let it wait any longer. She gives her regards and wishes she could be here."

"It's okay, Carmen," Sparks replied, "We understand."

The Braixen gave one last nod. She then turned and departed, closing the door behind her. The tense silence returned. Sparks sighed softly and glanced over at the others on the couch. He noticed that Danika had stood up and was now walking over to him.

"It's like waiting in the hospital for an egg to be laid…" she remarked softly to him.

"No kidding…"

Danika briefly glanced over in the direction of the door. "He should be here soon. Hopefully, anyway. I hope he didn't get lost in the city…"

Sparks nodded as he wordlessly followed her gaze. It was a big day, after all. A big day especially for two Pokémon who were anxiously waiting for a visitor to the guild who would be arriving any moment now.

Everyone was waiting for Jin, the Psychic Pokémon Danika had found that was supposedly going to fix Rico's memory. It had been ten long days of waiting for Jin to travel to Radiant City so he could see the Riolu. Ten especially agonizing days for the poor Eevee who was sitting on the couch, looking just as stressed as before. Sparks still had no idea what to expect from this mysterious Pokémon.

Jin had sent them a letter ahead of time yesterday with some instructions. It was why most Pokémon had been sent out of the guild for the day, so the atmosphere would be quieter and less chaotic. Rico was presently waiting in the gymnasium, which had been set up according to Jin's directions. Everything was ready, and now all anyone could do was wait.

Sparks couldn't possibly imagine what was going through Terry's head. Ziggy was sitting next to him and trying to cheer him up, but it didn't seem to be working. A couple more awkward, anxious minutes passed. Then even more minutes drifted by. If this weren't such a big deal, Sparks would have gotten bored long ago.

Then finally, everybody perked up in unison as a quiet knocking sound resounded through the room. Everyone's eyes shot over to the small employee-only door. The one Danika had instructed Jin to come to instead of the front door. Nobody else would have reason to knock on that particular door, since they would all have a badge that would just let them in.

Danika stood up a moment later and walked over to the door. Sparks got up as well and followed behind her. He could hear hushed voices coming from the two Pokémon back on the couch. The Sneasel opened up the door a crack and peeked outside, and then a smile appeared on her muzzle.

"Hello!" she greeted warmly as she opened the door all the way, "You must be Jin!"

Sparks gazed over her shoulder to get a look at this Pokémon, and was immediately surprised by what he saw. When he had first heard Danika had found a skilled Psychic-Type, one who was extremely well-practiced in his craft, he had pictured something like an Alakazam, Xatu or Meowstic.

A small Abra was the last thing he expected to see.

"Greetings! And you must be Miss Danika," Jin spoke, and reached out to shake the Sneasel's claw.

Now Sparks was surprised for a second time. Seeing a short, first-stage evolutionary Pokémon like an Abra made him wonder if this wasn't actually Jin, or there was some mistake somewhere. After all, how could a young Pokémon like an Abra be extremely well-practiced and an expert? Just hearing the Abra's voice, however, put those thoughts to rest. This Abra was definitely not young.

"It's so nice to finally meet you," Danika said as she shook claws with him, "Thank you so much for coming all this way to see us."

"Ah, no need to be concerned. Travel is one of the benefits of what I do, after all. It is enjoyable to see new places."

Danika stepped to the side to let him in, but blanched as she suddenly realized Sparks was standing behind her. "Oh! Um… This is Sparks. He's an old friend of mine and he works with me here in the guild."

"Greetings to you as well," Jin said to him, also shaking his paw.

"Hi…" Sparks said, unable to keep the confusion out of his voice, "Uhm…You're Jin…? The…memory expert?"

Jin chuckled mirthfully. "It never ceases to be amusing," he said to himself, and then addressed Sparks again, "Yes, I am Jin. Yes, I am an Abra, and yes, I am 40 years old."

Sparks looked down at the Abra in disbelief. Jin was only a little bit younger than he was, and Sparks could tell by his voice and the way he carried himself that he wasn't lying. Of course, it was not unheard of for certain Pokémon to forego evolution, even until the day they passed away. It was fairly rare for members of a three-stage evolutionary family to remain at the first stage, however.

Belatedly, Sparks realized he was effectively blocking the door and finally stepped to the side. "Come on in," he said with a gesture of his paws, "Can we get you anything? Perhaps some water?"

"I would definitely appreciate some water, yes please. It has been a long walk, after all."

Once he was inside, Danika closed the door but then shot him a surprised look. "'Walk'? You…You walked here?"

"Yes, indeed. The Rapidash carts do not travel within the city, after all…"

Danika turned her surprised expression up to Sparks, who returned pretty much the same look. Abra don't walk. Abra move around by Teleporting and psychically hovering. Jin walked from the other side of the city, where the carts drop passengers off?

Sparks shook himself back down to earth as he heard Jin give another 'Hello there!' from behind. He turned around and saw that the two Pokémon on the couch were looking at him with wide-eyed, confused looks.

"Ah! This is Terry and Ziggy," Sparks said, rushing over to introduce them, "They work here as well, and they're both close friends of…of the patient…" He then turned to look at Ziggy directly and asked, "Ziggy, would you mind fetching a glass of water?"

Ziggy, who was honestly the least surprised one in the room, nodded. He then dutifully hopped off the couch and dashed out of the room. The kitchen wasn't far, so he wouldn't be long. Once he was gone, Danika invited Jin to sit down on the couch. Sparks again noticed how he walked over.

Terry remained in his spot on the couch, watching the Abra the whole time. Jin noticed his obvious stares and turned to regard him. A moment of silence passed before Terry managed to speak up. "You…can help Rico?"

Jin raised his eyebrows. "Rico is the patient, I take it?" When Terry nodded, Jin just gave him a smile and said, "I will do my best. From how Miss Danika described the ailment it does sound a little unusual, but it also does not sound like something I can't figure out with a little bit of time and focus."

"Okay…" Terry mumbled, not sounding fully convinced.

"So, um…" Sparks said as he stepped into the conversation, "Danika's told me a little bit about you, but perhaps you could tell the rest of us about who you are and what it is you do?"

"I suppose I could," Jin said with a soft chuckle, "When I was young, even younger than the fancy Buizel who was just here, my mother and father began to teach me how to see into the minds of others. It is a typical rite of passage for many Psychic-Types, and especially for young Abra."

Sparks had to bite his tongue. 'Fancy' was a bit of a derogatory term for shiny Pokémon, but he simply nodded and allowed Jin to continue.

"There are many facets to the mind of a Pokémon you see, and a truly skilled Alakazam must learn to master them all. Well, for reasons that I have never been able to fully explain, I found myself utterly fascinated when I was taught about memories. Perhaps you could say I even became a tad obsessed with this one particular facet. I wanted to learn more about it, practice seeing the memory chambers of a Pokémon's mind, to the point that I started neglecting my other studies.

"To make an incredibly long story short, I decided one day that I needed to know more. I needed to know everything about the wonderful world of memories. It is hard to describe the beauty of memory unless you can see it with a psychic's eye. I spent almost two full decades fully dedicating myself to learning everything I possibly could."

"My goodness," Danika remarked, "I guess I never really thought about how…varied a Psychic-Type's skills would be when it comes to reading minds."

Jin nodded. "To make a comparison, it would be like going to university and only learning about mathematics, to the point where even supplementary courses would be out of the question."

"I'm sorry," Sparks interjected, "You said you spent two whole decades learning about…memories?"

"Two decades before I was well-versed enough to be able to help Pokémon. You never truly stop learning, after all. I have been improving my skills ever since. If I am not out helping someone, as I am now, I spend my time studying further.

"This will also explain some of the questions you no doubt have about myself. The most common one is, of course, 'Why are you still an Abra?' Then also, 'Why do you walk everywhere?' These are the consequences of what I have dedicated my life to. Every ounce of my own sadly finite brainpower has been focused entirely on my craft. There was simply no room left to learn how to levitate, how to teleport and, indeed, how to evolve."

Everyone else found themselves staring at Jin and unable to say anything. Sparks was floored by what he'd heard. There was being dedicated to something, and then there was this. It was amazing to hear. This was more than just an expert, this was basically a masterful monk.

A 'memory' monk…

Moments later, Ziggy returned to the room carrying a glass of water. He walked over and gave it to Jin, who graciously accepted it and proceeded to down its contents. Once he was finished, he gave the glass back to Ziggy and then stood up. "Well, then," he proclaimed, "There is work to be done, so let us not waste any time."

From there, the group all made their way down to the gymnasium with Jin following behind them. Sparks was at the front with Danika, while Ziggy and Terry were behind them and Jin was at the rear. Sparks cast a quick glance over his shoulder to see if the Abra was within earshot or not.

"I gotta admit," he said quietly to Danika, "Not exactly what I was expecting, but I guess looks can be deceiving."

She glanced up at him. "It must have taken an amazing amount of dedication to completely forego evolution just to focus on his craft. And it's certainly earned results."

"Mhm…" Sparks nodded. Danika had contacted a few of Jin's prior clients for testimonials and they had all returned with rave reviews. Whatever it was that Jin could do, he could do it very well. Of course, none of those clients had had a run-in with a Nihilego.

It didn't take long to traverse the mostly-empty halls to reach the gymnasium. Sparks opened the doors and held them open as everybody filed in. The entire room had been cleared out, leaving only a set of padded mats in the middle of the floor. It had taken quite a bit of effort to remove all of the training apparatuses, benches, bleachers, various discarded sporting equipment and especially the exercise equipment, but now the gymnasium was basically a large open room with no windows. The only thing in the room besides the mats was a singular Riolu.

Rico looked up in surprise as everybody filed in. He shared a quick awkward moment of eye contact with Terry before he focused his attention on the newcomer. Spark saw the same expression of surprise pass over him when he laid eyes on the Abra.

"You must be Rico," Jin said, immediately making his way over to the Riolu. He shook Rico's paw and then glanced at the room around them. "Yes, this should do just fine. Thank you for setting this up ahead of time. It certainly makes things less complicated."

"Uhh…" Rico droned softly, still seeming unsure.

"This is Jin, Rico," Danika said, "He's been doing this for like 25 years, so just listen to what he says."

Rico briefly glanced at the Sneasel, and then looked at Jin once again with a more neutral expression. "Hello," he greeted him, "Yeah, I'm Rico. I…I guess you're here to help me…"

"Absolutely. Do you have any questions for me before we begin?"

"Well, uh…" Rico murmured, seeming to be caught on the spot, "Wh- Um…What exactly are you going to do?"

"Well, to put it simply," Jin replied, "I am going to put you into a mild hypnotic trance and then enter your mindscape. I will look upon the recesses of your mind where your memories are kept and try to find and repair whatever damage is there." He paused and then added, "You won't feel a thing."

Rico's eyes went a little wide, and he glanced over at Danika again. She gave him an encouraging nod. "Uh…Okay, I guess…" he said. He then furrowed his brow as something seemed to occur to him. "Are you gonna be able to…y'know…see my memories?" He adopted a somewhat uncomfortable grimace. "I've kinda got…private stuff up there…"

Jin chuckled softly. "Not unless I choose to, which I will not. In all my years of doing this, there have only been two occasions where seeing a Pokémon's memories was necessary, and I highly doubt this will be the case with your ailment. You have nothing to worry about. Your memories are safe with you."

"Oh, okay," Rico said, relaxing a little.

"So," Jin then said as he cracked his knuckles, "From what I've been given to understand, you were struck in the head by that strange otherworldly creature that has been in the news recently. It apparently had some form of electrical affinity. And afterwards you were stricken with a loss of memory, but only very specific memories."

Rico nodded and said, "That's right. I remember everything else perfectly."

"Hmm… I have encountered some similar ailments, but nothing exactly like this before. I am interested to see what I will find in your mindscape."

The uncomfortable grimace returned. "And…you're gonna be able to…fix it?"

"Unless the damage is incredibly severe," Jin replied, "And with the way you're talking and behaving right now, I doubt that is the case." He then clapped his claws together and nodded. "Shall we begin, then?"

"So, uh," Danika spoke up, "Can we stay and watch?" From beside her, Terry shot her a glance, and then looked over at the Abra with a worried look.

"You may," Jin replied, "but I will require enough area to work. If you will stay, then you must remain against that wall over there. So long as you can touch the wall with a paw, you'll be far enough away and won't cause any issue."

Sparks, Danika, Terry and Ziggy then made their way over to the wall in question. Ziggy ended up standing right next to Sparks, and he looked down at the Buizel. Ziggy seemed a little worried, anxious about the 'procedure' that was about to happen perhaps, but mostly he just looked intrigued. He flashed the Buizel a quick smile, and Ziggy returned it.

Jin, meanwhile, was directing Rico to stand in the exact centre of the room. He was spending some time observing the Riolu from all angles and meticulously moving him slight distances until he was exactly in the middle. Sparks had no idea what the purpose of this was, nor did he know why the gymnasium needed to be completely empty, but he also knew that he probably wouldn't understand whatever the answer was.

There was a quiet whine, and Sparks looked over in the other direction to Terry. The Eevee looked incredibly anxious. Sparks hadn't seen a Pokémon look this anxious since Ziggy had first come to the guild. "Calm down, Terr," he whispered, "It's gonna be okay."

"Very well!" Jin spoke up, "Time to get started."

Rico cast a quick glance at the four Pokémon along the wall. Then he adopted a brave look as he looked back at Jin and nodded.

"All right. Now, Rico, just stand where you are. Keep your forelimbs limp at your sides, let your tail droop towards the ground, and close your eyes." Jin paused and looked towards the onlookers. "You four, please do not make any noise until the hypnosis is complete."

Rico did as he was told, closing his eyes and letting himself become limp.

"Now slow your breathing," Jin continued, "Let every inhale and exhale take at least three seconds. Tune out the outside world. Stop listening to the sounds that are not there. Stop seeing the things that cannot be seen. Stop feeling that which cannot be felt. It is just you and me, alone in this empty room. Nothing to hear, nothing to see, nothing to feel…except our own thoughts."

Sparks watched as Jin slowly raised his claws and held them up and around Rico's head. It looked as if Rico was wearing an invisible glass bowl on his head and Jin was holding it.

"Turn these thoughts into something calming. A gentle creek flowing through the woods. The soft sound of springtime rainfall. The silence of night as the stars twinkle in the sky. Now then, very slowly tilt your head back so that you are looking upwards, though keep your eyes closed." Rico complied, moving his head back as if someone were pushing against his forehead. Meanwhile, Jin had also closed his eyes and was continuing to hold his claws up. He spoke a few more calming instructions to the Riolu, all of them similar to what one might hear in meditation.

Then suddenly Jin snapped his claws loudly. The moment he did, both his and Rico's eyes snapped open. Rico remained where he was, his eyes open and just staring blankly upwards while his mouth hung open slightly. Jin, on the other paw, lowered his claws and wore a triumphant look. Most notable, though, was that his eyes were now glowing a bright blue colour.

"Connection successful," he proclaimed, "The rest of you no longer need to be silent. And do not be alarmed by his current state of being. This is what is meant to happen."

Sparks glanced at his companions, seeing all of their confused looks. "You're…in his mind right now?" he asked dubiously.

"Indeed I am," Jin replied, "Now I just need to find my way over to his memory banks…" Jin then brought his claws back up and started gently waving them around in the air in front of Rico's face. At points, it almost looked like he was making swimming motions with them.

"…What's it look like?" Ziggy spoke up. Sparks looked over to see that the Buizel looked rather intrigued.

"Oh, just pure chaos and a cacophony of colours and shapes. You know, normal stuff for the mind of a Pokémon," Jin answered. He continued gently waving his claws about. "By the way, during this procedure your young friend may twitch or jerk about slightly. Some have described it as looking like the patient is receiving an electric shock. That is simply a normal response to having another Pokémon poking around inside of one's mind. It's nothing to be concerned about, and I assure you that he is not actually in pain or being damaged."

Sparks' ear twitched as he heard a soft whine, and turned to see Terry looking like he was barely keeping his emotions in check.

Only another minute or so passed before Jin spoke up again. "Ah, here we are. I have reached your friend's memory banks." He then put a claw to his chin and narrowed his glowing eyes. "Hmm…" he spoke softly, "Interesting…This Riolu's memory banks appear to be perfectly healthy and undamaged. Usually when a patient is suffering from memory loss it is immediately apparent. But all of the connections, of which I can see at least, are pristine."

"Really…?" Sparks muttered in dismay.

"Though I suppose that does lend credence to your description of this being a rather unusual case. Allow me to take a look around for a moment…"

"Sparks…?" Terry whimpered, "He…He can't find anything wrong? He can't…f-fix Rico…?"

"Well, slow down," Sparks replied in a calming voice, "It makes sense, doesn't it? All the rest of Rico's memories are perfectly fine, remember? He knows his whole cubhood, he could name every school he went to, that sort of stuff."

"Really?" Terry said, his voice small and worried, "That's what's happening?"

"I mean, maybe. I don't know, this stuff is completely beyond my realm of understanding. Maybe if I had evolved into a Psychic-Type Raichu I'd get it a little more, but…"

"What does this part look like?" Ziggy spoke up once again.

"Hmm…Do any of you know what a stalagnate is?" Jin replied.

Sparks and the others shared confused glances. It was quickly apparent that none of them knew what that word meant.

"A stalagnate is what you get when a stalactite and a stalagmite meet. You know? Like a column from the ground to the ceiling that's thin in the middle but wider at the top and bottom. Well, imagine a vast empty space filled entirely with a shade that's not quite white. There's no perceivable walls, floors or ceilings, but it is absolutely filled with off-white stalagnates. As far as the 'eye' can see, just an endless collection of stalagnates. Though, of course, they are not truly endless. It just appears that way."

"So…" Danika spoke, "Like a room full of columns?"

"Somewhat," Jin answered, "They are more like strands. Like something stuck at both ends to two halves being pulled apart, yet remaining connected in the middle. Each one of these 'stalagnates' represents a memory, or a group of memories. And even though it is not visually apparent, even to my 'eye', they are all connected. Thus is the nature of memories and how the mind collects them…"

"Wow…" Ziggy murmured.

"In any case, the 'strands' of your friend's mind appear undamaged at first glance," Jin continued, "But give me a moment to look around. This space is quite vast and I cannot see all of it at once." The Abra then started moving his claws around in the air again. His movements seemed more delicate this time. It looked like he was gently pushing apart the branches of a willow tree.

As Jin had warned about earlier, Rico started to twitch occasionally. His eye would twitch closed and his head would spasm to the side for a brief second, or his arm would jerk up. Occasionally he would wince, as if someone had flicked him right in the forehead. From an outside perspective, it almost looked like he was beginning to suffer from a stroke. Sparks heard Terry softly whine every time it happened.

The room fell silent as Jin continued his search through Rico's memories. Nobody had anything else pertinent to say, and all of them were just waiting eagerly to hear Jin's verdict. At least 10 minutes passed by with nothing new happening.

Rico continued to lightly twitch the whole time. At the very least he didn't seem to be getting worse in any way, but Sparks' concern still grew with every passing minute. It had been far too long, and he was starting to feel like this couldn't be right. Something was wrong here, and Sparks wondered if he should speak up and say something.

"Ah!" Jin suddenly proclaimed.

Sparks jumped right out of his fur. He'd been completely startled after having been listening to silence for the last 30 minutes. "What?"

"Here it is. I have found it," Jin replied happily.

"F-Found it…?" Sparks muttered, "Found what?"

"Why, the damage of course." Jin grinned triumphantly. "How strange. How very strange indeed. Amnesia and memory problems usually affect the whole memory banks mindscape, or at least most of it. This, conversely, is quite localized."

"You found his busted memories?" Sparks asked, and he heard Terry gasp next to him. He thought about what Jin had said, and supposed that it made sense. With Rico having lost such specific memories and nothing else, it would follow that only a few of his 'stalagnates' would be damaged.

"Like a forest fire that was snuffed out immediately before it could spread…" Jin observed. He put a claw to his chin in thought. "I must admit, though, that I have not seen anything…quite like this before…"

"Really…?" Danika spoke up, her voice a mix of curiosity and worry.

"When a Pokémon has conventional amnesia," Jin explained, "even in cases where they only lose a subset of their memories, the damage is usually the same. Damaged memory strands appear frayed, weakened, thinned…Like a rope that has been cut with a knife but not yet fully severed through. This is why the memories fail, because they cannot make a clear enough connection through strands in such poor shape.

"But these strands…These have been fully severed into two parts. Not even the faintest hint of a memory could get through because there's literally no connection for them to go through. And these strands have the appearance of being…burned…"

A few quiet gasps could be heard in the room, and then silence fell. Jin continued to stare intently at something none of the others could see, still idly rubbing his chin. Eventually it was Terry who broke the silence with a trembling, whimpering voice. "Does…D-does th-that mean…you can't fix them…?"

"Hm?" Jin mumbled distractedly, but then perked up and said, "Oh! No, I shouldn't think so. The principal is still the same, it will just require a bit more of a delicate touch. The strands are still here after all. If they had been burned away completely, then there would be nothing I could do."

Everyone else let out a quiet sigh of relief.

The Abra then raised one of his claws and pinched two of his digits together. He didn't close them completely, but he held them there as if holding up something invisible. He did the same thing with his other claw, and then started slowly moving the two claws together and apart repeatedly. Rico subtly twitched on the spot as he did.

"This is what others cannot do," Jin explained quietly, "When you get treated for amnesia by conventional healers, even by espologists, this is not something they would be able to do for you. It took me years to learn how to actually reach out and touch the strands. To touch, to interact, to weave, to heal…"

Jin continued with this, reaching out and grabbing more thin air with gentle pinches of his claws and moving them in the same repeated motion. It looked like he was stretching out a very small amount of taffy, and Sparks eventually guessed that he was actually somehow grabbing onto these 'strands' in Rico's mind. Maybe his physical claws were connected with some sort of 'mental' claws that could interact with the strands inside of Rico's mindscape.

Either way, it made Sparks' head hurt.

After about three whole minutes of doing this, Jin lowered his claws and nodded his head. "There we are…Good as new. Bringing the strands together is enough to let them reconnect, with a bit of gentle guidance."

"Are…you done?" Sparks asked, "Is that it?"

"Did you fix it?" Terry asked hopefully.

Jin tutted softly. "That was merely one strand. Patience, my friends…"

So, Jin got to work by doing the same thing he had been doing previously. The others fell silent and allowed him to work as time passed by. Then more time passed, and even more time. Sparks had no idea how many 'strands' needed to be fixed, but if they each took three minutes to fix then he got a feeling they would be in for a long haul. Sparks eventually glanced up at a clock that was hanging on the opposite wall and saw that a half hour had passed.

The four observing Pokémon all sat down by this point. They dutifully remained near the wall, and sat in silence so Jin could work. The hand on the clock crept forward at an agonizingly slow pace. Jin showed no signs of tiring or growing bored through it all. He simply kept up his invisible work that none of the others could see.

Terry was a nervous wreck the whole time. Even as the others started to relax and recline, he remained stiffly sitting in place and subtly quivering.

Finally, only five minutes shy of a whole hour having passed, Jin at last spoke up. "Just a bit more…aaaaand…there! All right, then. There you have it."

Sparks sat up straight in an instant. "You're done? Really?"

"Indeed I am. I am double-checking now, but I have repaired all of the damaged strands. Your young friend's memory should be as it was now."

"Oh…Oh my gosh…R-really…?" Terry mumbled.

Sparks and the others all shared glances. He could see nervous anticipation in all of them, and had to admit that he felt much the same himself. Had this one tiny unevolved Abra really solved Rico's impossible problem?

Soon after, Jin lowered his claws to his side and his eyes stopped glowing. Rico remained in his trance-like state, though. "That was a lot of work," Jin commented, "but all should be repaired now. Well then, young Riolu, are you ready to wake up?"

Terry gasped once again.

The Abra then turned to regard his audience. "Now, I should let all of you know…Gaining one's memories back all at once like this can be a rather shocking experience. It's very disorienting to the brain, and he is likely to lose his balance and fall over. Hence, why I asked for padding for the floors. Again, I stress that this is normal and expected behaviour. Do not be alarmed. However please remain where you are against the wall and don't try to speak to him right away. Give him a chance to process the changes in his head on his own first."

When everyone nodded at this, Jin turned his attention back towards Rico. "Hear my voice now," he said as he held up one of his claws next to one of Rico's ears, "Remove yourself from this trace and return to the world of the waking. It's time to wake up. Now." He then loudly snapped his claws.

The very second he did, Rico's eyes shot open wide and he sucked in a huge gasp of air. He wobbled on the spot for a split second before promptly falling down onto his backside, just as Jin had said. The Abra himself took some steps back to give Rico some space.

Then, Rico just sat there on the floor mats in complete silence. His eyes remained wide open, his mouth hung open slightly, and he just stared up blankly into space. The word 'mystified' was probably the best way to describe his expression. Seconds ticked by and Rico didn't move or say anything. Soon a whole minute had passed and Rico still hadn't moved. Sparks didn't know what to think. From an outsider's perspective it looked like the Riolu's brain had just been wiped or something.

Jin didn't seem concerned, though. So the group just sat there and waited for something to happen. Another minute of silence passed by, and Rico just continued to stare off into space. Sparks idly began to wonder if he hadn't actually been woken up from his hypnotic state.

Sparks heard a desperate, strained whine from next to him. He turned to see Terry dancing on the spot like he had to go to the bathroom. He was biting his lip, looking over at the Riolu in extreme anxiety. Seconds later, it seemed like the Eevee just couldn't wait any longer. He shook his head, groaned in frustration, and dashed away from the wall into the open gymnasium. "Rico!" he called out.

The Riolu's ears perked up and his eyes seemed to open just a bit wider.

"Rico! Are you okay?" Terry called out. He kept running across the room towards the lone Pokémon in the centre, but sensibly stopped himself a couple meters away. "R-Rico…?"

Slowly, ever so slowly, Rico turned his head in the direction of the Eevee. He sat there for a moment, still in silence, just staring wide-eyed at Terry.

"…Rico?" Terry whispered hopefully.

A few more silent, anxiety-inducing seconds passed by. Then, at long last, Rico finally reacted. Tears welled up in his eyes within seconds and his breathing became quicker. Sparks watched in shock as Rico suddenly scrambled to his paws and dove towards the Eevee.

"Terry!" Rico cried out in an anguished voice before he collapsed onto the Eevee in a tight hug. He fell to his knees, clutching Terry as tightly as he could with his forelimbs, as he began to openly weep. "Terry…!" he cried out again.

Terry himself was briefly in shock, staring out with a wide-eyed look before he seemed to realize what was happening. He sat down on his hindquarters and squeezed his two forelimbs out of Rico's tight embrace so he could hug the Riolu back. "Rico…" he said in a quivering voice, "Is…I-is it you? Is it really you?"

Rico sniffled. "I-It's me…" he whimpered, "It's me Terry. It's…the real me…"

It took a moment for the monumental news to reach Terry's emotional brain, but soon tears also filled his eyes and a broad smile grew on his muzzle. "Rico!" he exclaimed as he hugged back even tighter, "Rico, you remember me?"

"I remember everything!" Rico shouted, "Oh dear Arceus…I remember it all…!" He then squirmed out of the hug, startling Terry for a moment, before he took hold of the Eevee and leaned in to give him a deep, passionate kiss. When it ended, he just stared deep into his future mate's eyes and said, "Terry, my love…I love you...!"

Terry, smiling through his joyous tears, simply said, "I love you too, Rico."

A heavy surge of emotions seemed to overcome Rico as he collapsed into Terry's embrace and started weeping again. "Oh heavens…" he cried, "Terry, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

"Rico…?"

He simply groaned and clenched up his face in pain for a moment. It was a shocking sight to see. Sparks had certainly never seen Rico get this upset before in the whole time he'd known him. "Terry…" Rico spoke, his voice warbling, "I…I said such…awful things to you. I made you so sad. The things I said to you and did to you. I treated you so horribly…"

A few tears streaked down Terry's face, but he smiled warmly a moment later. "It's okay, Rico," he said as he gave the Riolu a gentle backrub, "It wasn't your fault."

"I'm sorry I made you so sad…" Rico continued, "It hurts so much now, having seen you so depressed…a-and it was because of me!"

"Rico, please stop. I'm not mad at you. It wasn't your fault. It wasn't your fault at all." He sniffled and added, "Everything's okay now. You…You finally got your memories back. I'd given up hope…I really had…"

"I love you Terry…" Rico murmured, still quivering and unable to hold himself up, "I'm so sorry for everything I said and did while my brain was all broken. I still wanna be your mate, Terry. I wanna be your mate so badly that it hurts."

Terry's whole face brightened and a fresh set of joyful tears ran down his cheeks. "I wanna be your mate too…I just couldn't imagine being with anybody else…"

Sparks sat by the wall quietly and watched the tearful reunion. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt this warm in his heart. He glanced over at Ziggy briefly and saw that the Buizel was crying too. He had his paws clasped around his muzzle, but Sparks could see he was smiling as well.

"I'm so happy for you, Rico," Sparks called to him, "I'm really glad it worked. It's wonderful to have the real you back…"

Rico couldn't respond; his powerful emotions were consuming him too much.

"You can really remember everything?" Sparks asked.

"Everything!" Rico babbled, "And now just, like, this weird weird part of my life where I was acting like I didn't know Terry and just…Oh, Arceus…"

Terry was still trying to hold Rico up, who was just a complete emotional mess. "C'mon, Rico," he said tenderly, "Why don't we go back to y- to our room where it's quiet? I think we need a bit of time alone…"

Rico sniffled and nodded. "Okay…"

As the Riolu took in a deep breath and forced himself to stand, Terry turned and looked over at Jin who had been standing off to the side in silence this whole time. "Thank you," he said earnestly, "Thank you so much. I…I could never repay you for this…I just…I don't even know what to say…"

Rico gasped, and looked over at Jin as well. "Y-yes! Thank you!" he said. It seemed like he wanted to say more, but his words got caught in his throat.

"My pleasure," was all Jin said, giving them a warm look.

Terry just smiled happily and looked up at Rico. He gave the Riolu a gentle nudge and then started heading towards the exit. Rico followed behind him, still sniffling and quietly weeping as he went. It was clear that many more words would be said, both between the two of them and with the other members of the guild. For now, though, they simply needed some time alone to digest this massive change and Sparks happily respected that.

Once the couple had left and closed the door behind them, Sparks turned to the Abra again. "You've saved a relationship today, my friend," he said, "The Rescue Society gives you our thanks from the bottom of our hearts."

Jin chuckled softly as he walked over towards them. "It does make me happy to see Pokémon like those two become so joyous once those precious memories are restored. It makes it all worthwhile…"

"That was amazing," Danika commented, "You did what nobody else could do."

"I'm so happy for those two!" Ziggy spoke up, "Terry was so sad, but he doesn't have to be sad anymore!"

"Well, I'm just happy I could help," Jin said with a nod, "Glad we could wrap this up successfully too. Now then, as I discussed with Miss Danika previously, I will return for a followup with the young Riolu in a couple months' time. Standard procedure just to make sure everything is holding up okay. So, please make sure he is around on the appointed day."

"Of course," Danika replied.

"So then, if that is all?" Jin then said, "I will not take up anymore of your time. Thank you again for setting this gymnasium up. It worked perfectly. If there is nothing else, then I shall be off."

As the Abra started to make his way towards the door, Sparks turned and shared a look with Danika. There was a moment's pause, and then Sparks turned back to address Jin again. "Uh, actually…Mr. Jin?"

Jin stopped walking and turned back. "Hm?"

"…We do actually have…one other patient for you."

The Abra raised his eyebrows. "You do?" he asked in surprise, "In your letters you only described having a single Pokémon for me to look at."

"I know," Danika chimed in, "This is kind of a recent development. I didn't have time to write you another letter, because we just found out about this. I hope that's not an issue for you."

"No, no. It is no issue," Jin said with a wave of his claw, "I was just not expecting this. Very well, then. Is this Pokémon suffering from the same malady as the Riolu was?"

Sparks cast Danika a quick glance. "We think so," he answered.

"I see. All right, where is this other Pokémon?"

Danika and Sparks shared a look again, both wearing anxious but resolute gazes. They then turned back to Jin for a moment, before finally both turning and looking at the only other Pokémon in the room.

Ziggy started slightly, and glanced over his shoulder to see if anyone was behind him. "Wh…Huh?" he muttered as he looked over at Sparks again in confusion.

Sparks simply gestured with his paw. "Come over here, Zig." Though he looked quite perplexed, Ziggy nonetheless complied and made his way over until he was standing next to the Raichu. Sparks then placed a paw onto Ziggy's shoulder and looked at Jin again. "This is our dear friend Ziggy, as I mentioned to you before," he said slowly, "…and we'd like you to take a look at him as well."

"What?" Ziggy blurted. He squirmed out from under Sparks' paw and whirled around to face him. "Me? What do you mean? What are you talking about Sparks?"

"Zig…" Sparks said softly, squatting down so he was at the Buizel's eye level, "Trust us, okay? Just trust us and let Jin have a look. You saw with Rico. It doesn't hurt or anything."

"No, I know," Ziggy said, "I'm not scared of it, but…" The Buizel stammered for a moment, looking utterly baffled. "Sparks, why do you want me to…? Why? I don't have any memory loss. I haven't forgotten any…" However, the Buizel's voice trailed off. There was a vacant stare on his face for a moment. "…R-right…?"

Sparks just stood up and gestured towards the Abra. "Go with Jin, all right? Just trust us."

Ziggy spent a moment looking in confusion between Sparks, Danika and Jin. He still looked totally perplexed, but now there was a hint of worry creeping into his eyes. "Um…" he eventually murmured, "O-Okay…If you say so…"

Jin gave the Buizel a slightly bemused look as he walked over towards him. "Hello there, young one," he said in a friendly tone, "You watched me do this with the Riolu, so I trust you don't need me to explain it all again, right?"

"Uh…N-no…" Ziggy said once he reached the Abra.

"So be it," Jin said with a nod, and then gestured with his claws and said, "Come stand in the middle."

As Jin walked back over to the middle of the room, where the mats were, Ziggy followed behind him. He cast an unsure glance over his shoulder at Sparks, but the Raichu just gave him an encouraging nod. Sparks then looked over at Danika after he and she had positioned themselves back against the wall. They both shared a knowing look.


"Did you know a pair of Floatzel mates who lived on Dewdrop Island?" Danika spoke.

Jasper raised an eyebrow for a moment. "Floatzel mates?" he repeated, "Well, that could only have been Leilani and Mateni. I assume that's who you mean."

Both Sparks and Danika brightened up. "Yes!" Sparks replied a little too excitedly, and then lowered his voice before continuing. "Ah, yes. Did you know them?"

"Well, of course I knew 'em!" Jasper said with a chuckle, "They lived like three houses down from me."

"Really?" Danika remarked in surprise, "Did you know them well? Would you be able to tell us a little about them?"

"I suppose I could, heh…" Jasper reclined back and glanced upwards in thought. "They moved onto the island after I'd already been living here for quite a while. The only Water-Type family living on an island! Imagine that! She worked part time at a restaurant that was in the village, and he had a job swimming to shore and bringing back fresh food."

"What sort of Pokémon were they?" Sparks asked, "Were they nice? Unfriendly? What sort of vibe did you get from them?" He then shared a quick glance at Danika. They both knew what sort of answer they were expecting. There could only be so many ways to describe the types of Pokémon who would abandon a freshly-hatched cub, after all.

What Jasper said next took them completely by surprise.

"Oh, they were just the sweetest couple you'd ever seen!" he proclaimed, "I don't think I ever seen two Pokémon more in love with each other than those two, and they shared their love with the rest of the world. Always smilin', always laughin', just real joys to be around."

Sparks and Danika stared blankly at the Gumshoos. "…Wha…?" Danika muttered softly.

"Yeah, they were some real close friends of mine. I miss 'em a lot. They were always keen to help out around the village with whatever needed to be done, and usually managed to rope me into it too somehow. Heh heh heh… We'd visit each other for dinner pretty much every week, and they always had somethin' fun to talk about.

"Super, super friendly Pokémon too. Whenever folks would visit the island, especially in tourist season, they were always eager to meet new 'mons and give 'em a warm welcome. Often dropped whatever they were doin' so they could give a quick tour of the island. Very kind the both of 'em, especially Leilani. Sweet young Leilani, always able to bring a smile to even the saddest of 'mons…"

As Jasper continued on, Sparks and Danika were now staring at him somewhat slackjawed. They gave each other a confused look. This was not at all how Sparks expected that these two Pokémon would be described as, and it looked like Danika shared his thoughts. These two honestly sounded like Pokémon who wouldn't be out of place working at the Rescue Society.

Sparks shook his head and tried to reorganize his scattered thoughts. He knew not to judge a book by its cover. Just like a sketchy-looking mud-covered thief could turn out to be very friendly, the opposite was true as well. When Mateni and Leilani had abandoned their child, they certainly wouldn't have been parading down the streets bragging about it.

"They, uh…They sound really nice," Sparks said, trying to keep the skepticism from his voice.

"Oh, they absolutely were," Jasper said, "Everyone on the island loved 'em!"

There was a momentary pause, and then Danika spoke up. "Did, uh…Did anything about them ever seem…unusual? Did anything they did strike you as odd, maybe?"

"Hmm… Can't say anything comes to mind," Jasper replied with a shake of his head, "Seemed like perfectly normal Pokémon to me. Almost like a textbook example of a young couple, 'specially 'cus they were both the same species. 'Cus, y'know, that don't happen as often these days."

"R-Right…" Sparks said, ignoring that last remark, "But you never saw them do anything that…I dunno, didn't seem right?"

Jasper levelled a stern gaze at them. "Now, you folks are makin' it sound like those two were criminals or somethin'."

"No, no, nothing that extreme," Sparks said, quickly backpedalling, "We just…We just, uh…"

"We're trying to find out about something that may have happened," Danika added helpfully, "We don't know anything for sure. We just want to try and understand as much as we can…"

Sparks wilted slightly under the odd look Jasper was still giving them. He had expected to hear about how these two Floatzel were shady characters, causing trouble and being unpleasant. It's what he wanted to hear. He almost wanted to further justify his hatred of these Pokémon for leaving Ziggy out to die on the streets. He wanted to know that Pokémon, even back when the two were alive, hated them as well.

"Nope," Jasper eventually said with a resolute shake of his head, "Nothin' at all like that. They were both lovely Pokémon, and I called the both of 'em real close friends."

"I see," Danika said slowly.

"Heh… 'Sides, those two wouldn't have even had any time to get into mischief."

Sparks tilted his head slightly and asked, "What do you mean?"

"Well, they were far too busy!" Jasper said lightheartedly. It was at least good to see that he wasn't upset with them anymore.

"Busy with what, exactly?" Sparks asked curiously. A moment later he was utterly floored and struck speechless as Jasper said just about the last thing he had expected to hear.

"Busy…'cus they had a son!"


Ziggy looked over warily at Sparks from the middle of the room. He kept eye contact until Jin ushered his attention away. Sparks watched silently as the Abra began the same process as he had done with Rico. He told Ziggy to relax, let his limbs go limp, to picture something calming, and everything else.

At the very least, Ziggy didn't seem to have any trouble doing this. After all, he'd been doing pretty much the same thing with Kandice for months now.

Soon enough, Ziggy had his eyes closed and his muzzle tilted upwards slightly. He looked much like he tended to look while standing out in the rain. Eventually, Jin snapped his claws again and Ziggy's eyes snapped open while the Abra's own turned blue. Ziggy was now in that same unnerving trance-like state that Rico had been in.

A few moments later, Jin had successfully entered the area of Ziggy's mind where his memories were kept. "Here we are…" he spoke calmly, "Yes, yes…Much the same picture as the Riolu's. An undamaged field of strands from an initial glance."

Ziggy was already twitching lightly as Jin probed around in his mind, and the sight made Sparks feel really uncomfortable.

"I've never actually done this with a Colour Pokémon before," Jin commented, "A part of me wondered if anything would look different, but of course nothing does." He then cleared his throat. "Anyway, you say this Buizel has the same issue as the Riolu?"

"That's what we think," Sparks said, casting Danika a quick glance.

"Well, this should be easier since I know what I am looking for this time," Jin replied.

Sparks bit his lip as Jin moved his claws about, 'searching' through the mindscape of columns that nobody else could see. His stomach was tied up in knots and his mind was a huge jumble of thoughts. He and Danika had been sitting on this for days. And now, if Jin could find what he was looking for, they might finally have the answers they had all been chasing after.

Only five minutes passed this time. "Yes, there it is!" Jin proclaimed, "Just as you described. The very same damage."

Sparks and Danika both gasped and looked at each other with wide eyes. It was true. They'd been right.

"Hmm…" Jin was saying meanwhile, "The damage covers a much wider area than in the Riolu's. There's a lot more memories missing from the Buizel than the Riolu, and it will take me longer to fix everything. Interesting, though. If I had to make an estimated guess, it seems like the damage here…is much older than the Riolu's."

That made sense. Yes, that made perfect sense. It lined up with everything Sparks and Danika had learned while on Dewdrop Island. Sparks felt his heart hammering in his chest, but all he could do was watch silently as Jin began the delicate process of repairing Ziggy's damaged memory strands.


Sparks stared at Jasper blankly for a few moments. "A…son…?" he eventually murmured.

"Yessir!" the Gumshoos replied.

"…A Buizel?"

Jasper gave him an odd look. "Now what else would he be? An Articuno?"

Sparks shared another glance with Danika. She looked just as shocked as he did. This couldn't be right. There had to be a mistake somewhere, so he decided to clarify. "Mateni and Leilani…the Floatzel couple…had a son? A Buizel?"

"Yes!" Jasper replied in a slightly exasperated tone, "What, ya got cotton in yer ears? That's what I keep sayin'."

"Wh…What was his name…?" Sparks murmured softly.

Jasper opened his mouth to reply, but then scowled and held a claw to his forehead. "Urgh… Y'know, folks are always tellin' me I got a super spectacular memory. Especially for my age. But I have always, always been just terrible at rememberin' names. You're lucky I managed to remember both Mateni and Leilani's names."

Now it was Sparks' turn to look exasperated. He resisted the urge to shout, 'Seriously?!'

"I'm sure it'll come to me eventually," Jasper remarked.

Sparks looked over at Danika yet again, but she seemed just as lost as he was. What Jasper was saying didn't make sense. Ziggy had been abandoned when he was a fresh hatchling, or at least that was the prevailing theory. Even if he hadn't been abandoned immediately, he had definitely been abandoned before he was old enough to form memories of his parents.

Then, something occurred to Sparks. There could only be one explanation for this. Mateni and Leilani must have had another son. Either before or after Ziggy was born, they had to have had another Buizel son who didn't turn out to be a shiny. That would mean that not only did Ziggy have long-lost parents, but a brother as well.

"Uhm…" Sparks said, trying to refocus his brain on the topic at paw, "Can you tell us anything about this Buizel? We…weren't aware they'd had a child."

"Well, he was a nice enough kid. That's part of the reason I knew the two of 'em so closely, was 'cus I cubsat for the little tyke when he was real young. Yeah, he was hatched on the island. They had 'im after they moved here. Took him to school and picked him up quite often too."

Now Sparks was sure he had to be talking about a different Buizel. Ziggy only had very fleeting memories of school, to the point where he wasn't even sure if it was an actual school or just something taught to him at an orphanage.

"Yeah, he was a pretty shy little tyke," Jasper continued, "He had it pretty rough as a young cub."

Sparks' confidence waned a little. "Shy…?" he replied slowly, "What…do you mean?" At the same time, the realization was dawning on him that Mateni and Leilani couldn't have had another son. It wasn't on their citizenship records.

Jasper took a moment to eat the last remaining morsel of his muffin, and then took a sip of his coffee to wash it down. Sparks could only wait anxiously for his answer.

"Well," he finally said, "Unfortunately, the poor kid was born a freak."

Sparks felt like the ground dropped out beneath him as the Gumshoos' words hit him like a Body Slam. All of his thoughts ground to a sudden halt. Had he heard that right? That couldn't be right. He was so thrown off by this that he hardly even noticed Jasper's derogatory word choice.

Jasper kept on talking meanwhile. "Shame he turned out like that. But let me tell you…Mateni and Leilani, they loved that kid with all their hearts. They didn't give one heckin' hoot that his fur came out all wrong. I tell ya, they were the most loving, wonderful parents you ever did see."

"W-Wait…!" Sparks said as he couldn't help but interject, "That…That can't be…right…"

"Oh believe you me, it's right as the rain out there right now. That kid was their whole world! They sacrificed a lot just so they could raise him as best they could. Poor kid cried a lot, but they were always there to hug him an' make him feel better. They were there for him as he grew up, all the way until his first few years in school."

Sparks had to look away, and he leaned on the table while holding a paw to his forehead. He knew this couldn't possibly be Ziggy that the Gumshoos was talking about. It had to be this impossible other son of theirs. Their other son who was also a shiny? The mathematics behind something like that were astronomical, considering how rare shinies were. Sparks had never ever heard of shiny siblings before.

"The only time that cub smiled was when he was with his parents," Jasper said sadly, "He loved them, and they loved him even more. Even though he was a freak, they were just about the happiest family you ever did see." He sighed and then added, "Miss 'em. All of 'em…"

"Are you…?" Danika started to say, but her question died on her tongue. Sparks lifted his head and looked at her, seeing that she was just as confused as he was. There was a mistake somewhere, but where? Jasper couldn't be talking about Ziggy. After all, Ziggy had no memory of his parents whatsoever. He was abandoned so early that he hadn't even known his parents.

"Oh, wait!" Jasper suddenly perked up, "I remember somethin'!"

"What?" Danika asked intensely.

"I still can't remember the kid's dang name, but I do remember somethin' else. Maybe this is why I can't remember his name in the first place. It's 'cus he had a nickname and most folks just called him that."

Sparks felt the blood drain from his face. "Nick…name…?"

"Somethin' about how fast he was. He was a pretty speedy kid! Only part in school he ever did good at was track 'n' field."

"No…" Sparks whispered to himself, shaking his head, "It can't be…"

"It was 'Zag' or somethin'… 'Zaggo'?"

For a moment, there was only the sound of the heavy rain on the patio's roof. Then, only just loud enough to be heard over the rain, Danika said, "…'Ziggy'?"

"That's it!" Jasper exclaimed, smiling. He chuckled and said, "Little Ziggy, always runnin' about. I think pretty much everyone but his parents called him that. Even he called himself that…" A moment passed, and then Jasper's smile vanished. "Wait," he said, "How'd you know that?"


Sparks' stomach growled, but he ignored it. Lunch had passed by a whole hour ago, but Sparks had dutifully remained in the gymnasium without moving. Danika sat next to him, trying her best to be comfortable on the hard gym floor. If it weren't for the big clock on the wall, they both would have easily lost track of how long they'd been in there.

Instead, they knew it was almost three hours.

Jin, amazingly, continued his work without stopping or complaining even once. He had said that the damaged area in Ziggy's memories was much larger, so it was taking much longer to fix it all. As the minutes ticked by, the Abra simply continued the gentle pinching and dragging motions with his claws.

Sparks sighed anxiously. He and Danika had gone over to that island on a whim, just to possibly get some answers about why Ziggy had been treated so poorly. What they had learned instead, though, changed everything they knew about the Buizel. Loving parents? A happy family? Going to school and living out his cubhood in a home and not on the streets?

In the end, only one thing made sense. Rather, there was only one logical explanation; it still didn't make sense. Sparks and Danika had discussed it the entire boat ride back, until they eventually realized that it all sounded similar to what Rico was going through.

But what did that mean? Had Ziggy been zapped by a Nihilego at some point? When? Where? Going to the island hadn't answered any of their questions, and instead had just created a thousand more.

It had been a very stressful couple of weeks keeping all this new information secret from Ziggy, as they didn't want to reveal anything without knowing more for sure. It was only now, on this day, that things were confirmed. Ziggy did have missing memories. Jasper the Gumshoos had been talking truthfully and had known both Ziggy and his parents.

That didn't explain why Ziggy didn't have a birth certificate, but everything else seemed to line up.

It was very stressful watching the hypnotized Buizel have his brain being worked on. Just like Rico before, Ziggy kept twitching and jerking as Jin worked in his mind. Sparks could only sit there by the wall and wait patiently for the procedure to be done. He was anxious because he honestly didn't know what was going to happen when Ziggy woke up. With Rico, at least everyone had known what his missing memories were.

Even what they knew already boggled the mind. Ziggy had parents. Parents that had loved him and definitely hadn't abandoned him. He'd had an entire cubhood on that island and apparently couldn't remember a single thing about it.

"Sparks…" Danika spoke up.

He looked over at her. Truthfully, he was very thankful that Danika was here alongside him now. "Hm?"

"Relax," she said to him, "Everything's gonna be okay."

Sparks didn't know how to reply. He scrunched up his muzzle worriedly.

"We're both gonna be here for him when he wakes up," Danika continued, "And we should all be happy that it turns out he wasn't actually abandoned as a hatchling."

"I hope this was the right thing to do…" Sparks said.

Danika looked at him strangely. "What do you mean? Of course it was the right thing to do…"

Sparks lowered his gaze. "Think about it. He lost the memory of his life with his parents, but that also means he lost the memory of when they died. They died in the tragedy, remember? Now he might get that painful memory back…"

For a few moments, Danika was silent and didn't say anything. "I think…he still deserves to have them back. I have to hope and believe that besides losing his parents, there isn't anything else in those memories that's tragic. From what Jasper described, it was very idyllic life on that island."

"Mmm…"

"Sparks, listen…You're right; it's probably going to be painful at first. It might hurt him for days after this, but eventually he's going to thank you for getting them back. You can bet on it. I'd bet my employment here on it."

"Phew…" Jin suddenly spoke, causing both other Pokémon to snap their gazes to him immediately, "Nearly done. Just a few more minutes."

"Good! Good…"Danika said, "Is everything going okay?"

"Oh yes," Jin replied, "Exactly the same issue as in the Riolu, except more. It's taken quite a while to reconnect all of these strands, but everything should be in order soon."

The Abra continued to work for those last few minutes. Sparks just sat and twiddled his paws the whole time, no longer interested in continuing his conversation with Danika. Soon, they would finally have answers. Finally. Sparks had always known, deep in the back of his mind, that something about Ziggy's story didn't make sense. He had noticed from day one that Ziggy spoke remarkably well for someone who was apparently raised on the streets. Not to mention how implausible it seemed that a Pokémon could survive from the age of cubhood on the streets with no-one to help and live to be as old as Ziggy was. He'd always ignored those thoughts as just wild speculation, though.

"All right!" Jin finally proclaimed, "There we have it. Everything reconnected."

"Oh gosh…" Sparks said, "Thank you so much for this, Jin. I'm sorry it was so much work."

Jin laughed at that remark and said, "This is hardly the longest time I've spent working on a patient. Do not worry yourselves."

"So…That's it then? He's ready to wake up?" Danika asked.

"Indeed. Remember what I told you before the Riolu awoke. This can be a shocking experience to one's mind so he's likely to be in a stupor at first and will probably fall down. Just as before, remain against the wall and give him some time to adjust."

Sparks glanced nervously at Ziggy. The Buizel had been standing up, stock-still and blankly gazing upwards for hours at this point. If nothing else, Sparks was just eager to see him move again and behave normally. He nodded at Jin's instructions, as did Danika.

Then, Jin leaned in close to Ziggy and repeated the awakening mantra he had said to Rico. He paused for just a moment, and then loudly snapped his claws.

Ziggy's eyes snapped open wide and he sucked in a huge gasp of air, just like Rico had done. His gasp turned into a short cry of distress at the end, which was then silenced as he fell onto his rump and then promptly flat onto his back. Sparks resisted the urge to run out and help him.

Things were different this time. Rico had looked stunned and had just sat there staring off into space, like he had just learned the secrets of the universe. Ziggy, though, was panting heavily and even quivering a little. Sparks was immediately worried that something had gone wrong and looked over at Jin questioningly. The Abra just held up a claw, silently telling Sparks to wait.

Tense seconds ticked by. Ziggy simply remained lying there and staring up into space with incredibly wide eyes. Sparks bit his lip so hard that he was pretty sure he'd made himself bleed. He kept Jin in the corner of his vision, waiting for the moment he would be allowed to rush over to his young friend.

Finally, Jin waved his claw. Sparks and Danika both rushed across the floor and came to a stop surrounding the Buizel. "Zig?" Sparks spoke, taking care to keep his voice quiet and as calm as he could.

Danika helped Ziggy sit up, but Ziggy was still just staring blankly ahead. His chest rose and fell rhythmically. He looked as if he had just witnessed something incomprehensible.

"Ziggy?" Sparks spoke again, leaning into the Buizel's field of vision, "Buddy? You okay?"

Ziggy gasped softly, and his eyes finally focused. He looked Sparks in the eyes, and for a moment he was silent. Then, all of a sudden, streams of tears ran down his cheeks. An agonized look spread across his muzzle, and he murmured softly before he clenched his eyes shut and let out a wail.

"Mom! Dad!"

Ziggy suddenly collapsed forward, and Sparks was barely able to catch him in time. Ziggy grabbed onto the Raichu, clutching him tightly as powerful sobs suddenly wracked his body. Sparks had heard Ziggy cry plenty of times before, but never like this. He wasn't sure he'd ever heard anybody cry like this.

Except for himself.

Sparks slowly glanced up at Danika, who was sitting nearby and looking like she wanted to help but didn't know how. "Well…" he said to her, "I think it worked."