Chapter 40 - Checkup
Sparks sat at the table in the common room, cradling a warm cup of Heal Seed tea. He lifted it to his muzzle and gently took a sip. Tasted terrible in comparison to his beloved coffee, but Sparks was a good boy who listened to his doctor's advice.
He shivered slightly. Being out sick for six days in a row had not been a pleasant experience. Even now that he was up and out of bed, he still felt really run down and hazy. It would be a few more days at least until he was back up to full strength. He took another sip of the vile tea, hoping to speed along the process.
Uproarious, joyful laughter filled the room for a moment. Sparks glanced over at the couch across the room, spying Rico and Terry curled up on one end. They were both in stitches, hugging each other as they laughed themselves silly. Apparently one of them had just said the funniest joke in the entire world.
As Sparks looked over at them, he glanced at the Riolu's wrist. The plain yet shiny silver bangle that now adorned it was hard to miss. They were both wearing one now, at long last. Sparks couldn't help but smile as he looked at the two mates.
Sparks was eternally thankful that he had gotten over enough of his sickness just in time to attend Rico and Terry's ceremony. He had worn a coat that he usually only wore in blizzards, despite it being early summer, but he was there. What a wonderful occasion it had been, joining the two lovers together in a simple yet meaningful event. It was the only time Sparks had ever seen Rico cry.
Never once had he doubted that those two belonged together. Never once had he thought they were too young or not ready for this next step. They truly were meant for one another.
Sparks' ear twitched and he glanced over to see a familiar face walk in from the main hallway. Ziggy spotted him quickly and smiled brightly. He made his way over and sat down across from Sparks, hefting his fanny back onto the table with a soft grunt.
"Good day?" Sparks asked.
"A bit tiring, but yeah. Pretty good," Ziggy replied, his voice still just a touch scratchy.
"Lungs feelin' any better?"
Ziggy nodded. "Kandice says I'm doing well."
"Heh. That makes two of us then." Sparks glanced down at the table, and his gaze rested on something laying next to his cup. "Oh right!" he proclaimed as he picked it up and held it towards Ziggy. "Here, look at this."
Ziggy took the small framed photo from Sparks and turned it around to look at it.
"Remember when I showed you that? Months ago when you first got here?"
"Yeah, it's the picture of the Pokémon you saved from a burning building," Ziggy said with a chuckle, but then fell quiet. "The…Leafeon you saved…" He looked at the picture for a few more moments, and then looked up at Sparks with rather wide-open eyes.
"When they told me what was goin' on, I said, 'Ziggy saved a Leafeon from a burning building too?' I couldn't believe it."
"I…totally forgot," Ziggy said, sounding slightly mystified, "What're the chances of that?"
"Have I told you yet how proud I am of you?" Sparks asked.
"Only about a zillion times," Ziggy said with a smirk.
"You did exactly what I would've done, except you could actually help with your water abilities…By the way, they told me you climbed up to the roof from the inside? And up the collapsed stairs? I didn't give it much thought before, but how did you manage to do that?"
"Oh," Ziggy replied casually, "I just climbed up stuff. I used the railing, or whatever it's called, to get up the stairs. Then there was a bookshelf and a wood thing hanging from the ceiling so I could get up through the hole in the roof…"
Sparks just gave him a surprised look.
Ziggy flushed slightly and glanced away. "I-it's no big deal…" he said.
"I knew you were fast and nimble, but I had no idea you could…"
"It's just stuff I learned…when I was younger…" Ziggy visibly gulped, still avoiding Sparks' eye contact, before speaking again. "Y'know, skills I picked up…when I was…a thief…"
Sparks' face lit up in recognition. "Oh, I see," he said softly, "Ah, well, that's pretty neat. Skills are skills, no matter what you used them for in the past."
"Y…yeah?"
"Mhm," Sparks said with a nod, and then took another slow sip of his tea. When he put the mug down again, he gave Ziggy a poignant look. "Can I be honest about something, Ziggy?"
The Buizel looked up at him, seeming unsure of how to react to such a question. "Uhh…I guess…?"
"I'm actually…kind of surprised that you were so willing, so unhesitating, to run into that blaze like that. Not because I don't think you're brave or anything like that. Far from it. It's just, well…" Sparks hesitated for a moment, trying to think of the most delicate way to put his thoughts into words. "…Now that we know…from your memories…what you went through when you were younger…"
Ziggy stiffened slightly, and his gaze went unfocused for just a split second. Sparks winced and immediately regretted saying anything. Ziggy, though, spoke up before he could back off. "I…think I was surprised too…"
"Yeah?" Sparks remarked, "I don't wanna put too fine a point on it, and I'm not qualified to diagnose this or anything, but that kind of horribly traumatic event is the kind of thing that causes…" Again, Sparks paused as a shiver ran up his spine. "…what happens to me…"
Quiet fell between them, and Ziggy spent a moment looking down at the table in thought. "I did feel…kind of weird," he finally said, "Like, I think I got those flashback things that happen to you. Y'know for a quick moment, I did feel like I was…there…"
Sparks frowned in worry.
"But…once it passed," Ziggy continued, "all I wanted to do was help…"
Another sip of tea. "Do you think the memory…pushed you forward?"
"I think so…"
Sparks nodded. "I think I see…" he said, "Again, I'm no doctor, but…Maybe you also have PTSD, or at least some kind of lesser trauma, but it affects you differently. That's the frustrating thing about PTSD…it affects everyone in different ways, and often in ways that nobody expects. Mine shuts me down and makes me panic, but for you…maybe this traumatic event from your past just makes you want to make sure it never happens to anyone else…"
Ziggy looked up at him with a questioning look in his eyes.
"You told me before, remember? You said you want to help other Pokémon as much as you can so that no-one has to go through what you went through living on the streets. This is, like, an amplified version of that fueled by your traumatic memory." He paused once more and then added, "Maybe."
Before Ziggy could reply, the sound of Rico and Terry laughing filled the room again. Both Sparks and Ziggy turned to look at them, though Ziggy had to turn his head over his shoulder to see. Neither of the two mates noticed they were being looked at; too focused on whatever funny thing had been said.
Ziggy looked back at Sparks. "I still don't quite…get what happened," he said softly, so as not to be overheard, "Like, I know they had their ceremony and now they're mates. You told me about that stuff and I get that now, but…"
"But now there's Lupe," Sparks finished.
"Yeah…"
Sparks smiled gently down at Ziggy. "Rico and Lupe are dating now. Remember when he and Terry were dating back before he gave him the bangle? That's what couples do to find out if they want to be mates or not."
Ziggy looked perplexed. "Yeah, but…I thought you said…"
"Well yeah, I know what I said," Sparks said, "Having multiple romantic partners is a bit unusual. Er, well, maybe 'unusual' isn't the right word to use. More like, it's really uncommon. Back in the day, decades and decades ago, that was what was normal. Pokémon got together in herds or harems with multiple partners. That practice just kind of fell out of style as time went on, and nowadays most Pokémon are monogamous and just have one partner."
It looked for a moment like Ziggy was processing everything. He cast a quick glance over his shoulder at the two on the couch before looking back at Sparks. "So…Rico and Lupe are gonna be mates too? Or…might be?"
"If it works out, yeah," Sparks said with a shrug, "Like I said, there's nothing wrong with what they're doing, it's just a little more out of place in the Pokémon world of today. It's not illegal or immoral or anything."
"If it works out…" Ziggy repeated, and his voice trailed off to a whisper. He sat there for a moment with an odd look on his face. Sparks realized that Ziggy had only really experienced seeing a successful couple and probably hadn't seen one fall apart before, besides the weird case of Rico losing his memory. In fact, Sparks saw Ziggy's expression darken a moment later. "What…if it doesn't work out?" he asked in a slightly shaky voice, "Terry got so sad…I-I don't want any of them to be sad again…"
"Relax, bud," Sparks said reassuringly, "Rico came and talked to me a while back and explained everything. Remember…When Rico got his memory back, he and Lupe had already started getting close. His feelings for Terry came back in full force once he got his memories back, but then he felt bad about the idea of just dumping Lupe to get Terry back…
"While you were getting your memories back, the three of them all sat in Rico's room and talked for like two or three hours. From what I understand, it was a very calm and mature discussion. Lupe recognized the strong bond between the two of them and didn't want to do anything that might come between them, but Rico and Terry could both see sadness in her eyes as she talked about stepping out of Rico's love life.
"So then they all agreed to have Lupe step away for a bit to give this whole thing some time, and to let the two reunited lovers reconnect. Then when she came back, right about the time you were running off towards a burning building, they had another long talk with much clearer heads. They all decided that they'd known each other for long enough that they all trusted each other, and that nothing was going to change or lessen Rico's love for Terry; not even another romantic partner. In the end, they decided to give it a try."
Ziggy glanced down as he digested all of this information. Sparks hadn't meant to get quite so wordy, but sometimes he couldn't help it. It probably came with his age. "I…think I get it," he finally said.
"Lupe is being very pragmatic about this. She knows she's the third wheel in this setup," Sparks added, "She said that if at any point things start getting strained between the three of them, she would respectfully step back and allow the two of them to be together with no hard feelings."
"Really?"
Sparks nodded. "Yeah, she told me herself. She said she knew she was stuck in the middle of things, but instead of panicking about it she was going to be calm and smart. And good for her, y'know?"
"I hate feeling stuck…" Ziggy murmured.
"You're probably not talking just about being stuck in that burning building," Sparks commented.
"Mmm…"
"It's just lucky that Ramon was nearby…" Sparks leaned back and glanced up at the ceiling for a moment.
"Yeah. He said he was doing something with Joogey…"
Sparks looked back at him and suppressed a snicker. "You mean 'Jiuji'?" he asked, to which Ziggy nodded. Sparks knew that Ramon had been delivering something there from Danika related to work on the mysterious rock that was still frustratingly just as mysterious. Ramon had only seen the fire because he had been flying so high up in the air. From what Sparks had heard, Dr. Hilo and Jiuji were beginning to run out of ideas and were trying a few last things before they would ultimately need to either give up or step back from the project for a long while.
At this point, Sparks was beginning to wonder if it was actually just a normal rock and he and Danika had hallucinated everything else about it.
"Hey, Sparks?" Ziggy spoke up.
"Yeah, bud?"
"Do you mind if I go hang out with Terry and Rico for a bit? Whatever they're doing, they sound like they're having fun."
Sparks chuckled softly. "Yeah, go for it. I don't wanna sit on the couch with them, just in case I'm still contagious." Ziggy then nodded in thanks and Sparks watched as he got up and wandered over to the couch where the young couple were seated. They both seemed happy to see him approach and didn't look like they had a problem with him joining them. Sparks swiveled his ears so he could hear their conversation from where he was sitting.
"Feeling better, dude?" Rico asked.
"Yeah. Thanks," Ziggy replied. Sparks noticed that he was furtively glancing at Terry with a look of curiosity, as the Eevee was laying on his back with his head in Rico's lap, looking up at his mate and occasionally pawing lightly at him. Terry had a dreamy smile plastered onto his muzzle. "How're you guys?" Ziggy then asked.
"It's been an awesome couple of days lately, hasn't it?" Rico remarked, "Wild, but awesome."
"Best days ever!" Terry concurred.
"The bangle looks nice," Ziggy commented, pointing at the new adornment on Rico's wrist, "It's kinda neat to see you two match now."
"In more ways than one!" Terry chirped gleefully.
"Hush," Rico said, and placed one of his paws onto Terry's muzzle, "No corniness."
Terry just giggled helplessly and squirmed.
"Thanks for coming to the ceremony, by the way," Rico said to Ziggy, "I know your throat still felt like crap, but it was nice to see you there."
"Of course. I couldn't miss something special like that."
Terry finally pushed Rico's paw away. "Can you believe we've officially been mates for three whole days now?"
"I know, right?" Rico replied, "We're practically senior mates by now." He then leaned down and nuzzled noses with Terry. "But for real, though. You and I have been mates for much, much longer than that…it just wasn't 'official'."
"True!" Terry said, smiling brightly as he nuzzled back.
The two shared a quick kiss. "Love ya, furball," Rico whispered.
"Love you too, dork."
Ziggy flushed slightly at the romantic display, but smiled nonetheless. "So…What're you guys doing now? You're still doing guild work, right?"
"The dream team is back and better than ever!" Rico proclaimed proudly, "We're gonna work together and do better than our best, 'cus that's how unstoppable we are!"
Terry snickered. "We're not superheroes, Rico."
"Says you."
"Has there ever been, like, a well-known team of mates working together at the Rescue Society?"
Rico shrugged. "Oh, I'm sure there's been some at some point. It's not too weird for two Pokémon in love to make the perfect guild team, y'know?"
"Doesn't Jules have a girlfriend?" Ziggy asked.
"Yeah, but she doesn't work at the guild. Only he does," Terry answered.
"I've never actually met her," Ziggy remarked, "I just keep hearing about Jules taking her on dates and stuff…"
"She's a nice Luxio," Rico said, "I've met her once or twice."
"By the way," Terry spoke up, "When's your date?"
"It's not 'till the weekend," Rico replied, "Don't worry, Lupe knows that just after the ceremony is 'our time'."
Terry shook his head. "I'm not worried about anything," he said with a warm smile. He reached up his paw to gently caress Rico's cheek and said, "I hope you have fun. Did you decide what you two are gonna do?"
"No, actually. She's got something planned. Supposed to be a bit of a surprise."
"Ooh! Well, I'll be here whenever you get back. Tell me all about it!"
Rico just spent a moment looking down at the Eevee, the smile on his face slowly growing even brighter. "You're so wonderful, Terry," he eventually said, "I love you so much. You make me so happy."
"N'aww! You're sweet!"
"Umm…" Ziggy spoke up. He seemed to be hesitant to cut into the conversation while the two started happily snuggling each other again, "Can I ask something?"
"Yeah, dude?" Rico asked.
"What…exactly does it mean that you're 'official' mates? Like…I know the ceremony was a celebration for you guys to be happy, but what did it do? Besides giving Rico his bangle."
"Oh!" Rico said, sitting up straight and nearly causing Terry to tumble out of his lap, "Well, it's mostly a legal sort of thing, but it's also kind of spiritual. You know, they say Arceus is always watching when two officially become mates."
Sparks wanted to listen to more, but he caught movement out the corner of his eye. When he looked over at the common room's main door, he saw Carmen poking her head in. He made eye contact with her, and she gestured with her paw to indicate that she wanted him to go with her somewhere. Sparks took one last sip of his tea and then slowly stood up.
"Talk to ya later, Zig," he said as he passed by, noting that the two mates had been laughing at something again.
"Oh! See ya," Ziggy answered.
Sparks was about to walk off and join Carmen, when he stopped short all of a sudden. "Oh! Right! Before I forget…" He turned back around and looked at the group on the couch. "Rico and Ziggy, don't forget that your follow-up appointment with Jin is in three days."
"I know, don't worry," Rico replied.
"Oh, I totally forgot!" Ziggy replied simultaneously.
Sparks chuckled at the two talking over each other. "Remember, it's just a quick checkup to make sure everything's settled up there. It won't take long, but make sure you're around."
Both Pokémon nodded. "Of course," Rico said.
"Okay. See ya!" Sparks then waved goodbye to them and headed out the door. Once he was in the main hallway, he saw Carmen was already at the top of the stairs waiting for him. He also noticed, though, a familiar face entering from the guild's front doors.
"Oh, hey Lupe," he greeted her.
"Hiiii!" she said cheerfully and gave him a big, flowery grin.
"You seem like you're in a good mood," Sparks commented.
"That's because I am, silly!" She then stuck her tongue out at him playfully and frolicked past him and through the door to the lower floors of the guild. Sparks just chuckled softly before making his own way up the stairs.
The next day brought out the mildly warm sunlight, not yet reaching anything that could be called 'hot'. It was a pleasant day with just a few stray clouds in the sky.
"I'm glad you're feeling better today," Ziggy commented from his spot, sitting next to the pond in the conservatory.
"Your voice sounds better too," Sparks replied, "We're both healing well…" He sighed softly, laying on his back on one of the large flat rocks next to the pond.
"Yeah, it's good…" Ziggy replied thoughtfully, "Things feel good."
"They do, don't they? I suppose a new pair of loving mates will do that to an atmosphere…"
"I'm just happy you're getting over your sickness," Ziggy said, "I was really worried about you when it went for so long. I was only sick for three days, but it took you six to get out of bed, so I…"
Sparks rolled his head to look over at the Buizel and chuckled softly. "Nothing to worry about. Some flus are worse than others."
"I guess this was really bad, but not…dangerous?" Ziggy spoke, "I was just…It's just that I…" He paused for a moment, and then quickly said, "Never mind."
This time Sparks lifted his head slightly. "No, go on. Say it."
Ziggy glanced away. "It sounds kinda silly, maybe…" he murmured, "but I kept thinking about what you told me…about Riya."
The mention of Dante's late partner made Sparks sit up in surprise.
"You said she was really sick when she came back to the guild, and that was what caused her…to…"
"Ziggy, don't be ridiculous," Sparks interjected, which caused Ziggy to wince slightly, "I'm perfectly fine. I wasn't out fighting any Dragonair or climbing mountains like she was." Sparks glanced down for a moment, and then continued speaking in a gentler tone. "Riya wasn't sick with the flu. She had some kind of illness that was made worse by exhaustion, and her immune system probably took a hit after such a fierce battle in dangerous conditions. Maybe. I don't know, I don't really like to think about it too much…But, what I had was a normal, perfectly textbook example of a bad flu. I'm in no danger."
For a moment, Ziggy just sat quietly in thought and only nodded once in response to what Sparks said. Afterwards, he shook his head and said, "Sorry, I shouldn't be bringing up stuff like that. I don't wanna bring down the mood. You're better, and I'm better, and things are great."
Sparks grinned. "Yeah, bud! You spent another day out and about on your own, doing jobs for the guild, and you're still shakin' off the soot of your amazing, heroic adventure." Ziggy immediately blushed and looked away, which made Sparks laugh. "Why do you get so embarrassed when others praise you like that?"
"I-I dunno…" he said with a shrug.
"I thought I was having another fever dream when Carmen told me what happened."
"Pft…" Ziggy snickered. He sat up a little straighter and looked over at Sparks, asking, "So, nobody else caught your sickness, right?"
"No, it looks like everyone else got off scot-free. Kandice and everyone else were being super careful about it. Lucky me, huh?"
Ziggy chuckled softly. "You're amazing too, you know? The flu I had for three days was one of the worst things ever. I don't think I would've made it to six days."
"Didn't you ever get sick when you were out on your own?" Sparks asked curiously.
"Not as bad as that flu," Ziggy replied, and Sparks was briefly pleased to see how casually Ziggy was now talking about his past troubled life. "I think the worst I got from back then," he continued, "was from the cold. Like, when it snowed?"
"Probably a touch of hypothermia…"
"I mean…" Ziggy said, "I threw up a lot because I was eating bad stuff, but it was always just a quick thing and I never really got…ill."
Sparks then promptly smacked his forehead. "Right. Of course. Kandice told me this before. Water-types are resistant to illnesses."
Ziggy looked up in surprise. "We are?"
"You've probably never even had a cold before, have you?"
"What's a 'cold'?"
The two were interrupted by the sudden sound of something loudly tapping on glass. They both turned and looked at the courtyard's door, and saw that Carmen was standing behind it and using the stick in her tail to tap on the window. Once she had their attention, she simply made a 'come here' gesture with her paw.
"The guildmaster requests our presence," Sparks said whimsically.
The two then stood up and made their way back inside. The Braixen was already gone by the time they re-entered the building, so Sparks just assumed they were to meet in the common room. Ziggy followed behind him and they moved quickly but casually through the halls and eventually to the room in question. There, they found the rest of the remaining Active Team waiting, revealing that the two of them were the last to arrive.
Gosh, we really do treat him like another Active Team member sometimes… Sparks thought to himself as he cast a glance down at Ziggy.
"A'ight, listen up," Carmen announced once everyone had gathered, either sitting at or standing next to the dining table, "News from the 'Away Team', as I'm calling them now."
Sparks' ears perked up. Carmen was referring to Shay, Jules, Tora and Javier.
"Still more sightings of Nihilego as of late. Less frequent but more consistent, as in they're only seen about once a day but more days have sightings. It's been starting to appear only in the early morning or late evening, so it's catching Pokémon by surprise. Still, though, as far as we can tell, it's still just the one single Nihilego roving around."
"Are these all just citizen's sightings?" Lupe asked, "Or have the others…Er, the 'Away Team', have they seen it?"
"Yes, actually," Carmen said with a nod, "Javier in particular spends a lot of his mornings and evenings moving about across the rooftops. Yes, moving across the rooftops, don't ask. He's managed to spot it in the distance a few times, but never soon enough to do much more about it."
"Interesting…" Danika remarked, a claw to her chin in thought, "If it's using the cover of dawn and dusk, perhaps it's more intelligent than we initially thought."
"Two more Pokémon were touched by its tentacles and lost their memories," Carmen continued, "Both were quickly healed by Jin. Thankfully, Jin is very invested in this and has promised his services until this whole escapade is over."
"Well, that's good!" Terry said with a smile, "It's like we found a cure for a disease, so that's some good news."
"Nobody's been…caught by it, though?" Sparks asked.
"Thankfully…" Carmen continued, "nobody has been able to verify your theory of just how deadly prolonged exposure would be. Based on the away team's findings, it still doesn't seem aggressive. It never seems like it wants to grab or ensnare anyone. Right now the biggest concern is if it touches a Dark-Type."
"…Why?" a voice piped up softly. Ziggy immediately started when everyone turned to look at him, looking like he was afraid he had spoken out of turn.
"Dark-Types are immune to Psychic abilities," Sparks explained while giving him a reassuring pat on the back, "And so, Jin can't do anything to Dark-Types, because what he does is psychic."
"Now that knowledge of this memory-loss business is out there," Carmen said, "Radiant City's Dark-Types have been…understandably concerned, and some of them are staying home where it's safe for the most part."
"Still, though," Kona spoke up, "Only two more incidents is not a lot, considering the size of the city. And now Pokémon know exactly what it can do, so they can be careful!"
"What about the team?" Kandice asked, "What have they been up to?"
"In regards to their mission of capturing this Pokémon, you mean?" Carmen asked, "I've been told they have multiple ideas they are considering. They've been running a few tests with some very helpful and very patient volunteers. Nothing is ready to spring yet, but apparently progress is good."
"That's great!" Rico said cheerfully.
"Sounds like everything's going at least somewhat according to plan!" Kona agreed.
Carmen took a moment and observed the Pokémon around her, and then eventually put on a grin of her own. "I've got a good feeling about this. It feels like we might finally be getting towards the end of this crisis…"
A chorus of agreements rang through the room.
"With four members of the Active Team working on it…Well, I mean they're some of the best of the best!" Kona said, "If anyone's gonna figure this all out, I have faith in them!"
"There's still so much weirdness with this whole Nihilego thing," Sparks commented, "Still so much we don't know, still have no idea what this thing is or where it comes from, but things do seem better than before."
"Ha!" Rico laughed, "See, Terry? I told you us becoming mates was gonna save the world one day. Maybe if we have the ceremony again, they'll end up catching it!"
Terry stuck his tongue out playfully.
"I'm glad to see us all in such high spirits," Carmen commented, "That's important in our line of work, after all. Let's keep doing good for the city until then, everyone!"
The following evening found Sparks and Ziggy out in the courtyard again, this time looking up at the moon and the stars in the sky. This was not something either of them did very often, but a certain mood seemed to have struck the both of them. It was quiet in the courtyard, only the very faint sounds of the city could be heard in the distance.
"…Hey…Sparks?" Ziggy spoke up hesitatingly.
The Raichu in question turned to look at him. "Hm?"
Ziggy was still looking upwards, but was twiddling his paws. "I…I think…"
After a moment of silence, Sparks gently encouraged him. "You think what?"
Ziggy gulped, looked down at his paws for a moment, and then turned and looked back at Sparks. There was a mix of resolve and hesitation in his expression. "I…think I'm ready to go to the island…"
"To the island…?" Sparks repeated, "You mean to Dewdrop Island?"
The Buizel nodded.
"You're ready…to see your parents?"
A visible shudder ran through Ziggy's body, but he nodded. "I'm…nervous, but I think it might be time…"
Sparks regarded him for a moment, and then gently smiled. "I think it's a fine time. You've got a lot to talk about that you can be proud of. Saving Pokémon from a burning building is something anyone should brag to their parents about, heh…!"
Ziggy was looking up at the stars again, and spoke in a melancholy voice. "I don't think I'm ever gonna be fully sure I'm ready, but…I gotta do it some time. I know I shouldn't be scared that they won't be proud of me, but still…"
"Still…?" Sparks prodded, "You're not still worried about stuff you said while your memories were gone, are you?"
"No. No, I know that's not my fault…" Ziggy said, "But…I dunno why I never thought of this before, but…Their son used to be a…thief."
"Oh!" Sparks said in recognition, and then chuckled quietly, "Zig, dude, every parent has to watch their child do something stupid in their life. It just comes with the job. What's in the past is in the past, and everybody knows that it's not something you enjoyed doing."
"No, definitely not," Ziggy agreed.
"They'll probably be more impressed that you were able to transfer those skills to something else, as we just saw from the burning house."
Ziggy nodded and smiled, though it was a small and sad sort of smile. "I hope so…"
Sparks regarded the Buizel for a moment, who still didn't seem convinced of himself. He looked up to the stars again, and simply gazed at them in silence for two full minutes. Finally, he let out a long, heavy sigh. "Ziggy, I…I know what you're going through," he said softly, with a slight catch in his throat.
"You do…?"
Though he nodded, Sparks didn't take his eyes off of the stars. "I had to tell my parents I killed someone…" His ear twitched as he heard Ziggy gasp softly. "Same as you…I had to go to their graves, suck it up, and tell them what I'd done. It wasn't easy, but it was also a lot worse than just being a petty thief."
More silence pervaded the outdoor area as Sparks just continued looking up at the sky, hoping to catch the eye of some Pokémon he knew he would never see again. Eventually, he heard Ziggy shuffle on the ground and finally turned down to see that the Buizel was now sitting next to him.
"How long have you been without your parents?" Ziggy asked in a tiny voice.
"Mom died when I was 15, and dad died when I was 21. It's been a long, long time since I've seen them…"
Ziggy frowned in sympathy. "I…I'm sorry…"
"My brother's five years younger than me, so he was only 10 when mom died. It hit him much, much harder."
"You've mentioned your brother before," Ziggy spoke up, "but you haven't really told me much about him. What's his name?"
A bit of Sparks' frown started to disappear. "Ah…His name is Aviv. He's a Raichu like me and he's a chef. He lives over in Sahra Town, way off on the Sand Continent. He moved there after dad died."
"You don't talk about him a lot…"
"Well, I mean…We were best buds when we were growing up, but then he moved so far away that we just kind of naturally drifted apart. I'm so busy with my work here at the guild, he's busy being a cook… Life just took us in two different directions. It's not like we hate each other or anything. We still write to each other at least once every two months."
"Oh… I see…" Ziggy said softly.
"Aviv moved out right as I was starting my journey to join the Rescue Society, so I did most of the hard work and achieved all of my main goals without him. But, likewise, he did the same without me. I love him, of course, and I'll always drop everything to go help him if he really needs me, but he's just not a very big part of my life…"
Sparks noticed Ziggy's downcast expression and added, "…and that's fine, Ziggy. We're both perfectly happy with where we ended up, even though we're on opposite sides of the world now. What I told you before is still true; my family is mostly the Pokémon I live with and work with here at the guild. Family doesn't have to mean a blood relation."
"Is he…nice, though? Is he like you?"
"He's wonderful, Ziggy. He's got a bit of cheek, but he cares a lot for others and he's very friendly." Sparks let out a soft sigh. "He did travel all the way out here to be with me after I ki-" He cleared his throat. "After the incident." Sparks jumped slightly when he felt Ziggy lean over and give him a slightly awkward side-hug. Then, to his surprise, Ziggy giggled softly. "What?" he asked.
"You said he's got a bit of 'cheek'," Ziggy replied, "No duh, he's a Raichu."
Sparks practically snorted from the sudden urge to laugh. He tried to keep himself to only snickers, but let out a hearty belly laugh a moment later. "Aw, that was so dumb it ended up being hilarious," Sparks remarked.
Ziggy was still giggling. "Sorry, I couldn't resist…"
"You're such a knucklehead…" Sparks cleared his throat and then said, "Anyway, I meant what I said before. Parents are used to their kids doing dumb stuff. Even on a less serious level, Aviv was terrible in school and in his younger days he kept sneaking out of class. He didn't even finish high school. But still, dad was super proud of him for passing his first course in culinary school. Sadly that was the only time he got to see dad be proud, but it still meant a lot to him."
"I hope you're right," Ziggy said with a soft nod, "It's just been so long, it almost feels like I'm meeting totally new Pokémon…but I still think I'm ready. I…I want to go to the island."
Sparks gave him a gentle pat on the back. "Sure, bud. I'll try to find some time for the two of us to hop on a boat and head over. I think you'll really like the island. It's a very cozy, friendly place, and the owner of the coffee shop is just the sweetest." Sparks held his tongue and decided not to talk about Jasper just yet.
"Okay. Thank you."
"Although," Sparks added, "we should probably wait at least until after your follow-up with Jin. That's just in a couple of days, and it's better to be safe than sorry."
Ziggy nodded and said, "All right."
"You're not nervous about that, are you?"
He shook his head. "I feel like I should get him something to say thank you for what he did for me. By the time I stopped crying in my room he was already gone."
"Hm… I have to go into the city tomorrow to pick up my prescription. I can grab something for you to give him if you want me to."
"Prescription? Which one? The nightmares one, or the…other one?"
"The other one," Sparks said, and then sighed softly. "I promised myself last January that I would be off of those meds by this point, but I stayed on them because of the stress of the Nihilego problem."
Ziggy frowned and looked like he wanted to say something, but ultimately stayed silent.
"It's okay, bud. I know you don't really understand, and it's kinda hard to explain. It's not like the prescription we got for you when you were sick."
Ziggy's face twisted up in disgust. "Eugh! That stuff tasted awful! I've eaten stuff out of the trash that tasted better than that."
Sparks chuckled softly, and patted Ziggy on the back again. "I'm glad to see you're in brighter spirits these days, bud. I really am…"
"Good afternoon."
In the middle of the guild's gymnasium, a quartet of Pokémon were playing a card game on the matted floor. They all looked up when they heard the voice greeting them, and then smiled at the Abra who had walked in through the door.
"Jin! Good afternoon," Sparks greeted him, "Great to see you again." The Raichu stood up and made his way over to the Abra. Rico, Terry and Ziggy all stood up as well and followed him.
"And to you as well," Jin replied, "I hope everything has been well since I last saw you."
Ziggy and Rico looked at one another for a moment and then both smiled widely. "We both can't thank you enough!" Rico proclaimed.
"You…brought back a part of me I didn't even know was missing," Ziggy added quietly, "Even though the memories hurt, I'm so thankful to have them back."
"How about yourself, Jin?" Sparks asked.
"Without question…" he replied, "I have never done this much memory work in such a short amount of time."
Sparks perked up. "Ah, that's right! You're helping with the other Nihilego victims."
"Indeed… It is certainly not a spot I would have expected my life to take me, but I do intend to stay until the threat is gone."
"We all appreciate it," Sparks said, "I don't know what state the city would be in if you weren't around. Hopefully you won't have too many more to treat."
"Quite so," the older Abra said with a nod, "Anyway, I don't want to take up too much of your time so let's get started, shall we?"
Terry spoke up next. "What is this you're doing today, again?"
"It's just to make sure everything is holding together okay. I've 'tied' the memories back, in a metaphysical sense, and want to make sure they aren't coming loose again. I want to make sure I haven't missed anything, want to make sure there's no further signs of damage, et cetera, et cetera… It's just a routine check-up."
"Okay, cool," Terry said with a nod.
Jin then looked over at Rico. "Well, my young Riolu friend, we started with you last time so let us do so again."
The group then got everything set up as before, with Rico standing in the middle of the empty gym and the other three standing against the wall to watch. Nobody was nervous this time, as they were all now familiar with the procedure and how safe it was.
Jin repeated his previous mantra to lull Rico into a calm state, eventually putting him to sleep and then snapping his claw loudly. Like before, Rico stood with a blank, zombie-like expression while Jin's eyes started glowing blue.
"Still freaks me out a bit," Terry commented.
"Eh, it's no worse than getting hit with Confusion or Disable," Sparks replied.
Ziggy shuddered. "Disable sucks… I hated it."
Sparks cast the Buizel a concerned look, and made a mental note to ask for further details later.
"Here we are…" Jin commented. Like before, he was holding his claws up and moving them around in seemingly random ways, though the others now knew that he was within Rico's 'mindscape' and viewing all of the 'stalagnates' that represented his memories.
"Everything look good?" Terry asked hopefully.
"Yes, yes, your mate does seem to have a perfectly healthy brain."
Terry giggled softly. "So you noticed?" he said, referring to the bangle Rico was wearing.
"It is my job to pay close attention to things. Of course I noticed."
No more than ten minutes passed by as Jin continued to silently look through the inside of Rico's mind, occasionally moving his claws around in that enigmatic way. Soon enough, he spoke up once more. "Right! I am satisfied. I'm confident that I can give this Riolu's brain a clean bill of health."
"That's great!" Terry said, and Sparks could hear the relief in his voice, "I'm so glad to hear that."
Jin then promptly snapped his claws. Sparks felt a brief jolt of panic as he remembered how intense and frightening of an experience it was to wake up from under Jin's spell. However, Rico simply blinked a few times and then shook his head. "Ah…What happened? Is it over already?" Rico asked.
"I did not fix anything this time, so there are no adverse effects upon awakening," Jin explained, "but as I just told your friends and your mate, everything inside of your skull is working just fine."
Rico regarded the Abra for a moment, and then grinned. "Awesome! Thanks a lot!" He then glanced over to Terry, as if to test this assessment. Upon seeing the Eevee's happy smile, Rico's grin grew wider and the faintest rosy blush appeared on his cheeks. "Yup! Seems to be working fine."
"I'm so glad everything's okay, Rico!" Terry said.
As Rico cheerfully made his way over to his mate, Sparks and Jin both turned their attention over towards Ziggy. "Well then," Jin spoke, "Your turn?"
Ziggy nodded and stood up, making his way over to where Rico had been standing before. When he got to the spot, he turned to look at Jin. "Umm…Mister Jin? I just wanted to…thank you for helping me. I never got a chance to thank you last time you were here, a-and so I wanted to say it now. I…I got you a gift to say thank you. It's in a box in my room, s-so I'll give it to you before you leave."
"Oh not to worry," Jin said with a grin, "I could tell you were thankful even though your tears. And though it's certainly not necessary at all to get me a gift, I will appreciate your generosity and graciously accept afterwards. I am just happy I was able to help. Now then, are you ready?"
Ziggy nodded, and then Jin got to work putting him into a trance. Sparks watched from the sidelines, admittedly feeling a little bored by the proceedings. He glanced over and saw Rico and Terry cuddling each other as they sat and watched as well. Rico seemed interested to be watching the procedure from the outside looking in, and Terry probably would have been bored if not for the warm Riolu he was being hugged by.
"All right, then," Jin spoke up once his eyes were glowing blue again, "Let's have a look…"
Sparks knew that this was the cue that he was allowed to speak again, and so he turned back to the young couple next to him. "Ziggy couldn't decide what to get him," he said in a quiet but jovial voice, "We musta went to like 20 different stalls before he finally settled on something."
"Ziggy went to the market?" Terry blurted suddenly.
"Oh yeah, didn't I tell you that? Yeah, about a week ago, he asked me to come with him to just walk around the market so he could try to get over his fear of the place. Besides the usual staring, nothing at all happened. He still doesn't want to go there by himself, and we're both still steering clear of a certain Machamp's stall, but yeah…"
"Wow! Good for him," Rico commented.
"Well, I'm glad nothing happened. That place isn't always the friendliest," Terry commented, "Didn't someone yell slurs at him not too long ago?"
"Yeaaaaah," Sparks said disdainfully, "That's just never going to fully go away, so he has to build up a tolerance to it. And I think he is."
What Sparks heard next were perhaps the most dreaded words he could possibly imagine in a scenario like this.
"Uh oh…"
"What?" Sparks blurted out as his blood ran cold, "What's wrong?"
"Calm down," Jin replied, "Nothing devastating. Your Buizel friend is unharmed."
Sparks relaxed, but only slightly. "What is it?" he asked again.
Jin was frowning with a troubled look on his face. "I am afraid I must ask of your forgiveness…for it appears I missed something last time."
There was a beat of silence, and then Sparks' eyes went wide. "Missed something…?" he replied slowly, "You mean…i-in his memories…?"
"I have found more damaged memories…" Jin spoke, "and as you have not informed me of any other troubles or trauma in the intervening time, I must conclude that I missed them last time."
Sparks gasped softly, and he heard the couple next to him gasp as well. The three all shared a shocked glance. Rico looked back at Jin and said, "Ziggy's missing more memories?"
"Oh my gosh…" Terry murmured.
Jin let out a huff and skewed his lips in irritation. "I think I know what happened," he said, "After repairing the damage in the Riolu's mind, I went into the Buizel's mind looking for the same thing. I focused in on the same place, the same kind of damage, and immediately fixed what I had found. I am terribly, terribly sorry for my incompetence…I should have been more thorough and checked the rest of his mindscape after I was done."
For a moment, Sparks just stared in silence as he tried to process this new, unexpected information. "Uhh...O-okay," he said, "But…you can still fix it…right?"
"I should think so…" Jin said thoughtfully, peering his glowing eyes at something no-one else could see.
"I didn't think Ziggy was missing anything else," Terry commented, "It seemed like he had his whole backstory together now. Y'know, from cubhood right up until now."
Sparks held a paw to his head. "I dunno how much more of this kid's crazy life I can take. What's next? He's a Jirachi in disguise? Dante is secretly his half-brother? The island wasn't burned but was sucked into a parallel universe?"
"It is strange, though…" Jin spoke up. Everyone looked over at him again, and saw that he was holding one glowing claw under his chin and looked to be in thought.
"What's strange?" Sparks asked.
"The damage here is…different."
The three Pokémon against the wall shared confused glances. "Different?" Sparks said.
"Well, recall what I told you about the damaged memories I have already treated. That is to say, the ones from both the Riolu and Buizel's heads. The 'stalagnates'…the strands connecting from top to bottom that form the memory, had the appearance of being burned."
"Right," Sparks said with a nod, "That fits with what we know about the thing that attacked them, because it used electricity."
"Well…" Jin said with a dry chuckle, "That's not exactly the cause and effect, but close enough." He then cleared his throat. "These memories I have found, however, have not been burned at all. In fact, they look perfectly healthy aside from one thing…"
"What's that?"
"They appear to have been…cut…" Jin remarked, "As if by a pair of scissors or a knife. Cut in two like a strand of ribbon."
Sparks blinked, a look of confusion growing on his face. "Wh…W-well, what does that mean?"
Jin frowned in concern. "I certainly do not see this very commonly at all. I am sorry to say, but…this does carry some concerning connotations."
The icy feeling in Sparks' veins returned. "L…Like what…?"
"It means…" Jin said, briefly turning to look directly at Sparks, "…that someone has deliberately severed this memory. This is not a natural phenomenon. Someone, likely a Psychic-Type, did this to him. Someone has tampered with this Buizel's memories…"
Sparks fell back against the wall with a shocked look on his face. For a moment he didn't know what to say; didn't know how to react to this. He slowly turned to look at Terry and Rico, who looked equally as shocked. When he looked back ahead, he saw Jin was already getting to work mending the unseen strands with his glowing claws.
Someone altered Ziggy's memories? And not in a shock to the head manner like with the Nihilego, but in a deliberate action? Who? How? When? Sparks' mind was overflowing with questions that quickly gave him a headache. This was the very last thing he had expected to come from this simple check-up.
"But…" Terry spoke up, worry laced in his voice, "But…how? How could someone have…? I thought you were…"
"Well, it's not exactly something complicated," Jin commented, "It's not like the skills I have practiced and honed for years. Any particularly powerful Psychic-Type Pokémon can use their abilities to 'crush' a Pokémon's most recent memories. It's similar to getting put under anesthesia at the hospital. Whatever happened to this Buizel, it happened immediately after the events that took place in these lost memories."
"Can…Can you tell how old they are?" Sparks asked, "Are they recent, or…?"
"I cannot tell that, unfortunately."
Sparks held a paw to his head again. What did this mean? Did something else happen to Ziggy while he was living on that island? Perhaps this was another of the horrible encounters he'd had while living on the streets; the ones he didn't like to talk about. Maybe one awful Pokémon painted him orange, and another took his memories?
He frowned as more questions just kept piling up. This poor, poor kid. It seemed like it never ended when it came to him. Why couldn't the universe just let him move on and start a happy, fulfilling life?
"Um…" Terry spoke up once more, "There was…nothing like that in Rico's mind, was there?"
"Oh Arceus, I sure hope not…" Rico muttered.
"No, I thoroughly checked. Your memories are perfect."
The couple let out a quick sigh of relief, but seemed no less concerned about the present matter. Terry glanced over at Sparks worriedly. "Sparks, are you okay?" he asked.
"I don't know…" Sparks admitted, "I…guess we just have to wait until he wakes up."
"Wow…" Rico remarked, "I didn't even think something like this was possible… I didn't even consider it…"
Sparks gulped, feeling his skin crawl with anxiety. After a moment, he slowly brought his paw up and pressed it against his badge. "Danika?"
"Hello?" the Sneasel's voice replied.
"Come to the gym."
There was a pause. "Huh? Why? I'm working right now."
"You need to be here for this," Sparks said, his voice so serious that it unnerved even himself, "It's about Ziggy."
So the clock ticked on as the three anxious Pokémon waited while Jin worked on Ziggy's memories once again. They were soon joined by Danika, who was quickly filled in on what was happening, and then it just became a waiting game. Jin commented at one point that fixing damaged memories such as these was a little more difficult and time-consuming.
"Sparks, relax…" Danika spoke up after a nebulous amount of time had passed.
"Can't…" he replied simply.
"I don't know what happened to Ziggy to make this happen, but I'm sure it's not going to be as devastating as getting back the memories of his parents…" she said resolutely, though Sparks glanced over and saw a bit of worry in her eyes as well.
He sighed in frustration. "The more I think about it, the more I'm sure that this was some jerkhole from his days on the street. One of the unfortunate wastes of air that lured him in with the promise of food just to do horrible stuff to him."
"You…really think so…?" Terry asked in a soft voice.
"The kid's been painted orange just because he's a shiny. Having a Psychic-Type screw with his memories is absolutely not out of the question." Sparks grumbled and suppressed the urge to growl in rage. "It's whatever heinous act they did before stamping out his memories that has me worried…"
"We'll help him, Sparks. Whatever it is, we'll help him," Danika said.
"I…really hope you're overreaching in those assumptions, Sparks…" Terry muttered.
Sparks crossed his forelimbs as a sense of righteous anger brewed within him. "That's just the thing," he continued, "Ziggy doesn't like to talk about these kinds of things. He's told us about being painted orange and the two times he's been tied to a pole, but it's obvious there's been a lot more that's happened to him during his days on the streets. It was the reason he was so hesitant to accept help when he first showed up here, because so many Pokémon tricked him with the promise of food and help and then did…awful things to him. It pains me to say, but I know it's the truth; orange paint is just the tip of the iceberg…"
"Okay," Jin suddenly spoke up, "I am finished."
All four other Pokémon perked up in an instant. "You're done?" Sparks blurted, "You fixed them all?"
"I am taking a look now to make absolutely sure this time that I have not missed anything, but all of the 'severed' memories have been reattached."
Sparks sighed in relief, yet at the same time his heart hammered with anxiety.
"Here we go again…" Danika remarked glibly.
After a couple more minutes, Jin was satisfied that nothing else was amiss with Ziggy's memories. He then prepared once again to wake Ziggy up. "Now then," he spoke, "Unlike what just occurred with the Riolu, recall that I did fix some things, so he is going to have the same shock to the system upon waking up as before. As you did then, give him a minute or two to recover."
Jin then leaned in close to Ziggy, spoke his awakening mantra, and finally snapped his claws. Just like the last time, Ziggy sucked in a huge gasp of air and promptly fell back onto his rump. Sparks very nearly bolted across the room on instinct but held himself back.
Ziggy stared upwards at nothing in shock for a short while, though his expression was quickly turning to confusion. He lifted a paw and held it to his head, wearing an expression on his face as if he had just been shown that Sparks was actually a Clefairy in disguise this whole time. Eventually, it seemed to dawn on him that whatever memories he was now experiencing were, in fact, real and had happened to him. A look of dread appeared on his face.
Sparks decided enough time had passed. "Ziggy!" he called out as he quickly, but as calmly as he could, made his way over to the downed Buizel. The others followed behind him. "Ziggy, bud. You okay?"
"What happened?" Rico asked, "What did you remember?"
Ziggy looked up at Sparks, the look in his eyes filled with infinite questions. "Sparks…? What…What just happened…?"
"Jin found more damaged memories," Sparks explained with a concerned frown, "What were they?"
Ziggy's pupils shrank as his look of dread worsened. "Oh no…" he murmured, "S-Sparks, I…Oh no…!"
Sparks resisted the urge to shout in frustration. "What?" he asked, "What is it?"
"Sparks, I…" Ziggy gulped, "I think I was…kidnapped…"
A moment of stunned silence followed. "Kidnapped…?" Sparks repeated, "Oh, you mean like from your days on the streets? Like the orange paint incident?" He felt a sinking feeling in his stomach, realizing that he had guessed right. He braced himself to hear about what horrible thing had been done to the poor homeless Buizel.
"N-no," Ziggy replied.
Another beat of silence. Sparks' eyes grew wide. "No?"
"No, Sparks…D'you remember that day, a while back, when I got lost?"
Sparks glanced off at nothing for a moment, trying to think of what Ziggy was referring to.
"When that Pokémon fell off the roof, and you ran to go help him," Ziggy clarified, "Remember? I got turned around trying to follow you and I had to find my way back to the guild by myself."
"Oh, right! Right, yes. I remember," Sparks said. Then, his blood ran cold as he realized the implications. "…Wait…Y-you…?"
Ziggy had a haunted look on his face. "I didn't get lost, Sparks…I got kidnapped…"
Sparks felt dizzy. He used his long tail to brace himself against the room that was spinning around him. The day the Monferno fell off of the roof while he had been walking with Ziggy in the quiet neighbourhoods to try and conquer his fears of being in public. He'd searched the area for Ziggy without any luck, and the active team had been just about to form a search party in the early evening when Ziggy finally showed up at the door, none the worse for wear.
"I figured I'd lost Sparks, so I had to find my way back here…I wanted to run right back here but…Well, I got scared. I was hiding and keeping to the shadows."
Those were the words he'd said, the only explanation he'd given for how he had gotten back to the guild after getting lost. Everyone had been so happy to have him back safe that nobody had even thought to question why it had taken him so long.
"Who?" Danika said, stepping in with a firm voice, "Who kidnapped you?"
Sparks shook his head, coming back down to earth and looking at Ziggy expectantly. Who would kidnap a teenage Buizel off the streets, but then remove his memories of the event and then let him go before the sun even set? Sparks had to figure that Ziggy couldn't have escaped on his own if he had gotten his memories tampered with, so he had to have been set free. But why? How? Who? Everyone looked down at Ziggy, waiting for his answer. That haunted look hadn't disappeared from his face. Moments later, the reason why became quite evident.
"It…It was Dr. Hilo…"
