Chapter 41 - Too Many Questions

"It's all…so clear to me now. I can remember it like it happened yesterday…

"Sparks, you ran off to go help the Monferno when he fell off the roof. I was running to keep up with you because I didn't want to get left behind, but I wasn't looking where I was going and I tripped. Landed right on my face. Once I got back up, I couldn't see you anymore. I tried to follow the sound of the screams, but it was confusing.

"Y'know, back then I was so focused on others staring at me. I was paying more attention to them than I was to finding where you'd gone. By the time the screaming stopped, I was totally lost in that neighbourhood. I had no idea where I was, there were Pokémon all around me, some of them were staring at me already…so I panicked. I panicked and I ran really fast in a random direction just to try and get away from…everything, I guess…

"I made it out of the neighbourhood and back into the city. Y'know, I kinda just went back to my days of being on the street before I met you guys. I kept to the shadows, hid from view, looked for alleys to hide in. I was trying to slowly get back to the guild, but then it happened. Something suddenly grabbed my tail as I passed by and pulled me right off the street into some bushes. It was a Gengar that had grabbed me. It all happened in a flash. I didn't even have time to scream before his eyes flashed and I passed out. It was probably Hypnosis…

"When I woke up, I didn't know where I was. It was dark except for a small but bright light shining right in my eyes. The walls and floor were stone, and I couldn't see the roof. The bad thing was that I was strapped to some kind of table. I was on my back, and there were these thick strap things tying me down around my shoulders, my waist and my hind legs. The only thing I could move was my tail. Worse, my hoodie was gone.

"It's…not the first time I've woken up tied to something, but I could tell that something else bad was going on. I was panicking, obviously, trying to get out of the straps, but I just couldn't. Then I heard steps on the floor and turned my head to see, and…it was Dr. Hilo. The big Inteleon with the white coat. I remembered what he looked like from when I first met him in the guild.

"He said some stuff but he wasn't, like, talking to me. He was just talking to himself, like I wasn't there, and writing some stuff down on a clipboard. Even now I don't remember anything he said. I think I was too scared to even pay attention. I was panicking pretty hard, but I know for sure who that was. It was Dr. Hilo."

Sparks just stared in disbelief at Ziggy, an expression he'd worn on his face ever since Ziggy had woken up from Jin's treatment. He couldn't believe his own ears.

All of the Pokémon who had been present in the gym when Ziggy had revealed this shocking information, except for Jin, were now all gathered together in Sparks' room. The atmosphere was a choking mix of fear and confusion as Ziggy told his story. Even now, it still didn't sound real to Sparks at all, though he had absolutely no reason to doubt his friend Ziggy.

"I…don't know what to say," Sparks eventually spoke up.

"Me either," Terry commented, "Like…I could believe some nasty Gengar snatched him off of the street, but then there's Dr. Hilo? That cool scientist guy?"

"Exactly," Rico agreed, "He's a scientist. Why in the world would he kidnap Ziggy?"

"He'd barely even met Ziggy before that point," Rico added.

Sparks just slowly looked back down at Ziggy. "W-well…" he said to him, "What…happened next? What did Hilo…do?"

Ziggy still had that haunted look in his eyes. "Well, again, I think I was so scared that I wasn't totally paying attention. He stuck some stuff onto me and then took it back off after a bit. Didn't hurt, but made parts of my fur feel sticky. I think he used scissors and cut off a little bit of my fur, he shone something in my eyes at one point. He took some pictures too."

Rico wore a perplexed look. "It sounds like he was giving you a weird version of a doctor's checkup…"

"He's not that kind of doctor," Terry said.

"I know that."

"I do remember, though…" Ziggy continued, "He had this thing…This sharp, pointy thing. It terrified me just seeing it, 'cus I had no idea what it was. And he…he stuck it into my shoulder. Like, the needle or whatever, he poked it into my shoulder…into my s-skin. It really stung, and when he took it out again it was all red…"

Sparks stared at Ziggy in wide-eyed shock. "He…took your blood?"

"My…blood?"

"I think you're right, Sparks," Rico said, "Sounds like he described a syringe. Ziggy, you've never had Kandice use a syringe on you before?"

"No," Sparks answered for him, "We agreed to hold off on checking his blood type until later, and he's never had to be injected with anything."

"I…I-I just remember him giving me this cold, kinda empty look after he…took out the needle," Ziggy spoke, his voice slightly shuddering, "Then I can't remember much more after that. I…think I passed out for some reason…"

"This can't be real," Sparks murmured, "This is some super-weird PTSD nightmare, right?"

"Then what?" Terry asked, ignoring Sparks, "What happened after you woke up?"

"I woke up in an alley somewhere," Ziggy said, "Out in the city, still with no idea where I was. I…I guess this was after he wiped my memories, because the only thing I remember being scared about at the time was being lost. I had my hoodie back, at least. I just knew I was out in the city, separated from Sparks and everyone, and I had to somehow find my way back to the guild…Eventually, I managed to do that…"

"And then you showed up at the door…" Sparks said in a hollow voice, "and we all just continued on like nothing was wrong…"

Rico looked over at Sparks and asked, "There was nothing wrong with Ziggy once he got back, right? He wasn't sick or weak or anything?"

"No, he was just tired…I remember that day all too well because I was so worried about him."

A very heavy, poignant silence filled the room. For at least a full minute, nobody was able to say a word.

Finally, Terry sat up straight and adopted a determined look. "W-well, I mean…C'mon! We gotta do something about this, right? We gotta, like…go arrest him!"

"I…" Sparks started, but then fell silent as words evaded him.

"I'm not saying I don't believe Ziggy," Rico said, "but it is just really hard to believe. Or, I guess, it's more like it's just hard to imagine. And I don't get it. If Hilo kidnapped Ziggy and did…stuff like that to him, only to then just let him go like nothing happened…Why?"

Sparks grumbled, feeling unsure about all of this. He then slowly turned and looked over to the fifth Pokémon that was in the room with them. "Danika, you've been quiet," he commented, "What do you think?"

The Sneasel was sitting on the ground off to the side, her forelimbs crossed and a decidedly uncomfortable look on her face. She looked over at Sparks after being addressed, but eventually her gaze just fell back to the floor and she didn't say anything.

"…Dani?" Sparks said, frowning in concern.

"What am I supposed to say, Sparks?" she asked in an eerily calm voice, "You're talking about my colleague who I respect, trust and look up to."

Sparks frowned even more. "I…I get that," he said, "but doesn't that also describe…us?"

"And that's why this is so hard," she retorted, letting a touch of anger seep into that last word.

"Dani, I-"

"What if the memory is fake?" Danika then asked suddenly.

"Fake?" Terry replied, "What do you mean, fake?"

"I mean that we know there's a memory in Ziggy's head. The fact that Jin was able to see it and repair it is proof enough of that. But what if Jin isn't able to tell if it's a real memory or not? What if he could only see that it was damaged?"

Sparks just looked at Danika in confusion.

"What if it was the Gengar?" she asked, throwing up her claws in mild exasperation, "Ziggy said he was accosted by a Gengar, right? Maybe the Gengar somehow put this fake memory into his head, mixing it in with all his real memories."

The other four all shared a glance. Sparks saw that Terry and Rico both looked unconvinced. "Why, though?" Rico asked, "Why would a random Gengar put such a weird, specific memory into Ziggy's head…a memory that didn't even work until Jin fixed it?"

"I don't know! It makes about as much sense as the memory itself, right?"

Sparks reached over and placed a paw on the Sneasel's shoulder. "Dani, calm down."

For a split second it looked like she was going to yell at him, but she then visibly relaxed a little and her expression softened. "I'm sorry, Ziggy…but I don't believe this."

Ziggy frowned and looked away from her.

"I've spent more time with Dr. Hilo than any of you here," she continued, "and I know that he's a very hard-working, dedicated Pokémon. He's friendly, he's polite, he's not afraid to chuckle at silly things, and he's always doing things by the book. That's the reason it took so long for him to actually get that ro- Ahem, that 'thing' from our possession; because he was going through the proper procedures and making sure no protocols were broken."

"It is true you know him better than we do," Sparks admitted, "I think I've only spoken with him three times."

"But you don't know him that well!" Terry countered, "I mean, it's not like you've known him your whole life. You only met him for the first time last year, didn't you?"

"Right before Christmas…" Danika replied. She then sighed and said, "Look, I'm not gonna just outright say 'Shut up, you're wrong,' but I'm also not just going to let you run out and arrest someone who I consider a friend."

"That wouldn't work anyway," Sparks admitted, "We have no proof besides Ziggy's new memory, and the fact that he's only finding out about it now, so many months later, just muddies the issue…"

Danika looked to the side, clearly uncomfortable with the whole situation, while Sparks and Terry shared a frown and Ziggy continued to look down at the floor with a lost look in his eyes. It was Rico who spoke up next after a prolonged moment of silence.

"So…What do we do?"

Sparks grumbled, feeling his headache get worse. "Maybe…we need to get more information from Jin. He's still here, right?"

"I asked him to wait in the common room for us," Danika replied.

"Maybe we can ask him if such a thing as a fake memory even exists, and if he'd be able to identify one." Sparks then crossed his limbs and frowned. "And if it is a fake memory, we'll have to ask him if someone like a Gengar could give it to Ziggy."

"That's true…" Terry said, "Gengar isn't a Psychic-Type…"

"But they are masters of using Dream Eater, and just messing with dreams in general," Danika countered, "Ziggy, are you sure it was a Gengar that grabbed you?"

"D-definitely…" Ziggy said in a slightly trembling voice, "I'd know a Gengar anywhere…"

Sparks bit his lip, worried about the connotations behind such a statement, but knew now was not the time to focus on that.

"Okay…" Rico then spoke up again, "but if the memory isn't fake, and for all we know Ziggy's account is true, then what're we going to do?" The Riolu glanced over at Danika and saw her sour look. "I know, Danika, I know. I hope it's not true too, but…just in case it is…"

"That's still tricky," Sparks answered, "Like I said, all we would have is Ziggy's word, and maybe some testimony from Jin about its accuracy. There'd be no solid evidence and it would be easy to simply deny."

"We'll just have to find some proof!" Terry chirped.

"What proof? Unless someone was there with a camera, what kind of proof are you going to get?"

"What if Ziggy isn't the only one who he's kidnapped?" Terry asked, eyes going wide, "What if he's still doing it now? If we could catch him doing that, somehow…"

"But, again, what if he isn't?" Sparks countered, "If he only kidnapped Ziggy just the one time, it's an isolated incident that only exists in a memory that was damaged until now. It'd be hard enough to prove it if it had happened yesterday, much less months ago."

"Stop!" Danika shouted suddenly, "Please!"

Sparks looked over at her in surprise, as did everyone else.

"You haven't even proven that this actually happened yet!" she exclaimed, "Stop jumping ahead!"

Looking into her eyes, Sparks could see that Danika was harbouring a lot of stress and it only seemed to be growing. A moment of quiet passed, and Sparks realized the kind of wild mass guessing that had just come out of his mouth. He frowned and his ears drooped. "You're right," he admitted, "I'm sorry, Dani…"

"Sorry…" Terry echoed.

Instead of replying to this, Danika instead promptly stood up. "I'm going to get Jin and bring him here," she said tersely, and then immediately crossed the room and marched right out the door.

"Oof…" Sparks grumbled, "What a mess… Why don't things make sense in this world anymore?"

"Sparks…?"

The Raichu perked up slightly and glanced down at the Buizel, who had spoken for the first time after a prolonged period of silence.

"I don't think these memories are fake…" he said, "I…They don't feel fake at all. They feel real. I remember this happening. I remember what it felt like. I remember being tied down, and I r-remember the…sharp thing…"

Sparks frowned, feeling an ache in his heart for the poor Buizel. Why did so much nonsense have to keep happening to Ziggy? "Don't worry about Danika," he said, "We believe you. She's just a very…pragmatic Pokémon. She sees everything in logic, and magic memories from nowhere aren't exactly logical."

"I thought I was done with being kidnapped…" Ziggy murmured.

The Raichu's heart fractured even more. "Oh, buddy…" He sighed and shook his head, trying not to think about the unspoken times Ziggy had been kidnapped in the past. Then, however, a thought began to form. "Gosh…I guess with all that kind of stuff you went through before, did it maybe feel like I was kidnapping you when I first brought you into the guild? Or like I was about to?"

Ziggy looked up at him in shock, and then glanced away bashfully. "Eheheh…K-kinda…" he said, poking his paws together awkwardly.

"I really wish I could just go back in time and keep you safe for all that time you were on the street…I'd throw any Pokémon with orange paintbrushes right in jail…"

To Sparks' delight, this made Ziggy giggle softly. "That woulda been cool…"

"Count me in!" Rico said with a grin, "And hey, I'd do it anyway 'cus time travel is rad!"

"Wasn't there time travel in one of the old stories you told me?" Ziggy asked Sparks, "The one with the pink Celebi?"

"There sure was," Sparks remarked, "That one's my favourite!"

The door then opened again, and everyone looked up to see Danika re-enter the room. She looked no less tense than before, but she was followed by the walking Abra they had all become familiar with. "Hello again," Jin greeted them, "Miss Danika tells me you have some questions about what we have just discovered."

Everyone's gaze shifted to Sparks, so he briefly summed up the concerns and questions they had about the memory possibly being fake. Sparks took care not to reveal any of the actual details about the memory.

"No, no. Certainly not," Jin said definitely, "I can understand why you would think that, but no… Those memories are real."

A heavy silence fell upon the room as everyone else's eyes went wide. Danika looked like she'd been poked right in the abdomen.

"Creating false memories is indeed something that is possible to do by very skilled, and very malicious, Pokémon. However, when seen in the mindscape with a practiced eye like mine, they appear unmistakably artificial. Imagine a cave full of stalactites, but one is made out of wood. Sure it may be the same shape, but it just looks different. I saw none of that in the young Buizel's head."

Sparks shared a glance with both Ziggy and Danika. The memories were real. Ziggy had unquestionably been taken by Dr. Hilo.

"I have another question," Terry spoke up. Everyone, including Jin, turned to look at him. "You said you fixed Ziggy's memories, right? But Ziggy was just telling them to us, and he said he still couldn't remember everything super clearly. Like…uh…In this memory, someone was saying stuff, but Ziggy still couldn't remember any of the stuff they said."

"Hmm…" Jin mused softly, "That does sometimes happen when memories are artificially cut…"

"Really…?" Sparks replied in dismay.

Jin nodded and continued. "Even though I have repaired them and they are fully functional, the ability to entirely recall each and every detail may still be difficult because of the rough manner in which they were severed in the first place. It is somewhat like a scab over an injury; in the process of healing but not yet completely healed."

"Will he get everything back, though?" Rico asked in concern.

"Most likely," Jin replied, much to everyone's relief, "It may just take some time for the memories to heal more. It is not something I can expedite, unfortunately. By performing my task and actually reconnecting the memories, however, the healing process has already begun. Interestingly, the Pokémon move Amnesia can sometimes cause this very same effect."

"I see…" Sparks said, "Thank you, that was very helpful. We appreciate your insight." Nobody else had any other questions for Jin, so the Abra then politely excused himself and left once again. The five remaining Pokémon were silent for a few minutes after he had left, and nobody looked the least bit at ease.

"Um…" Terry eventually spoke up, his voice warbling slightly, "That…settles it, then?"

"Dr. Hilo kidnapped Ziggy…" Rico said in a similar voice.

"Or," Danika cut in, surprising everyone with her firm voice, "Ziggy's not remembering it properly because it's healing."

Everyone looked at the Sneasel in confusion. "What…do you mean?" Sparks asked.

Danika pointedly avoided everyone else's eyes as she explained. "I don't know exactly, but if Ziggy's memories are healing, then we don't know the whole story."

"Y-yeah, but…" Sparks said, dumbfounded.

"I…was really, really scared as well," Ziggy said softly, "Sometimes I can't always remember everything when I'm really scared. I mean…I can hardly remember anything Sparks said to me after he caught me and first invited me here."

Rico then leaned towards Danika. "What possible kind of missing puzzle pieces would fit in with what we already know that would make everything okay? Ziggy remembers getting snatched by a Gengar, tied down to a table while Dr. Hilo was nearby and did tests or whatever, and had his blood taken. What extra information would make all of that okay?"

Sparks glanced at Danika, curious to hear her answer, but frowned when he saw the distressed look on her face. "Dani-"

"Hilo saved Ziggy from the Gengar, who was the one who tied him down, and did stuff like taking his blood to make sure he was okay?" Danika said.

"And then didn't tell us?" Sparks replied, "There'd be no reason to keep something like that a secret."

"…If it was dealt with, no need to stress about it any further?" Danika supplied, but Sparks could tell she was beginning to grasp at straws.

Sparks sighed and pressed his paw hard against his temple. "Danika, I appreciate you giving him the benefit of the doubt. And that's a good thing; he does deserve the benefit of the doubt without any solid, tangible proof. But, at the same time, all signs are pointing towards something…sinister."

Danika held a claw to her head in almost a mirror image of Sparks. "I just absolutely cannot believe someone like Dr. Hilo could be up to no good…" she remarked.

"I could…" Rico said rather glibly, "I dunno why you like him so much, honestly. The dude gives me bad vibes…"

Danika looked at the Riolu in shock, while Sparks just looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean by that…?" the latter asked.

"I dunno…Something just feels off about him. It kinda feels like he's too friendly sometimes."

"That's ridiculous…" Danika scoffed. She then looked over to Sparks, looking like she was hoping he would back her up on this.

Instead, though, Sparks just looked away. "I've…not been 100% on board with him either," he admitted. Danika gasped but didn't say anything, so he continued. "The first time I met him, he made a colourful remark about Ziggy being a shiny. No pun intended. He tried to brush it off like just a slip of the tongue but…It stuck with me, and I've always kept an eye on him whenever Ziggy is nearby. Rico hit the nail on the head…He just gives me bad vibes."

"…He did…?" Ziggy asked quietly.

Danika was wincing. "I…remember that," she said, "It wasn't that bad, though, compared to the vitriol we hear getting shouted at Ziggy all the time."

"I…don't like him…" Ziggy said, "I never heard him say anything about me, but I didn't like being around him. He kind of scared me. I thought it was just because he was so tall, but…"

"Gross…" Rico grumbled, "What kind of scientist is a chromaphobe? The dude's trouble."

"I…would easily believe he'd tie me up…" Ziggy said softly.

Sparks glanced over at Danika, but to his dismay he saw that she was growing irritated again. "Hey…Maybe we sh-"

"You guys know what this 'bad dude' did?" she snapped suddenly, "He risked his own life to help fight against that huge red still-unnamed thing that attacked in the plaza! He fought next to Dante and helped to fight it off!"

Sparks' ears perked up in surprise. He had honestly forgotten that Hilo had been involved in that incident. The Inteleon's presence had been completely overshadowed by what had happened to Dante during that fight.

"Yeah, but-" Rico started to counter.

"He's a hero!" Danika barked.

Finally Terry, who had been quiet for a while, stood up and moved in between everyone. "You guys!" he said loudly to get all of their attention, "We're not going anywhere with this. We're spinning in circles."

Danika and Rico continued to give each other hard stares for a moment, but eventually they both sighed and frowned. "You're right," Danika said. Sparks nodded in agreement.

"Why don't we try this?" Terry then continued, "Why don't we let Ziggy get some rest? Maybe someone can help him relax or something, and then maybe during that time some more of the details will come back to him."

"Hmm…" Sparks murmured. He briefly glanced at Ziggy, seeing that he looked even more stressed than after he had finished recanting his new memory. "That's probably our best course of action right now, honestly… I'll take him to his room and hang out with him for a little bit."

He saw Ziggy glanced up at him, and then the Buizel nodded. "Okay…"

"What about us?" Rico asked, "Is there anything we can do?"

"No, I don't think so," Sparks replied, "Don't tell anybody else about this. Not yet, at least. We don't want to jump the Water Gun here… Don't even tell Carmen yet until we have more information." The other three nodded in agreement, and then Sparks continued. "As long as Ziggy stays in here with us, he's not in any danger. We'll figure out what's going on, and in the meantime he'll be safe. There shouldn't really be a need to worry too much anyway, considering this happened months ago and nothing's happened since…"

"What about the Gengar?" Danika asked, "We know that part's pretty much unquestioned at this point, right?"

"Again, it's kind of hard to persecute someone who kidnapped a Pokémon so many months ago. Either he's been clean in the books since, there's already warrants for him and someone here is working on it, or he's already been arrested."

Danika sighed softly but nodded.

Sparks sat up a little straighter and gave everyone a more uplifting look. "Let's all pray to almighty Arceus that this is the last mystery for our Buizel buddy that we have to solve."

"Amen to that," Rico said with a dry chuckle.

"I'm sorry I got heated, everyone," Danika said.

"Don't worry about it," Terry said with a friendly smile.


"You wanna talk about anything?" Sparks spoke up, laying on his back as he stared up at the ceiling from the floor of Ziggy's room.

"Like what?" Ziggy replied from the bed.

"Anything. Just treat today like a mental health day. We can chat about anything you want." Sparks waited patiently for Ziggy to reply, hoping that the Buizel could come up with something to talk about besides his alleged kidnapping. He frowned to himself upon using that word, even though he hadn't spoken it. He trusted Ziggy and had known him long enough that Sparks just felt in his heart that Ziggy had truly been kidnapped by that Inteleon.

"Have you known any other shinies?" Ziggy asked.

Sparks' ears perked slightly, and he leaned over to look up at Ziggy in surprise. That was not a question he had been expecting, and it took him a moment to find his words. "Well, uh…Not personally, like I know you. I've done some out-of-city work with shiny clients in other towns, but there really aren't shinies living in Radiant City so even that's not very often. And, of course, you're the first shiny to work here in the Radiant City guild…"

"Do you think I'm the only shiny in the city?" Ziggy asked, "If there's another one living here…I'd like to meet them."

"I hate to say it, but I'd honestly be surprised to hear that another shiny is living in Radiant City…Maybe a shiny is visiting, but even that's a stretch." His ear twitched as he heard Ziggy let out a quiet sigh, and bit his lip. He was supposed to be helping Ziggy relax, not stressing him out further. "Oh!" he then perked up suddenly, "There was a shiny Bagon living in my town when I was a cub…"

Ziggy immediately perked up. "Really?"

"Yeah…Little green Bagon. I mean, I didn't know him personally or anything. We did go to the same school, and so y'know…"

"Wait. Weren't you born here?" Ziggy asked.

"Nope, I was born in a little town about three hours away by Rapidash cart. I was only there for about half my time as a Pichu before we moved here. I mostly grew up in good ol' Radiant City."

Ziggy was quiet for a moment before speaking again. "I've never met another one…" he commented, "I was the only one on Dewdrop Island, there were no others in Sunshine Village, and obviously there're none here. There were times when I was really younger that I truly thought I was the only one like this in the whole world."

"Naw, certainly not," Sparks said, "Shinies are rare, sure, but there's like a bazillion Pokémon in the world. Plenty of them are shinies. You just usually don't see more than one in any single town or village, but they're out there."

"I think I should meet one…" Ziggy mused.

"Oh, definitely!" Sparks replied in an eager tone, "That would be a wonderful treat for them, because they'd probably be struggling like you were and dealing with chromaphobic crap, so it would be really hope-inspiring to see a shiny working for the Radiant City Rescue Society!"

"I…guess that's true. Heh…" Ziggy said, and Sparks caught a tiny smile on his muzzle. He then asked, "How would we find one?"

"Oh, I'm sure there's at least someone working here who knows a shiny personally. I think we used to have someone here who was cousins with a blue-ringed Umbreon, but I can't remember who that was…"

"Blue-ringed Umbreon…" Ziggy murmured thoughtfully. He fell silent again for a moment and then asked, "What would you look like as a shiny?"

"Me?" Sparks asked in surprise. He put a paw to his chin in thought. "Uhhh…Shiny Raichu, I think…we get a darker shade of orange fur. Kind of closer to a Pomeg Berry."

"…That's it?" Ziggy asked in disbelief.

"Huh?"

"I'm all bright golden and my ring is white, and you'd just get a suntan?"

Sparks looked up at Ziggy, concerned that he had made the Buizel upset, but he saw a snarky little smile instead with just a hint of genuine befuddlement. "Uhh…Yeah. Well, I mean it's still pretty noticeable. You could pick one out from a crowd. That's just how ACPs are. They run a full gambit of colour. Shiny Espeon are an almost garishly bright green, but shiny Glaceon are just a bit lighter in tone."

"Are all shinies the same?" Ziggy asked, "Like, I mean, for example are all shiny Umbreon blue-ringed?"

"Yes," Sparks replied, "Each Pokémon species has a specific ACP colouration, and I believe every Pokémon except a scant few have had theirs documented. Garchomp, for example, I don't think anyone's ever seen."

"That's so weird…" Ziggy mused, "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why are there shinies?"

Sparks noticed that Ziggy was looking at him inquisitively. This was certainly a question Ziggy had asked before, but he had always been upset or depressed while asking it. This was the first time he seemed genuinely curious about the explanation. "Nobody's really sure," he explained, "It does seem like a bit of a strange thing when you look at it scientifically. There's been some studies, stuff like testing blood and DNA and stuff, but there's never been any conclusive understanding. It just…happens…"

After a moment of Ziggy not saying anything, Sparks was concerned he had upset the Buizel. Ziggy, though, just had a slightly perturbed look on his face.

"…Did you remember something?"

"I…don't think so," he said, shaking his head, "I thought I did, but I guess not…"

"Mm…" Sparks said with a shrug, "Don't worry about it. They'll come. What else should we talk about?"

Ziggy gave the question some thought, and then adopted a rather bemused look. "This is so weird that I'm thinking about this…" he said, "but for some reason I'm just curious what all our friends would look like if they were shiny."

Sparks looked at the Buizel in surprise. Without a doubt, that was the most benign, least upsetting thought Ziggy had ever vocalized about shininess. He chuckled and said, "Well, let's see… I don't exactly have shiny colourations memorized. Danika can probably get that kind of stuff with her computer, so maybe you can ask her later. But let me think of what I know… Carmen would be purple."

"Purple? I couldn't even imagine a purple Carmen…"

"Jules' pink and blue would be reversed," Sparks continued, "Liz would be blue…and I think Rico would be a kind of gold-ish colour…" He paused and looked up at the Buizel. "Kind of like you, actually. I think shiny Riolu have that same fur colour."

"Really…?" Ziggy mused softly, "Guess it's a popular colour."

Sparks grinned. "It's good to see you're still smiling…"

"Mhm…" Ziggy mumbled, "I'm…not afraid to smile anymore." He then glanced at Sparks and said, "You look like you're about to say 'Don't worry about this'."

"Wh…? Huh?"

"That's what you always say when stuff happens," Ziggy said with a soft chuckle, "And…I know. I know I shouldn't worry. I've got so many friends here who love me and want to keep me safe. Even if something like this happened, I don't have to worry right now."

"Am I really that predictable?" Sparks grumbled.

To his delight, Ziggy broke out into full on laughter.


We have to tell her, Sparks…

Those were the words a concerned Rico had spoken to him yesterday evening. They had given Ziggy the rest of the day to relax and try to recall more of what had happened to him. A few small details had resurfaced, but nothing that could shed any more light onto the nature of the incident.

So, even though he wanted to wait for more information, Sparks had woken up this morning knowing that his first course of action after the morning meeting would be to speak with Carmen in private. He and the guildmaster were now sitting in her office. Not many Pokémon set paws inside of Carmen's office besides Carmen herself. She preferred to have discussions out in the guild or in more comfortable locations. Being in her office like this was a good indication that something serious was happening.

"That's…what we know at this point…" Sparks said, having just finished explaining everything they had learned.

Carmen had worn a mask of neutrality through his whole explanation, but Sparks had known the Braixen long enough to see that she was troubled. "Hmmm…" was all she said at first once Sparks had finished.

"I must admit, Carmen…I'm at a total loss," Sparks continued, "I don't know how to react to something like this."

Carmen nodded. "Indeed, this puts us in a very grey area…"

"I trust Ziggy to tell the truth," Sparks added, "and Jin verified that the memories were real…"

"But we have nothing," Carmen finished, "Nothing to show for this."

Sparks sighed. "Exactly…" He drummed his paws on the desk, stewing in indecision. Truthfully, he wanted to march right down to Jiuji Labs right this second and demand some answers from the Inteleon, but he knew that would lead to nothing good.

Carmen then sighed as well, letting her neutral mask slip a little. "Without anything more solid than a single Pokémon's recollection, the Rescue Society cannot in any official capacity claim that this happened. As far as the guild is concerned, it did not occur."

"That's what I was afraid of…" Sparks said as his ears drooped.

"I'm sorry, Sparks… I wish it were more cut and dry, one way or the other, but this would be a very one-sided 'He said, we said' argument. You can't exactly go to the police and say 'This guy did something bad to me six months ago and I'm just telling you now.'"

"Yeah…" Sparks mumbled, "I just figured you should know."

"I'm very glad you let me know, Sparks. This is still an important detail to know. And try not to worry too much about it, okay? Ziggy hasn't experienced any ill effects, so it honestly does just sound like he had his blood drawn. For what reason I can't possibly imagine, but still…"

Sparks lifted his head and looked up at Carmen again, feeling a flicker of hope in his heart. "So…you believe him…?" he asked hesitantly.

"In a deliberately unofficial capacity…yes I do," Carmen said with a nod, "Just like you, I have no reason to believe this is false."

For a brief moment Sparks smiled, but then he frowned once more. "Well…is there anything we can do?" he asked.

Carmen brought her paws together and looked at Sparks thoughtfully for a moment. "The best course of action is probably to just quietly and amicably cut ties with Jiuji Labs and Dr. Hilo. In a professional sense, we simply separate ourselves from them and no longer conduct business with them. There would be no reason to tell them the real reason for this."

Sparks bit his lip. "Danika will hate that…" he mumbled. Then a thought occurred to him and he asked, "Wouldn't that make Hilo…suspicious? I wouldn't want him coming after Ziggy or anything if we have to do something like this…"

"If he tries anything, we'll have to make sure we catch him this time," Carmen said matter-of-factly.

"Urgh…" Sparks groaned softly as he put his head into his forepaws, "I hate this…I just want to keep Ziggy safe. I don't want him to need an escort everywhere just to keep him from Gengar attacks…"

There was a brief, poignant pause. "It truly is heartwarming to see how much you care for him…" Carmen mused softly.

Sparks lifted his head and gave her an odd gaze.

"Believe me, Sparks, I feel much the same way you do," Carmen continued, "The idea that Dr. Hilo is out there, possibly kidnapping Pokémon to do Arceus knows what to them is deeply disturbing…However, there hasn't even been the smallest bit of suspicion. He's a very by-the-books scientist who has never had trouble with the law, never had his scientific findings badly scrutinized… He's never ruffled anyone's feathers, so there is literally no precedent to go after him for anything."

"Y'know if Dante were still around…" Sparks grumbled, "then he could look into this. He's not affiliated with us after all…"

"We should probably refrain from thinking about hiring mercenaries or private eyes…"

Sparks sighed once again and shook his head. "I'm sick of having questions with no answers. I'm just sick of it. Every time we find an answer, it comes with three more questions."

"C'mon, Sparks. Relax…" Carmen said softly, "We're going to have Kandice give Ziggy a full examination just to be safe, and we don't even have to tell her why we're doing it. Mr. Jin told you that he's positive this time that all of Ziggy's memories are undamaged now, and you've said yourself that he's getting better and better every day at dealing with stress. This is an unexpected and somewhat alarming development, but we'll be okay. If Hilo is up to no good, then we'll definitely catch him sooner or later. They never get away with it forever."

A moment of quiet filled the room. Sparks looked down at Carmen's desk with a sour look, as if the desk itself had insulted his entire family. He groaned in frustration and clenched his paw into a fist, but then let out a breath and relaxed his muscles. "I guess you're right…" he said finally.

"I'm sorry I can't do more…"

"It's okay, Carmen," Sparks replied, "There's a reason you're the guildmaster and I'm not. You know how to handle things responsibly…"

"Don't sell yourself short," Carmen said with a wink.

"Ugh…" Sparks then grumbled, "I guess I'll have to take care to never be in the same room with that Inteleon again, or the temptation to sock him in the head will be too great…or at the very least interrogate him…with some questionably legal methods…"

"All right, Raz. Settle down."

"Sorry," Sparks said with a shrug.

"Right then," Carmen said, clasping her paws together, "If that settles that, then I must get back to work. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I'll be sure to let you know if there are any further developments. And of course, we will keep this between those of us in the know. It wouldn't behoove us to let rumours get out about this, regardless of how true they may be."

"Gotcha," Sparks replied with a nod.

"If there are no further questions or topics?" Carmen then asked.

Before Sparks could answer, though, he was interrupted by a sudden very loud knocking on the door. Both he and Carmen turned to look at the door in surprise. The knocking almost sounded frantic.

"…Yes?" Carmen called out. She sounded like that was the only response she could come up with for such an unexpected event.

"M-M-Miss Carmen!" a distinctly young and clearly panicked voice called out.

Sparks gasped in shock and he immediately stood up from his chair. "Ziggy…?" he called out in disbelief, and then reached for the handle of the door. Even more frantic knocks could be heard before he had a chance to open it.

Once he did, the gold-furred Buizel practically tumbled into the room. Sparks was immediately concerned. Ziggy looked panicked and out of breath, his eyes wide and his pupils tiny. Sparks quickly shut the door and then moved to help Ziggy stand back up. "Zig, buddy! What's wrong?" he asked as he guided Ziggy over to the chair so he could sit down.

For a moment, Ziggy just looked up at Carmen as he breathed rapidly. Carmen had her full attention on him, not concerned at all about the unscheduled invasion of her personal office. "Relax, Ziggy," she said calmly but authoritatively, "Take deep breaths. Calm down and tell us what's wrong."

Ziggy tried to take her advice, ending up gulping awkwardly a few times. "M-Miss Carmen…! I…" He looked over at the other occupant of the room as well. "S-Sparks! I-I-I…!"

"Breathe, Ziggy!" Sparks commanded.

The Buizel took in a shuddering breath before he was finally able to form a complete sentence. "Sparks, Miss Carmen…I remembered something else! Something s-super important!"

Sparks looked at him in surprise, and cast a brief glance at Carmen. He hadn't even told Ziggy yet that he was filling Carmen in on all of this. "What? What was it?"

Ziggy gulped again. "I thought I was in an empty room when I woke up strapped to the table," he said in a shaky voice, "That's all I could remember at first, but now I remember the rest. The room wasn't empty. There was a ton of weird stuff in it, like machines and glass tubes and stuff…"

As Ziggy trailed off for a moment, Sparks gave him a confused look. "Uh…Okay, I guess that makes sense. You were probably in a lab or something. That's what we all figured anyway."

"But there was something else I could see at the far end of the room…" Ziggy continued, his voice growing more haunted, "Something else right over there, in a tube or a cage or something…"

Sparks' ears drooped in worry. Had Ziggy seen another kidnapping victim? It sounded like he had seen someone in a worse state than he had been in, locked inside of a cage in the corner of the room. Sparks had worried that Ziggy wasn't the only one who Hilo had kidnapped, and Carmen certainly shared that fear. "What did you see…?" Sparks said, gently prodding Ziggy to explain further.

Ziggy just slowly turned to look up at him. There was a hollow, terrified look in his eyes. Sparks could see that he was quivering on the spot, which only made him worry even more. Even for someone who had just gotten back the memory of being kidnapped, Ziggy looked extremely shaken by something. Ziggy stammered quietly for a moment, and then uttered only a single word that instantly filled Sparks with pure, raw dread.

"N…Nihilego…!"