While being escorted to Snowpoint City's hospital by a police officer and a gym trainer, Barry did what Barry did best: he made a scene.
"Let go of me! I'm going to sue you guys for billions once I call my attorney! Ow! Hey, hey, be careful! Candice!"
Despite the snow muting quite a bit of sound from its surroundings, passerby trudging along still stopped to stare at the loud scene before them. Children whispered to their parents and pointed at Barry and Candice. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw their parents quickly usher them away. The nasty glares they aimed towards him were returned by his own as he struggled to rip his arms out of the men's grip.
At some point during the walk, the policeman released a growlithe to trail behind them. Sometimes, Barry could hear it growl when he managed to knock the policeman slightly off balance.
Candice led the way. She walked several feet ahead of them, her posture straight and her shoulders tensed. While Barry would sometimes stumble in the thick white snow, she seemed unfazed.
It pissed Barry off how graceful she made walking in several feet of snow seem.
Once in Snowpoint, it did not take them long to reach its hospital. When the automatic doors slid open, a warm burst of air hit Barry's skin. Barry's shouts and grunts echoed into the lobby. Several people waiting quietly in their seats turned to look, eyes wide.
The receptionist who sat behind the tall counter was a plump older woman. She was watching Barry hesitantly, her eyes flicking from him, to the police officer, to Candice, and then back.
"Ah, Miss Candice," her soft voice was shaking, "what can I help you with, ma'am?"
From where Barry was forced to stand, he could see the side of Candice's face. It was blood red.
"Hi, yes, I'm so sorry, but we found this guy on Route 217," her voice dropped to a whisper. "He's a little…out of it. We're thinking a pokemon attack might've worked him up or he might've hit his head. He needs to be checked out as soon as possible."
Barry's eye twitched.
"Oh, c'mon!" he yelled. "Candice, this is ridiculous. I'm fine! Obviously, you're lacking in the memory compartment, but we're wasting time! We need to find Lucas, he could still be at Spear Pillar for all we know!"
Candice, whose hands were resting on the receptionist's counter, balled her fists. The gym trainer gripped Barry's arm so tight he winced.
The receptionist's eyes widened. Shakily, she turned towards Candice and nodded. She began to furiously type on her computer.
"Y-yes ma'am, we'll have a nurse out in just a sec for him. Please…wait in the lobby?" Her eyes left the computer for a moment to glance at Barry and then to the other patients who still stared wide-eyed at the scene from the lobby.
"I don't need a nurse!"
The League would definitely hear about it once he found Lucas.
Candice whirled around at him, fists now clenched at her sides. "Obviously," she hissed, "you do because there's definitely something wrong with you." She looked him up and down–from his bloody nose which dripped down his chin to his sliced pants. "Listen," her voice was calmer. She forced out a long, shaky breath. "We'll talk once you're checked up, how does that sound?"
The policeman and the gym trainer opened their mouths to interject. She gave them a look. They closed their mouths.
Barry burned with a hot fury.
"Sure," he bit out. He ignored the two men at his sides and the growling pokemon at his feet. "But don't be surprised when the League revokes your position as gym leader after I get out of here."
Candice's glare turned icy. "Hm, well, don't be surprised when your ass ends up in jail before the night's over with."
Within two hours, Barry had found himself in Snowpoint City's empty jail with his pokemon confiscated.
Within two hours, Barry had overheard several policemen discuss in hushed tones that the Trainer ID number he had given them upon check-in did not exist.
And, within two hours, Barry had realized that he was fucked as soon as he gave the police his age and date of birth, and they had told him that it was impossible for him to be both twenty-two and born in 1999.
After all, it is hard to be twenty-two when it is only 2009.
Barry sat on a dusty pile of bedding in his cell, covered in fresh bandages, with his head in his hands.
Over the years, after the fall of Team Galactic, Barry had watched Lucas slip further and further into his obsession with Sinnohian legends and folklores. As Lucas and Barry grew closer, from childhood best friends to rivals to maybe–hopefully–something a little more, Barry became more privy to the why behind what had happened to them–to Lucas–on Spear Pillar all those years ago with Cyrus.
He had spent enough hours assisting Lucas in his research on Palkia to know that something went terribly, horribly wrong, and it was not just them losing their battle against it.
A knock on the outside of the door grabbed his attention. Through the bars of the window, looking inside at him, was Candice. She was still wearing her winter coat from earlier, but her hood was down, revealing messy hair and the bags underneath her eyes. She waved him over with a pale hand.
Barry limped towards the door. She motioned to the guard who flanked her to open the door to his cell. Slowly, the guard did what he was told, eyeing Barry warily.
"Thanks, you can leave us now. I'll be fine. Abomasnow can take care of 'im if something happens." She winked.
The guard threw one more glance at Barry before bowing and walking down the long, dark hallway that led back to the main office where he was first brought for questioning.
"So-o-o-o," she drawled, a glint in her eye, "the police let me know that apparently you're only ten-years-old?"
Barry grit his teeth. He was close enough to wring her neck–you know, if he was an actual crazy person. "Yeah, and I think I already let you know that if you don't let me go, you're going to be out of a job?"
She rolled her eyes. Barry's eye twitched. "I re-e-e-eally don't think you're in a position right now to be making such bold claims, mister." Slowly, threateningly, she allowed her fingers to trace along the minimized pokeballs that were clipped securely to her waist.
In the low light, Barry could see her pokemon's forms move slightly in their balls. He crossed his arms.
"Anyways," she continued, "I have a couple of my own questions to ask you. If you want to get out of here, I need you to be completely honest. First," she poked his chest, "what were you doing on Route 217?"
"I…" he paused. He ran a hand covered in scrapes through his matted hair. Candice's eyes lingered on his hand. "I don't know, okay? I don't know how I ended up on Route 217. The last place I remember being was Mt. Coronet with Lucas. He–I–I don't know where he is. Or if he's…" he trailed off.
No, no. He's alive somewhere. I refuse to believe he's not.
He could still see Palkia when he closed his eyes.
She shifted, ripping her eyes from his hand. "Okay, I understand. If you don't mind me asking, who's Lucas?"
"He's my best friend and the Champ. He's probably the strongest trainer I know. He's a little shorter than me, black hair, and he's slow and awkward. Candice, are you really sure you don't know him?"
She shook her head. "No, I mean, I don't think I know anyone like that? I'm sorry, but we couldn't find your friend on any of our routes." She looked at him with pity.
Barry hated it.
"And you keep saying he's the Champion, but…" she crossed her arms. "The Champion of Sinnoh is a woman named Cynthia. She's been the Champion for years now. Are you from Sinnoh? I haven't even seen anyone named Lucas with that description come through to challenge my gym, either."
Barry sighed. He felt so, so tired. He felt like he had been hit with a bus, and all he wanted to do was sleep and pretend this was all just a nightmare. He was going to wake up in the morning, call Lucas, and let him know that they needed to hang out. He would go and take him to a movie, or challenge him to a battle again, or go on one of Dawn's stupid delivery requests because she could not leave the lab herself for whatever reason–
"Hello?" She waved a hand in front of his face. He jerked.
"Huh? Yeah, yeah, I'm from Sinnoh. We both are," he rubbed his eyes. He saw stars. "Listen Candice, I'm going to be completely honest with you. It's going to sound crazy, but I have no one else right now. Me and Lucas were at Spear Pillar and were attacked by a pokemon called Palkia. Like, the legend. We lost a battle against it, and, next thing I know, I'm alone. People are saying it's 2009, and the last time I checked it was 2023."
Silence stretched on for several minutes. Her hazel eyes regarded him, wide and unblinking. Barry unflinchingly met her eyes.
"If you really are who you say that you are," she took a step back. A light at the end of the hallway flickered. "Battle me."
His heart thumped. "They took my pokemon away."
She turned away from him. Walking down the hallway, she threw a glance over her shoulder. Distantly, he noticed one of her braids was coming undone. "You'll be escorted to my gym tomorrow morning at exactly ten o'clock." Her teeth were so white, Barry swore he saw them glint when the light hit them. "I'll see you then, hotshot."
He was still standing at the entrance to his cell when the policeman came to usher him back inside and close the door.
Despite the criticality of his situation, Barry felt a thrum of hot excitement rush down his spine.
He may not know how he ended up back in time, or where Lucas had ended up, but he did know one thing for certain.
He was going to show her a battle she would never forget.
It had been years since Barry had last stepped foot in Snowpoint Gym. However, he could say with absolute certainty that he had never stepped foot in Snowpoint Gym flanked by two police officers while cuffed before.
The inside of the gym was freezing. They had given Barry a new winter coat and pants out of pity earlier that morning. One of the officers had left them inside the cell when he had woken up. He found himself immensely grateful for them when he heard the gym's AC kick on, blowing small snowflakes and ice across the wide and open room. He flinched when several particles of ice hit and melted onto his cheeks. He was unable to wipe them away with his hands pinned to his lower back.
The gym was more barren than Barry remembered it being. The stadium featured two large sets of seating on the left and right of the room. In the seats closest to where Candice stood, six individuals sat. Several gave him nasty looks, while the others watched him with neutral expressions.
In the center, a large and icy field sat. The puzzle Barry distantly remembered was gone, leaving enough room for two opponents to battle.
Candice looked more put together than when Barry last saw her. She had tied her thick winter coat around her hips. A smile rested on her lips as she observed him.
Barry and the policemen came to a stop several feet away from her. One unlocked his cuffs while the other presented him with his trainer belt.
Relief flooded his chest when he counted six pokeballs still attached. The tops of the balls were scratched, dented, and chipped, but the intense fluorescent lights of the gym made them look as shiny as they were when he had first gotten them.
As he clipped them onto his hips, he felt the pokeballs vibrate. He smiled, his hand resting on his last one. They must have healed them overnight.
The policemen stepped away. The one who had left him a pair of pants and a coat nodded at him as they made their way towards the entrance of the gym. Barry watched as they blocked the only entrance and exit to the gym. Their hands lingered near the pokeballs at their hips.
He faced forward. His eyes met Candice's as she leaned forward, her hands resting upon her knees. She grinned toothily up at him through dark eyelashes.
Taking care to not slip on the ice-covered floor, Barry took a couple of steps back, getting into position. Despite the unnerving feeling of being watched by people who were suspicious of him, preparing for a battle felt natural. He was brought back with a weird sense of déjà vu to when he was a kid, preparing to battle Candice for the first time.
Back then, everything had been on the line for that battle. Time had been ticking, and he had been too late.
Now, with everything still on the line, he knew that he was not going to be too late. He learned from his mistakes, despite what Lucas sometimes told him.
He matched her grin, all teeth.