Author's Note

Another chapter, faster then before. It's gonna be the feels this time.

I've updated the cover for the story, so it's much easier to see since the website bit-crushed the hell out of the image before.

Uploaded

(02/02/2023)

Updated

(02/15/2023)

The update was due to an actually very informative review and pm I'd gotten, and it opened my eyes to a few things. So I wanted to come back and change a few things, make everything feel a bit realer. As of now, it hasn't been a few weeks since Hugh awoke without his memories, but a few days.

Added a bit of extra dialogue during the later scenes, not trying to spoil anything for newcomers. But it serves to flesh out the relationship the characters have with each other, and how Hugh views them and himself.

Legend below

"Good morning, Darling..." = Normal Speech

''Keep your head high!'' Normal Thoughts

Chapter 8

A loud thunderous crack exploded into the early morning sky, signaling the continuation of the violent thunderstorm that had rolled in late the night prior.

Heavy rainfall pelted the roof of the house, loud yet at the same time maintaining a soothing steady rhythm.

Hugh had awoken to the sound of the thunder, unable to sleep through it like his wife clearly had been. It was around two in the morning when he snuck out of their bedroom, wearing a black tank top and loose hanging shorts.

The house was dead quiet, only the rain and thunder serving to dilute the silence. Everyone else was still asleep at this hour, all resting from the escapades of the day prior.

But for Hugh, although exhausted as he was, he couldn't sleep.

The young man had found himself in the living room, cradling a steaming cup of tea in one hand, and his smart phone in the other. Tired mismatched eyes gazed across the living room blankly, eyes burning with exhaustion yet unable to close and let blissful rest take him.

It had been like this ever since he awoke to find himself both a husband and a sudo father to a house of ten. He played off the worries and concerns his wife pointed at him as simply him trying to absorb everything that had happened.

Although, as the days went on, Sabrina bought his lies less and less.

His scarred face finally tore his attention from the wall and to the device in his hand. He knew what he was going to do, and it was something he felt as if he should've done ages ago.

Yet here he had been, trying to be an adult and handle everything on his own. He was as hard headed and stubborn now as he had been back when he was a teenager. The one thing that had changed now would've been the instinctual knowledge that seemed to come with his well built adult body, even though his memories were gone.

He knew when he was in need of help, and right now he had reached a point where he realized that he wasn't going to remain stable without some help.

He needed someone to talk to, someone to lean a shoulder on.

His mind immediately went to the lovely face of his wife, yet instead of deciding on that, he turned his attention elsewhere.

The last thing he wanted to do right now was worry the beautiful woman even more than she already was. He didn't want to come to her with the information that he was struggling far more than he let on, knowing that it would likely only make things worse.

He knew he was being selfish, at least, that's what he told himself. But he wanted to get through this with everyone else suffering as little as possible.

His fingers tightened around the phone slightly, the screen unlocking as it scanned his scarred face. Two eyes reflected back across the face of the dimly lit device, the right a soft purple, while the other was scarred over, changing it to a dark pinkish red. It was just another reminder of the life he'd seemingly never lived.

He blinked back into focus, swiping through his contacts before he found the name he wanted to speak so desperately with.

The one person that still remained in his life that he completely remembered, up to the black space in his memory. It was the one that he knew best outside of the others he knew very little about.

He only hoped that after five years that he was still on good terms with him…

He hit dial.

The phone rang.

(Brrrzzzz)

(Brrrzzzzz)

(Brrrrrzzzzzzz)

There was a soft yet audible click.

Hugh sucked in a breath.

"H-Hello…?" A tired and groggy voice met the champion's eager ears.

"Nate…?" Hugh asked quietly after a brief pause.

A little bit of clarity seemed to return to the other voice. "Hugh? What's up…?" Nate yawned, the sound of him shifting around in what sounded like a bed could be heard through the phone.

Hugh winced slightly. He didn't mean to wake the guy.

Probably should've thought about that before calling him at two twenty in the morning…

"Are you busy… I.. I need to talk to you." He felt guilty as soon as he said those words, knowing that he'd woken the young man in the middle of the night.

He wasn't sure if their relationship had held up through the years, or if he and the other Pokémon Trainer had left on a bad note. Hugh knew that he himself was a rash hotheaded guy when he was younger, and sometimes he did or said things that he didn't mean.

He was ready to curse himself if he learned he'd ruined his friendship with the guy.

The immediate concern in Nate's tone was heart warming to the confused champion. "Is everything alright? What's wrong?" Nate asked quickly, voice concerned. Hugh gained the sensation that he'd not talked to Nate very often recently, if his immediate response was concern.

"Something happened… If you're busy, I can call back la-" Hugh backpedaled out of instinct.

Nate wasn't having any of it.

"Oh no, I don't want to hear it. Something happened, and I'm not hanging up until you tell me." The other trainer's voice was suddenly firm, reminding Hugh of a brother of sorts. The one he never had, but always wished for.

Hugh held his head in his hands, taking a moment to gather his thoughts.

"Around four days ago I…" He paused, biting his tongue. There was no going back now. "I don't remember anything before I woke up four days ago…" He finally settled on saying.

The line was quiet for a moment, Nate's breathing even.

"You don't remember…? What do you mean?" He asked, confused. "What? Stay up too late with Sabrina again?" He asked, humor tinting his voice.

Hugh blushed slightly.

"N-No. I mean.. What I'm trying to say is that I don't remember anything before that night." Hugh clarified.

"Like, how far before that night?" Nate asked, mind slowing seemingly coming to a realization without being told upfront. "Hugh… Are you saying you don't remember?" Nate breathed, voice quiet.

Hugh's hands trembled.

"A-All I remember was the day I set out… I took Sabrina with me and we set out for Accumula Town… Next thing I know I wake up with her on top of me, and she's a Gardevoir…" He explained quietly, trying to keep his voice steady. He'd managed so far, but finally spilling everything was enough to bring him to tears. "I don't remember anything between then and now…" He choked out, biting his cheek to try and keep his emotions under control. "Nate I… I'm the champion now. I-I'm married and I've got a huge house of Pokémon I'm struggling to relearn everything about and it's just…" He trailed off, a void look filling his eyes. "My sister's gone… M-My grandmother is in a coma… I-I just…"

"Hugh, breathe!" The trainer's concerned voice snapped. "It's okay, it's okay, just breathe."

"How?" Hugh wanted to feel angry. He wanted to argue that it wasn't okay, that nothing was okay anymore.

But he couldn't gather the energy to even do that. "How is it okay…?" The broken champion asked quietly, no strength left in his voice. "How is any of this supposed to be okay…?"

"Hugh, listen to me." Nate spoke softly. "Do you know how this happened?" He asked.

Hugh was quiet for a moment.

"No…" He muttered. "Sabrina said I had bumped my head the night before I woke up, but other than a headache I was fine. I've taken far worse before, even to the head, it's not brain damage…" He ranted heatedly, before deflating. "I feel like I should know everything, like those memories are still a part of me… But now there's just this… emptiness."

Hugh sighed, wanting nothing more than to drop his phone and collapse onto the couch.

The next thing Nate said brought the Unova Champion back to focus.

"The girls… Do they all know?" He asked quietly.

Hugh nodded solemnly, before he realized that Nate couldn't see him. Feeling slightly embarrassed, he cleared his throat. "Yeah. Sabrina… told them all the same day."

"How'd that…" Nate started, before stopping himself. "Are they alright? How are they holding up?" He asked. He was almost afraid to ask.

Hugh sighed, setting his coffee down on the table as he instead lay on the couch.

"They all took it really hard… Sabrina had a hard time explaining to me that… that I had a whole house to care for…" He paused, biting his cheeks to stop himself from crying as Mia and Mya's broken faces formed in his mind. "I-I didn't even know their names, who they were, what they looked like." He choked out. "I-I've spent the last few days playing catch up, trying to learn everything I can about them, seeing as my memory is not going to return. But… I-I just…" He trailed off, voice going quiet.

"I just feel so useless… Everything I say or do sometimes just seems like the wrong thing to say. I've upset them by accident more times then I can count, and they don't have the heart to tell me what I've done wrong. I feel like I'm being pitied and pushed away at the same time, but all I want to do is…"

He paused, taking in a deep breath to calm his racing heart. He wasn't aware of the tears that had been pouring down his cheeks until he noticed his phone screen was wet.

"I know they're trying their best too, but it's awkward. Mia and Mya love hanging out with me, but it feels like I'm the weird new friend, not their dad like they talk about me as. Scarlett is trying too, but she seems almost scared to try any harder then she is, and spends most of her time out of the house. Tesha is clearly struggling with something, but she seems mortified of the idea of having to teach me what it is, and won't. Bella is, well... I'm not sure if I'm being enough of a pillow for her, but she seems fine for the most part. She really likes talking about things we did before I was champion, the adventures we all went on. I just know she'd heartbroken that I don't remember it all."

He took a shuddering breath, eyes closed as he tried effortlessly to calm the storm of emotions that surged through him. He laughed, stupid tears trailing down his cheeks that he wiped away fruitlessly.

"Lexie is something to get used to, and she seems to like playing the role of dad when I'm not around, although Sabrina tells me she's not the best at it. She seems to struggle with speaking her feelings, same as Tesha. And then there's Priscilla, and I can't keep up with her despite how hard I try to. That bunny has a heart for battle I'm not sure I can keep up with."

He'd been trying since he first truly came to the realization that his life had been thrown to hell, and he'd been putting one hundred and fifty percent of his soul into making damn sure he didn't have to see the rest of his family, the only family he had now, cry. Now venting to Nate, although he was crying, he was smiling.

It had been a struggle to deal with his new life, but he found some joy in the difficulties, because he'd been suddenly surrounded with the large family he'd always wanted in life. It was now simply his job to come to know them.

But when thinking about how much pain had been bouncing around for the past few days, it made his heart break, and those tear's returned with a vengeance.

"I just, I-I've been doing everything I can to make them happy. I-I don't want to see Mia and Mya cry again because I mix up their names. I don't want to see Priscilla and Bella cry because I forget past promises I made. I don't want to see that look Scarlett gives me every time she leaves, as is she's too hurt to try again. Tesha won't even give me the time of day, a-and she won't even tell me why she's so upset. Lexie pretends like everything is fine, and that she's dealing with it all perfectly, but I know she's suffering too, she just won't tell me because she doesn't want to see me hurt. It took me three days to get through to Midna, because she kept shutting me out…"

Hugh sucked in a breath, nearly passing out from the slurry of word barf that he managed to squeeze out through his muffled crying. He wasn't even sure if Nate had gathered everything he said, but after getting that all off of his chest he felt light headed.

The line was completely silent for a moment, the other Pokémon Trainer at a loss for words.

"I just…" Hugh finally spoke up, a long broken sigh slipping past his lips. "I just want to do the right thing… But even then I feel as if I'm not doing enough for them all." He muttered, voice hitching, sounding scratchy. "I feel like a failure…"

"Hugh, stop!" Nate's voice came back so firmly that it nearly made Hugh fall off the couch. "Don't say that! It's not your fault. What happened.. What happened could never be your fault, and you're not a failure."

The surprise on the Unova champion's face was apparent. To hear how concerned Nate has been about him was…

Well…

It touched his heart, more than he'd likely ever admit.

"You're the strongest Pokémon Trainer in the region! I'm not the one that nearly single-handedly brought down Team Plasma, I'm not the Champion, and I'm not the one that had taken the world by storm; okay? You are." Nate exclaimed with a heated passion, showing just how he felt about the matter. "You've saved me more times then I can count, all of us. If you hadn't become a Pokémon Trainer… Some of us wouldn't even be here right now…" He trailed off, taking a moment to breathe.

"Hugh, you're not a failure. Not even close." Nate started again, voice unshakably firm in his conviction. "You're the strongest guy I know. A failure wouldn't have thought to immediately try and fix and mend the situation he'd woken up to. A failure would've run from the first sight of a challenge." Nate paused, thinking for a moment. "Where are you now?"

"I'm at home…." Hugh answered a little uncertainly.

"And what are you doing in that home?"

"Trying to fix everything. Trying to make it all right again." He answered.

"Exactly." Nate said, sounding as though he was finally smiling. "You woke up to learn all of this had happened yet you know nothing of your journey, and instead of retreating into yourself, you stood your ground and decided to put everything into making this brand new family of yours know that despite everything, you are still here." Nate pushed. "Hugh. You are still here, you haven't gone anywhere. Maybe they are still hurting, a-and I know I would be too if I were in their shoes. But, despite that, despite what they may say or think, one thing is for certain."

Hugh's eyes widened, trembling in their sockets as he stared down at the phone. He wasn't even sure when he'd turned on the video call, the aged up face of his childhood best friend staring intensely back at him. He couldn't even bring himself to say anything, waiting for Nate to continue.

"Hugh, they love you." He finally said, voice so sincere that it shook the Unova Champion. "Those girls love you so much that, I'm embarrassed to even say this, but it's made me a little jealous of you." Nate smiled bashfully, cheeks warming. "You're their dad, their best friend, their master, and more. They care so much for you that the world was forced to acknowledge that during your bout in the Elite Four tournament. As for Sabrina, well…" Nate trailed off with a little laugh, the young man scratching the back of his head out of habit. "I've never in my life, in all of my journeys, in every adventure, ever seen a Pokémon so undoubtedly and unquestionably head over heels with someone more then Sabrina is with you."

Hugh recoiled from the words, some part of him already knowing deep down that this was true. Sabrina herself had said so, but she seemed far tamer than Nate was describing her love.

He was forced to wonder not for the first time if she was holding much of herself back due to a fear of pushing him away, or worse, losing him entirely.

"She's in love with you dude, so much so that she practically forced you to marry her. You never had the balls to say no, not when she was a Kirlia, and especially not after she evolved." Nate laughed.

The other guy trailed off for a long moment, letting his words sink into the Unova Champion's thick head. Once he was sure his point had truly struck home, he continued. "Look. I know that you don't know them all very well right now, but let me assure you of something. I know them, and I know that they would never abandon you, not before, and certainly not now. I know it might hurt, but you have to stick in there. Give it some time, truly get to know them again. Heck, go on dates or little escapes with them, hang out with them where they work or go during the day." Nate spitballed ideas.

"Look, what I'm trying to say is that what's most important right now is that you stay by their side, even if it becomes annoying. Don't let there be room for uncertainty and doubt to shove its way into your life. If you do that, everything will be fine."

The line was quiet for a long moment, and Nate was unsure if he'd upset the confused Champion.

But, then a smile broke across his tearful face.

"…Nate?" Hugh finally asked after a long moment.

"Yeah man?" The other guy asked lightly.

"I'm glad we're still friends…" He said.

Nate looked surprised for a moment, before he smiled that wide smile he'd come to be known for.

"Me too man…" He said with a genuine little laugh. Before the conversation could carry on any more, the rainy white noise was broken when a shadowy figure approached the other trainer from behind.

"Nyaa… Hubby, w-" A figure appeared behind him, throwing their long slender white furry arms around his neck, a dark black and green mask over their face in the shape of a large x shaped star. "W-What are you doing…?" They yawned, the sound low and drawn out. "It's three in the morning…" She muttered.

Nate's face lit up brightly as the apparent Pokémon leaned onto his back from behind, the man turning to greet her sleep eyed face. "Hey May, I didn't mean to wake you." Nate said softly, hand coming up to hold her chin. Hugh was greeted with the sleepy soft red eyes and a cute heart shaped pink button nose of a cutely dressed Meowscarada.

Two more figures slunk into view behind Nate. A similarly half awake Cinderace, and a Zeraora, neither of which was wearing anything at all. Fortunately, both girls had been hidden behind Nate.

"Baby… come back to bed… who are you even talking to so early in the morning…?" A lethargic sounding reply came from the Zeraora, the girl barely even considered as awake as she slumped over on the male.

"Who's.. oh, heya Hugh…" The Cinderace muttered sleepily, only to blink in surprise once she got a good look at Nate's phone over his shoulder.

The Champion wasn't sure who these three Pokémon were, what their relationship with Nate and himself was, and their names save for the Meowscarada who he quickly deduced from the way she addressed him, was his wife.

That made sense, seeing as he himself had married Sabrina.

The one thing he found himself asking was if Nate had gone ahead and done so with all three of them.

A question quickly answered.

"Honey… it's too early.. Come back to bed…" The Zeraora whined. Nate reacted quickly, leaning up a little more to kiss the electric yellow, brown and blue furred Pokémon.

"Okay Zana, I'll be right over. Just give me a few minutes. I'll be quick, I promise." Nate responded softly, gently kissing her again. That seemed to be enough for her, as she nodded to herself before wandering back out of view. He turned to the Cinderace, quickly kissing her as well. "I'll be right back, Cinder, I'm just talking with Hugh." He said.

"Mmkay…" The tired sounding fire Pokémon muttered, moving away to seemingly join Zana in his bed.

Once they were alone again, save for May the Meowscarada, who had fallen asleep on his shoulder, Nate turned to address the silent person on the other side of the screen. "H-Heh heh, sorry about that. I guess I wasn't being quiet enough…" Nate whispered, face warm from embarrassment.

Hugh found himself smiling at the display of similarly shared love in his best friend's house, his tears almost all but forgotten. "I see you found yourself a family too." He said, quietly so as not to wake them again.

Nate chuckled softly. "Heh, yeah. I found myself pulled to all three of them during my journey, and I couldn't ever decide who I loved more. Then it hit me one day, and I realized that I loved them all equally. I found the idea of turning two down just to make the one happy impossible to do…" He rambled off nervously, cheeks warming. "Doesn't help that they had all agreed to something like this before I even thought about it…"

Nate coughed, trying to steer the conversation another way that didn't involve talking about his marital life. It was far too embarrassing a thing to do, especially in front of his best friend.

Hugh smiled, a sudden sense of dread and worry filling his heart in the absence of conversation. But a moment later he shoved in down in the pits of his heart, repeating something Nate had just told him not ten minutes ago.

"Don't let there be room for uncertainty and doubt to shove its way into your life. If you do that, everything will be fine." His words echoed in his mind, making him focus on the important things. He was here now, and he needed to do everything he could to make this family stick together.

"Nate…" Hugh spoke up. Seeing the young man nod, he continued. "Thanks… For everything. I-I really needed that… Someone to talk to, someone to give advice." He stopped for a moment, then continued. "I'm glad that our friendship is still the same. I-I don't.. I'm not sure what I'd do if… if I didn't have anyone else left that I knew…" He trailed off again, voice hitching.

Nate didn't need him to elaborate.

It was obvious the young champion had taken the knowledge of his little sister's disappearance just as hard this time as he had the first time. How he'd managed to hold together until now to speak with him, he had no clue.

"Hope isn't gone, Hugh… Don't ever give up hope, I know she must still be out there somewhere…" Nate reassured quietly, yet his voice was a firm wall that the purple haired man could lean on for support.

The line was quiet for a long moment once more, Hugh staring blankly at the wall beyond him. This question, what was weighing down on his mind right now was something that had troubled him with nightmares since he first learned of her disappearance.

He had to ask, otherwise he was going to go insane.

"H-How-" He paused, going deathly still as he tried to stop the inevitable tears from forming once more. "What happened to her… H-How did she vanish?" He asked quietly. "I have to know, please, I need to know."

"Hugh I…"

"I don't need someone else telling me it's going to be alright or give me false hope, I just…" Hugh snapped sharply, before his face softened once again. "I can't continue dwelling on it every day because I don't know… If there's a chance I'll see her again…" He went terribly quiet, eyes seemingly vacant. "I want to know…"

"No one knows what really happened." Nate muttered quietly, careful of how he was to word this. "Your sister was still living with your grandmother before you became the champion. One day she was there, the next it was…" He paused, gathering his thoughts. "It was as if she never existed at all."

Hugh's breath hitched.

"Someone said they remember seeing her run off into the forest with her Purrloin, but never saw her come back out…" Nate continued softly. "You had a search party going around for hours, the whole day even. But she never turned up…"

Nate stopped, seeing that Hugh seemed to no longer be listening. He was staring straight ahead, he distraught look in his eyes only accentuated by the pure exhaustion radiating off of his entire being.

The look did not sit well with Nate at all…

But there was nothing he could do. The Pokémon Trainer felt as useless right now as when they first lost her. All he could do was offer the guy his words, and another person to lean on.

It was all he could do.

"T-Thank you, Nate." Hugh managed, voice incredibly quiet. "I-I'll… talk to you later…" He said, glancing down at his phone. Nate's expression was painfully worried, so Hugh quickly put on a small meager smile to sooth his worries.

"Okay…" Nate said after a moment. "Take care of yourself man, and… Once things are a little more settled around there, maybe we can get together. We… have some catching up to do." Nate laughed a humorless sound at his own words, feeling emotionally exhausted by the things he'd learned that morning.

Indeed, saying that they needed to catch-up was putting it lightly.

A thunder crack exploded into the back, lighting up the whole house for a brief moment.

Hugh never saw the crowd he had quietly watching…

Chapter

8

End