Chapter 172 – Memory and Light

Something about Orre's arid desert appealed to Owen a lot more than it did to Zena. The two of them flew over the skies after they'd made their landing from before. By now, he and Zena had become accustomed to using phones and computers to contact others, and thanks to the help of Barechest and Blue, they'd been able to get special, temporary passports for international travel.

Owen wasn't sure why that was so important, but it seemed to make their trip from Alola to Orre a lot less complicated than Kanto to Alola.

They'd been given instructions to fly from where they'd landed to a town called Agate Village. Even though the lands below them were green, the desert to the east was still clear in their vision. Everything was hot and dry at this border between grasslands and wastelands.

"Slower!" Mu complained, riding atop Owen's back.

"Slower?" Owen repeated.

Mu was reading a brochure half her height that she'd picked up at the airport. It talked about the triumphant return of wild Pokémon to the region and many tourist spots that were "must-visits" during their stay.

"Can we go to… to… to… Real-Gem Tower?" Mu asked.

"That's a little far, Mu. I think… We need to focus on Shadows right now."

Mu whined. "Boooring!"

Owen glanced helplessly at Zena, slithering through the wind, but she shrugged her ribbons in response.

"M-maybe if we have some time later," Owen conceded. Gods, she wasn't even a year old and she was already…

Zena drifted closer until she was within Owen's natural wind barrier. It was easier to speak while flying.

"She's growing up so fast," she said. "Do you think it'll stop?"

"I have no idea where she's getting it from," Owen murmured. "But I did notice that it happens the most after we pass through cities…"

"It's homework," Mu said, grumbling. "Nobody likes homework."

Owen blinked. What in the world did that mean? She was speaking nonsense sometimes, but… maybe they could ask the experts if they had extra time.

"Oh, I think that's Agate Village just ahead," Zena remarked. "That wasn't too long."

Still a lot longer than any flight they'd've had to do in Kilo, but he supposed that was true for anywhere "a little far" in this world. Owen switched his flight to a descending glide. "Want to go swimming, Mu?" he said. "Looks like a clean river up ahead."

"Don't like water," the Charmander grumbled, turning the page. "Agate Village," she repeated from the brochure, squinting at the words. "…Old people live here."

"We've seen old humans before, right, Owen?" Zena asked.

"Yeah, we have. And some humans can get pretty old, a little older than you'd expect a Pokémon to get, at least…"

Subconsciously, Owen touched the claw of his necklace.

He continued, "We're supposed to go to the big house in a tree trunk near the center-top of the village."

"Oh, I see that." Zena pointed ahead with a ribbon.

Agate village came into view. With the backdrop of a mountain and a vast desert to the east, it was unreal to see such a lush, green hillside where great trees and rivers dominated the landscape. It wouldn't be Owen's first choice for an environment, but Zena would love it. Maybe they'd let her swim in the water, too.

"Slow your flight," Zena reminded. "We don't want to scare anyone."

"Oh, right. Charizard aren't native here."

"Native means born here?" Mu asked.

"Kind of, yeah. It means you'd naturally see them born here and they didn't come from another land."

"What does it mean if they came from another place, but then had family?" Mu asked. "And then the family had a family? Are they native?"

"Uhh… No, I think that's a different word," Owen said.

"Where are humans native?" Mu asked.

"I don't… I don't know. I never asked. But humans have been around for so long that I think they're just native to everywhere." That didn't sound right to Owen even as he said it, but where else would they have come from? Pokémon stuck to their regions for the most part and humans went a lot of places that Normal Pokémon did. Humans were probably Normal Type, now that he thought about it.

"They don't like lava. They burn," Mu said.

"That's true. They aren't native to volcanoes."

"They drown, too."

"Oh, yeah. They aren't native to the ocean."

"They don't like caves. They starve."

"That's also true. And they don't like the dark, either, kind of like us."

"The dark is scary," Mu agreed. "And my tail doesn't light things up…"

"Would you like us to get you something for that, Mu?" Zena offered. "There are little Luminous Orbs that can light up a room back home if Dad ever needs to go out at night."

Mu was quiet, turning the page. She was pensive and tense like she didn't want to admit anything.

"Maybe," Mu said.

Owen and Zena exchanged little smiles as they landed at Agate Village's entrance.

"My goodness!" someone immediately cried. It didn't sound alarmed, though. An old man in a yellow shirt with big glasses ran toward them, using a walking stick to stay standing. "If my eyes aren't fooling me, that's… a Charizard! And a Milotic! Amazing! Where's your trainer, you two?"

Mu knew not to speak in front of random humans. Owen was glad she followed that practice.

Owen said in feral, "We came to see someone in the big tr—"

"Ah, I'm sorry, big fella. I lost your language a long time ago. But hey! You seem friendly. Welcome to Agate Village! Just be careful with that flame, yeah?"

Owen awkwardly nodded and ascended the hillside with Zena.

The door to a great old, dead tree opened in a sliding motion. On the other side was a human in a blue overcoat.

He peeked outside and frowned, glaring at them before they'd even gotten close. Well, that was a rude welcome…

This human had weird ears. Owen never knew humans had those.

"Owen, right?" called Bluejacket.

Owen made sure nobody was within earshot before he said, "Yeah, me. This is Zena and Mu."

The human's long, furry, black ears twitched. "Right," he said. "Come in."

They followed him inside, Owen folding his wings and ducking to pass through the door. It was a quaint little home inside the tree with a small set of bedrooms on the upper floor, a little kitchen and living room on the lower floor, and some facilities in the back. It seemed very old and lived-in.

Another human was sitting at the table. She was feeding an Umbreon and Espeon some pellets of some kind. That had Owen feeling hungry again. He wondered if Zena would try some, too…

Mu was already hopping off Owen's shoulder, running to beg for a sampling.

"This is a cozy place," Owen commented. "If I wasn't a Fire, I think I'd like it in this village."

"It's… a relaxing place to retire," the Umbreon-eared human said. "Name's Wes. This is Rui." He gestured to the girl. "And I already met your friend, Star."

The world froze. Star… It had been months and it already felt so far away. Then there was that cold guilt that for them it had only been a few days at most.

"We, uh—How?" Owen asked.

"The Dungeon, they call it? While we were investigating a few things happening with the distortions here, we got sucked in. It wasn't for all that long, but by the time we got back, it had been a few days. It was all over the news. And I'm still recovering."

"R-recovering?"

Wes' ears twitched with his annoyance.

"…They don't look injured," Owen said.

Umbreon's ears twitched next and he looked up at Wes from the couch. He trilled, "I like his new look!"

"Don't mock me!" Wes called back.

Umbreon made a playful growling noise, clearly teasing him, and went back to eating.

"Um, hello," Rui greeted. The red-haired woman waved and bowed politely. "I didn't have any lingering changes. Star said that Wes' change should… wear off after a few weeks."

"You turned into Pokémon?" Owen deduced. "Humans don't normally take on Pokémon attributes?"

Wes stared at Owen like he was an idiot.

"H-hey, I've been gone for a while. You never know how much things changed…"

"To be honest, Owen," Zena said, "most species don't take traits on that easily. It's usually just a color pattern from the parent that you don't share a species with…"

"And," Wes said pointedly, "humans don't usually pair off with Pokémon like they're married. Except for that weird old lady down the hill, but—look, either way, no, it's weird."

"Oh. Right." Owen forgot that detail. Pokémon of this world… operated differently. "Sorry. In our world, er… Never mind. But we were told to meet you here. Why is that?"

Wes crossed his arms. "We wanted you to meet someone who might be able to help with your Shadow problem."

"Someone?"

"Well, two someones." Rui stood up. "We aren't the only people who took on Shadow Pokémon before! There's someone on the green side of Orre that you need to meet. We'll give you directions later. But first… We wanted to show you Celebi's shrine."

"Celebi? Is that a Combee with a party hat?" Mu asked.

"Huh? No, Celebi is a very rare Pokémon. C'mon, we can walk and talk!"

"Uh, is that a good idea?" Owen asked.

"Oh, it's fine. People either know about you already or they'll just think we're talking to our Pokémon like friends! That's normal."

Wes nodded.

"You two behave," he said sternly to Umbreon and Espeon. Both grinned in such a way that Owen knew they wouldn't.

Just down the hill and through a cave with a small river cutting through it, there was a glade that radiated a sacred atmosphere.

"Your world has a Celebi?" Wes asked.

Owen nodded. "We do. She's very soft-spoken and worked alongside Dialga for… I'm not sure what they did, now that I think about it. We don't have a lot of time issues in our world."

Zena gazed at the water. "Maybe that means they were doing a good job," she said. "The gods usually do their best work when it's not noticed, yes?"

Mu was slouching against Owen's shoulder, looking drowsy.

"You doing alright, Mu? You didn't stay up late again, did you?"

"No…" Mu yawned. "I'm just resting…"

"Are you sick?"

Mu sighed, annoyed. "Nooo. This place is just… quiet for once."

"Quiet?" Owen eyed the river, which was pretty loud, and heard birdsong up ahead.

"Oh," Zena whispered. "You mean… the negative aura?"

"Yeah. It's quiet," Mu said again. "All the… old people…"

"Your kid feels negative auras?" Wes asked.

"It's a long story," Owen said, "but yes, she does. She, uh, she's a Shadow Pokémon, I guess. But not in the same way."

"Oh! So that's why she…"

They all looked at Rui.

"I'm sorry. You see, I have aura sight," Rui explained. "I was trying to figure out why Charmander's aura was so dark despite behaving… normally. As normal as a talking Pokémon can! I—oh, is that offensive?"

"It's alright," Zena said, giggling. "We're used to it. We know."

"Huh. A stable Shadow Pokémon." Wes eyed Mu warily. "…Well, she doesn't seem unhappy."

"I'm not," Mu replied. "Just feel... everyone else's."

"Sounds like a drag."

They passed through the cave and stopped just by the entrance. It seemed to be cleaned regularly. Something about this place felt quieter. Even the water that flowed through the cave seemed calmer in response to the cool breeze and even lusher greenery deeper into the valley.

Birds were singing high in the trees. The air smelled of morning rain, despite it being later in the day. Lights danced on the ground in patterns drawn by the forest canopy.

To the left near the entrance, there were two gravestones with a strange soil consistency. Rui knelt by the grave and closed her eyes. Wes didn't kneel, though he did lower his head.

"Up ahead is a shrine to Celebi," Wes said. Even he spoke softly. "Want to look?"

The shrine was an odd cylinder that looked like it was deliberately breaking apart in little quarter-segments all around its structure. Owen had never seen a structure quite like it.

"Is Celebi inside that shrine?" Zena asked.

"No," Owen and Wes replied at once.

"Eh?" Wes said. "Why do you know?"

"Because there's nothing inside it," Owen said, pointing.

Rui stood up from her kneel. "How can… you tell that, though?"

"It's my Perceive." Owen pointed at his horns. "I can see anything. Kind of like seeing in three dimensions."

A beat of silence followed. The birds chirped. The breeze let the tall trees dance. Rui suddenly gasped and covered her chest for some reason.

"Neat," said Wes, deadpan.

"Can you turn it off?" Rui asked.

"Oh, uh, sure. Sorry." This must have been offensive to humans. They were a very private species. He reached for his horns and popped them off.

Rui yelped. "You don't have to be so drastic!"

"Also neat."

"Oh, they just come off," Owen explained, slipping them into his satchel.

Rui stammered and Wes continued to the shrine.

"They're weird, Rui. The longer we focus on it the faster we'll go crazy. Let's just give them a chance to look at the shrine and then send them to Pokémon HQ Lab."

"Pokémon HQ Lab?" Zena asked, looking disappointed about something.

"Best in the region. They're comprehensive about all things Pokémon, but they have a few Shadow specialists."

When Owen's expression darkened, Wes raised his hands.

"As in, for purifying them. Don't worry, all the folks behind the Shadow part are behind bars at this point." He glanced away. "…Mostly."

Owen relaxed his stance. "Right. Speaking of purification… How does this shrine do it?"

Wes tapped a knuckle on the odd cylinder. "This thing has a tiny bit of Celebi's power in it. The power helps good memories surface. If Celebi is supposed to be a Pokémon with control over time, I think it uses its Psychic power to remind people of the past. Of good times, or something."

"It… can't be that simple, can it?"

"No, it is," Wes said. "It's just hard to do. A Shadow Pokémon's heart is sealed tight and they no longer think about… their past before becoming a Shadow Pokémon. They just fight. They're either mindlessly fighting or they're in a negative frenzy. Calling them helps calm them down, but… it's temporary." Wes gestured to the shrine. "I had to bring a lot of Shadow Pokémon here after months of trying to get them to open up even a little. But that… speck of darkness never goes away. Not without the shrine here."

"So… reminders, and a blessing," Owen said. "Reminders of…"

It was starting to fall into place.

"Owen?" Zena asked.

"If Radiance isn't enough to get a Shadow Pokémon to open up to us alone, then maybe memories are another key," Owen said. "Void Shadows lose their memories. And when they're purified, those memories start to come back, but it's incomplete. Even Mom, who lost her memories, was never really the same when she was purified again, and… what if… what if that's because it's backward? What if memories purify Shadow, not the other way around?"

"You might be onto something," Wes said. "But you still need both. We didn't have any of that divine energy, aside from when we could call Celebi to help."

"So you can call Celebi?" Owen asked.

"Not anymore," Wes admitted. "Though, I did keep the flute… They're sacred items that summon Celebi right here when you play it. But only… once. Annnnd I sorta used them all."

Wes pulled out one like he figured it'd be relevant. It looked unassuming; a flute made of tan wood. Entirely mundane. Curiously, though, Owen saw a chamber near the bottom of the flute that was empty.

"Can I hold it?" Owen asked.

"Can you restore it?" Rui asked as Wes handed it over.

"I don't want to abuse it if Celebi only wanted a few of these," Owen said, "but this is important. Maybe I can."

He wasn't sure what was in that chamber but it wasn't normal for a flute to have it. Maybe it was where the energy used to attract Celebi was placed. And if that was the case… what if he put Radiance into it?

Owen tried that, Bestowing a tiny amount of that energy into the flute. Then he offered it to Wes.

"Play it. I think I… did something."

Wes looked skeptical but tried anyway, blowing a simple, improvised tune. When he did, sparks of light shot from the flute and to the cylinder, startling Rui and even Wes.

After he finished, he said, "That didn't happen last time…"

Wes squinted. "You put a little Radiance into it and the flute… fired it out?"

"There was a chamber inside the flute that seemed like it stored something. I put a little Radiance in it, and that's what happened…"

They all waited. One whole minute passed with idle chatter and birdwatching. Unfortunately… Celebi did not appear.

"Guess it stored a different energy," Owen said, wings drooping. "Still… That's a weird flute."

"You want it?" Wes offered. "I have two more. Not like I'm good at it anyway…"

"Oh, if it's not any trouble?" Owen asked.

Zena tilted her head. "What use would it be?"

Owen shrugged. "It's weird. It might help. Anything that can interact with Radiance might be helpful…"

Wes tossed it to Owen, who slipped it into his pouch.

"Guess that's everything, huh?" Wes said. "You be careful, alright?"

"Yeah," Owen said, glancing at the gravesite that Rui had knelt next to before. "So… who are they?"

"Oh, that's where my grandparents were buried. They used to own the house we live in now," Rui said. She smiled fondly, but it was tinged with that usual, nostalgic sadness. "They lived long, good lives. Grandpa was a really accomplished trainer back in the day. His Pikachu is still roaming around the village. He's kind of Agate's guardian! I think… grandpa's spirit lives on in him, too. Grandma is the same way."

Owen offered a warm smile. "Sounds like they did all they could."

"Mhm." Rui smiled and sighed. "I miss them, of course, but… Well. They had other things to do. Same day, you know, right overnight."

"Wow, same day," Owen said, running a claw over his necklace.

Rui eyed it. "…Is that… of a relative?"

That earned an awkward titter from him. "Dad's a Marowak. He, er… you know how it is." Wait, no she didn't, she was human.

Rui smiled politely. "I think it's a beautiful gesture," she said. "I think the Sinnoh region believed that Pokémon spirits reside in their bones for a while, too. Maybe your father said the same thing?"

"I figured the claw would, uh, point me in the right direction," Owen said. "I have a lot of things to think about. I don't know. Some guidance feels… nice."

Mu was starting to get bored, wandering around the cave again. Zena smiled and gently offered to take Mu out to the rest of the village to play, nodding at Owen as she left.

"Oh, sorry," Rui said. "We won't be holding you up. Um, good luck with… Dungeoning?"

"Thanks."

"Oh, yeah." Wes, near the mouth of the cave, suddenly spoke up. "When you go to HQ, look around for Ho-Oh if it's there. You can communicate with Pokémon, right?"

"Oh, I can. Wait. Ho-Oh? What's that?"

Wes blinked. "I thought your world had Legends?"

"Not Ho-Oh. I guess we didn't have all the ones here."

"Huh. Well, just say hi for me. It tagged along with me for a while, but, you know how Legends are. Gotta wander and do… whatever they do. Last I heard, it wanted to go there for some reason."

"Sure. I'll say hi for you," Owen said.

What a strange request. But after saying his farewells, Owen went over to Zena and Mu to relax before their next flight.

This was probably the last time they'd see Wes and Rui for something this important. They seemed satisfied with having a simple, quiet life here in Agate. If Wes was supposedly responsible for thwarting some of the Shadow forces, he could understand why.

Owen wondered if he'd be allowed the same opportunity one day.

It was ironic how little of Orre's desert they were seeing. Most of where they had to be was on the green side of the region.

Further west, where the lush grass was even more pronounced than before, Owen followed the directions Wes had given them all the way to Pokémon HQ Lab, quite possibly the most generic-sounding location Owen had heard of yet. And that was saying something. He supposed that the region being so deprived of Pokémon for so long meant the basic names weren't taken…

"I think that's it," Zena announced.

"Huh?" Owen had been so lost in thought that he wasn't paying attention ahead of him. His Perceive handled anything in range that he'd collide with.

Up ahead was a large, white building on a hill with a giant, floating Poké Ball hovering on top of it. It seemed to be two stories tall with large, glass windows and a Lugia nesting in front of the—

"Why is there a Lugia in front of that building?" Owen said.

Zena frowned. "That's an awfully small Lugia…"

"No, Emily's just very large," Owen said.

"Or baby?" Mu suggested.

"Can… can Lugia be young? Or are they created?" Zena sped up as they descended for a landing.

"I don't know for this world," Owen said.

Lugia perked up and spotted them. They let out a roar that Owen wasn't sure how to interpret. The dialect was… strange.

"What is Lugia saying?" Zena asked.

"I… I don't know. It might be an ancient dialect or something."

Mu suddenly tensed. "Watch out."

And moments later, Lugia opened their mouth and twisted the air. Benign winds became cutting gales that spiraled in their direction; he and Zena banked in opposite directions, avoiding the blast that turned a treetop into sawdust and dry mulch.

"Did we come in wrong?!" Owen shouted. "Zena! Let's find some cover!"

"Where?!"

She was right. It was just trees. And those didn't stand a chance against Lugia!

Another Aeroblast was charging up. This would get bad, fast.

Owen grasped at the air with a flick of his right hand. The air was still charged with the last attack. He grasped it. "Zena! Behind me!"

"Right!"

Just in time, too. The second Aeroblast spiraled through the air and Owen reached toward it with his Mimicked energy, then brought up his shield. The winds curled around him and he braced himself as well as he could. Zena held his back to help, having no grounding to hold his position.

He Bestowed his power into the blast itself. Waited for that connection. There! Like chaos in his hands, the power of freedom of the winds and destruction of the gales. It was his now. He twisted the blast into a little, concentrated ball, compressing his Protect around the volatile energy—

"WAAAIIIIT!"

Lugia stopped. Owen held his position. Zena made sure Mu wasn't hurt—and, thankfully, she wasn't.

A man with red, spiked hair and a yellow shirt ran into the yard, waving his arms toward Lugia. Whatever he was saying placated the great guardian of the sea. Lugia said something and their booming voice was a lot easier to hear than the man's. Unfortunately, Owen still didn't recognize most of the sounds… But he recognized one pattern. 'Shadow.'

That Lugia was incredibly sensitive to Shadows, then. Mu… or maybe even he might have set Lugia off.

"Okay!" the man called. "You can come over now! Soooorryyyy!"

The man's name was Michael and something about him bothered Owen. He'd never met the man before in his life and yet something felt disturbingly familiar about him.

They set up a small picnic where Lugia kept staring in his direction. Mu was having a staring contest with her. Like a competition.

"Hokay, sorry about that," Michael said, plopping himself down on the gigantic red-and-white picnic blanket. He sat beside Lugia and on his other side was a Vaporeon enjoying some cold water from a bowl.

"It's alright," Owen replied. "Uh, sorry if we came sooner than expected…"

"No, no." Michael raised his hands. "I sorta put this off. Got distracted with research again."

Research…

"So! Talking Pokémon! You must get that a lot."

"We get it," Owen replied.

"It is a bit strange being the only ones who talk… Well, I heard rumors about one back in Kanto, but—ah, well, not here."

"And you're from another world where talking Pokémon is the norm, right?" Michael said. "I bet the folks in Alola had a field day with that one!"

"You could say that," Owen said with a titter.

"Ahh, well… Anyway, you're here because Wes told you about this place for its Shadow research, right?"

Owen nodded. "In our world, we're dealing with a massive Shadow problem. If we can find a way to combat it or even cure it, any method would help. We already got one answer from Wes with Celebi. That might help. But if there's anything that a common Pokémon can do…"

Michael nodded. "I see, I see…"

Lugia made a low growling noise again.

"Hey, it's alright, it's alright," Michael said.

Lugia growled again.

"No, they're fine, promise. They're heroes from another world!"

"You understand her?" Owen asked.

"Sure I do! Took a while to get the feeling behind her words, but she's a Pokémon, isn't she?"

"I'm not familiar with her dialect," Owen admitted.

"What is she asking?" Zena asked.

"Well," Michael gestured to Mu, "Lugia is wondering why Charmander over there feels like a Shadow Pokémon."

"Oh. Well, she was born as one, but just that she can harness the power. Her heart isn't closed."

"Hi!" Mu waved. "I'm not evil! Promise! Look, I have light, too!" She waved her hands in the air, forming little motes of golden lights.

This surprised Lugia. What about Mu caught her off guard? One way or the other, she lowered her guard and rested more comfortably near Michael.

"Lugia was the only result of an experiment to make an 'impossible to purify' Shadow Pokémon," Michael explained. "I still don't know what they did to make that happen, but it must have been awful."

"Impossible to purify," Owen repeated. "But I don't sense a speck of Shadows in her."

"Yep. All thanks to some crazy research we have going on, studying Pokémon, their auras, and how their hearts and emotions play a part in Shadows taking hold. How much time do you guys have?"

"Oh, well… Our world is running at one percent speed compared to here," Owen explained. "But I don't want them to be waiting for more than a day at this point."

"So, a hundred days here," Michael reasoned.

"…You caught onto that quickly," Owen remarked.

Michael grinned broadly. "I bet you'll only need a month to study all of this!"

"A month?" Zena said. "That's practically as long as our time in the Aether Foundation alone…"

"Can I go to Real Gem Tower?" Mu asked.

"Oh, yeah!" Michael said. "All work and no play will make your brains mush! We need to relax between all that reading."

"Maybe a little," Owen said reluctantly. "But we really need to—"

"No, you don't understand," Michael said earnestly. "It's too much for the brain to handle. If you read a ton, and then take a break to rest, it gives your subconscious mind time to sort itself out and really learn what you read about. If you don't give your mind time to rest, nothing will stick!"

Owen wasn't sure if that worked. Despite everything, Owen never had a formal education at any point in his life. This… study habit was something he'd only heard about and never experienced himself.

Was he about to get homework?

"Oh, by the way," Zena spoke up, "Michael, is Ho-Oh around?"

"He left a while back," Michael said. "Should be back soon. He said something about investigating an island offshore. That can only be Citadark, but that place is abandoned… Hopefully. I told him to turn back at the first sign of trouble."

Citadark… an island offshore? "That sounds like Quartz Isle," Owen said.

"Quartz what?" Michael repeated.

Owen couldn't believe he didn't know. Quartz Isle was the island destroyed by Arceus. It should have been all over the news! And yet… nothing? A whole island's population had become Kilo!

"I think we need to talk about that later," Owen said, not sure how to sort through his thoughts just yet.

"Alright. If that's the case…" Michael suddenly got to his feet. "You guys enjoy your food!"

Owen had forgotten they were supposed to be eating. He hastily picked up what appeared to be a sausage in an elongated bun.

"I'm gonna get a lesson plan together."

"Wait, what's—"

But he was already gone. Why did that attitude feel so familiar?

Mu groaned. "Homework," she murmured. "Nobody likes homework."