Uncharted Skies, Unfollowed Paths

New name

Kalos, Vaniville Town, Gabena family home

Arriving home to see most of the people from the earlier party gone, and the majority of the decorations put away, Serena carefully makes her way back inside, already knowing what awaits her is likely a small admonishment of her earlier sneaking out 'so much for sneaking away and coming back without anyone noticing' she thinks to herself as she sighs, her mother finally noticing her back

"Serena!" Grace lets out a long breath "we were worried about you, where did you go off to, and why did you not tell anyone?" She continues, letting out a sigh of exasperation

"I'm sorry mom, sorry everyone, I just got a bit overwhelmed and my head started hurting and it just felt like too much! I'm so sorry for worrying you guys" she tells all who remained in her home, a genuine frown on her face, as she feels like she let everyone down. "I didn't want to be rude and tell people to go home, it wasn't right, I know, all I could do was try and get a away for a bit, but it took much longer than I expected to come back."

"Serena, I know you don't deal with crowds well even on good days, but it almost feels like this is getting worse over time, not better, are you sure you're ok now?" She says, worry clearly present on her face 'I thought maybe getting exposure to more crowds might help, with her shyness, I should have went about this better, it's her birthday, this wasn't the time to push her, I'm sorry Serena…'

"You aren't mad?" She asks somewhat confused, not expecting just how much worry was present on her mothers face

"No Serena I'm not mad, this was my fault, I shouldn't have pushed for a larger party, even if I didn't expect quite so many to show up, it's still my fault for encouraging this, I wasn't thinking. Are you ok? Did you get hurt outside? You seem a little dirty."

"Huh? Oh… yes, I'm fine, I just tripped a bit that's all, I should be fine after I wash up haha…" a slightly nervous look on her face as she recalls her encounter with a legend in the forest, one she plans on encountering again at that

Her closest friends, the only ones still left at her home, look on with guilty and worried faces, Shauna with a mix of both, "I'm glad you're ok Serena, I didn't mean for it to get so out of hand…"

"It's ok, really, I'm happy you thought of me, that's enough for me… oh there's still cake! Why don't we eat it together while you guys are still here, I know it's getting late, but I'm still happy you guys stayed to celebrate, and really I am sorry for running off, I'll make it up to you guys! I promise!"

"No no! You have absolutely nothing to apologize for! It's my fault so many people came in the first place! I'm the one who needs to make it up to you for ruining your birthday!" She says with a bit of panic and guilt, before turning to the other two "right guys! Let's make sure to make it up to Serena!" The two enthusiastically nodding in agreement

"Thanks guys! It means a lot that you guys care about me so much! Alright, let's eat some cake!"

As the four turn and walk towards the kitchen, Grace thinks about her daughter, a bit of worry on her face 'it's getting worse, she's never been good with crowds, but this feels different this time, it looked like it was hurting her! Maybe I need to call up the professor, he might know what to do, or what might be causing this…'

A week after their first encounter in the forest, the girl named Serena kept her word, returning every day to my hideout to help me learn how to communicate. My telepathic abilities have been improving by leaps and bounds, now I can project my emotions properly, with little effort, and without any subconscious emotions leaking out in addition to the intended ones

Oh! She's back again! I project excitement to the girl, whose name I've since learned, and she waves back in greeting. Her face lights up at the projected emotion

"Hello again Mr. Latios! I've been doing a bit of research on psychic type Pokémon and their abilities, I think I've found what we can work on next! Why don't you try talking through telepathy again, you weren't able to before, but now that you've mastered emotion I think we should try it!"

I nod In agreement, starting with projecting simple emotions was the right call, I had absolutely zero experience with psychic powers, I needed a place to start and something so simple was exactly that, now I think I'm ready for a step up, and if it works I can finally converse with my new found friend properly!

I begin my familiar concentration ritual of closing my eyes and clearing my thoughts, thinking nothing, picturing nothing, and then begin

~he-l-o?~ I start with a simple word, the most casual and uncomplicated greeting, she perks up, it seems something got through

"It was a bit choppy but you sent me the word 'hello' right?"

Nodding 'yes' she smiles

"Great! Can you try it again a few more times?"

~h-llo, hell-, hello?~ "great! That last one was almost perfect!" She exclaims "now can you try a short sentence?"

I nod hesitantly, I'm not sure how well that'll work quite yet, but it's not like we're on a timer, I'll get there eventually

~hel-o Ser-i-a, th-nk yo- for eve-y thi-g~

"Oh! I think i got most of what you said! You thanked me right? There's no need for that, I love the excuse to get away!"

I hum happily, satisfied with both my progress, and this new friendship I have, I really am thankful for her, she's done so much for me, getting nothing in return, I'll have to make it up to her in the future, but what exactly could I even provide?

The day continued on with frequent practice with some time in between spent letting Serena vent about daily life and the occasional snacking on berries from the nearby trees, soon it was time for the girl to leave and once again be left in the near silence of the locally empty forest

In the forest clearing, on her way back home after visiting her legendary Pokémon friend, she can't help but idly wonder about her new daily routine, she wakes up, goes to school, heads into the forest to help a Latios learn how to communicate, and comes back home before dinner is ready 'what a strange life I've been living lately, well I guess I don't have to worry about it getting any weirder, I'm happy with how things are going though, so I can't complain' as she hums a cheery tune with a small smile, finally seeing her home past the forest's entrance, she notices a unfamiliar car parked in front 'a visitor?'

As she makes her way past the small wall and gate surrounding her home, greeting her mothers affectionate Rhyhorn, she sees her mother and a unfamiliar person talking inside just past the front door

"Thank you for coming Professor Sycamore, I know you're a very busy person, I hope I don't take up too much of your time with this personal request and favor… ah Serena, you're home just in time, let me introduce you, this man here is a old friend of mine, Pokémon Professor Sycamore, professor this is my daughter, the one I told you about, Serena." The man turns to her, his wild long black hair becoming even more disastrous as he does so "Ah your mom told me so much about you, while this is the first time we've met, over the years she's sent me quite a few messages and pictures gushing over you, it's a shame we've never been able to meet before this, or under better circumstances"

"Hmm, what do you mean better circumstances, is something wrong?" She replies back in slight confusion and concern, as he winces slightly at realizing he's said too much, not knowing that Grace hadn't told her daughter of the reason she called him there

Grace cringes slightly, knowing she probably should have talked with her daughter first, sighing 'it's too late now'

"Come inside, we'll talk all about it, don't worry you're not in trouble, in fact he might be able to help you with some of the problems you've been having."

"Oh… ok, I'm not sure what exactly this is about, but thank you?" Worry being pushed down and confusion setting in in its place, she walks inside and closes the door behind her "so what exactly IS this about then? And what did you mean by better circumstances?"

Grace leads her daughter and guest into the homes sitting room, before leaving to the kitchen and bringing back a readied tea set she then places on the coffee table "So Serena, when you were around 7, I noticed you were starting to have troubles with large crowds, of course at first I chalked it up to simple shyness, but you've always been a very outgoing and friendly person, so it never sat right with me, I started getting concerned thinking maybe something happened to you in a crowd you never told me about, so I waited to see if you would open up with me about it and left it at that. But then it started getting worse over the years, and then I started to realize large crowds seemed to be having an actual, real, physiological impact on you… your head starts hurting right?"

"Yes… I do tend to get headaches when I'm in large crowds, but I'm sure that happens to a lot of people right? I just get a bit overwhelmed that's all…" getting a bit nervous at what her mothers talking about, she doesn't think there's anything weird about her compared to others 'where's this going? Did I do something wrong? Do I have something wrong with me?'

"I see what's going on… Ms. Gabena do you want me to test her for 'that' marker? Ms. Serena, don't worry, there's nothing wrong with you per se, but there might be a few explanations for these intense reactions you have to large amounts of people around you, it's more than likely nothing bad, you aren't sick or anything, but there are a few things I'd like to do and a few tests I need to run to help get to the bottom of this." The Professor tells her, a gentle and friendly look on his face

"What do you mean? A marker? For what? Is what happens to me not normal?"

"No, the effect that large crowds has on you isn't something normal, but it isn't something bad either, I'll need to run a few tests before I can be sure, and it'll take about a week to get those results, but I'll come back personally with them if that's alright with the two of you?"

"Oh, sure, so what kind of tests do you need to run? I won't need to go out into a large crowd for that right? I don't really want to deal with the headache that would bring on tonight…"

"Oh no nothing like that, I'll just need to perform a simple routine blood draw, I'm sure you've had one done before, but normal medical equipment doesn't look for what we need to know so that's why it wouldn't have shown up to you before, and why I'll need to head back to my lab to get the results"

"Ok, that works with me! If I can find a way to stop these damn headaches I'll be happy to do anything, within reason of course!" Excited at the prospect of finally being able to interact with large crowds, or maybe even being able to finally see Lumiose in person, despite living in Kalos all her life, she happily agrees to the tests, the professor being the professional he is performs them quickly and painlessly, finishing up in under 10 minutes.

"Thank you so much for doing this favor Sycamore, I really appreciate the help." Grace says as the professor begins to leave

"It's no trouble at all Grace, what are friends for after all, in any case, it was nice to get out of that stuffy lab for once, and it was very pleasant to meet you Ms. Serena, after all your mother and I have spoken over the years, you have been a frequent topic on her side." A cheery smile on his somewhat tired face as he puts his white coat back on and steps out "I'll have your results by next week, don't be nervous, I promise there's nothing wrong with you, I'll be seeing you soon!" The man gets back into his car, and starts driving off, leaving the home in silence once more, only the two young women left in the doorway

"Well what do you think about some pasta bolognese tonight sweetie?"

"Sure, that sounds good?" Serena slightly surprised at her mothers shift in topic 'it seems she doesn't want to talk about what all this was about anymore, I guess it was a bit awkward, well whatever, I love her bolognese!'

The rest of the night passed in somewhat comfortable if slightly awkward silence

Another few days have passed since I started working on true telepathy proper. I think I've started getting the hang of it, it feels far easier and more natural than it did before and I'm able to communicate proper sentences, even if they are a bit short and on the simple side, no 5 syllable words quite yet! But my daily conversations with the girl Serena have been getting much more interesting as a result, apparently a big wig Professor came and ran some tests on her for something a couple of days ago, actually it was on the day we started on telepathy if I remember correctly, she said she should get some results back within a few days.

There's something about her I feel like I'm not remembering, but I don't know what it is, I only just met her a couple weeks ago… she seems familiar to me in some ways, but I just can't put my finger, or claw as I should say now, quite on why that is.

The sun now high in the sky, around mid day, the girl in question finally makes another appearance as she comes walking through the woods, the grass on the path she takes daily starting to resemble a more well worn path now, after a few weeks of being tread

"Afternoon Mr. Latios, ready for some more practice?" She seems in high spirits as she approaches, the difference in her demeanor compared to their first encounter extremely apparent, no longer weary or fearful, long used to the daily routine between herself and the psychic dragon

~it's good to see you again, friend~ the message no longer strained or difficult

"You know, we've been friends for a while now, I was thinking, it's a bit strange for me to refer to you as Mr. Latios, is there something else you want me to call you?"

'Oh, my name, that's right, it was… huh? My name was, why can't I remember my name?!' I reel back in shock at my loss of memory, of my loss of such an important part of me, as I try and remember details about my life 'ok let's think for a second, I was a human, yes, I lived in a different world in the United States, my family… why can't I remember their faces? What the hell is happening to my memories?!'

Serena looks on at this strange and panicked reaction to her innocent question, clearly concerned and confused at what could have caused this

"I'm sorry did I say something wrong?! Why are you so upset at that, did I make a mistake by asking you that?"

Serena's confusion and worry snapping me out of my thoughts, I quickly nod 'no'

~I'm sorry, you just reminded me of something I can't seem to remember, I don't know my name, no, I don't have one…~

Trying to quell the suggestion that she had done anything wrong, and resigning myself at the loss of memory 'I can't do anything about that right now, I'll try and see if i forgot anything else important later, right now I'll focus on what's in front of me'

Her concern lessens but she still appears somewhat troubled at my strange reaction to her question

~how about you give me some suggestions for an name?~

"Well, this is a big deal, we don't want to rush it, but maybe something starting with a 'la' would work, you are a Latios after all, Lato, lark, larkis, ah maybe something like Larkos?" She rattled off names off the top of her head, sounding out potential names for the Latios in front of her to consider

'This is a big deal, it'll stick with me for the years to come, I'm leaning towards a simple name, but maybe something more unique like Larkos would work, arkos means something like highest rank, or ruler in Greek, wait why do I know Greek? Was I Greek in my past life? In any case, I like the name, it has a nice ring to it, that works.'

~I like the name Larkos, it has meaning, I accept it~

Her face lights up brightly at her suggestion being accepted, she smiles and nods her head "alright Larkos, I'm happy to be of help to you!" Bzz bzz, her pokegear buzzing with a text notification, she pulls it out and looks at the message displayed 'Serena, the professor is back with your test results! Come home soon please, we will look them over together.' "Oh! My tests and back and Mom and the professor are waiting for me, that was sooner than I expected! I'm sorry Larkos, but I need to get going now, I'll see you later!" She says her fair-wells and turns to leave, looking back one last time and waving as she exits the clearing and makes her way back home

~it's no problem, thank you for helping me today!~ I send back just before she leaves my sight 'Larkos huh? I guess that is my name from now on. I like it.'