"Wait, you aren't going to challenge the Lavaridge Gym Leader first?" I asked.
"I decided not to just yet. Is there a problem with that?" Sip was confused.
"Ah, not really. It's just that since you live here, I thought you would battle the Gym Leader first for convenience."
Sip scratched the back of his head for a moment before continuing to pack his stuff, "I just don't think I'm ready yet. The Lavaridge Gym Leader is quite strong with her Fire type Pokémon. Besides, it'd be better to start from scratch and go at my own pace."
"That's true." I agreed, "Are you gonna be able to catch up, though? Almost half the time to collect Gym Badges is over now."
"I got this! Don't worry." Sip clenched his fist in determination. I believed him, knowing his passion for battling will definitely make him improve faster.
"Things in life do change so easily!" Sip sighed, "Yesterday night, I was still thinking about work and how my dream would take a long time to even have a start. Tonight, I'm literally packing to start my adventure soon!"
"It's kinda surprising, but it's definitely exciting knowing that something good is happening." I smiled.
"Just thinking about it gets my blood pumping! Lows, help me check whether I got all the stuff prepared for my adventure."
I helped Sip to check his luggage, making sure everything important was brought for his big day. Then, I went back to my room in the PokéCentre after a short chit-chat with Sip.
I laid down on the bed, still a little deep in my thoughts.
I'm happy for Sip... It reminds me of how Disc, Cassie and I started our adventures.
I can't believe it... it has been almost two months now. I guess time goes by fast when you're having fun.
I wonder how they are doing...
...
I opened my eyes to find myself in a familiar place: Petalburg Woods.
I knew I was stuck in the nightmare once again, and I was desperate to just wake up from my slumber to prevent it from happening. However, it was to no avail as the scenes unfolded right in front of me once again.
I was definitely less scared than before, but it still sucked to recall this incident once again. It was a memory I hoped to erase from my mind.
As the man in the memory appeared in the woods once again, instead of taking out his Pokéball, he ran towards me and talked in a familiar voice, "Lows, wake up!"
I lost consciousness for a second, and the next second I opened my eyes, the Petalburg Woods in my memories were gone, replaced with the ceiling and the silence around my room.
I sighed, How many times will this incident haunt me in my dreams?
Unable to fall back to sleep right away, I repositioned myself to have myself look at the front as I continued to think. Suddenly, the conversation with Roxanne after the close call in Petalburg Woods hit me.
"By the way... about the incident, the wild Pokémon there could get aggressive sometimes, but it was still strange to say the least. It didn't help that Beedrill was a Pokémon commonly found in the Kanto region, not Hoenn."
"Oh yeah, now that I think about it, it was really strange!"
I started thinking more into the conversation.
I wonder if these two incidents happening to me are someone's doing, or they're just a coincidence...
Speaking of it... the man who saved my life... I still had no clue who he was.
Do I want to find out?
I then shook my head, There are millions of people living in the Hoenn region. I can't just randomly ask everyone, "Hey, are you the man who saved me?" That'd be kinda dumb.
"Yeah, let's not be stupid here." I lightly hit my forehead.
There's no way I'm going to find this man... unless I have more clues about him.
Is there any other way I can do that?
Hmm...
"Is something on your mind, Lows?"
Sip asked as he stared at me, who was in the hot springs for almost three hours.
Yes, I ordered a stay in the hot springs for three hours. Nothing wrong with that.
"Hmm?" I turned my attention from my thoughts to Sip, "Isn't work busy for you?"
"It's a weekday, there's still a fair amount of customers, but we're able to handle them just fine and relax when we need to." Sip explained, "Anyways, what's on your mind?"
"It's a long story."
"Well? Tell me about it!"
"Sure, after I finish my session." I said as I got up from the water, changed back to my normal outfit and returned to Sip. Sip informed his parents as usual before leaving his shift. We found a comfy cafe to get some drinks and chill as I told him about the story.
"...And that's what happened." I concluded.
"If both incidents are just a coincidence, you're pretty unlucky." Sip said.
"True... I am usually quite unlucky, but this seems too inconvenient for me." I shrugged, "Maybe I should just forget about it, though. Thinking about it only makes me more scared."
"...But I can tell that a part of you doesn't wanna let go of that memory." Sip said.
"...Huh?"
"Sure, it did seem to traumatize you more than just a bit... but I could tell you admired that person who saved you. It might even be part of the reason why you decided to become a trainer on your own."
"You have a point." I agreed. I wanted to become someone who could help others with my abilities as a trainer in the future. The only way to do so is start my own adventure and hone my skills. That trainer was definitely one of the biggest inspirations that urged me to do so.
"Do you want to find out what happened?" Sip asked.
"Definitely! It's not like you have any way to help me out with this, though." I said as I stared at him, whose expression seemed to say otherwise, "...What, do you actually have a way?"
"Well... it's not me, but I think I know someone who can potentially help you out." Sip answered, "There's a hypnotherapist who recently moved to the town."
"Hypno-what?"
"Hypnotherapist. He can help people regain certain memories through hypnotizing. I heard he worked with a few police departments to help them solve crimes."
"Would he help us out though?"
"He probably would. He has a high profile, sure, but he's really nice to the people around here. He mostly chills around the town, but he also helps out people who need a hand."
"I guess we can ask him, then. It's worth a shot." I accepted Sip's suggestion. We finished our drinks before heading towards the hypnotherapist's home, hoping for an opportunity to discover the story behind the incident.
We found ourselves in front of a small house short after, "Is this it?"
"Yup, this should be Dr. Hirato's home!" Sip said as he walked forward and knocked on the door. However, there was no response.
"...Not at home, it seems?"
"What a bummer!" Sip sighed.
"We can always ask another day." I said.
Sip nodded as we were about to head back, only to see a middle-aged man in a white top with a black vest behind us. He had a Pokémon with him, which I immediately recognized as Hypno, a Kantonian Pokémon.
"Dr. Hirato!" Sip greeted.
"Sip, it's been a while since I've seen you!" Dr. Hirato smiled.
"Yeah... just busy in the hot springs as usual."
"What brings you here?"
"My friend needs your help to recover his past memory!"
"Hmm?" Dr. Hirato examined me before saying, "Let's head into my home to discuss some more."
We entered his home, which the furniture inside were just the ones you'd see at any normal house. However, a hypnotherapy chair that I usually saw in the movies was seen in the house, which caught my attention almost immediately.
Dr. Hirato signaled us to sit down on a couch, making us some tea as he asked me for the story. I told him what still remained in my memory, him paying attention to it and taking notes on a piece of paper.
"Psychological trauma, it seems. When that happens, it's normal to have memory loss to prevent the details from being too much to handle. There could be other possibilities, though." Dr. Hirato concluded from hearing my story.
"Are the details that I forgot about that important?"
"Potentially, they could be the most traumatic, but if you want to learn more about how the incident unfolded, the details are definitely the most vital to help you do so."
"Is there any way to help him recover the memory?" Sip asked.
"There is... hypnosis is used for police departments to know the process of how criminals did their dirty work when they keep their mouths shut."
"Any side effects along with it?"
"Not exactly... though the details you remember would definitely affect you more than a little. You have to be mentally prepared for it."
"..." I was in silence to consider whether it was really worth it.
Would it really be worth it? To have the incident surround my head for even longer with more details?
I was in deep contemplation.
I have to make a choice now, don't I?
It's probably the only way to find out the person I wanted to thank all this time.
I... don't want to leave the region with any regrets.
I nodded, making my final decision, "What's the price for the session?"
"Oh, you don't need to pay me anything. I got my fair share of cash through working with police departments. I just like helping people around."
"Really? Thank you so much!" Sip said.
"No worries. If you really want to thank me in some way, just let me enter the hot springs for free next time." Dr. Hirato chuckled.
"For sure!" Sip nodded.
Dr. Hirato then led me to the hypnotherapy chair, which I lied down on as I tried to relax myself.
"Don't worry, it'll be over in no time." Dr. Hirato reassured me, "You ready?"
I took a deep breath, "Yeah, let's do this."
He nodded before letting his Hypno do the work, "Chiryō, time to start."
The Psychic type exchanged expressions with me before swinging the pendulum on his hand back and forth in front of me.
"Alright, keep your eyes on the pendulum and follow its movements." Dr. Hirato instructed as I followed.
He continued in a calming tone, "You're starting to become more tired, aren't you? You just want to close your eyes and rest up."
As he said that, my eyes started to become tired keeping track of the pendulum's movements. It felt like my body became lighter as well.
"When I say 'sleep', you will immediately go into a deep slumber and when you wake up, you're going to find yourself back in the incident three years ago." He said that as I continued to lose consciousness.
As he said the word, "Sleep!", my eyes closed almost immediately on their own.
And I had returned back to the incident once again.
"Warrior, take those guys out!" The man's voice slowly brought my consciousness back as I opened my eyes, finding myself back in Petalburg Woods.
As the gigantic Pokémon scared away the others trying to attack me, I heard another voice in my head, "If a new event happens this time, just say it out loud so me and Sip can take notes about it."
Knowing that the voice came from Dr. Hirato, I replied, "Alright, that's the plan."
As the man ran towards me, I desperately hoped my memory did not just end right there.
This is the moment of truth...
The man, although still not recognizable, examined me and asked in concern, "Little boy, are you okay?!"
Suddenly, my mouth opened on its own, surprising me, "I-I'm okay."
"That's a relief." The man sighed.
This is definitely new...
I said, hoping that I did not look awkward despite it being just a dream, "T-There are more conversations than before. I'll continue to update you two."
"Sounds good!" The voice in my head appeared again.
My attention suddenly reverted towards the footsteps coming from my right. The man seemed to notice them as well, as he stared towards that direction.
A different voice appeared, "Ah, I should have expected no less from the top trainer in Hoenn. Always there to ruin our plans just like any other authority member."
"There's no point doing this, Wilson. I thought after Team Aqua and Magma's disbandment, the world would be at peace for a little while. However, what you're doing is worrying me, to say the least."
"Oh, do not worry!" The evillish man chirped, "We are just testing out our new mind-controlling device. With this, we can gather more Pokémon to help us do the dirty work."
He then stared at me, "...But who knew during our testing session, a kid would enter the forest and disrupt the process!"
"What you're doing is illegal in the first place. Pokémon isn't supposed to be treated like that!"
"Ah, quit with your ideologies. I'm not here for that. The world is gonna become miserable soon anyway, so Pokémon lives aren't going to matter as much anyway!" Wilson laughed.
"...What's the point of causing misery to the world, anyway?"
"Do I need any particular reason for that?" Wilson replied as he slowly took out a Pokéball, "What matters is, we might not be close to that goal yet, but give us a few years, and we'll be able to achieve our goals. It'll be a sight to behold when that happens."
"Who is going to be as masochistic as you, Willpower Leader Wilson?"
H-He's the Leader of Team Willpower?!
"They don't need to! They won't even know what they're signing up for, anyway." Wilson explained, "They'll just think that we are here to take over the world like some ordinary villain team. But no no no, we don't plan on doing that here! Maybe they'll even be happier once the grand plan is actually revealed."
"No one is going to be happy with that!" I can sense the anger in the man's voice.
The Willpower Leader suddenly threw his Pokéball, sending out a crab-like Pokémon with a large, star-shaped growth on its forehead, "If you wanna stop me, you gotta defeat me to do so!"
"Gladly. Warrior, prepare to battle!" The two Pokémon stood alongside their respective trainers, ready to battle against each other.
There was a brief silence before Wilson commanded, "Crawdaunt, charge up a Crabhammer attack!"
"Warrior, stop it with Bullet Punch!"
As Warrior approached Crawdaunt, the Willpower Leader said, "Oh, did I forget to mention who the target is? Crawdaunt, use the attack on the kid!"
Crawdaunt's pincer began to get surrounded by water as it rushed towards me, hitting me with it. The impact was too much to brace as I fell onto the ground, slowly losing consciousness.
Before I completely lost consciousness, I could hear the man walking towards me as he yelled at the Willpower Leader, "The kid has nothing to do with this!"
"Oh, I just want him to forget about my existence, that's all... The attack on the head is guaranteed at least some memory loss." Wilson chuckled, "I'll not mess with you today. Things... do get quite interesting when you have a threat against you."
He seemed to have taken something out of his pocket and threw it after saying, "This will definitely not be the last time we see each other. For now, farewell."
He threw the item towards the ground, causing a huge layer of smoke around the three of us as I finally lost consciousness, my vision turning pitch black.
I emerged from my slumber, gasping for air as I noticed Dr. Hirato and Sip staring at me, worried.
I took some time to calm down as Dr. Hirato handed me a cup of water for me to drink and relax. After what felt like forever, I finally managed to clear my head as I explained to Dr. Hirato and Sip the extra information I had obtained.
"Wait, so Team Willpower was the one behind that incident?!" Sip exclaimed.
"...Seems like it. Potentially, the incident a month ago could be their doing as well." I replied.
"What are you going to do now?" Dr. Hirato asked.
"I-I'm not too sure." I answered, "I didn't get much information about the trainer, so it's still hard for me to search for him. I'll never give up on finding him, though."
"...It's definitely hard, but I've seen some surprising stuff happening during my work as a hypnotherapist. I'm sure somehow, there's going to be a way."
"Near impossible doesn't mean it's impossible." I smiled.
"That's the spirit!" Sip agreed.
"...We also need to be careful with Team Willpower. Who knows what they're going to do to cause more misery to the world." I continued.
"Yeah. I'll definitely inform some police departments to watch out for that villain team. We don't need more chaos happening around the Pokémon World."
"Thanks a lot, Dr. Hirato."
"No, I should be thanking you. This is vital information for the well-being of everyone. I'm just glad that I'm able to do my part for this."
On the way back to my room after separating with Dr. Hirato and Sip, I thought about many things.
Team Willpower... is definitely something I need to be aware of. I don't know whether they will have the ability to cause misery around the world, but we can't let any chances of that happening come by their side.
And to do that...
I nodded to myself.
I need to get stronger to protect everyone.
A man was busy with his work, with his Pokémon located just right beside him.
"It's been a while since you had overtime work." The Pokémon sighed.
"Well, this place does get busy sometimes." He chuckled, "It's definitely something we need to get used to. Working with business is completely different from being a trainer."
"That's true, I guess."
Suddenly, his phone vibrated as he opened it, checking what the notification was about.
His eyes widened as he saw the message, [Just a little more, and our goals will be achieved. It's been a good run with you, and you've done some decent attempts to halt our plans. But this time... you ain't gonna stop me.]
He closed his phone, pretended like it was nothing as he continued with his work. However, his mind was racing with memories of his countless attempts to end Willpower's activities for good, especially after that one unforgettable, regretful incident three years ago.
He was determined to not make his efforts go to waste. Not after all this time.
I'm sorry to say this, but your dreams will only be dreams.
I'm going to stop you, Willpower Leader Wilson.
Lows' Pokémon Team:
Surfer (Wartortle, Male) Jolly Nature, Moves: Bite, Water Gun, Water Pulse, Mud Slap
Ziggs (Linoone, Male) Naive Nature, Moves: Dig, Headbutt, Swift, Facade
Grace (Kirlia, Female) Calm Nature, Moves: Teleport, Magical Leaf, Shadow Ball, Psybeam
Woody (Grovyle, Male) Lonely Nature, Moves: Pursuit, Leaf Blade, Bullet Seed, Rock Throw
Power (Machop, Male) Timid Nature, Moves: Fling, Focus Energy, Karate Chop, Low Kick