Being away from the Center for even a little while, I forget just how high these trees reach. We've been steadily climbing for ages, and it still seems like we're less than halfway up. I'm surprised Delcatty and the others don't get altitude sickness living here.
"They should really put like, an elevator or something in," Rotom complains. "I don't see what your problem is, you could just float to the top," Seviper retorts. "Tch, shows what you know! It takes energy to fly!" Rotom says with mock disdain. "I guess if Hoopa could can infuse the badges with their powers, maybe they could make some kind of teleport system within the Center," I wonder out loud. Honestly, I have no idea how their powers work, nor the extent of their applications, but the scientist in me is thrilled by the possibilities. There must be all kinds of uses for such special abilities!
"Maybe, but personally don't wanna use their portals more than necessary," Stephanie says, "every time I go through one I feel like I'm going to puke," "although it wasn't much better going through the wormhole at the lab…that was turbulence if I ever felt it!" Dragalge cuts in. "I think that was somehow even worse than the imp's portals," Serperior adds, "and at least Hoopa's don't seem to come with a…a uh…" he stammers before focusing intently on the ground, seemingly reluctant to finish the thought. "A what? An insane boss? Come on, don't keep us in suspense!" Rotom laughs, nudging him. "…with a memory wipe," he replies softly, at which everyone else goes quiet.
The others suddenly try to fill the awkward silence, a little too quickly and a little too eagerly, while I get pulled into my own thoughts. I know it's been a while, and I know I've recovered a lot of my memories…but I also know things are still missing. I'm usually made aware when I'm with family and friends—we'll be talking, and I won't remember a party I went to, or a vacation we took, something funny I supposedly said, or something. Sometimes it's something small, but other times it's major. Sometimes I'll get the flashback, sometimes I won't. But it leaves me wondering—how much is gone without me even realizing? How many times do I slip, make it clear I have no idea what someone's talking about, and they just let it go quietly? What if, without some important memories, I'm a different person? Would anyone tell me?
"Hey, you alright?" Stephanie says, getting my attention. "Huh? Oh, it's nothing, I'm fine," I say dismissively. "You know, it's ok—being sad about your memories," she says, looking deeply into my eyes. I blink and look away, "I know…I just feel like it should all be back to normal by now…I don't want to spend the rest of my life wondering what I'm still missing, you know?" "…well, the good thing is you have the rest of your life to make up for it. By then, whatever you haven't recovered shouldn't seem like so much," she says, nuzzling against my neck while I smile. "How do you always know just what to say?" "Honestly? It's a gift," she grins.
I look ahead at the group, some of whom are arguing now. "Nice going, stupid! Now look what you've done!" Rotom hisses, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to say it…it just sort of slipped out!" Serperior whispers defensively. "We need to be mindful about it, remember? We talked about this," Dragalge says gently. They had? I guess I wouldn't have any way to know if they did it in our world, especially if Rotom wouldn't tell me. I approach from behind.
"Guys?" I venture, making the trio jump. "HA! Oh Dragalge, that was such a funny joke that you should definitely tell again. Right now!" Rotom says, grinning too widely. "It's ok, I could hear you," I say, not wanting to sidestep the issue. "I'm sorry Gwen, I didn't mean anything earlier…I just…wasn't thinking…" Serperior says, not making eye contact. "No, no, it's really ok. I…I don't want you guys to feel like you can't talk about it with me. We're a team, and besides, I want to know the extent of the amnesia. I don't want to go through life thinking everyone's just…silently sharing the thought that I'm missing something." They look at each other uneasily, the back to me. "Well, we don't want to make you feel out of the loop. So if you're certain, we can be more…forthcoming, if things come up," Dragalge offers, making me wonder what they've decided to keep quiet so far. "Thank you, I really appreciate it. And who knows, maybe it will help me remember more," I laugh, eager to clear the suffocatingly awkward energy that's fallen over us.
We continue onwards, then eventually reach Delcatty's place at the top of the canopy. "Ough…I feel a little sick," Seviper says, wrapping herself around a nearby branch and making a point of not looking down. "Don't worry, I'll catch you if you fall!" Noivern says, puffing out his chest. "You mean, if you don't get distracted by something shiny," she shoots back, sticking out her tongue.
Once we're in their home, the nausea-inducing height of the building seems less present. Looking around, it's the same as when we were last here following our stint in the Echoing Ruins. Ugh, even thinking about that place sends a chill down my spine.
"Oh dear…you know, I really am dying to tidy this place up…" Dragalge says, looking restlessly from one pile of mess to the next. "Huh? Tidy up?" Ampharos' voice calls out from around a corner. He appears a moment later, "sorry it's not to your liking, but we ARE rather busy running an entire Exploration Center here!" He says indignantly. "Oh-oh my…Ampharos! I'm terribly sorry…not to say your home is…unkept, but ah—" "Ampharos, I'm gonna level with ya, one electric type to another. This place is nasty. You guys live like this?" Rotom says, zooming over. He closes his eyes for a moment and takes a deep, steadying breath. "Look, I wasn't expecting company for a few hours yet. I'm in the middle of some important work! If you guys feel like making yourselves useful and clean up, go for it. But don't say I didn't warn you about Delcatty," he says before going back the way he came.
"Oh weeell done, now we're on cleaning duty!" Rotom says pointedly, although the way Dragalge's eyes are sparkling by the official invite to clean tells me they're not too bothered. "Well, you heard the man! They'll be back in a few hours! Let's get to it!" They say, fired up. "There's no stopping it now Rotom, can't you see? They're in cleaning mode," Serperior laughs. "Exactly! We have a few short hours to make this place fit for the Master of the Exploration Center!"
We slowly, and some party members somewhat begrudgingly, start tidying up their space. I remind Dragalge that we should at least leave the books and maps they have out, as they're probably using them to plan expeditions and the like, but I'm not sure they're fully listening. "Think about it—they can plan things better if they have a nicer living area. A clearer space for a clearer head," they assure me. Eventually I get them to agree to leave the stuff out, but arranged in a more organized way. Delcatty should be thankful—had Dragalge had it their way, none of their hard work would be preserved.
My eyes skim over the contents of the maps and books as I straighten them up. A familiar book—the book about legendaries from the library—is open to a page featuring a shadowy pokemon. "Darkrai, huh?" I say, momentarily stopping the cleaning to have a quick read. The text discusses their ability—debatably unintentional—of causing nightmares to those around it. It sounds like a difficult existence…how can such a pokemon live in the presence of others, I wonder?
I glance at the next book, which lists a few dated encounters with the pokemon, although many sound heavily exaggerated. I turn my attention to the map, which has various pins in place, each one corresponding to an alleged sighting. Arrows have been lightly penciled in between the pins, some with question marks around them, eventually leading to a location that's been circled several times.
It appears to be…it's…
The Echoing Ruins.
By breathing stops for a moment. What…is this? Why is Delcatty doing research on this? What is she thinking? Is this Darkrai somehow…connected to the Ruins? And even if he is…why is she looking into it?
She and I were lucky to get through that place in one piece…but could she have some kind of morbid curiosity with it? I'll admit, that place has occupied more of my thoughts than I care for, but mostly in the form of terrors about still being in there. She couldn't be planning to…go back there, could she? No…that's crazy…there's no way that after all that she'd—
"Gwen! Those paws aren't cleaning!" Dragalge calls from across the room, startling me. From my recovered memories and the time since, I know that they always liked things clean and orderly, but I never realized they were quite so intense about it. "Sorry boss," I call back, straightening the books. They've all had enough to worry about with everything…I decide to keep this to myself for now, at least until I can learn more from Delcatty. Anyway, there's no point agonizing over something that could just be her own curiosity.
We finish the first room, then move deeper into the house, until we get to the study, where Ampharos is furiously writing. "No, no, no! Out! I'm too busy to have you bustling all around me!" He says, waving us away. Just then, we hear a cry at the entrance. "Woah, is this our place?" "AMPHAROS?!" Cradily and Delcatty's voices yell at the same time. "Well, sounds like you have some explaining to do," he says with a smirk, probably pleased we'll be facing our punishment for rearranging all their stuff.
We return to the entrance to see them staring at the transformed room wide eyed. "Gwen, what is this?" Delcatty says with shock. "Any complaints can be redirected to the head of the cleaning department," I say, motioning to Dragalge, who's beaming. "Well it's…it's simply amazing! I don't remember the last time it looked so organized in here!" "Probably when we moved in, actually," Cradily says thoughtfully. "Hey, we're not that bad!" Delcatty says, turning to her. "Oh my dears, we were happy to do it! And it's not everyday we get to organize explorer paraphernalia!" They say proudly. "More like not everyday you direct us how to organize it," Rotom says under her breath.
"Well, I think it looks fantastic, whoever did the bulk of the cleaning," Delcatty winks. "Now then! We are officially off for the evening! And, for the first time since I've ever met any of you, we're not in jail, on the run, or putting our lives in peril! What's everyone wanna do?" "We could go to bed," Serperior offers nonchalantly. "Look. I didn't risk it all to bring you guys back here and earn you all-access passes to come whenever just so you could get a full 12 hours," Delcatty says going up to him. "I know you need the beauty sleep, but as Master of the Center and team leader, I decree we're going to have some fun!" "As you wish, 'Master,' just good luck running this place after staying up all night," he replies, stifling a laugh.
"So! The Center itself is winding down for the night, but that doesn't mean we can't have fun right here!" She beams, tossing her bag on the ground. "Hey! Dragalge had us cleaning for hours in here! Don't just throw it on the floor!" Rotom says with annoyance. "Whoops, sorry mom," Delcatty grins, picking it up and hanging it from a hook by the door.
As she leads us into the living area, I wonder what she has in mind for our evening of stress free fun.
