Chapter Text
"They survived."
"Boo! We should kill them."
"I have a better idea."
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Friede glared at the multicolored eyes on the face of the smirking man
He had to protect Liko.
He'd give himself for Liko.
"Don't be scared. Soon you won't even remember this."
Liko caught onto the meaning before Friede did. "NO!"
And then the four of them were trapped in the swirling yellow, green, and red.
And they were gone.
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He woke up engulfed in orange.
His limbs ached, like he hadn't moved them for a while.
He realized the orange was scales. And that he could feel a scaly chest rising and falling.
He tensed. Slowly, carefully, he rolled out of the creature's grasp. Blue wings were curled in on itself. He lifted them slowly, not wanting to wake it.
He rolled over and hit cool grass, and slowly stood up, feeling confused.
The Pokemon he'd been curled against was a Charizard. He frowned, looking around.
How the heck had he ended up here, in the middle of nowhere?
…
Perhaps a better question was what his name was.
He ran a hand through his hair. Jeez, he didn't know what color his hair was.
He didn't know much of anything, really.
He looked down at his hand. A little colored. Smooth but not child smooth. A little rough.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a Rotom Phone. Maybe it had answers.
[No connection!]
He frowned in disappointment, before studying his reflection in the black screen.
A complete stranger stared back.
His hair was light colored- White, or maybe a light blue or blonde. He had a bare face and wore a jacket over a black shirt.
He looked to be in his… Thirties? Maybe?
He looked to his side.
There was a girl there. He didn't recognize her. She was passed out on the ground, still except for her steady breathing.
She had pale skin and bluish black hair that fell on her shoulders. A yelow bag was nestled in her teal blue top.
Next to her lay a white and green, tall bipedal feline Pokemon. A Meowscarada.
He looked back to the Charizard. Was this his partner? He felt his waist and found a belt with one Pokeball on it.
Why didn't he remember anything?
Just then, the Charizard began to stir. It blinked sharp blue eyes open and rose, scanning its surroundings before seeing him.
It growled, baring its teeth and walking towards him.
"Woah," He said quickly in a voice he didn't know, holding out his hands out. "Easy, friend. I'm not a threat."
Charizard snarled, eyes narrowed. He noticed it looked pretty roughed up.
He slipped his hand into his jacket- Brown, with a few pockets and patches sewn on.
He took out a few light blue Oran berries and set them in front of Charizard, stepping away quickly .
The fire type's gaze traveled from him to the berries, before slowly lowering its head and snapping them up.
He cautiously sat down. "There you go." He paused. "Do you know where we are? Who I am?"
Charizard looked up, looking dismayed, before shaking its head.
"Do you… remember anything?"
It shook its head again.
"We're in the same boat, friend. I don't either." He held out his hand. "Would you like to stick together?"
It looked around. "Char…" It growled softly, reaching its neck over and pressing its snout against his hand. He chuckled and scratched the top of its head.
He heard a gasp and turned to see the girl sit up quickly, blinking.
"Where am I?" She asked him. "Who are you?"
He shrugged ruefully. "No clue."
She furrowed her brow. "What do you mean?"
"I don't know the answer to either of those," He sighed. "I don't know who I am, and I don't know where we are."
He lifted his hand from Charizard's snout. "Neither does this one." He turned to look at her. "What's your name?"
She opened her mouth to answer and then closed it, light blue eyes wide. "I don't know," She whispered. "I don't know either." She curled in on herself, wrapping her hands around her knees.
Sympathy rose in him. She only looked about twelve, maybe thirteen. She looked terrified. What had she done to wind up here?
He stood up and walked over to sit next to her. "Do you remember anything?"
She shook her head, not looking at him.
"I guess it's safe to assume your friend doesn't either," He sighed, looking over at the Meowscarada.
She didn't respond, blinking like she was trying not to cry.
"Hey," he said gently, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "It's alright. We'll figure this out. I may not know you, but we'll figure out something."
She leaned into him, burying her head in his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her as she sobbed, "I don't have a name. I'm no one. I don't know anything."
He held her tightly. "That's not true," He murmured. "You have a story. You were someone before this. We can figure it out- or we can build something new."
She looked up at him. "I want to go home," She said shakily. "But I don't know where home is."
"We can make a home," He said. "You're not no one."
She blinked. "We?" She said hesitantly.
He smiled down at her. "I'm not going to leave you alone. You're only a kid."
She buried her head in his shoulder again. He stroked her back lightly. "I'll take care of you," He promised softly. "I'll protect you. We'll stick together."
She gently exited his embrace, sitting on her knees and looking at him. "Thank you," she whispered.
"Of course," he said. He turned and saw the Meowscarada sitting up, staring at them with a searching gaze.
"Hey there," He said to it. "I'm going to assume you don't remember anything?"
It gave a small shake of its head, turning to study the girl behind him.
She hesitated, then stood up and cautiously approached. "Um," She said nervously, holding out her hand. "Hi. I... think we might be partners?" Her other hand fidgeted with her clothing. "Do.. Would you like to stay with me?"
Meowscarada looked her up and down, before slowly rising. It placed its paw in her hand, making her smile.
"Mraow," It confirmed with a nod.
He studied them, frowning in confusion. How could all four of them end up losing their memory? He reached up, and felt for an injury on his head. It felt fine. The chances of four losing their memory from injury had to be pretty low.
Otherwise... had someone intended for them to lose their memory?
He shook his head. That didn't matter right now. What mattered was getting out of wherever they were.
He walked over to Charizard. "Can you fly, bud?"
The orange dragon snorted and stood up, flapping its wings and hovering off the ground experimentally. It looked over and gave him a firm nod, landing.
He turned to look at the girl. She had a Pokeball in her hands. "Meowscarada. Return." She said uncertainly, pressing the button. Pale red light shot out and engulfed the Pokemon, causing her to jump back in surprise.
"Guess she is my partner," She said.
He nodded, climbing onto Charizard and holding out his hand for her. She took it and he hauled her up.
"Ready?" He asked her. She nodded, wrapping her hands around his waist.
"Come on, bud." He nudged Charizard. "Let's find somewhere to stay."
"Char," He snorted in agreement, flapping his wings and lifting them into the air.
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Roy's feet touched the ground as Kilowattrel set him down. He turned as the electric bird lowered his neck to let Dot off.
Liko's Hattrem released her grip on Dot and floated dejectedly in the air.
They stood in front of Dot's house and Roy stubbornly wiped his eyes. It had been nearly 3 weeks since Laqua. Since Liko and Friede had.. gone missing.
That's what they all said. Gone missing. None of them could force themselves to confront what they all knew. No one could survive that fall- It was too wild and windy for Charizard to be able to grab them and save them.
Friede. Meowscarada. Charizard. Pagogo.
Liko.
"Dot!" A voice yelped as the door of Dot's opened, and her mother rushed out, along with her Lycanroc.
"Dot!" She exclaimed again, crushing her daughter in a hug. "Murdock called and told me what happened, I'm so sorry, are you alright? Everything's waiting for you, I organized your room, is there anything I can-"
"Can I have a moment with Roy?" Dot asked quietly.
"Of course," Her mother said. "I'll be inside whenever you're ready, you can tell me everything then, it'll be-" Her Lycanroc snorted and set a paw on her shoulder.
"Right. Right. See you soon." The two of them turned and went back inside the house.
Roy looked at Dot. "I guess this is it."
"I guess so," she murmured, staring down.
"Take good care of Hattrem, okay?" He said to her.
"I will." She said. "It's the least I can do for her. You take care of Cap."
"Pika.." the Pikachu sighed sadly on Roy's shoulder.
"He can probably take care of himself," He pointed out with a smile. "But yeah. I will."
He stepped forward and hugged Dot. She tensed before hugging him back.
"I hope this isn't the last time we see eachother," He said.
She nodded. "Where are you going?"
Roy shrugged uncertainly. "First, I'm heading to Indigo Academy to talk to Ann. Then.. I'll keep traveling."
"Good luck, Roy." She murmured as Kilowattrel rose to carry him.
"See you, Dot."
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Roy landed outside of Indigo Academy, returning Kilowattrel and bringing out Crocalor.
Hesitantly, he walked up to the door, wondering if he had to ask to go in.
"Roy!"
He turned to see Ann and her Dewott a few yards away, running towards him. Roy turned and smiled. "Hey, Ann."
She wrapped him in a hug. "What happened? Have you heard what they've been saying on the news? Where's Liko?"
His gaze dropped to the ground at the last question. "Can I talk to you somewhere alone?"
She nodded. "Come on."
Roy followed her for a few minutes to a large lake, hidden by a grove of trees.
Ann sat on a rock, looking down at her hands and holding Dewott against her chest. "This was Liko and Sprigatito's favorite training spot," She explained. "So.. what happened? That weird blue haired Explorer was saying the Rising Volt Tacklers caused the disaster on Mount Pericarp- But that's not true, is it?"
Roy winced. "Spinel. I mean.. in a sense. We didn't mean any harm." He poured out the whole story to her.
"And then.. Liko and Friede.. fell." He said softly. "While we were escaping."
Ann gasped, putting a hand on her mouth. Tears formed in her eyes. "Oh," she said quietly.
They sat in silence before she started forward, hugging him. "I'm so sorry, Roy!"
He just nodded and she sat back down.
"We searched until the Explorers took control of the mountain and locked it down, but found no sign of them. And then we split up."
Ann looked up. "So they might be alive?"
Roy hesitated. "I.. don't think so."
She shook her head. "They might be, if you didn't find anything. Charizard was with them."
"The wind was too wild," He said. "Too strong. Charizard wouldn't have been able to grab them and maintain flight."
"Maybe it lessened towards the ground," Ann argued. "Maybe Liko returned Floragato to her Pokeball and Friede was holding onto Charizard, and they only had to grab her."
"Meowscarada," He corrected.
She blinked. "Hm?"
"Floragato evolved during the fight. Did I not mention that?"
She shook her head. "Well, Meowscarada then. They could be alive, Roy. You have to keep hoping."
"I don't know if I can." He admitted with a sigh.
Ann shrugged. "Well, I will. What happened to Hattrem?"
"Dot's taking care of her," Roy responded. "Well.. that's all. I wanted to let you know what happened."
She stood up. "Where are you going to go?"
"I'm going to go back to the island where I lived for a few days," He explained. "And then, I don't know. I'll go wherever."
Ann nodded. "Good luck with whatever you find out there."
"Thanks. Bye, Ann."