“You brought an interesting case to me Professor.”, the local Officer Jenny spoke, a lilt to her voice as she looked towards Avery in the small holding room. “Kadabra confirmed that he is of sound mind although a much more powerful Pokemon did put a temporary seal on his memories. The seal itself looks to be protective and guarding in nature, not one placed by any Dark or Ghost-types. We don’t have any missing child reports matching his description from the local towns either, so I’m stuck at an impasse with what to do,” she muttered, looking over the small manilla folder in her hand.
“And physically?” Professor Oak asked, worried about the sudden bout of pain the child went through on their way to the station.
“Doctor’s reports are in. Dehydrated but without any scars or overt injuries. A couple minor burns on his arms that have been healed and bandaged, and interestingly enough, salt water logged socks. If I had to make a guess, we have a run-away, from another region, given his accent. His demeanor is, let’s say, more ‘cultured’ than a teen his age but he truly doesn’t remember. He isn’t lying about only knowing his name and some common knowledge. He had about 30,000 Pokedollars (Ꝑ) on him, which isn’t much but it isn’t a small sum either. Porygon’s scans haven’t shown that the bills were stolen or misplaced, so likely placed on his person or collected by the boy himself before his escape.”
“So, potentially another orphan from a different region, escaped by the help of an unknown Pokemon, and left just outside our town’s borders.” The Professor summarized, a thoughtful expression on his face as he recalled the many war stories narrated to him by his grandfather so many decades ago. “And were you able to ask if he had any plans yet?”
“I was hoping to tackle that with you around Prof. He seemed more receptive to you and I can’t just place him in a foster home given his age. So, let’s go ask shall we?” Officer Jenny replied, indicating with her hand at the closed door.
“Let’s.” Oak replied, following Jenny in and seeing Avery’s face light up.
[https://i.postimg.cc/3RY1GP6V/Break-Pokeball.png]
After the Professor took me to the station, I was rushed inside a small holding room with the local Officer Jenny and asked a few questions. My name, where I was from, what I knew, general knowledge questions about the geography of anywhere I could remember. I was only able to answer the first one clearly, and was able to give partial answers about the geography of the world and its various regions as a whole, not much else. A Kadabra soon came in, and I was asked if it would be okay for him to connect with me. I knew what Psychic Pokemon were capable of, at least on the surface, and I wanted to know what was going on. I consented, and after a few minutes of staring at a Kadabra and his glowing spoon, a foreign weight lifted off of my head that I hadn’t even realized was there. Painless really, but maybe that might have been due to my consent. The Kadabra looked towards Officer Jenny and handed her a small file teleported in from somewhere else.
The both of them left soon after and a doctor wearing a similar but longer coat to the Professor came in. My blood was collected for a quick test, and a Chansey strolled in to heal me up; with all that had been going on, I didn’t even realize I had a few burns. Speaking of burns, most of my clothes had soot stains on them, and my socks were starting to get itchy. I didn’t even know where my shoes were, and most of the pale blue t-shirt I wore seemed way too wrinkled and weathered for just a night spent sleeping in the woods.
After the Chansey left, I sat there waiting for Arceus knows how long. There wasn’t even a clock in this room and the metallic chair and table weren't particularly comfortable. As I drank from the glass of water across from me, I started to think about what I’d do from here. If they were able to figure out where I was from, would I go back? The thought of returning made me feel wary, as if a sleeping Serperior was waiting for me if I ever returned. So, no going back. Then what would I do? Rent a room in the Pokemon Center, for one thing. Take a shower and get some better clothes, a pair of shoes. I had enough money for that, I checked.
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But what of after? What did I want? I felt wholly unprepared yet knew there was something I had always wanted to do. Before I could ruminate on that though, the door opened again and Officer Jenny walked in followed by Professor Oak close behind.
“Hey Avery, sorry for keeping you stuck in here.” Officer Jenny spoke, taking a seat across from me and releasing a small sigh before continuing. “So, first of all, I’m sorry but we couldn’t find anything about where you’re from or who your parents are. We’ll put out an alert with your description and get you hooked up with a Poketch from the donation fund so that we can reach out to you, but you’re free to go.” she finished.
I slowly took in what she said. Even though I didn’t think they’d be able to find out my past, I had hoped for something more. Before I could ask anything, Professor Oak put a hand on my shoulder comfortingly while looking at Jenny with a stern gaze.
“Okay okay.” Jenny replied, looking away for a moment before meeting my eyes. “Kadabra did discover something. There’s a seal in your memories. I believe that’s what is causing the amnesia but you’ll be glad to know that the traits of the seal seem protective. We don’t get cases like this often, or at all really, but our next steps according to the League’s guidelines depend on you. If you’d like the seal released, we can try to find a Psychic Pokemon to do so but it is quite powerful and it seems programmed to wear away on its own. We’re not sure how long it might take, maybe a few months to years. But I can’t stress this enough, and I know this can be uncomfortable to hear, it might be better to keep it in place for now.”
“Why though?” I replied, confused and shocked about the state of my own mind. “Why do I have to keep it sealed? I want to know who I am!” I told her, almost yelling, gripping the sides of the table hard enough to almost feel pain. The heat in my chest had returned, an anger I didn’t know the source of but directed at the woman sitting across from me at this moment.
“Breathe Avery, don’t let your anger get the better of you. We’re here for you, I promise.” Professor Oak replied, still resting his hand on my shoulder. I looked up at him as he gave me a soothing smile. “I believe the good Officer here meant that the seal was placed to protect you, not to harm you. And keeping it in place might be more beneficial than letting it loose. Seals such as these are not simple; removing it prematurely might lead to serious consequences” he said as he came to my side and crouched to look at my eyes.
“I am sorry Avery, that you have to go through this. No one should. But you could lose your memories completely if you release the seal and in the worst case scenario, you might not wake up from the procedure.” he finished solemnly.
[https://i.postimg.cc/FstT5kRp/image-Phxv-Mk-Vk-1684033558110-raw.jpg]
The gravity of my situation struck me once more. Here I was, in an unknown town, taken care of by unknown adults. And the only solution to my problem is to either wait or endanger myself to the point where I might not wake up again. Would I be a coward if I decided to wait for the future instead of confronting it now? No, my inner self rebelled. The seal didn’t prevent my instincts, my personality, only my memories of who I had been, where I was from. So maybe I wouldn’t be a coward, I would still be me with or without the seal.
“Okay.” I replied quietly, letting go of the table, letting my arms hang by my sides as I stayed silent, taking slow deep breaths as I let the anger fade away. Picking up the cue, Officer Jenny spoke in a controlled, calm, voice, “You don’t have to make a decision right now. Like I said earlier, you’re free to go but I don’t want to just leave you out on the streets. Do you have any plans on what you want to do? We’ll try to help.” she finished soothingly, Professor Oak nodding by the side.
What would I do while I waited? Again, that same hopeful wish, no, a goal I had carved into my very being, came up to rear its head. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. I looked up to the Professor and knew he’d be able to help me.
“Professor Oak, I want to be a Pokemon Trainer!”