Bad Memory

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"So, let me get this straight…" She puts on a face of concentration. "You're a pokémon."

"Yes."

"And… I'm a pokémon?"

"Right." He nods encouragingly, still looking forward.

"But you're also a Shinx?"

"Yeah."

"And I might be a Zorua?"

"Probably."

"While still being Pokémon."

"Yup."

"...this feels needlessly convoluted."

The Shinx giggles. "You'll be the first one I've heard say that. It's not that complicated."

As she grumbles to herself, the now self-realized maybe-Zorua and the Shinx continue walking along the soft dirt road, which is winding along the edge of a cliff. There's still plenty of distance between themselves and the edge, but as they move along it gets narrower and narrower. Soon, she fears that they'll run out of road to walk and have to shimmy along the edge of a cliff to avoid falling off.

For some reason, she really doesn't like heights. She told the Shinx that, and he said that's fairly normal for some pokémon. Still, they shoulder on, with herself being as far away from the edge as possible. She asked why they went this way to head to the Shinx's home, in which he told her that the town might be a bit much for her at the moment.

She appreciates the thought: having to deal with more creatures like this one requires some mental prep. For now, she did nothing but ask questions for almost thirty minutes and discovered a few things.

So she's just outside of a fairly large town, one named Treasure Town. The Zorua rolled her eyes at the name and sarcastically asked if there's a street named Booty Lane, in which the Shinx answered casually that there is. She almost fell over laughing, but she fears that it'll knock out what little cognition she has left and kept it to a small chuckle.

The second thing after learning that was that she can't remember anything.

Like, anything at all.

It started when the kid asked her if she remembers where she's from, and after thinking really hard on it for about a minute straight she found out she doesn't. So she asked for some popular locations, and after listening to him list off the nearby towns she still came out of it as clueless as she started. She jokingly said that she might just be a hobo of some kind, but then the kid asked what a hobo even was, in which she admitted that she didn't know why she even said that.

That little tangent then bloomed into the kid pulling a turnabout on her, asking her questions and seeing how much she knows. In total, she doesn't know jack about most things Pokémon, or what 'types' are, or any sort of familiarity for species names. All of it made practically no sense.

On the other hand, for some reason, she was still familiar with the concept of what a Town was, and everything going from Village all the way to a City. The Shinx didn't know what that was, however, but when he asked her what it was she had to admit she didn't know either. It was just another word that just seemed… right.

In spite of the depressing amount of things she doesn't know, the Zorua - sort of might be one, they still don't know - was complemented by the kid that she's surprisingly easy to answer questions to, even if the answer is 'I don't know' half the time. She had to admit, it just felt natural to ask questions. To deduce.

It's detect or die out there.

Another flash of words, come and gone, with the only thing left a bitter taste in her mouth. And dryness.

Speaking of… "Hey, is there something to drink around here?"

The Shinx gives her a nod. "Yeah, I have a small basin at my home. Oh," He looks over at her. "I hope you don't mind, but I think it's safer if you stay with me for the night."

"Oh… really?" She can tell the kid's genuine, it's hard not to tell from how he's been answering all of her questions as best as he can, but some part of her can't help but feel… surprised? "But- we just met?"

"And?"

"...I'm a stranger? Don't they tell kids about 'stranger danger' anymore?"

"'Stranger danger'? What are…" The boy shakes his head. "Nevermind, is that one of those things that you-"

The words start spilling out before she could think. "It's the general wariness of strangers that adults try to instill into the younger generation, in the hopes that they won't get stolen away from them by bad actors, kidnappers, child murderers, and traffickers."

Silence.

"...oh."

She blinks. "Well damn, that was the entire definition."

The Shinx shakes his head. "That was… descriptive, for sure. You sound old."

When that earns him a look, he shakes his head. "I-I mean, you sound experienced! That's what I meant, I swear!"

She narrows her eyes, then returns them to their usual half-lidded look. "You're lucky you're funny, you funny cat child."

He breathes a sigh of relief.

Finally, the two of them reach a terrace of some kind, with a nice bit of grass growing untamed here and there. Off to the side, she can see stairs carved into the side and, assuming she's correct, up into where Shinx's little den is.

Another thing is that she expected such a distance would've lasted longer than it did. That, or she would've felt more winded for such a jog. The Zorua-but-maybe-not told the Shinx this and got an odd look. "What makes you say that?"

She looks back down the trail, where they came from. "I don't know, it just felt… farther than we should've walked." As she looks back, she sees a cluster of buildings in the distance, with some kind of pink bump on top of a tall cliff looming over the whole thing.

She feels oddly disturbed by such an eyesore. Good thing the low light of evening will swallow the whole thing, until morning reminds her that it was only hiding from her for…

For…

…

Catching her stares, the Shinx looks in the same direction. "Oh, that's Treasure Town!" If she were to peek behind her, she'd see the electric cat get excited again. "It's kind of hard to see it from here, but that little pink spot in the distance on that cliff? That's the home of the Wigglytuff Guild! It's where we're going tomorrow."

Oh, joy. "Why do I feel watched?"

"Hm?" He gives her an odd look. "Oh, some people say it looks creepy, but when I asked some of the Explorers from the Guild, they said it was to dissuade criminals or something. I guess it's kind of weird…" They trail off, but glancing back at the kid shows that goofy smile on his feline face.

The urge to ask questions comes back, as the sun sets further into the horizon. There's no sign of the sun besides the light it casts from beyond said horizon, and shadows slowly stretch farther and farther across the land. Night is approaching, and she feels… oddly comfortable by that thought. Like she's in her element: the night falls over her shoulders like a mantle.

(Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum.)

She shivers, almost wanting to sneeze, before looking over to the Shinx.

"I have another question."

"Yes?"

Something bubbles its way up from inside her, like a whisper just behind her and yet not. There's a touch of apprehension on his face. Maybe he doesn't like answering so many 'basic' questions?

She shakes away the thought and focuses on her own words. "You really seem to like the Guild."

"Is it that obvious?" He laughs nervously. "Well, they're really cool, for one! There's plenty of other Guilds, most towns either have one, or a Guild covers two or three in a certain area. But Wigglytuff's is just…" He tries to find the right words. "Something personal?"

"Personal?"

He smiles. "They helped me when I was little. I got very sick, and my sister asked for help from the Guild. Not only did they get some medicine in record time, but they did it for free! They mentioned that they'd do anything for the children of Treasure Town, but… well, it's hard to think of it as anything but them being my heroes."

Ah. She can see it now. All of those goofy smiles and high praise really was something close to the heart. Hell, her getting help from this kid is having him worm his way into her good graces, and she knew the weird cat for what- an hour?

He's a good kid. It's hard to find one, these days.

She doesn't know why she thinks that, but she can't deny that she feels right in that assessment.

But this Guild… it feels familiar, in some distant sort of way. As the light starts to fade, she keeps going. "Do the Guild members help keep the peace, or something?"

"Sort of. It's mostly Officer Magnezone's job to detain outlaws, but Guild members and other Adventurers can take up bounties to take care of dangerous Pokémon!" He yawns, trying to shake off his impending desire to sleep. "Although Guild members are usually more trained in using moves, so if anything does happen in town, it's usually a Guild member or some Adventurer who comes to help. Treasure Town is pretty big, as far as towns go, so there's usually something happening in it that requires someone's help."

"Hm." She hums in answer.

They stay like that for a bit longer, before the Shinx lets out a large yawn. The sky is now mostly dark, with a touch of light coming from the horizon. The light barely changes the landscape in any way. "We should probably go to sleep, before I can't see anything, anymore. C'mon, the water basin's inside."

Together, the both of them clock out for the night, with the not-really-a-Zorua dunking their entire head into the small pool of water and the Shinx nervously laughing at their eagerness to slake their thirst. She gives an odd look at the bed of straw, but she can't place why she does in the first place as the Shinx takes some of the straw and makes a mini-bed for her on the opposite side of the room.

She thanks him for the space, then flops onto her side on the straw.

After a long, long moment, she speaks up. "Hey?"

"Mm… yeah?"

"Thanks, kid. For dealing with my bullshit."

"Wha… um, you're welcome."

She didn't sleep that night. She doesn't know why that's wrong, but she couldn't. Resting felt nice, however.

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Morning came slowly.

She sat there the whole night, and it might've been the brain damage but she couldn't catch a single wink of shuteye. It's yet another thing that just feels off, but just like her complete lack of memories she has no clue why.

Today, however, she'll get her answers. She just had to be patient and wait for the morning.

She discovered that she's not very patient that night. The boredom might've come and strangled her. Can boredom kill?

Regardless of that, she waited it out and the light of day creeped through the crack at the bottom of the entryway to the Shinx's home. As soon as she saw that, she decided that enough time was spent alone with her very empty thoughts and got up.

She stretched, let out a vulpine yawn that she did more for dramatic effect, then walked over to the sleeping Shinx.

She pokes him. "Hey."

"Mm." He makes a little noise, then uncurls himself and lets out an absolutely eldritch yawn, flashing fangs that creep her out a little, then opens his slightly luminous yellow eyes.

He blinks at how close she is. She just stares at him.

"...what is it?"

"It's morning."

His dreary eyes blinked slowly, then dragged themselves over to the faint light. "There's barely any light out…"

She looks back to the opening, then back to him. "But it's morning."

He sighs. "Don't you want some extra sleep? I heard that those who might've gotten hurt need it."

"I didn't sleep."

That seems to wake him up a bit more. "What- why didn't you sleep?"

She tries to think of an answer, but ultimately shrugs. "I don't know, I just didn't. Maybe I don't need it?"

"That…" He shakes his head, starting to get up and stretch. "Well, I've heard about some pokémon not needing as much sleep as others. Maybe it just takes a couple of days for you to get tired?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." She pauses. "I take that back, your guess is probably way better than mine."

He giggles. "Right, amnesia and all that."

"Completely retrograde, at that."

Another burst of giggles, which helps the sting of boredom go away.

Again, she's surprised by how quickly they got ready to go. He sifted around a few things out of a burlap bag that he was carrying yesterday, got a drink, then opened the door before she realized it. She looks around, seeing if he missed anything, then sees that there really wasn't much around.

Except for a rock sitting on a counter. Slowly, she walked over to it as he got his meager things together and stared at it. There's an odd pattern on it, along with a length of twine tying it together and two lengths on either side left over. The design on it reeks with age, but the significance of it is beyond her.

As are most things, apparently. She sighs-

(Two Sparks Lost In The Night)

-and shivers off a sudden cold flash. It feels too cold here in the morning.

The Shinx must've heard, as he looks back from fiddling with the door. "What's wrong?"

"Everything." She says casually. "But mostly thirsty again." Her stomach growls. "And there's a monster in my stomach."

"Oh, right," She shakes his head. "You haven't eaten anything yet, have you? And who knows how long you were on the beach." He goes back over to his meager possessions and looks around in them. "Do you know what kind of food you like?"

It only takes a moment to think of an answer. "No."

He steps to the side, and shows her a colorful arrangement of… things. "Well, I just got a bunch of berries from Kangaskhan yesterday. Most of them are my favorites, but some of them are-" He pauses as he looks back inside of it. "Oh."

"What?"

"Ew," He paws out one of these 'berries', this one spiky- no, scaled? Burnt orange in color and shaped like a bulb, it rolls onto the floor. "You probably won't like petayas, they're super spicy and bitter."

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

Spicy and bitter? Her mind supplies to her directly that they're flavors, one bitting like a flame and the other strong on the back of her tongue. Without her permission, her mouth starts to salivate as she smells the spice wafting into her nose. Her eyes hone in on the fruit that reminds her of a pinecone.

Whatever pinecones are, she doesn't know, but that berry…

She takes the two steps necessary to get close to the orange object of her carnal desires, leans down to sniff it - it's like setting sparks alight in your nostrils - then gives it a tentative nibble.

A second later, and the entire fruit disappears.

Her mouth ascends in rapturous pleasure.

The Shinx looks horrified. Not that she can see.

"O-kay…" He looks away. "I guess you like petaya berries. Well, if you need a drink the basin is still here. I'll wait outside."

He exited a lot faster than he was earlier. She didn't mind, seeing how far into heaven her tongue feels. Although the spicy and bitter juices of the berry taste great, it made her thirstier than she was a minute ago. Walking over to the basin as the Shinx moved to exit, the light trickled in a bit brighter than a few minutes ago…

And something stares back at her.

Her brows furrow, and the face in the water drops their brows too. Red, bloody eyebrows the same color as the tip of her tail. The sad, sad amber eyes narrow in suspicion in sync to her own. She sticks her tongue out at it, and it too does so. She widens her eyes, but when they go as far as she can stretch them, the other's eyes stop at that droopy, sad look.

It's almost as if it's begging you to stop making faces at it. You should listen to it.

So this is my face… She turns her head at it, and the reflection copies her. Why do I look so depressed?

Her double in the clear water doesn't answer, just looking sadly at her. The tip of a large plume of white hair is also red, waving around in some unseen breeze as if mocking her.

This face is a ruin. Ruined, tired and sad.

She doesn't feel thirsty anymore, so she walks away.

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It takes a few minutes into their walk before any of the two speak up. It was the Zorua, of course. "Do I look sad to you?"

"What?" To be fair, her question sounded more curious than depressed, so it took a moment for him to process it before looking at her. "Um, not really? You look a bit tired, though. Are you sure you don't need to sleep?"

She takes stock of herself, then shakes her head. "No, just bored. Being alone with your own thoughts when you barely have any makes time stretch on."

"I guess it would." He side-eyes her. "Why did you think it looked sad?"

"I don't know. It just did." She licks her lips. "Feel like I can go for another one of those berries, though. It tasted pretty good."

The cat scoffs. "I still can't believe you ate it. I don't think anyone around here likes them."

"Mm, more for me then."

"Gross."

The scenery around them steadily brightened as they walked, with bright morning light burning away the shadow of night for good and bringing color to the world. The yellows and oranges of autumn are in full swing, with plenty of deciduous trees showing off their colors and shedding their leaves for the coming winter. The chill from yesterday proves her correct, and now the light of day shows her the yellowing grass lining the path they walk to Treasure Town. Strangely enough, she feels as warm as ever.

A look down at herself reminds her of the ridiculous amount of fluff she owns, and decides it's not so strange after all.

As the buildings showing off the town approaches, passing the path they used to exit the beach and circumvent the Town proper, she looks towards the Shinx. "So… hey."

"Yeah?"

"Is there another path to the beach?"

"Hm?" He looks back at the path they just passed. "Yeah, there's one on the other side of town that leads out to a crossroad. Why do you ask?"

"I was wondering how I could've ended up on the beach. If there's another path I could've come from, then we could search those places."

"Oh. Well," His ears fold back. "That would be a good idea, but there aren't any more ways you could've gotten in. It's just that side path near my home, a dead end, or the town. Unless you can fly or swim, which I'm pretty sure you can't do either." He finished that observation and looked back ahead.

A spark of indignation ignites in her. Not swim? You? What did this child think you couldn't do?

"You think I can't swim?"

He looks back at her, eyes widening. "Um… no? I don't think most pokémon can, unless you're a water type."

"What's that supposed to mean, kid?"

"N-Nothing!" He turns away, continuing to walk towards town. "But what were you talking about with only one-"

"Maybe two."

The Shinx continues, ignoring the interruption. "-way to go to the beach?"

Shaking off her indignant feelings, she casts a glance towards the approaching buildings. "Maybe someone saw me? Unless I cut through the brush, then someone might've seen me."

He blinks, then grins. It reminds her of a lightbulb turning on. "That's a good idea! I know a few 'mons in town that might know; they tend to see a lot of people come and go, but they must've seen someone as strange as you."

There's a slight sag in his shoulders. It looks like relief.

Why relief? For her, maybe finding someone to help her sooner? Perhaps relief at offloading her endless questions onto someone else, so that he doesn't have to deal with it anymore? No, that's not it: he's "one of the good ones," she knew it within the first hour of meeting him.

If not her, then what? It just might be about her finding someone sooner, but perhaps he was dreading something? The Shinx didn't seem to project the mood of this town, or how safe it could be, but if the people reflect the town then this must be a "good town," too.

The Zorua-lookalike scans the buildings, noting the thatch roofs of some and others that she thought were just trees, but have doors built into them. It's an odd town - not that she has a basis to work off of - but nothing pops out at her as dangerous. Of course, this early in the morning there aren't many people around, if the Shinx was any indicator of an average. Some were even built into odd shapes and effigies of creatures that she doesn't recognize, which were very odd, but at least they look like someone can live in it comfortably.

As her eyes flit from building corner to rooftop, it's as if the rest of the world dulls, leaving only details to pop out at her. There's an odd set of claw marks on the side of one building, a stray feather - black as night - blowing by in the wind, a series of puddles that sits next to one house despite how dry the air smells. A small question reveals that it hasn't rained in a while, so how can there be so many puddles just lying about?

It takes her a moment to notice what she's doing, and when she pauses the rest of the world bleeds back into focus. What was that?

Another flicker of thought runs through her head. Something you've done before.

Whatever it was, there was one thing she could say about it: it felt right. Like a puzzle clicking into place, one by one.

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Seeing other pokémon was a bit of a shock. Her entire repertoire of knowledge on them was "a pokémon is either a weird cat or a weird fox-maybe-the-Shinx-doesn't-know" so going off of that she stopped and stared at the first one she met that wasn't the kid. It looked a lot like some sort of bug, with six legs that end in discs, red chitin, and an overall goofy look that reminds her of a child trying to draw a bug. She's reminded of a word: ladybug.

The bug, who was tending to some flowers that look to be almost out of season, seemed to feel her gaze and look up at the two walking into town. She looks away immediately, asking the Shinx what kind of pokémon they just passed. Ledyba, he says. A bug type, he says.

From there, the floodgates open, and now she sees so many creatures that both terrify her in ways she can't comprehend, and makes her stare in wonder. She has no hope of remembering what each one is, but another thing sticks out to her: "types." She hears some that look completely different from one another, and yet they can apparently be both 'grass' or 'electric' - which the Shinx said he was also one - and even 'ghost', if his earlier comments about ghosts means anything.

Another odd thing is that there's a decent amount of pokémon that greet the Shinx. He says his hellos and good mornings, with various 'mons busy with one odd task or another. But while they greet him, they immediately stop when they notice her. The eyes go from friendly to something… other. Different. The looks are different, with some expressions being impossible to determine because of the specific pokémon's biology, but some are curious, others wary.

One from some kind of brown rodent was downright distrustful. Disgusted. Damning.

This one hates you. It wants you gone.

The Shinx seemed to not notice, but a lot seemed to go over the kid. She did her best to ignore the looks.

They all hate you. They all want you gone.

It didn't work.

"What's wrong?" She looks up to see the electric cat looking back at her. She had stopped when the thought crossed her mind.

"I…" She trots up to the kid, speaking quietly. "I think I've been through here."

"Really?" He doesn't lower his voice, which is filled with excitement. "Do you remember something?"

"No," She doesn't think the trail of thought meant much, so she keeps quiet on it. "But a lot of people have been staring at me."

He furrows his brow, then looks around him.

Many eyes - not all - turn away at the Shinx's gaze. The brown rat they passed seems defiant, almost.

"I don't think I did anything good, if I was here." She concludes when she sees the kid's ears fold back. Could she do that?

She folds her own ears, then points them forward again. Yep, ears work.

"No…" He seems to force his ears back forward, a grin overtaking his face. "No, I don't think it's that. You are a strange pokémon, people are going to stare. Yeah, that's it."

He sounds like he's trying to convince himself.

She gives him some mercy, if nothing else. "Is there someone we can see that could be impartial?"

He gives it a moment of thought. "Hm… oh, I know!" He turns and starts to run. "C'mon, follow me! They should be open now!"

One hearty sprint later - in which she found out she really, really hates running - she finds out a few more things. When there are a strange duo of pokémon running through town, they gather attention. She ignores it in favor of keeping up. As they run, they turn at a crossroads, where a well of water sits on the corner. There stands what looks like some kind of flower and a crustacean around her size, and she has to do a double take when she sees the flower talk.

Straight ahead are some steps leading up a cliff, where at the top she can see the head of some strange pink creature. It's terrifying to look at.

She moves on, not wanting to lose the impatient Shinx.

Not long after turning the corner, she pants as she slows to a crawl next to the unwinded kid. He looks back at her. "Are you okay?"

She tries to catch her breath first, but the panting makes that difficult. "Not… really…" She takes a bit longer to stop panting. "You can run, kid."

"...I didn't go that fast." He says quietly.

"Then I must be running wrong. Doesn't feel right, anyways." Which was true: something felt off, different, as she ran. It came easily enough, but she staggered a lot while she tried to catch up.

A lot of things felt wrong, now that she thought about it. Some things happening to both her and around her have just felt… weird. In some kind of abstract way, of course, like some muscle memory didn't want to compute with her body. And that dull ache in her head didn't help matters, either.

Despite her condition, the Shinx looks to the side. "Well, all you have to do is cross the road, now." She follows his gaze and…

Wow. That's… a building. That exists. She can't help but stare.

If the pink abomination atop the cliff instilled the feeling of being watched, the one before her just feels ominous, in some sort of wacky way. The building itself is shaped in an amorphous mass of dark gray, with a cartoonish skull mask slapped on front. Out front is a counter, simple in make, with a figure that looks very similar to the building. Said figure seems to be staring at the two from across the road, in a sort of way that seems hunched with its arms behind their back.

It's almost like it's watching you.

She looks around the building, but can't seem to find anything around the building of note.

"...is 'here' somewhere behind the creepy building?" She asks hopefully.

"Nope!" He says happily. Too happily.

It appears that the Shinx was a morning person, despite how he woke up. Something about that rubbed her the wrong way.

The two pokémon crossed the road, and the Zorua-esque pokémon could get a better look at the creature behind the counter. Just like she originally observed, they look very similar to the building behind them, except their form seems to taper off into a wispy point at the bottom. Even closer still reveals their eye sockets, and… one red eye that rolls between the left socket and the right.

As they come up to the counter, the roaming eye stops on the right socket, looking right at her. She shivers at the thing in front of her as the Shinx greets it. "Good morning, Duskull!"

Without moving their eye, the thing speaks, its voice like dry wind and wispy smoke. "A good morning to you too, young Shinx, hee-hee." Its laugh sounds like a gust of stale air coming from a dark, dank cave. "I believe you concluded your business with me last evening, so…"

Its body shifts, its singular eye stationary as it rotates into the other socket. "Do you have business to do, strange Zorua? You're welcome to make a deposit of your hard-earned poké, if you open an account, hee-hee."

There are so many things that she wants to say - many of them along the lines of "what the fuck" - but before she could voice any, the Shinx cuts in. "Wait, so she is a Zorua?"

Finally, finally, the eye peels off of her and to the kid, the Duskull's body turning to the electric cat. "Maybe, hee-hee. She is certainly shaped like one, if a bit… different." The eye slides back to her. "Where are you from, strange Zorua?"

That's… a good question, actually. She furrows her brows, rolling the question over in her head. Why didn't she think of where she was from before, it's beyond her, but now that she's thinking about it…

…

The silence stretches on, with the Shinx coughing awkwardly. "Um, do you remember anything, Zorua?"

She almost shakes her head at the second question, but before she could-

Marvel Hill.

What? If anything, the stray thought throws her for a loop even further. She looks over to the Shinx, confused. "Is there a place called Marvel Hill?"

"Marvel Hill?" He repeats. "Um, not that I know of, I think. It might not be on the Grass Continent, or at least nowhere close."

A laugh like airy sandpaper interrupts him, both 'mons looking at the Duskull. "Hee-hee~ Oh, I believe I know what she means."

The Shinx's eyes brighten. "Oh, you do?"

"Yes, but…" His eye rolls around for a bit. "Unfortunately, I believe it is not a place."

"Oh." His ears fold down. Her own do, too, but she mostly does so out of not wanting to look out of place.

"It is a phrase, I believe. I do not know its origin, but it means "a time of good living and fortune", usually said about a time long gone that you can't go back to. "Up on Marvel Hill" as the saying goes, hee-hee."

She frowned. "That doesn't sound like a place one lives at."

"No, it does not." His eye slides back to her. "Are you wild, then? Feel like living in civilization, strange Zorua?"

Something about that sounds wrong, but she attaches to the first question. "Wild? What do you mean?"

For the first time since they met, she feels the Duskull gives her an odd look - which is an achievement to notice, seeing the lack of expression on the motionless face.

You said something stupid. You should explain yourself.

She quickly explains. "I might have brain damage."

The look strengthens.

The Shinx laughs nervously. "I, um, met them on the beach, near Beach Cove. They have amnesia."

Whether it believed the Shinx's statement or her own, they dip their head. Or, well, their head-like region. "Ah, my condolences, strange Zorua. Although, I do not have the time to talk while I am open. Time is money after all, hee-hee."

It looks like her question will remain unanswered - for now - but the Shinx says one final thing. "Don't worry, it's just a quick question! We're just wondering if you have seen anyone like her?"

She decides that this is her time to shine: asking questions. "Maybe talk about any Zorua around, even? There's only one way I should've gotten to the beach, so someone must've seen me around."

"Hm…" It tilts its entire body this way and that, thinking. "No, I do not believe I do. It is quite early, however, so perhaps word hasn't spread of any Zorua in the area. They are quite rare, so it should be easy to tell if one so brazenly appears. However, hee-hee…" It drifts off in those creepy giggles.

"Zorua are known to be good at hiding, after all. Maybe you made a quick entrance in the night, unseen by anyone in town, hee-hee~"

She pauses at that. Her? Good at hiding? She looks down at herself, then back up to the other two. "I feel like I don't apply to that rule."

The Duskull giggles once more. "Perhaps such an ability was lost with your memories, strange Zorua."

"Fair." She looks at the Shinx. "Well, this was a bust."

His ears fold back again. "Yeah, it sure looks like it…"

She looks back down the way they came. "So, back to that eyesore of a guild, then?"

"Hey, it's not that bad!" His hackles raise up.

"...kid, I feel like it's going to sprout legs and start chasing me any second now."

The Duskull giggles at that.

A thought crosses her mind. "Oh, right," She approaches the counter, holding a paw up to the Duskull. "You might creep me out, but you still helped me out…" Her brows furrow again. "Shoot, I forgot to ask your name."

At first, the creature stared at her paw in confusion, not seeming to understand why she did that. But when she said that last part, he froze. Slowly, the one red pupil slides up to her.

Next to her, the Shinx also reacts to her last words. His face jumps through a myriad of expressions before settling on something between horror and secondhand embarrassment.

…I said something wrong, didn't I? She thinks. You know what? What if I just double down. No, that's a bad idea, I don't know what really set them off, or why. But… I can hold my ground. Pretend that whatever I said wasn't out of the ordinary.

Damn straight.

And so, the probably-is-a-Zorua held the line, keeping a poker face as well as she could.

Thankfully, the Shinx seemed to get over whatever was keeping him stricken with horror and jumped in. Literally. Right between her and the Duskull, onto the counter. Her paw gets knocked to the side because of this. "A-As I said, she's an amnesiac, she doesn't remember much, so… yeah."

The inside of his ears appear to be blushing. Interesting.

"...sure." The Duskull's voice is even drier, somehow. Any latent humor is dried up, too. "May you remove yourself from my counter, young Shinx?"

He looks down, as if realizing where he was. "Oh, sorry." He hops down.

Slowly, she slides her paw back between her and it. "Uh. Sorry about what I said? Whatever it was."

Just like before, the Duskull looks down at her paw with a curious look. "...what are you doing with your appendage?"

She blinks. Looks down at her paw.

After staring at it for an uncomfortable minute, she speaks. "I don't know."

She pulls it back and places it on the ground. It feels like she missed an important social cue, but she can't remember what exactly it was.

She's starting to get tired of all the holes in her head. The normal amount she has is enough. She's starting to get a headache, to the point that she can taste something acrid on her tongue.

Back to reality, the Shinx gives the Duskull an apologetic look. "Sorry for wasting your time, but we should probably go back to someone who can help her with her memory issues. She might, um, be hurt still."

She gives him a deadpan in turn. "She's standing right here, you know."

Ignoring her, the Duskull laughs once more. "Oh, don't worry, at least I know of a possible future customer, hee-hee."

From its tone of voice, she feels very worried. She doesn't show that, of course: have to keep up some sort of appearance, after admitting to having brain damage.

"A-Anyways," The Shinx starts using his head to push her back from whence they came. "We should get her to the guild. Thanks for helping, Duskull!"

"Anytime, young Shinx. Hee-hee." It raises one of its arm-like appendages from behind its back and waves them off.

When the two of them are well out of earshot of the Duskull, another realization crosses her mind. "Oh shit, I just realized I don't know your name, either."

"W-What?!" He squeaks, eyes going wide once again.

She nods. "Yeah, I've just been calling you 'kid' or 'the Shinx' in my head the entire time and it's starting to feel a bit rude."

"Rude?" The Shinx wheezes.

For the second time, she seems to notice the reactions her words were having on others: specifically the Shinx. "Well… I think so, at least. Am I wrong?"

"Yes!" He almost shouts, then ducks his head and looks around. A few pokémon of various types look over at them, but keep staring because of her. She really is gathering a lot of stares, isn't she?

In a quieter voice, he sighs. "Okay, so yes, you did make a mistake. It's just… oh gosh this is super awkward explaining this to someone older than me."

Another pin in her side, and she tilts her head in confusion. "...huh, I think I am older." A beat passes. "...I don't know how old I am. Hm."

"As I was saying," He stresses. "Um. Names are a sort of… private thing, between very close friends, family and, um, partners. Not strangers."

"Then… what?" She stops, doing some mental gymnastics for a few seconds. "Then what am I supposed to call everyone I meet? Is there some sort of a neutral name I get to call people?"

He hesitantly nods. "Sort of. We just go by each other's species."

…what. She doesn't even have the will to phrase her own thoughts as a question. "What?" She can do so out loud perfectly fine.

The Shinx repeats himself, and she's thankful for it. "Why…" She drifts off, then switches tracks. "That sounds so weird."

"Why's that?"

"I mean- look, what if another shinx walks up, I can't just call out 'shinx' and hope the right one shows up!"

"But I'm the only shinx in town?"

"That's not the point, kid. The point of names is to separate yourself from others, get some individuality so that it's easier for people to identify you."

"That isn't a problem, though?" Now the kid just looks confused. "Are you sure you're doing okay?"

"No," She answers. "And neither is this town, apparently. Between you and me, if there's an emergency just call me…"

She stops.

…call me what?

Slowly, the world fades slightly, becoming more dull, washed out, muffled, as some spark of epiphany lights like a match striking its box inside her skull.

Call her what, exactly? Her name. Her name. Her name. She has one. She has to have one. People have names, and she was of the people. Nobody was nameless, right? Right? Right? Right. She has a name. She has a name, and that name is…

Is…

…

Her tongue, sense of taste drowned out by the sharp kick of acid, licks her lips. Maybe saying it out loud will make it easier?

"My name is…"

…

Again.

"My name is…"

…

Again.

"My name is…"

…

Again.

"My name is…"

…

…Again.