pokedressing | this island is in SHAMBLES. i mean RUINS.

Relic, look. [Our luckiest member today is Hilbert. Journal open and already written in, he's settled in a puzzle room with a flash light and a a fossil. A real fossil. His Archeops complies, having been in the middle of studying the room's puzzle but -- if his trainer needs him, he'll definitely be there.] It's a Plume Fossil.

[...That's what his journal says it is, with a cruddy drawing next to it. It must've been when he first got it -- Relic Castle. His first month being out of Nuvema Town. Right, he'd named his Archeops - Archen, then - for the occasion when the gym leader of ... of Nacrene..? Lenora, that was it. Lenora helped him revive it. He studies the notes he'd written in the margins of the Plume Fossil page and nods.]

You used to be one too, [he laughs. The Archeops shrieks loudly - just his way of showing affection - then hops right back to looking at puzzles. For Hilbert, it's benign and fine.

...for others wandering the dark halls, it might sound a little more frightening...]

[It certainly would be more frightening - if it wasn't familiar. Had he had one before? Though it wasn't big enough to allow Reshiram to stand beside him, N rolls the Pokémon's ball between his hands and continues forward, a Charmander walking before him. He hadn't asked the little lizard to accompany him, but she'd been eager to explore.

So. That was that.

Perhaps they could find the source of the sound and N'd have a better idea of what it was. Or a bigger area to let out Reshiram and ask the dragon about it.]

Hello? [He hesitantly calls, and Charmander lets out her own curious cry.]

[Relic perks up at the voice -- it's familiar to him, but to Hilbert it's totally new. The cry is strange too, but he almost feels like he's heard it before... from a movie, or something...?

Mom never raised him rude, so he calls back with just as much hesitance.] Hi?

[Oh, a voice. That was promising! And it wasn't his own echo for sure. Charmander scurries ahead and N's left to use the crumbling walls as his guide in an effort to keep up with her.]

I'm surprised to hear someone else in these ruins. I didn't think they were very popular, considering what the modern world seems to have to offer above ground.

[Wow, what a fast talker. Hilbert tries to keep up, but just defaults to answering the first part. He heard that one clear enough.]

I like them. They're quiet and nice. I like doing the puzzles too. [Puzzles are one of the few things he can recall from his childhood. The only other things are his name, Cheren, and Bianca... And even those two were a little spotty at times. Especially since Bianca had moved in not too long before.] Do you like them too? -- Uh, I guess that's a dumb question if you're in here.

[It's good that the familiar voice is talking so much, since it's helping N know where to go. Charmander's going to be stumbling into Hilbert's leg by the time he's answered. No less slow either. It's a habit.]

I think I do. I'm afraid I don't remember much of myself, other than what Reshiram has told me and what I have been able to recall the past year... or so. You'll have to forgive my hesitance in estimating how long it's been, since I only remember that it was Summer when I found myself in the clouds.

[Oof. If he remembered right, it's a Charmander. Cheren had told him, smartly pushing his too-big glasses up against the bridge of his four-and-a-half year old nose, that they were a rare fire-type lizard that loved to hide in the mountains of a faraway place called Kanto.]

It's all right. I don't do well with remembering things either. [An understatement, considering his condition, but -- people viewed him less differently the less he said about it. His journals always had that written in the very front, on the back of the cover.] What's a Reshiram?

[Relic noses Charmander with a curious cry before he assists his trainer in finding one of his two journals. And -- there, the filled one. Even if Hilbert's eyes have adjusted to what little light's leaking into the puzzle room, Charmander's tail flame is a very welcome source to help him read in.]

[And Charmander will be happy to help! She's never seen a Pokémon like Relic before, and she trails after him like a baby after her momma.]

Reshiram is one of the two legendary dragons - the other being... [He pauses in speech but not in step, and rounds the corner into the room where Hilbert and friends are. Though his eyes aren't adjusted to the light and he finds himself squinting.] Zekrom, I think it was. Reshiram stands for truth, while Zekrom stands for ideals. There's a tragic part in history about them.

[Though he doesn't really recall why he has one of them. Charmander'll leave Relic to run back over to her really tall friend, gripping onto his leg tightly. N crouches down to pet her.]

If it isn't rude of me to ask, why do you have trouble remembering things?

An accident. [He thumbs through the pages, skimming them with a squint. It might be a rude habit, but reading before he meets someone in person keeps him from being even ruder when he doesn't recognize them. His voice is as preoccupied as his eyes are.] When I was little. What about you?

[He glances up at N -- frowns into the dim light, then shifts back into one of the light spots cracking through. Green hair, fast talking ... he keeps flipping through the pages of his journal.]

About not remembering much, I mean. If it's, uh, not rude to ask you the same.

[N shakes his head and stands, picking up the Charmander as he does so.]

No, I don't mind answering. Though it isn't much of one. [Charmander nuzzles against his chin.] I don't quite remember why I don't remember anything. Reshiram said that someone sought to hurt me and that they may still be seeking me out, seeing as we made an abrupt exit, so since that day we've been traveling from place to place in an effort to both escape that person and to jog my memory. Sorry.

Reshiram... said?

[Even someone like him knew Pokémon couldn't talk. Hilbert's eyes stray to a line on the page he'd been turning, and he lays it flat instead of continuing the motion. A trainer named N came up after the speech, it reads in unfamiliar straight, precise writing. He wanted to hear the voice of Nuvema (Snivy, a small green snake creature that reminds me of a wiggly blade of grass). He talked very fast and Cheren (glasses, smart, sighs a lot; always sounds like I've eaten too many cookies from the jar) told him to slow down.]

Um... I hope I'm not wrong, but... [He knows his awkward pausing is irritating, but he can't help it; he has to choose his words and he has to choose his battles. Relic pats Hilbert's knee; it's okay.] Is your name N? Like the letter N. One line up, one diagonal to the right, and the last line up again.

[N doesn't seem to mind either. Though he's a tad confused about how the other knows him. Hilbert was familiar, sure, but to be known... Was something unexpected. Though he's always surprised when something like this happens.]

That's right. Have we met before? Your voice feels familiar to me, and for some reason I feel as if I know you, but I don't know for sure because of my lapse in memory.

Yes. [He's sure of it. Hilbert writes down everyone he meets in his journal, and he writes down defining characteristics that'll help him point them out when they meet again. He only has a list of adjectives to help him along, and he looks through his bag to find one of his fresher notebooks. It was was he'd started just for the Island, for people and Pokémon he'd meet.

N -- tall, green hair. Talks very fast. Speaks to Pokémon. He can't remember anything before Reshiram (a legendary dragon, stands for truth). Knows me. Met in some old ruins with Relic. He had a Charmander with him.]

I'm Hilbert. [It's after a pause; he studies his writing and compares it to his other notebook; they're the same, so it's definitely his. Even if had little doubt thanks to his name written on the corner of every page...] I'm from Nuvema Town. We met in Accumula Town, a town two and a half miles up from Nuvema Town. There was a speech, and my friend Cheren was there. You wanted to hear what Nuvema - my Snivy - had to say about me, so we battled.

[It's said a lot like a laundry list -- facts he read, but didn't recall. His pencil doodles a Snivy in the margins beside his new notes of N idly.]

[N stares at him, registering the new information, and he feels at the edge of remembering something. Like having a word on the tip of your tongue. He knows he must be tense from the way his body's starting to ache, so he leans against the doorway and tries to clear his head.]

Did I... That's interesting to hear.

[But it's not much help. Maybe it hadn't been a Snivy - whatever that was - maybe it'd been something else, but for some reason the rest sounded right. He mouths the other's name - Hilbert - and frowns. Hilbert. Cheren's is next, then Accumula and finally Nuvema. Charmander is a welcome warmth against him.]

Thank you for telling me some, Hilbert. [Still a little strange to say, uncertain but sure at the same time.] I feel kind of bad that I can't remember you as well as you can me, even if your information must come from that book you have.

[Hilbert's uncertain, too. He doesn't even have the blessing of being able to reclaim memories the way N might be able to, one day.]

It does. [Relic pushes his way beneath the hand Hilbert's drawing with, and it turns from a Snivy to a bunch of squiggles as he rubs beneath the avian's feathers.] It isn't much, but it's helpful.

[He'd have to reread the whole thing to even get a glimpse of N and feel like he knows him, just a little.]

It's more like... [He trails his fingers on the notebook's unmarred edges and sighs.] They aren't reminders. They're facts. Even if I read them, I don't know who they describe. They just show that I know someone. It makes second encounters a lot less embarrassing, that's for sure.

[...even he isn't feeling the joke behind his last words.]

I have something similar, though it isn't as detailed as yours. I only write in it if I remember something in order to gather my thoughts... Though I think I lost it.

[Which is problematic. He'll formally step into the room now, going to invade Hilbert's personal space as he takes a peek at the book.]

My drawing skills are not up to par with yours, for sure.

[The sudden invasion of space has Hilbert scooting back almost immediately -- Relic squawks at having his cuddle session interrupted, but he moves to his trainer's side once he pauses his movement.]

Thank you --? [Yes; it's a compliment, so he tries to calm his beating heart and nod.] I mean, thank you. I have a Pokédex [a device that records the data of Pokémon; comes with pictures, audio, form changes, and more] but I've been drawing Pokémon since before the accident. It helps me "remember" them. And it's fun. I'm not as good with people though.

[Hilbert hesitates, but looks through his bag again to pull out the first notebook he'd been using; a few chunks of pages later, and he's gently sliding it towards N. It's only a messing drawing, with Shauntal written in the same neat letters as the rest of his notes are in, and Hilbert thinks it must look silly to have such clean handwriting next to a smudgy, over-erased and over-drawn picture.]

See?

Edited 2014-03-26 07:02 (UTC)

[N isn't bothered at all by the boy's jumping, and he takes the notebook after a moment of wondering what a Pokédex could be.]

You have very nice handwriting. [N's own is pretty much chicken-scratch compared to Hilbert's, and he's careful not to let Charmander's tail flame wave around the paper too much.] A novelist... I believe I met her, once. Her style seems familiar, even if your artistic skills lie more in Pokémon than people. I wonder how I know her.

[Well. He gives the notebook back, holding Charmander loosely in his arms as he takes a step away and admires the room itself.]

It doesn't matter much now, I feel. What were you doing in here?

[It's stencil writing, and it looks literally nothing like the wobbly lines he remembers doing. Hilbert tucks the notebook away again, along with the one he'd just been writing in, and stands up. Relic is quick to follow -- or quick to lead, since he darts ahead towards the puzzle on the opposite wall.]

Exploring, mostly. I found a Plume Fossil - that's what Archeops come from - and Relic found a puzzle to solve. I don't think I'm going to use it though, since I already have one...

[He kneels down to scoop it up, already aware of how silly the whole thing is, and rolls it in his hands.]

Do you want it?

[N sets the Charmander down, since she's eager to go solve the puzzle with Relic, and takes the fossil from Hilbert.]

So Relic, your friend there, is an Archeops? [...] No, that doesn't seem quite right, I think. I would like this though, thank you. I believe I had one before as well. Relic's cry seems as familiar to me as your name and face is, Hilbert. I think having one of my own may help me immensely.

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