Chapter 42
Part 6
As the sun slowly set upon a peaceful summer evening, a young Bulbasaur and her Ivysaur brother comfortably snuggled together beneath a protruding root formation of a giant sycamore tree.
The Ivysaur smiled warmly at his little sister. "Now, wasn't that fun?" he asked her as he watched the countryside turn many beautiful shades of red and purple. "I told you Nincadia would be cool. The hot springs were pretty amazing, weren't they?"
"Yeah…" the little Bulbasaur sighed, her eyes already closed.
"Hmm… where should we go next?" the Ivysaur wondered. "The world is such a big place. We have so much to see… Maybe we could go to Great Crystal City? It's a long way, but I hear it's a beautiful place… I hear there's a huge crystal in the center of the city that's so big, not even the humans could build something bigger!"
"Wow," the little Bulbasaur muttered quietly. "That sounds amazing."
"Maybe, if we're adventurous enough, we could even try crossing the ocean…" the Ivysaur considered. "Ever wanted to meet the humans? We could do that, if you wanted…"
"That would be awesome," the little one admitted. "Hey, Saurvor…?"
"Yeah?"
"I really miss Saura… I wish he could be here with us…"
I miss you, too, Saurlee…
"Yeah, yeah, me too," Saurvor admitted, his gaze drifting out to the horizon. "But… I think Saura's really happy where he is right now. We shouldn't worry about him."
"Really?"
"Yeah, really…" Saurvor said, comforting her. "I think he's somewhere really far away right now, seeing things that Pokémon never thought possible… like meeting legendaries! And fighting all sorts of exciting battles with all his new friends. As long as the Master doesn't find him, I bet he'll be really happy, wherever he is."
The little Bulbasaur sighed again, setting her head down upon one of her brother's legs.
"I miss mommy, too…" she whined. "Mommy will be worried about us!"
Saura, listen to me.
"Hey… you know, there comes time in every Pokémon's life where they have to grow up and go live on their own, you know?" Saurvor said gently. "That's why we have families to raise us, so they can help us learn how to take care of ourselves, so one day we can go and do what we want."
Saura… listen to my voice.
"But I didn't want to go," the little Bulbasaur cried. "I didn't even get to say goodbye…"
"Well… life's not always fair to each and every Pokémon," Saurvor said. "And hey… just think of how mommy and daddy will think of us, acting all grown-up and taking care of ourselves."
Saura, focus. Concentrate on my voice.
Gardevoir?
Yes. It's me.
"And hey, Saurlee… whatever happens… you've still got me. I'm not going to go anywhere."
"I love you, Saurvor."
"I love you too, Saurlee."
The two Pokémon relaxed, reflecting on the day's journeys and enjoying the peacefulness of the late evening atmosphere. Before letting his own eyes flutter shut, Saurvor cast one last lazy gaze out at the countryside…
…And he saw something.
It was a red, four-legged Pokémon. A hunter. And it was on the trail of a scent it had been following for weeks now.
No!
Saura, you have to listen to me.
No! Saurvor, no!
Saurvor held his breath.
"No… it's Flareon!" he gasped. "Saurlee… wake up! Saurlee! Wake up! We have to leave, now!"
The Flareon sniffed around, its beady eyes burning with an evil glow in the orange sunset… it knew what it was after, and it knew it was close. They weren't getting away this time.
NO! Saurvor! Saurlee! No!
Saura, this isn't real. It's your imagination. Listen to my voice. Hold onto my voice.
Quickly panicking, the Ivysaur rustled his little sister from her rest. He held his breath; the Flareon was so close. There was very little chance of escape.
Then… the Flareon lifted its head… and his eyes locked with Saurvor's…
NOOOOO! NOOOO! You can't! You can't get caught! NOOO!
Alright… that's it. I'm ending this myself.
…
…
No… no… black… it went black… it's gone…
Yes. I stopped your little dream.
Thank you… It's… It hurts so bad, Gardevoir. I can't sleep anymore… I'm so tired…
That's why I'm here to help you. Have you made a decision yet?
Yeah… please, just… I don't care. Erase my memories. Do what you need to. Just… I don't want it to hurt anymore.
Have you thought about it? Do you understand all the repercussions this will have?
Yeah…
You won't recognize them anymore. They will just be like any other Pokémon. If someone tells you that you are related, you will not believe them at first.
I know…
And your personality will be affected as well, you know. You will be a completely different Bulbasaur. You might have trouble getting along with your friends… It is because your memories of your family affect many of your motivations.
I… I know…
I'm just saying, Saura. This is not an easy decision. This is a very significant decision. Even though you are feeling pain, do not take it lightly.
I thought about it, Gardevoir… I can't… I can't keep going like this. Scythe ordered me to do this or he might kick me off the team. And I don't… I don't want to be angry at Char anymore! Char thinks we're not even friends anymore. I yelled at him, Gardevoir! I even attacked him when he tried to help me! and I just… I don't want to do this at all… but I think I need to…
Very well, then. I respect your decision. You are in a very difficult place, and your decision is understandable. I will carry through.
I'm… so sorry…
Alright, Saura… just relax. Relax your body. Pretend I'm not even here. You might feel a bit confused as I'm working, but everything is going to be fine. Are you ready?
Yes…
Good. Now, I will begin to search the branches of your memory, and look for the best place to start…
…
…
…
No!
What?
Wait! Stop! Just… stop. I changed my mind! Don't do this! Please! I can't! I just can't!
Are you sure?
I'll suffer! I'll live with this! I'll find a way! I don't care if I never sleep again, just, please, don't erase my memories! Pleeeease! They're… they're all I have...
Saura… it's alright. It's perfectly alright. I wasn't actually going to touch anything.
...Really?
Of course. Your final decision was obvious from the beginning. After all, it's not like I can read your mind or anything.
Oh, no… but… but if I don't do this… what am I going to do now, Gardevoir? It hurts so bad, whenever I think of them, there's pain… and Scythe, he'll be angry at me… and Char, too… What am I going to do?
Well, here's what I'm going to do. I can't take the nightmare from your mind. It's part of you, now. But I can release a lot of endorphins into your system. They'll help for a while.
Endorphins?
It means I'm going to make you feel really happy. It should help to relieve the pain for a few days. We should also be able to trick Scythe into thinking I did what he wanted me to do. I'll ask you some questions, just answer them as though you have no memories of your family. He'll fall for it, I'm certain.
But the happy feeling is going to fade away, right?
Of course. The pain is going to come back later. But I can do nothing to stop it. Only you can stop it.
I can stop it? Really? How do I do that?
It is unlikely the nightmare will ever move from your mind. Unlikely, but not impossible. If you want to make the pain go away, you will either have to forget about them all on your own, or come to terms with what you have done to them. Learn to accept your past, and your present, and do not let it haunt you. And do you want to know a secret?
What?
That's the way everyone's minds work. Everyone has painful memories, which they must learn to block out, or come to terms with. Even humans. It's the way the mind was built to run. But that's not to say it will be easy. It will be difficult, just as it is difficult for everyone.
Yeah, but… Scythe did it, didn't he? And he made it this far. Maybe I can do it, too.
That's the spirit, Saura. Though the nature of his insanity is very different than yours, you are correct. You just may. Now… are you ready? We will put our plans into motion now.
…Yeah. Alright, let's do it.
You're going to feel drunk with happiness. It may impair your judgment a bit, but I will help you answer my questions, if you need it. Now, just open your eyes, and…
…Hold on for a moment. That can't be.
Huh?
Hmm… that is very strange.
What's wrong?
I just noticed something… unexpected. Saura, I may actually be able to help you after all. Will you let me delve a little further into your mind?
Uh, sure. Do whatever you want.
Very well. Make yourself comfortable… we might be here for quite a while.
… … …
My name is Saura, and yes, I am a big fat liar. And a coward.
I just couldn't do it. I knew I had to, but I couldn't just throw away my life's memories like that. So, when Gardevoir came to erase my memories, I… wimped out.
And here I am now, somewhere deep in Zerferia, and I'm pretty sure I made the wrong decision. My brain hurts so bad. I can't even sleep at night. Whenever I finally get to pass out, I always wake with a start as soon as I see my dreams, and I scare Char and Ray, too. The dreams are always the same: Saurvor and Saurlee are getting chased by that Flareon. The Flareon that wanted me captured. The Flareon that wants them to die now, as punishment for what I did.
I know that's probably not true. They could be fine. They probably are. But this nightmare that the Watcher put into my memories won't let me think otherwise. Gardevoir says I either have to block it out, or learn to accept it. I have no idea how either of those things are even possible.
Before we left, Gardevoir did something to my brain that made me feel really comfortable. It made the pain go away. It also helped make it easier to convince Scythe that I'm perfectly fine now, because I have been admittedly acting a bit weird, like my brain's messed up. But whatever Gardevoir did, it's gone now. And I've been trying to keep acting the way it made me feel for as long as I can, hoping that I could keep the pain away like that. And it works… sometimes. It's hard to act happy all the time… especially when, deep down, I'm really not.
Char and I aren't friends anymore.
He's been avoiding me. I can't say I blame him. I did snap at him when he tried to help me. And I started pushing him away. And now whenever he wants to talk to me, I cut the conversation short as fast as I can and I start ignoring him again. Why? Because I think I'm actually blaming him for what happened to me, and what happened to my family. Yes, I know that makes no sense. I tried telling my feelings that. They didn't listen.
And also because I'm… well, I'm afraid to tell him that I didn't really get my memories erased. He really wanted me to do it. He knew it was best for me. But I just had to go and wimp out, and I… I'm afraid that if I tell him for real… he'll hate me. I don't know. I just don't want to find out how he'll react. I know him too well; if he finds out I've been lying to his face this whole time, he may never trust me again… and I'm so afraid of that, I'm even afraid of just being around him right now.
I can't blame him for not wanting to talk with me anymore. I can't blame him for spending more time with Ray now. It's probably best for him.
Looking at myself, I still can't believe it's possible to feel so bitter. I'm not really like this! Or, at least, I wasn't like this before. The Watcher really brought out the worst in me. Now, it's like… I hate Char. And I hate Scythe. And I hate life. Except that I don't! It's… so confusing!
I'm not even going to Temporal Tower because of him anymore. I'm going only because I want to go. I feel like I deserve it. Just like Lily. Lily has the Call, too. That's why she came along. Prince was going to leave her behind, but she wanted the same answers we all wanted, so she decided to come with us.
I've been able to pass a lot of the time talking with her. She's a very nice Pokémon; hearing her talk helps me take my mind off the pain, and the cold. In fact, she's told me a lot about plant Pokémon, and the way we handle weather conditions, that I never knew before! Living in a temperate climate all my life, I never knew how my system would react to different environments.
"Your bulb is a symbiote. That means it's there for your mutual benefit," Lily tells me. "Just like the leaf on my head and the ones around my neck. There's actually a whole plant inside of me, but it's woven in with my body in a really complicated way. Not like your seed that's just rooted to your back. Anyway… it's a symbiote. When you're healthy, it's healthy. If you drink water and spend time in the sun, it'll soak up energy and grow. But if you're in trouble, it'll turn around and start giving you its energy to help you stay alive."
"Interesting," I respond. "So does this mean… if I'm in big trouble, it will take the fall for me?"
"Yep!" she says cheerfully. "If you start running out of sunlight or food or water, it will give you the last drops of its energy, until it dies first! After all, if it didn't give back to you when you're in trouble, then it would be a parasite, not a symbiote, and Bulbasaur would have started evolving without them over the line!"
"Heh, then we wouldn't be Bulbasaur anymore," I joke. "Just 'Saur' I wonder… if my seed died, could I get a new one?"
"I think so," she says with uncertainty. "But it wouldn't help you out as much. The one you have now is really rooted into your body, since it's been there all your life. You've even got nerves running into it. That's how you can control your vines and stuff. If you had a transplant… well, it wouldn't be connected to your system as much. It'd be more of a decoration than anything else!"
I have to cringe at the thought of losing my bulb. It's not a pleasant thought. Without it, I'd be a pathetic, helpless little Pokémon. Not only would I be completely unable to defend myself with any special attacks, I'd probably starve to death in just a few days.
"But don't worry," she says, sensing my discomfort. "It's really hard to kill your plant. See how it's a little brown now? It's under a lot of stress, but Pokémon are built for stress. It's not even close to dying! Your photosynthesis is still working fine, and you're also eating really well. That golden apple we had? I bet your plant really enjoyed that!"
"Heh, yeah… I wouldn't blame it," I say, remembering how good that apple tasted.
"And remember, if the cold is getting too bad for you, start transferring your energy back into the bulb," she reminds me. "It'll make you feel tired, but it'll numb down your nerves so you don't feel as bad. Works especially well at night when you need to calm down anyway!"
Yeah. As though that's going to help me get sleep. Right.
But Lily's nice. She's teaching me a lot of things I never knew before, and helping me cope with this horrible cold. And she's great company. She reminds me a lot of a Chikorita I knew a long time ago.
…Funny how I don't get a headache thinking about her…
Then there's Nameless. Nameless might just be the most gorgeous Pokémon in the world. I figured I'd meet a real legendary someday, but I wasn't ready for when it actually happened. Seriously, when she's nearby, I just cannot tear my eyes off her. Once, she even asked if something was wrong with me, and I had to tell her no, I just liked staring at her. She just laughed and thought nothing of it. She's probably used to the fame by now.
She's also great fun to talk to. She's so friendly! You'd never think a legendary could be so humble and outgoing, but Nameless is like that. I can ask her questions whenever I feel like, and she always gives me answers I never expect. Just recently I asked her if she ever flew so high she could see space… she said yes! She said it's really cold up there, and she likes it. But once, she saw a big green dragon and she was so scared that she ran away and never went that high again. Ray joked that she could probably battle Rayquaza and beat him in ten seconds. She said she had no interest in trying. I think she just isn't interested in battles.
And best of all, whenever Nameless is around, there's no snowstorm! She can even clear the clouds away, so that the sunlight can shine right onto us. And Lily's right; to a Pokémon like me, some sunlight can make all the difference in staying warm. It's nice when I can take a rest under the sun, especially since days and nights are a lot longer up here, so we stop to rest sometimes when the sun's still out.
Yeah… if things didn't happen the way they did… if that stupid Watcher didn't invade my mind, and if Char and I were still friends… I'd probably be having a lot of fun right now. I'd probably be having the time of my life.
I wanted to end this. I really did.
I tried to tell him. I actually tried once. It was the middle of the night, just like how we always used to talk when we wanted to be personal with one another. A nightmare woke me up, and I went to him… I wanted to tell him everything… Tell him I was sorry that I didn't do what I should have done… but that's all that came out of my mouth. "I'm sorry". I wimped out again. I… couldn't do it. I couldn't break the truth to him, I just had to keep lying.
Tonight… I can't sleep again. Big surprise.
It's nighttime. Actually dark out. The sun is nowhere to be seen. Prince says we're getting really close to Temporal Tower, and my stomach is tingling so bad just from the thought. I know Char's feeling the same way. His past has something to do with the time dragon Dialga, and now he might finally learn what it is.
This is it. This is what we've been searching for. Ever since I first met him, we've been trying to get to the bottom of his transformation. And now, we're getting so close, we can taste it.
And I'll be there at his side, just like I promised.
…Except not really, because we won't be friends.
…
This is wrong! Wrong, wrong, wrong!
What am I doing? I'm Char's best friend. And he needs me most of all right now. What am I doing, laying around feeling sorry for myself?
Not only that, but he's my human, too! Would a Pokémon let their trainer down? What kind of a Pokémon would just… give up like this?
Wow, what kind of a Pokémon am I?
No! We are friends! We're just… having a failure in communication right now! I could end this whenever I want. I could go over and tell him what I really did. I'm the only one standing in the way!
In fact, yeah! I'm going to stop this! I'm going to end this stupid lie right now. There he is. I'm going to just walk across the field, and talk to him…
...right now.
…
…Stand up.
…Saura, stand up! You have to go talk to Char!
Grr… I… I can't… I just can't… Stupid me…
My legs are too weak… And I still feel so ashamed of myself…
What will he say? What if he doesn't trust me anymore? I've never outright lied to Char before! Not like this! I… I don't know. I just really don't know.
Eh… I'll tell him tomorrow. I just need some more time to get myself ready. I just…
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!
OWWWWW!
My body explodes with pain, and I jump a whole foot into the air!
When I come back down, my eyelids are stuck all the way open, and I'm panting for dear life. And who is standing right behind me, but Ray, his paws covered in his own static electricity…
"Go!" he says. "Do it!"
"Do what," I say flatly back to him.
"Talk to Char!" he demands. "I saw that look on your face just now! You were going to go talk to Char! So, go do it!"
"But… what if I don't want to?"
"You do want to," he insists, actually sounding a little bit angry. "Do you realize how much he misses you? Go.Talk to him. Or I'll electrocute you again."
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!
"AHHHH! STOP!" I plead desperately as I fall to the ground a second time, my heart racing at an impossible speed and multicolored dots dancing across my vision.
"See? I wasn't lying. And I'll do it again!" he threatens. "Go talk to him."
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!
"OWWWW! Fine, fine!" I cry, tears now freely streaming down my face, as I take off across the field like a spooked Tauros.
… … …
"What's up?"
Well, this is it. I just woke up Char, and I've got his full attention now. It doesn't help that I've got an extreme case of the jitters from getting suddenly hooked up to a living battery three times in a row. Char probably thinks I'm deathly afraid to speak to him. Which I am, anyway. Funny how my body language is inadvertently telling the truth. Now if only my words can match it.
"I… uh… I… wanted to talk to you," I tell him. Probably a little bit redundant at this point, but the conversation's gotta start somehow.
"Sure," he says, sitting up and looking straight into my eyes, as though I was the same old Saura he knew. "What is it?"
"I'm… sorry," I say for the second time, again with the redundancy. "I'm… really sorry."
I watch how he reacts to my words. To my surprise, he looks touched. And very interested in what I will say next. Even though I'm just repeating a conversation we already had like two weeks ago when we first started on this trip. Oh boy, this conversation's not going to turn out like he's expecting…
"Didn't I already tell you?" he says gently to me. "I forgive you."
"No, no… it's… not what you think," I start. "I'm sorry because… I made a mistake. A big, huge mistake. And I'm afraid that… you won't actually forgive me for it."
He looks concerned now. But sympathetic. Like he doubts I can say anything that will change his mind. He stays silent to let me continue.
"When Gardevoir came to erase my memories, I… I… I wimped out, and I told him not to!" I finally spit out. "I was a coward. I thought I could run away from it. All this time, I've been pretending my memories are all gone. I tried to do my best to trick you and Scythe into thinking I actually did it. Mostly Scythe. But… now I know… I really made the wrong decision… because I can't sleep, and… and we're not friends anymore."
Char looks totally stunned now, like I stepped on his tail and he's trying to keep from screaming. I… I'm downright horrified. So I do what I do best, and I keep talking, hoping it will fix things.
"When I heard Scythe say he spent his whole life living with a curse, I thought, hey, if he can do it, why can't I?" I ramble. "I was so scared of just letting my whole life slip away… I tried to justify it to myself, I thought I could make it, but… I can't do it. Ohh, I was so stupid... And I promise, Char, as soon as we get back to civilization, I promise, that's the first thing I'll do! I'll find a psychic, and my memories will be gone! Forever! Just like I said I would! I just… I can't take this anymore! I just wanted to get to Temporal Tower, but I just… I had to tell you."
And then I pause… and wait for him to reply, my stomach turning in all sorts of knots. I can't even look directly into his eyes.
I watch as his tail fire grows three times its size. That's what happens when he's really angry and he feels like attacking something. I have to close my eyes for a moment.
"I'm not asking for forgiveness…" I say meekly. "But… I'm so sorry… Please… say something?"
I open my eyes again, and I watch as his face changes.
At first I have to wonder if Nameless is standing behind me, because he's making the same face of amazement he makes when she's around.
And then he makes a face I know all too well: it's the evil smile he makes when he's about to tackle me.
And just like that, I'm not worried about his reaction anymore. Now my survival instinct just kicked in, and I'm worried about avoiding his tail. Because if that fire touches me even a little bit, oh my gosh, it stings…
Thump.
Suddenly I'm laying on my side, covered in a really heavy lizard.
"I KNEW IT!" he cries. "I knew it, I knew it, I KNEW it couldn't have been true! Oh man, Saura! Please, don't be sorry! Don't be! Because I was the sorry one! As soon as I thought you had your memories erased, I regretted it. So bad. I knew it wasn't what you should have done. I felt so bad for pushing you into it, I couldn't talk to you anymore! And I started to wonder if you were still really in there somewhere! Oh, Saura, that is really good to know… you have no idea."
"But I… should have done it," I try to say. "I was a coward."
"Saura, you are the most courageous Pokémon I've ever met," he tells me. "Wasn't it you who said that getting your memories erased was the easy way out? That you'd just feel like you gave up and didn't try?"
"Yeah…" I say hesitantly. "I… did say that, didn't I…"
"You chose to keep your memories. That's not cowardice. That's courage. And you know what, Saura? I don't care what you say, but when you ran away from the Master and left your family alone, and you joined the resistance? That was courage, too. Your family was wrong for wanting you to join the Master. You did what was right. You took the tough path. I didn't believe for a moment that all this time you were faking everything you did from the beginning. So tell me, Saura. That was the ghost talking, right?"
"Y-yes, it's true," I sighed, hanging my head. "The ghost was really messing with my feelings, so I started blaming myself…"
"Oh, I knew it!" Char says again, squeezing me really tight before finally letting me go. "You couldn't trick me, not for a moment! Wow… Saura, it's really good to have you back."
And for a moment, one little tiny moment, I feel really happy.
It crosses my mind that this could be the first step in coming to terms with the memories, because… the pain just vanishes, and I felt a little bit like my old self again.
I look at Char, and I see how happy he is with me, how relieved he is that I didn't alter my personality… and I just felt like a burden is lifted. And it feels really good.
But my happiness doesn't last very long.
"Char is right. What you did was very courageous. But it was also foolish."
Both Char and I hold our breaths as we hear Scythe's voice start to speak. And my stomach fills with terror again. I scramble back to my feet and I cower behind Char a little bit, all while I freeze stiff, as Scythe steps out of the darkness and stands over us.
Yeah… I should have known he'd be listening to everything I say. He never sleeps. And he's a very good listener.
"If you wanted to deceive me, you did very well," Scythe admits, sounding defeated. "I was… far too distracted lately to pay close attention. Though I should have guessed by the look which Gardevoir gave me that I was being deceived. But, whatever the case, I failed. I accept the loss. There's nothing that can be done now. If we were not so close to our destination, I would send you back home."
"You're not kicking Saura off the team," Char says adamantly, standing up to Scythe for me. "Not now, not when we get back!"
"You're right, I'm not," Scythe mutters. "It's not my team."
Char frowns. "What are you saying?" he demands.
"I'm saying, it's your choice, whether to let your team be compromised with a delusional and anguish-ridden partner," he growls at Char. "Saura is going to be in agony for the rest of his life. A Watcher's curse must be countered immediately after it is placed, or it permeates the mind and it becomes permanent. At this point, it is very unlikely anyone can help him, not even Gardevoir. He must live with this choice. And he must learn to pull his weight on your team, despite his handicap. I am speaking only as a fellow team leader now, Char. If your team becomes unreliable… you are the one to blame."
"Well… okay. I accept that." Char tells him. "You know, that speech you gave us about how you spent your life insane… it only gave him courage to fight the curse. Seeing how great you became, I think Saura has a chance."
"No," Scythe says bitterly, shaking his head. "My curse was beneficial. Seeing into my subconscious mind gives me answers no other Pokémon would see. That is how I became who I am. Saura will earn nothing from worrying about his home constantly. It will only hold him back."
"I think it will give him courage," Char shoots back. "Even though I don't think he needs any more than he already has. He's my hero."
You know, I should feel more touched at all this.
I do feel a little bit happy, but not nearly as much as I should be. I should be ecstatic. I should be breaking down from happiness right about now. Seeing Char standing up to Scythe for me. Seeing that he forgives me for lying to him. Seeing that he didn't want me to have my memories erased after all. Yeah… tears should be streaming down my face at this moment. But instead, I feel more emotionless than anything. I feel... blank.
And there's a reason for it.
You see… I still haven't told Char the whole truth. I'm still holding back from him. And I'm not going to feel right until the truth finally comes out.
In fact…
"Scythe…" I say meekly, stepping out from behind Char and speaking up to him. "Is it alright if I talk to Char alone? Without you listening, I mean? I really have something to say to him."
Scythe turns to me, looking annoyed. As if to say "If it's that important, say it to everyone."
Not a chance.
"Well, Scythe?" Char speaks for me. "You heard him. We appreciate you eavesdropping on us all the time. We really do. But can you let us talk privately for a moment, please?"
A moment of tension shifts by. I can tell Scythe really doesn't want to do this, but Char matches his scowl.
"Fine, human," Scythe finally spits, turning to leave. "I won't listen. You have my word."
And I wait impatiently for him to leave.
Finally, when his silhouette turns invisible against the dark sky, I turn to Char and lower my voice.
"Alright… what I'm about to tell you… it has to stay really secret," I say. "Scythe can't know about it. Gardevoir says if Scythe finds out, it may make him snap. And I think I believe him… So listen…"
"I'm listening," Char whispers back to me, dropping to all fours so his head comes very close to mine.
"Alright," I say even more quietly. "When Gardevoir came to erase my memories, there was… something else he did… Ooh… I just… I can't believe I'm saying this…"
"It's alright," Char assures me. "I'm ready."
"Char, do you… do you remember… back when… we first came to the Gold Division?" I ask, taking it one word at a time. "Do you remember when Scythe took us to Eva to get tested for the Call?"
"Yeah…"
"You said Eva didn't test you, right?" I ask. "You said she lied? And she even blackmailed you?"
"Yeah…" Char answers. "She made me really afraid to tell the truth… But no, she didn't test me…"
"Well, I… I… I think I might know… why she didn't…" I say slowly. "I think she didn't test you because… uh… well… after she found it once, she thought it would be pointless to look for it again."
Char only blinks. He can't quite digest what I said. So, in the tiniest, most inaudible whisper I can manage, I tell him the truth.
"Char… I have the Call, too," I say. "Gardevoir found it. It's just as powerful as yours. I think some of the times when the Call happened, it was me, not you. Like… I think I'm actually the one who was calling to Lily the other day."
Char's eyes glaze over. His mouth hangs wide open. He is about as speechless as a Pokémon can get.
"I can't believe it either, Char…" I whisper. "All this time… we both had it."