(2,000 words)
Chapter 3
Team-up


"Well this was a waste of time," Thorn says after the duo's walk through Pokemon Square. Turns out most people don't know anything about amnesia. Even the doctor's best advice was 'hope it goes away on its own'. And their transformation? Yeah, it's no surprise that no one could help with that.

"That's not true," Compass says. "You got familiar with the town and the shops, right?"

Thorn shrugs. It's a pretty weird town; one shop selling 'magic scarves' (that Compass assures them aren't a scam), another one giving out free samples, and everyone acting so... nice. No one, shopkeeper nor townsfolk, seems unhappy. It's creepy. "You still haven't followed through on your end of the deal."

"Don't worry, there's one last person I think can help. Aaaaand, here we are!" Compass steps aside to present a small pond, with an old whiscash floating by the shore.

"Hello again, Cyndaquil," Whiscash says. "And hello to you as well, young cubone. How can I help you?"

"I dunno. Cyndaquil, how can he help me?"

"This is Whiscash the storyteller. If anyone knows about your condition, it's him. He's one of the wisest people in the world!"

"Oh really? Hey Whiscash, what's heavier: A pound of steel, or a pound of feathers?"

"The feathers."

"No, they're- Wait, the feathers?"

"Yes. If you carry the steel, it is merely metal. But if you carry the feathers, you also carry the weight of what you did to those poor birds."

"... Damn, he's good."

"Thorn, please don't swear in front of Whiscash. Anyway, we were hoping you might know something about..."

Compass explains Thorn's amnesia and transformation, with Thorn providing details where necessary. Whiscash ponders their story for a long while. "... I'm afraid I can't help you much. Transformation occurs in many stories, with an endless variety of causes; fruit from a magic tree, traveling through time, a ninetails' curse, divine punishment... And each with a different cure as well, if any cure at all."

"What about amnesia?" Compass asks.

"Amnesia is an even more common trope, brought on by anything from the heartbreak of losing a loved one, to a blow to the head. And again, cured by anything from accepting your grief, to... well, another blow to the head."

"What about stories with both conditions?"

"There are none that I know of, I'm afraid. However, there is a cure for amnesia that is common across many stories: If you can recreate the circumstances of your past, your memories may resurface."

"Really?" Thorn says. "Wow! All I have to do is recreate my past! But in order to do that, I'll need to remember my past. So all I have to do to remember my past, is remember my past!"

"Yes."

"You're useless. I'm leaving."

"Thorn!" Compass sighs and turns to Whiscash. "I-I'm sorry, they're... not having a good day."

Whiscash smiles. "Don't worry. You don't grow this old without some patience and thick skin."

"Thank you for your help. Thorn, wait up!" Compass chases after Thorn. "I'm sorry, I really thought Whiscash would know something to help..."

"Whatever. It's what I get for agreeing to such a vague deal. So congrats, you tricked me into helping you for free I guess."

"No. I promised to help you and that's what I'll do. Plenty of people pass through this town, one of them is bound to know something! And besides, you don't know your way around yet. It'll be nice to have someone to help you out and give you a place to stay, right?"

Thorn squints at Compass. "... You want something, don't you?"

"What? I... Okay, yeah. You're strong, and really good at fighting. Our rescue of Caterpie went really well, so I was hoping... Would you be willing to form a rescue team with me?"

"Am I supposed to know what a rescue team is?"

"It's a licensed team of pokemon that go on missions to help pokemon in need. Searching for missing people, providing an escort through dangerous places, even hunting down violent outlaws. You're strong enough to handle battles, and we worked together pretty well back there, so please, form a rescue team with me!"

"No."

"P-please, at least consider it! With all these natural disasters lately, more and more people need help. You could save lives! And since you'll be doing jobs for a lot of people, you'll probably meet someone who can help with your condition."

Thorn considers the offer. Finding help with their amnesia isn't likely, but Butterfree and Cyndaquil mentioned rewards before, payment. Teaming up with a stranger is a big risk, but- no, wait, Cyndaquil's a fire-type, and they're ground-type. They could totally kick Cyndaquil's ass if things go south. But these missions would be dangerous... but that means the reward must be... "How much does it pay?"

Compass sighs at Thorn's greed. "It pays pretty well. Around 300 coins per mission."

"... Right. Better question, how much food could that buy?"

"Food? Let's see, split between us, probably about five days worth-"

"I'm in."

"Wait really?"

"Why not? If it turns out to be too dangerous, I can always just quit."

Compass's face lights up. "Okay! Follow me, we gotta go register our team!"

Compass runs off, and Thorn chases after. They head south of the post office, and arrive at a rather nice house. Compass walks through the door. "Mom, I'm home!"

A typhlosion drops the reports she was reading to greet Compass with a hug. "Ah, welcome home! Had a long day?"

Compass awkwardly accepts the hug. "Yup. I made a new friend!"

Typhlosion looks up at Thorn, standing just outside the door. "Ah, so this is the cubone Butterfree told me about."

Compass freezes. "Butterfree... told you..?"

"Do you have something to tell me, Compass?"

"... I-I'm sorry! But I couldn't just do nothing, right? There was a pokemon that needed help!"

Typhlosion sighs. "You know how dangerous it is. But, I'll let it slide. You made sure to avoid going in alone; the situation was urgent, and your swift action made a difference; and of all the places to recklessly dive into, Tiny Woods is relatively safe. But you should really have found a licensed team to do the job."

"Um, actually, about that-"

"Oh, we can talk about this later. Cubone, come in! Any friend of Compass is welcome in this house."

Thorn steps inside, uncomfortable about entering someone else's home. "Uh... hi."

"Hello! Caterpie went on and on about how well you two fought together. It's nice to see Compass making more friends."

"Right... Hey Compass? I thought you said we were going to get our team registered. Why are we-"

"Team?" Typhlosion turns to Compass.

"Yeah! After our rescue, Cubone agreed to form a rescue team with me."

Typhlosion sighs. "When I said you could join a team when you were 16, I didn't expect it to be so soon. Well then, Cubone!" Typhlosion stands up straight and turns to Thorn. "Allow me to introduce myself properly. I am Beacon the Typhlosion, head of rescue team operations in Pokemon Square and leader of Team Lighthouse. What is your name?"

"Uh, Thorn."

"Thorn the Cubone, I see. I haven't seen any cubone around town before. Where are you from?"

"Hell if I know, I have amnesia."

Compass cringes.

"... Compass I don't think I approve of your friend."

"I-I know they're a little rude, but they're a good pokemon! They rescued Caterpie! And besides, I promised I'd help find someone who can help with their condition."

"Condition?"

Compass explains Thorn's amnesia and apparent transformation.

"Well, that's quite the condition. But as for you teaming up with them... Well, alright. I'll set your team up for registration."

"Does that mean I can grab the..."

Beacon smiles. "Yes, run upstairs and get it."

"Thank you mom!" Compass sprints up the stairs, leaving Beacon and Thorn alone...

Beacon grabs Thorn's shoulder and whispers. "Listen here, Thorn the Cubone. I don't know you, and Compass is a terrible judge of character, so I hope you understand that a foul-mouthed cubone appearing out of nowhere with so much skill in combat is more than a little suspicious. I'm giving you a chance because, whatever your motives may be, you did save Caterpie. But if you harm a single hair on my Compass's head, no rescue team in the world will be able to save you from me. Are we clear?"

Thorn, frozen in fear, gives only a nod.

"Good."

Right on time, Compass comes running back down the stairs holding a box. They set it down, bouncing from one foot to the other and looking at Beacon expectantly.

"Well? Go on, open it."

Compass pounces on the box and, carefully, gently, removes the lid, revealing a set of official rescue team badges. "OhmygoshohmygoshohmyGOSH! It's finally happening! It's really, finally happening! Mom, is this really happening?"

"It's really happening."

"It's really HAPPENING!!" Compass snatches two badges from the box and shoves one into Thorn's hands. "We're a rescue team! We're a rescue team!" Compass chants, jumping for joy and flapping their hands!

"That's wonderful! What's your team name?"

"I don't know! Thorn, what's our team name?"

"Team Bullies."

Compass resumes jumping. "Team Bullies! We're Team- Wait, hey, that's bad! Thorn!" Compass glares at Thorn, who simply snickers.

Beacon laughs. "Don't worry, you'll have plenty of time to think of a name. After all, you still need to do your registration mission tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? Oh jeez, I don't know if I'll be able to sleep."

"Let's worry about dinner first. And you, Cubone. Do you have a place to stay?"

"N-no, not that I know of."

"You can stay here for the night. After that, I've got a vacant team base for you two. Now then Compass, how about we make some pie to celebrate?"

The evening passes, with Compass and Beacon making pie and talking about the adventure in Tiny Woods. Thorn keeps to themself, eating a few apples from their helmet instead of the pie. When night falls, Beacon guides Thorn to the guest room.

"Get a good night's sleep," Beacon says. "You'll need the energy tomorrow."

With that, Thorn is alone, expected to sleep in a stranger's house. They're not even sleepy yet. They poke around the room, finding some books, only to realize they can't read them. They continue searching, checking under and inside everything, both to pass the time and because they don't want to sleep in a room they aren't familiar with.

Eventually, they're out of things to do, and they climb in to the bed-

Whoa. This bed is surprisingly comfy for a guest room. Really comfy. Possibly the comfiest bed they've ever slept in. The mattress is so soft, the pillow so supportive, the blankets so thick and warm-

"U-um, hey Thorn?"

Thorn instantly sits up and spots Compass in the doorway.

"Sorry, were you sleeping?"

"No, not yet. What's up?"

"I just... I know you didn't really want to form a rescue team with me, but... Thank you for this. I'm looking forward to working with you!"

"Okay cool. So are you gonna keep staring at me from the doorway, or..?"

"Right, sorry. Goodnight Thorn." Compass waits a few seconds for a reply, then closes the door.

Thorn listens to the footsteps get further away, then they lie back into the unreasonably comfy bed. A lot has happened today, but they feel... kinda fine? They're not in any danger (as long as they don't anger Beacon), so they may as well just roll with it. It sucks to not know anything, and this new body is uncomfortable, but everything's fine. Despite their lost memories, they don't feel like they're really missing anything...

No, wait. One thing is missing. Something important. Very important... Damn it, they need to get their memories back.




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