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Floating. Everywhere he looked it was a dark, empty void. The personification of nothingness, and he was stuck floating there.
Except when she called.
A vortex would appear, a tornado-like vacuum, and in a flurry of blue hues and tints of black he would suddenly find himself in a world of color. It was wonderful at first, being able to escape whatever that empty prison of darkness was always made it so he didn't ask any questions. He didn’t even speak, at first. That is, until he started to realize his new colorful world, full of cute pets and interesting people, was just a different kind of prison.
For two main reasons:
1. No one, and nothing, could see him. Except, that is, the girl who summoned him. Unless, she allowed him to be seen. That was usually only when it was deemed convenient, apparently.
2. The aforementioned girl also had him on some sort of invisible leash. He had to follow wherever she went...couldn't stray ‘too far’, and she could dismiss him freely without warning.
He stayed quiet no matter what. It was mostly curiosity that kept him silent, but a small part of him was also afraid. What was he? What did all of this mean? He'd appeared in that space with no memories at all. The girl being his only glimpse to another world, it was like they were tied together somehow... A sudden thought dawned on him right after a battle with a curious plant-like creature, when he was dismissed afterwards and had too much time to think — as per usual.
"Am I...not human?" It was a thought he hadn't meant to voice aloud.
The girl beside him froze. They'd been in the middle of shopping for items post-battle, things he noticed were only for the creatures she kept — never for her. Curious. Noticeably rushing through the order, she didn't say a word to him until they were in a secluded area of what seemed to be a forest.
"You can speak," she was staring at him to the point of discomfort, eyes big and full of surprise or maybe caution. He wasn’t quite sure which.
"Yes? Should I not, Master?"
A physical recoil seemed to roll through her body when he uttered the title. With a violent shake of her head, she waved her hands before her in alarm. He was, suffice to say, incredibly confused. Everything he did, all his options and range of freedom, were in her control. Did that not make her his master? Was he not enslaved? Why was she freaking out?
"Omigod, please never say that again," she pretended to gag, "It's so weird coming from that face."
"Wait. Wh..what? Who... am I?"
"You really don't remember, do you?"
A gust of wind blew past and the little cat- — or maybe fox-? — like creature on her head started yawning. He watched it as he tried to search through his mind for any remnants of memories.
Nothing.
He was just empty.
"No. I'm sorry." He leaned against the tree trunk behind him in defeat.
The small pet atop the girl's head started making noise before climbing down to her shoulder. It seemed to have something on its mind, but he was no animal whisperer. She, however, seemed well-versed on its needs. On their travels together, he’d learned fast that the girl had a knack for communicating with all, human and animal alike.
"What is it, Eevee? Are you trying to help?"
"Voyvoy!!" was the curious sound the little thing named Eevee made.
It suddenly procured a tiny, iridescent pearl — from seemingly nowhere — and gestured towards the girl to take it. As soon as she did, Eevee trodded back to the top of her head. The girl turned to him, a grimace heavy on her features as she extended her arm to him, pearl in hand. She had to kneel to where he sat at the tree's base. It dawned on him how alike they were, even equal in height. Same hair, same eyes, even the same skin tone. He wondered if there was a reason behind that, but shrugged the idea away.
"Here. Eeevee thinks this might help you regain your memories,” she tried to give him a small smile as a sign of good faith.
A glance between her and the pearl was all it took to tell him there was just a slim chance this would work. He took the colorful little ball anyway, rolling it around his hands. This tiny thing was supposed to fix his problems? Ha. If he stopped to look at it though, he could see his reflection in it, though the reflection moved instead of staying still.
Wait. That...wasn't him.
Well, it was. But not him now. It looked like him but much smaller. He stared at the reflection until suddenly it felt like his head was going to split open. Something was pouring in too much information at once. He missed the moment his body hit the floor. Was he returning to the void again? Had she dismissed him?
No...
No, this was different. Flashes of images were swirling around, this was more akin to drowning.
*
As the images started to solidify, he realized he had no physical being in whatever plane this was. He was just... watching. A young girl and boy who looked nearly identical were playing with what appeared to be plush animals. They looked happy as they laughed together. Everything suddenly warped and twisted as the boy who looked eerily like him suddenly dropped to the floor of the bedroom. He wasn't moving, no matter how much the girl shook him.
He was...dead?
Everything fast forwarded then abruptly stopped again. A taller woman hunched over a photograph and was shaking uncontrollably. The word "mother" flitted through his mind. The resemblance made it hard to argue. The photograph on the table depicted what appeared to be a happy family. There were several bottles beside it, some turned over. She was leaning against the table, seemingly an incoherent mess. He wondered why it felt so familiar until he caught a glimpse of the photo again. It was his face, but once more, much younger The girl appeared suddenly, still young but older than the previous images he'd been shown, and slowly approached the woman murmuring something.
No reply. The girl merely sighed as if in defeat.
"He's not coming back," it was a quiet whisper, but he heard it clear as day.
Okay. Where was the pause button. He wished there was a way to sit down and breathe, to take all this in. To make it worse, the memories around him didn't really have a pause, they'd just kept going while he'd been trying to process and starting to panic. Now it was the girl again — his twin? — on a bed (presumably hers) focusing intently on a book with strange symbols. He had no chance to question it when the door to that room slammed open against the adjacent wall. The woman from before — his mother? — stumbled in muttering a string of nonsensical phrases before flopping onto the girl's bed.
And...she was out in seconds. Wow.
The girl patted her on the back in a soothing gesture as she resumed the consumption of her book.
"Don't worry, mom. I'll bring brother back, at least. Forget Papa, okay?" She turned the page.
Everything suddenly disappeared, going completely black for a moment. He assumed he was back home, the void, until a small light appeared. The next memory. The girl was inside a dark cave with many, many inscriptions painted along the walls. All he could make out was "Arceus" written over and over. What was she doing in a place like this?
"Arceus. Please?” She called into the cave, with a determined strength as if she'd done this several times previous. Concerning.
A light spilled out from what seemed like nothing and suddenly a majestic creature with a deep, resounding voice was approaching her.
"Child, you summon me again. I can't give you what you've lost. Stop calling on me."
"Take me in exchange."
The one named Arceus froze. He couldn't blame it, he did, too. What did she even mean by that?
"Child, no." The voice made the cave rumble, power emphasizing his words.
The girl's knees hit the floor.
"I've studied for so long about this, I know you can," Her voice shook, "Please, I'll do anything."
Arceus let out a sigh and bowed his long neck in defeat. His eyes closed for a moment and then all of the sudden another creature was with him — the girl gasped at this, seeming to know what it was.
"G-Giratina?"
"I will grant your request. But you must make a deal and uphold it. There maybe consequences as well, and you'll have to be prepared for that."
Consequences? What the heck had they done to him?
"Whatever they are, I'm ready."
You don't even know what they are! What did all of you do to me?!
"He may not be the same when he returns—"
His twin put up her hand and shook her head slowly.
"I don't care. What do I have to do?"
"Keep Pokemon safe from any who would use them for evil. Get strong. Prove to me that doing this was not a waste."
The subtle threat that hung between them of "or else" was thick and uncomfortable.
Arceus went on to explain that Giratina would be the one to help raise his soul and stick him in a dimension where he would not instantly die. Apparently it would take time for his being — soul? body? no one knew — to adjust. The only way to keep him here was to tether them together. Essentially, the twins would now live and die together. Literally.
*
The memories around him started to fade. He realized that must have been everything when he opened his eyes to the familiar green forest they'd been in beforehand. His whole body felt heavy. A face he now recognized lay down on the short grass, facing him. Her eyes lit up when she noticed him.
"Hey, you're awake!"
"I'm sorry," what else could he say? He'd died when they were so young and she'd been left alone to deal with so much. A father's abandonment, a mother's lunacy and denial, and her own loneliness.
"It's not your fault," the smile on her face screamed fake.
"What's wrong, sis?" aside from... everything.
"Are you...mad at me? Do you hate me?" She wouldn't look him in the eyes.
He sat up straight and aggressively shook his head. Eevee jumped into his lap right as his sister sat up beside him. He idly pet the pokemon as they spoke.
"I'm not mad, really. But I get why now," he made a face, "But seriously, you didn't even ask what the consequences were?" He had to stifle a laugh.
"I! I was desperate...Shut up," she rolled her eyes and stood up after shoving at him, "Come on. We gotta catch up to Team Rocket. We can't fail our end of the deal."
He couldn't help but scoff as he stood, Eevee leaving him to join his sister on her head, its home. "Our", she says, I didn't sign up for any of this. Dusting off, he glanced back at the pokemon that usually followed and battled with him. Was that also the work of Giratina? He tried to shake that thought and just take a breath. This was going to be their adventure, he was gonna have to just accept that he was along for the ride.
"Fine. Let's Go."