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KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
‘Maybe if I keep ignoring them, they’ll go away and let me sleep,’ Akari thought to herself and snuggled deeper into her blanket.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
Akari groaned into her pillow at the insistent knocking at her front door. Whoever was on the other side didn’t seem to pick up on her hint to go away at the first four times she ignored it. Now, they were just rapping their knuckles on the door over and over again.
“Akari, we know that you’re in there,” Adaman’s muffled said from the other side of the door over the knocking.
“But what if she isn’t?” Irida’s equally muffled voice asked.
“She should be,” Rei’s voice piped in. “No one has seen her leave yet this morning.”
“Then she is in there,” Adaman said and the knocking continued. The diamond clan leader was getting impatient and he started pounding on the door harder. “Akari, get up and open the door before I accidentally break the door!”
Giving up, Akari picked herself up from her oh-so-comfortable bed and dragged her feet towards the door. She unlocked it and ripped it open to the side to see Adaman’s proud smirk and his hand still held up in the air from where he was knocking.
“I told you she was here,” Adaman said and lowered his hand. He placed on hand on his hip and looked Akari up-and-down. “Jeez, you look like you got run over by a rhyperior.”
It’s true – standing there with her hair sticking up in the air and still in her rumbled sleep clothes, Akari looked like a mess. There was even still creases on her face from her pillow and she was pretty sure her shirt was inside out AND backwards.
“Oh, you look tired,” Irida fretted over Akari, trying to smooth out her hair.
“I am,” Akari yawned and rubbed at her tired eyes. “I got in at like four in the morning after stalking some clefairy to see their moon dance for the pokedex. I was almost home free when an alpha clefable found me and I spent the next two hours running away from it all over the Coronet Highlands. And then I hid in a bush for an extra hour just to make sure the coast was clear.”
“You survived though,” Adaman grinned and slapped Akari on the back. The girl stumbled forward at the force and shot the diamond clan leader a sour look. “Shows just how tough like a diamond you can be. Have you re-thought my offer of joining my clan?”
“How presumptuous of you to ask that in front of me!” Irida exclaimed, arms straight at her side as she stamped her foot. “Akari is cautious with how she hid for an extra hour to make sure she was safe! The epitome of one who belongs in the Pearl Clan!”
“Akari? Cautious? Ha!” Adaman scoffed. “She is one of the boldest people I know! Or do you forget her fight against Volo?”
“Why you—” Irida puffed out her cheeks as she was riled up.
Akari sighed and leaned against her door frame. Rei slid up next to her, cupping a hand around his mouth. “Here they go again,” Rei whispered. “They were doing so well too.”
“Just how they are,” Akari shook her head. She yawned again and reached up to rub the sleep out of her eyes. Looks there was no chance of going back to sleep at this point. She cleared her throat to catch the leaders’ attention. “So…why are you guys bothering me when I’m supposed to be asleep?”
“Oh!” Adaman perked up and turned away from Irida. “We wanted to go check something out and figured we would bring the hero of Sinnoh with us.”
“Sinnoh,” Irida repeated the word. “So interesting to call the region that now.”
There was a bang of a memory in Akari’s mind and she fought against the wince from it. Something about calling the region Sinnoh felt right in her, like she couldn’t imagine calling it other than that. Sinnoh felt like home…but Akari had no clue.
…whatever, it was too early to think on memories that didn’t belong to her.
“Where are we going?” Akari yawned. She held a hand in front of her mouth as she did so and shifted it to block the rays of the sun attacking her eyes.
“The Cobalt Coastlands,” Rei answered. “More specifically: Turnback Cave.”
Akari leveled her friends with a flat look before turning around. “I’m going back to bed.”
“Akari~” Rei whined and grabbed the back of Akari’s sleep shirt. It was the weird shirt that she had woken up on the beach all those months ago. It was so weird looking at it now as she had no idea where she could have gotten it. “Please~”
“I’m not going back there,” Akari grumbled, hands gripped around her doorframe as she pulled.
“Why not?” Adaman asked.
“I already found giratina in there once, I would rather not find it a second time,” Akari said.
Adaman rolled his eyes and joined Rei in pulling Akari’s shirt to stop her from going back to sleep. “Where is that diamond clan boldness I was just bragging about?!”
“In bed, still asleep like I should be,” Akari grumbled.
“But it’ll be fun,” Irida pressed.
“I can’t believe you’re going along with this,” Akari said to her friend.
Irida gave a shrug. “My clan has been keeping tabs on it and after your trip there, they figured it was safe for us to explore.”
Akari sighed and stopped fighting against the boys suddenly so they fell backwards on the ground. They had let go of her in the surprise and the girls giggled at their faces. “Fine,” Akari groaned dramatically. “You three win. I’ll go back to Turnback cave.”
“Yay!” Rei cheered with his arms in the air.
“Let me get dressed and then we can go,” Akari said and turned back to her room.
“Irida, go with her so she doesn’t lock us out and go back to bed,” Adaman commanded with a finger pointing at the hero of the region.
Akari clicked her tongue as her plan was foiled.
“Did you have to carry me like this?” Akari deadpanned.
“You weren’t co-operating,” Adaman shrugged the shoulder Akari wasn’t slung over like a sack of mochi.
“I wanted to go back to bed,” Akari groaned in defeat.
“You can take a rest at Iscan’s tent when we’re done,” Adaman laughed and hoisted Akari up higher on his shoulder. “I’m sure he would be all for a visit.”
“I wonder if Palina is with him too,” Irida pondered. “I haven’t seen her in a bit.”
Akari just groaned and resigned herself to her fate, going limp on Adaman’s shoulder. Behind the diamond clan leader who walked side-by-side with the pearl clan leader, Rei laughed at Akari’s actions. Akari made sure to look up at him and shoot her best friend the stink eye.
“I’m going to get you all back for this,” Akari swore.
“Oooh, we’re shivering in our sandals,” Adaman chuckled.
“Akari, no offence, but you’re as scary as an eevee,” Irida giggled.
“Says you three,” Akari pouted. “Everyone else fears me and my accomplishments.”
“What, like falling into a third lake because you weren’t paying attention to your surroundings?” Irida laughed.
“Or having to run away from a flock of starly that just wanted the seeds you had pulled out of your pocket?” Rei added.
“Or the time you went missing in the Crimson Mirelands for three days because you lost track of time following an ursaluna and were mistaken for one with all the mud that covered you?”
“You’re all the worst,” Akari stuck her tongue out at her friends. “Just for that, I won’t be the one to save the world again.”
“Oh, what shall we do if our faithful hero won’t save us a second time?” Adaman said sarcastically. “Would groveling at our dear hero’s feet be the trick?”
“Nope,” Akari crossed her arms which made Rei laugh at the sight of her doing so while her top half was still upside down. “I’ll be tucked away all toasty warm in my bed while you three can figure it out for yourselves.”
“Looks like it’ll be my time to step up,” Rei said with resounding confidence, a fist held in the air. He stayed like that for a moment before breaking into a peal of laughter. “I don’t think my pikachu would be very happy with that.”
“Samuel was a bit too keen to jump into the fray,” Akari said.
“A pokemon with diamond clan values. I like it,” Adaman smiled.
“Zee is my favorite of your pokemon,” Irida piped in. “So careful and calculating in her movements before attacking. Maybe I should add a zorua to my team.”
“What about Helios?” Rei grinned. “He’s so playful and full of energy.”
“He’s still a puppy,” Irida said. “Wait until he evolves into an arcanine and then you’ll see the true might of their species.”
“I think we all know who Akari is like the most from her pokemon,” Adaman smirked.
“Don,” Adaman, Irida and Rei all chimed in the same time.
Akari blinked and sat up to prop her elbows on Adaman’s back. “Is that a compliment or insult?”
“Your bastiodon just wants to sleep all day,” Rei chuckled. “I think he was supposed to have been born in a snorlax’s body.”
“Probably why he is her favorite,” Adaman laughed.
“Lies and slander,” Akari gasped in mock offence. She reached back to pat at her pokemon’s pokeballs. “Don’t listen to these traitors. I love all of you equally.”
“Hey, look!” Irida said and skipped forward a few steps. “We’re here.”
“Thanks Dialga,” Adaman said and lowered Akari off his shoulder. “You were getting heavy.”
Akari puffed her cheeks out and punched Adaman in the arm. “You didn’t have to carry me the whole time.”
“I did,” Adaman laughed and rubbed his arm. “Or else you would have ran away to go back to sleep.”
Akari grumbled in her spot and kicked a rock by her foot. Rei laughed and grabbed her hand, pulling her towards the cave. “Whatever! Let’s go check out the cave already! We have our resident expert with us!”
“I would hardly call me an expert,” Akari deadpanned but allowed herself to be pulled along. Adaman and Irida trotted behind them to keep up and marveled at the cave as they entered.
“You’ve been here more than pretty much anyone else,” Irida said. “That makes you the expert.”
“I’ve been here once.”
“Still more than others.”
Akari huffed but paused in her steps, pulling Rei into a stop as she looked around. She narrowed her eyes, an uneasy feeling in her gut. “Something is wrong.”
“What?” Adaman asked and looked around. “It’s just a giant empty room.”
“Exactly,” Akari agreed. “But we aren’t supposed to be in this room yet.”
“What?” Rei furrowed his brow.
“Turnback cave is supposed to be a maze,” Akari explained. “It’s why I was gone for two days when I came here the first time. I kept getting turned around and it’s only by luck I made it to this room. There is no way that we got here so soon.”
Akari covered her ears as an ear-piercing screech echoed around the room. She knew who it was – she had heard it when it came out of the portal when fighting Volo.
Giratina.
Cracking her eyes open, Akari looked around the cave to find the ruler of the distortion space. To her surprise, there was no other being besides herself and her three friends. The screech ended as quickly as it started and all four of them were left standing there in confusion.
“What was that?” Rei asked.
“Giratina,” Akari answered without missing a beat. She narrowed her eyes and placed her hands on her hips as she inspected the space to see if anything was different. “It’s somewhere nearby.”
Too bad she didn’t have eyes in the back of her head to see the glowing red eyes and mouth of said pokemon hiding in the shadows behind her.
“We should get out of here,” Irida declared.
“For once, I agree with you,” Adaman nodded. Rei fiddled with his scarf as he trotted forward to follow Adaman and Irida out towards the exit.
Akari went to take a step forward to join her friends but it felt like there was a barrier in front of her. As she hadn’t been expecting it, the force pushed her back just enough that she tripped over a rock right behind her foot.
Akari felt the air around her shift as she fell through a portal that didn’t used to be there. Her friends had turned around in time to see her fall through, all of their faces falling in shock. As Akari fell, the last thing she saw of her friends was Rei running towards her with a hand thrown out in her direction.
“Akari!”
“Dawn.”
Akari struggled to open her eyes. It felt like she was falling…or rather floating? She wasn’t sure what was the correct word to describe what she was feeling.
“Akari.”
That was her name. She knew it.
“Which one is the true you?”
“That’s a weird question,” Akari mumbled and finally forced her eyes open. She was in a dark space with floating islands all around her. The sky was a swirl of red and purple, and she had no idea how she wasn’t plummeting towards one of the islands.
“Which one is the true you?” the voice from earlier repeated their question.
“Well, I don’t know who Dawn is and I do know my name is Akari,” Akari answered.
“Are you sure about that?”
She was getting annoyed at whoever this voice was. They had taken her from her friends and all she wanted to was just go home and go back to sleep. “Where am I?!” Akari demanded.
“In an in-between space,” the voice answered. A large shadow flew past Akari and she flinched at the sight of Giratina in its altered form staring her down. “I am bringing you back to where you were stolen from.”
Akari realized with a start that Giratina was the one talking to her. She bit her lip before deciding that she didn’t care enough and that she wanted to go home. “You mean back to Rei and the others? Because I would really like to go home right now.”
“I am taking you home,” Giratina said and slithered around in the air. “Where you belong.”
“What are you talking about?” Akari furrowed her brow and crossed her arms over her chest. “You just took me from my home.”
If the pokemon ruler could, Giratina would have hummed in disapproval. “I see the block is still holding strong on you. I would have thought it would have broken after being pulled into my space.”
“You’re confusing me,” Akari said.
Giratina flew closer to Akari, wrapping its body in a loose circle around the much smaller girl. “No matter. Consider this a present for defeating my champion. You’ve been greatly missed by your family and friends.”
Akari went to respond but her eyes felt heavy. A light shined against her back and it felt warm. It lulled her to sleep like her bed, beckoning her to fall to slumber.
“I’m sorry my master was so careless when bringing you to the past,” was Giratina’s parting message.
Akari closed her eyes again as she floated towards the light.
Awareness came suddenly and painfully. Akari groaned and sat up, rubbing her aching head.
“Ouch, that hurt,” Akari huffed. She was sitting on hard ground and it was dark all around her, aside from a few glowing rocks to provide minimal light.
Pushing herself up on her feet, Akari took stock of herself. It seemed like she was wholly fine, besides the headache that was fading. With a start, she looked down at her belt and sighed in relief to see her pokemon still in their place.
Looking around, Akari blinked in surprise at how run down Turnback cave had become. Just moments ago, it had been in a better shape. Now, there was scratches everywhere and rock piles that had fallen from the ceiling.
“What in arceus’ word happened here?” Akari wondered aloud.
“Did you hear that?”
Akari turned at the faint sound of a boy’s voice. She tilted her head to the side as another voice joined the other and she started to follow them. Maybe they would be able to help her find her friends in this maze.
She should never had gotten out of bed that morning.
Akari peeked around the corner of the room she was heading into, looking out for any alpha pokemon that would attack her for being in their territory. A scar on her leg stung at the memory of the alpha scyther that had gotten her during her early days of the expedition corps.
“Hello?” the voice from before called out. Akari frowned and enter the room, trying to find the person it belonged to. “Is there someone here?”
“Hello?” Akari called back. Arceus, Turnback Cave a maze.
“Dawn?” the voice called again. There was a pounding of feet and within a moment, a boy was skidding to a stop at one of the side entrances of the room. Akari froze in shock at the blond boy in weird clothing.
He looked at her with wide eyes, his mouth hanging open in shock as he stared at her. His hands were gripped the side of the entrance that he had used to stop his momentum and his knuckles were turning white with how hard he gripped the stone.
Akari felt herself growing shy at the way he looked at her. It was like when she first arrived at Jubilife village when all the villages whispered behind their hands at her weird clothing. Working up the nerve, Akari waved at the boy to break the tension.
“Dawn, oh my god, it’s you!” a blond boy cheered and ran up to the girl. Akari didn’t say anything but did squeak in alarm when the unknown boy pulled her in for a hug. “Where the heck have you been?! I’ve been looking everywhere! We’ve been so worried!”
Akari froze in shock. She didn’t know this boy and he was hugging her. He was even calling her the wrong name. Her name is Akari, not Dawn!
Though…flashes of old memories that belonged to her that appeared in her mind before started to poke at her again. They reminded her of the girl that looked a lot like her that was named Dawn.
“Barry, where did you go?!” the second voice called from farther inside.
“Lucas!” Barry exclaimed and pulled away from Akari, but he didn’t release her as he moved his hands to her shoulders. “I found her!”
“Found who?” the boy now dubbed Lucas asked as he rounded the corner Barry had come from earlier. The boy stumbled in his steps as he caught sight of Akari. “…Dawn?” the boy whispered.
But Akari felt herself growing excited. Rei was here, though he was wearing a different outfit. Akari grinned and pulled away from Barry, rushing towards her best friend. “Rei!” Akari exclaimed as she threw her arms around the boy. “I’m so glad to see you here!”
“Dawn…” Barry whispered as his hand trailed after her.
“Hey, Rei, who is this boy?” Akari asked and jerked her chin towards Barry. Her heart panged at the heart-broken look that took up residence on Barry’s face at that question. Rei was still frozen after Akari had hugged him and the girl was confused. Rei was loved physical attention and was always one to return her hug. She pulled away and looked Rei in the eyes, tilting her head to the side. All she got from Rei’s eyes were confusion. “Rei?”
Rei shook his head to clear his thought and placed his hands on Akari’s, holding them in front of her. “Dawn…why are you calling me Rei?”
This time, Akari’s eyes shown with confusion. “Because that’s your name silly.” She pulled away a step and took her hands out of Rei’s. “By the way, how did you change your clothes so quickly? And where did Adaman and Irida go?”
Rei pressed his lips together in a hard, flat line. He looked over at Barry and it looked like the two boys had a silent conversation that Akari wasn’t privy to. Taking in a deep breath, Rei turned back to Akari and look her in the eyes.
“Dawn, you know my name is Lucas…right?” Rei – or rather Lucas – asked.
“No, it isn’t,” Akari shook her head. “Your name is Rei.” She turned so that she could see both boys and propped her hands on her hips, puffing out her cheeks. “Are you playing a prank on me? That’s not very nice after you dragged me here even though I wanted to stay sleeping.”
“D-Dawn,” Barry rasped. He looked pale and wobbly on his feet, like he had just gotten the shock of the lifetime. “What are you talking about?”
“And that!” Akari exclaimed, pointing at Barry. “Why are you calling me that?”
“Because that’s your name,” Lucas got out in a choked voice. “Dawn.”
“No, it’s not,” Akari frowned and tilted her head to the side. “My name is Akari.”
Akari could have sworn that it was like she killed someone with how fast and hard both boys’ faces fell.