[Marco POV]
I felt myself floating in the middle of a swirling mass of energy. Something velvety and impossibly ethereal wrapped itself around my body. A warm sensation gently lapped around my body and swirled, slowly spinning me counterclockwise. I couldn't open my eyes, but I felt the information.
My eyes finally snapped open after an eternity of the comforting sensation. I was back home, my sight landing on the familiar furniture I had not seen in nearly a decade and the same living room I slept in until I left for college. The house felt strangely alien. I hadn't been here in so long, and it looked exactly the same as when I last saw it. The nostalgia twisted my gut. I walked away, the strange familiarity growing uncomfortable.
The air smelled polluted, radically different from the fresh air I had become accustomed to in Kalos. Another deep breath and I almost tasted the smoke and dirtiness present everywhere. 'Fresno, California,' the information popped into my head. This wasn't the same area I grew up in. No, it was the neighborhood I saw when passing through the area several years after my family moved to another town.
Instead of a small yard with wild mushrooms growing, several broken-down houses along the street, and an empty open dirt field, I saw a large tree with a small cabin built into it, roughly twelve feet above the ground, a line of white picket fences separating several newly built homes, and a small plastic playground complete with a giant sandbox. There was a teen on a swing, staring away from me. He had long black hair tied up in a ponytail, a solid black shirt, and baggy jeans. I knew him, but I couldn't remember who he was. And that ached my heart deeply, guilt and shame weighing my gaze down to the floor.
"You left us," he said. His voice felt empty, devoid of emotion and personality. It was his voice, of that I was certain, but I didn't know who.
"You left me. You left me to die," he said, finally turning to face me. I didn't look up.
"I know…" I cried out, tears falling as the guilt-laced memories of his funeral invaded my mind. Images of us playing with wooden sticks as fake swords, me helping him with his homework, him cup-checking a kid trying to corner me, us fighting against a group of five teens trying to take his shoes, and finally, me leaving for the airport before leaving for the other side of the country. We had always kept each other safe, covering for each other everywhere we went. And I wasn't there for him in the end.
"You said you'd always have my back! You promised something nicer for Mom, safer for us. But you left, and everything got worse! You said you'd come back like a hero, but you always got there after we needed you!" he screamed.
"I did. I'm sorry," I barely croaked. Tears streamed as I looked away from him.
"No, don't look away. This was your fault! You can't escape that. You will never forget what you did. Remember me. Remember! ME!"
0-0-0
My eyes snapped open. A headache split through my head and into my right eye. It was dark, and the League agent's shoes mostly covered my field of vision. It took me a while to get accustomed to the lack of light. Once it did, the dream fogging up my mind cleared instantly, shock and fury paralyzing me on the floor.
An Accelgor floated over Lily's severed head. The bug stared at Nautilus, their small body frozen in the air. My starter was covered in blood, several deep gashes and a barely connected tentacle replacing the confident squid that had protected me since the beginning. He wavered in the air, right in front of a bleeding and unconscious Nova. Tetsu trembled in place behind them, eyes wide.
Alex hyperventilated next to her, eyes shut tight and muttering incoherently. The League agent walked over to the Flux grunt. "You said it'd be smooth."
"How was I supposed to expect the little bitch would find a Dodrio nest and take an egg?"
"You said no one would notice, but now we have fucking Essentia on our asses!"
"H-how long d-d-do we have?"
"I don't know! We need to-"
I raised an arm and returned Nova, startling both of them. The Accelgor twitched and disappeared. Before I could grab Nautilus' ball, the bug Body Slammed me into the ground, cracking the earth and my ribs.
"He's awake!" the grunt shouted, which distracted the League Agent. He scrambled for a PokéBall, but Nautilus intervened with Hypnosis.
A woman in a black and orange suit jumped out from the trees, slamming into the Agent. Before Accelgor could attack, a Lopunny blitzed the bug with a kick. I lay on the floor, unable to move any part of my body. An Espurr teleported next to me, their wide, glossy eyes staring through me. "Purr," they cried softly, using Protect to block stray attacks. Tetsu and Nautilus protected Alex, doubling their Protect to barely withstand the aftereffects of the battle.
I looked back at the Lopunny currently exchanging blows with the Accelgor. They both moved too quickly for my brain to comprehend what was happening. Just past them, the helmeted stranger pressuring the League agent just enough that he couldn't release another Pokémon. It looked like they were toying with him.
The Lopunny jumped in the air and shot down towards the Accelgor, a brown meteor of muscle and fluff. The bug dodged the kick but couldn't escape the ears that pummeled them relentlessly.
The shockwave from the kick sent me flying backward. I slammed into a tree and blacked out immediately.
0-0-0
I stood in the middle of a room. The furniture and decorations looked familiar yet alien. Two spruce coffee tables with glass tops, worn from years of use, sat in the middle. A woman sat on one of the tables, knitting needles in hand as she worked on a sleeve of a cardigan. Her rust red hair fell down her pale, freckled shoulders. She looked up at him with dark amber eyes.
"About time you got home," she spoke, her voice cracking in his ears like thunder. "You said you were making a vegan lasagna."
I opened my mouth, her name on the tip of my tongue. My voice died before it even rose in my throat.
"What's wrong?" she asked, setting the cardigan and needles down next to her. "Is it work? Or your…?"
I blinked and my arms were around her, something in me filling up with warmth and familiarity as I inhaled the shea butter scent of her body wash. She hugged back, squeezing just a bit. "It's okay, you can tell me what's going on."
"I don't know what's going on. Nothing makes sense, and I don't know who I am. I don't know who you are?" The words spilled out like scorching hot tea. They hurt me to say, deep in my soul.
She furrowed her brows. "What do you mean you don't know who we are? We're us. Marco and –
0-0-0
I woke up, light peeking through the trees from above. A cool breeze swept through the forest, a reprieve from already hot temperatures. I turned to see the back of the woman in the suit as sat by a blazing campfire, Alex sitting opposite the both of us. Her helmet was off, her black shoulder-length hair curling slightly. Nautilus looked fully healed, as did Nova, as they and Tetsu ate kibble off to the side.
"In?" the squid turned to look at me, eyes widening as we looked at each other. All three bolted over, jostling both Alex and the woman.
They slammed into me, though Nova almost immediately disengaged when I began rubbing her head. Tetsu rolled along my chest. Nautilus cuddled up to my head, pretending to sit on it. His tone comforted me as he purred a greeting.
"You're not in a coma, that's good," the woman said. "I'm gonna need some answers, though."