Chapter 2

The first thing you do is stop home. A moment's concentration takes you from cold and dark to the warmth of your living room. Even the dim, leaf-edged light is too much for your eyes after the total darkness of the cave, and you open them slowly, blinking away tears.

That gives Rats enough time to hide whatever she was chewing on, so when you turn to her it looks like she's just relaxing in her nest, half burrowed under shredded pieces of newspaper and drifts of insulation. "Uh, hey, Boss. Back early, aren't you?"

"It was easier than I expected," you say. You were smart, this time. You were ready to die. "Come on. I need you to help me with Titan." There will be time to scold her about dismantling furniture later. "Is Absol back?"

"Dunno." Rats is out of her nest in a great rustling of detritus. "I haven't heard her, but you know how she is." Rats stands picking scraps of paper out of her fur while you head deeper into the house. You glance at the couch in passing, but Absol isn't there, just the impression in the cushions where she usually lies.

"So. Titan, huh?" Rats asks, waddling after you on her hind legs and grooming her whiskers as she goes.

"Yes." You toss her the pokéball and stop at your desk, grabbing your pokédex and flipping it over. You have the back hatch open in a practiced instant and exchange the data card inside for the one you've been clenching in your palm, warm now from the heat of your body. You left Nicholas Garret's pokédex in the cavern, as empty and cold as his corpse. Its soul is yours now, as is everything else that once belonged to him.

"Looks rounder than I remember," Rats says, examining the pokéball between her claws.

"That's just his pokéball, Rats," you say, giving her an incredulous look while the pokédex boots up. You relax when the screen comes to life with your information. It's best for things to be official, for your life to be somewhere it won't get lost, in case you need it. It can be hard to remember who you are, sometimes. You haven't been Nicholas Garret long enough to get the details right.

"Joke, Boss," Rats says with a sigh. "Looks like it's the same old pokéball, anyway. Talk about your years of service, huh?"

You dig around for her own ball, just in case, and add it to your belt. Nicholas Garret's pokéballs you pull off and dump in the bottom drawer, making a mental note to release them later.

"So, should I?" Rats asks, making as if to throw the ball.

"Not inside. Come on." You don't want anything flammable around, in case something goes wrong. Not that anything will go wrong. You've pored over your memories of Titan so many times they've grown dull and distorted, as much fantasy as fact. But there's no question that he was always the most loyal of your team. He swore with you, just like the others. He'll come around, and it won't be long before you can finally set out to fulfill your promise together.

You lead the way down to the beach, the jungle crowding at your back. Knot Island lies somewhere to the south, no more than a speck far off across the waves. You nod at Rats, and she lets the pokéball go. All of a sudden Titan's standing in front of you, stretching his wings up to the sky.

You forget everything you were going to say. You knew he evolved, of course, but somehow you were still thinking of him as that gawky, earnest charmander. Now he towers over you, arching his long neck and letting out a lazy streamer of smoke like he was never knee-high and afraid of his own shadow.

"I thought you said we were going to Cinnabar," the charizard says as he looks around, sniffing at the air. "Where are we?"

"Titan," you say, and his head snaps around, his eyes fixing on you.

"Who?"

"We are not going to Cinnabar, Titan."

"Why are you calling me that?" The charizard tucks his wings in close and stares at the beach around you like he's expecting someone else to be there. "I don't like that name."

"Why not? It is your name. You remember, do you not?"

The charizard snorts out a puff of smoke and returns his gaze to you, the whites starting to show around the edges of his eyes.

"You understood that? You can hear me? How do you know about that?"

"Calm down, Titan. I am your trainer, remember? I know this is confusing, but you do not have to be afraid."

It takes all your self control not to flinch when the charizard's head swings down, stopping inches from your face. He snuffles and sniffs at you, then draws back in confusion. "You smell like Nick. You look like him, too. But you don't sound like him at all. Who are you? What happened to Nick?"

"I am Nicholas Garret," you say. "I am your trainer."

"No you're not!" Titan rears up again, his tail flame leaping and dancing with his agitation. "Who are you? What happened to my trainer?"

"I just told you. I am your trainer," you snap. You are Nicholas Garret. You are Titan's trainer, twice over. "Listen, Titan. Calm down. I will explain everything if you just--"

"No! I'm not listening to anything you say until you tell me where my trainer is!"

"Here, Boss. Let me handle this," Rats mutters.

"Go ahead," you say with a scowl, crossing your arms. "Obviously Titan is not going to listen to me. He is completely overreacting."

Rats pushes past you and cautiously approaches the charizard. He watches her come, dark smoke wreathing his narrowed eyes. "Titan, this is Rats," you say. "I am sure you remember her."

"That's right," Rats says. "Been a long time, hasn't it, big g--whoah." Titan bends down so far his snout nearly presses up against Rats' face, staring at her in utmost suspicion. She starts backing up, then throws herself sideways as a gush of fire shoots from Titan's mouth.

"Hey. Hey! Is that any way to treat an old friend?" the raticate grumbles, taking off as another flamethrower rushes her way. "What, don't you remember me, you stupid lizard?"

"I don't know you," Titan says in a low, volcanic rumble, twisting around to keep the raticate in his line of sight. Rats dances from paw to paw, on guard for more fire. "You think I can tell the difference between all the raticate I've ever met? You all look the same, like big, hairy--big, hairy rats!"

"Ooh, so that's how it is, huh? Well, how about this, Titan, would just any raticate remember that time you got beat up by that magikar--oof!" Titan's tail snaps around, catching Rats off guard and knocking her onto her side. The charizard comes at her with teeth and claws and flame, and Rats shrieks disparaging comments about his parentage while struggling to defend herself.

Titan pins the raticate under one foot and stares down at her, smoke streaming warningly from his nostrils. "You say we're old friends?" he growls. "A real friend would tell me what happened to my trainer."

"Well," Rats wheezes, "that's actually a bit of a difficult question. Maybe if you could let a rat breathe a bit here, we could--" Her voice cuts off in a squeak as Titan leans down on her, and then she glows red. Titan's foot lands heavily in the sand, Rats pulled safely back to her pokéball. You frown down at it for a moment before clipping it back to your belt. Well, that was a big help. You need to get Rats back in battling shape before you start your journey; she's spent too long lazing around at home.

"Now tell me," Titan says, and you look up to find him standing with mouth agape, white-hot saliva dripping around his teeth and sizzling in the sand below. "This is your last chance. What happened to my trainer? What happened to Nick?"

You've had enough of this. One hand balls into a fist down at your side, fingernails digging into your palm, longing to shift into claws. "Nicholas Garret is dead," you snap. "He drowned in the Seafoam caverns. Now I am him, and that makes me your trainer. It is as simple as that."

Titan stares at you, the ominous black smoke pouring from his mouth cutting off to a pathetic wisp. "He's dead? What are you talking about? Why do you look like him?"

"I just told you. I look like him because I am him, now. He does not need his life anymore. Now it is mine. And now I am your trainer again."

The charizard sits back on his haunches, staring at you around with wide, white-rimmed eyes. "Again?" He starts to pant, whining slightly with each exhalation. "Again? You, again? You--"

"Titan. Titan, calm down," you say, taking a step forward with one hand raised. "You remember me, do you not? You remember the promise you made with us. Rats was there, too. And War and Thunderstorm. You know all of them."

"I don't, I don't--My trainer's dead!" the charizard says tearfully, his too-short arms reaching up like he wants to bury his face in his claws. "How? What happened? I don't understand."

"He drowned. He slipped and fell in the river and then he drowned. Now, as I was saying--"

"How do you know?" The charizard thrusts his face into yours, so close you can smell the sulfurous gases on his breath. "Where's your proof? He can't be dead! You're lying!"

"I am standing right here, am I not?" you snap. "I have your pokéball. I have Nicholas Garret's pokédex. Your trainer is dead, Titan. I was there to see it. And I am your trainer n--"

"You were there?" Titan's smoking again, breathing out dark, suffocating clouds. "You saw it all, is that it? You did it, didn't you? You killed him! Murderer!"

"I did not kill him," you say indignantly. "Why would I do that? It was his time to go. I did not have to do anything at all."

"But you were there!" the charizard roars. "You said you were there, but you didn't help him? You didn't even try?"

"I did not do anything. It was not my place to intervene."

Titan's roar splits the air, and with a jolt you remember Rats is injured. There's no one to defend you. "Titan," you say slowly. "You would not attack your trainer, Titan."

The charizard answers with flame rather than words, and you fall clear over backwards, a streamer of fire cutting through the air overhead. You grab for Titan's pokéball, then pull your hand back. No. Delaying this isn't going to help anything. He needs to learn to obey you, and the sooner the better.

"Come on, Titan, let us just talk about this."

"Talk? Talk?! My trainer's dead! And you were there! You know! Stop pretending!"

"I am your trainer! I am not dead!" Another flamethrower sizzles through the air, but this time it washes up against a wall of energy, fire spreading inches from your face before dissipating into thin air.

Titan lets out a snort of surprise as you get back to your feet. "Fine," you say, nursing a ball of blue energy in one hand, water droplets running between your fingers and pattering to the ground. "I wanted to settle this like a human. But if you will not listen to me, we can settle this like pokémon instead."

You toss the ball of energy upwards, and Titan's gaze follows it higher, higher, until it explodes in a burst of blue light. The beach turns dark and cool as sudden storm clouds block out the sun, and Titan flinches as one fat droplet splashes on his snout. Dark patches appear in the sand as more raindrops fall, and in seconds the island is gripped by a full-on rainstorm.

Titan tents his wings over his head and tucks his steaming tail flame tight against his chest. He peers at you with dark, suspicious eyes, but the rain's taken the edge off his fury. "What are you?"

"I told you. I am your trainer. That is all that matters now." You shift a little, taking a more solid stance. You're twitching with the old battle restlessness, sizing Titan up without even thinking about it. You like a fight as much as any pokémon, after all. "Now are you going to listen to me, or do you still want to fight?"

Titan lunges, claws rippling with blue dragon flames. The rain is making him sluggish, though, streaming off his scales and dampening his tail flame. His claws dig into your side, but you manage to catch him, wrapping your arms around his neck and pulling him to the ground.

"Why won't you listen to me?" you ask, trying to hang on despite his thrashing. "Why do you not want to help me? I am your trainer. Do you not want to help your trainer?"

"My trainer's dead!" he chokes, struggling to reach you with another dragon claw. "You said so! You're just someone who looks like him. You're not even a real person! What are you?"

"I am Nicholas Garret!" you insist, feeling hot blood from your wound mix with cooler rain as it rolls down the inside of your shirt. Ugh. You only just bought these clothes.

"You're not! You're not! Liar!" His voice is hoarse now, more rattle than sound. You might be hugging his throat a bit too tight. The thanks you get when you loosen your hold is a flamethrower that rushes past your head, setting your hair on fire and immolating the edge of your ear.

You let go with a hiss of pain, landing hard in the wet sand and putting a hand up to the side of your head. "I am not lying," you insist through gritted teeth, and you're not. You are Nicholas Garret now, or all that's left of him, anyway.

Titan staggers to his feet, head rearing back and stubby arms reaching for his bruised throat. He takes a couple of deep, panting breaths, then sucks in one great gasp of air and lowers his snout again, spitting a fireball straight at you.

You only have a second to bring your arms up, crossing them in front of your face with palms out towards the charizard. You scream as the fire blast explodes into a sheet of flame, your arms shaking as you try to keep them in place. Then Titan's the one screaming, his roars drowning you out as he tries to shield himself with a wing. A glittering barrier hangs in the air in front of you, brilliant streamers of light peeling away from its surface and arcing towards the charizard, searing his scales and flashing raindrops into steam.

Titan falls to the ground, hiding his face behind his claws as scalding energy roars around him, rippling the sand in molten waves and letting off a hideous stink. You hold the mirror coat in place for a few seconds more, but at last the sheet of light cracks, then crumbles away to nothing as your arms flop down by your sides.

After a couple of minutes you gather your strength and stagger over to where he Titan lies, falling to your knees in front of him. The charizard's breathing harsh and shallow, his eyes unfocused. His tail shudders in the hot muck, burning lower now, but not low enough to be dangerous.

You reach down and lift the charizard's head, and his arms shudder as he tries to raise his body with it. You bring his face to eye level, close enough that he could engulf your entire head in flame with just a breath. You'll have to watch his eyes closely to know when to pull away.

The charizard's scales are feverish to the touch; he's weak enough now that he can't control his inner fire, and it's starting to eat him up from the inside. He's powerful for the moment, but he won't be able to stand it for long. "What... are..." His voice is hardly more than a croak.

"What do I have to do for you to accept me as your trainer?"

"I don't... You're not my trainer. My trainer is dead."

"Enough!" He flinches, something wary in his expression. His gaze is trying to slip away from yours, but you wrench his head around to keep his eyes on you. "What do I have to do?"

"Can't... You can't make me."

"I don't need to 'make' you. I'm your trainer. Stop trying to deny it." You don't even bother trying to speak human now. If Titan notices, he doesn't react.

"But you're dead," he says, weak and plaintive.

"That's what you wish, isn't it? You wish I was dead!" You're screaming now, and Titan's wings flare open in shock, beating wildly as he tries to pull away from you. You see in the tensing of his muscles that the moment is now, and you push his head down even as fire starts to gush out around his teeth. The flamethrower is lost as you force the charizard's face into the sand, and he thrashes harder, gagging as a gasp of shock sucks grit into his mouth. You wrench Titan's head up again and stare into his tearing eyes.

"Stop pretending! I know you remember. You promised the same as the rest of us. Someone has to save Mew. We failed last time, but we can't give up. I'm your trainer, Titan. I say we're going after her. Are you with me?"

The charizard's eyes show white. "I can't."

You let his head drop back to the ground, and he just leaves it lying there, the rain washing tears off his muzzle. While the charizard tries to control his sobbing, you try to control your temper, digging clawed fingers deep into the sand. You're glad you're human right now. It's hard enough to keep your head when you've been fighting, but as a pokémon, it's even harder. "What do I need to do?" you ask at last, and it even comes out sounding calm.

"Please. I don't understand. Who are you?" You almost can't make him out for the hitching in his voice.

"I told you. I'm Nicholas Garret now. I used to be somebody else. I could be someone else tomorrow. But right now I'm Nicholas Garret. What doesn't change is that I'm your trainer, and I need you to help me. What will it take for you to accept that?"

Titan takes another one of those great breaths, but you don't bother preparing for an attack. He only chokes on it, turning it into a sob. "Please... You told me you would save her."

You punch him in the snout as hard as you can, hard enough to shatter teeth. "You idiot. I can't do that without you." You push yourself to your feet, woozy and lightheaded, and stagger off towards home. Titan keeps his eyes on the ground, blood leaking from his mouth. It might be a while before he realizes you've left.

It only takes a few seconds for the dragon claw wound to scab over and vanish, the hideous bubbling burns to fade, but you still feel gray and drained as you stumble up to the house. Too much excitement. Too much blood lost. Duskull emerges from under the porch as you trip up the steps, making grumbly noises of concern, but you wave him away. All you need now is sleep.

---

Hours later, when the child's resting in bed, it hears the door bang open and something large blunder inside. It smiles and clutches the sheets tighter around itself. It knew Titan wasn't in any real danger, not with how short the rainstorm was, but it's glad he managed to find his way here, where he will be safe.

The kitchen table falls with an incredible crash, and the child imagines the soaked and muddy charizard slipping around on the tiles, searching for somewhere warm to curl up and dry off. That's fine. It doesn't mind the damage. It'll see the charizard in the morning, when it's feeling well enough to walk again. And then, at last, they can truly begin.