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SIDE QUEST CH 5: I’M CONFUSED…

The first this I saw when I came to was Ken looking down at me, patiently waiting for me to wake up. It appeared that he was worried about me but I was still convinced that this Ken wasn’t real. My theory was immediately blown to shambles when he talked for the first time.
“Are you ok? What was with attacking me before?”
I sat up rubbing my head, really confused. “I’m sorry, I actually though for a second that all of you were fake. I really must be messed up. Maybe it was a dream…” I started to ramble a little bit and I realized it when Ken looked at me like I was crazy. Something is really wrong with me.
“I understand.” Ken said in a very forgiving tone. “Our brief experience in that awful dimension can really screw you up.” He helped me up by acting as my support beam and we started to walk back home. “I’m sure you will be your normal self in a few days. Then we can resume our usual exploration team responsibilities.”
I smiled at things getting back to normal. It would be nice to explore more of this world. I only got to see as far as the Tower of Time and that is all the way out to the sea. It would be great to see that desert that Chimchar and Kinichi went to when we found out about the danger between the dimensions. I want to try those Blukk berries that they were able to get out of extinction.
“Wait!” I said remembering something that I now think is silly that I forgot. “What happened between the dimensions?”
“We honestly didn’t mean to,” Ken started a little apologetically, “but we kind of took care of it ourselves. When we went looking for you, a huge, discolored Palkia attacked us and we were able to defeat it. We found you shortly afterwards so that’s why the dimensions weren’t fixed yet. When we found you, as if on cue, the dimensions returned to normal and you fainted before the change. You woke up in the square along with the rest of us and you know the rest.”
I was disappointed that they saved the world without me, but at least its all fixed now. Since the three of them could do it alone then it must not have been that hard. We arrived home just in time for dinner. We had some more fruit from our bushes. I could swear that everyday my pokemon-animal instincts were making me like a vegetarian diet more and more. We all settled down in time for us to hear a commotion going on in town. Without hesitation we charged toward the danger fully expecting some kind of ambush waiting for us. When we got there three strange looking pokemon were stalking towards us. At least, they looked like pokemon. I’ve never heard or seen these kind of pokemon and they all seemed to be different species. They looked like a cross between solid and ghost, each with different colors. One was pure black, one was red and the last was a weird orange-pink mix. They kept mumbling my name.
“Saori, Saori, Saori.”
My friends all looked just as confused and worried as I am. Not even Chimchar seemed to know what these pokemon-like creatures were. I poised myself for battle, ready to expect anything. If they teleported behind me and shot a laser blast twice the size of my head I wouldn’t have been surprised. They didn’t attack, though. They just kept stalking towards us and, now that I think about it, looked more like a cautious creep towards me alone, as if Ken, Chimchar and Kinichi weren’t even there. They got closer and I could see shapes forming but not enough to tell anything more that I don’t know. Their pace quickened just slightly and when the black one got close enough for one, I could see it look kind of like a dog-like creature in the sense of four-legs and for two reached out a paw-looking thing towards me. The paw came closer and closer until I could almost feel it touching me. My nerves got the best of me and I unleashed a steal wing to slash it away.
The other two watched and their eyes followed their comrade fly through the air and land hard on the ground. They started walking towards me again and before they got even as close as the black one I sent them flying too. They all positioned themselves in familiar fighting poses but looked really hesitant to try to attack me. I wasn’t going to wait. I charged in with a drill peck and, while sending the pink-orange and red ones to the side, drilled right into the black one. They felt a lot more solid than they looked. When I back-stepped to use bubblebeam I saw that my drill mark was still there and the three shapes were all starting to forge solid forms. The pink-orange was turning into a tall lizard, the red one looked like a monkey and the black one looked more like a fox now. I stared at them and I started to have blurry flash-backs that I couldn’t make out. This for some reason triggered my rage so much that all I could think about was destroying the annoyance. I unleashed my held bubblebeam and the red one and turned my body to one side and then the other, hitting the other two and hitting the red one again. The places where I hit them were still a little visible when they stood up. I could see that height went from the lizard to the monkey, tallest to shortest respectively. My friends who haven’t moved since we got here seemed to enjoy me taking things in my own hands. They didn’t seem to want to get in the way so I continued the onslaught of attacks. With each attack their forms grew stronger and with every passing minute the shapes became more solid and more detailed. The pink-orange one now was red with a lighter shade-but not quite pink-for the belly. I could also see that it had a horn sticking out from HER head and went backwards. Claws grew for hands and I could see that I was looking at a female charmeleon who looked just like Kinichi. The red one stayed red and looked almost like it was on fire. It kind of was since it had a fire for a tail. It was setting down a bag and from brought three oran berries and gave it to the other three. I realized that he was a Chimchar. It could have been any Chimchar but I looked an awful like my Chimchar. The black one was actually the first to become familiar. I could immediately tell it was an umbreon looking at me who looked a lot like Ken. I started having flash-backs again and this time they were crystal clear. I saw myself in the other dimension looking at Ken, Kinichi, and Chimchar’s worried and terrified faces. The worst part was that they were terrified of me. I didn’t know why, I couldn’t understand. Why was I seeing this? I didn’t remember this. This never happened. When I came back to the present I realized that it had happened. In the other dimension AND this dimension. Well, more like the same dimension. I knew I was right. This isn’t the real deal. The dimensions are NOT fixed. My “friends” didn’t happen to defeat the big boss at the end of this while I happened to fall unconscious during the restoration. I KNEW it! I felt a tremble and I fell to my knees. A force was pushing me down, trying to distract my train of thought. I wouldn’t let it beat me. I slowly stood up and faced the fake Ken, Kinichi and Chimchar and was prepared to attack them. Before I let all of my frustration and rage out on them they turned to goop and the goop swiftly raced on the ground towards me and became a puddle at my feet. I climbed up my legs and before I knew it covered my whole body and I saw an obstacle straight ahead of me. It was a rock wall perfect for climbing and all of a sudden all I could think of was climbing that wall to the very top. I grabbed the first firm rock and hoisted myself up. I climbed higher and higher up the wall, never seeing an end to the climb. I didn’t give up, though, I would climb the wall. I had to. I continued climbing, higher and higher for who knows how long. I didn’t get tired, I didn’t lose pace. I climbed at an impossibly constant pace. I didn’t let that distract me, though, I had to climb this wall. I had to. I still couldn’t see an end. I continued climbing, climbing, climbing. It felt like I was climbing for hours. I still didn’t slow down or feel tired. Suddenly, a loose rock gave way in my hand and sent a small rock slide down to the rock that was supporting my right foot, loosening it, too. It distracted me enough to notice the loose rock under my foot but it was too late. I lost all focus and I heard things that I shouldn’t be hearing. Voices screaming my name and then shrieks of agony. They wouldn’t stop. One after another I heard screams, some of them muffled. I finally noticed that I was falling. I could hear the voices much more clearly when I was falling and I was worried but I HAD to climb the rock wall. The voices started to scream louder but my want to climb was unbearable. I reached my hand to grab a rock and right then I heard a familiar voice. I knew it from somewhere. I knew who it was. What was the name? I pictured him in my head. I heard it coming from a teenage boy about my age. His face was worried, terrified. He was all scratched and bruised. He was calling my name. He held out his hand when he noticed he had my attention. He wanted me to grab it. His hand looked like it got in a fight with a meat-masher and lost. I looked at his face. I knew him. It made me sad to see someone I loved be hurt. I knew who he was. I can’t remember the name. My eyes got all watery from a mix of emotions. Frustration for not remembering the name, sadness for seeing him this way, and guilt for not being there to stop this from happening to him. I knew it was a stupid question to ask, but I had to know, just a reminder. The rock wall was completely gone. I was still falling. I looked down and I saw a little dot of light that was very slowly growing bigger. I looked at the familiar boy again and asked my stupid question.
“What’s your name?”
My voice came out a lot calmer than I felt. I looked at his reaction but it was not shock or grief, but hope.
“I’m Ken.”
I looked at the light below me which was just seconds away from completely consuming me. I knew what Ken was trying to do. He was trying to save me from the light that would end me. I grabbed his hand, which was human, too, right before I fell through the light. I opened my eyes. I slowly controlled my breath and my heart, which was beating twice as fast as it normally does. I saw Ken there, his fox paws holding my fin close to him and his black fox face looking down at me. His ears perked up and his rings glowed brilliantly with joy. Behind him was the purple swirls of the other dimension’s sky. That didn’t bother me too much. I finally was back to reality. With the real Ken, the real Chimchar and the real Kinichi. I grabbed Ken around his neck and hugged him tightly. I noticed that he was all bruised and scratched. I looked over his shoulder and Chimchar and Kinichi were lying on the ground, seemingly unconscious. I pulled back and stared in horror at Ken. I wanted him to tell me what happened, but I was afraid of the answer.
I’ll explain everything to you later. You need to rest now. You have been through a lot more stress than I can probably imagine. We will both share our stories after we all slept.