Chapter 07

"What do you mean we can't visit the Solaceon Ruins?" Professor Rowan asked the old landlady of the inn he and Mikael slept at last night

"A massive landslide occurred a week ago and the road is completely unusable, the town lacks strong Pokemon capable of getting rid of the heavy debris so we sent someone to Oreburgh City to ask for help." the landlady explained which made Rowan release a sigh of pity since he wished to take a small detour at the ruins

"It's alright, we will visit the ruins another day... Maybe." Professor Rowan mumbled, disappointed by the news before adding "My student and myself are going to Sandgem Town and will pass through Oreburgh City, lets hope that we will hear good news by then." out of politeness

"That would all depend on Ricky, but thank you nonetheless." the grandma replied while hiding her mouth with her hands before the duo left the inn and took the road leading them towards Hearthome City, one of the biggest cities of the Pokemon Nation

But barely a few minutes after taking the road, Mikael seemed to sense something and saw a giant tower standing out from the fields and trees the area was filled by.

"Professor Rowan, what is within this tower?" Mikael asked as his complexion started to sadden just by looking at it

Rowan was slightly surprised that Mikael didn't know about it but remembered that the boy lost his memories and may not have read about it so he explained "That's the Lost Tower, the only resting ground for deceased Pokemon in the Sinnoh region."

Mikael now understood why he was feeling so depressive as he heard many voices coming from Pokemon whose souls didn't leave our world yet, chained by their regrets.

"So many... So many Pokemon are crying for help." Mikael mumbled which was noticed by Rowan so he asked "Do you want to go inside? We have some time right now."

Mikael seemed mesmerized by the tower and felt like he was getting drawn by it, but he recovered his mind when Ori patted his head while mumbling "Vee..." as if she also knew the reason why he acted like that

Mikael smiled and rubbed Ori's head as he said "Thanks, Ori." before shifting his gaze to Rowan and added "If we have some time then I would like to go inside... I feel like I need to see something in there."

Rowan agreed with a nod, after all, he knew that the best cure to memory loss was traveling and seeing things that would trigger Mikael's mind as he could recall something from his past, no matter how awful it could be, and maybe the tower was one of those places.

The more they neared the tower, the more nervous Mikael became, which prompted Ori to create a calm aura around the boy, warming him as a family member would to their youngster.

Since it was quite early in the morning, the place seemed vacant, all until the duo entered the tower and noticed a shaggy man with ragged clothes and an unshaved beard standing on his knee repeating "I'm sorry... I-It's all my fault..." while sobbing every tear his body could keep

Rowan sympathized with the man as he knew that losing a Pokemon, and even more your partner, was always dealing a huge blow on a trainer's mind.

He knew that himself.

Mikael, however, wasn't staring at the man but towards the tombstone or something that was above it, something that only he seemed to notice.

What was in front of Mikael's eyesight was the ghost of a deceased Lucario who seemingly lost one of its arms before dying as he missed the right one.

The ghost who was pitifully looking towards who seemed to be its trainer noticed Mikael's gaze and even more, his aura, sending the young boy a few words telepathically, asking for help.

Rowan noticed that something was happening to Mikael and decided to stay put and see what would happen unless it started to get dangerous.

The boy then slowly neared the man and the tombstone while listening to what the deceased Pokemon had to say to him until he was right beside the shaggy man before declaring "She has already forgiven you for the last few years, mister." with a voice full of warmth and a gentle smile adorning his face

The ragged man flinched and looked towards the boy that just talked to him, revealing his scarred face and reddened eyes from tearing up while he was seemingly irritated by the boy's prank on him as he said "You're not the first one to make fun of me, kid, and you shouldn't say anything when you know nothing about my situation."

"Lucy." Mikael shortly replied which dumbfounded the man who seemed angered as he got up and grabbed Mikael's arm without holding back his strength before exclaiming "Don't you dare mutter her name, your mockery is going too far!"

But at the same time, a hand fell on his shoulder as Rowan declared "It's you who is going too far, you're hurting the boy." which made the man look back and seemingly recognized the man in front of him while he released Mikael from his grasp and looked back at the boy again to see if he was fine

"I-I'm sorry, I lost myself-" but was interrupted by Mikael who said "It's alright, anguish can make people act rashly." while he rubbed his arms as if he was slightly bruised by the man's grip

In reality, Mikael wasn't hurt in the slightest as his aura was protecting him, and the strength it had could also resist some pokemon's assault, let alone a mere human.

It was also the reason why Ori didn't act, although she was furious to see someone be so aggressive towards her trainer, she respected his order to not do anything.

What followed was an awkward silence between the three people until Mikael suggested "If you want to be sure that I didn't lie, I can make you and your Lucario see each other for a short duration."

The man was once again surprised but still slightly doubtful until Professor Rowan added "I still don't know if he can do something like this, but one thing I'm sure of is that he never lied to me before." which made him look back towards Mikael and promptly pleaded "Please, let me see her again." as he no longer hesitated about accepting such an offer

Mikael nodded and neared the tombstone before extending one of his hands as if he waited for someone to put their own on it, which was the case as the deceased Lucario gently laid her only paw left and closed her eyes.

No one could notice Mikael's aura fluctuating as he was nourishing the Lucario with it, and after a while, the ghost started to become visible for both Rowan and the shaggy man who said "L-Lucy!" as tears began to drop from his eyes while losing the strength of his legs, falling on his knees once more

As guilt was filling him even more than before when he noticed the missing arm of his Pokemon, he started sobbing while muttering "I-I'm sorry Lucy...It's all my fault..." waiting for his Pokemon to scold him for whatever he did in the past

'Seven years' the Lucario declared with an otherworldly voice which made the man look up at her

'You blamed yourself for seven years about my death, wasting your life away simply because you felt guilty about something I never condemned you about' the Lucario continued which made the shaggy man mutter "Bu-" only to be interrupted again by his Pokemon 'There is no 'but'... I never blamed you for what occurred at that time, it was simply an awful coincidence that 'it' appeared'

The man swallowed his saliva, his words stuck in his throat as he couldn't stop reproaching himself before confessing with remorse "It only happened because I decided for us to go through that road... I-If only I listened and simply waited one more day, you wouldn't have died..."

'I also agreed to your decision back then, it wasn't yours alone' the Lucario added before floating towards her trainer and hugging him as most as she could with her only arm and ethereal body which gained a semblance of consistency thanks to Mikael's aura

The shaggy man didn't reply and couldn't even look into his pokemon's eyes anymore before she started to brush his hair while saying 'Since that day I kept on watching you destroy yourself and your surroundings because of sorrow... I never wished for that, as I never blamed you' but the man stayed silent

'Did you know that the last time you were with your wife she got pregnant and gave birth to a child' she informed the man which made him surprised as he seemingly didn't see her for almost seven years and didn't know about such news

'You are the father of a young and turbulent boy who lives alone with his mother, and her complexion since the day you 'vanished' kept on worsening' Lucy continued to explain which made the man clench his fist and started to sob again

'Instead of lingering about the past, you should appreciate how much you still have to live, or at least make up for the time you lost by being here for your wife... She misses you' she finally added as she slightly floated back

"You're too kind with me, Lucy." the man said as he rubbed his eyes to make the tears go away

The Lucario gently smiled before replying 'You will soon get extremely scolded, I was simply lenient with you' which sent a shiver down everyone's spine as they felt that whatever was going to happen once the man see his wife again would be somewhat bloody

This still ended up giving a subtle smile on the man's face but his mood quickly changed again as Lucy's ethereal body started to shine before slowly vanishing

'It looks like my time is up, Mark... I will be watching you from above until the end so be sure to live properly' Lucy gently confessed while the man who seemingly goes by the name of Mark exclaimed "C-Can't you stay a little longer? I have so much to talk about-' but was interrupted once more as she laid her paw on his mouth

'I would love to as well, unfortunately, this boy's life would be at risk if I I stayed any longer, and both of us know well enough that we shouldn't allow that to happen' she explained as both of them looked towards Mikael who was heavily sweating and exhausted from overusing his aura

"I... Alright." Mark replied as he knew that he shouldn't be selfish anymore and should abide by his pokemon's last wish once and for all

'Thank you' Lucy eventually let out as tears of happiness were flowing from her eyes right before her body dissipated

Mark, finally freed from the shackles he bound himself with a long time ago, finally got up and as he was going to express his gratefulness to Mikael on his side, he heard "Mikael!" "Vee!" as the young boy feel unconscious from depleting most of his aura

After all, transferring one's aura was supposed to be deadly, and allowing a deceased soul to be observable for the common folk was even more taxing.

====================

An unknown amount of time later, inside what seemed to be an infirmary, were gathered a worried old man, a guilty shaggy man, a careful nurse, and an overprotective Eevee all staying near an unconscious and bedridden green-haired boy.

"As I said, he did it out of goodwill. This boy cares more about Pokemon than himself, even stranger's... He surely saw the sorrow in your Lucario's eyes and decided to help her so you shouldn't feel guilty about it, you already have enough on your shoulders." Professor Rowan explained as in front of him was the shaggy man who cleaned himself for the first time in a while, while the nurse provided him with some decent clothing to wear inside the town

"Arent you at least worried? It's been a day!" Mark exclaimed only to be cut short by Rowan who declared "Of course I'm worried, however, I still trust the boy's judgment and his Eevee who would have reacted differently if he was in a more critical condition."

"D-Differently? She kept on scratching my face out of spite until we brought him here!" Mark yelled as his face was even more disfigured because of Ori's clawing him and she truly didn't hold back

Albeit somehow it also took care of his ugly beard and long dirty hair, giving him a fresher look with short and spiky blond hair after cleaning himself.

"Trust me, she would have done something far more horrible if it was grave." Rowan said as he looked towards the Eevee who was peacefully sleeping right on her trainer's chest, knowing that as long as he slept and was allowed to rest, he would be fine

After a few seconds of awkward silence between the two grown-up men, the nervous Mark finally asked "Are you truly Professor Rowan?" since they didn't even get to introduce each other with the recent events and rushed towards the city by using some of Rowan's Pokemon

"Indeed." he shortly replied before looking towards Mikael "And that boy is my student, a genius amongst geniuses that I will teach once we get back to my lab in Sandgem Town." while smiling since he truly believed in what he claimed about the boy

Mark's eyes shone when he heard the town's name and asked "So you are traveling to Sandgem Town right now?"

Rowan shifted his gaze on Mark again and replied "Not 'right now' as we cannot move until Mikael wakes up and feels ready to go, but that is indeed the plan. After all, as Sinnoh's appointed Professor, I can't stay away for too long."

"T-Then could I travel with the two of you? My wife, and my son now I guess, are settled in Twinleaf Town if they didn't move out during the last seven years, and I don't have any of my Pokemon with me as I... Dropped them home." Mark explained as he was scratching the back of his head since it was embarrassing to ask that after indirectly leaving Mikael in such a state

"I will leave the decision to Mikael, he's the one who should decide whether or not you can come with us after what occurred." Professor Rowan declared before adding "And we might stay at Hearthome City a bit longer than intended since the doctor's decision will surely ask Mikael to rest for a couple more days after waking up."

"Alright, thank you." Mark replied as he stared at the boy without noticing the half-sleeping Eevee glancing at him

Luckily for them, Hearthome City might be the best place to be grounded for a few days since there are many places to visit and things to do in Sinnoh's largest and most advanced city.

A blessing in disguise some might say.