A New Bark where Roots Wither

In every emerging second, panic gushed through Claudine's thoughts as she worried the worse. She impatiently looks around as she tries to buy her time; waiting for the diagnosis of the little Tepig they saved earlier. Seeing the immense strain in his Pokemon, Yoake looked at his watch and noticed that it was getting close to 1 pm.

"Claudine, since you worried about Tepig so much; I'll be heading to Newbark town first, I'll just return as soon as possible." Yoake stood.

"Okay, Just message me if you arrived in Newbark town." Claudine stated. She knows that they were meant to be in a hurry as they are going to meet Professor Elm at a specific time.

"Will do. Message me as well if they handed you the diagnosis." He said as he left the Pokemon Center and headed to a nearby Bus stop that would lead to the city where he would supposedly, walk a route towards the town since there's no pavement or proper roads were constructed to connect the town and the city.

As he arrived at Newbark town, he noticed that it was more laid back then the environment he saw previously. Young children and their Pokemon playing in the grassy fields, married women hanging their laundry under the basque of the sun, elderly people sitting on chairs as they watched the scenery - it was a peaceful Utopia - for the young boy. Something that he always desires, isolated but not alone, he wants to live in this form of community; laid back and people enjoying life outside of the materialistic hellhole in the modern world.

He couldn't help but to smile and be nostalgic; he remembered that Pallet City used to be this way. Massive Rice pastures, a mixture of wooden and cemented houses, clean and fresh air and water, nature as a whole.

It's easy for him to daydream but reality made him pay the price; knowing his circumstances, it would be difficult for him to achieve the peaceful life he so-desired. Entangled in an endless war between two rivals and slowly, forming a new one.

He heads to a Pokemon Lab that is located near a lake and as he opens its doors, he is greeted by a slim and tall fella, Professor Elm.

"Greetings! You must be Yoake Katsuragi?" He asked.

"Yes." Yoake answered. Professor Elm saw something strange from the boy, he then realized what it was by simply looking at his eyes.

"Are you wearing contacts? Colored Contacts?" The curious Professor asked.

"No. These are my natural eyes, Professor." said Yoake.

"Really? I've looked at your parents' pictures and none of them have colored eyes, weird." said the confused Elm as he scratches his chin.

"Oh, well, maybe it's a recessive gene, that might be the most scientific conclusion." He said as he turned around and welcomed the young man.

"I guess so…" Yoake mumbled as he realized one thing, his father has natural red hair yet he doesn't show it to the outside world; he knows that his younger sister also had one but there was something odd, something he felt a bit disturbed by...

'That doesn't make sense. Ren's eyes are blue…' He began to doubt Ren's authenticity, not only her white hair was odd to begin with but her eyes as well.

This, thought of him, rebores the trauma he had many months ago; he tries to hide it but the cold sweat slowly drips from his head, Fear - something he hasn't felt for a very long time.

"Come in, come in. Apologies if it was a bit messy." Professor Elm said as he walks to the lobby, which is directly in front of the door.

"Something wrong? You seemed to be very pale. Let me get you some water." He noticed the boy's face and immediately went to the lobby's water station.

'Ren… white hair and blue eyes. But, why am I afraid of her?'

'That was a long time ago… why does it haunt me till this day.'

He then got a flashback of the night of revelation, where the seas were unforgiving and cruel, the blitz of lightning creating shattered light in the void while looking at his twin in two states but in one nightmare; Ren and The Commander. Staring at him with utter dissonance and decrepitness. Yoake tried to escape but she or they pointed a gun at him.

'Bang!'

He couldn't tell if it was a bang of a gun or a thud but once he opened his eyes, he saw Professor Elm with a worried face and felt like he was lying down.

"Boy? Are you alright?" He asked.

"Yoake! Yoake! Are you alright?" A familiar voice echoed. He looked around and saw Claudine and the Tepig fretting.

"What happened?" The boy asked.

"You passed out, it's a good thing you're not as heavy as I think." Professor Elm explained.

"Claudine? Tepig? How did you get here and How long did I past?"

"Ahh Yoake, completely forgetting that I can teleport." Claudine chuckled as she explained it to her.

"It's 3 pm. What happened to you?" She said as she was curious on what happened to her trainer. She has a naive face but her thoughts say otherwise. Yoake knows that he cannot lie to her since she can read her thoughts and emotions.

"You're afraid, aren't you?" Claudine read his thoughts and formed one conclusion.

"But, to whom? Does he have any phobias? symptoms? or Trauma?" The Professor was agitated.

"Trauma." Yoake stood up right as he was jerked off from his sitting.

"Who… caused it?" The Slim man asked.

As Yoake was about to answer, he was interrupted by a knock from the door. Sensing that this might be important, Professor Elm stood up and walked towards the door.

"My deep apologies, I forgot to mention that you were not the only one participating in the league." He said.

"Huh?" Yoake was confused by this.

"Did I skip something?" Yoake slapped his face as he began to reflect on what just happened.

He then looked at Claudine, who was holding the Tepig. He was surprised that the poor thing had recovered from what it endured. He was confused on what just transpired, just like everyone in the room.

"What just happened, Claudine?" He asked her.

"I don't know, I was just told that you passed out and I immediately teleported here alongside Tepig." She raised her shoulders.

Yoake assesses the situation but he feels his head is getting lighter for every second; he was feeling numb because he couldn't find a reason as to why, it was like this happened all of the sudden. Was this happened because of trauma? How so?

"Anyways, Sorry to interrupt but may I introduce you to Ren Mirai." The slim professor returned and introduced a familiar girl to the scenery. It was Ren but something had changed, her hair was longer; gone were the short bangs that cover her forehead. She has a white hoodie with blue stripes, jeans, and white rubber shoes; a striking opposite to that of Yoake's Black and Red color scheme.

"You." Yoake growled as he stood up and stood against his twin. Ren was confused by Yoake's reaction, she was expecting open arms but no, there was paranoia.

"You guys know each other?"