Kali Chang
As Kali kept walking she couldn't stop the questions continuously popping into her head, none of which she had any answer for. Her biggest concern was how she was going to finish her assignment without actually remembering how the champ battles had ended. Its not like she could make it up on the fly or anything. Then again she could ask one of her friends, she knew several that had been really excited about going. But what about the rest of it? Those...beats, fighting, in broad daylight. They couldn't have been more blatant and yet no one remembered them.
Simmering in self doubt, the weary journalist aproached the coast, the salty seabreeze combing through her hair and hitting her square in the face. Eventually she reached a grassy verge after which there was a moderate drop, sand and eventually sea, for miles outwards. She stood still and took a big deep breath of the revitilizing gust that whipped her blonde hair out behind her like a wedding trail. She could see her house from here, to her left, next to the cliff face and right in front of the steps that lead onto Lilycove's beach. A small, old, quaint blue cottage. Mark had been so passionate about it when they viewed it, he was that rare white picket fence guy who just wanted to start a family, "the marrying kind". She had't been too crazy on it or the idea of raising kids, but she just couldn't take that way from him and after they'd gotten Terri her whole perspective on the situation had changed.
Taking her key out of her pocket she slipped it into the hole in the door and turned the knob. It took a little force but heavily the wood have way and the door swung open. Afterall, it was an old cottage.
"I'm home" She hollored, throwing the front door closed behind her, placing her squarely in. She couldn't hear anyone, so she assumed Mark was in the back. He used to work as a contractor but had a career switch shortly before they moved and now works in web design which is, thankfully, a home based job meaning he can also watch the kid. She walked a bit further through the dark hallway but before she'd even reached the entrance to the living room the wonan could tell something was off. She could put her finger on it but the whole place seemed different to her, like when you go in a rook and you know something's different about it but not quite what. She took a cursory glance around. Everything seemed the same, although the hallway looked a lot more bare...but what was missing?
Movig into the Lounge Kali felt the exact same thing. The room had four walls with a large bay window facing to the west of The City, dark wood flooring, solid earthbrown wallpaper and spot lights built into the roofbeams. The entrance was basically a huge, square shaped hole in the wall wth the sofa just left of it, near the window and the television stoof against the oppsite wall. There were some knicknacks as well scattered amongst the drawers and telephoe table. Exactly like she remembered it. So what was wrong?
Suddenly, something to her left gave out a high pitched cry. Kali immediately ran over and found as she expected, Terri, in the playpen crying. She could tell as she picked her up it wasn't a "I'm hungry" cry or anythin like that. Just trapped wind and so she began bouncing her up and down on her shoulder whilst walking around, trying to alleviate the child's distress. After a little bit the girl settled down but Kali continued to hld her as her gaze lazily wept across the various ornaments her and Mark had collected over the years.
And that's when she realised what was wrong. It was her.
As Kali's eyes fell upon the Cabinet where they kept all their wdding memorabilia she stopped dead, doing a double take in the process. She wasn't there. All of her wedding stuf was out but there was nothing that even remotely connected her to the big day. She looked at he snap of her and Mark just after they'd been married by the priest, but she wasn't there. Mark was there, her friends were in the background but she wasn't the bride. Instead of her a brown haired, brown skinned, stunningly beautiful woman was there, in her dress, kissing her husband. And then she realised something else, her friends weren't there either, Mark's were, but then there were some people who she'd never seen before. Upon seeing all this Kali almost dropped the baby, What the hell was going on?
Quickly, she positioned Terri so that the kid was being comfortably propped up against her hip with her mother's left arm, using the other to almost rip the Cabinet door open. As soon as it was open she flipped open the white wedding album, velhemently flipping the pages to find anything with her in. Nothing, just that girl over and over again. She looked around the room, walking back into the center. She could see now why she felt weird when she walked in. None of the ornanments she'd bought were there. Her coffee table that she just realized used to be between the TV and couch had dissapeared. Nothing of hers was there. She was open to the possibility to have been burgled but why just her stuff? Afterall she'd always thought she had good taste but that was just ridiculous.
"Mark!" She called, stalking through the kitchen entrance, opposite the bay windows with the wedding album in hand, looking for more things of hers "Mark, where are you?!" She threw open the fridge door. Almost empty and yet she'd only been shopping yesterday. As she closed it she noticed more photos of that woman on its cover, where hers used to be, what in Hoenn's name was happening?
"Just put the kid down"
To Kali's left a tall, lean white man with pitch-black hair and dressed in a T-shirt + jeans combo stood in the the entrace to the study. It was Mark. Sweet, compassionate, understanding Mark. Only now that's not what she saw. His eyes were full, full of fear, tension and rage. Then, he put his hands out open in the air in surrender "I don't know who you are but just...give me my kid"
"Mark what the <CENSORED> is this?" She spat, clearly upset and hanging the open wedding album between them, showing the pictures of the supposed bride. The man seemed as if he was about to make a grab as he lunged a little forard but stopped himself, biting his lip.When he didn't answer she was about to speak up until she noticed the tears welling up in his eyes.
"That is, was...my wife...she dissapeared almost a year ago today" He went on covring his hand with his mouth and staring down at the floor. All of a sudden Kali threw the album onto the counter making a loud slamming noise, grabbing her husband's attention.
"OK, I don't know what's going on but you have got to cut the cr-"
"Get out" He interrupted. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. She searched his eyes for any hint of sarcasm or badly hidden humour but there was nothing. They were hollow with only rage and pain filling his the yawning void of his soul. He then moved towards her to take Terri from her arms, she was so stunned she just let it happen. It was like a daydream, it was just too surreal. She just obliged as he pushed her along, through the living room and through the hallway and eventually out the front door with a short "Get out and don't come back" and just loced the doors on her there and then.
"OK...I've landed in the twilight zone, need to get out now" She couldn't help thinking as she paced the grass in front of her yard. She had been kicked out of her own house. A house where she didn't own anything, her own wedding didn't feature her and her own husband was seeing someone else. And yet she had a key? A key to a life that wasn't hers. For the first ten minutes she thought it really must be a joke and just paced the yard. Still, she couldn't help but remember that look on his face, she'd never seem anything like it. Full of anger and hurt and despair. Where'd he get that look?
Then she had a horrible thought. Hastily she ripped a pokeball from her belt and tossed it to the ground in front of her. The white and red sphere burst into a shower of sparks, forming into the shape of a ten-pointed star.
"Hooouuuuhhh" Starmie cooed as it was sent out. Kali kept her ground and merely stared at the pokemon.
"Glitter" She stated. Ater a reply from the pokemon she let out a breath of relief. At least her pokémon remembered her, so she wasn't insane at least not completely. Then out of the blue she had a slight flashback:
"You extraordinary individuals are the only witnesses to this event. Everything of this battle will be forgotten. You will not be remembered as well, seeing as the Memorial Blast is ineffective to you. Search out the legendary pokemon also resistant, and you will discover why..."
That's what the voice had said after those creatures had erupted from the sky. It must've been real, everything it had predicted had happened after all, no one remembered the battle and no person remembered her. So what could she do now? She didn't even know who half the legendary pokemon of this region were and its not like the garden variety type made an effort to make themselves known, well, not after this morning anyways...She started waking. Inquisitively, Starmie followed. That voice was speaking in the plural so there had to be more people than just her that were going through the same stuff and some of them might still be at the stadium which was exactly where she was headed now...
