Part One

Seven years later...

      I continued to trudge my way through the crunching grass, gazing at the skies beyond. The weight of my backpack slung on my back was just one little thing slowing me down. That was all. Its contents meant nothing. So did the frantic cries and shouts of students hurrying by. They too were just one little thing slowing me down, brushing past me or hurriedly bumping into my side, wind sending my tangled shining blonde hair into my face. My legs slowed down to a silent stop. My eyes were the only thing moving, wandering over to the bench beside me. Sighing, I collapsed onto the only resting place on the school grounds. I closed my eyes and let the warmth of the sun gleaming down on me carry my thoughts away like a Ponyta galloping, carrying a carriage away into the distance. Everything seemed quieter here.

      A sudden cry pierced the silence. "Kira!" A voice shouted from a distance. My heart rose to my throat as my eyes flashed open. I couldn't let my thoughts get carried away like forgotten memories again.

      Silly me. Silly Kira.

      I glanced to my right, spotting the sight of a tall girl waving her arms around madly, brown hair swishing by her waist, quickly hurrying over in my direction. My heart sank. I gazed at the space in front of me intently, ignoring the girl's cries. But I couldn't mistake the sound of her unsteady footsteps echoing off the walls of the building, getter louder as the seconds ticked by. I gritted my teeth, waiting. Just waiting. I closed my eyes and winced as I felt more weight fall upon the bench.

      "So, what's up Kira?" The girl asked, grinning. I paused a moment and then opened my eyes. Slowly turning my head to the left to face her deep brown eyes, I urged my body not to stand up and walk away right at that moment. I knew I had to answer her.

      Go away, go away. Go away, you idiot.

      "Nothing much." I muttered under my breath just loud enough so that she could hear. I reached slightly under my grass-stained white T-shirt to grab the golden heart-shaped locket dangling from a chain around my neck. The words carefully engraved into its surface shimmered in the sunlight. Together Forever. What did they mean? Of course I had to forget. Of course.

      "Hey, nice locket." The girl commented. She leaned in closer, her eyes trying to meet my gaze. But I won't let them. "Who do you have a photo of in there? Your boyfriend?" And with this she giggled slightly, a high-pitched giggle that seemed to ring in my eardrums.

      You. Idiot.

      I'm trying my best to hold back the anger burning in my throat like a raging fire. "Of course not!" I snapped. "Why would I do an idiotic thing like that?!"

      The girl frowned, disappointed. It's almost funny how she can't see any of the hate sparking in my eyes at this moment, hate that was also choking up my throat, hate I was trying to hold back. I don't want to be here. I really don't.

      "Then who do you have a photo of in your locket?" The girl asked impatiently.

      Who? Don't forget what.

      I bit my tongue and then winced. What am I supposed to say? That the key to my locket had "disappeared"? What are you supposed to do when your memories of a certain something have drifted away, and you were just reaching out for them blindly? Then of course other thoughts drift into my mind. What are you supposed to do when the image in your mind of someone you love that you'll never see again gets blurry, fogging up your mind? What are you supposed to do?

      At the sound of a car honking near by I jumped slightly then hastily stood up, grabbing for my backpack. "Well, I've got to go." I whirled around and then raced to the blood-red shining car waiting for me at the edge of the street. An image of the girl franticly waving goodbye behind me appeared in my mind. I would've smirked if it wasn't for the relief that had drowned my heart at that moment. Relief that the car had come for me just in time. Relief. It was a simple thing.

      I flopped down into the back car seat, tossing my bulging backpack aside to put on my seatbelt. The driver turned her head around to gaze at me, revealing her kind and wrinkled face. My grandmother. Of course. I had been living with her since I was five.

      She smiled. "How was school today, Kira?" She asked in a raspy voice.

      "Just okay." I muttered. I didn't know why my grandmother bothered to ask me the same exact question every day. I didn't know why I even bothered to answer. Perhaps she expected me to suddenly answer "Oh, it was great! I loved it!" one day. Yea, like that would ever happen.

      I sighed and then turned my head to stare out the window, my grandmother waiting for traffic to die down. I gazed intently at the Pidgeys absent-mindedly pecking the ground for food. How care-free they looked. I wondered if they ever had a hard time trying to catch a fallen memory. I fiddled with the golden locket around my neck, staring at the words engraved into its surface.

      "Grandma? What's on the photo inside my locket? Is there even a photo? And what happened to the key?" I asked, leaning my head back and closing my eyes.

      This time it was my grandmother's turn to sigh. "I've told you this before, Kira - I don't know. Now please stop asking me." The car started moving faster, its low hum getting louder. I gritted my teeth. Was it really my fault that I had forgotten almost everything? Was it my fault that the single picture of my mother in my mind was getting even more blurry, yet the image of the people dressed in black was clear as crystal?

      Obviously.

      In a matter of minutes we had reached the driveway of the old house my grandmother lived in, its broken shutters just barely dangling off its dull gray walls. As we carefully stepped through the doorway in the garage to the inside of the house, the aroma of cranberry-scented perfume wafting through the air filled up my nose. I tossed my backpack onto the couch and then ran up the stairs, my thudding footsteps seeming to shake the walls of the house.

      "Where are you going?" My grandmother called from downstairs.

      "To straighten up my hair!" I answered, shouting down the stairs.

      Straightening up my hair. Yea right.

      I stepped into the bathroom and then quietly shut the door behind me. I turned my head to gaze at my reflection in the mirror. Gaze at my reflection. That's all I had wanted to do. Staring back at me was a girl, her tangled blonde hair lying limp at her shoulders. Her hazel eyes sparked with an emotion of millions of wonders. Me. Of course. My grandmother once said that when I was young my hair was short and curly, and my eyes were a sparkling sapphire-blue, always hiding an excited emotion inside. Now I'm different.

      No, I wasn't the only thing that was different. My whole life was different.

      My mother died. And according to my grandmother, an Eevee I once had died too.

      A loud moan coming from downstairs interrupted my thoughts. I watched the reflection of my eyes in the mirror swallow up a worried expression. "Grandma?" I shouted. I shoved open the bathroom door and ran downstairs, my heart thudding. My grandmother was leaning over, her hands pressed to her chest, breathing heavily. "Grandma, are you okay?" I asked softy.

      With difficulty my grandmother stood up straight and gazed into my eyes, trying to smile. "Yes, of course I am, Kira." She answered. "Don't worry about me." But her voice was shaky.

      "Are you sure?" I asked, trying to reach into my grandmother's emotions.

      "Yes, Kira dear." My grandmother once again answered. "You can go back upstairs now if you want."

      I cast my grandmother one last worried glance before trudging my way back upstairs. Everyday I worried about her. She'd always notice this concern and tell me she was fine. But I knew she didn't have that much longer to live. She was in her eighties, after all. But of course I never told her this.

      That's when I heard a loud heavy thud downstairs.

      You can never be too cautious Kira, right?

      No, of course not.

      So that was why I whirled around and raced back downstairs, my heart seeming to thud louder than ever. Besides the sound of my heart pounding and the footsteps thudding against the worn-out carpet, everything was silent. The silence scarred me. No, it horrified me. For what seemed like a million times I had heard people say silence is golden. But right now silence was anything but golden. If it was, it was a hard, cold, emotionless gold that sent chills up my spine at the touch, unlike the gold that was dangling around my neck that seemed to give me warmth.

      Gold. And to think some people were greedy for it.

      Kira knew this silence only too well, followed by the sight of her Eevee.

      Why was that thought suddenly drifting through my head? Why did it seem so familiar? Was it perhaps a fallen memory of the past? Was it a fallen memory of when my mother died? I tried not to think about it. But I failed. Instead I found myself standing downstairs, staring horrified at the sight of my grandmother lying lifeless on kitchen floor.

      That's when I realized my grandmother had a heart attack.

      I didn't try to hear if she had a heartbeat or not. I didn't want to. Instead I felt myself picking up the telephone and dialing the only number that came to my mind with one trembling hand. 911. Everything seemed to go so quickly. I just remember answering a few quick questions for the man on the other side and then staring intently out the window, thinking to myself. Thinking about what would happen when my grandmother's death was confirmed. I didn't notice the tears streaming down my cheeks. Without even thinking, I ran. And ran, and ran, and ran. Ran away to the wilderness, searching.

      Searching for the rest of those forgotten memories.

***************************************************

      I stopped to catch my breath, bending over and staring at the ground. I stood up straight and then looked at my surroundings. I had run a long way. I probably shouldn't have run away. I really shouldn't have.

      Stupid me. Stupid, stupid, Kira. But of course I had to run away.

      I breathed in deeply, letting the brisk night air swallow me up. I leaned against the side of a building and closed my eyes. Yes, I shouldn't have run away. I was being stupid. But what else was I supposed to do? Nothing? Yea right.

      A female voice interrupted my thoughts.

      "Hey."

      My eyes flashed open. I whirled around to the sight of a woman in her twenties leaning against another side of the building, absent-mindedly bumping a single pokeball up into the air and then catching it. She wasn't even looking at me.

      "What?!" I snapped. I wasn't in the mood to talk to strangers.

      The woman finally stopped tossing her pokeball up into the air and turned to look at me. She was emotionless. "What are you doing?" She asked.

      "Running away." I answered simply.

      Her eyes wandered over to the golden locket dangling around my neck. She took a step closer and then reached out a hand and gripped the locket lightly. I stood firm, ready to do anything if the woman made any sudden movement. I should've recognized those mud-brown eyes that where now gleaming with desire. I probably should've. But of course I didn't. Silly me.

      "How can you be together with the person who gave you this if you run away?" She asked calmly.

      I took a step backwards and then stared at the ground. "We haven't been together for seven years." I whispered softly.

      There was silence as the woman paused for a moment.

      She reached out a hand. "Then come with us." She said.

      I looked up into her eyes. "What do you mean, come with 'us'?" I asked.

      "Us. The team I belong to." The woman answered, smiling. "Team Rocket."

      I should've recognized the name. The name Team Rocket. The name my mother had once said right before she had died. I should've recognized the name as I smiled gratefully, not thinking, and reached out to grab the woman's hand. But of course I didn't. People are so easy to fool, to fog up, when they're reaching out blindly for something. Like fallen memories. Since I was so intent in remembering, I shouldn't have taken the woman's hand. Then why, why? I'll never know. In the future I'll never be able to rewind the video of my memories and change the actions I did on that one day my grandmother died. Of course I won't.

      But none of these thoughts occurred to me as I reached out to take a hold of the woman's hand, and we walked down the dusty deserted street of the city.