Chapter Text
Dawn assumed that when she walked through the portal that Arceus created for her, she would immediately step through to the other side in present day Sinnoh.
Her assumption was incorrect.
The entrance may have been smooth and round, but the inside of this portal looked no different than the inside of the rift above Mt Coronet that she closed months ago. It was an empty and eerie void of chaotic energy and distorted space. As far as she could tell, there was no exit.
For a moment, she wondered if Arceus had lied about allowing her to go home, instead opting to trap her in an endless void as her punishment for defying the god. However, a strong feeling deep in her gut told her to simply move forward. While Dawn usually preferred plans that were more carefully constructed, she found that following her instincts was the best response to weirder situations like this.
So she moved forward.
As soon as she took the first step, the weirdness of this particular situation amplified.
She heard the echo of someone calling out to her. Was that Volo? No. He may not have been happy about it, but he had accepted her decision to go home. He had no reason to call out to her again, and she swore to herself that she wouldn't look back.
She had to keep moving forward.
As she ventured deeper inside the rift, the space around her became more and more distorted, transforming into something less empty, filling the void with color, light, and sound.
She found herself at the beginning, clear blue water stretching out before her. It was such a beautiful lake. No, wait. Was it a lake? She could taste the salt in the air as an ocean breeze blew by – so maybe it wasn’t a lake. She took a step and her foot sank into the sand; She took another and heard grass and dirt crunch under her boots.
Don't go in the tall grass!
Beady eyes peered out between thick blades of grass, watching her every move. Harsh stares and hushed voices did little to conceal their judgment, as she passed through their territory. She was an outsider in their eyes. Her mother always warned her of the dangers lurking in unknown places, but the truth was that they were more afraid of her than she would ever be of them.
The world around her seemed familiar now, but the details shifted and changed without warning. With every step, she stumbled on unstable ground.
She felt dizzy.
A kind older man presented her with three Pokemon and told her to choose one. She chose the round one. He had the most precious eyes and chirped at her enthusiastically with his tiny beak. He was blue. No, that's not right. Perhaps his feathers were a more natural color. He wore two green leaves like a little bow tie. Or did he? It didn’t matter what he looked like; She would love him either way.
She held him close to her heart and gushed over how soft and comforting he was. Had he always been so soft? The sensation was so pleasant that it helped distract her from the headache that started to form.
As she continued with her new friend, a different man blocked her path. He regarded her with cold indifference. No, that’s not it. He lured her in with an inviting smile. The intensity of his stare bore into her soul in an attempt to find her purpose, as well as her fear, but it backfired. He left his eyes wide open and she dove right in, swimming through sadness and pain, until she found the burning desire that consumed him. So many believed that she could contain that fire – and they were right – but they never worried about the damage she risked. She wouldn’t walk away from this challenge unscathed. Searing hot flames danced around her wildly, licking at her skin, and it burned. It burned so much.
She recoiled, taking a step back and clutching at her arms. Why was the pain so intense? She couldn’t see the burns, but she felt them – a red hot pain deep in her skin. The worst part about it was that it didn’t distract her from the headache that was rapidly increasing in severity.
She took a deep breath and released it slowly.
She was probably just tired. It had been a long day. Before she left the village– no, not the village. Before she left Twinleaf town, she… What had she done before coming here? Where had she come from? Twinleaf town didn’t seem right. It must have been a different place. Where was she now?
Dawn froze.
A paralyzing wave of pure terror crashed through her body and turned her blood to ice. She suddenly became aware of how quickly her heart was pounding in her chest and how heavily she was breathing. She swallowed thickly, trying to push her fear down, but her throat was too dry.
What was happening to her?
“I… I was in the Hall of Origin before this.” she reminded herself between shaky breaths, “I betrayed Volo and made Arceus send me home.”
She cleared her throat.
“I’m going home!” she shouted vehemently not only to remind herself of her goal, but also to convince herself that she could make it happen.
Dawn returned to her task of trudging through what she now realized were old memories. The rift seemed to be pulling them directly from her mind and using them to shape her surroundings, but there was no rhyme or reason to it. Different memories filtered through randomly and in rapid succession, reshaping the world around her. She began swaying from side to side, disoriented by the constant changes.
However, what bothered her the most was her suspicion that some of the details were wrong, but she couldn’t explain why. Was the rift somehow able to alter her memories? The thought made her shudder, and the more she tried to think about it, the more her head throbbed. She could feel the nausea set in as her headache evolved into a splitting migraine.
Her body felt heavier with every step. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could endure this.
She wobbled drunkenly through a forest. She had run out of antidotes, and she could feel Piplup's agony as if the poison were spreading through her own bloodstream; It made her retch. She would be alright though, because she met a kind girl with green hair. Was that before or after that strange Roserade gave her pecha berries? It didn’t matter. The girl’s name was Cheryl. Or was it Sabi?
A small patch of snow slid off a tree branch and dusted her shoulder. The icy winds picked up as a blizzard blew in. She shivered violently, teeth chattering, as the cold seeped through her snow-dampened clothes and into her bones. Her entire body felt numb except for her exposed face which burned from the icy chill of the wind. She hated the Icelands, but this feeling was somehow worse than she remembered.
She hid in a nearby cave to escape the cold, leaning against the inner wall as she caught her breath. She had to press her back further into the bumpy log wall as a stranger descended upon her, boxing her in between his arms. She was defenseless, since she left her bag with her pokeballs at the other end of the room. She thought it was safe. She was just trying to make friends with other trainers. They were hiding in the empty cabin together to wait out the storm. Why did he suddenly become so aggressive?
The Garchomp appeared out of nowhere. She thought it would tear the man apart, and she shook with terror, wondering if she would be next. She was baffled when the Garchomp disappeared as quickly as it had arrived, once it finished chasing off the stranger.
She placed her hand on a nearby tree for support as she wiped the sweat from her forehead. Her entire body trembled from the excruciating pain plaguing her. She couldn't find a way to provide herself with any relief. Every single touch, sound, or smell seemed to aggravate her condition more. Even the tree bark beneath her hand rubbed against it too roughly. She felt like her head would burst at any moment.
But it didn't matter. She had to keep moving.
She forced herself to take another step, but her foot was stuck in the mud, and she tripped instead. She cried out pathetically when she hit the ground. The pungent odor of the bog invaded her nostrils, causing her to dry heave several times. When her stomach settled enough to allow her to move, she dug her palms into the mud and attempted to push herself off the ground. She struggled feebly on her shaky arms and only managed to make it to her knees.
She was at her limit.
"Please," She cried, "Please make it stop. I can't take it anymore!"
The tears that had already formed in the corners of her eyes spilled over as she finally broke down and bawled miserably.
"I just want to go home!"
She didn’t know what to do. She still hadn’t found the exit, and she couldn’t think clearly enough to come up with a solution because she was in so much pain. She tilted her head up and stared at the distorted sky as tears continued rolling down her face. Was it time to admit defeat?
She loosened her iron grip on her thoughts, and noticed something strange about the sky – it was melting. The rich colors of the world bled, streaks of blue dripped through glitchy clouds, leaving nothing but white emptiness where the color had been stripped away. Something about it felt wrong, but she couldn’t find the strength to care because her pain seemed to be melting away along with everything else.
She watched absently as the remains of the sky trickled down until they met the trees, smearing faded blues into vibrant greens and warm browns, mixing them into an unrecognizable mess of lifeless gray. Her eyes followed a lonely piece of the sky as it slowly ran down towards a house. Why did that house look so familiar? When it made contact with the roof, she heard the faint sound of static noise somewhere in her mind.
There was a woman with a kind smile and short dark hair standing in front of the house. Something about that woman made Dawn feel content and relaxed – her smile felt like home. The drop of sky continued its journey, slicing through the house and creeping closer to the woman. As it reached the top of her head, the moisture spread, blurring and feathering her edges.
“Yup, Dawn! I’ll be alright by myself, so you go and enjoy your adventure! When you’re exposed to new things, and experience new sensations… It makes your mother happy, too.”
No…
“... But come back sometimes.”
NO, WAIT!
Dawn screamed.
“NO! STOP! DON’T TAKE HER AWAY FROM ME! DON’T TAKE MY MEMORIES!”
She resisted whatever force was tugging at her memories, desperately clinging to every detail of her life that she could remember. As a result, the crippling pain from earlier came flooding back all at once, and she folded over, hands grasping at the sides of her head. She cried out, head sinking to the ground, as the torturous pain overwhelmed her nerves. It was too much, but she couldn’t let go again. How could she return home without her memories?
The pressure continued to build up until she was dangerously close to another breaking point.
“Please… It’s too much,” she whimpered, “Someone… Please help me.”
As her resolve began to slip, she felt a gentle breeze blow by. Her suffering suddenly vanished as if that wind had carried it away, but her body still remained tense. She wasn’t sure if she should relax yet. If she didn’t feel the pain, didn’t that also mean that her memories were gone? How would she even know if she no longer had her memories?
The wind emanated a magical energy and swirled around her, like it was forming a barrier. It felt calming. Was it trying to protect her?
“Ah, there you are.”
A soothing sensation washed over her, filling her nose with the sweet, earthy scent of moss covered trees. It reminded her of a forest she once visited in a different region. Her other senses joined in as she lost herself in the old memory. She heard the rustling of leaves and felt the soft damp earth beneath her. She saw the gentle sway of long golden hair as she walked through the dense forest with a dear friend. The abundance of trees didn’t allow much light to filter down through the treetops, but despite the darkness, she felt safe.
When the swirling wind died down, she sensed a familiar presence in front of her.
“Don’t worry, Dawn. I’m here now.”
She knew that voice. It was the same voice that greeted her every time she walked through the front door of her childhood home. She slowly lifted her head and immediately lit up with joy at the sight of her mother’s comforting smile.
“I can help you get through this.”
She offered her hand, and Dawn accepted it without a second thought. Her mother carefully helped her up and continued holding her hand as she guided Dawn through the rift.
“I’m glad you’re here, mom. I was so afraid I would forget you.”
“I would never let that happen. I’ll always be here to protect you.”
That was definitely something her mother would say. She could be overbearing at times, but Dawn could always rely on her mom when she needed her. Dawn let out a sigh of relief as she rested her head on her mom’s shoulder. She was still dizzy from the sea of memories that continued to warp and shift all around her, but the pain had mostly subsided.
She was only able to rest her head for a moment though, because the body next to her suddenly jolted forward, pulling her along at a much quicker pace.
“Let’s hurry! The sooner we get through this, the better!”
It was a different voice this time. When she looked up from the larger, rougher hand now tugging her forward, she saw a lanky young man with short blond hair. She would recognize that boundless energy anywhere. Barry was always in a hurry. She often had trouble keeping up with him, but this time, he held her hand firmly and didn’t let go.
“I’m surprised you’re not rushing off without me like you always do.”
“There’s no way I’d leave you behind in a place like this! I gotta make sure you make it out in one piece!”
He looked back at her and flashed her an enthusiastic grin. She responded with her own cheerful smile, and her footsteps felt a little lighter as she hurried along with him. He could be a lot to handle at times, but she appreciated his honesty and optimism. Sometimes his upbeat energy was exactly what she needed to lift her spirits.
“Why does traveling through this rift cause so much strain on the mind?”
“That’s a good question.”
The response came from a different young man, but he was also a good friend. They eased back into a slightly slower pace. He looked thoughtful as he pondered her question, his hand rubbing the back of his head, messing up his short black hair. Unlike Barry, Lucas preferred to take his time and think things through.
“The simple answer is that humans were never meant to travel through time.”
He didn’t always have the answers, but he was always happy to help her seek them out. She had fond memories of resting at Pokemon Centers with Lucas while they shared their new pokedex discoveries with each other. She could always count on him to help her create new battle strategies with all the knowledge he gained from his research.
For a moment, she thought his clothes looked different than the ones she remembered – she thought she saw an outfit similar to the Survey Corps one she still wore – but she probably just imagined it.
“I wonder why traveling through time like this would affect my memories.”
The hand that held hers suddenly felt softer and more slender. When she looked up at the figure beside her, she saw the beautiful golden hair of the former Sinnoh champion. Cynthia brought her hand to her chin in thought.
"Returning to your original time will make significant changes to the timeline, effectively rewriting reality as you know it. Your memories must also be rewritten in order to match this new reality."
Of course Cynthia would know exactly how to answer such a difficult question. Dawn had always been impressed by her vast knowledge of history and myths, and she loved that Cynthia never hesitated to share that knowledge with her.
"The human mind is not equipped to endure this process as it happens, so it falls apart, resulting in a loss of memories as well as other potential brain damage."
Cynthia was not an insensitive person – she was actually more compassionate than most – but she didn’t believe in sugarcoating harsh truths. Dawn admired her ability to strike that delicate balance between kindness and tenacity. However, the thought of losing her memories made Dawn uneasy.
Cynthia must have sensed this because she quickly followed up with a more comforting thought and a reassuring smile.
"But that's why I'm here. With my power, I can protect your mind from these negative side effects, allowing you to travel through the rift safely."
That charming smile and promise of protection warmed Dawn’s heart, alleviating her concerns, but she caught a glimpse of something unusual – the playful wag of Cynthia’s finger as she spoke.
Wait, that’s not right.
Cynthia’s smile curled into something far too mischievous. She was too tall and her hair was too short. Dawn had never seen her wear a hat before.
Dawn stopped, pulling her hand away.
“No…” she whispered, “Why is it you?”
Volo turned around, confused.
“What’s wrong?” The voice was too deep. “We have to keep moving. We’re almost there.”
“You shouldn’t be here. It should be her.”
The figure before her was just as unstable as the distorted world surrounding her. It glitched sporadically, fragments of Cynthia and Volo slotting over one another. The splitting pain in her mind returned. She clutched her head and fell to her knees.
“What have I done? Please… Please don’t tell me she’s gone.”
“You have to calm down. As long as you stay close to me, everything will be okay.”
“What if I made a mistake? What if I erased Cynthia? I have to go back.”
“We’ve come too far. If you turn back now, your mind will be torn apart.”
Dawn knew that the voice was trying to comfort her, but the constant fluctuation in pitch made her skin crawl. It couldn’t decide if it wanted to be masculine or feminine, continually shifting between the two people who had become deeply important to her. She already callously left one behind. What if her decision to return home harmed the other one as well?
A few tears fell to the cracked tiles beneath her. She could feel the chill of the temple’s cold stone even through her leggings. Soft light filtered in through stained glass windows, illuminating her in every color. Sharp, broken pillars like spears pierced the heavens. Whispered prayers echoed throughout the church, a gathering of kind strangers trying not to think about the shadows they cast. She thought she heard his voice amidst the murmurs.
But that was impossible . There was no way he could have been there that day. Right?
Her vision blurred.
“I can’t do this. It hurts. It hurts so much.”
“Please, don’t doubt yourself.”
The two distinct voices were overlapping now. Were they fighting for dominance?
“I’ve watched over you for a long time. I’ve seen what you’re capable of.”
No. They were harmonizing. She looked up. She could see both Cynthia and Volo clearly within the single figure standing before her. The sun’s light poured in through the stained glass image of the mountain she sat atop, highlighting the encouraging confidence in their smile.
“You’re so much stronger than you know.”
They reached out their hand, inviting her to take it once more.
“Besides, you’ve already done this once before. I helped you that time too. Don’t you remember?”
She gasped softly. How could she have forgotten the one who caught her when Arceus let her fall? The memory cut through the chaos in her mind, muffling the static, allowing her a moment of peace. She no longer saw Cynthia or Volo. Instead, she saw the figure’s true form.
She reached her shaky hand out, accepting the invitation of the much smaller hand in front of her.
“I can’t believe I forgot about that. Thank you, my friend.”
Her friend helped her rise to her feet and fluttered beside her, guiding her forward. Dawn followed without hesitation. She stepped out of the church and into the light. She passed by the broken pillars and made her way to the distorted void at the edge of the ruined temple.
No matter what happened, she would keep moving forward until she returned home.