The Trial of Dreams and Memories (TMM 2)

Reunions

"Alright, alright, that's enough! He's out! Stop or I shoot!" a guard yelled. 

"Oh, come on," Morai said breathlessly. "If you're going to threaten to shoot me every time, then I should have just stuck to attacking nurses, fighting you, then getting shot. I'd get much more out of it."

"There are rules and you're nearly breaking them every time," he retorted, gun in hand. "No clawing, biting, or otherwise trying to kill your partner."

"There have been none of the first two," Morai argued. "And the matter of whether or not I was trying to kill him is purely subjective."

The two squared off, and the prisoner managed to lunge at the guard and viciously wrestle his gun from his hand before getting taken down by two other guards. 

"I think that's enough for now," Sheridan added, looking pointedly at Morai's forehead. "Morai, this is a perverse version of the deal we made. You're going to have to learn to control your violence or do without it completely."

"You see, it's simply impossible to do that, Miss. Sheridan," Morai said from the ground, a pair of handcuffs being fastened around her wrists. "The personification of evil in my dreams tells me so."

Ingo and Emmet had come to visit and had been watching from the sidelines as their former friend had fought through the line of tall, burly prison guards waiting to challenge her. 

"I never thought watching people fight recreationally would be so...interesting," Emmet said. "What a world it would be if we all had to fight each other instead of settling most things over Pokémon battles."

"...Do you ever wonder why we're still here?" Ingo abruptly asked. He had taken his hat off and was running the brim through his fingers, something he did when he was bothered. 

"What do you mean, brother?" Emmet asked.

"The hope I had for her was nearly snuffed out when I heard that she'd be stuck this way for a while. The more I see of her, the more I believe that the person we know is truly gone. If that is the case, why are we here?"

Emmet leaned back against the brick wall and crossed his arms, letting out a long sigh that gave him time to think. 

"Because she's still our friend, I suppose, and we don't simply abandon our friends," he finally said. "As long as there's any small glimmer of hope that the friend we know will return, we'll always be here at the station to welcome her back from whatever dark place she's returning from."

The pair sat in silence for a while, and a stranger entered the room and came to stand beside them. The strange man immediately caught their attention, as he appeared to be as tall as they were, which was a rare occurance. He also carried a cane and was holding a top hat, and his Galarian accent tied it all together when he spoke. 

"Well, she's quite interesting, isn't she?" he asked with a smile as Morai protested her detainment in the distance.

"You could say that," Ingo said. 

"And there are many other words you could use," Emmet added. 

"I'm guessing that you are the doctor that agreed to offer your expertise?" Ingo asked. 

"That's me," the doctor replied. "Though, it wasn't a case of who would agree to do this job. Many scientists such as myself would jump at the chance."

"So you were chosen based on your superior knowledge," Emmet said. "I can smile knowing that our friend is in good hands."

"Do you think you can help her return to who she once was?" Ingo asked. The doctor shook his head.

"There's no way of knowing right at this moment, but I have confidence that it's an achievable feat. I suppose I'll be seeing you two gentleman around."