In a castle in the sky, memories unravel the truth.
There lies Yan, a woman who delves into her ghost-infested past, knowing it will give her the answers she seeks. What she doesn't know: if she stays in her past for too long, she may never wake up...
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I awake to the whirring of fan blades. The sun, too, rises and dusts its blushes off to reveal a cerulean lustre behind the swarm of clouds. The grilles remain cold and soaked, dews slinking off their surfaces, as if some beast had gnawed on them and stained them with saliva smelling of petrichor.
Only courage remains.
The line invades my mind, still groggy and trapped in its nightmarish meditations, of gunpowder and panic. Adolf shot me. I died. I returned to life. It's all real.
My body heaves itself out of bed and air rushes into my lungs. Clearly, I am not so much of an early sleeper, which makes this situation all the more odder than it already is. There is no way in the Distortion World that I'd take an evening nap—the restful sleep is so disorienting it takes a while to process the sun is meant to set.
I can only be hopeful from here on out. It's a sign, a reversal of fate, a scorching salvation, that I am alive to see the day. My heart beats with robust energy as I unclench my fists. Beads of sweat litter my palms, some crawling on the veins on my wrists that have grown apparent over time. With such a warm and pleasant atmosphere, how could I be anxious? The irony of events occurring in broad daylight comes to mind, but surely, I must give myself a break from all this endless scarring.
Tongue sweeping across palms, I give in to cold salt, indulging in every ounce of self-pity flashing within. It's a storm, but I am my lightning rod, so I can only cope with pain through meek confrontation. I never could have expected to be soon led by the nose into a series of ghastly encounters for nights and days.
"It's useless. It's all useless!"
What was I trying to achieve back then? Why did I heed the note and flee? What is the Hypno's agenda? The answers to these questions have yet to surface. Useless indeed.
I sigh, feeling a rush of lethargy evaporate, and leave home, following the unlit streetlights, stalking my slouching shadow across Hearthome. The city itself isn't that big, consisting of the necessary Pokémon Centre and Mart, with three main attractions: Amity Park, Contest Hall, and Hearthome Gym. For someone without a Pokémon companion, I definitely will never step foot into the trainers-only park, and also the gym. The Contest Hall, then, seems to be the most obvious choice, since anyone and everyone is welcome.
Yet the road there proves to be much longer than I thought. For the first time, people and Pokémon appear in the foreground and background, chatting, playing, laughing, squealing... A disastrous cacophony infected to the core with joy till I am forced to accept their infuriating presence. Shuffling my feet, I leer at their shadows spreading across the floor, reshaping themselves every few seconds, shifting again and again. Perhaps it's this wondrous motion that appals me, because I must be a sad blob in their carnival. After all, it is common knowledge that Hearthome City is the friendliest city in Sinnoh, and its population has the lowest risk of mental issues.
