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...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Each person who knows you has a different perception of who you are. Adolf knows this for all the years he has dangled his pendant in front of people and Pokémon alike. He sees their persona, delves deeper to grope their soul, and makes them breathe their every truth like condensation on mirrors.
It isn't too far-fetched for him to wonder how he too is perceived. But he must first know himself by reclaiming his identity that has been stolen together with his memory. Or at least, he couldn't recognise who he currently is, because he evades constantly who he was, the foundation of his present self. The opportunity for a short little sky trip is thus a no-brainer, when the Drifblim mentions the possibility of uncovering his roots.
Adolf clutches his pendant as the Drifblim takes him through the clouds rushing like water's foam, and he closes his eyes, his hand, smiling as the moist air scratches and grabs his hair and skin. Something about the swiftness speaks to him, leaving him convinced that in no time, he will reclaim himself and truly awaken. Yet, with how he is now out in the open, Adolf wishes more than ever that he is seen by the world, maybe by other Pokémon, or perhaps even passengers in a passing plane. Not that there are any, or rather, he realises in the next moment, there can't be any of them here. The condensed version is that he has his breath taken away along with an ambivalence that feels awkward to him. The longer version of it decides that the man be thrust into a harrowing realm where eerily familiar architecture loiter before his eyes, so similar to the one he found himself in, yet so different in its hues and saturations.
The Drifblim glances at him and her cheeks puff up. "Think of them like apartments for rent."
"Hospitals, more like. You Drifblim are like doctors observing us and unwilling to let us discharge," Adolf says as he cranes his neck in an attempt to peer into a dark green sky castle, but to no avail.
"Privacy, please." Drifblim rolls her eyes and speeds up. "Apartments are more fitting. They have no morgues."
Adolf hisses and averts his gaze to the clouds. "Very funny."
"Be glad you have some sunshine. Some of them can only see snow and rain."
"What's with the special treatment?"
Drifblim halts out of the blue, in the middle of the castles where others of her ilk hover about. This suffices to threaten our dear hypnotist who now wishes to pull his question back into his mouth, even when it dissipates as smoke in wind. The stifling silence, apart from the almost muted cries springing out of windows, puts him in his place.
"We're pretty much isolated unlike them, huh?" Adolf tries again.
Drifblim's answer is merely a brief "yes".
Adolf shrugs. "What's the deal anyway? Do you Drifblim enjoy playing prison guards? I sure as hell detest being imprisoned against my will."
Drifblim swallows and spits up. "Very funny. It's a part-time job, if you will. But I forgot, you lack will."