My Name is Loto [Pokémon Fanfiction]

01| Why I Don't Trust Merchants

The first thing that greeted me when I awoke was a headache. A headache, and the reddish glow of bright light shining behind my closed eyelids. I raised my arm over my face before I dared open my eyes.

   A cloudless sky framed by waving green leaves on my left and right was what I saw when I opened my eyes. I slowly sat up, sitting in a slumped position. I frowned when I noticed loosely-packed dirt beneath me. Looking around, I was faced with somewhat tall plants. The plants stretched out in almost endless lines in front of and behind me, the gap I was sitting in following the plants. Was... this a farm?

   My head still ached horribly, so I cautiously felt about with a hand, trying to figure out if I'd been injured. I flinched when my fingers brushed a painful spot on my left temple. Also, the texture of my skin didn't feel right around there, like something was flecking and coming away. I grimaced in disgust as I scratched a bit at it and saw dried blood caked under my nails. The red stood out against the whiteness of my nails and brown hue of my skin. So I'd been bleeding... It must've been a while since I was injured if the blood was dry.

   Wait, how long had I been out here?

   I tried to think back, but nothing came to mind. I then tried to remember how I even got here. Still nothing. Okay, what about before that? My mind refused to give anything up. To my shock, the longer I thought, the more I realized I couldn't remember anything. My heart dropped.

   Calm down, Loto. You're probably just disoriented and can't think straight. See? I could remember my name, so I was probably just overreacting.

   Yeah, I thought as I ran a hand through my mop of dark brown hair, smiling nervously. Just overreacting. I'm Loto... My smile died. Loto... what? Where I should have remembered a last name, yet again nothing surfaced.

   My hands dropped limply into my lap as confusion muddled my mind once again. If I was just disoriented, why didn't I remember my last name?

   I looked down at my hands as if they held the answer. But when I saw both my hands for the first time since I awoke, my eyes widened. The skin on my hands became paler the longer I stared at them, almost unable to process what I was seeing. Where the pinky finger of my right hand had been, there was a stump in its place.

   My mind raced. What the—? What the hell is this? I raised the hand close to my face, trying to see it better. But no, there wasn't anything there. I was missing a finger.

   So why couldn't I remember how that had happened?

   Bile started welling in my throat. No matter how much I tried, I couldn't remember anything. There was no way I could have forgotten something like this. I definitely would have remembered losing my damn finger!

   Then it was really true. There was nothing.

   My hands went to my head again, my remaining fingers tangling in my hair. Panic started rising in me, thick and nauseating.