mist on the grass

[offtracks]

Who: Ingo and Emmet
What: Exploration of the Middle Forest
When: Late April
Where: Middle Forest
Warnings: Hallucinations, dissociation, minor injury

[The middle forest, much like the time they explored the northern end, is blanketed with fog almost as soon as they enter the shadows of the trees. Ingo ignites his flames, as usual, but it's little use. Purple light refracts off the thick mist, as well as the faint red glow of Emmet's eyes and markings.

It's a little spooky. Ingo tries to keep his eyes off them. Telling Emmet about his experiences with Zoroark was probably, overall, a good thing to do. He's not longer lying to him, even if only by omission. But it probably makes some of his less-than-kind responses a little more obvious...]

I am sure any marks we leave will simply change again, but we could make an attempt anyhow.

[Today's another scouting mission, more than anything. Ingo's more relaxed about that than about rescue missions, but their strange experience in the forest last time still has him keeping a sharp eye out, as well as he can.]

Comments

[outbounds]

[ Emmet just shrugs. Maybe some people, torn from everything they were, thrown into a place where cold practicality seems to be the rule, would just accept the way things are now, and try to make the best of it from there. Build up something new and not worry so much about what came before, what was left behind one way or another. Silly of him, though, to ever think that Ingo would simply settle for what is, instead of forever reaching for things just out of sight. ]

Right. That is why I have tried not to force it. Outside of things that are safer, like Pokemon. Was trying to go at your pace. Did not want to make you feel bad for not remembering.

[ Emmet thought he could bear that burden on his own. Their trip into the forest is an unwelcome wake-up call in that regard. ]

But you are doing that on your own anyway. So. [ ... ] I am Emmet. I was prepared ... I thought I was prepared to just make new memories. If that was what you wanted. But you are also trying to remember.

[ So. A track change is needed. ]

Two questions. Do you want me to try to help, even if it is uncomfortable? And if so. What has worked for you before?

[offtracks]

[Ingo's face draws a little as he looks down at his paws. Finally, he sits back up. Sleep is not happening anytime soon, one way or another.]

I would like that, but - I have found very little to help, in the past. Usually when I try very hard to remember, I will only get a headache, or perhaps...hm, grow distant for a little while?

[He's reaching so hard for the term "zone out", which has itself been lost along with all non-train-related modern lingo!]

I did have a bit of a breakthrough when I first met Akari, and when we first battled! Looking back now - perhaps it was simply familiar to me, to have a proper battle with another trainer? But it has not happened again, though we have had many more matches since. And - [He huffs.] - well, it cannot just be a matter of seeing something familiar, can it? It isn't as though it happened during the first battle I ever had, or when I saw a Pokeball, or anything like that! Laventon even showed me a picture of a train once!

[This is clearly something he has already thought about a lot! It's true that being in such a different environment than futuristic Unova probably did not help matters, but it isn't as foreign as going to an entire other world. Surely there were still plenty of familiar sights? Familiar actions? Emmet knew who Laventon was, for goodness' sake!]

But of course I do not want to simply give up. I've simply been stalled out on these tracks for - a very long time.

[outbounds]

[ Then there's no guarantee anything he can do might help either. That is what Ingo is saying. Well. That means they know where to set their expectations, at least. ]

... I do not know anything about retrograde amnesia. Not the kind of thing covered in emergency first aid training and certification. Mostly just from shows, or movies, but none of that really helps because it is not real.

But memory is complicated. Might be a combination of things. Maybe it is not just the battle but something specific that does or doesn't happen during it, or how it is conducted. Might even be something like the time of day or weather or location. Might be because it is singles and not doubles or multi.

[ Could be any number of things, in the end. No particular combination of things is guaranteed to work, either.

Ingo seems to have put a lot of time, work, and thought into this ... it'd be daunting, maybe, if he were anyone less than who he is. Maybe it is, still.

But he is Emmet, and he likes winning more than anything else. ]

... You know. Back on the beach. When I got sand all over you. You did not have to know me to react to that. [ That reaction, at least, cannot be chalked up to learning Emmet enough to guess how he's supposed to respond. ] No headache either, as far as I know.

[ In case Ingo is still looking for other examples of things Emmet has picked up on. ]

[offtracks]

....oh?

[It takes Ingo a moment to even vaguely remember his reaction on the beach that day. It hadn't stood out to him as significant, especially given everything else that had happened.]

Ah - no, I do not think I had a headache. Something subconscious, perhaps...? That does not feel like anything I have remembered to me. I'm honestly not entirely sure what you mean.