A/N: Written for the Novel with Prompts Challenge on the PFC. This first chapter is with prompt #009 – faith.

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Filling in the Gaps
Chapter 2

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Now that I knew what my Pokemon were, I could make a plan of sorts. A foolhardy plan – but then again, what other choice did I have? Wandering around without memories is like wandering around without a dream, and right now I have neither of those.

I knew the species each of my owned Pokemon belonged to. And I knew the first of them: the Charmander I'd received from Professor Oak. I had to start with him.

But the Charmander had evolved and Charizard didn't exactly live in the wild. Charasific Valley would be my best bet, but it was still a long shot.

It was also a long distance away, and going out there without a Pokemon companion would be suicide. But, if that weird man's words was anything to go by, I couldn't risk getting a Pokemon of the same species as one of the previous ones. The chances of it being the same was slim, but it wasn't a chance worth taking.

Besides, it wasn't like Pokemon just jumped into Poke balls. Or Poke balls grew on trees for that matter. Accommodation at the Pokemon Centre may be free for registered Pokemon trainers, but nothing else was. I had to get money before I could catch a Pokemon, and for sixteen year olds who hadn't gotten a leaver's certificate from school, Pokemon battling was the only way I was going to earn points.

Stupid catch-22s, I thought, annoyed. Then I recalled something: things called Battle Facilities that were newly built all over Kanto. They gave out rental Pokemon, and prizes if you won. I either never knew or couldn't recall whether they required a fee to register, but it couldn't hurt to give it a try. I'd still have to travel a bit to the nearest facility – Cerulean City was just the next town, but I'd have to go through Mt Moon to get there. With the Sandshrew and Clefairy and Zubat and Geodude and Paras…without a Pokemon of my own, that would be a difficult trip. A dangerous one too, if Paras' spores got to me. I'd be left defenceless for any passing Pokemon to munch on.

The next nearest was Lavender Town – but I'd have to pass through an almost as dangerous Rock Tunnel to get there. Almost as dangerous I say because the Charmander I'd apparently owned would have been a big help getting through, with its tail flame. And if it had learnt Metal Claw by then, so much the better.

But that wasn't going to help me to get to any of these Battle Facilities. So what was left? Try to apprentice myself to the local gym which probably wouldn't work because I had no Pokemon, steal something, or hang out in the Pokemon Centre until another option presented itself.

I shuddered at the thought of stealing something. Pokemon or money: both of those were important things to other people. I thought about that. I hoped my Pokemon had been important to me as well. In the few days I'd been at the Pokemon Centre, I'd seen all sorts of trainers. The ones I'd liked best where the ones who'd come in in tears or distraught faces, carrying their Pokemon carefully and waiting, anxiously in the lobby, until they were fully healed. The sort of trainers who cared that much about their Pokemon.

Suddenly, I found myself feeling incredibly lonely.

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I did try the Gym, since I had nothing to lose by doing so. The leader, Brock, had surprised me with his kindness. Realising I didn't have any Pokemon or memories or money, he'd let me help out with the maintenance of the gym for a few days. Little things like brushing loose bits of dirt that required finesse that escaped his Pokemon helpers. Things like polishing the door handles to make things look just a little more spick and span.

I knew those sorts of things were only necessary during a Gym inspection, but I also knew that everyone liked their place to look as best as possible, and every little thing counted. So it was partially pity, and partially not. Either way, I came away with enough Poke-dollars to buy a Poke-ball and a flashlight. Medicines would have been useful, but I remembered recipes too, and berries were in abundance in the Viridian Forest.

The new problem was how to catch a Pokemon without having another to weaken it first. So I stayed at the Pokemon Centre for a few more days. I planned. I thought. I decided to head back to the forest for a few days: stock up on berries, make some medicine…just be prepared for the long journey that might follow. If I could get a Pokemon before or during that, I could train it up as well.

Maybe I could ask a trainer to lend me their Pokemon for a little bit. Or ask for them to catch something for me. Maybe I could even go back to the Police Station and ask for help there. Officer Jenny at least knew why I didn't have any Pokemon despite being a registered trainer. She'd probably help.

I don't know why it took me almost a week to think of that. But when I did, I let it mull for a moment. There was no downside to asking for help, expect injuring a pride I couldn't safely say I had at that point. After all, what did I have to be proud of? Mooching off the Pokemon Centre? It was more comfortable, and safer, than the outdoors, and I had the right to be there…but without Pokemon. The system was to support the Pokemon as well. People like me should sit quietly at home…

Except nobody said that. Not the nurse. Not the trainers who'd been stuck for days waiting for their Pokemon to recover and could easily see I didn't have a Pokemon like them, that I wasn't passing through on the way to another destination, or waiting so I could rechallenge the Gym Leader. But I thought it anyway. And I didn't want to stay a freeloader – or a charity case or whatever else you'd call it.

Maybe that was my pride, or a part of it. Or maybe that was just my nature. At this point, I didn't know nearly enough about myself to know.

I did go to Officer Jenny that afternoon. She understood my predicament, and my desire: the desire to find these Pokemon I'd been with before, to go back to the life I'd had, even though I remembered nothing of it at all. 'We'll be on the lookout as well,' she said. It would help a little, but since none of my Pokemon had any distinguishing features, not completely. Still, it would be far better than wandering completely blind through the world.

'That'd be great,' I said thankfully.

She smiled and clipped her helmet on. 'We'll be in touch,' she said, getting on her motorcycle. 'Come on.'

I stared at the bike, then climbed on tentatively. The seat felt uncomfortable, and holding onto a woman's waist to keep myself there when the bike was in motion was even more uncomfortable. I guess that meant I hadn't been into being on motorcycles before I lost my memories. Not a particularly useful tidbit of information, but at least it was about me and not the rest of the world.

Office Jenny pulled up in front of a low-flowing river. I could see the turbines and, behind them, the old abandoned power complex. There was a newer one now, near the Pokemon Centre on Route 10. There were Pikachu there, along with Magnemite and Voltorb…but the Pikachu were the important ones. My Pikachu could have wound up there, if it wasn't in the Viridian Forest.

That might have been another reason I was reluctant to go to the forest. Was I afraid of meeting my Pokemon…or was that mystery man's words stopping me, telling me I needed to find Charizard first?

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Officer Jenny had brought a Pidgeotto and a fishing rod with her. 'There are plenty of Magikarp around,' she explained, 'but they're not the best for a trainer without any other Pokemon. Or Gyarados for that matter.'

I nodded. That was true. But they weren't the only Pokemon around. There'd be Wingull as well, but they were flying types and not likely to get caught by a rod. There'd be Poliwags deeper in the water, with the reeds. There'd be Chinchou as well, taking advantage of what remained of the old electrical systems. A Chinchou would be best: its electrical attacks would take care of the Zubat and any other flying types I encountered later on. At least until I got Pikachu back. But Poliwag were more mobile on land. And then the really rare Seel or Wooper, but there weren't too many of those in these parts. A Seel would be strong against flyers as well…but equally unmobile on land.

I cast the rod, listened to its "poink" as it broke the surface of the water. I supposed fate would decide which Pokemon I got. Or Pidgeotto would, because every time I saw a shadow sneaking up to my rod, it would squawk and send it scuttering away. After the fourth time, I looked questionably at Officer Jenny.

'Pidgeotto have sharp eyes,' she explained. 'She's scaring the Magikarp away because she knows you don't need one right now. And she's also scaring the Chinchou away because of their electricity.'

So I wouldn't be getting a Chinchou. Though it didn't really matter. No Pokemon was going to counter everything that got in my way, and they didn't need to. All that thinking was as though Pokemon were tools. If I met a Pokemon that stole my heart away, it didn't matter what sort of Pokemon it was.

That's what I told myself anyway. Not remembering any of my experiences with Pokemon made it difficult to know for sure.

But I'd make a new one. Starting with whatever tugged on my rod. And finally one did and I pulled the rod up, along with the squirming Seel at the end of it.

Seel. I hoped that Pokemon would help me find my Pokemon and my memories…and the truth.