Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation

Chapter 113 - Nostalgia

Owen stood under the shower with a resolute look in his eyes, staring at Zena and the others despite being many times smaller than them. He'd been given a lot of time to think and ponder about everything that he'd recalled, being inert for so long. That didn't even include the portions still missing, that final gap to fill. The parts that he still needed time to think through. To make sense of it all.

And despite everything, he believed that the first person he could ask was the very one who'd sent him to the Voidlands. His only obstacle was convincing everyone else of the same thing.

"I'm sorry," Zena said, "I don't think I heard you properly over all the water."

"Dark Matter," Owen repeated himself. "I know where he is. He told me. I think we should talk to him."

"Are you..." Zena blinked.

She towered over him and Owen tried not to get intimidated by that. As she spoke, Owen focused on getting the juice out from under his leafy feathers. He missed scales.

"Owen, I mean this with... the most respect possible—are you—have you been deprived of air in that fruit?"

"No. I had a lot of time to think. And I remembered a lot about my past and how I got here."

"What's that mean?" Demitri asked, coming in with an armful of towels, all heavy with the fruit juices left behind. He left with a batch of fresh ones for more cleaning, but listened with Mispy.

"Kanto," Owen said. "None of you know what it is, but it's a region in the human world."

"Human world... So it's real?"

"It's real. And I was born there... And so was my trainer, Eon. You know all about that, right?"

"I do," Zena said darkly. "But... the past is the past, isn't it? Eon isn't—"

"I know." The tiny Charmander held up his hands disarmingly. "I... I know. I'm—I don't want to think about that right now. I want to think about everything else."

That seemed to be enough for Zena, who didn't reply.

Owen started on his explanation, stopping several times to go more in-depth about his time as Tim's partner. Near the middle of his explanation, he'd attracted the attention of Dialga and Palkia—mostly Palkia—and later still, Enet, Eon, and Jerry had all been gathered up to talk.

Apparently, during his absence, Mhynt had left town after some Cipher City guards came to escort her back. There was a chance she would return. Owen didn't pay it any mind; they had to tackle one thing at a time.

The explanation continued, from Kanto to Almia to Orre, and finally—and this got everyone's attention—the results of their mission, and then the aftermath, if it could be called that. From rescuing Star, to her massive power and the strange corruption that drove her mad, to the lights in the sky, and finally to waking up to Tim as a Mew.

"And you simply didn't remember?" Zena asked. "How could that be?"

"That's where I woke up." Owen ignored their disappointed looks. He felt the same. "That's where I think I still need to remember. I think... there is still a block there. Made by Dark Matter, maybe. Or by..."

"Wait, but how can we trust Dark Matter for this?" Demitri pointed out. "He's... literally called Dark Matter. He's just evil, right? Are we seriously going to take his word for anything he says?"

"I'm not going to," Owen replied. "But... He's doing this for a reason. If he wanted to take me, he would have by now, but he didn't."

Zena bit her lip. "Owen, this is starting to sound familiar," she said. "Didn't you do the same thing with Rim, back when you didn't have all of your memories then, too? That was a huge risk. I know that you knew, deep in your heart, that Rim wouldn't have hurt you... and you were right... but this is different. This is Dark Matter. The one who... who caused all of this, Owen."