Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Recovering Memories

Chapter 2: The Village

The Abandoned Lighthouse

The first thing Ryan noticed about the lighthouse is that it seemed to have been in disuse for possibly decades or even centuries. The red and white paint that formerly adorned the outside of the tall structure had been washed clean by many storms over the years, leaving behind worn brick that would itself likely be eroded away in the years to come. The doorway was also boarded up, seemingly very recently, but there were a couple of loose boards towards the bottom, just enough for the small weasel to fit through, even with the bag that was over half Lena's height. She set down the aforementioned bag near the nest that she was planning to have Ryan sleep in.

"Now, normally," she said as Ryan passed through the partially boarded up door, "I like to sleep in the room where, in years past, the light would have been. Back in the day, human sailors would have been able to see the beacon for miles!

"But not only is that a very long flight of stairs for someone who can barely walk, the glass was all broken out a long time ago, so it's not safe in a thunderstorm, especially not that high up." She pulled some extra hay from a nearby pile to fashion an extra bed for herself. "So, we'll be sleeping down here tonight!"

"Wait, human sailors?" Ryan asked. "So, there are humans in this world."

The sneasel sighed. "As far as I can tell, no. Not in this part of the world at least. I have traveled quite a long way since I first woke up in some forest over a year ago now, but maybe humans still exist elsewhere..." She shrugged. "But what do I know? I'm no geographer."

"You don't know that. For all you know, maybe you were one as a human, if you were one," the eevee said as he walked over to his bag. "Speaking of which..." He unzipped the bag with his maw and began pulling items out from it.

"What are you doing?" Lena asked deadpan.

"Trying to help you remember something, anything, about your past, your life as, or if you ever were, a human," he said as he reached his paw deeper into the bag and struggled to pull out a simple ham-and-cheese sandwich, cut in half. "Here, eat this. Maybe the flavor will unlock a memory."

The sneasel used a claw to split apart the bag and removed one half of the sandwich, and took a bite. After swallowing, she shook her head.

"Tasty, but it did nothing for me."

As Ryan ate the other half- pokemon or not, he had to eat- he checked the bag to see what else he had that could possibly be of use to jog Lena's memories. What he found was: his phone and laptop, which he was unsure if they even still worked, although they looked intact; some assorted snacks, which were probably just as useful as the sandwich; and 'The Idiots Guide to Earth and Its People', which could be worth a shot if it turned out she was a former human. There were other items as well, including basic toiletries, a change of clothes, and an insulated water bottle, none of which would be helpful in this current situation. He deliberated for a moment about whether he should even keep the clothes when Lena grabbed the water bottle from Ryan.

"Wh- hey!" he exclaimed. "That's mine!"

"This feels pretty hard," she said, ignoring the eevee. "Maybe I can recover my memories with blunt trauma!"

Ryan raised a paw to gesture her to stop. "Lena, no! That won't-"

The metallic clang of the water bottle slamming against her head echoed throughout the inside of the tall, cylindrical building as she knocked herself unconscious. Ryan sighed.

"Never mind... let's just... drop it for tonight." He yawned. "Well, I should get some sleep..."

The eevee closed his bag again and leaned it against the wall beside his straw bed. He then pushed the unconscious sneasel onto the other bed before curling up into a ball on his own bed and trying to fall asleep despite the pounding rain and thunder.