Remember? -A Pokémon Story-

Chapter 7

You and Cato have been sitting in this little tunnel for what feels like hours.

The storm has gotten worse, with no signs of letting up any time soon. Cato is curled up next to you, trying to preserve body warmth for the two of you.

It's so cold.

You shiver against Cato's fur, head resting against the hard, rocky wall behind you. You know Ash and the Professors are probably really worried. You left without leaving any hint of where you were going.

Granted, you didn't really know where you were going either.

"I'm sorry," you say, your voice drowned out slightly by the torrential rain pouring outside. Cato lifts his head and looks at you, but this time he doesn't have the look of "I told you so" on his face. Instead, he just looks worried.

"I should've listened to you, we wouldn't be stuck here if I did," you sniffle. Cato shifts and lays his head down in your lap, and you rest your hand on top of his spiked head.

You sit there in silence, the only noise being the sound of rain pounding against rock and thunder growing in the distance. You stroke your Luxray's black fur and stare outside at the storm.

You feel a lump start to form in your throat, and hot tears make their way to the corners of your eyes. A tear slides down your cheek as you bite your lip, struggling to keep it all in.

You hiccup as more tears trail down your face, and Cato looks up at you, worried.

"I just want to go home," you say quietly, "like, home home." You look down at Cato and smile faintly.

"I miss Dad, and I don't even know who he is. I miss him so much, Cato. And what about Mom? I don't even know if I have a Mom," you say in between hiccups. Cato looks up at you with sad eyes, wishing he could help, but he doesn't remember either.

"Why can't we remember anything? Why did this have to happen to us, of all people? It's not fair!" you yell as you lay your head back, hitting it against the rock wall. You close your eyes as more tears fall down your face. Cato nuzzles his head in your lap again, comfortingly.

You both sit like that for a bit, until you break the silence.

"Do you think he even misses us?"

Cato lifts his head abruptly and stares at you with a hard look on his face. You look away sadly, staring at the raging storm outside that's keeping you from getting back to safety.

~~~~~

More time passes, and you know you can't take much more of this.

You sneeze heavily and turn to Cato, who's taken to pacing around the little tunnel, too worried about the storm to lay down.

"Cato, you can make it out of here," you say, exhausted. Cato stops pacing and looks over at your weak form and growls, immediately dismissing your suggestion.

"You can find Professor Kukui and bring him back here, I'll be fine," you continue. Cato shakes his head and lets out a sound of disapproval. He makes his way over and sits down next to you, protectively.

He won't leave you alone. He has to protect you.

"Cato," you say as you put a hand on his head, "please, I need you to go get help. I can't wait here until the storm lets up. I'll be just fine, I promise."

Cato looks down at you, concern etched across his face. He nuzzles his head into your arm and licks your face, then gives you a look of determination. You smile and wrap your arms around his large body.