Another freaky weird night. I was just calling Hannah about the weird stuff going on a couple of days ago and suddenly bam! She’s here? We managed to make it out of the cave and into the outskirts of Mistralton City.

Once we got out of the cave we all recuperated at Hannah’s family’s house. Her parents are traveling and asked her to visit Mistralton to look after it while on holiday. There, I introduced the Joltik that Warren had helped heal to the group, as well as present Terran’s newly evolved form to the rest of the group, (surprising Orla. But I think the two show a little more mutual respect now. Well. Orla said so, her blackboard and all.)

Hannah is impressed with how Orla can write but she isn’t surprised. Even saying something rather ludicrous like ‘well they say Pokémon end up acting like their trainers!’ A little ridiculous, trained and learned behaviour doesn’t...okay it does work like that but she’s not copying me!

“I’m gonna go to Celestial Tower, okay?” Hannah declares from the kitchen. Her and Prim are providing us with a nutritious breakfast. Just like old times.

“Sure, what for?”

“I wanna ring that bell at the top.” She serves up her platter of treats. “I always wanted to, growing up here, but I wasn’t allowed to go any higher than the first floor. Mom prolly thought the Pokémon graves in the actual tower would upset me.”

Celestial Tower. A gravesite for humans on the outside, and Pokémon on the inside.

“So, you wanna come with me?”

“Why would I want to?”

“Whaddyou mean!? To hang out with me after three weeks!?” She slams down a glass of water. Two, one to her. Deserved.

“Fine, sure. I’ll ask who wants to come with me.” I turn to face the research team: Orla, Finn and Warren all face first in their food. The Joltik, Terran and Elle are sleeping on their pillows. I guess that leaves Drayn.

“Bet you’d like a creepy place like that, huh?” He floats over.

“Maaaas…”

All sorted then.

Hannah and Prim finish cleaning, get their stuff together and we all make our way through Route 7, bound for the place where people and Pokémon rest.

***

When we arrive I’m hit with the unnerving presence of Litwick and Elgyem. They float, surrounding us but not disturbing. Hannah embraces them, with Prim giving all of them vine handshakes.

“The human graveyard always gives me the creeps, but want some history, science boy?” I nod, curious as to the knowledge Hannah’s still not told me about her home region.

“The outside of the Celestial Tower is where we Unovans celebrate and mourn the people whose bodies weren’t ever found. A cenotaph is scribed on each o’ these pillars.” She strokes her fingertips against one. “I dunno anyone written on these, but it still makes me sad thinking about how their families were so worried. Sad.”

I suppose it is. I try not to think about it that much. Death, or even family. I called my mother last month, but we don’t really have the same relationship I remember from childhood. And my father? I don’t remember him at all.

“Hey...Alec?” Hannah’s voice wavers.

“Yeah?”

“What’s Drayn doing?”

I turn to see his amorphous body shaking. Seizing. In his left hand is his mask, with his right stroking a name on the cenotaph. I call his name, but he doesn’t respond. Hannah runs over to help him, but her hands move right through him.

“Alec, are you gonna help!?” The thing is, I can’t move either. “Alec, you’ve gotta see this.”

I can. I can see it clearly.

On the list of the dead is written very clearly:

‘Drayn: Loving father, lost in Galar.’

***

I’m a child again, crying in my father’s arms. They’re warm. They’re cold. They’re fleeting.

I’m older, and the body lies before me again. But I can move. I’m being pushed by...Drayn?

I approach. I stammer. I stride. I stand underneath the maws of the beast that struck the man beneath me. I look down at his face.

A mask lies upon it.

***

“Alec? Alec!” A slap wakes me up from my dream. “What the hell just happened, you nearly scared us to death!” I manage to mutter.

“Dad.”

I can see Hannah, her brown skin glowing in the sunlight.

“You idiot! Was that one of those blackouts you were telling me about? The flashbacks? Anyway look, Drayn’s goin’ wild!” I pick myself up and the Yamask I’d known to be stoic, standoffish and gentle was casting rogue Will-o-Wisps at everything he could.

His Hex’s were potent, knocking out everything in his path.

“He’s been doin’ this for like twenty minutes! The Gym Leader’s on her way to help now, but you blacked out and fell. Prim caught you but she’s scared witless of being burnt” Right. Drayn, yeah.

I force myself up. Struggling to focus on my surroundings, fumbling on the pillar. As I attempt calling out to Drayn, my voice wavers: too weak to speak. Again and again I try calling out to my rampaging Pokémon. A stern, peppy voice from behind interrupts my final attempt.

“Swanna, Aqua Ring on these Elgyem. Unfezant, restrain that Yamask.” She proudly stands before Hannah and myself. Clad in cyan and her dark ginger hair flying wild in the tailwind of her Pokémon’s immense speed.

“Fill me in you two.”

“I dunno. All of a sudden Drayn started wilding out after seeing his name on the cenotaph.” Hannah’s voice shakes, projecting through the wisps of ghastly flames being swatted away by a Swoobat’s Assurance.

Her Unfezant grabs a hold of Drayn, screaming as he succumbs to being consumed by her feathers.

The noise stops. The screaming, the flames, the cries. Everything stops. The young woman approaches us, her Pokémon in tow, with Drayn still in Ufezant’s grasp.

“Are one of you this Yamask’s trainer?” I raise my hand, still regaining strength from my collapse.

“I’m afraid we’re going to have to hold you under custody.”

***

The chime of the clock. It’s 6pm.

Drayn and I have been detained in the Gym office for five hours while the Leader, named Skyla, calmed the locals and Pokémon of Celestial Tower down. Hannah tried to persuade her out of it, but I protested. Drayn caused a scene and I need to take responsibility for it. Drayn and I haven’t at all either. Might as well try.

“What happened, mate. Lots of people can have the same name as you, you shouldn’t have freaked out like that.” Since calming down, his expression hadn’t changed. His eyes were wide and scared, adorning his mask upon his face. His hands droop to his sides.

“Come on, you’re creeping me out. I doubt we’ll be allowed out of here if you don’t talk.” And I need to figure out what was in that memory episode too. That was the first time I was able to actually move in one of them willingly, and why was Drayn in it?

He remained silent.

Skyla opened the door, taking a seat opposite us at her desk. Her face was stern, upset, rightfully so. She stretches, laxly resting her head in her hand before berating us.

“Right, so Hannah filled me in fellas and I think I get what happened. Your Yamask there. Choosing a name like that was really a cruel coincidence, gotta say.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well my only guess for why a Ghost Pokémon, Yamask specifically, would go crazy like that is. Drayn was his real name. Y'know, as a human? Look at how he’s wearing his mask, buddy.” I face Drayn again. “He’s become aware of his existence not only as a dead Pokémon, but a human as well. Most Yamask get that from birth, though, but in severe cases like traumatic deaths, a Yamask can be void of emotion or life until they realise it. I’m sorry you had to go through that, Drayn.” He faces her, bobbing up and down, face unmoving.

“I...that makes sense.” Everything she’s saying fits with basic PokéDex entries shared amongst scientists and researchers alike. “But if he was from Galar, why isn’t he a Galarian Yamask? A lad with a rock?” Skyla stares at me, dumbfounded.

“Wow, uh. I dunno. You really are smart, huh.” I throw her a puzzled glare. “Oh right, Han told me all about you looking into Reshiram and stuff. You’ve gone pretty far from home huh...Galar too, right?” I nod. That blabbermouth. “Could be fate. Two people from Galar end up in Unova, meeting. Staying together.” She taps quickly at her computer. “I’m afraid as cute as this story is, I’m gonna have to give you a fine for the wreckage at Celestial Tower. I’m a Gym Leader, but I’m also something of a warden for the area too when I’m not flyin’ around.” Fair enough, we need to atone somehow.

“What do you think, Drayn? The nice lady being fair?” He bobs, emotionless.

“He looks like he’s still a little shaken up from the realisation still. Y’know I heard a way to cope is for him to get all the energy out so...I suppose there’s a way I can waive the fine. It’ll snap your Yamask out and you’d have properly shown remorse for disturbing the Pokémon sleeping at the Tower.”

“Oh?” Without hesitation she jumps out of her chair, presenting a Poké Ball.

“Battle me.”