remember the name
by – dinobot
chapter 1 - "name the one lost"

"how will you know the love I especially hold dear for you when time and unforeseen occurrence are erasing us apart?" - dai

---

The Alakazam firmly established itself on the dusty path. It narrowed its eyes to its opponent. It tightly clutched the two spoons in its hands, pointing them to his foe's direction. It mumbled its name and sharply focused its energy. A shadowy lavender glow emitted from its eyes. The dark glow spread from its head to the spoons pressed firmly against one another. A psychic energy wave released from the two silver spoons and aimed towards a small yellow rodent.

"Pikachu, double team!" Ash commanded his pokemon.

Pikachu responded and focused itself. A string of Pikachu multiplied from its body as he made several mirages of himself. The defense tactic proved ineffective as the psychic wave reached him. The mirages vanished as Pikachu collided head on with the attack. Pikachu wailed in pain and flew back into the dusty road.

"Oh no, Pikachu!" Ash gasped. Pikachu struggled to regain his balance. He faced towards his opponent again.

"Ash, don't you know you can't evade psychic moves physically?" Misty told Ash. Ash turned back to Misty annoyed about her comment. He focused his attention back to the battle worried; Pikachu had taken a direct hit from a forceful attack.

"Oh--I forgot," Ash mumbled under his breath. Ash's defensive plan had failed.

"Pikachu, thundershock, now!" he yelled. Pikachu growled at his opponent generating sparks and electricity to discharge from its cheek. A bolt of electricity released from his yellow fur and shot to the Alakazam.

"Lightscreen," the opposing trainer commanded.

The Alakazam mumbled his name in response and focused its energy. An invisible light barrier appeared in front of him, protecting him from Pikachu's electrical attack. Pikachu completed his attack only to find it had been nullified.

"No," Ash muttered disappointedly to himself. Ash's frustration rose within him. He commanded Pikachu again.

"Pikachu again! Now!" he yelled at his pokemon. Pikachu discharged another bolt of lightning, only to be deflected by the barrier of the defending Alakazam. Ash commanded Pikachu again and again yielding the same futile results.

"Ash no, you're wasting his energy!" Brock warned. Brock was right. Pikachu's electricity had drained from his body, he fell to the ground depleted and exhausted. The other trainer grinned at his pending victory.

"Now Alakazam, before he attacks again. Amnesia!" he commanded forcefully.

Alakazam acknowledged and again focused his energy toward to weary opponent. A purple hue surrounded Alakazam and Pikachu. Pikachu floated in the air immobilized. Pikachu whimpered softly as Alakazam inhibited Pikachu's ability to recall any attack. Pikachu twitched and dropped to the floor.

"Pikachu, no! Quick attack! Dodge! Iron tail, anything!" Ash pleaded uselessly. Pikachu's couldn't recall any of his attacks. The opposing trainer commanded his pokemon for his final blow.

"Psybeam!"

"No!" Ash rushed to his pokemon's side. He picked Pikachu up and held the battered pokemon in his chest. "No more! I give up," he yelled. Ash looked into the battered countenance of his pokemon. Pikachu quivered in pain.

"Pikachu?" Ash asked. He tightly shut his eyes. His inability to properly command his pokemon and the battle cost him the victory and Pikachu's health. He sunk his head disappointedly.

Pikachu squirmed and twitched, still being affected by the amnesia attack. Confused and disoriented, he mistakenly discharged a bolt of electricity. The attack hit Ash, as he held the apprehended pokemon close.

Ash screamed in pain.

"Ash!" Misty and Brock yelled out running to him.

---

"Nurse Joy, what's wrong with him?" Misty asked. She looked at Ash unconscious in the bed. A mesh of wires flowed from his body connecting into narrow metal machines. The machinery 'beep-beep-beeped' to record and monitor Ash's heart rate.

Misty held herself. Her body shook uncomfortably. She despised how Ash looked in such a pitiful helpless condition. She shut her eyes tight trying to erase the image of the strong-minded boy she knew now reduced to a helpless patient. She rubbed her arms to chase the coldness away.

Nurse Joy looked at Ash's chart. She flipped the pages, scanning each line thoroughly. She sighed, dropping the clipboard to her side disappointingly. She looked into the frightened looks of Misty and Brock.

"It looks like--he's in some sort of a small coma,' Nurse Joy poorly concluded after gathering what little data she had.

"Are you sure? Is he going to be okay?" Misty demanded. She hated the fact Nurse Joy had to infer about Ash's condition. She wanted Ash back to the way he was. "Will he wake up?" Misty asked, shaken and concerned.

Nurse Joy shook her head. "It's too early to tell. Maybe if you two would tell me the events leading up to the accident I could better deduce his condition."

Misty shook her head, attempting to assemble the memory of the battle with the Alakazam. "I can't remember too much," she confessed. "With trying to help Ash, I didn't think--"

"—its okay, Misty" Brock consoled her. "Ash was battling a trainer with an Alakazam," he began to retell the account. "He wasn't doing well. Pikachu was exhausted and the trainer hit him with an amnesia attack."

"…and that's when Ash forfeited," Misty added.

"Amnesia," Nurse Joy said to herself under her breath. She looked over the last few pages of Ash's chart.

"What is it?" Misty asked.

"I'm not sure," Nurse Joy admitted.

Brock stood up and paced back and forth trying to relate the episode. His sneakers squealed against the cold tile of the center. "Ash ran to Pikachu," he began again. "Pikachu wasn't right. He must have been still affected by the amnesia attack. I guess in his confusion Pikachu discharged an electric attack when Ash was holding him."

Misty sat beside Ash's bed and looked into his torn battered face. She shivered.

"An electric catalyst?" Nurse Joy whispered to herself. She took her pen and scribbled a few marks onto Ash's papers. She looked up from her chart. "We're working on a treatment, but I must tell you our knowledge on his condition is extremely limited."

"What can I do?" Misty asked worriedly.

"There's really nothing you can do," Nurse Joy said.

"You don't expect me to just sit her waiting!" Misty shouted. Nurse Joy remained silent. No amount of shouting (even from Misty) would alter the situation. Misty sunk her head, and went back to the chair beside Ash's bed. She shook uneasily, burying her head into her hands.

"Nurse Joy, there must be something," Brock pleaded with the Nurse.

She sighed and walked over to Misty. She gently put a hand on her shoulder. Misty looked up. "There have been rare cases in which comatose patients responded to external stimuli. Aromas, touch, voices."

"So," Misty placed a hand on Ash's left arm. "Are you saying that if I talk to Ash, and surround him with familiar things I might bring him out of it?"

Nurse Joy slowly nodded, "Maybe."

Nurse Joy smiled unevenly and exited the room. Misty turned to Brock, and then back to Ash. Brock looked at his shoes awkwardly and headed towards the door.

"I'm going to check on Pikachu. Are you going to be okay?" Brock asked. He never received a response from her as he left the room.

A small tear rolled from Misty's cheek and onto Ash's arm. She tore her eyes from the unconscious helpless Ash and buried her face into his bed sheet. She waited after Brock to leave the room. Her words helplessly fell from her lips and were soaked by her hands.

"No," she finally answered. "How could I?"

---

Misty entered Ash's room, holding his backpack in her arms. Pikachu had already recovered from his most recent battle, and had fallen asleep at the foot of his trainer's bed. Brock had left the room after hours of talking to an unconscious Ash, and had temporality given up. He went to the cafeteria to prepare food for Misty, Pikachu, and himself. Misty took her seat loyally at Ash's side. She opened his bag and started to take items from it and place it on the table next to him. The table already had collect Ash's belongings Misty had placed orderly for Ash's rehabilitation. On the table lay a few pokeballs, a pokemon poster, his badges from the region and his pokedex.

"Here you go, Ash!" she smiled. She reached in and pulled out his pokemon league hat. She smiled and showed it to Ash, who was still unconscious. "It's your hat, you had to send in so many entry forms to win this. It's one of your favorite things to wear!"

She looked into his unprovoked response. "Well," she placed it with his other belongings, "I'm just going to place it with the other stuff." She reached into the bag again and pulled out a picture. She smiled.

"Look Ash," she showed Ash the picture. "It's us. You, Brock, your mom and I," she softly giggled and placed her hand softly on the glass frame. The picture had Ash's arm around Misty. The two were smiling without a trace of bickering, fear, or confusion. Misty longed to be enveloped in those surroundings again. She felt accepted, appreciated—loved.

She looked up from the picture, finding no change in Ash's condition. She let out a small sigh of disappointment. She placed the picture with the other belongings. Misty looked back to make sure no one was in the arch of the doorway, and made sure Pikachu was fast asleep. She took her hand and gracefully held Ash's. She gently kissed his arm.

"I don't know what to do," she confessed. "You always did though. Even though I called you dense at times, I know you're smart. You are smart," Misty peered into Ash's face. "You always knew what to do. You are a strong person—you are."

Misty breathed deeply, and cleared her throat. "The truth is Ash, I'm not strong. But I could always become strong at times because I had you," she gently caressed his arm. "And now," Misty could feel her tears building. "I don't know how to be strong, I don't know how to cope," she confessed.

She slightly laughed through her tears, "I don't even know if you're going to wake up again!" She wiped her cheek with her palm. She squeezed Ash's hand harder, trying to summon the strength he once possessed and she desperately needed. She rested her brow on his forearm. Her small tears escaped from the corners of her eyes and were soaked by the white cotton bed sheets. "I'd give anything to hear your voice again, to see your eyes again," she whispered softly. "If you never see me again, then how will you know how much you mean to me?"

Misty remained motionless, sobbing through her tears. She felt a warm hand placed on her hair. She abruptly raised her head up startled. Ash was sitting up; he blankly looked around in his unfamiliar surroundings and the teary eyed girl beside him.

"Nurse Joy! Brock!" Misty called into the hallway.

Brock and Nurse Joy's shoes squeaked on the tile floor as they ran towards the sound of their names. Nurse Joy's eyes widened to see Ash sitting upright and conscious. She grabbed Ash's clipboard and rapidly flipped though them. She looked at the machines, the papers, and back to Ash in disbelief. She reached for her stethoscope and placed it on Ash's back.

"Good job, Misty" she congratulated.

"Ash? Ash?" Misty sharply questioned him. Ash slid back, overwhelmed by the sudden emersion of unfamiliar sounds and images. He vacantly looked to his hands, and to Brock and Misty.

"Who's Ash?" he weakly responded.

Misty gasped to herself. Brock took the initiative. He walked to Misty and led her back to her chair. She let him guide her back, stricken in disbelief.

Nurse Joy shined a small flashlight in Ash's eyes. Ash winced at the blinding light and knocked the instrument away. Nurse Joy tried again, only to receive the same uncooperative response. He was frightened by it.

Misty stood up and asked for the light. Nurse Joy handed it to Misty. She took it and shut it on and off. Ash looked at the now harmless object. She featured it in her hands and dangled it back and forth to relieve any thought of apprehension.

"See," she told him. "It's just a light, it won't hurt you. Nurse Joy just wants to help you" she comforted him.

Ash's hands eased from grasping the bed sheet. He finally conformed and calmly nodded his head. Misty gave the light back to Nurse Joy who promptly shined the light in Ash's eyes and recorded her findings on her clip board. She looked to Misty, and smiled.

"Good job, Misty" she congratulated again. She turned to Ash, and gestured him to lie back on the bed. Ash reluctantly disobeyed, then sunk back. Nurse Joy traveled to the machines recording Ash's records. She looked from the clipboard to the machines. She tapped her pencil against her teeth, analyzing the recent data.

"Nurse?" Brock eagerly asked her. "Ash doesn't remember who he is."

"Yes, yes," she turned to Brock and Misty. "Our research pointed to Ash's trauma might lead to amnesia, but we were uncertain. This confirms it."

Misty looked to Ash, lying blankly on the center bed. She looked at her feet, tapping nervously on the tile floor. She swallowed her ruminating saliva in her and licked her dry lips. She hesitated a brief moment.

"Will he get his memory back?" she anxiously asked.

Nurse Joy shook her head disappointingly, "It's too early to tell, we need to run more tests and continue in our research. Misty sunk her head. Obviously this was not her desired answer. The uncertainty of the prognosis left her disoriented and uneasy. The lights of the room burned her, evaporating any ounce of strength she still possessed in her bones. She sighed.

Pikachu strolled into the room, unaware of his master's sudden recovery. He saw Ash awake and jumped with pleasure. The pokemon raced across the room and jumped into Ash's lap. The startled Ash Ketchum screamed and flailed his arms wildly trying to get Pikachu off him. Nurse Joy dropped her clipboard and ran over to Ash.

"Grab him, quick!" she commanded Misty while trying to calm him. Ash pushed Pikachu back. Pikachu jumped into Brock's arms rightly confused of Ash's cold reaction.

"Pika-pi?" Pikachu murmured his name sadly.

"Brock, please take Pikachu away," Nurse Joy said.

Brock nodded and walked out of the room with the dejected Pikachu. Misty returned her attention to Ash, who was holding onto Misty as if it were necessary to survive. Misty could hear him breathing heavily. She slowly slid her arms around him. Ash remained agitated, still holding to Misty. He shook slightly.

Misty took her hand and caressed his hair. Her fingers separated his stubborn hair and let them fall freely out of her fingertips. She brought her lips close to his ear gently calming the petrified boy. Ash shut his eyes to the blinding lights and the adrenaline coarsing through his veins. Misty lovingly held him, letting time heal his shakeup. The warmness of their two bodies (warmed by two opposite reasons) coincided. Ash and Misty's heartbeat calmed to a soothing regular cycle and harmonized completely.

"Shhhhh—its okay, Ash. Its okay," she softly whispered into his ear. She felt him ease slowly, and guided him back to his pillow. He nestled his head on it as Misty walked towards Nurse Joy and Brock who had entered the room after a brief absence to the research lab.

"What is it?" she quietly asked. She looked cautiously back, seeing Ash's dilemma had overwhelmed him and had indeed exhausted his energy. Nurse Joy recognized her considerate tone and joined her.

"Misty, I think we may have something" she started.

"What is it?" she promptly asked.

Nurse Joy briefly surveyed the last few pages of Ash's chart, the section containing his electrical brain activity. She finalized her decision with a solid nod. She looked back to Misty and Brock, waiting in anticipation.

"You and Brock mentioned Ash was battling an Alakazam during the accident, correct?"

"Yes," Misty and Brock both replied.

"You two told me right before Ash was shocked by Pikachu; Pikachu was still disoriented by the amnesia attack, correct?"

"Uh, huh" Misty mumbled.

Nurse Joy confidently nodded. "It is my theory, as well as the other doctors the electric shock transmitted the affects of the attack from Pikachu to Ash. Since the complete effects of pokemon psychic attacks on humans are still relatively unknown, it might have caused Ash to completely loose his memory."

Misty groaned uncomfortably. The situation had complicated itself. She looked to Ash, breathing softly in his dreams. "Can you help him?" she worriedly asked.

"There have been articles in medical and pokemon research journals saying when psychic pokemon initiate an amnesia attack, it temporarily stores the ability taken of its opponent in its mind, before giving it back to its opponent after a defined period of time. Now, we have never seen this attack affect on a human before" she warned her "But it stands to reason Ash's self and memories might be in the Alakazam somewhere."

"If we find the Alakazam, could you do something to reverse the process?" Brock logically inquired.

Nurse Joy tilted her head from side to side, tapping her pencil on her teeth. "We don't know for sure, but it would help if the Alakazam were here to better construct a treatment."

"We have to find the trainer and his Alakazam," Misty stated while again looking back to Ash. She frowned. It had been hours after the battle had taken place. The pokemon trainer could have gone in any direction for any amount of time. Hope began to drain from her bones. She shivered.

"I'll set out a call to all the officer Jenny's in the area to search for the trainer matching the description Brock gave me," Nurse Joy said. "But you have to realize, finding a pokemon trainer for a medical cause isn't exactly a high priority."

"What? Ash needs help!" Misty shouted, the room echoing her frustrated tone.

"We're doing everything we possibly can," Nurse Joy assured her.

"I'm going to help," Brock added. "I can't just sit her idly while Ash is like this."

"Fine," Nurse Joy agreed.

"And what should I do?" Misty anxiously asked.

Nurse Joy turned to exit the room. Brock followed her out the door. "The best thing you can do," Nurse Joy replied, "Is to keep him calm, assure him things are going to be okay."

Misty watched Nurse Joy leave the room. The echo of her shoes squeaked and squeaked down the sticky hallway until they finally faded.

A small tear slid from Misty's cheek, "Is it going to be?"

Brock looked at Misty before exiting the room. He took his backpack and shoved it on. Before he left Misty stopped him.

"Brock, take Pikachu with you. He's still shaken up, and Ash has already a lot to deal with."

"Yeah," he agreed. We won't be long. Don't worry everything will be okay," he said before exiting the door.

Misty walked solemnly back to the chair beside Ash. 'Everything will be okay,' she furiously repeated the words in her mind. She wished people would stop telling her that. The repetition of those words lost their initial meaning. The mere fact people had to constantly remind her that just emphasized to her the reality of the situation. It told her things weren't okay, people were in denial or telling her false hope. Hope and optimism did indeed shatter within her heart. Everything wasn't going to be okay, not when Ash is like this. She grew angry, angry at herself for being so weak and pitiful. She longed to see Ash back to his former self and at the very least to be okay. She sunk her forehead in her knees, holding herself. Misty whispered her words continuously, softly echoing the slow repeating sounds of the machines recording Ash's frailty—and hers.

"I'm sorry Ash," she whispered. "I'm so sorry…"

continued