>>Text

[gautsome]

[There's no vibrant smile when Sylvain opens the line. There isn't even a Sylvain for that matter. It's just text on a screen, a message carefully tapped out.]

Hey.
I'm looking to talk to someone who has left this place and come back again. Either actually leaving, or just that weird sleeping thing.
I... Have some questions. I could really use some help.

Comments

>Private

[gautsome]

I'm assuming you did not remember a thing about this place once you were back, right?
I'm just... trying to wrap my head around what to do. It feels like nothing here matters, not if it could all be erased tomorrow.

>Private

[tearsofademon]

Yeah, didn't remember any of this when I was back there.

You're right, that it could all be erased tomorrow. Doesn't matter if you've been here a month, a year, a decade... Every day here could be your last, and then you'll just end up back home with nothing to show for it, not even a memory.

It kind of sucks, you know?

[Ryner that's not helpful.]

[gautsome]

There's no kind of about it.
I'm really struggling with the whole thing. Wondering why I should even bother making friends or caring about anything that happens here, when tomorrow I could wake up back home without a single memory of it all.

[tearsofademon]

Well, you could say that about a lot of things. Why bother making friends anywhere if you're just going to die someday anyway? Or if they're going to die. Or if they're going to leave for other reasons.

For myself, it took a bit to get there, but honestly, I kind of try to live for the sake of my Pokemon these days. Even if I disappear and don't remember anything, they'll still be here, since they're native to this world. And they'll still remember me. So that's at least something, right?

[gautsome]

[Ryner makes a good point on the whole, but it's the part about his Pokemon that sticks out to Sylvain. Even now, he has his little Steenee pressed up against him, out cold from a long day of being adorable. The idea of leaving her pains him almost more than anything else he's been grappling with.

But he hadn't considered how she might feel if he made her miserable along the way. He hadn't missed the way her leaves had drooped just a little more than usual, or the sad glances she'd cast his way when she realized he wasn't smiling like normal.

He can't imagine what she's going through.]

The Pokemon have even less control over this than we do.
It... really wouldn't be fair to treat them poorly, just because I was so caught up in myself.

[tearsofademon]

Yeah. The way I see it, your Pokemon have entrusted their lives to you. Whether you caught them, or they caught themselves, or you hatched them from an egg, or however else you might stumble on them.

It might not be much in the grand scheme of things, but their happiness means something, I think. It's more meaning than nothing, at least.

[gautsome]

Yeah well, I'm sure one of my partners would say something about how even the smallest sparks can cause a fire. Something wise like that.

It's good advice. I'll keep it in mind. It... definitely gives me something to focus on, at least right now. I'm sure the rest of it will come in time.

[tearsofademon]

Just don't worry too much if it doesn't all work out for you right away. Believe me, it's taken me years to get even this far, myself. It might take a while.

[granted, the concept that his life has any meaning at all whatsoever has always been foreign to Ryner]

[gautsome]

Every day is another step, right?
What you said did help though. I really appreciate it.

Uh. I'm Sylvain, by the way.

[tearsofademon]

I'm Ryner. Glad I could help.

And if you're ever in Ecruteak and want to talk in person or anything, Sion and I run the Collegiate Gym, so you're welcome to come over if you want.