A Quick Stop and Gym Badge [Open~]

"Good. But first, we need to be elsewhere," she said, allowing Artemis to get on her back if she chose to. The collector snarled, rushing away.

Artemis nodded, chuckled at the collector's temper tantrum, and climbed onto Articuno's back. Rune hovered over to the bird's head and sat on it, humming happily. "I'm ready whenever you want to start," Artemis said.

Articuno flew off with Artemis, taking her to a cavern that felt warm, yet cool at the same time. She set Artemis down before giving her a blow to the head to knock her out. "Prepare."

Before Artemis could utter another word, the blow to her head sent her spiralling into darkness. She was knocked uncontious, and at the mercy of whatever the legendary bird had in store for her.

The legendary bird set up a rather large maze. "In this maze you will find yourself. You will show me what you truly are as you encounter memories of long ago, and memories you have from recently. You'll be questioning yourself. That is how I will know if you deserve me," articuno said to her in her sleep.

Artemis nodded, actually appalled by the challenge. Memories from long ago... does that mean I'll be able to find out who I was before I lost them? "I'm ready," she said to Articuno, ready to take on any challenge, especially one that may answer all of the questions about herself she never could before.

The first individual to pop up was the suicune. "Why do you want legendary pokemon," was the question.

Artemis wracked her brain for some sort of logical answer, but as always, her past remained barred from her, so she could only explain with what she knew.

She looked Suicune straight into the eyes as she replied, "Ever since I washed up on the shores in Snowpoint's lake, I've had a feeling as if I need to find Legendary Pokemon. Finding them was the only thing I knew besides my name. It's my life, because I don't know anything else. I've never had a family or a past, just this unquenchable lust for Legendary Pokemon."

The suicune chuckled, revealing a piece of Artemis's history before disappearing, the path unveiled to her.

Artemis grew startled when a vision of a family, looking much like herself, sitting and dining in silence. The mom seemed upset, and the father was comforting her. The children were quietly talking amongst themselves in a morbid tone. One of the seats at the table was empty, as if there was someone supposted to be sitting there, but wasn't there now. Who are these people? They mean nothing to me... Artemis thought, before heading down the next path to see what awaited her.

A copy of Rune would be waiting, though it was just a dream. "What kind of activities would you enjoy doing," she asked.

"That's an odd question..." Artemis trailed off, never having thought much of what she enjoyed. She was usually too caught up in a Legendary hunt to enjoy something. Her mind drifted and focused on her recent encounter with Suicune, and the swim she had taken to impress her.

"I would say swimming was enjoyable. The way it makes you feel so weightless is somewhat serene. Flying on Lykouleon is also very uplifting. His warmth always reminds me of better places, and he's much more comfortable than Deus was." she chuckled a bit at the part.

The copy of Rune disappeared, another memory being shown to Artemis as the path opened.

This time, Artemis was encountered with an image of Lake Acurity, and a younger version of herself. This memory motives in order to show a time laps from when she taught herself to swim in it's waters up until she was swept under the current the day she was saved by Uxie. Right when the water dragged her into its depths, the memory faded away. "Wait!" Artemis shouted, desperate to cling to it long enough to see what happened next. "Did I die? What happened to me?" However the memory was gone, and no answers awaited her in this chamber.

She sighed, and continued up the next path, wondering just what memory would await her this time.

This time, a stranger showed up in front of Artemis. It was the collector. "Who are your friends? Who is your real family?"

Artemis closed her eyes and took a deep breath before answering. "It doesn't matter who my real family is," she replied, "both my friends and my family I have now are my Pokemon. My actual family must have forgotten me by now, and my Pokemon are everything I could ask for. I love them as if we were together from the start. I don't love my birth family, because I don't know them." She knew the answer was a bit harsh, bit it was the truth, and this test seemed to be all about the truth.

The collector looked at her, holding his hand to her and forcing a few more memories into her head.

This time, the memories were of her family once more. Her growing up with her siblings and fighting for her parent's attention. It was a rushed and crowded home, but a loving one. Particularly, the calming and stern voice of her mother stood out. She remembered her love for her family, and wondered how she could have ever lost it.

"They were my family," she said, "but my other answer holds true. My Pokemon are what I love now. It would be too much to show back up to my old home again. They have already grieved for me, and probably already moved on. They don't deserve the trouble and emotion me returning would cause. They've moved on and so have I."

The path stayed open until Artemis walked down it, the collector showing up again standing beside a boy she would probably know well. "Tell me Artemis," Suicune's voice rang, though it wans't her pokemon. "Do you remember why I wanted you to forget?"

[Just gonna throw this in here now]

Aj stood inside the gym. He had waited for this moment since he first came into Pewter and brought his brothers to see Brock's pokemon. He had several run-ins with him before in Pewter, but Aj thought nothing of it until now. Though he finally had a pokemon, it did not mean he was going to win. But it had been a year since Aj recieved Fluff, a Cottonee that his parents got him for his 16th birthday. But he had faith that Fluff was ready for the gym, and if not he would just have to improve his knowledge of a battle and help Fluff to get stronger. With this in mind, Aj smiled.

"Hello, Brock! Are you here!?", Aj shouted enthousiastically. Anyone could tell that he was pumped for this, his first gym battle. Though he did wish that his family could see this, he couldn't have his focus thrown off by anything. He knew Fluff was just as ready as he was. They would both give it their best and win their first badge. But, that would depend on whether Brock was there or not.

"I-I don't," Artemis replied, "I don't remember why." Her eyes grew moist with a few tears, as she looked at the strange scene. "But I want to."

The gym leader showed up not too much sooner than he had been called. "Yes, is someone calling," he asked, as if he didn't know. "Welcome to the gym. I assume you'll be challenging us today," he asked the trainer.

---

The collector and young boy looked at Artemis as a manifestation of a suicune showed up as well. "Young Artemis," she said to her, shaking her head a bit. "Of course you wouldn't remember. Poor little Uxie erased your mind. Wait, I am Uxie," she said to her, looking at Artemis. "I had to erase your memory so you wouldn't remember," she said to her, restoring that small piece of Artemis's memory. "Do you remember why now Artemis? You shed the same tears now that you shed before, just before I wiped your memory and safely sent you to shore."

"I do remember..." Artemis said, the vision of her time with Uxie clear as day in her mind. "And I know why. Your job is to protect the lake and yourself, and keeping my memories would have threatened that. But why let me remember now?" she asked, seeming to forget it was a dream, and it probably wasn't the true Uxie but one within her mind.

"I want you to return to the lake with me," the suicune said to Artemis. The scenery shifted into that of the like, the suicune offering her tails as if offering her hands if she had any. "Take my tails in hand, and we'll go home. I'll take care of you forever," she said, the last word echoing a bit.

Artemis was tempted, but pulled her hand away from Suicune's tail. "There was a time you offered that to me. I didn't accept them, and I won't now. I have a life in this world now, maybe not a very good one, but not one I'll abandon for the sake of being with you," it hurt to say those words, but they had to be said. "I do find you as part of my family Uxie, but by making me forget, you changed me. Just because I have my memories doesn't mean I went back to the helpless girl I was before I lost them. I've changed because of you, and that's why I can't be with you."