Eight months earlier...

Reginae pushes another boulder over and the team bursts through like water out of a dam, filling the room and preparing to blast anything that moves out of the way. Aggressive as it sounds, we haven't gone completely nuts- the Pokemon in here are rough, rowdy, and they adore fighting. Ten grapples with a Golbat while Pisces has a Golem wrapped in the massive curl of her serpentine form, blasting water at several other Graveler as she holds him captive. I walk along them with my Pokedex out, keeping careful tabs on their health and PP. It's hard not to get excited about how fast the experience bars are filling up- at this rate, we'll be done grinding within the month.

"Did you hear that?" I ask them. "Within the month!"

"We know, we know. You've only said it a few hundred times." Fang smirks, Not as if we couldn't tell you're thinking about it.

I smile. The mental bond between the team is stronger than ever, and we can exchange thoughts at a moment's notice. The team surges forwards, alive with energy, and they all know exactly what to do before I say a word. We are ready to save the world, we are luminous, and I know I'm just getting caught up in their dizzying adrenaline but I can't help myself.

The only thing that can drag me down these days is on the side of the screen, staring back at me with a plaintive, unknowing sadness. In the bottom-right corner of the team overview rests one full health bar and an empty EXP bar, the small ? icon listed where a sprite should be and one word: Ethan.

Three months.

I haven't taken him out since.

I want to pocket the Pokedex, but for the team's sake, I keep it out. We haven't come close to an accident in eight days, since the time a critical Rock Slide bought Ten down into the red or 'danger' zone, HP wise, but you can never be too safe.

As I watch the numbers shift and stats rise, I notice a green light in the corner. I tilt the Pokedex and the light shifts. Huh. When I turn around, whatever it is is gone, but the whole team is looking my way now.

"Thought I saw something." I tell them.

"Me too." Ten says, walking over.

"Biiiii!" Down in the tunnels, something echoes off the walls, a beckoning cry from the one and only Celebi itself.

I know the team hears this, but if it is Celebi, it wants something and we'd better be there to figure out what it is. "Fine, fine... guess we're going then. Come on."

We know the cave better than I know New Bark's layout at this point, which is no small feat given that Victory Road is specially designed to screw you over each and every way it can. Still, with Pisces and Reginae's combined HM prowess, navigation is a cinch. We enter one of the largest rooms, which is filled with huge drops and even rickety bridges, and I notice that on the far eastern wall, there's a small opening.

"That wasn't there before, was it?" asks Minerva, echoing my sentiments before I can put them to words.

I shake my head. "Wonder what's in there."

"Rare candies. Twenty rare candies." Fang guesses. "Thirty rare candies."

"Arceus, I hope not." Reginae says, wilting a little as if just the thought makes him sick. He's just as big of a pansy as ever, I suppose.

"Legendary Pokemon. Say, who goes out if we get a seventh member?" asks Ten.

Ethan's Pokeball grows hot in my bag, to the point where I can feel its warmth against my side through the thick bag leather, as if to remind me that there's still a living, breathing being in there, stuck in eternal darkness in a place without time or space. Could I throw him into the PC system? Would he even be accepted, or would the digitalization corrupt him even further? Am I really doing him a kindness by condemning him to nonexistence rather than just killing him myself? Feeling sick, and hardly remembering how I keep getting on these trains of thought, I reply, "No one. All of you are a thousand times better than any legendary."

They know I'm thinking about him again anyways. By going into the Elite Four without a sixth Pokemon, we're tying our own hands behind our back before jumping into the tank of Sharpedo that is the (ironically) five strongest trainers in Johto and Kanto both. Yet, to resolve the issue, I'd have to... I don't know what I could do.

"We should go on. I doubt Celebi's prepared us an audience with a Legendary, and if so, it won't be so I can nab them with a Quick Ball. It will be so they can complain about my performance some more. Trust me, I know legendaries."

The team seems comforted by this, so we descend the steps and Reginae rolls some boulders out of the way so we can make it to the small hole in the wall that leads way to who knows what.

Celebi emerges from the cave, glistening, and looks us over with a solid nod.

"Alright. Glad to know we've passed your divine judgement."
"Bi!"
"I know you can talk, too."

Sometimes, Ashley. Celebi tells me with a smirk. I try to keep it to a minimum. I have a tendency to be a bit overpowering.

I have no idea what she means, but as I look around, my teammates do seem irritated by the voice, especially Reginae, who for all his trying has only gotten worse around psychic entities (save for me) since Rose died. Fang, seemingly unaffected, loses his patience tries to sneak into the cavern and get a look around, but Celebi moves in front of him and shakes its head, pushing him back.

"I think... it just wants me." I tell them.

Celebi nods.

"Okay. Am I getting chewed out by the Grand Council of Legendaries Who Sit On Their Ass And Wait For Me To Do Their Job For Them? If so, I've gotta warn you, I'm not exactly in formal attire."

Celebi rolls its eyes and then shakes its head again, then points to my bag.

"Lugia?"
Another headshake.

I sigh, then get out the rest of my Pokeballs. "Alright, looks like you guys are going to have to go in for a bit. Promise I'll be right back."

Reginae lowers his head to nudge me over, and I run a hand down his face, my own uneasy smile reflected in his huge amber eyes. "Be careful."

Fang flashes me a grin and Pisces nods, which is about the highest compliment one can receive from a Gyarados.

Invigorated, I reply, "I will." and they all disappear back into their Pokeballs. I look back to Celebi, feeling my previous adrenaline subside completely and that quiet, subtle emptiness open up. Just being alone makes me feel three years older and younger all at once, all the more weary and all the more scared of the dark.

Funny how I always end up facing things like this alone.

The room is small, with light coming solely from Celebi's flickering form. On the far wall is a massive mirror, the consistency something between glass and warped space, and the rest of the room is just normal cave.

You're doing a good job, Ashley, though the end grows near. Furthermore, your presence has been requested across time and space... pulled, if you will.

"W-what? You can't mean- they're trying to contact me?" I think, my thoughts racing to the only logical conclusion. Somehow, from whatever world they've been sent to, my original team is calling back to me.

Celebi nods. I'll warn you now- though this room is protected, Red will sense us quickly. I can only hold this open because of the exact alignment of your two worlds, and even then, not very long. Once I do open it, I will disappear, but once all this is over, I will be back. If anything happens, I will need you to be brave. Is that clear?
"Okay. First, though... I need to ask. Can they be back? Will they? A-and Ethan. Can he be saved?"

If they are half as determined as you are, your team can do anything. I will facilitate what I can. Just know I am on your side and doing everything I can... not exactly 'waiting for you to do my job', if you will. As for Ethan, there are some things that even we haven't experienced before. This is one of the most terrifying. It will, however, inspire the legendaries to act. You will have us at your back in Kanto, and as the darkness grows, so will your capacity to bring light, and to find it. Are you ready?
"I think maybe fifty percent of that made sense." I tell it, "Yeah. I think I am."

I hold my Pokemon close to me in my bag as the world turns to darkness and then the mirror flicks on like a television screen and everything flares to life.

She's standing there in my sights. She's fair-haired and skinned, soft and yet resolute, her eyes large and brown and so familiar. She is gold, gold all over, and I would know her in any form she took.

"Lilly, is that you?"

She nods, brimming with excitement, and even a dimension away I can feel her light, her radiance. She is electric in every inch of her smile. I recognize it all.

I look around desperately, hoping for 'them', but see no one. "Are you alone? Where's Bronze?"

"We don't... we don't travel together. Different schedules, different goals." Lilly replies, weaving her fingers together. There's something she's not telling me, I can feel it, and she's not meeting my gaze. I don't have enough time to ask every question and though I want to blurt out everything I restrain myself to four words.

"Tell him I'm okay." Tell him I love him.

"I will." she replies.

I'm still processing this. I'm still reeling. I don't know what to do or say so I just blurt out everything. "Anyhow, uh... this." I'm already crying, just five seconds in. "Okay, I have no idea how I got here, I'll admit it... so I'm guessing this is your doing, somehow. Everyone's alive, right? Everyone's okay?"

She nods vigorously. "We're all here."

"Okay. Well, it can't be all of you, because Ten's with me. Don't wait up for him. I'm guessing we don't have long, especially because there's no way Red would let me broadcast something like this. So, you... you're human." I manage to go through five things in one quick bundle of disjointed words.

Lilly just nods several times, then looks at herself like she can't believe it either. Her smile is so sad I want to start weeping harder, but I need to stay coherent. "Yeah. We're taking down the League and then we can get back to Johto, whatever that entails."

I want to see their human forms. All of them. I want to see how beautiful they are.

"Alright." I say. I need to give them all the information I can. A location. Okay. "Alright. This could work. Ilex. The Shrine of Celebi in Ilex. Celebi will be there." For a second I see my own face in the mirror and realize we're giving out. It's too soon. It's too much. It's like waking up from a dream, the perfect daydream, but Arceus be damned I know this is real. "Oh no."

Sorrow turns to dread. He's coming.

"Wait up!" she yells, her voice fragmented as she reaches out for me. "What do I do with this?" She holds up a marble of some kind. A mega stone.

Is that... hers?

I yell out, "Use it!", but she can't seem to hear me. I place my hand where her Mega Ring is, but by now the image is distorted and I feel sick. The screen makes a high-pitched whining noise, static flickering across it, and then there's a deep blue screen full of white text that flickers off the walls. Finally the thing shuts off, leaving me in darkness.

I reach for my Pokeballs and a hand grabs mine. I fall backwards to the floor in panic and a new light fills the room, a hazy paleness that seems to come from nowhere, and in the middle of it all is a grinning, awful teenager just my age with a red hat, jacket, and sadistic pleasure in his eyes.

"Cheating, are we, Ashley?" Red says, looking at the now-still mirror surface. "No big deal, I'm a hacker myself."

I'm still processing the last few minutes, but I steady myself. I can't cave this time. I reach for my bag again, and Red shakes his head. "Ah, ah. Can't have those in here. Hate the game, not the player."

I try to open one anyways, but the mechanism seems to have locked. He's right. I'm so dead.

"I'm allowed to hate both." I retort, getting to my feet.

"Fair enough. Look, I'd say that you tried, but the poor thing wasn't going to last very long. Portals suck, am I right? Anyways, finding you, screwing the screen over... that's entry-level hacking. It was actually far harder to change certain scripts and narratives around... see, as I've been watching you journey across Johto, I've noticed there have been a lot of very liberal changes made to the script. For one thing, when I fought Team Rocket-"

"You fought Team Rocket." I say, not sure if I'm incredulous that this Red, indeed, is the unnamed kid who took down Team Rocket two years ago. It makes sense. We're both the protagonists of our own stories, so to speak. I still can't imagine him doing anything noble, let alone wrangling criminal organizations.

He revels in it. "Oh yeah. You know what they say, the enemy of my enemy is my friend..."

"I'm not signing up for Team Rocket any time soon."
"You sneaky bitch." Red grins. "Anyhow, when I fought them, they were working on creating Mewtwo. Didn't work out so well. After that fiasco, there's no way they would have tried such a project again, nor did they have the required financial resources. There's also no scripting for it in the game code, no backstory, no anything. Most of their employees- believe me, I've talked to them- have no idea what's going on or why it's happening. I'm sure they told some of the abominations they created before they did the procedure, but I'm not getting any good information out of them. So why does this, any of this, exist? It's so out of left field it hardly makes sense within the universe, but yet every action this far seems to have been deliberate. This world was made, for some reason or another to push you, specifically, to your limits. I mean, seriously? Two Pokemon dead from tides and tidal storms? Clair's Dragonair learning Horn Drill? Sounds like someone's either trying to help you or fuck you over. Wouldn't happen to know anyone, would you?"

"You."

Red shakes his head. "Didn't do it."

"Prove it."

"Well, that's the problem. I can't. Seriously, I can't go much further than teleporting and ending the world, which are really weird things to be on the same level of difficulty, but I don't make the rules. You've grossly overestimated the current extent of my abilities. Can't say I'm not flattered, though."

I feel disgust rising in my stomach. The soft tear stains from earlier are still burning my cheeks and eyes. I just want to be out of here. "I don't know what you want from me, Red. Whatever it is, I'm not interested."

"Fine, fine. Can I at least explain what's going on with Ethan?"
He's got me. He knows he has me. I can't even manage an unassuming, uncaring shrug. "Go on." I say, desperate.

He nods. "If Team Rocket had done the project correctly, they would have ended up with a legendary with all the superficial powers of a legendary and none of the actual abilities that classify them as such, like their connection to nature and their ability to see across all timelines and all possible worlds. Instead they got a fucked up monstrosity closer to a Goldeneye than the actual Lugia, hence the human deformities and Ethan's ability to call out to you at all. They thought they were getting the half they wanted when they really got more of... well, two-thirds, with one half being the part they really didn't want. Seems like that would be pretty hard to mess up, wouldn't it?"

"So..." I ask. "You don't think that Team Rocket did this of their own free will, do you? You think someone else is pulling the strings to create Ethan."

"I do. Now, as for what I want from you... I need you to keep going."

I raise an eyebrow.
"What? I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing and you're going to keep throwing the legendaries into a fit. Together, we're going to break this thing wide open. Of course, I'd also like it if you tested Ethan out a bit-"

"No."

"Shit, Ashley, you're just going to let him sit in the void forever? Seems a little harsh."

"It's not happening. Back off." I reply.

"He could be alright, eventually." Red replies. "In theory. I mean, I don't know how you'd pull it off, but I'm just saying, if you wanted to let the glitch run its course instead of just waiting it out..."

"You don't get to decide what I do with my friend."

"And you shouldn't be allowed to play Arceus with your friend's fate, either, but looks like the universe continues to be unfair all around. Well, good luck with the Elite Four. Word to the wise? Don't expect Lance to go easy on you. I'll know if he does."

Red walks through the mirror and is gone.

Celebi flickers back into existence, looking frightened, and then touches my cheek. Its hand is warmer than I thought it would be. I tell it, "He was here."

He wanted you to let Ethan free, didn't he?
"He also just... told me to keep going. Kind of weird advice, isn't it?"

He wants something from us. He's playing mind games. For now, we'll have to play into whatever he wants, but there's also the chance he just wants to make you panic. Don't let him.

I nod. "Okay." The word chokes me up, though I didn't expect it too. Lily's face, Red's grin, Ethan in the void... I've been so distracted in the past three months. I've done too good of a job of running away for this.

I should text Morty.

Celebi and the cave fade away as I exit, and a thousand things burn in my mind but I know I wouldn't have the time to make sense of this alone if I stood here for years. Instead, I throw out my Pokemon, all but one, and look my five teammates up and down.

They all know how bad it was without saying anything, but we begin to breathe again, together, and Fang asks, "Why don't we bash some skulls in now and talk about this later?"

"Okay." I say.

This time, it almost is.

(A/N: You might notice that this chapter doesn't quite correspond that the Second Chances chapter you might remember. This is because Broken Souls was originally planned as a far more conventional HeartGold nuzlocke, to the point that it actually broke the canon when I made Broken Souls what it is- whoops! Anyhow, after some intense editing of both the Second Chances chapter and this one, I think I've made a somewhat satisfying chapter. I still hate that I have to do this at all but you know what? I'm not opening up more gaps in my canon. Given that it's a story about dimension and time travel, the book already does that for me. >:V)