Word Count: 2042

◼️𝐏 𝐎 𝐊 𝐄 𝐌 𝐎 𝐍◼️

Lyra~

I couldn't feel much, but I think someone's calling my name. The voice seemed familiar to me, but I couldn't place my finger on it. Another voice spoke my name afterward, where it reminded me of Ethan. The second voice called my name again, getting gradually louder.

"Lyra..."

My body felt like it was floating in the air before the feeling of water began to soak my skin through my clothes. I couldn't open my eyes, or rather I didn't feel like opening my eyes. But why was I in the water?

The first voice called out to me again, to which I managed to open my lids; a large white creature stared at me with mahogany eyes. As its eyes began to glow light blue, my vision began to blur further. I tried to move my arms, to reach out to the creature as it slowly disappears from my sight. Once it was fully out of my sight, the voice resembling Ethan's became more clear.

As I started to notice Ethan's face near the surface of the water, my eyes started to take in the water surrounding me. The water forced my eyes to close, as my body was hastily being lifted to the surface. Once I felt the air hit my face, I tried to breathe through my mouth. After blinking multiple times, I looked up and noticed Ethan staring down at me.

His expression confused me as if he was both relieved and scared at the same time.

"Hey, Lyra... it's me, Ethan! You remember me, right?"

I huffed, noticing how hard it was to breathe for a moment. Ethan's grip on me tightened as he began lifting me out of the water and onto a rocky surface. As Ethan was climbing out of the water, I turned my head to my right and noticed Morty and Blue standing in the middle of the room, along with another person I don't seem to know.

Morty and Blue had been staring at me for a bit before approaching closer to me. I tried getting up to a sitting position, even though my muscles ached every movement I make. Blue took off his black jacket and placed it around my shoulders, while Morty crouched down to assist Ethan out of the water. The other boy made no move to approach us.

Who was he, anyway? I don't recall meeting him.

"Lyra, are you okay? Your face looks a bit paler than normal. It's alright if you don't remember us right now. We're going to bring you back to New Bark Town so you can rest there," Ethan breathed, coughing a bit with Morty patting his back.

"You didn't need to jump in the shallow water, Ethan," Blue remarked, proceeding to carry me like how Ethan did a minute ago.

"What happened?" I asked. Blue looked down at me and shook his head. "We'll talk about that later, sweetheart. Right now, you look very pale, just as Ethan mentioned earlier. Do you feel pain right now?"

"Not really..."

"That's good. You had us all worried, you know... two years is a very long time."

Wait a minute... two years? What was he talking about? Was I out that long?

"Surprised? We felt the same while keeping an eye on this place. Not even the Kimono Girls knew how long you were going to be out," he remarked, "Anyways, close your eyes again and go back to sleep. I'll be bringing you back to New Bark Town. Ethan... has some unfinished business here, so he and Morty will catch up later."

"Why? And who is that other boy?"

"You know, I asked Green if I could borrow her Wigglytuff for a bit and it just so happens to know Sing. If it helps, I can bring Wigglytuff out and let it sing you a nice lullaby." Blue offered with a grin, completely ignoring my questions.

Before I got the chance to deny his offer, Blue laid me against the middle of three large boulders. He reached into his pockets and took out a Pokéball, as well as a pair of earplugs. A pink Pokémon appeared from the Pokéball, hopping off the ground once like a ball.

Blue had placed an earplug in his left ear. Before he placed the other in his right ear, he glanced at the Wigglytuff with a nod. "Alright Wigglytuff, sing a nice lullaby for her."

Wigglytuff began singing, just as Blue placed his last earplug in his ear. The melody was pleasing to my ear, and I slowly felt myself drifting off. I was tired anyway, and my body didn't put up much resistance. My eyes had closed again, allowing me to drift off to sleep the second time.

◼️𝐏 𝐎 𝐊 𝐄 𝐌 𝐎 𝐍◼️

"She will be okay, Mirei. I understand this is making you worried, but we must put trust in the younger generation. Though we don't know much, I'm sure every one of them is capable of handling this situation," I heard a male voice spoke with a reassuring tone.

"I just don't get it... this is something that can be stopped if we convince them to stop. What's holding them back? What's actually going on?"

As I opened my eyes, I recognized the voices of Professor Elm and my mother. I tilted my head to the left and I saw my mother sitting on the chair closest to me, while the professor was sitting on his chair a bit further away. They both turned their attention at me, where my mother leaped from her seat to grasp my hand.

"Good morning, Lyra! How are you feeling right now?" she asked.

There was a faint heavy feeling at the back of my head, which didn't bother me that much. I tried getting up to a sitting position, as I did back in the cave. My mother helped adjust me to rest my back against the headboard.

I stared down at my lap for a moment, before noticing how pale my skin appeared. Blue and Ethan weren't kidding, huh... As I did, I heard a familiar cry from the distance. I raised my head to notice a familiar green Pokémon standing behind Professor Elm. She smiled as we made eye contact.

As I smiled back, I watched the Pokémon march towards my bed and nudged the side of my stomach. I smiled and patted her head under the leaf. "Sorry Bayleef, I was gone for so long."

Bayleef nodded her head and continued to poke the side of my stomach. Then, Professor Elm rose from his chair. "You woke up around 4 hours ago. Right now it's 10 am. so be sure to take your time and not waste too much energy. However, I do encourage a stroll around the town to keep the blood pumping. Once you feel comfortable and get yourself re-settled, come visit me at the lab. Ethan's around here somewhere, so do try to catch him for me."

After speaking, Professor Elm proceeded to exit my room. I tried to think back to the conversation he had with my mother, wondering what was happening currently in the present. It's strange how I can't seem to recall S's memories at this moment, but I'm going to assume it's supposed to be a natural thing. I should've known having S's memories meant having consequences.

"Are you thinking about Silver? I'm not sure what the boy is planning, but it doesn't seem all too pleasant."

"Mom, what do you know about the current situation?" I asked her.

She simply shook her head. "That's something I can't explain, dear. It's not that I don't want to, but I don't have any background info besides what had been appearing in the news lately."

"But you can tell me your thoughts. Please, Mom. I just want to know," I pleaded.

However, my mother cast a saddened look and continued to shake her head.

"I don't want to hurt your feelings, darling. I also think Silver is a good boy with pure intentions, but the media is not portraying him well. Also, speaking of Ethan, he asked if I not tell you about a little part of your childhood that I thought you knew about. He said it was his responsibility to do so."

Ethan asked my mother to hide something from me? Why? Does Ethan know more than I thought? As I thought about this, I recalled multiple anguished looks Ethan had on his face during my journey. There was one time in Goldenrod and another while we were stopping the Red Gyarados. I guess I wasn't thinking too clearly back then. I was very focused on protecting Silver from S when it turns out he knew the stuff I needed to know, or that's just my assumption. Who knows, there's a chance that I'm overreacting. I need to wait until I hear what Ethan wants to say.

I told my mother I was going to take a walk around the area, which Bayleef took a step back as my mother helped me out of the bed. After I went downstairs with Bayleef I noticed two different but familiar Pokémon standing near the couch. Once they took notice of me, they hastily approached me. One of them was a tall yellow Pokémon that reminded me of Flaaffy. I noticed my Pokédex on the kitchen counter, to which I grabbed it and scanned the yellow Pokémon.

"Ampharos; the Light Pokémon. The bright light on its tail shines brightly and can be seen from far away, treasured and acting as a beacon for lost people since ancient times."

"Hello Ampharos," I greeted, and turned my eyes to the beige fox Pokémon with beautiful tails, looking up at me with a glint of joy and mischief. The fox Pokémon reminded me of Vulpix.

"Ninetales; the Fox Pokémon. Some legends claim that its nine beautiful tails are filled with unique types of special mystic power that could keep it alive for 1,000 years."

"And hello to you, Ninetales."

I watched the fox Pokémon smile at me before running to one of the chairs near the kitchen counter. As Ampharos followed Ninetales, I heard my mother heading down the stairs.

"While you were gone, Ethan offered to look after your Pokémon. It was nice of him to offer that and he had made a lot of effort to drop by the house to play and train them. The training turned out great, didn't it? He gave your Vulpix a Fire Stone and she turned into a beautiful nine-tailed fox. Ampharos and Ninetales are simply adorable, aren't they? Of course, Marill is adorable too!" she explained.

I watched the two Pokémon interacting with each other near the kitchen. Ninetales had her front paws on the table and her feet on the kitchen stool. Ampharos was standing on the opposite side of Ninetales, leaning against the counter. Eventually, Bayleef ran towards them and joined in on their conversation.

I smiled to myself, 'I'm glad nothing bad happened to them. They seem to be doing alright.'

Then it struck me; Togekiss wasn't here. Where did she go? I don't seem to recall where Togekiss had gone off to. It had been a while since I thought about the past. Hopefully, she's doing alright as well, but I'll definitely find her as soon as possible. It felt strange after all the small memories I've made with her that she would leave me, which made me a bit worried.

I think it's best if I see Ethan right now. At this moment, he is the one most likely to have the answers I'm looking for. He's probably around here somewhere in town.

I told my mother I was leaving the house, to which Bayleef picked up and rushed by my side again, as I opened the door and the two of us walking out. 

◼️𝐏 𝐎 𝐊 𝐄 𝐌 𝐎 𝐍◼️

Be sure to vote and comment on the story. Also, please correct me on any mistakes that might have appeared in this chapter.

Hope you enjoyed it and are looking forward to the next chapter~

~Lisa~