Word Count: 1694

◼️𝐏 𝐎 𝐊 𝐄 𝐌 𝐎 𝐍◼️

Lyra~

I found Ethan waiting for me outside. After greeting him, we decided on taking a stroll around the town, as Professor Elm suggested.

My thought train from before was replaying in my head. I was waiting for Ethan to say something, but he just silently stared forward while adjusting to my pace. My mother did say he wanted to talk about something, but maybe it wasn't the right time.

We were silent for a couple of minutes. The silence was barely tolerable, especially how the mood doesn't seem to be getting brighter. I tried to start some sort of conversation, asking how his day had been, what he had been doing for the past 3 years, and so on. Ethan must've noticed my discomfort while trying to answer me.

Besides training my Pokémon and visiting New Bark Town regularly, he had been wandering around Johto thinking about Silver. Ethan had all his badges collected but didn't challenge Lance due to the current situation. He also mentioned he had been spending a lot of time in Mahogany Town, and that he would explain something to me later.

We decided from there to head to Professor Elm's lab. As we stepped into the lab, we were greeted by the professor, who was on his computer. His assistants were pushing a trolley from the other room, towards the professor's desk. Ethan directed me to the room that the assistant had just left and we seated ourselves on the couch. Bayleef stood beside the armrest closest to me.

The room looked like a lounge or a small living room to a degree. There were a few shelves with files apart from the ones in the main lab, as well as a table almost surrounded by couches in the middle of the room. This place was likely where Professor Elm would chat with his visitors.

"I'll be there in a moment! I just need to send these emails!" Professor Elm exclaimed from the other room.

"Sounds good, Professor!" I voiced back.

"You sound livelier than a few minutes ago," Ethan noted.

I turned to face him. "Well, Professor Elm is still busy with his emails. I would have thought the amount of work would lessen, but it doesn't seem to bother him at all. What do you think he's writing about?"

"He's probably chatting with Professor Oak. Actually, they've been conversing for a while. Last time I heard, Professor Elm found another discovery and wanted to learn more about it," Ethan answered.

"Something like the Egg? I'd love to get to know more about his new discovery. Who knows? It could be another Egg."

I realized that a couple of minutes have passed. Was the professor writing long essays in his emails? Or maybe he really did uncover something legendary, rarer than an Egg. When I glanced at the clock, I noticed Ethan also shifted his gaze to the time.

"Professor Oak wanted to meet you again. Green and Blue will rendezvous with us at Vermillion City... oh I should also mention something: Exchanger is still alive."

My eyes widened. How was that possible? If I recall, Celebi was in its weakened state due to the number of time travellers. So how was Exchanger still here? I told Ethan about my thoughts.

"We didn't know either. After you slept, he started disappearing but never did. Something was off and we had no idea what's going on with Celebi since none of us were able to locate it. Anyways, Exchanger had been taking shelter in Pallet Town. Professor Oak had helped to keep an eye on his well-being up to today with Green," Ethan explained.

I nodded, noting to myself to thank Professor Oak for his generosity. As I was thinking about Exchanger, I remembered something that S and I discussed. Instinctively, I reached for my bag, only to realize I didn't bring it along with me.

Ethan noticed this and asked if I needed something.

"My bag had letters inside. I promised S that I would read them. Oh no, I left them at home!" I expressed anxiously.

"Actually, if you look in one of the mahogany drawers right next to the file cabinets, there should be the letters you seek," I heard the professor mention as he entered the room. He took a seat in the armchair near Ethan. "They were all soaked, but I managed to write a deciphered copy with as many words as I can grab from the original. Of course, the original letters are there, but they seem to be illegible."

Ethan got up to fetch the letters. In the meantime, one of the professor's assistants brought in a bottle of Fresh Water for me before leaving through another door. From the way the laboratory was laid out, it should lead to an area behind the building, likely where some Pokémon were at.

"Anyways, I'm sorry for taking too long. Lyra, how are you? I hope you had rested well. Ethan filled me in on most of your situation, but of course, he's leaving the crucially small details out. I won't push too much in your business, but just know that if you need my help with anything, I'm here for you," the professor reassured me.

I nodded, as Ethan arrived back with a small stack of paper, as well as a plastic bag containing paper that had visibly been dried. He placed them on the table and reclaimed his spot next to me on the couch.

"Lyra, is there anything you wish to tell me before I answer your questions?" Ethan offered.

He likely wanted to know about the moment I fell asleep, as well as the small secrets Silver and I had kept amongst ourselves. I had realized being left in the dark about a serious situation like this was hard on Ethan, even though I had no idea about the level of threat S was. Now that I know S's real identity, I can safely tell Ethan what I know. However, a part of me was hesitant to tell him. Ethan's the type to jump to conclusions quickly unless knowing everything, and I didn't want to paint anyone in a bad light.

I told Ethan about S, and how she was my future counterpart. While I did that, I also explained to Professor Elm why the letters were important—I told them what S predicted in the future from her experience. Every time she tried to change a timeline, it would lead to the similar devastating ending that Exchanger told us.

I grabbed the pile on the table in search of Pryce's letter, only to find out it wasn't in the pile.

"Professor, are you sure these are all the letters that were in my bag?"

"Yes, I made sure to carefully examine your bag and remove things out of caution. Is something wrong?" he asked.

"A letter is missing. Did Exchanger take one?" I turned towards Ethan to ask him.

But Ethan shrugged. "Morty and Green were the ones who retrieved your bag from Evolver. There could be a chance for Green to take the missing letter, but I'm not too sure. We can ask her once we meet up with her."

"Evolver... What do you think she's after?" I questioned.

"I'm not sure, but it definitely had to do something with Silver and Team Rocket. For the past three years... no serious crime has been committed. The Team Rocket you were aware of is no more. Executive Archer was found dead in Goldenrod City before you went to sleep. The other three disappeared but were found dead a couple of months after Archer's death. We are not sure where the former Team Rocket grunts are, but we can assume they switched sides," Ethan answered.

A sudden thought had come to me; Pryce. His words back in Mahogany Town... and now these deaths; I can't help but feel anxious if the two topics mixed.

"What happened to Pryce?" I asked Ethan.

He cast a sad look at me, shifting his gaze from my face to the ground a couple of times. "Pryce is missing."

I hastily stood up from my seat, spilling the letters on the ground. "I need to see for myself. I need to go to Mahogany Town."

"That's something I can help you with, but is something startling you? I only said Pryce was missing. We don't know where he's at, but I can assure you—"

"No, Ethan. You don't understand. Please take me to Mahogany Town. I need to check the Gym for myself."

'He can't be dead,' I thought to myself. After I grabbed the letters from the ground and placed them back on the table, I rushed out of the building. Bayleef trailed behind me with startled cries.

"Wait, Lyra! Before you go—"

I stopped from the professor's words, turning around to face him. Professor Elm had gotten up from his seat and took something out of the drawers. He approached me and presented an object in his hand: a thumb drive.

"Please give this to Silver, should you ever cross paths with him. It's from... never mind. It doesn't need to be your first priority, but it's something he needs to see, so please bring Silver back... home."

Home... I sighed to myself, gripping onto the thumb drive and stashed it in my pocket. This is the place where Silver and I first met. From the door, I gazed to the window that Silver had peeped through when I first saw him. His voice was sharp and cold when I addressed him. It was a little funny comparing that time with the Silver that I had gotten used to, the one that looked out for my safety.

I nodded towards the professor before leaving the lab with Bayleef and Ethan. 

◼️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~