Word Count: 2614

◼️𝐏 𝐎 𝐊 𝐄 𝐌 𝐎 𝐍◼️

Lyra~

We partially made our way to Blackthorn City while heading to Mahogany Town. Eventually, Ethan had his Dragonite fly us to Mahogany Town after noticing the path being blocked. He told me how he caught a Dratini in Blackthorn City and evolved it with rigorous training. Throughout the years, he had been training his Pokémon and mine extra hard.

Ethan worked very hard to train his Pokémon, and I was proud of him for it. His hard work seemed to pay off. Dragonite carried us to Mahogany Town quickly and with ease.

After we arrived, I got off Dragonite and took out Bayleef again, heading straight to the Gym. It was still in the same spot, but something about the Gym felt different. I noticed a sign in front of the entrance when I arrived. 

'Pryce went missing.'

I didn't like those words, especially alongside his advice to me three years ago. The sign stated to not enter the Gym, but the sign wasn't going to stop me from finding out the truth. I tried to move it aside and enter the Gym. However, as I did, I heard a woman's voice call out to me.

"You shouldn't try to enter there," she told me, as I turned around.

I asked her why, but I was only met with a grieving expression. Why was she displaying this face to me? What happened here? Ethan approached us after he brought Dragonite back into its ball. 

"I'm sorry but this is Lyra. I'm sure Pryce has mentioned her before," Ethan introduced me.

The woman nodded. "Indeed he had spoken great things while he was still here with us."

Ethan stepped forward in front of me. "She needs to go inside, so she can know for herself what happened to Pryce. I can deal with whoever has a problem with this, but we're thankful for your warning."

"She doesn't know? But—"

As the woman was about to speak, another woman called out to us: Officer Jenny. It was easy to recognize her from her uniform. Her heels were clicking as she approached us. Once she stood beside me, she saluted with her right hand to the woman.

"I will handle this matter, ma'am. You may continue to your business," she informed the woman.

After the woman nodded and left, Officer Jenny turned to me.

"It's been a long time, Lyra. How have you been?" she asked me.

I remembered the events that happened around the time we first encountered each other, specifically the essential moments where she interacted with us. The thoughts made me hesitant. Officer Jenny must've noticed my reactions, as she raised her hands up with a smile.

"It took a lot of convincing on Ethan's end to make me turn around. We're on the same page now. However, there is no Mahogany Gym right now, not until we can find a suitable replacement for the Gym Leader."

A new Gym Leader? I had an idea popped in my head, but I didn't want to think of it. I rushed to the Gym and opened its doors. The ice inside was still there, frozen and shaping the Gym itself. It felt as if nothing had changed, but there was a strange lingering feeling in the room. However, it didn't stop me from continuing forward, even with Pryce's words repeating in my head.

The last time I'd see him... That was three years ago. It was unnecessary for him to tell me those words unless they had an important meaning. It would've caused a lot of misunderstanding for me, and I was sure Pryce wouldn't do such a thing. But all of this still confused me.

The place felt empty. It might be just me, but it didn't feel as shivering as three years ago. As if there wasn't the same presence I was familiar with. I took a deep breath, as my body was shaking not because of the cold.

I didn't want to believe my suspicions.

Ethan leaned against the icy walls near the doors. Officer Jenny was on the opposite side of where Ethan was. They stared at me as if they had expected me to understand and accept the obvious.

I entered the room where I had battled Pryce alongside Silver. Nothing really changed... I sat on a large iceberg and stared down on the ground.

"Lyra... are you okay?" Ethan asked.

I couldn't answer him. The only thing I'm thinking about was the fact Pryce was no longer here, missing from the world. Where did he go? What happened to him? I knew that something did happen to him

"I don't mean to break your train of thoughts, but there had been speculations of events that happened ever since three years ago when the new Team Rocket announced their comeback," Officer Jenny noted.

My head shot up. "Oh yes, the new Team Rocket has risen. Is there anything you can tell me about?"

"According to reports on their activity, they have been hunting down people who had previous affiliations with members of Team Rocket before two years ago, even retired members. We don't know what happened to those members. According to witnesses, no violence was present and there was no shouting or arguing. We suspected they switched sides or were left in peace."

"Most of them did switch sides," Ethan added, "With Blue and Green's assistance, we managed to track down the identities of 90% of former Team Rocket members. However, we couldn't track most of them down physically, so we assumed they are with the new Team Rocket. We brought the remaining people to Viridian City, after telling them our side of the story."

"Silver's with them..." I muttered, recalling what Exchanger had told me three years ago.

"Exchanger was right; Silver was beyond saving at that point. I noticed that in Goldenrod City and I couldn't help feeling agitated. I still can't believe Silver would align himself with someone like Evolver. Of course, Lance had to make me look at things from a different angle," Ethan commented.

Officer Jenny nodded her head. "I've told my sisters and cousins to keep an eye on Silver until you wake up. It was under the Champion's request when he and Ethan visited me. They told me Silver is in possession of Ho-oh, so the main counter would be Lugia. You do have Lugia with you, right?"

Now that she had mentioned Lugia, I realized that I hadn't made any attempts to catch Lugia, as the Trial of Lugia was S's way of interacting with me.

"I don't have Lugia," I admitted.

"But what about the trial? The Kimono Girls told me you had interacted with S—I understand that, but didn't you meet Lugia at all?" Ethan questioned.

"I only heard its voice, and I only saw its figure when S showed me what she wanted me to see. I never met the real Lugia in person."

"So the three years you were asleep were for nothing? Have we been tricked!? Lyra, we've protected you and your body for three years, hoping that you would bring Silver to his senses, to stop the person giving him delusions from causing more havoc. We had faith in that belief, only for you to tell us you haven't met Lugia—"

"Calm down, Ethan. There has to be more to it than just what she's saying. I shouldn't know about this, shouldn't I? Is there more information that I can't know?" Officer Jenny questioned.

"You know about how we kept critical information from the police?" I asked.

"I understand common sense, Lyra. My sisters and cousins, as well as myself, have met a number of people who had to hide important things from us for their own safety. It's not hard to understand things after hearing it from someone and witnessing the event myself."

I turned to Ethan. "What did Silver do?"

Ethan smiled sadly. "Silver caught Ho-oh, but he caused a ruckus at the tower and the people inside. He and Evolver brought fear to the people in Ecruteak City."

"Afterwards, they arrived at Mahogany Town. A witness reported someone who looked like Silver left the Gym and how no one entered and left ever since. After the announcement of Team Rocket's revival, I checked the Gym while taking into account the witness's claim. That's when Pryce went missing," Officer Jenny added.

I was appalled at the details. It was just a claim, right? Silver wouldn't do what I think he did, would he? But Ethan wouldn't lie to me like that, and neither would Officer Jenny. If that's the truth, what drove Silver to be like this? Even if he did what he did, I still believe there's a reason behind his actions.

"Is Silver really the reason why Pryce went missing?"

I stared up at Officer Jenny who turned to Ethan, who nodded at her as if confirming something. Officer Jenny turned her head back to me.

"Here's some good news if it helps. We only reported Pryce to be missing. There were no signs of murder or kidnapping, at least as far as we had investigated. There were no hidden doors in the Gym, and the entrance is the only way to go in and out of the Gym. We cannot conclude anything, so we just released the statement saying Pryce went missing after Team Rocket's revival. All evidence that could relate to murder or kidnapping were wiped from the scene."

So he was just missing... okay. This felt like hope for me, but What Officer Jenny told me didn't shake off the doubt in my head. Now I understood why I was shivering, not because of the cold. I really didn't know anything.

Why did things turn the way they did? What happened to Silver? What did he have to do with Pryce's disappearance? I kept asking the same questions to myself. It just seemed... unbelievable to me.

I glanced at Officer Jenny, and then towards Ethan. Their eyes held no lies, only remorse as if they had done it themselves. I wonder... did Silver had the same look while he was in the Gym?

As I was sighing to myself, I noticed Ethan and Officer Jenny excusing themselves from the room. I grabbed Pryce's letter to Exchanger which happened to still be in my bag, and I unfolded it to read what's on it.

◼️𝐏 𝐎 𝐊 𝐄 𝐌 𝐎 𝐍◼️

I met up with Ethan and Officer Jenny again outside of the Gym. With Pryce's letter buried deep inside my bag, I followed Ethan to Ecruteak City, and then we headed to Olivine City. When we arrived at Ecruteak City first, I noticed how much the atmosphere changed. The Burned Tower was completely destroyed, all a stack—no, a mountain of ashes. There was another tower behind the trees: the Bell Tower.

We were only passing by the city in order to get to Olivine City. I asked Ethan about Morty, where he told me Morty wanted to check something out and will meet with us later. As for the Gym, there was no replacement for Gym Leader. Morty was going to come back to the Gym eventually, according to Ethan.

I would've asked Ethan about the Kimono Girls, but Ethan was silent after I asked about Morty. It wasn't like him to be this quiet. He's really changed, and I didn't know if I should be concerned with this.

As we arrived at Olivine City, I began thinking deeply about the situation. I glanced at the lighthouse, visualizing flashbacks of my time with Silver, where we helped Jasmine and Ampharos, and we...

Something was placed on my shoulder, firmly gripping it which caused me to stop. In front of me, centimetres apart from my face was a lamp pole. I turned towards Ethan who gave me a small smile.

"Be careful, Lyra. You don't want to look like a fool, don't you," he told me in a somewhat halfhearted tone.

I nodded and laughed it off, "Sorry, it looks like I'm still clumsy."

"Hah, you've always been clumsy. You know, there are many things to look at than space. Besides, you're going to get a full view of the ocean once we head to the docks."

He seemed like he's forcing himself to talk. Did he notice my discomfort? I didn't want him to worry about me; after all, I had woken up this morning and I didn't want people to wonder if I'd wake up or not.

◼️𝐏 𝐎 𝐊 𝐄 𝐌 𝐎 𝐍◼️

Ethan and I had boarded on the S.S Aqua before it began departing from the Olivine Port. He told me the boat was heading to Vermillion City and how we'd meet Green there. I rested in one of the rooms while Ethan explored the ferry. Bayleef stood beside my bed, as I stared at the new Pokédex Professor Elm left for me. I remembered he mentioned it being a National Pokédex, which is an expanded version of a regular Pokédex with more Pokémon data to collect. 

I'll be sure to fill this Pokédex throughout my adventure. It was Professor Oak's hope to learn about all sorts of Pokémon in this world. 

"Bayleef, what do you think about a new adventure?" I asked her. 

She tilted her head to the side out of curiosity. 

"I know that we're supposed to prevent the future from happening, and how we were going to bring Silver home and all, but I also want to enjoy this experience. This is the first time we've travelled to the Kanto Region, right? Let's make the most of it."

Bayleef nodded vigorously. When she smiled at me, I felt my heart swell up. I got up to a sitting position and grabbed the other Pokémon's Pokéballs. One at a time, I brought out Ampharos, then Ninetales. Marill was with Ethan if I remembered correctly. She stuck with him like glue as he explored the ship. 

"No matter what happens in the future, let's stay together and have fun while we're at it."

They nodded their heads once. I sighed to myself. 

"S's words are still haunting me up to this point, and I know that I will do whatever I can to save Silver. However, I don't want to rip away this opportunity of discovering something new. I hope you guys can understand."

Bayleef and Ninetales leaped onto my bed and sat next to me on opposite ends, resting their heads on my shoulders. Ampharos approached closer to me and placed her hands on my knees. Now that I've thought about it, I realized that my body seemed a bit... taller. 

Ethan has grown taller as well, as I've noticed. I remembered him reaching to Officer Jenny's shoulders, and now I saw that he has grown to almost be as tall as Officer Jenny in her heels. Still, I was shorter than him, which didn't come off as a surprise to me. 

Ampharos towered over me, placing her forehead on top of mine. I was a bit taken back, but I placed my hands on her cheeks, under her conical ears. With a smile, I let out a short breath of relief, knowing my Pokémon won't leave me alone. 

◼️𝐏 𝐎 𝐊 𝐄 𝐌 𝐎 𝐍◼️

Sorry, I forgot about publishing—I might need to reread my drafts...

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~