I stared at Lance, his words slowly sinking into my brain. "Your heart could have stopped, Mia."

Your heart could have stopped.

Suddenly, the room felt smaller. The walls were closing in, the air thick and suffocating. My breathing quickened, my chest tight with panic. I could feel my heart pounding—way too fast. And then, before anyone could stop me, I opened my mouth and let out an earth-shattering scream.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

I was gone before anyone could react. One second I was in the room, the next I was charging toward the door, kicking it open and sprinting down the hall. My mind was a whirlwind of thoughts, none of them making sense. I had to get away. I had to go somewhere—anywhere—to escape the terrifying realization that my own heart could just... stop.

As I ran through the hallways of Lance's dojo, I smashed through a wall without even realizing it. A massive chunk of plaster crumbled as I bolted through, leaving behind a trail of destruction in my wake. There was no time to worry about the hole in the wall. I was on a mission. A mission to... somewhere. I didn’t even know where I was going at this point. Just away from the panic.

I pelted out the door, down the path, and before I knew it, I was in Cerulean City, charging straight toward the gym. My heart was still racing, but now it felt like it was sprinting on its own, like a horse galloping out of control. I burst through the gym doors with all the grace of a bull in a china shop.

"MISTY!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, hands flailing in every direction. "I’M GOING TO DIE! I’M GOING TO DIE!"

Misty, my good friend and the most patient person in the entire world, turned to me with a mixture of confusion and concern. She was in the middle of training, her hair tied up in its usual tight ponytail. When she saw me, her eyes widened. "Mia? What’s going on?!"

"IT’S MY HEART!" I shouted dramatically, clutching my chest as if I were about to collapse at any moment. "LANCE SAID IT COULD STOP!"

Misty blinked, her face blank for a moment as if trying to process the situation. "Mia, slow down! What are you talking about? Why are you screaming like that?"

But I wasn’t listening. My body was still moving, my legs carrying me around in circles, arms flailing like a windmill in a storm. I ran past Misty, almost knocking over a bucket of water and spraying her poor Psyduck, who looked at me like I had just ruined its only chance at peace.

"Psyduck!" the yellow water-type groaned, its eyes twitching. If a Pokémon could sigh dramatically, Psyduck had it down to an art form. It waddled to a corner and sat down, probably wondering why it had to be involved in the madness of my life.

"OH MY GOSH! I CAN’T BELIEVE IT!" I shrieked, now pacing back and forth like a wild animal that had escaped from a zoo. "I’m ten! I can’t just... my heart can’t just stop! I have so much to do! I can’t even—"

Misty raised a hand. "Mia, I don’t know what Lance said to you, but you’re freaking out way too much. You need to calm down. Deep breaths, okay?"

"DEEP BREATHS?" I repeated, wide-eyed. "HOW CAN I TAKE A DEEP BREATH WHEN MY HEART COULD JUST STOP ANY SECOND?"

Misty sighed deeply. "You’re fine. You’re just overreacting."

"Overreacting? OVERREACTING?!" I spun around and pointed at her, my voice rising. "My heart might explode! How am I supposed to not overreact?!"

Meanwhile, Psyduck was still sitting there, staring at me like I had just asked it to solve world peace. I swear, if it could talk, it’d probably say, "This is your problem, not mine."

Misty, looking a little less calm than usual now, quickly stepped forward, grabbed my shoulders, and shook me gently. "Mia! LISTEN to me. You need to calm down."

I blinked at her, still shaking and twitching. "How am I supposed to calm down, Misty?!"

"By... not running in circles, for starters," she said, deadpan.

I looked at her, then at Psyduck, who had somehow curled itself into a ball, its headache probably worse than mine. "I think I broke Psyduck."

Misty glanced down at her Pokémon. "It’s fine, Mia. It’s used to it by now. And so am I, apparently."

I stopped for a moment, suddenly realizing that everyone around me—Misty, Oak, Lance, even Gary—had been way more worried than I thought. I was a mess, but they were actually trying to help me. The realization hit me, and I slumped, feeling embarrassed.

"Okay, okay. I’ll calm down. I’m sorry."

Misty sighed in relief. "Thank you."

And then, in typical Misty fashion, she smirked. "But, next time, can you maybe not destroy my gym, please?"

I looked around at the torn-up floor and smashed equipment, realizing she had a point. "Oops. My bad."

Psyduck groaned one last time from the corner, and I swear, it rolled its eyes before slumping further into the corner.

"Maybe... we should just sit down for a while," I said, feeling suddenly exhausted.

Misty raised an eyebrow. "You mean, not run in circles while screaming?"

"Yes. Exactly."

"Good plan."

And so, there I was, sitting cross-legged on the gym floor, trying to breathe normally as Misty and her surprisingly still patient Psyduck watched me like I was some kind of tornado that had just calmed down. Well, at least I wasn’t screaming anymore...

That was progress, right?