"Yep, that is my granddaughter's name," answered Granny. "What of it?"

Lyne's heart fluttered with excitement. "Like, Ira as in businesswoman who just started her journey with a guy named Elron?"

"If that's not the one then I'd be surprised."

"Oh my." He burst out into laughter. "What are the odds?!"

"Quite high I'd imagine considering how uncommon Ira is of a name."

"That's not what I meant but okay." He smiled and looked up at the sky. Even the blue void above him seemed more tangible than usual now. "So she's nearby, huh?"

Granny hit the armrests of her wheelchair several times. "Hey! Aren't you going to wheel me to Striaton?! Let's get a move on already!"

He considered. "Suddenly I don't feel like going that way anymore."

"Oh no you don't! You're supposed to take me to Striaton! Don't make me fight you!"

"Okay, just try and do that."

"Alright, I will! Meowstic!"

The cat tried to stand up, then finally collapsed completely, fainted.

"I win," said Lyne. "Time to get you back to the safety of Nacrene City."

"Wait!" yelled Granny. "Fine! I'll make you a deal!"

"A deal?" He cocked his eyebrows.

"Yes! I'll tell you what you need to know about Ira!"

"What do you mean, 'what I need to know?'" Is there something important I'm missing?

Granny emphasized her crossed arms. "Wheel me where I want to go and you'll find out." Inside, though, she was thinking I've got him now!

He feigned disinterest and started pushing her back to where he had just been. "Guess it can't be helped then." The way she said it bothered him. She says it like something has gone wrong with Ira.

-----

"Ira?! What are you doing here?!"

Granny about dropped her tea kettle as she ran to her backyard.

The child, not yet even ten years old, Ira poked out her head through the branches of bush, twigs in her hair and dirt covering her legs and hands. Her big blue eyes looked to be on the verge of crying, but seeing her grandma made them instantly brighten up. "Granny!"

The two met and hugged on the lawn.

"Ira! Just look at yourself! We need to get you cleaned up!"

The girl happily agreed.

Granny prepared the child's bath, and helped her undress and slip into the bubbles of the water.

Ira was being a little more quiet now, as if she knew what was coming.

Granny applied the soapy sponge to Ira's back and scrubbed. "Now, why are you here? How did you get here? You do realize that your parents must be worried sick, right?"

She puffed out her cheeks resolutely. "No way! Those two don't care about me! I ran away from home to be with you instead!"

She got all the way from Rustboro to Lavaridge by herself? Kids really do have an endless supply of energy. She scrubbed harder, almost to the point that it hurt. "Don't speak nonsense! Of course they care! You're their daughter! They just want the best for you."

"No they don't! They just want to get me into a big fancy school!" Ira pouted and made sure not to lock eyes with her grandmother. "They never let me play with the other kids or anything!"

Granny knew that, and while she couldn't support her daughter and son-in-law's child rearing she knew that she couldn't exactly support Ira's behavior either. She sighed. "It must be hard."

Ira suddenly perked up. "I knew you'd understand me, Granny!"

"But!" the old lady interjected. "That doesn't mean you get to do whatever you want! They are your parents, you know? Plus, what if you hurt yourself when you came here?!"

"What should I do then?! Tell me, Granny!" She splashed a little in a mini fit of rage.

That's a good question, she thought to herself. In her seasoned knowledge, she quickly came to a solution. "Let's get you dried off first."

Soon as she helped the small child get a clean set of clothes on, Granny went off to another room and came back with two things in her hands.

"Here," she said, entrusting them to her granddaughter.

Ira's entire expression changed when she got the gifts. "A pokeball! And a pretty earing!"

"Yes, your parents will kill me when they hear I gave you a pokemon. And it's not just any pokemon, or just any earing!" She motioned that it was okay to open up the pokeball.

Ira pressed the button and let out a pink cat. "Skitty!" She burst into giggling as she ran around the room chasing after the cat. She soon caught the creature even smaller than herself and carrying it to her spot, then sat back down. She petted it contently, to a little bit of frustration from the Skitty. "It's just like yours!"

"It is mine, I'm giving it to you."

That was just too cool. She let go of the cat and leapt forward into her grandmother's arms. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

"You're welcome, Ira. Now look at this." She procured another earring and held it out in front of her.

Ira held hers up next to Granny's and saw the connection. "They match!"

"Well, kind of." Granny took her present back momentarily from Ira and put the two together. One black and one white, they fit together to form a circle with a curved divide: a yin-yang symbol.

It blew the kid's little mind. "Woah!"

"Cool, aren't they?" She handed the black one back to Ira. "Now take good care of it."

She gladly accepted it, but then became visibly confused. "Why give me things? Wasn't I being a bad girl?"

"Yes, you were, but that's not why I gave you those. Now, child, I want you to understand something very important in life." She put her hands on Ira's shoulders and made sure to look her dead in the eye. "I will always be there for you, even if you and I are not close."

"But Granny, that doesn't make sense."

Tough crowd. "That's not the point. Whenever you feel lonely or sad, I want you to remember that I've got your back. Skitty will be there for you, and when that's not enough I want you to look at your earring and remember that you have me. After all," she held up the earring once again. "I need you to be complete." The old lady smiled and laughed at her own cheesy advice.

Ira didn't quite understand it all, but she nodded her head. The wise words might have been somewhat lost on the child, but they were forever ingrained into her being. "Yeah!"

"Alright, now let's get you to bed. We'll have to get you back home tomorrow."

-----

"And so, I entrust this to you." Granny pulled out a glimmering white earring from her robes and handed it to Lyne. "It was a pain to get back from the hospital. Don't you dare lose it."

"What's that about a hospital?"

She shook as she realized her mistake. "What hospital?"

Lyne could see that he wasn't going to get that information out of her. "Whatever." He looked intently at it. It was so light, yet it carried so much weight. He didn't quite understand the meaning of the little ornament yet, but he could tell that it held some sort of hidden meaning to Ira.

He reached up to the side of his head and poked it through his earlobe. He cringed as he felt a tinge of pain and the blood ran down the side of his head.

"What the hell are you doing kid?! You're supposed to have your ears properly pierced before wearing those things!"

He clenched his ear to stop the bloodflow. "Oh. That makes sense. I never thought that there was a special way to do it."

"For crying out loud... Your generation is hopeless."

His smiled awkwardly. He couldn't help but agree with that.

She sighed and shook her head in disappointment. "Well, my end of the deal has been fulfilled. Take me to Striaton before it gets dark."

Lyne laughed as he put his hands onto the wheelchair's handles. "Fine, fine. Don't expect me to loiter around once I get you there though." The white earring shone in the light of the sun. "I have to search for my match."

Granny smiled and stroked her passed out pokemon. Their generation might be losing their heads, but at least some of them have their hearts in the right place.

***

A/N: Hello all! Sorry I kind of stopped updating this story for a little bit. College life has really picked up, which I of course can't compromise with my hobbies, and I had quite a bit of writer's block and lack of motivation. I can't promise any solid update schedules for a while (which hurts because I had such a good record, lol), but I don't intend to leave you guys hanging for too long. I'll do my best! :D