Night
A round yellow Pokemon awakened to a faint sound coming from somewhere. From its small bed, it waddled out of the room to find the source of the sound. Hearing such a thing felt very off; it was currently the middle of the night. It seemed strange how things seemed much louder at night than during the day. Anyhow, sleeping was no option for the time being. All it wanted to do was find out what it was.
After a few minutes of aimless wandering, Psyduck heard a sniff. The yellow duck held onto its head and slightly tilted. It knew it was getting closer. Before it knew it, Psyduck had reached the main room where the pool was.
What connected the sound was the sight of its redheaded trainer on the floor with her hands covering her face. Her knees were bent forward and her body lightly moved with light sobs. The Pokemon may be oblivious but it knew something was very wrong. It had never seen its trainer in this state.
"Psy?" The duck Pokemon had approached its trainer, placing its small arm on her as a source of comfort.
Misty looked up and met eyes with her Pokemon; her eyes were filled with loneliness and had tears falling down her cheeks. Instead of their usual energetic appearance, this time, her eyes were very red. She must have been crying for some time. "Psyduck, what are you doing here? Did I wake you? I'm sorry." Her voice felt so vulnerable. She immediately wiped new tears away and forced a small smile.
The Pokemon could tell something deeply troubled its trainer. It stared at her in concern, waiting for a response. Misty understood its expression and let out a deep sigh to try to control her emotions.
"It's hard." She sniffed. "I know Togetic had to go protect the Mirage Kingdom. I'm so proud of it." Images of her past memories flashed in her mind: from the moment it was born, the day it learned Metronome, feeding its favorite treats, cradling it when scared or hurt, and spending countless hours playing together without a care in the world. And then a final image came to her as she recalled saying goodbye to it. "It… it just… happened so fast." Her eyes started to water, tears quickly falling again and starting a new cycle of sobs. "I miss… I miss Togetic so much."
Psyduck watched its trainer wail louder this time. It knew neither would see Togetic again. It recalled the day she arrived back at the gym explaining to the rest of her team what became of the small egg Pokemon. Psyduck may have a dim memory, but it could never forget the pained expression on its trainer's face. On that day, she wore a calm and softened look that seemed to be common among parents who let go of a child. All of her Pokemon, including Psyduck, knew it was a facade. They could tell she forced a smile for the sake of being strong. She had lost her baby.
By now, Misty's cries of despair echoed throughout the gym. The tears would not stop this time. Fortunately for her, she was the only human at the gym. At this time, one by one, her Pokemon slowly approached after leaving their resting spots. The ones that could not approach from land swam as close as possible from the aquarium to the pool connecting inside the Cerulean Gym. They must have heard her sobs from afar but they did not mind. Right now their priority was her and their presence was all she needed.