Her world ended last year. Most people would say it didn't truly but they did not understand what had happened. Phrases like "it will get better" or "time heals all wounds," meant very little in light of what had happened. Those phrases couldn't bring sound to her father's silence or drown out the heart wrenching sound of her mother's sobs. Those phrases would not bring her sister back.

Lyra had died saving Kalos, she had died a hero. But her little sister would have given all those accolades, all the honor brought to her family in order to see her dear sister's return.

Lyra had died in Lysandre Labs, her full pokemon team by her side until moments before the end. Moments before she overloaded the laser, Lyra had recalled all her pokemon save one. The Xerneas she had befriended stayed by her side and refused to return to its ball. So as Lyra had grabbed Lysandre and got ready to wipe both of them from the face of our world, she draped her belt of pokeballs around the Xerneas' neck, and ordered it to save her team and her friends. The Xerneas heeded her final wish, saving all of them before the labs exploded taking with it the lives of Lyra and Lysandre.

No solace was given to Lyra's family either for no remains were ever found in the wreckage of the labs. It was theorized that the laser had burned too hot and vaporized any and all remains of Lyra and Lysandre.

So here she was a year later, still mourning her sister, when the effects of the laser started. When her whole world shifted even more. For Lyra's sacrifice had been in vain, Lysandre had succeeded in bringing about the end of the world as they knew it.

Astrid had been out with her torchic Coal when it had happened, when the first signs of the coming apocalypse had taken effect. Coal had been the final son of Blaze, Lyra's Blaziken, born right before Lyra had taken Blaze and the rest of her team to the Pokemon League and won. Coal had been Lyra's last gift to Astrid before her death, she had wanted her sister to start a pokemon journey of her own and had hoped eventually that Astrid would challenge her in a League match in the future with Coal by her side.

Coal was Astrid's last connection to Lyra and Astrid had taken to spending most of her time with the little torchic. Sure Lyra's team was still in the house, but they rarely were taken out of their pokeballs anymore. They rarely wanted to come out, and Astrid's parents did not have the heart to release them. Professor Sycamore offered to take them, but when the team did come out they did offer some solace to the grieving family. Even ill tempered Blaze would do his best to help his trainer's grieving mother with the cooking and heating of their home.

The only member of the team that had not been seen for over a year had been Quintessence, the Xerneas that had saved Lyra's pokemon and friends. Occasionally Astrid thought she saw a glimpse of the legendary pokemon but she normally just chalked it up to a trick of the light, for the image of the deerlike legendary of life was gone before it could truly register.

Astrid had experienced such a sighting on the day she experienced the first symptom. She had been out with Coal, trying to escape the depressing atmosphere of her home when suddenly she heard a voice from beside her.

"... I just wish you would stop moping around. Lyra wanted you to do better things than this…."

Astrid whipped her head around trying to find the source of the voice but saw no one. "Show yourself, how dare you tell me what my sister would or would not want! You have no right to make assumptions such as that, you didn't know her!"

"Oh yes I did, almost as well as you did! She was my trainer first after all!" The voice was coming from Coal who was looking up at her sternly. "And you know what I am saying is true! She wanted more for us Astrid!"

"You're…. you're talking. Like a human," was all that Astrid managed to get out, still baffled by the fact that her torchic was speaking to her. She had never heard of pokemon talking to their trainers in real life, sure it happened in all the myths and some crazies still claimed that they could speak to pokemon but they were obviously not right in the head.

"No you are speaking pokemon, and rather atrociously. Surely you were taught to speak better in human. Your sentence structure is terrible." Coal scolded, clearly overlooking that his trainer was speaking pokemon. "Though I guess you are doing ok for a human, you kind hardly ever can speak to us. Heck even your sister couldn't do it, she just learned to read our body language but you…. you can actually speak to us. Who taught you? And why have you feigned stupidity for all these years?"

"No one… I couldn't before today. I don't know what happened." Astrid stuttered baffled by the sudden change. As far as she knew no one in her family had ever had the ability to speak to pokemon. "Perhaps mom or dad would have an idea of why this is happening. Let's head home and try and figure this out."

She turned and began to run hurriedly home, hoping that her parents had an answer for her. Coal matched her step for step, clearly also confused and eager to figure out what was happening.

However when she reached home an unpleasant sight awaited her. Her home town of Vaniville was under the attack of countless wild pokemon.