Kerys silently walked outside into the cold night, still wearing his pajamas. After waiting a moment, he crept cautiously away from the house, scampering through the town to the small cave at it's heart.

A light emerged from the mouth of the cave, and Kerys quietly followed it, deep inside toward the center, where a shadow that he knew to be his sister sat silhoetted by the light of a flashlight. She sat cross-legged, head down, flashlight pointed downward.

The cold and rocky ground did not seem to bother her, so Kerys tried not to let it stop him. Settling into a similar position, he watched as Cynthia slammed one fist against the wall.

"I have to get stronger. I can't let Palmer down. I should be stronger, like he is. It's what he wants. By being such a pathetic loser, I'm failing him. I'm letting him down. What would people say if they knew that the champion of Hoenn and Sinnoh had a weakling little sister who couldn't even catch her own Pokemon?" Kerys heard her whisper, sobbing.

"No! I won't be weak anymore! I'll be worthy of him. I'll be worthy of you! Just wait, I will be." Cynthia cried, rising to her feet. Kerys backed up against the wall, making himself as hard to see as he could, then waited for Cynthia to run back out. He followed, careful to stay hidden, but not before glancing back at the walls of the cave, at the faint light emanating from the carving in the back.

Cynthia ran back into their house, and Kerys saw her grab the Pokeball that Palmer had given her the day before, as well as the one containing her Gible. She pulled a large backpack from a corner of the small room, and stowed both Pokeballs in it.

"I've gotta do this. I'll never get strong enough here." she whispered, and slung the backpack over her shoulders. "Everyone in my family but me is a great Trainer. I can't disappoint them by being too weak to follow in their footsteps."

As Kerys backed away from the doorway, Cynthia walked out, and headed outside. Kerys continued to trail her, confused, until she came to the entrance of Celestic Town.

There the fog grew too heavy for him to see through, and he sat down at the very edge of where the mists began, as close as he could be to his sister, and began to cry. He had always considered Cynthia his protector, his guardian. And now she was gone.

As the sun crept over the horizon, Kerys heard footsteps approaching from behind him, but ignored them until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"She's gone, isn't she?" Palmer asker, but it sounded as if he already knew the answer. Kerys sniffed once and nodded. The two were silent for a moment, then Kerys turned to face his older brother.

"You knew all along, didn't you? You knew." he asked, tone accusatory.

Palmer glanced down, then nodded.

"Yes, I had a feeling she would leave today." he admitted.

"Why didn't you say something? Why didn't you stop her?" Kerys murmured.

"I... Ker, Cynthia was going to leave eventually, no matter what any of us did or said. She's a skilled Trainer, whether or not she knows it herself, and staying here would only frustrate her. I'm sorry, but it was inevitable." Palmer explained, and got up slowly, as if his younger brother was a magnet, holding him to the ground.

"You're leaving too, aren't you!" Kerys shouted, also standing up.

"Yeah, kid. I'm a Trainer too, remember? I gotta head out again. Kerys, I know it hurts, but face it. You had known all along that Cyn would leave someday. You knew I wasn't gonna stay long, either." Palmer said, then walked out into the fog.

"Say 'bye to Corion for me." he called back as he tossed Noctowl's Pokeball into the air, and then vanished from sight.

Kerys watched silently as Palmer left. His brother was right, of course; Kerys had known. He thought the words, then spoke them, but silently, as if hearing them would have confirmed a truth that he refused to acknowledge.

Turning back from the fog, he walked away.

"They've abandoned me here. They're gone, and not coming back." he whispered, as he retreated back inside, as if hiding from the though