I hate Bank Holidays, it totally throws me off. I thought today was Sunday not Monday T_T Anyway, here's the next chapter of The Puppet Master. Please don't kill me *puppy dog eyes*

Thanks to ninetailsgirl94, LuckyTigger, Lynx of the Sand, splitheart1120, Starfire1407 and sjir-sama for reviewing!

Chapter Eight: A Cry

Walking up the familiar road of Veilstone City towards my house, I expected Dawn to be waiting for me like some cheesy romance movie. In my defence, I had been dragged to quite a few of them in my time dating Dawn. It is one thing you learnt to deal with as a boyfriend. Yet, as I approached the gate of the house there was no one there. There were no Pokémon out in the garden or anything. I looked up at the house to see a few lights were on.

"That's weird," I muttered to myself, picking up the pace as I walked up to the front door. I opened it carelessly, looking round for anything out of the ordinary. "Dawn?"

I heard the sound of heavy foot steps coming towards the door. Within seconds my wife's face had appeared. I offered her a relieved smile but that smile soon faded as I saw her expression. Her eyes were red and puffy like she had been crying non-stop for a few days. Her face was pale. She was wearing baggy clothes. Something didn't add up.

"Oh Paul!" she cried as she rushed forwards to give me a big hug. I was pushed into the wall and Dawn jumped me. I didn't complain. Putting my arms around her waist I held her tightly, wondering what on Earth had happened while I was away. I glanced up as I saw Misty come into view. She looked as bad as Dawn did.

"What's going on?" I asked softly. Misty bit her lip. She turned and left, tears falling down her cheeks. I looked down at Dawn. "Dawn?"

"Paul it's horrible!" Dawn cried into my jacket, "It's terrible!"

"What's horrible?" I asked, stroking Dawn's hair to calm her down. "Dawn you have to tell me what's happened."

"Paul…" Dawn wept, "It's L-lyra… She's… she's… she's…"

My breath disappeared instantly like it had been vacuumed out of my lungs. I felt all the colour drain from my face in a oddly tingly sensation. I gripped Dawn tighter as she cried louder into my jacket. Not Lyra. No way. She couldn't be dead.

"Paul?" Dawn asked as she looked up at me. I looked down at her. My shock worried her. I merely nodded at her and walked into the house where the other four girls were sat on various chairs. Each seemed to be taking the death very differently. May was silently watching the TV while she ate ice cream on the sofa. Misty had her arm round Leaf's shoulders, finding comfort in comforting some one else. Leaf was curled up into a ball, crying in all probability. Raven was sat on the floor, head in her hands with her eyes closed. Misty looked up at me as I walked into the room with Dawn attached to me. May sat up and turned the TV off. Raven raised her head up to look at me. Even Leaf looked up.

"Paul," Leaf said weakly. In an instant, Leaf was by my side hugging me tightly. Raven got to her feet and ran to me, almost knocking me over. Misty and May followed the trend until I was in the centre of a very awkward, and wet, group hug. Many guys would kill for this amount of attention but I found it down right scary being the epicentre of a weeping circle of sadness. It just didn't suit my clearly bubbly attitude. I kissed Dawn's head as all five of them continued to hug me. I would have to break this up sooner or later but I wasn't sure I was strong enough to do so.

Eventually Misty pulled away. She wiped her eyes and walked into the kitchen. May, Dawn and Raven disbanded next with May following Misty into the kitchen. I was left cuddling Leaf as my wife and Raven shared a quick exchange of words.

"How did it happen?" I asked suddenly. Dawn looked at Raven before she disappeared into the kitchen. I heard the abrupt sound of weeping coming from the room as the three girls must have started again.

"She was attacked," Raven told me, "By something. They found her body and the bodies of her Pokémon near the Indigo Plateau not long ago. We were the first to be told."

"Does Silver know?" I asked. Raven let out a sigh before she shook her head. She moved towards the phone but I stopped her. I carefully unlatched Leaf from round my waist and passed her onto Raven. "I'll call him."

"Thanks," Raven muttered before Leaf wailed loudly. I looked sympathetically at Leaf and Raven for a few seconds before I went upstairs to make the call to Silver.

I dialled the red head's number. He appeared on the screen looking quite irritated at being disturbed. His expression soon melted in one of concern as he saw my face.

"What happened?" he demanded.

"Silver," I said slowly. He seemed immediately off put by the use of his name. He sat back in his chair. There was a long pause before the words came to me. How do you tell someone the worst news possible? The news that will break their heart and leaving them curled up in a corner for a month? I knew I was dealing with Silver but deep down he was still a person with emotions. He'd take the news badly and I had no idea what effect that would have on him. I took a breath, deciding to be my usual blunt self. "Silver, I have to tell you that… Lyra's been killed."

"No," Silver snapped. I looked at the red head and for the first time since I met the man, I saw a thousand emotions run through him. The short word he had uttered was full of so much emotion it would've made a tough man cry. He ran a hand through his hair as his eyes wondered around the room he was sat in. "No."

"I'm sorry, Silver," I said quietly.

"No," Silver repeated, "She can't be… Paul, she can't be…"

I gave the red head a grim smile before he turned off the screen. I sat back in my chair. I hear the door creak behind me.

"Daddy?"

I turned to see Dante stood watching me. I smiled at the boy as he ran over to me. I picked him up and held him tightly in my arms.

"Daddy, why mummy sad?" Dante asked.

"One of our friends has gone away for a very, very long time," I told him. Dante tilted his head to the side.

"Not coming back?" he asked. I shook my head.

"No, no they're not," I replied. Dante looked at me for a few seconds before he nodded.

"Sad," he told me.

"Yes, it is," I said. He hugged me tightly. "But it's going to be OK."

"OK, daddy," Dante said. Within minutes he was asleep. I took him back to his room and tucked him back in his bed with his Suicune doll by his side. I stared down at the boy for a few seconds before I returned downstairs.

I stood in the doorway of the living room seeing May, Misty and Raven with a tall glass of wine. I walked over to Dawn and hugged her once more.

"Silver knows," I told them, "I think he's coming here as soon as he can."

"OK," Raven muttered, "That's probably best."

"Yeah," Misty agreed.

"May," I said to the brunette, "Go and fetch a film to put on. We could all do with something to take our minds off of this."

"Sure," May replied. She took a large gulp of wine before she disappeared upstairs to pick a DVD.

"She called yesterday," Dawn told me, "And apologised for not phoning a lot. The last thing she said to us was 'seeya soon girlies'."

I looked down at Dawn for a few seconds before I hugged her tightly. She wept once more into my chest. I decided not to tell her about seeing Lyra just a week ago at the Plateau. I looked out of the window.

I told her to be careful. I told her to take care and now look what had happened. She was dead. She had been killed by Wyre, I knew she had. If he was powerful enough to take down one of the Elite Four and a Legendary's helper then we were all in big trouble.

"I want Lyra!" Leaf yelled suddenly. Misty hugged the now hysterical girl. Leaf never did take these sorts of things well. Raven looked at me, her eyes burning with anger. We regarded each other for a few seconds and Dawn gently trembled in my arms.

Wyre was going to pay.

So yeah… Erm… I repeat, please don't kill me *smiles in a scared sort of way* I promise there is an explanation for it. See you on the next update!

Please Review!

RSx