Two months passed since that day, and I couldn't ask my father what happened, and it was my birthday before I knew it.
Normally my father woke me up, but he never did, I woke up and got dressed and wondered what time it was...
I walked downstairs without Trace stirring. "Dad?"
Nothing. I slid down the banister, and stepped out into the abnormally bright world, calling louder. "DAD?"
Nothing. I walked into the kitchen to check the timer on the stove as I saw Trace step out my room out the corner of my eye. "Mornin' Buddy." He almost smiled back. Little panic calmed in my heart. As long as I had Trace, nothing could take me down... right? I quickly recalled him to the ball.
I looked at the stove clock. 11:30 am.
I walked over to his room, and opened it up, to see him lying on his bed, I walked over to his side, and shook him lightly "Dad?"
Nothing. I grabbed Emboar's ball quickly, and pushed dad onto his back, watching closely, never seeing his chest move. I then sent out my fathers partner.
"Hey, Em-" The mega pig collapsed upon sending it out.
What was happening? I grabbed his phone and dialed 911.

First responders showed up in under 3 minutes, and they escorted me out of the house and took Emboar's ball, recalling it.
I stepped out into the yard and fell down, crying. About 2-3 minutes after that, Juniper was rushing over asking what was wrong, and I could barely get words out of my mouth between sobs, and she ran into the house.
Another minute passed and Juniper stepped out with an envelope and Emboar, Audino, and the rest of my fathers team's Pokeballs. Walking past, she simply grabbed my arm and began walking me to her lab.
The walk was fairly short, though I did look up at her and noticed tears streaming down her face.
She was practically the only mother figure I had, so seeing the tears saddened me more.
The lab doors opened, as she led me upstairs, to her apartment area, and simply said "Go take a bath, I just need to go handle something small, I'll be back in about 30 minutes, and we can talk, okay Shawn?" She clearly was putting a brave face on.
I walked upstairs and headed to the bathroom, a path I've walked before while being babysat by Juniper.
The bath filled as I undressed, sliding into the water before turning off the faucet. I rest in the water calming down as Trace burst from his ball looking at me. "We'll be alright, Trace. I know we will be."
I climbed out, dried off, and got dressed again before picking up Trace and headed to the Living room, where I noticed Juniper with a glass of transparent brown fluid and a large ice cube, a photo album my dad was always looking at, and a rough looking envelope. Without looking up from the album she waved me over. "We need to talk, Shawn. It's about something Eren asked me to do."
I stepped around the corner and sat in the chair across the table from where she was sat. "What's up?"
"As of now, I am your Stepmother as per the wishes of your late mother, is one of three things." she looked over at me and took a sip of her drink. "Two. Your father asked me to warn you about your heritage. Your father had something called a Soul Bond with his partner, Emboar, now their isn't much we know about it since not many people have a partner that bonds that close with them, and your family have always had a Soul Bond with fire types for the past 35 generations."
"My pops mentioned that once while talking to Emboar... It was almost like he cou-" Juniper cut me off
"Something we do understand, Pokemon with a Soul Bond with their trainer can speak and their trainer can understand it without fail. There are perks and setbacks from this is another thing we learned. Pokemon with a Soul Bond can change form while fighting, to even be able to hit harder and move quicker. The downside is that your lives are one. If a Soul Bound Pokemon is hit too hard and dies, the trainer will also die, and visca versa. Eren was going to tell you this today. He's worried that Trace would become your Soul Bond."
"Why would that be a bad thing?"
"I don't fully understand, I'm sure your father had a reason for worrying, though." Juniper sighed again and took another sip. She muttered under her breath another thing "Dammit Eren… He's just a kid, why wouldn't you tell him sooner."

"Anyways…" Juniper continued "You might want to go lie down, or we can see about getting you your official starter. It's your option, Shawn. I know this was a hard day already."
"I'm gonna… lie down for a while. I don't think I'll be starting my journey for a while…"