"Nothing, it's just you're like the big brother I never had," Taylor's words echoed in Ryan's head, causing him to smile.

"Am I really?" He thought. "Well, I guess most of the time she's ever been down, I talked with her," Ryan realized. "If mom was really like this..." As he looked at the stars, he recalled something his dad had told him once:

"You're just like your mother..."

"Hey! Awesome job guys!" Ryan congratulated various soccer players with a high five as they went into his house. Carter was at the end of the line and waited for Ryan.

"Thanks again for doing this man. I honestly didn't want anything going wrong for Uncle Perry today," Carter told Ryan as they shook hands. Ryan looked a bit confused and then remembered.

"He's proposing today!" Ryan recalled aloud. "Aren't your parents throwing a party for him to ask her?"

"Yeah, a house full of soccer players isn't exactly the best place to propose," Carter remarked. Ryan raised an eyebrow, silently questioning the remark. He shrugged and motioned for Carter to come inside.

"Well, either way, I'm glad my dad let me help you guys out like this. It's not everyday we beat the Steelheads in an intercity game, even in soccer!" Ryan said as he closed the front door. The usual homely atmosphere of Ryan's house was replaced by a semi chaotic mess. Soccer players were relaxing, eating slices of pizza, and conversing.

"Yeah, I honestly thought he'd say no," Carter said as he and Ryan went to the kitchen to grab something to eat. "I'm glad you and Taylor showed up to the game, even though it was supposed to rain."

"No problem, it's what best friends are for, right? And good thing it didn't," Ryan said, causing the two of them to laugh. Carter looked around the kitchen and peered into the lobby they came from.

"Where is she, anyways?" Carter asked, curious as to why Taylor wasn't with Ryan. Ryan took a drink of lemonade from his cup and slightly frowned.

"Well, she's with you know who," Ryan rolled his eyes. Carter knew instantly who Ryan was talking about. Taylor was dating the soccer team's star player, who was loved by the general public. However, known to only a few people, he was a bit of a womanizer, to say the least. He was also snobby to certain people, including his teammates.

"I wonder what Taylor sees in him anyways? He just seems like me times a thousand," Carter remarked. Ryan raised an eyebrow.

"Like you times a thousand? He's not like you at all! You aren't snobby, but the wannabe womanizer thing... well, in Taylor's words, he makes you look like a saint," Ryan laughed while Carter shrugged. "Wait. Are you saying..." Ryan added in a singsong voice, "You're in loooooove with her?" Carter glared at Ryan. He didn't want to take the chance of anyone hearing it, even though the background noise from the other conversations masked theirs.

"No! No I'm not, I'm just concerned about her, that's all!" Carter reasoned. "Don't say anything," he added in a hushed voice, causing Ryan to widen his eyes in surprise. Ryan pretended to zip his lips, lock it and threw away the key. Suddenly, the background noise dropped to dead silence.

"Why did it get so quiet all of a sudden?" Carter asked Ryan, who shrugged. They left the kitchen and went to the living room, where a crowd circled around Taylor and her boyfriend, the soccer star. Her face had a heartbroken look on it. She turned and ran out of the room and up the stairs.

"What happened?" Carter asked the crowd of soccer players, who all kept their mouths shut. They all felt it wasn't their business.

"I don't believe it's any of your business, Carter," the soccer star said to him. Carter glared angrily at the star and walked up to him, his fists shaking.

"None of my business? When you break my best friend's heart, it's definitely my damn business!" Carter raged.

"If that's your idea of a best friend, I'd hate to see an enemy," the soccer star sneered. "Besides... I've got someone much cuter waiting." That was the last straw. Without warning, Carter jumped onto the soccer star and landed a blow on his face. Everyone was stunned.

"C-Carter!" Ryan ran up to him and grabbed hold of him. He pulled him back, while Carter tried struggling free to land a few more blows to the soccer star. The fact Ryan was a couple heads shorter than him made it a little more difficult for him to restrain Carter.

"Hey, get him out of here!" Ryan yelled to the watching soccer players. They all nodded and grabbed the soccer star and moved him out. Carter kept struggling and managed to land another blow on the soccer star, causing him to whine like a puppy. The players got the star out of Ryan's house, so Ryan let him go. However, Carter started to run out the door, so Ryan jumped in front and blocked it.

"Calm down man. I want to kick his ass as much as you do," Ryan said to Carter, who was still fuming with rage.

"Then let me!" Carter angrily said. Ryan shook his head.

"Beating him up might make you feel better, but what about Taylor?" Ryan brought up a good point, causing Carter to think twice. He took a few deep breaths before he settled down and regained his composure. He looked at the stairs with an almost mourning expression.

"Come on." Ryan pulled Carter with him up the stairs and toward the bathroom where a faint sobbing could be heard. They looked at each other. This wasn't going to be easy.

"You should go first." Carter motioned to Ryan. He started to shake his head, but a pleading look in Carter's eyes convinced him otherwise. "Besides, you're better at this than I am, and I don't wanna make things worse," Carter admitted. Ryan took a long look at him and nodded, for their friend's sake.

"Okay, but you're coming in later," Ryan entered the restroom, leaving Carter in the hallway. He closed the door and looked at a depressing sight. Taylor was sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall, with her tears flowing silently. She looked up to see Ryan sit down next to her.

"H-hey, Ryan," Taylor managed to say through her sobs. Ryan's heart ached as he saw his friend in pain. If he was feeling like this, Carter must be feeling ten times worse, he reasoned. Ryan began to talk.

"That idiot doesn't deserve you, especially after what he said back there," he said with a serious tone. Taylor grabbed Ryan and pulled him into a hug as she cried into his shirt.

"I-I'm so s-stupid," she sobbed.

"No, you're not, trust me. Carter and I have known you for a long time. Sweet and kind, that's you," Ryan began to describe. "Stupid doesn't even begin to describe that jerk that got carried out the door," he said, scowling towards the end at the mentioning of the soccer star. A short moment of silence occurred afterward before Taylor's tears started flowing once more onto the sleeve of his T-shirt. "It's okay," he said as Taylor dug her head deeper into his shirt. He rubbed her back, hoping it would help calm his friend down. He let Taylor cry for a few minutes before he continued to talk.

"Carter would say the same, and then some," he continued. Taylor's eyes widened slightly at the mention of Carter's name. "You know, Carter was about to tear him limb from limb as soon as you ran up here," Ryan said in a 'matter of fact' tone. A look of wonder appeared onto Taylor's face.

"R-really?" Taylor asked in astonishment as she released her embrace and looked at Ryan's face.

"Yeah. I held him back, but he managed to land a couple of good punches on him," Ryan smirked.

"H-he did that?" Taylor was beyond surprised. Carter had never acted like this before.

"Yep!" Ryan smiled as he realized Taylor wasn't crying.

"I didn't think he'd do that," Taylor thought aloud, absorbing the thought.

"I didn't either, but after what just happened, I don't blame him. I probably should have let him beat that jerk to a pulp," Ryan remarked. Taylor chuckled at the comment.

"You wouldn't want our best friend sitting in a jail cell would you?" Taylor asked.

"Well... I guess you've got a point," Ryan rubbed the back of his head. He looked at the closed door as they sat silently for a couple of minutes. He suddenly thought about Carter, who was still out there."Hey, I think he may wanna talk to you, considering he's been waiting outside."

"Really? Why didn't he come in with you?" Taylor curiously asked.

"Well, he apparently thinks I've got a knack for comforting people," Ryan explained. "He even said he didn't want to make it worse, which is nonsense."

A slight smile appeared on the Taylor's face. "He's right, you do," she agreed as Ryan sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "And he wouldn't make things worse,"

"Yeah, I know. He should see for himself, right?" Ryan opened the door. Carter walked in, with a concerned look on his face. Taylor and Carter seemed to be looking at each others eyes for a second with Carter finally asking,

"Are you feeling better?" Carter's voice was full of genuine concern.

"Y-yeah, a little bit," Taylor responded. Ryan took this as his cue to leave Carter alone with her.

"Maybe he'll be able to cheer her completely up," he thought. "Well, I'm gonna go get some pizza, feel free to join me anytime you two are ready, okay?" Ryan said to Carter and Taylor.

"Okay," the both of them answered. "Oh, Carter," Ryan whispered into his ear. "She's still really sensitive, so watch what you say! And a little side note... I told her about what you did earlier," he added with a smirk. Carter shot away in disbelief.

"Later guys!" Ryan left the bathroom, closed the door slowly, and climbed down the stairs. He felt a slight breeze blow towards him, making him realize the front door was open! A man stood in front of the open door, looking at Ryan. He looked like an older version of Ryan, except for his dark brown eyes.

"That idiot doesn't deserve you?" he remarked.

"Dad? When did you..." Ryan's dad smiled. He knew what his son was going to ask.

"I came back a few minutes ago. I saw a kid holding a bruised cheek being dragged by a group of kids out of the house. Is that what you kids call having fun?" Ryan's dad asked.

"Oh, a-about that," Ryan stuttered. This was an awkward situation. How do you sum up teenage relationship drama to your dad? His dad walked up to Ryan and patted his head.

"It's alright, I know what happened," he said, surprising Ryan.

"H-how? Didn't you just get back?" Ryan asked as his dad began to explain himself.

"Well son, that kid with the bruised cheek is Taylor's boyfriend, right?" Before Ryan could correct his dad, he corrected himself. "I mean, ex-boyfriend. The fact he had a nasty bruise on his face and no Taylor next to him probably meant... well, you know," Ryan nodded as he listened. "I came back while Carter was shouting at you to get out of the way and after hearing that, it clicked. The kid dumped Taylor in a horrible way causing her to run off. Carter got mad and wanted to beat the crap out of him but not before you stopped him, and then you guys comforted your friend," his dad finished. Ryan's jaw fell in awe. How could someone who couldn't find a TV remote figure out all of this?

"Wait, did you ask Carter? You did, didn't you?" Ryan asked, causing his dad to rub the back of his head and nod. They shared a laugh.

"You're just like your mom, always comforting people," Ryan's dad carelessly thought aloud. Ryan suddenly stopped laughing. His dad stood there, silently cursing himself for thinking aloud again.

"Did you say mom?" Ryan asked. His dad shook his head, denying the fact he said it.

Ryan turned away. He never heard a thing about his mother. The only person who seemed to know anything about her was his dad. However he always avoided the subject whenever his son brought it up and instead asked his son about the one thing that always distracted him... his love life. That usually ticked him off to the point of forgetting to ask about his mother. Ryan's dad debated doing this again, but a part of him wanted to share a portion of her memory with his son.

"Actually," he said as he put a hand on his son's shoulder. "I said you're just like your mother. You're always comforting people, giving them encouraging words and a shoulder to cry on," Ryan's ears perked up listening to his words.

"Mom was like that?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, she is," his dad nodded. Ryan's dad kicked himself mentally again for being so careless."I meant was!" he quickly said to correct himself.

"But didn't you say-"

"I meant was. Anyways, you should get Carter and Taylor down here to help you finish those pizzas in the kitchen." He turned and raced off into the kitchen, determined not to say anymore.

"The way he said it... I'm sure of it!" Ryan thought, coming out from his reminiscence. Looking up at the night sky, he could see a couple of stars twinkling and gleaming while the clouds moved aside. "I don't know what dad's hiding, but I know I'll find you, mom... someday."

"Hey!" An old man waved his hand in front of Ryan's eyes. Ryan snapped out of his thoughts and raised his head as the man continued.

"Are you feeling alright, young man?" The old man asked.

"Oh, yeah. Just a bit tired. You know how teachers are- they always give out too much homework," Ryan quickly remarked, causing the old man to chuckle.

"Well, you were staring up for awhile... Just wondering if you were fine," the old man said.

"I'm fine, don't worry. Thanks for the concern though," Ryan said.

"No problem, sonny." The old man walked off, leaving Ryan to his thoughts.

"W-well, if I look that bad, maybe I should walk around. Brooding isn't exactly great for my health," Ryan thought as he got up from the stone bench.

"Oh, one more thing!" The old man walked back to Ryan. "If something's on your mind, you could ask the fortune teller over there." He pointed out a hidden pathway that seemed a bit out of the way from the other attractions in the amusement park. "Just walk down that path and past the old restrooms, there's a purple tent with a flag on top. The fortune teller in there is one of the best in the business!"

"Thanks, but I'm not exactly a fan of fortune telling..." Ryan sheepishly rubbed his head at the suggestion.

"Well, it's still worth a shot, considering you were spacing out for a long while. I'll leave it up to you sonny," the old man said as he disappeared from sight again.

Ryan face palmed himself. "Was it that obvious?" He considered the fact he still needed to kill some time for Taylor and Carter, and that it couldn't hurt to get his fortune read."After all, it'll probably be a good piece of advice," Ryan laughed in his head as he started venturing down the path the old man had pointed out. Little did Ryan know however, the old man was watching him.

"I hope she got the message..." the old man thought before he walked away.

Ryan reached the end of the pathway and stood in front of the purple tent the old man had told him about. He looked at the flag on top. "Hmm, that almost looks like a Pokeball. It couldn't be," Ryan thought, noticing the faded shades of red and white on it, as he carefully opened the flap and slowly walked in. The tent was dimly lit from a single light bulb fixated over a table with a crystal ball. Ryan looked around the tent. There were many knickknacks in the tent, but there was no one in sight.

"Hello? Is anyone here?" Ryan called out.

"Okay, backpack's packed," the fortune teller thought to herself as she stuffed various camping equipment into the black backpack. The backpack had two large zipper pockets, which the fortune teller had the pleasure of stuffing.

"Oh, can't forget to do this." The fortune teller put a blue PDA-like object into the backpack and spoke,"Dex, reset code 38104 and shut off until next pokemon appearance." A female robotic voice complied.

CONFIRMED. CLEARING SEEN AND CAPTURED POKEMON ENTRY DATA. SHUTTING DOWN.

"Hello?" A voice called out. The fortune teller jumped in surprise. She got up and shoved the backpack behind a crate. She picked up a glass-like orb from a small box and proceeded to walk through the flap to her tent.

"Hello, welcome to my tent," The fortune teller's heart jumped as she looked at Ryan. "It's him!" She thought. Ryan looked at the fortune teller, puzzled at her frozen expression.

"A-are you okay?" Ryan asked the fortune teller, who shook out of her frozen expression.

"Of course, young one. I'm assuming you are here for a fortune, yes?" she asked Ryan, who sheepishly rubbed his head.

"I guess, but I'm not exactly a fan of fortune telling. An old man suggested this tent to me, from out of nowhere and I couldn't refuse," Ryan told her. The fortune teller's eyes widened a bit.

"Hmm, so he's here too... interesting. He might have gotten the message as well," she thought. "Well, my crystal ball over there on the table is not working properly, so I am looking for another one," the fortune teller pointed at the table with a crystal ball resting on it.

"Oh, th-that's a shame," Ryan hesitantly said. He thanked her for her time and turned to walk out.

"Wait," the fortune teller called out before Ryan could leave. He stopped, wondering what she needed. "Could you help me find my spare crystal ball?" Ryan turned around, seeing the convincing pleading look in the fortune teller's eyes.

"It would give Carter and Taylor some more alone time and I'd have something to do," Ryan thought. "Sure, I don't mind." The fortune teller smirked.

"Splendid! Now come along into the back." She motioned for Ryan to follow her into the back. He walked into the storage-like room, seeing tons of opened crates with weird and obvious unique objects showing. He turned to the fortune teller and was about to ask where to start when he noticed the small orb she held in her right hand.

"Is that one of your spares?" Ryan asked.

"Oh, this? This is an antique I found in one of these crates and I forgot to put it back. Could you hold it for me so I can look for the crate it goes in?" the fortune teller asked.

"Sure," Ryan complied as he cupped his hands together to hold the delicate looking orb.

"And, could you be a dear and lift this pack for me? It seems my grandkid left it here and I cannot find a place to put it at the moment," she added hastily.

"Sure, where is it?" As soon Ryan asked, the fortune teller pulled a pack out from behind a crate. He asked her to hold the orb as he put the pack on. Ryan decided he needed his two hands free to hold the delicate and possibly priceless orb. He put the black backpack on and the fortune teller handed the orb back. Then the fortune teller looked at the ancient doorway in the back.

"Uh... is something wrong?" Ryan asked as he noticed the fortune teller looking at the ancient doorway.

"I think I may have found the perfect place for that orb you are holding. Follow me," she suddenly said, motioning for him to follow her. Ryan silently followed the fortune teller to the ancient doorway she stared at earlier. On closer examination, Ryan found a round opening that was almost as big as the orb he carried. He held the orb next to the hole, finding that it was indeed a perfect fit.

"Is this it?" Ryan asked. The fortune teller nodded in response. She seemed to have a look of glee in her eyes, but Ryan ignored it. "Okay, here it goes! Please, don't break..." With his right hand, he placed the orb in the hole, making sure it was snug.

"There!" Ryan took his hand off of the orb and turned to the fortune teller. "Anything else you need-" A sudden flash of light that came from the orb cut him off. It shone, defining the red on the top and white on the bottom. Then, it started to dissolve! As the final bits of the orb disappeared, the door behind where the orb once was dissolved, which revealed a white shining opening. Ryan was shocked, to say the least.

"Wh-what's going on?" Ryan asked in shock as he looked at the fortune teller who now stood in front of him.

"You shall know soon enough," she said as she shoved Ryan into the white opening.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Ryan said before he began to feel himself plummeting and spinning uncontrollably. The force of the spinning caused Ryan's eyelids to close. It felt like he was being pulled from the inside out! His senses were overwhelmed, causing him to black out.

"May Arceus guide you on your journey!" the fortune teller yelled.