16

[1:32. Lorelei's home. Four Island.]

Lorelei sipped on the cup of tea the man handed to her; chamomile, like her mother made her.

"I hope you are doing well, Lorelei."

"Thank you, Hector," she said. "I'm enjoying not being stuck in bed."

The man laughed. "That's good, that's good. You know, we were all rooting for you."

She smiled. "Everyone?" The man took a seat on the leather chair opposite the ice master. He removed his glasses and wiped them on his jacket. "Yes, everyone. Enjoying your tea?"

"It's excellent," she conceded. "This tastes like my mother's recipe."

"I found it taped to the counter."

She raised the cup in a small toast. "Flawlessly executed."

Hector sipped at his tea, enjoying the subtle flavors that permeated the brew. "Your mother had excellent taste."

"So why are you here, exactly, Hector?"

Hector smiled, "To wish you well, of course. And to catch up. It's been quite a long time. I came to visit you in Olivine, did you know that?"

"No," she shook her head. "And what would a young man like you be doing visiting me? Aren't you busy with the League?"

"Will taught me everything I know, it seemed right that I would visit his wife. How long has it been, if you don't mind me asking?"

Lorelei placed the cup and saucer on the table. She looked down. "Almost five years now."

Hector exhaled. "Five years? How have you been keeping up? How do you keep busy?"

"Well, I'm still reasonably active within the rangers, until the incident of course."

Hector reached out to touch Lorelei's hand. "I was told that you lost your partner in the attack." Lorelei said nothing. "Tragic, for one to have lost so much and still keep going is a marvel in and of itself."

"Honestly, I don't know what keeps me going sometimes." Her voice faded wistfully into the island breeze. "Are you going to tell me why you're really here?"

He smiled and reached for a folder in his bag. "I am here to discuss the night of your accident, actually."

Lorelei stiffened. "I had a feeling that's what this was about."

"Please, get comfortable, I know how much this is to deal with so soon after you get home, but there are things the League—we—need."

"I will do the best I can."

"What can I do to help the investigation?"

Hector looked wounded. "Investigation? This isn't so formal. We just want to know what happened."

She shook her head. Outside her window, the Wingull cried against the beating of the waves and the slow whistle of the wind. "Everything runs together."

"Please, what do you remember, Lorelei? We need to bring whoever did this to justice."

"I don't remember much, arriving at the facility, finding the hostages…" She ran a hand through her hair.

Her hair…

"And I remember…I remember the fire…I remember being burned."

Hector bit down on the end of his pen. "Do you remember who it was that ambushed you?"

"I never told anyone about that…"

Hector looked infinitely calm. "The name or the description of the man will do."

"Who are you?"

"The name or description, please, Lorelei."

"Where am I?"

"THE NAME OR DESCRIPTION."

Lorelei stood, but Hector moved to stop her. "You're agitated, upset. Obviously, the medications have addled your brain. Please, if I can just have his name, this can all end."

Lorelei felt her face flush, the room chilled and she noticed that the windows and doors were gone. There were no more quiet cries of Wingull at her deck. She reached for her belt, for her pokemon, but there were none.

"It didn't have to be like this, Lorelei. We can just end this if you simply tell me that name."

She fell to her knees, her head wracked in pain. She felt waves and waves of agony crash over the shore of her mind. Hector's face never abandoned the look of cool calculation.

"The name, please."

She could feel her resolve melt, her strength. Why couldn't she just tell him? Why was she protecting the name? It wasn't right; he wasn't right.

She had to tell Blue.

"Blue! Blue!"

"No one can hear you!"

She threw herself at him, and even with her old bones, she managed to hurl himself at the young man. He struck her, and she careened into the floor.

He stood over her and pressed a finger to her forehead. She cried out as the white hot pain shot through her body. Stars formed in her vision, then the room shattered, and she fell a long time, until she felt the cool of ice water take her. She surfaced, gasped, and checked her surroundings. She was adrift at sea, adrift in the deep ink of her unconsciousness; the icebergs sailed noiselessly across, slowly, like titans.

Someone reached her hand down to take Lorelei's. She was pulled up to the ice. She rested out at the feet of a young, intense looking woman.

"Don't worry; I have not abandoned you yet."

The piercing image of a Lorelei in her glory days blocked the sun. She helped the old woman stand. "We need each other; your experience, my vitality."

She nodded. Hector floated lazily above the frigid water. "Will this be very long?"

Young Lorelei turned to her older counterpart. "Just swim for the horizon, I can deal with this one." She gave a push for her over the edge. Lorelei could see the battle begin through the crest of the water, where the sun hit the water, before she disappeared.

[11:29 AM. Olivine City Hospital. Olivine City. The next day.]

Lorelei's eyes screamed as she fell from the bed.

She panted, feeling the first cool breath after days of stale air. All of her senses were alive, she felt the cool of the linoleum on her hands, the movement of the air from the air conditioner. Her voice caught in her dry throat; she tried to scream but couldn't. She lay there for a moment, dazed, confused, battered, and broken. Lorelei coughed and pulled the IVs from her arm, the saline drip, the air tube.

No one had come to her aid. No nurse, no attendant, no doctor, no orderly. She was alone. She took a moment to get to her feet; she felt gravity pull down on her. She took a step, then a second, then a third. She gripped the handle and turned it. No one was in the hall. She turned, meandered her way into the main lobby.

She found everyone. All the staff crowded around a television. Some covered their mouths, some looked away, and others began to cry. The rest were quiet.

On the television, live, Tin Tower burned.