She was suddenly aware of many sounds around her and she slowly opened her eyes, rubbing them as many bright lights cut through her blurry vision and dazzled her. At first she thought she had been asleep at home or while camping somewhere outdoors but now, it was apparent that she had been unconscious and was in the middle of a public place. As the fog in her head and her eyes cleared, she sat up and looked around. Charred remains of something surrounded her, keeping the crowds of people in the background from coming near and stepping on her. Where was she? What was she doing in this place? She had been lying sprawled on the floor, unconscious for… how long? And now, as she struggled to regain her bearings and to recall what had happened, she suddenly realised where she was – the first floor of the Goldenrod Department Store!
All around her, shoppers moved up and down the escalators, happily chatting with one another and testing their new purchases on their Pokémon, all ostensibly oblivious to the girl who had been lying spread-eagled in the middle of the lobby surrounded by burnt debris. That was when she remembered she was a Trainer and quickly felt around for her Poké Balls. That surge of panic that shot through her as she fumbled around for her Poké Balls immediately grew into a tide that swept over her as she realised that she could only find one. And then she remembered – remembered everything that had happened since she awoke in this spot, seemingly in another dream. A powerful sense of déjà vu swept over her.
Pulling herself to her feet, she looked around and saw the shop assistant Jill standing near the entrance of the store conferring with a group of security guards. Upon noticing that she was conscious and on her feet, Jill gestured frantically at her and said something urgently to the guards. The guards turned to stare at her and immediately, Lyra knew what to do though she didn't know why – run.
Up the escalator she went and soon enough, the group of security men followed, shouting at her to stop. There was nowhere else to go but up and up all the way and so she ascended the floors, the team of guards chasing her and yelling threats all the way. As if this scenario weren't absurd enough, things just became nonsensical. As Lyra raced across the fifth floor for the escalator to the sixth, she bumped into a woman customer who was in her way. Before she could mutter a quick apology and sidestep her, the woman whirled around to face her and her expression made Lyra stop dead in her tracks; it was a look of absolute terror. "THE FRILLISH IS HERE!" the woman screamed, backing away in fright. Immediately, all activity in the mall ceased and all eyes fixed onto Lyra for a few silent, tense moments. Then pandemonium broke loose as shoppers panicked, screaming and fleeing in all directions as though Lyra were one of the walking dead. People trampled over each other, jumped over the railings to the lower floors and even smashed windows and leaped out of them. Was this for real? She was absolutely stupefied. What the heck was going on?
In the midst of the chaos, Lyra suddenly remembered that she was the one who had been running. Turning around, she saw that the security guards had just succeeded in pushing their way through the stampeding crowd and were now standing 20 metres away from her. Without a word, the guard at the head of the security detail opened his mouth impossibly wide and spat out… Spikes? The projectiles that he gargled out certainly looked identical to the Pokémon attack as they landed around Lyra's feet. The other guards who stood behind this one then surged past him with their arms outstretched towards Lyra, shouting indiscernibly.
Without hesitating, she kicked the Spikes away and ran in the other direction as fast as she could. Grabbing something off a counter as she passed, she hurled it at her pursuers before realising that it was a TM and wouldn't do much to slow them down. But once again, she was proven wrong as she heard pained shouts from behind her. Turning her head while still running, she saw that the disc she threw had shattered and ignited, creating a large bonfire which the security guards were now leaping around in. Perhaps that one contained Fire Blast.
Pressing on, she charged up the final escalator, while looking back. The guards had somehow circumvented the fire with impossible adroitness and were now rounding the final corner to the escalator. Lyra was just a girl, being chased by a group of grown, physically-fit men. It didn't take much to figure out who would win the chase. Something else had to be done.
Reaching the final floor and panting, Lyra pulled out the Poké Ball and released Banette. "Banette… Night Shade!" she wheezed, pointing at the guards who were now halfway up the escalator.
The marionette Pokémon turned towards the indicated targets, its eyes glowing crimson. With a cackle, it then released a wave of dark energy which knocked the guards on the escalator off their feet, causing them to end up in a flailing heap on the landing of the fifth floor. Quickly, Lyra returned Banette back into its Poké Ball and sprinted for the elevators, which were the only viable route of escape now. Reaching the lift lobby, one of the elevators already had its doors readily open, an invitation to safe haven. Lyra was too desperate to escape to realise that an elevator waiting for her with its doors open was something to be treated with suspicion. Upon stepping inside, the doors closed and the elevator immediately descended without command. Lyra could only watch the floor numbers decrease as she leaned against the wall catching her breath, a heavy sense of apprehension building in the pit of her stomach.
Finally, the elevator reached basement level and its doors opened. In front of her was only darkness but because the elevator's buttons did not respond to her, she had little choice but to step out. When she did, the lift doors closed and the car ascended, leaving Lyra alone, trapped in the pitch-dark basement.