"… Ethan?"

"Here, I got you this!" Ethan flashed his trademark smile while handing her the pink heart-shaped box that the spiders had crawled into, before she could even thank him for saving her.

"Umm… No thanks?"

"Did you say you want it? I knew it! This is a present from me!" said Ethan while still smiling and offering the box to her, as though he did not hear Lyra's refusal at all. And that was when another sensation of déjà vu hit her; it was here at the Goldenrod Underground that Ethan had given her the Fashion Case – the receptacle used to hold Contest Accessories and Backdrops. In fact, she could swear that the very words that he had just spoken were the exact same words that he had said the first time he had given her the Fashion Case.

"You gave me one before. Right here, in fact." Lyra was expecting him to show sudden recollection and laugh off his forgetfulness. Instead, he suddenly became serious and straightened up.

"It's not safe here, Lyra. Please come with me. You have to leave," said Ethan grimly, his smile suddenly replaced with a serious demeanour. He walked on ahead of her towards the exit, no longer offering her the Fashion Case. Although this was completely uncharacteristic of him, Lyra still followed, glad to finally meet up with someone closely familiar. Azumarill bounced up the steps behind them.

After a long and hurried journey on foot, Ethan and Lyra finally arrived at the Day Care Centre on the outskirts of the city, at Route 34. Throughout the entire journey, Ethan had been silent and all questions posed or statements made by Lyra were only met with a monotonous half-acknowledgement. The Ethan that Lyra knew was always cheerful, and would be talking non-stop without any prompting. But because she was tired from all the running-for-her-life which she had been doing, she soon gave up on her attempts at conversation and focused on trying to keep pace with his quick steps.

Now she found herself sitting at a lounge inside the Centre, while Ethan was just outside the door behind the counter, having a serious conversation with who she presumed to be the Day-Care Lady. Lyra remembered that the Day Care Couple were Ethan's grandparents after all.

Finally in a place where she felt safe, she allowed herself to relax, laying her head down to rest on the table in front of her while trying to collect her thoughts. Where had she been before waking up in the Department Store? What had she been doing? But it seemed that no matter how hard she strained, the earliest memory she had was from waking up in the Store.

She could recall things that she had done in the distant past, perhaps a year or so ago. Like challenging the Johto League Pokémon Championships. Travelling to somewhere distant, perhaps to begin a fresh journey in a new region. Or running around Johto looking for rare and elusive Pokémon which had escaped her on her maiden journey. But between all of that and her waking up in the Department Store was a huge blank. It was as if someone had taken the digital records of that missing time period and deleted them completely, leaving nothing but the assumption that nothing had happened then.

She tried next to recall specific people or Pokémon, since her memory of events failed her. Had she met anyone new or caught a special Pokémon? What had her main objective been at that time, or who had her main companion been? Each time she contemplated these, her mind drew a blank. Nothing happened. She was quickly concluding that she probably had a case of mild amnesia, maybe from a concussion or some psychological trauma. Or perhaps someone had kidnapped her and brainwashed that part of her life out of her main consciousness. Such things were possible, after all, if attempted by a highly-trained Psychic Pokémon under the strict control of a strong trainer. But who would do that to her and why?

"Lyra, could you come here for a moment?" Ethan's voice coming from just outside the door broke her out of her thoughts. Rising from her seat and out of her ruminations, she went behind the counter and headed out the door, where she found him standing with his back to her, staring contemplatively beyond the wire-fence in front of him. The area behind the high fence was where the Day Care let their clients' Pokémon run free. It was a huge enclosure, a wooded area, with lush grass and trees all around and a small lake in a clearing for Pokémon to play and groom themselves in. Small hutches and domiciles were scattered throughout the enclosure for the Pokémon to make use of while the entire sector was completely fenced off, even at the top, to prevent Pokémon from escaping and thieves from breaking in. Looking around, she didn't see anyone with him and presumed that the Day Care Lady had gone to tend to the Pokémon after speaking with her grandson. "Look, Lyra," Ethan said without turning around, merely pointing to a clearing in the trees where he was staring at. Coming beside him to look at what he wanted her to see, she gasped in utter shock. A torrent of confused and contradictory emotions immediately rushed through her and she suddenly felt weak, the world around her starting to spin. A mountain of confusion was beginning to overwhelm her. "… B-b-but… … … w-w-what… … w-where… … … I… … I-I thought-" she sputtered, completely stupefied.

Words completely failed her and she just stared, dumfounded at the scene before her. She knew she should feel relieved and even overjoyed, but the incomprehensibility of the situation made it too much for her to process all at once. Ethan just continued to stare at the scene, ignoring the girl next to him who was on the verge of collapsing from shock.

Instead of fainting though, she slowly sank to her knees while continuing to gape. After some moments, she finally managed to collect herself and form some coherent words. "W-What are they doing here…?' she stuttered, still feeling weak.

Ethan offered no reply to her, still standing like a statue, gazing pensively towards the scene. There in the clearing, her main party Pokémon were happily frolicking around, completely oblivious to their Trainer standing about 20 metres away behind a wire-fence. Not expecting an explanation from him and feeling strength return to her, she rose to her feet and began to shout, calling out to her beloved Pokémon to attract their attention. Meganium still continued grazing on the verdant leaves from the tree branches around it, while Kadabra napped/meditated peacefully in the shade of a nearby cluster of trees. Her Flareon, Ambipom and Nidoqueen were engrossed in playing some game together in the soft grass while her Dragonair took a leisurely swim through the crystal-clear lake. She was certain that they could hear her voice but they gave no such indication. Still, she continued to shout, tears coming to her eyes and her voice growing hoarse. She had missed her Pokémon so badly and had been so worried about their fate when they had gone missing. And now that they had suddenly reappeared here, safe and sound but without explanation, a strange combination of relief, euphoria and consternation burst through her and made her weep uncontrollably without warning. It was then the Ethan finally said something.

"They can't see or hear you Lyra, but you should say goodbye."

Though she wanted to demand what he meant by that, he didn't say this threateningly but in a sombre and gentle tone. This, along with confusion she was still in, had the effect of making her simply comply without protest, and she called out to her Pokémon, each by name, one final time. They looked so blissful and content here and that made her happy too, though this sudden and unexplained reunion and departure also filled her with immense sorrow.

"… Lyra?" A familiar female voice from the shadows behind her called out. Lyra recognised this voice as belonging to the woman who Ethan had been talking to earlier, and she realised what a fool she'd been to think that it was the Day Care Lady.

"Mom…?" She turned and sure enough, there her mother was, wearing her usual white sun dress. The woman was emerging out from the shade of the trees in the small area between the Day Care Centre building and the front of the enclosure. Lyra ran to her mother and gave her a tight hug and her mother returned the embrace affectionately.

"What are you doing here, mom?"

"Lyra, dear, I just want you to know that I love you. More than anything, honey," her mother said gently but with a tinge of sadness in her voice.

"I love you too mom. Love you so much," Lyra murmured while continuing to hug her mother. "But why are-"

"And I'm so proud of you. You've always been a good daughter to me."

"Mom, why-"

"Hush now, dear. Let me just hold you one last time."

And though this only made Lyra even more confused and apprehensive, she embraced her mother in silence, savouring the tenderness of the moment. After what seemed an eternity that yet strangely felt too short, her mother slowly let her go. And she saw that her mom's eyes were red with tears as well.

"Go now, honey. Please follow Ethan. Please," her mother choked, full of emotion while turning away and covering her face with her hands. Lyra turned and saw that her childhood friend had turned away from the fence and had been watching the scene. He too gave her a tight hug, and she returned the gesture, which was slightly awkward but definitely did not feel unpleasant.

"Come now, Lyra. It's time," he said resolutely after letting her go. He slowly led the way back into the Day Care Centre building and she followed, so many questions on her mind now but all of them answered, not with logical responses but with love.

"Here we are," He said simply, leading her to the area of the Centre where the PC terminals were located, for Trainers to withdraw and deposit their Pokémon. She followed him into the room but immediately froze beside him when she saw the display on the PC's screen. A simple and familiar digital message: Goodbye, Lyra.

She felt her blood grow cold but she stood rooted to the floor in fear. "Come now, Lyra," Ethan said mechanically.

When she did not respond, his demeanour suddenly changed. In one swift and violent motion, he grabbed the back of her head with one hand and smashed her face against the computer monitor. Instead of feeling her face impact against hard plastic though, the monitor against her face rippled like a thick liquid. Now she felt Ethan using both arms to force her head into the computer screen and as he did, the computer screen yielded as well, softening from a liquid screen into something that felt more like a portal. As he continued pushing her in, she again felt the portal dissolving, this time into a vortex. And the vortex suddenly sucked her in whole.

And everything was blackness once again.