The hospital room was crowded with people, most of them standing against the walls but a few closer ones like the mother and Ethan sitting on chairs by the bedside. The room was filled with a solemn silence as everyone in the room waited for the comatose girl on the bed to die.
Sitting on both ends of the bed was a Banette and its mistress – a small, teenaged girl that everyone knew as the Copycat. With Copycat and Banette each joining hands with the unconscious girl to form a triangle, both human and Pokémon's eyes were tightly shut as they were deep in a trance, doing the job that they had been called on to do.
It was 2 years ago that Lyra had once again decided to enter the Indigo League Pokémon Championships Tournament. The first time she had challenged the League, she had finished in the top eight, which was a roaring success for a rookie trainer challenging the league for the first time. The second time she had challenged the league, she had placed third. Now, she was determined to claim the title of overall Champion for herself.
To that end, Lyra had doubled down her training, working endlessly to toughen up her Pokémon. She was especially determined to evolve her Dragonair into a Dragonite, something only the most experienced Dragon Tamers could do.
Her new favourite training spot had been Mt. Silver. Unlike her old favourite training ground of the Whirl Islands, the terrain and wild Pokémon on Mt. Silver were much tougher, which was perfect for her – until that one tragic day.
On that fateful day, a team of Pokémon Rangers, exploring a mountainous cave, came across a large pile of boulders deep in the interior. Having received a distress signal from a Trainer's Pokégear a few days earlier, the rangers were canvassing an isolated area on Mt. Silver, attempting to locate the source of the signal. The boulders appeared likely to be the work of wild Graveler or Golem and hence the rangers set to work, lifting off the rocks to extricate what was underneath.
At the bottom of the Rock Slide were an unconscious Ambipom, Nidoqueen, Kadabra and Lyra. Though the Pokémon bore deep battle-scars, it was apparent that they had tried to shield their Trainer from the avalanche of rocks.
The doctors at the hospital did all they could but though Lyra's medical condition was out of immediate danger, they could not resuscitate her. The physical trauma inflicted on her brain from the Rock Slide meant that she would never awaken from her coma.
Still, her mother hung on to the vain hope that there might be a miracle, and insisted that her daughter be kept on life support. On the other hand, it was Ethan who decided that alternative action should be taken. He could no longer bear the agony of seeing his beloved Lyra futilely kept afloat in a vegetative state month after month, her body being fed like a plant while her mind was no longer there.
He had known the Copycat from his earlier travels through Kanto. Like most of the inhabitants of Saffron City, the girl possessed extraordinary psychic powers and was skilful in honing them to reach the inner recesses of a person's consciousness.
Having met Lyra before and being indebted to her for her help, the Copycat agreed to help trying to contact Lyra one final time. As a Ghost Pokémon, her Banette would help guide her mind to approach those souls wandering close to the realm of death, without accidentally taking the irreversible step into the chasm dividing the world of the living from the afterlife; for she knew that this limbo area was where Lyra's consciousness slept.
Her mission was to try to see if she could bring Lyra's soul back, and if she could not, to stop her from wandering adrift and send her off to the other side. Meanwhile, doctors attempted to revive her once again.
Various medical procedures were attempted. Experimental brain surgery, psychiatric medication, defibrillation, anything. Every single procedure failed. And each time the Copycat sent out Banette to try to reach her consciousness, her mind fled, creating traps for itself or merely blacking itself out.
There seemed to be a change though when with extreme effort, the Copycat managed to channel Ethan and her mother to commune with Lyra's consciousness. However, it was an extremely brief moment before the forces of life and death separated them. And it was then that the Copycat realised that these forces were what prevented Lyra from ever coming back. In the physical world, Lyra's eyes had opened but still, her brain was dead.
As the Copycat and Banette finally managed to catch up with Lyra, it was apparent that she was ready to make the crossing to the other side, and there was no turning back. Instead of keeping the trainer in limbo though, the Copycat knew that it was only right to let Lyra leave in peace.
In the hospital room, the machines monitoring Lyra's vital signs slowly began to give off fading signals, before letting out a flat monotone to indicate that it did not detect any signs of life anymore.
The Copycat slowly opened her eyes and looking at the people assembled, nodded. Her mission was complete.
The mom let out an anguished wail and buried her face in the blanket covering her daughter's body. Ethan closed his eyes, relief washing over him that it was finally over.
A single tear slid down his face.