The beach on Route 19 was big, sunny, and beautiful. Ash lounged on a beach chair under a massive umbrella made of straw and wood. She had bought herself a new swimsuit in Fuchsia City — her first two-piece — and she was enjoying the freedom of it. She loved the feel of the gentle breeze and the smell of the ocean. She reached for an ice-cold Coke on the table next to her while she read the news article on her phone.

SAFFRON CITY — In a shocking development, Silph Co. filed for bankruptcy on Friday and announced the resignation of its long-time CEO, Fujio Takagi. As of the writing of this article, it is estimated the company has lost an excess of ¥9 trillion. The news has sent shockwaves throughout the business community and follows a series of raids by law enforcement in the Kanto and Johto Regions on several Silph Co. locations.

Authorities in the Kanto Region are investigating potential criminal misconduct surrounding the stunning financial implosion of Silph Co., in addition to the reported incident at the Silph Tower in downtown Saffron City. The partial building collapse at the Silph Co. Headquarters follows a similar incident and cyber-attack at the Celadon Game Corner in April, a subsidiary of the corporation based in Saffron. In a statement, the National Public Safety Commission confirmed the investigation into Silph Co.

"In light of the partial collapse of the Silph Co. Building, and the provisional liquidation of Silph Co. assets held in Kanto, investigators from the Financial Crimes Branch are working closely with the Kanto Securities Commission and Interpol to investigate if any criminal misconduct occurred," the statement said.

According to sources close to the investigation, the company is suspected of having been involved in several illegal activities, including money laundering, fraud, and racketeering. As financial investigators here at The Morning Sun have already reported, at least 97 subsidiaries linked to Silph Co. filed for dissolution following the incident at the Celadon Game Corner, predating the collapse at the Silph Tower by over a month. Previously, a spokesperson for Silph Co. had denied that the incident had in any way caused the sudden legal and financial flurry, which was dubbed a 'restructuring' by the company.

Neither Silph Co. nor a lawyer representing Mr. Takagi responded to requests for comment. This is a developing story, and we will provide updates as more information becomes available.

Ash finished reading. The Morning Sun writers were certainly careful not to give even the slightest hint of where most of their information had come from. That suited Ash just fine. What she had just read was sweeter than any soda. She put the Coke back on the table and glanced down at her bag, where the other phone that Tinker Bell had given her was. He hadn't contacted her yet, and she was starting to want to just call him herself.

Ash's phone buzzed in her hand, and she looked back at the screen. It was a text from Ryan.

Dinner time tell me where you are so I can pick you up

Ash sighed as she read it. They had all promised their parents when they left they would visit home after six months. She had completely forgotten. Ash texted her location in reply, and the beach was illuminated by a flash of pink light a moment later.

Even while wearing her sunglasses, Ash blinked a few times to recover from the light of the Teleport. Ryan's silhouette stood tall next to his Kadabra; Josh stood a ways away, bent over with his hands on his knees and pale in the face. Ash sympathized. As convenient as Teleport was, she couldn't seem to get used to the feeling.

"I didn't know you knew this spot," Ash said to Ryan.

"I've already been to Fuchsia for the Safari Zone," Ryan said, "I knew you'd be here just for the beach."

Ash rolled her eyes.

"Is there anywhere you've been that you actually enjoyed?" she muttered as she stood up.

Ryan reached for her arm as she stood, but Ash pulled away.

"I didn't say I was ready," she said.

"Yeah, can we just, like, chill here for a bit?" Josh said. "My head's spinning."

"You two are lame," Ryan said, "and we're gonna get in trouble if we're late."

"Just give me a sec," Ash said.

She pulled out a pair of faded jean overalls from her bag. She shook the overalls and slapped the front with her hand to shake off the sand. Then she slipped it on. It was too big for her, and missing one of the buttons, so Ash buttoned the one that remained and tightened the only usable strap to her chest. Then, she looked up.

Josh seemed to have lost his breath entirely and was staring at her. Ryan was red in the face, wouldn't look at her, and scratched his head.

"What?" Ash said.

"Nothing," Ryan said, rather quickly. Then, he stepped forward and took her arm in his hand. He turned and reached for Josh with his free hand. "Let's go."

"Wait," Josh said, "I'm not ready, I'm no—"

#

The smell of Pallet Town was the first thing that came to them as the pink light of the Teleport dissipated. Before the start of their journey, neither Josh, Ryan, or Ash would have been able to describe such a thing — none of them would have considered anything about Pallet Town very memorable at all. But after seven months away from home, the smell of freshly-mown grass hit them in a way that brought back all kinds of memories.

Ryan thought about days spent practicing after school. Countless afternoons spent at the batting cage perfecting his swing, and then walking home to lounge on the couch in his living room. Ash thought of the first day she had mowed the lawn of her new house on her own. She had insisted she do it since they had never had a lawn when they were living in Cerulean. It had taken Ash over an hour to do, maneuvering the heavy mower around the trees had been much harder than Ash had imagined. She was never able to get it done with the neat checkerboard pattern Jake Dale would always leave on his lawn.

That sweet, grassy smell was soon replaced, however; when Josh stumbled, bent over, and vomited.

"Ugh, gross!" Ash said.

"C'mon, man," Ryan laughed.

"I said… I wasn't… ready!" Josh complained between dry heaves.

#

Ash burst through the doors of the Delaney household, kicking her sandals into the shoe rack. She ran straight to the armchair in the living room, where her father always sat at that time of day, and planted a quick kiss on his cheek. Then, she ran to the kitchen, where Ash's mother was adding the finishing touches to a salad, and hugged her.

"Hi, Dad. Hi, Mom," Ash said quickly, "I'm gonna go get changed. I'll be right back."

Ash was up the stairs before either of them could respond. She had always been too quick for them. The jean overalls she was wearing were practically slipping off her shoulder by the time she made it to the top.

Mr. Delaney considered calling out to her, but just shook his head instead. He tried to go back to watching the TV. Then, he spoke.

"Did you see what she was wearing?" he said.

In the kitchen, Mrs. Delaney rolled her eyes with a smile. She kept her voice gentle, but firm. "Robert, don't start."

Ash was back downstairs minutes later, in jean shorts and a T-shirt. She plopped down onto the couch in the living room and was immediately peppered with questions from her parents.

"Did you get here okay?" Mr. Delaney asked.

"You haven't had dinner yet, right?" Mrs. Delaney asked.

"Yeah, Ryan gave me a ride," Ash said. "I didn't forget, Mom."

"Were you on a beach?" her father asked.

"Robert. Did you see our old house in Cerulean?" her mother asked.

"Yeah, on Route 19, near Fuchsia. The sand's not as soft as on Cerulean Cape, but it's way bigger — and they've got beach chairs," Ash said. "I didn't look at the house, why would I?"

"Well, I wonder sometimes who bought it," Mrs. Delaney said, "God, I loved that house. Remember the patio in the summer?"

"You haven't bought anything on the card I gave you in two months," Mr. Delaney said. "Did you lose it?"

"No, I just haven't needed it," Ash said.

"How are you paying for everything?"

"I won some battles," Ash said, "against some kids in the Saffron City Trainer Academy. And in a karate dojo."

Ash's parents looked at her each other.

"I thought you didn't want to be a Trainer?" her mother said.

"I don't," Ash said, suddenly finding it harder to answer her parents, "I just… thought it would be fun to try."

"Well," her father said, "if she's having fun…"

"And the Professor said this was okay?" Mrs. Delaney asked.

He doesn't even know.

"Yeah, he did," Ash said.

Mrs. Delaney looked like she wanted to say more. "I had fun, Mom," Ash said quickly, "I even made some friends."

Only then did Mrs. Delaney's shoulders drop as she finally relaxed.

"Speaking of," Ash said, reaching for her bag, "here, from Cerulean."

Ash pulled out a perfectly-preserved cherry blossom from the festival at Cerulean City and handed it to her mother.

"Oh!" Mrs. Delaney said as she took it.

"And check out what I found in Celadon," Ash said as she handed her father a large, square-shaped, black bag.

Mr. Delaney took the bag curiously and the contents inside shifted as he did. The subtle clacking of wood against wood was all the information he needed to know what was inside. He unzipped the bag, laid the board on the coffee table in the center of the living room, and pulled out the box holding the pieces.

"A hand-crafted chess set," Ash said, "like the one we used to have, back home."

Ash's father opened the box and pulled out a piece, examining it carefully.

"Ash wood. Nice," he murmured.

Again, Ash's parents shared a glance. They had lost a few things during the move from Cerulean to Pallet Town. One was the preserved cherry blossom that Mrs. Delaney had kept in her nightstand, always saying that she was going to have it made into a necklace, but had never done so. It was too precious to wear outside — Mr. Delaney had given that to her on their first anniversary.

Mr. Delaney had owned a hand-crafted chess set since high school, a prize from a prefecture-wide amateur chess tournament he had won. The front of the board had been signed by a grandmaster. The bag holding the white pieces had been lost in the move, making the set useless.

Ash had only asked her mother about the cherry blossom once when she was five years old and had asked to sleep in her parents' bed during a thunderstorm. Ash's father had taught her how to play chess, although she didn't seem to enjoy the game as much as he had hoped she would. Neither of them had thought Ash would remember any of that.

It was uncanny how well their daughter knew them.

"I've got three more of these for Mrs. Oak, Mrs. Dale, and Avery," Ash said, showing the rest of the frozen cherry blossoms she had gotten from the festival in Cerulean. "Do we have any wrapping paper?"

"Let me check," Mrs. Delaney said.

Ash drummed her fingers on the couch while her mother got up and went upstairs. Then, her father cleared his throat and pointed at Ash's neck.

"What about that?"

"Oh," Ash said as she looked down.

The chain was twisted, so Ash pulled the necklace out of her shirt and untangled it. A pale white stone hung from a silver chain. The stone was shaped like a teardrop. Mr. Delaney reached out a hand, and Ash unclasped the necklace and handed it over.

"I went to Mt. Moon," Ash said, "And I got a bunch of Moon Stones for my Pokemon. I used them to get my Pokemon to evolve — I even gave one to Ryan. But I had one left over. It was too small for another Pokemon, so I had it made into this."

"Mt. Moon," Mr. Delaney said as he looked at the stone, "I haven't thought about that place in years."

Mrs. Delaney returned with wrapping paper and some ribbons. Ash knelt on the floor and started wrapping the cherry blossoms on the coffee table.

"Is that what I think it is?" Mrs. Delaney said.

Mr. Delaney passed the necklace to her. "All the way from Mt. Moon."

"It's beautiful…" Mrs. Delaney whispered.

"So Dinah's evolved, then?" Mr. Delaney asked.

"Mhmm," Ash said. She finished the fold of the wrapping she was working on, and then in one fluid motion, she pulled out a Poke Ball from her pocket and tossed it to her father. He almost missed it, but he was able to clap his hands just before it hit the floor. "Twist the top," Ash said without looking back at her parents.

Gingerly, Mr. Delaney did so, and the red half became transparent. The familiar eyes of the Clefairy that had been their daughter's best friend for the last five years looked up and saw Ash's parents. But Dinah wasn't a little Clefairy anymore — a Pokemon that barely reached Ash's waist — she was a Clefable, with pointed wings that fluttered ever so slightly with every move Dinah made. She squealed with glee when she saw Ash's parents and began to sing a tune.

"She's so big!" Mrs. Delaney marveled.

But Mr. Delaney only looked at his daughter.

"Yes," he said, "she is."

#

Josh wanted nothing more than to brush his teeth as soon as he got home. But instead, he was pulled into a smothering hug the second he opened the front door.

"Mom!" Josh groaned.

He tried to wriggle himself out of her grip, but Josh's mother was bizarrely strong despite hardly being any taller than her 13-year-old son was. But that was the kind of strength Mrs. Dale had gotten after years of working as a nurse.

"Not one call," she said, "a misspelled text message every week is not going to keep you away from me."

"I was really busy," Josh said.

"Your brother always finds the time to call us," Josh's father said as he walked back into the house.

"He's older…" Josh began.

"I wasn't when I started," Jake finished, walking in after his father.

Mrs. Dale finally released Josh from her hug. Mr. Dale gave Josh a playful slap on the back which, like always, hit a little too hard for Josh and caused him to stumble forward. Jake rustled Josh's hair, and Josh looked up at his older brother with a sly grin.

"I've got five Badges," Josh said, "I'm an ace."

"Look at you, tough guy," Jake said, "I better hurry it up or you'll have all eight before I do."

"Where's your jacket?" Mrs. Dale asked.

"And where's my hat?" Mr. Dale added.

"Oh," Josh said. Suddenly, he couldn't remember any of the other things he was looking forward to bragging about. "… I lost the hat… and a Pokemon set my jacket on fire. So I threw it away."

Everyone in the Dale family stared at Josh.

"I need to shower," Josh said finally, "and brush my teeth. I'm gonna go do that now."

Setting the table for dinner was not what Ryan Oak was looking forward to on his visit home. Of course, Ryan hadn't been looking forward to visiting home at all. Ever since the start of his journey, Ryan had been living life exactly as he had always wanted. Sleeping in every morning, setting out to a city he had never been to before, where no one knew him, and beating every Trainer he made eye contact with. He got to eat whatever he wanted, buy whatever he wanted, and sleep as late as he wanted.

Once he got home, all Ryan had gotten to do was help his mom with cooking, helped his father rake the leaves on the lawn, and finally help his sister set the table. Usually, all of these things were done well before 6:00 PM. On this particular day, Ryan was keenly aware that his family had left these chores unfinished.

With the Dale and Delaney families coming over, setting the table was a hassle. As he had done since he was eight years old, Ryan crawled under the dining table and unlatched the bolts at both ends. Then, he and his sister grabbed the ends of the table and pulled out. The table split in two, and a third section unfolded and slipped into place. As a kid, watching it felt like seeing a magic trick. The process had impressed Ryan the first time he had done it. Five years later, however, it had more than lost its charm.

"And you couldn't do this earlier… because?" Ryan said as the extending table clicked into place.

"Oh, I'm sorry, does being a Trainer make you above manual labor?" Avery said as she set the napkins at each spot.

"I hiked through Diglett Cave and over Mt. Moon, thanks," Ryan said, placing the forks. "Remind me how you got here? Oh, that's right — a car."

"Yeah, that's true. You know what sucks about having a car?" Avery said as she grabbed the first plate.

"What?"

Avery set the plate down, leaned forward, and narrowed her eyes. "Nothing," she said with a smug grin.

#

The Dale family arrived first, with a lasagna that Mrs. Dale had prepared. The Delaneys brought a salad full of leafy greens and topped with feta cheese. Professor Oak arrived last, with a shoulder bag and a stack of folders filled to the brim with papers from the lab. Then, Ash handed Mrs. Dale, Mrs. Oak, and Avery Oak three thin squares covered in blue wrapping paper adorned with a series of cartoon Staryus.

Ryan rolled his eyes as his mother and sister fawned over the frozen cherry blossoms when they unwrapped their gifts. Josh got red in the face as he caught his mother's eye and realized he hadn't even thought of getting a gift for her the entire time he had been away. Finally, the Professor collected the three Pokedexes from the three Trainers.

Professor Oak laid the three Pokedexes out on the coffee table and connected each of them to his laptop. The screens on the three devices lit up, and the laptop screen produced a spreadsheet with pages of information. From across the room, the parents and siblings of the three Trainers talked among themselves, although they stole a few glances at the Professor and his laptop when they could.

"99 entries in less than a year," the Professor observed, "this is more than I could have ever imagined. My colleagues will be thrilled."

"We should do something special for when we get to 100," Ash said.

"We can't catch anything new here," Josh said.

"We could evolve one of our Pokemon," Ryan said. "How about it? Quick battle in the backyard —"

"No way," Ash said, "I'm hungry."

"Like I was challenging you," Ryan said with a scoff, "Josh?"

"If my mom sees a Pokemon shoot fire at me, she'll freak," Josh said.

"Fine," Ryan said. Then, he turned back to Professor Oak. "Who's caught the most?"

"Let's just say you're all tied at 33," the Professor said as he quickly closed the laptop. He unplugged the Pokedexes and returned them to the three Trainers. He winked at Ash as he returned hers, and she grinned back. "I want to thank you all. This really means a lot to me."

"No, thank you, Professor," Josh said. "You gave us our first Pokemon. We never could have done any of this without you."

Professor Oak said nothing in response but smiled. Then, Josh went to sit on the couch. Ryan and Ash joined him. The Professor watched the three of them go and then joined the others in the dining room. Their parents were already talking about the kids-turned-Trainers.

"Josh showed up without his jacket and his hat," Mrs. Dale said, "he said a Pokemon set it on fire."

"The hat or the jacket?" Mrs. Delaney asked.

"The jacket."

"I'm sure Ryan would have ruined his jacket, too, if he had listened to me when I told him to take one," Mrs. Oak said.

"If that ever happened to Ash…" Mrs. Delaney murmured.

"Ashley has been around Pokemon longer than either of them," the Professor reassured her, "she's more talented than you give her credit for."

"You know, I did some reading on Flying-type Pokemon, just out of curiosity," Mr. Oak said, "the article I read said that some Pokemon can fly as fast as Mach 2. Is that true?"

It had taken weeks of negotiating with the parents before they had agreed to let their kids go on a Trainers' journey of their own. Professor Oak had spent the majority of that time answering questions like this. The parents of Ryan, Josh, and Ash had thought up countless concerns — from Poison-type Pokemon stings to Fire-type Pokemon burns — that the Professor had to allay with gentle reminders of all the safety precautions that had been established.

If the three of them had been starting their journey back in the Professor's time, he never would have been able to convince their parents — especially not the Delaneys. Those were the days of unmarked Routes, unexplored caves, unpredictable migrations — of vicious wild Pokemon and Trainers. There was no denying a challenge from anyone back then.

But that was more than 20 years ago. The Professor had retired since then, and the world of Trainers had evolved. Now, Professor Oak had the knowledge and patience to calm any parent's worries.

"They certainly can," the Professor said.

"Makes my job seem a bit pointless," Mr. Oak said with a grimace.

"It takes time and practice before a Trainer can fly on their Pokemon's back at those speeds. How long did it take to get your license?" Professor Oak asked.

"Six months of flight school," Mr. Oak said.

"Sounds about right," the Professor remarked.

"I wonder if that Electric-type Josh has could help with the dead lawnmower battery in the garage…" Mr. Dale murmured.

Meanwhile, Jake Dale and Avery Oak shared a pair of Cokes in the kitchen.

"Ugh, it was awful," Jake said. "I almost wish Sayaka hadn't been there. She used to train there, you know."

"But are you going to see her again?" Avery asked.

"I don't know that it's a good idea. I mean, she's already going to be at the Indigo Plateau at the end of this year. If I ask her out and I do end up getting my last Badge, wouldn't that make it kind of, like, awkward?"

"Oh my God, you are such a guy," Avery said. "You said you like her, that she was cool, she'll probably be happy for you — I'm jealous. I wish I had someone to talk to about my job."

"Don't call being a Trainer 'a job' with my mom around," Jake said, shooting a glance at his parents. "She's still hoping to use you to rope Josh into going for med school."

"Well, would that be such a bad thing?" Avery said, looking over at Josh. "He's a good kid, he's obviously good with Pokemon. I think he could make it as a Pokemon doctor."

"No, he's already making it as a Trainer," Jake said. "You know he's got five Badges?"

Avery looked at Jake. "Is that unusual?"

"For a 13-year-old? I don't know anyone who's gotten that many, that young."

"Then Ryan having six is —"

"Insane."

"Great," Avery said. "Just what he needed. More bragging rights."

"Just pretend you didn't hear me say that."

"Didn't hear you say what?"

Avery shot Jake a grin, and he smiled back. Then, Jake looked back at his brother. He opened his mouth to say something but then shook his head. Then, he turned back to Avery.

"Speaking of med school —"

"Shh!" Avery hissed.

#

Josh was surprised at how normal dinner at the Oak residence felt after six months away from home. He sat in his usual spot, flanked by Ryan and Ash, and they ravaged the table as soon as Mrs. Oak set down the final dish. As they had done for as long as Josh could remember, he and Ryan pushed their plates together and traded their least-favorite ingredients from their salads — onions from Ryan's plate and olives from Josh's plate. Josh brought the first mouthful of salad-with-extra-onion to his mouth and made eye contact with Mrs. Delaney from across the table, only then realizing how automatic that ritual had become for the two of them.

Towards the end of the meal, as Josh was carefully scooping up the last bit of tomato sauce from his plate of lasagna, Avery Oak tapped her glass with a fork to get everyone's attention. Then, she pulled out an envelope from under the table.

"So, I got this in the mailbox of my dorm this morning," she said sheepishly. "From the resident matching program. I haven't opened it, and it's driving me crazy."

Josh watched as Ryan's father looked up from his phone and Ryan's mother practically choked on her wine.

"So, I'm not going to open this," Avery continued. Then, she passed the envelope across the table to Professor Oak. "Grandpa, would you do me this favor?"

Professor Oak took the envelope, ripped it open with his finger, and unfolded the single piece of paper that was inside. Then, he looked back to his granddaughter.

"Avery Elizabeth Oak," he said, "you have matched in —"

Avery squealed in delight and jumped out of her seat. Mrs. Oak was already in tears of joy. Mr. Oak was clapping loudly and had the biggest smile Josh had ever seen on the man.

"In emergency medicine, at Inazumi Hospital," the Professor finished, although he could hardly be heard over the celebrations. He folded the paper and pushed it back across the table to his granddaughter.

"I'm so proud of you," Mr. Oak said, wrapping Avery into a tight hug.

"Inazumi? Inazumi… Where is that one? Did we visit it? Is it far?" Mrs. Oak stammered, "Is that the one in Mauville? No, it was somewhere on the coast, right?"

"It's in Goldenrod," Professor Oak said, "It's an excellent facility with a great ER department. She'll do very well for herself there."

"Goldenrod? Oh, that's perfect!" Mrs. Oak said.

"You need to start looking at apartments there," Mr. Oak said.

From across the table, Josh's mother shot a glance at Josh that he had gotten all too used to in the days leading up to him taking his Trainer's journey. It was a look that said ask. Normally, Josh would ignore her. But after spending so much time away from home, he felt he owed it to her. It was odd the way his mother's hug earlier in the day seemed to linger in his mind. So, Josh spoke up.

"Sorry, what exactly is 'matching'?" he asked.

"Once you finish med school, you have to pick a specialty," Avery said as she sat back down and read the paper herself, a smile spreading across her face, "you have to do interviews, rank your choices, and on Match Day, you find out where you do your residency."

"And… what's that?" Josh asked.

"Your residency is when you get to actually practice the kind of medicine that you matched in," Avery said, still looking at the paper like it was the map to a buried treasure made just for her, "you learn from the Attending Physicians there, get your accreditation, then you get certified…"

The more Avery talked, the less Josh understood. He doubted he could even spell the word 'accreditation'. But Avery had always been nice to Josh when he came over, and Ryan's parents always bragged about her going to Pokemon medical school. It was the nice kind of bragging — not at all the way Ryan bragged about himself.

"That's cool," Josh said, "that kind of sounds like being a Pokemon Trainer and learning from a Gym Leader. Congrats."

Mrs. Dale shook her head at her son. Beside him, Ash suppressed a snort. But after a moment, Avery nodded.

"I've never thought of that way," she said, "but yeah. Kind of."

She smiled at Josh, and Josh immediately felt his cheeks turn red. He had forgotten how pretty she was while he was away.

"Uh, hello?" Ryan said, "Why are we even talking about this?"

"Here I thought you might act like a human being, for once…" Avery murmured without looking at her brother.

"Ryan," Mrs. Oak said icily, "this is a big deal. Your sister worked hard for this."

"I worked hard for these, too," Ryan said, unclipping his belt and letting it fall onto the dinner table with a rattling clang. His six Badges reflected the light from the chandelier like a pile of gold coins. "I've been here hours and no one's congratulated me for them once. What gives?"

"Ryan—"

"Oh, my God," Ryan said, slamming his hands down on the table. "If this is another life lesson coming from you, Gramps, just save it."

"You watch your tone when you're in my house," Mr. Oak said immediately.

Josh looked down and pursed his lips. Hanging out at Ryan's house was always fun — until this kind of thing happened. Josh could recognize the tone in Ryan's parents just as quickly as that of his own parents. Somehow, witnessing Ryan's parents get this way was even more painful for Josh than when his own parents would scold him at home. The only parents he had never seen get this heated were Ash's. Josh knew just from the way that Mr. Oak was sitting — taller, and straighter in his chair — that he was dangerously close to bringing down the hammer.

But Ryan didn't hesitate.

"I didn't even want to be here!" Ryan said, "I could be out actually doing something I care about, not sitting here listening to this crap."

"Upstairs. Now."

Ryan pushed himself away from the table violently — his chair scraping against the floor. Josh winced with every loud footstep as Ryan stormed off and stomped up toward his room.

The silence that followed felt like an eternity. Josh wouldn't see Ryan again for the rest of the night.