Sinnoh Journey

Chapter 71 - Back Home

Kyra came round an hour or so after returning to the Pokémon World, she was led underneath her thickest blanket with Glaceon resting on her chest. Like the other times her aura had been controlled she had little recollection of what had happened, all but one detail. She vividly remembered seeing Cyrus fall from the platform and out of sight, considering she hadn't done anything to help him, she guessed she was the cause of it.

Lucario walked over to Kyra when she sensed she was awake and sat beside her, she was ready to comfort Kyra should she need it. Glaceon purred as Lucario came over, her suspicions of Kyra having come round were correct.

Kyra appreicated Lucario and Glaceon keeping her company, she needed to ask them what had happened to get some sort of confirmation.

"Relax Kyra, just take this easy," Lucian advised, not wanting to have to explain what happened in the Distortion World twice. He knew he'd have to tell Victoria since it wouldn't be fair on Kyra to explain what had happened herself. It was easier to tell them both at the same time.

Kyra had gathered enough strength to sit up, so she cuddled Glaceon and sat up. Lucario made sure the blanket was still around her trainer to keep her warm against the cold of Spear Pillar.

"Lucian, what happened to Cyrus? I need to know," she asked, wanting an answer.

Lucian knew he had to lie, it was Kyra's sake. "I don't know. Cynthia and I found you and your pokémon unconscious. There was no sign of Cyrus anywhere."

Kyra put what she had seen down to what her aura had wanted. She had learnt when it took control before that it had a thirst to cause harm.

Lucian caught onto Kyra's quietness, she was either thinking about something and had zoned out, or she didn't know how to get across what she wanted to say next.

"Can you take me home please? I-I don't think it's a good idea I stay on this journey," Kyra asked, she had been thinking over her decision and her mind was made up.

Everyone was shocked to hear what Kyra wanted, her pokémon especially so. Lucario and Glaceon snuggled up closer to Kyra, but nothing could change her mind now.

"Are you sure that's what you want? You can always just take a short break before getting back to your journey," Lucian asked in reply, reminding Kyra that taking a break was always an option.

Kyra asked Lucario to bring her bag over and she packed away her blanket whilst thinking about how to tell Lucian her mind was made up without being rude to him. "I appreciate that you think I'm a good trainer, but I don't feel like I can continue. Either my mind is lying to me, or you are. You're doing it for my greater good but I need to know," she replied.

"If you don't feel you can continue on your journey, then maybe it's for the best you don't find out the truth," Lucian commented.

Kyra hated the fact Lucian was still trying to push her when she had made it clear she wasn't interested. She didn't know what upset her more, the fact he no longer seemed to care, or the fact he was deliberately hiding the full truth from her. "You know what, forget it. I'll just go home myself!"

"Kyra, stop this."

"Stop trying to stand in for the father I don't have anymore! I don't even know who or where he is right now, I don't need you reminding me of that. Stop pretending to care, you're not him and you never will be!" Kyra snapped, fed up of how Lucian was acting.

What Kyra had said had hurt, the last thing Lucian had wanted to do was seem like a father to Kyra since he knew he wasn't. He was close to Kyra's father, he wasn't trying to replace them by any means. "I'm not trying to stand in for your father, I wouldn't want to. You still care so much about him despite not knowing him as well as you should, I wouldn't dream of replacing him anyway, but your care for him stops me from doing that even if I wanted to. I want to help you Kyra, not put more stress on you. Please, accept my help, it's clear you need it."

Kyra felt even worse after having snapped, she turned to Lucian and walked over to him to apologise. "I'm sorry, there's just a lot that's happened recently. I'll admit I want to continue on my journey at some point, but now isn't the right time."

Lucian accepted Kyra's apology and returned it by admitting he was wrong to have pushed her so far. He agreed to accompany Kyra back to Twinleaf Town since it was where she needed to be to cope best.

The walk back was quiet, not even Lucario or Glaceon knew what to say to Kyra. Kyra was almost brought to tears as they walked along Route 203 towards Jubilife City, the place she had caught Luxray and truly began feeling like a trainer. Having recieved Lucario as her starter had felt great, but that first successful capture and addition to her team was perhaps even more special. All the improvement she had made felt as if it had been stripped away from her, she was as lacking in confidence as she was on day one of her journey, if not more so.

Rather than staying and listening to what had happened in the Distortion World, Kyra went upstairs and locked herself in her room without saying a word to Victoria, shutting out the world around her. Lucario and Glaceon followed their trainer, but she had locked them out before they had chance to go in and comfort her.

Victoria expressed her concerns to Lucian and he told her that it was best she sat down to hear what had happened. Her worry further increased and she did as Lucian advised to hear the tale sooner.

"From what I can gather, Cyrus succeeded in summoning Giratina via Dialga and Palkia. Giratina took Cyrus into the Distortion World, Kyra went in after them. Cynthia and I got to Spear Pillar and we too went into the Distortion World after Kyra, we had originally hoped that she hadn't gone too far, but that wasn't the case. Cyrus must have challenged Kyra to a battle since they were pretty heated the whole time we were trying to find the right way to them, but we were too late. Giratina had already taken control of Kyra by the time we got there, he controlled Kyra into presumably killing Cyrus since there were no other platforms below where we were. Kyra's got a wound on her back from Giratina's claw, it doesn't look too deep so it shouldn't hinder her much in the long term," Lucian explained, knowing how Victoria would react before he had even said anything.

Victoria fell quiet for a couple of minutes, the only sound in the room being the clock ticking on the wall and Espeon's gentle snoring as he slept in Lucian's lap. She wasn't surprised why Kyra was so upset.

"How much does she know of what happened to Cyrus?" Victoria asked, breaking the silence that had seemed to go on for hours.

Lucian guessed that by Kyra's earlier question that she didn't remember much if anything at all.

"Good, that makes this easier then. I know that Team Galactic have tried controlling Kyra's aura in the past, she told me about it after it happened with Saturn. Since she doesn't remember Giratina controlling her, I'll remove every memory she had of him and make her think that Cyrus tried controlling her aura and it backfired," Victoria explained, she knew it wasn't the best solution, but it was the most practical given the circumstances.

Lucian was surprised to hear Victoria's response, this was the complete opposite of what he had expected her to do. "I thought you didn't use it anymore. You swore you wouldn't after what happened," he reminded.

Victoria sighed, "I don't, this is the first time I've even considered using it again. Look, I'd rather use it than Kyra learn of what happened all those years ago. I've kept it quiet for coming on twenty years now, I don't intend on telling anyone else until I'm ready. We'll make a deal, if Kyra's father comes back, then we'll tell Kyra, but she won't find out until then. Agreed?"

Lucian nodded, Victoria's compromise made sense on the whole.

"I think it's best you go for the time being. One small slip up and I don't want to think what Kyra would do. I'll keep you updated as to what's going on. Thank you for accompanying Kyra back, but I'll manage this from here," Victoria explained, knowing that it was best if she could get some alone time with Kyra.

Lucian returned Espeon to his pokéball so he could still sleep and told Victoria to be careful before he left. He knew that Victoria wouldn't ever do something to put Kyra in harms way, but he couldn't help but worry that something would go wrong.