Sinnoh Journey

Chapter 73 - Comfort

After the events unfolded at Spear Pillar, Cynthia had accompanied Nate and Willow to Sunnyshore City since that was where the eighth and final Sinnoh Gym was. Cynthia could tell just how worried the two were for Kyra, she was too, but she felt she had to stay strong for them both.

Neither Nate nor Willow had heard anything from Kyra or Victoria by the next afternoon, so they agreed it was best to try and get in touch themselves. The three had made sure before leaving home that they had everyone's home phone numbers just in case anything happened, now was as good a time as any to use it.

To Nate and Willow's relief, Victoria picked up the phone quickly. But it was clear that Kyra wasn't in the room with her.

"I was wondering when I'd be hearing from you two. I take it you're safely in Sunnyshore City?" Victoria asked.

Willow nodded, "Yeah, Cynthia and her Garchomp made sure we were safe. How's Kyra, is she ok?"

Victoria didn't know how best to respond without worrying Nate or Willow even further. Kyra still hadn't come out from her room since going in. As far as Victoria could tell, Kyra was still in bed despite it being well into the afternoon now.

"She's not coping, is she?" Nate asked, worried that what had happened in the Distortion World would permanently affect Kyra.

Lucario and Glaceon walked over from where they had been trying to distract one another. The thought of Kyra not coping upset them, especially since she wouldn't open up to then. They knew that she had been affected badly, they hadn't known their trainer to be this distant before.

"We're giving her the space she needs. Pressuring Kyra to talk when she isn't ready will only make this worse," Victoria said, dodging the question as much as she could. There was no possible way of answering honestly without causing even more worry.

Nate and Willow could guess that Kyra was struggling. The fact Kyra had shut out her pokémon and Victoria was a clear sign of that.

"I forgot to mention, if Kyra asks what happened in the Distortion World, do not mention Giratina to her. You may think it was wrong of me to manipulate her memories as I did, but I did it for Kyra's sake as well as mine. She is now under the belief that Cyrus controlled her via one of the aura manipulation devices Team Galactic made use of," Victoria explained, not wanting to run the risk of the wrong thing being said and raising Kyra's suspicions.

To say Nate and Willow were confused would be an understatement. Why was Victoria so against Giratina? Granted, Giratina had controlled Kyra into killing Cyrus, but Kyra had no control of herself when she did so. Why was it such a big deal?

"I'll my explain my reasons in due time, as will Kyra hear my reasoning. For now, you need to be very careful mentioning the Distortion World around her. Speaking of which, I should probably go and check on her. I appreciate you both calling, it's nice to know you care. When Kyra's ready, I'll get her to let you know," Victoria added, hanging up the call before Nate or Willow could ask anymore questions.

Lucario and Glaceon shared their concerns as to what Victoria had said. Both of them knew that Victoria had manipulated Kyra's memories, but not why. The memories were clearly painful, Lucario having sensed a mixture of anger and sadness anytime Victoria mentioned it.

"What do you think is really going on? Have you picked up anything via your aura?" Glaceon asked once Victoria had gone upstairs to check on Kyra.

Lucario nodded, "There's definitely something that happened between Victoria and Giratina. I don't know what, but whatever it was, it's painful thinking back on it. I feel kind of bad for her to be honest, I can't imagine how difficult this must be for her. Her aura was completely different than when we met her before, now it's mostly just stress, fear, and anger," she explained.