Broken Souls

A World Remembered

"Ah, hello! You must be Ashley. I'm Professor Elm's assistant." says a kind faced man in a labcoat. He's holding out a large egg, which is nearly half the size of my bag. Pokemon eggs are far larger than you'd expect, especially because the size for anything from a Wailord egg to a Hoppip egg are basically the same.

"Oh. Yeah. I'll... I'll take that." I say, reaching for the egg.

"Not so fast." he moves it back. "You know, it seems like you have six Pokemon on you already. You can't just prance around with seven, can you? There are restrictions for a reason."

"I'm on my way to deposit this one." I say, although I feel nauseous just admitting it.
"We wouldn't want you breaking the rules, now wouldn't we! That would be an enormous deal, especially from one of Elm's prodigy trainers." he laughs nervously.

"Who are the others?" I inquire.

"Well, there's... never mind."

"Who are they." I repeat, my voice dark with pain and potentially malicious intent.

"Ethan. Just Ethan. I didn't want to mention him because... you two were close, weren't you?" he spouts the whole thing in a matter of seconds, only slowing down near the end.

My voice chokes. "I- we were- just friends." I compose myself. It's hard to sound serious when you're dying on the inside, but I manage. "Do you know anything about his disappearance?"

"I remember the night before. I was up very late doing lab work. While I never saw anything that could identify the kidnapper or otherwise provide evidence to his..." He doesn't even mention the other possibility, "... leave, I do remember that that night it rained so hard that I was beginning to fear a power line might go down. The next morning he was gone and there were marks in the grass where the nearby estuary had flooded over. You should remember this. It was-"

"The oceans," I whisper.

"Come again?" he asks.

"Lugia."

"What about Lugia?"
"I don't know. There has to be a connection." I say. "Lugia controls the oceans of Johto, right?"

But there can't be. I've already lived through this timeline.

"I believe that would be Kyogre."

"Yes, but when Lugia stirs, it causes great storms. Look, I- I have to go. Thank you." I snatch the egg and rush out, only to run headlong into a young lady wearing a long, ceremonial kimono. I yell in panic as the egg falls from my arms, only for her to dive for it and pick it up.

"Is this yours?" she asks, holding it out.
"Yes, I'm so sorry, your kimono-" I say, although I'm not even making eye contact. My entire mind stirs with new ideas. If Ethan's disappearance has something to do with Lugia... then maybe...

"It's not your fault," she assures me.

"Oh. Yes! Again, I am so sorry." I try to hold her gaze. Her eyes are a pale gold, a color that hardly looks human at all.

She smiles, revealing canine teeth. "No problem. Us kitsune live to serve."

"Zuki." I say.

"I heard some of your conversation. You are right. Lugia is stirring, Celebi. As defender of this timeline, you are fated to quell his rage. Can you promise me that?"

I nod firmly.

"Good." She turns to go.

"Wait!" I say, banking on the impossible. "Please... tell your brother I say hi."
She looks back, confusion etched on her features. "You must be mistaken. I don't have a brother."