Broken Souls

Before

POKEMON SOULSILVER
    CONTINUE

PLAYER: ETHAN

TIME: 00:00

BADGES: 0

POKEDEX: 0

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POKEMON SOULSILVER

NEW GAME
   

It's well past nine when the world ends.

Ethan knocks on the door with the back of his fist, leaning on the side of the house with one hand in his pocket. "Lyra?"

Her light is off. She never turns it off this early.

"Shit," the young man says. He takes a deep breath. "Calm down, Ethan, her mom is cool. There's no way she's already asleep on the best night of our lives." When no one replies, not even the darkness, he continues, "Lyra, what am I going to do with you...?"

The door swings open. Ethan jolts away, trying to look presentable, only to stare into the face of his mother.

"Young man, what are you doing out this late?" His mother opens the door, her eyes wide with worry.

"Wait, why are you here? Where's Lyra?" He peers around her but can't seem to find her.

"Ethan... we live here."

Ethan's eyes widen as he moves back. "We- I- I don't understand."

"We've lived in this house ever since you were born, honey! Now come on inside. Zuzu is getting anxious."

"That's Lyra's Pokemon. I'm supposed to get my starter tomorrow. Mom, what's going on?!"

"I don't know a Lyra." His mother's voice grows mechanical. The woman's curls bounce slightly as she reaches out for her son and Ethan moves just past her grasp, tears in his eyes. "You need some rest. Come on in."

He bolts. He runs past the treeline into the forest, still panicking, and hides against a tree. There is no sound until the door slams behind his mother.

No footsteps.

No one is coming.

He looks at his own hands, pressing his pointer finger on one hand into the other. His finger does not go through. It's a test he made up for when he lucid dreams. This is real.

He looks up at the sky. The forest scent is strong and real, real and dangerous, just like the day he and Lyra ran past the treeline with Zuzu and hunted for the ferocious kind of Pokemon in the woods.

Lyra.

His heart hurts. His mind hurts. He wants to go home but his mind is trying to rearrange itself. Home could be anywhere.

Something else has taken control of this world.

There's a chirp from behind him. He turns around.

A bright green Pokemon is lying on the forest floor, wounded.

He squints, moving towards it, his hand running down the tree as he nears it. He's never seen this kind of Pokemon before in his life.

"This night just keeps getting weirder and weirder." He reaches out for the Pokemon. "You okay?"

The Pokemon's eyes widen, shining a bright and glorious brown, full of light and fear. The small, sprite-like fairy suddenly disappears in a blink. Ethan looks up only to see a single figure overhead.

It ends there.

The name.

Celebi whispered him a name before they took him.

There's still hope.

He remembers the memory for as long as he is there, sleeping. He reaches across time and pulls out the name and the name of the one closest to her in this world. If he could, he would grab every golden string of hers just to remind himself that he exists.

While he writhes in the storm, agony flooding his veins like saltwater, he calls out to her.

Ashley.

END ARC ONE