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Up+Select+B. That's all it took to destroy the world as Ember knew it.

~~~~~

The two girls, shockingly alike in appearance, seemed considerably upset. They whispered agitatedly to each other in hushed tones, while Ember just hopelessly watched in concern at Soul's feet, wishing he knew what was going on. Finally, the stranger who looked alarmingly identical to Soul couldn't keep her voice down any longer.

"Oh, but Soul, you can't!" she cried, tears welling in her eyes.

"It's not like I have a choice," Soul responded solemnly. Her Typhlosion looked up to see that she was on the verge of tears as well, and gently nudged her hand with his nose in an attempt to comfort her. Soul glanced down to meet his gaze, and to his horror her eyes only welled up more, sending a few tears rolling down her cheeks. "Not now, Ember," she choked out.

Ember was baffled. What was going on?

Soul had turned back to the other girl. "Please, Lyra. Please, just...take care of them. You're the only person I can turn to at this point."

The stranger, Lyra, looked as if she were about to start crying as well, but she held her chin high and nodded. "I'll treat them as I would my own," she vowed.

Satisfied with her response, Soul reached into her bag and pulled out five pokéballs of quite a variety; there was a Great Ball, an Ultra Ball, a Quick Ball, a Safari Ball, and even a Master Ball. Ember watched with great concern as Soul looked at them each lovingly before gingerly handing them off, one by one, to Lyra.

Ember was greatly troubled by this exchange, as he recognized the pokéballs. They weren't empty. They each contained a member of Soul's team.

Finally, lastly, Soul pulled out a plain, red-and-white pokéball. She took one last look at it and almost broke then. Kneeling down by her Typhlosion, she hugged him tightly and mumbled into his fur, "You be good, okay?" Ember wrapped his paws around her, awkwardly hugging her back tightly. He still didn't quite understand, but he knew that somehow, for some reason, Soul was leaving. Leaving him. With a stranger he'd barely met.

Taking a deep breath, she disentangled herself from her starter and handed Lyra the last, sixth pokéball, her hand shaking as she said, "That's Ember's."

Lyra carefully placed it with the others in her purse, and then stepped forward to pull Soul into an embrace. The two girls stayed like that for a long time, not saying a word, clinging to each other for comfort and courage. Ember briefly considered the possibility that they were sisters, but then why hadn't he seen Lyra before?

When the friends pulled apart, Lyra smiled sadly at Soul, seemingly mustering up her courage for whatever happened next. "I guess I'll see you around in another life," she said, forcing her voice to sound light.

Soul smiled back tearfully. "Yeah. In another life." She backed away for a few paces, and smiled at Ember one last time. Then, with a shaky breath, she stepped on the transport pad at the front of the room, fizzling back into the pokécenter from whence she'd come.

Ember had trouble processing what had just occurred. The second his trainer left his sight he seemed to wake up, as if from a particularly disturbing dream, a low, mournful sound escaping his throat as he moved to follow Soul. He felt Lyra's small hand being placed soothingly on his shoulder, and her voice calling him back, but he shrugged her off angrily. He didn't know her. His duty was to his trainer, not her look-alike. But Lyra persisted, running ahead to stand in Ember's way, forcing him to stop.

"Ember, you can't, she's--" he saw that, though earlier she had remained strong and forced herself not to cry, now tears were streaming freely down her face. "She's...gone." Her voice broke on that last word, and she sank to her knees, her arms encircling Ember's neck. He didn't object, sitting still and letting her cry into his thick fur, wishing with all his heart that he could just understood what was happening. "They're resetting her game, Ember," Lyra sobbed. "She's not coming back." Ember's ear twitched, and his eyes hardened. He didn't know what Lyra meant by 'they' or 'game' or 'resetting,' but he refused to believe the truth in the last sentence. Of course Soul would come back. She wouldn't leave him. She would return for him. She'd always return for him.

But sitting in the near-empty Union room, in the arms of a crying stranger, staring at the spot where Soul had disappeared, Ember had to admit that even to him the words sounded empty.

~~~~↑selectB~~~~

It had been almost a month since Ember had seen his trainer last. He had in that time gotten to know Lyra and her team—he had concluded that Lyra could be trusted, and she must have felt the same about him, as she included him in her party, but they both knew that Lyra could never replace what Soul was for Ember.

And besides, that Meganium of Lyra's seemed to serve only to be a pain in Ember's rump. The two pokémon had never gotten along—but if Ember was honest with himself, he knew he was just making up excuses on that point.

Every time Lyra entered a pokémon center, Ember would excuse himself from his pokéball and head immediately for the Union Room desk. He would sit in front of it adamantly, ignoring the protests of the lady working the desk, and stare intently at Lyra, who would sigh, slump her shoulders, and turn her back, refusing to acknowledge he was there until he gave up and stormed down the stairs angrily. This went on almost daily for the entire month since Ember had departed from his master, and he vowed that he would continue to do this until Lyra finally let him in.

As much as he didn't mind being in Lyra's company, Ember had decided that she couldn't keep him from Soul forever.

He was surprised to find that, despite the fact that it wasn't Lyra's fault, he found himself holding her accountable somehow. Some nights, as he sat away from the others, gazing at the starry sky, he would think about his trainer and why he couldn't be with her right now. Lyra would oftentimes approach him during these moments, and he would glare at her and growl a warning, refusing to let her come close to him. Resigned but understanding, she would let him be, simply sitting cross-legged on the ground five feet away, waiting for him. Ember had found that he couldn't stay bitter at Lyra for long each time; after a few long moments he would find himself with his giant, furry head on her lap, seeking comfort. She would pet him and speak softly to him for awhile before rising to her feet and leading him back to the pokécenter or campsite or wherever they were spending the night.

As stubborn as he was, it had almost gotten to the point when Ember had given up. The feeling had been stewing inside him for awhile now, so much so that as Lyra led him into the Goldenrod Pokémon Center on this particular day, he made no move for the stairs. Lyra shot him a concerned look, but before she could say anything her Pokégear rang loudly, breaking through her thoughts. Retrieving it from her bag, she flipped it open, almost dropping it as she saw who was calling.

"Oh Arceus," she muttered, one hand to her mouth, brown eyes wide with mixed horror and shock. Shakily, she pressed the green button and put the device to her ear. "H-hello?" Ember cocked an ear, listening with intense concentration to catch the words of the mysterious caller.

"Hello, is this Lyra?"

"Yes, this is she…"

"My name's Soul. I met your friend Ethan recently, and he gave me your number. Believe it or not, I have a friend that could be his doppelganger."

"We get that a lot…" Lyra muttered, ignoring Ember, who was nudging her frantically. Soul was on the line?! Could he go back now? In his excitement, he disregarded the uneasiness he felt in that Soul was speaking to Lyra as she would a friendly stranger.

"Really? Well, anyway, I was just wondering if I could arrange to meet you someday. I'm sure we would get along great!"

"I-I'm sure, too, but really, I don't think I can—"

"Also, I've heard you're quite the pokémon trader. I was wondering if you'd like to make an offer…" At this, Lyra seemed to be on the verge of panic. She looked down and locked eyes with Ember, who was giving her a pleading look, the yearning to see his master written all over his features. Sighing and steeling herself, Lyra responded.

"I guess I could arrange that. How's this afternoon sound? In the Union Room, of course."

Ember tuned out the conversation as he tried to process that the completely unexpected had finally happened.

"Mhmm. Ok. Sure. Bye," Lyra muttered, hanging up the Pokégear, avoiding Ember's gaze at first while she stuffed the device back in her bag. But the harried look in her eyes disgruntled him—shouldn't she be happy to see her friend? The one she'd been so sure wasn't coming back? Why did she look so nervous?

As much as he tried to tell himself it was nothing, the worried glances Lyra kept sending his way throughout the rest of the morning did not go by unnoticed, and with every time he caught her look, a little more dread seeped into him.

~~~~↑selectB~~~~

Ember paced the Union Room restlessly as he waited. Lyra had hardly said a word to him since the phone call, and she'd certainly not dared try and return him to his pokéball. The girl's strange mood and the entire situation in general had Ember really worked up and nervous. What was going on? For the first time since that fateful day on which the whole fiasco started, he felt completely and utterly lost.

So deep was he in his musings that he almost didn't hear the hiss of the transporter that signified someone was entering—for a moment he just stared at the glowing circle blankly, as if vaguely wondering why it was making noise. His slightly baffled look was replaced with one of disbelieving joy, however, as Soul fizzled into view. His small, bear-like tail wagged in excitement as he began to lumber toward his trainer, eager to see her face light up when she saw that she could be reunited with her starter. Ember was so overjoyed, in fact, that he almost didn't notice that as Soul stepped forward, a lumbering blue mountain of a pokémon stepped with her, glued to her side.

Ember froze in his tracks, his giant paws skidding a bit on the smooth floor with his sudden halt. His first thought was that Soul had stolen her rival's pokémon. He knew that the notion was preposterous, but honestly, how else could he explain the giant Feraligatr looming at Soul's side? Without knowing the reason why, Ember's gaze instinctively sought out Lyra, who bit her lip and stared back sympathetically, her eyes looking a bit moist.

What's your problem? He heard the Feraligatr sneer at him from its place at Soul's side. Ember ignored him, though, unable to even look at his…replacement.

Ember reluctantly dragged his gaze back over to Soul, looking his master of three years in the eye.

What he saw and heard was heart-breaking, though half-expected.

"Oh, hello!" Soul's voice was cheery and sweet; familiar, though at the same time it sounded as if the words came from a stranger's mouth. "I've never seen this species of pokémon before." She turned to Lyra, who was biting down on her lip so hard Ember thought it would bleed. "What's his name? Is he friendly?" Her voice portrayed professional interest and curiosity, nothing more.

Ember felt as if his chest was being ripped open. As a pokémon, his more extreme emotions were triggered a lot less often and easily than as in humans. He'd never felt heartbreak before, but he was certainly feeling it now.

It was killing him slowly on the inside.

With a shaking voice, Lyra answered, "He's a Typhlosion. H-his name is E-ember. And...friendly? He's...qu-questionable, you could say."

"Typhlosion?" Soul was now once again studying Ember, giving him the uncomfortable feeling that he was an animal in a zoo. "Last evolution of Cyndaquil, huh?" Suddenly she turned to Lyra with confusion in her eyes. "But...I thought Ethan said you had a Meganium…?"

"I do. Ember isn't...isn't mine. He was entrusted to me by another t-trainer," Lyra stuttered, hastily lowering her eyes so that Soul wouldn't see how close she was to breaking.

It was at this moment that Ember realized that even if he didn't know exactly what was going on or how it was happening, he knew enough. Lyra had been right. Soul, his Soul, wasn't coming back. And even though that knowledge ripped everything, his whole world, from under his feet, he...accepted it. If there's one thing he had learned from watching the humans around him everyday, it was that tragedy happens. Some never learn to let go, to walk away from it. The ones that do aren't heartless or unaffected—they're just stronger.

Until now, letting go had not been an option he had allowed himself to consider. But now, as he came to terms with the fact that his Soul was gone and Lyra was his master… He decided that he wanted to be stronger. And seeing Lyra in such distress, so close to tears in front of a complete stranger, he hardened his resolve to be stronger for Lyra right now, as he would have been for Soul.

Letting out a loud huff, he lumbered over to Lyra, nuzzling her hand gently. She smiled sadly down at him, her eyes watery. Ember glanced warily back over at Soul and Feraligatr, she former of which looked confused and the latter of which looked bored. Ember's brow furrowed. There was nothing more here he or Lyra needed to see.

Grasping Lyra's sleeve gently but firmly between his teeth, Ember began tugging her towards the exit, persisting when she tried to pull away. She glanced between him and Soul uncertainly, but the intensity of his gaze must have gotten the message across. Uttering a quick apologetic good-bye to Soul, Lyra followed Ember, human and pokémon transporting back to the Goldenrod Pokémon Center.

After making their way down the stairs and into a secluded corner where they could be left alone and unnoticed, Ember and Lyra faced each other for a moment of silence, Lyra refusing to meet the Typhlosion's gaze as she wiped a few stray tears from her cheeks. Ember rumbled deep in his throat, and Lyra smiled at him shakily. "Oh, I know," she mumbled, ashamed, "I-I screwed up. I lost it. But it was just so hard, knowing what you must have felt, and knowing that it wasn't her fault, that she didn't know she was hurting you…" She trailed off at this point, her eyes losing focus and beginning to tear up again as her mind dwelled on these thoughts.

Frustrated with her, wishing she would forget about it already and cheer up, Ember snorted loudly and head-butted her thigh, hard enough that she almost lost her balance. Lyra finally met his gaze, finding that he was staring at her defiantly, challenging her, scolding her in his own way. Once again her lips curled into a sad smile as she gently placed a hand on his head. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I...wish you hadn't had to go through that."

Ember shook his head somewhat furiously, dislodging her hand, and stepped closer, sticking his giant muzzle into her yellow shoulder bag. "Wha…? What're you—?" When he withdrew, something small and green fell with a sharp klak to the floor—a Friend Ball. Lyra frowned in confusion as the Typhlosion sat back on his haunches, staring her down expectantly. "Ember, what…?" He reached forward with a paw and knocked his own pokeball off of her belt, letting it fall to the floor before kicking it away. They both watched as it rolled away under a desk. Again Lyra looked at Ember, searching his determined eyes, plainly struggling to figure out what he was doing. "Ember, I don't get it," she insisted a bit crossly, bending down to retrieve the empty Friend Ball from where it sat between Ember's paws. Before she could stow it back in her bag, however, Ember bent his head and gently tapped the button with his nose.

There was a brief flash of light, and when it subsided, Ember was no longer there. The Friend Ball, now on the ground again, wiggled once as if alive before lying still with a barely audible click.

Lyra stood for a long moment, dumbfounded, staring at the Friend Ball as if it were alien. Slowly her eyes drifted over to the desk under which Ember's pokéball had disappeared before she returned her gaze to the now-occupied Friend Ball at her feet. A hint of dawning realization crossed her face, and she picked up the green pokéball, pressing the button. Ember phased from it, once again sitting back on his haunches and staring at her with an expression that seemed to ask, Do you get it now?

"Y...You…" Lyra gestured in the direction of the desk. "You knocked away your old pokéball because you...aren't Soul's pokémon anymore?" It was a long shot, but Ember nodded, signaling for her to continue. "And...you…" Lyra groped in the dark for a moment before suddenly her face lit up, finding the answer. "You...you let me catch you," she breathed in awe. "With a Friend Ball."

Ember seemed to be smiling at her. Laughing, Lyra stepped forward to catch him in a hug, and as he hugged back, Ember reflected that though it was true that nobody could ever replace what Soul had been for him…

There was nobody he'd rather have by his side than Lyra as his life, as he knew it, was reset.

Description
Up+Select+B. That's all it took to destroy the world as Ember knew it.

~~~~~

The two girls, shockingly alike in appearance, seemed considerably upset. They whispered agitatedly to each other in hushed tones, while Ember just hopelessly watched in concern at Soul's feet, wishing he knew what was going on. Finally, the stranger who looked alarmingly identical to Soul couldn't keep her voice down any longer.

"Oh, but Soul, you can't!" she cried, tears welling in her eyes.

"It's not like I have a choice," Soul responded solemnly. Her Typhlosion looked up to see that she was on the verge of tears as well, and gently nudged her hand with his nose in an attempt to comfort her. Soul glanced down to meet his gaze, and to his horror her eyes only welled up more, sending a few tears rolling down her cheeks. "Not now, Ember," she choked out.

Ember was baffled. What was going on?

Soul had turned back to the other girl. "Please, Lyra. Please, just...take care of them. You're the only person I can turn to at this point."

The stranger, Lyra, looked as if she were about to start crying as well, but she held her chin high and nodded. "I'll treat them as I would my own," she vowed.

Satisfied with her response, Soul reached into her bag and pulled out five pokéballs of quite a variety; there was a Great Ball, an Ultra Ball, a Quick Ball, a Safari Ball, and even a Master Ball. Ember watched with great concern as Soul looked at them each lovingly before gingerly handing them off, one by one, to Lyra.

Ember was greatly troubled by this exchange, as he recognized the pokéballs. They weren't empty. They each contained a member of Soul's team.

Finally, lastly, Soul pulled out a plain, red-and-white pokéball. She took one last look at it and almost broke then. Kneeling down by her Typhlosion, she hugged him tightly and mumbled into his fur, "You be good, okay?" Ember wrapped his paws around her, awkwardly hugging her back tightly. He still didn't quite understand, but he knew that somehow, for some reason, Soul was leaving. Leaving him. With a stranger he'd barely met.

Taking a deep breath, she disentangled herself from her starter and handed Lyra the last, sixth pokéball, her hand shaking as she said, "That's Ember's."

Lyra carefully placed it with the others in her purse, and then stepped forward to pull Soul into an embrace. The two girls stayed like that for a long time, not saying a word, clinging to each other for comfort and courage. Ember briefly considered the possibility that they were sisters, but then why hadn't he seen Lyra before?

When the friends pulled apart, Lyra smiled sadly at Soul, seemingly mustering up her courage for whatever happened next. "I guess I'll see you around in another life," she said, forcing her voice to sound light.

Soul smiled back tearfully. "Yeah. In another life." She backed away for a few paces, and smiled at Ember one last time. Then, with a shaky breath, she stepped on the transport pad at the front of the room, fizzling back into the pokécenter from whence she'd come.

Ember had trouble processing what had just occurred. The second his trainer left his sight he seemed to wake up, as if from a particularly disturbing dream, a low, mournful sound escaping his throat as he moved to follow Soul. He felt Lyra's small hand being placed soothingly on his shoulder, and her voice calling him back, but he shrugged her off angrily. He didn't know her. His duty was to his trainer, not her look-alike. But Lyra persisted, running ahead to stand in Ember's way, forcing him to stop.

"Ember, you can't, she's--" he saw that, though earlier she had remained strong and forced herself not to cry, now tears were streaming freely down her face. "She's...gone." Her voice broke on that last word, and she sank to her knees, her arms encircling Ember's neck. He didn't object, sitting still and letting her cry into his thick fur, wishing with all his heart that he could just understood what was happening. "They're resetting her game, Ember," Lyra sobbed. "She's not coming back." Ember's ear twitched, and his eyes hardened. He didn't know what Lyra meant by 'they' or 'game' or 'resetting,' but he refused to believe the truth in the last sentence. Of course Soul would come back. She wouldn't leave him. She would return for him. She'd always return for him.

But sitting in the near-empty Union room, in the arms of a crying stranger, staring at the spot where Soul had disappeared, Ember had to admit that even to him the words sounded empty.

~~~~↑selectB~~~~

It had been almost a month since Ember had seen his trainer last. He had in that time gotten to know Lyra and her team—he had concluded that Lyra could be trusted, and she must have felt the same about him, as she included him in her party, but they both knew that Lyra could never replace what Soul was for Ember.

And besides, that Meganium of Lyra's seemed to serve only to be a pain in Ember's rump. The two pokémon had never gotten along—but if Ember was honest with himself, he knew he was just making up excuses on that point.

Every time Lyra entered a pokémon center, Ember would excuse himself from his pokéball and head immediately for the Union Room desk. He would sit in front of it adamantly, ignoring the protests of the lady working the desk, and stare intently at Lyra, who would sigh, slump her shoulders, and turn her back, refusing to acknowledge he was there until he gave up and stormed down the stairs angrily. This went on almost daily for the entire month since Ember had departed from his master, and he vowed that he would continue to do this until Lyra finally let him in.

As much as he didn't mind being in Lyra's company, Ember had decided that she couldn't keep him from Soul forever.

He was surprised to find that, despite the fact that it wasn't Lyra's fault, he found himself holding her accountable somehow. Some nights, as he sat away from the others, gazing at the starry sky, he would think about his trainer and why he couldn't be with her right now. Lyra would oftentimes approach him during these moments, and he would glare at her and growl a warning, refusing to let her come close to him. Resigned but understanding, she would let him be, simply sitting cross-legged on the ground five feet away, waiting for him. Ember had found that he couldn't stay bitter at Lyra for long each time; after a few long moments he would find himself with his giant, furry head on her lap, seeking comfort. She would pet him and speak softly to him for awhile before rising to her feet and leading him back to the pokécenter or campsite or wherever they were spending the night.

As stubborn as he was, it had almost gotten to the point when Ember had given up. The feeling had been stewing inside him for awhile now, so much so that as Lyra led him into the Goldenrod Pokémon Center on this particular day, he made no move for the stairs. Lyra shot him a concerned look, but before she could say anything her Pokégear rang loudly, breaking through her thoughts. Retrieving it from her bag, she flipped it open, almost dropping it as she saw who was calling.

"Oh Arceus," she muttered, one hand to her mouth, brown eyes wide with mixed horror and shock. Shakily, she pressed the green button and put the device to her ear. "H-hello?" Ember cocked an ear, listening with intense concentration to catch the words of the mysterious caller.

"Hello, is this Lyra?"

"Yes, this is she…"

"My name's Soul. I met your friend Ethan recently, and he gave me your number. Believe it or not, I have a friend that could be his doppelganger."

"We get that a lot…" Lyra muttered, ignoring Ember, who was nudging her frantically. Soul was on the line?! Could he go back now? In his excitement, he disregarded the uneasiness he felt in that Soul was speaking to Lyra as she would a friendly stranger.

"Really? Well, anyway, I was just wondering if I could arrange to meet you someday. I'm sure we would get along great!"

"I-I'm sure, too, but really, I don't think I can—"

"Also, I've heard you're quite the pokémon trader. I was wondering if you'd like to make an offer…" At this, Lyra seemed to be on the verge of panic. She looked down and locked eyes with Ember, who was giving her a pleading look, the yearning to see his master written all over his features. Sighing and steeling herself, Lyra responded.

"I guess I could arrange that. How's this afternoon sound? In the Union Room, of course."

Ember tuned out the conversation as he tried to process that the completely unexpected had finally happened.

"Mhmm. Ok. Sure. Bye," Lyra muttered, hanging up the Pokégear, avoiding Ember's gaze at first while she stuffed the device back in her bag. But the harried look in her eyes disgruntled him—shouldn't she be happy to see her friend? The one she'd been so sure wasn't coming back? Why did she look so nervous?

As much as he tried to tell himself it was nothing, the worried glances Lyra kept sending his way throughout the rest of the morning did not go by unnoticed, and with every time he caught her look, a little more dread seeped into him.

~~~~↑selectB~~~~

Ember paced the Union Room restlessly as he waited. Lyra had hardly said a word to him since the phone call, and she'd certainly not dared try and return him to his pokéball. The girl's strange mood and the entire situation in general had Ember really worked up and nervous. What was going on? For the first time since that fateful day on which the whole fiasco started, he felt completely and utterly lost.

So deep was he in his musings that he almost didn't hear the hiss of the transporter that signified someone was entering—for a moment he just stared at the glowing circle blankly, as if vaguely wondering why it was making noise. His slightly baffled look was replaced with one of disbelieving joy, however, as Soul fizzled into view. His small, bear-like tail wagged in excitement as he began to lumber toward his trainer, eager to see her face light up when she saw that she could be reunited with her starter. Ember was so overjoyed, in fact, that he almost didn't notice that as Soul stepped forward, a lumbering blue mountain of a pokémon stepped with her, glued to her side.

Ember froze in his tracks, his giant paws skidding a bit on the smooth floor with his sudden halt. His first thought was that Soul had stolen her rival's pokémon. He knew that the notion was preposterous, but honestly, how else could he explain the giant Feraligatr looming at Soul's side? Without knowing the reason why, Ember's gaze instinctively sought out Lyra, who bit her lip and stared back sympathetically, her eyes looking a bit moist.

What's your problem? He heard the Feraligatr sneer at him from its place at Soul's side. Ember ignored him, though, unable to even look at his…replacement.

Ember reluctantly dragged his gaze back over to Soul, looking his master of three years in the eye.

What he saw and heard was heart-breaking, though half-expected.

"Oh, hello!" Soul's voice was cheery and sweet; familiar, though at the same time it sounded as if the words came from a stranger's mouth. "I've never seen this species of pokémon before." She turned to Lyra, who was biting down on her lip so hard Ember thought it would bleed. "What's his name? Is he friendly?" Her voice portrayed professional interest and curiosity, nothing more.

Ember felt as if his chest was being ripped open. As a pokémon, his more extreme emotions were triggered a lot less often and easily than as in humans. He'd never felt heartbreak before, but he was certainly feeling it now.

It was killing him slowly on the inside.

With a shaking voice, Lyra answered, "He's a Typhlosion. H-his name is E-ember. And...friendly? He's...qu-questionable, you could say."

"Typhlosion?" Soul was now once again studying Ember, giving him the uncomfortable feeling that he was an animal in a zoo. "Last evolution of Cyndaquil, huh?" Suddenly she turned to Lyra with confusion in her eyes. "But...I thought Ethan said you had a Meganium…?"

"I do. Ember isn't...isn't mine. He was entrusted to me by another t-trainer," Lyra stuttered, hastily lowering her eyes so that Soul wouldn't see how close she was to breaking.

It was at this moment that Ember realized that even if he didn't know exactly what was going on or how it was happening, he knew enough. Lyra had been right. Soul, his Soul, wasn't coming back. And even though that knowledge ripped everything, his whole world, from under his feet, he...accepted it. If there's one thing he had learned from watching the humans around him everyday, it was that tragedy happens. Some never learn to let go, to walk away from it. The ones that do aren't heartless or unaffected—they're just stronger.

Until now, letting go had not been an option he had allowed himself to consider. But now, as he came to terms with the fact that his Soul was gone and Lyra was his master… He decided that he wanted to be stronger. And seeing Lyra in such distress, so close to tears in front of a complete stranger, he hardened his resolve to be stronger for Lyra right now, as he would have been for Soul.

Letting out a loud huff, he lumbered over to Lyra, nuzzling her hand gently. She smiled sadly down at him, her eyes watery. Ember glanced warily back over at Soul and Feraligatr, she former of which looked confused and the latter of which looked bored. Ember's brow furrowed. There was nothing more here he or Lyra needed to see.

Grasping Lyra's sleeve gently but firmly between his teeth, Ember began tugging her towards the exit, persisting when she tried to pull away. She glanced between him and Soul uncertainly, but the intensity of his gaze must have gotten the message across. Uttering a quick apologetic good-bye to Soul, Lyra followed Ember, human and pokémon transporting back to the Goldenrod Pokémon Center.

After making their way down the stairs and into a secluded corner where they could be left alone and unnoticed, Ember and Lyra faced each other for a moment of silence, Lyra refusing to meet the Typhlosion's gaze as she wiped a few stray tears from her cheeks. Ember rumbled deep in his throat, and Lyra smiled at him shakily. "Oh, I know," she mumbled, ashamed, "I-I screwed up. I lost it. But it was just so hard, knowing what you must have felt, and knowing that it wasn't her fault, that she didn't know she was hurting you…" She trailed off at this point, her eyes losing focus and beginning to tear up again as her mind dwelled on these thoughts.

Frustrated with her, wishing she would forget about it already and cheer up, Ember snorted loudly and head-butted her thigh, hard enough that she almost lost her balance. Lyra finally met his gaze, finding that he was staring at her defiantly, challenging her, scolding her in his own way. Once again her lips curled into a sad smile as she gently placed a hand on his head. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I...wish you hadn't had to go through that."

Ember shook his head somewhat furiously, dislodging her hand, and stepped closer, sticking his giant muzzle into her yellow shoulder bag. "Wha…? What're you—?" When he withdrew, something small and green fell with a sharp klak to the floor—a Friend Ball. Lyra frowned in confusion as the Typhlosion sat back on his haunches, staring her down expectantly. "Ember, what…?" He reached forward with a paw and knocked his own pokeball off of her belt, letting it fall to the floor before kicking it away. They both watched as it rolled away under a desk. Again Lyra looked at Ember, searching his determined eyes, plainly struggling to figure out what he was doing. "Ember, I don't get it," she insisted a bit crossly, bending down to retrieve the empty Friend Ball from where it sat between Ember's paws. Before she could stow it back in her bag, however, Ember bent his head and gently tapped the button with his nose.

There was a brief flash of light, and when it subsided, Ember was no longer there. The Friend Ball, now on the ground again, wiggled once as if alive before lying still with a barely audible click.

Lyra stood for a long moment, dumbfounded, staring at the Friend Ball as if it were alien. Slowly her eyes drifted over to the desk under which Ember's pokéball had disappeared before she returned her gaze to the now-occupied Friend Ball at her feet. A hint of dawning realization crossed her face, and she picked up the green pokéball, pressing the button. Ember phased from it, once again sitting back on his haunches and staring at her with an expression that seemed to ask, Do you get it now?

"Y...You…" Lyra gestured in the direction of the desk. "You knocked away your old pokéball because you...aren't Soul's pokémon anymore?" It was a long shot, but Ember nodded, signaling for her to continue. "And...you…" Lyra groped in the dark for a moment before suddenly her face lit up, finding the answer. "You...you let me catch you," she breathed in awe. "With a Friend Ball."

Ember seemed to be smiling at her. Laughing, Lyra stepped forward to catch him in a hug, and as he hugged back, Ember reflected that though it was true that nobody could ever replace what Soul had been for him…

There was nobody he'd rather have by his side than Lyra as his life, as he knew it, was reset.