Standing still, maybe it'll change.

"Hey, Zubat. I'm glad you guys are okay."

Wattson fidgeted at the side, shifting from one leg to another as he watched the scene, mildly uncomfortable.

There was a smile on Citrine's face, but it wasn't in her eyes. Yet, her lithe figure on that wheelchair sat like she belonged in it, calm and comfortable.

There had been a slight risk of permanent paralysis, but luckily, she got away with a couple of infections and broken bones. Permanent aftereffects were still unclear.

Citrine, her hair bound back in a braid, watched over the few Zubat that fluttered beside her.

This was her third day in the cave, and the Zubat had grown on the girl. She spoke to them and they would lead her to answers. The Golbat that mastered the cave ensured no other Pokemon caused her harm.

Wattson wasn't sure why the Zubat were being so nice, but Rydel had an inkling.

Pokemon were always emphatic creatures, much more so than humans ever were and could be.

If Wattson could see how devastated and how broken the girl was-- maybe the Pokemon could feel it in their senses, enough for them to wish to protect her despite their differences.

"Want a berry? Be careful with-- oh, I'm bleeding."

Wattson jumped. All Zubat froze. It was kind of funny, seeing as they shuddered synchronously, wings not moving, just petrified in mid air like floating statues.

Then they all but screeched, fluttering around in a panic. Wattson squawked as all creatures in the cave rose in a mayhem, until Chansey trotted right up with her healing.

There was laughter after that, and Wattson felt the bubbles of joy, though temporary, come back to the girl.

Maybe she could heal.

-

Rydel brought the girl to Pokemon Daycare, where old lady Haruna still worked.

She spent the day singing lullabies to the baby Pokemon, while her own laid still in their Poke Balls in Rydel's hands, forgotten.

It was saddening.

Lombre was crestfallen, and Loudred hadn't even tried to look at its owner.

There was a bundle of silk missing between them, and Rydel could only watch, knowing things won't go back.

It felt just like yesterday. Citrine would be huddled up on her desk, Cascoon beside her trying to grasp her attention by spindling silk over the back of her pencil.

Lombre would scramble in and out with an armful (and lilypad-full) of berries. Occasionally she'd help the shop, or untangle wire cords.

Whismur would be scampering around balancing one berry at a time, and although he'd fall over more times than berries he could take, he kept trying.

Then Citrine would laugh and rub them on their heads, promising treats after a job well done.

Now it's all gone.

"It's been a week," he would tell the Lombre when it croaked, wanting to come out, "Wurmy's... probably too far away now."

But the Lombre would pop right out anyways, stubbornly insisting on heading into the forest to search.

Lombre never gave up.

But had Citrine given up?

-

Rydel mostly relied on Aunt Haruna for Citrine's matters. After all, Citrine was a young, teenage girl and Rydel isn't really the best person to consult or empathize with.

She had nightmares, some nights more than most. After the incident, it fluctuated.

And the dreams, though she never spoke of them, Rydel could hear them and piece them together.

They ranged from pleads for her life, begging to not leave her alone, to screaming.

It ended the same way-- she would bolt upright, wrenched from one world to the other, and she would spend disorienting moments singing a lullaby to herself, her own voice shattered and full of tears.

Chansey, borrowed from the Pokemon Center, would watch over her on a daily basis, but some things couldn't be solved with companionship.

Rydel followed Lombre out one night, and watched from afar how the Pokemon scrambled around, gesticulating wildly about her search for something with wings.

They weren't quite sure what to do. Wattson contemplated contacting Roxanne, to reach the girl's guardians-- but Aunt Haruna suggested otherwise.

They would wait, he decided.

And finally, something changed.

-

Citrine never really got over it, even years past it. She clutched the little plastic ring-- Wurmy's, and it had fallen off when the Cascoon evolved-- she so dearly wished she could have put it back on.

Her legs were dangerously numb, and though she will soon be referred to a better physiotherapy hospital in Lavaridge for ailing, there was no guarantee of a full recovery.

She stayed on her wheelchair, like a good girl, and left the search to Rydel and Lombre.

She didn't want to give up on the search. But maybe, just maybe, something inside her had already given up.

She began to remember things at night. Things like the cuts on her wrist that have faded away with her body, the deepening thoughts that plagued every waking moment, a very, very familiar feeling of wanting it all to end.

It scared her, and it was stupid.

She can't even feel pain anymore. There would be no point or reason to do anything to herself. She wouldn't, couldn't, feel it.

She would be trapped in a labyrinth, her life's mistakes on every wall. She would run, but the only thing that lay at its end was emptiness, and the sudden realization that she would never, ever be free.

Citrine was engulfed by regret, and even Leafeon's gentle lullabies were not enough.

"Do you think there's something I can still do?"

Citrine asked her Loudred, that fake smile once again on her face.

"Do you think there's still a point?"

Loudred sat with his back to her, seemingly ignoring the girl as she spoke. Citrine thought she deserved it-- maybe both of her other Pokemon hated her now.

After all, she had lost Wurmy and now she wasn't doing anything to get Wurmy back.

How pathetic.

-

One day, Wattson brought her out.

"This is Coil-boy!" he jabbed a thumb in the direction this a small, spiral-glasses-wearing (wait, are his spectacle frames actually gears? This guy is weird) man in a robot-arm-and-leg contraption. What even on earth is that anyways.

Citrine stared up at them curiously-- "uhm, nice to meet you?" she offered-- this was the guy that... operated New Mauville or something?

Wasn't he the guy that gave, uh, Emerald, his weird platform shoes and soil-gun thing?

Wait, were they the same person?

"Nice to meet you, little lady! You can call me the Robot King!" he said, proudly and funnily, as if he were trying to act clumsy, like a clown.

Citrine gave him a smile anyways, thought just a small, subtle one enough to be polite.

"Please call me Citrine," she told him. She didn't have her Pokemon with her-- Lombre was out searching as she always did, and this time Loudred had gone elsewhere, which was something he had been doing recently.

She found Leafeon's Poke Ball in the pouch at the arm of her wheelchair, but an unresponsive click at the button meant she wasn't in the mood to come out.

Citrine sighed, but raised the ball anyways to show Coil the grumpy little thing.

"This is Leafeon," she said, "I can't control her yet because I'm not strong enough, but she protects me when it counts."

Coil looked closer, and grinned, "nice to meet you, Leafeon!"

Leafeon huffed, turning away. Wattson laughed.

"Now that you're introduced, I have a surprise for you, Citrine-dear! You'll be mesmerized, hah, get it?"

The silence that answered him was completely expected, so Coil swooped in for a splendid save.

"A day ago, we finally found the hidden land of Mauville!" he announced brightly, and Wattson looked horrified at the spoiler, "it's called New Mauville, and it's an underground amusement park!"

Citrine perked up, interested.

Had Sapphire come and gone while she was recuperating? Oh no, that meant she was falling behind on the journey!

(But did it really matter?)

"It's not all that ready for public opening yet, because of all the wild Pokemon that we're going to build specified living locations for, but it's a pretty interesting place at the moment and we thought you'd enjoy a little pre-construction sightseeing."

Citrine was baffled.

It was evident that they were trying to cheer her up, and honestly, she didn't dislike their effort. She just wasn't sure if she was... ready to get over it.

(It'd be like she was giving up on Wurmy, abandoning Wurmy again-- she couldn't let that happen.)

(But if Lombre found Wurmy now... would Citrine be able to face him without fear? She didn't know. She couldn't confidently say yes.)

So instead, she accepted their offer of a tour for New Mauville.