White Lotus

She was the shadow of darkness, the unseen roots of a blooming cherry, and what could be considered as the Matriarch of the family. She 'was' his twin. Everything about her was gone, her lineage, her memories, her whole identity… all of it was stolen from her. She never desired any of it yet the world was too stubborn to fulfill her desires.

Her wretched body was plastered with blooming smiles, she was petite but her shoulders bared the world, she was as tall as her twin but she stood taller in the likes of power. However, there is one intriguing difference between the two, the stereotype. She colored herself white and blue, the feminine counterpart of what many would assume to as Black and Red, the Yin and the Yang. She was bountiful, an elegant creature and had the wit of a madame.

Her name is Ren Mirai from the Katsuragi household, she may have lost her name but she reclaimed her identity. But the only thing that dares to stand against her was her very own kin.

"Yoake?" She muttered his name.

"Ren… what are you doing here?" Yoake shook his head as he refreshed himself from his bizarre reaction earlier.

Ren stood silent as the answer was obvious.

"It seems that the apple has fallen off its tree quite far." Ren answered.

"Then why did the Tropius take pursuit?" He asked one more time.

"Regardless, it's subjective. Your future self would create a better judgment as to why am I here." Ren suggested.

"Alright. Enough with the mind games." Claudine interrupted. "I thought we've been over this."

The twins rolled their eyes. Claudine was dumbfounded by the two's response while the Professor was silently watching.

"Do they always do this?" The Professor asked her.

"I don't know. A month ago they were inseparable, now, it's just complicated." She stated.

"Even Leaf and Karen don't know."

A worried tone hummed through her voice as she watched the two Katsuragis barely made eye-contact.

"Whoever this Lyra fella they're talking about, I hope she's a family-therapist." Claudine groaned.

"Lyra? I know that person. She's an associate of mine." The Professor said, "Sadly, I don't know where she is."

"When was the last time you saw her?"

"I was told that she went to Mount Silver a couple of weeks ago."

It was dumbfounding as to why this 'important person' is missing but this wasn't the reason as to why they were here in the first place. The two twins are reluctant to be in the same room but Claudine knows that if it was unprecedented, chaos would ensue but luckily, Claudine was ready to intervene.

"Anyways, since you two are competing; I have decided to give you two a gift." He scoffed.

He then throws three Pokeballs to the ground and reveals the three Johto Starters: The fiery echidna Pokemon, Cyndaquil; The Water-gator pokemon, Totodile; and the small Grassy dinosaur, Chikorita.

Yoake was ready to pick, prior to leaving Kanto, he did a lot of research and found out that the prominent Pokemon amongst the three was Cyndaquil; his nerdy brain was ready to choose the Pokemon but he heard a yawn, it was Tepig's. His brain began to debate itself, sympathy or decisiveness.

'Should I or should I not?' He asked himself, there was no question but there's an answer.

"Alright. So, who shall go first?" The professor tempted them.

Ren saw Yoake's face and smirked.

'He never changes.'

"I'll let Yoake go first. His face says so." She suggested.

"What? uhhh…" Yoake was startled by her twin's suggestion.

"Alright. Yoake, you can only pick one. Who should it be?"

He was hesitant about his decision but he has to make a proper judgment. He is familiar with Team-building, especially those who are in-favor of a team that supports one's DPS but he feels like fate has already given him one.

"I Choose, Tepig." he said.

The little Tepig woke up after hearing her name being called out, Claudine was delighted with her trainer's decision, either by an act of pity or malevolent but both are lingering to her thoughts.

"Okay, I can tolerate that." Professor Elm fixed his glasses as it was clear that it was unexpected.

Yoake then walked towards Tepig and took a Pokeball from his bag; she was hesitant at first but realizing how in-debt she was to these heroes, she accepted. She smiled and entered the Pokeball.

Ren, who watched this transpired, saw a small glimpse of Yoake's humanity; she rarely saw this ever since that 'day' but it was a sigh of relief that there is only one thing that creates a common ground between them, the Katsuragis' undying love towards Pokemon.

"If that's settled then it's my turn." She said as she headed to Totodile.

'I always pick the team that is weak against yours but now, I'll burn that cockiness to the ground.' She smiled as she touched the rugged and scaly surface of Totadile's head.

"Hey there little fella." She raised her voice to that of an angel in human form, warmth and love.

The Pokemon did not hesitate and immediately submitted itself; it entered the Pokeball that Ren offered.

"Now with that being settled, I'm hoping that both of you have the updated Software from your Pokedex." the professor stated.

The two nodded as an answer.

"With that out of way, go out there and prove yourself to be the best of the best- or not."

He chuckled as he fixed his glasses once more and headed to his office, which is just a table near a bunch of cabinets.

"Will do."

Ren said as she turned around and walked towards the door, ready to leave the place but Yoake interrupted her.

"Wait, Ren, how about we battle?" Yoake challenged her.

Both of them saw an opportunity to fight one another and prove one's worth; it was a tempting offer but Ren decided to wear her earphones and ignored her kin.

"Tempting but yours is too fragile to fight; train it to be stronger then let's settle the matter."

She left as she went; she closed the door of the laboratory and never turned back. She knows what she just said but knowing the stubbornness of her twin, he wouldn't. Either way, it was none of her business, she had to press forward.

She stepped outside, took out her phone, played music and began walking. As much as she would love to train Totadile upon getting him, unlike Yoake, she was not in a rush. She continued listening to her music as she took a hike from the town to the route between it and the city.

For every step she takes, she listens to her music with precision; she loves to imagine a scenario with the music she listens to as this was her means to escape the reality she's in.

Upon entering the city, she heads to a nearby coast and sits on one of the wooden chairs as she watches the waves meet the yellow hills of land. For her, this was her tranquility.

'A Beach-side house and some good tunes; the perfect life.' She thought to herself.

'A small room and my music is enough to fulfill it. No Team Rocket and reality's problem.'

'Either way, I just don't like my predicament.' Ren reflected herself as she watched the waves.

As she continued to watch and admire the scenery, she then saw someone standing beside her. It was a girl, someone older than her. She looks like someone in her 15s but not older than 17s. She's a brunette with brown eyes. She wears a red shirt and blue overalls and an interesting white and red hat.

"May I?" The brunette asked her.

"Sure." Ren obliged as she moved to open some space for the brunette.

"Thank you." The brunette sat beside her and also admired the blue seas.

Ren was ready to increase the volume of her music but she heard the brunette say something; she decided to remove her earphones and listen to her.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" She asked.

"Indeed." Ren answered.

"Being at the midpoint of a busy city and the calm nature; a pleasant gift to anyone's ears." She stated.

"It is." White-y answered.

"I hope you don't mind but may I ask for your name?" Brunette asked her once more.

"My name?"

Ren was dumbfounded by this question but she decided to answer anyways.

"It's still based on judgment, I don't really know my name, I just follow what others call me."

"Is that so? What do they call you then?"

"Others call me Ren, some call me Yugure, some call me Lily. I don't know who I am."

"Ah, I see. What do you prefer the most then?"

"Ren is enough."

"Are you sure?" The brunette's gave her a sense of dread, it was the fact that she has no proper identity.

She knows who she is but what about the others? Karen, Leaf, Sabrina, Yoake, and even Janine don't know the true extent of this girl.

"I don't know." Ren answered as she looked down on the pavement.

"Does it matter to you?" She continues to ask.

Ren went silent as the answer was obvious. She doesn't know who this person is but she felt a sense of familiarity between them. She felt like they've known each other for a very long time yet they act total strangers.

"I see. You'll find out eventually." The brunette assured her. "By then, let's just call you Ren."

"Also, sorry for my bizarre behavior. I'm not really good at conversing and immediately penetrating your personal space." she continued.

"Anyways, the name is Lyra." She introduced herself.

"So you must be the person Leaf and Karen are referring to," said Ren.

"Evidently." Lyra stated. "And I was told you have a twin brother? Who's older between you two?"

"Yes, I am the older one by a few seconds."

"An alpha twin huh. You remind me of the two gym leaders from Hoenn, such a cutie to see the two being an unstoppable force." said Lyra.

"Sibling dynamics, that's a rarity between us." Ren sighed.

"You wish to have one?"

"No, I know my twin, anything he does would drag me down alongside him."

"Do you despise him then?" asked Lyra.

"I'm afraid of him."

Lyra was shocked to hear the girl's fragile voice; she wanted to know more but this would be too much as she has yet to see the other half.

"When did this started?"

"Ever since he became the Pokemon Champion of Kanto, everything about him changed."

"I can still recollect his last smile but ever since that day, his visage of his was gone."

"What happened?" A concerned Lyra asked.

"It's because of that wretched phone."

Ren's voice rises as if anger was ready to appear between them but Ren kept her coolness.

"Battle Bond was a mistake." She commented. She looked away with shame but she knows that she was right; she doesn't want to admit it but she was already tired of it.

'I reluctantly use it, rarely but I despise every moment of it.'

They then hard a phone buzzed, it was a call for Ren.

"Please exuse me for a sec." she said as she opens her phone and accepted the call.

"Hello?" She greeted. "What do you mean?"

"They're still here?"

"I want you to start gathering information about them; they're the remnants of a dying empire and a dead emperor, do as needed."

Ren ended the call and turns to her right and notice that Lyra was already gone, in a blink of an eye, her visitor had left her immideatly.

This didn't bothered her; determined, she stood up and left as she heads to the subway that binds Kanto and Johto together; returning to her old palace in Saffron city where news would dismay her day.

'This ends here.'