Her mother pulled her out of the Contest Hall, tugging on her arm, without saying anything to the cyan-haired man. Wurmple fired a short weaved String Shot in the form of a heart at Wallace, then trailed after them.

Wallace didn’t think he would have to be the one to tell a small, eight-year-old child what the fate of her own two parents were, but here he was. The male officer from earlier had explained to him that her parents were shot down by a Hyper Beam from a wild Gyarados, and were flying above the ocean to go to work. The couple rode on the family’s Flygon, and the three were supposedly missing for at least a day or so, which was why Mana was left home alone.

Mana blinked back tears, the flood dams beneath her eyes breaking. Heaving sobs followed and she fell to her knees. She gasped for air but it just barely came, like her head was underwater, and it might as well have been with how much she broke down. She just… Wanted to hide. From everything, Wallace included. She wanted her parents here and alive, but… That was impossible. Mana’s parents were dead. They were dead and they were never coming back. They’d left her. She hugged her knees and Wallace just reassuringly stroked her back. They’d sat there for a while, until Mana had finally spoken, her voice cracked.