By random chance or the whims of fate, both of them would have meet after so many years of their first meeting. With drastically, or maybe not, different lives and a different situation indeed.
Without any slowpoke in sight, just the two of them and two or three random bystanders minding their business so late at night, on the last train of the evening.
His Typhlosions seems anxious about this person's presence but Ethan finds himself having trouble remembering this oddly familiar face with an oddly specific green hair...
There were two truths about this encounter.
One: Ghosts are real. Johto was full of them, from the highest floors of skyscrapers, to the deepest tomb and ruins of the countryside.
Two: You can return to the past, but, if you do, you will find that nobody else is there.
Proton notices Ethan first, sitting in the seat in the far back of the train. Flickering lights on the ceiling illuminate the familiar face, allowing the strange man to watch as the trainer turns his head-- and their eyes lock.
The last time they were like this, the butcher of Team Rocket had been holding a knife at Ethan's throat, with vicious intent. How could Proton forget that moment? It was burnt into the back of his head. It was one of the most insane days of his life, during the culling in the depths of the Slowpoke Well.
" What are you staring at? "
He speaks up, breaking the awkward silence that was lingering.