A/N: Beware the Angst. This is a sad oneshot inspired by SilverUmbra's Friendshipping (Mystery Dungeon heroxPartner) challenge. Very angsty, you have been warned. The speaker is the partner, Flamedeus the Typhlosion.
What Happened to You?
When you returned to our base after you evolved, I was stunned. Your fur glistened black, the yellow rings glowing like the moon. You moved like darkness itself, elegance and power surging through every stride. I was stunned by your savage beauty, by the coldness that seemed to envelop you.
I barely could see the shadow of the innocent, tough little Eevee I had known for so long behind the shell. But then I saw it in the uncertain flash of your grey-blue eyes in the moonlight, the hesitant twitch of your tail as you approached.
"Hey, Flad."
"Hey, Ris." Ris. My nickname for you, the only one who ever called you it. The same way you were the only one who called me Flad.
You twirled in a circle, your sleek fur catching the silver light of the moon. "Do you like?" I remember the endless thought that had went into your evolution before you and I finally decided on Umbreon. It fit our name, we had decided. Team Moonfire. I was the fire, you were the moon- if we reversed the personalities attributed to each.
You were always the fiery fighter, quick to anger and swift to attack. Stories were still being whispered about the time you had defeated a Salamence nearly twenty levels above you with only a few attacks. (That was a complete rumor, of course- the pokemon had still been a Shelgon and only ten levels higher.)
I was the cautious one, the ranged fighter who preferred to keep the foes away while you were meeting them head-on. The one who always lurked in the background when we were confronted by fans. The subordinate. I was happy in this position- I got to be somewhat famous and still be able to go out in public. Best of both worlds in my opinion.
I complimented you on your new form, and I could see in the depths of your eyes that you needed to hear it. As usual, you curled up on your side of the nest when we went to sleep but were snuggled up against my side by morning.
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It was only our third mission in your new form. Still unsure with your dark-type attacks, you kept to the Shadow Balls and Secret Powers you had long mastered. Emerging from the depths of Mt. Blaze, we were suddenly surrounded by a mob.
"It's that girl who'll bring about the end of the world!"
"Yeah, we'd better get rid of her!" You were frantically trying to explain to the crowd that you were not that pokemon, and that your name had been cleared long ago- but it was no use.
They came at us from all sides, and they were strong. You fought like a demon. We both did, and I know my Flamethrowers dropped several pokemon permanently. I saw you hit one Manetric so hard her neck snapped, and the pokemon began to lose their nerve.
Then, I saw him. A pidgey swooped in fast, holding a silver thorn in its claws. Silver was deadly to you, and at the speed it would pierce your skin… It would kill you. I would not let that happen.
Without a second thought, I lunged and pushed you out of the way- catching the spike in my chest as I did so. Your eyes widened in shock as you saw me fall, and then an agonized howl nearly shredded my heart as a black energy poured from your body, flattening the mob where they stood but leaving me unharmed.
Alakazam appeared too late, looking frantic and trying to avoid disaster. My fate was already sealed, and we both new it. You were crying, tears pouring from your beautiful blue eyes like rain. I reached up to rest my paw against your cheek, and you whimpered.
In an unfamiliar action, you buried your face against my fur.
"Please don't go! I need you!" The last words I heard as my life faded were "I love you…"
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When I awoke, I was floating next to you and my body. Alakazam reached over to touch your shoulder, and you suddenly hissed. As you lifted your head, I was horrified to see your eyes slowly turn a bloody red. The psychic jerked back as if stung.
"Get out of here before I kill you for not getting here in time to save him." You whispered, and all warmth was gone from your voice. The psychic wisely left.
You buried me among the bodies of the ones your Dark Pulse- as I later learned to call the attack- had felled. The moon's cold light shone down on you from the sky, but it did not make you burn with radiance. It did not bring the blue back to your eyes or the smile back to your lips. I was stunned- why had my death done this to you?
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Over the next few years, I watched you. Unable to pass on, I stayed like a shadow at your side. You disbanded our team, left the other pokemon far behind as you trekked over the mountain. Only Zapdos was foolish enough to challenge your passage through his mountain. You left his broken, bleeding body on a ridge and continued on as if nothing had ever happened.
You went through lands none of us had ever seen, leaving a path of death in your wake. You became an expert killer, and many started calling you 'The Black Death'. Your name gradually faded from memory, from all thought. The adventures of Team Moonfire were just bedtime stories now.
I was horrified at the change in you, wanting the old, lovable Erisna to come back. Then, you started harming yourself.
I had only gone away for a moment, to warn a traveling family of Pikachu away from this area. When I came back, you were laughing sadly under your breath and staring at your bleeding forepaw. Your gaze drifted to the moon, and you sighed and stopped laughing.
"It never helps. It just helps me forget. Why do I miss you so much?" Your eyes are dry, but I can sense what has changed you so. Your love for me turned into a raging demon when I was killed, desperately trying to find what had tamed it before and failing. Tears finally appear in your eyes and you lay your head on your bleeding paws as they spill from your eyes.
"Flamedeus… Why did you have to die?" That soft, whispered plea breaks my heart. I can do nothing but wrap my ghostly arms around you, wanting nothing more than to take the pain away but forced to suffer in silence, waiting for the day you can finally join me.