"How could this happen? Our probability of losing was zero. What happened to our miracle? Our bright future? Why did this happen to us?"

?

Empty. Cold. Dark. Like a thorn, it pricks at the hearts of all Pokémon, the feeling of failure. And he made the worst type of mistake—a mistake that killed off millions of innocent souls. The void mocked the broken snake lying on the endless shadow that stretched as far as his grief. The fear of failure that he fought so hard against won. No more troubles left to worry about except for the burden of guilt weighing him deeper into the storming ocean. Lucky him.

Pushing through his dispensing strength, he dragged his exhausted body through the oblivion, limping from the mangled leg crushed by the destructive force. He marked the path from the few small floating chunks of nearly invisible ice that clung to his scale-like skin like a magnet when passing by. His desperation to find any fragment of life overwhelmed his lone senses; if nothing else, a soul he could at least talk to to push away the memories of the past.

Despite the effort he used to ignore the ringing of his sorrow, the pains kept sweeping across his mind. The loss of a friend who lusted for knowledge. The sister who flowed into a depressed river. The message of the discontinued team. It continued to pound through his head. Their first meeting. Their first exploration. Their shared wishes of peace and kinship among all Pokémon.

All lost because of his mistake.

He didn't realize that he laid on the invisible ground once more. Searching for some small second wind to power through, he used his arms to lift himself off the ground for only a few seconds before his face met the dark floor once more. Seeing the worthlessness in continuing forward, he laid there, waiting for the inevitable decay of his body.

There's nothing left.

Dark. Cold. Empty. He grasped his fan-like tail, curling to warm himself from the frozen abyss. He should have just let himself get destroyed by the death glacier. But his clever idea of escaping, pumped by adrenaline, allowed him to create a pathway while running. Somehow, he survived by throwing the last key onto the platform to make the gate to this awful darkness. The entercard slipped into the puzzle board way too perfectly. It seemed like a miracle, but then he arrived at his foregone destination.

Before he could ponder further, a voice playfully echoed through the empty and vast space with an altoist voice. "Oh, what a lovely sight to behold! A fun toy to enjoy playing with before my entity deteriorates from the Bittercold! And to think I appreciated such a wondrous creation."

The voice lowered down to a more aggravated tone, lowering many octaves with a sense of royalty. "How uncouth! I am the Being of Negativity! In Affectuum! This creation of bitterness has taken my occupation in destroying all my lovely souls to reap by my own hand!"

Curiosity caught hold of the Snivy as he looked up to behold a disastrous creature. Arms of many varieties stuck out of the body as it floated using six different pairs of wings that sprouted from his stomach. The sickening monster, round in shape, radiated horrible barrages of misery and woe.

Yet, something felt off to him.

The beast stopped the Snivy midway in his observations, speaking in a midtone of gloom. "And yet, my life now hinges on how long you survive and wallow in self-pity. Such a shame… Well, at least I'll be able to have my last moments as a-"

Its body then flashed a dark red from his unusual multicolored hue before a pair of arms and wings melted from his body in a pile of black sludge. The Snivy gained enough strength to back away from the repulsive and disturbing sight.

It returned to his playful alto tone. "Oh, there goes another piece of me! HehehehahahAHAHAHA!" The laugh soon formed with many other types of voices, bringing more unease to the already perturbed Snivy.

The deformed being returned to his normal timbre. "Oh, my! Looks like I might have gone overboard there, kihihi! I guess I'm still enjoying having a connection with those desperate beings that are still hopelessly struggling to escape the impending doom! It would be quite entertaining if I could enjoy the destruction freely, but death from a non-living being just doesn't allow me to fully excite myself for the full onslaught, you know?"

He finally realized the situation at hand. This mutant connected to dark emotions. He attracted this horrible darkness.

He could have stayed silent, but curiosity once against pounded against his head. "What are you?" the Snivy struggled to ask through his coarse throat.

The monster's glare unnerved Snivy as he briefly saw many Pokémon dying in his psyche. The creature slowly creeped up to the grass snake in an abnormal way. Its legs, casted as two tails, moved upwards towards the Snivy's head as it rotated onto another pair of arms. Its wings shifted towards the center of balance, pushing the arms into different areas of his body.

As its eyes met up with his, the creature grimaced as it stated in a bored yet sarcastic female tone, alike to a young snooty teen. "Yeah, dude, it's not like I already told you, 'mon. Let me tell you in a more clearer way, okay?"

His voice then shifted to a more menacing, low-pitched tone. "I am the Being of Negativity. Anyone that knows me does everything in their power to avoid me. I strike nerves of steel to become strings easily snapped. I bring sorrow and discouragement to even the most innocent of children. And-"

The burning of dark red swept across his body, three pairs of arms liquefying into the same disturbing black goo. The creature sighed as his tone turned to a more distressed, raspy tone. "Three more depressed souls utterly annihilated. It won't be long now before I take the form of a pathetically deprived being like yourself."

"Wh-what do you mean?" the Snivy stuttered, even though he saw the reason by the melting limbs from the creature.

The creature flapped the five pairs of wings on his back that defied all logic of movement, the base of the wings wiggling while the ends stood still. His playful voice returned once again as it blankly stared into the darkness. "Fefefee! Seems that we're having a dimensional visitor! You'll have to hold your questions while this impervious being I have so long wished to destroy finally straggles her way to me. I can't wait to torment the lack of power that fleets away from her entity!"

As the creature finished the last word, the Snivy watched as particles of white meshed through the black, revealing a floating orb of many different spectrum of indescribable colors. He couldn't help but feel awestruck as the orb floated down and swung around the Snivy.

The spectral sphere spoke with an echoed voice that bounded all around. "I have foresaw your coming, but it seems you aren't all here."

Ignoring his confusion, he stood up, feeling the strength return to his battered body. He glanced down at the injured leg, witnessing it straightening out back to normal. Almost like the mere presence of the light loosened his tongue, he asked, "Where am I? What's going on here?"

The sphere then started forming near the feet of the snake, growing into a star-like pole. It then completed its transformation, taking the same form as the Snivy. "You have entered into the realm of a force, as you might call us. Though, you have also departed into this realm, it seems."

The Snivy perked up at the statement. Before he could press further, the deformed creature walked up to the star-like Snivy, speaking to it with a more serious and contained male tone. "Dimenscre, we have no time for this. Just get on to why you're here."

Dimenscre turned over towards the strange creature and gave a small gesture with her short arms. "It's quite like you to be so hasty, but I guess it's quite obvious why you are. But, as the seer that sees through time and space, I know when my time shall come. You have no need to fret since my message shall pass through clear and strong."

The Snivy shook his head. "I don't understand. What's going on here? What message are you talking about?"

Dimenscre turned towards him. "Broken ways tread our paths, yet they are all connected. To rescue the world or not, we have chosen you, or maybe you were chosen by someone greater. As-"

"Dimenscre!" The demon cried out in his red hue, almost frantically. As three arms melted from his body, he continued, "This is no time to be poetic! You said you needed my help, but I'm losing strength quickly because of this Bittercold's destruction! Say your message clearly or else I'll destroy your small opportunity!"

Dimenscre shook its head. "This opportunity is not just for the Snivy, though with-"

Grunting loudly, the demon then turned to the Snivy, its gaze piercing through him like arrows coming from the sky. Its voice boomed in his ears, furious. "Dimenscre wants you to save the world! And, because I have to depend on a foolish creature like yourself, you better make sure that you don't fail like before, or else I will destroy you!"

The Snivy backed away from the creature. "W-Wait… Save the world!? But I can't face the Bittercold! I can't even get near it! The world's already dead!"

When he blinked, the starlit Snivy stood right in front of his face, her echoing voice unwavering. "You have failed once, but you haven't failed at all. Chains surround your heart, but your heart shall unbound. You will return to the past and undo the mistakes you have made, or you will create anew with the choices you take."

"What…?" Everything seemed to pound at the Snivy relentlessly. The forces expected so much of him, but what could he do?

The creature read his doubts, stating in its playful tone, "Oh, silly mortal! Your doubts only empower me. But if you don't take this chance and you do nothing, you'll just make it far easier for me to destroy you! Now, we have to send you before Dimenscre's host is killed off! I'm sure you'll just have to find out more later, shushushu!"

As the final words echoed, the Snivy felt himself falling as the world around him started changing color. He closed his eyes as the sudden brightness hit him and a small feeling of warmth showered his fatigued body. As his mind swirled from the sudden change, wind ripped against his face.

"This is your final chance, Servon. The only chance you have to set things right."

When he opened his eyes once more, realization hit him like a brick as he saw the lush green world below him rapidly climbing upwards.

"You shall succeed if you seek for succession. But if you follow the darkness of your heart…"

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" he screamed on top of his lungs. He braced himself for the eminent crushing of his body colliding the ground.

You shall receive the same fate as what you feared for your friends.