Rules: (Note: these are rules my friend and I have created) The one-shots have to be at least 1,000 words. Stories must be One-Shot, meaning that the story is only one chapter long. The stories can be any genre. Stories must be written and uploaded in the given month, and more than one story can be uploaded in one day.

Chapter Warnings: I have no idea what I'm doing, possible femslash - Elesa/Skyla (I don't normally ship these two), fluff, Pokémon death, general angst-y shit, probably some OoCness.

Chapter Genre: Angst, Hurt and Comfort, Tragedy, Friendship, possible Romance (depending on how you look at it).

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters from any of the Pokémon games.

Author's Note: Hello! If you thought this was a bit of a surprise for you, it was a bit of a surprise for me too. I wasn't even planning on doing this challenge this month (I was planning on doing it sometime in the Autumn). But when my friend told me he was going to do it this month and asked me to do it too, I kind of agreed without thinking about it. T_T

I haven't planned at all for this (well, I know what I'm writing last), so if you have any pairings you want me to write a one-shot of for this I'll be happy to do it. I'd also appreciate it as it'd spare me doing a 'spur-of-the-moment' thing. XD

I'm going to be writing down the genres for each chapter and set the main genre to 'General'. There are just too many genres to choose from for the whole thing.

I also apologise for this note being a little long. I kind of wanted to explain shizzle before getting right to it. They won't always be this long, I promise. I'll be leaving a word count at the end of the fic as well. c:

Enjoy!

Shot One (Oh ha, ha, Dolan. Very funny): White Bird

It was about a year after the second Plasma incident that it happened. Skyla had been challenged by a particularly strong trainer. For a while the two had put up a good fight until they were both down to their last Pokémon.

Skyla sent out her Swanna and the challenger sent out his Manectric. Despite the major disadvantage, Skyla and Swanna pushed on fighting, hoping…willing, that their strength and experience pulled them through. That was until Swanna took a large amount of damage.

A stray spark from one of Manectric's previous attacks had hit Swanna's wing, causing the Water-Flying type to lose balance mid-flight. The challenger saw the opportunity and struck, commanding his Pokémon to attack the bird with a powerful Wild Charge. The strength of the attack caused Swanna fly back right into one of the Gym's walls with a deafening crash! The battle was obviously over, but Skyla didn't care about that.

Her partner was seriously injured.

She ran over to the injured Pokémon and a horrible fear took hold of her body. The sight of Swanna nearly made her hyperventilate as panic began to rush her senses. Swanna's wings were injured badly. Feathers had been broken and there were cuts and gashes all over the poor Pokémon's body. Skyla scooped up Swanna in her arms and ran past the victorious trainer, ignoring his shouts and yells about his Gym Badge.

Skyla almost flinched as she dashed out of the gym and into a harsh rainstorm. The city was lashed with them quite regularly, and Skyla had always loved them, but she had never wanted a rainstorm to disappear so desperately as she did right then. Within moments her and Swanna's bodies were drenched, and Skyla tried to focus on getting Swanna to the Pokémon Centre as quickly as possible.

As she ran through the streets her feet pelted against puddles, soaking her feet and legs even more. People who were out and about shopping that day greeted Skyla from under their umbrellas, but the Gym Leader paid them no heed. Not when the lights of the Pokémon Centre were now in sight. She kept cooing and talking to Swanna as she ran, hoping that her voice would keep the White Bird Pokémon from falling unconscious. Swanna was one of her closest friends, she was a huge part of Skyla's life, and knowing there was now a possibility that Swanna could be seriously hurt terrified her.

Relief filled her senses as she neared the Pokémon Centre. She lunged for the doors, feeling brief impatience at the delayed response of the automatic doors, before dashing for the reception area of the hospital.

"Nurse Joy!" Skyla called out urgently as she ran towards the pink-haired woman.

Hearing the call of her voice, Nurse Joy turned away from her paperwork to greet Skyla with a warm smile. Before she could speak her smile disappeared at the sight of both the Gym Leader and her strongest Pokémon. They were both drenched to the bone, and Nurse Joy could see Skyla's shoulders trembling from the cold. She was gasping for breath as she held Swanna securely in her arms. Nurse Joy almost blanched when she saw Swanna, her wings were looking a lot worse than before.

"Audino, please get a hospital bed for Swanna." Nurse Joy requested urgently. The Hearing Pokémon immediately went off to find what was requested, and only moments later it returned with the bed, rolling it towards Skyla.

Nurse Joy carefully took Swanna from Skyla's arms and laid the bird on the bed, gently stretching out her wings. A fresh wave of pain must have seared through Swanna's wing as she let out a great cry of pain. The cry caused Skyla's heart to lurch helplessly at the sound. She turned to Nurse Joy.

"Swanna…she's gonna be okay, right? She's gonna pull through?"

"We won't know until we check her over." Nurse Joy replied seriously. "Please wait in the waiting room, we'll report back to you when we're finished."

The helpless emotion Skyla felt only grew as she followed Nurse Joy and Audino into the waiting room. She knew she could go no farther when they went through the double doors, and it only made her want to cry. What if Swanna's wings were permanently damaged? Would Swanna blame her? Skyla shook her head. It didn't matter if Swanna blamed her for this, all that mattered was Swanna's well being.

After ten minutes of waiting Skyla couldn't handle being on her own anymore. She used the Pokémon Centre's phone service and dialled in the number of the one person she could rely on. After a few seconds of ringing the receiving end finally picked up.

"Hello?" Skyla felt a little better just from hearing Elesa's voice.

"Elesa, it's me." She winced at how her voice shook.

"Skyla? Is that you? What's up?" Elesa's voice immediately became light and friendly.

"Um…I'm in the Pokémon Centre at the moment…" Skyla took a moment to breathe. "I…I had a battle with this really strong trainer. Swanna…she got hurt pretty bad. I didn't know who else to call. I think…I think it's really bad. Her wings, Elesa…they were so…" her throat suddenly felt constricted. Hot tears began to build in her eyes as she whimpered, "Dammit…"

"I'm on my way." Elesa suddenly declared.

Skyla blinked in surprise. "W-what? Elesa, you can't! What about the gym?"

"You're more important. It's the Mistralton Pokémon Centre, right?"

"Y-yeah, but-"

"No 'buts'. I'm on my way. I'll be there as soon as possible."

"Elesa, wait-!"

Skyla was cut off by the sound of a chunk followed by a beeping, signalling the other end has been put down. Skyla sighed and put the receiver down before returning to the waiting room. About half an hour later Elesa finally showed up and entered the waiting room. She was wearing a designer, yellow raincoat dress with the hood up to protect her hair. Her eyes widened when she saw Skyla drenched from head to toe.

"Look at you!" Elesa exclaimed as she walked over to Skyla. "You're soaked. Why haven't you dried off yet? You'll catch a cold like this."

Skyla shook her head as her expression grew pained. "Swanna is more important."

Elesa's eyes softened. "I know, of course she is. But we need to dry you off. I'm going to go get a towel."

Skyla nodded and Elesa disappeared down the hall. She took her hair out of its side bun, allowing the russet red locks to fall over her shoulders. She replayed the battle over and over in her head. She kept trying to find a way she could have prevented Swanna from getting hurt so badly. The more she thought and dwelled on it the more the blame grew.

"Skyla?" Elesa said tenderly, causing the other Gym Leader to look up in surprise. "Here's a towel."

"Thanks," she accepted it and began to try herself off. It wouldn't do for her to catch a cold while Swanna was hurt.

Elesa took off her raincoat and sat down beside her. "Have you heard any news?"

Skyla shook her head. "Nurse Joy took her in there almost three quarters of an hour ago. She hasn't come out since." Fear became evident in Skyla's bright blue eyes. "Oh Arceus…what if it's really bad? Elesa, what if it's really bad?"

"Calm down, Swanna is going to be fine." Elesa tried to assure her despite the feeling of uneasy concern. Just as she said this Nurse Joy finally walked back out of the double doors, causing both Skyla and Elesa to look up.

Skyla immediately stood up. "Nurse Joy, is Swanna okay?"

Nurse Joy opened her mouth to speak, paused and closed her mouth again. Her face was grave and she tried to find the right words before speaking.

"It's not good news." Skyla's eyes widened in horror. "Swanna's wings are damaged badly. The right wing can be healed, but her left wing is damaged beyond repair. I'm afraid we can't do anything for it. The best thing to do would be to put her-"

"No!"

Nurse Joy's eyes widened at Skyla's outburst while Elesa looked sadly at her friend.

"Don't…don't you dare tell me that…" Skyla whispered harshly. Tears began to roll down her cheeks, and she had a terrible sick feeling in her stomach as she tried to process the information. "You're meant to be able to heal and help Pokémon. So don't you dare tell me the best thing is put my partner down!"

"Skyla, just listen-" Elesa tried to speak, but Skyla cut her off.

"No! Swanna has been with me since the beginning, Elesa. I raised that Pokémon from an egg! She was by my side when I started my first journey. She's my partner…my best friend, and I'm not agreeing to this!"

By then tears were streaming down Skyla's cheeks. She began to break down into hysterical sobs. Elesa circled her arms around her friend and pulled her into a firm embrace. Skyla simply clung to her and rested her forehead against Elesa's shoulder as she cried her heart out. To be told that her partner wasn't going to make it, that the best thing would be to let her go; Skyla felt her heart break in half, and that one half was about to die with Swanna.

As soon as Skyla had calmed down Nurse Joy took both her and Elesa through to see Swanna. She was settled on a bed in an intensive care room. Her right wing was bandaged and folded up like normal, but her left wing was spread out in a cast to keep her as comfortable as possible. All of Swanna's other injuries had been treated and dressed to prevent infection, but none of that would help now.

Skyla could feel the tears welling up in her eyes when she saw Swanna. The White Bird Pokémon opened her eyes and tiredly raised her head to look at Skyla. She let out a gentle cry for her trainer and Skyla immediately went over and comforted her.

"I'm here…" Skyla managed to whisper as she gently petted Swanna's head. "I'm here."

Swanna seemed to let out a sigh of relief before closing her eyes. Skyla let out a brief sob before bowing her head to Swanna's, letting out the faintest of whispers that only Swanna could possibly hear. "I love you…"

After a few more minutes Skyla finally managed pull herself away and nodded to Nurse Joy. She turned and walked into Elesa's arms, holding her tightly as Nurse Joy injected the lethal dose. Swanna's breath began to slow and she tried to focus on her trainer's sobs before finally falling unconscious. After a few more moments her breathing finally stopped.

The weeks that follow Swanna's death were a dark time for Skyla. She closed the gym, promising to open it in a few weeks, to allow herself some time to mourn. The first few days weren't as bad as what was to come. Skyla cried and mourned, and Elesa was often with her. A week later Skyla decided to reopen the gym, deciding she was ready to start gym battles again. Unfortunately her mood and ability to battle became worse. Her battle rhythm was lost completely, and after ten straight losses Skyla completely broke.

She lost the will to battle and to fly. The gym closed once again, and Skyla couldn't even look at her other Pokémon. She had failed them, she had failed as a Gym Leader, she even failed Swanna. The blame and guilt continued to grow.

"Skyla, you can't keep doing this to yourself." Elesa said a month after Swanna's death.

"Doing what?" Skyla asked somewhat indifferently as she sat in her living room reading a book.

"You're punishing yourself over Swanna's death. It wasn't your fault, Skyla." Elesa insisted adamantly.

Skyla slammed the book shut. "It was my fault. I made the wrong decisions in that battle and I failed as a Gym Leader. I failed Swanna as well."

"You didn't fail Swanna!" Elesa exclaimed. "You didn't fail Swanna with that battle, but I can tell you you're failing her now if you continue like this. Would Swanna really want you to mope around like this - blaming yourself until you can't stand anymore?"

Tears welled up in Skyla's eyes at Elesa's words. "What am I supposed to do, Elesa? Everything I do in that gym reminds me of her… It's too painful."

"You have to keep struggling." Elesa replied as she held Skyla in her arms. "It will be hard at first, but slowly, over time, the pain begins to lessen. It will never fully heal, but it will get easier as time goes on."

"I can't…I can't do it yet… I can't move on yet…" Skyla sobbed.

Elesa almost frowned, but nodded and held Skyla tighter. "I'll be waiting by your side."

Six months later…

"Unfezant is unable to battle! Beartic wins! Victory goes to the challenger!"

Skyla smiled and returned her Pokémon to its Poké Ball, thanking it before watching the challenger celebrate with her Pokémon. She chuckled and walked over to them.

"Well done. That was a great battle!" she grinned and presented the Jet Badge. "This is the Jet Badge, you've earned it. You and your Pokémon have worked hard to get this far, but don't get too comfortable yet. There are tougher opponents out there."

The trainer smiled gleefully and accepted the badge before nodding. "Thank you for the battle. I'll do my best!"

Skyla watched the trainer leave her gym, but just before she walked out she called to her. "Spread your wings, kid!"

The trainer cheered back and smiled at Elesa as she passed. Skyla blinked in surprise as Elesa made her way over to the Flying type Gym Leader.

"Elesa! This is a surprise. What are you doing here?" Skyla asked with a grin.

"Aren't I allowed to visit one of my closest friends?" Elesa replied with a fake pout. Skyla laughed and she smiled in return. "I assume the victor of that match has just walked out?"

"Yeah, she put up a good fight. She deserved it." Skyla said.

"Mn, Swanna would be proud of you."

Skyla blinked before smiling somewhat sombrely. "Yeah… Thank you, Elesa."

It was Elesa's turn to blink. "What for?"

Her smile became brighter. "For waiting for me."

Word Count: 2405

Oh my God, what did I just write? ;_;

*cough* Anyway, that's the first one-shot for this challenge. Feel free to leave a review and I'll happily read it! If you have any suggestions for what I should write next please leave it in a review. (I do have ideas, but not enough for the whole challenge xD)

Dolan