Crescent lay in the soft darkness of her den, dawn light filtering through the bushes outside the entrance. It was an old burrow made by another pokemon, but it was hers now. Crescent was a female shiny umbreon, and she was waiting, rather impatiently, for her mate, Shard the glaceon, to come back to her for the winter. She lived among the trees surrounding Mt. Silver. Shard was a glaceon, so for the spring, summer, and fall, he lived far away, Snowpoint City, to be exact, all the way in the Sinnoh region. Crescent missed him, and loved him, and worried about him, but she couldn't make such a long journey so often. She got seasick, passing through that giant ocean between the Johto and the Sinnoh region. But Shard should be coming home soon! Crescent thought as she watched the snowflakes gently fall through the entrance. It was morning, and she tried to sleep, but she couldn't. She was too excited. Suddenly, she smelled a familiar scent. Scythe the Absol, her best friend.
Scythe slid into the den. "'Sup?" He said. Crescent smiled. "Hey, shouldn't you be sleeping about now?"
"I can't sleep. Shard is gonna be home soon!"
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot." Crescent gently bopped Scythe on the nose. "Ow!" He said. "Don't hit me!" Scythe bopped her on the ear. Crescent pounced on Scythe, bowling him over. Soon, they were rolling around playfully outside the den. And then the sun hit Crescent's yellow eyes. "Gah!" She hissed. Scythe looked concerned.
"Hey, what's wrong?"
"N-nothing. Stupid sun." Crescent replied, turning away and blinking rapidly. She padded back to her den, where sleep eventually found her.
She awoke with moonlight streaming in through the den entrance. She sat up and slipped out of the den, where a familiar noctowl swooped down to meet her. The night messenger.
"Hello. What is it?" Crescent asked. The noctowl's eyes were serious.
"I have bad news. Shard... Shard was poisoned on the way back, and... he's not with us anymore." Crescent quivered for a moment, and her yellow eyes became glazed. Scythe dashed out of nowhere to meet them.
"I saw a noctowl come towards your place, and I came to see what that was all about. I had a bad feeling..." He explained. Crescent bit her lip and squeezed her eyes shut. She couldn't say it. She couldn't. She wasn't capable, all she felt was grief. She couldn't feel anything else, physically and emotionally. Her body was numb. Her mind was blank.
"Shard passed away." Noctowl said. Scythe's crimson eyes turned to Crescent, full of concern.
"I-I'm so sorry." He said finally. A cold wind hit Crescent, and her senses returned to her.
"W-where is he?" She asked quietly, her voice faltering.
"He's just outside Veridian City." Noctowl replied, and Crescent nodded slowly.
"Let's go." She said, already dashing off, the blue rings on her pelt glowing brightly in the moonlight. Noctowl and Scythe followed. By the time they had finally caught up, Crescent was standing outside the gate to Victory Road. The moment they reentered her vision, she dashed through the gate and onto Route 22. Scythe and Noctowl followed several yards behind her. She continued to run until she came to the half-conscious body of Shard.
"Shard!" She cried. "Speak to me! Wake up!" The glaceon's eyes opened, but only a little.
"Crescent... C-crescent is it really you?" He asked. His voice was weak, and he coughed a little every once in a while. His body was shivering from the poison, and his watery blue eyes, once perpetually bright with mischief, were now dull. And it threatened to smash Crescent's heart into a million tiny pieces. Shard saw this in her eyes.
"Don't... don't grieve for me too long." He said quietly. "You have Scythe, right? I trust him... he'll help you through this..." Crescent rested her head on Shard's flank.
"Don't leave me, I'm begging you." She whispered. But it was too late. Shard's body was cold, but not the lively cold of an Ice-type pokemon. It was the still, heavy, stony cold of a dead creature. Scythe came up behind her.
"He's gone." He said. Crescent threw back her head and wailed pitifully, and, sobbing, buried her face in Scythe's fur. It was just platonic, of course. Wasn't that what a best friend was for? A shoulder to cry on? Scythe knew that Crescent wasn't trying to imply anything more than grief, but something stirred inside them both at that moment.
"Come on, let's go bury him." Scythe said, lifting Shard and carrying him on his back. He turned and began to walk back. Crescent followed, and Noctowl flew away to attend to other business. It seemed a long time before they got back home, and they buried him just outside Crescent's den.