I was in a small clearing, eating some berries with 2 Herdiers. Those 2 are my parents. Mom and Dad always knew what was best for me. They always chose the freshest berries for me. It was the beginning of winter at the time. Snow was everywhere, people celebrating in cities. Christmas trees were set up early, in cities and in the forest by the pokemon here. It was a beautiful starry night. Some pokemon were even playing snowball fights. But I guess this season isn't fun for everyone . . .

I heard footsteps beside me. I was reckless; I went over there to investigate. Next thing I now my feet were caught in a snare. A man came over. His brown shirt had many buttons and folds, he wore a ranger's hat, had a belt buckled on, long tan-colored pants, and black boots. I thought he would help me, but I was wrong. He was with 2 other men with similar outfits, but they carried hunting rifles. From there, I knew that I was about to be caught.

I was picked up by a thick-moustached hunter and he carried me to a large container truck. I struggled to break free, but I was too weak. The man threw me in there. There also other pokemon back here; several Cinccinos, an Axew, 2 other Lillipups, a Scraggy, and a Litwick. I saw behind the man as he grinned evilly at me : my parents. They barked at him, but the 2 other hunters drew out their rifles and chased after them. I couldn't see them anymore, but I heard gunshots being fired and howls of pain. I hoped that they were fine, but it was unlikely, because the two men returned 10 minutes later and said, "They're dead, lets move!"

I was alone now, helpless. The men closed the door and the inside of the container was completely black. Every pokemon inside struck the walls of the container with many moves. Shadow Ball, Scratch, Tail Slap, Headbutt, even Psychic on the walls. But only dents were made. Then I heard from the driver's seat, "Look out! Cliff!" I heard a hunter yell. The truck along with its container started leaning to one side.

Then it felt like a falling elevator. The entire container was tumbling down the cliff, time to time it felt like zero-gravity, both pokemon and hunters screaming in fright. We must have tumbled down . . . like, 50 feet? We crashed down the bottom of the cliff. I opened my eyes – which earlier I had closed in fright – and saw that the doors had been ripped off its hinges. I looked around me. Several pokemon were dead, while others survived. We all walked and crawled out of there, wounded, and parted our own ways.

I sat under a tree, far away from the crash site, moaning in pain. I heard a large 'boom'. The truck must have exploded. I thought about the pokemon, both dead and alive, who were with me in that truck. I thought about those hunters. Didn't matter if they died, I thought, they deserved it. Then I thought about my parents. One of the hunters had said, "They're dead, lets move!". Dead. The only people I loved were dead! That hunter's words continued ringing in my ears again and again. Why had I went over to investigate some stupid noise!? If that didn't happen, would my parents haven't died? The thought of it breaks my heart. It started to snow heavily.

I couldn't stop it, the tears. I cried in pain and sorrow, mourning my parents and every pokemon that didn't survive the crash. I was haunted by my parents's death, and now I'm having what people call 'survivor's guilt'. I lost everything. What am I going to do now? I'd rather just die on the spot than suffering this pain any longer. Then I heard footsteps behind me. Is that a hunter? Did he survive, or was this one different? I don't care, just please end my suffering . . .

It wasn't a hunter. It was a Vulpix. "Hey, are you alright?" the fire-type asked me. He was male, according to his voice.

I shook my head. "Do I look alright?" I asked him. He did not answer, maybe he knew that was a rhetorical question.

"Do you . . . need some time alone?". I nodded, and he started to walk away. But then he came back, ripped a piece of bark of the tree I was resting at, and lit it on fire. "It's cold out here." he explained, then walked away again. He didn't walk very far; I can still feel his warm breath with my fur. Was he watching me? Since when do strangers do this?

Half an hour later, he walked over to me. The fire had been nearly extinguished by the wind, but he lit up again. "Still cold?" he asked me.

"Yeah, it's cold" I told him. The wind had picked up again, stronger and faster, snow beginning to fall as well. He curled 2 of his tails over my back, like a coat. This was nice – and not in a romantic sort of way – but in a brotherly sort of way. His fur was soft like mine, and being a fire-type, his breath was hot. But in a cold night like this, it's useful. I cuddled and curled up in his beautiful fluffy tails like a blanket. I couldn't help it, it was so warm and fluffy, and before I knew it I fell fast asleep.

I opened my eyes to see bright sunshine dawning across the ground. I felt something over my back. Then I looked beside me, and saw the Vulpix from last night sleeping beside me, 2 of his tails on curled over my back. I realized that I had fell asleep, yet he stayed there and stayed with me. Very unusual that a stranger would do such a thing. Then he started to wake up, blinking a few times in the light, "Morning already?" he asked, but then he noticed me staring at him, "Ah, you're awake already!" he said removing his tails from my back, "How was your sleep?" he asked.

"It was great" I told him.

I was about to ask him something when suddenly he exclaimed "Oh, I never got to introduce myself! My name's Pierre, what's yours?"

"Oh ... I don't have a name ..." I told Pierre. He seems to understand. "Why did you stay with me?"

He didn't seem to get the point of the question, "Err, sorry? What?"

"You could have left me any time that night," I explained, "but you stayed with me, helped me, comforted me, and even slept with me. Why?". Pierre considered his words for a moment, then answered, "I'm not so sure. It's just that whisper in your ear, that spark in your heart, that ripple in your soul. Sympathy and empathy, that's what it is. You can't really explain someone's emotions, but ... that's what I felt when I saw you, I couldn't just ignore you..."

I understand now, why he had done what he had done. "It's okay, I understand." He lightened up when I said that.

"You're quite young," Pierre told me, "Where are your parents?" Again, that hunter's voice saying that my parents are dead rang in my ears again, and my eyes began to sparkle from the tears in them being reflected by the light. I looked away from Pierre, I didn;t want him to see this. I suddenly felt warm again, then I noticed 4 of Pierre's tails over my shoulder and on my back. I looked at him, and he smiled. "It's okay if you don't want to tell me," he said, "I understand. But it's better if you tell someone. You'll feel a lot better if you do."

So I told him what happened last night. "I was eating dinner with parents, then I heard this noise. I was stupid to go see what made it. I got caught in a snare and thrown into a truck. My parents died trying to save me. But then the truck slipped off a cliff. I survived, with some others who were caught as well. Then I came over here to rest, and then ... the rest you know ..."

When I finished my story, I was shocked that Pierre was wiping tears off his eyes. "Sorry," he said, "this is what I told you about : Sympathy and empathy. It must be horrible. So young but to feel so much pain in such a short time . . ."

He hugged me in sympathy, and I did so as well.

"I have to go" Pierre told me, "Stay safe okay?". I nodded, then he walked into the snowy forest. But not even a minute had passed, I heard several gunshots and a scream of pain.

"PIERRE!" I yelled, running to the source of the voice. I can feel the heat of his breath with my fur, which led me track him. I looked from behind a tree.

There was a thick-mustached man with a broken, bloody shoulder. He had scars on his face and was limping on his right foot. He held a hunting rifle with his unbroken arm, shells underneath it, meaning it was just fired. I recognize him as one of the hunters that took me. He must have survived the crash. He was about to pick something up when suddenly I heard someone shout.

"Freeze, this is the police!" I heard someone shout. The startled hunter looked back to see 3 police officers, pointing guns at him.

"Whoa there, officer . . ." the hunter said, dropping his rifle, "I ain't do nothin', I swear!"

The officer raised an eyebrow, "There's a dead pokemon behind you and you're holding a rifle," he said in a tone as if the hunter was joking, "what do you think happened?" The hunter froze for a second, before he broke into a run. "Hey, stop!" the officer yelled, chasing after him with his 2 fellow comrades. After they left, I went over to see what the hunter wanted to picked up, and I fell to my knees to see that it was Pierre.

He was bleeding out from his right side. A hole was there, and a bullet can still be seen inside the wound. The hunter had shot him. If I lose Pierre, then I truly have lost everything.

"P-P-Pierre?" I nudged his body, to see if he was still alive. He opened his eyes a bit

"Wh-what are y-y-you doing h-here...?", he managed to speak out. Thank goodness: he's alive, but he'll die soon if something was not done now. But how? Remedies don't work for bullet wounds, and there's no pokemon center out here! Then I thought about what Pierre did to me : he stayed by my side, so I will stay by his side. "D-don't w-worry Pierre, I-I'm here . . ." I stammered, still shocked. Tears started to come out of my eyes, but I wanted to stay strong . . . for him.

"A-am I going to *cough* d-die?" Pierre choked out some blood along as he said that. I had to tell him, it would be sheer miracle if he lived. "Y-yes..." I told him, "I-I-I'm so s-sorry... but there's nothing I can..."

He raised a paw to stop me talking. "I-it's fine..." he said, "You d-don't *cough* need t-t-to look at th-this..."

"Pierre, you stayed with me last night," I told him, "so it's my turn to stay with you now, and I'm not leaving until you do." He smiled gratefully at me.

Several minutes later, I suddenly remembered that I never thanked him for what he did to me. "P-Pierre?" I asked him. He looked at me with those silver Vulpix eyes. He was at the brink of death, so I wanted to say it fast. "I-I-... thank you so much for what you did for me last night, y-you comforted me, you stayed with me, y-you cared f-for m-me...", I said, and after a moment's consideration, I added "And th-thank y-you for b-b-being my... f-friend..."

He smiled at me, and replied, "Th-Thank... you..." He closed his eyes, and I couldn't feel his warmth anymore. He was gone.

I felt terrible, I wanted to cry, but then I thought, 'No, crying won't bring him back. I need to stay strong'. So I dragged his body to the tree where we met. I dug a hole at the base of the tree. It was deep, deep enough for Pierre's size. I pushed Pierre's body inside the hole, and buried it. Then I used Scratch on the tree's bark to etch out the words 'Rest in Peace Pierre'. I sat there, prayed for some time, then left.

I woke up suddenly. I walked outside the cave. It was still dark, probably two or three in the morning. What was that? Was that a dream? But . . . I remember now. I remember that day. I did have a friend. It must have been over a year now, and with all the stuff that happened after that, I must have let his death slip off my mind. But then I saw a faint glow; it was coming from the forest. I ran over there, it was farther than I first thought. When I got close to the source of the glow, under a tree, I realized that it was a figure. It was silverish-grey in color, kinda misty and . . . translucent? It started to change to form something. While that 'thing' was shaping, I felt like I recognize this place. The misshapen figure had finally turned into something, something I recognize very much.

It was a Vulpix, but like I said, shiny silverish-grey in color, kinda misty and translucent. There was a dark splotch, like water had been splashed on there, on the right side of the Vulpix. There was something behind him, on the bark. Like an etch mark or something. Then suddenly I realize why I feel like I recognize this place : This is the exact spot where I buried Pierre the Vulpix's body.

But . . . . . does that mean this Vulpix in front of me is . . . !?

"P-P-Pierre . . ?" I asked the silver Vulpix in front of me. The Vulpix chuckled. "You remember me" he said, "You actually did remember me . . .". It is Pierre. That dark splotch on his side is where the bullet hit him and where blood spilled out. "P-P-Pierre?" I asked him happily, "Is that really you?". He chuckled again, "Of course it's me, or do you know any other male Vulpix who was shot on his right side?". I was filled with joy, I tried to hug him, but my paws just phased through him. He must be a ghost, I thought. "You probably don't remember . . ." Pierre said, "but this is where you buried me, right?". I nodded.

"So you remembered where you buried me, I'm happy that you remember! But I bet that you didn't know that tomorrow morning is the morning I die?" I was rather surprised by this, but when I was about to say something, he stopped me. "No need to say anything about that." I smiled at him, both of us were really happy that we were reunited.

We stared at each other for some time. "Before I leave," Pierre said, "I don't think I ever finished saying my last sentence..." I raised an eyebrow curiously at him. Did he mean his thank you? He coughed a bit, then said, "Thank you, for being my friend as well."

He smiled at me. I was touched : he considered me a friend too. I started crying out tears of joy. I felt something silky on my back, I looked and turns out it was Pierre's tails, all 6 this time. I guess ghosts can touch us, but we can't touch them. Pierre smiled at my reaction,"It's not a big deal..." he told me, "right, Loner?". When did he find out that I got a nickname? Did he overhear Shelvina and Maverick's conversation on our way here?

"Loner . . ." he said again, "Nice name". I felt better that Pierre was saying it. "I have to go now Loner," Pierre apologized to me, "Take care, okay?"

I was still crying out tears of joy, "Y-yes, I-I will!" I said happily. He smiled at me one last time before disappearing into mist, then the mist faded away. I stared at the tree's bark, still saying 'Rest in Peace Pierre'. But then I notice even smaller writing under it. I bent over to read it, it said 'Visit me'. I will, I thought to myself, tomorrow,

I left the forest and went back to the cave, and went to sleep again, smiling.

'I do have friends. I do.'