Having saved the world from the Bittercold, the rescue team (Team PokéHeroes), and myself, went about the rest of our lives without the fear of death on all of us. We continued to carry out requests for help and assistance, assuring the rest of the Pokémon on this planet that we would not leave them on their own. After all, it was the only thing that kept us busy and brought in money for handling Paradise and such.
The day began just like any other day for us... And by that, I mean I lazily slept in, while everyone else got up early and prepared themselves for the day ahead. It wasn't until about half an hour later that she would come over and wake me up...
She placed her paws on the bed and rocked it back and forth.
"Come on, Snivy! Get up!" I tossed around in bed for a minute before slowly sitting up and stretching my arms. She let out a sigh. "Snivy, you're so lazy. How can you sit there and do nothing when you were chosen to carry the Legends' sword?" I yawned and rubbed my eyes before answering her.
"Because if I'm always the one given important work, then I think I should take the time to relax when I want. Just because I don't like working, doesn't mean I don't do a good job at it..." She let out another sigh. "But, I have to admit, without you here to keep me on task, I'd probably be long gone by now." I smiled at her. And she grinned back.
Oh, Eevee... her beaming smile and jolly personality always brightened my day. Back when the Bittercold loomed over all of us, when finding trust in another Pokémon was hard to come by, Eevee was the only one there for me. Despite my first thoughts of hate and resenting her, she still treated and cared for me as a friend. And I grew to love her for that... Because of her, I felt that the world needed more Pokémon that showed sympathy and care for those less fortunate than others. Thus, I joined her team, not only to get closer to her, but to help the rest of the Pokémon on the planet, so that they don't ever fall into the same depressive isolation and loneliness that I went through.
I got out of bed and stretched out my feet and tail. I opened up a chest near my bed to grab my belongings, like my sword... but it was strangely missing... Only my satchel was in the chest. Before I had a chance to question where my sword was, I heard Eevee behind me.
"Looking for something?" She teased. I turned around and saw her holding my sword in her mouth. I laughed at how out-of-character she looked.
"Have you ever even used my sword before?" I retrieved it from her mouth so she could speak.
"I don't want to try using it. It's very important to you, after all. Plus, I'd find it difficult to fight with it in my mouth."
"Hm... well, maybe when we get back from today's jobs, I'll teach you a little swordplay." She smiled at me.
"Hehe... If you insist..."
I followed her outside, where the sun shined brightly down on us, feeding us warmth and sunshine. And just like our usual routine, we looked over our message board, to see what jobs were requested today. Let's see...
"Looking for lost item." No.
"Need an escort through a dungeon." Nah...
"Searching for berries." Jeez, are there any interesting jobs? Don't get me wrong, I want to help other Pokémon, but I want to help those who are in a greater danger, like they're stuck in a volcano, or lost in a labyrinth... I want adventure!
"Looks like we got another load of easy jobs..." I sighed.
"Hm... but maybe we have some challenge requests... Oh! Look!" Eevee tore off a note near the bottom of the board. We both scanned it over.
Challenge Request
To: Snivy and Eevee of Team PokéHeroes
From: Dusknoir
Location: The Forest of Shadows
"So, you're the fabled PokéHeroes, huh? You've saved the whole planet, from it's beautiful corruption... How could you!? I challenge you're two leaders, Snivy and Eevee to a battle. Meet me in the Forest of Shadows..."
Eevee and I were astounded at how the challenge specifically called us out. We both became a little petrified by the letter. This Dusknoir... Why us? We saved the planet. We stopped it from corrupting... He made it seem like we had done something bad. Eevee was also confused.
"Beautiful... corruption?" She questioned. I agreed on that, too. What the heck does that mean? Just then, Oshawott and Mienfoo walked over to us.
"Hey Snivy! What's up?" I handed him the letter without saying a word. He confusedly took it, and the two of them looked it over. While they read it, me and Eevee exchanged looks of confusion and curiosity. Something was wrong with this challenge request... I started to get a bad feeling... Oshawott handed me the note back. He and Mienfoo were just as confused as us.
"So... what do you plan to do?" I held my hand to my chin and thought about it.
"Okay... there's clearly something strange here... it could be some kind of trap..."
"But what if it's a real challenge request, and we're just getting the wrong idea?" Eevee argued.
"That is true; It could be legit... Ugh, I wish it wasn't so vague..."
"Maybe we should, at least, check it out, and if things get bad we'll just run away... Aren't Dusknoir really strong Pokémon? What if we can get him to join our team?"
"Hm... You're right. He could be useful to the team..."
"If you're going, then we should accompany you, too." Mienfoo added.
"No. We can't have four of us go at once; We'll draw too much attention to any other Pokémon out there..."
"But-"
"Don't worry. Like Eevee said, if things get rough, then we'll just pull out of there." Mienfoo and Oshawott gave us a worried look. I tried to reassure them. "Alright, then... How about Eevee brings her pendant along, too? So we can at least have some sort of protection." I saw the two of them relax a little.
"Alright then..." Oshawott conceded. "Just please..." he put his hand on my shoulder, "don't do anything stupid..." I smirked at him.
"Don't worry, that's what Eevee will be there for... to make sure I don't act like an idiot." I chuckled. Oshawott laughed and Mienfoo looked like he was okay with the decision. I turned towards Eevee.
"Well then..." I looked back at the note. "The Forest of Shadows... I guess we should go prepare ourselves..."
"Right..." Eevee nodded her head, and we went back into our base to prepare for our confrontation with our unknown, and strange challenger...
Eevee and I made it to the Forest of Shadows; I was only equipped with my sword, while Eevee held on to her pendant and a bag full of berries. We stared at the daunting entrance. A small dirt path on the ground faded into the abysmal darkness the deeper you looked into the forest.
"Welp... we made it..."
"Yeah..." The two of us sounded nervous to go in... Okay, we were nervous to go in. We had no idea of the danger we were possibly diving into. We didn't know what lied in the forest. All we knew, was that there was a Pokémon in there, waiting to fight us.
"Well... we can't leave Dusknoir waiting." Eevee said. She then took a few steps into the forest.
"Eevee, wait..." I called out to her. Now would probably be my only time to say anything to her. "Before we go in... I just want to say..." I paused. Honestly, I didn't know what to say. I sighed. "If anything should happen- and I know that's not very likely... but if anything should happen... I just want you to know that you're very important to me." I wrapped my arms around her. "I love you..." Eevee hugged me back, too.
"Hm... You're important to me, too, Snivy. Don't think I won't get upset if something should happen to you, too." She winked. We let go of each other.
"Alright then... let's go!" Eevee followed behind me, and we began searching through the forest for Dusknoir.
The thick vegetation of the forest was bothersome to walk through, but it didn't stop us from pressing forward. I found myself using my sword to cut through some of the thick bushes and shrubs that got in our way. After about half an hour, Eevee and I became irritated at the fact that we hadn't found Dusknoir yet. We took a moment to rest.
"It feels like we've been walking in circles..." Eevee complained. "Hey, why don't you hop up in the trees and see if you can make anything out from up there?"
"Hm, why didn't I think of that? See Eevee? What would I do without you?" I smiled at her. Eevee closed her eyes, grinned, and let out a sigh of half-disappointment. Using small bursts of psychic energy from my feet, I leaped up the branches into the trees. I poked my head through the roof of leaves and saw the sky. The sun was beginning to set (it did take us a few hours to even arrive at this forest). I slowly panned the area, trying to see if there was any area that stood out. Every direction looked the same, just an endless view of the treetops. There was a field over in the south; That's where we entered the forest. But, I did however, see over in the east, the edge of a cliff. It was somewhat small, but it was the only place that stood out. I hopped out of the trees and landed next to Eevee. She was snacking on some of the berries she had in her bag; I guess she got hungry. I sat down and ate a few berries with her.
"So, did you find anything?" She asked.
"Over in the east, I saw a small cliff edge. We'll check it out after we eat." She nodded her head.
When we finished eating, I lead the way, and Eevee followed behind. I don't know why, but I felt my heartbeat begin to race. I couldn't tell if I was nervous, scared, or excited. I began to pick up my speed, and hurried toward the cliff...
Finally, we made it to the edge. We were met with another Pokémon. The back of a dark ghost Pokémon stood before us. The sunset that shone above the horizon projected its light at us from an angle, causing the Pokémon to appear as a silhouette. Without looking at us, he gave us a greeting. His voice had a deep, dark, dreadful tone that made Eevee and I uncomfortable.
"So... You came. Honestly, I didn't think you would. Especially since you two are the ones who freed the planet... Freed it from it's superfluous destruction. I figured you'd be much too busy to attend to silly requests like mine..." The Dusknoir turned around and faced us, with his hands behind his back. I became more frightened by seeing the front of his appearance. I never actually met a Dusknoir before; his stomach looked like it had a mouth on it. I couldn't tell if it was real or not. And if it was... Did he... Did he actually eat Pokémon? Or did he eat their souls? I shuddered the more I thought about it. However, I put on a tough front, so I didn't look scared. "Perhaps I should thank you for coming all the way out here to see me. I guess it is an honor to meet you two, and I thank you for taking my request. However..." Suddenly, a group of Sableye jumped out from the forest behind us. They all had snickering smiles and wicked laughs. Their jewel encrusted eyes had an alluring gaze to them, almost like they could see into me... I wasn't able to figure out how many of them there were... "Unfortunately, I can't let you two leave this place alive."
…
Wait, this is a challenge request... He actually wants us dead!? Why? What for? Eevee spoke out (almost as if she read my mind).
"Hold on, what are you doing? You requested a challenge... We're not here to fight to the death. Why are you doing this?" The Dusknoir looked back out at the sunset.
"Because... the world needs to know that even the strongest Pokémon have weak points. No matter how great they may seem, they will eventually fall. You can't keep a world pure forever; as long as there is light, there will be darkness to accompany it. When I heard about how you and your team destroyed the Bittercold, I grew furious." Dusknoir turned back and faced us. Unexpectedly, he snapped. "How could you do something like that!? Don't you know that the more beautiful and pure something is, the more enjoyable it is to corrupt and destroy it?"
I was starting to get a very bad feeling about this Dusknoir...
"I can't forgive you for stopping the darkness, and letting light come back to the world. Therefore, I need to show the world, that even the mightiest can have their fates crushed; That the darkness still lingers among every Pokémon."
I glanced over at Eevee, and she looked at me, too. We didn't say anything, but we telepathically agreed on the same thing...
This guy is a complete psycho. We need to stop him.
I put my hand on my sword and got in a comfortable battle-stance. Eevee also prepared herself.
"Hmph, you requested this fight, and that's exactly what you're going to get."
"Very well then..." Dusknoir held out his hand, pointing it at us. "Attack!"
The Sableye immediately lunged at us. I quickly held up my sword and blocked one that swiped at me. A loud clang sound reverberated through the air from the attack. I pushed it away, and tried to focus on fighting Dusknoir. However, I kept getting cut off by the Sableye. They were really quick; I found myself blocking their attacks more than fighting back. I occasionally looked over at Eevee, to see how she was doing. Luckily, she was quick, so she had no problems dodging any attacks. Dusknoir stood outside the horde of Sableye, and launched many aura and psychic beams at us. Fortunately, his attacks were sluggish, and also easy to avoid. But these damn Sableye were making it impossible to fight back. Eventually, Eevee and I found ourselves back-to-back in the middle of the Sableye.
"Snivy, I think I should try my pendant."
"Alright, go for it."
Eevee held her pendant in her hands, and closed her eyes.
"O' melody, beckoning toward-"
Unfortunately, she had to stop because as I was trying to keep the Sableye away from her, another one sneaked its way past me. Eevee, however, stopped just in time to avoid it. Soon, we found ourselves back-to-back again.
"Well, that's not going to work..." She was irritated.
"I'll try my sword then. Cover me..."
I stood still and held my sword straight up in the air.
"O' powers of the Gods above, grant me-"
But then, I too, got cut off from my incantation. Despite Eevee's speed, she wasn't quick enough to keep all the Sableye from getting to me. I did dodge them, though.
So, we found ourselves unable to use any of our special abilities. But that's only because of these freakin' Sableye. They were like flies; They kept buzzing around and wouldn't go away. Trying to run away from these guys was impossible. As the two of us continued to just dodge their attacks, we realized that we were getting tired, practically exhausted from all the fighting. I had a hard time trying to focus and keep up with the Sableye. But, eventually, they caught me off guard and pinned me to the ground. I let out a cry in pain from being bound to the ground.
"Snivy- Ugh!" Eevee called out to me when she heard me. However, this caused her to get distracted, and then the Sableye pounced down on her, too. The two of us were pinned down, unable to break free...
"Well, well..." Dusknoir floated over to me. I couldn't tell what kind of facial expression he had, but if I could, I'd imagine he'd have a sinister smile on his face. "Indeed, I would be lying if I said your fight was not a valiant effort. Therefore, I applaud you. But now... this is your end!" His voice got really chaotic on that last sentence. "Let's see how it feels to have your teammate killed by your own weapon. Hehe..."
"Wait! What are you doing!?"
One of the Sableye handed my sword to him. He floated over to Eevee.
"As I told you before... I'm going to show you that even the strongest Pokémon have a weak point." He took the tip of my sword and pushed it against Eevee's back. She let out a cry in pain. I felt my heart ache at seeing her get hurt.
"Don't you dare hurt her! Or I swear I'll-"
…
Just then, I felt my whole mind go blank. What I saw, scarred me for eternity...
My sword...
It pierced right through Eevee...
She died instantly...
…
Her lifeless body fell to the ground... And Dusknoir had the most cold expression on his face. He couldn't care less what happened to Eevee. He just wanted to see me suffer...
I closed my eyes...
My corrupted rage took over...
Darkness...
That's all I could see... darkness...
My whole spirit was drowned out in an abyss of corruption. I didn't know what was happening, and frankly, I didn't want to know what was happening. I just continued to feel myself float around in the dark, almost as if I was dead...
Suddenly, a voice... There was a voice...
But I ignored it. I just wanted to be left alone... I wanted to forget everything that I just saw... But the voice grew louder, and I had no choice but to listen.
"Snivy... Snivy..." I continued to ignore the voice. "Are you not aware that you are not dead?" I wanted the voice to go away... I don't know why I decided to say anything to it.
"Just leave me alone..."
"I will, but I must tell you this first... You are not dead; You're body has just succumbed to darkness. Your mind and body have fallen. Only your heart is what's keeping you alive."
I remained silent.
"You may not know this, but you're body is still acting right now. Even as I tell you this, you are creating a violent scene among those you last saw."
"... The Sableye?"
"You are demonstrating some gruesome acts upon the Sableye. But none of it even comes close to what you've done to Dusknoir..."
"Gruesome? What have I done?"
"It is probably best I let yourself finish before sending you back. You will then see what you've done."
"Then tell me... who are you? Why am I here?"
There was a pause.
"I... am Giratina..." The voice answered.
"Giratina? You mean... from the World Abyss..."
"That is correct."
"Why are you here?"
"I am not here to divulge myself in your personal matters, but the recent event you saw has caused an incredible amount of anti-matter energy to flow through you... When a particular event causes a Pokémon to become filled with rage, anti-matter energy begins to stir within them. When this happens, I decide whether to let that energy flow through the user, or I suppress it, so that it does not cause harm. However, being the one that bears the legendary sword, I allowed more energy to flow through you than usual, so that you may be capable of taking care of whatever it is you are facing."
"But that doesn't entirely solve my problem..."
"I am not done explaining... Because of your request for this power, I also have to inform you that your sword... It is now powerless..."
"What? Why!?"
"The energy you're using now is a rather rare power that not many get to use. Therefore, I was requested by Arceus to revoke the powers of your sword. For the next twenty years, your sword will be nothing more than just an ordinary sword."
"Why twenty years?"
"Because the amount of power you are using is equal twenty times any power your sword could ever give you."
"But... I didn't even ask for this..."
"But you're heart did. That is what I responded to."
I stopped talking to Giratina at that point. Silence was all that was heard for the next few moments.
…
"I believe my duty is done now. I'm sending you back. Prepare yourself..."
I felt the darkness blow away from me. A light engulfed my being. I could feel myself becoming more animate again...
I awoke face down on the ground. I slowly stood up, horrified at the scene before me. All around me... one after another, were the bodies of the Sableye... They were all dead. I looked down at my hands, only to see scratch marks and small drops of blood all over them. It looked as though something came out of my finger tips. Did I... grow claws? I looked at my sword on the ground; scratches were marked all over it, along with a few dark-red stains... of blood. I slowly turned around, and saw more of the destruction I caused. There were deep claw marks on the trees; The tree bark was pealed and gnarled. The ground was all torn up. Where there was once a calming plain of innocent grass, now, there's nothing more than cold, dark dirt and mud. The roots of nearby plants were exposed, killing off their lives as well. And they were just innocent bystanders to the catastrophe I had created... I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
I took a closer look at the Sableye. They really weren't moving... They were all lifeless...
Is this really the power that I called for? Did I really do all this?
Suddenly, I saw Dusknoir's limp body... The only thing I noticed was the pool of blood under him before I turned away from the sight of him; I didn't want to know what else I had done...
But then I remembered... Eevee... I quickly panned the area and found her next to a tree, way outside of the destruction... like an angel sitting outside a ring of chaos from a demon...
I walked over to her and fell on my knees...
It's over...
Dusknoir is dead...
But Eevee...
I failed...
My whole world came crashing down that day.
Fun Fact: The ending to this chapter, when I originally wrote it, was way more graphic than what you read here. I toned it down because I didn't want to make anyone feel uncomfortable; The story is suppose to be serious, not disturbing.