"Ohcrap, ohcrap, ohcrap!"

I was panicking, pacing back and forth, and slapping myself in the face, repeatedly. I didn't want to knock Eevee out. I just needed to beat her until she was exhausted and admitted defeat. Nothing more, nothing less. But no. Only I would be dumb enough to make this mistake. Damn...

I heard Eevee let out a soft moan. I hopped into the small crater I had made, where she lied. Her chest was moving up and down. So she is breathing, at least. I let out a sigh of relief. That tells me she is going to recover, but she still needs some sort of medical attention. I thought about going to ask one of the other Pokémon here at Paradise... but, if I told anyone else what happened, they would probably think that I had intentionally harmed her, again. And that wouldn't make me look good. Especially since Eevee wouldn't be able to back me up. There's no help, and I have no... wait! My satchel! I ran over to where I placed my sword and satchel. I inspected my bag. A petrify orb, some blast seeds... and just one Oran berry. They probably took the rest from me when I had originally beaten Eevee up, which I can understand. I took the Oran berry, and ran to Eevee.

"Eevee, here. I need you to eat this berry." She didn't respond. No sign of any indication she heard me. Her eyes were closed, and she was breathing heavily. I can't not give her this berry. I need her to recover quickly. Even if it's just a small nibble, that would make me feel more reassured that she is going to be okay. But, she isn't taking it, so I guess I have to force her to eat it. I sliced a part of the berry off with my "Leaf blade", and held it to her mouth. Of course, she wasn't taking it, so I had to press it against her lips. I felt wrong for doing this, but I wasn't going to run away from her like last time. Eevee still wasn't eating the piece of the berry. I put more force on shoving it in her mouth, and it finally did slide into her mouth, unfortunately, with my fingers as well. I didn't care though, I just wanted her to heal up.

"Okay, good. Now just chew it..." I said quietly. I put my hands around Eevee's mouth to try to help her chew. She pushed her jaw down on the berry a few times, and I finally heard her swallow it. I fell backwards in relief. "Phew..." She may not have eaten the whole berry, but even a piece of it should help her. I looked at my hand that I fed her with. Oh jeez, she's going to kill me when I tell her what I did. I closed my eyes in exhaustion. I was already tired from fighting her, but this nearly gave me a heart-attack.

The gray, gloomy clouds still blanketed the sky. It feels like it's been forever since I last saw the sun. I wanted to take this moment to calm down, but I knew I should still try to help Eevee. Hm... I thought about what Zekrom had told me, about how if I was truly sorry to Eevee, then she might forgive me. But this... this definitely didn't seem like something she'd forgive me for. I slapped myself in the face again. "I'm so hopeless..."

Wait a minute... Zekrom! The sword! I rushed over to my sword, and took it out of it's sheath. So, I just need to point it straight up at the sky on a sunny day? Despite knowing it won't work on a cloudy day, I tried anyway, hoping to get a response. And...

Nothing. I mean, I heard static. But nothing else. There was no other way to reach Zekrom. I put the sword back in it's sheath, and put it around my back, along with my satchel. I walked over to Eevee and stared down at her, again. There wasn't much else I could do... Well, maybe I should get her out of this crater. It looks uncomfortable. Strangely, despite not being able to lift her in the tree, and being fatigued, I was able to lift her now. My adrenaline must not have kicked in at that time, or something... I hung Eevee over my left shoulder. She was about the same size as me, but I had no trouble carrying her. I could hear her breathing, and her soft fur felt warm against me. I felt this weird feeling come over me, similar to when I grabbed Eevee and yelled at her earlier about being sorry. My face also felt hot, again, and my heart felt like it was pounding through my chest. But why, though? What was making me feel this way? Hm... I thought about Eevee...

She's done so much for me... I mean, originally, I had saved her life. But in the end, she saved me... She pulled me out of my feelings of doubt and hopelessness... She brought hope back into my life. Even after harming her, she still wanted to be my friend... and she even took care of me when I was injured. Through her, I saw that there were still Pokémon who cared for others... who didn't think only for themselves... who expressed selflessness. Eevee...
You are the sunshine in my life...
Thank you...


I started walking out of the small crater. But, I heard a wicked laugh from behind me. It was loud and daunting. I turned around and saw a round, purple Pokémon standing at the top of the crater. His red eyes felt like they were piercing right though me. He had a sinister smile that made me uneasy. Why was a Gengar here?

"Ke-he-he... Well, well, well... it seems fate has frowned upon the leader of Team PokéHeroes. Thanks for making my job easier!" He laughed some more at me. I could tell he wasn't a good guy.

"Who are you!?" I asked sternly. I didn't want him antagonizing me.

"Oh, I guess you could say I'm a little... shall we say... friend... of that Eevee there. Now if you would be so kind as to hand her to me, ke-he-he..."

Of course I didn't trust him. I placed Eevee down behind me, and pulled out my sword.

"I'm not letting you take her!" But he only laughed at me some more.

"KE-he-he! Foolish Pokémon... You dare stand against me? Gengar, chosen representative of the Great, Master Kyurem? You really are stupid."

Okay. Now this Gengar was pissing me off... Hold on, Kyurem? That Legendary dragon Pokémon? I didn't know much about him, aside from the fact that he's a Legendary. How was he involved in this? Whatever, it doesn't matter right now. I need to protect Eevee!

"I've already made too many mistakes in the past day. I'm not about to make another one. I will protect Eevee, even if it means I have to sacrifice my own life!" I shouted this at him in spite. But, I was still tired from fighting Eevee, and my arms were shaking.

"Hehe, just look at you! You've got a courageous tone, but you're shaking in fear! Burning this place down is going to be a piece of cake! Why don't I start with you!?"

Gengar held his arms up, and formed a ball of energy in his hands. I didn't know what he was doing, so I quickly ran up in his face, and swung my sword at him. He jumped away, but I managed to scrape his arm. He winced at the pain.

"Ah... I guess I underestimated you. Ke-he-he..."

Now he ran up to me. I held my sword up in defense, but he struck me below in the stomach, and kicked me, throwing me backwards onto my side. I slowly stood back up. Gengar laughed as he put his arms out again, and formed that ball of energy.

"Hehe, if you were smart, you would've stayed down!" At those last two words, he launched the ball at me. I was too tired to evade, so I held up my sword to defend, again. Of course, the giant ball passes through the blade, and slams right at me right in the face. Something isn't right here... This sword contains the power of the Legend's. Why isn't it giving me any divine power? I was prepared to run at Gengar and strike, but he came up to me and punched me in the face. I stumbled backwards, breathing heavily.

"Hah... Damn... hah... You..." I tried to sound threatening. Gengar stood in front of me and laughed.

"You are indeed a weak opponent. I'm not going to waste my energy on something as worthless as you! Ke-he! Now... little miss Eevee over there..."

Gengar turned toward Eevee, and started walking to her. He held up one hand, and a purple aura surround his hand. I didn't know what he was doing, but I didn't want to find out. I slowly got up, again, but I could barely stand. I dashed at Gengar. I was shocked I didn't stumble over, or trip, or something, as I ran toward him.

"Oh no you freakin' don't!"

I slammed my whole body into Gengar, which sent him flying a few feet away. My satchel came off when I bumped into him, but I decided not to grab it. I was so weak now, that I really couldn't stand back up, but I was able to sit up.

"Gr... you little... I should have finished you off when I had the chance. Now I really am going to kill you!"

I pulled out my sword, and held it up in defense, but Gengar put his hand up, and flung it out of my grasp, using telekinesis. I really was screwed now. He shot another ball of energy into my face, and I fell onto my back. He walked over and cast his shadow over me. He had a great expression of hate and frustration on his face.

"Little annoying bugs like you deserve to die!" He gave a sinister smile. "And I guess your time has come! Ke-he-he!"

Gengar put both of his arms up. This time an even more huge ball of energy formed above him. I could feel my heart thump through my chest. I really was scared right now.

"Now, this is the part where you die!"

Is this it? Is this how I go out? A ball of energy to the face? I guess if that is what fate planned for me... Then, this is my end. This is my path. I can not change what has been done, and what is to come. All that has happened in the past day... Saving a life, harming the innocent, being punished, making some friends, and correcting my mistakes... It was all going to end here...

I'm sorry Paradise.
I'm sorry Team PokéHeroes.
I'm sorry Zekrom.
I'm sorry father.
I'm sorry... Eevee...
I closed my eyes. This is the end...

...

But, right at this moment, I heard a voice. It was in my head again. It seemed as if time stopped. I couldn't move either. The voice was clear as day. It had a certain divine tone to it. It said:

"The wheel of fate is turning."

That phrase... Arceus? Why is he telling me this? Suddenly, time reset back. Gengar was still laughing at me, prepared to throw his energy ball of death. I held up my arms as a last defense. But then I heard a loud "zap" sound. I put my arms down, and saw Gengar standing there, completely frozen. But why?

"Ke-... eh... I-I-... I can't... m-move..." He could barely talk, too. I scrambled away from him, in case this was a trick. But, he wasn't fooling me. I weakly stood back up, and looked over at Eevee. She was awake! She held up a shiny blue orb in her hand, and my satchel and sword lied beside her. She used my petrify orb! Gengar was frozen solid for right now. Suddenly, Eevee shouted at me.

"Snivy! Here, your sword!" She tossed me my sword. I grasped it with both of my hands. When I held it this time, it felt like I was holding the key to all my problems... This is the key to my problems. This is what will change my fate... I turned toward Gengar.

"Hmph... Fate has a funny sense of humor. Don't you think so?" I laughed at him for once. "Everyday, I wake up and take a long look at the Pokémon world... And I'm sure you know it's quite a mess at the moment. Selfishness and greed are overpowering trust and friendship. Every Pokémon is slowly turning to despair. As they see and hear more about things similar to what you are doing, they're losing faith. They're losing hope. And even I fell into that state..." Gengar gave me a confused look. "Hm... Have you ever noticed how much we take the sun granted for? Every morning, the sun shines its light on the planet... us, the Pokémon... and we never truly appreciate it for what it's doing. The sun gives us hope, and we just ignore it as if it's nothing." Gengar gave me another perplexed look.

"Your w-words... are... p-pointless..." he stammered. I ignored him and kept talking.

"I looked at the sun as a sign of hope. Seeing the sun made me grateful for every passing day, because I don't want the world to fall into darkness... But, it's been a while since I last saw the sun..." I looked up at the sky. The gray clouds still blanketed it, and the wind howled around us. "And not seeing the sun made me realize that I can't always rely on the same thing for hope... I can't always find hope in myself... And feeling that sense of hopelessness made me make many regretful mistakes... I almost killed someone because of feeling that way..." I took out my sword and held it to Gengar's face. He gave me a guilty look. "As I said before, I vowed to do anything to protect Eevee, even if I had to sacrifice my own life. Because just like the sun, I found hope through her. Despite all the crap I made her go through, she still saw me as a friend. She brought hope back into my life. And you were going to take all of that away from me..." I tightened my grip on the sword. "That's why I'm going to make sure that you never see the light of day, again!" I raised my sword, with both hands, above my head, with full intentions of striking him down. Gengar tried to put his hands up in defense, fearing the pain that will come from my blade slicing at him. Of course, he couldn't move his arms because he was still petrified. I began to swing the sword down at him...

However, instead, a radiant beam of light shone down on me.

I froze, holding the sword above my head.