Knock knock.

I slowly raised my red-stained eyes from my bed towards the door as mum approached the room, her face creased with worry as she attempted once more to talk to me.

I sighed, smearing my tears onto the velvet coloured silk pillow. She would never be able to understand the pain that I was currently enduring after loosing Max... Her and the rest of the Pokemon World would never know that Giratina had the ability to turn into the most amazing, exhilarating and passionate person I had ever known. Mesprit forbid that the true identities of Legendary Pokemon ever be revealed to any other human. It was unfortunate that Lea's memories had been completely forgotten that day.

"Cassie? Please come and talk to us... Lea and I are so worried about you. You haven't left your room for days and I'm sure Prinpulp is becoming extremely bored inside her Pokeball not receiving any attention from you. Lea's Chimchar misses her also..."

"M- I mean Giratina, sacrificed everything for me. Now he is never coming back! He's dead forever!"

Tears rapidly descended down my face. The sheer thought of Max's voice continued to hurt me unbearably, as if a sharp sword had been constantly stabbing at my wounds.

"Lea did not recognise anything about that legendary Pokemon Giratina that was captured when she was sent to free you. Cassie... She had become so frightened after that day when you were kidnapped by those suspicious Galactic criminals and I don't think she will ever forget that day. You should go speak to her and have some fun for the day to get your mind off loosing Giratina. I heard she had something exciting planned for you both."

As I began to slightly raise my head from the silk pillow, I glanced into the mirror at my own reflection. My messy brown hair looked like a birds nest and my eyes had developed large black bags from the lack of sleep from the last few days. How could I possibly go out looking like this?

"Freshen yourself up and go walk over to Lea's house. You will love her surprise."

I sighed heavily again and gave mum a fake smile as she cautiously left the room. No amount of surprises would ever fill this void that consumed my heart.

Lea had already been awaiting my presence as I stepped outside into the cool brisk morning air. A quirky smile immediately crossed her face.

"Cassie guess what I bought tickets for!" She beamed brightly. "Tickets to visit and capture as many rare Pokemon as we like at the Pastoria Marsh! Professor Rowan said it would be the perfect opportunity for us to go there to get away from all this drama for awhile and we can stay at the beautiful Seven Stars Motel. It will be so much fun!"

Seven Stars Motel... The restaurant there was where Max and I had our very first lunch together. I pretended to smile and be excited for Lea's sake. After all, she had stood by my side fighting for me this entire time since arriving in Twinleaf Town. I definitely valued her as a friend.

"Well go on Cassie, go pack!"

After I had managed to drag my luggage outside the front door, Lea brought out Staravia from her Pokeball. The bird Pokemon screeched with excitement.

"Since when did you get a Staravia?" I questioned Lea as I lightly stroked the Pokemon's gorgeous long beak. She squeaked happily at the touch.

"Since Professor Rowan permanently gave her to me after I saved you from Saturn" Lea winked. "He stated afterwards that Staravia had really taken a liking to me. She is beautiful isn't she? She can fly anywhere in the Sinnoh region as well!"

"That's great Lea!" I delighted in Lea's new addition to her party. The HM move Fly, and any HM move for that matter, were very rare to come by. I remember my Grandfather back in Hoen briefly describing the use of Hidden Moves and how limited they are in the Pokemon World. "How on earth did Professor Rowan find a Pokemon with the Hidden Move Fly?"

Lea chucked. "He owns it of course! Anyway, if we keep talking we will miss our check in time. Come on Cassie! Let's go catch some rare Pokemon in Pastoria!"

Staravia flew so gracefully through the clouds above, as if she were dancing amongst them. For once in the last few days, I noticed a small feeling bubble deep in my throat. Excitement. Happiness. Thrill.

And although Max would be gone forever as my heart continued to ache for him so miserably, I just had to let go... For my own sanity he had to remain as just a memory locked away in my heart. The best memory I would ever have...

Lea noticed tears slowly forming in my eyes and she placed her hand on my shoulder.

"I can't even comprehend how hard this must be for you Cassie. But we will have an awesome time. I promise you."

I nodded as Staravia began to descend towards the beautiful lush grass of Pastoria City. Suddenly Lea's hand shook nervously.

"C-Cassie... What's happening? The whole town is panicking! That looks like Pastoria's Gym Leader over there near the entrance to the Pastoria Marsh. I wonder what is going on?"

"Team Galactic..." I muttered, immediately jumping from Staravia's back and began running as fast as I possibly could towards the unfamiliar man. Team Galactic had to pay for what they did to Max and the rest of Sinnoh!

"C-Cassie! Wait!" Lea shouted from behind me. "What am I, chopped liver? Don't forget that I am here too!"

The pale man wearing blue trousers eyed us cautiously as he approached us. "Who are you!? Where is this Galac..."

BOOOOOM!

Lea and I both screamed as the entire city shook violently, causing the houses that surrounded us to fall apart and collapse instantly. I felt Lea grab my hand. What on Earth was happening here?

Suddenly, Lea's grip intensified as a Galactic grunt exited the Marsh, snickering under his breath. "Whew that was rough!"

The pale man's face creased with anger. "YOU! What have you done?!"

The Galactic grunt continued to snicker as he shot a malicious wink towards my direction. Oh how they will definitely soon pay for what they did to Max. Team Galactic would not go unpunished for their actions.

"What I have done, you're asking? Well, technically speaking, it wasn't me. The package that arrived see, that was a bomb named the Galactic bomb. Me? I was told to push the button... So I did, like, "Poink!""

The pale man eyed him furiously as he continued his speech.

"Oh that's right! Can't forget the test result! The test results need to be reported to Saturn! Cheerio then you daft codger! Your mask is absurd!"

The Galactic grunt shot one more wicked smile as he ran away. Lea motioned for the pale man's attention immediately. "We need to go catch him! They are the evil criminal group that kidnapped Cassie a few days ago and they need to be stopped!"

The pale man's voice became sharp, ignoring Lea's plea as he bolted inside the Marsh. "You two! Do NOT follow me! Do not let anybody else into the Marsh either! There would be big trouble if there's any of that bomb left!"

Lea paced anxiously as the pale man disappeared into the Marsh. "Cassie! You go after that Galactic goon! I'll stay here like he said to keep people from going in. Please, don't let that Galactic guy get away!"

I gazed east in the direction where the Galactic grunt had ran. There was no way Team Galactic was going to get in my way now. I would avenge Max's death and restore peace back to the region of Sinnoh.

My name is Cassie Morna, and my Pokemon adventure is only just beginning.