"Jiro!" I hear a voice yell. I struggle to open my eyes and look in the direction of the voice. It's Avia. Good, she found me. But what Chrysantha said, about my crime. What did she mean? Does she honestly think that I'm going to sink to her level?

Avia runs to me. I'm still lying on my side. "Jiro, what happened?" Avia asks.

"She... Overpowered me," I say. But she didn't, not really. I was just distracted, I never bothered to attack her. But why did I lie to Avia without even thinking about it? I don't have anything to hide, do I? Maybe I want to hide the reason I was distracted? So was is it that I don't want Avia to know about Chrysantha's theory that I'll sink to her level? Or something else? The closeness of our face was kinda distracting... Why wouldn't I want Avia to know about that?

"Are you okay?" Avia asks. She seems panicked, like she thinks I'm severely wounded or something.

"Yeah," I say.

"Phew. I'm glad. We were worried. Don't you ever go and fight such a tough opponent alone," Avia says.

"I'm sorry. We... We won't be able to go on the expedition, will we? Not after I let her escape... I'm sorry, Avia. It's all my fault. I just had to do one thing, and I screwed it up," I say.

"You can't blame yourself. You tried your best, after all. How can we blame you after you fought with all you had?" Cyria says. Well that doesn't make me feel good. I know she's trying, and it would make me feel better if I had actually fought her. It feels more like she's insulting me."There's only one mark on you. She must punch hard."

"Yeah. It wasn't much of a fight," I say.

"We need to get you back to the guild," Avia says.

"We can take care of you there," Cyria says.

"No... Once you drop me off at the guild, please go on a mission," I say.

"No way! We can't go on a mission without you, Jiro!" Avia says.

"Yes you can. I'm not really as smart as I'd like to think. And, as I just proved, I'm pretty weak. I'm just dead weight," I say.

"You're really feeling beat up about this, aren't you? Stop wallowing in your own pain! Do you honestly think that we'd dare put a slim chance at going on an expedition over the well-being of a friend, do you? Jiro, you're coming with us on our mission, I don't care if I have to carry you!" Cyria says.

"That's nice, but only serves to prove my point. I'm just dead-" I start.

"Don't say it! Who are you to say what you are to the team? If we didn't want you on the team, we wouldn't have spent all this time looking for you!" Cyria interrupts.

"Yeah, come on, Jiro! What's got you so down? The Jiro I know wouldn't get so down after losing just one silly fight! The Jiro I know would keep fighting!" Avia says.

"You're right. I'm just being silly. Let's go, shall we?" I say. I try to stand up, but fall back down again after feeling a severe pain in my side. "I think walking's not going to work very well." I feel myself lifting from the ground. I look at Cyria, who is below me now. I move toward her until I'm a few feet away, but I never attempted to move.

"There. I told you I'd carry you, didn't I? Now let's go. We've already received our next mission. Hopefully we can convince the guildmaster that one out of two isn't bad."

"So this mawile you fought, how did she beat you, anyways?" Avia asks once we're on the road to our next mission. Cyria keeps me floating near the ground, in between herself and Avia.

"Well, she was faster than I was. She ran over and punched me in the side before I could counter-attack," I say.

"She certainly sounds like a strong opponent," Cyria says.

"Yeah, she was," I say.

After walking for a little while longer, we reach a clearing in a forest, when there is a furret laughing oddly.

"It's finished! It's finally finished! The ultimate device! I am now invincible!" the furret yells.

"That's the criminal we were sent to capture," Cyria whispers to me. The furret turns around and sees us.

"Perfect timing! Two lovely ladies have come to capture me. And it looks like you've already captured one convict... However; I will not be so easy to defeat! Suddenly, Cyria falls to the ground. Avia falls soon after. Now that Cyria's psychics aren't supporting me, I fall a few feet.

"It's a wonderful tool, is it not? Even a rescue team can't stop me!" The furret says. He thinks I'm a criminal like he is... Now I just need to use this to my advantage.

"Yeah. What was that, anyways, psychics?" I ask, slowly walking towards him. He laughs.

"So it really is perfect, then! Did you notice how I slightly open my mouth before attacking? That was because my mouth is rigged with reflective devices of unimaginable power! I could defeat anyone with this strength!" The furret says. I think I have an idea... But it means pretending to be a criminal for just a bit. I don't want to sink that low... I really do think of myself as above criminals, don't I? Well, I am, but I have to sink down to stay up.

"Yes. It's a nearly perfect weapon," I say.

"Nearly perfect? What flaw could there possibly be? Any pokemon who sees my beam of light is put into so much pain that there body is put into shock!"

"Yes, but the problem is, what if you're attacked from behind? What if you don't have time to attack? What you need is a partner, someone who has your back, to keep you safe." I continue to walk toward him.

"Are you offering to be that partner?"

"I am."

"But why?"

"You saved me from a life in custody. That's reason enough for me. Plus, I wouldn't mind being a right-paw pokemon to a powerhouse like you." I'm almost to him, just a little farther!

"Well then, I accept-" His sentence is cut off when I tackle him, pinning him down, and bite down hard on his neck. I close my eyes, so that his light can't hurt me, though I do feel some moderate burning on my face. He screams in pain and struggles. After a few minutes of struggling, he stops moving.

Good. I'm exhausted. But how am I supposed to get everyone back to the guild? I'm so tired... I just need, a little more energy.

Come on, Jiro. Not now. If you don't do this, the furret may wake up and kill me. I can't die! Not yet!

I drag the furret's body over to where Cyria and Avia are. Before sitting down and trying to catch my breath. I'm both physically and mentally exhausted. I look at Cyria and Avia to make sure they're breathing, they are. It looks like the furret's attacks aren't lethal, just painful. I'm glad. But I have no idea what condition Cyria and Avia are in. I need to bring everyone back to the guild. Maybe if I just get there, I can go get help. I begin to move, but feel something gripping my neck. I see the furret out of the corner of my eye.

"It's too bad. But you have to die!" The furret yells.

I try to struggle, but I soon find that everything goes black.