Disclaimer: Blu Rose doesn't own the Pokémon series—only this fic.

Summary: Black and White decide to challenge the Mistralton Gym, only to find out that Skyla's gone once more—this time to the Celestial Tower. While nothing major happens, being there reminds White of a lost loved one, and in turn the incident that traumatized her.

X-X-X

~Guilt~

"So, good news: Tiny has become fully evolved. Eve, too. Both accidentally," I said as I turned the Xtransceiver so Mom could see all of my Pokémon as they were eating.

"It's amazing how quickly you went from complaining about their evolving to boasting about it," Black spoke up while tending to his own Pokémon.

"I'm still complaining, and this is far from boasting. This is a progress report."

"Wouldn't a progress report be whether or not you can stand to be in your Pokémon's presence?"

"Oh, shut up."

On the other end of the call, Mom laughed. "That's really good news! You should tell your dad about this, considering he gave Tiny to you in the first place. He'll be happy to know you evolved him willingly, even though in the past, you'd probably avoid that to keep safe."

"Uh, I'm pretty sure I said he evolved by accident…" I corrected Mom, trying to avoid the topic of Dad.

Once again, Black intervened, saying, "Yeah, but you totally accept him as a Raichu, even though they're known to become more aggressive as their electricity builds up and they can release 100,000 volts of electricity capable of causing things several times bigger than them to faint."

"Wow. You are actually trying to scare me with your regurgitated Pokémon facts—which the Pokédex already filled me in on and helped me learn how to avoid."

"It was only a test…"

"Speaking of Dad, have you called him recently?" I didn't know who Mom was talking to: me or Black. Honestly, it felt like she was talking to both of us.

"I was thinking about calling him tonight," Black said.

"White? Have you called your father yet?" I didn't answer, opting to look aside. I didn't need to look at Mom to know that she was frowning in disapproval. "White! I thought you said you were going to call him!"

"A-and I will! It's just that I've been busy Pokémon training and whatnot…"

"If you can make time to call me, you can call your father! And if you don't do it yourself, Black has my permission to call him and force you to have a conversation with him!"

"I do?" Black asked, sounding surprised.

"In fact, I expect you to call him as soon as you're done talking to me!"

"I'm so done right now," I muttered under my breath.

"Excuse me? What did you say?"

"Nothing…"

I finally glanced back at the screen of my Xtransceiver to see my mother nodding. "Alright then! It's time for me to start dinner. Have a good evening, kids. And remember: call your father." Mom was the one to end the call, and I stared at the screen in forlorn before bowing my head.

"Talking to Dad is not as bad as you think it is," Black spoke as he went back to minding his Pokémon.

"Easy for you to say. You've been in contact with him since he left," I muttered as I dropped the Xtransceiver onto the floor. "While I, the awful and spiteful child that I am, pushed him out of my life and took years to forgive him for choosing my sick grandmother over me. I wouldn't want to talk to me. Would you wanna talk to me? How about you?" I asked, pointing at my Pokémon.

"I probably wouldn't," Eve said before Panacea gave her a light smack on the head. "I mean, I probably wouldn't refuse to speak to you forever."

Black frowned. "Well, tough. You'll have to see him again someday soon, so you may as well get used to talking to him on the phone before you have to meet him face to face. Unless you plan on running away at the sight of your own father."

I groaned and buried my face in my hands. "Fine! Let's get this over with!" I felt something brush up next to me and realized that my brother was now at my side. He picked my Xtransceiver up off the floor and began dialing a number in it. "What are you doing?"

"I'm calling Dad using your Xtransceiver so he'll know this is you."

"Yes, let him know that this is the number he should come to dread."

"Oh, stop your whining and man up."

We waited to hear a voice on the other end of the line, but when it happened… "Good day. You have reached the number of—"

"It's an automated message!" I exclaimed, trying not to sound so relieved and failing at it.

"I guess he's busy with something right now…" Black said with a pout before he stood up. "You can call him again later. For now, isn't there something you said you had to check up on?" I just stared at him. "The Rufflet? That you caught and put up for trade?"

"Oh, right. After what happened last night, I think I blocked out its existence for the sake of maintaining the progress of curing my fears," I spoke flatly as the Rufflet in question came to mind.

"It wasn't so bad."

"It tried to peck Mars's eye out!" I snapped. "And in case you forgot, he tried to eat Felix and pick a fight with Valentine."

"Which really was pretty entertaining," Eve added.

"I must confess: there's a part of me that won't be sad to see that little ruffian go," Panacea said with a nod.

"The bright side is that if it's traded away, there's a chance it'll be sent somewhere so far away that I won't have to live in fear of being attacked by it again," I said as I stood up.

"You do realize that there's only a chance of the Rufflet being traded away, right?" Black asked as he arched an eyebrow.

"It's a rare Pokémon. Someone in the world is bound to want one!"

"It wasjust last night that you placed it there. You can't expect a trade to go that quickly. You have to give it some more time."

I sighed and slumped over. "Great. More waiting. And what am I expected to do until then?"

"We can always train together. Or we could go and challenge the Mistralton Gym now that everything's okay."

At the mention of challenging the gym, I began to beam. With all that had been happening to us lately, it seemed certain that we didn't need any training to get our next badges. And regardless of whether we won or lost, enough time would hopefully pass for someone to take that volatile Rufflet off of my hands…and, if necessary, avoid having to talk to Dad again.

X-X-X

But imagine our surprise when we got to the gym and we were told that the gym leader in charge wasn't there. "What do you mean Skyla's not here?! Why is the gym even open if she's not here?!" I snapped, my impatience getting the best of me.

The gym guide, who just looked like someone who worked on the airport with the jumpsuit he wore, shrugged. "Skyla's a busy person. She juggles her gym leader duties with flying cargo around Unova and sometimes to other regions and back. But she's always in on time, so to prepare, we always open ahead of time so trainers can get through the gym and wait for her at the end."

"That's strange. Isn't she worried considering the whole Team Plasma affair?" Black asked.

"Remember what happened in Drifitveil and Nacrene? I don't think Skyla's gym has to worry about Team Plasma—there's nothing here they could want," I pointed out.

"Hey, hey!" Another man in a jumpsuit called as he approached us. "I just got a call from Skyla! She's gone and taken a detour!"

The gym guide whirled around and spat "Detour?! She was supposed to be on the ground already!"

"Well, uh…she is, but then she said she saw a Pokémon fall from high up at the Celestial Tower. Oh, she said she wanted someone to come and bring her a Revive since she doesn't have any on her, just in case."

"Seriously? Her schedule's tight as it is and she's gone off playing the hero again…" The guide suddenly remembered that we existed and looked at us. "Say, you're those kids who helped Skyla and the others the other day, aren't you?" The tone in his voice suggested where he was going before he even spoke. "How would you like to help drag Skyla back here so she can get back on track?"

"Uh, but it sounds pretty serious," Black pointed out.

"Oh, I'm not saying you shouldn't help her! Here!" He reached into his jumpsuit and pulled out a small plastic bag carrying a large piece of pale yellow candy, which he handed to me. "Take this Max Revive to Skyla over at the Celestial Tower. That'll wake up that Pokémon and help it on its way." The two jumpsuit-clad men then walked away, leaving the both of us standing by the entrance.

I groaned and slumped over. "…We never even said 'yes'."

"Would you two really have turned them down?" Tiny asked, arching an eyebrow. "Really?" I didn't have a response to that, so I just sighed.

"Look on the bright side: now we have a reason to go and visit the Celestial Tower!" Black exclaimed.

"That's not a bright side! We're going to a place filled with graves and ghosts and…ugh…!" I shuddered as we left the building.

X-X-X

After an uneventful walk from Mistralton City, we found the Celestial Tower, which was several floors tall. A piece of ancient history, the most famous thing about it was the large bell built at the top that was said to soothe the souls of the living and the dead. We searched for some sign of Skyla outside, but found nothing.

"See, White? Skyla isn't standing around out here. She's probably at the top with that injured Pokémon," Black pointed out. "So we've gotta climb up the tower." My only response was a groan. "Don't you start complaining! You've traveled through an ancient castle filled with Yamask, so you can walk up a simple tower." Without even waiting for me, Black entered the tower.

Tiny circled behind me and began shoving me towards the building. "Come on, come on! We're gonna get left behind!" With one last push, the Raichu made me stumble inside.

As expected, the inside of the tower was filled with gravestones. A few of the people on this floor stood in front of some, likely visiting their late Pokémon, while others wandered around like they were searching for something. Black seemed to be doing a bit of both, as he was walking up and down the aisles of gravestones, glancing at one for a few seconds before moving on to another. I walked up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention. "Just what are you doing? I thought you said Skyla was at the top, so why are you down here being creepy and looking at gravestones?" I whispered.

"This is hardly creepy!" Black whispered back. "And…I just thought since this was like a Pokémon graveyard…I could find…" He trailed off and shook his head. "Say, do you think that when someone from another region moves here, they bury their Pokémon over here or back home?" He shook his head and adjusted his hat. "Never mind. Let's just get going." Once more, without even waiting for me, Black headed up the spiral staircase off to the side that went up to the next floor.

"Uh-oh. What's his deal now?" Tiny asked.

I sighed. "Of course you'd be thinking about him in a place like this. Stupid Black…! Now you've got me thinking about him, too…"

"Thinking about who?"

I looked down at the Raichu. "No one you need to know about. Now, come on. Let's catch up to Black." I walked over to the staircase, trying to ignore the hard stare I was getting from Tiny, and my mind wandered back to the past.

X-X-X

"…Ten…Eleven…Twelve. I think that's enough," the 9 year old Black said as he counted the dozen shrunken Poké Balls he held in his hands. He had made it a habit to pick up any unused, forgotten Poké Balls he happened to spot on the ground. As a result, there were multiple different varieties, some whose primary function we didn't know. Not that it mattered. To us, they were just neat designs that would make whatever Pokémon would happen to be captured in them stand out even more. "Today is the day I catch a Pokémon of my own!" Black exclaimed as he pumped his arms in the air.

"Hey, what about me?" I asked with a huff.

Black stared at me for a few seconds before he nodded, as if agreeing with what he thought up. "We can share it! You can have it every other day."

"I want my own Pokémon!" I insisted as I stomped my foot. Of course, chances were slim about Mom and Dad actually letting us keep a Pokémon even if we caught it ourselves. But we were young. And we were eager to have Pokémon to call our own before we ever got trainers' licenses, like other kids in town.

A knock on the door of the room we shared interrupted what would have been a childish argument. "Black! White! What's taking you so long?" Mom called from outside.

"Nothing, Mom!" We called at the same time.

"Whatever you're doing, hurry up! We're burning daylight!"

After a few seconds, Black lowered his voice and whispered, "Fine. Take half and catch your own Pokémon," as he held his hands out. I squeaked with delight as I grabbed the balls and shoved them into the little backpack I was going to take with me. "Just don't open your big mouth to Mom or Dad about this, or else they'll take 'em away."

"You're the big mouth, not me!" I said as I stuck out my tongue. "I'm gonna catch a cooler Pokémon than you!"

"No way! You can't even throw a baseball," Black said as he shoved the remaining balls into one of the pockets of his shorts. "I bet I'll catch a Pokémon first!"

"I bet you won't!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

The door opened and Mom poked her head into our room. "Stop arguing and let's go! I would think you'd want to spend the first day of summer vacation at the beach, not complaining!" We got carted out by our mother into the living room, where Dad had his back turned as he was finishing packing up. "Now we're all here! Time to start our summer off right!"

X-X-X

I felt something shock me, snapping me out of my thoughts. "OW!" I glared down at Tiny. "What was that for?!"

"First: we've lost Black," the Raichu pointed out. "Second: I wanna know who you were talking about already!"

"What do you mean we've lost Black?" I said as I looked around. It was impossible to lose anyone in a place like this: this floor was a single round room that, while large, could still be seen in its entirety. The graves did nothing to obscure our view, either, because they only came up to the waist of the humans who were walking around. "He probably just went further upstairs." I made to walk up the other spiraling staircase to the next floor, but Tiny grabbed hold of my leg and held me back.

"I'm not letting you go anywhere until you say something!" I continued moving anyway, dragging my restrained leg along behind me. "Don't make me shock you to get what I want."

"Do that and I will replace you with an Emolga."

"As if you've got the guts to do that. Tell me!" Tiny continued to insist, wrapping his tail around both of my legs to make me stay in place. "It can't be so bad that you couldn't tell me, could it?"

I started glaring in the direction of the staircase, chewing the inside of my mouth. "Tiny. This is a graveyard for Pokémon. A Pokémon we knew died. You should be able to draw a conclusion from the surroundings alone that it is a sensitive subject. So stop whining and let me go!" I barked. Tiny got a sad look on his face and let go, saying nothing more. "Good. Now, let's go and find Black before he finds trouble or something."

I felt bad for snapping at Tiny about it, but even after all this time, what happened wasn't an easy thing to talk about. It wasn't the kind of thing I even wanted to remember, but I found myself doing that anyway as we continued up the stairs.

X-X-X

In those days, we lived in Lacunosa Town, a place to the north of the eastern half of Unova. It was famous for an ancient legend about a terrifying monster that arrived one day when a meteor fell to earth. At night, it would catch humans and Pokémon to eat, then it would return to its home, the giant crater that had been created by the fallen meteor. To protect themselves, the people of Lacunosa built a tall wall to keep the monster out and made it a law that once it became evening, people had to stay indoors. These days, there was no law, and the only time the Beast of Lacunosa was mentioned was when adults wanted to scare kids into going to bed early, but the walls remained, and all but delinquents still followed that ancient curfew for the sake of being "methodical and orderly," to quote the town slogan.

So it always felt incredibly freeing to step outside of town and be on the other side of those walls when Mom or Dad had the time to take us out. Even better when it was an outing with the entire family. That day, our family headed east to Route 13 to spend the first day of the summer at the beach. We'd have gone to Undella Town, but it was far to the south and tended to be filled with hundreds of people during the summer. Today, it was an even better choice over Undella because wild Pokémon could be found everywhere around here.

"Mom? Dad? Can we go and play up there for a while?" Black asked.

"You want to go and walk around? I thought you would want to jump in the water as soon as we got here," Dad said while he laid down a beach towel.

"We wanna go look at the Pokémon in the water first!" I answered.

"Pokémon, huh? You're going to stay where we can see you, won't you?"

"Yes, Dad…" We both answered at the same time.

He stared at us with his usual stoic expression before he nodded. "Alright. But for the sake of safety, take Espeon with you." He handed Black a Poké Ball, which he eagerly grabbed. "Now go and have fun."

Looking back on it, Dad could sometimes be a bit too trusting when it came to the two of us. We quickly ran up the beach, far enough to hopefully not be seen throwing Poké Balls at anything. There was just one problem.

"How do you catch a Pokémon in the water?" I asked myself as we stared at the water's surface.

"On TV, you fish 'em up. But we don't have a fishing rod…" Black said with a pout.

I glanced in the direction of our parents. Mom was already in the water while Dad was already sleeping with Pikachu by his side. "Let's get off the beach and go look in the forest," I whispered.

"Ooh, that's a good idea!"

So we went back the way we came earlier, where the ground was green and the path was lined by trees, but instead of sticking near the coast, we went further north to try and find some wild Pokémon. After a few minutes of wandering, we found a strange-looking Pokémon knocking some berries off of a bush. It was white and furry, stood on four legs, and had a black, sickle-shaped horn sticking out of the side of its head. Before I got to say anything, Black chucked a Poké Ball that he had been holding at the mysterious Pokémon and it disappeared inside of it.

"Hey! I wanted to catch that one!" I complained.

"Then you should've thrown faster!" Black shot back. The Poké Ball then burst open and the Pokémon came back out again. It glared in our direction and began to growl. "Uh-oh…" At first, it seemed like it was about to attack us. So when it turned around and ran away from us, our fear immediately shifted to eagerness and we began to follow.

We ran after the strange Pokémon for minutes, impatiently chucking Poké Balls at it and always missing for our efforts. After a while, it seemed to finally grow annoyed by our efforts and stopped running. The horn on the side of its head glowed bright purple before it whipped its head around, firing a crescent-shaped blade of energy at us. Black and I stopped running and screamed before ducking for cover. We heard the sound of something crashing to the ground, but no harm came to us.

After a few seconds of waiting in fear, I dared to open my eyes. The strange white Pokémon had disappeared while we were cowering on the ground, and the thing it had attacked was a large branch that had been cut from a tree behind us. I patted Black on the leg to make him look at me. "It's gone now."

Black blinked and we both stared at the spot where the Pokémon stood a while ago. We shared a depressed sigh as we sat there on the ground. "And it was such a cool-looking Pokémon, too!" Black complained. "Did you waste all of your Poké Balls trying to catch it?"

"Uh-huh… Did you?"

"Yuh-huh… Let's go back to the beach now. We're probably already in trouble with Mom and Dad." We both got up and began walking in opposite directions before we stopped and looked at each other. "Where are you going? The beach is this way!"

"No, it's this way!"

Instead of arguing, we both stared at each other for a few seconds before we began looking at our surroundings. Nothing stuck out. Everything looked the same. The unfamiliar cry of a Pokémon caused the two of us to huddle close to each other. I don't think either one of us spoke what we were both thinking out of the hope that we were wrong, but it was pretty obvious that we'd gotten lost.

"O-okay! We'll just…keep walking in one direction. We've gotta reach the end of the forest that way," Black spoke, but he didn't even seem confident in his own idea.

"Yeah! Forests don't go on for…forever," I said as we began walking in one direction.

We walked for minutes. Then the minutes became an hour. Finally, after several hours of walking, we collapsed from hunger. Although the maze of trees was too tall for us to tell what directions we'd been taking, we still saw the sky, which had changed from bright blue to the sort of multicolored mix usually seen at sunset. By that point in time, Mom and Dad would have been worried sick and had maybe searched high and low for us.

"Black… I'm scared…!" I confessed as I held my stomach.

"D-don't be! We just have to keep going forward!" Black insisted.

"Maybe we should ask Espeon for help?"

"…We're already gonna be in trouble, so why not?" Black pulled Espeon's Poké Ball out of his pocket and released him. The purple-furred Pokémon laid down in front of us, seemingly asleep. He was curled up in such a manner that his forked tail was beneath his head. "He's asleep? Is that why he didn't come out on his own for so long?"

"Espeon… Espeon…!" I said as I tapped the Psychic type Pokémon on the red gem on his forehead. His big purple eyes slowly opened and he uncurled himself. "We need you to help us find our way back to Mom and Dad."

Espeon looked around in confusion before standing up. He sighed and stared at us. "What kind of situation did you two get me into? Lemme see here…" His forked tail twitched as the gem on his head glowed briefly. After a few seconds, he turned and pointed a paw in one direction. "Your dad's this way."

"Hooray! Espeon's our hero!" I exclaimed.

"Buttering me up isn't going to make your parents any more forgiving about what you've done, but I appreciate the praise," Espeon said as he began leading the way. After a few seconds, he twitched, the fur on his entire body bristling for a moment. "Geez, what was that?!"

"What was what?" I asked.

"What? What was what?" Black repeated, not sure what we were talking about. Soon after, a loud roar reverberated throughout the forest, followed by a gust of bone-chillingly cold wind and snow falling from the sky. "It's snowing…in the summer?" A ball of ice then hit a tree, shattering and making us jump. "And raining ice!"

Another loud roar sounded out, and as if in response, dozens—maybe hundreds of voices cried out, and I found myself frozen to my spot in fear. "Hey! Don't get distracted!" Espeon growled. "More than anything, that's a sign that we have to get out of here quick!" We continued following him, now running to escape the cold weather and whatever was making that noise.

X-X-X

Another shock snapped me out of my thoughts. I was actually a bit grateful for it, but it didn't change the fact that it hurt. "What is it now?" I spoke flatly as I looked down at Tiny.

"Found Black," was the Raichu's simple answer as he pointed at something. I followed his paw and saw Black in front of a gravestone on the other side of the room. "You'd have walked right past him without me. You're welcome," he grumbled.

"Thank you," I spoke flatly. I walked around gravestones until I was right next to Black. He'd been staring at a gravestone sadly, wringing his hands together. I only glanced at it for a second before punching my brother in the arm to get his attention. "You can't drag me to a graveyard and then leave me alone!" I hissed.

"Sorry… But I found him!" Black exclaimed as he pointed down at the gravestone in front of us. "I know it doesn't make a difference where he was buried, but—"

"Knock it off. It's a slab of rock with a name on it."

Black frowned. "What's with your attitude all of a sudden? Just because you're feeling bad about what happened, it doesn't mean you get to be disrespectful like that."

"You can't talk to a slab of rock, Black," I kept insisting. "And what good would saying 'I miss you' and 'I'm sorry' be anyway?"

"You're the one who's paranoid about ghosts! Don't you wanna make him feel good enough to not haunt us?!"

Tiny pushed past the both of us and stared at the grave. "What's it say?"

"This grave belongs to Espeon," Black explained to the Raichu, choosing to ignore me. "He was one of our Dad's Pokémon. He died a few years ago because of…an accident."

I flinched. "An accident? That wasn't an accident!" I snapped, my voice starting to break. "He died because we did something stupid and got ourselves into trouble! He died because of…me. I got him killed…"

X-X-X

The way that the forest was structured made it like a maze. Even if Espeon knew what direction safety was in, we were forced to go along a long, twisting path that was made difficult by the wild Pokémon that were running around in a panic, looking to escape from whatever kept roaring and making the weather grow worse. The few who bothered speaking during all the chaos—not to us, but to themselves—were all focused on finding shelter and escaping its notice.

Pretty soon, the ground became covered with so much snow that running became difficult. I ended up tripping over something that was hidden beneath the snow and fell forward. I got up and tried to continue running, but I must've sprained something, because I was slowed down to a limp. I watched as Black and Espeon got further away, not noticing that I had fallen behind. "Wait for me! WAIT!" The sound of trees falling and a loud roar made me look back.

A giant gray Pokémon was coming in my direction. Parts of its body were frozen in ice and its pupilless yellow eyes glowed ominously. Red was splattered across parts of its face, making it look even more terrifying than it already was. I thought about the legend of the beast that lived in a hole near Lacunosa and wondered if that was it. I thought that maybe it was friendly—misunderstood by the local Pokémon because of its appearance. Maybe the red on its face was paint, or berries, or its own blood. Then it broke out into a run and roared, immediately dismissing the idea of it being friendly. I didn't even have it in me to scream. I just stood there, frozen in place, trying to process the fact that I was going to be eaten.

But suddenly, the giant Pokémon was pushed back by an invisible force when it was several feet away from me. "White! Get going!" I looked down and saw Espeon standing next to me. The gem on his forehead glowed before another burst of psychic energy pushed the creature back. "Your dad's nearby! I'll distract this thing!"

"O…okay!" I began moving as fast as I could with a limp. I was too afraid to look back as I heard the beast roar, but the sound of the chaos behind me was proof that Espeon was fighting back. Then the air became so achingly cold that the back of me felt like it was being pricked by thousands of tiny needles, and the noises suddenly stopped. Worry overwhelmed my survival instinct and made me look over my shoulder.

Espeon laid on the ground, either unconscious or too hurt to move. The monster stood over him, its eyes seemingly glowing brighter as cold air escaped from its open mouth. Shards of ice formed around Espeon, melding together to create multiple giant icicles—all of them large and looking dangerously sharp. And I watched as those icicles fell at the same time…piercing through their intended target…staining themselves and the snow with blood.

I was so fixed on what was in front of me that I didn't notice my own actions. I couldn't say when I had fallen down, or why I had gotten closer instead of running away screaming. A person with common sense would've run by then, but there could have been a number of reasons why I just sat there, staring at what was once a living friend: the pain of my injured leg. Slowly being frozen to death. Abject fear. The thought that I wasn't going to escape. All I managed to do was look up at the monster, my vision cloudy from tears. I felt like its glowing yellow eyes were focused on me as my vision blurred and everything became black…

X-X-X

I snapped out of my thoughts when I felt something lightly slapping my cheek. I was sitting on the floor, leaning against a wall. Black was kneeling in front of me with a look of relief on his face while Tiny stood next to me, patting my cheek. "Thank goodness! You had me worried there for a second," Black said with a sigh.

"Did…something happen?"

"You…had a bit of an episode."

"An episode?"

"You got this weird expression on your face. Then you started shaking and sweating…and then you threw up," Tiny described.

"I threw up? Oh, no…! Don't tell me I threw up on someone's grave or something…"

"You avoided doing that, so…no need to worry about angering spirits," Black said with a short laugh. His expression then became more somber as he sat down next to me. "It's been a long time since you had a reaction like that… I'd ask what caused it, but…it's kinda obvious, isn't it?"

"…Sorry for acting like a jerk," I apologized. "There's nothing wrong with…what you wanted to do."

"I know you didn't mean it. But you shouldn't blame yourself for what happened. If anyone's to blame, it's me…" I looked at Black in confusion as he stared at the ground and continued, "We wouldn't have been in that situation if I didn't want to go and catch Pokémon. I could've been a proper big brother and stop things before we ran off and got lost. I should've gotten Espeon to help us sooner, before we met that thing. No matter how I look at things, I'm responsible for Espeon and for you being…you know."

"I don't blame you. Do you think I blame you?"

"No. But I feel like you should. It'd be better than blaming yourself…"

I sighed and took my cap off to rake my fingers through my hair. "We're a pair of idiots, aren't we? Complaining about who's to blame for something that was unintentional. It just feels good to blame someone for what happened, even if it's myself."

"Yeah… Knowing that it all probably happened by mere chance is kind of painful…" We sat there for a few seconds before Black suddenly jumped back onto his feet. "AAH! What are we doing?!"

"Bonding over our grief and guilt?" I asked.

"No, I mean we're supposed to be here to help Skyla! Instead of whining about ourselves, we should be helping that injured Pokémon!" He then took off running towards the stairs that led further up into the tower.

"White…" Tiny said with a pout, his eyes looking watery. "I don't blame you. I don't blame Black, either. I think Espeon died protecting people he cared about." He patted my head the way a person would to comfort their child or Pokémon. "So don't be sad about it. He probably wouldn't want you to feel bad."

I gave the Raichu a pat on the head as well. "Thanks." I didn't really believe that, but it was nice to know that Tiny cared. "Anyway, we should catch up with Black. I'm the one who's got the Max Revive, after all."

X-X-X

After catching up with Black, the three of us made our way further up the tower until we made it to the very top. The smell of fresh air eased my previously unsettled stomach until I realized how high up we were. My instincts led to me grabbing hold of Black's arm very tightly.

"Oooh! We're so high up that we're on the same level as the clouds!" Tiny pointed out.

"I didn't need to know that…" I spoke flatly, trying to keep my calm.

"My…arm…! Hey, look! There's Skyla! Lemme go so we can do what we came to do," said Black.

"I don't have to do that."

"Then do it for the sake of my arm."

Instead of letting Black go, I dragged him over to Skyla. The redheaded young woman was kneeling down next to an unconscious Pidove. She must've heard us coming, because when we were near, she stood up and turned to face us. "Hm? Oh, it's you two! Are you angry about me keeping you waiting for our gym battle?"

"Actually, we're here because your…friends at the gym said you needed help," said Black. "Hand it over, White." I reached into my pocket and pulled out the Max Revive.

"Oh, thanks! I managed to heal its injuries, but it's still unconscious." Skyla took the Max Revive, took it out of its wrapping, and broke off a piece of the candy that was small enough to slip into the bird Pokémon's beak. After a few seconds, the Pidove opened its eyes, got on its feet, and cocked its head as it stared at us all. "Hey there. Feeling better now?"

The Pidove nodded and shyly spoke, "Thank you…"

"Next time, if you're so badly injured, you should stop and rest up. Now, if you're up to it, you can continue onto where you were going." The Pidove did as she said and took off into the air, flying towards the mountain range. Skyla turned to face us, greeting us with a salute. "Thanks again for your help! Hopefully it can catch up with its friends…"

"It sounds like you did most of the work by treating it first," I pointed out.

"Say, now that I think about it, how'd you spot that Pidove while you were landing?" Black asked. "Mistralton City's far from here, and on top of that, this place is really high up."

Skyla stuck out her tongue childishly as she giggled. "I've got really good eyesight! It's a necessary trait for a pilot to have." It sounds more like a superpower. "Say, since you're up here already, you should ring the bell!" She stepped aside and gestured to a large, weathered looking bronze bell. "Ringing it soothes the spirits of Pokémon both living and deceased, and the character of those who ring it is reflected in its sound."

"Sounds good. Let's try it," Black said as he dragged me over to the bell. He grabbed the rope hanging from the bell and shook it, causing it to chime. "Your turn." I grabbed the rope and stared at the bell for a few seconds before shaking it myself. I heard no difference in the chime it made and I didn't get any sort of special feeling from ringing it. Maybe the whole "sound of character" thing was something spiritual?

Skyla, however, seemed pleased since she was smiling. "Such lovely sounds. They tell me that both of you re kind and strong. Knowing that makes me more excited about eventually getting to battle you!" She gave us a salute. "Well, until then! I'll be seeing you!" And then, to our surprise, Skyla ran over to the edge of the tower and jumped off.

"AAAHHHH! SHE JUMPED!" I screamed, finally letting go of Black to clutch my head in horror. Seconds later, however, we saw her being carried towards Mistralton City in the talons of a large bird Pokémon that I could only describe as a giant Rufflet.

"Wow, she's got a Braviary!" Black's shock had immediately changed to awe of Skyla's Pokémon.

"That was crazy! What person just jumps off of a tall building?!" I shouted. A feeling of dread then filled me as a thought entered my mind. What if she wanted challengers at her gym to do the same sort of craziness? We could die in there!

A cacophony of chimes brought our attention to Tiny, who was quickly ringing the bell with a look of concentration on his face. I grabbed hold of him and pulled him away from the bell. "What did you learn about my character from hearing that lovely sound?" The Raichu asked as he turned to face me.

"That you might be tone-deaf if you call that lovely." I ignored the way Tiny frowned as I looked at Black. "Anyway, I'm starting to remember how high up we are. Can we leave now?"

"Yeah. But before we go, maybe we should pay our respects."

I stared at Black for a little while before I nodded. "Of course..."

X-X-X

After we got back to Mistralton City, Black and I decided not to challenge the gym again. Black said he wanted to prepare instead of just rushing in, while I wanted to avoid whatever terror I had to go through to get another badge for just a while longer. We spent the rest of the day training, with me taking some time to lament the fact that no one online wanted that Rufflet. That evening, I sat in our room in the Pokémon Center, staring at my Xtransceiver while Black was in the bathroom.

"Do it." I looked down and saw most of my Pokémon peeking over the edge of the bed. "It has to be done," Panacea continued.

"Yeah, and soon! I'm dying of curiosity here," said Eve.

"I can't wait to see what White's father is like," said Mars.

"Just think of this as another step to facing your fears!" Shion assured me.

"And if you don't do this, your mom will bite your head off the next time you speak to her," Tiny pointed. "So, no pressure!"

I gulped as I redialed the number from my Xtransceiver's history. After a few seconds, the ringing stopped and a voice spoke on the other end of the line. "Hello, good morning." I was surprised that despite how long I'd gone without hearing his voice, it still seemed familiar. "Hello?"

I felt my Pokémon glaring at me from their spot beside the bed, which helped spur me to speak. "H-hello!" I didn't mean to stutter or for my voice to get that high. "It's…it's White. Your daughter? Back in Unova?"

"…I know who you are." He sounded a bit amused by how difficult this was. I wondered what expression he was wearing at that moment. The Xtransceiver's screen only showed the number since it wasn't calling another Xtransceiver, so I couldn't see his face. But maybe that was for the best. "How are you?"

"I'm fine." I've only been threatened by criminals wanted across the region, attacked by a wild Rufflet, and will inevitably be forced to go into a cannon at some point in the near future. I'm just peachy. "How are you and Grandma Hana doing?"

"I'm fine. And Grandma's holding on. Her health took a dive back a while ago, but she's getting a little better day by day."

"That's good. I'm glad she's relatively okay." I fell silent, not sure how to continue the conversation.

"Your mom tells me that you've been challenging gyms."

"She has, huh?"

"Are you having fun, winning all those badges?"

"I guess so. Though my last gym battle took some years off of my life."

"How so?" And I somehow wound up describing my exhausting battle against Clay. Then I went into the fact that Tiny and Eve had evolved without my say recently. I didn't say anything about the Team Plasma issue—no need to worry him when he was overseas—but I did tell him about what happened at the Celestial Tower today, minus the confessions of guilt from Black and me. And through it all, Dad sounded calm. "Sounds like you've been pretty busy."

"You have no idea…"

"Ah. I have to get going now. It was nice talking with you. I hope you'll call again."

"I'll try. Have a good…day."

"Have a good night," he said, sounding amused again before he hung up on his end.

I took a few seconds to register what happened and then released a shuddering sigh as I slowly slumped over, like I was deflating. But I jumped back into alertness when a hand touched my shoulder. I looked up to find Black standing next to the bed, smiling in an understanding way. "Maybe tomorrow night, we can talk to him together."

I nodded. "Yeah."

Black then stepped back and pumped a fist in the air. "Alright! Excellent work, White! Now let's get back to getting over your fears, starting with that Rufflet!"

"NO!" My Pokémon screeched, making him jump.

"Bad Black! Don't you dare make that suggestion!" Tiny chided my brother as he pointed a paw at him.

"I think we need to wait a while longer before making headway on that…" I said with a sheepish laugh.

X-X-X

Notes!

Absol can be found on Route 13 and in the Giant Chasm in BW during the postgame, while it becomes a part of the Unova Pokédex in BW2. Its presence is suggested to be because Kyurem's appearance means disaster.

X-X-X

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