Author's Corner.

Slybill: I'm sooo bored. And those stupid characters just had to pick now of all times to call in sick. Oh well. Thank Arceus for stunt doubles.

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN POKEMON.


The sky had gone orange that fateful evening and the 15 year old redhead flew her plane through some clouds, slicing them in half like butter with a knife. Soaring through the clouds had always been exhilarating for the teen flying prodigy and it was on evenings like this that she actually felt really and truly free from the troubles of that extensive land called the earth. Her blue eyes began to waver however as a flock of Swanna flew past her.

Yeah, her best friend since birth would've been among them too had it not been for her incompetence as a gym leader.

"The League Official was right, I'm just too young for this stuff..." she had bemoaned. If only she had had more experience with gym battles, maybe Swanna wouldn't have died. "I'm so stupid..."

Initially, when her grandfather had passed away, she had been doing a good job of holding the title of Mistralton City's gym leader, taking down challenger after challenger with ease. Swanna had been her strongest by far though, having been with her since they were babies. Therefore, it was no surprise that the bond between the two gave them a higher advantage among their peers, enabling them to communicate on a level that could have only been surpassed by the then current champion of Unova, Alder.

Then it all went downhill when the highflying girl got her big head too far up in the clouds and went from confident to cocky. As a result, she underestimated several attacks and often got her pokemon seriously injured. Despite that, she would still push them to their very limits and have them nearly massacre their opponents with high-leveled attacks. Yes, all they were unstoppable and Skyla had every right to get big-headed. Unfortunately, a tiny voice at the back of her teenage mind had always reminded her that her once unbreakable bond with her pokemon, especially Swanna, was beginning to suffer cracks and leaks.

"That's not true!" she would always retort. "If our bonds were broken then I wouldn't be winning, would I?"

"There are gentle but strong threads that link people and pokemon together and there are hard chains of power-lust and fear that tie them down too, always remember that," the voice would gently reply and fade away. At this, Skyla would just huff in annoyance and head off for another round of flying. Then she went too far.

It had happened so quickly. That Rock Wrecker attack wasn't so big. It shouldn't have been able to hurt Swanna that much. She could have just blown it back with a Bubblebeam. The excuses just kept whirling around her like a hurricane until she held her pounding head and rushed over to her unmoving pokemon. Reaching a shaky hand out, the redhead nudged the pokemon calling for it to get up. It didn't. She raised a wing, expecting some resistance. None. She even pulled a feather, hoping it would shoot up and beat her face with its large wings like old times. It didn't. And that's when Skyla got what she deserved that day as the Nurse Joy broke the unfortunate news to her. First her grandfather and now her best friend too.

"Weak!" she cried, banging her fist on the windscreen of the plane. It hurt, but she didn't care. "Useless! Pathetic! Worthless! Childish!" With every insult, she would bang her fist on the hard glass. After a few more punches, it cracked and the girl withdrew slowly as blood graced her knuckles and the sides of her small hand. "I'm so stupid..."

BANG!

The girl snapped out of her self-condemnation and saw a sight that made her eyes widen in shock. Right in front of her, on the airplane's short muzzle, lay a boy face down and windblown and clinging for his dear life. On his back was a small eagle-like pokemon, a Rufflet as Skyla could see, panting and resting its tired wings.

The first thought that brushed the baffled girl was to throw him off. Then she wondered as to how he got there in the first place. Unless he tried to fly with a Rufflet (those things are like 1 foot tall for Arceus' sake!). Either way, she had to let him off so the young pilot lowered the plane to the ground in minutes and hopped out quickly to check on the foolhardy boy.

"Hey! Are you alright?" she gasped, pulling him off and turning him over. He looked to be about her age with deep brown hair that nearly covered his eyes and a goofy smile plastered to his face. "You can open your eyes now, we're on the ground."

The teen's shock yellow eyes snapped open and he shot up to his feet before kissing the ground and smoothing his messy hair.

"That's the last time I'm ever going to teach a small pokemon to fly," he spluttered and froze as he looked to Skyla.

"What?" she asked, getting slightly creeped out by his piercing gaze.

"An angel..." he gasped dramatically and grabbed her arms. "You've gotta be my guardian angel since you saved me, right? And you're so beautiful too!"

The confused girl blinked once. Then twice. Then three more times as her face went red. "Huh?"

From there, he began following her around like a lost Lillipup, often spouting crappy poetry and very high-strung praise that only served to irk her the more. Who was he? Why was he following her after they had just met? Why hadn't she used her Swoobat to chase him away yet? Once again, her head swirled with questions and she stopped abruptly to address the pest behind her.

"Listen, I get that you're grateful and all but I'm no angel. Don't you have somewhere to be right now, um..."

"Black," he said and tipped his hat. "Future champion of Unova and your future hubbie!"

"W-What? I-I-I don't know you so stop saying stuff like that!" she stuttered, pointing a shaky finger at him. Talk about bold. Had he banged his head harder than she thought back on her plane?

"You know me now, Angel," the defiant boy replied and grabbed her outstretched arm before pulling her close. Very close. "Can you tell me who the gym leader of this town is please?"

Skyla's eyes drooped. So he was a challenger after all. And given what had just happened a week ago, she doubted she was in her right state of mind to battle at the anytime soon.

"You're talking to her, but she's not battling right now," she replied and turned away. "Actually, she's on her way to resign."

Black's eyes widened in realization before he held her hand. "I knew the gym leader was young but not this young. You must be like super-powerful or something. And that's good enough for me, Angel."

Skyla twisted out of his grip and faced him angrily. "Why d'you keep calling me that, you weirdo! I pretty much killed my best friend and partner! I'm weak! And pathetic..." She looked down and shoved her hands in her pockets. "And unless you're blind, you could've seen that I'm not exactly pretty either..."

Black stared and turned before walking away slowly causing her to sigh. Of course he'd leave. She'd just taken out her frustration on him anyway. Who'd want a girl like that-THUMP.

Skyla looked up to see a can of soda leaning on her forehead held by none other than the boy who had just left.

"It was a regrettable loss, Angel," he started, handing the can to her. "But as long as you've realized your mistake and you're determined to learn from it, Swanna's death won't be in vain."

"How did you-" she began but stopped as he pressed a finger to her lips.

"I'll take a break from battling and help you get your game back on. Then we'll have the best fight ever, how about it, Angel?"

For some reason, she had found herself blushing at the reassuring look on Black's face. It so much reminded her of her grandfather. With a small nod, she accepted his hug and gave a small sigh at how warm he was in the cold night air.

"Did I ever mention how much of a weirdo you are?" she muttered gently.

"In good time, Angel. In good time."

And thanks to him, she had been able to mend her broken bonds with her pokemon and get the confidence to resume her duties as a gym leader after within a week. Of course, she lost to Black (he didn't look it but his pokemon were bloody tough!) but she didn't mind one bit. If anything, she was happy for his success and that tiny voice told her that he would go places in future. And go places he did when he eventually won the league and rushed straight to Mistralton. Picking up the surprised (and of course delighted) redhead and spinning her around until they had both gotten dizzy, he proclaimed his, as usual, undying love for her and kissed her full on the lips.

"I always wanted to do that, Angel," he exclaimed, giving his wide grin and getting on his big Braviary. "You don't have to say anything now, but when you're ready, I'll be waiting!" and he was gone. The dumbfounded girl ran a finger on her lips and smiled softly.

"Weirdo..." she remarked, blushing fiercely as she skipped all the way to her gym. "He probably knows the answer anyway."


Tears splashed on the stone floor as the woman smiled sadly.

"We saw each other more often and I was gonna tell him anyway but that I wanted to be sure of myself," she sobbed quietly and buried her face in her hands. "But then something happened and Black suddenly got busier and busier. I myself had a lot of challengers piling up at the gym day after day. Don't get me wrong, I loved battling and all but it started getting lonely without Black's random calls or visits. Then he..." Her shoulders began to tremble. "He...the best thing that happened to me...the one person that remade me into the happy-go-lucky girl I was then...the one person I wanted to stay with forever...he d-died..."

White placed a hand on Skyla's shoulder and drew her into a hug as the young woman sobbed away her troubles.

"I guess she does love you after all..." the trainer murmured, patting Skyla on the back gently. "Stupid brother. You just had to go and die didn't you."

In spite of her sadness, the gym leader found herself giving a small chuckle at White's remark.

"You know, Black always talked about you whenever he came home for a visit," the trainer continued, releasing her hold on Skyla and stroking the puzzled Deino again. "Every time he'd go on and on and on about how beautiful your smile was or how your hair looked pretty in the wind or other nice things about you. The day before he left for the last time, I think he knew he was gonna die so he told me that anytime I see you, I should always remind you that he'll always love you and keep you close to his heart, even in death. I never understood since I was six then but now I know why he said that."

"To comfort me huh?" Skyla said and faced the now-night sky. "Weird as always. I'm sure it must be hard on you too."

White picked up Deino and turned her on her back before giving her a scratch on her green belly. "I guess so. I never knew my dad, my awesome grandparents died, and now my brother's gone. I guess we're more or less even."

"Heh," was all Skyla could say as she watched the girl playing with her dragon pokemon. "I guess I'm just emotionally weaker than you so a series of deaths affected me more."

"Not really," White cut in, getting up and dusting her shorts. "I used to cry too every now and then cos I was missing my big brother. And I never had any real friends who treated me as a person and not as the champion's sister other than my mom and Filbert. But then I went on my pokemon journey and I met my Pokemon and Scarly and Jolteon and all their friends and they treated me for me. Thanks to them, I was able to forget about the tiny ache in my chest whenever Black came to my mind. It's okay to cry and all but it's even better to move on."

"Wow, you sound just like him," the woman remarked and smiled. "I'm not sure I can though."

"Of course you can!" White declared, slamming into her from behind and nearly sending them over the edge. "C'mon Angel! Smile for me! That's what Black would've said."

"I am smiling," the woman replied and White shook her head.

"I mean the real smile that Black said could light a thousand fires in his heart!"

Skyla raised an eyebrow before looking down slowly. Before she knew it, White heard her giggling. In a moment, it erupted into a hearty laugh and being the airhead that she was, she pitched her own high-pitched laugh and the tower resonated with their somewhat joyous peals of laughter.

"You're a great friend. Just so you know and I think your boyfriend is lucky to have you," the redhead said, out of breath.

"Thanks! So will you battle me?" White asked, picking up Deino and extending a hand to the gym leader.

"Well...I'm not so sure since I gradually lost interest in battling after Black died," Skyla replied. "Especially since the trainers I've fought were a little amateur."

"Then I'll stay with you and help you return to your old, enthusiastic self! Then we'll battle!"

Skyla stared at her before grabbing her hand and hoisting herself up. "I like your optimism, kid. Just like mine before I became sappy. Talking with you today made me feel so much better since we both know what it's like to lose a loved one. I still think I'll need sometime to get myself together though. You can't just erase 8 years of mopeyness just like that."

"Take all the time you need," White replied giving a very familiar grin. "When you're ready, I'll be waiting!"

"Just be sure not to take too long though." The girls turned to see Scarlet and Jolteon leaning by the door leading downstairs. "...We've got a tight schedule to run so she ain't got all the time in the world."

"I never noticed you were there," White exclaimed, skipping up to them with Deino in her arms.

"You must be Scarly," Skyla said, following beside the girl. "I'm so sorry for not greeting you guys back at the airport."

"It's Scarlet, not Scarly," he replied, shooting White a death glare. "And I don't mind. Just good to know that Bubblebrain has gotten you out of your rut." He uncrossed his arms and started downstairs. "It's late, rookie. Camie's client didn't come today so she's crashing with us. Let's head back to the PC."

"But Scarly, I wanna ring the big bell!" the girl protested, pointing at the large, bronze bell hanging from a large stand at a corner of the top floor. "Can I? Black said it can reflect the nature of the one who rang it."

"Actually, that's not a bad idea," Skyla stated, walking up to the bell. "You can ring it if you want. I'll tell you just what it says."

"Bells don't speak but who cares," Scarlet muttered, giving a shrug. White ran up to the bell and grabbed the rope dangling beside it before giving a tug. It didn't budge. Rolling up her sleeves, the girl took the rope again and tugged with all her strength. Gentle and soothing CLANGs were heard as the bell swung to and fro and Scarlet wondered how such a big bell could make such gentle noises.

"Your turn," the redhead stated after sometime.

"Fine," the hunter sighed and took the rope. Giving a tug, he was surprised as the noise from the swinging bell became erratic and terribly screechy.

"Someone needs to work on their attitude," Skyla teased and took the rope from the scowling teen. Giving a tug of her own produced a slow, gentle and almost noiseless ring that almost reminded one of the sinking beauty that called itself sunset. Gentle. Falling. Dying.

"It's beautiful," White gasped and Skyla smiled softly.

"Yeah. It is."


The bell continued swinging long after they left and as it went to and fro in its darkening surroundings two glimmering red dots, framed with a mass of curly blonde hair like a cathedral painting of an angel, could be seen reflecting from the bells shiny surface.

"I spoke with Bronius. He said we could take Joid on a test run tomorrow," another dark shadow spoke up from behind the bell.

"As if I care..." the blonde hissed and continued listening to the ringing like a lullaby. "I'm still going for Scarlet though..."

Draco sighed and crossed his arms. "Just remember not to kill him. He's reserved for Joid when the time comes. You're welcome to break the innocent one if you want. The sooner the better for King Ghetsis anyway."

And they disappeared at the final ring of the bell.


Author's Corner.

Slybill: Phew. Things are finally starting to build up again. Quick trivia. Can anyone guess what pokemon Draco uses?