Chapter 24: Snivy's Heart…

It has been five days since Riolu and Snivy started their training battle with Arceus; the same day that Zoroark and Darkrai's battle ended.

Riolu and Snivy are both up on the top of the summit, while Kirlia and Kirlio have left the island on their ship, searching for new allies to join the upcoming battle against Darkrai and his army of the Underworld.

Riolu looks out at the ocean with a serious expression in his eyes and he says to Snivy after he crosses his arms, "It's almost time for me to regain my God's Arrow ability…"

Snivy nods her head and she replies with a serious expression in her eyes, "I know… which means you'll have no other choice but to evolve, correct?"

Riolu nods his head and he replies while looking right Snivy in the eyes, "Yeah… but before that time comes, I need to see Giratina."

Snivy looks into Riolu's eyes and she asks with a serious expression in her eyes, "What exactly do you want to know from Giratina?"

Before Riolu could reply, they both look right at Arceus as he replies to them, "He wants to know about the blades of the Afterlife, correct?"

Riolu nods his head and he replies with a serious expression on his face, "Yes… I need to know what these spiritual blades really are."

Arceus has a serious expression on his face as he replies, "The only ones that has knowledge of the two blades of the Afterlife are yours truly, Darkrai, and Giratina. However, I don't precisely know the full extent of the Hell Spirit Blade. So Giratina, of course, will have the answers."

Riolu remembers the time he fought against the first giant kraken out in the ocean and he asks with a curious expression on his face, "Arceus… I do remember that Giratina was trying to tell me something about the blades and keys. Do you know what he meant by that?"

But Arceus only replies after shutting his eyes, "The only one that can explain that to you… is Giratina."

Snivy asks with a serious expression in her eyes, "Is there any possible way where I can go with Riolu to see Giratina?"

Arceus replies after opening his eyes, "I'm afraid you won't be able to, Snivy. The only one that can see Giratina at this time is Riolu."

Riolu asks with a serious expression in his eyes, "Why isn't Snivy able to come along with me?"

Arceus looks down at Riolu and he replies with a serious expression in his eyes, "You'll understand once you get there. Now…"

Arceus shuts his eyes and he continues as the giant ring around his waist glows brightly, emitting large amounts of white and golden aura, "Riolu… head down to the dock. That is where you'll find the portal leading into the Reverse Dimension…"

Riolu nods his head and he replies as the white and gold aura fly down the mountain straight towards the dock, "Thank you, Lord Arceus…"

Before Riolu leaves the summit, he turns to Snivy and he says with a smile on his face, "I'll be sure to come back here, Snivy. I promise…"

Snivy smiles back at Riolu and she replies, "Just be careful, Riolu…"

Riolu nods his head and was about to take off down the side of the mountain. But once he reached the edge of the summit, Snivy cries out, "Wait, Riolu!"

Riolu manages to stop in his place and he faces Snivy. After he faces Snivy, his eyes widen with shock as he sees Snivy running straight towards him with her arms stretched out.

Riolu thinks with a surprised expression on his face, 'Is she really going to start that now?'

As Snivy jumps in the air straight towards him, Arceus and Riolu hear Giratina say in their heads, "The girl can come too…"

Snivy tackles right into Riolu, hugging him as he falls back, sliding down the mountain with Snivy riding on top.

As they both slide down the side of the mountain, Arceus thinks with a serious expression on his face, "Riolu… Snivy… I hope you two can handle the truth."

After Riolu and Snivy reach the third-quarter mark of the mountain, Riolu asks with a shocked expression on his face, "Snivy… what are you doing?"

Snivy replies as the slowly reach the halfway mark, "I wanted to go with you, so I had no other choice but to tackle you…"

Riolu replies after they reach the halfway mark, "But Giratina just said that you can come along too! Didn't you hear him say that?"

Snivy replies as they head down towards the quarter mark of the mountain, "Yeah… but that was during my midair tackle, so I couldn't stop myself on time!"

When Riolu looked straight ahead, his eyes widen with shock as he sees the snow covered ground coming up ahead.

He looks right at Snivy and he says while trying to break free from Snivy's grip, "Can you let go, please?"

Snivy replies after she looks down and sees the snow coming up, "Y-yes…!"

After Snivy lets go of Riolu, she jumps off of his stomach, causing him to slide down the mountain faster than he was before.

Riolu screams as he slides down towards the snow head first, "Snivy, what was that for?"

After Riolu slams right into the snow head first, Snivy lands on the icy mountain and slides down straight towards the foot of the mountain.

She yells out with a look of concern on her face, "Are you all right, Riolu?"

After she lands on the snowy ground, she sees Riolu stuck in the snow, his cloak revealing his legs and stomach.

Riolu's legs flail around as he yells from the snow, "Snivy… get me out of the snow!"

Snivy rushes to Riolu, grabs a hold of his legs, and pulls him out of the snow.

But she pulls to hard and ends up falling on her back in the snow. She loses her grip on Riolu's legs and accidently sends him flying through the air towards the snow-covered forest.

Riolu screams as he flies out of control through the air and through the snow covered treetops.

Snivy quickly gets back up onto her feet and she yells out as she rushes towards Riolu's direction, "Are you all right, Riolu?"

Before Snivy could reach the forest, she hears Riolu land on the ground. But once she reached where Riolu landed, she giggles slightly as she sees Riolu stuck in the snow again with his legs in the air.

But Riolu manages to get himself out of the snow and ends up sitting down, brushing the snow off of his arms, chest, and head.

While he brushes the snow off of his body, Snivy says after calming down, "I-I'm sorry about that, Riolu…"

Riolu replies as he continues to wipe himself clean of the snow with his eyes closed, "It's all good, Snivy. Just don't do something like that again…"

Snivy closes her eyes, grins, and replies while rubbing the back of her head as her face blushes slightly, "Hehe… all right. But… Riolu…"

Riolu opens his eyes widely and he thinks with a nervous expression on his face, 'Please don't tell me that…!'

Before he could finish his sentence, he looks back and sees a cluster of Beedrill nests up in the trees he just crashed through.

As large amounts of Beedrill come flying out of their nests, Riolu quickly gets back up onto his feet and yells out with a shocked expression on his face, "Oh my god!"

As he starts running away from the cluster of Beedrill nests, Snivy follows him, running away from the ticked off Beedrill.

Riolu screams with a frightened expression on his face, "What the hell, Snivy! Why did you throw me into the Beedrill's nests?"

Snivy replies as she tries to keep up with Riolu, "It was an accident, I swear! How was I supposed to know that the Beedrill would be in that area?"

Riolu looks back at the Beedrill and he says to them as he ran, "I'm sorry that I disturbed your nest, Beedrill!"

But the Beedrill don't listen and they continue to fly angrily towards them, threatening to attack with their stingers.

Riolu looks straight ahead and he says to Snivy as he sees the dock coming up ahead "Lets pick up the pace, Snivy! We need to get to the portal before the Beedrill have the chance to follow us inside!"

Snivy nods her head and she replies with a confident grin, "Last one there is a rotten egg!"

Snivy picks up her speed dramatically, followed by Riolu, leaving the Beedrill behind in a gust of snow. After the Beedrill got hit by the gust of snow and were sent flying back, Riolu and Snivy continue to race each other towards the dock.

Before they reached the dock, they both slowed down their speed so they can stop on time.

They manage to stop running once they both step foot on the dock, breathing heavily as they try to catch their breath.

Snivy looks back and she says with an exhausted look on her face, "I guess we lost the Beedrill…"

When she looked right at Riolu, she says to him with a guilty expression on her face, "I'm sorry about that, Riolu…"

But Riolu just stares straight ahead with an awe-inspiring expression on his face.

Snivy looks straight ahead and her mouth hangs wide open as she sees the portal to the Reverse Dimension right in front of them.

As Snivy stares at the portal, she can see a reflection of Riolu and her on the dock, standing upside down. But behind them, there is no snow on the ground. The ground is blooming with flowers and green grass behind them.

Snivy looks back and only sees the snow behind her. She looks back at the portal and she says with a grin on her face, "There's no question about it… this will lead up into the Reverse Dimension."

Both Riolu and Snivy look at each other eye to eye and they both nod their heads.

When Riolu looked back at the portal and slowly walked towards it, he hears Snivy say in a gentle voice, "Hold on a minute, Riolu."

Riolu stops in his tracks again and faces Snivy. Right after he faces Snivy, he asks with a curious expression on his face, "Is everything all right, Snivy?"

Snivy says as she walks to Riolu, "Riolu… I understand that you want to go into the Reverse Dimension on your own. So if you want me to stay behind, I will."

Riolu has a troubled expression on his face as he says, "Is that so…"

Snivy asks with a curious expression on her face after she stops walking towards Riolu, "Is everything all right with you?"

Riolu replies with the same expression on his face, "Well if you want to stay behind, than why did you put me through all of that trouble with the mountain, the snow, and the Beedrill nests?"

Snivy replies with an embarrassed smile on her face, "I'm sorry I put you through all that, but I figured that was the only way I could have any fun with you before you find out the truth about the blades of the Afterlife."

Snivy has a calmer expression on her face and she replies as she looks down at the surface of the dock nervously, her face blushing slowly, "I also… just wanted to…"

Her voice trails off as she closes her eyes, her cheeks blushing a deeper shade of red.

After Snivy opens her eyes and manages to calm down, she looks straight ahead and sees Riolu standing right in front of her.

Riolu says as he looks into Snivy's eyes, "You do what you need to do. You can come with me if you want, or you can stay here."

Snivy nods her head and she replies with a grin on her face, "All right, Riolu…"

When Riolu faced the portal again and walks straight towards it, he hears Snivy say, "Riolu… I…"

He stops right in front of the portal and he says while still staring into his reversed reflection, "I'm going ahead. If you want to come, then come along. But if you don't come, I'll be fine with that too. I'll be sure to come back to you after I'm done with Giratina."

Snivy was about to say something, until Riolu steps through the portal, disappearing completely from Snivy's sight.

As the portal stays in visual contact, Snivy thinks with her eyes closes and her cheeks blushing slightly, 'I hope you find what you're looking for in there…'

She finishes after the portal disappears from the dock, 'Riolu… I will always be by your side until the end.'

Snivy turns away from the end of the dock and heads back to the mountain with tears of happiness rolling down her cheeks.