19

19

As we fall, I reposition myself so I hit the ground first, my eevee above me. I look at her and she gives me a look that I can't quite decipher. Maybe it is one of despair, for we both may die from this, or she will lose her trainer, who treated her kindly and with respect. Or it could be guilt, as she could feel that it is her fault I am going to die.

I simply hug her closely as the wind batters me relentlessly. I really am going to die. I think, and feel almost no regret. Shouldn't I be feeling sad, angry at people whom I hurt or hurt me? I feel nothing… maybe death won't be as bad as I thought.

Fortunately, I don't have to find out. About halfway through our fall, I hug Veera close to me, and she starts to glow. I release her, as her size changes and I lose all sight except for a faint silhouette as I start to fall from her faster. I decide that I don't want to see Veera evolve, the last thing I may see, and turn around to face the ground. Just when I am about 50 feet or so from the ground, I cannot tell to well, as the last thing I care about is the windows passing me by as I fall, I feel a weird tug on my back. I look up, and see an angel. I blink and quickly rub my eyes and see that it isn't an angel, but it's majesty can only be described as much.

It resembles a dog pokémon, so it could be Veera just evolved. She has a snow white fur, majestic, feathered wings, each one a pure white color and flapping quickly to try and slow my descent. It's tail is beautiful, long, and almost looks like a little cloud trail following her.

As she pulls on me, her teeth grabbing at my shirt, she pulls on it and tries to slow our descent by flapping her wings incredibly hard. She hardly slows us down. "Please, just save yourself Veera." I say. "I don't want us both to lose the world."

She just keeps trying, and when it seems like she has given up, she does something that'll change me for the rest of my life. She shoots down at me, and whips me up as she flies past, with her tail. Since we're about 30 feet above the ground now, I stop and start to fall again, and realize my fall won't be fatal now. I try to turn to look at Veera, but I realize something. She just rocketed at the ground from 30 feet above it, no…

I turn around, and my worst fears meet reality. I land on the ground with a thud on the right side of my chest, and pain shoots up my side and chest, as I think I may have broken a rib. I crawl slowly to where I see Veera lying on the ground. Her fur is as lustrous as it ever was, but now soaked in blood. The white meeting the red leaves it as a dark red stain, as she has an open wound on her side as she hacks up blood. The maroon red liquid hardly is coughed out of her, and simply slips from her mouth. She looks at me and I hear her thoughts, what I fear to be her final ones. I'm glad I could have saved you, and not the other way around. She then drops her head, and lays limb.

I feel as if my heart is stopped. Is… did… Veera… she can't be gone… no she isn't… she's still alive… I must get her to a pokémon center. I won't let her die. I don't feel any saddness or anger, just a force that is willing my aching and broken body to get her to the pokémon center. I crawl over to her and feel her fur, and the warmth of her body. She isn't dead! I get up, and ignore the shock of pain from the broken rib, and possibly any other internal injuries. I just pick her up, her body incredibly light and still beautiful, even in this bloody state of being. I just head straight south, walking slowly, each step with my right foot shoot pain up my side. I try to breath heavily, but the rib prevents anything besides short, slow, and mild breathes. As I walk, I cough up blood a few times, but I ignore it. I don't find any houses and just keep going through a few alleys. After what feels like hours of walking, which in truth is nearly 20 minutes, I finally come to the pokémon center. But Veera's body feels cooler now. I try to get to the door, but just fall over in pain I an alley next to the center. No… Veera, you can't leave me now… just when I needed you. I try to get up, but pain spikes on my right side and my arm instinctively retracts, and I fall over on my right side again, the shock sending my vision black, the last thing I see being Veera's blood stained body in front of me.

--

I lay again in a dream like state. The purple-black smog sits in the crystal and tile like room, and I find my self floating among it once again. I walk around, my body caked in my own blood, the magmar's, and some of Veera's even. I eventually stop, still wanting to explore more of the area, still familiar from my dream that I met Draxik in. I turn to my right and see the familiar dark robe, belonging to the Man with Dark Ambitions.

"Why did you do that Raizu? You may both die now, and I still get what I want."

"I did it," I say, realizing I can actually control my dream like self now, and continue my sentence. "Because of that 'may' in your sentence. One of us will live, and I wanted it to be Veera."

"Then you just should have died Raizu. You should be dead…" He begins to fade away, almost incorporeal, similar to that assassin's spriteon. Deren? Why am I thinking of him?…

"No, because I don't give up. If I killed myself, I'm sure Veera would be dead anyway. You have no use for her, and she was the experiment that my father took. That program's success seems to be Veera, and if you lost her… you would want no one else to have her."

"Ah, naïve fool." He takes a step toward me, making one yard less than the few yards apart we already were. "You think I have anything to do with that kind of experiment? That was totally your father's idea, and I just watched over it, just like I watch over all of his… or my… men, as they do their work. You think your safe and that you can stop us, but you can't. Your little group cannot do anything to harm us, especially if we know every move you make. We are as incorporeal as a ghastly, as quick as a jolteon, and as strong as a tyranitar, yet as clever as a weavile. You can't do anything to stop us."

"To stop what?" I say, realizing this may be another contact, similar to what Draxik did.

"I wouldn't tell you if it killed you." He glances up, then looks down and shakes his head. "Well, it looks like my attempt on your life was half baked. But, I'll be sure to take you down myself. Why don't you come to Celadon city and pay me a visit? I'm sure your father and brother would love to meet you."

"BROTHER!?" I yell, completely hit off guard. He then starts to float away, and I feel a mild pain on my side. My right side. I fall over and all goes black.

--

I wake up with a start. I rise up instantly, and feel weird tugs at my head. I am clothed in a hospital gown, not wearing my clothes anymore. I feel around my head and feel a bunch of things stuck to it. I decide to lay down and keep them on.

The room is completely white, and from what I can tell, I am the only person in the room is me. A curtain sits on either side, and a bunch of monitors, which I suspect are for me, are on my left side. I lay back down and close my eyes and I hear someone enter the room. I decide to lay back and see if I can tell who it is by ear, and if they have anything to say.

The person pulls up a chair from the back and brings it closer to me. When the person speaks, I'm somewhat surprised by who it is.

"Oh Raizu… this is all my fault." Says Rachamim, almost stuttering. "God damnit, getting involved with Team Rocket was the worst thing I have ever done. I was trying to get away from them, as I was hired to hunt you down as well as Deren. But I was already on a journey, and just wanted a little extra cash. I was on a losing streak. And I said I don't want anything to do with them over the phone a week ago, when you updated your journal. We all know it is there, but none of us dare read it. Oh, I'm so sorry!"

So, I was right to be suspicious of him, but for totally different reasons than I expected… I decide now is a good time to get up, and slowly open my eyes. "It's okay." I say to him.

"Oh, nice, your awake. I bet you heard all of that didn't you?"

"Nice way to treat a person who has been out for… from what you said, a week?"

He nods. "You had some shit health problems. You had a few broken ribs and a few internal bleeding issues, into your lungs too. But, with all of your surgery done on the day you arrived, I think you'll be fine. You'll have a scar on your abdomen and chest though. Some might find it sexy." He chuckles.

I don't acknowledge the unneeded and almost stupid comment about the scars being sexy, but I do acknowledge the comment about I have scars now. I don't see them, but I feel around my chest and stomach and feel the little stitches, each one holding together the skin.

"Oh, I should tell you something." Rachamim looks at me, then away at the door way, and looks sad almost. "Your… Veera… is…"

I freeze up and almost feel like crying, and I hiccup. "What!? Is… she isn't gone is she? Oh god no…"

He gets up and lets something jump at me through the curtains. "…Right here." He laughs.

I turn to him and think to myself, If I had a gun, you would by on the ground right now screaming in pain…

He looks at me and sees the rage in my face. He cringes and takes the curtain off of Veera, who now is pretty much on top of me on the hospital bed. "She was closer to death than you, but she made her recovery a lot faster. Must be the weird evolution. Anywho, meet Veera, who is now the new and mysterious Aereon!"

I look at her. Her fur is cleaner now, and I can get a good look at her face and body. Her eyes, no longer the purple they were that most eevee share, are now a dark, sapphire blue. Like my eyes.

"Can you talk, via telepathy?" I ask her. She just stares at me.

"I don't think so. Nine-, erm, Abby had to translate what happened after she was healed. She came off your belt and dragged you into the pokémon center, with Veera on your back. After Joy got your Veera hooked up, she noticed how bad you were. As she called the real hospital, Abby found us and told us where you were, as well as Veera's location."

I look at Veera and she licks my face. I then realize that all the blood was washed off of me and I didn't hurt anymore. I ask Rachamim to leave and get a nurse or the others, and he says he'll get a nurse. "You'd probably prefer to go meet them than come in and see you weak in bed, right?"

"No, I don't mind them seeing me here."

"But sometimes you act so-"

"Arrogant?" I say, cutting him off.

"Yeah, I guess." He rubs the back of his head nervously.

"Those days are over. Now, go get a nurse, I'd like to get dressed and see all my friends." I beam with a sincere happiness, glad that I will soon start off on my journey again.

Well, I am finally out of the hospital. I said "Soon," but it's been almost a month. Everyone visited me, and I am glad that Veera is still alive.

I hear everyone stayed at the pokémon center, but Serena decided to stay with me. We talked a lot, and we have become much closer than mere flirts. I don't mind. I have forgotten about Dawn, and don't really care anymore. Serena is here with me now, and that is what matters. To my disdain, we haven't had our fun yet. I shrug, knowing that it doesn't really matter, and we are still close anyway.

We leave the hospital and I see everyone waiting. Markus, Abby, Sakura, Rachamim, and Veera at their front. I smile and hug her as she jumps into me, and I am amazed by how light she was. "I'm glad you are okay Veera. I promise I won't let that kind of thing happen again."

I look up and see Draxik walk up. "You may need some more help, so here I am. You need some sword help it appears."

"I'll get you guys to Team Rocket." Says Rachamim. I guess I wasn't the only one he told. "I need to get back at them… For your sake Raizu, it's my fault you nearly lost your life."

"But I didn't. I have a vendetta against them already, don't worry about it. But… Thank you all. I almost died because of this 'Man with Dark Ambitions' threatened to kill my Veera. We are not gonna let him get away with it. We should head to Celadon City."

Rachamim cuts me off. "No, there will be an ambush there, that was what I was supposed to do originally. Lead you to it."

"Then we come prepared." I finish, and we all head off toward the West Side of town, toward Celadon. I head off after them last, and Veera is at my side. She thinks to me, What is on your mind?

I think back at her in the private channel she made, Why don't you talk to them?

I can only talk to you, my trainer and master.

NO Veera. I'm not your master. I'm a beloved friend. And I won't let anything happen to you again.