39

39

I push him off his rock and he lands on his rump, looking at me as if I wounded him. "You… must have heard him wrong, Dark can't die… my brother… I can't let him."

You must! He admitted it openly, and said if we told you, to make that clear. You can't sacrifice the whole world for one creature.

"Don't speak of him as if he's just another being on this planet. He's important to me, as much as Serena is, or Sakura… was…" I start to cry a little. "Isn't there some way to save him? Can't we save the world with him by my side? I want him to see it."

He did not say anything like that, but insisted that you must accept that this is the way it was meant to be.

I just stare at him. His face is very serious, and he hasn't implied anything other wise. I believe Wraith. I hear what he's saying: that Dark, my brother, must die in order for us to save the world. I'm sure he'll just take his own life if he needs to, I can't stop him. I'm going to lose my brother… who brought me into trouble and took me out safely. He even saved us earlier that day.

I look up to the sky, the clouds parting, revealing the orange sky of the evening sun. I woke up this morning hope to simply find Serena and have this be done. Now, there's a whole other adventure… "Wait, what do we have to do exactly?" I ask Wraith suddenly.

He brings his paw to his chin in thought. Not really sure Raizu… maybe try and stop fighting from happening between countries?

Before I can respond, I hear my name called from below me. I look back, walking toward the edge and look down. Serena is calling out, looking around in all directions, calling my name in a panic. I call my pokémon, return them all, leaving out only Veera to follow me. Wraith follows me down the side as I climb down the small ledges on the side.

"What's going on Serena?" I ask, my sentence rigid coming out of my mouth.

"Dark says he needs to talk to you right away."

"Hmmmm?"

"He's collapsed on the ground, and we don't know what's wrong…"

I exchange nervous glances with Wraith, then nod. "I'm not sure I know why…" I say, nervously, almost shaking up, "But I know what's about to happen." I run in, with Wraith, Veera, and Serena following me.

--

He's just inside the cave entrance. He's on one knee and trying to get up with his other leg, but he almost collapses. His right arm is across his chest and his left arm is holding the wall. I look at him and I can see a pool of blood on the ground under him. He raises his head up and tries to smile. "Hey Raizu…" He coughs, more blood splattering on the ground.

"Please, Dark. Don't die, I'm sure there's something we can do… you don't have to die…" I kneel down and raise him up, supporting him by bringing one his arms over my shoulder.

"Ah, but this isn't really voluntary Raizu…" He tries to sigh, but only a hoarse sound comes out. "Do you know about the Fatal Five yet?"

"Yes, Wraith told me all about them."

"You guys, anyway." He corrects me, working in his grin.

I let a tear fall as I look at him. "Please, why is this happening?"

"Oh, I'm probably just a bit messed up from stopping that bomb… See, I knew about it because Serena told me, who found out from Cyrus, and it was his plan to instigate that kind of attack. So I taped into a little bit of power I could get just from you and used a little seeing power… and I could tell when the bomb was going to be dropped. I didn't have enough power though, so… I had to use some Aura… Ahah… Oh…" He coughs again, a loud sound that sounds like the throat being torn apart. Even more blood shoots out.

"Well… please… I… I don't know what to say…" I state, crying completely now.

"I have some power left… I can sustain it to keep myself alive a little longer… as I have two things to tell you. Please, take me outside." I nod and we all walk outside slowly. I put him down against a smooth rock face, and he grins again. Don't try this happy shit on me while you're dying…

"Oh… this hurts… okay, where to start? Well, first off, what you have to do. See, Arceus doesn't actually come down, as much as a side calls him down. Either the good or evil side, which is sorta stereotypical, but really, both sides think they're doing good, so what does it matter? You need to collect three piece of a flute, which will form itself when they are brought together. They all make up the Heaven's Pipe, an instrument that will call down Arceus to ultimately help whoever calls him down. This ultimately, decides if the world is to be destroyed or saved. It comes down to the ambitions of whoever summons him."

"Now… one last thing. I know who is one who's side. Cyrus is teamed up with the visionary, the illusion guy… Raizu is a listener, Wraith sees… and I'm not sure who the fighter is." He coughs again.

"Isn't there a way we can save you? This is all for shit if you just die, you helped me find Serena, told me everything, helped me escape from Rocket base… " I talk, almost mumbling through my tears.

"There's a lot more than that, but you won't know until later. The flute pieces are in various places around Sinnoh, and I have sent my own pokémon to guard them. You'll just have to get some clues as to where to find them. When you do have them… take them to the top of Mt. Coronet." He coughs again.

"Stop talking about this, you're dying and I want you to live!" I scream.

I look around at all of them. They're ready to support me through thick and thin, through trials, and probably until the end of the earth. And I'm just thinking about what Dark just did, how I may save him if I had rushed him to the center, but I know he would resist me… he's chosen to die…

"NO!" I say. "This isn't how it was supposed to happen, none of it fucking was!" I scream, and just take off along a path leading around the side of a mountain.

I'm getting away from them.

After getting so far away, I stop, not even breathing hard after running for a few minutes at full sprint, and release Alexis.

I'll get as far away as possible.

She looks at my crying face and tries to ask me something, but I scream at her. "Teleport us out of here! To the mainland! Now! Close to Floaroma Town!"

I'll just be alone with my pokémon.

She wimpers and agrees to do it, explaining how she has just enough energy to move us all over, when Veera comes flying over the mountain towards me. "Raizu, what the hell are you doing hitting her!?"

"I'm tired of the company of humans!" I scream. "Such idiocy is more than I am willing to be accompanied by! I want to be alone, with my pokémon." I return Veera to her pokéball suddenly as Alexis teleports us away, a flash of white light replacing the spot on the mountain where we once stood.