November 19th, 2025

Floor 14

Three floors ago, I learned about the guild named "Black Ice." It haunted my mind to the point where I feel like a bounty hunter or hitman. I've followed every trace, every mention, of the Black Ice guild. I looked for Sableye for days, some without sleep. However, he always eluded me. I haven't had a good night's sleep in I don't know how long. Not only that, but my self-esteem is at an all-time low. During battle with the thirteenth floor's boss, which was my first collaboration with the raid party since the early floors, Fletchinder tried to lead the monster into killing me. It almost worked, but no one wants to convict him of such a crime. He's one of the most respected members of the Flying Fighters now; he's up there with Swellow and Pidgeotto in terms of rank.

Me? I haven't even gotten a "good job on clearing the floor" or "thanks for saving my life" comment, let alone the idea that they would ask me to join them. No one wants a Pokémon with that kind of reputation. I was on my own.

Here on Floor 14, also known as "Laogai Lake," I've remained hidden. I had bought a dull-grey cloak earlier today to mask my identity. I didn't want Cubone and Dewott to see me, either. And I wasn't sure about Buneary.

My lengthy depression has now blurred with my Black Ice obsession. I've started following people and I can't stop. The other day, I stayed close behind a Clefairy for quite a few minutes, but I had to stop when she got suspicious. I was even stalking Combusken, but I didn't want her to know I was following her. I didn't think she did, but she was almost completely a mystery.

Right now, I was following a Frillish. The pink-colored Pokémon was floating toward the lake and looking back in paranoia. Everyone had a reason for paranoia, especially me, and I wanted to know hers. Frillish was floating away from the town and toward the large lake, which was a major attraction for many players—and oddly many people on the raid team, too. I didn't see Buneary there.

I rounded a curve and waited a few minutes to let Frillish get the lead again, but when I came walking forward, she was gone. All that was left was the large lake and the tourists around it. Nearby, I saw an NPC selling small canoes for a hefty price. I knew it was a rip-off, but I bought a canoe and pushed it off the wooden dock and into the clear lake water. I hopped on the orange boat and steadied my balance. I dipped my oar into the water and watched the ripples as I paddled away.

The water was an amazing reflection of cleanliness; I hadn't seen water this purified since the very beginning of the first floor. It reminded me of the day the creator came down and explained our fates in this death game. The Arkaés region was filled with nostalgia of all sorts; familiar smells reminded me of home and gave me a small boost to beating the game. The same sensations, whether from touch or taste, gave me comfort.

I knew I was in some hospital room. I was hooked up to a bunch of machines with this silly Nintendo Vii stuck on my head. My body was going to deteriorate if this takes long. I could see my sister breaking down if that were to happen.

The only plus was that most floors had warmer weather, including this one. The lake always had a temperature in the eighties, so it was always nice and relaxing. In future floors, I was sure blizzards and ice storms were a thing. I'd just have to wait and see.

I kept paddling in my canoe and made it to the other side of the large body of water. I docked it with my menu, causing a rope to connect it to one of the poles, and left it there for a little while. On this side of the lake, there were fewer people. Not many would make the effort to come this way, but there was definitely a reward in the privacy it offered.

I noticed in my menu that a small red dot was bleeping. It was the sign of a distress signal. Startled, I saw that it wasn't in the fourteenth floor's dungeon. Actually, no one was able to even find the dungeon for this floor. Everyone was enjoying the lake more than the dangers of the dungeon.

I kept walking along the lakeside and eventually came to a large group of Pokémon dancing to some sort of music. I hadn't heard it before, but the quality was obviously new—was this song created for the system or was it from the radio? Was it possible to communicate? I wasn't sure, but I imagined True Reality controlled what we heard.

The Pokémon were dancing in all sorts of styles, many of them completely embarrassing. I couldn't help but smirk when I saw some of them moving their quadruped bodies around like a fish.

One Pokémon stood out from the rest; she had this amazing beauty to her. I recognized the Pokémon from one of my Unova play-throughs: it was a Gothita. I went into my in-menu Pokédex and looked at her evolved forms. I was level 29 on this floor, and I hadn't evolved yet (but that wasn't due to my level, that's for sure), and even I was shocked to learn she doesn't evolve until level 32. I looked at Gothorita's picture and was shocked by its beautiful image. Now that I was a Pokémon, I felt drawn to other Pokémon—it was weird.

This girl was someone I wanted to be around. I imagined the fun we'd have, the tricks we'd play, and then suddenly realized I'm not known for being smooth. Actually, I'm known for being a murderer. As if a great weight was added to my shoulders, I was brought to the harsh reality that no one likes me. In that one second that I imagined everything, I was able to look away in the next.

"Hey!"

I heard a voice so feminine and energetic that my heart jumped. I turned around to see the Pokémon I was fantasizing about standing right in front of me. She was still dancing, but she was grabbing at my hand.

"Huh?" I muttered.

"Come on! You look like you need some dancing," she smiled.

Gothita's small lips opened in small angles as she talked. The white bowtie and bows in her hair were adorable on such a small Pokémon, and she had a pink face that shined bright in the sunlight. I didn't say anything. I felt sweat bead up on my forehead. I could barely talk to Buneary, and she was like one of the bros. Wasn't she? I started getting flustered. I wasn't sure of anything in that moment.

"Come on! And take that stupid cloak off." she grabbed my blue paw and pulled.

"Okay," I choked.

She pulled me into the group of dancing Pokémon and continued with her arm movements. She smiled at me as she started getting into her dance, whatever it was called. It was completely awkward. I watched her in skepticism as she urged me to move my body around. I wasn't a dancer—in fact, I wasn't much of anything outside of video games.

"I can't dance," I said pathetically.

Gothita hung her small jaw open in distaste. She shook her head slightly and grabbed my hand. "This isn't your body, so don't be so afraid. Have some fun!"

The Fixation Pokémon grabbed my hands and started moving them about. She stepped on my foot hard and made me do the dance everyone else was doing. We moved our arms and hips in awkward positions that I hated. I knew the routine after the third or fourth try, but I was shaky and pathetic and honestly didn't want to be there. However, I was doing it for her. Why? Why was I letting this random girl get me out and embarrass myself?

"So, how old are you?" she asked loudly as she tried to speak over the music.

"Sixteen," I yelled back.

She smiled at my weak social skills. "Ooh, a young boy. I'm seventeen, but I guess I'll let you hang out with me," she winked.

I blushed. I felt the blush burn through my cheeks and melt my heart. Who was this girl?

"I'm actually looking for something," I said as I made the next few movements with my feet.

"What is that?" she asked as she repeated my movements. "Hey, you're not bad once you aren't all stiff!"

"Thanks," I said as I focused off the topic. "Anyway, I'm looking for whoever sent this distress signal."

Gothita stopped dancing, so I did the same. She opened her menu and saw the red dot blinking. She grabbed my hand and pulled me away from the crowd of dancers. I was relieved; I knew she was dancing in front of me so that I was hidden from the others, but I didn't let that bother me now.

"I didn't even know someone sent that," she whispered once we couldn't hear the music too well.

"It had to be a recent signal," I explained, "because I just noticed it a few minutes ago."

"Where is it coming from? I'm coming, too. I'm a level 26, so I can handle this dungeon easily," she said.

I smirked. "I'm at level 29, but I guess I'll let you hang out with me." I knew that phrase was pretty smooth…I thought.

Gothita opened her mouth in a smile. "You're pretty good," she nodded. "Not bad."

After adding her to my party, I walked her over to the boat and we kicked off from the dock. We began paddling toward the other side of the lake again as Gothita noticed the signal was growing stronger. As we got to the center of the lake, the red was nearly blinding. We kept going to the other side of the lake and saw the signal fade.

"What does that mean?" she asked.

"I'm not sure," I finally admitted. "Let's go back to the middle of the lake—I have an idea."

I stood on one of my knees and angled my legs so I that I could paddle easier with the oar. We made it to the dead center of Laogai Lake and saw the signal brighten to that same blinding intensity. We looked around, but it was only water around the area. I looked into the water and smiled upon realizing the riddle.

"What directions can we go at this very point?" I asked.

Gothita put a small hand to her lips and thought. "We can go in any radius of this spot, but it's not as strong. We can't just go up into the sky," she thought.

"But…?" I hinted.

"But we can go down—down in the lake!"

We looked in the clear water and saw a green color shine down at the bottom of the lake. The green emanating from below was the sign of a portal—the connection between the floor and its dungeon. The fourteenth floor dungeon was under the lake!

"I'm not going down in that water," she said with a shake of the head.

"Wynaut?" I joked.

"Because, little boy, I'd rather not get my hair wet."

I snorted. "You're a Pokémon. An avatar. Why does it matter if you get your fake hair wet?"

Gothita grabbed my yellow collar and pulled it to her face. She smiled, obviously holding her anger back, and looked in my eyes. "Are you saying you can't feel anything?"

I shrugged. "I mean, sure, but it doesn't mean anything. Just get in the water so we can save that person already."

Gothita pulled me in closer by the collar and moved in. She put her pink lips against mine and held them there for a moment. Her face was warm, warmer than the late spring temperature. Her lips were soft and forceful at the same time. She pulled away, wiped her mouth from the kiss, and looked at my red, immobile face.

"Did that mean anything to you?"

"I…"

I was about to ask her why she did that, but she pushed my collar away and caused me to tip the canoe over into the water. I fell in the water for a moment, reactionless, and eventually moved toward the portal once my breathing was limited. Had that really happened? It felt like I had imagined it. I mean, I felt the kiss, but dang. I actually felt that.

I entered the portal with an internal scream for breath. I was beamed into the dungeon and fell on my stomach and face on the stone floor. We were in some sort of underwater cave. I saw Gothita a short distance away and got to my feet as she recovered. The cave was dark, but luckily our automatic vision allowed us to see a short radius around us. If we had the move Flash, that would be even better…but we don't.

"What kind of Pokémon do you think are down here?" she asked.

"I have a feeling this is a Grass-type's experience jackpot," I murmured. "Caves have Rock-type Pokémon, and underwater caves probably have Water-types as well. There could be bats or something, but I have a feeling it's mainly just those two."

We went through the dungeon and picked off Psyduck and Corsola. The occasional Zubat was found, but I was pretty accurate in my evaluation. The dungeon was crowded with Water- and Rock-types. I zipped through the latter with my Force Palm attacks while Gothita covered the Water-types with her Charge Beam attack. Soon enough, I leveled up to 30 and she made it up to just two levels behind me.

On floor ten, I sensed a Monster House nearby. We decided to avoid it since we were seeing Golbat on these higher floors. Golbat had decent stats, a typing good against mine, and some Dark-type moves that scared Gothita.

"Now that we're in the dungeon," Gothita explained, "we should check the distress signal."

"That's a good idea," I agreed.

It turned out that the Pokémon was trapped on the fifteenth floor of this dungeon. With just a few floors to go, I told Gothita to get as many berries as she could hold in case there's big trouble.

"You know," she said after some walking. "It's weird. You think the distress signal would have disappeared by now. He would have made it to the next floor or, you know, worse things could have happened."

She had a point. The distress signal was mainly just for exploration parties already on the floor that could help if a neighboring raid party was having trouble making it up. Also, it made it easier to locate members of a guild if it's separated in the dungeon. The distress signal was relatively new; in the lower floors, there wasn't a real need for the signal since guilds weren't established. Now, though, locating a member of a group was easier than ever.

"I wonder what that means," I said aloud, but she shrugs.

We kept walking after I defeated a Kabuto that guarded the stairs. During the whole trip, we never really felt afraid; these Pokémon weren't hard to beat. Any Pokémon that wasn't pure Fire-type could handle it with relative ease. I breezed through it pretty quick, but we were only on floor thirteen of possibly thirty or forty something. We weren't going to go all the way, of course. After saving the fallen Pokémon, we'd head back.

"So, kiddo, tell me why you're so down," Gothita asked once we started walking again.

I was startled. Was my depression so obvious? Maybe she was asking about my lack of dancing, or maybe my focus on the journey. I wasn't sure, but her almost-psychic abilities startled me.

"Wha?"

She straightened her face. "What's wrong with you? Did you lose someone?"

I thought for a moment before shaking my head. "I lost my friends and my reputation."

"What happened?"

She shot an electric beam from her hands and defeated a Poliwag that snuck up behind me.

"My best friend's sister died while in my care and I only worried about myself right after. I let everyone else leave me so I could cry about it, and now I'm a solo player. The very type of player that usually dies."

Gothita went up to me and hugged my arm. I felt tempted to pull it back; physical contact made me feel queasy. However, I took the hug and almost felt like hugging around her neck, but I stopped myself before losing my cool.

"It sounds like you just need to talk to him. You seem to be willing to admit your mistakes, so he should accept your apology. After all, you didn't kill her yourself. You probably got overwhelmed or something."

"Yes! That's exactly what happened. I'm being stalked by an apparent serial killer," I told her.

"Okay, now you're freaking me out," Gothita chuckled.

I felt a little embarrassed. It did sound silly, but it was the honest truth. Sableye was driving me insane. I feel like I'm passing my breaking point with every town we go up.

"We need to be careful," I remind the both of us. "This Pokémon could be a victim of PVP."

"PVP? You mean another player attacking you? Why would someone do that?"

I shook my head. "I'm not sure, but the guild is called Black Ice. They've tried to kill me several times already."

Her eyebrows sunk toward her eyebrows. "This is a lot to process…you mean we're not even safe from each other anymore? Riolu, I'm not dumb, but this seems a little much."

"I'm being serious!" I insisted.

We entered the fourteenth floor and began scanning for the stairs. I kept walking and stepped on some Toxic Spikes that were hidden by the water's puddles. I held my foot up in the air after escaping the spikes and ate a Pecha Berry so that I wouldn't suffer from poisoning.

"Watch out for traps," she giggled.

"Funny," I said with distaste.

We kept walking through one of the long hallways and eventually encountered several Pokémon in a row. Each of them went down by a Force Palm, so we were forced to stop so I could ingest some Max Elixirs and gain PP again.

"I wonder if the fifteenth floor is going to be hard," she said.

"You mean of the dungeon or of the whole thing?"

She thought for a second. "Both. But since we have you, Riolu, I feel a bit safer. You're really strong and you haven't even evolved. All that smack I was talking in the boat," she stopped as she looked at the ground in shame. "It was all cover. I was rejected from the raid team a few floors ago because I hadn't evolved and I wasn't quite strong enough. I've been training and training so I could make a difference, but…"

"I know what you mean by evolution," I nodded. "I almost had the happiness I needed, but everything went downhill on floor nine and my happiness is only at about 100 now. I still have a long way to evolve and everyone else is gaining stat boosts and stronger attacks. I'm still here, a little two-legged dog, and I'm fighting to stay relevant."

Gothita looked at me deeply and asked me a serious question. "What's your best boss battle?"

I breathed in deeply. "Floor ten's boss, the Ditto. I beat that one all by myself and defeated it in minutes."

Her eyes grew big. "You're the Speeding Bullet?"

Speeding Bullet? I was confused. No one had called me that. It sounded like something you'd call an overly-excited Beldum. I told her I didn't know what she meant and she put a hand to her mouth.

"No wonder you're so strong…I've heard rumors about you. It's all coming together now: the dark reputation, the crazy strength, and even the boss battle you talked about. Tell me: were you a beta tester?"

I nodded my head without speaking. I wasn't sure what she was talking about, but she sure was. Gothita spoke to herself inaudibly and I tried to follow her internal reasoning, but I'm not a lip reader, let alone a woman reader.

"You're a beta tester known for your power, and this guild is probably jealous of you in some way. Do you do anything that would make someone seem overshadowed?"

I thought for a second. "I get most of the Last Attack bonuses and usually the credit for beating the bosses, too. I do most of the work while everyone else heals me or does minor damage."

Her eyes brightened with understanding. "Your friend's sister died because someone doesn't want you to evolve. If you aren't happy, you aren't going to be as strong when everyone else is fully evolved. Therefore, you won't be much of a contender in the harder floors. Someone wants to sabotage your reputation."

I felt stupid for not realizing this. "So you're saying Sableye wasn't trying to kill me back then, but rather destroy my relationships?"

"Right! They used your power to do most of the work so that Black Ice thing could get stronger. They don't need you anymore, so they're ruining you. They want to get rid of everyone you love and care for."

"Why not just kill me, then?" I asked.

She shook her head. "I don't know. That seems like the easier thing to do…oh, sorry," she said after realizing how insulting she sounded.

"Let's just climb up the stairs and save this person, then," I suggested.

"Okay, Speeding Bullet. By the way, why that name?" she asked.

I sighed. "My egg move was Bullet Punch."

"Was?"

"I got rid of it. I don't want anyone knowing my identity…that's why I was wearing a cloak earlier."

"Well you shouldn't have gotten rid of your egg move like that. I bet it'll come in handy later."

"Quick Attack is just as strong," I shrugged.

We went up the stairs and finally made it to the fifteenth floor. However, this floor was not a dungeon floor: it was one of the rest areas designated to heal up, save progress, and possibly escape the dungeon if needed. This was especially odd—a distress signal in the most peaceful room in the dungeon? Perhaps he needed items, but then he could just go to the store without even battling anything else. What's going on?

When we were beamed to the floor, we were projected into the air and fell in one of the shallow water puddles on the ground. I rubbed my face hard and slowly got up to see a decently large rest area.

"Let's try to keep quiet," I suggested.

We stood up and walked in the direction of the distress signal. It was just a few yards away.

"Hello?" I called.

Suddenly, I see a flash of pink as two beady blue eyes erupt from the darkness. They quickly turned to a red color as we heard murmuring from slightly under them.

"There is no evil in this reality. Here, we are safe. Here, we are free," she whispered.

Gothita and I eventually attained the Confused status. I knew that Pokémon was using Confuse Ray, but why was she speaking like that. I struggled to escape the confusion, but I heard Pokémon falling from the ceiling. Gothita and I scrambled about, hitting each other and the walls, and couldn't walk in the direction we wanted to.

"There is no evil in this reality," the voice repeated.

"Here, we are safe," Gothita said hypnotically. "Here, we are free."

I couldn't handle the confusion and stumbled over, losing my footing and tripping over one of the legs of an unseen Pokémon. I couldn't find a light, a berry, anything. I landed on my face in the green portal and was beamed out of the dungeon.

I woke up in my canoe along the beach of the dance party. It was late now; the sun was going behind the trees. I must have drifted back from the green portal because I'd otherwise already be in it to return to the dungeon. However, it's completely gone. I couldn't return. My memory was hazy, very hazy, but I knew Gothita was in trouble. Fresh out of supplies, I'd have to get to the store before I could go safe Gothita. I wriggled my boat off the sand bank and eventually made it back to the lakeside town.

. . .

Walking through a dark town was somewhat comforting. You knew the worst someone could do was follow you to the Kecleon Market. As such, I walked in my cloak to buy some more Oran Berries. As I approached the market, I got a message from Gothita:

"We both made it out alive and we're heading down to floor one without Escape Orbs. Want to meet there?"

That was odd: why meet in the dungeon itself? I was confused, but shrugged and replied that I'd be there. No need to buy Oran Berries then. I began walking back to the lake when I accidentally ran into a body. I turned to apologize and noticed it was a distressed Cubone, his skull bobbing loosely from his head.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Dewott's been missing for a while and I can't find the dungeon he was in. He sent a distress signal, but no one knows where the portal is. Now it's gone and I'm worried," he explained.

I smiled. "Don't worry, I know someone who just rescued Dewott. I'm going to meet her now. Want to join?"

He shook his head. "I'm not going in that lake at night. I saw you over there and thought you were crazy. If that's where the portal is, forget it."

I nodded in understanding and parted ways with my solo friend. I ran to the lake and, instead of buying another canoe, decided to swim to the middle of the lake. The cool water on my skin felt refreshing, but it was also nerve-wracking, too. I was worried about Gothita even though she sent the message. Sableye could be anywhere.

I made it to the portal and found myself being beamed, once again, to the underwater cave. I was projected into the dark room and flew through the rest of the map in order to find the two Pokémon. In one of the very last rooms, after various twists and turns, I found both of them lying on the ground next to the stairs. I had signaled a Monster House in one of the rooms and was relieved to learn it wasn't in this one. I went over to them, thinking they were tired, and found them both poisoned somehow.

"What happened?!" I screeched.

"It was a trap," Gothita whispered.

I scrambled for Pecha Berries in my bag. I got two pink ones out and gave one to Dewott and went to give one to Gothita. When I put the berry near her mouth, a small force field prevented the berry from going through. I'd seen the move only a few times in the game: Embargo. Usually, it was used on monsters carrying berries so Pokémon could take them before they were eaten. Now, though, this was used so that Gothita would die of poisoning. She couldn't use orbs or berries and she had only a sliver of HP left.

"Gothita," I whispered.

"It's too late now, ha-ha. I guess I was the next threat to your happiness."

"We just need to move a little bit so Embargo will wear off!" I cried out.

"It's too late. If I move now, I'll die of poisoning. I only have a minute, at most."

"Gothita," I shouted. "Stop saying stuff like that!"

Her body was purple and numb. Her face was swollen from the poisoning. "I want you to live your life like you did with me today. Don't keep yourself in that shell. Find your friend and make up with him. Fall in love—I could tell there's someone in your life. Enjoy your dancing while you can."

Tears were welling up now. "Gothita, we can do this! I'm sure Embargo will fade soon. Just help me get you up and you'll be fine!"

Dewott got up and recovered after eating an Oran Berry I gave him from my bag. Apparently their inventories were completely emptied. I gave Dewott an Escape Orb and kept trying to force my hand through for Gothita.

"Gothita, you can't die," I cried. "You can't. You actually made me feel like a regular person. You didn't treat me like I did something terrible! Why does every person I'm around die?"

She coughed from the poison. "Do me a favor, Riolu, and have some fun. This isn't your fault, trust me. It's mine." She grunted in pain. "My HP bar is about up, so you better listen good: that evil you were talking about is very real. But there's something else to it. I think Sableye—"

From outside the room, an Iron Thorn is hurled and pricks Gothita in the chest. It was just enough to take the rest of her HP away. As she shattered into a million pieces of glass, I turned around to face the attacker. It came from the room the Monster House was in. I noticed the alert I had was gone—the room was already triggered. Soon enough, seven Kabuto and Zubat began pouring into the room. Dewott rose to fight as I dodged every attack in order to find the killer.

As soon as I made it into the room, a blue Escape Orb portal let the murderer disappear in anonymity. The only thing left in the room was me. I raced back to Dewott and destroyed all the Kabuto in one hit each. The Zubat took a little more time, but we defeated them easily enough.

When all the attacking was over, Dewott apologized for not being able to save Gothita. He claimed to feel terrible about the whole thing and was completely lost other than just being saved.

"The only thing I remember was going into the lake for a swim, accidentally getting into the portal, and being kidnapped by something," he said, his memory strained. "I can't remember. It was something that chanted words to me. I became confused and sent out some distress signal, but they never killed me. They just kept me in there and waited."

I nodded. "You were bait. They knew I'd come here. Killing you was probably on the agenda first, but Gothita turned out to be a much more interesting move for them. My happiness is at 70 now; that's my base happiness. I don't think I'll ever evolve, and evolution is the reason Gothita is dead."

Dewott put a hand on my back. "It's not your fault, Riolu. You're just a victim."

"I almost got you killed, Dewott. I almost got you killed. It-it shouldn't be like that. I shouldn't have to worry about my friends dying like that."

Dewott smiled sympathetically. "How about we use some Escape Orbs to get out of this deathtrap, eh?"

I nodded and got my orb out. I looked one more time at where the Iron Thorn stuck the ground and saw a note attached to it. I grabbed the note and beamed myself to the surface with Dewott.

This time, we both were conscious and knew where we teleported from. There was a small green portal on the beach now, so I must have staggered out of the portal and landed in my boat. We were at ease in the no-PVP area and relaxed in the moonlight. I got the note and opened the folds.

"What's it say?" Dewott asked me.

I strained my eyes to read the letter. "If you're going to follow our trail, take your friends and you will fail. Quit your battling and don't think twice, or else you'll slip on some Black Ice."

On the letter, the letters "BI" are painted in black. It all seemed so…cheesy, so pointless, to bother with me. What have I ever done to cause anything? If these people felt so threatened by my power, why not kill me? Why the harassment?

"They're trying too hard," Dewott shrugged. "Hey, how about a high five for the survival of the dungeon? Gothita would want it."

The phrase stung since my temporarily love was now dead, but I nodded and slapped the hand of my blue friend. We smiled until I heard someone in the distance move. I looked behind me to see Buizel standing alone. He must have seen the high five. He got on all fours and ran into the water and went swimming away from me. I called out for him, wanting to embrace him, but he kept going.

I knew why. I was friends with a new Water-type, a new otter. It was a huge coincidence I had overlooked until now. I didn't mean for Buizel to think I'd replaced him. Despite Dewott's insistence that he needs time, I swam into the water desperately to find my first friend. Buizel was gone and I knew it would be very difficult to ever earn his friendship back. I made it to the other side and fell against the sandy beach area.

Maybe Gothita was right. Maybe I should just enjoy myself instead of worrying about the past. Battling has taken over my life. My own imagination distorted the reality I lived in. I'm not safe from myself, nor from my battling, and I'm not free from paranoia. But maybe, in this virtual reality, a reality where we all come together to enjoy life, we really were safe and free. The bosses have blinded me from appreciating my life.

I'm done with boss battles. That's not the most important thing in life now. Gothita was right. I needed to treat myself to some happiness. I needed a break. I smiled, opened up my menu, and went to contact Buneary—even if it was one in the morning.