Author's Note: This is an especially long chapter, at 4,500+ words. It's also rather depressing. (did I spoil that for you? I hope not.)

The day before Plusle's eleventh birthday, he asked me to go with him to Boulder Mountain. "It's going to be my birthday present," he said, smiling slyly. "I want to go up there tomorrow for my birthday. Just this one time, please, Minun?" He begged me.

All day long, I was tormented. I didn't want to go, and I knew the adults, and especially Evie, wouldn't want us to go. The monster would eat us both, I knew. We'd disappear, and Evie would be torn apart with grief. I told Plusle all of this, trying to convince him to change his mind, but nothing seemed to stop him. "I'm going," he finally decided, after I'd pleaded with him for an hour. "Minun, I want to go. I've waited so long. Please, Minun."

We were on a peaceful little hill that had a magnificent view of the mountains around the valley. "It'll be great," he said dreamily. "Besides, I'm bored." A gloomy expression clouded his face. "An adventure sounds great. Going to Boulder Mountain would be really, really fun! Take me there tomorrow, will you, Minun? Please?"

In the end, I reluctantly agreed to go. Now I regret that decision with all my heart, but...there's nothing I can do now.

The next morning, everyone in the village gathered to celebrate Plusle's birthday. It lasted until noon, and not before Plusle and I had eaten our weight in all sorts of delicious treats that Evie had laboriously prepared for us. I'd even discarded an old move and learned how to use Thunderbolt just to create arcs of lightning to impress Plusle.

When the party was over, we pretended to take a nap, waiting for everyone to leave Plusle's home while we sneaked secret grins at each other as we imagined ourselves celebrating as we stood atop Boulder Mountain. I had been nervous and apprehensive the whole morning, but now I only felt a giddy sort of excitement, of adventure.

Finally, it seemed as if we were alone. We snuck stealthily out of the home, avoiding everyone else. There weren't that many Pokemon around, anyway - all the adults were out foraging for berries, and the littler ones were too busy eating leftover treats to notice us. Even Evie wasn't around - she'd gone with Sol to explore the mountains, and wouldn't be back until late afternoon. Soon, we were out of the village. Laughing and giggling, we danced all the way to the hill that overlooked the homes. It was an adventure!

Boulder Mountain loomed up before us. Plusle and I stared in awe at its height. Next to Forbidden Peak it was tiny, but up close, it seemed terrifyingly tall. For a moment, doubt crept into my mind - could we even climb the giant mountain?

Plusle seemed to sense my feeling. "Don't worry, it'll be easy," he assured me confidently. "There's a really, really old trail hidden somewhere. But we'll find it! And it goes all the way up!"

We were just about to head towards the base of Boulder Mountain when Plusle stopped. "Minun, wait," he said, turning around to look at the village one more time. The homes seemed tiny from where we were, all with the yellow clay and thatched roofs that the whole village seemed to be made of.

We stared at it for a moment, wondering if anyone had noticed we'd disappeared, if anyone was looking for us. The village looked so peaceful that it seemed like everything was normal, that life had gone on without us.

Little did I know that for Plusle, it would be the last time he would ever see the village.

The base of Boulder Mountain was made of huge rocks that we couldn't climb. We spent an hour walking along it, trying to find the trail. Eventually, Plusle noticed a small crack between two boulders, and we crawled through it, emerging onto a crudely made path. "See?" He said, smiling cheerfully. "I told you we'd find it! I knew it was somewhere!"

Climbing the trail, though, wasn't so easy. Sometimes it was too steep; other times rocks would block our way, and we'd have to clamber over them, helping each other up. We weren't even halfway up before we had to stop and rest.

The trail lead through a hollow surrounded by boulders on the mountainside, and several berry bushes grew, sheltered from the wind. Plusle and I stopped and snacked on them, taking a break from the tiresome walking and climbing. Soon, though, Plusle urged us on, and we continued our journey.

All that afternoon, we slowly made our way up Boulder Mountain. The berry bushes were all over the mountainside, and the trail took us past many of them. We gorged ourselves with berries the whole way up, laughing and talking about the things we'd do when we were standing at the peak.

Seeing Plusle so excited as he eagerly talked made me laugh and smile along with him. I hadn't felt happier in weeks than now, as we journeyed up towards the peak, laughing and chatting and snacking on berries as we went. It was our own sort of special adventure, away from all the grown-ups and the elders and the whole entire village, climbing all the way up to a magical hill of silver roses and clouds that seemed so close that we could reach out and touch them.

Finally, we seemed to be in sight of the peak. A small mountainside clearing was the only thing that stood in between us and the massive, boulder-like dome of solid rock that rose all the way to the top of Boulder Mountain.

Plusle and I stopped for a while, standing at the edge of the trail. Right beyond us was a steep drop, dozens of feet down the craggy, rocky side. It was as if we were standing at the edge of the world, looking down at the vast expanse below us, and only the clouds had a higher, grander view.

"It's amazing," Plusle murmured breathlessly.

"What's amazing, Plusle?" I asked.

"Everything is. The mountains. The sky. The clouds. All of our walking and climbing and searching made me really tired, but..." he trailed off, thinking. "You know, Minun, I think it was worth it. We climbed a mountain, Minun! We climbed Boulder Mountain!"

Turning to me, he smiled, and repeated a phrase that had become our own special saying that no one else knew, that only we shared ever since the first time we met:

"I did it, Minun!" He exclaimed.

"I did it, Plusle!" I replied. It always made me happy to hear him say that, even though I'd heard it for what seemed like a thousand times.

We sat by the edge of the trail for a while. Maybe it was a few minutes, or a few hours; I couldn't tell. All I could feel was the happiness coursing through me: the exhilarating feel of climbing a mountain. And not just any mountain, but Boulder Mountain! To Plusle and I, it was our own little Forbidden Peak: the mountain we couldn't explore, the mountain we thought it would be impossible to climb. Yet here we were, sitting near the top, looking down into the valley below, celebrating by eating the berries we'd discovered only because we decided to challenge ourselves to do the impossible.

It all seemed so unreal. Had we really done it? Had we really climbed Boulder Mountain? Yes, we had, I decided. We'd really done it. We'd really made it to the top, to the hill of silver roses.

After what seemed like an eternity, Plusle slowly got up. "Minun," he said, "we're almost at the top." Pointing at the dome of rock, he murmured, "The hill is at the top of the giant boulder. Do you remember? You promised me a silver rose, Minun." He smiled. "Will you get me one now?"

We fell silent as we stood at the edge of the rocky clearing. Looking at the rocky dome, I noticed what seemed like steps. They were worn and old, but it really did look like someone had carved a trail into the giant boulder a long time ago. Had someone been here before us? Had they tried to reach the hill, too? I shrugged. There wasn't any way to tell, and besides, the clearing itself was more interesting.

I took a closer look at the clearing. Cracks ran along the ground, splitting the massive chunks of rock into huge pieces. Right across the clearing from us was a wide, open entrance into a murky, dark cave.

For a moment, I thought fearfully of the monster - did it live in there? Was it going to eat us? I shuddered as I thought of never going back home, but I determinedly shoved those thoughts away. Plusle and I'd already gone so far, and we weren't going to back off because of some monster, no matter how scary it was.

The most interesting thing was the boulder in the center of the clearing. It was sunken halfway into the stony ground, with pebbles packed around its base. It seemed strangely round, like a sphere, and gave off a mysterious, deep luster that made it look like a giant dark gemstone. I'd just turned to ask Plusle if he knew what it was when he suddenly started off towards the boulder, as if he was entranced.

I still remember what happened next. I remember it so clearly, so vividly, as if it had only happened yesterday and the horrible memory was still painfully fresh, seared in my mind by what had happened on that fateful day, the day we tried to climb Boulder Mountain.

Plusle made his way over to the boulder, examining it curiously. I took a few steps towards him, unsure of what he was doing. He stared at the polished surface for a moment, admiring at how it shimmered and shined in the blazing, golden sunset. Reaching out, he touched the boulder ever so gently, gliding over its smooth, cool surface.

Something stirred inside the boulder. It was a subtle movement: the surface of the stone seemed to swirl a little, as if something inside was probing at where Plusle's hand had been. He continued as if he hadn't noticed, but I had. Something wasn't right, I decided. I stepped towards him, trying to tell him about what happened, that the boulder wasn't really a boulder, that it was something else, something alive.

That's when I felt it. It was a little tremor at first, as if the mountain was shivering in the wind, but it quickly grew. The ground began to rumble; stones danced frantically on the ground as it quaked violently. I backed away, yelling at Plusle to run. He stood, frozen, for a few moments' more; I rushed forward and shoved at him desperately, but he didn't seem to hear me pleading with him to run, to get away from here, away from the clearing, away from it all.

Suddenly, the ground seemed to split in half as a giant Pokemon emerged from the ground with a huge roar that almost blew me to the ground. Looking up, I saw a giant pile of rocks, swaying in the air, raising itself above the clearing. I was so terrified I could barely think - what was this monster? It seemed to have a tail and a head, like a snake, but it was made entirely of rocks! Never had I ever seen anything like it, and at that moment I knew why the adults had always told us to stay away from Boulder Mountain, and why they feared it themselves so much.

The monster let off several more terrifying roars, which seemed to snap Plusle out of his spell. He quickly dove to the side, just in time to avoid being crushed as the monster slammed its rocky tail down where he had been a second ago. Without speaking a word - I doubt that I could hear him above the roars of the monster, anyway - Plusle gestured at me to follow him. The monster lashed out with the huge boulders that made up its tail, narrowly missing us as we ran towards a small bluff that rose above the clearing.

We hid behind the bluff, not knowing what the monster would do. It seemed to be guessing at where we were, turning in confused circles, slamming its tail against the ground, roaring in frustration. I turned to see Plusle shaking violently, and I realized I was also quivering in fear. Sometimes we saw huge, wild Pokemon roaming the fields at night, hunting for prey, but we'd only ever heard of Pokemon this massive when the elders talked of legendaries.

Plusle seemed at lost of what to do. We couldn't go back down - there didn't seem to be any way to avoid being seen, not with the monster camped out right where we'd ran up. If we stayed, it would find us eventually - already, it was raising itself into the air, twisting its huge boulder of a head, glaring at the landscape. It was as if we were trapped, and there was no way out.

I turned to look at Plusle. He was hunched over; small, crackling balls of electricity arced from his hands. He was using Charge: one of his moves that didn't seem to do anything. I stared at him, wanting to ask a question, but afraid that the monster would hear.

It took me a while to realize what he was doing - he'd remarked to me once that the reason he kept Charge (over more useful moves that the grownups wanted to teach him) was because "it makes me feel very powerful, Minun." Maybe that was what he was trying to do: make himself stronger. I doubted it'd do anything, though, since the monster was so huge - but maybe Plusle was up to something that I couldn't even guess at. Maybe he had a plan all along.

Plusle gestured at me. We couldn't talk; he could only give me silent commands, something that seemed to frustrate him. It was hard to guess at what he was trying to say; we were so used to talking that it felt like ages since we'd had to do anything like this. He seemed to be pointing at my hands, as if he wanted me to use Charge - the one move I'd discarded only that morning, thinking it was useless, that it was good for nothing.

Desperately, I tried to remember how to Charge. It seemed so simple, so basic, but it seemed just out of reach, buried just deep enough that I couldn't dig it out no matter how hard I tried. It was maddening, and I didn't realize I was shaking my head in fury until Plusle poked me in the side. He was gesturing frantically for me to Charge, and all I could do was shaking my head, pointing at myself, hoping he'd understand that I just couldn't do it, that I'd forgotten how, that I was sorry, but there was nothing I could do anymore!

I suddenly unleashed a huge thunderbolt, all of my fury and frustration and hatred for that monster flowing out of me in a single instant, channeling into a single, powerful lightning strike that rose into the evening sky. For an instant, everything was a blinding white as time seemed to stop. The cool, evening air around me crackled with electricity, sizzling with the amount of power that flowed through it, coursing high into the sky.

Instantly, I could hear the furious roar of the monster as it reared up on its rocky body, staring straight at the bluff where I'd accidentally let loose all of my power. Plusle reacted just as swiftly: right before the monster could swing its huge tail at us, he jumped up and released all of his charge as a painfully bright flash of light. Blinded, the monster roared in agony and slammed its tail wildly on the ground as Plusle and I rushed down the bluff, towards the trail.

We were almost there. We were so very close that it seemed like a mere dozen steps before we reached the trail, before we reached the path down the mountain, away from the clearing, from the boulder, from the terrible monster that roared and slammed its massive tail and tried to kill us, just for daring to climb Boulder Mountain.

Then Plusle fell.

At first, I didn't notice; I was too busy running desperately towards the trail. Then I turned and saw him sprawled on the ground. He cried out in pain, as if he had broken his foot. Looking up, he reached out his hand, his eyes silently pleading with me to help him.

For a moment, I was paralyzed in fear - the monster was rising behind him, a look of pure evil in its eyes as it raised its tail to smash him. I knew then. Staring into those gruesome, enraged eyes, I knew it was going to kill him.

Suddenly, I ran forward. I didn't care about my own safety anymore; that was quickly pushed to the back of my mind. The only thought in my head was to rescue Plusle, no matter what. Everything seemed to slow down and disappear - only Plusle and the monster remained, frozen in time, as I ran towards them. He was right there, only a few feet away, and no matter what, I was going to reach him before the monster did.

I was right beside him now. He reached out his arm, stretching as far as his hand would go. Somewhere, the monster roared. It was approaching, quickly closing the gap between us, rearing up into the air. But all I saw was Plusle's outstretched hand - and I brought mine down, reaching towards him.

And missed.

A brief touch, the tips of our hands brushing so maddeningly close was all I felt before my arm flew past. I started to run again, but stopped. For a second, I was confused - where was Plusle's hand? Hadn't I grasped it? Hadn't I helped him up, so we could escape from Boulder Mountain forever?

Then the horror dawned on me. Somehow, I'd missed! Quickly, I rushed back. Grabbing Plusle firmly, I began to drag him towards the trail. It'd never occurred to me that Plusle was so heavy - and no matter how hard I struggled, I could barely move him.

Suddenly, a terrifying sound erupted from what seemed like right above us. The ground trembled violently. I could barely move; I was struggling to stay standing. I knew it - I knew that it was the end, but I carried on, not caring that the monster was smashing its tail on the ground and missing us by mere inches.

Somehow, Plusle knew, too. He knew it was over. It was too late. Even if we made it to the trail, the monster, the enraged beast would get us. We almost had a chance, but one sharp rock, one caught foot had ended it.

Just as I pulled as hard as I could, Plusle strained to look to his right. A horrified expression came on his face. It was a look of desperation, of panic, of pure, raw terror. I would never forget that face, and it still sends chills down my spine whenever I remember.

At that moment, Plusle let go.

Everything seemed to slow down. I remember the shock, the surprise I felt as I staggered back. Why had Plusle let go? Didn't he want to escape? I surged back forward, reaching out to grab him, but he raised his arms up, as if to block me.

Something moved in my peripheral vision. I could see it out of my right eye. It was gray and massive, slowly beginning to make its way across my view, like a dark cloud blocking out the sun. With one swift motion, Plusle mustered all of his energy and shoved me away, just as the massive tail of the monster swung by a mere inch from my face. I clamped my hands over my face in fear, but I could still feel the gentle whoosh of air it flew by: death barely brushing the surface of my face as it continued onwards, past me.

When I opened my eyes, Plusle was gone.

Frantically, I looked around for him. Where was he? He couldn't have disappeared, and the monster couldn't have done away with him that fast...could it? A chilling thought began to creep into my mind. Had the monster flung Plusle off the mountain? I remembered the steep drop beyond the trail. It was at least a few dozen feet. Plusle could never survive that, even if he had lived through the impact of the tail.

I finally caught sight of something laying on the ground, near the middle of the clearing. It seemed so small, so tiny, so crumpled that at first I didn't even think it was a Pokemon, that it could ever be anything even close. I strained to get a better look, and a terrifying feeling of despair crushed my heart.

It was Plusle, sprawled out on the ground, limp and broken.

Instantly, rage rushed through me. How- how could that monster! He was Plusle! He was my friend, he was my companion! He was my soulmate, and now he was gone, and all it took was one deadly swipe from the monster's tail to end his whole entire life.

I was so choked with rage that I couldn't think anymore. Never before had I felt such a powerful surge of anger, of desperation, of grief. It couldn't be happening. Plusle couldn't have died just like that! He was always so energetic, so full of life that surely one blow wouldn't end it all, wouldn't rob him of everything. And yet, there he was, a mere few dozen feet from me, his skin already paling, the color already fading from his vibrant red tail.

At that moment, I might have been killed. I might have charged right into the throes of death, right into that infernal monster. I might have attacked him with all my might, tears streaming down my face as I remembered Plusle's last moment, that look of horror on his face the second that he realized it was the end. I might have joined him in the center of the clearing, lifeless, rich red blood flowing out of gashes all over my body that had been inflicted by the monster's massive, cruel tail.

I might have died that day, too, if I hadn't remembered one important thing.

Plusle's last act was to shove me away from harm's reach. He'd sacrificed himself to keep me alive. He'd paid the ultimate price just to let me live, and I had made him do it. I was the one that blundered. I was the one that failed to charge, that foiled his plan to defeat the monster. I was the one that didn't notice when he fell, and who missed, and who couldn't even drag him to safety, protecting him when he needed it the most.

And now he was gone forever.

I stood still, unable to move for hours, a hollow emptiness in me that I couldn't explain. Voices in my head screamed for me to run, to hide, to escape, but I didn't obey. They sounded so small, so tiny and insignificant that I almost couldn't hear them at all. I just didn't care anymore. Ignoring the voices, I stood rooted to the spot, watching the monster do its work with a morbid, strangely fascinated sort of curiosity.

The monster never attacked me; it was too busy smashing Plusle's lifeless corpse over and over, the ground shaking each time it brought its huge, rocky tail down, inflicting even more damage to the limp form lying on the ground.

Eventually, I started to make my way down the mountain. I walked aimlessly, not caring that rocks were cutting into the bottom of my feet, not caring that soon the air became a biting cold as sunset approached.

Farther down the mountain I stumbled upon a cave that I hadn't noticed before. Set into the craggy mountainside a bit away from the trail, its entrance was an ugly, gaping hole, lined with boulders and jagged, sharp rocks. Standing at the edge, I peered for a second into the pitch-black darkness. A few minutes passed before I started to feel that something was wrong. But what was it?

Slowly, it came to me. Staring into the cave, into the dark abyss that threatened to swallow me, engulfing me in shadow, a terrifying realization formed in my mind: I wasn't scared of the darkness anymore. It used to be my worst enemy: at night, I'd often send sparks up at the ceiling of my small room just to make sure nothing was hiding in the dark. But now, standing at the edge of the cave, I felt an emptiness in me where all the apprehension, all the imagined horrors had been.

I no longer feared anything. Plusle's death had such a profound impact on me that nothing could ever compare to it. Nothing would ever scare me again.

A giddy feeling rose in me. I suddenly ran right into the cave, right into the murky shroud of darkness, giggling uncontrollably. This new feeling - of fearlessness, of absolute bravery - it felt so strange, so alien that it seemed like hours before I stopped running carelessly in the dark, bumping into the rough cavern walls, occasionally letting out short bursts of loud, harsh laughter. I couldn't get enough of the feeling! It was strangely enjoyable; addictive, even, to be able to run all around the dark without being scared for the first time. I knew I'd never be the same again.

After a while it seemed like my whole body was screaming with an agonizing exhaustion. I crept to the edge of the cave and looked out into the cool, night sky. The last, faint traces of sunset were rapidly vanishing from the sky. A smooth, roundish rock sat nearby, and I pulled myself up on top of it, curling up into a ball, rocking my giddily empty self back and forth slowly as I watched the sky darken.

In the distance, I could hear the monster roar one last time, the loud sound resonating across the valley, only to echo back right into the cave, right into my head.

"Plusle!" I suddenly thought.

At that moment, I fell apart as Plusle's death came rushing back into my head. Suddenly, I found myself sobbing, an unspeakably deep grief welling up, threatening to swallow me, engulfing me until there was nothing left of my tiny body. There was only one thing that mattered now, that I kept refusing to acknowledge, but it was inevitable now: Plusle was dead. He was gone.

Gone like the cool, autumn winds that swept past our village, past the beautiful meadows, only to be shattered by the cruel, rocky mountains that rose, motionless and tall, standing guard over the fragile existence of the valley that so many called home.

Gone like the pretty flowers that he used to gather for me, before winter approached and they shriveled and died, their lifeless forms buried under the thick mounds of icy white snow. Forgotten by all the little Pokemon that used to frolic and play in them, laughing and giggling during the brief summer season. Forgotten by everyone, by the whole world.

He was gone, and no matter what I did, I couldn't bring him back.

I spent the night in that cave, staring out straight into the dark sky. Occasionally I would drift into dark, dreamless sleep, but I'd always wake up suddenly, with the terrifying feeling that something horrible had happened, only to remember Plusle's death.

At the first hint of dawn, I rose and began to walk. To where I had no idea, only that I had to get away from the mountain. I followed the trail for awhile before I realized I had been going back up the mountain, subconsciously trying to go back to Plusle, to go back in time in some absurd hope that he was somehow alive, even after the monster had abused his fragile body until it no longer resembled anything like him.

Wordlessly, I turned around and began to head back down the mountain, towards the valley, towards the village, towards my home.

It was mid-morning when I arrived. I made my way through the village, unnoticed by everyone, to a certain two-story hut. For the most part, though it was round and made of stone like all the others, with a thatched roof of dried, whitish-yellow grain stalks, but it was special. It was the one I'd lived in ever since I'd hatched from the festively colored egg of a Minun.

But now...now, as I stared at the hut, it didn't seem like home anymore. It didn't have the familiarity, the warmth, the loving reassurance that everything was safe. I entered, looking around the main room that took up most of the first floor. There was the rug, worn and old, but reliable. There were the windows that Plusle and I had often waved out to passerby from. There were the rough-hewn wooden chairs, and the scratchy but comfortable pillows Evie had thoughtfully placed on them so we wouldn't get splinters.

They all seemed so familiar...and yet so alien at the same time, as if I was staring at a replica of the room that was so maddeningly similar, and yet different, in a way.

Different because Plusle was no longer around to roll around in the rug with me. Plusle was no longer around to wave at the rescue teams that passed by on their way to Forbidden Peak, not knowing that they'd always come down defeated. Plusle was no longer around to sit in those chairs with me, chatting excitedly with Evie as she prepared her delicious berry cakes for us to eat.

Plusle was gone, and it seemed like part of the house, a part of the village, a part of the sky, a part of the world had died with him.