Pokemon Virus Version Chapter 165: Time Before Time: Part 7, a pokémon fanfic

Pokemon Virus Version Chapter 165: Time Before Time Part 7

-Present Day Prologue-

"You know, I've been holding back my powers too." 15 remarked.

"What do you mean?" Yukiko asked.

"You haven't noticed it?" 15 questioned, "I've yet to use my virus power. As you've witness, I'm able to manipulate concentrations of darkness like Seth. However, I've never showed you what unique powers I possess."

15 was right. He did not use his virus power during their last fight either. When Seth and Froslass were dragged to the Realm Between Life and Death…that was all Dusknoir's powers as a Reaper.

The dark aura surrounding 15 began turning white. This white light quickly spread throughout the entire top floor of Circle N.

"What's going on?" Fear/Seth kept his guard up but was perplexed. The white aura surrounded everything…to the point where nothing was visible in Circle N. Not the equipment. Not the floor. Not the giant window. Not the view of the ruined city of Prypiat below. All that was visible to Fear/Seth was 15 himself.

"The power I possess will lock you within the confines of what Prypiat was 30 years ago. You and everyone you know will live in Prypiat. You will love. You will lose. You will lose what you love. It is up to you to build upon these connections to save Prypiat from the nuclear disaster that will occur. Do you have what it takes to save this town in 7 days?"

"!" The white light became blinding to the point where Fear/Seth and Yukiko had to cover their eyes.

'I hope you will learn to love Rose through this too…' 15 didn't say this out loud. If Seth were to fight his way out of the Prypiat Disaster and defeat 15, this would be 15's parting gift to Rose…

What lied ahead for Seth? Only time would tell. Though time is something Seth will come to wish he had more of. Will Seth be able to overcome Prypiat's impending doom and defeat Commander 15?

-End Present Day Prologue-

7 Days Left – Act 3

Location: SAGE Arcade

As the group returned to SAGE Arcade, Haru took it upon himself to announce the unofficial competition. "Seth! Rose! Summer! Winter! Yumi! And of course, yours truly! Six challengers, one ultimate prize! Pokeballs ready! Pokeballs set! Begin the competition now! GO!"

As soon as Haru gave the go to, everybody put forth their best effort to locate Pansage. Who would win this competition?

"Hmm…" Yumi looked high, inspecting every hanging light fixture, "I don't see the Pokemon yet…"

Meanwhile, the twins looked low, inspecting under tables and any object Pansage may be hiding behind.

"So…which one of us will catch Pansage if we find him?" Winter addressed the elephant in the room, finally asking Summer the obvious question.

"Umm…" The twins gave each other knowing gazes when Summer couldn't respond. "Rock Paper Scissors?"

"Rock Paper Scissors." The twins nodded before engaging in a battle of Rock Paper Scissors.

Rock! Paper! Scissors!

Both girls chose Paper.

Rock! Paper! Scissors!

Both girls chose Scissors.

Rock! Paper! Scissors!

Both girls chose Rock.

Rock! Paper! Scissors!

When it appeared that the girls had used all options available, they reverted back to picking scissors. It was as if the two could read each other's mind. This game of Rock, Paper, Scissors would continue without a definitive winner.

….

With her single Pokeball in hand, Rose wandered the arcade, but it didn't take her long to locate Pansage. It was when she made her way back to the food court when she spotted the Grass type.

"Huh?"

"Sage…" Pansage was stealthily sneaking beneath the tables. It was when he found a table that was unoccupied, but had leftover scraps of food on top. "Pan!" Pansage jumped on top of the table and spotted an order of leftover French fries that were nearly untouched. "Saaheheheh…" Pansage's mouth watered. That was almost an entire serving of French fries! He sat down, picked up a handful of fries, and happily indulged himself.

"Pansage…" Rose didn't know it, but she was actually the first person to locate Pansage. "If I simply walked up to Pansage, he would run away again. Honestly, what an unruly monkey." Rose needed to match Pansage's stealth with her own, so she gently tiptoed to the table. As a lady with refined mannerisms, Rose was accustomed to performing gentle movements such as walking quietly. Closing in on Pansage was a simple task.

"Pan pan pan pan…" Pansage continued to scarf down his French fries. He was like a living garbage disposal. Rose made a mental note that she would teach the unruly monkey some manners if she managed to capture him. "Pan pan pan pan…PAN?!" Pansage was eating so fast that he wasn't fully chewing his food, causing some of it to be stuck in his throat. "Ngh! Ngh! Ngh!" He flailed his arms aimlessly until he could feel the touch of a soft drink. Hastily, he picked up the soft drink and began chugging it down. "Aaahhh…" Clearing his throat, he took a deep breath before putting the soft drink back where he got it. "Pan?" But when he did so, he spotted a Rose who was a few feet in front of him.

A comedic drop of sweat appeared on Rose's head. What an unlucky turn of events. Rose's cover was blown by pure chance because Pansage doesn't chew his food.

"…" Now caught red-handed, there was no longer a need for Rose to be subtle. "YAHHH!" Her ladylike demeanor gave way to tunnel vision, as she lunged at Pansage without a concrete strategy.

"Pan!" Pansage was quick, as he jumped in the air before Rose could pin him down.

"Ow…" Rose fell on the table with a thud.

"Hahahahaha!" Pansage, hanging off the rafters near the ceiling, didn't hesitate to point and laugh at Rose's expense.

"How dare you…" This angered Rose to the point where she nearly lost her emotional composure as she glared at Pansage with gritted teeth. "You WILL be mine, Pansage!"

Pansage crossed his arms and nodded his head. He acknowledged that Rose wanted to capture him, "Ha!" Challenge accepted! Pansage got a head start, running through the rafters and jumping into a ball pit located by an indoor playground for children.

Not one to back down from a challenge, Rose accepted Pansage's little game on tag as she ran after the green monkey. "Where are you?" Rose looked throughout the ball pit.

"Hello!" Pansage wasn't there, but there were plenty of young children around Rose's age, who proceeded to greet her.

"Hey! Look up there!" Another kid pointed a finger upward. Every kid in the ball pit looked to where this kid was pointing.

"Hahaha!" There, Pansage was. He was hanging on the monkey bars without a care in the world. He looked at the kids gazing at him and playfully waved back.

With Pansage greeting the kids, Rose saw this as a perfect opportunity to climb the jungle gym. She climbed up a small ladder and through the playground tunnel before making her way to the platform where the monkey bars stood over the edge.

"Pansage!"

She called Pansage's name as she attempted to lunge at him. But as soon as she looked over the edge of the platform, she halted. In Rose's eyes, if she were to miss, it was a long fall to the ball pit below. In reality, the fall wasn't THAT long, but forgive Rose's imagination for exaggerating the way most five year olds exaggerate.

"Sage?" Pansage's attention went from greeting the kids below to looking at Rose. "Haha?!" With his mouth playfully hanging agape, he exaggerated exchanging gazes between Rose and the ball pit, knowing Rose was watching. 'What's wrong? A you too chicken to jump?!" To further enjoy annoying Rose, Pansage leapt from the monkey bars and dove into the ball pit like a waterdiver.

Rose cleared her throat. Determined to catch Pansage, she closed her eyes and jumped into the pit as well. As soon as she landed, and opened her eyes and swam around to find the Grass type.

"Not here."

When Rose surfaced from the ball pit, she saw that Pansage had run away from the playground. "No…" She sighed. Pansage had successfully escaped her.

….

"Pokken Tournament!"

PLEASE INSERT COINS

"Pokken Tournament!"

PLEASE INSERT COINS

"Pokken Tournament!"

PLEASE INSERT COINS

In an effort to surprise the wandering Pansage, Summer and Winter had the perfect ruse: Pretending to play an arcade game until Pansage passed by. The game they sat in front of was Pokken Tournament. Pokken Tournament was a lot like Virtual Fighter, but with different level design and game mechanics.

"So…which one of us will get to keep Pansage?"

The twins almost always shared a braincell when it came to anything. But it was Winter who addressed the elephant in the room when she asked this question.

"Does it make any difference which one of us keeps it?" Summer responded to Winter's question with a question of her own."

"Actually it does. I was born 5 minutes and 26 seconds ahead of you, making me your older sister. And as the younger sister, you have to do what I say."

"Bologna." Summer was not about to entertain that argument. "Let's just settle this debate right now."

Winter's eyes nodded, "You mean to challenge me?"

Summer nodded as she held out a fist. In response, Winter held out her own fist. The stood there for a second as the Pokken Tournament Arcade machine continued prompting them to insert coins.

"Rock. Paper. Scissors."

Rock, Paper, Scissors – a simple yet effective way to settle debates between two or more parties. Summer picked rock. Winter picked rock. Retry!

"Rock. Paper. Scissors."

Summer picked paper. Winter picked paper. Retry!

"Rock. Paper. Scissors."

Summer picked scissors. Winter picked scissors. Retry!"

"Rock. Paper. Scissors."

Again, Summer picked rock. Again, Winter picked rock.

The game was becoming redundant, as there didn't seem to be an end result in sight. Summer and Winter looked like they could spend the rest of eternity playing Rock, Paper, Scissors.

"…" Without saying a word, Pansage sat on top of the Pokken Tournament Arcade machine and watched Summer and Winter continue their battle. He was intrigued. Nobody could be that good or bad at Rock, Paper, Scissors.

"Rock. Paper. Scissors."

Both twins halted, waiting for each other to choose…

…

They were cheating, weren't they?

"Choose."

"You choose."

"Stop cheating, Winter!" Summer raised her voice.

"Me? Cheating? You only accuse me because you're jealous." Winter crossed her arms and looked away.

"Jealous?!" Summer was beginning to become annoyed.

"You're jealous of me because everybody at school thinks you're weird."

Summer gave Winter a bonk on the head, "News flash! Everyone at school thinks you're weird too!"

"Don't hit me!" As they often do, the twins began fighting. This was nothing serious. The two siblings regularly have quarrels. It was amusing, to say the least.

Winter pushed Summer, who pushed Winter in response. Winter pushed Summer, who pushed Winter, who pushed Summer…It was a never-ending struggle – one that Pansage couldn't help laughing at.

"Hahaha!"

"Huh?"

"Hm?"

The twins both looked to see Pansage sitting on top of the arcade machine.

"Pansage!"

How did they not notice Pansage before?

Realizing that he'd been caught, Pansage realized that it was time for him to leave as he rose to his feet.

Winter took out her Pokeball, "Time to capture you! Go, Pokeball-!"

"No! I was gonna capture Pansage!" Just before Winter could throw her Pokeball, Summer gave her one big push – one that sent both twins falling from the Pokken Tournament Arcade machine and landing on the floor. "Ack!"

"Ngh!"

"Hahaha!" Pansage gave one last hysterical laugh aimed at the twins before he hopped off the Arcade Machine and started back on his merry way.

"…" Summer remained on the floor, defeated.

"…" As did Winter.

The twins had a perfect opportunity to capture Pansage, and they squandered it.

Following Pansage's escape from the twins…

"Are you two okay?" Seth had approached the twins, extending a hand to help them up.

"Oh?"

"Um?"

Summer and Winter both stared at Seth's extended hand. Seth got the message: It would take more than one hand to help both twins. As Summer and Winter grabbed Seth's left and right hands respectively, Seth pulled them both off the ground.

"Seth?" Summer called.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"You've never been this nice to us before…"

It was as if the argument between Summer and Winter never happened. Perhaps they weren't accustomed to receiving common courtesy from boys their age.

"Is that so?" This was all Seth could respond with.

"So, have you run into Pansage too?" Winter asked.

"I'm not stressed about it. If I don't find it, it's not the end of the world." Seth answered. "Let's look for the others."

…

Yumi's search for Pansage led her to the Customer Service area.

"Hey, have you seen any sort of Pokemon around?" Yumi had a bright smile as she approached the Customer Service Representative standing behind the counter.

Taking his eyes off the newspaper, the representative eyed Yumi with an eyebrow raised, "A Pokemon? I wouldn't know. Wild Pokemon are near nonexistent in Prypiat, let alone SAGE Arcade."

Yumi was disappointed, but she nonetheless gave the Customer Service Representative a grateful bow, "Thank you!"

As soon as Yumi left Customer Service, she'd passed by a Haru who was leaning on the wall.

"You know, I may have seen a Pokemon around here." Haru was trying to play it cool, but he actually looked goofy – as goofy as he always acted in school.

"Really?" Yumi looked to Haru with curiosity. "Where have you seen it? Did you catch it?"

A comedic bead of sweat rolled down Haru's face, "Er- well I think I saw it somewhere over here…" Haru was about to trail off before refocusing the conversation on Yumi, "But I wanted to let you have a chance at catching Pansage first."

"Aw, that's sweet!"

"Of course. You are my one true love, after all." Haru never hesitated in professing his love for his childhood friend. He was a hopeless romantic when it came to Yumi…But alas, to the world around him, Haru was a known local pervert who flirted with all females. He was a player, and Yumi didn't take him seriously even though she was the one girl he had genuine feelings for.

"Haha, stop joking! You're such a comedian!" Yumi couldn't help giggling at Haru's love confession.

Haru deadpanned. Though Yumi constantly friendzoned him, their outgoing personalities complimented each other more often than not.

"So, where did you see Pansange again?" Yumi asked.

The truth was that Haru had yet to encounter Pansage. But this conversation with Yumi got her hopes up. He was in too deep to be honest now. In an effort to save face, Haru grabbed Yumi by the hand and wandered aimlessly throughout SAGE Arcade.

Their false escapade led them to a passageway leading to the restroom. Pansage wasn't here. Haru then lead Yumi to the Arcade's entrance. Plenty of people were coming and going, but no sign of Pansage. Next, Haru wandered into Card Capital; A special area in SAGE Arcade dedicated exclusively to competitive and collectible trading card games. Nope. No Pansage.

As Haru continued searching in vein for Pansage, Yumi popped the question, "You didn't really see Pansage, did you?"

Haru rubbed the back of his head and forced fake laughter, "Hahahaha! Of course I've seen Pansage! We just haven't searched everywhere yet!"

Yumi gave Haru a knowing glance, causing Haru to sweatdrop.

"Sage. Pansange."

Haru's jaw dropped. Did his ears deceive him? He could've sworn he heard the cry of a Pokemon behind him.

"Sage!" Before Haru could turn around, Pansage rushed to his side.

"Haru, look out!" Yumi called.

By the time Haru was able to turn around, it was too late. Pansage had already reached into Haru's pocket and grabbed a few coins.

"Hehehe." Pansage playfully tossed the coins in and out the palm of his hand as he snickered at Haru.

"Why you?! HOW DARE YOU STEAL MY ARCADE MONEY! I'M THE KING IN THESE PARTS!"

Never mind catching Pansage, Haru just wanted his money back. As the king of Virtual Fighter, Haru needed the money to protect his title!

"YAAAAAHHH!" Haru lunged at Pansage without a second thought.

Pansage took a step back, causing for Haru to panic and start falling to the ground.

As Haru landed with a thud, Yumi checked to see if he was alright. "Are you hurt?"

With Pansage now having coins in his possession, Haru knew where he was going next. "The arcade! Pansage is to the arcade!"

Haru yelled loud enough to get the attention of people throughout the arcade.

"Pansage?" Most of these people were skeptical of what Haru was saying, "What a weirdo. That Haru is always spouting nonsense."

Haru and Yumi deadpanned. Haru's reputation as a weirdo extended beyond just school.

In addition to passing strangers, Haru also got the attention of the rest of the gang.

Summer, Winter, Seth, and Rose all rushed into the arcade, passing Haru and Yumi in their pursuit of Pansage.

"H-hey! Wait for me!" Yumi pulled away from Haru's grasp as she followed the others.

Haru would've made a big scene out of everyone leaving him behind, but he was more concerned with getting his money back. The way he stomped into the arcade, one would think he'd used a Stomping Tantrum attack.

One would think finding Pansage would be a simple task. But alas, the arcade had no lighting aside from the various arcade machines. Said arcade machines did well lighting keeping the room illuminated approximately eye-level with humans. This meant that due to being low to the ground, Pansage was able to hide within the shadows. Nobody could find him.

"Damn it, where is that monkey!" Haru was becoming inpatient as he searched the 'Hario Kart' racing game kiosks.

Yumi was walking down an aisle full of arcade machines that weren't in use. "Hmm…" By pure chance, she noticed something from the corner of her eye. There, on the 'Ducklett Hunt' game… "Pansage?"

"Sage!"

No doubt about it. Yumi saw a Pansage.

"I found you!" Yumi immediately readied her Pokeball and threw it. "Pokeball, go!"

The Pokeball sure hit Pansage alright. One problem though…The Pansage Yumi hit, was literally IN the game. That's right, this wasn't the real Pansage. Rather, it was a 'Non player character' in the game who's design happened to be inspired by Pansage.

"Ow!" The Pokeball bounced off the monitor and hit Yumi on the nose. She playfully crumbled to the ground and uttered to herself, "You know what? I give up!" Chibi tears poured down her face, "No Pokemon is worth ruining my face!"

…

"Pansage will be mine!" Summer argued.

"No, Pansage will be mine!" Winter countered.

"Will you two just make up your mind?" Seth was becoming irritated by the twins' bickering.

Summer and Winter had resumed their argument over who should keep Pansage…even though said bickering was the reason why Pansage escaped last time.

"See? Now you're annoying Seth!" Summer pushed Winter.

"No, you're annoying him!" And Winter returned fire.

Seth gave an exasperated sigh. The twins' pushing each other soon devolved into a mindless squabble as the two fell to the ground fighting each other. If this were a cartoon, this would be the part where their squabble created a cartoonish cloud of dust as the two continued exchanging blows.

"I feel like a third wheel…" Seth took this as an opportunity to wander away from the twins. It was obvious that they weren't catching Pansage any time soon.

…..

"I can't believe it! He's about to break the speedrun record!"

"As long as the exploitation glitch works, he'll be home free!"

Most of the arcade's main gamers were gathered around one game: G-Zero, where they were witnessing possible gaming history. Noah was a student at Shinku Secondary School just like Seth and the gang, but they never associated with each other. Noah was an aspiring professional gamer. His dedication was commendable, even if his chosen career field seemed 20 years away from becoming lucrative.

"…" Noah's eyes were glued on the game, where he was on the last level.

"Hm?" Curious to see what the commotion was about, Pansage stood right at Noah's foot. Because everybody was fixated on the G-Zero speedrun record, Pansage went completely unnoticed until…

"THERE YOU ARE!" Haru came stomping in and glared daggers at Pansage, "You thief! GIMME MY MONEY BACK!"

Pansage was paying so much attention to G-Zero that he didn't notice Haru until he raised his voice.

"Dude, shut up!"

"If you come in between Noah and the speedrunning record, I'll kick your ass!"

"Yeah, get outta here, ya noob!"

Haru was being verbally eviscerated by the spectators trying to keep Noah focused…but Haru wasn't listening. If Haru's one true love in Yumi couldn't calm him down after having his money stolen, nothing could.

"YAAAAAA!" Haru lunged at Pansage.

Alarmed, Pansage quickly leapt out of the way. This left Haru lunging at the target immediately behind Pansage: Noah.

"Ow!"

"What the?" Noah instinctively moved out of the way.

Haru landed on the buttons of the G-Zero Arcade machine, causing Noah's player character to spin out of bounds. The eyes of Noah and the spectating gamers widened. Haru had effectively disrupted the speedrun.

"Sage?" Pansage, hearing the collective gasps of the gaming community, took this as an opportunity to take his leave.

"What the heck are you thinking?!"

"Yeah, you just ruined Noah's speedrun!"

The gamers were all angry at Haru.

"Oh please, Noah doesn't have anything on me!" Haru clapped back, "I'm the king of the arcade! That's why I need to track down that Pansage to get my money back! I can't protect my title without my money!"

It was here that Noah got out of his seat and finally spoke, "I don't appreciate you ruining my game, mate." Noah had a calm deep voice, but he had this brooding aura about him that reminded Haru of Seth, "Doubling down on your actions tells me that you won't be moved by words. But that's okay. We've got other ways of making sure you don't get in our way again." Noah cracked his fingers as he and the gamers surrounded Haru.

"Woah…okay there fellas! No need to get violent, hehe!" Haru, finally realizing the trouble he was in, gave a last-ditch effort to get out of the beating that was coming his way.

"Oh, but I insist." Noah and the gamers all closed in on Haru and started throwing fists.

Haru will certainly be feeling pain tomorrow morning!

…..

Yumi gave up on trying to catch Pansage, Haru was getting beaten up by Noah and the gamers, and the twins were beating each other up. That left just two people searching for Pansage.

Rose wandered the arcade, hoping for another chance at capturing Pansage.

Meanwhile, Seth wandered the arcade hoping to encounter Pansage for the first time.

"Hm?"

When the two crossed paths, Rose smiled.

"Are you enjoying yourself?" Seth asked.

Rose nodded, "This is the most fun I have had in a long time."

Knowing Pansage was still on the run, Seth and Rose decided to look for the Grass Type together. The siblings held hands.

"I really wish to capture Pansage, you know." Rose smiled.

"And I'll help you." Seth never smiled, but Rose could feel the warmth in his words.

"Really?" Rose's eyes lit up, "But what about you? Do you not want Pansage for yourself?"

"If I catch Pansage, it'll be my Christmas present to you."

If only Seth knew of the turmoil in his relationship with his younger sister in the real world…But this wasn't the real world. And he didn't know of any turmoil existing. In Seth's mind, he's lived his entire life in Prypiat with his sister. From the minute Rose was born, Seth wanted nothing more than to protect her. He wanted to be her guardian angel.

"I love you, my guardian angel..."

Rose and Seth's bond was unbreakable.

"I love you too, Rose."

Hand in hand, the brother and sister continued wandering the arcade until they finally spotted Pansage.

"Sage!" The Grass type was concentrating on a game known as 'Dance Dance Evolution'. It was a rhythm game, where the player stood on a dance platform with eight arrows. It was the player's job to step in the correct direction corresponding with the whichever arrows appeared on screen. "Sage!" Pansage was good – very good at this game.

"Looks like we've found Pansage." Seth's eyes were glued to the screen. "I think he just achieved the high score."

"I can dance, too." Rose looked to Seth and performed a curtsy in an effort to convince him that she could hang with the best.

"Are you sure?" Seth asked.

Rose nodded. "Watch me!"

This gave Seth an idea; an idea that would take advantage of Pansage being preoccupied by his competition.

Rose stepped onto the platform located next to Pansage and inserted a coin into the machine.

A new dancer has entered the dance floor! Enter, Player 2!

The game paused, slightly annoying Pansage. "Sage." The Grass Type grumbled as he took his eyes off the screen.

The culprit who paused his game – Rose – smiled coyly and waved at the Grass Type.

"Sage?" Pansage couldn't believe it. It was the girl who chased him through playground!

"Pansage, I challenge you to a dance off." Rose performed another curtsy. "Rest assured, I will be victorious!"

"Sage!" Seeing Rose put a confident smile on Pansage's face. He was ready to beat Rose again!

Lets Dance!

And so, the dance off began.

Hot start!

"Sage!" Pansage was a natural talent at the came.

Keep It Going!

"Haha!" But Rose was able to keep up.

"Wow." Color Seth intrigued. He didn't know Rose could play Dance Dance Evolution.

Pansage was wild and energetic. He stepped on each platform with the force of a Darmanitan at a house party. Meanwhile, Rose was more refined and methodical with her moves. Graceful and ladylike, Rose's dance style was a stark contrast to Pansage. Both their scores kept increasing.

"Ow…" Limping on scene was Haru. Bandages were being worn over fresh cuts and bruises created by the beating he received at the hands of Noah and the gamers. He even wore a sling to add comedic touch. "Huh?" Haru stumbled upon the sight of Rose and Pansage in a dance off. "Rose found Pansage? No fair!"

"Hm?" Seth took notice of Haru's presence before looking back at Rose. To be honest, Haru getting beaten up wasn't an unfamiliar sight. It seemed to happen ever so often.

"Sage." Pansage looked to the scoreboard. Rose was beginning to get the upper hand. "Rrr…" Pansage gritted his teeth. Losing to Rose after doing all that teasing would be humiliating.

'All I have to do is keep it up.' Rose was confident in her victory.

Meanwhile, Summer and Winter had stopped their fighting. Realizing Seth was no longer with them, they searched the arcade for him and Pansage.

"Seth."

"And Pansage."

The twins finally found who they were looking for.

"What's going on?" Summer questioned as she began spectating the dance off.

"Rose and I are going to capture Pansage." Seth answered.

Amazing Dance Moves!

Pansage's score was beginning to catch up with Rose. A drop of sweat rolled down the 5 year old's face.

"Hey, what's going on here?" The last person to join the group was Yumi. She'd given up capturing Pansage, so she went about her business. Yumi always adored Dance Dance Evolution. In fact, she was the only one in the group who played it with regularity. She played it whenever they came to SAGE Arcade. Seth and Haru have never joined Yumi for a dance; probably because they always played Virtual Fighter. "Woah, its Rose! And is that Pansage?"

Upon eyeing the rest of the group, Yumi joined them in spectating the match.

"Sage…!" Pansage gritted his teeth. Even though he closed the gap between his and Rose's scores, the song was coming to an end.

Thirty Seconds Left! Give It All You Got!

Pansage's eyes widened. His sense of urgency had just increased tenfold. "SAGE! SAGE! SAGE!" Expending all of his energy, he danced at an even faster pace than before.

"Pansage is really giving it his all." Yumi was impressed.

Seth had his arms crossed. Though he wished for Rose's victory, Pansage was playing right into his strategy.

Ten Seconds Left! Just A Little More

Pansage was on the brink of snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. "SAGE! SAGE! PANSAGE!"

Rose became uneasy. 'I must keep my composure. I am on the brink of victory!'

"SAGE! SAGE! SAGE!"

Nine!

Eight!

Seven!

Six!

Five!

Four!

Three!

Two!

One!

Game!

Rose versus Pansage…who won?

Rose took a deep breath. She did well in remaining calm and composed throughout the showdown.

"Saahh…" Meanwhile, Pansage was drenched in sweat. He huffed and puffed like a big bad Lycanroc.

Winner!

The screen displayed the name of the winner.

"No way!" Summer was impressed.

"I can't believe it!" As was Winter.

"Who knew this game could get this intense?" Haru was thinking about trying Dance Dance Evolution for himself someday.

"Those two were amazing!" Seeing Rose and Pansage dance had Yumi excited to get on the dance floor herself.

The winner…wasn't going to change what Seth would do next. Pansage was exhausted, giving Seth the perfect opportunity to make his move.

"Pokeball, go!"

Seth threw his Pokeball. When Pansage hit, he was dragged inside the Pokeball. Exhausted, the Grass Type offered no resistance to being captured as the Pokeball clicked shut.

"WHAT?!" Haru was dumbfounded. "You waited until Pansage got tired to capture it?!"

Seth calmly walked on stage and picked up the Pokeball. He then looked to Rose, grabbed her by the hand, and said, "Come with me."

….

Location: Albuquerque Bridge

"Where are we going?" Rose asked.

Seth led Rose outside. The early afternoon had long since passed. The clouds blanketing the sky in the morning were long gone, allowing for a bright and quaint sunset to grace the town of Prypiat. Businesses were starting to close for the day, and people were beginning to head home.

"I just want this moment to be special." Seth answered. "After all, I'm your guardian angel."

"My guardian angel…" Rose's heart fluttered.

Seth stopped on Albuquerque Bridge, a bridge named after Prypiat's sister city in a far off land. The bridge stood over a creek filled with water, and separated downtown Prypiat from the town's Central Residential District. Though clouds were not in the sky, clumps of snow could still be seen on the bridges rails, as well as the trees whose leaves have long since fallen. The canal, the snow, and the sunset made for a somewhat whimsical and magical atmosphere. It was the perfect setting for Seth.

Yumi, Haru, Summer, and Winter followed the siblings.

"Rose." Seth faced Rose.

The sunset could be seen through her beautiful blue eyes.

Seth held out Pansage's Pokeball to Rose. "Like I said, Pansage is my early Christmas Gift to you."

"Brother…" Rose's eyes started to water. She had to keep from crying tears of joy.

"Merry Christmas, Rose."

Yumi smiled. "You know, I think its great that Rose is the one who got Pansage."

"As much as I wanted Pansage, Rose could really use his company while we're all at school." Even Haru was happy for Rose.

Yumi and Haru…Summer and Winter…they all found this moment wholesome. Leave it to Christmas to bring out the best in people…Even though Christmas had yet to come.

When the clock strikes midnight, Seth will have 6 days left to prevent the disaster fated to befall Pyrpiat…But he has no recollection of being told this ultimatum in the real world. What will become of him and Rose? What will become of his Mother, Flora? And what will happen to Prypiat?

To Seth, nothing else mattered in the world right now. All that mattered to him was seeing his younger sister happy. Rose accepted her Christmas Gift and hugged her brother.

It was a happy ending to a happy day.

To Be Continued…

Author's Note:

Virus Version is ten years old now. Amazing how much changes in a decade. There wasn't a day where this story wasn't on my mind. I think about it constantly, drafting up the story as I go.

Give my DeviantArt a look. It contains designs of a few Virus Version characters. My username is WeSRoYaL