Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. All rights belong to their respective owners.

Down Through the Linking Cable

Zinnia had watched it before. She had seen the meteor come. Watched it fall through a hole in the universe. Disappear. The masses cheered. Then the horror when the universe slit open again. Some other world's problem came. The end of the world.

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Zinnia had been there every time. She held Aster's hand. Watched the last breathes. Felt a pulse stop. Never letting her die alone.

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Zinnia had grown up with him once before. Seen the boy raised to be a man. Child to Champion. Unwilling, yet still following his father's footsteps. Watched him have everything. Watched her friend destroy the world. Again, and again, and again, and again…

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Zinnia had seen it again and again. Fires consuming the world. Lava destroying the oceans. The ground shaking at every step the legendary Pokémon took. The burning of many.

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Zinnia had watched it over and over. The world sinking. The oceans swallowing up all lands. The unrelenting hurricanes with every cry the legendary Pokémon made. The drowning of many.

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Zinnia lost her sanity. Worlds fell apart. Her changes fated it in other ways. All answers lead to death. Repeating her actions. Insanity. Hoping for a different result. Losing her again and again… Over and over…

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Then came along one world. A world that could give a broken wanderer hope. Lost in her mind, a revelation pulled Zinnia back to reality. The world could be saved. They could all live happily ever after. All it needed was a hero. A hero ready to win. And she had nothing left to lose.

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For the first time, Zinnia saw a hero. He came out of nowhere, calming the waves that threatened to destroy the world. He cut through water, swam on the back of the legendary Pokémon, and stopped the end of the world. A hero who stopped the world from ending, twice. But they couldn't do anything when the universe split open once again…

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For the last time, Zinnia saw a hero. She came out of nowhere, forcing back the fires that threatened to destroy the world. Lava receded whenever she passed, allowing her to ride the legendary Pokémon and stop the end of the world. The hero stopped it once. Stopped it twice. Then they came up with an idea to save all worlds…

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Zinnia had no remorse taking the remote from his hand. It was the trigger to end the world. She crushed it. He looked at her like she was crazy. She never denied it. He would go crazy, too, if he only understood. Her friend was long gone. The least she could do was stop him this time. Stop him every time. He held her. Brought back her sanity. It would be a happy ending for everyone.

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In one world, Zinnia reunited with Aster. The insane woman cried. Together they lived, happily ever after.

;;;

Zinnia had seen it all.

The world ending, the world thriving, the life she could have lived.

She had seen meteors and fires, floods and dragons.

She died with Aster.

She lived with Aster.

She hated her friend and the mistakes he made.

She loved her friend and met him at the end of the aisle.

She was alone.

She had a family.

She was the villain, and she was the hero.

There was no end to her journey down the Link Cable.

A different world to live in hovered at the tips of her fingers.

She went insane watching it all happen again and again.

She made her peace.

Zinnia remembers back as she watches her children playing.

She smiles.

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