Epilogue: Truth

I watched the snow fall beside me. The tiny hole to view the world through telling me we were climbing Mount Coronet.

I didn't know why Shay brought me here. Back to my first home. Back to where it all began.

I also didn't know how long I'd spent in the pokémon centre, numb to the world, and to every treatment Nurse Joy put me through.

What I did know, was that I was a murderer.

And not the 'defend your territory or die' kind of murder.

The 'killed another pokémon outside sanctioned battle events' kind of murder.

So it was my surprise then, when Shay insisted on keeping me. He'd taken me home for two whole days, leaving me locked in my pokéball the entire time, never quite knowing what to do with me.

Or at least, he paced before my view numerous times while asking himself that question.

If I was to spend the rest of my days locked in this pokéball, I'd deserve it.

If he was to kill me with his own hands, I'd deserve it.

If he was to abandon me atop this mountain. I certainly deserved worse than that.

Shay began the climb on the last sheer cliff. I hadn't spotted any other pokémon with him, or at least they hadn't come across my view the entire time, anyway.

Not that I could escape the ball this time to defend him if I had to. I overheard him talking to Nurse Joy about getting some form of trap, forcing the ball closed, not allowing me to release myself at any time.

I'd tried, of course, while Shay was at work for those first two days. But there was nothing I could do.

Nothing that I wanted to do, besides join Nion.

Maybe this was Shay's twisted form of justice. He always said that he'd done research on my kind. Maybe he knew I couldn't kill myself if I had a duty to attend to.

It certainly made for a fitting punishment.

Cold. Bone-chilling cold enveloped me.

I dug my claws into the stone underneath me, seeing the snow blowing outside the cave Shay had stopped in. My horn instantly told me that this storm was big, and it wasn't going to stop anytime soon.

Glancing around the cave, I saw Shay holding a long stick, the end wrapped in some material and burning brightly, giving us a source of light, a campfire crackled lightly in the middle of the cave. But off towards the back, where Shay moved, was where my attention was drawn.

Four crosses lay in a line, each one named, with a carving in the stone wall behind each cross. "This was it Luyo." Shay choked out as I moved closer to the graves. "This was where Nion and I were going the day we found you."

Shay reached into one of his bags, pulling out the red and white ball I instantly recognised as Nion's, before he placed it in the row, sticking up another cross with his name written on it. "Do you know what Nion said? Right before he died?" Shay looked at me, his eyes a horror-filled red as tears streaked down his face. "He said: 'Take me to the others… And show Luyo.'"

Shay wiped across his eyes with his sleeve. "He said: 'tell her everything that happened.'" He paused, coughing. "Do you know how hard it is? To hear that your first, and best friend, wants you to tell his killer the one story he's spent years trying to forget?

"So here it is." Shay waved an arm back, sweeping across the wall. "The mass grave of pokémon I've trained, who died just because someone else chose to kill them." Shay walked over to the leftmost cross. "You remember when Dialga and Palkia were unleashed by Team Galactic? Y'know, those two dragons that were released over three years ago? Yeah, these four died trying to stop that.

"Taokai, my Conkeldurr," Shay pointed to the first cross, "he was shot in the head by a Team Galactic sniper. Died instantly, felt no pain… I certainly didn't know he was hit until Rae screamed as she fell down the cliffside." Shay gestured to the second cross. "Who'd taken on two different Galactic Members by herself in succession. But refused to leave my side after that Golbat's Toxic." Behind the cross marked 'Rae' was an etched Heracross. Shay paused, clearing his throat. "She died in the fall, or to the cold. Or to the poison… I don't know, I told her that she'd be safer in her pokéball. But she didn't want to leave Tao's side. She loved him more than anything." Shay moved to the third cross in the line. "Mag never stood a chance. After we lost Tao and Rae, we were attacked by three grunts at once. Mag did all he could, but he physically melted under the heat of constant Flamethrowers, Embers and Fire Blasts." A simple gear was all that was etched behind Mag's cross. "Even with Nion at his side in the battle, Team Galactic simply wanted one thing: Murder." He spoke Galactic's name with enough venom to toxic a Snorlax. "And there was nothing I could do to save them, any of them. As a Pokémon Ranger, they knew the risks. I certainly did, and they were willing to give everything to help me and they stayed by me, sacrificing their lives for the hope that others may live on."

Shay took another step forward, the last cross before Nion's. "Which brings me to how Nion and I are-" He held back a sob. "How Nion and I were still alive today."

A pair of almost black wings were carved into the stone. "Not a day goes by that I don't miss Skye. She was my second pokémon, the first one I actually captured with Nion when she was but a Starly." Shay looked at me, having given up wiping away his tears, I could see the hurt, pain and suffering he had been through.

"Both Skye and Nion fought on bravely, but we couldn't do it, we weren't strong enough. We'd come in the top thirty-two in the Sinnoh League the previous year, and we still couldn't stop Team Galactic. So we hid, the three of us found this cave, wracked with grief at losing our other three friends. And then it happened.

"You remember the Staravia I had with me the day I found you? Skye was her mother's name. And it was here, on the day I lost Tao, Rae and Skye, that she laid that egg.

"Then we heard them. Team Galactic had found us, and Skye went into a frenzy, fighting everything she could to protect her future daughter. So Nion and I fled. We ran as fast as we could down the mountain, knowing that the fight was too great for us to win alone. After we got out of earshot of the fighting did we hear her final cry. Followed by what were at least three gunshots. Then silence.

"I lost a part of myself up on this mountain, along with the lives of four other pokémon. All because Team Galactic wanted to mess with Dialga and Palkia. Time and Space. But all of them gave their lives for something meaningful. Even if our attempt was in vain, they fought for what was right. And what do they have to show for it?

"Nion was all I had left. And you took him away from me just like how Team Galactic took Tao, Skye, Mag and Rae."

Shay walked past me, dropping his torch in the fire as he walked past me. rummaging through his bag, Shay took out my white pokéball, popping the ball open in his hand. "So there, now you know." His tears flowed freely once more, his voice shaky, but determined. "You know what happened to me, my pokémon and what happened to each of them." He dropped the ball on the ground between his feet. "Goodbye Luyo."

He lifted one foot up as I realised what he was doing, I charged towards Shay, trying to stop his action. "Don't try and follow me." Time froze as I watched his foot come down, cracking my pokéball into separate halves. That was it, I was a wild pokémon once more. "Because I don't want to see you again."

Shay turned away from the cave, sprinting out into the storm. I rushed after him, losing sight of my former trainer the instant he left the cave.

"Shay?" I shouted, bounding through the thick snow, feeling the heat being sapped from my body. "Shay! Don't leave me!" But it was hopeless.

He was gone.

I was alone.

And it was all my fault.

END

So, how was it?

Doesn't it just make you feel all cold and lonely on the inside?

Back when I first wrote this story, almost 6 years ago now, I wanted it to be different. I didn't believe in all the happy-go-lucky stories that lived on this site.

And so here we are. I wanted this story to be different, to have a different meaning to those who read it. And so there we have it...

One Week. Now complete.

Please let me know what you think, it would be good to hear from everyone.

And I hope now you understand why I didn't want this released tomorrow anyway.

Special thanks to Rekad for the weekly reviews/discussions. Thoroughly enjoyed our talks about Luyo.

Have a good day.