Chapter 8: The Death of a Friend
As I walked down Route 7, it wasn't long until the fat and ginger twerps ran up to me. I was surprise the fat twerp managed to run that fast without collapsing, but held my laughter back to myself. They wanted to show me the Pokémon Day Care, but I decided against entrusting any of my Pokémon to their care. I needed all of them to battle, after all!
Speaking of battles, there were a number of trainers along the route for me to fight, too, mostly artsy types who were around to paint the local scenery. My Ralts even evolved into a Kirlia! Thanks to my loving, talented care, my Pokémon were evolving left and right.
Along the path, I eventually came to a place called the Battle Chateau, a beautiful old manor house that was said to be a gathering place for trainers. Inside was the Gym Leader I'd beaten in Santalune City, Viola, and she asked me what my nobility title was, of all things. I snorted. Of course I had no title! It's not like I was ever rich or anything, though Viola explained that the titles weren't measures of wealth, but of battling skill, and that she believed I deserved one. I was introduced to an older man named Hennessey and the two of them talked about what a wonderful trainer I was. I couldn't help but blush beneath their praise, even though it was all true. Eventually they decided to give me the title of Baroness, can you believe it? This was apparently the lowest rank given, but I would be allowed to battle for higher rank, and I planned to, starting as soon as I could! There were a number of Barons and Baronesses around for me to practice against, and I beat them soundly, earning some serious dough in the process, too. They have been all arrogant jerks, but at least they were rich arrogant jerks. I ended up doing so well, they already decided to promote me to Viscountess!
When I left the Chateau, flushed with success, all three twerps were waiting for me. Sigh. I was hoping I wouldn't run into Ash again so soon, but he seemed happy to see me, and even wanted to battle with me against the other brats! I went ahead and agreed; I would rather have beaten Ash myself, but proving to him how good of a trainer I was by dominating in the battle against the other two would have to do. He used his stupid bird Pokémon which he hadn't even evolved yet; the dumb kid was always hesitant to evolve his Pokémon, giving me the clear advantage.I easily dominated the battle while his Fletchling was KOed. In the end, he barely made it through the battle while my Braixen was hardly scratched.
Leaving the twerps behind to discuss the battle, I moved onto Connecting Cave, never imagining the devastation that I would face within these walls.
Expecting a horde of Zubats to come after me, imagine my surprise when my first encounter was a cute little Axew! I hadn't had much luck in capturing my own Pokémon, but I thought I would attempt to capture this one, so I decided to weaken it first, sending out my Ivysaur. I kept trying to put it to sleep, but it refused to stay napping, waking up frequently and hitting me with these cute little attacks that did almost no damage. Until I angered it, anyway. It opened its mouth and sent out a huge pulse of blue and black energy that slammed into Ivysaur, engulfing his entire body.
"Ivysaur!" I cried out, running to its side, but I was too late. The attack, a powerful Dragon Rage, had devastated my poor Pokémon, and now there was nothing left but a charred corpse lying broken in the dimness of the cave.
What is this choking feeling in my chest? Is that why I can't breathe? My eyes blur over with tears and I begin sobbing uncontrollably, collapsing over the body of my dead friend. Yes, friend; he might not have had each other for long, but Ivysaur and I had grown close in these past few days. He had grown and evolved under my care, and this is how I repaid him, with death? Is this what it means to be a Pokémon trainer?
I don't know how, but I eventually managed to find my way out of the cave and back into the fading light of dusk, collapsing onto a nearby park bench. I huddled up like a little girl, with my arms clutching my knees to my chest, rocking back and forth, missing Ivysaur, wondering where I'd gone wrong.
Sometime later, it might have been minutes or hours, I felt a small hand on my shoulder and I turned my head, looking into the face of Braixen. I must have knocked the Pokéball at my belt and accidentally let her loose. Like mine, her face was also streaked with tears, but she gave me an encouraging smile and patted my shoulder. We couldn't communicate with words, but the message was clear; she trusted me to fight on.
"You could die, you know," I muttered, pulling my gaze away from her face. In reply, she jumped up on the bench and sat next to me while I composed myself.
And compose myself I did. I fought back the tears and reapplied my make-up to cover up the puffiness of my face and the redness of my eyes. No matter what happened, I was still on a mission, and I had duties to perform.
But looking into the face of Braixen, I vowed to myself that I would never again think of Pokémon as tools only to be used to achieve an end. They were my friends, and they deserved my respect.
With respect in mind, I took a few deep breaths and walked back into the cave. There in the corner was Ivysaur's body. There was no sign of the Axew. I called out Lucario and used her help in moving the body and preparing a grave. As the sunset, we buried Ivysaur on a ledge overlooking the rivers, and I called out all of my Pokémon to pay their respects before moving on.
I didn't want to enter the cave again, but I knew I had to; it was the quickest way through to the next town. Shortly after entering the cave, my transmitter began buzzing. I didn't really want another Pokémon so soon after Ivysaur's death, but I didn't have much of a choice, and soon a newly-hatched Snorunt joined my party. I put its Pokéball onto my belt with a sigh and continued on.
However, it wasn't long before I realized the entire cave trip was fruitless. Due to a recent cave-in, the cave pathway was blocked and there was no passageway through to Ambrette. Seeing my look of frustration, a nearby hiker suggested that I head back out to Route 7 and head south. It was a bit of a longer way around, but it would still get me to Ambrette. I thank him and hiked back out to the cave entrance. By now, night had fallen, and between my grief and the earlier battles, I had no strength to go any further, not even back to Camphrier to stay at the Pokémon center for the night.
Instead, I decided to pitch a tent and make camp next to Ivysaur's grave. I released my Pokémon to help me setup camp, and soon we had a fire going and we made a light dinner roasting the berries I had taken from the farm. When the moon rose and we had all eaten our fill, we piled into the tent and slept in one big ball together, my Pokémon friends and I.
