Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Memories

How It All Ended...

The pain of death was already getting to me. Light flickered up from my chest, directly above my heart. My time had come. The feeling was dull at first, like a blunt blade penetrating the top layer of my skin. I ignored it, wishing it wasn't real, but it continued to grow at an unbearable rate. Ignoring it became impossible as it grew into a resonating, burning sensation that enveloped my entire being. It seeped down into my core and ate away at my soul. More light began to spill out from every pore of my body.

My partner continued to march along to her own cheerful beat in front of me. My heavy steps paled in comparison to her gleeful ones. The world was no longer in peril and everything was just dandy in her eyes. There would be no more pain, no more suffering, and no more dark future; only happiness. I couldn't bring myself to tell her until it was almost time. Ruining her bright new life with the bad news would break her heart, and seeing her cry would break mine. That was not how I wanted to go. I wanted to savor these last few moments and enjoy the fact that I had been part of a moment that would go down in history. I had saved the world from its own future—my past—and death was my reward.

I looked up, maybe for inspiration of some kind to keep trudging forward or the sign to simply stop now. I wasn't quite sure what I was searching for, but the swirling clouds and impossibly suspended chunks of rock and tower did not provide the answer. Time was beginning to flow normally again after the defeat of Primal Dialga, but the abnormal features indicated that things still weren't quite right.

A series of sudden, violent tremors that threatened to shake the ground out from under our feet reminded me of that fact. It caused Leafy to stumble. The Turtwig squeaked, "Ah! The world is falling apart." I couldn't help but laugh through the pain at my partner. She was a peach and was very easily startled. The twig atop her head quivered with fear and her head began to retract into her muddy shell.

Slowly, she emerged, and her leaves stopped shaking. She turned to her left, then to her right, then looked back at me. "I guess that's the world just settling back into place?" she hypothesized. Her eyes widened when she noticed my condition. I must have been much worse for wear than I originally thought. "Are you alright, Sophia? "

I nodded, "Let's just get back to the Rainbow Stoneship, okay?" The words were forced, barely making it out of my mouth. It felt like a flamethrower attack had enveloped me, disintegrating me down to my very core. Leafy couldn't know it until the time came. We were quickly approaching that moment, but I still couldn't bring myself to say it.

We trudged back, sore after a hard-earned victory. Each step took more effort than the last. It was impossible to tell if the prolonged steps were because I was dying or just incredibly tired. My mind settled on the fact that it was a combination of both. Light continued to flow, almost overwhelming my being now. It was time to tell her.

"Leafy, stop," I feebly ordered, "There's something I need to tell you." I swallowed the lump in my throat. Now was not the time for tears, I had to finish strong for my friend. She turned, gawking at the light that surrounded me. "Dusknoir told me something," I paused, searching for the right words, "unsettling after our fight with him."

"What did he tell you? What's wrong with you?" Her eyes sparkled with tears and understanding that something wasn't quite right.

In that moment, I knew that I had kept this to myself for too long. I had to force my words out, or risk not being able to bid my partner farewell. "It looks like," another pause, the right words struggled to come to mind through the haze of pain, "I have to say good-bye."

Tears that she had been holding back trickled out, and the leaves on her head began to droop. "What does that mean?" she asked slowly. It was bad, and she knew it. More tears from her, but still none from me. It was incredibly hard to keep it together, but I managed for her sake.

"He told me that if we changed the future, the Pokémon of the future would disappear. We changed history, which will in turn change the future; my future." I turned my head away from her view and wiped my eyes. I turned back and powered through the last bit of this horrible revelation, "Since that future will disappear, I will disappear too."

Leafy's eyes widened, crying faster and harder now. "No, no, no, no," she sobbed, "Why? Why do you have to? There has to be something we can do."

I shook my head, knowing there was absolutely nothing. I had pondered and accepted my fate before we even started climbing Temporal Tower. I came to terms with it as we dealt the final blows to Primal Dialga, and now it was Leafy's turn to do the same.

"I want to thank you for everything, but I do have to disappear." I bowed my head, letting more light wash over me. This was it.

Suddenly, an idea popped into my head. I had to get the words out quickly or risk not giving Leafy the chance to have me with her forever. "Actually, there is something you can do."

Leafy's eyes snapped up to me from the ground. "Yeah, of course, anything for you, Sophia!"

"You have to go home and tell everyone of our journey. The whole world needs to know what happened here so that nothing like it will ever happen again. Never forget me, and I promise that I will also never forget you. Preserve me in your heart and in the memories of all Pokémon. Let me serve as a reminder of the dark future." I deemed that that was a good final wish. Leafy would never be without me this way.

She still shook her head. "No, I can't do it without you. You're the only reason I'm here; you made me strong." She couldn't finish her thoughts and was stammering to get more out. "I don't know what," she stopped, "what I would do without you."

"No, Leafy, you have to be strong. Go on and live! You can be strong on your own, you don't need me anymore." I felt more weight pressing down on me. My heart felt like it was struggling to beat, and my head was dizzy; my final moments were upon me.

Leafy yelped the second my body hit the ground. My long ears flopped lazily to the dirt and stone beneath me, and the matted puff of cream-colored fur on my chest raised and lowered slower and slower with each breath I struggled to take. I was still conscious, but I wasn't sure how much longer it would last. "Again, thank you for all of our great adventures. It was a blast, and I am so glad I got to know you, Leafy."

Leafy rushed over to me and curled up next to me. She placed her head on my stomach, letting my soft fur envelop her. "Thank you too, Sophia, for everything."

My eyes closed, and the pain ceased. I was nothing but a memory now.