Canalave City was the location of the sixth Gym, and since they needed rest after just arriving, Eliza decided that a break was in order. 

(She regretted it immensely. If only she hadn't thought of that... if only she hadn't let her guard down...)

Thus, she and Blair took a breather and strolled around the city, enjoying the view and getting to taste a lot of different foods that Canalave City's harbor had to offer to visitors.

"Infernapeee!" 

"You're right, Blair! It's really tasty!" she chewed on the food with a smile on her face before putting the food away as she drank some water from her water bottle. The two had opted to take a shortcut to the gym, finally ready to take it down. Confidence surged in them. They weren't going to back down from this!

(Why didn't they take the scenic route? Why hadn't they taken more time to get to the gym? Maybe... just maybe, they wouldn't have lost--)

"Hey, little girl!" a rough voice suddenly called out,  and the two looked ahead to see two masked guys standing in front of them. 

"Infer..." Blair growled as she tried not to attack them on sight. They gave off bad energy. Who were they? What did they want with them?

"What do you want?" Eliza could feel a sense of discomfort in her chest. Should she run? No, that was cowardly, wasn't it? If they asked for a battle, she wouldn't hesitate to send someone out. 

(If being cowardly meant she could have saved a friend, she would have taken it.

She wished she could turn back time... If it meant she could save... She would have run far far away. She could take the scenic route after telling Officer Jenny. It was that simple...

She hated how her recklessness could get someone killed.)

"We want your stuff!" the other one said. "And we're not taking no for an answer! Houndoom, go!" 

"Koffing, go!" 

The two Pokemon leered at her and Blair, and Eliza scowled as she took two Pokeballs out, "Volt, Viva, let's take these guys down!" 

"Pachi!" 

"Weavile!"

The battle started off, and they were hopeful. The attacks were coming out strong, and they were dealing considerable damage on them. 

They were winning, and that was great! 

Then, out of nowhere...

"Houndoom, use Flamethrower on the Weavile!" 

It fell apart as Viva was hit by the attack and stumbled back. She was weak against Fire-type moves... 

Eliza cursed as a bead of sweat fell down her head. What should she do? She had to counter somehow--

"And now, use Crunch!" 

There wasn't time to issue a command. The attack was coming in, she was frozen, what should she do--

"RISU!!!!!!" 

Her heart stopped. 

That voice...

"Fernape...." Blair froze up. 

"W-Weavile?" Viva whispered. 

Eliza's eyes widened, "V-Volt?...." 

"P-Pachi..." the Pachirisu smiled weakly before falling to the ground, only to be caught by Viva as she shook his body, "W-Weavile?" 

His eyes were closed. He had a smile on his face. He... 

He wasn't breathing...

Eliza's rage exploded, and grabbed another Pokeball, "Marylin, FINISH THEM OFF! SHOW NO MERCY!" 

"Floatzel!" Marylin hadn't seen the corpse yet, and that was okay, because right now, they had to beat them up to the point of no return. Marylin didn't hesitate to pull out all the stops as she and Blair worked together with almost fluid cooperation to take down the Weezing and the Houndoom. 

For Viva, though, all the noises faded off. She could only stare at Volt's body, no longer warm or electric. Once, he was so savage and angry at her, thinking that she would destroy the little family. But he had slowly warmed up to her, let her in, became her friend, a surrogate brother. 

And now... here he was, gone, away, never to be seen again...

"W-WEAVILE!!!!!!!!" she screamed to the sky, tears falling down her cheeks as she hugged the body. This was a dream! It had to be! She had to wake up and see Volt teasing her again...

"Viva..." Eliza gently hugged her, causing her to turn her face to Eliza's chest as she sobbed, her words a jumble that she understood as questions of why, why he had done that. Why he had taken the hit. 

"INFERNAPPPPPPEEEEEE!" Blair finally took down the Weezing and snarled at the thugs as they scrambled away, screaming that they were over the top. 

Over the top?  They KILLED someone, and they had no regret? 

Sometimes, Eliza wished the world wasn't this cruel... 

She called the other two members of her team out, and the two and Marylin gasped as they finally saw the horrifying scene. 

"Floatzel..." "Toxicroak...." Marylin and Eugene gently pried Viva off Eliza and began rubbing circles on her, giving her a chance to breathe, to calm down. The Weavile was grateful for that because it brought warmth to her cold body.... And it brought back bad memories... 

With every bad memory, her heart only broke more and more. The pain wouldn't numb down no matter how hard she tried to calm down, to find some light.

Meanwhile, Kuro had flown over to Eliza and perched himself on Eliza's head, giving her comforting words through "Mothim"s here and there, helping her calm down even though the previous deaths were echoing in her mind. Zap... Crystal... Eclipse... and now Volt... a long-time member of her team... was now gone...

That left an empty slot in her team, she eventually realised after they told Officer Jenny what had happened and had written a witness report. She had promised to hunt down those thugs and arrest them. 

So, once they were dropped off at the Pokemon Center, Eliza headed to the PC and checked the two Pokemon she had in it. 

Tea... and Chomps....

She... she was sure Tea wouldn't survive. She would die....

So Chomps it was, she decided. 

But the Pokeball where Volt used to rest in... Every time she looked at it and remembered the dead body in it, she couldn't breathe, and it hurt too much. 

Her heart ached, remembering that someone who was so full of life... was now gone with the wind...

But she owed Volt a burial. A proper one, like the ones she had had for every Pokemon she had lost. 

And thus, she buried him, under the watching eyes of her team, in the forest of Canalave. There were tears. There were sad people. 

Volt had been a longtime member, and he would always be remembered for his feisty nature and determination. He wasn't the kindest, but he had a heart of gold, ready to fight for Eliza's dream.

Once the burial was over, she booked a hotel room in Canalave. All thoughts of wanting to battle the Gym Leader flew out of her mind. She couldn't bother. Why would she? She had lost someone because she had been overeager over it. She had been impatient, and it had cost Volt. Someone dear to her. 

Would she ever be okay again?... After her dream had indirectly caused someone's death... 

She wasn't sure. 

Eliza wasn't sure how to proceed from there. 

Looking up at the ceiling of her hotel, Eliza could only register one thought in the complicated knot of emotions in her heart.

What do I do now?...

venusaura It's longer than the other one at least ^^" I rushed this a lot, but what do you think?