Taipan put up a good fight. My heart pounded as my body felt like I had ran all day without stopping for a breather. I wasn't even the one doing all the fighting. It was all up to my Pokémon. Seeing how hard they were battling just exhausted me. I didn't even give Liligant any words of command. She wasn't really mine to begin with. All I worried about was Swanna, which wasn't that hard.

Surprisingly enough, when White Kyurem got back up during the fight, it seemed to become two times stronger than before. After the fall it took, I didn't know what to expect. I guess I just didn't expect White Kyurem to be so powerful. The moves it would use were just too strong.

"Swanna," I yelled, "Use ice beam!"

The Pokémon opened his mouth and hit Gengar head on. The Pokémon got some damage, but Gengar didn't seem to be frozen like I had hoped. Guess ice beam didn't always freeze an opponent though.

It would be nice if that could happen.

Taipan smirked, "Nuh-uh uh, sorry about your luck, but it's going to take more than that. Time to have all courage dissolve, and time to now mega evolve!"

Taipan grabbed something from his pocket as the light quickly escaped from it. When it finally disappeared, Gengar had somehow vanished. The Pokémon that took Gengar's place was even more terrifying. The Pokémon had a third eye, which was completely yellow with a dilated pupil in the middle. It smiled, but it wasn't the kind of smile like when Rudi saw Castelia Cones. No, this one made my whole body freeze as if I was standing in the middle of winter without a coat, standing face to face with death itself.

I trembled at the sight of it. How could anything look like this? It's purple body reminded me of Gengar's, but the the dark ruby color that was on it's arms—were they even arms—came out of warned me it couldn't be.

Cackling was the only thing that snapped me out of it as I turned my head, seeing Taipan with a matching smile, "Welcome to your worse nightmare, Mega-Gengar, you know what to do to her. White Kyurem, use dragon pulse."

Nothing came out of my mouth, not even a single breath as a wall of purple gas flooded towards me.

Then, darkness came.

I wasn't familiar with many Pokémon attacks, but this was a move I surely wasn't familiar with. What kind of move made everything disappear? Confusion? Hypnosis? I wasn't even sure. Whatever it was, I couldn't see a thing.

I turned around, looking for a way out, but I didn't see a thing. My body shook as I tried taking a step forward, only to hear a scream behind me. Twirling around, I saw nothing. Only purple smoke and the black sky surrounded me. All of my Pokémon, Taipan, and his Pokémon, they had all disappeared.

Once again, I was alone, just like that time in the basement. No one could save me now.

An evil laughed cracked through the soundless barrier. My heart pounded as I tried looking around, trying to find a way to escape. This desolation that surrounded me was slowly eating its way inside me, as if trying to give me the most painful death ever imaginable. This wasn't fair. Attacks were only meant for Pokémon. People weren't supposed to get caught up in this. It was far too dangerous.

Whatever move Taipan had used had cloaked me in total darkness. I wanted out, but how could I? I felt like I was living a nightmare. Moves like this never affected a Pokémon's mental ability. Surely there was something in my nursing notes I had written down at some point that could get me through this mess. Nothing came to mind.

My heart pounded harder and harder until that was all that filled my ear drums. How do I get out of this? I needed to get out of this.

No where to run and nowhere to hide, a familiar voice threatened, We won't be stopped. Evil doesn't rest.

No! Get out! I wanted to scream, but I felt something tugging in my throat, preventing me to even open my mouth. My hands tucked into the pockets of my cloak, until I felt something inside. Audino's Poké Ball. I needed to stay calm. I wasn't alone.

My eyes squeezed shut as I tried to not to think of what was going on. Audino would need me alive. There were people out here that needed me.

Unova needed me.

Sylvia, An oddly familiar voice sang, My sweet Sylvia.

I turned around, seeing an image of a young man and a young woman looking at me. Their smiles were brighter than anything I've ever seen before. My eyes blinked. They looked familiar, but how? The man had dark brown hair, combed to the side, with dark eyes that looked as if they've seen more than what people saw in a lifetime. Seeing him felt strange, as he couldn't stop smiling at me. Beside him, a woman with black hair tied in a bun looked down at something she had cradled in her arms.

Look at our daughter, Andrew, The woman proudly said, smiling, She's going to be strong.

My eyes widened. Andrew, that was my fathers's name. That couldn't be a coincidence, could it? The woman laid her head on the man's shoulder as he looked down, Look at her, The man claimed, I've never seen anyone so calm.

If I could pause any moment, The woman proclaimed, it would be this one. I want to make sure our daughter is safe from harms way.

Jena, you know if she is anything like you, trouble will find her.

How much longer do we have? My Mom asked.

That doesn't matter. Sylvia Gray, if you could ever remember one lesson from us, it is that you are stronger than you think. We love you, Sylvia. You will always be loved.

Just like that, they rolled away like leaves in the winds. My eyes filled with tears. I was so young and blind to see what was going on that I forgot about them. I didn't know if it was a memory I saw, or if it was the Pokémon trying to play tricks on my mind, or something else that couldn't be explained. Either way, it didn't matter as one thing was for sure.

I pulled out the Poké Ball from my pocket and threw it out. The burst of light blinded me for a moment, but when it faded, all the darkness and purple fog disappeared. Three Pokémon stood protectively in front of me, one of which was a fully healed Audino. After what he's been through, I didn't even expect him to be standing on his feet. Now, he looked like he didn't even earn a scratch.

Glancing down at the Heal Ball he was kept in, I realized why. Rena never seized to amaze.

"What? That's not possible!" Taipan yelled.

Taking a deep breath, I didn't even retaliate. Instead, I gave my next set of attacks.

Everything made sense. Whatever I saw was supposed to make me feel worse. That mega—whatever Taipan called it—was supposed to be manipulative enough to create a vision worse than imaginable. Of course, that plan just backfired on him.

"Swanna use ice beam. Liligant use energy ball. Audino," I said, pointing at the horrifying Pokémon in front of me, hoping this would somehow work, "Use attract."

The attacks merged together, running side by side until they all hit the new Pokémon that Taipan had out in front of him. His eyes widened as he didn't even call for an attack. Once attracted hit, the Mega-Gengar couldn't move. It was frozen to the ground while looking lovingly into Audino's eyes.

I don't think I've ever seen something so disturbing before.

"You'll pay for that!" Taipan declared, "I'll make sure you and all you're Pokémon feel my wrath. I'm not finished. Mega-Gengar shadow ball. White Reshiram, use ice beam."

Regardless of how this Mega-Gengar felt, she still threw out a shadow ball. I frowned, seeing the ice beam merge into the attack to make it even more powerful. This only meant one thing.

"Swanna use Aerial Ace! Liligant dodge and use Energy Ball! Audino dodge with Double Team!" I yelled.

I didn't realize my mistake until it was too late. All my Pokémon dodge the attacks, but I failed to learn one thing from Team Miasma and their tactics. I've learned about it day one when I first met Ducklett. I could still feel the attacks whenever I thought about it. This entire summer, I knew that Team Miasma was never going to stop with a simple Pokémon battle.

They made sure Trainers felt the pain too.

By the time I realized this, it was too late. The attack hit me right in the stomach and pushed me back a few feet until I fell down. The pain rolled through me, as I felt the frostbite rolling around.

I should've known.

"I remember you now," Taipan gloated.

I looked up, watching the man walk towards me as our Pokémon fought without orders behind him. His face grinning ever so slightly.

"You're that girl from the Pokémon Center. Tsk tsk. How embarrassing to call yourself a superhero. Looks like you didn't even take the message to stay out of this," The man claimed, pulling out a knife from his back pocket.

If I'd scream, my Pokémon would come in a heartbeat, but that would also mean that this man would probably still get away with it. How many lives did he have to take to be happy? First my Swanna, and now, possibly mine. If I made a sound, my Pokémon would come over to try and protect me.

There was no way I was going to let any one else die because of me. Besides, there wasn't anything I could do as my body started to freeze from the ice. My eyes watched as Taipan walked over, raising the knife in his hand. This was how it was going to end for me, even if I wasn't defenseless, to take someone's life wasn't something I could ever live with.

I just kept my eyes on that knife, accepting my fate.

That was when a blue blur swooped out of nowhere and tackled Taipan to the ground. My eyes widened as two thoughts came into my mind. Either Swanna had made a comeback, or Rudi came in the nick of time to help out.

I turned my head to see who it might have been, and was a little disappointed. The person came running with the weird key Pokémon by her side and another odd looking flying-type Pokémon that flapped it's wings. I must've been mistaken about the color as the blur had to have belonged to the Mismagius.

"Lantana!" Taipan gasped, "Perfect timing. Help finish her off."

The ex-member of Team Miasma gave Taipan a cold stare, "Mismagius, use astonish."

I looked back at Taipan, seeing his face widened in fear, "You don't know what you're doing."

Laughter escaped Lantana's mouth, "Oh, as you said before, I believe I do."

My whole body tensed as my eyes squeezed shut, right before I heard Taipan scream in agony. Attack after attack, I started to drown out Lantana's voice. Instead, all I heard was Taipan screaming in agony. I felt my heart started to race  the moment the screaming stopped.

My head lowered to the ground, seeing the sand roll around. A part of me knew never to trust Lantana the moment she helped Rudi and I out of their base. I should've called the cops about her the moment it all happened, though, I didn't have a phone or a Xtransciever.

Taipan was a bad guy—for crying out loud, he wanted to practically kill everyone in this region—but that didn't mean he deserved death. Everyone had to have some good in them, didn't they?

But knowing that I didn't do anything to stop Lantana was the worst. I glanced over, seeing Taipan's lifeless body laying there.

A dull push entered my side. I turned my head, seeing Lantana's feet just inches away from my side.

"I've got what I wanted," Lantana declared, "You should be able to handle the rest from here."

Her feet leapt up in the air, forcing me to look up. When I did, it was already too late. Lantana was already gone.

All that was left was the screaming from the Pokemon fighting. I forced myself to look up, even if my body shivered more and more. My head turned to see Taipan's lifeless body lay in the sand not far away from me.

There was nothing I could do to save him.

Despite Taipan being a villain, I don't think he deserved to die. I mean, he had his reason for being evil; albeit creating an evil organization and destroying the world isn't the right thing to do, I could see why he did it. All he needed was to be shown a different path in life.

Maybe Taipan could be good for once, but that was too late for that. Wherever Lantana was, she had ended his life without giving me a chance to convince him there was another way. There always was another way, wasn't there?

I looked up, noticing that Mega-Gengar Pokémon was gone. The Pokémon I knew as Gengar was all that was left, and even then, the Pokémon fled as fast she could, knowing that she and her Trainer had officially lost the battle. If only the same could be said about White Kyurem. The Pokémon used attack after attack, trying to catch my Pokémon off guard. Of course, three on one sounded like good odds, but the legendary was just too powerful.

A different attack came from nowhere, hitting the White Kyurem, but I started to feel my body shake even more. I could feel my vision starting to come and go when someone grabbed me by my back and legs and lifted me up.

"Don't worry," An unfamiliar masculine voice confirmed, "We've got it from here."

Author's Note:

Thank you so much for reading and supporting the book. It's very appreciated. Love you all. 

Hope you're having a great day. Take care!