From: Andromon X or Megasomething (goola2u@aol.compostheap) Subject: [PW!] Shards of a Destiny [FINAL POST] Newsgroups: alt.games.nintendo.pokemon Date: 2001-08-06 17:13:25 PST Author's note: Yeah, it took a while. It's done. Bye! Shard had kept one pokemon when he gave everything to Kyle. A Rapidash from the Laramie Ranch now carried him back into hell, back to the place he feared most. But now was not the time for fear. So he rode. He rode to Saffron, and he didn't let himself think. Now, more than any other time, thought could prove his undoing. Even as his flaming steed thundered up the front stairs of the Saffron gym, Shard shouted the name of the beast, the only think he allowed himself to think. "SABRINA!" *** "He's here," Sabrina said to nobody in particular. "I knew this day would come. I was never timid before... Why do I fear this man now?" With a sigh, she walked to the door. *** Shard simply set the Rapidash free. He didn't need a pokemon any more. He looked at Sabrina fearfully as she came to the door, but summoned his courage as he came through. "Come in," she said. Shard merely obeyed. As he wandered in, he looked around. Psychics looked at him, seemingly afraid, and shuddered when his gaze met theirs. "It's time I told you," said Sabrina. "You're dead." *** "I still don't buy it," replied Shard. "I'm dead, and I didn't know?" "That's how I've heard it usually works," replied Sabrina. "I'm not an expert, though... This stuff creeps me out, and I wanted to make sure you stayed as far away from me and my psychics as possible. I tried to frighten you away." "So THAT'S what you had against me..." said Shard. "Yes," said Sabrina. "Everything I told you before was a lie. I'm telling you the truth now... I can't get you to leave, so I give up... You have what you want." "And I have power over you, because ghosts are strong against psychics?" pondered Shard aloud. "Good. You'll be doing me a favor." "What is it?" asked Sabrina nervously. "I want an expert," replied Shard. *** Sabrina hung up the phone and turned to the dead man who had been watching her. "Ironic how this all turned out, isn't it?" mused Shard. "So, what's the deal?" "Agatha is intrigued. She'll be at the pokemon tower tomorrow, four PM... Leave me alone, please..." Sabrina begged. Shard had never seen Sabrina beg. It intrigued him. "No. I have a question, and I'm going to ask it... You were so menacing, so cold, so fearless... Now you're a frightened child. What's going on?" Sabrina looked up at the phantom, tears in her eyes. "I... I don't want to tell you," she said. "Fair enough," said Shard. "Why are you so afraid of me?" "Ghosts are strong against psychics, and I'm not sure if this is true of humans as well as pokemon, but everything I know tells me yes. My fear is personal, though... When I was a young girl, I had a terrible experience with a giant Haunter called the Black Fog," replied Sabrina through her tears. "I didn't know," replied Shard, putting a hand on Sabrina's shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. Sabrina simply shrieked and tried to pull away, but wound up falling out of her chair. Shard looked down at her, tears now forming in his eyes as well. He looked for a few seconds before turnng to leave. "I guess it's time I go find a graveyard, then," he said. With that, he left. *** "Intriguing," said Agatha. "You died so young, and yet you wanted to train pokemon, wanted it so badly that you didn't simply pass on. You are ready now." Shard blinked. "Ready? I did a lousy job as trainer..." Agatha shook her head. "The lines on your aura do not lie. You are ready." Shard simply closed his eyes. "Send this soul on his flight to the great beyond," he recited, hoping the words Agatha had made him memorize would help. He heard the sounds of a circle of channelers around him, and what sounded like a prayer, poem, or perhaps an incantation being said by Agatha. And then his closed eyes met with a bright light. He had slipped from the world he once knew into the great beyond. His memories met with him, his true self, hes desires. And he remembered most vividly one dream in particular... He stood beside a Hitmonlee. It had come true, and Kyle Richter had been given this dream-beast. Pain Dance was in good hands. And Shard had met his fate at long last. It was time to let go. THE END. Megasomething on ATT AndromonX on AFD