Swanna Girl and Braivary Man 3: The Rogue Hero

Epilogue

Feathers swirl around me, almost as if I'm standing in the middle of Swanna's Hurricane attack, a move he learned a while ago. I try to make sense out of what kind of Pokémon those feathers belong to as they're different from one another. The white ones are clear; they belong to my Swanna. As for the navy and crimson ones, those feathers are from a Braviary I know too well. There is only one feather that throws me off. It always catches me off guard every time I have this nightmare.

It's a small feather, curved slightly with a light green melting into a yellow. My eyes are fixed on it as I continue to stare at it, afraid it would disappear the second I blink. It's an important feather, and it's not important because of it's known power. Most items work that way. There are hidden abilities in everything. The power that an item may seem small, but in the wrong hands, it can cause collateral damage.

My hand tries to reach for it, but every time my hand draws closer to it, the green and yellow feather flies away. I follow it with my eyes, seeing a man snatch it with his hand. My body freezes as a sly grin creeps on his face.

"You're the cause of all of this," he tells me in the nightmare. I know it's a nightmare because I come across this scene a lot, but that doesn't stop the same old dialogue from happening. "If it wasn't because of you, he wouldn't be dead."

The man glances down, and as he does, he drops the feather he had previously caught. It floats down to the ground where a man is in a pool of red. His hair is damp with sweat from the previous battle. Despite all the strength he lost from it, the young man turns his head to look at me. His lips curl into a small smile, but in his uniquely colored eyes, all I could see is fear.

It's fear as death wasn't something this man deserved. While it's all a nightmare, I knew it was all true. There's no way of bringing this man back, no matter how much I want him here with me.

I try to take a step towards him. I should be there with him, but the feather that lay on his body floats away. My eyes trail it, knowing I have to make a decision. Either I can help the man, or I can chase the feather. The feathers that fly around me seem to make the decision for me. Every time I would take a step closer to the man, the feathers would poke my body, causing a lot of pain. They didn't do that when I turned to chase the feather.

No matter what, I will come back for him, I told myself. I have to make things right this time.

My legs carried me towards the feather. The moment I grab it, the Swanna and Braviary feathers disappear. I feel a moment of relief before I turn back. When I turn around, I regret it. The only thing I see in the distance is the man. His face has now grown to be as pale as a Vanillite.

"Don't worry about me," he tells me. "At least I got the chance to meet you. Maybe in another life, things will be better."

Those weren't the last words he's spoken to me, but this nightmare makes it seem like that was the last thing he said. I want to run to him, but it's already too late. His body starts to fall apart drifting with a breeze that must've been here. It's not all at once that the man disappears. His body tears apart piece by piece as if it's nothing more than sand. At least that gave me a chance to look into those unforgettable eyes that separated him from nearly every person on this planet.

"The worst part of it all," I told the woman as I truly open my eyes, forcing myself out of that situation, "it's that I couldn't do anything. All I can do was sit and watch it happen. It was just like that day five years ago. Shouldn't they have stopped? Shouldn't I be over this?"

The woman sitting across from me lowered her notepad to the small coffee table beside her before she pushes aside a lock of light green hair behind her ear. I watch her as she leans over her knees, resting her forearms on top of her legs.