The End or the Beginning?
By: AriesFire

Note: I do not own Pokémon. This story is told from the point of view of the Pokémon, so when they talk to each other, I'm not going to put what they actually say, just the translations.

Deep in the forest an Arcanine was walking with her son. She was very worried, but didn't want her little Growlithe to see. They carried on a conversation about what types of berries to pick for dinner, but Arcanine wasn't paying much attention to anything other than her own thoughts.

Soon they came to a clearing. "This is the place," the Arcanine said to herself. "Son, let's hurry up and get those berries on the other side," she said as she picked up the pace of their walk. She was stopped in her tracks when she heard an all too familiar rustling among the bushes to her right.

A tall figure with long white hair leapt from behind a small bush and landed in the clearing ten feet from the Arcanine. The Arcanine turned to face the figure. The figure's features were hidden because of the setting sun behind him. The Arcanine stood with her red fur accentuated by the setting sun and her eyes were shimmering. She said to her son, "Go! Run away as fast as you can and get back to the pack. Don't worry about me." The little Growlithe did as it was told. The white-haired figure reached to his belt for a Pokéball.

"Go Scizor!" the white-haired figure screamed in a deep voice. The Scizor came out of its Pokéball and entered the battlefield facing the Arcanine. The Arcanine smiled as it watched the foolish move of this trainer. "Scizor, Slash!" the trainer yelled. The Scizor jumped into the air and advanced toward the Arcanine. Just as the Scizor was moving its claw down for the impact of Slash, the Arcanine jumped out of the way. Scizor landed on the ground without making contact with Arcanine. "Scizor, Double Team!" The Scizor complied and began to move incredibly fast in a circle around Arcanine giving off the appearance the Arcanine was surrounded by thirty Scizors.

Arcanine began shooting bursts of fire out of its mouth whenever she thought she saw her foe, but to no avail. Finally, the trainer yelled out, "Scizor, Hyper Beam!" The Scizor stopped moving behind Arcanine and formed an energy ball in its claw. The confused Arcanine, turned around just in time to see the energy beam of the very powerful Hyper Beam coming towards it. Arcanine was hit head-on by the Hyper Beam and flew backward fifteen feet. It landed with a thud and threw dust up in all directions.

When the dust settled, both the Scizor and his trainer were astonished to see the Arcanine standing with little noticeable damage. Before the shock wore off, Arcanine unleashed a powerful Flamethrower from its mouth that knocked Scizor out cold.

"Scizor, return!" the trainer yelled disgustedly. He pulled out another Pokéball and threw it in front of him saying, "Go Umbreon!" The dark Pokémon came out from its ball and stared at its new opponent. The setting sun made Umbreon hard to see except for its bright gold and red markings. "Umbreon, Faint Attack!"

The Umbreon disappeared from sight. The Arcanine tried to follow it, but before it could locate any movement, the Umbreon reappeared underneath the Arcanine and hurled itself upward into Arcanine's underbelly. Arcanine squealed with pain as she flew into the air and landed hard. It wasn't noticeable, but the Hyper Beam had severely weakened the large dog-like Pokémon. The trainer now wore a smile on his face. He screamed, "Umbreon, Bite!" The little Pokémon ran toward the fallen Arcanine and sunk its teeth into the large Pokémon's neck. Blood shot out everywhere and the Umbreon became scared and jumped back towards its trainer.

"Oh no!" the trainer said as it saw the pool of blood forming under the Arcanine. "I've killed it. Umbreon, return." He ran as fast as he could back through the forest the way he came.

The little Growlithe, who hadn't gone back to the village but had stopped on a little hill near the clearing and hid from sight, ran frantically down to his mother. "Mom!" he screamed as he ran. When he reached his mother, he was surprised to see that she wore a smile on her face.

Noticing her son's confused facial expression, she said slowly, "Son, I had a prophetic dream last night in which I saw all that has just happened and bits and pieces of the what is yet to come. You will have a trainer who will be your best friend and the two of you will be more powerful than either of you can imagine. Just know that I will always be watching you. I'll always be with you. And I'm very proud of you. I love you."

"I love you too, mom," the Growlithe said trying to blink back the tears. With that said, the Arcanine rested her head on the ground, took one last living look at her son, and closed her eyes.