How long had I been running for... No-one is following me. Why am I still running? Why couldn't I stop? I don't know. That's a lie. I know all too well.

I abandoned them.

I failed them.

Lost...

Gone...

Dead...

Because of me.

Tears stung my eyes, I couldn't see. I tripped and ate the dirt. I didn't get up. I couldn't. I lay there, in the middle of no-where, alone again. My quiet sobs shook my body as I drifted into sleep, an eternal sleep if I was lucky. I can't do this.

"Glair... Tertle... Pixie... I'm sorry, if only tears could bring you back."

*****

A dream. Like the one I had before I awoke in the Pokémon world, there was nothing, it was pitch black.

The shadows gathered and thickened, and Darkrai stood before me.

"Jacob, Palkia thought bringing you here was clever, I told him not to waste the last of his strength on you, but he didn't listen, never does! You're pathetic."

"I'm pathetic? Palkia brought me here to help you! I tried to help you! I lost everything! My friends are... They're..."

"Alive."

I looked up at Darkrai, my eyes were glistening.

"They're alive?"

"Yes, it would not have helped the Arcanine to kill them, rather he will use them against you, but you can save them."

I wiped the tears from my eyes, a determined light replacing the cold waters.

"How? What do I need to do?"

"Go to Alcarmia castle, in the Northern region of Ardua. There is a library, find the book titled 'Alcarmia; The first King". That book will tell you all you need to know."

"Right, I'll do that, I'll save them and then you Darkrai."

Darkrai nodded and said; "I look forward to it but I'm afraid I can give you no more help."

"Right, thanks for everything. And thanks for warning me about the Luxray."

...

"Darkrai?"

"Of course, you're welcome, now, go."

(Bee-do, Bee-do, Cheesy Alert! Bee-do, Bee-do)

Before I had been trying to save this world so that I could go home. But now, now I'm fighting for something more. A new strength coursed through me. I rose, and I ran, North to Alcarmia Castle.