Some stories are happy, others are sad. Some stories have heroes and villains, winners and losers, but not this story. This story isn't happy or sad. There is no hero nor villain and whilst there are no losers, nobody wins. This tale is from an age long-forgotten, but you need to hear to it.

The truth isn't easy, it can hurt. A lie can be beautiful, genuine even. Sometimes things are not as they seem. A blessing can be a curse, and this tale... is terrible proof to the fact.

This story is about a young girl who lived a long life; too long. Her blessings and her curses were too many to count, but just which was the good and which was the bad, I'll let you decide.

She was born a normal girl and she grew to be beautiful in every sense of the word. She was pretty, she was also: kind, generous, loving. She was a blessing to all who knew her. She lived in a small village in the woods. No one thought it possible that her kindness would damn her, but damn her it did.

At the age of eighteen she was strolling through the peaceful woods when suddenly the forest exploded in chaos. She screamed and ducked low, holding her arms over her head.

All around her Pokémon stampeded past, they moved around her and slowly she stood. With her blood pumping and heart racing she watched them. They sprinted past in a panicked frenzy, all shouting and screaming as they ran. Confused, she turned and noticed that all of them, from the biggest Dragonite to the smallest Joltik, were going the same way.

She'd grown up in this forest and knew many of the Pokémon, but never had she seen anything like this. She joined the stampede, sprinting barefoot after the herd, she was being quickly left behind though, until a familiar Arcanine barked at her as it dashed past.

She leapt onto Arcanine's back and they raced away into the depths of the woods. Soon they arrived in a hidden part of the forest where the trees cleared around a large lake. All around the lake Pokémon gathered, staring at a small wooden shrine.

Sliding from Arcanine's back she approached the shrine. A small Pokémon lay on the ground, its body was brown and shrivelled. Fairy-like wings sprouted from its back, they fluttered gently before stilling. The Pokémon was never to fly again.

She picked the Pokémon up and cradled it gently in her arms. She'd heard legends of the forest's guardian, but never did she think that she would actually meet Celebi. Then again, this Pokémon wasn't what the legends described. Celebi was supposed to be green, vibrant, full of life! This Pokémon had withered and was dying.

"Celebi..." she whispered.

The sprite opened its eyes, they were an incredible shade of blue, but the light in them was fading. Celebi reached up, placing its tiny hand over the girl's heart. The girl held Celebi's hand tightly. Celebi's eyes flashed and the girl heard the voice of the forest.

"Flowers die, but their beauty is passed on to all who saw them and to all they touched."

Her tears fell onto Celebi's lifeless body. She didn't know it then, she would only discover it many years later, but that day, she received the forest's blessing and its curse.

Years passed, her friends aged and died, but she couldn't join them. Time was frozen around her, she couldn't age, couldn't die; she could only live in the bitter loneliness of immortality.

It was Celebi who had cursed her, surely after all this time Celebi could bless her. She had to believe that the Celebi from all those years ago wasn't the only one, there had to be another. She spent years searching, but she never did find a way to meet her peace.

Over 300 years passed, and she had seen it all; the terrible wars of man. The land scorched with the rage of the Pokémon. Brother against brother, millions had died, but finally, peace settled. Once again the land was at rest and it was time she return to the shrine where it all began.

She walked through the woods, brushing past vines and the trees from which they hung. She leapt over a log and continued deeper. The forest was a natural maze, but she'd had 300 years to map it and now she knew it better than could be thought possible.

She emerged from the trees and found herself by a familiar lake. Tracing her way around the lake she stopped in front of an ancient shrine. The Shrine was badly weathered, its paint was peeling, and it was falling apart. She stood before the shrine and stared at it, emotionless.

"Sad isn't it?"

She turned in surprise at the voice. Before her stood a young man and beside him stood a Ninetales. He approached the shrine and knelt before it, gently running his hand over its frame.

"This shrine was once a monument to the guardian of this forest, Celebi. Now it's an old wreck. Legend says that centuries ago, before the war, Celebi used to come to this forest: The Pokémon and even the very trees themselves would dance with joy. I'm going to restore this old shrine to what it once was to let Celebi know that the war is over. Peace is here."

"I'm afraid Celebi won't visit."

He shrugged. "Doesn't matter whether Celebi visits or not, as long as it knows, if it wants, it can return home."

She smiled at the thought. "Okay then, perhaps I'll help you."

"You're certainly welcome to."

He slid a large bag from his shoulders. He began pulling out a variety of wood and tools. Herself, him and Ninetales went about restoring the shrine and by the end of the day it was once again a beautiful little shrine, built to honour the guardian of the forest.

He smiled. "Thanks for all your help. It looks good."

She didn't respond: Silent tears fell from her eyes. He noticed her crying.

"Is something wrong?"

She laughed bitterly. "To think, Celebi can travel through time, and yet, for years, this shrine sat here crying to anyone who would listen, saying; 'Time forgot me.'"

He smiled gently and approached the shrine with a carving knife in hand. Carefully he etched words into the base of the shrine. Behind him his Ninetales approached the girl and looked at her curiously. Ninetales reached out with its psychic powers and saw something about the girl that the boy could never see.

The girl, she had been forgotten by time. Ninetales felt her sadness and so, in an act of gentle kindness Ninetales broke the prison containing the girl. Ninetales took the girl's curse upon itself and before disappearing into the flow of time the girl thanked the Pokémon from the bottom of her heart.

The boy stood and turned, smiling, but the girl was gone. His smile dropped, and he looked confusedly at Ninetales. The Pokémon barked at him, he chuckled, patted it on the head and began walking.

"Come on girl, let's go home."

That young man lived a good long life, but not too long. He died happily many years later, but not before starting a family. His family lived on through the ages and watching over them was a Ninetales: A single Pokémon who shouldered the burden of being forgotten by time.

Legends say that Ninetales live a thousand years, but it all started with the one who lived forever. To this day that Ninetales still sits; in a forest, by a lakeside, in front of a shrine with an inscription that reads; To those time forgot.

So, you see, time is both a blessing and a curse, but either way it is precious. No one ever knows how much time they'll get. Forget time and it won't forget you. Don't live every day like its your last: There's only one ending and it's up to you to make it a good one.