The night was cold and the wind did not stop blowing. It was a dark, stormy December night. Volkner was walking down a deserted boulevard on his way home from work. He wasn't far from home; his apartment was just around the corner. Though he was wearing a long coat, the winter air still chilled him to the bone.
A strong wind blew. Snow was starting to fall. Even though Sunyshore did not normally receive much snowfall, it had been an unusually cold winter this time around.
"Well, tonight's exceptionally cold," Volkner muttered to himself. "Feels more like Snowpoint." He rubbed his freezing hands together.
He had now reached the front gates of the Emerald Buildings apartment complex. There was only a middle-aged security guard inside the guards' station there, and he was in a very deep slumber. As Volkner walked closer to his apartment, he saw it: a glint of white that was not a snowflake falling to the ground.
It was a she. A girl was standing on the rooftop of one of the buildings. He ran closer, calling out to her.
"Hey!" he shouted. There was no answer. The wind was blowing stronger and becoming fiercer. In spite of that, he fought it to take a closer look at the girl. She was petite, brown-haired and…very familiar to Volkner. The girl was standing on the edge, ready to jump of the rooftop. She was wearing nothing but a white nightdress, which made her look ghastly. It was as if she wanted to commit suicide.
Worried that she might jump off any second, Volkner rushed inside the building. He looked in vain for a working elevator and so had to run up the stairs. Hitherto his mind was racing.
What if I fail to save her? What is wrong with her? And why does she look so…familiar? he thought. He was certain that he had seen her before. Perhaps she had been a friend. But while growing up in Sunyshore, he had not been much of a social butterfly. His only best friend was Flint – by now the Fire-type trainer of the Sinnoh Elite Four – who was his main rival during their childhood.
Cudgel his brains as he might, Volkner could not remember where and when the girl had been in his life. But more importantly, he thought, her life is in danger. He had to help her. He had to save her.
He had reached the rooftop door, panting heavily. His heart pounded against his chest rapidly like the blades of a helicopter. Hoping that she would still be there, Volkner wrenched the doorknob and swung it wide open.
He immediately recognised the girl when he saw her up close. She was Jasmine, the Olivine Gym Leader – and Volkner's long-lost childhood friend. In fact, they had been best friends. She was the one who showed him around Olivine when he had first moved to Johto from Vermilion, Kanto. Unfortunately, their friendship did not last long. Volkner's father, who was in the army, had to send him to Sunyshore to live with some relatives only after a very short time together. They had never seen each other since, even during Gym Leader conferences. Until now.
"Jasmine," he called. "Jasmine, it's me, Volkner." There was silence. She did not even turn to look at him. "Remember me? We used to be best friends."
There was still no answer. The howling winds were almost gale-like, whipping Jasmine's hair and dress. She remained fixed as a statue, still as stone. Her arms were spread out beside her, as if she wanted to soar in the sky above.
Volkner walked towards her, scarcely making a sound. His long coat billowed around him in the gale. He stood right beside her, reaching his hand out to her. But as he tried to grab her shoulder, she started to fall. His heart skipped a beat. He froze for a second, shock and disbelief flooding his veins. Then he waved his hands at the spot where Jasmine previously stood.
Realising that she had indeed fell down, he screamed, "No!!!" and took off at a run. He raced down the stairs, hoping against hope that she would not die from the fall.
Please don't die, oh, Jasmine, please don't die…he thought. However, he knew it would take a miracle to survive after falling from a building five storeys high. He heard a loud thud and the sound of breaking bone. It was a sickening crunching sound. He shuddered at the thought of seeing her die. No, Jasmine, please don't die…
Jasmine was mangled and broken at the foot of the building. Blood was spilling out of her body, staining her white dress and turning the snow a vivid dark red. He could not believe that the senseless girl before him was the same as the lively one whom he spent endless summer afternoons with, skipping rocks on Route 40.
"Are you all right, Jasmine?" Volkner asked, searching his coat for his mobile phone. There was, again, no answer. But of course, she was unconscious. He immediately called the ambulance.
"Good evening. This is the Sinnoh ambulance service. How may I be of assistance?" a pleasant female voice answered the call.
"Hello. This is Volkner," he replied. "Please, you've got to – "
"Sunyshore's Gym Leader?" The voice sounded surprised and excited.
"Yes, it's me. The Shining, Shocking Star…" He heard and audible "Wow!" at the other end of the line. 'Please, you've got to be quick,' he repeated. "There's a girl here at Emerald Buildings, she's just jumped off the building and she's bleeding so much, please, you've got to come here quickly…"
"Of course, we'll send an ambulance to – where is it? Oh, yes, Emerald Buildings. We'll be there right away," the voice said. All he could do then was to wait. He was desperate to get to the hospital in time, or Jasmine would not survive.
He waited. And waited. The wind had stopped blowing. Not a single thing was stirring. There was silence except for Jasmine's shallow breathing and Volkner's pulsing heart. Each second felt like an hour to him. He checked his watch surreptitiously and glanced at Jasmine every few seconds.
After an agonising ten minutes, the ambulance finally arrived. Two paramedics worked to carry Jasmine to the vehicle. They, like Volkner, were surprised to see her. After all, she was a Gym Leader as well.
"Er…I'd like to come with Jasmine to the hospital," Volkner said to one of the paramedics, a thin man in his late twenties with shoulder-length dark hair.
"Sure," replied the paramedic. "Hop in."
So Volkner stayed with Jasmine on the way to the hospital. When they arrived, he remained at her side as doctors tried to mend her injuries. All the while he felt extremely anxious. He did not want her to die. He did not want his last memory of her to be a gruesome one.
Speaking of memories…Volkner thought. He closed his eyes, remembering his first day in Olivine. He had just arrived on the SS Aqua from Vermilion. As soon as his father finished hauling their things, he asked, "May I have a look around? Sir?"
"Yes, son, but be back by eight," was the reply.
Volkner got on his bicycle and cycled towards the Glitter Lighthouse. When he got there, he saw a brown-haired girl parking her own bicycle. She wore a light green sundress and had her hair held back by an orange hair clip.
"Hi there," she said. "You know, I haven't seen you around here before."
"Hey," Volkner said. "I just moved here, from Vermilion."
"So you're Lt. Surge's son…aren't you?"
"Yeah, I guess. I was adopted really. My name's Volkner, by the way," he added.
"I'm Jasmine." There was a rather awkward pause. "So…what are you doing here anyway? I thought your dad's Gym Leader in Vermilion."
"He's, er, sending me here to live with some relatives…but not for long. He said something about going to Sinnoh, but…"
"What I meant was, what are you doing here? At the lighthouse?" She raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, I don't know. Just having a look around, I guess."
Jasmine smiled upon hearing Volkner's words. "Come with me. I've got something to show you."
"What is it?" he asked. "Would you tell me?"
Jasmine shook her head. "Just wait and see. Your dad trains Electric-types, doesn't he? So I bet you'll love this."
What is she trying to show me? he thought. "All right, I'm coming," he said, shrugging his shoulders.
Jasmine led Volkner to the topmost deck of the Glitter Lighthouse. It was entirely circular and walled by windowpanes from floor to ceiling. In the middle of this deck was a circular room, with prisms as walls. Volkner saw the outline of a Pokémon, yellow in colour with a white underbelly as well as black stripes on its neck, ears and tail.
"Do you want to see it? You can't get it in Kanto at any rate, you know," Jasmine added, opening the door. She walked into the room, Volkner following suit.
"Is this…an Ampharos?" he asked.
"Yeah. It's called Amphy," she replied. "It powers the lighthouse, you know."
"It looks great!" Volkner said, stroking Amphy's head. "Paluu! Paluu!" it cried.
"Amphy likes you," Jasmine giggled.
"Wow, thanks for showing it to me."
Just then, Volkner was awakened from his slumber. He did not even realise that he had been sleeping. It was a doctor who woke him up.
"Volkner?" The doctor was brown-haired and wore wire-rimmed glasses.
"How's Jasmine doing?" There was the slightest edge of panic in his voice.
"Ah…we've managed to cast her broken limbs and also to bandage her head. She's still in a coma, though. But don't worry, I'm sure she'll make a full recovery."
"Thank you," Volkner said, relieved. "Where is she now?"
"She's in the ICU ward on the sixth floor."
Volkner bolted for the elevator and soon found himself on the sixth floor. He rushed to the Intensive Care Unit ward, knocking over a few people and some medical equipment along the way.
When he got inside, he saw Jasmine, still unaware of his presence. She was hooked to an IV machine. Her left arm and leg were put it casts. She looked as if she was hovering on the edge of life and death, yet she wore a serene expression on her face.
Thank heavens she's still alive, he thought. Jasmine stayed comatose for two weeks. During that period, Volkner stayed with her. There was something about her that attracted him. Maybe it was the peaceful way in which she seemed to sleep. Maybe it was her lustrous brown hair. Maybe it was…
Day by day passed. On the sixteenth day since that dark night, Jasmine finally opened her eyes. It was late morning, but even so, the sun's rays were faint.
"Good morning, Jasmine," greeted a nurse, who was attending to her.
"Hi there," Jasmine responded. "How did I get here? And…where is here, anyway?"
"Oh, dear. You didn't remember? This is the Sunyshore Hospital."
"Sunyshore Hospital?" she repeated. Then she remembered that night, that dark night at Emerald Buildings. "That night…I should have died. What happened?" She only remembered wanting to jump off, and a whisper of a voice. Was that…?
"Our Gym Leader spotted you and, well, rushed you here." The nurse jerked her head in the direction of the sofa. Jasmine turned to look and sure enough, there was a blond man in a blue jacket and dark jeans – Volkner.
"Hello, Volkner…" she said.
He was so shocked and surprised to hear her voice. "Jasmine, you're finally awake," he said, smiling. He took up a seat beside her, running a hand through his hair. The nurse promptly turned on her heels and walked away, closing the door behind her.
"Yeah, but I can't do much now I'm all broken into pieces." She smiled, too.
"I never thought the Steel-Clad Defence Girl would, you know, get in this kind of – " he paused, looking for the right word, " – situation. What happened?"
Jasmine's expression changed. Silence followed. She had no idea how to break it to him. "Volkner…"
"What is it? Do you remember what happened that night?" he hastily changed the subject.
"No, not really," was her tentative reply. "I thought I heard you, but then I thought it wasn't real."
"Why? Why did you do it, Jasmine?"
Once more, there was silence.
"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" Volkner really wanted to know what had brought a change in this sweet, petite girl who was his childhood friend.
"No…it's just that it's – difficult – to explain." She said it slowly and sighed.
"Try me. It's okay. I've been through a bad time myself, just ask Flint." He was, of course, referring to the time where his lack of interest in battling caused him to be reduced to an empty shell, or so Flint called it.
"Oh, all right…remember Amphy?"
"Yeah, sure." Noticing Jasmine's dour expression, he added, "What's wrong?"
"Amphy's…dead, Volkner." Her voice broke at the word 'dead', and tears welled up in her blue eyes.
He remembered that day. He remembered Jasmine giggling, "Amphy likes you." He could not believe that the Ampharos had succumbed to the dark depths of death.
"No. Really?" Volkner put his arms around her small frame. "Jasmine, please don't cry…"
She pulled herself together, wiping tears out of her eyes. "It had been sick for so long…if only I'd gone to Cianwood myself to get some medicine…it's too late now, but I couldn't bear being away from it…"
"I'm sorry…I mean, you could've told me about it sooner. I used to live in Olivine too, you know."
"It's okay, Volkner. There's nothing you can do about it now…" Her voice trailed off.
"Was that why you became, er, depressed?"
"I guess so. Erika told me to go to the psychiatrist, but of course, I refused. I didn't want to accept that I was suffering from depression."
Volkner stroked Jasmine's long brown hair. It smelled like spring. In fact, it smelled like jasmine in spring. "Jasmine…you shouldn't have been so stubborn."
"I regretted it ever since."
"But you have everything to live for," he said. "…you have a loving family. Pokémon that care for you and that you care for, and your Gym Leader job…"
"After Amphy died," she paused, shuddering slightly at the word, "I felt like I was empty. Like a light that's been snuffed out…like I should end my life."
"But Jasmine," Volkner said in a soft, persuasive tone befitting his quiet voice, "Life is worth living. Remember that. You should enjoy life because it can end in two seconds…besides, you've got me now," he added. He then let go of her, resuming his seat.
"Volkner…thank you for saving me from the darkest night of my life. I'll never forget it for as long as I live."
She closed her eyes and soon drifted away into a deep sleep.
"You're welcome, Jasmine," he said as he kissed her on the cheek. Her lips curled into a smile.
"And I promise to be your guardian angel from now on."
A strong wind blew. Snow was starting to fall. Even though Sunyshore did not normally receive much snowfall, it had been an unusually cold winter this time around.
"Well, tonight's exceptionally cold," Volkner muttered to himself. "Feels more like Snowpoint." He rubbed his freezing hands together.
He had now reached the front gates of the Emerald Buildings apartment complex. There was only a middle-aged security guard inside the guards' station there, and he was in a very deep slumber. As Volkner walked closer to his apartment, he saw it: a glint of white that was not a snowflake falling to the ground.
It was a she. A girl was standing on the rooftop of one of the buildings. He ran closer, calling out to her.
"Hey!" he shouted. There was no answer. The wind was blowing stronger and becoming fiercer. In spite of that, he fought it to take a closer look at the girl. She was petite, brown-haired and…very familiar to Volkner. The girl was standing on the edge, ready to jump of the rooftop. She was wearing nothing but a white nightdress, which made her look ghastly. It was as if she wanted to commit suicide.
Worried that she might jump off any second, Volkner rushed inside the building. He looked in vain for a working elevator and so had to run up the stairs. Hitherto his mind was racing.
What if I fail to save her? What is wrong with her? And why does she look so…familiar? he thought. He was certain that he had seen her before. Perhaps she had been a friend. But while growing up in Sunyshore, he had not been much of a social butterfly. His only best friend was Flint – by now the Fire-type trainer of the Sinnoh Elite Four – who was his main rival during their childhood.
Cudgel his brains as he might, Volkner could not remember where and when the girl had been in his life. But more importantly, he thought, her life is in danger. He had to help her. He had to save her.
He had reached the rooftop door, panting heavily. His heart pounded against his chest rapidly like the blades of a helicopter. Hoping that she would still be there, Volkner wrenched the doorknob and swung it wide open.
He immediately recognised the girl when he saw her up close. She was Jasmine, the Olivine Gym Leader – and Volkner's long-lost childhood friend. In fact, they had been best friends. She was the one who showed him around Olivine when he had first moved to Johto from Vermilion, Kanto. Unfortunately, their friendship did not last long. Volkner's father, who was in the army, had to send him to Sunyshore to live with some relatives only after a very short time together. They had never seen each other since, even during Gym Leader conferences. Until now.
"Jasmine," he called. "Jasmine, it's me, Volkner." There was silence. She did not even turn to look at him. "Remember me? We used to be best friends."
There was still no answer. The howling winds were almost gale-like, whipping Jasmine's hair and dress. She remained fixed as a statue, still as stone. Her arms were spread out beside her, as if she wanted to soar in the sky above.
Volkner walked towards her, scarcely making a sound. His long coat billowed around him in the gale. He stood right beside her, reaching his hand out to her. But as he tried to grab her shoulder, she started to fall. His heart skipped a beat. He froze for a second, shock and disbelief flooding his veins. Then he waved his hands at the spot where Jasmine previously stood.
Realising that she had indeed fell down, he screamed, "No!!!" and took off at a run. He raced down the stairs, hoping against hope that she would not die from the fall.
Please don't die, oh, Jasmine, please don't die…he thought. However, he knew it would take a miracle to survive after falling from a building five storeys high. He heard a loud thud and the sound of breaking bone. It was a sickening crunching sound. He shuddered at the thought of seeing her die. No, Jasmine, please don't die…
Jasmine was mangled and broken at the foot of the building. Blood was spilling out of her body, staining her white dress and turning the snow a vivid dark red. He could not believe that the senseless girl before him was the same as the lively one whom he spent endless summer afternoons with, skipping rocks on Route 40.
"Are you all right, Jasmine?" Volkner asked, searching his coat for his mobile phone. There was, again, no answer. But of course, she was unconscious. He immediately called the ambulance.
"Good evening. This is the Sinnoh ambulance service. How may I be of assistance?" a pleasant female voice answered the call.
"Hello. This is Volkner," he replied. "Please, you've got to – "
"Sunyshore's Gym Leader?" The voice sounded surprised and excited.
"Yes, it's me. The Shining, Shocking Star…" He heard and audible "Wow!" at the other end of the line. 'Please, you've got to be quick,' he repeated. "There's a girl here at Emerald Buildings, she's just jumped off the building and she's bleeding so much, please, you've got to come here quickly…"
"Of course, we'll send an ambulance to – where is it? Oh, yes, Emerald Buildings. We'll be there right away," the voice said. All he could do then was to wait. He was desperate to get to the hospital in time, or Jasmine would not survive.
He waited. And waited. The wind had stopped blowing. Not a single thing was stirring. There was silence except for Jasmine's shallow breathing and Volkner's pulsing heart. Each second felt like an hour to him. He checked his watch surreptitiously and glanced at Jasmine every few seconds.
After an agonising ten minutes, the ambulance finally arrived. Two paramedics worked to carry Jasmine to the vehicle. They, like Volkner, were surprised to see her. After all, she was a Gym Leader as well.
"Er…I'd like to come with Jasmine to the hospital," Volkner said to one of the paramedics, a thin man in his late twenties with shoulder-length dark hair.
"Sure," replied the paramedic. "Hop in."
So Volkner stayed with Jasmine on the way to the hospital. When they arrived, he remained at her side as doctors tried to mend her injuries. All the while he felt extremely anxious. He did not want her to die. He did not want his last memory of her to be a gruesome one.
Speaking of memories…Volkner thought. He closed his eyes, remembering his first day in Olivine. He had just arrived on the SS Aqua from Vermilion. As soon as his father finished hauling their things, he asked, "May I have a look around? Sir?"
"Yes, son, but be back by eight," was the reply.
Volkner got on his bicycle and cycled towards the Glitter Lighthouse. When he got there, he saw a brown-haired girl parking her own bicycle. She wore a light green sundress and had her hair held back by an orange hair clip.
"Hi there," she said. "You know, I haven't seen you around here before."
"Hey," Volkner said. "I just moved here, from Vermilion."
"So you're Lt. Surge's son…aren't you?"
"Yeah, I guess. I was adopted really. My name's Volkner, by the way," he added.
"I'm Jasmine." There was a rather awkward pause. "So…what are you doing here anyway? I thought your dad's Gym Leader in Vermilion."
"He's, er, sending me here to live with some relatives…but not for long. He said something about going to Sinnoh, but…"
"What I meant was, what are you doing here? At the lighthouse?" She raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, I don't know. Just having a look around, I guess."
Jasmine smiled upon hearing Volkner's words. "Come with me. I've got something to show you."
"What is it?" he asked. "Would you tell me?"
Jasmine shook her head. "Just wait and see. Your dad trains Electric-types, doesn't he? So I bet you'll love this."
What is she trying to show me? he thought. "All right, I'm coming," he said, shrugging his shoulders.
Jasmine led Volkner to the topmost deck of the Glitter Lighthouse. It was entirely circular and walled by windowpanes from floor to ceiling. In the middle of this deck was a circular room, with prisms as walls. Volkner saw the outline of a Pokémon, yellow in colour with a white underbelly as well as black stripes on its neck, ears and tail.
"Do you want to see it? You can't get it in Kanto at any rate, you know," Jasmine added, opening the door. She walked into the room, Volkner following suit.
"Is this…an Ampharos?" he asked.
"Yeah. It's called Amphy," she replied. "It powers the lighthouse, you know."
"It looks great!" Volkner said, stroking Amphy's head. "Paluu! Paluu!" it cried.
"Amphy likes you," Jasmine giggled.
"Wow, thanks for showing it to me."
Just then, Volkner was awakened from his slumber. He did not even realise that he had been sleeping. It was a doctor who woke him up.
"Volkner?" The doctor was brown-haired and wore wire-rimmed glasses.
"How's Jasmine doing?" There was the slightest edge of panic in his voice.
"Ah…we've managed to cast her broken limbs and also to bandage her head. She's still in a coma, though. But don't worry, I'm sure she'll make a full recovery."
"Thank you," Volkner said, relieved. "Where is she now?"
"She's in the ICU ward on the sixth floor."
Volkner bolted for the elevator and soon found himself on the sixth floor. He rushed to the Intensive Care Unit ward, knocking over a few people and some medical equipment along the way.
When he got inside, he saw Jasmine, still unaware of his presence. She was hooked to an IV machine. Her left arm and leg were put it casts. She looked as if she was hovering on the edge of life and death, yet she wore a serene expression on her face.
Thank heavens she's still alive, he thought. Jasmine stayed comatose for two weeks. During that period, Volkner stayed with her. There was something about her that attracted him. Maybe it was the peaceful way in which she seemed to sleep. Maybe it was her lustrous brown hair. Maybe it was…
Day by day passed. On the sixteenth day since that dark night, Jasmine finally opened her eyes. It was late morning, but even so, the sun's rays were faint.
"Good morning, Jasmine," greeted a nurse, who was attending to her.
"Hi there," Jasmine responded. "How did I get here? And…where is here, anyway?"
"Oh, dear. You didn't remember? This is the Sunyshore Hospital."
"Sunyshore Hospital?" she repeated. Then she remembered that night, that dark night at Emerald Buildings. "That night…I should have died. What happened?" She only remembered wanting to jump off, and a whisper of a voice. Was that…?
"Our Gym Leader spotted you and, well, rushed you here." The nurse jerked her head in the direction of the sofa. Jasmine turned to look and sure enough, there was a blond man in a blue jacket and dark jeans – Volkner.
"Hello, Volkner…" she said.
He was so shocked and surprised to hear her voice. "Jasmine, you're finally awake," he said, smiling. He took up a seat beside her, running a hand through his hair. The nurse promptly turned on her heels and walked away, closing the door behind her.
"Yeah, but I can't do much now I'm all broken into pieces." She smiled, too.
"I never thought the Steel-Clad Defence Girl would, you know, get in this kind of – " he paused, looking for the right word, " – situation. What happened?"
Jasmine's expression changed. Silence followed. She had no idea how to break it to him. "Volkner…"
"What is it? Do you remember what happened that night?" he hastily changed the subject.
"No, not really," was her tentative reply. "I thought I heard you, but then I thought it wasn't real."
"Why? Why did you do it, Jasmine?"
Once more, there was silence.
"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" Volkner really wanted to know what had brought a change in this sweet, petite girl who was his childhood friend.
"No…it's just that it's – difficult – to explain." She said it slowly and sighed.
"Try me. It's okay. I've been through a bad time myself, just ask Flint." He was, of course, referring to the time where his lack of interest in battling caused him to be reduced to an empty shell, or so Flint called it.
"Oh, all right…remember Amphy?"
"Yeah, sure." Noticing Jasmine's dour expression, he added, "What's wrong?"
"Amphy's…dead, Volkner." Her voice broke at the word 'dead', and tears welled up in her blue eyes.
He remembered that day. He remembered Jasmine giggling, "Amphy likes you." He could not believe that the Ampharos had succumbed to the dark depths of death.
"No. Really?" Volkner put his arms around her small frame. "Jasmine, please don't cry…"
She pulled herself together, wiping tears out of her eyes. "It had been sick for so long…if only I'd gone to Cianwood myself to get some medicine…it's too late now, but I couldn't bear being away from it…"
"I'm sorry…I mean, you could've told me about it sooner. I used to live in Olivine too, you know."
"It's okay, Volkner. There's nothing you can do about it now…" Her voice trailed off.
"Was that why you became, er, depressed?"
"I guess so. Erika told me to go to the psychiatrist, but of course, I refused. I didn't want to accept that I was suffering from depression."
Volkner stroked Jasmine's long brown hair. It smelled like spring. In fact, it smelled like jasmine in spring. "Jasmine…you shouldn't have been so stubborn."
"I regretted it ever since."
"But you have everything to live for," he said. "…you have a loving family. Pokémon that care for you and that you care for, and your Gym Leader job…"
"After Amphy died," she paused, shuddering slightly at the word, "I felt like I was empty. Like a light that's been snuffed out…like I should end my life."
"But Jasmine," Volkner said in a soft, persuasive tone befitting his quiet voice, "Life is worth living. Remember that. You should enjoy life because it can end in two seconds…besides, you've got me now," he added. He then let go of her, resuming his seat.
"Volkner…thank you for saving me from the darkest night of my life. I'll never forget it for as long as I live."
She closed her eyes and soon drifted away into a deep sleep.
"You're welcome, Jasmine," he said as he kissed her on the cheek. Her lips curled into a smile.
"And I promise to be your guardian angel from now on."
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