This is a very belated birthday present for Pixii. ^^; Sorry, Pixii! Happy belated birthday!
SPOILER WARNING: If you don't want spoilers for PMD2 and EoS, then you probably shouldn't read this. ^^;
Disclaimer: Nintendo owns Grovyle, Celebi, Dusknoir, Primal Dialga and who knows who or what else. Pixii and Synth are owned by HopeThePixii. I own only the crumby writing. ^^;
Enjoy!...Hopefully? ^^;
I have always loved Grovyle, even though I didn't realize it until after he had left. Even when I had just met him as a Treecko, when he and Pixii had stumbled into my glade home, utterly lost and bewildered, I had fallen for him. That was the only way to describe it, really–"fallen for him". Back then, he was just so cute and innocent, but so eager to train and learn and help Pixii in whatever way he could, even if it meant sacrificing his wellbeing. During our first meeting, he was half-starved because he'd given all their food supplies to Pixii, despite her protests. Even though I was normally wary of strangers, his selflessness made me warm up to him almost immediately. Pixii was a nice girl, too, and after helping them and showing them the way out of Dusk Forest, I invited them to come to my home anytime they wished.
We met with each other often, and we learned many things about one another. We shared a dislike of the paralyzed world, and we wanted to end it to make way for a better future. That's how our quest began, really, with our mutual want of change. After our second meeting (though we had many more afterwards), Pixii and Treecko began to search for the nearly-nonexistent tomes hidden throughout the land for whatever information they could unearth, while my job was to prepare the long-unused Passage of Time.
One of the first pieces of information Pixii and Treecko found was that, should we manage to change time and reverse the damage, we would cease to exist, for this future would no longer exist. It was a heavy burden for us to carry, but we didn't want others to suffer this torment of silence, darkness and frozen time. So we pushed on.
But we had our own lives in addition to this task. In the months before Pixii and Treecko left for the past, many things happened. The most memorable was that Treecko evolved, becoming stronger, faster and (dare I say?) more handsome. Pixii and I were so excited for him, but our bubbly joy died away before too long.
For after he evolved, he...changed.
It wasn't a gradual change–it was just so sudden. He no longer took interest in fun, instead fully immersing himself in their preparation. He would disappear for long hours at a time and come back with new moves learned, with new battle tricks up his sleeve. He studied about Time Gears, said to have the ability to keep time flowing, and whenever Pixii tried to convince him to take a break he would just ignore her until she went away. It was his idea to use Pixii's strange but useful Dimensional Scream ability to locate the Time Gears. But I missed his old self, the one that didn't work all day and tried to spend some time with Pixii and I. It was almost like he didn't want any more good memories because they'd eventually all just be erased. No, it was just "almost". It was like that.
Afterwards, I found myself constantly cursing our desire to change the past. If we hadn't let such a task fall on us, maybe Grovyle wouldn't be so different–so cold. Eventually, it become unbearable to spend time with him without agonizing reminders that he didn't used to be this way, and I began to take pains to avoid him. Even Pixii would spend more time in Dusk Forest and less with her partner. Looking back, our evading him probably just pushed him away and caused him to work harder, but I was never the best person at foresight.
Then the dreaded day finally dawned. The Passage of Time became usable, and Pixii and Grovyle found all five locations of the Time Gears. As we stood before the Passage, apprehensively eyeing the swirling vortex inside, Grovyle stretched out his hand and Pixii laid hers on his. It was time–our vow. Pixii had been the one who brought it up, but Grovyle was the one who reminded us day after day of it. They wanted me to say it, because, as a legendary, they thought it would be more special coming from my mouth. With Primal Dialga as ruler, all other legendaries meant as much as a normal Pokémon, but I nonetheless agreed. Now I rested my small hand on top of theirs and spoke words that were just coming to me: "Whatever might happen, we vow to always and forever fight to change the past and divert the world from this future. Though we will cease to exist when" –not if– "we complete our task and we know not of the dangers in the past, it is for the better of the world and we do this gladly. We vow."
"We vow," Pixii echoed.
"We vow," came Grovyle's gravelly voice.
Pixii shot me a smile, and Grovyle nodded in approval at my choice of words. I felt a pang of bittersweet sadness–I would be staying behind in case they failed, for Dialga immediately would sense our use of the Passage and only I could operate it. He would not be happy, and if he captured Pixii and Grovyle, our cause would be lost. I felt a fresh thrill of fear for them. Pixii's back was to me, but I'm sure she must have been afraid, too. And Grovyle? He met my gaze calmly, without a trace of anxiety or regret. That did it. I had to do it before my resolve broke, or else everything would have been for nothing.
So I activated the Passage and sent my friends into the unknowns of the past.
Then I hid. I knew Dusk Forest much better than Primal Dialga and Dusknoir did–not to mention that I still had my legendary powers and could use them–and they couldn't find me. And if they couldn't find me, then they couldn't capture me. That was good, but it didn't mean I was safe. I had to be on the alert at all times, just in case. There was an ever-constant presence of uneasiness lodged in the back of my mind, and it bloomed into terror whenever there was peace. Something was terribly wrong, and I couldn't do anything to help my friends. I could only hope they were alright.
It turns out they were alright, for some time later Grovyle returned. There was no trace of Pixii, but he brought with him a Charmander who shared her name and a Treecko named Synth. Whenever I turned my eyes on the Charmander, though, I felt a prickle of familiarity. That's why I blurted out, "Your friend!" when I first took a close took at her, but quickly dismissed those thoughts. I was relieved that Grovyle was safe, but I worried for Pixii (the human), and wondered what had happened to her. Grovyle had, again, changed, but this time for the better. He still wasn't the cheerful, easily excited Treecko he'd once been, but I suppose he never would be again. But at least now he wasn't fussing over every small detail, and he seemed...looser. Less strict. The change made me relax, too, and I reverted to my old ways of calling him "my dear Grovyle" and laughing that "tee-hee!" laugh that so irritated him. But they couldn't stay for long–since Grovyle was back in the future, it meant he had failed. He had to return to the past, and bring Pixii and Synth back to their time. We fought through Deep Dusk Forest, and it was at the end we made an extraordinary discovery.
Pixii the Charmander was Pixii, our human friend.
Dusknoir revealed that to us, but Pixii didn't seem to remember anything about her life as a human. Grovyle had been crestfallen that there was no hope left for the world, but Synth–meek Synth who, in that moment, reminded me so much of Grovyle as a Treecko–had lifted our spirits. By teleporting us slightly forwards in time, Grovyle, Pixii and Synth managed to return to the past–
Which left me alone again. And with time to ponder my thoughts.
When Dusknoir had told us Pixii was Grovyle's old partner, I had felt a strange feeling stir inside me. It was a strange emotion–kind of angry, kind of sad, kind of bitter–and I finally realized it was jealousy. Me? Jealous of Pixii? Why?
Unfortunately, I knew why. Pixii and Grovyle had known each other for so long, and I was afraid of their closeness. Even though now she seemed to share that closeness with Synth, what if Pixii's memories returned? Who would she choose then, Grovyle or Synth? I dearly hoped she would choose Synth in that case...but why?
Because I loved Grovyle myself. And he would never return those feelings. There would always be some part of him unwilling to let go of his past with Pixii, and he would never see me as more than a friend, if even that.
For the next few nightmarish months, I put myself to sleep reminding myself of that.
It was several months later, and I knew my time here was over. I thought that the future would vanish as soon as Pixii and Synth put the Time Gears in Temporal Tower, but they must have been held up before they did. And in any case, it took awhile before the new future affected ours. But that's beside the point.
The point is that we got tangled in another adventure before the future was changed.
It was the first time I had been captured–by Spiritomb, that spineless coward. It was humiliating and painful, and I could barely keep my thoughts straight. Time began to slip away unnoticed, and only when a voice broke through my torment did I begin to pay attention to the outside world.
It was Grovyle's voice. And he was walking into a trap!
I tried to stop him, but it was no use. Those pillars were works of pure evil, and they began to drain him of his very soul and identity. I listened in silence as Dusknoir explained his plan, but my temper was building, building, building. I wanted to wipe that triumphant smirk off his face. I had to stamp out the rest of my violent thoughts before they got out of control–but Grovyle's next words stopped them, anyways.
Trust? He trusted Dusknoir? I didn't understand why in Arceus's name he had done that. But it seemed to be affecting Dusknoir strangely, so I guess that was a good thing...And when Dusknoir rescued Grovyle from the pillars, I decided that, if only because of Grovyle, I would trust Dusknoir, too.
However strange it felt.
Primal Dialga arrived not too long after Grovyle was rescued. He attacked an already-weakened Dusknoir and defeated his Sableye cronies with one fell swoop–although at the very least, those six proved their loyalty. Grovyle still couldn't move, and Dusknoir was in absolutely no state to fight. Though Spiritomb had fled and I could move again, I never got to attack, for something else stopped the fight.
Time began to move again.
Primal Dialga was furious. In a last attempt to keep the world paralyzed (although in his state of mind, I'm not really sure if he did that on purpose), he went to another Passage of Time, one situated on Vast Ice Mountain. There was more than one Passage of Time, and not even Dusknoir knew what would happen if Primal Dialga attacked one while history was only just beginning to affect the future. We were running out of time, and we needed to move–fast.
The path to the summit was long and grueling. It began to rain when we got there, making battling a hazard. But rain was a good sign–the future was no longer a paralyzed place, and Primal Dialga was growing weaker as a result from it. But...we were fading. I felt a familiar pang of bittersweet sadness, just like the one I had felt when Pixii and Grovyle first left. I reminded myself of our vow, and prepared to fight Primal Dialga.
It was, as Grovyle put it, our final fight.
My head was spinning, and my body felt heavy. A flash of triumph sparked in me at Primal Dialga's defeat, but it was hurriedly extinguished by a wave of another emotion. Dusknoir had already disappeared, and I was almost surprised that I was sad he was gone. Almost, but not quite. He had become a good friend during our short time together, and I'd miss him. I couldn't even imagine how Grovyle must feel, but I agree with him: Dusknoir's life did shine in the end. I was exhausted, but I leaned into my friend's embrace as the first dazzling rays of sunrise began to creep over the horizon. I had never seen this kind of light before, and it made a smile flicker over my face. For the first time in many, many months, I felt content.
The sun was rising. The day was near. For me, Grovyle, Dusknoir and the inhabitants of this future, our time was done. But there would be a new future–a better future–to replace this one. And it would shine.
One last thought crossed my mind, and although I said nothing aloud, I'm certain Grovyle heard it, anyways:
Thank you, Grovyle. I'm glad I was with you in my last moments.
I'm sorry for the ragged transitions and crumby writing and semi-unrelated stuff. D8 But I hope you like it, Pixii!
Review, please? ^^; EC out!