Disclaimer: Pokemon does not belong to me...it belongs to Nintendo, Satoshi Tajiri, etc. You know the drill.
Author's Note: After playing PMD2, seeing the ending scene just made me break down and cry like a baby...so I just had to write this one out. Anyone who's played this knows what I'm talking about...the scene right after your partner returns from the Hidden Land and months go by after you disappear from the Pokemon World.
Don't know if I want this to be a one shot or not...
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The cliff side beach was once again lit with the glow of sunset, the Krabby once again coming out to blow their bubbles. The slow rhythmic crash and shushing of the water breaking against the shore and the imposing cliffs was a soothing, beautiful sound to hear. The Krabby kept on blowing their bubbles, the luminescent, clear spheres dancing easily on the light, gentle breeze without a care in the world. A lone Pikachu walked down the beach, taking in the magnificent sight of the sun setting into the ocean, the waters constantly shifting shades of blue and violet, the sun's light dancing on the water, a golden, shining banner glittering and shimmering on the salty fluid, seemingly revealing the pathway to the Hidden Land..
"Oh, wow...This is beautiful!"
For a time, Raigekijin the Pikachu sat there on the sunlit beach, watching the magnificent sight of the sun sinking slowly into the water, the rays creating a golden path on the calm sapphire-emerald surface.
The bubbles drifting in the wind, the light catching them and turning them into floating iridescent jewels which hovered and drifted past him, each delicate and amazingly lovely in their own right.
"I haven't seen this for a long time. It's as beautiful as I remember. I've just been too busy to come and see it."
Raigekijin settled back, watching as the sun slowly made its descent, basking in the warming rays of the sun and taking in the beautiful view before him....the sun setting majestically into the west, the bubbles dancing on the breeze, drifting past him on their way to who knew where, the scent of the sea in his nose and hearing the musical crash of the waves in his ears.
"But I've missed this...fantastic sight."
A thought touched his mind then, and he tilted his head, slightly confused. "I wonder when it last was that I saw this...?"
Truly puzzled now, he sat up, trying to remember. "The last time was..."
The blazing flames of the sunset, the gold of the sun's light dancing on the water, which turned the surface to a beautiful emerald-sapphire sheen. Those colors evoked memories deep inside him, memories that had never truly gone away...
"Oh...The last time I saw this...It was when...when I met Inflamare..."
Their first meeting on the beach...Raigekijin finding her lying on the sand, unconscious, asking her frantically if she was okay..
The Pikachu got up, turning his head to look down the beach, down the expanse of warm golden sand and the surf rushing up and down the shore, coming and going, coming and going in its neverending dance.
"The view was like this that time too..."
He began to walk down the beach, the sand soft and warm under his hind paws: the sun warm on his body and the sea breeze tickling his ears, tail and face as he walked towards the place where he had first met the fire colored lizard Pokemon, who had once been a human.
"That was when...Inflamare and I...That was when our adventure began."
It was then he began to remember. Memories flooded his mind, each one as precious as the day they had been created.
Asking her to form an exploration team with him...their first successful day as Guild apprentices, laughing about their growling stomachs before going to get something to eat...
Lying in their room together, him showing her his Relic Fragment, talking quietly about their dreams...
Standing their ground as Uxie's illusion of Groudon stomped towards them, ready to attack...
Watching that beautiful glowing geyser, lit from within by the Time Gear at Fogbound Lake, standing side by side...
Leaping free of Dusknoir's Sableye as the insidious Dark Pokemon attacked their bonds, hearing Inflamare's fierce cry as she lashed out with her own claws to sever her own ropes...
On the run from Dusknoir and his Sableye, Inflamare trying to cheer him up, telling him everything would be all right, that there was no need to worry...
The day they had first become an official Exploration Team, receiving their first starter kit and Exploration Badges...
After Grovyle had sacrificed himself to give them both a chance to get to Temporal Tower in time to stop the disaster...
"I remember it all so fondly. All those memories of my time with Inflamare..."
The Pikachu lowered his head, his eyes stinging with tears as he felt once again the painful, burning ache deep within his heart burst to life. His breathing became slightly harsher as the familiar sensation of sorrow becan to overcome him. Her smile, her beautiful jewel-like eyes, her kind, brave, never-give-up nature...
"Memories...of Inflamare..."
Memories. That was all he had left of her. The sweet, beautiful, gentle, kind, caring, loving person who had sacrificed herself to save him and his world, losing her human form to become a Pokemon to save others. And, she believed in him. She had picked him up when he was down, had defended him when he was in trouble, bolstered his courage, ran risks for him that no one else had or would have...she became his dearest, irreplaceable, invaluable friend...
"But now...Inflamare is gone. And she...isn't here anymore..."
It was too much for him to take, and the wall he had built around his pent up emotions for seven long and agonizing months finally shattered.
A keening wail of heartrending anguish tore from his throat as he collapsed to the sand in his grief, tears running down his cheeks in rivers as the male Pikachu began to cry. It wasn't the first time he had wept for her passing, but this time was different. It felt as if someone had reached into his chest and taken whatever was inside, leaving a dark, empty, aching hole within him, a void that would never be filled, no matter what he accomplished. Great heaving sobs shook him to his core, the shards of his broken heart that he had never wanted to allow to truly heal burning inside of him, adding to his pain. Without her, he was naught but an empty shell.
How long he lay there on the sand sobbing he knew not...but a familiar voice interrupted his travail.
"Wah! Raigekijin!"
Footsteps on the sand, and from the familiar voice he knew who it was when he lifted his head and turned around...it was Bidoof.
"You've been gone so long, I took to worrying about you...Wh-what's the matter?"
Unable to take it anymore, he threw himself at the other Pokemon, bursting into tears all over again. "B-Bidoof! Bidoof!"
"Wah-wah? What all is the matter?"
"She's gone...she's gone...I'll n-never see her again...!"
Bidoof instantly realized what was ailing his young friend, and tears touched his own eyes as well. Though he didn't know the female Charmander as well as Raigekijin did, he had seen enough to know about the deep bond that they had shared. Lying on the beach's sands, cradled by Bidoof's paws, Raigekijin cried and cried, his heart, his mind, his body and his soul: practically every fiber of his being all aching with one sole desire, one mad wish...
(Give her back to me...let me see her...! Come back to me, Inflamare!)
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Far, far across the sea, hovered a hidden island. At the peak of this hidden land, lay a massive blue stone tower, which looked ready to fall to pieces at any moment, yet, some mystical force kept the great architectural wonder in place. Atop Temporal Tower, a leviathan quadrupedal figure looked over the vast ocean, gazing regally at the distant mainland so far below his lofty perch. A thoughtful look graced the majestic visage of the Time Keeper, who turned himself to look at the Time Gears, once again in their proper places. Through the ripples of time he could feel something...an outcry of soul searing anguish, a lamentation so great and so deep it had even reached him here in his domain.
And he knew who it was coming from, and why. He had felt the very same thing seven months ago when those two small Pokemon had found their way to the Hidden Land, arrived at his tower and set things to rights, even braving his wrath in his insane state to correct the flow of time.
"Raigekijin...WHEN YOU LEFT HERE...WHEN YOU BID FAREWELL TO THIS PLACE FROM THE RAINBOW STONESHIP...YOUR SORROW, I FELT ITS INTENSITY EVEN HERE. AND IF THAT IS HOW YOU FEEL EVEN NOW...AND IF Inflamare WERE TO SHARE THOSE FEELINGS...
Dialga turned slightly, sensing something else, now. Through the flow of time, he focused himself, and heard the words of the heartbroken Pokemon, the little Pikachu who had departed alone from his lands, without the one he had called his friend.
(Give her back to me...let me see her...! Come back to me, Inflamare!)
"I WILL GRANT YOUR WISH. THE WORLD NEEDS YOU BOTH."
Dialga turned back and made his way to the platform below the great pillar which held his precious Time Gears.
"THAT IS WHY...I WILL TRUST YOU WITH A GIFT. I LEAVE TO YOU...THE FUTURE!"
The massive God Pokemon turned completely around, facing the ocean and the direction where he could easily sense the tormented soul crying out for release or healing, whichever came first.
"THIS IS MY THANKS! PLEASE ACCEPT IT!"
Dialga stood straight and proud, throwing his head back to the sky, which was already beginning to show signs of nightfall, the stars peeking out as twilight began its descent. The Time Keeper parted his great jaws, took a deep breath...and roared at the top of his lungs. The powerful sound echoed throughout the Tower, reverberated through the Hidden Land, making all the Pokemon who lived there raise their heads in inquiry at the majestic cry. But the roar did far more than alert any who heard it...the resounding bellow rippled through the river of Time itself. For this was Dialga's power...he being the Master of Time. Through the temporal flow he sought for a single entity and called to it, summoning it and directing the lost soul towards the twilit beach.
Back on the beach, Bidoof looked sadly down at the grief-stricken Pikachu at his front paws, trying to give what comfort he could. Losing Inflamare was the hardest thing that had ever happened to Raigekijin. But it wasn't just him who grieved for her loss...everyone missed her...she had rightfully earned herself a place in everyone's heart, even cranky old Chatot, though he would never admit it openly to anyone. Raigekijin's anguished lament continued, his eyes flowing with a neverending river of tears, which welled from a broken heart that would never truly heal, his whimpering, his gasps, his sorrow released all at once in a crashing tsunami of heartbreak that had been just waiting for a chance to break free.
Not too far away from them, where a pair of small rocks jutted out of the sand just shy of where the waves kissed the shore, a soft golden glow began to make itself known, its light gentle and warming and yet, it also seemed alive at the same time. Alerted by the odd shimmer of light, Bidoof lifted his head upon seeing the strange glimmer, and his eyes widened at the magical sight before him. The glow pulsed and shimmered, almost akin to like a beating heart, as if something alive was forming right before his eyes. Little by little, the glow receded, soft spheres of the odd mystical light drifting away like the bubbles in the beach winds.
And when the glow was almost completely gone...
The sun hadn't completely set yet, so the glow of the last bit of light on her bright orange scales turned them to burnished gold in the fading luminescence. Her emerald eyes shone in her face, confusion and joy radiating from her as she gazed around the beach, the light still slightly dancing around her before it faded completely into thin air.
"I'm...I'm home...!" she whispered.
Bidoof wasn't stunned for long, he began nudging the sorrowful Pikachu at his front paws, urgency in his voice and his actions. "Raigekijin! L-look...look behind ya!"
The grief-stricken Pikachu didn't bother to look up, his voice strained and rough from crying so hard, his breath ragged gasps as he struggled to breathe. "I can't...I just can't look there...that's where...where...we first met..."
"But that's just it! She's right there! Your wish came true, she came back!"
Raigekijin wasn't the type of person to believe without seeing proof first, but he knew Bidoof wasn't a liar. Hardly daring to hope, he dragged himself off of the sand, every muscle in his body protesting the movement, as if a Rhydon had used a Body Slam attack on him. He felt like he had been chained to a Golem and forced to drag it around for Arceus knew how long. Slowly, he turned around, Bidoof's face sliding out of his view to be replaced by the palm trees and white sands further up the beach, changing to the cliffs and yet more of the rock strewn sandy shore of that area, which slid down to where the waves brushed the shore and struck the seaweed covered rocks, the pair of small stones rising out of the sand just shy of the water's edge...
And when he saw just what...or in this case, who, was standing there...
The Pikachu's eyes widened, his long pointed ears pricked straight up, and his jaw dropped in shock and disbelief as he gazed upon a sight he never thought he would ever see again. The sunlight shimmered off her flame colored scales, the heartfelt smile of delight, welcome, affection and jubilation bright and shining on her face, the glow of her tail flame lighting up the darkening beach around her. Her deep emerald green eyes glowing from within from the force of her bared emotions when she caught sight of him.
He swallowed hard, sniffling and rubbing his reddened, aching, burning eyes, feeling the leaden chains of his anguish fall away, the pieces of his heart coming back neatly together, the painful ache within his soul easing and slipping away as if it had never been. Her beautiful jewel-like eyes locked onto his, and tears began to sparkle within them before they began to slide down her cheeks.
"Rai...Raigekijin?"
Her voice. Arceus...her voice, that gentle melody that had whispered, yelled, called, shouted his name so many times throughout their long and wild adventure together. Was this a dream...just a mirage? His mind raced with countless denials, with endless hope painfully reawakened at the mere sight of his long lost friend.
(Please no it can't be a dream just can't be I've suffered too much too long please Arceus be merciful bring her back or take me from this world don't torment me like this can't take it anymore this can't be real...)
She began to slowly walk towards him, leaving clawed footprints behind her in the sand...proof that this wasn't a dream...a ghost couldn't leave anything physical behind...
"Raigekijin!" she cried, her tentative footsteps breaking into a frantic run as she dashed towards him.
The lethargy that had gripped him for seven long and agonized months vanished as if it had never manifested. Like the lightning he controlled; a wave of energy swiftly built within him before it finally burst free and coursed through him, revitalizing him and giving him new strength...the strength he needed to run to her, as she was running towards him...
"Inflamare! Inflamare!"
Her name a mantra flowing from his lips, the Pikachu kicked up a huge cloud of sand behind him as he rushed to her, tears once again flowing from his eyes, his breath coming hard and erratic in his lungs. But these weren't tears of pain...no, these were tears of happiness. Gasping, laughing, crying and shouting at the same time the two Pokemon rushed at one another, overjoyed to see the other once again. But because he was so weak from his grieving, Raigekijin stumbled over his own back paws, and he collapsed at her feet, weeping out of sheer relief and joy at seeing her again.
A pair of orange paws with tiny pearl colored claws at the tips picked him up, pulling him close to a pale gold chest, a familiar, caring voice filling his ears even as he felt her firm, warm body against him. This was no dream...this was real...blissfully, rapturously real! Her scent of fresh, sweet apples filled his nose, her body warm and firm against his...
"Raigeki...it-it's you! It really is you!"
"Wel-welcome h-home..." he managed to choke out before succumbing to his tears once more. In answer, she snuggled into him as her own tears of joy overcame her and she cried into his shoulder.
And behind the reunited pair, Bidoof smiled through his own tears, happy to see the shadows of agony leave his young friend forever as the two embraced, finding solace, healing and comfort that had eluded them for so long.