I do not own Pokemon or the characters' species, but I own the characters.

Friendly Visit

Celebi flew aimlessly through the lush forest, her wings fluttering behind her in a non-urgent manner. She looked around at the vegetation as she flew past, wondering where exactly she was going.

What's here now? Should I maybe go to another time? …No, there's nothing new in the past, and I'm pretty sure it all gets cut down soon in the future. She sighed, stopping to think. It really was sad how the humans were destroying their own planet. But she couldn't do anything about it. She'd tried before to stop some humans from cutting down a tree, and it had quickly developed into a mess as the humans had decided she was a threat, resulting in her having to run from hordes of trainers trying to capture her. They'd cut down the tree, too. She shivered at the memory.

In any case, she was here now. She contemplated visiting Mew. Mew lived nearby, and they were friends. But for some reason, Celebi didn't feel compelled to go in that direction, after all she had just come from that way.

Let me see, what's here? There's that human village somewhere around here… No, that was abandoned six hundred years ago, I think. Hm, there's that Charmander colony. Wait, they moved away three years ago. Urgh! Celebi ground her teeth, frustrated. I can't even keep up with the times… She mentally giggled at her joke, when an idea came to her.

Lake Valor's around here… It's always there. Maybe I should go see Azelf? I wonder how he's doing after that episode with Arceus. When was it before now? About a year? Alright, let me see, Lake Valor is… That way. She turned in the direction she thought was the right one, and with a flutter of her insect-like wings moved off.

After a few minutes, she suddenly emerged from the dark forest into a wide, expansive clearing. Blinking, she took in the view.

A huge lake dominated the area, a wide, flat surface that looked almost like glass. It was disturbed only occasionally, as the resident Pokemon swam through it in search of food or other necessities. Celebi glanced at them, and they glanced at her before hurriedly continuing on their way.

She approached the lake, landing lightly on the grass that rimmed it, and sat down on its edge, dangling her feet in the water. She looked at her reflection on the glassy surface, staring back at her, then raised her head toward the center of the lake. Telepathically, she called out. "Azelf, are you here?"

There were several moments of silence, before a small blue form emerged from the center of the lake without even a ripple. It looked around, spotting Celebi, and flew toward her to stop a few feet in front of her.

"This better be good," Azelf growled telepathically. He was a blue fairy-like creature, with two tails, each studded with a small red gem. On his forehead, a larger red gem glistened as the water fell off of it. He had two yellow eyes, which blinked sleepily, registering annoyance.

Celebi looked up at him, meeting his eyes with her own blue ones, and realized that maybe this wasn't such a good idea. "Oh, um, I'm sorry, did I wake you?"

"Yes, you did. Now what do you want?" He crossed his arms, staring at her accusingly.

She moved away from the lake edge warily, getting into a crouching position in case she needed to suddenly flee. Everyone knew Azelf's reputation when he got angry. "Well, I just wanted to… you know, say 'hi', see how you're doing, talk to you…"

He stared at her in disbelief. "You woke me up for nothing?"

She winced. "Um, yeah, I guess, if that's how you want to put it…"

After an awkward moment, Azelf sighed resignedly, moving to sit on the grass next to her. "It's alright, don't worry."

Celebi relaxed, sitting back down. "Oh. Thanks. I'm sorry for disturbing you…"

He nodded. "It's fine, I don't really mind. I've actually been wanting to talk to you, too… It's just, I'm still not completely recovered from what happened last year, so I'm always tired."

She turned to look at him, displaying some concern. "Are you alright?"

He laughed. "I'm completely fine. I can take care of myself, don't worry."

"You're sure? I've been worried about you since I heard about what happened…"

"I'm fine," he insisted. Then, he suddenly grinned roguishly. "I can prove it. Want to battle?"

The suggestion took Celebi by surprise. "Battle?"

Azelf nodded. "Yeah. I haven't had a good fight ever since that one human beat me seven years ago."

She considered it carefully. If one of them was injured, she could easily heal them, so what harm was there? Azelf would have fun, and that might help him recover more quickly. After all, laughter is the best medicine, or something along those lines.

She hesitantly nodded. "Alright."

Azelf smiled. "Thanks." He rose into the air, moving a few feet away.

Celebi's wings fluttered, raising her into the air, and she faced him nervously. I hope I don't lose too quickly… She wasn't feeling very optimistic about the outcome of this battle.

"I won't hold back, so I won't expect you to, either."

Great. Azelf's eyes glowed, and Celebi braced herself.

A purple aura surrounded her, and she felt Azelf's mind invading hers. She instinctively pushed him away, though the effort tired her slightly.

She then raised one green hand, and a small yellow seed appeared in it. Curling her fingers around it and pulling her arm back, she sent it arcing through the air toward her blue adversary.

Azelf cringed, bringing up his arms as if to block it, but instead the seed hit his right arm and latched on. It immediately sprouted into a small vine-like plant that grew at an alarming rate, sending shoots out that wrapped around him and began to drain his strength. He growled telepathically, ripping at it, but it simply re-grew when he injured it.

Finally, he gave up, ignoring it and turning his attention back to Celebi, who was grinning widely. "You think this is funny? Rrgh…" His eyes began to glow again.

Celebi shook her head, turning serious again. She didn't like fighting, but if she somehow became involved in a fight she tended to enjoy it. She would rather die than admit it afterwards, though. In any case, she again braced herself for Azelf's assault.

A black haze appeared around Azelf, obscuring him momentarily before dissipating. Then his eyes flashed again, and Celebi felt her mind being attacked by Azelf once more.

She flinched, putting up a resistance, but it was stronger this time, and she felt herself slowly weakening. "Argh…" she gasped, falling toward the ground.

The alien presence suddenly left, and she righted herself, pumping her wings to regain height. She glanced at Azelf, whose eyes were closed as he prepared another attack, and then she concentrated. Glowing, transparent rocks appeared in the air around her, launching at Azelf.

He opened his eyes in time to see them coming. His eyes flashed white, and he moved out of the way at an impossible speed, neatly dodging the rocks. They vanished once they hit the surface of the lake behind them.

Azelf then grinned. "I win." He promptly exploded into flames.

Celebi's eyes widened, and she raised her arms to defend herself, even though she knew it would do no good. In an instant she was engulfed in an inferno of heat and flames. She was sent flying backward, feeling a sharp pain in her back as she struck something, and collapsed to the ground. Another thud followed soon after, as Azelf also dropped to the ground nearby.

Celebi was still for several moments, waiting for her heart to slow down. She sucked in a breath of air, flinching as pain raced through her entire body. Then she sat up painfully, looking down at herself and wincing. Her skin was charred, a mottled mixture of red and its natural green color.

"Ouch." She looked up at Azelf, who was getting back to his feet a few feet away, swaying dangerously and threatening to collapse any moment. With an effort, she also stood up, facing him while trying to keep from succumbing to exhaustion. "What made you do that?" she demanded.

He looked at her and winced. "Sorry… Well, it got rid of your Leech Seed, didn't it?"

She realized that the plant had indeed been vaporized in the blast. "Oh. Fine, then."

She struggled to concentrate despite the pain, and was rewarded as she glowed white briefly. When the glow faded, she was as good as new, if not slightly tired.

Azelf glared. "That's not fair."

Celebi hovered into the air and grinned, shrugging in response. "Too bad."

Several transparent rocks appeared in the air around her again, shooting at Azelf. He flinched slightly, eyes flashing, and again moved out of the way at a blinding speed.

He then faced her, smiling grimly despite his weakened state. "Heh, you need to work on your aim…"

She ground her teeth in frustration. "You can't keep dodging me forever."

Having said this, she formed more translucent boulders, flinging them at Azelf once again. He was ready, however, and his eyes flashed like before as he dodged out of the way, rising into the air slightly.

He stuck out his tongue. "Yes, I can." There was slight worry visible in his eyes, however.

Celebi suddenly grinned as an idea came to her. "I know what you can't dodge… How about a song?"

He stared. "Huh?"

Instead of responding, she opened her mouth and began to sing, in her real voice instead of telepathy. Azelf flinched, since even though her voice was pretty, the wordless song was dark and eerie. He realized what she was doing, but found that he couldn't move, transfixed by the unnatural music.

After what seemed like eternity, the song ended with one last discordant note, and Celebi closed her mouth. "There, I win."

Immediately, she felt herself begin to weaken. Azelf looked at her in dismay, starting to sink toward the ground as his strength was drained as well. "Perish Song… ugh… That's not fair…"

Celebi began to reply, when everything went black.

.

Celebi gradually became aware of her surroundings once again. Soft, prickly grass was under and around her. On top of her, she felt something warm and soft.

No, don't want to wake up yet… So tired. Why am I tired? She struggled to remember.

Suddenly, she realized that whatever was on her was throbbing. Wait… It's… breathing… She groaned, finally opening her eyes.

The first thing she saw was blurriness. After rubbing her eyes and yawning, she blinked, twisted around, and focused on the thing on top of her. It was a small blue creature.

Azelf! Celebi suddenly remembered everything. She turned red and froze as she realized that the blue fairy-like Pokemon was lying sideways across her. She was on her side, and somehow he had ended up sprawled across her on his stomach.

"Azelf, get off me," she commanded telepathically.

He didn't respond.

Groaning, Celebi shifted onto her back and tried to push Azelf off of her. But she soon gave up as she became lightheaded and dizzy, and his only reaction was to moan and shift in his sleep.

Why won't he wake up? She shook her head, then jabbed him sharply in the side with one finger, not really expecting it to work.

Azelf's eyes snapped open. "Huh? Wha…"

Celebi rolled her eyes. "Get the heck off me right now."

He suddenly realized where he was. Turning red, he quickly jumped away from her. "Oh, uh, sorry."

She sat up, then stood shakily, still feeling weak from her Perish Song. "How in the world did you get on top of me?"

He gestured wildly for a moment, before finally saying, "Well, when you fainted, you fell, so I tried to catch you, only you were too heavy…"

She glared, trying to hide how red her face was. "Are you trying to tell me I'm fat?"

He winced and took a step backward. "N-no, you're not fat, you're actually very…" He stopped himself mid-sentence.

Celebi put her hands on her hips. "Very? Very what? Very fat? I'm not just fat, I'm very fat?"

Azelf shook his head quickly. "No! I… Fine! Attractive! You aren't fat, you're very attractive! Ugh…" He reddened, dropping to the ground and covering his head with his arms, fully expecting her to strike him.

There was an awkward silence. Finally, Celebi said uncertainly, "Um, alright… Well, I think I've done enough damage, so I guess I'll leave now… Sorry for disturbing you." She quickly turned away.

"Celebi, wait."

She stopped. She wasn't sure what it was that made her stop, but she stopped all the same. Slowly she turned partially, looking back at Azelf.

He was standing again, his eyes shut and his paws fidgeting nervously. "Um, I know you probably think I'm a creep or something now, but… It was, um, an accident, and I'm sorry if I offended you in any way… Although, I really did mean what I said about…" He trailed off, opening his eyes again and glancing at her before staring at the ground.

She was silent for a few moments, before replying. "It's alright, don't worry." She gave a small laugh.

Azelf sighed in relief, then winced and fell to the ground. "Ow…"

Celebi immediately turned toward him and moved forward in alarm. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

He shook his head, quickly recovering and standing back up. "No, I'm fine."

She stared at him accusingly, noticing that his body was quivering slightly as if ready to collapse. "No, you're not."

He hesitated, then sighed and sat on the grass. "You're right, I'm not fine. Between your Leech Seed and Perish Song, and my Explosion, I managed to get pretty beat up. I'm really tired, too…"

Celebi reached out one hand, which began to glow softly. "I can heal you, with Healing Wish…"

Azelf looked up sharply. "No, that'll hurt you."

She shrugged. "So? You're hurt more badly than me." I can't believe I ever agreed to that battle…

He shook his head vehemently. "No." He then smiled slightly. "I'll be fine. Thanks for the offer, but no, it won't be necessary."

Celebi's hand stopped glowing. Sighing, she sat down next to him. "Alright, then." She glanced at the sky, noticing that it was beginning to turn orange, and then asked shyly, "Um, it's going to be dark soon, and I'm tired, too. Could I stay here tonight? I can't fly like this…"

He nodded. "That's fine, I don't mind. I don't have anywhere prepared or anything, but…"

"No, that's fine. I'll just sleep up in a tree or something…" There was a silence for a few seconds, before Celebi suddenly spoke again. "It was a tie."

Azelf looked at her in confusion. "What?"

"Our battle."

"Oh. Yeah, it was a tie. But I would have won if it weren't for the fact that I'm still recovering from that thing that happened a year ago."

She glanced at him, slight worry showing. "Are you absolutely sure you're alright? I heard about what happened, you were tortured by Team Galactic…"

He nodded, cringing as he remembered. "They wanted me to help them, turn me into a hit man or something. But when I refused, they just put me into one of their torture machines. After about a week, they gave up and just used me for a hostage." He laughed humorlessly. "And even that couldn't break my resolve. I'm the Being of Willpower, you would think they would know better than to try."

Celebi's eyes widened. "I hadn't heard all the details before… An entire week? I wouldn't be able to put up with that, I would probably go crazy after only a day." She quickly revised her opinion of the blue Pokemon.

Azelf nodded, turning to look at her. "So now you know why I've been sleeping for the past year. Some things are too much for even me to withstand, without any repercussions… And then I was blasted unconscious a few days later, and when I woke up I found out that I'd been absorbed by Arceus."

She nodded. "Yes, I'd heard about that… Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Just… stick around, alright? Please."

The "please" caught her attention. Azelf never said "please". "Uh, okay…"

He smiled. "Thanks. For everything."

Celebi smiled back, and their eyes met. "You're welcome."

He suddenly looked uncomfortable. "Um, Celebi…"

"What is it?"

"Uh, well…" He averted his eyes, looking at the grass.

There was a long silence.

Finally, he took a deep breath, then leaned over and kissed her.

Immediately, conflicting thoughts raced through Celebi's brain, making her freeze momentarily. Her first thought was to attack him. Her second thought was to simply run away. But she didn't do either, instead, once she got over her moment of surprise, she kissed him back.

After a moment, they separated. Both were in a daze, staring at the ground, until finally Celebi snapped out of it. What the heck am I doing? She looked up at Azelf.

He looked up at her as well, his face red, and Celebi wondered if she was blushing too. But then he spoke telepathically. "…Thank you."

"…Uh, you're welcome." She turned away. What am I doing? she asked herself again.

Something touched her hand, and she looked back in surprise. Azelf was there, watching her in concern. "Is something wrong?"

I don't know, is it? Celebi shook her head. "No." Then she turned and embraced him. "Thank you."

He reddened again, before hugging her back. "No problem." Celebi knew she was blushing now.

The moon soon rose, finding the two sitting on the edge of the lake, watching the stars. Celebi glanced at Azelf, then turned her gaze back to the sky and sighed.

To think, it had started out as only a friendly visit…