Chapter 1 - Sleepless Nights

Cyndy's PoV

You know, the more I thought about it, the more I seemed to like our little alcove here in Sharpedo Bluff. At first, I was slightly skeptical about it when we were hiding with Grovyle to escape the fear of sudden alienation from the Guild and all of Treasure Town's residents, but after graduating, it had taken on a real homey feel to it. It had a nice view of the ocean and the full moon that was out during the lulled darkness that was tonight.

Oh yeah... it's nighttime. I almost forgot. I guess I lost my internal sense of time because of my lack of sleep. It's true; I hadn't been able to sleep. Night after night, even as Serene, my loyal partner, fell asleep, my body refused to give me the same luxury. "Well, I guess it's because the poor guy has a knack for being knocked out by the sea." I chuckled at my own joke at the Chikorita's expense. In truth, I actually was quite grateful that I found him. If I hadn't found Serene down there by the beach, I never would have had the guts to join at Wigglytuff's Guild, and thus find out the secret to my Relic Fragment. I really did owe the little guy a lot. A smile overcame my face as I thought of all the great adventures we had over the course of that couple of months. A warm feeling began to envelop my chest as I pondered how he was always patient with me, no matter how dense I seemed or how hot-headed I could be in some situations. He was always right there beside me, ready to fight with me.

I sighed slightly as a deep blush formed on my face. I usually would attribute the warm feeling for me being a Cyndaquil, but even as dense as I could be, there was no way I could have missed it.

I was definitely in love with Serene.

The revelation was nothing that new; I knew I'd been feeling something for the human-turned-Pokémon since after the incident with Dialga, when he started to fade away. The sudden feelings had just rushed forth, like a mud dam built by Bidoof that had just burst.
My eyes closed against my own will and they started to drip tears as the memory flashed through my mind.

"Hey! Serene!"

I walked back towards the Chikorita, a questioning look decorating my face. It was odd... there were little orbs of light around him. Was this another one of his jokes? A feeling of dread hit my stomach as I saw his solemn face. Uh oh, I thought. Serene's acting weird... this can't be good. My vocal cords finally coughed up the question.

"Huh...? Serene... what's wrong with you?"

His eyes started to gloss over with salty water, tears freely dripping onto the floating rock below our feet. "I'm sorry, Cyndy... I've kept this from you for so long..."

No... no! What could he have meant? What was he talking about? What was that light around him?

"It seems like... I have to say goodbye."

"W-what!? Goodbye? What do you mean?"

"Dusknoir told me. If we changed the future... all of the Pokémon from the future would disappear..."

Oh, no... please don't tell me this is going where I think...

"That's why... I'm destined to disappear, too."

As much as I would have liked to keep a facade of toughness up, I couldn't keep the tears from flowing either. "Wh-why? I don't understand!" He started smiling... why was he smiling? Wasn't he going to be gone soon?

"Thank you for everything. I'm going to disappear from here now... But, Cyndy..."

We both almost choked on the silence.

"I'll never forget you."

The light around his form started to grow more frequent. I could even see small bits of him fading. A feeling of sorrow and dread filled the pit of my stomach, along with another feeling... was it longing? "W-wait a second... I only made it this far because you were with me, Serene. Don't you understand!? You made me strong, Serene..." I felt like shouting. In fact, I pretty much was at that point. "If you go, Serene... I... I couldn't -"

I felt a soft paw on my shoulder. "No, Cyndy. You have to be strong on your own. You have to live." How could he be so calm in this situation. Didn't he know he was leaving me forever!? He was leaving me without someone to talk to... without a friend... Damn him, sometimes... "You have to go home, and tell everyone what's happened here!" I was nearly clinging to his legs at this point, hoping that in some cosmic way, that would keep him from going.

The light in response grew thicker and louder, nearly obscuring my view of my best friend... no. He was more to me than that by now. He was almost like family, but without the blood ties. "N-no... don't go... don't leave me! DON'T LEAVE ME, SERENE, PLEASE!"

"I'm glad for everything, Cyndy. I'm glad we got to train together... I'm glad we got to go on adventures together - I'm glad I got to know you, Cyndy."

I wasn't even making coherent sentences anymore. I was bawling and screaming, but the light managed to drown out my voice. I could have sworn that he said something else after that, but I wasn't paying attention anymore. My thoughts were filled with images of us, together, laughing playfully and adventuring together. My mouth decided to try its final attempt at speaking. "I know, Serene. T-to me, you're my... You're more important than anything in the world... I love y-"

He began to fade away. The light calmed down, and my paws flopped on rock. I shakily stood up and made my way back to the Rainbow Stoneship, my tears staining the cobble all the way. I kept muttering the same line over and over: "I love you, Serene... I'll never forget you..."

My eyes finally opened, and unsurprisingly, the fur on my face was stained. I was greeted by the morning sun, and a rustling form beside me. I guess, in my mind's absence, Serene had crawled to sleep beside me, and he was just waking up. I smiled, thankful he was still here. The Chikorita that I so loved and cherished unceremoniously yawned and stood up, shaking his head as though he had dunked his head in ice water. He turned to me and immediately noticed my stained face. His expression quickly changed to a worried one. "Cyndy... are you okay? Have you been... crying?" I nodded. "Did you have a nightmare?" A shake of my head, and an explanation that I hadn't slept. "What...? Were you that worried about me? I'm sorry... I promise I won't do anything that stupid again." He was most likely referring to our trip to Blizzard Island. We had beaten Frosslass, sure, but he had caught a serious cold once we managed to get back from the island, and he barely escaped frostbite multiple times.

My eyes took the moment to look across my love's body. While it was short and stumpy, it was extremely cute, especially when he smiled. The leaf upon his head was strong and rubbery, though it did work like an actual plant's and performed photosynthesis perfectly, or at least from what I understand that he's told me - it makes sense; he's never really asked for too much food while we're at home during the day, preferring to stay outside and bask in the sunlight - and it's how he performs most of his attacks. It's probably sensitive as well, my thoughts concluded.

I had almost automatically stood on my two legs while my paws started to grab and rub the leaf. My eyes looked almost entranced in what I was doing. It was so weird... why was I fawning over my love this much - right in front of him? I heard a moan coming from below me, and my trance was broken; I immediately removed myself completely from him, blushing and quickly backing up, muttering broken apologies. I looked into Serene's red eyes and saw... was that disappointment? No, probably not. He was definitely embarassed, though, with that contrasting red-on-green colour his face displayed.

"W-well," Serene started. "That's, uhh... surely a way to start the morning, isn't it? Are you okay? You've been acting strange for the past week."
My red eyes drew back into his, unable to speak again. I don't know what came over me, but in an instant I threw my stubby arms around his neck and drew our faces closer. I chucked all my courage at him in the form of a kiss, one that only lasted for a few seconds before breaking off.

Serene looked almost bewildered, before shaking his head. He simply walked towards the stairs with a poker face that would kill a card Sharpedo before looking back at me, motioning me to follow him. "Come on, Cyndy; we're going back to Temporal Tower. I want to see Dialga again."