Sorry for the delay. I've been reading Doctor Who transcripts (seeing as Doctor Who was taken off Netflix *sobs*) and I always thought that I can't compare to the amazingness that is Doctor Who. Seriously. Watch Doctor Who. It's way better than this.
Chapter 7 – Into the Future
Riolu sighed. "It's been a couple days since Dusknoir went out. I wonder what's taking him so long." Everyone in Treasure Town was told to wait, and spread rumors. Team PokePals had finally gone back to doing their regular jobs. "I wonder if he's okay," he said, concerned about the explorer.
"ZZT ZZT! Attention all guild members!"
"That's Officer Magnemite!" One guild member said.
"I am delighted to report that Grovyle has been captured!"
"Wow, really?!" The guild cheered.
"Dusknoir has called a meeting at the town square. The guild is especially invited."
()()()()()
At the town plaza, the whole town was gathered, including all three of the lake guardians. There was a mysterious looking hole at the front.
"What is that?" One Pokemon asked. No Pokemon dared to go up to touch it.
But once again, Riolu could hear someone's voice. It's that voice! He thought. It's louder than it ever was now! The tone of the voice could be heard, and it's as if it's trying to warn everyone of something, but it was being held back by someone else.
But Riolu's thoughts were interrupted when Dusknoir arrived, with a couple of ghost type Pokemon that had big gems for eyes. They were pushing a trussed up Grovyle.
"Hello, everyone." Dusknoir said. "I am happy to announce that our mission succeeded, and we have captured the thieving Grovyle!" The whole town roared with cheers and whistles. Grovyle tried desperately to speak, but his mouth was muzzled tightly with a rope. Sparky couldn't help but to feel sorry for him. I mean, he thought, I know he's a bad Pokemon, but there's something in my mind telling me I should help him.
"But… It is now time for us to return to the future."
"Aww… So soon?" One Pokemon said.
"I am sorry, but it is my duty to apprehend Grovyle in the right time." He looked at one of the Pokemon. "Push him in." The Pokemon harshly pushed him in before he could make a sound. "Now, I'm afraid I will never be coming back here. But in my last moment here, I would like to thank you all for assisting me in my mission." He looked at the mysterious tunnel. "This is a dimensional hole. It allows me to travel through time. Before I go back to the future, I must see two Pokemon." He pointed to Sparky and Riolu. "Team Pokepals!"
The voice grew even louder than before, and a distinct rustling could be heard in the tent behind them.
"That's us…" Riolu said, trying to hold back his tears, "let's go."
"Team PokePals has especially assisted me in my mission. Without your instincts, we never would have found the Time Gear at the Underground Lake. Thank you."
"Of course, Dusknoir sir; but without your help, Grovyle wouldn't even be captured in the first place. We should be thanking you!" He said gratefully.
"But now, I'm afraid this is goodbye. I wish you luck on solving the mystery of your relic fragment."
"Thank you! Coming from you, that's an honor."
"Goodbye, everyone! Thank you all for your generous hospitality!" He started walking into the dimensional hole until, "Wait... one more thing..." he quickly turned around. "You two!"
"H-huh?! Us?!" Riolu asked, startled by the sudden change in the tone of his voice.
"You two... Are coming with me!" the mouth on his chest opened, and he grabbed them by the shoulders.
"Wh-wha! What are you-"
He was interrupted when Dusknoir harshly pulled them in the tunnel, which immediately afterwards disappeared, leaving everyone watching confounded.
()()()()()
Everything was black. Sparky could hear a faint roar and crashing of waves and the ominous howl of an ocean breeze, though the sounds were extremely distorted.
"Alright you two." A distant voice rose out of nowhere, making Sparky jump. "You both won't be able to understand me yet. I am writing a letter so you could read these words later. But... look at you two..." Sparky could hear the laughs of what sounded like two different children. The sound echoed around him, the sound sending an ominous chill down his spine. "You both are gonna be amazing... The savers of the universe, I hope... I know that's a lot of pressure, but I know you could do it... I believe in you... I know that means almost nothing coming from someone you never spoke to, but..." The voice sighed. "I wish I could help you, but... Apparently you two are going to be one of the only ones to survive this... I suppose, that this isn't the worst way to go... I'm at my favorite place... with my two boys!" the voice laughed. "I am standing here on this beach... on this beautiful, brilliant beach... The most beautiful thing you will never be able to see. The waves are crashing on the sand, making beautiful foamy bubbles on the beach. You could look out onto the ocean, and could see the bluest blue. And the sunset..." there was a long pause, the only sound being the distorted and faint sound of the waves. "Oh, the sunset... the sun lets off the most magnificent of oranges out into the blue sky. The sun reflects off the ocean, and it looks like a tall candle flame..." The voice paused. "There's really nothing quite like the things you see... the things you'd normally take for granted in this world... and even then... even beyond this magnificent view... the universe is so much bigger... and so much more incredible than anyone on this world could imagine... I'm sorry you would never be able to see this... But maybe there's a chance... a chance to not only see this magnificent view, but to bring it all back... maybe... just... maybe..." the voice grew more and more distant, echoing all around Sparky.
"W-wait! Come back!" he tried to say.
But another voice rose up. It was indistinct at first, but gradually got clearer. "Sparky!... Sparky!... Wake up Sparky!"
()()()()()
Sparky opened his eyes. His vision was blurry. He sat up seeing a familiar blue figure in front of him. Even his memory was blurred, he had a difficult time recognizing the figure. That's... Riolu! Of course! I almost forgot! His vision cleared to find himself in a dark cell.
"Oh! Thank Arceus you're okay!" Riolu sighed in relief.
"Wh... where are we?" he asked.
"I don't know! I just woke up... the bars are locked... So... let me get this straight... Dusknoir grabbed us, and pulled us into that vortex-y thing... wait... so we must be in the future! How are we gonna get back?"
They heard some distant footsteps, quickly coming closer to them, when suddenly, the cell doors opened, and the same ghost type Pokemon they saw at the plaza walked in. "Oh good. They're awake. Saves us the trouble of carrying them."
"Wh-who are you?"
"Come with us." He commanded, ignoring his question.
"Wh-what?" the Pokemon pushed them out into the dark corridor. "H-hey! Stop pushing me!" They kept walking until they could feel some ropes being tied around them. Suddenly, a dim light lit up the room, revealing that they were trussed up on some poles. "Hey! Sparky! And..." Next to Sparky was Grovyle, who was also tied up. "Wha- You?!"
"Shut up! They're coming." He replied. The large doors opened and Dusknoir led the way towards them, followed by a group of the ghost type Pokemon.
"D-Dusknoir! What's happening?" Riolu asked.
"I said shut up!" Grovyle insisted.
"We've gathered them up sir." Said the minion.
"Good job, Sableye." He turned to Grovyle. "Well, well, well. Turns out you couldn't escape me after all. Heh." He looked down at the Sableye. "Do it."
"'Do' it?" Riolu asked, "What does he-"
"Quiet! I'm thinking..." Grovyle said. The Sableye slowly stepped closer. "Ok, the Sableye are going to use Fury Swipes on us." He whispered, "They should cut our ropes loose; the moment they do, use an attack."
"Wh-why are you giving us orders?!"
Grovyle sighed. "Look, it's your choice whether you want to listen to me. But if you want to survive, I suggest you do as I say."
The Sableye stepped closer until, they all unleashed their Fury Swipes on them. But then, a couple seconds later, the ropes broke loose. "Huh? Here's my chance!" The moment the Sableye made contact with him, Riolu used Counter to hit the Sableye back. "Got him!" he looked over to see that Sparky and Grovyle got out of the ropes unscathed as well.
"Wh-what?!" Dusknoir said, astonished.
"Grab on!" Grovyle said, reaching his hand out.
"Get them!" Dusknoir commanded. The Sableye all tried to attack them, but Grovyle threw an orb down, and a bright light lit up the room. When the light dimmed, they were nowhere to be seen. "Blast! They've escaped! Everyone! Split up! Find them!" he and the Sableye all cleared out of the room.
The trio burst out of the ground, leaving a pile of dirt beside them. "*cough**cough* Blech! I've got dirt in my mouth!"
"Enough complaining!" Grovyle snapped. "If you want to get back to your time, then I suggest you come with me."
"Wh-what? Why would we come with you? Why did Dusknoir pull us here anyway?"
"I have no idea. You must have done something they can't tolerate."
"Wh- Hey!"
"Stop arguing!" He stepped closer. "Look, do you know how you're going to get back?"
"...N-no." he stammered, stepping back from the intimidating Pokemon.
"Well, I do. And right now, your only hope of getting back to your time is if you listen to me. Now are you just going to stand there and argue with me, or are you going to listen to me, and get back to your world?" he said, harshly.
"... Fine. But this is only temporary! Don't think that I trust you yet! I just want to get back to my own time!"
"Fine. I couldn't care less." They could hear the many footsteps of the Sableye. "Follow me." He sprinted out of the stockade, he was noticeably slowing down so the others could keep up with him.
"So, how are we going to get back?" Riolu asked, panting as he tried running along the gray, colorless ground.
"I know a friend. She can bring us back."
"Wait... you're not going back to our time!"
"What? Why?"
"Because you're just going to steal the Time Gears again!" he exclaimed.
Grovyle sighed. "I have a good reason for that, you know."
"Oh, I'm sure you do!" he said, sarcastically. He noticed something on the side of the path. "Hey... what's that?"
"There's no time! Keep running!"
"But wait... That's a Pokemon! We could ask for help!"
"W-wait! Stay away from..." he paused when he saw Riolu's face. Standing, on the cliff face was all the guild members, all with either frightened, or depressed faces on. They were colorless, with all their color taken out of them, leaving only shades of gray on their bodies. They were all staring out into the distance, except...
"They... They aren't moving..." Riolu said, disturbed, his voice was trembling from fear. "Th...they must be statues, right? Please... Please tell me I'm right!" Tears were streaming down his cheeks.
"No... Those are real Pokemon... I'm assuming you-"
"Yes... I knew them..."
"...I... I'm sorry..."
There was a long pause. "This... This is... Your fault!" he said, running up to Grovyle.
"Wh-what?!" he said, stepping back.
Sparky tried to pull him back. "Riolu! Calm down!"
"Time froze... all because you stole the Time Gears! This is all your fault!"
"No it isn't! I don't know what Dusknoir told you, but it isn't me who did this!" he heard the Sableyes' footsteps, gradually getting louder. "Look, I'll explain later, but what's more urgent now is that we get out of here." He pulled them on to the path. "C'mon!" he sprinted even faster, hoping the Sableye hadn't seen them.
"All those Pokemon... They're frozen!" he furiously said, as he was running, "In a state of fear and in a feeling of hopelessness! Dusknoir told us!"
"Yes... he was right..."
"And it's all because you stole all the Time Gears!"
"Wh-what?! No! Not that part!" He stopped on his tracks and looked back. "Look, you're going to have to trust me." His voice lowered into a deep whisper.
"Trust you?! Please!"
Grovyle sighed. He looked back. "... I hope we lost them..." he pulled them to the side, behind a rock.
"H-hey! Stop pulling me!"
"Now, I know what I am about to say may not make you trust me, but... just hear me out."
"... Fine."
"I stole the Time Gears... so I could stop the planet's paralysis."
"Wh-what?! But if you steal all the-"
"I know what happens!" he said, interrupting him. "It's only temporary." He sighed, knowing the next sentence he was about to say would be hard to believe. "There is a place called the Hidden Land."
Riolu laughed. "You're insane!"
"Just hear me out! On the Hidden Land, is a place called Temporal Tower. It is the embodiment of time itself. Time is dying. All of time. It's happening! It doesn't matter if the Time Gears are stolen or not! If I bring all the Time Gears back to Temporal Tower, then time will survive!"
"Survive what? Why's it dying in the first place?"
"... It's complicated, and I don't have time to explain." He heard the footsteps getting closer.
"And you expect me to believe you!" he started walking out.
"Wh-where are you going?!"
"... I'm going to look for Dusknoir. He'll know what to do."
"Wh- are you insane?! Do you remember what he did to you?!"
"Maybe it was an accident!"
"Pulling you into the future, throwing you into a jail cell, and almost executing you was an accident?!"
He broke down into tears, and fell on his knees. "I... I don't know who to believe anymore..." Sparky ran up to comfort him.
"I... I know what you're experiencing is hard... but... you just need to get through this... I know that means nothing coming from someone you've hardly spoken to... And have no trust in at all..." he muttered that last part under his breath. "But-"
"Right now, we need to focus on how we're going to get back" Sparky interrupted him. He started whispering to Riolu. "I know what you saw is hard, but... we need to move on... we mourn, but we live... and right now, we need to focus." He looked up at Grovyle. He admitted that what Grovyle said sounded ridiculous, but there was something deep in his subconscious telling him to believe Grovyle. He's telling the truth... I know he is! But why?... Why am I thinking that?
The footsteps gradually got quieter. "I... I think they ran past." Grovyle peeked around the corner, and saw the group of Sableye run past.
"Alright, how are we going to get back?" Sparky asked.
"What if what I tell you is all lies?"
"I... I don't know... I don't know why, but I just trust you..."
"What? You can't be serious!" Riolu asked.
"There's something... deep in my mind, telling me to trust him..."
"I have a friend... she's called Celebi. She can bring us back to our time through something called the Passage of Time."
"Alright. Let's go." Grovyle stood up and walked out. "Riolu... I know you have no reason to trust him, but we need to focus..."
"Do you... do you..."
"Do I... what?"
"Do you even care?"
"What?!"
"You just saw everyone at the guild, standing there, frozen and terrified, and it's like you don't even care!"
"Wh- of course I care! I know. I know, Riolu. What you saw was hard, I know. Like I said, we mourn, but we live. But right now, we need to focus on getting back. And to get back, the last thing we need is to get sentimental about it."
"What's gotten into you? Ever since you met Grovyle, you've gotten so... unemotional! You've been turned into him!"
"When we get back to the past we'll find a way to stop Grovyle, alright? So that none of this would have even happened! So the guild wouldn't even be frozen on that cliff in the first place!" he whispered. "We need to focus on getting back now... alright?"
"...Alright."
Sparky and Riolu ran up to Grovyle. "Right, so where is this 'Celebi' then?"
"She's in this forest here. It's called Dusk Forest. She should be at the end of it. Shouldn't be too dangerous to get there. Let's go." They ran along the path, not noticing the Sableye hiding behind the rock behind them.
()()()()()
It was almost pitch black inside the forest. No light was getting through the thick canopy above them. "This place... is really depressing." Riolu said, noticing all the leaves weren't moving at all.
"It used to look better. The sun used to shine through the leaves. You saw little patches of light laying on the ground. This place used to be so sprightly, so... alive... At least, that's what I heard."
"Have you ever seen this world, when it wasn't frozen?"
"...When I was just a little toddler. I don't remember how it looked though."
"How have you not been frozen, like all the others?"
"It's because I've traveled in time before. I'm a time anomaly."
"What, as a little child?"
"Yes, I've met Celebi a long time ago. She allowed me to travel in time, but not through the Passage of Time. We were only allowed to travel in small bursts, using only Celebi's power, not the Passage of Time's, so we didn't do anything... too harmful."
"When you say 'we.' You knew someone else?"
"Of course I did! I had friends!"
"Sure you did." He said, sarcastically, gaining an annoyed look from Grovyle. "...Where is he now?"
He stopped walking. "...He's... Gone now."
"...Gone? What do you mean?"
Grovyle remained silent until they finally reached the end of the forest. They arrived at a large field, and could hear a distant ringing from up ahead. "Celebi? Celebi, are you there?" The forest remained silent. "Celebi? Oh Arceus, I hope nothing happened to her."
"What? To me? Please!" a voice suddenly burst out.
"Wha! Who's there?" Riolu exclaimed, startled.
"Don't worry, Riolu." Grovyle stated. "It's her. It's great to see you, Celebi."
With a bright flash, a small, floating pink Pokemon appeared out of thin air. "Wha-? You're Celebi?"
"Yes, I am. Is there a problem?"
"Well, I heard that you were the Time Travel Pokemon. I just thought that maybe you'd be more... Well..."
"Wha-?! Are you insulting my petite proportions? How insulting!"
"U-umm... Sorry..."
"Now... Grovyle... where's-"
"He's gone now!..." He yelled, interrupting her. "Sorry for snapping... He's just... gone now..."
"Oh, Grovyle... I'm so sorry..."
"What? What happened?" Riolu asked, noticing the change in the tone of their voices.
"No- It's nothing..." Grovyle said.
"He doesn't like to get emotional." Celebi whispered to Riolu. "Now, Grovyle, as you're back here now, I'm assuming you have failed in your mission of preventing the planet's paralysis?"
"Y-yes. I'm sorry, Celebi." Grovyle said.
"Hm, no matter. If you fail, you must try and try again. I'm assuming you want to travel through the Passage of Time?"
"Yes. Is it alright?"
"Of course! Follow me, it's just this way." Not too far ahead, they heard a certain whirring and ringing. "There it is!" Celebi said. In front of them was a mysterious looking tunnel. "The Passage of Time! Now, off you pop, and please, Grovyle, don't fail in your mission this time."
"Y-yes. Sorry Celebi."
"Alright. I hope you never come back here, lest that I'd have to come with you the next time. As I've said before, I'd give my life to get out of this dark and dreary world. It's so depressing! Goodbye you..." She paused.
"What? What's wrong?"
"Your friend..." She pointed to Sparky.
"Wha- me?" Sparky said.
"What? What about him?"
"No... It's nothing. Now go, save the world!" The trio stepped toward the Passage of Time, until...
"I don't think so, you three..." With a sudden flash, Dusknoir and a group of Sableye appeared in front of them.
"Wha- Dusknoir, sir!" Riolu said.
"Wha- You?!" Grovyle said, taking a fighting stance.
"I was following you the whole time. I knew you were coming to the Passage of Time! I just didn't know where it was. Thank you for leading us to it!"
"Gah! Of course!..."
"Let's not waste any more time, then, shall we? Sableye, just kill them." The Sableye walked closer.
"W-wait, Dusknoir!"
"Oh, what is it? Do you want to kiss up to me again? Seriously, how did any of you idiots trust me?"
"Wh-... wha?"
"Although... I do admit, I am a good actor..."
"So... you WERE lying then!"
"Oh of course I was. You're a bit slow, aren't you?"
"H... how dare you?!" The Sableye walked even closer.
"Gah, we're surrounded. But we can fight our way out." Grovyle said.
"Ha, I don't think so, Grovyle."
"What?"
"Did you really think I would come alone?... Dialga, sir. I think it's time you've shown yourself now." In the shadows, intimidating orange lines started to glow, and some dark, red eyes started to dimly glow. Then, it stepped forward, revealing a large beastlike Pokemon, seeming to have a crystalline body.
"Oh no... not here..." Celebi said.
"What is that?!" Riolu said, stepping behind Sparky.
"Th- tha... that's... Primal Dialga..."
"The creator of Temporal Tower!" Dusknoir continued for him.
"Wha... Temporal Tower is real?!" Riolu asked, astonished.
Dusknoir laughed. "Of course it's real! Have you ever read a mythology book? Now, Dialga, sir... Do it... Your signature move... Use Roar of Time!"
"No!" Celebi yelled. The large beast suddenly made a piercing, deafening roar. It burst through the air, and everyone covered their ears. "N...No... The Passage of Time..." The tunnel started to crack. The crack got bigger, and larger, until, the whole tunnel shattered, leaving the thousands of glowing pieces laying on the ground.
Everyone remained silent. "It's over... for us... But there's still a chance..." Grovyle said.
"Oh, really? I'd like to hear it." Dusknoir replied, in a mocking tone.
"I went back to the past with a partner. We got separated on our way there, but he got there, I know he did. I don't know what happened to him, but we'd better hope he's safe."
"Oh, did you really get separated? Because I have a feeling your partner may be closer than you think!"
"Wh... what are you on about?"
"Isn't that right... Sparky?"
Grovyle quickly turned around. "Wha- you're Sparky?!"
"Wha- what's happening?!" Sparky stepped back.
"You're Sparky... my partner... but... you were a human!"
"What?! A human?!" Riolu asked, astonished. "Sparky thinks that before he lost his memory, he was a human!"
"You lost your memory?! So... you have no idea who I am..."
So... all those times when I trusted Grovyle, and when I felt happy to see Grovyle, Sparky thought, was all my lost memories telling me to trust him because... he was my partner?
"When I went back to the past, to look for you," Dusknoir continued, "I stopped in Treasure Town... I thought it was a nice little, harmless town, until... I found you two... The human, turned into a Cyndaquil; and the one... with the Relic Fragment..."
"Wh-wha- my Relic Fragment?!"
"Show the pattern to Grovyle, will you?" Riolu did so, and Grovyle's eyes lit up.
"Y... you have it?!"
"H-have what?!"
"I didn't expect much at first, but, when I learned your name, Sparky, and found out about your lost memories; and Riolu, with your precious Relic Fragment; I thought the hands of fate were practically laying the solution out in front of me! And now, I brought you all together... All of you... Goodbye... Forever!"
"I... It's... It's over..." Grovyle said. The Sableye stepped even closer.
"Wha- you're giving up?!" Celebi asked, "You never do that!"
"And what do you expect me to do in this situation?! It's impossible! The Passage of Time is destroyed, we're surrounded by Sableye, and Primal Dialga is right in front of us! It's impossible! We should just give up... You win, Dusknoir... You... win..."
"... No..." Riolu said.
"No?" Dusknoir said, in a mocking tone.
"...No! There's always a way out! Always!" Riolu thought back to their conversation. "We were only allowed to travel in small bursts, using only Celebi's power," Grovyle had said before. "Of course! Celebi!"
"Wh-what?"
"You can travel in time on your own, right?"
"Y... yes... Oh... OH! Oh that's brilliant! How did I not think of that?! You are clever, almost as clever as me! (Well, almost) Of course, since Dialga's here we can't travel far in time, but we can travel far in space!"
"Wha- what are you talking about?" Grovyle said.
"I may not be able to travel far in time, but I can travel in space, to a place where I'm casually linked, a place where I normally teleport to."
"Can it work?"
"We'd better damn well hope. Because it's our only option right now." The Sableye were stepping closer now. "Grab on." She held her hand out. "And hold on tight! It's gonna be a bumpy ride!" With a bright flash, they teleported away, leaving everyone silent and surprised.
"...No... No! They couldn't have gotten away again!" Dusknoir ran up to where they used to be. "...No..." He looked up at the Sableye. "I want everyone to make a search party! Find them!... FIND THEM!" The Sableye whimpered as they all cleared out to find them. "I... I'm sorry, Master Dialga... Next time, we will, kill them... Actually, next time... I'll kill them myself..."
Now THAT was a long chapter. More than 4500 words! DAMN! (Also, I did use "damn" in this chapter, so I don't know if I should leave the rating at K+, so please tell me if I should change it) Well, a lot happened in this one, and I am really proud of this one. Tell me what you thought in the reviews, I'd love to hear your opinion. Did you think it was amazing, or think it was the worst fanfiction you've ever read? I don't care just put it in the reviews, I love getting reviews! Now, as you could probably tell, I am a HUGE fan of Doctor Who. As this game had a time travel plot, and involved lost memories, I felt inspired to make a story similar to a Doctor Who plot. I won't spoil which series I based it off of (Though let's be honest, you could probably tell). So, every chapter, I feel like I should leave a Doctor Who quote at the end. Now, I would usually make it so it fits in context, but this time I'll just put an inspiring quote in this time.
"The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. The good things don't always soften the bad things, but vice versa, the bad things don't necessarily spoil the good things or make them unimportant."
-The Doctor
