Chapter 13:

Trust

After a few hours of sleep, Grovyle was up and awake, ready to get this bonding thing over with. He really wasn't too enthusiastic of it, since it cut into his valuable, precious time to track down the Time Gears. Grovyle jumped off the tree branch he had been relaxing on, and entered the cottage so he could go alert Rose, wanting to let her know he wanted to leave as soon as possible.

He approached her bedside, and gently tapped on her soft, pink fur, hoping that she would awake. It failed to work. Rose still laid there peacefully, lost in her dreams. This very sight distracted Grovyle, which made him not wanting to awake such a small and delicate creature. However, he got through the feeling, and then tried to wake her up again, this time, shaking her awake. Grovyle had a tone of hastiness in his voice. "Rose! Please awake! You've wasted enough of my time laying around in my nice, warm bed! The time has come for us to bond with each other, so I may gain access to your Dimensional Scream! So get up!"

Rose awoke, seeing his frustrated expression. She didn't like to be woken up like this in the morning, it was something that she just wasn't use to. "Grovyle...please..." Rose murmured. "Just let me have a couple more minutes of sleep..."

While she continued to doze, Grovyle had had enough of her stubbornness. He didn't have the time to deal with her behavior, it was just something he couldn't tolerate. "Fine! If that's the way you want it!" Grovyle snarled. He then took a wooden bucket and dashed outside. Once outside the cottage, he located a nearby river, which was filled with cold, flowing water. He filled up the bucket and ran back inside. When Grovyle returned to the sleeping Rose, he dumped the water on top of her, causing her to quickly awake from her slumber. She shivered, her blue mane all wet, and then yelled, "Grovyle! I hate you! Why'd you even do that?"

"Why did I do that?" he replied. "You refused to get up, ignoring my orders."

Rose was stunned by his last remark. "Orders? You can't give me orders! Only Minty, and my parents can! I'm not your daughter you know, and it's not like you'd ever have a kid of your own!"

Grovyle became rather insulted by her last remark. "You take that back! I very well could if I wanted, it's just that I haven't found that special someone yet! Either way, it's useless to me! I do in fact have the right to order you around! Since Minty, nor your parents are present, I am your official guardian! Weather you like it or not, you are to listen to me, as well as respect me! This is day one, so get used to it!" He stormed out of the room and into the outdoors. Rose just stared at his turned body sourly, water still dripping from her hair.

Getting over her anger towards Grovyle, she eventually followed him, and they both came to a stop at a grassy meadow. Rose took a deep breath, getting some fresh air into her system. Even though the meadow was somewhat taken over by the darkness, she found it's scenery to be rather pleasant and relaxing. Rose wondered if Grovyle would let her take a break here so she could unwind for a bit, but she had her doubts. More then likely, he wouldn't approve of it, because of his impatient ways, plus his hasty attitude. Rose just hated that about him.

Rose spotted Grovye lying on an old tree branch, obviously not wanting to have anything to do with her. He still held a grudge about what had happened between them earlier, and how she had insulted him straight to his face. Rose gulped as she approached the tall oak, feeling nervous about reasoning with the creature.

"Hey, Grovyle," Rose asked. "Is it Ok with you if we stop here, and take a break for a little bit?"

Grovyle looked at her, and then replied, "Whatever. As long as you don't bug me, as I just wish to have some peace and quiet, that's all I want. Now go on and leave me alone."

"Fine, if that's the way you want it!" she replied, walking away from the tree he was relaxing in.

Hadn't he forgotten that he was supposed to be bonding with her? Humph. Some partner he turned out to be. He was only caring for himself instead of her. Didn't he care for her just a little bit? Rose doubted it, there's just no way someone so hasty as Grovyle could possess such a feeling.

Rose continued walking onward, and was somewhat surprised about how she had not been looking where she was going. She had stepped off of the steep cliff of the meadow, and now it left her dangling from a branch that had grown off the side of the cliff. Rose gulped once she realized that right below her was a fast, flowing river. She knew if she were to let go, death would surly follow. Rose began to cry for help. "Grovyle, help me!"

Grovyle, who was still lazily lying in the tree, heard her piercing cries. "Huh? What was that?" he wondered.

"Grovyle!" she yelled again. "Help me!"

Grovyle looked around the meadow, noticing that the blue maned pony was nowhere in sight. "Rose? Is that you?" he called. What's going on?"

"I'll tell you what's going on!" the pony replied. "I'm hanging on to a branch on the side of a cliff, over a powerful river, and if I let go, I'll surly die!"

"Rose is in danger?" Grovyle yelled under his breath. He didn't know what he'd do if Rose were to be killed, he just couldn't bear to see it happen! "Hang on, Rose!" he called. "I'm coming to your rescue!"

He dashed over to the meadow's sharp edge, spotting Rose holding onto the branch for her life. "On second thought," Rose replied, having her doubts. "I'll just save myself! I think I'm able!"

"Are you crazy?" Grovyle yelled back. "There's no way you could possibly do that! If you were to try to scale this jagged formation, you'll surly slip and fall straight into the river! I just can't let that happen! I'd be best if I helped you so you may get out of this mess alive! Just trust me on this!"

He held out his hand, hoping she'd grab on to it with no arguments. "I just can't do this!" she cried, tears forming in her eyes. "How do I know you won't drop me?"

"I know for certainty I won't!" the Pokemon replied. "You just have to trust me! Rose, don't you trust me?"

Taking a risk, she grabbed ahold of his hand, and then had Grovyle pull her up. The noble grass type used all his strength, and then sprung back onto his backside after he'd successfully gotten Rose back on top of the meadow. The pony had landed on top of him, feeling slightly embarrassed.

"Oh, Grovyle!" she cried as she clung ahold of him with tears streaming from her eyes. "You've saved me from near death! I don't know how I'd ever be able repay you, and I won't ever forget this!"

"Don't mention it," Grovyle replied, prying her off of him. "All you needed to do was just have some faith in me, and because you did, I was able to save you in the nick of time. Maybe now you'll learn to trust me a little more, and that you should never wander off. Doing so will only get you into troublesome situations. From now on, you are to stay with me, and never stray from my side. Is that understood?"

Rose nodded most agreeably, not wanting to go through another terrifying experience. "Ok, Grovyle," she replied, feeling a lot better. "I won't."

The Pokemon responded with a smile, and then said, "So, shall we head back to Celebi?"

"Sure! I'm all set to go!" The two of them then left the meadow, walking hand-in-hand.