I don't even know that I passed out until I feel the grass tickling against my cheek and the pounding of my heart at my temple, but I still feel that same peace as I did before I lost consciousness; the same warmth, only surrounding me instead of radiating from within. I wait to piece together my thoughts before attempting to open my eyes: We were climbing Sky Peak… The Muk and Grimer, Azalea taking in all of that miasma, that light…
"Azalea… Ri…" I groan, my eyelids fluttering open wearily as the world surrounding me tries to blur into focus. No sooner do I open them though am I forced to close them once again due to the stark brightness that assaults my vision. "Everyone… Is everyone alright?"
"Thank goodness she's ok," I hear Celebi sigh to my left. I push myself up into a sitting position, but my head reels in protest. I feel a hand catch me at the small of my back and someone else crawl upon my lap. Azalea maybe? I can't think of anyone else here small enough…
"Is everyone alright?" I repeat. I don't know what happened after we were claimed by the strong light: Everything else seemed to end the moment that it began. I don't know what happened, or what came over me—just that it felt strangely natural for what it was.
"Are we alright?" I heard Grovyle echo from behind me, "You and Ri were the ones who ran straight into danger after that little Shaymin. We should be asking you that." His last few words sound a bit heated as they're directed at me, but I know it's only out of concern. Of course I would've worried him—sprinting headfirst into danger like that and then taking so long to wake back up. If I hadn't fallen unconscious, I can only imagine the tongue-lashing I would've gotten otherwise.
I rub my eyes with the back of my paws before attempting to reopen them—this time far more cautionate then earlier—and give them a proper chance to adjust. Slowly, the world blinks back into focus and I find the others gathered around me worriedly. The hand supporting my back belongs to Ri, and I find myself leading into his arms to rest my head against his shoulder when I learn this.
Only after I've performed rollcall in my mind am I able to set my sights on the newly reborn summit. It's such a drastic change from the dark place it was just moments ago that I can hardly believe we're really in the same spot as we were and it takes my breath away. The fractured and broken earth is completely healed and fresh grass and healthy flowers cover the once barren land. The air is so much cleaner now, and instead of miasma wrenching at my senses I find the pleasant scent of the blossoms wafting on a gentle breeze. The sun hangs as a golden sphere in a gradually darkening sky, painted in swaths of overlaying shades of pink, blue, and yellow—the beginnings of a gorgeous sunset. I can see the range of Craggy Coast way into the distance. Although we're higher than the clouds and the surrounding mountain landscape, it's not cold up here. If anything, it's just as nice as if we were back on level ground.
"I-I'm so glad that I climbed this mountain…" whispers Breloom in awe, who's done nothing but watch the scenery since I've awoken.
"Me too… I'm practically speechless…" says Mawile with a calm grin. Raising a hand to her stomach, she continues, "It must be this scenery itself that's the treasure. I can't think of a more beautiful sight."
We wouldn't even be able to enjoy this sight if it weren't for Azalea. I look to her now, tired, but otherwise fine as she rests atop my legs. Her natural pallor has returned to her and all signs of the poisons in her system seem to have cleared.
"I used my Heal Bell again just to be safe, but it seemed like pretty much everything had cleared out already," Celebi confirms as I begin to lightly stroke the small Pokemon's back with my fingertips. How is it that I've gotten so attached to her so quickly? She's cute, yes, and her sweet disposition could melt any heart: It hasn't taken long for me to learn that she avoids conflict at all costs if she believes she can reason with her opponents first. She's so innocent…
Like I was when I was little—and still am in some ways. Maybe that's why she's grown so easily on me. I can see a little bit of myself in her.
"It's thanks to you and Ri that she's still alive," Dusknoir says as he draws nearer to us, "If you hadn't stepped in when you did, it's unlikely that she would've pulled through." The way he says it with such certainty is scary, and I instinctually shift my arms around her as if to shield her from old wounds.
"To be honest, I don't understand how we did it…" Ri shrugs, his brows knitted in confusion as he looks to me searchingly. I can only offer him a bewildered shrug of my own though: I can't even guess at what happened to us.
"Well, I think you both have proven a theory of mine." My ears perk up with intrigue and I snap my gaze back on the Ghost-type. Has he finally found some answers?! He returns our stares with a scientist's methodical calm and continues by first asking, "You do remember how peculiar it was when you travelled to Luminous Spring and its long-dead powers were restored without apparent reason?" We both nod rapidly in answer and I bite my lower lip. "What happened there and what happened here are connected incidents—connected by you.
"Other than for Lira's Dimensional Scream and Ri's nature as a gatekeeper of sorts with his Relic Fragment, we've heard of no other great powers in our research of the previous generation of the Guardians of Light. Whether it's because the world has been relatively at peace or because they were born somewhere far beyond our knowledge, I cannot say." He redirects his words from just us to everyone gathered around. "Lira and Ri can use aura. Celebi, you're a legendary. However, the previous Guardians could've been anyone in the world. It stands to reason that if they were to run into any great danger that, in the very least, one of them would require some other ability for them to protect themselves—though it's obvious this power stretches far beyond that."
Obvious? I'm still trying to wrap my head around being a Guardian of Light: There's nothing obvious to me about any of this. But I keep quiet about this rather than interrupt.
"The Dimensional Scream and the Relic Fragment's power are both time-related—derived from Dialga's gift to the First Child and one of his companions. Yet in every trace of the legend that there is, it's stated that it was Dialga and Palkia that gave power to the first Guardians. I wouldn't doubt it if Girantina, or Arceus himself, were involved as well for the First Child to have been brought back to life. There could be so much more to your abilities than what we could ever hope to learn."
Dusknoir's steady gaze finally settles back on Ri and myself. I nearly shrink back under that gaze, and I feel the same heavy weight upon my shoulders that's been placed there time and time again throughout my life. "Once all other conclusions were scratched out, I debated whether or not the power of Luminous Spring might have somehow reactivated because of you two. You said you didn't think you would've done anything to have caused it?"
I swallow before replying, "All I did was use the Dimensional Scream to check on the chest that Wigglytuff left for our exam."
"And that's just it. Nothing happened until after you used the Dimensional Scream. It must have triggered something within the place's essence, as if you told it that the world was restored to its natural order and it could safely channel its powers freely once more." He then gestures to Azalea with a wave of his hand. "As for this incident, I think it was from your and Ri's deep want to safe both this place and Shaymin that your abilities activated—that's what that light was. In a word, it's a sort of healing or stabilizing charm. Your powers are growing stronger, and I wouldn't be surprised if Grovyle or Celebi began showing signs of such abilities as well."
As the two others in our team gape at him in shock, clearly denying it, it doesn't escape me that Dusknoir doesn't mention the possibility of himself possessing such abilities. There are supposed to be five Guardians of Light—and according to Dialga, Dusknoir is one of us. Like the others, he already fully well knows this. Maybe he thinks he's spent so much of his life embracing darkness that he can't be a defender of the light… It's hard to tell what's going on in that head of his.
"But we didn't do anything," Ri contradicts. "All we were thinking about at the time was that we wanted to protect Azalea. We didn't try to use any special powers."
"I'm going out on a limb here by saying this, but I feel those particular abilities are more so knee-jerk reactions," he retorts. "There's a chance you might someday be able to control them, but right now it can be compared to when a member of your species is born and uses aura for the first time. It's natural and untrained, full of hidden strength and untapped potential."
"Let's just be thankful that you have those powers," Machoke steps forward with a grin as he says this, "or who knows how long the summit might've stayed like this or if Azalea would've pulled through."
"I'll be eager to come back someday," Mawile adds.
Finally I have the chance to ask Team Frontier, "How were the three of you able to catch up with us so quickly anyway. We thought you were heading back down to the base."
"Yes, but when we saw how determined you and so many of the others were to reach the summit, we realized we couldn't just give up on being some of the last to get here either," their team leader winks mischievously. "We had Drifblim fly us as far as she could before running after you on our own." That makes sense: I imagine that our time spent taking care of Sneasel also gave them some room to catch up.
"But we weren't expecting to see you all in action like that, let alone fight alongside you," Mawile smiles at her teammates. "So that was Team Crusade's power… It was amazing to get to see it firsthand!"
All of a sudden Breloom turns a shade paler than normal and his eyes widen to near-perfect circles. Worry and apprehension pours from him like water, and he hastily turns to the Iron-type in a frantic, shaky voice, "Arceus, in the excitement of everything, I… Oh—um! Uh! You are feeling ok, aren't you, Mawile?!" He takes her hand in his in attempt to set her down upon the grass, but she only raises an incredulous brow at him. "No cramps or anything? I-is the baby—?"
Wait… Baby?! I feel myself stiffen at the very mention of the word and draw in a terse breath.
"If travelling around with you two hasn't made me miscarry by now, nothing will!" she quips at the now flustered duo that is Breloom and Machoke. Still, whatever irritation she feels at being fawned over in such an overprotective manner ebbs as she gives her stomach an affectionate pat and begins to smile once more. "But… this really will be a nice adventure to tell the little biter someday. I guess this technically will count as their first one. I'm going to have to bring them back here after they hatch."
Mawile is… pregnant… The same Mawile I knew in the resistance, her daughter, is growing inside her tummy—just waiting to be born… I feel a subtle grin pull at the corner of my lips. You're going to have a better future now, I want to say. This is the only solid proof I've seen that has let me know that I did get to save the girl and the others in the future after all. Now, she'll get to grow up with her mother and father, in a safe and peaceful world full of stars and sunshine. I couldn't wish for anything better.
After we'd all given the summit a thorough look over just to be sure that the miasma has completely been purged, the celebrations begin. With the day being as crazy as it's been, I nearly forgot about the work everyone's put into to try and have a party for me until I was banished to a small wait-high pool of water to free my fur of the remaining grime clinging to it while the preparations got underway. Now I'm left alone to watch the violet, miniscule clumps slide off of me and into the water before dissolving the sudsy solution of lavender and other herbs gathered from the plants that flourish here.
Once Azalea had recovered her strength, she had offered to take us back down mountain and showed us the amazing gift of her species. There's a flower here that—from what anyone knows—only grows here on Sky Peak, at the summit, known as a Gracidea. When it's in bloom, the Shaymin can withdraw energy from it in order to temporarily change their forms and give them the power to fly. However, Gracideas seal up at night, and even in her Sky Form she was still much too small to carry any of us—besides maybe Celebi—as she had offered. We still have the Escape Orb, and we're planning on camping out up here for the night before we decide how we'll leave in the morning.
Ri invited Team Frontier to stay and join us for the party since they were already here, and none of us really mind: If he and the others are going to go through all of this trouble for my sake anyway, why not? Though I still fail to see what the big deal is about. It's just my birthday, and it's not like I'm a little kid anymore.
Though the sky continues to grow darker, Dusknoir's ignited a few lanterns using Will-O-Wisp so we can see just fine. It's a beautiful night, with the stars shining clearly up above as a light meteor shower begins, the alluring glow of the lanterns and hushed chatter in the distance making me feel so at home up here.
After drying myself off, I take the journal and graphite that Ri left out for me and begin sketching one of the half-open buds of the Gracidea blossoms. Now that I'm back, we've both been taking turns writing about our adventures and all the new things we've learned. I snort though, thinking that if we keep moving at our pace that we're going to fill a library of books with our stories.
Perhaps an hour and a half has passed by the time Grovyle give me the go-ahead to return to them. They've all already cleaned up, so—just as they intended—I'm all that's left. I don't know what to expect as I round the cluster of boulders that marked the division between them and me, and it stuns me when I see how much effort they've put into all of this. Spread out atop two conjoined blankets is a feast of various foods: A bowl of different kinds of fruits and berries, the stir fry that Ri made the first night we stayed in Sharpedo Bluff, a tray of the sweet poffins I like so much, an attempt at pizza—both cheese and pineapple—that I can only imagine they got from the things I told them about my time spent away when I briefly returned to my human life. The masterpiece of it all though is the teal and pale yellow, frosted cake dotted with a ring of strawberries.
There's also of presents sitting in the one, empty corner of the two blankets shared by my friends and family—a good number of which bear white wrapping paper and are tied shut with a light pink bow. For a moment, I think it's a bit overkill, but whatever look I make must give away my thoughts, as Azalea explains, "Those are Sky Gifts from Team Frontier and me."
"You really didn't have to do all that," I reply bashfully. One of my ears flops back in the odd mix of feelings I have over the matter. I'm flattered, but not only did they just find out about my birthday a mere two hours ago—we just only met today. We invited them to join us to be polite: It's not like they were expected of anything in return.
"Sky Gifts are treasures known only to this mountain," Mawile adds as she shrugs. "They can only be opened as gifts given to other people. We found plenty when we were setting up the base, so we're just glad to finally have some use for them."
Noticing my persisting reluctance to accept, Ri laughs, stands up, and walks over to me to give me a playful lick on the cheek. "Just let us do this for you, Lira," he smiles. "This may seem weird, but this isn't just all about you: We wanted to give you this, because you are such an important part of our lives. We wanted to let you know how much you mean to us. The very day you were born is the day all of us were fated to meet you, and why wouldn't we want to celebrate that?"
His words render me mute. It's not that I didn't know already that they cared about me, but to hear put it so eloquently… I blink rapidly to contain the moisture forming in my eyes and smile back at him as he takes my hand and pulls me forward to sit in the center of our group.
Heh… I guess I'm not allowed to speak against birthdays anymore…