-Chapter 21: Grovyle's Recovery-

-Grovyle's POV-

When I came to, my eyes opened, but there was a light in front of me, and I had to squint under its harsh glow. I looked around, and noticed that I was in my room by myself. The light was coming from the ember moss, and it wasn't very bright at all. I was laying on my hammock, with a wooden bedside table next to me, with a drink that looked like water.

I grabbed it without sitting up, and took a sip. I recoiled at the bitter taste, almost dropping the cup, and I set it back down. I eventually tried to sit up, but as soon as I tried, my body exploded into pain. I shouted in agony, and Connor walked into my room, "Oh, good; You're awake."

He sat down beside me, and I turned my neck to face him. He smiled, but I could tell that it was forced.

"What's wrong?"

He shook his head, "Nothing. You just took a huge beating in there; I'm surprised I didn't have to re-merge your soul… Every bone in your body was pretty much reduced to gravel with that hyper beam. Your plant origins helped you survive due to your extreme healing capabilities… I didn't know that you could regenerate limbs like that…"

I smiled, "Neither did I…"

Connor frowned, "That was a stupid move; I can't regenerate limbs like that, even on myself… If you couldn't regenerate your arm, that would have been problematic… Severed limbs, I can reattach, but a shattered, flash-frozen arm? Nope."

I sighed, "Well… That's good to know for the future…"

He smiled, "Yeah… Um, so… I'll finish healing your lower body real quick… Hold up."

He placed his hand on my chest, and I gasped with pain.

He continued, "Sorry… This will hurt a lot."

He began humming, and I groaned as a searing pain pulsed throughout my whole body. I shouted out in pain, and Connor squinted. The agony was almost as bad as when I had to merge my soul with my body when Dusknoir killed me a few weeks ago. He stopped after a moment, breathing heavily, and murmured, "Try moving your legs."
I attempted to move my legs, but they were still limp. I looked at my arm, the one with the mark of Dialga on it, and frowned slightly.

Connor glanced quickly at my arm, then to my eyes as he murmured, "Let it go, Grovyle… It was a mistake. You've moved on. Same as me."

I nodded slightly, but I couldn't shake the feeling that there was something more than just the seal over it… To re-appear in the exact same spot on a completely new arm… No psychic incantation or spell should make it that permanent…

Connor's voice snapped me out of my thoughts when he said suddenly, "You were out for a long while. The others were worried."

I looked around with hope, "Where are they?"

Connor smiled warmly as he placed a hand on my shoulder, "They're training… There's another thing… Dialga's Army… It's advancing. He is moving towards Dragon Mountain, with far more Sableye and Golurk than we saw in Temporal Tower."

I shrugged, "So? We go to the past before they get here. What's the big deal?"

Connor's frown deepened, "I have already tried that… Gengar's Mega form's ability stops me from teleporting us past them…"

"Why do we need to get past them?"

Connor looked down slightly, "Because Celebi told me that the passage of time, the one thing that she needs to send us back that far in time, is behind them in the mountains at the other end of the hidden land. There's no avoiding this. I've looked for every other way of getting there."

I thought about it, "Can't Victini give Celebi the boost needed?"

He shook his head, "I already asked. The overload of power would basically cause time to collapse on itself around her; The passage of time channels her power into one area, making it possible to travel many generations back without risk of collapsing time's structure."

I looked back to my legs, trying to change the subject, "So… How long until I can walk again?"

He shrugged, "As soon as I can mend your bones and reattach your shredded muscles to the bone… You don't exactly have human bones, so this is a bit difficult… In fact, no pokemon has human bones… But yours… Your cellular makeup consists of what appear to be similar to eukaryotic plant cells, and less like any other kind, so your cellular repair rate should be able to heal your anatomical makeup without my help…"

I shook my head slightly, "I don't know what half of those words mean; Can you talk in a language I understand?"
He nodded, "Um… You have plant cells, so you can heal really, really fast. You shouldn't be needing my help to heal."

I looked at my arms as I held them in front of me, "Maybe I don't have those kind?"

Connor laughed, "Oh, you do. That's the only reason you could survive all of Tyranitar's attacks. You are tough, and from what I saw, you can regenerate limbs faster than a Starmie. And not to mention your bones… Pound for pound, they're eighteen times stronger than mine…"

I shook my head, "Wait, I've seen you take a way harder beat down than me! How come you're not dead?"

His hand glowed, and he smiled, "My aura protects me, sort of like the move Endure. I can survive anything thrown at me, as long as I'm prepared. On top of that, I can heal myself and others like you do by using synthesis or mega drain… Although I can do it without the need for a source of the power. I'm not as all-powerful as the pokemon here think I am. I'm practically unable to be killed, that's true, but I can still be beaten."

I nodded and tried to speak, but I grimaced at the pain in my legs, and Connor placed his hand on one. He chanted, "sanare eius fractum corpus…" and his hand glowed again. This time, I could feel my legs, and I found out that I could move them. Connor smiled, "There. Good as new!"

I embraced him suddenly as I stood up, "Thank you, Connor!"

He chuckled slightly, "No problem."

Connor looked down to me, "You remind me of me when I was your age… How old are you, in your species' years? Fifteen? Sixteen? You can't be any older than that…"

I smiled, "It's kind of hard to tell with time slowing down my aging process, but maybe seventeen... How old are you?"

He looked up again, "Well, if I don't include the frozen time as a variable, I'd be twenty in human years."

I tensed up slightly when I heard footsteps coming from behind Connor, and he smiled as he turned around, "Hello Basileus. I thought that you were training the Insurgo?"

My dad smiled warmly, "I came to see if my son was alright; I presume that I am permitted to check on the well-being of my offspring?"

Connor gestured to me, "Apologies, old friend. He is alright, as you can see; He is up and walking!"

I took a step forward for good measure, and my dad smiled, "Alright… I will be continuing training the others. Connor, take good care of him in my absence."

Connor nodded, "Sure thing, Basileus."

My dad exited the chamber, and Connor turned to me, a pained look in his eyes.

I tilted my head, "What's wrong, Connor?"

His eyes teared up, and he sat down on a tree stump he grew from the ground, "Grovyle… You trust me, right?"

I nodded, "Of course. You're like my best friend."

He smiled faintly, "Good… Well, I need to tell you something important. It's about who I was when I was first brought here."

My confusion set in, "I already saw your past when you kicked me and Dusclops out."

He nodded, "And what you saw is true… However, there is more that not even I knew about myself… I need to tell you. I'll tell you the shortened version, for the lack of time I have to explain…"

He took a deep breath, and began talking, "Alright… So, I'm going to start with the big pieces… Time stopping is my fault."

I couldn't keep in my surprise, "Huh? You're the most determined to change this world! How would this be your fault?"

He grimaced, "I know… It's because… Y'know, when you saw my past, how Giratina let me be reborn into this world?"
"Yeah…"

"Well, it was Darkrai who brought me back from the dead… That whole thing with Giratina was a dream, conjured up by him..." He explained how Darkrai had manipulated him, and he helped make this world of darkness… He told me everything about his past before this world.

He stopped, and I leaned forward, "That's it?"

He nodded, "It's the really condensed version, but yeah. Why?"

I sat down, "You really thought I would judge you for that? Apparently, you don't know me very well. You're obviously a good person, so what you did then doesn't matter."

He smiled, "Huh. That went better than I expected..."

I nodded as I stood up, "No problem. But you said that without your robe, you're powerless?"

He nodded slightly, "Yes… I have not told another of this, not even Lucario…"

My eyes widened at the seriousness of the information I had just received, "Oh… So what happens when it rips or tears?"

He shrugged, "I dunno. I'd imagine Darkrai made this resistant to tearing and such. Hasn't been an issue before."

I smiled, "Cool. Looks like we need to start getting ready to fight…"

Welp, here we go! Chapter 21! Leave a quick review or PM, and if you have any OCs for the next story, then the template is on my profile. Tuesday is the last chance to submit OCs, after that I will not be taking any more for a while! Thanks! Much Love!

-PL