The Story of Team Fate - An Explorers of Sky Fanfiction
Chapter 25 - Closer to Home
Sparks' POV
Come on… just one sip…
I try my best to keep my paws planted on the grass below me while also trying to reach the lake water below me for a drink.
Arceus, how did Violet make this look so easy?
Eventually, I manage to lower my head enough to the point where my mouth finally makes contact to the water, and I treat myself to several refreshing gulps. The water, while grey and frozen-in-time, still tastes and feels like any regular water, even tasting slightly cooler and refreshing than I remember as if some of it was made up of pieces of ice.
Wait… then again… when was the last time I drank water?
However, I don't let my thoughts distract me and instead try to quench my desperate thirst by continuing to drink.
"Okay. Shinx, Vulpix, listen carefully," I hear Grovyle say from nearby. "This might be a bit to take in, so I'd rather have it that you remain quiet and instead process the information to yourselves quietly. Speak up only when I ask you to."
"I'll be listening." I say in between large sips.
"Got it." I hear Violet say beside me.
"Now… where to start? Hmm… well, I might as well start with as to why the future is frozen like this," Grovyle starts. "Judging by your appearance and my… 'meeting' with you at Crystal Lake with Azelf, you know what Time Gears are and what they do, correct?"
Indeed I do. I would reply, but right now my mouth is full, and I'm still very thirsty for water.
"They… they keep the flow of time stable, right?" I hear Violet reply.
"That's correct, Vulpix," Grovyle continues. "Now, as you know, I've been trying to take the Time Gears of your time period. But, I have done so in good intention. You see, it's true that when I take a Time Gear away from its location, the flow of time there will freeze, but only temporarily. To explain, you might be wondering why some of the locations in the past are still frozen even if they have their Time Gears returned. This is because in the past, time has already started to freeze due to some strange anomaly, starting with areas in Treasure Town, regardless of whether or not the Time Gears are in their places or not. Eventually, this time freezing wave has spread across the entire planet permanently, leading to this frozen future we're in now. So, in an attempt to relieve this world from the darkness of this frozen future, a good friend of mine helped bring me and another good friend to the past where you lived. However, Dusknoir's master, Dialga, didn't want the past to get fixed, so he took Dusknoir and a few of his Sableye minions to the past to try to stop me. Understand so far?"
I think I get what's happening…
"I… I think I get it…" I hear Violet say, sounding slightly unsure. "To get this straight, the past was going to freeze regardless of the Time Gears being in their places… leading to this frozen future… so you came to the past to fix it, but Dusknoir also followed you to the past to try and stop you, right? Wait, if Dusknoir wanted to stop you, specifically, then why did he bring us to the future? And how were you going to fix the past, anyway?"
I was thinking the exact same thing. Violet must be learning…
"I was just going to answer those questions, Vulpix. You still listening, Shinx?" I hear Grovyle ask.
"Still listening." I take a quick break from my lake water sips to reply, then continue drinking.
I hear Grovyle clear his throat, the continuing to speak. "So when I traveled to the past, I learned that there is one way to stop time from freezing in you past and turn it back to normal. I had to go take all the Time Gears around your region and take them all to a place at the top of Temporal Tower, the very tower that stands straight as long as time stays stable. But during my trip to the past, I managed to take all the Time Gears, well, all except for Crystal Lake's, before Dusknoir stopped me and returned all the Time Gears. So it appears that I'm back to square one in my operation to save the past and the future…"
Well, this is quite a bit much to take in… but for as far as I know… I can still piece this together in a way where it makes sense…
"Oh… um… I… I guess I understand… I think…" I hear Violet say, sounding slightly overwhelmed by the information. "I'll just try to pretend that I understand everything completely… I still have some questions, though…"
"I told you to not speak during my explanation until I ask you to, Vulpix," I hear Grovyle chide. "Continuing on, now I was just going to get to that point. Of course, you know why Dusknoir took me to the future. For you, Shinx, my guess would be because of your tactical prowess, which would make you a force to be reckoned with against Dusknoir, only making Dusknoir want to eliminate you as soon as possible. As for why Dusknoir would want to eliminate you, Vulpix, as far as I know, you showed impressive battling potential in our encounter at Crystal Lake, but more importantly, I think it's because of that stone of yours."
"My… my stone? You mean this one?" I hear Violet say.
My thirst now quenched, I lift my head from the lake and wipe my mouth with a paw to see that Violet has pulled out her Relic Fragment from inside her scarf. I then see Grovyle's expression shift at the sight of Violet's Relic Fragment, lighting up.
"Yes! That's the stone!" Grovyle says. I then see him reach for the stone, but I instinctively react and step in front of Violet, blocking Grovyle off.
"Explanation first, stone later," I scowl, glaring at Grovyle. "Let's just say I'm a bit paranoid about others trying to take my girlfriend's lucky charm."
My stare causes Grovyle to take a step back, just like I wanted.
"'Girlfriend'…? 'Lucky charm'?" Grovyle questions, sounding slightly confused. He then clears his throat. "Interesting… Ahem. Remember how I mentioned that taking the Time Gears to a place in Temporal Tower will fix time? You see, Shinx and Vulpix, getting to the top of Temporal Tower isn't as easy as traversing any regular mystery dungeon. One specific part in particular requires a powerful stone to proceed. Judging from the glimpse I had of that ancient-looking stone of yours, Vulpix, I know that those types of artifact-type rocks have some sort of power in them. Much more than a lucky charm, you could say. I'm sure Dusknoir knows this as well, and wanted to take that stone from you to guarantee that Temporal Tower will never be reached, since powerful stones are rare. But luckily, you still have the stone with you, Vulpix."
I take in the information Grovyle just said.
"Now that I think about it, a place as important as Temporal Tower should have something to make it harder to traverse that any regular mystery dungeon…" I reply, calming down a bit. "But if we're still going to go with you, the stone stays with Violet, got it?"
"Yes, yes, don't get the wrong idea, Shinx, I'd rather have it that the Vulpix keep the stone for now," Grovyle says in panicked haste. A confused look then comes across his face. "Wait a second… who's Violet?"
"Uh… I'm Violet," Violet speaks up, walking up beside me. "My name's Violet. Did you… did you really think that my name was always Vulpix?"
"Your… name?" Grovyle appears very confused for a second. He then snaps out of his trance and slaps a hand to his face in disbelief. "Ugh! How could I have forgotten?! Please excuse my ignorance, you two. It's just that I haven't met many Pokemon here in the future, so I wouldn't know if a Pokemon would rather be called by a specific name or not… This'll take some getting used to on my part…"
"I guess that's… understandable… Might as well introduce ourselves to you since you told us your plan, seems like a fair trade," I continue to speak. "This Vulpix here is Violet, my girlfriend, and as for me, my name is Sparks."
Grovyle then appears confused again. "Excuse me, but let me get this straight. Your name is Sparks?" He questions with a surprised look.
Grovyle's reaction makes me slightly confused as well.
"Uh… yes. My name is Sparks," I reply slowly. "May I know why you seem confused by my name?"
"No, no, it's just… nothing," Grovyle replies, quickly shaking his head and turning away from us. However, I instantly recognize his tone of voice to be that of denial. I decide not to question it.
"Anyways, I presume that you two have already quenched your thirsts by the lake, correct? That means we're done here. We should keep moving, after all. Dusknoir might still be following us, and we still have a long path to walk." Grovyle continues.
Violet and I then watch as Grovyle walks ahead and walks toward another pathway ahead while motioning for us to follow.
"Wait, where are we going, anyway?" I call out to Grovyle.
"I'll explain more to you on the way there," Grovyle calls back. "Now come on!"
Following Grovyle's command, Violet and I run up to him, leaving the clearing and the lake behind.
Author's POV
With Sparks' Treasure Bag dragging along the ground behind him and Violet clutching her Relic Fragment tightly beneath her scarf, the two catch up to Grovyle and head out of the room, out of sight.
Meanwhile, a nearby rustling appears in a bush, but all that comes out of the bush is a shadow, the body invisible. Immediately afterwards, the shadow's source comes out from being invisible, revealing itself to be a lone Sableye.
'Drat! I thought that looting only one Vanish Seed from the Shinx's bag after Dusknoir captured him would be a good idea, but the invisibility effects of the Vanish Seed have already wore off!' Sableye thinks to himself, irritated. 'And I didn't even get a chance to take that stone from the Vulpix!'
The Sableye sighs, then walks over to the lake to get a quick sip.
'At least I managed to follow Grovyle this far. The rest of the Sableye are barely able to get up from the damage done by that Vulpix… But luckily I still had that Vanish Seed from the Shinx's bag and managed to hide just in time,' Sableye continues thinking. 'But now that the Vanish Seed's worn off, I should probably head back to Dusknoir since I've done all I could in terms of spying… Yeah, heading back does sound like the best solution. I don't think I can take those three all at once. I'm sure that I can safely assume that Grovyle is going to try to head back to the past, and since Dusknoir knows a thing or two about how the process of opening a time portal works, he'll know where Grovyle is trying to go. I'll head back to him, tell him the path Grovyle and the other two went, and be able to catch up to them in no time! Wheh heh heh!'
Finishing his sip, the Sableye lifts his head from the lake and looks around, something suddenly coming across his mind.
'I should be able to meet back up with Dusknoir and catch up to Grovyle… but now that I think about it, a mysterious ally of Dusknoir and Master Dialga should be found not too far ahead of this forest's path… It would be a shame if… Grovyle and those two came across him,' Sableye thinks, the eerie grin on his face growing larger. 'Well, regardless of whether or not Grovyle, Shinx, and Vulpix survive the encounter, I'm sure Dusknoir will have already caught up to them! Wheh heh heh!'
Sableye then leaves the clearing and heads the opposite direction of where Sparks and Violet left, somewhat satisfied with himself.
In the present time, Night, Crossroads
"So where are we going now, Ninetales? Are we going to get another Apple juice at the cafe? Are we going to explore a mystery dungeon or some other place like that?" Sammy's voice in her mind cries out enthusiastically as Ninetales reads it. The little Sandshrew looks up at the yawning Ninetales with her blue eyes.
"We'll… um… I'm honestly really tired at the moment…" Ninetales mumbles, wiping her drowsy eyes with a paw as she continues walking in circles. "I have no idea where to go or what to do at the moment… I could do with some sleep."
"Well, if you're too tired to do anything, then I guess I can understand. I'll just go somewhere on my own!" Sammy thinks excitedly. "You know, part of me has always wanted to explore a forest mystery dungeon. There's one that I really want to go to that I've heard of; I heard that a visit there can make you much stronger! I wanna go there!"
But Sammy's words end up drowning in Ninetales' tired mind, making it hard for Ninetales to understand.
"Y-yeah… yeah… whatever you say…" Ninetales replies tiredly, yawning again, unaware of the Sandshrew taking an item from her chest fur.
"Oh! A map! Now I know how to get to that forest I wanna go to! Well, Ninetales, while it was a pleasure to meet you, you're too sleepy to go to a dungeon, I'll go there myself! Bye!" Sammy's voice echoes within Ninetales' head, the Sandshrew walking away.
After another long yawn, Ninetales wipes her sleepy eyes once more, then realizes the slight silence in her head.
"Sammy?" Ninetales calls out, looking around. With a sudden feeling of shock, she realizes that the Sandshrew is gone. The shock snaps her out of her drowsiness.
"Ugh… Why couldn't she be overly clingy to my fur like Violet…" Ninetales grumbles to herself, sighing.
She then walks off towards the crossroads' exit, trying to remember what she vaguely read from Sammy's mind.
'Let's see… something about a forest… and Sammy going there herself…' Ninetales thinks. Her eyes then widen in realization at a thought. 'She… she took my map! And I didn't even notice! Now she's really in for it! When I find her, I'll make sure to give her Apple juice instead of Perfect Apple juice! That'll show her!'
The future, Dark Hill, Violet's POV
"Wait, Dark Hill? Is… is that what this place is called?" I ask, traversing through the forested pathways.
"Yes. It's another forest frozen in time, but it's not as much of a hassle to go through so we should make it past here quickly." Grovyle replies to my front, using a Leaf Blade to cut through a dark bush.
To my left, I see Sparks take out the Wonder Map from his Treasure Bag.
"I don't see any place like this on the map… Either this place is drastically different from the past's location in terms of structure, or we've been walking for a long time… long enough to walk off this map," Sparks speaks up. He then discards the map back into his bag. "Wait, Grovyle, you said that you were going to tell us where exactly we're going and why. I'm pretty sure 'past Dark Hill' isn't a specific enough location or reason."
"The past is still at risk of being completely frozen in time, so I'm going to find a way to bring us back there," Grovyle answers. "Remember when I said a good friend of mine helped bring me back to the past? Her name is Celebi, and I think I know where she might be."
A memory in the back of my head suddenly comes to my mind.
"Celebi? I… I think I've heard about that Pokemon in legends…" I say, remembering a story my mom told me about the Pokemon years ago. "Celebi is a Pokemon that can use time-based powers, right?"
"Correct, uh… Violet," Grovyle hesitates a bit. "You see, when Celebi helped bring me to the past, she ended up staying in the future. But I know Celebi well, so I'm sure she managed to keep herself hidden from Dusknoir and Dialga. If you want a more specific answer as to where we're going, there's a certain forest here where Celebi can harness her time-traveling powers best. That's where we're heading."
"Well, at least now I'm sure that we'll be heading to the past… I was starting to get worried of what's happening there without us…" I hear Sparks say.
After a bit more walking, the we find our way out of the forest. We see what looks like a short grassy plain with a tall grassy hill ahead.
"Looks like we're finally out of there," Grovyle says. "It shouldn't be too long before we find Celebi."
"That's good." Sparks says, sighing.
"However, we've been walking for what seems like countless hours, and I could do with some sleep. I presume you two feel the same way. Follow me." Grovyle continues, slowly walking towards the hill. Sparks and I follow him.
As we walk closer up the grey hill, I notice that there's a large tree on the hill, and what seems to be a view past the hill.
Once at the top of the hill, Grovyle points towards the view ahead of the hill. It is greyed out just like the rest of the places here in the future, but instead of looking like a forest, or a cave, or any natural place, this place looked like it was in ruins. Like the ruins of a civilization, crumbled and abandoned as its remains stayed stuck frozen in mid-air.
"You see that place? Its houses and houses have crumbled due to slow decomposition as it froze in time. But don't worry. Think as you must, I know for a fact that that place isn't Treasure Town; it's structure is much much different. In fact, we've actually walked very far away from where Treasure Town is," Grovyle says, walking over to the tree. "Anyways, that place is where we're going to after we sleep. To the left of this hill is a path that'll lead us there, and past that place we should find Celebi. Anyways, I'll be sleeping up in this tree, you two better get some rest as well."
Grovyle then climbs up the tall tree to our left, leaving Sparks and I alone. I remain standing fixed in place, continuing to stare at the village ahead. I feel a mix of emotions inside me.
"Violet? Is… is something on your mind?" Sparks walks up to me, looking at me with a concerned look. His yellow eyes stand out to me from the grey around us.
"I… It's just… That place reminds me of Treasure Town…" I reply. "I miss Treasure Town… I miss the colour… I miss the guild… I miss everyone there… I miss Mom… I even miss Chime… I wanna go home, Sparks…"
I feel Sparks lay his paw on my back, stroking my fur in a comforting fashion. "I… I miss everyone there too… even Chime. But don't worry, Violet… at least I'm here with you. I know we're going to get back to Treasure Town… Grovyle said that he's going to find a way to bring us back to the past, after all." He says to me.
"I… I guess you're right… even if we're seemingly alone here… even if we barely have a clue where we are… even we we don't have Chime to teleport us out of here… we can make it." I feel a faint smile come across my face as I look back at Sparks. I start to feel a bit reassured.
"See? That's it," Sparks smiles back at me. "Are you feeling better now?"
With the mix of emotions inside me being replaced by the warm feeling of happiness, I continue smiling. I give Sparks a quick kiss on the cheek. "I am. Thank you." I say with gratitude.
Sparks' growing smile comforts me even more. He gives me a quick cheek kiss as well.
We both then walk near the tree and lie down, my head snuggling into Sparks fur as he pulls me closer to him. I close my eyes and slowly doze off.
"I love you, Violet…"
"I love you too, Sparks…"
NOTE: Salutations, kind reader! *Ahem* Now, I apologize if this chapter ended up short and or felt a bit too uneventful, but fret not! Another chapter should be coming up shortly after this one, so that's something to look forward to. (Arceus, I'm starting to upload two chapters in one day much more often… I really have trouble dividing my chapter content properly) (then again now that I realize that the next chapter's going to uploaded immediately after this one, that doesn't really leave much room to speculate on what Sableye was talking about earlier)
So, if this chapter was enjoyable, kindly leave a review on your way out, please and thank you. Other than that, thank you so much for reading this, and I hope you have a good day!
-flareon71