Chapter 25: Questions Answered

Lugia landed in the middle of town and Sun stepped off. Many people stood, slack jawed at the pokemon landing, until the gym's door opened. A young male, in his twenties with purple hair, walked out and waved at Gold and Crystal, and the two waved back. He walked over and said with a smile, "Hey guys! It's been awhile since I last saw you guys!"

Crystal smiled and said, "It has been awhile Bugsy, but sadly this isn't a social visit."

Bugsy tilted his head in confusion and said, "Then why are you here? And who are your friends?"

Gold sighed and said, "Our friends are the champions of other regions, but my friend Sun," Gold gestured towards Sun, "Needs access to Ilex Forest."

Bugsy's smile faded and stared at Sun. "Why do you need to get in there?"

Sun grimaced and said, "I can't say yet. I just know I need to get in there."

Bugsy glared at Gold, who stared back. The two seemed to have a silent argument, until Bugsy said, "Are you sure he can be trusted?"

Crystal frowned and said, "Wait, why are you so apprehensive about this? Isn't anyone allowed entrance."

Bugsy shook his head and said, "Not any more. Someone attempted to destroy Celebi's shrine there years ago and now only Gold and myself have access."

Sun raised his eyebrow and asked, "What would happen if Celebi's shrine was destroyed?"

Bugsy sighed and said, "We're not sure, though we're sure it wouldn't be good." He then turned his attention back to Gold and said, "You haven't answered my question yet."

Gold nodded and said, "I trust him. He wouldn't purposefully destroy the shrine."

Bugsy nodded and motion for Sun to follow him. Sun waved goodbye to his friends and he followed Bugsy. They reached a route entrance that was guarded by two heavily armed officers. Bugsy walked up to one and said, "Open it. The boy needs access."

The guard nodded and brought out a clear box with six divots in it and held it towards Sun. Sun raised an eyebrow at Bugsy, who said, "Put your pokemon in there. They'll be safe. This is just a precaution." Sun nodded and placed his pokeballs in the container. Once all six were in, the two guards motioned for Sun to enter. Sun took a deep breath and stepped into the forest.

Sun looked around as he stepped into the forest. He was amazed by the beauty, though the humidity sucked. Sun reached into his pocket and felt the Burst Heart from earlier. He brought it out of his pocket and looked through it. He saw a miniature figure in it, and even though it was small he knew exactly what it was. He wrapped his fingers around it and continued through the forest, until he reached a branch in the path. He looked down both ways, but it was reaching twilight so it was hard to see, but he heard a voice say, "Follow me."

He looked up and saw Celebi floating. He smiled and followed Celebi. The two continued through the forest, saying nothing, until they reached a small shrine, with an etching of Celebi on it. Sun stared at it and said, "This place is beautiful."

Celebi smiled and said, "Thank you. This is my home after all."

Sun opened his hand again and saw the Burst Heart. He sighed and dropped the gem. He said, "You can come out now… Darkrai Two."

A shadow came out of the gem and formed into a body, and slowly began to solidify, until Darkrai Two was standing in front of the two. Celebi smiled and said, "Darkrai! It's been to long!"

Darkrai Two, while he didn't have a mouth, attempted to smile and said, "I agree Celebi, it has been to long."

Sun looked back and forth between them and said, "Wait, you two know each other? How?"

The two looked at each other and nodded. Darkrai Two looked at Sun and said, "Well, we're both from the future."

Sun glared and Darkrai Two and said, "I'm serious, how do you two know each other." After a minute with no change, Sun asked, "Wait, you're serious?" The two nodded and Sun asked, "Okay… Then why are you here?"

Celebi said, "Well, if you want the honest truth, it's because in that fight between Barry and his Deobrids? You weren't going to win. In our future, you and your friends lost. All of your friends died, except you. You were able to escape with Gold's Celebi and Lucas's Darkrai, which are us."

Sun nodded, understanding so far, and Darkrai Two continued, "You were able to figure out the crystal the old man gave you was a Burst Heart, and the two of us worked together to try and stop Barry, but to no avail. Then, you sent the two of us back in time to help your past self."

Sun put his hands up in a stopping motion and said, "Wait, is that why you and I would able to fuse first try, even though we had met pretty recently?" Darkrai Two nodded and Sun said, "Okay, so if I'm understanding correctly, you two are from the future, where we lost against Barry, and I saved you two, was able to use Burst and once I realized that we weren't going to win, I sent the two of you back in time.. I miss anything?" The two shook their heads, and Sun said, "Okay, continue."

Celebi said, "Well, when we first arrived, we got tracked down by a few members of the Order because since we traveled back in time, our bodies gave of a different presence than that of other pokemon from this time. The two of us were able to escape and Darkrai met up with you, while I was scouting out the Order's compound. You know what happened from there."

Sun nodded in understanding but asked, "So, one question. If you really are Gold's Celebi and Lucas' Darkrai, why are you different colors?"

Darkrai Two said simply, "That's a side effect of being in the past for so long. Normally when Celebi time travels, it isn't for a long period of time, a couple days at the max. We've been in this time period for about two weeks now."

Sun nodded and said, "I'm guessing you two have to head back to your time period now that everything has been fixed?"

The two nodded and Darkrai Two said, "Keep the gem. It will work with any pokemon that trusts you." Celebi began to glow white and a hole opened up, englufing the shrine. Darkrai Two said happily, "It'll be nice to see everything fixed."

The two stepped through and Sun smiled, waving. The two turned around and began to wave, when there expressions turned to shock. "SUN!" Darkrai Two screamed, lunging towards him. Sun dove to his left and saw a Shadow Ball fly from behind him and hit the hole, shattering it with the two pokemon still inside it, leaving a crack in time where the shrine had been. Sun, wide eyed, stood up, and looked behind him. He saw a red glowing eye and knew who it was. "Barry," He growled.