Here's the second upload for today!

-Chapter 37: The Bonfire of the Deceased-

-Treecko's POV-

Eventually, after what felt like forever, all of the pokemon that were able to be saved were healed, and those that were beyond saving were laid to rest and honored at a ceremony in one of the subsidiary caves, with a bonfire. Of course…

All of the pokemon that were able to move attended the ceremony, and those that couldn't were carried by abomasnow and Aggron to the amphitheater. I hung out near the back, not wanting to draw attention to myself, and listened as my dad read off all of the deceased, which were a lot more than eight. There must have been another attack while I was out of commission.

With tears in his eye, he began reading, "May those whose lives were lost today be forever remembered. May Giratina allow them a second chance in the distortion world. The names of those lost are as follows… Lairon, Machoke, Machop, Roselia, Joltik, Bulbasaur, Flareon, Camerupt…"

He continued listing off names, and he came to the last one, at which he hesitated. "My son… Treecko, is dead as well… Ditto has reported him killed at the base of Dragon mountain. When we sent a search party, there was no evidence of a body, and regret to inform you that he was the last known Treecko, and I am the last known Sceptile, so unless there is another of our evolutionary line that we have not foreseen yet, then our cause is lost. Without him, there is no hope in restoring the future…"
I couldn't hold it in, "Dad! I'm here!"

I felt every pair of eyes in the amphitheater shift to me, and I laughed nervously, "Surprise… Hehe…" I walked forward, and my dad looked like he was seeing a ghost. He dropped the scroll, and leapt off of the stage that he was standing on. He picked me up and smiled, "My son… How did you…? Never mind. You are alive!"
I was so excited that he wasn't mad, but I overheard the pokemon freaking out, calling me a traitor and stuff like that, so I turned around, but before I could say anything, Connor's voice echoed throughout the entire cavern, "Quiet!"
He appeared from the flames next to Basileus, and said, "I was the hardest on him by far, and I cannot begin to describe how wrong I was about him. I performed the memory link when I cast them out, and his heart is true, bearing no ill will towards any of us! There will be no blasphemy about him while I am in charge! It was not his fault that Dialga engraved that mark into his skin, nor is it his fault that we are having this ceremony! You are dismissed!"

The pokemon filed anxiously out of the auditorium and started changing the insurgo cavern back to the way it was.

I looked at my dad, who was smiling vibrantly, "Dad… May I go meet some of the pokemon?"

He nodded as he set me down, and I ran after the crowd that had left.

I need to figure out if I imagined Celebi, or if she really was real…

I was so deep in my own thoughts that I didn't even notice that the Tyranitar I had healed earlier had stopped and was talking to Aggron. I bumped right into him, and stumbled backwards. I almost fell, but I was caught by another pokemon. I turned around, and a big yellow fuzzy tarantula pokemon smiled, "What's up, man? Treecko, right? I'm Galvantula, but you can call me that!"

He extended his arm out, and I took it as a sign of greeting, but when I grabbed it, I felt an arc of electricity pass through my body, like I was being shocked.

He rubbed his arm, and smiled again, "Electric handshake! It's like my signature thing! Pretty gutsy move back there; We thought you died! Y'know, because of the… Scroll reading thing… Aw, forget it. Whoop!"
He did a backflip, and shot an electrified web from his hand like how I extend vine whips, and swung off into the crowd.

Tyranitar smiled, "Well, well, well! The son of Basileus returns from the dead, huh? Galvantula can be a bit hard to handle during his pranking phases… Afterwards is when you want to get to know him. He's a real charmer, obviously."

So… Tyranitar and Galvantula are friends… That's a weird combination…

He smiled, "I think you'll be alright here. Connor can be very persuasive. I doubt that very many pokemon will judge you for what happened."

I nodded, "I'm Treecko, by the way."

He knelt down, "It's an honor. I'm Tyranitar."

I didn't want to be rude, but I had to go see my dad, "Well, I need to go meet my dad now…"

Tyranitar stood up, "Alright, see you later."
I waved as I walked off, "See you later."

I ran across the intersecting bridge, climbing walls when I needed to, and came to the balcony where Connor was, and I presumed my dad was. I knocked, and waited for the door to open.

I felt a slight breeze behind me, and instinctively swung. I hit an invisible object, and when it appeared, it was the Victini from earlier. It slammed into the Draconian Iron balcony and shook its head from the hit I delivered, and I walked over to him, "What is your problem?!"
Victini smiled, "Nothing. You have proven your point. I submit to your authority, son of Basileus."
What the heck… The pokemon here are too confusing…

I helped him up, "Thanks, I guess…?"

Victini smiled, "You're welcome. Now, you had matters to discuss with your father?"

"Yes. I did, actually…"
The doors had opened while I was talking to Victini, which was still astounding to me. That doors that big could open that quietly…

My dad walked out, followed by Connor, who made the furniture set from the oak tree like when we first met. Connor offered me one of those golden cup things, and he said, "You can say any drink, and it will fill it up for you. Just like the chalices at Camp Half… Never mind."
I noticed a bit of sadness in his eyes at the mention of that, like maybe it was important to him, but I decided to leave it alone; "What is there besides water?"
Connor shrugged, quickly putting on a smile, "On Terra, my favorite drink was Root Beer. Nothing better tasting."

I whispered, "Root Beer," To the chalice, and it filled with some brown foamy liquid. I sipped it, and it tasted like oran berry juice mixed with sugar and some other stuff that I couldn't identify… Wow.

I chugged the rest of it down, and said water this time. I didn't want to drink only Root Beer. My mother taught me the basic biology of all the common pokemon, including type matchups and stuff, and I know that without water, all life would cease to exist, especially grass types. They need more water than any other type, except water types. obviously.

My dad sat at a chair across from me, and asked me with curiosity how I had come back to life.

I briefly explained that Dusknoir slammed me into the wall, and I died. Kind of a dumb way to go down, but that's what happened. Then, I explained that Giratina said something about a war, and that I was supposed to stop it or something like that, and that he allowed me to come back by finding my body. Then I did, and I was teleported to the entrance by a small pink pokemon with big green eyes and small fairy-looking wings.

He seemed to be really intrigued by the last part, because he leaned in slowly, "What did she say…?"

"She said that she had been watching over me for a long time, and that I needed to rest. Then she said that I should tell you that I was alive."

"You have seen Celebi…?"

"That's what she said her name was. Why is that importa- Wait a second. Connor, you said something about Celebi's tree, right? How nobody has seen it and stuff like that?"

Connor nodded, "That is correct… If you can get her to apply the mark of the Time Keeper, along with getting some of the antiserum from the tree, then the mark might be able to be removed."

My dad asked me a question that I hoped wouldn't be asked, "Speaking of the mark, where is Dusknoir now?"

I loathingly replied, "Probably in Temporal Tower. I could care less."

Aand that's all for today folks! Let me know how it's going along, and with Christmas break being here, I'm free to reply to reviews and PMs whenever, so you can message me personally if you have a suggestion for something!

-PL