Author's Note: I wanted to toss out some kind of backstory as to how Jirachi and Celebi met each other. This does the job pretty well, and also establishes a reason why Dusknoir is aware of Celebi's existence. ...Though it is a tad spoiler-y for the main fic, and I probably should've paid more attention to the order in which I wrote these. Oh, well; it still doesn't explicitly spell things out, so I'm posting it now anyway.

The Meeting

Jirachi sighed as the group of Sableye led him out of his cell. He wasn't sure how this had happened, really. They'd all appeared at Star Cave without warning—Jirachi hadn't thought many Pokémon knew of the place, let alone remembered that he'd ever existed.

(Of course, he did have a few vague memories of getting visitors in the past. That had been a very, very long time ago, though. Jirachi assumed he'd been all but forgotten in the intervening years, and the fact that it had taken them so long to find him seemed to confirm that. Well, 'seemed' was the key word there, he supposed.)

"Don't do anything funny," one of the Sableye said smugly. "Lord Dusknoir's gonna know if you're lying. Or if you try to escape before we get there."

"Yeah," another one added. "And then Master Dialga will just be even madder."

"I wasn't planning on it," Jirachi muttered.

It wasn't like he could attack very well with his hands tied, after all. He could always try teleporting, but…when he wasn't quite sure where he was, that probably wouldn't turn out well, anyway.

Finally, they arrived in a large room full of columns. In the distance, Jirachi saw another couple of Sableye untying something that had been bound to one of the pillar. He couldn't tell what it was, other than it was small and green—and it fell to the ground limply upon having its ropes removed.

Jirachi shuddered; they'd probably arrived at the tail end of an execution. He grimly realized that he'd be next on the list if he angered them in some way. Shaking his head, Jirachi tried to focus on what was right in front of him instead. The Sableye had removed the ropes binding his hands and shoved him towards their leader.

"Good work," the larger ghost said as he glanced down at the pair. Then, his eye turned to Jirachi, and he went on, "Do you realize why you're here?"

"No, I don't," Jirachi replied warily. "And I'd like to know, if you don't mind."

"Master Dialga believes your wish-granting powers may reverse the state of the world. And we need to find out if you are powerful enough to do so. It would hardly do to leave a threat to our existence unchecked, yes?"

"You've left me for this long," Jirachi muttered, though he yelped when one of the Sableye slashed him for the comment.

Dusknoir folded his arms, a satisfied grin creeping over his stomach at the display. He shook his head before going on, though he sounded pleased.

"And now we're going to rectify that. Hmm, let me see…what would be a good test for you…"

Jirachi watched him carefully. Depending on what the 'test' was, he could always deliberately sabotage it. Would they know? Would he get killed for failing on purpose?

He knew the limits of his powers either way; he'd tried to do just the thing Dusknoir was worried about. Multiple times, even. It had never worked, but he doubted they'd believe that if he tried to tell them.

"Oh, I've—I've thought of something."

Jirachi blinked, catching the way Dusknoir's voice had faltered for a second. Had he imagined that? Before he could wonder about it further, the Ghost-Type continued speaking.

"I'd like to see if you can…revive someone," he said. "Her name is Madeline. She's a…a Mismagius. Larger than average, and with blue gems instead of the usual red. Can you do it?"

"I can't—"

The Sableye scratched at him again, and Jirachi winced. Dusknoir's eye remained fixed on him, and he almost looked desperate now.

"Try it," he snarled.

Jirachi sighed and closed his eyes. He supposed he was lucky they'd given him this task; reviving the dead was one of several limitations Arceus had given his kind, way back when. This was the perfect way to prove he wasn't a threat.

He tried to get a picture of the requested Pokémon in his mind nonetheless. Mismagius, large, blue gems. Madeline. Jirachi felt the image flicker in his mind; his general psychic powers were able to conjure up a vision of her. He could learn who it was they wanted, but after that…

Jirachi's eyes slowly opened, but he couldn't see well through them. They'd started to glow, and a flickering silhouette appeared in front of him. It took the shape of the desired Mismagius, held its form for a few seconds, and then—

Jirachi gasped as the figure disappeared. That always happened. Whenever he tried, he could never get past a basic shadow; physical forms were beyond him. He wobbled though the air, eyes half closed. Trying to do things he 'shouldn't' always left him so drained.

"I-I told you I…couldn't," he panted. "Is that…good enough?"

"Try harder," Dusknoir snapped.

Jirachi swallowed, raising his hands again. This time, he couldn't even get the outline to last more than a second or two. (Well, not really 'seconds,' he thought—but finding the 'proper' phrasing didn't matter right now.) He fell to the ground, breathing heavily, and Dusknoir stared at him in silence for a while.

Finally, he turned around and said, "Take him out of here. We don't need him—he's not a problem."

"Wheh… if you say so, Lord Dusknoir!"

The Sableye shrugged at each other before grabbing Jirachi. They didn't bother retying the ropes; he was weak enough that they could just drag him out of the stockade. Jirachi was still slightly dazed and couldn't pay attention to the trip out; he wasn't sure how long it took. When they got to the exit, the Sableye tossed him out, and Jirachi wheezed as he skidded over the ground.

"Now stay away, wheh-heh! If you actually do anything…Lord Dusknoir's gonna let us kill you!"

Jirachi shook his head as he woozily returned to the air. The Sableye had already turned around; they didn't see him. It didn't matter, though, not really. He wasn't planning on doing anything. It wasn't like he could, anyway.

"Oh! I wasn't expecting to see anyone out here. What are you doing?"

"Uh…"

Jirachi blinked as he looked around. His eyes finally settled on a Celebi nearby, and he tilted his head to the side curiously. She was pink instead of the standard green, and she was blinking at him as well.

"They just let me go," he finally said. "Why are you here? You don't look like you're captured…"

"Nope!" she replied cheerily. "I came here to look for someone. They, uh…they caught my father, and…" Her voice dropped as she glanced at the ground. "He's all I've got left. They already got my mother, so…I was hoping I could at least save him."

Oh. Jirachi's eyes widened; was that been what the green thing had been? He hoped not, but…

"Right before they let me go, I think I caught the end of an execution," he said faintly. "Your father, he…is he pink like you? Or is he green?"

"H-he's green, but—"

"I think…it may have been him."

She stared at him, eyes wide, and she rapidly shook her head. Jirachi hoped he was wrong, but there was no good way for them to go back and check. And if they'd already killed both of her parents, there was no way that this Celebi would get out alive if they found her.

"No, you must be mistaken," she choked out. "M-maybe it was someone else. Maybe I can find—"

"Wheh! Lord Dusknoir! That Celebi's back!"

There was a Sableye near the door of the stockade. Jirachi's eyes widened as well; he thought both of the Sableye left already. Maybe this was a different one. He supposed it didn't matter too much either way, but…

The large form of Dusknoir had suddenly appeared in the door, and he smirked as his eye fell on Celebi. She gasped, letting her hand fall on Jirachi's arm as she tried to stabilize herself.

"Oh? Here I would've thought you'd learn from your last failed rescue mission," Dusknoir said coolly. "But if you insist on coming right to us, then—"

"N-no," Celebi stammered. "I told you… You'll never catch me!"

With that, she closed her eyes, and Jirachi lurched to the side as they started to fade from the area. He recognized the feeling of being teleported quite well, and he let out a rather undignified grunt of surprise when they arrived in their new location. It appeared to be a forest, but it wasn't one Jirachi recognized.

Once he caught his breath, he turned to her and said, "Um…thanks for helping me out of there."

"It's fine," she replied dully. "I…needed to get out of there anyway, and you're obviously not one of them, so…"

Jirachi swallowed, falling silent. It was clear she'd had at least one run-in with them before, and he didn't want to just leave her behind. And if they were right, then she was all alone now. He wanted to do something for her.

"You know…if you want to, you can come and visit me sometime," he offered. "I'm usually in Star Cave, so if you need somewhere to hide…you can use that, at least for a while."

Her eyes widened again, and they started to water—though Jirachi suspected this time it was out of gratitude rather than pain.

"R-really? Are you sure? I wouldn't want to drag you into any of my problems, but…if you mean it, then I'd love to!"

Jirachi smiled and nodded. "Yes, I do. So, uh, Miss…"

"Just Celebi is fine." She swallowed. "I'm…the only one I know about now, so I guess I don't really need a name."

Jirachi gently put a hand on her arm. "If it helps, I'm the only Jirachi around anymore, too. So…let's help each other out?"

Celebi nodded, a hesitant smile on her face. "Yes; let's."

It would turn out that they'd help each other far more than either of them realized at the moment. But, for now, Jirachi was simply content to do what he could and see where things went.