Author's Note: Woo, much longer chapter this time. We've got a few small headcanons, everyone's reactions to seeing the protagonist as a human, and, of course, Darkrai. Fun stuff.
Chapter One: The Visit
As much as Claire enjoyed seeing how everything had changed in the future, she felt like it was time to take a trip back to the past.
She'd been…well, home, for a couple of weeks now. During that time, she'd done a decent amount of exploring and spent a lot of time with her friends. Most of what Claire had seen was good—barring some personal exceptions—so it wasn't that she disliked being here.
Claire just missed her other friends, was all. So it was with that in mind that she finally broached the topic with Celebi.
"So, it shouldn't be too difficult to get to the Passage of Time now, right?"
Celebi hummed and tapped her chin. "It shouldn't be, no! Dusk Forest's a lot easier to get through now than it was before."
"I take it this means you want to go back?"
Leaf blinked and cocked his head to the side. Claire had indirectly mentioned it before, so she was sure the Grovyle suspected she wanted to go back soon. Still, it was good to say so for sure.
"Yeah," Claire replied, nodding. "I think I'd be okay by myself, too, unless anyone wants to come along, of course? Though I'd need Celebi's help with the Passage of Time either way, so…"
Celebi nodded as well. "Yeah, especially with this whole…multiple-channel thing our dear Dialga has set up. Even if you knew how to use it before, you'd really need to be careful make sure you were getting the right thing!"
Right, that was something else to keep in mind. Claire didn't want to end up in the 'wrong' past, or…however she was supposed to put it. She was sure Celebi knew what she was doing, though, given that she'd done it before.
"Of course," Claire agreed. "And I don't want to rush you, but do you think we could do that soon? Maybe, like, tonight or tomorrow morning?"
"Sure! Let's go with tomorrow morning, just so you have enough time to get ready, and all that," Celebi replied.
Leaf shrugged as he added, "And even if you set out tonight, you might not get there until tomorrow, anyway."
"Fair enough." Claire shrugged as well. "I don't wanna run off without saying bye to Andrew and Jirachi, anyway. I'll go ahead and pack some things, and then we can go in the morning."
"Sounds good, my dear," Celebi chirped. "Speaking of which, I believe those two ran off to the market earlier. They should be back soon."
Claire nodded again as she glanced around the hut. It wouldn't be too long before she could tell them where she was going, but she may as well get ready… Where had she set her bag, again?
Oh, right; it was in a barrel near her cot. Claire strode over and picked it up, glancing at the nearby crate full of her clothes. Well, "full" was a bit of an exaggeration; they definitely had easier access to more supplies now, but Claire only had a couple of outfits. It was still much more than she'd ever had at once, though, so it felt like a lot to her. At any rate, she tucked an extra change of clothes into her bag before grabbing a few other miscellaneous items.
Now, she just had to wait, and she'd be able to go soon.
"Be careful, Claire."
"Don't listen to Andrew; I'm sure you'll be fine! And tell us if anything interesting happens."
Claire had said her goodbyes to her brother and Jirachi that morning, and then she and Celebi set out. She'd teleported them right to the edge of Dusk Forest, and they were on their way. As they walked, Claire silently admitted the trip through Dusk Forest was much more pleasant than her last one had been.
…Well, all right, she'd technically seen some of it when she'd first come back here. Still, she hadn't gone all the way through then. There were still Pokémon living in the area, of course, but far fewer of them wanted to fight along the way. And even then, almost all of the ones who did were easily talked out of it.
And, of course, the forest itself was much more vibrant than it had been before. The trees were green and the branches rustled in the wind, just like plants in the past did. Maybe Claire was easily impressed—she always kind of had been, especially as a kid—but it was just…nice, for lack of a better word.
She and Celebi reached the plateau housing the Passage of Time soon enough. Celebi fluttered over to the small orb, humming and muttering to herself as she spun around it. Then, she stopped, paused for a few seconds, and started flying in the opposite direction.
"No, I think it goes like this now," she mumbled, waving her arm in some vague gesture. "And then it's like this…and then…"
Finally, Celebi nodded and hovered backwards. The Passage soon expanded into the door-like shape Claire had seen the last time she'd used it. Celebi looked over at her, a rather pleased expression on her face, as she started speaking again.
"It's all rather complicated, but Dialga dearest explained the basics to me, so I can set it up on my own. It should take you to that bluff we arrived at last time."
"Sharpedo Bluff," Claire said, partly to herself. "That's where everyone would probably be…" Then, she raised her voice and added, "Thanks, Celebi. How will I get back without you, though?"
Celebi waved dismissively. "Oh, don't worry about that! Just let me know how long you want to stay, and I should be able to set something up for you."
"Well, I think a few days should be fine…" Claire mused. "I'll probably want to go back again, of course, but everyone will need to get used to me before I can think about any big trips."
"Sounds good! We'll see you soon, then, my dear!"
Claire waved to her before setting foot in the portal. The spinning barely bothered her at all by this point, though Claire did cling extra hard to her bag, just to be safe. Soon, she heard the entrance snap shut behind her, and she knew she'd be in the past soon enough.
Really, time travel wasn't so bad, Claire thought as she stepped out of the exit. She barely stumbled as the Passage of Time shrank behind her. One or two more times, and she wouldn't even be dizzy.
Still, she paused for a second to get her bearings. Well, more like appreciate the scenery, Claire thought with a smile. She'd landed on Sharpedo Bluff like she expected, and the area was just as pretty as ever. It seemed to be mid-morning—the sun was starting to climb higher in the sky, and the light reflected off the sea in the distance.
Enough getting distracted, though; Claire was here to see her friends. She thought she heard voices below… At least two of her teammates had to be in the base. Sure enough, she heard footsteps. Felix and Bruce climbed out onto the bluff, and their conversation halted as their eyes fell on her.
"Uh, hey," she greeted with a wave. "It's me! I came back to see you guys."
"Claire?" Felix blinked, and then his eyes widened as he grinned. "I'm so happy to see you! But—"
"You're not a Persian anymore," Bruce noted, tilting his head to the side curiously. "How did that happen?"
"Well, it's kind of a long story, but the short version is that I have a friend who was able to change me back," Claire explained. "Well, mostly, anyway. I was kinda hoping he'd be able to get rid of this for me, too, but it's still here."
She idly tapped the scar running down the left side of her face. Although her clothes covered most of it up, it ran down most of her side, too. On the one hand, Claire figured it made sense that she still had it (as well as the small cut in her ear). It was kind of annoying, though, as she couldn't see very well of her left eye. But, hey, maybe it would help everyone realize it was her when they saw her?
"But anyway," she hastily added, "where are Rin and Iris?"
"They went ahead to the Guild to look for some jobs for today," Felix replied. "We were just sorting through some of our supplies before we went to join them."
"Do you want to come with us?" Bruce added. "We can get caught up when we meet them!"
"Sure, let's go!"
Felix and Bruce headed towards Treasure Town, and Claire eagerly followed them. She was surprised at how well they were taking this, honestly… Well, maybe they were just glad to see her again. The surprise might sink in once they had a few minutes to register everything.
However, the metaphorical Donphan in the room came up soon, even if it wasn't from Felix or Bruce. Somehow, it hadn't occurred to Claire that she'd have to pass by a whole bunch of other Pokémon on the way to the Guild… Most of Treasure Town's regulars had gathered in around the square by now, and they stopped and stared as Claire walked by. Oops; she figured most of them had never seen a human.
"Is…is that a human? I've never seen one before!"
"When was the last time one came through Treasure Town?"
Claire grinned sheepishly as Felix and Bruce looked awkwardly at each other. It seemed they hadn't fully considered the situation, either. Well, she was the one making things weird—she should be the one to say something.
"Um, it's just me," she called. "Claire from Team Shadow."
"That's their leader, right?" Electivire grinned and raised an eyebrow as he leaned over his counter. "You know she was a Persian, right, kid? You do sound like her, though!"
Duskull nodded. "I believe you could be her, but I would like to know how this happened. My father said he saw a human once many years ago, but none have come through here in a very long time. Where did you come from?"
"Where did I…well, the same place that I always have," Claire replied with a laugh. "I can tell everyone the story later, if you want! But I don't want to hold them up, so…"
She gestured to her teammates, and the shopkeepers nodded again. There were still confused whispers and excited chattering behind them as they walked, and Claire rubbed the back of her neck. That went better than expected, to be honest, but she probably should've thought about it sooner.
"Maybe I should've tried to come out here," she said when they reached the crossroads. "I mean, I probably would've ended up going through Treasure Town at some point, but then we would've had more time to think of something to say, or whatever."
Felix shrugged. "Don't worry about it, Claire. It was kind of embarrassing, but it was just because everyone was staring at us, and not because I didn't want to see you!"
Well, she supposed some things never changed. Even with Felix's recent confidence boost, he didn't like having tons of attention on him. Bruce, on the other hand, seemed far more casual about the whole thing. He shrugged, too, but his own statement was much more relaxed.
"Well, yeah, but they'd probably stare at you anyway," he pointed out. "But, still—we are happy to see you again! I wonder if Rin and Iris would be okay with putting off their jobs for today. It might be nice to just hang out and catch up."
"Oh, hey, there you are! Guess what—we just got this really interesting job request!"
As if on cue, Iris's voice floated towards them. The Cacturne had just emerged from Spinda's Café, and Rin was close behind her. Iris was holding out a notice, waving the paper around eagerly. Rin just shook her head, and then the two of them noticed Claire.
"Uh—is that—" Iris blinked, tilting her head to the side and squinting. "You…are Claire, right?"
"Who else could it be?" Rin sighed. "But…when did you change back? And you look really different from your brother…"
Ah, that was right. Her friends had seen Andrew when he, Leaf, and Celebi had come back to get her. That explained why they were less surprised than everyone else in Treasure Town. Still, Claire very much had been a Persian last time she'd been here; it was less the fact she was human and more the fact that she was human right now that confused them.
"Well, I told Bruce and Felix a few minutes ago that one of my friends helped me change back," Claire started. "And humans are just like that, really! I know a few other ones who look even more different than Andrew and I do. But, anyway—"
She cut herself off when another Pokémon emerged from the café. It was someone she hadn't expected to see—and honestly, someone who she'd kind of hoped she wouldn't see again. And yet, the fact that he'd left Spinda's place at the same time as her teammates had and was now standing nearby indicated that he was with them.
Her voice was barely more than a shaky whisper when she asked, "What is Darkrai doing here?"