Chapter 6

"Celebi!" Grovyle exclaimed upon seeing his oldest friend for what seemed like the first time in forever, "How are you?"

Delta had awoken and been walking with Grovyle for a while now, her dimensional scream already guiding them towards their next target. Celebi had appeared out of some bushes, slipping through them like a spirit from a body.

"Well enough, dear Grovyle," she smiled, "Any trouble so far?"

"We've gained more than we've lost," Delta said quickly before Grovyle had a chance to say what he thought. "There have been some dangerous moments, but what we've found out has been worth it."

"What have you found?" Celebi queried.

"Apart from the Time Gear in Treeshroud Forest they all seem to be guarded by some sort of Pokémon, apparently the one we saw, Mesprit, and two others. I knew that from my dimensional scream, but not this: Mesprit was insane, they talked only in riddles and tried to kill us but I still think what I could glean from their maze of words is true. There seem to be two others who are also currently insane; Mesprit was the being of emotion so the darkness took all control of their emotions, there seems to be a being of will which is a slave to the darkness and a wise one the darkness made stupid."

Grovyle wished he had listened more closely to Mesprit's words now. It seemed like amidst the desperate mumblings and mood swings there had been some crucial information. He saw himself as lucky to have Delta as a partner.

"I know them," Celebi muttered regretfully, "The wise one is Uxie, the wilful one Azelf. They all fight in the same style so you don't need to worry about fighting the other two. I think Azelf is in Dusknoir's custody, I'm not sure about Uxie, they might have died. I don't think either are a threat anymore. Did you find out anything else?"

"Not really," Delta admitted, "But we saw the Time Gear there behind Mesprit in the centre of some sort of underground lake."

"Seems like you know quite a lot. Well the, good luck!" Celebi waved her hand at them, "You're half-way to finding all of the Time Gears! I'd best be off now."

"Wait," Grovyle blurted out, "You've hardly stayed."

What he was trying to say was that he trusted her. She was his friend, part of his light, ad he needed to talk to her properly. He was also very jealous of Delta because she had gotten most of the attention; perhaps he just craved Celebi's approval.

"Oh Grovyle," Celebi's cheerfulness suddenly sounded fake in the bleak surroundings. So fake. And… so sad in how hopeless it sounded, how transparent the lie was, "You don't need me anymore, you have Delta now."

With a whir of miniscule wings, she was gone. Maybe, Grovyle thought, she's right. No. I still need her; she saved me from the darkness. I'm not ready to let her go.

"How far left before the next dungeon?" Grovyle snapped at Delta, angry with her for invading on his time with Celebi. Celebi was his friend; she had no right to take her from him. "We have provisions enough this time, I hope?"

"No." Delta replied bluntly. Grovyle waited awhile for a reply but none came.

"What?" he furiously asked, "We'll have to waste strength in dungeons on the way?"

"It's too far. We'd have to go directly by one of Dusknoir's bases anyway, and avoiding it would waste so much time. I think we only have really one option here, and you're not going to like it."

"What option?" Grovyle was angrily abrupt with her again.

"Get captured and break out. It'll save us twenty days walking, maybe even more because they could teleport us, and Dusknoir won't let us starve to death."

"What?!" Grovyle shouted at her, finally snapping, "You want to waste the one chance this world has on some throwaway idea that could go terribly wrong?! There has to be another way!"

"I've tried to think of one!" She shouted back, but sounding more upset than angry, "I'm trying, okay; this is the best I can come up with right now. It's risky, but it could pay off!"

"Could." he spoke with icy rage, "We can't risk the fate of the world on a 'could.'" Delta turned away, cut by his fury and spoke quietly,

"You could think of an idea instead of just ripping mine apart."

Grovyle was silent. After a long time he walked round to face her and offered his apology,

"I'm sorry I was so… harsh. You're right, we have no other choice." He paused. She looked up at him. "How are we going to do this?"

"We'll have to bring him to us, pull some large stunt," Delta's voice was weak and shaky, but she wasn't crying and seemed to be trying to hide how upset she was. "We could start a fire, or something-"

"That won't be necessary, my dear," a new far more sinister voice entered their conversation. The duo turned around to find themselves facing Dusknoir, surrounded by Sableye, "In your little fight you quite lost track of things. While getting captured by me may seem like a shortcut to you I can assure you that attempts at escape are always futile." Dusknoir paused, revelling in his victory and Delta interrupted him, seemingly unfazed,

"If you could take us to your base at the bottom of that barren mountain it would be convenient." Grovyle, flinching from the shock of Dusknoir being here, shuddered at her calm attitude. What could have happened to her that would let her brush this off? And why were her and Dusknoir so civil to each other, some kind of game? It wasn't one he liked to partake in.

"As you wish, my dear," Dusknoir laughed, "Grab on."

Delta held on to his arm, grasping Grovyle's too. The Sableye also gathered around Dusknoir, shooting each other nervous looks. One even whispered,

"I hate this part." Only to be shut up by a glare from Dusknoir.

Suddenly Grovyle felt like he'd been punched in the stomach. He doubled over and Delta almost lost her grip on him, but he managed to refrain from shouting out. After what seemed like millennia the pain faded (although there was still nausea) and he managed to straighten up.

He took a few dizzying steps and then collapsed.

"The teleport has that effect on Pokémon," Dusknoir told them, "It makes it easier to do this."

He then grabbed Grovyle and Delta and dragged them to some sort of prison cell, opposite one that contained a shiny Espeon.

Grovyle was struggling to keep conscious by the time he was thrown in, the impact of the floor knocked him out. Delta didn't move from where Dusknoir had thrown her either.

With an unsettling laugh, Dusknoir locked the door.

"Shouldn't we kill them now, while they're weak?" a Sableye asked Dusknoir nervously.

"You know I like to put on a show," he replied mirthlessly.

-

Sometimes Celebi wondered if this was her punishment for what she did to Grovyle; constant memories and regrets.

You should never ever show someone light if they can't see it, Celebi thought, that's what I did to Grovyle. Gave him his true despair in knowing hope and showed him a light that made his surroundings forever inadequate in comparison. And now there's just darkness and he'll never see the light again.

The same was done to her in this endless unforgiving darkness. Maybe she had once been able to find some light and stay around it, trying desperately not to lose herself in the darkness, before it had slipped away. She had brought it back to show Grovyle, but hadn't been able to find it since.

Would her disturbing will to harm, to reach her goals at any cost, simply be if she had kept the light in sight? Even with that, what was the nicest thing she could have done to Grovyle? Leave him in the darkness, it being all he'd ever known, to live out an empty life without despair or hope. Was pain better, any pain than the complete absence of it? And there was the hope along with it, although that was far crueller.

Maybe, just maybe, Grovyle could appreciate the true beauty of the darkness. The way everyone could still live, appreciate whatever they had and brave it, if only for a short while. Everyone had to form bonds; it was that or be swallowed. The true brightness the light that held everyone together burned, short bursts of light although quickly extinguished.

In the darkness all light was twice as bright. It shined through everything, allowing impossible friendships to form. Like Grovyle and Delta.

Then in the light, it was so different. In that past where you could live alone, unharmed, forever. There was no need to bond although some still did, and when light burned it was so dull in comparison to the unending light brimming around them no one noticed. Maybe they'd all miss the darkness slightly, but she knew they'd have no chance to.

The darkness wasn't just the lack of a sunrise; it was burned into their hearts. The brightness that brimmed around them in the future was also branded into the hearts of the Pokémon that lived in that. In the future a Pokémon from the past was a beacon, in the past a Pokémon from the future was a hole of blackness.

Not to say their blackness wasn't bright.

When she had first seen Grovyle she had felt the first hope, seen the brightness of the blackness, in millions of years. He had existed in the world, so perfect, so small, so innocent… and yet she had almost hated him for that. He had innocence and she could never regain hers. With almost resentment she had broken his innocence, justifying herself that the darkness would have done it anyway.

Yet all of the time she had helped him, she had resented him inside, for not having to make those impossible choices she was forced to decide.

What Celebi hated to believe, what she hated them all to believe, was that they belonged in the darkness and even if the sun rose they wouldn't be able to truly feel its warmth, just feel that it had outshone them.

She smiled sadly at that last part, outshone by the sun.

Grovyle would definitely miss the darkness.