Finally, I got to update! This is a very eventful chapter filled with romance and excitement. The plan does get tweaked a little.
Piplup: Oh, yeah.
Oshawott & Eevee: Enjoy!
Chapter 5: The Turning of Time
Oshawott and Eevee were following Team New Life to what was once the base of Sky Peak, but it was a long and dangerous journey. At one point, Eevee asked Oshawott, "How much time do you think has passed in our world since we've been kidnapped?"
"I don't know," Oshawott admitted. When the words were on his tongue, they didn't feel acceptable. Eevee was the Pokémon of his dreams. The least he felt he could have done was supply her with a simple answer to a simple question. Yet, it was the only answer he had. Given the fact that they were in a world of perpetual darkness, it was near impossible to tell.
"For all we know, it may have been days," Grovyle jumped in on the conversation.
"Yes, it may have very well been days. I wouldn't say more than a week, though," Dusknoir agreed.
"A week?!" Oshawott and Eevee gasped in shock. Could it have really been a week since they have been gone?
"At the most," Dusknoir added. "With no more distractions, we shall continue."
Suddenly, as the team got walking again, Oshawott looked over at Eevee and saw her beautiful, fluffy brown fur dancing in…a breeze! There was no breeze in a world where time was motionless, so it could only mean that Darkrai's world was on the brink of destruction. Grovyle, noticing the breeze, seemed to smirk. He said, "This is excellent. This world is merging back with the regular timeline, and this perpetual darkness will cease once again."
"This must mean Darkrai got cowardly and scurried out," Dusknoir theorized.
"What would happen if this world's time was fully in sync with the real timeline and ceased to exist with us inside? Would we end up in a bright and sunny future, or…?" Celebi asked. She couldn't will herself to finish the sentence. She didn't need to, either.
"I haven't the foggiest idea, I'm afraid," Dusknoir heaved a great sigh.
"Then we have to hurry," Grovyle concluded. He leapt off at high speed, with Dusknoir, Celebi, Oshawott, and Eevee in hot pursuit. In pursuit of them were the outlaws, but they were stealthy and undetected.
Oshawott and Eevee were running as fast as their legs would permit. Oshawott, while running a race against reawakened time, thought about what Eevee said to him not long ago. She said he was a good leader and it was because of him that his team got as far as they did in their Exploration Team careers. He had a team to lead. He had to get back to them. With adrenaline surging through his body, he gradually got faster. Even when blackened by the darkness, Oshawott could make out where they were. They were not far from Sky Peak. He was so lost in thought that he ran right into Grovyle.
"Take it easy, Oshawott," the Grass-type cautioned. The others finally caught up to them. Eevee looked shocked.
"Where did that burst of energy come from?" she asked Oshawott.
"Adrenaline, I guess," he shrugged. His face got close to Eevee's, and vice versa. Their foreheads touched. They gazed into each other's eyes. They were so close to home they could almost taste it! But their bubble was burst.
"We're not there yet. We need to make sure that those outlaws are tailing us if we want to weaken Darkrai's forces. We're slacking up a bit to close the gap," Dusknoir informed the young lovers.
"Do you sense them, my dear Grovyle?" Celebi asked as Grovyle concentrated on the environment around them, listening very carefully, using his hearing to search for footsteps.
"Hmm…" Grovyle listened carefully. Then, his eyes shot open. "We've let up enough. If we wait any longer, we won't make it to our objective point. Let's go."
"Right!" everyone else complied.
Back in the real world, the remaining members of Team Poké Friends were prepping the Shaymin in Shaymin Village for when Oshawott, Eevee, and the Mightyena came back. It had been almost a week since Oshawott and Eevee were sucked down the black hole. Once those three Mightyena would show up, trouble would brew. Pachirisu and Minccino, whom very much missed their roommate, were helping them. Tepig asked the Shaymin, "You all are clear on the plan, right?"
"Yes," one of the Shaymin spoke up. "Once the Dimensional Hole opens up, we all hide in our leaf huts as you all lure the super strong Pokémon up the mountain."
"Ding-ding! That's correct!" Pidove chirped.
"Uxie and Guild Master Piplup are already up at the summit. All we can do now is wait on Oshawott and Eevee to come back," Snivy announced. She hoped that this idea would work.
"What's taking so long?!" Pidove complained.
"Shut up," Snivy groaned in annoyance.
"Okay," Pidove saluted. He, even in the most serious situations, always made time to be goofy. This time, the comedic relief was actually relieving.
"Please be okay, buddy," Tepig prayed that Oshawott, his very best friend, would be safe. Minccino supportively put her paw on Tepig's shoulder blade. They both looked up at the sky and hoped.
Back in Darkrai's slowly dissipating dark realm, our heroes were on the move once again. Apparently, Oshawott wasn't the only one who felt adrenaline. Soon, the chase began to grow wild along the base of a rock wall. The Mightyena were catching up fast. It had started to rain, but that stopped no one.
"Run!" Grovyle urged Eevee and Oshawott from up ahead.
"We are!" Oshawott yelled forward and ran alongside Eevee, ready to defend her whenever necessary.
"You're not getting away this time! Hyper Beam!" the eldest Mightyena fired a Hyper Beam at the rocky cliff to the side. Part of it shattered as rocks and boulders fell down around and pelted the young lovers.
"Ah!" Eevee screamed in pain and agony as she was hit by falling rocks. The poor thing had sustained some small cuts in various places. Oshawott, too, had sustained that kind of damage.
"H-hang on, Eevee!" Oshawott grunted and grabbed onto her. At last, the rubble stopped falling on them. Team New Life darted towards them, and the Mightyena had finally caught up.
"Are you two alright?!" Celebi asked Oshawott and Eevee frantically.
"I-I think so," Eevee whimpered. "That hurt…"
"I would expect so," Dusknoir nodded.
"Why do you continue to try and prevent Master Darkrai's perfect world?!" the middle sibling of the Mightyena demanded.
"Look around! Does this seem at all perfect to you?!" Celebi shouted angrily. "I can't stand this place!"
"Then you have no business here!"
"Who are you to tell me where I have business?! How dare you!"
"Oshawott?" Eevee wanted to know if he was okay, though they both were well aware that they were in the same condition. He nodded to her, signifying that he was alright. She didn't even need to ask. It was like their love had connected them deeply and in unimaginable ways. She licked his nose, and he laughed a little bit.
"This isn't your life! Please, you must listen to us!" Grovyle pleaded, not wanting to use force.
"We have no recollection of anything before we met Master Darkrai. As far as we know, this is our life, and this is how we live it!" the eldest Mightyena snarled. He was readying another Hyper Beam, but something stopped the conflict.
"WAIT!" a young, feminine voice cried out. It was…Eevee. She had something that would at least cause the Mightyena to sway between paths. She had remembered that she had kept a copy of Team Poochy's last mission, when they had gone missing. They were to apprehend Team AWD because they thought they were ready. Eevee took out a piece of paper and weakly limped over to the Mightyena, showing it to them. "This was assigned to you three when you all were Poochyena."
"'These criminals place fear in the hearts of many as they get what they want by all means, fair or foul. They may also be conspiring with Darkrai and are a potential threat to all of Mystery Dungeon'?!" the youngest one read aloud. Then, they all remembered when they had gotten that mission.
Flashback…
"Okay, boys! This is our big moment!" the oldest Poochyena said to his brothers.
"Yeah! Let's get them!" the other two barked enthusiastically. They felt that if they could bring down Team AWD, they'd be the most revered bounty hunters in all of Mystery Dungeon.
"P-Poochy?" a soft voice spoke behind them. It was none other than Eevee, who smiled shyly. "I just wanted to wish you all good luck."
"Thanks, Eevee," the youngest Poochyena smiled at her.
End of flashback…
"C-could it be true?" the youngest Mightyena stammered.
"That's how I remember it," the middle Mightyena answered.
"If you come with us, you could regain your entire memories," Grovyle pointed out.
"Please, come with us," Celebi urged.
"…How do we know you're not lying?" the eldest Mightyena asked.
"Brother, what they're saying feels so…right," the middle sibling spoke up.
"Fool!" the eldest Mightyena bit down hard on his brother's neck, choking him. Everyone gasped in shock and horror as the middle Mightyena squirmed helplessly. He was rasping and gasping and whining as he flailed about, trying to free himself from his brother's jaws.
"Brother, no!" the youngest one begged.
"Stop it!" Eevee pleaded. Oshawott held onto her protectively.
"This is madness!" Celebi gasped in horror.
"Is this world perfect if…we're killing each other over it?" the middle sibling rasped as he choked in his brother's teeth.
"N-no," the eldest one's muffled voice answered as he released his brother. "I suppose we could—"
"No!" a dark, eerie voice scolded. Darkrai materialized and everyone stepped back, even more shocked than when the eldest Mightyena attacked his own brother. "They lie!"
"I beg to differ," a familiar voice objected. From behind everyone stood Piplup with Uxie floating above him.
"Guild Master Piplup?! I thought you were back in our world!" Oshawott gasped.
"Plans change with scenarios," Piplup shrugged. He looked up at Uxie. "Ready?" Uxie nodded and floated up to the three Mightyena. He opened his eyes, but instead of taking memories away, the Being of Knowledge was able to put them back. Memories flooded into the heads of the three canines as if the memories were water in Waterfall Cave.
"I remember everything," the eldest Mightyena spoke softly. He turned to Darkrai and snarled. "You deceived us!"
Darkrai cursed and snarled at Piplup, "You may have taken away my Mightyena team, but you haven't thwarted me yet!" Before anyone could attack him, he faded into the shadows.
"C'mon. Now that this is solved, we can get back to our world," Piplup advised.
"I feel so bad for what my brothers and I have done. Please, can you forgive us?" the middle Mightyena asked.
"Mm…yep," Piplup smiled. He was going to say yes all along, but a little suspense never hurt.
"G-Guild Master?" Eevee spoke up. Piplup faced her, and she managed to ask, "C-can we still climb Sky Peak? Pretty please?"
"Sure! None of the apprentices at our Guild have ever seen the top anyways," Piplup nodded. "And I think I know all about why you two wanna go to Sky Peak." Both Oshawott and Eevee blushed.
"We'll help you in the fight against Darkrai. It hurts my pride that we were so easily deceived," the youngest Mightyena announced. His older brothers nodded in agreement.
"Delightful," Uxie smiled. "Then we are in the same boat, so to speak."
I know this seems like a lot for one chapter and like the end may be drawing near, but I have more in store. The end isn't near. This is only the fifth chapter. Oshawott's Love Interest had nine chapters.
Piplup: That went well.
Uxie: Yes. It went very well.