In Team Space-Time's last adventure, the trap in the Grey Theatre was revealed. A gang led by Team AWD's Weavile absconded with Grovyle, leaving Team Space-Time and their friends behind as the Grey Theatre collapsed. What is to become of Grovyle?
Chapter 5 – Pitch Black Nightmare
Even though Grovyle's eyes were open, everything was completely dark. He was also unable to move, though that was the least of his worries. He hoped his friends got away from the Grey Theatre alive. Last he saw of them, they were left in the theatre lobby as it collapsed. As soon as his thoughts silenced themselves, he could hear someone talking.
"We've retrieved him," said the voice Grovyle knew was Weavile's. "We'll set everything up, sir."
Before he could listen any further, he felt something kick him in the head, knocking him out instantly.
Weavile's claws were in his face when he came to. Dark ice bound Grovyle's arms to the wall behind him, and his legs to the floor.
"Good morning," Weavile taunted. "Did you have a good sleep? I hope so, because this will be the last night you have such a good rest."
Even though he was bound by ice that he was weak against due to his Grass-typing, he made a futile attempt to lunge at Weavile. "What have you done to my friends?!" he demanded.
"Your friends? Why worry about them?"
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!"
"Calm down. Don't stress yourself out. The Leader needs you to be in top shape, so shut up."
Deciding that words weren't having any effect on Weavile, Grovyle launched a Bullet Seed attack at her. Weavile was quick to counter it by catching every seed and throwing them back at him. She finished by freezing Grovyle's mouth shut.
"Bold one, aren't you, Grovie?" Weavile asked as obnoxiously as she could. "The Leader is on his way to meet you, so stay quiet until he arrives."
Weavile pried the ice from the wall and the floor, allowing her to drag Grovyle to the next room. A circle of Pokémon were in the next room, looking as though they had been waiting for him and their mysterious "leader." In the circle, Grovyle saw many familiar Pokémon. The Grey Theatre was small, so the entire audience was in the circle: Grovyle identified an Alakazam, a Togetic, a Gabite, a Raticate, a Vileplume, a Noctowl, the entire Ditto troupe acting on stage earlier, an Ariados, a Spiritomb, an Aggron, an Arbok (different from Weavile's teammate), a Magcargo, a Magmortar, a Mismagius, a Rhyperior, the members of Team Skull and the other two members of Team AWD. Weavile then joined the circle. From her spot, she thawed the ice keeping Grovyle rooted to the spot and silenced. A mysterious power forced him to stand up.
"Welcome, Grovyle," said Raticate.
"We've been expecting you," said Ariados.
"Remember, everyone," Weavile said, addressing the circle of Pokémon. "He is not to be allowed to escape the circle. He is to stay within that rune." She pointed to the floor, where there was a circle. In the middle of the circle was a snowflake-shaped sigil. "We are to keep him here until the Leader arrives. At that point, the Leader will deal with him."
"Understood," said the other Pokémon in the circle.
"I'd like to see all of you try to keep me here," Grovyle said confidently. "Your 'leader' will be disappointed in you."
"Ooh, sounds like he's challenging us," Skuntank said. "We're free to kick him around right, Lady Weavile?"
Skuntank was the first to be attacked by a sudden Leaf Blade. Unfortunately, Grovyle's offensive didn't get too far before the other Pokémon launched attacks at him.
"Yes, we can beat him up now," Weavile said with mild frustration in her voice. "Let me get the first hit in. None of you are hitting your mark."
Grovyle had dodged every attack thus far, until Weavile jumped into the fray and got him in the back with a Hyper Beam magnified by a strange dark power. Though it was a normal-type move, it felt as though it were super effective against him. As soon as he collapsed, she hit him with a Shadow Claw attack.
"Okay, your turn now," Weavile commanded. "I've softened him up for you."
Grovyle exposed that as a lie, as he was able to dodge the attacks coming from the other Pokémon. Even Weavile started to have trouble keeping up.
"A Demon-type Hyper Beam and a Demon-type Shadow Claw weren't enough to keep you down, I see," taunted Weavile. "Demon-type is super effective against all types, and it's such a joy to see how much pain you suffer from my attacks of that type!"
"It's doing you no good now!" Grovyle retorted as he pelted her with an Energy Ball. "Falling back on a made-up type is a cheap way to fight."
"Cheap? I'd say it's pragmatic!" Her Shadow Claw was blocked by Grovyle's Leaf Blade. He then blasted her face with a hail of Bullet Seeds, which he then turned on the other Pokémon. He saw a chance to escape and took it.
"STOP HIM!" Weavile screamed. "SOMEONE STOP HIM! HE WILL NOT ESCAPE!"
Grovyle was suddenly stopped by a mysterious power that made him unable to use his moves, and also immobilized him.
"That will do."
Grovyle was dragged back into the circle as soon as the unfamiliar voice spoke.
"But my top soldier Weavile is right; you will not escape."
The Pokémon forming the circle bowed immediately to the voice.
"Weavile, I congratulate you for capturing my target. I was right to give you the Grey Theatre mission. But you could have done a better job keeping our guest detained."
"My apologies, sir," Weavile said, sounding afraid. "But we've taken care of the other meddlers. Once Grovyle is dealt with, we'll have no further threats to the plan."
"Excellent. Then you don't need to be apologetic to me. You—"
"Who are you?!" Grovyle demanded. "What have you done to my friends?!" In a sudden movement, Grovyle snatched up Weavile. He had attempted to hold a Leaf Blade up to her neck, but he had lost the use of his moves. Realizing this, Grovyle put his left hand on her chin and his right hand on her head. "Tell me now, or I'll break her neck!" The other Pokémon in the circle got ready to make a move, but Grovyle held Weavile up in front of him, effectively using her as a shield. Weavile looked unimpressed.
"Nobody move," she ordered.
"TELL ME NOW!" Grovyle roared. He never got his answer. Instead, a Poison Jab hit him in the stomach, right on the green stripe on his belly. Weavile had taken advantage of the fact that Grovyle hadn't incapacitated the use of her arms, and used that moment to poison him. She then froze him to the floor with an Ice Beam magnified by her mysterious Demon-typing.
"Well, Grovyle, you've given me leverage. It's very far from your character to kill, or even try to. But that works out well for me. The Dark Blessing is going to enjoy you."
Weavile got back to bowing, as the enigmatic 'leader' appeared at last. The 'leader' was a pitch-black entity with a white plume coming out of his head. He had one visible blue eye, the other eye being covered by the white plume. A red necklace of what incompletely resembled fangs sat upon his collar. He floated, making it a bit strange that he had what appeared to be legs on his lower section. His shoulders had black tendril-like extensions to them. In the dark room, he was nearly invisible, but everyone was able to see him clearly, having been used to the dark.
"It knows how much trouble you are, just like I do," said the 'leader.' "It can't afford to keep you around. And I'm personally getting sick of you myself. Ever since you and Pugno met in the future, you were nothing but trouble to me."
Grovyle had the energy to ask, "How do you know Pugno and I?"
"Because you two sabotaged my plans for Temporal Tower."
Grovyle then remembered something about living in the paralyzed future.
"When I first made plans to save the world from Paralysis," he recalled. "Someone was following me, trying to stop me. Are you saying that was you?"
"It was," confirmed the 'leader.' "I, Darkrai, wasn't going to let you undo my work. I wasn't going to let you return light to the world, not to a world destined to fall to darkness! Pugno had interfered one last time before I lost track of him. If it wasn't for him, I would have killed you during your trip back in time. Pugno somehow avoided dying, but he became a Riolu. The transformation and the amnesia would have kept him out of my way if it weren't for that meddling brat Pelame. Thankfully, I've finally had them taken care of. So now, that just leaves you to deal with." Darkrai approached Grovyle and hovered over him. "And with you gone, no one will oppose me ever again."
Grovyle was absolutely livid to hear that his friends had been "dealt with." Summoning a hidden reserve of strength, he broke out of the ice freezing him to the ground.
"Sir, be careful!" Weavile advised. "Grovyle's Overgrow ability is going to be dangerous to you! Let me help you take him out!"
"Stand aside, Weavile!" Darkrai ordered. "His abilities don't scare me."
"They will," Grovyle said. He found that he had regained the use of his moves as he sliced at Darkrai with a Leaf Blade, scoring a direct hit on the fiend. Darkrai responded with a Dark Pulse that was magnified with Demon-type power. Grovyle was hit directly, giving Darkrai the chance to ruthlessly pelt him with a shower of Demon-type energy orbs. Grovyle couldn't move.
"Nothing to worry about," Darkrai taunted. "Grovyle, you see now how much stronger I have become? I owe it to the Dark Blessing. It gives me the power to triumph over anyone, no matter the type. No matter what type my opponent is, my new Demon-typing puts me at the advantage, and all others unable to deal any lasting damage to me. Before, I could only hide from you and your heroic brethren. But now, I can show myself to the world as I conquer it. I am no longer restricted to the subtle approach to world conquest, which was always doomed to begin with; I can now take the world by force. And with you and your friends gone, there's no possible way for me to fail. Face it, Grovyle; you have lost irrevocably."
Despite what Darkrai thought he had ensured, Grovyle wasn't down for the count. He had used Darkrai's monologue to make a hole in the tapestry covering a nearby window with his Bullet Seed attack, acting too quickly to be stopped by the observant minions.
"No, I haven't," Grovyle declared. "You may have defeated my friends and took them away from me, but there will always be a fighting chance. I will continue to resist you, and I won't stop until you're dead. And even if I should fail, there will be others to resist you, and take the world back from you. But as I am living and breathing now, I will do what I can to protect the world. No matter what happens,…" Grovyle exuded an aura that glowed a greenish-gold. He had gathered enough sunlight energy to generate a final attack. The leaf on his head glowed the same color, and pointed at Darkrai. "…you will never claim the world! SOLARBEAM!"
Grovyle unleashed his new attack from the leaf on his head, blasting Darkrai almost point-blank with it. As soon as the light faded, everyone saw as Darkrai was on the ground, defeated. His supporters didn't look worried at all about their leader's loss, and a cold sensation told Grovyle why. From the ground, Darkrai started speaking.
"Grovyle," Darkrai said. "You've become much stupider than I remember you being. I'm loathe to admit it, but you are stronger than I am, at the moment. But you're certainly not smarter. I thought you knew that cunning is what wins most battles."
A mass of Demon ice was starting to envelop Grovyle. "Wh…what is…?" he asked, horrified.
"You are stronger than me, and that's all I needed to truly win this fight. The Dark Blessing has entered you completely."
"How? When did…you…?" Grovyle was already frozen up to his chest now, and fatigue was setting in.
"For every single attack you dealt damage to me with, the Dark Blessing got further and further into you. It made first contact upon your Leaf Blade attack upon me that started our match. And for every hit I got in, same effect. And as soon as you finished me off, the Blessing finished assimilating into you."
"What…is it…going to…?" Grovyle's shoulders were now frozen.
"Thanks to your own heroic delusions, the Dark Blessing has successfully infiltrated your body, your heart, your mind, and your very soul. Your spirit, as they say. Put simply, it has seen fit to deal with you itself. You are now its newest prey. You will exist no more. Despite your rousing speech, you failed the whole world. I bid you good night, my former enemy. May you never bother me again."
"Pugno…Pelame…" When the dark ice covered Grovyle completely, he thought no more.
Suggested music for this chapter:
The Leader's Plan for Grovyle – Holy Nightmare Co. (Kirby of the Stars Anime OST)
Grovyle's Solarbeam – Yuukan ni Tachimukazu zo! (Digimon Adventure 02 OST)
The Dark Blessing Takes Grovyle – Fifth Laboratory (Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood OST)
