Summary: Human turned Pokémon have suddenly started disappearing without explanation. Their teammates and loved ones are left to scramble about in worry and wonder as to where their missing friends may be. However, the arrival of Celine, a newly human turned Pokémon, suggests that the Pokémon world is in danger once again. As she sets out on her journey, she is blissfully unaware of the darkness that follows her and her team…

-x-x-x-x-

Chapter 3: Grovyle's Return

Celine woke with a start. She sat up, panting slightly as she examined the room. She must've been asleep the whole day because the room was dark and the moonlight was the only thing lighting her room. Next to her bed was a bowl with some berries.

She groaned a moment later and collapsed back on her bed. What was that? she thought, thinking back to her dream. She remembered seeing nothing but darkness. But there were cries, painful cries, which echoed all around her. Then she saw blurred figures. They were getting slightly clearer when she approached them, but before she could reach them there was a sudden blast of red light that forced her back. She remembered the fear that grabbed her as she looked up at the large red eyes that appeared. Then… there was darkness.

I wonder what it all means… She shook her head, sitting back up. She chewed on the berries idly, lost in thought. Her eyes darted over to the moving shadow near her window. Getting up, she cautiously approached it. But by the time she got there the shadow had moved away from the window and out of her sights. Determined to not lose the suspicious pokémon, she ran out of her room and outside.

Once she was outside, she looked around for any sign of the intruder. She narrowed her eyes. She knew something, or someone, was out here. Immediately, to her left, the bushes began rustling. She spun around quickly and growled. "I don't know who you are, or why you're here, but you better come out!"

When she received no reply she snarled and shot an ember attack in the direction of the bushes. Suddenly a large pokémon jumped out of the bushes, blocking the ember attack, and knocked her back.

She had no time to react. The pokémon was gone within seconds, reappearing in front of her moments later and slammed her against a tree. She let out a yelp, falling to the ground as her captor released her and jumped back.

She was surprised with the speed and attack of her attacker. It certainly wasn't a rookie pokémon and clearly knew how to fight. She needed to come up with something and fast!

Weakly, she got to her feet and glared in the direction of where the shadowed pokémon once stood. Almost immediately the shadowed pokémon reappeared in front of her and repeated the process.

The commotion had obviously woken Aiden and the others because the lights were now on and she could hear them calling for her name. She tried answering, but no sound came out.

She became hopeful the minute she saw Aiden run outside. Her hope, however, was short lived. Aiden had run into an invisible barrier. Confused and fearful for his friend, he began pounding his fists against it.

Vivian and Silver joined him a moment later. They started attacking the barrier; Vivian's fire attacks lit up the area enough to reveal the shadow pokémon to be Grovyle. The sight of him caused the two evolved pokémon to pause and stare at him in awe.

Vivian looked far more surprised to see Grovyle than Silver had. Nobody else besides Silver knew that she was confused and baffled to see Grovyle so soon, and attacking their new friend no less!

She started yelling, her voice barely audible for the two pokémon outside of the barrier to hear.

As his leaf blades began to glow, Grovyle smirked. Celine backed away, uncertain of how to take this. "W-wait! Aren't you friends of Vivian and Silver?"

He chuckled. "I am."

"Well, I'm friend's with them too! They're over there, near the house!" she cried and pointed her finger in the direction of the house.

"Oh, I know," he responded, sending a shiver down Celine's spine.

"Then why are you attacking me?" she asked.

"Because-"

"Because that's a fake!" a voice shouted. The questionable grovyle spun around just in time to block an attack from another grovyle.

The questionable grovyle jumped back to create more distance between the two. He obviously wasn't pleased with the appearance of this other grovyle.

"He's a zoroark," the other grovyle said, "he's known to be the master of illusions. He came here under my guise to trick you into thinking I was evil. I knew he was up to no good; I saw him near Treasure Town and he looked extremely suspicious. But before I could question him, he scurried away."

"Am I really the fake one?" the questionable grovyle taunted, "or are you just lying so that she'll take your side? I know you're the real evil one."

"You just attacked me for no reason!" Celine countered.

"I was testing you!" he said. "I know who and what you are, and I know what your duty is in this world. I came back to test you, to see if you were worthy of saving the pokémon world! I needed to know if you were strong enough in order to handle what is to come."

Celine looked confused. "What's going to happen?"

"That is something I cannot tell you." He said, crossing his arms. "But that pokémon standing beside you? He's evil – a thief! I'm willing to bet that he's trying to deceive you so that you will be on his side. And the moment you two knock me out, he'll turn around and knock you out and possibly bring you to the lair of where the other captured pokémon are."

"I can assure you that's not who I am or what I'll do," the other grovyle grumbled. The questionable grovyle raised an eyebrow. "Prove it."

The two grovyles stared at each other for a long time. Eventually, one of them turned to Vivian and took out a badge similar to the one around her neck. A look of recognition came across her face. "I took one of these before I was forced back into the future. I wanted a memento of the friends I'd made here. I knew I wouldn't be able to return so easily as I could before – heck, I figured that my life would disappear the moment you changed the future. But I didn't, and this badge proved that. When I saw it the day I woke up and first saw the sun rise in my world, I somehow knew that everything was almost the same. The only major difference was the threat of darkness and our world being paralyzed gone."

The question grovyle rolled his eyes and smirked as he brought out an exact replica of the badge his counter part held. The other grovyle looked surprised. "Sorry, but that's not really any proof if I have the same badge. I remember the times I spent with my friends. I remember bringing Dusknoir to the future and saying farewell to Vivian and Annabelle."

"That's a lie!" Grovyle shouted.

Suddenly an ember shot past him and hit the questionable grovyle. He grunted, having used his arm to absorb the attack. But his façade quickly fell and his real form, a zoroark, appeared.

He glared at Celine who smiled. "So, you're the real one?" she taunted. "Then why don't you look like one?"

He snarled and leaped towards her. Grovyle jumped in front of her and blocked the attack. "Go!" He ordered, looking over his shoulder, "find a weakness in their barrier and bring it down!"

She hesitated at first, but then rushed over to the barrier. Just as Aiden and the other had, she tried attacking it. Unfortunately, she was met with the same failing results. She was growing more and more panicked with each passing second. After hearing a shrill cry of pain and seeing a bright flash of orange light, Celine's fear skyrocketed.

Slowly, she turned to see Grovyle on the ground with bad burn marks all over his body. Standing above him victorious was Zoroark whose eyes were settled on Celine's cowering form.

Behind her, she could hear her friends screaming at her to run. Instead, she stood her ground. She became confused when Zoroark started laughing. "Oh how pitiful," he mocked. "You really think you stand a chance against me?"

"Don't underestimate me," she commented. "I just might surprise you with how strong I am."

"Pitiful really," he sighed with a shrug, "you had such a short life in the pokémon world, didn't you?"

Her face fell. He began laughing again. "Like I said: I know who you are! You're no regular pokémon. In fact, you're actually a human! However…" his smile faded. "I'm not here to fight you or end you either."

Celine narrowed her eyes. She didn't trust him after everything he'd done. His shoulders sagged as he released another sigh. "Look, I'm not going to hurt you. It's my job to test the heroes of this world. I judge whether or not our world is really in capable hands, and I've already come a conclusion."

"And, pray tell, is that?" she asked.

"You are not ready for what is to come," he began, his eyes never leaving hers. "You lack strength, and your heart wavers. In order to deal with the hardships of the future, you must become stronger. And even then your strength alone won't do. You will need the strength of the other human turned pokémon."

Grovyle groaned as he got to one knee. "Then why did you attack me?"

"Because you attacked me; you interfered with my fight. I took on your persona to test the power of trust among your old comrades. They have been through many trials with you, yes, but saving the future of our world isn't just the human turned pokémons destiny. Just as their true partners were needed in past trials, they are once again needed for the future trials."

His eyes flashed and the barrier disappeared. Vivian and Silver ran over to Grovyle's aid while Lizette and Aiden stood guard in front of Celine. Ignoring this, Zoroark continued. "Those who have crossed paths with the chosen ones are burdened with the task of staying beside their partners and help guide them through the perilous trials."

Grovyle winced as his friends helped him up. "What about me though? Annabelle is no longer my partner; she's Vivian's partner."

"That is what you may think," Zoroark said, turning to him, "but you were once her partner. In the eyes of the world you will forever remain her first partner. Just as Vivian is burdened with the same task as Annabelle to save the world, you are burdened as well because you two are her true partners."

Silver scoffed, making Zoroark sigh. "I use the term 'partners' very loosely. I understand that you are on the same team as Annabelle and you have fought by her side, but the law of the world always marks the first pokémon to meet this human as their partner. Annabelle's case is very different because she is from both the present and the future. So that would make her first partner from the future – you yourself, Grovyle – and her first partner in the past – that is you, Vivian – her true partners forever burdened with helping her save the world. It is the very reason why some of the human turned pokémon have returned home. They did not wish to continuously burden their partners with the continuous task of saving our world. Does that make sense?"

"It kinda does…" Celine trailed off. Aiden snorted, remaining unmoved. "That doesn't mean I'm going to move and let you hurt Celine."

"Good." Zoroark praised with a small smile on his face. "That is the very commitment that marks you as her true partner. But we have trailed off topic – Celine you must grow stronger in order to truly become one of the legendary heroes who have saved our world. The strength you are searching for will come from your heart and your unwavering commitments."

Vivian and Silver led Grovyle inside the house to treat his wounds, but not before Vivian could stop and give Zoroark one last glance. Zoroark met her gaze. A look of understanding came across her face and she nodded. She vanished inside the house.

"Despite our earlier introduction, I am only here to provide insight and advice. For generations my family was tasked with watching over the heroes from afar. But that is a story for another time." He got down to one knee in front of the trio. "It was impossible for human turned pokémon and their partners to evolve while on their journey, but you two are exceptions to this rule. I cannot tell you how to achieve evolution, but I do recommend that you two achieve your strongest forms before challenging the ones who threaten the balance and safety of our world.

"Will you be helping us with the fight?" Celine asked. Zoroark shook his head.

"Yes," he responded, "but not right now. I want you to prove to me that you have the strength to stand up against the odds. I will send you a message when I believe you are ready to challenge me again. Once you have defeated me… that's when I'll join you."

Celine smiled reassuringly towards Aiden. "That's something to look forward too!"

"I guess," he murmured, still eying Zoroark suspiciously.

Zoroark smiled and stood. "I shall be taking my leave now. Good luck on your adventures and remember that I shall send you something when I believe you are ready to challenge me again."

He began walking away, but stop briefly to look over his shoulder. "I would be wary of those around you." Before anyone could ask what he meant, he was gone.

Celine frowned and looked over to Aiden. "I wonder what he meant by that…" Aiden shook and ushered for her to get inside.

Lizette, however, stayed outside. She couldn't understand why, but she felt her blood run cold at Zoroark's words.

And it hadn't helped he'd eyed her when he said that.

-x-x-x-x-

"I would be lying if I said that I'm not surprised to see you here," Vivian began as she dabbed some ointment on Grovyles burns, "but that would mark me as a liar. I thought that you… vanished… after the future changed."

He winced at the painful sensations. "The future is much better thanks to you and Annabelle. Everyone is still the same. The only difference is that the darkness isn't looming over our world. Oh, and minor changes like Dusknoir being a rather good pokémon than a bad one."

"The Great Dusknoir?" Vivian asked, eying him. "He's not evil anymore?"

"Nope," Grovyle smiled, "it's odd to see him as he is now. Before he only cared about himself. Now he's running around and helping pokémon. I even heard a rumor he formed his own exploration team."

Vivian blinked surprisingly. She honestly couldn't picture Dusknoir helping anyone. Especially after everything he'd done to her and Annabelle. The thought of Annabelle made her frown. Grovyle, sensing this, sighed. "I heard about the news. Have you two learned anything on your end?"

Silver shook his head. "Nothing, but she isn't the only human turned pokémon to have vanished. There are others. And the fennekin you protected? She's another human. She's probably the solution to this mess just as Annabelle was for ours."

"So… the pokémon world called down another human to solve its problems, eh?" Grovyle chuckled weakly. His laughter died down a second later. He could sense the despair in Vivian. Silver could as well. He was staring at her in worry.

She had her head bowed, hiding her face. She was fighting against the urge to cry. She lost as one tear slipped down her cheek. "Vivi…" Silver murmured, rubbing against her to offer some comfort.

"What if we never find her?" Vivian choked out. "It hurt so much when I thought I lost her after we defeated Diagla. Back then, I did whatever I could do to deliver her last request – tell the world about what happened to prevent it from ever happening again. When I saw her again… you have no idea how happy I'd been. And now I've lost her again. What if I lost her permanently this time?"

"She's strong." Grovyle said. Vivian sniffled and looked at him. He had his head lowered as he recalled his memories of her. "She isn't knocked down easily, and when she is she always gets back on her feet. You should know that better than anyone, Vivian. Even in captivity she won't give up. She's counting on us to find her and save her. You need to have faith and believe that she's alright."

Vivian laughed slightly. "Easier said than done…"

"Nobody ever said it would be easy," he said, looking at her, "but if you can't put faith in your own friend, then what kind of friend are you?"

She smiled and hugged him carefully, whispering in his ear, "You have no idea how much she missed you too."

"Uh… did I walk in at a bad time?" Lizette commented, causing Vivian to move away with a light blush. "If I did… I'll just leave the medical supplies here and wait outside…"

"No, it's fine. I was just telling him how much we missed him since he left a long time ago." Vivian said. She looked behind Lizette to see Aiden and Celine. Her eyes narrowed. "What about them?"

Lizette looked behind her then back towards Vivian. "Celine has some minor cuts and bruises, but she's fine. Aiden is busy worrying over her. It's like he's become her doting boyfriend."

"I am not her boyfriend!" Aiden yelled, making the meowstic laugh.

Celine smiled a little, but Zoroark's words still bothered her. She knew that she was weak, but to have another pokémon tell it right to her face hurt.

"It takes time to grow stronger," Grovyle said, breaking her out of her thought. She looked at him in confusion. "You're still new to the world, so it's understandable that you're not exactly super strong. While you lack power now, just give it time. You have friends all around you who will aid you in your journey to get stronger."

"And when did you become so wise?" Vivian joked. Grovyle blushed and glared at her. "I'm just stating the obvious. Besides, you and I went through the same thing with Annabelle."

Everyone, minus Celine, smiled at the thought. Celine left the room and entered her own where she plopped back down in her bed. Aiden entered moments later. "If he was really our enemy he would've wiped me out," she muttered, fighting back the tears. "We're lucky he only came to offer us advice."

"Celine…" he frowned, sitting next to her. She started sniffling. "What if something happens to you and I can't protect you? I knew I was weak... but I didn't think I was that weak."

"Well, you're a rookie," he said, hugging her. "You're weak, yes, but that's only for now. Just like Grovyle said. You have me and everyone else to help you. You'll get stronger. If it makes you feel better we can train some more tomorrow."

She shook her head. "No, the best way to get stronger is to get experience and the best way to get experience is to go out in the mystery dungeons and help those who need it. I don't want to be the reason for 'personal' days off from our rescuing. Besides, we've only completed one mission."

"Alright then," Aiden smiled. "We'll continue on as planned."

She returned the smile and hugged him. "I'm glad I have you around."

She hadn't seen the blush that covered his face. He smiled and returned the hug while thinking, And I'm glad that I got to meet and befriend someone as special as you.

-x-x-x-x-

For the next month and a half, Aiden and Celine went on missions. Just as Grovyle and Aiden had said, Celine got stronger. She still hadn't evolved, but she could feel the power inside of her growing as she completed her missions. She occasionally trained with Aiden in his secret spot, or sometimes, just watched him practiced.

Unknowingly, each passing day brought them closer and closer. The two would always exchanged these secretive looks and giggle.

Lizette didn't show it, but she was becoming increasingly jealous of their close bond. To throw the others off, she laughed and poked fun at how close the two were. When she heard Vivian or Grovyle agree on it, she felt a stab of pain enter her heart. But she shrugged it off each time.

Aiden and Celine were current at his secret spot. Celine was lying beneath a tree watching Aiden as he practiced his fighting. Lizette watched him from afar. She was admiring how toned he'd became over the weeks.

But she felt her anger growing each time he stopped and rested beside Celine. The two would cuddle and whisper as if they were lovers. The very sight of it burned Lizette. She couldn't understand how some human turned pokémon got in his favor. She'd known him longer!

The same question repeated itself: why was Celine so much closer to Aiden than she was? What did Celine have that she didn't?

While she sulked in the shadows, Celine and Aiden giggled at one of Celine's jokes. She smiled at him. "You're getting better. I bet you'll evolve any time now."

"I hope so too. My final evolved form is so cool. My aura training is almost completed."

"Can you sense other pokémon?" she asked with a tilt of her head. He nodded. "That's going to be extremely useful in the dungeons in case either of us get warped to another part of the dungeon."

"That's if I'm not toast first. Or if you get your butt kicked."

"Excuse me? I've gotten much stronger since our first mission. What happened then was just a rash decision. I'm wiser and stronger now." She had a big smirk on her face as she pushed him gently. He pushed her back gently, chuckling as the memory returned.

"Which actually reminds me… you haven't had anymore of those awful nightmares, have you?" he asked.

She frowned and nodded. "It's gotten worse. It's always the same thing, but at the same time… it's not. Also…" she trailed off, not sure how to word her most recent dream without worrying him. Gulping, she just told him as she remembered it, "I've been getting a new dream. It sounds more gruesome than the last. In it, I hear voices: some are familiar – ours and Lizette's, to be more accurate – and some that aren't familiar. I don't understand everything that's being said, but I can feel a surge of panic and fear. And then… the dream ends with me screaming 'Aiden no!'"

Aiden looked confused, but at the same time worried. She lowered her head. "It's worrying me… something bad might happen to you in the future and I just don't know when or where it'll happen so I could stop it. You mean too much to me to lose."

She immediately blushed at her own words. She stuttered in her attempt to cover up what she meant. "A-a-as a friend, obviously! Hahaha!"

He smiled as she continued laughing. He never admitted it out loud, but hearing her words warmed a part of his heart. His smile faded as theories of what might happen started circling around. It was obvious that it was something bad involving the three pokémon, but what were the circumstances? And why was she screaming his name at the end? Was someone attacking her and he jumped in front of the attack to absorb it?

His silence didn't go unnoticed. Celine watched him from the corner of her eyes. Part of her regretted telling him her most recent dream, but part of her felt like she needed to. It did involve him, after all.

I don't know what happens, or what exactly causes that fear I felt, she thought as she rested her head on top of her paws, but I do know that I won't let anything bad happen to Aiden.

"Celine, don't worry," he suddenly said, causing her ears to flicker, letting him know that she was listening. "Nothing bad will happen to me."

She smiled warmly. "I know." I won't let it, she mentally added.

Little did she know that her dream was soon to become a reality.