Celebi and Gorebyss

She was released into a small pond, barely taking up an acre and dimmed by silt. A creek fed into it on one end and slipped back out of another. But it was freshwater, and surface water at that. Not like the salty depths she had come from.

There was a tap on the surface of the water, so she turned around and brought her head above the surface. Her Trainer sat at the shore, near a campsite he had set up. When she came closer, he patted her snout. "Not the ideal waters for a Gorebyss like you," he said, "but it should be suitable for staying the night. The trip will take a few more days; you'll be back in your home waters in two weeks if nothing goes awry."

"I don't mind if it helps you out," she replied in a few clicks and whistles. He was a young researcher and often had to go out to meetings and conferences. She had actually been one of his scientific studies, but he kept her around even after it was finished.

He rubbed her head until he got a full scale, then placed it in a device to check on her health. "There isn't normally anything vicious in the waters here, but you should always watch out for Gyarados. The others are out, so you can get one of them for help if needed."

"I know."

The human nodded, then went back to his campsite.

Gorebyss went back underwater to investigate the pond. The silt bottom was loose, stirring up clouds of dirt as she poked her snout around for information. According to the smells, there were Magikarp (as usual), Goldeen, Wooper, and Barboach. With these were the lesser fish: minnows, perch, sunfish, and others. Pokemon always held some intelligence; animals held instinct only. She had no problem preying on Pokemon, if that was all there was to eat. But given that she was a visitor, she sought out the lesser fish for food. Not as good as ocean fish and plants, but good enough.

In this surface water, her pink scales made her highly visible. Gorebyss knew the locals must have noticed her, but they kept their distance. She didn't seek to bother them. If she got bored, she knew one or two of her teammates would be up keeping watch. In the meantime, she swam around for some exercise.

Late into the night, she sensed a tapping at the surface of the water. It was like her Trainer's signal, but he should have been asleep at this time. Gorebyss still went back to the campsite to see. Maybe there was some problem. If it had been an emergency, she would have been recalled straight to her Pokeball.

Gorebyss emerged from the pond, but didn't see her human friend. Instead, there was a small green Pokemon lying on a flat rock on the shore. He had pink feelers and oval-shaped wings, but he didn't seem like a Bug type. He smiled at her. "It's odd to see a deep oceanic Pokemon in the forest waters. But welcome. You swim with beauty and grace."

She wasn't sure what to make of the creature. "Who are you? And what are you?"

"I am Celebi, the Celebi." He pointed to her. "Gorebyss, an evolution of Clamperl when traded holding a Deep Sea Scale, or when deep in the ocean focusing the power of its pearl on defense. You are owned by the marine biologist Vincent Starmie, who studies the lifeforms that live deep in the ocean trenches."

Gorebyss felt unnerved. She wondered if she should signal her teammates that there was trouble. "How do you know this?"

"I'm a scientist myself, of time travel and ecology. I come from the distant future and I see to it that the forests remain healthy and mystical." He put his hand on his chest and bowed his head.

A Pokemon scientist? Somehow, she felt deep down that he was telling the truth. "Did you come to talk to Vincent? I think he would be honored to meet a scientist from the future."

"I don't doubt that. No, I came to this time to talk to you."

"Me? What for? I don't understand the science he studies; I only do little things to help him."

Celebi put his hand back in the water and traced random symbols on the surface while he spoke. "But those little things add up. My calculations are complex, but they pointed you out to me. Tell me, are you aware of the domino effect?"

"Dominos?" She didn't even understand the word.

"Hmm." He twitched his antenna, then gestured her to watch his water drawing. "Every action creates a ripple, like so. Every decision can affect another, even when not made by the same person. Powerful Pokemon like myself are… bound by honor to not act directly unless absolutely necessary. Since I study time and its effects, I choose to act by making little ripples in specific places in time. The little ripples affect other ripples, at first only slightly, but the end effect can be greatly. This night, I'm setting up a chain of events to affect a critical choice that will come years later. You're going to help change destiny."

Gorebyss swam a little closer to Celebi's rock. He spoke in a way that was similar to her Trainer's, well-educated and patient, but just out of her reach. "Little ripples get swallowed up by big waves. I know you can't permanently change the ocean tides. And I couldn't affect something as grand as destiny."

"You can, in little ways." He smiled, looking at her with great trust. "I chose you because you are in the right situation with the right heart. It's important to me, but I will let you choose to accept or deny this responsibility. If you don't want to do this, I won't bother you again. If you take it, you will have my blessing. See?" He tapped the water again and made a green glow briefly appear.

It felt green and vibrant, with a scent like the trees around them. In that glow, Gorebyss could tell that this was a Pokemon of considerable power. A blessing from a power like that would assure her of a happy and safe life. "What are you asking of me?"

"I have an egg with me, an egg of a special Pokemon. It's a Pokemon that could touch the lives of others and inspire them to great things. But in order to bring out that potential fully, it needs to be raised with love, discipline, wisdom, and knowledge. I want you to take this egg and convince your Trainer to take care of it. And you should take care of it as well, as if it were your own child. That's what I ask of you."

She felt a little confused. "You want me to take care of an egg and the child inside? I don't mind doing that, but how does that affect destiny?"

"It is an epic tale…" Celebi paused, then shook his head. "No. It is before an epic tale. Before the beginning, before the prologue, before anything, there is this. A character in a story has a personality that is affected by little things that are never seen. The Pokemon within the egg is a catalyst, a trigger to great things to come. But a thing that is great is not always good. In order to make sure that the great thing becomes good, the catalyst must be made good and loving. The grand epic tale, with its troubles, trials, and tears, it will not affect you. But you will affect it, by teaching love to the catalyst of great change."

"That sounds much too grand to concern me," Gorebyss said. "But your request is just a simple thing, to care for a child."

He folded his arms on the rock and rested his head there. "Sorry. But you must have observed your own Trainer making simple things into complex. Anyhow. Yes, the base of my request is that you convince him to adopt the egg, and then help him care for it. Will you do this?"

She patted the surface of the water with her fins. "Yes, I would love to do so. If it is aquatic, it would be like my own."

Laughing softly, he replied, "Oh yes, it will be aquatic. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. It is a reassurance to know that things will at least start out correctly." He pushed with his arms, then lifted himself into the air. On putting his hands together, his body was surrounded in a green glow. Celebi then moved over the surface of the water. A pale blue egg appeared and sank gently into the silt bottom.

Gorebyss came up and touched the egg lightly with her tongue. While it gave off a sense of Water, it did not seem immediately familiar. So she rubbed her head against it to give it her specific scent. If she kept regular contact with this egg, the child Pokemon inside would instinctively recognize her as a mother. "You will be my family," she told the egg.

Celebi dispelled his glowing aura, then hovered over the surface. "I shall leave the rest to you, dear Gorebyss. The love of a simple Pokemon like you will spread and make many lives better."

She came back above the surface, but the green Pokemon was no longer there. It was as if he had never appeared in the first place, save for a mysterious egg. For the rest of the night, Gorebyss looked after it and kept the locals away.

In the morning, her Trainer came and tapped the pond's surface. "Gorebyss," Vincent called.

She came above the surface and rubbed his hand when offered. "Good morning."

"Good morning," he echoed. Did he realize that? Sometimes, she thought he did. "Did you have a good night?"

She dove back under the surface and wrapped her body gently around the egg. This way, she brought the egg into the shallows where he could see it. "Here, take this."

He frowned as he touched it. "What's this? It's not your spawning season and you haven't shown any signs of it."

"It's a gift; we should take it." She nosed it closer to him in a hopeful sign.

The young scientist picked it up out of the water. "The color's different. The local Pokemon would protect their own, or an orphaned egg. So how did you get a hold of it?"

"I would tell you if I could," she stated. "You might have understood Celebi better."

After studying it, and then seeing her watchful eyes, Vincent nodded. "Well if you've already connected to the egg, I believe we can take it along with us. I'm going to leave it here, though, just in case one of the wild Pokemon comes back to claim it." He set it in the shallows, taking a moment to make sure it was stable. "If it's still here when everything else is cleaned up, we'll bring it with us."

And since she was protecting it, the egg became part of their group.

...

FR/LG Gorebyss entry: Its swimming form is exquisitely elegant. With its thin mouth, it feeds on seaweed that grows between rocks.

FR entry: When Celebi disappears deep in a forest, it is said to leave behind an egg it brought from the future.

This was written in honor of Serebii net's tenth anniversary, since that's where this batch of stories originated. And where I research the entries.