Our return to Lost Island was relatively uneventful, much to our surprise. The Ghost types the others had warned me about were nowhere to be seen when we reached the island, giving us the opportunity to take cover in the nearby mystery dungeons. Of course, while we hadn't been discovered yet, we were still cautious; if our enemies weren't waiting for us at the shore, then there was only one other place we could expect to find them.
Caution wasn't the only reason we traveled in silence, however. Despite our shared goal, there was clearly tension among my allies. Grovyle had been nothing but spiteful towards Brandon since their return to this time, and Brandon didn't seem to be happy with him either. Even worse, that distrust had apparently spread to me; Brandon's thoughts had been hidden for as long as I'd been trying to pry.
"You know, for how much you've changed physically, you're holding up pretty well," I told him to break the silence.
"Well, I can only imagine this body is better at fighting than my human form was," he replied.
"You're still not strong enough," Grovyle argued. "I suppose calling a Chikorita weak isn't exactly news, but the difference between you and your teammates is astounding. Look, Crest only just learned Whirlpool, yet it already sweeps the hostiles away like they're nothing. But you? Your only real attack is Magical Leaf. You could never fight on your own."
"I fight to my strengths. If that means supporting everyone else, then that's what I'll do," Brandon said flatly.
"Stop antagonizing him Grovyle, we're supposed to be a team," I said. Turning to Brandon, I added, "And you need to stop hiding your thoughts."
"I'm not, I just got Mind Lock working again."
"You have?" I asked. "But why won't you let me in?"
"Because I haven't figured that part out yet."
"You're hopeless…" Grovyle muttered, bringing us all back to an awkward silence as we continued to traverse the Sealed Ruin. When we finally reached the dungeon's end, we took a moment to rest.
"That's three down and one to go," I said. "How's everyone doing?"
"Should I even bother answering? I know you're not asking for my sake," Grovyle said.
Brandon attempted to brush off Grovyle's attitude. "I'd be better if my Synthesis was working, but I can still keep going."
"And what about you, Crest? You've been pretty quiet," I noted.
"I'm fine," he said, "I just feel a bit out of place is all…"
"You're doing better than I expected," I said. "Honestly, you're a completely different pokemon than when we first met."
In hindsight, I should have expected his immediate confusion. "You mean back at the human village?"
"No, in the past. Or, your future, I guess," I explained. "We never learned the specifics, but you were somehow one of the few pokemon who survived the initial destruction of time. Looking back, it's strange; you were such a coward back then, nothing like you are now."
"Hold on, I survived the paralysis?" he asked. "How?"
"I don't know, but we theorized it had something to do with your relic fragment. Look: it's faint, but even now the rune is glowing," I pointed out, drawing everyone's attention to the charm. Just as I'd described, the decorated face of the stone had shifted from a pale white color to give off a deep yet subtle red light. "It's a safe bet that the fragment is important. Keep it safe, okay?"
"A safe bet? You mean you don't know what it does?" Grovyle asked.
"Crest went missing before we could find out," I said. "I never learned what happened, and it was such a long time ago that there's no way to piece it together now. Whatever it was, it happened after time stopped, so we shouldn't have to worry about it for a while."
"That's… a lot to take in," Crest said.
"Well, you'll have time to process it in the dungeon. We're in Dialga's territory now, so there won't be many hostiles," Grovyle suggested, taking the lead.
As the familiar darkness of Dusk Forest surrounded us, I was relieved to note that I could still see reasonably well. 'It's not as dark as before,' I mentioned to Grovyle telepathically. 'Do you think that means we're safe?'
'It just means Darkrai isn't going to ambush us,' he thought back, 'How did you escape him anyway?'
'I didn't. He followed you to the past.'
Grovyle thought on that for a moment. 'I suppose that explains how Brandon and I got separated. Darkrai probably thought he killed him and assumed I wouldn't be able to save time on my own.'
'You weren't attacked?'
'No, I never saw him,' he explained. 'It's strange, in hindsight. Normally Darkrai is more thorough than that.'
'He's planning something, that's for sure. Still, if he thinks Brandon is dead, then he's not a threat, at least for now,' I reasoned.
'Should we tell them?'
'No. Crest might freeze up if we did. We don't have time for him to hesitate.' As our silent conversation faded to a close, I realized that Crest and Brandon were quiet. With a bit of concentration, I managed to pick up on their own telepathy.
'They're hiding something,' Brandon thought.
'You're sure?' Crest responded.
'Definitely. Celebi was too focused; she had to be using Telepathy. Besides, the Elder didn't seem to fully trust-' the thought abruptly cut out, and I felt the lock on Brandon's mind strengthen. Taking that as a cue to stop eavesdropping, I retreated back to my own mind.
'Liar,' I thought to myself, 'You locked me out on purpose.'
The remaining mystery dungeon proved to be no threat to us; our group was too intimidating for most hostiles to even consider attacking, and there weren't that many around to begin with. We couldn't relax for long though, since we all knew what was likely waiting for us at the end.
"Be prepared, you two," Grovyle said, "this is the final floor of the dungeon. The passage of time will be just up ahead, alongside Dusknoir's ambush, if he has any sense."
"Are we just going to fight him head-on?" Brandon asked.
"Probably, yeah," I answered. "Though if things get desperate, we can always just run through the portal. It's been synced parallel to the past since our last visit, so we'd travel back as though you never returned here in the first place."
"In other words, we'd still reach the past, just a little later than we'd hoped," Grovyle clarified. "We wouldn't have much time to gather the gears that way, but if it comes down to that or death by Sableye, it's at least an option."
We exited the dungeon, fully alert and ready for a fight. The passage of time was just ahead of us, its blue-green glow betraying our feeble attempt to remain unseen. Grovyle led us down the path to the portal, our group huddled together as far from the ambush-friendly foliage as we could manage. I attempted to scan our surroundings for potential foes using Telepathy, but the lack of response could have easily been attributed to the Sableyes' Dark typing.
We were only halfway to the passage when the forest around us began to stir, the telltale sign of Ghosts jumping across shadows. 'Keep a steady pace. They don't know we've spotted them,' Brandon said telepathically.
'Are you insane? They could strike at any moment!' Grovyle thought back.
'If they haven't attacked yet, then it means they're waiting for something. They probably think we'll be vulnerable while Celebi is calibrating the portal,' Brandon explained, 'which means if we just walk through, we won't have to fight. At the very least, we'll be able to escape if things look bad.'
Though I doubted the necessity of such a defensive strategy, there was no reason to challenge Dusknoir away from the portal. If he unknowingly intended to give us an advantage, then who was I to complain? We probably wouldn't need it, but there was a reason I left strategizing to the humans.
'So what if it's seven on four?' I thought to myself, 'No amount of Sableye can take down a legend-'
"Run!" Grovyle suddenly yelled, shoving me forward as a Sableye leapt out from the trees, its claws barely missing me. I stumbled in the air for a moment before summoning a swarm of green and purple leaves. The Magical Leaf sailed through the air toward my assailant, and I watched with satisfaction as the Sableye was hit from both sides.
As Brandon's leaves scattered to locate other targets, I sent mine forward to cover our escape. Grovyle charged toward the portal, Leaf Blades ready to knock away any Sableye that got in our way. We were stopped short, though, when their leader appeared from the ground, floating just in front of our would-be escape.
"Now, Grovyle, did you really think it would be that easy?" Dusknoir chided, an eerie smile creeping along his stomach as the Sableye hoard surrounded us.
"Well, aren't you confident?" I shot back. "Could it be that you don't know who you're up against?"
"You believe I'm the fool here? Celebi, your reputation extends farther than that, and legend though you may be, you're still not a fighter," Dusknoir taunted, the Sableye inching closer.
"So what? I'm still strong enough to beat you!"
"Perhaps," Dusknoir said, "But then, I'm not the one you have to beat, am I?"
Grovyle's determined expression wavered at the sound of that, and I saw the fear that replaced it ripple through the rest of our team. After all, there was only one pokemon Dusknoir could be referring to. One of the few legends still around in this time, bound to defending it out of insanity. A pit rising in my stomach, I looked past Dusknoir, past the Passage of Time, and into the darkness beyond, where I saw a pair of glowing red eyes staring back at me.
"Primal Dialga…" I said quietly, instinctively floating down to the ground to avoid his piercing gaze.
"We… were so close…" Grovyle muttered, his normally sharp tone replaced with one of defeat.
"And now you finally see the futility of your struggle," Dusknoir laughed. "It's over, Celebi. Your little rebellion stops here."
I hesitated, not wanting to give up, but not seeing an out either. Was this really it? Had I really survived for millions of years, even without reincarnation, just to fail at the final step?
"What are you doing? We can't just give up!" Brandon said, his cold logic betraying him as he came across as more desperate than determined.
"We can't win. Not against Dialga," Grovyle said. "Sorry everyone, especially you Crest. If it's any consolation, you were going to die anyway-"
"We're not going to die!" Crest said defiantly. "So what if the odds are against us? They always have been! Why should we surrender now?"
"You're brave, Crest. The fate you've been dealt truly is unfair," Dusknoir answered, "but your friends are right; you can't fight Dialga. Not if you intend to survive."
"Then… we won't fight…" Crest quietly reasoned before whispering, "Celebi, can you time travel at all?"
The Ghosts surrounding us stepped closer, readying their claws for an attack. "I can travel a short distance, but nothing significant without the Passage of Time."
A flash of realization struck Brandon as the Sableye lunged at us. "A few seconds is fine, just do it!"
In an instant I summoned my power, enveloping our group in a bright flash of light as we lurched ahead of the timeline. I kept this up as long as I could, trying to ensure we landed safely as late as possible.
'How is it this stable? My powers haven't worked this freely since time stopped,' I thought. Traveling with such ease that my mind was able to wander was a feeling I'd long since forgotten, and I quickly found the source of this stability: Crest's relic fragment, lending me its power as it glowed a bright blue.
The feeling didn't last long, however, as Dialga's deafening roar echoed through my pocket timeline. My control over it shattered, dropping us back into reality with nothing between us and the Passage of Time.
"There! Don't let them escape!" Dusknoir yelled to the hoard behind us, the Sableye charging upon his order. I stalled them with Magical Leaf before turning my attention to Dusknoir. To my surprise, a ball of white light formed and exploded around his head before I could launch an attack.
"Celebi, the portal!" Grovyle shouted.
"There's no time, just go!"
"I'm not leaving you behind again!"
"Yes, you are!" I shot back, using Psychic to throw him through the Passage of Time. "Brandon, Crest, I'll hold off the Sableye. You two get back to the past, before Dialga can interfere."
"What about you?" Crest asked.
"I'll be fine. No one can catch me!" I assured him. Turning my attention to my enemies, I fired another flurry of leaves and telepathically listened for my friends to leave through the portal. Once they were gone, I quickly recalibrated it to any other time before flying through myself.
"No one. Not even in a million years."
The disorienting blur of time travel wracked my body as I fell through the Passage of Time. Desperately clinging to consciousness, I was met with soothing relief as I eventually felt myself dropped into water. That relief was both physical and mental, as I felt the rough pull of a current around my submerged form, a sure sign that we'd made it back to my time.
And, of course, there was the brief panic as I remembered that my partner probably couldn't swim. I found Brandon flailing in the water, and quickly moved to help keep him afloat. Luckily, barring the current below us, the sea we found ourselves stranded in was calm.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"Yeah, I think so. As long as you don't drop me," he answered. "I'm not going to weigh you down, am I?"
"I can breathe underwater, so that's not a problem," I explained.
"Stranded in the ocean again. What is wrong with that portal?" I heard Grovyle mutter before turning his attention to me. "We'll swim until we find some landmass to orient ourselves. After that, it's back to the Grass continent for the time gears."
"There's no need to find land, I know where we are," I said. "This is the Sea of Wonders; the current beneath us flows to Blizzard Island, which means Grass should be that way. It's a pretty long swim, but if you can handle it we can take a direct route."
"You're the one carrying dead weight. Lead the way."
The swim home was uneventful, albeit exhausting. Keeping Brandon above the water proved more difficult than I expected; even he grew tired from the effort it took to stay above the gentle waves. Eventually though, we managed to touch down on Treasure Beach. I recognized the familiar sight of the sunset view, a welcome respite from our time in the dark future as we took a moment to rest.
That respite couldn't last long, as Grovyle reminded us. "We haven't gone back as far as we would have liked. As much as I'd love to rest for the night, we have to keep moving."
"So, we're going after the time gears immediately?" Brandon clarified.
"Yes. We'll travel in a group to the first gear, and probably call it a night after that. Tomorrow we'll split up to gather the other four," Grovyle explained.
"Why aren't we splitting up now?" I asked.
"Because it wouldn't matter," Grovyle said, "If we split up, we can collect three at a time. One tonight, then three tomorrow. That gives us one day to finalize our preparations before claiming the gear that controls this continent."
"Where are we going first?" Brandon asked.
"Treeshroud Forest. It's the only gear that doesn't have a guardian."
Following Grovyle's lead, we took a direct route to the forest. It was dark when we got there, though I wasn't sure whether that was due to the night or the paralysis shrouding the area.
"Another forest dungeon. Not exactly our team's strong point," I noted.
"If it's like the end of Mystifying Forest, then that shouldn't be a problem," Brandon reasoned. "There shouldn't be many hostiles."
"I suppose that's good news," Grovyle said. "It's about time we had some luck; we were long overdue for it."
Unfortunately, hostiles weren't the only things missing from the dungeon. As we explored, we couldn't find any items to restock our long-depleted bag. I also took note of the absence of color within the forest, but by now that was an alarmingly familiar sight. Were it not for that detail, I would have called our expedition to this place pleasant.
The dungeon's layout was more complex than I was used to, with seemingly endless corridors spiraling into themselves. Dead ends were abundant, slowing our otherwise brisk pace as we were often forced to backtrack. Eventually, we reached the end of the dungeon, and were let out into a more natural forest.
"Good, we're almost there now," Grovyle said as our surroundings became more coherent. "The time gear is hidden somewhere in this forest. It probably isn't a glowing beacon anymore, but as long as we don't get pulled back into the dungeon we should be fine, even if it means wandering for a bit."
"We don't have to wander, it's this way," Brandon said.
"And what exactly makes you so sure of that?" Grovyle practically hissed. "It's hidden. You have no way of knowing for sure."
"Because I found a trail," Brandon deadpanned back.
"A trail?" I asked.
"The grass is compressed. Judging from how it's bent, whoever made this was heading deeper into the forest," he explained.
"Then we're not alone here?" Grovyle thought aloud. "We have to hurry. If someone else takes the gear our whole mission will be compromised."
I stared at the pedestal in front of me, my body seemingly as paralyzed as the forest I found myself in. Of course, I knew that wasn't true; I wasn't paralyzed, but merely hesitant. The time gear was suspended just above me, and despite my mission to retrieve it, I was still nervous.
'We went through so much to return this thing, only for it to fix nothing,' I thought to myself. 'And even if I take the gear, we don't know what to do with it. What if things only get worse?'
I struggled to shake off my indecision, staring at the relic for a while longer. Eventually, I steeled myself enough to take those last few steps toward my target. My heart was racing as I approached it, the knowledge of its importance clashing with the goal of retrieving the time gear. With one last word of self-assurance, I leapt at the gear, breaking it from the pedestal's invisible hold as I came down to the ground with the time gear held tightly between my paws.
As I landed, I heard a voice call out from behind me. "Not sure what you're doing here, but I'll be taking that gear. I recommend handing it over willingly."
"Grovyle?" I turned to face him, startled. My mind raced to make sense of his appearance, and though I remembered our consensus that he wasn't the villain everyone had thought he was, the sudden threat had put me on edge. That edge quickly faded, however, when I noticed who was with him.
"Stop with the threats, Grovyle. He's on our side," Brandon said sternly.
"Brandon? Crest? You're back!" I exclaimed, running over to their group.
"Yeah, Grovyle helped us escape from the future," Crest explained. "And I have to admit, I wasn't expecting such a warm welcome. Or for you to be here, for that matter."
"Oh, come on, it's not that surprising," I argued. "Everyone thought you were dead, you know? Or at least gone forever."
"Well, we came pretty close a few times," Brandon said, "which reminds me: I'm exhausted, and I know Crest has it even worse. We should find someplace safe to rest before explaining everything."
"Okay, then let's head back to the guild," I suggested.
"Hold on," Grovyle objected, "I'm still considered a criminal in this time, aren't I? We should probably keep a low profile, at least for tonight."
"I know a place," Crest said. "There's a spot in Treasure Town that's sufficiently secluded. We would have to sneak through town to get there, but after that we'll be fine, and close to the guild for when we do reveal ourselves."
"If you believe we can discreetly reach it, then lead the way," Grovyle agreed.
We made our way out of the forest, curiosity eating away at me the entire time. That curious feeling was far from unbearable though, because it was overshadowed by another feeling.
I was just happy to have my friends back.
