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catflowerqueen · 4 years

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This is for you, @citrus-chickadee

Party Crashers Part 1

“My Dear, are you all right?”

The Grass-type blinked, the sight of Celebi waving a hand in front of his face dispelling his thoughts. “Hm? I’m sorry… did you say something, Celebi?

Celebi sighed in exasperation, crossing her arms and plopping down next to him. “I asked if you were all right,” she repeated. “You seem more distracted than usual… even considering what day it is.”

Grovyle winced at the reminder, briefly flicking his eyes in Dialga’s direction. Ever since the dark future had changed, he and Celebi were welcome guests in Dialga’s home. The Temporal Pokemon had even become a part-time employer of sorts, strange as that was given their history together. But today they weren’t there to receive any jobs; today was—or would have been, if she hadn’t disappeared—Laura’s Birthday, and it had become a tradition for Grovyle and Celebi to visit Dialga on the Temporal Tower Pinnacle to try and cheer him up. Despite everything that had ended up happening, Dialga still blamed himself for Laura’s ultimate fate.

Usually one or two members of the Sableye Gang came as well, but today they were all busy with other tasks. Dos, Trois and Seis had legitimate excuses, at least. Dos always honored the day by placing a new portrait in the Memorial Garden near Laura’s grave, and he had gotten a late start on painting this year’s addition due to a recent illness. Trois and Seis couldn’t make it because they were busy fixing their house since the roof had collapsed after a Castform decided their front yard would be the perfect place to teach his kids about weather changing moves—despite the fact that New PIT Base had training grounds conveniently located near the guest housing—and one of them became a bit too enthusiastic about the move Hail. But the other three—along with Dusknoir—weren’t there because they were trying to avoid the sadness.

Dusknoir was always conveniently “busy” whenever this date came around, and this year he had decided that it was absolutely vital that he go on a week-long scouting mission to—of all places—the Oran Forest. Cinq, Un, and Cuatro insisted they go with him to “protect him from danger.” Again, this was the Oran Forest they were talking about. If those guys weren’t doing this as an avoidance tactic, then Grovyle would eat nothing but Grimy Food for a week. In any case, it would probably be a few more days before they returned.

“Sorry, Celebi. I was just… thinking,” Grovyle finally replied.

Celebi giggled. “I can see that, my dear… What were you thinking about?”

Grovyle hesitated, looking towards Dialga’s depressed form again and weighing whether it was really worth it to upset him even more over what was probably a stupid question. In the end he decided that his desperate need to know the answer—even if the chances that it would be favorable were likely very slim—far outweighed the probability of pain. So he went ahead and asked, “I was just wondering… Dialga, are you really sure that Laura isn’t ali-with us, anymore? Somewhere out there?”

Dialga, who had perked up slightly at being addressed, winced and slumped even lower to the floor. He didn’t give a verbal response, but it was pretty clear from his body language that the answer was “yes.”

Celebi frowned, feeling troubled. “My dear… you haven’t thought about that possibility in years. What makes you think of it now?”

Grovyle shrugged, “When I went to Laura’s grave this morning to pay my respects, I was interrupted by this really weird visitor.”

“Oh? Weird in what way?”

Grovyle frowned, concentrating on bringing the memories back to the forefront of his mind before explaining, “Well, at first he didn’t realize where we were and tried to pick a fight with me over the flowers I’d picked for her,” he paused here to roll his eyes in remembered annoyance, “but then once he realized that we were at a grave… and especially once he realized whose grave it was… he was completely devastated. Like we all were, at first, you know? As if… as if he hadn’t known she was gone and it was a fresh wound.”

“That is strange,” Celebi agreed. “I mean… we’ve spread that story around enough that he should have heard it from somewhere…”

Grovyle nodded before furrowing his brow, realizing something. “Actually… he might not have.”

When Celebi—and Dialga, if only briefly—looked over in surprise, Grovyle explained, “I didn’t even think about it at the time, but… he was a celebi. He might not have heard it if he came from far enough in the past,” Grovyle paused and frowned as he suddenly realized something. “Which… actually makes how he behaved after I told him the story even stranger.”

“HOW DID HE BEHAVE?” Dialga asked, his attention riveted for some reason upon hearing the visitor’s species.

“He seemed…relieved. As if… well, as if he was worried that she had actually died from something like… I don’t know… age or illness, I guess. Something common.”

Celebi shot up into the air. “Wh-what?” she spluttered. “B-but that doesn’t make sense! I mean… okay, if he was from far enough in the past, then, yes you’re right, obviously death by ‘disappearing as a result of changing the future’ wouldn’t have crossed his mind… but it was still a grave. So why would he feel—” she came to a screeching halt as she realized something else. “…Actually, if he was from that far in the past… how would he even know who Laura was to get upset that she’s no longer with us?”

“That’s what I was thinking,” Grovyle admitted. He frowned thoughtfully for a moment before theorizing, “I suppose he may have been thinking of a different Laura, but…”

“WHAT DID HE LOOK LIKE?!” Dialga suddenly demanded, derailing Grovyle’s train of thought.

When Grovyle didn’t answer—being too startled by the wild look in Dialga’s eyes and how forceful the question had been—Dialga calmed his tone slightly and tried again. “LET ME CLARIFY… DID HE HAVE ANY SORT OF DISTINGUISHING FEATURES, OR DID HE JUST LOOK LIKE AN AVERAGE CELEBI?”

“…He was wearing a few odd accessories, but otherwise he looked normal,” Grovyle finally answered. He felt slightly confused when it caused Dialga to seem crestfallen, but before he could think of something to cheer him up he remembered another detail and added, “Well, unless his odd eye color would classify him as a different type of shiny celebi than Celebi here.”

“His eye color?” Celebi asked, cocking her head in amusement at the possibility that Grovyle had now been acquainted with two shiny pokémon of her species.

“Yes. His eyes were golden.”

Dialga pulled in sharp gasp before sitting straight up. “GOLDEN?” he repeated frantically, his eyes widening when Grovyle nodded in assent. “BUT THAT WOULD MEAN…” he trailed off, his gaze moving towards the Time Gear pedestal. He frowned and began to “mutter” in thought. “BUT IF IT REALLY WAS HIM, THEN WHY WOULD HEARING ABOUT HER MANNER OF DEATH MAKE HIM RELIEVED? UNLESS…”

He trailed off again and let his eyes become distant. Grovyle and Celebi glanced at each other, feeling slightly worried and wondering if they should go to the Oran Forest and fetch Dusknoir to help them decipher his master’s odd mood… or to help them subdue the Temporal pokémon if it turned out he was going crazy again. But then they jolted when Dialga finally came back to the present, threw back his head… and laughed. They then seriously considered going to get Dusknoir, since the laugh sounded far too joyous given the date.

“GROVYLE… CELEBI…” Dialga suddenly said, turning back towards them and causing them to jump. “I HAVE A JOB FOR YOU.”

Grovyle and Celebi blinked in confusion before their eyes widened in comprehension. “A… job? As in… right now?” Grovle asked, stunned.

“Is… is something wrong?” Celebi wondered aloud, sounding very concerned.

“NO, NO… NOTHING IS WRONG. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING…” Dialga paused to smirk. “BUT IT IS STILL VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU DO THIS.”

“…Okay…” Celebi said, still sounding unsure. “What do you need us to do?”

Dialga nodded happily and jerked his head, opening a dimensional hole to his right.

“I NEED YOU TO TAKE THIS DIMENSIONAL HOLE BACK TO THE PAST AND OBSERVE WHAT LIFE WAS LIKE IN THAT TIME PERIOD.”

Celebi cocked her head and placed a hand near the edge of the hole. She closed her eyes in concentration, focusing on finding out the date it would lead them to. When she had it, her eyes snapped open in shock.

“But this is… today’s date about four years after Team Rainbow took the Time Gears to Temporal Tower!”

Grovyle’s jaw dropped. “Wha…?” he turned to Dialga. “Why would you want us to go to then?” he demanded.

Dialga smirked again and gave a shrug. “I TOLD YOU: I WANT YOU TO OBSERVE WHAT LIFE WAS LIKE. FOUR YEARS SHOULD BE ENOUGH TIME FOR THINGS TO HAVE SETTLED DOWN SINCE THE CRISIS AT TEMPORAL TOWER, BUT THAT DOES NOT NECESSARILY MEAN THAT YOU WON’T FIND ANYTHING… INTERESTING, TO REPORT.”

Grovyle frowned. He didn’t like how suspicious Dialga was acting…

“BESIDES… LAURA IS NOT THE ONLY FRIEND YOU LEFT BEHIND WHEN YOU DRAGGED MY FAITHFUL SERVANT DUSKNOIR BACK TO THAT DARK FUTURE, CORRECT?”

Grovyle’s eyes widened. “Paula…” he whispered before looking away, slightly shame-faced. “That’s right… she’s probably missing Laura too…”

Celebi slapped her forehead. “I can’t believe I never thought of travelling back to see her before! She probably thinks we’re dead as well!”

“EXACTLY,” Dialga said, giving another grin. “WHICH IS ALL THE MORE REASON TO GO BACK FOR A QUICK VISIT.”

Grovyle glanced back at him once more with a frown before sighing and rubbing his temples. “…Okay, I give in.” He straightened up, transitioning into serious mode. “Do you want us to go now, or do we have time to pack first?”

“Oh, my dear, you’re so paranoid!” Celebi chided, rolling her eyes. “Why would we need to pack if we’re merely going to observe?”

“It’s always good to be prepared,” Grovyle cautioned. “Besides, I don’t know if you’ve forgotten, but the last time I went to the past I was labelled a wanted criminal.”

“I’m sure they would have repealed that by now.”

“You don’t know that… and there’s also the fact that—h-hey! Wait a minute!”

Celebi, tired of Grovyle’s attempts at making excuses, grabbed his arm and dragged him towards the Dimensional Hole. “Don’t worry so much! I’m sure everything will go splendidly!” she assured before—and without any warning—shoving him in. She waited until his surprised yelps and screaming faded away before turning back towards Dialga with a wide smile.

“We’ll give you a full report when we get back!” she told him before she remembered something. Her smile became mischievous when she added, “Oh! Make sure that you thwack Dusknoir and the sableye on the back of the head for being such sillies again this year if they return before us, okay?”

Dialga chuckled. “I WILL BE SURE TO DO THAT. HAVE A GOOD TIME.”

Celebi gave a salute before flying into the dimensional hole. Dialga watched as it flickered and closed, and then he settled down near the pedestal to allow the new memories of the past that had just become available to him to catch up and merge with the ones already in his head. He gave a soft, happy sigh as the image came to mind of a treecko with brilliant, rainbow-colored eyes smiling at him in greeting when he descended to the Hidden Land to see how she was coming along with repainting the murals…

“I HOPE LAURA WILL LIKE HER SWEET SIXTEEN PRESENT…”

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Grovyle groaned as he sat up, feeling sand shift beneath his claws (and internally wondering if that meant he’d ended up travelling back to a beach yet again), and shook his head to dispel the fog caused by the time travel. He looked around, locating Celebi—who, annoyingly, didn’t seem to have suffered any ill effects from the time travel like he had—and shooting her a weak glare. But she was too busy admiring the waves (well, that answered that question…) with wide, excited eyes to notice, so he quickly gave it up and settled for a soft sound of annoyance.

This caught Celebi’s attention and she turned to him with a big smile on her face. “My Dear Grovyle! You’re finally awake!” she exclaimed with glee before flying up and twirling in the air. “Isn’t this beach just amazing?” she gushed.

Grovyle chuckled minutely at her antics. “Yes, it is quite nice… but you’ve seen beaches like this before, remember?” he reminded her gently.

“Well, yes… but those were future beaches. This is a past beach! Just think: Laura and Paula may have played on one just like this when they took breaks from their exploration work!”

Grovyle tilted his head thoughtfully and looked more closely at his surroundings. “Actually… I think this is the beach they played on,” he said. “It looks like the one near Treasure Town, at any rate. What’s more…” he trailed off, looking up and squinting into the distance “…that outcrop of rock over there looks distinctly like a sharpedo, does it not? So that must be Sharpedo Bluff, where Laura, Paula, and I stayed for a while before retrieving the Time Gear from Treeshroud Forest.”

“Oh?” Celebi asked, flying a bit higher to get a closer look. “You’re right! It does look like a sharpedo! So that means that the Wigglytuff Guild must be nearby! That’s where Paula will be… right?”

“Most likely,” Grovyle agreed. But then he frowned slightly as a few other possible scenarios flitted through his head. “It’s been a few years, though, so she may have moved on by now.”

“But they’d probably know where she went if that was the case, yes?” Celebi asked, coming back down to hover at a more reasonable level. “Besides… the other members of the guild are your friends too, right?

Grovyle’s frown deepened and he crossed his arms, shifting over to look at the waves. “…I wouldn’t really call us ‘friends,’” he told her truthfully. “The only other member of the guild I really had the opportunity to talk with was Wigglytuff.”

Celebi pouted briefly before grinning again and tugging his arm. “Well now’s your chance!” she insisted.

Grovyle shook his head in amusement as he allowed her to lead him. “Now who’s the impatient one?” he teased. Celebi blushed and declined to answer.

Grovyle shook his head again and barked out a short laugh before something along the path caught his eye. “Hold on a moment, Celebi,” he requested, stopping in place. “This wasn’t here before.”

Celebi obligingly dropped his arm, turning back to look at what he’d seen. It appeared to be a building. It was a bit on the small side, but that just gave it an air of coziness. There was a colorful sign in front that read: “Rainbow’s Palette.” Celebi tried to look in the windows, but each one was blocked by blue-green curtains.

“Is it a shop?” Celebi wondered.

“It appears so,” Grovyle mused. “There’s a clay ‘SORRY, WE’RE CLOSED’ sign on the door…”

“Oh, I didn’t notice that,” Celebi said, floating closer to investigate. When she had affirmed the shop’s “closed” status, she headed back to Grovyle’s side… or at least, she was about to before she noticed another small structure slightly behind the shop. She tested the door, but it was locked. “Oh well,” she mentally shrugged. “We can always come back later.”

She zoomed back towards Grovyle and tugged on his arm again. “Come, my dear! The guild awaits!”

----------

Grovyle stared at the grate at his feet and swallowed nervously. He didn’t think the guild members would be hostile towards him or Celebi, but there was always the chance that they blamed him for Laura’s disappearance…

“Celebi… I think it would be best if you stayed behind me.”

Celebi rolled her eyes, but did as he said. Even though he was too stubborn and prideful to admit it to her face, she could tell that he was nervous. If letting him take the lead would give him some peace of mind, then she would gladly do it.

Grovyle stepped onto the grate. He took a breath and opened his mouth, preparing to call down and ask permission to enter the guild, but his words quickly died in his throat when the gates suddenly opened. He frowned, his deeply ingrained paranoia beginning to rise at how easy that had been. He cautiously poked his head around the corner of the door frame and scanned the enclosure for any danger. When he saw none, he glanced back at Celebi and silently jerked his head, indicating that she follow. She rolled her eyes again.

Grovyle cautiously climbed down the ladder, his frown deepening when he reached the bottom and saw that the second floor was empty.

“…Something’s not right here,” he muttered quietly. “I know it’s midday and most of the apprentices should be out exploring… but even so, the guild shouldn’t be this empty…”

“…Do you think something’s wrong?” Celebi asked in a whisper. When he nodded, she frowned. “But Dialga said that everything was fine!”

“He may have been referring to the ‘big picture,’” Grovyle reminded her. “It wouldn’t be the first time that he—did you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Celebi asked, blinking as she watched Grovyle crouch low to the ground and slink over to the second ladder.

“I thought I heard something moving on the floor below us,” Grovyle explained, peering down the hole. “But it’s too dark to see…”

Grovyle suddenly nodded decisively and stood up, moving towards the side of the ladder. “Be prepared for anything!” he warned before foregoing the ladder in favor of leaping directly down the hole—thereby putting him in the optimal position if he needed to immediately launch an attack once he reached the bottom. Celebi—slightly startled by the sudden leap—quickly flew down after him.

---------

The members of the guild, meanwhile, who had all assembled on the bottom floor of the guild for Laura’s “surprise” Sweet Sixteen party were hurriedly scrambling to find good hiding spots so that they could surprise the Birthday girl as much as possible when she and Paula finally made it over. They weren’t actually anticipating being able to surprise her very much, though, since they’d told her repeatedly of their plans over the past few days. But it had been a necessary evil considering that the last three times they’d tried to throw her a surprise party without warning her first she’d freaked out and either fainted, attacked them, or attacked them and then fainted—which was never a good way to start a celebration.

“Are you SURE it’s them, Diglett?” Loudred asked in as quiet a voice as he could manage.

“Who else could it be?” Diglett whispered back as he popped out of the ground and hurried to get into position. “Everyone in town knows that today is Laura’s Birthday and that we’re throwing her a surprise party.”

“Meh heh heh… Including her,” Croagunk snickered.

“Shush!” Chatot ordered. “I think I hear them!”

There was silence for a few moments, and then the guild heard a light “THUD!” followed by a… soft fluttering sound? They could just barely see the outlines of two pokémon in the dim light, and when the one in front took a cautious step forward…

“SURPRISE!” they all shouted, jumping out of their hiding spots as the lights flicked on. “HAPPY—GAAH!”

They were cut off by a sudden barrage of attacks and had to immediately duck back into their hiding places to avoid getting hit.

“You really think I’d fall for something like that?” they heard a gruff voice—which, while it did sound sort of familiar, definitely did not belong to Laura or Paula… especially considering it was male—demand. “That has got to be the worst trap ever—and trust me, I’ve seen some pretty bad ones.”

“Uh, My Dear? I think you need to take another look around… I really don’t think this was a trap,” came another voice. This one was feminine, but it didn’t sound like it belonged to Laura or Paula either…

“What do you—” the first pokémon began sharply before breaking off. There was a momentary pause before, “—oh,” he finished lamely, presumably because he’d finally gotten a good look at the room and seen the party decorations, which were now likely ruined from his attack. “Uh… My apologies?”

“Wh—Your APOLOGIES?!” Loudred demanded indignantly, though he still stayed hidden in case the crazy party crasher decided he wasn’t through attacking yet. “You just ATTACKED us!”

“It was a misunderstanding, I assure you.”

“Hm… Seems like you cause a lot of those whenever you travel back to this time period, don’t you?” his companion giggled.

“I—Last time was not my fault Celebi, and you know it!”

Wigglytuff frowned. “‘Celebi?’ ‘Time traveling?’” he repeated. Then he blinked as he realized why the voice sounded familiar. “Friendly-friend Grovyle! Is that you?!” he asked, his voice full of hope as he sprang up from his hiding place.

“WHAT? GROVYLE?” the others repeated in shock, jumping out to see for themselves.

Sure enough, there, standing near the foot of the ladder and glaring at his companion—who appeared to be a… shiny celebi?—was Grovyle. The same Grovyle who had first become known to the guild for his theft of the Time Gears. The same Grovyle who hadn’t actually been stealing them, but was, instead, trying to collect them to save the world from becoming paralyzed. The same Grovyle who wasn’t supposed to exist anymore because of the fact that the world had been saved from that paralyzed future!

Grovyle dropped his glare and slowly turned to face the room. “Er… Yes,” he said, gulping and giving a somewhat nervous wave. “H-hello Wigglytuff. It’s… good to see you again.”

“Hello everyone! My name’s Celebi!” Celebi suddenly introduced herself with a big smile. “It’s so nice to meet you! My Dear Grovyle has told me so much about you!”

“It’s nice to meet you, too, Friendly-friend Celebi!” Wigglytuff greeted, running over to shake her hand. “Paula told us all about you too!”

“Oh really? Did she say nice things?”

“Of course! She told us all about how you helped her, Laura, and Grovyle find the Passage of Time and—”

“Squawk! W-wait a moment, Guildmaster!” Chatot interrupted, wings fluttering in agitation. “Aren’t you the least bit curious as to how these two are here when they’re not supposed to exist anymore?!”

“Hey, hey! Or why they didn’t come back sooner to let us know they were alive?!” Corphish added.

Celebi took the liberty of answering. “Well the first answer is a bit complicated, and the second is, ah…” she cringed in embarrassment and began twiddling her thumbs nervously. “…W-well, it took a lot of time to rebuild and get the two opposing histories to stabilize with each other, so we just, uh… never actually thought about it until today! Tee hee…?”

“Well, golly!” Bidoof exclaimed, seeming oblivious to the dumbfounded silence afflicting the others. “What makes today so special?” he wondered.

Grovyle—who had been staring perplexedly at Celebi’s interactions with the denizens of the past—glanced over at him and quirked his lips into a sad grin. “Well, there were a few reasons,” the Grass-type said vaguely, deciding not to tell them that today would have been Laura’s Birthday for fear of making them upset, “but the main one is that Dialga—”

“Oh my gosh! Dialga is involved?” Sunflora suddenly panicked. “He’s not going crazy again, is he? Eek! That would be terrible!”

“No, no, no! It’s nothing like that!” Celebi assured. “He just thinks that enough time has passed since the crisis at Temporal Tower that things should be settled down here, and he wanted us to come observe how everyone was getting along and make sure you were all doing fine.

“Phew…” Sunflora sighed, feeling greatly relieved. “You had me worried!”

“Meh heh heh… You seem very close to Dialga, considering that he spent ‘years’ trying to kill you…” Croagunk mused.

Grovyle winced. “I suppose it is a bit odd when you put it that way,” he agreed. “But… well, it’s complicated. When Celebi said that we had been doing a lot of rebuilding, she wasn’t just talking about the tangible things.”

“Besides, Dialga isn’t really so bad when he’s not being influenced by darkness,” Celebi added. “He even suggested that while we were here we should pay a visit to some of our old friends!”

Wigglytuff cocked his head. “Oh, oh? You mean like Paula and—oh! This is perfect!” he suddenly exclaimed clapping his hands together with excitement. “Here we were all thinking that there wouldn’t be any surprises today… but you two will be the best surprises ever!”

Grovyle blinked and shared a glance with Celebi, “I beg your pardon?” he asked, feeling a rising sense of trepidation.

“Oh my gosh! You’re right, Guildmaster!” Sunflora gasped, clapping her leaves to her cheeks when she came to the same conclusion as Wigglytuff. “She’ll never see it coming!”

Suddenly it clicked with the remaining guild members. “OH! RIGHT!” Loudred exclaimed before turning towards Diglett. “How much time do we have before they’re supposed to GET here?”

But before Diglett could answer, the ringing of a bell echoed through the guild, signaling that someone was at the gates.

“…Apparently none! Everyone, get into position! It has to be them this time!”

Grovyle and Celebi looked on in befuddlement as everyone began scrambling for a hiding spot. Corphish noticed them and scurried back over. “Hey, hey! What are you two doing? You’ve got to hide!” he chided, pushing them down to crouch behind the ruined food table. “Now stay there and keep quiet!” he ordered, rushing off to dim the lights again before hurrying to find his own hiding place.

The duo from the future was left bewildered, sitting in the dark, and Celebi leaned over to whisper, “Grovyle, is everyone in the past always this strange?”

“If they are, I certainly didn’t encounter it last time I was here,” he whispered back.

“Shush! No talking!” Chatot ordered, causing them to quickly silence. Although, that might have been due more to the fact that they could hear quiet voices coming from the floor above them. Voices that seemed very familiar…

“…maintain that I wouldn’t have fainted if they hadn’t been acting so weird leading up to it.”

“Okay, fair point. But still… did you really expect that they would just let an excuse to party slip by?”

“Considering that I outright said I didn’t want one? I kind of hoped they would.”

“Oh come on, you know deep down that you enjoy that stuff just as much as they do.”

There was a pause, and Grovyle could practically hear the grin in the voice when the second speaker interpreted her companion’s silence as an unwilling agreement and said, “But anyways… you won’t attack them this time, right? I mean… they did warn you they were going to do this.”

“…I can make no promises that if they all jump out and yell ‘Surprise!’ I won’t—”

Just then the lights came on and everyone, except for the duo from the future, who were still trying to puzzle out the identity of the voices, jumped out and yelled, “SURPRISE! HAPPY SWEET SIXTEEN, LAURA!”

“Laura?!” Grovyle thought, stunned, but feeling a sudden surge of hope pouring through his soul. “Did they just say—?!”

He shot up from his hiding place, and his jaw dropped at the sight of Paula standing slightly off to the side of the ladder, sheepishly rubbing her neck under the scowl of the familiar-looking treecko who was standing beside her.

“Did they just say Laura?!” Celebi, who had also shot up at the mention of Laura’s name, gasped in joy.

At the sound of the voice the treecko stopped scowling at her partner, who was now slack-jawed with shock, and whipped around, her rainbow-colored eyes wide with a strange, yet perfect, mixture of disbelief and hope.

At the sight of her eyes—eyes which he would recognize anywhere—Grovyle drunkenly staggered forward a few steps. “L-Laura…?” he whispered hopefully, tears threatening to fall.

“G-Grovyle…?” the treecko—Laura!— whispered back, just as hopefully, as she too took a few timid steps forward, tears forming in her own eyes and slowly rolling down her cheeks.

At the sight of his long-time partner crying—actually, finally, crying—what little composure Grovyle had left completely shattered and his tears overflowed. The salty liquid blurred his vision as he ran forward and scooped Laura into his arms, twirling her around in joy before hugging her tightly. “Laura… you’re alive! You’re really, actually… alive!” he laughed out in a happy mantra.

“Grovyle, Grovyle, Grovyle!” Laura chanted back just as joyfully as she fiercely returned the hug.

---------

Eventually the duo calmed down enough to be able to at least partially focus their attention on something besides each other, and the group sat down to catch up and try to figure out how this miraculous reunion was possible. Of course, Grovyle was still reluctant to let Laura out of his sight, so he made to sit as close to her as possible and hold one of her hands so tightly that it was just shy of being labelled as a death grip. Despite being at an age when such displays of affection were usually very embarrassing, Laura wasn’t complaining. Instead she was reveling in the contact.

“I just can’t believe you’re really here…” Grovyle murmured for the tenth time, giving Laura another tight hug. “You even got your eye color back!”

“Yeah… and that’s not the only thing she got back… Grovy. Meh heh heh…” Croagunk mentioned mischievously.

Grovyle cringed at his old nickname and scowled down at Laura in betrayal that she had shared it with her friends… before he blinked suddenly in realization and his eyes widened at the implications. “Wait a minute… you got your memories back too?” he exclaimed incredulously.

Laura nodded. “Most of them,” she clarified. “I’m still missing a few, but considering who I am…” she trailed off with a shrug, as if to say that the situation wasn’t unusual or worrisome in the slightest.

Grovyle immediately noticed the jewelry she was wearing and couldn’t help but ask, “Isn’t that the bracelet you told me was a gift from your goddess? It looks a little different, but…”

“Yeah, it’s the same one,” Paula confirmed. “Apparently it was still stuck in that keyhole in Relatia’s Cave when she found it.”

“I finally found the letter you left there for me as well,” Laura added.

“It was still there? How odd,” Grovyle murmured, frowning in thought.

“Why is it odd? You already admitted that I was right about the cave!”

Grovyle winced in embarrassment and scrambled for something to save face, “Ah, W-well… uh… that may be true, but… um…”

Corphish couldn’t take it any longer. He understood that this was a very emotional time for everyone and that it was only natural that Grovyle and Laura would want the chance to talk since they hadn’t seen each other in years—not to mention the fact that Laura now had more of a context to work from—but he had a very important question to ask that had been pressing on his mind from the moment he saw Grovyle and Celebi in the world of the past. “So… hey, hey!” he suddenly blurted out. “I know you said the answer was complicated… but I’ve just got to know! What did happen to that whole ‘pokémon from the future have to disappear when they change the past’ deal?”

Celebi looked over from where she was sitting beside Grovyle and Laura and fondly watching their interactions. “Well… we did disappear. But only for a few moments,” she explained. “We were surprised too, but Dialga told us that someone who was ‘higher than himself’ brought us all back.”

“Wait… everyone got brought back?” Paula asked with a frown. “Including the pokémon like Dusknoir and the sableye?”

“Yes. They were all still alive—if only barely, considering what we had just gone through—when you and Laura changed the past, so they got brought back too,” Grovyle affirmed, causing mixed emotions among the assembled.

“…How are they doing?” Laura asked quietly, looking up at Grovyle with worry.

Grovyle gave a sad, soft sigh, “As good as can be expected considering that we all thought you were dead.”

Laura winced and opened her mouth to apologize, but before she could get the words out Loudred interrupted with, “Wait, wait, WAIT! You thought she was DEAD? Why would you think SHE was dead when EVERYONE ELSE—including the BAD GUYS—came back?”

“It isn’t as if that was our first assumption,” Celebi defended. “When Laura didn’t reappear on Temporal Tower’s Pinnacle with us, at first we figured that she had just reappeared in the past. But when we asked Dialga, he said that you hadn’t, Laura… and then when he couldn’t see you anywhere in the future… we had no choice but to assume the worst.”

“So… where were you all those months, Laura?” Paula asked, confused. “If you weren’t here… and you weren’t there... then…?”

“…I don’t know,” Laura admitted quietly, biting her lip and still feeling upset about all the worry she had caused everyone. “The only thing I remember about that time is what I told you when I woke up after you and Bidoof found me on the Beach.”

“…Could you repeat it for those who weren’t there at the time?” Grovyle asked, a brow raised expectantly.

“Uh… It was something about colors and… loneliness? I think?” Paula obliged. “There was more, but…”

“‘Colors and loneliness?’” Grovyle repeated in surprise. “Hm… That sounds a bit like Dusknoir’s original theory...”

Chatot blinked. “Squawk! What?!” he demanded. “Dusknoir’s theory? Since when do you listen to him?!”

Celebi ignored him, choosing to question a different part of Grovyle’s thoughts, “But didn’t Dialga say that was unlikely?”

Grovyle shrugged, the motion a bit awkward considering the precious bundle he was still holding in his arms, before replying, “Dialga isn’t perfect. For example: He didn’t even bother to double-check Laura’s possible location, and it turns out that she did show up back in the past. Okay, granted, it apparently took her a lot longer to reappear than it did us, but still… and then if you take into account what I told you about that meeting with Palkia…”

He trailed off when he heard a small “Um,” from his lap and looked down to see that Laura was frowning up at him.

“What was Dusknoir’s theory?” she asked.

“He thought that, considering you aren’t actually from the paralyzed future—a fact which, along with your age, you neglected to tell me!—you had been transported back to where he originally took you from,” Grovyle explained, still feeling somewhat annoyed, even years later, that she had kept what he considered vital information from him.

The guild members and Paula’s eyes widened and their jaws dropped at that bit of knowledge, but Laura simply blushed in embarrassment. “W-well it didn’t seem that important!” she weakly excused herself.

“It didn’t seem important that during our entire journey you were just a little kid?” Grovyle asked incredulously.

“You were a child for part of it too!”

“It didn’t seem important to mention that all your knowledge about time and theories on the world of the past came from PERSONAL EXPERIENCE?!”

“Well it’s not like I experienced it for very long…”

“It was still experience!” Grovyle hissed in exasperation.

Laura opened her mouth to retort again, but she was cut off by Sunflora frantically waving her leaves in a “stop” motion and saying, “Oh my gosh! Wait a minute! Laura, what did Grovyle mean when he said you weren’t from the paralyzed future?!”

Laura’s face drained of color and she stammered, “I… uh, w-well…”

Upon hearing Laura’s distress, Grovyle took a deep breath, calming himself down before explaining, “Apparently Laura wasn’t actually born in the pokemon world; she was born on Earth—the human world.”

Unfortunately, he was drowned out by the voices of everyone else exclaiming, “WHAT?! LAURA YOU WERE BORN IN THE HUMAN WORLD?!” with jaws dropped.

“But was Dusknoir right, Laura? Did you end up back home?”Celebi quickly cut in, anticipating that someone would soon ask a frantic question demanding further explanation.

At Celebi’s question Laura’s face took on an uncharacteristically hard look—complete with a bitter scowl—and she turned away, crossing her arms. “That place is not my home,” she said emphatically. “Yes, I may have been born there, and, yes, I may have spent the first few years of my life there… but that place has never been my home!”

Grovyle looked down at her, several choice memories suddenly coming to mind like pieces of a puzzle, and his eyes widened with a sudden, horrifying understanding. “Laura…” he tentatively began, “were your guardians really that bad?”

Laura sighed sadly, dropping her arms and glancing back up at her old friend. “Grovyle,” she quietly said, “life in the paralyzed future was a paradise in comparison.”

Everyone stared at her in horror, but, upon seeing that a few mouths were opening and correctly assuming that their owners were about to ask for more information, Laura quickly continued, “In any case… I don’t think I went back there. If I had, then Relatia would have told me when she visited here during the whole fiasco when the Time Gears were losing energy.”

Grovyle nodded in agreement. “Yes, that does make sense—” he suddenly paused as her words caught up with him. “Wait… WHAT?! That goddess of yours actually came here?! When did—? Wait. What was that about the Time Gears losing energy?!”

Laura winced, “Uh… It’s a long story. But you don’t have to worry about it! She and Mason assured us that the problem was fixed, so…”

“Who the heck is Mason?” Grovyle demanded.

“Oh!” Laura exclaimed, her eyes lighting up with happiness. “Right, you wouldn’t know him! He’s—”

But she was cut off when there was a giant flash of light in the room, leaving a familiar, golden-eyed celebi in its wake.

The celebi’s eyes roamed around, and a huge grin split his face when they finally located Laura (internally questioning why she was holding the hand of a strange—yet vaguely familiar—grovyle, but deciding he could wait until later to figure out the reason since she didn’t seem to be upset or in danger). “Surprise!” he yelled, opening his arms for a hug. “Happy Sweet Sixteen, Laura!”

“Mason!” Laura cried out in delight, all but wrenching her hand from Grovyle’s to accept the invitation of the celebi’s open arms.

Grovyle, for his part, was stunned that the sudden presence of this stranger had so quickly and effectively cut short his reunion with his old friend—who he’d thought had been dead for the past four years or so—and began to feel pangs of jealousy gather in his heart. Pangs which only grew stronger when Croagunk playfully elbowed him, teasing, “Meh heh heh… In answer to your question, Grovyle… he is Mason.”

(By the way, Mason was, indeed, the celebi that Grovyle alludes to fighting with earlier in the day. The reason he’s so upset about the flowers is that his plan for Laura’s birthday present was to make her a giant bouquet of Treasure’s Desire flowers. In preparation for that, he planted a bunch of seeds and time-traveled far into the future, so that he could ensure that the flowers would be the pinnacle of flowery perfection. Unfortunately, when he finally reached the spot where he’d planted the flowers... he found evidence that they’d been cut. He tracked down the source and found--you guessed it--Grovyle. This, among other things, is why he spends many of the next few chapters in a state of annoyance with him--and Grovyle has his own reasons to be annoyed with Mason, in turn, as soon as he figures out who he is. Laura, meanwhile, is mostly oblivious to their annoyance with each other (or is at least pretending to be), in part because they’re trying to hide their animosity from her. Celebi is genuinely oblivious, and wouldn’t really care one way or the other. Mainly she’s just distracted by the novelty of the situation and getting to explore everything the town has to offer, though. She may or may not be the one to let slip to the others about Duskull’s relationship to a certain Dusknoir. I’m still undecided on that front, though, as that bit of information might be better served coming to light/getting mentioned by someone at a later time I have in mind.)

#pokemon mystery dungeon #explorers of sky #the world's treasure #writing #fanfiction #spoilers #massive spoilers

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