-Chapter 34: The Adventure Begins-

-Grovyle's POV-

When we emerged from the portal, we all landed in the center of the Insurgo Cavern.

Celebi seemed impressed, "She really knows how to aim the temporal trajectory..."

Before we could really comprehend where we were, Galvantula leapt from the wall, clinging to Tyranitar's chest, "Tyranitar! Oh my gosh, I missed you so much!" He made a fake sobbing noise, "My pranks were no fun without you to laugh at them!"

Then, suddenly, another portal appeared right in front of us, and Amber stepped out, "I hope I didn't miss anything too important?"

You know… It hadn't really occurred to me that Amber could travel through time as well, even though she said that she could. Connor was obviously the most shocked, because he stammered, "Uh… A-Amber?"

She smiled, "You don't think I'd let you do that and then just walk off, did you?"

He shrugged his cheeks turning a bright red, "No… I mean, I don't know… Uh…"

She put her hand on his cheek, and chanted, "Annan sinulle kuolemattomuuden. Et pysty iän, olla ikuisesti nuori... niin että voit luonani." Her hand glowed with Temporal Energy; I could feel it from here. It made my skin tingle like somebody was lightly brushing against my arm.

Then, she leaned forward and kissed him. Galvantula whistled, "Well, somebody's been busy!"

Connor smiled, then asked quickly, "I thought you said it was forbidden for-"

She nodded, cutting him off, "It was forbidden for me to be with those that age…"

He shrugged, still stunned, "So… You're throwing your previous vows out the window?"

She shook her head, "No… I transferred a fraction of Dialga's power into you… You are now immune to the passing of time. There is no rule in place against doing that."

He laughed, "Wow… That's great! Um..."

Galvantula shrugged, "You're kidding, right? That's really corny, predictable, and overrated if you ask me… But whatever floats your metaphorical boat."

He hopped over to Connor, "You got yourself a fine-looking human there, C! Not that I'd consider a human attractive by a Pokemon's standards… Heh."

He turned to Amber, "Wassup girl? I'm Galvantula! Most people call me that anyways. G kind of stole my nickname. G. I call Connor Con behind his back, even though I just called him C. Don't tell him I said that."

Amber 's expression became almost... Recognition as she stared at him, "You…?"

Galvantula laughed, "It's all good! You probably seen some other Galvantulas or somethin'!"

She shook off her confusion, "Hello, Galvantula. I'm Amber."

What was that? Does Amber know Galvantula?

Connor cleared his throat, and Galvantula turned, "Oh, hey, Con! We were just talking about you!" He turned his head back to Amber, "He usually tolerates me, in case you didn't notice. Can you do all of the flashy aura stuff like him?"

She shook her head, "Not to the extent that he can, no."

He made a tsk-tsk sound, and said, "Too bad. His fireworks are pretty impressive."

She was visibly stunned, "Fireworks?"

Galvantula nodded, "Oh, yeah, he does huge fireworks shows sometimes. They are so cool!"

Connor cleared his throat, and said, "Galvantula, that is quite enough."

Galvantula said, "Are you sure?"

"Yes."

Galvantula nodded, "Alright, ya big party pooper. Later, amber." He winked with three of his six eyes, and hopped over to us, "Wassup, my main plant pokemon? I missed you all!"

I smiled, "Hey, Galvantula. How you doing?"

Galvantula backed away in mock surprise, "How am I doing? Pretty good now that you're here! Keep it between us, but Connor's a much better leader than Basileus. No offense G, but your dad is so organized and strict, it makes me nauseous just thinking about it! Ugh!"

I laughed at his remark, and Galvantula asked, "So what was the past like? Were there any good-lookin' Galvantula looking for a little bit of me?"

"Not that we saw."

Galvantula shrugged, waving one of his arms, "Not a problem! I'm cool being the only one of myself!"

Celebi smiled as she looked to the crowd of pokemon gathering around us, and said, "It's good to be back…"

Connor shouted, "Alright, Insurgo! I know you are all excited to see our return, but as cruel as it sounds, there is no time to Celebrate! We have to get back as soon as possible!"

The insurgo protested, something along the lines of, "Come on! No party or anything?"

Connor smiled and looked at Amber, "Alright… Maybe for a little bit." He raised his hands, and Galvantula said, "Ooh, can I string the disco ball now?"

Connor laughed, "Why not?"

Galvantula strung a electro ball from the ceiling of the cavern, and Victini put a rainbow flame inside of it using psychic, and it began sparkling brightly, in rainbow colors. Connor snapped his fingers and the moss-lights dimmed down, and music began flowing through the air, seemingly coming from the walls. It was some kind of music spell, so whatever music you wanted to hear, you heard. So nobody would be arguing over what kind of music was playing.

I turned to Celebi, some slow music playing in my ears, and stepped out of my exo-suit. "May I have this dance?"
She extended her hand, nodding, "You may."

We held hands, and she floated at eye level with me as we slowly strode through the cavern, the rainbow light reflecting off of us.

We both smiled as we looked into each others' eyes, and Celebi broke the silence first, "So… Now the true adventure begins…"

I nodded, "Yes… I can't believe that it's finally happening… And Connor's Immortal… Sort of. How weird is that?"

She smiled, "It is quite strange…" She paused, then continued, looking into my eyes, "This is the best time that I have ever had…"

I smiled, "It has been a load of fun… We've been through so much pain… It makes the moments of joy that much sweeter… It's time for the era of light to begin for us."

Celebi nodded, "Yes…" Her gaze shifted to something behind my head, "What's Connor doing?"

Connor stepped onto the platform and clapped once. The music I heard changed to a fast, lively beat, and he began dancing quickly, and used his aura powers to flip in the air in slow motion. He cast a wispy cloud of fog down the side of the platform he had erected, and Ludicolo high-fived him before he landed again. He shouted with a joyous smile, and some balls of light shot from his hands, exploding into a beautiful array of colors…

Galvantula's shouts rose above the rest, "I knew he could do fireworks!"

I dragged Celebi onto the stage after Connor leapt off, "Come on!"

We did a fast-paced spinning dance, I'm not really sure how to describe it, so I won't, but I added a special touch by sprouting a rose from my wrist and handing it to Celebi as we walked off.

We danced some more, and had a load of fun for a long while before the music grew quiet, and Connor shouted to be heard, but he was laughing slightly, "Alright… Alright… I know that this has been fun, but I will tell you right now… We have to head to the past. Grovyle, Celebi and I will travel to the past, so I am afraid that the party needs to be cut short. I am sorry my friends, but even though we need to live as though it is our last moments upon this world, let it be said that we will live on in the memories of others!"

I cheered alongside the insurgo, the cries of the pokemon echoing throughout the cavern as one voice.

Celebi looked into my eyes, and I looked back. We nodded our agreement, and Connor teleported us to his room. When I looked back, Tyranitar and Amber were there as well.

He smiled, "You four… Thank you… For everything."

We all smiled, and his eyes teared up, "I… Am sorry that our journey has to lead down this path… But this is what we were destined to to."

I nodded, and he turned to Amber, "You… Are the most beautiful human I have seen in my life… The last thing I want is to leave you… Especially so soon after this. I know that I cannot age now, but I will still disappear, just like the others…"

She placed her hand on his shoulder, "It is alright… You and your friends have given me enough enjoyment and adventure to last a lifetime. I would not trade our adventures for anything in the world."

She embraced him suddenly, and after she released him, she turned to us, "Grovyle… Celebi… Victini, and Tyranitar, I will remember you for the rest of my days. You are all some of the bravest pokemon I have ever met, and I am honored to have known all of you."

We all teared up, even me, and Amber looked into Connor's eyes before sitting down, "Now go… Do what you must."

He turned to Celebi and I, and said, "Guys… If we do this, there is a good chance that the pokemon of the past will try to stop us. They do not know about Temporal Tower, so if we take the time gears, they will try and stop us if they find out who we are."

I shrugged, "That won't be a problem. I can handle myself. And we've got you. You can take us across the entire mainland in a day."

He laughed, "Good thinking, Grovyle! Well, let's go. No need to prolong this."

Celebi raised her hands, and we were transported to the passage of time. We stood in front of it, and she looked around nervously, "I don't like this… Something doesn't feel right…"

Connor called back, "Then let's hurry up! The sooner we go, the less you have to worry!"

Celebi opened the passage, and Connor grabbed my hand, "Celebi… Grovyle… Should we fail… Or get separated... Try to regroup in Fogbound lake. And if we come back here, head back to the Insurgo Cavern."

She nodded alongside me, "Alright…"

He grabbed her hand, but suddenly, there was a dark cloud above us. I recognized it faintly... It blasted the ground in front of us, and Connor and I were blown into the portal. I saw Celebi slip from his grasp before we hit the passage, and we were enveloped in the blue light of the tunnel leading to the past.

I reached back, and cried out, "CELEBI!"

Connor held on to my hand, "Grovyle! She will be fine! We will succeed… We just need to stay together!"

We were floating weightlessly through the temporal tunnel, when suddenly the light blue glow was replaced with a crimson red luster, and the portal began quivering. I turned around in the air, and I saw the massive cloud that had separated us from Celebi. I tried to speak, but a psychic force covered my mouth. I turned Connor around, and he began glowing with blue energy. The cloud retreated, but then blasted him with purple lightning.

He cried out in pain, "Gah!"

The psychic force was lifted from my mouth, and I grabbed his arm, the wind in the portal picking up, signaling that we were getting close to our destination. "A-are you alright?!"

He shouted back , the wind quickly becoming a maelstrom, "Yeah… Just don't let go!"

I nodded, and held on to his hand even more tightly. He transformed into a swampert and grabbed my arm with his huge hands. The dark cloud launched a shadow ball at me, but Connor enveloped me with his massive body, his back turned towards the cloud, shielding me from the blast. He grunted in pain, and suddenly, he gasped, his eyes flying wide open.

His eyes shifted down slowly to his chest, and my gaze followed… To a shadowy blade that was sticking out of his chest, thrown from the dark cloud. "No… Connor, no…"

The swampert-Connor grunted in pain, "Go… Do not fail… I will meet you at Fogbound Lake…"

I shook my head, still holding on, "No! You have to hold on, we're almost there! I'll heal you!"

He smiled, " I've been through worse… I'll see you on the other side, brother."

The shadow blade that had pierced his chest withdrew, and he pushed me away, floating further and further away...

I extended a vine whip, attempting to bring him back to me, but he vanished in a flash of light before it reached him.

Before I could attempt to shout, the end of the portal coughed me up onto a cold, stone ground. I stood up, and the portal had already vanished. I looked around, but the world was dark, and there were clouds in the sky… It seemed as though nothing had changed.

Did we fail again…?

I shouted as I slammed my fist into the ground, growing a giant tree, and smashing it into the nearest boulder, "Gah! Why?! Why is it so hard to do what's right?!"

I heard a whisper, just loud enough that I could make out what it was saying, but not loud enough for me to make out whose voice it was, "You made it, Grovyle... You made it..."

I did make it... Okay...

I shouted to the sky, "Is Connor alive?!"

There was no reply. I growled as I pulled out my map, and hovered my hand over the location of fogbound lake, knowing that that was where we were supposed to regroup, if we got separated. It showed a familiar plateau surrounded by thick fog, so I figured it'd be easy enough to get to.

"Where am I?"

I found my outline on the map, and I shook my head, "Amp plains…? How did I get sent so far off…?"

I traced a path into the wonder map, and I recalled where the other time gears were. "Treeshroud forest is on the way… Alright, let's get started…"

I looked to the sky in hope, hope that Connor really was alive, and that he was going to meet me at fogbound lake. "Connor… Wherever you are… If you can hear me, if you're alive… We made it."

Alright guys... The last part of Grovyle's story in the future of Darkness. Feel free to review or leave a PM if you enjoyed the story. It has been a good run so far, and I can't wait to see where the story goes next! Thanks a bunch to Kurashi, DeoxysSpeed, and Yamato for your support through this story and the last, and I hope to receive the same kind of support for the next installment!

The Vote is finished; I have the results!

-PL

The Poll results:

Team Firestorm Story: 3

Continuing Grovyle's Story: 2

Redoing Grovyle's Story: 0

I will begin work on Team Firestorm Story immediately! Much Love! (I will be updating my progress on my profile, for those of you that might grow impatient.)