Grovyle groans, struggling to get to his feet. He can still feel the blow that injured him, a huge shadowy punch that left rivulets of blood dripping down his chest and stomach. His vision flickers.

"So you shielded him, Grovyle?" A voice announces, sounding distant and faded to Grovyle's ringing ears. "That's taken a heavy toll on you! Very well. You will die first!"

Grovyle forces himself to his knees, ignoring the pain that lances through his body. iI cannot give up!/i He gives a shout of exertion and pain as he leaps to his feet, then smashes into the pokemon in front of him. Gorvyle digs his claws into the other pokemon's shoulders and shoves him backward, using the last of his strength. Behind his opponent, Grovyle can see the glittering rings that mark a portal.

"Wh-what are you doing?" The pokemon demands, struggling against Grovyle's grip.

"Urrggh…Dusknoir!" Grovyle shouts, pushing with all his might towards the portal. "I'm… I'm taking you with me… We're going back to the future!"

"Wha…" Dusknoir's resistance loosens slightly from shock, and Grovyle shoves even harder, digging his hind legs into the earth. He looks back over his shoulder, the world dimmed from his proximity to the portal. He can only see the darkened silhouette of the pokemon behind them, watching helplessly.

"It's up to you now, Riolu!" Grovyle calls hoarsely to the figure, slashing his claws through the strap on his bag. The fabric falls backward off of him, its contents clattering away onto the stone. Grovyle has to squint as the soft glow of the five Time Gears adds itself to the portal's harsh luminance.

"Gah! Those are…" Dusknoir's eye is fixed on the powerful objects scattered on the ground.

There are faint voices behind, and Grovyle risks another glance backward to find yet another pokemon come onto the scene. Another that Grovyle had known, though not as well as the first.

"This is it for me," He shouts to the both of them. "I'm taking Dusknoir back to the future!"

"Huh? Wh-what?" The pokemon yelps.

Grovyle grits his teeth against the pain as Dusknoir struggles. "I can never come back here again. "Watch each Riolu's back, Shinx… promise me!"

"B-But… Take your place, Grovyle? I can't!""

"You can and you will. You two are… the greatest of combinations." Grovyle says, lowering his head. His heart wrenches for the two of them, especially for Riolu. Their many adventures together flash before his eyes, but now they seem so long ago… Riolu was not even his name, back then, when he was human. He is a different person now, and yet the same friend that Grovyle had always known.

Dusknoir bellows, struggling even harder. "Unhand me! Release me!"

They are almost at the portal now. Grovyle can feel his hands and feet tingling as they near the doorway. He risks one last glance backwards, as if he could preserve the image in his mind forever. Sunlight, ruins, and friends.

"…Take care, Riolu," He calls out, unable to think of anything else to say. "I was lucky to have known you. Though the parting hurts… the rest is in your hands!"

With that, Grovyle gives one last desperate push forward. His feet leave the ground suddenly, but do not touch back down as they plunge into the portal. The tingling spreads throughout Grovyle's entire body, paralyzing him. His claws involuntarily clench, securing him to Dusknoir as the two enemies are spun through space. All light and sound disappear.

Then, suddenly, they re-emerge back into the world with a jolt. Grovyle feels his body go limp and he tumbles along the ground, feeling rocks and twigs scrape his skin. It takes him a moment to recover.

When he does, he is greeted by the same sight that awaited him every other day of his life-a dark, sunless sky outlined by the floating shapes of rocks. A dead and shadowed world. Grovyle forces himself into a sitting position, hissing in pain as he realizes that Dusknoir's punch broke several of his ribs.

Dusknoir himself is not far off, getting to his feet. He turns to Grovyle, fists clenched. He looks furious. Grovyle lets out a deep breath, ignoring the pain of it.

"You fool!" Dusknoir cries, looming closer. "Don't you see what you've done?"

Grovyle looks him in the eye, but says nothing.

Dusknoir reels back, clawing at his head in angst. "Aah! You've ruined everything! When those children fail, Master Dialga will rip the flesh from your bones!"

"They will not fail," Grovyle says, then coughs. He can taste his own coppery blood.

"If you're right than we will all die!" Dusknoir shouts. "Don't you see, you've condemned everyone here to death! An entire world will disappear because of you!"

"Are you afraid of sacrificing yourself for a better future, Dusknoir?" Grovyle asks weakly. "You hide behind excuses. This is what we must do."

"You do not have the right to decide that!" Dusknoir bellows, leaping forward so that his face is inches from Grovyle's. "You have no right to decide my fate!"

"Dusknoir… look around you." Grovyle gestures to the empty, dark landscape. "Is this truly how you want to spend your life? This is not a world. This is a hell."

"Grovyle!" Dusknoir cries, his voice deeply laced with hatred. He surges forward, aiming a punch at Grovyle's neck. The grass pokemon closes his eyes and simply waits for it to come.

All he feels is a light brush of air. He opens his eyes to slits, then wide open as he sees what is happening.

The punch Dusknoir had thrown did connect with Grovyle's throat. The only reason that Grovyle is not lying on the ground, gasping for breath, is that neither his throat nor Dusknoir's fist are substantial enough to cause that impact.

Dusknoir's body is glimmering with golden light, like bubbles shining over water at sunset. Grovyle is captivated for a moment, then looks down at his own hands and sees that the same thing is happening to him. He feels a warm tingling sensation, but that is it. There is no pain.

Dusknoir's eye widens as he realizes what has happened. "No! Nooo!" He wails, swiping at the bubbles as if he can somehow make them go away. Grovyle smiles.

"They did it. Riolu did it."

"No! This cannot happen!" Duknoir strikes out at Grovyle, but again his fist simply slides right through without doing any damage. "Master Dialga! Save me!"

"There is nothing that Primal Dialga can do," Grovyle murmurs, looking around. The black landscape everywhere is being enveloped by the golden bubbles, as if some great precious river had flooded the entire land. Grovyle had expected to feel fear when his world was eaten away, but instead he only felt at peace.

The light is even brighter now, and Grovyle closes his eyes against it. He can hear Dusknoir's screams for a moment longer before they fade away, replaced by a pleasant calm. Grovyle can feel himself fading away, losing his substance. Just before he is about to disappear completely he opens his eyes, wishing for his last sight to be something other than shadow.

He is rewarded as he catches a glimpse of something behind the bubbles. Blue sky. No, it is only partly blue, the rest is red and orange and purple. A sunset. And below the sunset there is water, vast and calm. For that split second, Grovyle can almost imagine that the golden bubbles fading away from everything are blown by Krabbys, drifting on the sea breeze, and he is standing on the beach watching them dance.

It is beautiful. And it was worth it.