Pokemon (c) Nintendo

I own nothing.

Repeat

"Grovyle? You okay?" He snapped out of his thoughts and looked towards his partner, once a human but now a Treecko, and her friend Pikachu.

"Yeah, don't worry about me," he said, "We're almost there. Just a bit more until we reach Temporal Tower." In truth, though his body was tired from the dungeon excursion, his mind was racing with excited thoughts for completing their mission. Not even the mural depicting the ancients could deter him from the excitement that was saving the world from darkness.

"This place is incredible, though!" Pikachu exclaimed, staring at the murals, "Look at it, Hiyoko! Look at all these fantastic paintings and inscriptions on the walls!" The Treecko nodded, awed by the painting, but not saying a thing. Just as well, words weren't needed for this kind of thing, they both knew that well.

"Like Lapras said, this place is the Old Ruins," Grovyle explained as they moved along, "The Rainbow Stoneship should be here."

"Yup, that's right!" Pikachu chirped, always so perky, "Let's go in there!"

What happened next was something no one could predict. Dusknoir had ambushed them at the Rainbow Stoneship and nearly took them back to the future. They, however, managed to fight back with all their strength and now he was lying alone, defeated, while the Sableye ran back into their portal.

"That was close," Hiyoko said, standing a bit aways from the ghost type. Boy did she hate ghost types. Still, he was always glad when she managed to swallow her fear and fight back.

"Yeah. Pikachu?"

"Huh?"

"Can you put the Relic Fragment into the hollow spot? I want you to check on it while we watch over Dusknoir."

"OK. I'll go do that." The grass type pair watched as he headed up the stairs.

"If the Rainbow Stoneship does activate, we can go to Temporal Tower. I hope it works…"

"Yeah…" The turned their heads to the sound of groaning.

"Don't even think about moving," he hissed.

"Urgghh…Grovyle…Hiyoko…" Dusknoir said, "Is this really…Is this what you really want? If history is changed…We Pokemon of the future will disappear…" Oh Grovyle knew that for a fact and he didn't care. There was a gasp. …Unfortunately that memory loss must've made her forgot all about that. Shoot. "It won't be just me. Both you…Grovyle and Hiyoko alike…Since you come from a future that will cease to exist, you will both disappear too…Is that what you really want?" He couldn't bear the look on his partner's face as he explained that yes, it was true. Yes they were going to disappear, but it didn't matter to the ones that wanted to change the future. There was no way to cushion the blow, but he sighed in relief when the girl accepted her fate.

There was a bright flash and the minute both were distracted Dusknoir launched himself at Hiyoko and landed a hard punch at her. Everything seemed to go in slow motion, from the way she flew, to his screams and him reaching out, to her hitting the stairs with a sickening crack. Both were stunned by how hard the hit was and as Grovyle rushed towards her still body, he could hear someone laughing hysterically.

Repeat.

"Grovyle? You okay?" He gasped and looked around frantically, finding himself back in the hall of murals. What. He glanced down to find that Pikachu was there…and so was Hiyoko. For the first time in his life, he hugged her out of sheer relief that she was alive and not stone cold dead. "G-Grovyle! What's gotten into you?!" No words were needed, just the relief that she was alive.

"S-Sorry," he finally stammered, putting her down, "I just…"m He shook his head. "Never mind. Why are we here? I thought…"

"Um, we're here to find the Rainbow Stoneship and head to Temporal Tower, remember?" the Treecko said.

"Yeah, but-"

"This place is incredible though," Pikachu said, awed.

What?

"Look at it, Hiyoko! Look at all these fantastic paintings and inscriptions on the walls!" He stood in shock as his partner nodded, silent as ever.

"Didn't you already say that?" he asked.

"Say what?" the electric type asked.

"Say what you just said! We were here, and then we got to the Rainbow Stoneship only to be ambushed by Dusknoir-"

"WHAT?!"

"Yes! And then he…" He gulped, not wanting to say. "I-In any case, Pikachu, put down that stone in the indention of the Rainbow Stoneship quickly. Okay?"

"Grovyle, you're scaring me," Pikachu said, shuddering a little, "That is some crazy daydream you had." …Maybe it was a daydream. He didn't know. This time, no words were exchanged and they managed to activate the Rainbow Stoneship. It left, just as Dusknoir and his lackeys came out to ambush them, but to no avail. They were already gone and Grovyle remained silent, contemplating on how his daydream was so…accurate almost. It frightened him, to be honest.

"Hey." He turned to look at his partner. "Don't worry, we'll save the world from being paralyzed," she said with a warm smile.

"You say that, even though you-" He stopped. Wait. Maybe she didn't know about the disappearing thing yet. He should probably not mention it.

"I what?"

"…Never mind."

Temporal Tower wasn't much of a challenge to them, being like any other dungeon out there. They were well prepared, and as they climbed the fragile steps all thoughts of the daydream ceased. They were almost there, just a bit more and they'd be able to save the world from being paralyzed.

Once they'd reach the top, Primal Dialga decided to drop in for a visit. To say Grovyle was scared was an understatement, he was downright terrified of the legendary. Team Shimmer, on the other hand, seemed willing to fight the maddened legendary, not giving up hope when they were so close. Perhaps I should learn from them, he thought to himself as they battled Primal Dialga. He soon found himself knocked into a crumbling pillar, groaning. Shoot, he was tough. They needed some kind of strategy to win against-

"Grovyle, look out!"

He looked up to see falling debris, felt something hard tackle into his body…and looked back to see that Hiyoko had been crushed by the falling debris. All he could remember was her smiling face as he blacked out again, death to triumphant cries and screaming.

Repeat.

When he woke up next, he was in a panic, back in the ruins while Team Shimmer looked on in fear and worry. Not explaining anything, he grabbed them and made a dash for the Rainbow Stoneship, quickly chattering to them commands. Like last time, Dusknoir and his Sableye lackeys came too late and they found themselves climbing the dungeon, the evolved grass type unusually jittery. His fears were confirmed when they found themselves in a Monster House and lost Hiyoko to it, unable to find her fainted- dead?- body.

Repeat.

This time Pikachu refused to put down the Relic Fragment, no matter how much Grovyle screamed and begged. He was worried for him, and for a good reason. What had gotten into him all of a sudden? They found themselves ambushed and, unable to think clearly, Grovyle fainted as Team Shimmer cried out over Dusknoir's laugh.

Repeat.

He was a bit calmer this time around, taking in deep breaths as they made their way to the Rainbow Stoneship. This must be happening for a reason, right? No one goes through time loops- Was he even in one? Arceus, he just didn't know- without a reason. He needed to change something, but what? Maybe Hiyoko's…better not think about it. And he needed to stay awake, at all costs. And they needed to defeat Primal Dialaga and possibly Dusknoir and- Arceus, he just didn't know-

"That's quite enough of that." He mentally berated himself for not warning his teammates of the ambush before they were taken away. Like the first time, they beat the ghost types with ease and now they had to deal with one lone Dusknoir. Unlike last time, he took the blow for Hiyoko, but he couldn't stop her from being dragged away back into the future…

Repeat.

He'll change it, he promises himself. He'll change it for good. No matter how many times he'll go through it, he'll change it and save the planet from being paralyzed. And Hiyoko…Hiyoko would get to live, at least for a bit longer. This time, for sure. This time! Primal Dialga's Roar of Time was too much for her tiny body and she fell, defeated.

Repeat.

"Grovyle? You okay?"

How long had he restarted at this exact spot to save his partner? Years? It just felt so long and he was so tired of it all. But he needed to keep going, for Hiyoko's sake. It wasn't just the planet's paralysis anymore, it was about saving his one true friend from death.

"Yeah, don't worry about me. We're almost there. Just a bit more until we reach Temporal Tower."

A scripted line or two, just follow the script and it'll be alright and then he'll think of some way to keep an eye on his friend.

"You sound tired." Ah, here we go again. She always could sense whenever something was wrong with him.

"I'm fine, don't worry." He listened to the babbling of his partner's partner- heh heh, partner's partner- as they slowly made their way towards the Rainbow Stoneship. He'd long since given up rushing to get to Primal Dialga, letting fate take the course whenever possible. He was so tired…

"That's quite enough of that." Oh, looks like they weren't lucky this time. Just another possible way of losing the Treecko… He remembered all the times he'd managed to freak Dusknoir out with his new…ability. Heh, just remembering the look on his face made him want to laugh. The battle didn't last long, first was confusing the leader, then taking out the Sableyes, then finally the leader himself. Now all that was left was to activate the Rainbow Stoneship and…hopefully things would turn out okay.

"Don't move!" he hissed. He found himself getting more snappish at Dusknoir, since a good deal of his partner's deaths were on his head. Though maybe, just maybe, there was a twinge of pity for him, as from the sound of it before he blacked out, the ghost type had never actually killed before. Humph, still didn't hold a candle to the now immense hatred he held for Primal Dialga and his laughing roars.

Ah, there was his whole spiel about disappearing. Seeing the Treecko's face while he explained yes, they were going to disappear…It always broke his heart, though not as much as the deaths. There was the initial first hit…Ah, he couldn't prevent that, but he could prevent the second!

He ignored Dusknoir's words and thought back to all his failures. All those times she died...He'll never let it happen again. This time, for sure. Sorry, but there's only one kind of end to this story. Everyone was surprised by the roar and the fact he tackled Dusknoir towards the Dimensional Hole. Truthfully, he never tried this before, sacrificing himself to save her. But maybe it was his turn, in actuality. If he could just live a little more in the future, then everything would be alright.

"Wh-What are you doing?!" the ghost type exclaimed.

"Urrggh…Dusknoir! I'm…" It hurt to say it, he was so scared, but hopeful too. "I'm taking you with me…We're going back to the future!"

"Wha…" He turned back to his partner's shocked face.

"Hiyoko! It's up to you now!" he tossed the Time Gears at her feet, ignoring Dusknoir as he gripped him tightly. Oh, it looked like Pikachu came just in time. He was just as surprised as everyone else. Time for my final goodbyes…

"Pikachu! This is it for me! I'm taking Dusknoir…back to the future!"

"Huh?! Wh-What?!" He closed his eyes for a moment.

"I can never come back here again. Watch Hiyoko's back…Promise me!" Yes, perhaps he should entrust it to her friend to protect her. He'd been so blind, only focusing on his partner's safety, that he forgot about Pikachu.

"B-But…!" He opened his eyes and stared at the electric type. "Take your place, Grovyle…? I can't!" No, perhaps not. But he needed to have faith. Have faith…like all those times before.

"You must and you will. Because you can, Pikachu." He closed his eyes again, the energy sapped from him mentally. "You two are…the greatest of combinations." Let him believe that, or perhaps it was the truth.

"Gwoh! Unhand me! Release me!"

"We're almost there. Quiet!" he snapped. One last goodbye… "…Hiyoko!" She stood up at attention, tears shining in her eyes. "Take care, Hiyoko. I was lucky to have known you. Though the parting hurts…the rest is in your hands." Not as much as her deaths, but…this felt like one actually. Well then. He turned to look at the ghost type straight in the eye. "Sorry for the holdup, Dusknoir!"

And with one last shove, Grovyle found himself back into the future. No need to repeat this time, he soon- Was it soon? It seemed like it was compared to all those years- found himself glowing and floating away.

Based on the song Kagerou Daze. Specifically, Touyu's version. Copied some text from the actual game, hope that's okay. : This one was...a little hard. Especially because of no character diversity and some of them seemed...flat. Oh well, hope you enjoy!