Reunion (A PMD: Gates to Infinity fic)

Awakening and Recollections

Ugh... where am I...? It's so bright... Who... who is that...?
"I'm glad you're awake, Liz." A voice said. Eliza turned to see who had spoken. Her dark mahogany eyes widened.
"What- Mew?!"
"The one and only. Before you ask... you were drawn here by the combined powers of me and several other Legendary and Mythical Pokémon. Virizion, Reshiram, Zekrom, Victini, Cobalion, Terrakion, Keldeo... but the most important ones... Post Town's carpenter and the local Oshawott."
"Gurdurr... Oscar..." Liz's eyes widened. What had happened to them? How much did her absence hurt them? More importantly, how much had they cried? How many tears were shed because she had to leave? She couldn't stand it and Growled, clenching her teeth. She lashed out at Mew with a powerful Vine Whip, sending the Origin Pokémon flying.
"Send me back to them," the Grass Snake said angrily.
Mew was unfazed by the Vine Whip, despite it being a tier five move from how much Liz loved to use it.
"...I want to thank you for everything you've done for us all. And as such... what do you want your color palette to be?"
"...magenta-violet. Sky blue eyes that turn red when I'm mad. Underbelly is orchid-lavender."
She felt energy tear through her body as Mew's powers colored her body. She shook herself off, then examined herself. Mew offered Light Screen, which was reflective.
"Nice. I'm gonna stride in like I own the place. Dad's gonna be so glad to see me, the big softie will probably bawl his eyes out." She smirked and scoffed.
"...dad?" Mew asked curiously, cocking his head.
"Gurdurr. I thought of him as my dad for a long time. He's a sweet guy. I can't help but love him. He's helpful, he's as strict as the time calls for, and he's adorably sensitive, despite being an evolved Pokémon. I can't wait to see the look on his face when I use a tier five Tackle to knock him on his ass... I can swear now?! Awesome!"
"Yes, it took some arguing with Arceus, but Pokémon can now swear. We inserted the words into their minds and advised them to use them sparingly so that they don't offend anyone." Mew said, slightly exasperated.
"Ooooh, I'm gonna swear like a marine. Marines are humans trained to fight on foot with various man-made weapons." Liz explained.
Mew looked intrigued.
"Maybe I should descend so you can teach me... and maybe they can teach me bout their world... and the power the bonds of friendship, love, and trust can give..."
"Yeah, you should. Virizion was a cold bitch back in the day. Then me and Oscar happened. Gurdurr was a self loathing old bastard before then. Then we happened, again. The big guy cried himself to sleep. Even though he scammed us..." She recalled a memory in perfect detail, spilling it to Mew as it occurred.

"...what... you two backstabbers!"
"Boss! We don't want to do this anymore! Please!" The younger Timburr begged.
"It's not... so... SIMPLE."
He crushed them beneath his I-beam in a fit of rage, then stormed off to the top of the Hazy Pass. Eliza and Oscar followed him, making their way through the Mystery Dungeon to the peak. On the way, though...
"Oscar, I smell something evil... oh, yeah, that's the smell of a FREAKING GOTHITA!" She slammed the Gothita with Vine Whip, knocking it against a wall of the fine tunnel. Liz then was hit with Confuse ray. She fumbled on her feet for a few minutes while Oscar finished off the Gothita with Water Gun. He shook her when he was done.
"Liz! Snap out of it!"
"Wha- huh?! Heckin Gothitas and their Confuse Rays! Drives me insane!" Liz almost Growled,
"It's really irritating sometimes, I know, Liz. We gotta go find Gurdurr so he can build our house." Oscar looked determined as he spoke.
"We'll probably have to knock some sense into him, though." Liz said irritably.
"...you're right... are you sure your Vine Whip is strong enough?" Oscar said, worried.
"Buddy, it's tier two, of course it is." Liz scoffed.
They made their way through the Hazy Pass with little obstruction after that. Luckily for them, they mostly encountered Tympoles, Gothitas, Sewaddles, and the occasional odd Roggenrola or Joltik. The two came out to the top of the Hazy Pass to find Gurdurr. He held his hand against the moon, then clenched it.
"...so it's still... no use... isn't it...?"
"Gurdurr!" Oscar cried.
"...so you're still mad at me, eh? I may not be strong enough to build anything... but I can still fight!"
"What- that's not-!" Oscar tried to speak, but was cut off by Gurdurr.
"Well, come at me! I'll show you what real rage is like!"
Gurdurr prepared himself to fight. Eliza knew she'd have to beat some sense into him. She threw Vine Whips at him, which was strong enough to stagger the evolved Pokémon. He steadied himself, sweating slightly. He cast an intimidating Leer at Eliza, lowering her Attack. Conflicted now at how to handle the situation, Eliza thought deeply.
I have to save him... but to save him, I'll have to literally beat some sense into him... I don't want to hurt him more if he's already suffering... No. I can't give a millimeter. I can't give him any room. I'm gonna show him what I'm made of... it's time to kick his butt. He's not the strongest. He needs help sometimes, too.
Eliza breathed deeply, adjusting her posture into a little bit of a crouch. Gurdurr looked confused... until Eliza smirked. Even though Tackle was ineffective against a Fighting type such as her opponent, it was on its way to tier three from how much Liz loved to use it. Her Tackle was nothing to scoff at, especially since she had landed three critical hits on her way through the pass. Gurdurr staggered backwards, almost falling as Eliza's tackle hit him like Dragon Rage from a Salamence. The evolved Pokémon held himself up on his I-Beam... but then his eyes glowed orange for a brief moment.
"You neglected to notice I've been fighting through Poison on the way here."
Eliza remembered the Poison Spore from the Foongus that littered the Hazy Pass's Mystery Dungeon. This meant he would take fewer hits to defeat, but he would also hit just as hard, if not harder, than Eliza and Oscar. The Snivy recoiled, then Growled as viciously as she could. Gurdurr paid her back with a fierce Leer... but he recoiled when he made eye contact with her. She was mad... but she was also concerned. She wanted him to come to his senses... but she also would make him faint if she had to. Gurdurr paused at the look in her eyes, allowing Oscar to press Assurance onto him. Despite it being ineffective, Gurdurr fell, drastically weakened.
"...so..." He huffed with exhaustion. "...are you satisfied yet? There's no point. No matter how much you rage against it, there's no use."
Oscar, however, objected. "You're a carpenter, right? We want you to build our house, Gurdurr. No one else."
Gurdurr burst into laughter. "You have to be kidding me! ...right? Because there's no way I can do it. " He managed to get up and turned around. Eliza knew he had a bad scar - the Timburr had told her and Oscar - but she didn't know it was THIS bad. Her eyes widened in shock. Whatever caused that injury had to have hurt. She smiled, impressed and proud that he was still standing.
"Ever since I got this injury, I can't move the way I need to in order to build. If I can build anything, it's only junk..."
"BOSS!" The Timburr finally came back.
"They already knew about your injury!" The older Timburr cried out, tears in his eyes.
"But they still... Oscar and Liz still want you to build their house, boss... so please... don't make us do this anymore... I don't wanna be bad anymore... and we can't stand to see you being bad... we never wanted this... we want to go back to good days... when we were full of honest work... we worked hard, enjoyed ourselves, and satisfied everyone we could-"
"IF I FIND THE SON OF A FREAKING SCRAFTY HOODLUM, I'LL BEAT HIM SO HARD HE'LL REGRET EVER THINKING ABOUT BEING SO MEAN!" Liz roared. "NO SELF RESPECTING POKÉMON WOULD DO THAT TO SOMEONE ELSE! THAT'S JUST EVIL! THE JERK THAT BROKE DOWN THE HOUSE HE HAD YOU BUILD! I'LL THRASH HIM AROUND WITH MY VINES!"
Gurdurr was touched at how protective she was being.
"Boss, can we please go back to the better days...? When we were happy...? When YOU were happy, boss... when we just put our hearts into our work... when we all-"
"I get it..." His jaw was trembling.
Oscar let out a last hurrah.
"WE WANT YOU TO BUILD THE HOUSE, GURDURR!"
"I don't want a house, I want a home. A home is built with a heart. Built with a goal in mind: to make someone happier. That's why we want you to build it." Liz said sternly.
Gurdurr's great chest visibly caught on one of his breaths.
Eliza's aggression kicked in.
"I DON'T CARE IF YOU'VE BEEN A JERK! YOU'RE A GOOD POKÉMON BENEATH THAT! THESE TIMBURR WOULD FOLLOW YOU TO THE END OF THE WORLD! YOU BETTER RESPECT THAT! You have a duty to protect and help your apprentices. They have a duty to listen to you and follow your lead. They're not going anywhere. You're not freaking alone."
Gurdurr finally broke.
"...I'll do it... I'll build the house... no... WE will build the house..."
"Boss! Thank you so much!" The younger Timburr exclaimed, smiling through his tears.
Oscar beamed. "You will?!"
Gurdurr managed to reply: "...yeah... but... I think I just need to cry for a bit now..."
He dropped his I-beam and fell onto his hands and knees. The Timburr went to support him in case his back gave out. Eliza and Oscar knew they couldn't leave him here. The two walked over to him to try and comfort the evolved Pokémon, doing their best to help him. The scar on his back wasn't his only scar. He had a broken heart and no self esteem anymore. Liz hated that others could be so cruel. She vowed to protect him whenever he couldn't protect himself. When Gurdurr fell onto his side in a pool of tears, Liz moved to look straight at him. He opened his eyes weakly and looked surprised to see her looking at him. She had a soft smile and a hopeful expression. Gurdurr knew he had to protect that naivety, because others might exploit it. He let himself smile weakly. Eliza handed him a Pecha Berry for his Poisoning.
"...thanks." He bit into it, sighing with relief as the properties of the Berry cleansed the Poison in his system.
"Feels a lot better now, doesn't it?" Liz asked, smiling.
Gurdurr only smiled in return as a few more tears slid down his face.
"Hey, big guy. You'll be okay. The house doesn't have to be the greatest. You can work hard to build back to where you were. Your carpentry skills aren't dead, you just had a setback."
Gurdurr glanced at the moon and the stars, rolling onto his back for a few moments, before rolling back onto his side. He flashed a grateful glance to Eliza, then an approving nod to Oscar. Gurdurr then drifted off to sleep, his soft snoring giving Oscar and Liz reason to chuckle.
"He's a big softie. I'm gonna protect him with my life." Liz declared.
Oscar grinned. "I think so, too. He's gonna be a great friend... he just needed someone to want to be his friend."
Gurdurr woke the next morning with Liz, Oscar, and the Timburr wrapped around him, still resting peacefully. It seemed as if they wanted to protect him... he huffed and smiled gently. Internally, he vowed he would protect them the same way they wanted to protect him. They were too valuable to him. Before the four resting Pokémon woke, Quagsire showed up.
"What happened here?"
"...I'll explain later. Let them rest now... I put them through a lot."
"You did what?!"
"I said, I'll explain later... Quagsire, I'm a mess. Give me a break."
"...prove you're a mess if you say you are. I'm not going to listen to sob stories."
"...then I'll keep my history to myself. All that's relevant... is that I cried myself to sleep last night. They didn't leave me... and I'm not going to put them through anything else."
"You better not. I'll want you to explain later." Quagsire said coldly.

"YOU DID WHAT?!" Quagsire yelled, angered.
"Whatever you want to do, I'll take it." Gurdurr set his I-beam down and lowered his head in submission. Before Quagsire could begin to punish Gurdurr...
He was struck with tier three Vine Whip.
"DON'T YOU DARE PUT YOUR MOVES ON HIM!"
Quagsire stopped, surprised.
"...you should be mad at him... not me..."
"...the whole story in a nutshell. He built something awesome for someone and that someone stomped on everything he could, Gurdurr's pride, Gurdurr's self esteem, and the house he had built. When he got his scar, he lost all of his faith in himself completely. So you can't blame him. This is what he knew."
Gurdurr raised his head, eyes sparkling. He was already tearing up again. Biting back tears, he spoke shakily: "I'll build the best house I can... just you wait... I'll make it up to you... just give me some time to pick myself up..."
Quagsire stepped back as the other Pokémon in the inn stared at the scene. Liz, looking like she wanted to commit a murder. Gurdurr, looking like he could break into sobs at any moment. Oscar, looking just as protective of Gurdurr as Liz.
Quagsire sighed.
"...alright... it's one against mmm... far too many. I don't... mmm... have the guts to go against that."
"Good," Liz Growled.
Gurdurr picked up his I-beam.
"As soon as I'm stable again, I'll build you the house free of charge. You've done me a favor, squirts... and I wanted to thank you."
"Of course, big guy!" Liz said happily. She jumped up onto his free shoulder and nuzzled his face, smiling wide. Gurdurr threw his head back in laughter.
"L-Liz-! Enough with that-!"
"What, is big, tough old Gurdurr ticklish?~"
"N-no-" he was cut off by his own laughter as Liz got all over his neck, cheeks, and chin, making sure to get everywhere she could with her vines. Gurdurr's loud, deep laughter brought smiles to everyone at the inn.
The Timburr stopped Liz by knocking their boss over with hugs. He smiled warmly, setting his I-beam down so he could pet them.
The expression on his face spoke for him.

"That's amazing," Mew remarked.
"Yeah, we did him a favor alright. I love the guy too much. I really want to head back to see him... like... ASAP. I have an idea on how to make an entrance."
Mew cocked his head.
"Oh? How so?"
"I'm gonna show up like I'd always do... but with a twist." Liz smirked.
"Then show me when you walk in." Mew said. A hole opened near Liz.
"...I'm ready."
She jumped through it after waving Mew farewell.
She was back, alright. Time to make an entrance.