PKMMD EoS Draft 1

Ch 16: Pt 6

Aura sat up and immediately frowned...

Fearik and Cyndriss slept to her right, snoring peacefully...

And to her left?

The empty space where Grovyle's bed used to be...

Aura sighed as she stood, "Did I wake you?" Aura turned on a dime to see Grovyle sitting by the door, bag on the floor beside him as he sorted through the various items available, Aura shook her head.

'No... But, what are you doing here? I thought you left?' Grovyle shrugged, "I was about to leave, dawns not for another good while so I still have plenty of time..."

Aura nodded slowly as she watched her old companion finish packing, Grovyle stood calmly, looking to the two still sleeping Pokemon before turning to Aura, "Follow me... I want to talk to you before I leave."

Aura nodded as she followed after the grass type, Grovyle hoisted up the hidden hatch, waiting for Aura to exit before sliding it closed. Aura watched as her companion hopped up onto the cross bar of the flag pole with silent ease.

He offered a hand, silently asking her to join him. Aura took a seat beside him, the two sat in silence for a while, simply basking in the light of the moon, watching the stars...

Grovyle sighed, "I want to tell your beginning before I leave..." Aura's cocked her ears at that, 'My beginning?' She asked slowly, Grovyle smiled wryly, "Yea... In the future, we were close... Close enough to talk about our past... You told me everything about you, and I told you everything about me..."

Aura smiled, 'I'd... I think I'd like to know... About my beginning...' Grovyle nodded, "Alright... But just remember, this is what you told me." Aura nodded slowly as she waited for her companion to begin.

"You were born along the foothills of the Eastern mountain range." Grovyle began, "You and your family were closely tied to the emanation and aura Pokemon, Riolu and Lucario..." Grovyle grinned amusingly as he gently poked Aura's cheek.

"That's why I said fate played her hand well when she turned you into a Pokemon..." Aura smiled lightly, "Anyways... You had another partner, long before you and I met. He was a Riolu and you two essentially grew up together. His name was Tess."

'Tess...' Aura murmured slowly, Grovyle nodded, "Yea, he had a longer name, but you always said his name was-" 'Tessirak...' Aura breathed slowly. Gold eyes shot open as Grovyle turned to his companion.

"You... You remember?" Aura paused before slowly nodding, 'I... Remember a feeling... I... I lost him... Didn't I?' Grovyle nodded sadly, "From what you told me... There was another Riolu there, he didn't want anything to do with your family... But he desperately wanted to evolve..."

Grovyle smiled sadly, "Apparently, the friendship bond necessary for a Riolu to evolve into a Lucario can take decades to properly forge... You and Tess... You built your bond shy of seven summers..."

Aura looked to the stars, 'We were close then?' She asked quietly, Grovyle nodded, "Yea..." Aura looked down, 'How... Did I lose him?' Grovyle sighed, "The one Riolu... His name was Apollo... He sold out your entire family to Dialga... It was a massacre..."

Aura frowned, 'Did Tess?' Grovyle shook his head, "No... You and Tess made it out alive, you kept on the move and survived for another month or so... Then... Apollo found you..."

Aura's ears fell, "I'm not sure exactly what happened... But from what you told me, Tess told you to run... He sacrificed himself for you... And you spent the next decade or so wandering aimlessly around the foothills..."

Grovyle leaned back to look to the sky, "I'm not sure what you were doing... But around that time, I was crossing the same foothills, and I happened to see you... You were headed into the Southern Bog as we called it. I wasn't sure why, all I knew was that one Bog was considered forbidden land."

Aura looked to her companion, 'Forbidden land?' Grovyle huffed, "Long before we met, I had already had the wild idea of changing history. So Celebi decided that if I ever found out where the Time Gears were in the past, she'd make sure I got there." Grovyle grinned.

"Fortunately for me. Dialga had enforced a heavy restriction on a few very specific land regions. I decided to start my search there, and lone behold, you show up." Aura smiled sheepishly as Grovyle continued.

"I decided to follow you, at first I just wanted to watch, see what you would do. I had never seen a human before... But then I noticed that we were heading in the same direction, further and further into the Southern Bob." Grovyle shrugged.

"I had no idea what you were doing... So, I just kept on your tail... After a while and a few spots of trouble, you ducked into this cave. I had no idea how you found it, let alone how you were able to find your way through it... But you did..."

Aura smiled, 'Was I aura sensitive then too?' Grovyle nodded, "Yea, I learned that later though... Eventually, we met up in the cave. You panicked and attacked me before fleeing." The grass type shrugged, "Of course I found you again, but this time a made sure to keep my distance."

Aura smiled lightly, "It wasn't until I saved you I Treeshroud Forest did we actually meet... And after that? That was the beginning of us..." Aura turned to the stars, smiling sadly as she whispered a quiet.

'We were close...'

Grovyle gently placed his hand over Aura's.

"The closest..."

Aura smiled before pausing to look to her hand as Grovyle pressed something into her palm. Aura looked to the small leather loop, black in color... Familiar...

Aura looked to Grovyle curiously, "It belonged to Tess... Or, you made it for Tess when you were younger and then gave it to him..." Grovyle looked away, "Before he died... He gave it back to you... And then, a while after we met, you gave it to me..."

Aura looked to her friend, 'And now you're giving...' Grovyle nodded, "Now, I'm giving it back to you..."

Tears welled in her eyes before slipping from their perch and rolling down her cheeks. Grovyle closed her hand around the small band. "I have to go now... So hold onto it until we meet again, alright?"

Aura smiled as she moved to slip it over her wrist, Grovyle shook his head, "Here. This was how you told me Tess wore it." He hummed as he gently took hold of the looplet, he turned Aura's head away as he slipped it over her right sensory lobe.

It sat there, nearly invisible against the thin black fur...

But it fit snuggly...

Aura smiled as she took her friends hand.

'Promise me you'll be safe?'

Grovyle nodded.

"I swear... I'll be safe."

Aura tugged her grass type friend in for one last hug before Grovyle hopped down from the flag post. Gold eyes looked to amethyst before turning away.

Aura stared at the last place she had seen Grovyle until the sun was well into the sky...