#i personally like the idea that Legend!Grovyle hops from different ruined timelines

[oblonger]

@sincerely-sofie

I wanted to write something that somehow involved the mortal mentioned in this post for a while. I personally prefer writing wholesome and angsty feels over action, so I feel like this needs a second draft. But I don't feel passionate enough about this specific one-shot to do so. Anyway, here you go!

Darkrai had won

Darkrai had obtained everything he'd ever wanted. Everyone in this world and beyond were recieving what they deserved...

Yet he was still unsatisfied.

Darkrai told Dialga, a pitiful legend at his beck and call, to allow time to flow through him, and only him.

Darkrai felt his heart began beating again. Breath entered his lungs. He could now move once more. He rose from his throne and traveled down the corridor. He could simply visit her nightmares whenever he wanted, but the sight of her true body filled him with glee.

The silence was wonderful, Darkrai looked through the massive window he had dug into this cave wall. Taking in the breathtaking scenery of a pitch black night sky. The few pokemon in view, locked in place mid fight. No doubt suffering the way he wanted them to.

Darkrai entered the dungeon he had been making his way towards. Chained to the wall, and asleep in a breathless nightmare, was Cresselia.

Well, not quite Cresselia. To be precise, it was the Audino that he brought with him when he struck her down. He never bothered to remember the Audino's name. He simply called her Cresselia as a symbol of regret, for ending the true Cresselia's life in a fit of shortsightedness.

Darkrai smiled as he entered into Cresselia's nightmare.

"Good evening Cresselia." Darkrai announced upon entering her dream, turning it from whatever endless torture he had put her in last time, into a completely featureless void. He was the only thing besides her in here.

The Audino uncurled from the fetal position and groveled at his feet. Muttering apologies and begging him not to hurt her.

Pointless.

"I'm hurt Cresselia. I put in so much effort into making the perfect nightmare for you... and THIS is the gratitude I recieve?"

Darkrai snapped his fingers and an explosion went off from directly beneath her. Launching her a fair distance from him, landing on her back. She continued to spout apologies as she looked at him with sorrow, agony and terror.

What a wonderful look for her.

"Apology accepted. Cresselia." Darkrai taunted.

The Audino flopped onto her belly, facing away from him. quietly bawling her eyes out.

"I have done quite a lot of pondering as of late Cresselia. And I wanted to get your input." She continued to cry. Hoping her lack of response would get him to leave her alone.

She knew it wouldn't, he knew that she knew that. But seeing her utterly pathetic attempts at resisting filled Darkrai with joy.

"Tell me Cresselia." Darkrai wickedly grinned. "Do you have a fear of blood?"

The Audino flinched. She turned her head back to face him.

Darkrai's smile widened. "I suppose that is a yes then, hmm?"

Darkrai used his powers over this realm to make his claws as jagged as rotting, rusted metal, and serrated as a Sharpedo's teeth. Cresselia fell from her side onto her back, and tried to crawl away while facing him. Once more asking for forgiveness and for him to not hurt her, or some other nonsense.

Darkrai used his powers to drag Cresselia closer to him. He didn't need to approach her when watching her efforts to escape in vain was so much more entertaining.

Once she was within range, she stopped crawling. Holding her arms up to her face to try and shield it.

"Oh come now Cresselia." Darkrai said in a mockingly upbeat tone. "You don't believe I shall go through all of this effort, and not let you see the fruits of my labor?" Darkrai rose a hand, and her along with it. Perfectly exposing her stomach to him, with her head locked into position to force her to watch. Her eyes being prevented from shutting.

She was crying hysterically as he raised his arm to give her comeuppance.

He began his first slash when he suddenly stopped, right before his claw reached her.

Something felt... off.

It felt like Darkrai's skin was prickling across his body. Was she trying to fight back with her powers? No. She stopped trying to use her abilities decades ago.

Darkrai was staring off into the distance. Trying to figure out why this prickling feeling was so familiar to him.

The feeling got worse, and suddenly he felt the presence of another legend near his body.

Impossible, he killed or sealed all of the problematic ones away...

Then, Darkrai remembered where he felt this feeling before. It was Celebi. But how? How did she escape her imprisonment!?

Darkrai left Cresselia's dream, not even bothering to begin a new nightmare.

His eyes shot open and he briskly turned around, just quick enough to register that there was a Focus Punch mere inches from his face.

He didn't have time to react.

The attack connected. Launching him into the wall above Cresselia. Intense waves of pain echoing through his body multiple times. The wind being knocked out of him. Darkrai fell to the ground, gasping for air. Had he been a bit weaker it would have KO'd him instantly. It had been several decades since he'd last felt pain, that his tolerance for it was at its minimum

He looked up, expecting to see Celebi with some mortal. A foolish ploy to try and usurp him.

It wasn't Celebi.

Nor was it a random mortal.

It was Grovyle.

But... it couldn't be.

He knows it cant be him because he killed Grovyle personally.

The passage of time closed behind him, the lack of blinding light allowing Darkrai to better see his assailant.

It was Grovyle. But he was different. The leaf atop his head was incredibly long, dragging across the floor. The seeds that Sceptiles have on their backs were on his. His skin slowly shifted between lighter and darker shades of green.

But what made Darkrai realize who this was, was seeing the two antenna atop his head.

The antennae of a Celebi.

Darkrai quickly stood himself up and launched forward a volley of Dark Void. He wasn't taking any chances.

Grovyle didn't even move as his fist began glowing again, charging another Focus Punch. The Dark Void opened beneath him and pulsed waves of energy into him. Grovyle stumbled forward a bit before opening his mouth and biting down on something kept within.

Darkrai recognized the distinct crunch that it made.

A Chesto berry.

Before Darkrai could hide in the shadows, Grovyle bolted forward, eyes burning with a rage that far surpassed his own, and punched Darkrai hard in the side of his stomach launching him across the room and into the side wall. Darkrai coughed blood onto the floor. He could feel his consciousness slipping.

He wasn't going to lose this fight. HE DESERVES TO HAVE THIS!

Darkrai sunk into the shadows. The darkness of the room allowing him to reappear wherever he desires.

Darkrai waited for his chance. He kept himself in the shadows, searching for an opening.

Grovyle's expression didn't change, but his posture straightened. His shoulders became slack.

Darkrai knew what he was trying to do. He couldn't be hasty. As much as he wanted to gore him right now.

Grovyle stepped towards Cresselia and with a quick slash of his leaves, broke the chains that were more symbolic than functional.

Despite that, Darkrai's wrath surged. How DARE he try and save her!

And what a fool he was! Because now that he's distracted, he can strike!

Darkrai shot out from one of the walls behind him, preparing a shadow claw. Although his pain tolerance was low, he was nothing if not more powerful, one clean strike and this fool will be KO'd, allowing him to seal him away! All of his efforts in vain! He will be trapped forever! Just like this world's Celebi!! He'd won!!! HE HAD-

Darkrai felt true fear for the first time ever, when Grovyle locked eyes with him, as he moved his head very slightly to dodge the attack. Darkrai's claw missing his unblinking eyes by a hair's breadth.

Darkrai's last waking moments were of watching Grovyle unleash an X-scissor on him.

Darkrai awoke upon his throne. Everything hurt. Grovyle was crouched some distance away, rummaging through his satchel.

Not only had he bested him in combat, but he had also taken him out of the prison, and put him on his throne... LIKE SOME SORT OF TOY!!!

Darkrai launched forward, claws ready to splay this interloper's insides across the room.

Grovyle stood up straight, closing his satchel with no urgency whatsoever. And then he ducked under Darkrai's assault. His arm shot forward and grabbed Darkrai's forehead.

In an instant, Darkrai's entire body filled with an unimaginable pain. Darkrai fell upon his back and howled in torment. It felt like every fiber of his being was being burned, frozen, electrocuted and stabbed all at once.

He could see Grovyle staring at him with an intense anger... and what seemed to be pity.

The pain was too intense. It was bad enough that he hadn't felt pain in so long that he could only barely handle his body aching from the previous fight.

Once again, Darkrai passed out.

Darkrai awoke once more in the same spot he'd been in. The pain throughout his body having been dulled, except for his head, where it felt like it had been split in half.

Darkrai tried to lift an arm, but something was holding him down. Even his eyes felt sluggish. He looked around to see grovyle standing some distance off with his back towards him. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see a different pokemon, frozen in place. Too far for him to make out.

Grovyle moved his arm to drop a used, grey TM onto the ground. Making sure it was clearly visible to Darkrai.

"You know. My plan was to curse you with everlasting pain, and then seal you away." Grovyle suddenly broke the silence. His voice dripping with hatred. "So that way, you would suffer for the rest of eternity..."

"... But I realized something." Grovyle turned to look at him. His eyes burning with a fury unmatched. "I'm too nice for that."

Grovyle slowly began taking steps towards him. "At some point, I would feel guilty for doing that to you. No matter how much you deserve it." Darkrai wanted to attack him, but only his eyes were capable of movement.

It dawned on him what Grovyle had done, once he realized that his heart only beat twice since he'd woke up.

Darkrai tried to reach out to Dialga, demanding that he needn't any precision, that he could let time flow freely as long as Darkrai can move again.

... But there was no response.

"At that point, I would just come back and finish the job."

Grovyle crouched down on one knee and lowered his head to look at Darkrai.

"Death is far too merciful for you... But I'm a merciful guy."

Grovyle lifted a hand. a crackling orb of yellow-white energy formed just above it.

Hyper Beam.

Grovyle moved his hand and held the orb just above Darkrai's head. Right over where he had cursed him.

Darkrai's eyes stared straight into Grovyle, he used his psychic powers to speak with him.

"I hope everyone you ever love perishes."

Grovyle gave a disgusted chuckle.

"Too late."

Faster than an instant, Darkrai was dead.

#spoilers for the story in tags. #i personally like the idea that Legend!Grovyle hops from different ruined timelines #to try and fix them #after all. Dialga in his timeline can handle the time management. And Twig Kip Celebi and Dusknoir are long since dead #there is nothing left for him in his original timeline. #(thats what he was referring to in his last dialogue) #fanfic of a fanfic #text post #the present is a gift au #pmd eos #Mortality Exchange Au (kinda) #Darkest Timeline AU