Hiya folks! BabyCharmander here. It's been a while, hasn't it? This is a fic I started writing… a long time ago, and actually finished about a year ago. Never got around to posting it until now, but here it is!

I don't know who will be reading this fanfic without playing the game, but just in case… Spoilers for the special episodes of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of the Sky!

As I said before, this fic is finished. I'll probably be uploading a new chapter once or twice a week, depending on how I feel and/or how long it takes me to edit the chapters.

Disclaimer: I own nothing in this fic! Pokémon and all related creatures belong to Nintendo/Game Freak.

On with the fic!

"Though the parting hurts…"

And it hurt. It really, really hurt.

With each step Piplup took up the crumbling tower, his heart ached more and more. It was bad enough that Grovyle was gone, but soon he would be gone, too, and that would leave Chimchar—the one who instantly befriended him when he had no-one to turn to, the one who had been exploring with him through all this time, the one who had stayed with him through thick and thin—all alone.

The parting hurt, but he had to stay strong. He couldn't afford to fall apart now, as the fate of the entire world depended on his replacing the Time Gears. If he and Chimchar couldn't do it, then time would stop… and turn the entire world to hell.

He recalled the future he'd seen with a shudder. No, that was not the future he wanted for Chimchar. He was determined to change that future, even if it meant he would have to disappear.

"H-how are you doing, Piplup?" Chimchar's voice sounded somewhat choked, and Piplup remembered that he was still grieving Grovyle's fate.

"Fine," he lied. "A bit hungry, though… we still have some apples, don't we?"

"Yeah, a couple." The Fire-type stopped walking, reaching into the bag he had slung over his shoulder and pulling out two apples. He handed one of them to his partner and sat down. "We shouldn't waste too much time, though," he said before taking a bite.

"I know." Taking a seat, Piplup began to munch on his own apple. "U-um, how many floors have we gone up?"

"About twenty, I think," Chimchar replied quietly. "Not sure how high this tower is, but it shouldn't be too much longer." He finished off his apple quickly and tossed the core aside.

Not much longer… Piplup chewed slowly. This… this may be one of the last chances I get to talk to Chimchar, then. When will I disappear, anyway? As soon as we put the Time Gears in? I hope not… He fought back tears as he thought of fading away just as Chimchar put the Time Gears in—neither of them having a chance to say goodbye. Should I tell him? Glancing up, he saw Chimchar waiting patiently for him to finish eating. He hadn't finished his apple, but he was starting to feel sick, and decided to toss his snack away. Maybe I should… What am I supposed to tell him, though? He swallowed, and stood up. "Ch-Chimchar?"

"What is it, Piplup?" Chimchar asked, concerned. "Are you all right? Y-you look pale."

"Well… it's just—"

"GET OUT OF HERE!"

The two young Pokémon whipped around just in time to see a Porygon-Z fire a huge bolt of electricity out of its beak—a powerful attack that Piplup had just barely survived before, and one that he knew he had no chance of surviving now in his weakened state. Piplup's eyes went wide as the bolt seemed to fly towards him in slow motion, and his mind went blank of all but a single thought: I didn't get to say goodbye.

But the bolt never made contact. Instead, something about twice his size darted in front of him, blocking the electricity. The thing growled when the attack hit, but held its ground.

"Leaf Blade!" a familiar voice shouted as the figure ran forward, slicing at the virtual Pokémon with the leaves attached to its wrists. The Porygon-Z immediately disintegrated, and the mysterious figure turned around, smiling.

"GROVYLE!" Chimchar exclaimed, practically tackling the Grass-type as he hugged him, tears rolling down his cheeks. "I-I thought y-you…!"

Piplup just stared, eyes wide and beak hanging open in shock at the Grass-type that stood before him. He had cuts and bruises all over him and what even looked like burn marks, but he was alive.

"Piplup, Chimchar…" Grovyle said gently, wrapping an arm around the Fire-type and smiling warmly at the Water-type.

"B-but…" Piplup started, having finally found his voice again, "Dusknoir! What about him?! I thought—"

"Dusknoir has been defeated," the Grass-type responded. "Once he was taken care of, I found Celebi and had her transport me straight back." He let go of Chimchar and took a few steps forward, kneeling in front of Piplup and wrapping an arm around him. "After all, I couldn't just leave you…"

Grovyle had come back. Even though he'd known that he would disappear soon, he risked getting attacked by Primal Dialga again just to come back to the past to help them in his last moments. Piplup's eyes began to well up with tears, and he threw his flippers around his friend, sobbing. "G-Grovyle…!"

"Hush, it's all right," Grovyle said, hugging the younger Pokémon for a moment. "We've got to stay strong to do this."

"Y-yes…" the Water-type said, wiping his tears away and taking a few deep breaths to try to calm down. "You're right. I-I'll stay strong!" He looked up, giving a determined nod despite the tears that continued to sting at his eyes.

Meanwhile, Chimchar was in much brighter spirits. "This is great!" he cheered with leap of joy. "With Grovyle back, there's no way we can lose! C'mon, let's get to the pinnacle of the tower!" With that, he made his way over to the next room.

Piplup went quiet for a moment, gazing sadly up at Grovyle. "He still doesn't know…"

Grovyle's expression was unreadable, and he simply nodded. "We'll worry about that later. For now, we must continue to ascend the tower."

"…Right."

With that, the two Pokémon followed their companion.

The group had ascended a number of floors in a short amount of time thanks to Grovyle's strength. Though he didn't seem to be as nimble as he used to be, probably due to the number of wounds that covered him, he was still fighting as hard as he could. If it were possible, Chimchar and Piplup's admiration for their friend had grown even more.

As they were heading up a set of stairs, Piplup turned to look at Grovyle. "So… what happened when you went back to the future with Dusknoir?"

Grovyle grimaced. "It was a rough trip. We both passed out when we got there. When I woke up, Dusknoir was gone… I found him again later, though. He said that Primal Dialga had given up on him, and now had a new ally, so all of his Sableye underlings turned against him."

"Hah, serves him right," Chimchar said with a grin.

Grovyle went silent for a moment, appearing deep in thought. "He… said he wanted to team up with me after that, at least for the time being. The future is a dangerous place, so I reluctantly agreed. We first left to find Celebi, but she had been captured."

"W-was she okay?" Piplup squeaked.

Hearing that, the Grass-type gave a slight laugh. "She transported me to the past again, didn't she? When I found her, though, Dusknoir turned against me. It turned out to be a trap. I managed to defeat him for good, though, and rescued Celebi. She transported me back here, and you know the rest."

"Yup! And we're almost there!" Chimchar cheered.

Grovyle glanced down at the Fire-type warily. "You… you do still have those Time Gears, don't you?"

"Huh?" Chimchar looked up at his friend for a moment, then nodded. "Oh, yup! They're in here." He held out his bag and opened it up, revealing the Time Gears inside. "I've made sure to keep them safe."

Grovyle gazed at the mystical artifacts for a while before speaking up again. "Would you like me to carry them for you?"

Chimchar shook his head. "Nope, I'm good! I can carry them myself," he said, closing the bag and letting it hang over his shoulder again. "You're still hurt and all, so the bag would probably weigh you down."

"Very well."

Piplup, meanwhile, had one of his flippers pressed against his chest. His heart was racing. "I—I th-think we're getting close," he said quietly.

"We are," Grovyle said, now facing forward as he continued to ascend the stairs. "This stairway leads to the pinnacle of Temporal Tower."

"Really?!" Chimchar blurted, eyes wide. "That's great! Looks like we'll be able to put the Time Gears in place right on time, then, huh Piplup?"

But the Water-type had gone a few shades paler. "Y-yeah, um… Chi—"

"Go on ahead, Chimchar," Grovyle said suddenly. "I need to discuss something of great importance with Piplup, and we need some privacy with this."

The Fire-type seemed confused, but nodded. "All right. Don't stay here for too long, though!" With that, he bounded up the stairs.

Once Chimchar was out of earshot, Grovyle turned to Piplup. "Don't tell him yet. If you tell him now, then he might be reluctant to put the Time Gears into place, and then we might be too late."

"Is—is that why you wanted to carry the Time Gears?"

"Yes. I figured it would be best for me to put them in, in case Chimchar found out. But I'm not going to force him to give them to me… that would arouse suspicion."

Piplup glanced down at the stair step he was standing on. "Grovyle… I-I wanted to tell him goodbye… But when he puts the Time Gears in—"

"You will still have time," the Grass-type replied. "We both will. Otherwise I would have told Chimchar myself."

"You're sure?"

"Yes."

"…Promise?"

"Promise." Grovyle gave the younger Pokémon a gentle smile once more. "Now let's get going."

Chimchar had finally reached the pinnacle, and fought to keep his balance when another tremor racked the tower. "Woaaah!" he yelped, holding onto the bag that was slung over his shoulder. "The tremors are getting worse… I'd better hurry!" He glanced around, looking for the place he was supposed to put the Time Gears in, and spotted a platform with a number of gear-shaped grooves in it.

That must be it! he thought with a smile. We're almost there! I just have to put these Time Gears in, and then we're all done! This is great! With a grin, he turned around, but his smile soon faded when he saw that Grovyle and Piplup still weren't there yet. I wonder what Grovyle was telling Piplup that he couldn't tell me, anyway.

Facing the stairs, the Fire-type cupped his hands on either side of his mouth as he called: "Grovyle, Piplup! Come on, let's put these Time Gears in!"

"We're coming! Let's go, Piplup." He heard the rapid scraping of claws against stone, which probably meant that Grovyle was rushing up the stairs. The monkey smiled again, and turned around, running over to the platform where the gear-shaped grooves were.

Before he could reach the platform, however, he heard something like a choked yelp from behind him. Spinning around, he saw that it was only Grovyle and Piplup standing there.

But something seemed odd. Grovyle was standing behind Piplup, partially hunched over him with his arms wrapping around him, holding him back. Both of their eyes were wide, and Grovyle… something seemed wrong.

Confused, Chimchar looked behind him to see if there was something there, but turned back when Grovyle began to speak up.

"I… I didn't think I would have to do this so soon." Something was wrong with his voice, and it made Chimchar shudder. "But I couldn't just leave you…"

What was he talking about? And why wasn't Piplup saying anything? Looking at his friend, Chimchar noticed that he hadn't even moved. "G-Grovyle, what…?" It was then that he noticed what was so strange about the way Grovyle looked. Where were his…?!

"I couldn't just leave you… not when you were just about to make me disappear." The Grass-type's face contorted into something frightening—something very un-Grovyle-like. "Grovyle failed in his quest."

In one swift movement, he yanked his arms away, flicking blood into the air.

"And so did you."

And Piplup dropped.

Chimchar went numb. His vision was hazy, as though he were in a dream. He felt dizzy and nearly collapsed, barely registering Grovyle's walking up to him, blood dripping from his leaf-blades.

"Give me the Time Gears, Chimchar, and perhaps you won't suffer the same fate as your two dear friends."

The Fire-type's mind spun. This was not Grovyle. He did not talk like Grovyle. He did not look like Grovyle. He did not move like Grovyle. And he did not act like Grovyle.

The Pokémon glared. "Give them to me, now!"

Something inside Chimchar snapped. "NO!" he screamed, immediately lashing out at the creature with his short nails.

The Pokémon stumbled back, snarling as four cuts opened up on his belly. Quickly he recovered, and lunged at the Fire-type.

"You're not Grovyle!" Fire spewed out of Chimchar's mouth, enveloping the wounded Grass-type.

Immediately the Pokémon began to scream in terror. "Chimchar!" he cried. That was Grovyle's voice. "Chimchar, what are you doing?! It's me, Grovyle!"

The Fire-type choked back his flames, eyes wide. "Grovyle?!"

The Grass-type rolled on the stone floor frantically to put out the flames, and finally lay still on the ground. "Ch-Chim… char…"

What have I done? Why am I attacking Grovyle?! He felt dizzy and sick, and shook his head in an attempt to clear it. Am I seeing things? What's wrong with me…? Why did I attack him like that? Quickly he approached his friend, laying a hand on his shoulder. "Grovyle…?"

Suddenly the Pokémon pushed himself up on one arm and sliced at Chimchar with the leaf-blades on his other arm, snarling.

Chimchar jumped back, eyes wide. No, this isn't Grovyle! I don't know who it is, but he tricked me…! Trying to focus again, he launched another stream of fire at his opponent, who began to scream and roll around again. Once he was sure the Pokémon was too busy to attack him again, he began to make his way over to Piplup, but another violent tremor reminded him that he probably didn't have much time left.

Looking from the raised platform to Piplup and back again, the young Pokémon was torn between doing what he needed to and making sure his friend was all right. Piplup hasn't moved… but I need to put the Time Gears in… but… Piplup… Piplup…!Fighting back tears, he darted over to his friend's side, shaking him gently. "Piplup, wake up! Please!" The sick feeling in his stomach intensified when he saw the blood pooling out from underneath the Water-type's body. "Piplup, don't leave me… wake up, please…!"

The Fire-type was too distraught to see a dark shape rise out of Grovyle's lifeless body. He felt too sick to focus on what was going on around him, and thus failed to notice as the figure slowly approached him. It wasn't until the enormous creature cast a shadow over him that he turned around.

A single, red eye glared down at him.

And everything went dark.