#the most appealing aspect to me is the tragic humor found in these two mortal enemies becoming friends

[scribz-ag24]

Stupid question but which one re-evolved first, Duskull/Dusknoir or Treecko/Grovyle?

First, don't say it's a stupid question, I would love to share ideas for the au and talk more about it, especially 'cause I personally am not very creative on my own, so interaction helps immensely.

Second, gonna be honest here, I actually have no idea. I haven't really put much thought into actual plot lmao. The AU doesn't even belong to me really, I just took jsab's one and came up with little interactions that I found funny and/or cute (in my defense, i was starving for actaeonshipping content xd). I didn't plan an actual timeline/story, and I feel that way anyone can come up with their own interpretation of it, which is fun. (and also less complicated cause the logistics of a swap au would be,,,,,,,,,,,,complicated i think).

However, since you asked, I am going to list some random ideas I had about how it could happen, which sort of mixes with possible story beats ig. Sorry beforehand for the length and change of subject lol.

tldr: imo it depends on what story you wanna come up with and whatever serves it better (i.e. you want it to happen post game, so you follow the game's plot; you want it to happen during the story, so sth weird happens, etc.)

So in PMD:EOS world, pokémon evolve through the Luminous Spring. The player can't evolve until the spring regains its light once the flow of time is fixed. So either we have Grovyle and Dusknoir re-evolving after Dialga is defeated, respecting canon, or we tweak it a bit to make it more interesting.

A way to alter the spring method would be by stealing a headcanon I saw someplace I can't remember (oops): that pokémon, while they usually rely on the Luminous Spring, on very rare occasions can evolve through high levels of stress to protect themselves. I personally like this theory because it explains why there are evolved pokémon in the future, like Grovyle and Dusknoir themselves. They were born in a paralysed world, with no magic skinnydipping, so what's up with that.

When I say this ties in with story beats is because I feel the choice here can make two different versions of the swap, 1. treecko and duskull literally take the hero and partner role to the very end (plus a face off against darkrai ig??), or 2. respect the game's kind-of-chosen one narrative by having partner keep their relic fragment, and making grovyle and dusknoir's main mission to help hero and partner work together again. The problem with this AU is that, if taken seriously, it would need a DEEP reconsideration of the game's events and characters. When does the swap occur? Why does it happen, is Darkrai involved again? If Hero and Partner are still there, does that mean the story of eos happened beforehand but had a bad ending? How do two characters whose actions are immensely influenced by their knowledge of the future act when stripped of their canon motivations? Do they keep behaviours and reflexes (perhaps theyre a bit more ambivalent with violence/more morally gray than hero and partner) or are they a blank slate? Do they feel compelled to evolve because they have a weird feeling that they're in a body strange to them? This is why I only draw the fun two panel interactions!

Leaving all that aside, here are some scenarios that could happen (...because we are just making shit up so anything can happen):

They evolve through struggle, like I presume they had to do in the future. Maybe Treecko evolves sooner, on account of being more reckless and referencing his status as a starter pokémon that evolves at level 16. Once Duskull evolves he prolly carries the team for a while, tho, since Dusclops was supposed to be a fully evolved pokémon in gen 3, and is iconically stronger than Dusknoir when it carries an eviolite. Then again, Grovyle and Dusknoir in game are way stronger than they would be in a mainline game, so perhaps they maintain some muscle memory that helps them in combat (funny how two amnesiac pokémons, who barely remember their own names, are somehow so accostumed to battle, huh, weird). I'd say the best place for an evolution would be the dark future, maybe they escape from prison without facing the sableye -cause a prison cell isnt that big of a deal for someone who knows dig and someone whose actual pokédex entry is "It can go through walls!"- and evolve in a fight against partner?

The evolution doesn't follow game rules at all, instead it's a physical manifestation of their old memories. Hero never remembers their past (sorry grovyle), but this is pure self indulgence so maybe the other two do, or at least are more encouraged to do so or get more information (celebi for grovyle, and dialga for dusknoir).

Following that last point, Celebi and Dialga, two time travelling pokémon, actively interfere to help them get their memories back/get them up to speed with the situation, each to their own interest. Perhaps this involve a separation arc between Treecko and Duskull, à la Gates to Infinity. This would serve to make them less dependent of each other, and mature on their own for a while, differenciating them from hero and partner.

They don't re-evolve, they save the world/help save the world like hero and partner would do.

My favourite option is Dialga helps them somehow with time magic after the battle is over and time is fixed. The sole point of it is getting Dusknoir and Grovyle -with their memories back- to awkardly leave together on a slow stoneship that shoots rainbow, for the sole reason that it would be hilarious.