Future
"Gale?" Someone was shaking my shoulders, and I groaned and sat up painfully. Rubbing my eyes, I looked around and saw Shiloh coming into focus. "Good. You don't seem hurt." I stood gingerly, rubbing my arms, and stared around in confusion.
"How about you?" I said, teeth chattering. Shiloh lowered her shoulders and gave me a concerned look. "Are you hurt anywhere?"
"No, I'm fine," she replied, then gave me a saddened, terse look.
"Where are we?" I asked slowly, rubbing my eyes with a grimace as Shiloh helped me get to my feet.
"Some kind of jail," she replied unhappily.
"Jail?" I repeated in confusion. Shiloh turned and gestured.
"Look." I walked closer to her and could make out bars blocking a large opening in a rocky wall. Shiloh frowned and folded her arms. "We're in a cave, but someone built bars over the entrance." I could slip an arm through the bars, but even though Treecko had slight frames, the bars were still too close together to squeeze through. Staring around at the gloomy cave, I slumped my shoulders and looked at Shiloh in confusion.
"How'd we get here?" Shiloh faced me with a defeated expression.
"Dusknoir threw us in here," she explained in a subdued tone. "After he dragged us into the dimensional hole." I sat down heavily, remembering. "It's been a couple hours since then, I think."
"If Dusknoir took us into the Dimensional Hole…" I hesitated and wrapped my arms tightly around myself, "are we in the future?"
"We must be," Shiloh murmured uneasily. "Dusknoir said the future world was always dark...and..." She trailed off, then wrapped her arms around her body.
"Let's sit together," I said, and gestured to her. She trudged over and sat down, then pressed close to my right side. "It'll be a little warmer, at least."
"Whenever it's this cold," Shiloh said after a few minutes, "I think being a fire-type would be great." She pressed a little closer to me, and I felt her shivering.
"Why would Dusknoir bring us here?" I wondered dully, drawing my legs up to my chest and resting my head on my knees.
"I don't know," Shiloh answered, sounding troubled. "He came in earlier, before you woke up, and I asked him." She gave a long sigh. "He didn't answer...and he took my satchel away. I tried to stop him, but he was too strong."
"Are you alright?" I asked, feeling a quick surge of anger.
"He didn't attack," Shiloh answered back with a quiet growl. We huddled together in silence for a while longer.
"What are we going to do?" I asked, shivering.
"It's okay," Shiloh told me. "We'll think of something." Suddenly, sharp growls and scratching noises sounded just beyond the bars, and I felt a spike of fear. The growls got louder, and I jumped and scooted backwards. "Easy," Shiloh murmured. "We'll get through this." A scraping noise filled the air, and a moment later the bars started lifting and soon disappeared from sight. Shiloh and I jumped to our feet when six figures crowded into the cave and surrounded us, their eyes shining. I glared at them in the darkness.
"Finally awake?" One of them rasped. "Good."
"What do you want?" I asked defensively, and felt Shiloh tense next to me. The Pokémon's chuckles echoed around the cell, and I finally recognized their hissing voices; they were Sableye, the same Pokémon that had knocked Grovyle into the dimensional hole.
"Come with us," the Sableye in front of me hissed, and swiftly approached me, holding up something in both paws.
"Back off!" I lunged at the Sableye, but felt something tackle me from behind and shove me firmly against the ground. My head was lifted and cloth was tied over my eyes, and then I was yanked roughly to my feet and pushed forcefully.
"Walk!" One of the Sableye commanded, and I twisted around, but couldn't see a thing. It was even darker than before.
"Shiloh!" I called as the Sableye kept shoving me forward.
"I'm here!" She cried from behind me, and I tried to turn and go to her, but someone grabbed my arms and roughly shoved them behind my back, then tied them together. The Sableye kept pushing me forward and I tried to stumble along as best I could, but suddenly I ran into a hard surface.
"What are you doing?" I yelled when someone grabbed me and lifted me up, then turned me around and pressed me to the hard surface. Paws held me tightly while another set of paws started winding something around my body. I squirmed, but couldn't move an inch, and realized I'd been tied to something. Paws tugged at my face and pulled, and I flinched as a bright light shone down from the ceiling. My blindfold was gone but as I looked around I wished I still had it on. The room I was in was empty and dark, and there was something wet soaking the large pillar I was tied to, as well as the rocky ground below me…something dark red. Gasping in panic, I attempted pull my arms free of the bindings. I discovered quickly that it was useless, though. I'd been bound with thick rope all the way up to my neck. I could turn my head left and right a little, but that was all.
"I'd calm down if I were you," a voice advised dryly, and I glanced quickly to the right.
"Grovyle?" I asked blankly, and he gave a low chuckle. The Pokémon was tied with rope to a thick pillar as big around as a tree trunk.
"That's me. So we meet again."
"Gale!" When I heard Shiloh's voice coming from my other side I forgot about Grovyle and turned my head towards her.
"Are you alright?" I asked quickly, ignoring a sharp intake of breath from Grovyle. She squirmed a bit, then smiled weakly at me.
"Fine," Shiloh replied. "Don't worry. How about you?"
"Alright," I responded.
"Gale?" I glanced back towards Grovyle and saw him staring at me with wide yellow eyes.
"Yeah, that's my name," I told him, frowning, not sure why he was so interested.
"You're...Gale?" Grovyle asked, and his expression was dumbstruck, an emotion that looked strange on a Pokémon as bad as him.
"I'm...a Gale," I told him, feeling puzzled.
"You probably know some other Gale," Shiloh interjected, and I nodded.
"You're probably right," Grovyle agreed, then sighed quietly. He almost seemed a little disappointed. Dark chuckles distracted me and I glanced downward. The Sableye were leering up at me with glinting eyes. "Anyway...you ended up here too." Grovyle scoffed, and I saw that he was scowling down at the gathered Sableye. "It's nice to have some company aside from them."
"It makes sense for you to be here," Shiloh told him sharply, "but not us. We haven't done anything."
"You must have," Grovyle objected with a snort, "otherwise they wouldn't have bothered to capture you."
"But that doesn't make any sense!" Shiloh cried furiously. "We really didn't do anything!"
"That doesn't matter to them, or to me," Grovyle said darkly. "They're going to get rid of us anyway."
"Get rid of us...?" Shiloh shook her head back and forth, struggling against the thick ropes. "Why?"
"Quiet. Listen. Don't waste your energy." Grovyle lowered his voice. "Wait for an opportunity."
"You mean," I whispered, "to escape? You think we can?"
"We have to." I looked back at Shiloh and saw the anger in her eyes fade a bit. She bit her lip and nodded.
"He's right," she murmured softly. About to turn back to Grovyle, I noticed movement ahead of me, and gulped when I saw Dusknoir slowly floating closer.
"Comfortable?" The ghost Pokémon asked with a light chuckle. "I suppose not."
"Dusknoir, what are you doing?" Shiloh asked urgently. Dusknoir gazed at Shiloh, then me, and finally at Grovyle. With a little shrug, he looked down at the Sableye.
"They have been tied up, Lord Dusknoir," one of them said in an amused tone.
"Lord Dusknoir?" I repeated, widening my eyes.
"Those Sableye are Dusknoir's followers," Grovyle explained in a mutter.
"Ignore them," Dusknoir stated placidly, and I realized that the polite tone he normally used was gone, making it hard to believe he was the same Pokémon. He'd acted strangely before, when he'd met Grovyle in the crystal cave, which had first made me feel that something was off about him. "You may get ready." The Sableye shuffled closer and raised their arms, showing off unnervingly sharp-looking claws.
"Wait, Dusknoir," I spoke up urgently, and the ghost Pokémon turned his red eye on me. A shiver ran through my body. "You were just going to arrest Grovyle."
"That's right," Shiloh added. "Why are you doing this?" "I have no need to answer you," Dusknoir growled coldly.
"Gale," Grovyle muttered, and I glanced sideways at him. "The Sableye use their claws to attack. To hurt us, they'll need to hit the ropes."
"So we can get out," I whispered in realization.
"Right. It's our chance to attack," Grovyle added in an undertone. I hurriedly faced Shiloh.
"Grovyle has a plan," I said while anxiously keeping an eye on the steadily approaching Sableye. Dusknoir was watching intently. "When the Sableye attack," I whispered, "they'll cut the ropes, too...so when we're loose, we can attack."
"Ready?" Dusknoir questioned, and the Sableye nodded in unison and grinned widely.
"What if they don't hit the ropes?" Shiloh asked, her voice quaking.
"I…I don't know," I confessed ashamedly, tensing up in fear.
"Then we're done for," Grovyle muttered darkly. "Don't think about it. Just be ready."
"Now!" Dusknoir's voice boomed, and two Sableye lunged at me and began slashing their claws so rapidly that their arms were only purple blurs. Their first strikes sheared the ropes, but the following ones started to hit me, sending slashes of pain through my body. I yelled and strained against the ropes, but I couldn't move an inch.
"Endure it!" Grovyle cried out, his voice tight with pain. Slowly I opened my eyes, gritting my teeth against the pain. My heart was thudding painfully, and my breaths were becoming faster as panic and pain were starting to get to me, but all of a sudden I noticed that the ropes didn't feel so tight. "Get ready," Grovyle hissed.
"Shiloh," I gasped, painfully looking over at her. She gave a single nod; she had cuts across her body, but I realized her ropes were ripped more than halfway.
"GO!" Grovyle shouted fiercely, and I strained against the ropes with all my strength, then felt them rip even further. I pressed my paws to the pillar I'd been tied to and pushed off. The Sableye in front of me looked alarmed for a split second, and then I slammed into them, tackling them into the ground. One slashed at me, scoring me across the right side of my face, but I grabbed him around the throat and focused on using absorb. I felt the stinging pain from my cuts lessen a bit. "Come to me!" I heard Grovyle yell, so I let the Sableye go, then frantically looked around for Shiloh. She sent a jet of water from her mouth, which hit two advancing Sableye dead on, sending them careening clear across the darkened room; from there they slammed into a wall. The two Dark type Pokémon crumpled into a heap and didn't move.
"Shiloh!" I called to her, and she glanced around, her eyes lit with hostility. Beckoning to her and pointing to Grovyle, I saw her eyes clear and she rushed towards me. She grabbed my arm and we ran towards Grovyle. I watched him lift a shiny blue object above his head.
"What are you doing? Stop them!" Dusknoir bellowed. I stared up at Grovyle, and saw his eyes narrow angrily as he brought the blue object down. A bright flash lit the area.
"Behind the pillars!" Grovyle's voice hissed close to me, and I heard his steps moving away, but I couldn't tell where he was going.
"Where are you?" I called urgently, and yelped when I was grabbed by my neck and dragged. I heard Shiloh gasp in alarm before I was given a sharp shove that pushed me up against something. The light was starting to fade, and I glanced around sharply, seeing that I was leaning against a pillar. Shiloh was behind the one she'd been tied to, and Grovyle was pressed up against the pillar he'd been tied to as well. I pressed my body against the pillar and made sure I was completely hidden behind it. I grabbed my tail and hugged it close just in case and took shallow breaths.
"Find them!" Dusknoir's enraged voice sounded and I pressed both hands to my head. "They can't have gotten far! GO!" The Sableye made sounds of alarm, then scuttled off, their footsteps frantic. Dusknoir growled and then there was silence. After a moment, I dared to move and glance across at Grovyle. He caught my eye, peeked around the pillar, and nodded at me. I sighed, then cautiously stepped out into the open.
"Is he gone?" Shiloh asked in trepidation.
"For now," Grovyle answered her. "We need to go. I know the way out."
"You want us to go with you?" I asked in surprise, and Grovyle gave me an agitated look.
"Unless you want to get caught again." I caught Shiloh's eye and she nodded urgently.
"No way," I said, and Grovyle turned quickly.
"Come on then." He sped nimbly off, leading the way down corridors and around corners. There were other caves along the way, and Grovyle stopped at one without explanation and darted inside. I started to follow him, but he turned and shook his head firmly. "Keep watch. Tell me if anyone's coming." Stepping back into the dark corridor, I noticed Shiloh was standing with her arms crossed.
"Hey," I said quietly, moving closer, and she looked up with a tight smile.
"What's going on, Gale?" She muttered. "Dusknoir...did he really want to kill us?"
"It looked that way...but it means he was lying."
"That's how Dusknoir is," Grovyle said, appearing between us suddenly. I jumped as he tossed something to me.
"My satchel!" I exclaimed, pulling the strap over my head. Quickly I sifted through the items in the satchel, looking for the photo, but it wasn't there. Disappointed, I looked up and saw Grovyle tossing a satchel to Shiloh as well. Looking a little dazed, she put it on. "Didn't you steal this?" I wondered. "Why are you giving it back to me?"
"Keep moving," Grovyle ordered, and I quickly obeyed, but pressed him for an answer along the way.
"Dusknoir said you stole it," I said.
"He lied, like you said," Grovyle said bluntly, pausing momentarily to check around a corner. "Move. We're outside." The three of us hurried down a corridor and out of the gloomy tunnels. The air was still cold, but because of the running we'd done I was almost glad for it. Grovyle kept moving along, and I began struggling to keep up after a minute, and could tell Shiloh was too. I was about to ask Grovyle if we could rest when he stopped and turned abruptly. "This place is hidden." He was leading the way to a little alcove underneath a looming mountain range. "We'll rest here, but not for long." Panting heavily, I trudged over to a sheer rock wall and collapsed into a sitting position. Shiloh sat beside me and leaned against my shoulder, breathing heavily.
"Did you see anything other items with the satchels, Grovyle?" I asked breathlessly, and Grovyle shook his head once.
"No."
"Nothing like a picture?" I pressed almost desperately.
"Nothing like that," Grovyle said with certainty, crossing his arms and giving me an odd look.
"Why...why did Dusknoir...try to..." Shiloh trailed off, her expression pained. "We didn't do anything."
"You'd have to ask him, but you can't go back now." Grovyle shrugged. "He'd just try to kill you again." Shiloh grimaced and bit her lip, then wrapped both arms around herself and suppressed a shiver.
"Shouldn't we wait until it gets brighter?" Grovyle shook his head.
"The sun won't come up," he sighed impatiently, crossing his arms. "The planet is paralyzed."
"Dusknoir said that, but...I hoped it wasn't true." Shiloh lowered her head. "When did it happen?"
"I went to the past just before the planet's paralysis started," Grovyle replied, then turned around and tipped his head back. "I thought I'd be able to fix it...but now everything is frozen. Day never comes, the wind doesn't blow, and the seasons never change."
"That's exactly how Dusknoir described it," Shiloh murmured, looking downcast.
"What do you mean by fixing it?" I asked.
"Fixing the flow of time," Grovyle clarified. "That was my mission."
"Now that's a lie," Shiloh told him angrily. "You were stealing the Time Gears! That made time stop!" Grovyle sighed heavily and turned around, his arms still crossed.
"Listen, I'd like to explain, but we don't have time. Dusknoir and the Sableye will be on our trail soon."
"You want us to come with you," I said cautiously, "even though it's our fault you were captured?" Grovyle's yellow eyes met mine and he frowned.
"You didn't know what Dusknoir was really like," he said. "You'll be caught if you wander around here alone, but I know the way."
"We're not traveling with you," Shiloh growled. "You attacked us twice and hurt Azelf and his friends!" Grovyle's expression clouded, and he stared up at the darkened sky.
"That's part of the explanation I can't give right now." I turned sharply and stared off into the darkness.
"Stop, guys," I said quickly. "I heard something." Footsteps approached me from behind and I glanced up to see Grovyle standing next to me with a serious expression.
"I hear it too...it's Dusknoir." He glanced sharply down at me. "Time to go, whether you like me or not."
"Let's just escape for now, Shiloh," I said urgently, turning and running towards her.
"Can you stand?" I held my paws out and pulled her up when she gripped them.
"I'm fine," she said with a nod. Grovyle brushed past us and she gave him a wary look, but began to hurry after him. "But one thing is for sure—I'm going to figure all of this out, Grovyle."
"Do what you like." Grovyle threw a faint smirk over his shoulder, then faced forward again. "I'm going back to the past, and I imagine you want to get home, too."
"You bet we do," Shiloh retorted fervently. "I hate this place."
"Then it's best if you trust me for the moment," Grovyle declared, and Shiloh gave a scoff. "But if you don't, it doesn't bother me. I still have something important to do."
"Stealing the Time Gears is hardly important," Shiloh grumbled, glaring at Grovyle's back as we ran onward. The scenery became an uninteresting blur of shadowy gray and I eventually got tired of staring at it, so I watched Grovyle as we ran.
You're...Gale? What he'd said earlier suddenly came back to me, and I thought hard, wondering what other Gale he'd known. A flickering light caught my attention and I looked up and realized we were on a high cliff. I stopped dead, shaking a little, then tried to focus on the sparkling lights.
"What are you doing?" Grovyle's voice called back to me and I jolted a bit. "We can't stop."
"I was just looking at that," I murmured, pointing at the lights. Grovyle stared off into the distance, then shook his head.
"Those lights are from the stockade," he explained in a subdued tone. "That's where we were."
"Those are the only lights around here," Shiloh stated quietly, "but we could have…died there."
"That's why we need to keep going," Grovyle told her firmly. "Come on. It's not much longer until we'll be able to go back to the past."
"Really?" I asked, looking eagerly at Grovyle.
"You'll see," Grovyle answered. "It's better if you see for yourself. Let's keep walking."
"This had better not be a trick." Shiloh was crossing her arms. "You attacked us before. You might again." Grovyle turned and gave Shiloh a stern glare.
"Unless you want to get caught," he stated firmly, "you need to trust me. I already said we don't have time."
"It's alright, Shiloh," I told her quietly once Grovyle had turned and started sprinting ahead. "I think we can believe him."
"I don't know." She glared at Grovyle's retreating form for a moment. I nudged her gently and she looked doubtfully at me. "He's not a good Pokémon," she muttered.
"If he wanted to hurt us, then he could have already," I said. "We know that more than anyone." Shiloh frowned at me.
"So...why hasn't he?"
"I don't know," I replied with a thoughtful frown.
"Maybe we're missing something," Shiloh sighed in confusion.
"At any rate," I mumbled, "he's the only one who can help us."
"I guess so," Shiloh muttered, then looked intently at me. "I trust you more, and if you trust Grovyle, then...I will too. For now."
"That's fair." I gave her a relieved smile.
"Come on, you two! Hurry!" Grovyle's voice called from up ahead. Shiloh took a deep breath, then started off at a run, and I kept pace beside her. It was still painful to go at such a fast pace, but we got into a kind of rhythm. Grovyle let us stop once and share an Oran berry; he even took part of it when Shiloh apprehensively offered him a piece.
"See that?" Shiloh panted a while later when Grovyle stopped us to take another short break. "There's a forest way up ahead."
"That's where we're going," Grovyle announced, then sighed and added, "I have a friend there who helped me get the past, and I'm going to ask for her help again."
"She can do that?" Shiloh questioned curiously, looking at Grovyle with interest instead of suspicion.
"Yes. She can travel through time," Grovyle explained as he navigated the way forward.
"How?" Shiloh asked, and Grovyle lifted his shoulders in a shrug.
"Some Pokémon have unusual powers, and that's hers."
"So, she helped you get to our time?" I asked, feeling intrigued and a little hopeful.
"Yes, but she had to have help." Grovyle sat and gazed around. "If she has to time travel somewhere far, like to your time, she uses something called the Passage of Time."
"Is it easy to find?" Shiloh wondered, sounding a little awed.
"No, but I've been there before." Grovyle smirked faintly. "I know shortcuts, too. Dusknoir doesn't."
"Good," I said, feeling a little spur of confidence.
"Yeah." Shiloh took a deep breath, then let it out in a huge sigh.
"It's just a little further," Grovyle said, gesturing urgently. "Come on, you two."