"Silence! Swift!"
"Argh!" Leaping out of the way, a Vulpix crashed onto the ground. Sand particles settled on top of it and the treasure bag slung over its shoulder, before it stood, shaking the dust off its tail and body while rubbing its eyes with a paw. On the other side, a Riolu had jumped out of the attack's path, scraping its paws in the dirt.
Once on its feet again, the Riolu pleaded, hesitant to fight back, "Please! We don't want to fight!"
Their newly-found aggressor, alert and enraged, floated in front of the pair. Pink appendages dangled at its sides while a red gem rested on its forehead. It seemed to glow along with the gold eyes, wide open, shining with the threat of danger and possibly even death.
"Don't lie to me! I'm Mespirit and I won't let anyone take the time gear!" She shrieked, sending this time a psychic attack. The Riolu's mind pounded in pain as it clutched its head, falling to its knees. Its partner jumped to its defense within seconds.
"Liam!" The Vulpix spewed some fire at Mespirit, then rushing to the Riolu's side. Mespirit yelped and recoiled from the flame, breaking its concentration. "Are you alright?"
"Argh…" Liam moaned, shaking its head. "I think I am."
"Here." The Vulpix held an Oran Berry in its jaw. "Eat this. It must've taken a lot out of you."
"Thanks Ava." He glanced at Mespirit warily. "But I don't think she's gonna listen to us. She won't stop until she beats us."
"Well if it's a fight she wants," Ava said, annoyed, removing the treasure bag to toss it aside, "We'll give it to her."
"I guess it looks that way." He gasped. "Ava get out of the way! It's another psychic attack!" Luckily, they were able to dodge it in time, scooting away from the mysterious Pokémon.
"You won't get away!" Mespirit cried, rushing towards them.
"Liam…" Ava whispered, "Let's do this."
"Right!" The Riolu bounced twice, his tail twitching and they sprinted in opposite directions. To the lake guardian's right, Ava, crouched on all fours, wagged her own fluffy tail, waiting for a signal.
"Ready?" Liam called.
"Let's go!"
Liam let out a screeching noise- the signal. Cowering at the noise, Mespirit realized too late that on her side, Ava had leapt for her, flickers of a flame brewing from her nuzzle.
"Take this! Flamethrower!" A storm of flames engulfed Mespirit, but when they finally dispersed, she appeared unscathed.
"Is that the best you can do?" Mespirit taunted, letting down her shield.
"Nope," answered Ava, smirking, "That's exactly what we thought you'd do. Go Liam!" She landed on all fours, watching Liam pounce on Mespirit. He opened his jaw, revealing a tiny row of sharp teeth before biting down on one of Mespirit's appendages.
The effect was instantaneous- she shrieked, struggling to brush Liam off. And when she finally did, she forgot to consider her other opponent.
With Mespirit's back turned, Ava jumped up and used Imprison to immobilize the lake guardian with a nice fat red X. Following that, came Liam; he sent the guardian sprawling to the edge of the lake with a flying kick.
Ava landed on her forepaws first before Liam landed next to her. Slight out of breath from the fighting, he grinned. "It worked!" He high-fived his partner.
"Urgh…" The duo looked up to see Mespirit, hovering again. With a limp, she sucked sharply for a breath of air and drifted in front of them. "But I-" She groaned, clutching her arm. Obviously, the fighting had left her bedraggled and exhausted. "I c-can't let you take the… Time Gear-"
"Will you please listen?!" Liam yelled desperately, "We didn't come to steal the Time Gear! Really!"
"Lies!" snarled the Lake Guardian, "Uxie used his telepathy to tell me everything! I know the Time Gear at Fogbound Lake was stolen!"
"WHAT?!" The pair of explorers of blinked at this revelation. "You heard it from Uxie?"
"It was you two, wasn't it?!" Mespirit accused.
"No!" Ava defended. "It wasn't us!"
"Then who did it?!" Mespirit said, frustrated and ready for another fight despite her condition.
"That would probably be… me." Another voice broke in. Accompanying the voice, were footsteps. At first the shadow hid newcomer, but it stepped out into the light. The trio gasped, whirling around.
A long blade of grass ran down the newcomer's back as three healthy leaves stuck out from each arm. Its underbelly was colored red, but the rest screamed green. Even if the newcomer wasn't actually a first-rate criminal, Ava thought, he'd still look pretty intimidating. Especially in the eyes- a pair of bright yellow irises surrounded the smaller pupils that shone with a glint of determination.
"Who are you?" Mespirit demanded.
Liam answered instead. "G-Grovyle!"
"I must apologize," Grovyle said nonchalantly, "But I will be taking that time gear." He strode forward until only a few inches separated him and Mespirit. "Stand aside."
"N-No!" refused Mespirit, "I won't let you take it!"
"I have no choice then." Knocking the Lake Guardian aside with Leaf Blade, he added when she struggled to hover again. "You lost that fight. You sustained serious damage; so don't push it."
Grovyle continued toward the lake until Ava and Liam blocked his path. It was clear that newcomer would resort to anything to steal the Time Gear. Still, that didn't mean Ava and Liam was going to submit to the criminal.
"Hold it! We won't let you take the time gear!" Liam exclaimed in a fighting stance. Ava growled, ready to pounce on the thief if necessary.
Grovyle closed his eyes. "Alright then… sorry about this." He raised an arm, a glowing leaf blade materializing as Ava prepared to unleash a Flamethrower. She'd hit him with her best fire move- he was a grass type, so it should slow him down enough for Liam to attack and-
BAM!
Ava and Liam slammed into the ground again. "He's too fast…" Liam grunted as through the corner of her eye, Ava saw Grovyle dive into the lake.
"I'm sorry…" Mespirit admitted. She faltered from her wounds. "Uxie must've not been talking about you…"
"It's fine. But we've got to stop him…" Ava panted, pushing herself off her side. However, once on all fours, she collapsed again.
But this time, from dizziness.
"No…" Ava pleaded softly, her vision becoming hazy, "Not now. Not yet!"
But it came anyways in a flash of light. And then a voice-it was rather morose and tense.
"Lost in your books as usual, I see. Are you almost done? We have to get moving soon."
Another voice answered. This one was more feminine and carefree. "Relax. They're not going to find us here. Let me finish these next few pages…"
An exasperated sigh. "Ava, if you keep thinking like that, he's going to catch you. When are you going to start training, anyways?"
"Excuse me, but you say as if I have none! I am very skilled in the arts of self-defense."
"Which involves mindless skull-bashing with anything you can find."
"Don't insult it; you know it works well."
"It does, but it'll only take you so far. What are you going do when it doesn't?"
A laugh. "Well, that's why we're partners-"
The voice was cut off with another flash light. Ava blinked, trying to make sense of her vision.
"Who was that?" She mumbled, her eyes still unseeing of anything but the ripples of the lake. That person… he said my name… is that just a coincidence? Or is this something from my past-
"Ava… Ava… Ava!" Liam shouted, shaking his partner by the shoulder. With the line of thought broken, she looked up at Liam, dazed. "Ava, are you alright?"
"Yeah…" Ava said, getting back up, "Where's Grovyle?"
Liam bit his lip. "I don't know. The last thing I saw was him diving into the lake. But," His ears perked up. "I think Mespirit, she-" He was interrupted by a tremor. It stopped for a moment before continuing, this time at a larger magnitude.
"What's going on?!" Ava yelled over the now apparent earthquake.
"Ava, look!" Liam gasped, panicking. A wave of energy, sizzling like electricity, painted the underground cavern's walls in grey. Once it finished there, it took to covering the water next.
"Oh no, this is bad!" Mespirit cried. "Because that thief took the time gear, time's going to stop in the Underground Lake! Hurry, if we don't run, we'll be trapped in time too!"
"Come on, Ava! Let's get moving!" She nodded, grabbing the treasure bag covered in dirt. She gripped the strap between her teeth before following her partner back to the stairs. She glanced back at the now frozen lake with a thought.
That voice… I can't place my finger on it, but I've heard it before. But where? It sounds so familiar…
A/N: Well, that's just a prologue…. Thank you for reading this. I honestly think this isn't one of my best works but, well, I'm happy if you did enjoy reading this. I'm off from school (Summer Vacation WOOHOO!) so I'll try working on this often. Please review- criticism is always nice.