Chapter 3:

Slowly, they ascended the mountain. It was almost noon and yet it seemed like they had barely stepped away from the tunnel. As they got higher, the fog got denser. Inasa and Erkuli had to stick closely and listen to the sound of the churning river to stay on track. The city lights seemed to be getting dimmer and farther every minute.

"Inasa…" Erkuli whispered, panting heavily. "You're from another region…" She nodded. "What was it like?"

"It…was beautiful," she replied, also panting. "There were mountains...floating pieces of lands, giant waterfalls…gemstone caves, underwater dungeons…a frozen island, a rich forest. And the Pokémon…of Treasure Town were so friendly…"

"It sounds so…exotic…" he said quietly. "What about…your friend, Nalu? How'd you meet him…"

Inasa paused for a moment in her speech. She reminisced on her past for a brief bit. "I first met him unconscious on a beach. I didn't remember my name, and I still don't know how I ended up there. We introduced ourselves…and then a Zubat and Koffing stole one of his possessions. We chased them down in a cave, and beat them in a battle. Nalu asked me to be his partner in a team, and I accepted. We joined a famous guild owned by a Wigglytuff, and went on many adventures. I still couldn't figure out my past."

At this point the side of the mountain to the right of the river took a sharp decline. Luckily, bridges were built over it. They silently crossed the bridges with caution, and then Inasa continued:

"This…this next part of my life may be hard to swallow. But please, trust me, it's true!" She gulped, and then resumed: "Later, we…we met a Grovyle. He…was actually my partner. We—er… We were both from the future. We were both working to collect things called Time Gears, but Dusknoir prevented us from doing that. Eventually…we were able to collect them. Our purpose was to restore time, because the ruler of time, Dialga, was corrupted. We were able to do that…Grovyle sacrificed himself by pushing both him and Dusknoir into a portal to the future. Nalu and I were able to defeat Dialga and restore time. And then…I just disappeared. I thought I would forever be erased from existence…but I'm here for some reason. It's…unbelievable, I know. But it's true, you have to believe!"

Surprisingly, his response was, "I do!"

Inasa was obviously taken by surprise. She jumped back in a startled manner, almost falling into the river again. She yelled, "What?! You'll just…believe it?"

"Of course!" he replied. "Lots of weird things have happened in the past of the world. Why wouldn't your story be fake?"

Inasa didn't say anything. She was in huge disbelief.

The two Pokémon looked up. The dense fog was starting to clear, showing the environment around them. The city lights broke through, larger and brighter than the last time they had seen them. Ciad was surrounded by imposing stone walls. There were two small entrances on both sides of the Dienka River, which cut into the heart of the river. Music and laughter escaped from the holes in the walls.

"A…amazing…" Erkuli commented. He found it more fantastic than Inasa's tale. "This is the capital of Naramsa."

He walked into the entrance, and Inasa warily followed. The two were not prepared for the sight.

They were taken even more by surprise when they walked in. The Dienka River was clean and calm, unlike it was outside of the stone boundaries. Gorebyss, Luvdisc, Alomomola, and even Milotic swam in synch with each other in the river. At every corner of the city Kricketune were playing beautiful music to make money. On the other side Vivillion showed off their varied and colorful patterns. Small Pokémon such as Lillipup and Helioptile playfully chased each other around. The streets were smooth and marble. The buildings were well polished and released no smoke from the chimney. Far away from the entrance to Ciad was an impressive, tall castle. The ruler of Ciad and Naramsa, Queen Sari, resided there.

"It's…beautiful!" Inasa proclaimed. Just then, an orange Heliolisk approached the pair.

"Visitors?" he questioned. "Who are you? What is your purpose here?"

Erkuli stiffened, scared by the sudden interrogation. Inasa stepped up:

"We've been sent by Candace, a Lopunny, from Sokieti down at the valley. We need to get medicine to treat her daughter."

"Pft!" he snidely remarked. "I won't listen to a foreigner! Both of you are young, what person would send you up the tallest mountain in Naramsa? I'll have the Buneary tell me the answers. Ahem—did you get permission from the Mayor, Miss Meowstic?"

"Er—not directly!" he quickly answered. "But she did tell us where to start off, so I guess she approved of it?"

"Don't say it like a question! Do I know the answer to that?" he roared. He folded his arms together. "Hmph. I'll accept it. Do you even know who has the medicine?"

"I—Queen Sari."

"Only Queen Sari? What does that daughter have? Surely someone else would have a treatment."

"Er—" He hastily tried to explain it. "Well, uh, no one, er, knows. It makes her have chronic nightmares, sleep attacks, among other things…"

"Hmph…never heard of that one. Crazy tale, but I'll let you in. One wrong move, and you're roasted."

"S—thank you!" Erkuli exclaimed. The Heliolisk trotted away, waving his tail regally.

"The medicine's from the queen?" Inasa asked rhetorically. "Well, she's in the castle, probably. Let's go."

"Why not a drink, first?" Erkuli suggested. "I'm…still a little tired from the hike."

"Uh…sure!" she replied. "Do you have any money?"

"No, but it's a custom here for anyone to give hospitality and care to anyone who climbed all the way to Ciad."

"Alright, then! Let's go here," She was indicating to the nearest building to their immediate right. It was a police station. They walked into the wooden entryway.

Just like Ciad, the police station was clean and well-polished. On the wall were multiple, straightened, and laminated posters with pictures of Pokémon. The word WANTED was printed underneath. There were multiple stainless water bowls for everyone to drink. The police officers, mostly Herdier, welcomed the visitors with warmth.

"Welcome!" one of them said. "Ye a traveler?"

"Yep!" Erkuli replied. "Could we have a drink and food?"

"Oh, ho, ot course! Tehre tiny Gummis in the cabinet ye can have! Drink tohm te bowls—no germs!" He chuckled heartily.

"Thanks!" he replied, and he drank. And as he did, he looked at the wanted posters. One of them was called Liacreses, who looked rather familiar. He did not know where he had seen it. Liacreses was mainly blue with a few white stripe sand marks around his body. He did not know what Pokémon he was, but he swore he had seen one that was very similar to him.

After a minute of eating and drinking, he was refreshed and filled, and so was Inasa. They thanked the Herdier and others, and walked back into the bustling city. Erkuli did not speak of Liacreses.

"Now, can we go to the castle?" asked Inasa. Erkuli nodded, although he was so full it hurt to move.

As they got closer, they could see the castle in full detail. Parts of it were made from diamonds created by Queen Sari, including the door and around the window. Detailed ice sculptures adorned with gems and flowers stood under rows of arches. There were two pink bastions at both ends of the castle. As it was now close to dusk, the pair could see that Ampharos stood at each bastion, dimly glowing like a lighthouse. There was no battlement at the front of the castle, or at any side, showing that the city was peaceful. The Dienka River flowed to the front of the building, and there was a wooden drawbridge to give passage over it.

The pair was in even more awe than when they had first entered Ciad. Multiple Zorua entered through the drawbridge, so it was obvious that anyone could enter without permission. They followed after them, and walked into a glamorous hallway. They quickly ran down into the courtyard.

Like everything else, the courtyard was beautiful. There were lovely green bushes lined up perfectly at two ends of the courtyard. There were also more ice sculptures, and both of them were of Queen Sari. A beautiful fountain was in the middle of the beautiful courtyard, drawing water from the river. Flowers of all colors flowed through the room making a rainbow-like effect.

Inasa walked up to whom she assumed was a guard. He was bipedal and humanoid, and his body was made of metal. The top of his head was brown and red, and was shaped like a helmet. A yellow axe-like shape was attached to his helmet. The helmet concealed most of his face, showing only his eyes. His shoulders projected up and were red. His hands were white and had sharp blades attached to him, and similar sharp blades were attached to his torso.

"Mr., er…" she said.

"You may call me Bisharp," he said in a rough voice.

"Mister Bisharp, er, could we have some medicine?"

"And why should you get medicine from here?" Bisharp asked pretentiously.

"Well, we're out of medicine in Sokieti… It's for my friend's mom—he's over there—she has some sort of nightmare disease, and—"

Bisharp's angry eyes lit up. "Speak no more, young Vulpix! Queen Sari said that case was very important!" He stomped upstairs, his metal clanging against the floor.

Erkuli could hear Bisharp open the door. Suddenly, he heard a deep gasp, and then a quick slash. Like it was an instinct, both Inasa and he ran upstairs to see what had happened.

The door was still open. Red liquid flowed down the stairway—blood. Bisharp was laying on the floor. His hard metal torso had been cut through, splitting him in half and killing him. There was also a stab wound where his heart would be. A Pokémon was standing over another Pokémon, about to kill her. Erkuli recognized the latter as Queen Sari. And the other one…

"Liacreses!" he shouted.