"Lira, find cover!"

There is none. I barely hear my partner's warning above the roar of the earth and the horrified screams of those around us as the road and surrounding buildings begin to break apart. Many fall to their knees behind what little, stable shelter is nearby: Others charge from the collapsing structures into the already crowded, panicked mob. I clasp Ri's hand like a lifeline so we won't be separated from the rampaging mass of bodies and he pulls me to his side—his free arm braced around my hips—as Pokemon stampede around us. I grimace in pain as the hard-plating of a Yamask's mask rams into my shoulder and Ri and I both veer out of the way as a charging Donphan surges by.

A large pot of steaming broth falls to the ground from a nearby stall and rolls past our feet, followed by cords of dried herbs and vegetables hanging from the wooden beams that snap apart above us. The wood slams into a nearby fire and launches flames high into the air with such a burst of fury that I'm surprised nothing else catches around it.

"Where are the others?!" I scream. They're out in the middle of this: They could be anywhere!

"I-I don't know!" Ri's voice drips with equal terror.

Dust explodes from behind us and the tremors only get worse. We duck behind the stall's panels, partially shielding ourselves from the sheets of earth that crack apart from one of the buildings. In the distance, more horrified cried rise from the masses as a two-story is leveled to the ground—and I can see another fire starting up not too far from the collapse.

A young Sandshrew stumbles out from the ground and we both reach out to drag him to us: He's in such turmoil—shivering and keening from the surrounding chaos—that he at first doesn't even register that we're trying to help and fights back before we can pull him to safety. Another Ground-type—a Phanpy—rounds the stall from the opposite side and joins us in no better a state.

There has to be something we can do! I look around for any other realm of safety within the swirl of madness, eventually spotting at least part of a building that seems relatively stable: While a part of it has already collapsed, it has a good rock foundation around its based and a short, arched path that leads into the quad at its center. I rise up, bracing myself against one of the stall's surviving posts with my legs held apart, wildly motioning Pokemon onward, "Over there! Get over there! It's safer!"

But of course they don't hear me. I doubt anyone could even hear themselves think right now. And so I start grabbing people, plucking limbs from the crowd and pulling them toward me, screaming orders like a mantra as I shove them on, "Over there, over there! Hurry!"

Another wave of dust crashes over us, this one larger than the last—enough to blind us and send the Pokemon into an even bigger fit of terror. I squeeze my eyes and lips tightly shut, ducking my head to hide my face from the blast as bits of rock tear at my skin. The earth bucks. Another person rams into my side as they run past me. Something heavy falls a meter or so to my left, narrowly missing the people that veer around it.

When the dust clears just a little, I crack one eye open again to see the hulking figure of an Onyx bound through the crowd on the other side of the street only to loop back around the short distance and keep the Pokemon nearby stabled with his body—shielding them. Someone grabs the broth pot from earlier, pulling it over them as a kind of improvised helmet. Half of his attention on channeling the currents of people to safety and around the small group that have now gathered nearby us, Ri pulls me back down to the earth. I slide down the beam, my body as shaky as the wavering structures that still somehow manage to hold themselves up against the calamity.

I can't even tell what's safe anymore! Out here, we're lucky if we don't get trampled, swept up in the growing fires, or crushed by debris: Inside though, there's no one to retreat if the buildings collapse! Nature leaves us helpless. So we brace ourselves.

It probably only lasts somewhere around five minutes total, but it feels like an eternity until everything's calmed down. Even then, with the fires still going, it's far from over. The dust settles. The atmosphere turns disturbingly quiet. The buildings stop shaking for the most part. But the peace we enjoyed only a brief moment ago is lost.


Of course those of us from Wigglytuff's Guild are among the first responders. By the time Ri and I have helped contain the fires until what few Water-types that live here could come to the scene and have regrouped with the others, Wigglytuff and Chatot have already established an on-the-spot clinic with a pair of Bellossom. Thankfully, no one was killed, but not everyone walked out of the mess unscathed. I even had to get my shoulder checked, but luckily nothing tore. It'll just probably be sore for a day or two, just like Ri's arm and side from the same sort of beating he took from the stampede.

And as much as it's stark reminder of how unprepared we are, I'm incredibly happy when the Guildmaster takes control of the situation and starts giving orders. Almost as soon as we've checked in, Ri and I are sent out into the streets again, this time to help locate any missing civilians and get anyone trapped on the upper levels of buildings back down to solid ground.

Or as solid as it can be, given what happened. The earthquake completely distorted the village, almost beyond recognition. The sight of it makes me worry about the state of our camp and the Concealed Ruins: Even if everyone here's relatively ok, we may go back to find all of our work destroyed.

I just don't understand it. With as many Ground and Rock-type Pokemon that live here, shouldn't any of them have been able to tell ahead of time that something like this might happen? And what about the Absol that constantly roam the land—their abilities allow them to sense disaster in advance, so how come no one ever spotted any nearby? I don't want to believe it, but my mind echoes one of Cresselia's many warnings that she's given us in dreams ever since our battle against Darkrai in the Dark Crater:

"Darkrai's plotting spanned over many years in secret," she had said, "There's no telling when he decided to distort the world's balance by affecting time or space, or what powers he awakened during that time. As you remember, his strength was beyond that for his species. I don't envision the balance to correct itself easily, not in the least until Dialga and Palkia have restored order to their own realms—and that in itself will take a long while. Whatever occurs as a result of his actions, you must be prepared to set it right."

Right… As though attempting to destroy time hadn't been bad enough, whatever damage he caused to the Spatial Realm was enough to throw Palkia into a fiery rage. Time and space… The only thing he didn't have the chance to break was the was the antimatter-fueled world under Girantina's domain—and the last thing I want right now is to go after the worst of the Dimensional Trio of legendaries, specifically known in stories for being the most violent of the bunch. And if that happens, we're sending in Dusknoir. Ri and I have fought enough legendaries for one lifetime: It's time for he and the others to have another go at it!

"A pokè for your thoughts?" Ri teases me, bumping into my hip as we climb the dark stairwell of our of the larger buildings in town. By now, the sun has set, so we only have the dim moonlight filtering through the thin slants in the wall, my Aura Sphere, and his aura staff to light our way. It's getting late, but I don't think anyone of us—either on our team or in the Guild—would be fine with leaving the village as things are.

"Alright…" I murmur with a smirk. For not the first time that evening, we come across a ruined section of the stairwell, where enough steps have broken apart to leave a massive gap for us to jump across. It's not the worst—that would probably go to the roost where all of the steps had been little more than wooden planks jutting out of the wall—but it's enough of a leap for us to be careful across it. "This reminds me way too much of going up Temporal Tower."

Ri's the first to make the jump, using his staff to help drag his weight over the edge of the gap. "You don't have to tell me why," he grunts as he straightens himself back up, "Old, dusty passages in a half-ruined structure, the world falling apart around us… And to think things were simpler back then compared to now." He taps his staff against the wall. "I'm serious though: What's on your mind?"

I lunge up the gap next, my partner bracing me by taking my hand in his own as I land. "The usual?" I answer as we continue up the brief walk to the next floor, "What we're supposed to do now, how everything just keeps happening all over again no matter how many times we try to fix things, like… like this…" I kick a stone at my feet, hesitating for a moment before I continue, "I don't get how it hasn't driven you crazy."

"I don't think I've ever said it didn't…" he shrugs, looking down at his feet, "I don't like having to wait for things like this to keep happening any more than you do. I mean, when Cresselia joined the team, I thought we could at least get some answers from her, but it's like she's not going to talk about what we are any more than what we already know. At least with her focusing on finding Darkrai though, it's one less thing for us to worry about."

"Yeah, but this time, we don't even have a lead." When time was stopping, we at least knew that the Time Gears were involved. When Darkrai began to distort space, he came after us personally, so we didn't have to track him down. With him missing though—and worse, if he's lost his memory like I lost mine—we don't have the first clue how to stop the next wave of disasters from happening.

"Wigglytuff's already contacted the Expedition Team Federation for anything they can dig up," he reassures me, "We just have to wait and see what we can find on our own. Isn't that what you and Grovyle did anyway in the Dark Future when you were trying to figure out how to stop the Planet's Paralysis in the first place?"

Yeah, all thanks to your help… I want to remind him. But I don't. I know he feels pressured at times to live up to the hero that we knew his future-self to be. I think sometimes Grovyle forgets, because he's expecting our leader. I think, deep down, sometimes I'm expecting that too, so I have to stop myself from blurring who he is and who he was in that future together. If he feels as lost as I do with all that hangs over us, then I'm not going to add another weight to that.

We turn the corner to where we had sensed the nearest aura signature, which leads us into a long hall splitting off into eight rooms. This place is basically a boarding house: Lots of residential rooms a lot like the Guild's sleeping quarters, but larger, meant for temporary and permanent tenants alike; with a communal kitchen, dining hall, and recreation area on the first floor. I don't think all that many people actually stay here, but I can see it coming in handy when a group as big as the one we've brought with us from the Guild shows up for a long stay for work. For now though, the floor seems largely empty: There are others still inside the building on different levels, but only one to a few besides us on this one.

Each floor has a tall window carved out at the end of each hall. I walk up and open the shudders to peer down at the streets below, dotted with lights from the Pokemon waiting to catch whoever can't come down the stairs with us by using a strong net webbed together by the local Nincada. It must be at least four stories up and there's still another two to go, not counting the roof. The sight of my Aura Sphere signals the team over with the net to prepare them in advance. Meanwhile, Ri knocks on the door of one of the rooms. "Hello in there?" he calls through the wood, "It's Team Crusade. We're an exploration team from Wigglytuff's Guild, the ones excavating the Concealed Ruins? It's going to be ok now: We're coming in."

With the surprise earthquake having rattled everyone, my partner's been careful to give anyone this kind of head's up before walking in on them. You never know who'll lash out just because they're afraid. The door's a little wedged in, but a bit of force knocks it open on the first attempt. Someone's lit a candle over in one corner of the room, illuminating the space decorated by simple furnishings covered in gashes, three hay beds, and baskets of thorns.

A pair of Grass-types—one Cacnea and an older Cacturne that seems to be his father—huddle together on the opposite side of the room, sharing a meal in the dim light. They stare at us for a second before the child scuttles back behind their guardian, who gives him a comforting pat on the back. "You're going to get us out here? The stairway was destroyed."

"We've got a team below. They can catch you at the bottom, but if he's scared we can carry him down," Ri explains, nodding to the boy, "It'll be fine."

The idea of separating even for a brief moment doesn't seem to bode well for either of them, so I pop in, "I'm sure he'll be ok." I give my partner a sly nudge. "After all, the worst part of today's over. He's been as brave as his dad here for this long: I don't see how a little jump's going to scare him now."

I can see it working, if only a little, bolstering the kid as he looks up at Cacturne with fear mixed with resolve. Even he shows some reluctance himself—a lot of Grass-types prefer to keep their feet on the ground from what I've seen—the latter is quick to jump on my words if only to avoid the added trepidation that would come from him leaving his son alone. "He's been handling this like a pro," he replies in a deep, scratchy voice, "You'll be fine, right, boy?"

The hesitation in his eyes is still there, but not as much with the extra encouragement. Rather than answer at first, however, he looks down at the remaining half of the bun clasped in his hands, takes a breath, and shoves it in his mouth as though it could give him the last ounce of strength he needs to get over his fears. Only then, after a few passing seconds, does he gives the three of us a firm nod.

Cacturne steps away to put out the candle and Ri and I move to the side to allow the pair to exit the room and seal the door behind them. "There'll be food and medical help below," Ri tells them as we head over to the window, "A lot of the villagers are meeting up in the village circle too, so if you have any friends or family, you might find them there."

"Two coming down!" I shout at the waiting volunteers.

"I'll go first, so I'll be waiting for you," the Scarecrow Pokemon explains, rising up onto the window sill and peering over the edge. He freezes, but just for a moment. Then, he takes a breath—like father, like son—steels himself, and jumps.

A brief period of silence soon followed after by a chorus of cheers to alert those of us above that he's made it. Cacnea scrambles to the window, needing both mine and Ri's help to get up in order to peer over and see his father lying with his back on the net, bouncing for a moment before he can clumsily shuffle off. The funny display is enough to pull a nervous smile at his mouth, and though he's still radiating with fear, he also almost seems eager to jump once his father's safely to the side.

"It's not so bad!" We hear the latter shout from below, but he gives himself a moment to stretch his back.

"Get ready!" Ri shouts down to the team next, then he turns to me as he braces Cacnea for the leap, "Why don't you go ahead and start checking the other rooms? I'll be with you in a second."

"On it." We've been careful not to rely too much on aura since our skills haven't developed enough for them to work all the time. Aft all, we don't want to leave anyone up here by accident. I take the wall with four unchecked rooms because of my head start, knocking on each door and reciting a similar line to the one Ri gave the Grass-types. I've only checked the first room though, by the time Ri's started checking the other half of the hall.

We haven't done too bad reading the signatures on this floor, because every other room is empty. I'm on the third out of my four—which is another room of one the many Yamask that live in the village based on the pictures lying around from some kind of artist or craftsman probably—when for the first time in our routine that night something catches my eye.

There are the usual patterns that I've seen in almost every home by now: Designs of desert flora or rich geometric patterns, designs that mimic the masks the Yamask love to carry around so much. But then I see other patterns and inscriptions that I can't seem to remember where I know them from. Not at first. A longer, closer look though sends my mind veering back to the murals painted on the walls in the Concealed Ruins, with faces hiding in the shadows, largely faded or eroded by time.

Where did he pull these from…? I pick up a set of drawings lying on a short table and begin to flip through them. No one should've had access to the ruins expect for Ri and myself, unless anyone was crazy enough to battle the Expedition Team Federation and the legendaries guarding the place, not to mention my team's own wrath—and it's not like that many people knew about them to begin with since it's such a recent discovery. Could there be relics or ruins hidden somewhere closer to the village? I mean, it's possible. We're already started guessing that there are more temples hidden around than just the two Ri and I came across. There's at least one in the mountains further south, closer to the Foggy Forest, based on our travels in the Dark Future.

It's all so strange though…

"Lira?" I turn around to find Ri standing in the doorway behind me, his brows knit together, "It's Diglett. He's waiting for us below: He says it's important."

Oh, what now? I prepare myself for bad news. Diglett and Dugtrio had volunteered themselves to make the trip back to the Concealed Ruins to see if the earthquake had down any damage to the tunnels or our research. The way there is long enough, so I wasn't expecting them to make it back so soon. Setting the papers where I found them, I follow Ri out and back over to the window. Sure enough, I just barely make out the Mole Pokemon below.

"What is it?" I call down after him, "Is the camp alright? What got closed off?"

"It's not… It's not that…" he heaves, out of breath. He must've raced back here as fast as he could. "It's not the tunnels… Every—everything's fine…! Y-you just…!"

Ri and I share a look, but neither of us say anything. Fine? That can't be right, not except by some miracle. And if everything's fine, then why did he hurry over here?

"You guys… You just!" he continues to pant, "You really need to come see this!"