Chapter 3

The Scream

I was awakened by my personal alarm clock, Loudred.

"UP AND AT EM'! IT'S MORNING!" He shouted as loud as possible.

"Ugh… Mornin' Alex," yawned Tim. We got up, I grabbed my silver ribbon, and headed to the main area. I was happy to see Summer and Quinton were there. After cheers, chatot approached us.

"It still seems as if you are lost," he said.

"We haven't even taken any steps to go any where," I grumbled. Chatot obviously didn't hear me as he continued, "Just follow me, team Diamond. I'll show you where to go,"

Chatot lead us to the upper floor, but instead of going to the side we had gone to the day before, the bird lead us to the other side.

"Huh?" asked Tim. "Last time, you gave us a job over there. What's the difference?"

"Well, look at the posters," said chatot. We did as instructed.

"Wow! Look at all these Pokemon! Really, Alex, look! Who are these guys, chatot? Are they all famous explorers or something?"

"No, unfortunately not," he replied. He seemed sad. "No, all these Pokemon are outlaws."

"What!" yelped Tim. He attracted the attention of the trio of poocheyena, but they all simply shrugged it off and continued yapping. "You want us to take out an outlaw?"

"Well, yes. But I'll find you just a naughty thief. Nothing too hard, my friend. Nothing too hard." Looking around, he then changed his mind. "No, actually, I'll just get Bidoof to do it. He looks bored." Whistling shrilly, he summoned Bidoof. "Bidoof, these are the new apprentices. I would like you to show them around."

"Yup yup!" he exclaimed. "That'll do! I'll do my best, yup yup!"

Turning to us, Bidoof said, "Golly, this is nice. I've been the newest recruit before you all came here, yup yup! But now," he continued, starting to cry, "I'm senior to you two!" shaking his head, he started again, "Now, let me show you around,"

Taking us out into the glorious sunlight, Bidoof looked around and admired the day. He walked down the stairs and went right.

"This is the main plaza," Bidoof explained. "This is where all the Pokemon from treasure town usually gather."

"Oh, Alex!" Tim exclaimed. "I can tell you about treasure town, too!" looking around, he showed me a building with piles of money around it. "This is duskull bank. We can store all our money here so that we don't loose it in dungeons."

"That over there is Keckleon market," cut in Bidoof, indicating a store across a small stream. "You can buy and sell items there."

"Hey, Bidoof," said Tim. "You forgot Electivere link shop, although, it doesn't seem to have anyone running it at the moment…"

"Well, yes, as I was saying, beyond the Keckleon market, there is Kangashkan storage."

"We can store items that are really important to us and we don't want to lose in dungeons, like special bows and other things like that,"

"Well, that's it," said Bidoof. "I'll wait at the guild so that you can deposit your money or buy something, ok?"

"Yeah, that works," Tim said. Turning to me, he said, "Let's go to the Keckleon market. Who knows? They may have a really great deal on an item or two!"

So we left Bidoof to go to the Keckleon market.

"Why, hello Tim," said the green Keckleon.

"Who's your friend?" asked the purple Keckleon. To make things much easier, I will refer to each one as either green or purple.

"This is my new friend, Alex," he said nonchalantly. "Hey, do you have any good deals today?"

"Of course, Tim," said green. "Let me see what I have,"

Just as he turned around, though, a Marill and Azurill bounced up, just as happy as could be. Oh lord… kids…

"Hello Misters Keckleons!" joyously sang Azurill.

"Why, hello my little friends," said purple. "What are you doing here? I thought that-"

"Hey, Helloooooooooooooooo?" came a voice. Another one said, "Come out, come out where ever you are….."

"Quick, big brother," squealed Azurill, "Let's go hide," they snickered and went around to the back side of the store. There was an angry squawk from green, but after seeing the brothers, he made no more noise.

I was somewhat surprised to see the members of team sapphire approaching.

"Oh, hey Tim, Alex!" said Quinton.

"Hey, have any of you seen the brothers around?" asked Summer.

"Um… Nope, can't say I have," said purple.

"Sorry, nope," said green.

"What about you?" Summer asked me. "Have you seen the Marill and Azurill brothers?"

"Um… well, what do they look like?"

Summer mumbled something about me maybe getting hit on the head harder than she knew, and then asked Tim, "Have you seen them?"

"Sorry, but no," he said. He bit his lower lip to stop from smiling, but by then Quinton had heard the brothers giggling from the inside of the store.

"Found You!" he said. He hopped the counter of the store and tagged the little children.

"Awwww…" sighed Azurill.

"He got us again!" replied his brother. "You two are awesome at this game!"

"Well, I guess that's why we play. Ok, well, Summer and I've got to go," said Quinton.

"Hey, we can at least talk to Alex and Tim some?" asked Summer.

"Yeah, sure. Whatever."

"Oh, I almost forgot!" said green. "Here's some apples for you and your mother,"

"Thank you!" said little Azurill. He too the apples, but dropped one. "Oops!" he said. I picked it up for him and handed it to him. "Thanks," he said, smiling. He was very cute, with his little chubby cheeks and huge bouncy tail. His eyes got all googly, but his brother called him. As he and his brother started walking away, it started.

I suddenly got very dizzy. I wanted to say something, but my mouth wouldn't open. Everything went black, but I was still conscious of my surroundings. Sort of, anyway. There was a pure white line drawn across my field of vision and a star radiated from the middle. I heard a shrill scream, "HELLLLLLLLLLPPPPPP!" then everything went back to normal.

"Hey, Alex?" Tim said. "You kind of fazed out there for a second. You 'k?"

"Wait, what?" I stammered. "Did any of you just hear, like, a scream or something?"

"N-no…" said Summer. She was looking at me like I was some freak. "Why that? I didn't hear anything,"

"Nor did I," sighed green. His brother agreed.

"I heard my stomach rumble," complained Quinton. "I'm hungry. Let's go, Summer."

"Uh, ye-yeah…" she said. She was still looking at me. Then she turned and followed Quinton out of the store. "See you two later,"

"Yup!" said Tim. Turning to me, he said, "We should go too, Alex. Bidoof's waiting for us,"

I followed Tim out of the store, all the while thinking. Had I really heard that? Or was it just a day-dream? Oh well.

Tim and I dropped off some supplies to Kangashkan storage. Mrs. Kangashkan was so kind.

"Oh my dears! I'll be happy to store items for you!" she said. Her little child in her pouch cooed. "Now now, honey," she said, gently rocking on the balls of her feet. "In a minute, my child. I'm with customers, my sweet,"

She took our items and put them in the back storage. Coming back, she asked if there was any thing else.

"Nope," replied Tim. He turned to me and said, "C'mon, Alex! Let's go back to the guild"

So we did. Well, tried to anyway. We met up with Quinton and Summer, who were just finishing up their breakfast. We all walked together back to the main plaza. There, we saw Drowzee and the brothers conversing.

"Sure! I'd love to help you look for your item!" Drowzee said. "To ignore a child's plea would be heartless!" he saw us, nodded, and said, "These are two of the finest little boys I've ever seen! They are so courteous, all the pleases and thank you's! I'd never ignore them!" turning back to the boys, he said, "C'mon, let's go!" as they left, Drowzee bumped into me.

"Oops, so sorry," he said, helping me back up. He gave a smile and left.

Then it happened again. The dizziness and blackness, the line and the star. The difference was that I saw Drowzee and little Azurill in a mountainous area.

"Look, kid," he was saying. "If you are going to be difficult, it'll mean big trouble for you,"

"H-he-HELP!" screamed the child. The image faded and I saw only duskull bank ahead. Tim was calling me. "Hell-oooooooooooooooo? Earth to Alex, Come in Alex?"

I blinked and looked at Tim.

"Wassa madda you?" he said, looking not the least bit concerned. "You 'k? you don't look to good, Alex. Something the matter?"

I told him the vision I had just seen.

"What?" said everyone, including Summer. "Drowzee's bad? He sure didn't seem that way,"

"You've just been day-dreaming," said Quinton.

"What else could it be?" continued Tim.

"How could you think up such a stupid dream?" chided Summer. Turning, she looked at Quinton. "C'mon Quinton. We've already picked out our jobs. Let's go." So they went off as Tim and I dropped off the last of our money to the shady Duskull. After that, we returned to the guild to find Bidoof waiting for us.

"About time," he said, tapping a paw on the ground.

"Oh, catch a magicarp, would you?" I said irritably. I hated being called a liar by friends, no matter how new they were. "So… Now what?"

"Well, as your mentor," said Bidoof, looking proud of himself, "How 'bout I do the choosing? Well, let's see… Eenie meenie mineey-" but he was cut off by a rumbling noise.

"AHHH!" screamed Tim. "It's an earthquake! Quick, everyone! To the door frames! Make sure you're wearing your rubber-soled shoes-"
I looked at Bidoof. He asked, "Is, um, Tim always a spaz like this?"

"I dunno" I said as the rumbling stopped. "I only met him yesterday…." The Outlaw Billboard looked different

"Dugtrio changed the boards, it seems," said Bidoof calmly while Tim was settling down.

"Well, you kind of could have said that a while ago," said Tim, who looked tired. With all his running around like a banshee, I don't blame him.

I looked at the board to choose a job. I reached for one, seemingly drawn to it by a magnet, and I took it down.

"T-Timothy…" I said with a shaky voice when I had seen it. "L-Look at th-this…"

"What?" he said light heartedly. "Did you find some long-forgotten enemy of your past?"

"Worse, Tim. Things just got a whole lot worse," I said as I showed him the wanted poster for Drowzee. He looked at me, then we both sprinted up the hatch and away from the guild. I faintly heard Bidoof calling after us, but we were already gone.

"There's Marill!" exclaimed Tim as he ran down the slope. I saw him too and ran to him.

"Where's your brother?" I asked. Looking around, I also saw no sign of Drowzee.

"I-I don't know," he said. "They were right behind me, and then, poof! They were gone!"

"Where was the last place you saw them?" I asked.

"This way!" he said, leading us away from the town. We arrived at a mountain shortly after.

"Let's go!" said Tim as he led the way to Mount Bristle.

8 floors. Mostly rock and poison type. Kind of hard for me. Woo hoo.

We reached the top of the mountain just as Drowzee was threatening the poor little Azurill.

"-it'll mean trouble for you,"

"H-HE-HELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLPPPP!"

"Drowzee, you bully!" shouted Tim. The startled outlaw turned to see us.

"Hey, aren't you those guys from town square?"

"Yes! We're here, Team Diamond!"

"We are here to apprehend you, Drowzee!"

"Oh… well, I'm not going to cuss in front of this kid, but… hey, you, Riolu… you're trembling…"

It was true. Tim was shaking un-controllably.

With a triumphant smirk, Drowzee laughed, "Oh ho ho… I get it now. You two say you're here to arrest me, but you're total rookies! Ha! This should be a laugh!" and thus, the battle began.

I mostly used faint attack, while Tim was using bite. Nom, nom, nom. In no time, we had beaten Drowzee to a pulp.

"Ooooohhhhhh…." He sighed, and then he collapsed. David and I ran around to Azurill, who had been cheering like he was at a hockey game. Things like, "Fight! Fight! Fight!" and "Die!" and, well, you get the picture.

"You 'k?" asked Tim worriedly.

"Yeah, I guess…" he said. Then he saw me and fake-cried, "OH! I scratched my knee. Oh the pain! I need someone to kiss it to make it all better,"

Growling slightly, I gave his perfectly fine knee a small kiss. What I really wanted to do was use ember, but I didn't.

"Yay! All better! Give me a hug!"

"No!"

"Puhweeze?"

"No! It's against the rules."

"Oh… now can I have a hug?"

Ignoring the love-stuck kid, I told Tim to wait here while I went to get the authorities. I came back with officer Magnizone and two of his deputies, both Magnemites.

They took Drowzee into custody and praised our good work.

I grumbled as we walked down the mountain. Azurill was having a field day jabbering about some random thing. Then he stopped and started crying. "Bwover!"

"Azurill!" cried Marill as he came running. Along with Summer and Quinton.

"We came as soon as we heard," panted Summer.

"Y-yeah," said Quinton. He looked like he had run a marathon. I asked him what was up.

"Well, I used a warp seed to explore and try and find some stairs. Well, instead, I found a monster house. Oh joy, there were no more warp seeds."

"Good thing I already knew he was in trouble," said Summer, looking proud of herself. "I came only after 3 or 4 moves. Together, Quinton and I must have KO'd about 20 Pokemon."

"I couldn't have done it without you," said Quinton. "I'm eternally grateful, as always when you save my-"

"Yeah, I get the picture," I said. I felt as if I was in a furnace. "Is it me, or is it hot?" I asked. Everyone shook their head no.

"Hey, Alex," you don't look too good. Again. I'm constantly asking you if you're OK. So, are you? Alex? Alex!"

Well, it's not like I know everything about being a Vulpix! How was I supposed to know that I was supposed to release my internal fire from time to time, or else I'd over heat? Do you think I read the Pokedex in my spare time? Even if I did, I don't remember."

"Well, it's true that you have not been a Pokemon for a long time… apparently… But still, if you ever have an urge to let it rip, then just don't do it near Summer, Alexis. Understood?"

"Yes, Chatot."

Well, now that I know, I can tell you. Apparently, we (I mean that as we Vulpix) control fire balls. But, as a consequence, we must release it every once in a while. What ever.

"Well, at least you're gonna be ok," said Tim. "I was really worried about you."

"Really?"

"Heck yeah! I can't be Team Diamond with just one guy, can I?"

I only smiled at his remark. "C'mon. Let's go eat."

"Yeah! I'm starving!"

Later that stormy night…

"Hey, Alex? You awake?"

"mmmhmmm"

"You know what Chatot said the other day ? About the flow of time messing up?"

"Yeah. Why? I was about to ask you what he meant by that."

"Well, as he told us, the flow of time is getting messed up. No body knows why, but everyone thinks it has to do with the Time Gears,"

"Time Gears?"

"yup… everyone believes that time gears exist in special places, like an altar in a forest, a shrine in a volcano, and there may even be one under the sea. Each gear protects the flow of time in it's region."

"So, what happens if a time gear is lost or stolen?"

"No one knows for sure, but we think if a Time Gear is stolen, then time would stop in that region."

I started to feel queasy as Tim continued, "That's why even the most hardened criminal is sure not to mess with them,"

"Tim, I feel kinda… strange… I mean, not fire-ball strange, but as if… never mind, let's get some sleep."

But even as I drifted off to sleep, I knew something horribly bad was happening. Just at that moment.

Just at that moment…

He had given up looking for her hours ago. Now he was looking for what he came here for.

"Do my eyes deceive me? Could it be? Yes, it is! A Time Gear! At last, I have found it! But, this is only the first of many…"

"HEY! UP AND AT 'EM! IT'S MORNING!"

"Ugh, Good morning, Alex…" yawned Tim. We both stretched, and greeted Summer and Quinton. I would put my ribbon in my hair and head to morning briefing.

"You, two," said chatot after we were disbanded to our chores. "Your assignment for today is to check out the outlaw and job boards. That is all."

We looked at each other and headed up the stairs. We picked out three jobs in drenched bluff, bought some things at the store, put all our money in the bank, and then went off to do our jobs. After they were done, we came back to the guild and talked to the other apprentices until dinner was served. Then we went to bed. Every day was like this for the next week. That is, until…