Aether sat down in between two burning pits, thinking about what to do next. He had no lead. Okay, so there was a big, mean Pokemon wandering around. He didn't know where it was at this point. He needed to find Arceus by playing a mystical instrument that he didn't know where it was, either. Alakazam had provided some background and interesting tidbits. Now what?

"Now what?" Razon voiced, flopping down in his pool of water. "Night-vern--"

"Nighvern."

"Right. Whatever. Nighvern was been awakened, so now where is it? You fought it and it ran off. Now what?"

"I was thinking of that myself." Aether stood up and began pacing around, which was how he got rid of excess energy and nervousness. "We need some magical instrument to find Arceus. We need Arceus's help to defeat Nighvern. Arceus is far away, and we don't know where the instrument is."

Razon snorted. "It'd be pretty funny if the ancient instrument was a rusty banjo with a broken string." Razon held his arms up and began "playing" a tune, acting as if he had a broken string. Aether threw a nearby rock at him. Razon laughed again.

"What are you guys talking about?" Gloria asked, sitting down in between the two Pokemon.

"What to do next," Aether replied, speaking in the human language again. "We need some musical instrument that time forgot or something to find a legendary Pokemon named Arceus. We need Arceus's help to defeat Nighvern, which is the baddie that attacked you. We don't know where it is."

Gloria looked at Razon, who shrugged. She turned back to Aether. "Doesn't anybody know where it is?"

Aether shrugged. "Whiscash, maybe. He's more of a storyteller than a historian."

"How about Xatu?" Aether snapped his attention to Gloria. "Isn't he supposed to be a Psychic-type that knows all sorts of things? Didn't he automatically tell you were human?"

"Girl, you are a genius."

"Happy to help."

Aether stood up and walked toward the base's exit. "Razon, we're going to the Great Canyon to find Xatu. I'm sure he can shed some light on the situation. You coming?"

Razon stood up as well and splashed out of the pool to join Aether. Gloria trotted up as well.

"You're coming, too?" Aether asked her. She nodded. "Alright. It's a pretty long way to the Great Canyon, though. If you ever get tired, crawl onto one of our backs."

Gloria nodded and followed the two Pokemon out of the base. They walked off together down south, going into desert territory.

--

"It's getting hot," Gloria slurred, resting on Aether's back.

It was true that it was becoming sweltering. Even Razon was sweating. It didn't phase him too much, since he was used to walking long distances and sweating a lot during rescue missions. The heat didn't bother Aether, since he was a Fire-type. He embraced it, but felt bad for the human girl, who wasn't used to such weather.

"Razon, can you cool Gloria off?" Aether asked. "Try not to hit me."

Razon squirted out some water on Gloria. Aether winced as several droplets hit him, feeling more like thumbtacks than water.

"Well, at least you can enjoy the scenery," Aether said.

"Or lack thereof," Razon corrected.

It was desert all around. They were standing on sand, and the occasional boulder was fond here and there. The sky was perfectly clear, allowing the sun to burn down on the three travelers.

"How far are we to the canyon?" Gloria asked, feeling better.

"Not too far. We're passing by a few neat locations, though. Far off to your right is an area filled with boulders and lots of Pokemon. You see the sand clouds swirling around in it?" Gloria nodded. "The place is wracked by sandstorms. It's pretty dangerous there. A while ago, we passed by those ancient ruins with Mew in them."

"There's the Great Canyon."

Aether looked where Razon was pointing. Sure enough, far ahead of them was a towering structure of rock. Seeing as they were in the desert, it was likely several miles away.

"Xatu is at the top," Aether said. "Once we get there, we'll start climbing."

--

"I'd like to come back here someday," Gloria said, picking up the umpteenth rock along the side of the canyon wall. "There are a lot of interesting rocks here."

"Like limestone and all that sort of thing?"

"Yep. I've found a few of those around."

Aether looked up. They were nearing the top, where Xatu was, always looking at the sun at the top of a cliff. (Razon always wondered how he could do that without his "eyes becoming jelly.")

"We're at the top," Aether said, dropping Gloria off of his back.

Aether strode over to the psychic bird Pokemon. It's torso looked like it was wearing some sort of vest. A feather-like object was sticking out of his head. "Xatu, we're back."

The bird turned around and looked at the young Charizard. "You are back, Aether and Razon."

"Isn't that what we just said?"

Ignoring Aether's response, Xatu turned to Gloria. "This human...she is the only human on this continent. She came from faraway. Her name is Gloria."

Aether looked at Gloria, who hadn't understood what was said. If she did, she would have been very surprised, Aether supposed. Xatu had guessed Aether's identity and human form when he had first met him, too.

"We came here to ask you a question," Razon filled in. "It's about some sort of mystical instrument that leads us to Arceus. We don't know where it is. We figured you'd know."

Xatu was silent for about thirty seconds. Aether hated it when he did that.

"The world...it has become darker," Xatu finally said. "The aura of the world...it is becoming covered in shadow. An evil has reawakened. Something must be done."

"Um, yeah," Razon said, becoming slightly annoyed.

"This evil was once with Arceus," Xatu continued. "They fought. They warred between each other for supremacy. The Pokemon of light won."

"Arceus," Aether translated. "So, Arceus won. We already know about that. What about the musical instrument?"

"However," Xatu continued, making Aether wonder if he had heard him at all, "the evil Pokemon has been reawakened from its sleep. It now runs free among the world. Only one can stop this."

"Arceus."

"You."

"Oh."

Xatu turned back towards the sun. "But you cannot do this alone, Aether. You must have help. Help must always be wanted. Or else the world will fall."

Aether clenched his fists. Xatu had a very annoying habit of beating around the bush for a long time before finally getting down to what they needed to know. He decided to just let Xatu talk himself out until he finally reached what he wanted.

"Arceus is needed. Arceus must be contacted. You must have his help. To do this...you must find the Azure Flute." Aether felt butterflies in his stomach. "The Azure Flute...it is faraway. Out of this continent. Out of the home you know. It is found in a distant region. Sinnoh, it is called. The Azure Flute is buried deep within that foreign world."

"Where in 'that foreign world,' though?" Aether asked.

"It is below the Earth's surface," Xatu continued. "It is below a small, crumbling tower. Malevolent Pokemon spirits infest this tower. Spiritomb, they are called. They guard this treasure, the Azure Flute."

Aether nodded. "Where's that tower?"

"I cannot see this. The crumbling tower...it is somewhere in Sinnoh. But I know not where."

Aether nodded again and turned to Gloria, who was thoroughly confused as to what was going on. "Well, we're going home," he told Gloria. "We found the location of the Azure Flute and all we need to know. I'll be leaving for the continent of Sinnoh soon. For now, let's rest at the rescue team base."