I don't think Dusknoir expected Grovyle to answer so quickly. He blinked his eye a few times before continuing. "But, they are only children! They haven't even evolved! How can you expect them to defeat the Deity of Time?"

"How do you expect us to defeat the Deity of Time?" I pointed out.

He turned away. "I don't. But what else can we do?"

"Exactly. This is all we can do. It's all that they can do as well. They know what's at stake as well as we do. They won't fail because they can't fail. Have a little faith."

"Uh…They…might not know…the whole story…"

"Oh? Did you perhaps not tell Squirtle that if time is put to right, his precious partner will disappear?"

"Grovyle! He doesn't know? When Risika…when she…that will destroy him!"

"I didn't…have a chance…" He looked at Dusknoir. "I was…preoccupied…"

Again, I was reminded that Dusknoir was a recent ally. But also a recent enemy. He had tried to kill Risika and Squirtle…

Oh…those two…What this would do to them if they won…

"We'll…cross that bridge…when it comes…"

"If it comes."

"Enough you two. Get some rest. Whether we can win or not, we at least need to put up a fight."

I left them both to their rest and joined the Sableye in scouring the tree for any leftover items. Every room I searched just made me feel worse. There was nothing…Whoever had robbed my tree had done a thorough job of it.

"Celebi! Celebi!" Two of the Sableye I had sent off to search the tree were running towards me.

Perhaps not so thorough after all? "What is it? Did you find anything?"

One of the Sableye nodded. "Wheh-heh-heh! A whole bag of Oran berries! And an apple! Though the apple looks a bit…ripe…"

'A bit' was an understatement. The apple was one poke away from being applesauce. And some of the Oran berries looked…strange…

The other Sableye had noticed this as well. He plucked one of the odd berries out of the bag and sniffed it. He then threw it at his partner's head.

"Wheh-heh! This is an OREN berry you fool! Do you want to kill Master Dusknoir?"

"You found them too! I bet you found half of those Oren berries! I picked up Oran berries! I checked!"

"I doubt that!"

"Wheh-heh-heh! Would you like an Oren berry stuffed down your throat!"

"ENOUGH!"

A little point I'd like to make. When I have someone to take care of, I get a tad…cranky. Bickering, with a room of injured Pokémon trying to rest right down the hall, is not a good way to keep me in a cheerful mood.

The Sableye had noticed this.

"Now. Sort the Orans from the Orens and put them quietly in the bedroom. Then go to the room next to it with the cots, and get some sleep."

"Heh?"

"What?"

"You…you want us to sleep? But…but we…"

If I live to be yet another decade, I will never understand Sableye. Didn't they want a rest?

"Aren't you tired at all? I mean, you fought Primal Dialga. Not to mention my timeslides could take it out of anybody. I just thought you might want a break."

"Wheh…we...do. It's just…no one ever…"

"We just never had someone give us a break when there were still things to do."

"Well that's a poor way to run things! Working your people to exhaustion! That's not how we do things. You're no good to anyone tired, for one thing. Go. The cots are all set up. Get some sleep."

You'd think I had given them a Golden Apple the way they looked at me. It was sad; the way Primal Dialga treated his soldiers.

How Dusknoir treated his soldiers…

"Celebi!"

I had forgotten that three of the six Sableye had been searching the tree. "What is it? What have you found?"

"Wheh-heh! Not any items, but I did find this!" He brandished a paper at me.

"What is it?"

"A note!"

"From whom?"

"Wheh-heh-heh! That's the strange bit. It says it's from you!"

.,.,,.,,.,.,,.,.,,.,.,.,.,.,,.,,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,..,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,..,.,.,,.,..,.,.,.,.,

Fear me, for I am a dialogue-er. This is the part of the story where having a handy time travel chart would be handy. Hold on tight, it's gonna get confusing.

(Wibbly-Wobbly, Timey-Wimey)