In Team Space-Time's last adventure, Pelame intuitively deduced Unod's plan. With an unintentional clue from Uxie, whose Lake was destroyed earlier that day, Pelame figured out that Unod was making her way to the Hidden Land with the intention of destroying time itself. The Guild Crew, joined by Grovyle's team, Team Space-Time, Team Skull, Team AWD, and Team Charm, all left to confront Unod before such a thing could happen.


Chapter 7 – Team Space-Time's Demise


"I said what took you so long?!"

The entire group was surprised, but relieved.

"Sneasel!" Pelame said. "We haven't seen you since last night! Where were you?"

"We were worried sick!" Pugno added. "What happened?"

"I left ahead of all of you," Sneasel said. "But I knew you'd catch up. So, Unod should be coming, right?"

"Actually," Gardevoir said. "The plan is to go to her. She should be along the straight path from Fogbound Lake to Treasure Town."

"This point is directly in the middle of the two," Chatot said. "She can't be too far ahead, so be ready, if you're joining us."

"Of course I'm joining!" Sneasel said.

"Perfect," Koffing said. "Then get over here!"

"Don't tell me what to do, gas cloud," Sneasel said.


At Mount Horn, things were getting even colder, telling the crew what would be coming up ahead.

"She's close," Cresselia said. "Her power resonates all over the mountain."

Everyone was prepared as they continued their way up the mountain.

"Dusknoir, may I ask you something?" Pelame asked.

"I'm listening," Dusknoir said, surprised that Pelame was actually speaking to him.

"Why were you the way you were before? The Guildmaster says that there's no such thing as pure evil, so why were you once the closest thing to it?"

"It's simple, but it's no excuse. I feared disappearing from history. More than that, I feared death."

For as much as Pelame still hated Dusknoir, this was the first time she was interested in what he had to say.

"Master—Primal Dialga, as you know, was only concerned with self-preservation. I was much like him in that regard. Once I became his servant, I was not to do anything to make him think I was resisting his ways. I would either disappear from history if you and your friends saved Temporal Tower in this era, or I would be executed by Primal Dialga himself. Doing the things I did was the only way I could stay alive, which was what I wanted above all else. Though I knew there would be no such thing as immortality to me, I guess I just wasn't able to accept that as a fact. Though Ghost-types like myself don't die naturally, they're not totally immortal, wither. So I decided I'd do anything to live as long as I could. But I made all the wrong choices to do so."

Pelame was starting to understand Dusknoir now.

"It's thanks to Grovyle that I finally saw that mindless servitude to Primal Dialga wasn't truly living. Now, I think I was living a life that wasn't my own. Grovyle is the reason for my living a life that truly is my own."

"I see," Pelame said. "It must have been miserable working for Primal Dialga. He made you do such horrible things. He could very well have ruined your life. I never knew how hard you had it before, but I'm now starting to see that you really have changed for the better."

At that, Grovyle and Celebi perked up in unison.

"Now that I know that truly living is doing something that will matter to the world, I decided to assist all of you in preserving the world as we know it. Unod may be powerful, but she's not invincible."

"Not invincible? Excellent assumption. Now, let me prove you wrong!"

Everyone turned in time to see a large evil energy ball flying toward them.

"Protect!" Cresselia shouted. A protective field of light surrounded the group, shielding them from the ambush. The force was still enough to knock them all back. Dusknoir caught Pelame just as she started to fall off the mountain. Unfortunately, Unod appeared right behind Dusknoir as he was busy with the rescue.

"Drop her," Unod said. "It'll be charity for the world."

Before either Dusknoir or Unod could respond, Celebi came to their rescue.

"Ancient Power!" she shouted, nailing Unod in the head with one of the rocks.

"Leaf Blade!" Grovyle shouted, lunging blades-first at Unod. To everyone's surprise, Unod blocked the Leaf Blades with a weapon she just now appeared to have.

"What the—" said a Sableye. "Since when did Unod have a lance?"

"That lance is her left arm!" Medicham said.

With blades locked, Grovyle started to push Unod toward the edge of the cliff, leaving him unprepared for what came next. He felt as though something was electrocuting him, a suspicion that Unod proved right by pushing him back and striking him directly with a malevolent electrical discharge. He was instantly paralyzed by the direct hit.

"I guess it was a mistake to leave wild Pokémon in charge of you," Unod taunted. "Despite that, you're going to stop living immediately."

Unod lunged lance-first at Grovyle. Being paralyzed prevented him from being able to dodge the attack. Fortunately, Dusknoir came to his rescue with an Ice Punch hitting Unod directly in her face.

"YOOM-TAAAH!" shouted Guildmaster Wigglytuff as he launched a Hyper Voice at Unod.

Unod reacted by letting it hit her right index finger, which she then pointed at Dusknoir. She then blasted him point-blank with the Guildmaster's very own Hyper Voice attack.

"How in the world did she do THAT?!" Loudred asked.

"Normal-type moves shouldn't even work on Ghost-types!" Lopunny said.

"And yet," Gardevoir said. "When she deflected Wigglytuff's Hyper Voice at Dusknoir, it worked as if it were something he's weak against."

"Demon-type!" Pelame said. "Unod didn't just deflect the Guildmaster's attack. She absorbed it, converted it to a Demon-type attack, and then blasted Dusknoir with it!"

"You waste your time observing such details," Unod taunted.

"Heal Bell!" Celebi shouted.

"No you don't!" Unod countered, striking Celebi with her energy whip before the Heal Bell could go off. The whip struck Celebi between her wings, effectively sending her to the ground. Unod teleported beneath her and caught her as she fell.

"Too bad," Unod said. "You've all condemned this little pixie to an untimely death. I guess that's what she gets for knowing you." She looked toward Grovyle. "First Loyal, and now Celebi. And before you could even have a first night out!"

Unod tightened her grip on Celebi's head.

"That's enough!" Dusknoir shouted, throwing a Dark Pulse at Unod. She caught it in the same way she did Wigglytuff's Hyper Voice earlier. She then put her index finger in Celebi's mouth.

"Skull Bash!" Pelame shouted. As she charged at Unod, a white aura surrounded her. She hit Unod directly with her attack. The absorbed Dark Pulse was shot harmlessly into the sky as a result. Pugno dove forward and caught Celebi.

"Thanks, Pugno," Celebi said. "I would've been a goner."

"What do you mean 'would've been?'" Unod taunted. "YOU'RE ALL GONERS!"

The entire mountain started to shake under Unod's power. An evil aura surrounded her. Part of the aura shot toward the peak of the mountain, slicing it off and then lifting it. Unod then flew up to it and tossed it at everyone below. Before it could connect, a glowing white force field surrounded the Pokémon. It appeared to be emanating from Pelame. The field held strong as the peak collided with it and crumbled.

"Pelame, how are you doing that?" Celebi asked.

"I don't know," Pelame answered. "But didn't I show this power earlier when I saved Celebi? My kind shouldn't even be able to know the Skull Bash attack!"

When the dust cleared, Unod caught a glimpse of the field just as it faded.

"Pelame," she thought. "Where is her abnormal power coming from? She must be this generation's part of the Alpha Bloodline!"

"So, Pugno," Unod said. "How do you like being deprived of the Dimensional Scream?"

Everyone was confused at this query.

"I'm not surprised you missed it, since you haven't used it in years. Still, I was happy to take it off your hands for you!"

"She can…steal power from her…opponents?!" Grovyle thought. "And she stole Pugno's Dimensional Scream ability!"

"But it's your lives I really want, of course," Unod continued. "You all disgust me by your daring to think you deserve your lives. You don't!"

"Oh, shut up," Skuntank shouted. "You're the one who doesn't deserve to live, you murderer!" He then launched a Flamethrower attack at Unod. He was assisted by Koffing's own Flamethrower and Zubat's Heat Wave attack. Unod effortlessly deflected it at Team AWD, who dodged it in time.

"Okay, everyone stop doing that," Drapion said.

"Yes, no more ranged attacks," Arbok said.

"That way, she'll have nothing to deflect," Weavile said.

"AURA SPHERE!" Pugno shouted, launching his attack at Unod.

"WHAT DID WE JUST—" Team AWD was interrupted by what happened next. To everyone's surprise, Unod wasn't able to deflect Pugno's attack. Her right hand was badly damaged as a result, rendering it useless.

"Look!" Chatot said.

"Her right hand!" Chimecho shouted. "It's hurt!"

"Everyone!" Pelame shouted. "This is our chance!"

"GOTCHA!" Loudred shouted. "HYPER VOICE!"

Everyone then followed Loudred's lead, hitting Unod with their best attacks. Once she was on the ground, Pelame approached her.

"This is it for you, Unod. You'll never get to the Hidden Land. Double-Edge!"

With that final attack, the World Destroyer was brought down to her knees.

"FINALLY!" Loudred said.

"That'll teach you what happens when you mess with the Pokémon world!" Celebi taunted. She turned to the team and used her Heal Bell on them all.

"Well, our work here is done," Skuntank said. "See you fools around." With no further conversation, Team Skull left. Team AWD followed suit.

"Glad we got to help take that monster down," Lopunny said. "If you'll excuse us, we've got treasure to find. Hope to see you all again!" With that, Team Charm went on their way.

"Thanks for all your help!" Pelame said to the departing Teams. "You all did great!" She turned to face the ones who remained. "And so did all of you!"

The remaining group turned to Unod.

"Now," Dusknoir said. "What to do with you?"

"Trying to destroy our world was a really dumb move," Celebi said.

"So, you really are attached to this wretched world, are you?" Unod asked. "The lengths you would go to to save it are wasted efforts, by all rights."

"Not done yet, huh?" Pugno asked, getting ready to attack.

"Oh, I'm very far from done," Unod gloated. "But I'm wise enough to recognize an enemy's trump card when I see it. And since I spotted yours, I forfeit this match."

Everyone was dumbfounded by this announcement, though they weren't buying it for a second.

"She's up to something," Celebi warned. "The moment we take our eyes off of her, she'll strike us right in the back for sure."

"I will be doing nothing like that," Unod said. "I don't need to. After all, you've all ignored your common senses enough to wander blindly into my trap. Willingly, even! Why, by even heading into my path of destruction, you just as good as told me 'Unod, we're yours! Do with us as you please!' And here is where I will oblige your wish!"

"What are you trying to pull?!" Grovyle demanded, his Leaf Blades ready to attack her at the slightest provocation.

"So you won't even allow me to speak to you all?" Unod asked. "I lured you all here to talk to you. By causing me to forfeit a battle, you've earned the right to a discussion with me. And you all know of my insatiable bloodlust by now, so the fact that I decided to admit that I, someone who would do anything to see you all dead, lost to you, who got on my hit-list just for hatching out of eggs, really takes effort. And to see you all throw my trust in you back at me like a weapon really hurts my feelings. You're going to make an old lady cry. Are you all proud of yourselves?!"

"You're joking," Pugno said. "You have no feelings to speak of!"

"Besides," Dusknoir said. "Taking into account all the Pokémon you killed, completely destroying our world in the future, arranging an execution in the Boiling Forest for three of my friends as well as a local you lied about rescuing, using Grovyle as a puppet to kill one of our fellow rookies, the path of destruction you've left directly behind you, and now your attempt to kill all of us in one fell strike, you really are deluded if you think anyone is going to trust you now!"

"Trust me?" Unod asked. "That's a laugh to hear you say, Mister I-nearly-got-a-friend's-soul-destroyed-so-I-could- possess-his-body-and-use-it-to-keep-the-world-ruin ed!"

Dusknoir, Grovyle, Celebi, and the Sableye soldiers faltered at that statement.

"Using Grovyle as a puppet to kill Loyal really was no different from your plan, Dusknoir. Except, exactly how many Pokémon were you planning to kill?"

Grovyle was hoping this information would be revealed at a time where Dusknoir had successfully gained everyone's trust. That hadn't happened yet as Pelame and Pugno still had their doubts, making this revelation come at the worst possible time.

"Pugno, Pelame, and probably the whole of Wigglytuff's Guild, right? Anyone who would dare change the future, resulting in the removal of your existence, right? There's no depth you wouldn't have sunk to in the name of self-preservation! And you were very close to success. Grovyle would have been your puppet, but he wasn't! By using him to kill Loyal, I succeeded where you failed! And even better, I didn't have to use trust as a weapon to coax him into compliance with my demonic intentions! And it's a good thing I didn't, because trust turned out to be the weapon that did you in when it mattered most! Dusknoir, you lost that time, because…" she pointed at Grovyle. "…YOU TRUSTED HIM!"

"Unod," Pelame challenged. "I can't believe you think we're going to believe any of what you—"

"She's not lying," Grovyle said. He looked as though he had lost all hope.

"What she said about me planning on using Grovyle as a puppet after destroying his soul," Dusknoir admitted. "She's right. I really did plan to do such a thing."

Pugno and Pelame couldn't believe what they were hearing. They wanted to deny it.

"No," Pelame said. "Grovyle wouldn't lie to us like that. Never!"

"I'm sorry," Grovyle said, falling to his knees. "I deliberately left that part out of my explanation that time in the café."

"Grovyle, don't you say that!" Pugno said. "Don't let Unod do this to you!"

"Unod's not doing anything," Celebi said. "I knew this, too. I kept it a secret from you, too."

"STOP IT!" Pelame screamed. "STOP PLAYING INTO UNOD'S HANDS!"

Celebi started to glow. "I'm sorry," she said. "But I have to show you the truth. I'm taking you both to when it happened."

Pugno and Pelame found themselves in a vision of the incident on the Ice Mountain. The truth of the incident that turned Dusknoir over to the right side. The time Dusknoir attempted to have Grovyle's soul destroyed by the mountain's energy as part of his plan to use Grovyle as a puppet to sabotage the effort to save Temporal Tower.

"Unod's tampering with this," Pelame said. "We're seeing what she wants us to see."

"No you're not," Celebi said. "This actually happened."

"No, it didn't!" Pelame shouted. "It didn't, damn it! IT DIDN'T HAPPEN! IT DIDN'T—"

Celebi slapped Pelame across the face as hard as she could.

"YES IT DID!" Celebi said, feeling truly furious at Pelame. "IT DID HAPPEN!"

"No…"

When the vision ended, Pelame and Pugno came to terms with it.

"Why…"

Pelame collapsed to the ground in tears. Grovyle, Celebi, Dusknoir, and the Sableye soldiers couldn't say anything to her, having been overcome by shame.

"Grovyle," she wept. "I can't believe it. Of all Pokémon to do such a thing, why you? Why did you have to betray my trust?!"

"Because trust is nothing but a weapon," Unod said. "It's only good for achieving ulterior motives of the most selfish kind. I think you're familiar with what I'm talking about, Pelame, considering the fact that you did exactly that two years ago!"

"Come again?" Chatot said.

"Darkrai was particularly desperate to see you two dead. As I'm sure you remember, he wanted you two to kill yourselves, something I would love to have seen. It was in Azurill's nightmare that you were broken that news, but your friends at the Guild understood when you told them, Pelame. They convinced you not to go through with it, and you two lived happily ever after."

"Okay, now you're lying," Pugno said.

"Of course I am! Because what she actually did was worse than any lie I could ever come up with! Your Guild friends very well could have understood the problem. They could have done something to help you out, maybe give you some therapy. They could have done anything, anything, to help you out. Any chance for them to do anything of the sort was denied to them by you!" Unod pointed at Pelame. "By telling them Darkrai never mentioned a solution, you denied your best friends –one of whom LIVES AND BREATHES friendship, purity, and trust!— the chance to show you their friendship by being of any help at all! All because you feared they would turn on you and kill you right then and there! Why, if I didn't know any better, you might have been thinking they had become me for that moment!"

Pelame had a hard enough time recovering from the revelation about Dusknoir. She could do nothing to contest this tirade.

"She was just afraid!" Pugno defended. "I was, too! I'm just as guilty as she was!"

"Oh, I know, Pugno," Unod said. "Yet, as hard as this may be to believe, you're the most heinous exploiter of trust in front of me right now."

Pugno braced himself for the incoming tirade.

"Going along with Pelame's lie to the whole Guild was simply a measure to give your friend some assurance. It's just a shame you didn't do that when you were scaling Temporal Tower."

Pugno and Grovyle both knew what Unod was getting at now.

"Pelame was the only member of your traveling party remaining after Grovyle pulled his most reckless stunt to date. The only one you could trust with the truth that you had just learned from Dusknoir. Well, that, to you, was too much to ask. Not saying a word to her about the matter and letting her go along with you on the mission was quite a bold move. And what could your reason have been for withholding the bit of information about you disappearing from history? Did you think her sadness would cause her to abort the mission? I, for one, think that was exactly the case. Which means you did something truly evil to do something truly good: lulling your best friend into a false sense of security, and then breaking her heart by disappearing right in front of her! No attempt to soften the blow, no coming clean before the fact."

Pugno had nothing to say. No one could say anything in response.

"Trust turned out to be your greatest weapon. Even I'm shocked to see how effectively each of you used trust to harm one another. It may not be as significant as what the guilty parties I've already exposed have done, but rest assured that none of you are worth trusting. Because, at any moment, either you will be attacked by trust, or you will be the attacker using trust as your go-to weapon."

With nothing left to say, Unod teleported away. All the Pokémon simply stood there, utterly stunned at what had just been told to them. Pelame was on the ground, weeping at all of these revelations.

"Pelame…" Pugno tried to comfort her.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Pelame roared. "ALL OF YOU LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Dimensional Holes opened near the other Pokémon, separating them all from each other, and leaving Pugno, Pelame, Grovyle, Celebi, the Sableye soldiers, and Dusknoir on the mountain.

"Pelame, did you just…" Grovyle said, never getting to finish his question.

"Shut up, you lying piece of nothing!" Pelame screamed. "It's bad enough that HE…" she motioned toward Dusknoir. "…betrayed my trust. But you, a Pokémon who wanted to save the world, who VALUED life and friendship and trust, did the same thing?!"

"That was for—"

"Dusknoir's sake, I know. You wanted to manipulate me into giving him another chance by purposely withholding the most important part of the explanation. Exactly WHEN were you going to tell me that part, huh?!"

"I was, Pelame. I needed to wait until—"

"The 'right time,' right?! Let me tell you something, Mister I-Still-Trust-You-Assailant! The right time was in the café, when you were telling us why your worthless skin was spared by Arceus!"

"Hey, that's low!" Celebi said.

"KEEP OUT OF THIS, CELEBI!" Pelame turned back to Grovyle. "I guess you took some manipulation lessons from Dusknoir, because you certainly fooled me into thinking you were my friend. No true friend would do this sort of thing at all! So you just get away from me! Now!"

"Grovyle," Dusknoir said. "Let's go. Let's give Pelame time to come to her senses."

Grovyle nodded in agreement, not knowing what else to say. But Celebi could bring herself to speak.

"You know, Pelame," Celebi retorted. "You've really turned into a stubborn, unreasonable jerk in literally a second! You're the one who played into Unod's hands!" With that, Celebi followed Grovyle, Dusknoir, and the Sableye.

"Pelame," Pugno said. "That was no way to act near your friends."

"Friends?" Pelame seethed. "Didn't you hear me?! They're NOT my friends! And neither are you!"

"What? Why?"

"Oh, okay. So it wasn't enough hearing it from Unod, but now I have to tell you?! Well, fine then, listen up! You broke my heart!"

Pugno was saved the trouble of asking how he did such a thing.

"You had SO MANY perfect opportunities to tell me that you would disappear from history when time went back to normal, but you took NONE of them! You were perfectly fine with keeping me in the dark about the whole thing, which made it hit me REALLY hard when it actually did happen! I'm thinking you really don't trust me at all!"

"I do trust you—"

"Then why didn't you tell me earlier?! I'm listening!"

"I didn't tell you because… I somehow got it in my head that the news would make you sad enough to quit the mission we were on."

"Well, that just says it all, doesn't it?! You didn't think I valued life enough to go through with the mission that I'd condemn the future to paralysis just to keep you in existence! And what exactly stopped you from trying to persuade me to finish the job should I REALLY have considered quitting?!"

Pugno couldn't answer that question with anything but a simple "I don't know."

"And I rest my case! Some friend you turned out to be, Pugno, breaking my trust just like Grovyle! You really don't value friendship at all!"

Now Pugno felt angry and needed to respond.

"Very funny, Pelame! You're just as bad as I am, lying right to the faces of the entire Guild! Thinking that they would kill us just because some Cresselia imposter told us we needed to die was enough for you to betray THEIR trust!"

"Why you—"

"You certainly value life! Your own, that is! And you'd lie to the Guild just to save your own hide! Talk about betrayal of trust! Why, you're just as guilty as Dusknoir in that department!"

"THAT'S IT!"

Pelame lunged at Pugno, biting him as hard as she could. Pugno countered with a Force Palm to her face. She recovered from that and came at him with her Iron Tail attack. He sidestepped it and hit her with an Aura Sphere, which she dodged and came forward with her Swift attack.

"I wish I'd never met you, you little S.O.B.!" Pelame shouted.

"Same to you, you self-centered, trust-breaking hussy!" Pugno shot back.

With nothing else to say, the two headed down the mountain in separate directions. From their sides, they both took off their Exploration Team badges and threw them at each other.

Sneasel, who was watching the whole thing from the battle up to the argument from the sidelines, opened a Dimensional Hole and went through it.


A/N: For some reason, the site won't let me fix that one instance of the word "ruined" that appeared in Unod's obnoxiously long nickname for Dusknoir (it keeps coming out as "ruin ed"). Sorry about that.