"Man... that was a great nap!" Dawn thought to herself as she awakened.

Dawn tried to spread her wings so she could stretch them, but found herself unable to move them. She tried opening her eyes, but all she could see was darkness. She tried speaking, but something was keeping her beak from opening. Feeling something was wrong, she began wriggling around, trying to break free from her restraints.

"I think they're awake," she heard someone say.

Dawn felt someone reach behind the back of her head and untie something. Seconds later, Dawn was able to see again. She was staring right into the eyes of a Sableye, who was holding a blindfold that he had just untied from her head. That same Sableye then went to work undoing the restraint on her beak.

Once that was done, Dawn decided to use the opportunity to demand some answers.

"What's going on here?"

"I'd like to know the same thing."

Dawn looked to her right and saw May in the same situation as she was, with her blindfold and beak gag having just been removed.

"What are you doing here?"

Both girls then turned to their left and saw Ash was tied up as well. In fact, all three were bound to erect, 12-foot poles.

"You're not supposed to be here!" Ash shouted at the girls.

"We're not criminals!" May cried out. "Why are we being treated like such?"

"Yeah!" Dawn added. "We want answers!"

They were all looking at the Sableye in front of them, a half-dozen in total. Suddenly, Team Galactic shirts and beanie hats appeared on all of them. They then stepped aside, three to the left and three to the right, and bowed as a larger Pokémon began to emerge from the shadows.

"All hail Team Galactic!" the Sableye proclaimed. "All hail Team Galactic!"

"Eek!" screamed Dawn, "we're being held by a religious cult!"

"Wait," Ash cut in, "what's religion?"

"There's no religion in Pokémon!" May shouted at them. "Well, not in the traditional sense. I mean, we worship some Pokémon as gods, but..."

"We're not a religious cult," Cyrus stated, stepping out of the shadows. "We're Team Galactic, and we're..."

"The worst religious cult in the history of religious cults!" Dawn yelled.

"I'll prove we're not a religious cult!"

"When?"

"Right after the theme song."


[Theme song plays, to the tune of the Season 12 U.S. opening]
Somewhere I sing a song
As a Pokémon, it's wrong!
In this body, a human girl
From a different game, called Diamond and Pearl!

Piplup! (Piplup!)
She's voiced by Dawn!
Torchic! (Torchic!)
Reprised by May!
Grovyle! (Grovyle!)
He's Ash Ketchum!

And if we find we can count to three
We know home is where we will be
Now let's start our grand quest
Mystery Dungeon! Pokémon!

May's Expedition 2: Dawn's Choice
Story Written by Freedom Fighter

Ready for the final three chapters and epilogue? Time to jump back into the storyline, with a leap into [spoiler alert!].

Disclaimer: The characters of Pokémon and the 'Mystery Dungeon' concept belong to Nintendo and Pokémon USA, not to me.

-
Chapter Seven (09.06.10)
-

"So?" Dawn looked at Cyrus. "Start explaining!"

"Fine. You see... KILL THEM ALL!"

The six Sableye approached Dawn, May, and Ash, with murder present in their eyes.

"Now what?" May asked.

"Stay perfectly still," Ash told them.

"WHAT?" both girls shouted.

"Trust me!"

The Sableye unsheathed their claws and lunged at the trio, apparently planning to use Fury Swipes to do them in. But the grunts were highly untrained, and instead of slicing the three of them to pieces, they instead sliced apart the ropes, freeing them instead.

"Time to get out of here!"

Ash produced a Luminous Orb from his pouch and held it out.

"Touch it, now!"

Dawn and May followed Ash's order without hesitation, as soon as they did, all three of their bodies vanished from the area, leaving behind a stunned group of Galactic Grunts and the leader, Cyrus.

"Don't just stand there!" Cyrus barked at them. "Those Luminous Orbs have a very limited range! Split up and find them!"

The Sableye split up and headed out of the room. Cyrus also left to join in the search. But in their haste, they failed to notice the hole in the ground where Dawn, May, and Ash had been standing.

Deep within the hole, Ash was using Dig to burrow a passage to the outside world. The girls were reluctantly following him.

"So glad they didn't know what Luminous Orbs actually do," Ash snickered.


Ash eventually brought them back to the surface, roughly three-quarters of a mile from the building they were in. He climbed out, and Dawn and May followed suit.

It was then that the girls noticed that the scenery around them lacked color... and movement. All life around them had been frozen in time.

"Where are we?" Dawn asked aloud.

"Not where," Ash replied ominously, "but when is the right question."

May gasped. "The future! That's right... for some reason, Dusknoir... I mean Cyrus, said he was returning to his time period to bring Ash to justice. But then he pushed us into the portal as well!"

"He wasn't bringing me to justice!" Ash exclaimed. "He was trying to stop me..."

"From becoming the main character, we know!" grumbled Dawn.

"No. He was trying to stop me from saving the world!"

"From what?"

"From Primal Dialga!"


CHASM CAVE 1F

Ash led the group to Chasm Cave, where they met its dwellers Magnemite, Drifloon, and Grumpig. Luckily for them, they too were also frozen in time and unable to move.

"Where are you taking us?" May asked angrily.

"I'm trying to get you home," Ash answered. "And get myself back too, so I can finish my mission!"

"What mission? Why aren't you explaining any of this to us?"

"Because Cyrus and his flunkies are right behind us! I know Cyrus like the back of my hand... he doesn't let prisoners escape a second time. If he finds us, he'll kill us right on the spot!"

"Get them!" they all heard Cyrus' voice coming from the cave entrance, "kill with extreme prejudice!"

"We don't have a choice but to go with him, May!" Dawn said to her travel partner.

"Fine," May relented. "But I don't trust him one bit!"


The chase forced Dawn, May, and Ash to run through Chasm Cave, Dark Hill, Sealed Ruins, and Deep Sealed Ruins all over the course of several days, as they struggled to keep one step ahead of Cyrus and his cronies. Not that they could count days, seeing as how time was stopped... but you get the idea.

But eventually...


DEEP SEALED RUINS INTERIOR AREA

"That's it!" May shouted. "I'm tired of running for my life!"

"Don't say that!" Dawn told her. "Unless you really want to die..."

"Why are we even trusting Ash right now?" May asked as she pointed at him. "I still haven't found a reason to trust him after all of the stuff he did to our time!"

"Do you trust me now?" Ash asked.

"What? No!"

"Then... trust me when I say there's a Pokémon behind you."

"Yeah, right! As if I believe you!"

May turned around and... found herself staring face-to-face with a Spiritomb.

"It's a ghost!" Dawn screamed. "A living, breathing ghost not frozen in time! And that line... doesn't make a load of sense!"

May slowly backed away and to the side of Dawn and Ash.

"We finally find someone here not frozen in time," May said. "And he's going to try and kill us! Like everyone not frozen in time in the future!"

"Now what?" Dawn asked. "It won't be long before Cyrus catches up to us!"

"Stop!" Ash called out to Spiritomb.

Ash's sudden demand caused Dawn and May to look oddly at him.

"We're not your enemies, Fergus! We're here to save you! To save the world! So, please, let us pass!"

But Fergus wasn't budging.

"Team Galactic's rule is law! All hail Team Galactic!"

Fergus charged forward, trying to use Faint Attack. But Dawn, May, and Ash all dodged it.

"You're not supposed to worship Team Galactic!" Ash shouted at Fergus. "You're from the first movie! Team Galactic doesn't even debut until 400 episodes or so after that!"

"He's not listening," Dawn said as he grabbed Ash by the arm. "Time to go, time to go!"

Dawn pulled Ash towards the exit, with May right behind. Fergus tried to follow, but there was a mysterious spell that had been placed on him that kept him from leaving the ruins at all.


Once clear of the ruins and sure that Fergus wasn't following them, Dawn, May, and Ash stopped to catch their breaths.

"So," Ash glanced May's way, "do you trust me now?"

"No!" May replied defiantly.

Ash sighed. "How do you expect us to work together to get back to your time if there's no trust between us?"

"He's right," Dawn sided with him. "After all, he could've just left us behind to die, and yet he saw fit to rescue us."

May thought about it for a minute, and then decided to give in.

"Okay, Ash. It goes against my woman's intuition, but I trust you."

"That's a relief."

"That still doesn't excuse you from explaining what the heck's going on!"

"Yeah!" voiced Dawn, now agreeing with May. "Time to spill! About you trying to save the world, this Primal Dialga character, and everything in-between!"

"I guess I owe you girls that much," Ash said. "As you can see around you, the entire planet has fallen into a state of paralysis. The reason why is because Temporal Tower has collapsed."

"Temporal Tower?"

"Yeah. Temporal Tower has only one resident... the legendary Pokémon known as Dialga. She is the Deity of Time. Unfortunately, for some odd reason, she's been overtaken by darkness. She's supposed to protect everyone in the world, but now that she's become Primal Dialga, the only Pokémon she thinks is worth preserving is herself!"

"One of those 'all about me' types," commented May. "Figures."

"What about the Time Gears?" questioned Dawn.

"Well, despite what you may believe," continued Ash, "if I can collect all the Time Gears, I can use them to reconstruct Temporal Tower to the way it used to be. The thing is, Primal Dialga doesn't want that to happen, and that's why she sent Cyrus back in time to stop me!"

"So this Dialga is even more powerful than Team Galactic?" Dawn tried to get straight. "That's unbelievable!"

"Too much so," scoffed May, "I don't believe you."

"It's imperative we go back to the past!" Ash said to them. "The fate of my world here in the future as well as yours hangs in the balance!"

"There's only one problem," Dawn said to him. "Neither May or I have the power to time travel. The only one we know of is Cyrus... and I don't think he'll help us."

"There is one other Pokémon. That is, if Primal Dialga hasn't gotten to her first."

"Who?"

Ash started walking away from them.

"We have to get to the Dusk Forest."

He then ran off. Dawn and May followed, again forced to do so without knowing what awaited them ahead.


DUSK FOREST 9F

The trio proceeded deep into the Dusk Forest, looking for Ash's friend. All of a sudden, the girls started to hear the sound of an ocarina being played. And it was getting louder the more they kept walking.

"The music sounds... so sad," expressed May.

"And yet... it inspires hope," concluded Dawn.

"It's her!" Ash said aloud. "She's trying to guide us to her! C'mon!"

Ash started to sprint, and almost left Dawn and May behind, as their short little legs couldn't keep up with his long ones. Thankfully, they didn't have to run far, as they soon came upon the source of the music.

It was Celebi, who was playing an ocarina carved out of a seashell.

"Who knew Pokémon could be musically inclined?" May commented. "Even cute, green, weird-looking ones."

That comment made Celebi stop playing. She was angered by it, apparently.

"I don't have to take this guff from an amateur!"

She then started to float away. But before she could get too far, Ash grabbed her arm to stop her.

"We need your help, Melody!" Ash told her. "Most of all, I need your help!"

Melody looked into Ash's eyes and saw that he was genuinely telling the truth.

"Okay... but I'm doing it for you. Not for them... especially not the Torchic."

"I have a name!" May shouted.

"So, what do you need?"

"I need to go back to the past," answered Ash. "Now."

"Well, you could use the Passage of Time. I can open it for you."

"Great!"

"I hope your travel partners are up for getting there. It won't be easy."

Melody started to head off towards the entrance towards the Deep Dark Forest. Ash walked over to Dawn and May to tell them what was up.

"Melody will lead us to the Passage of Time. We can use that to return to your time."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Dawn said excitedly. "Let's go!"


DEEP DUSK FOREST 7F

MONSTER HOUSE!

The foursome was surrounded by a group consisting of a Hippowdown, two Aggron, two Vulpix, and a Steelix.

"I change my mind," Dawn cried out. "Let's go back, let's go back!"

"No!" denied Ash.

"How can we even fit in here?" May pointed out, referring to the fact that they were on a small one-room floor.

"Through the power of random dungeon generation!" replied Melody. "Oh, and before we're dead..."

Melody held up a Petrify Orb, which immediately petrified all of the enemy Pok mon in the room. The four then headed for the stairs.

"Awesome idea!" May said to her. "Where'd you get that?"

"From your backpack."

"Awesome! Wait, I mean... what?"


DEEP DUSK FOREST CLEARING

After getting through the rest of the forest, the group arrived in a clearing, where a portal named 'Passage of Time' awaited them. It was turned off, but it wouldn't be for long as Melody flew over to it.

"I just need a couple of minutes..." Melody said aloud, as she started the portal's boot-up procedures.

"I'm afraid your time is up!"

The foursome gasped as they turned around to see Cyrus and his troop of Sableye grunts arrive on the scene.

"If you think we're going to let you go back to the past," Cyrus said to them, "then you're sorely mistaken!"

Dawn took three Sitrus Berries out of the backpack, ate one, then handed one each to May and Ash, each of whom also quickly consumed them.

"You thinking we each get two of the grunts," Ash suggested, "and then we go after Cyrus himself?"

"Exactly!" Dawn nodded in confirmation.

"Pretty confident you can take us, huh?" Cyrus smiled. "Well, then allow me to introduce you to my boss!"

Suddenly, the group heard loud footsteps approaching. Their worst fear was about to come true, as Primal Dialga walked up behind Cyrus.

"I'M GONNA KEEP FOLLOWING YOU 'TIL YOU STOP TRYING TO FIND THE TIME GEARS, ASH KETCHUM!" Primal Dialga screamed at the top of her lungs.

Ash dropped to his knees, and started begging to be spared.

"Misty, please stop! I'm doing this to save you! To turn you good again!"

"THAT'S MISTY?" Dawn and May shouted simultaneously.

"Wait," Dawn added afterward, "who's Misty?"

"Ash's girlfriend," chuckled Melody.

"I'M A GIRL AND A FRIEND OF HIS, BUT THAT DOESN'T MAKE ME HIS GIRLFRIEND!" yelled Misty.

"Quiet, all of you!" shushed Cyrus. "It's time for the extinguishing of these infidels! But first, I'm sure our little heroine, the Piplup, would want to remember what her life was BEFORE she was a Pokémon."

"Now that I think of it," admitted Dawn, "all I remember that I was a human before coming to this world... but not what I did or how I ended up here in the first place."

"Well, allow me to explain! To be honest, I'm sure Ash over there has explained why he's collecting the Time Gears, right?"

"Yes."

"But I bet he didn't tell you everything."

"What are you talking about?" Ash looked at Cyrus as he got to his feet. "I told her everything I knew!"

"Then you apparently don't know the best part."

"What's that?" Ash and Dawn simultaneously asked.

"Dawn here not only used to be human, but she also was Ash's master!"

"I was WHAT?" Dawn gasped in disbelief.

"No way!" denied Ash. "That can't be true! I'd know if that were true!"

"Ah, but it is!" Cyrus said with a smile. "Dawn was your master, Ash, and together, the two of you used the Passage of Time to go back to the past to complete your mission!"

"Even if that's true, then why weren't we get together when we exited the other side of the portal? And why did Dawn turn into a Piplup?"

"Plot conveniences that need no explanations," Cyrus answered both queries at once.

"But wait..." Ash looked at Melody, "aren't YOU the only one who can operate the Passage of Time?"

Melody lowered her head and looked away. Her decision to not give an answer was the answer Ash dreaded, but knew was coming.

"You were here that day and activated the Passage of Time the first time! So that means..."

"Dawn was a human girl," Melody confirmed, "and you, Grovyle, was a Grovyle, her most loyal Pokémon."

"But why? Why wouldn't you have told me that upon seeing me again?"

"Because I didn't want to bring up bad memories. I gave up a lot the first time I sent you back to the past."

"Like what?"

"Like... like the chance to win your heart."

"My... my heart?"

"Yeah. I almost didn't help you the first time because I knew how close you were to Dawn. And if I let the two of you run away to the past, then you'd be free to take your relationship to the next level. While I'd be stuck here in this dismal future without a boyfriend."

Dawn and Ash had eerily similar reactions.

"You thought Dawn and I were in..."

"You thought Ash and I were in..."

"Love?" the two said in unison.

"That's stupid!" Misty shouted at Melody. "Ash wouldn't know love if it bit him on the ankle!"

"You think that matters?" Melody responded. "I loved him more than you, or Dawn, or any other girl in this series! Ash and I... we were destined to be together!"

"Creepy stalker girl much?" May raised an eyebrow at Melody's rant.

"Wait a minute!" Dawn thought out loud. "What if your jealousy was the reason I became a Piplup, and when I woke up Ash wasn't with me? If all this stuff is true, anyway."

"It is true," Melody confirmed, "and a possible rational explanation for an unexplainable plot convenience? Maybe."

"So if we go through the portal with you satisfied thinking Ash and I aren't in love, then maybe I'll become human again?"

"Do I look like a scientist?" Melody put her hands on her hips.

"I guess the only way we'll find out is if we try," concluded Ash. "Melody, start the Passage of Time up! We're going to get Dawn's human body back!"

"Oh no, you don't!" objected Cyrus. "Get them!"

He pointed forward, signaling the Galactic Grunts to attack.

"Don't let them open the Passage of Time at all costs!" shouted Misty. "Even if it means having to kill them all!"

Melody worked as fast as she could, as Dawn, May, and Ash prepared to fight to their lives.

"Allow me to fight for you," Ash said to Dawn.

"Nonsense!" objected Dawn. "I'm still a Pokémon right now, so I can take care of myself!"

"Alright," Ash conceded. "Just be careful."

"Yeah. You too."

Suddenly, the sound of the Passage of Time opening could be heard. Seeing the portal active, Ash instinctively acted by grabbing Dawn and throwing her into the Passage of Time.

"ASHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" shouted Dawn as she disappeared into the portal.

He then turned to May and did the same thing, tossing her in before she could voice an objection.

"I said stop them, stop them!" Misty yelled again.

"Destroy the portal if you have to!" added Cyrus.

Ash was about to hop into the portal himself, when...

"Wait!"

Ash turned to look at Melody, who threw what looked like a seed at him. Ash easily caught and was surprised to see that the object was actually a Golden Seed.

"It's for May! Tell her to eat it and she'll understand everything afterward!"

"But how did you..."

The Sableye leaped at the Passage of Time and started destroying it. One jumped at Ash, who immediately threw him right back off, while Melody dodged the Fury Swipes of another Sableye.

"GO!"

Ash didn't waste a second more, as he made it through the Passage of Time. In the nick of time, too, as a second later, the portal's generator was destroyed, instantly closing the Passage of Time.

The grunts grabbed Melody before she could run off and escape. She tugged and pulled, attempting to break free, but it was no use as Misty and Cyrus walked over to her.

"If you think I'm helping you chase after Ash and his friends," Melody scowled, "then you're wrong!"

"You're going to help us," Misty assured her, "whether you like it or not!"

*** To be continued... ***