Author's Note: The next few chapters will follow each other a lot more directly than I've been doing. Now, have some of Leaf's point of view while I make some very short references to the game-mechanics logic behind why you can't take teammates to the future.
Chapter Ten: Sour Reunion
Leaf found it ridiculously convenient, albeit in a somewhat twisted way, that he'd ended up so close to the Passage of Time.
Granted, he'd have to just hope he'd get even luckier and find Celebi near Dusk Forest. That admittedly made him a bit uncomfortable, as Celebi had already put herself at a big enough risk when she'd sent him back the first time.
Sighing, Leaf turned a corner in Chasm Cave, reminding himself how lucky he'd been to get out of the stockades alive. It was amazing that the exploration team Dusknoir had kidnapped had been willing to cooperate with him — though really, it was mainly Chimchar who refused to listen, he corrected himself. Given how he'd fought them at Crystal Cave, Leaf hadn't expected any of them to follow his lead, though.
As he exited the dungeon, Leaf frowned to himself, another thought crossing his mind. He'd started to mention it briefly to Meowth herself earlier, but the fact that Dusknoir had brought them to the stockade at all was baffling. As far as he knew, they were just normal explorers, and Chimchar especially seemed to completely trust Dusknoir's lies…
Leaf shook his head as he approached Dark Hill. He ought to have known not to let himself get distracted. Yes, the situation was unfortunate, but he had a bigger picture to look at.
He'd gotten so used to being able to camouflage himself easily in the past world that it made travel through Dark Hill quite difficult — not that Chasm Cave had been much easier. Dark Hill was a long uphill climb riddled with Ghost-Types, as if to remind him of the Pokémon he was running from. Leaf instinctively growled at every Misdreavus he passed; Missy's presence at the stockade was still unnerving him.
That had probably been the point, Leaf thought sourly; Missy had likely just wanted to bother him in what she thought would be his last few moments.
Nonetheless, Leaf forced himself to focus on getting to Celebi. He had to get back to her and go do things correctly this time. It was bad enough he'd messed up this badly already; now he especially had to hurry. Perhaps now that he had some experience with the past world, he'd at least be able to figure out some quicker routes to the Time Gears.
Leaf managed to feed himself such thoughts as he reached the Sealed Ruin. Given its proximity to Dusk Forest, he'd been close to the ruins a few times, though he'd certainly never traversed them… And he hadn't heard a single good rumor about the place. It was the fastest route to the forest, so Leaf would just have to deal with it. Gritting his teeth, Leaf darted through the ruin's entrance, keeping a close eye on his surroundings.
The one positive was that the cracked floors and large piles of rubble made for good hiding places when necessary. Leaf hated having to waste time hiding on occasion, but it was that or waste even more time scuffling with the old temple's residents.
When he reached the final chamber, Leaf breathed a sigh of relief and strode towards the exit. He paused halfway there; he swore he'd heard something… It wasn't just the atmosphere playing tricks on him either, he was sure of it. After a moment, he heard it again, a rather distinctive hissing sound.
There was someone else there.
Tensing, Leaf hurried towards the exit, hoping he hadn't been spotted. Before he could leave, a voice echoed out through the room.
"Trespasser… We KNOW you're there…"
"I'm not trespassing — I just need to get through here!"
Leaf edged closer to the exit, looking around wildly. As much as he wanted to leave, he didn't like the idea of something he couldn't see following him… Especially when it sounded like there was more than one Pokémon speaking.
"No… You LIE to us, trespasser!"
Leaf growled in frustration. "Please, I do not wish to fight with you! Just let me leave!"
Suddenly, a large, green and purple face sprung up in front of him. Leaf scrambled backwards, barely biting back a yelp of surprise. A Spiritomb, of course — Leaf berated himself for not noticing the Odd Keystone base earlier, despite the room being filled with just as much rubble as the rest of the temple.
As Leaf tried to roll aside, the Spiritomb jumped towards him. The Odd Keystone dragged along several inches behind it, causing an eerie scraping sound. Leaf winced, and as he paused, he was suddenly slammed to the ground as a loud gust of wind blew through the area—Spiritomb had probably just cast Ominous Wind, Leaf realized belatedly. He then choked as something rushed into his mouth and nose, and his limbs started to grow heavy.
"Don't bother moving, TRESPASSER… You will PAY for disturbing us…"
Spiritomb's voices echoed as it retreated. The Odd Keystone scraped across the floor again, as if to mock him.
Grunting, Leaf attempted to move his arm, and a sharp pain shot through it. He winced and attempted to turn his head to the side, managing to just barely have a view of the chamber before it hurt too much to move further. He caught a brief glance of Spiritomb's face before it vanished into the Odd Keystone, and it seemed to be smirking at him.
Leaf sighed, silently scolding himself again. He should have just run instead of trying to check the area… He should have known better than to assume that one of the future's Pokémon would actually listen to him. Leaf had gotten too used to the past, or rather, how things had been before he'd become a wanted criminal there; he'd expected Spiritomb to actually listen to him instead of realizing its reasoning had likely been lost to the darkness.
And now, he just had to lie there and hope Spiritomb would grow bored with him before the Sableye caught up. Slow as they were, they did have decent tracking abilities; how long could Leaf last here?
After what seemed like an eternity, Leaf thought he heard voices again, and he lifted his head eagerly. Before he could see who was entering, Spiritomb slammed his face back into the ground, and Leaf hissed in pain. The voices were getting closer, however, and they seemed awfully familiar…
"We've got to catch up with him soon. I mean, the path was pretty much straight…"
"He was pretty far ahead of us, though — whoa!"
The team of four had conveniently just arrived, and they'd clearly noticed Leaf. Spiritomb's hissing echoed through the chamber, and Leaf could hear them shuffling around nervously. Still, one set of footsteps seemed to be coming towards him — Meowth's, he thought — and he managed to lift his head up just enough to speak.
"Keep… keep going," he grunted.
"And just leave you here?" Meowth's voice was bewildered. "We can't—"
She yowled suddenly, and Leaf assumed the Spiritomb had startled her. Managing to turn very slightly again, he saw that Spiritomb was right in front of Meowth, and the face had risen out of the Odd Keystone. The four new arrivals immediately split into pairs as the face leered at them.
"Trespassers… You will REGRET invading OUR territory!"
Spiritomb wasted no time summoning another Ominous Wind. While Chimchar, Cubone, and Machop were all blown backwards, Meowth merely grimaced and braced herself, pushing forward with a bit of effort. Leaf couldn't help grinning; the Normal-Type would have quite an advantage here.
Meowth's whiskers twitched as she shot a Thunderbolt directly at the Odd Keystone. As Spiritomb howled in pain, Meowth's three teammates pulled themselves to their feet, shooting her relieved looks.
While Leaf had noticed it to some extent during their fight at Crystal Cave, he now realized even more how well coordinated they were. Despite traveling in a group of four, they didn't slow each other down; their pairing tactic was simple yet effective. Cubone and Chimchar launched repeated Bonemerang and Flamethrower attacks, stunning Spiritomb from a distance, which allowed Machop and Meowth to move in with closer-ranged attacks.
Leaf watched in amusement as Machop fired off a series of overly-enthusiastic elemental punches. She compensated well for what could have been a huge disadvantage, and she was quite willing to step back and allow Meowth to use the occasional Night Slash for the sake of throwing Spiritomb off.
Despite Spiritomb's valiant attempts at attacking back, facing four opponents was clearly something it was unprepared for. It had been fairly easy for Spiritomb to overpower Leaf by himself, but it was taking too much damage too quickly to do the same to the exploration team. Finally, after one too many direct attacks to the keystone, Spiritomb let out a frustrated shriek and fled.
The face retreated into the keystone again, and Leaf felt an odd rushing feeling in the back of his head as Spiritomb leapt away. Slowly, feeling returned to his limbs, and he managed to force himself into a sitting position as Meowth tentatively approached him.
"So… what happened?" she questioned.
"What exactly did you do to make that Spiritomb so angry?" Machop added.
"Nothing," Leaf grunted, wobbling as he tried to stand up. "You saw how quickly it attacked you. Most Pokémon are like that here."
"Like what?" Chimchar blinked in confusion.
"Driven crazy by the darkness and tension," Leaf answered simply, lurching as he tried to take a few steps. "Look, we need to get out of here before I can explain further. Did you run into any Sableye on the way here?"
Cubone shook her head, and Leaf sighed in relief. As he attempted to move forward again, he felt a paw on his arm, and he looked down to see Meowth trying to steady him. Leaf was admittedly surprised, though he wasn't entirely sure why.
"You really shouldn't be walking right now," she observed, "but we do need to get moving. I don't mind helping you walk. It could be kind of fun, don't you think? Like a three-legged race!"
Leaf gave her a bewildered look as her teammates chuckled. Had Meowth honestly tried to pull a joke despite the situation? Nevertheless, he nodded and leaned down to let her support him.
He couldn't help thinking that it was exactly like something Claire would say, either. Yet again, the Meowth had done something to remind him of her… Leaf tried to shake the worry out of his mind as the group slowly exited the ruins.
They trudged in silence for a short time until Meowth suddenly stopped and squinted. She then gestured towards something she saw up ahead.
"I think there's a small alcove in those boulders up there," she said excitedly. "We can stop there and let you rest for a minute."
Cubone cocked her head to the side, wearing a confused look. "This whole time, you've been spotting things so easily…"
Meowth merely shrugged in response, trying not to let Leaf fall over at the same time. In all honesty, he was just as confused as her teammates were; true, her species tended to have good vision in the darkness, but it was a bit odd for one who was supposedly a resident of the past world.
Leaf was grateful when they reached the small area, and Meowth peered back around the boulders after letting him down gently. After a few moments, she seemed confident that there were no Sableye around, and Meowth eagerly sat down next to Chimchar and gave Leaf an expectant look.
"So… While we're waiting, can you tell us what's going on here?"
He paused, looking the group over carefully before responding, "You're willing to listen?"
Meowth, Machop, and Cubone all nodded in succession. Then, they turned to Chimchar, who was shifting rather uncomfortably. He looked nervously between his teammates and Leaf, biting his lip.
"Well, Felix?" Machop said dryly.
"Y-yes," he mumbled.
Leaf sighed. "All right. You probably want to know what I needed the Time Gears for." They nodded again, and he went on. "They're supposed to be able to prevent the planet's paralysis."
"Prevent it?" Machop repeated. "Okay, not saying I don't believe you, but time does stop in the area when a gear is removed, so…"
Frowning, Leaf paused before he answered. He'd expected Chimchar — Felix, he corrected himself — to be the one doing any interjections. At least Machop seemed curious rather than outright doubting him, however…
"Well, yes, that's right," he admitted. "That's a temporary thing, though. The gears are meant to be taken to Temporal Tower, and once they're there, the flow of time is fixed. It's the collapse of the tower that caused the paralysis in the first place."
"But taking Time Gears does stop time?" Felix queried.
Leaf kneaded his forehead for a moment before replying. "Look, as I said before, I only had four of them. There are many more than that, so taking the necessary amount to the tower wouldn't inadvertently cause a paralysis in itself."
"So… What is this 'Temporal Tower' place, anyway?" Meowth puzzled. "If it collapsing can cause the planet to become paralyzed, but the Time Gears are what keeps time flowing properly… then what's the tower for?"
"You're close — it's the reverse of that," Leaf corrected. "It's Temporal Tower that controls the flow of time. The gears only work in their immediate areas, and they're meant to fix the tower in case of collapse… which it did back in your time."
"Well, that's a bit confusing, but it makes more sense than before…" Machop folded her arms, looking to the side. "Anyway, what you're basically saying is that you came back to get the gears so you could fix Temporal Tower."
Leaf nodded. "I'd love to tell you that Primal Dialga could just fix it himself, but—"
"Primal Dialga?" Cubone had been silent for a while, but here she finally cut in. "I've heard stories about a Pokémon called Dialga, but not Primal Dialga."
Machop and Felix nodded in agreement. On the other hand, Meowth had a very curious look on her face, as if she'd just been reminded of something. When she caught Leaf staring at her, she merely shook her head in embarrassment.
"Right, well, once the tower collapsed, Dialga wasn't exactly in the best shape, mentally or physically," Leaf noted. "That's why he's been unable to fix the tower, I'm assuming; the lack of a proper flow of time has thrown him into such a state that all he cares about is self-preservation."
"So that's where the 'primal' part comes from," Machop muttered darkly. "And if you came back to fix things, then what about Dusknoir?"
"That's not too hard to put together, is it?" Leaf shrugged. "You already know he was trying to stop me. He's one of Primal Dialga's agents, and he's working to keep this place as is."
"So — so you're saying he—" Felix stammered.
"He was working for Primal Dialga all along, yes," Leaf finished.
Meowth put a paw on Felix's shoulder as she shared a somber look with her two other teammates. After a short pause, she looked back at Leaf.
"That all makes sense, but the other thing we've been wondering is… well, how did you even get back to the past in the first place?"
Leaf paused. They'd heard him out, and they even seemed to believe him, even if Felix still looked scared of him. Despite his previous annoyance with them, they'd made progress, and they certainly didn't deserve to be stuck in the future. It was safe to tell them, he concluded.
"You've heard of a Pokémon called Celebi, haven't you? She sent me back."
The four of them nodded, though Meowth once again had a strange look on her face. Deciding to brush it off, Leaf slowly raised a claw to the rock wall beside him and pushed himself up. After he took a few careful steps, the team caught his lead and scrambled up to their feet as well.
"We should get going, then," he continued. "We need to reach Celebi as soon as possible so the Sableye don't find her."
"You're sure she's around here?" Machop raised an eyebrow.
"Well…" Leaf shook his head, trying to deflect the worries that had suddenly sprung to mind. "The passage she used to send me back isn't too much further. It's likely she'll be there."
Fortunately, Machop accepted that explanation with no further questions, and the group of five set out. They proceeded mostly in silence, which Leaf was grateful for; the less attention they attracted, the better.
Apart from Felix's constant glances over his shoulder, they also managed to keep up with him fairly well. Leaf was admittedly surprised, but assumed their quick adaptation was a byproduct of all the exploring they did. Given that the trip to Dusk Forest was fairly long, he counted himself lucky that they wouldn't have to slow down.
However, another action of Meowth's caught his attention after a short distance. Leaf wasn't sure if she'd been doing it the whole time, or if he just hadn't noticed, but Meowth was shuffling her paws as she walked. She was apparently doing it unconsciously, as she blinked at him when she caught him staring.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"N-nothing," Leaf deflected. "That's actually a good idea. It'll make it harder for the Sableye to tell we've been here."
"Oh! That's true," Machop exclaimed as Cubone nodded beside her. "They'll know someone was here, but they won't know it was us if they can't see our footprints clearly, right?"
Leaf merely nodded, glad they'd accepted that explanation; it gave him time to puzzle over Meowth again. True, she did appear to be the team leader, so it was possible she just thought quickly enough to come up with that on her own… But it was yet another minor detail that reminded him of Claire.
'I'm getting distracted,' Leaf silently reprimanded.
Nevertheless, it struck him as strange that he thought of Claire so often when he saw Meowth. Her species, the fact she seemed fond of Thunderbolt, her general attitude… They could be coincidences, Leaf tried to insist, but put together, they seemed to have some kind of deeper meaning.
Leaf shook his head, realizing his musings had carried him all the way to Dusk Forest's entrance. The team behind him was panting quite audibly, and he turned around to see that they looked just as tired as they sounded.
"We can rest here for a bit, but we can't dawdle," he said tersely. "I'll keep watch."
Leaf settled a few feet away from them as they gathered near the thick cluster of bent trees. His eyes narrowed instinctively as he checked the surroundings. True, he hadn't heard anything suspicious on the way, but the Sableye could blend into the shadows well.
He glanced over his shoulder when he realized his four "companions" were chattering amongst themselves. No doubt they were trying to decide whether or not following him was a good idea — or possibly, still trying to convince Felix.
Leaf appreciated their cooperation, but he did wish they would be just a bit quieter. While they were at least quiet enough that he couldn't make out what they were saying, they'd be audible if anyone were to listen closely enough.
Sighing, Leaf stood back up and started to walk over to them, nearly jumping when he saw Meowth was already standing. The other three rose as well, and Meowth looked surprised when she saw Leaf walking towards her.
"Are we almost there?" she queried.
Leaf nodded. "Just keep following me. It's not much further."
They lapsed into silence again as they followed him, dodging tree branches as they temporarily walked single-file. The path fortunately widened out shortly, and they were able to spread out afterwards.
While Leaf had admired the team's ability to work together, he realized there was one disadvantage to traveling with such a large group. Going through Dusk Forest had been comparatively easy when Celebi had taken him, Claire, and Andrew through it before, yet traveling in a group of five instead of four was surprisingly much more difficult. It wasn't that they were lagging behind, but rather, the group was much more noticeable now, and the forest's residents seemed much more aggressive than they had before.
Fortunately, they fended off their opponents well, but progress was quite slow at times. Machop in particular had a knack for attracting trouble, even if she seemed to be the physically strongest of the team, and she was disadvantaged against many of Dusk Forest's inhabitants. In particular, swarms of Mothim descended on her the instant she so much as stepped on a twig, which was always followed by Cubone spitting out Ice Beams faster than Leaf could track.
"Iris, you have to be more careful," Cubone scolded as they got closer to Dusk Forest's clearing; she'd taken the words out of Leaf's mouth.
"Well, sorry, Rin," Iris grumbled.
"Here we are," Leaf called moments later, ducking under a few particularly dense trees.
As the team tumbled after him, Leaf carefully observed the surroundings. Luckily, there weren't any signs that the Sableye had reached the clearing yet, but Celebi didn't seem to be around either…
"Celebi?" he said cautiously.
For a few seconds, there was silence. Then, there was a quick fluttering sound, and Celebi materialized in front of him. A small, disappointed smile spread over her face as she drifted down to him.
"So, you had some trouble, then?" she murmured, tapping him on the head teasingly.
Leaf stepped backwards, looking up at her with a grim expression. "Clearly. It probably wouldn't surprise you to hear Dusknoir followed us back, would it?"
"That is a problem…" Celebi sighed. "I can see how — wait. You're alone, my dear?"
"I'll explain later," Leaf replied hastily. While there probably wouldn't be time to explain, he didn't want to say too much in front of his current charges. "Right now, we just really need to get back…"
"Of course." Celebi nodded. "I don't think your friends here want to stick around for much longer!"
The time-travel Pokémon giggled and flew over to the team as Leaf sighed. He wasn't quite sure he'd call them "friends" — for the moment, anyway — but at least Celebi seemed to be getting on focus. He vaguely heard her introducing herself to them, and he spun around in confusion when Celebi gasped quite loudly.
From the looks of things, she'd been about to fly back to the lead, but Celebi had stopped and turned back around abruptly. She was currently looking down at Meowth with a curious, wide-eyed expression. Meowth looked up at Celebi, equally confused.
"Is something wrong?"
"Your eyes look just like hers…" Celebi muttered. Fortunately, however, Meowth didn't seem to catch it, and Celebi raised her voice and replied, "It's nothing, dear! Come along; we'll get to the Passage of Time soon."
"Passage of Time?" Meowth repeated.
Celebi gestured to them before speaking again, and they quickly fell into a travel formation. After they'd headed through some of the trees in the thick entrance of Dusk Forest, Celebi gave them a brief explanation.
"Oh, it's what I have to use for long trips through time," she said quickly. "It would be nice if it was a bit further from Temporal Tower, but it's the best we can do."
She then took the lead, and Meowth very willingly let Celebi go in front of her. Again, they fortunately realized they had to hurry, in no small part thanks to the fact that there were six of them now; it would be foolish to dawdle in such a large group. Leaf managed to bite back his irritation at that fact, knowing it was hardly their fault.
Surprisingly, the team's position shifted slightly as they slowly wove through the forest. Iris was busily trying to flirt with Celebi, it seemed, and thus was near the front. Celebi, for her part, was trying her best to ignore Iris and keep her pace up. Meowth was right behind them, with Felix practically attached to her shoulder. That left Rin walking near Leaf, and the Cubone quietly took in her surroundings as she trailed along.
Leaf realized with some annoyance that they weren't exactly inconspicuous; the situation wasn't helped by how loud Iris was being. Fortunately, the one good thing about the size of the group was that while they attracted a good deal of attention, their numbers meant that they fended off the forest's inhabitants fairly quickly. Still, after one Aggron too many, Leaf began to wonder exactly how much longer it would take them to reach the Passage of Time.
Between skirmishes, Leaf couldn't help letting his mind wander to what Celebi had said about Meowth earlier. So she'd noticed a similarity to Claire, too… It had to be a coincidence, yet there was a nagging feeling in the back of his mind. It occurred to him that he hadn't heard Meowth's name yet, but on the other hand, he was likely over-thinking the situation…
"You've been staring at her this whole time…"
Leaf jumped when he heard Rin muttering next to him. She gestured towards Meowth with her bone, and Leaf bit his tongue. Had he really been staring? He was starting to feel ridiculous.
"I, ah… It's nothing. She just reminds me of someone."
Rin shrugged. "Is that all? You were staring earlier, too."
Then, she looked away, and Leaf growled quietly. She was perceptive, but why was he letting himself get so worked up over it?
Thankfully, Celebi soon called out, "Oh! We're here!"
They arrived on the plateau on the edge of the forest, and Leaf and Celebi diverted their eyes from the bright light of the passage. The four teammates, however, looked at it in awe until it made their eyes water, and they shared a sheepish look as Celebi eagerly started to flutter towards it.
"Don't you worry, dears," she started. "It's quite simple to use, really—"
"That will do."
Celebi froze as the familiar voice echoed through the dead air. Dusknoir moved out of the shadows to the side of the Passage of Time, seeming to materialize out of nowhere, and a few Sableye were at his side. As the group shrank back, several more Sableye scurried out of the forest path behind them; they were completely surrounded.
Felix clung to Meowth again as they looked around, and the group instinctively turned back-to-back. Grovyle bristled as he positioned himself between Meowth and Celebi, glaring at Dusknoir; the Ghost-Type had his arms folded and wore an irritatingly smug look on his face.
"This has gone on for quite long enough, wouldn't you agree?" Dusknoir went on. "You won't escape me again."
"I don't know how you managed to track us all the way here, but there's one thing you're forgetting, my dear," Celebi twittered. "It doesn't matter! As long as they're with me, they can't be captured!"
"Is that so?" Dusknoir merely sounded bored. "It's time to end these fantasies of yours, Celebi. You, in particular, must learn that those who try to alter history have no place in it."
"W-what does that even mean?" Iris snapped, shifting into a fighting stance.
She got nothing for her question except for a cold chuckle. On the other hand, the Sableye seemed to be getting antsy; several of them were just as poised for a battle as Iris was. It had been clear already that they'd have to fight their way to the Passage of Time, and now it was just getting even more obvious.
Leaf glanced over his shoulder at the team behind him. No doubt they wouldn't have too much trouble with the Sableye, at least if they stuck together like they always did… Celebi would have to focus on protecting the passage… So he'd have to deal with Dusknoir, it seemed.
"Does that really matter?" Dusknoir finally replied. "It's time for you to be eliminated."
"Run for the Passage of Time," Leaf hissed to Meowth. "I'll distract him and be right behind you. Celebi, hurry and open it properly for them."
Celebi and Meowth nodded. Raising his voice, Leaf stepped forward, preparing to strike.
"I don't think so, Dusknoir."
"Oh? I do hate to break this to you, but you don't give me near enough credit, Grovyle! Did you really think I came here with just the Sableye?"
The mouth on Dusknoir's stomach curled upwards into a smirk as a loud roar suddenly tore through the area. A pair of glowing red eyes was suddenly visible on the plateau behind the passage, and its light illuminated the form behind it. The ground shook as the massive form stepped forward, and another roar echoed out.
"What's—" Meowth started.
"P-Primal Dialga?!" Celebi cried. "Dusknoir, you—"
"That's Primal Dialga?" Felix's eyes widened. "What… what should we do?"
For several long moments, the only audible sound was the cackling of the Sableye. Leaf bit his tongue, wondering why he hadn't expected this. But even if he had predicted Dusknoir would find them and take Dialga along, what could he have done about it? Celebi's eyes had widened; she seemed just as blank on ideas as he did, and she was merely shaking her head in silence.
"I don't think there's anything we can do," Leaf muttered.
"We're just giving up?" Felix's voice quivered.
"Look, I'm sorry you four had to be dragged into this, but…" A thought suddenly flashed through Leaf's mind, and he smirked as he faced Dusknoir again. "Wait! Dusknoir, you ought to know this doesn't finish anything! I wasn't alone when I went back in time, you know."
A glimmer of hope suddenly flashed through Celebi's eyes. "That's right! Your partner is still back there in the past, isn't she?"
"Did you really assume I didn't think of that?" There was a hint of twisted amusement in Dusknoir's voice. "Did you not once stop to wonder why I dragged Team Shadow here?"
Leaf frowned, turning to look at the four again. To their credit, they looked just as bewildered as he felt.
"Yes, I did wonder about that," Leaf replied. "You're actually going to fill us in?"
The smirk on Dusknoir's stomach deepened. "Ah, well… I at least wanted to give you the comfort of dying together with your partner. Isn't that right… Claire?"
"What are you talking about?"
Leaf and Meowth blurted out their question at the same time. Meowth's eyes were wide, fear and confusion plainly plastered on her face, and Leaf felt his heartbeat speed up. Why hadn't he asked her name before? Her earlier uses of Thunderbolt, her familiar eyes, the bits of her personality that he'd seen — and now her name.
Leaf mentally slapped himself, however. There was a more important point that he'd let himself miss.
"You know as well as I do that my partner is a human, Dusknoir!"
"I-I am." The cat Pokémon's voice cracked. "Or at least, I was — I don't remember much else, but…"
Leaf's breathing sped up as he looked at her. "But how? Why—"
Dusknoir's cold laughter cut him off. "You may deny it all you like, but that Meowth standing beside you is in fact your partner. Oh, it threw me off initially as well; I wondered why I'd heard nothing about a human traveling around the area when I was in the past.
"Then, I happened to stop by the Wigglytuff Guild, and there you were, Claire! Of course, I had no idea of your identity initially, and you had no memories of your past. But it was right after you told me your name that the guild received the news of the name of thief stealing the Time Gears. I found the two of you at the exact same time!
"All that was left was to find out which Time Gears Grovyle had already stolen and set some kind of trap at one he hadn't gotten yet. The lake trio, the guild, and yes, even you, Claire, were all quite willing to set my plan into motion."
Leaf flinched; his mistake at Crystal Lake sounded so much worse coming from Dusknoir. It certainly didn't help that the fact that he'd seen Claire numerous times around the town square and had no idea it was her was still sinking in. And now, the last bit of hope he'd had was completely quashed.
Claire was wildly looking back and forth between Leaf and Dusknoir. She seemed even more shocked than he did, and her three teammates had uncertainty showing in their eyes. Leaf didn't blame them; Claire's past had to be hitting them pretty hard.
"So, you see, Grovyle, you have failed. And now, all these games you've been trying to play with me are over. You will all be eliminated here and now!"
The Sableye rushed towards them with no further prompting. Their cackling increased in volume as they raised their claws, rising to an unearthly shrieking sound. The group of six packed themselves together more tightly, clinging together hopelessly as the Sableye descended on them.
Somehow, over the din, one voice was audible. Of all of them, it was Felix's, much to Leaf's surprise.
"Grovyle! Claire! Do something!" he pleaded.
Claire's face had now gone blank with shock, and Leaf wasn't exactly thinking quickly at the moment either.
"There's nothing we can do," he muttered.
"Celebi…" Felix's eyes shot towards her as he spoke. "Isn't there anything you can do?"
"I could try sending us a few seconds ahead in time, but Primal Dialga would notice it, and—"
"Just try it!"
Felix's voice was now nearly hysterical, and the Sableye had completely closed in on them. Resolutely, Celebi fluttered to the center of the group; she looked a bit reluctant, but they had no other choice.
"Everyone, hang onto me!"
Immediately after reaching out to Celebi, Leaf felt the familiar rush of time traveling course through him. For a moment, the plateau blurred around him, and he could see the vague shapes of Dusknoir and the Sableye running around in confusion. Soon, however, there was a sudden crushing feeling and a loud shattering sound, followed by Primal Dialga's roar.
They collapsed in a heap right in front of the Passage of Time, and Celebi was panting in exhaustion. Dusknoir whirled around, gesturing towards them wildly.
"I knew Dialga would shatter our path," Celebi groaned. "Hurry, dears! Go!"
"But what about you?" Felix queried.
"Don't worry about me, just go!" Celebi urged.
"There — don't let them get through—"
Dusknoir's commands were barely audible over the Sableye's shouting as Celebi ushered the group forward. She pushed them into the light one by one, and she gave a resigned smile as she looked at Claire and Leaf. Instinctively, Leaf reached out and grabbed Claire by the arm, and Celebi shoved the two forward together.
Then, all Leaf could see was the bright blue light of the passage. As they spun though it, Claire clung to him; whether she subconsciously remembered their last trip or if she was just scared was something he'd have to find out later. Still, Leaf automatically tightened his grip on her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her to him.
"I'm not going to lose you again, Claire."
With that, Leaf's consciousness started to slip from his dizziness, and the last thing he felt before passing out was Claire's ever-tightening grip.
Author's Note x2: Well, I definitely just set a new record on taking forever to get a chapter written. However, fortunately I'm on winter break now, and I've got a good month off from university, so hopefully I should be able to get back on some kind of updating schedule.
Now, as for this chapter, I definitely had a bit of fun with Iris (again), though Celebi proved herself difficult. She turned out all right, I guess, but I feel like I have trouble doing her character justice. Ah well… I have some fun things planned for next chapter, at least. Also, if all goes according to plan, then I am now over halfway done with this fic. Crazy stuff.