"Watch it! There's one behind you!" Pikachu calls to me. Sure enough, a Surskit had flanked me. Thanks to his warning, I am able to evade the oncoming strike. Pikachu uses quick attack to dash right up to my attacker in a flash of electric light and knock him out.

"Thanks." I reply. It's become clear that our encounter with Drowzee has boosted Pikachu's confidence dramatically. He's actively fighting now, a very welcome change.

"No problem. How far are we, do you think?"

"Not much farther, I'm willing to bet. The mountain's only so big."

"What if the dungeon made it bigger on the inside?"

"Wait, they can do that?"

"Don't know. but I wouldn't dismiss it."

"Huh..." The tunnel begins to widen. Looks like we're drawing close to our destination. And sure enough, we have. The sight was something completely unexpected. Our cave apparently leads into a much bigger tunnel, stretching to the left and right way past our field of view. Every surface of the cavern was covered in colorful gems, shimmering with a sort of internal light. This bathed the cavern in the many colors of the gemstones. And right in front of us was a massive red gem standing as tall as us.

"Holy crap... This is amazing!" I say to no one in particular.

"This is such a find! Quick! Grab a gem to take back!"

"Right. Almost forgot. Should I try for the big one?"

"Sure, if you'd like. Not sure we could carry it all the way back..."

"I just want to see if we can move it." I walk up to the crystal. The light shimmers and pulses, almost like it's taunting me, daring me to take it. I grab onto it. "Here goes nothing!" I tug with all my strength. But it doesn't move a single inch. I keep going, wrestling it back and forth trying to dislodge it to no avail. I let go, panting slightly from exertion. "No good. It won't budge."

"Here. Let me try." I step aside as Pikachu makes his attempt. Wait... Oh not another one... Another vision flash...

Once again my vision flashes white and I see the cave we are in. It appears that the silhouetted pokemon is here too. I watch intently as it also tries to move the big gem. When pulling seems to fail, He turns to pushing. And he actually makes some progress. The gem shifts slightly. But there's an audible click as it does. Is it some sort of mechanism? Who built it? And why?

Suddenly the cavern rumbles. and from outside my peripheral vision, a deluge of water roars through the cavern, washing the unfortunate silhouette away to who knows where.

The flash ends and I'm back to reality. And what I see horrifies me. Pikachu has also resorted to pushing the crystal. He's going to get us killed!

"Pikachu! Wait! Don't-" I try to warn him, but it's too late. I hear the click of the mechanism. We're about to be washed away... "Oh frick..."

"Alex?! What's wrong!?"

"Another vision flash. The gem was booby trapped. We need to leave. Now." As I say this the cavern rumbles. The tsunami is coming. "Run!" I yell. We both take off at full sprint for the exit, only for our hopes to be smashed as we find the exit blocked off by a crystal. We're trapped.

"What do we do?!"

"Brace for impact and pray." Was all I could come up with. I take a deep breath, knowing I will need it. Pikachu does the same. Then we wait. We don't need to wait too long, though. In mere seconds the roaring deluge swallows us whole, taking us along for the ride.

I'm getting unpleasant flashbacks to the storm that washed me ashore. Meanwhile the tunnel we're carried through swerves every which way, though seems to be headed in a general direction, up. Then, suddenly, light. The torrent has shot us out of the top of the mountain! How it managed to do that, I couldn't begin to understand. But, regardless, that's what's happening.

We continue our flight for a surprisingly long time before gravity takes hold, starting our decent. As we tumble downward, I try to ascertain my bearings, to no avail. I was being tossed around far too much to be able to tell where I was.

A sudden impact on my back startles me, opening my eyes, I finally see what is happening. The torrent had thrown us into the sky and dropped us into a large, smooth halfpipe structure on the back of the mountain. Combined with the water it was almost like a waterslide. With no other option, we are forced to ride it out.

Eventually, we approach what appears to be a small lake at the end of the slide. With a large splash, we are thrown into the lake. Quickly, I swim to the surface, trying to figure out where the frick we are. It isn't long before Pikachu surfaces as well.

"What in Arceus' name just happened?!" He yells.

"I think that was a fancy way of telling us to 'get out.'"

"Seems to be... What an adrenaline rush. Where are we?"

"Give me a second and I'll check." I say as I swim to shore with our team bag. Thank goodness it's waterproof. I pull out the Wonder Map and take a look. "half a mile northeast of the waterfall cave. Goodness, we covered some distance..."

"What an adventure for our first real mission! Shame we didn't get something to bring back."

"Yeah. I suppose we just have to hope Chatot is lenient with us."

"You found what?! That's unbelievable!" Chatot cries out in excitement. "What an amazing discovery!"

"Unfortunately, we didn't get anything for study. A little too preoccupied. Sorry about that." I say, slightly saddened. "But if you need confirmation, by all means, send another team. Have them confirm our findings.

"That's okay, friend!" Wigglytuff cheers in his still very unsettling voice. "Because we know you're telling the truth."

"You do?" Pikachu asks.

"We do." Chatot answers. "Because that was a test. and you passed. Mostly. Would have preferred you two manage to bring something back." Wait... a test?

"So you knew about this?" I ask.

"Yup. Wigglytuff discovered it a few years ago." Wait a minute... those vision flashes... yeah... the silhouette looked like Wigglytuff! So... Not only can I peer into the future, but the past as well? "Ever since then we've sent newcomers there to see if they could figure it out. Most don't even get past the waterfall. So know that I am very impressed."

"Thank you."

"You two better rest up! You look like you need it." Wigglytuff adds.

"No arguments there. Guess we'll see you tomorrow." Or when I wake up to see you standing over me with a knife in hand. I swear you're just waiting for the moment to jump me, Wigglytuff.

"Pikachu, I've been wondering..." I tell my friend as we hunker down for the night.

"About what?" He inquires.

"Those vision flashes. There's got to be a pattern to them. The can't be just random, can they?"

"Well... Um... Let's see here... The first you had after handing Azuril the apple, then after Drowzee bumped you... Then when you touched the waterfall..."

"And then the gem... Wait... My hand brushed up against Azuril's when handing the apple over... Touch. It's triggered by touch. It's got to be."

"So, you touch something and you have a chance to see something from the past or future?"

"That's what it looks like."

"That's awesome, Alex! I never thought anyone could do that!

"Me neither. I wonder... Could I learn to control it?"

"you could try... But who knows when the next one will happen."

"That would be a problem."

Pikachu yawns. "No use worrying tonight. Let's get some rest."

"Sound's good. See you in the morning."