DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokemon. Do I look like I do?

Sorry for the delay, guys, this woulda been up a week ago but I got sidetracked watching Shaman King... I have a strong urge to write a story about it . But I'm busy with TWO stories, of course, this and Sparks. So, here's a chapter to tide you over until I write the next one, hopefully that will be soon but of course, no guarantees.

Ten: The Send Off

"All right, we have only one week to get to the Hidden Land and search the Old Ruins," Celebi explained after all the chosen Pokemon had been assigned to traveling groups. "We have four hours till midnight, and we will leave immediately after that. I recommend that you rest and gather your supplies before then. Now, we'll have to travel by foot, as the Freeze has disrupted what little road system we have toward the Treasure Town Ruins."

Tide, who was standing next to Grovyle, gawped. "R-ruins?"

Grovyle nodded slowly, his eyes studying the chosen Pokemon, who stood in groups on the table, which now showed the map of the Esplori region. "It's a long story. To make it quick, bandits raided Treasure Town, and your guild - well, the guild five hundred years ago - battled them. It was a battle that lasted for days, and by its end there was nothing left to salvage of the town."

"Who won?" Tide asked.

Grovyle looked at Tide out of the corner of his eye. "The bandits. There was a traitor in the guild."

Before Tide could say anything, Celebi continued. "I will lead one group through the Hidden Land. Each of the other teams should decide upon a leader. You will not leave this room until you do. We will meet on the second floor fifteen minutes before midnight. Those of you not heading on this mission, you are dismissed."

The tribe leaders, rovers, and all other Pokemon not heading on the mission reluctantly filed out of the room (the process of which was slow, as definitely not all of them could fit on the elevator at one time).

Tide remembered their reactions to seeing Herrero's Sword. Most had wondered what it was, while others, realizing it was a weapon, nodded in approval. A handful had stared at it in scorn, but no one spoke out against it.

Tide's ears thanked them for that.

Croagunk, Wigglytuff's and Chatot's choice, inflated his cheek sacs and sat on his haunches to let the rest of his team - which consisted of a petit Buizel, a well-muscled Jolteon, and a burly Snover - bickered over who would be the team leader.

The Toxic Mouth Pokemon looked sideways at Tide. "Meh-heh. I guess you're staying here?"

"Yeah," Tide replied absently. His mind was racing with thoughts of what had happened to him in less than a day. Now it was almost if he was watching the entire scene through someone else's eyes.

Croagunk let out a sort of groan mixed with a grumble as he let his cheek sacs deflate. "Good luck to you on this end. I think you'll need it, meh-heh." With that, Croagunk shifted his eyes off into space and let his cheek sacs inflate and deflate again in a rhythmic manner.

Saif, who had been studying the exploration party, suddenly turned to Tide and Amarante. "You two must be tired!" he exclaimed. "Time traveling must be a bother, I bet. And listening to us banter probably wasn't good either."

Before Tide could speak, the Gallade turned his head and beckoned with his arm to a Pokemon that Tide had not noticed before. A Chikorita, who had been standing next to the elevator, quickly hurried around the table up to Saif.

"What is it?" she asked. The Pokemon was rather small for her kind, but her eyes held a determined light that showed an age of experience.

"Alessandra, this is Tide, and Ranta. Show them to room seventeen, please."

The Chikorita nodded, and then beckoned with her head leaf for the two to follow her. A little reluctant, Tide followed, and Ranta trotted obediently after him.

"Be ready by half and hour to midnight," Saif called after them. "We'll see everyone off."

Tide looked over his shoulder at the Gallade and nodded, then continued to follow Alessandra around the circular table toward the elevator.

The Chikorita had to stand up on her hind legs to push the button with her leaf. After a moment, there was a rumbling noise. It stopped after a moment, then Alessandra expertly used her leaf to open the door, then motioned for Tide and Ranta to enter it. They complied, and Alessandra closed the door behind them.

"Which floor?" Rotom's head was jutting out from the wall. He visibly shifted when he saw the Chikorita. "Oh…hi Alessandra."

"Hey, Rotom," Alessandra greeted, albeit a little coolly. "To the quarters, please."

Rotom nodded and sank back into the walls.

The elevator jerked and started its upward climb. Other than the rumble of the machinery, there was silence.

"So… um… Alessandra, was it?" Tide broke the silence.

"Yeah?"

"Do you have some sort of job here?"

The Chikorita nodded. "I'm a guide; I show Pokemon around. Well, those who want to be shown…" She trailed off, and Tide wondered if she was thinking about the Pokemon down in the entrance hall - the ones who were going crazy.

The rest of the elevator ride was spent in silence. Ranta shuffled her paws absently, and Tide fiddled with his hands behind his back. The whole time, Alessandra's eyes flitted around the elevator, and her body was slightly tense.

"We're here!" Rotom called, and the elevator jerked to a stop.

Alessandra opened the door and led the way into the next room. Hurriedly, she closed the door behind them and visibly relaxed, letting out a sigh.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I'm nervous around Ghosts. My brother was killed by a Haunter," she added, glaring at the floor.

Tide tipped his head to the side. "I thought Pokemon were supposed to be friendly and stuff now that time is restored."

The Chikorita let out a laugh that seemed a little ominous. "I may not remember the age of the Darkness, but what you said doesn't mean that Pokemon are good everywhere. It doesn't just take time going out of whack to cause Pokemon to be evil."

She padded over to the other end of the small circular room to where a doorway led to a set of circular stairs. "Your room is a couple flights up," she said as she started the climb.

Tide hurried after her, Ranta just behind him.

"Why do we have to go up stairs?" Ranta asked, obviously annoyed at having to climb to get to the place she was supposed to rest at.

"Just a precaution," Alessandra explained. "These are the quarters for the 'higher-ups' here, like Saif and his mate and such, so we don't want anyone else coming up. Unless they pay for a room, that is."

"A price? I thought this place was for all Pokemon." Tide stopped for a moment on a stair to catch his breath.

Alessandra stopped and looked over her shoulder at the Piplup. "These are the nicer rooms. And besides, how do you expect we pay for food? And the elevators, too. Not to mention electricity and heating. And air conditioning. And clean water for Water Pokemon, and-"

"I get it," Tide interrupted, continuing the climb.

They passed a doorway that led down a short hall, and continued upward until they came to another doorway. They passed through the opening and walked down the hallway, until they came to a room with the number 17 inscribed in it. Alessandra turned the handle with her head leaf and ushered Tide and Ranta inside.

The room was large and spacious. Two beds - made of comfortable cotton mattresses and covered with deep-red Pidgey-down quilts - were pushed up against one wall. In the farthest corner beside the left bed was a deep-looking pool of water, while in the opposite corner near the other bed was a bed of live coals strewn inside a large steel oven-like contraption. Like every other room, the walls were wooden, but painted a deep Oran-Berry-Blue, while the floor was inlaid with warmed stone. A wooden desk sat between the two beds, and some sort of small electric machine sat on it. A single window overlooked the ever-changing scenery of the darkening Apple Woods, and beyond the trees, the flat moorland that surrounded it, and the distant, hazy mountains that lay beyond that.

"If you need anything, just pick up the receiver of the telephone-" Alessandra pointed with her leaf to the machine that lay on the desk "- and it'll connect you to the operator. Just tell her what you need, and someone will be up shortly after. I'll be back to get you at half and hour to midnight."

With that, the Chikorita walked backward out of the room and closed the door behind her.

Amarante yawned and padded over to the bed closer to the oven and curled up on it, closing her eyes but facing the heat. Soon her breathing became rhythmic as she fell asleep.

Tide, on the other hand, wasn't all that sleepy. He padded over to the pool of water and waded in. The pool was cool and pleasant, but also rather deep - seven feet, to be exact. Tide dived down into the water and swam down to the bottom, touching it with his hand. He turned over in the water so that his back was to the stone floor and he was facing the surface.

It was completely silent. Light filtered down from above, and flickered with the tiny waves that Tide had created. For the first time that day, Tide felt peaceful. There was no stress; just water. There was no one talking to him; just water. There was no new and life-threatening information; just water.

The water cradled him like a child. For the first time in what felt like forever, silence wasn't making him think about her. She wasn't in his mind as the water lulled him into sleep.

---

But she was there.

Tide floated in the water. It wasn't the pool - it was much, much bigger. In fact, it seemed endless in every direction.

Stone-colored Water Pokemon drifted around him. Their faces were frozen; some in snarls, others in joy, and some in boredom. Not only were their faces frozen, but their bodies were as well - they drifted with the currents, swirling endlessly in the watery abyss.

It occurred to Tide that this was what Grovyle and Celebi had told him about; these Pokemon were Frozen in time.

Tide swarm around a particularly large and ugly-faced Magikarp, and came beak-first into another stone-hard Pokemon.

The Pokemon he bumped into started to drift away from him. A sudden shaft of watery light from above illuminated the snarling face of the Pokemon, as if it had been Frozen just when it was about to fight.

It was her.

She was in the water.

She was going to drown! She was going to die!

Olivia! Tide's beak didn't move, but he heard his thoughts project through the water, echoing off the Frozen Pokemon. He sped after her, and grasped her arm. He swam upward - or at least, in the direction he thought was up.

Your tail! he exclaimed.

The Charmander's tail held no flame, not even a Frozen one, if that was possible.

D-don't worry, Tide - somehow - stammered mentally. I'll get you to the surface. I'll light your tail. Don't worry.

He continued to pull her upward. But with each passing second, her body grew heavier. Tide glanced down, and gasped.

Dusknoir!

The Gripper Pokemon had grabbed a hold of Olivia's other arm, tugging in the opposite direction. An evil Dusknoir-equivalent of a smirk was on his face.

Tide grasped Olivia with both hands. Grovyle said you were good now!

Did he, now? Dusknoir's voice was deep, cold, and seemed to make Tide's feathers curl. If I am the good guy, how do I know that you aren't trying to destroy her?

You idiot! You LIAR! Tide screeched, his rage starting to take over. Let go!

Dusknoir's grip didn't loosen. How do you know this is even her?

What--

The Gripper Pokemon jerked downward on Olivia, bringing Tide along with her. Dusknoir brought his hand barreling forward into Tide's face…

---

Tide exploded awake, the force of his head rocketing up so fast sending him spinning through the water. He gulped in water - the equivalent of breathing in air - and tried hard to calm his heart.

What… dream? I don't… remember…

Tide's mind drew a blank at trying to recollect his dream. It took him a few moments to stop his heart from beating so fast. He let out a sigh.

Light flickered in the water, and for the first time ever, Tide was afraid of his element. The shadows of the water seemed to harbor something sinister, and the filtered light felt unreliable.

Hurriedly, he swam to the surface and crawled out of the water. He shook the water out of his feathers and glanced out the window at the dark sky. By the angle of the moon, he guessed it to be almost eleven. He shivered, and climbed onto his bed to wait out the next half hour in silence.

---

A knock at the door brought Tide to attention. He shook off the feeling of fear and uncertainty that had been shrouding him and jumped off his bed. He gently shook Ranta awake.

"C'mon, it's time to go."

The Vulpix blinked sleepily at him, but complied all the same and climbed out of bed.

Tide opened the door to find Alessandra standing outside.

"Hey," the Chikorita greeted. "It's time to go see the others off."

She led the way down the hall, and down the stairs to the elevator. When they entered the elevator, Alessandra visibly tensed again.

"Which floor?" Rotom asked.

"Basement level one," Alessandra supplied, becoming silent.

The elevator ride wasn't as long as it was the last time - Tide suspected that the meeting room was somewhere below the first basement level. Wherever the first basement level led to.

When the elevator stopped, Alessandra opened the door, revealing a plain, large circular room, with circular windows lining the upper half of the walls, revealing the world outside at ground level. Luminous Orbs must have hung outside, for light illuminated the immediate area outside. It was not unlike the main room where visiting Pokemon massed. Only this one was filled with the journeying Pokemon, and was much less crowded - not to mention less crazed.

"There's Grovyle," Alessandra directed, pointing with her nose.

She led the way through the groups of Pokemon to where Grovyle stood, conversing in a low tone to Celebi. When he spotted them out of the corner of his eye, he broke off whatever he was saying and turned to them.

"So, you didn't sleep the entire night," Grovyle joked.

The joke didn't receive any laughs, and a muscle in Grovyle's neck tensed slightly. "Well," he said, "once Saif gets here, we'll call order."

"He'll be here soon enough."

Tide turned to see Conteur the Glaceon standing behind him. The Ice-Type's eyes were vaguely glazed with exhaustion.

"If I know Saif, he's in the elevator right now," he said with absolute certainty.

"You look tired," Celebi commented. "Is everything all right?"

Conteur laughed. "Oh, I'm fine. I was just telling some children up in the nursery some tales." He glanced down at Amarante with a smile. "Children are cute, but quite a handful. Many years ago, when I lived with my Glaceon tribe, I spent most of my time with the mothers and their young. It was quite entertaining."

Celebi suddenly snapped to attention. "Oh, they're here!"

"They?" Tide asked confusedly, looking around the room.

Tide's question went unnoticed. Grovyle nodded to Conteur and Celebi before leading them through the crowd. He paused, then looked back over his shoulder. "Alessandra, make sure these two don't get lost."

The Chikorita nodded as the trio disappeared into the crowd. She turned her head to Tide and Ranta. "Follow me, quick!"

She led the way back through the crowd to the elevator. Just when they got there, they opened to reveal Saif and a Pokemon of a species that Tide had seen before, up in the main room. The Pokemon was a graceful female with a red horn in her chest and had shiny, clean green hair. She was youthful, but her eyes held strength in them, as if she had gone through many trials, and was still ready to face more.

"Oh, hi Alessandra. Tide, Ranta," Saif greeted.

"Grovyle and the others are about to start," Alessandra quickly informed the Gallade.

"I'm just in time." He turned to the Pokemon accompanying him. "You stay with these three?" It was more of a question than a statement.

"Sure," the Pokemon replied as Saif hurried away through the crowd. She turned her attention to Tide and Amarante. "And you are?"

"I'm Tide, and this is Amarante," Tide supplied.

"You can call me Ranta if you want to," the little fox added.

"What Pokemon are you?" Tide blurted, his curiosity taking over him.

The Pokemon let out a laugh. "My name is Seul. I am a Gardevoir."

"Are you Saif's mate?" Ranta asked, thoroughly curious.

Seul seemed slightly startled by how bluntly the fox had asked the question. "Y-yes, I am."

Ranta swung her head toward Tide. "What exactly is a 'mate'?"

"Wha-" Tide was saved from having to answer the question when a soothing ringing sounded through the room.

"May we have your attention?" Celebi called out once the room became quiet. She, Grovyle, Conteur, and Saif were standing on a wooden platform at the other end of the room, looking out over the audience.

Saif stepped forward. "We'll leave just after midnight, which is in a few minutes. I must stress how important this mission is - any delay could have horrible effects. This job must be taken seriously, to the utmost importance. If you feel that you can't stand up to this, by all means, back away now. No Pokemon will judge you."

No Pokemon in the room moved or made sound.

Saif paused for a moment longer before continuing. "All right, I see everyone is in agreement upon going. Remember, Celebi's word is law on this mission. And, right now, if you feel any pressure in the general region of yourself, move to another spot as quickly as possible, or you'll be pierced by one of the victims of the Freeze. Understood?"

The Pokemon in the room nodded. A Sneasel stood taller, and shouted: "We'll succeed!"

More Pokemon joined in the cheer, until Tide had to cover his ears from the boisterousness.

"Well then," Saif added to the din, "after midnight, the mission will begin!"

As the minutes ticked by, the noise eventually died down to a lower level of volume between groups.

"Have you two seen a Freeze?" Seul asked. "I believe Saif said that you two were from the past…?"

Ranta shook her head. "We haven't seen it."

"You can see if you look out the window." Seul tensed, and suddenly, Tide, Ranta, and Alessandra were lifted from the ground and were moved closer to the windows.

"Whoa!" Tide exclaimed, obviously unused to levitating in the air. He couldn't even right himself - Seul was in complete control.

"It'll be midnight in… thirty seconds," Seul told them. "Don't blink, or you'll miss that one second…"

Tide stared hard out the window. Five seconds in and his eyes were burning. Ten seconds and they stung like crazy. At fifteen he blinked. He managed to keep his eyes open when midnight came.

In a split second, the entire world was white. It was a blank, empty whiteness in which nothing existed. In the next moment, the whiteness was gone. In its place was the landscape of Apple Wood's clearing, but littered with stone-colored, stiff Pokemon. Most seemed to be sleeping, although the nocturnal creatures were Frozen in the middle of doing something or another, like foraging for food, as one Paras seemed to be doing.

Tide stared in shock as a Pidgeotto suddenly plummeted from the sky, its wing embedding into the ground.

Ranta let out a cry. "W-why is this happening?!"

Seul shook her head and gently lowered the trio to the ground. "We don't know."

The Gardevoir lessened her Psychic hold and lowered the trio gently to the ground. "From what we can figure, the laws of space accommadate for the sudden appearance of the Frozen Pokemon. We're unsure of whether the Freeze is caused by time or space; perhaps even both. But the legend of the Seventeen Humans is our only hope at the time if we want to survive."

"Attention, please," Celebi called.

Tide turned back toward the wooden platform.

"It is now that we will begin our journey," Celebi announced. She closed her eyes in concentration, and suddenly a section of the wall shrunk down into the floor, leaving a gap into the night.

With a cheer, the Pokemon rushed out into the night, Celebi hurrying after them.


Alessandra the Chikorita was created by Legendary Fairy

Yes, I used someone's OC, but that doesn't mean I'm accepting them at the moment, regardless of what I wrote in previous author notes. I'm a little busy right now, it's the last week before Christmas break, so I'm trying to get stuff done.

See you all soon, don't forget to review!