-Chapter 14: The Metal Serpent of the Desert-

-Grovyle's POV-

After we left that place, Connor healed all of us, and pulled out his wonder map, "Alright so the next closest one is in… Quicksand Desert. You ready to travel?"

I held my hand up, "Hold on, Connor… Uxie said that I have already been to the past, and stole the time gears… How is that possible, if I'm still here?"

He shrugged, "My knowledge of time-related paradoxes is very limited, but my best guess is that Dialga took another Grovyle from another timeline, brainwashed him, put the mark of dialga on him, then sent him to the past to pose as you, except fail at getting the time gears. It's quite genius, now that I said it out loud…"

Tyranitar shook his head in confusion, "So… Dialga sent a fake Grovyle to the past? Why?"

Celebi giggled, seeming to get over the emotional collapse she had just experienced, "To make it more difficult for us! If a Grovyle that looked like Grovyle was sent to the past to fake stealing the time gears, then the three lake guardians would be hostile towards Grovyle in this future, making it more difficult to find the locations, thus giving Dialga more time to come up with another backup plan in case we do make it to the past... Ingenious use of temporal control..."

Connor's frown re-appeared, "It still doesn't make any sense… Why were the Guild members at Fogbound Lake…?"

Celebi shrugged, stealing another glance at me, "That is where my knowledge reaches its peak. I don't know what Guild Members are, but I'm presuming that they were the pokemon in the tents at the base of foggy forest?"

I was at a loss for words… All this talk about time travelling didn't make any sense… Yet Connor and Celebi were talking about it as if it was the easiest thing ever...

Connor shrugged, "Yeah... Well, standing here won't help. We need to get moving…" He threw down another orb, without chanting anything, and it blew up into a big smokey cloud, and when the cloud cleared, we were standing on sand, in the middle of a desert for as far as the eye could see.

I looked around, and quickly became parched. I pulled an oran berry out of my bag and squeezed the juice into my mouth, and Celebi floated next to me. I could feel her emotions in my being, like we were connected somehow… I couldn't help but smile every time I saw her, as corny as that sounds. She was really good at masking her uneasiness, if she had any...

Connor looked around warily, and turned to each of us "Be wary of the Steelix here; They often ambush unsuspecting prey, so be on your guard."

We began walking, and almost as if he sensed something, which he probably did, Connor knelt down and signaled for us to be quiet as he placed his ear to the sand. He stood up and shouted, "Run!" He took off, followed by Tyranitar who was carrying Galvantula on his back like a backpack. Victini and Celebi were floating in the air, and I tried to run, but the sand slipped between my feet, and I couldn't get a good grip to jump from.

I heard rumbling around me, and suddenly six excadrill popped out of the ground in a circle that encompassed me. I extended vine whips from my wrists, and they bore back into the ground. I looked around, and noticed that Connor was far off, along with the others, except Celebi…

I began to walk towards them, smiling, "That's what you're scared of, Connor? A few Excadrill?"

Connor shook his head, and I felt a slightly stronger rumble as I was nearly knocked off of my feet. Before I could react, an enormous steel snake erupted from the dunes right beneath me, shooting straight into the air.

I balanced on its maw, which was as wide as Connor was tall, and watched it open beneath me. I leapt off as it tried to snap me up and used vine whip to wrap a vine around its opened mouth like a bridle.

It roared as it tried to dive back into the sand, but I pulled on the vine, and it stopped. I pat its head as I looked at the others, who were all shocked beyond words.

Galvantula smiled, "Um… I don't think we ordered a ride, but I'll take it!"

He leapt up, and Steelix growled, which was a sound that shook the very ground itself. This thing was intimidating. I pet its head, "Hey, it's alright… You don't need to worry about them. I'm your main concern." Connor and Tyranitar climbed onto it while Victini and Celebi floated above it. Connor pulled out his wonder map and pointed to the left slightly, "It's that way."

I leaned down to the steelix, "You heard him; That way."

The Steelix grumbled as it began snaking through the sand much faster than we were walking a few moments before. And I could feel in its muscles that it wasn't even trying.

We travelled with only the sound of the sand beneath us for some time until Connor abruptly said, "Hard left!"

I nodded and pulled on the reins in the direction that Connor pointed. Steelix groaned in protest, but it cooperated rather well. It turned without throwing us off, and Connor smiled, "You've really outdone yourself, Grovyle…"

I laughed, "Oh, please. Steelix here is the one that hasn't tried to throw us off. I haven't done anything."

Connor shrugged, "Alright. Good job, Steelix…"

The metal snake rumbled slightly, and Connor smiled, "You're welcome…"

I wanted to be able to tell what Steelix was thinking, so I asked Connor if he could give me telepathic capabilities.

Connor smiled confidently, "Give me a challenge," as he placed a hand on my shoulder. I didn't feel any different, but I could hear my thoughts, and channel them into a beam, almost. It's weird. I thought about talking to him, and I could understand what he was saying, even though he wasn't speaking or telecommunicating.

Connor tapped my shoulder soon afterwards, "We need to stop… I see the rock formations up ahead."

Steelix acknowledged, and slowed to a crawl before stopping. Connor leapt off, and

beckoned us to join him. Steelix whined slightly, and I asked Connor if we could keep him.

Connor shrugged, "Don't get too attached. Even with Victini's power boost, it's going to be nearly impossible to take him back with us."

I frowned slightly, and Steelix grunted through it's nostrils, exhaling a loud hiss of air, and I tossed it a sitrus berry from my bag. It chomped it down in one gulp, and smiled contently.

I could tell what it was thinking; Something along the lines of a 'thank you'.

I smiled, "Y'know, Connor… It's weird that just a few hours ago, Steelix was trying to eat me, and now he's like one of my friends…"
Connor turned back to me, "There are some good pokemon outside of the Insurgo, you know."

I smiled as I scratched the big metal serpent's chin, and it laid on the ground, and began humming in a pleased tone. I waved for it to follow me, and it stayed close behind, like a pet. I thought that was pretty cool, and Connor knelt down rather abruptly and ran his hand through the sand.

He grunted, "Quicksand… This is the place. I can feel the Time Gear's energy… My Dimensional Scream can't activate with this loose of a material."

Steelix suddenly lurched forward, slithering past me, and into the Quicksand. I found myself tied to him with a vine whip, and I was dragged into the sand with him.

-Connor's POV-

When the Steelix dragged Grovyle under the sand, I used an incantation to track his life energy. Celebi freaked out, along with Tyranitar and Galvantula. Victini and I were the more calm of the two.

I shushed them, "Quiet! I need to focus…"

I closed my eyes, and followed the energy trail of Steelix. I smiled as I realized where it had taken Grovyle to.

I murmured, "Just as I thought…" And I said to the rest of the group a little louder, "We need to jump into the sand."

Victini hesitated, "Um… Headmaster? Are you sure?"

I nodded, "Yes. This is where the underground lake is."

Galvantula shrugged, "No regrets!" As he jumped into the sand first. Tyranitar followed suit, and I jumped in behind him. Celebi clung to my sleeve along with Victini, and I took a deep breath as my head sunk under the sand.

Alright, sorry for the one chapter post yesterday... It was pretty hectic. I'll start two-a-days back up tomorrow. Same as always, leave a quick Review or PM if you enjoyed, leave any suggestions for me to take into the next story, and I will see you tomorrow! Much Love!

-PL