Chapter 12: G's Last Stand.

"Mesprit is well. She is in the custody of us, ZZZZZZZT! She will be fine. We're focusing ALL of our attention on Grovyle. Please, try your best to help." Magnezone said before leaving the guild.

"I can't believe there was a secret dungeon!" Sunflora gasped.

"And there was a TIME GEAR!" Loudred gasped.

"But Grovyle took it..." Flash frowned.

"We... Lost..." Alicia looked down. Nan frowned.

"But it's a lead." Dusknoir cut in. "We found the time gears in Fogbound Lake and Underground Lake, and Uxie and Mesprit guarded them. The only remaining lake guardian trio member is Azelf. If we find Azelf, we find the time gear!"

"And Mesprit said she found out about Grovyle from Uxie via telepathy." Flash informed.

"And the two lakes we've found have been on a weird plateau and underground." G pointed out.

"So the last one should be hidden in a strange place too!" Loudred gasped.

"Azelf might even be in one of those other locations we went to before, squawk!" Chatot said excitedly.

"But we have no idea where..." Alicia sighed dejectedly.

"Did any of you bring back a souvenir from your dungeon?" Dusknoir asked.

"Oof... I snagged a crystal, yup yup." Bidoof said.

"What?! I was with you the whole time! You sneaky thing!" Sunflora exclaimed.

"May I borrow that?" Dusknoir asked.

"My crystal..." Bidoof frowned.

"Only for a moment." Dusknoir said. "Just if I have GOrSomethi touch it..."

"...oh! I see!" G nodded.

"You're gonna use the dimensional scream ability!" DarkEH exclaimed.

"...yes, I think we all understand that that was inferred." G deadpanned.

"What's the dimensional scream?" Loudred asked.

"It's an ability to see the past or future from touching something!" DarkEH explained.

"Stop giving away my secrets!" G flailed.

"What an amazing ability!"

"It'll save us!"

"Yay!"

Everyone instantly looked at Bidoof, who handed over his crystal to G.

.

..

...

"Nng... Ugh..." Azelf fell to the ground.

"The time gear... I'll take it now." Grovyle walked around Azelf toward the lake.

"No... You'll never get it... Never..." Azelf murmured.

The vision ended. G quickly handed back the crystal to Bidoof and explained what he saw.

"And since the crystal is from Crystal Cave, that vision likely has to do with it." Dusknoir said.

"But was it a vision from the past... Or the future?" Chimecho asked.

"...I... Don't know..." G admitted. The guild started to murmur amongst themselves.

"It's from the future!" Flash suddenly declared. All eyes turned to him. "Mesprit said... That Uxie told her about Grovyle... She said nothing of Azelf... There's... Still hope!"

"The whole guild will help!" Chatot said. "Give your orders, guildmaster! ...guildmaster?" Chatot hopped over.

"...zzz..." Wigglytuff was asleep! With his eyes open, too. The apprentices started giggling while Chatot struggled to wake him.

"Let's get Grovyle!" Wigglytuff suddenly shouted.

"SQUAWK!" Chatot gasped, shocked.

"HOORAY!" The whole guild took off.

Xxx

"So this is the Crystal Cave." G grinned. "Perfect for hunting!"

"How can you be so calm?" Alicia asked suddenly. The group of eight had gathered outside the cave.

"What do you mean?" G blinked.

"Alicia..." Nan began.

"Shut up!" Alicia glared. "Flash and I... We're stronger than any of you... And we couldn't even get a hit in edgewise! How could any of us stand a chance against Grovyle-"

Alicia was cut off by G smashing her into the ground with his tail.

"You're the one who needs to shut up." G said coldly.

"The hell?!" Nan and Flash ran over to G, glaring at him.

"We should all calm down..." Toxic murmured.

"'Flash and I are the strongest ones here!' What an arrogant thing to say. If you really think we're all so weak, actually try to figure out if you're right or not! I don't have time for this shit! This is life and death! You've seen firsthand what the removal of a time gear does!" G snarled.

"You... You don't understand..." Alicia started. "You didn't fight him..."

"I do understand. You lost, and it was your biggest loss ever. But that doesn't mean we can't win." G smiled. "I won't let anyone else suffer... Grovyle has messed with the wrong person. I promise... Flash, Alexis, Alicia... You didn't suffer in vain!"

"You..." Flash and Alicia stared at him with wide eyes.

"I'll be the one to take down Grovyle... For sure!" G and DarkEH entered the dungeon.

"You know... I definitely agree! Don't mope, Alicia! It's just one loss!" Nan grinned at her before entering the dungeon.

"...you guys..." Alicia breathed, before getting up. "If you're gonna win, you need me!" She ran into the dungeon.

"I feel better." Flash smiled and entered the dungeon.

"Hehe!" Toxic sighed and relief and entered the dungeon.

"You know... I feel like the two of us are focused on less than the others." Fox told Alexis.

"Don't compare me to you." Alexis said dryly before entering the dungeon.

"...well then." Fox entered the dungeon.

Xxx

G and DarkEH once again brought along Sandshrew and Cacnea. However, they quickly recruited a Seviper and sent Sandshrew home. Cacnea was very useful, even defeating many foes with one hit, but eventually succumbed to enemy Pokemon. The journey was otherwise uneventful, and the group soon reached the deepest part of the dungeon.

"Hm... I can't see any further... Crystals!" DarkEH skipped over to a crystal.

"Be careful..." G sweatdropped.

"When you touch them! They change color!" DarkEH gasped. "Try it!"

"I don't really-"

"TRY IT!"

G sweatdropped at his partner's erratic behavior and touched the Crystal. Sure enough, it changed color. "Huh. And all three of them do this..." G suddenly felt dizzy.

.

..

...

"I see...

Of the three spiritual elements of knowledge, emotion, and willpower...

Azelf is the being of willpower.

Willpower is the motivation that drives us. It's a unifying power.

To unify is to make one. So if the colors of all the crystals were made one...

The path would reveal itself.

What is the color of Azelf's spirit? That is the question.

Azelf lives at Crystal Lake.

Then Azelf's spirit must be affected by the crystals..."

The vision ended there.

"It was only a voice, like before..." G frowned. "And what the fuck was all that spirit shit? You know what? Fuck it. Azelf is fucking blue. I'm making the crystals FUCKING BLUE. I got this, DarkEH.

"Okay!" DarkEH chirped cheerfully. G went around and turned all of them blue. The crystals shot bolts of lightning that opened up a cave.

"...it was actually blue. That was really FUCKING obvious." G dragged DarkEH in.

Xxx

Nothing happened of great importance. At the end, G and DarkEH recruited a Glameow. Then they made it to the lake.

"It looks like there's an island in the middle! Let's go!" DarkEH ran on. "Something's happening there!"

Xxxx

The group reached the passage to the center island, only to find G's vision unfold.

"Gro... Vyle... You can't... Have the time gear... Never..." Azelf repeated.

"You can't stop me. Azelf, was it? I apologize, but I need that time gear." Grovyle headed toward the lake.

"Uxie and Mesprit warned me... About you... I wasn't powerful enough to defeat you directly, but I set up a fail safe..." Azelf grinned weakly.

"What?!" Grovyle turned to her, shocked. A ton of crystals shot out suddenly and covered the lake completely, blocking off the time gear.

"I can't let you have the time gear... Even if it costs me my life." Azelf stated.

"...very well. I have no quarrel with you... This is all for the time gears!" Grovyle started toward the lake spirit.

"Hell no!" Team DarkEHIsASkrub ran in the way.

"I challenge you... Grovyle." G growled, a dark aura surrounding him.

"I have no quarrel with you... So be it." Grovyle prepared himself when G suddenly lashed out with a doubleslap. Grovyle barely dodged the strikes, but noticed the damage they did to the ground they hit. DarkEH came in with a rollout which he also managed to dodge. "You need to be faster if you want to-" his eyes widened when he realized that DarkEH was bouncing around using the crystals. Picking up speed, she slammed into him. Then G jumped in with a doubleslap.

"Fast doesn't matter if you have strategy." G snickered.

"Hmph. You're also lacking in strength." Grovyle stood and dusted himself off. Then he shot forward and knocked out Seviper and Glameow in one hit.

"You didn't look like it!" G growled. He threw a seed to DarkEH, which she quickly ate. DarkEH then unleashed a powerful fighting type natural gift which slammed Grovyle to the floor. He used quick attack to dodge around G's attacks and managed to slash both of them back with a leaf blade.

"Gah!" DarkEH gasped.

"You're a ground type... Stay down. I'll handle this." G said. DarkEH could only nod, finding herself unable to speak. G and Grovyle began to clash, both feeling damage start to build up.

"Enough!" Grovyle managed to knock G to the side. "I only need to kill Azelf!" He dashed toward the fallen legendary.

'I won't... Let you!' DarkEH thought, getting in the way.

"He's way too fast... I couldn't stop him in time... But if I let him kill DarkEH and Azelf, I'll be able to hit him from behind with my new attack, and maybe even defeat him..." G thought before making a split second decision. "Sorry, guys... I said I'd beat Grovyle, but... Protecting Azelf and my friends..." G used fake out and appeared suddenly between Grovyle and DarkEH.

"What?!" Grovyle's eyes widened.

"...is way more important than winning a fight!" G was struck by the leaf blade and thrown into a crystal. He lay limp.

"...I have no quarrel with you. However, I must defeat you all... For the time gear!" Grovyle struck at DarkEH.

"Stop!" Dusknoir arrived instantaneously and blocked the attack. "Grovyle! You won't escape again!"

'The great Dusknoir... Knows Grovyle?!' DarkEH gasped.

"Hmph. I'll defeat anyone for the time gear." Grovyle replied, preparing himself. The two clashed, but Grovyle suddenly fled.

"You can't escape!" Dusknoir went off in pursuit. DarkEH collapsed.

"There they are!" All the other apprentices finally arrived.

"This..." Flash was too shocked to finish.

"I warned them..." Alicia sounded more upset than anything.

"He must be really strong..." Nan murmured. "I'm glad he didn't get the time gear..."

"Let's get them medical treatment!" Toxic cut off the reactions.

"Right!" The apprentices all helped carry off the injured Pokemon.

Xxx

"...ow..." DarkEH groaned and sat up.

"You're awake!" Chimecho smiled.

"GOrSomethi! Is he...?"

"I'm okay..." G cut her off, slowly sitting up. "He didn't hit to kill, it seems."

"What about Azelf?!" DarkEH asked worriedly.

"She's fine!" Chimecho giggled.

"That's a relief." DarkEH sighed. "I need to tell the guild something..."

Xxx

"What?!" The guild gasped.

"The great Dusknoir knew Grovyle?!" Chatot gasped.

"It seemed like it." DarkEH nodded.

Diglett suddenly put on the emergency siren. "This is an important message from Deputy Magnemite! Please state your message, deputy!"

"ZZZZZT! Chief Magnezone is putting on a state of emergency! Everyone is to gather in Treasure Town, ZZZZZZZZT!

I repeat, this is a state of emergency!"

A/N: I have played all of Pokemon Sky, and am well aware of all plot twists. It wouldn't be any fun if the characters were aware, though.