AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Why is this story so long I'm gonna cry

"Wake up, Victory! ... Come on, get up. Victory! Yeah can someone get Dan? Thanks."

"WAKE UP!"

Victory jumped up with a scream. Katheryn swallowed a giggle.

"Thanks Dan." She waved to the Loudred. He nodded and walked off.

Victory rubbed her eyes. Even after a couple days of being in the guild, she wasn't used to getting up that early. Dad and Grovyle would never make her get up so early. She hated it here. Yet, for whatever reason, her father had insisted she stay with her mother, which meant joining this obnoxious place. How did mom like it!? It was so strict and forceful and hard and stressful and- Victory snapped from her thoughts, and followed the Vulpix into the main area. She hung around vacantly in a corner, and Katheryn went off to go talk with her friends before the guild assembled.

"OK so." Apple spoke up. "Walter or Kecleon?"

They group went silent for a minute.

"Kecleon," Moon replied.

"Yeah, Kecleon would win a slap fight," Erin nodded. "Sounds about right."

"Walter can barely take a gust of wind," Katheryn snorted.

"Ain't that the truth!" Lily grinned, and everyone laughed.

The sound of Chester calling everyone for attendance brought them to the main area. Katheryn took her spot in sitting in front of Victory to the far right of the assembly line, and waited patiently.

"Pokemon detected!" Juan called suddenly. "Pokemon detected!"

"Who is it?" Chester asked to the sentry hole.

Juan went quiet, then said excitedly, "Oh, your name is Dusknoir!?"

The Guild got excited, everyone but Katheryn and Victory.

"WHAT!?" Victory shouted out, outraged. "HE'S here?"

Katheryn looked at Victory, confused. "Who's Dusknoir?"

Everyone stared at Katheryn like she was a looney.

"I can't help that I don't know him!"

"I'm not surprised." Sparky shrugged. "He like, got famous over night or something. But it is a bit notable that you haven't heard about him!"

"Fill me in," Katheryn said.

"He's a terrible Pokemon!" Victory spat as said Dusknoir came down the ladders, and finally, to the main floor. "He-"

She was cut off by his voice. "Hello there!"

Wigglytuff bounded up. "Hiya hi! Friend~ "

Katheryn blinked. Wigglytuff's friendlyness was normal, but he was so casual with... everyone. It was kind of weird. She then looked back to Victory. "What do you mean he's terrible?"

Everyone looked to Victory. "Yeah!" They all agreed.

"Dusknoir is like, the best explorer ever!" Nina pointed out.

"He does all his exploring alone," Walter awed. "You gotta have skill for that."

"He's not anything of good!" Victory growled. "He tried killing us!"

"... Victory," Katheryn blinked. "He just got here."

"Not us as in the Guild!" She said, frustrated. "Us as in the four of us like uncle Da and aunt Gee- UGH NEVERMIND, YOU ALL WEREN'T THERE!" She grumped, folding her arms. She would speak no more of this matter.

Katheryn frowned, but the Guild then just went back to listening to Wigglytuff and Dusknoir's conversation.

"Nope..." Wigglytuff sighed, "We couldn't reach the lake! Time froze before we could!"

"Oh, I see." Dusknoir frowned. "I came hoping to hear about the Guild's latest grand adventure, but some things simply can't be helped, I suppose."

Katheryn closed her eyes. And I know why time froze... And who made it. I haven't told the authorities yet...

"Well it's very nice to have you here, Dusknoir!" Wigglytuff offered. "Will you be in town for a while?"

"Yes, in fact," Dusknoir nodded. "I've been on the hunt for an outlaw, you see, and rumor has it that he's been in the Sinnoh Subsection."

"Oh, OK!" Wigglytuff nodded. "... Who are you hunting~?"

"An outlaw known as..." Dusknoir paused for a moment. "Grovyle."

"What!?" Victory frowned. "No! He can't catch Grovyle, then all of that work was for nothing..."

Katheryn gave her a look to be quiet. Victory just was mentally panicking.

"Grovyle?" Wigglytuff echoed. "I've never heard of him."

Katheryn paused for a minute, before finally saying, "I have." Dusknoir and Wigglytuff looked over. In fact, the whole guild laid eyes on her. It was rather nerve wracking. "He's the Pokemon who's been stealing the Time Gears."

"WHAT!?" The whole Guild was in shock.

Dusknoir nodded. "Yes... Him. Bad things will happen if he's not caught... So that's why I'm working on getting him. To prevent anything like that from occurring."

"I can't believe you!" Victory hissed at Katheryn in a quiet voice.

Katheryn ignored her. "And... Blaze is helping him..." She said, her voice fading.

Dusknoir put his head to one side a bit. "Blaze? Tell me a bit about his Pokemon."

"He's... a Grovyle." Katheryn told him. "A rather famous outlaw... He joined the Guild a while ago, but then left it. Those events were all over the news..."

"I've been trapped at human-inhabited regions." Dusknoir told her. "So I'm not the most familiar with outlaws and news here."

"Oh, I see." Her voice was still quiet. "Well... He used to be my partner... And... I saw him and Grovyle take the Time Gear," she said finally. "From Fogbound Lake."

"Katheryn..." Chester frowned. "You haven't told anyone about that..."

She shook her head. "I've been meaning to, but..."

"So- wait," Dusknoir interrupted. "There are two Pokemon after the Time Gears now?"

Katheryn nodded. "Yes, that's-" She stopped. Her foot had slid across the ground, and suddenly, a terrible, dizzy feeling consumed her. Her head spun and her vision blurred. Then all of the sudden, she reappeared, now at what looked like the top of a cliff. Her paw followed through with the sliding action, but her claws also dug into the ground.

"Hey! Mister!" she growled at a weird, bird-like Pokemon. "I'M FREAKING TALKING TO YOU, ANSWER ME!"

"Calm down..." sighed a familiar voice next to her. She looked over, glaring evilly. It was Blaze. "You aren't going to get anywhere with that. He looks to be meditating or something, so I doubt yelling at him will work."

"Fine. I'll attack him," she growled, then opened her mouth to use Flamethrower. All that came out was a scream though, when the bird Pokemon stretched out his wings, and shouted at the heavens.

She then snapped back into reality, shaking her head. "Um... what?"

Dusknoir asked, "Are you OK? You suddenly screamed..."

Katheryn looked around. Everyone was staring at her. "I'm... fine," she lied. "Something just scared me."

"That would be?"

She panicked. How could she explain what she just saw!? "The thought of what might happen if more Time Gears are taken," she patched up.

"So you... screamed." Dusknoir concluded. "Very well then."

Wigglytuff looked unhappy. And that was a bad thing. "We can't let those two take the Time Gears!" he suddenly shouted. Chester looked over to the Guildmaster. "Guild," Wigglytuff started, "We need to work together to catch those two, and get the word out about them!"

"YEAH!" the Guild shouted back.

"I'll help you." Dusknoir nodded. "I'm already in pursuit of Grovyle, so it would be best to team up. Now Katheryn..."

She looked over. "Yes?"

"Will you tell everything you know about the two and what you saw at Fogbound Lake to the authorities?" he requested.

Katheryn nodded. "Sure."

"I'll come with you and help form a report on Grovyle," he said.

"Stay here, and don't cause more drama," Katheryn said to Victory, before bounding after Dusknoir, who as starting to leave. The two left the Guild, and entered the crossroads. Katheryn was about to head to town, when Dusknoir put a hand on her shoulder.

"Wait."

She looked over. "Yes, Dusknoir?"

"Katheryn, I need to discuss something with your first. It was about that scream you made earlier. Or better put, that vision."

Katheryn's tails fluffed up in alarm. "How did you know about that!?"

"Calm down..." Dusknoir soothed. "I recognize that ability."

"Ability?" Katheryn echoed. "Like my Drought ability? Or Flash Fire?"

Dusknoir shook his head. "No... This ability is called the Dimensional Scream. It can, as the name slightly suggest, cut through the dimensions of time and space to create visions of the past and future... It's a very rare and special ability. But one thing puzzles me."

Katheryn tipped her head. "What's that?"

"Well it's never been endowed on a Pokemon before," he said. "Only humans... I never caught your name. What is it?"

"My name?" she repeated. "I'm Katheryn."

Dusknoir blinked. "I... see. Well I'm glad to have helped you figure out what that was."

"Do you know if there's a way to control it?" Katheryn frowned as hey started to head to the police station once more.

Dusknoir shook his head. "There is not much knowledge on the Dimensional Scream. I'm afraid I've told you all I could possible recount."

"Oh, I see. Thanks anyways," she said as they walked in. She headed to the counter, and looked up at the officer Galvantula. "I'd like to report something." Her sad tone raised an eyebrow.

She doesn't want to do this. Dusknoir realized. Understandable, seeing how she mentioned that... Blaze was it? They were on an Exploration Team. She must still think of him as a friend.

"What would that be?" the officer asked.

"Me and Dusknoir know who the Time Gear thieves are." All eyes went to the two, and Katheryn got nervous.

"You do?" the officer asked. "Wonderful!" he cried happily. "I'll get someone for you to talk to." He walked off, then came back a minute later, followed by a Swellow and Kadabra.

"Hello there." The Swellow greeted. "I am officer Miri," she introduced.

"I'm Hutch." The Kadabra told the two. "I'll be drawing a portrait of the outlaws based on your reports."

"Nice to meet you both." Katheryn smiled. "I'm Katheryn."

"I'm Dusknoir," said the Pokemon next to her, and shook Hutch's hand, and Miri's wing. Katheryn couldn't really shake hands, so she just smiled.

"Come with us, please," Miri said, and they walked off.

The two left the police station a couple hours later.

"Hey Dusknoir?" Katheryn started. "Did you... hear what Victory- I mean the Victini said?"

Dusknoir looked down at her. "Explain more..."

"Do you know what a Victini is?"

He nodded. "Yes, I have seen one."

"OK, well, there's one in our guild. Her name is Victory... And she's on my team. She acted like she knew you. Victory's kind of weird. She knows a lot of things she shouldn't, and is always going on to me about the Time Gears. And some weird, freakish land where everything is all dark and frozen and creepy and stuff. I think she's having nightmares. But she called you a bad Pokemon. I mean, I didn't believe her, but the way she spoke it, it sounded like you two had met before."

Dusknoir stopped. A Victini... One who knows...!

Katheryn turned around. "Um... Dusknoir?"

He shook his head. "Yes?"

"Are you OK?" she asked, twitching her nose.

"Quite fine, I was just thinking," he explained. "So how did you meet Victory?"

"Well we got her as a reward for a job. Like as an Egg."

"I see..." he mumbled, floating along once more.An Egg? Then is it possible that I'm mistaken? I can't think of any other explanation... "I wonder how they came across the Egg."

Katheryn shrugged. "I dunno. So um... Have you two met before?"

Dusknoir hesitated before replying. "No. Can't say we have. The Victini I have seen before was not her."

"Oh, OK... I didn't think so, but... You never know. Maybe she just dreamed about one of your species or something."

"Could be," Dusknoir supposed. "She seems to be quite the imaginative Pokemon."

"Hm..." Katheryn stared at the ground. "Maybe you two should talk or something."

That caught Dusknoir by surprise. "Err- No, since she seems to have acquired a dislike towards me, I'll have to pass on that offer..."

"I'll keep her from doing anything," Katheryn offered.

Dusknoir shook his head. "We should focus on the task at hand for now."

"Yeah, I guess," Katheryn sighed.

"... You don't want to do this, do you?"

She shook her head. "I feel mean. But what else can I do? Just sit back and let them grab the Time Gears? Taking one is making time stop in that area. It's rather horrifying." She frowned at the memory of Fogbound Lake.

"We should stop them as soon as possible," Dusknoir agreed, before standing on the sentry. The cycle went, Katheryn got on, and it repeated. The gates opened to the guild, and they went inside.

"Dusknoir, sir," Chester's voice called.

Dusknoir floated over to the Chatot. "Yes?"

"As a start for the capture of the two outlaws, we know that they're going to go wherever the Time Gears are. While the locations of many are unknown, I think it might be best to investigate possible areas, and then see if we can find out where they are."

Dusknoir nodded. "Yes, that seems to be an intelligent course of action. But where might the Time Gears be? That will have to be the topic of discussion."

"Yes, me and the Guildmaster were about to start figuring that out. Would you like to help us?"

"Oh, certainly!" Dusknoir smiled. "I would be delighted to help!"

"OK. Please come with me." With that, the two left. Katheryn watched with a lone gaze.

"So!" Chatot finally concluded the next morning. "We will now announce the places to look, and who you will be traveling with to said areas."

"Finally, am I right?" Erin muttered. Lily giggled and nodded.

"Team Skyforth and Team PokeRescue will explore the Eastern Forest." Chatot started. "Team Salsa, Walter, Nina, and Liz will investigate Crystal Cave. Raul, Juan, Red, Bill, and Dan will check Giant Volcano. Team PokeSavers and Team Renegade will be seeing Northern Deser-" Chester was cut off by Apple, who took a bold step forward.

"Wait wait wait. You're sending two teams." Apple repeated.

"Yes..."

"Both of which has at least one Fire type."

"Yes..."

"To a Ground-type dungeon."

"Yes."

"AND WHO CAME UP WITH THAT BRILLIANT IDEA?"

"That would be me," Dusknoir spoke up.

Apple gave him a look like "Really!?" "Whyyy would you do that? Send Team Salsa, they've got a Water-type on their team!"

"Yes, I do realize it will be difficult," Dusknoir was unfazed, "and that's why I'll be coming with you." The two teams looked at each other.

Katheryn pointed at Apple. "She protested not me." The guild laughed.

"... Right..." Chester sighed. "Get ready, and head out when you're prepared."

"Well, here we are!" Riolu smiled as they arrived at the desert. Apple opened her mouth to complain, but a swift, orange-glowing hand from Riolu, and she shut up. His Force Palm hurt!

"Let's head in, I suppose," Katheryn frowned. She looked at the five of them, herself, Victory, Apple, Riolu, and Dusknoir. They were an odd bunch, but very determined to do their mission. We need to see if there's a Time Gear here! But as Katheryn took her first couple steps into the desert...

-

"Wh-what's going on!?"

"AN EARTHQUAKE CAN HAPPEN HERE!?"

"Oh no..."

Gasps rang out from the Pokemon.

"RUN!"

-

Katheryn's tails were fluffed by the end of the vision. Everyone was also staring at her oddly.

"You OK?" Apple asked.

Katheryn shook her head a bit. "Yeah... Just got a little spooked by what kind of Pokemon could be in there..." She shuddered for effect.

"We'll be fine," Dusknoir promised at they started to climb floors.

"If you say so..." she murmured, and her mind drifted.

That... what I experienced... That was what Dusknoir called the "Dimensional Scream", right? Why did it appear when I entered the desert? All I heard were voices. Those voices... "Wh-what's going on!?" That was Victory! "AN EARTHQUAKE CAN HAPPEN HERE!?" That sounded like Apple. "Oh no..." And Dusknoir? "RUN!" And that was me. All of us... All of us here. Except Riolu. She blinked, her eyes glittering with worry. Is something bad gunna happen while we're here? And if so, like what? Apple mentioned an earthquake. Can a desert have an earthquake, anyways? The loose sand shouldn't let that happen though... Right? She was suddenly headbutted aside by Victory.

"Watch where you're going!" Victory frowned. "You almost walked into that quicksand!"

Katheryn shook her head. "Oh, sorry..."

"There's nothing here..." Riolu grumbled. "Except sand. And rocks."

Apple pointed her nose at the rocks. "I'm gunna try and climb them!"

"That leads to Shimmer Desert!" Dusknoir informed her. "At at the end of there is a ruin, where a Golden Mask is."

"... Oh." She stared at the ground.

"So we're at a dead end, then?" Katheryn concluded.

Victory was staring intensely at the quicksand. "Yeah. Guess so."

"Wait, WHAT!? So no one found anything out!?"

The guild's sad reply of "No" followed Chester's question.

The Chatot sighed. "I see... This is unfortunate. Thank you for your effort."

"So um..." Red spoke up. "What do we do now?"

Chester stared at the ground, frowning. "New places will have to be thought of. Until then, search for the Time Gears on your own initiative. Guild dismissed." The Guild left to go eat dinner.

Katheryn still didn't like the guild food. She still wanted meat. "Thanks." She smiled when she was served. Victory was quiet next to her. Actually, the whole Guild was quiet. They ate very silently, keeping eyes to their food. It was creepy. After dinner, Katheryn and Victory went to bed.

"Chester said to look for the Time Gears on our home, hmm..." Katheryn sighed.

Moon's ears were drooped. "I feel bad for not bringing results."

"It's not like you could help it." Katheryn sighed.

"I wanna go back to the quicksand pits."

Katheryn looked over at Victory. "Hm? Why?"

"I... Something was familiar about it," she admitted. "It was like I'd been there before..."

Katheryn tilted her head.
"Um... OK. I guess we can go back."

Moon frowned. "Victory, HAVE you been there?"

"I don't know..." Victory frowned. "But the whole time we were in Northern Desert, I couldn't shake a sense of familiarity."

"Well... We'll get to the bottom of it soon," Katheryn said, and laid down.

"Please, you're our only hope!"

"Wh-what!? But I'm nothing special!"

"Yes you are... We know you're meant to do this."

"I can't! I'm not strong, or courageous or anything..."

"Those aren't the only qualities that make a hero."

"But what if I fail or something?"

"You won't fail. I know it."

"How do you know? You aren't a psychic!"

"Ahem..."

"That proves nothing."

"Just please... Would you rather die, having not done anything!?"

"I- ... Fine. But... If I am going to do this, it has to be under one condition."

"Anything..."

"I wa-"

"WAKE UP CALL!"

Katheyrn awoke with a screech at Victory's interrupting voice in her dream.

"Aww, really!?" Katheryn sighed. "Now I'll never know what that condition was..."

"Um... what?" Victory giggled. "Come on, let's go for attendance!"

"I still don't think this is a good idea," Apple disapproved.

"Yeah, whatever," Victory snapped. "You can go if you like."

"Oh, fancy meeting you all here!"

The group of four turned around, to see Dusknoir.

"What're you doing here?" Riolu asked, tilting his head.

"Ah, I have a slight hunch about this place..." he admitted.

Victory glared, but said nothing. "Fine. But don't get in my way." She walked into the desert.

"What's her problem?" Apple muttered.

Katheryn shrugged, and follow Victory. It didn't take long for the group of five, with Dusknoir now along, to reach the Quicksand Pits. And there, Victory had the same feeling. Yes, she knew this place! But how? And why? That lack of knowledge is what bothered her the most.

Victory paced around some, staring at them intensely. "Let's jump in them."

Katheryn gave her a look like the Victini suggested she cut off her six tails and shave her fur. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me right."

As if in protest, the land began to shudder and tremble. The group looked around wildly, and the shaking got worse.

"Wh-what's going on!?" Victory yelped.

Apple's mind seemed to click. "AN EARTHQUAKE CAN HAPPEN HERE?"

Dusknoir froze. "Oh no..." His voice was soft and airy.

Katheryn's tails fluffed with a jolt. This was my vision!

The sky darkened. The sand began to stop moving, and the land started to gray. Finally, a blue light, electric-like, shot out of the quicksand pits, and sliced into the sky.

"RUN!" Katheryn screeched. She knew just was was going on. A Time Gear was stolen. Time was freezing!

"Well if there was a Time Gear there, then there's probably one at the other places!" Katheryn mocked Walter's voice. "ANOTHER TIME GEAR MY BUTT!" she then shouted, frustrated.

"C-calm down, Katheryn..." Victory sighed.

"NO I WILL NOT CALM DOWN! WE'RE STUCK IN A ROOM WITH RED CRYSTALS. WHAT THE HELL ARE WE SUPPOSED TO MAKE OUT OF RED CRYSTALS!?" she screeched.

Victory didn't blame her for being so mad. They'd been trying to make sense of the room for about three hours.

It was then that three Energy Balls flew past their heads, and hit the crystals. They all flickered to blue, and the ground started shaking. A white, dangerous electricity shot out, and met in the middle. From the ground rose a massive crystal, with a large, gaping hole in the middle.

"Come on, let's go!" the voice called, and two fleeting shapes zoomed past them, hurtling into the crystal.

Katheryn facepalmed. "Screw my life," she muttered, and stormed off into the crystal. Victory sighed, and followed. "Oh great, more crystals. Is this place done yet? MOVE OUT OF MY WAY, FUZZY."

Victory frowned as she watched Katheryn push an Absol into the water. She apologized, and followed the annoyed Vulpix. She stomped about the dungeon, letting nothing get in her way. She was furious at Walter and his stupid ideas, and that those two of all Pokemon were assigned to Crystal Cave. Why them? With a curious thought, Victory's mind drifted to the voice she heard when the path to Crystal Crossing opened. It was familiar... But she couldn't get a face or name to it. She sighed hopelessly.

"Where are we now?" Katheryn whined as they arrived at a lake.

"I don't know..." Victory murmured.

The Vulpix's head swung around some, before focusing on an island not too far away. She pointed a paw. "What's going on over there?" she asked, and yellow stars suddenly shot out.

"A battle..." Victory noticed fearfully. "Let's go!"

Katheryn nodded, and the two ran off to it. They skidded a bit to a halt, seeing a path that lead straight to the island. In front, there were three shapes. One blue, two green. Katheryn turned herself, and charged forward. Victory followed in close.

When they arrived on scene, the shapes got names. The blue one was declared "floaty thing", and the green shapes received names. They were, of course, none other than Blaze and Grovyle. It seemed to be a loosing battle for floaty thing, as she was on the ground, trying to get air.

"You'll never... get it..." she got out through clenched teeth.

"Don't doubt me," Grovyle dismissed flatly. "Blaze, make sure Dione stays there," he commanded. Blaze just gave a small nod, and stepped on one of Dione's tails.

"Hold it!" Katheryn announced her presence loudly. Victory facepalmed.

Idiot... she thought.

Grovyle and Blaze looked over, and Grovyle rolled his eyes. "Wonderful,you're here," he muttered sarcastically.

"Problem with it?"

"Yes, in fact," he answered almost instantly.

"Sucks for you," Katheryn told him simply. "Cause me 'n Victory here are going to stop you from taking that Time Gear!"

Dione gained a look of intense relief.

"You'll have to go through me first," Blaze challenged, finally speaking up and facing them.

Victory's mind reeled. Face her father in battle? She couldn't!

Katheryn was all for it, and shot a Flamethrower. Blaze easily ducked. He took a step forward, and lunged at Katheryn, slamming into her with Leaf Blade. Victory watched with huge eyes, then realized that she should probably do something. But what could she do? Her eyes scanned the clearing, then focused in on Grovyle. She took in a huge breath, then summoned a giant flame within her. She shot it out in a massive breath, and it easily swept Grovyle away. He slammed into a crystal, and then fell to the ground, his whole front side burned. Victory had a moment of glory, before a Thunderpunch from Blaze threw her across the clearing. With a squeak, she landed on the ground.

"YOU LITTLE-" Katheryn cut herself off by using Flamethrower. Blaze put up his arm leaves, and blocked most of the hit. Katheryn didn't stop. Her eyes twitched a white, and a massive headache crashed down on clench his head, and Katheryn unleashed a Dark Pulse on him, a dark twist of colors shooting from her mouth, and getting him in the chest. Blaze was knocked over, but he was endurable, and also much stronger than Katheryn. He instantly leaped back up, only to vanish. Katheryn looked around with a confused look, only to have a fist slam into her gut. Blaze came up from under the ground. He had used Dig! Katheryn landed next to Victory with a skid. She scrambled back up, and was left gasping for air. However, she summoned within herself another Flamethrower. She opened her mouth to fire, but was easily cast away by an Energy Ball. Grovyle had gotten up, and rejoined the fight.

Two versus one. She grinned a bit, staggering back up. She hadn't been in this situation since Fogbound Lake. Once more, she tried to attack, this time jumping at Grovyle with a Dark Pulse. He swept to the side, and she crashed into a crystal. With a soft thud, she landed, and shuddered. Her body protested when she tried to get up. She was beaten, though she hated the idea of it.

Dione suddenly shot up with a roar. During the fight, she had managed to grab an Oran Berry that had fallen from Blaze's bag. Thankfully, she was unnoticed, and was now fully well.

"Damnit," Blaze growled in annoyance at seeing the blue Pokemon rise up again. "You don't know when to give up, do you?"

"As the guardian of this lake..." she snarled, "I decree that you shall not pass!" She clapped her hands together, and the ground began to shudder. Grovyle lost his patience, and threw an Energy Ball. Dione moved out of the way in the nick of time, and let out a howl. From the lake, crystals rose, sticking up like daggers. The whole lake was soon covered with the gleaming crystals. "You'll never get through now!" she sneered.

"I've had enough of this crap," Blaze declared, and swiftly attacked Dione. She was thrown back, and Grovyle rammed her other side, using Crunch on her shoulder. He threw her aside.

"Get across the lake!" Grovyle ordered Blaze. The Time Gear rested on a high up platform above the lake, but was generically inaccessible. One would have to swim across the lake and climb up the wall to get it. The crystals provided more of a path, but were dangerous to cross. Still, Blaze was up to the task, and quickly jumped onto one.

With a screech of fury, Dione charged at him, throwing a Swift. Blaze jumped away, cringing a bit as he landed awkwardly on one of the crystals. Dione turned around, and fired a Signal Beam at him. Blaze was knocked over, and, in succession, tumbled onto the painful crystals. One clawed at his leg, another at several places across his chest. Blaze still got back up, his wounds stinging him. Grovyle soon joined Blaze, and took on Dione. Leaves shot out at the blue Pokemon, slicing her restlessly. With a furious howl, she dismissed them with Psychic, before lunging at Grovyle with Ice Punch. Grovyle caught her, and twisted her arm. A loud crack was heard, and Dione screamed in pain. Blaze cringed at the sound, but rushed ahead.

With a large leap, he aimed to the platform. His claws brushed the cliff, before digging in. He put his other hand on top of it, and scrambled his way up... somehow. He stood up, shook himself, and set his eyes on the Time Gear in front of him.

"Now let's not have any of that."

Blaze froze. Not voluntarily, he quite literally couldn't move, except for the movement of his breathing. Behind him, a shape loomed, but he couldn't tell who it was from the shadow.

"Aw hell..." Grovyle muttered, and looked up.

With an evil snicker, a familiar, black-and-yellow shape looked down at him. "Bet you didn't think I'd come here, did you!?"

"Go away, Dusknoir," Grovyle snapped. "I don't have time for your crap."

"You'll have all the time in the world!" he said with a crooked smile.

With an angry roar, Grovyle used Energy Ball on him. After Dusknoir gave a passive wave of his hand, however, the Energy Ball exploded. He then pointed his fist at Grovyle, and an Ice Beam formed, and charged at Grovyle. It was too fast to be dodged, and Grovyle was pinned to a crystal, frozen in the spot. Dusknoir turned around, and Blaze felt his glare burn at his back. If he could have, he would've flinched under the intense gaze.

"And how convenient you should be here," Dusknoir said, "Blaze. Or should I call you by your proper name, David."

What... what!? Blaze thought wildly. How does he...!? Dusknoir let out an evil laugh, and Blaze was wreathed in blackness.