"I don't want to hurt you, so stay out of this!" a voice yells in the midst of my coughing fit, grabbing me by the tail and one arm before tossing me through the air.

Gasping, I open my eyes to stare up at the ceiling of our dimly lit room back at the Guild compound. Everything is peacefully quiet, with only the ocean's distant roar to disturb it. Ri's fast asleep, nestled alongside me where he lays sprawled over on his side of the bed.

We both made it back in one piece more-or-less, if not a little worse for wear. And with the Time Gear gone and nowhere else to go, Mesprit came back with us to Treasure Town. Right now she's with Uxie, under the protection of Officer Magnezone and his subordinates. I know that we were told that we did the best we could, that we should just sit tight and recover until the other exploration teams get back, but not once have I been able to stop thinking about what happened—not even in my dreams, apparently.

But I remember now… about the final battle in the Northern Desert. Someone threw me across the lake and back to shore before I could drown—specifically Grovyle. But why? Why wouldn't a criminal like him just kill me? Every time I think about what happened, I end up thinking of just how different he is from all of the other outlaws we've run into as an exploration team: He lacks the same diabolical air to him that the others had, and he really didn't seem like he was out to hurt anyone despite his actions. Not to mention he apologized constantly throughout the fight… It just doesn't add up. Why would he bother to care?

Once I'm awake there's nothing I can do to stop myself from thinking about that fight. No, more than that: I just can't stop thinking about how we couldn't protect the Time Gear. Some exploration team we're turning out to be right now. Since we got back from Fogbound Lake, it's felt like we've been getting by by the skin of our teeth and a little luck. We needed rescuing back in the Amp Plains, we couldn't talk sense into Mesprit before she attacked us, and we couldn't stop one thief.

And I haven't been able to use Aura Sphere properly since that first time fighting the Groudon Illusion.

Maybe Ri's right, and it was only because I needed it—because I was desperate to get answers and keep the two of us alive—that I was able to use Aura Sphere. Much like how he was only able to use Bone Rush when saving me. Both moves are only supposed to be learned after a Riolu evolves into Lucario so I can't imagine how we were able to use them to begin with, but if we could master either of them they would give us a huge advantage against our opponents. And if we're going against Grovyle, they may be the kind of advantage we badly need.

Trying not to disturb Ri—deep in an exhausted slumber thanks to our long trip back—I roll out of bed and quietly sneak out the door. There's no way I can sleep like this, so I might as well train for a bit. If I do, maybe then I'll tire myself out to the point that nothing I think will matter and I'll have to fall asleep. I tip-toe through the Guild compound and climb outside, headed for the outskirts of town where no one will overhear me.

I pick a nearby boulder as my target. Entering a near meditative trance, I place my hands palms outward in front of me and concentrate—guiding the aura into my hands. I feel it ripple within me and tap further into the source of it at my core. A few shimmering sparks lick my fingertips.

Then nothing. Absolutely nothing. It just fizzles out of existence before it can condense into a physical state.

I continue to attempt to use Aura Sphere again and again with no such luck. The more I lose patience with myself, the more aggravated I feel, the more I begin to lose concentration. Like this, I know I'll never be able to do it. So eventually, I give up and just begin going through the motions, acting out the pattern of movement but without attempting to launch anything—softly grunting in imagined effort as I pretend to pitch one after another with increasing force. Only sometime after this, as I find my focus slowly returning, do I give all attention to the target and try it for real once again.

A tini, tiny glowing sphere—no bigger than a strawberry—flies from my hands, scorching the surface of the rock and leaving a dark spot where it hit. It takes me a minute to realize what I've done. I stare down at my hands and smile, unable to contain the burst of excitement the passes my lips: It's a start anyway. I'm about to try again when a voice stops me.

"Nice shot, but could you try to make it a little bigger?"

I look around before I spot Ri ducked behind a tree, watching me from only a few meters to my left. "How long have you been here?"

He shrugs, "Maybe an hour or so. I woke up and you were gone. I got a little worried, so I figured I might as well come look for you." Nodding to the boulder, he adds, "You're getting better."

"Thanks, but if I tried that with Grovyle, he'd probably just collapse in a laughing fit before taking a Time Gear." I doubt an attack that small would do much damage, especially if I can't get them to stabilize like I want them to.

"That wouldn't be so bad." Ri steps toward me, wearing a playful smirk, "Then it'd be easy to get him while he's down."

"Haha, you're such a comedian," I say with obvious sarcasm, cuffing his shoulder.

"If we really want to catch Grovyle, I think we'll need to improve a little more than our moves." He scratches the back of his head in thought. "Did you see how fast he was moving? Maybe we were tired from fighting Mesprit, but it's clear he's got speed on his side. The way I see it, the best way to beat him is if we get faster: We can't rely on our own speed just as Riolu anymore."

He has a point there. Any move, no matter how powerful, would be useless against Grovyle if we weren't swift enough to land the blow. "We've got some serious training ahead of us."

"Tell me about it, but the next time we face that thief, we'll be ready for him."

I don't know where he's gotten all of that optimism from, but I'm glad for it. I feel like I'm at loss of what to think or do. I should be focusing on becoming human again, but I can't even start to think of that with this disaster that's going on with the Time Gears and that thief—and we can't do anything about that until the other teams get back with their reports. I hate just sitting around, waiting, and I hate feeling so useless. So I'm glad I can rely on Ri to give me a bit of hope.

"And speaking of working on our speed…" Suddenly, he gives me a light shove forward and I stumble over the earth—flailing my arms as I try to keep my balance. In the meantime, he takes off running ahead of me, "Race you to the beach!"

It takes me all of two seconds to realize the small trick he's played. Despite myself, I can't help but smile: As if I'm one to back down from a challenge. "Hey! No fair!" I yell after him as I begin to chase him down.

Laughing, he races off—down the dirt path leading to the shoreline. I follow in hot pursuit, all thoughts of continuing training for the night gone as I hurry to catch up. I steadily begin to gain on him, and I'm determined enough that I probably could catch him eventually if the path were to keep going, but I won't be able to reach the shore before he does at this rate. Just as I'm about to urge myself forward, I catch sight of the nearby tree line and grin. The path is winding, but if I just don't keep to it then maybe…

Climbing a nearby cedar, I launch myself into the treetops—jumping from branch to branch as I make my way toward the beach. Rather than curving through the forest, up here I can make a direct path for the shore: Whatever late start I had is remedied by the straight course. I overtake Ri within minutes and, unbeknownst to him, I speed past him from above. By the time he reaches the coast I'm already there, sitting up in a palm tree.

He doesn't realize it at first, spinning around in the sands as he comes to a stop to face the way we both came and shout as he catches his breath, "Ha! Beat ya!" But the look of confusion on his face when he sees I'm not behind him is one I'd give an arm and a leg to have a picture of. I wait a moment longer with a hand over my mouth before revealing where I am, watching him as he takes a few steps back toward the path.

Finally hopping down from the trees, I land of one of the rocky ledges of the beach cave and stand in the moonlight it my arms crossed over my chest. "Well, it certainly took you long enough," I raise my voice triumphantly, catching him off-guard.

He spins back around, but relaxes when he sees it's only me. I giggle at his baffled stare before his eyes taken in the path of the tree-line and realization dawns in his eyes. "Cheater," he smirks, taking a few steps closer.

"All's fair in love and war, my friend." I quip back, bending forward in a teasing bow. "It's not my fault you picked the wrong girl to battle."

He easily jumps up the rocks in order to reach me, giving me a playful nudge as we both sit down and roll over on our backs—gazing lazily at the pale, full moon above us. It's a cloudless night and the stars glisten brightly, winking at the world from their places up high. The roar of the waves sweeping along the coast, batting against the rocks, is its own soft lullaby. We stay still, catching our breath after our run as we enjoy the peacefulness of the moment.

It's almost strange how I can feel this calm, how the world can be this calm, when life seems just one misstep away from being destroyed as we know it. The effects from the loss of the Time Gears are becoming more severe. How much longer do we have before Treasure Town is consumed by the unnatural wave that's freezing time? How much longer before the entire world is at a standstill?

I'm already trapped in this body: I'd rather not be trapped in time. Arceus, who would even want that to begin with? I can't think of a single person who'd benefit from that kind of horrible existence. Could someone's life really be that bad that they'd just want to… stop everything? Not just their own life, but the lives of every person? I can't imagine it, I just can't…

I hear that some Pokemon are actually starting to move back to areas that have already been frozen. They can't fix whatever's going on, but at least it means there's a way for people to survive this should the worst happen and they get stuck in whatever kind of world would come after this mess. I think Ri and I would be in agreement—that we'd both want to fight to the very end to save everyone—but if we have to retreat somewhere else then I'll still stand by what I've always thought since waking up as a Pokemon: I'll stay with him. Whether he wants to continue on our work as explorers or go check on his family, I'll follow him. Whatever happens, I still think we can make it together.

It's only after he looks at me do I realize I've been staring at him and I blink out of my train of thought. Now having fully caught his breath, Ri asks suddenly, "You know what stood out to me about you most when we met?"

The question throws me. What brought this up? By a see a mischievous gleam in his eyes and know he's only going to tease me. Still, as cautionate as I am, my curiosity wins over. "What?" I push myself up into a sitting position just as he rises back to his feet.

"Your walk." He stands with his knees held close together and his calves spread apart to further illustrate his point, wobbling as he mimics my poor attempts to keep my balance from the day we met. I give him an unamused frown, which he just chuckles at, "You looked like a Bonsly with a limp before you got used to being a Riolu." He then awkwardly waddles to the side, stifling back a laugh.

I heave a sigh once his back is turned, allowing my frown to curve back into a weak smile as I shut my eyes sleepily. Then, without ceremony, I place my foot against the small of his back and kick him off the rock's edge—knocking him the short distance into the water below and startling awake some of the nearby Krabby. "Funny walk or no, I'd say you fell for my quirks."

There's another sound of splashing and then I feel a hand clamp around my foot. "I don't know. Sometimes you can be kind of a drag." I have just enough time to see Ri latched against the wall with his tail hanging in the water before I'm pulled in after him. The taste of salt collects on my lips as I plunge beneath the surface—just barely scraping the sandy floor as I'm dunked under before I can bob back up.

At that point, we end up splashing each other until the Krabby finally chase us away.