Ch.20: The Future!

Author's Note:

Hey guys! Welcome to another wonderful chapter of Time Shocked! I've got some fun stuff planned for this chapter, but trust me when I say the fun really starts next chapter! You'll know once you get to the end of this one. As usual if you have any comments at all, go ahead and share them with me in a review. Don't be shy. I love feedback! :)

As you might've noticed by now, I have been deviating from the game plot quite a bit for a while now. Well, I'm here to say that book 3 will not include the plot from any PMD games. I have grown past the need for the inclusion, so I feel I'm ready to break away from it and make Team Eviolite just a bit more original. Also, please tell me if there are any odd spelling mistakes in this chapter as some of them might've slipped past editing. I was tired during certain sections of this.

Eve: What? Don't want to talk to me? Fine then.

Me: Hey hey. It's not that I don't want to. It's that I-.

Eve: Save it.

Me: Oh come on Eve. I'm just excited for the chapter.

Eve: I've heard that before.

Me: Eve!

Eve: Can't hear you!

Me: *sigh* I'll see you guys next chapter. I've gotta deal with her.

Eve: Hmph!

"Let hope purify a soul twisted by darkness. May it never wither. The sun rises again."

Grace Family House, Ella's POV:

It was already slightly past midnight and I had yet to catch a blink of sleep. Despite Emma's warnings, I just couldn't get over the fact that my tracking spell had worn off over the years. I sighed, closing a book after several failed attempts at finding a solution. "So much for long lasting... "

Shard, Evelyn and Emma had long since gone to bed, but I just couldn't find it in myself to do the same. Several people were counting on me, but it seems I just made their problems all the more complicated. I had to find something. I shook my head, reaching out for another book when the sound of crashing books made me stop.

"Ugh. Oww! Stupid books..." Came Eve's voice from behind me.

I turned around to find that Eve had accidentally bumped into a shelf, knocking a couple rows of books on top of herself. "Eve?" I called out, making my way over to her. "What are you doing up so late? Great explorers need to be responsible about sleep." I half scolded her, helping her up with my ribbons.

"Huh? Oh umm. It's nothing. I just couldn't sleep." She replied. I frowned. Her eyes looked slightly red and puffy, as if she had been crying.

"Eve sweetie. Are you alright?" I asked her worriedly.

She sighed. "Yeah, I'm good. They were just books."

I shook my head. "No. I mean, is everything alright?

"I... Well..." She let a couple of tears slip before rushing to me for a hug. "I-It's Connor Mom. I don't know what to do. H-he left a letter, but... But I can't open it. I just can't... I-I'm scared." Her voice broke as she quietly sobbed.

I silently returned the hug, rubbing her back gently. "Shh. It's going to be ok sweetie." I reassured her. Losing a friend had hit her hard. This was all my fault. Just like many times before, I had failed at protecting my children. If I had only paid more attention to them...

Looking down at Eve, I was reminded of something she used to do when she was little and upset. I wasn't so sure how she'd react now that she was older, but it was worth a shot.

"Eve. Sweetheart." I started to get her attention. "Would you like to sleep with your father and I tonight? Would that help you feel better some?"

"Umm..." She tensed slightly. "Yeah..." She answered with a mix of relief and embarrassment in her tone.

I chuckled. "Alright sweetie."

The next morning, Alex's POV:

When I awoke the next morning, I found myself frowning. Not because I hadn't slept well, but because something felt missing.

Opening my eyes to search for Eve, I instead found Lisa curled up next to me, cuddling my side. Something about how peaceful she looked made me smile. Still...

I scanned the room, finding no sign of Eve. "Where's Eve?" I thought to myself, laying back and making sure not to disturb Lisa.

I guess I wasn't too worried about her. She'd proven she could take care of herself. But... I turned to face Lisa, deciding to let the topic slide. Eve had filled me in on why she brought Lisa here, but just what intentions she had made me curious.

It was then that Lisa stirred, waking up with a yawn. "Mmm..." She looked up at me. "Oh uhh... Morning Alex."

I smiled again. "Good morning Lisa."

She smiled a bit before scanning the room in confusion. "Where's Eve? Did she already leave?"

I shrugged. "I was wondering the same thing. I figured I'd wait for you to wake up before checking."

"Oh, uhh. Thank you." She replied, obviously not knowing what to say.

Before we could do anything else, a familiar loud siren rang out from the guild. We both shot out of the bed.

"What's that siren for?" Lisa asked.

"Only one way to find out." I replied as we exited the room.

By the time we reached the living room everyone had already gathered, including Eve who was covering her ears in discomfort.

I stopped just behind her and held my own hands over her ears to help. They should really consider rethinking their alert system. Some pokemon could get serious hearing damage if they weren't careful.

Once the siren ended, Eve turned to me with a thankful expression. "Thanks Alex. I don't get why they have to make that siren so loud."

I smiled. "So what happened to you last night. You didn't come to the room."

Eve seemed nervous. "Oh uhh. I guess I just fell asleep in the living room. Sorry if I worried you."

I shook my head. "Don't worry about it. I trust you. So what do you make of this siren?"

She shrugged. "Only one way to find out. Alright everyone! Hope you've got everything cause we've gotta make our way to the guild right now." She smirked. "Oh and uhh Austin. Nice tail." She snickered as she walked out the door.

Austin frowned. "Nice tail?" Looking back at his tail, he discovered that it had been dyed pink. When exactly she had found the time to do that I'll never know, but it was definitely her favorite color. "Wha?! Eve!" He exclaimed, running after her.

Lisa and I shared a laugh before heading out along with the rest of the team.

Town Square, Eve's POV:

There was some kind of gathering in town square by the time I arrived, and it seemed everyone in town was there. Even the other guild members were there.

Soon enough, Azelf, Uxie and Mespirit joined the crowd, so this must've been important.

"Eve!" Austin shouted from behind me.

I smirked, turning around. "Yes?"

He didn't look happy. "What's with the pink tail Eve?"

I snickered. "Well, yellow tails are a bit average for pikachu. I figured I'd make things a little interesting for you."

Austin sighed. "Why am I not surprised?"

I laughed. "Hey. At least I didn't dye all of your fur."

"Yeah yeah..." He frowned. "Hey. Isn't that Grovyle?" He asked, pointing in the direction of the crossroads.

I looked just in time to see a tied up Grovyle being escorted into town square by a couple of sableye. I frowned when I saw Dusknoir follow shortly behind.

The crowd parted to make room for them as they made their way to the center of the plaza. It was then that I noticed the strange black portal that was swirling around towards the back end of the plaza.

The crowd quieted down just as the rest of the team arrived. Dusknoir soon began to speak. "Ahem! So, as I am sure you are all aware, the time gear thief has been caught and is now in our custody." He announced, gesturing to Grovyle.

This was of course followed by a chorus of applause and cheers. I didn't participate though. I was too busy watching Grovyle. Did they have to bind him up so...barbarically? They could've at least left out the muzzle.

"Without your cooperation, this wouldn't have been possible. Thanks to all of your efforts we can finally put this criminal where he belongs, and your world can go back to being as peaceful as it was before." Dusknoir continued.

It was at that point that Grovyle started struggling against the ropes and producing muffled screams, none of which could be understood due to the ropes restricting his speech.

I was sure no one else saw it, but one of the sableye delivered a swift punch to Grovyle's side, most likely to quiet him. I frowned, anger starting to build in my chest. This wasn't right. Officer Magnezone would never treat a criminal like that, no matter how bad they were. Something was off...

"But I am afraid that it is also for that reason that I must bid you all farewell." He turned to Magnezone. "I trust that you will get the time gears back to their-"

"Wait just a moment!" I exclaimed, unable to hold it in any longer.

"Eve? What are you doing?" Alex asked me as everyone turned to face us.

Instead of replying, I started making my way towards Grovyle. "If you're going to handle a criminal so barbarically, then you shouldn't handle one at all." I stated aloud as I walked.

Once I reached Grovyle, I gave him a long stare before reaching to untie the ropes that were preventing him from speaking. All the while, everyone was silent. Once I removed the ropes I stepped back and returned to Alex.

"Err... You're right Eve. I'm terribly sorry. Perhaps we went too far when securing the criminal." Dusknoir continued, sounding embarrassed. "In any case, I trust that the time gears will be returned to their rightful locations." He repeated, attempting to regain his composure.

"Eve. Why'd you do that?" Alex asked me.

I sighed. "I don't know what to believe right now, but that's no way to treat a person."

By this time the sableye had already left with Grovyle, leaving only Dusknoir. "I bid you all farewell." He then turned around and hovered towards the portal thing. "Oh! But first, one more thing." He said, turning around. "Before I go. Alex, Eve. I have one last thing to say to you."

Suddenly I heard someone start screaming. "I'm afraid now is too early for goodbyes." Dusknoir stated grimly, holding up a struggling Lisa.

"Lisa?!" I exclaimed. "Let her go!"

He smirked, turning around and entering the portal as it began to close.

"Alex, let's go!" I shouted as I sprinted towards the portal as fast as I could, jumping over anyone who got in my way. Alex was right behind me as we dove straight into the portal. The last thing I heard was Ally shouting my name before everything went black.

The Future, Alex's POV:

"Eve, come on. Wake up." I pleaded as I shook her shoulder.

"Mmm... Five more minutes Ally." She mumbled, swatting my hand away and turning over.

"Come one Eve. You've got to-" I was about to start my second attempt, but she suddenly shot up so fast I fell backwards onto my back.

"Lisa?!" She turned to me, looking scared. "Alex, where's Lisa?!"

"I don't know Eve. We're in some kind of prison cell as far as I can tell, and she's not here." That might've been the worst thing I could've said, because at that moment Eve rushed to the gate that was keeping us in and started pounding on it as hard as she could.

"Eve wait! Don't make so much noise!" I warned her, quickly standing and meeting her at the gate. Before she could hit it again, I grabbed her leg. "Eve."

She looked at me, scared and confused. "W-what?"

I sighed, giving her a comforting smile. "It's going to be ok. We can find a way out of here."

She shook her head. "But...but Lisa."

"She's fine too. I doubt Dusknoir would hurt her. He was just using her to bait us. For now, we should try to focus on getting out of this cell." I gestured towards the gate. "Ok?"

It took her a while, but she finally calmed down. "Ok... But how are we gonna get out? It's locked and the bars are thick."

"That's...a good question." I sighed, scanning the gate for a lock. When I found one, I frowned. It was a rusted up padlock secured to a chain.

"What is it Alex? I can't see very well in here." Eve asked, searching for what I saw.

"It's a lock..." I replied. Looking back at Eve, I noticed she had started fastening her old gracidea flower to her hat rather than her ear. "Hey Eve. How do you keep your flower on your hat like that?"

"Hmm? My flower? I use a safety pin. I have a few spares in case it falls off, but how does that help us here?" She took her hat off to show me.

"Could I have the spares?" I asked to her confusion.

"Uhh... Sure I guess?" She replied, digging through her bag. Luckily they had neglected to confiscate it. "Here." She handed me a couple ordinary safety pins.

I turned around, sticking my arms through the bars to feel for the lock. Once I found it I opened the safety pins, inserting the pointed end of the pins into the lock in an attempt to pick it. All the while Eve stayed quiet. I could only assume she didn't want to distract me. Either that or she got distracted herself.

After several minutes of nothing, I finally heard a click as the lock popped open. I smiled, silently removing the lock and chain. "Come on Eve. I got it open."

"What? Really?" She asked, staring at the lock and chain in amazement. "How'd you do that?"

"I'll tell you later. Right now we need to get out of here." I turned around, slowly opening the gate so no one would hear. Afterwards we slipped out without a trace.

Eve's POV:

Alex always does these really cool things. I had no idea how he opened that lock, but it must've been some kind of human trick or whatever. In any case, I was getting a bit anxious. I know he said Dusknoir wouldn't hurt Lisa, but... "Hey Alex..."

"Hmm?" He replied, not turning to me. I guess he was trying to keep a lookout, but in this darkness I didn't see how.

"About Lisa. I umm... I wanted to ask you something." I whispered as we snuck around another corner.

He checked around, before looking back at me. "Can it wait until we get out of here?" When I didn't reply, he sighed. "Alright. Let's just find a place to hide first."

We continued sneaking our way through the unknown building until we came across a large room with three giant pillars in the center. Oddly enough, the pillars were the only things lit in the entire room.

"Hey. Maybe we can-." Alex covered my mouth, motioning for me to be quiet and to head for one of the pillars.

I nodded as we high tailed it towards the pillar on the right, hiding behind it just as the lights cut off. After a moment we could hear the quiet snickers of what I could assume were the sableye accompanied by the sounds of someone tying a rope. Soon after, the lights turned back on. All the while we kept to the back of the giant pillar, not wanting to be seen.

All of a sudden, we heard a fit of familiar yet creepy laughter come from the entrance of the room. "Well well Grovyle. It would seem that you are at a loss. Not only did you fail to gather the time gears, but you sold your only chance of escape to your little eevee cellmate. Just how far have you fallen?"

Peering around the corner I saw that it was indeed Dusknoir. He was speaking to one of the pillars, so I could only assume they had tied him to it.

"I had planned for this to be a three guest party, but I guess your friends had other things to attend to. No matter. Without you, they'll have nowhere to go but me." He chuckled.

"Pfft. Yeah. Like I'd ever expect you to understand sympathy." Someone replied. I assumed it was Grovyle, having heard his voice before. "Bringing that kid here was low. Even for someone like you."

"Hmm... Perhaps. But now you've got nowhere to run. I'd say it was well worth it."

Alex suddenly tapped me on the shoulder, pointing towards one of the sableye. The sableye had a sword. It was Alex's. I nodded back at him and created a clone, instructing it to dig a tunnel towards the sableye. After completing the tunnel, it popped up behind the sableye, grabbing the sword from him and tossing it down the hole before running out of the room.

One of the sableye attempted to retrieve the sword, but Dusknoir stopped him. "Fool! Leave it there. Catch that girl at once!"

With that the sableye fled, leaving only Dusknoir to guard the exit. I dove down the hole to retrieve the neglected sword for Alex, closing it up as I returned. "Now what?" I whispered to Alex.

He motioned towards the backside of Grovyle's pillar and I instantly got what he meant. "Go."

In that instant I shot out from behind the pillar and towards Dusknoir, who seemed quite surprised that I wasn't on my way down the hall by now. "Hey Dusknoir! Bet you're surprised to see me huh?"

He looked infuriated. "You! How did you get in here?!" He exclaimed, facing away from the pillars to glare at me.

I shrugged. "Guess you need to change your locks."

He looked about ready to attack me when he suddenly stopped, regaining his composure. "Very well. I commend you on your escape from your cell, but I'm afraid this is where it ends for you."

"I wouldn't count on that." Grovyle cut in. We both looked over to find that he was free from his bindings. "What? Surprised?"

By now, Dusknoir looked beyond angry. "Why you!" He exclaimed, leaping towards Grovyle.

Grovyle however had other plans, pulling out a luminous orb and smashing it on the ground. The room went white and before we knew it, we were underground again.

I looked around. This looked different than my digging. We were inside a sort of spherical space, and there wasn't a tunnel to the surface. "Hey. How did you-?"

"Shh." Grovyle motioned for me to be quiet as Dusknoir could be heard cursing up above.

"You fools! That was just a clone!" He shouted, most likely at the sableye. "Move! We must catch those troublesome meddlers before they cause us any more trouble!"

Once there was no longer any noise above ground, we surfaced. "Ugh... I've got too much dirt in my fur..." I complained, attempting to shake it out before staring Grovyle down. "Dusknoir said something about your eevee cellmate. Where is she?"

He held his arms up in defense. "Woah woah. Relax. She's fine. Dusknoir let her go in exchange for me staying put. You should be thanking me."

I shook my head. "Not until I see her."

He sighed. "Don't be so troublesome kid. You'll get yourself killed." He took a moment to check the hallways before motioning for us to follow.

Outside Stockades:

Once we reached the outside, it became more apparent why everything was so dark. There were also floating...rocks too? What? "Uhh Grovyle? What's with the floating rocks?"

He shot me a grim look. "They aren't floating. They're frozen. Time doesn't move here."

"What? How is time frozen? We just...wait. Is this the future?" I asked him. He simply nodded.

"Why is time frozen? Everyone returned the time gears right? This doesn't make any sense." Alex cut in. "Dusknoir is the enemy. No doubt about it, but then why did you steal the time gears? Certainly you knew it would stop time."

Grovyle shook his head. "We can speak later. Right now we need to move. Your little friend is just up ahead. If we hurry, we can reach her before she gets herself lost."

I nodded. "Right." With that, Grovyle continued to lead us down the dark dirt path.

To pass the time, I decided to continue our conversation from earlier. "Hey uhh, Alex."

"Yeah Eve?" He replied, turning to face me.

"Since we're kinda safe now, can we talk about Lisa?" I asked him.

"I uhh. I guess so. What was it that you wanted to ask?" He asked, looking curious.

"Well... I just kinda wanted to know. Would it be ok with you if I adopted her? I mean, I didn't want to do it without asking you, but I really want to!" I confessed.

He smiled. "I figured that's what you'd say." He looked up to the sky for a bit before looking back at me. "Of course it's ok with me. She's a nice girl, but your parents are gonna flip." He laughed.

"Really?! Thank you!" I exclaimed, hugging him around the neck, only to receive a quick "shh" from Grovyle. "Sorry..."

A few minutes later, Grovyle stopped. "This is where she should be."

I frowned. "Well where is she?"

Just then, Lisa came running out from behind a boulder and nearly tackled me to the ground, crying the whole time. "Eve! You're ok! I thought I'd never see you again!" She sobbed.

I just smiled, patting her on the back. "Come on now. Like that guy could ever beat me." I pulled away with a smirk.

She laughed. "Yeah. I-I guess so... Oh! By the way, I saw this strange light all the way down there." She pointed down to somewhere below the cliff we were on. "I figured it was somewhere we needed to go."

"You've got a good eye kid." Grovyle cut in. "That's the tree of hope. Also known as the only living plant on the planet in this terrible future. It's where we're meeting a friend of mine."

"We? Who said anything about we?" Alex asked. "You still haven't told us anything about why you stole the time gears. For all we know, you could still be a criminal."

Grovyle sighed. "Look. I know it's hard to believe that stealing those relics was for a good cause, and I'll get to my explanation soon, but for now you're just going to have to trust me. Right now, I'm your only guide back to your own time."

Alex seemed to get it. "I see. I guess we don't have a choice."

Grovyle nodded. "Anyway, we should head out before Dusknoir and his minions decide to catch up to us. Oh and uhh, don't worry about supplies. There are no mystery dungeons here."

"No mystery dungeons? Then how did you know how to survive in one when you came to the past?" Alex asked him.

He was about to answer when the sound of the sableye came within earshot. "I'll tell you later. We have to go now!" With that, we fled the scene.

Town Ruins:

It took us about an hour to descend the slope leading down from the cliff and once we reached the bottom, we entered what looked to be a town in ruins. Whole buildings were destroyed, graffiti was everywhere, and the road was dug up in multiple places. "Grovyle. What is this place?"

It took him a while to respond. "This was once a major town on this continent. Now it lies in ruins. For obvious reasons, this is called the town ruins."

I scanned the town once again. "That's so sad."

He nodded. "In any case, the tree should be just up ahead." He pointed towards a bright light in the distance. "There we should run into Celebi."

"Celebi? Isn't she the time travel pokemon?" Alex asked him.

Grovyle nodded. "Exactly. Hopefully with her help we'll be able to return to your time."

I frowned, looking back at Lisa who had fallen asleep on my back. "I hope the others are ok. We did just disappear into a portal right in front of them."

Alex laid a hand on my shoulder. "I'm sure they're fine Eve. Austin and Ally are perfectly capable of handling the team while we're gone."

"I hope so… I don't know how long we'll be here." I sighed.

"Hey. Look sharp. We've got to keep up the pace or Dusknoir will catch up." Grovyle reminded us as he began walking towards the tree.

I shook my head. "Ugh. He's right. What are we doing contemplating everything all the sudden? Let's just go!" I shouted, running to catch up to Grovyle. Alex followed shortly behind as we started making progress again.

Along the way, I decided to pass the time by examining some of the houses. A lot of them were completely destroyed, but oddly enough some were just gone. As if they had just up and vanished. Odd…

Tree of Hope:

After about fifteen minutes, we reached the tree. It wasn't very big, only about average size for a tree, but it produced enough light to brighten up a majority of the surrounding area. The tree's bark seemed to emit a soft pink glow.

"Alright. We should be able to rest here for the moment. Celebi usually takes her time, and we've managed to gain some distance on Dusknoir." He walked up to the tree and laid back against it.

We were about to do the same, but upon reaching the tree we noticed an odd carving in its bark. "A carving?"

"Hmm? Oh yeah. That carving has been there for a while as far as I know. Some lovers or something." He answered.

"Lovers?" I approached the tree to get a better look. When I saw the carving, my jaw dropped. It was a heart shape with writing in the center. "Austin + Ally" was written in the center. "This is Austin and Ally's tree."

Grovyle cast a glance at me. "You know those two? Are they important figures from your time?"

"Important figures? They're my friends. Well Ally's my sister, but still." I replied, much to his surprise.

"Well then. I won't say that doesn't raise a few questions, but I'll just ignore it for now." He sighed. "By the way, if you want to know about how I know about mystery dungeons or my true intentions, now would be the time."

"Oh yeah!" I quickly laid down, Alex sitting beside me. "Go ahead. I wanna hear."

He nodded. "It was about three years ago. Back then I was just like every person who's ever been corrupted by this neverending darkness. Much like Dusknoir, I only sought to preserve myself." He paused, as if he didn't want to continue. "That is until the day I met Avalon."

"Avalon?" I reiterated.

"Yes, Avalon was his name. You see the first time I discovered this tree, there was already someone else there. An eevee. He was standing by the tree, looking at it like he was admiring it or researching it. I can't remember which one, but that's not important. What's important is what he said to me. He told me that the darkness that plagued the world was never meant to exist. I still don't know exactly what he meant by that, but it's the reason I started thinking differently. As for how I know about dungeons, he taught me about the past. I visited him every day or so for two years before I met Celebi and decided to head for your time." He finished.

"And what about the time gears? Why were you stealing them if you knew they'd stop time?" Alex cut in.

Grovyle sighed. "That's only temporary. I was collecting them so I could prevent this catastrophe, but you all know how well that turned out."

"Don't tell me you messed up again my dear Grovyle" A voice called out suddenly in a teasing fashion. Before we could ask however, a pink Celebi appeared before us with a wink. "Ooh. And who are your friends? They look rather friendly."

"Hiya! My name's Eve!" I introduced myself.

For perhaps the first time since we first saw him, Grovyle smiled. "Hello Celebi. As energetic as ever I see."

She turned to face him. "Well in this darkness, my energy is the only thing keeping me going. Why don't you act cheery once in awhile? I bet this is the first time these three have even seen you smile."

He rubbed the back of his neck out of embarrassment. "It's nice to see you're alive and well Celebi."

"Like I'd ever get caught." She smirked. "So, I assume you're looking for the passage?"

"The passage?" I cut in. Celebi shot me a glance.

"You never told them about where you were taking them? Just how inhospitable have you been to these three?" She scolded him.

He could only sit there and take it. "The passage of time to be more exact. It's a gate between timelines that I used to travel to your time before. It never stays in the same location, so I need Celebi to find it for me."

"So like a time machine?" I blurted out excitedly. "Cool!"

"Uhh… Yeah. Sort of like that." He replied. "It's just, well, not a machine." He turned to Celebi. "In any case, have you found the passage yet?"

She smirked. "You know it! I'm ready when you are!"

He nodded, standing up. "Good. Then we better get going before Dusknoir and the sableye catch up. I'll be up ahead. Once you're ready, just come tell me." He instructed before walking ahead.

Once he was gone, Celebi sighed. When I questioned her about it, she just shook her head. "It's nothing. I just wish that Grovyle would take it slow every once in awhile. He spends every waking moment on this mission, and while it is noble, I just wish I could spend more time with him."

Spend more time with him? Wait a minute. One look at my smug glance was enough to make her nervous.

"N-not for any weird reasons or anything of course!" She held up her arms in protest. "It's just that we're really good friends and all." Her pink cheeks were now a deep crimson color.

"Mhmm." I smirked. "Whatever you say." I teased as Alex and I made our way towards Grovyle.

"We're just friends! Honest!" Celebi shouted after us.

Town Outskirts:

After meeting up with Grovyle, we set off on a course to some forest. I wasn't paying attention, so I didn't catch the name, but I heard it was pretty foggy or something. Must've been related to Foggy Forest.

Anyway, it took us about half an hour until we arrived and by then my paws were starting to hurt. I mean, I was used to walking and running everywhere, but we had been going at it nearly non-stop since we left the stockades.

"Alright. The passage should be just beyond that forest. If we hurry, we can make it before Dusknoir even realizes we're gone. If we don't… Let's try not to think about that ok?" Grovyle suggested.

"Man. This place really is foggy. How are we supposed to see anything with this darkness and the fog?" I complained.

"Welcome to our world." Grovyle replied before leading us into the forest.

The forest itself was eerily quiet. There weren't any sounds, as if the place was completely deserted. I mean I guess I wouldn't put it past anyone to leave this place, but it was still creepy. What made it worse though was this darkness. Every once in awhile one of us would step on a stick and I'd jump. It was embarrassing to say the least. Still, if I see a red balloon out here, I'm bolting.

After that half hour ordeal, we came upon a clearing with some sort of blue energy door towards the end of it. I assumed that was the passage Grovyle and Celebi were talking about, but decided to wait for them to say so.

"Well we're here!" Celebi announced. "Not much to it, but it'll get you to where you want to go."

I smiled. "Thanks Celebi!"

Grovyle nodded to Celebi. "Thanks for the help. Hopefully this time I can pull it off."

"As usual my dear." She smiled. "Just be safe will you."

I thought about what Celebi had said back at the tree. She said she wanted to spend more time with him. Couldn't she just go back with us? "Well then. What are we waiting for? Let's go!" I smiled, walking towards the passage, when suddenly everything went dark...or darker. "Uhh… What's going on?"

"Yes. What's going on indeed." A familiar voice responded. Once we could see again, Dusknoir and the sableye were guarding the passage.

I backed into a defensive stance. "Dusknoir!" I exclaimed as we stood back to back…to back to back. We were surrounded.

Dusknoir laughed. "Did you really think you could escape? I had eyes on you the entire time. Cute effort really. I applaud your efforts, but now it's time for your journey to come to an end."

Grovyle growled. "We walked right into his trap. I should've been more careful."

"Now you finally see it. It's useless to resist." He continued.

"So I guess we'll have to fight. You guys ready?" Grovyle concluded.

"Don't get ahead of yourselves. We haven't even gotten to the best part. Master, it's time!" He exclaimed.

Grovyle's face went pale as a loud sickening roar rippled through the area. "Oh no."

"What? What is it Grovyle?" I asked just as a huge pokemon dropped down from the sky, landing between us and Dusknoir.

"It's Primal Dialga." Grovyle explained. "He's the ruler of time turned savage beast. His only concern is his own self preservation, and he'll stop at nothing to achieve that. I'm afraid we no longer stand a chance."

Dusknoir seemed to smirk. "Ahh. So you are reasonable after all. Good to know."

I frowned. "Don't stand a chance? How will we know if we don't try?" I argued. "We have to fight."

Grovyle shook his head. "Primal Dialga is too powerful. We'll die before we even reach the passage, and he has the power to stop time travel. We'll never make it. But there's still a chance. My partner is still out there. You'll never catch him Dusknoir!"

He just laughed. "Oh Grovyle. I feel sorry for you. You actually believe that your partner is still in the past. I feel like I must commend you for your optimism, but sadly all hope for you is lost."

"What are you talking about?" Grovyle demanded.

Dusknoir simply shook his head. "As much as I would love to enlighten you Grovyle, I'm afraid that Master Dialga has other plans. My hands are tied. Not that it will matter to you when you don't exist."

Grovyle looked furious, clenching his fists in frustration. "Dusknoir! What aren't you telling me?!" After receiving no answer, all hope seemed to leave Grovyle's eyes as he fell silent, facing away from the rest of us. "This can't be..."

"Oh but it can! Sorry to say this Grovyle, but this is the end of your rebellion." Dusknoir exclaimed as if he had already won.

"No way! We're not giving up!" I turned to Grovyle. Come on. There's gotta be something!"

"To late! Master! If you will!" Dusknoir exclaimed.

Soon enough Dialga let loose yet another loud roar. This time it didn't hurt our ears. It instead felt kind of different, as if the everything had become a bit bigger. Looking around I noticed that where Grovyle had previously stood was now treeko. Oh…

"Guys. Did we just become younger?" I asked aloud, receiving my answer when my voice sounded much more high pitched than before. "Well that's...unique."

It was then that the sableye started to close in on us. "Hehe. Look at the little eevee. She looks scared. Maybe we should attack her first." One of them said.

Looking to my side, I noticed an even smaller Lisa quivering between us. They were talking about her. That alone was enough to make the anger I had felt back at town square return. "Alright. Which one of you said that?!" I asked, stepping forward.

The sableye looked between themselves before laughing. "Aww look. It's the other eevee sticking up for her friend. Perhaps we should teach this one a lesson first." Another sableye suggested before they all rushed towards me.

I glared at them, stepping back into my fighting stance and pulling back my paw. Once they were within range, I swung my paw forward towards the first one I saw with a yell. Now I had expected to hit one of the sableye. What I hadn't expected was for a massive shockwave to come rippling out of my paw to send them all flying.

With that, the area went quiet. Dusknoir's arrogant expression fell from his face just as fast as I blew away those sableye.

"Eve… What did you just do?" Grovyle asked me in surprise.

I turned back to him, just as surprised. "I don't know. I was just gonna hit one of them."

"Well whatever it is, keep doing it. Go!" He suggested.

I nodded. "Follow me!" I instructed as I rushed towards Dialga. Once I reached him, I leaped up and slammed my paw into the orange crystal in his chest. Once I did that, the same thing happened and he was pushed back a bit. Not only that, but his crystal was cracked.

The cracked crystal seemed to stun him for the most part, so I quickly turned to Celebi. I had a plan. "Celebi! Can you send us through time just a little? Like teleportation or something?"

She nodded. "Yes, but it might not-."

I shook my head. "Anything will work. Just do it."

"Alright. I'll try." She closed her eyes to focus. A faint glow soon enveloped us, and before we knew it we were right in front of the passage.

"Oh! It worked!" I exclaimed. "Quick! Everyone into the passage thingy!"

Dusknoir noticed us just as we were starting to enter, but by that time it was too late. Celebi however stopped before entering. I turned back. "Celebi. Aren't you coming?"

She shook her head. "I can't come. I have to stay here."

That's it. I've had enough. "You know what? No. You're coming too." I stated as if it were fact, grabbing her hand and dragging her in with me. Then, like before, everything went black.

Unknown:

I woke with a start, the sun hitting my face in an almost blinding fashion as I opened my eyes and sat up. "Huh?" I mumbled, scanning my surroundings for the others. My voice sounded like normal again, so I guess our ages had returned to normal. "Wait a minute." I stood up, noticing something odd about our surroundings. The sun had hit my face through a window and...there was a fish tank? We were in a house?

Looking around some more, I noticed I was alone. "Oh. I'm in a house." Suddenly I heard a crashing sound from behind me. Turning around and looking up, I saw a...human? That's what I thought it was at least. Alex told me what they looked like, but I thought I'd never see one. As for the crashing sound, it appeared that the human dropped some groceries when he saw me.

I looked him up and down. He was a physically fit guy I guess, wearing what looked to be a white lab coat, a white cap, grey shorts, and sunglasses. He was wearing something on his feet too, but I didn't know what they were. "Uhh… Hiya!" I greeted him. "My name's Eve!" I smiled.

He looked surprised however, just standing there and staring at me.

Oh wait. Alex said pokemon don't talk here… "Oops! Eheheh…"