Gina and Soren stared at the Grass-type with wide eyes, unsure of what to do next. Grovyle, on the other hand, simply met each of their gazes confidently, his amber eyes clear and focused. He took a slow step forward.

Mesprit lifted her head shakily to meet his sharp gaze, yellow eyes burning with indignation. "And just who are you?!" she demanded.

"Grovyle," he stated, his deep voice unwavering. "And I'm surprised this is the first you've heard of me. I seem to be the centre of everyone's attention lately." He paused to chuckle at the thought. "Now, I must apologize… But that Time Gear is mine."

He sped forward, knocking Gina and Soren aside with a simple swipe of his claws, and stood in front of Mesprit, who refused to back down. "Please, stand aside."

Even as she struggled to continue floating in the air, she shook her head. "N-never… You can't-" She yelped as he swatted her to the side as well, landing with a soft thud on the sandy floor.

"I saw you lose that fight, and now you've sustained serious damage," he remarked, not looking at her. "I wouldn't push it if I were you." He walked slowly to the edge of the water, his eyes locked on the blue-green glow emanating from beneath the calm waves.

Gina glared at him, her fur ruffling along her spine. "Hey!" she shouted, springing up from the ground and skidding to a halt in front of him. "You can't do this!"

"She's right!" Soren said, coming to stand beside her, fists clenched. "If you want that Time Gear, you'll have to go through us!"

For a moment, Gina swore she saw a flicker of recognition in Grovyle's eyes, but it faded as quickly as it appeared. "Alright, then." He gave a slight smirk. "Sorry for this in advance." The leaves on both of his arms lit up and merged to form a large blade on each forearm, and he slashed out at Gina and Soren, knocking them aside once more.

The Eevee winced, peering down to see the wound. It wasn't too serious, to her relief, but he did slice through a small layer of fur. Looking over at Soren, she saw that his wound now overlapped with one of his many scars from his childhood.

"He's…too fast," Soren hissed, clutching at the wound on his chest.

Grovyle ignored them. "I have no quarrel with any of you," he said, walking closer to the water's edge. "But this must be done. I need that Time Gear!" With that, he leapt into the water, disappearing into its dark blue depths.

Gina struggled to her feet, as did Soren, and she brought her attention to Mesprit, who was still lying on the sand, blood leaking from one of her wounds. The pair helped her up, and she gave a nod of gratitude.

"I'm sorry," she murmured. "After that… Uxie must not have been talking about you. He meant that wretched thief… I'm sorry for doubting you."

"Save your strength," Soren urged. "You'll need it if we want to get out of here."

A bright white flash illuminated the cave for a split second, and Gina looked up, her ears pricked in alarm. As she and Soren looked around frantically for the source of the light, tremors rocked through the area, causing some stalactites to crack.

Mesprit's eyes widened. "No! We need to escape this place! Now!"

Soren turned to her. "What's happening?" he demanded.

The moment he finished his sentence, an almost deafening sound filled their ears. It sounded as if all the air was being sucked out of the cave, but at the same time sounded like an immense roar. Gina turned her head to the water, horror filling her when she saw a crackling wave of darkness approaching them quickly from where the Time Gear once was.

"Because that thief stole the Time Gear, all time in the Underground Lake will stop!" Mesprit explained. "If we don't escape now, we'll all become frozen in time!"

Gina gulped. "Then we should probably start running!" she yelled above the noise, sprinting ahead into the corridor that led them there, kicking sand up in her wake. Soren and Mesprit were quick to follow, Soren carrying Mesprit out and stumbling from his injury.

No words could describe the terror the three of them felt at that moment. Soren struggled to keep up with Gina, who frequently looked behind her to make sure Soren and Mesprit were still behind her. She kept trying to reassure herself that they would make it out alive, but even now felt it was difficult to stay positive.

Every time she looked behind her, she saw the stalactites falling all around them, only to be suspended in midair by the approaching wave of darkness. Even the wild Pokemon in the cave were in a panic, some even running alongside her in an effort to escape. Those that weren't lucky were trapped by the darkness, looks of fear present on their faces, never to move again.

When they got to the entrance, Gina realized with a start that they had no way out. Soren rushed up to her, staring at the quickly approaching wave of darkness. Mesprit was still held tightly in his arms.

"Now what?" he asked, staring up at the sand trickling down from the surface.

Gina fought for a reply, her thoughts jumbling and unorganized as she stared at the growing darkness. She then gasped, rushing over and digging through the Treasure Bag, still slung over Soren's shoulders. Once she found what she was looking for, she held it up in the air, balancing on three paws.

Soren grinned nervously at the item, bringing himself and Mesprit closer to his partner's side. "An Escape Orb! You're a genius!"

"Oh, I already know that!" Gina said as the light from the Orb enveloped them, transporting them up and out of the cave just as the darkness reached where they once stood, trapping the entirety of Quicksand Cave in time.

~o~o~o~o~

Gina and Soren were back at the guild, their fellow members fussing over them, handing them Oran Berry after Oran Berry to restore them to health. Gina could still feel her heart racing from what just happened at the Underground Lake, but relief continued to wash over it. She was happy enough that they were safe.

Magnezone and his pair of Magnemite hovered out from Wigglytuff's room where Mesprit was being kept. "Thank you for assisting in our investigation!" Magnezone buzzed. "Mesprit is now under our protection. You can be assured that she is safe!"

Soren gave a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness," he muttered. "I was nervous she wouldn't make it."

"If you have any further information on the investigation, please notify us immediately," he continued. "We must all do our part in bringing Grovyle to justice. Now if you will excuse us…!" The trio hovered back up the ladder from which they came, exiting the guild.

Chatot turned to face Gina and Soren, astonishment lighting his gaze. "Well, this is a new development!" he said. "You managed to find a lake beneath the Northern Desert? And a Time Gear?"

Soren shrugged, a look of defeat evident in his face. "Yeah, but like we said, Grovyle stole it, and we didn't even slow him down at all…"

"It's like we haven't done anything at all!" Gina added with a frown.

Sunflora patted her on the back. "That's not true at all!" she insisted. "That's better than any of us! The locations we went to didn't have any sign of Time Gears at all!"

Soren's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Hey, hey, it's true!" Corphish said. "Loudred and I went to the Eastern Forest to investigate. But it turns out there's not much there but the forest itself."

"And we went to Landslide Cave as we were told," Amber said. "Nothing there but a bunch of sand and rocks."

"We were nearly killed three times," said Jasper from beside her, trying to put a positive light on the situation from the look of the half-hearted smile on his face. The Vulpix shouldered him to quiet him, and he immediately gulped and looked away.

Gina looked up at Sunflora. "What about you guys? What was Crystal Cave like?"

The Grass-type was about to reply when Bidoof interrupted, "Mighty pretty, I tell you! There might not have been a Time Gear, but there were lots of pretty crystals, yup yup!" He grinned sheepishly, turning to pull something shimmering from his own Treasure Bag. "They were so pretty, I just couldn't help…taking one for myself."

Sunflora turned to him, her smile erased by a perplexed frown. "When did you pick that up? I was with you the whole time, and I never saw you stray from our path once."

"We were supposed to be looking for Time Gears, Bidoof," Dugtrio said sternly. "And yet, you had the nerve to pick up a souvenir? Just what do you have to say for yourself?!"

He flinched at the Ground-type's scolding. "I-I'm sorry, by golly!" he stuttered. "I just wanted something to remember the trip by, that's all!"

"In any case," Corphish interrupted their arguing. "We don't have any idea where we should look next, do we? We don't have any way of knowing, not even one tiny hint!"

"It really is too bad we missed the opportunity to catch him, huh?" Sunflora sighed. "I guess we're back to square one!"

Hearing her say that made Gina's heart sink. Even if they did forgive her and Soren for being unable to capture Grovyle, there wouldn't be an end to the guilt they felt at that moment.

"Not necessarily." Everyone turned at the sound of Dusknoir's voice. He looked very thoughtful at that moment. "We do have some clues. One Time Gear was at Fogbound Lake, guarded by Uxie, correct? And another was found at the Underground Lake, guarded by Mesprit."

"By the way," Soren said before he could go on. "Mesprit mentioned that Uxie alerted her by telepathy to tell her the Time Gear was missing. That's why she attacked us at first, because she thought we were the ones who stole it."

As everyone gasped in amazement, the Ghost-type nodded, folding his arms and leaning back slightly. "I should have suspected as much. There is an ancient legend, you see. It is believed that Uxie is the Being of Knowledge, and that Mesprit is the Being of Emotion."

"I've heard this legend before," Jasper spoke up again. He shied away at the attention he got, but continued. "It's about the spiritual world, and how it's kept in balance. There's a third being, isn't there? His name is, uh…Azelf, right?"

"Exactly. Azelf is known as the Being of Willpower. Since these three are connected in this way, and since Uxie and Mesprit were both guarding Time Gears, then Azelf may be guarding one as well."

Chimecho's once-somber face brightened. "I see! If we can locate Azelf, then we may find a Time Gear with him, and we'll have a chance at seeing that wretched Grovyle appear!"

"Indeed. Furthermore, Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf are said to dwell at lakes. Since Uxie and Mesprit were found at Fogbound Lake and the Underground Lake respectively, it is very likely that Azelf is also found at a lake. We must also keep in mind that Uxie's lake was located on a high plateau, and Mesprit's was found beneath a desert. I suspect you see the pattern here?"

"Uxie and Mesprit's lakes were in unusual places," Jasper said. "So that would mean Azelf's lake is in a place we least expect it to be, right? And we shouldn't just look for water in regular places?"

"Yes."

Chatot chuckled and grinned widely. "My, my, Dusknoir! I commend you on your wisdom! It feels as if I have a renewed admiration for you!"

He raised a hand in protest. "Thank you, but it's nothing," he replied modestly.

"No, no, Dusknoir! Your wisdom is truly remarkable!" Dugtrio assured. "It was you, sir, who directed us to the Northern Desert, and a Time Gear was indeed found beneath it. So your insight was entirely correct."

"Then maybe the other places we searched, like the Eastern Forest or Crystal Cave, have a Time Gear, too!" added Sunflora excitedly. "We just didn't look hard enough!"

"Yeah, but how are we gonna know where to look, exactly?" Amber pointed out. "We can't just search everywhere like crazy. We need to have some sort of lead, right?"

Dusknoir tapped his chin thoughtfully. "I have an idea." He turned to look at Bidoof, who appeared a bit astonished that Dusknoir was now staring at him very intently. "I have a request, Bidoof," he said. "May I borrow the crystal you picked up earlier?"

The Normal-type quickly became defensive, bringing the crystal closer to him with a paw and lowering himself to the ground. "No, sirree!" he snapped. "This here's my precious treasure! I don't want you to take it away from me, by golly!"

"O-of course," Dusknoir replied, a little taken aback by his sudden defensiveness. "I can assure you that we won't take it away or do anything of the sort." He turned to Gina, who tried to react a bit more eagerly than Bidoof did to give the Ghost-type a good impression of her. "Now, Gina. I want you to touch Bidoof's crystal."

She tilted her head to the side. "Touch the crystal…?"

"If Crystal Cave truly holds a secret, and if you touch the crystal, then you may trigger the Dimensional Scream," Dusknoir explained. "If it triggers a vision, we'll have more of a purpose to go to Crystal Cave."

"The Dimensional Scream?" boomed Loudred. "What's that?"

"It's an ability I have," Gina replied. "When I touch something , I might have a vision of events in the past or future. I also get really dizzy during them, which is just really weird."

"Yeah, yeah, we've been through all this before," Amber snapped. She went up to stand in front of Bidoof, ignoring the excited reactions to Gina's explanation and ignoring Jasper's protests. "Look, Bidoof, either you give us the crystal and we can see if her ability actually works, or we lose any kind of lead we have. Can we just borrow your stupid crystal already?"

"It's up to you, Bidoof," said Dusknoir. "But I desperately wish to borrow your crystal for this purpose. Please, may I?"

Bidoof looked from Dusknoir to Amber, then to the rest of his fellow apprentices, and back again to Dusknoir. He sighed. "Okay, I can't refuse when I'm faced with a reason like that." He walked past Amber, carrying the crystal on his head, and put it at Gina's paws.

The Eevee looked around at everyone's faces, all watching her in anticipation. She gulped. Sure hope it works, even with everyone staring at me… She pressed her paw to the cool surface of the crystal.

Barely a second passed when the familiar wave of dizziness slammed into her. Her vision blurred, and she fought to steady herself, breathing in through her nose as she shut her eyes. A streak of white flashed before her eyes, signalling the beginning of the vision.

She was greeted to the sight of Grovyle standing before a strange blue Pokemon, just barely floating in mid-air, blood streaking down from its forehead into its eyes. The Pokemon let out a pained groan, holding its hand against the gash on its head.

"Now I'll take it," Grovyle hissed before shouldering past the Pokemon. "The last Time Gear!"

"N-no," the Pokemon weakly protested, gold eyes flickering slightly. "I'll never let you take it… Never…"

White filled Gina's vision again, which quickly faded to black, ending the scene she saw. She opened her eyes, noticing that Soren was at her side, hands on her shoulders to support her.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "What did you see?"

"Grovyle. He was trying to steal a Time Gear! And there was another Pokemon, and they were really badly hurt!"

"Did you recognize them?"

"No… But I think it might be Azelf."

"I have a question as well, Gina," Chimecho spoke up. "Did you see the past? Or was it the future?"

She was about to reply, but shut her mouth and looked away in thought. "I-I don't really know. But if it was a past event, then we're already too late, right?"

Everyone's attention immediately broke away from Gina, and they turned to each other, all wearing the same concerned expressions on their faces. Dusknoir watched the situation unfold, and waved his hands for attention.

"Everyone, please calm down!" he called. It took a few moments for the crowd to fall silent, and he continued once they did. "While it is true the vision may have been of the past, it may have also been of the future." He looked at Soren. "You said Mesprit had Uxie warn her about Grovyle through telepathy, correct? It wasn't Azelf?"

"Yeah. In fact, I'm only just now hearing about Azelf from you, Dusknoir, sir. I've never heard the name anywhere else."

He nodded. "Then in that case, we still have a chance. If Mesprit said Azelf alerted her about a stolen Time Gear, then Gina's vision would have certainly been of the past. But since it was Uxie, her vision may have been of the future."

Chatot nodded thoughtfully. "I see now…"

"One more thing," Dusknoir continued. "Upon touching the crystal, Gina experienced the Dimensional Scream. Her vision indicated the presence of a Time Gear, which means that what we seek is located in Crystal Cave. Perhaps there is a passage there that leads to one!"

The faces in the crowd brightened, and everyone turned to each other, exchanging their renewed feelings of optimism with one another.

"Dusknoir, sir!" Chatot said with a grin. "There's only one thing to do, and that is to explore Crystal Cave! The whole guild will participate in the exploration!" He turned to Wigglytuff, who appeared to be watching everyone with great interest. "Guildmaster! Please issue the call to duty!"

The guild members quieted down, everyone turning to listen to the Guildmaster's orders. For a while, no one, not even Wigglytuff, spoke. In fact, it almost seemed as if he wasn't even listening to the commotion. Gina, for one, was growing increasingly uneasy under his blank stare.

Chatot tilted his head, hopping over to stand in front of the Guildmaster. "Guildmaster? Ahem, Guildmaster?"

Wigglytuff responded with a loud snore.

Corphish snickered. "You gotta be kidding!"

"He's fully asleep!" Sunflora whispered. "And with his eyes open, too! Eww!"

Chimecho giggled. "The Guildmaster is so very charming…!" she murmured, quietly enough so that no one would hear.

Chatot turned his head, realizing that the others would notice he was asleep if he didn't act quickly. He gulped and whipped his head back around to face Wigglytuff. He flapped his wings loudly. "Guildmaster! Guildmaster!" he squawked.

He didn't notice Wigglytuff's eyes blinking rapidly. "Huh…?" he muttered.

"Guildmaster!" screeched Chatot.

"Chatot!"

"Yes, Guildmaster?!" he responded, far louder than needed. Seeing that he was awake, Chatot hopped back to his place at the Guildmaster's side and cleared his throat. "I mean, yes, Guildmaster?" he repeated. "To take it from the top…there was-"

"Okay, everyone!" Wigglytuff interrupted. "Starting now, we're all going after Grovyle! Yoom-TAH!" His sudden outburst caused Chatot to jump back, wings spread in alarm.

"Hooray!" The apprentices quickly divided themselves into separate groups to discuss their plans of exploration, ignoring the pose Chatot froze himself into.

Dusknoir cleared his throat. "I will also be coming along on your exploration." As soon as he had everyone's attention, he smiled. "Let's all do our best."

"Yeah!" The apprentices dispersed, Bidoof coming back to thank Gina and reclaim his crystal, leaving Gina and Soren behind with Chatot, who still had his wings spread in shock, and Wigglytuff.

"Well, I guess that settles it, huh?" Soren said with a chuckle. "Looks like we're off to Crystal Cave!"

Gina gave a squeal of delight. "I kept looking at Bidoof's crystal and thought it would be such a nice place to explore, and after that vision, and what I saw of the cave, I'm even more excited!" She bounced around in place. "C'mon! We don't wanna get left behind! Let's go get ready!"

"Okay, but don't forget our objective here," he said as he followed her up the ladder leading out of the guild. "We have to catch Grovyle. And this time, we're gonna do it right. If it comes to a fight, we can't back down."

"Right!"