Chapter 25: A Day of Contrast
"Oh! You had saved your continent too? I knew it as I could sense great power within you."
Eterna had tried her best in answering the store owners' questions, especially Victini as he could not stop asking her about her adventures. She faced at Maginvade and said:
"Maginvade, is there a place I can relax…in privacy? These Pokémons are giving me a headache."
"Just bear it with them as you are a new visitor here. And, you didn't exactly answered back to all of them; your friends helped you out too."
She scratched her head, "Argh…well okay. I shall endure for a little longer. After that, I am gone."
She was glad that she was free after being patience for thirty minutes. Loggerhead and Ice Kacang understood her misery, so they brought her and Chestnut to Gurdurr's Workshop. As for Maginvade and Osha, they took over to answer the town folks of their battles with Eterna. The Bulk Pokémon was surprised to see Loggerhead and Ice Kacang, as well as Eterna and Chestnut.
"My son! You have finally returned! Ohh…come here!"
Loggerhead went towards him and they hugged each other. His younger brother Timburr was happy to see his older brother. He leapt onto his older brother's shoulder and they chuckled together. Eterna was pleased that his family did not scolding him for his long absence.
His father continued, "And, greetings Miss Foxy and Mr Porcupine! Welcome to my workshop! Come! I shall lead you all to my house. There will be tea and snacks for you all."
His house was behind the workshop. It was a round yellow clay house with shrubs growing on it. There were no windows; only five odd-shaped holes. The different sizes of the holes promoted better air circulation in the house. He led them into the biggest hole and asked them to sit on the grass mat while he prepared the food. As for little Timburr, he pulled his brother to show him the new items on display on the edge on the wall that were brought after he had left for the rescue training. Eterna, Chestnut and Ice Kacang were smiling as they saw Loggerhead was having a great time together with his younger brother. In a matter of minutes, their father came out with a tray of four wooden cups, a plate of dried apple chips and a clay tea pot. Eterna could sniffed out the aroma from the tea pot. To her surprise, it smelled like sea weed.
He spoke, "This is Kelpsy Berry Tea. This should help to freshen you all!"
He poured the tea into the cups and asked them to try it. Eterna took a sip; it tasted a little dry, but there was a unique combination of saltiness, bitterness and sourness. She liked this exotic taste, and she kept on drinking the tea till there was no more left in the cup.
"Haha. I am glad you like it, miss. Ah yes, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Gurdurr! And together with my sons, we made Maginvade's and Osha's dream come true! Yes! Pokémon Paradise was made by us! We worked quickly, and we did our checks on the structures to make sure they are safe. Hoho, I am still good for my age huh? I am still up and going, and I won't be retiring anytime soon!"
"He would be when I'm much more capable than him!" sniggered his youngest son.
They all laughed together.
"Haha, my name is Eterna, and this is Chestnut. We live in a neighbouring continent named Xaryorz. We are here to send your oldest son and Ice Kacang home."
"Oh! Thank you Miss Eterna and Chestnut. I am grateful that you have made sure that my son is safe and well. Do tell, are there anything interesting happened during your adventures?"
Eterna talked about her fondest memories of her adventures with her friends, enemies, and her solo missions. Gurdurr and Timburr were listening to her attentively, and were awe of her stories, so much so that the youngster took out a piece of paper to jolt them down. After she was done, Gurdurr and Timburr applauded her.
Gurdurr praised her, "Goodness! You have been through a lot! I agree that the legendaries had placed too much hope in you. I would be stressed out to be entrusted to save the continent and the Pokémons. I am glad your friends had helped you out to ease your burden."
"Yeah…I hope I do not need to make such tough decisions again."
"If that's the case, why don't you and Chestnut have a tour around this continent? You can ask Azumarill at the Rescue Counter for a map. Her counter is beside the billboards of missions."
"That is what I intended to do!" Then, she faced at Loggerhead and Ice Kacang and continued, "So ummm…are you guys staying here? Is this is goodbye?"
Ice Kacang replied, "Don't be ridiculous! We will meet again soon. As long as you remember us, you can warp to see us anytime!"
She smiled, "I guess you are right. I will never forget you all, especially the teachings and the jokes we had haha."
"And, we thanked you for accompany us and…being such a good friend. We will always remember the times we had together." Loggerhead said in appreciation.
"Me too. You two have supported me, and changed me into a better Pokémon. The journey will not be the same without you two…" Later, she bowed at Gurdurr and said, "Thank you for your hospitality Uncle Gurdurr. I will drop by to see you and your sons sometimes soon. Alright Chestnut, let's us depart."
He nodded, "Will do. Take care Loggerhead and Ice Kacang. You two are such good friends, though I don't miss the teasing part."
Ice Kacang chuckled, "Haha! You will! See you Miss Eterna and Chestnut!"
They hugged together and said their goodbyes. Eventually, the two Pokémons headed out of the house, and they waved at them for the final time. Eterna was a little sadden that she had to separate from them, but she knew they had to go home as they had love ones to care about. It would be selfish of her to ask them to accompany her for sightseeing after the things they had sacrificed to search for her and helped her to save the world.
They approached Azumarill and asked her for the map. She was happy to give them two maps, and told them which areas to avoid as some of the mystery dungeons had no visible entrances. She explained that many Pokémons were sucked into the dungeons and required rescuing. However, due to the difficulty of the dungeons and their Mysteriosity level, only the outstanding rescue teams such as Maginvade and Osha could save them. Eterna and Chestnut acknowledged of her warnings, and made their way to the crossroad. A wooden sign directly opposite them stated that at the South-East was Stompstump Peak. Based on her map, there were many waterfalls and tall cliffs; a good place to relax after a battle. Eterna created Shadowable in a floating raft form. As she and Chestnut sat on it, she levitated it towards the location. She could mould Shadowable into a jet place, but she wanted to see the scenery since there was no need to rush for time anymore.
The desert wasn't that vast as they could see hills and mountains surrounding it. Within forty minutes, they flew over the hills. A particular scene caught her attention: many red cliffs with shrubs growing on it and the roaring sounds of the waterfalls flowing towards the massive river below. Rainbow could be seen above the mist formed by crashing waters; a sight that Eterna felt that it was better than Niagara Falls as there were no settlements nearby to ruin her mood to appreciate the magnificent view.
She moved the Shadowable raft a distance away from the waterfalls and landed on a cliff that was joined to a taller cliff with a cavern in it. She went inside and sat down. She could hear the faint sounds of the waterfalls and sooner or later, she dozed off. As for Chestnut, she sat beside her and looked at the sky, thinking of what adventures awaited them in this continent. After their battle against The Imprisoned, he felt a huge load off his back. But for some reason, he could not shake off a feeling that they would be facing a dangerous encounter soon.
He yawned from worrying about unnecessary things. He leaned his back on the cavern wall. And as he was about to close his eyes, he glimpsed a purple portal suddenly appeared in the sky at a distance. Chestnut deemed it as not important to him, and snoozed away.
When he was in a realm of dreams, he heard someone shouting at him. And during the second time which was louder than the first, he could hear the words clearly:
Wake up Chestnut! Something unnatural is happening right now!
He woke up, dazed. He noticed Eterna was showing uneasiness as she faced at the cavern's entrance. He looked at the sky, and was astonished to find ominous clouds swirling in the sky. The 'eye' of the swirl was at the same place where he saw the portal. He could not believe that he had overlooked the fact that the portal, which was different from Mistress Hoopa and Eterna, could be a threat. And that time, he should have notified Eterna about the strange sightings.
Eterna said, "Chestnut, let's go! We have to investigate who caused a disturbance in the sky!"
He replied while doing a dynamic stretching, "Right!"
This time, Eterna conjured Shadowable in jet place form so that they could head to the site quickly. Once they were on board, she moved the plane at such a speed that a supersonic sound could be heard. In less than a minute, they were under the eye of the swirling clouds. Eterna used Psychic to probe for something within the cloud, and what she found was unnerving.
"Chestnut, I am going to relay to you telepathically of the image I found."
"Go ahead."
In his mind, he saw a forest. But something was off here: the colour of the scenery was black, grey and white, and nothing was moving. Chestnut also received her thoughts of what she saw.
"Within this portal is…a land frozen in time and space. Who caused this?"
He responded in speech, "It must be done by a horribly strong creature to able to stop time and space. I don't think it is advisable to enter the portal as we might suffer the same fate as well."
"Then, what should we do? I don't know how to close the portal!"
All of a sudden, two long black strips lassoed the jet place and pulled it towards the portal. Eterna was fearful this time as she knew that their lives would be in jeopardy in that world. She transformed into Obliteration Form, opened the hatch and took out her wand. She summoned Devoid Dominance, and she fired five medium sized beams at the portal. However, another black strip came out of it and bind her. Additionally, the other two strips extended their length and warped around Chestnut. Eterna and Chestnut had tried other attack moves at the black strips, but to no avail. With no hopes of breaking free, they were forced into the portal. It closed after them, and the swirling clouds mysteriously disappeared.