"...Nothing. None of these are working!" I yell in frustration as the stone brought back from Mt. Bristle yields nothing. While Mesprit's information has helped narrow down the location of this particular gear, it's still a very large area. And even with every guild member working overtime to find something of interest we haven't even searched half of it. Every moment we spend doing this, Grovyle get's closer and closer to ending life as we know it. There's too much on the line. We can't fail!
"Alex, calm down..." Pikachu tells me.
"How could anyone be calm in this situation?! We're facing the end of the world!"
"I know, but getting all flustered over it helps no one."
"I know. It's just..." A thought enters my head. A thought that frightens me.
"Just what?"
"...What if this is all my fault? What if what I did in the past caused this? Could I be the reason everyone is in danger?" We stand in silence. Pikachu clearly doesn't know what to say. Probably because it could very easily be true.
"You don't seem like one who would do that, Alex."
"What if I didn't mean to? I made a mistake that started this? I mean, All this began after I washed ashore. I don't want to be responsible for the apocalypse..."
"Alex, Grovyle and Dusknoir are from the future. You're not. There's no way you could have caused this. But you do have something that could help us solve it. We will get through this. I know we will."
I take a few deep breaths. "Yeah. We will. We'll do everything we can to save Pokemar."
"That's the spirit! Now let's keep going." Right. I pick up another object. A branch from Oran Woods. Still no dimensional scream. But we must be getting close. Either one of the teams sent out will stumble across something suspicious or they'll bring me back something with a scream attached to it eventually, right? ...Right?
The sound of the door squeaking open breaks my concentration. It's Bidoof. Seems he's back from the crystal caves. He trots over to us, carrying his bag.
"Hey, Bidoof. Anything?"
"Pulled a crystal out for ya. But couldn't find anything suspicious."
"Well, let's take a look." He slings his bag over and opens it up, bringing the crystal into full view. I instantly note the teal glow. Could it be? Has my patience been rewarded? "Pikachu, is it glowing to you too?"
A smile creeps across my friend's face. "Only to you." Jackpot! We've got it! Without hesitation, I reach over and touch it. I close my eyes and the familiar feelings wash over me. When I open them again, I am surrounded by cavern coated in sky blue crystal. Ahead is a lake. A lake just like Fogbound Lake and the one under the Northern Desert. And at the bottom of the lake, a teal, glowing gear. Yes! We've found it!
In front of the lake is what I've been told is what Azelf looks like. And then there's a less welcoming sight. Grovyle. He found the gear?! Is this in the future? The past? Are we too late?
"Enough is enough! This stops now, intruder!" Azelf warns.
"I don't have time to argue with you." Grovyle responds. "Get out of my way. Don't make me hurt you."
With that, the scream ends, whisking me back to the Shock-Leaf team room in a flash of white light.
"Alex?" Pikachu asks, hopefully.
"We've got the location. Get everyone together. We need a battle plan."
"Alex, slow down." Chatot asks me. "You're making no sense. What are these 'dimensional screams' you're talking about?" Right. I never told him. Forgot about that.
"Basically, when I touch certain things, I see visions of the past and future. And in this one I saw Grovyle attempting to take a gear from inside Crystal Cave. We need to hurry!"
"...How are you able to see these?" I guess he's afraid that I'm not thinking clearly.
"Like I would know. But we don't have time for that."
"He's right. We don't." Dusknoir adds as he enters the room. "He's not lying. It's these screams that let him find the gear in the Northern Desert. You have little reason not to trust him."
"Well... It's not the strangest thing I've heard lately... and you are one of our best guild members, Alex... alright. I'll send you two over."
"Better make it a bigger group." I say. "We can't risk him getting away. Having some backup should tilt the odds in our favor.
"You make a strong case. Alright, who would you suggest?"
"I'm thinking Croagunk, you, Dusknoir-"
"Me?!" Chatot exclaims. "No. No thank you. I've got matters to attend to here."
"Chatot, you're a flying type. You're strong against grass types like Grovyle. And with the fate of the world on the line, we should take every advantage we can."
"...Augh... fine. you're right. I'm not happy about it, though."
"Let's also set up some pokemon at the cave's entrance. If he makes it past us, a second line of defense would do us some good."
"Before we go, I wanted to ask." Pikachu intrudes. "What you saw... Was that the past or the future?" Ah... I had a feeling this would come up. I wish I had a better answer to give.
"...I don't know. There's no way for me to tell."
"So... It could be too late... and he could be on his way to the last gear right now."
"Let's work under the assumption it was a premonition."
"And if it's not?" Chatot adds nervously. "If we get there and the gear is gone? What then?"
"If what I saw already happened, then we'll be back at square one. But we won't know unless we go and look. We should go ready to fight, but also be ready to shift strategies if need be. If there's even a sliver of a chance that we can stop him, we should take it."
"...I guess that makes sense."
"Then let us be on our way." Dusknoir adds. "I do wish to see to his defeat personally."