Pokemon: The Unknown Continuum

by Pocket-fulla-shells

Somewhat based on Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Sky, Floyd finds himself in a world without humans, and as been turned into a pokemon himself, and sets out to discover the truth and the way home, only to discover things that would undermine his own sanity

25. The Voices of Treason

Pokemon: The Unknown Continuum

Chapter 25: The Voices of Treason

I didn't say a single word as I kept behind five meters behind the most vile individual to have ever existed as we started descending down Soutra Hill. His presence brought about a unique change in how I felt – instead of constantly looking over my shoulder out of the fear of attackers leaping out of the darkness, my eyes were locked on Grovyle, getting ready to react to anything remotely suspicious or out of line.

"I have no reason to attack you if you don't attack me, Snivy." Grovyle said, noticing me hanging back and staring at him. Even if it were true, it's better to be safe than to be sorry, and it was already revolting enough to be walking with him let alone being at his side.

"I'm staying at exactly this distance away from you." I said flatly in response. Serge was walking a couple of meters in front of me and seemed to be the only one to be looking around us. The road down was long and winding as tiredness started setting into our muscles and minds, the road over the hill being far longer than I remembered it to be.

"I suggest we sleep at the Carfraemill Lodge, should be about two hours away I'm guessing." I spoke, to which an exhausted looking Serge nodded in agreement.

"No, we need to keep pushing on towards Earlston, no breaks." Grovyle said, and it was only now that I realised that he looked absolutely famished, his body partially wasted with bags under his eyes so heavy that he could barely carry them and it seems like he shivered with each step he took.

"Why do you think you were almost killed by that...thing on Soutra Hill? Look at how slowly you're walking: Is it any wonder we smaller pokemon caught up to you?" Serge said, speeding up slightly to move beside Grovyle. "You need food and rest, badly. I'm amazed you haven't collapsed yet!"

"I did, briefly. Twice to get this far, but I got up immediately after. Have to keep pursuers off..." Grovyle replied, sounding almost delirious as he suddenly panicked and ran for a few seconds before falling over. Made me happy inside, seeing him being a complete wreck like this.

"I'm sure someone can stay awake to check if we're really being followed." Serge said, helping Grovyle to his feet, giving him a couple of strawberries. Grovyle seemed to hungry that he flat out swallowed them whole, and while it looked painful for him to do so, he didn't seem to care.

"What was that thing anyway? The thing that said it was wanting us to join it, or them, or whatever." I asked, expecting to hear some more lies, but curious as to what they were anyway.

"A sign that Palkia is falling, or at least that was what the theories and rumours said." Grovyle said, sounding a little healthier. "That thing you saw seems to be an amalgamation of many wayward souls that seeks to add more to its collection. I've only heard of them up until back then when I was attacked by it when I had to get out of the way of that car. Hardly an official name, but some people call these spirit consolidations 'Spiritombs' due to the way that they like to bind themselves to some kind of rock or stone. As for the whole Palkia thing, well, according to his own scripture, he stops souls from remaining in the world on their own after someone dies. Maybe these abominations is the reason why he said he took this task very seriously." The way he casually spoke about Earlston, Palkism and cars was grabbing my suspicion very tightly, but I didn't want to make Grovyle more suspicious of me than he surely already was, so I decided to change my wording of things slightly.

"Grovyle...who is Palkia?" I asked in a slow and clear voice, faking my curious tone.

"Where I come from, a few people see him as a god to be worshipped and follow his words, essentially letting Palkia how to live their lives, just like with some of the other supposed deities. Don't ask me on the details though, and I was always a little confused as to why people did this. He apparently keeps gravity and the fabric of matter functioning correctly, but I myself can't be too sure about that. On the other hand, I've seen equally strange things, so who am I to say what's real and what isn't." It was interesting to hear what he had to say, as much as it killed me to admit it.

"I'm tellin' ya – these Palkians are...well, I once thought they were all idiotic fools for what they believed in, as well as those Giratina cult maniacs I heard of..." I suddenly trailed off, not wanting to accidentally reveal too much about myself to Grovyle in case he could think of a way to use it against me.

"Seems like you've picked up a lot when visiting the human world. I assume you went right through Edinburgh then. It's an absolutely titanic town; so much so that humans call it something else entirely – a city. You're aware of what I speak of, right?" He said to me and I nodded, still keeping roughly five meters away from him.

"There is a road that goes around the city would have made things easier for you, but I doubt you'll ever be going there again. I realised that a little too late myself, but it was very curious to see how these creatures of legend might have been like. I wonder if pokemon society will one day be like that? I wish it to be true, and even though I said that you'd never likely see Edinburgh again, I really would like you to see the city in a better state. I'm sure it was a wonderful place before the eternal night happened." Grovyle said, sounding quite passionate when talking about my home city. Well, I'm sure it was all a ruse, and it seems like he was trying to subtly soften my righteous hatred towards him. Thankfully, Serge knew me well enough by now to stay silent about who I once was, so I didn't need to jab him in the side.

We heard some noise from a small village called Oxton that we passed by which reminded me very much of Fala, but this one seemed to have a far bigger remaining population guessing from what I could hear and see, with hanging flaming torches hanging from lamp posts. The area around this village was farmland for miles, so perhaps it was a society that actually managed to retain a degree of order. Maybe it was taken over and run by the farmer owners who became the ruling class there, keeping everyone alive with stockpiles of food, for a cost or service, obviously. The Carfraemill Lodge was just ahead, but about thirty meters off the road to Earlston. I had mentioned the hotel previously to them, and I was fortunate that Grovyle didn't raise any question about me knowing something that specific, and I'd need to find a way to draw attention to the hotel without drawing attention to myself.

The roundabout was upon us as I started falling behind a bit. Thankfully, Grovyle and Serge veered off to the left, but we needed to take the first exit and not the second. I slowly walked to the left, leaving the roundabout, but Serge caught me in the act.

"Oh, is this the wrong way? I'm sure we should check for signs, just to be sure. Say, Grovyle, this world is surely alien to you – how can you be sure you know the way?" I narrowed my eyes at him as Grovyle gazed away from me in thought.

"I don't. You're right, we should at least check." The sign came into visibility range after only a few steps, showing Greenlaw, Duns, Coldstream and Kelso, but no Earlston. I remembered my dad talking about Coldstream, the town where he grew up in, describing it as a 'Festering shitehole, rampant with Arceist fundamentalism,' and I had no desire to ever visit the town. I wandered past the sign for a bit, hoping not to arouse suspicion before the hotel got into range.

"Earlston isn't that way or it would have been signposted. Of course, if you leave then you can't slow me down or back stab me, so it's no great loss." Grovyle said, folding his arms while standing there, staring at me.

"After I saved your miserable fucking life as well!? Fuck you!" I yelled back before Serge intervened.

"Am I going have to restrain either of you? Now, it's already been established that we're in need of some sleep if we're going to make the final push for Earlston, and conveniently, there seems to be a large building ahead of us." He said as we approached it, but only I knew what the building was, and soon, so did the other two. "Now I'd say we search this place briefly to make sure it's unoccupied before locking a room door for us to sleep in."

"Another hotel, eh? I hope it's empty..." I muttered as I followed the others in. The interior wasn't much different from the Stair Arms Hotel, having the same cosy, rustic design as we walked through the kitchen. I quickly grabbed a bunch of room keys from the reception for the rooms as Serge followed Grovyle to make sure that the place was truly abandoned. I practically flew up the stairs to meet with them as soon as possible to ensure that Serge was ok briefly being left with that monster, but I just found them muttering silently to one another, checking the corridors.

"Right, I got them all, the rest are in my bag. Spoilt for choice, aren't we?" I said, forcing a smile as I started giving them keys to check the rooms. Grovyle had a far easier time checking the rooms given he didn't have to jump and hold onto handles to open the door, and was very quick at checking the rooms. Seemed like there was no one else in here aside from a few zubats, who seemed very cowardly and flew out immediately after detecting our presence.

"I suggest this room, there's three separate beds, and I expect everyone to at least try and rest well." Serge said, climbing onto the bed nearest the window, and asked for help to bar it shut, just in case anyone tried to climb in while sleeping.

"Excellent idea, Cyndaquil. I expect those sableyes aren't giving up when it comes to tracking us. I'd suggest barring the door, they probably could break through it otherwise." Grovyle said as he went to help him.

"Please, call me Serge." He said, thanking him for the help. "Never liked the whole calling each other by our species culture anyway, but don't get too close. I'm not as agitated as my friend is, but I still can't be remotely sure you're not lying through your teeth and manipulating us."

"You can say that again!" I said bitterly at them, standing just in front of the door frame and not helping them. "Oh, and about those sableyes...care telling me more about them? We were attacked more than once by them."

"They were likely going to execute us back in the large dungeon, but it seems after the formal method was foiled, they seemed content to just try and kill us on sight. I was attacked twice more by them on the way here." Grovyle responded after blocking the window by putting a heavy but small chest of drawers in front of it and started doing the same to the window in the en suite bathroom.

"Know why they want to kill us? I mean, we tried to stop this never-ending night from happening! They should be thanking us, if not flat out worshipping the ground we walk on! ...If we actually succeeded..." I asked, not taking any of his responses at face value.

"Well, I know why they want to kill me at least. I'm trying to stop the eternal night from happening, something that they don't want." Grovyle said flatly, turning to make eye contact with me.

"Is that just because they're nocturnal creatures, or apocalyptic psychopaths?" I asked, frowning slightly.

"The latter, sadly. Incredible to think that there's anyone out there who actually wanted this to happen!" Grovyle said, sounding a little angry. "All lead by their ringleader, even though he lets them off the leash almost all the time. I'm sure you can guess who that is by now."

"How are we supposed to guess that? We've never met the cunt, so do you mind telling us your lies?" I responded. Serge sat upright suddenly on his bed, clearly hitting a brainwave before groaning in misery.

"...It's Dusknoir, isn't it. It all adds up when you think about it – the time gears were put back where they supposedly belong, yet the end times happened anyway. Also, although we assumed it to be an accident, it may seem like Dusknoir pulled us in, and where did we wake up? In a dungeon awaiting execution!" Serge said, his speech becoming louder and faster the more he rambled on.

"It was already established, Serge, that Grovyle had already done the damage! What we need to do is to go further back in time and stop him from touching a single one!" I said loudly, knowing fine well that Grovyle was listening. "Also, these accusations against Dusknoir are completely unfounded! Serge, can't you see that you're being manipulated by this bastard right here?!"

"What Serge said is true. He's figured things out for himself, but with you, you'd never know the truth if it screamed in both ears at once while biting your tongue. I'm starting to consider your attitude to be a threat to our mission by the way, so I'd be careful about what you say..." Grovyle said, giving me that uncomfortable stare again. "It's also a little rich having you claim that I am manipulating your friend when you've become nothing but a proxy for Dusknoir and his master."

"I...I am going to sleep in the room opposite to this one." I said very slowly, annunciating every single word, the contained anger coming out as a soft growl. "Let's face it, we'll end up trying to rip each other apart at this rate, and while I'd very much like to carve this tail leaf into your flesh, it goes against my best interests. Come, Serge, we have things to discuss!" I said, backing off from the door, searching for the right key, yet Serge did not come.

"Serge, you can't be serious?! Are you this easily swayed?! ...You fully trust him now, don't you. I bet you're seeing me as a delusional self-righteous idiot, but let me tell you this – it takes a man like me, a man of strong conviction and an even stronger sense of righteousness to fight for what is truly right and to see through all form of lies and deception!" I said swiftly, not taking any space to breathe. Serge looked quite sad in response to this, shying away from making eye contact with me, making me feel a little sad as well.

"Serge, I still consider you a friend, as testing as these circumstances are. I'll still fight by your side when it comes to crunch time, no matter what. I just hope you still find it in yourself to do the same for me...come see me after you wake up." I said sadly as I bowed my head slightly at him before finding the key to the other room and locking myself inside it. I would surely need to think of new ways to help convince Serge to avoid trusting the genocidal maniac. I shuddered to think what toxic thoughts that Grovyle was putting his head as I struggled to cover all windows and doors. As much as I tried, I couldn't block the door very well, only being able to put a small chest of drawers in front of it.

"Dusknoir lying to me? Hah, can't happen! One of the most prolific Dialgans I've seen in a while! He'd never lie, especially about something like this!" I said to myself as I paced around the room for a bit, trying to shake off any physical stress I had before I leaped onto a bed. "Hehehe...sure wish that the Time Gears fried everyone who touched them..." I chuckled slightly to myself as I tried to get to sleep, but it was a little trickier said than done.

"Oh, Dialga...I fear as though I may be pushing one of my allies away from me, and the other one has been accused of conspiring against you. Non interventionist stuff, I know, but a sign would be very helpful. Maybe I really am completely crazy, giving myself some self-inflicted blindness or something, which goes completely against your word. I would sure like to know..." I muttered as a quiet prayer to my lord as I slowly went into an uneasy sleep, getting many dreams of Grovyle and Serge, acting completely different in each one. One where they were turning on me, ending with Serge searing my flesh as I watched it melt and land on the ground around me, another where they revealed themselves to also be warriors of Dialga, just testing my resolve. Obviously, none of this was helpful, except the last one where I returned to a familiar place.

"Ok, just bringing you back to Blackwater Park for a little bit, and before you ask, I've had a quick word with the other two." My human self appeared right next to me as the same dream-scape I saw when I was in Edinburgh. "Have to be quick here to avoid drawing attention...ok, relax and take in what I'm about to say: I can guarantee that Grovyle doesn't hate you, and for the love of all that is good and true, stop putting more wedges between you and the others! It's completely counter-productive, and I want to see you at the very least get back in time to have a chance of making the mission a success!"

"How the fuck do you know all this?! Who are you?!" I shouted back at 'myself.'

"I checked in on what Serge and Grovyle had to say – they're not lying, and they're worried about you. Now, I think you'll be getting unwelcome company soon, and if I stay for much longer, something far worse will come. Arise, Floyd, and try not to be eleven thousand meters up your own arse for once!" He said and clicked his fingers and I awoke to hear the sound of wood being scraped and tore into to my left.

"Grovyle, you could have knocked you know!" I said as I got out of bed, expecting him to be using his arms leaves to hack his way through the door, but instead of seeing green blades, I saw purple claws and a slightly luminous gem as the wood of the door started to cave in.

"Shit!" I said loudly as I backed off from the door, not wanting to attack just yet in case I accidentally broke more the door in the process. The sableye was quite quiet in doing so, and I wondered if it was the only one there. Sadly, the answer to that would come two seconds later as I case of deja vu happened as I felt a hand clasp my mouth shut from behind by something slightly bigger than me, but this time I knew exactly what was happening. It was too late for me to scream for help, but I was still more than ready to break free. As predicted, the sableye went to claw my throat open with his remaining arm and I used the momentum against him by sneakily putting one of my feet behind his and suddenly leaning back, head butting him and sweeping my leg so that he'd trip and fall on his back, pushing the shadow-covered hand away and over my head.

"NEED HELP!" I screamed, hoping that the other two weren't heavy sleepers or had not covered the room too much as to block the sound off too much. The other sableye by now had successfully torn the door enough for him to get through, with a third one appearing next to it, using some kind of ability to slip into a shadow and get under the door, presumably like the first one.

"Is that it?! Hahahaha! You're NOTHING!" I said, hoping my boisterousness and bravado would help give me the confidence to evade the danger of my assailants. A fourth one appeared and joined the assault against me, each and every single one of them after my blood. Trying to take them all on in a straight up fight seemed suicidal as their attacks came mercilessly and swiftly, one of them grazing my side. One of the assassins kept by the door frame to prevent my escape, and I saw that the only other option was the window. I leapt upon the single drawer that I put in front of the window as one of the sableyes jumped right after me, both claws cloaked in the same strange blackness. I leaped again as his attack sliced the wooden drawer in three separate pieces. I used my vines to grab hold of the hanging lampshade, and praying that it was strong enough to not snap under my weight, I swung around back to the windowsill and kicked the sableye right through the window, smashing him right through the glass as I heard him land on the ground beneath me.

"Floyd getting away!" I heard one of them mutter as the others screeched in response. I jumped out of the window, using my vines to grab onto the edge of the roof and pulled myself up quickly. I looked back as soon as I landed and saw the sableyes following me. I had managed to deal with one of them who should have survived the fall, but I was having doubts whether I could fight them off for much longer. I backed off, being careful to dodge their assault, slicing at one of their arms as one of them came dangerously close to landing a lethal blow at my neck. Avoiding strange blue flaming spheres the one of then had conjured I dived off the other side of the roof, using my vines to hang on. I hacked at the window, a couple of glass shards digging their way into my tail as I continued into slicing into the wood that was barricading the window from the inside.

"Someone's getting in!" I heard Serge say from the inside.

"It's me! I'm being attacked!" I yelled before I felt something extremely painful touch the edge of my vines as I fell to the ground. The gravel below welcomed my descent with grazes, a daze and a bit of blood, turning the world into a sore blur as I found it very hard to get to my feet, each attempt ending in failure. Eventually I was able to stabilize myself on my feet, and just in time too as a sableye was closing in on me, drooling slightly as it chuckled in a creepy manner.

"Hey, I'm not the one you want! It's Grovyle, right?" I said, backing away slightly, trying not to trip and fall due to injury. The sableye didn't respond with words, but instead with the small, strange blue ball of flames which he sent right at me. I was far to bashed and bruised due to the fall to get out of the way in time and felt an agonizing burning sensation all over my body. I collapsed on the ground as I writhed in terrible pain and screamed so loud that I felt my throat slowly being torn by my voice, each and every nerve felt like it was being on fire, which was appropriate given that the flames seemed to be burning me from the inside. I was helpless to the sableye to say the least, and I watched in terror as he stepped forward to land the killing blow. However, I could thank the lucky stars which I could not currently see as my saviour came in the form of a green blur, followed by an arm and a leg from the sableye being ruthlessly detached from the rest of his body.

"Thank you for warning us, Snivy." Grovyle said as he knocked out the sableye with a firm blow to the head. "Are you all ri...no, you're definitely not! Serge, we need to help him, he's hurt really badly over here!" Aside from respiring, I could barely move, and even the single act of breathing caused massive pain in my chest. My eyes watered as I struggled to keep them open as I groaned in agony with each breath. Serge came back looking worried, and it seems like the two of them managed to chase the assassins away.

"I've seen this been done to many people, it was a flaming blue wisp, wasn't it?" Grovyle asked and I nodded very gently and slowly. "That's both good and bad then, as it's rarely lethal, but it'll make it very hard to move at all without it hurting badly. A technique used solely to cause pain and to cripple with some sort of strange flame that enters the targets body...I'm very glad that I have never suffered this, but there may be something that can help you in my bag, but I'm not sure." His backpack seemed to be a bit too big for him, but upon getting a closer look, I found something far stranger. It didn't look like it was made by pokemon, it was far too complex for that. Adjustable straps, zips, and the dead giveaway, the Billabong logo – clearly a human-made bag. Unfortunately, I could not recall whether he had this bag back at the dungeon, and speaking was still far too painful to do.

"A treatment for this particular thing..." Grovyle said, pulling out a syringe that, like the bag, looked like it was designed and made by human beings. "I'm surprised more humans weren't hoarding pharmaceutical supplies, as I was able to take quite a few for myself while going through Edinburgh. Your body should be able to recover from those ghostly flames after a few days, but we want to leave far sooner than that, now don't we?" I once again did the smallest of nods, still trying to suppress the agonizing feeling.

"This'll make it hurt even more for about a minute, after that you should hopefully be able to walk in about an hour's time, at least according to the instructions. Ready?" I never had a chance to respond before he slid the needle into my leg as an even more intense searing feeling spread throughout my body. I would have screamed in pain, but I found myself completely unable to, my body physically frozen in place.

"Human technology is wonderful, isn't it? I found it in a strange hospital that seems like it was designed to treat pokemon injuries, looking at the documents. Even specific injuries like this are covered – I'd sure like to visit the land of the humans one of these days..." Grovyle said, as I noticed that he had a really high opinion of mankind. I still didn't feel remotely comfortable telling him that I was a human once, both physically and mentally, and I was very glad Serge was staying silent on the situation.

"Will-o-wisp recovery..." Serge muttered to himself, looking at the instructions. "Interesting. Anyway, you said that Dusknoir had a master – someone who he answers to, and presumably engineered this whole calamity. Who is he?" Grovyle suddenly turned round to look at him, then back at me for a few seconds before looking at Serge again.

"I said that? I just mixed up my words, sorry. Was just saying that Dusknoir is the sableye's master." It seemed like a lie, and this time he was doing a pretty shitty job of hiding it, but calling him out on it was still a little too sore.

"...Lies..." I said softly under my breath. Grovyle rolled his eyes and sighed, looking frustrated again.

"After I helped you as well...just think about it for a second – if I truly wanted to cause all this to happen, why would I be wanting to go back in time to before it happened?" He said, not making any attempt to hide hid agitation. The partially dismembered sableye groaned slightly as it started to wake up.

"Want further proof? Here, I'll show you!" He said, running over to the sableye and backhanding it across the face. "Who do you work for, say it loud and clear!"

"Y...you already know that..." It spoke, clearly not being very good at speaking English.

"Say it so they can hear – you tried to kill them as well you know. Otherwise, I'll just kill you right here, and you know as well as I do that's the last thing you want." He said, holding his arm leaves right at his throat. The sableye suddenly looked terrified and started shivering intensely.

"Dusknoir! But why didn't you tell them?" The sableye screeched, still shuddering. So, I guess it was true then. Dusknoir really was a fucking scheming, lying genocidal cunt-shitter or whatever combination of curse words you wanted to use. Maybe you really can judge a person by their appearance and name. I mean, seriously, 'Dusknoir' wasn't exactly subtle, and a ghostly cyclops wasn't exactly the friendliest image ever. Maybe he lied about his religion, or was one of these Neo-Dialgans this entire time. All I knew is that I'd have a few words to say to him on our next encounter. That and an absolute barrage of seething violence.

"Someone didn't believe me and needed to hear it from you." Grovyle said, gesturing at me, though I barely even noticed. I could bury myself further in the pile of excuses and reasoning to try to find a way that Grovyle was still lying and trying to trick us into helping his vile aims, but I found myself at the very bottom of the barrel by now. It all added up too well for me to deny any further, and I think I owe someone a grave apology.

"...Sorry...Grovyle..." I said, trying to endure the pain, though it was starting to subside by now. Getting to my feet was still a little too hard by this point, so I remained on my back on the harsh stones.

"Now listen closely – I'm going to knock you out cold, and if we ever see you again, I'll kill you on sight. Got it?" The sableye nodded, still shaking as Grovyle whacked his head viciously and returned to unconsciousness.

"Now you see why I didn't bother to try convincing the locals that I was trying to prevent this disaster: They were so convinced that they and Dusknoir knew what was right that they'd probably have arrested me on the spot. You, and to a lesser extent, Serge, are proof of this." Grovyle said to me as he held out his hand. "Think you're ready to walk?"

"In a moment." I said, my body and throat becoming less painful. "Though there's something I don't quite get: why would Dusknoir want us dead? Serge and I – we're hardly time travelling heroes."

"I'm not sure, but you two must have dome something to make yourselves seem like a big threat. Hard to say whether that's a good or a bad thing." Grovyle responded.

"It's a shame you couldn't have squeezed more answers out of the sableye." Serge said, eating a strawberry and sharing one to each of us. "Motives and other useful and interesting information."

"We can't stay here too long, I expect the rest of them will be regrouping to have another shot of killing us." Grovyle said, helping me on my feet. Each step was sore to take, but it had become tolerable now as the medicine was working wonders within my bloodstream. I still didn't fully trust Grovyle, but I found it very difficult to feel antagonistic towards him now with all the evidence mounting in his favour.

We left the hotel grounds and moved back towards the roundabout en route to Lauder, the last village on the road to Earlston. I still found it a little hard to keep up with them due to injuries, the medicine not doing a thing about my bashed head and badly grazed legs, but I still had strength enough to not fall behind or slow them down. The ground here was considerably more level before as we entered one of the flatter parts of the Scottish Borders, hosting different sorts of farms. I had not been to this part of the country too often, but I remembered that it was a long straight road to our destination from here on out, so getting lost wasn't going to be an issue.

"Hey, did you two have any strange dreams last night? Or last sleep I should say. Been having dreams lately of having conversations with myself." I asked, passing a few farm houses.

"I had one like that tonight." Serge said, walking out in front in spite of the one who didn't seem to know at all where he was going. "I was told by myself to make sure that you two don't end up killing each other and how it was of the highest importance. I kind of knew that already, but it was good to get a reinforced reminder. It was a very short dream though, barely lasted more than a minute."

"Same here. I was told that finding a way to convince you to be on my side, Snivy, would be of great importance. I was told by myself that you could be a great ally if you picked the right side to be on. I hope that I already done that, and that you would fight by my side should we be attacked again. I don't know if you still hate me, but we've helped saved each other's lives. That's worth something, isn't it?" Grovyle asked me. He seemed to be quite forward and friendly, but then again, so was the traitorous bastard Dusknoir.

"...Perhaps. Hate to say this, but I still don't fully trust you. I just trust you more than Dusknoir right now, that's all, and before you get all stuffy about it, that's a massive improvement all things considered. My dream was about myself telling me to trust you guys more and to stop being 'eleven thousand meters up my own arse.'" I said, to which the other two chuckled slightly at. "Glad there's the occasional smile going on here. Counts to me more than what you might think. That being said, sometimes you have to be sure of yourself when doing the right thing, something that is often cleared up with The Righteous Tome."

"I meant to ask earlier – you seem to be one of these Dialgans before the hostile takeover of Edinburgh. May I ask-" Grovyle said before I interrupted him.

"Exactly how long did you spend in the city? You seem to know a lot about humans and their culture; did you spend an entire day just wandering around the city like it was some big archaeological dig or something? This isn't doing any favours getting me to trust you properly by the way." I said, folding my arms and frowning while we started to enter Lauder after a couple of hours of brisk walking.

"Maybe we should just drop the subject then..." Grovyle said, turning away from me, muttering to himself. "I wonder if it's safe to just walk right through the village? It seems to be more inhabited than Pathhead."

"We went through a city before, it should be fine I'd imagine." I said as we slowed our pace a little as we entered Lauder. The streets were almost empty, but I noticed quite a few candle-lit houses just after the petrol station, and given that were likely going to be quite a few people desperate enough to try and eat us, we became extra careful and a little paranoid. In spite of the fact that quite a few people were alive, Lauder was almost completely soundless, everyone remaining hushed behind the safety of their walls. It didn't apply for everyone though as we saw an elderly couple walking on the pavement opposite to ours, both of them carrying a pitchfork. They didn't seem very frail in spite of their age however, and they seemed to have been looking after themselves fairly well.

"Look!" The old husband said, pointing at us with his finger before replacing it with something far pointer. "I'm sure we could cook and eat them if I can get a chance to skewer this right through each one of those pokemon!"

"Don't be ridiculous, last time you tried that you lost your right eye! I'm not having you do that again, not to mention there is three of them! They'll kill you! Now come, we're going home before that young psychotic trainer shows his face." His wife said, pulling him away from us and into the darkness.

"So this 'young psychotic trainer'...what do we expect from that?" Serge asked us.

"The only part of human culture that I don't like, at least from what I've discovered. Some humans catch pokemon like us and try to talk us into fighting each other for sport. A little disgusting, but I guess the pokemon wouldn't have too much difficulty rebelling if they didn't want to, so it's probably not as bad as you might think. Still, we should watch out for him. Maybe trying to go around the town might have been a better idea, but since we're on the road, might as well push on." Grovyle said, leading us through the main street which was almost as narrow as the side lanes that came off from either side. We approached the village centre where the street widened up enough so that both sides were covered in darkness. I didn't mind so much given the darkness shrouded us as well as any possible aggressors, but it was here where I was sadly wrong. A small, dark explosion of some kind went off a couple of meters in front of me right where Grovyle was, sending him sprawling across the street.

"Shit, what was that?!" I said out loud to myself, searching for the source of the attack as Serge and I stood back to back, not staying too still to avoid being sitting ducks.

"Jump!" Serge yelled as we both dived away from our location to catch a ball of strange black energy collide with the ground and explode, damaging the concrete below.

"I won't let you get away like I did with that Dusknoir!" A young sounding female voice shrieked from across the other side of the road. "Charizard, incinerate them with flamethrower! You want to be part of the best team in Scotland? You gotta work for it! Help me add those three to my collection!" A loud roar sounded and the charizard swooped right for us as we dived out of the way of the stream of flames coming out of its mouth.

"Wait, are the pokemon listening to that human?" Serge said, pointing at the outline of a small person in the blackness. "...Go help Grovyle, I have an idea." I had no idea what he was up to as I kept my distance from the charizard who looked like it was struggling whether to decide to merely knock me out or devour me with its drooling jaws.

"I think she has at least three pokemon, all of them well trained." Grovyle said, standing beside me as I ran to aid him. "A charizard, a gengar and a trevenant. I reckon we could fight them, given they seem to not do much unless directly commanded by their trainer, so pay attention to their commands and adjust accordingly, ok?" I nodded and readied myself.

"Shadow ball!" The trainer yelled rather flamboyantly as the gengar and trevenant created within their hands, for a lack of a better description, a ball of shadow. The charizard seemed almost absent minded given it had no active commands as Grovyle and I leapt over the attacks from the spooky-looking pokemon and went in for the counter attack. I looked the trevenant right in its solitary eye – an eye that reminded me of Dusknoir. Hatred surged within me for a brief second and I let it all loose with a merciless attack and a scream to pierce the sky above, slicing right into the eye itself, feeling my tail leaf dig into the firm, jelly like texture of the eyeball. The victim seemed to collapse on the spot, clutching at where I struck viciously and kept making long, hollow gasps which I assumed was the equivalent of a scream.

"...I'm not sure if I should have done that..." I said out loud to myself as Grovyle made rather quick work of the gengar.

"What do you mean? You disabled it in one attack, that's very efficient of you! I guess my dream was correct, you are indeed a valuable ally." Grovyle said, making me feel a little uncomfortable.

"I cut right into its eye! I think I could have permanently blinded it." I said loudly as the trainer returned it, also looking quite shocked. However, that shock soon turned into anger as she started throwing pokeballs at random, and by the time she had done, she seemed to have a small private army on her side.

"We should run! Serge, come!" I said, seeing it was futile to fight ten tough looking pokemon at once.

"I will NOT fail again, I will-" The crazy trainer yelled before a burst of flames erupted right from where she was standing and immediately shrieked in surprise and agony. Her pokemon all turned to face her and when I looked between her little defence force, I saw a stern looking Serge standing on top of her.

"Ok, here's how it's going to go down – you leave us alone and let us through Lauder and do not follow us. If you refuse, I'll burn this human's face off! Any objections?" Serge yelled with authoritative force. The pokemon seemed silent about this, none of them continuing to show any aggression.

"Wh...what are you?!" The trainer said, too afraid to move upon fear of being incinerated. Serge was quite scary right now, seeing that he wasn't above death threats that looked quite genuine. "...Don't hurt me, I'll return all my pokemon and I'll leave you alone, please, just don't kill me! PLEASE! I haven't been able to win the Scottish trainer's cup yet...I still have much to live for!" She started returning her pokemon to their pokeballs, but Serge didn't quite understand.

"What are you doing to them?! Are these things right here some kind of death ray to pokemon?!" Serge growled at her as she stuttered trying to explain what was happening.

"No, nonono, I'd never kill them! They're my friends! It's just where they stay to avoid covering the entire street when they're tired! Now, please, just let me go!" She said, sounding very fearful. Serge got off her after a ten second delay of contemplation, but still kept a very close eye on her.

"You said something about Dusknoir coming through here..." I asked her, Grovyle and I approaching her as she stood up, still shivering.

"Yeah, I'm guessing a few hours ago. There were a small bunch of sableyes following him as well. I tried to catch them, but I didn't succeed. Oddly enough, he also talked. Would sure like to add a talking pokemon to my team though, it would be fascinating!" She said, still stuttering and stammering as she slowly backed away from us. We looked at each other, instantly knowing who it was.

"Thanks for your cooperation, we'll leave you alone now." Serge said, leading us down the road and out of Lauder.

"Between you saying that my impulsive and shameful brutality was a good thing and that terrifying death threat..." I said to both of them.

"It doesn't matter, really." Grovyle said.

"Remember, there are far bigger stakes here, so don't get worked up about it, ok?" Serge chipped in, making me feel uncomfortable.

"A little two-man echo chamber we have here it seems..." I muttered. "I do not want either of you sinking into a 'I did what had to be done' mentality, for even the strongest of people are never aware of how far they've gone down the slope once they start thinking that way."

"Those pokemon were trying to kill you, and you've never had a problem of crippling potential killers before." Serge commented, frowning slightly.

"Except they weren't. I think she was wanting to catch us and make us part of her battling team. I don't think that warrants what I done." I said, moving in front of him to make direct eye contact.

"Oh get over it for crying out loud!" Serge said loudly. "You done what you done and it turned out to be helpful for us! You helped save yourself and Grovyle from being battle slaves or whatever. The trevenant just picked the wrong side and paid for it, you know? Shame it had to come to that, but I'm sure we can all agree it's a minor and acceptable loss if he's blinded."

"Huh, 'acceptable loss'...that's a dark road your heading down, a road even darker than the one we're on now. I'd tread very lightly and exercise extreme caution, otherwise you could end up doing something truly reprehensible, and I might not be able to stop you." I said, worry filling my voice.

"Sorry, but sometimes acceptable losses are just a reality. Why, there may come a time where you might have to sacrifice something great to achieve our mission." Serge said, slowing his pace slightly.

"I don't believe in acceptable losses. There is always a way to avoid them if you just put in the effort to look hard enough." I said firmly.

"All fine and dandy when you have enough time to think of one, but life doesn't always offer that luxury." Serge said flatly.

"Well, I'll be sure to find a way regardless, ok? Just try not to kill too much of the world you're trying to save..." I said, my voice lowering to a mutter as I turned away from him. The sign said it was six miles to Earlston, a bit longer than I had remembered it to be. Landmarks such as signs and houses at the side of the road never failed to fill me with comfort, seeing that we were making progress, for it was the only variance in this vast sea of black. After a couple of hours, we took a break on a bridge across a still river that was barely visible beneath us. There wasn't much talking after the little verbal bout that Serge and I had, and I was slowly resigning myself to the fact that I probably wasn't going to be able to change Serge. He would always been the man following big 'greater good' ideals while trampling on anyone or anything who gets in his way without mercy. I had seen far too many cases of that so far for it to be a coincidence.

"I think we're almost out of food now. How much do you have left Grovyle?" I said, checking my bag, producing my very last sandwich to fill my hungry stomach.

"Not much, I only scavenged enough food for one person. I can share a biscuit each though, do you want one?" I nodded as Grovyle gave me and Serge a very plain biscuit each, short of chocolate or any other flavourings to spice it up. Tasted boring, but I appreciated it anyway, and went down quite nicely with the sandwich.

"Thanks Grovyle. I guess if all goes to plan, we'll be out of here within a few hours?" I said to him.

"Well, you know that it's hard to keep to plans and predictions in a world this chaotic. However, the answer is yes. When we get back to your time, I trust you'll be helping me in stopping this future from happening and leave a better one in its wake?" Grovyle said as Serge nodded eagerly.

"Of course! Not doing so is borderline evil when we have a good idea what's going on and how to stop it." Serge said, though I still wasn't completely convinced by Grovyle's words.

"I'll be staying with you, making sure you're actually keeping to your words." I said, finishing off the last of the sandwich and taking a brief drink of water.

"Well...I could open up a little bit if that makes you feel better." Grovyle said, seeming quite insistent on winning my complete trust, almost to the point of being suspicious.

"Doesn't make much of a difference to me, but go on if it makes you feel better." I said before we set out on our way again.

"Well, I've been concealing knowledge and bending truths a bit..." Grovyle said somewhat shyly, and I can't blame him given he just admitted that he lied about things.

"Why am I not surprised...I wonder what else you're not telling us? ...Go on." I said sternly.

"Well, as I was saying, there's a reason why I know a lot about human culture – I'm from their world. Learned their language, befriended a few of them and started to get to know them and Edinburgh. I lived just outside the city before I moved in with a human who became friends with me after I saved his life, and he introduced me to different people, some friendlier than others."

"I wonder if this story is true, or another cover up...how long did you live there for?" I asked.

"About a year and a half I think as a civilized pokemon. One thing I was always completely honest with is my fascination with human culture, and it seems like the pokemon of your world took after humans quite a bit, especially with language. Convenient, or I wouldn't have been able to speak with you." Grovyle said, smiling ever so slightly.

"Who were these humans you met?" Serge asked, Grovyle sadly looking away.

"I'd rather not talk about them to be honest, it's a little painful for me. They're all dead or worse now." He said, his speech speeding up, trying to get the words out as quickly as possible.

"I remember Dusknoir said that you were in league with a bunch of pokemon trying to engineer an eternal night. Was that all lies or were you working with other pokemon to help stop it?" Serge asked, Grovyle looking increasingly stressed.

"Humans and pokemon! A dragonite was one of the pokemon; dopey but very friendly. Also brutally murdered. Those fucking Neo-Dialgans...can we switch subjects?" Grovyle said, hyperventilating out of sheer agitation. "We'll be in Earlston soon, and we'll need to find Celebi who said that she'd be hanging around the town centre since she said that there was almost no one living there any more and it's near a 'passage of time.' Should I have failed and escaped execution in the future, like what happened, I could go there to get another shot of getting the Time Gears back into Temporal Tower."

"I'm getting to meet one of Dialga's children...almost makes the whole thing worthwhile!" I said, squeaking a bit, earning a couple of puzzled looks from Serge and Grovyle. "Always trying to think of the positives...it was mainly a joke."

"Well, enough about me, how about you two?" Grovyle said, calming down a bit.

"Well, the two of us joined the Wigglytuff Guild as explorers, mapping out caves and stuff, as well as being a rescue service. I'd talk about our discoveries, but none of them are that relevant in light of what's happened except for the guild finding a Time Gear at Fogbound Lake. It's often blamed on us for revealing where the Time Gear was for someone to 'steal.'" Serge said with some food in his mouth.

"I knew where it was anyway, clearing the fog wouldn't have changed a thing. I guess Uxie tried to ward you off with a fake version of Groudon? I'd imagine the real thing to be much bigger." Grovyle said.

"Interesting, oh, and the reason why I wanted to become a professional explorer was finding this one day, about seven years ago." Serge said, taking his relic fragment out of his bag with the strange pattern on it and showing it to Grovyle. He inspected it closely and suddenly brought out a notebook of some kind out of his bag, alternating between looking at the pages and the pattern on the rock.

"Fascinating..." Grovyle said, raising an eyebrow before returning it to Serge.

"You know something about it?" He asked.

"Not really, but the leader of the 'Paladins of The Dawn'...I didn't agree to that cheesy name...said he saw a symbol in a dream and wrote it down as best as he could remember it to be. Looks a bit different, and could be something completely different, but take a look if you want." Grovyle said, showing us the very messy looking drawing of a complex symbol. It barely even vaguely resembled the symbol on the relic fragment, having too many thick curvy spokes which curved all the way rather than just at the tip of the end, not to mention they were far longer than the ones on Serge's relic fragment, and not nearly enough smaller ones, and they were spiky as opposed to rectangular. There were way too many circles in the middle as well, and I was pretty sure I had seen business logos that resembled the fragment design closer than this drawing.

"Keep a hold of that Grovyle. Probably won't lead to something, why, it's probably not even related, but it's entirely possible that your leader had a bad memory of it, or just bad drawing skills." Serge said, Grovyle looking a little sad hearing about his friends.

"I hate to ask this, but isn't your leader a drapion with an ability to see past and future and random called the 'dimensional scream'?" I asked, Grovyle turning around to look at me very suddenly, his face inches from my own.

"How do you know about the 'dimensional scream'!? The rest of it isn't true, but why would you say something like that?" He said, glaring at me, though not out of anger.

"Dusknoir told me. Again, wondering how much of what that backstabbing shit-head said was true. Oddly enough, he viewed 'Master Drapion' highly and said he was once good friends with him." I said, but after this point, I decided not to not ask any further questions seeing that Grovyle might suddenly turn on us if our curiosity would eventually cause him to snap.

"The leader...he wasn't a drapion; he was a human and he had the dimensional scream. Got so good at it that he could see almost all that he desired at will, then at some point later, Dusknoir betrayed him when he said he was going to try and fix the frozen planet. Like I said, it's painful to talk about, and I'd rather focus on just getting back to your time. That balding middle-aged man isn't coming back..." He said, thinking for a brief moment that he could have been talking about me, but I was most certainly not fifty years old. I'd love nothing more than to lay an inquisition on him, but he was right about getting back home. I could simply wait until we get back then question the shit out of him then.

"I think we're nearly there." I said, pointing to a sign with the number thirty within a circle with three diagonal lines beneath it, signalling cars to start slowing down to thirty miles per hour.

"You seem to know a bit about human culture as well, I assume you're a fast learner." Grovyle said to me as we passed the 'Welcome to Earlston' sign.

"You could say that." I said, smiling slightly. This town seemed to be completely dead like Grovyle said, for reasons that I couldn't guess or speculate on very well. Not one of the houses had any light emitting from them, and not a single human, pokemon or soul wandered the streets. I guess this would make a great place for someone to hide with hundreds of empty buildings to take shelter in. It was the biggest settlement I had entered in the future so far, Edinburgh obviously notwithstanding, but not big enough to get lost in either.

A few abandoned cars and a half-eaten corpse of a human lay across the street, thankfully not producing any repulsive smells. A sign pointed to the left saying 'Visitor Attractions', so I assumed the town centre was in that direction as I lead them down a small narrow street that quickly opened up. It was hard to see what was to our front and right amidst the darkness, which was for once a good thing, since it let me know that we had finally reached Earlston's town centre.

"That's us here. You two should stay here, I'll go get Celebi, she might flee upon seeing you given you're complete strangers to her." He said, leaving us at the edge of the town square and running off into the darkness.

"So...I noticed you were thinking heavily about his contact with humans, and in Edinburgh no less. So, Floyd, what are you thinking?" Serge asked as I drummed my fingers rapidly against my body, breathing heavily.

"First of all, I'm glad you didn't say anything about me being a human to Grovyle, or anything about me at all for that matter." I replied.

"I know you well enough to know that you'd freak out if I told him. So, what are you thinking?"

"I could have sworn he was talking about me for a second dude, I'm scared. Only thing that told me that it wasn't me was how he described 'the leader' as being middle-aged and balding. Pretty sure I'm still twenty and my hair's a wee bit long, unless of course, I contracted amnesia and lost about thirty years of my entire life!" I said, worrying a bit.

"That can't be, you would have died of old age if you didn't evolve and were fifty, relax. Still, he seems really hushed about names – do all humans over there call each other 'human?'" Serge asked and I chuckled dryly.

"Nah, we don't. It would be hilariously impractical. Still, I'm about to bear witness to one of the lord's children! Can we focus on that instead?" I said, not even trying to hide my excitement.

"You're not dodging the subject Floyd. Listen, do you remember those fliers we saw in Edinburgh, about the wanted people and how you suspected one of them was your dad?" Serge asked me, but my attention faded from him to Grovyle returning to us and the entity behind him. It was floating in the air using small, delicate wings not unlike those you'd find on an insect. Its head reminded me of a large onion for some really bizarre reason, being large and round and having the top of it end in what looked like a cross between hair and plant shoots. Its pink, fairy like body was admittedly a lot smaller than I imagined, barely being bigger than I was yet I felt compelled to bow immediately knowing that it was a sentient creation of Dialga himself. Was I even worthy to make an appearance before this celebi?

"I can see what you mean Grovyle!" She said, chuckling merrily to herself. "Oh, Cyndaquil, why aren't you grovelling at my feet for mercy as well?" Serge looked confused for a few moments before getting on his hands and feet before the celebi.

"...I'm kidding, you don't have to if you really, really don't want to." She said as Serge stood up, looking a little embarrassed, yet I did not, remaining in my submissive position.

"...Have I been declared as worthy for you to appear before me?" I said, my voice shaking, not even daring to make eye contact with her in case I caused any form of offence, and I wanted to berate Serge for not doing the same as I was.

"Well, maybe...ok, I've had my fun now. Please stand and we'll make our way to the passage of time, ok? Should only take an hour at the very most if we keep moving." The Celebi said, acting far more juvenile and, for a lack of a better phrase, 'person-like' than I imagined. I slowly got to my feet, glancing at Celebi who was currently wearing a very cheeky grin on her face.

"I trust you can see what I mean about the snivy. Not known him for very long at all, but I had a good feeling he was going to act like that." Grovyle said as we followed Celebi out of Earlston, leaving the main road and entering a smaller, narrower one into the countryside.

"Oh Celebi, please, I beg of you, tell me about your father for you have surely met him in person! I have lived under his guidance for almost every year of my life and-" I said before I was cut off by the celebi.

"He's currently completely crazy, mad, insane, irrational, delusional or whatever word you want to use at best, and at worst he's an evil genocidal maniac." She said, suddenly losing her playful attitude. Grovyle was shaking his head, having a combination of a frown and a grin on his face, raising his arms next to it.

"...Probably not the thing to say to him Celebi." Grovyle said, and I can definitely see why Grovyle said that.

"What, WHAT?! Do you not know who your father is?!" I yelled at Celebi, my voice cracking under the stress of even hearing the accusation and from the fact I just screamed angrily at one of the lord's children. "How could you say such...hideous...ugh!"

"Look, he was a great, great guy up until the last year or so where he started acting all weird and stuff. Kept on muttering on about how he was wanting to repair Temporal Tower's inner workings when me and several other of his children kept telling him, and rightly so, that there was no damage to the tower! Eventually, he let the tower collapse instead of just getting the Time Gears back, and now? Now he wants each and every one of his children dead to ensure nobody can change history! I think I may be one of the only ones left." The Celebi said, almost shrieking as she spoke.

"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. For Dialga to have the most foul words said about him, and from one of his own offspring as well?! No. What you said did not happen." I said stubbornly.

"Take a look around you – how else do you think this happened? Why would Dialga let this happen?" She said, flying around me.

"I'd only believe you if the lord himself came to me and repeated every single word you just said!" I said, almost shouting at her.

"Well good luck with that, he's been reduced to nothing but primal instincts and can't even communicate beyond animalistic roars and stuff. It is why many of us now call him 'Primal Dialga', driven only by self preservation, or what he sees as self preservation at least. Now don't look at me like that, it's a Dialgan's duty to always accept any truth, no matter how horrible." She said as I glared daggers at her for her blasphemy. I soon turned to look at Grovyle with a very similar expression, not blinking once.

"It's true, unfortunately." Grovyle said to me. I don't care that her statements made sense, or that they were from a source as reliable as one of Dialga's children – it simply wasn't true! Maybe this whole experience is an engineered test of faith, and that I was currently failing horribly as I couldn't even completely shut out all doubt I had in my beliefs that they were either lying or delusional.

"Can we just go back in time already?! This place is getting to me real bad!" I said, my voice cracking into a mild squeak.

"Interesting...you remind me of someone." Celebi said, thinking to herself for a bit. "Look, I know it's hard for one of the few true Dialgans to understand and accept, but by associating yourself with Grovyle and I, your lord and master will want you dead before his feet. If you ever have the misfortune of meeting him, prepare for the worst, even if Dialga will thank us all in the end."

"I'm going against the lord himself doing this?" I said, stopping in my tracks. "I...I don't know if I can do that..."

"Just like the Dialgan High Priest and Dusknoir it seems. They too faced the same dilemma, but what the High Priest Munro realised is that the Dialga he worshipped and followed is very different to the current Dialga, so he abandoned his devotion to him, only keeping to the guidance he gave to us before my father fell from grace. Dusknoir did not, claiming that Dialga should be followed and rallied behind no matter what, if that's even his true reasoning. Just try to understand that the Dialga of the past wouldn't want you to follow his current self." Celebi said, her voice softening a bit. My throat screeched a bit when she mentioned the high priest. That was my father! She knew him somehow! I wanted to ask about him so badly, yet I still didn't feel comfortable asking such questions while Grovyle around, since there was still a small part of me that half expected him to suddenly try and kill me if he though I was insane.

"I'll believe this Primal Dialga theory of yours when I see it. I'll see what I can do about stopping this future in the meantime. Just never mention him again; I could explode with stress right now." I said, closing my eyes while exhaling and inhaling deeply. Maybe that strange huge creature was Dialga after all and both the dream version of myself and I were collaborating to suppress such horrible knowledge. Of course, Celebi could be completely mad or merely mistaken.

We continued on the road for a short while before Celebi lead us off and into an empty field where nothing grew and all the crops were harvested. I wondered what a passage of time looked like or how big it would be – would it be like a giant monolith with a swirly white portal in the middle or surprisingly small and modest much like this Celebi?

"How will we know we're there?" Serge asked.

"I can only create a passage of time at select points in the world, where energy from Dialga lingers. I can send myself or others back in time up to about thirty years should I desire, but without it, only about a few days at best, but both require lots of concentration and will exhaust me heavily for weeks after that. As for forward in time...it depends whether there is currently a future that has happened – you can't go forward in time unless you've already went back. You won't see anything until I conjure it, I'll let you know when we're in range." Celebi explained.

"All this stuff about gods and deities...I just can't wrap my head around it. The world was a far simpler place before I knew about them, and I almost wish it stayed that way." Serge said.

"I can't blame you Serge. I know of several people influenced by their deity's words, and probably for the worse rather than for the better. Arceists are quite corrupt a lot of the time and arguing with a Dialgan is like shouting at a brick wall." Grovyle said, and I noticed he gestured to me when he said that.

"Your welcome." I said dryly as we entered a patch of trees. It felt very unnerving to leave the road with such poor visibility and a high concentration of potential killers, but I had become so accustomed to it and with three others by my side, I felt little fear. That was challenged when I caught a glimpse of something in the trees that immediately dashed away from us as soon as I laid eyes on it.

"Hrm...I hope that was just part of the wildlife..." I said out loud to myself we we left the small forest and found ourselves at the base of a hill.

"Black hill." Celebi announced. "Quite possibly a more appropriate name for it now than in the past given the recent events. It's not very big, and it's not even at the very top! We're almost there!" I began feeling hungry again as we started our ascent up the steep slope, each step feeling heavily laboured due to a lack of energy. Just a little further and I could finally escape this nightmare, each step feeling as glorious and liberating as it did painful.

"This whole explorer career..." Serge said between gasps of air. "I'd say I got more than a bargained for with it, but that'd be an obvious understatement. Never thought the fate of the universe could rest on our shoulders, which is a little terrifying come to think of it."

"Serge, I don't think I've ever been this uptight – putting that amount of pressure on me would probably cause my brain to explode, lining the inside of my skull with pieces of brain and blood." I said, not shying away from using gory imagery. "Feel like I'm gonna be sick from all this...just seeing the sun again would make a world's difference right now. Just understand that no matter how much I antagonize your morals and opinions, I know at the very least that you're doing what you think is the right thing and that I still value you as a good friend."

"Do you think I needed the insurance?" Serge said, smiling at me was we continued up the slope. "If it makes you feel better, we can probably get the guild to help us: share the load of responsibility and pressure."

"I'd like that very much. You know what I'd like even more now? Something to eat. When we get back home, let's try and work ourselves up as potentially big heroes and convince the guild to have a giant banquet before we get started on tracking down the Time Gears again, eh?" I said, helping us take our mind of the horrible things we discovered.

"Almost there! I should be able to send you back in about ten minutes at this rate!" Celebi announced as it inspired me to keep on pushing myself, all discomforts, pains and fears melting away as each step broadened my smile. This hill was pretty small, and I could not be conquered by it even on an empty stomach, and to think that we survived our journey through this land of perpetual darkness and insanity was an achievement. I could do this – I am capable of stopping this from happening! I could indeed be the hero of time that I thought I was once I stopped Grovyle! Nothing could stop us, not even that conspirator Dusknoir! Why, I'd fuck him up so badly that he'd beg for me to kill him off if I ever saw him again!

"Oh no..." Celebi said suddenly as the ground flattened out as we approached the smaller of the two peaks. I quickly climbed to meet the worried looking Celebi and soon saw who was anticipating our arrival.

"Why hello there, it's been such a long time hasn't it." A familiar deep and gentleman-like voice said, belonging to Dusknoir.

"I'm a true Dialgan, so I won't kill you for this. No, I'll give you something much worse!" I said, screaming and charging at him. However, he came prepared as several sableyes jumped out of the darkness to attack me. I realised just in time and backed off to assess the situation.

"Four of us against...seven of them. Should be fine, we'll deal with each and every one of them, then you can send us back Celebi." Grovyle said, readying himself for combat.

"Oh I wouldn't do that if I were you..." He said as the sableyes surrounded us, their teeth, claws and eyes gleaming, but it looked quite easy to break out of the enclosure they made. "I knew you'd come all the way out to this exact spot to try and escape to the past, but for you, it all ends here. I've won, and you can't change the past."

"I'll fuck you up so badly! I'll leave you a crippled mess upon this hill! I'll make you beg for me to end your less than worthless life, and I'll be so, so glad to deny you that! Don't think for a second that I can't do it! Don't you know who I fucking am?! I'm the hero of time! I'll be remembered long after sadistic bastards like you are long buried!" I said, screaming so much that it hurt. It was very hard to restrain myself for lunging blindly at him, but I knew that would be asking for a sudden and painful death.

"Calm yourself, we're more than a match for them, just leave Dusknoir to me, and I promise you can do whatever you like with him when he's helplessly battered. You help Serge deal with those three sableyes on the right, celebi, I trust you can deal with the other three." Grovyle said firmly.

"Of course, but I wonder how Dusknoir knew exactly where I could open up a passage of time." Celebi said, as she studied the vicious sableyes slowly closing in.

"Are you absolutely sure you want to know? As in completely and utterly sure? It wasn't just eavesdropping and stalking, that's for sure." Dusknoir said, smiling broadly. Celebi's expression very suddenly changed from a confident and happy one to an expression totally dominated by fear.

"No, he couldn't have!" Celebi said, squeaking a bit and shivering in the air. It felt horrible to see one of Dialga's children in this state.

"That he did, and he personally wanted to make absolutely sure that some of his greatest threats and enemies were eliminated right in front of his very eyes! My lord, you have guided me to where they were headed, and I have them right here for you!" Dusknoir called out dramatically. Upon making this announcement, dread suddenly filled my legs as a strange, dull, red light appeared right behind him on the taller of the two peaks of Black Hill.

The light formed a strange pattern and seemed quite unconnected to each other. Two thick, vertical lines of murky red beneath a bright red light, which almost crimson in the middle. Two different lines of light extended even further above, eventually moving at strange angles with a third line of the same hazy red light joining it. There were more of these strange lines making simple patterns behind, but what caught my attention were a pair of radiant scarlet bulbs that looked like they were at least fifty meters above me, a few meters before the highest point of the light lines. The glow from these alone seemed to project feelings of fury from them, and it was then I knew that it was part of something alive that was watching us. That alone spooked me so much that my breathing became tight and laboured as I instinctively backed off, accidentally bumping into Serge behind me.

My eyes adjusted to the light, seeing the brightest thing I had ever seen since arriving in this desolate future. I could now see strange metallic and crystalline structures surrounding the luminous patterns, none of them being very familiar or earthly at all. The navy coloured crystal patterns rose around the dim red light lines, forming four sturdy looking columns that rose high into the air, congealing into a single pillar towards the front of this entity, ending by tilting away from me at the top which I assumed where its head was, forming what seemed like a skull to protect its gigantic brain.

It seemed decorated in metal architecture, protecting the base of the four pillars like claws and a huge sail towards the rear of this colossal giant. The same strange metal-like substance which looked not too unlike platinum decorated its head like a half-build helmet, covering its head to the right and left, all the way up its elongated skull, and down to what I presumed was its jaw, forming two horns in the middle. I really, really didn't want to believe it. I tried my damn hardest to prepare for the worst, but when I saw it, I knew there was absolutely nothing on any plane of reality or fiction that was going to even soften the blow upon discovering this final piece of evidence. A sign and symbol that I have seen far too many times at church, that symbol of a slightly irregularly shaped pentagon with only the side at the top being small. Three small spokes coming out near the bottom and to the side with two large ones coming out diagonally near the top, and this armoured plate surrounded the circular crimson orb in the middle.

"DI...AL..GA! DIALGA!" I croaked loudly, making sounds from my mouth that I did not even think were possible. The blood seemed to run so cold within my body that I swore I could feel it turn to slush and even freeze completely. I would have collapsed on the spot out of sheer overwhelming horror and disbelief if it weren't for Serge holding me up, but even he seemed to be terrified, and I could feel him shivering violently where he stood. Of all the things I learned about my lord: His compassion, his righteousness and his vast, unmatched knowledge on morality and the know-how into creating an orderly society without trampling on too many rights and freedoms has been replaced with total madness and ferocity.

"I apologize to all of you...it seems like I have accidentally signed your death warrant." Grovyle said, sounding completely dejected. "I could and should have seen this coming. I failed you all, I failed the world. I...I'm sorry..." He seemed like he was about to cry, but he remained mentally strong as he inhaled deeply and looked Dusknoir right in his eye.

"Now don't try anything funny – my lord and master would surely not hesitate to vaporise you on the spot, and the only thing stopping him now is that he doesn't want to risk harming his most loyal servants and followers." Dusknoir boasted. Dialga let out a head splitting road that sounded like it came from a dinosaur with metallic implants in its vocal chords. I covered my ears and collapsed onto the ground with copious amounts of psychical pain, and immeasurable amounts of emotional agony. The one I once held highest above all else was now glaring at the four of us with inhuman rage, causing me to very suddenly start begging for my life.

"Dialga, don't, we're trying to help, we're trying to..." I said, my speech becoming completely incomprehensible and unrecognisable. I gasped for breath in between each sentence of sheer gibberish as tears leaked from my eyes.

"It's over. It took me a few attempts, but finally, I have everyone right here in the presence of the master!" Dusknoir said, sounding victorious and somewhat relieved of all emotions to show right now. Why, why would he want the planet to die a slow, horrible death? Was he just a 'fuck the world' nihilist? He seemed way too relieved and happy for that though.

"...It's not over. No. You're wrong!" Grovyle said, regaining much of his composure and glaring at Dusknoir. "None of us four are going to live much longer, but there's still hope that this calamity can be avoided!"

"Oh, please tell us how or who's going to stand up to the one true lord and his will? Like I said, I have the four greatest threats right here!" Dusknoir said, sounding sarcastic yet strangely joyful.

"You know exactly who I'm talking about Dusknoir, and I bet he's already collected all the Time Gears by now! You think you're safe Dusknoir, you think you won?! You're nothing compared to my best friend! He's a far bigger threat to you than I could ever be!" I must admit, Grovyle sounded extremely desperate by this point, not that I could blame him really. I was still such a wreck that I couldn't even stand up. Dusknoir suddenly smirked and started laughing hysterically, which sounded strange coming from someone with such a deep and formal voice. "What's funny about that?" Grovyle's left eye widened with curiosity and concern.

"Wow, you really have no idea, do you? Of course I know who it is, and my earlier statement still stands, but just to clear one thing up: The other one that made it to the past, the one neither me or the other Neo-Dialgans would stop initially – say his name loud and clear for all of us to hear. Don't worry, we already know, it's just to help prove a point." Dusknoir said, casting a glance at me as I struggled to get to my feet, the initial shock wearing off but the feelings of unmatched dread and depression being as strong as ever, and while there was a part of me that should have pieced this together by now, what Grovyle was about to say was still another vicious shock to the system.

"His name is Floyd. Is that what you wanted to hear? What's your point? It doesn't matter, do with us as you'll please. Floyd will probably destroy you on his way to Temporal Tower any way, and and this little crusade of yours will all be for nothing! I have seen him take untold punishment to get as far as he did! I don't believe there's anything you can do against a will of titanium like that!" Grovyle said as I made a high pitched sound that was half way between a chock and a gasp.

Well, what more needed to be said? Of course I was absolutely horrified and in a state of extreme disbelief hearing that I was at one point considered best friends with someone that I despised so badly that I tried to maim him. That green guy right in front of me: a forgotten friend? What sort of horrific accident scrambled my mind and memory when I went back in time? How could it have been avoided? I could think of no answers, but all I did know is that because of it, Grovyle, Serge, Celebi, I and everyone else who currently exists were paying the ultimate price for it. ...No, maybe it was a different Floyd – it had to be!

"Now, take a look, Grovyle." Dusknoir said, pointing at me. I had trouble standing once more, using Serge and Celebi as support, my legs trying very hard to buckle and give way. "He looks like he's in total shock again. So, can you now figure out who that snivy is?"

"He's not Floyd! He just shares his name! Floyd's a human, not a snivy!" Grovyle said loudly. Well, that silenced any bargaining or reasoning with myself to try and convince me I wasn't the Floyd he was talking about. The sheer gravity of the situation felt as though it was crushing my brain like a bolt from the blue, as I found myself unable to put the pieces together. How?! How could this be?! Grovyle noticed my reaction and turned to me, his curiosity being replaced rapidly with dismay.

"It's true, isn't it – you're Floyd Munro, aren't you. Previously a human, lived in Edinburgh, having the dimensional scream ability. It's all true, isn't it." I nodded slowly in response, my jaw slacked as my body became even more limp than before. Grovyle shuddered his face draining of colour very quickly as hey laid his hands on my arms. "I'm...I'm sorry we couldn't meet again under better circumstances..."

"Sure, I was unlucky to not be able to stop you two when you previously tried escaping to the past, but from that misfortune, I came across the biggest stroke of luck I could ever hope to get! I was in Treasure Town just trying to build good rapport with the townsfolk so I could enlist their help in stopping you, but when I heard that this snivy saw something in a dream, I figured it was time to investigate. Make sure he survives a trap to help build trust, and then start asking him about his past and name. After I found he was called Floyd, was a human and possesses the dimensional scream, I knew fine well it was him! The best part? He didn't recognize me at all! That foolish amnesiac! Why, I even turned him completely against you! Just seeing you two fight over that time gear was the best thing I had ever watched in my life! Now I'll never have to worry about you dangerous infidels ever again! I'm saved!" Dusknoir explained, his excitement growing as he finished his little speech. "Ok, that felt good enough for me. Go for their throats and be done with them sableyes, I'll catch anyone who tries to escape."

"It's over now...let's just hope they make it quick." Grovyle said, a couple of tears leaking from his face as he pulled me into a hug. "I'm sorry Floyd, so sorry..."

"To think I wanted you to suffer horribly as well..." My absolute dejection matching Grovyle's. "I'm a complete...fucking...idiot..." I couldn't fight any more, and I was completely spent. To think this was all overseen by a sorry excuse for what was once my sovereign lord. He watched over the sableyes closing in as he breathed heavily with the loud, mechanical sounding respiration. I guess all that was left to do was to pray that he'd change his mind.

"So that's it then, you're giving up?" Serge asked us, as both Grovyle and I sadly nodded. "...Fine, be like that. I'll go down fighting even if it means being disintegrated by a god! Although..." He said, looking like he was deep in thought.

"I think I might know what you're thinking of Serge, but I don't think I can do that, not with Dialga himself here." Celebi said quietly to us to avoid our soon-to-be-killers from overhearing.

"Well it's our last chance, just do it as fast and as far back as you can." Serge replied as the sableyes were almost within striking range. I was still accepting on what was about to happen to me, and I was only hoping they wouldn't ravage our still-living-bodies too badly.

"NOW!" Serge yelled, grabbing a hold of Celebi and Grovyle as the world suddenly blurred around us, the sableyes and Dusknoir moving unnaturally fast around us. As for Dialga, his head suddenly appeared right before us, a face that I hoped that I'd never have to see again. As I suspected, he didn't look intelligent whatsoever now with only anger, insanity and fear left with in him. An animal seeking what all animals do – self preservation. He roared again, as it pierced the bubble that surrounded the four of us causing us to all writhe on the ground, suffering an intense headache as our ears were overloaded. The strange bubble was shattered, and Celebi looked a little exhausted.

"Dialga stopped me...but we went back in time far enough! His primal self thankfully can't control time as well as he usually can or react quick enough! Ok, I'll set up the passage of time, but they could arrive at any moment, be careful!" Celebi said as she conjured up what looked like the outline of a blue door frame.

"Set it for Treasure Town beach a year back in time if you can! We can then get the Time Gears before Dusknoir convinces the townsfolk that they are already in the right place!" Serge said, taking command as Celebi nodded in response.

"That'll take two minutes to set up...right, got the location, I'll start winding things back now." She said, the passage of time forming a wavy blue screen with concentric circles in the middle of it. It was really something to behold, and it was finally able to restore a bit of hope as I got to me feet with Grovyle.

"I wonder if that is why Dialga considered you a threat Serge. You and Celebi have done us proud!" Grovyle said as he watched Celebi. Unfortunately, we weren't out of the woods yet.

"What?! How are you here already?!" A familiar low voice said coming to me left. It was Dusknoir and he looked shocked, with the sableyes right behind him. "Oh, nononono NO! Sableyes, kill them all, quickly!"

"Distract them, just give me about ninety seconds!" Celebi called out as I readied myself for the most righteous combat I had ever engaged in.

"Don't charge in, we don't need to risk too much!" Grovyle said, slicing at one of the attacking sableyes as Serge warded them off with with torrents of flames.

"I'll give that cunt something to remember me by before we depart!" I said before leaping in the air and using my vines to help me spin sending sharp leaves from me as if I was firing a gatling gun, all of them aimed right at Dusknoir. I heard him wince and grunt in pain, which was enough to pick me up even further from my horrific encounter earlier, but it wasn't nearly enough to stop him as he recovered very quickly and formed a large ball of shadowy energy right where his strange stomach mouth was, launching it right at Celebi.

"No you don't!" Grovyle said, sending a similar looking ball of green energy from his right at it, just like the attack he used to knock me out back in Azelf's cave. It collided and Celebi was safe, but out time was about to be cut short by a familiar terrifying roar.

"Oh no, he's coming! Just get in! I can't manage a year in time! Go!" Celebi said, holding the passage of time open.

"Dusknoir, if we ever meet again, I promise that I'll rip out your eyeball and shit righteous vengeance in your eye socket before strangling to death with your own entrails! Mark my fucking words!" I screamed at him before diving through the passage of time, hearing Primal Dialga approaching us, but it was too late for him now.

I began losing consciousness as we fell down further and further into the passage of time, going further and further back in time. I really don't know how I was going to wake up, or how I'd feel or react to anything once we got back 'home.' I had just seen the empty shell of Dialga, and the only thing comforting me is that it was probably the worst thing that I'd ever have to lay eyes on. At least I now knew exactly what I had to do, but I was starting to have doubts whether I or any other man could take that sort of pressure: Everything that exists now rests upon the shoulders of precious few people, and I knew fine well that no amount of amnesia would ever scrub the memory clean of seeing Primal Dialga. I wanted to forget it so badly, but I knew even now that the sight and sound of something so inconceivably terrible would never, ever wash away. Baby steps, Floyd, let's just try to rekindle the friendship you once had with Grovyle...