Chapter 27: The Fourth Time Gear

Haley's POV

"We're walking in circles, aren't we?" I sighed, looking around at the dark, barren sand dunes. For all I could tell, we were in exactly the same place as the one we were in ten minutes ago.

"I wouldn't say that, no," Starflight disagreed. "It seems like we are getting nowhere, when, in fact, we are."

"That sounds like a cliché line out of some old movie," I rolled my eyes. Starflight frowned, blinking in confusion. I sighed again. "Never mind."

"At least we seem to be out of the dungeon part of the desert," Grovyle encouraged. "It's been a long time since we've had to fight a pokémon, and there doesn't seem to be a maze anymore, either."

I turned my head to look at him when I caught something moving out of the corner of my eye. I whipped toward the movement, only to see swirling sand. My eyebrows furrowed. Had the sand been set in motion by a pokémon, waiting in ambush? But as I stared at the moving sand, it didn't seem to be slowing. Then I realized that it was moving in circles. I stepped cautiously forward, peering closer.

"Watch out! Quicksand!" I warned my companions, holding out my arms to stop their forward motion. Both pokémon immediately froze. I inched forward until I was at the edge of the quicksand pit. "I think we can move around it if we're careful," I mused thoughtfully, still staring at the swirling sand.

"I don't think so, Haley," Grovyle said nervously. "There's not just one pit; there's a whole bunch of them - look!"

I turned my head and looked ahead of us, and, sure enough, quicksand pits dotted the sand before us, making it impossible to move forward.

"This is definitely the end of this dungeon," Starflight stated, glancing around. "But there doesn't seem to be any place for a Time Gear, nor is there a guardian."

"That we know of," I muttered cynically. I scanned the area for something to touch, to see if I could activate the Dimensional Scream. There were a couple of boulders on the other side of the small clearing, and I cautiously moved in front of them, wary of falling into the quicksand. I laid my hand on the smooth boulder, not expecting to sense anything other than its surface. For a moment, nothing happened, and my shoulders slumped. Then the dizziness started. "I've got something," I exclaimed happily.

Black encroached on my vision, then there was a burst of light, and then there was black again. I tried to look around, wondering why I couldn't see, when I heard a voice. "We have to jump in the quicksand pits!" The voice sounded very familiar, but I couldn't place it. Another, completely unfamiliar voice answered the first incredulously.

"Jump into the quicksand pits?! Are you insane?"

"I know it sounds crazy," the first voice answered, sounding slightly irritated. "But I know there's something down there! Come on, don't you trust me?"

The other voice hesitated, and then answered with feeling, "Of course I trust you. Alright, let's jump into the quicksand pits!"

Then there was another burst of light, and I was staring at Grovyle's and Starflight's expectant faces.

"Well? What did you see?" Grovyle asked impatiently, too used to my visions to bother worrying about my wellbeing.

"I didn't see anything," I answered wryly. His face fell. "I heard two people –or pokémon, I couldn't tell- talking."

Grovyle rolled his eyes. "Fine then, what did you hear?"

"We have to jump into the quicksand pits," I said simply, smirking when both Grovyle and Starflight looked at me in disbelief.

"WHAT?!" Grovyle shouted. "You're joking, right?" He turned to Starflight pleadingly. "Please, tell me she's joking!"

"I don't think she is," Starflight replied, starting to sound amused.

Grovyle blinked, and then dragged a clawed hand over his face. "My life sucks," he grumbled to himself.

"Come on, Grovyle. It's not that bad," I cooed, patting him on the head mockingly. "You could be an extremely overweight ghost with one eye that has to serve a scary Legendary pokémon."

Grovyle stared at me for a second, and then burst into laughter. Starflight snorted. "Th-th-that–that's t-t-true!" Grovyle managed to gasp out, struggling to compose himself. I chuckled as he took deep breaths, calming down. He looked up at me with a grin.

"I'll have to remember that one," he said, snorting. "Imagine if I said that to his face!"

"He'd throw a fit," I snickered. "But you still have to jump into those pits with me."

That wiped the smile off Grovyle's face. "I thought you were kidding," he groaned.

"No, I was completely serious," I replied. "But don't worry, we'll jump together."

"What, so that both of us have to die instead of just one?" Grovyle muttered sarcastically.

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, I'll go first, you wussies." I strode forward to the edge of the pit, steeled my courage, and jumped straight into the middle. I landed waist deep in the sand, and for a few moments, nothing happened. "Huh, maybe it's not quicksand after all," I said, but as I spoke, I felt myself sink a few more inches, and began to feel a sinking sensation. "I take it back."

I sunk slowly as Starflight and Grovyle watched with wide eyes. Then Grovyle snapped out of his shock and growled before stalking forward and jumping into the pit himself, right next to me.

I grinned triumphantly. "So you decided to join me, Grovyle? That leaves Starflight!" I looked at the aforementioned dragon. "Come on in, Starflight! The sand is fine!"

"Says the human girl up to her neck in quicksand," Starflight muttered. I heard no more as my head went under. For a few moments, I panicked, wondering if maybe the voices had been wrong, but then I fell through the air and landed on my backside, wincing.

"Ouch!" I exclaimed as Grovyle fell on top of me.

"Sorry. It's dark in here," Grovyle commented as he clambered off my sprawled body.

"Way to point out the obvious," I said dryly. I looked up to see a faint gray light filtering through the sand. "Starflight!" I called. "Can you hear me?"

After a few moments, Starflight answered. "Barely!" His voice was faint.

"There's a cavern down here!" I shouted. "Come down and bring your fire with you, it's as dark as a Wailord's stomach in here!"

"Um, Haley…" Grovyle murmured nervously. "Maybe you shouldn't have shouted so loud."

"Why do you say that?" I asked, trying to see him through the gloom. Before he could answer, I heard a deep, angry growl. "Oh. That would be why," I whispered, my heart sinking.

"Stay here, and don't move!" Grovyle hissed at me.

"You don't have to tell me twice," I muttered to myself. I cursed my helplessness as I peered around, unable to see anything. Damn it, why can't I see? Human senses suck eggs! I want pokémon senses! Why couldn't Darkrai have given me night vision, for Arceus' sake? I thought angrily to myself. As soon as I'd thought it, though, the gloom started to clear, and the darkness lifted a little. I looked around, figuring that Starflight had finally come down and lit a fire, but there was no sign of him.

There wasn't any sign of the azure dragon, but seven feet away, looking very angry, stood an armored Lairon. It snorted as my gaze met its eyes and growled again, scraping its foot against the floor. Recognizing it as a precursor of an attack, I scrambled to my feet, ready to race out of the way if need be. The movement set it off, and it charged me.

I dodged to the side, sliding Dawnblanche out of its sheath as I did. I slashed at the Lairon only to curse my stupidity as my blade just clanged uselessly against the iron plating. The Lairon growled and snapped at me. I jumped backwards, barely missing its sharp teeth.

Then, finally, Grovyle appeared out of the shadows, slashing with his Leaf Blade attack, sending the Lairon reeling. "I thought I told you to stay put!" he shouted at me as he sent missiles of Razor Leaves at the Lairon.

"Yes, well, I saw a Lairon with huge spikes about to charge me, and I reacted accordingly. Not my fault you were slow on the uptake," I retorted, shorter with him than I meant to be, but I was frightened and in pain. I looked down at my aching leg and realized that I hadn't jumped completely clear of the pokémon's spikes, resulting in a long gash down my right leg.

It was at that moment that Starflight decided to jump in, crashing through the ceiling, blue fire escaping his angry maw towards the now cowering Lairon. Starflight landed with a muffled boom, and glared at the iron pokémon. Fear flashing in its eyes, the Lairon knew it was outmatched. It turned tail and galloped away clumsily from its injuries.

"How did you know it was going to charge, anyways, Haley?" Grovyle asked curiously once the threat was gone. "It was too dark for a human to see."

I shrugged. "I don't know. I was sitting there, thinking how unfair it is that humans have such bad senses, and I wished that Darkrai had passed pokémon senses onto me, and suddenly I could see!"

Starflight hummed thoughtfully. "Now that you know your legacy, more powers may appear to you... perhaps some need concentration and focus to work."

"I guess," I answered wearily, yawning. "Whatever, at least now I can see."

Starflight noticed my yawn. "We should probably rest before trying to conquer another dungeon."

Grovyle and I agreed, and we all sat down for a breather. I passed around a water bottle, each of us taking care not to drink too much. "We only have one bottle left after this," I warned.

"That should be enough to get us through the dungeon," Starflight said. "Since your Dimensional Scream went off, we know that there was a Time Gear here. And from what Uxie said, we know that there will be a lake guarded by either Mesprit or Azelf. Hopefully, we can obtain drinkable water there."

"Sounds good," I yawned again. I leaned against a rock tiredly, my eyes sliding shut of their own accord. As I sunk into unconsciousness, I felt cool, gentle claws swipe the hair from my face and I smiled, feeling safe.

Grovyle's POV

I smiled as I watched Haley fall asleep. I reached out and wiped the hair from her face gently, careful not to wake her up.

"You care about her a lot, don't you, Grovyle?" Starflight asked quietly. I looked up to see him watching us with a sorrowful gleam in his eyes.

I frowned. "Well, yes," I answered. "She saved my life, multiple times. We're friends. At least, I'd like to think that we were. At the very least, we are good partners."

"That's not what I meant," Starflight shook his head. My confusion deepened.

"Then what did you mean?" I asked.

He looked at me sharply. "Then maybe you don't like her the way I thought. But I know she feels a bond stronger than just friends, Grovyle."

My eyes widened in realization as I grasped what he was trying to say. "Starflight; it's not like that," I assured him hastily. "I'm her first friend; before she met me she only had her mother. Well, and Dusknoir for a little bit, but Dusknoir's such a bastard that he doesn't really count."

"So you're saying that she only cares for you so much because you're her friend?" Starflight repeated doubtfully.

"Yes," I stressed the word. "She doesn't like me that way… She couldn't." I muttered the last in a soft voice, more to myself than to Starflight. There was no way that Haley could like me like that; she was a human and I was a pokémon, and that was that. No matter if Darkrai was her father or whatever – she was still human. Even if we saw each other as more than friends, it wouldn't matter because we could never be together… right? I shook my head impatiently. Why was I even considering this?

Starflight watched me shrewdly. "I bring it up now, because I want you to remember that once you fix time; we'll all disappear. You may not have much time left with her."

I closed my eyes, pained. "You think I don't know that?" I whispered. "It hurts, I'll admit it… All my life, I've been trained for this – to collect the Time Gears and ki- defeat Dusknoir. It's only been since I met Haley that I've had a glimpse of how life is supposed to be. Since I met Haley, I've actually started to live. So, to know that it will all be gone, sooner than I expected… Yeah, it's hard. But I meant what I said earlier. This is about more than our own happiness. This is about the entire world. And I am willing to give my life for the rest of the world."

I opened my eyes, staring at Starflight determinedly. "Are you, Starflight? I know Uxie predicted your death; I'm not stupid. You've known it for even longer, though, haven't you?"

Starflight gaped at me, surprised. "How did you-" he broke himself off. "You've changed in the time that I've known you, Grovyle," he said softly. His eyes rose to meet mine, black pupils serious. "Yes, I have seen my own death, Grovyle. It is one of many futures possible. It all depends on choices, good and bad. I've known for quite some time now, Grovyle. It was years ago that I caught the first glance; and it's been the one vision I keep having, time and time again."

I felt my heart wrench for him. "I can't imagine what it must be like for you, Starflight," I murmured quietly.

"Don't feel sorry for me, Grovyle. Like you said, everyone dies eventually. When it comes, it will be my time. There is nothing to change. I've accepted it." Starflight looked at me sharply. "Don't mourn something that has yet to pass, Grovyle. Life is too short for that. Enjoy life while you can, just remember that."

I nodded. "Thanks, Starflight. For everything."

Haley's POV

My mother and I were sitting at the kitchen table, eating vanilla ice cream out of a big tub. She was talking to me in her 'teacher' voice. "Now, Haley, it's important that you remember this," she stated earnestly. I nodded, looking her in the eyes. "One day you will have to make your own choices about your life."

"I know that, Mommy!" I said flippantly, rolling my eyes.

"Don't interrupt your mother, Haley," a male voice reprimanded me, though the voice was more amused than upset. I turned to see a shadow in the doorway. I got up excitedly, and threw my arms around the figure.

"Daddy! You're back!" I exclaimed, burrowing my head into his soft cape.

He chuckled indulgently, patting my head. "Hello, my little shadow-girl. How have you been faring?"

"I missed you; you were gone so long!" I whined, looking up into his face, where only one ice blue eye could be seen.

"Darkrai," my mother greeted my father coldly. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm visiting my daughter, Regina. Is that forbidden now, too?" Darkrai returned, bitterness flashing in his visible eye.

"I don't want you around her, Darkrai! She's just a kid; and I don't want you to-"

"To what, influence her?" Darkrai cut her off angrily. "I know that you are still angry with me, Regina, but the fact remains that she is my child as well! You may not believe it, but I care about her as much as you do, and I have the right to help raise my own child!"

I looked between my parents, confused and getting upset. "Why are you yelling at Mommy, Daddy? Can't we play ball together again?"

My mom sighed heavily. "Stay away from here, Darkrai. I mean it," she growled. "I have ways to ward you off; don't make me use them, because the results will not be pleasant for you."

Darkrai glared at my mom angrily before turning to me disappointedly. "Sorry, my little shadow-girl. Daddy has to leave… for quite some time. I came to say good-bye."

"What? B-But, D-Daddy," I sniffled. Darkrai shook his head and came over to me, lifting up my head, with his dark clawed hand under my chin.

"Don't cry, shadow-girl. We'll see each other again someday; I know it. When you are ready, you will find me." He opened his mouth to say something more, but I was shaken awake before I could hear it.

I opened my eyes to Grovyle's impatient face. "Great Mew, Haley! You're impossible to wake up! I was trying to get you up for ten minutes!"

I shook my head, rubbing my eyes. "Sorry," I muttered. "I was having a really strange dream… I think it was a memory from when I was really young."

"Well, dream later; we've got a desert lake to find!" Grovyle exclaimed excitedly.

I rolled my eyes and laughed at his impatience. "Fine, fine, Grovyle. I'm up now, anyway, so let's get moving!" I picked up my pack, and we moved into the dungeon in search of the Time Gear lake.

* § * § *

Thankfully, the caves underneath the desert were abandoned, for the most part. Occasionally, we would disturb a sleeping desert-dwelling pokémon, but those occurrences were few and far between. Before long, we reached a large cavern, which seemed to be the end of the dungeon.

We immediately noticed the lake, and stopped at the shore. I bent down and touched the water cautiously with my finger, relieved when it dipped into the water and came up wet. I retrieved our water bottles and filled them all to the brim.

While I was filling the bottles, Starflight and Grovyle were exploring the cavern. "Oh no," Grovyle murmured quietly, almost too soft to hear. Starflight and I turned our heads expectantly. He was standing in front of a prone form, floating a foot off the ground, frozen in time. We walked over to it, and my heart sunk as I recognized the pokémon.

"Mesprit," I whispered, bowing my head.

"She didn't escape the collapse of time, it would seem," Starflight rumbled sorrowfully.

I laid a hand on Mesprit's head, wondering if she would come to life with my touch, as water hanging in space sometimes did, but nothing happened. Then the familiar dizzy feeling swept over me. When my vision cleared, I was watching Mesprit in a panic, running from the collapse of time. She was talking to herself desperately.

"Got to get to Crystal Cave," she muttered to herself. "Gotta warn Azelf… gotta get aw-" she was cut off as the time collapse overcame her, and she froze in midair, her desperate face frozen forever in time. My vision went black again, and I opened my eyes to find myself on the ground.

"Well, as sad as this is, at least we now know where Azelf is," I said, picking myself up from the ground.

"Where?" Grovyle asked.

"Crystal Cave, according to Mesprit before she froze. He might have moved on, but it's a place to start… Well, even if he's not there now, if he was there at the time of the Collapse, he was most likely protecting the Time Gear, so Crystal Cave must be the location of the last Time Gear," I replied.

"Then that's our next destination!" Grovyle turned to Starflight. "Ummm, have either of you two thought about how we're going to get out of here?"

I pointed towards a little light near the tunnel to the dungeon. "The portal, of course. I'll bet Mesprit installed it so she could get in and out of the caves easily."

"Uh, right," Grovyle replied sheepishly, his cheeks blushing a dark green. "I should have thought of that."

We left the dungeon, and came to the clearing in front of the quicksand pits. "So we still have to leave the desert, ugh," Grovyle complained.

"Oh, that would be the least of your worries, I would think, Grovyle." A very familiar voice chuckled. "Surround them!"

It was Dusknoir and the Sableye.

A/N: And that's a wrap for today, folks!

JUST KIDDING! I wouldn't actually do that, haha.

I gasped and looked around. At least fifteen Sableye raced into the clearing from where they had been hiding amongst the sand dunes. Dusknoir formed out of the shadows, an evil grin on his face. I clenched my teeth angrily and glared at him while touching my scar faintly.

Grovyle had frozen, every muscle in his body tense. He stared at Dusknoir and the Sableye, eyes cold and distant, thinking fast.

"We've finally caught up with you, Haley and Grovyle!" Dusknoir announced triumphantly. "You gave us the slip for a while there-"

"Oh, for the love of Ho-oh! He's gonna go on one of his 'I'm better than you and here's why' rants," I muttered to Grovyle sarcastically. He snorted in cynical amusement.

"You think I should mention that joke now?" he asked me. I grinned.

"It'd probably just piss him off, so why not?" I murmured back.

"-but you could never have gotten away. So you should give up now; I'd hate to do this the hard way," Dusknoir finished, our conversation unnoticed.

"Says the extremely overweight ghost who has to be slave to an insane legendary pokémon!" Grovyle taunted Dusknoir. The happy look faded from Dusknoir's face, replaced by outrage.

"Excuse me? What did you call me?!" he thundered.

"Oh, he just jumped to conclusions, Grovyle," I smirked. "Who said he was talking to you? Or do you always respond to that title?"

Dusknoir clenched his fists, anger flashing in his eye. "How dare you," he growled.

"I dare, because I'm not afraid of you!" I retorted, drawing Dawnblanche in preparation for battle. "Bring it on, you fat Mamoswine!"

With a roar of rage, Dusknoir attacked me, causing the Sableye to take their cue and begin attacking Grovyle and Starflight. I slashed and hacked with Dawnblanche as Dusknoir threw punches and Shadow Balls at me. He was fast and enraged, and he landed more hits than usual. Within minutes of the start of the fight, I was bruised and burned. I didn't let it stop me from giving it my all, though.

He was bleeding his shadowy ghost blood out of several nasty cuts. We circled each other for a moment, looking for a weakness in the other's defenses. "You'll regret the day you decided to cross me, Haley," Dusknoir snarled.

"Will I, Dusknoir?" I asked, eyebrows raised. "Somehow, I don't think I will. No matter what you do to me, I'll never regret deciding to fight for a better future… even if I won't be able to see that future."

"So you do remember my words," Dusknoir remarked, tilting his head. "I don't understand you, Haley. I don't understand why you would be willing to give up your life for a world that you won't even be able to live in. Why would you rather be dead than alive?"

"In this world, there is nothing to live for, Dusknoir!" I snapped. "Not that you would ever understand." I attacked again, slashing at his stomach. He dodged and swiped at me, giving me a black eye as his fist connected with my scarred eye. I yelped in pain, falling to the ground, stunned. I shook my head dizzily, looking up at Dusknoir's face, darkened with hatred and anger. He pulled back to land another blow, and I braced myself.

Then, with an almighty roar of enraged insanity, the Dark Flygon Starflight and Grovyle had spotted earlier crashed into the clearing, grabbing a Sableye in his great maw and snapping down, killing the Sableye before it could even scream. Everyone reeled back from the dark dragon. Upon spitting out his kill, the dragon raised his head, fixing everyone in the clearing with an angry, insane glare. The Sableye all started to tremble violently.

"IIIEEEEEEHAAAA!" As one entity, they screamed, turned tail, and ran away. Dusknoir glared after them.

"Cowards," he muttered to himself, then looked at the Dark Flygon. He smirked. "Guess he'll do my job for me. See you, never!" With those words, he faded into darkness. The Flygon looked even angrier that more of his prey had escaped. He roared angrily.

"We can't outrun it!" Grovyle shouted as I got up to do that very thing.

"No, but we can sure as hell try!" I shouted back.

"Go," Starflight snapped at Grovyle. "I'll hold him off!"

I stopped. "What? NO! Starflight, you can't!"

He looked at me sternly. "Yes, I can, and I will. I've known this was coming for a long time, Haley. Go, find the last Time Gear location. Go to Celebi in Dusk Forest and get her help in crossing the Passage of Time. Then, save the world; restore time! We're all counting on you! We put our faith in you two! NOW GO!" With that, he faced the Flygon and let out a roar of his own, rising into the air. The Flygon turned to fight him, charging up a Hyper Beam.

Grovyle grabbed my hand, and dragged me along until I was running along with him, tears streaming down my face as I listened to the brutal battle raging behind me. I could hear the roars and shrieks of pain from both dragons.

Eventually, Grovyle and I made it out of the desert. He found a cave to camp in, and I collapsed inside it, sobbing. Grovyle said nothing, knowing that there was nothing that could be said. He merely held me as I cried into his chest, arms wrapped around his torso. I fell asleep like that, tears still streaming from my eyes as I slid into unconsciousness against his warm, soft body.

A/N: AWWWWWWWWW! …Haley/Grovyle bonding! ^^ You'll see what happened to Starflight with the second chapter I uploaded –it's a special episode. O_o Anyways… I have a question, now. So I fixed something in this chapter 'cause MysticDragon01 thought it was unrealistic… So I'm curious. He said that people don't actually fall to the ground laughing. Yet, I have done so, and more than once. Am I just strange? Or do people really fall to the ground laughing sometimes? Yes, I know I'm strange, but … x shrugs x tell me what you think! IN A REVIEW! *hint hint* ^^