-Chapter 29: We Meet the King of Space-

-Nocturne's POV-

Jade and I finished our mission relatively quickly, but it was still dusk by the time we got to Spinda's Café to get our smoothies. Ends up it was a popular night in the cafe, since at least six teams were in the cafe at once. I said, "So, you want to go somewhere more… secluded? Y'know, since it is kind of crowded in here."
She shrugged, "I don't mind. Wherever you'd like."
I decided to stuff a blanket in my wonder bag after stopping by the tent, and we went to green meadow, a small mystery dungeon right outside of treasure town with no enemy pokemon. I laid out the blanket on the ground and sat down, and Jade eventually followed suit.

She sipped her smoothie after cooling it with frost breath, and began, "So... you first."
"Huh?"
"You wanted to talk, and now is your opportunity."

"Oh… Uh…" Now that the moment was here, I couldn't think of anything to say.

"So… how are we doing this? Asking questions, or telling each other whatever, or…?"

She smiled slightly, "Would you like me to begin?"
I nodded, "Yeah. I mean, uh... yes, please…?"

"Very well… Would you like me to ask about you, or tell you more about myself?"
"...Ask?"
"Alright. What is your preferred color?"
I tilted my head, "Out of everything you could ask, you chose that?"
"Yes."
"Okay… It's blue. And not that light blue like the sky, but dark blue like the ocean."
She nodded, "Why?"
"Why...? I don't know, it just... is. I didn't know you needed a reason for your favorite color."
"Alright…" She tapped her chin, then asked, "Why did you join an exploration team?"
"Because I wanted to fight bad pokemon and get stronger-"
"No, no, that's what an exploration team does. Why did you join?"
I looked to the ground, completely caught off guard by the question. Why did I join…? I've never really… Questioned it. After I came up with an answer, I said, "...I was lonely, I think… I don't know..."

She looked to the ground, "Would you care to expand on that…?"
"My parents… I never really knew them… And I didn't have any siblings to look after me. I was just… in the desert, fighting to stay alive. Let me tell you, I was real lucky to be a grass type… All the rock and ground types… Even then, it was tough, growing up. Fighting to survive. Fighting for the fun of it was never an option, or even an idea… It was always aim to kill, or at least incapacitate an opponent to where they were no longer a threat. That is, until I met Connor, Vulcan, Rose and Mirage. Those four… When I saw them… They didn't look mean, like most of the pokemon that passed through. They looked like they really cared for each other. The way they fought opponents without fear… I wanted that. I gauged their strength with a quick half-effort battle, then asked if I could join their team. All I thought was 'Man, I can't wait to get out of this death trap of a desert. Hopefully these guys are nice enough.' I didn't know that I would find a family that day, nor did I know all of the awesome times I'd have with them in the future."
I looked up, "That's why I joined the exploration team. I was selfish and lonely at the time. But look where it got me. I'm probably… right behind Atlas, Vincent and you in strength and respectability. I don't regret any day that I've been on this team, and I doubt I ever will."
She stared at me wordlessly, and I smiled weakly, "Alright… What was your family like?"
She quickly crossed her arms and scowled, "I didn't know them."
I raised an eyebrow at her defensiveness, "You don't remember anything about them? What kind of pokemon they were, or-"
"I said I didn't know them."

I made sure to keep smiling, "...Hey... You've got my word that I won't tell anyone. Besides Rose, I'm the best secret-keeper."
"...Nocturne, I'm very sorry… But I would really prefer not to talk about it…"

I shook my head slightly, confused at her sudden defensiveness, especially after I just opened up to her. But I knew that prying wasn't going to get me anywhere. "Alright, next question… What do you enjoy doing the most? What makes you happy?"
Her scowl lessened, but she still rolled her eyes, "...I enjoy talking on a deeper emotional level, ironically."
"Then why don't you?"
She gritted her teeth, "My mother taught me to never show emotion. And when you get attached to others, or start to open up to them, you are setting yourself up to be hurt by those that you think care, or those that really do care, but leave you… For one reason or another. Or they just… die..."
I felt the temperature drop, and the side of the blanket where Jade was resting frosted over as snow began falling from the sky. Jade took a deep breath, and the temperature stabilized again, "Dark types are cruel, evil, and… just… I harbor no love for their kind…"

Huh?

I tilted my head and put my hand on my chest, "Jade, I'm… Y'know… A Dark Type… And what do Dark types have to do with anything?"
Her eyes widened, "I… I didn't mean-! I would never intentionally say those things about you! It's just… Dark Types… Aren't… they don't bring back pleasant memories. Apologies for bringing it up out of nowhere."

"Ah, it's no biggie. Dark types aren't your favorite. So what? I know you don't hate me, and that's my primary concern in this situation."
She sighed with relief, "Thank you…"

I nodded, "No prob. I just want you to know that the whole team trusts you… Even Magnus, as hard as that is to believe."
She smiled at that remark, but quickly regained her stoic expression, "I know that trust can also change in an instant."
I leveled an unconvinced look at her, "You seriously think that after all that we've been through together… That because of one little thing that happened to you in the past, we'll suddenly stop trusting you? You haven't let us down before. And I don't think anybody else on the team thinks that you will. You're a great leader, regardless of what went on in your past."
"...You truly believe that?"
"You kiddin' me? Of course I do. I'm not about to lie to you. I just told you stuff that nobody else knows about me."
She smiled and sniffed once, and I saw a single tear flash-frozen on her cheek. I wiped it off gently with a slender vine whip and said jokingly, "The solemn ghost sheds a tear… Sounds like the chapter of a book… Or maybe the title?"
I could tell from her expression that she was angry with herself, and I said, "Hey, it's alright to have a break down. We've all got a sensitive side. Just don't unpack and live there and it'll be all good."
She let out a short laugh, and I smiled, "Ayy, I made you laugh! Looks like Vincent was wrong. You do have a sense of humor!"
She pushed my hand away jokingly, "Don't get used to it, Noc."
I smiled teasingly, "You called me Noc."
"So?"
"Not Nocturne."

"Does it matter?"
"You've never called anyone by their nickn-"
Suddenly, I heard a somewhat familiar noise behind me before Vincent's voice said, "What're you guys doing out so late? The rest of the team was worried that you guys got lost on your mission or something!"
My eyes widened as Jade and I stood up, "It's not that late, is it?" As I looked to the sky, I realized what he meant. The stars overhead were so numerous… I hadn't even noticed that it was pitch black outside. Vincent transformed into a Froslass and did a voice impression of Jade, "Taking the day off without advanced notice is simply unprofessional and is utter flouting of every protocol put in place."
I smiled slightly at his impressive impersonation of Jade, but I knew better than to laugh while she was around.
Jade's eyes glowed for a second, and Vincent turned back into himself. He looked at his hands, then at Jade, "What the-?"
"I'm perfectly aware of what time it is, Vincent."
Vincent glanced at Jade, then at me, and he asked, "You two weren't… Y'know…?"
Jade's eyes grew wide, as if she got what Vincent was implying, "Arceus, no! I would never-! We were discussing important matters." She began blushing, but her ice mask covered it up to where Vincent couldn't tell in the darkness of the night. But I could.
I stayed quiet as he asked, "What were you guys talking about?"
Jade replied, "We were discussing with each other why we both decided to join the team. I had promised him an evening to talk while we were on our way to our mission."

Vincent nodded, "Well, the bosses said we've got a full day of exploring a couple new dungeons tomorrow. Something about getting the Terra Cymbal, and Roy getting to scout out the Mystery Jungle or something. You wouldn't want to be doing all that on five hours of sleep."
Jade nodded, "I understand."

"Grab hold, then. The bosses already hit the hay."
We both grabbed his hands after I folded up the blanket I brought, and we were teleported back to our tent.

Jade floated wordlessly in, and I followed. Everybody else was half-awake, but when we laid down, they all closed their eyes and went to sleep.

-Connor's POV-

After everyone gave their reports and we sent Vincent to find Noc and Jade, Vulcan and I went to bed. Vulcan rolled over and started to speak, but before he could say anything, we heard a familiar sound, followed by a voice.
"I found them."
Vincent teleported in, and he said, "They were hanging out in Green Meadow. They just lost track of time."
I tilted my head, "What were they doing out there?"
"Jade said that she promised Noc an evening to talk about stuff. They were talking about why they joined the team when I found them."
Vulcan smirked, "Alright... Thanks, Vince."

"No pr-" Suddenly, the entire ground began heaving. Vincent hovered right above the floor, and Vulcan shouted, "Connor! What's going-"
Suddenly, in a flash of light, the dragon from Maris' book was standing in front of us.

"I HAVE FOUND YOU AT LAST!" Palkia roared, ignoring Vincent, "THE DEFILERS WHO ARE CAUSING… THE DISTORTION OF SPACE!"
Vulcan raised his hands, "Wait, it wasn't us! There's been a-"
Palkia ignored him, "I AM PALKIA! I HOLD SWAY OVER SPACE! I HAVE DOMINION OVER DIMENSION! YOU CANNOT ESCAPE NOW! THIS IS THE END FOR YOU!"
His shoulder gems glowed and bathed the entire bluff in a blinding light. I felt myself being condensed and moving super fast, like with Celebi, but a thousand times more powerful. For a few seconds, I couldn't see or feel anything. All I could hear was a high-pitched ringing noise, like when you stand too close to an explosion.

When my feet were touching ground, I looked around and saw a grey-green stone floor with purple walls. There was a chasm directly behind us, and Palkia slammed to the ground in front of us. Vincent was nowhere to be seen. I looked around nervously, "Where are we?!"
"THIS IS MY DOMAIN! SPATIAL RIFT!"

The wonder of seeing it in person lasted for about a second before Palkia roared, "YOU DARE DISTORT SPACE WITHOUT MY PERMISSION? I WILL BE RID OF YOU NOW!"
Vulcan waved his hand, "It wasn't us! We've been framed!"
Palkia stepped forward, causing us to back up, "THIS IS THE END!" He swiped with his front claws, forcing us to jump back, even closer to the chasm. I looked over my shoulder nervously at the abyss behind us. Palkia roared and was about to attack again, so I turned and tackled Vulcan over the edge, and we fell into the abyss.

-Alice's POV-

Zzzzzz….

"GUYS!"
"Huh? Vincent? What..."
"Connor and Vulcan… gah… at the bluff…"
I opened my eyes, and Vincent was panting, "Something happened!"
I sat up while the rest of the team began stirring, "What are you talking about? What about Connor and Vulcan?"
"They're in trouble!"
The air in the tent cooled down by twenty degrees in a couple seconds, and I got real nervous real quick. Oh, snap… Jade's up.

Sure enough, she was floating in front of him in the blink of an eye, "What happened?!"
"I don't know… Suddenly, there was a flash of light, and all I heard was a ringing in my ears, then they were gone!"
Jade leaned closer, "You saw nothing?"
"No… I can't believe it, either! It was like I couldn't see or hear anything! I have no clue what happened! When the light cleared, there were two huge footprints near the mouth of the bluff, but other than that, they just vanished!"
Jade nodded and turned to the rest of us, "We will fan out and search. Vincent, you teleport Mirage, Magnus and Alice to eastern Immanis, fan out and look for them. When you find them, if you do, launch an attack into the sky as a beacon, of sorts. Be sure it's an attack that is large and makes considerable noise. Caroline, you, Nocturne and Rose will be fanning out from Treasure Town. Atlas, you, Roy and- Where's Roy?"
She groaned after looking for him for a moment, "For Arceus' sake… Atlas, you and I will stand as sentries around Treasure Town in case they return. Are your instructions clear?" We all nodded, and Mirage, Magnus and I joined hands/vines with Vincent, and he teleported us to the east side of the mountains.