Ri was right: The other's ended up being just fine. Actually, according to Bidoof—who told us both this in secret to avoid Loudred's wrath—they didn't manage to make it past the first level. It's not that I don't believe that they could've made it farther in, but I'm pretty relieved when I find that out. I wouldn't have wanted them to have faced the same risk to their lives that we and Team Charm did. All it took to get them out of there was flaring our aura signatures and their using an Escape Orb to warp outside. Corphish and Loudred weren't too happy with us when they learned the reason for our doing so, but relented—albeit disgruntledly—when we told them what we went through.

The way back home is pleasant. We camped out with our guildmates the first night and then split off from them the next morning—with them returning to the coast to catch a ride and us retracing our steps back. Even though we didn't plan on it, we actually make it to Treasure Town at almost the same time that they do.

After what we experienced, we thought it was best to postpone exploring the additional parts of the temple that were revealed after we fought Regigigas. We weren't really ready for Aegis Cave: We know even less about what we might face in the in this new area. There could be an even worse set of labyrinths or an even more powerful Pokemon to face. It can wait until we're better prepared, or until we have a more organizes unit of people to search it with us.

We're not afraid of someone else trying to claim the find though. For one thing, we have Team Charm to back us up as witnesses. And for another, as Chatot and Wigglytuff explained after we had given them our report, once the papers for it are sent to the Federation it'll also be documented that it's ours for future study. Ri and I were both a little taken aback by it, but we even got to name the location for ourselves. I went along with what my partner decided on: The Concealed Ruins—simple and direct enough a name, but also a little mysterious.

The last and most important reason we're not worried of losing the find is because of all of our combined reports. The tangle of confusing labyrinths that no one can leave without an Escape Orb, the Unown and legendaries guarding the place, the chance of being taken who knows where if you lose a fight with any of them… It's not a place many in their right mind would go to, and based on the titans' words, only those that have bested them are allowed to enter the Concealed Ruins.

I know Ri must be on Cloud Nine over all of this: Even I'm thrilled by this kind of success. This is the sort of thing we signed up for as an exploration team, but I didn't really think we'd make it as far as we have. I never would've guessed we'd be making our own discoveries like this.

A day after our arrival though, we get our first huge storm of the summer. It comes out of nowhere, with gloomy clouds blanketing the sky right at dusk and casting all of Treasure Town into darkness early. However, the lightning that streaks the clouds from afar is bright enough to cast millisecond instances of vivid illumination. Combine that with the booming thunder and the chaotic churning of the ocean hundreds of feet below and even if we tried everything we could to force ourselves to sleep, I don't think we'd be able to. Based on the noise in the hall, it doesn't seem like anyone else is interested in trying to go to be just yet either.

"It sure sounds like a storm is coming," Ri murmurs as he gazes out through the window. I watch him as I brush my hair where I sat on our bed. Rolling his shoulders in a relaxed stretch, he turns to face me, "It's been a long time since the last storm. It's been quiet for a good while now. So, in a way, a storm would be refreshing."

I understand the double meaning in his words: The quietness of all disasters that were going on as a result of Temporal Tower falling apart and the quietness we've had since we had to see Manaphy away. There's one particular quietness though that unnerves me, and that's from not hearing anything back from Grovyle and the others. Not for the first time, I think that maybe I show follow the idea that no news is good news, but it's impossible for me to believe that.

Once again, Ri calls my gaze to him as he leaves the window to sit by my side. "You know, our big adventure… when we stopped the destruction of time…" he rests his arms on his knees, drawing his fingers together contemplatively, "It already feels like it happened a long time ago."

Yes, it does feel that way. Going to the future with Ri, fighting Dialga at Temporal Tower… Now that I think about it, it does feel like all those things were a long time ago. Even my time spent with my own kind in the future is starting to feel like something out of a dream.

Now that time has returned to normal and peace has come to the world… Well, mostly. According to all that's happened and what Celebi told us, there's still a lot of work to do before the world fully recovers… I guess that, in the end, it all reminds me of how far we've come and how far we've still got to go. And it also reminds me that, because time has returned to normal, places like Luminous Spring were able to recover. Now, it's possible for everyone to evolve there again. Everyone but us, that is…

I remember it all clearly, being told why we couldn't evolve yet. Although Dusknoir wasn't able to find anything in his research about that, we were told that there was a distortion in the fabric of space that prevented our evolution. But what does any of that even mean? Sure, there are still some issues going on with the world as a result of what happened, but time is back to normal. And what would "a distortion in space" have anything to do with Ri and me?

A flash of lighting cuts through the sky and brightens the entire room. Too lost in his own thoughts, Ri gives a sudden jolt in surprise. I can't help but snicker at him, "Do you need me to protect you?"

"It only startled me…" he answers with a note of embarrassment. Just then the thunder follows. "I think the storm's getting closer. We should get some sleep now: Goodnight, Lira!"

"Oh no! I'm not through talking with you just yet, Ri," I smirk, placing my hairbrush on the floor. "I've been meaning to ask you… Why did you want to tag along with Team Charm? You were acting a little different for a while."

"Different?" he echoes, but I can tell from his expression that he knows exactly what I'm talking about. He's not the kind of person to ask another team that he doesn't know if we could tag along on their exploration. He usually doesn't care about being the 'first' to do anything, so his push to hurry through Aegis Cave to reach the end was unlike him.

"I've never really seen you get competitive over anything before," I chortle, "That's all."

He shakes his head, "I didn't feel like I was acting different…" But I can see him thinking hard over the events of the exploration and soon a subtle blush tints his cheeks. If he's thought of something though, he doesn't look like he wants to share it.

I review what all happened before and during our trip in my own mind, but I can't really think of anything in particular that would've made him act that way. He'd only just met the members of Team Charm, and it's not like he seemed particularly awed by them or that he wanted for us to act as rivals against them. I can see him getting excited over the mystery behind Aegis Cave and wanting to participate solely because of that, but I can't imagine just wanting to go pushing him enough to actually ask to come along. He's still a little backward and honestly just too polite for that without their inviting us first.

Besides, if they had invited us on their own, he definitely wouldn't have acted competitive. Up until after the fight with Regice, there was nothing that Team Charm said or did that could've sparked that sense of rivalry from him. Really, the only thing we had talked about before he asked if we could join them was the fact that I could use Attract thanks to them.

"Is it really all that embarrassing?" I press. It's not like I'd force him to talk, but the fact that he's trying to avoid saying anything makes me want to know why even more.

He shrugs, "Not really: To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what came over me. I just thought… Maybe you'd like to go?" His brows furrow and he gives me a confused look, "I don't know: It seems a little silly now, I guess. I know you don't like exploring as much as I do…"

Here he goes again, making doubts for me about coming back to the past to continue being a part of our team. "I liked it," I smile, "I didn't like that we dragged ourselves to the point of exhaustion, but I liked getting to explore that place. I liked discovering the Concealed Ruins with you."

He gives me a lopsided grin at that. I can't really believe that he's telling me the whole of things, but I guess I'll accept that answer well-enough. As I said, I don't plan to force it out of him. He and I lay back on the hay, listening to first few drops of rain hit against the window as the storm draws closer.

As expected, it takes a long while for me to actually fall asleep. I don't really expect to be able to manage it, but somehow I find myself lulled into a serene rest. What I really don't expect though is to flutter my eyes open to find a void of wavering colors touched with streaks of a soft white. This is… I feel weightless and I can't move. As pretty as it is though, this place is still empty, so where would I even try to go if I could? Is this… Is this a dream…? If it is, it's certainly unlike any I've ever had before. I haven't even had a dream in the longest while.

Suddenly there's a distortion in the path of wavering lights before me. It looks like the figure of a Pokemon, but I don't know who or what it is at first. As the shape manifests itself and becomes clearer though, it becomes more recognizable. I remember the elegant, swan-like figure and the moon-shaped, crescent crown atop her head. A soothing hue of soft, pink, blue, and yellow pastels coat her body. This is one of the Pokemon I'd seen from one of my books: The one that's supposed to exist as an opposite being to Pitch Black.

"I am… I am Cresselia," she greets, slowly hovering closer to me, but stopping short a meter or so away. Her voice is melodic, like the pleasant ring of a water glass.

"C-Cresselia…?!" I repeat. I… I can hardly believe it! If this is really her, then I have so much that I want to ask! Why is she here? I want to know if she knows what's been happening and why Pitch Black has been after me! I want to know if he's really tracked me back to the past and why he's been able to influence so many Pokemon! As each question bounces around my skull though, I can't manage to tear any one of them free from my lips.

More than that though, the steady, calm look she gives me stops me short. It lacks all emotion, and there's a hardened nature to her gaze that takes me back. Nevertheless, her expression is nothing compared to the words that leave her, "You… Your very existence is… pushing the world toward ruin."

What? It takes a second for what she said to sink in, but when it does it hits hard. The world… to ruin? How am I doing that?! I… No. I try to shake my head. No, that can't be right: We saved the world, Ri and I. We stopped Temporal Tower from collapsing. We haven't even had anything to do with Dialga or the Time Gears since then! I just can't believe that! "What do you mean?" I demand.

"Because you are in this world," she explains, her placid tone unwavering. Sudden, there's a flash of light and the peaceful feeling I had from earlier completely vanishes as the aurora before me crackles. Even still, Cresselia stays calm, "Because you… exist here… If you remain…" Another crackle of light, and this time even her own being seems to become distorted. "The world will be destroyed!"

All I can feel then is a cold shiver running down my spine as the world around me continues to tear itself apart in bursts of painfully bright lights. Cresselia herself breaks apart like static, the vision of her dissolving in fragments that are then eaten away with the rest of the scene until I'm all that's left to devour from the void. And I can't contain the scream that tears from my throat as, piece by piece, my entire body is shattered.

I bolt up from the hay drenched in a cold sweat, gasping for air as I wrap my arms around myself. I flick my eyes all around me as I try to calm myself down, slowly reassuring myself that what happened wasn't real and that I'm safe. What I saw was just a dream and I'm alive. I'm in mine and Ri's bed, in the Guild, at home where I need to be. Everything's ok. It's fine.

I snap my gaze to my side to find that R's still asleep. I don't know how, but it's a miracle that I didn't wake him up this time. Wh-what was that? I raise a hand to my forehead, wiping away the thin layer of sweat. What a strange dream though. Cresselia… That couldn't actually have been her, right? I've never even met her before. What would she want with me?

I draw my lips into a firm line. Dream or no, I can't easily dismiss what she said—that my existence was danger to the world. Still, I don't believe her any more than I could throw her. If I shouldn't exist, then that means I should've disappeared after Temporal Tower, right? I'm still here. I, along with everyone else from the future, was able to live—and Dialga himself gave me permission to return to the past. So even if any of that was real, she'd have to be wrong!

I release a heavy sigh. Well, there's nothing I can do about it: It's not even dawn… I might as well get some more sleep. Maybe tomorrow I can check back through my books to see if there's anything in them to explain what my dream could've been about. Then again, maybe it's because I've been so paranoid lately that I'm even dreaming about those things in the first place.

I'm restless, and the hammering in my chest won't stop, but eventually I manage to nap for just a little longer.