"Thank you again, Team Crusade, for all of your hard work. Without your help, we never would've brought this criminal, Granbull, in."

It's just another day of work as usual for us. Standing on the Guild compound's first floor, we've met up with Officer Magnezone and two other policemen in front of the Boards—just as we almost always do when transferring an outlaw over to him. Across from us on the opposite side of the chamber, Azalea is speaking with one of our other clients, a Glameow. We were able to pick up a few Chesto berries to deliver to Normal-type and Azalea could use the real-life experience, so we doubled on our missions and brought her along. From the looks of things, we have a satisfied customer.

"It's nothing," Ri shrugs with a grin, "It's part of the job, after all."

"Nevertheless, we appreciate your continued cooperation. Here's your reward." A tiny sack the size of our palm is tossed our way and my partner catches it in both hands, and inside it should be a few hundred Pokè. All in all, we haven't done badly for a day's work—and we managed to finish all of our jobs early, so we have some extra time to spare. All we have left is to divide a portion of the profits to our teammate-in-training.

After that, I think that I just want to turn in early for the night. My broken sleep from last night combined with my inability to stop thinking about it has left me drained: A good dinner and a fitful rest sounds pretty good right about now. I think Chimecho and Sunflora left to do a mission of their own, so unless Ri's planning on cooking something, maybe we should just eat at Spinda's Café tonight. It's too early for dinner, but it's not exactly like I'd complain about that either.

We watch on in silence as the officers take Granbull away, then wait on the sidelines for Azalea to wrap up her end of today's business. Maybe it's because she's a mythical Pokemon or maybe it's because the years spent exploring Sky Peak really did toughen her up when she was younger, but she's making some pretty good progress in her training. It doesn't surprise me that she's also good at handling clients either, considering she must've practically been raised for it. She's young—and, as I said, she lacks experience—but she's also knows how to sell herself. She's confident.

The biggest struggle she has is that she relies on her Magical Leaf in a fight too much, which can put her at a major disadvantage. She's knows other moves, but they're not as strong and I don't think she's put much effort into them. On top of that, if she keeps relying on Magical Leaf then she'll not only be putting herself in danger if she's against a poor type match-up, but she'll also be predictable. I'm hoping that Sunflora can help her, but maybe I could ask Grovyle to teach her a thing or two when he and the others get back.

Then again, I'm one to talk. I haven't forgotten the trouble we had at Aegis Cave. I still haven't been able to really learn Bite or Blaze Kick. To add even more pressure on us both, we got a letter from our teammates saying that they want results from our training when they get back. I glance down at the small sheet of paper in my hands now that we had been given when we first arrived from our jobs today:

'Dear Lira and Ri,

'I trust that the both of you are doing well. Dusknoir, Celebi, and I have continued our investigation regarding the anomalies; however, we've yet to find any direct cause for them. According to Dialga, there are no further disruptions to time and Temporal Tower remains stable. It doesn't seem as though there are any locations reverting to another state of paralysis, but all of us should still keep an eye out for any signs of disaster similar to what happened before. As of now, I'm not certain when we'll be able to write to you next or for how much longer we'll be gone. If either of you can gather any information on your end, we should eventually be stopping in Verins Basin: The two of you can send word by Pelipper there.

'In the meantime, practicing the moves that Dusknoir has been teaching the both of you should take priority. I imagine you've returned to taking jobs from the Boards, but we'll expect some measure of improvement when we return. Don't use this time as an excuse to fall slack on your training.

'We hope to come back to Treasure Town soon,

'—Grovyle'

Seeing those words again draws a firm line across my mouth. At least Ri's trying to apply what he's been learning to the field, but if anything, I've been trying to avoid it. I can't come up with excuses, but it's all so weird to me. I still hate using the shadowy energy needed for a Dark-type attack and Blaze Kick just doesn't feel natural for me to master. I've used Copycat to summon fire before, but to actually manifest it on my own seems impossible.

As soon as Azalea finishes up her talk with our client, she walks over to Ri and me with a wide smile. I could actually see handling relations being her main role on the team, since she's good at it and enjoys it so much. Still, I think she'd rather be in the field like us despite—or maybe rather because of—the risk. Like us, she wants the thrills and adventure of being on an exploration team.

"We got a hundred Pokè and a couple of Totter Seeds from Glameow," the young Shaymin informs with a gleam of success in her eyes, "Thanks for bringing me along on the job, you two! I have to admit, I was worried I'd never get to go on any missions."

I raise a brow, a faint smirk tugging at my lips, "You know you can always take a few rookie jobs on your own if you want to. You don't have to stay here when we're not around. "

She shakes her head at that, "O-oh, I don't think I'm ready! Everything's still so new to me, I'd probably just make a mess of things and have to send a note to be rescued myself."

I glance over at my partner to find a glimmer of understanding in his eyes and my smirk broadens. He was so backward when we first formed an exploration team that he might've said those exact same words on any day. Now he's ready to take on almost any job on the Boards. "Lira just turned into a Pokemon and I was pretty scared about facing criminals when we first started," Ri assures her, "You should start small, but one day you can come along with us on bigger jobs."

She beams at him when he says this. There's no telling when that day will be, but she does have potential. Who knows: Maybe she'll end up graduating as early into her apprenticeship as we did.

We give Azalea her share of the profits and take another glance over the Boards—helping her pick whichever assignments would best suit her as well as glancing over the swarm of posters to see if there's anything else we could take on for tomorrow. We settle on an escort mission that will bring us close to the Crystal Caves: There's a chance Azelf might know something about the distortions going on in the world, so we could try talking to her on our way back. She could probably contact Uxie or Mesprit using her telepathy while we're there too, but she likely won't tell us anything that they haven't already talked about amongst themselves.

We've just picked out another delivery mission for Azalea when she suddenly turns towards us and asks, "Hey, since we have some time to spare… Do you think you two could maybe help me pick out a few things in town? Maybe we could have a picnic too. On the beach?"

My eyes widen a bit at that. As tired as I am, Azalea doesn't ask for much so it's not like we can say no easily—and if she's going to start heading out on missions by herself then it would be better if she had the right equipment. Since she joined our team, she didn't get any items to start with like with did, so it's our job to take care of what she needs. I'm not particularly concerned over that, but the part about going to the beach… I cross my arms over my chest. Is Ri going to be ok with that?

I can't tell what he's feeling, but he puts on a smile, "Oh yeah! The weather's great today again! An afternoon out sounds nice." He then glances over at me, "Right, Lira?"

"Right," I offer back. I don't really know if there's much else that I can say to that. We were both so upset over what happened with Manaphy, but I know we've also both been fighting hard to move forward.

Like every other member of the Guild, Ri and I do have a locker at Kangaskhan's Storage. Perishables won't last long; however, we do keep a few odds and ends we've earned as a team there. We should have a few pieces of equipment to spare and we can get a bag for her at the Kecleon brothers' shop while we're buying food.

"Maybe we should get you some kind of ribbon," I muse aloud as we walk. I can't remember what it's called, but I think we have one that improves both one's defenses and attack power—if only by a hair each. Something basic like that might work for her.

"No, I want some kind of bandana," she practically whines, shaking her head insistently. "A ribbon would just fall right off when I'm flying!"

"Flying?" I echo, and then I remember the unique form her species' can take: Her Sky Form. I also remember it being an only temporary thing too. "How are you going to manage that on explorations?" I ask, "And doesn't the Gracidea flower only grow on Sky Peak?"

"That's just within the Grass Continent," she purses her lips, "My ancestors migrated from another land before coming to Sky Peak. And they flew here and planted the Gracideas themselves. I could grow some here, and the flowers should last long enough if I have to pick them. I'll just be so much faster and stronger in my Sky Form."

Well… If she gets it to work, I don't really see a problem with it. Still, she can't really on that form like she does with her Magical Leaf. There's a chance that the flower won't grow here or that she'll face a tough opponent as the way she is now.

I know Ri's thinking the same thing when he says, "We should probably find you a Pecha Scarf then, Azalea." It's just like him to think of something so perfect for her to use. We can help her work on her strength and endurance, but if she draws in any miasma to the extreme that she did at Sky Peak, there's a chance she could really end up hurting herself—possibly fatally. We can't always be there for her like we were then, and we still don't even know what we did or how we could replicate it. A Pecha Scarf should help eliminate whatever poison she might draw into her body. It should also help her against Poison-types specifically, since she already has a disadvantage there as a Grass-type.

When we make it into town, I notice a distinct difference that I didn't earlier this morning: There's less people. As small as it is, Treasure Town is still usually a hub of activity for all different kinds of travelers. I figured the storm from last night had kept a few people indoors for a little longer this morning, but there's hardly anyone outside now, even though the weather is perfect. Is this what it's like being in town this early in the afternoon? I didn't think it would be this… dead…

I leave Ri and Azalea to decide on what to eat and walk a little farther down the main road until I get to Kangaskhan's. You'd think with her imposing height she'd be a bit more intimidating than she is, but really she acts like a local mother to pretty much everyone in town. I'll never forget walking on a scene where she had been nagging Xatu—the most respected Pokemon in town behind Torkoal and Wigglytuff—about eating better.

That's why I'm a little surprised when her usual, welcoming grin is replaced by tired eyes and a distance gaze. Even her usually energetic toddler is sound asleep and I've never once seen him act anything but restless. "Hey Auntie Kangaskhan," I say in a low voice. Since the kid is asleep for a change, I'm not about to be the one to wake him. "Is everything ok?"

She gives me a faint smile—it's not often that I called her 'Auntie' as most do, but occasionally it slips out—and then sighs, "I just had a lot of trouble getting junior here to bed last night." Pushing herself up from the stone counter in a long stretch, she adds, "I guess I really didn't get much sleep either. Usually the rain relaxes me…"

"It looks like that storm brought a rough night for more than one of us then," I snort good-naturedly to try to make light of it, "Maybe that's why the town's so quiet today: Everyone's busy sleeping."

She chuckles at that, "A good night's rest tonight will probably cure that. The streets will probably be as crowded as usual by tomorrow."

I hope she's right. I'd rather not go through another sequence of restless nights as I've done time and time again. Sometimes they were memories and sometimes they were nightmares: Every time, they left me feeling mentally and emotionally drained.

With neither of us feeling up for much small talk, we finish our business pretty quickly and soon enough I meet back with Ri and Azalea. The Kecleon brothers only prove their gift of selling practically anything in their shop when they find a sturdy saddle bag that fits her just right and can be adjusted for when she transforms. My partner amazes again with some lettuce, bread, and a mix of odd vegetables and berries to make an odd, light dinner of spring rolls and toast with jam for dessert. Our afternoon at the beach is strangely enjoyable, even with the bittersweet memories is brings back, and mine and Ri's evening is spent looking over some of the pictures in one of my books while I awkwardly attempt to explain them. It's nice.

But unfortunately, when sleep comes, it brings exactly what I dreaded with it.

It begins the very same as it did last time: I'm suspended motionlessly in a hazy void of wavering colors. As strange as all of this is, I'm actually thankful for the striking familiarity of the scene because it gives me a minute to piece my thoughts together. Again? Am I dreaming again..? I have to be. This wouldn't be the first time I've had the same dreams multiple times.

Which means I know exactly what happens next: The familiar figure of the swan-like legendary appears in front of me with as calm a visage as before. If all of this means anything, if it isn't just something that I pulled out of my head in a desperate attempt to rationalize everything that's happened, I have to press her for more information. "Cresselia, please tell me more…" I insist. I've managed to rein in a bit of the chaos of feelings roaring in me enough to speak to her in a relatively steady voice. "About what you said last time. You said that my existence is driving the world to ruin. What did you mean by that?"

She doesn't even so much as blink when she explains, "You are a human who came from the future. You are not of this world. That is creating the distortion in the fabric of space."

"Distortion in the fabric of space?!" In which case, if this is real, then Dialga and Temporal Tower really don't have anything to do with what's been going on in the world. It's not a problem with time: It's a problem with space. In essence, it's an issue with the boundaries of our reality. I don't know what that has to do with my being human though.

I guess I exist as a time paradox, but I'm reminded again that if that was a problem then Dialga would've done something about it. Who is the legendary in charge of space again? I can't remember, but what about them? If I'm a problem, then why haven't they done anything?

There's one thought that gives Cresselia some ground to what she's saying though: The voice at Luminous Spring said that, because of a distortion in the fabric of space, Ri and I can't evolve. I could understand it if it was just me, because as a human I shouldn't have any evolutionary form. Following that logic, what she says makes a little more sense since—as a Pokemon—I shouldn't exist. What about Ri though? He can't have anything to do with this…

"If this distortion of space were to expand," she continues, "This world would be ruined."

"The distortion of space w-will ruin the world…" I echo. I still can't easily believe it. Then why was I allowed to come back here?

Before I can even bring up Dialga though, a flash of light streaks across the void. It can't be ending already! Still, I can already see the dream breaking apart as Cressalia's form begins to line with cracks of white. "You are a presence that must not exist in this world!" she exclaims as her form breaks apart and her words split into fragments, "You must… not… be here…"

"W-wait! Please tell me more!" But it's too late. I can't hang onto the dream and it slips from my mind like grains of sand coursing through my fingers. I'm expelled from the bright, colorful void as quickly as I was dragged into it, fading away into utter blackness…