Another long chapter with a good deal of events. I think this should be quite interesting.
Enjoy and I hope it's as good as I think it is.
PMD 2: A Novelization
Chapter 34: Exploring the Hidden Land
The Hidden Land was one of the hardest locations that Team Long Ears had explored. Dragon-type pokemon were not uncommon. They frequently came across dragonite (two-legged, horned pokemon that looked very much like a classic dragon) and garchomp (which looked like a cross between a shark and a dragon). They also came across abomasnow, which were massive tree-like pokemon covered in ice; the presence of these were announced by the air suddenly being filled with hail, which hurt as it came down on their heads.
Alex, Eve, and Grovyle all found themselves working together like they never had before. When a dragonite came, Alex electrocuted it as it was frequently air-borne, Eve supported his attacks and those of Grovyle as well, who darted forward and slammed it. When garchomp appeared, Alex and Grovyle would switch roles: Grovyle would take the front, lashing the shark/dragon with his leaf blades and Alex would make swift strikes from behind him.
"Nice teamwork everyone." Eve said after they took down yet another garchomp.
"This could wear me down fast though…" Alex breathed.
"Don't forget we're here too, Alex." Grovyle said "You're not alone."
Alex just smiled appreciatively at Grovyle and they proceeded.
Things got complicated at one point when they found manectric also dwelling in the Hidden Land. Manectric were the evolved counter-parts to electrikes, and Alex still remembered the "lightning-rod" frustration from those. Manectric were no different and the team found themselves in a tricky situation when they came across both a manectric and a dragonite alongside it.
Eve got directly involved this time. She charged at the manectric, and bit it. Grovyle also focused his attack on it. The pokemon was resilient though and stayed standing. Alex meanwhile, tried to distract the dragonite from his companions. Unable to use electricity (lest it get drawn away by the manectric), he slammed the dragonite with his tail. The dragonite, thankfully, focused on him, rather than Grovyle and came at Alex, wings wide. Alex withstood the attack and Eve also stood up to the manectric when it returned her biting attack with an electric bite of its own.
Grovyle slammed it with one fist and as it went down, Eve assisted Alex with the dragonite.
It finally went down as Alex electrocuted it and, relieved to be done with that tricky situation, they continued on their way through the Hidden Land.
Alex had packed a Stamina band again and was grateful to have it as they explored. They were spending copious amounts of time exploring, trying to find the way up; they had decided to just start their exploration with going up, trying to get closer to Temporal Tower. The Hidden Land was a bit of a labyrinth and the journey through it was grueling at points; it didn't help when an abomasnow was present in the area as it always meant hail coming down on them and wearing them down further.
There was also one point where they came to one edge of the Hidden Land and a local resident of the floating island picked a fight with them there. They were backed up on the edge of the deep drop, with yet another garchomp wanting to take a bite out of them.
It rushed at them, faster than something so large seemed capable of, and lashed out at Grovyle with its large claws. Grovyle evaded the brunt of the strike and counter-attacked. Alex, having found earlier that these particular dragons seemed immune to electricity, ran up the garchomps back and slapped it over the head with his tail.
I swear, it's become my signature move second to frying my opponents… Alex couldn't help thinking. Then he had to jump down to avoid the garchomp's claws while Eve and Grovyle attacked it directly from the front.
In a last-ditch attempt, it blindly charged them and Grovyle didn't react fast enough to completely avoid it. The garchomp went right over the edge of the Hidden Land, dragging Grovyle with it!
"Grovyle!" both Alex and Eve yelled and ran up to see their companion hanging on to the rocks. Their opponent wasn't anywhere to be seen.
"I've been in worse situations…" Grovyle grunted as he attempted to start climbing.
They both quickly reached down and helped Grovyle back up and soon, he was back on solid ground again.
"You scared both of us there, Grovyle…" Alex panted, he had exhausted himself, not from lifting Grovyle but from worry that Grovyle had fallen off completely back there.
Grovyle just chuckled.
"I'm tougher than that." He said with a hint of smugness. Alex playfully punched him on the arm.
"Don't do that to us again."
His old friend just smirked and proceeded forward, the team following him.
o0o
Day and night didn't appear to exist here as they had been traveling for a while and they couldn't see the sun anywhere around the Hidden Land, yet there was daylight over everything. It was strange but Alex was just grateful that it wasn't dark.
They finally arrived somewhere they could rest and took the opportunity gratefully.
"How much further do you think we have to go?" Eve asked them as they sat down.
"The Rainbow Stoneship could be anywhere around here…" Grovyle said, shrugging "What I'm more concerned about is how long we have… we really don't have time to rest all that long…" he said looking at Temporal Tower overhead. The tower was always visible on the island, no matter where they were.
Alex was aware that as long as it was firmly standing on its rock over them, they still had time but he also knew Grovyle was right. They had no way of knowing how long it would stay that way, it could possibly crumble any minute now and then their mission was done for.
"Let's go…" he finally said, standing. He was still a little tired and (though they didn't show it) so were his two companions, but they nodded in agreement and stood as well.
They were in an elevated portion of the Hidden Land now. As they went along a cliff, they could see the areas they had passed through far below.
Their opponents didn't change all that much from what they had encountered in the lower lands, though abomasnow seemed more frequent in these areas. Despite the pressing hail though, the trio pushed on.
o0o
They finally came across a stone entryway and went inside.
They were in a hallway that was well lit with light coming in from cracks in the ceiling overhead.
"Wow…" Eve was gazing at the walls, which depicted various figures "What are these?"
One of the first figures they saw on the walls was a vivid pink in color and had what looked like a long tail. It looked vaguely like a cat.
"I'm not sure… but I think these are legends that shaped the world… and who we are…" Grovyle said, looking around the quiet hallway.
As they proceeded, they saw other figures. Something that was definitely Groudon was depicted facing another pokemon that was just as large and resembled a blue whale.
One of the last murals was of something that looked like Dialga, facing to the side, its back to another figure that Alex couldn't identify.
"What is that…?" Alex murmured looking at the figure, which was primarily white and pink and had a smoother figure than Dialga. Grovyle shook his head though when Alex looked at him for an answer.
"I'm afraid I only know about Dialga. I imagine that other pokemon is related to Dialga in some way but I really do not know."
"Hey, there's an opening up ahead!" Eve called from ahead of them "C'mon!"
They followed Eve out another entryway and found themselves at what appeared to be the base of small pyramid, a long stairway going up to the top directly in front of them.
They worked their way up the steps and looked around at the top.
Eve's attention was drawn to the ground in the center of the peak. There was a stone circle in the center of the pyramid with a pattern that was the same as the one back at Brine Cave and on the Relic Fragment. However, in the center of the pattern was a small hole, like someone had chipped out a chunk of the stone.
"What do you suppose the pattern is here for?" she asked.
Alex though, noticed to the left, there was tablet standing like a tombstone on the edge of the pyramid's peak. He approached the tablet and looked at it. Etched into the stone were various figures that looked bizarre but were certainly not footprint runes.
Grovyle noticed his investigation and came to take a look as well. His eyes brightened when he saw the figures etched in the tablet.
"Those are Unown runes." He said "Move over Alex, I can read this. I've studied them extensively before. I had to to find how to fix time."
Alex stepped aside and Grovyle knelt down in front of the tablet, scanning it with his eyes.
It took a few minutes, during which Alex and Eve waited, somewhat impatiently for him to finish translating.
"Well, what does it say?" Eve said as he lowered his hand from the tablet.
Grovyle smiled in response.
"I've got it." He said, turning to look at them and then pointed at the pattern in the middle of the pyramid "This right here; this is the Rainbow Stoneship."
Both were stunned.
"Really?" Eve said, now excited "How do we get it moving?"
"Your Relic Fragment is the key. You just stick it in that hole in the center and that should activate it." Grovyle said, pointing at the hole.
"Alright," Eve nodded and walked up to the hole "I'll put it right in there then."
She hadn't even pulled it out yet though when a very familiar voice called all of them.
"That will do!"
Quite suddenly, two sableye came running up each set of stairs around them (there were three stairways) and they were surrounded. Dusknoir came hovering up the stairway to the right of the tablet, opposite the stairway Alex and his companions had come up.
"Dusknoir?" Grovyle said, clearly stunned "How'd you get here?"
"It's quite simple really: I had Master Dialga warp us here directly. I knew you'd have to come here to get to Temporal Tower so I just waited here to trap you." Dusknoir chuckled softly "So much easier than chasing you all down all over again."
He then snapped his fingers and the Sableye all closed in until the three were huddled, back-to-back to one another.
"Come along." Dusknoir said and hovered back down the stairs. They were shoved along down the stairs until they arrived at a small clearing at the base of the stairs. There was a dimensional hole waiting for them there.
"Into the hole with them." Dusknoir commanded.
"Ready, you two?" Grovyle said very softly.
"Yeah." Both of them responded quietly. Then, as one, they all lashed out at the sableye and scattered Dusknoir's underlings in all directions, knocking them clear back. They were still surrounded though.
Dusknoir sighed over this inconvenience.
"So, you've still got some fight left then?" he said, taking a position between them and the dimensional hole.
"We're not giving up that easily!" Grovyle declared.
"Hmph…" Dusknoir clasped his fist in one hand, cracking the knuckles and repeated with the other hand "Very well. Let's see what little resistance you can put up."
Alex felt nervous facing their former hero but he glanced at his two partners and they both nodded in encouragement.
"Get them!" Dusknoir ordered and the sableye all charged in to attack!
As the sableye came close, Alex violently unleashed a blast of electricity in all directions. Three sableye were shocked and skipped back, jittering from the electricity snapping at them.
Grovyle slashed another, eliminating the ghost-type in a hurry. Eve snapped at another, who shied away from the attack but didn't back off. The last cautiously approached Alex, wary of his electricity.
Dusknoir meanwhile, was advancing on Alex. As soon as he was in range, he came at the pikachu, swinging.
Alex jumped over the fist and landed on Dusknoir's arm. From there, he clung to the ghost's arm and fed him electricity directly through his arm.
Dusknoir endured the electricity to reach over with his other hand and seize Alex. He then slammed the former human into the ground.
Grovyle reacted to this in outrage. He lunged at Dusknoir with his leaf blades. Dusknoir blocked the attack with one arm and countered with a punch. A sudden drop in temperature accompanied the fist and Grovyle was knocked down, getting covered in ice-crystals. The grass-type yelled out from pain.
Dusknoir grinned maliciously.
"Not so high and mighty against Ice Punch, are you Grovyle?" he laughed.
Alex stood up and unleashed another violent blast of electricity, frying the sableye behind him and taking Dusknoir in front of him off-guard.
The ghost then found himself unable to effectively move as the electricity continued to arc around him.
"Not so high and mighty when paralyzed, are you Dusknoir?" Alex said, taunting him.
"Why you-!" Dusknoir started but then Eve, who had just finished dealing with the last sableye, jumped at him and bit him, hard!
Dusknoir roared with both pain and fury and seemed to stagger backwards (it's hard to say he exactly "staggered" since he was floating). Grovyle got up, shaking off the ice and lunged at Dusknoir, who backed up more, getting overwhelmed.
"You're no longer the hero we thought you were, Dusknoir." Alex said, advancing on Dusknoir, Eve and Grovyle following him.
"And now we're stronger than you'll ever be." Alex continued, stepping up to his opponent, who was still trying to shake off his paralysis.
"Go back and tell Primal Dialga to get lost!" Alex yelled, jumping at Dusknoir's head and flipping. Though typing cut the move's power, the tail-slam still knocked Dusknoir's head straight into the ground at his feet!
"We're going to save the planet from paralysis." Alex declared.
Grovyle and Eve stepped up, looking at him with some admiration. However, their silent celebrations were cut short by Dusknoir, whose arms were shaking and he was gripping the dirt…
"I…I… I…" he growled, then suddenly jumped up "I refuse to lose!" he bellowed defiantly and lashed out at all of them with a heavy roundhouse punch. All three were knocked back, they managed to stay on their feet though.
"You!" Dusknoir roared, furious "You're not saving anyone!"
Then to their surprise, the golden face-like design on Dusknoir's belly opened up in what was unmistakably a dark, black mouth!
"You're finished!" Dusknoir yelled angrily and a black ball of energy started to gather at the mouth.
"What's it gonna take to get Dusknoir to go down?" Alex said incredulously.
"Watch it… he's readying some sort of attack with that second mouth or whatever that is." Grovyle said tensely, staring at the black ball gathering.
Alex could tell they were in trouble here. They couldn't evade the attack due to the sableye still standing to the sides, and if such a large attack hit them, they'd be down for sure.
Then an idea came to him. Like some of his other ideas (the quicksand one came to mind), it sounded insane…
But we don't have any other clear options now and no time. It's like what Grovyle said back in the past. Time to act… no time to be afraid of the consequences.
"Eve, Grovyle! When he launches that attack, we need to all strike at it! It might not work but we need to try and knock it back at Dusknoir!"
Eve stared, slightly panic-stricken. Dusknoir was too furious to hear what they were saying.
"What? Are you serious?" she yelled.
Grovyle understood though.
"We don't have time to argue about it. We'll just have to do it and hope it works!"
Dusknoir roared and fired the black ball at them!
They all turned to face the incoming attack…
At the last possible moment, Alex yelled "NOW!"
They all slammed the black ball at once and the blow jolted it. Miraculously, the ball was launched back the way it had come!
Dusknoir was too surprised to react before the ball slammed itself back into the mouth it had come from and there was a blinding flash as he howled in pain.
When the light vanished, Dusknoir was hovering in place, his eye flickering, a small amount of smoke oozing from the mouth on his stomach.
He groaned, rising into the air, shaking… then collapsed on the ground with a heavy thud.
All six sableye immediately looked uneasy.
"Lord Dusknoir…" one murmured, clearly concerned.
"Lord Dusknoir has fallen…" they all looked at one another, then at the trio, who all just stared back at them.
They all screeched in terror and fled into the dimensional hole.
Grovyle walked up to Dusknoir, who seemed to still be mildly conscious.
"You just can't attract reliable servants, can you?" Grovyle said smugly. Dusknoir could only groan in response.
"I'll go get the Rainbow Stoneship running." Eve said and ran off up the pyramid steps.
Dusknoir shifted on the ground and Grovyle immediately was on-guard.
"Don't move!"
Dusknoir had managed to lift himself enough to get his head off the ground so he was looking up at both Alex and Grovyle.
"Is this… really what you want Grovyle?" he rasped, weak from taking his own attack "To change the future?"
They didn't bother responding. They knew they were changing the future.
"You do realize what will happen when you change the future, don't you?" Dusknoir said, and he sounded desperate, almost as if he were pleading.
"When you change the future, everything from the future will fade! Not just me! Both of you! Alex as well!"
Alex's eyes widen and he immediately suspected a lie. An attempt to shake their resolve. However, there was an emotion in Dusknoir's eye besides desperation… Alex couldn't be certain but it looked like fear...
Is he serious? Is he telling the… the truth?
Alex looked at Grovyle and the expression on Grovyle's face said everything.
Grovyle looked sad… as if he were being forced to do something he'd rather not.
"Yes, Alex…" Grovyle said calmly, knowing that Alex was looking to him for answers "It's true. When we change the future, both of us will vanish."