Chapter 19
To the Hidden Land
Night had arrived in the Grass Continent. At Wigglytuff's guild, all of the remaining members were back safe and sound, including Chatot, who was now making a slow but steady recovery according to Wigglytuff. The parrot needed to rest and recover tonight so that he could be fully healed by tomorrow. The guildmaster himself, meanwhile, told the story of when he and Chatot first encountered the vicious Kabutops and his two omastar allies. Wigglytuff had first told the story to Chatot when the rest of the guild was listening to their conversation at Brine Cave, but the guildmaster did not mention that Lapras came to save them, so he included that piece of information. He then went to tell the guild about the strange pattern that was on Blaze's Relic Fragment, and its meaning and connection to the Hidden Land. Wigglytuff finally added that only a chosen few like Leon, Blaze, and Grovyle, could be selected to go to the Hidden Land itself. He told the guild that from there on out, Team Poképals and Grovyle had the sole responsibility to save the world from its impending paralysis.
Meanwhile at sea, Lapras told to Team Poképals and Grovyle on how she met Wigglytuff and Chatot at Brine Cave.
"Initially, I didn't intend to reveal myself at all...but I changed my mind the instant I saw Chatot on the ground. I simply had to help. Afterwards, I made Wigglytuff promise me something."
"What was it?" questioned Blaze.
"First of all… I recognized right away that Wigglytuff and Chatot were an exploration team. I first said to them that I couldn't tell if they were bandits with big ambitions, or if they were an exploration team with good intentions, so I asked, for the sake of the world's peace...that they please not investigate the peculiar pattern there."
"What was Wigglytuff's response?" questioned Leon.
"He promised to honor my request, most agreeably," answered Lapras. "He said he owed me thanks for coming to Chatot's aid...and that he would stop all investigations into the matter."
"So that's what happened," said Blaze. "But...why didn't you want anyone else to investigate the pattern?"
"Because within the Hidden Land...is Temporal Tower," Lapras responded, "where the legendary temporal pokémon Dialga reigns. He feared intruders could wreak havoc at the tower that regulates time. Thus, he decided to protect Temporal Tower by hiding the Hidden Land in a gap in time."
"A gap in time?"
"Yes. It is hard to explain, but from what I heard...it's the space between parts of a split second."
"I see," replied Grovyle. "No wonder the place couldn't be found. With a gap in time like that...no one could ever hope to go to a place such as the Hidden Land."
"No, that's not entirely true," insisted Lapras. "Dialga left one key for entering the Hidden Land, which was a special fragment with a mysterious pattern etched into it."
"So, in other words, it was my Relic Fragment?" questioned Blaze.
"Precisely. That, is why all three of you are on your way to the Hidden Land right now."
Grovyle turned to Team Poképals.
"OK, Leon and Blaze. We've all had a long day. We need to rest up so we can be ready as we can be when we arrive at the Hidden Land tomorrow. Get some sleep, because we'll have to give it our all tomorrow."
Team Poképals nodded in agreement, as they and the wood gecko laid on Lapras' back to go to sleep. The transport pokémon, meanwhile, kept on sailing to get closer to the entrance of the Hidden Land.
The next morning, Lapras was still swimming on the water, as Team Poképals and Grovyle were fully awake.
"Hey, Lapras," Blaze said.
The transport pokémon turned her head back to the three pokémon.
"What is it, Blaze?"
"You've been swimming a long time. Are you doing OK?"
"I'm just fine. No need for concern, because we're almost there." Lapras turned her head back to the front. "See? It's coming into view."
"What's coming into view?"
"Do you see looks a little different, on the far horizon?"
The three pokémon looked closer to the front to see a portal within distance.
"It is true!" Grovyle said. "The waves are all twisted up now!"
"Lapras, wh-what is that?!" questioned Blaze.
"The edge of the gap in time," she answered. "That is the portal which we will go to the Hidden Land." Her swimming started to speed up a bit. "Hang on now!"
Her speed increased even more, until her body was lifted off the water!
"Whoa!" exclaimed Leon and Blaze. "You're flying, Lapras!"
"No, that's not it!" insisted Grovyle. "This isn't flying! We're crossing the sea of time!"
Lapras' speed increased even more, until she and the three pokémon on her back were in the portal within the edge of the gap of time. They were all transported to a sight where they saw a floating land high in the sky, with black stormy clouds below, and yellow clouds in the air. The rocks on the upper left corner had a tower stationed on one large rock, which was presumed to be the Temporal Tower.
"Lapras..." Grovyle said, "...is that it?! Is that the Hidden Land?!"
"Yes! It's the Hidden Land, all right! Now, all of you hang on tight! We're going in!"
The transport pokémon and the three on her back had finally made their way to the ever-elusive Hidden Land.
Once Lapras got near the floating Hidden Land, she got close enough to a patch of green grass in front of her so that Leon, Blaze, and Grovyle could get onto the green surface safely. They looked around at the amazing sight of the land itself.
"Th-this...is really the Hidden Land...incredible!" commented Blaze.
"We finally made it here," Grovyle said.
"Please look ahead," suggested Lapras.
The three pokémon turned to the front and were alarmed by something there...
"Whoa! What's that?!" bellowed Blaze.
Above the Hidden Land itself, was a tower standing on a rocky formation further up in the sky with a swirl of red clouds on top of the tower.
"Is that...perhaps..." started Grovyle.
"Yes. It's Temporal Tower," answered Lapras.
"That must be where Dialga is… That's where we have to go to take those Time Gears there."
"But if you take a closer look," Leon said, "that place seems to be floating in the sky! I wonder how we're supposed to get there?"
"You must take the Rainbow Stoneship," answered Lapras.
Team Poképals and Grovyle turned to her.
"The Rainbow Stoneship?" said Grovyle.
"Yes," answered Lapras. "You will find it within the Old Ruins far ahead. That is where you find an ancient, mystical vessel, called the Rainbow Stoneship, which will take you to Temporal Tower."
"Thank you, Lapras!" Blaze said.
"That is all I can do for all of you here. From here on out, you're on your own. Good luck on reaching Temporal Tower!"
Leon, Blaze, and Grovyle nodded, understanding her words. The chimchar turned to Grovyle and Leon, as they turned to him as well.
"We don't have far to go now, guys! Let's keep it up!"
The two nodded in agreement, as the trio made its way to the Kangaskhan Rock that near the entrance of the dungeon of Hidden Land. They restocked their item supply in their bag so that they were fully ready to tackle the dungeon itself.
In the Hidden Land's dungeon, there was nearly 25 floors of pokémon of many several types. Leon, Blaze, and Grovyle, would have to remember their respective type strengths and weaknesses, and rely on backing each other up to get through this tricky dungeon.
After getting through the dungeon, the trio finally arrived at the Old Ruins deep within the Hidden Land. They were amazed at what they saw in the ruins themselves. They saw one ancient inscription of Mew, another with Kyogre and Groudon, and one more with Palkia and Dialga. Grovyle reminded his two friends to not waste any more time examining the inscriptions and get going toward the Rainbow Stoneship, which was not very far now.
When they arrived outside, they went up the rocky stairs ahead in the temple section of the Old Ruins. After a few seconds, they arrived at the top and noticed above the circle that they were standing on had the same peculiar pattern of that on Blaze's Relic Fragment. They paid even more attention to what was in the center of it…
"There's a small indentation in the middle," said Blaze. "I wonder what it's for…?"
Leon looked around to find a tablet at the top as well.
"Hey, guys, look over here!"
They went with him over towards the tablet.
"What is it, Leon?" questioned Grovyle.
"It's a stone tablet! There seems to be something inscribed here." He looked closely at the inscription. "What are these...strange runes?"
"They're inscribed with Unown letters, meaning it's in an ancient language."
"Can you read it, Grovyle?" Blaze said.
"Yes. I've researched extensively to learn about this."
"Really?!" both Leon and Blaze said. "That's great! Read it!"
"Don't be so impatient," insisted Grovyle. "Give me a minute."
The wood gecko pokémon examined the Unown runes for a few moments carefully, then he started to read silently from the inscription. Later, he described to both Leon and Blaze what it meant…
"It appears that this place that we're standing on right now...is the Rainbow Stoneship."
"What?!" the piplup and chimchar exclaimed in amazement. "This is it?!"
"Yes, that's right," answered Grovyle. He and his friends turned back to the indentation back to the middle of the stoneship. "As you may have noticed, there is an indentation here." They went closer to it. "Here it is. Blaze, this is where your Relic Fragment goes. Fit that fragment with the strange pattern on it into the indentation."
The chimchar jumped up in alarm.
"What?! You want me to put it in there?"
"That's right. That will activate the Rainbow Stoneship, which will allow us to ride it up to Temporal Tower, as indicated by the tablet."
Blaze had his eyes shining.
"Really?!"
"Of course. Try it and see."
"OK, then! I'll fit it into this hollow spot!"
As Blaze tried to remove his necklace containing the Relic Fragment, he was stopped by an awfully familiar voice…
"That's quite enough of that."
The trio looked around to see who it was!
"Who's...there?!" demanded Grovyle.
"Wheh-heh-heh!" another voice boomed.
All of a sudden, six sableye, a pair of each that came from each of the three stairways, surrounded the trio!
"It's the sableye!" Blaze exclaimed. "That must mean..."
They then heard evil laughing coming from the right stairway! They turned there to see that Dusknoir had indeed arrived along with his sableye minions! He approached the trio!
"Dusknoir's here also!" Leon said.
"How did you get here?!" demanded Grovyle.
"It was quite simple, actually," answered Dusknoir. "I had Master Dialga warp us here directly. After all, I knew that all of you would inevitably come here. Waiting here spared us the bother of having to search for you."
Grovyle grunted in frustration, as Dusknoir replied with a laugh.
"Unfortunately, all of you are coming back to the future with me." The gripper pokémon looked to his sableye minions. "My fellow sableye, take them to the dimensional hole!"
They laughed in agreement, and dragged the trio down the right stairway. When they got to the bottom where the dimensional hole was, Dusknoir ordered the sableye to stop and they and awaited their next order…
"My fellow sableye, into the dimensional hole with them!"
They laughed again, while Grovyle whispered to Leon and Blaze to think about how to avoid being dragged back to the future…
"Blaze and Leon...now!"
"You got it!" replied Blaze.
"I'm with you!" said Leon.
All of a sudden, the three bashed the sableye out of the way as the minions cried out in pain! The trio then went into their battle stances.
"Well, well..." commented Dusknoir. "All of you are displaying some feeble resistance, even though you know it's futile..."
"Did you expect anything less?" replied Grovyle.
"Then you leave me no choice."
Dusknoir stepped into the fray…
"I'll simply defeat all of you here, then take you to the future. It makes no difference to me."
Grovyle let out a grunt of frustation, as Dusknoir continued.
"Even though the odds are overwhelmingly stacked against you, how much resistance can you manage to serve up? Show me!"
The sableye got into their battle stances as well!
"Swarm them!" ordered Dusknoir.
The battle between good and evil had begun!
Being surrounded by six sableye and their master, Dusknoir, Team Poképals and Grovyle would have to pull every trick out of their bag to get out of this tight situation they found themselves in! Luckily, just like with Leon and Blaze's prior boss battles, they had a slew of items at their disposal to defeat the sableye first before they could target Dusknoir himself. The trio eventually did that, and turned to Dusknoir.
"It's only you and us now, Dusknoir!" bellowed Grovyle.
"Try and stop me!"
Deciding they could just use their pure battling tactics to bring down Dusknoir, Team Poképals and Grovyle went all out to bring down the villain once and for all!
A few moments later, Dusknoir collapsed to the ground in defeat. Deciding not to take any risks, the trio approached him to see if he was truly beaten.
All of a sudden, he rose back up again!
"I refuse to lose!" he yelled.
The gripper pokémon pushed Team Poképals and Grovyle a few feet back, as they cried out in pain.
"All of you are so gullible!" Dusknoir said. "If you thought I was beaten, think again! For all the effort in the world...with your puny power...you had no chance of winning right from the start!"
Blaze turned to his friends.
"Ugh...he truly is tough."
"Don't give up!" Grovyle insisted. "We can still beat him!"
"That's easy for you to say..."
Dusknoir approached the trio, as Blaze turned back to him.
"You've done admirably well for those as pitiful as you...but it's all over now." He opened his face-like belly up to prepare his ultimate attack! "This is the end...for all of you!"
"The mouth on his stomach opened up!" Blaze said, amazed.
"He's trying to do something!" Grovyle insisted.
"Is he going to unleash a move on us, from that mouth on his stomach?!" Leon said. He thought carefully but quickly, and got an idea! "Wait…! The mouth on his stomach! That's it! This could work for us!"
"What are you saying, Leon?!" Blaze and Grovyle yelled, as Dusknoir gathered energy from his stomach to form a big black ball!
"We'll force our combined moves down his stomach!" answered Leon.
"WHAT?!"
"There's no time! It's our only chance to stop him! Trust me on this!"
The trio got their best moves ready, as Dusknoir let his move loose!
"TAKE THIS!"
Leon, Blaze, and Grovyle, all simultaneously shouted out the names of their moves!
"HYDRO PUMP!"
"FLAMETHROWER!"
"LEAF BLADE!"
Just at the right time, the three moves hit Dusknoir's black ball and sent it back towards him! Once it hit him, he let out a loud cry of pain as the contact from the black ball blinded the area!
When the dust cleared, Dusknoir was barely able to stay floating, while he groaned in great pain. He let out a roar as he collapsed once more, ending the long hard battle for good. His sableye minions were shocked that he had been defeated. The heroic trio was also exhausted, but were clearly in much better condition.
"We...did it..." said Blaze slowly.
"He's...finally down..." Grovyle replied.
"We've finally beaten him!" Leon said.
The six sableye were in shock once again.
"Wheh...it can't be..."
"Lord Dusknoir..."
"...Is defeated!"
They looked at each other for a quick second, before they made a beeline into the dimensional hole to go back to the future without their master!
Leon, Blaze, and Grovyle approached the now minion-less Dusknoir.
"Humph. Your sableye ran off," said Grovyle. "You just had no luck attracting reliable allies."
Dusknoir could only groan in pain and disappointment, as Grovyle turned to Blaze.
"Blaze!"
"What is it?" the chimchar said, turning to the wood gecko.
"Go to the top of the temple so you can finally place your Relic Fragment into the indentation to try and get the Rainbow Stoneship moving. Make it quick while Leon and I try to keep an eye on Dusknoir down here."
Blaze nodded in agreement.
"Got it!"
He turned back to the stairway to go up to where the stoneship was, as Leon and Grovyle watched him.
"If the Rainbow Stoneship works," the wood gecko said, "we can go to Temporal Tower."
"Yeah," Leon replied. "I hope it does..."
Dusknoir groaned in pain again, as they turned to him.
"Don't you dare move!" Grovyle said.
"Leon...Grovyle...is this really...what you want?" Dusknoir questioned. "If history is changed...we pokémon of the future will vanish..."
The piplup and Grovyle were understandably alarmed.
"Wh-what?!" said Leon.
"It won't just be me..." Dusknoir replied, "...both of you will also share my fate. Since you come from a future that will cease to exit, you will both disappear too...so is that what you really want?"
"If we change history, we'll vanish too?!" Leon turned to Grovyle. "Grovyle, is he...telling...the truth?"
"I'm afraid he's true, Leon," the wood gecko answered, as he turned to the piplup. "If we do change history...we will disappear."
"G-Grovyle!"
"But...that doesn't matter…if it means restoring time...and bringing peace to the world! It's what I came to the past to do… Celebi also helped us, knowing that she too will vanish if we succeed."
"Even her...? Wait, I remember! When we were in the future...when Celebi said that she would devote her whole life...she wasn't joking about it! She really meant it!"
"As for you, Leon...you came with that same resolve. We came from the future fully accepting what would happen to us, but...with the way you are now, you don't remember that resolve. I know that this is coming as a great shock to you, but...we have no choice in the matter either way. If we don't act, time will be destroyed, and the planet's paralysis will begin. We must vanish from history...so that we can bring peace to this world. Please try to understand, Leon."
The piplup turned to where Blaze was…
So that's how it was… he thought with a somber look on his face. I came to this world...with a resolve such as that… If we succeeded...we would vanish...but… Leon put on an emotion of determination. If we don't act, the destruction of time cannot be stopped. That means...we have to do it, even if I have to disappear.
He turned to Grovyle.
"...I understand now."
"Thanks, Leon. There's just one thing, however...that changed for us by coming to this world. It's true that we had the resolve to complete our mission, and it stayed true when we first came back to this world...but we had absolutely nothing to lose...and nothing to go back to. But, Leon...this changed for you when you became a pokémon… You found a friend and partner in the form of Blaze. He looks up to you greatly, so if he found out that you might vanish...he will be devastated. He has such a good spirit, but if the future is altered and you disappear...he...will be left all alone."
Leon had a somber look on his face again on the thought of leaving Blaze, his best friend, his best pal in the whole wide world…
"I finally understand, Grovyle. If I change history...I wiil vanish. That means...Blaze will be very sad when I'm gone. I forgot to tell you that he's got no family, either. He's got no mom or dad to raise him, but only his adoptive aunt Kangaskhan from her storage department back in Treasure Town to do so. Blaze will really be heartbroken when I'm gone..."
"I'm very sorry to hear that..."
Meanwhile at the top of the temple, Blaze put his Relic Fragment into the indentation of the Rainbow Stoneship. When he did, it released a blinding light briefly before it glowed and started to move. It would take some time for it to fully lift off from the ground, so he waited until the time came.
Back at where Leon, Grovyle, and Dusknoir were, the piplup and the wood gecko took notice of the big light coming from the top of the temple.
"Blaze has done it!" exclaimed Grovyle. "He must have activated the Rainbow Stoneship!"
Dusknoir groaned again, as the two turned to him to see him suddenly get back up to strike Leon! The piplup was sent a few feet back as he cried in pain!
"I will not let you change history!" Dusknoir said.
He charged towards the seemingly defenseless Leon, until Grovyle got in front of the gripper pokémon to absorb the attack! The wood gecko laid down on the floor in excruciating pain.
"Grovyle!" Leon cried out.
"So you shielded Leon, Grovyle?!" Dusknoir said. "That's taken a heavy toll on you! Very well! You're going down first!"
Grovyle got back up as quick as he could and turned to him!
"Never!"
He thrust himself into Dusknoir in an attempt to push themselves into the dimensional hole!
"Wh-what are you doing?!" demanded Dusknoir.
"I'm...taking you...Dusknoir...back to the future with me!" answered Grovyle.
"What..."
"What?!" exclaimed Leon.
Grovyle turned his head to the piplup.
"Leon, it's all up to you now!"
The wood gecko shook his body to release the Time Gears that were in his bag to Leon!
"Those are…!" Dusknoir said.
"...Time Gears!" answered Leon.
Blaze made his way back to the crowd.
"Okay, guys!" he announced. "The Rainbow Stoneship's set to go!"
The chimchar looked to see what was happening to Grovyle and Dusknoir!
"Wha...what's happening?!"
"Blaze...this is it for me!" explained Grovyle. "I'm taking Dusknoir...back to the future!"
"Wh-what?!"
"I can never come back here again! Please promise me...that you'll watch Leon's back!"
Blaze had tears in his eyes.
"B-but…I can't take your place Grovyle! I just can't!"
"You must and you will...because you can, Blaze. Both you and Leon...are the greatest of combinations."
"Unhand me!" demanded Dusknoir to Grovyle. "Release me!"
Grovyle turned to him.
"Quiet, we're almost there!"
The wood gecko turned back to Leon one more time.
"Leon...take care of yourself and your pal. I was lucky to have known you. Though the parting hurts...the rest is in your hands!"
"Thanks, Grovyle!"
Grovyle turned back to Dusknoir.
"Sorry for the holdup, Dusknoir!"
The wood gecko pokémon pushed himself and Dusknoir into the portal that led into the future, as they both disappeared from sight. The dimensional hole then closed itself for good. Blaze could only stare at this sight in disbelief, as tears streamed from his eyes.
"Grovyle...no..."
He and Leon turned to where the Rainbow Stoneship was, as its light glowed even brighter.
"The sound of the Rainbow Stoneship is getting louder!" Blaze said.
"Yeah, it looks like it's gonna move anytime soon!" Leon said.
"But...I'm still devastated at what happened to Grovyle back there...I'm too sad...to even move..."
But… Leon thought to himself. ...If we don't hurry though...the stoneship will leave without us… Grovyle...I may be sad...but right now…I have to finish our job, just like we promised.
Blaze, having cried his eyes out, but still heartbroken from Grovyle's sudden disappearance, spoke up.
"We'd better go though...I'll go gather the Time Gears."
He turned back to get the Time Gears and put them in his team's bag.
"Wait for us in the future, Grovyle! We'll stop the planet's paralysis...and we'll change the future into a better world! A world in which you can live happily! We won't fail you!"
What Dusknoir said though… Leon thought to himself. He's right. If the future is changed, Grovyle will vanish...along with myself…
Blaze and the piplup turned to each other.
"Hey, Leon. The last thing Grovyle said to you...was even though the parting hurts...the rest was in your hands. He was right about one thing...parting hurts. I understand that feeling, and how it hurts. He was partners with you for a long time, pal. I think it must have hurt Grovyle terribly to leave you."
That may be what he meant, Leon thought, but no. That isn't it. Grovyle's last words...weren't about me and him. He meant me and Blaze. Grovyle said what he did...because he knew that I would have to leave Blaze eventually. When history is changed...I will be gone. My time together with my best pal here is ending...so this is our last adventure together.
"Blaze, please come over here and give me a hug. We need to comfort each other for just a bit..."
The chimchar ran over for a quick embrace with Leon. After a few seconds, they separated from their hug, and they both had looks of determination on their faces.
"OK, pal!" Leon said. "We have to do this for Grovyle's sake! Let's go to Temporal Tower!"
Blaze nodded in agreement.
Team Poképals finally made their way to the Rainbow Stoneship to get onboard so that they could be taken to the Temporal Tower.