Author's Note: Parts of this were touched on in the main fic, but I thought it'd be interesting to more directly mention the stuff leading up to Crystal Crossing nonetheless. The Guild's side of that didn't really get covered, after all. Plus, more Ignored Epiphanies from Dusknoir's side; they're pretty much becoming his stock and trade in my verse.
The Discovery
It was honestly mind-boggling, but the situation was undeniably happening.
The scarred Meowth apprenticing at the Wigglytuff Guild was Claire. She was standing before him, completely unaware of their previous interaction or what Dusknoir's job really was. Somehow, she was no longer human—and that was the strangest part, even more than the apparent amnesia.
But she'd happily told him about her Dimensional Scream, none the wiser, and her Chimchar friend had fed Dusknoir her name. There was no way it was a coincidence.
He'd stared at her for a moment, a smile briefly crossing over his stomach as he mulled over the information. Dusknoir had Claire right there in his grasp! He could take care of her now and come back to search for Grovyle if he felt like it.
"Dusknoir, sir?"
Claire blinked, head tilted to the side in confusion, and he shook himself. Dusknoir couldn't stop now; that would be inefficient, and he didn't want to lose momentum.
"It's nothing," he said hastily. "Let's get you two back to the guild; you must be exhausted."
Their friends had gone back already, after all. Surely Cubone and Cacnea would get worried if they stayed out too long. Claire and Chimchar nodded, and they started walking away from the beach.
And then the Pelipper flew by, dropping the posters to the ground, and Dusknoir stopped to pick one up.
Grovyle. That was him. Claire's previous partner.
He had them both now.
Dusknoir had checked in with the guild often. Now that they had an idea of who to search for, it was all too easy to get their help in finding Grovyle. They eagerly cooperated with him, and Dusknoir had at first decided to send a few recruits out to hunt in specific places.
He knew where the Time Gears had been, after all. Master Dialga had sent him out to their previous locations to make sure they were gone. Dusknoir sent two groups—Team Shadow, and one led by Sunflora—out to the Northern Desert and Crystal Cave. With the guild's reputation, surely their apprentices were smart enough to find something.
(Still, he'd intentionally sent a third group out to Eastern Forest, even knowing they wouldn't find anything. If he sent them all to the right places, that would look suspicious. They'd want to know how Dusknoir had known that, and he couldn't say anything yet. Soon, but not now.)
At any rate, their first trips had been failures. Why hadn't they found anything? Claire's group in particular; she should've been able to get far enough…
Ah, well; Dusknoir shook off his disappointment when Team Shadow came back the next day with good news. Well…mostly good news.
"So, er…" Claire winced. "Yeah. We found a Time Gear! And Grovyle, too! We just…"
"Well, we kinda got in a fight with Mesprit, so then Grovyle could take the Time Gear." Cacnea sighed. "So, I guess we screwed up after all."
The recruits chattered amongst themselves as Dusknoir considered this information. So, Grovyle had gotten his hands on another Time Gear. That was four, if all the news had been accurate. Grovyle only needed one more to finish his plans, and it'd be catastrophic if he got it.
However…Dusknoir had yet to hear about Azelf's Time Gear going missing. If they could bank on that, it might be possible to stop Grovyle in time after all. Yes; he had to go with that.
"Excuse me," he said, and the guild's crew turned their attention to him. "If I may suggest something? We may be able to find something in Crystal Cave after all."
"Hey, hey! That's true," Corphish agreed. "The other two places might still be good!"
"So, uh…how do you reckon we do that, Dusknoir, sir?" Bidoof asked.
"Well, I'm glad you said that, Bidoof." Dusknoir nodded. "Because you can help. Please, let Claire see that crystal you picked up yesterday. I believe she'll be able to tell us something if she can hold it for just a moment."
There was more chatter amongst the recruits. They were likely wondering what in the world Dusknoir was talking about, but Claire seemed to have picked up on the implication. She nodded as well as she looked over at Bidoof.
He'd been in the group headed to Crystal Cave, and he'd mentioned picking up a little souvenir. Dusknoir knew how to reach the lake, but he wanted Claire to find out for herself. And if the guild agreed to help again, then he wouldn't object to the reinforcements.
Eventually, Bidoof handed Claire the crystal, and she took a deep breath as she held onto it. She closed her eyes, and the meeting room fell silent. Then, Claire mewed in surprise as she raised a paw to her head. She dropped the crystal as she tensed up, and Bidoof quickly scrambled over to catch it. Finally, Claire opened her eyes, and she looked around the room.
"Uh…I know this is going to sound crazy, but…I think I just saw Grovyle fighting someone?" she said. "There was a Pokémon called Azelf, and they were near a lake, and he looked injured…"
"Oh my gosh! How did you see all that?" Sunflora exclaimed.
"Yeah…" Chimecho frowned. "And if that's true…we're not too late, are we?"
"Well…" Claire frowned as well. "Now that you mention it…I'm not sure if it's in the past or future."
Dusknoir raised a hand to silence them. "Well, if we consider the places we've heard of so far…none of them were inhabited by someone called Azelf, correct? We may still have time. So, Wigglytuff, Chatot—with your permission, I'd like to send everyone out to Crystal Cave again."
"Yep, that's a great idea, friendly friend!" Wigglytuff agreed. "All right, everyone! Let's rest up and head out for Crystal Cave first thing tomorrow!"
"YEAH!" everyone shouted.
A deeper smirk crossed Dusknoir's stomach as the recruits dispersed. He had them deep within his grasp now—and they could catch Grovyle for him, if he played his hand right. Of course, Dusknoir would have to double-check and make sure everything went according to plan. He couldn't afford to take it too easy.
But the irony of the situation was not lost on him. Claire was helping him capture her former friend, and she had no idea what she was doing. And, if Dusknoir was especially lucky, they might end up eliminating each other at the lake.
…There was a small part of him that said the latter hope was too cruel. But, as Dusknoir left the guild, he decided to brush it aside.
No, he needed to make sure that he (and everyone else) survived. And Dusknoir would do anything it took to ensure that happened. He'd gone too far now—it was too late for him to turn back.
No more doubts—not anymore.
