Chapter 26

Fugitives

"KEEP MOVING!" Nigel ordered.

The trio had retrieved their treasure bags and were heading for the door, Nigel had dispatched the Sableye in the blink of the eye with a sleep seed, but they wouldn't be out for long.

As they shoved the massive stone doors of the stockade open, Alex and Blaze stopped dead in their tracks as they saw the landscape around them. There was no grass or trees, only a barren, rocky wasteland. There were stones the size of islands floating in the sky, suspended and motionless. There was no sun or moon, only a faint line of light on the horizon.

"What is this place?" Blaze asked, dumbstruck.

Nigel opened his mouth but was cut off by a small sinister voice screaming "get moving, don't let them escape"

The sableye were coming, they had woken up faster than even Nigel anticipated.

"This will be our gravesite if we say here, MOVE" Nigel yelled, he didn't want to stick around with them, but he wouldn't just let them die if he could help it.

The trio ran as fast as their legs could carry them, after about 10 minutes Blaze and Alex were sucking air, Nigel wasn't even breaking a sweat.

"We need to stop, I can't breathe" Blaze wheezed.

"Fine, over there" Nigel said as he pointed to a small alcove in a rocky wall, they had been taking multiple different directions and turns to avoid their pursuers. This alicove would keep hidden from view for a short time.

"As soon as you can run we're going" Nigel insisted.

"Not so fast, we worked with you because we didn't have a choice, that doesn't change the fact that you're a criminal who tried to destroy the world" Alex reminded him.

"Do you still honestly believe any of the lies Ivan was spewing, think about it, who controlled everything you learned about me? I was stealing the time gears to save the world from this!" Nigel explained as he pointed to the lifeless landscape around them.

"I refuse to believe that!" Blaze barked.

"Fine, then. I'm leaving, and I suggest you do the same. Beryl will kill you in the spot if she gets the chance" Nigel said in an annoyed tone before running off to the east.

"What do we do now?" Alex asked Blaze.

Blaze just shook and said "I don't know, but I for one don't wanna throw in with someone like Nigel"

Alex looked away for a sec, tossing around ideas before saying "Blaze, I hate to agree with him, but he has a point. Ivan tried to execute us and told us everything we know about his past. It's kinda hard to dismiss things when the person telling the one side of the story we've heard tried to kill us"

"So, that doesn't mean Nigel is automatically the good guy" Blaze countered.

"I'm not saying he is, I'm looking at all the facts, we need a guide and unlike the only Pokémon we know now he doesn't want us dead. If he wanted to kill us he would have left us trussed up and not gotten us out" Alex explained.

"Alex, that's what he wants you to think, remember what Ivan…" Blaze's voice died in his throat.

Realizing what he was about to say had triggered a floodgate of emotions. Emotions that he had been holding back for the sake of survival. Someone who he owed his life to and looked up too had sentenced him to death as if it was nothing but a trivial annoyance. Blaze's dream of being an explorer was gone, nothing but memory in a dark wasteland. His life's only purpose after his parents death was gone and he didn't know what to believe anymore.

Blaze fell to his knees sobbing, crying uncontrollably. He was so lost he didn't even try to keep quiet. In less than a day everything in life was gone, everything except Alex.

Alex wrapped his arms around his partner, trying to do something, anything to help his friend. He was just as lost as Blaze, but he needed to keep strong.

"We're a team, and we have always had each other's back. Some way, somehow, we'll find a way home.." Alex promised him.

Blaze's tears slowed slightly, but he still didn't say anything, Alex needed something besides a promise, he didn't know how, but he found the words.

Alex turned Blaze's head so he looked him straight in the eyes and said "You and I have overcome everything, we captured outlaws, we faced down titanic foes, endured scorching sands and deep caves. We always get through whatever the world threw at us. I need you to getup. I know it's hard, but the bad guys only win we we decide to give up"

Overlooking the darkened landscape was the remains of a stone tower. The structure's shattered pieces floating above the land. It was home to a powerful and dark being. The one that had sent Ivan to the past, and the only thing he truly feared.

As Ivan floated up to a gaping pit in the floor, he felt his heart beating rapidly. Beryl had informed him of the escape. A pair of glowing red eyes appeared from within the void. Around them were stripes of orange energy, you could just barely make out the shape of the beast. The red eyes were tensed and enraged.

"Forgive me Master Dialga, but the three from the past escaped" Ivan admitted.

There was a feral roar, one so loud Ivan's ears were ringing. Dialga picked him up with his psychic power and smashed Ivan into the ground repeatedly. His ghost type body could endure more physical pain than most, something Dialga exploited. As he prepared to pick Ivan up again, the Dusknoir managed to plead his case.

"I beg for your forgiveness Master, I have a plan to recapture them. Please let me speak" he begged

Dialga gave a low growl, he released Ivan, giving an angered humph, as if saying "im listening."

"There is only one destination they could possibly be heading towards, and with your help, we can intercept them and turn their escape to our advantage! If this works, the only other threat to you will be removed as well" Ivan said confidently, still breathing hard from his psychic beating.

Besides Nigel there was only one Pokémon in the world that still threatened Diagla. She was the one who allowed Nigel to travel back in time. If she was apprehended, Dialga would reign unchallenged.

Dialga's eyes relaxed ever so slightly, he entered Ivan's mind and said "continue….."