Author's Note: This is another chapter I struggled with slightly. In this case, it was hoping everyone's reactions made sense versus wondering if they were overreacting a bit. I think I balanced it out decently, though, and there's plenty of fun stuff in here, either way. Also, this chapter makes more sense if you're familiar with Chapter 19 of the Side Stories and Chapter 7 of Unwound Time.

Chapter Eight: Further Research

"What will you do now, Claire?" Celebi asked.

"I'm not sure."

Claire shrugged as she idly flipped through an old book she'd found down at New Treasure Town. She wasn't really looking at it, to be honest. Flipping the pages gave her something to do, but she was a bit distracted.

She'd been confident in Dusknoir and Dialga's advice, but there was something nagging at her. Dialga had talked about how Darkrai had seemed innocent enough at first glance, but he'd still been dangerous. Claire knew that was true now, too. His ability to open Dimensional Holes could be risky, even with his amnesia.

And his amnesia was a unique beast, too. They couldn't tell him too much in case it inspired him to repeat his past goals… But if they didn't tell him enough, he wouldn't know what to avoid, either, would he? And the latter, of course, relied on the idea that Darkrai's amnesia had truly turned him innocent.

"You should at least talk to your friends at some point," Andrew said. "Didn't you say you were going to?"

"Well, yeah, but everyone's already keeping an eye on him." Claire frowned. "Just going back and saying, 'Yeah, keep doing what you're doing,' isn't much help, is it?"

"But on the other hand, knowing that he was able to trick Dusknoir and Dialga is important, isn't it?" Leaf pointed out. "And speaking of which, maybe talking to Dialga in Felix's time period could help. It'd be fresher in his mind, right?"

"Oh, that's a good point!" Claire nodded. "If there's anything else to look out for, he'd probably know. So next time I go back, I could talk to him. Maybe we could figure out how to land on the beach, or however close I can get to Temporal Tower…"

Celebi absently rubbed her chin. "Getting that close to Temporal Tower may be tricky, but I'll talk to dear Dialga and see what I can do. Until then, why don't you rest and try to sort things out? I'm sure I could set things up so you can get pretty close to the last time you were in the past, so…"

"So it doesn't really matter how long I spend here," Claire finished. "I'd like to go back as soon as I can, but I guess there's less pressure if you think about it like that, right?"

"Right!" Celebi chirped. "So I guess I'll hop on back to Temporal Tower, and you three can do whatever you want."

Claire, Leaf, and Andrew nodded at each other. Then, Celebi waved at the trio before teleporting out of the hut.

Things were starting to take shape, and Claire appreciated the help.

Well, that was considerably easier than Claire expected.

Celebi hadn't been able to send her directly to Temporal Tower's pinnacle, but, with Dialga's help, she'd managed to set up a portal to the second-to-last floor. "We don't want to startle the poor dear's past self," Celebi had said. And that was fair, Claire thought. She was going there to talk to him, and Dialga didn't seem like the jumpy type, but it was probably best to look like she'd climbed the tower "normally" either way.

…Getting back down might be tricky, now that she thought of it. Claire probably should've considered that sooner. Oh, well; Claire shrugged as she rounded a corner. She was sure she'd figure out something…eventually. Maybe Dialga could help her with that.

At least she found the stairs quickly enough. She'd packed a few Gravelerocks and Iron Thorns just in case she needed them, but Claire had managed to avoid fights so far. And that was lucky; the sooner Claire could reach Dialga, the better.

Finally, Claire arrived at the pinnacle, and she carefully glanced around. It seemed like repairs had gone pretty well here, too. Sure, it had been at least a few months since she was last here—probably longer, once she remembered to add the time she'd been 'gone.' Even then, though, there was very little remaining damage to the place. Most of the cracks in the floor were gone, and all of the damaged pillars had been repaired.

Dialga himself was at the far side, near the monument now housing the Time Gears. As Claire got closer, she could see he wasn't alone. There was a tall blond man with a Salamence nearby; they seemed to be having a conversation. Claire felt her heartbeat speed up; she had a good idea of who he was, but there was an oddly-familiar feeling about him. It was much like all of those nagging feelings she'd gotten when she'd lost her memory and gone somewhere she'd been before.

"So, as you can see, the Time Gears are doing well," Dialga was saying. "Still, I've made a few new ones, and I'd like to set them out at all the places they were before. The areas themselves may or may not need them anymore, but it should serve as backup again, just in case."

"That sounds like a good idea," the man agreed. "I'm sure you've learned by now—er, no offense—but it's better to be safe, all things considered."

"None taken." Dialga paused, apparently hearing Claire's approach, and glanced down at her curiously. "It appears we have some company, though."

"Oh, sorry, am I—am I interrupting something?"

"Oh, no, it's fine." The man shook his head. "I've only been back a short time, but I think I'm caught up on everything… Well, most things, anyway. I'm assuming you need something?"

"I doubt she'd just come all the way up here otherwise," Salamence commented dryly. "Why else would she be here?"

"Well, uh, I do kinda need something, but we don't have to rush it or anything." (Actually, getting it done quickly would probably be better, but Claire didn't want to push them too hard, either.) "Anyway, I'm not sure if you remember me, Dialga, but I was here a while back when things were—"

"Yes, you sound and feel very familiar." Dialga nodded. "You were part of the team who stopped me back then, and I am still grateful for that. If I am correct…your name is Claire, yes? You are the one I brought back here."

"Oh, so that's what happened." Things were making a dawning sort of sense now, and Claire instinctively clapped her hands together at the revelation. "I've been wondering for a while now how I even came back here. …Not that I'm upset about it, of course! Just curious, you know!"

Then, she turned, pointed at the man, and went on, "And you are Christopher, right? And that's Heath. You're my great-whatever-times-grandpa, you know. …Well, technically, you are. Like, you are where I come from, and there's probably gonna be someone like me here eventually, but it won't be the exact same as me, and she's not here yet, and… Oh, this is weird."

Time travel and alternate timelines were already confusing enough as it was. Add in possible alternate versions of herself, and it just got even stranger. Claire shook her head as she cut herself off. This was no time to start rambling; everyone was looking at her in a rather confused way. Not that she could blame them, really.

"I found your journal. And I read it," Claire offered in explanation, grinning. "Well, I found…the 'other' Christopher's journal, anyway. It was cute!"

"…Cute," Christopher repeated flatly. "You think it was…cute. And that means you also read about…"

His facial expression, which had until now been on the flat side, suddenly shifted into extreme mortification. His eyes widened and his face reddened, and he promptly buried his face in his hands. It was finished off with a muffled sobbing noise, which prompted an amused snort from Heath.

Claire took this to mean that he'd already met his girlfriend by this point. Either she wasn't there due to a particular health issue, or Christopher had merely assumed that this trip would be a short one. Maybe he intended to go back and forth after this, or something. Whatever the reason, Claire wouldn't be surprised if he assumed that she thought it was the first one, given his reaction.

"Well, anyway…" Dialga shook his head before looking back down at Claire. "What was it you wanted?"

"Oh, right—it's really important, actually! How could I forget?"

Well, she hadn't forgotten, exactly… Claire had just gotten distracted. Semantics aside, Claire shook her head and tried to think of how to phrase things. It might be more sensitive for this version of Dialga, what with it being fresher in his memory… Maybe it was best to get it over with, and she took a deep breath and went on.

"There was a Pokémon called Darkrai who came here recently, right?" she said warily. "I, uh…need to know everything you know about him. Please? It's important! Like, really important…"

The other three froze, and Dialga growled lightly at the name. Claire doubted it was really directed at her; he just sounded frustrated in general. Dialga shook his head and sighed before going on.

"He…came to me long ago—over a year now, if I'm remembering correctly," he began, voice quieter than normal (which was still fairly loud to Claire). "He said he wanted to learn about my legends and help me however he could… How wrong I was to believe him; it had been a trap all along."

So that was how it had happened… Dialga had been tricked, too. Claire thought that made sense; Darkrai had been good at manipulating everyone.

"It's only partly your fault, Master Dialga." Christopher frowned. "If I had used the Dimensional Scream earlier, maybe I could've helped. I had been suspicious of him for a while, but I didn't think to do anything until it was too late."

"Oh, right—the Dimensional Scream! How could I forget about that?" Claire groaned and rubbed her forehead. "I could've just done that earlier. That's what I should do when I go see everyone!"

"Ah, right—you said we're related, yes?" Christopher glanced back over at her. "If that really is the case, then you should have the Dimensional Scream, too. Use it now while you still can."

He was accepting that remarkably well, Claire thought. Then again, he was supposed to be serving the Time Pokémon himself… Time travel, and thus the chance of meeting (sort of) future relatives, probably wasn't that far-fetched to him in that case.

"Yeah! Well…technically, anyway." Claire shrugged; there was no need to get confused over the details again. "Like I said, it's in the 'other' future now—that's a long story—but I do have the Dimensional Scream. So I can use that and see if Darkrai's up to something! Or…will be up to something, I guess."

Christopher nodded. "Very good; that sounds like a solid plan. May I ask what brought this up in the first place?"

"Oh, right, I should probably explain that anyway." Claire nodded as well. "See, uh…Darkrai was causing some trouble that Palkia had to get involved in, and we thought we got rid of him, but then he came back again. My friends found him, and it seems like he has amnesia, but…" She shook her head. "I don't know. I thought it'd be better to be safe, so I figured anything you could tell me would be helpful."

Dialga hummed thoughtfully. "Indeed, that does sound like the best idea. He seemed innocent to me, and he still ended up being dangerous… It would be prudent to find out what he's up to as soon as possible."

"Agreed," Christopher said gravely. "Stop him before he has the chance to do it. We could've prevented so much had we known what he was doing."

Claire frowned. She did feel bad about the notion if Darkrai's amnesia was genuine, but…they were right. Just because he seemed harmless didn't mean he really was harmless. It was true that stopping him sooner could've saved a lot of trouble…

And at least Claire had a reliable way of figuring it out now. (Well, she supposed she always had that option; it just hadn't occurred to her earlier.) At any rate, Claire could use the Dimensional Scream—maybe several times, if she needed to—just to be sure. If that came up with nothing, they were safe; if she saw something, then they'd know.

Suddenly, Dialga tensed. He seemed to be staring at something far away, and his stance shifted into something defensive. After a few seconds, he shook his head, though there was something rather confused about his facial expression.

Christopher blinked. "…Master Dialga?"

"I thought I felt something." Dialga frowned. "I am…not sure what it was, but…it felt like a distortion of some kind."

"It could be the Dimensional Hole I used to get here," Claire offered. "I mean, it's probably closed up by now, but if there's any energy left over from it, or whatever, then maybe that's what you felt?"

"No, it's…not quite that." Dialga paused again, clearly frustrated when he added, "It's like a Dimensional Hole, but…not identical."

"Do you think we should look into it?" Christopher asked.

"We probably should. I hate to keep you away from all your new friends, but…"

Christopher shook his head. "It's fine; Abigail has the rest of the colony to stay with her. I don't want to be gone too long, but if it's that worrying to you, I can stay a bit longer."

Turning to Claire, he added, "It may be best for you to go visit your friends now. Do you have a way to get back down the tower?"

"Uh, I hadn't thought of that," Claire admitted sheepishly. "I mean, I'm sure the Rainbow Stoneship still works, but… Lapras might not be there, and it'll be a long way back either way."

"Take Heath, then. I'm sure he can quickly get you wherever you need to go."

Heath had been mostly silent until now, though he finally spoke up and said, "As long as I get to come back, that's fine with me."

Christopher groaned. "I'm sorry—it was just the first thing I could think of at the time! I'm not trying to ditch you. Anyway—"

Heath grinned and cut him off. "I said I was fine with it, didn't I? Now tell me where you want to go, and I'll get you there before you can blink!"

"The outskirts of Treasure Town should be good," Claire said. "The side near the bluff. So if you're really okay with it…"

"Of course—come on!"

Claire climbed onto his back and waved at Christopher and Dialga. As Heath took off, Claire couldn't help wondering about whatever it was Dialga had felt… She hoped it was nothing too serious.

Well, she figured she should focus on the problem at hand first. Claire could actually do something about that, and now she had an even better idea of how to handle it.

She just hoped nothing too bad happened afterwards.