Author's Note: Kind of a transitional chapter, but there's definitely some fun stuff in here. Iris being Iris is always great (and this is one of the few times I get to pull out this side of her in this fic), as well as Darkrai being Darkrai. It was easier to get a good balance of reactions in here, too, I think.

Chapter Nine: More Questions

Darkrai was missing.

He'd been gone when they'd woken up that morning, and no one knew where he'd went, or even how long he'd been gone. Obviously, he must've left while they were asleep, but that didn't give Team Shadow much to go on. And, even so, they weren't sure if it was a problem at first.

"He could've just…gone out for a walk or something," Bruce said uncertainly. "I mean, he's never wandered off before, right? So I doubt he'd run away now."

"That's true," Felix replied, though he paused and bit his lip before going on. "But if that's the case…then why wouldn't he come back yet?"

"Ugh, this is dumb," Iris groaned. "We can't just sit around and think about it! We have to go find him."

"We were supposed to be keeping an eye on him, but…" Rin frowned. "…where should we even start?"

That was a good point. They didn't have any ideas at the moment… Where could Darkrai have gone? He hadn't mentioned a particular desire to go anywhere recently… He'd always just followed along wherever the rest of Team Shadow went.

Well, Iris was right. They were wasting time if they sat around and worried about it… Even if Darkrai wasn't in any danger (or causing any danger, Felix silently added), they should still find him soon. With that, he'd gathered everyone up and decided to head on out.

They'd gone through Treasure Town, asking everyone present if they'd seen him. No one had, of course. That made Felix even more nervous—it implied that Darkrai had left early in the morning, before anyone could see him, which meant he'd been gone for a while.

Rin and Iris had then checked at Spinda's Café and the Guild, respectively. Meanwhile, Felix and Bruce went to the beach, and then quickly through Beach Cave. There was no sign of Darkrai in any of those locations, and Felix was getting increasingly anxious.

They reconvened back at Sharpedo Bluff to run over what they knew. Darkrai still hadn't come back; he wasn't there when everyone headed inside. He'd been gone all day, he must've left while they were sleeping, and nobody had any idea where he went.

"Do you think maybe…he went back to that place you were talking about?" Felix finally said, glancing over at Rin and Iris. "You said something happened there, right?"

Iris promptly slapped her forehead. "I can't believe I didn't think of that sooner! But it's gonna take forever to catch up with him now. He's got such a huge head start on us!"

"Well, if we leave now, we still have a chance," Bruce offered. "He may still be there, right?"

Rin nodded, and the three of them collectively looked at Felix. It really was their best idea at the moment, and they needed to act on it soon. He nodded as well and stood up. It was early afternoon now, so they might have enough time to get to the World Abyss before it got too late.

"Okay," he agreed. "You two remember how to get there, right? Let's hurry."

They followed him outside, and Felix's heart pounded once they were all together. He was somehow both relieved and worried at the same time… At least they had a lead now, but they had to hope that Darkrai wasn't up to something. Sure, Felix wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, but…if he was serious about learning about Dimensional Holes, then…

Felix paused. There was a fluttering sound off in the distance, and he glanced around to figure out where it was coming from. Ah, there; Felix could make out a blue-and-red shape in the sky. It was over the ocean right now, and it was quickly coming towards them.

Finally, an especially large Salamence landed on the bluff. Then, Claire climbed off his back, grinning as her feet hit the ground. She reached up and patted him on the neck, and he looked away and huffed despite the small grin on his own face.

"Thanks, Heath! Oh, and tell Christopher I want to come back and see him sometime!"

"I'm not your messenger or anything," Salamence—Heath—replied. "But I'm sure he'll be happy to hear that. I'm going now!"

With that, he lifted himself back into the air and soared away. Claire giggled before turning around to face her baffled teammates. Well, that…certainly was an entrance.

"Oh, hey, guys!" she greeted. "I just visited Dialga—well, this Dialga, but I did visit the 'other' one earlier—and I think we should probably talk about stuff. He—well, they, really—said some pretty important stuff, and… Uh, is now a bad time?"

…Well, it did sound like something serious. If Claire had thought it necessary to get advice from Dialga, of all Pokémon, she'd probably learned something big. However, it was clear she'd noticed the tension in the air. Iris was halfway across the bluff by now, nearly to Treasure Town, while Rin and Bruce kept looking awkwardly around at everyone. Felix sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck as he replied.

"Well, uh…we're kind of on the way to…look for Darkrai? Though you can tell us on the way if you want."

Claire blinked. "Wait, what happened to Darkrai?"

Felix waved at her as he turned around. "Follow us, and we'll tell you on the way."

Claire nodded, and they all set off through Treasure Town. She still got an occasional odd look, Felix noted. Most of the regular visitors had already seen her as a human, or at least heard about the change… A couple of Pokémon who weren't around as much practically had their eyes bugging out of their heads, though. Felix felt kind of bad for ignoring them instead of explaining things, but they were kind of busy at the moment.

"So, um, Darkrai's been gone most of the day, and we're trying to figure out where he went," Felix said once they were past most of the crowd. "We have a pretty good idea of where he is, so we're going to go check there."

Bruce nodded. "We just have to hope that we're right and that he's still there when we arrive, but it's a pretty good shot."

"Yeah, I'm surprised we didn't think of it before," Iris groaned. "Honestly! I get that Giratina's easy on the eyes, and he didn't seem like a bad guy, but given what happened during the fight? We should've realized that just because he's okay doesn't mean Darkrai wouldn't do something stupid!"

"…That's your taste, Iris?" Rin shook her head. "I mean, I should be used to this by now, but…"

Claire shook her head as well, though she was grinning. "I mean, I haven't seen him yet, but that's kind of expected, really! But, anyway…about what I heard from Dialga…"

They'd reached the crossroads by now, which was probably a good thing. Felix thought it would be better if too many Pokémon didn't hear their conversation… Well, both the latter part and whatever was about to come up. He didn't want everyone to panic unless something bad really was happening.

"So, he…er, both of them…ugh, this is weird," Claire groaned. "Anyway, Dialga said it's probably best that we try to stop Darkrai while we still can, whatever that's supposed to mean. I'm not sure exactly what we should do with him, but…Dialga said that he caused a lot of trouble even though he seemed harmless."

"Well, yeah!" Iris rolled her eyes. "Of course he caused a lot of trouble. That's why we're watching him!"

Claire shook her head again. "No, I mean, like…I think Dialga meant that he could be tricking us somehow. That, or he could've started planning something despite his amnesia…so we need to figure out what he's up to before he can even start it. So Christopher—he's an old relative of mine, by the way—suggested I use the Dimensional Scream, so then we can figure out if he's going to do anything."

Felix lit up. "Oh, right, that is a good idea! We should've had you try the Dimensional Scream earlier."

"Yes, but…" Rin frowned. "…what if nothing shows up? You'd have to keep checking a lot, just to be sure…"

"That's a good point," Claire replied thoughtfully. "But it'd be a good start, anyway. If I get something now, then we'd know for sure, right? And if not, I could always try again later."

Felix nodded; at least they'd have something to go off of… And if it didn't work right away, they had something to fall back on. Having to check so often sounded like it'd be tiring, and even a bit nerve-wracking… He didn't want everyone to just keep worrying about whether Darkrai was up to something now, or later, or after that, or…

Felix shook his head as they walked. He couldn't let himself get too stressed out now. The most important thing was finding Darkrai. They could deal with everything after that; first, they had to focus on what was right in front of them.

He picked up his pace, but then slowed down and glanced at Rin and Iris. They'd passed the edge of the road by now, and Felix wasn't sure which way they should be going.

"Right," he said to Claire. Then, he went on, "You two should probably take the lead now, though."

Rin and Iris nodded, and they stepped in front of the group. Despite his best efforts at giving himself a pep-talk, Felix felt his nerves mounting. What if they didn't catch up with Darkrai in time? What if he went somewhere else after meeting with Giratina? What if he learned enough to do something?

He had such a head start on them, after all… Even if he came back by the end of the day, it was possible that Darkrai had heard enough to jog his memory. Or maybe he knew enough to expand things on his own. Neither option was good.

But, no, Felix couldn't think that way. He'd done his best to be more confident lately, and he had to keep trying. They had a plan; that was reassuring. Felix had to focus on the things that they could do.

He wondered how long the trip was, though. Rin and Iris had only been once, and he, Bruce, and Claire hadn't been at all. It was fully possible that they could miss something, or forget a turn somewhere, and the other three wouldn't be able to help them, and…

"Oh, it's you. What are you doing out here?"

Felix jumped higher than he cared to admit when he heard the voice. Darkrai was floating in front of them, his head cocked to the side curiously. Well, that was certainly convenient—they were looking for him, after all. But what was he doing here?

"Hey, Darkrai," Iris started, pointing at him as her eyes narrowed. "If you're out this way…where were you? You weren't visiting Giratina, were you? Because that's where we were going!"

"So suspicious," Darkrai replied, shrugging. "What would I be doing with Giratina this late? I just wanted some fresh air, and perhaps I got lost on the way."

Well, it was a little late, Felix admitted. It wasn't quite evening yet, but they'd been walking for about an hour or two. The sun had just started sinking; it was certainly too late to start something. That said nothing about where he'd been earlier, though.

"Fresh air?" Rin repeated incredulously. She wasn't as accusatory as Iris, but it was clear she didn't believe him. "You could've just…gone down to the beach, or even Beach Cave, if that was the case…"

"Yeah!" Bruce agreed. "So why were you gone this morning?"

Between all the questions, no one had paid much attention to Claire. Darkrai certainly hadn't; he didn't notice that she was walking towards him until she was right next to him. He was too surprised to pull back when she touched him, and he blinked at her in confusion.

"…What are you doing?"

Claire didn't reply right away, but the rest of her team expected that. Her eyes slid out of focus, and she had that far-away look on her face indicating she was, in fact, getting a Dimensional Scream. Felix's heartbeat sped up again, but this time it was in excitement. They really were getting something immediately!

His mood sank when Claire stepped back, though. She shook her head and frowned; maybe she hadn't gotten something helpful, after all… Felix bit his lip as Claire spoke up.

"Oh, um…I just saw how your fight with Giratina went," she replied dully. "When you were there with Rin and Iris, I mean. It's because of my Dimensional Scream ability."

"Oh, a Dimensional Scream?" Darkrai replied eagerly. "Does that have anything to do with Dimensional Holes? Can I use it, too?"

"No, it's something only my family can do." Claire sighed. "Anyway, let's go home. If you're coming back anyway, that's good for us, right?"

"Right," Darkrai quickly agreed. "See, there's nothing to worry about. I can help you with whatever you want to do this evening."

Felix frowned as everyone turned around. He figured there wasn't much they could do about it now… Besides, he should be grateful that Darkrai was coming back with them, right?

Still…Darkrai hadn't answered any of their questions. Maybe they could press him more once they got back, or maybe Claire could get another Dimensional Scream. They had to do something; Darkrai couldn't dodge their questions forever.

…Could he?