Author's Note: And we're building on up to the climax here. It's been a little while since we've had Claire / Team Shadow's POV, too. So several reasons why this chapter was fun to write, really.

Chapter Fourteen: The Discovery

The first thing Claire noticed upon waking up was how hungry she was. Next was that the sun was pretty high in the sky. How long had she been asleep? She rarely slept that late, even when they didn't have anything to do…

Claire was kind of stiff, too, now that she was aware enough to pay more attention to things. She assumed this meant it had been a long time, but she still didn't know why that was. Looking around her, Claire noted that her teammates were sleeping, too. This was at least less weird for Iris, who usually slept the latest, but it was strange for the others.

Finally, her eyes fell on Darkrai's bed. It was empty.

Her eyes widened as everything fell into place. Maybe he'd knocked them out at some point or another? Claire didn't remember this happening, though… Maybe it was after they'd fallen asleep, if that was the case. And if he'd done that, he obviously had a reason for it.

If Claire had to guess, she assumed he wanted to go somewhere again. But why would he want to go alone? He'd dodged their questions last time he'd snuck off, so she couldn't be completely sure… Still, there was some precedent for him running off like that.

Well, what could she do until they woke up? Claire couldn't leave on her own, especially if Darkrai had gone to Giratina's dungeon like everyone assumed. She could probably handle herself if it was a small, familiar dungeon, but going to some unfamiliar place alone was probably a bad idea.

Well, she could just try to wake everyone up, but…her stomach growled. Claire sighed; doing anything while hungry wasn't a good idea anyway. She carefully stepped around everyone and headed for the barrel full of food they kept in the corner. Claire grabbed an apple and chewed on it slowly, trying not to rush herself. Then, she ate a couple of White Gummis and headed towards their water container.

After swallowing a few handfuls and splashing her face, Claire felt better. She was probably ready to go now, but she still needed to wait on everyone else… Fortunately, Felix, Rin, and Bruce started to stir. Felix yawned as he sat up, rubbing his eyes as he looked at everyone.

"What…what time is it?" he said blearily.

Bruce yawned as well, stretching out as he replied. "I don't know, but…why am I still so tired?"

"Same here…" Rin muttered.

That further convinced Claire that something weird had happened, since Rin was always the most alert out of them after getting up. Claire glanced around at them—Iris had finally started moving, if only because of the noise—and they blinked back at her. Finally, they noticed the empty bed.

"W-where's Darkrai?" Felix asked, his nervous stammer coming back as the realization hit him.

"I don't know; he was gone when I woke up," Claire replied. "I mean, I haven't been awake for that long, but I didn't get to see where he went."

"Iris," Rin groaned, padding over to her and shaking her up. "You were supposed to be watching Darkrai!"

Iris mumbled sleepily as she sat up and stretched. She blearily looked around at everyone, still half-asleep. A second later, she registered Rin's comment, frowning before she yawned as well. Finally, Iris shook her head and stretched.

"I was watching him!" she protested. "And then the idiot goes and uses Hypnosis on me! But what about you guys? If it's such a problem, why are you still here?"

Rin looked sheepish at that, and Felix and Bruce looked at each other guiltily. Everyone was quiet for a few seconds before Claire shrugged and spoke up.

"I guess maybe he did that to us, too?" she suggested. "At any rate…I'm not sure how long it's been, but we definitely need to go look for him."

"Yeah…" Felix frowned. "Any idea where he might have gone?"

"Well, we assumed he wanted to see Giratina last time, right?" Bruce offered. "Maybe that's where he went… It's not like we have any other good ideas, do we?"

Rin shook her head. "That would make the most sense…"

Iris nodded, failing to stifle another yawn. "I'd guess so, yeah. So…you wanna check there?"

She sounded far too casual about the whole thing, but her half-asleep brain could still just be processing it. And to be fair, they were technically relying on guesswork… Even if that assumption was logical, they couldn't panic too much until they knew exactly what was happening.

After that…well, Claire wasn't sure what they'd do next. They needed to find Darkrai first, and then they could figure things out. There was no time to worry.

Claire nodded. "Yeah, I think we should. We need to get ready first, and then you two can take us there. Okay, everyone?"

They nodded, and Claire watched as her teammates ate a quick breakfast and began sorting their items. It went unspoken that they needed to hurry—now that they were all alert, they seemed to realize how important the situation was.

Claire could only hope they stopped whatever was going on before it was too late.

"Are we almost there?"

They'd been walking for a while now—and this was without the fact that they'd had to stop in Treasure Town for some supplies first. It had been a while since they'd last done some shopping… Claire sighed; of course they'd be low on things right now.

There was no use complaining about it, though. At least they were finally ready and doing something. It could be worse, right?

Rin nodded and glanced around. "I think I remember that hill over there… Right, Iris?"

"Yeah, I remember seeing it and thinking it looked really weird," Iris replied, tapping her chin. "Anyway, that should mean we're getting close!"

Felix and Bruce nodded in relief, and Claire sighed. That was a good sign—they were almost to the dungeon. If Darkrai was there (or at least, had been there recently), they'd know soon enough.

"Oh, look—that's it!"

Iris's shout shook her out of her thoughts. She'd just pointed at what looked like a circular outcropping of rocks. In the center, there was a large pit with stairs leading down into it. Claire wasn't sure why she'd expected a more 'typical' cavern entrance… With a name like 'World Abyss,' she figured something almost resembling a crater made sense.

She looked at her teammates. "Is everyone ready? We're not sure what's going to happen at the end, after all."

Rin and Iris at least had an idea of what the dungeon was like, and that was comforting. Still, they didn't know if Darkrai really was there—or if he was still there, if he had been earlier. They could just run into the Pokémon living at the depths—Giratina—and he may or may not want a 'regular' boss fight. There were a lot of different things to consider.

Still, everyone took a deep breath and nodded. Again, they all seemed to realize there was no point in sitting around. If they were right, they just needed to hurry up and do it.

It was with that not-so-comforting thought that the five of them filed into the dungeon and began their search.

That had been…rough.

It turned out Claire was right to assume getting through World Abyss would be difficult. Amp Plains really wasn't on its level at all; it was nothing in comparison. Even Felix and Bruce struggled a bit, and they were stronger than she currently was. Rin and Iris had done well, but Claire suspected that was because they were familiar with the place.

She'd gone through most of her throwing items, but Claire still had a few Iron Thorns and Sticks left. That was a small blessing… While Claire hoped it didn't come to a battle, at least she had something to use if it happened.

Everyone was out of breath by the time they arrived in the deepest chamber. Team Shadow looked around hesitantly; so far, they didn't see anyone… And yet, there was a familiar-looking portal in the back of the room.

"That's…a Dimensional Hole, isn't it?" Claire asked, squinting at it as she stepped forward.

It did resemble a Dimensional Hole… The portal was about the same size and shape as a fully-opened one. It even had a dark-purplish tint to it, much like normal ones did. There was something different about it, though… This portal was almost translucent, and it looked like there was something behind it.

"I think so, but…" Bruce frowned, whiskers twitching. "It feels…weird? Well, weirder than usual, I mean. I have less experience with these things than you guys do, but…"

"No, you're right." Felix frowned as well. "Normally, you can't see through them, right? But it looks like there's a…cave or something back there?"

Before they could theorize further, a large shape emerged from the Dimensional Hole. A shadowy dragon settled in the room in front of them—that had to be Giratina, Claire thought. Oddly, his figure shifted as he fully emerged into the chamber. His wings and legs changed shape, and he sighed in frustration as he looked himself over.

Soon enough, he was joined by an all-too-familiar Pokémon. The Dimensional Hole flickered closed as his companion materialized in the room. It was unmistakably Darkrai—and he froze upon seeing Team Shadow.

They were right—and they'd just found him.