Crusaders of Dusk

by DarkFoxKit

Cut off from the life he knew, an Absol now must work his way and earn his right to return to the place he called home. Joining him is a timid Goomy who desires to become stronger and more respected. The two will face many challenges, learning to trust one another.

48. Chapter 48: A Conflict of a Conversation

DarkFoxKit: So, to make things easier for us, we're going to try updating biweekly, meaning we update every other Saturday. As long as nothing messes with our schedule, we seem to be able to finish a chapter every 2 weeks. I hope I didn't just jinx us by saying that.

Traveling Master: I think we should be good. We have been getting back into a good pattern when it comes to writing, but because of our schedules, we only have a few hours to write each day. We do the best we can, and hopefully we'll be fortunate enough in the future where our schedule allows us more time to write. But for the time being, thank you for your patients, as well as for sticking with this story for so long.

DarkFoxKit: So then, shall we get into it before any chaos or antics starts?

Traveling Master: Considering that we've been hiding from Dust these last week…I think we're good to start.

*We heard what sounded like a door squeaking as it was slowly being opened*

Dust: TM~ Kit~ Where are youuuuuu?

DarkFoxKit: *Whispers* Crap… he's closing in on us…

Traveling Master: Quick! Start the story! It might distract him!

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Chapter 48: A Conflict of a Conversation

"Dust!" Berry shouted.

"NO!" Articuno shot out an Ice Beam attack at Berry just as Berry tossed the Aspear Berry at the ice Dust was in.

Everything felt like it was happening in slow motion. The Aspear Berry hit the ice Dust was in, causing the berry to splatter its juices all over the ice, which caused it to crack. The Ice Beam reached Berry, Cliff fell back from the force of the ice attack.

"M-Mommy!" Cliff shouted.

"No! Berry!" Shab yelled, swimming towards the mist the attack left behind.

"Wait!" Sparks shouted, but the Feebas didn't stop.

Articuno began flying down to see if her Ice Beam worked on the slimy dragon, and if she managed to stop the accursed berry from reaching Dust.

The icy mist cleared, Cliff and Shab blinked, and both of them smiled, almost laughing at what they saw. Berry was fine, there was a white barrier around her. She had used Protect at the last second. The ice pillar Dust was in was still cracking, the cracks were getting larger and larger.

"How dare you throw that berry at one of my prized possessions!?" Articuno shouted as the ice pillar shattered, and the Absol fell out of it.

The barrier around Berry faded, and she turned her attention to the Absol. "Dust!"

Similar to the first time he was unfrozen, Dust's mind was racing as his vision was momentarily blurry. There was a ringing in his ear, he had a bit of trouble finding his footing, but as he shook his head and body, his mind started to clear more and more. When he turned to the side, at first all he saw was a purple blur, but as his eyes readjusted, he was surprised to see a familiar face.

"Berry?" Dust asked, glad to see his friend again.

"Dust! You're okay!" Berry smiled.

Before Dust could answer back, their little reunion was cut short by a very angry caw. Articuno's shadow enveloped them. Shab and Cliff quickly used Water Pulse and Rock Throw at the icy bird to try to keep her from firing another Ice Beam at them.

"Stay away from them!" Cliff shouted.

Despite the attacks hitting Articuno square on the head, she hardly seemed fazed, only focused on wanting to get her Absol back, as well as punishing the Goomy for releasing him. She reached down with her talons to pick up Dust, but the Absol quickly scooped Berry with his horn and tossed her to his back before running away.

"So mind catching me up to speed?" Dust asked.

Berry took a deep breath as Dust was running to avoid the Articuno's incoming Ice Beam attacks. "You and Juice were captured by Articuno, so we set out to save you, we tried to release Sparks's friend he called Rowlet, because we were told he could stop Articuno, but it turns out the Rowlet is a Celebi, and we only had one Aspear Berry left and I was right in front of you so I threw the Aspear Berry at your ice to break you out of it."

Berry spoke really quickly, hoping the most basic information would be enough to catch him up to speed. She took another breath. "So now we're being attacked by an angry Articuno. The long version can wait until after we're safe!"

If it wasn't for the fact that an angry Legendary Ice Bird is currently chasing Dust, he would've stopped right then and there, wanting to ask Berry what he believed what he just heard. But that would have to wait, right now he was trying to make sure neither of them got hit with an Ice Beam. He may have survived being frozen, but he wasn't sure how well Berry would do, especially since she is weak to Ice types.

"Sounds like a plan," Dust shouted as he moved to the left, seeing an Ice Beam shoot past him.

Articuno let out a loud caw before clouds suddenly appeared in the sky, and hail began to fall. The hail quickly started pelting against everyone who wasn't an Ice type. Berry tried to fight back by summoning her Rain Dance against the Hail. It sort of worked, rain began to fall from the clouds, but it was also hailing.

"Really? I can't overwrite Articuno's hail?" Berry groaned.

"Did you really think a weak Pokemon like you could've possibly overridden a Legendary Pokemon's weather!?" Articuno shouted.

Dust managed to reach Cliff and Shab.

"Dust! It's good to see you're back!" Shab smiled.

"Daddy, I was so worried about you!" Cliff said as she hugged Dust's legs.

"Aww, look at that, together again. Maybe I should freeze all of you then," Articuno remarked.

While Dust was confident that he and Berry could most likely dodge Articuno's ice attacks, he wasn't so sure how well Shab and Cliff would do. Dust had to think fast, some way to distract the Legendary bird Pokemon. He recalled his last conversation, trying to think of any solution. So far nothing useful was coming to mind. He recalled every word they had shared, but he didn't think any of it would be useful.

Think Dust, there must be something you've learned from talking with Articuno. It was luck that she even decided to unfreeze you in the first place! Dust's eyes widened as something clicked in his mind. That's right!

Articuno was taking a deep breath as she was getting ready to use a full on Blizzard attack again. Cliff and Shab braced themselves, Berry looked distressed, knowing she would not be able to stand another Blizzard attack.

"Wait! You're going to end it? Just like that?!" Dust shouted, hoping to at least catch Articuno's attention.

Berry, Shab and Cliff gave Dust a confused look, but the Absol only stared at Articuno, thinking that perhaps she wouldn't listen and would use her attack. Much to his relief, and to the surprise of the others, Articuno had stopped, giving Dust a curious look.

"What do you mean, little blue eyed Absol?" Articuno questioned. "Wouldn't you rather go back to the safety of your ice prison?"

"No I wouldn't, but I also know you won't take no for an answer," Dust replied before taking a step towards Articuno. "But I also know that it's been centuries since someone even dared to face you in your own nest. And yet you're willing to just freeze us now and end it? How long until you come across another unique group of Pokemon who are brave enough to even challenge you? Surely you wish to savor this moment and make the most of it?"

Articuno looked at Dust. Dust couldn't tell what Articuno was thinking, but she wasn't freezing them yet, which he wanted to take as a good sign. Berry, Shab, Cliff, and Sparks were surprised themselves, they hadn't expected Dust to be able to say anything to get Articuno to keep from freezing them right away.

"You are right. This battle is giving me thrills that I haven't felt in centuries," Articuno agreed. "But you do realize I will have to freeze you all soon, right?"

"Then how about you make a game out of it?" Dust suggested. "Instead of freezing all of us at once, you freeze one of us at a time?"

"A game?" Cliff asked.

"I think being frozen might've messed with his head," Shab remarked.

"No, it's brilliant," Berry said, realizing what Dust was up to. "It's either she freezes us all right now, or she freezes us one at a time, giving us a chance to strike back."

Heh, I can always count on Berry to figure things out quickly. Dust silently chuckled to himself.

"Very well, I will freeze you one at a time, but don't think you'll win or get away~" Articuno grinned. "I'm only doing this to enjoy my little hunt while it lasts~"

Dust gulped. He had bought them some time, but now he knew things were only going to get more difficult.

"And I'm not going to make it easy for you either," Articuno added before she flew up and shot out Ice Beam onto the floor, freezing it up entirely.

"Whoa!" Cliff bounced around when the floor under her feet suddenly became ice, and fell on her tail. "Ow!"

"She froze the floor?" Shab frowned, looking down at the ice and seeing his reflection looking back at him.

"This is bad…" Sparks gulped.

Just as Dust predicted, things had gotten more difficult, but they weren't beaten yet. "Shab, you'll be fine, since out of the four of us, you can float. Berry, it's just like when we sparred and you used my ice to your advantage. Cliff, you'll ride on my back since this surface isn't to your advantage."

Berry frowned, she didn't like the idea of leaving Dust unprotected, but he did have his own Protect, and protecting Cliff, who had little to no experience with ice, should be a priority.

"Okay, but be careful, and remember, use your Protect when you need to!" Berry said as Dust began to slide across the ice to Cliff and Shab.

Dust used his claws to stop himself in front of Cliff and Shab, lowering himself for Cliff to climb on his back. "Shab, no offense but even though Articuno said she'd freeze us one by one, she has her mind set on getting rare and unique looking Pokemon. So she'll most likely target me, Cliff, and Berry before going for you. We are going to need to rely on you to attack her blind side when she's focused on one of us. Use the ice pillars for cover, or try to create an ice shield with Ice Beam. Articuno's ice should only add more ice to it."

Before Shab could even say anything, Cliff wobbled over in front of Dust as Berry hopped off the Absol's back. "Daddy, I want to say I'm sorry for what I said to you before! I thought I would never see you again!"

"Cliff, I'm glad to see you again, but I don't think now's the best time to talk about this," Dust advised.

"But Daddy, last time you got frozen I felt horrible and I didn't know when I'd see you again. I don't want to leave anything unsaid in case you get frozen again," Cliff replied.

Articuno began to fly towards them. "Get your reunion out of the way quickly, or I'll just freeze you for clumping together anyways!"

"We'll talk later," Dust quickly said as he quickly pushed Cliff up onto his back. "Good luck!"

Dust quickly began skating across the ice.

"Be careful, Shab," Berry quickly said to the Feebas before she began to move across the ice, gaining momentum quickly with her slime.

Aritcuno looked at Shab when the others scattered. "A Feebas? I haven't seen one since mine passed…"

Shab paled, seeming to realize that the Articuno was aware of what he truly was. "Oh no…"

Shab quickly began swimming away, but because he was floating in the air, he didn't gain the momentum of skating on the ice. Berry quickly took notice of Articuno flying after Shab instead of one of them.

"Shab!" Berry shouted. "Dust! The Articuno is going after Shab first!"

"I won't let another one pass on without me!" Articuno cawed as she flew after the Feebas. "It's absurdly difficult to find a Feebas, especially on land. You're not getting away from me!"

Dust was confused when he saw Articuno going for Shab and silently cursed at himself. He had assumed that since Shab seemed ordinary and less than appealing to most Pokemon, Articuno would focus on himself, Berry or Cliff. He wasn't sure why Articuno wanted Shab, but now it seemed like it was up to them to attack Articuno before Shab got frozen.

"Cliff, use Rock Throw while I get us closer. Try to aim towards her head," Dust ordered as he started skating towards Articuno and Shab.

Cliff quickly created a large rock over her head. "Leave my uncle alone!"

The Larvitar threw the big rock at the Articuno. The Rock Throw managed to hit the ice bird's back, but she kept going, only flinching a little bit.

Berry was sliding across the ice much faster than Dust due to her goo, and being light. She quickly slid towards Shab just as Articuno blasted out an Ice Beam at the Feebas. Berry jumped in front of him, summoning a white barrier around herself, taking the Ice Beam attack instead. Berry managed to keep the Ice Beam from freezing her and Shab with Protect, but she did get sent back into Shab by the impact of the Ice Beam.

"How irritating…" Articuno grumbled.

Berry's Protect dissipated, and she turned to Shab. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, thanks to you," Shab responded while slightly blushing.

Articuno landed in front of them. Berry and Shab moved back a bit, but with Articuno right in front of them, they wouldn't be able to escape easily.

Berry frowned, but she remembered she still had items. "Enough running away, we're Crusaders, we should act like it!"

Articuno opened her beak to shoot out another Ice Beam attack, and Berry threw a Sleep Seed into the ice bird's beak. Articuno crushed the seed in her beak when she felt something inside it, and the seed released pink gas that made Articuno drowsy. The ice bird swayed a little before she fell to the floor, asleep.

"Good thinking, Berry," Shab remarked.

"Thanks, but it's not over yet, Articuno is already starting to stir," Berry warned. "Legendary Pokemon aren't affected as easily by our items. Dust! If you have a plan, use it now!"

Dust knew they didn't have much time. Their attacks seem to have little effect on Articuno, even with super effective ones.

Maybe if we tried combining our attacks, it would do some damage. But where's Sparks? His electric attacks would help us a lot. The Absol thought to himself as he looked for the Pikachu.

Dust's eyes stopped when he spotted Sparks in the distance. He recognized the move, Iron Tail, as Sparks seemed to be hitting a frozen pillar. At first he was wondering why the Pikachu was preoccupied with that block of ice when he could be helping them, but then recalled Berry mentioning how there was this Rowlet that turned out to be Celebi.

"We can try to stall Articuno!" Dust spoke up. "Sparks is trying to get his friend out, maybe if we stall long enough, he'll succeed!"

"Will it work?" Cliff asked. "This Articuno is really strong."

"We have to at least try," Dust replied. "We are Crusaders after all."

"Then… Shab, let's both hit her with our Water Pulse, if we're lucky, she'll be confused when she wakes up," Berry quickly said to the Feebas.

"Okay, Berry!" Shab agreed.

Both Berry and Shab shot out balls of water into the Articuno's face. Articuno let out hiss as she was starting to wake up.

"What… What happened?" Articuno groggily asked.

Dust saw their time was almost up, but then he noticed Articuno was somewhat close to one of the ice pillars. Thinking fast, the Absol started skating towards the ice bird.

"Cliff, hold on tight!" Dust shouted, which Cliff nodded as she held Dust's fur tighter.

Using the momentum, Dust leaped towards Articuno as he drew energy into his tail, feeling it hardened. It was slightly hard with Cliff's added weight, but Dust used it to his advantage as he spun mid air, using the combined weight and force to hit Articuno's head with Iron Tail, smacking her towards the ice pillar.

Articuno almost lost her footing, her head spinning as she shook her head. Articuno pushed out her wings, moving around wildly to get everyone off of her. She flew up and smacked her head against the wall.

"We did it! She's confused!" Shab smiled.

Articuno then turned to them, no longer seeming confused.

"No anymore." Berry frowned.

"You'll pay for that!" Articuno shouted before she began to flap her wings quickly, creating a huge gust of wind that was starting to blow Shab away. Berry managed to stick to the ice with her goo, and Dust had Cliff's weight on him to keep him from flying off.

Berry, however, soon, got swept up into the wind. This did, however, cause her to be closer to Articuno. Seeing an opportunity, Berry built up electricity in her body, then unleashed her Thunderbolt at the icy bird. This caught Articuno off guard, and she stopped the Hurricane attack. As Berry and Shab were falling, the Goomy didn't hesitate to toss a Stun Seed at Articuno. Articuno didn't see the seed, and it broke against her wing, which caused the seed to unleash static electricity that caused her body to go numb.

While effective, Dust could already see the Articuno starting to recover from being numb. He figured Stun Seed wouldn't last very long against a Legendary Pokemon, but he was surprised by how fast Articuno was recovering, almost as surprised at seeing Berry using Thunderbolt. Dust wanted to ask her about it but knew it had to be for a later time, that is if they managed to beat Articuno before she freezed them.

"Everyone, now's our chance! Hit Articuno with everything we got!" Dust called out.

Cliff summoned another big rock and threw it at Articuno. Berry built up electricity in her body, and shot out another Thunderbolt. Shab created a ball of water, and slapped it with his tail fin to try to use the momentum to make his Water Pulse stronger as it hit the Articuno. Dust decided to try something new and used Faint Attack to get behind Articuno, but instead of using the Dark type attack, he used Iron Tail and struck Articuno from behind. Articuno let out a loud screech as the Stun Seed wore off.

Articuno did actually look like she was hurt, but she was still far from down. "Is that the best you can do!? You're all so weak!"

Articuno began using Blizzard throughout the room, covering Team Night Tide and Sparks in harsh snow. Berry tried to put up another Protect, but her barrier was starting to run low on energy. Dust remembered he could use Protect too, and he quickly put up the white barrier around himself and Cliff to keep the Blizzard from affecting them. Shab stuck close to Berry to get into her barrier. Sparks, unfortunately, was too far away and was caught up in the Blizzard. This resulted in his tail getting stuck in Celebi's ice pillar.

When Blizzard died down, Berry dissipated her Protect, and reached into her bag to take out a Quick Seed. "Shab… take this Quick Seed… see if you can distract Articuno while the rest of us try to come up with another plan of attack."

Shab nodded, recalling how Articuno showed interest in him for some reason. Shab reached for the seed with his mouth and started chewing, already feeling energy coming from the seed. His body almost seemed to vibrate, so he took this chance to fire another Water Pulse at Articuno to get her attention. While the attack hardly fazed her, it did cause her to look towards Shab.

"Come now, that was even weaker than your last attack. Don't tell me you all are starting to get tired~" Articuno taunted.

"How's this for being tired?!" Shab then fired another Water Pulse, though this only annoyed the Legendary Pokemon further. "Think you can catch me?"

Shab hoped Articuno would take the bait.

"Alright, if you wanna play, then how about a game of freeze tag!" Articuno grinned as she flapped her wings and took to the air.

Articuno began to go after Shab, who quickly swam away. Articuno was surprised at how fast the Feebas was, he was easily outspeeding her through the air himself. She tried to hit him with her Ice Beam, but Shab was moving too quickly to be caught up in her Ice Beam.

Berry used a small Water Pulse herself at the opposite direction of Dust to propel herself to him and Cliff. She took out her last item; one Oran Berry.

"Dust, we're going to need to give this everything we've got while she's chasing Shab. I don't know how long the Quick Seed will last," Berry warned before putting the Oran Berry down. "Cut this Oran Berry four ways, it's our only chance to regain some energy."

Dust nodded as he used his scythe to cut the Oran Berry into four slices. Dust, Cliff, and Berry each took a piece and ate the sliced berry, feeling some energy come back. Dust looked towards where Sparks was, seeing his tail was still stuck to the ice pillar. They were running out of time and options. If Sparks couldn't free Celebi in time, Dust was afraid it would end up being too late.

"We need to help Sparks free Celebi. All our attacks do little damage to Articuno. So while Shab is keeping Articuno occupied, Celebi is our top priority," Dust explained.

"But how can we free Celebi?" Cliff asked. "None of our attacks were able to free you before and we used the last Aspear Berry to free you."

Dust hadn't considered that, seeing how he was the one frozen. If our attacks won't work, then what will? If only one of us knew a Fire type move, then maybe we could try and thaw Celebi out. Unless...

Dust frowned as he looked at Berry, remembering when Hammer had visited them 3 months ago and offered to help Berry with her outburst. How it took a turn for the worst and Berry had lost control. But what Dust also recalled was when he managed to help Berry come back to her senses, at the cost of having some of his fur singed due to the intense heat Berry's body was giving off. This was the last idea Dust wanted to use, remembering how distraught Berry was after she had come to her senses. If there was any other option, any other solution, Dust would've opted for it. But seeing how they were now short on time and options, he was afraid this might be their only shot.

"Berry, I have an idea, but you won't like it," Dust spoke up.

Berry was holding the last sliced Oran Berry, and she looked up at Dust. "What's your idea?"

"So far none of us are able to break this ice. If we knew a Fire type move, we might have a chance, but unfortunately none of us have any kind of fire attacks. Except for maybe you and your outbursts," Dust answered. "If you can somehow use that same fiery aura from that training session with Hammer, you might be able to free Celebi."

"Is that a good idea, Daddy?" Cliff asked, not wanting to see her Mommy lose control like that again.

"It's the only way we'll be able to free Celebi from the ice," Dust answered.

"Dust, while I get your logic, it's certainly not the only way," Berry spoke up. "Dust, for me to have my outburst become strong enough to gain that boiling heat would be if I actually thought I lost you, Cliff, and Shab. I can't just do it by will. Besides, I know you don't remember it, but I do. That time, back in the Strange Mansion, Giratina took over your body and stopped the other Ghost Pokemon from attacking us. What if Celebi could do the same for Sparks over there?"

While the thought of having Celebi lend his power seems like a suitable solution, Dust wasn't entirely sure, thinking about his conversation with Giratina and how he had told him that even though he was a Legendary Pokemon, he couldn't get involved. Though with Celebi being frozen by Articuno, this might allow Celebi to help them out. Plus, if it meant not having Berry to use her outburst, then Dust would gladly take that option.

Dust nodded. "Alright, we'll try that."

"Get this berry slice to Sparks, it should give him enough energy to move his tail again," Berry said, tossing the last Oran Berry slice to Cliff, who grabbed onto it.

"What are you going to do, Mommy?" Cliff asked.

"I'm going to help Shab stall Articuno, he can't keep dodging her forever," Berry said before she gave a smile at Dust and Cliff. "I'm counting on you two, good luck."

"Good luck to you too," Dust responded before turning towards Cliff. "Hop on, we'll get to Sparks faster this way."

Cliff nodded as she climbed on top of Dust's back while carefully holding the sliced Oran Berry. Dust and Berry looked at each other one last time before going in opposite directions, the Absol heading towards Sparks with Cliff on his back while Berry slid towards the Articuno as she continued to chase Shab.

"Daddy… will Mommy and Uncle Shab be okay?" Cliff asked in concern as she looked back at Berry propelling herself towards Articuno and Shab.

"Yes Cliff, Mommy will be fine. She's strong and smart, so she'll keep both Shab and herself safe," Dust reassured, though an image of seeing them frozen came to mind. He quickly shook the thought away and instead focused on their current goal. "Right now we need to focus on helping Sparks get to Celebi. Once we get Celebi's help, they will be able to stop Articuno."

Dust soon made it over to Sparks, who looked tired, and his tail was still stuck.

"Dust…?" Sparks asked.

Cliff hopped off of Dust's back and moved closer to Sparks, holding out the Oran Berry slice. "Here, eat this, it should help give you back some energy."

"Thanks…" Sparks took the berry slice and quickly ate it up.

Some of Sparks's wounds disappeared, and he felt a little better. But since it was only a small berry slice, it couldn't heal him up fully.

"No offense to you, Dust, but I really wish Berry used that Aspear Berry on this ice pillar," Sparks sighed. "No matter how many times I hit it with Iron Tail, I'm barely putting a dent. I've gotten lucky and got a small crack, which my tail is stuck in."

Dust saw that Spark's tail was lodged in pretty well. But he also took notice of the small crack, impressed that Sparks managed to make one in the first place.

"It's fine. For now let's focus on getting Celebi's help," Dust replied.

"You know a move that will free Celebi?" Sparks asked with some hope in his voice.

Dust shook his head before answering. "No, but we may not need to free Celebi completely. Berry thinks that if we can get contact with Celebi, the Legendary Pokemon might be able to lend their power and help us."

Sparks blinked, he looked back at Celebi for a moment, then he looked back at Dust. "How do you plan to do that?"

"Maybe you need to get your tail to touch Celebi?" Cliff asked. "It's already in the ice, why not make it go deeper instead of taking it out?"

Sparks was surprised by the Larvitar's suggestion before looking at his tail. Before he had been trying to free his tail, but this time he tried pushing it in further, seeing it slightly move closer in. Though it only seemed to go a few inches before stopping. Sparks tried to push further, but it seemed as though the closer his tail got to Celebi, the more difficult it was to push his tail in.

"Daddy! Let's help him get his tail deeper!" Cliff smiled.

Dust nodded as he observed Sparks's tail as he tried to figure out how to get it closer to Celebi. He started calculating different equations in his head, while occasionally mumbling to himself. Meanwhile Sparks continued to try and push his tail further in, occasionally using Iron Tail or letting loose some electricity, hoping that it would do the trick.

Cliff just stared at the two older Pokemon as she tried to think of a way to help Sparks. Oddly enough, seeing Sparks's tail stuck like that reminded her of a game she played one time with Chloe. It involved a Cubone's bone they had found one time and how they used it to crack a rock. Recalling the method they had used, Cliff couldn't help but get all giddy as she thought of an idea to help Sparks.

"Sparks! Get ready for a Tackle!" Cliff smiled.

"What do you mea-" Sparks began to asked and yelped when the Larvitar was charging at him. "No, no, no- OOF!"

Cliff Tackled the Pikachu into the ice pillar, his back hitting against it, and his tail going in deeper, but not yet reaching the Celebi. "Hmm… I guess I'll have to do it harder."

"Harder?!" Sparks painfully asked before turning. "Please tell me you have another, less harmful method!"

Dust was surprised when Cliff suddenly tackled Sparks, but even more surprised when he saw how effective it was. "Unfortunately, that looks like our best shot."

"You're kidding, right?" Sparks gave a nervous chuckle.

Dust didn't answer as he walked up to Cliff. "Ready to try again, Cliff?"

"Yes, Daddy!" Cliff nodded before she climbed onto Dust's back.

"Wait, no! I have to be conscious for this you know!" Sparks shouted.

"Don't worry, just imagine a big soft pillow is about to be thrown at you," Dust shouted back as he put some space between him and the Pikachu. "Alright Cliff, you had the right idea, but what you lack is speed and momentum. I'm gonna give you those two things. Ready?"

"Ready, Daddy!" Cliff grinned, looking excited.

Sparks shut his eyes, getting ready for pain.

Meanwhile, Berry had to help Shab. Shab was getting tired, and the Quick Seed was starting to wear off.

"Looks like you're already slowing down," Articuno noted. "This next one won't miss!"

Articuno began to open her beak to shoot out another Ice Beam attack. Seeing this, Berry quickly fired a Dragon Breath attack at the Articuno's face, which caused the ice bird to cough and completely miss Shab with her coughing Ice Beam.

Berry slid against the ice over to Shab. "Are you okay?"

"I'm… fine… just a little… winded.," Shab was slightly breathing hard from constantly dodging Articuno's attack. After a few more seconds he managed to catch his breath. "But what are you doing here? Did you and Dust figure out a plan to stop Articuno?"

"Just survive for as long as you can," Berry said.

"That's it?" Shab deadpanned.

Berry couldn't really tell Shab the true plan, not with Articuno right in front of them. Articuno grinned, "So, it looks like you've finally run out of options then. You will never be able to outlast me."

With the Hail hitting against them, Shab and Berry knew they wouldn't last very long even if they managed to dodge Articuno's attacks.

"Don't count us out yet," Berry hissed.

"I'll finish you both with a Blizzard then." Articuno grinned.

Berry grabbed onto Shab with her antennae and covered them both with a white shield that was getting smaller.

"Protect again? Let's see how long it will last then~" Articuno remarked while continuing to use Blizzard.

With each passing second, Berry's white shield grew smaller and smaller, with some cracks starting to form. It wouldn't be long until Protect gave out to Articuno's assault.

Berry quickly looked around the room, trying to figure out what to do. She looked up at Articuno, and got an idea. She remembered how Hurricane always sent them flying, if she could just use that against the Articuno, maybe they'll be able to stall her long enough for their plan to work.

"Hah! Just using Blizzard?" Berry laughed. "That's such a boring and weak attack. Now if you used it with Hurricane, there's no way we'd be able to survive. My Protect can easily hold up against your dinky little snow attack!"

Articuno was slightly annoyed by Berry's taunt.

"What's the matter? Not feeling confident enough to use Hurricane? That's understandable, after all, not even a Legendary Pokemon could even hope to use a combination attack," Berry taunted.

Now Articuno was even more annoyed, but she gave a smirk. "Oh, if you want more cold, then I'd be happy to oblige!"

Without letting up on Blizzard, Articuno spread out her wings to create the heavy winds for Hurricane.

"Berry… are you sure that was a wise move?" Shab asked, seeing the Protect barrier breaking even faster.

"Trust me! And brace yourself!" Berry quickly said just before Protect shattered.

Shab and Berry were sent into the air by the Hurricane. Berry managed to keep her eyes open from the heavy winds and the Blizzard attack. She could see they were just above Articuno. She managed to turn herself around and shot out as strong a Water Pulse as she could manage, which propelled her right onto Articuno's back. Berry used her sticky slime to attach herself onto the Legendary Ice Bird's back.

"What the?!" Articuno looked back and was shocked to see Berry on her back. But what caught her attention even more was all the slime coming off Berry's body and onto her back. "GET OFF MY BACK YOU DISGUSTING SLUGMA!"

Berry hung onto Articuno tightly. Shab hit the floor due to Articuno being too distracted with Berry to continue her attacks. He was surprised at Berry's plan, and that it was working.

"It's time to go down," Berry hissed before she began to build up as much electricity in her body as possible. "My slime will be the conductor for this next attack. This will spread through your body, ensuring paralysis, and possible crippling. This is your consequence for trapping living Pokemon in your ice prison."

For the first time since facing Articuno, the Legendary Bird Pokemon actually looked worried, which caused her to become more frantic as she tried to shake Berry off. But the more she flapped her wings and shook her body, the more slime spread across her back.

"You're not getting out of this. I've already ensured my slime will stick to your body, and myself," Berry stated. "Even if you tried to smash me into a wall, that will only release all the electricity I have building up in my body right now. You're done, Articuno. See what it's like being trapped? That's how all your victims feel."

"You disgusting ingrate!" Articuno shouted. "You have no idea what I'm doing for these Pokemon! I've preserved them, made them part of my collection so that their beauty and uniqueness will live on forever! An ugly, slime like Pokemon such as yourself could never understand the purpose behind my collection!"

Shab was amazed to see that Berry had gotten the advantage over Articuno, though he was starting to get worried as the Ice Pokemon was getting more hectic. "Berry, you've built up enough electricity, use it now!"

Articuno, hearing Shab, turned to the Feebas. She realized that the slimy abomination seemed to care for this Feebas, and decided to use that to her advantage. Articuno quickly dived at Shab. Shab gasped, but before he could do anything, Articuno fired an Ice Beam at him, trapping him in an ice pillar. Berry gasped when she saw this, she hadn't expected Articuno to suddenly freeze Shab. This was enough to dissipate the electricity Berry was building in her body, and her body became too wet to stay stuck to Articuno's back.

Articuno, feeling Berry's body becoming loose, managed to buck the Goomy off of her back. As Berry fell off of the Articuno's back, she saw something happening to Sparks, and she noticed her goo was still spread across Articuno's body. They still had a chance.

"Now you're finished!" Articuno shouted as she fired an Ice Beam at Berry.

"You'll be finished soon!" Berry shouted back in defiance just before the Ice Beam reached her, now freezing her into an ice pillar.

Dust and Ciff were ready to charge towards Sparks once again when they heard the icy blast from Articuno. Dust gulped as a sudden pit feeling came to his stomach. There was a moment of silence as Dust, Cliff and Sparks all widened their eyes as they saw both Berry and Shab were frozen solid. Immediately Dust recalled Giratina's warning how being frozen affects each Pokemon differently, depending on their soul. Giratina said that Dust was a free spirited soul, and he barely didn't make it until Berry had freed him. He worried how long Berry and Shab had until the ice took their souls.

"Sparks, how close is your tail to Celebi?!" Dust asked as he saw Articuno starting to turn her attention towards them.

Sparks was looking at his tail. "I'm close, just inches away, but not yet touching Celebi! This ice is pretty thick."

Dust saw that Articuno was starting to make her way towards them. Berry and Shab did good buying us time, but the moment she sees what we are trying to do, she'll freeze Sparks before we can get his tail connected to Celebi.

"Daddy, I'll stop her. You keep helping Sparks," Cliff quickly said as she stood in front of Dust, facing down Articuno.

Dust wanted to disagree, the thought of seeing Cliff frozen filled him with dread. He knew what it was like, and he imagined Berry and Shab were going through that same feeling too.

"Hurry Daddy! I know you don't want me to be put in danger, but this isn't the time to argue," Cliff quickly said before she began to slide across the ice at the ice bird. "Hey you big mean ice bird! Take a rock to the face!"

Dust wanted to call for her, but deep down he knew she was right. Time was of the essence, and they only had a small window of opportunity.

"Sparks, brace yourself, I'm giving this everything I got!" Dust warned Sparks.

"Just get on with it! I can take it!" Sparks shouted back.

Everything felt like it was happening in slow motion. Cliff jumped at the incoming Articuno, creating perhaps the biggest rock the little Larvitar had ever made while Dust was charging at Sparks. Cliff threw the large rock at Articuno, Sparks shut his eyes to brace himself. Articuno staggered in the air from the Rock Throw Cliff did, then she used her wing to slap Cliff away. Dust impacted Sparks into the ice pillar. Sparks' tail tip finally touched Celebi's forehead.

Dust's head was still on Sparks. And he heard an unfamiliar voice in his head. "Looks like you could use some help."

At first Dust thought it was Giratina, but this voice sounded very different. Unlike Giratina who seemed to have a deep voice that echoed through the air, this one sounded a bit more soft, and a bit intrigued. Dust heard Sparks yelp, most likely recognizing the voice.

"Celebi! You have no idea how glad I am to hear your voice. At least hear it in my head. We need your help!" Sparks shouted. "We need you to stop Articuno!"

"I can't do anything. In case you haven't noticed, I'm stuck in this ice," Dust heard Celebi reply back. "As much as I would love to be all big and heroic and have a big anime moment, I'm pretty much useless here. Why don't you defeat Articuno?"

There were a million questions going through Dust's mind right now. Such as how Celebi is unable to break free, if a Legendary Pokemon couldn't do anything, then what hope did they have against Articuno. Then he wanted to ask about what anime was. So many questions, but so little time, so he decided to ask one.

"I'm not sure how much you saw, but we've been struggling with Artiucno. You were our last chance, if you can't stop Articuno, then how do you expect us to be able to stop her?" Dust asked.

"Come now, Dust. You're a smart fellow. You've already known what it's like to get a little boost from a Legendary Pokemon. I may not be able to do anything physical here, but that doesn't mean the fight is over yet," Celebi spoke to Dust, who was surprised that the Legendary Pokemon knew his name. "Sparks, I know how you feel. But right now, you are the only one who can stop Articuno."

"Celebi, I already told you before, nothing I did worked. You keep saying that you gave me some kind of blessing, something that I could use if Eli was ever in danger, and yet nothing happened! Please, we need you!" Sparks replied.

"You don't need me. You never really did need me, you've always had each other. All those times you and Eli were in danger, how we all watched both of you run through the fire and flames, anything was possible when you two were together! How often did you go after Eli when I wasn't there to protect her? How many times did you face those odds and came out on top? I gave you that blessing because I knew you'd be able to use it when the time was right. Well that time is right now! Or are you willing to give up just because I can't do anything and let Eli and all the others stay frozen for all eternity?! You're not the same coward I first saw when Eli introduced me to you, so don't go crawling back to that Pikachu who ran away at the first sign of trouble! Be the Pikachu that Eli had fallen in love with!" Celebi mentally shouted, causing both Dust and Sparks to flinch.

Dust was blinking in shock at that last comment. Is Celebi saying Eli is in love with her own brother!?

"You… didn't tell them that you and Eli were lovers, did you?" Celebi sighed.

Before Dust could start thinking about the horrid implications, Sparks quickly decided to clear up this misunderstanding. "Eli and I aren't actually related. I may have fudged the truth when I told you we were siblings. Our actual circumstances are… weirder than I can explain."

"This isn't the time for explanations either. The Larvitar didn't last long, and Articuno's starting to come this way!" Celebi warned. "Sparks! You need to remember. Remember when Eli was taken. Remember when she was forced to revert back into a Pichu. Remember when your child was taken away!"

Dust was unsure what to think, but from what he gathered, Eli was apparently a Pikachu or a Raichu at some point, but was reverted back into a Pichu, and that they had a child that was taken away.

"I'm done playing games with you!" Articuno shouted as she started flying at them. "Time for you all to sleep in ice forever!"

Articuno began to use another Blizzard attack at them. At the same time, Dust felt electricity gathering around Sparks's body. Dust fell back a few feet, not wanting to get zapped. The Absol could only watch in awe as more and more electricity began to build around Sparks, and soon coated him with golden electricity. Dust could feel the electricity as his fur was starting to stand. Sparks glared at Articuno, his tail free from the ice as the electricity somehow broke it.

"I… won't… let you… do this… anymore!" Sparks shouted just before he jumped towards the Articuno and her Blizzard attack.

Sparks gave a loud battle cry as he released his attack. Dust's eyes went wide in shock and awe when he saw 7 colors of the rainbow from each electrical current that came out of the Pikachu's body and surged through Articuno's Blizzard like angry electric, colorful serpents.

As the two attacks collided, for a moment Articuno's Blizzard seemed like it was pushing back Sparks's attack. Dust saw that Articuno was grinning, thinking she was winning in this contest of power. The Absol turned to Sparks, wondering what he could do to help, but was surprised when he saw the Pikachu, as though for a moment he was staring off into space. Dust wondered if perhaps Sparks had lost consciousness, or if Celebi was somehow still communicating with him, but before he could ask, Sparks suddenly drew his attention back to Articuno with newfound determination. With more electricity surging through his body, Sparks pushed and gave everything he got into his attacks, causing the 7 colored bolts to push Articuno's Blizzard back more and more.

"No! How!?" Articuno shouted in metaphorical shock.

It didn't take long for Articuno to feel the literal shock, and the agony that came with it as the 7 colored bolts reached her. Articuno did attempt to cut off her Blizzard to fly away from the absurdly powerful electric attack, but her wings were moving too slow. She realized, just before the attack reached her, that the slime that Goomy left on her had hardened and made it hard for her to move. She let out a loud screech as all she could do was try to wait it out as the electricity shocked her body.

Sparks finally stopped the attack, and fell to the icy ground in exhaustion. Articuno hit the ground as well, her body looking quite burnt, and paralyzed. Bits of electricity still sparking on her body, causing her to twitch a bit.

Seeing that Articuno finally had gone down, Dust wasted no time to rush towards Cliff. He went towards where he saw Articuno swatted her away, and almost stopped when he saw her body on the ground, unmoving. His heart started to race as he rushed towards her.

No no no! Please no! Please be okay, Cliff! Dust thought as he reached Cliff.

Dust knelt by the Larvitar, checking to see if Cliff was alright. He knew she was tough, that Larvitar were meant to take heavy blows. He kept repeating those details in his head, to help convince him that Cliff was alright.

"Cliff, Daddy's here," Dust said with a low voice, placing a paw on her body as he gently shook Cliff, though there was no response from the Larvitar. "Cliff, it's okay now, you can wake up. Articuno is beaten. You did it, so please wake up."

Dust couldn't help but notice how cold Cliff's body was, and he began to worry. It wasn't good for a naturally desert dwelling Pokemon like Larvitar to be this cold. Dust was truly beginning to worry that Cliff may have…

Cliff suddenly started coughing and looked at Dust. "D-Daddy… c-can you… w-warm me u-up, p-please?"

"Yes Cliff, anything for you," Dust answered as he curled up around Cliff, making sure to cover her with his body. "Everything is going to be fine, Daddy is here now."

"Did we… win?" Cliff asked as she snuggled into Dust's fur.

Dust looked up and saw that Articuno still hadn't moved from Sparks' attack. "Yeah, we won." But then he noticed that all the other frozen Pokemon were still trapped in their ice pillars. "But we aren't done yet. Cliff, do you mind climbing on my back real fast? I need to move us closer to Articuno."

"Okay, Daddy," Cliff said.

Dust carefully pushed Cliff onto his head to have her slide onto his back. He felt her cold body gripping onto his fur. Dust knew they shouldn't stay here too long, this environment was not good for Cliff, but they still needed to release the other victims, especially Berry and Shab.

"Sparks, are you okay?" Dust asked.

"Yeah… just… need a few… minutes to… rest a little…" Sparks answered tiredly.

Dust nodded before turning towards Articuno, seeing the big ice bird breathing slowly. As he approached her, he saw her slowly open an eye, seeing those familiar green eyes.

"...Here… to finish… the job?" Articuno slowly asked. "... It's the… only way… to free… your friends…"

Dust was silent as he stared at her. He sighed as he knelt down and motioned for Cliff to hug his fur once again so she could get warm. Cliff happily obliged as she slid off Dust's side and laid against his body, welcoming the warmth. Dust smiled a bit before facing Articuno, his smile disappearing.

"You know, that isn't the only way. You could also free them yourself," Dust suggested.

"Heh… why… would I… do that?" Articuno questioned.

Dust gave a slight chuckle before responding. "Well, I suppose it's your turn to ask a question too, it's only fair that I answer. I'm not sure if you know what it's like to be frozen, but when you froze me, it felt like I was losing myself. I couldn't think, everything was fading away. And if it wasn't for Berry, I might've not made it. Articuno, I know you wish to preserve all those other Pokemon. I can't understand how it must be like to live for so long, to see life pass you by. I can understand why you froze all those other Pokemon though, it wasn't because of their beauty or uniqueness, but because deep down you were alone. How long has it been since you last saw your children?"

Articuno was silent for a moment as she closed her eyes. Dust wondered if Articuno didn't want to answer, but before he could ask once more, Articuno opened her eyes, where Dust saw what he believed was remorse in them.

"Do you know… the last thing I said to one of my children… was asking when she had become so beautiful?" Articuno said softly. "I wasn't… the best mother… I never saw either of my children after that. They left to other regions… to fulfill their own dreams… I wanted to freeze time as I've watched many others die so quickly…"

"I can see why you would do that," Dust replied as he looked at Cliff, who was still hugging his side.

"...That Larvitar… she called you… her Daddy? Are you… her father?" Articuno asked as she looked at Cliff closely.

"I may not be her biological father, but I was there when her egg hatched and have taken care of her ever since. I know it may be hard to believe, but I can somewhat understand how you must've felt when your children had left you. That feeling of loneliness, the thought of never seeing them again, I felt those whenever I thought Cliff would be in danger, or that I might've not made it when I was frozen. I know seeing others close to you must be painful, but think of all the ones that you had frozen. Think of all their families and friends who may never see their loved ones again. You may be preserving all these other Pokemon, but you are causing others to feel that same pain you felt all throughout your life. Please Articuno, let them go so they can finally move on."

Articuno frowned.

"If Berry were here and not frozen herself, she would tell you that freezing and preserving these Pokemon in ice isn't any better than death," Dust sighed. "They can't move, they can't think, they can't do anything. They might as well just be… corpses."

"And some of them are," Articuno said. "The ones I've frozen a long time ago… they're already dead. If I unfreeze them, then they'll truly die. Is that what you want? If I unfreeze them, you would have to take on the responsibility knowing that you let those Pokemon die."

Dust recalled his conversation with Giratina, how he had asked him if there was any way to save these frozen Pokemon. He didn't like the answer Giratina had given him, but he understood what it would mean and he had already accepted it.

"I know," Dust nodded with confirmation. "I'm willing to take on that responsibility. As they are now, even though they are frozen, their souls have yet to move on. At least being free they might be able to see their loved ones in the afterlife."

"Some of them are dead?" Cliff asked in concern.

"Yes… despite what most believe, being frozen doesn't keep you alive forever, Cliff," Dust answered with a heavy heart. "It keeps the body from aging, but it doesn't keep the soul from fading."

"Then… is releasing them a good idea?" Sparks asked, having recovered enough to join up with Dust and Cliff. "The ones who are dead I mean."

Dust nodded. "I had already tried learning if there was any way to save them, but as long as they are frozen, even though their souls have faded, they are still trapped within. In order for them to move on from this life, their bodies have to be freed from being frozen."

"You… make a good point… I wouldn't want to be trapped forever even after I've died long ago," Sparks agreed.

Articuno sighed. "Well… you won our little game… I might as well give you what you want then."

The Hail had stopped, and Articuno let out a caw, though she was too weak to move, she was able to shatter all the ice pillars in the area. Dust, Sparks, and Cliff had to lower their heads to keep the ice shards from hitting their heads or faces.

Most of the Pokemon that had been frozen for a while were lying unconscious on the floor. Berry, Shab, and Celebi were the only ones who were still conscious after the ice pillars they were stuck in had shattered.

Having been warmed up by Dust's fur, Cliff left his side and ran up to Berry. "Mommy! Are you alright?!"

"Oh… Cliff… hey, it's good to see your cute little face…" Berry smiled tiredly.

In response, Cliff hugged Berry even tighter. Shab had gotten up and moved towards Berry and Cliff.

"So if we are unfrozen, does that mean Articuno was defeated?" Shab asked.

"Yeah, we won," Cliff answered. "Sparks got this crazy, rainbow power up and just destroyed Articuno!"

"I wouldn't say destroy, but Berry's slime gave Sparks the extra edge he needed to stop Articuno," Dust spoke up, having joined the group. "It kept her from escaping."

"Eli?" Sparks asked as he went over to the spiky eared Pichu.

Celebi floated over to Sparks and Eli. "She'll be fine, she's just unconscious. Gotta say though, Sparks, you really came through in the end there."

"Heh, I wasn't sure if I was going to make it back there, but something just… clicked," Sparks replied. "In that short moment, I saw everything that happened ever since me and Eli had first met you. All the way to this moment, and well, it's what gave me the extra push I needed."

"I'm glad Sparks was able to reunite with his sister," Shab said.

"Yeah… about that…" Dust sweatdropped.

"I still can't believe he was travelling with a Celebi of all Pokemon…" Berry muttered.

"Yeah, I'm guessing Celebi was that Rowlet you kept talking about," Shab looked at Sparks, who Woolooishly scratched the back of his head. "Why didn't you tell us that your friend was Celebi?"

"Well about that, it wasn't exactly safe revealing his identity. I know I trust you and your friends, but if someone had found out that Rowlet was Celebi, they might've gotten in our way of trying to free everyone else," Sparks explained. "Rowlet is the illusion disguise Celebi takes on whenever interacting with others."

"Of course, I pick Rowlet since it's a Grass type too, and it can fly, so nobody will question why I'm flying and like to interact with plants," Celebi informed. "The last time I tried an illusion that was a Charizard, a lot of Pokemon looked at me like I was crazy whenever I just wanted to relax in a large meadow. Some even tried to spray water on me to keep me from setting the place on fire. Never act like a Grass type while using a Fire type disguise."

Dust was extremely curious about what Sparks's story was, especially regarding his relationship to the Pichu, and how he met Celebi. But there were still more pressing matters they needed to attend to, the questions could wait.

"There's a lot of Pokemon around here," Shab noted, seeing the other Pokemon lying around, seemingly unconscious.

Dust frowned as he saw that there were quite a lot of Pokemon that were unmoving. He wasn't sure if they were simply unconscious, or if most of them were actually dead.

"Berry, Shab, there's something you need to know," Dust solemnly said. "Even though everyone was freed from Articuno's ice, most of them had already passed on from this life."

"What do you mean? How could they have passed on? They were frozen, weren't they?" Shab asked.

"We were only frozen for a short time, but… how long have some of these Pokemon have been frozen for?" Berry asked. "We weren't just unconscious in the ice, we were literally trapped in cold darkness…"

"That's the thing, most of these Pokemon have been frozen for years, decades, maybe even centuries. While being frozen kept their bodies alive, their mental state eventually faded, leaving nothing but an empty vessel," Dust explained. "When I was frozen, Giratina had visited me and told me how the only way to save all these Pokemon was to free them, even if it meant they were going to die. It was the only way they could truly be free and move on."

Cliff frowned as she looked around. She knew about death, Carrie had made sure to teach her about it since it was something every Crusader may face eventually. But that didn't change the fact that she had never seen a dead Pokemon before. The fact that some of these Pokemon may never wake up again really disturbed her. She hugged Berry closer for comfort, glad that her Mommy wasn't among them.

"Those poor souls… may they finally be able to rest in peace…" Berry whispered.

Everyone looked at Articuno, who was still weak, but very much conscious. "So… you did it… you've managed to free all the Pokemon from the big bad Articuno… what are you going to do with me now?"

"Well that depends on you," Celebi responded as he landed on top of Articuno. "There's several things we could do. We could make you face punishment for all the Pokemon who lost their lives here. I could heal you with my powers and have faith that you won't attack us. We could leave you like this as well. But what I want to know is what are you going to do? Are you truly sorry for all the pain you had caused others? Will you go in peace and promise to never cause harm to anyone like this again?"

"You're going to trust this bird to keep her word if she tells you she would go in peace?" Shab questioned.

"I've seen quite a lot of things in my lifetime. I had to stop others from doing things you couldn't even imagine," Celebi calmly stated, though his gaze sent a shiver up Shab's spine. "But I've also seen how everyone has some kind of potential for greater things. Many times I am reminded why others deserve a second chance."

Celebi turned towards Sparks and Eli as he smiled at them.

"It sounds like you've been doing this sort of thing a lot," Berry noted.

"Heh… yeah, you have no idea…" Celebi sighed, but then perked up. "And it never gets old."

Articuno let out a bit of a snort. "I can see it in your eyes… you're older than I am… you've suffered losses as well… yet you keep going… I envy that spirit."

"You bet your tail feather I have," Celebi responded before floating off Articuno's body and going towards her front. "Now do I have your word that you will go in peace and promise to never do any such bad things again?"

"Heh… I can't promise I won't do bad things again… but I will promise I'll go in peace and never do anything on a large scale like freezing Pokemon again. It gets tiresome… and if I have to release every Pokemon anyways… there was no point in collecting them in the end anyways…" Articuno sighed. "I suppose frozen Pokemon… can't cure loneliness."

"No, it can't," Celebi agreed before placing a hand on top of Articuno's head. "I know what it's like seeing those close to you pass on with time, but perhaps you'll find someone who'll remind you what it means to live in this life. To help you find purpose and to help you with your loneliness. I know I have."

Then to everyone's astonishment, Celebi's eyes glowed as he used his power on Articuno, her body being enveloped in a bright, green light. So bright that the others had to look away. After a few seconds the light had died down, giving Dust and the others the chance to see once more. In front of them they saw that all the wounds that Articuno had left had disappeared.

"... Thank you, for this," Articuno said. "Maybe it's for the better if we never meet again. Dust, I wish you and your friends the best that life has to offer."

Articuno then spread out her wings and flew out through one of the windows.

"Was that a wise decision?" Berry asked a little unsurely.

"Sometimes you just gotta have a little faith," Celebi answered. "Plus, I've dealt with a lot worse. But this is nothing compared to what you and Dust had faced. I'm still surprised that you two managed too...wait… am I getting ahead of myself? What year is it again?"

Celebi started mumbling to himself for a moment, leaving both Dust and Berry very confused.

"I'm sorry, what was that about us having faced something?" Dust asked. "Cause so far none of our adventures had even amounted to this."

"Oh that? Just forget what I said," Celebi chimed. "For now, I think we have more pressing matters, such as what to do with all these bodies? I don't think it would be good to just leave them here. I can at least teleport the ones who are alive back to their homes, but can't do much about those who have already passed on from this life."

Dust looked at Sparks, utterly confused. "Is Celebi always like this?"

"Yes, and this is one of his better days," Sparks answered. "He's a time traveler, so he often does this."

"A time traveler?" Berry blinked. "Wait, does that mean he sees us again in the future?"

"Spoilers!" Celebi shouted.

"There's a lot of Pokemon here though," Cliff said. "How are-"

Suddenly, a black hole of energy appeared in front of them, startling everyone. Then a familiar ghost Pokemon came through the black hole. Berry and Dust immediately recognized this Pokemon.

"Vlad?" Dust and Berry both said at the same time.

"What are you doing here?" Berry questioned, though a bit on guard in case the Dusknoir tried anything.

"I'm here on Giratina's behalf. It was rather sudden, and he seemed...different, but he told me how I was needed here to assist you and Dust," Vlad explained. "As well as passing on a message for the Absol. But that will be after I have taken care of all the bodies."

"What are you planning on doing? And what message did Giratina have for me?" Dust asked, trying to process everything that's happened so far.

"I told you, after I am done here. And I am only here to take these bodies to the afterlife, where their souls can move on," Vlad explained. "As you remember from our last encounter, I am able to reach the souls of others, which is why Giratina had sent me here in the first place."

Vlad raised up his hands and several bodies on the floor began to raise up at once. Cliff looked shocked at seeing this.

"It's okay, Cliff, he'll take care of them," Berry reassured.

"They will join their families and friends in the afterlife. They had been stuck here for a long time," Vlad stated as he began moving the bodies into the black hole, which was likely where the afterlife was.

"I'm surprised by how well this Dusknoir is. Last time I saw a Dusknoir, they almost succeeded in… almost helping in stopping time itself," Celebi muttered.

"Vlad didn't start out that great," Dust pointed out. "He tried to take my soul to sacrifice it to Giratina."

"Ah yes, I believe that was either your third or fourth time almost dying," Celebi noted.

Dust nearly did an anime fall. "How well do you know me exactly? I don't just tell others I almost died more than twice at least!"

"Oh, well you were the one who told me," Celebi answered.

"But this is my first time meeting you! I haven't mentioned anything about my past to you!" Dust exclaimed.

"Exactly, this is your first time meeting me, but I've met you before. Though I can't tell if you're the same Dust that I had met, or if you'll end up being a different one," Celebi wondered, not really helping Dust's confusion.

It was too much for Dust, so many questions were rushing through his head. It got so bad that his brain overloaded and he fell on his back, his eyes swirling from over thinking.

"Great, you broke him!" Sparks shouted.

"Oh, he'll be fine," Celebi remarked.

"That's everyone who had died in Articuno's ice," Dusknoir stated. "The rest are from recent times, so they should still have a place to go back to. Except for that little one over there."

Dusknoir pointed at a Togepi that was lying on the ground. "From what I can tell, that Togepi had been frozen in the ice for hundreds of years. But it doesn't know anything about the world since it likely just hatched when Articuno froze it. My guess is that because it didn't know anything about the world, its mind and soul didn't degrade, it didn't feel trapped, it just felt this was how the world was."

Sparks looked over at the Togepi, then he looked at Eli. "Maybe we'll take the Togepi with us then. The Togepi needs a home and a family now. And… we could use a child of our own."

Celebi looked rather concerned for a moment, as though he wanted to protest, but quickly changed his mind. "Very well, then I'll take you, Eli and the Togepi back to your home. That way I can take the rest of the Pokemon here back to where they belong. It'll be easier if it's just me."

"Wait… will we ever see you again?" Cliff asked in concern, since she had grown rather fond of Sparks.

"And maybe even get to actually meet Eli, when she's conscious?" Berry added, looking at the unconscious spiky eared Pichu. "Under better circumstances?"

"Maybe you will, maybe you won't," Celebi spoke up. "It all depends on the whims of time and the universe really."

"I personally hope we do," Sparks said, looking at Cliff, Berry, and Shab. "It was actually kind of nice working with you all to save everyone."

"Alright, just hold on tight while I take my friends back home. I'll be back before you even know it," Celebi told Team Night Tide as he floated towards Sparks, Eli, and Togepi. "And if I happen to not come back, just give me a second, I most likely either came too early or a few days later. It can be difficult sometimes returning back to the exact same time spot."

Before anyone could say anything, Celebi floated over Sparks, Eli, and the Togepi that Sparks picked up. Celebi's body glowed a bright green, and he surrounded them in a ball of green energy. There was a bit of a whizzing sound before the ball of green energy disappeared, taking Celebi, Sparks, Eli, and Togepi with them.

"... Do you think Sparks and Eli came from the past or future?" Berry asked.

"I think it's best if we don't think about it…" Shab sighed.

Vlad looked at Dust, then he looked at Berry. "Would you mind snapping him out of his shocked state? I need to pass on the message to him, and I can't do that if he's not conscious enough to receive it."

"Sure, just give me a second," Berry replied before she used a weak Water Pulse on Dust's face.

Dust quickly sat up, spitting out water. "Mother, please no! I didn't flood the guild this time! I swear!"

Dust blinked a few times as he looked around the room. His memories of what happened prior came back, which only added to his confusion. Luckily his mind had calmed down, so he was able to think more clearly now.

"What happened? And where's Celebi and Sparks?" Dust asked.

"They went back home for the time being," Berry answered. "Vlad says he has a message he wants to pass on to you."

Dust then recalled how Vlad mentioned how Giratina wanted to pass along a message to him. "Oh, well what is it?"

"Are you sure you want the others to be here for this? This only concerns you," Vlad asked.

Without hesitation, Dust responded. "These are my teammates and friends. Anything you have to say to me, they should be here to hear it too."

"If you insist," Vlad remarked as Berry, Cliff, and Shab gathered around Dust. Once Vlad had all their attention, he began to relay Giratina's message to them. "These are the words from Giratina. 'Dust, you recently had spoken with me, and yet you haven't. What I mean is that you had spoken with a different version of me, a Giratina from the future. I believe it was thanks to being near Celebi that had allowed this version of myself to speak with you. I'm here to warn you to be cautious of that Giratina. Whether their intentions are good or bad, they have broken several rules to speak with you. Truth be told, I believed this was your moment to die, I had already told you I would not be able to interfere, nor speak with you unless it was your time. Something has happened to cause my future self to go through great lengths to help you. I cannot tell what his plans are for you, but from this point on, I shall have no further contact with you until the time of your death is at hand. My future self has interfered and I cannot foresee what your future holds. Though I sense many challenges and difficult choices will cross your path. Remember, I've given you my blessing, use it to the fullest, and you might survive to see how your story ends.'"

Berry, Cliff, and Shab all looked at Dust with curious eyes. The Absol was silent, hardly showing any emotions.

"You spoke with Giratina again?" Berry asked in worry. "Are you okay?"

Dust was more confused than ever. When he was frozen, he felt angry when Giratina had shown up, stating how he couldn't help. He was frustrated with the Legendary Pokemon and how his life felt like a yo-yo. But when Giratina spoke again and gave him those encouraging words, he was somewhat glad that he had spoken with him. It was a strange feeling, as though he knew Giratina, more than just a Legendary Pokemon, but as if he truly knew him. But now, Dust wasn't sure what to think, all this talk of future versions, and time travel was starting to overwhelm him once more. His head started to pound as he tried to make sense of everything he was just told.

"Is there… anything else?" Dust asked, barely able to control his emotions.

"That's it for now," Vlad answered. "I would suggest heeding Master Giratina's words. Good luck with everything."

With those words said, Vlad floated into the black hole he came from, and the hole itself disappeared.

Berry looked over at the cactus Bulbasaur child. "Celebi said he'll take everyone else home, right? Then we should at least get Juice here back home to his parents."

Dust slowly nodded. Too much was on his mind right now, at least with this he can help distract himself. "Alright...wait… Where exactly are we?"

"We're at the top of the Icy Tower," Shab answered. "The rest of the tower is a Mystery Dungeon. There were about 20 floors."

"Yeah, we had to fight our way up here, Daddy," Cliff added. "There was a lot of snow and hail, and a bunch of Ice Pokemon. Mommy and I almost froze, but we managed to make it up here."

"A Mystery Dungeon?! Here?!" Dust asked, glad to have something else to think about. "But how? Unless it had to do with Artiucno, perhaps her presence here had influenced the interior of the tower, and thus created a dungeon within. But that only raises more questions! Does this mean Legendary Pokemon have the ability to create dungeons? Or can others do this as well? Is it determined by their strength? Artiucno was indeed strong, so that would play a factor into. But how does that explain all the wild Pokemon? While most wild Pokemon are natives in most dungeons, there could be no way Ice Pokemon would leave their natural environment just to come to a tower in the middle of a desert. But if that's the case, would that mean Articuno had also created the wild Pokemon here? Does that apply to all Legendary Pokemon? Giratina is Death, so I somewhat doubt they could create life. But then again, how does that-"

Dust was suddenly splashed in the face with water, cutting off his ramble of questions.

"That's enough, Dust, we can leave the mystery of Mystery Dungeons later. We need to get Juice out of here, and get back to Oasis City," Berry grumbled.

"We can get out of the dungeon just fine with our badges, but how are we going to get across the ravine? That Skarmory was our only ride across it." Shab frowned.

"Let's get out of here first, then deal with the ravine problem once we do," Berry sighed.

Everyone gathered around Juice. Dust tapped his badge, before what Berry and Shab said began to sink into his mind.

"Wait, what ravine?" Dust asked, but never received an answer.

Team Night Tide disappeared in a flash of light, along with Juice, leaving the Icy Tower. They reappeared back at the base of the Icy Tower.

Berry slithered to the outside of the tower, and Dust quickly followed while Shab and Cliff lifted up the unconscious Bulbasaur and headed outside.

"That ravine," Berry pointed with her antenna.

Dust saw a large ravine that separated them from Oasis City.

"Oh…" Dust deadpanned.

---

Oragonking: Traveling Master: Well, as you've probably read, she already somewhat had an understanding of what would happen to the frozen Pokemon. It's why she kept them frozen all these years. And it's thanks to Dust's understanding that Articuno even considered listening to him in the first place. Whether we have Articuno return in the future is still indecisive. And sorry to disappoint, but since having a Legendary Pokemon on a team would be OP, it kinda draws away from the story itself. It's like with the games, we know how powerful Legendary Pokemon are and how easier it makes when using them in battle.

DarkFoxKit: It was interesting that Gates to Infinity gave you a Legendary so early in the game. And while they made it work, though I couldn't use her much since I was a Snivy and I hated having type overlap, there's a reason why most stories don't give Legendary Pokemon to protagonists so early on, they're supposed to be broken.

Skywalker405: DarkFoxKit: Yeah, we answer back our reviewers on each new chapter. This is why it's important to not skip the ANs, we might have something important to announce there. If you see we haven't been updating for a while, it might be best to go back and look at what we said on the ANs. We always try to let our readers know when we have to take a break so they know we wouldn't be updating for a while.

Berry4Goodra: DarkFoxKit: Yeah, like I said, no, Sparks isn't a reincarnation of anything.

Traveling Master: As we said before, Calcifer was very unstable, and others had mentioned how dangerous he can be. The guildmaster knew about Calcifer and he's violent behavior. It's why he held off on having him go on a mission for so long. This mission was basically a test for Calcifer to see how well he would do if he was put in charge. And as you've read…it didn't go so well. But Calcifer has been a part of the Volcanic Ash Guild for a long time, even as a Charmander.

DarkFoxKit: Calcifer was training when he was a Charmander, so he didn't get to go on missions for a long time, well that and the reasons TM said before, Calcifer being unstable and violent. As for Igneel and Calcifer being the same age, we're not gonna go into a lot of detail for that right now, but I can tell you that Calcifer is indeed younger than Igneel.

Traveling Master: We mentioned who the guildmaster was before. It was at the beginning of the tournament when Igneel acconced that Cronus, the guildmaster for Volcanic Ash, was unable to make it. But that's the only thing that was mentioned, but we'll eventually introduce Cronus and who he is in the future.

As for the relationship between Cronus and Igneel, Igneel is like the right hand man…claw of the guild. Similar to how Chihiro and Carrie are.

DarkFoxKit: If Groudon were to join the guild, then the guildmaster would accept him. Because Groudon does have a form that's part Fire type, and therefore, he has Fire type potential inside him. It's why Pokemon that weren't originally Fire types are able to join, like Fletchling or Eevee, if they are capable of becoming a Fire type, or in Eevee's case, evolve into a Fire type, then they are welcomed.

Okay, first off, you did not need to review again to make your point about the theme of the sin of the father. Second, Berry asked the question to give the Pokemon of Oasis City something to think about, since they ended up blaming and hating all Crusaders for something one individual Crusader did. We're not, at any point, going to introduce the theme itself.

As for Berry seeing Tsunami again… maybe, maybe not, you'll just have to wait and see. As for the candy Cliff had, they're actually replicated Rare Candies. They're not the real thing though, they would be broken if they were.

Berry learning Flamethrower hasn't really crossed my mind. I'm just giving her moves that feel like they would make sense in the scenario. She may or may not learn it in the future, depending on what we want when we get there.

Traveling Master: As for Dust teaching her Ice Beam, he already taught Shab how to use the move. And it wouldn't really do good for the team if they all ended up having the same moves. It's like building your own team, each Pokemon has its own types and moves so you can know which one to use when battling.

As for Blizza, so far she doesn't know any elemental punch attacks because she has to be a Kommo-o to learn elemental punches.

DarkFoxKit: If Berry still thought she was a Wooper, she would be very confused to how and why she was able to learn Thunderbolt. She would probably come up with a ridiculous reason to why she's able to learn it though, like maybe it was just a weird fluke, or because she's an unusual Wooper, maybe she can learn moves most Wooper can't, after all, she had Absorb before she knew she wasn't a Wooper.

Yes, Shab can still evolve without the Prism Scarf, but he would have to make a continuous effort to make himself prettier to evolve. The Prism Scarf was automatically doing it for him. It would still take a while, but at least Shab wouldn't have to put up too much effort like constantly stuffing himself with Dry Poffins or the equivalent to that, or always grooming/cleaning himself. If Shab wears a new Prism Scarf, no, it wouldn't reset, but it would delay the evolution a bit since he had it off for a good while.

Yeah, Berry has Thunderbolt, but the Skarmory wasn't an enemy. The Skarmory was a jerk for leaving them stranded, but she's not a boss or anything. Besides, I don't think Berry would want to paralyze or knock out their only ride back home anyways.

Okay, I do have to give you credit for telling us Alolan Sandshrew is indeed part Steel type. We assumed it was pure Ice type since neither of us used Alolan Sandshrew at all, and it doesn't look like it would be Steel type. but we still should've looked up the typing before assuming. We deleted the 'super-effective' mention, though Berry and the others still thought it was pure Ice, so we would leave that in.

The Celebi is not human, he was never human, Sparks made that up to protect Celebi's identity and to give Team Night Tide a reason to free Celebi first. And no, not all humans turned into a Legendary Pokemon, the Articuno was a rare exception.

Sobbas: DarkFoxKit: Strangely enough, Hector was originally supposed to just be a background character that we didn't plan to use again. But, since we were doing a desert town, we figured we could bring him back since he's a species that lives in desert places. We figured it would be a neat little call back to that character. We like having any character feel more alive, like the world is truly being lived in even if we don't focus on them. And those characters you mentioned… hehehehehehe… no spoilers, but you may not be wrong about them.

Traveling Master: I had a feeling you'd be surprised by Rowlet's true identity. But as you learned in this chapter, Sparks had his reasons for keeping Celebi's identity a secret. So to clear some things up, Celebi, Sparks, and Eli are all originally Pokemon. None of them used to be humans, only two electric Pokemon that are traveling with a Celebi, with their own share of adventures and such.

DarkFoxKit: With Celebi, yes, it is possible for Night Tide and anyone else to time travel. Though Celebi is very strict with that since that could mess up the timeline if he just said anything or took anyone with him willy nilly. So while the possibility is there, it's very unlikely, unless there was a really good reason why Celebi would take them into the past or future.

Well, that's not a bad theory you have there. But as TM said, Celebi was never a human, nor was a human trapped in his body. As for Giratina, no, he's not a human or controlled by one. It's actually very rare for any of the Legendary Pokemon to have been or were fused with a human. The Articuno was the exception, not the rule. Sparks only said that Celebi was a human turned Rowlet to protect Celebi's true identity, and give Team Night Tide a reason to free him first, because human turned Pokemon are legends by this point in time, not because Celebi himself was a human. Now if you're wondering why Giratina would be so compassionate to Dust… there is a reason, but that's spoilers.

A new member for Team Night Tide will eventually come, we already have a plan for the full team of Team Night Tide, at least the primary team. The reason why it's taking so long for them to recruit new members is because we wanted to give each member their time to shine, and to bond with each other, as well as have the readers care about them. If we kept introducing new members to the team, it would hamper the character development, and we would have to start excluding some members from Mystery Dungeon missions because it would start to become too much. Dust and Berry are the 'hero and partner' of the story, so they have to be on every mission together, except for certain circumstances, like when Dust was sick and unconscious.

Please theorize away on what you think the next member of Team Night Tide will be. It's interesting to see what people will think they would recruit next until we reveal who the next member is.

Traveling Master: While it would've been nice if all the frozen Pokemon were fine, sometimes not every adventure Dust and Berry goes on ends all happy and good. And while this is Pokemon, with creatures that can do the impossible, we still try to add some realism to the story. In this case, being frozen for so long would cause serious damage. But this was also a good lesson for the Dust and Berry. There will be times, despite their best efforts, not everyone can be saved.

Also…Articuno is female, not male. Just letting you know. And yeah…corruption does kinda play into it. After years and years of keeping frozen Pokemon, the Articuno felt less guilty and believed more and more that what she was doing was good for them. Thankfully Dust and the others were able to talk some sense to her.

DarkFoxKit: I avoided reading your last comment about Pokemon Legends Arceus, because I've been avoiding new trailers and new reveals because I want to see these new Pokemon and forms when I play the game. So try not to post anything about Legends Arceus, even after the game comes out, okay?

Traveling Master: Though I've seen my share fair of spoilers. So if you want to talk, go ahead and just message me directly, I don't mind. But yeah, please refrain from spoiling the game in the reviews, not just for DarkFoxKit, but also for the other readers who might see your review too. Some might not care, but others will.

Earthpatriot117: Traveling Master: Heh, for now, I'll let you keep theorizing on whether Darkrai is or isn't Dust's father.

DarkFoxKit: The souls are trapped, but are gone from their bodies. Celebi was not human, Sparks only said he was a human turned Rowlet to protect Celebi's identity, but also give Team Night Tide a reason to free him first. As for how Sparks knew how human culture worked, remember that Celebi is a time traveler. I'm just gonna say it now, Sparks, Eli, and Celebi were never human. But they are a reference to the Spiky Eared Pichu and Pikachu-Colored Pichu event from HeartGold and SoulSilver.

Traveling Master: Well, Dust still has a few months left until his deadline, and obtaining Gold Rank has been his goal ever since he got to Unity Guild. It's still too early to say if he'll stay, or if he'll get desperate.