While we ate our berries and Slowking unraveled Dusty's tied tendrils, I told them about Lucario's new nickname, Sycamore; they both seemed to take a quick liking to it. Sycamore also looked happy, both about his new nickname and of his evolution.
Suddenly, Slowking thought she heard something and told us to be quiet. We were back on the road again in a couple seconds, as she told us that we'd overstayed our welcome. We immediately hightailed it out of town to get back on route to Limestone and the Pennsylvania border.
After some time passed and the coast seemed clear, Slowking let us know that we would have to cross primarily through towns for our next stretch of the journey, due to wider rivers and worsening terrain. And so, we crossed over bridges, walked down empty roads, and headed through small towns, being careful in case we ran into any Ultra Beasts. I'd spent most of my energy in my dash across the field, so Dusty and Sycamore took turns helping me walk again.
As the sky darkened into the evening, we eventually made our turn-off and started to head south. By the time the moon crested over the horizon, I finally spoke up and asked Slowking about where we were staying for the night because I was getting to my tipping point of travel for the day, but she didn't answer. I guess she didn't know yet.
In the last moments of daylight, I read a sign on the side of the road that read, 'Welcome to Limestone, New York'. Immediately, I pointed it out.
"Finally, we made it. Slowking, do we know where we're staying for the night?" She ignored me and continued walking forward. Being unlike her, I asked again. "Slowking? Is everything alright?"
"I would rather not stay here for the night, human. That is why I have been silent on the matter."
"Why so?"
"Something about this town... Rubs me the wrong way."
"...What do you mean?"
"Perhaps I am overreacting, but I would have presumed we'd see many more Ultra Beasts on our journey so far. And knowing this is the border town on the easiest way to Kinzua..."
"...Right." I wanted to protest her decision since I knew we all needed the rest, but I kept quiet. Looking up, I saw Sycamore and Dusty exchange apprehensive looks too, both obviously feeling the same way. Nonetheless, we continued on anyway, heading through the extremely small town of Limestone, which consisted of only a couple small brick buildings and a gas station.
At the town limits, Slowking chimed in once more.
"We are very close to the Pennsylvania border. If we walk far enough now, we can get to the township of Bradford tonight and to Kinzua by sundown tomorrow. But..." She then stopped and gazed up at the twilight. The moon was growing higher in the sky every second, darting in between the clouds and the sparkling stars. "No. We have to stop for the night," she sighed. "Overdoing it this close to the goal is never a good thing... Even if the enemy is waiting to ambush us nearby." Slowking then turned around and began the trot back with her head down; we followed close behind in a much different mood, ready to get some rest soon.
Eventually, we decided on staying in the upstairs of a two-story convenience store on the main strip of Limestone. The shop, like most others, was pillaged as well. Shelves were toppled over, and items were strewn all throughout the small building. I briefly thought about scavenging around to find some supplies but was too tired to do so.
Instead, we all hopped over the counter and headed up the back stairs, leading to a pretty small and empty upper studio-style room with a heightened ceiling. There was a lamp plugged into the back wall outlet that wouldn't turn on, and a dingy mattress nearby. That was all that was left in the room; the rest was hardwood floor and old, tan colored walls, which smelled musty and a bit like beer. There were big rectangular windows on the back wall that looked out into the town, which was now quiet and dark.
The Pokémon unanimously decided I could sleep on the mattress, which I greatly thanked them for. Although it was firm and had a weird odor, it felt really good to not be sleeping on a cold floor or in a hay pile. I collapsed on the bed and quickly fell asleep almost instantly, happy to finally get some comfortable shut-eye.
I woke up with a start in some place that wasn't the open room. Wherever I was, the landscape seemed familiar with its endless rainbow walls. As I struggled to move, I realized I was back in the dreamscape I'd been in the days before when Uxie contacted me for the first time.
"Uxie? Are you there?" I called out.
"Shh…" I heard from my right. Turning my head, I found her floating nearby. She erratically glanced back and forth, seemingly looking for something. Seeing her like this reminded me of the predicament she had gotten herself into.
"Are you okay, Uxie? Last I heard, you'd been captured!" I asked again.
"Shh!" she replied again, holding her hand up to her mouth and staring me directly in the eyes. "Talk to me with your thoughts, not your voice, okay?" I was taken aback by her rudeness, but I knew if she was this paranoid, there had to be a reason.
Okay, sorry. So, what's wrong?
Time is running out, human. The portal will be closing very, very soon.
Wait, the portal to the Pokémon World closes? Why didn't you tell me that before?
No, no. It normally does not close by natural means. The Prismatic Army has found the portal and are trying to close it by force. I do not know how, but somehow, they have found a way to do so. I can feel it… ceasing to exist at this very moment. I wanted to know how exactly Uxie could "feel" the portal closing, or how the Ultra Beasts were managing to close it in the first place, but I figured now was not the time to ask her that question.
So, you want us to pick up the pace. We can definitely do that. We're actually just about to across the–
Speak no more. I know where you are currently. However, at the rate it is currently closing, I predict the portal will be fully shut sometime during nightfall tomorrow.
Tomorrow night?! Woah, we better get going right now! I've got to let everyone know–
Not just yet. There is one last complication I must inform you about before you continue to Kinzua.
...Okay, I'm listening. Uxie hesitated and looked away again for a moment, searching back and forth. She took a deep breath and looked back at me.
Human… As much as it pains me to say this... Only you can make your way through the portal to the Pokémon World. I froze up for a moment, hearing what she'd said over and over in my head.
What… Do you mean? My heartbeat suddenly got faster as I started to put two and two together. Surely, she couldn't mean…
You were never meant to enter the portal with your Pokémon. They are merely aiding you on your journey. Simply put, they cannot return to the Pokémon World with you. Besides, the portal is too small, and we risk wasting time getting everyone through… I am sorry, but it is up to you alone to pass through the portal. I suddenly felt something welling up in my throat and tears began to form in my eyes.
No… No! There's got to be another way to bring them through, I am NOT leaving my partners behind!
I am afraid there is no other way. Your Pokémon are from the past, and if they go back, they will merge back into their original mindsets. They will not remember you.
That doesn't matter, I'd take them not remembering me in a heartbeat over leaving them behind! Please Uxie, there has to be some other way to–
That is enough, human. You must be the only one to travel into the portal, is that clear? I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Would I ever see them again after I left? Would they be okay back here alone? More and more what-if questions popped up in my head. Human, do I make myself clear?
...Yes, Uxie.
Good. I stayed silent; it was hard to pay attention after what she'd told me. Uxie then shifted her gaze to behind where I was, making it look like she was staring through me. It is time for me to go, human. Farewell; please, keep your guard up and hurry to Kinzua. Everything began to fade to white as I began to cry.
I woke up on the mattress, the area around my head wet from my tears. I sat up and sniffled, completely heartbroken. I was going to have to leave everything behind again to save the Pokémon World.
Knowing I wouldn't be able to get another wink of sleep, I hopped out of bed and looked around, my nose still running and tears welling in my eyes. Dusty was sleeping against the back wall, snoring occasionally with his mouth wide open. Uxie's thoughts popped into my head again, and I looked away, sadness encumbering me.
Looking around the room, I found that Sycamore and Slowking were nowhere to be found. This was okay because I needed a second to compose myself. Finally getting a hold of myself, I wiped my eyes, and slipped my shoes on. I was going to quickly check for them downstairs and possibly outside.
As I walked down the stairs, there was nothing I could do to stop the troubling thoughts, and they all came rushing back in. I winced and thought about leaving through the portal… Alone.
Just then, I thought I heard something from outside. It sounded like Slowking was talking softly, but to who? Using this as a distraction from my thoughts, I jumped over the front desk and walked towards the glass front doors. As I got closer, the talking got louder; it seemed that one of the doors was slightly open, letting the cool air inside the shop.
"That's good, Lucario. Just like that," Slowking said quietly. Opening the front door the rest of the way, I walked outside. It was pitch dark except for some homemade candles Slowking had set on the sidewalk next to the shop. Other than that, it was a very quiet night, with no wind blowing. The moon and stars were shrouded in clouds high above, but I could see it trying to get through. I looked left first, and then right to see Sycamore and Slowking standing across from each other.
Slowking noticed me and before I could say anything, she put her hand up to her mouth like she was telling me to shush. I nodded and walked in closer. Sycamore looked like he was concentrating on something and had his eyes closed. I was confused, but then I heard Slowking's voice in my head.
You should be resting, human.
I know, I know. I couldn't sleep… What are you and Sycamore doing out here? I thought it wasn't safe.
We patrolled the town... Twice. After not finding anything, I decided to train him.
Training? In what way?
I am teaching Lucario how to use his aura. Currently, we are working on his Telepathy skills.
Wait, Sycamore has Telepathy like you?
All Lucario have an ability to see the common life-force of everything, better known as aura. However, each Lucario can use their aura differently; some excel in different places than others. It seems that your Lucario has quite a firm grasp of his Aura skills already and can use Telepathy. Here, let me see if Lucario is ready to try it out.
Slowking looked back towards Sycamore and presumably started to talk to him via Telepathy. His eyes then opened a second later and he glanced over at me; I nodded to show him I was ready. Sycamore once again closed his eyes and put his right paw up to the side of his head. He opened his mouth as if to speak when I heard a faint noise in the back of my head.
Luke... Slowking showed... Me how to… use Telepathy… Sycamore's voice sounded clear, but quiet and stagnated; I was sure that it was hard to suddenly speak a new language using only your mind.
That's great, Sycamore. Keep practicing and I'm sure you get the hang of it soon.
Thank… you. Sycamore opened his eyes again and smiled at me. Smiling back, I suddenly felt the pangs of sadness from before. Looking away to hide my tears, I could tell he noticed something was wrong. He didn't act on it however, as Slowking began to speak.
"Yes, it seems that Lucario has gotten quite used to Telepathy. If he keeps using it, I am sure he will master it in no time. If you are wondering, human, Lucario also has other useful abilities with his aura, but we have not practiced them all yet…" Slowking then paused and turned to me. "Now, I think I must address the topic at hand. Uxie has contacted me with the news. We must head out at once."
I was surprised that Slowking already received the information from Uxie, but it didn't really surprise me. As I was about to say something, I realized I didn't have to speak about what Uxie had told me in the dream, so I instead stayed silent.
"We will leave now. I understand it is risky to be traveling towards enemy territory this late in the night, but there is too little time left to utilize. Go wake Garbodor, and grab whatever you need to get going…" Suddenly, there was a noise from down the street. Something metallic sounded like it fell over, presumably a trash can. Slowking and Sycamore immediately reacted, staring off in the direction of the noise.
"It might already be too late… Lucario, take the human inside and grab Garbodor. We must depart as soon as possible! I will try to hold off any attackers for as long as possible. Go!"
"Car," Sycamore said aloud, looking back up at me. He still looked a little concerned, but now was not the time to be talking about emotions.
"I'll follow you, Sycamore. Let's go." As Sycamore took the lead and barged through the front doors, I was reassured that he was protecting me on our trip to grab Dusty. Running towards the front desk at about my fastest speed with my injuries, I made sure to inspect my surroundings twice so I wouldn't trip in the darkness.
Once we both hopped over the desk and headed up the stairs, we found Dusty still asleep in the corner. Sycamore dashed over and shook him awake, wasting no time. As Dusty's eyes opened slowly and it yawned, Sycamore muttered something to him. Dusty looked on with a confused look and frankly seemed a bit angry to be awakened.
"Come on you two, there's no time to waste. We've gotta get out of here as soon as–" I was interrupted by the sound of attacks landing outside. A small explosion ran through the air and shook the building briefly. The windows rattled and as a pink-purple flash illuminated the room for a moment before darkness crept in once more. It was also eerily quiet again.
"Slowking needs help. We need to hurry!" Dusty was then immediately on his feet, ready to help. As I turned around to head down the stairs, Sycamore ran in front of me and Dusty stayed behind, just to make sure I'd be completely safe. We all made our way outside to see what happened by once again jumping the desk and traversing the wrecked store.
When we approached the front door, I noticed that Slowking's candles had gone out; one of the attacks must've knocked them down. Following Sycamore the best I could in the darkness, he pushed the doors open and slowly peeked outside, checking both left and right. Dusty and I stopped and waited for him to make a decision.
Sycamore finally turned to me after looking around for a while and beckoned for me to follow him. As he slowly made his way out of the store, I followed in his footsteps the best I could, creeping into the night. Outside, the moon had for the most part come out from behind the clouds and tried to light up the surroundings, but it still wasn't bright enough. Since I was still struggling to see, Sycamore kept us close to the building. There were no sounds at all, except for the tiny footsteps we were taking. My heart was pounding a mile a minute knowing we could be ambushed by an unseen enemy at any moment.
Stop, I then heard in my head; it had to be Sycamore because of his rough and quiet voice. I did just what he told me and stood still. Where was Slowking? How many enemies were we fighting? Would we all be okay? I was trying to search for an answer with my eyes squinting when something gleamed in the meager amount of moonlight down the street for a brief moment.
Sycamore, down the street. I think I saw something.
I saw it too… Follow me. Sycamore slowly headed off towards the spot, with Dusty and I following suit. As we got closer and the surroundings came into view, it seemed that whatever we saw came from behind a car, which was left in the middle of the street. I couldn't make out many features of the coupe, but all I knew was that Sycamore was nearing the front. As soon as he was right next to the passenger door, he paused for a moment and then dashed around the hood and to the left, hoping to get a drop on whatever was there.
I ducked down in case of something bad, but nothing happened. Standing back up slowly, I popped my head over the front of the car. Sycamore was standing with his back to me, holding something.
What's that, Sycamore?
I… do not know.
Let me see that. Sycamore turned and handed me the strange item as I walked around the car. When he dropped it into the palm of my hand, the item felt cool and metallic. Upon closer examination, I realized that in the center of a broken chain link was a Poké Ball held by two nails in the sides of the ball. Where have I seen this before?
"That is far enough!" Slowking's voice shouted, startling all of us. Slowking jumped out in front of us from a building to our left, a purple glow in her eyes.
"Slowking! Are you alright?" I asked frantically. Slowking did not respond, and instead continued talking into the darkness.
"Show yourself, fiend! You can only hide for so long!" she yelled. At first nothing stirred; I thought Slowking was finally off her rocker when I noticed something move in the darkness a couple yards away from behind another displaced car. The figure was long and slender, and all I could see were its glowing green eyes. Only one Pokémon fit that description.
"Zabu?" I asked suddenly.
"...Zabu? Wait, how do you know...?" Slowking's eyes turned back to their normal color as she turned towards me. The creature edged closer until it was evident that a Liepard was in front of us.
"Don't you remember, Slowking? You let her out of her Poké Ball back in the cave outside Hornell." Slowking looked back and forth at us and the 'enemy', seemingly unsure what to do. I assumed that they must've been battling until my arrival on the scene, so Slowking must've been very confused and conflicted. I thought I saw her open her mouth for a second to say something, but she then closed it again. As Zabu got within arm's reach of me, there was another familiar voice in my head.
Human, I do not trust this Liepard.
There's nothing to be worried about, Slowking. Zabu helped us when we were being attacked by the Ultra Beasts, and she was my pet before Pokémon came to this world. I'm sure she has good intentions.
No, you do not understand. Liepards are not trustworthy Pokémon. They always lie and manipulate others to get what they want. I find it extremely suspicious that she has suddenly come back without notice.
Well, you've never met Zabu before. I'm sure she is completely trustful and has been with me since I was young. I don't think that she would betray any of us. And there's nothing wrong about her coming back all of a sudden– I bet she was just going to check in on my mom or something.
By now, Zabu was just in front of Sycamore, Dusty, and I. Dusty smiled out of kindness, but Sycamore crossed his arms and turned away. I guess he was still sour from the last time they met. Zabu didn't seem to care about my Pokémon though and turned her attention to me.
"Hello, Zabu. Are you back from seeing mom?" As I reluctantly bent down to pet her (I still had bad memories of when she snapped at me at my aunt's house), I looked up to see Slowking peering over at us, speechless.
"Mrowr," Zabu said, moving her head up into my hand to be petted like the old days. It seemed that she was less sassy now than she was in Hornell.
"Here, I think this is yours." I reached out with my other hand and showed her the chain link necklace my mother made for her.
"Lie!" Zabu began to nod as a sign to give it back. I gently wrapped the chain around her neck and connected the two links at the back to hold the necklace in place. "Mrowr!" Zabu said again with a sharp, toothy grin.
I stood up and turned to Slowking who looked like she was thinking.
"Slowking, please let Zabu come with us. I promise she won't be a problem. Just give her a chance?" Slowking, as if she knew what was coming, spoke almost immediately.
"...One chance. Only one," she muttered quietly. "But Liepard's going to have to stay in my sight from now on. If she even as much as runs off, I will consider her an enemy." Slowking then turned to Liepard. "Do I make myself clear?" Zabu rolled her eyes and turned back to me. There was a slight pause as all of us did not know what to do next.
"Well," I finally said. "It looks like all of this was a false alarm… So, let's head out. We've got to get going now if we want to get to the portal in time. Is everyone ready?" I turned to Dusty who nodded yes and then to Zabu who also nodded yes. Sycamore however, looked a bit concerned when I turned to him. "Sycamore, are you ready?" He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. He then nodded yes, still seeming a bit out of it.
I finally turned back to Slowking.
"Ready?"
"Yes..." she grumbled after a quick hesitation.
"Okay then, let's head out. Slowking, can you lead the way?" Slowking reluctantly nodded and walked past us with her head down. Once she was a couple feet away, she looked back and beckoned with her left hand; we trailed after her in complete silence. As we walked, I kept my thoughts to myself, thinking about the events that had just unfolded and the road ahead.
Having Zabu back was definitely a surprise. I didn't think that she would come back at all, especially this close to the portal. I also hoped that Slowking and Sycamore would both get along with her more; it would be a rough final stretch if they didn't.
Then, both Slowking's words echoed in my head. How could Zabu be a traitor? There was just no possible reason I could think as to why she would betray us... But why were they all so keen on doubting her? Was there something I was missing? And to top it off, how was I going to let Sycamore and Dusty know about entering the portal alone?