Location: Outside our home, down the hill.
Date: June 23rd

Nuzleaf was quiet and thoughtful while we ate breakfast, and said nothing when I told him I was heading out for the day. When Lyra and I were in the plaza trying to figure out where to go for our expedition, he suddenly called us over to him and led us to the base of the hill where our houses were. He was acting kind of...suspicious. He told us to keep our voices down and mentioned going up Revelation Mountain.

Carracosta was just telling us yesterday that the mountain's a sacred place for Serene Village residents. I'd been pumped from the idea of getting to guard the mountain once I'm older. Now Nuzleaf is talking about debasing the mountain by ascending it? What is he thinking!?

Nuzleaf made a point that we still don't know a thing about me. We've been waiting around for a while now, twiddling our thumbs and seeing if anything happened. We still haven't learned anything new, and I haven't regained any of my memories.

"Revelation Mountain is always surrounded by some mysterious kinda veil," he said. "I asked around the village, but everyone insists they don't know nothin' about it."

Maybe they do know, but don't want to tell him. He had the same idea, and he said that either way there's a secret up there that the village has been guarding for a long time. He has a feeling that it might have something to do with me being turned into a Pokémon and appearing near here.

I stared at the mountain for a bit. His logic made sense, but...I don't know. I still feel incredibly uneasy when I think about going up there.

Nuzleaf admitted he could be overthinking things, but he won't truly know unless he goes up the mountain. If things look bad, he'll turn back without hesitation. He just wanted to see if we wanted to tag along.

Lyra seemed as apprehensive as I felt, but she agreed to tag along if it had something to do with me. I admit there's some intrigue and mystery behind it...but it doesn't feel right.

There's bound to be another way of discovering why I'm here and what my purpose is, but…this could be the only answer we have. If we discover what's atop Revelation Mountain, will I still be allowed to guard the mountain? I don't want to upset or offend the people of this village. I want to be part of it by guarding their sacred treasure. And it's possible that I could ruin my only chance by doing this.

I looked at Nuzleaf and Lyra. Nuzleaf is strong, so I know he'd keep Lyra safe. Even so, I can't let them do this without me. If there is a chance the answer to my nagging questions is atop that mountain, I can't rest on my laurels while others discover it for me.

I told them I would go with them. Nuzleaf was pleased and said having ourselves a little peek won't hurt a thing. I feel uneasy, but I should trust Nuzleaf's intuition on this. He's never led me astray before now – if anything, he's the biggest advocate for my safety. Surely, he thought this through and planned for the worst-case scenario. He's been the brains and brawn behind our operations, so why should I doubt him now?

So, off to prepare for our expedition! This is actually kind of exciting! I wonder if he thought of this last night after I invited him to explore with Lyra and me. Quite the first expedition for the three of us to embark on!

Location: Revelation Mountain 1F

Now I feel less sure that this was the right thing to do.

Nuzleaf lied to Hippopotas about there being a mix-up on who's supposed to be on guard duty, and Hippopotas just…left. Leaving the gate to the mountain completely vulnerable once we entered. Anyone can now enter, and that seems a little…

I mean, I know it's what he had to do for us to gain entry, but this feels way too shady for my liking. This isn't Lyra tricking some Drilbur with a silly lie for us to gain entrance to a spooky mine we're not supposed to be in. This is Nuzleaf, the Pokémon who's been a father for me this entire time, lying to a villager Pokémon to give us entry to a sacred mountain we're not supposed to be climbing.

Oh, this feels so terribly wrong.

There's something different about an adult encouraging you to do something wrong. When it's a kid, it feels wrong in an uncomfortable way. Like peer pressure. When it's an adult, it feels wrong in a confusing way. Like...like everything you knew to be correct has been incorrect. There's a word for that, right? Gaslighting.

I mean, it makes sense. Adults are supposed to be role models. They're supposed to teach kids how to behave and survive. When an adult you trust convinces you to do something you both know is wrong...it's confusing. You want to believe they know what's best and follow their orders, but they taught you to not do the things they now want you to do. You feel like you're caught between the adult and your own subconscious.

Like I said, confusing.

But…ugh, I have to. I have to put that gut feeling aside and trust Nuzleaf on this. He hasn't led me astray, he's trustworthy. We're doing this for my sake. I still don't like this. I don't like this at all, but we have to do it. We have to.

So, here we go.

Location: Outside of our home, down the hill.

Alright, after getting to 8F of Revelation Mountain, we found another gate that the sheriffs were guarding alongside one of the Poliwrath brothers and one of the Beedrills. We knew we couldn't push through, so we decided to turn back. As we were walking down the mountain, I caught a glimpse of Nuzleaf's face. He looked so disappointed, but there was also a hint of anger. Was he that mad we couldn't find out anything? I didn't realize how much he had his heart set on this…

Nuzleaf expressed his disappointment once we were back in the village. He apologized to me, saying he wish we could've discovered something as a reward for pulling such a daring move. Lyra said she was quite relieved, actually. It wouldn't have sat right with us to have invaded such a sacred place. I didn't want to shoot down Nuzleaf's plan, so I decided to keep quiet. But I was in complete agreement with Lyra. I felt horrible with every step we took on that mountain.

He left to go apologize to Hippopotas and say he got his information confused about when he was supposed to be on guard duty. He…Nuzleaf is still mad. I can tell. He's trying to hide it but he's fuming.

Lyra said something about going home, but all that's on my mind is talking to Nuzleaf. Why choose now of all times to explore Revelation Mountain? We only found out about it yesterday. Shouldn't it be far more dangerous than ever for us to explore the mountain, given the news about the stone incidents? What if we were ambushed?

Well, that's hardly fair. I did invite him to explore, after all. It just felt a little sudden.

Still, I decided I'd talk to him tonight after we both got home.

Location: Home (night)

I arrived home before Nuzleaf and decided to make dinner. He'd made Mixed Berry Soup when I was feeling down, so I decided to make the same for him. Even snuck in extra Aspear Berry chunks since he said his favorite flavor is sour.

By the time Nuzleaf came home, dinner was just about done. I dished out our portions and we ate in silence. Once we were done, he offered to clean up since I cooked. I told him I knew he was in a bad mood, and he apologized. He said it wasn't my fault. He was just frustrated. He'd really been hoping to learn something up on Revelation Mountain.

Every time his investigations took a step in the right direction, he felt like he was pushed back two steps. Apparently, he tried investigating the haunting phenomenon, but it stopped before he could get any decisive answers. He doomed himself by ignoring the rumors of Pokémon getting turned to stone, so he had no leads regarding that mystery. He couldn't find any trace of the Beheeyem despite knowing for a fact that they were still out there. Now this Revelation Mountain setback…

He was angry and frustrated, but he couldn't do anything about it. Just once, he wanted things to go his way. I felt really bad for him, so...I offered him something in exchange for his promise of keeping it between the two of us. He agreed, but I made him absolutely swear he'd keep it under his hat...er, under his leaf. He was amused by that expression.

"Jeez, child. I know yer a human an' that those Beheeyem fellers are after ya. What could you possibly need me to keep secret other'n that?"

Uh...fair point, I guess.

Choosing my words very carefully, I told him about how the haunting incident was...caused by some ghost-type kids looking to feed off the fear of others. They agreed to only scare people a little in exchange for doing something nice to make up for it. And no more big pranks or kidnapping people. I explained that Lyra and I had met them during one of our expeditions where we...snuck into a haunted place we weren't allowed.

It was barebones information, but it was enough to fill him in. He didn't need to know we'd gone to the Ancient Barrows, or that Pancham and Shelmet had been kidnapped, or that we fought a Giratina illusion on the same night Lyra and I snuck out of our homes. He didn't need to know that we did all that completely on our own and without getting help from a single adult. I mean…in retrospect, that was pretty stupid on our part, but I uh…I'd like to be able to leave the house again sometime within my lifetime, and something tells me if he knew the whole story Nuzleaf would get so angry he'd chain me to my room. No thank you.

Nuzleaf was…lost in thought for a few minutes. He breathed a heavy sigh of relief and hugged me. He thanked me for revealing that information and setting his mind at ease about one mystery. It wasn't the conclusion his investigation was leading him to before the trail went cold, but what little information he had to go on made sense when he applied it to that outcome.

He was shocked to hear that I'd snuck into a place I wasn't allowed, yet had reservations about sneaking up Revelation Mountain. I explained that I…when I get older, I want to guard the mountain as a Serene Village resident. Maybe after Lyra and I have made names for ourselves as the Evergreens, or maybe after I find out who I really am and what I'm meant to do in this world. If I can't find the answer to that, then…I'll make one by deciding who I want to be and what I want to do. And right now, I want to guard Revelation Mountain when I'm older.

Nuzleaf had let his mind wander before apologizing again, saying he'd kind of pressured me into tagging along with him. I told him it wasn't a big deal, that I'd agreed to go because I wanted to.

Now, it's night and my mind is racing.

We weren't able to discover anything atop Revelation Mountain, so I guess we just have to wait a little longer for my memories to come back. But…the Beheeyem…they won't wait forever. They're bound to find me sooner or later, and I can't just stay here hoping they don't wander in. What if they slink into the village? What if I endanger everyone here?

If they are the ones turning Pokémon into stone, then that means that everyone…Roselia, Budew, Pancham, Shelmet, Goomy, Deerling, Espurr...Carracosta, Nuzleaf, Lyra...they could all be...

No. I can't allow that. I think it's time to get a move on. It'll hurt leaving everyone behind, especially Lyra. But if it'll keep them safe...

Okay. I know what I have to do. I'll talk to Lyra about it tomorrow.

Hopefully she understands.