Location: Sheer Mountain Range trail
Date: July 16th

Since I got up early yesterday, I had a hard time getting up today. Lyra had to nudge me awake, and Eris found it amusing when I simply laid in bed questioning my life choices.

Mostly, I was reminiscing how blissfully simple things were when we lived in Serene Village. Wake up, have breakfast with Nuzleaf, meet up with Lyra, go to school if needs be, decide which mission to embark on, sort inventory, depart, do mission, come home, put away rewards, hang around the plaza for a bit or the big tree hill talking things out with Lyra, go home, have dinner, talk with Nuzleaf for a bit, go to bed. All while writing on and off throughout the day. No long journeys. No dramatic, horrible events to be haunted by. No confusing questions or information tidbits to string together to form theories about someone I lived with. No fuss. No worries.

It's funny, Lyra and I were so eager to get out of Serene Village and see the world. Now that we're out and experiencing the horrors of the real world, I find myself yearning for those simpler days more and more. Is this what it means to grow up?

Well, even if things are more difficult and complicated, at least I'm getting answers. I know my circumstances weren't just some freak act of nature – I'm here for a reason. I have a better idea of what happened to Nuzleaf when he was younger and why he didn't want to share where he came from. I'm meeting more people and slowly coming out of my shell. I'm relying less on one Pokémon to take care of me and learning to take better care of myself. I'm even getting better at using my vines! I'm growing. I'm learning. I'm changing.

Funny how a Pokémon can do that without evolving.

Anyway, Eris eventually helped Lyra roll me outta bed and I mumbled a quiet curse as we attended the morning meeting. Dedenne was late joining us, so we started without her. Ampharos reiterated how we were going to the Prehistoric Ruins. Our goal: Discover information regarding these incidents of Pokémon being turned to stone. It'll be a dangerous mission, but one of the upmost importance. Surely, he didn't need to tell the rest of us how careful we needed to be.

Before we could discuss it more, Dedenne came running in screaming about something being awful. She overheard someone saying they saw Krookodile! They saw him headed for Serene Village!

Oh, you long-snouted fucker! He better not hurt anyone, or I'll fuck him up!

Ampharos thanked Dedenne for the information. It seemed a change of plans was in order. He intended for us all to go to the Prehistoric Ruins, but we'll have to split into two squads: A Krookodile pursuit squad and a Prehistoric Ruins expedition squad. He decided to have Lyra and I make up the Krookodile pursuit squad.

Good man. Whoever else he assigned would've had to deal with us tagging along anyway. Serene Village is our home, of course we'd blaze a trail there. We thanked him for assigning us that, and he said he needed Pokémon who knew the lay of the land. And of course, he's sure we're worried about our loved ones.

Yeah, putting it mildly my dude. Even if Krookodile isn't the one turning folks to stone, he's involved somehow. And there's a lot of vulnerable folks in the village...he's up to something awful, I just know it! I don't care what his reasons are for going, we need to pursue him!

Since it's far too dangerous to send just the two of us, he assigned Archen to join us. As for the Prehistoric Ruins expedition squad, he assigned Mawile, Eris, Dedenne, Buizel, and Bunnelby. He explained that Bunnelby will need to help with any excavations needed, and Buizel's skills will come in handy given the location. If there are any traps or suspicious types lurking around, he wants Eris to use her illusion powers to keep the team safe.

Should they discover any information regarding Pokémon being turned to stone, Ampharos wants them to contact him or Lyra posthaste. If we have to battle Krookodile, we need to find out as much as we can before then. That left Jirachi, Swirlix, and himself to hold down the fort. He'd dole out further orders as further information became available.

Dedenne told us she heard her information from Nosepass, so we should go talk to him in the plaza while he had the chance. I got a little impatient, so I didn't stick around to listen to the rest of Ampharos's waffle. I heard Archen and Lyra calling out for me, but by the time they caught up I was sorting our inventory with the Deposit Box in the plaza. Archen said something about this being the same group that discovered Latios and Latias turned to stone, but I didn't hear the rest since I took off for the plaza gate. True to Dedenne's word, Nosepass was standing nearby.

Nosepass said they passed by Krookodile at the Sheer Mountain Range. They'd left Serene Village and was headed towards Lively Town while Krookodile was headed in the other direction. Lyra asked if they noticed anything odd about him, and they said he was mumbling something to himself. Something like, "I'll get you for this."

! So, he IS up to something awful! He's got some kinda grudge against one of the villagers and he's gonna target the whole village for it!

Lyra thanked Nosepass for the info, then we hit the road. I'm messily jotting all this down as we're rushing. We can't afford to waste time, so we're not stopping until we get to the village.

I can't let anything happen to the villagers! I can't! Serene Village is so remote, they'd have no clue what hit them! Not to mention the kids! So many kids live in the village! What if...what if he...

NO. I won't allow it!

Location: Revelation Mountain 3F

Lyra and I were outta breath by the time we arrived at the village. We expected an attack to be underway or for something awful to have happened, but...the...everything looked totally normal and fine. I...b...what? Did we beat Krookodile here?

Espurr was surprised to see us and welcomed us home. She and Lyra shared a heartwarming hug and it was super cute. I guess Nuzleaf told everyone about how we got into the Expedition Society, so Espurr congratulated us. Uh...before we could get into that, Lyra asked her for her help. She asked if any suspicious Pokémon came through here. Specifically, a red guy with a mean look and a big mouth. Espurr said no, she hadn't seen him.

Huh...we...hm. Did Nosepass give us the wrong info? Maybe Krookodile didn't...intend to come here? Just because he walked in this direction didn't necessarily mean...hm.

Espurr asked what the deal was with him, but before Lyra could answer Nuzleaf came blazing in shouting something about how there was trouble afoot. He was sure surprised to see us, but there was no time for that now! We needed to go to Revelation Mountain! Some Pokémon he never saw before was invading!

WHAT!?

"It was my turn to guard the gate today, y'see. From outta nowhere comes this real ornery-lookin' Pokémon. He broke right on through that there gate and headed on up the mountain!"

When Archen introduced himself and asked Nuzleaf to describe the Pokémon to us, he said he was red and ornery. Sure looked like a crook, I reckon.

...

Looking back on it, that description felt a little on the nose. I mean, I got it, it's obviously Krookodile, but...well, who am I to judge? Nuzleaf said it all happened in the blink of an eye and it scared him so much he couldn't move at first, so maybe he was still so shaken up that he couldn't think of more descriptive phrases. Even so, I didn't pay it much thought at the time.

Back to Krookodile. When Nuzleaf described the invader, my anger spiked. It was a good thing my eyes were appropriately red because I was pissed. Okay, fuck that guy! He thinks he can come into my village and soil my home's sacred site? Don't get me wrong, it's good that nobody was hurt, but the dude still had no fucking right!

Archen told Nuzleaf to show us the way, but Lyra and I got distracted for a second when Espurr said she wanted to come. Lyra told her she can't, perhaps raising her voice a little too harshly. She apologized immediately, saying she didn't mean to snap. It's just that our opponent here is seriously dangerous. One might even say deadly. If something happened to her...

Oh, but Espurr has telepathy, right? Lyra said that if something happened and we didn't return, we needed her to contact Ampharos in Lively Town. He's our chief and will need to know what happened. With that squared away, we ran up the mountain.

True to Nuzleaf's word, the gate was totally smashed. While we were catching up, Nuzleaf filled Archen in about Revelation Mountain holding a sacred treasure that the village was guarding. Surely that's what Krookodile is after! We needed to hurry!

And here we are.

Honestly, I know I shouldn't be writing while we're in pursuit, but this is all so exciting and intense and I don't wanna miss out on jotting down this experience! When this is all over, I wanna look back on these entries and remember the thrill and intensity of the situation. Since we can't afford to dillydally, I'm writing as we're making our way through the Mystery Dungeon. I could spend all day arguing with someone over if it's appropriate that I'm writing at this time, but what mattered now was finding and stopping Krookodile. So, here we go!

Location: Revelation Mountain 8F

Time changes everything, and holy Arceus did time change Revelation Mountain! I don't remember it being this tough when Nuzleaf, Lyra and I scaled it the first time. The Drifblim and their infatuation with the move Ominous Wind was the biggest annoyance. Biggest complaint I have are the number of flying types up here. Seriously, is this where all the flying types gather, or is there some sorta flying-type festival going on that everyone and their uncle needed to attend?

Well anyway, we made it to the checkpoint that the sheriffs, Beedrill and Poliwrath brother guarded. I...mm...it appeared to be the same group that was guarding the gate before. Did these Pokémon not serve any other purpose besides guarding this particular gate? The gate was smashed, so...congratulations. You couldn't do the one job you were assigned.

Bah! There I go being judgmental again! They had to fight Krookodile and lost, I didn't need to rub salt in their wounds! And now wasn't the time for it anyway!

We checked to see if they were okay. They were, fortunately. Just defeated and weak from the battle. They told us not to fret over them and to go after their assailant. They described Krookodile as the one who attacked, and we went further in.

While we were racing along, I told Nuzleaf that this felt familiar. The last time we were racing through a Mystery Dungeon, it was when we were the ones being chased. Now we were the ones doing the chasing.

He rose an eyebrow at me and said he reckoned I have a mighty strange way of looking at the situation. Even found enough time to jot all this down in that journal I love so much. Ah, I apologized. I wasn't trying to dismiss how grave things were. It was just something I thought of. He chuckled and told me not to get it all twisted in my head. He saw the similarities of the situations as well, just wasn't sure if it was worth mentioning. He said it's good that I'm voicing my thoughts more instead of staying quiet all the time.

Oh! That reminded me, I wanted to ask him about Eris. On the other hand...well, now didn't seem appropriate. That's one of those sit down and talk sorta subjects, not a let's discuss while we're pursuing a hardened criminal sorta subject.

Location: Revelation Mountain 11F

Dedenne called us from the Prehistoric Ruins. Ahaha, Nuzleaf thought he was hearing voices. I forgot we didn't tell him about the communication feature on our Society gadget. Lyra filled him in, and I heard him mumble, "Dagnabbit, newfangled communication devices. Kids today and their weird technology."

She asked how we were faring, and Archen told her we were on Revelation Mountain. When she got confused, he told her we have to get moving and he'd fill her in later. Before she could inform us of how they were doing, we heard a noise and Bunnelby shouted something in the background. Eris yelled at someone, asking what the big idea was, and Dedenne let out a yell before the feed was cut!

Archen called out for Dedenne and Lyra called out Eris's name, asking if she could hear us. No answer.

Lyra and I panicked, but Archen reminded us that we're on Revelation Mountain. Even if we wanted to, we couldn't help them right now. Besides, the most important thing was apprehending Krookodile, or we'd all be in grave danger. He reminded us that the other group had Eris and Mawile – the two powerhouses of the Society. They had nothing to worry about. We needed to keep moving.

I mean...he was right, of course. I know that. Even so, I'm worried. What kind of ancient traps or guardians are they fighting? I...hm...

Oh! And Nuzleaf didn't react when we mentioned Eris's name. Maybe he didn't remember her? Maybe he thought it was a different Eris, or maybe her Dotty was a different member of the Shiftry line with a southern accent? Hm.

Location: Revelation Mountain Summit

Well, shit just took a massive turn for the worst. I was about to ascend the stairs to 9F when a freaking Warp trap activated and sent me off halfway across the map! Since we can't change leaders in this dungeon, the others were left wandering around looking for me. This resulted in everyone splitting up and getting annihilated by Drifblims and their damn Ominous Wind moves.

It took overreliance on a Warp Wand I picked up a few floors ago, but I got back to the stairs. By that time, we had no Reviver Seeds left, Nuzleaf had fainted and was on a different floor, Lyra was defeated and Archen was defeated. Once I reached the top, I used a Rollcall Orb and teleported their fainted bodies to me. Thanks to the power of...science...yeah, let's go with that...they had enough energy to pick themselves up and walk beside me to the summit.

We cleared a thicket of trees and arrived to a...shimmering light blue pyramid with a pointed white tip at the top. The tip continuously radiated a wave of light energy that sank to the base of the pyramid, and there were little white line designs etched all over the thing, crisscrossing to form diamond shapes. Yet, the pyramid is semi-transparent. I can see the trees in the background when I look through it.

Whatever it is, it's beautiful...despite the color. I would've been so happy if it was a darker blue. Regardless, there's something mysterious and otherworldly about it. I can't quite describe it, but there's something about it that makes me feel calm. Relaxed.

At the base of the pyramid is a spring. The water looks clean and pure. I wonder what it tastes like. Shame this strange pyramid thing is blocking it. Archen theorized that this "crystal pyramid" is here to protect it.

Speaking of protecting something, there's no sign of Krookodile. If this mystical spring was what he was after, we were fortunate to have arrived here before him. Lyra was about to run off in another direction to continue the pursuit, but Archen stopped her.

"It's likely this is what he was aiming for. I don't know how we got here before him, but we're better off letting him come to us. Let's relax a little bit, regroup our items and prepare for battle if needs be."

Hm...taking a load off sounded nice. We've been on edge and running at max power since the morning meeting. Relaxing and letting things unfold for now sounds like a much needed change of pace.

So, that's what we're doing.

The air up here is nice and crisp. I thought it'd be hard to breathe given how it's a mountain and Lyra and I have little lungs, but no. We're totally fine. There's also something incredibly relaxing about being enveloped in a sea of trees. Maybe it's because I'm a grass-type. I wonder if Lyra felt this calm when we were on Fire Island Volcano, or maybe Entei's exuded pressure soiled that feeling for her.

Speaking of Lyra, she found a stone tablet off to the side. From the looks of it, it's pretty old. The writing on it doesn't look familiar, but Archen said he's seen it in before in Mawile's room. I...don't recall seeing it in her room, but then again maybe she wasn't deciphering something at the time. He said it's ancient writing. Really difficult for her to decipher.

Yeesh, I can't imagine how difficult it must be for an archeologist. Someone with years and years of experience studying ancient civilizations and learning about their culture, hunched over a desk lit by a little desk lamp trying to translate these weird symbols into words and-

Lyra can read it. Lyra. Simple little 'Faints from ghost stories' Lyra can read ancient writing.

Ladies and gentlemen...Lyra the Torchic.

Nuzleaf and I were shocked for sure, but Archen was completely flabbergasted. He said it took Mawile, our resident archeologist, tons of time to decipher that same writing. How's Lyra able to read it like it's nothing? Lyra's big knowledge bomb of explanation was...a shrug. She shrugged and simply said she couldn't tell us how, just that she can.

All I can envision now is the look of disbelief on Mawile's face as Lyra effortlessly reads through a stack of ancient tablets in her room. Man, I can't wait to share that little tidbit with her during our next CAP meeting.

Anyway, I asked Lyra to read the tablet so I could write it down in my journal. Here's what it says:

"Should you hope to overcome this crisis, summon a person.
A person will have the power to break the barrier over the spring.
You must summon a person from the world of humans."

...

Well then!

Summon a person from the world of humans. Ah jeez...everyone's looking at me now. Dammit...I hate having attention drawn to me like this! But I really am the only human-turned-Pokémon up here, and I did come from the world of humans. Could it be that this...is what I was meant for? Is this why I came here? Was I supposed to do this before I lost my memories?

So, the "barrier over the spring"...the crystal pyramid thing...and the "Should you hope to overcome this crisis, summon a person." So...there's a crisis closing in on this world, and to stop that I was summoned...but no. That can't be. This message wasn't written recently, so it couldn't have been left for us. For this to be happening in our time...

Even if it was left for us, how could this spring possibly help? Why was a barrier placed over it to begin with? Why make a human the only one who can access it if there are none in this world?

As we pondered the tablet's message, Dedenne contacted us again. We asked if they were alright, and Dedenne said everyone is fine. They were attacked, but it was a misunderstanding on the attackers' part. They're guardians of the Prehistoric Ruins and were just trying to protect their home. They thought Dedenne and the others were raiding the ruins for treasure.

Ah. Sounds like the same thing Gabite and the Beedrill did back in the day. Understandable.

Dedenne apologized for making us worry. Something else happened though. Once the fighting was over and the guardians apologized for their actions, Eris got real nasty towards them.

She started interrogating them, asking if they thought attacking and chasing a little girl was funny. Mawile, Bunnelby, and Buizel had to step in to make her back off. Eris explained that she had a bad feeling about these guys. The guardians were Beheeyem, and she reminded them that a group of Beheeyem were attacking me before I hunkered down in Serene Village.

I heard a sharp quiet inhale, and when I looked over at Nuzleaf he was glaring daggers at the device. I understood how he felt. The Beheeyem are at the Prehistoric Ruins!? They better not-

Ah, but Dedenne quickly dissolved our worries by explaining that these Beheeyem never left the ruins their entire lives. Whatever group of Beheeyem were hunting me, they were different than the ruin guardians. Hearing that made both Nuzleaf and I relax immediately. Good. Last thing we needed was them on our tails.

Still, Dedenne was put off by Eris's knee-jerk reaction, and her refusal to apologize. She shouldn't have snarled at some Pokémon who just happened to be the same species as those who attacked me. These guys didn't do anything wrong. When nobody took her side, she got real angry and left, abandoning her mission. Talk about being a rude guest.

I apologized to Dedenne for indirectly causing them such trouble and promised her that I'll talk to Eris when we return to Lively Town. Mawile chipped in, saying there was no need to apologize on her behalf. Eris has a history of stubbornness and irrationality. Once she calms down and realizes the mistake she made, she'll be around to apologize before long.

Dedenne said that the guardians revealed something amazing though – apparently, there's a way to bring Pokémon back from being turned to stone! All we need is some special water called Luminous Water. And even better? She said it's sealed on Revelation Mountain's summit.

We're standing right next to it! That's the water sealed in the spring!

Oh! So, the "crisis" that the stone tablet referred to...this spring will help resolve the stone incidents? Hm...so to overcome this crisis, I was summoned here. This crisis of...Pokémon being...turned to stone. But...didn't that start happening after I was summoned here? Like, some time after I started living in Serene Village? So, there wasn't a crisis when I was first brought here...unless the stone incidents occurred prior and I just didn't know...ugh, sorry. My mind wandered for a sec.

Still, is that...is that really why I'm here? I mean, I don't...my memories are patchy at best, and they only cover my life from when I was a human, so I don't...I don't know. I'm not too sure about this.

The others, on the other hand, really want me to break that barrier. They started chanting "Break that barrier! Break that barrier! Break that barrier!" But uh...I held up my vines to silent them. I don't think they realize that I'm not...I don't know how to break it. Like...do I get a hammer and chisel? Do I flick it with my vine? Do I use Razor Leaf on it? Do I tackle it? What do I do? The others are coming up with their own ideas for me to try, but...oh jeez! Okay, I'll write later!

Krookodile just showed up!