PART THREE - DARK MATTER

Location: ?
Date: You know...we can't tell the passage of time in this place. I'm not gonna keep track of the dates until we get out of here. Yes, "until" is the word I wanted. Lyra's convinced there's a way, and I'm gonna keep that hope alive so I don't upset or discourage her.

It's fortunate I'm resistant to electric-types and Lyra's moves are super effective against steel-types, because this dungeon was full of 'em. With the terrifying landscape and the shrieks of frightened Pokémon in the distance, it was pretty hard not to get unnerved as we traveled. Poor Lyra was doing everything she could to keep it together. If ghost stories scared her enough to faint, it's a miracle she's still pressing on right now. I wonder if she felt this terrified while she was comforting me earlier...if so, what a trooper!

Ladies and gentlemen...Lyra the Torchic. Savior of pathetic Chikorita friends everywh-...y'know what, no. Lyra's right. I beat myself up way too much. More like...awesome badass supporter of dear friends everywhere. Yeah, that's better.

With both of us on edge and scared, it was no surprise we were both awash with relief when Dedenne contacted us through our Expedition Society gadget.

Oh, but before I go on about that, Lyra and I discovered something...uh...strange. The Deposit Boxes we've been storing our items and money in? Apparently, those things are alive.

Before we entered the dungeon, I commented how weird it was for a deposit box to be in a place like this. The circle design blinked and glared at me, asking if that was some crack about deposit boxes.

"Listen, lady. We deposit boxes put up with a lotta crap from you free-roamers. You think we asked for this? You think we wanna hold your money, items, and treasure boxes? Cuz we don't! We used to wander the land and have normal, functioning lives until Pokémon like you discovered we carry our personals inside ourselves. Then hunting us became the norm since, hey, free loot. Our spacious insides are all we got goin' for us! We can be turned to stone just like any living creature in this world, and we deserve more respect. Your little adventures would be a pain without our help."

Ahaha...it sure surprised us when it came to life and started rambling at me. But uh, Lyra was quick to apologize on my behalf. She said we never knew deposit boxes were living creatures, and how cool it was to talk to it one-on-one. She wished she could've become friends with the one in Lively Town.

Well, it said it couldn't blame us for being ignorant. It asked us to do it a favor and keep our little discovery a secret. Its people might get wiped out for good if we blew their cover. We agreed and Lyra...heh...looked silly as she hugged it. We sorted our inventory, then got a move on.

Reminder: Wash any food removed from the deposit box before consumption.

Anyway, I mention this because after we talked to Dedenne, Lyra said she felt so relieved that we had allies in this awful place. Had we known they were nearby, we might've picked up the pace a little bit. Then after the call was over, the deposit box decided to speak up again, saying it coulda told us they passed by. Lyra got angry and asked why it didn't say anything, and it said we never asked. She said we would've if we knew it was alive to begin with, and it got offended and the two started arguing and...yeah. I had to drag Lyra away with one of my vines.

Without question, one of the strangest things I've had to do thus far: Mediate a fight between Lyra and a deposit box. Wonder what our classmates back home would've said if they heard that sentence.

Lyra was ranting as we approached the area, and I had to press a vine against her beak to keep her from spilling the box's secret. Once she saw Dedenne and Mawile, her mood immediately shifted and she ran over to hug them. As if the argument never happened.

Both girls were happy to see us safe, though they were a little saddened to see us because it meant we were also turned to stone. They explained that the "ruin guardians" suddenly attacked them and...well...yeah.

So, Eris was right. Those are the same Beheeyem that attacked Nuzleaf and me. Or...if he's on the same side as them, I guess just me. Mawile and Dedenne started beating themselves up for doubting their comrade, but Lyra put the brakes on that by saying there was no way they could've known. It's not like those Beheeyem actively went out of their way to make themselves look different from other Beheeyem.

Mawile identified this place as the Voidlands from the ancient footprint runes on the amber-colored cave we were in. Lyra finished her sentence by reading the runes aloud, saying this is the place where Pokémon go when they're turned to stone. Heehee...forgot that Mawile didn't know she can do that. She said it took her hours to decipher those runes, even with all her training. For Lyra to just read it so easily...

Well anyway, Lyra went on the read more runes. It said something about enemy Pokémon in the Voidlands not being real Pokémon. They're apparitions made up of hate and given a physical form. So, despite getting experience from these things, they aren't real. They're shadows, sprits, fakey fakertons just following us around and giving us something to wail on.

But, like...the wall is super old, right? Just like the tablet found near the Luminous Water, someone from ancient times left us a warning or clue about...things we come across. So, the crisis it mentioned really was this stone incident...ah, sorry. If Mawile and the others offered their theories, I didn't hear them. My mind totally wandered.

Dedenne and Mawile were with Buizel and Bunnelby, right? So...where were they? Eris was absent too, but she took off when the others disregarded her warning, so we had no way of knowing if she was also a victim.

Dedenne said she's been sending out signals nonstop, trying to contact everybody. I guess she gets bad reception in this foreboding realm because she can only contact those who are nearby. Although that's a good way of mustering our scattered forces, isn't that also rather dangerous? I mean, in alerting your allies, you're also alerting any patrolling Pokémon imposters (aka Pokeposters) of your location.

Lyra...let down her guard and admitted that this place is completely terrifying. She'd been putting on a brave face, pushing forward and believing that everything would be alright, but...I knew she was terrified. Now that we had definitive proof in the form of our friends that hope still thrived, she was allowing herself a moment of vulnerability.

Ah...my poor Lyra Star. I wrapped my vines around her in an affectionate hug, and she groaned before burying her face in my neck.

"Aww, Irau, don't do that, I wa...w-w-was doing s-such a f-fine job too!"

Heh. Maybe to them, but to someone who knows you can't handle ghost stories? Yeah, I knew you were struggling. You don't have to hide it, alright? Not like Pancham's gonna burst through the wall and start mocking you.

The girls rose an eyebrow at Lyra. They didn't know she can't handle ghost stories. Well, it never became relevant until now. Mawile asked Lyra if she knew why someone left runes on the wall, and answered her own question saying they were for Pokémon that were turned into stone just like them. They probably left hints all over the place hoping someone would find them and use them to survive in this world. Most importantly, use them to escape.

Escape...?

Mawile theorized that the original writer's skeletal remains probably don't exist in this world, just as a Pokémon "statue" didn't exist in our world prior to these incidents...meaning the original writer escaped. The crisis was stopped before, but the ancient ones somehow knew this would become a problem again...hence the messages.

Hm. Strange. Were Nuzleaf, Yveltal and the Beheeyem not the first ones to gain such dark powers? Or were they, and they're like a billion years old? But, no, Eris and Nuzleaf were childhood friends so that couldn't be right unless Eris is also a billion years old.

Mawile's point was, she believed escaping was possible. If nothing else, that should give us hope. And hope is a vital thing to hold onto in a place like this. We can't lose it now.

Lyra trembled before standing tall again, ruffling her feathers and heaving a sigh. Of course, Mawile was right. Now was the time to be courageous instead of trembling like a scaredy-Delcatty.

While Mawile and Dedenne were hyping her up and praising her for her strength, my mind wandered a bit. Mawile's words about why the messages were left behind suddenly clicked and reminded me of something...vaguely familiar.

Curse my spotty memories!

It was uh...it was something I saw. Maybe a game? Uh...it had something to do with...wormhole circle things you solved puzzles with, and a guy leaving messages on walls helping you escape somewhere and the dessert being a fabrication or something like that. Why can't I remember it more clearly? Ugh, so annoying.

Anyway, we better get a move on. We can't afford to dawdle.

A/N: Credit to my pal Zach for that deposit box idea. Despite the Pokeball-like Pokemon deceiving us like Voltorb, Foongus, and most recently Galarian Stunfisk, there's not one actual treasure box mimic Pokemon and that makes me sad :c They could name it...Treaslure or something like that. What a missed opportunity.