Everyone back in their seats? Got your snacks, drinks, bathroom needs, and lunch breaks properly squared away? Alright, settle in because we are NOT stopping for breaks for the rest of this arc.

Everyone uttered a collective groan.

Yeah, yeah, this part of the story drags on without any real breaks for the main characters, but you'll survive. Y'all are just lucky I gotta give my actors legally mandated breaks.

We're picking up where we left off in the last entry, alright? Places, everyone! Get those scene-appropriate faces back on! Ready? Okay, aaaaaaaaaaand...

INTERMISSION END

"Irau..."

Lyra and I looked back at Nuzleaf. Ugh. Was that necessary? He didn't need to look so pleased with himself. Yeah, we get it, douchebag. You're evil and happy that your revelation rattled us. Woo. Nuzleaf, celebration party of one.

Anyway, he reiterated that I still knew who I was when I first came to this world. Even tried fighting him and the Beheeyem. While we were fighting, though, I got hit with Yemer's psychic power and...yeah. That's it. That's all it took. No grandiose, otherworldly event that shook the foundation of everything we knew. No tragic, heart-breaking catastrophe. Just...we fought. Yemer's powers hit me. Boom. Memory yeetus deletus. Bada bing bada boom.

Maybe it's just me, but it felt a little anticlimactic. It explained why certain memories were slowly coming back though. The attack was unintentional, and those scum memories played a critical role in how I respond to upsetting stimuli. Most of my other memories were probably gone and unrecoverable, but my scum memories...oh, how blessed I am to be getting any memories back at all. Truly.

Nuzleaf went on about how they hatched their little plan to trick me after my memories were erased. Lyra asked why, and he said to get their hands on the Luminous Water. Only a human could break the barrier on the spring, right? The ancient Pokémon set it up that way, and, according to Nuzleaf, I was summoned here by the spirit of an ancient Pokémon. I was brought through the bounds of time and space to save this world.

...

PFFFFFFT, ahahaha! Good one, Nuzleaf! Didn't know Dark Matter had a sense of humor that leaked through whoever he controlled.

I literally burst out laughing after he said that, but after looking around at their deadpan faces...it dawned on me that they were being serious.

Dude. Of all the humans in the world, the spirit of an ancient Pokémon chose me to drag through time and space? To save this world?

...

You serious?

Fuckin' hell, this was one of the many reasons why it's frustrating my memories were wiped. I'm just...nobody. Some loser orphan. What the hell made me so special?

Nuzleaf said that ain't important. Even if I couldn't understand it, the ancient Pokémon did. They saw what the future held, so they summoned me with the intention of having me help Pokémon turned to stone return to normal with Luminous Water. Nuzleaf and his cronies found out and decided to strike first.

They attacked me, intending to...end me. Can't restore Pokémon if you're dead, right? However, that wouldn't have solved their problems. Luminous Water would've still been sitting atop that mountain, ready to be used against Dark Matter's minions. If only they could've gotten rid of it entirely.

He asked me if I remembered the spot by the waterfall where I woke up. Did I ever wonder why I was there?

I'm sorry, I was a little caught up with the fact that I forgot who I was, you prick. Why the hell would I care about where I was when I had no idea who I was? I was also a little preoccupied with the fact that I'd been turned into a Chikorita. Did he completely forget how much that might impact an amnesiac human?

Anyway, that's where we fought. By the waterfall. It was during that battle that I lost my memories, and Nuzleaf's plan popped into his head. He could deal with both of his problems in one fell swoop. Sure, the Luminous Water was a pain, but if they could absorb its power, they could get even stronger than ever. All he had to do was guarantee that the barrier would be broken while he was there.

That's why he needed me as an ally. And that's why he started that fool's masquerade. First, he had the Beheeyem attack me, so I would see them as enemies. Then all he had to do was appear on the scene. While we ran from those villains together, I naturally came to trust him. Then all he had to do was get me to come back to Serene Village with him. Everything went swimmingly.

Sure, he didn't succeed in getting us to Revelation Mountain Summit on his first try. Even had to deal with that annoying Lively Town setback thanks to Yemer's incompetence, but in the end, he got me to break the barrier on the spring all the same. He was able to dry up all the Luminous Water and take its power for his own.

It...oof. It felt like my heart was being torn to shreds then and there. It really...it was all a lie. All of it! Even...even this fucking travel journal was just a tool to get me to trust him! Anything Nuzleaf said or did played into his sinister plan from the very fuckin' beginning, and I...I...I fell for it! I ate it up like the desperate, pathetic little stupid orphan loser that I am!

FUCKIN' STUP-

Um...hi? This is Lyra writing now. Irau threw her journal while I was sorting our things at the Road to Primeval Forest Entrance. She's doing the thing where she forces herself not to cry while staring at a wall, and the others are really worried. I told them to leave her alone, but I still wanna help her feel better. I tried giving her journal back, but she said she didn't want it anymore. And that...that's what broke her defenses and made her start crying and breathing hard. She was hiding her face in her vines and it was really upsetting to see :( I don't want Irau to be sad...

"I hate it! I hate the person who gave it to me! I hate what it was used for! I hate how much I use it! I don't want it! Throw it out! Use Ember on it and let my writing be a sad pile of ashes in the forest!"

I...I can't do that. This is her journal. She's had it since forever...it's as iconic to her as my scarves are to me.

Irau said Nuzleaf chose a perfect ruse to use against her. If he'd pretended to be a friend or a reluctant ally, she would've had no issues guiltlessly abandoning him. However, he took on the role of a genuinely caring father...a member of a family she didn't have, but so desperately needed. She said she was stupid to believe things would be different. She started saying some hurtful things about herself, and...she just...

Poor Irau...she's so sad and mad and...and I wanna make her feel better, but...

I have an idea.

Irau gave me permission to read and write in her journal, so I read the entry she was working on. Heehee! She even wrote down the intermission stuff we did! Has she been writing down everything we've been going through? I knew she writes a lot, but...no wonder this thing's so thick!

The entry up to the point where she threw the book is a lot of fun to read because I was there too! It's like I'm there again, reliving the experience through her eyes. No wonder Irau's recording everything! That's so cool! So, let's see...

Ooooh...maybe "fun to read" wasn't the right thing to say. Looking back on it, yeah, that...that wasn't fun. That was, in fact, very very bad.

Okay. When I asked Irau if she had been writing down everything we went through, she said yes because she didn't want to leave holes in case we wanted to revisit those parts of our adventures.

I know she's upset because of how Nuzleaf deceived and betrayed her, so she probably doesn't wanna finish this entry or even keep this book. But it's Irau's journal! It's important to her, even if she doesn't want it to be. And since she's having a bad time reliving those memories and hating herself, I'll finish the entry for her.

Let's see...where did she leave off?

Ah, yes. Nuzleaf told us his evil plan of deceiving Irau from the start! How awful! I remember Irau looked so...so devastated, so hurt and upset and confused. It was different than when we were on Revelation Mountain. Up there the shock of his betrayal was so impactful that Irau's eyes were like dots instead of big and red. Whereas that was more shocking, this was more upsetting.

He basically said, "I never cared about you," and I'll never forgive him for that!

...Also, when I was reading the entry, I noticed that Irau cusses a lot when she's angry. I never knew that about her! I mean, I cussed once, but that was mainly to cheer her up during an otherwise grim moment. When I told her that I didn't know she used cuss words in her writing, she just smiled all coy-like.

Irau, you naughty Chikorita, you! :)

Nuzleaf said, "I sure do thank you for your help with getting the Luminous Water, fools," which was uncalled for. We aren't fools. He's the fool for calling us fools. How foolish.

He said we've done all we can for him, and that we were nothing but loose ends. Especially Irau, since she was brought here to save the world (how crazy is that! I still can't believe she was summoned here by the spirit of an ancient Pokémon! Like, that's insanely cool! I wanna be summoned by an ancient Pokémon spirit!) So it was super extra important for Nuzleaf to get rid of her most of all!

Irau was still super sad and staring at the ground, but I was getting ready to fight! I wasn't about to let him hurt green bean! Uh-uh! Not over my little chicken body! Time to let Ember burn hotter than ever!

Nobody hurts my Irau!

He said that the room we were in might look like a boring old room to us, but it's actually a super special room where any Pokémon that got turned into stone would get dropped into the deepest pit at the bottom of the Voidlands. And then Yemer...

Oh! Yemer! That jerkwad who erased Irau's memories! I'm still mad about that! How could he do that!? I mean...he was being controlled by Dark Matter at the time, I think, but even so! Irau's been a reluctant friend to him this whole time, and turns out he erased her memories! And he was too scared to tell us before! We had to find out through Nuzleaf!

Dark Matter sure is one big ball of badness. He made both Yemer and Nuzleaf hurt Irau in convoluted and seriously bad ways...but why her? Why Irau? She's a good person who doesn't deserve that.

Then again, there's a number of people in Irau's life who've hurt her unnecessarily. It's why those scum memories of hers resurface...

Um...I'm getting off-track. Yemer got all scared-like when he heard Nuzleaf mention how this special room could send someone turned to stone to the deepest part of the Voidlands. Nuzleaf said that Yemer knew how frightening that place is, and that once we're down there, "you ain't never comin' back up."

So...so that's why lied to Yemer to lure us there! To trap us so we couldn't escape again!

Yemer was all scared, but I told him not to give up yet! We were sent to the Voidlands once, and we made it out! It would be okay!

He said that we've never been to the bottom-most pit of the Voidlands, though. That place is so super scary...he didn't wanna go there! What were we gonna do!?

Obviously, fight it out! We promised our friends in the Voidlands that we would save them, so we weren't just gonna sit there and let ourselves be turned to stone again! Our friends are counting on us!

Besides, I felt bad for Nuzleaf's odds. It's not like he had an ancient-Pokémon-summoned-human-turned-Pokémon fighting on his side. And Irau's been helping me fight every step of the way!

Was he really in the superior position, here? I thought not :3

Nuzleaf started laughing and mocking me, saying stuff like, "Well, ain't that precious." Then he asked who I thought it was helping them get us down there and trap us. Who did I think was the mastermind behind all their plans? We were about to find out since one of our friends was arriving.

Oh! OH!

Espurr entered the room.

No way! Espurr was the-!

She's...she can't...she's just a kid!

...Alright, I know it was hypocritical of me to think that since Irau and I are kids. I was dealing with a lot of new and shocking things, and I just...never in a million years believed Espurr could be behind something so diabolical.

Espurr said when she was hiding and saw us being turned to stone, Nuzleaf discovered her and forced her to help him. He threatened her with being sent to the Voidlands if she didn't cooperate, so she went and joined sides with him!

I...there's...that simply can't be true! I was absolutely floored! Another betrayal!?

Nuzleaf said she's been helping all of them keep in touch while pretending to do the same for Ampharos and the others. Her sharing that info helped them know every move the Society made, giving them an upper hand in this fight.

That's...that's so awful! How could she do that!? She was our classmate! Our friend! Did...did she help them turn everyone in the village to stone? Did sh-she help...h-help them turn...

Before I could think more upsetting things, Nuzleaf called Yemer a traitor again and asked him if he wanted to rejoin their side. Said he'd let his little slip pass.

I...no! H-he can't! If he did that, it would...it would...Irau...

Irau looked so, SO upset. She was doing everything she could not to cry and give Nuzleaf...or Dark Matter...or both...what they wanted. I was so mad and frustrated and...

They were breaking Irau's heart.

Why? WHY!?

What did she ever do to them, huh? Nothing! Nothing at all! She didn't even remember the part she played in fighting Nuzleaf, the Beheeyem and Dark Matter! They were doing these things because they could! Because they were rotten and horrible and Irau couldn't do anything to stop them!

Yemer wasn't as bad as the other Beheeyem, and Irau really liked him. She's been trying to be friends with him ever since we left. Maybe there was something about his situation she could empathize with, having no friends on his side or anyone to believe in him...

Yeah...that's something we could both empathize with, come to think of it.

But now this. Now we found out Yemer erased her memories and...and he didn't even bring us down here to lure us into a trap. He really thought the Tree of Life was here! But now...now he was apologizing because he wanted to save the world, but more than that, he didn't want to go to the Voidlands. He was too afraid. He was even tearing up while staring at Irau.

That...that...

Oh. At the time, something had shined into my eye so I couldn't focus on what was happening. I looked around and spotted a certain shadowy figure on the ceiling smiling down at me, shaking its head no.

Oh! Eris! The Luminous Orb! I nearly forgot! I had to use it when she gave "the signal"! Judging from the way she was shaking her head, that wasn't it. So, not yet. Come to think of it, how did any of the others not see her? Hm. I guess it didn't matter.

Hee hee! Hope thrived! Joke's on you, Nuzleaf, we have a secret weapon at our disposal!

Anyway, Nuzleaf started mocking us again once Yemer decided to join their side. He said stuff like, "Would you look at that? There's your friendship for ya. The friends you thought you could trust. And even the ones you're none too sure about. They're all the same in the end. Havin' faith in someone else might rightly give you the courage to keep on fightin'. But how about now, when you ain't got nobody left to believe in?"

He was about to say something else, but Irau cut him off. Shocking considering she was still trying to suppress her emotions.

"You mean like what happened between you and Eris?"

Oh, the way that his face went from arrogant and evil to flustered and angry was just...mm! Perfection. Wish I could've framed it. He insisted he didn't know what she was talking about.

"Eris? The Zorua friend you grew up with after you were both kidnapped in your eggs? Your best friend?"

Something...strange happened just then. A weird...discoloration with squares. Irau tells me the word I'm looking for is glitch. A weird glitch-like thing happened, and Nuzleaf pressed his hand against one of his eyes, his pupils now pinpricks compared to their original size. He glared at us and said that Eris is dead. She's always been dead.

Espurr was confused and said no she wasn't. She'd been a real thorn in their side with her illusion po-

Nuzleaf screamed loudly at her to shut up, surprising all of us! Yeesh, talk about unnecessary! His voice was sharp and echoed in the otherwise quiet room! He gripped his head and growled loudly before dropping onto his knees.

Then Eris yelled "Now, you two!" I grabbed my Luminous Orb and smashed it on the ground, and blinding white light filled the entire room! I couldn't see anything, and I heard the Beheeyem and Nuzleaf yell out in surprise!

Next thing I knew, Eris dropped from the ceiling and shoved me closer to Irau and...then something really weird happened. A green floating Pokémon flew in front of us, and then we weren't in the Prehistoric Ruins anymore! We were in some green foresty place with the green floating Pokémon, Ampharos, Jirachi, and Espurr!

I...I was so utterly confused! That was really weird and confusing and just...bizarre! But Nuzleaf and the Beheeyem weren't with us, so that was a plus! But...neither was Eris. That was a little concerning. Should I have been concerned? I felt concerned.

Boy, was I happy to see Jirachi and Ampharos safe and sound! I wanted to hug them and celebrate, but first things first – where were we? What just happened!? What about Eris? Who's the green Pokémon?

Jirachi was relieved that "it worked", and the green Pokémon commented how it was a close call. I voiced my questions, and the green Pokémon explained that we were on an island to the south, far from the Prehistoric Ruins. We could rest easy.

As for Eris, Jirachi said we didn't need to worry. Her illusion powers have been keeping Dark Matter's forces running in circles, giving them the freedom to do what they needed without worrying about ambushes or hitches. Right now, she was probably using illusion copies of Irau and me to bamboozle Nuzleaf and give him the slip. Ordinarily, she woulda been teleported here with the rest of us, but psychic-type powers like telepathy and teleportation don't work on dark-types.

Ah...I hope she's alright. I don't know how long she's been evading Dark Matter's forces, but it must be exhausting and unbelievably dangerous and scary. One misstep, and that's it. Stone statue Eris.

So, who's the green Pokémon? Ampharos introduced him as Celebi, a friend of his for many years. He's been helping them with investigating everything.

Celebi...? Wait, isn't that...huh? That's right! It took me a bit, but I remembered! Back when we first went to the Air Continent and explored with Archen! Celebi was mentioned as the next potential target for getting turned to stone, and Entei was searching for him at the time as well!

I guess Entei asked Celebi to investigate the stone incidents. He said that Entei is frightening and sometimes rubs you the wrong way, but he felt like the world was in real danger, so Celebi agreed.

Jirachi explained that the Tree of Life is withering because of Dark Matter. If it dies, the spinning of the planet will begin to slow, causing it to slowly be drawn toward the sun. Eventually, the planet will be completely engulfed and we...we could imagine how that would end. It's already being drawn towards it, hence why it's been so hot lately.

Ah! So, it's not that the sun's getting bigger in the sky! It's that we're getting closer to it!

Celebi investigated what happened in the past while Jirachi and Ampharos focused on the present, and they had Espurr compile all of the information they sent her.

But...but Espurr's a traitor! She's been working with Nuzleaf because he threatened to turn her to stone!

Espurr got mad at me, asking if I really believed that. Threats didn't really work on her but being sent to the Voidlands wouldn't have been very interesting. So, she decided to play along and work for both sides, informing each other what the other was doing. She was more-or-less a double agent.

...

This kid is terrifying.

Espurr asked if we remembered when she tried reaching Ampharos before. The truth was, she did reach Ampharos at the time, and he told her to pretend that she couldn't. He then reached out to Eris, told Espurr to meet Nuzleaf at the Prehistoric Ruins after our arrival, and they concocted a plan to retrieve the three of us. The information Nuzleaf provided connected some crucial dots, I guess. They had some mega big important information to tell us about Dark Matter, so they needed our undivided attention.

Before I continue, I'm gonna let Irau read what I've written thus far. What does she think? Was I doing a good job? Did I leave anything out? Did she want me to undo or rewrite something? This is her journal after all.

Irau, when you eventually get to this line, I hope this helped make you happy :) I'm sorry I couldn't do anything besides follow through with Eris's plan, but...everything's okay now. I'm here with you, and even when you get upset and stuff, I'll still be here with you. It's like you always say! Irau and Lyra, together forever against the world!

Love, your Lyra Star :D