As of the date this chapter was posted, I finally went back and added the revisions that I made to the first 28 parts of the story, along with a few chapters involving Necrozma in episodes 8 and 9. These changes had been made elsewhere, but because FFN is a very tough site for me to work with, I struggled to implemented the changes to this version. They'e there now, however, including newly-added scenes or scenes that were rewritten from the ground up.

Or you could read this new chapter instead. Enjoy!

~Wigglytuff's Guild~

"N-No!" Latias gasped, her glowing eyes wide in shock. "Tell me you're kidding. This is all just a sick joke, right?"

Cresselia shook her head, frowning. "I wish from the bottom of my heart it was true, Latias, but I know what I saw." She poked her tiny hands together. "Time has completely stopped over Quicksand Cave. Worse, I couldn't pick up the faintest trace of Mesprit's aura."

All of the Pokémon standing in attendance gasped, as did the flickering images of the Pokémon taking part in the conversation through Latias' sight-sharing. "Th… this is unthinkable!" Elder Chatot squawked, hopping up and down and fluttering his wings. "Can anyone here confirm this report? Not that I wouldn't trust Cresselia, of course, but we need to know the truth beyond a shadow of a doubt."

"I concur," Mawile said. "Latias, would you be able to sense Quicksand Cave from our location?"

Latias gulped. "It… um… it'd be a struggle, for sure. Especially with the sight-sharing. But I can certainly try!" She squeezed her eyes shut. The group of projected Pokémon disappeared from the guild's assembly area for a few seconds as Latias concentrated. Eventually, she opened her eyes back up, restoring the connection.

"It's true," she whispered meekly. "I'm not getting anything."

A ring portal opened beside Latias. Hoopa popped out. "Yeah, time is definitely frozen there. Hoopa saw it for himself," he declared.

"Oh… right… we should've just asked Hoopa to do that from the get-go," Delphox said, projecting through Latias' mind. "So, what does this mean, exactly?"

"That someone's after the Time Gears," Infernape said. "The 'who' and 'why' are the big questions for me."

"I'm willing to stake my claim on it being the Prism Virus," Mawile exclaimed. "If it is after Legendary Pokémon, acquiring the Time Gears would give it the means to cause a mess of trouble, would it not?"

Latias bit her lower lip. "Wait." She tucked her head into her paws and shook it. "Ugh, how could I not have seen this coming?"

Meganium looked at Delphox in concern. "What's wrong, Latias?" Delphox asked.

"It's the creature that's at the core of the Prism Virus… the Guiding Light," Latias said.

"Guiding… Light?" Cresselia repeated. "That's not ringing any bells." She turned to the shadowy specter hovering in the corner. "I could always ask Darkrai, but I doubt he'd know anything."

"I wouldn't expect anyone to know about it," Latias said. "It's… um… tough to explain."

"Of course it is! Because you're practically speaking in riddles," Haunter suddenly shouted, hovering with his teammates by a bubbling cauldron in the room's northwest corner. "We don't know what it is because it's alien. Team Radiance calls it and its flunkies Ultra Beasts. Pretty fitting since, even by my standards, they're quite… ghastly! Mwee hee hee… hee… hee…"

He looked around at the room and shrank toward the ground. "Boy, tough crowd," Haunter whispered, stealing glances at a Sunflora and Exploud eying him suspiciously from across the room.

"Erm… yes…" Latias whispered. Her blue eyes flashed yellow and she produced a psychic projection of Necrozma's true form. "This is the Guiding Light. He's a human spirit that was infused with the power of ley lines, resulting in what you see here."

"Eek! He's totally scary-looking," Sunflora gasped, wrapping her arms around Exploud. Other Pokémon wore similarly-concerned looks on their faces.

"How does that connect him to the Time Gears?" Delphox asked, eyeing the projection nervously.

"His creators fractured his spirit when he disobeyed them and befriended the gods. Huge amounts of his life energy spread throughout the world, falling to the ground as stardust," Latias explained.

"H-Hang on a second!" Feraligatr jumped in, taken aback by Latias' statement. "Stardust… as in the stuff that makes orbs, wands, and emeras?" He looked at the band around his right arm. "Does that mean I'm going to go crazy if I don't get rid of these things?"

"I think you should be fine, buddy," Infernape said, sweat drops rolling down the back of his head.

"The key point I was trying to make is that Dialga used stardust to forge the Time Gears," Latias said.

Elder Chatot's face blanched. "But… but that would mean that… the Time Gears we hold in such high regard…"

"… are actually fragments of the Guiding Light's broken spirit," Mawile said. "That's the logical conclusion, yes."

Latias dispelled her psychic projection. "As I'm sure you all know, Post Town and Pokémon Paradise were ravaged by what appeared to be Lunala. I've come to learn that it wasn't Lunala's fault. Rather, the remnants of the Guiding Light possessed her. He calls himself Necrozma, Devourer of Light."

"Needless to say, we can't let him or his flunkies get any more Time Gears," Mawile said. "Ampharos, I propose we pool our resources to secure the other four Time Gears."

"Now wait just a second!" Elder Chatot interjected, flapping his wings frantically. "I still recall the gr– err, that fiendish Dusknoir'swords. If we remove every Time Gear from its proper place, it will result in no less than the planet's paralysis!"

"And if Necrozma gets his hands on them, then the exact same thing will happen," Infernape countered. "At bare minimum, we must go to their hiding spots."

"Agreed," Delphox said. "If this Necrozma guy could dispose of Mesprit so quickly, I doubt Azelf, Ditto, or Uxie stand much of a chance. And then there's the unguarded one in Treeshroud Forest."

"Shouldn't we be forging a plan to confront Necrozma?" Feraligatr wondered.

"Oh my gosh… I don't really think I could even begin to fathom how to stop a Pokémon that can possess a Legendary like Lunala," Sunflora said.

"Not to worry, everyone! Latias is on top of things in that department," Ampharos declared, a broad grin on his face.

All eyes – real and projected – fell on Latias' horrified face. "Err… um… well… it's kind of a work in progress. Team Radiance is in pursuit of the Dawn Hourglass. We think it has the power needed to stop Necrozma." A bunch of confused stares met her in response.

"Mwee hee hee hee! I can't believe we're pinning our hopes on the human, Riolu, and whatever the heck Silvally's supposed to be," Haunter said.

"There's a human in Horizon?!" Infernape, Feraligatr, and Delphox all shouted in unison. They exchanged surprised looks.

"Eh heh heh… did that not come up in conversation?" Latias said, grinning sheepishly. "My bad."

Infernape's brow furrowed. "And this Riolu that Haunter mentioned… her dad wouldn't happen to be–"

"Incineroar? Hooo-whee, you're spot-on, buddy. She's our old Guildmaster's daughter, yup yup," Misdreavus declared.

"Ah," Infernape said, scratching his head nervously. "That's… quite ironic, I must say."

"Is she the one that kept sending us fan mail?" Feraligatr whispered. Infernape nodded. "Oh… huh. That is ironic!"

"Let's try to stay focused, everyone," Mawile said. "I think we reached an agreement, yes? We'll split up to protect the Time Gears?"

Ampharos nodded. "I'm all for bringing them back to Lively Town or Treasure Town for safekeeping."

"Agreed. Any incident the Time Gears would cause would be temporary. All we'd need to do is bring them to Temporal Tower once everything's safe," Infernape declared.

Elder Chatot's brow furrowed. "And what say you to this, Guildmaster?" He glanced at Wigglytuff, who stood beside Blue-Beak.

Wigglytuff puffed out his chest. "The safety of the Time Gears is paramount! We'll put all our resources toward grabbing them before these misguided miscreants! Yoom-tah!"

Blue-Beak pulled his wings off his head. "And there you have it, Dad."

"What about the folks in Horizon?" Latias asked.

"As I said before, they're your responsibility," Ampharos said. "But I have full confidence in your abilities."

Latias' wings drooped. 'That's what I was worried you'd say.'

Episode 12: Family Matters

Chapter 57: Cosmic Congregating

~Western Volcanic Wastes~

Shane tried to fall back asleep but gave up after a fitful hour of tossing and turning. He walked outside of Totem Salazzle's house and sat down to watch the storm clouds overhead. Eventually, he spotted Espeon approaching the house. Dried blood sat on her snout and her tail twitched erratically. He opened his mouth to say something but Espeon walked inside, completely ignoring him.

Eventually, Tessa and Silvally woke up. Shane preoccupied himself with helping them prepare to depart the Volcanic Wastes. Totem Marowak arranged to restock the team's supplies using resources both tribes had gathered, but never found a use for. He even offered up some Awakening Emeras for Tessa, which she took with a great degree of hesitation. Once she pocketed them, she lifted Shane up and positioned him on her shoulder. Team Radiance then proceeded toward the edge of the village.

"Man, I think I see why Pikachu liked riding on Ash's shoulder so much. This is pretty comfy!" Shane chirped, tails thumping against Tessa's shoulder blade. "Thanks for the lift! Any special reason?"

"No. But as long as you're my passenger, I expect you to behave yourself," Tessa exclaimed, crossing her arms.

"I'll bet she did it to stop you from trying to look somewhere unsavory," Espeon exclaimed stoically. "That's what I'd do if I walked on two paws instead of four."

Shane's ears drooped. "Are you going to hold that over my head the whole time we're travelling together?"

"Yup," Espeon replied.

"You know she's doing that to get a rise out of you, right?" Tessa whispered. "I think she's just teasing."

"I still don't like it," Shane whimpered.

Silvally stepped between Tessa and Espeon. "Now, Espeon. Let's be fair, here. It's got nothing to do with that." He looked over and Tessa and smirked. "Tessa's just a smart cookie. She's using Shane's tails to cool herself off."

Espeon's ears and tails stiffened. She abruptly stopped walking and blinked several times. "That's… that's…" She slumped over. "… brilliant."

Silvally and Shane burst into laughter. Tessa's brow furrowed, the joke having gone over her head. "Actually, now that you mention it, the heat doesn't feel as awful as it did yesterday."

"That's the point," Silvally whispered. "A Vulpix's tails can give off chilled air. Think of it like a layer of insulation from the heat."

Tessa's eyes widened in realization. "I think we might have to make this arrangement permanent, then. Sorry, Shane, looks like you won't be evolving anytime soon if I have anything to say about it."

Shane rolled his eyes. "Please. You're a Lucario now. You can carry me with your aura-powered super strength. Ninetales are mostly fluff anyway. I bet I'd barely weigh a thing."

"Yeah, but Ninetales also curse anyone who touches one of their tails," Tessa said, putting on a scary face and waving her arms around comically. "I'm not looking for any curses in my near future. I'm already saddled with you, after all."

Shane nearly face faulted right off her shoulder. Tessa stuck her paw up to catch him. "Okay, ouch. Did your evolution come with a boost to your sarcasm stat or something?"

"It's a possibility," Tessa said, sticking her tongue out.

"You guys are such dorks," Espeon scoffed, rolling her eyes. Karma quickly caught up with her, as her forepaw struck a small depression in the ground. She yelped in surprise and fell to the ground. Espeon shot back up, her face and chest covered in ash. She held her snout up and sauntered forward, silently willing everyone to forget what they just saw.

"Actually, speaking of cool aura powers, doesn't this mean that you can use Aura Spheres now?" Shane asked, looking at her expectantly.

"Um… I'm not actually sure," Tessa said. "I don't even know how to try."

"Oh, that's an easy one!" Shane exclaimed. "I know exactly what you need to do." He leaned over and whispered into her ear. Said ear twitched and Tessa's face scrunched up in disapproval.

"Absolutely not," she said. "That sounds completely ridiculous. I'll bet you're lying to me."

"I'm not," Shane said.

"You totally are. There's no way that the key to learning Aura Sphere is cupping my paws together and thrusting them forward while shouting 'Kamehameha' at the top of my lungs," Tessa scoffed. "Where did you even pull that idea out of, huh? Is this another one of your weird human tricks?"

"Yes," Shane mumbled, pouting. "But… c'mon… couldn't you just do it once! You'd be making one of my biggest dreams come true."

"No."

Shane batted his eyelids at Tessa. "Pretty please with berry glaze on top?"

"No!"

"I'll be your bestest friend in the whole wide world!" Shane said, awkwardly forming a little heart with his forepaws. Silvally's head crest fanned out in surprise.

"Oh, well when you put it that way…"

Shane's eyes sparkled in anticipation, only for Tessa to shove him off her shoulder. He unceremoniously tumbled into an ash pile.

"… the answer's definitely no."

Silvally dusted Shane off and helped him to his feet. "I'm no expert here but maybe you ought to lay off the aura subject. At least until Tessa's figured out how to get that stuff working completely."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. I was just trying to have a little fun," Shane muttered. "Lesson learned."

Before he and Silvally could resume walking, Tessa froze. Her aura feelers rose and she held up a paw. "Guys, I think Latias is flying toward us. And she's going really fast."

Silvally looked over his shoulder just in time to see a red and white blur zooming toward him. He quickly jumped to his right, barreling Shane over in the process. Latias slammed her metaphorical breaks, screeching to a halt with an embarrassed look on her face. "Sorry. I, uh, am usually much better at stopping."

"Are you kidding? That was great!" Hoopa cheered, popping up from Latias' back. "You're way more fun than Hoopa remembers the last Latias being. Let's go again!"

"Another time, maybe," Latias said, sweat drops rolling down the back of her head. Her eyes fell on Tessa. "Oh, congrats on evolving." She shook her head. "I'd love to hear about it. Really. But we've got a serious situation, here."

"I'll say," Shane huffed, looking in dismay at his soot-covered right flank. "Where's the fire? Y'know, besides down in the lava pits?"

Latias fidgeted nervously with her claws. "It's the Underground Lake. No, wait… Quicksand Cave!" Shane ears stuck up and he fixed a worried look on Latias. "Time's frozen around the whole dungeon!" Latias blurted out.

"What?!" everyone on Team Radiance shouted in unison. Tessa looked the most confused of the group, while Espeon, Shane, and Silvally were starting to panic.

"N… no way. Someone took one of the Time Gears?" Shane squeaked, his gaze falling to the ground.

Latias nodded glumly. "They didn't just take the Time Gear. Mesprit… she's gone."

"It has to be the Prism Virus," Silvally said.

"But that doesn't make any sense," Espeon said. "Zero said she had no intention of trying to mess with the flow of time like that. She wants the world to function just like it does now… but with no gods."

"Zero may have said that, but Necrozma is another story entirely," Shane declared ominously. "There are just too many possibilities to consider."

He started pacing back and forth. "Maybe he needs to combine them with the Hourglasses to execute whatever the Prism Virus' plan is for wiping out Legendaries. Or it could be a giant smoking gun. A red herring that'll get us to stop looking for the Dawn Shards. Think about it. If we dropped everything to go protect the Time Gears, then Zero can just swoop in and grab the Dawn Shards unopposed." Shane shook his head. "If the whole point behind those things is that the Prism Virus can use them to remove all the protective forcefields around the gods' domains, then we can't just stop looking for them."

"But we also can't let the Time Gears fall by the wayside either," Silvally said. "Don't you guys remember Espeon telling us that theory that the Time Gears were forged from stardust?" His teammates eyes slowly widened. "If that's true, and the stardust that falls from the heavens is really the life energy Necrozma lost to Golem, then he might be after the Time Gears to get that energy back."

Latias' face blanched. "But… but if that's the case, he's probably already destroyed the Time Gear he has!" She started hyperventilating. "Oh no… oh no… this is bad. This is bad!"

"Do the guilds overseas know about this?" Shane asked. "Do they have any kind of plan to deal with this?"

"I… uh… it's really confusing to keep track of all this!" Latias blurted out. "Yes, we're trying to do something about the Time Gears. But then Ampharos said that that means I need to figure out a plan of action about Horizon and so I had Hoopa portal us over here without even taking the time to think about anything and I'm not a leader in the slightest and I don't know how to make big decisions and this is all just–"

Espeon reached a forepaw up and tapped Latias on the snout. "Easy, Latias," she said. "I thought you were gonna stop breathing for a second, there."

Hoopa crossed his arms and pouted. "Aww, you should have let her continue. Hoopa wanted to see her face turn blue."

Espeon glared at Hoopa, who stuck his tongue out in response. "Let's just take this one step at a time. Now, you said the Expedition Society has a plan?"

"Y… yeah," Latias stammered. "They're working with Wigglytuff's Guild. I think Hoopa transported different groups over to the four remaining Time Gears' dungeons. But I'm not sure if they're going to just stay there and protect them… or bring all of them back to Lively Town."

Shane frowned. "It shouldn't matter, should it? If they're stuck guarding the Time Gears, then that leaves everywhere else open to a Prism Virus attack!"

"But the towns' forcefields are still working, right?" Tessa asked. She sighed in relief when Latias nodded. "Okay, then it sounds like it's smarter to bring them back to Lively Town and stall until we can get the Dawn Hourglass back together."

Latias frowned. "I wish it was that simple. But… but I'm pretty sure I need to take some precautions here. This is…" She gripped her head and shook it.

"It's okay, Latias," Espeon assured her. "We're all on the same side, here. Let us know how we can help."

"No!" Latias cupped her paws over her mouth. "Sorry. I didn't mean to shout." She took a deep breath. "I need you four to keep looking for these Dawn Shards. That's still important. You did find the one that was here, right?" Deflated expressions appeared on Team Radiance's faces. Latias' wings drooped. "You… didn't get it?"

"It was taken from us," Tessa said, "by my brother."

"Dun dun daaaaaaaaaaaa! What a twiiiiiiiist!" Hoopa shouted, waving his hands around enthusiastically. Five scathing looks met him in response. "Hoopa was just trying to lighten the mood. Sheesh."

"Hoopa, can you just be quiet for a few minutes?" Latias groaned. "Um, listen, can I just read someone's mind? I think it'd get me up to speed much quicker." Espeon nodded her approval. Latias' eyes flashed blue and she sifted through Espeon's memories of the previous day. Doing so added an even greater degree of exhaustion to her expression. "Unbelievable. So, Gallian made off with the Sizzle Shard? Has he totally lost it?"

Tessa's shoulders slumped. "The only times I've seen him in the last, like, eight months have been with those two alien Pokémon calling themselves Team Paradox." She cupped a paw over her eyes and rubbed her temples. "I don't know what's come over him. He's become so detached… and he keeps spouting off about his disaster sense but he won't take the time to stop and explain why his disaster sense is going wild." She frowned. "All he does is take one look at me and dismiss me as a waste of his time. And I'm his sister! He never used to be like this, I swear."

Latias frowned. "Hold that thought," she said, to Tessa's surprise. "Hey!" Latias shouted, floating through the group and looking back toward the village. "Quit hiding and trying to spy on us! I know you're out there, Zoroark! Show yourself!"

Shane's tails ducked under his legs. "A Zoroark? And it's been stalking us?"

Tessa shut her eyes. Her aura feelers tensed and she gasped. "She's right." Tessa grabbed her ears and pulled them against her forehead. "Ohhh… how could I be so blind as to miss something like that? They could've gotten the drop on us and I'd have been none the wiser."

"It's not your fault," Silvally assured her. "You just started learning how to use your aura sense." He turned toward the village, watching a Salazzle pop up from behind a very large boulder, hands raised in surrender.

"Hold up! Hold up! Please… this is just a misunderstanding," the Salazzle exclaimed. A blue ripple raced across her body, revealing a male Zoroark. Team Radiance's expressions blanked at the sight of his scars, missing left ear, and damaged left eye.

"Dear god, what happened to that guy?" Shane gasped.

"Careful," Espeon said, frowning, "it could be a trick to get us to lower our guard."

"I said get out here!" Latias shouted, dragon fire licking at her lips.

"No… wait! Stop! I've got a bum leg! I'm serious!" Zoroark begged. He limped away from the rock, wincing with every step he took. Zoroark dropped to his knees, keeping his arms raised high. "C-Come on… you don't really think I'd be stupid enough to challenge a Lucario and two Legendaries, do you?" he rasped.

"You Zoroarks have a penchant for recklessness," Espeon accused. "Maybe start with telling us why you were snooping in our conversation."

"Okay, okay," Zoroark said, nodding vigorously. "Just call off Latias! And, uh…" His voice trailed off and he glanced at Silvally. "Tell your friend to ease off the suspicious glare. He's… he's kind of frightening."

Silvally took a step back, raising a skeptical brow. "He sure seems rather nervous. I was expecting him to be a smug, quick-witted jerk."

"… like the Zoroark inside of you?" Shane wondered, drawing a nod from Silvally. "Remember, it could just be an act."

"I followed you guys because I heard you mention Gallian," Zoroark confessed, avoiding everyone's gazes by boring holes into the ground. "I was trying to keep tabs on his whereabouts yesterday. But, well, I can't move around all that great. By the time I got here, I saw him and his freaky colleagues fleeing Mt. Supernova with some sparkly stone.

Shane's eyes widened. "That's the Sizzle Shard!" he gasped. "Did you see them? Which way were they going?"

Zoroark sighed. "I was too tired to give chase, so I figured I'd lay low with the Salazzles until I could get my strength back. But then I heard you guys bring Gallian up, so I thought I'd follow you and see why you were looking for him. As for where he is… I'm extremely confident he's back in Cosmic Cavern."

"Cosmic Cavern?" Tessa parroted. "But how would you know that? And, for that matter, how do you even know Gallian, huh?"

Zoroark got to his feet. "You're… you're the little sister, aren't you?" he asked. He gripped some of the fur on his chest and twisted it around his claw. "Oh man… and you just evolved yesterday, didn't you? I, uh, was really hoping we'd be able to meet under better circumstances."

Tessa tensed up. "What's that supposed to mean? Answer my question!"

Zoroark winced. "I… I know Gallian because I'm his mate. Or at least… I was his mate… until he ran out on me."

Silence fell over the group. Tessa stumbled backwards, clutching her chest like someone had just given her the hardest gut punch she'd ever felt. "Y… you're his… mate?" she squeaked. "Oh… oh gods… I think I'm gonna be sick."

Silvally darted over to Tessa's side, offering up his shoulder for her to lean against. Tessa braced herself against his side and shuddered. "Jeez, Tessa. Don't you think you're overreacting a bit?" Shane said. "So, your brother had himself a boyfriend. Is that really a big deal?"

"Is your fur blocking your hearing, human? He didn't say boyfriend, he said 'mate.' As in soulmate," Espeon exclaimed, giving Shane an icy look that'd make a Glaceon jealous.

Shane's resolve faltered a bit. "Is there some kind of difference?"

"Yes!" Espeon said. "There's a huge difference! How could you not know that?"

"Uh, hello! Human, remember?" Shane said, looking rather hurt. "Seriously. If it's really that big a deal, then just explain it to me."

Latias floated down to him and placed a paw on his shoulder. "Human… soul-mating is a gesture that two Pokémon use to show their eternal commitment to one another. It bonds a couple together for life. Breaking that bond is taboo, unless there are dire circumstances surrounding it."

Shane blinked a few times. At which point, Latias' message finally became clear. He took a few shaky steps backwards. "D… dear god. So, mating is like marriage… but dialed all the way up to eleven!"

"Oh, so you do understand it?" Espeon said. "Then maybe now you realize why Tessa's so shocked?"

"Y… yeah!" Shane's gaze darted back and forth between Zoroark and Tessa. "I mean… if I ever learned from one of my sister's spouses that they had gotten married, never told me, and then broken it off, I'm pretty sure I would pass out on the spot."

Zoroark winced. "I'm sorry this is how you had to find out, Tessa. Trust me… this isn't the direction I'd wanted my life to go in."

Tessa looked right at Zoroark. Then, to everyone's surprise, she burst out laughing. Tessa slid down Silvally's foreleg until she was sitting on the ground. "I… I'm sorry. I can't… I shouldn't…" She doubled over, kicking her legs against the ground. "It's just… this is… oh gods… why can't I stop?"

Silvally looked down at her in concern. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Espeon blinked in surprise. "Tessa, seriously? Pull yourself together!"

"Do you realize how hypocritical that sounds coming from you?" Shane scoffed.

"Not the time, human," Espeon hissed.

Tessa's laughter slowed down. She dabbed tears out of her eyes. "I'm sorry, guys. Really. I just couldn't help it. I mean… look at this!" She gestured at Zoroark. "Just how screwed up is my life going to get, huh? I find out I have a spirit-brother–"

Shane raised a forepaw in question. "That's what you call your sibling's mate," Silvally whispered. Shane nodded in recognition and lowered his forepaw.

"–And it turns out that not only has Gallian gotten to be as screwed up as me, but he passed it on to him!" Tessa continued, throwing a paw over her muzzle to try and choke back her laughter. "This is totally ridiculous. My life's a mess. My family's an even bigger mess." She slowly got back to her feet and took a few deep breaths. Her gaze fell on Zoroark, whose eyes flickered angrily. Tessa realized what she had just said.

"Oh gods," she whispered. "Zoroark, I'm so sorry! I didn't…" She bit her lower lip. "That came out wrong!"

Zoroark drew his muzzle back in a snarl. "That's your best apology? You just said I'm screwed up!" He narrowed his eye at her. "You're just as callous as your brother's gotten!" He threw his arms up and turned away from Team Radiance. "Why did I think trailing you all would be a good idea? All it managed to accomplish was getting egg thrown on my face!"

"Wait, wait, wait!" Shane shouted, dashing toward Zoroark. "You've got this all backwards. This is a big misunderstanding." Shane skidded to a halt. "Listen, my friends and I have been under a huge amount of stress lately. And that's before we ran into you. I mean, you know that Tessa evolved yesterday. So, you've got to understand that she's really not herself right now. I know that she's really sorry. Trust me… Tessa's my best friend. I know she'd never insult you on purpose."

Tessa did a double-take at the mention of "best friend." Zoroark turned back around and Tessa rubbed her shoulder. "Um… I think we may have gotten off on the wrong foot," she squeaked. "Could we start over, by any chance?"

Zoroark crossed his arms. "I'm not one to give second chances freely. Just ask your brother."

"Then, um, how about revising your first impression?" Tessa said, fidgeting with her paws. "Please, Zoroark. If… if you really were involved with Gallian, I don't want to push you out of my life. I want you in it!" Her gaze fell toward the ground. "My family's crumbling all around me. Gallian wants nothing to do with me. Team Radiance… is pretty much all I have now."

"Well, I don't know what to tell you," Zoroark said. "Heck, the whole reason I was following you guys was because I was hoping maybe you could be the ones to talk some sense into him. But it sounds like you're having just as many problems with him as I did yesterday." His shoulders sagged. "It's hopeless then, isn't it? He's… he's too far gone."

"You can't think like that," Silvally said. "I know how much Gallian means to Tessa. And I'm sure he means the world to you, too. If we all put our heads together, we can come up with a way to get through to him. We need that Dawn Shard. And you deserve to have your mate back… the way you remembered him."

Zoroark gripped his shoulder and looked away. "That's just it, though. I'm not even sure I want him back. Not after he left me."

"Yaaaaaaaawn. This is sooooo boring," Hoopa cut in. "Where's the drama? The intrigue! The make-out sessions interrupted by slaps across the face? You guys suck at romantic relationships!"

"Hoopa!" Latias scolded. She sighed loudly. "Listen, guys. I really shouldn't be hanging around here. Hoopa and I are happy to portal you over to Cosmic Cavern, if you're going to go there. But otherwise, we have to get going. I need to get to the Temple of Balance, because I have an idea and it's time-sensitive in more ways than one."

Tessa looked at Zoroark. "Are you okay going with us?"

Zoroark nodded slowly. "Yeah, I guess so." He looked at his scarred leg. "It sure beats walking back, that's for sure."

~Cosmic Cavern~

Hoopa's ring deposited Team Radiance on the edges of a cliff overlooking the Midnight Sea. Jagged rocks lay scattered along the cliff face. In the distance, they could see the storm clouds and thick black smoke encircling the Volcanic Wastes. "In here," Zoroark said, beckoning them toward a small tunnel. They all proceeded inside, with Silvally having to duck in order to maneuver safely through the cave.

"It's a bit of a cramped fit," he complained.

"Nothing much we can do about that," Zoroark said. "Just try not to smack your face against any of the crys–"

Wham!

"Ow!" Silvally squawked, dropping to the ground and rubbing his beak against it.

"Never mind," Zoroark said, sighing.

"So, um, Zoroark?" Tessa asked. "What was it like… for you and Gallian?" She frowned when Zoroark froze. "Err… I mean… you don't have to answer that if you don't want to!"

"No. It's fine," Zoroark dismissed. "You're his sister. You deserve to know." Zoroark shuffled forward, bracing himself against the cavern wall. "Gallian was… the guy I needed in my life." He craned his head back, his scarred eye falling on Tessa and making her look away. "I'm not sure if you're aware about the stereotypes my kind tends to carry."

"That you're malicious tricksters never to be trusted?" Espeon said. Silvally gave her a disapproving look. "Oh please. Don't act like you weren't thinking that."

Zoroark dragged his claws against the rock wall, making Espeon's fur stand on end. "Yeah, nobody's more aware of that than me," he rasped. "Probably why my folks ditched me. Because I wasn't interested in trickery. Or thieving. Y'know, the 'usual' Zoroark stuff."

"Your parents just abandoned you?" Tessa gasped. 'Just like Gallian's egg…'

"They kicked me into the Midnight Sea and fled," Zoroark muttered grimly. "I'll bet they were hoping I drowned. I didn't know how to swim when I was a kit." He paused at a fork in the tunnel and gestured to his right. Team Radiance followed after Zoroark, moving slowly to accommodate his injured leg.

"I owe my life to Totem Decidueye," Zoroark said. "He rescued me from the water and took me in. The guy raised me up from a little pup when he didn't know the first thing about Zoruas or Zoroarks. He even got the other villagers to treat me alright." He sighed loudly. "But, even with all the good he did, I never felt a real connection to him. He's our Totem. He always had a lot of work to do. So, I spent a lot of time by myself. Sure, it gave me plenty of time to practice illusion-making. But… I was never big on using them."

"Why not?" Tessa asked.

"Because they're meaningless fakes," Zoroark growled. "I want people to like me for, well, me. What's so bad about that, huh? I love my body. Or, at least, I did, before…" He pivoted to show Team Radiance his scars. "I suppose I should start using illusions to make myself look uninjured, but my heart wouldn't be in it." He lowered his head and shook it. "Sorry, I went off on a tangent, didn't I? You wanted to know about me and your brother."

"If it's not too much trouble," Tessa whispered. "Gallian… he walked out of my life eight months ago. Angrier than I had ever seen him before. I just want to know what happened to him to make him so cold and distant."

"I honestly wish I could tell you, but I'm just as confused about that one as you are," Zoroark admitted. "When he showed up out of the blue yesterday, he was nothing like the guy I'd fallen for."

Tessa's aura feelers tensed. A heavy, unseen force tugged against them. She looked up at Zoroark. 'Is this what it's like to see someone's emotions play out?' she wondered. It made Tessa's heart sink. She shut her aura sense off and broke eye contact with Zoroark, biting her lip. "Um, what was he like? When you were together, I mean?"

Zoroark rubbed his eyes. "When he first stumbled into Cosmic Cavern, he was scared… and confused. I was working as a sentry at the time, so I came across him first. He passed out from exhaustion. I brought him to Totem Decidueye and helped nurse him back to health." Zoroark limped forward. "I was the first guy he saw when he woke up. And he…" Zoroark started chuckling. "He was so flustered. Like, I was so used to people avoiding eye contact with me. Because folks always find me intimidating-looking. Gallian was the exact opposite. Guy couldn't take his eyes off of me. He was the one who had been through an ordeal, but he was asking me all the questions. About the village… the roll I played in it… what things were like here…"

"He wound up staying with me," Zoroark continued. "Even offered to help me with my sentry job. I really appreciated it. My shifts were either lonely or annoying. But having Gallian there to talk to changed all of that." He rubbed his shoulder awkwardly. "Sure, I couldn't get him to talk much about himself, at first. But after years of lingering in the background, I appreciated the attention."

Zoroark passed underneath a light crystal. Tessa noticed his longing gaze and shut her eyes. But that kicked on her aura sense. Zoroark's melancholy thoughts weaved through her body, exhausting her.

"Hey, watch it!" Shane barked, jolting Tessa to attention. "You nearly stepped on me." He scrunched his tails up against his hips and gave her a concerned look.

"You okay back there?" Zoroark asked, pausing to lean against the cavern wall and catch his breath.

"I'm fine," Tessa insisted. "Sorry to interrupt you. Continue."

Zoroark's brow furrowed. "What else do you want to me say?"

Tessa poked her index digits together. "Well, how did things get from working together to… y'know…"

"Sleeping together," Shane interjected, ignoring Tessa's surprised squeak.

Zoroark ran his claws through his mane. "I guess after a few weeks with Gallian by my side, I started to see him in a different light. He wasn't just this guy who had stuck around because he owed his life to anyone. As we got closer together, we started doing things other than sentry shifts together. Like sparring, for example."

"I kept trying to prod into Gallian's past, but he would always dodge the issue. One night, I took him out to that ridge your friends dropped us off at. We had dinner together on the cliffside." Zoroark took a deep breath. "That's when he told me about what had happened to him." Zoroark bit his lip. "I was concerned when he told me he'd left you with some family friends, so I made him promise that we'd go to visit you at some point."

"You... you did?" Tessa gasped, nervously rubbing the mark on her right paw.

"Yeah. That's when I went for broke and told Gallian I loved him," Zoroark replied.

"So, you did the whole love confession in front of a sunset routine? Sheesh, never would've taken a Zoroark to be such a romantic," Shane mused. "I suppose it beats the Lucario and Zoroark couples that were omnipresent back in the human world."

Silvally's face scrunched up in confusion. "Wait, how can there be couples like that if Pokémon are fictional where you're from?"

Shane grinned sheepishly. "Never underestimate the power of fandoms and shipping, big guy."

"That… really doesn't answer my question," Silvally griped.

"Do you guys mind?" Tessa growled. Her teammates went quiet and looked down guiltily. "Sorry, Zoroark. You were saying?"

Zoroark scratched at his dismembered ear. "Yeah, I told Gallian I loved him. He had already let slip that he was attracted to guys after our snouts had accidentally touched during a spar. But I didn't say anything at the time." Zoroark's eyes glazed over. "His response… wasn't what I was expecting. He panicked, actually. I still remember how terrified he looked."

"His disaster sense?" Tessa wondered.

"Yeah," Zoroark replied, nodding. "He was so spooked that he tried to bolt." Zoroark cringed. "But he misjudged his steps and wound up tumbling down the ridge and into the Midnight Sea."

Tessa's eyes widened. "Oh gods! What happened?"

"I jumped in… thinking I'd need to save him," Zoroark admitted. Embarrassment spread across his face. "Turns out he landed in a shallow part where he could stand. Which was bad news for me, because I smacked head-first into the ground underwater." He rubbed his forehead.

Shane couldn't help but laugh. "Wow, so in the process of trying to avoid disaster, Gallian had actually managed to cause it? That's pretty hilarious." But a scathing look from Tessa made him regret opening his mouth. He shrank down and dejectedly flicked a pebble down the path.

"I blacked out after that," Zoroark confessed. "Seeing me get hurt must've given Gallian the kick he needed to work past his disaster sense, because I woke up in a little grotto, lying by a fire. Gallian had dried me off and tended to the lump on my head." Zoroark blinked tears out of his eyes. "When I asked him if he saved me, he told me that he realized some things were more important than his disaster sense. The rest is history, I guess."

Tessa tilted her head. "Meaning?"

"We were soulmates before the end of the night," Zoroark said, turning away from the group so they couldn't see his satisfied grin.

"Ah," Tessa said, cringing. "I think I get the point."

Zoroark stopped walking and held his arm up. "We're here," he announced, shuffling forward to let Team Radiance have a look at his home. They filed in behind him, with Shane getting up on Silvally's back so he could see.

Light crystals lay embedded in the ground and walls. But a small bit of natural sunlight trickled in near the cavern's ceiling, making the higher-up rocks sparkle. Unlike the villages Team Radiance was used to, Cosmic Cavern didn't have any buildings to speak of. Instead, there were outcroppings of rock that had doors and windows carved into them. Some of the abodes were located above ground. Shane looked to his left and right and spotted two paths that curved upwards in opposite directions to reach the cavern's upper level. Large crystals jutted out into the air, forming bridges that connected the two sides.

"I think I see another level to this place," Tessa gasped, craning her neck to make out a second set of crystal bridges even higher than the ones the group could plainly see. "Is it annoying to go up and down all the time?"

"Well, it certainly is now," Zoroark conceded. "But it wasn't so bad when I could walk fine. The only important thing up at the top is Totem Decidueye's lookout, anyway." Zoroark pointed a claw up and to his right. Off in the distance sat a circular expanse of rock. Grass and moss were piled atop it, as if they were a hood and the rock itself was someone's head. Someone had carved two windows into the rock and circled them with orange paint, almost making them look like eyes.

"So, should we go up there and talk to your Totem?" Shane wondered, continuing to scrutinize the building.

"What do you mean you're not letting anyone in the Cavernous Depths? I have to get in there, now!"

"That's Gallian!" Tessa gasped, aura feelers throbbing. Zoroark's demeanor immediately changed. He hunched over, fur prickling. A growl rumbled in his throat.

Silvally stepped in front of them. "Keep it down. If we're too loud, we're just gonna make him mad." He glanced at Zoroark. "We haven't been able to face down Gallian without things descending into a battle."

Zoroark scowled. "I really wish you'd have mentioned that earlier."

The group looked ahead to see Gallian storming out from one of the rocky domains, a wild look in his eyes. Sicky and Luxeira appeared behind him. "Sir, I understand your reservations, but Captain Luxeira and I specializing in investigating these matters. If this dungeon is really full of such strange abnormalities, then we would greatly appreciate it if you could grant us permission to conduct reconnaissance inside it," Sticky said.

"I'm sorry, but the answer's still no. Especially to you outsiders," a deep, unfamiliar voice exclaimed. "These pools of water that popped up everywhere have made the ground too unstable to traverse. I will not have well-meaning Pokémon falling to their deaths on my watch."

Sticky and Luxeira moved away from each other, allowing a white, owl-like creature to stride forth between them. His brown wings sat over his body like a cloak. And a leafy-green hood lay over his head and neck, with a single white feather protruding from it. At the feather's base lay a sparkling rainbow Totem Crystal.

"That's Totem Decidueye?" Shane gasped. He grinned amusingly. "Lemme guess. He can shoot arrows made of leaves? Maybe we ought to call him Robin Hoot. No… wait… I've got something even better: Owliver Queen! Aha ha ha ha!"

Gallian heard Shane's laughter and looked up. His eyes flashed purple. "You!" he snarled, leering at Shane. "What are you doing here?" Gallian glanced to his left, where the sight of Zoroark made his expression soften considerably. "Zuh… Zoroark," he rasped. "When did you get here?" His eyes darted back and forth between Zoroark and Shane. Anger slowly overtook his expression once again. "Wait… did you bring them here?"

"I did," Zoroark replied, not backing down from Gallian's glare. "Because you need help, Gallian. And if you won't listen to me, then maybe your sister can talk some sense into you."

Gallian stamped a forepaw on the ground. His eyes and scythe violently flashed red. "You complete and utter idiot!" he roared. "Do you have any idea what you've done? Get them out of here… now! Just having them around is pushing this whole village to the brink of complete disaster!"

"Rookie!" Luxeira gasped. "You can't just say things like that. We already knew there were problems stemming from the Mystery Dungeon. Their arrival changes nothing."

"It changes everything!" Gallian snarled. Dark lightning surged across his body, spiking up his fur. Zoroark gasped in surprise and staggered back, heart pounding in his chest. Sticky and Luxeria exchanged concerned looks. "They're here to take the Dawn Hourglass fragment we got… and snag the one in the Cavernous Depths," Gallian accused. He turned back to Team Radiance. "Well, you can't have them! Any of them! If you want to get your grubby paws on them so badly, you'll have to pry them from my cold, dead paws!"

"We need those Dawn Shards," Shane said. "We have to use them to stop the Prism Virus!"

Totem Decidueye stepped in between Shane and Gallian and held up his wings. "Both of you need to calm down and explain yourselves," he commanded. "Are you telling me the Dawn Hourglass is broken? And one of its pieces is here?"

"Yes!" Shane said. "We're from the Horizon Guild. We're trying to get the Dawn Shards back so we can stop a vicious monster called Necrozma from killing all the Legendary Pokémon. But Gallian swiped one of the shards and ran off with it."

"Is this true?" Totem Decidueye gasped.

"No!" Gallian spat. "I mean, yeah, I have a Dawn Shard. But those guys won't help anyone if they get all the pieces!" His eyes and scythe flashed red. "If the whole Dawn Hourglass falls into their paws, we're all finished! They'll doom the whole world to the worst disaster imaginable!"

"That's enough, Gallian!"

Tessa stormed out from behind Silvally, fists clenched and face contorted in a venomous glare that was on par with Gallian's. Blue flames blazed in her irises. "I'm so tired of hearing you trash us every time we run into you. All it is with you is 'disaster this!' and 'disaster that!' But not once… not once have you taken the time to stop and say what you think the problem even is! Gods, Gallian, are you even listening to yourself right now? You sound like a rambling maniac!"

She stomped toward him, the sigil on her paw flickering. "Stop this nonsense! Fork over the Sizzle Shard and… and come back to me!" She looked over her shoulder at Zoroark. "Come back to us. Please, Gallian. I–"

"Tessa, look out!"

Silvally turned on his dark memories and leaped forward, tackling a yelping Tessa to the ground. Seconds later, Psycho Cuts peppered his body, exploding into harmless clouds of pink mist. "Gallian!" Zoroark gasped, looking in horror toward his former mate. What he saw only furthered his surprise.

Gallian's eyes were wide and his pupils dilated in a frenzied panic. He staggered back across the ground, fur standing up on end and jaw quivering. His gaze remained locked on Tessa as she got out from underneath Silvally. "G… get away from me…" he rasped, shuffling toward the blocked off tunnel that led down into the Cavernous Depths.

Tessa regained her wits and focused on Gallian. "Gallian, what are you doing? Stop! Nobody's trying to hurt you. We just want to talk!"

Gallian thrashed his head about. Black energy surged across his body. "No! Get away!" he roared. Without warning, Gallian turned and shot a black energy beam out of the gem on his forehead. It destroyed Totem Decidueye's barricade with little effort. Gallian sprinted forward, not even flinching from the charred wood splinters raining down on his body.

"Gallian, no!" Tessa shouted, dashing off after him.

"Young lady, what are you doing? You can't go down there!" Totem Decidueye shouted. He flew toward Tessa, but she used flash-stepped ahead of him. Likewise, a streak of red and black whooshed by Totem Decidueye. Zoroark stumbled out of his illusionary fog, a pained expression on his face.

Next thing anyone knew, they both disappeared into the tunnel, leaving the others standing in the village, shocked at the sudden turn of events.

Onto review replies!

Anon Omega: you are in the minority if you consider Mesprit your favorite. And I imagine it's a very small minority. I gave Mesprit the attention because it's usually ignored.

Veralix: I have no intention of telling you the role of any character we haven't met yet before the time's right. After all, that would ruin the fun!

Another guest: this site is a bit constrained in that it numbers everything. We've got a few months until we hit the real chapter 69.

SuperOmegaGuest: I can't comment on those caps statements, except to tell you to stay tuned!

Next time: a conclusive brother-sister showdown you don't want to miss!