Bored!

The word marched across Sol's mind, her thoughts continuing turning to the fact that she had nothing, nothing at all, to do. It had been like that for the past several days, and it was made even worse since she wasn't let in on any of the details on the current pursuit of Grovyle.

All she could do was stare at the ceiling and count the cracks, waiting for her wounds to finally heal. Watching and waiting for water to boil? That was nothing compared to lifting up bandages every few minutes to see if her injuries had spontaneously healed themselves. Which would have been awesome.

Alas, that was not to be. So she waited. And waited. Then to spice it up, she waited some more. Was it possible to die from boredom? No? Well Sol was willing to bet it was possible to go insane from boredom because she was on the verge of cracking completely.

The only brief respites were the few visitors allowed in. Espeon came quite often, but one could only play cards for so long while someone repeatedly asked 'how are you feeling?' before they're set to start throwing things out the window.

Really, the only interesting part of Sol's day was when Dusknoir would come in and ask her to touch a few seemingly random objects in the hope of triggering a vision. Most of the time she couldn't pick up on anything, and when she did, it was useless. A Skitty taking shelter from a rain storm under a leafy tree. A Pidgee collecting flowers in a field. A Vulpix tripping over a rock.

The only truly interesting vision, though it had nothing to do with Grovyle, was when Dusknoir was passing her a piece of tree bark and his hand had brushed against hers.

The dizziness had begun instantly, but this time, it was different. This time, the vision hurt, like someone had punched her in the stomach and then was trying to crush her head in a vise.

Sol saw some sort of ruins, though perhaps 'ruins' wasn't the right word. The structure was made of giant stone blocks rising high above the ground with veins and moss climbing up its side. The place looked abandoned, but didn't have the crumbling, falling apart feeling one would get from ruins.

On top of the construct stood a group of purple

Pokémon with pale blue gem-stone like eyes and wicked claws. Dusknoir stood in the center of the group while a dark purple... splotch, for lack of a better word, pulsed behind them. And beside the great explorer stood, of all people, Sol, eyes blank and looking completely devoid of emotion.

But the image... something wasn't right. It flickered in it out, the image changing slightly as Pokémon disappeared then reappeared, then it would seem like images were placed on top of each other as ghostly, semi transperant figures would appear amid the more solid ones, the two groups completely oblivious to each other.

When the vision finally ended, slowly tapering off instead of suddenly stopping as it usually did, Sol had promptly fallen to her hands and knees and threw up.

When Sol had recovered enough to tell Dusknoir what she had seen, his reaction had been far from what she had been expecting. He had been concerned with how the vison had effected her, but Sol had gotten the impression that he was supessing what he was truly feeling: thoughfulness, followed by wonder, followed by a level of excitement usually reserved for kids about to open birthday presents.

He had run off at that point, saying that she should rest after what had happened. Maybe Jak was starting to rub off on her, but Sol got the feeling that the vision meant more to him than he was letting on. Or perhaps the boredom was getting to her and she was becoming paranoid. Wasn't thinking everyone was out to get you a sign of insanity? Unless it proved to be true, in which case you're a lunatic who got lucky.

Well, she could think about it all she wanted but it wouldn't do her any good. Not that she had anything better to do other than think.

There was a noise from the hallway, the sound of footsteps and people talking. Looks like Eevee and Jak were back.

"So, how'd it go? Have any exciting adventures and/or fallen into other dimensions without me? Maybe one where teammates aren't so stubborn and would let you in on details you've been killing yourself over?"

Usually, Eevee would remain resolute and not say a word about the search while Jak would stand silent in the doorway. But, this time, with a voice filled with frustration (for once not directed at Sol), Eevee finally talked.

"We're not finding anything! I didn't think it would take us this long to track Grovyle down! It's very disheartening!"

"The Grovyle is a skilled Pokémon. He will never be caught by wandering around aimlessly," Jak said with disapproval and contempt.

"What do you mean, 'wandering around aimlessly'?"

"That's not true. Chatot and Dusknoir have been coming up with areas they think it would be likely that a Time Gear would be hidden there. We've been searching them all, but have found nothing."

"So you really have been wandering around aimlessly?"

"No! We've been... well, we... what else are we supposed to do?!"

"Maybe ask someone with better insight on the situation?"

"Like who?"

"You could try... no, actually, I have no idea," Sol lied. She had the perfect Pokémon in mind who would know where the Time Gears were. Uxie, who had devoted his life to the protection of a Time Gear. Why had no one else thought of that? Sol would have expected Wigglytiff to make things needlessly complicated like this, but not Dusknoir.

She supposed that when you're so used to things being difficult, you will always over think things and miss what's right in front of you.

But Sol decided to keep her idea to herself for the time being. If she told Eevee, he would then tell Dusknoir, and then they would stop her from trying to join them where ever Uxie directed them. Her wounds were almost healed. They still itched, but they didn't hurt and her limp was, for the most part, gone.

So Sol waited, if rather impatiently, for a good moment to slip out. It didn't take long, for the moment when the other teams got back they all gathered for a meeting in the guildmaster's quarters to discuss what they had found, namely nothing.

Sol snuck out of the crew rooms and up the stairs to the outside. It was cloudy outside, a thick layer of grey allowing only allowing the dimmest of sunlight to filter through, and a cold wind swept across the path, causing the nearby tree leaves to violently shake with an ominous sound and Sol to shiver from the sudden chill. Ahh, wasn't freedom grand?

Sol trotted down the path, wanting to get out sight of the guild before anyone could catch sight of her. Getting dragged back to her room, kicking and screaming, would hardly be the best way to start off her mission. Or, more accurately, the way to end it.

Treasure Town lacked its usual bustle and atmosphere of good cheer. The Time Gear situation had everyone on edge and worried, it was obvious in the way everyone hurried about their business with their eyes angled downwards to the ground and barely said a passing word to anyone. Sol quickly made her way to the Magnezone Squad Headquarters, the only building that was filled with activity.

Sol had seen somethingn similar back at the guild. People were scared and looking for answers, or they were trying to find ways they could pitch in to help with the growing disaster. It was understandable, and Sol couldn't blame them for it but it was annoying beyond belief the way it backed everything up and slowed everything down.

As it was, Sol had to push and shove her way past a crowd of Pokémon. Amid the chaos, someone landed a kick on Sol's calf, by accident or on purpose she didn't know. Her old injury flared with pain. She gasped and nearly fell, then growled in irritation and pushed through the press of Pokémon with renewed vigor. There was no way her injuries were going to slow her down.

She pushed around them, ignoring their shouts of anger, until she made it to the front desk.

"I need to speak to Uxie," Sol told the Magnemite on duty. "It's important."

"Zzzzz. No unauthorized personnel are allowed to see the witness at this time. Zzzzz."

"I'm on guild business, trying to track down Grovyle. Uxie may know something vital to the case." Sol could tell from the look on the Magnemite's face (?) that he wasn't going to let her in. "Dusknoir sent me," she quickly added.

Mentioning the famous explorer's name, she may have well just announced that she was the queen of the

Pokémon world. The Magnemite jumped up to assist her and all the other Pokémon were quick to get out of her way. After the officer checked in with Uxie, Sol was led to the back rooms of the buildings.

The room Uxie was staying in during the Grovyle investigation was huge, like, bigger than the average house huge. It wasn't all empty space, either. Near the door, four plush couches were placed in a square around a table, there was a personal kitchen area and dining table in one corner, a reading area with bookshelves, easy chairs, and desks in another corner, and at the far end was not one, not two, but three beds, all twice the size of what the apprentices at the guild used, and they all could be seperated by thick, purple curtains that were curently pulled back. So, what, was this the Magnezone's Squad's way of saying 'sorry the mystical, invaluable relic that you devoted your entire life to was stolen. Here, have an awesome room.'?

Uxie was the same as Sol had last seen him, that is to say floating in thin air with an expression as cold as stone. No, not cold, just... like nothing was there, as if he was incapable of feeling anything.

"Sol, the human turned Pokémon, come to see me once again, looking for answers. This time, I suspect, of a different sort."

"Yes. I've come to ask you about the Time Gears. I need to know where the others are hidden. You must know."

"Must I? And if I did, why would I trust you with that information?"

"Umm... because I'm so fluffy and adorable?"

"The last time I allowed someone to remember the location of a Time Gear, it was stolen not long after. I cannot risk that happening again."

"But no one from the guild leaked the secret!" Sol exclaimed. "You yourself saw the real thief! How can you think we had anything to do with it?"

"No one knew of the Time Gear's location. I made sure of that. But since you left, everything has gone wrong. I don't believe the other apprentices of your guild would have intentionally given up the secret, but I cannot ignore the facts. I can not willingly give up that information."

"But we can help protect the Time Gears! We just need to know where they are!"

"And risk you leading the thief straight to them? No, I must trust in my siblings to protect the remaining two."

"Your siblings...? Nevermind. We need to know where the Time Gears are. What can I do to convince you that you can trust me?"

"Nothing."

Uxie's voice remained calm and level throughout the exchange, without the barest hint of any emotion. It was really starting to tick Sol off. Ever try arguing with a cement wall? That was what it was like for Sol.

"You can trust me! I want to catch Grovyle!"

Uxie started down at Sol, his eyes as cold and unfeeling as ever.

"Back at Fogbound Lake, I promised you I wouldn't erase your memories. I regretted it the moment we reached the lake and you laid eyes on the Time Gear."

"What?!"

"The look in your eyes... It was the same as a Pokémon dying of thirst would look at a glass of water. I should have taken your memories then, but I hoped that I was wrong. But hope has no place in logic and reason. I do not trust you with the Time Gears, Sol."

"But you know it wasn't me who stole it. You saw Grovyle."

"We know so very little about the thief. How are we to be sure he is working alone? Nothing you can say will make me trust you, Sol. Now begone."

Sol close her eyes and took a deep breath. There was only one remaining option.

"Search my memories, then."

Uxie regarded her silently, a faint gleam of curiousity entering his eyes.

"Check my memories. I assume you can, given how easily you can take them away. See for yourself how trustworthy I am."

"You do not know what you ask," Uxie replied after a long pause. "The mind is not a simple thing, nor are our memories laid out like pages in a book, all in order. They twist together in one large knot, forming something not easily followed. To look at one recent instant just minutes passed is easily done, but to look back further? To do so would leave no guarantee that your mind would remain intact."

Sol digested the information. No guarantee that her mind would remain intact? Who knows, given the present state of her sanity, that could be an inprovement. Seriously, though, this sounded like a big risk. And not the 'end up with a few broken bones' type of risk but the 'end up spending the rest of her life as a drooling vegetable' type of risk. And was it necessary? True, the chances of someone just happening to stumble on the Time Gears was slim... And Grovyle could strike again at any moment...

"Would you be willing to reveal the locations to someone else that you actually trust? Dusknoir, perhaps?"

"Secrecy has been what has kept the Time Gears safe so far. No, I will not tell it to anyone. The risk of them revealing it to someone else is just too high. Even if I were to tell you, you would have to swear to not tell another soul."

Sol, for once in her life, actually thought a decision through. This was risky, beyond a doubt, and if Uxie didn't like what he saw, thought she still wasn't trustworthy, it all would have been for nothing.

It wasn't often that Sol thought on what type of person she was before. It just brought on too many questions that were impossible to answer, and was a sure fire way to drive herself crazy. But, would her human self have gone through with this? Would she have risked her sanity for this? Would she have ever let someone root around in her mind?

Sol sighed. "Just... If this goes wrong, tell Eevee and Jak I'm sorry, but this was my choice. Oh, and it was me who spilled the juice and everywhere that one time, so I understand if they hate me forever."

Uxie nodded, not giving any indication to whether he found her last message odd. He reached forwards and put a hand on either side of Sol's head and stared directly into her eyes,

"Do not fight it, or it will get worse."

With that, Uxie began his telepathic search. Sol gritted her teeth, lasting a full sixteen seconds before screaming in agony. Then she blacked out.

Just a heads up, this does not mean my hiatus is over. I found a little free time and wrote this up, but my next entry will take a whole lot longer to come out.