Jak had learned from a young age to trust no one. In the wild the stakes were just too high, and betrayal often ended in something much worse than just hurt feelings. Instead, Jak measured in how much she distrusted someone. Eevee and Sol were the least distrusted of any Jak had met before, but they had yet to cross over the invisible line to trusted, and likely never would.

Jak never saw anything wrong with that. It was just the way things were. So when she saw Sol sneak out of the guild without telling anyone, Jak wasn't all too surprised.

The rest of the apprentices were in the middle of a meeting, but Jak, never one for crowds, had remained far in the back next to the door. She had seen Sol leave and decided to follow. None of the others noticed the Charmander slip out. Jak had made a habit of appearing and disappearing randomly at events, so even if someone were to notice her absence it wouldn't stick out as strange.

Jak followed Sol out of the guild and down the path to Treasure Town, keeping a good distance between them. Knowing Sol, she was about to go do something stupid. Jak would keep an eye on her, make sure she didn't get herself killed. Really, the Riolu seemed to just attract danger, and her running off to face it didn't help matters either.

Jak became curious when she saw Sol enter the Magnezone Squad Headquarters. What did she want in there? Jak approached the building but growled in annoyance upon seeing the large crowd packed inside. Jak hated crowds, and there was no way she was about to go in there.

Her growl turned into a frustrated snarl and she stormed over to the side of the building. She walked around the perimeter until finding a window. She pulled herself up and slipped through, landing on the other side with a soft thump. Jak was reminded of her first night at the guild. Sol had told her to never climb through windows again, but they made such convenient entry points and no one ever expects it. Why would Jak ever want to give up an advantage just because someone doesn't like it?

Now inside, Jak searched for any sign of Sol. Whenever she heard footsteps approach or the whirring, static sound of Magnemite she would press herself against a wall out of sight and wait for them to pass. After several minutes of searching, Jak hadn't come across Sol. Where was she? Had she already left?

An earplitting, agonized scream echoed down the halls. Jak took off in the direction of the sound, all attempts at stealth forgotten. Damn it, Sol! Couldn't she go anywhere without having something trying to kill her?

Jak burst through a wooden door, breaking off the lock holding it closed in a shower of splinters. Within she saw the

Pokémon Uxie with his hands on either side of the Riolu's head, his face set in concentration while Sol's was frozen in a look of extreme pain.

With a snarl of outrage Jak knocked the Uxie aside, her claws flashing like silver as she used Metal Claw. With the connection broken, Sol collapsed to the ground in a heap. Uxie seemed dazed, eyes unfocused as he blinked rapidly. Flames brewed in Jak's throat and leapt into her mouth.

"BURN!"

"No, Jak..."

Sol's voice was weak and she could barely lift her head off the ground.

"Don't..."

Jak snapped her jaws shut, swallowing the flames. She stood protectively in front of her fallen alpha, separating her from the Uxie. Jak did not want a new pack leader, and she would tear Uxie to shreds and burn the pieces if he attacked again, regardless of what Sol said.

Magnemite clustered around the broken doorframe, drawn by the noise.

"Zzzz. What is going on here? Zzzz."

"Nothing. Just a misunderstanding," the Uxie replied, regaining his focus.

"Zzzz. Uxie, you are injured! Zzzz."

"Leave us," the Uxie said, his voice turning hard. After a moment's hesitation, the officers backed away from the door, giving them some privacy but remaining within shouting distance.

The Uxie looked down at the three claw marks adorning his side, blood dripping from the wounds. With a huff of annoyance his eyes began to glow and the sound of chiming bells filled the room. The wound began to knit itself closed, and after just a few moments all that remained was three faint, white marks and quickly drying blood.

"What the Hell just happened?" Sol asked, having managed to push herself up to sitting.

"Jak saved you, ended whatever the Uxie was doing to your mind."

The Uxie's eyes were as cold as ice as he stared hard at Jak. "That is not what happened. Your... human self somehow managed to push me out. I wouldn't have believed it possible for any nonlegendary Pokémon to do that, much less a human. If the Charmander had attacked a second earlier she would have encountered the Protect I had put up, as I always do when I'm too preoccupied to watch out for my physical body. The sudden break in connection left me dazed, causing me to drop the Protect."

"How did you find me, Jak? Oh, no! Everyone at the guild will be wondering where I am! I must have been gone for hours!"

"No, it has only been less than a minute. The mind can process time differently, compressing much into just a few moments. As for the Charmander, I would say she followed you here."

"You always find yourself in trouble," Jak said, not taking her eyes off the Uxie or relaxing from her defensive pose.

"I distinctly notice you don't try to deny it," Sol grumbled and got to her feet, placing a hand on the wall to keep her balance. "Now that that's all out of the way, how about we get back to the reason I yet to take a vacation in my mind and got yelled at by myself. Where are the other Time Gears?"

"You did this to find the Time Gears?" Jak hissed and turned to her partner. "You were to wait until you are healed!"

"Just wait around while the world is destroyed? So wasn't going to happen."

"Regardless, I shall hold up my end of the bargain, Sol," the Uxie interrupted. "I can now say for sure you are not connected to Grovyle. You shall find a Time Gear hidden deep in the Northern Desert, at the center of an underground lake."

"Understood," Sol said, then hesitated before continuing. "About not telling anyone else about it... What about my other partner, Eevee? You can trust him, and I'm going to need his help..."

It was a long moment before the Uxie answered. "That is... acceptable. But no one else."

"And Dusknoir...?"

"No one else," Uxie repeated, cold steel entering his voice along with the hint of an underlying threat.

"Ok, ok, I got it," Sol said. "Come on, Jak, we need to get going."

With Sol leaning on her for support, Jak left the building, growling and snarling at the crowd in the lobby until they cleared a space large enough for them to walk through comfortably.

"Jak does not believe this to be a good idea."

"What idea?" Sol asked innocently.

"Running off after a Time Gear while you are not completely healed. A pack cannot hope to survive if its alpha is weakened."

"Come on! I'm perfectly fine! Watch!"

Sol let go of Jak, wobbled slightly, then stood up completely on her own with a triumphant grin.

"Congratulations. You have mastered the art of standing. Jak is truly impressed and can never hope to achieve such greatness."

"Only I'm allowed to be that sarcastic! Though I gotta admit you got the tone down perfectly."

Jak left Sol waiting at the crossroads and went back to the guild to get Eevee. The Charmander briefly considered just telling the others about the Time Gear's location, thus preventing Sol from doing something stupid yet again, but quickly rejected the idea. As much as she didn't want to do this, it sounded like Sol had made an oath to the Uxie not to tell the secret to anyone else. It was not Jak's place to break such an oath for Sol, and there comes a time when a Pokémon just has to trust their alpha's judgment. Jak really hoped Sol knew what she was doing, but didn't believe that was the case.

"What's going on? Sol, you're not supposed to leave the guild!" Eevee exclaimed.

"There are more important things to worry about right now. Eevee, I learned where a Time Gear is hidden and we need to get going."

"What? How?! Where?! We need to tell Dusknoir and the others!"

"NO! I promised Uxie I wouldn't tell anyone else. Now, I'm leaving to go find it, with or without you. Are you coming or not?"

Eevee looked conflicted. Would he follow his partner, or run back to his idol? Jak wasn't sure what he would choose.

"Ok, Sol, but if anything happens we're coming right back to the guild!"

"Fine by me."

The group left the crossroads, heading east for a bit before turning sharply east. After hours of walking, the firm ground eventually gave way to loose, sunbaked sand. Hot, dry wind swept across the dunes and the sun beat down relentlessly. Jak found she quite liked the desert, but the same could not be said of her companions. Under a thick coat of fur Eevee panted constantly while Sol complained about how the hot sand was burning her feet.

They decided to take a break in the shade of a large pillar of rock that jutted out from the sand to reach towards the sky. Sol continued to bitterly complain about the heat, the dry air and how her old injuries were starting to ache.

"Hardship and inconvenience are adventures wrongly considered," said a voice from above. Jak jumped to her feet and craned her neck upwards to see a Cubone perched atop the rock, calmly looking down at the explorers down below.

"Thanks for that. I'll remember the next time I get a blister that it's just an adventure no one wants to go on."

"To mock another is the surest sign of inner pain."

"I'll show you some pain if you keep talking like a damned fortune cookie."

"Violence can hurt the perpetrator as much as the victim. Physical harm fades with time, but how does one heal a soul?"

"Sol, stop being so mean!" Eevee chastised. "I'm sorry about that."

"What are words but noise carried on the wind? Even if one coats them with venom they can do no harm if they are denied entry."

"Whoa. You sound really wise."

"Come on, Eevee, don't believe this bullshit. Look, I can do it too. 'Do not seek sunshine as it storms, for a sudden break in the clouds amidst the showers causes much confusion'."

The Cubone tilted his head to the side, regarding Sol curiously. "Are you saying that there is no point in looking for happiness when times are bad?"

"I was going more for 'smile no matter what. It confuses your enemies'."

"Enough," Jak growled. "We are wasting time. We have a job to do and Jak suggests we do it."

"Does the seekers of the unknown plan to delve deeper into the desert? Many dangers lurk in the sand, and one's quest becomes difficult when the elements themselves turn against you."

"'Elements themselves'? Do you mean, like, sandstorms or something?"

"They take by surprise, without warning, the desert's howling wrath as it seeks to dispose of intruders, flaying flesh from bones with wind-borne sands."

"Thanks for the delightful image. Now, we really need to be going." Sol began to walk away.

"Wait," the Cubone said and jumped down from the rock to land in the sand. "The best weapon against danger is experience, something that cannot be created nor taught."

"Uh, what?" Eevee said, looking confused.

"I think that was his way of saying he's coming with us, and there is no way I'm going to be able to put up with this guy spouting off nonsense the whole trip."

"The only thing harder than accepting another's help is asking for it. But pride must give way to reason. The desert is an unforgiving place, and you will need a guide."

"Sol, he could really help us!" Eevee said. "We don't know anything about the desert, and I'll feel a whole lot better having someone around who knows what they're doing out here."

"I'm not going to win this one, am I?" Sol sighed. "All right then, but I reserve the right to punch him if he gets really annoying."

"Don't listen to her. She hasn't been in a very good mood since we got here. I'm Eevee, and you are...?"

"I am known as Dhiren."

"That's... different. How about I call you Ren?"

"Then you'll fit in with the rest of us with our short, one syllable names. Well, everyone except for Eevee. For some reason he refuses to let me shorten it to Eve."

"Ren is fine," the Cubone said.

"Great! Then let's go, onward into the Northern Desert!"

"Eevee! I already called dibs on that line!"

"Oh, sorry. I forgot..."

Jak turned to Ren as Sol and Eevee bickered.

"This one thinks you will soon regret coming with us."

And so the new team member has finally arrived! Really though, Ren's dialogue takes so long to plan out.

A fan of my characters and complete randomness that somehow manages to create a comprehensible story line? Then check out PMD: And Then There Were Fewer, a sort of murder mystery taking place after the main story line, but not to worry there aren't any real spoilers to about the rest of this story. So check it out and vote who you think the killer is on my profile page!

...Please?