Chapter 30! Never would have thought my short attention span would let me keep the story going this long. And it's all thanks to you, the readers, and especially you, the reviewers! Knowing their are people enjoying this really inspires me to keep going!
Thank you, everyone!
Despite the situation with Grovyle, Dusknoir was in a very good mood walking the streets of Treasure Town. Not even all the failures, turning up nothing time and time again, nor being constantly surrounded by simpletons was doing much to dampen his spirits.
When he had seen Sol getting a vision after she touched his hand, Dusknoir had immediately started thinking up stories to explain away her sudden death. That she had tripped and broken her neck had been the most plausible that he could come up with on short notice.
He had been so relieved upon hearing that Sol hadn't seen anything incriminating. That was fortunate, both for him and her. But what really got him in a good mood was what she had seen in her vision. Specifically, that she had seen what Dusknoir could only interpret as Sol having joined up with Dusknoir even after learning about the future, as indicated by the portal.
That meant not just that twisting Sol to his cause was possible, but was highly likely, if not fated to happen. That just about settled it. Dusknoir wouldn't kill Sol. Unless, of course, lord Dialga ordered him to, but Dusknoir was fairly certain that if he explained it all that Dialga would see that a living Sol was much more useful than a dead Sol.
Really, why wouldn't he want a seer on his side? He would be able to learn almost instantly if another group was plotting to collect Time Gears and change the past.
And so Dusknoir would plan out ways to gain Sol's trust and devotion. He already had the rest of the Pokémon worshipping the ground he walked on. He didn't expect Sol to be swayed quite so easily, and that was something he was happy about. Dusknoir didn't want idiots serving him, their loyalties bought by a simple pat on the head. He wanted intelligent, resourceful, capable people, and Sol was exactly that.
But really, it wouldn't be all that hard. Saving her life at Amp Plains should have gone a long way. They were also already working towards a common goal, the downfall of Grovyle, which would build up a feeling of trust and being able to relate with him. And her friend, the Eevee, his idolization of Dusknoir could very well rub off on her, even just a little. A few more nudges and Sol would do whatever he told her to.
"Dusknoir. There is something that must be brought to your attention."
The ghost Pokémon turned to see Uxie, floating in the air with a face carved from stone.
"What is it?" he asked. "Is it about the Time Gears?"
"In a way. Follow me."
Uxie left, not even looking back to see if Dusknoir was following. Such insolence! Back in his own time, everyone would treat Dusknoir with the highest respect. Only Dialga himself held more power than him.
Dusknoir repressed his feelings and followed. How he longed to return to his true life, where Pokémon who dared to treat him in such a way would be crushed beneath his boot, metaphorically speaking.
Uxie led him to the crossroads and stopped there, offering no explaination. After a few minutes Dusknoir's patience was wearing thin, though lately he was becoming an expect on holding his true feelings back.
So they waited, and then, of all people, Sol came walking down the path from the east. Her teammates Eevee and Jak were with her, along with a Cubone and another unknown Pokémon. They all looked tired and drained, except for the Cubone who looked completely at peace with everything.
"Sol! Where have you been? You weren't supposed to leave the guild! Are your injuries ok?"
Layering on the sympathy and concern couldn't hurt in gaining her trust.
"We were looking for Time Gears," she said, skipping over the pleasentries and getting straight to the point. Very refreshing in this place where asking for the time often resulted in a lengthy conversation. "Long story short, we went to the desert, jumped into quicksand, crawled through some tunnels, won a fight, lost a fight, then came home with nothing to show for it except for an annoying Cubone who talks in riddles."
"The journey is the reward. One can not out a price on lessons learned and experienced gained."
"See what I mean? That's not just a once in a while thing, either. All the damned time! It's never ending!"
"Please, start from the beginning," Dusknoir said.
Sol cast a look at Uxie, who simply nodded. Then she started the story, stopped, muttered something about food and abrubtly left, leaving Eevee to finish.
So, they really had found a Time Gear, guarded by Mesprit in an underground lake deep beneath the Northern Desert. Dusknoir swore he had already sent some of the guild apprentices to search that area, but they had come back with nothing. Just went to show how incompetent they all were. But then Grovyle had appeared and stolen the Time Gear.
"This one does not understand something," Jak said, facing Uxie. "You told the Mesprit that a Time Gear was stolen, but not that Sol was coming?"
"You were not supposed to actually search for the Time Gear," Uxie replied. "You were to patrol the area around it, to stop Grovyle before he even laid eyes on it."
Jak growled softly, eyes narrowed and not satisfied with the answer.
"You did not think to even mention it? You put my pack in unnecessary danger and ultimately weakened those who could have stopped the thief."
"Leave the past where it falls," the Cubone, Dhiren, said. "Picking apart what should have been done and throwing blame at others only harms the present."
"At any rate, we should let the rest of the guild know what has happened," Eevee said.
"Indeed."
"I shall take Mesprit to the Magnezone Squad Headquarters," Uxie said.
They parted ways, Uxie and Mesprit heading to Treasure Town while Dusknoir, Eevee, Jak and Dhiren headed to the guild.
...
"My, my!" Chatot exclaimed. "I'm absolutely astonished! So there was a Time Gear hidden underneath the Northern Desert?"
"Yes, but Grovyle took off with it..." Eevee said, looking ashamed. "We didn't even slow him down, which is just the same as not getting anything done at all!"
"That's not true, by golly! You all did great work!"
"Hey, hey! I think so, too! Team Wanderers can be really proud!"
Oh, but these
Pokémon could be sickening to be around, Dusknoir thought.
"But it's a shame about the whole thing. There's no telling where the other Time Gear is. Would Uxie be willing to share where the other one is?"
"No way," Sol said. "He may have seemed calm, but he is so pissed."
"How can you tell?"
"When someone roots around in your head, you can't help but see a few things from their's. He isn't going to tell us anytime soon, and Mesprit won't without his blessing."
"It's, like, too bad the opportunity to catch Grovyle slipped away. We're back to square one!"
"Perhaps not," Dusknoir mused.
"Dusknoir, sir?" Chatot said questioningly.
"There are some clues. Uxie guarded one Time Gear, Mesprit another. There is an ancient legend I heard once. It is believed that Uxie is the Being of Knowledge, Mesprit the Beng of Emotion... But three Pokémon in total represent the spiritual world and are said to keep the world in balance."
"Who's the third?" Sol asked.
"Azelf, the Being of Willpower. Uxie and Mesprit guarded Time Gears,therefore Azelf may likewise be protecting one. It is also said all three dwell in lakes, as proven with Uxie and Mesprit, so a lake somewhere is probably where we will find Azelf. Uxie's lake was located on a high plateau, Mesprit's lake hidden far beneath a desert."
"Hardly places you'd expect to find a lake," Sol observed.
"Precisely. So the lake where Azelf lives..."
"Will be in the last place we'd expect it to be. Anyone feel like a trip to the moon?"
"Sol, try to say serious here."
"Stop trying to change me, Eevee!" Sol joked. "Just accept me for who I am!"
Hmmm, Dusknoir thought. Those two share a unique bond. That's to be expected with partners, but it could prove to be a problem later on...
"Really, you two, please at least try to focus on the matter at hand!" Chatot chastised. "I commend you on your wisdom, Dusknoir, sir! I feel renewed admiration for you!"
"Thank you... It's really nothing..."
"No, no! We too revere you!" Dugtrio added.
Really, when would these Pokémon learn that enough was enough? They never shut up about the smallest thing Dusknoir managed to do, no matter how simple or easy.
Sol hesitated before speaking.
"You certainly have lived up to your reputation..."
YES! So close, and very soon Sol would be willing to follow him anywhere.
"Ooh! Remember when we, like, first started looking for the Time Gears? Northern Desert was totally one of the places you thought could, like, have a Time Gear! I guess Loudred and I weren't searching hard enough..."
"Hey! How was I supposed to know we were supposed to jump INTO the quicksand?"
"So if you were right about one place, why not another?" Chimecho said. "There could still be secrets hiding from us in the other locations!"
"But we search A LOT of places! We can't comb through them all again!"
"Ah, I have an idea. But... Sol, I regret having to ask you this, but may I tell the rest of your guildmates about your... ability?" A look of panic swept across the Riolu's face and she glanced around at the other Pokémon. "I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important, and I believe you can trust them." Still she hesitated. "Please, Sol, trust me."
Sol finally nodded. Perhaps she had more trust in him already than Dusknoir had thought.
"Bidoof, I have a request. The crystal you picked up recently from Crystal Cave, may I borrow it briefly?"
"My crystal?! N-no! No siree! That's my precious treasure, by golly!"
These Pokémon never failed to disgust Dusknoir with their stupidity and short sightedness, and Bidoof was the worst of the lot. What part of 'borrow briefly' did he not grasp? He acted as if his crystal was about to be destroyed!
"Of course, but rest assured we won't take it away or do anything of the sort. And Sol, would you please touch the crystal? If we are lucky it will trigger your Dimensional Scream ability."
"Dimensional Scream? What's THAT?" Loudred asked in his too loud voice.
"It's a special ability that Sol has," Eevee explained. "Sometimes, when Sol touches something, she has a vision of an event in the past or future that involves it."
"Oh my gosh! Really?"
"Nope. We're just screwing with you," Sol said.
"For several days now I have had Sol touch items taken from most of the locations we have searched. They turned up nothing, but perhaps the crystal will. Please, may we?"
"Shucks, I can't refuse a reason like that."
Sol touched the crystal, and a few seconds later her eyes grew unfocused and her expression went blank, the signs that she was having a visions. The she blinked, shaking herself back to reality.
"What did you see?"
"There was a room made of crystals, the floor, the walls, the ceiling... there was a Pokémon who sort of looked like Uxie and Mesprit, Azelf, I assume. But he was hurt, and Grovyle was there too. Then he said something along the lines of 'Muahaha! I'm a villain about to do villainous things!' and went to get the Time Gear."
"Oh my gosh! Your ability is thrilling! Like, Eek!"
"How did you get to see all that, by golly? It's mighty hard for me to grasp!"
"I... I have a question for Sol, too," Chimecho said. "Did you see the future, or the past?"
"Um... I don't really know. It's not like a sign pops up saying 'This is the future! Be amazed!'."
"Then how do we know if the Time Gear hasn't already been stolen?"
"Squawk?! Are you saying we may already be too late?!"
"Everyone, please hold on!" Dusknoir said. "Yes, it is true that it may have been a vision of the past, but it may also have been a vision of the future!"
"Does it really matter one way of the other?" Sol added. "If it's the future, we go and hopefully catch Grovyle. If it's the past, well... What other options do we have?"
"Sol's right. We have no other choice. Let's go! There must be a Time Gear hidden somewhere in Crystal Cave!"
Filled with determination and renewed hope, the apprentices cheered and ran to the guild's exit. Dusknoir stopped Sol before she could leave, however.
"Before you go, I have something for you," Dusknoir said. "Follow me. It's back at the inn."
Sitting on a shelf in Dusknoir's rented room was a staff of black ebony, the core made of lead to put more force behind the blows and stop anything from cutting it in two. When Dusknoir had first encountered the human Sol, he had been shocked at how much damage a human could do with a glorified stick.
He had wanted to see just how much more effective a Pokémon would become if they weilded one, and had had a few made for the Sableye to test out. It had been a colossal failure, but he had kept one around.
"Here. Hopefully this lasts longer than the last one."
Sol ran a hand down the staff and tested its weight, an appreciative gleam in her eye. She thanked him and promised she would find a way to repay him, to which Dusknoir said there was no need.
Yes, so very, very close.
Just so everyone knows, I've got midterms coming up which really sucks. I won't be working on anything until at least the half of them are over with (short attention span refuses to stick to studying) so good bye for now!