As they were unfortunately starting to become familiar with, once they entered the bright light below the pikachu constellation, the crew were walking blind. Luckily for them, the pathway was narrow for the most part, Ampharos and Mawile kept their paws on the walls just to make sure there weren't any diverging paths. Lilac was also telepathically checking the place just in case.

They walked like that for a few seconds before Ampharos announced, "It seems the path gets wider from here."

"Is that a good thing or bad thing?" Fennix groaned. "My eyes are starting to burn."

"That's why I recommended you close them." Lilac pointed out. "In any case, I can't imagine we'll be like this for long. It's hard to take a trial you can't even see."

"I believe I hear something as well," Mawile said. "We should find something soon."

As Mawile suggested, they soon found themselves in a place where the light wasn't overbearingly shining into their eyes. It took a few seconds for their eyes to adjust, but while they did so Light relied on his other senses. He could strangely enough smell salt water and the sense of many fruits. There was also strangely the consistent sound of chatter. Once Light's eyes adjusted, he was able to see why.

For some reason, Light was standing on a wooden dock in the middle of some sort of port town that was lightly covered in fog. Behind him was a vast sea. And in front of him were several tents and several wooden stalls in front of those tents were Pokémon were selling their wares. Most of the stalls seemed to be selling fruit, likely gotten from the many large trees in the town but one vendor to the left sold jewelry and one vendor was selling Wonder Orbs. There were also likely other stalls Light just couldn't see from his vantage point. From the amount of Pokémon that were walking between stalls, it seemed to be a popular market and it was also clear that Pokémon lived in the town by four children who were wrestling on the street. The place almost reminded the pikachu of Lively Town if the buildings weren't all just tents. But there was just one thing that didn't make any sense.

"Weren't we in a tomb?" Fennix asked for Light. "Where are we now?"

"We should also be deep underground," Mawile pointed out. "But instead we're at sea level in some sort of port. And one I'm personally unfamiliar with, as well."

"I don't recognize it either, and it's our job to go around the world," Fennix pointed out. "So, I have no idea where we are."

As they conversed, Light gave the area another glance through. There was a sense of familiarity in what he saw, but he wasn't entirely sure why. It was on the tip of his tongue, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't figure out exactly why the place he looked was familiar. Still, he told the rest of the crew his suspicions anyways.

"So, this place looks familiar to you," Ampharos mused. "Interesting."

"Heeey, are you five lost?" a feminine voice called out to them. The five Pokémon all looked to see an elderly purugly walking across the dock towards them. "You five never been to Kalah Port before?"

"K-k-kalah port?" Fennix repeated. Even Mawile and Ampharos were shocked by the information.

But for Light, those words came with a sudden realization as to exactly why he recognized the area. And he looked around again just to be sure. While he wasn't sure how or why, Light was in Kalah Port, the same one he visited with Mew thousands of years ago.

"Did the five of you just get off Lapras without knowing where you were?" the purugly asked.

"Well, it is rather foggy out, "Light mumbled.

"Foggy?" the purugly laughed. "Did you hit your head or something? You wouldn't be coming here if it was foggy. Nor would we all be out here like this. Why, the day's actually really beautiful!"

"It is?!" Fennix blurted out from shock.

"Guys, I don't think we're getting anywhere with this line of thinking," Lilac telepathically mentioned. "We should probably change the subject. We'll talk about it later."

Light stepped forward and shook his head. "Sorry ma'am. Our...umm...vision isn't the best in the world, and we're new to the area. So, we weren't sure we made it to the right place."

Everyone gave Light various questioning glances, but they let him go nevertheless.

"Riight." Despite the skepticism, she still tried to smile. "So, what are you here for? The market?" However, her eyes eventually focused on Lilac and Fennix. "Or are you guys bringing your Psychic-type friends to the oracles for training?"

"The latter," Light answered without thinking. "In fact, my fennekin friend here is good friends with Puriah."

"Well isn't that nice? Well, you guys'll find the oracles to the northeast in the mountain range above. Be careful, though. A few dungeons have appeared around those mountains, and these are dangerous times."

"It'll be okay, ma'am," Ampharos said. "For I, the Dashing Wanderer, will ensure these children's safety!"

"If you…say so." The purugly turned around to move on with her day, but Lilac stepped forward and spoke to stop her.

"Thank you for your help, old lady," Lilac said with a wide smile on her face. "I'm glad we met a kind old lady like you to help us!"

The purugly's brow furled and she frowned. "Old?! I'll have you know that I still have many years ahead of me!" She then turned around and walked off with a huff. "Kids these days. You help them, and they call you old."

"Espurr, why did you do that?" Fennix growled. "She was helping us, and you insulted her."

"I wanted to be sure about something," Lilac responded.

"Let's head back behind the stall," Mawile suggested, tilting her head towards an empty stall to their right, a few rows down. "I believe we have a lot to unpack and talk about."

Light nodded and chuckled. "And we just got here."

So, everyone walked as casually as they could to the place Mawile suggested they go. There were no Pokémon there, and the size of the stall along with the noise coming from the main square blocked out any possible eavesdroppers, so they were each able to sit down and talk in peace. So, the crew all sat down and Mawile addressed them all first.

"Light, are we really in Kalah Port in the past?"

Light took a quick glance to the main square on the other side of the stall, just to make sure he wasn't fooling himself, before turning back to the group and nodding. "Yes. Everything around here feels familiar. The stalls, the Pokémon all walking around buying and selling, the atmosphere. Even the layout. While I can't recognize anybody here, I'm sure of it. This is Kalah Port back when it was alive."

"So, did we travel back in time or something?" Fennix asked.

Mawile herself glanced in the direction of the main market before continuing. However, Light wasn't entirely sure why she did, as in her position the large wall completely blocked her vision.

"That leads to my second question. You all could understand what was being said, correct?"

"Uhh…yeah," Fennix responded in an 'isn't it obvious' tone. "Why wouldn't we?"

"You of all Pokémon should know exactly why we wouldn't," Mawile answered. "If we did somehow travel back to ancient times, none of us except for maybe you should be able to understand what anybody is saying."

Fennix's eyes widened with realization. "The ancient language!"

Mawile nodded gravely. "Exactly. If we somehow truly traveled back, then that purugly would essentially be speaking gibberish to us. You might be able to translate, and I'd maybe be able to pick up a word or two, but we'd otherwise have a language barrier between us. However, that language barrier is gone."

Light thought about things for a moment. "Do you think we could've traveled sometime later? Like, hundreds of years after Dark Matter was destroyed or something? And that's why we're able to understand everything."

Mawile shook her head, sinking the theory immediately. "While the language used immediately before the time of the Great Drought was closer to the language we use today, it's still not exact, and we'd still have a hard time understanding it. Not only that, but you yourself confirmed that we are back around the time Dark Matter first appeared in this world."

Light rubbed the back of his head and he felt his cheeks heat up. "I…did?"

"When you mentioned that Fennix was friends with Puriah, the purugly didn't find it strange at all," Lilac pointed out. "If we were in a time where Puriah was long gone, she would have probably thought you were suspicious when you said that. So that means an oracle named Puriah is someone that she's familiar with."

Light nervously chuckled. "Oh. I…wasn't even thinking when I said that."

"There's also the matter of the difference in viewpoint. You all see this fog too, do you not? At least you indicated that you did, Light."

"That's what I see," Lilac chimed in.

Fennix waved her paw. "Me too!"

Light nodded. "Looks like we all do. But that purugly said it was a clear day. Unless Kalah port considers this to be a clear day, something is off with that one. Either she's seeing things, or we are."

"So then…what's going on?" Fennix asked.

"Little Espurr?" Ampharos asked. "I believe this is where you tell us what you were doing."

Lilac nodded. "Thanks, Chief." Lilac stood up before she continued. "Since we got here, I've been telepathically scanning around the place. And there's nobody here."

"What?!" Fennix looked in the direction of the main market. "But what about all those Pokémon over there? We can hear them and talk to them."

"I can only guess on that, but I'm confident on this point." Lilac looked determined as she spoke. "I've been constantly scanning to make sure I'm not wrong, and the only minds I can sense around here are ours. And just in case they're all blocking my telepathy, which is more than likely impossible as it is, I decided to try and make the purugly angry. If a Pokémon is so easily angered by just mentioning their age, then they're not blocking you. Which means that purugly doesn't exist."

"Or more specifically, it's some sort of illusion," Mawile concluded.

Lilac nodded. "It's a powerful illusion to be sure. All of our normal senses are fooled. But my telepathy senses other minds. And, as far as I know, you can't really make me sense minds that aren't even there."

"So, we haven't traveled back in time, but instead we're in an illusion that makes us think we've traveled back in time," Light summarized.

"But why?" Fennix asked. "Aren't we supposed to be taking some sort of trial, or something?"

"Would going to where Puriah is be our trial?" Light asked. "I suggested that just for conversation, but thinking about it, that might be where we need to go."

"The area she's talking about is where the Hill of the Ancients is now," Mawile said. "That's a day-and-a-half walk from here. I'm going to guess that's unlikely."

"Then what…?" Fennix began, however her question was quickly interrupted.

"Everybody, run!"

The crew all looked out from their hiding spot behind the stalls to see a monferno running into the town, a panicked hurried look on his face. Before he could say or do anything else, though, a sphere of dark energy slammed into the back of his head. The dark energy surrounded him, turning his color from orange to a dull gray. Once the energy dissipated, the monferno was motionless stone.

"It…it can't be!" Fennix yelled.

Light felt his body quiver and quake at the sight and his pulse rapidly increased. The Pokémon in the market, seeing that, all ran off in whatever way they could in a mass of panicked energy. Some tramped over each other, and those Pokémon that were tramped and left on the ground were soon also hit by the dark energy and became stone as well. It was every Pokémon for themselves, some running off into the horizon while others chose to stay and hide.

Light turned his attention specifically towards whoever was causing the event, his breath caught in his throat and his heart pumping at the possibility of who it could be. For his sake, though, the Pokémon that were turning the Pokémon in the market to stone were not the ones he was expecting. It was instead three Pokémon, a mienshao, an emolga, and a cubone. The mienshao stood in the middle and was the clear leader of the group.

"Well, would you look at that," the mienshao snickered. "My mere presence is turning all these Pokémon into cyndaquil. I never knew I could have such an effect on them."

"That creep," Fennix growled. Light could tell by how tense she was that she was ready to pounce on those three Pokémon.

However, Mawile stood in front of her, blocking her before she could rush out after those Pokémon. "Be careful. Illusion or not, we have no idea what will happen if you get turned to stone here."

"For what it's worth, I can't imagine it'd be able to do anything," Lilac mused. "But that might cause us to fail our trial. Besides, these Pokémon are all illusions of the past anyways. Nothing we do here matters."

Fennix growled again, but she sat down. "I don't like not doing anything."

Light nodded and spoke in a comforting voice. "I don't either, but there are a lot of things we don't know right now. And one hit from their dark energy attack is all it takes."

"Pfft, all these spineless Pokémon," the mienshao scoffed. She was walking through the stalls, grabbing what she pleased. "At least they left us some treats. But look at how pathetic they are. Running at the first sight of us. Not that it'll matter in the end. This world belongs to us now, and there's not a thing anyone can do to stop it."

However, while she was perusing some jewelry, a young poochyena suddenly ran out from behind the stall Light was hiding from and clamped its jaws on the left arm of the mienshao. The mienshao let out a pained scream before glaring at the Pokémon who attached itself to her. She quickly waved her arm around and flung the poochyena off her and to a point where Light couldn't see. But what he could see was the mienshao throw a dark sphere of energy in the direction she tossed the poochyena in, and Light didn't need to see what happened to know what happened.

"Stupid kid," the mienshao growled. "What did you think would happen when you faced me? And oh...what is this?"

Light heard some sort of whimpering coming from behind the stalls, causing his blood to boil. The mienshao seemed to also hear that and soon walked to a point where the wall of the stall was blocking her from their view. Without saying anything, Light and Mawile went to both sides of the stall, getting ready in case the mienshao or her crew decided to check behind the wall that blocked them. There, they waited with baited breath while Light listened in on what was happening.

"B-big sis," a small female voice cried softly.

"So, I assume that imbecilic ingrate was your family?" the mienshao growled.

"M-miss…please don't hurt me," the previous young voice pleaded. "Please bring big sis back."

"Sorry, I can't do that. But I can send you to her. Oh, and don't worry, it won't hurt. At least the turning to stone part. I can't say much about your trip to the Voidlands, though."

"Ma'am, she's just a kid," one of her cohorts interrupted. "She's no threat to our plans, she's not even trying to stop us, nor can she stop us here. So why don't we just let her go?"

"Do you think we're doing this because any of these Pokémon are a threat?" The mienshao loudly laughed, as if the thought brought her a lot of merriment. "Nobody in this world, not even the Legendary Pokémon, are a threat to us anymore. We're doing this because we can! This world belongs to us now!"

"At least until it's destroyed," Mawile whispered. "I suppose Dark Matter never mentioned that part of the deal."

Light soon saw the young girl, a poochyena just like the other one that was turned to stone, enter his field of vision as she backed away from the three Pokémon, her tear-filled eyes horrified. "M-mommy! D-daddy! H-help!"

Light acted without even thinking. He rushed out of his hiding spot and towards the young girl. He grabbed onto her and pushed her out of the way, just in time to avoid the dark energy attack that would have turned her into stone. With her pushed away, Light turned around to face his three opponents, arms wide as he blocked them from the young girl.

"Get out of here now, and go find your parents," Light commanded. "I'll hold them off!"

"Th-thanks, mister."

The poochyena ran off and the three Pokémon all glared at Light. "Looks like we got another hero here," the mienshao scoffed. "So, what now, kid? What are you going to do? Aside from turn out like that other poochyena."

Isn't that a good question? Light asked himself. Man, I really should have thought this through a bit more. Guess I get to see just how much my speed is worth. But he kept those doubts off his face and, with the poochyena gone, Light got on four paws, ready to run.

The mienshao and her two cohorts all prepared their own individual dark spheres of energy, and Light tensed his muscles to react when they launched it. However, before they were able to do anything, the mienshao was engulfed by a Flamethrower from her left before a Psychic finished her off. The cubone and emolga both backed away from the flames, but they themselves weren't off the hook. The cubone was suddenly hit by an Iron Head from behind, sending his own head slamming into the ground while the emolga was hit by a Thunderpunch before being engulfed by a point-blank Dragon Pulse. The surprise attack was enough to knock the three Dark Matter minions out.

Light stood up and breathed a sigh of relief as his friends all joined him. "Thanks, you guys."

"No problem," Lilac shrugged. "These guys were pretty weak."

"That was a foolish move, Light," Mawile reprimanded.

Light sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah…I know. I just…acted. I didn't even think of it."

Lilac just shrugged and smiled a bit. "Same old Light. At least you didn't get hurt."

Mawile took a deep breath and nodded. "That's true. But don't forget the danger of this area. Pokémon have vanished without a trace here, and I can't help but feel this…" Mawile extended her arms to show all the stone statues that were in the area, "might be connected. I could be entirely wrong, as this requires knowledge not a lot of Pokémon have in the first place, but I can't help wondering."

Light looked over the statues as well, specifically the poochyena statue. Her family had since come back, the poochyena from before along with her two mightyena parents. The two mightyena were looking sorrowfully over the statue while the young poochyena girl placed her snout on the statue, wailing at the sight of her sister. Light felt himself shiver and shake at the sight of it. He also noticed that both Lilac and Fennix were also uncomfortable seeing the statues around. Light couldn't entirely blame them, as the sight around them brought back unfortunate memories of a time they all hoped would be long gone.

"It's pointless to grieve about it," Mawile reminded the three children. "Everything we see here are illusions. Don't let yourselves be too taken in by it that you forget why we are here."

Lilac nodded, but she still couldn't take off the sorrowful gaze or the tears forming in her eyes. "Y-yeah, you're right. Nothing we're seeing here is real."

"Small comfort," Fennix stomped. "How can you guys be so heartless! That little girl...just lost a sister. S-she looks to be our age, too."

Light was of both minds and sentiments. He knew Mawile was right, in that they were in an illusionary word and the Pokémon there didn't matter. But the empathetic part of his heart still cried out for them, illusions or otherwise.

"Well, aren't you five brave."

In his stupor, Light didn't even notice the purugly from before approaching them once again until she spoke. She had with her three other Pokémon who quickly went to capture the mienshao, cubone, and emolga while they were still unconscious. The purugly herself looked around the area with the same sort of apprehension that the kids of the group gave.

"After seeing this gruesome sight, I wouldn't blame you for running. Still, I have to hand it to you kid, you were really brave when protecting that little kid."

"Uhh…thanks, ma'am." Light couldn't find it in his heart to have any joy at the complement, considering the circumstances. "Oh, and sorry for what my friend said earlier. She was just…"

The purugly just shrugged. "Never you mind that. You guys have more than earned your keep. You guys are going to see the oracles, right? Bet it's because of this mess, huh?" Before giving anyone a chance to confirm or deny what she, she spoke again. "I'll send them a letter from Pelliper telling them that you're coming. Good luck out there. For all our sakes."

Light nodded. "We'll do what we can, ma'am."

The purugly walked off into the distance, so Light focused back on his allies to see what they were doing. When he did, he noticed that Ampharos and Mawile were focused on a specific spot at the exist of the market. Lilac and Fennix also noticed that those two were staring at something, so they walked over to check it out. Light joined them and saw that there was a bright light pouring out from between two stalls at the far end of the market.

"What in the world…is that?" Fennix asked.

"Considering everything else so far, I'm guessing it's where we need to go," Light mentioned.

Mawile nodded. "Hmm…I wonder." She took another glance back at the stone statues. "It seems as if this illusion has taken us back to the first time Dark Matter attacked this world. And when Light and Mew first ventured off. If that's true, then perhaps the trials that Puriah is having us go through is to act as Light himself did back during that time."

"So, what you're saying is that, by protecting that poochyena, we solved the first trial?" Lilac asked.

"More than likely. In which case, I suppose I should retract my earlier comment. You acted just as you should, Light."

"I wish I could feel glad about it," Light stated in an emotionless voice.

Mawile placed her paw onto his shoulder and looked him directly in the eye. "Light, understand that I don't mean to sound heartless when I tell you that you shouldn't grieve. History is filled with many events like this, some even worse. But we have the perspective of our future time. We know that, for example, Mew and your past self will eventually defeat Dark Matter and, if it's anything like what happened in our time, the Pokémon who turned to stone eventually reverted to normal. Keep that in mind and don't lose yourself to sorrow from mere illusions."

Light looked towards the floor. "...I know but...I'll try."

"Anyways, crew..." Ampharos announced, turning everyone's attention towards him. "Great work on clearing the first trial, everyone! Though we may have seen things we didn't like, we can take heart in knowing that everything turns out alright in the end. Let's keep this momentum up!"

With that, Ampharos, Mawile, and Fennix all walked towards the light. Light, however, found himself hesitating. He couldn't help but look back at the marketplace with a melancholy gaze, seeing the once lively market empty and desolate.

"Light, are you okay?" Lilac eventually asked.

"I…guess," Light answered, still not taking his gaze away from that spot.

"Your still not convinced, are you?" Lilac asked.

Light shook his head and finally turned to his right to face Lilac. "Sort of, sort of not. I know what Mawile said is true. I know that these are only illusions. I know that everything turns out alright for them, eventually. But...seeing that young girl now...seeing her grieving over her sister, I can't help but hate it. I hate that there's nothing I can do for her, even if it's pointless."

Lilac looked away for a moment. "I mean...back when this happened, you were already doing that. And you did save her. Even if she would have found her sister, neither would have lasted long in the Voidlands, if what all you guys told me about it is true. You gave her a chance to live and those two mightyena didn't lose both their children. Logically speaking, you did all that you could."

Despite still not feeling any better, Light gave his friend a soft smile. "Yeah, I get it. I just gotta keep reminding myself that things get better."

"Come on, you two!" Fennix called from within the light.

Light nodded in her direction. "We're coming!" He turned his attention back to Lilac once again. "Let's catch up with everyone else. We don't want to be left behind, do we?"

Light and Lilac both walked off to join the rest of the crew.

AN: What, did you think that port everyone met at in Chapter 2 was just a one off thing? Nope, I fully planned for it to be the position of the first trial. Here, we get to see Kalah Port in it's full glory. And...it still sucks over there. After all, these trials seem to be taking our protagonists back to the time of Dark Matter's first assault on the world. You can imagine how fun that will be, all things considering. But next chapter, we'll see how exactly all this is possible.

Fun fact, before I go. Kalah Port is named after the Kalahari Desert in South Africa, just like how Sahra town is most likely named after the Sahara Desert. I mostly did it for the theme naming.

Beta read by TheGoldCrow