Light never expected to see the Voidlands again. Never would have even conceived the idea. Partially because with Dark Matter gone, of course the Voidlands would be to. Also, because even if such a place still somehow existed, no Pokémon remains with the power to turn others to stone and send them there. Despite all that, though, here he was. And a wave of dread washed over him.

"…Alright, crew, I believe we should regroup and attempt to figure out what to do next," Ampharos said, calm and composed.

"R-right, Chief." Mawile tried to compose herself as both the adults joined the three kids. Light wasn't able to move himself, but he was at least able to turn and face Ampharos and Mawile. Both Fennix and Lilac joined his side.

"So, how did we get here?" Fennix asked. "Is this part of the trial, or something? But why would it be?"

"I don't believe this is part of the trial," Mawile stated, "Rather, I believe we just learned what exactly happened to the Pokémon who came in here and failed the trials."

"Failed the trial?!" Fennix's eyes darted from Mawile to Light. "B-but, we were supposed to rescue Articuno and her guards, weren't we? That's what we had to do!"

All other eyes fell on Light, and the pikachu wanted to just sink in himself and disappear. "I-I'm sorry."

Mawile crossed her arms, though she nodded as if she knew that all along. "I'll leave it to you to explain yourself." Her voice wasn't harsh, but it wasn't particularly kind either.

Light glanced down to his own paws. "I…remembered what happened back when I traveled with Mew. I remembered what happened when we confronted the Bittercold the first time. We were debating on whether to save Articuno or not. And it was left up to me to decide whether we rescued them or fought the Bittercold. I…chose to leave Articuno behind. I chose to leave her bodyguards behind."

Light felt his paws instinctively clutch the sides of his body, shivering as if he was cold. "We won. At least, I think we did. I can't remember the actual battle. But I do remember the aftermath. Everyone…all the Pokémon that lived in the Glacier Palace…" Light shivered again. "I…couldn't do it again. I'm sorry. I couldn't leave Articuno behind again."

Mawile nodded. Her face didn't change. "Therefore, it is as I suspected. The truth of the matter is that we were supposed to fight the Bittercold. Because we didn't, we failed the trial."

"We're not trapped here, though," Lilac chimed in. "Right? Light and Fennix, at least, managed to make it out of the Voidlands once before."

"You are correct," Mawile answered. "In the normal Voidlands, there is a way to escape. Whether that way still exists within a Mysteriosity version of the Voidlands is another question entirely, though. We failed the trial, Puriah could easily just keep us here forever so as not to disturb the tomb. There's no telling whether we can get out of here or not."

Fennix stomped her paw. "We have to try, though! Puriah can't be cruel enough to just leave Pokémon here to die without some sort of way out! So there has to be one!"

"I agree with Fennix!" Ampharos said. "Regardless of whether there is a path out or not, sticking around here won't help anyone. Rather, we should press on in hopes that we might find something. After all, we know where to look, don't we?"

Mawile closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "You're right Chief." When Mawile opened her eyes back up again, she walked towards the wall and pointed at a large upside-down mountain in the distance. "Reversal Mountain is where we need to go. Within there lies the door to hope, a way to return to our world. I must warn you all, though, that it won't be easy. There's a reason as to why, despite all of us joining together in the Voidlands, only Light and Fennix successfully escaped."

"Yeah, but we're stronger then we were back then!" Fennix stomped. "We're not leaving anybody behind this time!"

Ampharos nodded his agreement. "Very well, then. We should begin making our way over there now. While we're walking, I'd like to know what dangers we can find."

The Crew walked their way through the Voidlands with Ampharos and Mawile leading the front, Lilac close behind them, and finally Light and Fennix on the rear. Lilac herself paid close attention to Mawile's explanation of what they were to expect in the Voidlands, but she occasionally glanced back to check on Light and Fennix.

Light dragged his paws as he walked and had his head hung low. Fennix was close to his side, their fur brushing against each other. Lilac pushed against her jealousy and instead focused on the more important aspect of Light's own feelings.

"Light, understand that none of us truly blame you for your choice," Lilac told him. "You acted in the way that you felt right, without knowing that we'd end up here. So how can we really blame you?"

"I knew we would fail the trial and knew Pokémon who entered this tomb disappeared," Light answered. "Sorry, but this is my fault any way you look at it. But that's okay." Light shook his head. "I…would have done it again, if given the choice. Even if they were an illusion, I could never bring myself to leave those Pokémon for dead. For now, I just need to focus on getting everyone out of here safely."

Light closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Though, to be honest, I don't exactly believe you when you tell me that nobody blames me. I know at least one Pokémon here does."

"I'm a psychic, Light," Lilac deadpanned. "If I tell you that nobody blames you, then I mean it. That includes Mawile. But if you don't believe me, just talk to her yourself. Either way, stop beating yourself up. It isn't healthy."

"Lilac's right, Light!" Fennix said. "We're getting out of this place no matter what! Then it won't matter what happened back in the Glacier Palace since we'll be safe either way! Besides…" Fennix puffed some smoke from her ears. "What kinda stupid trial was that anyways? Of course someone would chose to help Articuno and her bodyguards! The first trial we did you needed to rescue that young poocyhana girl, so why not the same here? I think it's just stupid to expect otherwise."

Lilac decided not to retort with the two obvious points of: these trials could've been taken in any order, and they were to make sure that whoever went in had knowledge of the past.

"Light, if you're really worried about what Mawile is thinking, just find time to talk to her," Lilac said. "Don't take my word for it."

"What about you?" Light asked, as he looked up from his spot. "How do you feel about what I did?"

The question momentarily caught Lilac off guard, as she wasn't really expecting him to question her. Perhaps he was being more perceptive than she thought he was, as in truth, she did feel a slight pang of disappointment throbbing in her heart. Of course, Lilac knew full well that the disappointment was not her own, but she didn't expect that it would leave any triggers for Light to see.

Lilac eventually settled for shrugging. "It doesn't bother me. I said it before, and I'll say it again. You're the same Pokémon who saved Goomy and Bedew. So it's fairly obvious that this is how you'd act. I can't deny that this is inconvenient, but I also can't blame you. Maybe it's just because I'm not as familiar with the 'dangers of the Voidlands', but this doesn't seem to be more than a mild inconvenience if you ask me. And I was always curious what this place is like."

"Does anything scare you, Espurr?" Fennix asked.

Lilac smiled. "Nope, not much."

Mawile and Ampharos soon stopped, Mawile ready for possible combat. Seeing that, Lilac also stopped and stepped a bit to the side of them to see what was coming. She wished she could sense them, but that wasn't quite possible. However, what she was not what she was expecting to see.

Walking towards them was a female shinx. She was covered in bruises and cuts and her fur seemed to be ragged. Her steps were slow, staggered, and she was flinching as she walked. Lilac's stance softened as she saw what appeared not to be an enemy. However, she noticed that Mawile was still on guard.

"O-o-other Pokémon," the shinx whispered as she staggered on closer towards the group. "P-please. H-help."

Light glanced up as he saw the girl and heard her words. He stepped forward, naturally with the desire to help her, but Mawile quickly blocked his path with the large back of her head. They both caught each other's eyes.

"Don't forget where we are," Mawile told him.

Light winced. "I…I know. B-but…"

"What's going on?" Lilac asked.

However, Mawile responded not with words, but with action. She walked up to the shinx and immediately bashed the Pokémon with an Iron Head, sending it flying several yards away. Lilac cried out in a mix of shock and anger, however she soon noticed the shinx's form waver. And instead, a black blob-like creature took its place. Not only that, but two more appeared next to it.

"Wha…what the heck are those things?" Lilac asked.

"Void Shadows," Light answered. "Mawile was…right to act the way she did."

Lilac took a quick glance back at Light and saw the look in his eyes. In that moment, she understood so many things about this world and why Mawile and Light were acting the way they did. Seeing that let a chill crawl down her spine. The world they were in, was truly as dangerous as she heard.

Lilac steeled herself for what could possibly be a very difficult crawl. She glanced back at Light, hoping that giving him something to focus on would help snap him out of his depression. And the battle ahead was a perfect opportunity to bring back Light the leader.

"Light, what are these guys capable of?" she asked. Lilac had no problems of being the one who asked for advice this time.

"Th-these guys are…"

Lilac could still hear the hesitation in his voice. "Light! Snap out of it and be our leader!"

Light flinched. "R-right." Light closed his eyes, took a few deep breaths, and opened them up again, his fierce gaze back on his face. "Void Shadows have no type and can split off. They shoot this strange energy wave to attack. You also can't let them consume you with their body. If that happens…"

Light wasn't able to finish that sentence before the Void Shadows finally finished their approach. Lilac didn't feel that she needed that sentence to be finished anyways, at least right now. Now was the time to focus. Without words, Light and Lilac switched places so that Lilac was in the back with Fennix while Light was in the front.

Two of the Void Shadows shot a dark sphere at Light and Mawile, who blocked it with Iron Tail and Iron Head respectively. However, by the sight of them both flinching in pain, along with the mark she saw on Light's tail, Lilac could tell that it didn't deflect as smoothly as normal moves. Still, Lilac couldn't focus on that for now. She had to focus on continuing the fight.

With the Void Shadows deflected by Light and Mawile, the backline fighters all fired off their attacks. Lilac focused a psychic blast on the Void Shadow closest to Light, which Fennix also joined in on with her own Flamethrower. The two attacks combined to easy take out that Void Shadow, sending it dissolving in the dark. Ampharos, meanwhile, use Electro Ball on the Void Shadow that was attacking Mawile.

Mawile focused her retaliation on the Void Shadow that was approaching Ampharos, its black body stretching unnaturally as if it wanted to consume him. Mawile shoved Ampharos out of the way before bashing it, once again, with an Iron Head. The impact from the blow sent the Void Shadow flying into the cavern wall before it also dissipated into nothingness.

"Two down," Lilac mumbled.

Light shook his head, and as he did so the Void Shadow in front of them split into two different Void Shadows. Lilac called out in shock, but nobody else looked surprised at the happening. In fact, Light immediately launched his next attack on the split Void Shadow to the right, his tail slicing through it and sending the Pokémon dissolving. The other Void Shadow tried to consume Light during the recoil of his attack, but Fennix blasted it with a Flamethrower to destroy it.

"Well…" Lilac said once the battle was over. "At leave those Void Shadows weren't too difficult to destroy."

"Sadly, that's not where the danger lies," Mawile said. "The danger actually lies in the sheer number of Void Shadows, their ability to transform into other Pokémon, and the mental strain of some of the things they can transform into."

"And…what happens if they capture you?" Lilac asked. "You were about to say that before, but they interrupted you."

Light glanced away. "Mawile…would be able to tell you best."

Lilac turned her and saw that Mawile had her eyes clenched shut and her muscles were tense. With her telepathy, she could sense a terrible pain coming from Mawile, the depth of which Mawile could hardly fathom. This was also something she occasionally felt whenever the subject of the Voidlands came up in conversation.

"You are better off not knowing," Mawile eventually answered. "We'll just say that, should the Void Shadows capture you, you are lost to the world. In our time, and I imagine back in the past as well, destroying Dark Matter allowed us to come back into this world. However, we don't have that luxury in this illusion. Therefore, we can only assume this.

"Should the Void Shadows capture you, you would disappear just as the Pokémon who searched this tomb did. You would be lost in this illusion forever."