Chapter 2-1

The Trial/The Waterfall

In the dead of night, two pokemon charged through a forest, or known to the locals, Treeshroud Forest. It was a natural Mystery Dungeon that everyone knew held an important relic. One that no one dared to touch in fear of dooming the world.

It was the Time Gear.

It was well known that there were connected to the Pokemon of Time, Dialga, but no one knew how or why. All they knew was that disturbing them would mess with time and they had many stories about how that usually went down.

However, the two pokemon approaching the unprotected relic knew more than everyone. They knew that time was already being disrupted. They knew what to do.

"This is it." The clothes lucario spoke up, a crash of lightning making his golden mask light up.

"The Time Gear. One of 5." The grovyle raised a hand to the Time Gear, feeling the warmth it gave out, before snatching it out of the air. And from that spot, a sphere of stopped time appeared, rain frozen within.

"Let's go, Baldwin." And the two took off, the inhabitants not knowing what had happened until the next morning…

[hr]

Konstantin downed the mixture quickly, he mentally groaned at the taste, antivenom was less bitter. Once he was finished, he chucked the bottle over his shoulder before getting up to leave.

Whispers echoed across the Cafe, many of the pokemon there apprentices of the Guild. All the whispers had one thing in common.

A Guild expedition. Something that apparently required a veteran Rescue Team to go along.

Of course, many of the pokemon were hoping that Rescue Team ACT would be coming along but others were suspecting other wise due to them being there last year.

And Kon didn't know about any Rescue Team so he honestly didn't care, more worried about his partner, who just entered the Cafe via tripping and rolling down the stairs.

"Goddamnit, Luke." Konstantin droned.

Luke shot up, gathering the papers he had been holding and running over to Kon's table. "I got us a lot of simple jobs! All in the same location, the place where we found Spoink's pearl! Should be a breeze!"

"I hope we're getting paid for this." Konstantin noted. "I want something built. I need it built. It is utterly, absolutely critical I have it built."

"Why?" Luke asked, puzzled. "What's so important-"

Konstantin slammed his armored hands on the table, silencing Luke.

"What's so important?" He hissed. "What's so important!? A Church, Luke! A Church to the Light! I must have a Church built so I may give proper prayer to The Light!"

The charmander scrabbles around in a pouch, before drawing out a crude blueprint of a stone Church, laying it on the table for Luke to see.

"And perhaps all you Pokemon here may also come to see The Light!" He hissed.

"Um, The Light?" Luke tilts his head, confusion and a sense of foreboding. Like Kon would go into a rant. "What exactly is The Light?"

"What is the Light?" Konstantin said, aghast. "What is the Light!? It guides us, it protects us, when we are on our knees, in our darkest hour, the Light is there, to grant you hope, safety, warmth."

He is shaking, in a fervor as he exhorts the virtues and kindness of The Light. sounding for all the world like a Preacher.

"When your wounds fell you, the Light mends. When your mind frays, the Light soothes. When the darkness comes forth, and seeks to consume you, the Light shall drive it back, for it is all that is good in the world!"

He leans close, and gently take Luke by the paw.

"And the Light will never. Ever. Abandon you."

"Well, that is certainly very interesting." Luke was trying desperately not to insult Kon. "But, it's going to take a lot more than Drowzee's bounty money to build something like this."

"We will get however much we need to get it built, Luke." Konstantin hissed. "That. Is. Final."

"Okay, okay. We should head out right away to do these missions and get the money then." Luke started to head for the exit but a large purple skunk bumped into Luke as it was leaving, causing him to drop all the papers.

"Watch it, runt!" It snarled, looking back briefly before going up the steps.

Kon growled. Only the voice of his partner stopped him from

"Don't, Kon." Luke spoke up, gathering the papers together.

Konstantin let out a huff, before turning to Luke. "Fine. Let's go."

[hr]

"Gaaaah, home sweet guild." Luke gasped out, covered in mud and carrying a bag of items they had to retrieve from various criminals.

Kon was similarly covered in mud and looking just as worn out, if not very angry. "Let's just get our rewards. Then we'll be one step closer to getting a Church to the Light built." The charmander said, wiping a bit of blood off of an armored fist from when he had socked a gengar in the face hard enough to knock out several teeth.

"I don't see why you didn't grab his teeth-" Luke froze, as going up the steps, they saw a certain duo at the top.

Zubat and Koffing, both holding some bags of coins.

"Ah!" And they had just noticed Kon and Luke. "So, what's a coward like you doing here, huh?" Koffing asked.

"Doing missions, just normal Explorer Team stuff." Luke rebuffed.

There was a touch of silence before both of the poison type pokemon started laughing at him.

"You! Mister 'scared of a goomy', on an Exploration Team?"

"What a laugh!"

The armored flame type said nothing, and just held up his dagger threateningly.

"See, now that charmander, he's more of an explorer than you."

Both of them moved around Team Crusaders. "See ya, around, Sissy Cape!"

"Yeah, see ya, Mister Coward!"

And they were gone.

Luke sighed and continued up the steps.

Inside...

"This is rather amazing work from you two! To have done eight missions in a single day!" Chatot chirped, getting all the rewards together.

"Here is your total reward for today, 5000 coins, three reviver seeds, and three gummis. Oh, and one mask courtesy of Linoone."

"Thank you, sir." Luke was a little off put by how quickly Kon had that mask on, especially since it was basically just five holes.

For whatever strange reason, the mask felt...

Familiar. He felt safer with it on.

He wouldn't be taking it off anytime soon.

Luke took out a yellow gummi, something that looked like a large jelly bean before taking a bit out of it. Gods, it was so good.

"Just what are you eating?" Konstantin questioned from behind his new, fairly intimidating mask.

Luke shuddered before answering. "It's a gummi. They're a sweet that can be made using filtered salt water."

"Oh." Said the masked charmander. "If you wanted candy, you could have just bought some, you know."

"They're special." Luke muttered childishly, stuffing the rest of the gummi in his mouth.

"Well, given your exemplary work, I can let you two do the trial to raise your Team Ranking from Normal to Bronze." Chatot spoke up, looking pleased.

"We'll do that." Konstantin says casually. "When and where?"

"Tomorrow and the Waterfall. Your objective is to discover the secrets of it." Chatot informed him, handing over a small but pretty thick bag. "You will need this, given your species. Do not take it off."

Kon just gave a confused look, one hidden by his mask.

Luke just hrmed. Soon, after dinner, the two pokemon were off to bed.

Despite the excitement of Luke, both pokemon were dead asleep.

And a shadow flowed into their room, approaching Kon's bag.

[hr]

The sun was beginning to shine as the next day came forth.

Bird pokemon were singing, plant pokemon were basking in the fresh new rays.

And Konstantin was silently glaring at Loudred from behind his mask, the same mask he had not taken off since he had acquired it.

While none could see his expression, even more so with the addition of the mask, the hatred could certainly be felt more than seen as it was directed at the armored charmander's target of ire.

Of course, the pokemon in there were sensitive to this, save for Loudred.

"I have an announcement to make." Chatot spoke up after the morning cheers. "All missions to Treeshroud Forest and the surrounding area have been canceled."

A wave of confusion went through the apprentices, one turned to horror at what Chatot said next.

"This is due to time stopping in Treeshroud Forest."

Luke himself froze up, his mind connecting the dots quickly. He had been to that Mystery Dungeon before with his parents. It was one of the weird exceptions to the rules of the dungeons, given it had been there since any pokemon could remember.

The worried discussion reached a crescendo with one sentence. "It would seem that someone has stolen the Time Gear from that location."

"Oh gods." Luke whispered, his body shaking as he glanced to Kon. Of course, he couldn't see the charmander's face at all due to that creepy mask. At least before, he could see a hint of the charmander's eyes.

"Calm down! Calm down!" Chatot flailed. "Now, Officer Magnezone has already started an investigation. All we can do now is report any suspicious characters to the officers."

"Does that INCLUDE Konstantin?" Loudred asked, much to the very nervous laughter of everyone else.

"Are you kidding me? Kon's not that suspicious!" Luke defended. "He was with me all day yesterday and last night!"

Before the argument could start in earnest, Chatot broke it up. "Konstantin has been here for a week and has had multiple people, including a Veteran Rescue Team, vouch for him! So accusing him of a crime he could not have committed will not be allowed!"

Loudred just muttered something and wandered off after they were allowed to leave.

"Ah yes, Team Crusaders." Chatot called them over. "I need your map to show you the location of the Waterfall."

Luke obliged, hoping that doing this Team Ranking Mission would lift Kon's spirits from "Wanting to murder Loudred" to "Wanting nothing to do with Loudred".

After getting the location, the two headed down to Treasure Town, mostly for supplies. Kon had to take a detour to get some medicine from Audino. She had some…colorful...threats for the charmander if he pushed himself too hard.

When Kon met back up with Luke, the pikachu looked happier than usual. The nervousness was still there, though. "Dude. I got great news from my parents!" Luke laughed. "I'm going to be a brother!"

"Congratulations." Kon responded, his voice not as gravely and dry as it normally was. "When are they due?"

"Dad said they should hatch in a week."

"Hatch?"

"Oh, yeah. You probably don't know. All pokemon hatch from eggs."

And Kon's mind just started racing, thinking about all the different pokemon he had met and eggs.

"Anyways, they're going to be coming over in a few days with my future siblings." Luke shook again. "Can I trust you not to spook by parents out too much?"

Kon just absentmindedly nodded, his mind preoccupied.

Then, halfway to the waterfall, Luke managed to verbally poke Kon enough that he broke of the train of thought about the very plant like Sunflora and eggs. That lead to Kon tackling Luke into a bush and smearing the cheri berries from said bush all over the pikachu's face. The fact that Luke didn't mind it seemed to make Kon to smile, just ever so slightly.

Not that anyone could tell with that mask on.

It was about an hour later and the two pokemon walked up a large rock to look at the raging waterfall in front of them. Even at the distance that they were at, Kon could feel the mist from it and taking Chatot's advice into account, covered the end of his tail with the bag.

"Well, you think there's a cave behind there?" Luke asked, slowly approaching the waterfall.

Kon nodded, getting closer as well, until it became too much and both of them were knocked back slightly.

"Gyeh." Luke shook his head. "Maybe there's a way around. Just going through the waterfall seems way too dangerous if there isn't a cave there."

Kon glanced down at the rocks below the waterfall before the hazy feeling started overcoming him again. 'This again? What is it going to show me this time?'

A flash, and there was a figure in front of the waterfall, obscured by the darkness of night. All they could really tell was that the figure was bigger than them and was floating. The figure backed up a ways before rushing right into the waterfall.

Instead of dying, they rolled right into a cave on the other side of the rushing water. "Ah, this will be perfect for him~!" He heard the figure, now confirmed to be a female before she moved on.

The vision ended, making Kon gasp ever so slightly.

"Huh. Kon? What is iiiit?!" Luke was asking, before the charmander just picked the pikachu up, backing up before running right for the waterfall. "Kooooooon!"

And Konstantin rolled into the cave, Luke rolling away from him.

Luke glanced around, shaking himself much like a wet dog. "So…why couldn't you warn me before doing that?"

"Had a vision. It was easier this way." Was the simple response.

Luke stood up. "Well, at least we're in now." He looked at the darkness, foreboding a Mystery Dungeon. "Let's continue on and see if there's anything at the end."

Kon nodded, following Luke into the Mystery Dungeon.

[hr]

"I wish you would just use a pokemon move instead of punching all the pokemon we some across in here." Luke muttered, soaking wet from protecting Kon from all the water pokemon.

Kon just shrugged, punching a particularly mouthy surskit in the face. "I don't need those fancy moves."

"At least use smoke screen." Luke turned and shot forward, hitting an barbaroach with a quick attack.

"And what? Block our view too?" Kon shot back, several of the feral pokemon sensing the charmander's anger and backing off.

"No, make them more likely to get hit." Luke pointed out. "As long as we are smart with it."

Kon just rolled his eyes, punching the surskit again when it tried to attack.

The two kept arguing, angry but not coming to blows.

As they headed deeper in, Kon noted a pile of purple slime holding a gem. A rough gem but a gem nonetheless.

"Helloooooooo!" The slime waved at them, still holding the gem.

"Hi?" Luke waved back, even though he was five feet away. "Um, where did you get that gem?"

"Oooooooh, I got it from the preeeeeetty fancy rooooooom!" She responded, still smiling. "IIIIIIIt's got gems every wheeeeeeeeeere. No sableye eeeeeeeeeither."

Luke looked nervously between Kon, who was fuming at how the grimer talked, and the grimer herself, who just seemed good doing nothing.

"Oooooooh, are you twoooooo from the guildhooooouse?" She asked, perking up ever so slightly. "Caaaaaaan I come alooooooong? I really want toooooo see the outside woooooorld. It's probably got lots of Shiny stuuuuuuuff."

Luke looked at Kon, who was rubbing his blunderbuss and the grimer who seemed blissfully unaware of Kon's...issues and emotions.

"Sure you can." Luke nodded, hoping that Kon wouldn't shoot her in the head.

"Greeeeeat!" The grimer moved over and gave a very disgusting hug to both Kon and Luke… much to Kon's obvious ire.

"My name's Maaaaaaaannnnnaaaaaaaaa." She broke the hug, starting to move along.

Luke glanced at Kon again and it looked like the charmander wanted to murder the poison type.

"Well, it's nice for you to join us, Mana!" Luke cheered, moving on. "Let me just lay down a few rules about Kon."

Kon just snorted, like it was joke.

[hr]

The three pokemon finally reached the depths of the cave, Luke's eyes sparkling at all the gems littering the floor and ceiling. The feeling of air blowing past was ignored for the moment by the largest gem either Luke or Kon had ever seen in the back.

"Yeaaaaaah. That's the gem room alllllllright." Mana responded, followed the two pokemon over to the pink gem. "Reeeeeeeally fanccccccccy."

"I bet this is the last secret." Luke grabbed on to the gem and pulled on it to no avail. "Huh, it's really stuck."

Kon said nothing as he went over and helped to pull on the gem. And yeah, it wasn't moving.

Both pokemon backed off, Luke trying to think of something to do. As he approached for another go, however…

Hazey. 'Seriously, again?' Kon asked in his mind, feeling the haze reach a peek and then..

The floating figure approached the same gem they had been pulling on. "Hmmmm, maybe if I…"

She pulled and wrenched on the gem before she pushed it in with a click.

The room rumbled, much to the figures confusion before looking to the side, the sound of rushing water filling the room.

And then the water hit, washing the figure out of the room with a scream.

Kon gasped back to the present, mouth open to tell Luke not to push the gem.

Click.

"What the heck?" Luke asked, backing away from the gem as the room started to rumble.

"Fuck!" Kon grabbed Luke by the cape and tried to run out of the room, hearing the water coming. He was almost out, Mana already out of the room, when the water slammed into him.

For a brief second, agony was everything he knew, water filling his mouth when he went to scream before blessed darkness and numbness fell over him.

Luke felt himself getting shot out of something, before landing in some hot water with a scream.

He cautiously opened his eyes, feeling something over his right eye. He reached up and pulled it off, seeing, much to his horror, Kon's bag.

He looked around, his mind noting that this was the hot spring, before he saw a mankey and primeape pulling Kon out of the water.

And his tail flame was out.

[hr]

It was a gentle wind that Kon felt first. It wasn't cold at all. Then, it was the grass.

"I see you are waking up here." A grandmotherly voice spoke up. "Not many do that but it is advantageous for everyone that you have."

Konstantin slowly stood, and as he did, realized he was no longer a lizard.

He took a deep breath, and flexed his hands, for the familiar feeling of his old body was comforting.

"Death." He said, voice raspy. "It feels so familiar. Like an old friend. I have perished from a bit of water. How unimpressive of me."

"Ah, but you are not completely dead yet." The voice got closer and when Kon turned around, it was… A large, rather majestic red and black creature. He would call it avian in appearance, but that doesn't seem terribly correct. Not quite.

"You will be brought back to life and you will come back again in due time, young one." She hummed. "But for now, enjoy the peace… here, and in the living world while it lasts."

The creature settled in the field, looking up at the sky.

"I fear I am not meant for peace, save for fleeting moments of respite." Konstantin pauses for a moment, before saying; "You are quite powerful, I presume. My nightmares are not just that, aren't they?" The question was redundant, for he already knew the answer himself.

"No." She confirmed. "They are from your past, in another world where I could not reach before. But now, due to those two's meddling… I can see the humans who die there. But I still cannot reach them before something… something wrong pulls them away." And with a wing, she motioned to another human in the distance, one who looked rather confused.

And just a second later, they completely vanished. "Whatever it is, it is coming ever closer to this world with every death from yours. And Father is not happy."

The hooded human shook in genuine fear as images came to him unbidden, forever burned into his mind. "Whatever that thing is, it is connected to those mutated cultists, the obelisks and ground of black stone intertwined with pulsating flesh, ridden with mouths and eyes..." He shudders, as he holds his hands over his masked face. "Flesh and eyes, flesh and eyes. If it is coming here..."

He is heaving as he falls to his knees, in the flowers stretching forever. "The dark god, the one who looked at us. I cannot even remember anything, and still I am in terror of it's mere existence."

Konstantin throws his hands over his ears, and his voice breaks. "We e-exist, because he a-allows it.. And w-we will end because it d-demands it! Oh, Light!"

Kon was suddenly engulfed in the death bird's wings, getting hugged to it's downy chest. It felt warm and comforting, like a mother's hug.

"Do not fear, young one. It is still far off and time to prepare is long." She crooned. "Remember, you humans were able to disable it, if only for a short while. It is not infallible. It is not forever. It can be stopped. More help is all that you humans need."

"But for now, you must focus on stopping it's agent. You must save my sibling, corrupted by proxy through a human." The death bird let Kon go after he suitably calmed down. She looked up. "Ah, our time is at an end."

The field was starting to get fuzzy and ill defined.

"Konstantin, remember this. You have been in this world longer than you can recall." She smiled as everything got much lighter. "And next time, please come to visit me after you have died a hero's death, young one."

…

Kon's eyes shot open, gasping for air before rolling over, coughing up water. He greedily took in air, to stop the burning in his lungs.

"Ah, he is awake." An older voice spoke up, causing Kon to look over. And it was a turtle. A turtle spitting out smoke from its shell.

"Kon!" Luke slammed into the charmander, hugging him with tears and snot running down his face. "I-I thought I had killed you!" Luke sobbed, hugging just a bit tighter. His whole body was shaking.

"It'll take... More than that... To kill me..." Konstantin said, water spilling through the mask as he hacked up the liquid out of his lungs. "I've... Walked off... Worse..."

Luke was sniffling and still sobbing, causing the revived charmander to sigh and rub the electric type's back.

After some time, Luke broke the hug, rubbing at his face to clean it.

Then, the turtle walked over, holding a letter before placing it on the ground so he could speak. "Well, children, it seems despite the scare, everything seems to have turned out alright. Please, take this to Guildmaster Wigglytuff once you two are ready to head back."

"Y-yes sir, mister Torkoal." Luke nodded, taking the letter and placing it in his bag.

"Oh yes. I have something for you, young charmander." Torkoal walked off and came back with his tail bag… only it had a new string on it.

Kon nodded, taking it and placing it on his belt. "Thank you."

After sitting there a while, enjoying the steam that came from the hot spring, the two left.

[hr]

A shadow watched the two leave, a growl most inhuman emanating from it before it punched a tree in rage. "That human yet lives! That water should have killed him and nothing should have brought him back!" Then, it started slashing and scratching the tree, fury evident.

Then, the shadow stopped and its posture changed, rather rapidly to one more defined. "It would be arrogant to assume that your siblings would not interfere." The voice of the Ancestor chided. "You should have known this, and the blame is on you. It appears that these indirect methods are not infallible as you thought them to be."

Darkrai, no, the man in Darkrai's skin turned to watch Luke and Konstantin as they left. "As always, their capacity to refute even death is always... Pleasant to behold. " He chortled, amused.

Then, the posture shifted again, to the pokemon in rage. "It can still work. I will watch his blood run my kingdom will come! The Leper will come after. One human is disruptive, two is disastrous but three… The girl will be last."

"Mister? Are you okay?" A young voice spoke up, Darkrai spinning in rage before he saw the species of what talking.

It was a pichu. They were rare on this continent but the less of them and their evolutions and his plan… Yes. This child. This child must disappear.

Then, Darkrai straightened up again, the Ancestor taking control once again before investigating the pichu.

"Uh, Mister?" The pichu backed up a little.

"This one is not worth it. Begone, child! Enjoy the innocence of sunlight while it lasts!" The Ancestor barked, starting to laugh at the tiny electric type ran.

Then, dualistic pokemon faded into the darkness, reappearing in his twisted laboratory back on Darkrai's island. None of the Rescue Teams that delved into his island never reached it or, in the case of the others, joined the laboratory as fodder for the fusions or as a fusion themselves.

Darkrai took back over, grabbing a flask from a table and throwing it to ground in rage. "Old human! We should have taken the child! Even a drop of its life would have made the fusion stronger!" He roared, shaking all over.

The Ancestor only chortled in response, as if he were amused by Darkrai's howling. "There was no need, once the fusion is... Complete, it will quickly go out into the world, collecting and collecting, growing stronger with each one it takes."

He swept his, Darkrai's, hand over the table. "And soon, it shall take the Raider's friend, and it. Will. Break him." He lectured condescendingly, as if Darkrai were a child throwing a fit.

Darkrai wretched control back gripping the edge of the table, growling. Then he released his hold to look back at the cages in the room, hearing the clattering of bones. "Soon, my children. Soon."

[hr]

"Helloooooooo!" Mana waved, sitting in front of the guild house, looking content.

"AND WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU WHEN THE WATER CAME!" Kon was surprised at how strong Luke actually was. The pikachu was actually dragging him a little.

A/N

AHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAHAAAAAAAAAAA!

Yep. That happened.

Zara?

Zaravan : The Ancestor has made his inevitable debut. And he is, of course, responsible for the horrors that are affecting the world. Again.

Nevertheless, Konstantin has earned a new Quirk from his brush with death.

Unyielding: +10% Death Blow Resist.