Chapter 1: Disappear…

The wind raged. Thunder clashed and lightning tore across the blood-red clouds. Team Rainbow had beaten the misunderstanding Dialga, but the ever-present tremors made it clear that Temporal Tower was mere seconds from collapsing. Paula was shaking as she set the last Time Gear in place. For a moment the team feared that it hadn't had any effect, but then the gears sent out a pulse of energy in a white flash of light. The duo was momentarily blinded, but once they blinked the spots from their vision they saw that though the tower had sustained damaged, it was, in fact, still standing.

"Yes! It worked!" Paula shouted with glee, dancing in circles around her treecko partner, who was kneeling on the ground. She was still a bit dazed, but she smiled nonetheless.

Dialga chuckled at the pikachu's antics, which caused her to stop and blush. She looked down at the ground in embarrassment before whipping her head back up to stare at Dialga, a hint of fear on her face.

"So… you're okay now, right? You're not going to try to attack us anymore… are you?

Dialga gave a hearty laugh before replying, "NO. NOW THAT TIME IS FLOWING PROPERLY AGAIN, I HAVE CALMED DOWN."

"Time is flowing properly again… does that mean that places like Treeshroud Forest are back to normal too?" Paula asked.

"SEE FOR YOURSELF," Dialga invited before using his powers to show them the beautiful Pokémon World.

"Yes! We did it, Laura!" Paula exclaimed, grabbing the treecko's hands. Laura smiled back before the two were startled by a gasp from Dialga's direction. They looked over and were surprised to see Dialga's mouth gaping open.

"L-LAURA? DID… DID YOU JUST SAY LAURA?" he stuttered in shock.

"Uh, yeah. That's, um… that's her name. Is there a problem?" Paula asked in confusion.

"…NO… IT'S JUST…" Dialga glanced over at Laura before glancing over at the Time Gears, sighing, and glancing back. "IT'S NOTHING… I MUST THANK YOU ONCE MORE FOR SAVING MY TOWER. THE RAINBOW STONESHIP SHOULD STILL BE OPERABLE. HAVE A SAFE JOURNEY HOME…"

"Thanks! We will! Come on Laura!" Paula said cheerfully before bounding off. Laura took one last confused glance back at Dialga before following her friend, showing off her human heritage by walking upright, and not on all fours like a normal treecko.

Dialga watched Team Rainbow leave, and once they were out of sight he sighed and, almost wistfully, murmured, "I THOUGHT SHE SEEMED FAMILIAR… BUT WHAT WAS SHE DOING HERE…?"

As Team Rainbow made their way back to the Rainbow Stoneship, Laura began to fade away. Since she was from a future that no longer existed, she had to disappear… Paula was distraught, but she promised to grant Laura's last wish and return to Treasure Town to let everyone know what had happened. Eventually Paula made it to Lapras, who was waiting to take her home.

"Paula! You all did it!" Lapras exclaimed with joy before noticing that the pikachu had returned alone. "Where… where are Grovyle and Laura?" he continued uneasily. Paula's tears and heartbroken expression were answer enough.

The journey home was not a pleasant one. It was as though a cloud of gloom had settled over the two, and it only seemed to get thicker and more oppressive as Paula began to fulfill her friend's wish and explain what had happened.

The silence that followed at the tale's conclusion was oppressive, and it took a few false starts before Lapras was finally able to comment, "I was afraid that something like that would happen."

Paula's head, which had been bowed in sorrow, snapped up as she shot a fierce glare at Lapras. "What did you say?" she hissed. "You knew that this would happen? Why didn't you tell me?"

Lapras bowed his head in shame and closed his eyes. "I had hoped that I would be mistaken," he whispered.

It was sunset when the two finally made it back to the beach near Treasure Town. As Paula slid off Lapras' back, she glanced over to the spot where she had met Laura. Suddenly, a flash of light tore across the sky, and in its wake the heavens became illuminated with the colors of the rainbow. The colors didn't settle there, however, but spread to the earth. The world seemed to be blanketed with fresh waves of energy, and, for a split second, Paula could swear that it seemed to concentrate on her and Lapras, surrounding them each with a different color. It was almost like an aura… But as soon as she glimpsed it, the auras seemed to vanish. Another flash of light illuminated the world and took the rainbow tint with it. The sky was left with only the normal colors of a vanishing sunset.

Paula was stunned, and glanced over at the equally stunned Lapras. She managed a faint "Thanks" for the ride before she headed back to the guild.

Even though she was still upset, Paula couldn't help but smile when she stepped on the grate in front of the Guild and heard Diglett and Loudred's usual routine.

"Pokémon detected! Pokémon detected!"

"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?"

"The footprint belongs to… Paula! Everyone! They're back!"

The cheers of joy were loud enough, but when the sound of stampeding feet joined in it was almost deafening. As the apprentices made their way above ground and swarmed Paula with congratulations, the most the pikachu could manage was a weak smile.

It didn't take long for Chatot to part the crowd so that Wigglytuff could make his way over to Paula. He gathered her into a fierce hug before exclaiming, "I'm glad you're back safely! We missed you!" He released Paula and began to look around. But then, upon noticing that she had returned alone, he frowned and added, "But where are Laura and Grovyle?"

Paula's smile vanished. "Laura… Laura is…" It became too much and she fell to her knees, wailing in sadness. Everyone was dumbstruck and began to get a sinking feeling in the pits of their stomachs…

Once Paula had been ushered inside the guild and had calmed down enough to talk, she told the tale of the journey and explained her partners' fate. When she was through, the guild was in an uproar.

"What do you MEAN they're GONE?!" Loudred shrieked, causing Paula to flinch.

"Oh my gosh, Loudred! You don't have to yell at Paula!" Sunflora came to her defense. "It's not her fault that they… sniffle…!"

"But, hey, hey! How is that fair? Laura and Grovyle had to live in that world of darkness, but they don't even get to enjoy the new world that they created?" Corphish spluttered with indignity.

"And why didn't they tell us that this would happen?" Diglett quietly asked. "I mean… I understand that Laura probably didn't know because of her amnesia, but why wouldn't Grovyle…?"

"Oof… I reckon he must've thought it would've upset us…" Bidoof said.

"Well of course it would have upset us! Dugtrio agreed. "But, regardless..."

"Meh heh heh… some warning would have been nice," Croagunk cut him off. Dugtrio glared at him when Croagunk continued, "We didn't even get to say 'Goodbye.'"

Chatot decided to add in his two bits with, "Squawk! Indeed! Had we been informed, we could have tried to figure out a way to prevent it!"

"That's… that's probably why they didn't tell us," Paula, who had been quiet since finishing her story, said. Everyone stared at her incredulously, so she elaborated, "They knew that there wasn't a way to prevent it… hic! ... other than to let the tower fall. They p-probably thought that if we knew, we would t-try to stop them…"

"Paula…" Chimecho sighed, floating over to console Paula.

Paula, who was on the verge of another breakdown, wasn't swayed by Chimecho's attempts. She merely began to shake as she continued, "But they were wrong! Sure, I would've been upset… but I still would've helped them! How could they not know that? And how could they think that short amount of time would be enough to tell them how much they meant to me?! Laura was my best friend! Why would she think that I'd be okay with a goodbye like that?! Hic… sob… uh… uh… uhWAAAAH!"

With that, Paula once more broke down into a violent fit of sobbing hysterics. No one knew what to do to calm her down until Wigglytuff, who had maintained an uncharacteristically grim silence throughout the entire story and discussion, stepped forward.

"Paula," he began, forcing the pikachu to listen to him. "You need to rest." Wigglytuff used Sing and caught Paula as she limped and fell unconscious into his arms. "Chatot!" He called out.

"Y-yes Guildmaster?" Chatot asked, startled by Wigglytuff's actions.

Wigglytuff sighed before saying, "Paula's been through a lot today. She's hurt and tired and sad. Don't give her any jobs tomorrow; just let her sleep as much as she needs. And everyone… be careful with her for the next few days. Don't force her to talk if she doesn't want to." With that he carried the slumbering pokémon off to her room.

The apprentices and Chatot were left with a gloomy silence that was finally broken by Corphish saying, "Hey, hey… it's just… it's so hard to believe that Laura is… gone. And that… that we'll never see her smile, or hear her voice again…"

"Not that she talked much in the FIRST place…" Loudred added.

"She sure was a strange little thing, meh heh heh…" Croagunk chuckled bitterly. "Who else has Plain Seeds as a favorite food? And how many other treecko are there that walk on two legs?"

Bidoof nodded and shed a tear as he added, "I remember how she always curled up into a tight ball when she slept. I wonder why she did that…?"

"There's so much we didn't know about her," Chimecho sniffled. "And she never even got over her amnesia…"

Everyone let out a sigh.

"…Come now. We have a big day tomorrow," Chatot said, trying to get everyone's mind off of mourning. "We all need to get to sleep. And mind what the Guildmaster said about Paula!"

No one could muster up the strength or enthusiasm for a verbal response, but they all nodded as they trooped off to their respective rooms.