Chapter 33: Reintroduction Revisited

Grovyle's eye twitched, and then he couldn't help but burst out laughing. "Come on, Partner," he said through chuckles. "Let's keep looking for a hiding spot. You need to rest if you want a swift recovery." His gaze swept the area, and he noted, "Lucky for us, Treeshroud Forest is a big place. I'm sure we'll find the perfect spot soon."

"Okay, Grovy," Laura nodded. But once more she didn't pay attention to where she put her feet, and she almost tripped over another tree root.

"Whoa!"

"I told you to be careful!"

In the present… in Relatia's Cave…

"…It took a while for me to heal, and then we started our search for the rest of the Time Gears," Laura finished.

All of her friends stared at her in awe… except for Mason, who was snickering. "'Grovy?' Seriously?" he asked with amusement.

Laura blushed. "I was young, okay?" she defended. "I grew out of it! …Eventually…"

"But… oh my gosh!" Sunflora suddenly exclaimed, breaking free of her amazed stupor. "You really started your journey when you were just four? That's incredible!"

Laura just shrugged. "I guess. I mean… I didn't think it was weird… but I know that Grovyle sure freaked out when he finally learned how old I was. Which was on my eleventh birthday. Moments before we entered the Passage of Time." She paused there and suddenly started to giggle as she remembered something. "You should have seen his face! And Celebi's too! They were priceless."

Loudred's eye twitched. He wasn't sure that he liked this new, slightly evil side of Laura that they were learning about… for her to seek revenge over a stupid nickname and then relish in the shocking reaction to her age at the expense of some of her closest friends… it made him worry that she had something planned for him to get back at him for seeing her half-naked. He shuddered at the thought and decided that a distraction was in order.

"So, uh… SPEAKING of Grovyle," he said, "I NEVER would have thought that he had a past like that!"

"Hey, hey! Or you, for that matter, Laura," Corphish added.

Laura abruptly stopped giggling and frowned. "…Everyone had a story, and many of them were… unpleasant," Laura said, remembering some of the more extreme cases she had seen over the years. "We were no exception. Although…" she trailed off with a sigh and mumbled, "I suspect my story had more to do with fate than anything else…"

"So… so you were Primal Dialga's… friend?" Paula asked, slightly incredulous, as she remembered their encounter with him in the paralyzed future. "But… but he was so… terrifying!"

"He wasn't so bad once you got to know him," Laura said with a shrug.

"B-but…" Paula spluttered. "E-even if that were the case, why—out of everyone in the world—would he pick you?" Paula blinked and cringed when she suddenly realized how offensive that sounded and she quickly tried to remove her foot from her mouth by saying, "Urk! N-no offense! I-I mean… I love having you for a friend, and… and…"

Laura smiled at her partner in amusement before assuring, "No, that's fine. I used to wonder myself." She stole a glance at Mason before hesitantly saying, "I think I might have a theory now, but I'm still not quite sure…"

Diglett also had a question for Laura. "So… it was your idea to go back and collect the Time Gears?" he asked.

Laura blinked before cringing at the irony and sheepishly admitting, "Ah… Yeah, I guess it was…"

"Speaking of Time Gears…" Mason suddenly said, interrupting the Q and A session, "aren't there five back at the guild that we should be worrying about…?"

Everyone blinked in realization. "Oh! That's right!"

The group left the cave almost immediately after that (but not before Mason and Laura gave the ornate door one last, wistful look) and began the journey back towards Treasure Town. There was still an undercurrent of concern for the state of affairs that caused the pokémon (and Laura) to walk at a swift pace, but it wasn't as dire as before, so the return trip took a bit longer. By the time they reached the crossroads, the sun had already begun to set. When the group made it to the foot of the stairs leading up to the guild, Chatot paused and turned around to address everyone.

"It's too late to make any plans tonight," he began, "so we'll reconvene in the lower level of the guild to decide our course of action in regards to the Time Gears."

"Hooray!" everyone cheered.

But just before they were about to go their separate ways—with the guild members heading up to the guild and Team Rainbow and Mason heading to Sharpedo Bluff—they heard a voice happily exclaim, "Oh! You were right, Cresselia! They're back!"

Everyone turned to see that Drowzee and Cresselia were heading down the steps to meet them.

"Friendly friends!" Wigglytuff greeted with a huge smile on his face.

Drowzee grinned in response. "Welcome back!" he said happily.

Cresselia, though, had a much more serious demeanor. "Did it work? Is Laura better?" she asked, staring directly at Mason.

Mason seemed unsure how to respond. "Er… Well, yes, but…"

"But what?" Cresselia demanded, eyes narrowed.

"Well… it'd probably be better if you just saw for yourself," Mason said before turning slightly back towards the group. "Come on out, Laura," he beckoned. "Don't be shy."

Laura hesitated, but then she walked forward to stand beside Mason where she would be clearly visible to Drowzee and Cresselia. Drowzee's jaw dropped in shock at the sight of her altered form, but Cresselia only seemed mildly surprised… and that seemed to stem from Laura's Time Gear accessories more than anything else…

Laura gave the two a shy smile and softly said, "Hi, Cresselia, Drowzee. Long time no see. Um… thanks for trying to help me earlier."

Cresselia was surprised. "You… do you remember that?"

"That, no," Laura admitted. "But… I do remember almost everything else."

"…'Almost?'" Cresselia repeated, a bit of anxiety creeping into her voice.

Laura was hesitant in her answer, glancing over at the guild and Paula as if afraid of what their reaction would be, before she said, "Well, you know… I've always had those memory problems, so…"

Cresselia gave a small gasp. "It really is you…!" she whispered with adoration, tears welling up in her eyes.

This shocked everyone (except for Drowzee—who was still stunned by the revelation of Laura's true form—and Mason—to whom the response seemed expected), and they were shocked even further when Laura immediately knelt in front of Cresselia and pulled her gently into a hug. "As I said… long time no see," she repeated, her voice lined with melancholy.

"This… ah… I'm guessing this is what a human looks like?" Drowzee asked, finally breaking out of his stupor but still seeming to be unaware of Cresselia's distress or Laura's response to it.

"That's right," Mason answered. Then he noticed that Drowzee was carrying a bundle of something in his arms and asked, "What's that?"

Drowzee blinked and looked down at the object in question, as if he'd just now remembered that it was in his possession. "Oh! Right… It's Laura's blankets and things from the guild. We weren't sure if she'd be staying there when you all got back, so I just went ahead and brought them out."

Laura relinquished her hold on Cresseslia and blinked in surprise, but then she accepted the bundle with a gracious smile. "Thanks, Drowzee."

Laura's words seemed to break Chatot out of his own stupor, and he cleared his throat, causing everyone to focus their attention back on him. "It's getting late," he hinted. "We should all get some rest. Cresseila, Drowzee, you may stay tonight at the guild. Team Rainbow, Mason, we'll see you bright and early tomorrow."

The group split, with the guild members returned headed up the stairs while Team Rainbow and Mason continued on to Treasure Town. Laura was a bit apprehensive of how the residents would react to her true form, but she needn't have worried; they were surprised, yes, and many of them were momentarily as awestruck as Drowzee had been, but, for the most part, they were simply relieved that she was feeling better. It didn't take long for the trio to make it to Sharpedo Bluff, and, once they were there, it took even less time for them to drift off to sleep.

The next morning…

Once Laura, Paula, and Mason woke up, they wasted no time in heading towards the guild. Laura hadn't even bothered to adorn her hair or put on her bandana yet. Nor did she have time for breakfast, although Mason insisted that she take an Apple to eat along the way. She finished it just as they reached the guild, and she was the first one to step onto the grate.

"Pokémon detected! Pokémon detected!" Diglett immediately piped up.

"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?" Louderd responded.

"The footprint belongs to…" Diglett paused. "Oh! I take that back! It's not a pokémon… human detected! Human detected!"

"HUMAN?!" Loudred repeated in shock. "What do you MEAN hu—OH! It's LAURA isn't it?"

"Yes!"

The trio was immediately let in and they headed straight down to the lowest level where everyone was waiting.

"All right," Chatot began once Team Rainbow and Mason had settled into place. "Now that everyone is here, let's get—"

"Hey, hey!" Corphish suddenly cut him off, much to Chatot's indignation. "What are you doing, Laura?"

Laura looked up from where she was carefully braiding Time Gear adornments into her hair. "Hm?"

"Oh! Are you going to make your hair all pretty like it was yesterday?" Wigglytuff asked, seeming to have a better grip on her actions than the others.

When Laura nodded, blushing slightly at the praise, Loudred took a closer look at her, noticed something, and huffed, "SPEAKING of yesterday… aren't you wearing the same OUTFIT as then?"

Laura nodded, seeming confused about why he was bringing it up, as she finished with the adornments and began to tie on her bandana.

"With all that FUSS you were making yesterday, I'd have thought you would have CHANGED CLOTHES," he said rather crossly.

Laura just shrugged. "I would've if I had another outfit, but—"

"What about that DRESS?" Loudred cut her off, his annoyance increasing by the moment.

"My priestess outfit?" Laura clarified, sounding surprised. Then she rolled her eyes and, with a sigh, explained, "I already told you… I can't wear that outfit in Mystery Dungeons because it would get dirty. Besides—"

Loudred cut her off again, his annoyance reaching its peak. "Then what's the POINT of that outfit?!" he demanded.

"The point," Mason began, glaring at Loudred in anger, "is that she wanted to show respect to our Mistress on the faint chance that we would be able to summon her!"

That gave everyone a pause.

"You… you were trying to summon Relatia?" Paula asked in surprise.

Mason looked in her direction and his shoulders sagged. "Yes," he admitted. "But… we weren't able to. Now… I don't know what can be done to save the Time Gears."

Laura looked at him hopelessly before dropping her gaze in shame. "…I'm sorry," she whispered.

Mason immediately whipped around. "Don't apologize, Laura!" he demanded, grasping her shoulders as if to try and shake some sense into her. "How many times do I have to say it? It's not your fault that you can't remember!"

Laura startled everyone by pushing him away. "But that's my job!" she insisted, rather passionately, actually, compared to the demeanor that the guild was used to. "That's the reason why she—"

But before Laura could explain who "she" was and what had been done, she was interrupted by the sound of bells. She was perplexed, having never heard that sound before, but the guild seemed to know what it signified, and Sunflora exclaimed, "Oh my gosh! A visitor? This early?"

"Diglett. Go see who it is," Chatot ordered, perhaps a little more sharply than was necessary, but, in his defense, his nerves were a little frayed at the moment. In any case, Diglett didn't seem too offended and hurried to complete his task.

"Let's see…" he began once he had reached the proper spot. "It looks like… um… it looks like—WHAT?!" Diglett cut off with a startled yelp. "It's… it's Uxie!" he revealed, sounding frantic.

Everyone's eyes—except for Laura's, surprisingly—widened in horror at the news, and the horrified feeling only intensified when Diglett added, "And I think Mesprit and Azelf are up there too!"

"Squawk! What are they doing here?!" Chatot asked, not addressing anyone in particular.

Mason and Cresselia seemed the most upset, with Mason growling, "I swear, if they've come to hurt Laura again, I'll…!" with Cresselia nodding fervently in agreement and sporting a glare of her own.

"What do you WANT, Uxie?!" Loudred demanded, his earlier annoyance at Laura fading when faced with the possibility of her coming to more harm.

"W-We just came to talk!" Uxie assured, calling timidly down through the grate.

"Well we DON'T want to listen, you stinking, backstabbing—!"

But he was cut off when a quiet voice said, "No… it's okay."

Everyone froze, turning to Laura in shock at what she had just declared. She sighed at their expressions. "…Really," she assured, "it's okay. You can let them in."

"But… but Laura, you—" Paula began before Laura's non-verbal response of pointing meaningfully to the Time Gears cut her off.

"We need all the help we can get."

Paula couldn't argue with that. But that didn't mean she still didn't try. "Erk! W-well yeah, but…!"

"…If Laura is all right with it, then we should let them in," Wigglytuff took authority and decreed. Everyone was stunned at his apparent agreement with Laura until… "But!" he added, "If they did come to hurt Laura again… then they'll have to face ME first!"

Loudred huffed in annoyance (to mask his worry) before rather unwillingly going to open the gates. "…FINE!" he called as he went. "You three can COME IN… but we're keeping an EYE on you!"

When the Spirit Trio finally descended all the way to the lowest level, they cringed at the hostile glares they received, and they all but trembled in fear when they registered the barely restrained rage on Mason and Cresselia's faces. But a quiet voice made them pause.

"Really… this isn't necessary."

They looked around for the voice's owner in surprise, and all three froze when they finally found her.

"L-Laura…" Azelf whispered in awe. "You're… you're human again? How… how did this happen?"

Mason not-so-subtly shifted so that he was directly between Laura and the Spirit Trio before answering, his voice icy with hate, "It happened while we were trying to fix the problems that YOU caused!" The Spirit Trio flinched, but their reaction did nothing to deter Mason from continuing his rant. "What's wrong with you three?! Did you seriously think that would work? You morons' little 'scheme' put Laura in a coma for days! It could have killed her!"

"Mason!" Laura exclaimed, "That's enough! Uxie was just doing his job!"

Mason stared at her, gaping for a moment before snapping his mouth shut and, in a slightly calmer voice, trying to explain, "Laura, at no point in their job description does it say that guarding the Time Gears requires—"

"Not that job," Laura cut him off, surprising everyone again. "His primary job."

Mason opened his mouth again to retort, but then blinked and closed it when he seemed to realize something. Uxie himself seemed surprised at her defense, and everyone else looked to Laura in confusion.

Laura, catching the looks, obligingly explained, "Uxie is the Being of Knowledge… and you said it yourself, Mason: part of 'knowledge' is memory. When he did… whatever he did, he was just trying to help me regain mine." She paused and looked directly at Uxie before continuing, "True, recently you've been more focused on suppressing memories to protect the Time Gears… and, based on what Mason just described, you probably could have been a bit more gentle in helping me… but it was still within your rights. And because of the situation that we're in, and given who I am… it was your responsibility."

Everyone stared at her, completely stunned that the victim of such a horrid ordeal would actually defend and agree with the perpetrators' actions… and then they jumped in surprise when they heard someone suddenly burst into tears. They whipped their heads over in the direction of the sound and were further stunned to see that the crying belonged to Mesprit, who had her head in her hands and appeared to be experiencing an emotional breakdown. Azelf rubbed her back in an attempt to comfort her, but his eyes were focused on Laura and, based on the tears gathering in their corners, he didn't seem to be too far from a breakdown of his own. Uxie, at least, was a lot calmer than his siblings, but he was the very picture of shame and guilt as he sighed and opened his mouth to address Laura.

"…No, Laura," he quietly said. "Mason… is right. We… I had no right to do that to you. I… I owe you an apology."

Laura shook her head. "No… it's okay. The incident may be among the memories of mine that the crystals didn't restore… but I understand why you did it… and why you couldn't give me more of an explanation for your actions. I'm not mad at you."

Mason crossed his arms and glared at Uxie. "…I understand why they did it, too," he admitted, "but that doesn't lessen my anger."

"And, er…" Drowzee began sheepishly, startling everyone, "I, uh… I'm angry too, but… I really don't know what you're talking about, so… explanation, please?"

Despite the many negative emotions plaguing Uxie's mind, he couldn't help but give an amused grin at Drowzee's request. "…Of course," he agreed. "But first I must ask…" he turned to address the crowd, "What do you know about the origins of the Time Gears?"

Everyone took a moment to think, but Paula was the one to ultimately answer, "Just… that they were modeled after Relatia's symbol, I guess."

Uxie nodded; that was the answer he expected. "In that case… Mason, Laura," he suddenly addressed, causing the pair to look over at him expectantly. "I know that this information is precious to your people, and to you two in particular… but may I have permission to share the Legend of the Time Gears?" he asked.

Mason and Laura shared a nervous glance before bracing themselves and nodding, giving him permission.

Uxie gave a curt nod of thanks back. "Good. Now then…" Uxie started to shimmer with psychic energy, and before anyone could react, he opened his eyes. "Observe…!"

There was a flash of light, and when the spots it caused cleared from their eyes, everyone looked around in confusion at their new location…

Meanwhile, in Relatia's Cave…

Beyond the ornate door, the three statues stood, steadfast as always. The statues of the boy and girl were glowing slightly with energy, but the statue of the woman in the middle seemed unchanged. That is… until the blackened orb she was holding began to glow…

Slowly, the darkness within it seemed to recede until it was completely gone and the orb's true color was revealed: blue-green, like the Time Gears. The orb continued to glow with energy and a swirling, purple mist began to form at its heart. As it grew bigger, the woman's statue began to glow as well, and a faint, almost musical whisper could be heard…

"…Finally…! The barrier has finally been removed…!"