'You're really Uxie?' Trevor eagerly asked with shimmering eyes, "The Uxie from my dreams? For real?!"

"The one and only." Uxie gave a small bow as he addressed the Meowth. "Thank you for coming, physically speaking with you here is so much easier on me than using telepathy across the entire Lush Continent. How are you, Trevor?"

"I've...been better," Trevor murmured, staring at the scars left over from his most recent battle. His eyes widened as he suddenly remembered the giant mass of red scales still laying behind him. "We'd better get out of here," Trevor urgently warned, "Groudon could wake up at any minute! We could all be in danger!"

Uxie responded with just a soft chuckle. "No need," the Mythical assured as the gemstone on his head began glowing brightly. In an instant, Groudon vanished in a flash of light before Uxie continued, "Groudon, as you saw here, was merely a product of my psychic powers."

Aiden crossed her arms with a disappointed pout. "Wait, what?! So we didn't actually kick Groudon's ass?!"

Uxie gave another chuckle. "Heavens, no. If you were to fight the real Groudon in your current state, you all would have been obliterated in seconds! No, the Groudon you fought was a test devised by me."

'A test of courage?' asked Trevor with hopeful eyes.

"More so a test of your...humanity. After all, only a human would be recklessly daft to take on a Mythical, even with an exposed weak-point. Ahaha."

'Humanity?' Rin murmured quietly as Trevor sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well anyways, I've digressed for long enough. What would you like to know first?"

Trevor jumped slightly as an electric surge seemed to jolt his entire body, his mind instantly flooding with a torrent of long-held questions. He took a long, deep breath before asking on one breath: "Why was I brought to this world? What is my purpose?"

Uxie returned an understanding smile before his expression darkened slightly. "You were brought here... due to an anomaly in the fabric of time and space."

'W-wha?' Trevor recoiled backwards, overwhelmed by the outlandishness of the answer.

"Yes, anomalies." Uxie grimaced as he continued, "You and many others may not sense it, but the Pokémon world has been plagued with these anomalies for a while now. You may have seen it in the sheer number of Mystery Dungeons that have popped up recently, or the strange meteor which destroyed Pokémon Square a while back. It is this imbalance to the fabric of space-time which has led to your transition from the human world to this one, ...as was the case with the human who came before you. Having been monitoring these anomalies using my psychic powers, I was able to perceive your arrival to this world and have been doing my best to monitor you from across the continent."

The vast interior of the cave seemed to rapidly whirl as Trevor tried his best to internalize every one of Uxie's words. "...Right. Well, do you know how I can possibly return to the human world?"

"I fear that unless these distortions are eliminated, you won't be able to return for the time being. I've attempted to speak with Dialga and Palkia, but both of them, like many other Mythicals, are too secluded and stubborn to communicate."

"I'm sorry, who-?"

Uxie shut his eyes and placed both of his nub-like arms onto his temple. "With another burst of light, two colossal beings appeared by his side. The beast to the left was covered in a set of pale, pink scales, holding its lengthy neck high as it impressively displayed the set of blades jutting out the back of its pearl-studded arms. The creature to the right wore a brilliant shade of blue, gray spikes covering its massive body with a glittering diamond embedded on its chest. Trevor felt as if even a simple glance from their red-ringed eyes would be enough to send him flying backwards. Uxie seemed considerably less awestruck, referring to them with a casual tone as if they were merely distant relatives.

"Palkia controls space," Uxie relayed while pointing towards the beast to the left, "while Dialga, to the right here, controls time. For centuries now, these two Mythicals have strove to maintain balance between themselves to keep the fabric of reality from collapsing. And yet, these anomalies suggest that this balance... may have been compromised."

Trevor tilted his head sideways, his heart beginning to race. "Compromised? So you think that these... anomalies are being caused by someone?"

"Just throwing theories out there." With a wave of his head, Uxie made the psychic mirages of the two Mythicals disappear, before floating within arms distance of Trevor. "Human," he said with a serious tone, "I don't often ask for help, but I'd like you to investigate the cause of these anomalies, being one of their direct products. I may be overexaggerating here, maybe Dialga or Palkia are just having an off decade or two, but a small part of me continues to insist that the future of this world may be at stake. Can you do this for me?"

Trevor, not knowing what to do, instinctively nodded. Uxie gave a gentle smile. "Thank you. Just remember your strength- no matter what hardships you face, you must believe in that there is a way in which you can prevail. I will contact you again when the time comes, but until then, I'll take my leave from this continent for now to make another attempt at contacting either Mythical."

Uxie's gemstones began to glint furiously once more, his body now engulfed in a wall of brightness. Trevor wanted to interrupt, yet any idea of what to say eluded him.

"See you around, Trevor."

With one final flash of light, Uxie vanished just as quickly as he had come. Trevor continued to stand silently minutes after his departure, his expression plainly conveying how unsatisfied and unsettled the Mythical's words had left him.

Aiden scratched her head. "Huh. What do you reckon that was all about Treph? Truth be told, I only understood about half of what he said."

Trevor nodded slowly, then noticed Rin glaring at him from a distance, his normally dull, black eyes turned to pools bubbling with sheer rage.

'You're... human?' he growled, "This whole time, you've been human?!"

Trevor trembled slightly at seeing this unexpected change in personality. "Y-yeah," he hesitantly responded, "I've only been a Meowth for a year now. I, um, was a human before coming here."

"And you never thought to tell me until now?!"

"I... was going to tell you eventually! I just didn't know how you would react! It just never seemed like the right time..."

Rin's glare only intensified as he began pacing around the cave, his face strained with silent agony. Trevor could barely detect a hint of fear buried amidst this sea of newfound animosity.

"I... umm..." Trevor found himself struggling to find what to say once again.

'Hey, calm down!' Aiden interjected, "It doesn't really matter whether Treph's a human or not-"

'It does matter!' Rin suddenly screamed with a voice that seemed to echo for minutes. "To think I've been associating with a... human this whole time! How could I have possibly been so stupid?!"

Neither Trevor nor Aiden had a response Following an eternity of thinking, Rin slung his blades, then propelled himself towards the cave's exit. His face was wracked with anguished guilt as he took one final look at his teammates.

"Don't bother looking for me. I'm done," he declared stiffly.

'After all we've been through,' Aiden muttered, "You'd really just leave us? Just like that?"

Rin remained completely silent, continuing to stare aimlessly while shaking his head. With one final sigh, Rin turned his back on the pair and wordlessly exited the cave.

-

After a long, sad journey across the Lush Continent, both Trevor and Aiden finally found themselves back in the familiar plains of their cozy home, Trevor's heart sagging along the ground as he trudged along.

'You good, Treph?' Aiden asked concernedly as they began nearing their destination.

"Yeah, I..." Trevor paused, then slowly shook his head. "No, not really. I don't know how I feel about what Uxie said, about this time-space thing. I'm not keen on being a product of these... anomaly-things. And why did Rin react so strongly to my humanity? It's because of me he left!"

"Don't say that," Aiden responded, "He just has his own issues that he needs to deal with- you can never really tell what's going on in that fool's head. You just gotta trust that everything'll work out-" The Scorbunny suddenly paused upon seeing a dense trail of smoke traveling along the shimmering night sky.

"That doesn't look good," she noted, "A smoke trail that big must mean a pretty nasty fire. ...Come to think of it, that trail looks like it's coming from-"

Aiden's expression instantly sank as she absentmindedly headed towards the source of the smoke trail, a slow lumber gradually building into a desperate sprint. Trevor could feel his heart rising up against his throat as he began following her, automatically beginning to assume the worst.

-

The pair were completely at a loss for words as they watched their their once homely, secure hut engulfed in a billowing wall of flames, furious sparks and clouds of smoke being violently hurled into the sky. Next to the charred, stripped framing which remained from Aiden's house stood a massive mob of Pokémon equipped with roaring torches and wild expressions. From Aiden's trembling lips emerged one, solitary whisper.

"...Why?"

'What do you mean, why?!' shouted a gruff voice from within the mob, "We should be asking you that! Why've you been housing that Meowth, knowing who he really is?! He's a human, he's dangerous!"

"And how would you know that?! You don't even know him!"

"We know that he's a human, we heard all about what Uxie said," responded a female voice, "Humans are not to be trusted, you should know this! They're evil, not of this world- their existence is a threat to us all! Take a look at the first human!"

"How do they know about Uxie?!" Trevor whispered in horror, "Rin... You wouldn't have..."

Aiden shook her head in bewilderment, "You'd really start a mob over some stupid story from several decades ago?!"

From the front of the ravenous crowd emerged a familiar Noctowl, his wrinkled eyes draped in solemn melancholy. "Step aside, and we'll let you go. It's only the human we're after."

"Aiden, I should..." Trevor started.

'No!' Aiden screamed defiantly, "Uxie never said anything about Trevor being a threat! You're all targeting the wrong thing here! Not all humans are dangerous!"

"Shut up! Just stand aside!" the crowd began chanting, several Pokémon raising their torches into the air in agreement.

"If you'd just-"

The crowd continued their relentless barrage of chants and jeers, which continued to crescendo into a deafening cacophony of insults, screams, and calls to action. Aiden's voice swiftly became inaudible amidst the noise, leaving her anger to steadily build with each failed attempt at reason.

"WHY CAN'T YOU IDIOTS JUST LISTEN?!"

Ignoring Aiden's protests, the growing mob of Pokémon began closing in on the pair with raised torches and expressions which made their ruthless intent clear. Taking Trevor's paw, Aiden sprinted as fast as she could manage away from the crowd, leading to a massive stampede to come chasing after them. The plains were filled with the deafening sound of jumbled, discordant footsteps before being left with the harsh crackle of wood and grass still overtaken by the onslaught of consuming flames.

END OF CHAPTER 7