Layne was awoken after a terrible sleep. When he'd finally managed to fall asleep, he had forgotten almost all that had happened. In fact, it was almost as if he had been thinking the whole thing itself was a dream. He was sleeping, in some cold place on the beach of Seattle again, having a weird dream because he had one too many sips of bad alcohol. However, when Grovyle shook him awake, and he saw the face of Grovyle, and the endless darkness, Layne grunted. He guessed he was thankful to be away from Earth, but if it meant as little sleep as he'd get, he'd have to get used to things quick.

He sat up slowly, rubbed his eyes, and looked at Grovyle. "What's up?" he asked groggily and slowly.

He had a fast reaction as Grovyle tossed an apple at him. "Breakfast. Sorry it's not much, but-"

Layne had already taken a bite. "Please. This, to me, is a meal."

Grovyle closed his eyes and ran out of the cave. Celebi floated next to Layne. "We think Sabeleye are onto us. We have to leave quickly."

Layne took another bite from the apple. "Where's he off to?"

Celebi watched Grovyle run off, "He's scouting the surrounding area. He has excellent strategy and excellent ways of stealth and escape."

"It would seem like it." Layne said, swallowing another chunk of the apple.

Layne finished the apple, then stared into space for the next few minutes, deep in thought. Grovyle returned. "They're on our tail. It would seem they are looking for you, Layne"

Layne looked up. "Me? Why would they look for me?"

"Perhaps they are aware of what happened last night." Grovyle said.

"So, what, I'm a target?" Layne asked.

Grovyle shrugged. "Perhaps, perhaps not. Perhaps their only reason of locating you is the fact that you are a stranger in this world. There are two things important however. The first and foremost thing, is that they don't have any knowledge of the Dimensional Scream. Do they?"

Layne shook his head. "When I came here and saw those quick little midget things, the Dimensional Scream was the last thing on my mind."

Grovyle looked relieved. "Good. And the second thing, is that hopefully they don't know we've sided as allies. They may know that I fought to defend you, but I gave no hint we would side to them."

"Then wouldn't it be best if we split up?" Layne asked with a small shrug.

Grovyle shook his head. "Out of the question. I mean no hurt or offense, Layne, but your skills of defense are not at all that good." Layne gave a small exhale of annoyance. But it was true. Layne barely knew how to fight. Grovyle continued. "Plus if they found you, their speed is faster. They could easily catch up to you, and take you to the stockade."

"Stockade?"

"Their fortress. I've been there once before. I'm lucky to be here. It was thanks to Celebi, I am here today."

Celebi blushed and giggled. "You did look kind of cute."

Layne canned his laughter only offering a small smile at that. Was Celebi, in love with Grovyle?

"Okay, so, these Time Gears," Layne said, getting up, "where do we start looking?"

Grovyle began. "We are close to an area we had high suspicion at one point held a Time Gear. A forest once known as Treeshroud Forest."

"Treeshroud Forest? Okay. Sounds simple enough."

"This one would be the more simple of the five."

Layne held up his hand. "Wait wait, how many time gears are there?"

"Five." Grovyle said.

"Five." Layne said in somewhat relief, yet somewhat annoyance. "And my guess is they're hidden separately, in areas, far from each other."

"You are correct."

"Dang." Layne said, scratching his head. "This is gonna be a long ride."

"Did you think it would be any easier?" Grovyle said in somewhat annoyance.

Layne held his hands up, "Chill out, Grovyle, I meant no offense whatsoever."

Celebi floated in between them. "We're wasting time, guys. Dusknoir and his Sabeleye are probably gaining some serious ground on us. We need to move!"

Grovyle stood his ground a few more seconds, before calming himself. "I'm sorry. Let's go."

Layne followed them out of the shallow cave and into the woods. It wouldn't be long before they'd enter this forest they were referring to.

"Over here, Dusknoir! We found something!" a Sabeleye shouted to Dusknoir who was standing overlooking an ocean, frozen in time. He turned and glided over to the discovery, which lay in a shallow cave. A fire pit. Dusknoir sighed. "We've seen fire pits before. What's so special about this one?"

One of the Sabeleye jittered in anxiety. "We've not seen one arranged in such a manner before!" Dusknoir took a closer look. That was true, but it wasn't that big. The Sabeleye continued, "Plus, look at the substance on the ground!"

Dusknoir leaned in close, careful not to disturb the dust on the cavern floor with his breath. Outside the pit were several small crumbs of silver scraps. He picket up a few, and smelled them, and even tasted them. "his substance is not of this world. I have never seen anything like it."

One of the Sabeleye jumped up in excitement. "What is it?"

Dusknoir let the silver crumbs fall to the ground. "I don't know, but it's obvious now, that a stranger really is here. And judging by the footprints that are outside this cave, Grovyle is with it."

"What are your orders now?" one of the Sabeleye asked.

Dusknoir crossed his arms. "We're going to find them. I wish to see this stranger for myself."

"Yes, sir!" and three Sabeleye ran off to scout ahead.

Dusknoir closed his one eye, and thought to himself, This ordeal may be more than we think, and if that's the case, we may need to dispose of them quickly before things go out of hand.

Layne, Grovyle and Celebi had been traveling through the woods for a good couple hours. They had been trying to activate Layne's Dimensional Scream, but with no luck. Grovyle looked like he was going to lose patience, and Layne was beginning to wonder if Grovyle doubted Layne had the ability. Was Layne doing something wrong?

"We've gone pretty deep into the forest, huh." Layne said, beginning to doubt himself as well.

Celebi looked back at Layne and giggled. "Don't look so down, even if you don't get a vision, it could just because we are mistaken that this place ever held a Time Gear."

Grovyle looked at Celebi. "Most of the research we've done of the past pinpointed this location as one of the points."

"Even we can make mistakes, Grovyle." she said in return. Grovyle was losing faith fast, he realized. Layne couldn't read minds, but he could feel it. Layne leaned on a tree and sat down.

This caught Grovyle's attention. "This is not a time to rest!" he said rather sharp.

Layne frowned. "Okay, seriously," he said pushing himself up using the tree as a support, "I can understand this is a desperate time and all but I wish I could get a little bit more respect here, I mean...I mean..."

Layne trailed off. Grovyle returned, "If you want respect, you're gonna have to earn it and-"

Celebi cut him off. "Grovyle look at him!"

Layne was not in a responsive phase. He appeared dizzy. He got to his knees, rubbing his head. Upon looking up, Layne didn't see the world he now was in. Time was not stopped. In fact, he could almost feel the wind of the trees, and a babbling brook at his feet. Layne stood up, and walked around. In front of him, was a small shallow pond. And at the bottom of that pond, was something of extreme importance. It's light shone like the sun, and the aura it gave was something unlike what Layne had ever felt before.

"What is this?" Layne asked himself, and reached out to touch it. But before he could make contact, the world around him blurred. Layne turned, and saw a wave of darkness heading his way at a fast rate. Before he could react, Layne was swallowed in the darkness, trapped!

Layne sat up in a harsh move. "Breathing fast and even sweating. Behind him, Grovyle was at a kneel, and Celebi hovering close by.

Celebi hovered closer to the now fully awake and alarmed human. Layne barely took notice of her, until he began to slow down his breathing to a normal rate, and finally settle down. "Layne, what happened?" she asked in a worried voice.

Layne wiped his face. "I...I saw it."

"What?" Grovyle asked, crawling to Layne's side.

"I saw...it! The, the thing...It was in front of me." Layne said clearer.

"Where?" Grovyle asked. "Where did you see it?"

"In a small pond. Shallow, and small, but recognizable."

Grovyle looked at Celebi. "Wasn't there an area close by that used to have some ponds? Go see if there's a sign anywhere near them! Anything! An imprint, strange aura, inscriptions..."

Celebi smiled and giggled, "See? Things are looking up already, Grovyle!" and she was off.

Layne couldn't believe what had just happened. He had seen the past. The darkness. The Gear. Everything.

Grovyle stood and said, "Just relax, Layne. The Dimensional Scream may be quite the burden and new experience for the body now, but I've heard that those with it get used to it quite fast."

"I saw it all."

"What exactly did you see?"

Layne sat up. "The Time Gear was in a pond, I was close enough to touch it and feel it's strange aura. But I turned around, and saw Darkness envelop the land, and ...and..."

"And what?"

"Creatures freeze like statues. The wind disappears. All the color I've been used to, just disappears. The Sun is in the sky, but it's blacked out darker than night...It all happened so fast..."

"The past is hard to see. It's hard to see such beauty gone forever."

Layne looked to Grovyle. "But it won't be gone forever, if we're successful, here, will it?"

Grovyle closed his eyes and looked down. "Exactly. The world will not have to go through such a terrible thing."

A voice rang from nearby. "Simply astounding."

Grovyle's eyes opened immediately and he was standing in front of Layne. Layne stood up, "Grovyle, what the hell was that?"

The voice sounded again. "Oh you don't know who I am? Didn't Grovyle tell you of me yet? I am Dusknoir."

Layne turned to look at Grovyle. Grovyle's arms were beginning to glow a bright green. Grovyle shouted, "What do you want, Dusknoir?"

Dusknoir finally entered Layne's view, arms crossed. Layne already didn't trust him. He looked like some demented form of a ghost. He could also have had some form of genie in the way he hovered above ground, but Layne didn't like the sound, appearance, or the overall feel for him. Dusknoir spoke, "Simply astounding. The stranger is a human. A human with the Dimensional Scream. And you've already activated it. I never thought I'd lay my eyes to such a...creature...in this world. You should know, human, that you are traveling with a wanted criminal."

"Can your stories, Dusknoir!" Grovyle shouted back.

Layne put a hand on Grovyle's shoulder. "Easy man, save your energy, we might need it." Layne then addressed Dusknoir, "Criminal or not, I'd rather travel with him than take my chances alone."

Dusknoir chuckled, "You could always just come with us."

"Yeah, that's not happening," Layne said, crossing his arms.

"A bit rash, aren't you, human?" Dusknoir said. "Me and my Sabeleye are well aware of what you could plan to do. You are traveling with Grovyle and Celebi, both wanted for their attempts of trying to change the past."

Layne nodded, "Yeah and I can see why they would want it changed. I can barely stand this place, myself. Makes Earth almost look like a paradise." he said with sarcasm.

"Nevertheless, I cannot allow you to go with them. You are going with us, one way or another, human."

At that moment, Sabeleye, at least a dozen of them, began to surround them. Grovyle's arms began to glow. Layne on the other hand, relaxed and focused. Grovyle gave Layne a look and said in annoyance, "Well, that certainly got their attention. Was that part of the plan?"

Layne looked at Grovyle, and simply said, "There was a plan?"

"We're going to need to work on this whole situation. I don't want to have to fight your battles for you every time we get into trouble."

Layne spat on the ground, "Then worry about yourself."

"And what about you?" Grovyle asked. "Last time you were in this situation, you didn't last that long at all."

"Don't remind me," Layne said, "and don't worry about it."

It was then that the Sabeleye began their attack. Grovyle fought off one after another. Layne, with more difficulty, also managed to stay on his feet, mostly evading attacks, more than attacking back. Layne, managed to also catch glimpses of Grovyle in action. Grovyle's form of combat was beautiful. His leaf growths from both his arms acted almost like blades, which sliced at the attackers. Layne didn't see it before, but he saw determination in Grovyle's face. Determination of a warrior who wouldn't give up, he'd give it his all to see his goal accomplished.

Through the confusion, Layne felt a claw go into his leg. Layne, didn't cry in pain or shout, but simply punched the Sabeleye away. It was then as he put a knee to the ground, he found another dead branch, which he used to defend himself.

The Sabeleye then began to back off on their attack somewhat, but not enough to the point where Grovyle and Layne could catch a breath. The Sabeleye were still deadly fast, and sometimes caught Layne off guard. It wouldn't be much longer before he would be too tired to go on. Grovyle began to see this, and as he fought off more Sabeleye managed to say, "Layne, get out of here! We can't afford to lose you!"

Before Layne could respond, he saw Dusknoir. Dusknoir looked like he was charging some form of energy attack. Dusknoir had somewhat of a small smirk, and he was looking right at Grovyle. Layne, seeing what was going to happen, shouted, "Grovyle, behind you!" Dusknoir released his attacks just as Grovyle looked. He had no time to react. Layne however did. Layne, through pain in his body, ran and dove at Grovyle, pushing them both out of the way of the energy attack. The ball of dark energy blinded the battlefield, upon impact with the ground.

As Layne got up after the explosion with Grovyle, he said, "I'm not gonna just leave you to deal with these creeps."

Grovyle looked at him, as if deep in thought, but got up as well and they stood back to back as the Sabeleye surrounded them once more. Layne then said, "Okay, do you have any ideas? We can't keep up with this much longer."

Grovyle blinked and simply said, "Hold on just a little longer, Layne. Just a little longer."

"Until what?" Layne asked.

Dusknoir nodded and the Sabeleye once again advanced. Layne braced himself.

It was then that Celebi teleported in. Noticing the trouble, she said, "Sorry to keep you two waiting."

Dusknoir, seeing her, called out "Hurry, get them, before they-"

Celebi teleported Grovyle, herself, and Layne out of the mess. Dusknoir sighed, but he crossed his arms. He was not at a full defeat. There was indeed a stranger here...a human none the less, and what was more, this human played a very big role in Grovyle's little resistance. Which meant, the human had to be taken care of. "Regroup fast. We must rid ourselves of this human, before they find the locations."

"Locations?" a Sabeleye asked.

"They've discovered the location of one of the five Time Gears. If they discover the location of the rest of them, it can make things for us, much more difficult."

Layne felt the ground beneath him again. "Whoa. I've never teleported before."

Celebi giggled. "You'll get used to it. We may need to teleport to further places away from Dusknoir."

"Where are we now?" Layne asked.

Grovyle stood up and looked around. "Outside Treeshroud Forest. Dusknoir and his Sabeleye are deeper in the forest. We have a head start to the next location. Celebi, did you find the location Layne saw?"

Celebi lit up, "There indeed was an area with a small inscription. I couldn't read it all but it sounded somewhat like 'what lies here, helps keep the flow of time balanced' or something like that."

"That's amazing! We've found a location, after all this time..." Grovyle said in low joy.

Layne gave a small smile, "I guess, but how awesome can a location be?"

Grovyle gave Layne a look and said, "Soon, you will understand better. We need to keep moving. We'll need to keep ahead of Dusknoir and his Sabeleye."

Layne stood up with some difficulty. "Dang, those Sabeleye pack a punch, don't they?"

"Are you badly hurt?" Grovyle asked coming over, and helping Layne keep balance.

"My leg's gone numb again." Layne said, trying to take a few steps. "I gotta get better at defending myself."

Celebi smiled. "I can help you!"

"At what, defending myself?" Layne asked.

"No, I can heal you," Celebi said. Her eyes then began to glow. A rainbow-like aura pulsed from Celebi, with a toning of a bell, or so it sounded. Layne, wasn't so sure what it was, but before he could ask, the pain in his leg was gone, and the feeling returned. Layne lifted his leg in amazement.

"Amazing..." he said in astonishment.

Grovyle, who was also stretching his injured arms looked at him. "Celebi's Heal Bell can work it's miracles."

"Heal Bell?" Layne asked.

Celebi giggled. "Yup! Feels pretty good, doesn't it?"

"Yeah." Layne said, still pretty amazed at the powers the inhabitants of this world could possess.

Grovyle spoke up. "If it's defense you wish to learn, I can teach you what little I know. Perhaps you can add it to what you already know of fighting and defending yourself, Layne."

"I'd appreciate it very much, Grovyle." Layne said with a nod. "It would help, especially since I can't summon no weird powers with this body of mine," he said with a small chuckle. He then had to ask, "How do you use those powers? I mean, how do you trigger them?"

Grovyle looked at him, and shrugged. "I've just had them since I was born. However when using them, you have to focus. I mean you focus on the move you use, and when it triggers, you feel it, and it does what you tell it to do."

"So it's like he force..." Layne muttered to himself.

Celebi spoke then, "We should hurry. There's rumor that one of the Time Gears was kept in Limestone Cavern! We should head there!"

Grovyle nodded. That would be a good guess as to where one would be kept. We've alrady discovered one location. Let's go."

Layne nodded. "I'm glad I am being some help after all." Layne began to follow Celebi.

It was then however, Grovyle said, "And Layne, thanks."

Layne stopped and turned back to Grovyle. "Thanks for what?"

"Back there," Grovyle said, "Dusknoir almost had me."

Layne chuckled and looked down, "Don't think of it. we're partners now, and we're no good to each other hurt, or dead. Plus, thought I'm not one of action, or acting rash, sometimes I can pull the rash moves out of the book."

"Nevertheless," Grovyle said, "I thank you. And I apologize for my behavior earlier."

Layne placed a hand on Grovyle's arm and said, "Think nothing of it. Let's go find Time Gear number two, shall we?"

"Absolutely."

With that, they ran after Celebi to catch up.