Layne and Pyro braced themselves as the Stoneship impacted with a path that lead up to Temporal Tower. As soon as that happened, Layne and Pyro got of the Stoneship carefully and began to walk up the path. As they walked up, they both ate a couple berries that were simply called oran berries. Layne had eaten these before. He didn't know what was in them, but it gave energy to you if you felt weak.. They acted almost like Tylenol on steroids. And as they walked up, Layne felt his strength renewed. Layne looked up, Temporal Tower was as big as the skyscrapers back home, only...it looked aged. But it also looked well cared for...
That was...at least until they got a closer look. Parts of the tower were cracked, or even missing. And debris littered the base of the tower in a way to make Layne think the worst was finally happening. Layne looked up. The top of the tower was glowing red in the sky, like it was directly in the eye of a storm, only, it wasn't so much a storm...or was it?
"Do...do you think it's starting to..." Pyro began.
Thunder clapped. As it clapped, the ground shook and a piece of the tower fell, missing them both.
"This is bad." Layne said. "It's starting to collapse. We have to hurry."
"Looks like quite a climb." Pyro said.
"All the more reason to get going." Layne said. With that, they looked at each other, and smiled. "No turning back now." Layne said. With that, they went in.
Layne still felt pain now in his current situation. Grovyle was gone, forever now. His first friend, since coming to this world. And soon, Layne would be gone forever. Layne still had not breathed a word of this to Pyro. He would have to sometime. He didn't know what would happen. The bag of the five Time Gears, was in his bigger bag, which was always by his side. His goggles, were on his forehead, as they always were, and the necklace of Autumn's mother was around him. And Pyro was by his side. His Relic Fragment was currently not with him, it was still in the Rainbow Stoneship. When Pyro placed it in, it almost became one with the Stoneship as it activated, and could not be removed. Which was probably a good thing, for if it were removed, the chances were the Stoneship would probably just fall down to the ground, and strand both Layne and Pyro here, or take them with it.
Layne sighed. They had to keep up. If they dawdled any further...
Thunder clapped. Layne looked out. He could see the world where they had just come from. The area around Brine Cave...he could no longer see it, because the area had gone pitch black. "It's starting..." he thought to himself.
Pyro saw it too.
"We cannot stay here." Layne said. "Let's find the room in which the Time Gears go, and finish our job!"
Uxie drifted around Fogbound Lake's water. A couple days ago, to his surprise, Grovyle had returned. Uxie had not detected his approach as he did earlier. And had Uxie right then and there, not received a telepathic message from Azelf, another fight would have ensued. Now, Uxie, Mespirit, and Azelf were depending on Grovyle, and Hydro Pyro, to help put a stop to time's paralysis.
Thunder clapped overhead. Uxie looked up.
The clouds were starting to roll in on themselves, and they gave way to something that made Uxie for the first real time in his life, feel dread, and fear.
"It...it's starting..." he said to himself.
Down below, the forest itself began to...get restless. A strong wind blowed, pokémon fled in terror, and there was even an earthquake. Uxie breathed, and closed his eyes.
The wind died down. Up in the sky, a spreading darkness began to rapidly approach. Everything the darkness enveloped, suddenly froze...
Uxie sent one last telepathic message to his brother and sister.
"It's starting. Fogbound Lake is about to be enveloped completely...goodbye..."
As soon as he sent that, the darkness swallowed Uxie, and he knew nothing more.
The land around him...now was silent...
Layne and Pyro had been climbing Temporal Tower now for about an hour. They had felt tremors about eight times now. Each more powerful than the last. And they were getting frighteningly more common.
Layne knew Pyro would wasn't a break soon, but they both knew they could not linger.
Layne still felt slow in spirit though. He had to tell Pyro. He had to tell him about what he knew. About what they were doing, and what would happen, once it was done. Pyro knew so much, yet so little. Layne sighed and stopped. He was going to tell him now. He couldn't shake it any longer.
"Layne, something wrong?" Pyro asked, reading the look on Layne's face.
"Here goes nothing..."
"Listen, Pyro...I-"
Thunder clapped immediately, and pink lightning struck the wall behind Layne. The floor beneath Layne gave way, and Layne, before he knew what was happening, was starting to fall, hundreds of feet below. At least he would have fallen, had Pyro not reacted as quick as he did, he quickly grabbed Layne's paw, and held hugged the floor, keeping hold of Layne.
"Layne!" Pyro shouted. "Hold on! I'll pull you up right now!"
Lightning flashed again, forcing Layne to look up. They had to be close. The top of the tower...was very much close. But Lightning struck the top of the tower, causing more of the tower to collapse. Rocks fell everywhere around Layne. He closed his eyes, praying that it would all pass.
A roar was heard. A roar of insanity, and driven rage.
"Wh-what was that?" Pyro asked.
Layne knew that roar well. He had heard it twice, and he knew Pyro knew it well too. He suddenly felt the rain come. A small drop hit him in his shoulder. Layne looked up to Pyro and said, "Pull me up, and hurry before more lightning strikes this tower.
Pyro nodded and began to pull with all his might. Layne reached up as well and pulled himself up when he grabbed the edge of the floor. When he was safe, they took a short breather.
"That was close..." Pyro said.
"Tell me about it..." Layne said looking over the floor, below. It was much higher than he thought. He had forgotten just how high Temporal Tower really was. It was a tower, floating in the sky. If Layne fell, there wouldn't be a chance of survival.
"Good thing you're okay. I...I don't know what I'd do without you, Layne.
Without him. Layne once again had lost the heart to tell Pyro what would happen. It was probably the best for now. Because if he told him now, Pyro might not have the motivation to finish what they came to do. And they couldn't afford that.
Layne stood up. "We better keep going. If-"
A noise came from the other room, as well as a few flashes.
"What's that?" Pyro asked.
Layne didn't know, but said, "Perhaps it's the room we've been looking for...
Azelf knew that outside the cave right now, there was chaos. Because there was chaos within the cave as well. Uxie, and Mespirit, were now both frozen in Time. 30 minutes after Uxie gave the telepathic message to them both, Mespirit contacted Azelf about the North Desert. She tried to escape, but Azelf hadn't been able to contact her, which meant she had probably failed i her escape. Who could escape this? Some pokémon were managing to go to areas already enshrouded in darkness, without suffering the effects of time's paralysis, but a lot were not so lucky. Though you didn't want to be in the darkness, the light was not the place to be right now. Azelf sighed. He was beginning to feel the disturbance outside the cave. Soon it would be over.
the three lakes and perhaps other places were now completely frozen in time and enshrouded in darkness. If those three pokémon didn't hurry...the world would look like this.
Azelf didn't know what it would be like to be frozen in time. Would he perhaps be able to see his brother and sister in spirit?
...
Azelf sighed.
"If that's the case...I'm coming, brother and sister. I'm coming..."
The darkness then came into his waters, and he felt the darkness consume him. For one moment...it felt awful...but then he felt at peace...
Layne and Pyro entered the room. The sky was everywhere. There ere pillars supporting the remaining floors overhead, however some of these pillars had collapsed. Layne hoped they stayed supporting the other floors, because he knew that time was running out for Temporal Tower. Layne would rather not die by being crushed by a collapsing roof on top of his small body.
Lightning once again flashed. The slight drizzle began to pick up. Pyro felt this and said, "You think this is it?"
"Hang in there, Pyro..." Layne said.
Then more lightning flashed. The sky up above was the red eye of the storm formation. And from the hole in the sky, the pink lightning was flashing ever more brightly. The clouds also began to swirl.
They didn't have much time.
Another tremor.
Layne and Pyro hugged the floor for dear life, hoping that the tower would hold for just a few minutes more. It had to! They were so close...so close to finishing this mission, so close to everything going back to normal...
Then Layne caught sight of something. A set of stairs leading up to a wall...which pulsed in red energy.
"What...what's that?" Pyro asked.
Layne smiled. "We're here, Pyro.
He knew this because above the stairs was a tone circle, with five indentions
in it. Each shaped exactly like a Time Gear.
"Pyro. Those five slots." Layne said. "I'm putting my money on those slots being where the Time Gears go. I think it's time we finish...our mission."
Pyro smiled. "We did it Layne. We're here, and now we're about to stop what we came to stop."
"Indeed, we are." Layne said, forcing a smile, though deep down, he knew that his heart was starting to tear apart.
However his thoughts were shaken away when he heard a slight fall of a pebble.
"Did you hear something?" Layne asked.
"Layne, this place is about to collapse, it could have been-"
Suddenly, lightning stuck right in front of Pyro. Pyro was forced back by the blast, but was okay. Layne ran over. "Pyro! You okay?"
"Pyro coughed, but nodded. "That was close. We'd better-"
An earsplitting roar sounded and Layne covered his ears as best as he could. Both Layne and Pyro looked up. On the ceiling, with his claws dug into the ceiling, was Dialga. His eyes glowed red, as he fixed his gaze on the pair. He growled deeply, and roared again.
No...this wasn't Dialga. Dialga in the painting they had seen, was lighter in color. This Dialga...was much darker, and pulsed with very angry red aura.
"Oh God..." Layne said. "Dialga...he's starting to go mad!"
"What will we do?" Pyro asked.
Dialga dropped and landed on the floor, causing the already unstable tower to shake some more. Layne balanced himself, and walked forward cautiously.
"Dialga...we mean no harm here! We have come to see that your tower remains standing! We are here to prevent time's paralysis, and-"
Dialga just roared again, and shot an attack at Layne, who jumped out of the way and rolled to the side.
"He's not listening!" Pyro shouted.
"I noticed." Layne said.
"Do you think...he's..."
Layne shook his head. "He can't be fully out of control. Part of him looks lie he's fighting it. But...one thing's for sure. As long as he's here, we cannot, complete our mission."
Pyro looked to Layne. "You can't mean what I think you mean. We don't stand a chance against Dialga."
"Never know until you try, Pyro." Layne said. "We have to do something..."
Pyro and Layne stood with locked eyes for a few moments, and then he nodded. "I'm with you Layne. I've always been with you, and I won't back down now."
Dialga roared and charged up another beam ready for an attack. Layne and Pyro looked and ran in separate directions. Layne jumped and powered up an Iron Tail move against Dialga's head, while Pyro aimed Flamethrower at Dialga's feet. Dialga reacted to the flame, but not so much to Layne's Iron Tail.
Dialga, in fact bashed his head against Layne and sent Layne down to the ground. Dialga was indeed powerful. He had earned such a fearsome position he had not been set in. But...they had to keep trying.
Pyro ran as Dialga charged. Layne saw this and charged up a Water Pulse to intercept with Dialga. The orb of water shot from his hands as he brought them down, and the collision with Dialga was huge, but still it had little effect. Layne didn't see this however, until the mist cleared, to show Dialga charging up an attack that hit Layne square on in the chest. Pyro ran up to him. "You okay?"
The rain began to tall heavily. Layne suddenly felt his strength boost. "I'm fine." Layne said and he ran up to Dialga...in a speed he had not done before! He ran and jumped and summoned the water needed for Aqua Jet and torpedoed right for Dialga's head. Dialga didn't have time to react. Layne had never felt so alive. He felt fast and strong with this sudden boost of energy. Pyro, though standing in the rain, smiled at Layne. "I forgot all about this! Layne, you're affected by the rain, and you get stronger and faster!"
Layne landed that attack, and looked to Pyro, "Really?"
"Layne! Look out!" Pyro shouted.
Layne ran just in time to miss Dialga use a Metal Claw attack which took out the wall behind Layne. Layne met up with Pyro, and looked at him. "You okay in this weather?"
"I'll manage" Pyro said. "I cannot let the rain slow me in our mission!"
Layne nodded, thanking Pyro for his strength to pull through. They both had to pull through!
Dialga then charged another beam attack and hit the wall behind them, while they conversed. Layne covered his head as boulders fell around him. Lightning flashed in the sky multiple times. Layne took one look outside the tower. The world was getting darker...
"We don't have time for this..." Layne said to Pyro, as he once again jumped for Dialga...
The entire Guild had just witnessed the forest to the north go completely paralyzed. Their hearts were starting to sink. Everyone inside the guild had seen it too. Not one word was spoken. For the first time in Treasure Town's existence, there was five minutes of complete silence.
Then someone inside the guild screamed.
The guild turned to look at what they screamed about. Coming in from the sea, in the sky was what they were all afraid to see.
The clouds were parting, and the oncoming darkness was coming. The wind started to blow past them at a fast rate.
Corphish looked at the darkness, and raised his claws. "Here it comes! I'm not going to let it take me so easily!"
Sunflora and Loudred looked at each other, and also nodded, "We'll try something too!"
"Don't waste your energy..." Wigglytuff said, as he too looked on the darkness.
Everyone looked at him, "Guildmaster?"
Wigglytuff shook his head. "I applaud your efforts, and would gladly lend my assistance in stopping this horror if it were possible, but even I have nothing that will help stop this."
The Darkness reached the shores of Treasure Town...and began to envelop it all.
"Then...what can we do?" Chatot asked.
Wigglytuff shook his head, "Nothing. The fate of the world now lies with Layne, Grovyle, and Pyro. We must keep faith. Everyone. They are our friends. They will succeed! I know they will!"
Everyone looked at the guildmaster they had come to love and trust for so long, and nodded. They all turned to face the darkness. Autumn grabbed Bidoof's paw, and Sunflora's petal. Everyone followed in suite. "They will not let us down..." Autumn said.
Wigglytuff nodded. "They will succeed. I know they will..."
Five seconds later, the darkness engulfed the guild. Everyone inside and outside the guild was now frozen in time. All looked to the sea, in hopes that somewhere, three pokémon were doing all they could to prevent time's paralysis from spreading any further...
Layne was once again driven back by an enraged Dialga. Their attacks weren't working, and though the rain was here, Layne wasn't doing any damage to the ever growing more powerful, Dialga. The Darkness was consuming more of Dialga.
More lightning flashed in the sky. And a tremor prevented all pokémon from moving for almost thirty seconds. A huge chunk of Temporal Tower's middle section fell to the ground below, and Dialga roared in a fury, and two fissures appeared in the ground.
Layne regrouped with Pyro and said, "It's coming on too fast. We're not doing enough damage to get through to the tablet over there."
Pyro nodded. "We have to do something. We...we ...I don't know!"
The thunder clapped again and more rain came down. Pyro's tail dimmed.
"Pyro...are you okay?"Pyro nodded. "I can't afford to be weak Layne, or this is for nothing..."
Layne looked at Dialga as he set foot on the floor again.
Pyro then looked to Layne. "Layne, I have an idea. We don't ned to defeat Dialga, we just need to get the Time Gears in place over there! We have to distract him, and while he's distracted, we place the Time Gears in."
Layne nodded, "Sounds good, how do we go about doing that?"
Pyro thought fast and said, "This rain's going to help you go faster. I'll run interference on Dialga. Meanwhile, you go and take the Time Gears to the Tablet. Put them in, and let's go home!"
"Pyro..." Layne sad, "If this keeps up, we may not be able to go home..."
"Then we'll at least stop time's paralysis. I'll run interference."
Layne grabbed Pyro's arm.. Pyro was getting weak, and his tail was dim. "Pyro!" Layne said giving him a serious look. Dialga was now just feet away. "You sure about this?"
Pyro said, "We don't have any time or alternatives, Layne."
Layne eyed Pyro and nodded, and said, "Be careful..."
"Trust me..." Pyro said, and as Dialga was about to tackle, Pyro jumped underneath Dialga, and burned his underbelly and started running, shooting more flame behind him.
Dialga was enraged and gave chase. Layne took out the sack of Time Gears, and threw his bag on the ground, and made a break for the Tablet. He ran up the stairs and looked at the tablet. Yes. The Time Gears had to go here. He opened up the sack, and pulled out three. They felt cold to the touch but pulsed with energy.
One was put in.
Four more to go.
Layne inserted the second one.
Pyro saw this and smiled and shot a few more attacks to keep Dialga busy. The plan was working!
Layne inserted the third, and reached in for the fourth, and inserted it.
Dialga finally saw what was happening, and with a roar, charged Layne. Layne never saw him coming, and Dialga bit into Layne and as Layne shrieked in pain, he was tossed against the wall. Before he had time to recover, or even hit the ground, Dialga pinned him against the wall with one of his feet. All the air left Layne.
Pyro saw this and worried at once about Layne. "Layne!"
Layne could barely breath, and he felt blood trickling down his beat body. But he managed to free his hand which still held onto the sack with the one last Time Gear in place. "Pyro!" he said, and tossed the sack. "Go! Now!"
Pyro caught the sack. "What about-"
"Damn it Pyro! Do it! DO IT NOW!" Layne shouted as another tremor began to rock the tower, and Dialga's mouth began to glow a bright white. Layne could only guess this was it for him. Pyro had to succeed.
Pyro tossed the sack aside after he took out the last Time Gear. He ran up the stairs...and slammed the Time Gear into place!
The tablet glowed a bright white, which blinded Pyro and sent him tumbling down the stairs, as the tremor grew worse. Layne also saw this light and shut his eyes.
Lightning began to strike the tower multiple times, and even struck Dialga, who let Layne drop to the ground. Layne fell and coughed hard as he landed on all fours. He lifted his head, only to feel a shock wave come forth which knocked him to his back. And he knew nothing more...