Chapter 10: Quick Sand, Flying Sand, and Shooting Sand
A few days later, the apprentices and workers gathered for the daily meeting. And to their surprise, Drakken the Dusknoir was there as well. "Okay everyone, you know the situation," Charlie the Chatot stated. "A mysterious Grovyle is stealing Time Gears from secret places all over this region. The thief must be apprehended and we have decided that the best way to do so would be to seek the Time Gears for ourselves. However, we don't know where the Gears are located. But the generous Drakken has agreed to help us in this search."
"Please, it is no trouble," Drakken said politely. "It is in everyone's best interest that the thief be stopped quickly."
"So we all must work together!" Bartleby cheered.
"Now, after consulting Drakken and looking over records, we have picked out locations that may be hiding a Time Gear. Many explorer teams will be in and around our Guild and will also help us in searching these mysterious places. You will have to be attentive, as the other Time Gears may be guarded against discovery. Even our Guildmaster and some of our own were fooled at Fogbound Lake."
Team Marmalade looked at Bartleby, who smiled. They still hadn't said anything, and had agreed not to until they could speak to Uxie again. They wanted to assure him that it was so.
"Of course, you are free to chose a place to explore on your own or, if they agree, go with one of the other groups. But we would like as many places checked out as quickly as possible. And, as always, keep a cautious eye out for Grovyle. Uxie is a legendary Pokemon of the Psychic type, a powerful Pokemon in his own right. So this thief must be very strong."
After the meeting, nearly everyone went upstairs. The work floor was crowded with various Pokemon checking out the list of locations to be searched. "There's over thirty locations listed!" one Weavile said. "How many of these Time Gears are there?"
Trey tried to keep himself from looking at the Weavile, even though she was obviously quite different than Bloody Claw the Sneasel. "So what are we going to do?"
"I want Sally to look over the list," Stacy said.
She gave Stacy a questioning look.
"Well you sense things; maybe one of the names will jump out at you."
"We don't want to trigger her headaches around all these people," Trey pointed out. "But who knows? It'd probably be as good as any choice we make."
Sally shrugged, then carefully moved through the crowded room. That was another advantage to having her get close; other Pokmeon were more likely to give her space. After kneeling down to check the list, she came back over and made some signs.
"Northern Desert," Trey translated. "Let's find it on the map and then prepare to head out."
"Good plan," Stacy said.
"Is it me, or are those two getting along really well lately?" Kip mumbled to himself as he watched his teammates go out to prepare. Then he chuckled and sought out a less crowded spot to wait for them.
Northern Desert was a wide open Mystery Dungeon. There were few walls, but that actually made things worse. There were seemingly endless sandstorms blowing over the bleak sandy landscape. Because of this, they couldn't tell what much of the place looked like due to the flying sand.
In a moment where they caught a quiet spot by a wall, Stacy said, "Well this is certainly as protected as the lake, but with sandstorms instead of fog."
Trey had the compass and map, to observe their progress. "We've crossed a lot of ground, but where to now?"
Sally clapped for their attention, then showed Stacy something with her power.
"You feel like you recognize this place?" she asked. "And you felt the same way about the way up to Fogbound Lake?"
She nodded then signed.
"She thinks she feels the same kind of aura that the last Time Gear had," Trey said. "Where?"
She pointed, then added, "The sands seem to be swirling around, maybe that place."
"That could be," Stacy said.
"That means the sand will get thicker the closer we get," Trey told them.
"Is everybody ready for it?" Stacy asked.
"I'll just keep my mouth shut," Kip said. "But the daggone sand keeps flying in my ears! My poor skin."
"Well?"
"Yeah, yeah, let's get going."
Sally helped them by crouching down and crawling alongside them. Her armored skin then gave them a slight break in the gritty wind. Still, the bits that got through hurt.
At one point, they seemed to encountered an almost solid wall of sandstorm, roaring so loud that they couldn't hear each other. But once they passed through that, there was nothing. Inside the sandstorm, there was stillness, even quiet.
"This is eerie," Stacy said. "You don't expect to have this kind of calm in the middle of a storm."
"No, that's exactly what you find in the largest of storms," Kip told her. "This would be the eye, a place of dead calm." He twitched his tail. "And of a giant quicksand pit."
As they looked, a geyser of sand burst up, sending a fountain of sand around it. But then all the sand got dragged into a funnel shaped depression. It looked like a whirlpool of the ground.
"There isn't anything like a Time Gear here," Stacy said. "Now what?"
Sally went over and put her hands in the pit. After feeling the sand move, she pointed down.
"What in the name of Arceus?" Kip asked. "You want us to jump in that?"
She nodded.
Trey observed another sand geyser. "You know, she might be right. This isn't how normal quicksand looks like."
"Normal quicksand?" Kip asked skeptically.
"Quicksand is caused by water rising up between fine-grained sand. This is something different. And those sand geysers, those are different too. This is more like an ant lion's pit, which is a microbug that digs itself into a hole like this and eats those that fall in. There could be a cavern below this."
"Or a giant ant lion," Kip pointed out.
"But there's no jaws sticking out, so probably not."
Sally decided that was that. With her breathing mask over her face already, she jumped into the pit and rather quickly vanished.
"Sally?!" Stacy called out, going to the edge of the pit.
"It must be a pretty big cavern if she fell all the way in," Trey said. "Do you trust her?"
Stacy nodded after a second. "Yes. I trust all of you." Then she, Trey, and Kip jumped into the quicksand pit.
Sally clapped as they came down on a pile of soft sand, then went back to brushing sand particles out of her long hair. There was a cave here, oddly lit with glowing white crystals. Since everyone seemed okay, the team set off to explore the cave system.
The cave was long, with sandy tunnels, sandy geysers, and sandy falls. The white crystals kept the tunnels filled with a soft light, so that it was never a problem seeing. Sometimes, a sandstorm would brew even down here. If they thought they could wait it out, they tried.
After what seemed like hours, they came to an open space that had hardly any sand at all, just a coating of fine-grained white sand on the floor. "Can we call it a night?" Kip asked. "I'm worn down."
"That sounds like a good idea," Stacy said. "It seems like we've been here a long time."
While they were settling down and having dinner, the group talked happily. At one point, Sally clapped her hands, then opened her Treasure Bag. She pulled out four woven bands of colorful threads and passed three of them out.
"Oh, these are pretty," Stacy said, putting hers on by hooking the loop onto one of the buttons. "What're they for?"
Sally explained and then Trey had to pass it along. "She says they're friendship bracelets, a sign of how we care for each other and representing the color that friendship brings to life. Sally, that's really nice of you."
"And absolutely true," Kip said, showing an unusual amount of gratitude.
They camped, and then after they all woke up, they went deeper into Quicksand Desert. In order to make the search go faster, the team split up, with Sally and Kip going down one passage while Stacy and Trey went down another. After passing through more sandy tunnels with more sandstorms, and unfortunately less light crystals, the latter pair came upon a surprise.
"There's a lake, here underground?" Stacy asked.
"Yeah," Trey said. "It's pretty common, actually, but most people don't go deep enough in caves to see… look, there's a glow out there!"
As there had been at Fogbound Lake, the desert lake had a dome of light in the center, in the distance. It had a pale green glow. Under its light, tiny quartz crystals in the rock walls and under the water's surface sparkled like more precious diamonds. But the glow didn't extend fully around the lake, making it look like an endless lake of darkness.
"That must be a Time Gear," Trey said.
"Hold it!" a voice made shrill by anger said. From the water, a small pixie Pokemon shot up. She looked similar to Uxie, but of a pinkish-red color. And she looked mad. "It's you!"
"Huh?!" Stacy said, drawing into herself in being startled. "What about us?"
"You two ruined Uxie and stole the Time Gear he had, didn't you? He shouldn't have trusted you." She clenched her fists and lashed her tails around.
"No we didn't," Trey said. "We met him, but…"
"He told me about your intrusion and how you were the only ones who could have known. And now he's dead because of you!"
"N-No, he's not dead," Stacy said, confused now. "He's in Treasure Town's…"
"Shut up! I haven't felt him in five days! Now I'm going to ruin you!" An insane and murderous glint came to Mespirit's eyes.
Stacy and Trey were afraid. However, before they could decide on what to do or before Mespirit could make her first move, something behind her made her gurgle in pain. A pale Grovyle had snatched the legend, giving her a nasty looking wound across her throat. After he let go, she collapsed onto the ground. The Grovyle had a pretty bad scar between his eyes that was unmistakable. "I'm sorry," he told the legendary Pokemon on the ground. "But it must be done; I need that Time Gear."
"Hey!" Stacy came out of her shell and stepped forward. "You're not taking that Time Gear!"
"You two are going to stop me?" the Grovyle asked skeptically.
"Yeah, we will," Trey insisted.
"Fine."
Before either of them could notice him attacking, a pair of leaf blades crashed into them. How did he attack them so fast, Trey wondered. This Grovyle could have kept pace with the Gabite from Labyrinth Cave.
"This is more important," the Grovyle said, then dropped into the lake to swim after the Time Gear.
"Hey, guys!" Kip and Sally ran into the cavern. "What the heck happened here?"
Stacy seemed to be unconscious. "The Grovyle," Trey said. "He went in… the lake."
"Oh ****, then we don't… Sally, is there a warp panel?"
She nodded and pointed to the left side. She then picked up Stacy and Mespirit, while Kip helped Trey to the panel. As they started to leave, they saw a weird ripple race through the air. In the Quicksand Caves, time had completely stopped.
Uxie was well enough to get around the hospital. He came into the room that his sister was in. Because she had been attacked at the neck, her body was eerily still. And the cast didn't look that comfortable. "Mespirit."
"Uxie?" She opened her eyes weakly. "You're alive… and me?"
"It was close, but the doctor is good. You should be able to move again in a couple of days."
"Oh. I'm sorry. I'm blamed those guys who showed up at your lake first. I didn't know it was the Grovyle."
He put his hand on her head. "I've had a hard time focusing enough to send a message. I'm sorry I didn't get in touch with you in time."
"What about…?"
"I don't know."
"Hiya!" A Wigglytuff came into the room, followed by a white-haired human. "Ooo… should we stay out?"
"No, it's fine. You did keep your promise?"
Bartleby and Sally nodded. "Always do, always do. And I trust Team Marmalade. They're good Pokemon. And a human." He smiled at her. "Also, I have heard from my staff that telepathy is a pain to do in the past week. Even the wise librarian doesn't know why."
"So it isn't just me," Uxie said.
"He says it dissipates at a distance of, oh, about at the Hot Springs."
"I see. I feel a bit weak… would you mind escorting me to this Hot Springs?"
"No trouble. No trouble at all!"
"Good, thank you Guildmaster Bartleby. I'll tell you…"
"Are you sure about that?" Mespirit asked.
"He's in danger, even if I can warn him. So… but if you would, would you only send Team Marmalade in? I have felt their intentions, and I have seen them battle with my inner eye." He looked to Sally. "I trust you four."
"Okay! Easily done. We'd best ask Blissa, though. She don't like it when I sneak off with her patients."
"I understand." He patted his sister. "You get some rest and heal up."
"Right." She smiled. "She does look like Darkrai. Weird. I haven't heard about him in a long time, though. I haven't heard about anybody…"
"We might have to go looking when we're better," Uxie said.
Bartleby and Uxie left to speak to the doctor. Sally went over to Mespirit's bed and knelt down. After making a few signs, she paused, then put a hand to her forehead. Then she touched the pixie.
"What is it?" she asked. "I'm sorry about getting mad at you. But it was..." she paused, then looked at Sally's eyes. They seemed oddly blank.
Mespirit blushed. "Oh my gosh, I'm sorry. You picked me up when I was unconscious, didn't you?"
She nodded.
"Usually I have better control over that, but I was out cold... the three of us aren't much for fighters, actually, but the powers that we hold are extremely important. They make civilization possible. So we have these curses in case anyone tried to hurt us. The thief seemed to know what he was doing, as he didn't keep hold of me long. But I can drain emotions from people through touch. I can fix that, though, if you don't mind touching my gem."
Sally did so, and after a moment, she smiled.
"I'm sorry again. Uxie has the worst of it, though, since his only form of control is keeping his eyes closed constantly." Mespirit yawned. "But now I need to get to sleep.." she dozed off as soon as she stopped speaking.
After Sally got up, her Dimensional Scream ability activated. She stepped back and waited for it to clear. But then she had a great deal more to worry about. Mespirit's other brother was in grave danger.
Trey and Stacy had healed up faster than Mespirit. On the third evening that they had been there, they were released to go back to the guild. They walked along the paths there, but Trey noted that Stacy was moving slowly. "Is something the matter?" he asked.
"I've been thinking about something." She stopped near the well at the crossroads. "I don't know if I want to continue with the guild."
"What?" Trey asked, startled. "But you love being an explorer. You've said it was always your dream to be doing this."
"It is, but…" her head slipped back, not fully in her shell, but close. "It's my brothers. I always knew this kind of work was dangerous. My dad, he got killed on an exploration. I still wanted to do it, but then I got to thinking while I was in the hospital… I promised my brothers that I'd always be there for them. I was thinking about what would happen if I didn't come back and they were left alone, and I just don't want that to happen."
"Oh, Stacy." He put his arm around her shell. "It wouldn't be the same without you."
"I know," she admitted, her voice trembling. "I'm your leader and I really shouldn't abandon the group. But I have to think of my brothers too."
"Are you sure about this?"
She looked to Trey, but quickly felt guilty about leaving him and the others again. She kind of wished that he wasn't being so supporting, as that would make things easier to leave the Guild. "No," she admitted. "I feel really confused and awful about the whole thing. I don't even care about that Grovyle thief; he just made me notice what kind of trouble we could get into, and I don't want to hurt anyone over my failings."
"I don't think you're failing at anything," Trey said. "Hey, why don't we go talk to your brothers and see how they feel, okay? If you're really going to quit, it's your choice… but you should think on it some more."
She gripped his paw. "Okay."
They had arrived while everyone else was eating dinner, but bowls of food were quickly brought out for them too. It was a potato dish tonight; after the rather bland food at the hospital, it was a good change of pace for them. Sally, Kip, Matti, and Azeri ate with them.
"Was the Grovyle really scary?" Azeri asked, half spooked and half keenly interested.
"Yeah," Stacy said. "He was really fast too; we didn't have any time to block or dodge his attack. He even got the Psychic Mespirit by total surprise. I wouldn't believe it except that it happened to me."
"Gosh," Matti said. "I'm glad you're okay now."
"Yeah, me too." Stacy felt, for a moment, that she should quit and be with her brothers; it had obviously upset them for her to get hurt badly. But then, on seeing her teammates, she wanted to stay with them too. Why did this decision have to be hard? It had seemed so easy initially.
"Hey, is there any salt around?" Trey asked, looking around the table.
"Um, there was," Matti said.
"Mimen has it," Flora said.
"Mimen!" Trey called, "Could you please pass the salt?"
The Mr. Mime was carefully tapping the shaker. "Hang on," he said. "I've almost got it."
"He has to get exactly the right number of grains in order to eat his food," Flora said, shaking her head.
"HEY MIMEN!" Larry shouted.
"Larry, not at the dinner table," Chiaka complained.
Mimen shot him a dirty look. "Now look at what you made me do! I've got too much salt on my potatoes." He sighed, then passed the shaker down the table to Trey.
"You're welcome," Larry chuckled.
Later, Stacy talked with her brothers about what she was considering. "But you like exploring," Azeri said.
"Yeah, we wouldn't want to stop you from doing that," Matti added.
"But I hate making you guys worry about me," she told them. "I'm supposed to be taking care of you."
"You are taking care of us, in a way," Matti said. "Besides, remember what dad always told us? He said that as much as he loved being an explorer, he always thought of us and made sure to do things that we would be proud of. I'm sure you do too."
"Of course I always think of you."
"And we're proud of you," Azeri said. "You were strong enough to beat Uxie's illusion! That's really strong."
Stacy smiled. "Thanks, boys. I won't disappoint you."
