Chapter 18: Searching for the Time Gears Again for the First Time

Sally was signing, but most of her questions came through in her thoughts. "The past is my future and Trey and I must go there to fix how things went so that the darkness world never comes about. It is hard to think about. Wouldn't it go the way it already has?"

"That depends," Mewtwo told her. "Time travel makes some parts of history fluid, so that they change more easily. And the era you're heading to is unstable, so it would accept change better than most eras. But if you don't do something because it's already been done, it won't be done after all. I admit, it is a bit of a brain twister."

"The darkness as you describe it sounds hard to fight," she signed.

"It is, but I believe in you. You should stand against the darkness, without letting it take hold. We don't have many heroes left. Just you… and him."

Sally looked ahead to where Trey and Celebi were waiting. "I hope I can be a hero."

Mewtwo patted her. "Don't worry. I'm the one who trained you. You should do just fine."

She laughed.

"Well good to know that you're all in a good mood," Celebi said. "Okay, consider this your last phase of training for this mission. We're not completely sure where we can find the five misplaced Time Gears in the past. However, since you're going back to when the Tower was beginning its collapse, there should be either actual Gears or traces of them where they were. And we can't risk the Primals' interference, so we're just going to have to find the five now and hope they are all in place then."

Sally nodded. Unknown to her, she was the only one who did not know the five locations where Time Gears were in Trey's memory. It had been decided that, since they were altering time, there was a good chance that one of the Gears might be moved, or that one of the triplet Guardians could do something differently. In case of this happening, they wanted Sally to know the aura of the Time Gear through her Dimensional Scream ability. That way, if they were unable to find one, she could quickly rule out places or sense an area where a Time Gear actually was.

"So this is Mount Bristle," Mewtwo said. "It's said to have hidden dangers that could be lethal, so let me or Celebi examine things before you go using stuff."

There was, of course, no Time Gear at Mount Bristle. Nor at Mount Horn. But then they went to Treeshroud Forest, one of the two places that Trey had not entered himself. Although dark, it still tried to be green. "This place really was lovely before everything went to darkness," Celebi said, looking around with nostalgia.

"I can imagine so," Trey said.

Sally was fiddling with the leaves of a tree when her Dimenisonal Scream activated. She decided to show Trey. It showed Uxie and Azelf going along the same path they were. "It is the last Time Gear," Uxie said. "So hopefully everything will restart after we put this one in place."

"That would be good," his brother replied. "It's so unnerving to have my lake frozen by time, not by temperature. Isn't that right… Mespirit?" He looked around. "Mespirit!"

"Coming!" came a sing-song voice. She burst out of the trees. "Look at this, look at this! I found a pretty eggshell! I wonder what hatched from it."

"It is nice," Azelf said of the peach-colored speckled shell, somewhat relucatantly.

"That would be…" Uxie started.

"And don't you dare tell me what!" she said before he could tell. "It's more fun as a mystery." She moved ahead, humming happily. "Come on boys, we shouldn't be slacking."

"Says you," Azelf sighed.

"But it is nice, to be back together," Uxie said.

"Yes; I'm sure I'll miss this later on."

Trey told the others of what it was. "So one should be at the end of this."

"You should feel honored," Mewtwo said. "The Dimensional Scream seer can only show visions like that to those she trusts fully."

A level down, they came across a puzzle. There were two passages. Celebi said, "Well, in this case…"

"We should split up," Mewtwo interrupted. "You and Sally take the left passage. Trey and I will go down the right."

She gave him a questioning look, then something seemed to be communicated silently between them. What could it be? Trey knew that their telepathy was severely hampered by the overwhelming presence of darkness.

"Okay," Celebi said. "Come on, Sally." They went down the left passage.

Trey followed Mewtwo into the right passage. When they found the new level, the other two were nowhere to be seen. "So they lead to entirely different levels," Trey thought aloud.

"Correct," Mewtwo said, then attacked Trey with a burst of water.

Trey managed to dodge to the side. "What're you doing?"

"Training you," Mewtwo said, in the kind of authoritative voice that Bubbles used often. "The journals show that Uxie was attacked first, which I wholly agree with. He is the most intelligent, therefore the most likely to spring a trap if one of the other two were taken down first."

"I would rather not attack them," Trey said.

"We may rather it not happen, but I doubt that will be the case. It was their duty to guard the Gears they had and I know they would not agree to give them up to an unproven stranger. And as you are facing Uxie first, you should know that he senses intentions, so he will fight someone who approaches his lake meaning to take the Gear."

"Once I fight one of them, the other two won't be so agreeable either," Trey pointed out.

"Yes, so you need to be trained to fight a legend in a one on one battle." Mewtwo held a fist up. "I was specifically designed for battle; they were not. But if you cannot land a hit on me, or avoid what I send your way, you won't stand a chance against them. And once I know what you're capable of now, I might have a trick or two for you that will assist in this effort."

"All right," Trey said, and then was immediately attacked with Confusion.

It was rough, very rough. Mewtwo could teleport all over the place, firing off high powered skills that hit any poor sap that happened to be in the room with him. And the rumors were true; he could take light powered skills and knock lesser Pokemon out with one hit. Approaching him was more difficult than trying to dodge his magic, though. Even as silently as Trey could move, Mewtwo still sensed him and would be gone before an Energy Ball or Bullet Seed could touch him.

After ten minutes, Mewtwo appeared behind Trey and sent strong Psychic energy right into him. But it was some kind of healing skill, as Trey felt completely revitalized after it. "That's it for now," he said. "I'll get us to the others."

At the end of the forest dungeon, they came to a clearing which held the Time Gear. The only security seemed to be a scattering of stones, eerily like headstones. But the Gear itself was useless to them, having broken into many small pieces.

The one in Limestone Cavern was the same way, broken up and useless. But Sally seemed confident that she could sense them when they went back in time. Mewtwo managed to find times and places to battle Trey while they traveled. It never got any easier, although the Psychic Pokemon seemed to be in approval, enough that he taught him to add Dark-type energy to his leaf blades to hit the triplets harder. He also gave him a special Opal Band. "It will hide you from any mental senses that will try to find you if the physical ones do not work," he told Trey. "It's extremely rare as it is difficult to make. So do not lose it."

"I won't," Trey replied.


For the three dungeons with the triplet Guardians, Mewtwo and Celebi had Sally and Trey go in on their own. "You won't be able to have us with you in the past," Celebi said. "Our past selves are certainly there, but they won't know you."

"Okay," Trey agreed, as did Sally.

But in the Foggy Forest area, they started running into Primal Pokemon. That brought in the Sableyes. The first time they ran into them, Sally froze in fear. Trey tugged at her. "We can't stay still."

When she did move, it was at a quicker pace, and she hesitated any time they had to go even vaguely where they had heard the sinister giggling. "They came into town and slashed everybody," she signed at one point. "A whole big swarm of them. And then they burned every building to drive out any survivors. I was a little girl."

"You can fight them now," Trey told her. "But I want to avoid them as much as possible too."

Along the way, they found the glowing Drought Stone. Trey let Sally take it, then had her solve the statue puzzle to remove the fog on her own. It took her a little while to read through the footprint runes, then to solve the riddle. But when he congratulated her on solving it, she was beaming. Trey felt glad that he had allowed her to do that instead of just solving it himself.

They made their way up Steam Cave. The humidity and heat was horrible in the paralyzed air. At the end of it, they had to take a long rest break to cool down and regain energy.

When Sally woke back up from her nap, Trey gave her an Apple to eat. "Feeling better?"

She nodded. While she was eating, she paused a moment to sign, "Who's crying?"

The Grovyle shook his head. "I don't know. I've heard it too, but no one has come around. We should be careful."

Once they were done eating, they climbed up the stairs to Fogbound Lake itself. The once beautiful waters were now murky and still. In the middle of the stone platform, there was a curled up skeleton. From the red gem that remained in the forehead of the skull, this had to be Uxie. Trey felt unnerved when he saw this skeleton, although he wasn't quite sure why. Perhaps because it was alone.

Sally clapped for his attention. "I feel like one is in the middle of the lake," she signed. "Should we go look at it closer?"

"I wouldn't trust going in that water like I trust in your ability," Trey stated. "But it looks like someone lived here."

She nodded, then knelt down near the skeleton. She put her hand down and stroked the skull a few times. Then she cringed as one of her visions came to her. Trey patted her shoulder in support. After her mind cleared, she put her fingers over his eyes to show him what she'd seen.

Uxie looked over the ruined waters of his lake. He'd been sitting here under the dark skies for several… days? It felt like several lifetimes and only a couple of minutes at once. In all that time, the geyser did not spout, the waterfalls did not pour, and nothing moved save for himself and other scared Pokemon.

It didn't change. And he still couldn't understand why the Time Gear he had been set to protect had shattered like it did. It had done so shortly before the entirety of time stopped, paralyzing the whole planet. Now, the darkness was so dense that once again, he could not sense his siblings. Were they alive, safe, dead, or injured? Uxie didn't know. But the lake held onto his heart and he was reluctant to leave it.

At a roar, Uxie turned. He got a look at a darkly colored Dialga attacking him with a bite. Although afraid, he did expect to be able to teleport away. That wasn't to be. Dialga killed him in one blow.

The pixie's soul remained behind, though, shocked at what had happened. He could only watch as Dialga teleported away and as a silver glow burned all the flesh from his bones. After a bit, he realized that he was now trapped to wander around his corrupted lake, alone in the darkness.

Uxie began crying.

Trey shivered as his mind came back to the moment. He could hear the crying again. This time, it seemed to be nearby even though he couldn't see anyone around other than Sally. "He, his sister, and his brother were all born from one egg," he told Sally. "No wonder he's still crying. Being left alone like this must be torture to his soul."

"We shouldn't leave him alone then," Sally signed. She touched the red gem.

Without warning, the skeleton turned to dust and fell apart. The gem remained intact, though. Silently, they agreed to take the gem and hope that Uxie's soul could follow. And when Sally took the gem, the crying quieted to silence.

Trey spotted a shadow emerging from the area behind them. "Watch it!" he called out, warning her into action.

A dark ball of energy flew at them, catching Sally in the side. The Dusknoir servant to Primal Dialga was now blocking their path to the stair exit. "What are you rebels up to?" he asked.

"None of your business, Drakken," Trey scowled. He saw Sally make a quick sign; she seemed to have an idea.

Drakken's ghostly form condensed for a moment, as if he were startled. His attitude soon settled. "So you rebels have heard of me already. Then you know that you will fail if you fight me, as Master Dialga ensures my survival because I am loyal."

Although Trey looked ahead, he was watching Sally making signs at her side. He wasn't sure what she had in mind, but he trusted her. "Right, but we're not giving in to you," he told Drakken.

"Do not overestimate your strength, Trey." Drakken brought his right hand up and started an attack that warped the air in front of him.

Trey then darted over and jumped onto Sally's back. While he clung there, she took off for the edge of the nearest waterfall. Drakken tried to move his aim to follow them, but then Sally leapt off the paralyzed waterfall.

With his heart racing, Trey tried to figure out what Sally meant to do. There was also the matter of how Drakken knew his name… but that could wait. They were nearly a mile over the ground; the fall would be deadly to both of them. The air moved around them, disturbed from its endless immobile state. When they were dangerously close to the treetops, Sally activated something on the sides of her armor. A blast of air countered their fall so sharply that they slowed dramatically. His grip remained true, but he could feel his insides get thrown about in the sudden change of speed. Adjusting their fall, Sally landed them safely on the grass by the waterfall pools.

They couldn't stop to catch their breath, though. They took off running into the dungeon again. Adjusting her armor's modes, Sally tried to look less conspicuous. Trey followed her in the trees, watching for enemies following them. When he spotted Sableyes or any Pokemon that might be Primal instead of wild, he jumped down to her side and indicated where their enemies were. If they could, they avoided the encounter. If not, then they made quick ambushes to knock their foes out before moving on.

At the first floor, they found Mewtwo and Celebi involved in a battle against a group of varied Primal Pokemon. After a moment, Mewtwo teleported the whole group away, to a distant plain. Then he turned to them. "I feel that someone else has come with us, but I don't know…"

"Uxie," Sally signed.

"We picked up the gem that was on his forehead," Trey added. "His soul was alone, so we thought we'd look for his two siblings along the way."

"I see." Mewtwo nodded. "That's probably for the best."

"Why did you have to bring us here?" Celebi asked, irritated.

"They won't expect it," he pointed out.

Trey looked out and saw a field of bones. Shuddering, he said, "Let's get out of here quickly. Isn't the desert nearby?"

"Yes." The two legendaries also reported running into Primals. "Primal Dialga must have been warned about us," Mewtwo said. "The big brute didn't show up himself, but in order to get rid of the two of us, I'm certain he'll come around eventually."

"Just as long as it's not a swarm of Sableyes that know where we are," Sally signed.

"Drakken knew my name," Trey said. "I don't know how much else he knows, though."

"It is worrisome, but we must continue on," Mewtwo stated.


The four stood outside Quicksand Desert. The particles of sand that hung in the air seemed uncountable. When Trey waved his hand through it, the bits of sand came loose and fell to the ground. "It can be passed through," he said. "But it's going to leave a clear path for Drakken or the other followers to find us."

"I've thought of that," Mewtwo said. He snapped his fingers, making five orbs appear. "But this should get you across."

"Hmm?" Trey took one to identify it. "Oh, Rainy Orbs. The rain will spread out and cause the sand to come out of the air. But this will leave a fairly wide path."

"You should still move in quickly," Mewtwo advised. "The water will make the sand difficult to cross if it soaks too long, and the shift in weather itself will draw attention."

"All right. I'll keep an Escape Orb close at hand too," Trey said. He looked up and smiled at Sally. "So let's go check this place out, partner."

She smiled back and nodded.

Sally's sense for the Time Gears led them straight to the center of the desert. Trey wondered, in his past and her future, had she seen these treks as important enough that she remembered them? She hadn't remembered Mount Bristle or Mount Horn, but the area around the three lakes, she had definitely felt like she'd been there before. And she had, although that before was now.

Still, the trek was long and they took a short break for food once they got into the cave system. They pressed on, hoping to keep ahead of the Primal forces. Thus far, things were in the clear.

When they entered the lake chamber, they noticed that something smelled awful. It wasn't the smell of decay; there were no bodies, just skeletons as usual. But something about the water had turned rancid, making both Trey and Sally cringe. There was also crying in this place. Once Sally had checked on the status of the Time Gear, she took the blue gem that had been on Mespirit's head. Then they left the lake area quickly.

The Escape Orb brought them to Celebi's location. One of Sally's visions came right as the space stabilized, right as Trey heard the giggle of one of the Sableyes. "Let's get her away," he told Celebi as he took Sally's hand.

Although she was quite a bit larger than them, they pulled her to a gathering of rocks. It wasn't full cover, but was good enough to last until Mewtwo got to them. When Sally recovered, she signed to Trey, "She died much like her brother. But the last Time Gear will be at the lake of their brother Azelf, at Crystal Cave."

"Nice discovery," Celebi said. "But we'll want to go anyhow, if only to retrieve Azelf's soul as well."


When they got to Crystal Cave, they had to hold back. There were two Sableyes outside the entrance. "I think Drakken is in there too," Mewtwo said. "They seem to have the entrance to Crystal Crossing open, but it's going to be hard for us to get in."

"I could go in alone," Trey said.

"We can't lose you at this stage," Celebi said, taking his arm.

"We could keep an eye on him, mentally," Mewtwo suggested. "It wouldn't be much to target him as a teleport location, then bring him out if things turn bad. And this is what his training was for."

"That's true." She squeezed Trey's arm, then let him go. "Be careful, still."

"I know," he said. "You three be careful too." He then snuck into the dungeon.

Trey moved quickly through the crystal-studded halls. He had to keep watch on any Pokemon that appeared, but he also had to keep moving. While traveling along the walls, he discovered hidden hallways near the ceilings, allowing him hidden ways if he spotted two or more Sableyes meeting in an area.

When he came to the joining of Crystal Cave and Crystal Crossing, he spotted Drakken's yellow antenna sticking out of the ground. From that, he could guess that the ghost was keeping his senses open to anything that changed in the room. The passage was open, perhaps to make him careless. Trey paused in a nook of the wall, trying to find something to distract Drakken.

He sensed a flicker of Celebi's power as he tried to plan. Drakken noticed and came out of the floor to look for himself. Thanking her silently, Trey darted into the open entrance unnoticed.

Azelf's lake wasn't covered in frozen crystals this time. It seemed that he had fought back, as his bones were in worse shape, crumbled into a pile by a stalagmite. When Trey touched the red gem, the skeleton crumbled, but the crying sound still remained.

Maybe Sally's power made them notice her, he thought. "Azelf," Trey said quietly, looking into the gem.

The crying stopped suddenly. Trey felt a presence come close to him. Hoping that worked, Trey broke an Escape Orb to leave the dungeon.

When he appeared next to the group, a blue orb of light appeared near him. Sally pulled out the two gems she had and soon had a red and a yellow orb beside her. The three orbs came together, making humming sounds. As he couldn't, Trey wondered if any of the other three could understand these ghosts.

Then the three ghosts fused into one white light. A voice, apparently merged from all three, then spoke in tones he felt more than heard. "We are unable to do much in exchange, but in thanks for bringing us back together…"

Trey felt a flush of joy in his soul at that moment. It felt like a warm kiss of sunlight, after the sun had departed the world so long ago. It was the love, relief, and unity that the triplets were feeling right then, he realized. When they couldn't do anything else, they decided to share the only thing they had left.

While the light of their souls quickly faded away, the feelings remained. Celebi spoke, somewhat awed. "Remember, this is what we seek to return to the world."

"It's good to be reminded of that," Trey said.


With all five locations confirmed, Celebi teleported them to a thick forest. "For this Passage of Time, we have to come to a place where time can still be tapped into," she explained. "So, I'm afraid that we're very close to Primal Dialga and Temporal Tower here."

"It can't be helped," Trey said. They kept quiet for most of the trek. He had related to Sally earlier about the puzzle at the entrance to Crystal Crossing. Since he recalled her giving them the clue in the past, he had to tell her that clue now so that she knew it in the future of, well, the past.

At one point, Mewtwo stopped them. After a bit, he whispered to them, "That Dusknoir you spoke of, Drakken, I believe that I sense him around."

"Which direction?" Celebi asked. He pointed down a hall. "Um, we need to get that way."

"Are we close to your location for the Passage?"

"Yes."

"All right. You take these two there. I'll distract Drakken."

Sally grabbed Mewtwo's shoulder, then let go to sign, "Are you sure?"

"It's fine, we need to get you two to the past." He hugged her. "I know you; I've raised you from a small girl into a fine hero. Now we have to part, but you won't be alone."

She patted him, then pulled back to sign, "I'll miss you lots."

"Me too." Then he darted ahead into the hall.

"I think we can go this way," Celebi said, looking down another hall. They heard a rather noisy attack in the form of a Thunder, but Sally nodded. They went down the second hall and came to a cliff that blocked in a small meadow. "Okay, this is the spot." She went to the wall and found a spot she liked. Then she closed her eyes and was still for a long time.

Trey felt nervous. What should he say to Celebi? He hadn't considered it until this point; perhaps he should have.

A tunnel made up of blue archways appeared around the pink Pokemon. Past that, there was a light blue blob, much like the black one that Trey had been through before. Then Celebi turned back to them. "You both are aware that if you are successful, you will most likely erase yourselves from history? Sally, you were born into this world of darkness, and Trey… you evolved here, and many things have happened to you here, changing you. Dialga's original rules for time do not allow for paradoxes, and so with erasing this darkness, you will erase yourselves entirely. Not even Mewtwo nor I will remember who you are, or perhaps even what you did. Are you still willing to do this?"

Trey wondered why she hadn't brought that up with him before. When they crossed eyes, he saw a fleeting glance of how she truly felt, that it hurt her to know that she would forget about him completely, but knew it had to be done. So as Sally nodded, completely firm in her decision, Trey said, "Yes… we both are."

"Good." She bowed to them. "Only the purest of heroes would do something that they know they will suffer for, and knowing that no one else will know what they have done. For all the souls lost to this darkness, I thank you." She then moved aside. "Hold onto each other so that you both stay together. And, goodbye."

"Goodbye," Trey said, then offered his paw to Sally. She took it in her hand, then they went into the Passage of Time.

Celebi turned away quickly. "If only I could remember you, darling," she whispered.

She completely missed a shadow in the ground moving into the Passage of Time as well.