Chapter 23: Saving Time
In the afternoon, their journey was joined by another. A Lapras came up alongside the sailboat and swam by them, easily keeping pace. "Well here's an unusual sight. We don't see ships this far from the human coast."
"Hi there," Stacy said. She was helping Sally to work the rudder. "We're going to the Hidden Land."
"Is that so? Well you're headed in the right direction. But I hope your ship can handle crossing the Sea of Time."
"How is that area of water?" Trey asked, from a sheltered spot where he was keeping out of the bright sun.
"It's different," the Lapras said. "You need to be going quickly when you enter those waters, and you cannot stop once you do. The area is enchanted. If you get lost and stop, you will get dropped off at a beach. Sometimes it's the one you left from. Othertimes, you wind up half a world away. And you don't always end up at the same time as you were when you entered."
"Dialga's protecting his home," Stacy noted.
She nodded. "Right. And the Sea of Time is not in any one place either. There are many patches of ocean where it can be entered. I have met a fellow who entered such a patch in the arctic regions, then wound up in the tropics to discover that he had been lost in time for ten years. Just remember to keep going and not stop. You should be safe then.
"Okay. Thanks for the help."
"You're welcome. If you're ever at sea again, perhaps we can exchange stories. But you seem busy today. Good bye." The Lapras dove into the water, to emerge several yards away.
"Goodbye!" Stacy called out. "How are you doing, Kip?"
"Awful," he grumbled from where he was crouched down near the center of the boat.
"Seasick," Sally signed to Trey.
"And here I thought I just hated water dungeons," the Skitty moaned.
The wind began to pick up. Sally and Stacy tightened their grip on the rudder control. Ahead of them, a haze appeared. After a moment, it solidified and formed into a large island that hadn't been there before. A tower stood in the middle of the jungle there. Between them and the island, the water shimmered white.
"I think we're going to hit the Sea of Time shortly," Trey said. "Are we still good to go?"
Sally nodded, then waved her hand with the wind. So long as that kept up, they should make the crossing safely.
When the ship touched the shimmering waters, the very air seemed to be charged with energy. The wild magic was strong here, but it seemed different. Almost directed. It did not seek to stop them, but seemed to be waiting, watching for what they would do. And it became even harder to tell how much time was passing.
And then the energy was gone. Sally slowed the ship so that they didn't hit the beach at high speed. After Trey loosened the sail to further slow them down, they were able to move onto the beach.
Kip jumped right off. "Thank goodness! Solid land again at last!"
Stacy laughed as she dropped out of the ship. "One would think that you were a Ground Pokemon, not a Normal."
"I'm picky when it comes to water," Kip stated, twitching his tail.
"Did you feel something odd in that too Kip?" Trey asked. "The wild magic there didn't stir the darkness in me."
"You're right, but I thought it was just because I felt sick," the Skitty said. "I didn't hear the darkness at all there."
"I felt a little weird too," Stacy said. "It was like someone was encouraging me for this mission, telling me without words that I was doing the right thing."
"It might have been wild magic tuned to purity," Trey said.
"What are you talking about now?" Kip asked.
"Back in the era of darkness, I knew a Sneasel who resisted turning Primal for a long time. He said that while every Pokemon had darkness, he believed that every Pokemon also had purity, that which drives us to do good and selfless things. The purity can help you resist the darkness; he said that he relied on the purity of the Dark type to resist the darkness."
"Huh. That's a weird way of thinking. But if it helped, it helped."
"Well let's go," Stacy said. "I talked to Mayor Torkoal again and he said that we may have to find a stone temple in this jungle. That's where we'll find the way into Temporal Tower."
Agreeing to that, the group headed into the Mystery Dungeon of the Hidden Lands jungle. The thick canopy blocked out a lot of sunlight, making it easier on Trey to keep going. They made camp to rest when night fell. But as they settled in, there was a slight earthquake.
"Are we going to be on time?" Stacy wondered.
"Look at the size of that tower," Kip pointed out. "There's no point in climbing that thing when we're tired already."
"We have time," Trey said. "The Time Gears are calm."
"How do you figure that?" Kip asked him.
"Maybe it's because I've handled them all, but I can feel them ticking. Even when they're loose like this, they're doing something. I just have a feeling that if we were getting behind, they wouldn't be as steady as they are."
"You've really improved yourself," Stacy said. "You used to say you were the least experienced member of the team, but now you might outdo Kip."
"Might," Kip said, then focused on checking his claws.
"I was forced into that," Trey said, shrugging. "The era of darkness isn't kind. They don't guide you and watch over you like Bartleby does with the apprentices of the guild. If you messed up, Bubbles made sure that you knew it, and suffered the consequences."
The other three snickered or chuckled. "Bubbles, huh?" Kip asked.
"Hey, don't make fun of her, even if she's not around. She was a Castform, a little thing smaller than me, but she could kill Pokemon many times her size. I know; I saw her do so."
"They only kill outlaws here if there's nothing else that can be done," Stacy said.
"They would kill you for much less. But that didn't stop the violence. And it made you paranoid, knowing that you could be killed on a false accusation. I'm glad to be back here, where time flows and most things are handled with reason. I still felt rather out of place back in Treasure Town, though, having to remind myself that people could be trusted."
"Things will get better," Stacy said, patting his arm. "We've got a chance; you saw the Time Gears in the wrong places and crumbled in the future, but we have them whole, and here now. We'll fix things."
He nodded, although Sally was stealthily giving him a sympathetic look. "I know. We will."
The next day, they continued their search of the jungle for the entrance to the tower. Everyone was in a cheerful and hopeful mood, especially Sally and Trey. But even Stacy felt an undercurrent of some worry, as if something bad was quickly approaching.
Eventually, they came across an old step pyramid made of dark gray stones. There were a great many murals on the sides. "These illustrate the legendary Pokemon," Trey said. He waved his paw along the wall. "Arceus, Dialga, Palkia, Giratina, Mew, Celebi… I bet there's more if we walk all the way around it."
"We're not here on a sightseeing trip," Kip pointed out. "Let's go up the steps and figure out how to get into that place."
The four explorers went up to the top. There, in the center, was a giant stone circle, raised just an inch off the floor. It was engraved with the same winged wheel pattern that had led them here. On the north side of the circle, there was a stone slab with writings. In the very center, there was a small indentation of a circle.
"What kind of weird writing is this?" Stacy asked of the stone slab.
"Unown text," Kip said. "And it hurts your head trying to figure the thing out, even though it's just our language in a different alphabet."
"I can read it," Trey said. He looked over the slab carefully. "Okay, it says to put the Starter Key into the slot on the Rainbow Stoneship. It will take a little bit to power up, but this will take us to the entrance of Temporal Tower."
Sally clapped her hands for their attention, then pointed out the small hole in the stone circle. "Oh, that would fit my lucky charm," Stacy said. "But this ship doesn't look like the other one."
"Well that one's made of wood to cross the sea," Kip said. "And this one's made of stone to cross the air… wait, that don't make sense either."
"It's probably magic," Trey explained.
Before Stacy could put the stone charm in the slot, there was a flash of gray light from the bottom of the east staircase. When they looked, a Sableye rushed in, grabbed Stacy, and took her down that set of stairs. She screamed angrily and tried to throw it off by catching one of the steps and tossing it with her momentum, but wound up slipping herself and tumbling with the Sableye down the rest of the steps. She was able to duck into her shell and avoid the worst damage, although her attacker looked worse for wear at the bottom.
"You dimwitted coward!" Kip yelled as the other three ran after them.
"Perhaps you are the dimwitted ones," a stern voice said. A Dusknoir appeared from the trees, near another dimensional hole, accompanied by six other Sableyes. "Otherwise, you wouldn't have been surprised."
"Drakken?" Trey growled. "You're back?"
"Master Dialga said to make sure that history was not changed, in any manner, and to do whatever it took to stop you four. We will erase you."
Trey felt a tap on his foot. Stacy was coming back out; she gestured him to Drakken. Then, acting quickly, she got up. "We aren't giving up," she stated.
Before the Dusknoir could reply, the Grovyle shot through the crowd and slashed at him with Dark Blade. Stacy then signaled the other two to take on the Sableyes. Growling in pain and fury, Drakken tried to smash a bundle of Ghost energy into Trey's face. He slipped aside and struck with Dark Blade again. This Pokemon was geared more for war than the pixies were, Trey reminded himself as he ducked under another strike. So it would take more to take him down.
However, Stacy, Kip, and Sally managed to make short work of the Sableyes. They then moved in to back up Trey. And then Drakken was defeated, knocked down in front of the dimensional hole through which he'd gotten here. The Sableyes panicked and ran back into the hole, afraid and badly injured.
"Some kind of loyalty you've got," Trey jeered Drakken. "As soon as you're down, your little helpers run away in fear."
The Dusknoir gasped for breath. "Are you sure… this is what you want? You must… you must know the consequences… of what you're doing."
"What're you yapping about?" Kip asked.
Suddenly, his eyes glinted with a mad light and he got back up. "Master said to do whatever…" he growled in an almost demonic tone. The jagged yellow line across his stomach seemed to crack and open up.
What happened next surprised everyone. Sally quickly rammed into Drakken's chest with her shoulder, shoving him back into the dimensional hole. And she didn't stop there. She forced him back into it with all her strength, even though that caught her in the hole when it automatically began closing up, sensing its main traveler back inside.
"Sally!" the three others called, but there was no way even for Trey to get to her fast enough to pull her out of the shrinking hole. Just before it completely vanished, three orbs of light drifted out. They went to the three Pokemon and showed them the words that Sally wanted them to know.
The message she sent was a sad one. "He means that because I was born in the era of darkness, I will be erased from existence once Temporal Tower is restored. But don't let that stop you. There is nothing to be saved, not even my life, that is worth the misery and suffering when the darkness rules over all. I have known this since before I came to this time when the sun still lives. Go on without hesitation; everyone back home is waiting for you, hoping and praying for your success. Don't let them down."
"But…" Stacy said, stunned that she would do that.
"She's right, you know," Trey said. "We both knew. I'm glad she got to live for a while in this time, though, and that she got to know good people like you."
"She's a real hero," Kip said reverently. "I don't know if I'd be able to do something like that. So let's not let her heroism go to waste."
"You're right," Stacy replied, although a touch reluctant. "Let's get going."
They went back to the top of the step pyramid. Stacy put her lucky charm in the small slot. It caused the lines of the pattern, both on the charm and on the stoneship, to glisten and glitter like the stars in the night sky. Against all normal reason, the Rainbow Stoneship lifted off the pyramid, then glided through the air upwards, towards a distant platform that held the sole entrance to Temporal Tower.
When they arrived, they saw six lights on posts, unlit but obviously the same ones that they had seen when dragged to the future. It unnerved them, but they went on inside the stone halls. The dungeon was different this time. There were no jail cells or even doors. Even the staircase passages were unguarded. Not even a single wild Pokemon appeared to slow their progress. It was eerie in silence.
As they climbed, several tremors made the entire structure shudder. They continued on, with Trey guiding them through forks and double passages. After floors and floors of not much of anything, they finally came to a place they had only seen in Sally's passed on images: the top of Temporal Tower, where Dialga resided.
It was empty when they arrived. Most of the columns were still standing, although a couple appeared to have fallen down in the tremors. A strange red swirl of clouds hung right about their heads. At the far end, they could see the area Celebi had described, a relatively small area with five slots for the five Gears. Compared to the Dialga they had seen in the future, it would have fit easily under his foot. That might have been why he had yet to notice the missing parts.
"Trey, get them in there quickly," Stacy said.
"Right," he replied. He went up to the platform and was stopped when Dialga teleported in between them and the small platform.
Dialga roared, but it had a touch of pain to it. His eyes did not glow, but his posture betrayed suffering. And while he was dark blue like Primal Dialga of the future, he did not seem quite as insane.
He was still not right in the head, though. "YOU MUST BE THE ONES WHO'VE SABOTAGED MY TOWER! YOU WILL SUFFER!"
Although her heart pounded, Stacy stood up bravely. "We're not them! We came to fix things. Please, believe us or time will be ruined."
"Fight the darkness that's driving you looney!" Kip added.
Dialga flinched. "TIME… DARKNESS… YOU… YOU MUST BE THE ONES. YOU WILL BE ERASED FROM HISTORY FOR RUINING TIME!" He roared again, sending a wave of strange energy at them.
It felt like they were being torn apart. Stacy feared that she would be, but the wave did not last long. Thinking as quickly as she could, she called out, "Trey, swap Bags with me!"
He launched a pair of leaf blades at Dialga, then darted over to her. "What are you doing?" he asked, handing her his.
She gave him her bag. "You two are stronger than me. Distract him while I go take care of the gears."
"Okay, good luck," he whispered. He then darted over to where Kip was hurling Iron Thorns at Dialga, using Agility to help them keep up with the Master of Time. "We have to keep his attention off Stacy."
The Skitty nodded. "Okay. I got an idea; cover me while I get up there."
"Don't get hurt."
Trey rushed forward, then back, using his leaf blades to get Dialga's attention. It was unnerving to get a murderous look from such a giant and powerful Pokemon, even though he'd been in a fight like this before. However, to his amazement, he saw Kip boldly leap up onto Dialga's body, then use the legend's own armor to skip his way up to the top of his head. "Hey, want to see something stupid?" Kip called out. He then looked down and started singing. "Go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep you frikken bastard!"
For a moment, Trey thought that it really was stupid, and suicidal. However, Dialga suddenly quieted, then dropped down and fell asleep. The Skitty hopped off before he got thrown from his perch. "That was stupid," Trey said, smiling.
"I love how that works," Kip replied, walking over with his head held high.
"I've got it!" they heard from Stacy. A bright green glow started from the small platform. For a moment, all three heard the Gears ticking in unison, and felt the tugs at whatever they affected. Another tremor shook the area, though, and Dialga began to glow bright green as well.
The three members of Team Marmalade ran towards each other. "Were we too late?" Trey asked, worried.
"NO." When they looked back, they saw that Dialga had woken up again. He was no longer dark blue, having turned lighter with more white areas. Blinking, the legend lifted his head and looked around, but remained lying down. "THINGS ARE STILL UNSTABLE HERE, BUT THE MISSING PIECES HAVE COME BACK HOME. I WILL BE ABLE TO FIX THINGS FROM THIS POINT."
"Oh good," Stacy said, smiling with relief. "So everything will be okay now."
"IN CONCERN WITH TIME, YES." He lowered his head and tapped Stacy's shell with his nose. "THANK YOU, ALL OF YOU. IT SEEMS MY TRUST IN YOU WAS WELL PLACED."
"We did what we had to…" a small white ball suddenly appeared, bopping Dialga between the eyes and falling down to the stone floor. "What's that?"
"THAT WOULD BE MY SISTER TRYING TO PLAY WITH ME. BAH, LET HER WIN THIS ROUND. I FEEL EXHAUSTED. TAKE THE PATH OVER THERE TO FIND A TELEPORT PAD THAT WILL TAKE YOU BACK TO TREASURE TOWN. I ALLOW YOU TO ENTER THE HIDDEN LANDS WHENEVER YOU LIKE, SIMPLY BY ENTERING THE SEA OF TIME. BUT JUST THE MEMBERS OF YOUR TEAM, NO ONE ELSE."
"Okay, thank you Dialga."
He nodded, then curled back up and went to sleep.
Stacy felt tired too, but her excitement overwhelmed that. "We did it!" she said after they got onto the path and away from Dialga. "We saved the world and kept darkness from taking over!"
"Hallelujah," Kip said, strutting alongside her. "And you know if I say that, I mean it. And the Sheriff's cronies didn't think that an outlaw like me could be worth much of anything."
"You're worth more than any treasure, to have as a friend," she said, patting his back. "Hey Trey, come on! Let's get back to everybody."
Trey seemed more tired than the other two, moving slower. It was odd for a quick Pokemon like him to be doing that. "Yeah, about that," he said, stopping. "I won't be going back either."
"What? What do you mean? Everyone knows the truth now."
"Yes, except for one thing. I spent too much time in the era of darkness. So with erasing it, I'm getting erased too."
Her heart seemed to go cold at that. She ran back over to him. "Trey! Not you too."
"That isn't something to joke about," Kip warned, swishing his tail. His anger came from concern, though.
"I'm not," Trey said. "But Sally and I agreed... it seems ages ago… we agreed that it was better that the two of us be lost than the millions who will die and the millions more who will suffer when darkness takes over. There will be people who will forget about us. But not you two. You two will remember the truth of what has happened. You must get back home safely, and make sure that the truth is recorded and heard. Otherwise, something like this could happen again."
She hugged him. "Why didn't you tell us, then? We could have…"
"We could have been too late, if we hesitated." The Grovyle's form seemed to grow thinner, as if it were losing substance. But he put his arms around her. "Don't forget… and don't keep it a secret."
Then Trey too was gone.
"But this isn't fair," Stacy cried.
Kip came up to her and put a paw on her shell. "It's not. Lots of things aren't fair. Still, did we have to lose both of them?" His ears twisted downward sadly.
She put her arms around him and hugged him. It was silent for a while, silence in mourning. Then she shook her head. "We have to get back; that's what he asked of us. And it had been their choice, so…"
"Why do they always have to sacrifice the good guys to get the good ending?" Kip grumbled. The rest of the walk to the teleport pad was silent.
