Two Ventured
..

Lavaridge Town Outskirts
..

"Cyrus, that bastard!" Ash shouted after finding out that he was now a wanted man in Hoenn. He then wondered if the posters were also placed in the other regions. Ash grabbed the poster and walked away from the town to avoid attracting unnecessary attention. He headed back to the spot where he saw the flock of Numel to find an unexpected friendly cloaked figure.

"..Good to see you back." the figure said telepathically.

"Oh, long time no see, Mewtwo. Good timing, I was just thinking about you." Ash replied casually. He flashed the wanted poster. "Apparently, I'm wanted now. I did want to tell everyone that I'm not dead yet, but this isn't really what I had in mind." The young man chuckled nervously. He looked at the poster again to see the details. "..Time thief, huh. I have to say, he's got me good this time." Ash looked at Mewtwo and sighed. "How were things when I was gone?"

"Uneventful. Your friends- Bravo Team, was it? Yes, they tried to look for the other Time Gears, only successful in getting the one in Fogbound Lake. Even though they are aware of the general area, it appears that the Time Gear is hidden well. Just like the one in Fogbound Lake." The genetic Pokemon explained.

"What about Cyrus? Did he get his hands on any of the other gears?"

"None that I know of."

"Guess the gears are harder to find than I thought they would." Ash sighed as he sat down to clear his head. "Say, can you teleport me to the mansion?"

"Before that, I have something to say." Mewtwo added. "About this current fiasco.. And the prominent figures involved."

Ash shrugged and raised an eyebrow. "Do we really have the time for this? We all know that we're the good guys and Cyrus is the bad guy. I mean, there's not much to talk about."

"There is much talk, and I have listened. Through rock, metal, and time. Now I shall talk, and you shall listen." Mewtwo shot back.

"Uh.. Sure.." Ash narrowed his eyes in skepticism.

"The one of machine and nerve, traversing the path of vengeance. A crossroad of choices it shall face, its mind concluded." Mewtwo started, glaring at Ash to see that he had placed a rather puzzled look. "The one of matter and faith, traversing the path of loyalty. Many years it has served its Deity, its mind deluded."

"Don't play games now, Mewtwo. The last time we did this was when you taught me telepathy, and that wasn't a very fond memory of mine." Ash chimed in.

Ignoring the man's comment, Mewtwo continued. "The Deity's containment.. And the other's great journey.. Are the same. Their ideals have promised them freedom from a doomed existence, and are ever closer to achieving salvation. The one's disposition and the other's ambition, both will lead but to one solution."

Ash closed his eyes and shook his head after giving a light chuckle. "Alright now, you mind telling me what it really means?"

Opening his eyes, he found that he was no longer in the company of the legendary Pokemon and was now standing on the grounds of Raito's mansion. "..That slimy bastard.."

"Oh hey, look who's back." a voice came from the direction of the house.

Ash turned to see a distinctive figure, a man with his ever-so-strange motorcycle helmet. "Carmine, what are you doing in my house?"

The Bravo Team member opened his arms and tried to look as if he was hurt. "Is that how you greet a friend after six months? Oh, the pain!" said Carmine, putting one hand on his chest after. "Oh, and the members of Bravo Team are now living in the mansion. It's our headquarters, so to speak."

"It hasn't been that long for me, and, what in the world? Who gave you permission to do that! It's my house!" Ash shouted in protest.

"Well, now you have housemates!"

"Oh, I hate you.."

"Look on the bright side! Now we don't have to call a meeting and wait for a few days to get all the members together, and it'll be easier for us to direct our operatives. Since we opted out from Team Galactic, it was hard to move in an organized manner, what with us being hunted down by the other squads from Galactic and all." Carmine explained as he led Ash to the living room of the mansion. Or what was the living room.

"Carmine?" Ash called, still shocked at what he was witnessing.

"Yeah?"

"What the hell happened to my living room? It looks like a lounge, dammit!"

"Why, it is a lounge now! Beautiful, isn't it? The place where the members relax after a hard mission! Some entertainment, some drinks from the bar, you can even swim in the pool!"

"Dammit, Carmine, what the hell were you thinkin- There's a pool?" said Ash, looking around the room.

"Oh, yes." Carmine picked up a remote and pressed a button, revealing a hidden pool beneath the floor.

"That's pretty cool, actually."

"Isn't it?"

"..Whatever, I'll deal with this later. Call the members of the team. We're getting the rest of the Time Gears." Ash ordered Carmine while heading to the study. "We don't have much time, get them as fast as you can."

"Sure thing, boss."

Fifteen minutes later Ash found himself in the company of Carmine and the rest of the members of Bravo Team, all seemingly with a personal vendetta against Team Galactic, to which Ash was told by Carmine to be utilizing them as Ash saw fit. "Alright, so what's this about you guys not being able to find the rest of the gears?" Ash asked to the team.

Carmine looked around and seeing as nobody wanted to answer, he stepped up and started explaining. "Well, it was definitely harder than we thought. We've been to the desert to look for the Underground Lake, we've been to the Limestone Cavern, and we've been to the Crystal Crossing also. Nothing. We found absolutely nothing." Said Carmine. "Oh and also, the police have taken up action because of Cyrus, and are now guarding the three locations."

Ash gave yet another puzzled look for the day. "The police? How did they get word of the locations?"

"Cyrus gave it to 'em. You've seen your wanted posters right? The public are well aware of the existence of the Time Gears, also the location. Fortunately, neither Team Galactic nor the police have found the gears yet, so we still have some time."

"Huh, how hard could finding a couple of gears be." Ash snorted. "Bunch of incompetent dogs." Realizing he was getting glares from the team, he added a rather satisfactory comment. "Not you guys. We lack the manpower to do it, but I'm pretty sure they have plenty of hands working on it."

"So what do we do now?" Carmine asked.

"We look for them again. With me in the team this time. Give me a little while to prepare, though. I need to say hi to my Pokemon."


Quicksand Cave
8:00 AM

"Hey, Carmine." Ash called out to his friend while examining the cave walls.

"Hmm?" the other replied lazily while wiping the fog off his helmet, caused by the heat.

Failing to find anything of importance, Ash turned to look at his rather eccentric companion. "Remind me again how you guys failed to find this place. It was pretty easy."

"Er.. Yeah. We never thought that we have to go during a sandstorm. It's pretty random, if you ask me."

The two had told the other members to guard the entrance and make sure nobody pursued them from above, while they explore the cave and try to find the gears. Seemingly a natural labyrinth and untouched by civilization, Ash could not help but wonder if man had been here before them. Many times Carmine would call him in response to particular objects that might be of use, to be waved off by Ash most of the time, deeming them unimportant to their cause.

The cave stretched down for a fair depth, and they had now reached the bottom of the second part of the natural formation, which Ash had called the 'Quicksand Pit'. A name his 'future' self had thought of. Ash's thought wandered for a few times while they were exploring the cave, naming the anomalies of the so called 'future' he had been to. However, having no time for idle thoughts, he had to return to the task at hand, that was to find the gears. And save the world. "All in a day's work." Ash joked to himself.

"Hey, Ash." Carmine called out.

"Yeah?"

"Do you hear.. Splashes?"

Ash focused his hearing on the surroundings. He could indeed hear splashes, however, it was improbable to pin-point the exact location, for it seemed to come from all directions. "Yeah, but from where?"

The two looked around for another while before Carmine came to Ash with rather good news. "I found a downward slope in the corner there. Might take us somewhere."

They went down the slope one by one and found themselves at an absurdly long corridor.

"Did I say this place looked untouched by civilization earlier?" Ash said, mouth agape.

"..I think so, yeah."

"Yeah, scratch that, I find it hard to believe that this was made naturally." Said the man while walking along the corridor.

Carmine caught up to him shortly after and voiced his own opinion. "Maybe it was built by Pokemon?"

"Maybe." Ash shrugged and then crossed his arms. "Hey, check that out." Ash nudged Carmine with his elbow, pointing at a source of light. They have found the end of the tunnel. Ash and Carmine started running towards the light to find a beautiful lake in front of them, an object in the middle sparkling brightly.

"This is.."

"We found it. The Underground Lake." Said Ash, putting his hands in the water. "Such clean waters." Suddenly, he felt a punch on his stomach was knocked a number of feet back, landing on his side. He tried getting back up immediately, however, stopped by the unresponsive and weak legs caused by the hit. He fell on his knees, supporting his body with his arms.

"Ash!" Carmine shouted, running up to him.

"Stay away!" Ash shot back at Carmine. He looked up to see a Pokemon floating effortlessly, glaring at him with such intensity. "Mesprit.." Ash whispered.

"Mesprit? Isn't it supposed to be imprisoned in one of the Galactic mobile bases?" asked the other, hands ready to release his Pokemon in case things took a turn for the worse.

"Y-yeah.. But before we met, I infiltrated the base where the Lake Trio was kept.. and well, placed explosives." Ash explained, gaining his composure back . "Before I.. Disappeared, six months ago, I decided it was a good time to use them. And so I did. I reckon the three legendaries got out."

"So you're the reason the mobile base Veni crashed?"

Ash, now fully composed, took a set of steps away from Mesprit. "Pretty much."

The lake legendary got closer to Ash and inspected the man better, much to Ash's discomfort. It then made its way to Carmine and did the same. The sour expression it had at first diminished, leaving a neutral one. Ash could have sworn that it was smiling. Mesprit flew to the Time Gear, and launched it at Ash. Thankfully, having good reflexes, Ash managed to catch it without much difficulty.

"Uh.. Thanks?" Ash said, confused.

The Mesprit nodded and made a gesture before leaving the immediate vicinity.

"Well.. That was easy. I guess it remembered your kindness, eh." Carmine commented while wiping his helmet's visor again. "I wonder what it meant, though. You know, with the gesture and all."

Ash looked at the lake once more and slowly stepped back. "I think it wants us to run."

"Huh?"

"Run, dammit, run!" Ash shouted, pointing at the lake while running towards the exit of the area. The time paralysis was already starting and was slowly creeping its way towards the duo, much to their dismay. "Why do you run so slowly, Carmine?! Run, dammit, faster!"

Seeing as the rate of the paralysis had decreased, the two made their way back to the entrance relatively safely, excluding one moment where the tip of Ash's coat was caught by the paralysis. Unwillingly, Ash had to give up his much loved coat in order for him to survive. Still out of breath, he cannot help but to curse his loss of a piece of clothing. "Great, now I have to buy another coat. I don't even think they make it anymore!"

"Oh, come on.. It can't be that hard." Carmine commented, equally tired. "So.. What now?"

"You said you found a dead end at Crystal Crossing?" Ash asked, brushing sand off his pants.

"Yeah."

"I will go there now. I need you guys to do something else."


Crystal Cave
2:40 PM

"Man, that's a lot of people at one place." Ash scowled at the unfavorable situation. "How did Carmine and the others managed to get past that?" he added, pointing to the platoon dispatched to the Time Gear location.

The entrance to the cave was guarded by what seemed police officers equipped with standard issue army rifles. "Man, those top dogs didn't even spare the military for this? Priorities, man, priorities.. They don't seem to appreciate the importance of the gears." he commented at the barricade upon closer inspection. "Now that I see they're only police officers, they don't seem so intimidating anymore.."

Ash moved closer under the cover of the police cars and tried to look for a weak spot in the defense. "Well, I'll be damned." He muttered under his breath. "Officer Jenny's leading this squadron? Can't say I'm surprised, I guess."

He left open the gas tank of a car open and gained some distance from the officers, back to the woods surrounding the cave entrance. He took his handkerchief and soaked it with his machine oil he brought for emergency repairs for his arm, and wrapped in around a small stick. After setting it on fire, he got ready to throw it in the gas tank of the car. "This usually works in the movies." He commented, taking a good aim at the tank. He flung the stick, and miraculously, the stick went in fire first. The car exploded and alarmed everyone on guard. Ash quickly made his way past the guards and went inside the cave.

Bright crystals were spread out plenty in the cave, lighting up the narrow paths Ash had to go through. The place was quite cold, as he cursed again how this situation would be better if he had not lost his overcoat in the previous tussle. He continued making his way up the steep slopes of the cave.

A few hours had gone by since he entered the cave and Ash was nearing what he thought was the 'dead end' Carmine was referring to. Occupied by what he quickly clarified as a couple of researchers and two police guard, the large room in the cave had three big crystals, which the researchers showed great interest in. Ash walked in the room, alerting the guards and the researchers.

"Stuck, are we?" Ash blurted casually.

The two guards quickly pulled out their firearms and pointed it at Ash. "You! Who are you? Identify yourself!"

"Me? I guess I'm what you people call.. The time thief?" Ash walked closer to the guards with his hands raised, to be told to stop in his tracks. "Shame you people are law enforcers.. If you're not, you could have just shot me the moment you saw me, no?"

"Silence!" one of the guards shouted. The guard reached out to his radio to notify the other guards.

Ash aimed his modified hand and shot out a thin, sharp burst of air and knocked the guard out. "That was a warning shot. I would advise on not telling the others I'm here, unless you want to.. Well, die." Said Ash, playing the villain. The other guard aimed the pistol at Ash's face, ready to shoot. "I wouldn't do that if I were you.."

"And why not?" the guard replied.

"I know how to get past this room. I can solve the puzzle." Ash shot back.

A while passed with everyone glued to their positions, before someone finally opened their mouth. It was one of the researchers present, seemingly the one in charge. "What will you do after you solve this.. Puzzle?"

"Why, get the Time Gear, of course."

"You bastar-!" another researcher protested, to be stopped by the head researcher.

Ash shifted his stance and lowered the guard's firearm, seeing as the person in charge was willing to cooperate. "I wouldn't mind you people following me. Besides, I'm giving you guys a chance."

"A chance?" the head asked.

Ash pointed his finger at the head. "Yes, a chance. A chance for you people to stop me, and a chance for you intelligent minds to see what is probably the most mind blowing object of the present time." Ash explained, walking closer to the researchers and the three crystals. "So, what say you?"

"Interesting." The head muttered. "Very well then, show us what you can do."

"A wise choice, scholar."


Ash had easily solved the puzzle of the crystals, having received the answer from his future self. Now accompanied by the researchers and one guard, the group were descending the caves in search of the Time Gear.

"Should we really trust this guy? What would stop him from just.. Kill us here?" the guard asked the head.

The head shook his head and answered, "If he had really wanted to kill us, he would've done it when he first set eyes on us. You saw how he took down your friend. It wasn't normal."

"I'm flattered, scholar, by your kind words." Ash muttered, chuckling.

After another hour of exploring, they arrived at an eerily long corridor, similar to the one in Quicksand Cave.

"We're close." Ash stated. However, sensing someone approaching, Ash turned around to see who it was.

"Hold it right there, criminal scum!" The person called out, followed by a Pokemon's roar next to it. A few seconds later, Ash could see that it was none other than the ever righteous member of the Jenny family.

"Good of you to join us, Officer Jenny." Said Ash, a sarcastic tone used.

"You are under arres-!" the police officer started, interrupted by the head researcher.

"Officer Jenny, if you please, could you somehow postpone the legal procedures until later? We're on the verge of witnessing something very remarkable." The head explained to an uncomfortable Officer Jenny.

"There, see? Come on, we're almost there." Ash started making his way towards the Time Gear once more.

"I won't fall for your lies, criminal! Growlithe, use-!"

"It's your choice to believe my words or think otherwise, officer. But try to stop me and I will resist, victory certain, as I already have taken down many of your kind. Follow me a little more, and you are free to try and stop me then. However, I assure you that it would be wise of you to choose the latter."

The other guard nodded to Officer Jenny, signalling that she should follow the criminal to where the Time Gear was. Unwillingly, she obliged.

Not long after, they arrived in a large clearing, standing on what seemed to be crystal floor, facing yet another lake, a mystic object floating in the center.

"That's.." one of the researchers muttered. "The Time Gear! Oh, by the gods, that's the Time Gear!" he shouted.

"How beautiful.." Officer Jenny whispered in wonder.

Ash stepped forward to the edge of the crystal and fixed his gaze upon yet another one of the gears. Unfortunately, he was greeted in a similar manner from the guardian, and was flung back. If anything was different, it was that this time the push had a little more force in it, causing Ash to be shot back to the clearing entrance, his back slammed on the wall, causing it to crumble a bit. Groaning in pain, he looked up to see Azelf examining him.

Azelf, one of the legendary lake trios, was apparently happy to see Ash, much like Mesprit. The psychic Pokemon gave him the Time Gear, and unknown to him, slipped a piece of crystal in his pocket. After motioning a warning similar to the one Mesprit gave, it flew away.

"Time thief! Hand over the Time Gear to us!" one of the guards shouted.

Ash, still in a daze, looked up and saw the center of the lake turning gray. He then remembered the usual protocol of removing the Time Gear. Take the gear, then run from the paralysis. "..Run." he muttered, trying to stand up.

"Are you daft, thief? I said.."

"Run, you idiot! Time is stopping!" Ash shouted, pointing at the lake.

Realizing what would happen to them, they started running back to escape the paralysis, with the exception of Officer Jenny. He helped Ash get back on his feet, enough for him to regain his composure. "I'm not letting you go, criminal. You will be arrested!"

Feeling comfortable, Ash started running back with Officer Jenny closely behind. Suddenly, the cave walls started shaking and debris started to fall, seemingly from the impact caused by Ash being flung by Azelf. Unable to dodge a piece, Officer Jenny tripped, allowing a rather large piece of crystal landing on her foot. Realizing that she could not get out in time, she ordered her Growlithe to go ahead and leaver her, quickly refused.

Ash looked back to see the situation and turned around to help, clicking his tongue in annoyance. "Tsch, this is why you don't wear high heels when you're a police officer!" he said as he tried to lift the debris off Officer Jenny's leg. "Hey, you, stupid mutt! Go ahead and call for help!" the dog, seeing the reasoning, left quickly, roaring aloud.

"Why are you helping me?" the woman asked.

"You helped me first. And do you think I can leave a woman to die? Well, I don't know if getting caught in the paralysis is the same as dying, but, eh, you get the point." Ash explained as he slowly realized the crystal was a bit too heavy for him. Having no other options, he prepared his arm once more and did a motion similar to the one he used to let himself free out of Primal Dialga's bounds. Cracking the crystal to pieces, he helped the officer up to her feet to find that the unfortunate event cost the functionality of the leg. Seeing as he had no time, he quickly carried her bridal style and started making his way back to the entrance.

"Wh-what are you doing?!" The officer shouted in surprise.

"I'm getting you out of here, that's what!"

Close to the entrance, Ash dropped the officer to the care of her subordinates and escaped from the grasps of the police. Once more, he had successfully escaped the paralysis' reach. As he made his way home, he could not help but think about what Mewtwo had said, and what it actually meant.

"The one of machine and nerve, traversing the path of vengeance. A crossroad of choices it shall face, its mind concluded. The one of matter and faith, traversing the path of loyalty. Many years it has served its Deity, its mind deluded. The Deity's containment.. And the other's great journey.. Are the same. Their ideals have promised them freedom from a doomed existence, and are ever closer to achieving salvation. The one's disposition and the other's ambition, both will lead but to one solution."


A/N: Sorry for the long update gap, after the last chapter I had finals and I had to go back to my home country immediately after. I could've written a chapter back home, but I wanted to spend time with my family. I'm sure you guys had plenty to keep yourselves busy :D (UEFA EURO 2012 anyone? No? Okay..)

So because of the wait, this chapter's length is 35% more than the previous one! Hoorah!

In any case, I have no idea when the next one will be, but I hope it will be in about a week or so (note I said 'hope'!).