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Temporal's Scream
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Brine Cave
09:00 AM
Depths
"It feels like we've been walking forever." Carmine commented, checking the condition of his flashlight. "These batteries last a pretty long time, my torch's been going for a month and it's still good."
Kozenikata turned and looked at the younger man. "You know, I'm trying to remember a time where a person called a flashlight a 'torch'..." the detective said, fixing his sunglasses. "That's right, never."
Carmine chuckled and pointed at Kozenikata's face. "And I'm trying to remember a time where a person wore sunglasses inside a dark cave." The young man snapped his finger and faked a surprised look beneath his motorcycle helmet. "Oh that's right, never."
"Heh, touché." the older man simply replied.
Ash, who was standing behind most of the group had been staying quiet for most of the walk in the caves, leaving the navigation to Carmine and his team. For some reason or another, an ominous feeling had been haunting him since they entered the caves. He judged it would be better to keep silent for now.
The group, consisting of Ash, Kozenikata, Cynthia, Carmine and his two men continued making their way through the natural maze. During their last visit, Carmine and his men made a map from a sonar resonator Carmine had built himself. One of his better accomplishments, Ash would joke often. The journey through the narrow walls would be a little bit more comfortable if it were not for Kozenikata's seemingly endless supply of cigars, but it was something one could get used to. Of course, requests for some distance between the smoker and the rest of the group were complied to. Their time was generally filled with idle chatter to fill the silence; one where Ash would partake in usually. However, he spent most of the time thinking about what lied ahead and all he encountered until he reached his current point. He recalled his time where he met the Time Gear guardians, and his times with them that could have gone better.
Each person was granted a personal flashlight, or 'torches' as Carmine would call them, so the group can cover more areas of interests if they did come up. Ash was never interested in the caves walls and the likes, clearly reflected in his less-than-stellar performance in flashlight waving. At times when he did look around, his attention would immediately go to the blonde that was walking a bit further left to him. Her beautiful face, her golden hair that complements her features perfectly. Many time Ash pondered about his choice to let the woman come with him, many times he answered to himself that it was the wrong one. He knew perfectly well that she could take care of herself, but he could not be help but to be worried.
Ash shifted his gaze to Kozenikata, the self-proclaimed 'hard-boiled' detective. After Cynthia, Ash knew Kozenikata the longest out of all the people in the group. They met right after the young trainer was saved by Raito. He learned that the detective had been on Galactic's tail for some time, trying to expose Cyrus' deeds. Meeting Ash, he was more than happy to have a reliable source of insider information. Throughout the four years, however, they were not able to find the right time to rightfully apprehend Cyrus. Partly because Ash's wish to pay Cyrus back upfront, then leave him to the authorities. A wish that prolonged the conflict a little too long, Ash mused to himself. He glanced behind him to find the motorcycle helmet fanatic.
Carmine. Ex-member of Bravo Team of Galactic, fully qualified to be a specialist. He was a Pokémon Trainer as well, a point to be noted also. A good-natured young man, roughly Brock's age, Ash speculated. Initially applied for an engineering position in Team Galactic, he was quickly drafted to the personal defense corps because of his great results during the physical tests, much to his dismay.
"-sh," a voice called out, interrupting his train of thought. "Ash!"
The young man turned to find Cynthia calling him. "What is it?"
"Are you alright? You've been awfully quiet for a long time, now. Are you not feeling well?" the Sinnoh Champion asked, concerned.
"I'm perfectly fine, Cynthia. Thanks for asking." Ash answered with a smile. Even the littlest actions from the woman could make his worries fly away.
"Are we almost there, Carmine?" Kozenikata asked the man behind him.
Carmine checked his map and confirmed that they were going the correct way. "Sure are, man. We should be arriving at the impasse right about... Now." he finished as they saw a dead-end some distance away from them. The group shone their lights and revealed the symbol Carmine and his team had found the last visit.
"Everyone, stop." Ash suddenly ordered. "Nobody move." The group did as he told them and kept still for a couple of minutes.
If Carmine had his helmet off, his raised eyebrow would be easily seen, showing his confused look. "What is it, Ash? We don't exactly have the time to be just standing around, now."
Kozenikata stepped forward and gave another voice to Carmine's statement. "I agree with the helmet boy. It's best if we proceed quickly, no?"
Ash lightly stepped forward. "There's something here."
"What? What is it? When I came here last time there was absolutely nothing." Carmine answered as he lighted up the surroundings with his 'torch'. "See? Nothing."
Busy looking around, Ash did not notice Carmine who was now standing in front of the pattern. When he saw the man, Carmine was about to touch the pattern. A chill ran up Ash's back, causing him to immediately run up to Carmine and pull him back. "Don't touch that wall!" he screamed, throwing Carmine back a couple of feet.
Then, as if on cue, a Pokemon dropped from the ceiling and immediately pinned Ash to the wall.
"Ash!" Cynthia screamed.
Sorting their lights to the Pokemon, a Kabutops was revealed. Pressured by the ancient Pokemon was Ash, holding his ground by pushing the Pokemon's crossed claws back with his metallic arm. "A little help would be nice here!"
"On it!" shouted Carmine who was reaching for his PokeBall. Unfortunately, he was interrupted by two more figures dropping from the ceiling, blocking their way to save Ash. "Sorry Ash, but we'll be right with you!" he claimed as he released his Tropius, facing what he made out to be two Omastar.
Still held down by the Kabutops, Ash noticed that the Pokemon lifted one of its claw and raised it high, getting ready to slash at him. Instinctively, he ordered his Pikachu to attack. "Pikachu, Iron Tail!" The yellow rodent immediately jumped off Cynthia's shoulder with its tail shining bright and slammed it on the back of the Kabutops' head, making the dual rock-water type stagger, loosening its grip on Ash. He immediately rolled forward to find the two Omastar quickly subdued by Carmine's Tropius and Cynthia's Garchomp. "Let's finish this, shall we?" he said as he turned back to the Kabutops. "Carmine, you do it."
"Fine by me. Tropius, Magical Leaf!" Carmine ordered his Pokemon, taking out the ancient guardian with a single super effective hit.
"Dammit, Carmine!" Ash yelled out, making Cynthia run up to him to see if he was hurt.
"What is it?"
Ash turned around and showed his back, presenting his torn coat. "My coat's all ruined... I told you not to go up there! I almost died!"
"Yeah, sorry about that..." Carmine meekly answered.
After a quick talk about the little incident, the group continued on. Ash used the Relic Fragment to open a secret passage leading to the ocean, releasing a strange beam to the horizon. Shortly after, they were greeted by a Lapras. During his time in the future, Ash was told Temporal Tower was housed on a small island called the 'Hidden Land'. The Lapras in front of them answered to the beam initiated by the Relic Fragment, ready to take them to the Hidden Land. It was decided that Kozenikata and Carmine's two men were to ride on the Lapras, Carmine on his Tropius, while Ash accepted Cynthia's offer to ride on her Milotic with her. Ash mostly spent the time chatting with Cynthia, occasionally interrupted by Carmine's scout reports.
"Ash, we need to speak." the young man heard a voice in his head. Knowing where it came from, Ash excused himself and flew away on his Charizard. Clear from the others, a cloaked figure appeared in front of him.
"What is it, Mewtwo? You're interrupting a pretty nice time, here." Ash said, a little annoyed.
Mewtwo removed his hood and pointed in a direction. "Humans are present on the entrance to the Island."
Raising an eyebrow at the statement, Ash looked at the direction the legendary Pokemon was pointing at. "Oh hey, we can see the island now. You said there's people there?"
"Yes, three of them, to be precise. They seem to be waiting for you." Mewtwo continued.
"Alright, thanks for the heads up, Mewtwo. Keep up the good job." Ash said as he flew back to the group. Shortly after he rejoined the other four, they reached their destination.
Ash had told everyone aside from Cynthia to stay at a safe distance away from the island and to be ready to jump in at his signal. The young man and the Sinnoh Champion arrived at a shore, greeted by a cave entrance not far from the beach. Cynthia recalled her Milotic and they both entered the cave.
Hidden Land
12:30 PM
"These are.. Man-made structures?" Ash heard the blonde champion asked beside him, inspecting the interiors of the cave.
"Seems like it." the young man answered. "Are those ancient writings?" he continued as he eyed one of the many inscriptions on the walls.
Cynthia quickly made her way and looked at the carvings. "It is! Oh, this is so exciting!"
Ash could not help but laugh at her antics. "Be careful now, we don't know what's here." he commented, making his way to the woman.
"Is that how you convinced the Sinnoh Champion to work with you, criminal? You promised her a chance to look at ancient relics?" a voice came from behind Ash.
Turning around, he saw the Blackthorn Gym Leader, Clair. "Now, now. I think we both know that's not true. A better question is how you got here, miss Clair. But looking at you, my first guess would be... The Dragon Clan?" Ash continued as he walked closer to dragon master.
"How I got here matters not. What is your objective here, Ash Ketchum?" the gym leader questioned.
"He's here to stop the time paralysis, Clair. It's nice to see you again, by the way." Cynthia interrupted, waving lightly at Clair.
"Miss Cynthia! Why are you helping this criminal? Our planet's almost completely paralyzed because of him!" the dragon trainer shouted back.
Ash shrugged and gave a frown. "You know, you were a lot nicer when we were battling for the Rising Badge some years back." he reached into his pack and took out all the Time Gears, throwing it on the floor. "Here's all the Time Gears. If I gave them to you, what would you do with them?" Seeing as the blue-haired woman stayed silent, Ash gathered them back and placed it in his pack again. He looked at Clair once more, chuckling after noticing her expression.
"W-What is it?" Clair asked, discontent.
"You didn't come here to capture me, did you? If you did, you would've had me in ropes by now." Ash said, crossing his arms. "The Dragon Clan is surely aware of Dialga's state... That means The Dragon Clan sent you here to help me." the young trainer finished, snapping his finger.
"Guess the jig's up." Another voice came from outside the cave.
Ash turned to see a red-haired man with a cape, accompanied by an older man. "The Kanto and Johto Champion and a member of the Hoenn Elite Four. Today must be my lucky day." Ash commented with a chuckle. He then proceeded to shake the hands of the two dragon trainers.
"Sorry for the hostility from my cousin." Lance dragged Clair and hit her lightly on the back. "Come on, apologize. You weren't exactly nice to the person we're supposed to be helping. We were going to just help you, but somebody insisted that we confirm your credibility."
"No, that's quite alright." Ash stopped Clair before she could say anything. "I would've done the same if I were in your shoes." he finished as he entered the tower.
Temporal Tower
2:00 PM
"So, how tall is this tower?" Carmine asked, panting. They had gone quite a number of floors up without any signs of reaching the top. "When I signed up for 'save the world week' this isn't really what I had in mind."
"What did you have in mind?" Ash shot back, leaning on a nearby wall, waiting for the Carmine to catch up. The members of the group were quite a ways behind, leaving the front reconnaissance to Ash and Carmine.
Carmine sat down and attempted to catch his breath. "You know, the usual heroic stuff. Ride on our Pokemon and fly away to victory. And how are you not tired, by the way?"
Ash showed his palm to Carmine. "The arm's helping me lift my own weight. It's kind of like walking on lowered gravity for me. It's pretty nifty." the young man explained as he demonstrated the usage.
"Pretty nifty alright. Is there a 'non severed arm' edition of that arm?"
"Don't know, during my time with the old man I didn't really ask around about his inventions." Ash looked at his arm again, recalling the mechanisms. "I can probably make my own, though I'm not sure about.. Err.. Not severing your arm. I only know the blueprints for mine."
Carmine cringed at the thought of losing his arm. "No thanks, I'll pass. I still like my arms, thank you very much."
"Heh, thought as much." Ash replied while making his way to look for the next set of stairs. He arrived at a large room, finding large stone tables equally placed in parts of the room. Surrounding the tables were chairs of similar material. "Hey Carmine, check this out. This must be a cafeteria or something." the young trainer sat down and his Pikachu jumped off his shoulder and sat on the table in front of Ash. "Call the others, this is a good resting place."
Carmine was only gone for a brief while before coming back with the other members of the group, calling them for a short rest. They had climbed at least twenty floors without stopping, effectively draining their energy. Somewhere along the midway the layout of the tower changed. During his time in the future, the other Ash Ketchum would refer it as the Temporal 'Spire'. A fitting name, Ash thought.
"Hey Ash, what are you planning to do once we get up to the top?" Kozenikata asked the younger man, lighting up his cigar.
Ash shifted in his seat and shrugged. "To be honest, I don't really know. The tower that I've been to in the future had collapsed, so I've never really been to this part of the tower." the young man explained, receiving confused and puzzled looks from the others.
"You've been to the future, kid?" Drake inquired skeptically, speaking up for the first time since their meeting. "I find that unbelievable, but this should be interesting."
"I find it hard to believe myself, but yeah. Ain't a pretty place, if you ask me." Ash answered. He noticed Cynthia coming back from her round of patrolling. "Welcome back Cynthia. What did you find?"
"Nothing in particular," the Sinnoh Champion answered as she took a seat. "I did find more ancient writings. I thought it wouldn't be smart for me to stay out there for too long, so I came back here. One thing in particular stood out, though."
"What is it?" Ash shot back, interest piqued.
"The fact that this place is a research facility." Cynthia answered simply.
"How did you come to that conclusion?" Lance asked while peeking out of the room trying to confirm the fact.
"Some of the signs read that while I was going around." the blonde answered, pointing to the place where she found it.
Letting the others continue their discussion, Ash felt himself being drawn to a certain spot. He allowed his legs carry him for a short while, before stopping at a particular room. Iron shackles were scattered across the room, rubble covering some of them. Suddenly, a dizzy spell started to creep its in Ash's head. A familiar sensation, one felt multiple times by Ash during the last while during the whole Time Gears ordeal.
"Should I call the others?" A cloaked figure asked as he teleported in the room.
"No need, Mewtwo... Rather, go to the rest of the group and tell them to go ahead without me. I have a feeling that this Dimensional Scream is different.. Let me see to this one uninterrupted."
"Very well, then." Mewtwo replied simply as he vanished from the room.
Feeling the pain getting worse, Ash sat down and leaned against the wall, letting the Scream tear his mind into unconsciousness.
"Sir, we can't hold on much longer! The Tower is going to collapse, most of the King's men here have already fled!" a soldier yelled, seemingly at his superior.
The other man sat calmly, unfazed. "Do you wish to leave too, then? Leaving that thing unguarded? That which caued Dialga to go out of control and started the Time Paralysis in the first place?"
The underling gulped and looked at another direction. "N-No, sir.. But if we don't leave now, we'll die!"
"If we leave, that thing will escape and unleash havoc upon humanity and Pokemon alike!" the superior shouted firmly. "I have prepared myself to give my life for the cause since the beginning, soldier, have you not done the same?"
"O-Of course I have, sir!" The soldier replied, giving a salute.
"That thing... No, Pokemon? It doesn't matter. I will seal it here to prevent it from escaping. This monster... I will stop its ambition of making a world shrouded in darkness." The man stood up and headed to the room where he would seal the entity.
Released from the Scream, Ash jolted up and vividly recollected what he saw in the vision. The being that was about to be sealed by the man, the source of a previous time paralysis.
"Oh, what the hell..."
A/N: Sorry for the long break, again.
Since this story is nearing its end, I'm thinking of starting another Pokemon story with some pairings already in mind. And so I wanted to know what you guys would think, so I've put up a poll in my profile. It would be highly appreciated if you guys could drop by and leave a vote (^.^)
Edit 9/17/2012: Thanks for the people that have voted so far! I'll keep the poll open until 9/20/2012.
