It's been a while since I've dropped anything in this collection of one shots. Hm.

Now, this one...it's actually kind of important. Kind of. See, it doesn't entirely play in until later (much, much later), but there's someone Maria meets here that may come back in a different time. I'll have to see what happens.

Greetings, Fellow Explorer! A Return to Humankind

When Maria trotted into town with her usual errands in mind, the last thing she had been expecting to see was another six-tailed Fox Pokemon standing in the middle of Treasure Town, looking horribly confused.

"Hi!" Maria bounded over to him, her own six tails bouncing with each step. "I didn't think that I'd see another Vulpix outside of the Sky Stairway! Welcome to Treasure Town!"

The other Vulpix blinked in surprise at the statement, and the Pokemon gave a nod. "Thank you. I can't say that I was expecting to meet anyone else like myself, either." He looked around at the various shops that were set up along the street. "This is...Treasure Town, you said?"

Maria nodded. "Yup! And probably the only town that's got two Guilds in it!"

"Oh? I only noticed the building up there." The Vulpix nodded back to the hill that overlooked the town, where Wigglytuff's Guild was clearly and prominently placed. "I already tried to get in, but...it seems they were a little confused as to what I was."

"They were?" Maria frowned. "The gatekeepers up there know me, though. They know what the feet of Vulpix look like." She looked down at the other's paws, and her eyes widened in surprise. "Oh! I see the problem - you've got extra toes!"

"Yes, I thought that was the issue." The other Vulpix's paws - each with one extra toe - curled in a little, almost like clenching fingers. They relaxed a moment later. "If they know you, do you think you could get me inside? I'm looking for information, and Guilds seem to be my only way to get that right now."

Maria cocked her head to one side. "What kind of information?"

The other Vulpix hesitated. "I doubt that you'd be able to be of much help."

Maria rolled her eyes. "You clearly don't know a Guild member when you see one." She raised a paw and pointed at the red bandanna she was wearing around her neck - specifically, at the winged, spherical badge that was pinned to the fabric. "See? This marks me as a member of a Guild. They change colors depending on what your Rank in the Guild is, and mine's pretty high."

"Oh!" The Vulpix leaned in a little in order to get a better look at the badge. "I hadn't realized that - my apologies." He stepped back. "I was wondering if there's any information around here on humans. All the other Guilds that I've been to haven't had all that much information on them - they seem to think that humans are mythical creatures of some kind."

Maria's ears pricked up at that. "Humans, huh? That's an odd rumor to be chasing. I don't think that I've heard of other Pokemon who have even been remotely interested in that."

The other Vulpix sighed. "So, you won't be able to help me?"

"I didn't say that." Maria's tails wagged as the other Vulpix looked at her in surprise. "Come on - let's go to the other Guild first; I'm actually a member there. If you want to talk about humans, we can do that there before going over to Wigglytuff's."

"Thank you."

The other Vulpix followed Maria through Treasure Town out to the bluff that was on the other side of town. There were a few Pokemon that were scattered around the billboards that were set up in front of the stairs leading down into the mouth of the Sharpedo-shaped bluff, and they nodded respectfully as Maria and the other Vulpix moved past and down into the bluff.

"Well, here we are. Home sweet home." Maria made a wide sweeping motion with her tails to show off the small room. "Huh. Looks like Pika's taken off already. Ah well."

"Pika?" the other Vulpix asked in confusion.

"A Pikachu - he's a pretty good friend of mine; we usually partner up to take on tougher dungeons. He's working on training a team right now, though, so I guess he went off to make sure that they didn't end up getting into any trouble." Maria paused. "You know, we never actually got around to introducing ourselves to each other."

The other Vulpix paused to consider that for a moment, then nodded. "I've been going by Six Paws, because..." He trailed off, raising one of his paws as though that was proof enough.

Maria nodded. "I'm Maria, co-Guildmaster of PokeExplore. It's nice to meet you, Six Paws."

Six Paws stiffened in surprise. "Wha - you're Maria? You're the Pokemon that everyone is talking about?"

Maria looked amused at the other Fire-Type's shocked expression. "Well, yeah. What were you expecting, a Ninetales?"

"I-I'm not exactly sure what I was expecting, but I certainly wasn't expecting you to be so...so young." Six Paws certainly looked startled. "Are you...really as powerful as they say? You are actually able to take on a god of this world and live?"

"It's actually not that hard when you've got a Type advantage and know where to find them." Maria shrugged, then frowned. "Wait. 'Of this world'? What do you mean by that?"

Six Paws froze at the question, his eyes widening. "Uh..."

Maria's mind was moving past her question, however. "Is that why you were asking about humans? Because you're from the human world?"

Six Paws jumped at the question. "How did you-"

"Oh, wow! I didn't think that I'd get to meet someone else who was is in the exact situation that I am!" A wide grin crossed Maria's face. "You're a human too, aren't you?"

"T-too?" Six Paws blinked for a moment, unnerved, then shook his head. "Er - y-yes, I am. If you're human as well, does that mean we're all transformed as soon as we arrive here?"

"Not right away - I got to meet a human from the other side of this world a few days ago - that's the human world, by the way." Maria shrugged. "She had to go back pretty quickly, though, or else she would have turned into a Pokemon herself."

"Really?" Six Paws' ears perked up in interest. "How did she get back?"

"I got into contact with a friend of mine." Maria wasn't about to let on everything to this stranger, but she did know that the guy clearly needed help. "He sent her back within a few hours; she didn't even get time to spend the night." She sat down on the stone floor and motioned for Six Paws to do the same; he hesitated for a moment before following suit. "Why are you asking, anyway? Are you trying to find a way back home?"

Six Paws hesitated at the question, then shook his head. "I need certain materials to make something, and they can only be found on the human side of the world. I'm going to need to go there - preferably in human form, if at all possible."

"Oh." Maria frowned. "Uh...huh." Her tails curled a little.

Six Paws noticed her expression. "Look, I - I-" He paused for a moment. "Are the stories about you coming from the future true?"

Maria blinked at that, then nodded slowly. "Yeah, that's right."

"And that world you were in before...did you have enemies there?"

"Well, I had Pokemon that were coming after me because of who I am and what I could do with my Dimensional Scream, so I guess?"

"I have people coming after me - one person in particular, in fact - and I have a plan to stop him from destroying my world. However, I am going to need to put something together in order to stop them, and in order for that to happen, I need human materials and my own two hands."

Maria frowned again. "Sounds like you need people to back you up - there's no way that you'd be able to defeat this guy alone. I'll come with you and-"

"No!"

Maria blinked in surprise at the sudden outburst, then frowned. "Are you saying that you don't think that I'd be able to handle it? Even after I've defeated the Legendaries that represent time, space, and one's own nightmares?"

Six Paws flinched, his ears flicking back. "This is not a mission for children. I understand that you are powerful despite your age, but this isn't something that you should get yourself involved in. You're in more than enough danger now as it is just by talking to me."

"...are you being hunted?"

Six Paws looked startled at that. "Wh-what?"

"I was hunted in the future by the Sableye thanks to Primal Dialga and Dusknoir." Maria's tails lashed back and forth. "I know what it feels like to be on the run - Pika does, too. If you tell me what's hunting you, we might be able to help."

Six Paws hesitated at that, then shook his head. "My enemy is far more dangerous than anything that you could have faced. If you can at least assist me in getting to the human side of the world, that will be more than enough."

Maria frowned at Six Paws' comment. "Are you sure? Having someone to back you up might be a good idea."

"I'll keep that in mind, but this is something that you shouldn't get involved in. Now, the way to become human again?"

Maria could see that she wasn't going to be able to get through to the Vulpix, so she sighed and nodded. "There's a place called Spacial Rift. Palkia, the Pokemon that controls space, lives in the deepest part of it. He can warp space so that Pokemon can travel to other places quickly - like the human world. I was actually planning on heading there soon myself, but I want to make sure that I have all my affairs in order here first, because I don't know if I'm ever going to come back."

Six Paws' ears flicked forward as his eyes widened in surprise. "You're willing to leave your guild behind?"

"Pika and the others know that I'm human, and I really need to get back to my own world. If we need to, we can find ways to get into contact with each other, too." Maria touched the bandanna that was tied around her neck. "It's taking a while for me to get everything in order, but I think I should be ready in a day or two to become human again. Are you willing to wait that long?"

Six Paws considered the question, frowning slightly. "Are you sure that it will only take that long?"

"Absolutely certain." Maria nodded. "It's either that, or you travel to Spacial Rift on your own and have to prove your worth to Palkia instead of me vouching for you. He's a bit picky about letting people into his lair, after all."

Plus, if Six Paws wasn't someone that Maria could trust, the Legendary should be able to pick up on that and make sure that Six Paws got what he deserved instead of what he wanted.

"..I see." Six Paws cocked his head to one side, his gaze moving around the small cave that Maria and Pika had taken to calling their guild's home base. "Well, if I have no other way to get to the human side of the world, then I will have to be patient." He looked back at Maria. "Where will I be able to stay while you make your final preparations?"

"You can stay here, actually." Maria smiled. "Pika and I always have enough extra bedding for guests. It won't be a problem if you stick around."

Six Paws blinked in surprise at that. "Th-thank you."

"It's no problem." Maria gave the other Vulpix a bright smile. "Now, I've gotta run and do a few errands and take care of my other Guildmaster duties. If you wanna hang around with me today or just stay in here, that's up to you. I'll make sure you aren't bothered if you decide to stay in here."

Six Paws looked like he was about to answer, but a yawn escaped from his mouth instead of actual words, causing him to blink in surprise.

Maria burst out laughing. "I guess that answers my question! Let me get the bedding out so you can rest." She moved over to a small alcove at the back of the cave and pulled out what looked like a small tarp covered in hay. "This'll be a lot more comfortable than the cave floor." She fluffed up the hay a little by digging her paws into it and pulling them back out quickly. "Go ahead and mess with that as much as you need; I'm going to go head out and make sure my affairs are in order. I should be ready to head out tomorrow morning, and we're going to have quite the trek ahead of us, so get all the rest you need. There's a small store of food here in the same place I pulled the hay out from - just some Apples and a couple Oran berries, but if you end up getting hungry later you can snack on that if you need it."

Six Paws looked surprised at that. "You're being very hospitable to someone you only just met. Any particular reason?"

"I don't like not helping people." Maria stepped away from the properly fluffed bed of hay and looked over at Six Paws. "I mean, not only is it my duty as a Guildmaster to help people, but it's something I feel is right to do even without that title. Like it's something that's important to me as a person somehow." She shrugged. "There are some things that I don't remember about who I was before, and this might have something to do with it."

Six Paws blinked at that, then yawned again and shook his head.

"Well, I'll leave you to it." Maria nodded to the hay bed. "I'll be back in a couple hours!" With that, she bounded out of the small Guild, grabbing a bag from a hook by the stairs before she disappeared from sight.

Time Break

As Maria had said, it took her a couple days in order to get her affairs in order with not only the people of Treasure Town, but the two Guilds as well. Wigglytuff and the others had been sad to hear of her plans to leave, of course, but they agreed with Maria's plan.

"I wish you would tell us what it is that's coming after you," Maria said on the morning of the third day as she and Six Paws stepped out of Treasure Town.

"I don't want to get this world involved in my troubles," Six Paws replied resolutely. "You have had your own villains to defeat; I am not going to give you the trouble of mine on top of that."

"You're saying he's worse than Darkrai, then," Maria said flatly. "I find that rather hard to believe."

Six Paws looked at Maria with a confused expression. "Darkrai?"

"The Legendary that caused me and Pika to go after Dialga in the first place. He wanted to cover the world in darkness – an endless nightmare. It's what his power is – any sleeping Pokémon he's near, he can pull them into a nightmare." Maria's expression became more and more grim with each word. "And they can be really realistic if you don't know what to look for."

"…I am surprised to find that such creatures with such power exist here." Six Paws' voice was oddly grim, making Maria tilt her head to one side.

"You know that Dialga controls the timestream and you find it hard to believe that a Pokémon like Darkrai can exist?"

Six Paws ducked his head at that. "I suppose I deserve that." He looked at Maria. "Is Darkrai still a—"

"Don't worry about him; Pika and I took care of what he was up to." Maria gave a slight shake of her head and smiled. "It was a tough fight, but we managed to get on top of things when it really mattered and save the world again. And now I get to help again by getting the both of us back to where we're supposed to be." She started to move ahead on the path. "Come on; Spacial Rift is a good trek from here, and we can't dawdle for long."

"Right!" Six Paws immediately started running after Maria as she quickened her pace.

It took them a few days to make the trek out to the rip in the earth that Palkia was easily found in. In that time, Maria and Six Paws ran into few Pokémon, but enough of them that they were able to gauge each other's abilities. Seeing how good Six Paws was at aiming Iron Thorns helped ease some of Maria's worry, but the fact that he hadn't used any Pokémon attacks over the course of their trek was concerning to say the least.

"Duck!"

Maria flattened herself against the ground as an Iron Thorn was flung over her head, slamming into an Electrivire before it went up in flames as a Fire Spin from Maria consumed it.

"Not bad." Maria rose to her full height and nodded to Six Paws. "But you really should be using your abilities more. You'd be able to do a lot more."

"I haven't been in this dimension long, and I don't intend to stay long enough to learn," Six Paws replied curtly. "How much deeper must we go?"

"Hold your Rapidashes, we're almost to the bottom of the canyon." Maria rolled her eyes, then trotted over to the carved staircase. "Palkia's usually found down here. Come on."

Maria made her way down the stairs to the last floor of the Spacial Rift, Six Paws following behind her.

"I have to admit, these 'mystery dungeons' are quite fascinating from a scientist's perspective," Six Paws commented. "Any idea what holds them together? What causes these mazes to appear across the land and hold such strange treasures inside?"

"The only explanation I've had is that these are places where time and space warp a lot," Maria admitted, looking back at him. "I'm sure there's an explanation for why time and space are warping, but I've never asked and I don't think I was a human who knew how to figure out things like that. Is that what a scientist does?"

"Among other things. I'm sure that, with time and some experimentation, a formula could be written of the phenomena that would explain the how, but the why might still be elusive for some time afterwards."

"I had thought I had sensed the spacial distortion of a traveler."

Maria looked ahead as they entered a large cavern, Six Paws stiffening in surprise right behind her at not only the voice echoing in their minds, but also the sheer size of the being in front of them.

"Wh-what is—"

"Palkia, you knew Six Paws was here?" Maria looked between the two of them in surprise.

"I simply sensed his presence; I was not aware of who specifically he was." The large pink-and-white dragon Legendary leaned down to get a closer look at the two Vulpix as Six Paws backed up a couple steps. "What brings you here then, Guildmaster?"

"Guil – he's a part of your Guild?!" Six Paws' voice went suddenly shrill.

"All Legendaries that I've met are honorary members," Maria replied. "I told you he was a friend of mine."

"Indeed; our world owes her a great debt for seeing what the rest of us could not see." Palkia paused. "I assume this is not a social call."

Maria shook her head. "I'm…I'm ready to go back. To the human world, I mean. I'm not gonna recover my memories as they are staying here; I have to be among my own kind again."

Palkia nodded. "Very well then. And your…ally?"

"I also need to be among humans." Six Paws stepped forward, moment of shock left behind. "There is something that I have to do, and being here, where I cannot reach the resources I require, will only hinder my mission."

Palkia gained a lidded gaze at Six Paws' words. "Ah, you are that kind of traveler then. You will not find what you seek on this world, but I can send you to a place that you can find what you require."

Palkia reared back his head and roared, and the space in front of Six Paws rippled, tearing open into a pulsing rip in space.

"Go!"

"My thanks!" Six Paws nodded, then looked over at Maria and gave her a nod. "Good luck."

"And the same to you." Maria grinned. "Kick that monster's tail so hard he goes flying into the next dimension!"

Six Paws grunted, then leapt into the rift. As soon as he collided and passed through it, his body started to change. Maria wasn't able to see much beyond his tails disappearing as he grew taller before the rift closed tightly behind him.

"Do you think I'm gonna see him again in the human world?" Maria looked up at Palkia.

"I doubt that you will. I sent him to another world entirely."

Maria's eyes widened sharply at that. "You what? How? Why?"

"What we have here would not be of assistance to him." Palkia paused. "You have all your own affairs in order as well?"

Maria blinked, then nodded a little. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm ready. Just – before I go – do you think I'll run into Six Paws again? As a human?"

Palkia tilted his head slightly. "That is hard to say. He travels between worlds as easily as you have crossed time. You may meet someone like him, in the future, but I doubt that you will see the one known as Six Paws again."

Maria sighed, then nodded a little. "I guess he has his own adventure to go on, huh?"

"Indeed. I cannot see beyond this world to know what is in store for him, but I know enough of his plight to know you will not have any hand in assisting him in his present goal. Now, you are set to return to the human world. I have taken the liberty of choosing your destination. Are you prepared?"

Maria closed her eyes and took in a breath, steeling herself, then opened her eyes again and nodded. "I am."

Palkia roared again, and another rip in space appeared in the air. "Go, then!"

Maria didn't need any more encouragement; she crouched, then leapt into the rip in space with a determined yell as her vision went dark.