-Chapter VI: Time Heals Nothing-

-Connor-

Basileus' eye widened as he looked straight up at the surface of the water, and Grovyle visibly shuddered. "Underneath…?" I thought-"

"Thought that it was unable to be found or swam through by any pokémon other than a Temporal Guardian?" Galatia finished the thought.

Basileus and Grovyle extended their leaf blades, the Sceptile glaring at them. "Who told you that?"

"I did." A new voice cut through the water. Connor whipped his head to the source of the noise, and a Lapras glided through the water. "I told them. They have been my friends for a long while. There is no need to worry, you two." She stared intently at Grovyle and Basileus, and their leaf blades slowly retracted.

Basileus eyed her warily. "Lapras. You know that you cannot-"

"I am aware, Basileus. But similarly as Team Firestorm is important to the mainland, Team Siren is important to the ocean."

"That doesn't mean-"

"Wait a minute." Connor interrupted. "Lapras, you're a Temporal Guardian, right? Basileus knows you?"

"...Yes, he does."

"But... he's from a different timeline. That means... he's a Temporal Guardian, too?"

Her eyes widened slightly, but she nodded in affirmation. "...Yes. He is a Temporal Guardian as well. ...Does this surprise you?"

He shook his head. "Honestly, amnesia really takes the surprise factor away after awhile."

"Good. There are many trials that you will face on your journey, each one more challenging than the last. This is not just a quest for your team's safety. It is for the sake of Immanis."

He rolled his eyes back and groaned. "Can we please catch a break? Y'know, for a few years? Maybe even a few decades?"

Lapras smiled gently. "Connor… You have much to learn. There is always evil in the world. It's our job to make sure that it doesn't get out of hand, like this so-called 'Mafia Group' has."

"Hold on! We're not gonna skip over that like it didn't just happen!" Alice interrupted. She stared straight at Basileus. "You're a Temporal Guardian?!"

Basileus nodded. "I am."

"What the heck, man?! Why didn't you guys just say that in the beginning! 'Hey, guys! We've got one of the best fighters on Immanis here to help you out! Oh, and he's a Temporal Guardian! How awesome is that?'" She raised her voice to the point of almost yelling.

"...I was forbidden from telling anyone. However, since Lapras decided to tell you, I can elaborate further. I am a Temporal Guardian, one of the twelve beings chosen by Dialga to guard time. Two of them, one of them being Lapras, already reside in this branch of time, so in order for my presence to be here, I was stripped of most of my power. I am still immortal in the sense that I don't age, but the amount of authority I hold over time itself is very limited."

"But who told you not to tell anyone?" Connor questioned.

"Dialga expressly forbids it. We cannot tell anyone that we are Temporal Guardians unless we all agree, and even then, only to you and your team, because of what you did to save my leader two years ago."

"What about the rest of your group? The Insurgo? Do they know?" Caroline pressed.

"Yes. I was allowed to tell them."

"Why?"

"Because they are the pokémon chosen to travel through time with me to assist you."

Alice tilted her head in absolute confusion. "But how…? How are you a Temporal Guardian? I thought that they were all some big, muscular pokémon, or something… And you have an eyepatch. Even though it does make you more attr- masculine!" She quickly corrected herself and covered her face. "It… I don't know…" She was blushing uncontrollably, and Basileus' eyebrow arched up. "What about my eyepatch?"

"Can't you just heal it or something?" Caroline saved Alice from an awkward response.

"Yes. But I chose to keep it."

"But why? Is it just for the effect? I don't see any plus side to keeping an eye permanently out of commission." Caroline replied.

"Who said I can't use it?" Basileus crossed his arms and floated there weightlessly.

"I dunno… I just…" her voice trailed off, and Basileus spoke up. "That being said, I am asking you not to tell anyone until I feel they should be told. Understood?" He looked directly at Alice, and she nodded quickly. "Yeah. I got it."

He looked at each of them until they all agreed. Connor looked at Grovyle with disbelief. "Grovyle… you knew?"

The grass-type nodded slowly and replied, "Yes. I'm sorry, Connor… I was forbidden from telling anyone, just like my father."

Connor teared up, but nodded. He understood where Grovyle was coming from in saying that.

"Well… Allow me to assist your team, Connor." Lapras glided through the water and snatched up Alice, Caroline and Jade, each of them resting on her massive shell. "I will take you to your group on the mainland. Consider it my thanks for saving my master from darkness two years ago. And Basileus, I wish to speak to your Charizard... Amber, I believe her name is."

Basileus nodded silently while Connor shrugged nonchalantly. "...Sure. I mean, thanks!" He nodded and grabbed hold of her neck. Vulcan grabbed onto her shell, and Grovyle and Basileus held on with vine whips. Manaphy floated beneath them, and Lapras said, "Cassandra, take care of him. Manaphy… Your time will come. You are destined for far greater things than hiding in the shadows."

Then she took off, straight through the water and blasted out of the surface. She began gliding above the water, rapidly rising until she was several meters above the surface of the ocean. Alice stared at the Finneon and Basculin that were swimming beneath them, leaping out of the water beside them. "Lapras...? You're flying?!" she shouted above the sound of the waves beneath them.

"No!" Connor grinned. "We're crossing the sea of time!" Just like old times... Except this time we're meeting our team.

The waves began rippling in the distance as Lapras picked up speed, and Jade stared at the deformed horizon with awe, where the sun was peeking over the edge of the horizon, and the daylight fading into darkness. Connor pulled her into a one-armed hug, ignoring her freezing-cold skin. "Pretty cool, huh?!"

She nodded, her jaw hanging open. "Incredible…"

"Hold on! I'm taking us through a temporal rift!" Lapras called back as a large seam tore through the air, making a green dimensional hole. Basileus secured himself to her shell and held on to Grovyle, and Vulcan murmured, "Just like old times…" And they vanished into a towering green portal.

-Roy-

They continued walking for a little while before Amber stopped them. He kept thinking about those voices in his head. They were both so familiar, and that was the clearest memory he had ever received.

"Castiel…" He mumbled. The name sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite put his metaphorical finger on it. He kept getting lost in thought while talking to Dusknoir, much to his dismay. From the information he had gathered, the heavyset ghost-type wasn't as evil as everybody thought he was. He readily explained how he came to be Dialga's servant, how he and Grovyle practically grew up together and Dialga had taken them under his wing, per say, and ruled over him by using fear and force. He also admitted that at some points he did act on his own motives, oftentimes doing more harm than good, and he was not proud of it. And Roy couldn't sense living beings' emotions that well, since they operated on an entirely different emotional spectrum, but Dusknoir was a different story. He was being honest. He had truly changed in the time between the final fight in the hidden land and now. He knew that for a fact.

Roy was so deep in thought that he nearly bumped into the Galvantula, who had stopped and was looking around nervously. The entire group, minus the Team Firestorm half, looked a bit uneasy. He tried to sense anything wrong, but he couldn't. Then he felt a tugging sensation to his right, and a twelve foot tall dimensional rift opened, except it was the exact same hue of green as a time gear. He stared at it, not paying attention to anyone else. A large figure materialized in it, and a colossal Lapras shot out in the blink of an eye. It slid along the ground for at least fifty feet before coming to a stop. Then he saw what was on its shell, and he laughed. "I knew it! Ha-ha! I told you they'd be back!"

All of the others were on its back. Every single one. Briar rushed forward and helped Grovyle and Basileus up, while Alice leapt straight at Atlas, tears of joy streaming down their face. He held her in his arms and gave her a hug. "Arceus, where were you guys?"

Vulcan looked crestfallen, while Connor looked moderately happy until he looked directly to Roy's left. He followed his gaze and saw Dusknoir, and he rolled his eyes slightly. Oh... That's right… Connor doesn't like him.

Connor leapt off of the Lapras and used rain dance, spewing black clouds into the sky. Lightning began flashing as a maelstrom quickly formed, and he mega-evolved. Everybody stared at him while he strode forward through the pounding rain, radiating so much anger that Roy's very being told him to flee. Oh, dear… Not good.

He sprinted straight up to Dusknoir and used an aqua-jet boosted punch, a torrent of light blue water spewing from the orange shells on his forearms, propelling him forward almost as fast as Mirage. Dusknoir was sent flying backwards, and Connor roared, "YOU LIED TO US!"

Dusknoir got up and coated his fists in ice, which accumulated on his hands from the rapidly freezing raindrops. "Connor… Listen to me-"

Connor's entire body shot forward faster than Roy's eyes could follow, and when Dusknoir tried to dodge, he was hit with a boulder from behind, as big as a shop in treasure town. He was thrown to the ground, and Connor slammed his head into the earth again. "AS SOON AS YOU APPEARED! THIS WAS YOUR FAULT!"

Dusknoir intercepted the next swing with his fist and fired a dark pulse from his stomach mouth. Connor shook it off, looking barely dazed. The storm picked up, the trees around them starting to shake and the rain came down even more forcefully. Dusknoir narrowed his eye and put his arm behind him in a stopping gesture. "No. Leave this to me."

Roy hadn't noticed, but Amber had gotten into a fighting stance, along with Briar, Basileus and Tyranitar. When Dusknoir said that, they backed away.

Connor's eyes showed brief confusion, but he used hydro pump to blast Dusknoir. He retaliated with Ice Beam, freezing the entire torrent of water mid-attack. He melted into shadows and used shadow punch repeatedly, barraging Connor from all sides. He growled and slammed both his fists into the ground, triggering an earthquake. Everybody was shaken clean off their feet, minus those that could fly. Dusknoir tackled Connor after diving out of the shadow realm and grappled his arms, holding him up against his chest while the Swampert's muscles rippled in an effort to escape.

"Connor, listen to me!" Dusknoir demanded. "That was not my doing! You must put old grudges aside! Do you not see that this so-called mafia group is trying to tear us apart?!"

"I don't care!" He used ancient power to slam another boulder into Dusknoir, then broke free from his grip. "Everything was looking good until you appeared! Then we get blown up by some Golem! Even if it's not your fault, I've been wanting to beat you senseless since Grovyle dragged you to the future! This is as good a time as any!"

He tried to use focus punch, but his fist went straight through Dusknoir's ghostly body. "Connor, I understand your rage. I truly do. But you must not allow that rage to consume you! Use your common sense! This is an attempt by the group that killed your friends to weaken us further! Did you ever stop and consider that?!"

"SHUT UP!" Connor ripped half of the earth around them out of the ground and slammed the boulders into Dusknoir from all sides. The heavyset ghost reappeared behind Connor in the blink of an eye and used confuse ray. Connor fell to the ground and struggled to stand up. The entire ground heaved as he used Ancient Power in a blind, confusion-induced rage. Dusknoir avoided the stones that flew towards him and punched Connor in the stomach several times before finishing with a blizzard attack, freezing Connor to the ground. Dusknoir took a deep breath, but Connor broke out of the ice within a matter of seconds and ran at him again.

Dusknoir extended his hand and used gravity. Roy felt his essence being dragged to the ground, and Connor slowly moved slower and slower until he was forced to the ground as well. Then the rain stopped. Connor de-evolved, and Dusknoir floated closer, making sure not to lose focus. "Connor… Have you come to your senses yet?"

"I've always had my senses, Dusknoir. I'm right not to trust you. I... will never trust you. Nothing you say can convince me... to ever trust you. As long as you're here, I will fight."

Dusknoir sighed and said, "I understand, Connor. I don't expect you to trust me after one day, especially after what just happened at Sharpedo Bluff. But for the time being, may we invoke a truce in which neither of us attack each other?"

Connor growled and strained to get up, but Dusknoir clenched his fist and Connor's arms collapsed from beneath him. "Do we have an agreement?"

"No!"

Dusknoir grunted once and forced Connor to the ground even harder. Alice started to move forward, but Roy shook his head. "Alice. No."

She stared at him and pointed to Connor. "He's hurting him, Roy!"

"Connor attacked first. And Dusknoir won't do anything that will permanently injure him. The rest of his group will make sure of that."

Atlas, on the other hand, wasn't so understanding. He ran forward and used foresight again, then tackled Dusknoir, breaking the gravitational field around Connor. Connor leapt up and ran at Dusknoir without hesitation, but the giant ghost-type growled and used psychic on Atlas, slammed him into Connor, then flew forward and used shadow punch, uppercutting Connor so hard that he toppled backwards and laid there, stunned, for a few moments. Atlas got up and tried running forward again, but Roy took away his healing factor on the down-low. All of his incantations were reversible. This battle was going on for far too long, and he didn't see any point in letting Atlas prolong it. Atlas' legs gave out, and he fell face-first to the ground.

Connor shook his head and stood up again, a look of absolute rage on his face. Dusknoir faced him fearlessly. This fight could honestly go either way. Then Dusknoir disappeared into thin air. Roy's eyes widened in shock, and Connor looked around frantically for a sign that Dusknoir was shadow-travelling. Dusknoir reappeared and used the shadows on the ground to hold down Connor's shadow, forcing him to the ground with multiple massive pitch-black hands that wrapped around him and dragged his outline to the ground. Connor strained against the force of the shadows, and he even mega evolved again. Dusknoir had to apply extra effort to the restraints after that. Connor's muscles rippled and the ground around him cratered downwards from the force he applied to stay standing. He roared in pain and used hydro cannon as a last-ditch effort, a torrent of water washing over Dusknoir. The shadows remained intact, much to Connor's and Roy's surprise, as Dusknoir floated there, completely unharmed. Connor was immobilized from the aftershock of the move, and Dusknoir used that opportunity to force him to the ground further.

Dusknoir floated closer to him as he de-evolved. "Connor, I will ask again: May we please make an agreement to end this pointless dispute?"

Connor growled and tried to punch Dusknoir again, but he floated just out of range and narrowed his eye before glancing at Amber. "I expected as much. May you or Grovyle finish this?"

Amber nodded and walked closer to Connor as Dusknoir released the shadow hold. "Hey…" He glared at her with absolute hatred, and Grovyle walked up beside her. "Connor, listen to me. You're scaring your teammates. Look at them!"

Connor gasped stared wordlessly at everyone. The fear in their eyes was apparent. He fell to the ground and gritted his teeth while Dusknoir patched the wounds on his arms with random shadows. As soon as Dusknoir grabbed a shadow from the ground and drew it in, his wounds healed over, his ghostly skin stretching to cover any open wounds. Roy gasped. Okay, I need to learn how to do that!

"Connor, you need to suck it up. Dusknoir is with us. With me. I need your word that you'll at least tolerate that and not try to attack him at every given opportunity."

"...Fine. For you, Grovyle." He turned in Amber's general direction and said, "So… Lapras said she wanted to see you, or something."

She stumbled over to the Lapras. "I know. Lapras, what are you doing here?"

"I am merely lending my assistance to Connor's friends. Nothing more, nothing less."

"You know that I don't believe that." Amber growled.

Lapras smiled smugly. "I don't require you to believe it. My intentions are my own until it concerns you, and that is all that matters. Now, if you'll excuse me..."

A green outline of a time gear appeared in midair, then expanded until it was a twelve foot tall portal. It pulled at the Lapras until she was drawn in, then it vanished in a flash of light.

Amber clenched her fists and turned back to the entire group. "Everyone… Welcome back." She shifted her pupils to Connor, who was still collapsed on the ground. She sighed with… was that disappointment? He couldn't quite tell. He wasn't in sync with the emotions of living beings. "Connor… Dusknoir is on our side. He was not to blame, nor is he to blame for any unfortunate events that happen from here on out. Do I make myself clear?"

Connor nodded, but didn't look her in the eyes. "Yeah. Got it."

She looked him in the eyes, cupping her hands under his face and grabbing the sides of his head to make him look at her. Roy noticed Tyranitar and Galvantula barely leaning towards them, as if they were anticipating a fight. "When we find a place to rest… You tell me what happened."

Connor stared at her with a scowl, and a spark lit between them. An actual spark. Connor's eyes radiated a blue hue that seemed to intensify and zap Amber's blazing aura. She stumbled backwards and Connor shook his head vigorously. "Um… Yeah. Got it. When we're safe, tell you what went down." He looked at the rapidly dimming sky and turned to face her. "Where are we, exactly? I don't recognize this place."

"A few miles east of Green Meadow." She grumbled.

He nodded approvingly. "You guys were bookin' it."

"We were moving quickly, yes. I sensed multiple hostile pokémon closing in when we left treasure town." She replied.

"How did you guys make it through unnoticed?" Caroline questioned. "That explosion was big enough to get anyone's attention in treasure town, and everybody knows it's Connor and Vulcan's home. It'll probably be the biggest investigation by the police force in decades."

"We shadow-travelled to the outskirts with the help of Dusknoir and… and Roy." Amber said his name with a hint of nervousness. And she was well within her rights to. She was dead. And he brought her back in spite of his judgement telling him otherwise.

Connor picked up on the nervousness and glanced suspiciously between her and Roy. Amber placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's alright. We're almost safe for the time being. Only a few dozen miles remain until we reach the great mountain range. It shouldn't be more than two days' travel by foot. Once we're there, we should be safe."

His shoulders loosened up, but the same suspicion was still in his eyes when he looked at Roy. "What's wrong, Connor? You don't trust me?" he questioned.

"No… I trust all of you… You're all part of this team. I trust each and every one of you guys with my life."

"Well, in my opinion, you couldn't have picked a better group!" He bragged.

"But what happened in the ocean? How did none of you drown?" Celebi asked.

"It's a long story. Let's… Let's just get to the mountains." Connor replied.

He sighed and turned back to Dusknoir. "Well… Looks like everything isn't as dandy as I thought it would… Hm?"

He felt a strong energy pulse in the forest. "Did you feel that?"

"Feel what?" Dusknoir questioned.

Roy looked around, but nobody else seemed to notice. He floated backwards, towards the treeline behind them. "...I'll be right back." And melted into shadows.

He traveled through the shadow realm until he came to the source of the energy surge. When he rematerialized, he was nearly flattened by a flying tree. With a yelp, he phased through it. He whipped his head around, looking for a big grass-type of some sort to be using frenzy plant or power whip, but what he saw surprised him even more.

A Ninjask and Scizor were weaving through the flurry of vines and branches, trying to get at a small... Ralts? He didn't expect that. It uprooted entire trees and tried to slam them into its attackers, who were dodging like they had been trained in tree-dodging-jitsu. Roy floated backwards and turned invisible, deciding to observe. Huh. Not what I expected. Let's see what this Ralts can do.

With a fearsome shout, the Ralts unleashed a moonblast attack. A large sphere of rock materialized above it and sent down hundreds of pink rays of light that sought out the opposers and knocked them both out in one strike.

Roy's jaw nearly dropped. Moonblast?! How in the world did it-?! He sunk into the shadows and drew closer. He could feel its power and awareness from where he was, in spite of its small stature. As soon as he got within ten feet of it, it turned directly towards him and closed its hand, making him freeze in place. "Who are you?!"

"You can see me?!" He shook that thought aside. "You're a girl?!"

She scrunched her eyebrows and raised her arm. He gasped as he was drawn out of the shadow dimension and into the real world. He felt his entire spirit being condensed, so he shouted out. "Enough! I'm not here to hurt you!"

The Ralts loosened her psychic grip on him, but he was still immobilized. She was far more powerful than he was, that's for sure. "Why are you here? Who are you?"

"Why am I here? Take a look around. You leveled a forest. Kind of hard to miss. And my name's Roy. I'm a Mismagius."

"Roy…" She released him and knelt on the ground. "Your aura is strong. But you're not alive..." She didn't look up at him. "Why is that?"

He shrugged slightly. "I dunno. I'm a ghost-type? That might be why I'm 'dead'."

She nodded slowly and stood up. "That explains it, possibly…" She tilted her head and pointed just over his head. "Behind you."

Roy turned around but saw nothing. "What? What're you..." When he turned back to her, she was gone. "...talking about? Where'd she go?" He used psychic to trace her energy signature. Not hard, since she had an aura almost as powerful as Connor's. She had teleported while he turned around. "Woooow. So mature…"

He rolled his eyes, briefly staring at the unconscious Scizor and Ninjask, but floated forward, following the energy surges.

The chapter's a day early because I'll be out of town starting tomorrow, and gone until Monday afternoon.

...Well... Connor's being difficult. Isn't that lovely. And Basileus is a Temporal Guardian! Wow! But more questions are ready to be asked: Who is the second Temporal Guardian that resides in that timeline? Who is that absurdly powerful Ralts? So many questions! Ugh! As always, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to leave your comments, theories, questions and concerns in the form of a Review or PM, and I will get back to you as soon as I can!

Also, about Firestorm Battle Royale: I will upload a new battle every Monday. So look forward to it, and give it a follow if you haven't already, so you can be the first to suggest a new fight! (Self-advertising again, I know...) Much Love!

-PL