-Chapter XXIX: In the Eye of the Dreamscape-

-Roy-

Later that night, after everyone had calmed down and properly introduced themselves to Leroy, the noble Farfetch'd who made Grovyle look inexperienced at fighting, they ate around a moderately large fire.

And Atlas was awake and in somewhat stable condition now. Sometimes his shadow fist would act up and pull random shadows, but he was working on calming it down.

Roy sat next to Dusknoir while silently enjoying his kasib Berry, gently roasted to a wonderful crisp on the outside. Dusknoir was enjoying a Colbur berry raw, which made Roy a little sick. He didn't like raw Colbur, but maybe that was a personal preference.

He shrugged and continued eating. Then Briar stood up out of nowhere and said, "Everyone, I would like your attention."

Roy already knew what it was about, as did Connor, Galvantula, Alice and Vincent. So he just continued eating normally.

Briar looked around for a moment before continuing. "We… Connor and I… have decided to enlist the help of Wigglytuff's guild."

Roy tilted his head at that statement and paused mid-chew. That wasn't what he had gotten from that conversation earlier at all.

The rest of the team had begun murmuring and whispering amongst themselves, and Caroline, of all pokémon, spoke up. "How? Isn't Treasure Town the first place the Mafia will look for us? They probably have some spies camped there on the lookout for us, right?"

"Correct. However, we will not enter Treasure Town. We will go straight to Wigglytuff's guild, which lies on the very outskirts, and use Galvantula's camouflage webbing to conceal our presence before we arrive."

"What makes you think that they'll help us if we do go to them?" Aaron questioned. Everyone scowled at him, but Roy just laughed. "Hee-hee-hee! Aaron, Connor and Vulcan are Wigglytuff's Guild's prized recruits! There's not a thing in the world that Wigglytuff or Chatot or any one of their former guildmates wouldn't do for them!"

Aaron nodded and crossed his arms slowly. "Alright. That's good. But what if something else happens? Briar? From what Galvantula told me, you seem to plan for every worst-case scenario."

Briar glared at the yellow arthropod, but agreed. "Yes. I have prepared for many scenarios, and this is the one I have concluded to have the highest probability of success. I will stand on the grate at the entrance of the Guild, allowing us access. Then the rest of you will follow me down to the lowest chamber under the cover of Galvantula's webbing. Connor, you, and you alone will reveal your presence to Chatot after I have confirmed that there are no other pokémon there. I have confidence that he will understand the situation fully. While he is busy with your team, I will speak with Wigglytuff. He and I have some history together, and I should be able to get the necessary information."

Roy snickered some more. "Goodness me, first Team Charm, now Wigglytuff's got some secret history with a Temporal Guardian?"

"This was long before I was chosen. It was when I was still a Grovyle."

"Uh-huh… So… when are we doing this?"

"As soon as possible tomorrow."

Connor nodded and stood up while Amber placed a hand on his shoulder. "Then that settles it. We've got to get to sleep and be prepared for whatever happens tomorrow."

Atlas bit back a laugh from his resting position. "Connor, I've practically been in a coma for the past day and a half. I think I'm good on the sleeping part."

"As am I," Roy added.

Connor shrugged and went back to their new shelter. "Suit yourselves."

Caroline blinked heavily and yawned. "You guys are crazy… I'm gonna have a great nap."

Roy smiled and waved her off with a shadowy hand. "You do that."

He laughed to himself some more as the sun disappeared over the horizon. He felt his being strengthen even further as the darkness settled in. Dusknoir's eye dimmed slightly until he yawned with his stomach-mouth. It was quite terrifying to look at, since it opened so wide that it could probably swallow him whole.

"Well… Resting does sound nice right now…" Dusknoir sighed and floated upwards. "I am going to take a nap. Goodnight, Roy."

"Goodnight. And… thanks."

"What for?" Dusknoir turned back to him, and Roy smiled some more. "For training me and teaching me how to do all of this. I never could have learnt it all by myself."

"Ah… Yes. You're welcome." Dusknoir shook a look of confusion off of his face before sinking into the ground and drifting away.

Roy leaned back and watched the sunset as everyone slowly drifted away, back to the shelter.

Once he was sure he was alone, he let out a long, loud sigh. My, my… Things certainly have changed…

-Victor-

He was reading over the latest report of captured outlaws, looking for any possible recruits he could take in. So far, all of the big and bad outlaws have been in hiding due to Team Firestorm. That team had almost unknowingly caused the destruction of his group several months ago. At one point, major crimes all throughout Immanis completely ceased for about four days. That was during the time when their leaders evolved into their final forms, and were probably testing out what they could do after some training. Every outlaw had grown to fear them.

The word was already getting around that Team Firestorm was finished. The plan he had set in motion to finish them off was proceeding nicely, according to Koumori.

He sighed and tossed aside another poster of an outlaw. An Emolga, from the looks of it. But it was merely a low-class thief. "Ugh… No one worth recruiting here…"

"Master Victor… I've received intelligence from Koumori." Nagini slithered into the chamber, and Victor nodded. "Continue."

He'd had a mandatory mind-reading for every pokémon just after he found out that Vincent was hiding amongst them. As an additional security measure, he'd posted a psychic-type at every major location. If they felt anything suspicious, they were to confront the threat. Nagini was truly Nagini.

"...Koumori says that they are planning to acquire aid from Wigglytuff's guild."

Victor smiled. This was going just as planned. But his smile faded when Nagini continued. "However... there are even more pokémon with them. This time, a Galvantula, Farfetch'd, Pikachu, and two Sceptiles, along with the Ralts and the other allies were seen with them."

Victor nearly snarled at that statement, but maintained his composure. "Are they officially members? Do they have badges?"

"I… I don't know."

"Find out."

"Yes sir. Right away."

Victor sighed and turned to Mordred as Nagini exited the room. "These pokémon are resourceful… No other team has lasted this long, let alone put up this much of a fight. But it will be all over soon. These assassins are playing along quite well. The same goes for Eclipse. And I presume you know what to do once the plan is complete? Rogue will without a doubt target Jade. The Assassins will likely take down Vulcan or Atlas first. Connor… He is in an entirely different league. He will require special effort to finish off. He was holding back on Vulcan. I know that for a fact. He will likely use any means necessary to take us down, and he will not show any leniency when doing so."

"...Sir, who do you propose can take him on, let alone win? His item covers his only weakness, and without that weakness, he is simply too powerful."

"...I will have to think about it. For now, standby until we receive word from Koumori. We will sit back and let the police do their job."

-Roy-

He sat against a boulder just outside of the base. He'd stayed awake through the night, honing his skills and shadow manipulation. His teleporting was much more precise now, and he could make even better shadow objects. With a little more practice, he could possibly make semi-sentient beings completely out of shadows. This Valerie pokémon sounded like quite the spell-caster. She could most likely teach him things he'd never even thought of. After sunrise, they would head to Wigglytuff's guild, then from there they'd go and find this magical Delphox.

He smiled and took a deep breath. That Farfetch'd was insanely good with his leek, and along with Aaron and Dawn on their team, things were finally looking alright for them.

"Hey." Dawn teleported next to him, and he arched an eyebrow. "What are you doing up? It's not even dawn yet. I mean, like, sunlight dawn. Not… you."

She smiled warmly and opened her eyes, which seemed to shine with a brilliance that made him unexplainably warm on the inside. "I just… wanted to talk to you."

"Oh. Well, what do you want to talk about?"

"I don't know… Um…"

"Actually, I have a question to start off. Just thought about it now, actually."

"Okay. What is it?"

"Can psychics really not see ghosts? Or was that something you did to cover up that whole 'being blind' thing?"

She laughed nervously and rubbed the back of her head. "Well… I might have made it up. But I don't know if it's true or not, since I can't see anyways."

"Hm. Alright. That answers that, I guess."

"...What's your cape for?"

"My cape?"

"Yeah. I can always feel you wearing it. Is it special, or did someone give it to you... or something?"

"It was actually a gift… From someone… I don't remember. When I am attacked, occasionally it will emit a miniature perish song that affects only my attackers."

"Oh… That's really cool!"

"Thank you!"

Then she tilted her head slightly and seemed to stare at him more intently. He leaned back and stared right back. "...Are you alright?"

"Yeah… Sorry." She shook her head and smiled. "I just… I dunno. For a moment… You felt like someone else."

"It's alright. I've learned to just accept things as they are. It helps with the anxiety attacks during times like this. But… if you don't mind me asking… Were you always... unable to see?"

She teared up and shook her head, a barely audible whimper coming forth. "No."

Roy sighed and looked to the ground. "Ah. I… I'm sorry."

"It's fine…" She sniffed and wiped her face with her arm. "Are you going to ask me how long I've been like this?"

"...I didn't think about it until you asked." Then he paused for a moment before saying, "And this is one of those moments where I'm thinking about it now... Aaaand now I'm gonna ask."

Dawn just stared at him with an unchanging look of sadness. "...It's been almost eight years now."

He did some quick math in his head. "Oh… You were eleven when it happened…"

"Not quite."

He tilted his head slightly. "Uh… Nineteen minus eight is eleven, right?"

She smiled for a brief moment and let out a short laugh. "Yeah, your math is good… But… I'm not nineteen."

"Huh? Are you older?"

"Yeah… I'm really twenty-seven. That's when your aging factor starts to slow down and pretty much stops."

He stared at her incredulously. "...Oh. Well, you look marvelous for almost thirty. But, if you don't mind me asking, why aren't you evolved? The rest of the team is evolved, and they're all around twenty!"

"I haven't been able to evolve. I told Connor that. And I don't know why. Luminous Springs keeps saying I don't have the proper qualifications. Something about 'finding that which was lost', which I don't understand. I should be able to evolve without anything else. I just want to be evolved…"

Roy furrowed his brows and racked his mind, trying to think of any possible explanation. She was a female, so being a Gallade was out of the question, as far as he knew. Aside from that, there was nothing else that could explain Luminous Springs acting up. Unless some other disturbance was being caused by nine temporal Guardians being here at the same time. But she hasn't been able to evolve for some time, judging by her age and power, so that couldn't be it either. He had no idea what could explain it. finding that which was lost…? Her vision? No… That can't be it.

"Perhaps Dusknoir would know-"

"No."

"...What? He's like the smartest pokémon besides Briar-"

"I told only you for a reason, Roy. Nobody else needs to know."

"...If you insist. I will continue to keep your secret."

"Thank you… But Roy… I… I can't help but feel like… I know you from somewhere."

"What do you mean? You've never met me before a week ago, and I've been dead for some time now, I think!"

"...What is your name?"

"My name? It's Roy."

"I mean, your real name… The one that you had in your past life?"

"Oh… Um… I don't know."

He put a psychic block over his mind immediately afterwards. He didn't need her reading his memories. He'd received enough bits and pieces of memories to form a good picture of who he was. And he didn't like it.

Then he felt the air around him cool rapidly, out of nowhere. If he could feel it, that meant that it was extremely cold. Dawn's breath frosted in the cold air to testify the temperature. She wrapped her arms around herself and began shivering. Roy looked around for Jade, but Dawn shook her head slowly. "It's not her..."

The glow in his eyes died down , but he shrugged and removed his cape with psychic. "Here. It's surprisingly warm."

He draped it across her shoulders, and she wrapped it around herself. It's violet coloration was overridden by a light green hue with flakes of gold throughout it. His eyes widened as Dawn smiled warmly. "Wow… It is. I expected it to be like a sheet…"

Roy looked at it more closely. "Hey, Dawn… do you mind removing it for a moment?"

She gave him a confused expression, but removed the cape with psychic. Immediately, its normal coloration returned. He narrowed his eyes and said, "Here. Sorry. It looked like it had a new tear in it."

She smiled as he draped it across her shoulders again. The green and gold coloration returned, but he let it go. As long as it wasn't permanently like that, it was fine. He liked purple.

Dawn moved forward and uprooted the nearest dead tree, making it levitate in the air. She closed her fist, and the trunk split into hundreds of twig-sized pieces of wood, along with several dozen medium-sized logs. Then she piled them to the side and made a small stack in front of them.

"Roy, could you…?"

"Of course." He used mystical fire and lit the wood ablaze. Dawn scooted closer to the flames and sat down. She closed her eyes and laid on the ground. It was hard for him to imagine that she was blind. She could see so well…

"Dawn?"

"Yes?"

"Do you mind if I… let you see?"

"What?"

-Dawn-

After he said that, her jaw practically dropped. "How?"

"I could… put you into a dream-like state where I can control what we see… I could give you sight for a little while."

Dawn teared up and covered her mouth. "Roy… You'd do that for me?"

"Well, it's not like it's breaking any laws of nature. It is simply putting you in a dream."

She shrugged and closed her eyes. It didn't make much of a difference, but she felt dizzy for a brief moment, and Roy's voice followed. "Open your eyes."

Dawn slowly opened her eyes, half-expecting to not see anything… But what she saw was much more than that. In front of her was Roy, as a purple and pink ghost wearing a dark purple robe with three red gems, and a big indigo hat.

Oh. He does look like a girl… Then she shook her head and tears of joy came forth as she realized what that first thought meant. "I can see…? I can see! I can see! Oh, thank you Roy! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"Of course. It's only a dream, though… I can't restore your vision quite yet, but after I meet Valerie… I'll see to it that you are restored to your rightful self."

"Dream… Right… But can we still feel stuff in here?"

"Only if I want to. For example…" His eyes flashed white, and they were standing in the middle of a dense jungle. Dawn looked around, taking in the beautiful noises and the humid air, then looked back at him, and for a brief moment, she thought she saw someone else in his place. Someone… that she used to know. But when she blinked, Roy was floating there. She looked around, awestruck by the beauty of being able to see once again.

"Arceus, I forgot how beautiful the world is… It's so colorful."

"It's not nearly as bad as everyone makes it out to be."

She smiled some more and sat on the ground, making sure not to close her eyes. "This is incredible…"

Roy floated slightly closer to her and smiled warmly. "Do you like it?"

She stood up and levitated upwards until she was at eye level with him. "I love it…" Then she floated closer, and just as she leaned towards him, he shook his head. "It's just a dream, Dawn. I'm not actually here."

"Right…" She took a shaky breath and looked to the ground. "Just a dream…" Her sadness was replaced by bliss as a horde of Combee flew overhead in hot pursuit of a Mothim. She leapt through the underbrush to chase after them, laughing with joy and running through the forest, eyes wide open the entire time.

Haha! Another extra Chapter to make up for two weeks of inactivity! So... I hope you guys enjoyed that chapter! Lots more questions about stuff! What does Dawn have to find to evolve? What is the Mafia planning? Will they ever find Valerie? I thought that last part of the chapter was sweet. Let me know what you guys think! If you have any questions, comments, concerns or theories, feel free to put them in the form of a Review or PM! I always like seeing feedback! I will see you all later in the next update! Much Love!

-PL