Chapter 9 - Starstruck

Star Cavern was truly a sight to behold. Cobalt stone coated the cave, speckled with luminous crystals of every imaginable color. It was aptly named; every wall shone like a canopy of stars, enveloping the group as they pressed forward. The illusion was further enhanced by droplets of water falling from stalactites, racing across his view like comets as they caught the light of the crystals.

It was fascinating; in contrast to the arid halls of the ruins, the cavern was rather temperate. How the humidity was so well-preserved in contrast to the desert that surrounded it was beyond his understanding.

I suppose it only makes sense; it would be uncomfortable for a slumbering legend to reside in such a dry climate.

He turned his attention back to the pokemon who accompanied him. The blaziken's previous fiery temper had been all but quenched by a mixture of amazement and trepidation, though she did her best to hide both. Overall it was a marked improvement.

The lucario, on the other claw, was a completely different story.

Jay's ears were flat and his tail limp, giving off the impression of wilting far better than any grass type Zeal had seen. The amnesiatic pokemon had previously acted with a fretful timidity, but something had shifted. Gone were the clear ticks and nervous mannerisms, having been all but swallowed up by something far darker.

Zeal knew the exact plight that ailed the unfortunate soul, but he was loath to say it aloud. He had never with his own eyes seen such an attack used, but he had heard firsthand accounts. A forbidden technique that resulted in the user's death… and the death of their target. It was a terrifying notion, to be sure, but the stories that had been regaled to the noivern held one commonality that made them all the more frightening:

The pokemon struck down with the curse faded quickly, but they always displayed a chilling calm in their last moments.

The attack had been intended for Zeal. Shade, the murderer that he had seen his father fruitlessly track for decades, had appeared in the final hours of his journey. Zeal faltered when the battle was nearly won; his guard wavered for a moment, and the fiend capitalized. The noivern was left on the ground, unable to dodge or defend himself.

It would have been tragic to fly so far to return his love, only to fall on the doorstep of her salvation. Yet this alternative seemed far worse.

Jay, much like Nimbus before him, had thrown himself forward and taken on a fate as grim as death itself. Zeal was helpless as they took on a burden that should have fallen on his wings alone. He could only hope with every fiber of his being that Jirachi could right both wrongs, though the odds grew slimmer with each passing moment.

By all accounts, Jay should have been dead within a minute of receiving the curse. Nevertheless, he persisted. Zeal had hoped that Jay's barrier and latent aura abilities had reduced the lethality of the attack, but it was becoming increasingly clear that time was running short. With each step forward, the lucario's limbs grew shakier. His breathing more shallow. His heartbeat slower.

"Make haste. Jirachi must be close." Zeal's voice was quiet, but it reverberated through the tense cavern like a supersonic soundwave.

Bliss increased her pace until she realized that Jay's speed had remained unchanged. She stepped closer to him, her expression sinking with concern. "Jay? Trust me, I totally get it if you don't wanna follow his orders, but…"

The lucario neither spared her a glance nor heeded Zeal's words. His demeanor remained stoic, without the slightest shift.

Zeal placed a claw on Jay's shoulder in an attempt to rouse him from his stupor. "I implore you, Jay. Allow me to carry you, if you must, but we cannot afford to waste a single moment."

Jay stopped. He turned slowly to Zeal, gazing at him with dull red eyes. He mumbled; the words were difficult to understand, but Zeal was fairly certain he heard the lucario say, "Can't see…"

It was all Jay said before he collapsed.

Bliss started forward, but Zeal had already scooped up the fallen pokemon. "Jay! What–"

Zeal rushed deeper into the cavern. "We need to get Jay to Jirachi. Now." The lucario was as cold to the touch as an ice type as Zeal clutched him in his claws.

The blaziken sprinted beside them, her voice cracking with panic. "He has a reviver seed in his bag!"

Zeal's eyes widened, but his stride remained unbroken. "Even if it truly is a reviver seed, Jay's affliction has progressed too far. Only a legend can save him now."

"We have to try!"

"If we stop to give him the seed, we risk sealing his fate." Zeal drove himself to move faster. He refused to be responsible for the lucario's death, to let the timid pokemon pay for his own failures.

Their hurried steps echoed through the cavern as they raced ever deeper. Exhaustion weighed down Zeal's limbs as he awkwardly carried Jay, but his resolve served as a counterbalance, spurring him onward. The crystals of the cavern swirled around them, reminding him of a frantic flight under the stars.

As they rounded the corner, they found themselves face to face with the single being that Zeal had been relentlessly tracking for a month. A small yellow and white pokemon floated in the air, sleeping soundly. Under different circumstances, the sight would have filled Zeal with awe and joy, but now it was all but buried under his concern.

"Jirachi!" Bliss yelled.

The yelling did little to stir the legendary. Zeal set Jay down on the floor. He would have never imagined himself doing this, but these were dire circumstances. The noivern fired a powerful sonic blast at the slumbering legendary.

Although the attack appeared to do little to hurt Jirachi, it was enough to wake him. His eyes fluttered open. "Visitors already…? It's only been… uh, a decade or two?" His words were little more than a murmur.

Zeal began to form a plea towards the legendary, but Bliss was faster. "I wish for you to heal him!" Her voice was tinged with genuine concern and conviction; Zeal was almost a bit surprised that the blaziken was capable of such well-intentioned fervency.

The groggy legend tilted his head. "Who's 'him'? You have to be, like, a little more specific." He yawned loudly. "And what needs healed? I can't just–"

"–Fine, I wish for you to do whatever it takes to help Jay." She gestured to the unconscious lucario.

Jirachi glanced down at the crumpled pokemon, blinking sleep out of his eyes as the blue tassels on his head began to glow gold. "Huh. Sure, I'll do what I can. But I'll have to take him somewhere a little, uh…" He glanced up at Bliss. "Quieter, to do my work. This'll take some concentration."

The legendary snapped his fingers, and he and Jay were engulfed in a brilliant golden light. An instant later, they were gone. Not even the faintest soundwaves of their presence could be heard.

Zeal stood dumbfounded. He had been unable to ask about Nimbus before the legend had left. Then again, he would have his chance soon enough. He had spent so many sleepless nights anticipating their reunion; he could bear a few more moments. He was at the precipice, but the lucario's injuries had been more pressing.

Bliss slumped down to the floor. "He'd better heal him."

"Jay's affliction is a rarity; it is unknown if any pokemon has survived such an attack." Zeal sat down as well, glancing around at the glinting walls of the cavern. Perhaps one day he could write a triumphant poem describing its beauty, but not before he wrote a hundred for his beloved. How sorely he had missed writing her poems.

Bliss shot him a glare. "Thanks for the positivity."

Zeal frowned, his comforting thoughts derailed. "Jirachi is known for performing impossible feats. If Jay can be healed, Jirachi will heal him."

"I hope you're right. Because if you're not, I'm frying you and that pipsqueak of a legendary. We could've used the seed on him."

Zeal said nothing. He could only hope with the blaziken that he was right, and that the lucario would live. That Jay would not need to pay for Zeal's own shortcomings. That the noivern would be reunited with his love, and the lucario with the memories he sought.

"Cassie! I'm home!" It had been a long day, but it was over. Jay pocketed his keys and closed the door behind him.

Cassie was exactly where he expected her to be; lying with her feet across the couch, staring at her handheld console.

She gave him a wave but kept her focus on the screen. "Yo."

Jay made his way into the living room. "Yo?"

"Yo," she affirmed, still not looking up, "Just gimmie a minute."

Jay sighed. "Alright, I'll take a number." He pushed her legs off the couch so there was space and sat down next to her, impressed by the sheer focus she continued to display towards the game.

After a few more seconds, she smiled and closed the device, turning to Jay. "Okay, done."

"I haven't seen you that tunnel-visioned in a while. Catching a rare fish, or something?"

"Nah, just redecorating."

Jay simply raised an eyebrow.

"It takes a ton of focus to get a room to look just perfect."

He shook his head. "You know, it would be great if you could apply those talents outside of the game." He gestured to the room around them. "Things could afford to be a little less drab."

She grinned mischievously. "Ooh, what's our budget? Have you seen those inflatable ball pits? They seem like a really awesome investment."

"Alright, maybe things couldn't afford to be less drab, now that I think about it…" He chuckled slightly.

"We totally could redecorate, though. Like, what if we just moved the couch into the kitchen? Dinner would be a hundred times comfier."

He tilted his head. "The table isn't long enough. We'd basically be turning the couch into a single-seater."

"And that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make to eat sandwiches with max comfiness."

Jay sighed, but couldn't stop himself from smiling. He glanced back at the kitchen; it looked untouched. His brow furrowed. "Did you have lunch today?"

Cassie shrugged her shoulders. "I ate."

"Did you eat a meal?"

"Depends on what counts as a meal."

Jay rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Cassie, we talked about this. You can't just eat snacks all day."

"I know, but dinner's a meal, too! What're you making?"

He crossed his arms. "I don't have to make you dinner, you know. I had a long day today."

"Okay, guess I'll just have more chips instead." She leaned back into the couch.

He narrowed his eyes. "You're not going to keep getting away with that."

She flashed a devious smile. "C'mon, we both know I will."

"You're bluffing. I know how quickly you go through snacks; you're probably out by now, if it's all you've had today."

"Me?" She tilted her head, doing her best to look innocent. "C'mon, would I really eat all the snacks?"

Jay sighed; he knew that it was something she would absolutely do, but he was too tired for a verbal sparring match. "Alright, I'll make dinner." He stood up and made his way over to the kitchen. "Let's see what we have…"

Cassie turned to rest an arm along the back of the couch as she watched him. "Bad day?"

"Long day," Jay corrected as he opened the fridge and bent down to inspect its contents. "This one sedan had just about every imaginable– Oh, hey, what about breakfast for dinner? I could make bacon and waffles."

"Yeah, the perfect dinner for when you skip breakfast!"

"Sounds like a plan," he mumbled as he continued to look through the refrigerator. "Almost out of milk. And eggs. Alright, I guess tomorrow is going to be a grocery run, too. You need anything?"

"A dragon!" she yelled enthusiastically.

Jay closed the refrigerator door and began rifling through the kitchen cabinets, making a mental list; his reaction to her joke was similarly on autopilot. "You've said that every week since you were twelve. If the store was selling dragons, you'd have a hundred by now."

"It'd be closer to two hundred if I asked every week. And it's a running joke! C'mon, it's a classic!"

They were running low on bread, and the last of the chips seemed to have vanished while he was at work; he knew she had been bluffing. He couldn't help but be a little frustrated that he was enabling her bad eating habits. "Cassie, please just tell me if there's something you want that is an actual tangible object that really exists."

"Mom always laughed at the dragon joke."

Jay's attention immediately snapped to his sister, the grocery list all but forgotten. Cassie's eyes widened and she turned away from him. Silence fell over the house.

All it took was one simple sentence to bring back thoughts of their mother. Of what they'd lost. Of what Jay spent all day working to try to make up for, and what he had so desperately hoped Cassie wasn't dwelling on.

But she was dwelling on it, and now so was he.

He missed her, and he knew Cassie missed her even more. Nothing he could do would truly be able to fill the void, but it hadn't stopped him from trying. He heard a sniffle from the couch, though his sister's back remained turned.

Trying and failing.

He had to do better, for her. With slow, measured steps, he made his way from the kitchen to the couch and sat down next to his sister.

Jay took a deep breath and steeled himself. "Have you been thinking about her a lot, lately?"

"It's hard not to, when nobody else is around…"

Jay's heart cracked and regret flooded in. He shouldn't have taken more hours at work; he knew this would happen. It was the first summer vacation since…

He sighed. Dwelling on the guilt would do him no good right now, so he pushed it away.

Instead, he wrapped an arm around his sister, searching for the right words. "Cas, I know it's tough… But what'd mom always tell us to do?"

Cassie sniffled, still not returning his gaze. "Brush our teeth?"

He shook his head. "The thing she'd be telling us if she were here right now. To take things–"

"–one step at a time," she finished for him.

"Yeah. And that's what we're doing, right? We'll figure it out. If I need to take more time off… I'm sure we can make it work. And I'm here, now. I'll cook dinner, we can bring out any game you want, you–"

Jay cut himself off as she returned the hug. He was surprised, but didn't dare pull away. He simply closed his eyes and held the embrace. For a minute they just sat there, together.

"We'll be okay, Cas."

She gripped him tighter. "I know. It's just…"

"I know."

They might've been all they had, but they were enough.

"Cassie?" Jay's eyes snapped open, taking in the bright light of multicolored crystals hanging above him. To his chagrin, a muzzle still blocked the bottom of his view, reminding him of his plight. For as real as it had felt, it was merely a memory.

After a moment, he was struck by a bizarre dichotomy; he felt simultaneously emotionally drained and physically energized. It was as though he had cried for an hour straight, but his nerves prickled with excitement and his body coiled with energy.

"Yeah, that'll happen." Jay tilted his head towards the source of the tired voice; Jirachi floated next to him. The legendary's arm and head tassels were coated in golden energy. "It's a side effect of the healing aura; had to funnel a ton to keep your soul from…" He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, you know. Anyway, some of it's bound to work on your physical form, too, so you probably got kinda…" He snapped his fingers a few times, searching for the word. "Overwatered? Is that a good analogy?" He shrugged again.

The pokemon's ramblings only served to further confuse Jay. What had even happened, again? He thought back to the start of the day: he woke up, talked with Zeal, made it to the ruins, Bliss and Zeal argued, there was a cofagrigius, the cofagrigius had hit him with…

"A curse. We call it a curse. And a pretty bad one too, in your case." Jirachi's hand continued to glow.

Jay blinked a few times. "You're psychic?"

"Well, yeah, but I'm also pretty good at aura reading. Like, by legendary standards. So, by normal standards? Really good. You're basically an open book."

It took a few moments for Jay to fill in the blanks. It was Jirachi, the pokemon he'd been searching for. Right in front of him. A spark of hope flared in his chest, helping to draw him out of his static emotional state. He sat up, eyes glued to the legendary. "Can you bring me back home?"

"It's kinda…" He lowered his hand and the glow dissipated from it. "Complicated? Like, let's just start with making sure you're healed."

Jay's heart sank, but he laid back down nonetheless. The period of time after he had been struck with the curse was hazy, but he knew for a fact that he wanted all of its effects completely wiped away. Just thinking of the sheer emptiness and hopelessness sent a shiver down his spine.

"Okay, let's see how you're shaping up…" Jirachi flew directly above him. The third eye on the legendary's chest opened, boring into his very being with its blue pupil. It was a deeply unsettling image.

After waiting for an uncomfortable stretch of time, Jay finally spoke up. "Am I going to be alright?"

Jirachi closed his third eye. "Well, the short answer is yes. The long answer is…" He flew down and placed a hand on Jay's chest, summoning a golden glow once more. "Curses are complicated. They're like, uh, viruses. It's one soul clinging to another soul, with a whole mutually assured destruction plan in mind. Nasty stuff, and not easy to just wipe away."

Jay felt a twinge of panic. "So I'm still cursed?"

The legendary closed his eyes and the glow intensified. An otherworldly calm and comfort washed over Jay. Jirachi removed his hand and floated back. "There. Positive aura energy is good for the mind, body, and soul. And now that it's not all being funneled into keeping you, well, alive, you can feel the benefits."

Jay sighed contentedly. The pokemon still wasn't making much sense, but he did feel a lot better. The energy didn't remove all of the fears or worries that were beginning to bubble to the surface, but it filled him with positive counterbalances to keep the feelings from being too paralyzing.

"So, yeah. Basically, curses are designed to eat away at the targeted soul until there's nothing left. You had a really lucky combination of things that allowed for you to live as long as you did, and then I helped bolster your soul with my energy until the attacking soul used up enough of its power that it wasn't really a threat. At this point, the curse is pretty much nonexistent. Won't be long before it fizzles out entirely, if it hasn't already."

By all accounts, Jirachi had just delivered good news. But he wasn't smiling, and he had sounded so hesitant earlier. Jay narrowed his eyes in confusion. "But you said–"

"Yeah. I was just kinda…" Jirachi snapped his fingers absentmindedly, glancing around the cavern. "Stalling? For your emotional state to get better. Before I told you the other news."

Jay sat up again. He was doing better, but the legendary's words threatened his newfound calm. "What news?"

"It's about the, uh, going home thing. I can't really just teleport you there."

A moment of silence passed.

Jirachi couldn't help him. His one lead was a dead end.

He had spent all those days traveling, through mazes and deserts and ruins, for nothing.

He had spent all that time fighting, against killer insects and murderous thieves and terrifying ghosts, for nothing.

He had spent all that time nearly dying, to blood loss and plummeting off a cliff and having his soul eradicated.

For.

Nothing.

It finally seemed like it was all going to boil over. The soothing feelings Jirachi's power had instilled in him had all but evaporated; all that was left was the longing, the fear, and the regret.

But, even at the edge of it all…

Remember, one step at a time.

Jay took a deep breath and pushed it all back down. There was still a chance. If he could figure out some way, any way to keep moving forward, he could bear it.

He looked into Jirachi's eyes. He would have looked into the creepy third eye if it had been open, for all he cared. "Can you help me find someone who can?" His voice was level, but he couldn't stop the edge from creeping into it.

Jirachi blinked at him a few times. Considering what Jay knew about his mind reading powers, it wasn't surprising. Eventually, the legendary found his voice. "Well, kinda. I can give you some information. It's a long story."

Jay tilted his head, waiting for the pokemon to continue.

"Yeah, so, I know you're not from this world; again, open book. I know you're trying to get back to your native dimension, but the problem is that I don't have… jurisdiction, over other dimensions. It's a long story, but basically I can twist rules here, but not anywhere outside of here. And I can't control the rifts between here and there, so even if you wished to go to one, I wouldn't be able to guarantee where it sent you."

Rifts… Zeal had mentioned rifts. It occurred to Jay that he had hardly ever questioned how he had ended up in the pokemon world. "That's how I got here? Rifts between dimensions?"

"Yeah, pretty much. Basically, you happened to be in a spot where the dimensional borders ripped for a second. This world is kinda the ground zero for those rifts; they appear in consistent spots here and then they just, like, punch holes into other nearby dimensions when they get bad enough."

"Wait. I got sent here because I was in the wrong place at the wrong time? And you're sure the rift is closed on that end?"

"Yes and yes. The rifts appear randomly in other dimensions, drag anything in the immediate area on your side in or spit anything in the immediate area on our side out, and then disappear. You basically have the same chance of getting struck by a meteor as you do of getting pulled into a rift. Which, in your case, is extra ironic, because I'm pretty sure you came in through a rift in the sky and fell into the ocean, if I was piecing your memories together correctly."

Jay shook his head. Of course it was all random chance. He had half a mind to spend a minute cursing his impossibly bad luck, but he pushed it away for the moment; Jirachi still had information he needed. "So, how do I get back home? Do I just find a rift to throw myself into and hope for the best?"

"That's where the information I have comes into–" Jirachi quieted himself as the tassels on his head began to lose their golden glow, becoming blue once more. "Huh, I didn't think I used up that much of my wishing power, but it's time to head back."

"Head back?"

"To the upper levels of Star Cavern, and your… I don't know what to call them. They're not really your friends, they're like, the pokemon that you've mutually aligned yourself with, but then you start to…" Jirachi shrugged again. "Well, the point is I brought you somewhere deep underground so I could focus on healing you, and it's time to go back."

Jay's vision was completely engulfed in the legendary's golden energy. He felt weightless for a moment, and then as quickly as it came, it cleared.

It took him a moment to realize that anything had changed at all, but he was now sitting in a slightly bigger cavern with very similar decor. Jirachi still floated at his side.

"Jay!"

He turned his head; Bliss and Zeal sat a ways away. The blaziken jumped to her feet and ran towards him, while the noivern rose with a bit more decorum. They both looked happy to see him safe.

Bliss skidded to a halt in front of him. "Jirachi healed you up?"

Jay nodded, unable to deny the feeling of comfort that came from seeing the two pokemon. "Yeah. The curse is gone."

Zeal looked Jay up and down. "I am pleased to see you restored, Jay. As I suspected, a wish from Jirachi cures all ills."

Something clicked. "Wait, I didn't wish for anything yet. How did I…?"

All heads turned to Bliss. She shrugged her shoulders. "Don't act surprised. The day we met, I told you that I was gonna wish for something lame, remember?"

Despite the insult, Jay's eyes widened in awe. "You…" It was a difficult idea to come to grips with; someone he'd only known for a matter of days had decided to use her one chance to alter reality… to save him. "Thanks, Bliss. I don't know how to repay you. Honestly, I–"

"Jay, it was literally yesterday that I told you to not be so melodramatic about this kinda stuff. And anyways, after the whole thing with the mesa thieves and the rock skewering, I think we're even." She avoided meeting his eyes.

Jay wanted to say more, but it was abundantly clear that Bliss wasn't one for sappy declarations of thanks. Instead, he settled for a nod, and allowed his mind to wander with the implications of the event. He thought about how unworthy he felt of having such great power used for his sake. How he now had all the more reason to make it all worthwhile and get home. How–

"Are you just gonna sit there, or are you gonna wish for your memories back? We didn't fight all the way here just to break even." Bliss offered him a hand to help him to his feet.

Oh, right, they still don't know…

Jay took her hand and was hoisted back up. He stood there for a moment, taking in a deep breath. Now was probably the best time to come clean, as much as he dreaded their reactions. "S-so, it's kind of a long story, but–"

"Apologies, Jay. But I cannot wait a moment more." Zeal turned to Jirachi. "Jirachi, I wish to have my dearest Nimbus returned to me from the rifts, safe and whole; just as she was when she was taken from me."

The legendary floated absently through the air. "Well, I hate to deliver bad news twice in one day, but I can't just teleport her here, for the same reason I can't grant Jay's wish." He glanced over at Jay.

Zeal stared at Jirachi. After a moment, his expression hardened. "No."

"…No?"

"No," Zeal repeated, almost robotically. "I fought through a dozen dungeons. Solved riddles, faced perils, risked everything. I must see her again."

Jay's heart sank. He knew the exact pain the noivern was feeling. "Zeal, Jirachi said there's another way."

Zeal's eyes snapped over to Jay, then back to Jirachi. "Is this true?"

Jirachi shrugged. "Yeah, more or less. You both need the same thing to happen to get what you want."

The noivern inclined his head. "Which is…?"

The legendary yawned. "Oh, I can't just tell you."

"What?" Jay and Zeal asked in unison.

"The information is like, a secret to mortal mons, so it takes the power of a wish for me to disclose any of it."

Jay tilted his head. "But you told me plenty of things earlier."

"Because of her wish." Jirachi pointed to Bliss, who looked a bit surprised to be roped back into the conversation. "She told me to do whatever it took to help you, which included healing and emotional support and knowledge and all that stuff. Of course, all of that stuff takes power and I only get so much when someone makes a wish, so it had to run out eventually."

Zeal narrowed his eyes. "But you still hold the knowledge we seek, correct?"

"Yeah. But I'm not allowed to tell you unless you make a–"

"Jirachi, I wish for you to grant me all of your knowledge regarding the rifts; specifically the details that relate to Nimbus and how to recover her."

Bliss finally piped up. "Really? That's your wish? All your fancy word-weaving and you come up with that? He just said that he took wishes as vague as helping however he can, and you asked for something that specific?"

Zeal looked ruffled for a moment, but turned his attention back to Jirachi.

The legendary simply shrugged. "Sure, ask away." His tassels began to glow gold once more. "Or do you want me to start with the general rundown first?"

"That sounds acceptable." Zeal gestured a wing for Jirachi to continue.

Jirachi stifled one last yawn before beginning. "So, a long time ago there was a big war between some of us legendaries. It's kinda a boring story; brother turning on sister, the metaphysical rebelling against the physical, so on and so on. The important part is that Giratina was going off the rails and ended up fighting Dialgia and Palkia, and they pulled him into a pocket dimension they created to minimize the collateral damage to the mortal world."

Jay's heart quickened; it all sounded way out of his league. Still, he did his best to follow along.

"That was thousands of years ago, and they're still fighting, because time is a lot more relative to the greater legends; it's hard to be bound by the clock when you control it, I guess." Another shrug. "Anyway, Giratina's always trying to rip a portal back here and use his power over souls to create an army of pokemon for himself, but artificially created pokemon don't have the willpower or intelligence of real ones. And Palkia's always trying to stop him from ripping rifts open and messing up space. But it gets pretty distorted, which ends up making–"

"–the dungeons," Zeal muttered, eyes wide.

"Yeah. Basically the ferals are failed attempts at making full-fledged souls out of nothing but pure aura energy, and the wacky distortions and shiny items are the result of a tug-of-war contest in the fabric of space. Well it's, uh, a lot more complicated than that, but that's all you really need to know. Basically, dungeons cropped up over time because Giratina is throwing a fit and his brothers are trying to stop him."

Bliss crossed her arms. "The history lesson is great, but how is knowing some ancient history behind the dungeons gonna help us?"

Jirachi seemed to ignore her. "Dialga and Palkia set up some safeguards to make sure nothing fell apart while they were off fighting. Time Gears keep the flow of time, and Spatial Anchors help the fabric of space stay unwrinkled. They're hidden all over the world and guarded by other legendaries. Thanks to the Spatial Anchors, dungeons are confined to small areas and pretty harmless unless you try to waltz into one. But not too long ago, one of the Anchors was taken from its resting spot."

Zeal nodded thoughtfully. "Ah, so the rifts are worsening and the dungeons are becoming more deadly due to the missing Anchor?"

"Yep. The Anchor got stolen and passed around a few times because it lets its owner warp reality a little, and eventually it got so overused it broke. Now all the dungeons in Tenebre are getting worse and punching holes to other dimensions and all that fun stuff until it gets fixed."

Bliss narrowed her eyes. "Wait, if this thing is making the dungeons worse and legendaries are supposed to protect it, why are you napping here? It sounds kinda like a huge problem."

"Oh, it is." Jirachi's solemn tone was undercut by another yawn. "Giratina's so desperate that he's punching holes pretty randomly. If enough links between conflicting dimensions form, we could get more than just a few people transferring here and there; like, we could have a total dimensional collapse. I'd help, but it's outside of my…" He paused. "Paygrade? Yeah, paygrade, that's a good analogy. My job is just to grant wishes and rest; call me a support player, or something."

Bliss opened her beak, but Zeal stepped in front of her before she could continue, cutting her off. "I see the connection between repairing the Anchor and closing the rifts, but will Nimbus be returned after the Anchor is restored?" The noivern sounded almost nervous as he voiced the question.

"Well, you can use the Anchor to basically control the rifts, if you find one. A pokemon capable of tapping into its power can take it into a distorted enough dungeon and basically punch a personal doorway to the dimension of their choice, assuming it's in range. Like, for example, Nimbus is in…" Jirachi closed his eyes for a moment and concentrated. "Huh. She actually got pulled into a bad spot; she's wedged between dimensions, so she's kinda in stasis until you pull her out." The legendary took a moment to stretch tiredly. "Arceus, what I wouldn't do to be in stasis right now…"

Zeal looked taken aback. "Stasis?"

"Yeah, stasis. No time flow, so she's frozen; it's like a long and mostly dreamless sleep. Maybe eventually a really specific pathway between dimensions will open up and pull her out, but the Anchor is your best bet. Find it, fix it, use it."

"How does one use a Spatial Anchor?"

"That's the funny thing." Jirachi floated over to Jay, making him stumble back a few steps. "You just need a pokemon that's really good at using aura, so I guess you should both be thanking your lucky stars there."

Jay glanced between the three pokemon's expectant faces. Why did it always fall on him? "Why aura?"

"Well, aura is kinda the energy of all life, and souls, and willpower. Every pokemon's got it, some species just have the physicality to manipulate it more. Items can help pokemon make up for a lack of natural aura abilities, like how some items from dungeons let pokemon who normally can't use aura do things like, say, channel the same power that lets ghost types phase through things." Jirachi glanced back to Zeal. "And because of Giratina's feral-creating and Palkia's space-distorting, a lot of those types of items come out of dungeons, because the aura and spatial energies collide and make these items that defy the physical ways of the world."

The explanation hadn't done much to convince Jay. "So… if items let you use aura, why do you need a lucario?"

The legendary shook his head. "No, the item is a conduit that copies a certain biological aura ability that another pokemon might have. Take an item that copies a lucario's energy blasts; it wouldn't give any species the ability to use aura as well as a lucario does, because it just copies the energy blasts. No shields, no healing, none of that."

It still wasn't adding up. "Okay, if items let you copy specific abilities, why does it matter how powerful your aura abilities are?"

"It has diminishing returns depending on how far you step down the power chain and how incompatible the species is with the power. A species that isn't designed to use aura at all, like a bidoof, would get less use out of an energy blast item than say, a mienshao, because the mienshao already has some of that aura manipulation baked into their biology. Now, the Anchor is a conduit for Palkia's own power to control space, so most pokemon aren't designed to come anywhere close to being compatible with that amount of power. Only a species that's made to manipulate aura really well has any chance of controlling the rifts. And that's basically just lucario."

There it was. The weight of responsibility that Jay had so desperately wished to shed was thrown back on him with full force. If he wanted to get home, he'd have to personally rip open a portal.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts. He couldn't sit around and wait for the dread to crash over him; he had to move. If he could get to the Anchor, he could get home. "Alright, then I know my wish. I wish for you to take me and Zeal and Bliss to the Anchor right now."

Bliss's eyes widened. "Jay, we didn't finish getting all the info yet!"

Zeal glanced between Jay and Jirachi, concern strewn across his face. "Yes, I still had a plethora of questions, and we cannot afford to rush into this unprepared. Is there any way we can delay–"

"Nope." Jirachi cut in. "I grant wishes as I get them, so it looks like you're all going to the Anchor. I guess I'll finally be able to get back to sleeping, at least." The legendary shrugged one final time. "Good luck. It, uh, kinda looks like you'll be needing it."

The last thing Jay registered before Jirachi's golden energy engulfed him were the accusatory expressions of his companions and an acute feeling of having seriously messed something up.

Thanks for the support, as always! We're approaching the end of the beginning, so buckle in; the next chapter is going to be a doozy.