Arc One: Mystery

Chapter Twenty-Five: Breaking Point


I...I can't take my eyes off of the what Eclipse just set onto the floor. It's doesn't look like a regular tube flute, but an ocarina instead.

They're...close enough...right? This will work...

...I'm so scared to ask him.

But before I can, Zack moves forward to get a better look at it. "Wow, that sure looks neat." Zack says. "So, what do we do now?"

"Xatu said we have to go to the core of the planet, and then play a song." Lucas says. "Then, all the Mystery Dungeons will be solved...supposedly."

"Mystery Dungeons?" Eclipse asks. "You plan to use this to stop...what? What even are those?"

Wait, he has no idea what we're talking about? I look around the place again. I smile a little. I guess he'd come pretty close to the phrase 'living under a rock." I mean, it doesn't seem he leaves this place, but you would have thought that somemon else might have told him by now, considering how strange and dangerous they are.

Daisy then informs him. "They're disturbances happening around this island, and I'm sure they're bound to spread across the whole globe. Xatu told us that we need the Flute of Aura and play it at the core to fix everything."

Eclipse looks down at the ocarina, and then looks at the Gardevoir, before saying, "Did he perhaps tell you where you had to go in order to retrieve it?"

I swallow hard as Daisy answers him. "Umm, no he didn't. We had to figure that out ourselves." Daisy approaches the musical instrument, but the Ursaluna grabs it with his mouth and turns around to put it back into the treasure box.

"H-hey!" Lucas yells. "What are you doing?! We need that!" The Peat Pokemon closes the box and says, "No you don't, this is not the tool you're looking for. This is the Ocarina of Dust, it's power is to shape and move any pieces of land into whatever you wish when played correctly."

The five of us stare dumbly at the bear. I burst out, "But that sounds like exactly what we would need to fix everything!"

He then roars, "QUIET!" I shrink as he roars, not wanting to upset him anymore than he already is. He then calms down, and says, "Look, I know it doesn't make sense to the five of you, but there's a reason why the ocarina won't work, and the flute will, although, due to the law I'm under, I can't state the reason to you."

"But I will tell you this: Every type that our lord has made, he has also gifted a temple, and every temple has a Guardian and a Watcher, each of which guard a special artifact that controls the same element where it's found, but they also have deeper meaning than that."

When he finishes, he looks at me. I get a little bit scared as I'm not sure what he's thinking about, but I'm put at ease when he says, "This world is not as simple as might you at first. They're many different things that should be keeping you up at night that you're all unaware of."

Wait, is he saying that to me because I have the Lucky Pebble. Why do I have to have such a big responsibility. I mean, I know Arceus gave me the small rock for a reason, I just wish I knew why.

As I think to myself, everymon just look around at each other, not really knowing what to say after the bear's info dump.

"Gahh..." He starts. "I got carried away again. Sorry if that's a little too much for you all to take in at once."

"It's fine, I suppose." I say to him. "I guess I should have known that by now."

Letting out a nervous chuckle at the end. "Why did you say that?" Eclipse asks. "Don't you know how you got your stone?"

I sweat as I say, "No, actually. I...don't remember a whole a lot about myself." I blink as I get an idea. "Do you know anything about me?"

He sighs. "I'm sorry, but the answers you want aren't with me, nor do I know anymon who could help you recover your past for you. I'm afraid you'll have just wait it out and let it come back to you."

I look down in disappointment as Lucas says, "Ok, so you don't know anything about Red, but if you know that every type has a temple, and each of them have an artifact, then do YOU know where we can find the Flute of Aura?"

The Ursaluna closes his eyes and thinks. "Regularly, us Watchers are not permitted to give out any information about a temple's whereabouts, let alone what's inside of them."

"The world is at total chaos because of this! And you still need to follow some rules?" Is what I want to yell, but don't. Instead, I look down to the ground even further, but then he says, "But, given that you came here looking for something that's somewhere else, and you all have beaten the challenge to get here, this time is an exception."

He then digs his claws into the stone ground. As we look at him, dust starts to get sucked up in front of him. Something that comes to my mind: There's a reason Ursalunas are called the Peat Pokemon, because they can control it at will. I just wonder what he's doing with it.

Thankfully, it doesn't take too long to see what he does with it, because in only seconds, he's made...a recreation of the island? Wow, he must have been practicing that for a while.

He then grabs twigs with his mouth and motions us to come closer. He then puts them at different spots of the heap of dirt. After he uses all of them, he says, "The Flute of Aura can be found at the Ghost Temple."

"The Ghost Temple?!" We all say in shock.

"Yes." He says. "Like I said, you'll understand why if you learn of it's deeper meaning. Anyways, it's location is at Shifting Caves, at the far right corner from here."

Wait, Shifting Caves? I shake when I hear Shifting Caves. Gives me bad memories of getting caught by Scar. Man, that feels like forever ago. I look toward Lucas and it looks like he thinking the same thing.

Daisy then speaks up, asking the bear, "So, when you say 'far right corner', do you mean the darkest, most unexplode part of this island?"

"I'm afraid so." He says. "It's a shame, really, that three types have turned like that against us. Going there will not be easy whatsoever, so make sure you're ready, because the Watcher and Guardian there have made no contact with any of us since those types distanced themselves. I'm afraid that they could be the most dangerous group you'll have to face."

Wow, the longer he talks, the worse it gets. I know he's just trying to inform us what to expect, but it just sounds really bad.

As if he read my thoughts, he says, "I know that's bad news, so let me give you some good news, and I mean that literally."

He then walks away for a moment. We all stay put, but we notice that he grabs something glowing with a faint white light. He then brings it over to me, and I hold out my hands as he sets the object on them.

"It's a compass that will take you to the treasure box." He says. "Please don't ask why it exists, just be grateful that I gave you something to take you straight to it."

I look at it, and see that it's nothing fancy, just a grayish circle with a black center that has a white light in the top right, but it should do the trick.

"Thank you, Eclipse." I say.

"You're welcome." He says.

Lucas then bumps into me and grabs it. "Wow, this looks..." He stops as he looks harder at the compass. "Wait, where's the light? It was just on here." I look over to my partner and notice the missing light too.

"Ah, that's the catch with that." The Ursaluna says. "The light will only be present if the user that has the seal of Arceus, or in your case the Lucky Pebble, is touching it." Listening to him, I put my paw on it, and the light reemerges.

"Cool..." Lucas says as his eyes glow too. Zack even walks behind us and watches the light move as Lucas and I swing it around.

"Well, is that all you have for us, Eclipse, or is there more that we need to know?" Crush asks.

He shakes his head. "No, that's all you should need to know. I hope you reach it and get the flute safe and sound."

"We'll sure try to." Daisy says. She then looks at all of us and asks us, "Are you guys all set to leave?"

"I'm ready." I say. "Are you good, Lucas?"

He nods as Zack says, "I'm ready to go when you are."

Crush smiles and says, "I'm good, too. Let's get back to Treasure Town and get ready to go."

"Go? But you haven't even met the Guardian of this Temple." A voice calls out from the shadows and creeps into our minds.

Shoot. That voice...that could only belong to one Pokemon...and the moment I think of his name, I'm frozen in fear.

Zygarde. He found me.

"Well, well, well." He starts. "It wasn't enough that you caused the Mystery Dungeons to appear, now it seems you want to corrupt my temple as well?!" I slowly turn around as I see a green light down the dark hallway.

"Every second you breathe, you make me sicker than the last!"

Everymon else then turns around and sees the Legandary Pokemon in his second, dog-like form as he comes forward, revealing more of himself in the light.

"So, you must be Zygarde." Daisy asks as she readies herself with a Fairy Aura beaming from her.

"I am indeed." He says, keeping his eyes locked on me. "I've said this before, and I'll say it again: Do not fight me! It would be a very foolish thing to do so. Especially in my temple!"

"Sorry, am I missing something, Zygarde?" Eclipse asks, as he's the only one that's confused about the fact that all five of us, besides me, are facing Zygarde, preparing for a fight.

Zygarde groans to himself, "My apologies, Eclipse. In my absence searching for that critter, I had forgotten to tell you that the world is falling apart, and it's because of that Raboot."

I then get mad and yell, "I'm not trying to destroy the world, I'm trying to save it!"

"He's right." Lucas says, "We going to go to the Ghost Temple and grab that Flute of Aura, then play it at the core, and-Amf!"

Daisy closes his jaw, by using Psychic. "NOOO!" Zygarde roars as he glows with a neon colored light. My rage turns into fright as he returns to his fifty-percent form that I dreaded so much.

"I will not let you go unpunished for your crimes, Raboot." He says, "You can't just play the flute, make everything good again, and be on your merry way. You have made more of a mess than you've realized, whether you remember or not. If you truly want to fix what you've done, then you'll come with me."

"My lord, if I may interrupt you." The Ursaluna speaks up. "I understand that he might have done wrong in the past, but what's wrong with letting him to the temple, or why not even accompany him on his journey?"

"BECAUSE THE LONGER HE LIVES, THE SOONER THIS WORLD DIES!" He yells in anger.

I turn white and look almost dead from the outside. That's...that's why he wants me. He really wants me dead...

He sighs annoyed, "There was no easy way for me to say that, but that's the truth. If you truly love your friends, and this world, then you'd come with me. It's the only way to stop this mess. I'll let you have a moment with your friends if-"

Tears fill my eyes as I snap back at the Guardian. "You're lying! That's not the only way to save this place. I know that because Xatu told me that I'm not the cause of this, and how to fix this mess, so why won't you let me do that?!"

"Oh, so you ran into that old bird?" Zygarde asks. "Then tell me, Raboot. Was anyone else there with you when you saw him?"

Lucas yells, "Yeah, me and two others were with him."

"Ahh, hello Riolu, have you been able to make an Aura Sphere yet?" Zygarde says to him, looking down.

Lucas stutters, "W-well, no, but-"

"Let me ask you something, Riolu." He says. "Did Xatu really say that to you all?"

My eyes shrink as Lucas' stuttering gets worse. The thing is, while he, Sparks, and...Eve did help me find Xatu. I was the only one to hear Xatu himself say it. My best friend shakes even more as Zygarde walks toward him, "F-funny you s-should say that, b-because...R-Red was-" He looks at me.

"Was what, kid?" Zygarde says smugly. He then gets straight into his face. "Is there something wrong with you? You did hear what Xatu said, correct? Just tell me the truth, and I'll leave you be."

I bite my lip as the Emanation Pokemon says quietly, "...n-no..."

Zygarde let's out a chuckle, that gets louder as time goes by. He then says, "So what you're saying is that you have no way of proving what Xatu said was true?"

Lucas tears up as he looks defeated and scared, knowing that there was a flaw and Zygarde has exposed it.

"That's what I thought." He says. "What a pathetic Pokémon to do something like that." I bunch up my hands into fists and say, "I wouldn't lie to anymon."

"To be the kind Pokémon to your friends, yes." He faces me. "But to selfishly save your skin? No." He says.

"That's not true at all!" I yell. "ENOUGH!" Zygarde yells as he stands on the end of his tail. He then slams his body onto the ground, causing all of us to lose balance as the earth shakes and breaks.

"You're coming with me, and that's final!" He yells as a vine bursts out of the ground and heads straight at me. I close my eyes and brass myself to get grabbed, when I hear something slam into a wall. I open my eyes to see a barrier of ice that has covered the vine. I look and see Crush still using Ice Beam on the vine as Zack releases a Thunderbolt at it, shattering the vine into many small pieces.

"FOOLS! How do you think you can stand up to a Pokémon such as I!" He says with more anger. From his mouth, energy forms into the shape of a dragon. He quickly fires it at us, but Daisy stands in-between us. When the beam touches her, it dissolves into thin air as it runs into her. I knew that Fairy-Types weren't affected by Dragon-Type moves, I just didn't think that's what happens when it does occur.

"I'm sorry to disagree with your views, Zygarde." The Gardevoir says as she turns back to face me, "But I trust my team members."

She then faces the legendary with strength. "If Red says that's what Xatu said, then that's what he said."

"Then you have doomed this world to fall into chaos! Your promises, your ignorance, will be the death of this world!" The Order Pokemon says.

Daisy, with a slight pause from Zygarde's word, reaches out her hand to me and says, "Everymon, grab on."

"NO!" Zygarde yells. "Eclipse, stop them now!"

I look behind me and see the bear think at first, but then lunge at us, but before he can get to us, we teleport thanks to Daisy. The light blinds us for a moment, but when it disappears, we're standing in front of the tiles to get out of here.

"Everymon, to the tiles!" She orders.

"Right away!" I say.

But then something happens.

As I go to run to the tiles, I hear a noise, and it sounds like something crying out in pain. More cracks then appear, but they release a dark aura and a dark mist as well, and it doesn't seem that Zygarde is doing this.

It...can't be! Not here!

"Look what you've done now, you stupid child. You've spread the curse onto this temple!" Zygarde yells as he charges to us. But between me and him, a rock wall shoots out of the ground, protecting me from him, but I'm still not happy.

In fact, I'm more scared than I was before. I panic as I realize what's happening to this place as the paths become less visible and by the mysterious, yet familiar fog. The titles that were our way out have disappeared.

My heart breaks more at every moment I spent thinking about what's going on. The Ground-Type Temple has just turned into a Mystery Dungeon...and...it has to be my fault. I fall to the ground, crying loudly. Zygarde was right, I am really the one to blame for all of this.

I then feel something grab my back, and it's Crush's second mouth lifting me up from the ground.

"Red..." Crush asks me. "Are you ok?"

I laugh like a crazy Pokemon and say, "Ok?! How can I be ok?! Look around you. Look at this fog! This place is now a Mystery Dungeon! And it's all my fault! Mystery Dungeons are happening because of me, and I can't do anything about this."

Team Forever looks at me with pity as I cover my eyes with my hands. I can't even look at anymon right now, I'm too grabbed by guilt that I'm too ashamed to look at anymon in the eyes.

A small part of my head tries to say otherwise, but I can't help but think it. Zygarde was right and I was wrong. And to think I wasn't the cause, and I could fix this mistake. I'm...I'm just like Eve.

A curse.

I feel my mind get invaded by a different idea. One that I was trying to avoid at all costs. "It's better if I just go to Zygarde and let him do what he has too." I state.

"What!? NO!" I hear Lucas yell. He then grabs my arms, and pulls me off of Crush's mouth. "We're not going to give up on you, Red. We can still fix-"

I then push his paws away and yell at my partner. "Fix this? FIX THIS?! How can you say that?! Look what just happened here. We're stuck in a Mystery Dungeon, a brand new Mystery Dungeon might I add, and it's because of me! Even if we find the flute, I don't even know if it's going to undo the dungeons! If Zygarde needs to kill me to make things return to normal..."

I don't finish as I run out of strength to wrap it up, and instead, I fall onto my knees and cry even more than before. Lucas goes to say something, but Crush speaks first, "Well, what do we do now?"

The team leader thinks, and says, "I'm not sure. This is a very tricky situation."

Lucas, turns around to face her. "Well, he can't be right!..right?"

"Red." Crush asks. "Did Xatu really tell you that this was the way we have to do it?" I only look at her for moment before just resuming crying, being absolutely no help to anymon.

Zack then says, "Well, that doesn't help us at all. I'm on the fence right now."

Lucas freezes, and then asks the Ampharos, "W-wait, you're not saying that you want to-"

Zack panics and waves his arms. "What?! No! Like I said, I'm on the fence."

"But you're still...thinking about it?" Lucas asks again.

Zack doesn't answer him, but Daisy does in his place. "Lucas, I think what Zack's trying to say is that this is a hard decision to make."

Lucas doesn't take it well, however. "B-but it's not hard. How can you say that?!"

"Lucas." Daisy says. "I know you don't want to see him go, but remember, an entire island is at stake here. It's, unfortunately, a possibility that'll be in the back of our heads."

That was the last straw for Lucas, who just stands still and has tears streaming down from his face. I look at him to tell him I'm sorry for everything, but then I notice that he's covered in blue aura that Lucarios are known for. He then makes a cross with his arms.

We all wonder what he's about to do, so I ask him, "Lucas, are you-"

"STOP!" He yells as he lets out a blast of energy, knocking everyone off their feet. With tears running down his eyes, he turns to me.

"Look at me, Red!" He says to me with a surprising calmness to his voice. "And tell me the truth. What did Xatu say to you?" I'm in total shock as he continues to look down at me that I can't speak up or even stand up.

"Red! What did he tell you!" The Rilo asks me again.

I stutter as I try to find the right words. "Well, I-you know what he said. I told you as soon as I left Xatu's room."

He then asks me, "And you wouldn't lie to me, right?"

"Of course, I wouldn't. You're my best friend." I answer, secretly biting my tongue at the end.

"Then what are you so scared about?! Xatu told you what you had to do, so then let's do it!" He says.

Before I can think about what he said, he gives me more to chew on. "If giving yourself up to Zygarde was the right thing to do, then would he tell you to do that."

A short moment of silence is spent as Lucas takes a deep breath. "But he didn't tell you that, and that's because that's not the correct choice."

"But what if it's not the best choice to make?" I ask him.

He chuckles and says, "Look, I know I'll sound selfish when I say this, but you can't go to him and die! Xatu is all seeing and Zygrade, while being the Order Pokemon, isn't. Xatu has to power to see into the future, don't you think that means that he thinks you have a greater purpose?"

"A greater purpose?!" I think to myself. "W-what's greater than saving the world? Do I have to do it twice? Three times?!"

The light around him starts to flicker slightly as he nears the end of his speech. "Xatu didn't want you to leave. And deep down, we all don't want you to leave…I can't let you leave, Red. I'm keeping my promise. We'll all have your back if you just believe in yourself! We're going to find that flute, and we're going to play…it at the core…because that's what Arceus told Xatu to tell…you…"

I notice that Lucas' legs are slowly starting to shake and say, "Lucas?"

He doesn't seem to hear me as he states, "I guess you could say it's your destiny to get the flute…and maybe…a little…more…" The light around him disappears in a flash, as does all of his energy as he comes crashing down to the ground, and judging from his speed, he would have broken something if he had not been caught by Daisy's Physic.

I look at the ground for a few seconds just thinking about what had happened. Finally, I find the strength to get on my feet as Daisy lifts him up. She then says, "Zack catch!" As she carefully tosses the Emanation Pokemon to the Light Pokemon.

I look at my friend, who's knocked out cold, as Crush asks, "So, you all saw that too, right?"

"I sure did!" Zack says, wagging his tail. "That was amazing. Red, you didn't tell us that he could do the same thing you can do!"

"That's because I didn't know that he could do it." I say as I ponder. "But...it didn't feel the same as when I do my transformation. At least I think. (Is that what I look like?)"

"That because of his aura." Daisy says. "Riolus may not be able to control it very well, but I think in his distress, he needed to tell us something, and he sure made us pay attention."

"So, what you're trying to say is..." I ask.

"What Lucas did, while difficult...isn't impossible for somemon like him to do, although even that was not a called for. You, on the other hand, shouldn't have any contention with Aura whatsoever, unless you were to..." She shakes her head. "Well, I've made my point."

"So, what's the call, chef?" Zack says. "What do you think we should do?"

Daisy starts thinking hard again as she puts her hand to her chin, and I can only stand still, waiting for her to say what we should do.

She sighs, "Everything that's going on is crazy. Zygarde wants this to end as fast as it can, but..." She then looks at me. "It's really up to you, what do you want to do Red?"

Me? I then away from her for a moment. I mean, I was just thinking about giving up and going to Zygarde, but then again. I look to Lucas again. All of those things he told me, was right. Xatu did say that, he told me this would work, he told me that I wasn't the reason for all of this! If that's not saying anything, then I don't know what is!

I smile, Lucas wasn't even with me, but he trusts me as if he was! And if he's the only one in this world who believes me, well, I guess that's all I need. I then remember Daisy's words earlier, "That's what makes you and Lucas so strong. You help each other. Whatever one can't do, the other will help them through it. You two help each other get out of rough times. Both of you are so much stronger when you have trust in one another."

"Lucas is right." I finally answer. "Xatu told me all of this stuff! He told me that I wasn't the cause of this! And if he trusts me, then how could I not trust myself?"

Daisy smiles at my newfound confidence. "Well then, I guess that means we're going to get the flute with you."

My spirits are immediately lifted up. "You guys trust me?"

"Of course!" Zack says. "We're all a guild! If Lucas trusts you than so do we!"

I breath a deep sigh of relief, but then Daisy speaks up. "This isn't going to be an easy path to take, though. Zygarde will probably still be after us, and maybe others too. So if we're going to do this, then we need to do this as fast as we can, and that means no going back to the Guild. We have to go straight to the Ghost Temple."

I become shocked and ask her, "What?! How are we going to do that?!"

"While there's none inside the area, there are Glow Posts around the boundaries of Shifting Caves. With you having the compass, you can tell us which post is the best one to travel to, and then we're going to have to walk the rest of the way there as quickly as we can."

I don't show it, but the inside of me groans. Really? Going through another thing to do something as fast as we can? I was really looking forward to sleeping on my nest tonight. Guess I'll have to say goodbye to that as long as the Mystery Dungeons are still forming, because my troubles just can't seem to stop!

"This means that we also have to use as little as we can, and get what we can find, though the stuff we have with us should be able to help us to pull through most of the trip at least, I'd like to stay on the safe side."

She turns to Zack and says, "Do you think you can carry Lucas out of here with us?"

He looks at the fallen Rilo, and then says, "I mean, I'm already holding him! But that means you got to cover for me incase somemon decides to attack us."

She smiles. "You know we'll do that. Reviver Seeds are really hard to come by. I think we should be able to get out without having to use one on him."

She then finishes. "Once we get the flute, we'll have to find Zygarde, or some other way to get to the core so that we can play it, then the problem should be solved. But we all have to be in this together, no doubts and no second thoughts. Are you guys with me?"

She puts her hand in front of herself. Soon, both Crush and Zack put their hands in the middle. "If you're in, we're all in, Daisy." The Mawile says. "You're our team leader for a reason." Zack says as he carefully holds Lucas and keeps his hand in.

Everymon then turns towards me, who has a few tears coming down from my eyes. They...they really do have my back...Lucas was right.

I walk up to them, and put my paw in the middle. "Thanks guys." I say to them. "I really owe you all one."

"You don't owe us anything, Red." Daisy says. She takes a small peak at Lucas before looking back at me. "I guess you could say that we're going to do this the way Arceus intended."

Daisy then starts singing the Guild's theme, to which the rest of her team joins, while I mostly just move my mouth to act like I know the words. "One, don't shirk work! Two, run away and pay! And three, smiles go for miles!" We all yell out. '

We go to laugh, (...ok, I was the only one that was going to laugh) when I hear something come from the new paths behind us.

Oh yeah, we're in a Mystery Dungeon.

*Sigh* "Let's get this over with." I say. "We need to get out of here before Zygarde beats us to the punch."

"Agreed." Daisy nods. She then goes ahead of us and stops. "Let's try going right, everymon. Make sure to stay close, and on the alert. We don't know what we'll find out here."

"Roger that." Zack says, as we all start to follow the Gardevoir.

"Hopefully, because this dungeon just formed, we'll only have one room to deal with." Daisy says as she dashes.

"How can you be so sure about that?" I ask her.

She sighs. "We don't know much about these things, but one thing I've noticed is that the longer the Mystery Dungeon exists, the longer they become."

"Really?" I ask.

"Yes, you didn't notice that?" She asks confused.

"No."

"Huh, I guess you didn't know that because you haven't been in one for a while." I'm stunned as she adds, "Sorry, maybe I shouldn't have brought that up."

"It's fine." I say, though deep down, it does bug me-

"Stop!" Daisy states quietly as she stretches her hand out to the side.

As I come to a halt, I see the reason why we stopped. A Runerigus is looking at a wall, not at us, but this Ghost/Ground Type has an added dark aura around him, making the already scary Pokemon even more frightening. The noises that he's making also concerns me. He sounds like he's having some kind of headache with his hands on his head and grunts that he's making.

And the worse part about this? The stairs are in the same room as him, so there's no other way but to fight him. But hey, we found the stairs.

I then remember something we have in our bag: Warp Seeds! I look at Zack and see that he has both bags on him along with Lucas. I carefully make my way to the bag and open it as I overhear Daisy talking with Crush and Zack (who isn't paying any attention to me).

"So, do you want me to use Ice Beam on him?" Crush asks.

"Sure, you do that, while I use Energy Ball." Daisy says, "Zack, you can-"

She then notices me digging, unsuccessfully, in the bag.

She then asks, "Red. What are you-"

"Got it!" I interrupt her as I take out three Warp Seeds. I then add, "Crush, make sure you freeze him first, then, I'll toss this at him, and we'll make a run for the stairs."

Crush seems a little caught off guard by my sudden orders, but she seems to understand what I'm doing. "Ya, that sounds like a good plan." Crush says, she then awkwardly looks to her leader. "Does that work with you, Daisy?"

She nods and says, "Yes. Red, switch spots with me. You both will go one at a time on my mark, got it?"

As I go to where Daisy was standing, she counts down, "On three, one...tw-"

The earth shakes behind us, which it terrible because it cause the Grudge Pokemon to turn around to see where it came from.

Meaning that he's looking right at us.

He then roars as the ground continues to make us lose balance. Crush falls down, causing her to release her Ice Beam right behind us. Thankfully, it fires in between Zack and Daisy, but that doesn't solve the now-charging Runerigus.

In a panic, I throw the Warp Seed, but I forget that I had three in one hand, meaning I just stupidly threw them all. None of them make it to him, sadly, as he uses Rock Slide, causing a portal above him to rain down rocks, three of which make contact with the seeds as we're now left to worry about the falling rocks.

I look up and see a hole where I can run to, so I take big leap towards that spot, only to realize that the pile of stone paintings is right by it.

He creates a Shadow Claw, and then slashes at me. I go to duck under it, but it's length manages to get me in my face, with the momentum sending me to the wall. I cover my face as I feel blood coming out from it, but I force my eyes open to see what's ahead, and it's a Shadow Ball that's getting bigger and bigger as it gets closer to me.

I shield myself, only to watch the move get canceled out by a green ball. I turn in the direction of it's source, and it's Daisy.

I go to give her a thumbs up, when I hear somemon cry out in pain. "GAHHHH!"

Again turning, I watch in horror as Zack is hit by a rock in his back, causing not only him to fall down, but Lucas also fly off into the mists of the battle, and it catches the attention of the Ghost-Type, who uses Rock Blast as soon as he can at the two Pokemon.

"Oh come on! Lucas already fainted!" I yell in my head.

Without thinking, I jump at one of the rocks heading at the fainted Pokemon and use Double Kick, destroying it while also launching me at the second one, which I also destroy.

A light then shoots across the battlefield, as Zack uses Thunderbolt to get rid of the rocks coming at him.

Runerigus becomes very crossed that none of his attacks landed, so he charges another Shadow Ball, but is interrupted by Daisy's Energy Ball. His attention turns towards her, which is a shame for him, because Crush has kept a cyan-colored light in her second mouth for long enough.

"TAKE THIS!" She yells as the light zooms towards the unsuspecting Ghost-Type, freezing him in mere seconds. After witnessing him get encased in ice, pain returns to my face. I grab hold of it and grunt.

"Can somemon give me a berry, please? My face feels like it exploded." I ask.

"Sure thing." Zack says. "I'll grab some from the bag, and we'll have them while we go up the stairs."

"Right..." I think as I look at the stairs, leading up into a dark fog above. Never thought I'd see the day when I'd be glad to see them so much. Because for the first time in my life, they make sense.

"W-whoa!" A surprised scream from the hallway halls yells. I look there for a second before a brown Pokemon comes out and gets to Lucas. I stop though as I realize it's Eclipse, and he's taking Lucas captive.

"Hey!" I yell at him as he picks him up. Daisy acts fast by using Psychic to toss the broken rocks at him, but he acts faster by dodging them and heads up the stairs.

GAHHH! I'm sick and tired of things getting in the way.

I make a mad dash after him and chase him up the stairs. I take leaps up, but I'm still careful to not trip up. I'm not as fast as him, though, as he disappears into the fog, but I'm not going to let up.

I get to the top of the tower of stairs, and when I do, I see the warp titles that lead out of here.

So that's there, but where's Lucas-

Before I can make a move, the ground below me explodes with power, sending my back to the wall hard. I close my eyes in pain, but then more pain occurs when I feel something sharp land on me, but even with my eyes closed, I can still feel what it is, and it's a claw.

"End of the line, Raboot!" Eclipse yells in my face. I want to use Ember on him so bad, my body is screaming for me to fight back, but, some how, I convince myself to fight with words.

"Eclipse, hear me out!" I plead.

"No!" He roars as he presses down harder. "I have orders from Zygarde to make sure he finds you...and gives you your dues." He ends a little half hearted.

I respond. "And I have orders from-GAHHH!"

He starts digging both of his claws into my chest, and I can feel my body crying out to me.

"You should be grateful that I haven't harmed your friend, but seeing how you won't listen to me, I'll have to get my claws dirty."

"Fight back!", "Burn him!", "Double Kick!", and so many other things it tells me to do, but with all the strength I have, I bottled them up.

"Eclipse! I'm sorry that this is happening. I truly didn't mean for any of this to happen-"

"So you admit you caused this!" He yells.

I groan. Should have worded that better.

I then faintly hear footsteps as Team Forever reaches the top of the stairs, and immediately start charging moves to fight the Ursaluna with.

I panic and cry out, "STOP!" Everymon is shocked as Eclipse looks at the team, who he had no idea was there, as I add, "Let me do this!"

Eclipse turns back to me, as I continue, "Look, I know things look bad, and you're just trying to do what you think is right, but so am I. Xatu told me to get that flute, not to save my skin, but because Arceus told him that was the right thing to do. So, I'm begging you, let me go and so I can grab it. Arceus says so!"

The Eclipse turns his head. He seems to be thinking about what I said. "You said it yourself that the flute would work right? So don't you think I can do this?" I add.

He then brings his face close to mine, but I don't move and stare him down. We lock eyes for what seems like forever.

And that's when he gets off.

"This is crazy for me to do, but I was open, and you could have left me like that for your friends, yet you called them out and even told them not to engage." He stares deeper into my eyes and says, "You may just be a Raboot, and I may take orders from Zygarde himself, yet you have brought up an excellent point, and by your looks, I can tell you meant every word you said. Maybe that's why you were given the Lucky Pebble."

I can barely believe it. He actually listened to me and is letting me go!

He then turns to Team Forever and says, "Mawile, use Ice Beam on me. If I'm going to let you go, it better not look like that to Zygarde."

Crush, though a tad shocked by the request, agrees and starts charging it up.

The bear then looks at me one last time and says, "What I'm doing is completely inexcusable. You better make sure that this was the right call." He finishes as Crush begins to freeze him solid.

"I won't let you down." I say to him, but whether he heard me or not remains unseen, as everything around him is ice.

I breathe a sigh of relief as my body remembers that I'm in pain again. I'm then hit with an Oran Berry, and, without thinking, I swallow it whole, desperately trying to get rid of the pain.

"I can't believe that happened." Crush says, "I would have never thought he would have let you go."

"Well, like he said," Zack says on his way to pick up Lucas, "Arceus gave him the Lucky Pebble, and if he told Xatu to tell Red that, then that should be the way things are done."

"Speaking of things getting done, let's step on those Warp Tiles before somemon else decides to show up." Daisy says, "I just checked, and my badge should be able to work, meaning that everymon else's should as well. Once we take them, grab hold of me and we'll warp to a Glow Post by Shifting Caves. Hopefully Zygarde won't chase us after that."

"Fingers crossed about that." I say. "Let's get that-"

I go to step forward when instead, I fall down. Ohhh, I so tired and beat up after everything's that's happened today.

Suddenly, I'm picked up by Zack, making me the fourth thing he's holding.

"Thanks Zack." Daisy says. "Get some rest, Red. You need it for the next temple."

I smile weakly as I'm carried over to the Warp Tile. I look at Lucas, who's still a little banged up, yet seems like he's having a nice time sleeping.

Yeah, getting some sleep sounds like a good idea to me. And once that thought crosses my mind, the lights go out.


Nothing is left of the room. Because of the Mystery Dungeon's power, it looks like it was ripped from where it was and placed down without fixing anything. The only good part about the MD was the fact that it duplicated the walls that had the torches, meaning that the halls and rooms were thankfully lite. But Zygarde wasn't going to look at any positives. The MDs had to go, and he needs that Raboot if they're going to leave.

When his temple changed into a Mystery Dungeon, He changed as well, going back to his ten-percent form. He then spent the time running inside the dungeon trying to find the exit, knowing that he had to get there before those Pokemon did.

But fate wasn't too kind to him, as he ran into many different Ground, Dark, Ghost, and a few Poison-Types while trying to escape. He didn't let anymon stop him, but he made sure he'd stop them, destroying everymon that dared to step in his way. Even a room full of Pokemon wasn't enough to stop him. It may have taken energy, but no amount of Monster Houses is going to stop him from getting that Raboot.

Thankfully, the mysterious staircase was a nice break for him, but he saw plenty of rocks and ice below that he knew belonged to the Mawile. And where there was the Mawile, there was the Raboot, and he could only hope that Eclipse got there first, or is at least holding them off.

Reaching the top, Zygarde's hopes fell like a ton of bricks. It was the room where the Warp Tiles were, there was nothing but a large ice block, and he could sense that somemon was in there, but it wasn't the enemy.

With one Dragon Pulse, he breaks though the ice block, freeing his loyal subject. He doesn't waste any time and asks him, "Where are they?!"

The Ursaluna coughs and says, "I'm sure they all took the tiles after they freezed me, but I think they might have also used their badges to warp to the Ghost Temple, I'm afraid."

"GAHHHH!" Zygarde yells as he's not too pleased with the answer. "I should have returned here sooner and informed you about him, then none of this would have happened."

He then walks toward the tiles when Eclipse asks him, "What are you doing?"

"Isn't it obvious?" He responds. "I'm going after them."

Eclipse shakes a little, but then says, "As your watcher, I advise you not to go."

Zygarde comes to a halt and asks, "You...WHAT?!"

He turns around as the bear continues. "In the state that you're in because of your connection to the core, you're not as strong as you can be. Not to mention that Ghost-Types, along with Dark and Poison-Types, will try to take you down as soon as you arrive there. Do you really want to risk falling into their hands?"

"How dare you!" Zygarde yells as he makes his way slowly to Eclipse, growling. "You dare talk back to me like I don't know any better. The world is falling apart, and you're telling me to hold off on chasing the culprit."

"What I'm saying is that you get some rest." The Peat Pokemon says. "And it seems that the aura of this dungeon is spreading upon you as well."

"I know very well that I have that problem, and it's because of the core. Because of the stupid Raboot! Why, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you're aligning yourself with that Pokemon."

"My alliance is forever with you and Arceus, sir. Never with anymon else."

Zygarde stares deeply into the eyes of his Watcher, before storming away. "Fine. I suppose you have a point, but as soon as most of my power returns, I'm going there. But for now, we must leave this place."

"Very well, sir." Eclipse says. He then walks toward the Order Pokemon before asking one more question. "Why do you need Red if his actions are clean. He's trying to get the Flute of Aura."

Zygarde stops again, and says, "You and I both know that the flute can do far more than just fix the world with one song...it can end it with one note."

A growl is then heard from the stair. The Runerigus from before has broken out of his prison and heads towards the Legendary Pokemon. But he only goes so far before getting obliterated by Zygarde, who uses Dragon Pulse to erase him and grid him into fine dust.

The bear looks in horror as the dust blows away. Zygarde then grunts and adds, "Heartless creatures...they know no limits, and they want to world to be reduced to that...and that is why he must die."

He then walks on top of the tile and warps out. Eclipse then turns around, and notices three Oran Berries laying on the floor neatly.

He smiles. "They left me a gift. I can only pray that I did the right thing."

And without another word, he leaves the temple as well, leaving it cold, destroyed, empty.

Corrupted.