"Halcion!"

Lucario scream is guttural, ringing out far and wide enough as to nearly blast the fighting-type's throat.

Masters follows his partner's eyes over the canyon. The three figures in the distance, neither of which he recognizes, stand tall. In the arms of the Dragon-type is something familiar. Not just a time gear, but a torn hat of an old 'krow.

Honchkrow, Rei's father. The Dragon-type took his life.

Instantly, Lucario barrels up the cliffside, his deft feet and fighting-typing give him the strength to climb over the pillars of stone. A glowing bludgeon forms in Lucario's hands. Before Masters even has time to ask what she is doing with it Lucario has made the decision for them all, and chooses blood.

Masters hastily clambers up the cliffside, hopping between pillars like stepping stones. Lucario reaches the trio above in seconds. Halcion, the one identified to be the dragon, shouts at him.

"I didn't do it, Rei! Calm down!" She faces down the raging fighting-type, shoving the smallest of the trio behind her "Why do I even care about your father?"

"Then give me his gear!" He screams back.

"You and I both know we-"

He was looking for his reason. He cuts Halcion off with the butt of his club, smashing into her tusks as she reels backwards. The one next to her, a white and purple fox with flowing hair, moves in and surrounds him.

Masters rushes faster and faster, watching the chaos unfold as he batters the duo away, being pushed further to whence he came. Lucario looks back to a Masters who is a few hops away, then…

A head splitting pain erupts in Masters. This again? Here, now? He wasn't even touching Lucario. He tries to push through the Scream raging through his mind in vain as his vision fades to black.

The Fox thing - she knows Flamethrower. Halcion keeps Lucario at the edge and that's when she incinerates him.

His senses return. Lucario is being battered into a corner by the swift strikes of these two. He unleashes a final swing on the Haxorus, turning his mallet into sparks. The second one takes a deep breath, and so does Masters as he pushes his legs to their limit, leaping from pillar to eventually - right into the body of Lucario.

An inferno rages over Lucario, surrounding his body in fire and smoke. And when it clears, there stands a fire-type, having taken the blast with his larger frame. He briefly sees his opponents.

To the left, a Haxorus named Halcion. To his right, this strange fox pokemon, and in the middle of them is this wee little water type. Upon seeing the old explorer, his eyes grow wide with fear.

"That's him - that's him!"

The one named Halcion swerves around to the boy.

"What?"

No time to Question it, Masters reaches through Lucario's body and strikes a thunder punch into the Dragon's cheek, then another and another. Masters' barrage is ineffective, but it buys him the space he needs to throw Lucario back behind him. The three face him while Lucario catches his breath, a few cuts along his limbs where one of the dragon's claws must have made true.

"You cheapshot!" She hisses. "Whats your two's problem?"

"Why should I care? I want the gear, and so does he." Masters watches their moves carefully. "He is my partner, I'll do anything for him."

"Your partner? You got a new partner and you chose this guy?"

Everyone turns right towards the kid, this pipsqueak of a Prinplup, he sounds more confused and shocked by Masters' mere existence. What does he know? There is no time, those memories belong lost to the annals of spacetime.

Lucario gives him no time for these memories to settle. He throws out a Dark Pulse, narrowly grazing Masters but hitting Halcion as he shoves the boy behind herself. Lucario sees what's coming, and puts himself in the way of a dual chop which tears into him and sends them both hurdling to the ground.

Lucario's metallic body chips into each stone, barreling down like an immense boulder till they stop at the river's edge, a foot of three shy from giving the fire-type an unpleasant bath. Lucario, groaning, peels himself away from Masters first. Relatively unharmed, despite the terrifying plummet. Masters on the other hand, feels shaken.

"Luc…"

"Don't get your memories or the stupid scream of yours get in the way of us getting those gears." Lucario grits his metal teeth. "Just a fanboy getting on your nerves. If he gets in my way, he's game."

Surprisingly coherent for someone who was outright screaming the name of a person who could have taken the life of his father. Maybe he believes her, but the gear is first and foremost. They are not going to let one slip by, not while they are on such a painful, albeit successful streak.

He is just a fanboy, a fanboy who knows about his partner.

Getting onto his feet, he sees the others begin to step down. First is the vixen, and Halcion ripping across the land after her, the water-boy riding on the Dragon's back.

Masters' priorities have changed. The Prinplup is a rookie, or at least looks the part. Halcion and the fox look much more experienced than him, they even have badges if the glints near their chests are what he thinks they are.

So between these two targets: the fox is the worrisome one. Lucario can maybe handle the onslaught of Halcion's dragon-type moves, but a single gust of flamethrower from her is going to spell the end of him. This is not to mention his Scream, which sure seems to be coming and going faster than-

He sees the Zoroark one leaping towards them. Masters sprints forth, climbing up a wall near the river to a flat area of basalt. The perfect place, they suppose, for these two to duke it out.

The Zoroark lands gracefully on fours, then stands up, her lanky body makes her seem towering. Halcion leaps past them into the river below. Guess Halcion wanted after the one she recognizes, much to the boy's chagrin, he imagines.

Masters wastes no time, he spits a large glob of flame into his hands, then stuffs them into his lanterns. Her yellow eyes observe him.

But if she is going to stand there letting him do this then he will take the first move. He slaps one of the spectral fires out of its holster, flicking it towards her as he moves in. She retaliates with her own spout of flame, a dark ball whose licks of fire are like hands suffocating Masters' Infernal Parade. The move cancels each other in a bright burst, and Masters barrels through the aftermath, fists alight with sparks.

He goes for a right hook. She catches it, deftly dodging out of the way. He goes for a left and his own strength is used against him, as she trips him up, tossing him onto the floor. Masters looks up and sees her claws shine a putrid purple.

He spits out a smoke screen straight into her, rolling away as a Shadow Claw rakes the ground where he once stood. Her eyes glow through the fog. Just as quickly as he puts up the screen, she too, vanishes, her whole body becoming the same hue as the smoke surrounding them.

Of course, make that two pokemon with camouflage he faced. Hers are illusions, but that's semantics.

If she is going to approach him with a similar challenge, then he is going to be as unoriginal. The Scream has been acting strange since his encounter with Bisharp. If he had someone he could touch, or something dear to him, mayb-

Masters reaches up to his hat, touching the cloth symbol hidden by his big metal plume. An ear splitting only he can hear erupts, and his vision flickers. What he sees in his prediction is irrelevant; he already knows the answer.

Just hide your neck like last time.

The Typhlosion fumbles backwards into the thick fog till his back finds a jutting pillar. He keeps his eyes peeled, then counts. One, the mist starts thinning, two…

A streak of three claw marks cuts through the air. Masters knocks his head back, his neck becoming one with the dense, sturdy stone. His semi incorporeal state leaves a graze on his chin and the Zoroark right next to him. They exchange glances.

"A Typhlosion who's a ghost type."

"And I've never seen a Zoroark so pale."

He sees her crack a grin.

She is too close and too awkward of an angle for her to successfully dodge, and a Thunder Punch breaches her agile defenses. Lightning hits her fur as she leaps backwards, clenching her shoulder. The Smokescreen vanishes as Masters pulls himself out from the wall, looking comparatively less worse for wear.

In the distance, below, he catches a glimpse of the combat.

Halcion is tearing into Lucario, who chop after chop, he manages to endure, blocking the majority of which with a club which keeps on breaking and reforming. The boy down there spits out a bubble. He sees it coming, then shifts Halcion right into it, obviously doing next to nothing to a gigantic dragon other than really getting on herr nerves. As a huge whip of her tail sends Lucario flying backwards, careening in the opposite basalt wall.

Ouch.

He hears tapping claws right next to him. He whips around, pulling the flame from his lantern, and sees the Zoroark standing there, hand on her hip, holding out a hand in a show of peace.

"I appreciate a good bout but I'm exhausted." She says. "I've no interest in the Gears, my problems lie elsewhere."

"I was expecting you to try and sneak attack me." He says, looking back at her.

"Me too, which is how I know we're on better terms." The Zoroark motions down at the river. Lucario got up fast as he's now peppering Halcion with hails of bullet punches. "They aren't"

"Do you think you can do me a favor and convince Hal from doing something stupid? She is not the type to listen to reason when she's mad."

"You too?" Master doubles back. "What about the boy?"

"What about him? I don't know why he is obsessed with you, always keeps talking about it. Talk him down." She takes a look down at the Prinplup, who is still trying to help with these volleys of bubbles. "If you are seriously scared of some kid I will come down and lay the law."

"No thanks." The Typhlosion extends a hand. "Masters."

She takes it. Something about feeling the cold skin of another ghost makes it a lot less frightening than say trying to hug a corporeal comrade. They both agree there, and she shakes.

"Dexys." She slides over to the edge, crouching down, watching the battlefield like a haunched monster. "Counting on you."

Masters nods, making his way to the platform's edge. Downstairs, he sees a beast strangling Lucario by the neck as he pathetically tries to punch her arms off him. Lucario glances his way for a split second.

He gets the raging dragon in his sights, then lets Infernal Parade loose as he races towards the river. The Prinplup sees him approach, and shouts.

"Hal! Behind you! He's back!"

Halcion throws Lucario free, drilling him into the rocky shores. She swerves around, slamming her talons with a loud splash as a chunk of rock is torn out of the earth. She whips her tail, sending out a shot of stones. They go straight through the floating Parade, and Masters regrets ever jumping down.

Stones hit his body, his legs, his torso, bringing him right down onto his back with a heavy groan. Oh, she is an experienced explorer alright.

The infernal parade goess off, and he hears a loud splash in the distance. Looking over, Masters sees Lucario has her pinned into the river, Bone Rush pushignd own on her neck.

Then there is this stupid kid, this Prinplup, waddling towards him. He stares down Masters as he lies there, heavy stones weighing down his body.

"You were uh…you were there? In the Grass Continent? You were at the tower?"

"I'm the one who fixed it, yeah." He tries to be as candid as he can, but spurts of rage rise in his throat. "I can tell you everything about it, what happened. I have had more than enough time to think these through…"

"You put those gears back, did you?" The boy continues to badger him.

"Yes. What else?"

"You know what happened when you put them back?"

Of course he knows, he has spent fifteen years thinking about all the people who were at The Sea who became lost when it stopped flowing. Doomed to wander time and space till they no longer exist. He was never told this, he had to find it out himself, it was a "sacrifice" - for lack of a better word. A sacrifice no one, not even he should have made.

"Do you think I wanted to do that?"

The kid looks to be ignoring him, he sounds in shock. It looks like the kid is trying to come to terms with…something. He has no time for it. Masters starts to push the stones off of him and sees the boy get in place. He has a bubble in his hands. Is he trying to accuse him?

This, atop of his friend acting a fool. Masters tries to scream, and a grumble slips through.

"Grow up."

The Prinplup blinks a confused "wha" leaves his beak as he waddles even closer. He lends Masters his ear, and so, Masters says it louder.

"Grow. Up."

Without giving the kid a chance to consider what these words mean, his electrified fist instantly slams into the side of his beak, knocking the daylights out of the boy with a fell swoop.

He didn't want to, he said he wasn't to, he can apologize to his fan one other day. Getting into the thick of fifteen year old wounds would take too long - nary will he relive them for anyone not named Minstrel. Consider his fist a lesson in battle.

Then there's the other angry hatchlings.. Lucario is struggling to keep Halcion under the river, but suppose she could breathe longer than it may seem. Dragons tend to do this.

Masters drags through the cold of the river. Lucario who looks up from his foe directly into Masters' eyes. He goes to say something, probably stupid, but a deft back hand slap sends Lucario off clenching his snout.

The thing in the water moves, turning its head to the squirming Lucario. She begins to rise out of the sea with her claws outstretched, and Masters simply plants his foot on her back. She lets out a killer snarl.

"Dexys said not to do something stupid." He says. "Give up already. You too, Lucario."

Halcion worms about for a split second longer, though it seems the mention of her partner's name silences the beast for a time. Lucario gets back up, staring down at her. He reaches up towards his neck - his gear.

"No, don't." Masters hisses.

Lucario's hand slumps down, defeated. He stares at him with a look of childish contempt, and not long after, Masters lifts his feet off the raging beast. Both parties, seemingly humbled.

"Masters!"

The Zoroark calls out to him as she leaps from the ledge. In her hands is a large, feathery hat, the inside glowing with that disgusting orange. She walks over him and plants it firmly in his hands.

"Dexys." The beast growls. "What are you…"

"Going down the other road." She says to her, and turns back to Masters. "We're better off without it."

Masters reaches into the hat, plucking out the cold metal. As the Time Gear touches his fingers the light in it quells, and he quickly stows it with the other, keeping the blasted thing free from prying eyes.

"When the boy wakes, tell him I'm sorry, and if he really wants to know then ask Minstrel." Masters sighs. "I don't need to justify myself."

Dexys nods respectfully, and Masters turns to Lucario.

"I'll give it to you when we're out here." He says. "Don't act like a child."

Lucario flashes a glance between everyone, looking too bewildered to continue holding onto his grudges, and he resigns. He drags his feet across the stone shores, swiping the hat from Masters' hand as they leave this canyon behind. The others are sure to follow, give or take a minute of making sure the water boy is alive.

Lucario is silent their entire walk.

The roar of the river drowns every breath and murmur from him as holds the hat close to his chest, eyes wide, his chest heaving. The mist begins to clear up. Masters sees a setting sun finally peek through the fog. The glow of a friend sitting under a tree ahead

As the cliffs lower around them, Lucario stops in his tracks as he finally decides to speak.

"He's gone, right?"

Masters turns around. Lucario's eyes are wide and expressionless. His mouth hangs ajar as his fingers wreath tightly around the feather hat.

"He took the gear out, he got it for us, the dungeon's going to close. Right?" Lucario repeats. "That's how it works?"

Maybe it wasn't told to him directly, but in Masters' heart he knows the answer. Placing the gears back where they belong did the same to all those people lost in the Sea of Time.

Masters sighs. He doesn't need to tell him.

Lucario flips the hat around, and with the spike at the back of his hand, pierces two holes into the big thing. He takes off his little Murkrow one, and dons the other, his ears comfortably sliding through the openings. He looks at the old one with a deep breath, then leaves it at the river's edge, weighing it down with hunks of dark stones.

An unmarked grave for a fellow criminal. Lucario has his way of remembering him, it seems. His voice quivers, crashing against a wave of emotion.

"T-There's someone in Halfway Rock I need to see, and then we're not going to stop. We'll get all the gears, it's what he wants."

Lucario turns, and leads the way, the huge brim of his hat hides a tear-stricken face.

Lying unconscious on a river's floor, Louisa's eyes stew open. How long has he been out? A day, two days? He's freezing. He needs to get back to safety. He can't just do this with him and - his partner, where is she?

Louisa feels his muscles roar back to life. Above, moonlight creeps through a thin layer of ice where they were thrown into. His membranes flick over his eyes, and in the darkness, he sees her figure planted in soot. She is unconscious, but the three claw marks forming gills on her throat remain. He had not lost control of Soak. Thank Winter.

He grabs her body and shatters the ice above with a water bullet. He surfaces in seconds, throwing himself and the body of Sneasel onto the surface of the lake. His enemies having long since left, their trails are barely visible in the snow. There is no way he can track them down. He needs to get to safety.

The Inteleon walks on, calling behind him.

"Come on, babygirl, let's…"

Sneasel isn't following. He looks behind him.

She is frozen, not because of the cold. Her entire body is locked up. Only her eyes can move, and her breath is an awful wheeze. Her fur has fallen out, her claws overgrown. A foot of skin sags from her arm as she reaches for him. She calls him weakly with all of her strength.

"L-Louisa, it hurts." Tears stream down her face. "H-Help…help me…"

He feels like there are shackles on his feet. He looks on in horror. Nothing resembles the Sneasel he knew. Her youth is destroyed, replaced by crippling, painful old age.

Louisa rushes over, grabbing her by her arms. She lets out a painful yelp. Just touching her causes her muscles to jitter in agony. He holds her as comfortably as his hands could, bringing her close to his thin chest, and walks away with her in her arms.

All the while she shivers and sobs. He does his best to comfort her.

"It's okay, it'll be okay." He speaks, calmly and slowly. "Tell me who did this to you and I will have them fix it."

"T-The Lucario, he had a gear…he used it to…to…"

That is all he needs to hear. Louisa presses a finger against her mouth, telling her to save her strength, carrying her through a dark, cold forest to their home in Lapis Town.

He feels sick to his stomach. His head is pounding with discordant nonsense. Lucario did this, not only did he have control of a gear knowing what they do to dungeon dwellers, he used it for his own gain - to destroy his one and only partner willing to embark on this journey. Hal is right about him; Lucario will truly use everything to get what he wants. If one as heartless as him gets their hands on the complete piece of gears there is no telling what harm he would inflict unto others for his selfish desires.

Lucario is the ambitious sort guilds exist to root out. Vile, self-serving.

Through hours of deafening silence Louisa carries the body of his companion. Sneasel has fallen unconscious, but she still breathes. He crests a great hill, staring out across the shining Lapis Lake.

The homes are cold, the streets seem empty, only the Society's fortress is alight. Something has happened, an evacuation order, possibly. He knows the Society will not abandon the fort, he has taught them so, they will also welcome any injured into their arms.

The Inteleon slides down to the hill, making his way across the crystal clear lake with the body of his fellow in his arms.

When he reaches the doors to his former home a powerful scent blasts his nostrils. Smoke. He grips the badge which has already brought him great woe, then whispers, looking upon Sneasel's unconscious face.

"I'll find Lucario. I'll make him fix you."

And he will not rest until he finds him. No one deserves this kind of fate.