July 21st, First Year

Quick footsteps echoed on the cavern floor. Behind them, a wave of sand and pebbles showered down, spilling over the lip of the perilous drop in one noisy cascading landslide. A silhouette struggled out of the powdery sand, reaching out to grab a stalagmite before pulling themself free. They shook bits of rock and debris from their clothes as they made to stand, reaffixing their head scarf snugly around their head.

Jaku grunted as she braced against a wider stalagmite, her eyes narrowing on the dimly lit entrance to the cavern that was slowly but surely sealing itself shut, the limestone congealing into a solid wall. "What a way to make an entrance."

Almost immediately, a persistent ticking sound began to play incessantly within the strange space, Jaku's pendant glowing teal as if powering up from their surroundings. It twitched, the stone backing melding with the flexible gear.

"Welcome To The First Trial, Champion."

Jaku, feeling a cold presence right at her neck, quickly shut her eyes, her legs inadvertently lowering into a kneel as the unknown entity wrapped a smooth, cold tendril around her neck.

"Y-you again, huh?" Jaku shivered.

The tendril squeezed a little tighter. "Yes. I Return To You, Champion. Though-" the weight upon her neck increased- "I Fully Expect Your Cordialness. Any Insubordination To The Task Ahead Will Make Things More… Difficult."

"Sure- I mean, yes. Of course."

The squeezing lessened. Now, a ghost of something soft wavered over her ears. "Will I Have Your Full Cooperation, Champion?"

"Yes."

"Good. Then Listen Well." The presence on her neck vanished. "You May Open Your Eyes, Champion. I Must Impart To You Some Knowledge Before You Continue On."

Jaku hesitantly opened her eyes, adjusting to the sheer darkness of the cave. The air was stagnant and rank, thick dust falling from the ceiling and with it ice cold drops of water. To her surprise, the disembodied voice kept on inside her head.

"You Are Here To Recover The First Time Gear And You Are The Only Champion Able To Do So. Recovering The Time Gear Will Not Be Easy. You Will Need The Assistance Of A Pokémon. Call Upon One Of Them Now."

Before Jaku could reach for her belt, the third pokéball on her belt burst open, Peanut the Eevee leaping forward with a howl of delight. It ducked around her feet before sniffing at the air, the hair along its spine raising.

"Good. Your Assistance Seems Ready For The Task Ahead."

"What… What is the task ahead…?" Jaku paused, not quite sure what to call the voice that rattled around in the back of her head.

The voice gave a dry, rasping laugh. "Azelf. You May Call Me Azelf."

"Alright then, Azelf," Jaku swallowed, edging away from the perilous drop in the cave. "How should I proceed?"

"You Are Ready To Act. This Is Good."

Jaku was quickly turned around to face the depths of the cave, her feet moving her toward a winding slope into the darkness etched into the side of the cave wall. It was barely wide enough for her to walk on and looked too frail to support her weight.

"The Time Gear Lies In The Drenched Depths of Lake Valor. In Order To Reach It, You Must First Persevere Through The Challenges This Cave Will Force Upon You. Beware, The Trail Into The Depths Is Long And Arduous. For This, I Will Enable A Gift Upon You To Better Help You Reach The End. Prepare Yourself, Champion."

"Wha-"

A blinding flash of light lit up the caverns forcing Jaku to avert her eyes as the floor spun away from her. The drawling voice wavered and ebbed, a pit of nausea forming in her gut as she braced against the cold cavern floor. Her limbs went cold, a faint shock of pain pulsing along her hands, feet, and face as she fell to her knees, cradling her head in her hands as she resisted the urge to vomit. This is like a second bought of time sickness.

And just as suddenly as it had come, it had vanished. She was then left to flinch back as a wet nose poked into her side, soft fur brushing against her side.

"Hey, hey! It's okay, buddy! You can get up now!"

Jaku blinked. That didn't sound like Azelf. She blinked open her eyes only to stare as she came face-to-face with Peanut who was now staring at her quizzically. Had Azelf shrunk her down to size or was she still reeling whatever the deity had done to her? "Oh, it's just you, Peanut," she mumbled coarsely, taking relief in the fact that her pokémon was still by her side.

Peanut gave her a confused blink before frowning slightly. "This is… weird," it whined, its large ears falling flat against its neck. "It's gonna take some time to get used to… this."

"…Did you just talk?"

"…Yes? Why wouldn't I?"

"You- you're a pokémon. You- I shouldn't be able to understand what you're saying," Jaku blabbered. She took a step back, noting with abject horror the clawed pale ginger appendages where her arms were supposed to be. "Ack!"

She had shrunk to Peanut's height. She was a pokémon now! Where her arms used to be were now long scaly, golden appendages with patches of glittering ebony scales, five serrated black claws taking the place of her fingers. She stared at her scaly feet with its long talons and then at the long serpentine tail that glittered with golden flames, pointy spines sticking up along its length. She opened her mouth to speak aloud, pausing when her tongue slid over a row of only sharp incisors; a tongue that felt awfully thin and cold.

"You… you turned me into a pokémon," Jaku rasped, one scaly hand on her face as she recoiled from the transformation.

"Get Accustomed To Your New Body," Azelf commanded. "Once You Are Ready, Proceed Into The Cavern. But Be Warned: You Cannot Rest Here Forever. Time Within This Rift Is Limited, Champion. Once You Begin The Trial, You Cannot Leave Until It Is Finished."

"And if I fail?"

"You Won't." And with a quiet slither, Azelf was gone, the cold presence vanishing from the cave completely.

"This is weird," Peanut commented weakly. "Never thought I would see you as a pokémon, mast- I mean, buddy."

"You think? Try being turned into a pokémon." Jaku shakily took a step or two forward, struggling to adjust with her new proportions. "I need to get adjusted first before I go anywhere. Won't be any use if I'm tripping over myself."

"We," Peanut corrected. "Before we go anywhere. Didn't you hear that thing? We're in it together." The Eevee carefully guided her along as she took practice steps across the cave. "You helped me out when I was in a pinch so I'm gonna help you too!" it vouched. "I've been waiting to prove that I can help you just like you helped me! So just watch me!"

Jaku kept her dubious thoughts to herself as her partner helped her get used to her new body. Is he being serious or will this just be a staple that Peanut regularly uses whenever I happen to get into this situation, Jaku thought quietly. Before her first skip, Jaku would've been over the moon about being able to speak and work with her pokémon. Now? She gave Peanut a fleeting glance when the pokémon turned away, biting her tongue in frustration. Now, she couldn't see him as anything more than an assistant. She'd just lose him too when the time came to it. No need to forge bonds meant to be broken later on down the line.

"So… how on earth do I use moves?"


Unknown Day, First Year

Azelf had truly understated how difficult the trial would be.

Jaku wheezed as she slid from the cave wall, a sharp pain lancing up her spine as the hostile pokémon slunk closer, Peanut trying his best but failing to intercept as the enemy Tyranitar tossed him into the cave wall like it had her. She struggled to her feet, blood dripping from her mouth as she spat and dove back into the sand.

The earth shook. Jaku dug her way through the sand before emerging behind the great beast, clawing her way up its back snarling fury. Peanut hissed as it tossed up a volley of stars, little pieces smacking uselessly into the Tyranitar's hide as the little Eevee tried its best to stay out of close-range.

"Hey, partner!" Peanut called. "I don't think we can win this one!"

"Heard you the first time!" Jaku retorted furiously, trying to sink her claws into the Tyranitar's eyes. "I need to make a diversion!" She'd tried. Really, she had. Being a fire-type pokémon in a place exclusive to rock and ground types just made every defeat sting more. She took a deep breath and vaulted onto the pokémon's face, breathing out a plume of thick soot and smoke directly into its eyes.

The Tyranitar bellowed in rage and with one massive hand, grasped her by the base of her tail and threw her into the sandy floor, raising one foot to stomp on her. Jaku barely managed to throw herself out of the way, getting a mouthful of pebbles and sand for her trouble.

"Come on!" Peanut wailed. "Let's get out of here!"

Jaku didn't need any other words. They had run from numerous other fights. This would be their seventh attempt to escape the over-powered Tyranitar that blocked their attempts from progressing to the lower depths.

Peanut shot into a narrow crevice in the side of the sandy cave, reaching through to help pull Jaku in as the Tyranitar came barreling toward them. Jaku scrabbled harder against the cave walls until she pulled herself free, trying to keep pace with Peanut as they ran as fast as their legs would carry them. The cave shook. The rock wall that they had squeezed through cracked under the force of the Tyranitar trying to break through.

The two pokémon came to a screeching halt as the cavern ended in a large cliff, too high for either of them to climb properly. Jaku gritted her teeth and approached. "Hold on to my back. I'll try to get us up there."

"We won't manage it! It's breaking through!"

"Just hold on!" she snapped. She hastily grabbed Peanut's scruff and hoisted him up as she hooked her serrated claws into the cliff wall, her muscles screaming in protest as she slowly began to climb the rock wall.

Something squeaked from below. Peanut jerked in her grasp before attempting to quicken up the pace, scrabbling at the rock wall with his blunted claws.

"Come on! Come on! There's a Sandslash right below us!"

"Mhm syyng!" Jaku heaved Peanut up higher, her jaw and arms burning. The wall quaked around her and the squeak grew into a frenzied shriek of anger.

"Almost there-!" Peanut wrenched out of her grasp and fought its way onto the clifftop, reaching down to pull Jaku up in return. She collapsed, heaving, as she fought for air.

"No time to rest! Let's go!" Peanut swung Jaku onto its back and made a mad dash for another cleft in the rock, darting through hallway after hallway until they came to a pool of sinking sand.

Once they were sure that they weren't being followed, they separated and lay quietly in the dark room, their labored breathing filling the silence.

"Do you- hggh- do you think we- we- stars above, its so hard to breathe!"

Peanut shakily got to their paws, staring worriedly around the cave. "I think… I think we're safe. For now," they added quietly. "I don't hear any approaching enemies."

"Oh, goody. Finally, I can breathe."

For a few minutes, the two partners collected their breath, studying their surroundings before falling into a contemplative silence. A silence that Peanut broke with a whine.

"Hey… partner?"

"Yeah?"

"I- I don't think we can progress from here. I think we have to head back the way we came."

Jaku merely chuckled with despair and went back to laying dejectedly in the sand. "Please, not again. Anything but starting over from the beginning."

Jaku hadn't known what Azelf had been hinting to when the deity had mentioned that she couldn't fail but after their first defeat at the hands of a Sandslash, she'd gotten it pretty quickly: they couldn't fail because time, while being an ever-present constant, wasn't exactly linear here.

That is, the time limit on their escapade would repeat each time they failed and when time reset, they would wind up back at the entrance to the sandy cave with their memories intact. But not their wounds. They could try forever and still be locked into an endless time loop should they fail to succeed.

"But we're getting stronger," Peanut had cheered, his Swift now managing to break through rock walls. "If we keep trying, we can overpower the enemy pokémon in one run. Hopefully, soon!"

"I don't know how many runs we can do before I start to lose my sanity, Peanut."

"Aw! Cheer up, partner! At least we're working as a team. I've got you and you've got me. We're in this together, and two heads are better than one. We'll find a way through this eventually."

Through. Jaku peered tiredly at the ever-sinking pit of sand before her, her eyes widening as she felt around in the ground. She shoved one clawed hand as far as it could go in the sand. Clack! The terrain was hard. Steady. Solid. "Peanut, I need you to hear me out but… I think I know how we can progress from here."

"How-" Peanut stilled, following her line of sight to the cascading waves of sand. Its muzzle scrunched with discomfort, and it stepped back a few paces, its tail between its legs. "Stop that thought immediately. If we jump in there, we'll get smooshed no matter what. You really want to chance that?"

"Think about it," Jaku cut through. "This is the furthest we've managed to make it in here. We've never made it to this room before. How many days have we been stuck in this loop? Think. The ground beneath us is solid. All this sand has to be coming from somewhere, but it doesn't flood the cave. I think there's another room beneath us. All we have to do is have the courage to jump in."

"You realize that if we jump in and it's just deadly quicksand, then we'll sink and have to start all over again, right?" Peanut whispered. "I don't want to drown in sand."

"I don't want to drown either," Jaku admitted, "but I also don't want to be stuck here wandering in circles forever. This is our first lead to getting out. At least, I think so. You want to leave this place too, right?"

"…Yeah. Yeah, I want to get out of the place," Peanut grumbled. "It was fun at first but now it just stinks being here."

"Then help me find something long so that I can test my idea. Oh! Find a stalactite and I'll stick a few together. We can see just how far this pit goes."

Within the hour, the two had managed to stick three rather large stalactites together, and with a firm grasp, Jaku proceeded. "Let me do it," she'd argued. "It's my idea."

"Sure, sure," Peanut nodded dubiously, "But if you get sucked in then we both go straight back to the dungeon entrance. Don't forget."

"Don't' call it a dungeon. You make it sound worse than it is."

"We're stuck in a time loop on some mystery task to appease a deity pokémon. What else should I call it? A 'mystery dungeon'?"

A moment of silence passed between them before they both chuckled. "Nah."

The stalactite lurched in Jaku's talons, pulling her small frame dangerously close to the pit. As soon as the large hunk was in position, Jaku let go, watching as the rock sank into the depths. And then, it jerked forward and fell numerous lengths before thudding into something below.

Jaku turned and stared owlishly at Peanut, a wide grin appearing on her face. "I knew it!" she cheered. "Okay, it's go time."


Unknown Day, First Year

Jaku sent a Skorupi flying with a well-timed Ember, watching with savage satisfaction as the bug fled into the caverns. She sent a look to Peanut who had finished dispatching a Nincada. They both nodded. Peanut clambered onto Jaku's back and with a heave, Jaku carefully slid along the cliff until they reached the bottom of the quicksand pit.

Her body ached, littered with numerous scars and bruises from the fights that had awaited them the moment they had set foot into the pit. This space was tougher than the quicksand cave, but at the very least, whenever they failed, they were sent back to the room with the spiraling sand instead of back at the cave entrance.

The more they battled, the more Jaku became accustomed to acting as a pokémon. Moves came easier. Spitting fire and splitting through rocks with her claws became like second nature as she swung her tail forward to light up the cave. Whenever they passed a pool of water, Jaku would take a moment to look at her reflection carefully. What type of pokémon had she become?

And it unnerved her slightly as they passed a pool of still water, a pair of solid black eyes matching her gaze as the eyes narrowed, the surrounding golden scales scrunching with dismay.

"Think they're any oran berries in the next room," Peanut asked cheerfully.

"I hope so. We could both use a pick-me-up."

They emerged into a wide-open cave. Long, stalactites like fangs of stone jutted from the cavern ceiling forming wide steady pillars creeping with lichen. Water sloshed against limestone, the ticking noise from earlier becoming a long, steady tempo that pounded in Jaku's ears. The silence there was deafening. The two pokémon approached albeit a little slower, eyes widening at the visage before them.

There, in the middle of the cave supported by two arching pillars of limestone adorned with glowing ancient sigils glowing an unearthly hue of teal that seemed almost too bright to witness, was a shivering, pulsating object. It twitched forward, clicking incessantly in one direction as its shining emerald-green silhouette twitched in the opposite direction.

The water around the time gear rippled as though reacting to unheard music, beads of water rising from the wavering surface to hover before falling back into the crystal-clear water.

"Did we-"

"We actually did it?" Jaku breathed.

The Time Gear spun in place, illuminating the strange carvings within the cave walls, long lost to time and erosion from the underground lake. Jaku felt herself instinctively move forward, the waters of the lake parting to reveal a natural bridge as she approached. A sense of wonder, dread, and temptation ticked along her spine as she reached forward with one clawed hand.

The Time Gear burned cold against her fingertips, singing with a feeling Jaku couldn't even begin to describe. But it was addicting. "Do we… Azelf wanted us to take this and bring it back to them."

"Then we take it," Peanut replied calmly. "I don't think retrieving it will be all that easy so-"

"Once I snatch it, we need to get out of here as fast as possible?"

"Exactly."

Jaku took a deep breath, the corners of her mouth wavering. "I hope we have enough Reviver Seeds. Do you still have that Quick Orb?"

"I've got three tucked away in here somewhere," Peanut commented, reaching into the ruff around his neck to seize a shiny cobalt orb. "Ready to use them whenever you're ready, partner."

"You know you can call me by my human name, right?"

"Well, you don't call me Eevee. You call me 'Peanut'. Think of 'partner' as my nickname for you. And anyway, we don't have time to argue about names. Let's get this done."

"Right."

The moment Jaku snatched the Time Gear from its place, the ground beneath them began to heave. The stalagmites crumbled. In her hands, the Time Gear lost its glow, the ticking noise growing faster and faster until Jaku could no longer keep pace with the object. Time was flowing faster. She froze. Azelf had mentioned that this trial would be timed. She stumbled forward, her heartbeat quickening.

"Go, go, go! The time rift is collapsing!"

Peanut hauled Jaku forward and threw down a Quick Orb, adjusting as the two of them began to move faster. Two more orbs down and they were barreling through the cave, their surroundings warping into the consistency of warm honey.

They turned down halls, Jaku noticing with increasing fear that the rooms behind them were vanishing into thin air. She picked up the pace, tossing Peanut up a cliff before dragging herself upwards just as the cave floor behind her turned to nothing. It was a race against time, then and the further they moved, the faster the Time Gear spun.

They shot through each room at a fever pitch speed, avoiding any and all conflicts with enemy pokémon that had begun to melt into formless shapes, eyes gleaming the same monotone color that the now collapsing time rift gave off. Their squeals and roars of anger turned to unintelligible gobbledygook, almost a perfect replica of a human's as they gave chase.

The time gear burned colder in Jaku's hands. The team leaped over a gully and skidded across the now still ocean of sand, throwing up waves of grit as they chased the fading light ahead. They gave no thought to their own limbs, practically throwing themselves at the cliffs as they came upon the waterfall of falling sand that led them into the pit.

Peanut paused and with a huff, boosted Jaku onto a hanging stalactite who them dragged the Eevee upwards and out of the pit of sand.

A loud bell-like chime echoed once, then twice, a cold spike of apprehension causing Jaku to throw down yet another Quick Orb as they reentered the quicksand cave. They dashed through caves, clambered over fallen stalagmites, and even busted through a few cave walls in sheer desperation, the color starting to fade from their surroundings.

Jaku nearly cried with relief as she finally sighted the entrance to the cavern, her claws clacking loudly on the rock floors as she raced toward the burning light. And it was like breaking through the surface tension of a lake. She tumbled forward, stopped by an unmovable force as she collided face-first into the ground. Peanut followed and stumbled as well, sliding across the cavern floor before they fell quiet and stilled.

"Peanut…?" Jaku called weakly. She couldn't move. "Hey, buddy? Are you alright?"

"They Are Fine. They Are Merely Asleep."

Jaku breathed a sigh of relief, letting her head dip back into the sand. She knew that voice. It was Azelf. They'd made it. They have made it out of the time rift.

"And So You Have," Azelf mused. "Do Not Forget That I Can Hear Your Thoughts, Champion. Nonetheless, You Have Passed The First Trial."

"Okay, cool," Jaku gasped. "I'm gonna take a long nap now, okay?"

The cold presence from before returned with a vengeance, forcing her into a standing position as a silky tendril wavered over her shoulders. "No. No You May Not. There Is Still Work To Do. You Are Only Still On The First Trial Of Many."

"How many trials do I have left, Azelf?"

"Accounting For The Minor Gears, Nine. You Must Find And Retrieve All The Time Gears. But For Now, You Have Finished Your Task. I Will Return You Back To Your Human Form. Once You Awaken," Azelf began, a comfortable warmth spreading from her shoulders to her legs, "You Will Wait Until A New Gear Becomes Ready To You. Do Not Seek The Gears Until You Have Received A Sign. Am I Understood?"

"…Yeah, Azelf," Jaku drawled, the edges of her vision darkening. "Sure thing… I just… need to- I need to just… rest… here." And Jaku slowly reclined onto her side and winked off to sleep.


July 21st, First Year

Jaku emerged shakily into the grayish light of the outside world, shivering at the loss of her fire. She pawed at her belt, giving Peanut's pokéball a firm squeeze. He deserved a nice rest and everything he'd helped her through. A shame that she would never be able to speak with him like that again. Not unless Azelf decided to turn her into a pokémon the next time she went gear searching.

She turned, feeling the familiar humid heat of the Crimson Mirelands spread across her skin. Just a hair away from her spun a rift, its transparent perimeter revealing a paralyzed world within. The waters of the lake were still and the leaves on the trees did not blow. She reached out her hand, surprised when her fingers made contact with something cold and hard. Ah.

"There! There she is!"

Jaku paused. Two tall figures had spotted her and were now making their way toward her, one with a scowl and the other with a confused expression.

"…Warden Ingo and… oh, hey Emmet. So, you finally found him, huh? It's about time." Jaku stuck her hands in the pockets of her trousers, wincing as she heard the crack in her voice. She really needed to eat and drink something before she fainted.

"I… I will not comment on that particular happening," Ingo began. His eyes roamed along her form, widening at the state of her sand-covered apparel. "Come. We need to put distance between this station and our next."

"Wait, why?"

Emmet blinked. "This… we are standing next to a distortion. I'm not quite sure how you managed to make it out of there, but it-" the man took a pace back and stared fearfully at the branching web of cracks in the sky- "it would be better if we departed."

Now it was Jaku's turn to blink. Right. They didn't know anything. She cleared her throat and shrugged. "Hijinks, I'm sure," she weakly excused herself. "What are you guys doing out here?" She faced Ingo directly. "Are you here to quell Lady Lilligant?"

"No. Not quite yet. I came here looking for you if I am to be frank."

"For me? What for?"

"Your home station was a mess," Emmet pipped up, flinching as Ingo fixed him with the most venomous glare Jaku had ever seen. He then added in a softer tone, "Ingo thought that you might have been called back to your clan. We were going to go to the Hearth, but it's gone."

"Oh, that," Jaku remembered. "I'm still wondering about that."

"Really?" Emmet echoed. "I thought… you would know what happened."

"Not a clue. Nothing really reaches me up in the mountains and nobody bothers to tell me anything when I'm apparently so difficult to find."

A few moments of silence had passed before Ingo fixed the brim of his hat and fixed Jaku with a piercing gaze that made her feel… guilty. Vulnerable. He took out his leather pack and cradled The Lustrous Orb with his two hands, clearing his throat loudly.

"What were you really doing out here, Miss Jaku? Your abode was in a state of shambles as if something had broken in."

"That would be Lord Wyrdeer's doing."

"What were you doing with the noble?"

"They planned a fieldtrip, and I couldn't say no," Jaku joked. Nevermind the fact that Lord Wyrdeer had done something to her that Jaku couldn't remember.

"Might that explain why you gave nobody an inkling as to where you had headed off to?" He gave a pointed stare at the wavering distortion behind them, the air of familiarity between them gone. "What were you doing in that distortion?"

None of your damn business, came the bored echo of her thoughts. I'll tell you and then you'll just forget again. It's the same damn thing each and every time I try to tell you anything. I wonder what'll happen this time. I wonder how long I should let this conversation go on before I reset your memories, Jaku thought darkly to herself. Before I reset Emmet's too. What's gonna happen-

"And how might you go about doing that?" Ingo's tone was cold, tinged with disbelief and trepidation. His eyes bored into her and as he spoke, he raised up the Lustrous Orb as if to make sure she could see it. "I can hear you. Your thoughts. I know you're lying."

Jaku froze, scrutinizing the shiny orb within Ingo's calloused hands as though wishing to pull it into her own. How did he get that? She paused and met Ingo's challenging gaze. Just because you can hear me doesn't mean that I'll reveal anything by accident. It's not like you can dig around in my memories… or can you?

"I can't," Ingo replied evenly, his fingers trembling around the orb.

Jaku smirked. Oh, so you can hear me, huh? HOW ABOUT NOW? CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW, INGO? SHOULD I BLOW YOUR EARDRUMS OUT? She watched as Ingo nearly dropped the orb, helped by Emmet as the men settled the orb back into Ingo's hands. This is fun. It's as good a deterrent than any. "You shouldn't go listening in on other people's thoughts without permission, warden. Might hear something you won't like that you'll forget."

"You're erasing my memories," Ingo spoke angrily. "I recovered a memory of us discussing a similar topic near this very same place. Why? How? Aren't us fallers supposed to work together?"

"Oh, I'm not the one doing it," Jaku feigned innocence. "I just know that whenever I talk about something specific, you forget everything that preceded it. I'm still figuring out the triggers, you know?"

"No, I'm afraid I don't know," Ingo replied carefully. "I saw a memory from the past. One where you revealed why we're actually here."

"I see. Interesting. I forget, I've done that scenario so many times." She stared at Ingo as though he were a particularly interesting bug. "Rehearsed it, as a matter of fact. You wouldn't believe how many times I had to go over that speech. But who cares? I don't want to talk about that right now-"

"Well, I do. You know things- things that you're not telling myself or Miss Akari. And the way you're doing it- almost like you're spiting us-"

"Spiting you?" Jaku chuckled. "That's an interesting way to see it considering the fact that Akari is paralyzed from the waist down and you've been up to Arceus-knows-what! I really out to find out how you got that orb of yours. Maybe I should go back in time and take it before you can. No more reading mind for you!" she laughed. "And it's awfully bold of you to assume I would waste my precious time telling you anything when you'll just forget about it. Go ahead and keep reading my mind with that orb," Jaku laughed. "You'll forget that too."

"Wait, wait- hold on a moment. Full stop." Emmet stood in between the two of them, his characteristic smile dropping to a look of unease. He looked to Jaku. "I thought- This whole time, I thought you were supposed to be helping my brother and that girl. You- you've been manipulating time this whole… time? Manipulating us? For how long?"

"Ding, ding, ding! You sure catch on quickly! In your version, probably about a month or two. In my time…? Months? Years? Hell, even I don't know."

Emmet recoiled. "The tallies. Was that why-"

"Oh, I stopped recording those ages ago," Jaku waved him away. "Time tends to lose meaning when you operate outside of it. Even moreso when you can manipulate it to your will." She felt a savage sense of satisfaction watching as the two brothers fixed her with a look of horror, dismay, and… pity. "It's better that you don't know. You get to keep your sanity and I get to keep working. It staves off the feeling of going stir-crazy."

"…Did you," Ingo rasped, "Did you ever speak with Miss Akari about this?"

"No, and I intend to keep it that way. I've tried but, heh, nothing ever gets through. The less you guys know, the better. I can do my work without interruptions."

"Work like what?" Ingo demanded. "Did you make this rift?"

"Oh, wouldn't you like to know?" Jaku teased sarcastically. I did. Don't know how, but I did. "Don't worry. I'm sure you'll remember this conversation sometime in the far, far, far future. Possibly even when I'm dead after I've fulfilled my goal. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to wipe the memory of this talk from your heads so that I can carry on with my business."

"Dead…? What are you talking about? I- Full stop! No passengers will be dying if I have anything to say about it. You have the power to decide to trigger a memory wipe. Why head down those tracks if you know you can avoid triggering it?"

"That is a good point," Emmet echoed. "And I would like to keep my memories intact. I knew you had something to do with Ingo," he muttered. "You had his hat when you arrived. I always wondered why." He then shot her a look of disgust, his gloved hands clenching into fists. "You- don't you dare-"

Jaku grinned. "Nah, I don't think so. And to answer your question-" she took hold of the pendant around her neck, squeezing the stone backing with her scarred fingers- "it's because you become a huge issue for me if I let you go unchecked, Ingo. Only one of us can die first and I already called dibs, fool. Toodles." And then, she continued. "Uxie is the name of the pokémon who is wiping your memories."

Jaku didn't care to look as Ingo fell silent, turning her back to leave the two brothers. She couldn't dwell too long on them. She now had plans to make and signs to keep an eye out for.

A hand clamped down on her shoulder and hauled her back. "What did you do?" came a harsh voice.

Jaku turned. "What're you talking about?" she drawled. "We're heading toward the Diamond Heath, or did you two forget? We-"

"Cut. The act," Emmet growled. "Your little memory trick? It didn't work," he spat. His grip on her intensed and Jaku knew it would bruise. "Tell me what you did to my brother." The man unlatched a pokémon from his belt, his eyes searing into hers as he closed the space between them. "Tell me what you're up to. Tell me where to find Uxie."

She blinked at him. That was new. "…No, I don't think I will." She wrenched herself out of his grip, feeling a wave of apprehension flood her as Emmet hauled her back a second time, much stronger than he had any right to be. Where he had once looked at her with mild boredom and exasperation was now an expression of contempt and fear. "What were we talking about then-"

"You called dibs on dying first."

"…Oh." Jaku blinked. "So blabbering doesn't work on you. Weird. Works on literally everybody else."

"How many people's memories have you wiped-"

"This ought to work." She twisted the pendant around her neck, watching with mild anticipation as time rewinded around her. Only one tick. Just enough to put her back to when she first came out of Lake Valor. She could forge a new lie and pretend to come clean about a fake scenario. Make the brothers think that Dialga or Azelf are making her investigate time rifts. Just enough to throw them off of her trail. She'd have to be vigilant, otherwise Ingo might haul out his orb. She really did need to make a note to go back and get rid of that damn thing.

She could anticipate their arrival by the thudding of boots in mud and watched as the two men called out and then bounded toward her. And then she froze as Emmet stopped short, his expression going blank before fixing her with a gaze of pure fury with one hand on his pokéball belt, rolling a dinged ball into his balm.

It didn't work on him.