Author's Note:

It's finally the end of the expedition, which means it's time to explain the time gears. I tried to make the initial time gear thefts feel more significant than in the original story by adding a Gates to Infinity reference based on Wigglytuff's special episode. Anyway, on to Steam Cave!

'Level seventeen… Reflect. That is what it says, right? Crest did say that was my next move,' I thought as I attempted to read my badge. 'So then that must be… Magical Leaf at level twenty… and after that… nothing very useful until Light Screen.'

"Hey, Brandon! Are you ready to go or would you rather wait for Team Skull to catch up?" Crest snapped me out of my thoughts.

"I don't think we'll have to worry about Team Skull anymore," I answered, "and I think it would be best if I master Reflect before we enter the dungeon. I almost have it figured out." I waved my leaf in a circle in front of me and was surrounded by a faint, blue barrier. A similar shield was also protecting Crest.

He seemed surprised by that. "Strange how you learned that move so quickly. It usually takes you a while."

"For some reason Reflect feels more intuitive to me than my other moves. It's like I already knew what to do, unlike the other attacks I've learned," I tried to explain. At least I had some way of contributing to battles; Crest's Bubble Beam and Peck had left me feeling a bit outclassed until now.

"In any case, we should get going. Our badges don't have any data on this dungeon, so we don't know how long it is or what kinds of hostiles we'll encounter," Crest said. "You should take the lead, since you can heal yourself."

That sounded like a good idea, at least until we actually entered the mystery dungeon. It didn't take long to realize most of the hostiles here had a type advantage against me. I was really starting to wish I wasn't a Grass type. Why couldn't I have become a Chimchar or something? It would be much more similar to a human than a Chikorita is, and a Fire type wouldn't have nearly as much trouble as I've had in most of these dungeons.

Speaking of Fire types, this was the first time I fought one. Luckily, Crest was able to deal with the Slugma and Numel in this dungeon before they could reach me, though I couldn't help but think things would be much easier if he just took the time to learn Water Sport. I had to keep my distance from enemies, but at least Reflect let me contribute something to battles. Eventually we reached an empty room.

"Looks like this is a rest floor," Crest said. "Good timing, too. I needed a break from battling."

"At least you have an advantage here," I pointed out.

"Yeah, who knows how much harder it would have been if I couldn't keep Fire types away," he agreed. "You were collecting items while I was battling, right?"

Opening the treasure bag, I responded, "Yep, I found two blast seeds and a stun seed. Oh, and this orb I didn't recognize."

"That's a blowback orb. It launches enemies away from you," Crest explained. "You might want to hold on to that."

I nodded in agreement. "We're actually pretty well stocked on items now, assuming the rest of the dungeon doesn't drain our supplies." As I finished talking we heard a roar coming from the path ahead of us.

Crest was visibly frightened by the noise. "What was that?"

"A hostile maybe?" I answered in an attempt to keep him (and to a lesser extent, myself) calm.

"I don't think so. It was too loud to have come from inside the dungeon," Crest reasoned. "I think it came from whatever is past the dungeon."

I thought for a moment. "There is supposed to be a treasure hidden around here somewhere, right? Maybe something is guarding it." Crest was still nervous, so I added, "We do have an escape orb if we need it. I just think we should try to reach the end of this dungeon before trying to escape."

"I guess you're right," Crest agreed, "if it seems too dangerous, we can escape. I just hope we don't have to."

"We'll be fine," I assured him. "I think we've spent enough time here. Let's move on, I'll lead for now."

Just like the first half of the dungeon, the second half was filled with Fire types. Luckily, it didn't take long for Crest to get his confidence back. It seems battling hostiles was enough to get his mind off of whatever made that noise. By now we knew what to expect from enemies, so we progressed through the dungeon fairly smoothly, only stopping to cure a burn using our heal seed.

It wasn't long before we reached another empty floor. Some distance ahead of us was a light blue glow, but before we could explore further, we were interrupted by a deafening roar.

"What was that?" I asked, frantically searching for the source of the noise.

Crest was just as startled, but he managed to find something. "Look over there! I-It's… it's Groudon!"

I initially began to panic, until I looked where Crest was pointing. "Wait, what? Where? I don't see it!" A pokemon that large should be impossible to miss, yet Groudon was nowhere to be seen.

"It's right there! In the center of the room!" Crest exclaimed.

I, however, still didn't see anything. "There's nothing there. What are you talking about?"

While I stood around in confusion, Crest jumped away from me, as if to dodge something. "Wait, you didn't… it's attack just passed right through you! It must be an illusion!" Suddenly he was knocked off his feet, apparently having been struck by something.

"Crest, are you okay?" I asked.

"Uhg, yeah I'm okay," Crest answered. "That thing may be an illusion, but its attacks still hurt. Give me a Reflect barrier so I can fight it, then try to find the illusionist. Whoever created this thing can't be too far away."

Following Crest's instructions, I used Reflect and began to search the arena. Unfortunately, I wasn't having any luck. Whoever created the illusion was well hidden, and Crest was having a hard time fighting "Groudon" on his own. I even had to throw him an oran berry to heal.

That's when I realized I had items that could locate our true enemy. I threw the luminous orb on the ground, causing it to explode into blinding light. As the light began to fade, I saw a shadow of a pokemon behind a large rock.

'That shadow was Uxie's, wasn't it?' I thought. 'I can't beat a legendary pokemon in a battle. What am I supposed to do?' I looked back to Crest struggling to hold his own against the illusion and realized something: I didn't have to knock out Uxie. I just had to distract him enough to destroy his illusion.

I began to focus my energy into my seeds. When I had enough, I jumped behind the rock and ambushed Uxie with a thick Poison Powder cloud.

"Ah!" he exclaimed in surprise. "So, you found me..."

Uxie flew to the center of the battlefield and took an aggressive stance, though the poison was clearly causing him trouble. Meanwhile Crest and I regrouped. It seemed my ambush successfully disrupted the illusion; Crest was entirely focused on Uxie.

"Why are you attacking us?" Crest asked the legendary pokemon.

"Is it not obvious? You two are thieves! You are here to steal the lake's treasure, are you not?" Uxie accused.

"We're just explorers!" I defended. "We never intended to steal anything!"

"Lies!" Uxie shouted. "Did you really think I would not know? One time gear has already been stolen; I will not let you take this one!"

Suddenly Crest sounded extremely worried. "Wait, someone stole a time gear? Why would anyone do something like that?"

Upon hearing Crest's expression, Uxie's tone softened. "You mean that was not you?"

"Of course it wasn't us! Everyone knows how important they are, we would never try to take one," Crest continued.

Everyone knew about them, huh? That made my next question somewhat embarrassing. "Um, guys? What's a time gear?" I asked, more confused than ever.

"Do you not know?" Uxie asked. That seemed to convince him of our innocence. "The time gears regulate the flow of time across the world. Each one maintains time in its local area, as well as one of the five major continents. When a gear is removed from its rightful place, time stops in the areas it controlled. Time has already stopped on the Mist Continent due to the theft of a time gear." Uxie stopped himself as he took damage from the poison.

"Here, eat this," Crest said, offering Uxie our only pecha berry while taking an oran berry for himself. "No need for poison if we're not enemies."

"Thank you," Uxie said, eagerly accepting the berry. "Though I have not yet decided if you can be trusted. How did you not know about time gears?"

"I lost my memory a short while ago," I answered.

Uxie seemed puzzled by my response. "Are you sure you lost your memory?"

"Well he certainly doesn't remember anything," Crest confirmed for me.

"That does not necessarily mean his memories are lost," Uxie explained. "Perhaps you noticed my illusion didn't work on him? That is because there is a lock on his mind. At first I thought you set it yourself specifically to oppose me, but perhaps it was set by someone else to block your memory. The lock is quite weak; if you are not maintaining it I should be able to destroy it for you."

"You mean you can restore my memory?" I asked hopefully.

"Only if said memory is blocked by the lock. If your memory is truly lost, then it cannot be recovered," he clarified. "Shall I proceed?"

I nodded in confirmation. Uxie began to focus, and I waited patiently for the mental lock to break. After a few minutes, Uxie relaxed.

"The lock is broken," he said plainly. "I can see into your mind clearly now. You truly had no memory of time gears… or much of anything it seems. And before you ask, I can assure you I know nothing of humans."

I admit I was extremely disappointed. "So it didn't work then."

"Well, it did work; the lock is gone. You just do not have any memories. Well, besides that… one," Uxie replied. "Now, both of you, follow me. There is something I need to show you."

Uxie led us past the battlefield and over to some sort of lake. The lake's water was glowing in the center, and I could see something blue submerged in it. Above the lake, a clear night sky was filled with small, glowing lights. It was such a peaceful scene, I almost forgot about how difficult it was to reach this place.

"This place is beautiful," Crest said in awe, "but what exactly are we looking at?"

"The lights in the sky are Volbeat and Illumise," Uxie explained, "and the light under the lake? That is a time gear. That is what I needed you to see. Normally, I would seal away visitors' memories of this place, but I know I can trust you. Since one gear has already been stolen, I want your guild to know about this one; I need you to help me protect it."

"You can count on Wigglytuff's Guild!" an overly cheerful voice called out from behind us.

We turned around to see Wigglytuff standing in what was our battlefield. "Not one for formalities, are you?" Uxie criticized.

"Guildmaster, how long have you been here?" Crest asked.

"Long enough," Wigglytuff answered in his more controlled voice. "I saw you battling the illusion and heard everything else."

"Then there is no need to repeat myself," Uxie responded. "Though I must ask you to never reveal this place. I know it is disappointing, but for the sake of the time gear you must report your exploration here today as a failure."

"Of course. I am aware of how important the time gears are," the Guildmaster explained. "You said time has already stopped on the Mist continent, right? I have a friend who lives there. Is there any chance Quagsire escaped?"

Uxie was hesitant to respond. "I am sorry, but that is beyond my knowledge. You will have to find out on your own. I can, however, suggest you return to your normally cheerful demeanor; the rest of your guild is approaching."

As Wigglytuff turned to address the guild members, I was reminded how few pokemon know about his serious side. "I've never seen the Guildmaster so grim. Things must be really bad if even he can't stay positive," Crest said.

"I don't know about that," I replied. "He isn't always so carefree. I'll explain more later, but for now, don't tell the rest of the guild what you saw about him. He wants it to stay a secret."

Still, it wasn't like the Guildmaster to reveal himself in front of recruits. If the time gears were as important as everyone said, then I suspected Wigglytuff's secret wouldn't last much longer.