We managed to get through the Apple Woods very easily, even gaining two levels each for our trio in Rainbow Illusion, while Corphish managed to take out enemies effortlessly with a strong bubblebeam attack from afar, even though some of them were grass types!
"Very impressive, Corphish!" I smiled at him.
"I've been a hire of the Guild for almost five years. I'm training to be a solo explorer, so I gotta be confident in my abilities, hey-hey," Corphish smirked as we then finally went to the final floor, but only after we'd managed to gain two different Pokemon onto our team in the form of Beedrill and Petlil, both of which being female. And once we reached the final floor, we saw a giant tree in the center of a clearing with quite a few big and juicy apples on it, but I did notice that there were apple cores littering the ground.
"Guys, we have a problem. Someone's eating the Perfect Apples," I frowned, which ended with Team Skull emerging from the leaves of the tree and jumping down to the ground, Corphish growling at them.
"I should'a known you PUNKS would be here, hey-hey!" Corphish growled at them.
"Peh, brought some backup, I see, didn't ya, wimps? Can't even handle us on our own, huh?" Skuntank asked, me frowning at that.
"And you're literally trying to get on our bad sides by trying to ruin our run for Perfect Apples. To literally no benefit. Especially when I managed to show Chatot evidence that you raided our food storage last night!" I said, Skuntank laughing like it were the best joke ever.
"CHAWHAWHAWHAW! You're pathetic, making idle threats like that. And we were just about to help ya out," he smirked as he then went to the tree and was about to knock down some apples, but I rushed in and changed my form to be that of a large Skylander in my collection, it being Ninjini, which I used her flight powers to fly to the tree and pick the apples myself, hiding them in our toolbox and, by the time Skuntank finally noticed, I'd already managed to net a total of... 10. There were only 10 left in the ENTIRE tree!
"You three are a whole bunch of pigs, you know that? Gobbling up way more than you need for eating? Wouldn't it be quite a shame if Chatot found out what you did to us, hey-hey? He'd ruin your stay for sure, y'know?" Corphish smirked.
"Sorry, but those apples aren't gonna go back to base, and we'll show you how," Skuntank smirked before then going to my allies alongside Koffing.
"Watch out, guys, they're up to something nasty," I said, them then bracing for it as the duo then released a giant flume of visible noxious gas, and upon a single wiff, every one of my allies got knocked out from it! But while they were knocked out, I just felt unable to breathe at all! So, I retreated into Ninjini's bottle along with the toolbox before then using my Team Badge INSIDE of the bottle and having my allies escape and leaving Team Skull in the dust. And we'd returned to the Guild's front steps with my allies being completely knocked out, even Corphish! I then went onto the grate after turning back into Zorua and Diglett then spoke.
"The footprint is... ghost Zorua!" he shouted, me then going inside of the Guild and leading our group down to the first level and, when Chimecho saw all of my allies, Beedrill, Corphish, and Petlil included, she gasped and immediately rushed to us and tried to use some smelling salts to wake them up. And afterwards, they did, but they also realized one other thing.
"PAHH!... What is that horrible stink?! I need a bath... maybe five of them!" Petlil said in disgust.
"Get Chatot here. We need to show him this stink. More evidence," I said, Chimecho nodding her whole body before then fetching the boss and me then explaining everything alongside Diancie, Corphish, and Kiba. And the smell? Even Chatot turned his nose at it, as it was horrid.
"Please tell me you managed to get some Perfect Apples at least?" he asked.
"Unfortunately, Team Skull gobbled up nearly every apple on that tree, and I only managed to snag 10 of them in total before everyone else got attacked by a noxious gas combo... I'm lucky I can't smell a thing, but even then, I could barely breathe because of how it destroyed the air in there," I said, me then showing the 10 Perfect Apples I'd collected, and Chatot immediately taking them and hiding them on his person.
"I'll put these in storage right away, then... as for Team Skull, I'm going to have a nice little chat with them when they come in," Chatot said, that happening very soon as the trio then appeared from the ladder and Chatot then immediately went to them and gave them a glare that made them look at us in shock. "You three, come with me. I have QUITE a lot I have to say to you," he said, the trio then frowning at us and me frowning at them back as I then remembered that my original place of residence before my name change and made a joke about it.
"I'm from Missouri. Frowning's a state sport, punks," I frowned at them, which made them confused, but they were led by Chatot down below the levels and Corphish then sighed in relief.
"I don't know what's gonna happen now, hey-hey, but thanks a million for salvaging some of those apples while we were distracted, Lisette. If we would've failed, then we'd be without dinner tonight," Corphish admitted to me, which I sighed in relief at.
"And now, we just watch the fireworks from afar," I said as we then followed after Chatot and we heard quite a lot of words being shouted at Team Skull from the mess hall. And the final shout that we heard?
"For assaulting your allies, eating the larder, AND trying to interfere with important work, you three will be without dinner for the remainder of your stay at this Guild!" Chatot shouted, which they then gawked at.
"W-WHUT?! Skuntank asked in shock.
"Not only that! But you will also be joining me in explaining to the Guildmaster about what you did! AND you will be on round-the-clock surveillance from Croagunk. And good luck sneaking off with him nearby, he NEVER sleeps," Chatot growled, which the trio then gulped at and for me to look at Corphish and Bidoof, who overheard everything and actually had a smile, but also sweat coming from his face.
"Golly gee... I'm so relieved that those guys are getting comeuppance. Especially since I smell something rank that isn't me for a change," Bidoof smiled.
"They sprayed all of us with a gas combination of Skuntank and Koffing, which knocked all of us out except for Lisette. She's been blessed with no ability of smell. Never being able to smell bad things is an asset against those bullies," Kiba smiled at him.
"Still, I do wish I could smell good things, but I had a broken nose since before I became a Zorua. I don't recall what caused it, but I'm sure I'll remember at some point," I smiled.
"By the by, I have something special for ya, Lisette, Mehehe," Croagunk said from nearby as he then proceeded to mix at least 5 different items into his cauldron, me seeing that one of them was... a horn that looked like Kiba's?
"You're putting the horn I shed two nights ago in there? Why?" Kiba asked, Croagunk simply making the cauldron bubble and, afterwards, he then pulled out a hair tie that I felt... so much power within! And it was red and white, the same as my colors! He then simply put it on my head and I gawked at how the hair on my head was now in the form of a ponytail, which made me look extremely adorable!
"That's the first test complete, meheh! Wear that Illusory Bind with pride, because it'll allow you to turn invisible if you get to half health or lower. Perfect for avoiding tight scrapes and getting at your opponent from behind," Croagunk smirked, me smiling at that.
"W-Well... I'm flattered! Thanks so much, Croagunk!" I smiled at him.
"Eh, it was just for allowing me to see the show unfold. I'm laughing a lot on the inside," Croagunk smirked as I then saw that Team Skull was coming out of the mess hall and giving us a stink eye and for Chatot to then announce that it was dinnertime. I smiled at that and enjoyed the time of dinner, especially when Team Skull was forced to watch us eat everything and not be able to have a single bite. After that, we then went to bed, but not before nearly the entire guild waited outside of the Guildmaster's office and waited for what would happen from Team Skull. And after a bit of waiting, we heard Wigglytuff sound upset.
"You ate my PERFECT APPLES?! And you also made our supply TEN ONLY?!" Wigglytuff asked in shock before a loud slam happened on the inside of the room, followed by Skuntank to be thrown through the door and for Wigglytuff to breathe in and then speak some words. "Until further notice, you're sleeping OUTSIDE of the Guild! Eat your own food!" he shouted, which made everyone in our group look at each other in shock.
"Wow. I've never seen him so ticked before..." Chimecho admitted.
"Oh my gosh, I'd hate to know what'd happen if he got mad at one of us instead of a visitor," Sunflora admitted, but Skuntank then limped his way out of the guild, followed by the injured forms of Koffing and Zubat, the former having a black eye and the latter having a bum wing.
"Owie... c-come on, Zubat... oogh..." Koffing groaned as the two of them left through the ladders and Loudred made sure they were out of the Guild before then closing the gates.
"Let's get going to bed, everyone. Show's over," Dugtrio said, us then doing so... and I'll admit, all the excitement made it difficult, but I fell asleep eventually, which led to another dream about my past.
It was what looked to be my 13th birthday, with me being next to my new parents in a party that was held at our new house, with me being joined by ten other kids and them having fun with our board games and the party games that were also provided. And then it came time for the time to open my presents. And each one was actually a video game each, with the most impressive one of the lot being a game called Sonic Generations, which I'd apparently been begging for since it came out.
"YES! I finally have it! Thank you, Terri!" I smiled at the girl, me seeing she had a twin named Barry... but then a memory came up as I was dreaming that both of them and most of my friends kind of fizzled out after I'd graduated high school, which was sad, but we did look like we had fun at the party. And my new parents were happy for me to feel like that, but they did make sure to be on the lookout for any funny business involving my own parents, as they'd been told they were still searching for me, and they were trying to search the states to find me. And as of the party, they were last seen in Pennsylvania, a state away.
"Happy birthday, Liz. I hope you like it," Terri smiled at me, which I smiled back happily.
"I love it! And I love all of the presents too! And all of you are the best!" I smiled back in glee before I then got to my cake and seeing that it was actually styled after the entire Guild of this adventure I was in... and then, of course, Loudred started to shout from the cake.
"EY! WAKE UP! IT'S TIME TO GET UP!" Loudred shouted both on the cake... and in reality.
"Oogh... five more minutes, please..." I groaned.
"NOT good ENOUGH! Get up NOW!" Loudred shouted, Kiba being the one to pick me up with his psychic horn and us to then join up, but I was still very sleepy regardless. And I yawned in front of Chatot, him looking at me in concern, but I then did the cheers as best I could when Wigglytuff showed up.
"Now, before we get started, I wanted to say that in the next few days, probably by the end of the week, the list of the expedition members will be decided!" Chatot said, me smirking at that and getting a bit of pep afterwards.
"Oh my gosh! It feels like forever since it was announced, but it was just a few days ago! I can't wait!" Sunflora smiled happily.
"I hope I get picked! I missed out last year!" Diglett said happily.
"An expedition to far-off lands, what an exciting feeling! I hope we get in," Diancie smiled happily.
"Okay, everyone, let's do good today! HOORAY!" Chatot said before all of us cheered, me seeing that Team Skull was only joining us after the fact and got the lowdown from Chatot, the news, and that they would be staying at the guild the whole day. And if they wanted to go out and get food, they needed to get a member of the Guild to join them, a veteran rather than a rookie. And then, I was called by Chatot after that.
"For you three, I wanted to know if you'd be willing to go through Sentry Duty again. Diglett's busy with something else today, so would you be willing?" Chatot asked with a smile.
"Sure thing!" I smiled, though I did yawn after. "Ahem... s-sorry... I had trouble sleeping last night and then I had a perfect dream... and then I was about to blow out the candles on my birthday cake and Loudred woke me up," I groaned.
"Aw, that's a shame. Unable to celebrate in your dream and then getting rudely woke up," Kiba said, me smiling at how he genuinely looked sorry for me.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm going to wake up by the time we get to the post, promise," I smiled as I then went to the sentry post and we did the sentry duty, me then gawking at how some of the footprints were of Pokemon that only Kiba knew of, him explaining what they were while we were waiting in between visitors.
"Those are Paradox Pokemon. They suddenly appeared out of nowhere about ten years ago, claiming to be from the far past. Flutter and Brutis happen to be among Paradox Pokemon as well, same with Scream Tail, Sandy Shocks, and Slither Wing that we've let through so far," he explained, me smiling at that.
"I still have no idea how you knew them so effortlessly," Diancie admitted.
"Let's just say that footprints are my favorite, especially footprint runes," Kiba smiled.
"He likes them for other reasons too," I said, Diancie not getting it, which was expected.
"What reasons would those be?" she asked.
"We'll explain after the day is finished," Kiba said with a blush as the duty ended after the final comer, that being Dottler. And after all of that was done, we were then congratulated by Chatot and he said something that surprised us.
"Not only did you identify all the visitors correctly, but some of them not even Diglett knew! I'm very impressed! You deserve some extra rewards, so here they are," Chatot smiled as he also gave me and Diancie something that made us shocked. For me, it was an anklet that was filled with the Ghostinium Z and for Diancie, she got a ring that had the Diancite as well as an extra horn ring for Kiba that had another stone in it. "Those are special items that will allow you to use the special stones you found in the waterfall cave. In order to use the Mega Evolution, Kiba just has to use his psychic powers on that keystone and he can help Diancie temporarily become Mega Diancie! And as for you, Lisette, you just need to use this special dance here..." Chatot said before then moving his arms in a weird, creepy dance and then smiled after. "And you'll be able to use a special ghost attack called Never-Ending Nightmare. Quite a creepy spectacle if I say so myself," he smirked, me giggling at that.
"Sounds like I gotta get to practicing, then," I smirked as I then turned into another creature called Amy Rose from Sonic the Hedgehog, which definitely surprised everyone in the room before then trying the dance and gawking at how I did it on my first attempt, me then gawking as I then had to test it on someone... and unfortunately, I didn't know what to test it on!
"Go outside to test that, like, right now," Chatot said, me then rushing up the ladder and then, after exiting the guild, I then tested it on a punching bag outside of the guild and I gawked at how I made it fall over with visible holes in it after striking it like a hurricane from tons of ghostly wisps emerging from my body!
"Whoa... that was awesome!" I gawked as I then rushed back into the guild and then went back to the mess hall in time for dinner, which I had a hearty meal with everyone else before going to sleep... and once again, I had a dream about my past. But this time, in this world!
"You're sure that this place has a Time Gear in it?" Celebi asked me as we were walking through an area that was far to the northeast of the continent, us needing to hurry as we didn't know when the Sabeleye would find us.
"I'm positive," I said as I then touched a barren tree and then, I gawked at what I saw.
What I saw was that the forest was protected by numerous areas previous to it to hide the identity of where it was, being hidden behind an illusory wall in the face of a cliff, said cliff could only be accessed after going through a place called the Labyrinth Cave. And in the past, I saw what looked to be a rescue team in the form of Team Razor Wind, which was composed of Scyther, Zangoose, and Sandslash! And when they were there, they were hoping to find an amazing treasure, but when they saw it was a Time Gear, they were stumped.
"Oh my... a Time Gear all the way out here? I-Is there anything else aroudn?" Sandslash asked, the trio then searching and then, finding nothing, they looked quite defeated.
"Oh well... at least we managed to get to see a Time Gear. It does look quite pretty, doesn't it?" Zangoose asked, the other two nodding at that.
"And we did find out how to get here, so we know not to tell anyone about it," Scyther smirked.
"We should at least find something else, so how about we keep going to Mystery Jungle?" Sandslash suggested.
"Yeah! Good thinking!" And then, the vision ended.
"What did you see? We'll talk on the move, they're definitely closing in," Grovyle said, me nodding as I then explained it.
"We need to find a location called Labyrinth cave, due south of this forest. It will reveal a hidden passageway behind an illusory wall on the cliff face of the lowest floor, which will lead to the start of Treeshroud Forest. The deepest parts of the forest is where the Time Gear will be," I said, them smiling at that.
"At first, I didn't believe you when you said you would help us... but so far, we now know how to find three of the five Time Gears AND we know we need to find the Hidden Land in order to reach Temporal Tower! And I know you're telling the truth, because us Mythical Pokemon can sense truths from lies," Celebi smiled.
"I can also tell Grovyle another truth, but I don't know if you'd like it," I said, her then blushing.
"Uh, m-moving on, please don't? Ehehehe..." she blushed heavily, but Grovyle was so focused he didn't notice. And then, we came across the face of Dusknoir, him then sending his Sabeleye after us in a circular formation, but I managed to get rid of them with a Luminous Orb. And after escaping, what did Dusknoir say?
"UP AND AT 'EM! GET UP!"