"Hisui?" I softly echo. I should be ecstatic and relieved that I found another person, but for some reason, I just feel drained. The name sounds familiar but I can't seem to place it. "Where? I don't…"

"How rude of me! I heard that you took quite a tumble so I'm sure you're disoriented!" Volo theatrically gestures around us. "All you see is Hisui! But enough jabbering from me, I bet you're hungry." He reaches down beside him to pick a meat-covered plate off the ground and holds it out to me.

I rush forward, any other questions pushed out of my mind by the sight of food. I practically snatch the plate out of Volo's hands and shove a strip of the meat into my mouth, unbothered by the lack of utensils. With how much time I've lost, I'm not exactly sure how long ago my last meal was. What I do know is that my stomach is empty and the food tastes divine. It's only after a few mouthfuls that I realize it doesn't taste quite like anything I've eaten before. I look back at Volo to ask him and finally notice the half-butchered Teddiursa on the ground behind him.

"Admiring your handiwork?" Volo asks, and doesn't seem to notice that I have to cover my mouth to stop myself from vomiting. "Defeating an alpha is no mean feat, but to do it with just a sword? Incredible! I do hope you don't mind me butchering it. It seemed like it would be such a waste to just let it rot."

It takes a few moments before I trust myself to open my mouth without throwing up. "I killed it?" I ask with disbelief. I know that there are more important questions I should be asking, but my thoughts are a jumbled mess.

"Your Honedge helped, of course, but that's what our friend told me."

At Volo's mention of the Pokemon, I gladly tear my eyes away from Teddiursa and I spot Honedge passively floating near where I had been laying on the ground. They look a bit more active than they had when we found them, but the Pokemon still doesn't seem emotive by any stretch. Turning back to Volo, I ask, "By friend, do you mean… the voice?" I lower my tone as I speak the last words. Despite all of the craziness that's been confirmed to actually have happened, openly discussing hearing a voice in my head feels like a step too far.

Volo just chuckles. "The voice? I suppose that's one way to refer to him. His title is the Advisor. But yes, he told me all about your adventures. He's right here right now." Volo taps his temple with one finger as he finishes speaking.

"What… what is he?" I stammer slightly. My stomach growls loudly and I reluctantly take another bite of the Teddiursa meat. This time I make sure to use my left hand to pick up the morsel since my right still has dried blood on it.

"Hisui is full of spirits who perished before their time. Many of them became the ghost Pokemon that inhabit the region, but some were trapped as nothing more than harmless wisps. The Advisor is more active than most of the spirits, but there are a few more like him." Volo pauses and cocks his head slightly as if he's listening to something. "He thanks you for your help and asked me to return the favor."

I quickly swallow the remaining food in my mouth. "You can help me? You have a place I can stay?"

Volo winces slightly and the few hopes that I'd built are shattered. "Unfortunately, shelter is not something I have readily available. Goods are much more my specialty. On that note, if you don't mind my boldness, I could help you get a new set of clothes."

My eyes dart down to my dress, which is in even worse shape than the last time I'd looked at it. It somehow hasn't gotten any more rips, but there is even more dirt on it than before and the dirt has been horribly joined by splatters of dried blood. The one saving grace is that almost all of the actual damage is in the skirt, so at least it still mostly covers me.

I return my attention to Volo. "Clothes would be good, but don't you have anywhere I could stay? You said you were part of a guild?" Desperation starts to reenter my voice as I finish my question.

"Yes, but all of us travel around Hisui, never staying in one place. It's possible that you could travel with one of us, but I don't know if that would be any better than carving out a small bit of Hisui for yourself. Most of our dealings nowadays are with the Galaxy Team and they-" Volo cuts himself off as I suddenly feel woozy and feel the color drain from my face. "Are you alright?"

"You said Galaxy Team?" I shakily ask. "Do you mean Team Galactic?"

Volo had been in the process of standing but settles back into his seat on a stump with a slight frown. "I haven't heard them called that before, though it's possible they're the same group. What is Team Galactic?"

"They're criminals and murderers!" I exclaim, anger making me find my voice again. "They took over parts of some of our cities! They blew up a lake! They… they killed Gwen," I finish quietly enough that I don't think Volo heard.

"Cities?" Volo asks thoughtfully, seemingly unphased by my outburst. "Hisui doesn't have anything of that scale, but I wonder…" He turns in his seat and points at the peak of the mountain where the rift in the sky is. "Do you know the name of that mountain?"

I welcome the abrupt topic change and follow his finger, squinting to take a closer look. I hadn't been certain in the middle of the night, but staring at the mountain in the day I'm confident that I recognize it. "That's Mount Coronet," I answer with complete surety, but that feeling drifts away as I consider what that means. "But that would mean that Solaceon Town would be right over there…" I turn as I speak, but sure enough, there's no town there.

"That is Mount Coronet," Volo confirms. "And there are some ruins near here named Solaceon, but I've never heard of a town being there."

"Ruins?" I ask in disbelief as I spin around to face him again. "Are you saying I'm… in the future?!"

Volo pauses, giving my insane suggestion much more thought than should have been necessary. "Perhaps. But I suspect the past is more likely."

My legs wobble at the matter-of-fact statement. "You're… you're not serious, right?"

"I'm afraid I am," Volo answers with a grim nod. "The Galaxy Team are recent arrivals to Hisui, so I would wager that they become your Team Galactic instead of the other way around."

With that information, a powerful and brave trainer would vow to make sure that never happens. They would rise to the occasion and stop Galactic's crimes before they can happen. I'm not powerful or brave. I'm not Gwen. "So what do I do?" I ask in a small voice.

Volo gives me a pitying look. "For now, just rest. You had a horrible experience arriving here and you need the time to recover. I'll go get those new clothes and supplies that I mentioned and be back in a jiffy." As appealing as the idea of getting rest is, it's equally unappealing to be left alone. My reluctance must have been plain on my face since Volo assures me, "And don't worry about being attacked. There are no humans in these parts and the wild Pokemon around here, even alphas, won't approach a campfire."

That's the second time that he's mentioned alpha Pokemon, but I remember Teddiursa's size and its glowing red eyes and I feel like I don't need any further explanation. "Okay," I reluctantly agree with a nod. "How long will you be gone?" My voice is a bit desperate as I ask the question, but I'm not too proud to admit that I don't like the idea of being left alone again.

"It's not a short trip to Jubilife village, but I know the route well. I should be back before dark, though that's not something that means much to either of us anymore," Volo says with a wink. A glance up at the sky confirms that it's only around noon, and while that's much longer than I'd hoped, I don't exactly have a choice. When I nod, Volo stands and takes a moment to stretch. "I'll leave now then. You're welcome to the tent and the supplies. Just be sure to keep the fire going."

The memory of Teddiursa's eyes flash through my mind and I shudder. If a fire will keep Pokemon like that away, then that's not a reminder I need. "Good luck. And thank you for everything."

Volo gives me another reassuring smile and adjusts his backpack before walking away from the camp.

I watch him go until he crests a hill and I lose sight of him, leaving me alone with Honedge and the dead Teddiursa. I do my best to put the latter out of my mind and turn back to where I'd seen Honedge. The Pokemon is still impassively floating in place, though this time I notice that their eye flicks toward me. "Um… thank you for your help too, Honedge." I definitely would have preferred if Honedge had taken care of Teddiursa like a normal Pokemon, but I'm also well aware that I wouldn't have stood a chance against the alpha Pokemon without them.

The Pokemon slowly tilts their hilt toward me, which I charitably interpret as a nod of acknowledgment. The two of us stare at each other for several long seconds but I'm at a loss for what to do. The voice – the Advisor I guess – said that Honedge would help me, and Volo had called them my Honedge, but I have no experience with having a Pokemon. Especially one that's decidedly not emotive and apparently has a human spirit.

I suppose that's as good of a place as any to start and I break the silence to ask, "So do you have a name? Something I can call you other than Honedge? My name is Madeline." It suddenly occurs to me that I hadn't introduced myself to Volo and I hope that he wasn't offended. We'd had more important things to talk about so hopefully he doesn't hold it against me.

Honedge doesn't immediately respond to my question. I'm starting to think that I'm being ignored when their blue cloth suddenly moves and grasps the sheath. There's a sound of a sword being freed and I do my best to stay calm at the sight of a naked blade. If Honedge wanted to harm me, they could have done so after I'd fainted. My frayed nerves are somewhat eased when Honedge floats down to the ground and starts digging into the dirt. They continue their work for a while before floating back up and resheathing.

I curiously step over to the spot and inspect their work. The writing is crude enough that it takes me a few seconds to recognize the letters carved into the ground. "Hana," I softly say and then look back up at the Pokemon. "Thank you for your help, Hana."

When Hana doesn't respond after a few seconds, I give up on her giving me a reaction and turn back to the campfire. Thankfully, Volo has left behind what I think is a decent stack of wood to keep the fire going. That said, I've never gone camping before so I'm not completely sure how quickly it's going to get burned through. The vegetation is fairly limited where we are on Coronet's slopes, but there are trees nearby that I could cut more from. I'll have to ask Hana for help if it comes to that, though I'm pretty sure that chopping wood is more of a job for an axe than a sword.

Now that I know that I should be safe, I sit down on the stump that Volo had been using. There's still a small pile of cooked Teddiursa meat next to me, but despite my hunger, I can't bring myself to eat again right now. I stare blankly into the fire until my vision starts to go blurry. I move to wipe away my tears with my right hand but stop short when I see that there's still some dried blood on it.

I shudder and use my left hand to wipe my eyes, then stand back up and grab a waterskin from the small pile of supplies that Volo left behind. I pour some water over my right hand and start scrubbing at it. I know that it's stupid to waste clean water when I don't know how available it is, but I just can't stand it any longer. It takes a while, but my hand eventually gets clean. With no towels nearby, I end up drying my hands on the cleanest part of my dress, glad that I'll soon have something else to wear.

With nothing to do to pass the time, I return to the stump and go back to just staring at the fire. This time when tears threaten to return, it's out of boredom instead of sadness. A glance up at the sun confirms that barely any time has passed since Volo left and I have no idea what to do while I'm waiting for him to come back. Normally when I want to waste time, I'd text my friends or check the latest rankings of the contest circuit, but since my phone exploded, neither of those are an option. I do my best to not think about the fact that even if I had my phone, I wouldn't be able to do anything with it in the past.

I absently chew on another piece of Teddiursa meat while looking around the camp for something else to do. Volo hadn't left much behind beyond the wood, water, and some extra travel food. I consider digging into the last one to avoid eating more of the Teddiursa, but after wasting water I don't want to needlessly use up the other supplies as well. And while I hate to admit it, the taste of the Teddiursa meat is slowly starting to grow on me.

The only other thing in the campsite is the yellow tent, but a look inside doesn't reveal anything other than a pillow and a bedroll. Sleeping to pass the time is tempting, but I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't be able to fall asleep again already. I definitely don't want to lay there with nothing but my thoughts to keep me company in the likely event that I'm right. Outside the tent there's at least a chance of finding something to distract me.

Desperate for something to do, I go back to where Hana floats, seemingly not having moved a single inch from where she'd been floating when I left her. "Hey, Hana. Umm, can we practice some moves or something?" I wait a few seconds, but when there's no sign that Hana even heard, I add, "I don't want to pressure you or anything, but it would have been really helpful if you'd attacked before." The words don't sound right as they leave my mouth, and I'm about to apologize, but then the tassel on her hilt suddenly extends toward me.

I stare at the cloth for a few seconds, not sure what I'm supposed to do. I vaguely remember that Hana wrapped it around my hand while we were fighting the Teddiursa, so with nothing else to go off of, I reach out toward it. When my hand is a few inches away, the cloth snaps toward my hand and once again snakes around it. I shake my hand uncertainly, hoping that's what she wants. The tassel follows my motion as I move my hand up and down, but Hana doesn't release her grip.

A sudden wave of vertigo washes over me and I'm barely able to keep my balance. "What…?" I ask, my voice sounding weirdly distant. I weakly try to pull my arm back, but Hana maintains her grip and I can't budge her. My right leg buckles and I collapse to the ground, though my right arm is forced to stay lifted up. "Let me… go," I gasp out. Hana instantly releases my hand and I'm barely able to use it to stop my fall as I narrowly avoid falling face-first into the ground again.

I lie there on the ground and struggle to not pass out. I'm successful this time, though it takes what feels like several minutes before I get enough strength to push myself up off the ground. Once I'm at least sitting up, I look up to see Hana's singular eye staring at me.

"What was that?!" I rasp. Her only response is to tilt her hilt toward me, then straighten so she's once again perpendicular to the ground. I angrily stare at the Pokemon for several seconds longer but her unblinking eye doesn't react.

I eventually give up on my hopes of getting an explanation and slowly make my way back over to the fire. I still don't feel anywhere close to full strength, but the initial weakness I felt is starting to turn into fatigue. I almost welcome my newfound exhaustion and after stacking more wood on the fire, I make my way into the tent and lie down. It barely takes a minute for me to drift off into sleep.

I wake up slowly and reluctantly sit up, completely unable to tell how long I was asleep. The light coming through the tent has taken on an orangish hue, meaning that it must be getting close to sunset. From what Volo said, he should be getting back soon. I realize with a start what else sunset means and scramble out of the tent.

Instead of the burned-out embers ashes that I'd expected to see, the campfire is still burning hot. I look around, expecting to see Volo back early, but there's no sign of him. In fact, the only difference from when I'd entered the tent is that Hana has moved from her previous spot and is instead floating by the woodpile.

"Did you keep the fire going?" The Honedge slowly bobs her hilt toward me in what I think is an approximation of a nod. "Thank you," I reply, feeling a bit unsure. I still don't know what had happened earlier with her cloth, but I'm more than glad that she kept the fire burning while I was asleep. I don't want to think what would have happened if another Pokemon like the Teddiursa had shown up while I was unconscious.

Even if it weren't keeping away dangerous Pokemon, I still would have welcomed the warmth of the fire. The temperature outside had cooled down while I was asleep, so I crowd next to the campfire while I eat dinner. I wish that I could supplement the meat with some berries at a minimum, but I don't see any berry trees nearby and I'm not willing to risk leaving the fire to find some.

I'm halfway through my meal when a thought occurs to me and I turn toward Hana. "Are you hungry? Can you even eat?" Hana stares at me unblinkingly for several seconds, then slowly extends her tassel toward me. I recoil in my seat away from the cloth but stop when she doesn't move beyond that.

"...You were eating me," I gasp in sudden realization. I'd heard from Fantina that many ghost Pokemon live off of human emotions or energy, but I'd never seen it in person before, much less experienced it. That explained what had happened both times I'd held Hana's cloth, as well as with her general lethargy compared to almost every other Pokemon I've ever seen. I'm a bit unnerved by the idea of Pokemon taking their energy from their trainer, but if Fantina does it, it must be safe. I swallow nervously. "Maybe later. And can you maybe try to go easier next time?"

Hana's hilt bobs again and her tassel slackens so that it's once again at her side.

We sit in silence until the sun goes down. As Volo had said, my improved night-vision has stuck around even though the Advisor is gone. It's a novel experience to be able to switch between looking directly at a campfire and then back into the darkness around us without waiting for my eyes to adjust. I spend most of my time staring up at the stars, enjoying the singular positive thing that I've come across so far in Hisui.

My examination of the night sky is interrupted by a familiar voice, "Good evening! How are you feeling?"

I return my attention to the ground and see Volo walking toward the campsite with a few extra things slung to his pack that weren't there before. "Umm, okay, I guess." It would be a massive stretch to say that I'm doing well, but I also don't want to vent to Volo after the massive favors he's already done for me.

"That's good to hear," Volo says cheerfully as he walks up next to the fire. He plops his backpack onto the ground and unties a sack from it. "Maybe this will make things even better," he adds, holding out the package to me. I take the bag and see dark fabric when I peer inside. "I apologize for being late, but with so many errands, I spent more time in Jubilife Village than expected."

I nod absently, looking at the bag's contents almost hungrily. "Do you mind if I try it on now?" When Volo shakes his head, I practically sprint for the tent, beyond eager to have clean clothes again. I pause inside the tent just long enough to make sure that the flaps are closed before starting to change out of my completely ruined dress.

"You know, when I was ordering those, the woman running the shop asked for the name of the young lady who needed these. I had to quickly make one up since I realized I'd churlishly forgotten to ask you yours," Volo's voice comes distantly from outside.

It feels more than a little awkward to have a conversation while I'm changing, but I answer anyway. "Sorry for not telling you before. I'm Madeline."

I find that there are actually two outfits in the bag, though they're identical at first glance. Each of the pairs consist of long pants and a shirt with long, wide sleeves made of dark gray fabric. A similarly dark colored belt with several pouches on it completes the outfit. There are also some sturdy leather shoes in the bag that I'm more than happy to see as well.

"Madeline, a beautiful name," Volo answers. "Well, as far as anyone in the Galaxy Team is aware, you are a young member of the Ginko Guild named Leah." The reminder that I'm wearing something made by Team Galactic's forebearers is definitely unnerving, but I don't have much of a choice in the matter.

Thankfully Volo doesn't say anything else and I'm able to finish changing in peace. I feel weirdly self-conscious as I step back out of the tent, holding the bag with the other outfit and my ruined dress inside. "How do I look?"

"You look lovely! It fits like a glove!" Volo says enthusiastically. While I mostly agree with his assessment of the fit, I know that he's definitely exaggerating given my disheveled state. The compliment is appreciated nevertheless.

"Thank you for everything you've done," I say with utmost sincerity. It's horrible to consider, but it's obvious that I would have already died without Volo's help. "Is there anything I can do to repay you?"

Volo frowns thoughtfully for a moment before he flashes me a friendly smile. "You know, I think there is something you could do. Something that would help all four of us."

A/N: Thanks to Star (quarknova on this site) and Cavik for betaing. Next up is Chapter 3: The Geas