June 24th, First Year

Thick snow crunched underfoot, paralleled with the tumultuous cries of Rufflets and Braviaries as they soared overhead. Summer had finally come to the great icy expanse of the icelands and Ingo had never been so enthusiastic about being back in the station that the Almighty had dropped him into all those months ago. Things were different now.

He took a careful step forward, holding out his arm for Lady Irida to take as they walked along the edge of a stony cliffside. Beside them was a long, winding glacier glinting in the coming sunrise. Water roared through a hidden passage beneath, and water dripped from every leaf and branch around them.

Ingo was no longer the bedraggled, lost man that he was years ago when he had first fallen into this place. No. Now, he moved with a purpose, relishing the cold wind in his hair as he led at a brisk pace, checking for markers in the trail. He paused when he sighted a cairn of mossy stones before them. Still on the right tracks.

"Almighty Sinnoh really sent you out into the frozen wastes for a mission?" Irida mumbled aloud, taking care not to slip off of the icy edge. "Remind me again what he sent you out here for."

"An item of some sort. I believe it was called a Lustrous Orb. I do not know of its purpose, but it seems the Almighty is determined for me to obtain it."

Things had been busy since Ingo had run into that strange Zoroark back at the Pearl Clan Settlement the day before. He had… Ingo had ensured that the foul creature wouldn't be playing savage tricks on the rest of his passengers. He could still smell the foul odor of charred flesh but… It was necessary, he reassured himself, regarding the leaden weight in his gut as nothing but savage satisfaction. It would've gone on to hurt another passenger if I hadn't gotten rid of it.

"We are approaching our destination," Ingo rumbled after a few minutes, bringing his gloved hands lightly across the splintered bark of the pine and fir trees before them.

"I didn't think we'd be going into the woods. How do you know where we're supposed to look?"

Ingo tapped the screen of his Xtransceiver again, a smooth black circle blinking to denote his goal a little ways north. He carefully moved to show Lady Irida the contraption. "This signal here- on the screen. I have followed these markings before, and they have led me to find the Old Verses during my travels. All we must do is get as close to the signal as possible and then start searching around the area."

"But… aren't these woods infested with Zoroarks?"

"…They are, but not to worry." Ingo took hold of the pokéball belt around his waist rolling one dented ball into his awaiting palm. "I will deal with them when they appear to us. You have nothing to fear, Lady Irida."

"Hmm, very well. But don't expect myself or Glaceon to not pitch in. We're here to assist you, too. I may not be leading this expedition, but I'll do as much as I can to ensure that you can fulfill Almighty Sinnoh's plans. That and to make sure that you stay safe out here."

"This is not like the expedition into Avalanche Slopes-"

"I know! I know!" Irida assuaged him. "I'm not here to babysit you, you know. I'm just looking out for a fellow clanmate in this dangerous situation. I won't even let a group of less than five rangers leave camp. What makes you think I'd willingly let you go alone?"

The two carefully entered the dark woods, layers of moss and frozen undergrowth crunching loudly underfoot. Here, the trees forked into the skies, their branches ladled with dark, long needles blotting out what little weak sunlight came to the icelands.

"Marshall," Ingo muttered. With a flash, the large Machamp has exited its pokéball, looming behind Ingo like a wall of flesh. "Please guard the rear. Perform the signal if you sense danger."

"Champ!"

"I'll do the same!" Irida chipped in. "Glaceon, help us sense the way ahead."

"Mmrr?" Emerging from a pile of snow, Irida's Glaceon shook itself out and leaped ahead of the group, its long crystalline tail whispering over the untouched powder snow.

"Think we're covered enough, Ingo?"

"Hmm. Amongst Zoroarks? Never quite. Now, let us depart."

Days had passed. Ingo and Irida had both counted the rise and setting of the sun and moon countless times until the growing shadows on the forest floor had wiped any sense of time from them. They had crawled through the forest, so far that their surroundings were unlike the icelands both of them had grown accustomed to.

The pine and fir trees grew boundless towards the skies, their canopies invisible and all-consuming as the endless needled branches prevented barely any light from getting through. So much so that Ingo had felt the need to release Chandelure from her pokéball to light the way forward. Crystallized rocks grew like stalagmites on trees, thick patches of ice covering the trunks and roots of the trees like a second skin.

Berry bushes as large as goliaths sprouted from the ground, their forms leaving dense pitch-black shadows for the two pokémon wielders to stare into nervously as they passed them by.

Strange pokémon, none that Ingo had ever remembered seeing before, appeared from the shadowy depths, their eyes cloudy as they stepped forward, always ready for battle. And they were strange pokémon that Ingo battled. Names rattled off the back of his head after each victory- Shiftry, Hariyama, Medicham, Tyrouge, Hitmontop, Spinda- the list went on.

At some harrowing points, multiple pokémon would drop down from seemingly nowhere and the usual pace of back-and-forth battle that Ingo knew subconsciously would turn into a violent free-for-fall. Moves that he knew like Blizzard, Ominous Wind, and Discharge sparked a carnal fear in him like never before the moment he saw an enemy pokémon preparing the move; they hit every pokémon on the battlefield and more times than not, they would inflict severe wounds on his teams. So much so that Ingo had needed to give a few of his partners revives.

Irida and her Glaceon could just barely keep up, both of the pokémon wielders and their partners sustaining deep injuries as they forged a way through the lost wilderness. They panted, gasping as they pulled themselves up a rock face.

Neither he nor Irida had ever known there to be steep ravines or gulches within the Alabaster Icelands but as they found themselves crawling through their second ice-filled ravine, Ingo took a moment and called for a break, finding a relatively safe space under a branching fern where he could check his wounds and heal his pokémon.

"Lady Irida, do you still have that map on you?" he breathed.

"I do." Irida carefully found her seating on a mossy rock, the bags under her eyes pronounced as she unfolded a snow-speckled map, her fingers shaking. "I just- this doesn't make sense Ingo. We've been in these woods for days! These woods- we're supposed to be near the hot springs."

"I have continued marking the trees," Ingo cut in before Irida could reach a particular destination, one that made Ingo itch when he considered it. "We have not turned ourselves in circles yet." He checked his Xtransciever, finding that his marker, the one that pointed out where he was, had not moved since he and Irida had entered these warped forests.

"Ingo, we can't stay here for much longer. We're starting to run out of food. I only packed enough rations to last me a week and with all these hostile pokémon, I'm starting to wonder if our partners can hold up for much longer."

"We could try pulling those large berries off of their bushes. They heal pokémon more sufficiently than ourselves."

"But that's- it's just- augh!" Irida threw down the map and clutched her head in her hands, her bangles jangling noisily as she glared at the growing shadows in the woods across from her. She then immediately perked up, a scowl forming on her face. She whipped around to face him. "Zoroarks!"

Ingo immediately got to his feet, the ball containing Gliscor clenched in his fingers. "Where?" he growled.

Irida immediately backtracked. "No, no, no! There's not- there's no Zoroarks around us. I think this is one big illusion! Think about it. The fact that you considered pulling boulder-sized berries off of a bush the size of a tent is just outlandish! I've walked through these woods as a little girl and not once have I nor anybody in the Pearl Clan ever seen anything like this."

"An illusion," Ingo mused... He had an idea. He quickly switched out Gliscor's pokéball for another one of his beloved companion's. "Caitlin, to the platform! Safeguard, if you please!"

Caitlin the Alakazam floated upwards, releasing a tangible wave of psychic energy as reality around them rippled like waves in a disturbed pond. The large fir trees wavered, twisting and snaking back toward the ground until they more closely resembled the maze-like trees of the Crimson Mirelands. The forest floor underfoot was now barren of undergrowth, a sickly reddish hue shining in from an indistinguishable point overhead. The temperature began to slowly increase, and from behind him, Irida jumped as a pokémon cried out in the distance.

"I was right, but- we're still in an illusion!"

"Ka-zam!" Again, Alakazam released another wave of psychic energy.

The crimson woods now warped into one where the pine trees were laden with luminescent crystals reflecting weak sunlight in all spectrums of color. Soft green grass grew underfoot, patches of wildflowers fanning over the edges of the gorge as they bloomed. Fish pokémon of all kinds filtered into the jagged channel, the water around them clear enough to see to the very bottom.

And there, Ingo saw it. Deep within the water, too deep for him to swim to, was a pocket of glowing teal water. Something twisted in the depths, a slow but steady ticking filling his ears as he looked onward. His throat burned. There, at the bottom of the gorge just shallow enough for him to reach, was a marble pedestal wrapped in seagrass and drowned vines of ivy.

But floating on the dais of the pedestal surrounded by a swirling miasma of colorful fish pokémon was a crystalline orb composed of more gems than Ingo had ever seen in his life. The current turned the orb this way and that, casting colorful lights into the forest that sparkled on the hem of Ingo's sleeves and Irida's bangles.

"The Lustrous Orb," Ingo rasped, drawing closer. He straightened up. "I will go and obtain it. Please remain safely behind the yellow line while I do so, Lady Irida."

"You don't think it's a trap, do you?" Irida pondered as Ingo made his way to the ravine's edge.

"I don't," Ingo answered truthfully. He felt surrounded by a cooling calm, his skin tingling as he carefully moved into the water. Then with a gasping breath, he dove, the tingling growing more and more intense as he swam toward the bottom of the ravine. There, the current nestled around him, carrying toward the spinning orb until it was firmly within his hands.

Light flashed behind his eyes and all at once, the shining waters around him faded, replaced with the wild marshes of the mirelands. Strong sunlight filtered into the outer boundaries of the camp, tall grass wavering in the breeze.

"What do you think?" came a tired voice.

Ingo paused. He knew that voice! He moved closer, sighting his fellow faller outlined in a beam of bloody orange sunlight.

Jaku was slouched forward, her eyes dull with exhaustion and fear as she stared up at something, her expression reflecting misery and distrust. Her exposed arms were littered with cuts and bruises and what little hair poked out from her headscarf was bedraggled and dull. "I just- I wanted to tell you, Ingo. I wanted to tell Akari too. I can't find her, but I'm sure she would want to know."

She's talking to me…? Ingo crept closer, concealing himself behind a tree as he peered into the clearing. His silver eyes widened. There, only a few paces away from him stood… himself. This was almost two weeks ago! When he had flown into the mirelands looking for the strange Zoroark that had been tailing his fellow faller.

"I can sense that you are deeply disturbed by whatever it is you wish to tell me. What is it? And why would Miss Akari want to know?" Ingo's voice sounded.

"I… Almighty- no, Dialga. Dialga, the Temporal Pokémon- they gave me the ability to travel through time. I've figured it out. I know why we're here."

Ingo felt his chest tighten as he stumbled out of the brush. The two didn't even seem to notice him. Ingo watched as his doppelganger took hold of their hat, their eyes scrunched with confusion. The real Ingo listened in with rapt interest, pausing as Jaku's look of misery worsened.

"Why," the doppelganger questioned. "Why are we all here?"

"To fix something. Something has altered the natural flow of 'life' in Hisui and we were sent to figure out what and right things the way they were before we fell. I'm sure you've figured out your purpose, what with those things that your god has you collecting. Old Verses, weren't they?"

"That's correct… I don't believe I ever told you about them. How did you-"

"Find out?" Jaku took hold of a necklace draped around her waist bag, revealing a large gear-shaped pendant with a strange stone backing. "This," she muttered, her lip curled with disgust, "this object, the boon that Dialga granted me- it allows me to travel back through time. To fix things that shouldn't have happened. That's how I know about your verses. I've seen you carrying them to Jubilife. I know you can fast travel with them too."

"You… what? Fast travel?" The doppelganger ran his fingers through his hair. "You traveled back in time? How long? How long have you been doing this for?"

Jaku laughed. A slow, terrible laugh that made Ingo feel sick to his stomach. "Haha..ha. Ha. Too long. I lost count after the thirtieth time. Do you know how many things go wrong? How many times I've had to go back and fix something that becomes a problem in the future?… Do you know how many times I've had to live the same day over and over again?" Jaku continued, her voice sharpening as she advanced on the doppelganger. "And again, you won't remember this," the young woman muttered. "Why am I even wasting my time with you? You'll just forget all about it the moment I'm done talking."

Ingo watched as, like Jaku had predicted, an eerie fog washed over the doppelganger's eyes. A moment passed. The doppelganger shook himself out, his expression nothing but confused and a little weary.

"…I'm sorry. I didn't quite hear what you said, Miss Jaku. Would you mind telling me again?"

Jaku chuckled and then having given up, fixed Ingo's doppelganger with a fake smile. "No, don't even worry about it, Ingo," Jaku passed the doppelganger without so much as turning her head. "I'll tell you next time- when all three of us are in the same place at the same time for once."

It was like being dunked in ice-cold water. Ingo was suddenly thrown back into the present, still floating in the crystal-clear waters with his hands clenched around the Lustrous Orb.

'He's drowning down there, I just know it!'

Ingo blinked, confused. He looked around. Had Lady Irida followed him into the water? How long have I been floating here? He quickly resurfaced, keeping his hands firmly around the orb as he began to tread water.

'Oh, thank Almighty Sinnoh! He's okay!'

"Ingo! There you are!" Irida ran to help him clamber out of the water, her eyes catching on the orb as he tried and failed to dry himself off, gasping for air. "So that's the Lustrous Orb," Irida breathed. "The artifact of a god. It's- just- wow."

'So pretty. I can't believe I'm even getting to look at an artifact of Almighty Sinnoh!'

Ingo blinked once and then twice again. Lady Irida wasn't speaking and yet he could hear her voice so clearly in his head. The voice continued to ponder the orb. Ingo realized the truth and then carefully put the orb in his pack. He was hearing Lady Irida's thoughts.

This was… Ingo took a deep calming breath, separating himself from Lady Irida as he hunched against the firm stone wall of the gorge. He still had that terrible dream in his thoughts. Had touching the orb- had it restored his memories? He held the orb again but grunted when all he heard was Irida's thoughts in the background. He took his fingers off of the gleaming surface.

Miss Jaku was hiding something. When had that memory happened? And why couldn't he remember it in the first place? She spoke about correcting things that had happened in the past and about watching him entering Jubilife. Had she been spying on him? On Miss Akari, as well?

Ingo got to his feet, sweeping snow off of his jacket. "I sense that we have finished up here. Let us return back to our home station before we become derailed even further."

"I agree with you there. Let's get going. The sooner, the better."

July 9th, First Year

The trip out of the lost wilderness was much easier than the trip in. Within the same day, they were walking out of the snow-laden woods, the sun high in the sky as they stared at the barren expanses of the icelands. They ventured back to the Pearl Clan Settlement, Ingo hastily grabbing his things as he bid Irida farewell and moved out to the western woods where he was sure nobody would see him.

Miss Jaku had mentioned something about 'fast travel' and being able to do so with the Old Verses. He had an inkling that he was being foolish, but he needed to speak with his fellow faller immediately. He took out a dirt-specked verse from his pack, holding the box within his hands. He needed to travel to the mountains north of the Crimson Mirelands. He knew that Jaku had been stationed there recently.

Almost immediately, reality began to shift and warp around him, a stinging pain shooting up his arms and legs as he sank to his knees in the snow. The familiar snow-covered icelands slowly morphed into capes of jagged rock, clouds swirling overhead as a scraggly tree tipped his way. The air grew warmer around him. Ingo stood.

He was in a small clearing ringed with sparse trees, a large partially hidden cave only a few paces away with a tell-tale black tarp covering the entrance. Without a sound, Ingo swapped the Old Verse in his hand for the Lustrous Orb, encasing the object in his hands.

'I can only wait here for so long,' came the quiet rumble of Jaku's thoughts. 'I have to go and claim the first gear sooner or later. Besides, nobody will even notice if I go missing or not. They haven't noticed before.'

Swallowing, Ingo approached the cave.