"Can you all come with me," Scout asked, another day or two from their return to Treasure Town. The town bustled with excitement that he had returned but a part of him expected a little more.

They had, after all, just let Dusknoir talk all over him and then throw him into jail. Only Mane and the guild had stood up for him, and of the guild only really Chatot had tried to intervene.

Chatot….

Scout had been thinking, and he knew it was time.

Behind him walked Rai and Mane, never letting him out of their sight for long. He might have thought it clingy if it wasn't for the fact that he was so grateful he didn't have to ask them not to let him be alone.

Further along, came Sean, Striker, Saniya, and Guardian.

Despite being asked what this was about, Scout didn't quite explain. "I just think it'd be nice for the seven of us to talk."

Scout's whiskers twitched as they left the guild. Behind him was Chatot's grave, and a heavy weight pulled at his stomach with every step.

"Once you have the chance… you do need to tell others you trust." Chatot had said that. It was bordering on eight months ago now, but to Scout, the words felt as fresh as they did when they were first spoken.

"You know, I've wondered what does happen in dungeons if more than four pokémon enter?" Scout asked as they headed through the town. The pokemon at this hour flashed Team Ion smiles and Team Sunrise complicated expressions.

Scout wondered if he saw guilt in the eyes of the pokemon when they saw him, and then saw Guardian. He noticed they didn't meet his eyes and hurried away.

"Bigger distortions, splitting parties, more dangerous ferals. Some even say Shadow Pokémon can begin to show up," Guardian explained.

"How long does that take?"

"Anywhere from a minute to an hour… what are you thinking, not even Beach Cave would be safe in that regard?"

"Just curious," Scout replied. "I thought we could head to Sharpedo Bluff. It's a nice place."

Nice was not the word many would use. It was loud, extremely loud due to the waterfall near it. Perfect to talk if you didn't want people to listen, but also remote as it was Rai's home and most of the townsfolk still left the place alone out of respect.

It wasn't with much hesitation or nervousness that Scout stepped up to the cliff he'd nearly fallen off on his first day in the past. He didn't get too close though, even if about six different people would catch him if he fell.

"Why are we here?" Mane asked. "And why are you acting all weird."

"Sorry," Scout sighed, stopping and turning to everyone. He looked between Rai and Mane, curious and cautious. Between Striker and Guardian, guarded and open, and Sean and Saniya, smiling and daydreaming. "I think this is far enough from the town."

"For what?" Mane asked.

"I'm just being careful. I think this is private enough. How's everyone been sleeping?"

A question he'd been asking the past couple of days, of a lot of people. An odd nightmare surge across town had passed, knowing it was unlikely Darkrai would know to come on an evening they were really going to talk, he began to ready himself.

Scout sighed and took a breath, looking over everyone again. From those who were purely happy to be around him, to those who didn't express things as clearly, to the people he trusted most in the world, they were all here.

"Rai… I was never entirely honest with you all the time we were together." Rai straightened up slightly. Mane noticed that Scout was on one side and everyone else was facing him so he stepped across to sit next to Scout, pretending not to be really happy at the grateful glance Scout flashed him.

Rai didn't join them, feeling that maybe it was better for this to sit where he was. Everyone else was background for a moment, it was like it was just them on any other night. Only, his chest felt fluttery and not for the usual reason.

"And I think you know that," Scout continued, letting the word hang.

Rai digested it for a moment before offering a shallow nod. "Yeah," he said, half sighing. "There was never anything big just… a lot of things that added up. Like Limestone Cavern and Ditto or the perfect apple thing." He looked to Mane. "He didn't know why you asked him either."

Scout gave a strange little smile. Almost happy that Rai had noticed, and likely noticed far more.

"Like Drowzee," Rai added suddenly. "That wanted poster wasn't up when we left but you just knew."

Scout nodded, that was always something that hung on the back of his mind. That Drowzee got away. Sure, he 'redeemed' himself in the end, but… things were different here, who knows what he would have done. What he has done now that he never got punished?

"Did you have more memory than you told me?" Rai asked softly.

Scout nodded. "Yeah. But… it's even more complicated then everything with the Dark Future and all."

Sean and Striker frowned at that mention, that wasn't what they were expecting.

"Did you know about the Relic Fragment?" Rai asked sharply. His paw raised to the empty string he still wore as if still feeling the weight of the fragment. His face flashed across several emotions at once, too difficult to really tell what they were.

Scout hesitated. They both knew that was an answer in itself, but he still said it, "Yeah. I knew."

"How?" Sean cut in. They both looked to him. "Um, sorry for interrupting. But, we didn't even know about that until we arrived here and I had a Dimensional Scream at the Brine Cave mark."

Rai's eyes flickered in something fragile, something that he never showed anymore. Those tiny doubts that played around in the back of your head like little devils, ready to lay you flat with bad thoughts in the late hours of the night.

"Rai, everything between us was real," Scout said, sensing what he was going to think. Because he knew all of them were going to be thinking it in a moment. "I swear. You were my rock, my guide, everything to me. I was so scared and confused when I arrived but…." He frowned at himself, glancing to Mane who listened silently.

They stared at each other for a moment.

"I had a conversation with Mane," Scout said softly. "In the Dark Future."

Mane's face creased into a frown. Some things of that time he couldn't remember already, but that memory was burned into his mind.

"He helped me see things differently. How I've constantly lied to everyone and when someone tries to call me out on it, I deflect, or turn it them, or I punish myself to make up for it. I don't mean to, but it's… a problem and I was thinking about when I could only watch you all."

Mane chewed his lip slightly. "Not that I wasn't right but…"

Scout shook his head. "You are entirely right, and I'm sorry."

"I never thought you were doing it for bad reasons."

"Maybe." Scout nodded. "And you said that. But I still lied. Lied because I thought that I knew what was right." Scout glanced down at the ground to take a moment and a breath. To Team Sunrise.

He raised his head and found his eyes on Sean first. "I knew from the start what had to be done. About the Dark Future, about Guardian, and the Relic Fragment, and where the Time Gears were. I knew all of that. Right from when I first woke up. Not on the beach." Scout shook his head, it seemed so obvious now. "But here on Sharpedo Bluff." He pointed to the very spot he had woken up at.

Frowns crossed faces. Sean glanced to Striker, Guardian gave Scout a questioning look, and Rai opened his mouth before closing it.

Scout nodded. "I also knew that Drowzee was an outlaw before he even spoke. I knew where the Limestone Cavern Time Gear was, and that Ditto was going to try and stop us. I knew Striker was good, although I only knew him as Grovyle, and that Dusknoir was an enemy. I knew a lot of things, I thought I knew more. But even though I never knew as much as I thought, I still knew enough that I should have acted differently."

"How did you know about the Relic Fragment?" Sean asked, before glancing to Guardian. "Guardian did thanks to Dialga but… did he somehow tell you?"

Scout shook his head. "No. Nothing like that." He took in another breath and sighed it out, not quite able to look directly at anyone. Rai was still frowning, eyes trained on where he had found Scout.

"You gonna tell us?" Mane asked.

"Or are you going to keep pussyfooting around?" Saniya said, before giggling.

Her joke broke some of the tension and Scout gave a smile. "Heh. I like that one." He swallowed and nodded, looking at Sean again. "When I told Chatot this, he couldn't really understand because… because well he just couldn't fathom the kind of thing I had to compare it to."

"You told Chatot?" Rai asked, almost offended and then sad.

"After Mane helped me realise," Scout explained. "I wanted to make sure I could gather the nerve, so I told him. He, uh." Scout's lip curled slightly, but he composed himself. "He told me I had better tell the people I trust once it was all over. I hoped I'd have him here to help me, but…"

His lip twitched again, and this time he couldn't entirely compose himself. "S-sorry," Scout said, wiping his eyes with his arm. "I think it was my fault he died, in some way."

"What?"

"No."

"That can't be."

"Scout…."

"No," Scout said, voice strained. "Please just… let me explain. It isn't like I did anything directly to cause it, but… if it wasn't for everything I did and didn't do, he… well." He shook his head again. "Okay. I'm going to start running us in circles if I don't just start explaining myself. You all might want to sit down or something."

Guardian lowered himself, but everyone else remained standing. Tense or jittery in some fashion.

"Sean," Scout began, meeting the human-turned-riolu's red eyes. "You ever played a video game?"

Sean blinked, of all the things he imagined to come out of Scout's mouth it wasn't that. "Uh… yeah?"

"Imagine playing a game… playing it several times in fact. Playing it enough that you know it inside and out. The plot details. The characters. The twists and the turns. Heck, even the music." Scout gave a soft laugh before humming something pleasant and oddly fitting for the town they were near.

Sean's face was slowly creasing into a frown.

No one else quite understood what he was talking about, but that was okay. He had some experience, he just hoped Sean would be able to help in a moment.

"Now imagine you wake up… and you're in that game."

Sean stilled. Scout felt himself come to a stop as well, twin breaths tensed, waiting for something.

"Huh?" Saniya asked, breaking the moment again. "What does all that mean? I want to play!"

Sean pursed his lips before wetting them. "I… don't know what to say to that." He frowned deeper and looked up at Scout, eyes set and serious. "You can't be for real here?"

Scout shrugged helplessly. "I don't have ANY idea how something like this is possible. But…" he lowered his head, closed his eyes, and gave a pained sigh. "I… I don't know if I'm actually Scout. Or if I've taken his body."

He said it. It never feel right to say, not the first time, not all the times he had wondered it, and certainly not this time.

He didn't want to look at the reactions, but he had to. Arms closed around him and Scout gasped.

"You are Scout," Guardian said, quietly. "I may not understand what you speak of, but I know it."

Scout gave him a watery smile, wanting to lean in, but he pushed himself out instead. "Armaldo said it best, even if he didn't actually mean it in this exact context. How can you be so sure I am? Am I actually the pokémon you knew? Or am I just close enough that you can convince yourselves that I am?"

Saniya floated up to him next and grabbed his face. "You're talking depressing stuff here," she said, seriously. "It's okay to question who you are and all that, but… I may act silly, but I did look you over and inner in the future. I can't anymore, cause of your new type, but… you ARE Scout."

"You're different," Striker said, speaking up for the first time. "There's no question there. But… how could you NOT be Scout?"

Sean didn't speak up. Rai and Mane didn't know who he may have been before, and as such had nothing to offer.

Scout smiled sadly. "In the time I was stuck as some sort of memory ghost thing, I was able to recall at least some memory of who Scout was. Enough so that I knew that Scout did NOT know the things I do. Not in practice at least. If I haven't somehow robbed his life from him, then something still happened. Can I even be considered the same person then?"

"People change," Guardian said, softly. "Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. Most of the time, however, they simply change."

"They can change back, too," Saniya said, laying a gentle hand on Guardian's arm. He managed a grateful look.

"I guess," Scout sighed, "but we're straying. The fact of the matter is. I know things that I could not possibly know. I knew that someone was supposed to be found by Rai. I knew that Team Skull was going to come for him, having spotted his treasure earlier."

Rai blinked at him.

"It's not that I saw them go. I just knew they were going to. I knew what was going to happen, and I thought I was supposed to be there. Not to stop you from getting robbed in the first place, but to join you in Beach Cave to get it back. Only…" Scout's voice turned bitter. "Skuntank was NOT supposed to be there."

He hated that. Of all the many things he hated, there was something about that one specific moment that truly bothered him. It was inconsequential in the long run, they had gotten a Relic Fragment in time, but the change still nagged at him. How was that possible? Was it a flip of the coin, or was something else different?

Striker and Sean's appearance could not have led to a butterfly effect so far so quickly. His existence was tied to the future, not the past, nothing they did should have affected that.

"I don't know WHY he was there," Scout growled, grabbing at his head. "And I'm so sorry, Rai. At the time I… I honestly thought this was a dream. It was only after he knocked me out did it really begin to dawn on me that it wasn't. You weren't supposed to lose the Relic Fragment."

Scout gave a weak laugh. "That's just one of the boundless mistakes I ended up causing," he said softly. "It wasn't even supposed to be me. I wasn't supposed to exist. It was supposed to be the human who woke up, not at the bluff but at the beach. That's why I thought I was human."

"You said your name was Sean though," Rai said, unable to quite believe everything else yet.

"Yeah. I guess we really DID have some sort of head-knock memory transfer. How the hell that is supposed to work. Or maybe my name really IS Sean, and that was the name of whatever human monster is possessing Scout."

"Stop saying that," Guardian demanded, before softening. "Please."

"I'm sorry," Scout muttered. What part of it, even he wasn't sure.

Sean had taken a few moments to try and digest what he was being told. "Are you saying… you don't think we're real?" he asked, lowly.

Scout was horrified. "NO! That's not what I mean at all!" he said, raising his paws. "That's not what I mean."

"You're saying you played a game and we were the characters!"

"Sean I…" Scout looked away. "No. I don't believe that. Heh, have you ever heard of multiverse theory? Lucario implied there were other worlds, and if I remember right, you're from a different world to this one too. I, or some part of me, is just from a world where they THINK this is fiction."

Sean took a breath. He didn't look much happier, but he was thinking it over.

"Actually, I have been wondering," Scout said, pressing his interest for a moment. "What version of the pokémon world are you from?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"My perception has it all as a made-up franchise. But there were multiple realities in that, this one is one of them. I'm just curious, which one you might be from."

"How am I supposed to know?"

"Uh… ever heard of an Ash Ketchum?"

"No."

"Maybe not the anime then."

Sean grimaced and shook his head. "This is almost too much. You cannot be serious; this has to be some sort of joke you have thanks to my memories."

"Why would I lie about this?" Scout asked, before hearing himself. "I… why would I?"

Sean had no answer for that.

Striker raised a claw. "I'm still having trouble following."

"I was hoping Sean could help me here," Scout said.

Sean sighed. "Imagine a book you read or a theatre play you watch. Characters acting out a role, always the same, because books don't change, plays don't change. Or, at least, they're not supposed to. Scout's saying he's experienced something like that, except about us and this world."

That helped. Glances were shared, voices were raised, and questions were asked.

It all kind of melded into a cacophony Scout couldn't discern.

"Please one at a time!"

Rai was the first to speak. "Why didn't you say anything like this before?" he asked, eyes wide and questioning. He would always think the best of Scout. He didn't growl like Mane, or demand like Striker. Just ask and expect Scout at his best.

There were few things that filled Scout with as much shame as that. Rai thought the world of him, and he knew that he shouldn't.

"Because I'm a coward," Scout said, bluntly. "Because I am a liar. Because I was scared that you'd hate me, or not believe me. Or that I'd ruin everything. You know, beyond just spouting excuses to create pity and all."

Scout shook his head. "Also, deflective statements to try and make myself seem better as I am aware of what a piece of shit I am. Can't really avoid those it seems." He nodded to Mane.

He looked down, unable to meet their eyes. "I told myself it was to preserve the best ending that I knew of. Because failure meant that the world would be ruined and plunged into… well, the Dark Future. I thought that if I kept things on track, I would get us to that ending and things would be fine. Only…"

He wanted to tear his fur. "Things were already changed from the start. I shouldn't even exist; I don't know where I came from or how."

No one really had an answer for him.

Except…

"I… found you," Guardian said, quietly. "After losing my previous companions, I wandered, alone and going mad… at one point, I remember this with crystal clarity, I had a choice between two directions. It was like I was pulled to travel one way, and along with it I found you with your parents…."

Scout nodded. "Okay… so probably a coinflip, fifty-fifty chance situation. That's… reassuring to hear, I think. Thank you."

"You don't need to thank me. You saved me as well."

"Even so. That happened in the future, I don't know how that could have affected the past. There are so many questions, how things went, what things 'happened' and what things just weren't shown. I knew about the Dark Future because of the story. Still, you didn't see much of it, so I didn't know what the Planetary Investigation Team was really like. There are so many things I could say, but… it's really just inconsequential. I know what went wrong."

"You've said a lot about all the bad things you've been doing," Mane said, glaring holes through him, but whether it was about this or about Scout talking so badly of himself wasn't clear. "Haven't heard what they are besides lying."

Scout shrugged. "Lying is the most of it. There were things I could have done to make things easier for us, or harder for 'the enemy'. Uh, sorry Guardian."

"None taken."

"I could have done more. More about Team Skull. More to help Sean and Striker. Getting Mane to get an apple earlier wasn't something that happened in the story since he wasn't a character, but it did get us out of trouble."

"I wasn't in this story of yours?" Mane growled, positively smoking.

"No. It was for kids."

"Oh. Well, that makes sense. Still." He stretched out very 'strategically'. "How could all this not be included?"

Scout gave a breathy chuckle. The laughter was a little insincere, Mane being more provocative was a bad sign, not a good one.

"I'm much happier you are here," Scout said, softly.

Mane blinked and stopped stretching. He even blushed slightly. "Well… of course you are. I am the best."

Scout nodded and took another breath. "Okay. Going through everything I did wrong will take us hours. Days. Weeks maybe if we have to come in here every time." He glanced around uneasily. No Darkrai or anyone else though

"We have all the time in the world," Saniya said. "But, uh, that sounds depressing and bad for your mental health. Or maybe it would good for you to get it all out so we can tell you it's okay? Or, is this something Azumarill should do? You need to go to her anyway." Saniya was at risk of chattering, Striker slipped a hand around her arm and she closed her mouth.

"Let me just say, you're taking this a lot better than I would."

"I'm just debating on how much I should be upset," Sean said, but he grinned briefly. "This isn't exactly the easiest thing to hear, you know?"

"Yeah."

"I still am not convinced you aren't Scout," Striker said. "While you said that this change did not occur until after we travelled back in time, can you be certain?"

"No," Scout admitted. "But I LIKE to think that, as bad as I am, I would have let something slip. I like to think that, had I known things were changed from the start, I would have actually tried to work with what I knew, rather than trying to force everything to fit what I thought."

"I think you would have," Rai said. Always thinking the best of him.

"Perhaps. But… we DID travel through time." Striker gestured to Saniya. "Surely there is some explanation to be had there. Travelling back in time, something may have happened to you there to allow you to understand the history of the world. Combine that with the head-knock with Sean and believing yourself to be him."

"Mixing that with my knowledge of video games…" Sean said, rubbing his jaw.

"Do you think that could be it?" Striker asked, looking to Saniya.

"Uh… uh… yeesss?"

"You don't sound sure."

"I'd have to confer with Giratina. Or… Dialga… or even the other Celebi that apparently exists. That one that I need to kick in the face." She grumbled. "Halving our Power between us. How greedy can he be?"

Scout nibbled on his lip. An actual explanation, for a moment, he doubted himself.

"No… no, I don't think so," he said, shaking his head. "Even… even ignoring that I knew all this from the perspective of what WE were going to be doing as some sort of time nonsense… the story didn't end with Dialga."

Everyone came to a stop.

"What do you mean?" Sean asked. "Was it not over? Or… post-game? Oh my gosh, there's post game isn't there?"

"Yep." Scout nodded. "In the story, Darkrai damaged the tower himself although he claims he didn't this time. But when the Dark Future was averted, he tried something else. A world of darkness to rule over."

That got some concerned looks.

"That sounds… unpleasant," Rai said. He was the only one who hadn't seen the Dark Future in person.

"Yeah." Scout nodded. "And… what a perfect transition into the last and worst topic of the day. All that." He looked straight between Rai and Mane, they were realising what he just said.

"Wait, DARKRAI!?" Rai yelped. "That Darkrai that brought you back?"

"Mr handsome voice?" Mane added, equally as alarmed.

"Oh. Oh my gosh," Sean said, hitting it next as the remaining three clicked together.

"Darkrai?"

"The guy?"

"Who revived you?" Guardian thundered.

Scout wanted to sit down, but he also was restless.

"He came to me after months of being stuck like… that." Even the word choked his voice briefly. Imagining that state filled him with horror and he tried to avoid it always. "I don't know what he wanted with me. He. I told him I knew what he was, but he told me so much about how he wasn't that anymore. I don't even know what to think. He's the reason why Sean is a pokémon."

Sean blinked. Striker did as well. "What?"

"You got attacked," Scout said, before amending. "WE got attacked when travelling through time. It was Darkrai who attacked us, trying to stop us from changing the past and ruining his darkened world. A world he claims he was the hero in."

"I tried t tell him to go away. But he kept coming back. And... I don't want to give excuses, but… I just… it was hell to be stuck like that. He was the only one I could speak to." Scout was shaking now and Rai and Mane jumped to his side without hesitation.

He gave a strangled sound, a mix of a gasp and a whimper that they were pressing against him. He felt unworthy but was too selfish to lean out of the comfort.

"How…?" Guardian began, but he couldn't find the rest of the words.

"Darkrai claimed that he had changed," Scout muttered. "He said that legendary pokémon can perceive changes in reality, like time, through dreams and he's seen what the world would be like. He said that the previous Darkrai was killed by… Soothe and that by changing time, she would be erased."

Saniya twitched heavily at that. "Soothe," she whispered, almost too quiet for anyone to hear. Her memories of the audino remained crystal clear despite everything.

"He claimed that these things had made him realise what he was aiming for was wrong, and that he HAD to repay the debt he had to us with a good deed he could do. He was the one who removed that drowzee from hurting you," Scout said, patting Mane's neck. "We talked so much. He made so much sense. He sounded so true. But… he was a master manipulator in the game. He nearly…."

He couldn't say that.

"Nearly convinces the characters to do something awful." Was what he said instead. "And then he goes straight to Rai and Mane. I don't know if he just got frustrated, that he really wanted to help and I just couldn't trust him. But he forced it. I'm so sorry Rai, Mane, everyone. I might have really fucked up and I put you all through so much, all those nightmares, he just would not stop."

He was shrinking, almost crumbling over Rai and Mane now. They supported him, leaning back up. Rai was licking his face, his tears while Mane served as a sturdy rock to keep him up. He was warm. So warm after being so cold for so long.

Throughout it all, Scout babbled and repeated that he was sorry. He was inconsolable, they knew the time had passed to discuss everything he had said seriously and, perhaps, they needed the time to adjust to everything as well.

Before they left, however, Scout had one more thing to say. "I told you all that in here because it's the only place I could think of that he may not hear. You can't talk about this outside of dungeons. Darkrai might have changed but… if he hasn't, I've almost certainly made a colossal mistake in accepting his offer. I actually don't want you to completely trust me."

"That's weird to say since we have to mostly trust your word on all that," Mane snarked. At least he wasn't making outrageous remarks, that'd be a very bad sign. Perhaps Azumarill's services really were useful?

Scout smiled. "Yeah. I think I'm 'sound of mind', but he might have planted something in me. I don't know how effective it might be, but… maybe we should all share some sort of code word to make sure I'm alright in the head."

It didn't take them long to decide on the word dawn as their safe word. There was something almost nostalgic about this for Team Sunrise.

Code words, sneaking around, being careful. It was all reminiscent of a time they were having more and more trouble remembering.

"I think this information needs to be shared with Guildmaster Wigglytuff and Armaldo," Rai said, as they reached the end of town, having walked through, clustered together, in silence.

"Eww, the bug?" Saniya gagged.

"I'm serious. If Darkrai really is a danger, they should know."

Scout nodded. "Yeah. I was thinking I'd tell them next. But only them. Not the rest of the guild… at least for now."

"You're not expecting us to lie?" Mane frowned. He didn't like a lot of what had been spoken, but he wasn't going to start biting heads off.

"If they ask if I'm from a world, or just have some sort of memory that I am, that this is a story then yeah please do. But I doubt anything that specific will come up."

"If nothing else," Guardian rumbled. "Just say that it's something private between you and Scout. Not all secrets need to be told."

Mane grumbled but accepted it.

Scout continued to lead the way as they left. That had gone better than he had hoped, but it wasn't the end of it.

Saniya sighed. "Okay," she began, fluttering to Scout and grabbing his tail. "Sorry about this everyone, but I've got to have a one-on-one chat."

Without any further hesitation, and ignoring Scout's yowl of disagreement, she zoomed them down the slope and into Beach Cave before anyone could so much as raise a hand or paw to stop her. "Don't follow us," she called back. "We'll be just a few minutes."

"Okay-okay-okay, STOP!" Scout demanded, pulling himself free of Saniya. He grabbed his tail, holding it away from the grabby hands of the celebi. "What is so important?"

"What do you know about Soothe?" Saniya asked immediately. That was one thing pokémon tended to appreciate about her. For as wacky as she could be, she didn't dance around the point if she had one to make. "And are you Gabriel?"

"I… pardon?"

"Soothe," Saniya repeated. "Audino. Purple fur instead of pink. Tells just the best jokes." She smiled a little in memory. "I'll need to tell you them again. And Gabriel. Name. Giratina said they were getting another Giratina from a different reality to get some 'Gabriel' human. Sean is Sean. Is your name Gabriel?"

"No, that name doesn't mean anything to me." Scout shook his head as the memory of Saniya and Chatot talking about Soothe returned to him. "And Soothe? To be entirely honest… nothing."

"Huh?"

"She wasn't in the story I knew," Scout admitted. "I haven't really had time or… presence of mind to wonder about her and all. But now that you bring her up… hmm."

"You know… nothing?" Saniya asked, almost sagging in the air. "And you're not? Dammit, Giratina."

"Sorry," Scout replied, frowning. He shook his head. "I really don't know anything. Hearing about her was a bit of a shock really. But, uh… Wigglytuff might know something about her. Hm." Wigglytuff. That was a thought.

Scout's frown deepened as his mind clicked a piece together. It was an obvious piece, but he was a little slow sometimes. "Soothe killed Darkrai… or the previous one." He looked up to Saniya sharply. "What did YOU know about her?"

Saniya hovered in the air in silence for some time before she sighed. "Not much, to be honest. I met her… uh… you know I can't really remember. It was ages ago… or ages to come… in a future that no longer exists… hoo, paradoxes are FUN-KEY!"

"If you're asking me about her…" Scout began, but he didn't really know how to complete that line of thought.

"Yeah." Saniya nodded, understanding what he didn't. "She was my first attempt to save the world and, well… I've wondered. She might not have known where the Time Gears were, but… she had how many years to find them? Who knows? I do. I even gave the guys, you too even, some code words to say to her if you found her, and I've asked pokémon here, but no one says they've seen her around."

"A shiny audino is hard to miss," Scout agreed.

"Shiny?"

"Uh… story term for a differently-coloured pokémon… like you, actually."

"Me? Oooh! Shiny, I LIKE IT!" Saniya giggled, but she was more subdued. She sighed. "Sorry for dragging you in here, probably didn't even need to I guess."

"I'm sorry I don't know anything," Scout said, giving her a guilty smile.

She waved him off. "It's fine. She was always a bit mysterious, but she was also my first friend. Giratina was more of a… parent I guess. I'd like to know stuff about her, but… I suppose I won't get the chance, will I? If she's been this quiet for so long, who even would know? And everyone will forget about her eventually."

"We will?" Scout asked before he shook his head. "Right, Dialga, paradox thing. I really don't like that." He remembered a sableye with a sharp grin. Danny, he had named him. He wanted to hang onto that. The game had preserved them as well. Another ache hit his chest, right next to Chatot.

"Neither do I," Saniya said. "The Dark Future isn't a fun place to remember, but… I still don't like the thought of losing those memories. What am I? But a collection of memories? Even more, than a normal being is. Stupid legendary thing."

"Are you… okay?" Scout asked. Saniya snorted at him. "I mean… do you want to talk?"

"I've got a therapist now!" Saniya beamed, immensely proud of this for some reason. "But she did say to share stuff with the others. Hmm… I don't want to burden you just yet; you should probably come to see her too. With all." She gestured wildly. "THAT going on with you. Hoo boy, she could earn that Poké working on you!"

"I feel like I should be offended," Scout said, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. "But your friendly tone and overall cheerfulness make me question everything."

"That's me!" Saniya beamed and giggled, flying around him a few times. "Let's get out of here. Oh! And let's not tell them what we talked about; we'll make them think it's some super dramatic secret!"

"I don't know if I want to keep any more secrets," Scout said, walking after her. They hadn't entered too far into the dungeon and could still leave through the entrance.

"It's not like it'll be a real secret!"

Scout chuckled wearily and followed on. He felt tired, this day had been very long and emotionally draining, but he had one last pair to have a difficult conversation with.

"So… you are telling me you have some sort of extended knowledge of the world and various important events?" Armaldo clarified.

"That's one way to look at it, yes." Scout nodded.

"Hm."

After returning to the guild, Scout didn't go to Armaldo and Wigglytuff immediately. They had dinner first. Scout had loitered behind after sending Mane and Rai off to speak to the pair. It felt scary to be alone for even that half a minute, but he counted his breaths and reminded himself he wasn't alone.

Understanding he had something important and private to discuss, Armaldo took them to Wigglytuff's library and used a Mute Orb to give them secrecy.

As long as they remained within a certain threshold, and this wouldn't take too long, no sound would escape the bubble.

And so, for the third time in his life, Scout said everything he hadn't said.

Chatot had been incredulous but understanding. The Team's Ion and Sunrise had been questioning and somewhat difficult to face. Armaldo and Wigglytuff listened to Scout in thoughtful silence, only speaking up to ask for clarification on something.

"You said that… events went a lot different from what you expected?" Wigglytuff asked. "What exactly?"

Scout grimaced slightly, but it was better to rip the band-aid off now. "Chatot, he uh… wasn't… he didn't die in the story." Wigglytuff was dead silent. "It's what I meant earlier b-by… sorry."

"Before we get emotional," Armaldo said, cutting in. "If I understand right, you didn't do anything specific to get him killed. Right?"

"Never! I even tried to warn him about Kabutops… unless that…"

"I warned him too," Wigglytuff said, softly. He looked, for lack of a stronger word, heartbroken but there was no rumbling of a Yoom-TAH coming, so Scout felt only sadness in kind.

He was guilty, however. "I didn't mean for it, b-but… I am afraid my interference caused a change big enough that-"

"You said things were different before you even woke up," Armaldo grunted. "I highly doubt you did anything that could feasibly be considered killing him. Chatot made his own decisions, don't take the meaning of his sacrifice away from him."

Wigglytuff swallowed heavily but managed a nod. "He always chose to do what's right, even when it wasn't easy," he whispered, closing his eyes and taking a shuddering breath.

Seeing that his old student needed time to compose himself, Armaldo spoke up, "Regardless, another point is raised. You touched on this Darkrai baddie. What can you tell us about him?"

Eager to move on from that topic, Scout immediately went into everything he knew about Darkrai. "Darkrai is a powerful legendary pokémon, he's a Dark-type if that wasn't clear, and can create nightmares just with his presence. Or it's involuntary, just being around him asleep locks you into nightmares."

"This darkrai, he… look I don't really know WHY he's evil, other darkrai are spooky but… good. This one… in the story, he was the one who damaged the Temporal Tower and led to the collapse of time as he wanted to rule a world of darkness. After it was stopped, in the story, he moved on to messing with space and Palkia."

Thinking hard, Scout tapped a claw. "He… powers up his nightmare abilities… somehow. He actually locks Azurill in a nightmare that no one besides Cresselia, Darkrai's dream-based counterpart, could wake him up from. And in dreams, Darkrai can enter them and even disguise himself AS Cresselia."

"He claimed when I was speaking to him that he didn't cause the tower and it happened as a consequence of the Time Gears being removed to stabalise a different disaster in the past but he was a master manipulator in the games and I know I can't trust anything he said."

"We'll need to make sure the family is safe," Armaldo said quietly. "Especially with Team Sunrise possibly causing Darkrai to notice them with their sessions with Azumarill."

"From what you've said," Armaldo began. "It sounds like you do have something more to say. Do you have some idea of Darkrai's first move?"

"I think I am Darkrai's first move," Scout admitted. "He could see me when I was stuck as that memory ghost thing. This is where things get complicated."

Both pokémon listened in complete silence, no questions, as Scout told them of his meetings with Darkrai in more detail. How the nightmare bringer claimed he had changed, how it was Darkrai who brought him back to the world.

"Shinx and Litleo were desperate," Armaldo grunted. "And you're saying he did not show until after Lucario had departed?"

"Oh. Yeah, that's true." He hadn't approached them until she wasn't there.

"Hm."

"How was Darkrai stopped?" Wigglytuff asked, having composed himself. "I presume he was?"

"In the story, yes." Scout nodded. "He was stopped when Cresselia turns up to explain about him, and he asks… I suppose Team Ion to meet him in the Dark Crater for a showdown. It's a trap, he's got allies, and after he was beaten, he tried to escape."

Scout frowned as that memory came back. "That's the hardest thing, he was able to open a time/space hole, the same kind of one Dusknoir was able to open, to escape with. He was only stopped when Palkia intervened, attacked him as he ran into it, and caused HIM to lose his memory. Same thing he did to Sean… and me, he was the one who attacked us travelling back in time and is the reason Sean turned into a pokémon."

"Who was his allies?" Armaldo asked, letting Wigglytuff think over what else was said.

"Uh… I know there was a magcargo… I think… uh… I'm sorry. I can't really remember besides that. There might have been an arbok." Scout frowned, wracking his brain. It was too blurry and minor of a memory to really grab onto.

"Can you give us a rundown on Darkrai's actions in order?" Wigglytuff asked. "Before we get too ahead of ourselves."

"Things are definitely different for this time," Scout pointed out.

Wigglytuff nodded. "I understand. But knowing what Darkrai would do could help us work out what he will do. Give us an idea of his pattern."

"You're taking this very well," Scout said, a little surprised. "Do you actually believe me?"

"I think belief is too strong of a word," Armaldo grunted. "But we've been dealing with Mystery Dungeons all our lives and recently had pokémon from the future come to change time. What you're claiming is a little difficult to believe, but it's not something we can immediately dismiss."

"What Armaldo said." Wigglytuff nodded. "If nothing else, I believe you believe what you're saying."

With a somewhat crooked smile at that remark, Scout went into the spiel of what he could remember. Darkrai tormenting the heroes with nightmares. Locking Azurill into a nightmare and being confronted there. Being kidnapped by Palkia, stopping the space dragon, and Darkrai locking it into a nightmare as well.

Throughout it, the two pokémon listened and asked questions when Scout paused for breath. Asking for clarification of events, or how Darkrai may have committed his foul deeds. Scout couldn't answer everything, to his regret, but he wasn't told off for not knowing.

Once they had gone through everything Scout could think of, and all questions had been asked, Scout had another thing to add.

"I had one more thing I wanted to ask."

Scout hadn't asked any questions of his own so far, so that caught their interest. "Alright, go ahead." Wigglytuff nodded.

Girding himself, Scout nodded. "Okay. When Darkrai was talking about why and how he changed, he mentioned… he mentioned the previous Darkrai getting killed and this being why he was... well, evil."

Wigglytuff went very still.

"He also said that a contributing factor to his 'change of heart' was knowing that the pokémon who killed him… Soothe, was now erased from reality. I just… I don't know who she was. She was not part of the story that I knew, but Chatot told us that you and he knew her and what she did. So… I just have to ask… what happened?"

Wigglytuff closed his eyes in pain. Armaldo gave him a curious look. He hadn't seen his protégé in some time, but a distant memory or two were tickled of a certain Team With No Name having three members. Chatot, Wigglytuff, and Audino.

"If you… don't want to answer," Scout started, seeing Wigglytuff's reluctance.

"I'd like to hear this as well," Armaldo said. "I remember hearing about her. And if she has a connection to Darkrai, this is something we should discuss."

Wigglytuff swallowed, he trembled slightly but steadied himself. "O-okay, um… uh…" Wigglytuff glanced between Scout and Armaldo, visible fear flickering across his face. "Okay… please don't get upset."

Armaldo didn't have much of an expression at the best of times but the look on his face had even Scout cringing just being around it. "I don't like that you're starting with that."

"Promise."

"You know I won't do that."

Wigglytuff sighed and rubbed his face with both paws. "This isn't exactly easy for me to talk about. Please, I don't think I can talk about this if you're going to get upset with me."

Armaldo took a deep and heavy breath. "I will… try to keep calm."

Knowing that was the best he was going to get, Wigglytuff began.

"Ch-Chatot and I met Soothe in… well, in Brine Cave. After Kabutops-" Wigglytuff spoke the name with clear anger, startling Scout. "-attacked us, I ran to the back with Chatot bleeding… ah..." It was clear that it hurt to think about this. "Okay, okay, Soothe saved his life, and we ended up inviting her to come with us. She agreed, and soon she became our third member. Things went amazing for about two years… then…"

Wigglytuff smiled before sniffling briefly. Remembering happy as well as painful memories. "I wanted to travel to Treeshroud Forest," he admitted, quietly. "And we took a few months to get there. On the way Soothe… she… she became quieter, sullen, withdrawn. Chatot and I were a little worried, but there had been times she'd be somewhat depressed, and she always bounced out of it."

He began to frown deeper; these were not pleasant memories for the Guildmaster. "Once we reached the end of the dungeon we encountered… well, we didn't know what the Guardian was, at first, I later learned that it was the legendary Darkrai. But… upon sighting the Time Gear and Darkrai, Soothe… she…."

Wigglytuff swallowed and bent his head. "I… can't really describe it. I don't want to. It doesn't matter how she did it. She just… she inflicted mortal wounds on it. Something just… snapped within her. Chatot he… he was so good, he knew this wasn't right, and he tried to talk sense into her, stop her."

Wigglytuff touched the old scar on his stomach, mostly hidden with his soft fur. "She turned on him. I saved him and got this scar, and I had to fight her. She briefly seemed to recognise me after she struck me, but then… well. She seemed to lose herself completely and began… she began… she began… uh." He cringed again.

He fell silent. Just silent, not wanting to say anything more.

Armaldo hissed in a sharp breath, he connected the dots. There was little Little Rhythm wasn't brave enough to talk about, but he'd been off about a certain phenomenon for many years now. "A Shadow Pokémon?"

Wigglytuff nodded, dead silent.

"How? Did Darkrai attack her?"

"No. She attacked him first."

"So…" Armaldo frowned deeply, but it softened slightly as he looked down at Wigglytuff. "I am guessing there were no other periods where she may have been slain?"

"No."

"So, she was likely a Shadow Pokémon manipulating you from the start."

Wigglytuff didn't respond to that one. He didn't have to.

Scout raised a paw. "What… exactly is a Shadow Pokémon? I mean… the ones I know are… something, but the way Dusknoir explained it all that time ago makes them seem… different here."

Armaldo gave him a perturbed look as if the idea of other types of Shadow Pokémon existing disturbed him. "Shadow Pokémon come in two known variants. You have ones who are obvious and those that are subtle."

"When Dusknoir explained it," Wigglytuff said, thinking it better he not fall entirely silent. "He was more relating that lesson to the subtle kind. They are a great deal rarer than the obvious, or at least we think so. Them being impossible to actually detect helps conceal them greatly."

"The obvious kind are half-mad," Armaldo continued. "Or more like entirely mad but can speak and act in broken ways. Vestiges of their former mind coming out as if on an automatic movement, like your heartbeat or breathing. They have a visible purplish glow to them and are erratic and violent. They are highly dangerous but are much easier to deal with."

"The manectric in Amp Plains," Wigglytuff said softly. "That's the kind he refers to. They are… terrible things, wretched and in so much pain that they'll destroy everything around them to sate that burning within them."

He looked down, Armaldo didn't continue, staring at him.

"While the subtle are… well, as the name implies." Wigglytuff shrugged. "They act the same as they did before. They sound the same. They are still… sane in a way. Even though they can act and behave like a normal pokémon, they aren't. Something has been taken away from them inside. And all Shadow Pokémon are driven to create more of their kind."

"How… does that happen?" Scout asked. He hadn't expected a lesson on this, but it was morbidly interesting.

"Two ways," Armaldo said. "Dying in a dungeon seems to be a way. Although it's not reliably truthful. There might be other factors involved we don't understand yet. But such reasons were a large part of why Rescue Teams were formed in the first place, first guided by the lucario your partners met even."

"While the second way," Wigglytuff added. "Is being killed BY a Shadow Pokémon. Thankfully, if there could be any thanks in this situation, subtle ones do not necessarily create more subtle ones, and they appear to be extremely rare themselves. They are an insidious agent that can enter any town or village and lay in wait for time. But never forever, the burning Hunger within them wins eventually…."

"No matter how well they hide behind the mask of who they once were," Armaldo said, gravity in his words. "Their true nature comes out eventually. Two years would be unheard of, assuming she hadn't slated it in times you were not watching her. Either way, Soothe clearly reached her limit."

Wigglytuff looked away. "Now that I understand that she was from the future it… perhaps makes sense. Trill told me a little about how the Dark Future was. I could not imagine a world so cruel."

Scout nodded, and Armaldo rubbed his jaw. "Hmm… I have never heard of a Shadow Pokémon slaying a legendary pokémon before… with the revival that legendary pokémon go through… but if Soothe truly was a Shadow Pokémon, which seems likely, then I wonder."

"You think Darkrai could be a Shadow Pokémon?" Scout asked, alarmed. He looked down at himself.

"It's a possibility we can't ignore," Armaldo said. "I don't know if the infection that Shadow Pokémon spread could supersede a legendary pokémon's revival, but if it could… that may explain why Darkrai went from a peaceful guardian to someone who would end the world. He would tell any lie to gain your trust, but to what end is unclear."

"It'd also mean that he's definitely bad," Scout said, frowning deeply.

"Yes," Armaldo said, narrowing his eyes at Scout. "It would."

Things fell into an awkward silence. Scout looked at his body in a new way, while Armaldo and Wigglytuff stewed in silence. Armaldo in concern, Wigglytuff in guilt. Oh so heavy guilt.

"I have something more I have to say," Wigglytuff began, bringing their attention back to him. "I… uh… uh…" he frowned, looked like he was about to cry, but withheld himself. "About Soothe."

He lapsed into silence, trying to find his words. And something bubbled up in Scout's mind. "She was still alive," he gasped, Saniya's words coming back to him. "Before time was changed! Saniya, uh Celebi, said so."

Armaldo went stiff and turned to Wigglytuff, who positively cringed and Scout realised he had spilled it before Wigglytuff could. Oops. "Explain."

"W-When… during the… uh… I couldn't go through with destroying her," Wigglytuff babbled. "She was my friend! I couldn't be sure if she was really a Shadow Pokémon and, and, and… uh… I-I-I-I thought I might be able to find a way to save her."

Armaldo was stone silent.

"There are ways, myths say!" Wigglytuff stated. "Legends of humans purifying Shadow Pokémon. And, uh… there has to be some way. There HAS to be."

"It is my understanding that you killed her," Armaldo said, lowly. "Rumours travel far, even if they aren't spoken of out loud. I heard she was slain, and that you and Chatot never wanted to speak of it."

"Chatot… didn't know," Wigglytuff admitted, the words falling like bitter droplets. "Until he returned from the future and confronted me about it, away from everyone else."

"You… allowed a Shadow Pokémon... most likely a subtle type... you allowed her to go free… for over fifteen years?" Armaldo asked, deadly calm. Wigglytuff swallowed. "Meowth. We will need to continue speaking another day... or night. Leave, now."

The anger emanating from Armaldo was palpable, and Scout was already edging away. "N-no worries. Uh, goodnight."

Neither of them responded. Wigglytuff bracing and Armaldo almost crackling with energy. Scout ducked out the library doors and then through Wigglytuff room.

The Mute Orbs effects were useful but held a certain limit to how much volume they could block out. Even as Scout moved to open the large, heavy, doors of Wigglytuff's meeting room, he could hear Armaldo start yelling.

"WHAT THE FUCK HAVE YOU DONE, RHYTHM?!" Scout gave up and just ran for his room, letting Wigglytuff take this wholly and entirely.

He had things of his own to fret about for the night. His mind swirled with thoughts of Darkrai and Shadow Pokémon. Rai and Mane were waiting for him as he slipped into their room, and their presence helped.

The three of them didn't need to say anything, Scout was quickly pulled into the bed and surrounded with shinx and litleo warmth. It was like they were guarding him from anyone else who tried to steal him away, and Scout found himself feeling safe there.

Even just running through the guild by himself flushed his body with adrenaline, of fear that when he slammed into the room they wouldn't be there, or they wouldn't be able to see him and he'd come to, finding that all this closeness and life again was just a hallucination.

It wasn't. It wasn't. It wasn't. It was real. He was real. Everyone was real, forget the complications of a game and story and fiction. They were all real. And he had them close to prove it.

He could deal with whatever was coming tomorrow.

And so, Scout tells everyone the truth.

In the original, this chapter and the previous were one and it was Chapter 40 which was why it wasn't split. That meant that not all the chapter was this extended moment, rather only about half was. Which, I think hurt the chapter more than doing it on Chapter 40 helped.

I fixed a few small things, but otherwise, this chapter is pretty similar to the original. There is an important change happening in the next chapter, however.

Stay tuned~

I also have a discord server. It's part story based, part general and people are pretty fun there! I might start posting invite links to that again, but you can ask me if you're interested!