"Pick a card, any three cards, Scout," Delphox of Fissure purred as she offered a spread deck of cards held in one hand to her visitors.
Team Ion had, after dragging Pyroar back to the Clefable Guild, decided to goof off and enjoy themselves. All work and no play after all. They had been told off by the healer of the guild after they were bandaged from the brutal fight, but none of them were strangers to injury anymore.
Thus, they went to Fissure.
They have strange ideas of fun.
Fissure reflected its name accurately, like an earthquake had ripped the land apart, Fissure lay within a deep crag in the earth. There was only one way in, near the thinnest part of the split that sharply tilted down. The smell of earth was intense, filling their noses on the trek down as the light of the sun was reduced to a sliver above them.
The town itself was and was not like Towny Town. That town held a general sense of roughness to it, shabby buildings and craning necks with narrowed eyes. In contrast, Fissure's buildings were much like Treasure Town.
It was built of the same black stone as Blackstone Village was, that and the abundant clay down here.
Also unlike Towny Town, no pokemon were in sight. The place was clearly lived in and Team Ion felt eyes on them as soon as they even approached the crack, but not a single creature greeted them with their presence. The place was very quiet and they stayed close together, wondering if this was such a good idea after all.
Especially if there was some Team Isotope around mimicking them.
Still though, they stuck it out looking for Delphox and found a large and squat building shaped like a witches hat. That was the place.
The building was lit from within, a slight glow to the foggy windows and Scout knocked before they entered. Inside, he and Rai coughed at the powerful smell of incense in the air but Mane merely grimaced and pushed through it.
"Come in, Team Ion." A voice beckoned them from within and they moved from a dark, cramped, room to what seemed like a greeting room. Several incense burners were suspended in the air by crisscrossing lances of fabric, there was a table that filled half the room, blocking anyone from entering farther than a few steps. Three cushions sat perfectly sized for the three of them, and behind the table sat an aged delphox.
Her fur was visibly greying in places but her eyes remained a bright, sharp, orange and she wore a blue-brimmed witches hat planted firmly on her head with slots for her ears.
Shuffling a deck of cards in front of her with a confident smirk she waited for the three to take a seat, Mane on the largest cushion.
"You expected us?" Rai asked as he was seated in the middle, all equal distances from Delphox.
"I expect many things," Delphox replied, her voice carrying a magnitude to it. "But it is up to pokemon to make reality."
Scout was watching her carefully. The part of his mind that played video games and felt human didn't believe that this could be anything but tricks. But he was in a world where cubs shot fire and lightning and if that wasn't magic, then what was?
Delphox's eyes turned to him, seeming to evaluate him in return. From the visible scars through his fur to the tint of his fur in the first place. "Alola never existed," she said, causing him to straighten up. "Most interesting to see one of you here."
"You… know?" he asked, immediately thrown off his prior thoughts.
Delphox's lip curled into a smirk and she flicked the cards between her hands before extending them with a hand. "Pick a card, any three cards, Scout."
Scout had to stand from the cushion to reach but he was the only one tall enough, and with enough dexterity, to do it. He chose three cards from the right of the pile. Delphox slipped the rest of the cards into the fluff of her arms and spread the three chosen cards with a finger.
"The first card you chose, suggests your past," she said, pushing the rightmost card to Scout's left, as she had spotted him touching that card first. "The second your present. And the third, your future."
Once the three cards were set she gestured for him to flip the first over. He did so with a feeling of trepidation he didn't understand. "Arcana are a thing here?" he asked upon seeing the card.
Rai and Mane immediately flinched as they read it. "Death?" Rai squeaked.
Delphox smiled, plucking the card. "Death, but upright. Don't panic, it simply means change, transformation, endings to new beginnings. Seems your partner went through a great change in his youth."
Scout frowned, he felt that readings were general enough to apply to anything but that did sting a thought in his head.
Delphox slipped the card away and Scout flipped the next one over. "Ah, the daevil," she said, eyeing the picture of the card, some monstrous darkness with hands.
"These don't seem like happy cards," Mane complained.
She was looking at Rai and Mane through the corner of her eye as she said. "Also upright. Thoughts you hate, attachment and restriction. Sexuality." All three of them glanced away from each other. "I have useful herbs if you need?"
"That's fine," Scout said through gritted teeth. "Next one?"
Chuckling at his discomfort, she slipped the card away and let him pick it up. Her eyes were set firmly on the card as if waiting for something as Scout flipped it. A great spire being struck by lightning as pokemon leapt off it as the earth crumbled beneath it.
There was a moment of silence in the hut before Delphox picked the card up. "The tower," was all she said at first.
"That's the future, right?" Rai asked. "What's the tower supposed to mean?"
"It's not… good," Scout said, vaguely remembering the tower was the bad tarot card.
"Upright," Delphox continued, "Sudden change and upheaval, chaos and revelations. Solid structure being built on unfavourable land, a single push to send it all crashing down." She slipped the card into her fur and drew the deck out again, shuffling it thoughtfully.
"Oh," Rai said.
"I was hoping for happier than that," Scout said, hoping he sounded casual. By the glance Rai and Mane gave him, he did not succeed.
"Well, I can help with happy endings," she said, a smirk returning to her face. "About those herbs?"
They did not stay much longer. Although Delphox did get her payment for services rendered nonetheless.
The walk to Blackstone Village was peaceful. In the confines of the town, they were promised to find Arashi, who was sticking around for the time being to make sure they, or rather just Rai, were safe and well.
Entering Blackstone Village, they'd need to look around for Ara to find her. She wasn't as kind or had as much free time, to wait at the border of town for them.
And inquisitive pokémon looking for another attracts other inquisitive pokémon looking for others.
"Ah, Shinx, Litleo, and Scout," Indeedee said, smiling warmly at them. They had reached the modest marketplace and had, to their relief, attracted little attention.
There were some concerned looks at the bandages they still wore, but pokémon here weren't as nosey as they were in Treasure Town.
"Indeedee!" Scout said, first to speak. He beamed. "It's nice to see you!"
"It is lovely to see you in kind," she replied, frowning a little. "My, what DID that beastly Pyroar do to you? I've heard you captured him, I offer my congratulations, but my word I had no idea it was such a bout."
"We took him down in the end!" Rai said, nodding confidently.
"We are awesome yes," Mane added, getting a bump from Rai.
"We're fine now," Scout answered, already mostly recovered. "Morpeko got away, though."
"Ah, that's not ideal."
"No," Mane grumbled, and she wisely left the topic alone.
"Well, I must say it is lovely to see you. May I ask if you've seen a rockruff around?" Indeedee asked, concern filling her voice. "He's quite the handful I must confess, always running off into dungeons. I was hoping to put that energy to a better use today, but I fear he's already traipsing around in the wilds by now."
"Sorry, we haven't seen him," Rai replied, and she nodded.
"Well, nothing can be helped. What can I do for you? You appear lost, but I've shown you around already so you must be looking for something yourself?"
"We're just looking for my sister, Luxio," Rai explained. "She's, well, a luxio. Carries a smaller pouch than Scout's Treasure Bag on her left shoulder."
Scout, whom everyone had just accepted that they may as well call him by his name even in public, nodded when Indeedee glanced at him.
"I believe I can help," she replied, "I haven't seen Luxio, but someone will have. Let us walk."
"Yeah," Mane said, "since we're here I might as well ask. What do you want for the 'help' you gave us earlier?"
"Want?" Indeedee asked, tilting her head slightly. "Oh, you don't need to pay me or anything. It was hardly anything difficult to have my assistant write up a series of accounts, after all." She winked.
"Everyone we've gotten help with wanted something," Mane argued, pressing the point. "Why would you be any different?"
"You've been shaken down for money and autographs all this time, haven't you?" she asked. Rai nodded. "Poor things. I don't need anything from you."
"Tauroshit. Are you going to call us on a 'favour' a year from now?"
"Mane!"
Indeedee raised her hand. "No, no, don't tell him he's not allowed to speak his mind," she chastised, causing Rai to blink and consider how he may have been doing that a lot. "His concerns are fair. How about this? Three potatoes, four big apples, and some wheat to pound into flour and we'll call us even?"
"I…" Mane blinked. "What?"
Indeedee giggled at his perplexed expression. "I'm taking, what you may call, the piss out of you. I need nothing, Litleo. If it'll settle your conscious, and perhaps your nerves, you gave me a rather unique meal of gratitude when we parted ways before. Tingly and spicy even, I've rarely enjoyed gratitude with a kick like that."
"Wait?" Scout asked, and Mane's expression changed like he'd been hit by a malamar. "You can taste gratitude?"
"But of course?" Indeedee replied, looking down at him. "It's what I eat, after all."
"Can you eat normal food?" Scout asked, before hearing himself. "Sorry, that's probably… sorry."
Indeedee laughed it off. "There's nothing wrong with curiosity, Meowth. Questions are fine, welcome even." He smiled, and she did too. "My gastrointestinal system can only really fit fluid, I have no actual stomach see. Trying to take anything else in could hurt me but theoretically, I could. I'd regret it, though. And I have no taste buds."
"Why do you have teeth then?" Scout couldn't help but ask.
"I believe it's partially to chew ice, partially a last defence mechanism. Partially, also, I think I'd look strange, wouldn't you think?"
"Oh…"
"You look like you have one more?"
"Well… I just wondering, what does gratitude taste like?"
She chuckled at his expression. "Yours tastes rather understated but quite… present and filling."
"What did mine taste like?" Rai asked, also rather curious.
"Difficult to put into words," Indeedee replied. "Something similar to biting into a citrus fruit but not nearly so sour, sweeter with a… pop, I suppose is the best word to describe it. Odd, but pleasant."
Rai nodded, satisfied with that. He and Scout looked to Mane, who rolled his eyes.
"What about mine?" he asked. "If you even got any."
She smirked. "Oh, I did." He blushed, just a tiny bit when Rai and Scout smirked at him. "Spicy, Litleo. Very spicy. A rather violent kind of taste, overpowering but also… brief."
"That's really interesting," Scout said, unable to contain his enthusiasm. The Pokémon World still amazed him, it was incredibly wild and fun to live this reality, see things from this side and experience them in ways he couldn't have dreamed of.
"Thank you," Indeedee said. "Most pokémon give me naught but strange looks if I ever was to describe how their gratitude tasted. Then they'd never let me hear the end of it."
"How does it work?" Scout asked, deciding to just go all in and learn. "Tasting, eating gratitude? It's hard to imagine, but…"
Indeedee considered the question. "I must admit the idea of receiving sustenance through consuming fruit, vegetables, and even… flesh is rather hard for me to imagine, in kind." Scout shivered slightly when she said flesh, it wasn't a nice word. He very rarely ate anything meat here, only when Rai and Mane were and he couldn't resist the smell.
Rai and Mane did not comment.
"As an indeedee, I have special sensors in different parts of my body," Indeedee explained, the gentle, even matronly, tone to her voice fading slightly to something more enthusiastic. Everyone liked talking about themselves, after all.
"Psychically entuned, we are a very sensitive species to the emotions of others. In a technicality, I can feed on other emotions, but most would be the equivalent of processed foods such as cookies and other such sweets. Not particularly good for me. And anything I take in is brought in its purest sense, there is no filling in-between. Imagine eating nothing but sugar, spice, or salt? You wouldn't be able to live off that."
"Wouldn't be able to eat that in general," Rai mentioned. "That sounds way too strong."
"It's something I am prepared to consume," Indeedee replied. "Powerful emotions can be overwhelming, but my body is suited in kind. It's these sensors that are connected to my central nervous system, gastrointestinal system, and others that run off those and send signals. Gratitude triggers certain cells I have to absorb it and transform into nutrients that…" she paused. "I… my apologies, I have gotten far too into this."
"Oh!" Scout said, very enthralled. "No-no, that was really interesting!"
"Did you understand it?" Indeedee asked, genuinely curious.
"I think so." Scout nodded. Rai and Mane, who had barely understood a lick of that, just nodded along as well. Nod and the confusing words might stop.
"Quite an intelligent pokémon you must be," Indeedee said, smiling. "I imagine Chimecho must love to speak to you; did you learn this from her?"
"I have talked to Chimecho about this kind of thing," Scout agreed, without really confirming what she asked. She didn't need the mind-spinning explanation that had to be secret anyway.
On the inside, he was a bit surprised, though. Indeedee was very intelligent, even his conversations with Chimecho hadn't gone nearly that far, and she was right about to lose him before she stopped herself.
"Well, give her my best. I should stop dominating the conversation and actually assist you in finding Luxio. The last time I started talking about cell processes, I scared away some prospective pokémon looking to move here."
"Are you scaring off more pokémon?" one of the townsfolk, a flygon, called. "I thought we agreed you weren't to talk to anyone ever? Anymore?"
"Oh, hush you." Indeedee waved her hand and pinched the flygon's lips shut with a pull of Psychic. "Weren't you helping Houndoom rebuild his wall?" Flygon gave her a Look and flew off. Rather quickly, actually.
She had forgotten about that, poor Houndoom would be waiting by his wrecked wall with nothing but hope.
"Sometimes I wonder if they keep me around just to bully me so much," Indeedee sighed, turning back to Team Ion. "Let us find Luxio!"
Indeedee reminded several other pokémon that they were supposed to be helping Houndoom today. An aegislash, dragonair, and manectric all ran off with shame on their faces after being reminded.
"You would think they'd get the idea by now," Indeedee sighed, shaking her head. "My apologies for all the distractions and detours. This town always seems to be falling apart one house or another, and you'd think someone would help when they themselves offer that help." She gave Dewott a Look, and he too ran off to help Houndoom in shame.
"I'm sure that's why they keep you around," Scout said, concealing a laugh at Indeedee's fierceness. "You keep everyone in line."
"You are overstating me," Indeedee replied. "But I suppose I am useful for some things. Luxio?" she called, raising her voice. Ara, who was peering into a tent of goodies, pulled her head out quickly and glanced around. "I have a team asking for you."
Rai brightened as Ara paid the merchant and trotted over, Scout and Mane were a little more neutral. But Ara HAD helped them out after everyone lost consciousness, even if it was just for Rai's sake the point was still fair.
"So, that's what the cat dragged in?" Ara said as she looked the three over.
"You mean you?" Rai giggled.
"Well, yes."
"Thank you for coming to help us," Scout said, he gave Mane a glance. "It was pretty rough by the end." Another look. "So… thanks."
"Even if was just for Shinx's sake," Mane grumbled, he had seen the looks. "But thanks, whatever."
"Easy boy," Ara said, tail flicking out. "Someone might think you're actually being grateful."
Giving her a flat look, Mane blew some fur out of his face. "Take it or leave it."
She rolled her eyes right back. "Whatever," she drawled, in an exact duplication of Mane's uncaring tone.
"Play nice, please," Rai said, to Mane. "Luxio's just giving you a hard time for fun. You know all about that!"
"From my own partner, I am called out!" Mane gasped, falling onto his side dramatically.
"Get up," Scout said, grabbing his shoulders and tugging him back up. Mane definitely considered going all floppy just to piss him off but decided against it and remained standing.
"Alright, we've all here now. Shall we be off?"
"Before you go," Indeedee said, watching the back and forth quietly. "I insist you have something to eat. It's quite a travel before you."
"We do need to stock up on a few items," Scout agreed, patting the Treasure Bag. It was a little damaged from the battle against Pyroar, having been touched by scatterings of flames several times. But it still helps firm, if fraying in parts.
"Well, we have shopkeepers who would love your money." Indeedee winked and took Scout for a walk, the rest of them standing around in confusion for a moment before following.
"I confess I am curious about you in kind," Indeedee said as she brought Scout to the best of the best for only the highest quality of items. "I've told you a bit about myself, and you listened which is… depressingly uncommon. But how about yourself? I shouldn't dominate the conversation."
"Oh!" Scout's ears went up before folding back just slightly. "Uh, well… not really sure where to begin to be honest."
"How did you meet the others of Team Ion?" Indeedee asked, happy to lead him into some conversation.
"Well, I met Rrrra. Sorry. Shinx first and we made the team together. Litleo was actually one of our first missions in the Wigglytuff Guild."
"Needed rescuing did he?"
"…Sure, let's go with that."
Indeedee chuckled, it wasn't hard to imagine what the rather sharp-tongued litleo may have been doing.
"But he joined the team after we went to Amp Plains, he thought it was a trap… he was right, and he wasn't willing to let Shinx go and get hurt. Turns out, he does care."
"That's sweet," Indeedee said. "I promise not to tease him about it."
"You better not!" Mane yelled. They were close enough to overhear the conversation, but the three were choosing to let Scout talk to Indeedee alone. She seemed to like him, and Scout was smiling.
"Or I'll tell her about the 'sleep' seed story."
"Don't." Scout spun on them. "You. Dare."
"What is the sleep seed story?" Indeedee asked, serene and very amused.
"Well," Mane began, strolling up all fluffy and satisfied with himself. "One day, Scout decides to play a prank…"
Scout's good time was ruined forevermore when Rai and Mane decided to tell Indeedee a bunch of embarrassing stories about him.
From Rai's retelling of the naming debacle, also used to inform Indeedee that it was all just a misunderstanding, to Mane's story involving the three ducklett and a very upset Scout, they had a great time and so did Indeedee.
But to make up for it, they got discounts when a red-nosed Scout pointed out the stuff he wanted to buy, and Indeedee made sure of it.
She walked them to the edge of the town, the side they originally entered what felt like weeks ago now, smiling a little sadly.
"Well, it has been lovely meeting you four," she said, mostly looking to Scout. "Stay safe on your trip home, please do not get yourself into trouble like this again, and when you reach Treasure Town would you ask Chimecho just to inform me, so I know you made it back safely?"
"Of course." Scout nodded. "Thank you, Indeedee."
"Take care." She waved and received it in return.
Team Ion each took a breath, nodded to each other, and stepped out with light in their eyes. Ara followed along, slightly apart but closer to Rai as the three chatted about the future.
Pyroar was defeated, their graduation exam was finished. Scout supposed they'd be living in Sharpedo Bluff soon, a part of him was sad, a part of him was excited, and a part of him was scared.
He feared they'd have darkness to deal with soon enough. But for now, he smiled and spent time with Rai and Mane, walking comfortably to Treasure Town.
Team Sunrise staggered through the Magnagate, emerging out in the wilds close to Treasure Town. All four of them tightly gripped the other and once they were out they all collapsed to their knees or flat on the ground, shuddering from that experience.
Striker was the first to recover enough to smash an Energy Ball into the glyph of the Entercard, breaking it and causing the shivering portal to distort before collapsing. With that he dropped onto his back and groaned, "That was worse than any dungeon of the future."
Saniya, who had the clearest memory of the Dark Future, was nearly crying and Striker, recovering enough again to crawl over to her, pulled her into a hug. Saniya burrowed into his chest, trembling violently.
Guardian, built of the sternest stuff, was slowly remembering how to float as Sean coughed violently, almost writhing on the ground. "Sean?" Guardian croaked, reaching a hand to the riolu.
A simple tap seemed to ricochet a blast that knocked Guardian back a foot and Sean sprang to his feet. "DO NOT TOUCH ME!"
Every flinched at Sean's furious bellow, including Sean himself. He recoiled, shaking his head and looked at his paws. "N-no, I mean. I'm sorry, I didn't, why did I-?"
Guardian slowly reached for him again as Sean covered his face. "Oh my gosh, could you hear that stuff in there? I can still hear it! I can still hear it! Something's in my HEAD!" His paws curled around his tassels and he looked like he was about to try and rip them off.
Guardian struck in that moment, his palm holding a sleep seed that he had crushed into power. He caught Sean by the muzzle and forced him to breathe it in, the riolu's eyes going wide with shock before losing consciousness swiftly.
Guardian picked Sean up as Striker struggled to his feet, his expression thunderous. "Where the FUCK is Lucario?" he snarled, looking around as if she was just standing around ready to be punched in the face.
"Let's find out," Guardian said grimly, shouldering the horrors of that magnagate aside for the time being.
It wasn't difficult for Striker to determine where they were, having learned the terrain around Treasure Town well while running from Guardian.
Once they arrived in Treasure Town they stormed up the guild, Guardian not even waiting for the sentries to raise the gate he simply grabbed it and lifted it himself.
Saniya, who recovered enough to be angry for Sean's sake, raised her voice like a raging goddess, calling, "WHERE IS LUCARIO?"
They arrived at the bottom floor where she was pacing outside the hospital wing. She glanced up at them, eyes locking onto Sean immediately. "He didn't leave the path did he?"
Saniya zoomed straight up to her like a pink missile, and Lucario caught her dead cold. "There's a reason those things are banned, it was your choice to enter it."
That seemed to stop her cold in both fury and arguments, but Striker was next. "You did not warn us it would be THAT bad!"
Guardian floated straight past her, intent on getting Sean help immediately. "I figured you could handle it," she replied, eyes narrowed. "And you did, good job."
Striker snarled, looking all the ready to punch her in the face.
"Grovyle!" Armaldo yelled, stomping out of the office. "Celebi too, back off. Do not agitate Lucario."
"Sean suffered some sort of meltdown afterwards!" Saniya shrieked.
"Then I will help you," Lucario replied firmly. They turned to her, confusion replacing some of the anger. "To prevent it from happening again, seems he's in need of help sooner rather than later." With that she turned around and entered the hospital wing.
Guardian was laying Sean down on a bed as Chimecho floated around in concern, rays of light beaming off her and onto him, her frown only growing with each moment. "There's nothing?" she muttered.
Scizor lay unconscious on another bed, just the slighted sound of his breath indication he still lived, piled with blankets and warmers.
"Riolu needs to have it wrought out of him," Lucario said as soon as she entered. "There's nothing physically wrong with him, it's something else. Take him to Beach Cave right now and do everything you can to keep him from hurting himself."
"W-what?" Guardian said, turning to her. His eye flickered as his fingers twitched at the sight of her. "What are you talking about?"
"The kids a human isn't he?" she asked. "He's been getting testier and angrier lately, right? Nothing to do with puberty either. Well, probably."
"How could you know that?" Guardian demanded, thinking back to the travel through the dungeon where Sean had been showcasing some concerning lapses in composure. It was more than that as well, their beloved hero had been more distant, less patient, more liable to anxious energy lately as well.
"Because it happened to Wartortle and Dewott as well," Lucario replied. "Team Go-Getters are around aren't they? They haven't told you about this?"
She received a blank look and she growled, "Idiots. Take him to Beach Cave right now and work the stuff out of him before something happens."
When The Legendary Lucario orders you to do something, you listen and obey. Guardian quietly scooped Sean up and floated out with Striker and Saniya in tow.
Lucario backed out and lay against the wall with a groan. "I should go too but I can't focus."
The rest of the guild had no idea how to approach the legendary figure and thus kept their distance.
She stood vigil the whole night, Team Sunrise didn't return and eventually Wigglytuff went out to look for them.
When he returned with an unconscious riolu in his arms and hollering for Chimecho, the whole town was awoken by it. Sean looked an absolute wreck, bruises blooming all over his body so deep they were visible through the lighter patches of his fur.
"Go to the beach!" Guildmaster Wigglytuff ordered as Chimecho yelled out in shock from the medical bay. "The rest of them are injured too!"
"From Beach Cave?" Loudred spluttered but the Guildmaster was already gone. There was a brief exchange of plans before Loudred, Croagunk, and Sunflora went off to find them while Armaldo turned his gaze towards Lucario.
He approached her, more delicately than he may approach anyone else in the world and asked, "What has happened?"
The lucario had stood vigil and motionless all this time, although he knew without a doubt that she hadn't slept a wink even as dark circles deepened under her eyes. "He'll be back to normal tomorrow."
"But why?" Armaldo pressed. "You knew at a glance Riolu has been struggling for some time, didn't you? Our town therapist has hit a wall in helping him, she's been very concerned about his mental state. I thought it may be a feeling of being locked into town, but you seem to know something else."
Keira the Legendary Lucario turned a tired eye to Armaldo, meeting his own. He was a formidable pokemon, enough so that he didn't even twitch at the weight of her stare. Like eons of pressure. She had no psychic attack but for a moment Armaldo nearly buckled under the pressure of her eyes alone.
"I dunno, I just have ideas and they tend to work."
He paused but eventually accepted that, stepping back with a respectful nod. Lucario waited around until the guildmembers returned, Loudred carrying Saniya, Sunflora dragging Guardian in with her vines, and Croagunk supported Striker to limp in. All three had Aqua Rings floating around them.
"What happened?" Armaldo barked, eyes flashing wide at the sight of them. His mind ran a mile for a moment, Beach Cave was one of the least dangerous dungeons on the continent, there was nothing in there that could do this much damage to them besides a possible breach, which was impossible with Sean in their team.
Yet, there was a sense of relief on all three of their faces. "He, uh," Saniya said weakly, managing a smile. "He's okay now."
He turned to Lucario with confusion on his face before turning back to them, opened his mouth, nothing came out. Growling, Armaldo shook his head. "Go to the hospital wing, and everyone else go to bed!" He stomped out, the guild shaking and slammed the door behind him.
Keira smirked a touch at the dramatic fella. Striker motioned for Croagunk to stop as they were passing by and cleared his throat.
"Um," he began.
"You're welcome," she said.
His jaw tightened a tiny amount before he sighed and nodded, nothing else was said and the night returned to peace and quiet.
Sunflora and Loudred scuttled past her when they emerged but Croagunk paused and glanced up at Keira. "Meh-heh-heh, good to have you around, Lucario."
She tilted her head to him and he crawled into the Swap Cauldron.
Eventually Wigglytuff was kicked out as well and he flashed Keira a smile as he returned to his own bedroom.
Once it was truly peace and quiet, she let her eyes close.
To the confusion and relief of the guild, Sean was absolutely fine from whatever rambunctiousness had gone down overnight.
He was the first awake and went ahead and prepared the morning meal since Chimecho had worked so hard overnight, making sure Scizor continued to not die.
"Hi, everyone!" he chirped when the first few pokemon entered, drowsy from the interruption last night.
"Um… are you okay?" Flaaffy asked, eyeing him in concern. "You looked absolutely terrible last night."
"Thanks!" Sean beamed. "I felt terrible! But I feel much better today."
"You've still got…." Flaffy gestured to his nose and Sean grabbed his own and winced. "Bruises everywhere."
That was true, Sean was limping just slightly as well but there seemed to be a sparkle back in his eyes that the guildmembers were realising had dimmed the past couple of weeks. He had been getting worse until Team Sunrise returned, which seemed to fix him until he quietly went downhill again.
It was insidious, how subtle the trend was, most of them only noticed it now that he seemed to have recovered. He got a lot of thank you's for preparing the food that morning.
Eventually, the rest of Team Sunrise slithered out. They had fared better than Sean but were stepping carefully nonetheless.
"Oh my gosh!" Saniya squeaked as she spotted Sean. "You weren't there when we woke up! Sssss-" She glanced at Striker who was looking cool as a cucumber except for his eyes. "Sssaniya, me, really almost freaked out when you weren't there!"
"Morning, guys!" Sean grinned. "Sorry about… that."
"Don't be sorry," Guardian rumbled as they seated themselves with him. "Just talk to us if you're not feeling quite right, okay?"
Sean nodded. "I don't know what it was but venting in the dungeon really helped."
"Venting," Saniya said, eyes narrowing. "Sssssusure, that's what we'll call it." Sean blushed a little, but there was a tiny glimmer of pride in his eyes. "I don't know where you learned to fight like that but I'm going to take credit."
"Those slashes and jumps were all me," Striker countered.
"I believe his stamina was inspired from me," Guardian added.
"All me," Saniya concluded.
Relaxing, the guild day went on as usual and Armaldo shelved out tasks for everyone today.
"No one is to bother Lucario," Armaldo added with deadly consequences promised in his voice. "Understood?"
He got a chorus of agreements, the guild was used to acting appropriately after The Great Dusknoir fiasco and no one wanted to see The Legendary Lucario get angry.
Everyone but Team Sunrise had a job to do. "You four," Armaldo said. He was eyeing Sean carefully but there seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary. "You get an extra day off to do as you please."
They all perked up and disbanded.
Excited, they discussed a few interesting options that could be explored. "Should we ask Lucario about all that?" Sean brought up first.
"Armaldo might bite us in half," Striker pointed out.
"I'll bite him first!" Saniya declared, sending a fiery glare around her until she couldn't find him. "He's not even around."
"I don't know," Guardian said. "While I do believe she owes us some answers, and we may be able to leverage rescuing Scizor for that, I am leaning towards letting her be for now. We all saw her exchange with Scizor and with us in the medical bay she was not able to spend any time with him. Let's just do something else and at the end of the day perhaps we can talk to her."
His wise reasoning won out and so they left the guild. Everyone stuck close to Sean who was in the best mood they had seen since the day they'd returned.
The previous night they had rushed by Lapras and deciding he may be concerned, they went to visit him.
Lapras spotted them from the waves he was surfing and floated over promptly. "Team Sunrise! Are you four alright?"
"We're fine now," Sean said.
"Thank you for the Aqua Rings," Guardian rumbled pleasantly. "It eased the burn quite a bit." Sean chuckled awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head.
Lapras relaxed, looking most relieved. "I am glad to hear it," he said. "What on Vitalia happened in there?"
No one answered at first, some eyes turning to Sean, silently letting him decide if he wanted to explain or not. Sean for his part, shrugged. "I'm not actually sure, it was all kinda a blur after the magnagate."
Lapras' eyes rose. "A magnagate? Those are monstrous things!"
"We figured that out," Striker said, crossing his arms. "Seemed like a good idea at the time, we much would have preferred getting your help in retrospect. Lucario, the legendary one, opened one and we followed."
Lapras grimaced a little. "Goodness, that must have been quite a circumstance to require something so dangerous. Was it destroyed?" Striker nodded. "Good. I am relieved to see you are all in good spirits today."
"I feel much better," Sean said. "I'm not entirely sure why, but I do."
"I wish I could offer an idea but I have none," Lapras sighed.
"Well, maybe not," Sean said. "We got a day off so we're trying to work out what to do today?"
Lapras hummed in thought. "Perhaps you'd like to visit Dialga? He's a little lonely nowadays."
"Lonely!?" Saniya gasped, horrified. "I knew he liked us."
"Master Dialga is lonely?" Guardian asked, concerned. "How do you know this?"
"I visit Dialga myself," Lapras explained. "I'm not always at the beach, after all. I travelled back there a couple of weeks ago, and Dialga came to see me. We got to talking. Dialga didn't say he was lonely, but I felt the lack of companionship there. Don't tell Dialga I said that, though."
"Hmm."
"We should go," Striker said, nodding. "Dialga did so much for us; visiting occasionally won't do any harm."
Sean frowned a bit but didn't huff or make any verbal rejection to the point. He remembered bright and clear how the last visit to Dialga went, but part of him wondered if that story is what stopped Guardian from asking to visit as well.
He refused to feel guilty over the matter, especially after Scout revealed he had been able to speak to Dialga. That Dialga knew he was there the whole time and said nothing.
"To the Hidden Land?" Lapras asked.
"To the Hidden Land!" Saniya, Striker, and Guardian chorused. Smiling happily at the decision, Lapras let them on the back of his shell and they were off.
Unlike the trip to Blizzard Island, which required some Lapras Secrets to make in any sense of a reasonable time, the path to the Hidden Land was passed down in his blood for generations. Since Dialga first locked the realm away one-second difference to the rest of the world, only a single small path could breach the sea of time, and only Lapras' family had been given the knowledge of crossing it.
With experience having sped the journey up, within a few hours, Lapras appeared to be flying within the air itself and their surroundings blurred to a magical azure before the air snapped, and the Hidden Land appeared in view, titanic and floating in a gap in time, in the split of a second.
Temporal Tower floated in the far distance. Serene and mostly whole, it appeared to be a little less ramshackle than the last time they were here, Dialga continuing the repair work in the absence of others.
A sky-splitting roar nearly spooked Sean and Striker off Lapras' shell, requiring Guardian to snatch them both up and causing Lapras to shake with laughter.
"Did you KNOW that was going to happen?" Saniya demanded after her heart stopped beating a million miles a minute.
"Perhaps," Lapras said, still giggling a little. He nodded forwards, was a blue speck dropped from the tower and began approaching them. "Dialga detected my entry last time. I believe they have some way to tell when someone enters the Hidden Land."
It was a relief that they didn't have to traverse the dungeons again, but that spook had given all four of them a nasty flashback to Primal Dialga, and none of them departed Lapras' shell immediately upon first docking.
"Dialga is not going to do it again," Lapras soothed, nudging them off with words. Saniya left first, shaking it off. Followed by Guardian who was still holding Striker and Sean.
Waiting close to Lapras, Team Sunrise stood with not a small amount of tension as the speck grew wider, larger, and more Dialga-like.
Gliding majestically in the air like a dinosaur horse made of metal, time, and concise frustrated, Dialga approached.
"Team Sunrise," Dialga rumbled. The legendary was larger than the last time they had been here, but still not quite as large as the Dialga they had known before. "It has been a while."
Thankfully not large enough, or perhaps still mindful enough, not to roar everything in a literal sense of a caps lock.
"Master Dialga," Guardian said, bowing and dropping Striker and Sean into the dirt. "It is good to see you again."
"What did I tell you about the Master thing?" Dialga grumbled, stomping closer. Every step felt like it shook the world. As this entire subspace was just one island, that may have been true.
"That I shouldn't do it," Guardian sighed. "Yes, Master Dialga," he added, perhaps to be a little cheeky.
Dialga gave him an unimpressed stare before snorting. "So. What brings you four here? Lapras claim that I am lonely or something?"
"Yes," Saniya said, brightly. She felt Lapras' glare on the back of her neck, and she smiled, very proud of herself.
Dialga levied a glare at Lapras who had the decency to look a little abashed. "If you're here, you might as well talk. Answer me, what have the four of you been doing?"
Concealing smiles at Dialga's obviousness, Team Sunrise minus Sean regaled Dialga with their time since they had left. Dialga largely listened to their stories without speaking, but it did glance at Sean many times.
"And then Lucario opened a magnagate! And we went through it and it was just the worst thing EVER! After that Lucario told us to take Sean to Beach Cave and now he's all better. Today, Lapras said you were lonely and so we came here!" Saniya finished, having done a great deal of the talking, but not all of it.
"That was… a lot," Dialga said, although it wouldn't admit that it had zoned out most of what Saniya had just rattled off. She spoke awfully quickly, and Dialga didn't have the benefit of interfering with time anymore to make her more bearable.
Time was still too unstable to mess with, even Saniya's teleports were toeing the line.
"What about Riolu?" Dialga asked, finally finding the time to address Sean directly. "I am not certain if he is simply being polite and letting you." He gave Saniya a Look. "Talk or is just quiet. But I would have expected something by now."
Sean blinked. "Pardon?" he asked.
"A thank you," Dialga replied, rumbling. They were a little offended but wouldn't directly say that. "For taking in these three strays for a time before sending them back to be with you. I've heard whispers of Palkia's whining and whinging for several months now about an impact to space. Ensuring it did not know of any of you protects you from Palkia's wrath but endandgers myself, I would hope you have some politeness to share."
"I… did thank you," Sean said, very puzzled. The rest of Team Sunrise and Lapras were all staring in confusion as well but towards Dialga. "When Shinx, Litleo, and I came to talk to you. I understand we were a little rude, but I DID thank you."
Dialga paused. A frown touched its face. "I have not seen anyone besides Lapras since Striker, Saniya, and Guardian left," Dialga answered, firmly. "I have no idea of what you speak of."
"No," Sean said, voice rising to a near-squeak as horror began to grip him. Guardian was looking sharply between everyone. "Lapras?" Sean turned. "You brought us here, and we talked to Dialga."
"Yes." Lapras nodded. "I did."
"When did this happen?" Dialga demanded.
"About three months ago," Lapras answered.
"I have no knowledge of this," Dialga insisted. "I have not seen any of Team Sunrise since you left, I only know the name due to being told by Lapras."
"No!" Sean said, voice hitting a near yell. "We came to talk to you! We met you at the Rainbow Stoneship. You could see Scout! And you told us that you WOULD not revive him, because of some shit with Palkia. Scout had to be revived by Darkrai."
"The meowth is revived?" Dialga thundered. "No wonder Palkia has been trying to enter the Hidden Land. It must be furious."
"You TOLD us!" Sean insisted, almost sounding like he was pleading. "And then you told him! The only thing you offered was to remove Scout's memory from Shinx?"
"Remove?" Dialga spluttered. "Remove memory? I am a dialga. I control time, not the mind. How, by any stretch of the idea, could I interfere with one's memory? Even that of a being, formally, removed to time? Perhaps I could preserve such a memory, not remove. You make no sense!"
Sean looked to Striker and Guardian and Saniya in horror. "We've got to get back to Treasure Town," he said. "We had a nightmare the night we stayed here." He turned to Lapras, who wore a grave expression. "Everyone, right?"
Lapras slowly nodded.
"We've got to alert the guild. Darkrai was here."
Lapras, pushing himself harder than before, made it in almost one day, but night had well and truly fallen when they arrived, and he sagged on the beach as Saniya levitated and flew the other three ahead.
Guardian, calmer than the others, lifted the gate again without waiting, and once they were all through, passed under and let it drop. He had tried to phase through it and bumped right into it, but no one else needed to know that. It was likely enchanted similar to the jail cells.
Saniya, actually bouncing off the walls, caused quite a ruckus by the time they had stormed into Wigglytuff's chambers and woke him up.
"Wuzzuh?" Wigglytuff groaned, eyes pulling open as he clutched a chatot-doll firmly to his chest. He didn't quite recognise them at first, or anything really, being woken up far too suddenly. He had no blanket, there was none in the room.
Saniya might have cooed at the doll if the sight of it also wouldn't have made everyone so very sad. Wigglytuff soon set it, gently, aside and got up. "What is it?" he asked, as Armaldo also stormed in.
Four threads of white string suddenly wrapped around the four of them and pulled them out very ungently as Armaldo roared, "WHAT ARE YOU FOUR DOING?"
The String Shot very tight, knocked the wind out of Sean and Striker's chests, but Saniya struggled, yelling. "We have bad news!"
There had been a little more shouting, and conflicting voices before Wigglytuff shut everyone down with a small shockwave.
"Okay," Wigglytuff sighed, sad he had to do that. To make up for it, he began to Sing his next words, putting some calming Power into them. "Tell us, tell us, tell us what you've found~?"
Eyes fell to Sean. Team Sunrise never had an official leader, but decisions were most often deferred to Sean. He knew it, his companions knew it, everyone knew it. So, it was him to explain.
"We visited Dialga," Sean said, voice soft and almost meek in the pressuring silence around them, "and we found out that when Shinx, Litleo, and I went to ask Dialga about reviving Scout, it wasn't Dialga we met that day."
"How have you learned this?" Wigglytuff asked, the song fading as he prompted Sean to elaborate.
"Dialga said they hadn't seen anyone since the others." He gestured around him to the others of Team Sunrise. "Left, besides Lapras. And… well, on the same night we stayed there we all, including Lapras, had a nightmare. Since the only one that could also see Scout was Darkrai and the false Dialga offered to take Shinx's memory of Scout."
"Which doesn't make sense," Saniya said, nodding. "But none of us really thought about that."
"Yeah," Sean agreed. "It must have been Darkrai there, trying to do something. And I mean… Darkrai 'wanted' Scout to be revived and he could probably have done it at any time. Why would he NOT have revived Scout then and there when we were asking for it? Why try and trick us into thinking Dialga wouldn't?"
"That is… confusing," Armaldo said, Wigglytuff was very silent. "You can't be certain that the Dialga you saw was Darkrai."
"Who else could it have been?" Saniya snapped, always ready to argue with Armaldo.
"I am not saying it can't have been Darkrai," Armaldo retorted, heat entering his voice. "I simply find it reckless to immediately assume one suspect and treat it as if that is the only answer. Darkrai are not known to be able to create illusions, they can manipulate dreams, but I do not know of any legends of Darkrai that can cause a waking illusion. The zorua family is far more capable of that."
"Scout informed us that 'Dialga' could see him, however," Guardian pointed out. "Currently, only two pokémon have been able to do that. And considering that Dialga is now proven to not be the same, that leaves us with only one. I am a Ghost-type and Saniya is a time-based legend, and yet neither of us could see Scout."
"Right," Saniya added. "The most I had was just a little tickle on the back of my neck, I had no idea. And I'm literally the Time Travel Pokémon, Giratina told me."
"Which leads us back to Darkrai," Wigglytuff sighed, speaking up. "Considering that Scout's own statement on the matter. According to Darkrai himself, according to Scout, Darkrai could see him due to a combination of his earlier manipulation of time and Scout's current state as a 'living memory or dream' of sorts. Perhaps a dream-manipulating pokémon could also see him, but perhaps not if they didn't have some sort of control over time."
Armaldo crossed his arms. "I will accept that Darkrai is the most likely answer, but that doesn't explain how he could create an illusion like you are claiming. There are pieces missing here, and it's dangerous to work with incomplete information!"
"Then we will find what we need," Striker said, deep voice running through every crack and crevice in the room. "We don't know where to start, however…"
Armaldo opened his mouth, but Wigglytuff spoke first. "First things first, everyone… go to bed."
"What?" Was the unanimous response.
Wigglytuff looked tired. Lines were under his eyes, his shoulders were slumped. His fur was matted. His eyes were dull. "The four of you are still exhausted from recent injuries, Armaldo is tired of dealing with the guild in my absence and I… I'm just tired. We aren't going to get anything done working off stress and panic, so we will all go to bed and reconvene tomorrow morning."
He held a firm look and waited until a few pokémon began to crack. "Also." Wigglytuff raised his voice. "That goes for the eavesdropping pokémon as well. You have work to do tomorrow, and you can't be tired either."
A shadow of a smile crossed Wigglytuff's face as the distant sounds of scuffling hit everyone's ears, and Armaldo positively snarled at the impudence. Before he could march off to shout at them, Wigglytuff said, "Not tonight."
Armaldo paused at the door, standing very still. He took a deep, shuddering, breath and let it go. "Very well. Tomorrow."
"Tomorrow."
Armaldo glanced back to Team Sunrise, none of whom were moving. "The Guildmaster has ordered you to bed. Move it."
The sharpness of Armaldo's tone did get them to move, and Team Sunrise retired to bed, slumping into their room as one.
Despite various levels of exhaustion among the pokémon, few had a particularly good night of rest. Saniya's wings were still sore. Guardian could still feel the pokémon lost in Froslass's icy graveyard. Sean could think of nothing besides the meeting with 'Dialga' that hadn't been Dialga at all. And Striker simply didn't want to leave his companions unguarded with what was likely an enemy on the loose.
He also thought of Team Ion. They had no idea of what had transpired, and to make matters worse, they were likely exhausted as well.
Striker did slip into rest eventually, but the days at the guild always begun early and they had arrived back rather late. It felt like he had closed his eyes for a minute before they were opening again and Team Sunrise moved.
They were not the first ones up, but not the last either. The four rested close to each other during the morning announcement. Wigglytuff barely said anything, simply stood around as Armaldo discussed what needed to be discussed.
He didn't mention the eavesdroppers, as he didn't know who exactly it had been. Knowing the guild as he did, however, Armaldo assigned everyone besides Chimecho a lot more work than normal and glared holes through anyone who even looked like they were thinking of complaining.
There was no sign of Lucario still, and Chimecho's update on Scizor was brief.
Saniya was dozing on Guardian's shoulder, and Striker had an arm hooked around one of Guardian's hands, holding himself steady. Guardian and Sean were more alert, one being a ghost and the other built for this kind of activity.
Looking to the four, Armaldo nodded and slowly turned around to avoid knocking Wigglytuff over with his tail. He began to walk into Wigglytuff's room, and the four followed. Wigglytuff entered last, feet almost dragging.
As soon as Wigglytuff had the doors closed tightly, Armaldo activated a mute orb. The aura of quiet flowed out, folding along the hard surfaces of the room until no sound would easily leak out.
"Are we all ready to discuss this reasonably, levelly, and respectfully?" Armaldo asked, gesturing for Wigglytuff to sit in his big chair. Wigglytuff trudged to it and sat.
"I'll be nice," Saniya said. "I can be serious, you know?"
"Miracles have happened before."
"You don't make it any easier," Sean said, raising an eye at Armaldo. "You egg her on as well."
Armaldo eyed him but said nothing.
"Who would like to begin?" Wigglytuff said. "Say your thoughts on the matter at hand."
"I'll start," Sean said, the youngest of the six in the room. "We were treating the whole Darkrai stuff as 'he's probably evil, but we're not sure' well… shouldn't we change that? It's not really a matter of 'probably' anymore. Directly trying to manipulate us, especially Shinx, into forgetting Scout… into giving UP on him, when he could have helped at any time. What could it be besides him being evil?"
"A fair point," Wigglytuff said. "Who next?"
"At least one of you go again," Armaldo said. "You know I'll be playing Yveltal's Advocate in this discussion, so start mounting your reasonings now."
"I don't see what else needs to be added," Saniya said, going next. "He basically forced Scout into accepting the deal to be revived. He's got to be a dick as well. Attacking the guys when they travelled back in time too, as if he's had a change of heart. He's just trying to trick Scout."
"Not the hardest thing to do, that," Striker said, sighing. "We do have a problem with it all."
"Ah?" Armaldo said. "You've noticed something wrong?"
"It's hardly difficult to notice," Striker replied, very tiredly. "We know that Darkrai revived Scout, but we don't know why. We now know that he posed as Dialga in an effort to do… something, perhaps memory erasure wasn't even the goal? But he posed as Dialga for some reason, to speak to Scout perhaps? But we don't know why."
"The issue that I see with everything," Guardian said. "Is that Darkrai wants Scout alive. I have him to thank for that. But at the same time… he could have simply offered that revival in the Hidden Land while disguised as Dialga. Clearly, he has no fear of reprisal from Dialga or Palkia or else he would not have revived Scout in the first place. But the issue is still there. Why later? Why not use the guise of Dialga to revive him without needing to give himself up as the benefactor here?"
"Well, I am impressed," Armaldo admitted. "Some logic. I'm glad you four haven't lost it completely yet. We have no motive for Darkrai's actions. It seems random, confusing, even contradictory. We have no definite confirmation that it was Darkrai who met with you besides the fact that you had a nightmare the same night."
"We all had a nightmare," Sean pointed out.
"Which may be a correlation, you had come off a stressful encounter with a bad result while frustrated and afraid."
"What else could disguise as Dialga and still be able to see Scout?" Sean pressed. "If the dialga still couldn't have seen Scout, this would make more sense. But Scout told us he did!"
There was silence.
"And Scout is known to lie," Armaldo pointed out. He knew it would not go down well, but he had to make the point.
As expected, Sean, Saniya, and Guardian all reacted rather negatively. Striker was notably absent from their cries of anger.
"We agreed to be calm," Wigglytuff said, raising his voice in that way that left the feeling of physical pressure on everyone's shoulders.
"I know it is not exactly something that is wanted to be discussed, but it DOES have to be pointed out," Armaldo said. "For the matter of what he had told us about why he lied and why he knows and what he knows… I do believe him."
More than a few pokémon blinked in surprise at him. Armaldo continued. "Knowing where Scizor was where even Lucario failed heavily weighs in his favour, and he gets nothing out of admitting it besides relief of admitting the truth and anger at his behaviour. I acknowledge that. But YOU have to acknowledge that everything we are working on is his word."
Quietly, behind the others, Striker nodded in agreement.
"You are… right." And to everyone's surprise, so did Guardian. "I don't believe that he is lying about anything," Guardian said, sternly. "But… yes. We are working on Scout's word and only that. And with Darkrai being able to damage time, revive Scout, and likely more… it is definitely not out of the question that Scout may have been tampered with in some way."
"So. You believe it is possible too?" Armaldo asked.
"I… fear it," Guardian answered, admitting it in a different way. "And, unfortunately… with the elusive nature of Darkrai, it throws anything Scout has to say under at least some level of scrutiny. If Darkrai is an enemy and he revived a being that KNEW he was an enemy… the question is simply… why?"
"Well… what if Darkrai isn't bad?" Saniya asked. "Maybe he really did change?"
"A possibility that hasn't been ruled out," Armaldo said. "But it grows less likely each time something comes up. On top of every possible manipulation, if Darkrai is a Shadow Pokémon than there is no doubt in his malevolence."
"What about the pokémon who killed Darkrai?" Sean asked, Wigglytuff cringed. "Soothe, I think?"
Saniya also cringed.
"She should be erased from time, now," Guardian said since no one else was talking. "And yet… I recall an order to keep an eye out for her."
"Wigglytuff," Saniya said, sharply. "How much of her do you still remember? Of Soothe?"
Wigglytuff blinked, not prepared to be addressed by this point. He hesitated for a moment, but there was only one answer to give. "Everything. Well, I mean… not literally everything, but I can't think of anything I knew before that I don't still know. Although would I know anything I don't remember? Would I even know that I knew, notice that I knew? Hmm."
"I still remember her too," Saniya said, voice heavy. "And… Guardian, who were your servants after you joined Dialga?"
Guardian stared at her, puzzled for a moment. He blinked. "Uh… S… B…" He flexed his fingers, looking at a hand and trying hard to remember. "I… can't really remember. I remember remembering, but there is just a hole… maybe I could remember if I really dug deep."
"No," Saniya said, shaking her head. "That's not my point. My point is… besides core memories that just won't go away, even we can't remember much of the Dark Future. Maybe I could get away with it, since I'm Celebi and everything, but even some stuff has slipped from my head. But I still remember Soothe, and so does Wigglytuff."
The point hung in the air before digging deep.
"You really think she's still?" Wigglytuff gasped, nearly rocketing out of his chair. The matter had been raised before, of course. But besides a general warning to the guild, it hadn't been addressed further. And yet, the memories of her still did not fade.
"I don't know how that could be," Saniya admitted. "I've even talked to Scout about it. He doesn't know anything about Soothe. Nothing at all. And, well… if Soothe is the reason why Darkrai turned evil then… well, I sent Soothe into the past even though Giratina yelled at me for it later. It's kinda my fault."
"What?" Guardian nearly thundered. "Saniya! Do not DARE think that way. The Dark Future was not your fault! Soothe's actions were her own."
"And," Sean added, "time travel's really weird and funky. Self-fulfilling prophecies and all that. Even if it wasn't Soothe, since the Dark Future happened, it had to happen in some way, right?"
"We stopped it though," Saniya argued. "You can't self-fulfil that way, because we DID stop it happening. Don't try and teach me anything about time travel, Sean! I barely can wrap my own head around it, but I know more than anyone else here."
"That doesn't change the fact that Soothe did it," Striker said, coming up to her. "Not you. As Sean said, the Dark Future existed in some way or another. You can't make a time loop, you've said that before. It wasn't your fault it happened."
She smiled slightly at him. "Well… enough of my pity party. I have no idea how Soothe could possibly still be alive."
"But if Scout was revived," Armaldo said. "Perhaps she was as well?"
"She's connected to Darkrai in some way," Striker agreed, "and he revived Scout."
"Are you two saying what I think you're saying?" Saniya asked.
"Perhaps." Armaldo nodded. "I think one thing cannot be disputed here. We don't have all the answers. We don't even have some of the answers. There are too many holes, and we can't get it out without someone to ask. Dialga clearly can't help, and I doubt Darkrai will be accommodating even if we were to track him down."
"You want to find…?" Wigglytuff asked, painfully softly.
"You've left a Shadow Pokémon to run amok for years upon years," Armaldo answered, causing Wigglytuff to recoil. "Whether or not she can give us information, she needs to be found regardless."
"We don't know for sure that Soothe is still around," Wigglytuff attempted, but he did a poor job of trying to sound convincing. It was in his eyes, Armaldo could see. Shame, regret, and worst of all. Hope.
"She needs to be found because she is dangerous, Wigglytuff," Armaldo stated, and Wigglytuff's expression flickered for a moment. Eventually, he slowly nodded.
"I think Team Ion needs to be recalled as well," Armaldo added. "I know they deserve a break due to their victory, but this is important."
Again, Wigglytuff reluctantly agreed.
Chimecho, who was waiting outside the door and definitely not eavesdropping, took this as permission to enter.
"Good morning, Guildmaster, Armaldo, and Team Sunrise!" she said warmly. The power of the nurse meant she could hide any and all signs of exhaustion unless she was literally beginning to keel over. "I hope I am not interrupting anything."
Armaldo snorted.
"We are just wrapping up now," Wigglytuff said, noting that the Mute Orb must have deactivated earlier than normal. "Team Sunrise, you look like you need to properly rest. Take the day off, you still have your offer to take some time off. If something comes up, you will be alerted. Now please, rest."
Guardian carried them all back to bed.
As Team Sunrise was departing, the two leaders of the guild nodded to Chimecho to speak her part. "I have something thing to report. Scizor has regained consciousness and is markedly less confused than he was upon his arrival, Lucario is with him, bringing him up to speed on the last forty-something years."
She smiled, although there was something to it. "Do you need me to contact someone now?"
"Send word to Team Ion to return immediately, that it is considered very likely that Darkrai disguised himself as Dialga when Team Ion went to requisition he revive Scout," Armaldo said.
She nodded. And floated off.
"As for your four," Armaldo began, he flicked a glance at Wigglytuff who seemed to be zoning out. "While I am loathe to give you more time off, just take it and don't rub it in anyone else's faces."
They all saluted and vanished.
Armaldo turned a glance to Wigglytuff, a long and lingering look.
Rhythm could sleep with his eyes closed, Chitin the Explorer knew that. He also knew when his apprentice was not sleeping. "Rhythm?" he asked quietly.
"..."
Armaldo sighed, he was not good at talking to people. He preferred action and thus he stepped out, Wigglytuff following silently. He left Junior by the grave he could not move on from and went to find Azumarill.
Things had to be done but all he felt was tired.
Delphox of Fissue shuffled cards in her hands absentmindedly.
She dealt three, she flipped the future card over.
The Tower.
She frowned, scooped them up, shuffled again, dealt three again, checked the future card again.
The Tower.
Every time. Every time for the past three months, the Tower was in every dealings future for every single person.
Delphox considered herself an excellent magician able to fleece money out of people with hocus pocus and the occasional actual enchantment. In her opinion, the cards were bullshit. You can draw a meaning that will land with someone with any card, it was simply how life was.
Yet, she shuffled and dealt again.
The Tower.
Upright every single time.