A branch cracked.

With heightened hearing, edged to outright paranoia, the riolu hidden in the trees tensed. In a practised motion he tugged a retractable cord and the spartan camp he had dwelt in for the last week was all wrapped and ready to be absconded with.

He was right in the middle of hoisting the heavy cloth around his shoulders when he heard some tapping.

It was rhythmic. One tap. Two taps. Three taps. All while someone glided through the brush as if they were part of it.

Sean the riolu relaxed slightly and smiled when he spotted the green crest on the top of his visitor's head.

"Sean?" Striker the grovyle whispered, sliding through the trees.

"Here," Sean whispered back, relaxing almost entirely now that he was certain there was no threat to him. "Glad to see you're okay."

Grovyle smiled and hopped to his side. He looked him up and down with a critical eye before nodding. "Impressive," he said warmly.

Rolling his eyes, Sean have him a tiny shove with a blue paw, more a tap. "We can talk impressive in a minute. How are you? Any clue on that meowth? How did the expedition go?"

"Fruitful in one way," Grovyle began as the riolu placed their entire home back down. "Disappointing in another. Did you find the key?"

Sean shook his head. "Nope. Judging by the question, that was the disappointment?" Grovyle nodded. "And Shinx doesn't know where it is either?"

"It doesn't look like it," Grovyle confirmed. "And he gave no indication that he has any idea." Sighing with frustration, Grovyle crouched down and Sean sat down as well. "I did obtain the Time Gear, however," he said, and Sean smiled. "And got a closer look at our… friend."

Grovyle opened his travel bag and held out the cerulean gear, grimacing as he did so. Sean quickly opened up the bag he stored the gears in, opening the bag quickly for Grovyle's sake. "Three down," Sean sighed and gave the still-grimacing Grovyle a concerned look. "You alright?"

Striker grimaced. "Still feels like the cold stone of the future," he said, rubbing his hands to try and rid the feeling the Time Gear left on him. Sean reached forward to clasp Striker's hands with his paws and held them until he stopped shuddering.

"One bastard of a deterrent in taking those things," he joked, and Grovyle gave a small, grateful, smile. "Two to go. Past the hump! It'll have to be easier now won't it?"

"Don't swear." Grovyle smirked, but Sean's tone was far too innocent to be anything but sarcasm. "Easy now, do not give us bad luck now."

"I won't jinx us," Sean laughed and Grovyle chuckled as well. "Hehahaa… so, did you get any idea on 'Meowth'?"

"Yes," Grovyle said, beginning to frown. Sean felt the shift in tone and sat up straight. "Odd."

"Odd? Odd in what way?" Sean asked, the riolu's ears twitching.

"He has told Shinx his name to begin with," Grovyle said, causing Sean's ears to twitch again. "And said it was Sean."

Sean blinked. Twice. Thrice. Then a fourth and fifth time just to be sure. "Oh… well… that… huh. That actually makes sense really."

"Say again?"

"Yeah." Sean frowned thoughtfully, pulling himself to his feet. "Getting separated from us. What better way for us to find out where he is? Broadcast name that we'd both recognise."

"Dusknoir would recognise it as well," Grovyle pointed out, before giving a tired sigh. Sean didn't even need to give him The Look, he realised it as soon as he said it. "Of course. Of course, he'd do that, the fool. To get 'his' attention as much as ours."

"I mean, it'd definitely pull some heat off us," Sean sighed, shaking his head. "Can't help but wonder if he actually planned to get separated from us now."

"Unless he knew something would attack us," Grovyle said dryly. "I feel this was just a coincidence based on what else I learned. He didn't seem to completely recognise me, I fear he may be suffering a bout of amnesia like you did."

"Hm," Sean grunted, rubbing an arm absentmindedly. Grovyle noticed it was the same arm that he had shielded himself with during their trip through time. "He did take as bad of a hit as I did."

"Is it aching?" he asked, concerned.

"Huh? Oh, no I'm fine," Sean said, dropping his arm to his side. "Just thinking."

"As am I," Grovyle said as he began to frown again. "I believe that the usage of your name hasn't been intentional."

"Hm?"

Grovyle sighed and looked up. "He was rather… distant through most of the travel, I'm not sure how much of me he recognised. He stuck much closer to Shinx, kept me at arm's length."

"That is weird," Sean agreed. "And it can't be because…? No. Wait, he never talked to you?"

"At first he was very quiet," Grovyle said. "It was hard to tell at first since Shinx would not stop talking, but no matter what he seemed uninterested in engaging me in conversation. I travelled with them across two dungeons and several days. If it wasn't for what Shinx himself told me, I wouldn't have been certain it was him. Shinx blurted his name out when we were separated, otherwise, I'm not sure if I would have guessed. I couldn't quite find a way to get close enough to examine him for scars, but I could see some."

"Like me, he can't remember it all," Sean mused. "And since he woke up away from us…."

"Like you." Grovyle nodded. "And unlike you, he didn't have either of us to help stir those memories. They are still there I'm certain, he seemed to recognise me, but not why or how. Or what it meant."

"So, he may not know," Sean theorised before frowning. "He might recognise you, but not know why. Holy shit, what if he thinks you're a bad guy? We can't fight a friend! Does he know you took any of the Time Gears?"

To Sean's relief, Grovyle shook his head. "Thankfully that incident shouldn't be discovered for some time. I succeeded in trapping Uxie in time, although he said he has warned his brethren about me."

"Not about me!" Sean grinned cheekily. It dropped after a second. "Jeez. And I thought things were bad on this side."

At that, Grovyle's eyes sharpened. "Yes? I notice you haven't shared any news. No sign of the key is one thing. Has something else happened?"

Sean's expression turned quite guilty. "Don't freak out on me," he said, and Striker crossed his arms sternly. "I mean it, Striker. I've been careful." With the grovyle blinking just briefly off guard after his name was used, Sean explained, "Dusknoir is in the area."

One of Grovyle's claws snapped closed around nothing and clenched as his jaw tightened. Sean cringed away as Grovyle took a moment to calm his nerves. "You agreed that any sign and you'd leave," he said softly.

"Yesterday," Sean explained. "I was in the marketplace and there was a big commotion. Apparently, Mount Bristle had a Shadow Pokémon problem and with the guild gone, the locals were a little panicked. I decided to stick around a bit to get some more information, and then he was just… there."

"As he does," Grovyle growled, he was scanning the brush around them for any sign.

"Yeah. He calmed the townsfolk, especially when they realised he was 'The Great Dusknoir' and he went off to 'dispatch of the threat' returning this morning with the good news."

"I wonder how many sableye did the dirty work for him," Grovyle snarled before stalking up and down the small clearing. "He's here? Now? The guild won't be far behind me, he's clearly here for them. He knows Fogbound Lake has a Time Gear, he'll want to check it out. Especially if they tell him I was there, and they have no reason not to. Dammit!"

Sean watched this quietly. It was a rare scene to find Striker losing a bit of his cool-guy composure. He supposed he should feel honoured, there wasn't really anyone else Grovyle would show this side to. He needed to be cool, calm, and collected for everyone and everything else.

There wasn't much he could do. Letting Striker simple curse and growl, cut up some trees, and mutter obscenities under his breath was the best option here. He tended to regain his composure fairly quickly.

Striker continued to mutter and attack trees for a minute longer than Sean had guessed before he pulled himself together.

"Get that thing on your back," Grovyle ordered, gesturing briefly to the tent. "We're leaving."

Sean didn't move.

"Sean?" Grovyle asked, bordering on growling at him for once. "I said we need to leave."

"Striker," Sean began soothingly but the Grass-type recoiled from his voice.

"That's your 'you're not going to like this' voice," Grovyle snapped. "And I already know I don't agree."

"I think I should stay here," Sean suggested.

"I was right," Grovyle said, sounding mock-surprised. "I don't agree. I'm not letting Dusknoir get his filthy traitorous hands on you."

"And how will he?" Sean asked, stopping Grovyle in his tracks. "He's looking for a human named Sean. You know what he'll see when he sees me? A riolu named Riolu."

"I'm not risking you." Grovyle glowered, taking a step forward. "You know as well as I do that you can't keep your nose out of things. If something happens, you'll do something stupid and get yourself caught."

"Well, what happens when Dusknoir learns about someone 'else' named Sean?" Sean demanded, standing his ground. "If Shinx is as chatty with names as you say, he'll find out sooner or later. Or if he pals with the guild and gets a good look at him, you know he'd recognise him."

Striker took a deep breath. "If he… recognised me, he'll probably know to keep his distance," he suggested, but it was weak.

"And what's he supposed to do if Dusknoir does figure it out?" Sean asked.

"Dusknoir won't… do anything until he has all three of us," Grovyle said slowly and deliberately.

Sean nodded. "I've got an idea. It makes sense to split up again. We both know the last two lakes are guarded by Azelf and Mesprit. How much help am I even going to be there? I'll be an even deader weight in battle, and it'll also show the last one that there are two after the Time Gears, rather than just one. I won't do anything stupid, no matter how much I want to. Saving the world needs to come first."

Striker took that all in, thought it over, and gave his companion a fragile smile. "Arguments are so much more enjoyable now that we can actually discuss things." His smile fell, and he sighed. "You and your rational good points." He tried to focus on all the holes and flaws of Sean's idea, but the pragmatic part of his mind won out. "Very well. You have to swear it this time though. Swear you will not endanger yourself. Not to save either of us."

"Striker," Sean said sadly before nodding. His companion's expression was immovable. "Alright. I swear."

The grovyle nodded. "I will be holding you to that," he warned. "You don't have nimble enough fingers to do some alien human counter-deceit this time."

"I'm still not apologising for saving your life," Sean retorted, feeling new confidence fill him now that he'd won the argument. He wiggled his paws, but Grovyle was right. He couldn't cross his fingers if he didn't really have any. "You all thanked me, I could tell. Except you, who just shouted 'gro, grovl, vle' at me for two hours straight."

"Heh, Guardian covered-" Striker stiffened up as did Sean. "I… I apologise. Slip of the tongue."

"It's fine," Sean said, waving him off. "Really. Nothing wrong with thinking of the good times every now and again."

"…Perhaps." Striker shook it off and looked to the path he had come. "Well, Giratina's plan has changed now. I intended on remaining for longer in Treasure Town, but with Dusknoir here that is impossible. You will stay here, continue searching for the key. Keep off Dusknoir's web of information. Be nothing more than-"

"Than the friendly, if a little naïve, young explorer," Sean finished with a grin that befitted one brain cell. "I'm good at that."

"I'll continue for the Time Gears," Striker continued as if Sean hadn't spoken, but an amused tilt to his jaw was visible. "I had some time to think when travelling back and I have decided that searching for Mesprit and her lake is the better choice. Finding the right entry, any entry at all, is not going to be easy. Azelf's location is at least somewhat known."

"Good choice. I would have suggested it anyway."

"I'm sure you would have." Striker nodded. "Lastly, but first to be done, I am going to speak with 'Sean' and see what he remembers."

The riolu blinked. "Is that the best idea? If he doesn't remember much you might make him suspicious."

"I'm certain he knows more than he lets on," Striker said.

"Like you?"

"Possibly. I don't intend on telling him anything without good cause, I just plan to ascertain what he knows. Let him speak. I already told him I wanted to speak with him before I parted from the guild. If he refuses to speak with me, or I cannot get him alone, I'll move on. But what he might know could factor into our plans. And if possible, I'll warn him about Dusknoir."

"If you think that's best," Sean said with a shrug. "You're the most careful guy I know, so it should be fine. Probably best you don't mention me for the moment."

"Certainly not!" Striker nodded and they fell into a moment of silence.

"Well," Sean began, breaking the silence. "Guess you'll be taking off right away?"

"Indeed." Striker nodded. "I am sorry. This wasn't my intention."

"I know," Sean sighed, giving a reluctant smile. "I know. We've got important work to do. I'll find the key to the Hidden Land. I was hoping to have you there to give me a bit of assistance there. And I'm guessing you don't have anything of Shinx's I might get a Scream from?"

"Nothing specific," Striker confirmed while shaking his head. "But we could give it a single shot anyway? See if anything helpful comes up."

"Still weird that here the Scream shows me any random thing," Sean muttered as Striker stepped closer. "At least the future was consistent." He clasped Striker's clawed hand with his softer paw as Grovyle sat his bag down and opened it.

Feeling a little foolish, Sean held hands with Striker while he rifled through their things. He touched food, berries, a scarf, and an unnecessarily large number of orbs. He wouldn't say that, Striker would get uppity at him again, but he'd think it viciously.

"Anything?" Striker asked after a minute.

"…No."

They dropped their grips and let their arms flop down against their hips. "Worth a try." Sean shrugged. Striker quickly secured his belongings in his travel bag and swung it into place.

"I should be off now," he said, and Sean nodded.

"Don't do anything stupid," he said and got a grin out of his friend.

"Same to you," Striker said wisely. "Same to you."

Sean gave him a light shove. "Now get out of here," he commanded. "Rob some gods. Save the world. Let me find the key."

"Good luck, Sean," Striker called as he disappeared.

"See you, Striker," Sean muttered, pushing the faint feeling of sadness away.

He had a key to find.

The guild had chosen to duplicate the original plan, except in reverse. The various apprentices split into their same groups before setting off on the exact journeys that had brought them to the Foggy Forest in the first place. Except for one small exception.

"Since the two of you came through the mountains with a partner," Chatot said to Team Ion as everyone was packed and ready. "I think it may be pertinent for you to exit with someone as well."

"Yes! Friends work with friends," Wigglytuff parroted next to Chatot.

"Indeed, so for your trip back, you will be travelling with Croagunk. Understood?"

Sean and Rai exchanged a look before the fur on their necks stood up. Croagunk was right behind them. "Understood," they said together.

"Meh-heh-heh, glad to be working with you," Croagunk chuckled from behind them.

With everything in place, the guild split up once more.

Croagunk didn't mind travelling through Mount Horn and Craggy Coast on the way back. "It was fun to wade through mud again," he commented at one point while being attacked by a triple beedrill trio. "This is alright though."

Saying this after getting lanced by a beedrill was cause for some concern between them.

Otherwise, Croagunk fit in well. He didn't talk much, didn't inspire the same kind of attention that Grovyle had, Sean was thankful for that small mercy, and was a very competent battler.

The comments Croagunk made were somewhat strange though. Or vaguely insulting.

"Meh-heh-heh, good catch." He complimented Sean, after managing to be in the perfect spot to get slammed by Rai. The shinx getting blasted back by a Solar Beam.

"I'm a good landing pad," Sean groaned as Rai rolled off him. Croagunk darted forward with a fist seeping purple, Poison Jabbing the bellossom right in a weak spot.

"You're all pokey," Rai coughed, coming to his feet. "Warm at least."

"I'm aware of that," Sean said dryly, coming to his feet as well. He brushed some dirt off his face, tail, body, and legs. Everywhere, he was filthy all over again.

"Good grief." Rai shook his head at Sean. "Just clean it off."

"I will," Sean insisted, Rai gave him a disbelieving stare. "We'll just stop by the Hot Springs."

"Meh-heh-heh, I was wondering about that earlier." Sean turned his attention to Croagunk as the amphibious pokémon plodded along. "But it makes sense."

"It does?" Rai asked, cocking his head, Croagunk just chuckled.

Sean's concern over whatever Croagunk meant by that was forgotten when they were attacked by some new enemies.

Thunderbolt and Poison Jab finished off two, while a Scratch and half a Night Slash managed to send the last one fleeing.

"You are really strong, Croagunk," Rai commented cheerfully as they continued on, barely slowed.

"Meh-heh-heh." Croagunk's cheek pouches inflated in for a longer moment before shrinking again. "You're not too bad yourself. Both of you, you'll be graduating in no time."

"You are much stronger than us," Sean pointed out. "Why haven't you graduated?"

"Eh, can't," Croagunk answered. "The only treasure I care for in the world is bolted to the floor of the guild."

The smell of salt ended up sticking to Sean after they exited Craggy Coast, and Rai refused to go through the next leg of the journey smelling nothing but salt.

Croagunk had no issues, so it was decided on a small detour before arriving back at Treasure Town.

"Ah… this feels wonderful," Sean sighed, leaning back in the water. Rai nodded in agreement, bobbing up and down as he did so.

"You two are welcome here any time," Torkoal said, voice a little laboured but otherwise strong.

Croagunk remained in place, rooted in the dimmest corner of the Hot Springs. His expression hadn't changed, by the inflation of his cheek pouches seemed to have slowed. Sean gathered that meant he was enjoying it.

"I hope we haven't been bothering you," Rai said meekly towards Torkoal.

"Not at all," the aged pokémon insisted.

"He won't clean up otherwise," Rai explained, giving Sean a cheeky glance. Sean rolled his eyes in response.

"Just because you enjoy coughing up hairballs, doesn't mean I will."

"I do NOT cough up hairballs!"

"Hm, sure, sure."

Rai growled and pounced, dunking Sean into the soothing water of the Hot Springs. Sean thrashed and splashed water everywhere before resurfacing, dunking Rai's head down for half a second before springing back.

"Come here!" Rai called as Sean paddled for his life, breaking into laughter as he did so. Thankfully Rai did as well, and the laughter disabled him from pouncing again.

Torkoal chuckled and let them wash away the stresses of the expedition. He chose not to ask them about it, determining that if they wished to speak of it, they would. And Croagunk was known for not being the chattiest of apprentices. No one else populated the Hot Springs this day, the regulars having left before Team Ion arrived.

To their regret, the time to leave seemed to come too quickly. "The guild will be worried," Sean said out of the blue and Rai agreed.

Croagunk remained Croagunk and made a creepy laugh.

"You're right," Rai sighed. "Don't want Chatot to get upset at us or something, not when we're going so well."

"You two take care then," Torkoal said, overhearing them. "And come back any time."

Rai shook the water off, showering Sean as he got out. "Thanks," Sean said.

"You're welcome," Rai replied brightly, causing Sean to snort. He awkwardly tried to shake the water off, still not completely accustomed to fur, and nearly lost his balance. Thankfully Croagunk caught him.

After nearly falling back into the Hot Springs, Sean decided to walk the water off. They waved to Torkoal and left the Hot Springs, now on the regular path that led straight to Treasure Town.

After a few hours of aimless chatting, something happened.

To their surprise, green and leafy stepped out of the trees to block their way. "Grovyle!" Rai beamed, delighted to see the clever adventurer again.

"Good afternoon, Shinx and… Croagunk," Grovyle said with a grin. "Sorry to have vanished off so suddenly, seems I didn't have to rush, and I apologise for that."

"Oh, no that's okay," Rai insisted. "We got back through the dungeons alright, that Night Slash is really helping!"

Sean smiled at Rai for that.

Grovyle nodded. "Well, if you don't mind I can show him another trick?" He raised an arm and flicked it, a blade of green slicing off his arm into a projective that struck against a tree, leaving a noticeable mark.

"Oh, cool that's so nice of you!" Rai beamed and grinned at Sean. "Who knows what he can show you?"

"Meh-heh-heh. Probably something dangerous."

"Something that can hopefully form a stronger partnership," Grovyle said, eying Croagunk for a moment. "Say… Croagunk?"

"Meh-heh-yes?"

"I wasn't able to share this earlier, but I had been thinking about it throughout the expedition. Your Swap Cauldron, I believe I may have an idea that may help."

"Oh?" Croagunk leaned forward, omitting his usual chuckle. "There isn't much left I haven't tried to repair it."

"The issue was stability was it not?" Grovyle asked, getting a nod from Croagunk. "I've spent a lot of time having to prepare things that will last. Have you tried incorporating scizor carapace into the cement?"

Croagunk's pouches froze as his expression… didn't change, but the pause was enough. He chuckled and shook his head. "You are very clever, Grovyle. Not easy to get hold of it, but…." He looked away, staring past everyone and nodded. "I'll see you back at the guild, Team Ion, I have business to address."

Croagunk began to drift away, moving quite eagerly to try a new idea to repair his beloved cauldron. Sean waved.

He turned to Rai. "Now, forgive me for being presumptuous but I had learned that you were recently stolen from?" Rai flinched and almost shrunk, Sean curled his tail around Rai's in response.

"I heard a rumour that some stone object with a strange marking has been spotted." Rai gasped and bolted upright. "I overheard someone speaking about it in the marketplace but was unable to find who it was."

"My Relic Fragment!" Rai said before frowning. "Or… it probably isn't. There are lots of rocks with markings on them."

"Don't think like that," Grovyle said gently. "Yes, it is not always easy to raise your hopes, but it is equally as damaging in time if you disallow yourself from feeling no hope. Perhaps it could be, or someone may have an idea or lead for you?"

"You're really wise." Rai smiled, it was nicer than his normal ecstatic grin. "After Team Skull took it I…." He trailed off before shaking his head. "I really should start asking around, they probably did sell it, thanks."

"You are welcome," Grovyle said warmly. "Now, I can give your friend some assistance while you return to Treasure Town. Who knows, Meowth may be back before you are."

"Oh, I can wait," Rai said pleasantly. "Sean would probably get lost if I left him alone." Rai gave a laugh, but Grovyle did not.

Sean was still facing Rai, but he was watching Grovyle through the side of his eye.

"I wouldn't wish for you to lose this chance," Grovyle said, keeping his face neutral. "If needed, I can show him the way back."

"I wouldn't want to inconvenience you!" Rai shook his head.

"It is no inconvenience," Grovyle said firmly. "I will tend to Sean, you find your lost treasure."

"Oh, uh..." He glanced at Sean and remembered that Grovyle had wanted to talk to him about something. He realised this must be something private. "Okay. I guess I'll just… see you back at the guild?"

"Sure," Sean said giving Rai a smile. "Don't worry, I won't trip over my feet too much! You need to find the Relic Fragment, I'll feel better at least."

Rai smiled, gave Grovyle another curious look, and ran off, calling out. "Croagunk wait up!" The new pair watched until Rai was a small dot to their eyes before Grovyle turned to Sean. "It would be best we take this off the path well-travelled."

Swallowing nervously as a thousand and four scenarios flashed through his mind, Sean followed Grovyle off the path and into the woods. Before today he hadn't left the path at all besides the one time he found his way to Litleo's abode. And even then, that was just an alternate path.

"So, how secret are the techniques you're planning on teaching me?" Sean asked airily. Grovyle gave him an unimpressed look before it morphed into a thoughtful one.

"This will have to do," he said, coming to a stop. Sean looked around, this didn't seem to be a simple random spot. A small clearing Grovyle had led him to, surrounded by a thicket of trees that stretched their branches far enough to blot out the shine of the sun. Only brief rays fell through the leaves, lighting what was clearly a campsite.

There wasn't much, befitting someone who was constantly on the move. Just what appeared to be a swag made of hewn reeds and leaves with a bag sat on top of it.

Grovyle gestured for him to sit, but Sean declined. He was feeling a mite too nervous to sit around easily.

"First, extend your claws," Grovyle commanded, and Sean quickly obeyed.

"Going straight into it I guess," he thought, flexing his paws and letting his claws come out. With a taloned hand, Grovyle grabbed one of his paws and examined it. He checked the top, bottom, how long his claws were, before letting it go.

"Perform a Night Slash for me, if you are able," Grovyle said, and Sean took a breath.

With the claws on his right paw twitching and trembling, he tried to force the sticky unpleasantness through his arm. His arm began to wobble as he tried to call upon this Power. His claws began glinting black, but none of them extended into the sabre-like blades that was Night Slash.

"Hm," Grovyle hummed as Sean gave up, breathing slightly harder for his effort. "Not great," he said, and Sean flinched. "Not terrible at least. Watch me."

Grovyle's left arm shone green before it cracked and spread to his leaves, lengthening them into glowing green blades. Grovyle lifted one of his arms vertical and let Sean see how the Power had sharpened along his arm.

With his right arm, Grovyle did the same until the time came to shape the Leaf Blade. Instead of running along his arm, the energy moved and shaped along his hand, becoming a smaller set of sickles.

"In time you may be able to do this," Grovyle said, slashing out with both arms and the green energy seemed to fly right off his limbs, cutting small branches and leaves down from where he had aimed the attack. "However ranged attacks of this kind take a considerable amount of time and dedication to properly master."

"Well that's pretty awesome," Sean said, glancing back as another branch fell down. "It doesn't sound like you're teaching me that though."

"No."

"Then what are you teaching me?"

Grovyle didn't answer immediately, instead, he glanced to where he had sent the Leaf Blade's.

Sean wet his lips and decided to make a stab at the topic below the surface. "Why did you want me alone?" he asked and Grovyle's gaze fell back on him. He didn't outwardly react to the almost deadly look in Grovyle's eyes, on the inside he screamed a bit. "You clearly wanted Rai to leave… is there some super-secret move you have to show me completely alone? Or…?"

"Or," Grovyle answered, and Sean breathed out heavily.

Leaning against a tree, Grovyle crossed his arms and stared him down. Sean stared back, wincing upon first meeting Grovyle's intense gaze, but gathering his nerve and staring him down himself.

Soon, Grovyle cracked a smile. It was bizarrely friendly and even more strangely comfortable to see. "Do you know me?" he asked, and Sean's roiling nerves quietened completely. There was no point in being nervous about what had already happened. "You've acted somewhat… oddly ever since I first met you. I think at least. You are quite difficult to read."

Sean swallowed dryly and wet his lips with a damp tongue, feeling the scratch of his inhuman tongue drag roughly across feline lips. "I'm not sure," he said, clenching his paws and doing his best not to shrink away. Something about this felt every flavour of wrong, he felt hot and itchy.

Grovyle nodded, the tension in his shoulders seemed to sag away as he sighed. "What happened to you?" he asked the wind. "Alright, tell me. Who are you?"

"I… what? I'm Sean. Sean the meowth."

Grovyle nodded. "Indeed. What about you especially? What are your hobbies, what do you like to do?"

"Why are you asking these things?" Sean asked, mind just going blank now. "I'm an explorer. I like… exploring things."

"Where do you come from?"

"T-Treasure Town."

"Do you?"

Sean was silent.

"Sean," Grovyle said, the name common and known to his tongue.

Sean flinched. "I have amnesia okay!" he yelled, surprising Grovyle with the energy. "I don't know why you're asking me these things! What do you want to know?"

"I want to know what you know about me," Grovyle retorted and Sean's fragile web of lies and the pressure to keep up the act cracked.

"I KNOW YOU'RE FROM THE FUTURE!"

Sean's voice didn't carry far, the forest consumed his words before it could spread to delicate ears. But what had been said, had been said.

"I do not do well under pressure," Sean commented to himself, feeling suddenly very detached. Like he could just float away.

"Do you know that you are as well?" Grovyle asked softly, far gentler than Sean's emotional outburst. It still caused him to cringe.

"Ah… uh… fine, yes! I know! I know I'm from the future. I know you are from the future. I know the future we come from is a hellscape nightmare land of pain and horror and death. I know you are the one taking the Time Gears to stop the never-ending nightmare the world ends up as. But I don't remember being there!"

Grovyle took a few moments to take all that in, all while Sean cursed himself to the deepest pits of hell for releasing so much. "I hate lying," he thought miserably. "I hate it so much… but surely I can be honest with Grovyle? Someone. At least for some of it."

"I see." Grovyle said eventually. "That is… more than I had expected to be honest." Sean covered his face to breathe into his paws for a moment before dropping them.

"I don't remember… much of anything," he admitted. Which was, technically, the truth. At least in this context. "Just that where I come from is horrible and we are back trying to stop it somehow. I don't remember… you very much at all."

Grovyle frowned. "What do you mean by that?"

"I remember what we are doing. You… I don't remember, just that you're pretty awesome and that you are here to save the world. Also, pretty awesome."

"What do you remember clearly?"

Sean rubbed his face, took a few breaths, and tried to figure out what he was going to say. He decided to go with the truth, at its most technical.

"I woke up on the cliff outside Sharpedo Bluff," Sean said, staring down at the ground. "I didn't really remember much. Just… my name is Sean, and I was human."

Grovyle stared at him for a very long time. "Amnesia indeed. This complicates things, you really can't remember much?"

"What do you mean? I'm not acting the way I used to?"

"No." Grovyle shook his head. "If that shinx hadn't said your name, I may not have recognised you at all. You are considerably bolder these days. It's… nice to see."

"Me? Bold? Good lord. Well, I mean, the future is a place of death. I can only imagine how freaked out I would have been."

"So, has your memory been returning at all?" Grovyle asked, but Sean shrugged with a dismissive sound.

"Kinda? Parts of my memory have been going further," he admitted, frowning as he tried to remember what his mother's name was. "And when I woke up I didn't really know what I was doing."

Sean licked his lips again, he cursed himself on the inside for being such a hesitant person, bold his ass. He knew he'd said enough that Grovyle could make his own conclusions, but he had to say it. If just to prove he could. "I only really remembered the stuff I've said. I know that the future is terrible, and we came back in time to save it."

Grovyle nodded, sighing out a held breath. "And you remember how we planned to save it?" he asked, just to reaffirm what Sean had already said.

"Time Gears."

Grovyle smiled. "You remember the important parts then, which is a relief." Grovyle stepped forward, Sean instinctively stepping back at the sudden movement. The wood gecko pokémon paused, a frown touching his lips. "But you are…."

He trailed off into thoughtful silence and Sean stepped forward himself. "I want to help you, Grovyle." Grovyle frowned further at that, Sean baffled as to why. He hadn't even reached the bad part yet. "But I don't think I can. I'm just not strong, not brave, not bold at all. Groudon was a… fluke I think, wasn't even Groudon and I knew that." He shook his head and looked back, eyes trailing over the plants they had walked through.

Grovyle mentally placed that last line aside for later consideration, he hadn't been aware there would be something like that to scare people off.

"You have other obligations here," Grovyle said, nodding. "I am relieved you still know of our mission, I wouldn't wish to make an enemy of you. I don't think our actions will remain shrouded for much longer. Uxie is frozen in time." Sean spun back on Grovyle at that.

"Pardon?"

Grovyle nodded, a pained expression darkening his face. "With the guild having found the Time Gear and Uxie being such a powerful telepath, I'm afraid it had to be done. I thought this might buy us some more time to act, without being seen. But this will likely not work as I had hoped. Uxie will be fine once time is restored."

"I see." Sean frowned, glancing away. "Ah… this is really weird for me at the moment," he said, hoping to lighten the mood. "I feel really tense, and I don't know why."

"You were always the careful sort," Grovyle replied, nodding. "Kept us all alive in the future." He went to clap Sean on the shoulder but rethought that.

"So," Sean said, turning the topic back to what he wanted to say. "You said I have other obligations here?"

"Indeed." Grovyle nodded. "I found my way onto the guilds expedition in the hopes of getting close to Shinx." He smiled a pleasant grin. "Then I find I may not have needed to. You've done an admirable job there."

"Okay…?" Sean asked, frowning. "Why exactly?"

"Right, you wouldn't… Shinx is in possession of, was in possession, or will be in possession of a required item to find our way to Temporal Tower." Grovyle stepped over to his other bag and ruffled through it quickly. "This," he said, turning back with a scrap of parchment in hand.

He thrust it towards Sean who took it carefully. On the parchment was a, surprisingly well drawn, imitation of the symbol on the Relic Fragment. "This glyph was found in Brine Cave, and we know it to be the key to the Hidden Land. Our only lead to this is Shinx, Team Skull was of… little help in that field."

"Team Skull?" Sean asked, mind spinning with everything being said. "O-okay, slow down please."

Grovyle sighed. "I have to be brief, I can't stay in the area much longer."

"Why?" Sean asked. "You froze Uxie."

"Dusknoir is in the area."

Sean paused, the feeling of remembrance washing over him like ice water. "Oh."

"Yes, 'oh'," Grovyle said. "You remember the threat he poses correct?"

"S-sort of."

"Do not let him find anything out about you," Grovyle ordered, rolling up the picture and thwapping him on the head with it, lightly. "We don't need any greater risk to this operation."

"Okay just…" Sean mimed some walls around him before pushing out with his paws. "What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to find the item," Grovyle replied before handing him the scroll. "Take this with you, but keep it hidden. I'll be back in Treasure Town once I have acquired the remaining two Time Gears. I am not certain how long this will take, we have an idea of where Azelf is hidden, but Mesprit will be much more difficult to find."

Sean nodded, before frowning. "Wait. So, you were just telling Rai a lie in order to make him leave?"

"Yes, unfortunately. Knowing I had something secret to discuss with you could cause unnecessary complications."

"And what if?" Sean began as Grovyle stepped back to grab his belongings. "What if Dusknoir figures out who I am?"

Grovyle stared at him for a long moment. An inscrutable expression Sean had no way to decipher. "You'll be alright," he said eventually. "At best, we will free you. Even if things go to their worst, Dusknoir won't harm you. Minimise any interaction with him and don't let him get a close look at you. Understand?"

Dusknoir wouldn't harm him, what did that mean? "Y-Yes, I got it all."

"Good." Grovyle packed his swag into the bag and swung it in parallel to the other one he wore. "This went considerably better than I had feared," he said, giving Sean a confident smile. With a nod he said. "I really wasn't sure how much you remembered, I thought you simply had a vague recognition of me. This is good news, thank you. We are back at full strength or at least closer than before."

Sean managed to smile back as Grovyle began leading him back the way they had come. "I'm not allowed to tell any of this to Rai, am I?"

Grovyle was silent for a bit, only the sound of them walking through nature. "It would be best not to," Grovyle said. "The more who know, the greater the risk Dusknoir will find us. Telling him would only place him in great danger. But on the occasion everything goes wrong, it may be a good idea to find a way to let him figure out what needs to be done."

"One last question though," Sean said, pausing Grovyle. "In the future... what did you... what did you know about me?" Had he told Grovyle everything? He wanted to scream it, he hoped so badly he had.

Grovyle turned back, a contemplative expression flitting across his face. "Despite it all, you were very brave," he said after a pause. "Always someone to count on. Always... made what we were doing worth it."

Sean swallowed, that wasn't quite what he meant to ask, even if it did make him feel good. "And how much did you know about me?" he asked.

Grovyle's expression was curious, a little perplexed. "...Enough," he answered.

"Well..." Sean thought. "That answered nothing ever."

Grovyle came to a stop and pointed. "Keep going forward, you'll know the way back to Treasure Town soon. I will part ways here, reducing the possibility we could be connected together. Deny everything if you must, stay close to your allies, and find the glyph item. Tell Shinx that I have given you a tip on how to launch a Night Slash. And good luck."

"You too, Grovyle." Sean waved and Grovyle waved back, another pained look in his eye. Once Sean was out of sight, Grovyle smiled sadly.

"Take care of him, Sean," he whispered, then disappeared into the forest.

The sun had set, and night had fallen by the time Sean found his way back to Treasure Town. The moon had risen to cast its gentle light upon the world as nocturnal pokémon began to start their day. Sean noted a large number of hoothoot and was able to see small differences in feather and beak length as he went.

He was quite bored but also anxious which was an uncomfortable combination.

Spending the walk back thinking over his and Grovyle's conversation slowed his pace down a bit. It couldn't be helped, Sean compulsively thought over everything he did and did not do.

He couldn't decide if he had done the right thing exactly by revealing so much to Grovyle, or how much he didn't learn from their conversation. "Feels like I did all the talking," he thought as he kicked a stone.

Then winced as his shoeless feet were stung from the impact.

"Whatever that was," he thought as Treasure Town began to come into view. "I've probably sent everything sideways. How much point is there anymore at trying to keep the 'story' on track?"

His dour thoughts were to be interrupted, however, by something blue, yellow, and relieved to see him. "Sean!" Rai called, bounding over to him and snapping Sean from his reverie. "You made it. I was just about to come looking for you."

"It was a trip." Sean smiled, relieved that Rai was still Rai. "That's for sure. I spotted about thirty-seven and a half hoothoot."

"Thirty… seven? That'd oddly specific." Rai's expression grew grave. "And a half?"

"It was a noctowl, I'm pretty sure," Sean clarified, leaving Rai to breathe a sigh of relief.

"That's good. I heard a Shadow Pokémon was in the area, but someone mentioned it was handled."

"Shadow…?" Sean frowned, but Rai was looking very uncomfortable now. Deciding to shelve that for now, he asked. "How did the treasure hunting go?"

Rai's discomfort faded away like sand pictures on a beach before he shook his head sadly. "Nothing. No one's heard of anyone talking about it. The place was getting quiet, so I'll try again tomorrow."

Dammit, Grovyle. "It'll turn up. What about Croagunk? Did you catch him? He was going off pretty fast."

To Sean's concern, Rai flinched at that. "YES," he half-shouted as his fur puffed up before he restrained himself. "Yes, I caught up with him. Didn't talk about much though, just creepy laughter and creepier comments. You know?"

"Normal Croagunk then." Sean nodded wisely, and Rai nodded as well, tension sliding out of his shoulders. Without speaking, they began to walk the rest of the way to the guild, enjoying a spot of silent companionship as they did. Rai boldly linked his tail with Sean and smiled when Sean gave him a questioning look.

Diglett and Loudred let them in quickly and Team Ion officially returned to the guild.

"Last again!" Chatot squawked, giving them a disciplinarian look-over. "Hmm. If the cost was clean fur, I suppose we can live with it." Sean blushed as Rai sniggered and he enjoyed a bit of gentle ribbing from the rest of the apprentices before Chimecho called them all to dinner.

They had a surprise waiting for them post-dinner, Chatot said but then just sent everyone to bed. Tomorrow would be a day off for everyone.

Afterwards, Sean and Rai relaxed into their familiar room with far comfier beds. Not just piled of straw now, and even had quilts. "Much nicer than the cold, hard, unloving ground," Sean sighed as he began to wriggle his way to comfort.

"It is nice," Rai agreed, curling up into a tight ball on his own bed. "Kind of cold, though."

"I don't mind the cold," Sean said as he found his comfortable spot. One leg splayed out onto the ground, torso twisted enough to let his tail breathe with his face pressed into the softness, one arm tucked in, while the other one remained free.

Rai would have been concerned if Sean wasn't a feline pokémon. For him, this contortion was perfectly normal.

"That expedition though," Rai said, opening his eyes to stare out their window. The sounds of waves crashing against the cliff were distant, but audible enough for them both to feel comforted. "Another Time Gear."

"Yeah," Sean said, not trusting himself to say more.

"Grovyle too," Rai's tone took on wonder again and Sean tensed for a different reason. "He was amazingly strong, and smart too. I'm not surprised he figured out how to lift the fog, pity we couldn't go back with him."

"Yeah."

"Not that going with Croagunk was bad!" Rai insisted, realising he may have been being rude. "He is a really strong pokémon."

"Really strong. Fun too."

"Fun… I guess you could say that."

"Heh," Sean chuckled and wriggled again. "You don't feel comfortable around him?"

"Not like I feel around you," Rai said plainly, and Sean wasn't sure how to respond to that.

"Well… thanks, I feel comfortable around you as well."

Rai's smile was hidden in the darkness, but Sean was pretty sure he could feel it. "What about Grovyle, though? What did he want to teach you so badly? I didn't ask earlier, since he seemed like he wanted to see you privately."

The beginnings of guilt began to claw at Sean's conscience. "Oh just… this really cool way to do a ranged attack. Like, he did Leaf Blade, but was able to fire it like an energy attack."

"Oh, that's really cool! It takes a lot of skill to pull that off, not surprised he can do it."

"Yeah, he's pretty skilled."

"He didn't want anything else?"

Sean frowned into the straw. "What do I say? I can't… I can't lie again, not to Rai." Sean didn't think he could tell the whole truth either, so he took a mixed option. "He actually told me he might know me."

Rai bolted up in bed. "What? Really?"

His sheer excitement made Sean feel several orders of magnitude better, as well as distantly guilty all over again. He nodded but gestured for Rai to keep his voice down. "We're not… certain, because of my amnesia. But… well… he did seem kind of, vaguely, sort of familiar to me too."

"This is going to backfire so hard on me," Sean thought but decided that Rai's delighted expression more than made up for any possible repercussions for this.

"This is so cool, we might be able to figure out your memories soon!" Rai beamed, laying back in bed but still grinning widely. "Funny that Uxie had no idea, but Grovyle did."

"A bit, yeah." Sean smiled and eased back into his comfortable position. Only to find it wasn't working anymore, so he had to splay in a different way. "He had to leave though, he said he's got some 'urgent business' but should be back… eventually."

"Oh, well." Rai got comfortable himself but didn't wrap himself up so tightly again. It felt better to relax a bit more. "I bet when he does come back he'll be able to help you. Wow, Grovyle's getting me onto my treasure again, and he recognises you. I'm so glad we met him. How lucky are we?" Rai smiled one more time before finally deciding he should go to bed. One last thing though. "Did he tell you anything about yourself?"

"Just that I was 'the careful sort'." Sean answered, closing his eyes with a smile.

"Heh, that's pretty funny considering what you did to Uxie's illusion."

Sean chuckled. "He also said I seem, I dunno, considerably bolder."

Rai was silent for a bit. "You are. I feel braver when I'm with you."

Sean didn't know how, but he was grateful he was having a good effect. "Thanks."

"I never got to ask, with Croagunk there I dunno... but how did you know Groudon was an illusion?"

"I... dunno. It just seemed impossible. I guess I just latched onto the hope that it wasn't and it helped me notice what wasn't adding up."

"How'd you know about the sun thing?"

"Human knowledge."

"Ooh. That's really handy. You're remembering stuff then?"

He shifted in bed. "Kinda? Maybe Grovyle being there helped?"

"Maybe." Something seemed to linger in the air, something unsaid.

"Rai?"

"Goodnight, Sean."

"Night, Rai."