Dialga roared. Dialga screamed. Its head was tossed around on its long neck, eyes bulging and spittle flying. The pressure of its presence felt like it was intensifying gravity, the sableye were being blown away and Scout could barely hold onto consciousness.
A pulse of power burst out and Scout was nearly blown back from the shockwave. Dusknoir roared out in pain, desperately shielding Scout from the blast.
"Master!" Dusknoir gasped, trembling as he held one hand out to placate the rampaging legendary while the other hand held Scout firmly safe. "Please. I have a plan. I have a plan."
Dialga screeched something else and released another shockwave before it took flight. Dusknoir groaned in relief and his grip on Scout loosened for a moment.
Scout tore himself free and leapt back, claws coming out on both paws as he raised his good arm in an attempt to be threatening.
"Scout!" Dusknoir coughed, spinning around on him as the sableye, now with Dialga gone, snuck back in and surrounded him. Dusknoir raised a hand, trying to placate him. "It's alright. You're safe now."
"Safe?" Scout spat, tears pricking his eyes. "SAFE?"
"YES," Dusknoir roared back. The sableye all flinched. "You are not in that accursed time. It makes you think differently." Dusknoir's aggression turned to pleading. "It makes you think a sacrifice is worth it. It's not worth your life, Scout! It isn't! Please listen to me!"
"I will NOT!" Scout screamed. "You are a coward and a traitor and don't deserve-"
Two of the sableye took their chance and pounced on Scout, grabbing him by the arms and holding him firmly as the others ran in to restrain him.
"LET ME GO!"
"You will hurt yourself," Dusknoir croaked, covering his face for a moment. He pushed away Scout's words. They had to have been shouted in anger and emotion not meant. Not meant.
Scout growled, voice beginning to warp. His vision went black for a moment as Scout pulled both arms down, throwing the sableye over his shoulders before slashing up with his claws. The double Night Slash knocked the two sableye flying and Dusknoir groaned again.
Scout growled again, eyes going completely black as the dark energy coursed through his claws, dripping murkily onto the pale stone.
"Scout," Dusknoir said, warningly. Holding his arms up again. "Do not fight. You will be safe, you will be protected. Just let me PROTECT YOU," Dusknoir yelled, voice breaking. "You have no place to run and everyone else has abandoned you. I am everything you had and everything you need! STOP THIS!"
Scout shook, shaking and trembling. "No," he whispered, shaking his head. "All you did was take everything from me."
The darkness receded as Scout's claws went light again. He fell to his knees and covered his face, tears splattering the ground to wash the blackness away.
"Scout," Dusknoir said, softly. He floated over to Scout and picked him up, gently, in his shaking arms. "It's alright. I'm here." He pulled Scout to his chest and nodded to the sableye. The other four were supporting the two Scout had slashed, and none of them were saying anything.
Scout didn't reply, he just continued to shake as he was carried away from where the deactivated Passage of Time lay.
Dusknoir felt Scout begin to relax, stop shaking, and begin to breathe properly again. He gently stroked Scout's back, focusing on the areas he knew Scout had always enjoyed when he was raising him.
"You know who I am now, correct?" he asked, quietly, as they began to make their way back to the stronghold. It wouldn't take too long, with Master Dialga's help he had a shortcut or two the sableye had taken to get ahead of them in the first place.
There was some time before Scout responded. The sableye kept up the background chatter to hold the madness at bay until he felt Scout shift, he had a feeling he was ready to talk.
Which one of them was ready to listen, however, was the real question.
"Sean told me," Scout replied. He, as much as he hated to admit it, was safe now. Not as safe as he would have been and now trapped with Dusknoir, but this was okay. He still wanted to freak out, cry, bury his head in Dusknoir's cool hands and just sleep, but he clearly didn't get what he wanted.
That thought made him smile a little. "Mane makes such good points," he thought, fondly thinking back on their one-sided argument yesterday, or today he wasn't sure really. How that felt so long ago already, he didn't know.
"What did Sean say?" Dusknoir probed, Scout was replying but he had to know everything.
Scout decided to be honest. He was too sick of double truths and technical statements to lie. He wasn't even sure why he would, any more.
"He told me that you raised me," Scout answered, speaking clearly even though his face was still partially tangled in Dusknoir's fingers. "That we first met them when we tried to rob them, and that the fight it caused somehow turned into friendship."
Humming slightly, he restarted the petting, Dusknoir nodded. He missed this, his fingers twitched so often without being able to groom Scout's fur or give him a pet behind the ear.
"It was Sean," Dusknoir explained. "I was fighting Striker when he was still a treecko, you had already run off with their bag and the human wasn't particularly able for combat but pursuing you. You came back running when you heard me cry out and the human wasn't far behind. We were arguing, and nearly missed the fact we were being surrounded by something far worse than just bandits."
"Worse?"
"The monsters that crawl upon the land." Dusknoir said. "We had to work together to fight them off. I wonder if he regrets that… no. I don't wonder that. I wonder if he would do differently if he, somehow, was able to go back to change that, let me take a blow?"
Scout frowned, he felt like he knew where this was leading. He remained silent, letting Dusknoir talk.
"I would like to ask him, but I don't know if he'd be able to give me a truly honest answer. We may be enemies now, but there were a great many times we saved each other. I was given the name 'Guardian' by Sean, you know?" Scout nodded. "Yes. Because I protected us all. It is painfully ironic to them now, but I still hold true to that name. I am a protector, not a destroyer."
"This world is destroyed, 'Guardian'," Scout replied, voice weary and quiet. He raised his head, rolled over and rested in his hands rather than being carried like a log. Scout looked up, he looked forward, he looked from side to side.
"Why is this worth more to protect than what the world used to be?" Scout asked, feeling Dusknoir's silence behind him. Even the sableye were quiet now. "You saw the world. Treasure Town. The millions of people living in the day and the night. The food, the water, living rather than surviving."
Dusknoir remained silent, one of the sableye quietly asked. "Living rather than surviving?"
It meeped and Scout gathered that Dusknoir had glared at it for speaking.
He leaned back, looking up to Dusknoir's dulled eye. "Are you trying to live? Or are you trying to survive?"
"They are the same thing," Dusknoir whispered back, anything louder and it'd be a croak.
Scout shook his head, he pulled himself back up and looked forward. "You were in the past. You were all in the past. You know that's not true."
"Scout." Dusknoir slowly pulled him up against his wispy, yet still firm, chest. "Surviving is still better than being erased."
Scout sighed sadly, he wondered if it was possible to convince Dusknoir. Grovyle had befriended him, somehow, in the game, but was there enough time for that?
"What if you aren't erased?" Scout asked, quietly. "Would you save the world, then?"
"There is no question of if's, Scout," Dusknoir replied. "To change the past to such an extreme, everyone in this world would be erased. The greatest loss of life ever unknown."
"How many people died when the world was ruined?" Scout retorted. "I see mostly Ghost-type pokémon… like you."
Dusknoir gave the weakest, shortest, laugh. "Yes. Just like me."
Feeling chilly all of a sudden, Scout instinctively tried to pull back, but Dusknoir's grip while gentle, was firm.
"The sableye too," Dusknoir said. "None of us may truly remember who we were before, but none of us want to die again."
"What if you won't?" Scout repeated.
"Changing time erases us all. Me and you. I cannot accept that."
"But how do you know? What if there was a way otherwise?"
"There is no other way, Scout," Dusknoir said, voice tinging with a hint of frustration.
"You know Dialga only cares for its own survival," Scout snapped. "Why would you listen-"
"Dialga didn't tell me that."
Scout paused. He looked back to Dusknoir. "Pardon? Who did then?"
"Giratina admitted it," Dusknoir answered. Scout's eyes widened, that was a slight snag.
He had no real answer to that, so Scout turned back around to the front. They were passing over some hills of darkness, a few wretched creatures lurching around. It didn't seem like a dungeon, something better and worse.
He had only one real ace left to use, but to tell Dusknoir?
"When the future is changed," Scout said, focusing on the when and not if. "Can't Dialga do something about that? Sane Dialga, in the past? It's the ruler of time, an actual deity. Couldn't it revive someone erased?"
"Malarkey," Dusknoir replied. "That is fanciful hopefulness, Scout."
"But how can you say it cannot happen?" Scout replied. "What about Arceus? Or other legendary pokémon. Who do you think they'd revive? The heroes who saved time and sacrificed themselves, or a villain who tried to stop it."
Dusknoir's hands clenched reflexively, nearly choking Scout before he was able to control himself. A sableye gave a most nervous giggle as Dusknoir took a breath.
"Don't," he said, voice dark and pleading at once, "call me a villain."
Scout nearly flinched at the deadly tone, but he didn't back down. "It's what you are."
They did not speak the rest of the way. A different fortress, less ruined than the previous one with better cages.
Despite Dusknoir's trembling anger, he gently set him down and quickly began to restrain him. A pair of sableye brought in extra tools and by the time Scout was no longer being held, his arms were tied behind his back, the chain that had doomed him to this was fastened by a thicker, shorter, chain and even his tail was tied and pinned to his leg.
"Is this really necessary?" he asked, Dusknoir startled at his voice.
"This is simply a precaution after the last time." He turned to the assembled sableye and all flinched as his eye lit up with murderous intent.
"One of you," Dusknoir growled, "will watch him. You will not let him out of your sight. If he escapes again there will be nowhere you can hide from me. Understand?" The six of them rapidly nodded. "Good. Choose amongst yourselves and don't choose the one that watched him last time, I need to begin preparations. Meet me at the Dusk Spire immediately."
Dusknoir floated away. He briefly paused to glance back at Scout and appeared to wish to say something. He shook his head and continued on, not spitting whatever it was out.
"O-okay," a nervous sableye began.
"Not you," the other five said in unison. He nodded and Scout knew it was the one who had been guarding him before. He watched carefully as the other five sableye decided amongst themselves.
The one that seemed to be seen as the leader of the five was quickly standing with the nervous sableye. Lead Sableye had to lead them.
Chill Sableye was voted out next, and Aggressive Sableye insisted it'd be too boring to stand around with a sullen meowth.
Quiet Sableye and Hungry Sableye played Grass-Fire-Water to decide, playing best of three.
"Score!" the hungriest sableye cheered, he had won and therefore was able to have the easiest job of watching the prisoner.
"Don't sneak off to snack," Lead Sableye ordered, getting a nod from the sableye remaining behind.
"Good luck." Hungry Sableye grinned, saluting them off. The other five sableye disappeared and the two were left alone.
Scout tested the restraints. They were done up unpleasantly well. With his paws behind his back and pointed upwards, he couldn't stick a claw through the chain to Night Slash his way to freedom again, and the chain itself was thicker anyway.
He couldn't get as close to the bars and his tail did not appreciate being stuck down to his leg. He was well and truly trapped.
Scout's eyes fell on the sableye left to guard him. It was watching him but had already sat down to relax, laying against the wall and picking at its dagger-sharp teeth with a claw.
It noticed him staring. "What?"
Scout glanced away. It sighed. "Whatever. Let's get the awkward part out of the way. I'm Sableye, you're the guest of honour that's not allowed to go anywhere. One of us gotta be talking at least a little bit or we'll go coo-coo. Hear me?"
Scout stared blankly at him; he didn't really want to talk. For now, it could chatter on itself. He had something to try.
"Scout?" he thought, crossing his eyes before closing them. "Scout? Can you hear me?" The mystery of who he was had been digging at him since the first time he was imprisoned.
Chatot had tried to reassure him that he was no killer and several pokémon had said that he was Scout, just a little different. He, however, still couldn't be sure.
He hadn't tried to communicate with the original owner of the body unless it was him and something else was afoot, but Scout was sure of something. He, or whoever originally was Scout, was not aware of any game that this world was apparently a part of.
Unless he was simply much better at being sneaky than he was now, one of the others had to have noticed something.
Part of him wished he was able to ask Dusknoir, but the rest of him was sure that would have been a bad idea anyway.
"Scout?" he tried again, trying to focus hard. "Scout? Meowth? Owner of this body that might not be me? Hello? Is anything there."
He waited.
Nothing.
Scout sighed, feeling maybe a little relief, and opened his eyes, blinking the blackness out of them and giving his head a shake. He missed something as it fell to the dark ground.
Sableye was staring at him again.
"You're not gonna go wacko on me?" it asked. "Why were you shaking your head all wildly?"
"Just shaking some loose thoughts out," Scout replied, his guard groaned.
"He's going nuts on me already."
Scout laughed. It was fake but sounded plausible. Sableye paused at the sound, laughter wasn't common in this time and began to believe Scout was crazy all the more.
"I'm fine," Scout said to its worried look. It was worried for itself, he knew, but that was also fine. "Hey, so I'm bored, so why don't we play a game? Tic-Tac-Toe in the dirt, it'll be fun and something to do until Dusknoir and the others get back!"
Sableye was thrown somewhat off guard by the sudden friendliness and narrowed its eyes, eyelids moving over the gem-encrusted eyes for a moment before they pulled back. It met his eyes for a long moment before shrugging, Master Dusknoir might even reward him for entertaining his kid.
"How are you going to do this?" he asked, coming closer.
"You make the board," Scout replied. "And I'll tell you where to put my marks. Here's what you have to draw…"
He began to give Sableye step-by-step instructions while his mind whirred. Maybe there was another Scout, maybe there wasn't. But that could be worked out later. For now, he had to get out of here.
Scout's eyes met Sableye's as often as he could do it without looking incredibly suspicious. Celebi had told him that a weak Hypnosis, like his own, could leave a target more susceptible to suggestion.
He was going to test this out.
Things were moving. The whole guild was preparing to set out as Wigglytuff warned them what may remain inside the cave.
"Why has no one gotten rid of them?" Sunflora asked. "If they're so dangerous?"
The answer was a complicated matter.
"It is difficult to adequately explain," Chatot began. "But it is a matter of the dungeon being unpopular to explore with a difficult climb and no rewards, the place being considered out of the way to seek out and the three having no warrant or request for their arrest. Technically, there is no legal or moral right to rout wild pokemon from a place they consider their territory."
"But they're dangerous!"
"That they are," Chatot said grimly. "Thus it will be the team I shall lead who will enter first, we shall regroup at the end of the dungeon and march forth as a group, which is unlikely to be attacked, assuming they are still there. Then, it is only a matter of waiting for the Guildmaster and Grovyle."
Grovyle nodded. "Only one Time Gear left to obtain," he managed, visibly struggling with each word. "We… ah… we… need to."
"What's going on?" Sunflora asked, concerned. "Grovyle? Are you alright?"
Striker tried to raise a hand to gesture that he was fine, but his arm wouldn't move. Wigglytuff sat down with him as Sean frowned in concern. "With the Relic Fragment back Grovyle and I need to go to Crystal Cave immediately. Not only to get the gear but to request Azelf undo this curse."
Sean immediately became very alarmed. "A curse!? This is the first I'm hearing about this!"
Rai glanced to him. "Things have been happening since Dusknoir happened. Grovyle fought Azelf and we've noticed he's been…."
Chatot nodded, he remembered the legend. "If you harm Azelf," he said, frowning thoughtfully. "You may lose your will to move in a few days. As goes the legend, at least."
"Oh my gosh!"
"I-is Grovyle going to be okay?"
"WHAT? But we NEED him."
"Everyone," Wigglytuff called. "Don't worry. Grovyle and I will set off to Crystal Cave immediately. I don't know how long it might take to convince Azelf or to get the gear. So, the two of us will head out right now."
"I can't go with you?" Sean asked, conflicting emotions flashing across his face.
Wigglytuff nodded comfortingly. Grovyle couldn't talk, so he would. "The rest of the guild needs to begin making their way to the dungeon known as Brine Cave." Chatot twitched at that, Scout's words hitting him all over again.
He looked out, wondering what Scout was thinking.
Wigglytuff stepped back and picked Grovyle up and slung him over his back. The Grass-type wasn't entirely enthused at that, but he had no energy to protest. He managed a weak smile for Sean.
"I'm sorry you all only got one day of rest," he said to Mane, Chatot, and Sean. "But as we know, time is running out."
"We wouldn't be waiting around anyway," Mane said, Sean and Chatot nodded firmly.
Wigglytuff smiled and began walking. "Would someone fetch Alakazam? He should be in town."
Bidoof raced off and the guild followed their Guildmaster up to the top. Grovyle found the energy to stand, with Sean's assistance, and the guild paused at the entrance of the guild to look out at the crashing waves.
"You are all heroes," Wigglytuff said softly. "You will be the pokémon who save the world. I believe that. But, please… be careful."
"I will not allow a hair on a head to be harmed," Chatot said, hopping up to Wigglytuff's side. Wigglytuff smiled and grabbed him in a hug.
"Trill, you are my invaluable partner," Rhythm said, hugging Trill tightly, but not too tightly. "Be safe."
Trill returned the hug, deciding it was okay to do so in front of the guild this one time. "And you are mine."
Sunflora, Chimecho, and Loudred may have aww'd from behind them. Chatot decided to ignore it. Wigglytuff hugged him until Alakazam and Bidoof appeared out of thin air, and then he set him back down.
Grovyle came to stand by Wigglytuff, bracing himself against the Guildmaster and Alakazam nodded, closing his eyes to focus.
"We will retrieve supplies from Treasure Town first," Chatot barked, going into leadership mode. "Then we will begin the trek to Brine Cave! Understood?"
"Yes sir!" the guild repeated.
Wigglytuff waved them off as Striker said. "Sean? I won't be far." He had a grimace on his face, a subtle green glow to his body that had Wigglytuff looking thoughtful.
"Are you tapping into Overgrow?" he asked. Striker nodded. "I see. Don't push yourself any farther than you need to."
Sean nodded back and fell into step with Mane and Rai as they ran to Treasure Town.
"Prioritise sitrus and oran berries!" Chatot barked as he directed pokémon into groups to get specific items.
"Sunflora, take those two and find every orb you can. If there are any left." Sunflora ran off with Corphish and Diglett.
Chatot fluttered in place, hopped back and forth, and snuck glances up at the guild whenever he felt he could. Wigglytuff and Grovyle eventually disappeared and he found no need to look any further. He still did, however.
Sean fell into step with a revitalised Team Ion as they finished preparing for the dungeon and set off. He smiled as he remembered running this path to meet with Striker, then lost that smile as he recalled why he had been running.
"In advantage of maximising time and resources," Chatot explained as they walked along, "Litleo, Riolu, Shinx, and I will enter the dungeon first. Followed by Sunflora, Dugtrio, Corphish, and Bidoof. Chimecho, Croagunk, and Diglett will wait for the Guildmaster outside the dungeon and Chimecho will accompany him and Grovyle. Croagunk and Diglett shall enter last."
The sun began to rise higher into the sky as the path changed from well-worn, to rocky, to grass, and then back to well-worn. A stiff breeze was blowing, ruffling fur and feathers. A random thunderstorm lasted for only six minutes before the day became sunny again.
"Oof." Bidoof flinched as a lightning strike landed steps from him. From the cloudless sky. "This is worrisome, yup-yup."
"I heard things have been going like this for days," Loudred muttered, perfectly clear to everyone. "Exploration Teams entering the town the last few days have been talking about weird weather. I thought they just didn't have anything else to say and were making up stories."
"You should know better," Sunflora admonished, getting an offended gasp from Loudred.
"Well excuuuuse me, Sunflora."
"Yes, you are excused."
Chimecho rolled her eyes at their antics and went to float around Croagunk instead. He welcomed her presence with a nod.
"Last time I came here," Sean mentioned to Rai and Mane. "Was right after Dusknoir got Scout arrested. I came to talk to Striker. Because the place was so isolated it was a useful spot to meet up if we ever got separated." Rai didn't respond, but Mane nodded to him. Sean frowned, eying Rai for a moment.
His eyes lit up as a thought occurred to him. "I also punched him in the face!" he declared with pure enthusiasm.
Rai sensed he was being addressed. "Is that so?" he asked politely.
Sean sagged a little when the shinx turned back to eye the road.
Mane bumped Rai, then Sean. "Don't be rude," he said, Rai blinked in surprise.
"Oh. I'm sorry, I'm just a little distracted. Why did you hit him? Isn't he your friend?"
"Yeah well," Sean trailed off. He had hoped what he was going to say would make Shinx lighten up, but now he felt it might be viewed as just weird. "I hit him because he slashed you, actually."
The wind continued to blow as Rai gave Sean a curious frown. "Why would you care?"
Mane wowed silently as Sean flushed under the fur. Yet another advantage of now being a pokémon, he couldn't be spotted blushing as easily.
"He's really not that bad of a guy," Sean insisted to the person Striker had nearly killed. "Future reflexes and stuff… not that that's an excuse, I mean. I like you, so I was mad at him for doing that."
Rai continued frowning, but at least he was talking now. "You like me?" he asked. "I thought… well, okay. Thanks."
Mane sent a half-amused half-apologetic glance to Sean before bumping Rai again. "Play harder to get why don't you."
Rai sighed. "Look," he said, looking back up to Sean, "I get why you did what you did and all. I forgave Grovyle, so I forgive you for lying to me. I still don't like it though. I've had enough of being lied to."
Sean nodded. "That's fair," he said. "Sorry for breaking your trust." He extended a paw. "Fresh start?"
Rai eyed his paw for a moment, a moment long enough for Sean's friendly smile to become a fixed grimace. Then Rai extended his tail awkwardly and patted it. "Uh, yeah." He managed to wrap his tail around and give a wobbly shake. He smiled again, a realer one. "Fresh start."
Sean breathed a relieved breath and retracted his paw from the mortifying tail shake. He reminded himself that quadrupeds probably didn't do that and vowed to bury his head in the sand. Snickering from the guild behind him didn't help.
"Down here!" Chatot called as they grew closer to the dungeon. Sean quietly pointed out to Mane and Rai the path he had taken to speak with Striker, before heading down rather than up. They skirted along the eroding cliffs and to the classic chasm of a dungeon opening.
Salty, humid, air exhaled from the chasm opening like the dungeon itself was breathing. Mane poked at the silver bow in discomfort as Rai grimaced at the heat.
"Very well," Chatot said, hopping to a point before the dungeon and pausing. He stared into the inky depths of the dungeon, Wigglytuff's words, Scout's words, and his own broken memories washing over him with each breath exhaled from the dungeon.
"Chats?" Mane asked, as Chatot completely stopped moving. "Helllooo?"
"Ahem." Chatot cleared his throat and turned around. He extended a wing, the one with more feathers. "This is the entrance to Brine Cave," he explained. "A perilous dungeon with a potentially dangerous foe at the end."
The guild, plus Sean, listened as Chatot went over everything again. He folded his wing back in as he was finished and raised his beak. "Understood?"
"Yes sir!"
"Very good." Chatot's eye quirked in his own form of a smile before hesitating. "Uh… ahem. The Guildmaster would normally address you all with some rousing speech, but he is not here as of yet…"
He paused, seeming to wait for something.
"Give it a go," Mane said, grinning. "If we laugh, you'll know our spirits are raised!"
Chatot gave him a flat look before he smiled again. "I have been there to witness each of you begin to where you are now. From where the Guildmaster must take a distant approach out of necessity, he relies on me to ensure you are all working, training, and most importantly, happy."
A few pokémon smiled at that. Very Wigglytuff. "None of you were good explorers when you started," Chatot continued, very honestly. He got a few chuckles. "And now? Well… it's an improvement, I suppose."
The whole assembly laughed at that.
"The Guildmaster cherishes you all," Chatot said once the giggles had calmed. "As do I. All of you." He closed his eyes, pretending not to hear the sounds of feelings. "I am proud to call you apprentices of the Wigglytuff Guild. In these days of turmoil and confusion, you have not given into fear or panic, each of you have come here knowing the world is at stake. The Guildmaster is correct, each of you are heroes."
He straightened up and turned to the dungeon. "Now, be safe in there and we'll all meet up at the end. I will notice if anyone is tardy, understood?"
"HOORAY!"
Chatot waited for Rai, Mane, and Sean to join him and they entered Brine Cave.
Mane and Chatot couldn't help but mentally compare the trial they were facing currently with the dungeons from the future.
The future had scarier dungeons, to be sure. With decaying walls and shrieks of the damned, every step in that place was terrible. However, all the water and ice pokémon around were giving them an impressively bad time.
"Birds are singing," Sean laughed as Chatot yelled at a barboach until it ran away in tears.
"What are you so happy about?" Mane growled, shaking off water left by a gastrodon.
"It's nice to be useful again," Sean answered, pummelling a dewgong with a Force Palm to knock it flying and unconscious.
"About time you were useful for something other than directions," Mane snarked. Rai gave him a mortified look at the rudeness. "All those gastly were not fun. All those tongues, ugh."
Sean shuddered in discomfort.
"Hush, children," Chatot said and the two closed their mouths. Before all three, Chatot included, laughed.
"Never thought I'd laugh about all the horror," Mane giggled.
"You have to laugh at it," Sean replied, wiping his eye. "Or you'll fall into a foetal position and never get up."
"Morbid."
"Yes-yes," Chatot huffed, but his eye was twinkling.
Rai felt a little left out.
Mane and Sean kept up the chatter as they went. The reflex of always needing to talk in the future holding firm, Rai was drawn into their conversations as they went until all three were sharing stories about Scout.
"He would never bathe!" Rai said, Mane shaking his head in amusement. "Was he always like that?"
"Nah." Sean shrugged. "He'd lick himself wherever and whenever. But humans don't."
"I can tell," Mane said with a smirk, flicking at some stray fur on Sean's shoulder.
"Yes, well." Sean rubbed the fur down. "Did he ever stare into space at all? Just randomly dazing out?"
"Oh yeah." Rai nodded, happy to share that experience. "Happened in dungeons a few times. Nearly got his head charm thingy taken by a murkrow when he got too distracted with a piece of dirt."
As they talked, Chatot thought in silence.
"And so that's the situation," Wigglytuff explained to a very angry Azelf. "Grovyle is very sorry for what he did, but Uxie and Mesprit will be unfrozen once time is restored."
The gems of Crystal Lake twinkled in the soft light of the lake, Time Gear still buried but light shining despite the rocky covering.
Azelf had attacked Grovyle upon spotting him, and then Wigglytuff for bringing him here. Wigglytuff was more than tough enough to block Azelf's strikes, however, and didn't strike back.
He simply let the legendary pokémon wear itself out.
"Why… should I… believe you?" Azelf demanded, panting for breath. They regretted ever thinking the lake was lonely, too many visitors were bothering them nowadays.
"Why were the Time Gears brought here?" Wigglytuff asked. He genuinely wanted to know the answer and hoped that getting Azelf to talk might calm them down.
Grovyle remained standing in silence. He gathered that trying to speak to Azelf would be counterintuitive. He could still see the scorch marks on the ground and he still felt the hit Team Flame had given him.
"To stabilise time," Azelf answered. "Therefore taking them has led to time's recent issues!"
"But something was going on even before the first gear was taken," Wigglytuff explained, patiently. "I'm also wondering, if the gears were placed here, then what was here before that?"
At that, Azelf hesitated. "I… I'm not sure. It was thousands of years ago and my memory…" they frowned. They may not have been Uxie, but as a direct child of Arceus, their memory was usually very clear, even over millennia.
"We tried replacing the Time Gears," Wigglytuff explained as Azelf remained silent. "And none of them worked. Time was breaking down even before the first gear was taken, and surely there was a time they existed before they were here? Information suggests they need to be returned to their place of origin, the Hidden Land."
From that last part, Azelf's eyes lit up. "The Hidden Land!" they said excitedly. "I remem…." A frown retook their face and they close their eyes. "I… I had it, then it just slipped away. Something… the gears… D… no, Temporal, uh..."
"Tower?" Grovyle offered, Azelf immediately glared at him, before it fell into a more thoughtful look.
"Yes. I'm not sure what is going on with my memory, something feels like it is blocking it." They floated in place, visibly hesitating. "What… what did you say before? Please explain it again?"
Wigglytuff nodded and began to repeat everything he had said. They were getting through to Azelf, he could feel it. Grovyle was looking worse than before, he knew he needed to convince Azelf. Getting the gear, he could do that if truly needed, but his friendly friend was in trouble and only Azelf could help.
So, Wigglytuff did something he knew well and talked from his heart.
As the four travelling Brine Cave were attacked, they'd all break out of their respective thoughts to fight off the attackers. A Steel Wing there, Thunderbolt there, Hyper Voice to a Force Palm took down one particularly persistent dragonair.
There wasn't much time for quiet introspection as ferals came from forwards, back, side to side, and even from below. Between moments of fighting, Chatot considered a few things.
He didn't quite remember the first venture through Brine Cave. Due to the blood loss he had suffered, a measure of amnesia took that day mostly from him.
The quiet discomfort at Scout being completely right about that made him consider what else Scout had revealed to him. He glanced at Sean and Rai, both were chatting amicably now.
Even with his fractured memories, Chatot was sure there wasn't this much violence in the dungeon the first time. Times change, perhaps literally.
"So, Saniya mentioned that she thought Scout and her friend," Sean said, snapping Chatot from his reverie, "this audino called Soothe, were a little alike in personality. She said they'd either get along perfectly or wouldn't be able to stand each other."
Ah, Soothe. That brought back memories of waking up outside this dungeon with Rhythm panicking and crying while the oddly-coloured audino pressed her paws to his chest, having been sliced open by Kabutops.
She had not been comfortable or, to be honest, overly pleasant on that first meeting, for reasons he had never been clear on. Rhythm had drowned it out with his dramatics upon seeing him wake up. He sometimes wondered how someone so pure could have survived as long as he had without him, but Rhythm was much stronger and smarter than he looked.
No one knew that better than Chatot. Only Soothe and Lopunny came close to understanding Rhythm like he did.
And only he was gifted with Wigglytuff's actual name.
And yet. Trill remembered Soothe, so reserved and suspicious yet when she smiled and laughed she seemed like a whole different person. She had saved his life with nothing demanded in return.
Now that he knew where she was from, it made him wonder all the more. Sean was a decent sort, Grovyle wasn't too bad, and Scout was a delight. Not everyone was so warped from the future. And then there was Dusknoir, he didn't understand why he would be so adamant to protect that vile place, especially now that he knew what it was like to live in the sun.
They had all seen how he flinched when Scout disowned him. A recoil of an injured heart, is that why he had stopped Scout from escaping with them? No. He couldn't imagine it. Somehow, no one reacted with such a bare-hearted flinch if that pain was not true. He loved Scout, but then… why?
Chatot was so wrapped up in his own thoughts, he failed to notice the dungeon begin to change.
He caught it a moment later as Rai said. "I think the dungeon is changing."
Chatot threw his wings up, the brush of his feathers causing them to pause. "We wait," he said, very quietly, looking all around him. The attackers were Water-type's, and there were countless holes of water around them.
They all stopped, falling silent.
Having lagged behind in his thoughts, however, Chatot was behind the three with Rai and Mane out front.
Trill's head hurt. Something was pounding on his brain.
Just remember. Kabutops attacks from above.
They had only just barely crossed the threshold. The attack came when they were almost to the mouth of the exit. Yet, Chatot's eyes flicked up and he screeched a warning. Rai skidded to a stop, but Mane was already steps ahead.
From above, three murderers descended.
"MANE!" Chatot screamed, leaping forward without thinking.
"MANE!" Sean yelled out as Mane immediately froze up. Chatot's wings glinted as the three killers landed and lashed out.
"MANE!" Rai screamed as Mane fell, a lash of blood sending a red stripe against the rocks.
He landed, head knocking against the stone, as the laceration from his neck began to bleed out.
"No," Trill grunted, trembling with effort, his wings raised. Kabutops' scythes and the right omastar's tendrils were pressed up against his wings. He had blocked two of them, but the second omastar had struck Mane in the neck.
Chatot heaved and he blew all three of them back with an exceptional push of strength. Rather than pressing the attack, he barked out, "SEAN! Tend to Mane." He remembered Sean resetting Scout's arm, he had some medical skill, and with his dexterity, he could do something.
Sean, having already been charging forward to fight, switched tracks and ran to Mane.
"Rai. To me. We shall fight them together."
"So, the swift snack seeks to struggle?" Kabutops hissed, voice sliding around them, burrowing into their ears and hanging over their necks. "Certainly." His eyes were dim, small, and filled with malice as the two omastar gurgled in his shadow.
Rai trembled with electricity as he reached Chatot's side, his eyes were narrowed and set with his teeth bared. Chatot blew a wind and forced the Rock-types further back to give Sean more space before he and Rai charged.
Sean knelt by Mane's side, stripping him of the silver bow he wore quickly. He set his back down and pulled it open, pulling out a finely sown sheet.
"You'll be fine," Sean repeated as Mane weakly gasped for breath, legs kicking out continuously. He pressed the sheet to Mane's neck and unwound the silver bow, tying it around as best he could to stem some of the bleeding.
"It didn't hit the artery," Sean said, half to Mane half to himself. "It's just a bit of blood. You're okay Mane, hear me? You're okay and you will be okay."
He flinched as ozone rose and electricity crackled, raising his fur. Chatot barked something and Rai snapped a response and forced the omastar trying to go for him to retreat.
"You… had… it?" Mane whispered. He knew the feeling of his sheet. "You took it?"
"Sorry," Sean replied, pressing against the cut. "You can tell me off about it later. Okay?"
"Bitch."
Sean hiccupped a laugh and doubled down on pressing as firmly as he could on Mane's neck without cutting off his breathing. Mane's breathing was quick and rapid, his blood began to soak through the sheet and Sean pulled more of it up.
His aura tassels began to rise without him noticing, touching the silver bow as the bow began to glow slightly. Tingles ran up his arm.
"BACK!" Trill screeched, striking an X into one of the omastar's face and knocking it clattering against the rock. He swooped in after it, cracking its shell and knocking it into a wall where it stopped moving.
Kabutops moved.
"RAI!"
Rai's electricity began to overwhelm the cowardly omastar and it screeched pitifully before trying to flee, as slowly and wobbly as it could. Rai blasted it until it stopped moving, almost frothing at the mouth in rage.
His anger towards the omastar that had struck Mane left him blind to everything else and Trill's warning barely registered. Trill swooped after Kabutops as it slashed at Rai. Rai's electrical discharge knocked it back before much of a cut was dealt, but it was enough to slice a line right through Rai's side and red began to mix with the blue and black of his fur.
Trill smacked Kabutops in the back of the head but kept flying for Rai as the shinx cried out in pain. He grabbed Rai in his talons and tossed him back towards Mane and Sean.
"You will not harm anyone here!" Trill declared, turning to face Kabutops himself. He raised his wings as metal shone again. Kabutops sneered and raised his own scythes. "You will not harm anyone EVER AGAIN!"
"Weary words of a weakling," Kabutops hissed, and began to circle Chatot. Its eyes flicked to the injured duo, Chatot walked with it, not giving it a chance to go for them. "Steely sight of someone who's seen I sometime before?"
It continued staring closely as Chatot's wings trembled. It laughed.
"Aha! Weary words of a weakling who warded a Wigglytuff! I remember you." Its voice lost all amusement and turned to pure malice. "I remember you."
Trill raised his beak, resolution in his eyes. "And no one will remember you." He struck out, one wing slamming into Kabutops' raised guard while the other swiped out at Kabutops' legs.
The deadly pokémon leapt over the swipe and headbutted Chatot, dazing him with its far harder cranium. It tried to stab forward and impale Chatot, but the bird wasn't such a junior to be phased yet and knocked himself back with a burst of wind.
With some distance between them, Kabutops spat a sharp jet of water at Chatot. It sheered through the top of Chatot's wing, but he didn't so much as flinch. Blue light flashed and Trill was spitting water straight back at Kabutops.
It flooded itself in its own personal torrent and launched at Chatot, Aqua Jet flooding the floor as it went. Trill met Kabutops in the air, steely wings against rock-hard scythes.
Kabutops tried to sever Chatot's wing, but the Steel Wing was too hard and only cut into it. Trill grabbed Kabutops' torso with his talons and pushed and pulled, flipping them around before tossing Kabutops straight at the ground.
The extra speed from the Aqua Jet was to Kabutops' detriment and it smashed into the hard ground. Trill came down, wings cycling between several elements and moves before he decided on copying the Aqua Jet.
Kabutops rolled out of the way and lashed out, Trill jumped and parried.
Both of them, panting for breath, began a whirlwind of stabs and slashes. Metal wings met rock scythes and shrieking out piercing cries as they met each other in scythe-to-wing combat. The air was snapping at the speed of their strikes, lights flashing and casting gruesome shadows along the walls.
Rai prowled along the edges, even he could not pick out a clear target with how much they were moving, crackling uselessly with electricity.
Kabutops went for a stab, Trill ducked and it smashed straight through the wall instead. Kabutops grunted but was unable to pull itself free. Trill carved an X into Kabutops and nearly tore his arm out from the blow, knocking him flying as spittle flew into the air.
Kabutops landed with a crash and gasped. "W-wait," he said, forcing a scythe into the ground to help pull himself up, the other one hung limply as it was rendered useless. "We can talk."
Trill pointed a wing at Kabutops. "I don't want to see you ever again," he hissed. "Now leave."
"I see," Kabutops said as he glanced to an omastar. Having pulled himself from the wall, it began to aim for Chatot as Kabutops said, "Our duo deigns to your demand."
"DI-"
"CHATOT!" Rai screamed, charging forward lighting with electricity. Face freezing in apoplectic fury, Rai blasted the omastar with enough electricity to send it through the dungeon wall, shattering the wall in a torrent of rock and electricity.
Kabutops took his shot. Trill's eyes widened as Kabutops leaped for Rai beside him, scythe raised to cut straight through the exhausted shinx. The lamed arm suddenly appeared undamaged as he struck for Rai's chest.
The satisfied gleam in Kabutops' eye froze as he was forced to a complete stop.
"No," Trill breathed. Wing outstretched, hardened with metal, and pierced entirely through Kabutops' abdomen. "You won't hurt anyone ever again."
Kabutops' eyes widened briefly before Trill yanked his wing back, tearing it from Kabutops. The murderous felon took a single step back before the gaping wound seemed to click at last, with murky brackish blood welling up from the wound. His eyes went blank and he toppled. His face looked peaceful in death.
Trill took several hard breaths before he gave a soft, weak, sound and dropped to the ground.
Rai's breath came in quick, short, bursts. Not dissimilar from Mane's own. He took a step back, eyes locked on Kabutops' body. His own wound was still trickling blood, but he couldn't even feel it now. The scythe had been inches from skewering him.
Sean was completely silent from where he was still kneeling by Mane. The battle had started and ended in just a few minutes, enough time for him to do everything he could.
"Shinx," Sean called. Rai glanced back at the only source of sound besides the dripping and the ringing in Rai's own ears. "Mane has to get back to the guild." He paused, he didn't want to say it, but Mane was almost unconscious now. "If we don't get him in care soon, he will die."
Rai glanced back to Chatot and then to Sean. He took a single step.
"Riolu!" came a high-pitched shriek. "LITLEO!?" Sunflora, Dugtrio, Corphish, and Bidoof came sprinting up to them. Not a few seconds later, Wigglytuff, Grovyle, and Chimecho were racing after them as well.
Wigglytuff moved ahead of Chimecho, then Sunflora, and right to Chatot.
Rai sat down and lay on his side, relieved to just sit down to breathe again.
Striker and Chimecho were by Sean's side as Sunflora, Dugtrio, Corphish and Bidoof watched in worry.
"He had his neck slashed by a jet of water," Sean explained as Chimecho began to glow around the bloody sheet and untouched bow. "I don't think it hit the artery, but he's lost a lot of blood. I've stemmed it as best I could, and he ate one oran berry. He needs more help, or he…"
Chimecho nodded as she finished feeling around with Psychic. "He needs to get back to the guild quickly," she said gravely. "Or Litleo will die."
"No…" Mane moaned. "I… I've gotta… help… save…" he sighed weakly, each word getting harder.
"Don't speak," Chimecho said softly as Rai found himself on his feet and then by Mane's side. He pressed a gentle paw on top of Mane's own.
"You have to be alright, okay?" he asked, Mane cracked an eye open to meet his.
"…okay."
Chimecho felt something and jerked with a flinch, looking for Wigglytuff. She quickly floated over to where Wigglytuff sat, holding Chatot and rocking back and forth.
"Guildmaster?" she asked, trying to feel for Chatot. "What…? Oh."
Wigglytuff raised his head, tears matted his face. "He's already gone," Wigglytuff whispered, rocking Chatot's still body back and forth.
The words were soft and yet they carried. All at once, the air was knocked out of the guild's lungs.
Chimecho floated in place, not moving as the constant breath of the dungeon itself seemed to hitch.
Sunflora slowly covered her mouth.
Bidoof glanced between Wigglytuff and Chimecho, not understanding. "Wha-what? G-Guildmaster? Ch-Chatot?"
The quiet steps of the final arrivals seemed to boom around yet were unheard. Croagunk and Diglett arrived.
The words of the others were drowned out as a painful droning filled Rai's ears. He blinked. He blinked again. He blinked more. Yet, no matter how much he blinked, Chatot didn't sit up. He didn't squawk in offence or tell them off for speaking such a horrible lie.
The Guildmaster was a prankster, he never took anything seriously. This wasn't something to joke about. This… couldn't be true.
Rai stood and began to walk towards Wigglytuff. He was holding Chatot to his chest, matted with red blood. From where Chatot had fallen, a puddle of blood and a line from where Wigglytuff had picked him up.
A line that led to Kabutops' scythe, red blood from where he had impaled Chatot and been impaled in kind.
From where he stabbed Chatot.
From where Chatot took the hit for him and delivered a killing blow in kind.
Where Chatot had died. To save him.
"No," Rai whispered as his stomach clenched. There was nothing there, but his stomach felt like he'd swallowed sand and metal. He wanted to vomit, his right forward paw accidentally stepped in the line of red.
Wigglytuff seemed to crumble in on himself as Rai stood in front of him. His tears were streaking down his face, running down his fur, to where Chatot was pressed against his chest. He began to shake violently, arms tightening around Chatot.
"Trill," Rhythm whimpered. "I can't do this without you. Trill. Trill. Trill." His voice broke further with each word.
"Please no," Rai whispered. His ears were static. The dungeon was laughing. Kabutops was dead. Chatot was dead.
Rai's back legs gave out and he buried his face into his paws. "I'M SORRY!" he screamed, this was his fault.
"It's not your fault," Rhythm whispered.
It was. It was. It was. Rai knew it. He knew it was his fault. He shouldn't have been such a big target. He should have attacked Kabutops. He should have done something different.
Rai continued to shake and cry even as Sunflora knelt down with him and hugged him.
Rai felt the Relic Fragment around his neck and wanted to throw it into the ocean.
"You have to go on," Rhythm whimpered. Rai looked up. Wigglytuff was still falling apart, unable to even look away from Trill's too-still form. "You can't let this be for nothing."
Grovyle and Riolu came to his side and Rai slowly got up. He looked back to the guild and they began to walk, Chimecho levitating Mane even as she bowed her head.
Everyone was crying. Bidoof couldn't stand and Sunflora was leading a sobbing Loudred along. Croagunk had covered his face but couldn't cover his tears. Diglett was between Dugtrio's three heads and they were silent with sniffles.
Corphish simply stared blankly ahead.
Tears pricked at Mane's eyes, but he was barely conscious.
Grovyle's eyes were downcast and solemn, but he said nothing. A hand rested on Sean's shoulders and the riolu bit his lip, shaking as he suppressed his emotions as best he could.
They walked into the final room. It opened up into the ocean, a cove letting in a gentle light. A large replication of the symbol on the relic fragment was engraved on the wall.
Rhythm couldn't help but look up, wishing to see Soothe and have her miraculous powers revive Trill. Yet, even the first time, Trill had still been alive when he found her here.
Rai lifted the Relic Fragment to an enormous copy of its symbol and the entire room buzzed with some arcane energy. A jet of life burst from the middle of the symbol and across the water, past the horizon.
Moments later, a lapras appeared.
Lapras docked and looked around at the large group. "This is more than I had thought I'd see," he said in a graceful tone, looking over everyone. His eyes fell on Wigglytuff. "Oh dear. Is there anything that can be done?"
Rhythm shook his head, clutching Trill to his chest.
Lapras bowed his head. "I am greatly sorry for your loss." His eyes continued roaming, settling on Mane. "And that one?"
"He needs help soon," Chimecho said, voice quiet and hollow. "We've done what we can, but he needs to get back to the guild."
"I see," Lapras said. "I cannot do much, but I can at least preserve them in their states until you return." He breathed out a pair of rings of water before pushing them over. One rotated around Chatot, the other Mane. "Those Aqua Rings will keep them as they are for the time being."
"Thank you."
Lapras turned to the three who stood before him. A grovyle, riolu, and shinx. "I only have so much room, and you three… you three are the ones."
Grovyle nodded and Lapras turned around. "I am the guide to the Hidden Land. I have been expecting someone for some time, so time is of the essence. I… am sorry about what happened here, but you will need to grieve on the trip."
Grovyle leapt on, Sean moved on slower. Rai hesitated. He looked back to the guild, he still felt the weight in his stomach. He still felt that this was his fault. He could still see Chatot leaping in front of him and taking the hit.
"Save the world," Bidoof encouraged, sniffling and hiccupping.
"We'll see you when you get back."
"Be safe."
"Hey, you can do it."
"Do it for Chatot."
Mane cracked an eye open. "Do… everything I would have done," he croaked. "And more. Give them hell, Raigeki."
Rai met Wigglytuff's eyes and he nodded weakly. "He believed in you. We all do." His eyes fell down to Chatot. It almost looked like he was sleeping.
Rai took a breath and climbed onto Lapras' shell, settling next to Grovyle. Lapras cast one last look over to Chatot before setting off at impressive speeds. Riding the currents below, leaving Brine Cave behind them.
"I'm… sorry for the loss of Chatot," Striker said softly as the silence dwelled between them. "He was a noble pokémon."
Sean raised his head. "He was a stuffy, cranky, insufferable critic," Sean snapped, voice cracking as tears finally broke to begin streaking down his face. No one else was supposed to die for this. "He was a hero."
That brought the weakest of comforts in Rai before he turned to look back at the cove of Brine Cave. The guild was departing, having to leave for Mane's sake. Everyone looked back as they disappeared.
Rai didn't speak. Sean didn't speak.
Striker watched over them as they drifted into sleep, making sure they didn't slip into the water. Brine Cave was behind them, it had to be behind them.
The Hidden Land was now. The Hidden Land was the future. The Hidden Land was coming.
Despite it, Striker looked back to Brine Cave one last time. "A hero indeed," he sighed before nestling down to wait. He had the final gear, he had his will back once Azelf found themselves agreeable to Wigglytuff's overwhelming personality.
But still. He looked back this once.