October 28th, First Year

"You're pulling my hair."

"Many apologies." Emmet loosened his grip on Jester's thick, glossy fur, poking his head out of the pokémon's mane to get a better look at his surroundings. Sea salt stung the back of his throat. "Where is our destination located?"

"The other side of the cliffs." Jester rubbed at his nose, using his other paw to grip the rocks on the slippery cliffside as he followed Castor, the small Croagunk making light work of the rocks as it swung forward to catch up with its trainer. "The breeze is calmer there; less wet," Jester explained. "Once we make it over there, Hydra is gonna give us a lift to the icelands."

Emmet grimaced. "What about Arcanine? She is fast. We would arrive at our destination promptly if we were to ask Arcanine for an expedient delivery."

"My name is Lilith," the massive pokémon growled, following at the tail end of the party. She quickened her pace, showing off her shiny fangs as she padded past. "And as much as I'd like to, you don't have a pokéball and you'd fall right off going at my top speed, so the answer is no."

"Burr could capture me."

"She doesn't want to. Now, drop it, leafy greens. We're almost there."

Dumb nickname, Emmet inwardly grumbled. He was grateful still to even be allowed to travel alongside Burr and her many pokémon. He hadn't been planning on just being a tagalong, though.

Burr's first pitstop had been at the northern sea just on the other side of Veilstone Cape. A whirlpool, swallowing the coast and the outer islands, had sprung up out of the sea as they summited the cliffs some time ago. A 'dungeon' is what Burr had called it and no sooner had they arrived at the storming coast had Burr taken off into the dungeon by herself, leaving Emmet completely alone with her entire team. When Burr had come back, her bag had been packed with items. Food, cloth, and shiny orbs. Provisions, she had said. Dungeons could be looted for items if one was strong enough to clear it and clear it, Burr had. But without Burr sustaining injuries hidden behind swathes of bloody cloth.

Jester suddenly came to a halt, his ears pricking up. "Heads up, leafy greens. We're finally at a good spot."

"Don't call me that," Emmet hissed.

"How about Vitamin E?" Castor drawled instead.

"That is even worse."

Jester quickly shushed both of them. "Okay, okay. It looks like we're all going back into our pokéballs now." He winced, reaching into his mane to pull Emmet free. "Well, everyone except for you, Mister Emmet. You'll be riding up front with master of course."

"Of course I am."

The handoff was quick and painless with Emmet easily settling into the scratchy but warm folds of Burr's tunic as the woman recalled her pokémon back to their pokéballs. She called out to Hydra in a commanding tone and the Yanmega replied by lowering itself to the ground, allowing for Burr to carefully climb on.

"You good up there, salad bowl?" Hydra called, her loud, abrasive voice seeming to boom off of the faraway mountainside. Emmet regularly had to be reminded that Hydra was an alpha, much like Milk- Emmet's Vespiquen. Emmet panicked for one moment, having forgotten where his pokémon were only to remember that Ingo had entrusted them to a friendly acquaintance of his in Jubilife Village some time ago.

"I am Emmet," he repeated firmly, "and I am ready for departure."

"Good. You'd better take cover in master's clothes. The cold air will freeze you solid if you don't."

And as if having heard Hydra's comment, Emmet heard the sound of something unzipping. He was quickly swaddled in dulled orange fabric and fastened tightly to Burr's front side. No room to wiggle or even move, all Emmet could do was let his head drop against Burr's chest and try his best to relax as he felt Hydra move beneath him.

I hate heights. I hate flying. Emmet blinked. We are flying. Over mountains. He opened his mouth to speak but instead, felt himself lurch back into Burr's warm skin as Hydra fluttered up and away, the humid air of the coastlands quickly turning to an energy-sapping chill that took the words right out of his mouth.

Cold. Emmet was no stranger to cold climates. Nimbasa City regularly froze over in the winters and even then, Emmet had been present when members of Neo Team Plasma had used Kyrurem's power to freeze over almost the entirety of Unova. Emmet had been to the icelands before and their chill was- to him- negligible. But as he sat violently shivering wrapped in Burr's old jacket inside of the woman's tunic, it was the coldest he had ever been in his entire life.

The burning heat that ebbed from Burr's body paled in comparison to the sharp stabs of freezing cold air that gnawed at Emmet's face and tail. He curled in tighter upon himself, surprised but thankful when he felt Burr's calloused hand reach in and press him against her chest harder. The woman yelled something over the din of the howling air and the next time Emmet collided with her hand, he found that there were small orange-and-yellow seeds stuck to her palm.

I am making a guess that these are for me. Emmet wordlessly accepted the seedlets and against his better judgement, ate one of them after taking a sniff. It tasted like peppercorns. It smelled spicy like crushed tamato berries. Immediately, the savage chill that had been tearing at Emmet's body disappeared, replaced by a comfortable heat as if Emmet had submerged himself in hot water.

"Make sure you eat those one-at-a-time!" Hydra yelled over the wind. "Master says they're dangerous if you eat too many!"

Emmet quickly stowed the other seeds in his leafy ruff, the smell making his nose itch. "Understood!" he called back, knowing that the pokémon likely wouldn't hear him. Warm, weighted, and somewhat fed, Emmet surprised himself when he began to feel drowsy and within a few moments, he had fallen asleep, letting the drone of the howling winds take him to a dreamless slumber.

When he woke up next, he could hear nothing but the sound of footsteps crunching through deep snow. He wiggled around and eventually poked his head out of his warm jacket cocoon only to immediately retreat back with a hiss. Cold! Dragons, it's cold! Emmet reached back into his ruff and pulled out another mystery seed to devour it. Relief washed over him as the numb sensation faded from his frostbitten face. I really should ask before eating another one what these are exactly.

Before him loomed a temple. A castle. An ominous mass of wood and stone that stood so tall, the frost-laden air of the icelands swirled around the peaks. Pine trees, ancient and towering high into the sky, were frozen to the ground, their insides petrified, spikes of ice forming from the tip of the scraggly branches to the snowy forest floor. No lights shone inside the massive building, the ornate windows black and devoid of life. Steps upon steps of cracked cobblestone led up to the stone doorway of the temple, the carved stone door inscribed with what Emmet could so easily recognize as a stylized version of one of Giratina's mythological corporeal forms. The legendary pokémon's many legs wove a patterned carving over and under the archway of the door, a grand wooden gate standing at the very front of the temple. At one leg of the gate was a cracked bell; at the other leg was a petrified wooden box with debris scattered about the grounds.

Emmet held still and watched as Burr strode confidently across the grounds, both Dusk and Glacier appearing from their pokéballs to lead the way inside. Dusk's gentle violet flames cast shadows on the walls as Burr pushed the doors open.

This… wow. Emmet felt his mouth gape open as he took in the interior of the castle, confused at the sheer amount of stone and concrete comprising the structure. This is an ancient temple. Concrete should not exist yet. Where is the wood? He swung his head to stare at a deteriorated shrine beside the door, just barely able to comprehend the engraved stone pillars that stretched up to a ceiling he couldn't see. Are those… Unknown? Black creeping clusters stretched over the engraved walls. Emmet recognized the dot-scripture commonly denoting the ancient but famous Regi-trio. Both notions made his blood run cold. This is an ancient temple. Older than Unova, definitely.

Emmet attempted to heave himself free of the cocoon Burr had wrapped him in only for the woman to fidget and pull at him tighter, her shaking hands keeping him pinned against her chest as she continued walking forward. Emmet could hear the ranger's slow staged breaths. The occasional hum of discontent. He could hear her heartbeat, slow and steady. He glanced at Glacier who seemed to be just as annoyed as their trainer, pausing to scratch at the back of its head before continuing along, their wispy fur billowing in the stiff breeze that coursed through the temple.

Then, Burr stopped. Without warning, the ranger released Jester and carefully handed Emmet over to him before stepping out of the light of Dusk's flames and into the shadows. Emmet froze. Someone else was in the temple before them.

A lady, so thin and bent over that she was clearly elderly, kneeled upon the stone floors before a shrine casted into the walls. Shining silver hair fell over her shoulders, landing upon an ornate silver kimono that spilled across the concrete floors like a puddle. The lady turned and ever so slowly began to speak.

Glacier sniffed. "Here. Translation to the rescue. Hold on." The pale Zorua sat back on his haunches and pricked his ears toward the two conversing people in the room. Almost immediately, the small fox winced and cowered back.

"What is it?" Emmet asked.

"They're arguing," Glacier grunted after a while. "Master is really angry at Cogita; she can't turn you back into a human with the mirror she used to turn master back. She says Azelf has to be the one to change you back since they turned you into a pokémon."

"Greeeat. That is just wooonderful," Emmet grumbled. This is one big mess. I think I am beginning to understand why Burr dislikes Azelf so much. "I am guessing that our task would be to locate Azelf then."

"If only it were that simple." Glacier paused for another moment. "The bubble that master formed over Lake Valor keeps the legendaries out; even Azelf. For all we know, Azelf could be anywhere in Hisui right now."

That is just the most convenient thing I have heard all day. Frustration and anger made Emmet's hands shake. "What else are they saying?"

"That crocodile- Mangrove- and that ghost- Dusknoir- they're both here to help master gather the time gears." Glacier paused again. The fur along his spine began to stick straight up and he retreated, protectively putting his smaller body in front of Emmet's slightly larger one. "I've never seen master so upset before."

Dusk curled in upon Emmet from his other side. "Neither have I," she murmured. "And I've been with her the longest." She spared a glance at Jester. "In Hisui."

Emmet only then noticed that Burr's voice, always low and calm, had gotten so loud that it rang clearly off the stone walls of the temple. Emmet's ears ached from just how sudden the pitch shift had been. Burr was yelling. For the first time, Burr was yelling at the old and slightly disheveled Cogita who looked none too bothered. "What about Azelf?" Emmet had to yell over the background argument.

"No. Cogita is telling master… something. They're arguing about something, but I can't tell what about exactly. Too many metaphors and hinting, but nothing clear. Something about legendary pokémon- Dialga mostly… Wait. Wait, what is that? Is that- "

There was silence. Something hard clicked on the stone floors of the temple and as Emmet finally managed to break free of his cocoon, he could hear a familiar voice restart again, this time, the words fully coherent as it burned at his ears and made his bones quake.

"How dare you!" Burr's voice, laced with the purest form of hatred Emmet had ever heard in his entire life, scorched the walls of the temple and Emmet was surprised when Burr- now a pokémon once more- stomped over to Cogita, the concrete floor turning red-hot in her wake. "I asked for Emmet to be turned back into a human! Not the reverse!"

Cogita murmured something. Burr grew even angrier, her tail lashing and her sharp teeth bared.

"Seraph?" Burr growled. "Some seraph you are," she spat. "You're so old and wise, I bet you've seen plenty of children die for your false god."

"Burr?" Emmet rasped, still covering his ears. "Is everything alright?"

The woman in question whirled around on her feet to glare at him. Emmet involuntarily shrunk back into Glacier's chest fur. Golden flames spat and sizzled as they erupted from the spinal scales along Burr's back. Thick black smoke poured out of her mouth. Burr's eyes were cold and malignant as she cocked her head as if never having met him before. "Right. You." She snorted and let out a deep, aggravated sigh. "We're leaving this useless seraph and this useless temple." She stormed past him, reaching out one hand to haul him closer by the scruff of his neck, her touch warm but not painful. "There's probably a good reason this place has been abandoned," she muttered under her breath.

Emmet could do nothing but follow in Burr's wake, afraid that with Dusk and Glacier following behind so quickly, he would get left behind with the strange woman. As they emerged from the temple and into the freezing winds, Emmet hissed when Burr lifted him up with her teeth and settled him firmly in her arms. The sight would be comical if Emmet wasn't unsure whether the woman was going to explode from rage and hurt him in the process.

"... Is everything alright?" Emmet tried again, feeling his skin crawl from the sudden contact. Now is not the time to mention that. "You are scaring me."

"... Sorry." Burr instead wrapped her shed jacket back around him, but she didn't look directly at him. "Cogita said some… nasty things that rubbed me the wrong way. Best you don't know- it has nothing to do with you or Ingo."

Emmet reluctantly settled into the safe grip Burr was holding him in. "You are not lying to me, are you?"

"I don't have a reason to lie to you, Emmet. I'm not exactly out to get you." Burr shook her head and began walking, the snow hissing as she went. She readjusted her grip on him. Emmet could see the woman's mouth set into a hard scowl, her lip curling. "No, not you. My quarrel isn't with you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Glacier piped up. He and Dusk had been following silently behind until that moment. "'Not you'. You make it sound as if you have somebody else in mind who you want to hurt."

Burr glanced at Glacier for only a moment. "As much as I'd like to shred that hypocritical old hag, I have bigger fish to fry." She readjusted Emmet and he felt her place one hand carefully under his back. "Emmet, can you walk, or would you like for me to carry you?"

Emmet took the opportunity to scramble free and let himself down. "I can w-alk!" Just as soon as his feet hit the snow, Emmet involuntarily shrunk back into Burr's warm scales as the shock of the ice and snow on his limbs stole the breath out of him. Pain lanced up his legs and froze him in his tracks. Colder than Nimbasa! Kyurem's Fury, this is cold!

Effortlessly, Burr reached down and hauled Emmet onto her shoulders, draping his arms across one and his legs across the other. "Wrap your tail around my torso; I'll carry you across the icelands until we reach where we're going. Get comfortable up there."

Emmet winced as one of his movements caused a section of Burr's neck and back spines to snap off like brittle chalk. He was certainly appreciative of the warmth, no matter how much the sudden unwanted bodily contact had made him want to crawl out of his skin. "Are you quite sure? Will you not become over encumbered?" Emmet protested. He didn't want to walk through the snow- the pain alone would cause his engine to seize in no time- but on the other hand, he didn't want to be supervised the entire time.

In response, Burr chuckled. "You're lighter than my treasure bag. It's nothing, Emmet. Just keep your weight forward and keep your tail wrapped around my waist for balance. Oh, and eat another one of those seeds I gave you. They should help with the wind chill."

"What are they?" Emmet asked, reaching into his frill to pop another strange seed into his mouth. They are spicy but not overwhelming. Emmet held onto the flavor for a bit longer. Like spicy pepperoni… Elesa would love these.

"Blast seeds," Burr rasped, fetching out another handful to give to him. "They explode in dungeons regularly, but if you eat them outside of one, they make you very warm for a few hours. They're not dangerous; they're a necessity for non-fire-types in arctic climates so you'd best familiarize yourself with the kernel texture in case I'm not here and you need to rummage through my bag."

Emmet took another look at the blast seed's shell, finding himself entranced from the brilliant orange and golden shelling. Like a pinecone. Like a pretzel, almost. Emmet kept his head up, feeling snowflakes begin to settle along his back. "... Where are we going?"

"To find Uxie." Burr hissed the sentence, a puff of smoke escaping from her nostrils. "Didn't I tell you? It's time for me to get back to work again. You come first though, and in order to turn you back into a human, we need to find Uxie."

"I am assuming this is because Uxie is the pokémon of wisdom and knowledge. Uxie is related to Azelf. If anybody were to know where Azelf is, it would be Uxie. Am I correct in this guess?"

"Hold on now, master. Wait a moment." Glacier threw himself in front of Burr's feet, his golden eyes narrowed. "You still haven't answered my question. Is Uxie the pokémon you're going to hurt?"

Burr flexed the blunt but long claws on her hands. "That's an understatement; when I wipe the floor with whatever guard they put on standby, I plan on… extracting some information of my own." She glanced over at Emmet as she continued to speak. "Unlike Lake Verity, this time I've come prepared."

"With what, may I ask?" Emmet queried, accepting a flask of water that Dusk passed his way. "And why do your intentions sound sinister?"

"They're not," Burr nonchalantly waved him off. "I just wanna talk to them. Have a nice little chat. Sit down with a perfect apple or two. Nothing special- "

"Finally." Bushes rustled from a distance. A twig snapped somewhere. "You're awfully loud for a wild pokémon. Are you trying to get eaten today, lizard?"

Burr lifted her muzzle and opened her mouth before angling her head toward a cluster of thistly bushes under a fallen tree. "I can smell you over there and you reek like carrion. Who are you and what do you want? We're kind of busy here."

A large and lanky shape appeared from the bushes. Red eyes gleamed from the snow cover. Soft lilac fur glinted in the coming sunlight.

"Lady Sneasler." Emmet dipped his head as Ingo had once shown him to do. The pokémon was incredibly important to his brother even if Emmet didn't entirely understand what their dynamic was. "The last time we spoke was- "

"Nearly a month ago, yeah, yeah." The noble pokémon waved her massive paw as if quickly dismissing Emmet's idea. She then paused. "Wait a moment." She sniffed the air. "You smell like that human that looks exactly like my warden! You sound just like him, too!"

"That's because he is that same warden's brother," Burr grumbled. "Let's not play shenanigans. Are you here for Emmet? Did Ingo send you?"

Lady Sneasler turned upon Burr, a nasty sneer painting her face. "And you smell like that human that led Zoroarks straight to my warden."

"Guilty as charged. I don't care. Are you here for Emmet or what?" Burr gritted out, her tail whisking behind her as she tapped her feet against the ground. "I'm incredibly busy and I don't have time to associate with a noble pokémon for reasons that don't relate to my job."

Lady Sneasler narrowed her eyes. "You're incredibly rude, aren't you? My warden didn't send me. I caught your scent and followed you here because I know you-" she pointed one long claw at Burr- "are up to something. Something sinister."

"You mean incoming battery and assault charges against a legendary pokémon? Yeah, you're spot on. Do you want me to clap you on the back and tell you you did a great job too?"

Sneasler paused, her fur bristling. "I didn't think you would just… admit it like that. Anyways, I don't like you and I don't want you near Ingo's precious human. So give him here. I don't want to fight you. Don't feel like fighting today."

Burr clicked her tongue. "You can take him if you want but he chose to come with me; you have to ask him first."

"I don't want to leave," Emmet immediately argued. Don't barter me off like an object. "I will stay here. We are on important business to return me back to being a human again."

Despite Burr doggedly continuing her march toward the lower slopes, Emmet, Glacier, and Dusk worked in tandem to explain everything to the very confused and very suspicious noble pokémon that stalked them along the mountain trail.

"That sounds… confusing," Sneasler eventually admitted, yawning. "And I don't care about any of that. It's been a while since I've seen my warden and I wanna bother him again. You know where he is?"

"The coastlands," Emmet answered promptly, enjoying the fact that Ingo's beloved noble pokémon had a one-track mind to bother him; Ingo couldn't escape ludicrous tomfoolery even in Hisui. "He is helping Akari deal with Lord Basculegion, thus his long absence from the highlands."

"He's fighting Lord Basculegion?" Snealser exclaimed. "Without me?"

"Yes."

"You're sure?"

"Yes."

Sneasler glanced at Emmet once more, a sour expression on her face. "Well, if you feel okay staying with her then I guess that's fine. And Ingo knows that you're here? Wait, I thought you two hated each other the last time I was here. What gives? Why're you two so buddy-buddy now?"

"We are…" Emmet didn't finish that thought. He couldn't. I don't hate her. I don't dislike her- at least, not anymore. He didn't trust Burr fully- the woman had done her utmost best to convey to both him and Ingo that she didn't want to work with them- but Emmet did worry over Burr's wellbeing when Burr had disappeared in the coastlands. Burr had taken care of him when he had been stranded in the mirelands. She had given him the medicine to cure his cuts without being prompted. "Burr?"

Burr sighed. "We're begrudging allies," she grunted. "As far as I'm aware, lettuce-face in the back here is only following me because he thinks I'm gonna throw myself off a cliff or something. That and the fact that his brother returning back to the future safe and sound relies on me doing my job. That's all it is."

Emmet felt himself swell like a balloon at both the ridiculous nickname and the insinuation that he was only following to serve himself. I may be determined to get Ingo back to Unova, but I'm not that selfish or that conceited. "I decided to accompany you due to the desire to become a human again and because you have an appalling tendency to derail randomly and break apart on the tracks like a crash car."

"Force of habit. That was one time," Burr hissed, reaching back to poke at him. It didn't hurt.

"Getting injured repeatedly is not a 'habit'," Emmet chided, poking back. "You need to take proper care of your cab. Otherwise, you will run yourself into the ground."

"...I'm just gonna stop talking from here on out."

After a while of Emmet assuring Lady Sneasler that he was fine and in good spirits, the noble pokémon left with word of visiting Ingo for a much-needed maintenance check leaving Emmet all alone with Burr again. He felt his mind jumping back to the tracks concerning how he felt about his relationship with Burr. Again. It made his head hurt.

He had a lot to hold against Burr. A lot. The fact that she had come to the future carrying Ingo's hat. The fact that she had spent almost her entire time in Hisui either getting injured in various strange circumstances or directly antagonizing his brother or Emmet in general. The cold indifference to violence and their subjugation by fate. The burning hatred and mistrust of authority and mainly, legendary pokémon for no discernable reason other than being kidnapped and brought to Hisui. That, Emmet could understand. He had been furious- he still was furious- that Ingo had been kidnapped and brought to Hisui against his will. His main goal was to escort Ingo back to Unova. If he could find and throttle the pokémon responsible for taking his brother? Even better.

It wasn't that what was happening in Hisui didn't strike Emmet as overwhelming at times- he would need extensive therapy afterwards. Him and Ingo both. But what really garnered his attention was that whatever had caused the rift above Mt Coronet had been so overwhelmingly powerful or insidious that its genesis had required Emmet's brother, a world-renowned battle facility head, Akari, a young girl chosen directly by Arceus, and Burr, to all arrive at the same station to get rid of it. And Emmet was still attempting to piece together what Burr's deal was and why she had been chosen to help out specifically.

Burr wasn't anything special in Unova. He had gotten that information being her supervisor for half a year. Burr was just a washed-out trainer-become-pokémon ranger who had accidentally dug up clues leading Emmet directly to his brother. A hapless nitwit who had come across vital crime scene information and had unwittingly contaminated the evidence. A harmless woman who seemed more than content to fit snugly into the background and play dumb.

And Emmet dwelled more on the memory of what Burr had claimed in the past. That her original transformation into a pokémon- after being viciously attacked at Lake Verity- had come when passing through Giratina's realm. That the legendary pokémon had been so thoroughly bothered by the woman's involuntarily presence there that it had immediately banished Burr and had left her confused and combative by sheer accident.

Dusknoir feared Burr and judging by their previous conversation in the coastlands, there was something so inherently terrible that happened between the two of them for Burr to remember the hatred she harbored for the ghost-type despite the memory hosting the cause missing.

Mangrove was, to put it bluntly, obsessed with remaining on Burr's good side, that much Emmet had gathered without having to try too hard. He had always felt pretty good about his ability to read people, but he couldn't figure out why the crocodilian pokémon was so bent out of shape over owing some favor or debt to Burr. Emmet certainly didn't trust Mangrove and an inkling of dread passed through him when he realized that the massive pokémon was currently working alongside his brother.

The more Emmet debated why Arceus or Dialga would choose a plain woman with a convoluted backstory to arrive at Hisui and fight, the more Emmet found himself wondering what the deal was with Burr. He hadn't had a chance to ask Mangrove and Dusknoir hadn't given him a direct answer either. Emmet paused. That leaves the direct source. Burr. Emmet frowned. Burr has none of her memories and cannot remember her past much like how Ingo can't. I can still try.

"Burr. You do not know why Dialga brought you here, do you?"

"Because I'm good at my job, Emmet," Burr answered simply. "This apparently isn't my first rodeo and as I've been told indirectly by the lake guardians- all of which I want to strangle- that I did such a good job last time that they're promoting me to chief war crime causer." Burr's voice became softer but the undertones beneath made Emmet's skin itch. "I'm a tool. An item to be used and discarded when I'm no longer needed." Burr went quiet. "I don't mind." Emmet knew she was lying. "It's not like I'll remember any of this where I'm going."

"And where is your next destination? Would it not be Unova? For you to lay the tracks for me to arrive here?"

"Time shenanigans, Emmet. Things aren't ever that cut and dry when it comes to time. I know I made it seem whimsical when I reminded you of that fact but in all truth… I don't know where I'm going after all of this is said and done."

"Where do you want to go? After you are finished here?"

That question seemed to shut Burr up entirely. Any chance Emmet thought he had at making Burr talk was thoroughly discarded on the tracks. Burr went mute, her ears drooping and her tail dragging in the snow. But despite it, she kept her head high and readjusted Emmet on her shoulders.

"Burr?" No response. Just the howling wind and the crackle of Burr's tail fire.

They made way onto a snowy slope just barely within the tree line. Huge boulders poked out of the snow, ice forming in the cracks. In the distance, Emmet could easily see Mt Coronet's imposing form within the jagged mountain chain that divided Hisui. He didn't complain when Burr sniffed out a shelter to stay in; a shallow den in the hollowed-out bottom of a boulder. He didn't complain when Burr handed him a bag of berries, still not talking. Still not looking directly at him. He instead felt himself ease into sleep again.

I'll ask later.

October 29th, First Year

Emmet was startled out of his sleep by a raucous sound that made the leaves along his tail puff out. The noise- a mix between a shout and a snarl- reverberated throughout the den. Heat, heavy and suffocating, drenched him. Something scuffled in the dirt just beside him. A noise- a yelp of pain- and then Emmet felt something warm splash against his cheek.

He opened his eyes after it was silent for a while, finding himself staring directly at Burr's scarred underbelly. She was hunched protectively over him, one clawed hand cradling his head and other ground into the dirt, her claws dotted with blood. She huffed, a low growl rising in her throat as she carefully sniffed him over.

Emmet struggled to squirm away. "What happened?" he croaked, barely conscious.

"Were you asleep?" Burr's tone wasn't questioning; it was affirming. Demanding. Furious. Cracking at the edges. "Were you dreaming?"

"No," Emmet rasped back. He was overly aware of Burr's warm, almost scalding touch along the ruff around his neck. About how close she was, close enough for Emmet to feel her breath along the top of his head. He could smell the rank, muddy stench that clung to her scales. He could see the winding scars that littered her body in great detail. Emmet was so very close to combusting out of sheer discomfort from his personal space being repeatedly violated. "What happened while I was resting my cab?"

Burr made a strangled noise in the back of her throat, her eyes gleaming with barely restrained frustration. She breathed heavily, her gaze darting all around the den but always landing back on him. After a while, she asked, "How do you feel?"

"I… feel fine."

"Good, good… That's good. Great." Burr stepped away and let her head fall into her hands, her tail lashing behind her as she curled up into a ball on the other side of the den. "Just fucking great. What a cunt, showing up like that just to leave."

Emmet ignored the repulsive language from the woman, instead scrambling to his feet. The whole den reeked of blood. "Who?"

Burr snapped her attention back to Emmet and in a fraction of a second, scrambled forward so that she was weighing down his shoulders with her hands. "Emmet, I need you to promise me something."

"A… promise?" He eked out, taking a cautious step back. Burr held him steady.

"Yes, a promise. An easy one." Burr paused. "Do you trust me?"

No, I don't- "Yes."

Burr blinked at him, the scales along her neck rippling. "Really? You mean that?"

No, not really- "Yes, I do. I trust you."

"Okay… Then I need you to promise me that whatever happens from here on, do not listen to any legendary pokémon. Not Palkia. Not Dialga. Not any of the lake guardians. Not a single one. Not even Celebi. Don't do any favors for them. Don't play messenger boy for them. If they ask you for anything, you tell them to fuck right off. Do you understand me?"

Emmet swallowed. Burr's grip on his shoulders was sure to leave bruises. "Why? Why are you making me promise you that?"

"It's for your own safety," Burr gritted out at last. Emmet recognized mats of blood sticking to Burr's jaw and face.

"...What did you see? Why are you covered in blood?" Emmet froze, realizing what had splashed him a minute prior.

Burr sat down heavily on the cave floor, using one hand to gently wipe the blood from Emmet's cheek before he could squirm away. Her voice was quiet and scratchy as she spoke. "I came back from hunting and when I entered… I saw Mesprit.."

"Mesprit?" Emmet whispered. What would Mesprit be doing here? Aren't they supposed to be guiding Ingo? Emmet glanced around the cave. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure," Burr grumbled, picking out one of her scales from Emmet's plumage. "I saw them hovering over you while you were sleeping." Burr tightly clasped her hands together. They were trembling violently. "They didn't… try to talk to you? In your dreams? Did you hear anything while I was gone?"

"No… Why is this important? Why are you so upset? Mesprit works with Ingo, and I have met them before. I do not particularly like Mesprit but they have never posed any particular harm to myself or my brother." Burr pulled Emmet closer and- to Emmet's horror and major discomfort- began to clean the blood off of him using her rough tongue. Like a Purrloin. Emmet physically recoiled from the sensation, but he did nothing.

"... Emmet. I know my memory may be a bit jumbled, but do you remember what Mesprit said to you the first time you met them?"

"... I don't," he hissed, wincing when Burr dislodged yet another one of her scales from his skin.

"Mesprit… They told you that you would make a good replacement for me if I died unexpectedly in Hisui. If you…" Burr shook her head as if dismissing a thought, spitting out the scale onto the floor beside her. The golden wisp of flames on her tail flickered.

Emmet blinked. He remembered the incident Burr was speaking about and how Mesprit had attempted to persuade him into taking revenge on Burr when she was vulnerable and close to dying. He swallowed. She thinks Mesprit was attempting to persuade me into performing a specific task. "I do not and will not take your place when you eventually… disappear from Hisui," Emmet stated blankly, reaching to lay his hand directly on Burr's arm despite himself. He immediately regretted the decision when his hand landed in something warm and sticky. "But why did you attack Mesprit in such a fashion? My cab is perfectly fine; unharmed and uncompromised."

"It was a legendary pokémon who stole Ingo from you, and I can guarantee you Ingo probably didn't consent to be brought here and have his memory wiped." Fear hung onto every word that Burr spoke. So too did insecurity and doubt. She turned her face away from him, removing her hands from him as if burned by his touch. "I shouldn't have let you come here," Burr rasped, biting at her claws. "Shouldn't have told you anything about the gears. Now they're contacting you and- "

"Please calm down." Emmet had moved forward so that he was sitting directly next to Burr, laying his tail over her shoulder to help calm her down and help break her out of her thoughts. She thought I was in danger. She attacked Mesprit because she thought Mesprit was trying to harm me in some fashion. Suddenly, it made perfect sense to Emmet why the woman was so hard to get information out of. He wouldn't want to share pertinent information with Ingo either if said information carried a definitive risk of Ingo being harassed and stalked by powerful beings that could easily hurt him if Ingo didn't comply. "I made it perfectly clear that I wanted to be here- "

"Once I'm gone- even if I'm still alive when or if it happens- promise me that you won't do any kind of task or favor for any legendary pokémon," Burr all but begged him, clasping her own hands within his own. It was the sincerest Emmet had ever heard Burr sound. "They might forcibly make you a key if you- that's why Mesprit was here, I know it-" Burr took a second to take a long, loud breath, her voice threatening to break. "Don't become like me," she finally uttered out. "They'll ask you for small things. Tricks. Lies. All of it. Your hands will get just as messy as mine if you keep poking your nose where it doesn't belong. If I keep telling you things you shouldn't know in the first place."

"I want to support you through your mission," Emmet echoed. Whether he was telling the truth was another matter. Even he couldn't piece that apart. "I want to help you."

"You really don't. I don't want to bring you into the dungeon, Emmet. I don't want to have to teach you how to use items or what they do. I don't want to have to show you how to fight in dungeons or what it feels like to have to use a Reviver Seed. I don't want to have you witness something that will scar you for the rest of your life. I don't want you involved, period. I don't want you to get hurt under my supervision."

Emmet was about to refute that he could take care of himself when he realized that something was glinting on Burr's face. He paused. "You are… crying." Tears stained Burr's face, forming dirty tracks that dripped into the dry sand underfoot. "You require immediate cab maintenance. How can I assist you?"

Burr immediately recoiled away, burning the tears off of her face with a disgusted sneer. "Sorry." She shook Emmet's tail off of her arm, all but retreating further away from him. The tears continued to flow. "I don't even know why I'm so angry in the first place- why I attacked Mesprit." She finally glanced over at Emmet and when she met his gaze, she visibly relaxed. Resigned to cry. To look weak. "I just got this… sinking feeling when I saw them hovering over you while you were asleep," she finally admitted. "Like ominous deja vu." Burr laughed weakly, wiping away a tear with her filthy hand. "... Ever since I ran into Mangrove, I've been getting more bits and pieces of my memories."

"And?" Emmet urged, desperate to gain a crumb of information. "What do you remember?"

"The only experience I get are the emotions. I barely know Dusknoir but every time I see him, I feel like I want to explode and hurt him out of anger. But I don't know why I feel that way. I can't help myself and I usually don't yell- "

"You never yell," Emmet corrected her, surprised at his own brazenness. "I was surprised. I have never heard you raise your voice, even when you were working for me. Not even at unruly passengers."

That got Burr to laugh. She finally calmed down enough to stop moving away from him, instead looking rather thoughtful. "I think… I think there was somebody important to me. Somebody extremely important to me who's… not with me anymore. You remind me of him," Burr added in suddenly, her gaze wistful as she stared at the darkness outside the den. "You're both stubborn idiots… And my heart tells me that we'll never meet again, the two of us; that it's my fault that's the case. That something happened to him- just like you- and something really bad happened because of it."

"Ah." Emmet felt his face grow hot. I… did not know that. I remind you of someone? Someone important to you?

Burr snorted, cuffing him lightly across the face. "Quit looking at me like that; I get the feeling that we were more like siblings- like you and Ingo. And now that whoever he is is gone forever, I just- I don't- I feel like there's a lot of things I'm missing and that I'm rambling for no reason. Sorry. I should just stop talking already."

"That is okay." Emmet didn't reach out and touch like he had before, but he gave her his best impression of an understanding smile. "You may talk as long as you need to. No need to apologize. Ingo has moments where he regains memories and they disturb him in a similar fashion. While I cannot understand what the sensation feels like, I will do my best not to be too judgemental. Besides, I am interested to know what you were up to in your past. Every pokémon I have met that knows you from the past is either afraid of you or owes you a favor."

"Oh, I see how it is. Rascal," Burr snorted. "You're just playing the fool to needle information out of me, aren't you?"

Emmet froze, his grin widening out of fear. I was too obvious. "...No."

"Sure thing, buddy. You can tell yourself that. I know my lore goes absolutely crazy, even if I can't remember it in the slightest." Burr paused for another moment. She quit smiling. "Be honest. Are you afraid of me, Emmet?"

"No. You won't hurt me. Or my pokémon. Or my brother." Emmet knew that to be the truth. He felt lighter thinking about it. "You protected Ingo like I asked you to back at the ice mountain. You reunited him with Chandelure when you did not have to. And Ingo seems to have lost his grudge against you. You are protecting me now."

"Sure, I am," Burr drawled. "And you nearly got kidnapped by a legendary pokémon. Apples and oranges."

"Make me a promise," Emmet demanded instead. This time, he reached for her hands instead. "If you accept my promise than I'll accept yours."

Burr's ears pricked toward him. "Okay. What's your promise?"

"I want to support Ingo the best I can. I know next to nothing about the pokémon nobles or Hisui or Hisuian culture." Emmet ticked them off on his fingers. "I am with my pokémon, but I cannot couple with them and perform the same as I used to when I was a human. But. I am a pokémon now. I want you to train me. Help me become stronger. So that if I remain as a pokémon while in Hisui, I can support my brother."

"You just had to ask me the one question that I didn't want to hear, huh? You realize that you don't have the same kind of immunity the rest of us do? If you get seriously hurt, you could actually die."

"That is why you are here," Emmet enunciated, jabbing one finger into Burr's chest. "You will be my bodyguard."

"Cold… Fine. Alright. I'll train you," Burr eventually conceded, rolling onto her back to stare at the den's ceiling. "Surprised that you evolved, even. You'll have to tell me how you managed that. Years and years of work and I'm still the same. But then, I don't think I'd want to evolve anyways- I like what I am right now."

"Very good." Satisfied with the end result of the conversation- and somewhat eased by finally hearing Burr being honest with him, Emmet surprised himself. He marched over to Burr and without a word, tucked himself into the narrow space between her leg and belly, curling into a ball. Like how Joltiks burrow into a Galvantula's downy fur for warmth. "I am going to sleep now. Goodnight."

"Brat." Burr reached down and snipped out another stuck scale before curling her entire body around him, resituating her weight on top of him. "Goodnight."

October 29th, First Year

Though eating Blast Seeds greatly helped Emmet ignore the cold, he wasn't all too fond of walking through snow as deep as he was tall. As a pokémon. He kept along the path, dutifully following the searing heat of the flame sprouting from Burr's tail-tip. Before long, Burr halted in her tracks.

"There it is. Mt Freeze." She turned around and sneered, watching as Emmet shivered in place. "And you're sure you're up to tagging along? I'll do my best to protect you and keep you safe but it's no guarantee you won't sustain damage. You have to listen to everything I say even if it sounds dumb. You know that, right?"

"You are the dungeon expert here," Emmet reluctantly conceded.

"That's not a 'yes' or a 'no' but I'll take it." Burr paused, lifting her head to stare at something in the distance. "Hold on a sec. There's that platform that you two knuckleheads found way back when."

"The train platform?"

"Yeah."

"Take me closer?"

"Sure."

The platform was the exact same way Emmet remembered it being. The dirty concrete. The frost-weathered pillars. The same subway benches and the same hallway notice boards. Emmet paused. Notice boards? Notice boards! He quickly ran over to the nearest glass case and peered inside. "Dates from… the same month I embarked with Celebi."

"What's going on?"

"Can you break the case here?"

"Uh… sure."

Once Burr had safely melted the stainless steel holding the case together, Emmet reached inside and carefully pulled the notice from the board. "These are from the same month I departed." Emmet peered again at the wreckage that was the train cab parked haphazardly on the crumbled train tracks a pace away. "This space… is it real? Was this platform taken from the station, do you think?"

"More than likely, it's a copy," Burr drawled, the light from her tail helping Emmet to read the paper. "Palkia's out of whack. I wouldn't put it past them to accidentally steal your brother and plop him and the cab he got taken in here. Well, their copies anyways." Burr then stalked away leaving Emmet to decipher the note.

It was about a new mandate regarding passengers leaving debris on the trains getting ticketed, especially the night trains. He scanned further. That is my signature. I signed off of this public notice. Uncanny.

"Well, well, well… Why do I get a bad feeling about this little beauty right here?" Something jangled. From somewhere behind him, Burr made a noise between surprise and disgust. "Oh. It's… huh."

Emmet turned around to see Burr lift up what looked to be a beaded necklace. "What is that?"

"A necklace. These are body parts." She held up a particularly large bundle of charms hanging off the front of the object, an encased fang catching the light of the afternoon sun. "Wait. I know this necklace." Burr inspected each ornament on the necklace. A small, curved claw. A short feather. A fang. There were other smaller objects. Burr stared hard at the necklace. "I think… I should put this on."

"That is disgusting. Where did you find it? You recognize it? Did you make it?"

"... Yes. Yes, I did. And I think- I know I got the pieces from their sources." She held up the tooth, the claw, and the feather. "Mesprit, Azelf, Uxie. I told you I remember emotions rather than the experience, right? Well, all I'm feeling right now is anger. I feel sick with anger. But it feels… nice. Fulfilling, almost." Burr's eyes hardened and she closed her fist upon the grisly charm.

Emmet took a cautionary step back. He didn't like the strange look in Burr's eyes as she slipped the grisly necklace around her throat, partially hidden by the swath of torn cloth that formed a bandana or sorts. "You… hurt the lake guardians to get those pieces, didn't you? Burr, remind me again why you are angry at Uxie. What do you plan to do after you confront them? Obtain information?"

"No." Burr sat down heavily upon the edge of the platform, Emmet moving closer to listen in. "No, I was mulling it over last night after our odd conversation and I think I want Uxie to… remove the memories of the feelings I remember. They hurt. A lot." Burr rubbed at her temples as if to prove her point. "Last night- after you fell asleep- I tried remembering who it was you reminded me of and all I got was a migraine. Still recovering from it. And I don't need my memories to do my job."

"You are choosing to forget important memories. Why? You should want to remember your partner. I would be very upset if Ingo chose to forget about me," Emmet murmured. "About Unova. About the Battle Subway or our pokémon. About anything."

"I was thinking that maybe us losing our memories- myself, Ingo, and Akari- maybe there's some reason to it apart from the obvious need to not blab about the future and fuck up the timeline. Maybe… maybe I don't want my memories back," Burr rasped. "Maybe I'm happier without them."

"I sincerely doubt that. You were happy when talking about your partner from the past-"

"You are referring to Watts, are you not? You… cannot remember your beloved partners?"

Emmet had been bundled under Burr's body without a second to spare, a searing heat forcing him to huddle into the dirt.

"For fuck's sake man!" Burr immediately stepped off of Emmet and instead picked up a rock to lob at Dusknoir who had appeared from the shadows within the train cabin. "No, I can't. And what do you mean 'partners' with an 's'? There should only be one."

"Your partner, Watts. Your good friend," Dusknoir repeated, clasping his hands in front of him. "Alongside them, you thwarted my plans of… something very sinister. I remember them well. I am a ghost-type. I can provide you with a vision of your old partner if you would wish it. To jog your memory."

"No! No, I don't want that!" Burr stepped away from both Dusknoir and Emmet, clutching her head in her hands. "This headache is starting to kill me. Dusknoir, are you here to finally join the party?"

The wind direction suddenly changed. "We're both here, actually!" Emmet recognized Celebi's glittering wings as the mythical pokémon descended from the skies, landing cutely on Dusknoir's shoulder. "Sorry I've been gone for so long. I was trying to contact Dialga but… nothing!" She hung her head sadly against Dusknoir's helmet, feigning exhaustion. "Imagine my surprise when I ran into Dusknoir! You don't remember him Burr, but there's another one to our team- our trio, I should say. He's back in the future holding things down while Dusknoir and I are here."

"Which leads me to a few questions I have for you," Dusknoir continued, seemingly emboldened by Celebi's presence. "Of course, if you'd rather not answer them, I understand completely. May I?"

"Ask."

"Very well. Do you remember Darkrai?"

Burr's reaction to the name was almost instantaneous. "I… That… Something to do with Palkia. With Cresselia. With him. With… Watts. I don't… it hurts to think about it."

Dusknoir continued to press. "Do you know what happened to Watts? He is missing in the place where you two come from. You are a criminal with numerous counts of treason to your name," Dusknoir stated blithely. "Where is he? What happened to Watts?"

"That's enough," Emmet protested. He remembered the conversation that he had held with Burr the previous night.

"And my heart tells me that we'll never meet again, the two of us; that it's my fault that's the case."

"No more questions," Emmet cut through. What Burr had shared with him would stay between the two of them. Just like when she had killed the Diamond Clan man that had been plotting to murder her. Even despite the grim implications each case embraced. "Leave her alone. She is clearly in distress- "

"It's fine, Emmet." Burr sent a grateful glance his way. "I'm fine. I don't know what happened to… Watts but… I know he's gone forever."

Celebi blanched, obscuring her mouth with her hands. "He's… dead?" she repeated faintly. "He's gone? But… the two of you… you kids… what happened?"

"Quit asking questions," Emmet repeated, albeit far rougher than he meant to. Celebi's mention of kids- the idea that Burr had been a kid when she had met Celebi- that Burr's deceased partner had been a kid- was probably a kid- made him feel sick to his stomach.

Dusknoir ignored him. "Burr. This may or may not ease your pain but the first of your partners- Grovyle- he was your partner first before he became a team alongside Celebi and I- he is fine and well in the future. And perhaps I did not explain everything truthfully in our previous conversation, but I have appeared here to help clear your name in the place you came from previously. Master Dialga has demanded that I assist you."

"Just like Mangrove," Burr muttered, twitching.

"Yes, just like that… fellow you happen to know. My point is that I am here to lend a helping hand. Will you accept my proposal?"

Behind her, Burr's tail curled and kinked. She scowled, crossing her arms. "...Yeah. Yeah, fine. You can tag along, Dusknoir. Just make sure you protect Emmet when I can't. He's got somebody waiting for him and I can't afford to lose him too. And Emmet? Here." Burr reached into her treasure bag and pulled out two large scraps of cloth, beckoning him forward. "Back when we went near that whirlpool dungeon, I picked these up. I figure that since you're so bent on keeping up with me, I might as well give you extra protection."

Emmet attempted to take the scrap pieces of cloth but Burr nudged his hands away. She instead tied them carefully around his neck, careful to avoid crushing the springy leaves of his neck ruff.

"Keep these on. This one here-" she lifted the first cloth, a white and red striped scarf that greatly resembled his subway uniform- "it's a Reunion Cape. It'll warp you back to me in case we get separated inside the dungeon. The one underneath it-" she pried loose a much softer, pitch-black scarf- "is a Joy Scarf. Any experience I earn from defeating enemies inside the dungeon will be split and shared with you even if you don't participate."

"Just like exp share." Emmet nodded. "I understand. Thank you."

After hours of treading through the snow and weathering hail and frost, Emmet nearly sank to his knees once Burr called for the party to stop.

"We're here." The light from Burr's tail fire illuminated the mountain clearing and revealed a strangely shaped stone by a dark mountain cave. "We won't set out for another few minutes."

"A few minutes?" Celebi questioned. "Oh. That's right!" She floated down to Emmet's side. "You're weak against ice. Poor dear! I bet the icelands have just been absolute torture for you!" Celebi reached into her own bag and pulled out a massive dappled pinkish apple. "Would you care for a perfect apple, dearie?"

"No, thank you." Emmet instead ate another Blast Seed, watching as Burr consulted the massive stone by the cave entrance. He watched, perplexed, as Burr pulled out a piece of what looked to be a Kangaskhan statue, depositing items into the belly compartment before pulling out different items.

She turned around and caught his inquisitive stare. "Kangaskhan Rock. Unlimited storage. Emmet, stay close on my tail while we're passing through, got it?" She strode over to him and handed him another cluster of Blast Seeds. "The last dungeon I went inside of had a two- pokémon rule, but I'm guessing that since we all passed through the entrance, it's changed. I'm designating myself as the leader since I know this place the best. Dusknoir." Burr snapped her head around to glare at the ghost-type pokémon. "I want you to lead the rear; keep an eye out for hiding or advancing enemies."

"Understood."

"Celebi, you'll stay in the third position behind Emmet. I think you have healing moves of some kind; I'd like you to act as both my and Dusknoir's support in case something goes wrong. Can you do that for me?"

"Absolutely! I'm just happy to be involved!" Celebi cheered. "You know, you remind me so much of Grovyle sometimes," the fairy cooed, settling on Burr's shoulder like a limp throw blanket.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Burr then turned her gaze upon him. "Emmet," she called, beckoning him to her side. "You'll be strictly support. No fighting for you whatsoever. You'll only be watching and learning. I'll teach you about the items as we go."

"Understood."

"Are we all ready?" Burr called. When everybody was in agreement, Burr turned back around and waved the single-file line forward, the flame along her tail turning a dazzling white. "Okay. Let's get a move on."