One week later…
Lapras made landfall at the docks of Lively Town. Robin and Cinder hopped off his back, stretching their legs on the dock.
"What a journey," said Cinder, shaking her feathers as she stretched.
"It wouldn't have taken so long if you didn't insist on stopping by Miracle Sea on the way," said Robin as he popped his back.
Cinder smiled and shrugged. "What can I say? We had to check on Manaphy. We haven't seen the little guy in a while."
"And he was fine, like always," he chuckled. "It's no big deal. I'm sure Wigglytuff is waiting for us."
Lapras spoke up. "He is staying at the Expedition Society headquarters. Simply head north from the town square, and you'll find it."
"Okay, thanks Lapras," said Cinder. "Come on, Robin."
The friends made their way up the path to town square. The town certainly lived up to its name. Lively Town was bustling with pokemon of all shapes and sizes coming and going between the different shops.
It took a moment to get oriented among the crowd, but Robin and Cinder found their way north onto the main road leading to the Expedition Society. Standing outside, they both looked up at the tower in front of them.
"Look, Robin. Is that a telescope sticking out of the top?"
"Seems to be. Looks like an observatory of some kind."
"I guess we just get to walk in, right?" asked Cinder. She glanced around for a moment. "I don't see any security measures, nothing like the grate in front of the guild at least."
Robin looked down at his feet. "Honestly, that's probably for the best. I keep worrying one of us is going to get our foot stuck in there or something. The holes are a bit big."
Cinder giggled to herself. "What's this billboard over here?"
She hopped over to a board with some notices on it near the entrance. She read aloud, "This is the Expedition Society. If you need us, please come on in."
Cinder faced Robin and added, "Seems easy enough. In we go." Together, they crossed the threshold.
The entrance hall to the guild was empty. A faint blue glow shined from the stairs ahead, and a hallway extended to the east and west.
"Do you smell that?" asked Cinder. She tilted her head up and sniffed around. Robin shut his eyes and focused on the smells of the guild. He immediately caught something cooking coming from the east.
"Smells like baked apples and oran berries," he said. "They must be getting ready for dinner."
As they looked back to the stairs, a small, orange mouse pokemon appeared at the top. "Oh!" she gasped. "You must be from Wigglytuff's guild." Robin and Cinder exchanged confused glances, and the pokemon added, "We were told to expect a treecko and torchic who go by Robin and Cinder."
"That's us," said Cinder.
The little mouse pokemon hopped down the stairs to greet them. "I'm Dedenne. Welcome to the Exploration Society."
"Thank you for inviting us," said Robin.
"Everyone is waiting for you at the Nexus. This way, please." Dedenne turned and climbed the stairs again.
"Nexus?" asked Cinder.
"I guess we're about to find out," said Robin. They followed up the stairs and found themselves in a larger, spacious room. Two other rooms were attached to the east and west, with another staircase in the north.
In the middle stood a large 3D hologram of the world, with glowing markers placed at various locations. Many pokemon were gathered around.
"Wow," said Cinder. "This must be everyone in the guild." Wigglytuff stood next to a tall yellow pokemon, and Dedenne was speaking with them. She gestured to Robin and Cinder, and the pokemon smiled at them.
He approached, wobbling as he took his steps. "Welcome to the Expedition Society," he said. "I'm Ampharos, the Dashing Wanderer!" He struck a dramatic pose and smiled proudly.
Robin took a reflexive step back, and Cinder slowly replied, "Right…"
"Dedenne tells me you're the envoys from Wigglytuff's guild."
"Yes," said Robin. "We're here to help however we can."
"I appreciate that. We're in a bit of a bind, you see. One of our best members is missing, and we haven't turned up any leads. Wigglytuff believes one of you two may hold the key to finding them."
"That's probably me," said Robin. "I'm the pokemon who used to be a human."
Ampharos paused and scanned Robin from head to toe. He shut his eyes and crossed his arms, letting out a quiet "Hmm…" He relaxed again and added, "Yes indeed, you're every bit a treecko as Alex was a riolu."
"Let me introduce you to everyone," he said, waving his hand out at the gathered pokemon.
"That's Bunnelby, our underground specialist. There's Mawile, our archeologist, and Archen, our sky specialist." The three were talking cheerfully about some discovery they had made.
Robin's attention was drawn to the corner of the room, where he saw two other pokemon. One was clearly wearing a fake smile, seemingly trying to cheer the other up, and the latter simply stared at the floor.
"That's Buizel, and the mudkip next to him is Splash," said Ampharos. "Splash was Alex's partner."
Dedenne suddenly jabbed Ampharos in the back, and gave him a stern, "Ahem!"
"Is! I meant IS Alex's partner," he clarified. "He was devastated at her loss. He watched it happen."
Robin and Cinder both looked pityingly at the mudkip in the corner. Neither wanted to imagine losing the other, and Cinder had already experienced it once.
"He must be in so much pain," she said sorrowfully.
"It's true," said Ampharos. "He's barely left his room all month, and he's hardly eating. We need to find Alex fast."
"There are two other members of our guild who aren't present," he continued. "Swirlix is our chef, and is preparing dinner as we speak. Jirachi is asleep in his observatory. Dedenne here is our communications specialist, and helps transmit messages to and coordinate with our members in the field."
"This is quite the operation," said Robin.
"Of course. We're the best in the world," said Ampharos, beaming with pride. "Our mission is to complete the Pokemon Nexus, a map charting the entire world."
"Oh, that must be the big blue sphere in the middle of the room," remarked Robin.
"That's right. We've had a few setbacks, but the current iteration is going strong, thanks in large part to Alex and Splash's efforts."
"I'd like to introduce you to Splash personally. Please, follow me to my office." Ampharos turned and made for the eastern exit, wobbling slightly as he walked. "Buizel, please bring Splash with you and join us."
"Yes sir." Buizel knelt lower. "Splash, it's time. Do you need help?"
"No," said the mudkip, forcing himself to stand. "I'll be... I'm okay." Robin and Cinder followed after them.
Ampharos took his place behind his desk while the other four pokemon gathered in front. "Buizel, Splash, this is Robin and Cinder," he began. "Much like Alex, Robin here was once a human, but was transformed into a pokemon while traveling through time."
Splash gave Robin a pained look.
"Time travel?" asked Buizel. "Is that even possible?"
"Robin, would you recount your story for them?" asked Ampharos. "Wigglytuff already filled Mawile and me in, but Splash needs to know."
"Of course," said Robin. He shared the story of his journey through time, becoming a pokemon, and defeating Dialga to prevent the world's paralysis. When he got to the part where he disappeared, he noticed Splash fighting to hold back tears.
"I'm sorry," said Robin. "Maybe I should stop."
"No," commanded Ampharos. "You have to continue, even if it hurts right now. He needs to know what happened."
Robin nodded and continued, describing how he was brought back by Dialga, and finished with his and Cinder's battle with Darkrai.
Buizel sat through most of the story, completely dumbfounded. At the end, he seemed to have an epiphany. "Splash," he said excitedly, "do you know what this means? Alex is definitely still out there!"
Splash didn't respond.
"Hey, Splash?" asked Buizel. "Come on, this is great news." He stepped in front of the mudkip and held his arms out to the side for emphasis. "If Robin here could make it back, then surely-"
"Enough!" Splash exploded. He was shaking, and Buizel took a step back. "I heard him."
"Then what's wrong?" asked Ampharos. "There's hope in his tale. He's living proof that we might be able to bring Alex home."
"Weren't you listening?" asked Splash. He held his head up, grimacing at Ampharos. "The circumstances of Robin and Alex's disappearance were completely different. Robin would have been erased from time, from a future that never existed. Alex and I… or I guess, Alex and Mew, were already from this world. That's why I… that's why I had to disappear after we destroyed Dark Matter."
"You what?" asked Cinder, suddenly glancing between Robin and Splash, as if she expected to see the same pokemon.
"News must have reached your guild," said Splash. "Of how the Expedition Society fought Dark Matter and won."
Robin and Cinder seemed confused. "I'll explain," said Ampharos, who proceeded to recount Alex and Splash's victory over Dark Matter and the events that followed.
"Don't you see?" asked Splash, his voice quivering. "I have no idea where to even start. At least when I was gone, Xatu practically handed Mew to Alex on a silver platter. If it weren't for that, she may never have found me and brought me back. Robin, you had the god of time on your side. So someone tell me, who does Alex have?!" His tears flowed freely again, and he struggled to hold back sobs.
"Splash…" said Cinder, her empathy taking hold of her.
Robin's head began to hurt, but he ignored it. "I don't know," he said. "This is a lot to take in. I'm surprised we didn't learn about this before coming here."
"There's nothing we can do anymore," said Splash. "I'm out of hope."
Robin considered that. Things look hopeless now, but the fact remains that Splash and I still came back. There's got to be something they haven't tried. Some way to track her down that they haven't considered yet. But what?
"I know that look," said Cinder. "We're thinking the same thing aren't we?"
Robin gave her a smile, and said, "Yeah."
He turned to face Splash again. "I know this is hard, but there must be something we can still do."
Splash refused to meet Robin's gaze. "Ampharos," asked Robin, "explain to me what you've tried so far. Where have you looked?"
"We've conducted raids on the deepest dungeons we know of, seeking help from legendary pokemon whenever we could. Entei, Suicune, and Raikou couldn't offer advice, but promised to continue the search into more dangerous areas of the world, places none of us could survive exploring alone. So far, we've made little progress. At this stage, it would be easier to list the places we haven't checked."
"You've searched underwater too?" asked Robin.
Buizel chimed in. "Of course. I must've checked every underwater cavern in the world by now. Even had a run-in with Kyogre." He shuddered. "That was an unpleasant misunderstanding."
"And Archen has scoured the dungeons in the skies," said Ampharos.
"What about other dimensions?" asked Robin.
"Forgive me, but I don't follow."
"Cinder, do you remember the Spacial Rift?"
"Of course. Palkia practically dragged us out of bed and dropped us in his pocket dimension. Ever since then, the gate's been open, and we even get rescue requests from there sometimes."
"Exactly," said Robin. "Think about it."
Cinder pondered for a moment. Her eyes suddenly lit up, and she let out an "Oooohhhh."
"What? What are you saying?" asked Buizel.
Cinder approached Buizel and Splash. "Spacial Rift wasn't a place anyone could go until Palkia took us there. After that, other pokemon kept getting stuck in that same dungeon."
"Palkia left a gap in reality," Robin continued. "That void never shut. Palkia can remove space, so what's left behind?"
"A gateway," answered Ampharos thoughtfully. "So your theory is that something similar might exist where Alex disappeared?"
Robin caught a shuddering look on Splash's face, as if he might be starting to hope again, but he seemed to force it down. "What about you or I?" he asked. "There wasn't anything left when we disappeared."
"I was never supposed to be here in the first place," said Robin, folding his arms. "If anything, I continue to warp space around me slightly just by being here." He felt another twinge of pain in his head, slightly sharper this time.
"You're in a similar situation," said Ampharos. "You and Mew used to be one and the same. Now however, you exist as completely separate beings. Granted, I'm no scientist. We may need to consult with Mawile on this, but the difference here is the presence of something new, rather than the absence of something that already existed."
"It sounds like we have a plan," said Buizel. "We'll journey to Destiny Tower, reach floor 91, and look for signs of Alex's disappearance."
"I suggest we bring Dedenne and Mawile with us," said Ampharos. "Moving as too large of a group will slow us down."
"Then we should split into teams when we get there," offered Cinder. "If we move as two groups, it'll be easier to manage our resources as we go."
Robin watched the others try to strategize, and his gaze drifted back to Splash.
Inside and out, Splash was panicking all over again. His mind kept trying to wrestle with nearly accepting that Alex was gone forever, while these strangers were suddenly dangling a carrot of his lost hope right in front of him. Yet if he reached for it, would it just get yanked away while fate mocked him, or could he actually find and save his best friend? He couldn't take it anymore.
Without another word, Splash turned and bolted from the office. "Wait!" shouted Buizel after him.
"Wait, Buizel" said Ampharos.
"But chief, he's…" Buizel sighed. "Splash is still just a kid," said Buizel. "He doesn't have to deal with this alone."
Ampharos considered that for a moment, then said, "Cinder, will you go after him?"
"Me?"
"Yes, I believe that if he's willing to listen to anyone right now, it's you. If he doesn't want to talk, then let him be. But can you be there for him now?"
"Um… yeah, sure. I'll see what I can do." Cinder gave Robin a quick nod and hurried after Splash.
"Buizel, please show Robin to the guest rooms. I need to start getting things ready for tomorrow."
"Chief?"
"There's no time to waste. Tomorrow, we set out for Destiny Tower. Robin, feel free to stop by the mess hall for some food here shortly. Swirlix should be just about finished, if she hasn't eaten it all by now."
"Oh crap, you're right!" exclaimed Buizel, and he ran out of the room as well, presumably to stop the ravenous chef.
Robin and the chief chuckled to themselves as Robin rubbed his temple. The pain in his head flared again.
"Headache?" asked Ampharos.
"Yeah," said Robin. "Not sure where it came from. I probably just need to lay down."
Ampharos furrowed his brow worriedly. "We'll need you tomorrow. I'm sure the others will understand if you need to turn in early. I'll show you to the guest room now."
"Thanks, Ampharos," he said, and the two made their way out to rejoin the group by the Nexus.