Chapter 21 - Have You Ever
Team_Ion
Bug Catcher
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Scout sat alone in a cell.
He didn't have the energy to pace around and scratch the walls in frustration anymore. He'd already tried that, it just blunted a claw.
The cell that Team Magnezone used was nice, as far as cells went. Thick stone walls. Metal bars he could see through. The stink of anger and hopelessness pervading through the entire cell block.
Quite nice.
What wasn't nice, however, was ev̡erything.
"What is…? What is going on?" Scout thought as he lay huddled up into a ball. How could things have gone so wrong so quickly?
He squeezed his eyes shut, refusing to look at his paws. These… white, fluffy, paws with pink paw̷ pads. For this entire time, he thought they were his, but now he wasn't so sure.
"I'm not Scout," he thought desperately. "My name is Sean. I'M the human."
Yet, Dusknoir had said something else.
"Hę'͘s a filthy traitorous liar!"
Scout growled and shook his head. That didn't even sound like him. But… what did he even sound like in the first place. He desperately tried to remember his life as a human. His family. His friends. His own voice.
His mother, whose name he couldn't remember. Whose voice he couldn't recall. Even trying to think of her felt like he was watching an old-timey video crackling away.
"But how do I know what that IS?" he demanded to himself. But there was no answer to be recalled from the depths of his mind.
He couldn't remember his family. He couldn't remember his friends. The only thing he thought he could remember clearly were three things.
His namę.
His specięs.
And the gamę.
"My name is not Scout," he thought, for if he was wrong about his name, how could he be sure of anything? "I'm a human," he insisted, for what else could he be? "This didn't happen in the game." Or did it?
Did it happen, Scout?
Scout groaned and tried to wake up. This was a nightmare. Darkrai was doing something, or he was experiencing a guilt-induced delirium nightmare. This couldn't be happening.
It was happening.
The terrified meowth wasn't sure how long he huddled, curled up, in the holding cell. He ignored the magnemite that stood guard, the same ones that had taken him here in the first place, or the various buzzes he could hear from beyond the door.
He ignored them until there was no option to ignore them.
"Scout?" Dusknoir's voice was low and concerned, and Scout jumped. He uncurled and backed away, hitting his back against the hard, stone wall.
He stared up at the powerful Ghost-type, the pokémon that would end his life if he got a decent chance. The magnemite were gone, they were alone.
"Get away from me," he hissed,̧ but Dusknoir was unphased.
"I have secured some time for us to speak without interruption," Dusknoir said slowly, carefully,̧ but Scout remained attached to the wall. "We'll get five minutes to talk and I wanted to explain some things."
"I don't want to hear how you're going to kill me," Scout spat and Dusknoir recoiled.
"Kill? Scout, no." He shook his head firmly. "I would ne- you think I would…? No. Scout no, do not think of me this way. I would never hurt you."
This was not the expected discourse.
"Wha? Excuse me?" Scout was not understanding motives here, or words, or sense really. "You… you… You turned the entire town against me, telling them I was some rampaging monster trying to end the world. THAT hurts, Dusknoir."
Dusknoir sighed sadly and floated closer. Scout backed away, suddenly aware that Dusknoir was able to move through the bars and get to him if he wanted. They were alone, and the remaining four minutes of private time would be more than enough time for Dusknoir to kill him.
He tried to form a Night Slash,̧ but it slipped off. He pricked a paw and tried to create a Shadow Ball, but the same result. It simply melted off into nothingness.
"The room you are in bars the use of your abilities," Dusknoir said softly and winced when Scout whimpered. "Scout, please listen to me. I'm not your enemy, it was something I had to do to fool our real enemies."
Scout continued trying to make a Shadow Ball, not willing to listen,̧ digging claws further into his paws. Several drops of blood fell and Dusknoir snapped. "Stop hurting yourself!"
Scout recoiled, flattened himself against the wall, and stopped trying to squeeze more blood out.
"Our mission was different, yet the same goal," Dusknoir said lowly,̧ these words only for Scout. "You would infiltrate the Planetary Investigation Team and lead me to them. Only… only something has happened, and you've lost your memories."
Scout could not believe what he was hearing, but he listened regardless. "Please understand Scout. I did this only to keep up appearances so that Grovyle and the human would not suspect you. For they will come to rescue you. It has happened before, and I hope it will happen again. If I can trap them here, that will work. But if they do succeed in taking you, you must play along and slow them down, leave a trail, anything that won't put you in danger."
"I…" Scout blinked, unable to even think of words anymore. "What?"
Dusknoir nodded sadly, but surely. "In the future that we are from, they seek to change the future. Doing so will mean the end of me, and you. And countless pokémon still living. So we came together to stop them. I know Grovyle has spoken to you, but you mustn't believe his lies over my truths. You are my partner." A large finger touched the fabric tied on one of his arms, old and worn but always kept and looking so familiar for reasons Scout could never place. "And we are trying to save the world."
"I don't believe you," Scout said softly, and Dusknoir flinched harder than if Scout had punched him in the stomach.
"Scout…."
"Don't CALL me that," he said angrily, pulling himself off the wall and pointing a ble̴eding paw at Dusknoir. "I know what you are doing. I know, I know. I KNOW!" he shouted and Dusknoir recoiled. "LEAVE ME ALONE!"
Scout glared at Dusknoir as the spectre began pulling back. "Think about it Scout, if they are to succeed we will disap̵p͏ear." He glanced at the door and sighed. "I'm out of time. I've told them I simply wished to see if I could convince you to tell me where the others are. Remember what I've said, Scout. And please make the right decision."
The door opened and Magnezone called Dusknoir back. He gave one last searching look to Scout, meeting Scout's furious glare with a softly-glowing eye, before following, leaving into a room filled with quite a lot of noise.
Scout thought he heard someone yell his name. Or, perhaps, his former name. The door closed and he was left alone again, even more conflicted.
He gripped his bleeding paw tightly, wincing from the pain but not stopping. The pain was something he could latch onto, even as his blood made his paws sticky and gross. He remained in the solitude of his own thoughts for a painfully long time before taking a soft breath and getting up.
Extending a claw on his left paw, Scout reached through the bars and began trying to jam it into the lock. He wasn't sure if he could do this, but his paws seemed to know what to do.
He ground his teeth together as he felt pressure building on the root of his claw, but he pressed on, trying to find the right chink to unlock the cell.
Scout felt it begin to give and he nearly smiled, before the splintering feeling of a breaking claw shattered that smile.
He could barely hold in the gasp as pain exploded from his paw and Scout recoiled, breaking his claw even more. He shoved his right paw in his mouth to stifle his scream as the other paw blossomed with agony.
He breathed several minutes of very hard breaths, not daring to look at his paw. He could feel the trickle of blǫod mix with the dirt and tears of pain.
Eventually, thankfully, the pain dulled to a throb and he released his paw, swallowing the blood and saliva that had accumulated in his mouth.
He reached up with his left paw to marvel at the damage, all the claws were extended besides one, instead of a solid claw there was blood and a skin tear. Grimacing, Scout scurried to the corner of the cell and huddled up again.
He shook slightly as he tried to keep himself together, but he was alone. No one was there to watch him fall apart.
As Scout was dragged away, Mane fought every instinct he had to blast the magnemite and instead forced his knees to bend and move the other way.
He bit down hard on his lip, more than enough to draw blood, and bumped into someone. His eyes flicked to the offender, Bidoof, before flicking back to where Scout was disappearing.
Mane's muscles began to strain as he physically fought the need to run forward and eventually, Scout was gone.
The Fire-type took in a deep breath before looking to the rest of the guild. Most of the lemmings were just staring in a mixture of confusion and sadness, the flower was silent for once in her life, even the sound monster just stared, his wide mouth gaping noiselessly.
They weren't helpful, those that were helpful happened to be whispering to each other. Mane would have none of that.
Ignoring the town behind him, idiotic mareep that followed whoever was biggest, Mane strutted angrily to Chatot and Wigglytuff. His oh-so-powerful and wise leaders.
"What was that?" he hissed, the two cutting their conversation quiet. "You just let him take Sean? Scout. You let him take Scout. If that's even his name, actually. You know what? I'm going to keep calling him Sean until HE gives me word."
Chatot ruffled his feathers at the utterly banal method of addressing them but held his own sharp retort back. "Meowth will be cleared, this we can be certain of."
"The fucker clearly has it out for him," Mane growled and Chatot gave him another stern look for the language, "you really think Dusknoir is going to let him go? And for what? Ridiculous claims he's got no proof of."
He spun back on the town and roared. "THERE IS NO PROOF! YOU ARE TAKING DUSKNOIR'S WORD OVER MEOWTH'S."
A few mon's jumped at the near-loudred volume, but no one looked him in the eye. The crowd was already dispersing, and Mane's growls only hastened this.
Tossing his head and scoffing, Mane turned to begin his way back to the guild. "See you," he spat, before breaking out into a sprint.
Mane passed more than a few pokémon on the way back. Several were headed to Spinda's Café, others just home. He scowled at them all, even for just a fraction of a second. This was ridiculous, malarkey, stupidity, and he despised it.
However, someone else needed to hear what had happened. And explain himself as well.
He squeezed through the grate of the guild, scoffing again at how easy it would be to break into this place, and immediately headed straight to the medical wing.
"So, guess what?" Mane yelled, banging into the medical wing and making the shinx jump. "Your old buddy Dusknoir told us all something interesting."
Rai gave Mane a look of confusion before it morphed into worry. "He what?"
"He did indeed." Mane grinned. It was not a nice grin. "Let me recount." He held a paw and licked it between each point. "He told us about a little dance, then reminisced about making a little love, THEN HE ARRESTED SEAN!"
Rai's confused, apprehensive, frown melted into horror. "He what?"
Mane nodded, still grinning a grin better seen on a bruxish than a litleo. "He claimed that Sean is actually one of TWO of that bastard Grovyle's partners, the other is a human apparently, oh and he also claimed that Sean's name isn't even Sean. But Scout."
Rai's jaw began to drop as his pupils began to dilate. Mane noted that before continuing. "He also said that part of why he believed all this is because YOU told him something." Mane stepped forward, butting his head against Rai's. "He said you told him his name and confirmed that Grovyle asshole said they were partners. Is that true!?"
"What? I didn't tell him his name!" Rai retorted, stunned and unable to process all of what Mane was saying.
Mane butt his face against Rai's and snarled. "What. Did. You. Tell. Him?"
Rai's yellow eyes were wide and lost, confused and trying to grasp just what Mane was saying. "V-very funny," he muttered, recoiling from Mane. "Haha, jokes. Don't know what's possessed you to talk like this but-"
"Don't you dare," Mane replied just as softly. "Don't you dare think I'd make all of this up to stir up shit."
"Well, wouldn't you?" Rai retorted.
Mane saw red. "NO! FOR FUCKS SAKE, RAI! DUSKNOIR JUST HAD SEAN ARRESTED AND YOU'RE ACTING LIKE I'D MAKE THAT UP? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?"
Rai cringed back, stepping close to a corner as sparks burst off Mane. Mane's furious expression vanished between breaths, seeing that Rai was looking… afraid of him.
"I," he said, matching Rai's lost expression with his own.
Shouts began to reach their ears from outside as the guild returned, storming in. Chatot was screeching, "HE IS RIGHT, THIS IS MALARKY! WE MUST DEMAND HIS RETURN IMMEDIATELY, WIGGLYTUFF!"
Rai heard it all, the confusion and anger from the guild as Mane backed away to the door.
Rai blinked, took a breath, and then blinked again. His eyes were dilating further, and he began to shake. "He… he told me Sean was HIS friend," Rai said between numb lips. There were crackles of electricity popping off him and Mane stepped back to await the explosion, closing his eyes.
Then.
Nothing.
Mane cracked one eye open before the other one and then straightened up. Rai had stopped moving completely with his eyes closed. Not a snap, crackle, or pop to be heard.
Rai took a deep breath, Mane tensed, then exhaled. Rai opened both his eyes and gave Mane a thin smile that unsettled him more than Rai literally exploding the room would have.
He hopped down from the bed, uncaring of his wound. It was mostly healed anyway, Chimecho was simply careful. "Let's go see Dusknoir then," Rai said pleasantly, and Mane turned his head slightly, almost cocking it.
"You sure?"
"Yes."
There was no question to Rai's tone. He would go see Dusknoir now, even if he had to walk straight through Mane.
Mane smiled. It was an even less nice smile than the previous one. "He took him to Team Magnezone's base. Let's go."
Rai followed Mane's lead, knowing the litleo was a bit more familiar with the way than he was. Mane trotted down the steps, eyes passing over the guild as they stopped and stared. Chimecho shrieked something upon seeing them, but Rai ignored her. Chatot squawked something, Mane ignored that.
"I'm going to see him," Rai said pleasantly, and the guild let them pass. Wigglytuff watched them go, a sad frown marring his face. He gave a soft exhale and nodded to Chatot before following after them.
They turned left at the watering hole and continued on. Mane knew this path pretty well, although Rai wouldn't bring up why. It's not that he got into trouble badly enough to come here often, but occasionally Team Magnezone wanted to speak with him and he'd oblige.
The tense silence between the remainder of Team Ion didn't last long.
"How much of that was true?" Mane asked. "Human? Future? Grovyle? Scout?"
"Sean told me about being human," Rai admitted. Mane raised an eyebrow at him, but he had nothing more to say. He frowned and looked away, body tensing even as he walked as he began to realise what he hadn't been trusted with.
They took another left and began heading down a gently falling slope, almost gentle enough to be unnoticeable.
The building Team Magnezone run their operations from was not dissimilar to the Wigglytuff Guild. Except, rather than a creepy wigglytuff head, it was given the vague shape of a magnezone. Mane normally could appreciate the vanity. This time, however, not so much.
They butted their way through the door and into the building. Magnemite and magneton buzzed in the air in excitement, giving quick unpleasant screeches to each other.
All eyes fell on Rai and Mane as they entered, and a magneton floated in close to speak.
"ZZZT! All visitors are to be turned away unless there is an emergency," the robotic pokémon buzzed. "What is your business here? ZZZT!"
"The meowth you just arrested for no good reason," Mane snarled, coming up forward. He restrained the fire wanting to crackle out of his mouth. It would not be good to try and threaten them. No matter how much he wanted to.
"I am also going to speak to Dusknoir," Rai said pleasantly, the eyes of the magneton swivelling to him.
"ZZZT! I am afraid we cannot release the meowth. Furthermore, Dusknoir is assisting us with his account and is not able to speak to anyone else. ZZZT!"
"I don't think you-" Mane began, but Rai spoke over him.
"I am going to speak with Dusknoir," he said and stepped forward. The magneton was stunned at the complete disregard of its word.
"ZZZT! Excuse me! ZZZT! You cannot enter these premises unescorted. ZZZT! Shinx stop or I will be forced to detain you. ZZZT!"
Rai did not stop and a few magnemite began to buzz. Mane licked his lips, tasting heat. If this was going to come to a battle, then he'd play ball.
"Excuse me?" a light and fluffy voice called, and everyone paused. Even Rai glanced behind to see Wigglytuff enter, an apologetic smile on his face. "So sorry for the intrusion. Forgive us, forgive us."
"Guildmaster?" Rai asked and Wigglytuff gave him a smile.
"I'm sorry Shinx but you're going to have to come with me. We can all talk to Dusknoir later, but for now, we really need you back at the guild." He sent a smile to Mane as well, and the litleo felt disarmed. "Litleo too. We dearly need you both right away."
Mane hesitated, suddenly unsure, and Rai swallowed. "But," he began but Wigglytuff's smile was stable and his eyes kind. "But… alright." He bowed his head and Mane frowned. Rai's tail drooped as he dragged himself back.
"So sorry to have intruded, have a good day. Have a good day. Treat everyone here well, alright?"
The magneton nodded and Wigglytuff shepherded his wayward apprentices out. "Phew." He breathed a sigh of relief before taking both felines in an arm each. "Let's get back quickly," he suggested, and they could only hang on as Wigglytuff sprinted off in a stunning burst of speed.
Wigglytuff kept the sprint up the entire trip and wasn't even winded a few minutes later as he carried them into the guild.
The gate clanged shut behind them and Wigglytuff finally released them. "I know this time is a tough one," Wigglytuff said warmly, giving the two members of Team Ion a smile. "But it'll end okay. It'll end okay."
"How can you be so sure?" Mane grumbled. He hated how Wigglytuff's arrival seemed to suck all the anger out of him. The damn Fairy-type did some trickery, Mane was sure.
"Because Meowth is strong and good!" Wigglytuff declared as they headed down. "He will be okay until we can solve this for him." They reached the bottom of the guild where everyone was assembled and Chatot breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the three.
"Welcome back, Guildmaster," Chatot said primly as the apprentices stopped mulling about in awkward stilted silence.
"Thank you Chatot." Wigglytuff smiled at his second-in-command.
"Dusknoir told me that Sean was his friend from before he lost his memory," Rai said, cutting out any other angle of conversation. "I know I wasn't there to hear it, but Mane said Dusknoir claims that Sean is actually Grovyle's partner."
The apprentices were all silent, barring one.
"So, one way or the other," Sunflora began, "Dusknoir lied. Why would he lie? And which one did he lie about?"
Mane snorted. "Obviously the claim that Sean is some maniac trying to end the world."
There was silence. No one wanted to say what was there, but Mane could hear it anyway. His face screwed up until he couldn't take the silence anymore. "Yeah, I get that he has memory issues, but you can't actually believe this?"
"It…" Chatot begun, words sounding physically painful, "can't be considered off the table." He grimaced before flapping as Mane and Rai both delivered thunderous expressions to him. "Now-now! I do not believe he would do such a thing now. But it cannot be ignored that, uh… Meowth himself doesn't know. It is curious that Grovyle would wish to speak to him alone, is it not?"
"And did that actually happen?" Mane snapped.
"Yes," Rai said quietly, and Mane closed his mouth. All eyes fell on Rai and he cringed. "Yes, it happened. But Dusknoir said that...! Argh!" Rai tossed his head. "He told me that Grovyle would try and manipulate him as they BOTH knew him and were trying to stop him. But now, why did he tell me that if it's not true?"
"We're not going to get any answers until Dusknoir can be asked the questions," Croagunk pointed out and Rai scowled.
"I tried."
"He'll be safe there," Sunflora said softly, giving Rai and Mane a comforting look. "No one can hurt him there. There aren't many safer places around than Team Magnezone's base."
Rai screwed his face into a frown or a snarl, but he couldn't quite decide on it and he fell into a cracked expression of misery. "I…" Rai didn't finish, simply began to walk. "I'm going to bed." He did not go towards the medical wing, but Chimecho didn't try and stop him.
Mane followed after a moment, making sure to give every member of the guild a scowl as he went.
"So, when are we going to break him out?" Mane asked as Rai slumped into bed.
"Sometimes I worry that you can tell what's on my mind," Rai said, muffled by the straw. Mane smirked a nasty smirk.
"What can I say?" he asked as Rai sat up and they began to talk.
Things were a bit uncertain between them, Mane's expression flickered between a smirk and a frown and neither was an honest expression. He had something to focus on that wasn't the lack of trust he had been given.
Black-furred feet smacked into the ground as Sean ran along the path.
He had watched Dusknoir and did nothing as Dusknoir had Scout carted away to the building the police used as a base of operations.
He had done nothing as Dusknoir hit the final nail in the coffin of any hope that he and Striker may be able to convince residents of Treasure Town to help them find the Relic Fragment.
Right now, Sean didn't know what to do. He was running to one who might. Once Dusknoir was gone, he quickly made his way out of town and withheld the urge to run. Sableye were about after all and he didn't need any suspicion or anyone following him.
Once he felt safe enough, and still earlier than he knew Striker would be happy with, he ran.
There were only two tiny slivers of good news he could hold firm to. The first, Striker was safe. That clever grovyle was still free, even if he had been discovered in the process of obtaining the fourth gear.
The second, Dusknoir didn't seem to know that Sean himself was no longer so easily discoverable. A riolu didn't stick out nearly as much as a full-blooded human would.
For the time being, they still had one small advantage.
With that and more on his mind, Sean ran. He had but one destination in mind. With a nearby grove that Striker had pointed out as a meeting destination.
The Grass-type had hoped to come back to Treasure Town after obtaining the gear from underground, or even after acquiring the gear from where the crystals lay.
However, since that was definitely not an option, Sean pointed his feet towards the path to the dungeon – Brine Cave.
Fighting-types had excellent stamina and Sean found himself stopping for only a short break before continuing. His paw pads were stinging, and his legs began to protest from the effort, the pain caused him to slow down slightly and calm down.
He walked the rest of the way. He ignored the path to the entrance of the dungeon and instead walked up into a grove of trees.
As Sean went, he tapped trees with the metal bumps on the backs of his paws. Once he had tapped enough, he felt something appear behind him.
Sean spun, senses honed by the future, to meet Striker's arm with his own. The two pressed against the other for a moment, staring into the other's face, before Striker smiled. "It's good to see you," he said, and Sean couldn't help but smile back.
It was comforting, hearing the grovyle's voice again. "Good to see you too," Sean replied and together they lowered their arms.
"I thought you might come around once news reached Treasure Town," Striker said, stepping back to lead Sean to his camp. "I couldn't be sure though, I was going to leave tomorrow and leave something behind for you."
"Well I'm here now," Sean replied. "So gimme." He grinned as Striker laughed. His smile didn't last long.
"I've got something better," he said enigmatically, and Sean rolled his eyes at the dramatics. "A Time Gear."
"I couldn't have guessed," Sean said. "But seriously, what were you going to leave?"
Rolling his eyes back, Striker beckoned him into the grove where he had been staying. Sean looked around and nodded, very spartan and very much the kind of camp the grovyle would set up.
"Just a note," he answered, and Sean pouted for a moment. "So," Striker began, sitting down. "What exactly drew you out here? I'd like to think you came because you have the key or have its location." Sean frowned and Striker sighed. "Or maybe you just came to check up on me?" Sean shook his head and Striker gave him a wary look. "Then something has happened?"
"First." Sean raised a paw, walked over to the confused grovyle, and smacked him across the face. "That's for the injury you inflicted on Team Ion."
Striker rubbed his jaw but made no movement back. "Fair," he admitted. "Also, ow. I see you're getting stronger. In my defence, I tried to just get them out of the way but the shinx came at me from behind and I just… reacted."
Sean nodded, understanding. "Yeah, I'd have probably done the same thing. Still not nice, that's really going to scare Scout." Striker nodded, looking just a little guilty. Sean could tell the nuances on Striker's face. "I did want to ask what you learned about Scout, but I think I can guess."
Striker's expression became grave. "What happened?" he asked, eyes narrowing.
"Dusknoir's worked out who he is and got him arrested in front of the whole town," he explained, Striker immediately hissing. "That's the reason why I came. Dusknoir has Scout and… yeah," he finished. Striker had already gotten up and was pacing back and forth.
Sean almost laughed at that. Scout had learned the art of pacing anxiously from Striker, but in turn, Striker began to do it with more flourish, building off each other. It would have been a cute reminder had it not been caused by such terrible news.
"I told him to stay away from Dusknoir," Striker said after a moment. He paused his pacing long enough to repeat that to Sean before he was back at it. Already digging a hole in the ground. "Something must have rattled him during that incident when we were travelling back in time. More so because he definitely believed he was you. He said he remembers his name is Sean and that he was a human."
Sean sighed, "You don't think when his head hit mine during the time-travelling that there was some kind of…?"
Striker shook his head, to Sean's relief. "I'd imagine his delusions are more based on the fact that he looked up to you so much." Sean blushed behind the fur, to Striker's disappointment.
It was much more enjoyable when he could see how flustered Sean could get. That fur got in the way. "That even through his amnesia he remembers - Sean and human and simply thought he's you. The two of you don't act much alike, although there were a couple of similarities."
Sean accepted that, so Striker asked the next question, "What exactly happened? Recount it for me please."
"Dusknoir called some very important town meeting, bringing in pretty much everyone. Even the town elder Torkoal was called from the Hot Springs. Once everyone was there, he revealed the future to everyone, his version at least." Striker hissed at that. "And painted you as some grief-filled apocalyptic madmon or something."
"He would," Striker growled, but let Sean go on.
"He then went on to say that you brought a human and a meowth with you," Sean explained. "The meowth obviously being used to implicit Scout. Human too it seems since a few members of the guild reacted in less of a shocked manner to hear it."
Striker rubbed his jaw, incidentally the same place Sean had hit him earlier, in thought. "And what of Shinx's reaction to all this? The two seemed rather… close."
"I didn't see him there," Sean said, frowning. "Everyone was supposed to be there… except those with medical reasons not to." His tone became slightly accusing and Striker winced.
"I didn't mean to slash him like that."
"You SLASHED him?" Sean demanded and Striker stepped back. "Of all the-no wonder he-ugh, fine." He shook his head and moved past it. "Whatever, it's in the past." He rubbed an aura tassel in annoyance, one of them had hit him in the nose when he shook his head.
"So, he wasn't there?"
"Not that I could see," Sean said, moving past his anger. "Dusknoir did claim he had received some information from Shinx though, so I can't say for certain. The litleo was there though, I'm sure that was a surprise for you? He protested strongly to Scout's guilt as did the guild once they were able to react."
"So, the guild is on his side?" Striker asked, leaning in interest.
Sean frowned and shrugged. "Eh… sort of? Chatot especially tried to talk them down but they were running off the idea that Scout is either innocent, or he's completely amnesiac. Something that might not work, Scout was clearly rattled from everything going on."
Striker nodded. "Dusknoir hasn't completely turned them against Scout yet. With enough time though…"
"I think we're ignoring something bigger here," Sean pointed out. "Dusknoir has Scout and you know he'll use him against us."
"Dusknoir won't hurt Scout," Striker countered, and Sean rolled his eyes.
"Yes, I KNOW that he won't hurt him under normal circumstances. But who knows how he may act if things get desperate? Maybe he won't kill him, but you can't claim he wouldn't hurt Scout if he thought it would save them both in the end?"
Striker had nothing to counter that with.
He took an uncomfortable breath. "If it comes down to it, we can rescue him."
"If it comes down to it?" Sean repeated, frown deepening. "I think we should go rescue him now."
"The risk-"
"Dusknoir has our friend!" Sean snapped and Striker paused. "He's come back to save you before and you're just going to leave him there?"
"Your emotions are interfering with your logic," Striker argued back. "We know Dusknoir won't hurt him, nothing irreversible. But going to save him puts everything at risk. Myself, you, the entire world. Scout will understand." Striker and Sean stared each other down before Striker looked away and began pacing again.
Sean stared angrily at the grovyle for a moment before groaning and burying his face in his paws, muzzle poking out. "Well, what if Dusknoir is able to do… something to turn Scout to his side then?"
Striker's pacing became more aggressive.
"YOU can't say it's not a possibility," Sean stated, Striker didn't respond. "Especially after YOU slashed his friend. He has amnesia, he probably doesn't know what the hell is really going on right now and is scared and alone. Except for Dusknoir. You KNOW Dusknoir will try and turn him to his side."
"After turning an entire town against him, I feel like Scout won't want to listen."
"Yeah." Sean nodded. "For now. The longer he's alone, the more likely he's going to get desperate. Dusknoir knows how to get to Scout, you can't deny that."
Sean was able to see this rare side of Striker. The one who didn't know what to do and was too anxious to hide it. He rubbed a clawed hand along his head as the other one hung limply by his side.
"Well then, what do we do?" Striker asked, turning to Sean. "YOU are the leader of our whole little team. You're the one that gets us places. What do you think we should do then?"
Sean looked up at the sky, marvelling how the sun still shone and the wind ruffled his fur.
"We're going to have to act," he said, looking down. "Look I… I know you're right." Saying that left a bitter taste in his mouth, it wasn't right to leave Scout to Dusknoir's mercy. But Striker was still right. "We can't just charge in and get Scout. Either you'll get captured, or you'll be running with an entire town and guild AND Dusknoir on your tail and we can't have that. You're going to have to get the last Time Gear and I'M going to have to find the key to the Hidden Land."
He looked back to where he had walked from, to where the entrance of Brine Cave lay. "But I have no idea where to start. The only, terrifying, guess I have is that Dusknoir has it."
"Apparently Litleo had it. But his hous̛e was ransacked and that was all that was taken. I took a look myself but couldn't find anything concrete. Just a sheet." He smiled slightly. "Been years since I've had one of those…."
"If Dusknoir has the key," Striker began but didn't finish the thought.
"He'll either have destroyed it." Both of them winced at the thought. "Or, if he can't, he's probably got it on him somewhere."
The two remained in silence for a bit. Striker looked to Sean. "What do we do then?"
Sean didn't respond for a long moment, choosing instead to stare ahead. "I… you have to get the Time Gear. Dusknoir mentioned he has it guarded, but he's not there at the moment. This is probably your best chance of getting it. When the alert inevitably comes that you're trying to take the gear and Dusknoir leaves I'm going to see if I can sneak into where he's been staying and look for anything that might point us in the direction of the key."
Striker nodded and Sean added. "I'm sorry, this is the best I can really think of. The situation is screwed up, we've got to take what chances we can get.
Striker gave him a long, searching, glance. "You," he said heavily. "Have to be careful. Dusknoir is still unlikely to do anything until he has all three of us. He doesn't know who you are, that's our last trump card here. You have to get in and out without being seen."
Sean smirked and gave a stretch. "Even as a human I was good at going unnoticed," he bragged. "Now I'm two feet tall, less than half the size I was before. I can do this Striker. I have to be able to do this."
The grovyle nodded and gave his closest friend a smile. "I'll be seeing you soon then," he said, glancing back to his belongings. "We'll meet back here in seven days. Alright?"
"Seven days." Sean nodded. They shared a fist bump and then parted ways.
The time for sneaking around was finished.
The real Sean would now stand up.
Striker breathed a sigh of relief as he approached the mouth of the cave. Even from this distance, he could see the glimmering of blue crystals twinkling at him from the darkness.
Although from this distance they looked like the teeth of a horrible mouth.
He remained in the overgrown thicket, eyes sliding back and forth carefully. He would not believe that there were no guards here. Visible guards, however, were a different story and he knew how well the sableye could hide.
That shadow there by the lip of the cave? Possibly a sableye. That grove in the rock? Could house a sableye waiting to send the alarm.
Striker smiled grimly. Even if they were visible, he doubted he'd be able to strike all of them down without Dusknoir getting word somehow.
It hurt to do, it left him feeling ill at the prospect of willingly walking into a trap without even using an item to sneak in invisible. There was no choice and calling Dusknoir to this place was Sean's only real chance to find the key that they needed to progress.
There were a no other options.
Once his breath was caught, Striker jumped out of the bushes and sped to the entrance. He thought he caught a shadow twitching, but there was no chance to turn back now. He cracked a grin, he wouldn't turn back even if there was a choice.
Striker disappeared into the cave as the two sableye watching it poked their heads out and nodded. They sent Master Dusknoir the signal, a weak spiritual throb that would scarcely be noticed by any of the Ghost-types around, but one that Dusknoir was waiting for.
One squirmed and the other ground its claws down with its sharp teeth wishing there was something to eat. There wasn't much else to do besides wait and hope that the master arrive in time.
The denizens of Crystal Cave posed little threat to Striker and he carved his way through without hesitation. A Leaf Blade to lay low a graveler, a quick Dig to smash a seviper out of the way. He even took out a trio of riolu with Bullet Seed, not pausing even as they rang a familiar vibe with him.
Enemies dropped before him or leapt out of his way. Nothing would slow Striker here, and nothing did.
He breezed up to the final room where three crystals shone blue. A terrible gouge in the dungeon made of crystals. The site of the entrance to the Crystal Crossing impressed Striker and he paused for a brief moment.
Not for long, however, as he knew there would be more sableye around. He hopped through the room and into the entrance, two more sableye watching him go.
Striker was confident that the enemies further in would be more powerful. Simply the visage of the entrance was a testament to the power of a legendary pokémon, warping a dungeon in such a stable way.
But even the froslass and glalie were laughable and he slashed, dug, and shot his way through any enemy that dared approach.
One particularly swift absol managed to cut through his Treasure Bag and his arm in the process, sending orbs scattering everywhere. He bashed its head against a wall and quickly gathered his items, not letting a single orb loose.
Despite his diligence, however, one was snatched by a glameow and he growled and tried to chase it.
It was heading backwards, however, and Striker had to let it go. Turning back over an orb, even a beautiful Luminous Orb, was not worth it.
Striker held a gru̴dge against glameow from then on.
He tied the cut band together and continued.
Crystal Lake was stunning.
Its majesty outweighed the allure of Fogbound Lake and the hidden paradise of the Underground Lake. Gemstones littered the land, and water, spreading blue, teal, and green light through the cavernous room.
Even then, however, Grovyle didn't slow.
He continued hopping as fast as he could, avoiding the water for now, until he found himself along a final stretch. A long path headed to an enormous flat crystal that was then crowned by a ring of spiky blue gems.
Only there were two things wrong.
The first, the Time Gear's light was consumed by even more crystals that had spiked up behind it, covering a large part of the lake in an incredibly hard substance.
The second, Azelf was floating ready for him.
"I presume you are Grovyle?" Azelf called as Striker began to slow. He was breathing heavily, but his heart pounded harder. "The thief."
"Yes," Striker answered as he came to a stop. There wasn't much ground between him and Azelf. "I'm assuming you too are beholden to Dusknoir's lies?"
Azelf's eyes narrowed and Striker knew there was no manner he could ever convince the Spirit of Willpower. The loss of Uxie and Mesprit surely nailed that.
"I know you won't take it," Azelf said as they floated up and bared their fists. "I know you don't deserve it after the fates you inflicted on my siblings. But I will offer it regardless. Give up and I will show mercy."
Striker gave a bitter smile and fell into a combat stance. "Can you sense my resolve?" he asked and Azelf nodded, a look of almost respect in their eyes. "Then let's not bother with the dialogue."
With that, Striker attacked.
He listened for Azelf's breathing over his own for a moment, relieved he hadn't killed the legendary, before forcing himself up.
The flat crystal battlefield was covered in broken crystals, gouges, and even bits of blood and leafy powder.
With several grunts of pain and exertion, Striker forced himself to his feet. There was no time to be taking a nap, he had the worst game of treasure hunt to still go through.
He scampered over the spiky crystal crown and onto the spiky sea of crystals. Frowning in annoyance, Striker carefully toed his way towards a dull glow. One clump of crystals appeared more special than the others and Striker had seen them enough times to know the light of a Time Gear.
A stream of Bullet Seeds and Energy Balls blasted the spiky parts off, but scarcely even touched the flatter crystal they rested on.
Striker walked up and onto the trimmed crystal and looked down. There it was, even through the blue crystal, he could make out the foggy shape of a Time Gear.
He clenched both hands a few times and rolled his shoulders. Both arms ached, and his hands didn't move as quickly as he could like. There was no other way, unfortunately.
Striker took a breath, raised both fists, and slammed them down together. A dull thwonk echoed out from the impact and Striker was sure he felt something crack.
Thankfully it was the crystal.
Gritting his teeth, he raised his hands again and felt for the Power. He channelled it into his favoured Dig and then slammed down again. And again. And again and again and again.
Slowly the crystal broke, his hands bled, and Striker continued striking the crystal. Both arms jarred by this point, and shards of crystal cutting into him.
Striker was accustomed to pain.
The gnawing pain of the stomach when one was starving. The parched pain of the throat, when all the water was frozen and not even ice.
The pain of the heart as the day remained dark. The pain of the body as one fought to protect what little they had, sometimes only one's life. If that was even worth having in the dark future.
He was used to agony of many different kinds, and this was no different. Still, Striker couldn't hold every tear back or every spasm in his chest as he hit the crystal again and again and again.
He hit it until he couldn't hit it anymore.
Largely due to someone catching his hands as he raised them again.
Striker immediately swung forward, jumped, and kicked back, slamming his feet into Dusknoir's belly and diverting his centre of balance, allowing him to throw the weighty Ghost-type over himself and into the hole of shattered crystal. He still hadn't reached the Time Gear, and hadn't even made that much progress, but there was no question now. It was time to go.
Striker ran. Fighting Dusknoir when he was healthy and uninjured was an unpleasant prospect. But when he was in this state? After fighting a legendary? No.
As he sprinted, Striker shoved a bloody hand into his Treasure Bag and siphoned through the orbs. He knew he had a Luminous Orb in here somewhere, perfect for both blinding Dusknoir and forcing sableye out of the shadows.
He could tell them apart by feel, size, and weight and each orb he rolled was not the one he needed.
A sableye leapt in his way and he cut it down. A shadowy tendril nipped at his ankle, and Striker cut that with his tail. Azelf got up and grabbed him in Psychic again. That problem had no easy answer, unfortunately.
Striker roared and struggled against the grip until Azelf just couldn't hold him anymore, but Dusknoir had caught up by that point.
Striker did the splits as he ducked below a Shadow Punch and threw his own normal, and bloody, fist into one of the eye-like markings on Dusknoir's chest. He knew those were sensitive.
Dusknoir gasped as Striker rolled to his feet, still rifling through his bag in a panic. He couldn't understand why he couldn't find it, he didn't have THAT many orbs. The Luminous Orb was always-
Striker realised three things.
The first was that he really hated glameow.
The second, he didn't have a Luminous Orb.
The third, possibly the most pertinent, Dusknoir had extra company.
A ponyta reared up and kicked him with flaming hooves and he fell right into the spreading vines of a bellsprout. They couldn't hold him for long, but long enough for a camerupt to blast him point blank with an unnecessary amount of fire.
Everything went black and red and pain all over before it got worst. Something snatched him from behind, but with Striker's disorientation he could barely even swat at it.
He yelled out as Dusknoir lifted him over his head and blasted him in the back with a plume of ghostly flame. A sableye leaped up and cut through the Treasure Bag and it fell. Dusknoir continued to lift him over his head, falling back, to slam Striker face-first into the same crystal he had slammed Azelf into.
He felt something unpleasantly close to his neck almost snapping before everything went dark.
Sean had spent the days in misery.
Even though he wasn't the one locked in a cell somewhere, breaking his claws in locks. The riolu had been left anxious and jumpy.
The whole town was in a state of anticipation. He had gone through and listened in on a few conversations. Not everyone thought Scout was the demon centipede or bacon bird in disguise, but the general acceptance was that the Great Dusknoir was in the right.
More than once Sean had to sneak away from a conversation so he wouldn't fall to the temptation to try and correct the townsfolk.
Everyone was active. And every exploration team in the area, besides the apprentices at the guild, were looking for him.
Looking for a human at least, and Sean found it bitterly amusing to find a few pokémon trying to educate the explorer teams on what a human looked like.
There seemed to be a huge disagreement over whether humans had tails or not.
He was fine with it, any distraction from actually finding him was valued. Not that anyone was looking for a riolu, allowing him in and out of town safely.
He had stopped coming in as often. The sableye could be anywhere. Dusknoir could be anywhere. And someone coming in and out all the time could attract unwanted attention.
So, Sean waited in silence, biting his tongue and forcing himself away. He had to be ready for Dusknoir's departure, he had to get all the time he could manage.
Yet, loitering around the cottage Dusknoir was residing in wasn't wise. There were more sableye watching it, he was certain.
Was Sean paranoid? Yes. There was no question there.
Was Sean ready? No. There was no question there.
He hadn't been ready to be pulled through a portal at twelve years old and into a nightmare hellscape either.
But he didn't get the choice to be ready or not, he simply had to be. And when he saw Dusknoir hesitate as he avoided a very determined shinx, Sean knew it was time.
Not minding the shinx, Dusknoir made haste towards the town centre and called out. "Grovyle is at the location of the Time Gear!"
Immediately, Claydol floated forward. They were ready to transport Dusknoir to stop the thief.
A few exploration teams also came forward, but Dusknoir had no time to entertain them. Only a team boasting two Fire-type's were allowed to come, along with two sableye, before they disappeared.
Sean worried, he couldn't help himself, but he also couldn't waste time fluffing about. He had only found two sableye to still be in town, and both just left.
He would still be careful though, Dusknoir was tricky, but there was no better chance than this.
With the town distracted with anticipation and hearsay, Sean ran off. He had burned the path into his mind and didn't falter until he was right to the cottage. It took him a few minutes, it was quite out of the way.
Uninhabited, hopefully at least, but he didn't enter through the door. A small window, too small for his previous human body to squeeze through, was the choice of entry.
The cottage was quiet, dull, and filled with an odd smell. It was a small, one-room, dwelling with a fireplace and a lump of straw, a single table, and a few of Dusknoir's personal items placed around in specific spots.
Despite it all, a small smile graced his canine face. It was surprisingly easy to pinpoint the areas Dusknoir frequented. The fireplace was cold, but the ashy remains of wood still sat there. The small table had finger marks almost drilled into it, Dusknoir was almost compulsively a finger-tapper.
The place was clean and quiet, organised in that special way Dusknoir did. It was almost too easy for him to begin rifling through the area, replacing everything exactly as he found it. Leaving the crooked objects crooked and the jar twisted almost tight, but not quite.
He opened the chest Dusknoir stored his items in and found the secret compartment in a few seconds. He deduced this was the feint and continued searching through the orbs and seeds. He found a groove and had a lot of trouble getting into it.
"Damn stubs," he muttered, glaring angrily at his paws. Fingers would be so much better here. Sean dug out a stick from his own bag and used it for a few minutes until he got into the real secret compartment.
It'd leave behind a trace, but a stick should be too difficult to track. Dusknoir would likely suspect he was here, regardless.
With that sobering thought in mind, Sean sped up his search. There was no telling if he'd send someone back to check his dwelling.
The secret compartment was frustratingly bare. Simply a scrap of paper with symbols that reminded him of his own language. Unown symbols, the writing looked familiar too. With some focus, he could make out most of the words.
"Because of you, Guardian is gone," he read, quietly. "And now you've lost Scout," he trailed off, realising why this handwriting looked familiar.
Striker had written this. But when? And why for that matter?
He frowned and glanced back at it before carefully putting it back in. That was private, but also useless to him.
He continued to look as the minutes ticked away more and more, but there was nothing but dust to be found.
Dust and a single shard of a rock that had been swept away. Highly dissatisfying.
Knowing this was pointless, Sean got out of the cottage and ran along the overgrown edges of Treasure Town.
He had to go check out Team Magnezone's base now. Work out how to get in and out. The jails boasted in the past were Delphox Enchanted to suppress pokemon's natural powers, so whatever he did he had to avoid going in one.
As he returned, however, he picked up the sounds of distant cheering.
Listening in closely, he could hear Dusknoir's deep rumble, but not the words, along with a cheer from the crowd every few moments. He carefully unwound his control over the aura senses he kept restrained and was nearly overwhelmed by a blast of furious jubilation emanating from teh town.
"There is only ONE more threat to stop!" Dusknoir roared, voice raising enough for Sean to make it out. "One more and the world is saved!"
"One more!" the crowd repeated, stamping, cheering, or hollering.
"No," Sean said quietly.
"Grovyle has been caught!" Dusknoir yelled and the crowd cheered again. "Now we search for the human."
"The human!" the crowd repeated.
"Save the world!"
"Save the world!"
Sean backed away as Dusknoir continued to whip the crowd into a frenzy. He didn't have the key to the Hidden Land.
And he didn't have Striker either. Sean didn't know what to do.
Dusknoir held every card.
He didn't have the energy to pace around and scratch the walls in frustration anymore. He'd already tried that, it just blunted a claw.
The cell that Team Magnezone used was nice, as far as cells went. Thick stone walls. Metal bars he could see through. The stink of anger and hopelessness pervading through the entire cell block.
Quite nice.
What wasn't nice, however, was ev̡erything.
"What is…? What is going on?" Scout thought as he lay huddled up into a ball. How could things have gone so wrong so quickly?
He squeezed his eyes shut, refusing to look at his paws. These… white, fluffy, paws with pink paw̷ pads. For this entire time, he thought they were his, but now he wasn't so sure.
"I'm not Scout," he thought desperately. "My name is Sean. I'M the human."
Yet, Dusknoir had said something else.
"Hę'͘s a filthy traitorous liar!"
Scout growled and shook his head. That didn't even sound like him. But… what did he even sound like in the first place. He desperately tried to remember his life as a human. His family. His friends. His own voice.
His mother, whose name he couldn't remember. Whose voice he couldn't recall. Even trying to think of her felt like he was watching an old-timey video crackling away.
"But how do I know what that IS?" he demanded to himself. But there was no answer to be recalled from the depths of his mind.
He couldn't remember his family. He couldn't remember his friends. The only thing he thought he could remember clearly were three things.
His namę.
His specięs.
And the gamę.
"My name is not Scout," he thought, for if he was wrong about his name, how could he be sure of anything? "I'm a human," he insisted, for what else could he be? "This didn't happen in the game." Or did it?
Did it happen, Scout?
Scout groaned and tried to wake up. This was a nightmare. Darkrai was doing something, or he was experiencing a guilt-induced delirium nightmare. This couldn't be happening.
It was happening.
The terrified meowth wasn't sure how long he huddled, curled up, in the holding cell. He ignored the magnemite that stood guard, the same ones that had taken him here in the first place, or the various buzzes he could hear from beyond the door.
He ignored them until there was no option to ignore them.
"Scout?" Dusknoir's voice was low and concerned, and Scout jumped. He uncurled and backed away, hitting his back against the hard, stone wall.
He stared up at the powerful Ghost-type, the pokémon that would end his life if he got a decent chance. The magnemite were gone, they were alone.
"Get away from me," he hissed,̧ but Dusknoir was unphased.
"I have secured some time for us to speak without interruption," Dusknoir said slowly, carefully,̧ but Scout remained attached to the wall. "We'll get five minutes to talk and I wanted to explain some things."
"I don't want to hear how you're going to kill me," Scout spat and Dusknoir recoiled.
"Kill? Scout, no." He shook his head firmly. "I would ne- you think I would…? No. Scout no, do not think of me this way. I would never hurt you."
This was not the expected discourse.
"Wha? Excuse me?" Scout was not understanding motives here, or words, or sense really. "You… you… You turned the entire town against me, telling them I was some rampaging monster trying to end the world. THAT hurts, Dusknoir."
Dusknoir sighed sadly and floated closer. Scout backed away, suddenly aware that Dusknoir was able to move through the bars and get to him if he wanted. They were alone, and the remaining four minutes of private time would be more than enough time for Dusknoir to kill him.
He tried to form a Night Slash,̧ but it slipped off. He pricked a paw and tried to create a Shadow Ball, but the same result. It simply melted off into nothingness.
"The room you are in bars the use of your abilities," Dusknoir said softly and winced when Scout whimpered. "Scout, please listen to me. I'm not your enemy, it was something I had to do to fool our real enemies."
Scout continued trying to make a Shadow Ball, not willing to listen,̧ digging claws further into his paws. Several drops of blood fell and Dusknoir snapped. "Stop hurting yourself!"
Scout recoiled, flattened himself against the wall, and stopped trying to squeeze more blood out.
"Our mission was different, yet the same goal," Dusknoir said lowly,̧ these words only for Scout. "You would infiltrate the Planetary Investigation Team and lead me to them. Only… only something has happened, and you've lost your memories."
Scout could not believe what he was hearing, but he listened regardless. "Please understand Scout. I did this only to keep up appearances so that Grovyle and the human would not suspect you. For they will come to rescue you. It has happened before, and I hope it will happen again. If I can trap them here, that will work. But if they do succeed in taking you, you must play along and slow them down, leave a trail, anything that won't put you in danger."
"I…" Scout blinked, unable to even think of words anymore. "What?"
Dusknoir nodded sadly, but surely. "In the future that we are from, they seek to change the future. Doing so will mean the end of me, and you. And countless pokémon still living. So we came together to stop them. I know Grovyle has spoken to you, but you mustn't believe his lies over my truths. You are my partner." A large finger touched the fabric tied on one of his arms, old and worn but always kept and looking so familiar for reasons Scout could never place. "And we are trying to save the world."
"I don't believe you," Scout said softly, and Dusknoir flinched harder than if Scout had punched him in the stomach.
"Scout…."
"Don't CALL me that," he said angrily, pulling himself off the wall and pointing a ble̴eding paw at Dusknoir. "I know what you are doing. I know, I know. I KNOW!" he shouted and Dusknoir recoiled. "LEAVE ME ALONE!"
Scout glared at Dusknoir as the spectre began pulling back. "Think about it Scout, if they are to succeed we will disap̵p͏ear." He glanced at the door and sighed. "I'm out of time. I've told them I simply wished to see if I could convince you to tell me where the others are. Remember what I've said, Scout. And please make the right decision."
The door opened and Magnezone called Dusknoir back. He gave one last searching look to Scout, meeting Scout's furious glare with a softly-glowing eye, before following, leaving into a room filled with quite a lot of noise.
Scout thought he heard someone yell his name. Or, perhaps, his former name. The door closed and he was left alone again, even more conflicted.
He gripped his bleeding paw tightly, wincing from the pain but not stopping. The pain was something he could latch onto, even as his blood made his paws sticky and gross. He remained in the solitude of his own thoughts for a painfully long time before taking a soft breath and getting up.
Extending a claw on his left paw, Scout reached through the bars and began trying to jam it into the lock. He wasn't sure if he could do this, but his paws seemed to know what to do.
He ground his teeth together as he felt pressure building on the root of his claw, but he pressed on, trying to find the right chink to unlock the cell.
Scout felt it begin to give and he nearly smiled, before the splintering feeling of a breaking claw shattered that smile.
He could barely hold in the gasp as pain exploded from his paw and Scout recoiled, breaking his claw even more. He shoved his right paw in his mouth to stifle his scream as the other paw blossomed with agony.
He breathed several minutes of very hard breaths, not daring to look at his paw. He could feel the trickle of blǫod mix with the dirt and tears of pain.
Eventually, thankfully, the pain dulled to a throb and he released his paw, swallowing the blood and saliva that had accumulated in his mouth.
He reached up with his left paw to marvel at the damage, all the claws were extended besides one, instead of a solid claw there was blood and a skin tear. Grimacing, Scout scurried to the corner of the cell and huddled up again.
He shook slightly as he tried to keep himself together, but he was alone. No one was there to watch him fall apart.
As Scout was dragged away, Mane fought every instinct he had to blast the magnemite and instead forced his knees to bend and move the other way.
He bit down hard on his lip, more than enough to draw blood, and bumped into someone. His eyes flicked to the offender, Bidoof, before flicking back to where Scout was disappearing.
Mane's muscles began to strain as he physically fought the need to run forward and eventually, Scout was gone.
The Fire-type took in a deep breath before looking to the rest of the guild. Most of the lemmings were just staring in a mixture of confusion and sadness, the flower was silent for once in her life, even the sound monster just stared, his wide mouth gaping noiselessly.
They weren't helpful, those that were helpful happened to be whispering to each other. Mane would have none of that.
Ignoring the town behind him, idiotic mareep that followed whoever was biggest, Mane strutted angrily to Chatot and Wigglytuff. His oh-so-powerful and wise leaders.
"What was that?" he hissed, the two cutting their conversation quiet. "You just let him take Sean? Scout. You let him take Scout. If that's even his name, actually. You know what? I'm going to keep calling him Sean until HE gives me word."
Chatot ruffled his feathers at the utterly banal method of addressing them but held his own sharp retort back. "Meowth will be cleared, this we can be certain of."
"The fucker clearly has it out for him," Mane growled and Chatot gave him another stern look for the language, "you really think Dusknoir is going to let him go? And for what? Ridiculous claims he's got no proof of."
He spun back on the town and roared. "THERE IS NO PROOF! YOU ARE TAKING DUSKNOIR'S WORD OVER MEOWTH'S."
A few mon's jumped at the near-loudred volume, but no one looked him in the eye. The crowd was already dispersing, and Mane's growls only hastened this.
Tossing his head and scoffing, Mane turned to begin his way back to the guild. "See you," he spat, before breaking out into a sprint.
Mane passed more than a few pokémon on the way back. Several were headed to Spinda's Café, others just home. He scowled at them all, even for just a fraction of a second. This was ridiculous, malarkey, stupidity, and he despised it.
However, someone else needed to hear what had happened. And explain himself as well.
He squeezed through the grate of the guild, scoffing again at how easy it would be to break into this place, and immediately headed straight to the medical wing.
"So, guess what?" Mane yelled, banging into the medical wing and making the shinx jump. "Your old buddy Dusknoir told us all something interesting."
Rai gave Mane a look of confusion before it morphed into worry. "He what?"
"He did indeed." Mane grinned. It was not a nice grin. "Let me recount." He held a paw and licked it between each point. "He told us about a little dance, then reminisced about making a little love, THEN HE ARRESTED SEAN!"
Rai's confused, apprehensive, frown melted into horror. "He what?"
Mane nodded, still grinning a grin better seen on a bruxish than a litleo. "He claimed that Sean is actually one of TWO of that bastard Grovyle's partners, the other is a human apparently, oh and he also claimed that Sean's name isn't even Sean. But Scout."
Rai's jaw began to drop as his pupils began to dilate. Mane noted that before continuing. "He also said that part of why he believed all this is because YOU told him something." Mane stepped forward, butting his head against Rai's. "He said you told him his name and confirmed that Grovyle asshole said they were partners. Is that true!?"
"What? I didn't tell him his name!" Rai retorted, stunned and unable to process all of what Mane was saying.
Mane butt his face against Rai's and snarled. "What. Did. You. Tell. Him?"
Rai's yellow eyes were wide and lost, confused and trying to grasp just what Mane was saying. "V-very funny," he muttered, recoiling from Mane. "Haha, jokes. Don't know what's possessed you to talk like this but-"
"Don't you dare," Mane replied just as softly. "Don't you dare think I'd make all of this up to stir up shit."
"Well, wouldn't you?" Rai retorted.
Mane saw red. "NO! FOR FUCKS SAKE, RAI! DUSKNOIR JUST HAD SEAN ARRESTED AND YOU'RE ACTING LIKE I'D MAKE THAT UP? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?"
Rai cringed back, stepping close to a corner as sparks burst off Mane. Mane's furious expression vanished between breaths, seeing that Rai was looking… afraid of him.
"I," he said, matching Rai's lost expression with his own.
Shouts began to reach their ears from outside as the guild returned, storming in. Chatot was screeching, "HE IS RIGHT, THIS IS MALARKY! WE MUST DEMAND HIS RETURN IMMEDIATELY, WIGGLYTUFF!"
Rai heard it all, the confusion and anger from the guild as Mane backed away to the door.
Rai blinked, took a breath, and then blinked again. His eyes were dilating further, and he began to shake. "He… he told me Sean was HIS friend," Rai said between numb lips. There were crackles of electricity popping off him and Mane stepped back to await the explosion, closing his eyes.
Then.
Nothing.
Mane cracked one eye open before the other one and then straightened up. Rai had stopped moving completely with his eyes closed. Not a snap, crackle, or pop to be heard.
Rai took a deep breath, Mane tensed, then exhaled. Rai opened both his eyes and gave Mane a thin smile that unsettled him more than Rai literally exploding the room would have.
He hopped down from the bed, uncaring of his wound. It was mostly healed anyway, Chimecho was simply careful. "Let's go see Dusknoir then," Rai said pleasantly, and Mane turned his head slightly, almost cocking it.
"You sure?"
"Yes."
There was no question to Rai's tone. He would go see Dusknoir now, even if he had to walk straight through Mane.
Mane smiled. It was an even less nice smile than the previous one. "He took him to Team Magnezone's base. Let's go."
Rai followed Mane's lead, knowing the litleo was a bit more familiar with the way than he was. Mane trotted down the steps, eyes passing over the guild as they stopped and stared. Chimecho shrieked something upon seeing them, but Rai ignored her. Chatot squawked something, Mane ignored that.
"I'm going to see him," Rai said pleasantly, and the guild let them pass. Wigglytuff watched them go, a sad frown marring his face. He gave a soft exhale and nodded to Chatot before following after them.
They turned left at the watering hole and continued on. Mane knew this path pretty well, although Rai wouldn't bring up why. It's not that he got into trouble badly enough to come here often, but occasionally Team Magnezone wanted to speak with him and he'd oblige.
The tense silence between the remainder of Team Ion didn't last long.
"How much of that was true?" Mane asked. "Human? Future? Grovyle? Scout?"
"Sean told me about being human," Rai admitted. Mane raised an eyebrow at him, but he had nothing more to say. He frowned and looked away, body tensing even as he walked as he began to realise what he hadn't been trusted with.
They took another left and began heading down a gently falling slope, almost gentle enough to be unnoticeable.
The building Team Magnezone run their operations from was not dissimilar to the Wigglytuff Guild. Except, rather than a creepy wigglytuff head, it was given the vague shape of a magnezone. Mane normally could appreciate the vanity. This time, however, not so much.
They butted their way through the door and into the building. Magnemite and magneton buzzed in the air in excitement, giving quick unpleasant screeches to each other.
All eyes fell on Rai and Mane as they entered, and a magneton floated in close to speak.
"ZZZT! All visitors are to be turned away unless there is an emergency," the robotic pokémon buzzed. "What is your business here? ZZZT!"
"The meowth you just arrested for no good reason," Mane snarled, coming up forward. He restrained the fire wanting to crackle out of his mouth. It would not be good to try and threaten them. No matter how much he wanted to.
"I am also going to speak to Dusknoir," Rai said pleasantly, the eyes of the magneton swivelling to him.
"ZZZT! I am afraid we cannot release the meowth. Furthermore, Dusknoir is assisting us with his account and is not able to speak to anyone else. ZZZT!"
"I don't think you-" Mane began, but Rai spoke over him.
"I am going to speak with Dusknoir," he said and stepped forward. The magneton was stunned at the complete disregard of its word.
"ZZZT! Excuse me! ZZZT! You cannot enter these premises unescorted. ZZZT! Shinx stop or I will be forced to detain you. ZZZT!"
Rai did not stop and a few magnemite began to buzz. Mane licked his lips, tasting heat. If this was going to come to a battle, then he'd play ball.
"Excuse me?" a light and fluffy voice called, and everyone paused. Even Rai glanced behind to see Wigglytuff enter, an apologetic smile on his face. "So sorry for the intrusion. Forgive us, forgive us."
"Guildmaster?" Rai asked and Wigglytuff gave him a smile.
"I'm sorry Shinx but you're going to have to come with me. We can all talk to Dusknoir later, but for now, we really need you back at the guild." He sent a smile to Mane as well, and the litleo felt disarmed. "Litleo too. We dearly need you both right away."
Mane hesitated, suddenly unsure, and Rai swallowed. "But," he began but Wigglytuff's smile was stable and his eyes kind. "But… alright." He bowed his head and Mane frowned. Rai's tail drooped as he dragged himself back.
"So sorry to have intruded, have a good day. Have a good day. Treat everyone here well, alright?"
The magneton nodded and Wigglytuff shepherded his wayward apprentices out. "Phew." He breathed a sigh of relief before taking both felines in an arm each. "Let's get back quickly," he suggested, and they could only hang on as Wigglytuff sprinted off in a stunning burst of speed.
Wigglytuff kept the sprint up the entire trip and wasn't even winded a few minutes later as he carried them into the guild.
The gate clanged shut behind them and Wigglytuff finally released them. "I know this time is a tough one," Wigglytuff said warmly, giving the two members of Team Ion a smile. "But it'll end okay. It'll end okay."
"How can you be so sure?" Mane grumbled. He hated how Wigglytuff's arrival seemed to suck all the anger out of him. The damn Fairy-type did some trickery, Mane was sure.
"Because Meowth is strong and good!" Wigglytuff declared as they headed down. "He will be okay until we can solve this for him." They reached the bottom of the guild where everyone was assembled and Chatot breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the three.
"Welcome back, Guildmaster," Chatot said primly as the apprentices stopped mulling about in awkward stilted silence.
"Thank you Chatot." Wigglytuff smiled at his second-in-command.
"Dusknoir told me that Sean was his friend from before he lost his memory," Rai said, cutting out any other angle of conversation. "I know I wasn't there to hear it, but Mane said Dusknoir claims that Sean is actually Grovyle's partner."
The apprentices were all silent, barring one.
"So, one way or the other," Sunflora began, "Dusknoir lied. Why would he lie? And which one did he lie about?"
Mane snorted. "Obviously the claim that Sean is some maniac trying to end the world."
There was silence. No one wanted to say what was there, but Mane could hear it anyway. His face screwed up until he couldn't take the silence anymore. "Yeah, I get that he has memory issues, but you can't actually believe this?"
"It…" Chatot begun, words sounding physically painful, "can't be considered off the table." He grimaced before flapping as Mane and Rai both delivered thunderous expressions to him. "Now-now! I do not believe he would do such a thing now. But it cannot be ignored that, uh… Meowth himself doesn't know. It is curious that Grovyle would wish to speak to him alone, is it not?"
"And did that actually happen?" Mane snapped.
"Yes," Rai said quietly, and Mane closed his mouth. All eyes fell on Rai and he cringed. "Yes, it happened. But Dusknoir said that...! Argh!" Rai tossed his head. "He told me that Grovyle would try and manipulate him as they BOTH knew him and were trying to stop him. But now, why did he tell me that if it's not true?"
"We're not going to get any answers until Dusknoir can be asked the questions," Croagunk pointed out and Rai scowled.
"I tried."
"He'll be safe there," Sunflora said softly, giving Rai and Mane a comforting look. "No one can hurt him there. There aren't many safer places around than Team Magnezone's base."
Rai screwed his face into a frown or a snarl, but he couldn't quite decide on it and he fell into a cracked expression of misery. "I…" Rai didn't finish, simply began to walk. "I'm going to bed." He did not go towards the medical wing, but Chimecho didn't try and stop him.
Mane followed after a moment, making sure to give every member of the guild a scowl as he went.
"So, when are we going to break him out?" Mane asked as Rai slumped into bed.
"Sometimes I worry that you can tell what's on my mind," Rai said, muffled by the straw. Mane smirked a nasty smirk.
"What can I say?" he asked as Rai sat up and they began to talk.
Things were a bit uncertain between them, Mane's expression flickered between a smirk and a frown and neither was an honest expression. He had something to focus on that wasn't the lack of trust he had been given.
Black-furred feet smacked into the ground as Sean ran along the path.
He had watched Dusknoir and did nothing as Dusknoir had Scout carted away to the building the police used as a base of operations.
He had done nothing as Dusknoir hit the final nail in the coffin of any hope that he and Striker may be able to convince residents of Treasure Town to help them find the Relic Fragment.
Right now, Sean didn't know what to do. He was running to one who might. Once Dusknoir was gone, he quickly made his way out of town and withheld the urge to run. Sableye were about after all and he didn't need any suspicion or anyone following him.
Once he felt safe enough, and still earlier than he knew Striker would be happy with, he ran.
There were only two tiny slivers of good news he could hold firm to. The first, Striker was safe. That clever grovyle was still free, even if he had been discovered in the process of obtaining the fourth gear.
The second, Dusknoir didn't seem to know that Sean himself was no longer so easily discoverable. A riolu didn't stick out nearly as much as a full-blooded human would.
For the time being, they still had one small advantage.
With that and more on his mind, Sean ran. He had but one destination in mind. With a nearby grove that Striker had pointed out as a meeting destination.
The Grass-type had hoped to come back to Treasure Town after obtaining the gear from underground, or even after acquiring the gear from where the crystals lay.
However, since that was definitely not an option, Sean pointed his feet towards the path to the dungeon – Brine Cave.
Fighting-types had excellent stamina and Sean found himself stopping for only a short break before continuing. His paw pads were stinging, and his legs began to protest from the effort, the pain caused him to slow down slightly and calm down.
He walked the rest of the way. He ignored the path to the entrance of the dungeon and instead walked up into a grove of trees.
As Sean went, he tapped trees with the metal bumps on the backs of his paws. Once he had tapped enough, he felt something appear behind him.
Sean spun, senses honed by the future, to meet Striker's arm with his own. The two pressed against the other for a moment, staring into the other's face, before Striker smiled. "It's good to see you," he said, and Sean couldn't help but smile back.
It was comforting, hearing the grovyle's voice again. "Good to see you too," Sean replied and together they lowered their arms.
"I thought you might come around once news reached Treasure Town," Striker said, stepping back to lead Sean to his camp. "I couldn't be sure though, I was going to leave tomorrow and leave something behind for you."
"Well I'm here now," Sean replied. "So gimme." He grinned as Striker laughed. His smile didn't last long.
"I've got something better," he said enigmatically, and Sean rolled his eyes at the dramatics. "A Time Gear."
"I couldn't have guessed," Sean said. "But seriously, what were you going to leave?"
Rolling his eyes back, Striker beckoned him into the grove where he had been staying. Sean looked around and nodded, very spartan and very much the kind of camp the grovyle would set up.
"Just a note," he answered, and Sean pouted for a moment. "So," Striker began, sitting down. "What exactly drew you out here? I'd like to think you came because you have the key or have its location." Sean frowned and Striker sighed. "Or maybe you just came to check up on me?" Sean shook his head and Striker gave him a wary look. "Then something has happened?"
"First." Sean raised a paw, walked over to the confused grovyle, and smacked him across the face. "That's for the injury you inflicted on Team Ion."
Striker rubbed his jaw but made no movement back. "Fair," he admitted. "Also, ow. I see you're getting stronger. In my defence, I tried to just get them out of the way but the shinx came at me from behind and I just… reacted."
Sean nodded, understanding. "Yeah, I'd have probably done the same thing. Still not nice, that's really going to scare Scout." Striker nodded, looking just a little guilty. Sean could tell the nuances on Striker's face. "I did want to ask what you learned about Scout, but I think I can guess."
Striker's expression became grave. "What happened?" he asked, eyes narrowing.
"Dusknoir's worked out who he is and got him arrested in front of the whole town," he explained, Striker immediately hissing. "That's the reason why I came. Dusknoir has Scout and… yeah," he finished. Striker had already gotten up and was pacing back and forth.
Sean almost laughed at that. Scout had learned the art of pacing anxiously from Striker, but in turn, Striker began to do it with more flourish, building off each other. It would have been a cute reminder had it not been caused by such terrible news.
"I told him to stay away from Dusknoir," Striker said after a moment. He paused his pacing long enough to repeat that to Sean before he was back at it. Already digging a hole in the ground. "Something must have rattled him during that incident when we were travelling back in time. More so because he definitely believed he was you. He said he remembers his name is Sean and that he was a human."
Sean sighed, "You don't think when his head hit mine during the time-travelling that there was some kind of…?"
Striker shook his head, to Sean's relief. "I'd imagine his delusions are more based on the fact that he looked up to you so much." Sean blushed behind the fur, to Striker's disappointment.
It was much more enjoyable when he could see how flustered Sean could get. That fur got in the way. "That even through his amnesia he remembers - Sean and human and simply thought he's you. The two of you don't act much alike, although there were a couple of similarities."
Sean accepted that, so Striker asked the next question, "What exactly happened? Recount it for me please."
"Dusknoir called some very important town meeting, bringing in pretty much everyone. Even the town elder Torkoal was called from the Hot Springs. Once everyone was there, he revealed the future to everyone, his version at least." Striker hissed at that. "And painted you as some grief-filled apocalyptic madmon or something."
"He would," Striker growled, but let Sean go on.
"He then went on to say that you brought a human and a meowth with you," Sean explained. "The meowth obviously being used to implicit Scout. Human too it seems since a few members of the guild reacted in less of a shocked manner to hear it."
Striker rubbed his jaw, incidentally the same place Sean had hit him earlier, in thought. "And what of Shinx's reaction to all this? The two seemed rather… close."
"I didn't see him there," Sean said, frowning. "Everyone was supposed to be there… except those with medical reasons not to." His tone became slightly accusing and Striker winced.
"I didn't mean to slash him like that."
"You SLASHED him?" Sean demanded and Striker stepped back. "Of all the-no wonder he-ugh, fine." He shook his head and moved past it. "Whatever, it's in the past." He rubbed an aura tassel in annoyance, one of them had hit him in the nose when he shook his head.
"So, he wasn't there?"
"Not that I could see," Sean said, moving past his anger. "Dusknoir did claim he had received some information from Shinx though, so I can't say for certain. The litleo was there though, I'm sure that was a surprise for you? He protested strongly to Scout's guilt as did the guild once they were able to react."
"So, the guild is on his side?" Striker asked, leaning in interest.
Sean frowned and shrugged. "Eh… sort of? Chatot especially tried to talk them down but they were running off the idea that Scout is either innocent, or he's completely amnesiac. Something that might not work, Scout was clearly rattled from everything going on."
Striker nodded. "Dusknoir hasn't completely turned them against Scout yet. With enough time though…"
"I think we're ignoring something bigger here," Sean pointed out. "Dusknoir has Scout and you know he'll use him against us."
"Dusknoir won't hurt Scout," Striker countered, and Sean rolled his eyes.
"Yes, I KNOW that he won't hurt him under normal circumstances. But who knows how he may act if things get desperate? Maybe he won't kill him, but you can't claim he wouldn't hurt Scout if he thought it would save them both in the end?"
Striker had nothing to counter that with.
He took an uncomfortable breath. "If it comes down to it, we can rescue him."
"If it comes down to it?" Sean repeated, frown deepening. "I think we should go rescue him now."
"The risk-"
"Dusknoir has our friend!" Sean snapped and Striker paused. "He's come back to save you before and you're just going to leave him there?"
"Your emotions are interfering with your logic," Striker argued back. "We know Dusknoir won't hurt him, nothing irreversible. But going to save him puts everything at risk. Myself, you, the entire world. Scout will understand." Striker and Sean stared each other down before Striker looked away and began pacing again.
Sean stared angrily at the grovyle for a moment before groaning and burying his face in his paws, muzzle poking out. "Well, what if Dusknoir is able to do… something to turn Scout to his side then?"
Striker's pacing became more aggressive.
"YOU can't say it's not a possibility," Sean stated, Striker didn't respond. "Especially after YOU slashed his friend. He has amnesia, he probably doesn't know what the hell is really going on right now and is scared and alone. Except for Dusknoir. You KNOW Dusknoir will try and turn him to his side."
"After turning an entire town against him, I feel like Scout won't want to listen."
"Yeah." Sean nodded. "For now. The longer he's alone, the more likely he's going to get desperate. Dusknoir knows how to get to Scout, you can't deny that."
Sean was able to see this rare side of Striker. The one who didn't know what to do and was too anxious to hide it. He rubbed a clawed hand along his head as the other one hung limply by his side.
"Well then, what do we do?" Striker asked, turning to Sean. "YOU are the leader of our whole little team. You're the one that gets us places. What do you think we should do then?"
Sean looked up at the sky, marvelling how the sun still shone and the wind ruffled his fur.
"We're going to have to act," he said, looking down. "Look I… I know you're right." Saying that left a bitter taste in his mouth, it wasn't right to leave Scout to Dusknoir's mercy. But Striker was still right. "We can't just charge in and get Scout. Either you'll get captured, or you'll be running with an entire town and guild AND Dusknoir on your tail and we can't have that. You're going to have to get the last Time Gear and I'M going to have to find the key to the Hidden Land."
He looked back to where he had walked from, to where the entrance of Brine Cave lay. "But I have no idea where to start. The only, terrifying, guess I have is that Dusknoir has it."
"Apparently Litleo had it. But his hous̛e was ransacked and that was all that was taken. I took a look myself but couldn't find anything concrete. Just a sheet." He smiled slightly. "Been years since I've had one of those…."
"If Dusknoir has the key," Striker began but didn't finish the thought.
"He'll either have destroyed it." Both of them winced at the thought. "Or, if he can't, he's probably got it on him somewhere."
The two remained in silence for a bit. Striker looked to Sean. "What do we do then?"
Sean didn't respond for a long moment, choosing instead to stare ahead. "I… you have to get the Time Gear. Dusknoir mentioned he has it guarded, but he's not there at the moment. This is probably your best chance of getting it. When the alert inevitably comes that you're trying to take the gear and Dusknoir leaves I'm going to see if I can sneak into where he's been staying and look for anything that might point us in the direction of the key."
Striker nodded and Sean added. "I'm sorry, this is the best I can really think of. The situation is screwed up, we've got to take what chances we can get.
Striker gave him a long, searching, glance. "You," he said heavily. "Have to be careful. Dusknoir is still unlikely to do anything until he has all three of us. He doesn't know who you are, that's our last trump card here. You have to get in and out without being seen."
Sean smirked and gave a stretch. "Even as a human I was good at going unnoticed," he bragged. "Now I'm two feet tall, less than half the size I was before. I can do this Striker. I have to be able to do this."
The grovyle nodded and gave his closest friend a smile. "I'll be seeing you soon then," he said, glancing back to his belongings. "We'll meet back here in seven days. Alright?"
"Seven days." Sean nodded. They shared a fist bump and then parted ways.
The time for sneaking around was finished.
The real Sean would now stand up.
Striker breathed a sigh of relief as he approached the mouth of the cave. Even from this distance, he could see the glimmering of blue crystals twinkling at him from the darkness.
Although from this distance they looked like the teeth of a horrible mouth.
He remained in the overgrown thicket, eyes sliding back and forth carefully. He would not believe that there were no guards here. Visible guards, however, were a different story and he knew how well the sableye could hide.
That shadow there by the lip of the cave? Possibly a sableye. That grove in the rock? Could house a sableye waiting to send the alarm.
Striker smiled grimly. Even if they were visible, he doubted he'd be able to strike all of them down without Dusknoir getting word somehow.
It hurt to do, it left him feeling ill at the prospect of willingly walking into a trap without even using an item to sneak in invisible. There was no choice and calling Dusknoir to this place was Sean's only real chance to find the key that they needed to progress.
There were a no other options.
Once his breath was caught, Striker jumped out of the bushes and sped to the entrance. He thought he caught a shadow twitching, but there was no chance to turn back now. He cracked a grin, he wouldn't turn back even if there was a choice.
Striker disappeared into the cave as the two sableye watching it poked their heads out and nodded. They sent Master Dusknoir the signal, a weak spiritual throb that would scarcely be noticed by any of the Ghost-types around, but one that Dusknoir was waiting for.
One squirmed and the other ground its claws down with its sharp teeth wishing there was something to eat. There wasn't much else to do besides wait and hope that the master arrive in time.
The denizens of Crystal Cave posed little threat to Striker and he carved his way through without hesitation. A Leaf Blade to lay low a graveler, a quick Dig to smash a seviper out of the way. He even took out a trio of riolu with Bullet Seed, not pausing even as they rang a familiar vibe with him.
Enemies dropped before him or leapt out of his way. Nothing would slow Striker here, and nothing did.
He breezed up to the final room where three crystals shone blue. A terrible gouge in the dungeon made of crystals. The site of the entrance to the Crystal Crossing impressed Striker and he paused for a brief moment.
Not for long, however, as he knew there would be more sableye around. He hopped through the room and into the entrance, two more sableye watching him go.
Striker was confident that the enemies further in would be more powerful. Simply the visage of the entrance was a testament to the power of a legendary pokémon, warping a dungeon in such a stable way.
But even the froslass and glalie were laughable and he slashed, dug, and shot his way through any enemy that dared approach.
One particularly swift absol managed to cut through his Treasure Bag and his arm in the process, sending orbs scattering everywhere. He bashed its head against a wall and quickly gathered his items, not letting a single orb loose.
Despite his diligence, however, one was snatched by a glameow and he growled and tried to chase it.
It was heading backwards, however, and Striker had to let it go. Turning back over an orb, even a beautiful Luminous Orb, was not worth it.
Striker held a gru̴dge against glameow from then on.
He tied the cut band together and continued.
Crystal Lake was stunning.
Its majesty outweighed the allure of Fogbound Lake and the hidden paradise of the Underground Lake. Gemstones littered the land, and water, spreading blue, teal, and green light through the cavernous room.
Even then, however, Grovyle didn't slow.
He continued hopping as fast as he could, avoiding the water for now, until he found himself along a final stretch. A long path headed to an enormous flat crystal that was then crowned by a ring of spiky blue gems.
Only there were two things wrong.
The first, the Time Gear's light was consumed by even more crystals that had spiked up behind it, covering a large part of the lake in an incredibly hard substance.
The second, Azelf was floating ready for him.
"I presume you are Grovyle?" Azelf called as Striker began to slow. He was breathing heavily, but his heart pounded harder. "The thief."
"Yes," Striker answered as he came to a stop. There wasn't much ground between him and Azelf. "I'm assuming you too are beholden to Dusknoir's lies?"
Azelf's eyes narrowed and Striker knew there was no manner he could ever convince the Spirit of Willpower. The loss of Uxie and Mesprit surely nailed that.
"I know you won't take it," Azelf said as they floated up and bared their fists. "I know you don't deserve it after the fates you inflicted on my siblings. But I will offer it regardless. Give up and I will show mercy."
Striker gave a bitter smile and fell into a combat stance. "Can you sense my resolve?" he asked and Azelf nodded, a look of almost respect in their eyes. "Then let's not bother with the dialogue."
With that, Striker attacked.
He listened for Azelf's breathing over his own for a moment, relieved he hadn't killed the legendary, before forcing himself up.
The flat crystal battlefield was covered in broken crystals, gouges, and even bits of blood and leafy powder.
With several grunts of pain and exertion, Striker forced himself to his feet. There was no time to be taking a nap, he had the worst game of treasure hunt to still go through.
He scampered over the spiky crystal crown and onto the spiky sea of crystals. Frowning in annoyance, Striker carefully toed his way towards a dull glow. One clump of crystals appeared more special than the others and Striker had seen them enough times to know the light of a Time Gear.
A stream of Bullet Seeds and Energy Balls blasted the spiky parts off, but scarcely even touched the flatter crystal they rested on.
Striker walked up and onto the trimmed crystal and looked down. There it was, even through the blue crystal, he could make out the foggy shape of a Time Gear.
He clenched both hands a few times and rolled his shoulders. Both arms ached, and his hands didn't move as quickly as he could like. There was no other way, unfortunately.
Striker took a breath, raised both fists, and slammed them down together. A dull thwonk echoed out from the impact and Striker was sure he felt something crack.
Thankfully it was the crystal.
Gritting his teeth, he raised his hands again and felt for the Power. He channelled it into his favoured Dig and then slammed down again. And again. And again and again and again.
Slowly the crystal broke, his hands bled, and Striker continued striking the crystal. Both arms jarred by this point, and shards of crystal cutting into him.
Striker was accustomed to pain.
The gnawing pain of the stomach when one was starving. The parched pain of the throat, when all the water was frozen and not even ice.
The pain of the heart as the day remained dark. The pain of the body as one fought to protect what little they had, sometimes only one's life. If that was even worth having in the dark future.
He was used to agony of many different kinds, and this was no different. Still, Striker couldn't hold every tear back or every spasm in his chest as he hit the crystal again and again and again.
He hit it until he couldn't hit it anymore.
Largely due to someone catching his hands as he raised them again.
Striker immediately swung forward, jumped, and kicked back, slamming his feet into Dusknoir's belly and diverting his centre of balance, allowing him to throw the weighty Ghost-type over himself and into the hole of shattered crystal. He still hadn't reached the Time Gear, and hadn't even made that much progress, but there was no question now. It was time to go.
Striker ran. Fighting Dusknoir when he was healthy and uninjured was an unpleasant prospect. But when he was in this state? After fighting a legendary? No.
As he sprinted, Striker shoved a bloody hand into his Treasure Bag and siphoned through the orbs. He knew he had a Luminous Orb in here somewhere, perfect for both blinding Dusknoir and forcing sableye out of the shadows.
He could tell them apart by feel, size, and weight and each orb he rolled was not the one he needed.
A sableye leapt in his way and he cut it down. A shadowy tendril nipped at his ankle, and Striker cut that with his tail. Azelf got up and grabbed him in Psychic again. That problem had no easy answer, unfortunately.
Striker roared and struggled against the grip until Azelf just couldn't hold him anymore, but Dusknoir had caught up by that point.
Striker did the splits as he ducked below a Shadow Punch and threw his own normal, and bloody, fist into one of the eye-like markings on Dusknoir's chest. He knew those were sensitive.
Dusknoir gasped as Striker rolled to his feet, still rifling through his bag in a panic. He couldn't understand why he couldn't find it, he didn't have THAT many orbs. The Luminous Orb was always-
Striker realised three things.
The first was that he really hated glameow.
The second, he didn't have a Luminous Orb.
The third, possibly the most pertinent, Dusknoir had extra company.
A ponyta reared up and kicked him with flaming hooves and he fell right into the spreading vines of a bellsprout. They couldn't hold him for long, but long enough for a camerupt to blast him point blank with an unnecessary amount of fire.
Everything went black and red and pain all over before it got worst. Something snatched him from behind, but with Striker's disorientation he could barely even swat at it.
He yelled out as Dusknoir lifted him over his head and blasted him in the back with a plume of ghostly flame. A sableye leaped up and cut through the Treasure Bag and it fell. Dusknoir continued to lift him over his head, falling back, to slam Striker face-first into the same crystal he had slammed Azelf into.
He felt something unpleasantly close to his neck almost snapping before everything went dark.
Sean had spent the days in misery.
Even though he wasn't the one locked in a cell somewhere, breaking his claws in locks. The riolu had been left anxious and jumpy.
The whole town was in a state of anticipation. He had gone through and listened in on a few conversations. Not everyone thought Scout was the demon centipede or bacon bird in disguise, but the general acceptance was that the Great Dusknoir was in the right.
More than once Sean had to sneak away from a conversation so he wouldn't fall to the temptation to try and correct the townsfolk.
Everyone was active. And every exploration team in the area, besides the apprentices at the guild, were looking for him.
Looking for a human at least, and Sean found it bitterly amusing to find a few pokémon trying to educate the explorer teams on what a human looked like.
There seemed to be a huge disagreement over whether humans had tails or not.
He was fine with it, any distraction from actually finding him was valued. Not that anyone was looking for a riolu, allowing him in and out of town safely.
He had stopped coming in as often. The sableye could be anywhere. Dusknoir could be anywhere. And someone coming in and out all the time could attract unwanted attention.
So, Sean waited in silence, biting his tongue and forcing himself away. He had to be ready for Dusknoir's departure, he had to get all the time he could manage.
Yet, loitering around the cottage Dusknoir was residing in wasn't wise. There were more sableye watching it, he was certain.
Was Sean paranoid? Yes. There was no question there.
Was Sean ready? No. There was no question there.
He hadn't been ready to be pulled through a portal at twelve years old and into a nightmare hellscape either.
But he didn't get the choice to be ready or not, he simply had to be. And when he saw Dusknoir hesitate as he avoided a very determined shinx, Sean knew it was time.
Not minding the shinx, Dusknoir made haste towards the town centre and called out. "Grovyle is at the location of the Time Gear!"
Immediately, Claydol floated forward. They were ready to transport Dusknoir to stop the thief.
A few exploration teams also came forward, but Dusknoir had no time to entertain them. Only a team boasting two Fire-type's were allowed to come, along with two sableye, before they disappeared.
Sean worried, he couldn't help himself, but he also couldn't waste time fluffing about. He had only found two sableye to still be in town, and both just left.
He would still be careful though, Dusknoir was tricky, but there was no better chance than this.
With the town distracted with anticipation and hearsay, Sean ran off. He had burned the path into his mind and didn't falter until he was right to the cottage. It took him a few minutes, it was quite out of the way.
Uninhabited, hopefully at least, but he didn't enter through the door. A small window, too small for his previous human body to squeeze through, was the choice of entry.
The cottage was quiet, dull, and filled with an odd smell. It was a small, one-room, dwelling with a fireplace and a lump of straw, a single table, and a few of Dusknoir's personal items placed around in specific spots.
Despite it all, a small smile graced his canine face. It was surprisingly easy to pinpoint the areas Dusknoir frequented. The fireplace was cold, but the ashy remains of wood still sat there. The small table had finger marks almost drilled into it, Dusknoir was almost compulsively a finger-tapper.
The place was clean and quiet, organised in that special way Dusknoir did. It was almost too easy for him to begin rifling through the area, replacing everything exactly as he found it. Leaving the crooked objects crooked and the jar twisted almost tight, but not quite.
He opened the chest Dusknoir stored his items in and found the secret compartment in a few seconds. He deduced this was the feint and continued searching through the orbs and seeds. He found a groove and had a lot of trouble getting into it.
"Damn stubs," he muttered, glaring angrily at his paws. Fingers would be so much better here. Sean dug out a stick from his own bag and used it for a few minutes until he got into the real secret compartment.
It'd leave behind a trace, but a stick should be too difficult to track. Dusknoir would likely suspect he was here, regardless.
With that sobering thought in mind, Sean sped up his search. There was no telling if he'd send someone back to check his dwelling.
The secret compartment was frustratingly bare. Simply a scrap of paper with symbols that reminded him of his own language. Unown symbols, the writing looked familiar too. With some focus, he could make out most of the words.
"Because of you, Guardian is gone," he read, quietly. "And now you've lost Scout," he trailed off, realising why this handwriting looked familiar.
Striker had written this. But when? And why for that matter?
He frowned and glanced back at it before carefully putting it back in. That was private, but also useless to him.
He continued to look as the minutes ticked away more and more, but there was nothing but dust to be found.
Dust and a single shard of a rock that had been swept away. Highly dissatisfying.
Knowing this was pointless, Sean got out of the cottage and ran along the overgrown edges of Treasure Town.
He had to go check out Team Magnezone's base now. Work out how to get in and out. The jails boasted in the past were Delphox Enchanted to suppress pokemon's natural powers, so whatever he did he had to avoid going in one.
As he returned, however, he picked up the sounds of distant cheering.
Listening in closely, he could hear Dusknoir's deep rumble, but not the words, along with a cheer from the crowd every few moments. He carefully unwound his control over the aura senses he kept restrained and was nearly overwhelmed by a blast of furious jubilation emanating from teh town.
"There is only ONE more threat to stop!" Dusknoir roared, voice raising enough for Sean to make it out. "One more and the world is saved!"
"One more!" the crowd repeated, stamping, cheering, or hollering.
"No," Sean said quietly.
"Grovyle has been caught!" Dusknoir yelled and the crowd cheered again. "Now we search for the human."
"The human!" the crowd repeated.
"Save the world!"
"Save the world!"
Sean backed away as Dusknoir continued to whip the crowd into a frenzy. He didn't have the key to the Hidden Land.
And he didn't have Striker either. Sean didn't know what to do.
Dusknoir held every card.
