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Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Time/Darkness Spoilers So you can't say I didn't warn you.

Read the "before reading" notes for suggested music.

Chapter 2: Dusknoir's Gamble

He would have to go see Celebi now. She was his only pathway back to the past. The only other one with the power to send him back was Dialga, and approaching that legendary would be nigh on suicide, if he were stupid enough to believe Dialga would actually have helped him.

Yes. He had to go to Celebi, explain what had happened, and ask her to send him back a second time. It would be risky, as he could lead Dusknoir's cronies straight to her. But he knew one of her favorite haunts was right near here, and it was, even more conveniently, near the Passage of Time, the one she used for large jumps. If he got there far enough ahead of the Sableye, he could be in the past and Celebi long gone before they even realized they'd lost his trail.

These and similar thoughts carried him all the way past Dark Hill, leaving the Sealed Ruins ahead. As he paused at the archway leading into the decrepit temple, his thoughts turned, unbidden, to the team of two he had just left behind, such a short time ago.

He knew them, of course. From the few gleanings he'd been able to scrape eavesdropping here and there, he knew they were rookies in that much-renowned Wigglytuff Guild, forming their team of two - from what he could tell - not long after he'd arrived in the past. It also appeared that despite this, that twosome of Chikorita and Charmander had an incredible knack for attracting the extraordinary, though what kind of extraordinary, he'd never quite heard.

He knew them personally as well. He'd faced them twice already, even dealt them grave injuries on one occasion when they'd stood between him and a Time Gear. The Chikorita in particular had already shown a stubborn streak, so much that he might have killed her inadvertently on the latter occasion, had not Dusknoir picked that particular moment to step in. Aside from this tenacity and determination, however, he'd seen nothing extraordinary in them himself, at least nothing extraordinary in a sense that mattered to him. Both were ordinary Pokemon from the past, oblivious to the true cause of the disruption of time , besotted by the glorious reputation of Dusknoir and reiterating the lie he had fed all the innocents and bystanders. Which is why Dusknoir's actions had disturbed him so much.

Dusknoir was, he reflected, a perfect disciple for Primal Dialga, and an even more perfect bounty hunter. Dusknoir had never before, as far as he could remember, struck without a reason, more specifically without a quarry. This he knew well. He'd spent so much of his own life being one of Dusknoir's targets. And once Dusknoir had a target, he could be vicious, even brutal in hunting down and eliminating it. It was a controlled fury though. If you weren't in the way, you were left on the whole unharmed and unscathed. There were no exceptions to this rule, at least as far as he knew. So what had these two ordinary Pokemon from the past have that would make Dusknoir perceive them as a threat to Primal Dialga? He mulled the facts over in his head as he descended deeper into the Sealed Ruins.

Little of it added up. The only thing that made any kind of real sense was the possibility that Dusknoir thought that he, Grovyle had told them something, or maybe overheard the two of them facing each other at Crystal Lake. But if Dusknoir really had suspected that they'd overheard, why had he not just seized them there in the cave, or right after he'd returned? Before he'd been pushed into the Dimensional Hole Dusknoir had made, he'd seen the two among the watching crowd in the Square of Treasure Town, he was sure of it. If Dusknoir believed they knew something, why would he have waited that long to capture them? It didn't make sense. Wouldn't the Dusknoir he was used to dealing with have seized them at the earliest opportunity and publicly discredited them on the offhand chance that they escaped?

Even if that were true, the painfully obvious fact was that, no matter what Dusknoir believed the two had overheard, they hadn't. It was clear the Charmander and Chikorita had no clue as to why Dusknoir might bear them any ill will at all, let alone kidnap and attempt to kill them. Unless they were extraordinarily good actors, which given the circumstances, he doubted.

He shook his head as he entered the central chamber of the Sealed Ruins. There had to be something he wasn't aware of in this matter, but he was being stupid, thinking about it now, particularly here. He of all Pokemon should know the dangers of this future. He was out of practice, sure, from his time in the past. But that did not change that his mind needed to be here now, where there were traps to avoid and Dusknoir's minions to escape. He was foolish to have allowed himself to be distracted this far.

Looking around warily, he stepped into the center of the room, spotting the exit through the gloom as he did so. Good. This place gave him a slightly creeping feeling, and he could tell he'd feel much better out of here. He had barely taken four steps when a voice seemed to breathe out of the darkness...

"Trespasser..."

He faltered for a moment, then kept walking. Freezing to try and find whispers in the dark tended to play into the whisperer's hands, he reasoned with himself. Still, he kept his gaze moving rapidly around him, watching for signs of movement.

Then the voice whispered again. "Trespasser... Your arrogance displeases us..." Something shifted in the dark shadows in front of the exit.

This time he did come to a halt. "I must pass here, please, whoever you are. I did not intend to disturb anything," he called, "I have no quarrel with you. Let me pass peacefully, or I will do whatever I must to continue."

The voice gave an angry titter, and suddenly there seemed to be two voices, one high one low, speaking in so perfect a unity it was difficult to tell them apart. "Your manner disgusts us." As the voice grew in volume and anger, seemingly more voices seemed to join the first two, again in a perfect unity. Each voice spoke with the same tone, the same pitch, volume and inflection, making them indistinguishable. The sound was unearthly and haunting. "You come without permission, leave without apology, and threaten us with violence when we merely seek to protect our lands and our silence?"

"Who is it who speaks, then?" he called, frustration beginning to mount. They were wasting precious time! "Who claims ownership of this chamber?" Next moment, a force more powerful than he could have expected slammed into him, forcing him to his knees. The force came on top of him next slamming downward until he was held completely immobile on the ground, and try as he might, he couldn't escape.

"WE ARE SPIRITOMB!" a vast multitude of voices screamed, somehow blending seamlessly yet jangling discordantly, "Eight-hundred-and-six strong we are, and when you expire, we'll number eight-hundred-seven!"

---------------------------------------------

Under any other circumstances, after that first meeting with Celebi I might have fled the area within hours. I was never given a satisfactory explanation as to what she'd done when she did... whatever it was she did when she looked at me like that, although I've been able to gain enough experience to hazard a pretty accurate guess. I didn't know at that point that Primal Dialga had already labeled Celebi as a malcontent. I didn't know about Temporal Tower, or the Time Gears. I didn't even understand that the planet was paralyzed and time frozen. I knew there was soemthing wrong with the dead, silent stillness, sure. But the whys behind it were beyond my understanding until later.

Still it's hard to say exactly why I stayed. The setting probably helped a fair bit. After all, like Celebi, I have an affinity of sorts with forests. I was able to find a nice hollow in a tree and settle down nicely for the first time I could remember, just as my friendship with Celebi was the first I'd ever had. So I lived in the area peacefully and fairly easily for a few content months. Food and water were not an issue it was in fair abundance here, though not exactly of the exact highest quality. Celebi popped up to chat on occasion. Her visits were erratic and unpredictable, with no real pattern that I could discern. Sometimes she'd turn up every other day for a fortnight, then for two or three days in a row before disappearing for a week or more. Conversations with her, were intriguing, but even more intriguing were the questions she refused to answer or changed the subject when they were brought up. Questions like where she went, why she was gone so long, where she lived, and who this Dusknoir was whom she had asked me about. Celebi was a puzzle, one that interested me as I enjoyed being her friend.

As for the questions themselves, I don't know if she had ever intended to tell me or not. That question is part of the whole world of "would-have-beens" that might have happened if matters hadn't been taken so rudely and abruptly from Celebi's hands.

As for me, I'd rather have found out any other way. But sometimes that's just how the world works.

It didn't start out that hugely. I was gathering food, nothing big. As I've said before the place had apples and berries in fair abundance, so it wasn't exactly hard.

I leaped from one branch to the next, scanning the ground and branches alike for anything appetizing. Looking back, I realize it's probably pure luck that I was even involved. I was just in the wrong place....

At the worst possible time.

I had just seen an unusually good-looking apple hanging from a branch ahead. Leaping forward to grab it, I was startled when out of nowhere, a Pidgey burst out of the bushes.

"MINE, LOSER!"

The little flying-type shot up and snatched the apple right out from under my outstretched hand before flying off. Vexed, I leaped after it and to my shock saw two purple blurs come out of nowhere and land on the tiny bird...

... at the exact same moment that I felt something slam into my own backside from behind, slamming me face-first into the ground. I later realized how it was funny that of the times where I met the three most important beings - for good and for bad - in my life, they all involved at some point me ending up nearly face-first in mud. However, unlike the last time, I was not knocked out upon impact. And as for the other... well, a lot of things had changed by then.

Whatever had landed on me wasted no time in immobilizing me. My wrists were tied together as I was dragged to my feet and shoved forward. Ahead of us, the Pidgey was having a strap adjusted that pinned down its wings and kept it from moving well by one of the things that had caught him - caught us, really - while its companion retrieved the apple the Pidgey had dropped and climbed back up the tree the apple had hung from when I had first seen it. A peculiar thought occurred to me. It was bait...

"Keep moving" a nasally voice snarled I received a blow with a wickedly sharp clawed hand. Wincing, I took a few steps in the direction I was being pushed, and two of the things fell in step on either side. As we walked, the unfortunate Pidgey still in front of us with his own escort, I chanced a glance around at our captors. All Sableye. Every one.

This was not good, I realized. Sableye were fine on their own, in tiny groups of two or three, or even among larger groups of other Pokemon. But whenever I'd heard about packs of pure Sableye, the stories told were not pleasant ones. This was not good, not good at all. Sableye packs weren't insane, like the wild ones. But they were vicious, all the same.

Bearing that in mind, I regarded my captors even more warily. I also started keeping an eye out for our ultimate destination. Finally, we emerged into a dank clearing practically swarming with Sableye. However, in the middle, floated an entirely different Pokemon, a Ghost type, one that I had never seen before. It had one eye, red, that glared at us coolly as we approached with our escort. It had yellow markings all over the gray skin or coverings - I couldn't tell which - that made up its body. Several of the yellow markings made a simplistic form of a scowling face on the area where internal organs would have been.

"Two more, sir" said the one Sableye at my elbow to the Ghost Pokemon, who appeared to be their leader.

The Ghost Pokemon rose up from his previous position with the air of finally being relieved from boredom. "About time," he said. His voice was deep and powerful. He surveyed us both, then pointed and ordered, "Bring the Pidgey forward first."

As they did so, the Pidgey began squawking and struggling violently, half-molting out of fear. "Lemme go!" he screeched, "I haven't done anything to you! Let me go, you-"

Before the bird could complete his sentence, one of the Sableye darted forward and swiped him furiously across the beak. "Silence," it snarled, speaking in the same nasally voice as its companions, "You are speaking to the Great Dusknoir, chief deputy of Dialga, Master of Time. Show some respect or pay for your impudence." The Pidgey quieted, though it was clear that his silence was much more from fear than respect. He quivered as the Ghost Pokemon - Dusknoir - surveyed him with a cross of contempt and indifference.

Meanwhile, I was doing some very fast thinking, for while the name meant nothing to the Pidgey, it meant quite a lot to me. The further I got into this situation, the less I liked it. I was surrounded by Sableye, making escape impossible. Meanwhile, I remembered very vividly where I'd heard the name Dusknoir before.

"Pidgey," Dusknoir said commandingly, "My underlings and I are here investigating a rather extraordinary claim. Do you have any idea what that claim might be?"

The Pidgey shook his head, still quivering.

"Sources from these wodds claim that they have seen the Pokemon Celebi in this area, and very often at that," Dusknoir said calmly, "This malcontent Celebi is wanted for treason and other crimes against Master Dialga, as are any consorts Celebi has been in contact with." My stomach gave an uneasy jump. I had a bad feeling that I would fit this Dusknoir's definition of "consort" very nicely.

But I was also confused. Crimes? Against Dialga? Treason? What was Celebi doing when she disappeared? I wouldn't have thought it possible that she would be capable of the kind of things that Dusknoir was talking about. But there was no denying that there were plenty of things she hadn't told me, and I began to have the faintest feeling of betrayal. Then snatches of Dusknoir's words brought me back to the present.

"... information you may have about Celebi and any consorts she may have, and you will be released unharmed. However, perish the thought of trying to impede our investigation. You will regret it dearly if you even try."

"I don't know nothing!" the Pidgey squalled, "I haven't ever seen no Celebi! I don't know about what you're talking about! Just lemme go!"

There was no way of reading Dusknoir's expression, but from his stance and the way his arms were folded, I was willing to bet he was displeased. As I watched, there was the tiniest twitches from one of his hands and one of the Sableye darted forward and slashed at the still-screeching Pidgey, who quieted again.

"I'm afraid I misunderstand you. So many double negatives. You have not seen nor heard about any Pokemon that looks like this?" his voice was remarkably calm as he motioned to yet another one of the Sableye, who scurried forward with a stick in its hands and drew a rough sketch of Celebi on the ground. The Pidgey studied it for a moment.

"No," he whimpered finally, "I told you, I don't know anything!"

"Nor have you heard about any local Pokemon communicating with a Pokemon of that description?" Dusknoir amended smoothly.

"How should I know?" the Pidgey snapped, putting up a brave show of defiance, "Most Pokemon keep to themselves around here." He earned a whole round of Fury Swipes for his pains.

"I repeat," Dusknoir said after the Sableye backed off, "Have you heard about any of the local Pokemon consorting with Celebi?"

The Pidgey was pretty badly off by that point. He may not have taken very many hits, but he sounded young, and I was willing to bet his level wasn't that high. Not to mention those Sableye's claws looked wickedly sharp. "N-no," he stammered, shaking his head, "I-I don't know anything. Just lemme go, please!"

Dusknoir's one eye betrayed not a shred of compassion or pity. "Fine," he said at last, before addressing some of his minions "Put him with the others and keep him until I say so."

"B-b-but..." the Pidgey looked alarmed, "You said you'd let me go!"

"I said you would be released if you told me what you knew of Celebi," Dusknoir corrected him coolly.

"I did!" the little Flying-type wailed, "I told you, I don't know anything!"

"Which is of no use to me," Dusknoir said flatly, "In any case, if you were to go running around shouting to all the local Pokemon of the presence of my investigation here, it would scare off any Pokemon who actually know anything about this matter. However you will be released, upon the conclusion of this investigation."

"But..." the Pidgey protested.

"Stop your sniveling," a Sableye snarled, giving the bird Pokemon a cuff. The Pidgey screeched, and overcome by fear, humiliation, and anger, aimed the fiercest peck it could muster at its assailant.

"Enough," Dusknoir said quietly, and silence fell... well, almost. "Both of you," he added, eying the Sableye who had struck the Pidgey coldly. The minion had begun to taunt the Pidgey gleefully after Dusknoir's initial rebuke. Upon the second, it too fell silent and crept back amongst its fellows, looking cowed.  "Take him to the others," Dusknoir repeated, and two Sableye came forward and half-led, half-dragged the poor little bird away. He would have physical reminders of this encounter for a long time, I could tell.

Meanwhile, my own situation still seemed to be getting worse, looking none to pretty as Dusknoir directed his full and undivided attention onto me for the first time.

"So," he said, with a slight edge of irritability in his voice, "Do you have any more helpful information than what we just saw?"

I was still trying to figure out how I wanted to approach this. I was interested and curious as to what was going on and had a bit of an impression I might get more answers here than from Celebi, but at the same time, I knew that if I asked one wrong question, made one wrong statement, and I could very easily be labeled as a "consort" and be in even worse trouble than I was in right now. I wasn't sure of anything at the moment. Had I really be in the company of a wanted criminal for the past few months? Finally, I decided to try and appear as innocently curious.

"What's Celebi wanted for?" I said, watching Dusknoir closely. A couple of the Sableye around me muttered, though what I'd done to vex or interest them, I had no clue.

Dusknoir's eye flashed, "Do you know of her, then?"

"Maybe," I shrugged nonchalantly. The muttering and whispering increased. I was beginning to get the unpleasant feeling that even going the direction I had chosen was giving me away a lot more than I thought it would. "I mean," I amended hastily, "Know her? Probably not. Heard of here, I think possibly. I'd have to know a bit more..."

Ignoring this, Dusknoir asked, "Where did you hear about her?" He eyed me appraisingly.

"D-don't remember," I stammered, knowing my bluff was getting dangerously close to being called at any second, "What is she wanted for anyway?"

"As you heard when I was questioning the Pidgey, Celebi is wanted for treason and crimes against Dialga, Master of Time-"

"But what crimes?" I interrupted. On my right, one of the Sableye hissed and made as if to strike me, but Dusknoir held up a hand, his eye never leaving me. "What kind of treason?"

Dusknoir did not immediately answer. He continued to eye me shrewdly, as if deciding how much to tell me or if I was even worth telling at all. Finally he said, "Celebi is an integral member in a conspiracy, whose goals almost singularly consist of ones that threaten my master's existence. Dialga has charged me with stopping this, in his own defense. Given that Celebi maintains a highly active role in this conspiracy, she is one of my targets."

"How does Dialga know that this group's goals threaten him?"

"That is not important," Dusknoir waved my question away, "It is enough that we know."

"But how?" I pressed, "How could Celebi threaten him?"

"That is not a matter under discussion here."

"Does it have something to do with how she can travel through time?"

The words were out of my mouth before I realized they were the wrong ones. This time, instead of filling with muttering, the whole clearing went dead silent. No one spoke. No one moved. No one except Dusknoir, who had straightened up triumphantly and gazed at me with satisfaction.

"Rather well-informed, aren't you?" he chuckled, "Particularly on such a reclusive Pokemon as Celebi."

"I.. I..."  the combination of my stammering and the hasty step I took backwards was almost a dead giveaway. Two Sableye seized me from behind and held me fast. Still, I tried to salvage the situation, "I like Legendaries... I like learning about them..."

"Really," Dusknoir commented, "Still, given that most of the old legends of such Pokemon have died out for ages, that's a rather obscure piece of information nowadays. I could think of a couple of Relaicanth who could tell you, but given that you can't breathe underwater, the only likely options are that I myself or some other Legendary Pokemon told you. I know that I didn't so the question is which legendary told you?" All through the whole speech, I could tell he knew.

I said nothing. My bluff was called, right and sure.

Interpreting my silence correctly, Dusknoir gave a leering smile and called, "I believe our investigation will be best served if you joined us at Master Dialga's domain." Raising his voice, he added, "Round up all the others, and prepare to release the other Pokemon. Also, prepare to transport myself, all of the Sableye and our guest-" he leered at me "-back to Temporal Tower. We've found what we're looking for."

Cries of fierce jubilation echoed through the clearing as the Sableye hurried to do as instructed. As for me, I stood stock still, wondering if escape was even possible at this point.

As if he'd sensed my thoughts, Dusknoir informed me, "I suggest you make this as easy on both of us as possible and not try to fight or escape. You will soon be surrounded by more than fifty Sableye, all under my command. Escape is impossible."

As the hopelessness of my situation threatened to engulf me, the last voice I had expected to hear, suddenly spoke.

"My dear Grovyle, you never told me you had a knack for attracting trouble!"

Description
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Time/Darkness Spoilers So you can't say I didn't warn you.

Read the "before reading" notes for suggested music.

Chapter 2: Dusknoir's Gamble

He would have to go see Celebi now. She was his only pathway back to the past. The only other one with the power to send him back was Dialga, and approaching that legendary would be nigh on suicide, if he were stupid enough to believe Dialga would actually have helped him.

Yes. He had to go to Celebi, explain what had happened, and ask her to send him back a second time. It would be risky, as he could lead Dusknoir's cronies straight to her. But he knew one of her favorite haunts was right near here, and it was, even more conveniently, near the Passage of Time, the one she used for large jumps. If he got there far enough ahead of the Sableye, he could be in the past and Celebi long gone before they even realized they'd lost his trail.

These and similar thoughts carried him all the way past Dark Hill, leaving the Sealed Ruins ahead. As he paused at the archway leading into the decrepit temple, his thoughts turned, unbidden, to the team of two he had just left behind, such a short time ago.

He knew them, of course. From the few gleanings he'd been able to scrape eavesdropping here and there, he knew they were rookies in that much-renowned Wigglytuff Guild, forming their team of two - from what he could tell - not long after he'd arrived in the past. It also appeared that despite this, that twosome of Chikorita and Charmander had an incredible knack for attracting the extraordinary, though what kind of extraordinary, he'd never quite heard.

He knew them personally as well. He'd faced them twice already, even dealt them grave injuries on one occasion when they'd stood between him and a Time Gear. The Chikorita in particular had already shown a stubborn streak, so much that he might have killed her inadvertently on the latter occasion, had not Dusknoir picked that particular moment to step in. Aside from this tenacity and determination, however, he'd seen nothing extraordinary in them himself, at least nothing extraordinary in a sense that mattered to him. Both were ordinary Pokemon from the past, oblivious to the true cause of the disruption of time , besotted by the glorious reputation of Dusknoir and reiterating the lie he had fed all the innocents and bystanders. Which is why Dusknoir's actions had disturbed him so much.

Dusknoir was, he reflected, a perfect disciple for Primal Dialga, and an even more perfect bounty hunter. Dusknoir had never before, as far as he could remember, struck without a reason, more specifically without a quarry. This he knew well. He'd spent so much of his own life being one of Dusknoir's targets. And once Dusknoir had a target, he could be vicious, even brutal in hunting down and eliminating it. It was a controlled fury though. If you weren't in the way, you were left on the whole unharmed and unscathed. There were no exceptions to this rule, at least as far as he knew. So what had these two ordinary Pokemon from the past have that would make Dusknoir perceive them as a threat to Primal Dialga? He mulled the facts over in his head as he descended deeper into the Sealed Ruins.

Little of it added up. The only thing that made any kind of real sense was the possibility that Dusknoir thought that he, Grovyle had told them something, or maybe overheard the two of them facing each other at Crystal Lake. But if Dusknoir really had suspected that they'd overheard, why had he not just seized them there in the cave, or right after he'd returned? Before he'd been pushed into the Dimensional Hole Dusknoir had made, he'd seen the two among the watching crowd in the Square of Treasure Town, he was sure of it. If Dusknoir believed they knew something, why would he have waited that long to capture them? It didn't make sense. Wouldn't the Dusknoir he was used to dealing with have seized them at the earliest opportunity and publicly discredited them on the offhand chance that they escaped?

Even if that were true, the painfully obvious fact was that, no matter what Dusknoir believed the two had overheard, they hadn't. It was clear the Charmander and Chikorita had no clue as to why Dusknoir might bear them any ill will at all, let alone kidnap and attempt to kill them. Unless they were extraordinarily good actors, which given the circumstances, he doubted.

He shook his head as he entered the central chamber of the Sealed Ruins. There had to be something he wasn't aware of in this matter, but he was being stupid, thinking about it now, particularly here. He of all Pokemon should know the dangers of this future. He was out of practice, sure, from his time in the past. But that did not change that his mind needed to be here now, where there were traps to avoid and Dusknoir's minions to escape. He was foolish to have allowed himself to be distracted this far.

Looking around warily, he stepped into the center of the room, spotting the exit through the gloom as he did so. Good. This place gave him a slightly creeping feeling, and he could tell he'd feel much better out of here. He had barely taken four steps when a voice seemed to breathe out of the darkness...

"Trespasser..."

He faltered for a moment, then kept walking. Freezing to try and find whispers in the dark tended to play into the whisperer's hands, he reasoned with himself. Still, he kept his gaze moving rapidly around him, watching for signs of movement.

Then the voice whispered again. "Trespasser... Your arrogance displeases us..." Something shifted in the dark shadows in front of the exit.

This time he did come to a halt. "I must pass here, please, whoever you are. I did not intend to disturb anything," he called, "I have no quarrel with you. Let me pass peacefully, or I will do whatever I must to continue."

The voice gave an angry titter, and suddenly there seemed to be two voices, one high one low, speaking in so perfect a unity it was difficult to tell them apart. "Your manner disgusts us." As the voice grew in volume and anger, seemingly more voices seemed to join the first two, again in a perfect unity. Each voice spoke with the same tone, the same pitch, volume and inflection, making them indistinguishable. The sound was unearthly and haunting. "You come without permission, leave without apology, and threaten us with violence when we merely seek to protect our lands and our silence?"

"Who is it who speaks, then?" he called, frustration beginning to mount. They were wasting precious time! "Who claims ownership of this chamber?" Next moment, a force more powerful than he could have expected slammed into him, forcing him to his knees. The force came on top of him next slamming downward until he was held completely immobile on the ground, and try as he might, he couldn't escape.

"WE ARE SPIRITOMB!" a vast multitude of voices screamed, somehow blending seamlessly yet jangling discordantly, "Eight-hundred-and-six strong we are, and when you expire, we'll number eight-hundred-seven!"

---------------------------------------------

Under any other circumstances, after that first meeting with Celebi I might have fled the area within hours. I was never given a satisfactory explanation as to what she'd done when she did... whatever it was she did when she looked at me like that, although I've been able to gain enough experience to hazard a pretty accurate guess. I didn't know at that point that Primal Dialga had already labeled Celebi as a malcontent. I didn't know about Temporal Tower, or the Time Gears. I didn't even understand that the planet was paralyzed and time frozen. I knew there was soemthing wrong with the dead, silent stillness, sure. But the whys behind it were beyond my understanding until later.

Still it's hard to say exactly why I stayed. The setting probably helped a fair bit. After all, like Celebi, I have an affinity of sorts with forests. I was able to find a nice hollow in a tree and settle down nicely for the first time I could remember, just as my friendship with Celebi was the first I'd ever had. So I lived in the area peacefully and fairly easily for a few content months. Food and water were not an issue it was in fair abundance here, though not exactly of the exact highest quality. Celebi popped up to chat on occasion. Her visits were erratic and unpredictable, with no real pattern that I could discern. Sometimes she'd turn up every other day for a fortnight, then for two or three days in a row before disappearing for a week or more. Conversations with her, were intriguing, but even more intriguing were the questions she refused to answer or changed the subject when they were brought up. Questions like where she went, why she was gone so long, where she lived, and who this Dusknoir was whom she had asked me about. Celebi was a puzzle, one that interested me as I enjoyed being her friend.

As for the questions themselves, I don't know if she had ever intended to tell me or not. That question is part of the whole world of "would-have-beens" that might have happened if matters hadn't been taken so rudely and abruptly from Celebi's hands.

As for me, I'd rather have found out any other way. But sometimes that's just how the world works.

It didn't start out that hugely. I was gathering food, nothing big. As I've said before the place had apples and berries in fair abundance, so it wasn't exactly hard.

I leaped from one branch to the next, scanning the ground and branches alike for anything appetizing. Looking back, I realize it's probably pure luck that I was even involved. I was just in the wrong place....

At the worst possible time.

I had just seen an unusually good-looking apple hanging from a branch ahead. Leaping forward to grab it, I was startled when out of nowhere, a Pidgey burst out of the bushes.

"MINE, LOSER!"

The little flying-type shot up and snatched the apple right out from under my outstretched hand before flying off. Vexed, I leaped after it and to my shock saw two purple blurs come out of nowhere and land on the tiny bird...

... at the exact same moment that I felt something slam into my own backside from behind, slamming me face-first into the ground. I later realized how it was funny that of the times where I met the three most important beings - for good and for bad - in my life, they all involved at some point me ending up nearly face-first in mud. However, unlike the last time, I was not knocked out upon impact. And as for the other... well, a lot of things had changed by then.

Whatever had landed on me wasted no time in immobilizing me. My wrists were tied together as I was dragged to my feet and shoved forward. Ahead of us, the Pidgey was having a strap adjusted that pinned down its wings and kept it from moving well by one of the things that had caught him - caught us, really - while its companion retrieved the apple the Pidgey had dropped and climbed back up the tree the apple had hung from when I had first seen it. A peculiar thought occurred to me. It was bait...

"Keep moving" a nasally voice snarled I received a blow with a wickedly sharp clawed hand. Wincing, I took a few steps in the direction I was being pushed, and two of the things fell in step on either side. As we walked, the unfortunate Pidgey still in front of us with his own escort, I chanced a glance around at our captors. All Sableye. Every one.

This was not good, I realized. Sableye were fine on their own, in tiny groups of two or three, or even among larger groups of other Pokemon. But whenever I'd heard about packs of pure Sableye, the stories told were not pleasant ones. This was not good, not good at all. Sableye packs weren't insane, like the wild ones. But they were vicious, all the same.

Bearing that in mind, I regarded my captors even more warily. I also started keeping an eye out for our ultimate destination. Finally, we emerged into a dank clearing practically swarming with Sableye. However, in the middle, floated an entirely different Pokemon, a Ghost type, one that I had never seen before. It had one eye, red, that glared at us coolly as we approached with our escort. It had yellow markings all over the gray skin or coverings - I couldn't tell which - that made up its body. Several of the yellow markings made a simplistic form of a scowling face on the area where internal organs would have been.

"Two more, sir" said the one Sableye at my elbow to the Ghost Pokemon, who appeared to be their leader.

The Ghost Pokemon rose up from his previous position with the air of finally being relieved from boredom. "About time," he said. His voice was deep and powerful. He surveyed us both, then pointed and ordered, "Bring the Pidgey forward first."

As they did so, the Pidgey began squawking and struggling violently, half-molting out of fear. "Lemme go!" he screeched, "I haven't done anything to you! Let me go, you-"

Before the bird could complete his sentence, one of the Sableye darted forward and swiped him furiously across the beak. "Silence," it snarled, speaking in the same nasally voice as its companions, "You are speaking to the Great Dusknoir, chief deputy of Dialga, Master of Time. Show some respect or pay for your impudence." The Pidgey quieted, though it was clear that his silence was much more from fear than respect. He quivered as the Ghost Pokemon - Dusknoir - surveyed him with a cross of contempt and indifference.

Meanwhile, I was doing some very fast thinking, for while the name meant nothing to the Pidgey, it meant quite a lot to me. The further I got into this situation, the less I liked it. I was surrounded by Sableye, making escape impossible. Meanwhile, I remembered very vividly where I'd heard the name Dusknoir before.

"Pidgey," Dusknoir said commandingly, "My underlings and I are here investigating a rather extraordinary claim. Do you have any idea what that claim might be?"

The Pidgey shook his head, still quivering.

"Sources from these wodds claim that they have seen the Pokemon Celebi in this area, and very often at that," Dusknoir said calmly, "This malcontent Celebi is wanted for treason and other crimes against Master Dialga, as are any consorts Celebi has been in contact with." My stomach gave an uneasy jump. I had a bad feeling that I would fit this Dusknoir's definition of "consort" very nicely.

But I was also confused. Crimes? Against Dialga? Treason? What was Celebi doing when she disappeared? I wouldn't have thought it possible that she would be capable of the kind of things that Dusknoir was talking about. But there was no denying that there were plenty of things she hadn't told me, and I began to have the faintest feeling of betrayal. Then snatches of Dusknoir's words brought me back to the present.

"... information you may have about Celebi and any consorts she may have, and you will be released unharmed. However, perish the thought of trying to impede our investigation. You will regret it dearly if you even try."

"I don't know nothing!" the Pidgey squalled, "I haven't ever seen no Celebi! I don't know about what you're talking about! Just lemme go!"

There was no way of reading Dusknoir's expression, but from his stance and the way his arms were folded, I was willing to bet he was displeased. As I watched, there was the tiniest twitches from one of his hands and one of the Sableye darted forward and slashed at the still-screeching Pidgey, who quieted again.

"I'm afraid I misunderstand you. So many double negatives. You have not seen nor heard about any Pokemon that looks like this?" his voice was remarkably calm as he motioned to yet another one of the Sableye, who scurried forward with a stick in its hands and drew a rough sketch of Celebi on the ground. The Pidgey studied it for a moment.

"No," he whimpered finally, "I told you, I don't know anything!"

"Nor have you heard about any local Pokemon communicating with a Pokemon of that description?" Dusknoir amended smoothly.

"How should I know?" the Pidgey snapped, putting up a brave show of defiance, "Most Pokemon keep to themselves around here." He earned a whole round of Fury Swipes for his pains.

"I repeat," Dusknoir said after the Sableye backed off, "Have you heard about any of the local Pokemon consorting with Celebi?"

The Pidgey was pretty badly off by that point. He may not have taken very many hits, but he sounded young, and I was willing to bet his level wasn't that high. Not to mention those Sableye's claws looked wickedly sharp. "N-no," he stammered, shaking his head, "I-I don't know anything. Just lemme go, please!"

Dusknoir's one eye betrayed not a shred of compassion or pity. "Fine," he said at last, before addressing some of his minions "Put him with the others and keep him until I say so."

"B-b-but..." the Pidgey looked alarmed, "You said you'd let me go!"

"I said you would be released if you told me what you knew of Celebi," Dusknoir corrected him coolly.

"I did!" the little Flying-type wailed, "I told you, I don't know anything!"

"Which is of no use to me," Dusknoir said flatly, "In any case, if you were to go running around shouting to all the local Pokemon of the presence of my investigation here, it would scare off any Pokemon who actually know anything about this matter. However you will be released, upon the conclusion of this investigation."

"But..." the Pidgey protested.

"Stop your sniveling," a Sableye snarled, giving the bird Pokemon a cuff. The Pidgey screeched, and overcome by fear, humiliation, and anger, aimed the fiercest peck it could muster at its assailant.

"Enough," Dusknoir said quietly, and silence fell... well, almost. "Both of you," he added, eying the Sableye who had struck the Pidgey coldly. The minion had begun to taunt the Pidgey gleefully after Dusknoir's initial rebuke. Upon the second, it too fell silent and crept back amongst its fellows, looking cowed.  "Take him to the others," Dusknoir repeated, and two Sableye came forward and half-led, half-dragged the poor little bird away. He would have physical reminders of this encounter for a long time, I could tell.

Meanwhile, my own situation still seemed to be getting worse, looking none to pretty as Dusknoir directed his full and undivided attention onto me for the first time.

"So," he said, with a slight edge of irritability in his voice, "Do you have any more helpful information than what we just saw?"

I was still trying to figure out how I wanted to approach this. I was interested and curious as to what was going on and had a bit of an impression I might get more answers here than from Celebi, but at the same time, I knew that if I asked one wrong question, made one wrong statement, and I could very easily be labeled as a "consort" and be in even worse trouble than I was in right now. I wasn't sure of anything at the moment. Had I really be in the company of a wanted criminal for the past few months? Finally, I decided to try and appear as innocently curious.

"What's Celebi wanted for?" I said, watching Dusknoir closely. A couple of the Sableye around me muttered, though what I'd done to vex or interest them, I had no clue.

Dusknoir's eye flashed, "Do you know of her, then?"

"Maybe," I shrugged nonchalantly. The muttering and whispering increased. I was beginning to get the unpleasant feeling that even going the direction I had chosen was giving me away a lot more than I thought it would. "I mean," I amended hastily, "Know her? Probably not. Heard of here, I think possibly. I'd have to know a bit more..."

Ignoring this, Dusknoir asked, "Where did you hear about her?" He eyed me appraisingly.

"D-don't remember," I stammered, knowing my bluff was getting dangerously close to being called at any second, "What is she wanted for anyway?"

"As you heard when I was questioning the Pidgey, Celebi is wanted for treason and crimes against Dialga, Master of Time-"

"But what crimes?" I interrupted. On my right, one of the Sableye hissed and made as if to strike me, but Dusknoir held up a hand, his eye never leaving me. "What kind of treason?"

Dusknoir did not immediately answer. He continued to eye me shrewdly, as if deciding how much to tell me or if I was even worth telling at all. Finally he said, "Celebi is an integral member in a conspiracy, whose goals almost singularly consist of ones that threaten my master's existence. Dialga has charged me with stopping this, in his own defense. Given that Celebi maintains a highly active role in this conspiracy, she is one of my targets."

"How does Dialga know that this group's goals threaten him?"

"That is not important," Dusknoir waved my question away, "It is enough that we know."

"But how?" I pressed, "How could Celebi threaten him?"

"That is not a matter under discussion here."

"Does it have something to do with how she can travel through time?"

The words were out of my mouth before I realized they were the wrong ones. This time, instead of filling with muttering, the whole clearing went dead silent. No one spoke. No one moved. No one except Dusknoir, who had straightened up triumphantly and gazed at me with satisfaction.

"Rather well-informed, aren't you?" he chuckled, "Particularly on such a reclusive Pokemon as Celebi."

"I.. I..."  the combination of my stammering and the hasty step I took backwards was almost a dead giveaway. Two Sableye seized me from behind and held me fast. Still, I tried to salvage the situation, "I like Legendaries... I like learning about them..."

"Really," Dusknoir commented, "Still, given that most of the old legends of such Pokemon have died out for ages, that's a rather obscure piece of information nowadays. I could think of a couple of Relaicanth who could tell you, but given that you can't breathe underwater, the only likely options are that I myself or some other Legendary Pokemon told you. I know that I didn't so the question is which legendary told you?" All through the whole speech, I could tell he knew.

I said nothing. My bluff was called, right and sure.

Interpreting my silence correctly, Dusknoir gave a leering smile and called, "I believe our investigation will be best served if you joined us at Master Dialga's domain." Raising his voice, he added, "Round up all the others, and prepare to release the other Pokemon. Also, prepare to transport myself, all of the Sableye and our guest-" he leered at me "-back to Temporal Tower. We've found what we're looking for."

Cries of fierce jubilation echoed through the clearing as the Sableye hurried to do as instructed. As for me, I stood stock still, wondering if escape was even possible at this point.

As if he'd sensed my thoughts, Dusknoir informed me, "I suggest you make this as easy on both of us as possible and not try to fight or escape. You will soon be surrounded by more than fifty Sableye, all under my command. Escape is impossible."

As the hopelessness of my situation threatened to engulf me, the last voice I had expected to hear, suddenly spoke.

"My dear Grovyle, you never told me you had a knack for attracting trouble!"