CRASH!!!

“GOOD MORNING!”

Lexxi and Rickety lay there, muzzles buried deep into their cushions, slowly peeking their eyes open, ears perked up, at attention.

“EVERYBODY’S GATHERING IN THE CENTRAL HALL! GET YOUR BUTTS UP AND MOVE! WE’VE GOT A THIEF TO CATCH!”

Stomp, stomp, followed by the sounds of slightly quieter stomping.

“Hey, look at that, a change in routine.” Rickety chuckles weakly, yawning as he stands up and out of bed, stretching his arms above his head. “But at what cost?”

“Some change is better than nothing.” Lexxi tiredly says as she rolls out of bed, getting back onto all fours. She stares up at Rickety, tilting her head. “Are you ready, Rickety?”

Rickety stays silent for a while, turning his head away for a bit. “Truthfully? No, not really. Not mentally, anyway. The thought of having to stand in front of Glyph makes me wince.” He shivers, scrunching his eyes shut. “But… I can do this. Just gotta steel myself and keep looking forward. For Uxie.”

The Skitty smiles. “That’s the spirit! Come on, everybody is waiting for us.”

---

“Hello and good morning, everyone!” Chatot announces loudly to the group, all gathered in middle of the Central Hall, Wigglytuff and Dusknoir both standing beside him. “Now that you’re all awake, we’ve got much to discuss! First things first! It’s likely Glyph will appear wherever a Time Gear is located. And where these Time Gears are located? Well… We’re not exactly sure.”

He gestures with a wing to Dusknoir, smiling as he briefly glances at him. “Therefore, we’ve relied upon the great Dusknoir for our assistance on the matter, and have managed to narrow it down to a few select locations that these Time Gears might be! The goal is to split up into groups in hopes that we’ll cover ground more quickly, hoping that one or more of these locations will hold a Time Gear!”

He redirects his attention back to the group. “First up! Loudred and Corphish! You two will be assigned to the Eastern Forest!”

“GOT IT!”

Loudred shouts, of course rattling the walls and floors around them, eliciting a few covered ears within the group.

“We’ll do our best, hey hey!” Corphish exclaims with an eager nod and a determined expression.

“Very good! Next, Bungie, Sunflora and Dugtrio! You will all be assigned to Crystal Cave!”

“Yup yup! Will do!” The Bidoof excitedly bounces up and down in place as he responds.

“Understood.” Dugtrio nods their heads. “We will depart as soon as we’re debriefed.”

“And we’ll search as hard as we can!” Sunflora follows up.

“Zorora and Xero! You’ll be assigned to the mountains and cliffsides in the west!”

The Zoroark scoffs, chuckling to herself. “Eesh, I didn’t know we had to get climbing gear for this. You shoulda told us sooner!”

“Thankfully, the mountains are fairly walkable with the amount of paths they provide.” Xero nods her head in response. “We’ll do whatever we can.”

“And finally, Lexxi and Rickety! You two will be assigned to the Northern Desert.”

The two give an affirming nod. “Understood, Chatot, sir!” Rickety says with a determined expression in his eyes. “We’ll find Glyph, for sure!”

_{“Uhh… What about me?”} Diglett asks, speaking up as he pokes his head up amongst the group.

Chatot redirects his attention to him. “You’ll be remaining here, at the guild. We can’t leave the guild unattended with the current state of affairs.”

“Ah- Yes, sir! Understood, sir!” He nods his head fervently.

“Alright, everybody!” Wigglytuff speaks up, his arms raised in the air. “Let’s all do our best to find the Time Gears before Glyph does! Yoooooooooommm…TAH!” He claps his hands together, as the group all cheers and nods understandingly with each other, all beginning to make their way up the ladder, ready for their search.

“You two.” Dusknoir calls out to Team Void just as they’re boarding the ladder, Lexxi clinging onto Rickety’s back. “The Northern Desert is not only vast and wide, but it’s often buffeted with harsh sandstorms. Please, do your best out there, but be careful and stay safe.”

Lexxi smiles with a reaffirming nod of her head. “Will do. Thank you!”

---

“I swear I thought I saw a staircase just around here!” Rickety shouts, trying to make his voice heard against the fierceness of the sandstorm surrounding him and Lexxi. “Maybe it’s just the sand messing with me, but know I saw one!”

“How many times have you said that by now?!” Lexxi shouts back, trying to shield her eyes with her tail. “I feel like we’ve walked around in circles at least a dozen times!”

“I knooooooooowwww! But we’ll find it eventually! We can’t just keep-“

_{Whoooooooooooooooosh…}

“Uh…” Rickety can feel his fur standing on end, a shiver running down his spine even amidst the fierce, unrelenting heat of the desert. “Did you hear that?!””

“All I can hear is the sound of wind running over more wind!” Lexxi shouts back. “I don’t know what you-“

Woooooooooooooooooosh…

Lexxi’s blood runs cold, body stiffening up, eyes trying to dart around and make anything out in the mess of the sandstorm, only for nothing to be found. “…Okay yeah! I heard that too!”

“Uhh- Okay! This is bad! This is really, REALLY bad!” Rickety rushes over and scoops Lexxi up into his arms, holding her tightly as he starts rushing through the sandstorm. “We gotta go! NOW!”

“Wha- Hey!” Lexxi squirms around in his grasp a bit, trying to shield her eyes from the sandstorm. “What’s really bad?! What’s going on?!”

Woooooooooooooooosh!

“No time to explain! We gotta find that staircase!” Rickety quickly stammers, his paws carrying him as about as fast as he can go, squinting his eyes as he’s pelted with sand from all angles! “Come on! It should be…. There!” He finally manages to spot a staircase! Right in the corner of one of the rooms!

Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooosh!

And not a moment too soon.

He rushes over to the staircase, the two finally exiting the floor as everything seems to fade out from existence behind them. The Riolu lets out an exhausted, but relieved sigh, setting Lexxi down and sitting himself down on the staircase. “Hoooohhhh, oh thank goodness…”

Lexxi sits beside Rickety, visibly confused and rather shaken, arching an eyebrow at him. “Care to tell me what that was all about? “

“Okay, so,” Rickety scratches at his head, panting heavily as he tries to catch his breath. “It’s not very well documented, but if you stay on the same floor of a Mystery Dungeon for too long… Something happens. Nobody knows what it is, but it’s always accompanied by the sound of blowing wind.”

Lexxi tilts her head, furrowing her brows as her tail idly sways behind her. “So… Why is it dangerous? Does it hurt anybody it runs into? Or…?”

“N-No, not really.” Rickety shakes his head back and forth. “Whenever it’s gotten the chance to get close enough, everyone always seems to just, black out. When they wake up, they find out they’ve been thrown out of the dungeon and kicked back to the entrance. Given how important our search is and how long we’ve been wandering around out here, we couldn’t afford to let that happen.”

Lexxi blinks a few times. “That’s it? The way you were reacting, you made it seem so much worse than it really was.”

“I’m on edge, still can’t get that wanted poster out of my head, but I digress.” He shakes his head embarrassedly. “Some people say it’s the dungeon itself changing, since they never stay the same way for long. It’s the explanation that makes the most sense to me, given everything we know.”

“Hmm…” Lexxi hums, staring down the staircase. “In that case, we probably shouldn’t stick around this staircase for too long either. Come on, let’s head down.”

“Good idea.” He nods, beginning to follow Lexxi down the steps. “You think we’ll find the Time Gear all the way out here?”

“It’s possible.” She smiles a bit, carefully making her way down. “We’re in kinda the same scenario that we were while we were at Fogbound Lake. A huge, massive, winding forest shrouded in fog, with the Time Gear resting all the way at the top of a giant horizon.”

“The fog kept the Time Gear safe- Well… For the most part. The Northern Desert honestly seems like it’d be a good alternative to Fogbound Lake. All the sandstorms make for a good cloak, like the fog! All things considered, I think our chances are pretty good!”

Rickety muffles a laugh. “When you put it like that, it does sound good! Just hope we can get there before Glyph does. Come on, I think I can see the bottom.”

The two finally make it to the end of the staircase, entering into a brand new room, the sandstorm finally seeming to relent and clear up. They’re surrounded by cliffs, a small, but fairly open clearing littered with rocks of all sizes. And sand. Lots of sand.

…More kinds of sand than one, in fact. In the center of the room lay several swirling vortexes of quicksand, Lexxi and Rickety making sure to watch their steps as their eyes glance around, examining their surroundings. “Is this really the deepest part of the desert?” Rickety asks aloud. “It seems really dangerous around here…”

Lexxi slows down, her eyes sweeping the area as well. Something about this place seems… Strange. Quicksand pits aside, she feels a chord being struck within her, a familiar one at that. Her fur stands on end, her body stiffening up as her head begins to pound once again.

“I don’t see anything that looks like a Time Gear anywhere.” Rickety says, sighing disappointedly. “Man, I really thought we had something with this place. You wanna start heading back, Lexxi?” He turns to face her, noticing that she’s blankly staring off into the distance, her body standing totally still. He tilts his head, taking a step closer to her. “Lexxi?”

“…Speaking of Fogbound Lake,” She starts. “I’m getting that same feeling of deja-vu here. I’ve been here before, Rickety, I know I have been. I can’t place where, or when, but… I feel it, deep down inside of me.” She keeps staring out at the sand. “And my instincts are telling me we need to jump into that sand pit.”

Rickety blinks a few times, furrowing his brow with a rather uncertain expression as he looks out into the swirling vortex of quicksand before turning his attention back to Lexxi. “You sure that’s a good idea? It seems like we’re already at the end of the road.”

Lexxi turns her head, glancing up at Rickety with a sheepish smile. “I mean, hey, has blindly jumping into things ever done us wrong before?”

He blinks a few more times, staring at her blankly before letting out a chuckle. “Can’t argue with you there, I guess.” He turns back to face the sand pit, winding back, getting ready to rush forward. “On three?”

Lexxi nods, taking much the same stance. “On three.”

“One…”

“Two…”

“Three!”

The two of them rush forward, jumping straight into the sand pit, the quicksand sucking them straight down.

---

“…waaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH-!”

Rickety and Lexxi are spat out from the ceiling, falling down below into a giant mound of sand, splashing up all around them.

“PFFWEEEHHH! BLECGHHK!” Rickety coughs up a concerning amount of sand from his mouth as he sits back up, wiping his tongue off frantically, but it only serves to scrape more sand onto his tongue, resulting in an even bigger coughing fit. “PWHUEEGH! Uuugghh, that sucks!” He shakes his head and clears it of the sand. “And now my back hurts, too…”

“Pfhuuhh!” Lexxi’s head sprouts up from the sand, spitting some out from her mouth as well, shaking her head. “Mwuugghh… Well, we’re alive, that’s a good sign at least.”

Rickety snrks to himself, rolling his eyes as he slowly stands back up. “I love how ‘hey, we’re not dead!’ is slowly becoming the standard for the situation. Yeah, we’re in an extremely dangerous situation that we’ve just narrowly avoided being injured from, but hey, at least we’re still breathing!”

“I’d say it’s the most preferable state to anything else we’ve been offered.” She jokes as she stands back up, shaking the sand off like a wet cat.

“Now, where the heck are we?” Rickety mutters, his eyes sweeping the area. “…Are we in a cave beneath another cave? Really?” He gazes up at the ceiling, little particles of sand slipling through and tumbling down below. “Man, who’da thought this would all be laying down here…?”

“You know what this means, though, right?” Lexxi perks up. “There might be something more to this place after all! Let’s get a move on-“

KRRZZTT

The surroundings of the cave suddenly change, the sand replaced with a yellow carpet of the same color, the walls of the cave replaced with walls of the same yellow color of the carpet, though much more faded and visibly deteriorating, the ceiling of the cave replaced with tiled paneling, the faint hum of buzzing lights up above.

_{“Oh no.”} Rickety’s expression grows dim, the light fading from his eyes. _{“Ohhh no no no please no-“}

KRRZZZTTT

And just as suddenly as it had happened, the cave changes back to its usual state, as if nothing had happened. Rickety and Lexxi both let out a sigh of relief, sinking back into the sand a bit. “Alright, okay, whatever’s going on is getting much, much worse.” Rickety says.

“It might be connected to the Time Gears being stolen.” Lexxi says, eyebrows furrowing. “If that’s the case, we don’t have any time to lose. Let’s keep going. The Time Gear has to be down here.”

---

In comparison to the winding desert up above, the underground cave is surprisingly very simple and straightforward. Very few diverging paths.

What also helped was something that had caught their attention partway travelling through the cave.

The sound of rushing water.

Having a source to search for, Lexxi and Rickety quickly and efficiently make their way through the underground cave, avoiding any of the Pokemon that might be lurking within the shadowy sands.

_{“No way.”} Rickety mutters, his eyes widening when he and Lexxi finally make it to the end of the maze.

An underground lake, sprawling far and wide in a big, open area that seemed to stretch for miles. It almost seemed to be manually constructed, perfectly symmetrical. Two columns out in the distance, perfectly distanced apart from each other, highlighting a bright, luminous glow that seemed to come from the lake itself.

“Of all the things to find in a desert, this is the last thing I would’ve expected.” Lexxi says, tail swishing back and forth behind her. “Just look at it! How far do you think it goes?!”

“I wish I knew.” Rickety takes a step forwrd, his eyes squinting at the glow in the distance. “Hey… That light, it looks like the same kind of light we saw at Fogbound Lake! I think we might’ve found the Time Gear after all!”

Lexxi smiles, oh thank gosh, they found it! “We should go take a closer l-“

SPLASH!

The lake in front of them suddenly bursts with an eruption of water splashing upwards, the faint outline of a figure able to be made out through the water, eyes glowing yellow, a bright red glowing in the space between.

“LEAVE THIS PLACE!”

A feminine voice, determined, shouts from the water. The figure charges out from the water splash, foot driven forward, trying to land a blow on Team Void.

Rickety and Lexxi, however, realize what’s going on and just barely manage to dodge in time. The force from the kick is enough to send thousands of sand particles flying up into the air, the surface of the lake rippling in waves.

Dripping with water, the figure it revealed. It- She, rather, has a similar body type to Uxie, a pink, mask-like mesh covering her face, four dread-like appendages drooping down as droplets of water trickle downwards, creating a small puddle beneath her.

“I am Mesprit! Guardian of the Underground Lake!” She shouts, the gem in her forehead glowing brightly as she raises two large rocks out from the sand. “I won’t allow you anywhere near the Time Gear!”

“Wait- Hold on!” Lexxi shouts, clambering back up onto all fours! “We can explain! We’re not here to-” But before she can finish her sentence, she sees both rocks being hurdled towards her, having to duck down in the sand again to avoid them.

“I’m not taking excuses from either of you!” Mesprit shouts, her body glowing with energy. “You WILL flee, or perish trying!”

---

“You all FAILED?!” Chatot exclaims with a squawk, his eyes widened in fearful panic as he flaps his feathers frantically.

“We couldn’t find a giant cog in the mountains, I don’t know what you want us to tell you!” Zorora exclaims with a shrug. “We searched high, we searched low, found nothin’ got nothin’! Sorry, bud!”

“It does seem like it almost would have been too easy.” Xero says, rubbing at her head. “A Time Gear likely wouldn’t be anywhere too open or spacious.”

“It is rather disappointing that we all came back empty handed.” Dugtrio says with a huff. “The Time Gears are more well hidden than we had initially thought. Even after searching Crystal Cave for hours, still no evidence.”

“At least you guys didn’t almost get sucked into a VORTEX like we did!” Loudred shouts, his body visibly shivering. “We nearly got SUCKED IN and all for nothing!”

Corphish visibly shivers as well. “I thought we were gonna be goners for sure, hey hey… Eastern Forest was mostly nothing, empty. Rather empty.”

“Crystal Cave is full of crystals, yup yup, but nothin’ like Time Gears could’ve been found!” Bungie shuffles awkwardly in place. _{“And while we were there, I sorta… Helped myself to one of ’em.”}

Dugtrio’s head turns to Bungie, confused expressions crossing all three faces. “You mean to tell us that despite the fact that we were on an important mission, you simply had to help yourself to bringing back a souvenir?”

“Wh- Whaahh I didn’t wanna come back empty handed! Wanted to at least have somethin’ to show fer myself while we were out! A-A treasure, y’know!”

Chatot sighs dejectedly, rubbing at his temples with his feathers. “This is starting to look hopeless… I’m sorry, Dusknoir, but it seems our efforts have ended fruitlessly.”

“Hmm… I wouldn’t count on that just yet. I’ve noticed Team Void has yet to return from their travels.” Dusknoir states, looking amongst the group. “I assume this means they’re hard at work searching for the Time Gear, but I am beginning to grow worried…”

“They have persevered several times, but even so,” Chatot says, expression nervous.

Dusknoir stays silent for a few moments, glancing back at the ladder, then glances back over to Chatot and Wigglytuff. “Would you mind if I excused myself for a few moments? I need to clear my head, and it would put me more at ease if I were up top, watching out for them if they were to return.”

Wigglytuff nods his head in response. “That’s perfectly fine, Dusknoir. Take all the time you need. It’d be such a shame if anything happened to our guild members.”

---

Mesprit plants her feet on the ground, panting heavily, her body trembling and shaking with exhaustion, the glow around her body crackling and flickering. “U-Unngh… Don’t know… Who you are… But I w-won’t let you take the Time Gear!” She shouts weakly, trying to gather her strength for another attack, but her body doesn’t seem to be cooperating with her, only able to lift a few sand particles with her mind. “I refuse…!”

Rickety and Lexxi, who had been dodging Mesprit’s attacks left and right while trying to fight back as little as possible, finally come to a standstill, both equally exhausted, barely keeping themselves from collapsing into the sand. “W-We keep trying to tell you, we’re not here to steal the Time Gear!” Rickety shouts, still trying to get through to Mesprit.

“Liars!” Mesprit shouts back. “Both of you! Uxie said to protect the Time Gears at all costs! They sounded… T-They sounded weak, hurt, c-could barely even talk! T-That was your fault! Wasn’t it! You took the Time Gear from Fogbound Lake!”

Rickety fervently shakes his head back and forth. “We didn’t! That’s what we’ve been trying to tell you! Didn’t Uxie tell you who stole it?!”

“…Maybe they didn’t.” Lexxi realizes, feeling a knot forming in her stomach. “They must’ve sent it out in a rush, trying to get everyone to know. And they must’ve forgotten to tell her who really stole the Time Gear.”

Mesprit’s expression grows dark as she stumbles forward, barely managing to keep herself standing up. “W-What? But if… You didn’t do it, then…”

“That would be me.”

Rickety and Lexxi quickly turn around, and to their shock and terror, there it was. Glyph. The Grovyle look-alike, orange eyes glowing, penetrating the dark and lighting up the space around its face. Its arms hover, detached from its shoulders, as its mechanical body stomps its way forward.

“You!” Rickety growls, voice laced with contempt as his hands curl up into fists, gaze narrowing intensely. Before he can make any sort of move, though, Mesprit rushes forward in front of him and Lexxi, trying to land an attack on the thieving machine, screaming angrily, but weakly.

“Sorry for this.” Glyph says, winding his arm back and striking Mesprit with great force, swatting her away and tumbling through the sand. The strength of the attack, coupled with Mesprit’s severely weakened state, is enough to knock her out cold on the spot, her body laying limp in the sand. “Exerted yourself too much, just like your sibling. You’re more alike than I thought.”

“Mesprit!” Lexxi shouts, watching her roll across the sand until she finally comes to a stop. Her attention redirects back to Glyph, expression turning intensely angry as she stands beside Rickety. “We won’t let you take the Time Gear!”

“We’ll take you down!” Rickety shouts, his voice wavering, trying to stay brave for his own sake. “Right here! Right now!”

The machine stares them down, letting out a huff as its LED eyes go blank, as if closing them. “I don’t have any quarrel with any of you… But I will be taking that Time Gear. If this is what you insist, I don’t have any choice.” He rushes forward at the two with frightening speed, swiping both Lexxi and Rickety away.

Rickety, also exhausted from the fight, only manages to stay conscious for a few seconds longer after he’s knocked away, letting out a groan as he stares in Lexxi’s direction, body going limp as his eyes shut.

Lexxi barely manages to hang on, but she’s severely weakened. Her necklace seems to glow faintly, and she can hear her heart beating harder than it ever has before, breathing heavily. “Y-You… Won’t…”

Glyph pays no mind to Lexxi. She’s already been defeated. She can’t do anything in this state. He simply leaps off the edge of the lake, allowing himself to sink down into the water, out of sight.

_“No…” Lexxi’s vision quickly begins to go dark, blackness surrounding the edges, closing in. The glow of her necklace fades out, and Lexxi succumbs to her injuries, slipping into unsconsciousness. The last thing she registers before going blank is hearing a loud cracking noise, the surrounding area turning grey.

---

…Thud. Thud. Thud.

The heavy footsteps of machinery diligently making its way across the sandy floors can be heard, echoing throughout the now eerily silent Underground Lake. The faint sound of mechanical whirring can be heard with every movement, every step, as a pair of holographic, magenta colored eyes pierce through the dark.

A figure walks upon the scene, a blend of green, white and sparkling magenta covering various parts of its body. Two giant blades rest in the divots of its arms, a gem sprouting from its empty, hollowed chest.

“It appears that Glyph has not made any exits from the way he came in.” Iron Valiant speaks, opening up the commlink in their HUD. “It’s likely that he escaped through a hidden entrance beneath the lake itself. Chances of catching up to him are low, success unlikely.”

“Oh, blast it all!” The voice on the other end shouts, clearly frustrated. “And we were so close, too! If he had come back up, we would’ve had him! That crafty, slimy little-“

“I am detecting a large source of energy close by.” iron Valiant interrupts, its head stiffly turning towards the direction of Mesprit. “Even in its heavily weakened, battered state, this Pokemon exhibits unparalleled strength. Searching through databanks… Pokemon identified as: Mesprit; The Emotion Pokemon.”

“…You’re thinking of something, aren’t you?” The voice on the other end is intrigued, listening closely. “Do tell.”

“Its energy readings indicate that it put up a fight with the two other Pokemon laying defeated in the sand. It withstood the test of time for a while before ultimately being defeated. A Pokemon with such strength and endurance would make an excellent addition to our growing army, master.”

“You’re saying we should convert Mesprit?!” The voice on the other end is surprised, stunned. It remains silent for a few moments, before a quiet laugh can be heard. “Hmhm… The more I think about it, the more brilliant an idea it sounds. She might be a little more difficult to modify and augment than most of our usual influx, but she would be exceptionally powerful! Get her ready for conversion, Iron Valiant.”

“Understood.” The machine makes its way over to Mesprit, its cold gaze locked onto her. Iron Valiant stands over her, its arms coming together until the edge of the armblade meet, pulling back, forming a double-edged halberd. It grips the poled weapon tightly in its hands, placing the tip of its blade just above Mesprit’s heart. It raises its blade, preparing to thrust down-

“Iron Valiant!” The voice on the other end of the comms suddenly shouts. “What do you think you’re doing?!”

“Excision of the heart, master.” Iron Valiant answers. “Am I not performing the standard procedure for all conversions?”

“You are, but you said it yourself, Mesprit is the emotion Pokemon.” The voice responds. “It channels its emotions via its heart. If we can take advantage of that, and take advantage of it tapping into its emotions for power, like say… Channeling the rage present within its heart, it can be even more powerful than it’d be without one! Keep its heart intact, Iron Valiant. We’ll get to work on it as soon as its arrived.”

Iron Valiant stands silently for a few moments, staring down at Mesprit, keeping its blade pointed straight at her heart. “…Affirmative.” Just as quickly as it had drawn its blades out, it puts them back to where they previously were. A holographic display appears in front of Iron Valiant, inputting a keycode, a vortex opening up behind them, firmly grabbing Mesprit off the ground.

Its eyes land on the Skitty and Riolu laying unconscious in the sand. “Shall I dispose of the others too, master?”

“…No.” The voice responds, after a curious hum. “They could still be of great use to us. After all, they’d led us to Glyph’s location, surely they can lead us to him a second time. And even then… We can use them even after our business with Glyph is said and done.” The voice laughs from the other side. “Return to base. Our goal is within our reach. We just need a little more patience.”

“Understood, master.” Iron Valiant closes out the comms, turning around, walking into the vortex with Mesprit in tow, pulling the lake guardian with it. And then, the vortex vanishes, as if it were never there to begin with.