CRASH!!!

“GOOD MORNING!”

Lexxi and Rickety slowly peek their eyes open, Rickety laying on his back and Lexxi having cuddled up against his chest practically the entire night, arms still wrapped around each other as they tired glance over to Loudred, going about his early morning routines, as per the usual.

“IT’S MORNING! WAKE UP! TIME TO GET UP, BUCKAROOS!”

The sounds of stomping grow fainter as he stomps off towards the rest of the quarters, Rickety and Lexxi sighing as they wake themselves up, Rickety brushing his hair out of his face. “The things we take for granted, huh?” He asks, chuckling softly.

“Never thought I’d be so happy to be screamed awake again.” Lexxi giggles, streeeeeeeeetching her body out on all fours as she shakes herself awake.

Heading into the Central Hall, everybody already seems to be busy, talking with each other, discussing their plans, some of them already heading up the ladder and heading out, getting ready to spread news about the truth of the world and the situation at hand.

“Now remember!” Chatot exclaims, raising a wing up and speaking to the rest of the crew who were still there. “Those of you who are spreading word about the state of affairs and learning about the Control Panel, I expect you to organize your teams accordingly! All clear? Now get going!”

Lexxi smiles, seeing everyone already up and eager to make things right. It really was heartwarming, seeing everybody working together like this to help them.

“We should get going too, Lexxi.” Rickety says, smiling as he looks down at her, tail swishing back and forth behind him. “Let’s make our way towards the Hot Springs and meet up with Torkoal, we got no time to waste!”

“You wanna take the route through Waterfall Cave again?” Lexxi asks, a touch of teasing in her voice.

“Wha- No!” Rickety stammers, shaking his head. “We already know where it is, we don’t need to get washed up and spat out by a geyser to get there again.”

Lexxi tilts her head playfully. “You didn’t think that was fun?”

Rickety’s muzzle scrunches up, cheeks turning a faint shade of red. _{“Lexxi, just because we’re in a relationship now doesn’t mean you get to relentlessly tease me all the time like this.”}

“But I can.” Lexxi gives him a playful little poke with her tail, nuzzling up to his side affectionately. “You’re cute when you’re flustered.~”

Rickety groans, rolling his eyes as he rubs at his head. _{“Let’s just go before we make a whole scene at the guild.”}

---

The trip to the Hot Springs was, thankfully, very quiet and peaceful, a very welcome change of pace from everything Lexxi and Rickety had experienced during the last few days. The surrounding area hadn’t been affected yet, still as vibrant and lively as the first time they’d been there.

The Hot Springs itself wasn’t as crowded as last time, just a few Pokemon lounging and relaxing in its waters, while Torkoal comfortably rested at the top of the small stairway in front of the Hot Springs, taking in the arid heat of the area.

“Torkoal?” Rickety calls out to him, wading around the water with Lexxi to meet up with him.

“Wheh?” Torkoal’s attention is pulled towards Lexxi and Rickety, the rocky turtle turning his head to face the two of them, a warm smile curling up on his lips. “Oh! Hello there, you two! It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Have you come to relax once again?”

“We wish.” Lexxi chuckles softly, shaking her head. “We’re here for something else, something we need your help with.”

This intrigues Torkoal, tilting his head as he sits himself back down, curiosity overtaking him. “My help…? Ah, you seek my wisdom, I see.” He muffles out a quiet laugh, nodding in response. “Very well, do go on.”

Rickety and Lexxi sit themselves down in front of him. “Have you ever heard of something called the ‘Control Panel?'” Rickety asks.

Torkoal’s eyes briefly go wide in surprise, his head leaning back just the slightest bit as he takes a few moments to process what he’d just been asked. “The Control Panel? …Now there’s something I hadn’t thought about in a long, long time. I’d thought I was the only one who knew about such a thing existing.”

“So you know about it!” Lexxi’s ears perk up. “Please, tell us what you know!”

Torkoal chuckles softly. “My, you’re rather eager, aren’t you? I’m afraid my knowledge of it is rather sporadic and tattered, mostly based on hearsay and speculation. The entrance to the Control Panel is hidden away, somewhere in this very land. But it won’t just open to anyone, no… It chooses those that it grants access to.”

Rickety tilts his head curiously, arching an eyebrow. “It chooses them? What do you mean?”

The old turtle continues to explain. “It seeks those who can find the keys, the ‘symbols of power’ I remember them being called. These symbols seek out their bearers, guiding those to the entrance… But that’s under the assumption it’s real to begin with, to be honest. It all sounds so otherworldly, so outlandish…”

“Symbols of power…” Lexxi repeats, scratching at her head. She briefly glances down at her necklace, then to Rickety’s necklace. It couldn’t be, could it? “What do these symbols of power represent, Torkoal? Do you know what they look like? Or…?”

“Errmm…” Torkoal furrows his eyebrows, scrunching his muzzle up, really, really trying to think long and hard. “…I can’t quite remember. It’s been so long since I’d heard of the legend that its specifics escape me entirely.”

“What?!” Rickety exclaims, leaning forward. “Isn’t there anything else you can remember?! Please, Torkoal, this is really, really important!”

“Easy for you to say…” Torkoal groans, shaking his head. “I’m deeply sorry, but I can’t seem to rattle anything around in this old noggin of mine. If I remember anything else, I’ll promise to let you know, but I can’t make any guarantees.”

“That’s… That’s fine.” Lexxi nods, ears drooping a bit. “You’ve already shared a good bit with us. I don’t know how much we can go off from it, but it’s something. Sorry to have bothered you, Torkoal.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Torkoal smiles apologetically. “It was simply nice to see you two again, anyway.”

Rickety sighs, standing back up and stretching his body out. _{Heck, even when they’re not in the water, it’s hard not to get relaxed in this place.} “Alright… Come on, Lexxi, let’s head back to the guild.”

Torkoal watches the two head off, a few thoughts tumbling around in his head. Good youngsters, those two. Strange fashion sense, though. Those necklaces they wore, rather peculiar. Where would they find such-

Those necklaces…

Torkoal’s eyes widen. “Wait a minute…”

---

A Skuntank slowly peeks his head around the corner of a sigh, eyes darting around and scanning the place cautiously, carefully. No people, this area never does seem to attract all that much attention, despite the Juice Shop opened up so close by.

_{“Chief, come on! I’m tired of hidin’ back ‘ere!”} A Zubat snidely spits out. _{“And I’m tired of pressin’ my face against Koffing’s back! I can only take so much of his stench!”}

_{“Not like I can help it! You try absorbin’ bad smells everywhere ya go! Ya gotta let it out somehow!”}

_{“Why’re we even wastin’ time with this?! Ain’t everyone forgot about us? Nobody came huntin’ us down when that weird metal thingy started makin’ the rounds!”}

“Don’t change nothin’, people’ll still try to get us for cash ‘n- Crud!” Chief swiftly ducks back into the nearby bush, pulling Zubat and Koffing into the bush with him.

_{“Wha- HEY!!! Chief! What’re ya-“}

_“Ssshh!” Chief hushes, peering through the bushes, looking at the road leading out to the rest of the region, an all too familiar Riolu and Skitty making their way back over to the guild, heading up the steps, seemingly in a hurry. _{“Look who’s back in town.”}

_{“The brats?”} Zubat whispers, squinting out at them. _{“Didn’t they disappear or somethin’ not long after the big ghost guy left?”}

_{“Huh… Rather sudden seein’ ’em around again.”} Koffing mutters, peering through the bushes with the rest of his crew. _{“…Wait, someone else is comin’.”}

A Torkoal can be seen coming from that same path, slowly walking over. He looks up at the stairway, looking it up and down for a few good moments, letting out a quiet, tired groan to himself, before slowly beginning to make his way up.

Chief squints, arching an eyebrow curiously. _{“Somethin’s goin’ on… Let’s stake out here a bit longer, boys.”}

_{“Do we have to, Chief? I think I feel a Caterpie crawlin’ up one of my wings…”}

_{“Shut up and tough it out, ya big baby.”}

---

“So… Torkoal couldn’t remember much at all?” Chatot says with a touch of concern, sighing. “Well, that’s rather disappointing…”

“We’ve got some hints, though!” Wigglytuff exclaims. “Whatever these symbols of power are, we’ll find them!”

“What’re we gonna do after we find ’em, though? We still don’t know where it actually is.” Zorora speaks up, scratching at her head. “We’ve been lookin’ around and trying to learn everything we can, but we haven’t really come up with anything yet.”

“We have to keep looking, though.” Rickety says, determined. “We’re so close, I know we’re close! We just need-“

“Pokemon detected! Pokemon detected!” Diglett’s voice cries out from the sentry post, catching everybody’s attention.

“WHAT?!” Loudred exclaims, quickly rushing his way back over to the entrance tunnel. “Whose footprint?! Whose footprint?!”

“The footprint belongs to Torkoal! The town elder!”

Lexxi’s ears perk up, glancing back at the entrance. “He’s here?! Maybe he remembered something after all! W-Well, hurry up! Let him in!”

The elder slowly makes his way down the ladder, finally reaching the bottom with an exasperated sigh, shaking his frail body a tad as he turns around to face the guild, who had gathered around the ladder. “Hoooo… Finally managed to catch up. Goodness, those trails and steps did a number on me…”

Rickety takes a step closer, staring at Torkoal curiously. “I didn’t think you come back to find us so soon, Torkoal. Did you remember anything?”

Torkoal nods his head. “I hadn’t realized it at first, but those necklaces you two are wearing… It had taken me a moment to realize, but they look so familiar, and it reminded me of something.” Torkoal reaches his head back. “Something I had stumbled upon long, long ago during my days of youth.”

Torkoal turns his head back to the group, holding a necklace in his mouth by the chain. A necklace that bore the shape of a key, molded to resemble that of a skull. Rickety and Lexxi’s eyes both widen in surprise, bodies becoming tense, going still. There it was.

The last necklace.

Lexxi slowly walks over to Torkoal, reaching out to the necklace, gently grabbing it in her paws, sitting down to take a closer look at it. Turning the necklace around revealed the final word engraved into the back of the necklace.

“DEATH.”

Slowly, Lexxi places her paw onto the necklace, closing her eyes and focusing deeply.

That familiar dizziness begins to wash over her once again.

Everything goes white.

---

The Traveler has grown weary since the last vision she’d seen.

She can hear them panting heavily, their breathing raspy and wheezy.

They’re clutching the chains on the pendants tightly in their hand, trekking through some sort of cave over by the sea.

She can make out some kind of massive, arching opening in the side of the cave, shining a light on the wall, revealing four ancient paintings, all of them familiar symbols with their names accompanying them underneath.

The painting of a clock, adorned with intricate patterns resembling the ones on Rickety’s necklace the bottom right corner of the circle fully painted a deep blue. TIME.

The painting of a stylized heart, the hart itself a solid black, its shape strikingly similar to Lexxi’s necklace, the circle it resided in painted with a deep red, as if splattered around, the bottom left corner of its circle that same, deep shade of red. LOVE.

The painting of a bird stretching its wings and flying away, its circle more neatly, delicately painted than the others, the top right corner of the circle painted a majestic green. DREAMS.

And finally, the painting of a key in the shape of a skull, its appearance one-to-one with the necklace sharing its same name, the top left corner of the circle a deep purple. DEATH.

The Traveler falls to their knees, the pendants slipping from their grasp as they all clatter against the cave floor, The Traveler panting heavily, growing weaker.

A light shines through the archway in the cave, casting itself upon the paintings. The whole cave begins to rumble, and slowly, the wall opens up, revealing an even larger door behind it. One in the same shape as that skull key necklace.

Slowly, it too begins to open up, a cacophony of metal and electronics scraping together as a bright, blinding light floods the cave, illuminating everything around.

A lone figure walks through the open door. A long, flowing gown, massive horns curled downward sprouting from the head. A human- No, humanoid in appearance, certainly not human, but looks so similar to one.

She walks over towards The Traveler, slowly kneeling herself down closer them. She ever so gently reaches out towards them, grabbing just around the edges of their face. “Rest easy, Traveler. Your long journey is finally over.” She quietly whispers, her voice captivating, smooth and silk, as if a dozen voices were speaking as one, removing the mask that The Traveler had been wearing.

The Traveler silently stares up at her as they’re cradled in her arms, breathing weakly, the edges of their vision growing dim, fading. “I… I need to find New Elysium… Please, help me…”

“Sssssssshhhhh…” The figure speaks, gently placing a finger upon The Traveler’s lips. “Where we are going, we will never die.”

The figure gently lifts The Traveler back up onto their feet, draping their hand over her shoulder as she gently guides them through the open door. The vision begins to fade out, but just before she’s pulled back to reality, Lexxi can faintly make out the shape of some device, standing in the middle amongst the blinding light.

---

Lexxi gasps as she’s pulled out of the vision, panting heavily, everyone looking at her, Rickety leaning down beside her.

_“Err…” Torkoal mutters, staring down at Lexxi woryingly. “Should I be understanding what just happened?”

“I saw it.” Lexxi says, getting back up on all fours. “I-I saw the entrance, to the Control Panel. It looked like… It looked like it was in some kind of cave, really deep inside. Might’ve been by the ocean, saw a giant archway that shined light inside, onto paintings that looked just like our necklaces.”

“That’s… Why, that’s Brine Cave!” Chatot exclaims, flapping his wings. “I recognize that place by description alone! Guildmaster!” Chatot turns to face Wigglytuff, eyes wide. “We’d been there before, hadn’t we? And we remember seeing those strange symbols we couldn’t understand, didn’t we?!”

“We did indeed, Chatot!” Wigglytuff nods his head up and down. “Perhaps we could lead them to that very spot! The Control Panel might be waiting!”

“Oof…” Chatot visibly winces a little. “But it is home to some dangerous Pokemon…”

“We’re not gonna let a COUPLE of Pokemon get in the way of the CONTROL PANEL, are we?!” Loudred exclaims.

“Even so…” Torkoal says. “You’ve only got three, I remember the legend saying there needs to be one more…”

“Oh!” Rickety perks up, digging through the Wonderbag. “Actually, we have them all!” He reaches inside, pulling out the DREAMS necklace, showing it to Torkoal. “See? All four of them!”

Torkoal’s eyes go wide in surprise, eyes darting from each of the four necklaces. “W-Wait, you mean you’ve found them all?!” He stammers, not understanding how to process all of this. “Where did you find these in the first place?!”

“We just sorta… Found them laying all over the region.” Lexxi says. “Most of them seemed to be in caves.”

“Fascinating…” Torkoal mutters, before quickly turning his attention back to Lexxi. “And you said you saw it for yourself? The entrance to the Control Panel?” He asks, to which Lexxi nods her head in response. “So it is real…”

“So, you mean to tell us that the necklaces Rickety and Lexxi had been wearing all this time were keys to saving the world?” Bungie asks, voice speaking up. “Golly, who would’ve guessed? It’s all so incredible!”

“And if we take all of the necklaces to that spot in Brine Cave, Rickety and Lexxi can get to the Control Panel and go back in time like they need!” Wigglytuff exclaims, nodding his head in response.

Torkoal awkwardly clears his throat. “Er… I’m afraid this is all going a bit over my head, now. I think I’ll be making my leave.” He slowly bows his head. “I’m thankful to have helped out, but… Whatever it is you’re all planning, please, do be careful.” He bids his farewells, heading back up the ladder.

“So!” Wigglytuff claps his hands together. “We don’t have much time before Dusknoir enacts on his plan, probably! So everyone! Prepare yourselves! We’re heading out to Brine Cave as soon as possible!” He turns his head to face Chatot. “Chatot! You’ll be leading the pack, and accompanying Team Void to the same place where we saw the symbols! I’m heading out to do something important!”

“At a time like this?!” Chatot exclaims, squawking as he flaps his feathers. “Guildmaster! Of all the times you could’ve picked to do errands, is this really-?!”

“I promise it’s important to the situation at hand, Chatot. Trust me.~ We’ve only been partners for most of our lives, haven’t we?~”

“…” Chatot sighs, nodding his head. “Yes, guildmaster…”

---

Torkoal groans as he finally reaches the top of the ladder, stretching his old, weary body out. “Ooogh… If I were just a few years younger, I’d have accompanied them. I am rather curious about the Control Panel myself.. Ahh, no matter, this body’s seen its share of enough exploring for one life time.” He chuckles to himself, beginning to make his way back down the steps.

“You wait just one second, old man.” A voice calls out from the bushes, Torkoal hearing rustling, seeing a Skuntank, a Zubat and a Koffing all emerging from the shadows. The Skuntank, in particular, looked rather aggressive. “What just happened down in that guild, hmm? Ya wanna tell us?”

“Wha-” Torkoal stammers, confused, and admittedly afraid. “Who in the-“

The Skuntank takes a step closer, stomping towards him. “You ain’t the one askin’ the questions old timer. We are.” His eyes narrow, leaning in closer, mere inches away from his face. “If ya value your life, you’ll tell us everything you told them.”

“And it ain’t like ya got much years left in ya anyway, heh-heh!” The Zubat sneers, smirking deviously. “We’ll put ya in the ground if we feel like we have to.”

“Err…” Torkoal retracts his head back into his shell, eyes darting from the three Pokemon.

“Aaaalllll it’d take is just one little push down the steps, and you’re through.” The Skuntank smirks. “What’ll it be, pops?”

_{“Oh dear…”}