Chapter 2: Storytime

EVENING OF THE FIRST DAY

-61 HOURS REMAIN-

It took a couple hours of rigorous searching, but Kafei and Medli eventually managed to track down all of the kids. The children had agreed not to hide inside of buildings, which helped to narrow the search down to at least a manageable level. Still, it hadn’t been easy.

In addition to the balloon-riding Pikachu, they’d found one more kid hiding out around North Clock Town’s park. The young Poochyena cub had chosen to lurk in a small bush behind the playground’s slide. After that, in the east part of town, they found a Wooper child hiding near a decorative fountain. And in West Clock Town, a young Cyndaquil girl had tried, rather unsuccessfully, to simply blend in among the crowd of pokemon that were going about their business.

The last one they found was Jet himself. On a hunch, Kafei decided to check the pond near South Clock Town. And sure enough, as they got closer, Kafei spotted the Buizel lounging near the edge of the pond, mostly submerged in the water. He looked to be half-asleep, probably having gotten bored as he waited to be found.

Kafei slowly crept up, making sure not to make too much noise, before he lightly tapped the Buizel on the side.

Jet jolted awake and hurriedly turned towards Kafei. A mildly annoyed frown settled on his face after a moment. “Oh. It’s you.” He let out a yawn, getting to his feet and climbing back onto dry land. “Gotta admit, I didn’t think you’d know about this place. We don’t tend to see adults around here much, most of the time.”

Kafei shrugged. “I came here a lot when I was a kid like you. Kinda hard to forget.” He briefly glanced back towards the path behind him, before adding, “We already found the rest of your friends, by the way. You were the last one.”

“Really?” Jet’s gaze drifted up towards Medli, who simply hovered silently overhead. “You didn’t cheat and get help, did you?”

“You never specified I couldn’t,” Kafei replied bluntly. “And I still tagged all of you out by myself, anyway.”

Jet opened his mouth to protest, only to sigh after a moment. “…Whatever. I guess I’ll count that as a win for you.”

Kafei nodded. “So, about that ‘moon’s tear’ thing you promised…”

Jet stepped over towards a nearby bush, retrieved his satchel from earlier, and pulled out the gem in question. The blue stone sparkled a little in the late afternoon sun as the Buizel held it up to his face. “So a little ways to the south-east of Clock Town, there’s this secluded observatory where an old Alakazam lives. You ever seen it before?”

After a moment’s thought, Kafei nodded. “I think I know the place you’re talking about. Up on a hill, with a couple trees and a fence out front?”

“Yep. It’s apparently a good spot for stargazing, without all the buildings and stuff here getting in the way. But it’s pretty far outta the way, so he doesn’t really get much company. The Bombers and I like to try to visit every week or so – we even do some errand runs for him when he needs it – and in return he lets us hang out and look through his telescope.”

Jet paused for a moment. He tossed the moon’s tear into the air, nearly fumbling as he caught it in his paw again. “Last time we visited, he said there’d been some sort of meteor shower or something nearby. He apparently retrieved a few of these things scattered around when it was done. He gave some of them to us, but I’m pretty sure he still had a couple more left. Tell him we sent ya, and I bet he’d let you have one.”

That wasn’t quite as definitive as Kafei might have preferred. And getting to the observatory would take a fair amount of walking from here. But it was something, at least, so Kafei supposed he shouldn’t complain. “Alright. Thanks for the tip, kid.”

The Eevee turned to leave after that, not feeling the need to keep the conversation going any longer than necessary. But before he could walk away, he heard Jet loudly speak up again. “Hey!”

Kafei sighed, and turned to silently face the Buizel again.

“I’ll keep quiet about having seen you for now,” Jet said. “But you’d better not wait long to tell people you’re back, alright? Miss Anju seemed real worried about you, when I saw her.”

The words sent a slight pang through Kafei’s heart, and he had to hold back another sigh. “…I know. I’ll go see everybody soon.” Jet still didn’t look entirely satisfied at that, but he stayed silent this time as Kafei started to walk away again.

Eventually, the faint sound of flapping overhead slowly registered in Kafei’s ears. He glanced up, abruptly remembering that Medli was still here. He nodded at her. “Thanks again for the help. Would have probably taken even longer to find all of these kids otherwise. I owe you one.”

“Y-You’re welcome,” Medli replied, smiling sheepishly.

The two continued onward for a while in silence, Medli still following along above Kafei’s head. “You know,” Kafei eventually started, “you don’t have to come with me to that observatory if you don’t want. It’s going to be a bit of a walk. Wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to head somewhere else.”

Medli shook her head. “I-I might as well go. This observatory sounds interesting. And it’s not like I’d probably find anyone else to help with Great Bay in what’s left of today regardless.”

“Fair enough,” Kafei shrugged.

After a couple seconds of silence, Medli timidly cleared her throat and spoke up again. “S-So, um… Speaking of Great Bay… did you, er, decide anything…?”

Kafei sighed. “I’m… still thinking. But I’m leaning no. I do need to find another water stone for Anju somehow. But… trying to fight off a horde of vicious pirates isn’t exactly high on my list of priorities, you understand. And besides, I… already had plans for the night of the festival. So it definitely wouldn’t be any sooner than that, either way.”

“I-I understand,” Medli said quietly. It was clear from her tone she was a bit disappointed, but she didn’t press the issue.

Another silence followed. The two of them had reached East Clock Town by now, as they slowly navigated through the crowd of pokemon still out and about. Kafei knew that most of the random passersby wouldn’t likely recognize him anyway, but he still made a point of trying to keep his head down a bit and avoid much eye contact, just in case.

“Um…” Medli’s quiet voice chimed in from overhead, breaking the silence. “I-I don’t mean to pry, or anything. But…”

Kafei let out a quiet groan. It seemed his behavior had caught someone’s attention after all. Or perhaps Jet’s words from earlier had simply left Medli curious. Either way, it wasn’t exactly a subject Kafei was thrilled to share, at the moment.

“It’s… a long story,” he muttered. He briefly deliberated on whether or not to simply leave it at that. But he decided that Medli had probably earned a proper answer, after her help earlier. “I guess the short version is that I was supposed to exchange evolution stones with… well, with my mate-to-be, basically.”

“Which is why you need a water stone?” the Swablu guessed.

Kafei nodded. “I’d managed to find one already, after a lot of searching. But then it got stolen. I left town without notice for a few days to try and track down the thief, but I didn’t have any luck.”

He cast a longing glance to the side. He couldn’t quite see the Stock Pot Inn from here due to other buildings in the way, but he could picture it clearly in his head. “Should probably have gone back to say something to her by now, I suppose. But I… it doesn’t feel right, just turning up empty-pawed now, after all this. I wanted to at least get something to apologize with first.”

Medli silently listened, a solemn look on her face. After a moment, she quietly spoke up again. “I-I’m sure she’ll understand.”

“Probably,” Kafei sighed. “But it pretty much ruins our plans, for the foreseeable future. And I can’t imagine it’s been easy for her to run things at the inn without me, while I was off unsuccessfully chasing that thief.” The beginnings of a growl started to rumble in his throat, but he quickly silenced it with a shake of his head. What’s done was done, he supposed. As much as he still wanted to give that Weavile a piece of his mind, the thief was simply long gone at this point.

After a few more mostly silent minutes of walking, Kafei and Medli reached the east gate out of town, and headed out into Termina Field. Kafei stared off into the distance. He could faintly see the hill where the observatory should be off in the distance, but it was still going to be quite a walk to get there. And they probably only had an hour or so of daylight left. Perhaps if they really hurried, they could make it before nightfall. But after walking all over town to find those children, he really didn’t feel up for that.

A part of him genuinely expected Medli to change her mind about the whole trip, and simply stay there in Clock Town for the night. But to his slight surprise, the Swablu continued to soldier on with him. Kafei shrugged to himself. He supposed he couldn’t fault the girl for her curiosity. But he personally doubted the observatory would be nearly as interesting as she seemed to think it would be.

Tick… Tock… Tick… Tock…

Runia couldn’t help but fidget silently in place as she stood behind the counter in the Stock Pot Inn’s lobby. She stared intently at the small clock hanging on the wall, watching the seconds tick by at an agonizingly slow rate.

It had been… exactly thirty two minutes now, since Anju had left her in charge of the front desk here. And not a single other mon had set foot in the lobby in the meantime.

She kind of wished she’d paid more attention when Anju had said what she was heading off to do. Something about having supper with her grandmother, Runia thought? She didn’t remember if Anju had specified how long they would be gone, though. She’d been a little too distracted by the fact that Anju’s grandmother apparently lived here with her at the inn to fully pick up on everything else Anju had said. Runia supposed it did make sense; this inn did seem old enough to have potentially been passed down for a generation or two-

Tick… Tock…

Runia let out a groan, shaking her head and trying to focus. She understood that it was important to have someone looking after the front counter as much of the time as possible, just in case somebody did show up. But she had never been good at just sitting in one place and doing nothing like this. Especially considering she was also starting to get a bit hungry at this point.

Tick… Tock…

That darned clock really wasn’t helping, either. Thirty two – no, thirty three minutes now of nothing but that constant, rhythmic ticking… it was really starting to get to her.

Still, she did owe Anju for letting her stay here for free like this. The least she could do was hold up her end of the bargain, and keep helping out wherever Anju needed it. Besides, Anju would probably be back any minute now. Hopefully.

The Snowshrew straightened up a bit, a look of fierce determination on her face as she nodded to herself. All she had to do was buckle down and focus for just a little bit longer, and then she’d be done for now. No problem! She could do that.

Less than a minute later, she was back to fidgeting again, her restless movements falling in time with the rhythm of the clock.

Finally, when all hope seemed lost, Runia started to hear footsteps coming from the nearby hallway. She quickly turned to look. A moment later, Anju stepped into view from around the corner, an Espeon following slowly just a couple steps behind.

“Hey,” Anju said quietly. “Sorry for the wait. Did everything go fine out here?”

“Oh, it went fine,” Runia answered, quickly straightening back up again and forcing a smile. “No problems at all, heh…”

Anju gave her an odd look for a moment, before shrugging. “Alright. Good to hear.” She turned back to glance at the Espeon behind her. “Well, dinner was good. I’ve been too busy to really make time for a good, proper meal these last several days, but Grandma insisted on making one of her old recipes tonight. It was nice, just getting to sit down and rest for a bit again.”

The Espeon nodded, a warm smile on her face as she met Runia’s gaze. “I made sure to make an extra helping for you too, by the way. Anju has told me you’ve been quite a help here already, so it’s the least I could do to thank you.”

“Aw!” Runia smiled. “You really didn’t have to go that far, but thank you!” Her stomach chose that moment to let out an audible rumble, and she sheepishly scratched the back of her head with a paw.

Both Anju and her grandmother let out a quiet laugh. After shaking it off, Anju stepped forward a bit. “I can take over again now, while you go eat.” She gestured a paw in the direction of the hallway she’d come from. “The food’s still back in Grandma’s room. She can show you where it is.”

Runia nodded. After trading places with Anju, Runia started down the hallway with the Espeon. The psychic-type’s footsteps were a little slow and labored, but Runia patiently followed behind, just glad to finally be out from behind that front desk.

“Anju probably already mentioned it, but my name’s Runia,” the Snowshrew said as they walked. “What’s your name?”

The Espeon gave a soft chuckle. “I am Pearl.”

Soon enough, they seemed to reach the room in question. The gem on Pearl’s forehead lit up slightly as she used her telekinesis to push open the door.

Stepping into the room, Runia took a moment to look around and take everything in. The whole inn generally had a nice, homely sort of vibe to it, but this room was definitely a step above. A large, quilted rug had been spread across most of the floor, a rather detailed pattern woven into it. On the far side of the room, a decently sized fireplace crackled with warmth. There were also a couple of tall bookshelves sitting up against the walls. Though, in addition to books, Runia could also see several miscellaneous trinkets lining the shelves. Many of which appeared to be very old.

Near the edge of the rug, Runia spotted the food that had been saved for her. A bowl of hearty looking stew had been laid out, along with what appeared to be a bit of oran bread resting just beside it. A few faint wisps of steam could still be seen billowing forth from the top of the bowl.

After slowly making her way over to curl up by the fireplace, Pearl patted the floor with a paw and nodded towards the food. “Go on, sit down. I’m sure you must be hungry by now.”

Runia didn’t need to be told twice, her stomach rumbling a little at the smell that wafted over to her from the bowl. Though, as she sat down and got comfortable, she could tell that the stew was still perhaps a little too hot for her. She gently blew on the bowl for a moment, a visible chill emitting from her mouth and cooling the stew down a bit.

The Espeon gave her a slightly odd look. But after a moment, realization seemed to dawn on her face. “Oh my. I’m sorry. I tried to make sure it would still be nice and hot for you, but I suppose I should have known that a Snowshrew like you would have preferred it cooler.”

“It’s fine!” Runia replied. “It’s the thought that counts, after all. And besides, it smells delicious!”

“Ho ho. Well, thank you for the kind words, dearie.” Pearl grinned. “I may be too old to help run the inn much anymore, but I still know my way around our kitchen well enough.”

A cozy silence pervaded the room as Runia slowly started on her food. The stew was just as savory as the smell indicated, the wonderful blend of vegetables and spices still mixing just as well even when chilled a bit to meet an ice-type’s tastes. And while the oran bread didn’t seem to be as freshly made as the stew, it was still soft and delicious too.

“We really do appreciate the help you’re giving,” Pearl said after a while. “Poor Anju’s had it rough enough the last couple days worrying about where Kafei’s gone, without all of the extra workload of trying to run the whole inn by herself.”

Runia nodded in understanding. She could only imagine how Anju must feel at the moment.

After another few seconds of silence, Runia decided to try and lighten the subject a little. She turned her gaze to the assortment of artifacts that lined part of the bookshelves. “Where’d you get all of those things? If you don’t mind me asking, that is. They look cool, but some of them look almost ancient!”

Pearl smiled, lifting her head to glance up at the bookshelves. “Most of them have been passed down through our family for generations. My own grandfather, rest his soul, he fancied himself a bit of an adventurer. He traveled around a lot before he ended up settling in Clock Town, and he’d picked up quite a number of mementos from his journeys. Even ventured into a couple of mystery dungeons, back when those were only just beginning to crop up around Termina.”

Runia’s eyes widened a bit at that, now even more curious about the various items up there. “Did he bring back any of those things from one of those dungeons?”

The Espeon’s gaze slowly drifted to one particular item, and she used her power to carefully float it down from the shelf. It was a rather beautifully crafted pink flute, with a couple of small blue gear patterns lining its sides. Runia leaned forward a bit to take a closer look, as Pearl continued to gently cradle the instrument in her psychic hold.

For a long moment, Runia waited for Pearl to say something more about the flute. But when the elderly psychic-type did finally speak up again, it wasn’t quite what Runia had expected. “Do you know why it is that we here in Clock Town celebrate the Festival of Time, every year?”

Runia tilted her head slightly at the change of subject. She scrunched up her face in thought, trying to remember the things she’d been told about Clock Town’s festival. “It, er… It’s ‘cuz of Dialga, right? To pay respects to the Legendary that governs the flow of time, and stuff.”

The Espeon nodded. “That’s right. Clock Town… even Termina as a whole, really, has always held a special admiration and reverence for Dialga in particular. Far to the east, high atop the rocky cliffs of Ikana, there is even a tower dedicated to Dialga. Though it has been left abandoned for many generations at this point, as with much of that region. Eventually, the remains of the tower were transformed into a mystery dungeon.”

She slowly spun the flute in her telekinesis, a fond smile on her face as she looked at it. “My grandfather did not make it all that far through the dungeon before he was forced to flee. But he did manage to make it out with this. An ancient flute, said to be imbued with a tiny fraction of the Lord of Time’s own power.”

Pearl paused for a moment after that, before glancing over to Runia again. She let out a soft chuckle at the Snowshrew’s enraptured expression. After taking a moment to think about where to start, she continued. “According to legends… Long long ago, Dialga created two helpers to assist him with keeping watch over the timestream: a pair of Celebi twins, one green and one pink. The brother and sister were able to freely travel through time, thanks to the power granted to them by Dialga.

“From past, to present, to future, the two Celebi wandered across the ages. They did their best to observe from the sidelines, avoiding much contact with mortals like us. But as the stories go, they eventually crossed paths with and befriended a kind Grovyle adventurer with a dashing green cap. He began to journey along with them for a while, helping to guard them from dangers.”

Pearl raised the flute in her psychic hold once more. “As thanks for his help, the pair of Celebi each granted the Grovyle a flute matching their color.” She brought the flute to her lips, and began to play a short tune. Each note seemed to carry an odd sense of weight behind it, and the whole melody seemed to give off an ancient and mysterious sort of air.

Less than a minute later, the tune was over, and Pearl lowered the instrument once more. “It is said that if you play that melody, the Song of Time, on one of these flutes… the notes will carry all the way to Dialga himself.”

“Whoa…” Runia stared in amazement at the flute. “So you could call on Dialga’s power with that thing, if you needed to?”

Pearl nodded her head. “In theory, yes. The stories claim that the Lord of Time granted that Grovyle adventurer his aid once or twice, during a few of the more precarious moments in his journeys. Though, naturally, Dialga would not heed just any pokemon’s call, were they to try.”

“What about the other flute, though?” Runia asked. “You said there were two, right?”

“That’s correct,” the Espeon said. “I would imagine the other flute is still in the ruins of that tower to this day, beyond the point that my grandfather reached.” She shook her head softly. “Alas, as time has passed, the Ikana region has only grown more and more inhospitable. Even if a pokemon were brave enough to try and delve into a dungeon like that, few could manage to climb high enough up Ikana’s hostile terrain to reach the tower at all.”

Runia gave a short nod. She’d heard… stories about Ikana, from the others back on Snowhead. A harsh, barren land surrounded by steep cliffs, and haunted by vengeful spirits from a long-fallen kingdom. Mystery dungeons were almost the least of your worries out there, it seemed like. From what she’d heard, outlaws were just about the only ones willing to risk living in Ikana, anymore.

A faint flash of movement suddenly drew Runia’s gaze toward the window. She cocked her head slightly, staring out into the dark, moonlit view of the town beyond. She could have sworn she’d seen something move out there, out of the corner of her eye. But she couldn’t spot anything out of the ordinary now. And from the look of it, it seemed like Pearl hadn’t noticed anything either.

With a slight shrug, Runia returned her gaze to the Espeon.

“In any case,” Pearl continued, “I still like to play that song most every night, if I can. It’s always seemed soothing to me.” She lowered her head, a serene smile on her face as she looked down at the time flute, before she slowly levitated the precious relic back to its former place on the bookshelf. “Of course, I’ve never gotten time to slow down, or rewind, or anything of the sort. But… I like to think the Lord of Time appreciates the musical tribute.”

Runia smiled a bit at that. After a moment, though, the talk of Legendaries brought another thought to her mind. “Wait a minute… there’s a couple other Legendaries that pokemon back home talk about too, besides just Dialga. A sun pokemon and a moon pokemon, I think…? Are they not related to the Festival of Time, too?”

Pearl shook her head. “Hmhm… I know the pokemon you’re referring to. But no. While the sun and moon are indeed an important part of the passage of time, the story behind those two Legendaries has nothing to do with Dialga.” She gave the Snowshrew a wry smile. “As much as I would not mind telling another story, though… I would imagine Anju is still expecting you to return, before too much longer.”

Runia jolted in place slightly at the reminder. She glanced down at her half-finished bowl of stew, left almost forgotten as she’d listened so intently to the Espeon’s words. Runia smiled sheepishly and resumed eating.

After letting out a quiet chuckle, Pearl turned towards the bookshelf again, her gaze drifting over the titles of the books on display this time. “I suppose I can try to give the short version of this story, though.” Soon enough, she found the book she was looking for, pulling it out and levitating it over to settle on the floor in front of her.

“The story begins nearly a century and a half ago,” she started as she flipped through the book’s pages, “before the Clock Town we know today was even built…”

Eventually, she stopped on a page adorned with an image of a strange-looking portal amid a starry night sky. “One day, as the pokemon of Termina were going about their lives, a mysterious hole tore through the sky. And through it… a terrible beast emerged.”

She turned the page again. This time, the book showed a massive dragon, its body and wings shining like the sun. A beam of light rained from the dragon’s mouth, strong enough to blast a hole in the side of a mountain.

“The beast fed on light itself. Slowly, it began to drain the light from our world, and used the power it drew from it to ravage Termina as it went. No pokemon could stop it. But then, as the pokemon of the land cried out to the heavens for help, two more pokemon emerged from the same sort of hole the beast had come through.”

Another page, and another image. On one side, there was a large leonine-looking pokemon, its body bright white and metallic. On the other side, a pokemon with wings like the night sky soared gracefully through the air.

“High in the skies over Termina, the two pokemon engaged the beast in combat. The battle raged on for over a day, and both sides took their fair share of damage. But eventually, the pokemon of the sun and moon were able to triumph over the beast.”

Turning the page one more time, Pearl gestured to a final image, showing the dragon’s body as it plummeted down to the ground. Small glittering shards appeared to fly off from it as it fell, scattering all over the land like little shooting stars.

“The dragon crashed down over the ruins of one of the very towns it had devastated during its rampage. As a final show of defiance, the pokemon of the region filled in the crater, and rebuilt the town over the awful beast’s final resting place.” Pearl looked up from the book, a lopsided grin on her face as she nodded at Runia. “Perhaps you can guess which town that may have been?”

Runia blinked slowly as the realization settled in. “You mean Clock Town…?”

Pearl chuckled. “Indeed.” With a small wave of her head, she used her telekinesis to fold the book closed, before adding, “At least, that is how the stories go, anyway. Of course, it is possible that some of the details may have been exaggerated over the years. And as you can imagine, not many pokemon are still alive from back then to give their own accounts. But the broad gist of the story is almost certainly accurate.”

“…Huh.” Runia looked down at the floor, unable to help but picture that massive dragon’s remains resting far below ground right beneath her feet. A slight shiver ran down her spine at the thought.

She still had a few more questions about the story. Like whatever happened to the sun and moon pokemon after the battle, for one thing? But before she could consider asking, Pearl let out a soft yawn. The Espeon shook her head and took a moment to clear her throat. “My apologies. My energy isn’t quite what it used to be, and it’s been quite some time since I’ve had a chance to talk this much about these things.”

“It’s no problem,” Runia said. “I should probably get going anyway. Anju’s probably still waiting for me, like you said earlier.” She slowly got to her feet, picking up her now empty bowl before smiling gratefully at Pearl. “Thank you again for the dinner, though! And the stories. It was really interesting!”

The Espeon returned the smile. “Ho ho. You are welcome, dear. And thank you for taking the time to listen to an old pokemon ramble about the past.”

As the evening transitioned to night, a lone Mareep slowly trotted his way along the streets of East Clock Town. The light on his tail stood out like a beacon amid the darkness.

Dandelion anxiously glanced from side to side. A few other pokemon were still out and about, some of whom unsurprisingly turned to look at the Mareep as he passed by. But Dan simply kept walking.

Truthfully, he’d really rather not be out here right now. He’d much rather still be back in their room at the Stock Pot Inn, resting and chatting with his sister as they started to wind down for bed.

There was just one little problem with that, though. Willow still hadn’t gotten back yet.

By all rights, she and Epona should have finished up hours ago. Like Willow had said that morning, it should have been a simple task. Just a quick trip back to the ranch, and then a return trip back here to Clock Town once they’d refilled the carts one more time. It was something they’d done countless times before with no issues.

At first, Dan had figured that some minor thing must have slowed her down. Maybe one of the carts had broken down, or perhaps the farmhands had taken a little longer to gather the remaining crops than they’d expected. Even as the sun had crept lower and lower in the sky, Dan had tried to reassure himself that she had to be nearly done. Surely they would arrive back any minute… right?

By this point, though… he was starting to get genuinely concerned.

In an attempt to lighten some of his worries, he’d decided to come out here and ask the guards at the south gate if they’d seen or heard anything from her. Realistically, he doubted they’d know much. But it was the only thing he could think to try, and it was better than just continuing to pace back and forth in their room like he’d been doing.

It took several minutes of walking to reach his destination, though it felt significantly longer in the moment. A Nidoking and a Mienshao stood watchfully by the south gate. Both of them kept up their strict, unflinching posture, but they couldn’t quite hide the slightly tired edge to their gazes. Dan wasn’t certain exactly what time the night watch took over, but it didn’t seem to have happened yet, thankfully.

The Mienshao noticed Dan approaching first. She quickly shook her drowsiness off, nudging her fellow guard to catch his attention before turning her gaze back to the Mareep. “Rather late to be heading out, isn’t it?” she called out, a hint of suspicion in her tone.

Dan nervously shook his head. “A-Ah’m not leaving town now. Ah just… you haven’t happened to see a Flaaffy or a Rapidash come into town through here, have you?”

The two guards shared a look. “…Can’t say I remember seeing either of those today, no,” the Nidoking answered. “Though we only took over around noon.”

“Oh.” Dan frowned. “Do you… do you know if anything’s happened out this way, then? Anything that’d stop pokemon from getting back here?”

“Not that I know of,” the Mienshao said. “And there’s been plenty of travelers coming in through here today, just like normal.” She tilted her head slightly, her professional demeanor softening a bit. “I could tell the other guards to keep an eye out, if you’d like? I don’t imagine the pokemon you’re waiting for are likely to show up tonight, at this rate, but if we do happen to find out anything we can let you know.”

“T-Thanks,” Dan said politely. The offer likely wouldn’t mean much, in practice. Whenever Willow and Epona did finally get back, they’d almost certainly try to find him as soon as possible regardless. But he couldn’t fault the guards for the offer, especially considering how busy they probably were this time of year.

Turning back around, Dan began the slow walk back to the inn again. He shivered slightly at the nighttime chill, feeling even more pointedly alone than he had just a couple minutes prior.

He thought back to the previous evening. The Deku tribe scouts they’d spotted flying near the ranch… maybe they really had meant trouble. Perhaps a few of those bug-types had swiped some of the crops. Maybe that was what had slowed his sister and Epona down.

But even then… if it were simply a matter of a few crops being stolen, surely Willow would still have kept going as planned, and brought the rest of the shipment as normal. Right? Heck, even if the thieves had somehow managed to swipe an entire cart full of crops… it’d be unfortunate, but not the end of the world. He doubted it would have delayed their return by this much.

Dan shook his head. Standing here and fretting over the possibilities wasn’t going to accomplish anything. His sister… his sister was strong. And so was Epona, for that matter. Whatever had happened, he was certain they were fine. He just… had to be patient. That’s all.

Eventually, he arrived back at the Stock Pot Inn. He quietly nudged the door open and stepped into the lobby. After giving a brief nod to Anju, sitting silently behind the front desk, he started up the stairs towards his room.

For a brief moment, he almost considered asking Anju where Runia was. Having any kind of company to talk with would probably be an improvement right now. But he decided against it. She was probably busy, and it’s not as if he knew the Snowshrew that well regardless.

Sleep did not come easy that night. But eventually, after what felt like forever of just tossing and turning on his bed, the Mareep finally drifted off into a troubled sleep.

The sun had long since set beneath the horizon by the time Medli and Kafei finally reached the observatory. The lack of light made it a bit harder to travel across Termina field, with only the moon and stars shining down from the night sky above. But the pair managed to keep going.

It helped that the observatory itself had a couple of small lamps set out in front of it. Though, instead of fire, the bright blue orbs on the devices appeared to glow with some sort of energy. Perhaps psychic-powered, given the pokemon who apparently lived here? It wasn’t quite like anything Medli had seen before, back in Great Bay.

She stared at the odd lamps for a couple more seconds, before turning her focus to the observatory itself. The building’s dome-like shape certainly made it stand out, especially combined with the countless small constellation patterns that decorated its entire surface. A large telescope peeked out through a gap in the roof, its massive lens pointed up towards the night sky.

Kafei reached up a paw to knock on the building’s large metal door. After several seconds with no response, he tried again, a little louder this time.

Eventually, after a couple repetitions of this, a voice finally rang out from the other side. “Yes, yes, I’m coming.” The door slowly groaned open to reveal a tall, somewhat elderly Alakazam. He cocked his head slightly as he looked down at the pair in front of him. “Hm? A visit from someone other than those children? How unusual.”

“They were the ones who pointed us here,” Kafei answered. “Though they certainly gave us a bit of a runaround first…”

The Alakazam let out a chuckle. “Yes, those kids do have a mischievous side to them sometimes, don’t they? Though, I can tell their hearts are usually in the right place, at least.” He shook his head, his face taking on a more serious expression. “In any case, I take it you have business with me, then?”

Kafei nodded. “We were told you still have a couple of spare moon’s tears? I was… hoping to buy one for someone.”

“I do,” the Alakazam said. “They are quite pretty, but one is perfectly sufficient for my studies. I’d be happy to give one of those stones to another friend of those children.”

“Alright. Thank you then, sir,” Kafei said.

“Please, call me Tellah.” The Alakazam opened the door a bit wider to allow the two pokemon in.

As Medli carefully fluttered her way into the observatory, the telescope was the first thing to draw her gaze. It had been proudly set up on the far side of the room, looking somewhat grand despite its purely practical design.

Letting her eyes wander across the rest of the room, she noticed several star charts that had been set up all along the walls, showing countless different constellations as well as the gradually shifting phases of the moon. A stairway leading down could also be seen off on one side. Medli guessed that probably led to the Alakazam’s bedroom, considering she couldn’t see anything that resembled a bed anywhere in here.

Finally, a fairly cluttered looking table sat off to the other side of the room, with all sorts of odds and ends scattered across its surface. There were a couple small glass orbs like the ones on the lamps outside, though these did not appear to have any energy in them yet. Perhaps more relevant for the moment, though, Medli noticed a small pile of light blue gems that sat near the edge of the table.

After gently closing the heavy door behind him, Tellah floated over towards the table. He picked up one of the gems, eyeing it appraisingly for a moment before setting it down in front of Kafei. “Here you are. I take it this should suffice?”

Kafei leaned in to look at the moon’s tear, nudging it slightly with a paw. “Yeah. This should be perfect.” He nodded up at the psychic-type. “Again, thank you.”

“It is no trouble,” Tellah replied. He floated closer to his telescope, letting out a faint groan as he settled back down on the floor, before he turned back to glance at the duo again. “Was there anything else? You are free to stay for a while, if you wish. I do not mind the company.”

Kafei shook his head. “I think I’m just going to head back.” After picking up the gem with his mouth, he turned to glance at Medli, a silent question on his face.

Medli shrunk in on herself slightly as both of the other pokemon focused on her. But after a moment, she quietly spoke up. “I-I think… I think I might stay here just a little while longer.” She gestured around the room with a wing. “S-Some of this looks… kinda interesting. So I wouldn’t mind taking a look around.”

“By all means,” Tellah offered.

Medli smiled gratefully at the Alakazam, before turning to look at Kafei again. “I, um… B-Bye for now, I guess?” She almost wanted to say ‘see you later’ or something, but she supposed she might not have much reason to cross paths with him again after this. Though, she supposed anything was possible.

Kafei, for his part, simply nodded. “Guess so,” he said, setting the moon’s tear back down briefly so he could speak properly. “Thanks again for the help earlier. And, uh… good luck with your own search.”

Without even moving from his spot, Tellah used his telekinesis to pull open the door for Kafei. The Eevee picked his gem back up, casting one more quick look around the room before stepping back out into the night.

After closing the door once more, Tellah turned his attention to his telescope. He spent a few seconds adjusting something on its side as he peered silently through the eyepiece. When he seemed to have gotten everything aligned the way he wanted, he turned back to glance at Medli again. “Would you like to take a look at what I have been observing, as of late?”

Medli nodded. She slowly hovered her way over, perching on the Alakazam’s raised hand as he held her up to the telescope’s eyepiece. The Swablu blushed slightly, feeling a little awkward at having to do it this way. But the telescope had clearly been designed for pokemon significantly larger than her, so she supposed she would have to settle for this solution.

Once she managed to line up properly and get a steady look through the lens, she found herself staring right at the full moon. Zoomed in like this, she could see some of the bumps and craters that marred its rocky surface much more clearly than with the naked eye.

“The last couple of nights,” the Alakazam said, “the moon has appeared to be getting… closer, somehow. Perhaps you have even noticed? The difference is somewhat visible if one looks closely, even without a telescope.”

Medli shuddered. She… she had thought something seemed a little off about the moon tonight, looking up at it while traveling out here to this observatory. She’d simply chalked it up to her imagination, though. Surely such a thing couldn’t just happen out of the blue, right? But if even this Alakazam had noticed it too…

“I cannot fathom what could be causing it,” Tellah continued. “But it is… a most concerning omen, to be sure. If it continues like this…”

As Medli continued to stare thoughtfully through the telescope, a strange silhouette suddenly appeared to fly in front of the moon. It appeared vaguely bat-like, though the wings were far different from any such pokemon Medli had ever seen before. She barely had any time to look at it, though, before the silhouette had already zoomed away, flying past the moon and disappearing from the telescope’s sight.

Startled, Medli reared back from the telescope slightly. She silently blinked a couple of times, trying to make sense of what she’d seen.

Tellah withdrew his hand, leaning forward to look at Medli. “What is it?”

After a moment, Medli shook her head to clear it, and turned to face the Alakazam. “I-I… It m-must have just been… a Zubat flying in front of the telescope or something, I-I guess.” In truth, that explanation didn’t make much sense to her. The silhouette had appeared much too far away for it to be anything like that. But the alternative seemed far too insane for her to admit out loud.

Tellah didn’t seem too convinced either, curiosity over just what she’d seen written plainly on his face. But after a moment, he nodded. “…I see. That sort of thing does happen, every now and then.”

He lifted Medli back up to the telescope again, allowing her to take another look. But whatever Medli had seen, it didn’t seem to appear again.

Medli tried to shrug off that strange little moment and simply go back to stargazing. But the odd sights lingered in her mind. Especially considering what Tellah had already pointed out. Two separate oddities with the moon at the same time like this… It couldn’t simply be a coincidence.

She tilted her head as a recollection struck her. An old story she’d read as a child. As crazy as the thought seemed… she was almost sure the silhouette had looked just like one of the pokemon from that book. She couldn’t remember all of the details from that story, though. She made a mental note to see if she could find a library in town tomorrow. Perhaps she could refresh her memory a bit, and hopefully make a bit more sense of all this.

Medli lingered there at the observatory for a few more minutes after that, conversing with Tellah a bit. But while she was still somewhat curious about some of the other things around his study, she was too distracted at the moment to focus on it much. Before long, she bid farewell to the Alakazam for now, leaving the observatory and starting the long flight back to Clock Town.

As she flew, she couldn’t help but look up at the moon. Any other night, it would have felt like a peaceful beacon shining gently overhead. But now… A fearful shiver ran through her, and she silently shook her head.