*Music: Sonic Rush Adventure – Cutscene: Normal

The duo had travelled north-east, across continents to meet up with the first on their line of humans, the Eevee on Team Friends known as Vula, who lived on the Air Continent. After explaining their reasons; namely that Sanvu was looking for a way back to his world; naturally, the brown quadruped was eager to hear them out as she sat in her home; which was a sparsely furnished hut with an extension. The exterior had resembled an Eevee’s head and tail, they sat in what was the ‘tail’ where belongings were neatly organised into little shelves easy enough for a quadruped to manage. The Eevee sat on a flatbed while the Drifters had sat on smaller stools just across from her and told their story.

“I wish I could help you, really, it sounds like what you went through was horrible, and I’m sorry, but I wouldn’t have a clue how to help you. All of that to me was only a couple of years ago, I’m a lot older now, but I had a choice whether I wanted to go back. If I hadn’t… willed myself into being here, then I would’ve gone home. But I wouldn’t know anything about where it is, since I left that world behind when I decided I wanted to stay here, so… I wish I knew how to help you, but… I don’t.”

“That’s alright,” Sanvu sighed, understanding the Eevee’s point. Her voice sounded genuine, if a bit aged, defying her youthful appearance.

“So… what does Team Friends do now? Would you guys have… done anything different if you hadn’t come back?” Pachuku asked, curiously tilting his head.

“Honestly, it would’ve been up to my partner, Moody… and given his reaction… well, I don’t know. He very well could’ve given up then and there,” After she shook her head free of it, she perked up again, “But it’s no use waffling in what-ifs, after all. We help maintain things like the Connection Orbs, if you guys know about that.”

They nodded. Pokemon these days across towns were all using Connection Orbs, Orbs that could connect to one another on an internal network of energy to send messages and requests. Said energy often had to come from Pokemon with connections themselves, of which, Team Friends primarily was, as she’d described, they prided themselves on making that network available since Vula knew at least one member of each type, and in some cases, evolutionary family. Large Towns needed them to communicate effectively, and the Orbs in turn often required an active team to maintain the flow of energy to keep them running on a noded network. Sanvu himself had, despite the odd manner of their usage, had described them akin to social media he’d used back in his own world… only less immersive than Connection Orbs could be, since using the Connection Orb was almost like going into another world, which was the very unfamiliar part, despite that it was very cool, hence why most Pokemon were using them to send messages.

“Well, I suppose there isn’t anything else then, is there?” The Eevee asked. “I’ll try to get someone to help look into it, but honestly, I don’t really remember any human world, let alone my own, so while I’m in your corner, well, I’ve got my own occupations, sorry to say.”

“No, it’s fine, you’ve helped plenty,” the Snivy waved off, as they stood to leave.

“Good luck on your mission, though!” She called out as they left, waving a paw as they left.

~~

---

*Music: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky – Top Menu

The next team, Team Wish, on the Grass Continent, was their next place to check. Travel across continents was still primarily Lapras-based, but whenever they weren’t around, some Pokemon had taken to making boats to cross the seas. Pokemon were slowly taking measures for better forms of transportation, even if a lot of the workings were being ironed out in a community with various kinds of travellers.

They never had to travel too far anyways; the towns in question thus far had been close enough to the coast for the trips to matter little, even with Mystery Dungeons around, there was enough of a sense of direction to know where to go.

Their destination was Treasure Town, a small village just off the shoreline of the Grass Continent. The team consisted of a Chimchar, potentially also a Piplup, if the information the duo had sourced was correct enough. They sometimes used Connection Orbs, but Sanvu was reminded too much of both the good and bad of social media posts back home with the way that it was generally used, so it was only often useful as a resource for the most basic essentials of information. Especially since popular celebrity-type Pokemon like this basically never checked their own Orbs; opting instead for using them as announcement spaces for larger projects or the like.

They eventually found the duo in a hut nearby to the road leading out of Treasure Town to the east; they’d lived in a place called Sharpedo Bluff for many years, an indentation off a nearby cliff that resembled the face of a Sharpedo, with an opening with many ‘teeth’ to protect the base, but primarily due to weather concerns; the duo had instead opted after some time to live in a more normal place, with Sharpedo Bluff instead being used as somewhat of a meeting spot.

Greetings were shared, the story was told. The Fire-type primate was by herself; apparently Pip, the Piplup, had been out on a trip with the other two primary members, since it was an underwater excursion, she’d opted out. Her answer upon hearing Sanvu’s story was equally as lost as the Eevee’s.

“Mmhm. Yep. Okay, well, I don’t remember going ‘back’ to any human world, I was born here as a human, before being sent back in time,” she recounted, which had both the Pokemon confused; their brows rising in confusion.

“I know, it’s a little hard to swallow, but that world’s events and this one have gotten merged, so to speak, since they were two sets of events that had to… come together, so to speak. I don’t remember going back to any world, so I wouldn’t know where your world is, unfortunately.”

Sanvu nodded solemnly, as she perked up.

“But, don’t look so glum! If you’re trying, that means there’s got to be a way back somewhere! Could just be somewhere I don’t know about; we handle so many affairs with the guild these days that we’re totally booked, so we never have time for anything else. So if I were you, I wouldn’t give up. There’s got to be a way, I just know it!” the chimp smiled, her flame glowing just a little bit brighter.

“Yeah… thanks for the encouragement,” Sanvu thanked, smiling back as much as he could muster. The disappointment was enough to keep down as it was.

As they shared goodbyes, the duo only had one place to check before they’d rethink their approach to this whole ordeal.

~~

---

*Music: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity – Touched by Kindness

Slowly they trudged onward, the weight of their past failures weighing on them. Sanvu had to wonder as he went how many of them just wouldn’t remember their past, especially with Abistula in general just being so unknown, could he continue looking for somewhere that virtually didn’t exist except only in his head?

“The last ones are apparently the ‘Believers’ on the Mist Continent. We could try there, and if they don’t have anything, well, we can try elsewhere,” Pachuku had mentioned to Sanvu as they’d made their way there.

The Mist Continent was north-west of their home in the Water Continent. A large continent typically plagued by a climate with generally colder temperatures, the duo were venturing to their furthest inland to find their destination: Post Town.

Despite this, some familiarity was had as the pieces along the way clicked as Pachuku recognised the places he’d recalled from his own recollection of this particular legend, making the trip all that more familiar and eventful for both of them.

Eventually, some days later, the road managed to branch out into a crossroads with many colourful stones lining the pathway. When Pachuku read that the nearby sign lead to Post Town, both of them were ecstatic at finally reaching the spot.

Upon getting directions to Paradise, they eventually found the place; a large hut with a blue roof. It looked somewhat cozy while also being sturdy; it stood at the entrance of a large bridge leading into the large oasis of what looked like many forests and mountaintops beyond.

The hut appeared to have a door, which when rapped rang out. The door had multiple levers to grab; apparently this was set up so that those with different limbs could make themselves heard without having to headbutt if one had no arms.

It was answered by an Axew, though their instinct was to flinch a little because of Maluw, this one’s features appeared softer, warmer, as if he too had been looking for company. “Hello! Who would you be?” he asked, his voice perfectly concealing any worries he had.

“Would you be Axel, of the Believers?” Pachuku asked, his paws fiddling. The Axew nodded. “Yeah, that’s me. What’s up?”

The Drifters explained themselves once again as he let them inside, as they explained the whole ordeal behind their coming here, and why they wanted his help. Barely upon their second sentence, he was nodding along.

“I know, I heard it all from the Expedition Society, you two are those other Heroes of Dark Matter, aren’t you?” the Axew postulated, while they nodded.

“Wouldn’t exactly call ourselves heroes, but… I guess you could say that,” Sanvu shrugged

“Do you… know where…” Pachuku was trailing off as he looked around the small hut, which looked like many of the others. Two small beds laid in a corner of the room, one a little larger, resembling human beds, while small tree stumps and other belongings were strewn about the circular hut, the various windows lining the walls leaking in light from the outside.

“You’re probably wondering about Yoshmo, right?” Axel figured.

Pachuku nodded. “N-Not just cause I knew about you guys before this or anything, but-“

“Did something happen to him?” Sanvu wondered. The Axew shrugged.

“Nothing really wrong, just a part of business with what goes on around us. You see, when Yoshmo went back to his world… we were all supposed to have forgotten him, and I let him go back since his role had ended here. But Yoshmo… in order to bring him back so that I could be comfortable with it… I wished for a way to bring him between his world and our own.”

“Between… worlds?” Sanvu echoed, sounding mildly intrigued. “How long has it been since he… uh… crossed over?”

Axel was silent as he mulled this over. “Like… a while?” Sanvu speculated.

“No, it was actually only a few days ago since he was last here. But he’s… kind of unpredictable, with that? He’s rather erratic and spotty in coming here, which is fine, he’s got his own business to deal with, I get that, so it’s never a bother. But… why did you want to know?”

“Well… I’m looking for a way back to my own world, Abistula. So far we’ve been sourcing other humans to find out how they got here so that I can get back but… everything’s turned out fruitless,” Sanvu explained.

“We… really want to find a way that he can get back. He doesn’t remember a thing about how he got here, so anything would help,” Pachuku piped in, which got Axel nodding.

“Right, I get it, you wanted to find us because you believed we’d be of help. Thing is, I made that wish at the Hill of Universal Order, which is in a place called the Worldcore. That wish… almost broke the universe’s balance… if Yoshmo hadn’t agreed… who knows how things would’ve turned out, we’d probably have never seen one another again…” he shook his head and then stared right at Sanvu. “I’m not so sure it would be able to withstand another wish of that nature, so I’m not sure about that particular idea and I wouldn’t know how to help you in that regard myself…”

Both the Drifters looked glum before Axel started up again. “Not that-that’s totally impossible! I’m sure there’s a way for you to get back to your own world, and if there’s anybody you should talk to, I’m sure there’s someone in particular who I know could help!”

“Who’s… that?” Pachuku wondered, with Axel mounting quite the prideful expression.

“Why, none other than Hydraul-or as the rest of us call him, Hydreigon. Hydraul is just Yoshmo’s nickname for him, mostly because of a fun joke between us. But he’s a large Dragon-type Pokemon; though he only looks like a Hydreigon, since he’s actually the Voice of Life! Or at least one of them, I never bothered to look into it too much.”

“You think Hydraul will help us?” Sanvu speculated. “What makes you say that?”

“Well, because he brought Yoshmo to this world. So if anyone would know how to travel back and forth between human worlds… it should be him, right? That’s my guess, I’m sorry I can’t be more helpful, but I honestly think you should find him. He’ll probably just be in town somewhere, you can’t miss him.”

“That sounds great! We should do that,” Pachuku declared, as the duo prepared to leave.

“Well, I’ve gotta get to Paradise, so, um, good luck in finding a way home! I’ll be in your corner!” Axel called out as they waved their goodbyes, on their way to finding the large dragon.

~~

---

*Music: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity – Dreams and Hopes

They spent a while going to Post Town before finding him atop a large hill where the breeze was particularly cool and fresh.

It wasn’t more than a couple seconds that they approached him, looking exactly like a Hydreigon as expected, with three heads, 6 wings, black and blue colouration, with various pink markings running down his draconic body, ready to ask if he was the one, when his primary head turned around.

“Ah, so you’ve arrived,” he stated, which confused both of them silently.

“Oh, I heard about it from Axel, only a couple of days ago. From the descriptions I was given, I knew you would come here, and I somewhat expected Axel to send you to talk to me. So, I know, yes, about what you’re here for, and why you want to come to me specifically, Sanvu, Pachuku,” the large dragon continued, as he floated only inches from the ground where they stood. He would be imposing if not for the giant goofy grin he wore on his face shortly after saying this.

“And?” Sanvu asked, attempting to follow the reasoning but not knowing what Hydraul meant.

“You’re looking for a way back to your world, yes?” they nodded. “Yes, well, I haven’t been to your world, so I wouldn’t know where it is. Care to provide me its name?”

After it was provided, Hydraul nodded. “I see, yes, I’ve never been there, but I can tell you this. Your appearance in this world… this Pokemon world… it’s very… unprecedented. So I don’t really know how to go about reversing it, since it’s not an affair I was personally involved with, unlike with Yoshmo when the Bittercold threatened our world.”

“So… is there no way back?” Sanvu asked, which prompted Hydreigon to flail slightly, his other heads flapping wildly for a moment.

“Not quite, I don’t believe I can help you personally, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a way. In fact, I’ve been looking for clues ever since I heard about humans coming from different places; it’s hardly a phenomenon exclusive to the Heroes of Legend, but that’s why I’m looking, so that we can get a clearer picture of the situation!”

“So, there is a way back?” Pachuku reckoned, to which Hydraul nodded.

“Yes, I’m sure of it. The clues I’ve been looking into point to your home on the Water Continent… it appears something is brewing there that may give you a hope in returning home, along with a small message I was given by a different Voice of Life,” he closed his eyes. “’The wind may carry one with the spirit of the stars’ was the only hint I was given; it appears that something related to your situation might reveal itself if you go there.”

“That’s… all you can say?” Sanvu figured to which Hydraul nodded.

“Yes, I’m afraid I can’t help any further, but I promise to do all I can to help here. I must also help the Believers with Paradise, so progress may be slow on that front.”

“Alright, well, let’s go back home, Sanvu,” Pachuku figured, “If Hydraul really means that our clue will be there, we should get looking.”

Sanvu nodded, as the duo waved off the large dragon, off on their way. It was as both parted ways that a voice echoed, from nowhere to no one, with only short words to play.

“The light of the sky… its dawn is breaking ever nearer…”

~~