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Chapter Text

    She failed. She recalled Juniper - her trusty Decidueye, her partner - and felt the terror she’d been fighting off with a stick sink it’s claws deep into her. How could it have come to this? She knew Volo was shady from the start - no matter how much she wanted to trust him (all because he looked like Cynthia, how foolish could she be?). He called her his most valued customer, when she never bought anything from him, only Ginter, and seemed to always know where she was. The seeds had been planted all along, she just refused to believe they were there until she tripped over the plant.

    Volo and Giratina stared her down, a manic smile stretching ever wider on the former’s face, and Dawn felt the edges of her vision darken. She couldn’t pass out now , she still had plenty of max revives in her bag, all she had to do was use them. 

    She had to try, she couldn’t fail, not here, not now-

    Everything went black, a loud ringing filling her ears.

    Dawn woke up with a pounding headache and a face full of sand. Grumbling, she raised herself so she was kneeling instead of laying face-first on the beach.

    Wait.

    She looked at her hands - free from the marks and scars she’d earned over her months in Hisui, lacking the long sleeves of her jacket. Past her hands she could see the shorts she was wearing when… she first arrived.

    “Are you alright, my girl?” 

    No, it couldn’t be. A hand appeared in her vision, helping her stand.

    “You gave me quite the shock, falling from the sky like that. But thank goodness, you seem unharmed!”

    She… she was back to where it all began. But how? Actually, wait, she probably knew how. There were only 3 options, and the one that got her in this mess in the first place seemed the most likely.

    “Where am I?” Dawn found herself asking, a perfect mirror to what she did the first go around. 

    “Why, this is Prelude Beach, of course,” Laventon said. Of course. That confirms it, then. “Did the shock of your fall somehow addle your memory?”

    “I…” at that moment, Dawn decided a few things.

1. While still being vague about it, she would clear the confusion that she’d lost her memory. It would hopefully smooth things out going forward.
2. She would use her actual name this time. Again, to smooth things over and also perhaps help a certain someone with his memory issues.
3. She’d try collecting the other plates not given to her by the Nobles at any given opportunity, and maybe try and steal the one Volo had
4. She would mess with Kamado as much as possible while still following orders.

“No, sir-” that felt weird, calling him that “-it’s just, I’ve never been here before. I was in my home, and now I’m here…”

Laventon hummed, “Your clothing is unusual. I suppose you wouldn’t have any acquaintances here, given you’ve never been to this place before…. You’re in quite the pickle here, my friend. You’ve no idea where you are, and nowhere to spend the night. Are you quite sure you’ll be able to survive?”

“I’ll find a way, I guess…” Dawn said, looking down. She knew how to craft most of the items she used by heart, but without a kit they would be near impossible to assemble.

“I see… No gentleman would abandon a person in such need! Though I must say, despite the fact that we’ve just met, I can’t shake the feeling we’ve spoken before…”

Oh? Was that a glimmer of hope that not all was lost? That not all her hard-forged bonds had been erased completely?

Stars, was this how Ingo felt when they first met?  

The 3 starters all chirped in near unison, with Rowlet giving her a bit of an odd look as his stare lingered on her.

“I’d nearly forgotten! I’d just caught up with these 3 runaways when you fell, almost as if they knew you’d be here. Ah, but do you know what a Pokemon is?” Laventon asked.

“Yes, I worked with them a lot, back where I came from,” that was vague, wasn’t it?

“That’s a relief! Though you fell from the sky, it seems we have some common ground. These 3 belong to me, mysterious as they are… ah, and what might your name be?”

“Dawn,” she replied simply. 

“Oh, but I do apologize! I’ve yet to even introduce myself. My name is Laventon, and I’m somewhat of a Pokemon Professor. I seek to deepen our understanding of Pokemon, such as-” 

The 3 starters chose that second to run off. Laventon yelped, and ran after them, asking for help as he followed them.

Dawn sighed, feet already taking her to where her phone - well, the Arcphone, landed. It beeped, and 2 messages appeared.

Seek out all Pokemon.

Stop Volo’s plan.

Perhaps it would be best to hide the 2nd message, for now.

What followed played out about the same as it did before, her catching the 3 starters with ease, following Laventon into the village, and meeting Rei, Cyllene, and Beni. She danced around questions when she could, leaving the answers vague but having the undertone of her knowing more than she let on within them, should the people she was talking to care to look deeper. 

Entering her house felt strange, without the odd knicknacks she’d collected on the windowsill or the machines for a Rotom (really, how did those end up here? And how did Ginter get them?) scattered about.

Dawn slipped off her sandals, and collapsed into her bed with a sigh.

Then she grabbed her pillow and screamed into it.

Why? Why was this the easiest solution Arceus could think of? What, because he’d done it before? Why not interfere directly?

Everything - the nearly completed Pokedex, her friendships, her team was all gone. She had to start all over again. When - not if, she would be sure of it this time - she saw Arceus again, Dawn was going to kill him. Then she’d bring him back to life, find a way to get her mother and Emmet here so they could get some hits in too, then kill him again.

The only bright side was that she knew how things worked now, where certain Pokemon were, so this whole mess could be dealt with much faster this time.

Through hell or high water, she would stop Volo.

Chapter Text

    That fateful day, though he didn’t know what it entirely entailed yet, Ingo had woken up with a sense of dread weighing on his shoulders like a mountain had just been dropped onto them. No one else seemed to be weighed down like the fate of the world was (once again) going to be decided later that day, and Lady Sneasler was fine as well. 

    It was just like that morning before-

    And he wandered off, despite-

    He mostly stayed around the Coronet Highlands, both to have something to do rather than stand at the training grounds until someone walked up to him, and should something actually happen once again at the now-ruins at the peak, he would be nearby for assistance.

    Though, he reflected later as shadows tumbled unnaturally down the mountain like smoke and he stumbled up the path to the top, had he been in the village, he would have had some warning of what was coming.

    He arrived only in time to see Akari’s last Pokemon be called back into its ball and collapse to her knees as if she had been struck, to see the manic man in front of her, before the world faded to black.

    If he was being quite honest, Ingo was getting tired of waking up without a clear idea of what had happened before he fell asleep.

    How had he gotten back to his hut at the base of the Highlands? Very few knew where it was tucked away, and the most likely option, Lady Sneasler, hadn’t been around. Switching tracks, he walked over to the calendar set on the wall. June. Why was it June? It was just the end of August, how long had he-

    Before he could work himself into a panic, his Gliscor popped out of his Pokeball and carefully trotted over, tapping him in the side with a gentle claw.

    “Gliscor… today is… it’s the 10th of June, isn’t it?”

    The scorpion Pokemon nodded.

    “But… just a minute ago… it was the end of August, we were at the peak of Mount Coronet. Akari-” he cut himself off. Gliscor looked more confused as he went on, full on tilting his head at the mentioned name.

    “The 10th of June… that’s when she arrived isn’t it?” Ingo began to pace, “If it’s June again when it was just August, then it’s happened again. I’ve switched tracks to a time I’m not supposed to be.” He growled slightly, “How many times will my schedule change before…”

    A gentle knock on the door snapped him out of his thoughts. Right, once a week Irida would check on the Wardens, and today was the day they had agreed upon this week.

    He opened the door to Irida nervously smiling.

    “Good morning, Ingo! I hope you’re doing well, may I come inside?”

    He returned Gliscor to his Pokeball, as there wouldn’t be enough space for the 3 of them and the clan leader wasn’t always comfortable around the scorpion Pokemon. His mind wasn’t fully on track with the conversation on hand, however.

    If he was back to the day Akari had first arrived, then something had to have happened for the powers that be to have taken such actions. Something big. Unfortunately, he couldn’t get a good view of the temple before he was sent back. So, he went through things part by part.

    Waking up with the feeling of something bad about to happen and being on edge all day. The shadows tumbling down the mountain. Akari and her well trained team - better than most in this region, better than him . It seemed, what with their being from a different time and place, that he and Akari were the only ones who knew how to actually train multiple Pokemon at once. A man smiling maniacally, dressed in- was it white or gray? White, most likely. Blond hair.

    Conclusion: a man with blond hair had done something at the temple atop Mount Coronet, and Akari had attempted to stop him, only to be defeated herself.

    Ingo inwardly grimaced. There was only one person he knew who fit the description. He didn’t trust the merchant himself, but tried to be cordial when they crossed paths. Or, more accurately put, the merchant seeked him out, wanting to know anything about the rift that Ingo may have remembered since they last spoke.

    Just what had Volo done?

    When he fully tuned back into the conversation, he was bidding Irida farewell, though as she turned to leave, she stopped.

    “Though we haven’t spoken since last week, I can’t help but feel we’ve already had this conversation…”

    There were many things he wanted to say to that, but didn’t. Though he rarely visited the Pearl Clan settlement, he knew of the whispers circulating around about him. The last thing Ingo needed was more people calling his sanity into question, especially when Palina’s own status as a Warden was being questioned. 

    He simply hummed, closed the door, and went about his day. There were things to be done, and he knew Akari could take care of herself until they were to cross tracks.

    That night, Dawn glared at the ceiling, thinking.

    Though she had been brought back, there wasn’t much she could do. The mysterious lightning and the frenzies of the Nobles were out of her control. The only thing she could do was stop them as quickly as possible.

    The one thing she could change was Volo’s plot. It was just a matter of getting the plates without drawing his attention to them, and also taking the one in his possession.

    …Then what?

    Would he attack her in a last ditch effort to gain them all? Would Giratina find a way to inform him of the plates anyhow?

    What if he didn’t, and she was never able to call Giratina to this world? Their revenge plot foiled, they wouldn’t show their face and risk drawing the attention of Arceus without some sort of backup or hideaway.

    Dawn grumbled, shifting slightly on her back. She could burn that bridge when she got there.

    Leaving any of the plates with someone else was out of the question. Even if she felt that the person could adequately protect them, it would put a target on their back. She wouldn’t do that to them.

    …it was too quiet in here, now. There should be the soft breathing of her team, all across the small house. She should be able to reach out and tap one of their sides - one of them always slept next to her, and they used to glare at one another to see who could until she set a schedule up. It was a Wednesday, so that meant Bismuth would have been by her side, probably curled up on top of her stomach. It made it hard to move, but the Sylveon was always so happy, so Dawn never moved him. 

    In an attempt to comfort herself, she curled onto her side - knowing her back would yell at her for it later - and hugged herself the best she could. She had to get up early tomorrow.

    It didn’t stop her from missing all that had been taken from her, though.

Chapter Text

    No matter how often she did it, Dawn never liked waking up early. If she could, she would get up at 8, and part of the reason was that a lot of the time she had trouble falling asleep. Whether it be from a restlessness (even if she was dead tired) she could never explain, or waking up in the middle of the night and staying awake for at least another hour. And back in Sinnoh, it suited her just fine. Most places didn’t open early and post-Championship, there weren’t many urgent matters Dawn had to attend to before noon.

    Hisui, however, was different. She was expected to be up at sunrise and to report into the Hall by 7. Yes, Dawn understood that, especially as they got farther from the village, it took a few hours to travel from area to area and the Survey Corps wanted, needed, as much sunlight as possible, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t complain about it.

    So, cursing under her breath with bags under her eyes, Dawn walked with Rei to the Galaxy Hall.

    Same spiel as last time, catch 3 Pokemon, oh the horror , don’t die, and if you mess up we’ll throw you to the wolves.

    Laventon stopped her before she could leave, and offered up one of the Pokemon she’d caught when she first arrived. It was only natural that she walked up to Rowlet. The little owl chirped happily, jumping up and landing on her arm. His talons dug gently into her skin where he held on, and she scratched him under the chin. 

    “Hello, Rowlet. I think I’ll call you…” she was never good at naming things (see: Yacko the Porygon, Pebble the Geodude, W the Combee… the list went on), so she just went with, “Juniper.”

    The Rowlet trilled happily, leaning into her hand more, and she could have sworn she saw a flash of recognition in his eyes.

    “...what are you staring at?” Dawn asked, the little bubble that had formed around Trainer and starter having popped once she noticed the gobsmacked expressions on Rei and Laventon’s faces. It was just a shame she couldn’t take out her Arcphone and snap a picture of them.

    “How?” was all Laventon said.

    Ah. Right. All the progress she’d made of helping people understand Pokemon had gone down the drain.

    “Treating Pokemon with care and respect will make them like you. Who would have guessed,” she deadpanned. “Come on, we’ve got stuff to do.”

    That seemed to snap them out of their trance, and the trio, along with a few members of the Security Corps, headed out of the village.

    Dawn was… odd. 

    It took them about a half hour to reach the Fieldlands camp, and Rei was about to impart some knowledge on how to capture Pokemon when she started to walk off.

    When stopped, she simply said, “Where I’m from, a 10 year old could do this in 15 minutes.”

    She proceeded to do it in 5, and avoided detection the entire time.

    And here Rei thought he could be the cool mentor friend he’d seen in books.

    Laventon then had to explain that, no, she couldn’t stay out and catch more Pokemon, she’d completed the task and they needed to report back. But Rei would have preferred if they’d stayed, because the odd looks they received made him want to crawl into a hole and not come out for a week. They’d been gone for little over an hour, how could they be back already? It wasn’t even noon yet.

    Cyllene, though she didn’t really show it, was beyond impressed. This strange girl in odd clothes had fallen from the sky and proceeded to outdo in a single morning what most experienced Survey Corp members could accomplish in 2 weeks.

    Dawn was admitted into the Survey Corps and given a uniform and ID card, and rather than having dinner together as expected, she, Rei, and Laventon had lunch at the Wallflower.

    What was also odd was her spice tolerance. Rei looked on with trepidation at a bowl of rice loaded with sauce and other spices, that was a color of red that should not exist in nature. His eyes were watering across the table, and even Laventon, who was sitting farther away from her than he was, was trying to back away from the offending dish.

    “I’m just saying,” she paused to take a bite of the Monstrosity, “having the only restaurant in town only be open for Galaxy Team members seems like a bad idea for business. And what’s with all the potato mochi? I, uh, used to eat it a lot when I was younger, and now I can barely stand the stuff. But it’s the main item on the menu!”

    “Well,” Laventon coughed into his arm, “potatoes grow well in the soil here, and plenty grow at once, so in a growing village they’re essential until we have enough to start varying what we grow.”

    Dawn hummed in agreement, but still didn’t seem too pleased. She caught Rei’s eye, following his gaze to her bowl of rice, and smiled. “Do you want to try some? Here!”

    What was he supposed to do? She was already holding her chopsticks out, a small clump of the rice held between them. Mentally starting his will, he leaned forward.

    It.. wasn’t bad. For a moment, all there was was a moment of clarity, of a symphony of flavor mixing together perfectly well. Then the spice kicked in, some of the more powdery parts of whatever concoction she’d put in stuck to the back of his throat, and Rei started coughing. This was it. His death by spice. Not how he thought he was going to go, but-

    Someone held a cup out to him, and Rei drank greedily, despite someone in the background saying “it’ll just make it worse!”. Maybe it would, but the brief seconds of relief outweighed that. 

    When Rei finally felt like his mouth was no longer on fire, through teary eyes he saw Laventon’s worried face, and Dawn’s apologetic one.

    “Sorry about that… to me, it’s not really that spicy, so I didn’t think it would be that bad for you.”

    “‘That bad’?” Rei said weakly, “Look at it! It’s practically glowing red!”

    Finally seeming to notice the aura of doom radiating off her bowl, Dawn chuckled nervously. “Guess my friends really threw off my perception of spice, eh?”

    Rei decided at that moment he did not want to ever have a meal with her friends.

    The rest of the day was spent ‘exploring’ the village, meeting its inhabitants, and getting a jump start on the crafting lessons.

    When she finally stepped into her house for the night- around 6- Dawn let Juniper out of his Pokeball and grabbed some paper. Time to plan… and see if…

    “Juniper… do you remember me? That we’ve done this before?”

    The Rowlet walked up to her and chirped with a determined look in his eyes.

    She let out a shaky sigh of relief, gathering the bird into her arms, “Thank goodness… I thought… it felt like I was just replacing you. But this time we’ll stop him. We know what to expect now. We should plot out where hard to find Pokemon are, but first, dinner.”

    Dawn set Juniper down and walked over to the counter, where she’d placed some ingredients Laventon had thankfully given her. It wasn’t much, just enough for the night, but it would do. She cut up some berries and pot a pot on the hearth, humming along to a song Cynthia liked to play on the piano, and at one point Juniper had jumped up onto her shoulder to watch.

    It was a quiet night, and a good break from what had happened and what was to come.

Chapter Text

    Resisting the urge to walk off and begin survey work, Dawn watched as Rei demonstrated a roll. It had saved her life countless times, don’t get her wrong, but every day that now passed felt like hearing a story you’ve been told a million times repeated once again. Thankfully it was over quick, though Rei still had some things he wanted to tell her, so he was waiting up ahead.

    She walked past the rocks that shielded the camp, and veered left. Dawn could feel his, along with the professor’s, confused stare, but paid it no mind. Being a public figure for 3 years built up immunity to that.

    Hopefully, she thought as she had her Pokemon collect berries and break apart tumblestone ore, an Eevee would show up near the one pond in Horseshoe Plains. According to some villagers they were hard to find in that location, but she had gotten lucky and found one, along with a Bidoof.

    Pausing in the grass, she thought for a moment. Eevees in the wild were prone to bolting if you so much as breathed wrong in their direction. But the ones in space-time distortions went after her on sight . What era had they been pulled from, that they weren’t scared of humans? Were they from modern times, sucked back just like she was to a strange land? The presence of Shieldon and Cranidos, along with Porygon, seemed to confirm it, but…

    No time for that, a duo of Shinx were starting to get suspicious. Quickly, Dawn threw 2 Pokeballs at them, then started off closer to the trees near the pond.

    A small patch of brown, with big ears- there! Two Eevees! Dawn hid in the nearest patch of grass, throwing an oran berry to bring one closer. One did, while the other slept on. Thankfully, she caught both without much trouble, though the sleeping one broke out at one point.

    Now to decide who to keep…

    She crouched down, grabbing the Pokeballs and an oran berry. Best to do it one at a time. Dawn released the first Eevee she had caught, sitting still while holding the berry out. After a brief moment of hesitation, it walked over and ate it right out of her hand. Then, completely shocking her, the Eevee nuzzled her hand. Perhaps- Bismuth had been the first Eevee she’d caught-

    “Hello there…” she cooed, petting the Eevee’s head, “Do you mind if I call you Bismuth?”

    The newly dubbed Bismuth chirped. Despite that, he made no moves to get closer, unlike Juniper. Perhaps Juniper was the only one who truly remembered because he had been the last to fall? Would the rest of her team only just recognize her?

    She sighed, petting Bismuth one last time before returning him. She supposed she should count her blessings.

-

    Several hours later, both herself and the hodgepodge team she’d assembled (only Juniper and Bismuth would be permanently staying) exhausted, Dawn stumbled back into the camp.

    “Where did you go?” Laventon asked, fretting over the scratches that had yet to heal.

    “Off to do survey work, what else?” Dawn responded, putting away some items she wouldn’t be needing anytime soon.

    Rei grumbled about the things he wanted to teach her, to which she said cryptically, “I probably already knew what you were going to say.”

-

    A single day’s work had bumped her up to 2 stars. She’d caught (then released most of them, there was no way she could take care of all of them) almost 90 Pokemon.

    Dawn was worried she’d have to scrape everyone’s jaws off the floor. Honestly, the bar for the first few stars was so low, just about anyone could do it.

    …alright. Anyone from her time could do it. The people here were terrified of Bidoof for goodness sake!

    Pockets much heavier with cash than they had been when she set out, and the promise of better rewards to come, the professor and survey team members left the Hall for a very late dinner.

-

    The next morning, after beating Rei in a bit of a one sided battle, formally meeting Zisu, and dodging Volo like the plague, Dawn set off towards the bridge where Rei and Mai were waiting.

    …After about an hour of catching Pokemon.

    “So, do you feel confident that you can lead your Pokemon in battle?” Mai asked, not noticing what was either light fear or amusement in Rei’s eye.

    “Of course,” Dawn replied, “it’s basically what I did for a living, where I come from.”

    Dawn proved her point very quickly using Bismuth. 

    “You really aren’t one of the usual Galaxy buffoons if you could defeat my partner…” the Diamond Warden said, trying very hard to hide her astonishment. 

    “Now then, what’s the problem you mentioned?” Dawn asked, scratching Bismuth under the chin. If she was right, he would be learning Baby-doll Eyes soon, and after that it was only a matter of time until he evolved into a Sylveon.

    “I need someone to deal with an alpha Pokemon causing trouble on Deertrack Heights.”

    “Alright. I’ll help you out as soon as I can.”

    “I must ask, do you already know about almighty Sinnoh?”

    However, Dawn was already gone.

-

    A day passed before she was seen again, climbing the slope to the Heights.

    “Sorry about that!” Dawn nervously chuckled, “but I kind of got sidetracked… Caught a shiny Stantler, though!”

    “You are here, and that is what counts,” Mai hummed. She turned to the open area behind her, “This is where I’ve long paid tribute to a special Pokemon. That,” almost on cue, a large Kricketune ran in, “is not it. It’s only a troublemaker, here to disturb the peace.”

    “Leave it to me,” Dawn grabbed Juniper’s Pokeball.

    Like many foes who came before and after it, the Kricketune did not stand a chance against the Dartrix.

    “You really are an impressive one, aren’t you?” the Warden asked, though it was really a statement. This strange girl who fell from the rift was a whole other class to the people of this region, taking to Pokemon care and training like a fish to water. It was almost unheard of, before her such strength and bonds would have taken years of hesitant cultivation.

    Well. Aside from one other person, that is, who arrived in equally mysterious circumstances. 

    Wyrdeer appeared, and got almost close enough to touch, before walking off.

    “I’d say the great Wyrdeer has taken a liking to you. That is fortunate.”

    With the blessing of the Diamond clan, the Heights camp was established, and another night of potato mochi for dinner was in order.

    Wonderful . At this point Dawn would rather have the burnt… things Byron called food, and that was saying something.

-

    As she was getting ready for bed, Dawn let Juniper and Bismuth out. She finished carefully pulling twigs from the Eevee’s fur, and suddenly he began to glow.

    A few moments later, she had an armful of happy Sylveon.

    “Look at you!” she cheered, “I’m so proud of you!”

    That night, she slept with Bismuth curled atop her stomach with Juniper keeping watch from his perch on the windowsill.

    Just one more step towards normalcy…

Chapter Text

“There you are!” Rei smiled as Dawn stepped out of her house, “Let’s hurry to-”

“Look who’s being punctual!”

Oh, no . Adaman and Irida were back at each other’s throats again. One thing, among many, Dawn did not miss.

The clan leaders argued, either ignoring or not noticing the crowd that was building up as they argued over who’s version of almighty Sinnoh was correct. Spoiler alert: they were both right.

Putting on her best ‘customer service’ smile, Dawn walked over to them, stopping a few feet away.

“How about instead of causing a scene first thing in the morning in a public square, you agree to disagree and move on with your lives? Some of us are trying to get to work, and you’re standing in front of the door,” she chirped, cheery voice doing nothing to mask the murder in her eyes. Dawn had a headache, and she wouldn’t let these 2, no matter how good friends they may become, make it worse.

The clan leaders blushed, admonished, and seemed to finally take notice of the people gathered around. Adaman recovered first, coughing into his fist and making a passing comment about wasting time, and Irida fired back that he started it , and both walked into the building.

“You can feel the tension between those 2…” Rei muttered, taken aback at how quickly Dawn had cut down their argument.

Almost as if she’s done it before…

…Hasn’t she?

Dawn climbed up the steps to Kamado’s office in the midst of the 3 leaders’ debate on what to do with Kleavor. She scanned the room as she walked up, trying to think about where Kamado would keep the Fist Plate. His office or his home are the most likely options. She’d have to break in at night to have a proper look though.

“This is Dawn,” the man in question introduced, “the newest member of our Survey corps.”

For a brief moment, a look passed over the clan leaders’ eyes like they were expecting something else, but it was gone as soon as it came.

After a brief but really unnecessary introduction from the leaders, Kamado asked, “Why not send this one to study Kleavor before deciding what must be done?”

Both her experience and the concept of Pokeballs were called into question, Kamado quickly smoothing things over before giving her her new mission: to study Kleavor. But just because he had helped her this time doesn’t mean she wasn’t moving all his furniture a foot to the left when she got the chance.

Vespa, her Vespiquen in this time, wasn’t the first female Combee she’d seen. The first one she accidentally scared away, but the 2nd one had been caught. And just like Bismuth, once caught, ate out of her hand but didn’t go out of her way to get closer. Through a bit of guesswork, she took it to mean this: I recognize you, and know you are good, but do not know why. Show me that you are what my heart tells me you are .

Or something along those lines.

Either way, it was several days before she got to Lian in the Heartwood, having gotten distracted by traveling and filling in the Pokedex.

Lian’s poor Goomy didn’t stand a chance against Bismuth, a single Fairy Wind striking him down.

…Maybe she’d overtrained her team.

Irida showed up, and after a brief conversation she and Lian set out to gather Kleavor’s favorite foods. Dawn started the trek back to the Heights Camp, inwardly wishing she could call upon Wyrdeer.

“Might I suggest you take Kleavor’s favorite foods and throw them at the Pokemon?” Laventon asked with a smile, after about half an hour of looking over his research.

“As for what to call them, how about Teatime Balls?”

“Why wouldn’t you simply call them Laventon Balls, Professor?” Rei asked, unaware of what he just released. In the name of being a respectable lady with a few memories knocked loose, she’d refrained from saying what she was about to last time.

This time, Dawn held no such qualms.

A sly smile stretched across Dawn’s face, “Are you sure you want to tell people you’ve been throwing Laventon’s balls at Pokemon, Rei?”

Rei spluttered, a blush spreading across his face, and Laventon and Dawn nearly doubled over in laughter. The young Survey corps member playfully batted at her with a rolled up paper, telling her to go back to Irida and Lian and let them know of the plan.

As Wyrdeer gave her the Mind Plate, Dawn leveled Mai and Adaman with a deathly stare, “Tell no one of this.”

“Why?” Mai asked suspiciously.

“A Noble Pokemon, descended from one who helped a hero, giving someone a strange plate? If the wrong person heard of this, they’d stop at nothing to get their hands on it. To say nothing if more exist! Who knows what this thing is for, and if it’s important enough for a Noble to hold onto, I don’t want to see what a thief could do with it!”

“I suppose that makes sense…” Adaman said, holding his hand to his head. Why did he feel like this had already happened, but wildly different than what was now transpiring? Was this Almighty Sinnoh trying to tell him something? If so, what?

Galloping around on Wyrdeer (who, thankfully, didn’t seem too put off by her almost-threatening his Warden earlier) was something Dawn sorely missed. It cut down on time spent wandering, and a round trip from the edge of the Heartwood to the Grueling Grove only took a few hours, now. Once in the grove, after a bit of poking around with Juniper and Vespa (now evolved) watching her back, she found the Plate the alpha Vespiquen had found, somewhat buried in the ground.

Something she was also able to do was head to the Sandgem Flats, after storming past the alpha Snorlax that waited by the land route. She nearly cried at the sight of the Shellos and Gastrodon roaming about the shore, catching a few of each. They were just… so cute, so powerful. Marina, her beloved Gastrodon, nearly took out the frenzied origin Dialga in one hit, and she couldn’t have been prouder.

Speaking of, the newly-dubbed Marina nuzzled into her hand, warbling happily. That time, sitting around the campfire with her team as they rested before facing Kleavor, she did cry.

Irida’s Glaceon fell to 2 Rock Smashes from Bismuth, and the Pearl Clan leader finally conceded that Dawn could take care of Kleavor’s frenzy.

Though she did get a few minor scrapes from flying shrapnel, Dawn was relatively unharmed. A few Water Pulses from Marina when she got the chance to battle kept the Noble stunned long enough to throw the balms, and as the final one hit, the energy from the lightning dissipated back into the sky. Dawn gave Irida and Lian the same “don’t tell a soul” spiel after receiving the Insect Plate.

“Then the strange lightning… It indeed was almighty Sinnoh’s power?! Then were we even right to interfere?” Lian angrily asked.

“Who’s to say,” Dawn shrugged. “But if it really was, then do you think it would hurt the Nobles like that? Up close and personal, I could see the panic in Kleavor’s eyes. Even he didn’t know what was going on. And having so much strange energy coursing through your veins and causing you to rampage isn’t pleasant for anyone.”

“She’s right,” Irida said, “Kleavor has protected the Pearl Clan for years. Would power sent by Sinnoh drive him to turn on and attack all those around it? What Dawn has accomplished needed to be done."

One unpleasant conversation with Volo with the Plates hidden as deep as they could be in her satchel later, Dawn, the Professor, and Rei were once again having dinner at the Wallflower. The boys, thankfully, seemed to finally take heed of her distaste for potato mochi, and got her a bowl of noodles.

Though it was a bit odd that Beni pulled her aside afterwards, asking her just what exactly she put in her rice the other day…

Eh, she’d find out soon enough. She had a ticket to her bed with her name on it.

A few days later, after the Survey team had set off to the Mirelands, a new item was added to the Wallflower’s menu. Or, more accurately, a challenge , open to (surprisingly) anyone bold enough to take it.

It was called the Dawn Special, and it consisted of a singular bowl of rice. Anyone who could eat it without devolving into a coughing fit or needing a drink would get 2 free meals. Zisu and Ginter were the only ones to succeed.

Chapter Text

    Laventon gave Dawn a knowing nod, and the girl beamed before running off. She always seemed to know where to go, even without her map. Almost as if she was retracing her steps…

    Ah, best not to worry about it. Dawn would get to the ruins… eventually.

    Several days passed, and Dawn was ready to throttle every Carnivine and Paras in existence. Every time she hid from or fainted one, 3 more would take their place. Several times her cover had nearly been blown because they just would not give up her trail.

    On the plus side, she’d caught her beloved Hermit - an alpha Silgoo, and set up a second camp. All they needed to do was wait for the rain, and he could evolve.

    Dawn paused. She should probably get the ruin wall piece back before heading to the Solaceon Ruins. It might just put her in Calaba’s good graces. Well, as good as they could be as a first impression. 

    Juniper, now a Decidueye, gave a worried hoot, and Dawn squawked, trying to save her food from burning.

    “I’m Calaba of the Pearl Clan. Warden Calaba to… where did you get that?” 

    “Oh, this?” Dawn shifted the awkward weight in her arms, “I found what seemed like the remains of a campsite, and these 3 women thought I was after them, and the one called Coin attacked me. I defeated her, though, and they gave me this before running off. I thought you might know what it is?”

    “Yes, I… that’s the wall fragment that had been stolen by the Miss Fortune sisters. You’re that new Galaxy Team recruit, aren’t you? Why go out of your way to return this?” Calaba asked, gently taking the fragment from her and placing it back into the wall.

    “It was just the right thing to do, I suppose,” Dawn scratched the back of her head. This conversation had gone completely off the rails, in a way, and she wasn’t quite sure how to respond. “You don’t need to know who someone is to want to help them, even if I didn’t know it at the time. Back where I’m from, it’s not even a question to lend a hand.”

    “Good as new,” Calaba said mostly to herself, “let me read what it says…”

    From where he stood by the entrance to the ruins, Volo frowned. He didn’t expect the old Warden to take to Dawn so quickly…

    Ever since the day they’d met, she’d dodged and danced around him at every chance she could, slipping away before he could talk to her.

    Did she know something he didn’t? Could she see past his smiles? How?

    He scoffed, walking away. There went his chance to test her battle prowess.

    It didn’t go unnoticed by Dawn that Volo was absent.

    Ursaluna was quickly calmed, a Water Pulse from Marina washing away the powder clinging to his fur. It seemed word had (discreetly) spread through the clans, and Calaba made no comment about the Earth Plate, which Dawn quickly tucked into her bag.

    It gave her an idea, and she smiled softly to herself as she turned back towards the nearest camp.

    Potato mochi. Why was it always potato mochi? At least this time it led Ursaluna to Arezu, ( don’t think about Commander Mars, don’t think about it, don’t- ) though Dawn could have found her without the scent trail.

    “You know, I’ve heard communication helps a lot,” Dawn quipped, sliding off Ursaluna’s back.

    “How did you find me? And how did you know about that?” Arezu asked, carefully shifting her leg.

    “One, Ursaluna, two, it’s a bit obvious, isn’t it?” Dawn smiled as Calaba walked up, followed by Adaman.

    But that wasn’t quite right, wasn’t it? The confusion from something that didn’t, couldn’t have happened and the pain in her ankle caused Arezu to miss some of Calaba’s words, much to the concern of the elder Warden.

    Lilligant was by no means a pushover during the time Dawn dodged around her and threw balms, but the 4 times effective Air Slashes from Vespa felled the Lady of the Ridge quickly.

    It was… a bit sad, honestly, but Dawn was glad to be out of the Mirelands for the time being. No more cleaning mud out of everything for an hour, for a while.

    Either way, things were a bit ahead of schedule, which meant Dawn had some time to put her plans in place.

    The next morning, Kamado walked into his office and paused. He blinked, and everything was still the same.

    ‘The same’, meaning that everything had been moved.

    Nothing was glaringly out of place, and some would mistake it for nothing having changed. But Kamado had worked in this office for years now, and could move around it without looking. Except now, everything - from his desk and the shelves to the few wall decorations - was moved about a foot to the left. Worryingly, he noted as he went to start moving everything back, a message had been scratched onto the surface of the desk. Not large enough to take up the whole thing, and it was tucked to the side, but still very present, mostly due to how it was etched in. The letters were scratched in with jagged lines and made it impossible to discern the handwriting. Whoever did this did it knowing there was a real chance they could get caught.

    The most disturbing part was the message itself, simply stating, “I KNOW WHAT YOU DID”.

    Clearly, the Security Corps was in need of better training if this could happen unnoticed…

    So off put by the message and annoyed at the moved furniture, the Commander failed to notice the strange Plate missing from where it was tucked behind some papers in one of the shelves.

    Dawn’s hands shook as she returned to her house. Breaking into Kamado’s office the previous night was part of it, but there were bigger Magikarp to fry at that moment.

    Several days of bartering, trading, and spending that left a dent in her wallet all added up to this.

    She’d bought a fridge from Ginter, but like every item meant to be possessed by a Rotom, it wouldn’t work properly until one did. For now it just occasionally spat out cold air that would quickly dissipate once one of the doors was opened. But it would have to do until she caught some Rotom in the Highlands.

    What was more important was that she had ingredients now. She had flour, sugar, vegetables, and yeast . No milk yet though, but she’d heard a traveler from Johto had brought a Miltank with them. Soon .

    She’d work with what she had, but what to make stumped her. She could make a basic pan bread, but she wanted something interesting . She’d been surviving off of berries and mochi for months. Dawn wanted variety, spice and sweetness.

    Her eyes drifted to her bag. Sweetness…

    Could she try and make a crepe? But what she had in mind needed cream, which she didn’t have. Jam could be made, but she wasn’t sure what she could substitute cornstarch with.

    …Fuck it. Something was better than nothing, and she was hungry.

    Two hours of trial and error led her to the saddest crepe she’d ever seen, but it was the tastiest thing she’d eaten in months . Dawn really had to pat herself on the back for the Razz berry jam, though it felt like physical pain to use such rare berries. The other slices of different berries tucked throughout were good, but she would’ve preferred if the whole thing was a universal temperature. 

    As a whole though, it was enough for a late breakfast, and everyone started somewhere. Now if only she had some tomatoes and cheese…

Chapter Text

    Dawn took in the sprawling hills leading down to the coast with a smile. She took a deep breath of the cool, salty air, and in that moment all she could think about was Sunyshore. The solar panels attached to everything, long days spent on the beach, messing around with Flint and Volkner. Dawn wondered how long it would be until the city was established. The Electric Gym Leader had become something of a brother, in recent years, teaching her bits and bobs about mechanics. One time, on a bad day where he couldn’t get his hands to stop shaking long enough to work, Volkner had talked her through building a small device that would play Lucian’s least favorite song on loop, somehow generating power for itself in the process. She didn’t quite understand it, but it made him happy to see her working with the metal, and even happier later when Flint sent them the video when the device was installed and Lucian nearly tore his room apart trying to find it.

    He never did.

    Dawn sighed, closing her eyes, and to anyone else it would have looked like she was just taking a moment to let it all in, the beauty of the coastlands and the gentle waves. She stuffed down the memory with a broom, back into the precariously packed closest it tumbled out of. She didn’t have time for this. There wasn’t time to think of happier days when the frenzied Pokemon and Volo’s betrayal were breathing down her neck.

    Sighing once more, she walked over to where Irida was waiting.

    Irida’s Glaceon and Eevee ( this isn’t a double battle why are you- ) were almost comically crushed by Juniper, their shared weakness to Fighting type attacks making them easy targets for Triple Arrows.

    “You see, we have a Warden in the coastlands - a lovely woman named Palina. But she tends no lord or lady, and she won’t raise a successor to fill the late lord’s seat, either. Some people have started to question her worthiness to be a Warden at all,” Irida said, looking down. Dawn carefully didn’t say anything, letting the Clan leader continue.

    “I have a favor to ask of you-” isn’t that what everyone asks, though? - “Please help her raise the Pokemon she looks after into a true heir to his father - the late lord! You’ll be able to find Lina up on the headland.”

    Dawn nodded, and took off down the hill, and the ‘ in 5 to 7 business days’ went unsaid.

    In all honesty, Dawn wasn’t as big of a fan of the beach as she made it sound. Too many people had walked up to her, either wanting conversation or battle with the Champion, but at least most of the time she had someone there to ward them off. In the peak of summer the sand could get unbearably hot, and the only time she was happy to go was at sunset. But the thing was there were only so many places to hang out in Sunyshore, so she had to work with what she had. 

    No, nope, no more thinking about Sunyshore. Don’t think about that time Flint got a container of ice cream and waffles for the 4 of them - Barry had tagged along that day - and immediately dropped all the plastic knives he had grabbed in the sand, making them tear the thing apart with their forks. There was a movie on the beach, and she could see Candice closer to the projector-

    Anyway . She was making good progress, having explored all the way down to Sand’s Reach. There wasn’t much else she could do around those parts without Basculegion, so she went back towards the Beachside Camp, then to Veilstone Cape beyond.

    She paused, halfway up the slope. She had done it last time…

    A few jumps that would make an RPG player proud later, and Dawn was on the opposite side of the cape.

    Dawn dismounted Wyrdeer, looking at Turnback cave with an expression the Noble deer couldn’t unravel. The Galaxy Team member walked off, Wyrdeer lingering longer than usual just to make sure she didn’t accidentally walk off the cliff.

    “If you were going to guess, which of these Growlithe would you say is the previous lord’s child?” Palina asked, looking at the 2 pups next to her.

    “It’s the small one, isn’t it? Expect the unexpected, and all that,” Dawn replied.

    “You’re correct. Many assume the larger one, but no, this quiet Growlithe is the child of the previous lord.”

    “I can’t imagine what he must be going through, witnessing his father’s death, and then being expected to replace him… You too, for having to deal with others pushing you to train him when he’s clearly not healed.”

    That gave Palina pause, for a moment. Someone she barely knew, hitting the nail right on the head from one conversation. Understanding her plight in a way her fellow clanmates refused to comprehend. She nodded solemnly, “I could never bring myself to do that. I will continue to let this little one live his life as he wishes. Might I ask your purpose in coming to the coastlands?”

    “There’s been rumors of strange occurrences on Firespit Island, the previous lord’s seat. I’ve been sent to investigate it. Once that’s done, I’ll be documenting the Pokemon in this area for the Pokedex,” Dawn waved the aforementioned book around before placing it back in her satchel.

    “You’ll need the aid of Basculegion to cross the sea. You should speak to Iscan of the Diamond Clan, he should be able to help you. He lives on Aipom Hill, I imagine you’ll find him there.”

    Dawn, from further up the hill and out of view, gave some Aipom some Oran and Pecha berries in return for messing with Volo. The Pokemon ran off, one distracting him while the other made off with his hat and some items from his bag. The merchant gave chase, and Dawn gave a shaky sigh of relief.

    “H-have I done something to warrant your visit?” Iscan asked, twisting his hands together nervously.

    “Nothing in particular, but I need your help. I require Basculegion’s aid to get to Firespit Island,” Dawn replied calmly. Iscan was always a bit jumpy, even around Palina at times. Best not to worry him too much, especially with what’s to come.

    “Then you’d probably need Basculegion’s favorite snack. That should help warm him up to you.”

    “Alright. Is there anything I need to get for it?”

    “I have the right materials, but… you need to catch this one Pokemon that appears at night.”

    “Which one? Chances are I’ve already encountered it.”

    “It’s D… Dusclops… oh, even saying its name fills me with dread…”

    “Oh! I have one on me.”

    The Warden flinched, though he tried to hide it. Dawn gave him a reassuring smile, “There’s nothing to fear. I won’t let it hurt you. Would it help if I had one of my other Pokemon stand between you?”

    Iscan nodded, edging a bit closer to his house. Dawn sent out Bismuth first, hoping the Sylveon’s cheerful aura would put him at ease. It worked a little bit, Iscan bending slightly to gently scratch under Bismuth’s chin.

    “Once I give the signal, you have that ‘dust bops’ of yours use Dark Pulse,” she sent out her Dusclops, and the Warden gulped. “Three, two… ach, no, it’s too frightening!”

    “Take your time. Maybe just say ‘go’ if counting down makes it worse?”

    “Right… Now, go!”

    A ball of Dark type energy shot out, somehow not knocking over the pan when they collided. 

    Wait, Ginkgo Landing, summoning Basculegion… crap. She forgot all about the Miss Fortunes. Eh, she knows what they’re doing this time. She’ll just have Marina walk alongside her when they arrive to drive off Charm’s Gengar.

Chapter Text

    Dawn was conflicted. On one hand, she could stop the Miss Fortune sisters from kidnapping the larger Growlithe. It would prevent the lord’s son from going to the island, evolving, then being struck with the strange lightning. On the other, she kind of needed it to happen, because she was sure it was inevitable either way, and quelling a 3rd lord would add to her list of “reasons you shouldn’t kick me out of the village” list. 

    Marina warbled next to her, sensing her trainer’s conflict. They were perched on the cliff near Iscan’s house while Dawn debated what to do.

    “Oh, Marina…” she whispered, gently petting the Gastrodon’s head, “what do I do? Stopping them would be the right thing, but it needs to happen. I don’t know what will if it doesn’t. But to put them through that… it’s just not fair if it can be avoided.”

    She had seen firsthand what happened to Pokemon ripped from their trainers’ sides. They were frightened and constantly alert, protective instincts going into overdrive at perceived threats. Some had to be released, unable to trust humans again. She hadn’t seen much of Growlithe or Lord Arcanine after leaving the coastlands, so she had no idea how they had coped. And with how little people knew of Pokemon in these times, Palina was probably floundering as well.

    Logically, Dawn knew it would only take 1 or 2 Earth Powers to drive Charm’s Gengar off. Or have Juniper use Air Slash (gently) to knock the sisters away. But her watery resolve solidified into a thin layer of ice when Marina wormed into her lap, rubbing their faces together and cooing comfortingly. She wrapped her arms around her and allowed a few tears to fall before standing up.

    She hated what she was about to do. But she didn’t know how to deal with such a big variable. 

    Iscan noticed Dawn’s tense stance as she walked up to him, after gently petting Wyrdeer before sending him off. Was she perhaps scared of the ocean? She showed absolutely no fear around Pokemon of any type, so it couldn’t be that. Or perhaps it was the prospect of traversing a volcanic island, with lava near constantly flowing from the mountain.

    His questions were answered a few minutes later when the bandit sisters stole one of the Growlithe - but not the lord’s son.

    When he asked her if she knew something, she simply responded that she had a bad feeling something was going to happen, but not what or when. She’d simply been too shocked to act.

    The last part rang true with all of them, but the first part wasn’t quite right, wasn’t it?

    Dawn wanted to enjoy riding through the waves on Basculegion. It always reminded her of days spent exploring or relaxing, safe on her Empoleon’s back. But the shame coursing through her veins at stepping back and letting Growlithe get kidnapped made her entire being burn from the inside out. Basculegion - surprising sweetheart that he was - seemed to sense her inner conflict and trilled inquisitively. Dawn just shook her head, urging him to swim faster. She had to fix this.

    Dawn wasn’t quite sure why Clover thought it was a good idea to bring an Abomasnow to a volcano. Especially when the lava was bubbling not even 10 feet away. Eh, it just made her job of fighting off the 3 sisters easier. They acted like it was impossible for them to lose, but they had a grand total (at this point) of 4 Pokemon between them. 

    And Dawn may have gone a bit overboard in training her team.

    Mini Growlithe ran in, growling at the Miss Fortunes. Their taunts, the worried voices of Palina and Iscan, and the encouragement of his father’s spirit gave him strength, and from that the power to evolve without a Fire Stone.

    Of course, because life hated her and this time period specifically, a space-time rift formed right above the new Lord Arcanine with almost comedic timing. The lightning struck, and they were forced to flee the arena.

    “Dawn, what must we do to quell his frenzy? Please, tell us what we need!” Palina cried.

    “We’ll need to make some balms!” Irida exclaimed.

    “Balms…?”

    “There’s a special method for dealing with frenzies. We make balms - pouches stuffed with the lord’s favorite foods - and throw them from a safe distance. Isn’t that right, Dawn?”

    Dawn nodded, though she felt a ‘safe distance’ was stretching it a bit. She could only throw them so far, and the arena’s - especially this one - weren’t that big.

    With the food for Growlithe that Iscan always carried around and the bags from Irida, they quickly assembled the balms.

    Dawn’s heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest as she stepped into the arena. The way this one specifically was designed, a pointy design just barely past the lava, filled her with fear every time she set foot in it. She’d nearly lost what little food was in her stomach the first time. One misstep, and she would trip into her doom. She couldn’t leave Bismuth out to use Psychic to catch her - it would just put him in harm's way. And the way they just… watched as she jumped around, evading death with every twist had left a sour feeling in her stomach, last time. They didn’t even comment on it, once the deed was done. 

    As if risking everything was the expectation, not the exception and choice.

    She was sweating bullets, both from the heat of the lava and Arcanine’s attacks. She could tell Marina was suffering too, the Gastrodon not used to temperatures as high as these. So she braided encouragement into every command, and promised a nice, long ice bath when they returned home. It gave them both the strength to carry on, the final balm hitting Arcanine’s head as the sun set.

    Palina and Iscan thanked her, and Dawn gave some encouraging words to Irida before stumbling off the island. Legendary Pokemon may work hard, but she worked harder, and there was still a lot left to do before returning to the village.

    She hissed as she carefully applied burn cream to one of the many burns on her arms and legs. She nearly whimpered as she wrapped it in bandages. Hermit chirped worriedly, wanting to comfort her but not wanting to apply pressure to any of her injuries. Dawn paused, stroking the alpha Goodra’s cheek.

    “It’s alright, Hermit. How about this, sit down and I’ll lean against your shell.”

    Hermit made an affirmative gurgling noise, and sat down. Dawn leaned against him with a weary sigh.

    She was on an outcropping of rock off the Islespy Shore. She distinctly remembers finding a few Basculin here once, the first time, but so far none had shown. Scared off either by the nearby Drifloon and Drifblim or herself, she wasn’t sure.

    She’d thrown a berry - not really caring what it was, but it was blue - into the water in a fit of frustration, thinking that perhaps it would lure some to the surface, but it didn’t work. Then her injuries had happily reminded her that they were there, and so here she was.

    It was odd, though. Ever since coming to Hisui, her injuries healed alarmingly fast. She’d seen a bad bruise - the result of her back being thrown into a tree - fade away within an hour. But why weren’t the burns healing? Was it because she, not stopping the bandits, had caused them? Was it her shame at letting it happen?

    It didn’t really matter, though. They would be gone soon enough. Hopefully before morning, so Laventon didn’t worry.

    “Y’know,” she spoke up after a while of enjoying the cool night breeze, “there’s an interesting passage from some Sinnoh myths I read once. It was about a year ago, and rainy as hell, and I was in Canalave City. There’s a big library there, so wanting to avoid the weather I headed inside. There were some other passages as well, but this one just stuck with me. Would you like to hear it?”

    Hermit nodded.

    “Now, keep in mind it’s been quite a while since I read this, so I might get some of it wrong. It goes like this.”

    “And so the Banished One said, ‘I shall avenge myself and my comrades with every breath,’ and disappeared into the mirror.

‘I shall remember you,’ said Space, for our world and its mirror could not exist except in balance.

‘I shall remember you,’ said Time, for it flowed through all things, even in nonlinearity.” 

    The Goodra made a questioning noise, and Dawn said, “Yeah, the clans are both right. They just don’t know it yet. It makes me think that the relationship between the 3 of them - the Pokemon, I mean - isn’t as bad as people think. We’ll just have to see for ourselves, won’t we?”

    Hermit warbled happily, and Dawn found her eyes, despite her best efforts, drifting down.

    Somewhere, beyond this realm, 3 beings stirred.

Chapter Text

    Dawn’s hands were shaking.

    She didn’t know exactly why, mostly due to denial and ignoring the growing pain in her bones, because if she acknowledged any of the many possible reasons she might collapse. She had to keep going.

    The Pokedex for each of the 3 areas she’d been to so far were nearly complete, save for some Pokemon from space-time distortions and the Legendaries. Entries for each Pokemon had been meticulously filled out. Requests from around the village were taken care of as soon as she could.

    It wasn’t that she was oblivious to what was happening. Dawn knew she was burning herself out. She was pushing herself way too far, and if she was back home all her friends would collectively tackle her until she took care of herself.

    But she wasn’t home. She was in Hisui. And the only way to feel marginally accepted, to feel like more than just the stranger from the rift was to do everything they asked of her with a smile.

    Laventon and Rei were worried for her. She could see them exchanging glances every time she left and reentered the village. Adaman and Irida were too, but not as intense. But there wasn’t much any of them could do. 

    Not with the Commander watching her every move.

    Her hands were shaking.

    So here she was. In her house. In the dead of night. Working on the finishing touches of her project. She would be seeing Ingo again soon. She was sure that, like the others, he’s forgotten the time they spent together before her failure. Just like everything else in his life.

    Dawn pointedly ignored how her breath stuttered at the thought.

    He always talked about trains, despite not really remembering what they were. And there were times she saw him fiddling with the edges of his uniform sleeves (not his coat, never his tattered coat) looking restless. So, she reasoned, she would give him something to fidget with that would (hopefully) maybe remind him of home.

    A few months before Dawn had been thrown into Hisui, Gardenia had given her some carving lessons. She could never quite get the Gym Leader to explain exactly why, but they came in handy now. Paint was hard to get, but she’d managed to haggle a few small tins from Choy.

    In her hands was a small steam engine that had taken 3 days (and nights), the best she could make from memory. There were a few accidental dents, and she wasn’t sure how to make the wheels turn without detachable parts. But it was what she could make with what she had.

    Her hands were shaking.

    When was the last time she’d gotten a full night’s rest? Not just sleep. Being able to feel safe and wake up in the morning refreshed and safe. She’d had many a sleepless night in the field. But it went beyond that, far beyond that. She went to bed every night chasing away thoughts of Volo stealing the Plates and destroying everything. She woke up panting from dreams of being exiled before the rift worsened.

    She had to stop. She had to keep going.

    Her saving grace from her spiral came in the form of her Pokemon. Vespa and Hermit settled near the door, Marina by the hearth. Juniper carefully plucked the brush and wooden toy from her hands, and Bismuth led her with gentle ribbons to her mat. The only one missing was Kurama, but she couldn’t find him until she was allowed to visit the Icelands.

    Dawn’s exhaustion finally caught up to her, and she fell into a dreamless sleep.

    Something was off. They were ahead of schedule. Ingo didn’t think much of it, at first. Both the last time and the current one he didn’t really pay attention to what was going on outside the bubble of the Coronet Highlands until Irida asked him and Sneasler to aid a new passenger.

    But now he knew for certain.

    Because when he left the hut that morning, checking the calendar as he always did, he found that it was nearly 2 full weeks before he met Akari the first time.   

The only conclusion that he could come to that would make sense would be that, like him, she remembered everything that had happened before being dragged back to the start of her time in Hisui. 

    His heart was doing flips on the journey to Jubilife Village. Akari had already worked herself too hard. She was just a child, she shouldn’t have to bear the burdens that she did alone. Was she eating enough? Sleeping enough, if at all?

    Irida gave him a concerned look, and Ingo realized he’d spaced out. He forced his face to contort into what he hoped was a comforting smile. This wasn’t right, there should be someone by his side who could smile and wave and not scare people off with their looming heights and odd mannerisms. That man who liked winning more than anyone else.

    He begrudgingly cleared away those thoughts with a small sigh.

    When Ingo greeted her and told her Kamado wanted to see her, it took all she had not to tackle hug the man. He didn’t remember her, she reasoned, and he wasn’t fond of being unexpectedly touched.

    It still hurt a bit, as he walked on to the training grounds. The carving seemed to be simultaneously a leaden weight and burning a hole in her pocket.

But now she had other, and much more unpleasant, Magikarp to fry.

    “Do you really think this flimsy little noodle can quell Electrode?” Melli asked.

    Dawn shifted her stance, smirking, “Do you want to find out?”

    “What’s that supposed to mean?” the Warden sneered.

    Adaman clapped a hand on Melli’s shoulder, giving him a Look, “Listen, Melli. Dawn is one of the best the Galaxy Team has, and we’ll prove it once this meeting is over.”

    Adaman’s Leafeon and Eeevee fell like a house of cards to Vespa.

    Melli wouldn’t admit it, but he was impressed. 

    Up close and getting a better look at her, Akari - no, Dawn. She called herself Dawn, and it was another point to his theory she remembered as well. Dawn looked worse than he thought.

    She had horrible bags under her eyes, and at that moment looked like a small breeze could bowl her over. Her arms had minute tremors running along them. Thankfully, despite all this, she didn’t appear to have lost any weight.

    “I am the Warden Ingo. I understand you’ll need a hand from Sneasler in order to meet Electrode. Whether she’ll see fit to help you we can only find out by making the journey. Now, let’s have a safe journey to Mount Coronet! All aboard!”

    In spite of the weight of the world on her shoulders, Dawn (he knew that name. Where had he heard it before?) found the strength to smile.

    Soon their conversation was over, and the Pearl Clan members began to walk off, but Dawn stopped Ingo with a soft call of his name.

    “Here,” she smiled, pressing something into his palm, “you seem like the kind of person who would like this.”

    She dashed off after that, and it took Ingo a few moments to bring the object up to his face and uncurl his hand.

    It was a wooden steam engine, small enough to fit perfectly in the palm of his hand. It was clearly crafted by a beginner, but done so with love nonetheless. His other hand twitched at his side.

    “Ingo! Look what I got for you!” a boy in white cheered, running up to him. 

    “What is it?” he asked, carefully putting a white and purple candle on the table in front of him. The candle took offense to this, chirping unhappily, but he ignored it.

    The boy said nothing, smiling wider as he pressed a messily wrapped gift into his hands. “Open it!”

    He took it, and small hands ripped open the paper, revealing a small model train. Ingo’s usual frown lifted into a line, and the boy in white grinned impossibly wider and hugged him, and Ingo immediately hugged him back.

    “Thank you, E-”

    Ingo gasped. That was… the most concrete memory he’d had in a while. He itched to write it down, to make it physical lest it slip through his fingers again.

    E. That person’s name started with E. 

    The tracks ahead were uncertain, but there would always be the light at the end of the tunnel.

Chapter Text

    “Well, well… Warden Ingo of the Pearl Clan, and the Galaxy Team grunt from before. You’re punching well above your weight to seek out the great Electrode, Lord of the Hollow! But by the sheer tenderness of my heart, I’ll grant you a trial to see if you’re worthy. Battle me- if you dare!” Melli exclaimed.

    In that moment, Dawn wanted to do 1 of 3 things. One, punch him. Two, steamroll his team. Three, ignore him and keep walking. Any of those options would have made her day and would have been worth any reaction. But Ingo caught her gaze and slightly shook his head, seemingly reading her thoughts. Odd, he hadn’t done that before.

    Instead, “Absolutely not.”

    She zoned out a bit as Melli went on about how the frenzies were a good thing, and it wasn’t just because she wanted to ignore him. Once Melli turned around and walked into the cave, she flipped him off.

    “We barely know each other,” she said, choosing her words carefully, “and I can’t stand him.”

    “How selfish must someone be to not see how the Pokemon are suffering…” Ingo scowled, and now that no one was around, he slipped the carved engine from his pocket and began to fiddle with it. “What do you want to do, Dawn?”

    “I mean, we don’t have much of a choice, do we? Let’s press on.”

    About halfway through the cave, they stopped.

    Dawn was getting a bit antsy. Ingo hadn’t said anything about what vague impressions he had of his Chandelure or Emmet. What had changed? Was it something she did? No, no, she couldn’t have ruined one of the few positive things she had in this time… but what if she did? 

    Ingo turned towards her, eyes seemingly glowing in the dark. Dawn tried and failed not to be intimidated.

    “Dawn… you remember, don’t you? About what comes after this. The breaking point in the rift. The merchant ,” the word was spat out.

    Tears gathered in Dawn’s eyes, but before she could speak, he continued, “I didn’t know what was going on, at first. The last thing I saw before everything faded to black was him standing before you, and your Decidueye falling. Then I woke up, on the day you were brought to this time. I thought you’d forgotten, but I couldn’t tell until I saw you the other day.”

    “ How ?” was all she managed to choke out.

    “I myself am not sure how I came to be on this track, but if I had to guess, it would be due to my presence at the summit.”

    “I…” her vision was blurry with tears, making the already murky surroundings near impossible to see. “I’m sorry .”

    Ingo seemed taken aback at this, “Whatever for?”

    “If… if I hadn’t failed… If I hadn’t blindly trusted him… this wouldn’t have happened. If I had been a better trainer, my team wouldn’t have been taken down. I would’ve been close to finding Arceus, then we could have gone home . Back to our time. But I’m not , and everything’s back to square one. I’m sorry for putting you through this again.”

    A tentative hand was placed on her shoulder. “Dawn, it’s not your fault,” Ingo said, quieter than she’d ever heard him, “it was never your fault. You couldn’t have seen it coming. You did all that you could’ve, after being derailed. I should be the one who’s sorry. You shouldn’t have been in that position in the first place, and certainly not again.”

    Dawn’s face crumpled, and Ingo drew her into a firm hug, wrapping his coat as best he could around the girl. She sobbed into his shoulder, though she stifled them a bit so as to not create too much noise. They were still smack dab in the cave with an alpha Crobat nearby, afterall.

    “What do I do?!” she cried, “The only human that remembers anything aside from myself is you. Most of my Pokemon, except for Juniper, have forgotten me. All my friends have forgotten me. Everything I’ve worked so hard for is gone. And there’s almost nothing I can do to stop what’s happening. The rift, the lightning, it’s all out of my control. All I can do is stand back to watch things fall apart before putting them back together.”

    Ingo hummed, petting her hair and taking a moment to collect his words, “What you’re going through… you shouldn’t have to, not alone. It is cruel of the higher powers - whoever and which ones they be - to suddenly rip you from your station and force you to fix another one. I will be honest and say I don’t know how to conduct you through this. But know this: my doors are always open. Once we exit this cave, I will show you where to find them.”

    Dawn nodded, and Ingo could vaguely see her knees start to wobble, “You need to take better care of your engine, Dawn.”

    “I know. It’s hard. I feel like I’m racing against a doomsday timer and I can’t slow down for anything. But… for you, I’ll try.” In the back of her head, Dawn noted how surprisingly soft Ingo’s coat was on the inside, and the gentle weight it had to it.

    “That’s all I can ask. Now then…” he reluctantly pulled away, making sure Dawn was steady on her feet before pointing and calling, “All aboard!”

    They left the cave, and Ingo quickly showed her where his house was, before turning in the direction of the quarry. She turned back to the cave.

    In the little room off to the side, hidden by the small pool, was a wall of mirror-like rock. It didn’t quite seem like a wall of gems, but without a proper word for it she just called it a rock wall. Roark and Byron would probably know what it was.

    Out of the corner of her eye, Dawn could see a figure of shadow, with 2 glowing red eyes. When she turned, it wasn’t there, but in the mirror it was.

    “I know you’re behind this,” she said lowly, and the rock in front of her cracked. “You don’t get to run away from this,” she moved a few feet over, “not after you started it. Is what you’re planning worth it? Is their pain - everyone’s pain worth it? What will you do after? Can you really trust him?”

    The cracking stopped, and the shadow seemed… inquisitive. Thoughtful. If Dawn had to guess, the fact nothing had happened told her that the being in the mirror didn’t remember the incident at the summit. She - not counting the wild Pokemon - was alone. If anything were to happen, there would be no witnesses. No one would know her fate, be it dead or dragged somewhere else.

    “Think about it, Giratina.”

    She spun on her heel and left.

Chapter Text

    It had been about 2 days since he’d seen Dawn. It was a bit concerning, but he’d heard from Irida that the girl had a habit of disappearing for a few days while she filled out the Pokedex. So in that regard, he wasn’t too worried. 

    Still, it didn’t stop the anxious flutter in Ingo’s chest as a 3rd day began to wear on with no sign of her. Melli’s smug face that met him as they both waited by the quarry didn’t help either. Though instead of making him anxious, he was just filled with the urge to kick the other Warden in the knees.

    A familiar pounding of hooves came closer but- from the wrong direction.

    “How… did you get behind us, Dawn?” Ingo asked as she and Wyrdeer emerged from the cave in front of them.

    The trainer (what’s a trainer?) and the Noble shared a look, before turning back to them. She smiled, small and mischievous, “What happens between me and Wyrdeer stays between me and Wyrdeer.”

    Vague and cryptic. Somewhere in the back of his head the staticy voice of a woman said something about the sky and a horse. He ignored it.

    Melli, of course, changed topics as abruptly as an emergency brake being pulled, “What’s the big idea, putting back all the torches I spent ages tidying away?”

    Dawn’s attention snapped to Melli. Her smile stayed stuck in place, but venom was building up behind it. “Melli. Adaman and I are, what I like to think, good acquaintances,” her eyes flashed dangerously, “how do you think he would react if he found out you purposefully endangered the lives of a Pearl Clan Warden and a Galaxy Team member? Or anyone else passing through the cave, for that matter.”

    “W-well I extinguished the lights for the sake of the Pokemon in that cave that prefer the dark.”

    “The cave has many branching paths and the torches follow only one of them. And they’re also placed far enough apart that the edges of their light barely touch each other. Such a small disturbance can’t be that horrible?” In the future, caves and tunnels were carefully dug in a way that had a mostly straight line to the other side that was lit, and the other natural paths had to be lit by each individual person who passed through. It was a system that worked 9 times out of 10, and both people and Pokemon were happy with it. Humans got to pass through a small part without disturbance (mostly), and Pokemon, especially those that lived in darkness, had the rest of the cave system to themselves. 

    Melli didn’t have an answer to that. The grunt was right, loathe as he was to admit it, but there was no way he would admit it. So he doubled down, widening his stance and proclaiming, “The only way you’re getting past me… is if you defeat my partner Pokemon!”

    Ingo drew his gaze over to Dawn, who said, “Bring it on.” 

    Melli’s Skuntank crumpled like paper to Marina’s Earth Power.

    The blue haired Warden learned that true fear came in the form of a pink and brown slug.

    “Let’s press…” Ingo trailed off, noticing the sudden tension in Dawn’s frame.

    “Dawn? What’s wrong?”

    “Can… can we take another way around?”

    “Without Sneasler’s aid, there isn’t really another path up the mountain…” wait, “Oh. Him .”

    “Yeah.”

    A certain merchant had stopped them here, inquiring about Ingo’s memory loss and what Dawn had seen when she’d been pulled through the rift. Looking back on that moment, he seemed to be patting himself on the back at parts. Ingo had been suspicious throughout the conversation, but dismissed it as paranoia. Now he knew better.

    “Well…” Dawn looked behind them, “I have an idea, but you won’t like it. We get a bunch of Pokemon to chase us through the quarry, so he’ll have no time to stop us for a chat while saving his own skin.”

    “I…” Ingo was torn. One part of him screamed that he shouldn’t allow any of his passengers to endanger themselves. The other saw how close Dawn was to tears and the fearful trembles of her arms. What to do, what to do… If they linger much longer, he would most certainly catch up to them.

    “It’s too dangerous for my liking. However , I will allow you to conduct us through another path.”

    Dawn gave a shaky sigh of relief, and reached for her flute, no doubt to call Wyrdeer back. However, just as the mouthpiece came to rest on her lip, a familiar and quite unwanted voice rang out.

    “There you are, Ingo!” Volo called out, walking up the path behind them.

    The tension snapped back into Dawn and her eyes went wide with terror. Without thinking, Ingo stepped in front of her, slightly blocking her from view. His mind flashed to a time from Before, with the man in white beside him standing guard over a woman in yellow.

    “What is it?” Ingo asked, voice firm, pleasantries dropped.

    “I wanted to ask about that memory loss of yours. Do you think it could have been caused by the space-time rift?”

    “Of that, I haven't a clue. My rather unpleasant stop into this land has washed away any clues as to what happened.” 

    But that wasn’t true, was it?

    It was midday-

    He shouldn’t have gone alone-

    Ingo cleared his throat, “If that is all, we shall be on our way.”

    “Wait! What about you, Dawn?”

    The girl behind him was still shaking like a leaf, though it was subdued in the presence of the merchant as to not alert him. “I-I…”

    “She recently had a bad encounter with some Pokemon and has still not recovered. I ask that you please leave her be until such time,” the lie fell easily from his lips, and he was once again drawn to the woman in yellow. Who was she?

    “Ah, I see…” the merchant said, clearly not pleased. “I’ll let you be on your way, then .” With that, he turned and left.

    Ingo sighed, shoulders slumping back into their slouch. When had he stood up straight? Derailment averted, for now. 

    He allowed Dawn to entangle their hands, and he gently pulled her forward, “Only a bit further. Let us move with speed, not haste.”

    After resting for a bit in the new camp, letting her pounding heart calm itself, Dawn walked on to meet Ingo at the base of the sheer cliffs.

    She was only a little bit embarrassed to admit that, when she was younger, she was absolutely obsessed with the Battle Subway. It wasn’t just a tower or mansion like other Battle Facilities, it was a network of moving parts. Instead of a large, square room, trainers had to work around the small rectangle the subway car allowed them. And the brothers were just so cool . They were strong and confident in the place they’d carved out for themselves. And she wanted to be just like them, at least in spirit if nothing else. 

    And when she got the news of the League conference in Unova? Dawn was ecstatic . She could catch new Pokemon! She could see the beautiful scenery! But most of all, she could challenge the Battle Subway! She could ask Barry to come along, or if he couldn’t, ask Flint or Cynthia to challenge the Multi Line with her!

    But then Ingo went missing. And the Multi Line closed.

    And then, a few months later, she disappeared too.

    Lady Sneasler was a fickle Pokemon, but once she got attached to someone, she wouldn’t let them go without a fight. Those same claws that climbed cliffs and sliced through opponents held her kits and Warden with gentle grace.

    Ingo could feel her eyes on them throughout his battle with Dawn. Battling was the one thing that could couple him to his past, to make him feel alive . But it also made him fiercely aware of the empty space to his right, and the off feeling of the Pokeballs he held.

    It was a mostly one-sided affair, but it was the biggest challenge he’d had in ages. The people of Hisui were still untrusting of Pokemon, and few had any, and even less trained them.

    “Bravo! Excellent!” he cheered, voice echoing off the mountain. Rather than wince and complain about the volume, she smiled and laughed and thanked him for the battle.

    “Your talent has brought you to the destination known as Victory!” he dropped his signature pose, “Allow me to call Sneasler…”

    Sneasler took to Dawn like a Ducklett to water, and they spent the rest of the day climbing about. But remembering her promise to Ingo about taking care of herself, she made her way back down. Deciding Electrode could wait a few more hours, she turned towards the camp.

    However, she failed to notice the Haunter behind her until she had to dodge out of the way of a Shadow Ball.

    Dawn cursed. The sun was nearly set, and she couldn’t see well. She backed up, fumbling around in her satchel for one of her Pokemon.

    Her next step met air.

Chapter Text

    Due to her home on the mountain, Sneaslers and their Wardens were used to rescuing trapped and/or injured travelers. Their strong claws and quick steps were invaluable to pulling people out of the rubble and escorting them to safety, and the Wardens would guide them through. 

    It was times like these Sneasler blessed these traits.

    She had been nearby, watching over the strange kit when she fell. Thankfully it wasn’t far, but it seemed the world had it out for Dawn, as she smacked into almost every rock on the way down, and then startled a Roselia (those weren’t seen in these parts of the mountains… why was it here?), causing it to shoot out a few thorns.

    Thorns that were known for their poison.

    Sneasler all but ran over to the collapsed girl, removing her basket from where it was slung across her back. Carefully - no need to accidentally poison her further - she checked for broken bones and serious cuts, and finding none, carefully placed the girl in the white basket. Sneasler’s eyes darted around before finding Dawn’s satchel, miraculously not torn open. The Galaxy Team must make these things out of steel or something- the thing was heavy enough for it.

    Briefly, Sneasler was torn on where to go. The Galaxy Team would want to know what happened to their (best) recruit and would likely have the materials necessary to care for her, at the very least until they returned to their village. But her Warden specialized in poison and antidotes - something necessary to caring for a Poison type and her kits, who didn’t yet know how to keep their poison from seeping into everything.

    Sneasler turned towards her Warden’s hut, going quickly but being mindful of her injured passenger. She cut down any Pokemon foolish enough to get in her way with a quick jab of Dire Claw.

    Only later would she remark on how odd it was to see a Togetic, especially one intent on following her until she left it poisoned on the ground.

    Despite his best efforts, it often took a long time for Ingo to fall asleep. It was too loud, or too quiet. Too bright, or too dark. He was cold, he was too warm. One thing stayed the same though: there was a lack of pressure.

    Like dangling a broken mirror shard over his head with a string, his mind thought of a time from Before, falling asleep at 10 o’clock on the dot with the weight of a very heavy blanket wrapped in a cocoon around him.

    It was near impossible to replicate in Hisui, however, with every person he’d asked giving him confused looks at the idea of a weighted blanket. And trying to replace it with a Pokemon was fruitless when they eventually moved, consequently waking him up.

    Though tonight, perhaps insomnia wasn’t such a bad thing, as he was fully awake when Sneasler began to kick at the door.

    He barely got a “what” in before the Noble was walking past him, putting her basket down with more care than he’d ever seen from her, almost as if whatever was inside would turn to dust if jostled too harshly. 

    Though when she lifted the lid and gave an alarmed chirp at him, he could see why.

    Cursing, he lifted Dawn from the basket and laid her on the extra bed that was meant for those too injured or exhausted to continue down the mountain. Thankfully, in his few months of being here, it hadn’t been used until now.

    He carefully removed her coat, and turned to grab the med kit tucked on one of the shelves. Sneasler trilled again, pointing to a bottle of antidote for Roselia poison.

    “Show me,” he said, volume starting to creep up in his panic.

    The Noble pulled Dawn’s left sleeve up, showing the 3 thorns embedded in her arm. Ingo grabbed his smallest pair of tweezers, thanking Calaba for giving them to him, and slowly pulled the thorns out. They weren’t stuck in too deeply, thankfully, and were quickly set aside on his table. Ingo poured a drop of the antidote into each wound, saving the rest for later. He wrapped them up, along with a few other scrapes, and finally allowed himself to slump back into his chair.

    “I can conduct us from here, Sneasler, you may take your leave,” he said. The Noble didn’t seem too happy to leave, and gave him one last Look before exiting the house, and Ingo briefly got up to close the door.

    Dawn chose this moment to wake up.

    “Ingo?” 

    “I’m here, Dawn. Do you remember what happened?”

    “I…” she shifted, sitting up a bit, “I was near the edge of a cliff. There was a Haunter I didn’t see. Then I fell. My back had a date with a rock. It didn’t end well. They parted on bad terms. I also feel like I got stabbed in the arm with very small knives.”

    “That would be the poison.”

    “Huh. That explains why I’m so dizzy.”

    “Drink this,” he passed a warm cup of tea to her, “it’ll help with the dizziness.”

    It was a small cup, so she drank it quickly, but then tried to stand up, to which her Sylveon materialized itself and pulled her back down.

    “I’ve walked off worse within the hour, I’ll be fine, guys.”

    “Dawn, if you think that was supposed to be reassuring, it has the complete opposite effect. It’s too dark to go far anyway, and I’m sure the Professor would rather see you safe.”

    Mentioning the Galaxy Team seemed to be the wrong move, however, as Dawn tensed.

    “I can’t… if I don’t… they’ll kick me out again…” Dawn’s words lost coherence as she struggled to keep her eyes open.

    “You’ve done more in a few weeks than they have in a few years. A few day’s break due to an injury should be nothing to them.”

    “But…”

    “Sleep, Dawn. If you want to be back on your feet as soon as possible, you need to rest. I’ll tell Laventon first thing tomorrow.”

    “Okay…” Dawn finally let her head rest against the pillow, “G’night, Uncle Ingo.”

    His heart may have exploded, and his arms swung happily at his sides. 

    Laventon and Cyllene would listen to reason, that it was an incredibly bad idea to send someone delirious with poison and pain to fight Electrode, who was known for explosions of electricity. If Kamado didn’t, well.

    Part of Ingo’s past job was to deal with unruly customers.

Chapter Text

    It was midmorning by the time Dawn woke up. She panicked, briefly, not recognizing her surroundings. Then the memories of last night hit her like a point-blank Hyper Beam (she would know, after getting smacked with 2 of them and surviving).

    She needed to be more careful. Volo would have to be an idiot to not think something was up.

    Her eyes flicked around the room, not seeing Ingo. He must have left to go tell Laventon about her injuries. Dawn pulled away the bandages on her arm. The injuries she no longer had.

    How was she going to explain this? Telling anyone in the Galaxy Team would probably get her booted out of Jubilife faster than she could blink. Volo would give her the same look she’d seen at the ruins, and Ingo-

    No. They couldn’t know. She couldn’t lose what little she had left.

    She finished rewrapping the bandages on her arm, and not a moment later Ingo opened the door, tipping his hat to her before sitting down.

    “I spoke to Laventon,” he started, “and he agreed that you should rest for at least a day. I told him your injuries would take more time to heal, but he just gave me this look before preparing to depart to Jubilife to tell the captain and commander the news.” He shook his head, “How I wish people would just use their words.”

    “It’s probably because of you-know-who. I’ve barely had any time to rest since coming here, and Rei and the Security Corps keep looking at me like I’m some unstoppable force,” Dawn sighed, accepting a cup of water from Ingo. “It’s probably because they aren’t expected to do even half of what I’m doing.”

    Ingo seemed like he had something to say to that, but he held back, instead grabbing some ingredients to make breakfast.

    “You should remain here for a bit, just so I can make sure the poison has left your system.”

    “And then what?” Dawn asked, pulling her coat on with a bit more force than necessary, “I don’t exactly have anything to do with my spare time, other than continuing work. Going back to the village will take too long, and I’ll just be back in the morning anyway.”

    “...That is a problem,” he said, normally colorful voice now flat. “And I doubt you would enjoy being stuck here all day.”

    Dawn (Dawn was an important name. Someone very strong. From where? What did she do?) looked antsy, like she was ready to bolt out the door the moment he turned around.

    “How about this. I will accompany you today, but you have to stay within my sights, and not do anything strenuous. The last thing we need is your injuries getting aggravated.”

    She clammed up at that, only for a second. Strange.

    The day passed without much fanfare, Dawn hiding in bushes and behind trees and observing the more peaceful Pokemon. At night, however, she caught several Rotom in quick succession, cheering something about an oven, fan, and refrigerator. How she had any of those things in this time was beyond Ingo.

    As Melli went on about… something, Dawn debated kicking a Voltorb into his face. Then she debated siccing Adaman on him, and decided the result of that would be much more amusing to watch. Oh, if only she had a beach chair, a cup of tea with one of those little paper umbrellas in it, and a bowl of popcorn…

    Marina once more turned his team into dust, 2 Ice Beams and an Earth Power collapsing the 3 Pokemon in order.

    Now, Electrode… due to it’s Grass/Electric typing, Flying and Ground moves only affected it normally. Ice would work, but Marina was the only one with an Ice move, and her only weakness was Grass. Dawn wouldn’t take that chance if it was faster. None of her Pokemon knew Poison or Fire type moves, which left… Bug. Her only Bug type was also part Flying type, but Vespa was very fast, and Electric attacks wouldn’t hurt her as much as Grass does Marina.

    Melli was still going on about something, but Dawn could hear Adaman’s approaching footsteps.

    “Melli’s really giving you the runaround, isn’t he Dawn? It’s my fault for not telling you what Electrode likes in advance, so here’s-”

    “Adaman!” the Warden whined.

    “What now?” the Clan Leader huffed.

    “Are you really going to tell this little noodle-”

    “The same ‘little noodle’ you’ve been pushing back at every turn?” Dawn snapped, patience, normally a saintly thing, now needle thin. “Need I remind you how you removed the torches from Wayward Cave, endangering myself, Warden Ingo of the Pearl Clan, and any traveler passing behind us? You claim to love Lord Electrode, yet you turn a blind eye to his suffering? I’ve seen the frenzied Nobles face to face, and they all share the same panic of trying to control the overflowing power coursing through them.”

    The Warden paled, and he could feel his leader’s eyes boring holes into him.

    “Melli…” Adaman started dangerously, “we’ll talk about this later. For now, help me and Dawn make these balms.”

    Dawn panted, jumping out of the way of another explosion. What was up with those balls of electricity that kept following her around? 

    She twisted to the side, ignoring the twinge in her ankle, readying Vespa’s Pokeball. Whether or not electricity could be used as a homing missile could wait until later. 

    If asked who would win, a queen bee or an exploding ball, always choose the bee.

    After the conversation between himself, the 2 Diamond Clan members, and Dawn, the girl had run off. Laventon said he hadn’t seen her, and asked Ingo to make sure she was alright.

    A few hours later, he found her curled up by the side of the mountain near his hut.

    He said nothing as he sat next to her, waiting for her to speak. If she didn’t, he would…

    What would he do? The vague memories of the man in white wouldn’t help here.

    “Ingo,” he looked towards Dawn, questioning, “if I said I knew of you before you came here… how would you react?”

    “I would ask if you could tell me everything you knew.”

    Dawn seemed surprised at that, before her somber expression returned. “But is it really alright if I just… tell you everything? Of someone you have no memory being, pressuring you to become him once again?”

    “Anything would be better than what I have now. And even if I became that man again, some day, it wouldn’t be the same.”

    “And… if you had the chance to go back, would you?”

    “In a heartbeat,” he said quickly. She seemed surprised, so he continued, “What I have now… I can deal with it, most days. But making the most of a bad situation isn’t the same as truly living. It is clear, especially since you’ve arrived at this station, that this isn’t where I’m supposed to be. Even though I have no memory of it, I long to return to my home station. To where the man in white and woman in yellow are waiting. Once my affairs are in order and goodbyes are said, there won’t be anything that couples me to this land.”

“You…” she took a breath, “you are the Subway Boss Ingo, of Nimbasa City, Unova. You are the older of a set of twins. Your younger brother is Emmet, also a Subway Boss. You run the Singles Line on the Battle Subway, he the Double Line, and both of you work on the Multi Line. The woman in yellow is Elesa, the Nimbasa Gym Leader. You guys are good friends. The Pokemon you’re most known for working alongside are Crustle, Klinklang, Garbodor, Haxorus, Excadrill and… Chandelure.”

Pieces clicked into place like a puzzle, but only the outer edges were complete, most of the middle still empty. Each name struck his heart, the yearning for his past more acute than ever.

Ingo reached out, slowly, giving Dawn to back away, but when she didn’t, he wrapped her up in a tight hug. “Thank you,” his hands shook, “ thank you .”

It was only later he realized how much he had been crying.

Chapter Text

    The widening of the rift, her exile, and Volo’s ‘betrayal’ loomed over Dawn like the blade of a guillotine. Each step forward felt like she was being pulled towards an unavoidable doom by a rope.

    She had grabbed some of the Origin Ore during her time in the Highlands, but there wasn’t much she could do with it. She needed the Red Chain shards as well, which would have to wait. But she hadn’t been in the room when Rei put the Origin Ball together, and she couldn’t risk messing things up by herself.

    On the plus side, she’d finally be able to find Kurama, and her team would be complete once more. Speaking of…

    Dawn rolled onto her side, and reached out to place her hand on Hermit’s head. The dragon didn’t stir, and let out a low rumble as she rubbed her thumb back and forth.

    One of the strangest things she’d experienced in Hisui was the people’s fear of Pokemon. Coming from the modern age, it was just so… off putting. They were a part of their lives, integrated into society and in some cases inseparable from it. To watch as people flinched away from Bidoof and Eevee , probably some of the most docile in the region… it just further distanced her from the townsfolk. Surely walking up to creatures that could raze a town in an afternoon was proof that she was some oddity, some other spawned by the rift. Surely the best way to treat them was with fear and distrust, increasing the divide.

    Dawn angrily blinked back tears. 

    She tried to spin this whole situation in something bright. Her actions had to have had a big impact, right? Her acceptance of Pokemon, showing the townsfolk that they aren’t heartless beings, it had to do something, didn’t it?

    But if this is what started changing people’s opinions en masse… and this wouldn’t have happened without her and Ingo being brought back…

    It was way too early in the morning for this.

    Though she wanted nothing more than to fall back asleep, at this point she knew it would be impossible. So, her eyes roamed around the room, eventually landing on the small basket of tomatoes she had on her counter.

    Her lips curled into a wry smile. It would take a while, but…

    Ingo stood at the training grounds, trying not to slouch, but finding it hard with nothing else to do.

    All he was told was that he was to wait here, every day that he could, for people to come up to him, asking either for a battle or advice in raising Pokemon.

    The space to his right, where his brother should be, felt simultaneously like a block of ice, a pyre, and an empty void. Until now, he couldn’t explain why it felt so wrong for someone else to stand there, Ingo always either turning himself so they were in front of him if they were standing still, or moving to a different spot if they were walking. But now he knew. Because that was Emmet’s Spot and had been an unchanging fact for years, and (hopefully) would be once again.

    The sun had only risen an hour ago, but it still felt like an eternity passed. There wasn’t even anywhere for him, or Miss Zisu for that matter, to sit. And they expected him to wait all day? 

    “Ingo!” a familiar voice called, and he looked up to see Dawn running up to him, Vespiquen in tow. 

    “Hello, Dawn, what brings you here this early in the morning?” Ingo asked, not sure what to say. It was the training grounds, why else would she be here, but she also might want something from Zisu, and…

    “There’s something I want to show you! But first: did you eat breakfast?”

    Ingo blinked, jolting (despite his annoyance, he missed the veritable army of Joltik in their home) a bit, “Actually… in my haste it seems I’ve forgotten this morning.”

    “And you tell me I need to take better care of myself,” Dawn huffed. But then she smiled, “Come on, I don’t want it to burn.”

    With that, she spun on her heel and turned back to her lodging.

    “Sit down, sit down,” Dawn rambled, pulling her boots off and making her way to a Rotom-possessed oven. A small table had been set up near the hearth, a purple flower he couldn’t identify placed in a glass in the center.

    Dawn’s Sylveon padded over to him, holding 2 plates in his ribbons, and Ingo set them down.

    “Behold…” Dawn said dramatically, slowly turning towards him, “the world’s saddest Unova-style pizza!”

    It was a circle of dough with red sauce and cheese (where on earth did she get either of those?!), the edges of the crust slightly burnt.

    She placed it down, then turned to one of the drawers to presumably grab a knife. Ingo couldn’t tear his gaze from the thing.

    He felt a yearning nostalgia for long work days where he and his brother stumbled home, too exhausted to cook. For birthday parties at the station. For horrible concoctions made at 3 AM with Elesa that he would eat every bite of, to their horror. For early morning leftovers that Emmet wouldn’t bother heating up.

    Was it a blessing or a curse, that he just barely remembered what he was missing?

    He was snapped out of his thoughts by Dawn cutting the pizza into 8 slices. “Take as much as you want,” she said while grabbing 3 for herself, “there’s no way I’ll be able to eat all this before I go to the Icelands and I won’t be back for several days.”

    Ingo hummed, grabbing 2 to start. “Dare I ask where you got the parts for this?”

    “I have my ways,” she smiled, “that mostly involve bartering and haggling.”

    “Is that why I heard some of the shopkeepers grumbling about a gray menace?”

    “ That’s what they’re calling me now?” she laughed, “It seems I need to step up my game.”

    “I’m not entirely sure that’s a good idea, Dawn…” he grabbed another slice. It wasn’t the best he’d had, but it also wasn’t the worst , and sue him, he was hungry.

    They talked a bit more, before Dawn had to leave to speak with the Commander.

    They ended up eating the whole thing.

    Two rather uneventful hours passed, with only a single Security Corps member asking him why their Petilil wasn’t evolving despite how much they trained.

    He could see the Survey caravan preparing for departure, gathering at the gate. Dawn excitedly showing Rei something in her Pokedex as the boy took notes in his own. Business as usual, but as his eyes flicked from person to person, he couldn’t spot the professor. Perhaps he was running late? Yet he was always among the first to arrive…

    His questions were answered when Laventon crossed the town’s small bridge and, rather than turning to the right, turned towards him.

    Oh?

    He quirked a brow when the professor stopped in front of him, and Laventon nervously crossed and uncrossed his arms a few times, before finally settling with them crossed.

    “I wanted to thank you,” Laventon said at last.

    What.

    “Thank me for what, Professor?”

    “I will admit that I… haven’t been the best with helping Dawn. My hands are tied, but that’s no excuse. She was running herself into the ground, and weakly I tried to stop her. We all did - Rei, Adaman, Irida… but it wasn’t enough. Yet you managed to pull the brakes, so to speak, and she’s taking more breaks.” Laventon bowed his head, “I’m thanking you for doing what none of us could, Warden Ingo.”

    “Oh, I, er, you’re welcome, Professor. It was just the right thing to do. Someone I knew, I think, would do the same thing. I suppose it’s second nature now.”

    Laventon nodded, and left with a wave.

Chapter Text

    “Doubtless this mission to tackle Avalugg will be another dangerous one,” Laventon said, and wasn’t that the understatement of the century. Dawn had been chopped at, knocked over, burned, electrocuted, and frozen more times than she could count over the course of her 2 treks through Hisui while calming the Nobles. Avalugg was a completely different class than the others, a veritable giant walking the earth.

    ‘Dangerous’ didn’t cover the half of it.

    Dawn zoned back in to Adaman saying, “...It’s just a you and me thing. We’ll never see eye to eye on anything, will we?”

    (This wasn’t entirely true. They both agreed that Dawn needed several weeks of vacation and perhaps a team that would lighten the load of research. But they wouldn’t say it when other people could hear.)

    The snow drifting from the sky and crunching under her feet brought a smile to Dawn’s face. It brought her back to simpler times, training in the blizzards around Snowpoint City and visiting Candice.

    (Barry, defeated and a triumphant Jupiter standing before him. Dawn looked at the scene in front of her and could only see the beginning of the end.)

    She stumbled over a branch, quickly refinding her footing on the uneven terrain. 

    It’d been a few days since she’d arrived, and Dawn had mostly been scouting around the edges and northern parts of the area up until now. Why, she wasn’t quite sure. Perhaps it was to distance herself from bringing them all towards the near-end of the world.

    Or, perhaps it was to treat what she was about to do as a gift to herself.

    Sneasler carefully climbed down one of the holes in the Bonechill Wastes until her claws once again met stable ground. The Noble then placed her basket on the ground, allowing her passenger to get out. She stood there for a moment, then climbed back up to wait on the surface for Dawn to call upon her again.

    The first time, when Dawn had still been fighting with herself on the final member of her team, she’d quite literally stumbled into the ice caverns of the Wastes. There, she’d seen several ghost types, likely lured in by the promise of a dark place isolated from those who would seek to harm them.

    She’d stumbled again , nearly alerting the kit to her position, when she first laid eyes on a Hisuian Zorua.

    It was just… so cute ! Round and fluffy with big, round eyes. Dawn caught him, and set out to find out as much as she could as quickly as possible. Back in her time, as she was planning out certain parts of her trip to Unova, half a day had been set aside so she could see about catching a Zorua to add to her B-team. It was mostly comprised of Pokemon raised for contests (but also battle, because she was Champion Dawn) and those she’d wanted to use on her journey, but decided not to for a variety of reasons. The Zorua line had a reputation of tricksters, but it was mostly in self-defense.

    Thus, her confusion at the absolute terror from the other members of the Survey Corps and Clans when she’d brought Kurama to camp.

    Their stuttered stories of how dangerous Hisuian Zorua were didn’t dissuade her, no matter how hard they tried. A little love and respect goes a long way when raising Pokemon, and lots of patience. That love paved the way to a powerful Pokemon that could raze foes and loved chin scritches.

    That love led to now, with Kurama on his back, stomach exposed, batting at a bell dancing between Dawn’s fingers. It had been his favorite toy then, and it was now.

    Perhaps it was due to his typing, or just a Kurama thing, but he seemed to be more aware of who she was than most of her team save Juniper.

    Tears pricked at the corners of Dawn’s eyes, and she let them fall. Her team was whole once more.

    She stood up, returning the Zorua to his Pokeball and pulling out her flute as she walked to the cavern’s entrance.

    Time to train and rain hellfire on each and every one of her opponents. Her mother would be so proud.

Chapter Text

    “This gentleman is Avalugg’s Warden and my teacher, Gaeric,” Irida said, gesturing to the man in question.

    “Let’s begin with some proper introductions! I am Gaeric, one of the Pearl Clan’s Wardens,” he responded with much more energy than anyone should have this time in the morning. “You must be Dawn of the Galaxy Team, right? Answer me this: on what grounds do you come here, seeking to quell Lord Avalugg?”

    “Well, for starters, he’s in a frenzy. That alone should be enough. His size, from what I’ve heard, is dangerous in its own right. He could start an avalanche, intentional or not, and that would put the people and Pokemon of this land in grave danger. I won’t stand by and let that happen,” Dawn said, trying to keep her voice even. The fact that quelling Nobles was basically her job at this point went unsaid.

    “Setting aside any and all orders, what is it your heart tells you to do?”

    Did she not just- fine.

    “To quell the frenzy before anyone gets hurt.”

    “Our Lord of the Tundra has done nothing to trouble any person or Pokemon!” Gaeric exclaimed.

    “ Yet ,” Dawn stressed.

    “For now indeed, Avalugg is causing no trouble. But are we not bound by duty to free our people from the fear that such a colossal Pokemon might wreak havoc at any moment?” Irida asked, trying to lessen the tension.

    “There’s certainly some logic to that. But if that’s what you hope to accomplish, we must then judge whether this child is up to the task. Let’s get to battling!” Gaeric proclaimed, and Dawn had to wonder if this was the man Crasher Wake got all his energy from.

    Everyone in assembly, save for Gaeric, knew the outcome of the battle before it began.

    Sabi could feel the raw danger emanating from the scene of the battle, even before it truly started. What caught her attention was the fact that most of it was coming from the Survey Corps girl. 

    She held a Pokeball - just one, unlike many of the people of this region (including Sabi herself) that would throw as many as they could at their opponent. Quantity over quality, and all that. No one really had the time or courage for much else.

    This girl - Dawn - flipped that over its head.

    Her first (and only, Sabi’s clairvoyance told her) Pokemon was a Zoroark trained to peak form. Two Bitter Malices felled Gaeric’s Glalie and Froslass in one blow like a house of cards. Braviary tensed beside her, and she knew he could tell the rest of Dawn’s Pokemon were just as strong.

None of the people of her clan had been able to accomplish anything like it, and they had been growing besides their Pokemon for years.

No one in the Pearl Clan, either. Until Warden Ingo appeared much the same way Dawn did. But then, even he seemed to have his limits, though they seemed more self-set, like he wanted his opponents to have a chance at giving him a good fight.

Sabi introduced herself, and her game, and when she met Dawn’s eyes for but a split second, stared into something beyond her time.

She was quick to leave, after that.

Dawn missed Earthquake. She missed it a lot.

All of Sabi’s Pokemon were weak to it. Sure, Marina’s special attack was better than her regular attack, but it was the thought that counted. Hell, any attack that targeted multiple Pokemon at once would be nice right about now. Or abilities. Those would be nice.

Worrying about when those things started to pop up could come later. Right now she had a battle to win against a kid that looked like Cheryl’s younger clone and ice to get.

Honestly, Dawn didn’t really see how Sneasler couldn’t climb the ice to get to the top of Avalugg’s Legacy. Gaeric could do it with his bare hands, and Sneasler had giant claws . It didn’t matter. She chipped away some of the ice, setting it in her bag. Only 1 more Noble until… until…

Dawn wiped her tears away just as Gaeric reached the top.

Despite appearances, and the way he presented himself, Gaeric wasn’t just muscles. You couldn’t teach the next leader of your clan without a smart head on your shoulders.

So, putting together Irida’s ban on speaking of any strange plates they may find, her worries about Dawn’s health and apparent distaste of a certain merchant, and said merchant’s increasingly erratic behavior wasn’t hard.

The appearance of Dawn was either preceded and/or followed by silence until she was right next to you, or a hurricane of sound that included but was not limited to: the sound of battle, thundering hooves, maniacal laughter, or screaming. New to this list were flapping wings, and he could hear them distantly getting closer. He quickly wrapped up his conversation with Volo, sending the merchant on his way, though he seemed reluctant to leave.

Gaeric stood before the final slope to the arena, watching as Braviary closed in, diving and stopping at the last second to let his passenger off.

“Lord Avalugg is an absolute beast! He will fire ice in any way imaginable at you, including massive spikes from the ground,” he hadn’t thought of what to say after that, so he turned around to wait by the entrance to the arena and explain things more there.

Dawn, in her surprise, stood there for a good minute.

Hermit’s Dragon typing would have, normally, made him a bad choice for the fight at hand. But his Steel typing turned super effective Ice attacks into neutral ones, just like Fairy. Steel was also 4 times effective against Avalugg.

Dawn leaped out of the way of an oncoming atack, cursing as some debris broke off and scratched her leg. She’d nearly passed out several times the last time she did this, and it was an experience she didn’t want to repeat.

And those damn missiles ! She barely had time to swerve away from one before another was right in her face! The tiny platform felt more like a dock in front of an endless ocean than part of an arena.

She didn’t get paid enough for this.

Thankfully, the final balm hit its target, and the yellow glow faded from the giant’s body. 

The panicked energy started to fade from Dawn’s veins, and she stumbled a bit. She leaned into Hermit’s shell, trying to catch her breath. Dawn could feel each scrape and cut, now, though some of the smaller ones had already started to stitch themselves up. 

Vaguely, she could hear Irida and Gaeric talking behind her, but at this point Dawn didn’t care enough to turn around. She would, when the world stopped spinning.

“A child that fell from the sky… could she be some sort of monster in disguise?”

Dawn’s hand clenched, and she could hear an almost imperceptible rumbling growl come from Hermit. She patted the Goodra’s side and shook her head minutely, passing it off as one of a number of already present trembles.

“She’s the one who risked her life without a second thought to help us and our frenzied Nobles. Dawn is no monster.”

The Champion finally found the strength to turn around, and slightly using Hermit as a crutch, limped over to the Pearl Clan duo.

“Gaeric cares for our clan and Almighty Sinnoh with all his heart. Please understand, Dawn, that his fear for the involvement of the Diamond Clan and the Galaxy Team causing our devotion to flag will change,” Irida stated, giving her teacher a pointed look.

The girl who shed blood to ensure their safety could be no scheming monster. The Nobles wouldn’t have trusted her otherwise.

The rift seemed smaller, now. Change was on its way.

When the ocean disappears, do not go looking for it. Run away in the opposite direction before the tsunami comes.

Chapter Text

    That night, Dawn dreamed of times past.

    It felt like the air had been punched out of her lungs.

    The battle with Commanders Mars and Jupiter was quick, but even that was enough time for Cyrus to bring his plans to fruition.

    The red chain in his hands glowed a sickly red as they opened portals to the domains of Dialga and Palkia. The gods were pulled forward, wrapped in the chains, their cries of pain and anger echoing down the mountain. Their power gathered into a ball between them.

    Dawn had failed. And now the universe will pay for it.

    But then… everything just stopped .

    The wind calmed, debris froze in the air, and the new world dissipated.

    Confusion spread throughout the temple, and nothing Cyrus did seemed to amount to much.

    The reason why quickly became apparent.

    A puddle of pure shadow formed between them and the gods, forcing Cyrus to back away from it. The pressure in the air increased tenfold as… something emerged from the shadow. It spread its wings out, almost defensively, like it was trying to hide Dialga and Palkia from view. The creature almost seemed to smile as its jaw opened, and Dawn was falling down, down, down.

    Deep in the Distortion World, Dawn once again defeated Cyrus. But an angry god still awaited her.

    As she walked up the remaining ‘steps’, it was honestly a bit strange. Giratina showed no signs of aggression, despite everything preceding this moment. It was almost like…

    …They were greeting an old friend.

    Dawn couldn’t breathe. Morning was coming, and with it, her exile and the almost end of the world.

    Her team surrounded her in a protective circle as she silently choked on tears, the thin sheets of her bed almost tearing under her fingers.

    Time ticked on, mocking her, and an unnatural crack rang from the mountain.

    Against the weight of the world on her shoulders, Dawn held her chin up and hands lax at her sides.

    “Who or what are you really, Dawn?” Kamado asked, venom dripping from every letter.

    I am a Champion , she wanted to say. I am a Trainer, a Coordinator, a friend.

    I am human.

    “A Survey Corps member,” is what she said instead.

    “And having gained our trust, what then? What is it you’re really after, here?”

    Dawn bit back the fact that if she really wanted something, she wouldn’t have waited this long to enact it.

    Irida and Adaman tried to defend her, but it fell on a man who refused to listen. Dawn knew, deep down, he did this so that his home wouldn’t be destroyed again. But it didn’t take away the sting as she was ushered out the door.

    Like the last time, she wasn’t allowed to gather her things, but this time she was prepared. Dawn kept her gaze locked onto the road in front of her, ignoring (hearing every word) the whispers of fear and disbelief as their small group made its way to the gates. Only when they passed by the pastures did Dawn peel her eyes away from the road, sending a small, reassuring smile to her Pokemon in the pastures.

    (Jubilife Village was extremely lucky that Dawn had, in fact, no plans of destruction. Otherwise, a single signal to her strong, loyal Pokemon would have reduced the town to a memory made of ashes and smoke.)

    As they neared the Fieldlands Camp, Dawn pulled out her flute and called Wyrdeer. He didn’t arrive as quickly as usual, though it was likely due to his Warden fussing over him.

    “Don’t die alone out there. That’s an order.”

    Some of the anger that had been building up throughout this mess of a journey slipped out as Dawn glared at Cyllene, “Respectfully, you aren’t in a position of authority above me anymore, and as such you can no longer order me around.”

    She lightly thumped Wyrdeer’s side, taking off for Lake Verity, leaving the Jubilife inhabitants in stunned silence behind her.

    (The moment those words bled from her mouth, she regretted them. But bitterness and exhaustion take their roots and do not let go.)

Chapter Text

    The trip to Lake Verity was quick, most of the Pokemon en route (for once!) not attacking her on sight. It was… strange. This didn’t happen the last time the sky turned red, what had changed? Dawn tried not to think about it, because if she did, she’d work herself into an existential crisis, and no one has time for that.

    (They looked at her and saw something otherworldly , like a new species brought to an ecosystem.)

    She stood now before the sealed-off entrance to Mesprit’s cave, vaguely wondering if her Arcphone would work since she wasn’t ‘supposed’ to be here yet. Arceus had many choices that day on the mountain, and He chose the one that left her with all her knowledge.    

    Thankfully, the rocks shifted aside when she held her phone up, and she was granted access to the small cave.

    The Alpha Goodra guarding the cavern was quickly taken care of, and she felt Mesprit’s curious poking at her mind fade away as the Legendary appeared before her.

    “ Your emotions… share them with me… ” 

    Dawn tipped her head in a small nod, “They’re yours.”

    “ When you fell into this land, what stirred in your heart? ”

    “I was… surprised and panicked doesn’t cover the half of it. One minute, I was in my home, the next I was communicating with Arceus Himself and being thrown into the past.”

    “ How did it feel to bond with Pokemon and work alongside them? ”

    “It was natural, something I’d already been doing all my life. To do it again, even with the current circumstances… it warmed my heart.”

    “ What did you feel, mingling with Hisui’s clans? ”

    “To be honest… They refused to listen to each other about anything . They’ve been arguing for centuries, and it took the Nobles’ frenzies to get them to work together. Most of the time I was with them was playing mediator and trying not to scream that both sides are right. Sort of.”

    “ What did you feel when cast out of the Galaxy Team? ”

    “Bitter beyond words. Everything I’ve done since arriving was what they told me to. I helped them better understand the Pokemon we share this world with. And yet the moment something happens, I’m cast aside.” She clenched her hands at her sides, fighting back tears.

    “ Why do you walk alone? ”

    Okay. New question that she didn’t have an answer to and didn’t understand. She could work with this.

    Dawn cast a worried glance to the entrance of the cave, like a certain merchant was waiting to jump out.

    “ This place is safe. Speak freely. ”

    “It’s just… easier, I guess. I know what to do, so why wait around instead of getting it done? And… there’s someone after the Plates. He wants to summon Arceus and pick Him apart, take His place. If that man found out I knew his plan and was hiding the Plates from him,” she gulped, “I don’t want to think about what he’ll do.”

    “ I see. Take this piece of the spirit to bind the world once more. ”

    The plume drifted into Dawn’s hands, and Mesprit disappeared. 

    Dawn looked over her map for a bit, trying to find the most direct but out of the way route to Lake Acuity. Kurama was laying at her side, lazily batting his favorite bell between his claws. Mind made up, though not happy about it, she put the Arcphone away and brought out her flute.

    A few hours later found her standing at Uxie’s cave, wondering how her life got to this point. She plucked branches and thorns from her clothes, grumbling all the while. Note to self: don’t charge through a forest to avoid (worried) Pearl Clan members.

    The rocks tumbled aside, and she stepped into the (barely) warmer cave.

    “Come. I will test your knowledge,” Uxie stated. “Combee. Zubat. Unown. Magneton. Dusclops. How many are their eyes? Tell me each, one by one yet all at once.”

    “Six, zero, one, three, one.”

    “ Take this piece of the spirit to bind the world once more. ”

    Though she didn’t want to, on her way to the Mirelands Dawn stopped in the Coastlands. She was running on barely any sleep, and thundering around the region on Wyrdeer’s back was tiring for both of them.

    Now all she needed to do was find a secluded area to spend the night in.

    Tempting fate, she made her way to Turnback Cave.

    Sneasler obviously didn’t want her anywhere near there, as evidenced by the Lady trying to subtly turn them away from it. But she knew Dawn would find a way up there somehow, and at least she was the safer option.

    As a compromise, Sneasler would wait nearby incase of an emergency rescue.

    Turnback Cave was… much smaller than in her time. The winding maze, for whatever purpose it served, hadn’t yet been built. Yet the bizarre and off-putting aura of the Distortion World was already here, clinging to cracks in the stone.

    (She had her own theories, of course. Perhaps the maze with its small doors was meant more from keeping things in rather than out . A place filled with the ghosts of those who once watched over it.)

    Fortunately, she wasn’t entirely alone in here. Unfortunately, she wasn’t alone.

    A small shadow seemed to stare at her as she rolled out her bedroll and set a very small fire up.

    “If it’s subtlety you’re going for, you’re doing a very bad job at it.”

    The shadow grew, 2 red eyes blinking into existence, and inched closer. It stopped several feet away, still watching. Curious.

    Not looking up from her improvised grilled cheese with jam, she smiled wistfully. “You know, back where I come from, you and I were friends.” Silence answered her, but she kept talking, “I know every piece of time travel fiction says not to talk about the future, but I feel you and your siblings are the exception to that, yeah? Believe it or not, you helped save the universe.

    “You saved your siblings from a man trying to do exactly what you are now,” she winked at the shadow, “talk about character development, eh?”

    Once again, Giratina did nothing. But now (guessing only by their eyes and the fact that they haven’t attacked her yet) they seemed… contemplative. Reevaluating. 

    “I’m not going to tell you what to do. Far from it. I know you’re angry at Arceus, but is this really the best way to go about it?”

    When Dawn looked up, Giratina’s shadow was gone.

    Bright and early, and hating every second of it, Dawn entered Azelf’s cave.

    “ Show me unyielding will. Strike me, if you can. ”

    Azelf blipped out of sight, leaving a container of balms in their wake. Dawn hefted the box up, carrying it with her to the corner, where she would have the best view of the room.

    Time and time again, Azelf teleported away a moment before the balm hit them. Time and time again, they asked if she would give up. She refused.

    Finally, the balm struck its target and Azelf’s fang was bestowed upon her.

    The mist of the ruins wrapped around her like a blanket, hiding her and what was about to happen from prying eyes. 

    The 3 Pokemon of the Lakes forged their 3 gifts into a sparkling red chain that stung as Dawn held it. Thousands of tiny needles poked at her hands and mind as the fear from what this thing could do reared its ugly head.

    Only one thing left to do. And if she was right, Kamado and his team had yet to reach the mountain.

    At dusk, a note was found stuck to the doors of the Clan Leaders’ homes. It read, simply, ‘Don’t trust the merchant’.

    At around 3 AM, a gloved hand hidden by shadows and guided by the spring breeze picked up a ghostly Plate.

Chapter Text

    Laventon and the rest of the group stared in shell-shocked silence as Dawn and Wyrdeer sped off - in a direction that was most certainly not towards Grandtree Arena.

    A small, desperate part of him wanted to believe she was taking the scenic route, or going by one with the least amount of people on it. However, deep in his heart, he knew it not to be true.

    Rei feebly held an arm out, as if to stop the long-gone silhouette, and Laventon placed his hand on the boy’s shoulder, shaking his head.

    Where had they gone wrong?

    The pain and anger in the young girl’s eyes was seared into Laventon’s mind. The gathered Survey and Security Corps members knew just how dangerous that anger could be, should it turn onto the people of Jubilife. Laventon himself had watched as Dawn’s team grew with each battle and entry into the Pokedex. Her Sylveon alone could raze the town, he reckoned.

    He shifted his stance, holding his chin with one hand and crossing the other over his chest. The only thing in that direction of note was Lake Verity, but why? Think, Laventon, think …

    He jolted as the answer crashed into him, startling those around him. The 3 Pokemon of the Lakes! Perhaps they could have an answer! But any cave system where they might have lived would’ve been sealed off ages ago, and communication…

    It seemed Laventon would have to brush up on his mythology once they returned.

    Cyllene turned, a clinical motion, back to the path that would take them back to the village. Her shoulders and face were set like stone. A single tear trailed down her face.

    Not a word was said as they made their shuffle back home.

-

    Two hours later, a messenger arrived at the Diamond Clan settlement.

    The clan was huddled around the center of the settlement, waiting with bated breaths as Adaman quickly read the letter. With every line, it seemed, his eyebrows inched further up.

    “Mai,” he said. His expression seemed to war with itself for a moment before returning to its previous thinly-veiled panic, “When you were in the Obsidian Fieldlands earlier, did you see any sign of Dawn?”

    “No,” she replied, “has something happened to her?”

    “As you all know,” he turned back to the crowd, “Dawn was exiled from Jubilife Village on the suspicion she had a hand in the rifts and strange lightning. She was told to ask Lian of the Pearl Clan, who they knew would be in the area, for aid and shelter as she attempted to figure out what was going on. I’m assuming that, failing that, she would have tried to then find Mai. Instead, she ran for Lake Verity, and hasn’t been seen since.”

    Murmurs broke out across the crowd. Confusion, mostly, and a bit of anger from the more closed-minded of the clan. Like with most meetings in this clan, it wasn’t long before people started to argue.

    Adaman sighed and rubbed his temples against the oncoming headache stemming from the noise. He looked to the sky as if Almighty Sinnoh itself would descend from above and bestow upon them the answers they were grasping for.

    Of course, nothing happened, and the sky remained a dizzying red.

    Just what could Dawn have gone to the lake for? The island in the center held nothing but a giant rock and some trees, but surely there must be more than meets the eye if that ’s where she immediately fled to. Some sort of secret base in the surrounding mountain? His grandmother’s voice as she told him of the creation of Hisui echoed in his mind, but the words were lost.

    Ignoring the crowd, Adaman opened the door to his hut and grabbed some thicker clothing. Looks like he needed to pay Irida a visit.

    A little over an hour after the messenger arrived at the Diamond Clan, they delivered their letter to the Pearl Clan.

    It was met with much the same fanfare.

    “Lian, did you ever see Dawn before you made your way back here?” Irida asked, trying to keep calm.

    “No, I didn’t even know she’d been in the Fieldlands…” he muttered, nervously thumbing at the bead on the strings of his hat.

    It seemed their day kept getting worse, like tripping on a hill and having every Pokemon nearby start to chase you.

    What to do, what to do… Irida’s eyes darted around the assembled members of her clan, trying to think of a solution.

    Her eyes landed on a tattered black coat.

    “Ingo!” she called, walking over to him. He jumped a bit, and she smiled apologetically, “Do you have any idea where Dawn could have gone, after Lake Verity?”

    “For certain, I cannot say. Though we may be close, the tracks ahead of us remain unclear.” His grip on the brim of his hat tightened, “However, she once spoke of how her home station was once saved by the power of the Pokemon residing in the lakes. She may be trying to seek them out to gain this power, or their support in the turntables ahead.”

    Irida nodded, a plan to find Adaman already forming in her head.

    “Lady Irida!” a man shouted, running up to the group. The clan turned as one towards him as he fought to catch his breath. “Someone riding a Wyrdeer was just spotted in the forest south of here. We couldn’t confirm that it was Dawn, as they were hidden by the trees. What shall we do?”

    The clan leader pursed her lips, thinking.

    “For now, nothing,” she declared, “I have good reason to believe that, if it is Dawn, she knows what she’s doing. However, if it isn’t her, tell me.” Irida turned back to Ingo, about to ask him to investigate Lake Acuity, but stopped at his frown being deeper than usual.

    “I… hesitate to travel where Galaxy Team members may be around, due to my own strange arrival at this station. Only a few months before she did, and without my memories to boot… my apologies, Irida,” he explained.

    She smiled, “It’s fine, Ingo. We just need to have faith in her, right?”

    Irida quickly packed some supplies, and rushed south to find her fellow clan leader.

    Volo paced around his small camp near Cogita’s home.

    Every step he made, that girl dodged like it would burn her. Even sending 2 of his Pokemon to slow her down so he could catch up and get in her good graces failed.

    What had he done, to have her avoid him like this? 

    How did she know ?

    To top this whole farce off, the shadows had been… quiet, recently. Before they whispered to him, plans of domination and teasing bits of knowledge. Now not a line was scarcely out of place.

    What has Dawn done ?

    Why wasn’t he enough ?

    Except for the person in the woods who may have been her, Dawn has not been seen since yesterday morning. It was now approaching dusk (the only way to tell by virtue of a pocket watch, and even those seemed to be having problems), and both clan leaders had reluctantly returned to their settlements to arrange for someone to keep an eye on Jubilife and to help with the search.

    By a trick of fate, they had seen the piece of paper stuck to their door at the same time, just as the sun would have touched the horizon. It was unclear how it got there, as no one in either clan had seen anyone walk up to the doors all day. The letter, written in Dawn’s familiar sketchy handwriting, simply said not to trust ‘the merchant’.

    It didn’t take much to figure out who she was talking about, due to Volo’s constant poking at the troubles with the Nobles and the fact that whenever he was around, Dawn seemed to find a reason to be somewhere else. However, the why was still unclear. He’d done nothing shady that they knew of, except for his uncanny ability to find…

    …Dawn and whichever Wardens she was helping. 

    Regardless, Adaman and Irida trusted her judgment. And while they had several questions, they could wait until the rift was gone and the sky back to normal.

    It was getting rather late (or early, depending on who you ask), but Cogita was still awake. The small clock on the table in front of her as she sipped her tea ticked away, each second bringing them closer to 3 AM.

    At 2:59, a floral breeze swirled into being beside her, Enamorus forming soon after. Her friend kept close, in somewhat of a defensive position.

    At 3:00, a large purple-black shadow pooled onto the floor, rising up. Twin red eyes shone like beacons as they looked down at her.

    So this is what she was missing sleep for?

    Cogita sighed, a series of images flashing in her mind as the Legendaries tried to communicate with her without causing a blinding headache. Eighteen plates created by Arceus, plans for destruction, a young girl tasked with saving the world (who she was meant to guide), and the 2 plates missing from her bag. One, Cogita realized she herself had without even realizing it, while the other…

    She placed her teacup down, looking between Giratina’s shadow and Enamorus, “What is it that you want me to do?”

    Cloaked by shadows, she now crept through the forest to where Volo had made camp for the night. He often bothered her for tales and locations of ruins, though in the past months he’d been visiting more often. In hindsight, it was almost obvious that he was planning something, but Cogita had made it somewhat of a personal mission to avoid people and their affairs whenever possible.

    A slight breeze guided her hand to his bag (really, he should be thankful that she wasn’t trying to rob him blind. How arrogant must one be to not keep their belongings close, or at least without a Pokemon to watch it?) and Cogita plucked the cold Plate from it. Job done, she quickly retreated back to her home, the darkness around her absorbing the sound.

    She clicked the door shut behind her, and grabbed the Pixie Plate from where it had been laying unassumingly on her counter. The immortal turned back to her conspirators, who awkwardly stood/floated at the doorway.

    The Pokemon shared a glance, and then Enamorus held her hands out. Cogita deposited the Plates into the arms of her old friend, asking, “I trust you know what to do with these?”

    She nodded, and with a swirl of petals, Enamorus was gone.

    Giratina’s shadow stared at her for a few more moments, before bowing its head and sinking into the floor.

    Cogita collapsed into her chair, drinking the now cold remains of her tea. The clock ticked on, though now it was much too late (or early) to sleep.

Chapter Text

    The sky above was a dizzying swirl of purple and red that would have driven a lesser man to panic and madness.

    Dawn, however, looked at it with the same apathy of a minimum wage worker facing the 3rd Karen of the day.

    Thankfully, she had arrived before Kamado and Beni, however she could see them about halfway up the mountain now. Adaman, Irida, Laventon, and Rei were close behind, likely chasing after them.

    The pressure around her intensified as she entered the temple, sparing a glance to each of the statues as she passed. Dawn could feel Palkia’s presence, poking at her and the chain in her bag. Without Irida here, she wondered if the goddess would speak to her, or just jump straight to battle.

    Dawn stepped onto the altar, and felt the vastness of space wrap around her and seep into her pores like warmth from a blanket.

    “You hold… the Red Chain… Try to catch me, then, human!” Palkia’s voice became clearer with each word as their telepathy settled, “For the fight to come!” 

    I have a name, you know , Dawn grumbled, but grabbed Bismuth’s Pokeball.

    The fabric of reality rippled in front of her, and white claws appeared as a portal was ripped open. Palkia stepped through, eyes flicking about as they surveyed the near-empty temple in front of them. The Red Chain sprung from her bag of its own accord (Dawn made a note to ask why now , instead of when, you know, the actual rampaging god appeared), circling around the pink dragon. But it didn’t hold, falling to the ground, broken.

    Palkia roared, and the battle began.

    …and was ended immediately by a single Agile Style Dazzling Gleam that nearly bowled the goddess over, and a Gigaton Ball sealed the deal.

    Dawn studied the ball in her hands, the embarrassment yet also pride emanating from it nearly physical. She smirked, clicking the center button and allowing Palkia out. Proper battle law hadn’t been established yet, and most of the people here sent all of their Pokemon out at once, and she felt that after all the bullshit she’s been through, she should be allowed to carry 7 Pokemon just this one time .

    Palkia leaned down, and Dawn cupped the sides of their face as they rubbed their foreheads together. They didn’t recognize her, but they could feel the affection she had for them and all the stress of recent months.

    The kind of but not really reunion was abruptly ended by clanking and clamoring footsteps and several shouts of “Dawn!”.

    It seemed the Galaxy Team and Clan Leaders had finally arrived.

    “Hey there, everyone,” she said casually, “fancy seeing you here.”

    The assembled group was silent, processing several things at once and trying to decide which of the Copperajah in the room to address first.

    “Dawn, what…” Irida said, taking one for the team, “who is that?”

    “This is Palkia, ruler of space.”

    Adaman looked like he just lost his life’s savings in a bet, and Irida practically started glowing.

    Palkia growled, turning back to the altar, standing before them and fanning their wings out protectively. An unnatural rumble rolled like thunder as another portal slowly opened.

    “ Space-time is torn… Awful power spills forth… the frenzied one… comes to fight! ” by Irida’s gasp, Dawn figured she could hear it too, “ Now, Dawn! Fight it with me! ”

    The Pearl Clan leader echoed Palkia’s message, and nearly everyone got ready to bolt.

    “But the chain…” Adaman gestured to its broken pieces littering the ground, “it’s broken! What will we do without it?”

    His question went unanswered as Dialga finally fought through the fabric of space, floating down onto the ground in front of them. They roared, power shaking the foundations of the temple.

    Reluctantly, Dawn recalled Palkia, and turned to the rest of the assembled group. “We need to leave! I can’t fight them like this!”

    No one needed to be told twice, but none of them were really happy about it.

    They fled to the Summit Camp, everyone save Dawn once again stunned speechless.

    “Such dreadful power…” Laventon muttered.

    “I can’t believe there really were two Almighty Sinnohs after all…” Adaman said, clutching his head.

    Dawn coughed into her fist.

    Beni had left to escort the Security Corps members to safety, but Kamado remained. Every now and then he looked like he was about to speak, but stopped himself every time.

    “I…” he began, steeling himself, “I must apologize, from the bottom of my heart. To all of you, Dawn especially.” Kamado turned to the Clan Leaders, “As leaders, you saw the truth when I refused to, and never abandoned trust in Dawn. And to you, I acted on old fears and presumptions and drove you from the Galaxy Expedition Team, forcing you to face all of this yourself. And yet, despite all of that, you still worked to save all of Hisui!”

    (Cyllene did not need to yell. But each of her words as she verbally tore him apart cut like blades and would have dozens of essays analyzing it written in the future.)

    “I don’t forgive you, but I accept your apology. Besides, it’s not like I could sit back and let the world implode. I live here,” Dawn shrugged, unaware of the one-sided shouting match in the center street of Jubilife when Kamado went to leave.

    “Might I suggest we return to the matter at hand?” Laventon asked, “We’ve left things in quite a poor state up at the temple.”

    Muttered agreements fluttered throughout the group.

    “Palkia told me what we need.” Irida said, closing her eyes as she repeated the goddess’s final words to them at the temple, “The stone of creation’s beginning, the chain of red, the vessel of humankind’s invention. Unite these three, and calm the chaos now pervading time.” 

    “They also said they wanted to go with us back to the temple,” she added.

    “I grabbed some of the Red Chain,” Adaman held up a handful of the pieces.

    “And the vessel… I daresay that’s a Pokeball,” Laventon hummed.

    “But what about ‘the stone of creation’s beginning?’” Irida asked.

    “I, uh, think I have some,” Dawn said. They blinked owlishly at her, so she continued, “As I was exploring, I found some strange ore in a cave in the Primeval Grotto. I thought it looked cool, and also important, so I grabbed some.”

    Dawn took some of the pieces she had collected from her bag (keeping a sharp eye for a certain group of sisters jumping out of the woodwork), the Red Chain shards from Adaman’s hand, and a Pokeball from Laventon, and pressed them into Rei’s hands. “I think you know what to do with this, Rei. After all, you’re the best crafter I know.”

    Rei’s eyes lit up and he nodded frantically. “It may take a while!” he shouted as he ran over to the tent and storage box of the camp.

    Kamado turned to Dawn, “As leader of the Galaxy Expedition Team and Jubilife Village, I reinstate you at your previous rank and repeal your exile.” Awkwardly, he walked away to find Beni.

    With nothing to do but wait, the remaining group rested for the trials to come.

    The Origin Ball felt odd in her hands, hot yet cold, bound in reality yet existing beyond it. With it, even frenzied gods could be tamed.

    Dawn led Kamado, Adaman, and Irida back to the temple, but stopped at the entrance to the tunnel that would take them up. Volo was here last time, trying to sell her some last minute items.

    So, ignoring how her face burned and the confused stares behind her, she called Sneasler and climbed over it.

    The 3 leaders turned to each other, shrugged, and walked into the empty tunnel.

    Her heart was doing somersaults in her chest as Dawn walked forward, eyes never leaving Dialga.

    The god of time began to glow a familiar yellow light, and Dawn threw Palkia’s Gigaton Ball. The power flowing from the light burst forth, literally blowing the roof of the temple.

    One of the smaller pillars broke off and flew towards the humans from the side, out of Palkia’s line of sight and just as it would have hit them, Dawn moved so fast she might as well have teleported. She caught the pillar, turned towards Dialga, and threw it at them, along with a Spacial Rend from Palkia. 

    (Kamado will swear to the grave that, for but a moment, her eyes were glowing red .)

    The light broke apart, revealing Dialga in their Origin Forme. It was an uncanny fusion of them and Arceus, and, in Dawn’s humble opinion, looked like it had something stuck in its throat.

    Palkia formed a circular barrier around them, cutting the leaders off from the battle. Dawn dodged around, throwing the time balms that had appeared at some point. She was never in one spot for more than a few seconds as chaos reigned over the battlefield. The ends of her hair and clothes were singed from several close calls, and all her friends and Kamado could do was watch on in horror. Calming Nobles was one thing, but here she faced down a god .

    At last, the balms stunned Dialga long enough for Dawn to grab Marina’s Pokeball and throw it. If it was possible for a Gastrodon to roar, she did, and a single, regular Earth Power defeated the ruler of time.

    Wasting no time (heh), Dawn tossed the Origin Ball, thumping Dialga on the head before it drew them in. Red light exploded forth as the Red Chain drew away the power of their Origin Forme, and the ball clattered to the ground as the capture was completed.

    From above, white light shone down in spots, before expanding and letting the sun shine once more. The red sky dissipated, returning it to blue and taking the space-time rift with it.

    “She caught it…” Rei said, he and Laventon having finally made their way to the temple.

    “This is Dawn we’re talking about,” Adaman chuckled, “were you expecting anything less?”

    Dawn breathed a sigh of relief, shoulders slumping. There was still more to do, but for now…

    “Well, glad that part’s over,” Dawn turned and strode forward, ignoring the confused looks on everyone’s faces, “now if you don’t mind me, I’m going to take the longest fucking bath this world has ever seen and sleep for a week.”

    That got a laugh out of Irida, the others soon following. They followed her down the mountain, discussing plans for a festival in celebration of the stranger from beyond the rift saving the world.

    It was to be held in 2 days time, to give everyone involved (read: Dawn and her Pokemon) a chance to rest and prepare for the party. She didn’t have to lift a finger, both as thanks for giving them a chance at tomorrow and trying to make up for the whole exile thing. Dawn didn’t care, and it just gave her an excuse to play with her Pokemon.

    Speaking of…

    Laventon watched on in amusement as she talked to the rulers of time and space like a mother scolding her children. Several other villagers had stopped to watch as well, including some of the members of both clans.

    Rant done, Dawn folded her hands in front of her chest and clicked her heels together, almost the same way Laventon had seen many businesswomen do back in Galar. Her smile was sweet but promised hellfire onto whoever was on the receiving end if they didn’t do as she said.

    He hid a laugh as he saw something approaching dawning horror on the 2 gods’ faces (and their shadow, which had strangely fused together and now seemed to have eyes). “Now then,” Dawn chirped, “I think it’s high time you three got around to fixing what you broke, hm?”

    Wait, three?

Chapter Text

    Dawn had many treasured memories. They came from scattered points in her life, littering each year like a trail of breadcrumbs.

    A few weeks before Arceus had barged into her life, the fridge that had been almost as old as their house had finally kicked it. After buying a new one, her mother had spent nearly an hour going through the magnets and notes that had covered nearly every inch of the old fridge and sticking them on the new one. Dawn had ‘helped’ by leaning against the counter and messing with the music player. But at one point, a certain song had come on, and they had spent the next 9 minutes bouncing and swaying to the song.

    About 2 years earlier was the first in the line of bi-monthly ‘girls’ nights’ where Dawn, Candice, Maylene, Fantina, Gardenia, and Cynthia gathered at the former Champion’s house to mostly add color commentary to movies and fawn over each other’s Pokemon. The movies were mostly well over a decade old and each was viciously torn apart. Aaron was an honorary member of the group, though he was mostly called upon to grab more supplies and rarely stuck around for long.

    These memories, and many more, had kept Dawn going through some tough points. In recent times, they just added to her yearning for home.

    She blinked the drowsiness from her eyes, staring up at the now-familiar plain wooden ceiling. It took her about a bit too long to realize she had another Pokemon in the house.

    When she saw Enamorus casually floating in the main part of her house, Dawn jumped about a foot in the air. She had never met the Pokemon personally, but she had read that the herald of Spring once lived in Sinnoh - before it was regarded as such - before one day vanishing. Sightings had been confirmed all around the world, but no one could get close to her or figure out why she was suddenly aimlessly wandering far away from civilization. The other Forces of Nature were known to interact freely with humans- though much of that was when Thundurus and Tornadus’s fights moved into inhabited areas.

    Dawn, seeing as how none of her Pokemon were tense, relaxed out of her fighting stance. If there was a problem, they would have woken her up or tried to fight the Legendary by themselves. 

    In Enamorus’s hands was a vaguely square-shaped something wrapped in clouds. She held it out, and Dawn warily took the bundle. Once her hands had firmly gotten a hold of it, the clouds dissipated, revealing 2 Plates.

    One pink, one dark purple.

    Dawn’s throat felt suddenly very dry.

    She looked to Enamorus for answers, but all she did was nod once before teleporting away in a burst of petals. 

    Dawn had, of course, been looking for the Plates every chance she got. It took a lot to get the various Legendaries and Mythicals to come out of hiding before the rift was closed, but through cunning planning and brute force she was able to fight and capture them to receive their Plates. This just left the 2 plates in the possession of Cogita and Volo. Obviously, this was a problem, as in this version of events she and Cogita never met and Volo would sooner take all of her Plates before handing over his.

    But somehow, Enamorus (or someone that knew her) had gotten her hands on the Plates and knew to give them to Dawn.

    Deciding not to look a gift Rapidash in the mouth, Dawn shrugged and wrapped them up in cloth, adding them to the line of 16 already in her bag.

    The Pokedex was nearly done, and the quota for near heart attacks in a day had already been filled, so Dawn made the executive decision to hang around the village for the day.

    “-and then I threw a pillar at them.”

    Ingo choked on the sip of water he had been taking.

    It was too late for breakfast and too early for lunch, so the pair sat in the shade of a tree near the training grounds eating what Dawn proudly declared was called brunch. Ingo had a small plate of potato mochi and cut up berries, while Dawn had a bowl of rice so red with spice it might have been radioactive, and some fruit as well.

With a blank face and tone she was recounting all that had happened when she had been in exile, and had she been anyone else Ingo would have thought it wasn’t true.

“You’ve managed the impossible and rendered me speechless,” was all he said. However, the idea of Dialga being clocked in the face by a teenager throwing a giant pillar did get a small laugh out of him.

Dawn snorted, “And you’d think the god of time would notice when there’s timeline shenanigans going on, yet here we are.” A thoughtful look passed over her face, “Do you remember the Forces of Nature? A group of 3 - technically 4 - Pokemon, most often seen in Unova?”

Ingo’s frown deepened as he thought. “Not particularly, no. All I can think of is that 2 of them are constantly fighting. Wait- there’s another one?”

Dawn nodded, “Enamorus is the 4th member of the group, but in our time she’s rarely seen. Minus Arceus and Giratina, there’s 4 sections of the Pokedex that’re still blank and I can’t figure out which Pokemon are supposed to fill them. However…” oh it hurt to lie to him like this, “I think I saw one of them the other day. So if one’s here, what’re the odds of the others following?”

“It’s not unlikely, but I don’t think they travel as a group…”

“We didn’t get this far last time, so I’m kinda grasping at straws here.”

Dawn groaned, swiping the dirt off her pants. “Well. I was planning on taking the day off, but the sooner this gets done the sooner I can drop kick you-know-who into the sun. I’m headed for the Fieldlands. Just make sure nothing happens to the village while I’m gone.”

“Be careful!” Ingo half-shouted to her retreating back, “I’ve got a bad feeling about today…”

She waved dismissively, “Have faith in me, Uncle Ingo!” With a smirk, not that he could see it, she added, “And if there is a problem, I know where your shovel is.”

    After waiting a few minutes for Laventon to arrive, they all but strolled towards the Obsidian Fieldlands.

Chapter Text

    Finding Landorus was surprisingly easy. All Dawn had to do was follow the report of small whirlwinds on Ramanas Island, and there he was. For once the battle wasn’t a landslide victory, due mostly to the fact she’d never fought him before. It was actually fun .

    (Was this what Volkner felt like?)

    As she and Basculegion made their way back across the river, Dawn racked her brain for any clues on where the other 3 Forces of Nature could be hiding. Thundurus was an Electric Type and known for causing thunderstorms, the Coastlands were probably her best bet. Tornadus was pure Flying and caused storms, so there wasn’t much there… she’d check the Icelands, then the Highlands. Enamorus was the most enigmatic of the bunch. She was the Herald of Spring, and it’s said her love paved the way for new plant life each year, or something like that. It’s been ages since Dawn read the book about the Forces of Nature. With the Mirelands the only area unchecked, she figured she would look there.

    Ingo’s last words to her, despite her assurance she’d be fine, rang in her head no matter how hard she tried to dispel them. Dawn supposed that working in the subway for so long would give you a bit of a disaster sense.

    That, or it was just a him thing.

    Turns out Dawn was right, as in the Icelands there had been an unusual blizzard near the Bonechill Wastes Tornadus had been residing in. An equally odd thunderstorm had been plaguing the coasts of the, well, Coastlands. Thundurus was just as surprised as her when they quite literally ran into each other, especially when Basculegion actually smacked the stormbringer with his tail. 

    As for Enamorus…

    Dawn groaned as she sat up and gently poked at her bleeding nose, heaving a sigh of relief that it wasn’t broken. She’d seen the god of Spring not too far away, got excited, and proceeded to slip off of Wyrdeer’s back and land face-first in the dirt. The noise had startled her, and Enamorus seemed to laugh before fleeing.

    Thankfully, no one had been around to see.

    Wyrdeer made a worried noise, bumping her shoulder with his snout. Dawn patted his side reassuringly, heaving herself to her feet. It would heal itself in a few minutes.

    Enamorus led them on a merry chase throughout the Mirelands, leaping away every time Wyrdeer slowed down enough for Dawn to hop off and grab one of her Pokeballs. Eventually, though, the Herald of Spring seemed to have her fill of fun and stopped, allowing Dawn to fight and capture her.

    Dawn stared at the Ultra Ball in her hands. All she had to do now was find Giratina, and she’d be able to see Arceus. She and Ingo would be able to go home.

    Sneasler’s (who Dawn had to call on when Enamorus decided to go up a cliff) ear twitched, and she turned around with a hiss, moving to stand defensively in front of Dawn.

    Oh. Right. She’d been so wrapped up in the joy of a good battle and being able to punch god, for a minute, Dawn had completely forgotten about Volo.

    “That was quite the battle,” he said, clapping slowly, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you run so ragged.”

    “What do you want,” Dawn growled, slowly moving her hand towards Bismuth’s Pokeball. Like Cynthia always did, he led with Spiritomb…

    The small smile bled off his face, “I see. I suppose we’ll jump straight to business, then.”

    Like the monologuing cartoon villain he was, Volo began to pace. “Everything I’ve done, you seem to know the best way to avoid it. At first I just thought it was coincidence, but then it kept stacking up and I began to wonder just how you knew what to do. Almost as if… someone was telling you what to do.”

    If that ‘someone’ was herself, then yeah. All Arceus did was make her relive it all rather than dealing with the problem Himself.

    He turned back towards her, “You see, just recently, something of mine has gone missing. Just one thing, nothing else, though my bag held many valuables. And only someone who knew its true value would have known to take it. I searched everywhere I could, but it's as if the Plate just disappeared. I’ve no idea how you managed to get your hands on it, but…”

    Volo drew a Pokeball, “I must insist you give it back.”

    “How about I don’t and we pretend we’ve never met?” Dawn made a slight movement with the hand not holding Bismuth’s Pokeball, a sign she’d seen Ingo do that she vaguely believed meant ‘I can handle this, go and tell someone there’s a problem’. Reluctantly, the Lady hurried off to the Diamond Clan settlement.

    “Unfortunately, you don’t have much of a choice.”

    Unfortunately for him, Dawn knew all his tricks.

    His team fought valiantly, but against someone who could predict their moves and vastly outclassed them, they each fell. Outrage grew on Volo’s face as each of his Pokemon fainted.

    “You…” he seethed, “why you? Why do you have Arceus’s blessing? My passion, my devotion… it was all for Arceus! It’s almost as if you were spat out of the rift just to get in my way!”

    “You wouldn’t be wrong …” Dawn muttered.

    Volo kept looking behind him, as if waiting for something to appear, but Dawn knew it wouldn’t happen. Dawn had watched with her own eyes as the creation siblings had reconciled, as Giratina left behind their plan for revenge when Volo’s true intentions had been revealed. Dialga had been a bit miffed that their vision of the past and future had been blocked, preventing them from intervening or even being able to tell Dawn had time-traveled twice . Palkia just seemed happy everything had calmed down and they didn’t have to spend their time blocking all the tears in space-time caused by their siblings. 

    “Look, right now, you’ve got 2 options. One, you can leave. You can keep whatever shreds of dignity you have left and start over somewhere else. Two, you can stay, and face the consequences of your actions.” Dawn crossed her arms, “If I were you, I’d choose the first option. Because if it gets out that you were the cause of this mess, putting the world in danger? And your plots beyond that? You’d never see the light of day again.”

    She could hear Sneasler and what sounded like Adaman and some of his Wardens getting closer. “You’ve got 10 seconds.”

    Volo ran away.

    After being fussed over by what felt like the entire Diamond Clan, Dawn was escorted back to one of the Galaxy Team’s camps by Mai. The Warden told her she’d been having problems with her Munchlax recently, and Dawn promised to help as soon as she could, but her plate was kind of full and it might take a few days. Mai understood, telling her with a knowing Look that she should take her time, and together they waited for Laventon to arrive so they could return to the village.

    “Dawn, my girl! I heard what happened, are you al-” the Professor was cut off by a smoky shadow suddenly pooling in front of Dawn. Giratina stepped out of it, leaning so their face was level with Dawn’s. Those in assembly watched stunned as what seemed like a silent conversation (and Laventon, knowing the others could use telepathy, knew it was), before Dawn nodded with a fond sigh, grabbing a Gigaton Ball from her bag and pressing it to the god’s forehead. It clicked almost immediately, and nonchalantly Dawn put it in her bag like she hadn’t just befriended another god right before their eyes.

    Inside said bag, her Celestica Flute transformed.

    The next day, Dawn rolled out of bed, ate what was supposed to be an omelet, and left with only the gate guards knowing where she went.

    She made her way up Mount Coronet, steps echoing down the mountain. Her path was, for once, clear.

    Mechanically, Dawn pulled the Azure Flute from her bag. Without quite knowing why, she played a specific tune with it. No one had taught her the second half, but it came to her as naturally as breathing.

    A glowing stairway to the stars appeared in front of her. Grumbling about another staircase, one stretching into infinity to boot, she made her way up.

    Dawn was not ashamed to admit she was out of breath by the time she reached the top step. She spent a good minute resting afterward, having a bad feeling about the large arena just a few feet away.

    Said arena was circular, with bumps on the side making a vaguely familiar sigil. Wasn’t this in some ruins in Johto…? It was lined with waist-high walls that looked like mini auroras. However, what it didn’t have was the bastard Himself.

    “You’ve got some explaining to do!” she yelled. Dawn spun in a slow circle, trying to pick out any odd detail. When she finally turned back to the front, Arceus stood before her.

    He was silent, staring at her with a calculating gaze. Uncertainly, Dawn grabbed her Arcphone, and it glowed with a blinding light. The now and unfortunately familiar weight of balms settled into her palm.

    Of course .

    ‘Chaos’ would be putting it lightly. 

    Dawn jumped and twisted her way around meteors, waves and homing beams of light. More than once she couldn’t get out of the way of one because she was trying to evade another. Wounds littered her arms and legs, and out of the corner of her eyes Dawn watched in morbid fascination as they immediately began to stitch themselves closed.

    Finally, Arceus stopped for long enough for Dawn to grab a Pokeball and battle. She sent out Juniper, her trusty starter who had been there through it all. Arceus transforming into an Ice Type proved to be His downfall, as Juniper used a Strong Style Triple Arrows. The move stunned Him, and Dawn thanked her starter before launching balms as fast as she could throw them.

    The last one struck, and Arceus straightened.

    “Thou hast done well to seek out all Pokemon. Unwavering devotion to a goal shalt see it through… Thou hast proven so by thine actions. Much as that ancient hero once did. He and the Pokemon that walked beside him. To see such truths proven anew bringeth joy to me. I am glad that I chose thee to call to this time.”

    “Well I’m not!” Dawn shouted, “You brought me here to fix your problems without any say in the matter!” Arceus made a move to speak, but she beat Him to it, “You are going to sit down and listen to what I have to say here!”

    She pulled out several pieces of paper, writing filling up every inch on each side. If Arceus could pale in fear, He would have.

    At the end of the chewing out of the era (that several Legendaries had gathered in the pastures to watch with snacks), Arceus allowed Dawn to catch him, and promised that when she and Ingo were ready, He would take them back to their time.

    For a moment, Dawn considered chucking the ball into Firespit Island’s volcano.

    She sat now on the altar of Spear Pillar. Her team was in a semicircle behind and around her, for once exhausted by the battles of the past few days.

    They did it.

    They did it .

    She couldn’t wait to tell her mother that she struck the fear of her into god.

    (Johanna sneezed. She attributed it to how dusty the books she was carrying were.)

Chapter Text

    Dawn kicked open the door to the house Ingo was staying in Jubilife Village. It spoke of how many times this had happened that he didn’t look up from his dinner.

    “I did it,” she said, flopping into a seat and stealing a piece of carrot.

    It took him a moment to figure out what ‘it’ meant, but when he did, his gaze snapped up, eyes landing on the Pokeball in her hand. “Is that-?”

    Dawn smiled, “Our express ticket home.”

    Deep within Canalave City’s library, Cynthia snapped her fingers to get the attention of the 2 other occupants of the room.

    “I found an excerpt from the journal of Professor Laventon,” she explained. “Listen to this…”

    “ September 1st, 189X. I still cannot believe it myself, though I watched it happen. In just 3 months, Dawn has managed what we all once thought impossible and completed Hisui’s first Pokedex. A few days ago, as I was preparing to leave Galaxy Hall for the night, she and Warden Ingo approached me and told me they would be leaving soon. Apparently, Dawn had managed to capture Arceus, a Pokemon I didn’t even know existed! A week has passed since then, with both packing and taking care of any remaining business. 

    “Saying goodbye took nearly the whole morning, with several members of both clans bringing parting words and small trinkets. I don’t think I’ve ever seen either cry, let alone this much. There wasn’t a dry eye as the portal opened, though seeing the almighty creator being used as an over glorified pack Mudbray did lighten the mood a bit. Around the time Dawn, Rei and I would have gathered for lunch at the Wallflower, they departed. It’s only been a few hours since then, and I already miss them terribly. But I take comfort in knowing that they’re back where they’re meant to be with their loved ones. ”

    Emmet’s gaze slid from the textbook, to the calendar on the wall, to the large clock next to it, and back again. It was September 1st, and 1:00 PM.

    Cynthia’s phone beeped (somehow) ominously. 

    Warily, the ex-Champion grabbed and unlocked it, with Johanna and Emmet returning to their places hovering over her shoulder.

    It was a text from the Sinnoh League group chat that had been mostly made as a joke by Bertha that hadn’t seen much use since Dawn disappeared.

    What had caused it to go off was 2 texts from the Champion herself. One was a photo of her giving a peace sign and smirking and Ingo next to her with a strange Sneasel on his shoulders. They looked like they were sitting on the steps of Spear Pillar, with Arceus Himself standing awkwardly behind them. As Laventon described, there were several bags and boxes strapped to His back. The other was a single sentence.

    We lived, bitches .

    After many shed tears, bone-crushing hugs, introductions to lost variations of Pokemon, and a long winded explanation of what happened, Dawn was curled up in her bed for the first time in months. She stared at the tiled ceiling, at each of the glow-in-the-dark stars stuck to it. Her old and new teams had, thankfully, gotten along well, and now they all crammed into her room, unwilling to leave her side.

    Ingo and Emmet would be staying for a few more days before heading back to Unova, at a hotel in Jubilife City (the irony wasn’t lost on her). The former had to be dragged from a pile of Pokemon glad to be reunited with their trainer after a year.

    There were, of course, still problems. Both Dawn and Ingo had to fight through the legal troubles vanishing and reappearing alongside Pokemon variations thought to be extinct will give you, Ingo still didn’t have all of his memories back, and trying to readapt to modern life weren’t going to go away for a while.

    But they were home now, and had their families (that were slowly morphing into one) to support them.

    That night, Dawn slept easily.

    (And woke up in a tangled mess of blankets face-first on the floor.)