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Lee finally catches her breath as she and Turtwig reach the forest. It feels like they’ve been running for hours, but time has long since lost meaning in this dark future where the sun never rises. All she wants to do is curl up in her bed at Wigglytuff’s Guild, fresh after devouring dinner, warm in both body and spirit. She wants to go home.
But home is a long time away now.
“This should be a good spot to rest for now,” Turtwig says as he pads towards Lee. “The Sableye shouldn’t see us through the fog.”
Lee nods and turns away, settling against the hard bark of a tree. Looking around at the fog surrounding them, she can almost pretend she’s exploring Fogbound Lake again, back when the most worrisome thing on her mind was finding the guild’s temporary camp. She closes her eyes and tries to quiet the rumblings of her stomach, reasoning that a rested body is better than nothing - even if she’d rather have a juicy Perfect Apple.
She hears Turtwig settle beside her, and reflexively lays a paw over one of his. There’s no wind to add to the cold, but Lee shivers as she thinks of Dusknoir’s henchmen following her small team.
What if pursuing Grovyle isn’t the right idea? What if I’ve led us both into danger?
“Lee?” Lee opens her eyes again to see Turtwig looking at her concernedly. “I can practically hear the gears in your brain turning. What’s up?”
Lee says nothing, afraid that voicing her thoughts would somehow cause them to come true. An irrational fear, she knows, but it doesn’t make it any less scary.
“I think I know what’s going on,” Turtwig tightens his grip on Lee’s paw. “I don’t know if following Grovyle was a good idea either. But I trust your gut, and it’s not like things can get any worse than they are now.”
“It’s not that simple, Turtwig,” Lee says, standing up and pulling her paw away. “Look around us. The future is completely bleak. Because of someone’s actions - be it Grovyle’s, Dusknoir’s, I-don’t-know-whose, time has frozen everywhere! What if we can’t escape? What if we’re stuck here forever?”
Turtwig stands, ready to speak, but Lee keeps talking faster and faster.
“I don’t know who to believe anymore! I thought we could trust Dusknoir, but he kidnapped us into the future - don’t make that face at me, Turtwig, that’s truly what he did! He grabbed us by the scruff of our necks and dragged us into this horribly dark future, and then attacked us! And of all people, Grovyle is trying to save the world? The wanted criminal? The Pokemon we ourselves have been tracking down for weeks? And why do these places feel so familiar to me?!”
"Lee, take a breath!” Turtwig yells.
Lee, suddenly aware of how loud she had become, immediately presses her mouth closed.
“I don’t know who to believe either,” Turtwig says quietly. “This is really scary for me too. But… I know we can’t give up. We have to keep going. We have to find Grovyle, or the great… I mean, or Dusknoir, I suppose, someone to give us these answers.”
“And what if they don’t have any answers? Or we decide we can’t trust what they’re saying?”
“Then…” Turtwig pauses, considers. “Then I guess we find our own way back to our world, and put everything right.”
“Can we really just do that?” Lee softly asks.
Turtwig goes quiet.
“I guess…” Turtwig answers, but his voice quivers. Lee knows that neither of them can answer the question, and that neither of them want to.
They both sit against the trees again, staring off into the fog. It was harder to imagine the Guild’s tents just beyond their vision, and the looming shadows seemed to hold nothing but threats.