As I turned to face Grovyle, I caught sight of Mesprit's skeleton again. Quickly I averted my gaze to Celebi and got away from the water's edge. "I can't fathom legendaries being dead," I said, hugging her, my ears flat against my skull. Celebi hugged me back, and I heard Grovyle walking up behind me. I've never seen a dead Pokémon before Uxie, even though I had visited Lavander Town's Pokémon Tower when I had started my journey, five years ago. Now, seeing Mesprit, I realized I would have to see one more Pokémon's skeleton before this would move to the next stage.

Grovyle wasn't heartless when he said, "Pearl, we need to keep moving," because he put his hand — claw, paw? — on my shoulder. I released Celebi, and no doubt they were wondering why I hadn't acted this way at Uxie's lake. I didn't know either, but that wasn't what was on my mind.

I tried to speak, but my words caught in my throat and I nodded instead. This world is death, I thought. I hated it.

Grovyle urged me on again, and we started to leave the cave, heading back the way we had entered. Our steps hadn't vanished in the sand, so we doubled back without incident.

That was when I heard it. Voices. My ears shot up as I froze, my tail even freezing as if I had suddenly become a statue. The sound got louder, and Grovyle and Celebi froze a second later, hearing it. Without a word, we went back to the lake. We took up positions on the sides of the entance, Celebi and Grovyle on one side, me on the other.

The voices entered the fortress. We were trapped.

Then I had an idea. Surely Mesprit had some kind of security system for such an occasion, or at least something for the Gear.

     I began to glow white, and I tried to keep my grunts of pain to a minimum. I saw nothing, for my eyes were shut tight, and my breathing was rough. When it was done, I felt a whole new spectrum of sense flow into me before I opened my eyes. I saw pink things in the corner of my vision, and I felt the tails on the ground behind me. My arms were short and a pale gray. I was Mesprit.

      Then I got a new idea. Maybe Mesprit was guiding me, maybe it was just a spur of the moment. I'd like to think it was the former. After all, it did feel right. It felt like emotion. "Hide!" I hissed, looking urgently to Celebi and Grovyle. Grovyle was quick, as he was, and grabbed Celebi. He slipped into the water, he and Celebi hugging the wall. Footsteps now could be heard, and Celebi moved onto Grovyle's back with him moving closer to the walls and ducking down so only his claws were visible. I floated over and moved the paralyzed sand around his claws, covering for the vibrant green against the dull gray. Then I positioned myself where I had seen Mesprit in my vision, also hiding the skeleton a bit.

     Everything was in place by the time they came. I heard them, but ignored them until one of them gasped. Still, I didn't turn around.

     "Mesprit!" I heard one of them whisper to one of themselves. "The guardian is alive!"

    "Yes, I am," I said, my voice foreign and regal to my ears. "Alive and well."

     I turned, and facing me were Sableye. I wasn't surprised. "What do you want?"

     The Sableye looked from me to each other. "But Master Dialga killed you!"

     "You dismiss me quickly. You cannot kill Emotion any more than you can kill Wisdom or Knowledge."

     "Uxie and Azelf are alive too?!"

     My eyes started to glow blue. The Sableye started to, too, as I used Psychic to pick him up and throw him into the lake behind me. "Leave, Sableye. I will not ask twice."

With mercy I knew would indicate ability, I grabbed the Sableye I just threw into the water again, and dropped him unceremoniously beside his comrades. They didn't move.

I used Swift, sending them sprawling from the cave mouth. Finally, one of them got the bright idea and turned tail. Some followed, all but two. "I said I would not repeat myself, Sableye, servants of Primal Dialga. You killed me." Those weren't my words. Then a little tidbit of lore about Mesprit came to mind, and I wondered if it was actually true. Her spirit could leave her body. Was it beside mine, right now?

"Weheheh!" one of them laughed, and launched themselves at me. Suddenly, another bit of information was recalled, and I moved out of their way. Not for myself, but for them. Touching Mesprit would cause one to lose all emotion ten days after. I used Psychic on both of them, and hit them with Swift. I let them go as I turned invisible.

"Leave," the foreign voice boomed from right beside me. "I will not spare you again."

This time, they got the message and bolted after their friends. "You must leave," the voice said, once the Sableye were gone and the silence lingered. "He will come for me again and kill you in my stead."

I felt something leave me, and the strong emotions I was feeling, feeling as truth, vanished, too. I fell to the ground, losing the strength, shifted to a Purrloin, and got back up. "Mesprit?" I croaked.

A slight chuckle was heard. "You were right, we can't be killed. We left our bodies right before Primal Dialga killed us. This is the place a Time Gear was, and the Fogbound Lake too, but we will not know of this future when you go back. We will fight you. Now go, it won't be long before this place will be caved in. Go, to the past, to a place that was known as Crystal Crossing." I flinched at the word, my real name. "That was Azelf's Gear, and if I'm not mistaken, the fifth one you need to find.
"This is the distraction you need to get away and into the past. Please don't waste it."

I looked up, and saw a shimmer in the air where I had been. It was a thin, white outline of Mesprit. It glowed slightly brighter, then it shattered into what looked like stardust. "Go," her faint voice commanded.

Immediately I ran over to where Grovyle was already hulling himself up. "Come on," I urged, grabbing is soaking claw. Celebi was still on his back.

He nodded. "Keep up." He darted down the tunnel, and I followed on all fours. Surprisingly, I realized, I felt more at home in this form.

We arrived under the quicksand. "Hold on to me," I said. Grovyle didn't ask, he just grabbed my small arm, incidentally jerking me to my back paws. It didn't matter to me, and I wasn't thinking of that anyway. I was concentrating on using Teleport to get out of here. I sensed no one, so I went for it.

We were in front of the quicksand when I opened my eyes next, but I saw it from a farther away angle. It was sideways, too, I noticed. "Why is the world sideways?" I asked, only to realize I had mumbled the words. Then I felt claws holding me, and I noticed the green leaves that always trailed behind Grovyle.

"Good, you're back," he said. I felt myself move and my back paws hit the ground. He didn't let my arm go. "Can you stand?"

"Yes," I said, whether I could or couldn't. Mesprit's words echoed in my mind. "We need to run, Grovyle," I urged.

"You passed out when we were up here," Celebi said. "Take a break a minute, Pearl."

"I can rest when we're at Foggy Forest," I growled. To prove my point, I shook him off and started running. I heard Grovyle sigh, then pick up his pace to match mine.

     Dark Hill was where we ran into trouble. Up until that point, we'd traveled more or less straight to Dark Hill and Dusk Forest in three days.

Before that, I'd see purple. Not the same color as Sableye and Arbok, but I didn't immediately recognize it. Oh, how I should have recognized it.

Of course, I was having a moment to realize how powerful I really was. Like the Lake Guardians, I probably could make my soul leave my body. Like Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina, I could control their powers in their form. I could even become Arceus. I'll be honest, it scared me. I could be anything. I could become corrupt.

I felt as dark as the world. My ability could be destructive. Maybe it would be better if I disappeared, then no one could use it.

"Pearl?" Celebi said. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," I said. It was partially true. I was undamaged. "Just... thinking."

"About what? You seem dark."

"It's nothing. Let's just go."

That left silence.

And that was when the trouble found us.

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This one is a bit shorter, sorry. The next one will be a test of an idea. I hope it goes well, and I hope you like it!