I was putting two places together on the Wonder Map and a modern dark map. I thought I found a possible Time Gear location, but that was a complete stab in the dark. I had little idea where we were on the Wonder Map, and the other map, which was nearly identical, had an island that showed a small place with what looked to be the collapsed Temporal Tower in its upper left 'corner' and something labeled "Abandoned Land" in the southern part of the island. The two maps were generally the same, but the names were all different. I went back to trying to figure out the places on the Wonder Map. Treasure Town. Mt. Horn. Dark Crater. Mt. Blizzard. Good thing they were named. I never would have remembered them all.

    In the book about Temporal Tower, the Hidden Land, and Time Gears, I found out that in Temporal Tower there were five gear indentions inside. When I showed Treecko, he nodded and showed me a book on Time Gears, how there were five of them. Three of them used to be guarded by a legendary trio. I started thinking of the legendary trios I knew, which were Articuno, Zapdos, I hope I get to see my Pokémon again..., and Moltres; Suicune, Entei, and Raikou; Mesprite, Uxie, and Azelf; Rayquaza, Kyogre, and Groudon; Cobalion, Virizion, Terrakion; Thunderus, Tornadus, Landerus. Those were the only ones I could remember. I heard tales when I was little that Suicune could purify polluted waters, and that Virizion was a guardian of sorts to wildernesses. I remember seeing Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres not in any spot they could protect, and I never saw Thunderus, Landerus, or Tornadus. My guess was Virizion and that trio, since they are guardians. It would only make sense they guard the Time Gears. There were so many choices, though.

"Okay, we have two numbers. Now we just need to do trial and error." I sighed. I knew that was easier said than done.

    Treecko came over to me again, saw my notes. I wrote the legendary trio's names in cursive, and obviously that wasn't something Treecko knew. "What does that say?" I jumped, since I had been trying to focus on looking for any area that might be a good Time Gear spot.

    "It's the legendary trios I could think of. You told me that a legendary trio used to guard the Gears, right? My best guess would be Unova's trio—"

    He stopped me right there. "Unova?"

    "Huh? Oh!" I had forgotten this wasn't my world anymore. "In my land, there are regions. One of them is Unova, my latest adventure. Anyway, there are trios in every region, at least one set each. Unova's trio is Virizion, Cobalion, and Terrakion. The other trios I met weren't exactly guarding the area they were in. Mesprite even never stayed at the lake she lived at, after I got her away from those who would want to use her power. Uxie and Azelf were in other lakes. Zapdos, Articuno, and Moltres were only in places that made them stronger, and they didn't guard them. Virizion and her fellow guardians are fairy tale guardians in stories I was told when I was little, but I've heard just as good things about Entei, Raikou, and Suicune. I guess the specifics don't matter, though. A trio guarded the Gears, and that's that." I realized there was some dirt on the Wonder Map, in what looked like some ocean or sea, and I carefully started to brush it off.

    Treecko thought a moment. "It could, since then we'd know who the guardians are. Though, we don't have access to this information, and it seems that Dusknoir doesn't, either." Suddenly, I jerked back. "What is it, Pearl?" He whispered my name so the Sableye wouldn't know it.

    I brushed off the dirt, then brought the dark map and the Wonder Map together. "I think my assumption was right; we are in the Hidden Land. It would seem, though, that there is no way to get from here to the mainland. The Hidden Land is supposed to be a rift in time, Dialga's way of protecting it. Some rune or something was the key, I think. The owner was written down in the book, but I didn't pay it any mind. It was a Pikachu, or Riolu, or something. The owner is probably long dead, anyway."

    Celebi floated over, and shook her head. She must've heard us. "That isn't true. I feel it in my being; there is a rift in the time and space of our world. But," she trailed off, peering at the map. "We aren't in it. I can't even begin to guess how any Pokémon could have gotten there by normal means. I guess that is just something—"

    The door slammed open, and I quickly slipped both maps into my little journal. They fit inside it nicely, once they were folded up enough. The journal was in my pocket in an instant as I turned around.

    Sableye came in, Dusknoir right behind them. The ghost Pokémon was angry, the eye on his head only a sideways cresent as he glared at me, eyes glowing slightly. Even though I had much power at my finger tips, I felt myself shrink beneath his gaze. It was fixed on me, and I couldn't look away. From the corner of my vision, I saw purple blurs move past me, glints almost catching my eye. "Whatever you three did to get in here," Dusknoir said, calm and regally, with danger lining his words. His voice portrayed none of the anger that his eyes gave off. I realized later it was Mean Look. "Sableye, take them back." His eyes stopped glowing, and I scowled at him.

    Rebelliously, I put my hands on my hips. "And if we refuse?" I used the words similar to what Treecko used a few days prior.

    Wordlessly, the ghost Pokémon snapped his fingers. Nothing happened right away, so I looked around at the Sableye. There were significantly more than the fifteen we had as escorts. I looked back at Dusknoir, just in time to duck. I dropped to the floor like a stone, landing with a thud, and his hand missed me. While I hadn't been looking, those few little hertbeats, he tried to slap me, presumably to knock me out. The Sableye were all going for Treecko and Celebi. I have to fight Dusknoir?! I thought with alarm. I remembered the bad excitement of my flee from Team Rocket and J, and the fear I felt then. I was powerless now, my ace stored away with a self-denial of using my power. Dusknoir had attacks he could use. Things looked bad.

Smiling, I faced him, looking him in the eye, steeled my fear, and let the smile fade. Calmness settled over me. Almost without my concent, though in line with my thoughts, I got into a fighting stance. Something like surprise flashed across Dusknoir's face for less than a heartbeat, but I was sure it was there. I'm a human to them—I hold no power over them. Did you expect me to not fight? A low, feral noise came from me; I felt like I did when I was a Charizard in the last battle. Here I am, with friends, facing odds that were stacked against us. Here I was, taking on the leader of the enemies. While I had a snarl on my face and with the deadly fire that danced in my eyes, I selected moves that wouldn't seem too suspicious: Force Palm, Low Kick, Drain Punch, and Quick Attack. I need fire-type moves! I was ready to fight in less than five seconds.

Dusknoir tried using a normal attack on me, slashing where I was. I used Quick Attack to get near him, then I used Force Palm to strike at his stomach, knocking the breath out of him. I darted away and out of reach before he recovered enough to hit me with the real attacks he's got.

All of a sudden, the hairs on the back of my neck rose. I heard Treecko yell, "Celebi!" Not a heartbeat later I felt weight on my back, which destroyed my balance for a few seconds too many. I lurched forward, arms out to try and restore balance. More weight slammed into me from all sides. I couldn't stay on my feet, and I crashed to the library floor, scraping my chin and the heels of my hands. I saw purple limbs in the corner of my eyes, and I felt more Sableye join the dog pile on me. Muffled curses came from Treecko, Celebi was silent, and I couldn't see anything but purple, purple, purple.

I heard Dusknoir laugh then say something lined with scorn. I felt the Sableye grab my arms, wrists, and hands, trying to bind my hands together. From the grunts I heard from nearby, the same thing was happening to Treecko and Celebi, though I only heard the gecko Pokémon. I went through my options quickly if we were to somehow escape, and they weren't promising. Still, I didn't want to let them do as they pleased. We three had to get out of here. I started struggling, which lead to more Sableye claws on my arms. I felt some accidentally cut my arms as my elbow hit a Sableye's chest. I heard a sharp exhale, and I startled flailing madly. As I landed more hits, more Sableye piled on me. Dusknoir was silent, and I sensed another presence come in the room. Another ghost-type, but I couldn't figure out what it was...

"Spiritomb," Dusknoir said calmly, with mild irritation. I'm tired of this! I can just Self-Destruct, as I've done before. I felt the terrible power fill me as Dusknoir spoke again. "Sableye, move away." There was a pause, and I heard his voice from a different place this time. "Do your thing." The Sableye moved away from my head, and Dusknoir glared at me. I glared back, baring my teeth in a way that was more intimidating as a Pokémon than as a human. Then I saw the Spiritomb, and couldn't look away. I was faintly aware of what was going on around me, but my attention was focused, unbroken, on Spiritomb. My mind and memory melted away to nothing, but not blackness.

✦ ✦ ❦ ✦ ✦

The scenery before me seemed to change instantaneously. I was watching Spiritomb, and then bound in the center of a sea of Sableye. When I looked over my shoulder, I noticed Treecko and Celebi. Celebi had her head facing down, but I could faintly sense she was only shaming herself, not unconscious. Treecko had a snarl on his face from what I could see—we were all back to back. I was tempted to use Self-Destruct again, but I knew the devastating effects to both the attacker and the defendant. If I blew up, Treecko, Celebi, the nearby Sableye, and I would all take a significant amount of damage. I doubt I could take on that much damage and stay standing like I had before, fury racing through my veins.

"Bound?" I heard a quiet voice beside me.

"Yes," I hissed back. Celebi sighed just barely audibly. "You two?"

"We're bound," came her short reply. "Any ideas?"

I watched the Sableye around us. Technically, since rope was the only thing on my wrists, I could shift to something bigger or smaller and I could get us free. For the short-term, that would be ideal. For the long-run, however, that wasn't very smart. I decided to play dumb. "What is wrong with us learning?" I called out, hoping Dusknoir would hear and come forth. I wanted a rematch.