Chapter 12: Mission to the Past
Harold and I got back from our mission and made it to the Pokemon League safely. When we entered the building, I noticed that the atmosphere was less gloomy than before. The betting money was still on Darkrai consuming the entire region, but we had given these people a glimmer of hope. Satisfied, I went over to the counter in order to submit our report, but I was called over by one of the New Dawn guards. He explained that Cynthia wanted to see me in the Assembly Room to deliver the report personally. I could not figure out what this was for, but I complied, and soon enough I was in front of Cynthia...and a whole audience of trainers!
I was somewhat annoyed that they neglected to mention that I was going on stage for Cynthia. Cynthia took the papers of my report, then said "Take note trainers, we still have hope. So long as we fight against the darkness, we will dispel it. This trainer is proof of that. So I ask that you stay with us a little longer. I ask for your help."
It was then that I realized what was going on. Cynthia was talking to a group of trainers who were about to ditch the battle, having lost hope. They seemed to be conflicted, on the one hand somebody had gone to Flower Paradise and had given the humans a victory, but on the other hand there still was not a decisive victory on the offense. All we were doing was stalling for time, and unless we found a solution, soon, the whole region would be consumed. Still, the conflict of ideas seemed to be enough for the trainers to grumble and agree to stay for a little longer. It would have to do, we supposed. "All right, you're all dismissed" Cynthia said. "Thank you for showing up on such short notice Maxim." I simply shrugged. I figured that she could have let them leave, they sure weren't doing anything for the cause. All this time I was the one who had to deal with the big monstrosities, and all of these trainers really were not pulling their weight in my eyes. That said I did not want to say anything lest I mess up something in the plan.
Once the assembly dispersed, I was about to leave as well, at least until I noticed something unusual. A voice called out to me "Would you mind following me, please?". At first I ignored the voice, but then it repeated itself, it was definitely directed to me. Worse still, it was from a hooded individual, one that nobody else seemed to notice. Suspecting it to be an assassin by Darkrai, I followed him outside, worry haunting my steps. We reached the outside of the League, whereupon I drew out my Volcarona.
"Nora! Torch this assassin!"
"Uh boss...that's Lorien."
"...Oh. Right...sorry."
The hooded figure proceeded forward ignoring my antics. It was there that I saw the familiar crimson eyes. We went up a long path into the mountains surrounding the Pokemon League, the air getting thinner and colder as we proceeded.
Did I mention I hate the cold?
Upon arriving at the end of the path, the figure took off his hood, and it was indeed Lorien.
"Sorry for taking you here so abruptly", excused Lorien. "But while we are allies with the New Dawn, there are some... things... that we feel should remain secret to most of them. Nevertheless, we heard of your deeds while aboard the Bright Hope ship, and we feel we can trust you. Although I'm starting to worry about that a bit." he said, rolling his eyes. Embarrassed, I put my hand behind my head and said "Heh...sorry about that."
Seeming to be more amused than anything, Lorien simply replied "Now come, the prince is awaiting".
"The prince?" I asked. "Sinnoh doesn't even have a prince."
"Prince N, of house Harmonia", he explained. "He was the one requesting your presence. Now please ride atop one of these". It was then that a Flygon landed upon the cliff face that we were upon. The Flygon looked at me expectantly, then nodded and knelt down, hinting at me to ride it. Upon sitting on the Flygon though, it took off suddenly, surprising me a bit. After a few tense moments of not having a good grip on the flier, I managed to find my grip. Behind me, Lorien morphed into his natural form and flew along with us.
"Wait," I asked "Prince N? I looked for that guy for years and found nothing but rumors. And how is he a prince? Wasn't that all a lie from that nut Ghetsis?" Lorien then said "After you freed him from Team Plasma's crutches, he went on a journey, and found us. He may not be a Prince in authority, but he is part of a royal bloodline that helped free the humans all those years ago."
Some context here, you may have heard about how Team Plasma was trying to take over the world and stuff right? Well, N was more or less the lynchpin of Ghetsis's whole plan. As it would happen, that was about when I started my own journey. Soon enough, I met the guy. A bunch of fights and philosophical debate later and I had dissuaded N from his former 'free all Pokemon' stance and Ghetsis's plan was all in a burning heap. However, he fled to parts unknown, and all I heard of him since then was a run in with Terra and some random rumors of him showing up elsewhere.
Before I could ask any more questions, we flew into a cavern of some kind. For a moment the world became dark, but soon after, a light came up, then two, then a myriad of colors that made me think I was in a dream lit up all over the place. Glowing mushrooms and plants flourished all over the cave, bathing it in an amazing purple iridescence as the Flygon kept flying deeper and deeper in the complex.
"What is this place?", I asked. I had never seen anything quite like this before.
"We call them the Caverns of Time", replied Latios with a solemn tone. "It is the place we were charged to keep when we still served the Timelord, Dialga, and we still preserve it even now that we are at war with him and the Ebdomadarium. Jump down, we have arrived"
It was at that point that I tried to dismount the Flygon. However, he wasn't close enough to the ground, so I ended up falling a few feet face first into the ground. When I recovered from the shock, a hand reached out to me to help pull me up. I grabbed his hand, and then I heard a familiar voice "It's been a long time, old friend."
"It really is you." I replied happily.
"Welcome, hero", N greeted me with a warm smile. "I am glad we finally meet". Next to him, I saw Latios's sibling, looking at you with her amber eyes, as well as Harold, who had apparently been dragged into this mess, again. Latias, for one, was happy to see me.
Lorien then started speaking, "As you probably know, the New Dawn is trying its hardest to defend the last few remaining cities against Darkrai's wrath, but the only way we can win this war is to destroy Darkrai once and for all. Unfortunately, the fiend is currently hidden in his dark homeworld, beyond the reach of mortals. But not beyond the reach of beings of his same power."
"The Nightmare Darkrai lives in is impossible to enter from your world, but it could be possible to open a passage to it from inside the Distortion World", he continued. "However, now that Giratina's power awoke along with the rest of the Ebdomadarium, we need to... play around to enter his kingdom. We need to travel to the past, when Cyrus first opened a door to the Distortion World, and use it to enter the present Distortion World."
"And just how are we going to do that?", I asked, having a hard time digesting exactly what the Eon Pokemon was telling me.
Lorien shook his head. "We Eon Pokemon are time keepers, not time travellers. However, while we certainly cannot rely on the help of the Timelord itself, we could ask for the help of an old ally".
"When we broke ranks to side with humans, ten thousand years ago, several other powerful beings followed us", he explained. "One of them is called Celebi. Unlike us, Celebi possesses an innate ability to travel through time that does not depend on the Timelord's whims. However, the space-time locus where Celebi usually dwells in seems to be in great disarray. We suspect Celebi may have fallen under Dialga's sway."
"Oh lovely." I said. It looked like we were, again, going to have to fight brainwashed and crazy legendary Pokemon. "What is this place? And how can we reach it?"
"It is an ancient version of the glade you currently know as the Flower Paradise", Lorien replied. "We can open a portal to that point in spacetime, but this is the only help we can provide you. Dialga's interdition prevents me and Latios from using the Caverns of Time to travel across past and future".
"It will be up to you to rescue Celebi and bring him back to us", N concluded. I was getting a bit worried about this plan, would the League know so that Clay or someone else did not try to go on a suicidal offensive? Anticipating these doubts, he added "Fear not, Cynthia and the other leaders know about this plan. If all goes well, you should be able to come back before all is lost. Should you succeed, we will finally be able to be in a position to strike back at Darkrai before the Hour of Twilight comes to pass".