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“Get out of the way!”
“………No, we won’t let you do this. We won’t let you hurt Azelf or get this Time Gear.”
“So… you refuse to get out of my way… Then you leave me no choice! This is all for the Time Gear! Forgive me.”
Meanwhile:
Dusknoir: “Hehe… that foolish Grovyle and Emma. Finally, all together again and they don’t even know it. All I need to do is stay back for a few minutes and Grovyle will finish her and that pathetic partner of hers for me. And then I can step in as the heroic Great Dusknoir and ‘save’ the day. This plan is prefect, there is no way for this to go wrong. The rest of that foolish guild is slowly creeping behind in the dungeon and will be forced to carry their weaker member, ensuring that I have plenty of time to set the scene. And what’s Azelf know? As far as she’s aware, I’m a hero who would never hang back and let someone die. Yes, it’s all falling into place now…
As Grovyle prepared to jump forward and attack, there was a noise. The noise sounded like a thousand clocks shattering into a million pieces as several giant gears, suddenly forced to grinds to a halt. However, no one reacts to the noise. In fact, there is no movement to be found whatsoever. The water had ceased to flow and ebb, the shuddering breath of the defiant but wounded Vulpix halted halfway, a drop of bright red blood caught midair between the injured Riolu and the ground.
The giant crystals in the room dimmed and darkened, going form giving the room a bright blue glow to a dull grey. A soft ticking sounds began to echo throughout the entire cave. The Time Gear, even though it was completely encased in psychically imbued crystal, started to turn, getting faster and faster with each complete rotation.
A pale, ethereal ball of light descended through the ceiling, seemingly the only thing unaffected by the eerie change in the atmosphere. It touched down between the five Pokémon and started to expand, growing bigger and bigger before vanishing, leaving Arceus to stand there in the cavern.
Arceus: “Really my child? Do you really want to try and break the rules of my game? Once you send an agent back in time, you may not send them additional information. You should remember this rule, as you’re the one to suggest it as an addition restriction should you fall to madness or become corrupted by outside forces.”
Arceus started walking forwards, towards the Grovyle. “And as such, it has become my duty to run interference to your meddling.”
Arceus bent down roughly to the Grovyle’s level and whispered into his ear, “You know, those are only children. Even if you’re doing this for the good of the planet and the future, if you don’t pull your punches against them, you might actually kill them. Do you really want such young, innocent blood on your hands, Grovyle?”
Arceus stood back up and moved over to the pair of children. He studied the pair, before moving to the Riolu and scooting him closer to his partner, before bending back down and whispering into their ears, “Judging from what wounds Uxie and Mesprit had, it’s clear this Pokémon favors attacking the face and throat. You should try and duck cover right before he attacks to minimize damage.”
Arceus straighten back up again and looked towards Azelf and Dusknoir. “Now… how should I set this next part up? Even with Grovyle pulling his punches and the two young heroes ready to defend themselves, but I still need Dusknoir to interfere so Grovyle will run away and not try to take the Time Gear to soon…” Arceus thought for a few seconds before letting out a humorless chuckle, “Oh, I know how I could get this to work.”
Arceus turned and walked over to Azelf first and whispered, “Why does it feel like someone is spying on us? Surely no one from the guild walked in and decided to watch instead of helping, right?” Than Arceus slowly started to push on Azelf’s head, helping her look behind, towards the entrance of the cavern, before strolling over the Dusknoir.
Arceus got behind Dusknoir pushed him out from where he was hiding, before whispering “It looks like you accidentally slipped out of cover while watching the fight and Azelf is about to notice. Better come up with a different plan before your reputation is in tatters.”
And with that, the pale light surrounds Arceus once again and he ascends through the ceiling, the Time Gear starts to slow down before returning to its inert state, and the crystal stop letting off the strange grey light. The sound of a thousand clock all being reset at the same time while several large gears slowly and painful begin to turn once more. And with all of that, time resumed once more.
Several things happened at once. The Riolu grabbed his partner and turned his back to Grovyle, hoping to shield his vulnerable partner from such a dangerous attack. Grovyle changed his attack from Slash to Quick Attack, changing his goal wounding them into surrendering into merely knocking them out. Azelf started to turn back towards the entrance and a cry for help escaped from her lips. And as for Dusknoir? Dusknoir started to panic.
Dusknoir: “WHAT!? Why is Azelf turning around? When did I get out of hiding? Was I really so excited at the possibility to Grovyle killing his own partner I failed to notice myself slowly creep into the room? Damn it, I need a change of plans. I don’t have time to get back into cover and if Azelf sees me standing around, my reputation will be in ruins. There’s no way she’ll fail to mention I stood around as Grovyle executed the youngest members of the Guild. Dammit, think Dusknoir, THINK! If I can’t hide, I’ll need to pretend to take charge. Yes, that’s what I’ll do. I’ll stop Grovyle and save the wretched pair, then abduct the two right as I force Grovyle back into the future. There’s no way this can go wrong. Alright, time to go go go!”
“STOP!”
From up above, Arceus watched as the newly altered event played out. From Grovyle holding back on his attack, to the partners trying to defend themselves, to Azelf screams for help, and to Dusknoir’s plans of standing by as the time travelers killed each other fall apart. After ensuring that the future was now continuing on the correct path, he turned his eyes towards the future, checking for anymore interference from his fallen child. Satisfied once he saw nothing else, he sat back to watch as the adventure continued, for while he enjoyed seeing what new things the pair might uncover.
Might they discover the true mastermind behind the collapse of Dialga’s tower? Might they make a friends with various legendary pokemon? Maybe they might try to scale the four lost Zero Isle towers and discover his own personal tower, hidden beyond where most mortal mons dares to dwell. Oh, what fun it might be, to battle the pair of heroes and to reward them for their efforts in righting the wrongs of the world. When it came to humans and legendary heroes, no one, not even he, could truly tell where their path might take them, only that their names will be carved in history, and they be remembered for eternity.