The Messanger of Time

Chapter 28: Regrouping

Several voices run through Vincent's head. Some familiar, yet some he's unable to recognize no matter how hard he tries. He finds himself in a pitch black area completely alone, his entire body wracked with pain and his head throbbing as he tries to recollect himself. What could've happened to him? What could've caused such bizarre things to happen? He utters a faint sound in discomfort. He is unable to move, unable to see anything around him as the many voices grow louder with each passing second. It drives him crazy and he soon shouts out in distress, a failed attempt to get the voices to stop and he falls to his hands and knees. But eventually, the voices start to go away, one by one, until just one remains. One more familiar than the others...a low, rough voice speaking almost a commanding tone, calling his name.

Vincent shakes his head and catches his breath, the pain beginning to go away finally. He glances around himself before the voice calls him again, and he turns his attention forward to see someone standing a few feet in front of him.

He pulls himself to his feet and looks at the man, just a few inches taller than himself and wearing a complex silver outfit consisting of a thick cloth underneath what appears to be armor of a leathery material which covers his chest and down his legs, adorned with various symbols known well among the Spiritual Council. His arms are covered in bracers and each of his fingers wrapped in bandages. He wears large, gray boots and his medium length white hair can be seen with several string wraps and blue feathers, all but covering his light blue eyes gazing at Vincent with a serious and somewhat intimidating expression. He has an imposing presence, known to many to be a very powerful and talented individual.

Vincent finds himself in surprise at the man standing before him, having met him several times before but never expecting to see him here and now. "...William Lucius?"

"I didn't come for idle chatter, Vincent. I'm here to inform you of your friend, James."

Vincent shifts a bit, stretching his limbs as he stares at William in confusion. "James... Is he in this realm?"

The Elite nods and folds his arms. "He is in this realm, and he is more dangerous than you know. You will not recognize him at first but you must be wary wherever you go. You will not wish to hear this, but James cannot be redeemed. No matter what happens, that darkness will always follow him."

Vincent furrows his brows. He is in disbelief at what he hears. "You're telling me he has to be eliminated? William, you know he's my best friend. I can't just take him out."

"Then you'll be dooming us all. As a High Elite of the Spiritual Council it is my duty to see that it and everyone within it is protected. If you do not do this you know what the alternative is."

Vincent takes a step backwards, his gaze suddenly becoming tense, almost enraged. "You'll take him out yourself."

"I have the power to Release people from the Council and cast them off. If it comes to it, yes. I will be forced to do it. As it is, I've given you this power to use once and once only. You are a compassionate person, Vincent. It isn't easy to burden you with this but there is no other choice."

Vincent clenches his fists, expressing great disdain for the man revered among the Council as one of the highest in their ranks. "Very nice of you to come and punch me in the gut, William... But you're wrong. I will find a way to redeem James."

William's eyes narrow, as if for a mere second showing a trace of hatred at these words. But he remains composed and after a moment, he utters in a tone of finality, "So be it. I shall leave you now, and wish you luck on your task."

Vincent's hands open again and he keeps his eyes on the other man who turns off. "Goodbye, Vincent."

On this, he walks off, fading in silvery light with Vincent watching intently. Afterwards, he shakes his head and releases a quiet sigh of exhaustion. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath to compose himself.

"I will... I swear it."

- - - - -

As Vincent comes to, he begins to hear a faint sound of waves crashing against the shore. A soft breeze blows past him, causing his ears to twitch and he makes a quiet grunt and opens his eyes slowly. For a moment, his vision is blurred, but after a short time he is able to focus on his surroundings. He realizes he is atop a tall, rocky cliff overlooking the ocean. As he gazes around he can see a few trees standing in different spots, and what appear to be stacks of logs to be used for firewood. In the distance a wooden pole can be seen with sheet of cloth hanging from it and blowing in the wind with a tribal-looking pattern.

He pulls himself to his feet and tries to walk, but immediately falls over with a hard thud. He grumbles quietly and gets up again, looking himself over and only now realizing what he really is. Just the same from his dreams, he's become a blue-ringed Umbreon.

Vincent sits down and takes in the sight of his new body, still disoriented and now confused. "Is this another dream...?"

He sighs and after a while, pulls himself up again and begins to walk on all fours. "I suppose I should be thankful I've done this before." He walks to the edge of the cliff and looks out over the sea. A short distance off he can get a glimpse of a beach stretching from the base of the cliff and leading to a small rock face where a cavern is barely visible. As he examines the beach he can just make out the figures of two pokemon- what look like a pair of Pikachu lying in the sand.

As he inspects them closer, he begins to come to realization...

- - - - -

What...have you done to them?

- - - - -

"So it's true... They really did become pokemon. Christina and Raven. Then that means...Melissa."

Vincent shakes his head. A sudden daunting tension builds up in him as he begins to realize what may have become of one of his siblings. "I need to go to them..."

He turns around and runs along the cliff, making his way to a dirt pathway from a sign pointing towards the east, reading, Treasure Town.

As Vincent finds his way into a small town of sorts, he sees various wooden structures around him, with many different pokemon wandering around. Such is a familiar sight to him as he comes to recognize this town more with each place he passes. But he is in a hurry. He doesn't take in many of the details as he runs along, passing over a small river and eventually coming to a crossroad. To the north, he can see stairs leading up to a higher cliff. To the south is a stairway leading down to where he recognizes the beach to be. And further east leads away from the town, into the open plains.

He would start off again before abruptly stopping in his tracks when he notices someone walking down the steps from the taller cliff. He backs up behind a nearby tree and inspects the pokemon, noticing it to be a Chikorita, and a female. She appears to be distraught as she wanders past the crossroads and to the steps leading south. For a moment, he wonders what may have happened. But eventually his attention is diverted back to the north, where he can see what look like a Koffing and Zubat descending from the steps and trailing the Chikorita from a distance.

He eyes the duo in suspicion, clearly gathering that they are up to no good. As they proceed down the steps to the south he makes his way to the middle of the crossroads and watches them, before starting to follow after them, himself.

While making his way towards the beach, keeping cover behind objects in the area, Vincent stops once again when he hears the two pokemon following the Chikorita talking quietly. He glances out towards them, unable to make out what they're saying. Their devious tone of voice further tells him they're plotting something. As they wander off, he continues to trail after the two, keeping his distance until he comes to some shrubbery running alongside the beach.

Vincent takes cover behind the plants and makes his way towards where he can see the Chikorita now talking to the two Pikachu he knows as Raven and Christina, just outside a cavern in the nearby rock face. The two seem to be rather confused about where they are and what they've become, as well as this pokemon who's talking to them. He is relieved to hear the two mention their names to the other pokemon, confirming that they still memory of who they are.

He idly wonders what to do at this point, but his attention is drawn once again to the Koffing and Zubat, who both have snuck up on the grass-type pokemon and attacked her, seemingly out of nowhere. Raven and Christina gasp as the Chikorita yelps and falls forward, rolling to a stop and thudding in front of them. A small stone appears to drop out of a pouch she's carrying and land a few feet from the group, and the two assailants glance at it with a grin.

The Koffing chuckles as the Zubat flies down and picks up the object in his fangs, and the downed pokemon comes to her feet and cries out in surprise as her item was taken. "W-wait! That's my..."

The Koffing laughs at her apparent shock, and Raven appears to grow agitated at the situation. The hovering gas pokemon utters in a taunting tone, "What? Not gonna make a move to get it back? How whimpy can you get?"

Raven jumps to his feet and makes an attempt to tackle the Zubat, but he is easily able to avoid the attack by flying higher in the air. The two Pikachu clearly not knowing how to use electric attacks, and the Chikorita unable to fight back, the group is powerless against the pair.

Vincent, seeing himself being the only one around capable of doing anything, decides now to jump in. He leaps out from behind the shrubs and stamps his forepaws on the ground, causing several small beams of light to shoot up in a straight path towards the Zubat. Surprised, the small bat pokemon reflexively moves out of the way and just barely avoids the attack.

All of them immediately turn to face Vincent. Obviously not recognizing him, Christina's first words to him are, "A-an Umbreon...?"

Shocked by the offensive action, the Koffing looks to Zubat, and the pair wander off into the nearby cavern, and the Chikorita runs forward a few steps, calling out to them. The Koffing turns to her and laughs uproariously. "You'll never catch us, brats!"

Vincent, annoyed by their taunting, rushes over and does a front flip in the air, swinging his tail downwards to release a blade of silver energy that crashes into the ceiling of the cavern as the pair flees. He growls at them, but then his ears twitch as Christina suddenly calls out his name.

The Umbreon turns to her with a blink, and she takes a step towards him, before running over to hug him.

"Tell me it's you, Vincent."

After a brief moment, he sighs and brushes his snout into her shoulder. "Yes, it's me, Christina..."

Raven eyes him suspiciously as he walks towards the two. "...Why are you an Umbreon?"

Vincent glances over at the male Pikachu, then shakes his head. "It's a long story." His eyes then shift towards the Chikorita, who is sitting down and crying as she stares at the cavern.

As Christina lets him go, Vincent walks over to the Chikorita, then lets out a quiet breath. "Hey..."

The smaller grass pokemon looks at him for a moment, teary-eyed. Not knowing how to respond, he's silent until she gets back up and looks to the cavern again. "I... I have to get it back!"

Vincent glances towards the cavern for a brief moment, then back to Raven and Christina, and they both nod knowingly. He then turns back to the Chikorita, who looks back at him, appearing somewhat nervous.

"Will you help me...? I've never really fought before, and those two scare me. But I... I don't know what I'd do without my personal treasure."

Her eyes well up again and Vincent takes a step closer to her. "Hey now... It'll be okay. We'll help you."

The smaller pokemon's eyes grow large, and for a moment, she seems to spring up in excitement. "R-really!? Thank you so much!"

He can't help but smile a little at her response, and then looks back towards the cavern. "This place is referred to as Beach Cavern. I've been here before, a long time ago. It's nothing but a dead end. Those two won't get far in here, so we can corner them in here and get it back."

Raven and Christina both walk over to him, Christina becoming curious as he glances back at them.

"Are you with me?"

She nods and then Vincent turns back to the Chikorita. "Let's go then."

The grass-type pokemon nods and they wander into the cavern. As the group enters, Vincent glances back over at the Chikorita, and inquires in a quieter tone. "Do you have a name?"

The smaller pokemon nods, appearing a bit more determined now. "Yeah. It's Silva."

Vincent nods to her and looks back ahead. "Vincent. Nice to meet you, Silva."

Christina smiles a little in admiration to him, before speaking up. "I'm Christina. And this is my friend, Raven. Though he's a bit of a pinhead at times, you'll warm up to him."

Raven glares at her, before beating one of his paws against his chest with a smirk. "Don't hate. What I can do would shock you."

Vincent makes a small snort in response. "...Except literally shock them. You two need to learn to use your abilities if you're to survive. Some pokemon can get rather agressive, especially with the state of this world."

Silva peers over at Vincent, pondering what he means. But then she dismisses it when she remembers what they've come to do. "Hey, how big is this place, anyway?"

"It's fairly small, at least compared to other places I know about. Assuming it's as I remember it, we should find them in a little while."

She nods and glances around the cavern a short time, Vincent starting to appear somewhat unnerved as they continue further. Christina, taking notice of this, paces up to his side and stares over at him, getting his attention and sudden curiosity, before speaking in a concerned tone.

"Hey... Are you okay? What's the matter?"

The Umbreon slowly nods before looking back ahead. "It's...nothing, really. It's just been some time since I've been here. There's something...unusual about this world. I spaced it when we first showed up, but I think you need to know."

Raven looks at him and furrows an eye-ridge, folding his arms as Vincent takes a deep breath, then continues.

"In various places around the world, space is known to distort at random periods. These distortions are caused by the effects of Chaos. Because of this, the places that are most active with the distortions are referred to by the locals with a specific name."

"Mystery dungeons!" Silva butts in suddenly, causing all three of them to look at her in slight surprise. Vincent then looks back forward and nods.

"That's it. From what I'm told, this began over three hundred years ago, and in order to help those lost within these mystery dungeons, an exploration guild was founded in the nearby town, and what are known today as exploration teams are sent out on jobs around the world. These pokemon have an item- a badge- infused with the power to manipulate the effects of mystery dungeons in order to allow them to escape."

Silva wanders up to Vincent's other side with a smile. "That's right. Wigglytuff is the guildmaster now. I hear he's really nice, but kind of scary, too. I tried to join, actually."

She then lowers her head and her leaf droops down with it. "...But I'm too much of a whimp. Those two were right..."

Vincent looks over at her from the corner of his eye, before shaking his head slowly in response to her negative comment. "You can't let yourself be bullied by pokemon like those. You have a place. If you try hard enough, you can do what you want."

After a short time, the group comes to a stop, and Vincent scans the area for a moment in curiosity. Christina watches him in confusion before looking around the area and then blinking a couple times.

"Umm... Vincent? Where did we come from?"

Vincent paces around, continuing to examine their surroundings. Christina then comes to a realization.

"...Wait. Those distortions... This isn't a mystery dungeon too, is it?"

The Umbreon nods somewhat, much to the group's surprise, before they are interrupted by shouts coming from nearby. Vincent stares over in the direction of a small passage splitting off from where they are, and they all rush over to see what the sounds were.

As they come to the passage, they narrowly avoid being run into by a pair of very familiar pokemon. Immediately on sight, Vincent wastes no time in leaping up to the Zubat, seemingly fading into the air before reappearing and striking the winged pokemon with a powerful blow of dark energy.

The Zubat makes a startled yelp as he is knocked into the stone wall and the object still in his mouth drops to the ground. The Koffing stares wide-eyed at the sudden attack, then jumps in to protect his friend and releases a large puff of purple smog at the Umbreon.

Silva, dismissing her shyness the instant she sees Vincent being attacked, quickly spins the leaf on her head and releases a flurry of smaller leaves through the toxic gas to strike the hovering pokemon. She then proceeds to spin her leaf like a fan to blow the smog away just enough so that Vincent isn't affected by it.

Having taken little effect by the grass-type Razer Leaf, the Koffing is quick to retaliate. He launches himself at the Chikorita in a tackle, before receiving a hard punch by Raven, whose paw appears to be covered in a static charge- if only for a brief moment.

"Back off, you stupid smoke balloon!"

Christina and Vincent both look at him, startled by his attack which sent the Koffing flying off in a different direction, and Christina is the first to inquire, "Was that..."

Vincent nods in agreement. "That was a Thunderpunch. But it broke before you made contact."

Raven looks back at him blankly, before he sees the Koffing lift back up and charge over at him, now clearly tempered by having been attacked. This time, Raven is unable to react, but Vincent, showing his talent in reflexes and speed, flips over and slams a lit up tail down on the gas pokemon, launching him forcibly into the ground and kicking up a fair bit of dust in the process.

The Zubat, seeing that they are clearly outnumbered and overpowered, rushes over to the Koffing and shouts, "We gotta get outta here!"

Koffing makes a bloated cough and puffs out smog, before looking glaringly over at the group. Vincent crouches in a threatening stance, and the pair decides finally to rush off while they can, fleeing down the tunnel.

Vincent stands up straight and watches them with a shake of his head. "Idiots... They'll have a hard time finding their way out of here."

Silva runs over to her item with an excited squeal and the group looks over at her as she picks up what appears to be an ordinary rock with a flat surface on one side. Vincent eyes it questioningly, briefly noticing something inscribed on it before the Chikorita slips it into her pouch. She then walks back over to them with a smile that would lighten anyone's mood.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you so much! I got my precious treasure back!"

Vincent is unable to hide a small smile growing on his face, but then looks at Christina, who seems to be concerned now. He moves over to nudge her side with his snout, and she looks back at him.

"So...how do we get out of here now?"

The Umbreon, clearly seeing that she is worried about the prospect of getting lost in a mystery dungeon where she's never been, makes a small nod and paces back a little. "Right... About that."

They all look over at him, and he looks to the ground. "I did say I've been here before. And I was able to escape, but not with the badges that the teams use. No, this was something else..."

He turns around and closes his eyes, his rings beginning to glow a dim dark purple- a familiar purple they've seen before... As he focuses, they can feel a powerful distortion spreading around them, and looking ahead, they begin to see a light down the tunnel.

As Vincent opens his eyes, his rings fade to their normal blue color, and he glances back at the others. Christina stares at him in shock. "Vincent... You-"

He shakes his head. "I can't really explain it. It's something I can do. But we should go now, before the path closes off."

The female Pikachu appears to have many questions on her mind and bothered to not have the answers to any of them. But she nods in agreement and they rush off towards the light. As they come towards it, they are able to make their way out of the cavern and back onto the beach.

Silva is the first to run outside and does a spin in the dirt, then bounces happily a few times as though she'd just won a big prize. It wouldn't be much of an exaggeration to say so, at least in her mind, as she'd just gotten back something so precious to her.

As Vincent, Raven and Christina come outside, they look around and come to a stop finally to take a rest. Vincent looks at Silva and then utters a small laugh in response to her excitement, then takes a few steps over to her and speaks in a now calm tone. "Hey..."

The Chikorita peers over at him. "Oh, right! I forgot to thank you for helping me."

He blinks, then shakes his head. "No, you thanked us plenty. But I wanted to ask... Could I see that stone of yours?"

Silva looks at him, slightly puzzled, but then nods and pulls out the object from her pouch as Christina and Raven walk over to see. Vincent examines the stone, seeing a rather peculiar pattern inscribed on the flat surface. It would look to be something of ancient origin, a ring with four spiraling tendrils coming from it, as well as four jagged designs protuding out between the tendrils. Vincent stares over the pattern with perplexion as Silva explains, "I don't really remember where I got it. But I've had it for a while. I sort of found it when I was wandering and kept it with me ever since."

Vincent looks back up at her as she stares down at the stone.

"See that pattern there? I'm not sure what it means, but it's got to be something. Finding this inspired me to go out exploring so that I can find greater treasures in distant parts of the world, see? So I wanted to go to Wigglytuff's guild and join as a recruit. But really, I've never been able to gather the courage to actually go..."

Vincent stares at her with a mild look of pity, and then glances over at Christina and Raven. Silva then looks back at the three.

"What about you guys? Raven and Christina told me they used to be human. And you, Vincent?"

The Umbreon looks to the ground for a moment, thinking over the subject. "...The truth is, we were all three humans, when we came here. There were two more with us. My sister was one of them, and the other..."

He shakes his head. "He's a friend, just to say the least. But they both disappeared. I worry what may have become of them."

Vincent turns back to Christina and Raven. "Can I ask you two a favor?"

The pair eyes him questioningly, and he paces around a moment.

"I need to look for Melissa. Will you stay with Silva and help her? Joining this exploration guild might do some good. If we're to make any progress we might as well start somewhere. You should also try and train there and learn to use your abilities." He then takes a step forward and speaks in a lower tone to them. "And moreso, I think we may need Silva's help. I've seen that pattern before. I don't remember where, but I think it might be important."

After a short time, Christina slowly nods. "Alright then... But what about-"

"I'm sure he'll be okay. From what I know of him, he can make it on his own. It's Melissa I'm concerned about. I need to make sure she's okay."

Christina nods again, before going over to hug her brother. Even in their new appearances, she sees him the same way she did before, and only wishes he can find their sister in one peace. "Be careful out there, Vincent..."

Vincent backs up and smiles to her. "Of course, sis." He then looks at Raven and lifts one of his forepaws, and he stares at it for a second, then takes it with his own paw.

"Good luck, Vincent."

"You too." He turns back to Silva, who is sitting down and watching him with concern.

"Will you be okay out there?"

"Yeah. Once I find Melissa, I'll be sure to come back. You can expect it."

The Chikorita nods and makes a small smile to him. "Okay. I'll look forward to it. Thanks for all your help. All of you, I really mean it."

Christina utters a little giggle. "Hey, it's okay."

Raven smirks and pats his paws together. "It's nothing on us, so don't sweat it!"

Vincent chuckles lightly and takes a few steps away. "Right. Farewell, for now. I'll see you soon, hopefully."

The three wave to him and he nods back to them, before turning off and running across the beach. He makes his way up the stairway to the crossroads, before turning to the east and looking out at the vast wilderness ahead.

"Right... If I can find her, I'll know that everything will be okay. Let's just hope..."

He stares out for a moment, then nods and runs ahead, making his way to the plains that await him, and hoping that somehow, he'll be able to find his sister, wherever she may be.