Four Paws and One Last Tale

Chapter 17:

"That's it?"

"Yepper do."

Ace cast Glair a sidelong glance and a raised eyebrow. She noticed his staring but pretended otherwise. Ace joined her in looking at their destination. Before them Madeira desert stretched as far as the eye could see. In the centre sat the huge spire that is Sundown Temple.

Glair laughed and poked Ace. "Come on lover boy, let's go!"

Glair laughed as she ran forwards and leapt from the cliff. She began gliding towards the tower's entrance. Back on the cliff Ace rolled his eyes. Followed Glair's lead he jumped, meeting her moments later by the temple's base.

Glair led the way in. Ace spun slowly as he observed the obscure interior design.

"Woah, this place is..." Ace began.

"Different," Glair finished.

"What?"

"The atmosphere of this place. It feels different."

"Glair you are the strangest Pokémon I've ever met. One minute you're silly and ridiculous, the next you're sombre and serious. I can't tell, are you a genius pretending to be an idiot or are you something else. What are you?"

Glair tilted her curiously. "What am I? Hm..." She seemed to think hard for a second before smiling at Ace. "I'm the Pokémon you're infatuated with. That's all you need to know!" Glair giggled as she skipped away into the temple. (The inner machinations of Glair's mind are an enigma)

Ace sighed; what was up with this Pokémon? She's smart, she's silly, she's all over the place, but she was right: she's the Pokémon he's infatuated with.

Ace followed Glair deeper into the temple. Glair quickly navigated the obstacles which she'd encountered the last time she was here. They soon found themselves near the top of the tower. Before them, a hole in the floor dropped away into an abyss of darkness. Ace studied the hole intently.

"Looks pretty deep," he mused.

"It is," Glair replied. "Why don't you take a closer look?"

Ace shouted as Glair pushed him and he fell straight down. The fall gave him time to think about everything that had been happening and what he would find at the bottom of the pit. After what felt like hours, he reached the ground. Splaying his cape, he floated to a gentle touchdown.

Ace looked around until he heard screaming. Turning his eyes upwards he saw Glair screaming in joy as she fell downwards. She was getting closer to the ground and she wasn't slowing down. She wasn't watching the ground. She was just laughing crazily.

"Glair slow down!" Ace shouted.

Glair didn't slow, she plummeted. Ace ran around trying to estimate her fall. He got under her and held his tiny arms out. Glair dropped into his grasp. She continued laughing for a while.

"You just can't keep your paws off me, can you?"

Ace blushed and threw Glair from his arms. She giggled as she skipped to a smooth landing. She smiled cutely at him, making him huff and look away. Glair rolled her eye; she didn't know how to say it. She'd tried to tell him another way, but he just didn't understand that she'd fallen for him. (Both literally and romantically)

Glair began leading the way down a thin corridor. At the end of the corridor was the room where they'd once fought Cresselia. It was also the room where she had been reunited with Pixie. Did she like this room or not? This temple even, it is beautiful but something about it seems ominous; as if it was out to get her. Glair knew it was just her imagination but if she liked this place or not she still couldn't decide.

Exiting the corridor Glair and Ace found themselves in a wide-open room. The floor was a mixture of sand and grass. A small stream led out of the wall and then back in on the other side. A small stone bridge led over the little stream. On the far side of the room was a stone platform. Glair remembered the time when a crystal tear had floated mysteriously above that altar. To the side of the room a yellow portal hung suspended in mid-air. Walking past the portal Glair and Ace strode up to the podium. They looked around confusedly.

"What now?" Ace asked.

"I don't know. That portal leads back to the entrance and this is the deepest part of the temple."

"Then if Darkrai and Cresselia are really in the temple, where are they? Surely we would've passed them or found them by now."

"Maybe they're really good at hide and seek?"

"I don't think so Glair. We must be missing something..." Ace mused as he studied the room.

He looked around intently. He studied the walls closely. Searching for cracks or missing bricks. Anything that could-

*Splash*

Ace fell into the small stream, flailing his tiny arms. Glair giggled as she used her tail to fish him from the shallow water.

Glair proudly held her prize in the air. "I caught a Magikarp!"

A sopping wet Emolga was not amused. Ace gave her an annoyed frown. "Are you calling me useless?"

"I'm saying you've got potential."

"Yes, I know I'm great. Now please, put me down."

"Aww, don't you like being touched by me."

Groaning, he replied, "Don't say that."

Glair giggled and put him down. Ace shook the water from his fur and glared daggers at the stream... the stream. Ace looked around, the water come out one wall and flowed into an outlet in another. He groaned and rubbed his temples.

"Nothing's ever easy," he muttered.

"What was that?" Glair asked.

"Say Glair, I think it's about time we discover where this water goes."

With that Ace jumped into the little stream and disappeared under the water. Glair didn't really understand but she trusted him. She jumped in and swam after him.

Glair gulped large breaths as she broke the water's surface. They'd swum through a small tunnel. It was a tight fit and she was glad to be out. Glair looked around for Ace and found him staring at... at... she found him staring at something... indescribable. (So, by its very nature it cannot be described but let's try shall we!)

They seemed to be underneath the room they were just in. The stream they had swum through appeared to start high on the wall and lead downwards. At ground level there was a basin which is where they sat. The water flowed down into the basin on one side and up out of it on the other. It wasn't logical, but the water was defying gravity and flowing upwards. In front of them was an altar identical to the one above them, but this one had a portal on it. It showed the outside world, same as the one above. On the other side of the room was a plain wall. Normally bare, its yellow sandstone was decorated with two unusual and quite questionable design choices.

"Darkrai!" Ace shouted as he ran forwards. He leapt onto the wall and pulled at the shackles which kept Darkrai chained.

"Ace, move," Glair said the words calmly and Ace did as he was told.

Glair pulled back a pincer and broke the shackles from which Darkrai hung. The Dark-type fell to the ground with a grunt and a groan, but he didn't wake up.

Glair turned towards the second Pokémon which hung on the wall. The small Pokémon opened her eyes and smiled weakly. Green hair fell to her waist and she spoke in a feminine voice. She laughed hoarsely.

"Oh, you found us. Ha ha... oh no."