My fingertips screamed with pain as they traced the wall of the roughly carved passage. My hand provided the only guidance in the darkness that was behind the cryptic banner in the secret library. My feet ached, screaming almost as much as my hands did with exhaustion. The air hung stagnant on my sweating neck, and I couldn't see any light yet.

Treecko hadn't said anything since we were in the underground room. I wasn't sure if it was from fear of what he saw or because he had run out of sarcastic comments. I hoped it was the latter, as the idea of the snide creature being silent due to a single emblem made my skin crawl. Only his dry breaths broke the silence. The sound bothered me, but I didn't dare say anything in the event that we could still be heard from the hidden room.

Eventually, a light formed at the end of the tunnel. I didn't dare believe it at first; I swore that my eyes were playing tricks on me. But, as it grew brighter and bigger, it was impossible to ignore the way the light danced into the tunnel. I sighed with relief as I picked up my pace.

The rocky maw to the underground was well hidden by a thick of brambles. I broke many of their dry branches as I stumbled out of the ground. The thorns scraped my skin as I emerged from the darkness. The stinging feeling from my broken skin tried to ruin the feeling of freedom, but I didn't dare let it soil the joy I felt.

I sat down to take in the sky above. The permanently overcast moment provided just enough light to take in my surroundings. I was in a clearing that wasn't particularly unique—the same toothpick trees towered over me as far as my eyes could see. The trees and bushes were bare of leaves; thrones exposed themselves to any wild creature that dared to eat it in these trying times, and the few dead strands of grass were trampled underfoot of the thousands of living things that stepped foot here before. It never grew back, so it stayed in its humbled position for another foot to belittle it again.

I laid back onto the grass and stared up into the endless clouds. Their pattern was stuck in a swirled position, coming to an apex at one point far in the distance. The floating island that sat in the center was but a speck in the distance. Tales spoke of a horrid beast that claimed it as its home. The fear instilled in me during my childhood was the reason why I was instructed to never leave town unattended. Legends said that the beast hungered for the souls of lost humans. People that left town rarely came back.

Remembering that fact caused me great unease as I realized my predicament: I had no idea where I was save for the tunnel that led me here. I sat up abruptly, startling Treecko who sat on a rock across the clearing from me.

"We need to get back to town," I said. "I don't know where we need to go. I've never been outside of the boundaries of—"

"It's that way," Treecko said while pointing toward the trees behind me. He let his arm flop down to his side and placed his head on his curled-up knees again.

I looked to where he pointed, squinting to try to see beyond the wooded scenery. My eyes swore that I could see a building in the distance, but I didn't quite believe in my luck to be that close to town. Realizing that I had no other choice, I trusted Treecko enough to steer me in the correct direction. I embarked on my walk home, only taking a few steps forward before noticing that the little creature had not climbed on my back again. I pivoted to see if he was following. He wasn't.

"What's wrong?" I asked. "You don't seem like the type to get easily shaken."

Treecko shook his head from his unwavering position on his pedestal.

"Or, am I wrong?"

Treecko shook his head again. This time, he scowled as he did.

"Then what has you so upset?"

"It's not safe to talk here. Do you have somewhere we can go?" he asked abruptly.

"I do," I began. "First, however, you need to explain what's wrong."

"I don't need to tell you anything," he snapped. I jumped a bit at the increase in volume. "Let's get out of here before something finds us."

Without adding anything else to his outburst, Treecko climbed up my leg and my back, unzipped my bag, and set himself inside next to our books. I stared ahead blankly for a moment before forcing myself forward. I shook my head, obeying the directions Treecko had given me earlier. I feared that if I pestered the creature too much more, he might leave me to wander aimlessly until I got picked off by a rogue Pokémon.

I tried not to think too much as I walked home. Instead, I kept all of my senses focused on my surroundings. Every creaking sound I heard or imagined made me jump, sending me into a whirl as I surveyed my surroundings. After what felt like an eternity, I emerged at the bottom of a steep hill next to the school. The building was dark, save for the room at the end where the tamed Litwick rested. Their normally soothing purple light gave off an eerie feel without other humans around.

The main stretch of the town was a graveyard. The inanimate candles were extinguished, and the Chandelure were surprisingly immobile despite still giving off their characteristic light; their eyes were closed, either ignoring the rest of the world or resting. Nothing else stirred or provided any evidence of life. I knew that the town's guards were hiding in the maze of buildings, but I didn't dare wait around to find their torch-lit patrol.

I continued to hurry through the silent town. Its catatonic state gave it a sense of peace that was not normally found in the last bastion of humanity. Even if time no longer dictated when we slept, our human instincts still told us that rest was needed.

My house was as dark as the rest of the town; its windows and blinds were shut like eyes in a deep slumber. I disturbed the illusion as I quietly opened the door. I shut it quickly yet gently, careful not to cause any commotion. Like a thief, I moved through the house and up the stairs in a way that did not disturb the owners. The only difference was that the owners of this particular house were related to me.

As I opened the door to my room, I heard the worst sound I could imagine: father's heavy footsteps in the room across from mine. Quickly, I opened and closed my door while still making as little noise as I could. My parent's door creaked open behind me, and I could hear my mother trying to coax my father back into bed. He humphed, muttered a few unintelligible things, and closed the door again. I released my held breath and slumped down onto my bed. As soon as I did, Treecko slithered out from the books.

His eyes were aflame, and his face was contorted in a deep scowl. It made me wonder if he had any other emotions besides anger and sarcasm. I signaled for him to wait a few moments longer before speaking. He did so while thumping his tail against my bed in a rhythmic manner, but I didn't mind making him wait. I grabbed an armful of pillows and tucked them into a pile to conceal the crack in the door. My room darkened immensely after shutting the windows and blinds. They were still open from when I escaped to school earlier.

Now soundproof and light-proof, my room provided the perfect atmosphere for discussing the deep secrets of the twice hidden library. I fumbled around with the box of matches tucked in my bedside table. I struck the head against the rough surface on the side of the box, and the light immediately cast shadows against my wall; my figure extended up one side while Treecko's juxtaposed itself on the opposite corner. The light grew softer and more diverse as I lit the candles that rested on my bedside table.

With lighting perfect for reading or sleeping, my body fought over what to do with me. My mind pulled for knowledge, but my aching body screamed for sleep. I ignored the desperate pleas of my ragged bones as I cracked open a book full of maps. I felt like our discovery of the hidden room was a new breakthrough that couldn't wait until after sleep. If I could interpret the maps correctly, and if Treecko could read footprint runes like he promised, then we had something going for us.

I fished out the book for Treecko to start deciphering. Then, I continued to fiddle with the maps. The old parchment crinkled in my hands as I flipped through the pages. I also grabbed a piece of notebook paper and a pen from my backpack. My hand was poised to write down whatever Treecko needed.

His eyes flickered up to me nervously, then back down to the page. He sighed before telling me, "I kind of...lied about being able to read this."

"You what?" I hissed. "We risked our necks for a book that you can't even read?"

"Urf, that's not it," he said. He gulped before beginning to explain. "I can barely read this language. I learned it, but I was never any good at translating it. If you let me take it with me, I can come back later with a better translation."

I narrowed my eyes at the grass-type. "Where will you take it?"

"I know someone who can translate this almost flawlessly," he responded.

"Fine," I said to my surprise. I really didn't want him to run off with it, but I knew it was our only shot. My instincts felt queasy about letting the creature slip away with the book we had worked to get. "Go ahead and take it. But, just know that without this map or this book, you won't find it. You will have to return to me." I held on to my only bargaining chip with iron fists.

Treecko nodded. "Yeah, I get it. I'll be back once I brush up a bit on this and get my friend's help."

The grass-type turned to move toward the window, but I stopped his progress with one last request. "Before you go, I need you to tell me what it was that you saw in that room that has you so scared."

With one sentence, I made Treecko's face grow pale. His normally vibrant green became a more puke colored hue. His eyes led his face down to the floor. The air grew tense between us as his face painted a picture of the rushing thoughts going through his mind. "Fine, I'll tell you. But you can't back out once I explain it. You're going to keep helping me, right?"

"Yes, I am," I confirmed. I swallowed dryly at the thought of what was to come; this was a dangerous path. It took everything within me to not start crying like I would around the other teenagers at school.

Treecko sighed, "It's... Urg, this is hard." He took a moment to collect his thoughts. Each moment made my anticipation grow. "Have you heard of Primal Dialga?"

"He sounds familiar, but refresh my memory anyway."

"He used to be the god of time, but he went insane and, well, is the reason that time doesn't flow. He lost his mind, and that's why time is stopped. He's crazy and very dangerous."

"That's his symbol, wasn't it?" I asked as I connected the dots in my mind.

Treecko nodded. "In a way, yes. It's a symbol of those in league with him. Meaning, whoever that study belongs to has powerful friends. It scares me that we just stole a book from him."

Without another word or time for me to ask any questions, the Pokémon took said book in his mouth and crawled awkwardly over to the window. He set the tome down while he opened the curtains and the glass panes behind it. He looked back at me one more time.

"One more thing: I was such a jerk to you earlier. I just didn't know how much I could trust a human. I realize now that my actions were wrong," he said.

"Apology accepted."

Finally, Treecko nodded and slipped out the window with the book in his jaws again.

Treecko scampered off into the woods as I shut and locked the window behind him. His gait was awkward to watch as he tilted from side to side. The book bobbed with his now weighted head.

Sitting heavily on my bed, I grabbed the book that interested me the most—The Evolution of Pokemon in the After—from my bag for a little bit of reading before sleeping. I needed something to take my mind off of the heavy truth Treecko had just suggested. If the Elder that the library belonged to really was in cahoots with Dialga, then my small world was in much more trouble than I truly knew. If discovered, everything could crumble down around me. I had to wipe small tears from the corners of my eyes as I pushed the thoughts to the back of my mind in favor of reading the text in front of me.

Immediately, I regretted the decision to read in the candlelight as my head began to head throb. A flash of excruciating pain followed by a lingering sensation washed over me. I gripped my forehead with one hand while still clutching the book with the other. The pressure refused to release with my gentle massaging.

The pounding flash came and went again, stronger this time. I dropped the book at my side in favor of massaging my temples. But still, the pain refused to fade.

Eventually, the pain overtook me, and my vision faded in a gradient that swept from white to black before I could register what was happening.

A voice in the darkness spoke one simple sentence, "This is a Time Gear."

My body tried to whirl around to see where the voice was coming from or the thing being described, but I was locked in place by an invisible force. Then, the dream faded.

My consciousness returned to a patchy surface above me. It took me a few blinks for my vision to sharpen and for me to realize that I was staring up at the ceiling. The flickering light illuminated each little flaw of the patchwork job. My head continued to pound, and I had to force myself to sit up.

How long was I out? I wondered. To check, I went to see what the workers were farming outside. Surprisingly, I found that no one was outside to do work yet, and I couldn't hear the usually loud voices of the farmhands gathered inside for a meal either. To confirm my suspicions, I opened my door to examine the hallway. My parents' room door was still shut.

My stomach gurgled, causing me to jump at the sudden sensations in my core. I grabbed my almost nonexistent belly as the pain in my stomach rumbled again. How long had it been since I had eaten? It was hard to tell without any measure of when I returned to town. Plus, after that dream, I had no concept of how much time had passed. All I knew was that people were in bed when I returned—even the Litwick and Chandelure were slumbering—and no one was awake now. I tried to recall if my stomach was roaring before my dream too and whether or not I was sitting upright before passing out. The details blurred together, and I forced myself to drop the thoughts lest I confuse myself even more.

Ignoring the lingering pain and the baffling thoughts of time passing, a concept that I knew next to nothing about, I closed my room door and laid on my bed once again. Exhaustion called me more than food did, so I rolled up in the blankets and let myself float off to sleep. The dream haunted my mind and made for an uneasy slumber.