Buizel knew that they were screwed.
He had just crashed a very important meeting, one that his father was attending, and he had no hope of defending himself in front of the other six Pokemon, either.
Buizel pushed himself up from the table, trying to entirely focus on Shaun. “Are you okay?” he asked, trying not to let his treacherous eyes drift to Ampharos.
Shaun groaned from the table. “I’ve lived through worse,” he replied half-heartedly.
The sudden scraping noise of a chair made everyone else look at Lucario, who had stood up, leaning heavily on the table. “Who are you?” he asked, his voice unreadable.
Ampharos stood up from his chair as well. “Please, sir, I can explain-“
Lucario held up a paw. “I need to hear it from them,” he said.
“I do as well,” Meowstic said ominously.
Buizel made sure to help Shaun to his feet first. Shaun looked blearily around, his face growing more and more horrified as he saw the Pokemon in the room. “Um, hello sir,” Shaun began nervously. “I’m- horrifically sorry to drop in on your conversation like this.” Buizel wanted to strangle him.
“Why did you say that?” Lucario asked. Buizel couldn’t read his expression.
Shaun looked at him blankly. “What?”
“Where did you get those scarves?”
Buizel looked down at the scarf he had completely forgotten he was wearing. “These?”
Shaun held out his scarf to look at it. “Uh, Buizel gave mine to me. You’d have to ask him.”
“Sneasel gave them to me first,” Buizel said, trying not to look at the other Pokemon. He wouldn’t have been able to anyway. “She called them Shimmer Scarves, I think.”
Meowstic slammed the table, causing them to jump. “What are you talking about,” he growled. “I haven’t finalized that project yet.”
Lucario raised his paw again. “Not yet.” He fell back into his chair, looking shellshocked.
“What’s the matter, sir?” Audino asked, worry written across her face. “Do we need to dispose of these two for you?”
“No!” He stood up again and slammed his paws on the table, making everyone else in the room jump. “These two Pokemon have been plaguing me for years.”
Buizel stared at Lucario. His eyes seemed far too familiar for this reaction to be unwarranted. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. “Sir,” he asked, “can- can you please tell us what’s wrong?”
“I have not seen a Shinx since I was seven summers old,” he replied quietly. “Much less one wearing that scarf.”
Shaun was quiet for a second. “You made my leg worse!” he suddenly said in indignation. “You knocked me onto my broken leg and then taunted me about it!”
Buizel stared at Shaun, and then at Lucario, who looked like he was seeing a Legendary. “So I did,” he said, falling into his chair again. “So I did.”
“Um, sir?” Cinccino asked timidly from his elbow. “How do you know these two children?”
“I saw them when I was a child,” Lucario explained slowly. “They disappeared in front of my eyes, the Shinx collapsing from exhaustion.”
It finally clicked for Buizel. “You’re Riolu?!” he said, standing on the table in shock.
“Was,” Lucario corrected. His mouth twitched in amusement at Buizel’s reaction. “I cannot believe that I didn’t see the signs sooner.”
Cinccino glanced between the three of them. “That’s not much of an explanation.”
Shaun cleared his throat. “Okay, so, bombshell time.” He stood up, garnering the attention of the other Pokemon in the room. “One,” he began, “I am the island’s Time Gear.”
This was met with stunned silence. Shaun, unsurprised at this reaction, continued, “Two, a, uh, green leaf lizard-”
“Grovyle,” Buizel supplied.
Shaun nodded. “Right. A Grovyle is on the island, currently searching for the island’s Time Gear, which, by extension, is me.”
Meowstic, who had been listening to this with a disbelieving expression, tapped a paw on the table. “Any recognizable traits?”
“Wearing a bag, I think,” Shaun said.
Buizel remembered the odd gear that Sneasel had given him what felt like forever ago. “I think it has some kind of gear-like exploration badge on it.”
Shaun cleared his throat. “Anyway. Bombshell three. After witnessing the literal end of the world as I knew it, I rewound time by…” he exhaled. “A week and a half? Maybe two weeks?”
“Sir,” Meowstic said, folding his arms, “this ‘mon is obviously deranged. Knowledgeable, but deranged.”
“Let him finish,” Lucario said. He was leaning forward attentively.
“Three,” Shaun miscounted, losing his place. “After an, um, argument, me, Buizel, and Sneasel were sent back into the past for some reason. I don’t know how,” he added, “but we wandered around for a while, bumping into- Lucario here on Gray Island.”
Lucario nodded. “He’s not lying,” he said to the chagrin of everyone else in the room.
“Four, there is a massive freaking meteor coming towards the island,” he finished, sitting down. “And apparently, you’re all supposed to do something about it.”
There was silence for a second. Meowstic leaned on the table and sighed. “Sneasel, I know you’re there, too.”
Sneasel mareepishly peeked down from the beam she had been listening on and expertly dropped down onto the table as well, looking thoroughly embarrassed. “Hi, Meowstic,” she said, not looking at him.
“You three may step off the table now,” Audino said politely, her tone leaving no room for argument. They hastily scrambled off the table, each trying not to think about what would happen next.
After they had got off the table and moved to a corner, feeling awkward and embarrassed, Lucario leaned forward, propping his elbows on the table. “Well, you heard the ‘mon,” he said. “What do we do?”
He immediately received complaints from both Meowstic and Audino. “You can’t seriously believe them,” Audino said sternly. “They’re just children who had the bright idea to eavesdrop, and invented a fantastical story to get themselves out of trouble.”
“They should not be allowed to stay and listen,” Meowstic said, still standing in his chair. “We have no guarantee that they won’t tell everymon as soon as they leave the room.”
Sneasel raised a hand. “Um, actually, I’ve been… listening in on these for six years.” Her voice trailed off as she finished the sentence, the other Pokemon in the room looking at her. She put her hand down and folded her arms as if they would protect her from incoming blows. “Sorry.”
“I assume if we haven’t been compromised before, it won’t start now,” Lucario said, his tone belying amusement. “And I genuinely believe them.”
Audino sighed. “If you say so.”
Meowstic was staring at the three of them balefully. “I am the Enforcer,” he told them. “If you so much as breathe about what happened here outside of these walls, I will personally throw you into the ocean.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Shaun replied airily. “You probably couldn’t do it to me, though. I’m too important.”
“Don’t get snippy with me, Shinx,” he replied sourly.
Cinccino cleared his throat loudly. “If we’re done questioning the Master’s authority, then I think we should begin trying to figure out how to prevent the destruction of the island.”
A spirited conversation began, with the other Pokemon in the room firing ideas left and right. Buizel, who was already feeling overwhelmed, sat down on the floor next to Shaun. “I hope Dad’s not mad at me,” he muttered.
Sneasel sat down beside him, putting a friendly hand on his shoulder. “I hope you’re not angry with him.”
Buizel shook his head. “I’m not, really. I do get why he didn’t- couldn’t tell me, but it’s still… a bit of a shock regardless.”
“I just hope that we’re not thrown in the ocean,” Shaun worried. “My cast is still on.”
They lapsed into silence, only half paying attention to the conversation. Shaun began to doze off, the day’s events taking a toll on him.
“Sneasel,” Buizel asked suddenly, “are we dating?”
She looked at him like he had suddenly evolved into a Magikarp. “What? No.”
“Haunter thinks we’re dating,” he said. “We had a fight over it today.”
Sneasel facepalmed. “Oh my god. Do you think we’re dating?”
“No, no,” Buizel assured her, “not in the slightest. Just thought I’d ask, because Haunter was acting really weird about you.”
“I’m not interested in a romantic relationship right now,” she said, leaning against the wooden paneled wall. “Not with you, not with anymon on the island, and especially not with Haunter. Absolutely not my type.”
“Literally,” Buizel muttered. “Are we, um, friends, then?”
Sneasel looked at him out of the corner of her eye and smiled. “What do you think?”
“I think I want to keep being friends,” he said, leaning against the paneled wall. “It’s easier that way.”
“Works for me,” Sneasel said quietly.
Next to them, Shaun groaned. “Can you two stop flirting? Some of us are trying to sleep.”
“We are not flirting!” they hissed at him in unison. Shaun snorted with laughter, but shut up.
Buizel leaned against the wall again, watching the other Pokemon in the room discuss ways to try and stop a meteor from hitting the island. He was beginning to doze off, still not entirely recovered.
He jumped as Ampharos shook him awake. “Time to go.”
Buizel stumbled to his feet, looking around with bleary eyes. He hadn’t fallen asleep for long, but the rest of the room was mostly empty. Sneasel was gone, and the only other Pokemon besides Shaun and himself were Ampharos and Lucario.
Lucario was staring at the ceiling hole ruefully. “It may be a while before this is fixed.”
“Again, sir, I deeply apologize,” Ampharos said in a low tone.
Lucario shook his head. “No, it was a good thing that they appeared. It set us upon the right topic.”
Buizel picked up Shaun, who was still asleep, and carried him in a piggyback position. Ampharos glanced at him. “Are you sure you’re awake enough to do that?”
Buizel yawned. “I’ll manage until we get home,” he said sleepily. Ampharos didn’t look as if he believed this, but he let it slide.
“Ampharos,” Lucario asked, “do you mind if I visit the lighthouse tomorrow? I have more questions for them, but now is not the best time.”
Ampharos, surprised, nodded. “It would be an honor, sir.”
Lucario sighed in relief. “I will be there around the afternoon.”
Ampharos guided Buizel up a set of stairs and through some kind of secret door. It clicked shut behind them, leaving them to face the tavern, which had only gotten noisier as the night went on.
They hurried out of the noisy building as fast as they could, Buizel slumping a little in relief as they finally began the trek towards the lighthouse. “So noisy,” he mumbled.
They walked in silence for a minute. Buizel, while still half asleep, had a lot of questions. He slowly picked through them in his head and chose the most pressing one first. “Why didn’t you tell me about that whole- thing?”
Ampharos sighed. “I did plan to tell you, eventually. I thought you had already figured it out.”
Buizel stumbled as they reached the main path. “Are- are you mad at me?”
Ampharos shook his head. “Not really. Maybe a little miffed with your choice of entrance, but I suppose it can’t be helped. There are no other ways into that room.”
Buizel nearly stumbled again. “I’m really sorry about that,” he said sadly. “If I had known that you were in there, I’d have pushed back against the idea a little more.”
“Whose idea was it?” he asked curiously. “Shaun’s?”
Buizel yawned. “It was Espeon’s, actually.”
Ampharos blinked at him. “That Pokemon knows far more than he lets on,” he mused.
The conversation lapsed into silence as they finally approached the lighthouse. Buizel stepped foot inside, grateful to be home again.
Floatzel approached them, looking slightly worried. “Oh, you brought him back. I thought he would have gone on an adventure again.”
“Kinda,” Buizel admitted as he deposited the still-sleeping Shaun onto the couch. “I’m gonna go to bed.”
He traipsed up the stairs, leaving Floatzel and Ampharos alone in the living room.
“Where’s Espeon?” Ampharos asked.
“He went to the library,” Floatzel replied. “He said he’d be back when it closed. How did your meeting go?”
“That’s not for another four hours.” Ampharos sighed. “Well, the meeting went decently well until Buizel and Shaun fell through the roof.”
He recounted the story to her, her eyes widening as she listened. As Ampharos finished, she sighed. “Well, at least that’s off your chest.”
“I do hope he’s not angry with me,” Ampharos worried as he got a drink. “It seemed like a shock to see me there.”
“I’ll… ask him about it,” Floatzel said reassuringly.
The Sand Continent was renowned for its sand.
Miles and miles of sand spread across it, blown by various winds. One particularly nasty windstorm had blown through just the day before, leaving a thin layer of pale red sand over one special desert.
The Glass Desert was named as such due to the monolithic glass structures that towered over the soft, white sand of the region. Caused by some ancient, forgotten calamity, the prismatic, frozen flames were almost impossible to break. It was considered a luxury to have things made of this glass, an honor reserved for kings.
A Pokemon traipsed through this sand, grumbling to itself. “There would be a storm just before my trip,” it growled. “Never fails. Never misses. More accurate than a Swift.”
It brushed the red layer of sand aside the best it could, leaving traces of it in the white sand the Pokemon shoved into a bag.
“A little red sand never hurt anymon,” the Pokemon muttered.
Buizel woke up just before dawn because Shaun was shaking him.
“Go ‘way,” Buizel mumbled, rolling over in his bed.
“I’m bored out of my mind, man,” Shaun complained.
Buizel groaned, pushing himself up and looking out the window blearily. “…the sun isn’t even up yet.”
“Look, I have my reasons for getting you up early,” Shaun said. He jumped down from Buizel’s bed and waited for him to get up before trying to climb down the stairs quietly, almost succeeding despite the cast.
Buizel sleepily followed him into the living room, where Espeon was sitting up with his eyes closed. Buizel couldn’t tell if he was sleeping, or just pretending to.
Shaun pawed at the door and they went outside, the faint roar of the ocean slamming against the rocks below reaching their ears as they meandered onto the grassy field next to the lighthouse.
“I’m worried,” Shaun began. “I told literally everyone at that table that I was the Time Gear. The last time that happened, I was supposed to be restrained at the temple area- thing.”
“Oh.” Buizel blinked at the sun, which was already beginning to send rays over the horizon. “You’re afraid that they’ll do it again?”
“Maybe a little,” Shaun admitted, beginning to pace back and forth. “I don’t want to have that happen again.”
“Lucario is supposed to be coming over today,” Buizel said. “He seems, uh, slightly more willing to negotiate than someone like Meowstic.”
Shaun laughed uncomfortably. “Yeah, I know. But he still has to prioritize the welfare of the island over my own complaints.”
Buizel stared out over the ocean at the rising sun, the sky already turning a shade of teal against the deep violets of the night. “Well, you have one secret that you didn’t share.”
“Ah, yes, my humanity.” Shaun sat down and watched the sun rising slowly over the horizon. “I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that wouldn’t change much.”
Buizel sat down next to him. “I dunno,” he said doubtfully. “Humans are kind of- special.”
Shaun glanced at him. “Uh huh.”
“No, like-“ Buizel waved a paw around. “There have been humans here before.”
Shaun looked at him blankly. “There have?”
Buizel nodded. “It’s a- known phenomenon, I guess. I don’t think there have been any humans since before I was born, though,” he added ruefully. “I still don’t really know what to think about that.”
Shaun returned to staring out over the ocean. “There have been other people here,” he murmured.
“Oh, not on the island,” Buizel said hurriedly. “Like, across the world. Though a lot of Pokemon just see them as children’s Fairy-type tales.”
Shaun looked at him again. “For a fairytale come to life, you don’t seem very scared of me.”
Buizel laughed. “I think if you had come straight out and said you were a human first, I’d be a little more reverent.” He batted playfully at Shaun’s ear, which twitched in reproach. “But you’re just Shaun. I can’t really be afraid of Shaun.”
A lopsided smile grew on Shaun’s face. “I could be scarier if I tried,” he replied unconvincingly.
“Nah.” Buizel returned to watching the sunrise. “My life was arguably a lot worse off before you arrived. I’m blessed to have met you at all.”
Shaun didn’t say anything. A gentle breeze began to blow, rustling the grass around them.
“I’m blessed to have met you too,” he said finally, something else behind his voice. “Even through everything, you’ve had my back, and- that’s not something I’ve ever thought I would have.”
Buizel scooted next to him and draped an arm around his shoulders.
He didn’t need to say anything at all.
Buizel wasn’t sure how long he sat there, but the sun was much higher over the ocean when he remembered that he still had to go to school.
He mareepishly stood up, dusting himself off. “I still gotta go to school. Nearly forgot about that.”
“I’m coming with,” Shaun said, also standing up. “I’m gonna be so bored if I don’t.”
Buizel looked at him askance. “The last time you went to school, you ended up sending us back in time.”
“That was a fluke,” Shaun replied dismissively, flapping a paw. “Besides, it ended up being very helpful last night.”
Buizel rolled his eyes as they began walking down the hill. “That was a fluke.”
“I can’t believe you’d steal my line,” Shaun joked.
They continued chatting on the way to school, Shaun managing to keep up with Buizel mostly easily. His cast still made it awkward to walk, but he was still faster than he had been the last time they took the path.
Surprisingly, they still got there early. Buizel stared around in astonishment at the mostly empty schoolyard. “I thought I’d be super late,” he said to no one in particular.
“You’re technically a few minutes earlier than usual,” Sneasel remarked.
Shaun sat down at the spare desk, which was still sitting on the grass. “I thought they would’ve put this away by now.”
“Me too, honestly,” Buizel said, sitting down at his own desk.
School proceeded as normal from there. Both Breloom and the younger children were pleased to see Shaun again, and Shaun listened attentively to something Buizel already knew with such interest that Buizel listened, despite his familiarity with the material.
After school let out, Buizel hurriedly saved Shaun from being bombarded with questions and they began walking home.
The forest was as cold as usual, despite the fact it had been in direct sunlight for hours at this point. Shaun and Buizel walked in a comfortable silence, enjoying the quiet moment.
Eventually, Buizel saw something ahead that made him groan. “Haunter’s ahead,” he muttered to Shaun.
Haunter was leaning against a tree with his hands in the vague approximation of crossed arms. As they got closer, Buizel realized that he wasn’t smiling. His eyes were closed and he had a resigned frown, which only served to make him more nervous.
“Do you think he’s back for round two?” Shaun asked in a low tone.
“I hope not,” Buizel said truthfully. “Let’s just try and ignore him.”
They tried, but as they walked past, Haunter called out, “Buizel.”
Buizel stopped and sighed irritably. “What is it?”
Haunter floated up to him, still looking oddly subdued. “It has come to my attention that you… aren’t actually in a relationship with Sneasel.”
He blinked. “Huh?”
“I may have acted a little outside my boundaries,” Haunter continued, “and for that, I want to say… I am ssssssorrry.”
He said the word as if it burned his mouth. Buizel and Shaun exchanged shocked glances as Haunter held out a clawed hand. “Do you accept my apology?”
Buizel very hesitantly shook his hand, aware of what had happened last time. “Apology accepted, I gue-“
Haunter immediately dropped his paw as though it was made of fire. “Thank Arceus that’s out of the way!” he said, throwing up his hands in exasperation. “Don’t mistake this for a budding friendship, Buizel. I still despise you.”
Buizel worked his mouth, nonplussed. “…okay?”
“I can’t believe myself,” Haunter began muttering as he floated into the forest. “Having to apologize to him, of all Pokemon… No more elevator…” His muttering faded with his body, and he had disappeared.
Shaun and Buizel stared after the departed shape for a minute. “Um,” Shaun asked, “what in the world just happened?”
“Haunter apologized, apparently.” Buizel didn’t know how to feel about this. “Come on, let’s go home.”
They resumed the walk down the path, nothing else happening for the rest of the route. They both breathed a sigh of relief as they stepped out into the town’s plaza, bustling with other Pokemon.
“I swear, something almost always happens on that road,” Shaun said.
“It was like that even before you got here,” Buizel responded, with a hint of amusement. “You being here just seems to make more things happen.”
They walked through the alleyway, which did not have anyone in it, and made it to the top of the hill in short order. Buizel opened the door for Shaun and they stepped inside.
It was quiet, as usual. Espeon was reading from a stack of books that nearly rivaled the back of the chair he sat in. Shaun whistled as he saw it. “Did you buy out the entire library?”
“Just about,” Espeon admitted. “Welcome back.”
“Thanks,” Buizel replied, wandering into the kitchen. He came back with a few berries, which Shaun took gratefully when offered.
They moved to the dining room table, both quietly thinking about their own thoughts. The house being quiet seemed like a luxury nowadays.
Ampharos stepped out of the master bedroom shortly after. They all exchanged greetings as Ampharos began doing seemingly random tasks around the house.
After a while, in which Ampharos got very antsy, a knock sounded at the door. He immediately opened the door and spoke to the Pokemon outside, everyone else in the house watching in interest.
Ampharos led Lucario into the house, who gazed around appreciatively. “I see,” he said, replying to something Ampharos had told him. “Well, I-“
He froze as he locked eyes with Espeon, who’s tail had begun to lash uncontrollably as soon as he had stepped into the room.
Time seemed to stop. Buizel glanced between the two of them, suddenly intensely nervous.
“Uh oh, these two have chemistry,” Shaun breathed.
Slowly, Lucario walked into the middle of the living room, not taking his eyes off of Espeon. The suspense in the room almost felt palpable, Buizel tasting electricity on the back of his tongue.
Lucario kneeled, bowing his head.
This came as a surprise to everyone, including Espeon. He froze, unable to look away.
“I am deeply, deeply, immeasurably sorry.” Lucario’s words held a weight to them that only he and Espeon seemed to know the full weight of. “I doubt any of my words could convince you otherwise, but… I’ve regretted my actions for years.” He looked Espeon in the eyes, his eyes tracing his face. “I’ve missed you.”
Everyone else held their breath for what felt like far too long before Espeon closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. “I… I am sorry, too. Both of us were at fault.” He opened his eyes, tracing Lucario’s face. “Don’t worry, old friend. I’ve never forgotten.”
Lucario stood up and hugged Espeon, slightly awkwardly. “I’ve missed you from the dark.”
The phrasing hit Buizel like a truck. Both he and Shaun nearly jumped out of their chairs, causing the other three Pokemon to look at them.
“Are you-?!” Buizel spluttered, pointing at Espeon. “Are you Eevee?!”
“How do you know that?” Shaun said at the same time. “How do you know that verse?”
Lucario broke away from Espeon, who smiled a wry grin. “I am honestly surprised that you have just now figured that out.”
“How were we supposed to know?!” Buizel asked, scandalized. “I thought that- that you were like- his brother or something!”
To his chagrin, Espeon and Lucario both started to laugh. “You told them that but neglected to give them any more details?” Lucario asked Espeon.
“I never fully considered that their sudden disappearance would leave them in the dark about certain details,” Espeon admitted. “But yes, I was Eevee. Lucario and I were raised as siblings.”
Shaun stared between the two. “That, uh, explains the reaction just now.”
Ampharos quietly retreated to the kitchen, where he calmly poured himself a glass of water as he watched everyone else talk.
“Why didn’t you just tell us straight out?” Buizel was asking. “Why wait until- that?”
“What’s wrong with a little puzzle?” Lucario asked. “Espeon always claimed that you two would show up again, even if I never fully believed him.”
“They only dislike the puzzle because all that was inside was a brick,” Espeon joked, looking pointedly at Buizel as he said this.
It took Buizel five full seconds to understand what just happened. “What? What does that have to do with- oh. Oh. Oh.” He began to laugh. He laughed and laughed, falling to the floor. He continued to laugh until Shaun stared at Espeon in utter bewilderment. “What did you do?”
“He said he liked brick jokes,” Espeon said, watching Buizel laugh fondly. “What’s a better brick joke than one that takes years to properly set up?”
Buizel calmed down. “Oh, right, that was years ago for you. It happened to us less than a few days ago.”
Lucario blinked at them. “Really? This is a recent development?”
Ampharos spoke up from the kitchen. “Yes. They brought home an odd map from who-knows-where. I’d like to take a look at it myself, but Buizel seems to have forgotten to bring it back.”
Buizel felt like his insides were cascaded in ice as he stood up. “Oh. I was supposed to do that. Um.”
Espeon levitated the two maps and the piece of paper into view. “I collected them myself,” he said, wiggling them back and forth. “It’s no issue.”
Shaun scrambled onto the back of the couch, his cast doing him no favors. “Okay,” he panted, “but what are you even here for?”
The question was directed at Lucario, who cocked his head thoughtfully. “I wanted to ask you some questions about… the time travel incident.”
“What do you want to know?” Buizel asked, draping himself over the back of the couch. He wasn’t supposed to do that, and he hoped Ampharos wouldn’t tell him off.
“How did it happen in the first place?” Lucario asked.
Shaun and Buizel shared embarrassed glances. “Um, well, we had an argument.” Shaun shuffled his cast uncomfortably, as if it was a reminder. “It was stupid and over basically nothing, but apparently we were sent back in time over it.”
Espeon and Lucario shared a glance with far too much significance behind it. “I see,” Lucario said, returning his attention to them. He gestured towards Shaun. “You said you were a Time Gear, correct?”
Next to him, Espeon rolled his eyes. “I’ve told you this a thousand and one times.”
“I need to hear it from him,” Lucario replied placidly.
Shaun nodded reluctantly. “The last time you learnt about this, you tried to imprison me where the Time Gear was supposed to be.”
This seemed to take both of the other Pokemon by surprise. “He did?” Espeon asked.
“I did?” Lucario asked at the same time.
Shaun shrugged. “Yeah.”
There was an awkward silence. Ampharos broke it by saying, “I seem to remember fighting very hard against that.”
This caught everyone’s attention, especially Espeon’s. “How do you remember that?” he asked sharply.
“Shaun,” Ampharos replied simply. “I suppose being around him enough jogged my memory.”
“I don’t think you understand,” Espeon said. “I only remember because I was trapped in a collapsed mystery dungeon.”
Lucario looked at him, aghast. “You were?”
“Story for another time,” Espeon replied off-handedly. “And I am quite sure that the only reason the children remember is because of their scarves.”
“Meowstic has been awfully vague about them,” Lucario admitted. “I have the feeling that even he doesn’t know what they can do.”
Buizel looked at his scarf again. Despite everything it had been through, it still shimmered brightly, the lavender hues catching the light and seeming to sparkle. “I don’t really know what they can do either,” he admitted. “And we’ve had them for over a week by now.”
“Technically we don’t have them yet,” Shaun corrected, “if you want to get pedantic about it. These scarves are walking paradoxes.”
Espeon nodded. “Paradox Scarves, if you will. I doubt that they have even reached half of their full potential.”
Shaun blinked at him. “You know what these things can do?”
“Oh, no, not in the slightest.” Espeon smiled wryly again. “They do have an- an aura about them, though.”
Lucario nodded in affirmation. “It does substantially enhance their auras, somehow. Even when I was a Riolu, I could feel their auras, which was quite unusual at the time.”
Shaun just stared at him blankly. “Auras?”
Lucario laughed. “Oh, right. Sorry, forgot you were a human.”
This caught Buizel, Ampharos, and especially Shaun off guard. “How do you know that?” he squeaked.
“I learned it while we were in the mystery dungeon on Gray Island,” Espeon explained. “It stuck with me, for some reason or other. Lucario and I discussed it at length several times.”
Lucario cleared his throat. “Aura is a kind of… spiritual energy. I’m not sure I can even properly explain it.” He sat down cross-legged on the floor, tired of standing. “You two have some of the strongest Auras I have ever seen, which are only amplified by those scarves.”
Buizel blinked. “I’d probably be more flattered if I knew what that meant.”
“Even he doesn’t know what it means,” Espeon said dryly. “Auras are a very understudied topic, unfortunately. No Lucario has wanted to have their brains picked by a bunch of university students.”
Shaun reacted strangely to this. He began to roll his paw back and forth on the back of the couch, the faint sound almost making a ticking noise. “University students?”
“There is a university somewhere on the Mist Continent,” Espeon elaborated. “I wanted to go, but unfortunately I had to make do with the books we had.”
Shaun’s eyes went distant. Buizel noticed this and cleared his throat. “So, um, have you had any ideas about how to prevent the world as we know it from ending?”
Espeon looked at Lucario. “Yes, please elaborate if possible.”
“Well, there was one idea that kept being brought up,” Lucario admitted. “But it involves the lighthouse very heavily.”
Ampharos and Buizel began to pay close attention as he explained, “There is an inventor-engineer on the island who Cinccino believes could possibly create a weapon to shoot the meteor out of the sky. But…” he paused. “It would most likely require possibly irreversible usage of the lighthouse.”
Buizel glanced at Ampharos to see his reaction. He was studying the inside of his cup carefully, deep in thought. He noticed Buizel and turned to him. “What do you think?”
Buizel stared. “Me?”
“The lighthouse is your home as well,” Ampharos said. “By all rights, you should have a say in the final decision.”
Buizel remembered the meteor hanging above his head, the utter feeling of despair and hopelessness as he sat against the pillar. He involuntarily let out a shuddery breath and shook his head, trying to forget the memory. “I think we should try it,” he answered. “We should try anything.”
Ampharos nodded in acknowledgement before turning to Shaun. “Shaun?”
Shaun startled and turned to face him. “Yeah? Um, yeah?”
“What do you think?”
Shaun stared blankly at him until Buizel leaned over and whispered, “He wants to know if we should try an idea to destroy the Great Disaster at the possible cost of the lighthouse.”
“Oh.” He blinked. “Um, I mean, it’s worth a shot. But why are you asking me?” he asked, confused.
“This is just as much a home to you as it is to me and Buizel,” Ampharos stated. “I’ll… talk it over with Floatzel. This isn’t something I can decide instantly.”
Lucario nodded in approval. “I understand entirely. Do send word when you come to a consensus.”