TRIAL OF TIME: JOSH

Music: A Land Bringing About Life

Seta's words struck Aravan like a vicious lightning bolt and Josh like an earthen spire. An earthen spire that rung as loudly as Alicia Westfield 's words on the high seas of Ostellia's Drowned Harbor:

The Gardener took a sharp breath, glancing backward towards the whirlpool in case something jumped out at them. ”But here’s what I haven’t shared yet. You can’t just walk into the Everworld and go ‘hey, sorry about that numbskull move, can I get my Pokemon back now?’ Seta… Seta bores into your mind and soul with that faceless gaze as it judges if you should even get a CHANCE to retrieve your fallen teammate. It won’t let you try ‘just because’… If you deliberately throw one of your Pokemon away on a lark, you better be prepared to never get them back.”

Those scathing words were exactly what came to be.

The boy broke down in tears, his Charizard in his eyes lost forever. All he saw was despair. And he would have to repeat this with his Dewgong. If he couldn't free the Pokémon he was closer to, then there was no hope for freeing Ulysses. "So you're saying that Ares... never truly liked me? And Ulysses, too? That they never want to see me again?" the emotionally charged boy cried, barely understandable through sniffing and moaning. Those emotions brought down the hearts of Thunder and Storm, weeping with him.

Aravan pondered Seta's words, too. All this time, he had blamed Josh for his Nihilego's passing. His eyes opened wide, a cutscene playing before him in black and white:

"Aravan, I know how badly you want to win this. Our Pokémon can barely stand. Both of them. You've proven to me how good of a fighter you are. That we're truly rivals. When the match is even, no one can predict who will win. They've given it everything they have. So I have a proposal for you."

The Pokémon rider paused to get his friendly foe's attention.

"Let's call this a draw. Get our Pokémon patched up a Shrine. There's no need for us to fight to the bitter end."

Aravan's rage was bright as a supernova and as ferocious as a shark. His face was beet red from, in his eyes, being talked down. "Why? I have you right where I want you! Are you trying to throw the battle?! We're rivals for a reason - because I know you're one of the few people on the whole server who will give every single battle their all!"

"You don't know what you're saying, Aravan! Stop! If you don't stop now, you're going to--"

The chapped oceanographer let his Pokémon do the talking, pouncing Ares with another round of FURY SWIPES. A fountain of blood erupted from the Charmeleon's chest, Ares paralyzed with pain. Not a word left his trainer's mouth -- just a silent, open jaw and a hand desperately reaching for the lizard's body. Glancing at his HUD, he could not imagine how much agony his starter Pokémon was in.

He had been reduced to a single hit point.

The fault wasn't with Josh for delivering the killing blow. The fault was his own. He could have accepted Josh's draw offer. He was the one that let the battle escalate to the lethal stakes that it did. He had the opportunity to stop it. And stop it he did not. The fault rested not with Josh, despite the insistence that he was the reason the Nihilego's spirit wandered the hellish realm's halls.

It rested with Aravan for not respecting Enigma's limits.

Aravan stood behind Josh, wound up, and slapped him on the cheek with all his might -- hard enough that it would have knocked a tooth loose were the Bolter's pain thresholds set to Realistic. "You oaf!" the aquatic specialist barked, even Poseidon scowling at him in anger. "That's not what the gatekeeper said or even implied at all. Pardon my French, but why the fuck do you always interpret others' remarks negatively? Why do you always self-deprecate? Why do you always take responsibility for things that aren't your fault?! Because you think it will make everyone around you happy?!"

Josh clammed up, curling into a ball of regret. Seta had already trapped him atop an earthen spire of misunderstanding. Now, his competitive yet wise Rival had stabbed him on a skewer of intense guilt, rotating and charring him above Ares' tail flame. Not a word escaped from his lips. Not a word that came to Josh's mind could, in his mind, move Seta from their blockade of Ares' ghost.

"Josh, grow the fuck up," Aravan scowled. "You may have the body of an eleven-year-old, but I saw you before you took on that body. You have a bright mind. Stop letting your emotions get in the way and use it. Think. Think about what you could have -- no, should have -- done differently for him."

A loud crackle of thunder echoed around Josh, exposed to a black-and-white cutscene of his own, depicting both the moment where he last saw Ares alive, flying Kyukon to what he believed was safety, as well as the moments just before he himself Whited Out inside Hearteater. During those last moments, images of Mistra's Corrupted landscape and Ulysses overlaid themselves over one another. Despite the haziness, he was able to see the critical mistake he made:

He had attempted to alter the fate of one who had already made up their mind. If he didn't take care of himself, too, he wouldn't be around to save anyone else.

While Josh continued to be lost in his tumultuous inner self, Aravan cleared his throat and answered Seta's question. "Pardon my partner's... indecision. If you didn't overhear what we said, I'll repeat myself. Josh here gave me a chance to call our battle off. And I didn't. My desire to one-up him was so strong that I failed to consider Enigma's condition and whether it was healthy to continue. I want to ask for their forgiveness... and swear to them that I will battle with more restraint. While we can't talk to one another... I'm sure they feel that way inside. That they listened to me despite the danger shows how much they feel a link with me. And not just a one-way link -- a two-way link."

The words "more restraint" echoed within Josh's mind, pushing him completely through the metaphorical skewer and to the other side. Though his midsection felt like it was on fire, he also felt like an enormous burden had been lifted from his shoulders. He shook his head and slowly rose to his feet, cuddling Thunder and Storm as tightly as he could -- up to where the flying-type babies felt comfortable.

"...You're right," Josh sighed before tilting his flushed head toward the Gatekeeper. "Ares' life was taken through no fault of his own; it was my lack of judgment that led to his grisly end. Seta... please let me see him. I want him to know that I'm so sorry for not listening to him. That he yelled at me so loudly before he flew to his end showed how much he cared about me. To help me reconsider. That he would obey such orders showed how much he loved me. And he paid the ultimate price for that misplaced trust. I'm sure I can speak for us both when I say we want to repair that broken bridge."

Indeed, Seta was powerless to guarantee that he would be able to get his Pokémon back. Ultimately, it was up to Josh and Aravan to prove themselves to their Charizard and Nihilego. As the two stepped through the curtain of darkness, they heard sounds of their Pokémon bonking against something solid. By the time they could turn around, it was too late. They had already loaded into a new zone in the Everworld. A zone that constantly ticked with the sound of a timepiece's pendulum crossing a switch.

"Where are my Pokémon?" Josh asked, only to hear an error noise when attempting to pull up his Pokémon menu. A red UI message accompanied the sound effect:

Error> You cannot access the Menu at this time.

"I can't, either," Aravan replied, much more calmly. For having a legendary Pokémon in his possession, now stripped from him, he was incredibly professional. Far more so than his Rival. He turned around to see the other side of the loading zone he entered from, only to see a giant pendulum blocking it. "And it doesn't look like we can go back easily."

Before either could say any more, the camera panned down several flights of stairs, giant gears lining the walls and ceilings, turning like clockwork. An ominous title displayed across the center of their UIs:

Memoria ad Stultitiam - 1F

"Any idea what that name means?" Josh asked. "Looks like Latin. I've played enough JRPGs to vaguely recognize the language. Memory to... I have no idea."

"Neither do I," the water specialist answered. "And we're not getting any farther by speculating. Let's go downstairs."

Before they could get much farther, flashes of red and blue light stopped them, much like a police car's lights prompting a driver to pull over. The two lost control of their bodies, stopped by another cutscene consisting primarily of text:

The party's powers have been sealed within Memoria ad Stultitiam. By revisiting and responding to the party's memories, and those of Ares the Charizard and Enigma the Nihilego, you may be able to restore some of your powers. Some may not be restored until after you are able to leave.

The following powers have been sealed:
{Normal} {Fire} {Water} {Elec} {Ice} {Flying} {Poison} {Rock} {Psychic} {Dragon} {Almighty} {Pokémon} {Item} {Equip} {Map} {Limit} {Trance} {Resurrection} {Save} {Log Out}

Once the two were done reading the text, unable to mash through it as it materialized at a fixed rate, the two regained control. "Alicia Westfield wasn't kidding when she said Seta's Trial was no joke. All we have to defend ourselves are our basic Player attacks. It almost feels like we're starting from scratch."

"Josh, this doesn't feel like a trial by combat to me," Aravan chided him. "This is about finding our Pokémon and making right for the wrongs we've done. Both to our own Pokémon, and to each others'." Ever the wise man, he was. He may not have been as strong as Josh was, but he had pearls the child could not wrap his head around until they were spelled out to him.

"Right. Now, let's head in." Leading the way down the next flight of stairs, the boy rubbed his eyes when he saw Ares standing on the other side of what appeared to be a wall composed of spinning gears. As the duo approached, a black and white video of their first battle played before them, its footage blurry. It was Ares as a Charmander battling against Aravan's Blitzle, a Pokémon his Rival had not only evolved into a Zebstrika, but had Type Modded into a Water-type recently. He watched Wolf carry him through the two-on-two with a high-level Type: Null, the small Fire-type collapsing from a series of Quick Attacks.

At the end of the cutscene, the Charizard spoke to him from beyond the gear-composed wall, the echo effect on his words making him somewhat challenging to understand:

"Josh, I fell in battle that day under your guidance and your trust. With the knowledge you have now, what could you have done to prevent this needless White Out from occurring?"

Within a few seconds, the dragon's trainer had his answer and delivered it with confidence. "Not immediately jumping into a battle against Aravan," he answered. "There are a ton of wild Pokémon in the tutorial area ideal for letting new players get used to the battle system."

The ocenographer broke his frown. "That's exactly why I tried to keep you off Route 8 that day," Aravan added after refreshing his memory watching Josh's flashback. "You weren't ready for it then. Obviously you're more than ready for it now, what with being one of the fastest-rising trainers out there. I didn't want to have to battle you to prove my point, but that's what it came down to."

"So what you're saying is I bit off more than I could chew, huh?"

"Exactly. Josh, learn to know your limits. Your capabilities. What you are comfortable doing. Don't be afraid to push that boundary, but don't be reckless. Size your opponents up, and don't be afraid to run away. You're the fastest Pokémon rider around. There's nothing you can't get away from. No encounter inescapable. Just remember that it's an option."

Holding his head down, Josh took another somber step toward the gear-wrought wall. "Did you hear all of that, Ares?" With a silent nod, the pseudo-dragon Pokémon disappeared into an orange and white glitter, the latter color expanding toward Josh. A UI message would inform him of his progress.

The following powers have been restored:
{Normal} {Equip} {Map}

The gear blocking their way continued to turn. Opening his Equip menu, Josh saw that his Heat Blade and Thunder Buster were completely greyed out. "So types being sealed also disables elemental weapons..." he moaned, reduced to a single weapon he could use: the most basic Broadsword. The first weapon many Ironsmiths crafted. "This is as good as it's gonna get, isn't it?" The boy slashed at the brown and white gear, cleaving off one of its teeth. With a loud screech, the gear came to a halt... and despawned.

On the other side of the entryway was an enormous hall with seven passageways. The central one was covered with six gears: red, lavendar, hot pink, brown, and two different shades of purple. Those six gears covered the only entryway to a tower that stretched beyond what the area's draw distance would let them clearly see. The other six, scattered about the chamber like numbers on a clock, appeared to be gated by standard doors. Checking his map, Josh saw how tall the central tower stretched. "Dang, buddy. We've got out work cut out for us."

{Map}

Seeing the three Normal-type gears along the fence, Josh drew his sword and struck the nearest one of them with great force. It twirled with an appropriate amount of speed. Repeating the same process for the other two, he heard a rope snap near a familiar gate -- one leading back into what appeared to be Briarbane proper. "Hmm, I wonder if there's an order," Josh suggested as the sound of a dummy buzzer played and the puzzle reset, rope and all. He repeated the process for the other five possible combinations, attempting to brute-force the solution. All six led to similar outcomes, but not with the same rope breaking each time. "So it's not the order. What is it, then?"

"Think about what the Trial is trying to teach you," Aravan suggested. "And what it's trying to teach me. It wouldn't be a trial for us both unless we were both learning something."

"It's got to be trying to teach us something about our battle here." As if on cue, the beginning of their third match played before their eyes in black-and-white. A particular line echoed loudly, one that he repeated aloud. "While speed is a powerful tool, it is only one tool in your toolbox."

Aravan's stern facial expression rapidly turned into a beaming smile. "That's a good start. Now think on how that could be applied to this Trial's puzzle. What are you trying to accomplish here?"

Josh went into the tank to consider how his friend and RIVAL's wise words could apply here. It took him several minutes, but he came up with something. "I've got an idea. Stand back." With that, he struck each gear with a different amount of force, getting all three to spin in sync with one another. All three ropes they were connected to lifted the gate in sync, letting them pass through to Briarbane proper.

Beyond the wall was another gear-covered chamber, Ares' claws and arms seemingly phasing in and out among them as they shifted about. Though Josh was a little better at understanding the Charizard's echoing words, they were still difficult for him to understand:

"Josh, I fell in battle that day under your guidance and your trust. With the knowledge you have now, what could you have done to prevent this outcome from happening?"

Josh rolled his eyes at his past self. He had watched how Kyukon Whited Out during the Hearteater raid. Twice. He remembered how he, too, had Whited Out once in there. That second time, it easily could have been him. Taking out a foe before it was able to complete a charged attack was one way to deal with it, but it came at great risk and was not the only way. "Remembering the Dodge and Guard Core Abilities exist," he admitted.

With no response from Ares, the Charizard faded behind the wall of gears as it shifted, revealing an entrance to a small room with a red-and-blue glyph covering it. "You're on the right track," Aravan replied with a slow nod. "But it's going to take a lot more than a basic understanding of combat to earn your Charizard's trust back."

"...Let's go," Josh replied in a monotone voice. To others, it may have seemed like he was blowing his RIVAL off. From the child's body language, though, the aquatic specialist perceived his genuine understanding of both his own will and his lost Pokémon's will.

As the two stepped on the glyph, their vision turned to white other than a single intrusive pop-up in the center of their vision:

The following powers have been restored:
{Fire} {Water}

"That gives us a couple options," Josh mused as the two found themselves back in the clockwork tower's central hub.

{Map}

Josh pondered the scenario that caused his Charmeleon's collapse alongside the Aviator's Pokémon, remembering how fiercely the two fought against the Hydrapple's seven-pronged breath weapons. Even with Alicia's Hydrapple to learn from, there was still too much he didn't know about the unfamiliar species. Clearing his throat, he addressed his Charizard.

"Nothing," he answered. Not with dejection, but with confidence.

Aravan stood next to the blonde, mouth agape. He had no words for Josh, neither for his response nor how he delivered it. And yet, the Charizard did nothing but smile, the rest of Ares' body except for his head becoming opaque.

"But that doesn't mean there's nothing that can't be learned from this. There is clearly a knowledge gap in my understanding of Pokémon. A knowledge gap that cab be fixed via more exposure. Laddering in PVP. Questing more. Even heading down to the guildhall to read and study more."

As the duo approached Ares, he faded behind the wall of gears, which changed colors to yellow and lavender. A pop-up would give them a clue how to interact with the gears:

The following powers have been restored:
{Elec} {Flying}

"It seems that for every moment Seta's Trial challenges us with our past and overcome it, some of our powers are restored," Josh deduced, going into the menu and equipping his Thunder Brand. Slashing toward the yellow gear, it spun fast enough to grind its axle away, rolling into the opposite wall with a loud thud.

"Indeed," his wise RIVAL answered, taking advantage of his FLYING TOME to likewise decouple the other large gear with a casting of ZANDYNE. The blonde flinched when he saw the size of the twister, backing away when he felt it sucking him in even from a distance.

"Holy... that's powerful," Josh gasped. "Guess I need to pay up and upgrade my Player rarity if I want to keep up with you when we get out of here!"

"...Let's work on that 'getting out of here' part first," Aravan lightly jabbed at the kid before the two stepped through the door frame and onto a dais. Stepping onto it, their vision again faded to white, warping them back to the clockwork world's main hall.

"Time to make good on my promise," Josh reiterated as he led the way to the flooded room, opening the door for his friend and RIVAL. "After you. I don't want to slow you down." The two dove in, one after another. This time, there was no warning about the lack of breathable air; instead, a red timer counter down in the top left corner. To complicate matters further, once the two had sunken below a specific depth, a vortex swept them away. While it did not drag them toward its center, it did shove them around faster than either one of them could swim.

The timer began to produce a beeping noise when Josh was reduced to one minute of oxygen. He pointed to a series of chains attached to a metal plate. Grabbing onto one of them, the scout pointed toward another frantically as his timer wound down. The Swimmer, more adept than Josh was at traveling through water, got hold of another chain more easily. The two let the current carry them away. As soon as they made another lap around the large, flooded room, a plate the chains were attached to moved, the water draining through a fine grate at the bottom. Seeing the water drain, Josh let go of the chain and surfaced as quickly as his legs would carry him. He deeply inhaled, never happier to breathe stale air in his life.

As the water emptied out, a wooden treasure chest floated on top of the falling surface. It took quite a bit of time for the water to drain completely. For a speedster, Josh sure was patient, content to wait for the murky liquid to slowly drain. Once it had finished going down the grate, he opened the chest with a loud creak. While it was not a treasure he was looking for, the chest's contents would prove to be valuable: the DUNGEON MAP.

Information> You got the DUNGEON MAP! View it on the Map Subscreen. Areas you have explored will be blue. Your current location is the purple room. Move the cursor up and down to select a floor to view.

"Bet you can't wait to equip your Swimmer class again once this is over, huh?" the water specialist teased, to which he would receive only a side-eye.

"Let's just keep going." Even after Aravan apologized for being insensitive, he would not get a response from Josh; only the sound of a squeaky, metallic door opening at the bottom of the formerly-flooded chamber. It was then he realized there was no turning back. Whatever memory it threw at him, he had to come to grips with in a way that would satisfy Ares. On the other side of the door, though, it was not Ares trapped in the gears.

It was Enigma.

Another black-and-white scene would play, this one of Aravan battling a Corrupted monstrosity much like the Lord of the Flies that Josh had run into. Their environment looked positively disgusting, resembling a living sea creature's innards. Their foe looked nothing like a Pokémon; instead, looked like a warped piece of flesh that armored itself with Tentacruel linked to the main body via strong electrical currents. The foe was well-matched against Aravan's water-type Pokémon, knocking them down with ease. All except Enigma. The Ultra Beast fought valiantly, but ultimately fell, resulting in a GAME OVER for past Aravan.

Once the cutscene was over, a translucent Nihilego materialized behind a wall of gears of colors neither Josh nor Aravan had seen yet. Enigma spoke to the two of them in a language Josh could not understand.

[tangent=Aravan, I fell in battle that day under your guidance and your trust. With the knowledge you have now, what could you have done to prevent this outcome from happening?]"⏃⍀⏃⎐⏃⋏, ⟟ ⎎⟒⌰⌰ ⟟⋏ ⏚⏃⏁⏁⌰⟒ ⏁⊑⏃⏁ ⎅⏃⊬ ⎍⋏⎅⟒⍀ ⊬⍜⎍⍀ ☌⎍⟟⎅⏃⋏☊⟒ ⏃⋏⎅ ⊬⍜⎍⍀ ⏁⍀⎍⌇⏁. ⍙⟟⏁⊑ ⏁⊑⟒ ☍⋏⍜⍙⌰⟒⎅☌⟒ ⊬⍜⎍ ⊑⏃⎐⟒ ⋏⍜⍙, ⍙⊑⏃⏁ ☊⍜⎍⌰⎅ ⊬⍜⎍ ⊑⏃⎐⟒ ⎅⍜⋏⟒ ⏁⍜ ⌿⍀⟒⎐⟒⋏⏁ ⏁⊑⟟⌇ ⍜⎍⏁☊⍜⋔⟒ ⎎⍀⍜⋔ ⊑⏃⌿⌿⟒⋏⟟⋏☌?"[/tangent]

{Map}

The oceanographer was on his own, the space beyond the door frame fading to white in Josh's eyes. He could not see his RIVAL, nor could he see anything he was seeing. While he waited for his friend and friendly competitor to reckon with his past, the studious child spent time rearranging his mostly greyed-out inventory.

His concentration would be interrupted by a familiar, alien sound coming from what could only be Enigma.

[tangent="Aravan, I fell in battle that day under your guidance and your trust. With the knowledge you have now, what could you have done to prevent this outcome from happening?"]"⏃⍀⏃⎐⏃⋏, ⟟ ⎎⟒⌰⌰ ⟟⋏ ⏚⏃⏁⏁⌰⟒ ⏁⊑⏃⏁ ⎅⏃⊬ ⎍⋏⎅⟒⍀ ⊬⍜⎍⍀ ☌⎍⟟⎅⏃⋏☊⟒ ⏃⋏⎅ ⊬⍜⎍⍀ ⏁⍀⎍⌇⏁. ⍙⟟⏁⊑ ⏁⊑⟒ ☍⋏⍜⍙⌰⟒⎅☌⟒ ⊬⍜⎍ ⊑⏃⎐⟒ ⋏⍜⍙, ⍙⊑⏃⏁ ☊⍜⎍⌰⎅ ⊬⍜⎍ ⊑⏃⎐⟒ ⎅⍜⋏⟒ ⏁⍜ ⌿⍀⟒⎐⟒⋏⏁ ⏁⊑⟟⌇ ⍜⎍⏁☊⍜⋔⟒ ⎎⍀⍜⋔ ⊑⏃⌿⌿⟒⋏⟟⋏☌?"[/tangent]

What could Aravan have been presented with? Just what moment from his past was it that Seta's Trial was making him come to terms with? Though he had no idea of their words, the length at which they both spoke gave Josh the notion that whatever discussion he was having with his Pokémon... was serious.

[tangent=""I like to be sure of the consequences of my actions before taking them. But I understand now. Sometimes, you don't have time to think on that. A better trainer would strive to trust their instincts. Enigma, today I vow as such. All too often, my first impressions are right. For your sake, I will trust them more."]"⟟ ⌰⟟☍⟒ ⏁⍜ ⏚⟒ ⌇⎍⍀⟒ ⍜⎎ ⏁⊑⟒ ☊⍜⋏⌇⟒⍾⎍⟒⋏☊⟒⌇ ⍜⎎ ⋔⊬ ⏃☊⏁⟟⍜⋏⌇ ⏚⟒⎎⍜⍀⟒ ⏁⏃☍⟟⋏☌ ⏁⊑⟒⋔. ⏚⎍⏁ ⟟ ⎍⋏⎅⟒⍀⌇⏁⏃⋏⎅ ⋏⍜⍙. ⌇⍜⋔⟒⏁⟟⋔⟒⌇, ⊬⍜⎍ ⎅⍜⋏'⏁ ⊑⏃⎐⟒ ⏁⟟⋔⟒ ⏁⍜ ⏁⊑⟟⋏☍ ⍜⋏ ⏁⊑⏃⏁. ⏃ ⏚⟒⏁⏁⟒⍀ ⏁⍀⏃⟟⋏⟒⍀ ⍙⍜⎍⌰⎅ ⌇⏁⍀⟟⎐⟒ ⏁⍜ ⏁⍀⎍⌇⏁ ⏁⊑⟒⟟⍀ ⟟⋏⌇⏁⟟⋏☊⏁⌇. ⟒⋏⟟☌⋔⏃, ⏁⍜⎅⏃⊬ ⟟ ⎐⍜⍙ ⏃⌇ ⌇⎍☊⊑. ⏃⌰⌰ ⏁⍜⍜ ⍜⎎⏁⟒⋏, ⋔⊬ ⎎⟟⍀⌇⏁ ⟟⋔⌿⍀⟒⌇⌇⟟⍜⋏⌇ ⏃⍀⟒ ⍀⟟☌⊑⏁. ⎎⍜⍀ ⊬⍜⎍⍀ ⌇⏃☍⟒, ⟟ ⍙⟟⌰⌰ ⏁⍀⎍⌇⏁ ⏁⊑⟒⋔ ⋔⍜⍀⟒."[/tangent]

Once their conversation had ended, a shattering noise made Josh flinch, the white light emanating from the door frame fading to reveal his RIVAL staring at

Without another word from Enigma, the rock-type faded behind some purple and tan gears as his tentacles appeared to become solid. More of their sealed abilities making themselves available was the only sign Josh got that Aravan's acknowledgment, whatever it was, was sufficient for Enigma to believe.

The following powers have been restored:
{Ice} {Psychic} {Dragon}

With casts of BUFULA and PSIONGA from his RIVAL, the way to the dais was opened. "UNOVR to Joooooooosh," Aravan called out to his friend, assuming he was in a trance from how deeply he was focused on his menu work at the time.

The young boy shook his head. "What? What did I miss?"

"I think what the Trial is about... is our two Pokémon trying to bring out the best of each of us in both of us. That way, this won't happen again. To them, or to our other Pokémon. I envy how quickly you are able to make decisions in battle, Josh. When this is over, we should have a battle where we only have ten seconds to enter our commands... or whatever the minimum amount of time is."

Was Seta's trial trying to teach each of them about the other's strengths? Josh, to be more analytical and not go into every situation with a headlong rush? And Aravan, to not rely exclusively on his knowledge and trust his instincts when time was of the essence?

"You're on," Josh replied as the two stepped on the dais in the back, warping them to the central tower. "But we have to get our Pokémon back first. Let's unlock that back door." Spending his SMALL KEY, he unlocked said door, which took him to a room very similar to the one he was in before. Stepping on a hidden panel by mistake, it activated a slow-moving conveyor that transported a pair of masks, one of a Charizard and one of a Nihilego, toward an abyss at the end. The camera panned to a top-down view, giving him a good look at a rudimentary Sokoban puzzle with the simple goal of reaching several switches. After a few simple moves, he reached the first switch. Stepping on it, he heard a grinding noise from the other side of the conveyor... showing a door had been opened there. "Aravan, I can't do this alone! Go down the other side!"

His half of the challenge was not puzzle-based, but combat-based, forcing him to rely on his Player attacks to make colored gears in his way recede into the floor. Once every colored gear in the room had been struck with the appropriate element, a door receded into the ground on Josh's side, letting him tackle a slightly more complex puzzle. Pushing a key piece into a corner, he had to leave the room and re-enter it to reset the blocks' positions... all with the pressure of the masks being lost if he took too long.

After repeating the process for three stages, the duo reached the far end of the room and stood on two more switches, a flat gear rising from the abyss to cover the hole that the two masks would have fallen in. In the chamber's wide open space, Josh and Aravan recovered the masks, giving one another a big hug. The masks slipped out of their fingers and began to float, ghostly forms of Ares and Enigma appearing around the facial wear. As the cutscene played out, the missing Pokémon's bodies turned solid, then their limbs, and last, their extremities. With an alien screech and a draconic roar, the Charizard and Nihilego greeted their overwhelmed trainers.

"Enigma!" Aravan shouted, letting the Nihilego latch onto his head out of affection.

"Ares!" Josh cried, embracing the dragon now equipped with a saddle. "You're okay!"

"Josh, you've changed a lot since we became friends," the Charizard rumbled in a voice completely unlike his was as a Charmeleon. "For every year you've lost physically, you've grown up that much inside. Now, let's get the [tangent=hell]{CENSORED}[/tangent] outta here."

Unlike in every other dais room, this one had two large treasure chests. Josh and Aravan opened one each, finding their missing inventories within.

The following powers have been restored:
{Almighty} {Item} {Save}

With their Advanced Classes fully restored, Josh was the first to return to the tower's central hub, happy to be in his light armorsuit again. "The entrance is behind us, Aravan! Let's blow this popsicle stand!"

"Right," the oceanographer replied... only to find heavy and thick iron bars in front of said entrance as Enigma floated between him and the sealed door. Not even the Ultra Beast could fit a tentacle between the door and the bars. "There's only one way to go now, and that's... up."

Splitting the work, the two turned around to strike the colored gears with their various Player attacks... and attacks from their two Pokémon. With every gear receding into the ground, a series of thuds accompanied floor panels falling into place, transforming the wall blocking entry into the tower into a multicolored staircase. "Let's... finish this," Josh exhaled.

Memoria ad Stultitiam - 2F

At the top of the stairs, the décor of the whole trial changed, looking like a creepy castle tower dimly lit only by flickering torchlight. What was perhaps more disturbing was the new music track: creepy, ominous organ music that filled both of them with an existential sense of dread.

{Map}

The more gear-stairs Josh and Aravan ascended, the louder the organ music became, making them speak up to communicate with one another. "It's hard to say," Aravan answered. "We can't change the past, but what we do in the present can help us change the future. Maybe the Trial is showing us possible futures. I don't want to think of a future where I lose control of Poseidon..." he trailed off as the two reached the fourth floor, the boy needing to take a seat after climbing so much.

Memoria ad Stultitiam - 4F

"I don't either," Josh added. Legendary Pokémon were powerful, but in many other media, were fickle beings. He felt that in an ever-changing world like UNOVR, they could very easily turn on their trainers if not treated what they felt was respectfully. They were the apexes of their elements, after all. Storm was based on a thunderbird, revered as a god in some South American cultures. The Zapdos brothers were pliable enough as young, but how would their personalities change when they grew up? What made it more difficult was they didn't speak, like several of Josh's other Pokémon. Surely, they would speak and grow personalities of their own once they were adults. "Obviously, they're powerful if the bond is truly there. I'm just afraid of an abusive relationship between legendary Pokémon and trainer."

Aravan held his head low, shaking his head. "You think like that, Josh, and they will be. I've been around you long enough to know how you think." The rest of the discussion would have blurred the line between NPC and player character, but the message reached Josh all the same. UNOVR was a world that adapted to its players' desires, whether subconscious or not. His consumption of the Pokémon animated series, and Pokémon Special on top of that, had shaped his inner consciousness to believe that legendary Pokémon were gods.

If a player truly willed it to be, even Groudon could be as docile as a house Skitty. Big Bee was living proof of that.

Gritting his teeth, the young boy stood up, Ares walking toward the next door. "Let's move on. I think Ares is growing impatient."

"With how long I've been stuck here waiting for you, you think?!" the Charizard barked, a few embers flying from his mouth.

"Geez, buddy! Easy!" Josh exclaimed, ducking for cover from the fireworks-like display before helping his partner open the door.

Inside was a similar chamber to the one he saw two floors below, with one key difference: an ornate, blue and yellow treasure chest occupied its exact center. The chest was surrounded with a veil of flames on all sides, making it impossible to open. Just like before, iron bars locked Josh and Aravan in from both sides. "What vision is it showing us this time?" the Bolter asked as their eyesight again faded to white.

Josh and Aravan surfaced in the wastes of Mistra, at an even higher level and with more HP than before. Ares was so strong that the periodic 50 HP losses felt like tickling to him. Soaring on their Pokémon, Enigma affected by a HUGE SEAL, the two braced themselves for the wrath of the very Corrupted creature that set in motion the circumstances that caused Josh's two Pokémon to be trapped in the Everworld in the first place:

The Lord of the Flies and his signature skill, Death Flies.

A fog of bloodstained flies descended upon Josh, Aravan, and their two Pokémon, merely the buzzing noise itself unbearably loud. The true agony would come when all the flies started biting. The last time he and Alicia Westfield had been victims of the mighty assault, they had both Whited Out instantly. This time was different; while Aravan instantly fell in combat like Josh's friend did not, cosmetic Corruption burns appeared on the young boy's skin, dealing him heavy -type damage that only a high-level Tank could survive. The icon of the SEER class flashed in the bottom right corner of the screen: a sign of the source of his immunity to Dark-type instant KO attacks.

Not wasting another second, Josh and Ares dove toward the writhing creature, both aiming for its wicked-looking proboscis with high-power fire attacks. He let go of the reins with both hands, letting the cocoon saddle hold him in place as he cast the biggest fireball he could: AGIBARION. The INFERNO attack encircling it added to the spell's explosive might, burning so brightly that Josh's and Aravan's vision again faded to white.

Waking up inside the tower again, Josh and Aravan stretched, getting to their feet. A curious, eight-bit, eight-note melody played once they were both standing, the iron bars blocking the upward-leading staircase receding into the ceiling above. The veil of flames surrounding the treasure chest disappeared, as well. Walking up to it slowly, Josh opened its heavy, metallic, squeaky lid. Inside was a golden, ornate key whose head was in the shape of a Pyroar's, its eyes formed by red gemstones.

You obtained the BOSS KEY! Now you can get into the chamber where the Boss lurks.

"That was... a lot," the sweaty blonde sighed. "But if that vision is true, then the secret to defeating the Lord of the Flies in Mistra will be unlocking the Seer class. Too much to do, and not enough BYTES to spend..."

Aravan, on the other hand, wasn't sweating. Was it his SWIMMER class, or was it that Josh was more directly affected by the vision? "Tell me about it. I think that does confirm one thing about this tower, though. This is the Trial of Time. The basement has been about the past. Our past. It would reason that the tower is about the future. And not just our future. This future could affect the entire server."

"I wouldn't read into that quite so heavily, but Seta is trying to show us something. Perhaps future roadblocks so that Ares and Enigma don't wind up in the Everworld again."

Without replying to Josh, Aravan turned to Enigma and began speaking in a language the boy could not understand. Though he had plans for his second Advanced Class, perhaps investing in a level or two of Contact would help him understand Izoni better. He simply showed affection toward Ares while the two had their unknown conversation, the two again embracing one another. "We're almost out of here, buddy," Josh consoled the fire-type, his tear jumping from his cheek to slide down his Charizard's belly.

"I know," the dragon answered. "Stay strong, Josh. I think the hardest part of the Trial is still to come."

{Map}