When the light finally dimmed, I found myself face down in the dirt. Primal Dialga was gone. So was Spiritomb, though I hadn't expected them to stick around.

But Dusknoir was still on the ground where he had been thrown. So were the Sableye, the brave idiotic things. Grovyle was only a few feet away from me.

"Master Dusknoir!"

"Don't worry…about me…The important thing now…is to follow Master Dialga…Go help Celebi and Grovyle."

Three Sableye came over to help Grovyle and me. I was fine, a little banged up, but otherwise unhurt.

Grovyle was another matter.

"I'm…fine…" He protested. He was still on the ground, struggling to get to his knees.

"I didn't realize grass-types had such a loose concept of 'fine'. Stand up on your own, my dear, and then I will be convinced you are 'fine'."

He tried. He really did. He was lucky I was prepared to support him, or he would have fallen back on his tail. "You are not fine Grovyle. You need to heal." I looked over a Dusknoir, supported by a Sableye on each side. "You both need rest. Sooner rather than later."

Grovyle tried to stand on his own again. "We have to…go after Primal Dialga. We can't…let him…get away…There's…no time…"

I grinned. "Why my dear Grovyle, we have all the time we need!"

Six Sableye, a Dusknoir, and a Grovyle, all looked at me as though I had just evolved or something.

"I can travel back in time you know. I believe we've even done it before."

"But…Master Dialga…" Dusknoir protested. "He can shatter your time slides with ease!"

"Yes. If he were paying attention to me, which he is not." I pointed out. "Primal Dialga is not sane right now, even compared to how he was before. He's on a rampage! My little time slides are not his top priority. Certainly not if I'm only going a few hours back."

"Wheh-heh! To do what?! Stop this all from happening?" The Sableye were finally taking some initiative!

"No. If I try that, the Primal Dialga of a few hours back will stop me. I plan on doing nothing at all."

"And…How will this help us?" So all the Sableye were getting in on my plan.

"Those two," I said, indicating Grovyle and Dusknoir. "Are in bad shape. They are also the strongest Pokémon on our side. If we have to face Primal Dialga, we have to do it as close to peak form as possible, or we won't even slow him down."

"So…we go back…and…rest? That's it?"

"Yes, Grovyle. I have a lovely little tree filled to the brim with as many medical items as I could find. We all rest for a few hours, then catch up to Primal Dialga as though we were on his tail the entire time."

"Very well. Where is the closest Passage of Time?"

"Oh, Dusknoir." I smiled at him. "I do forget how little you know about me."

"For short trips…Celebi…can do it…on her own…It's only for…generations…that she needs…the Passage of Time…"

"Indeed!" I tried not to think about the fact that I had never taken so many Pokémon along in a time slide before. It would be difficult. And not just for me. Grovyle and Dusknoir were already in bad shape. And even the Sableye were not at their best.

I sent a silent prayer up to Arceus and started concentrating.

"How far back?" I asked.

"Judging by our lack of strength, and how long it took Grovyle and I to get through the dungeons to this point I'd say about…six hours or so? To be safe?"

"Alright. Hang on to each other. This will not be fun."

I released the power.