Hideo knew he'd have to explain everything to his younger self, and so he did: what happened at Lilycove and the loss of his Ariados in the Museum, Necrozma's appearance at the Tree of Life and the consequences that followed, how he'd managed to get Uxie to join him.

And his warning had worked; his younger self stayed out of Lilycove on that fateful day. It hadn't changed the attack that occurred, but he no longer had any involvement in it.

Someone else lost their Pokemon that day, but it was not his own.

He was sure to make up for lost time; he was more than willing to let his Ariados hold onto him, now that he could actually carry her weight (so long as he didn't try to walk). He could still remember every indent on her body, every noise she made; every ounce of nostalgia was before him.

And he had plenty of time to enjoy it, for he was stuck in the very awkward position of basically being an older clone of himself. Explaining that to everyone was bound to be a challenge - so he opted not to, instead staying incognito at his own camp while his younger self did as he always did.

He did sometimes go out - incognito, of course. He'd learned a while ago most people didn't casually recognize him without his striped attire, and Uxie could still keep an eye out for him (while also disguised).

He'd even attended some of his younger self's Gym Challenges, cheering him on as he acquired badges. There was nothing to stop his younger self's efforts, and slowly but surely, he acquired the 8 he'd need to challenge the Elite Four - and after that, the Champion!

…

But he didn't. And that's what confused Hideo - enough so that he opted to just ask his younger self.

"I just...need to be sure I'm ready for the challenge. I know I got all the badges I need, but I wanna make sure me and my Pokemon are strong enough to actually do it."

Right. He'd always been anxious about doing it, even when his confidence was at its greatest. "Well, you got this far! Just take your shot!"

"I mean, I could start it now, but this is a bad time...Necrozma's gonna show up tomorrow, right?"

Oh, right. It was already mid-June (time just seemed to fly by).

"...yeah. A lotta Pokemon died on that day, and we didn't do much to stop it. Even the Lake Trio got kinda screwed up. Azelf's still recovering back when I came from, and Uxie's still not at 100%."

"Lemme guess: you don't want me to go?"

A brief pause. "Yeah. Lost a lotta good Pokemon that day. And not much changed without you being at Lilycove. So please, don't go. I don't want you to have to go through what I did."

Necrozma's arrival had been the day his dream truly died - when he realized he wasn't strong enough to be the Champion Hoenn needed.

"Even though that's where you first got to meet the real Uxie?" The pixie floated by Hideo's side, its expression neutral - not that either Hideo could see it.

"Yeah."

The younger Hideo went quiet, before muttering his answer. "...alright. Fine. I'll stay here."

Another disaster averted…now he just had that beach trip into cyberspace to worry about.

He was gone.

Hideo couldn't find his younger self anywhere in the camp. He tried looking around everywhere he could, even asking the Pokemon at the camp where he'd gone, but they didn't give him any answers that he could use; not even his Telepathic Pokemon would tell him anything.

And he couldn't help but notice several Pokemon were tailing him. Some tried to be quiet, but he kept noticing their steps, the noises they made, the flapping of wings nearby.

It was only when he tried talking to Uxie that one of his Pokemon approached him: his Rotom, inside his Rotomdex. "I, uh, got a message for you, BigHideo," the Rotomdex said. He could hear its voice get louder as it approached him. "It's from Hideo…"

Dread built up in the boy's chest, but he nodded. "Play the message, Nosey."

It took a few seconds for the Rotom to pull up the message - each second feeling like an eternity. But soon, he heard the familiar (digitized) voice.

"Hey, future me. I wanted to record this message for you, 'cause I don't think we'll get a chance to talk before I go. And I got a feeling you'll drive yourself crazy looking for me if I don't."

That building dread was starting to tip over - he was already starting to put the pieces together.

"I know you told me that I shouldn't try and stop Necrozma. That it'll just end up getting a lot of Pokemon killed with almost nothing to show for it…but if what you said is true, I can't just sit on the sidelines and let people and Pokemon get killed. I gotta try something. And Uxie needed you there to help summon the Lake Trio, so it might be even worse if we don't show up there."

Shit. No, no no no no no no.

"So I'm gonna try and help stop Necrozma. I know it didn't go well for you…but you didn't know it was coming. Maybe if I'm better prepared, I'll have a better shot. I'm gonna bring all my best Pokemon - Rocky, Elga, Pom, all them. They all got me this far, and if they know what's coming, they can get us past this."

Hideo could feel his heart race. He knew full well the overwhelming destruction Necrozma wrought - he needed far more than his usual team to manage them.

"So please, have some faith in me. Have faith in yourself. I'll get back by tonight, so just stay at the camp until I come back, alright?"

And with that, the message ended.

And with that, Hideo reached out to the Rotomdex, grabbing it. He furiously tapped away at the screen with trembling hands, even as the Rotomdex tried to struggle against him.

He had to call someone, anyone to get his younger self out of there. John Sullivan , Melody Miro , anyone that could save him from his own overconfidence. Save him from his own stubbornness.

But the screen wouldn't let him progress - the Rotom had put up a password-protected screen. Hideo tapped away, putting in the password he'd used every other time - and it came up as incorrect.

His younger self had changed the password.

He tapped away, getting one full (failed) attempt in before a pair of tentacles wrapped around his wrists, pulling them away from the Rotomdex, who hurriedly flew away.

"Let go of me!" Hideo protested, futilely trying to wrest his arms away from the Grapploct's hold. He could hear countless other Pokemon approached, walking or chittering away. His younger self must have told them to keep him here, so he wouldn't try to interfere. "You don't know what you're doing! He doesn't know what he's doing! You gotta go and stop him, not me!"

He made one more pull - and the Grapploct seemed to relent, the boy landing on his ass as he lost his balance. He was ready to get back up, to run over to the one Pokemon he knew was on his side, to get Uxie to go over and help save himself.

Before he could get himself up, he felt a familiar hand grab his own: his Gardevoir, Dancer. She'd been one of the Pokemon he'd lost against Necrozma, and he knew well what she was capable of. She could teleport him to the Treehouse, and he could meet up with himself.

"Dancer! Please, you gotta get me over there! You gotta…"

Hideo trailed off as he felt a sudden drowsiness hit him. It may have been years since she did this to him, but he knew she was using Hypnosis on him, and it was kicking in fast.

"Why…stop…"

The last thing he felt was his Gardevoir lifting him up in her arms, carrying him off. When words failed him, his mind was still running, perhaps hoping she was reading his mind and would listen to him.

So that someone, anyone would listen to him.

He didn't want his dream to die all over again.


Uxie had been among the crowd, watching the scene unfold - and did not interfere, merely following as the Gardevoir carried the slumbering Hideo away to his bed.

-------

Hideo was awoken by a commotion - a lot of Pokemon talking amongst each other. Uxie immediately took notice, telling him it was there. It took a bit of time for the boy to fully awaken, but the dread he'd felt still clung to him, weighing him down as he struggled to get words out.

"How…long?" How long had he been asleep for? How long had it been since his younger self had left?

Uxie answered.

ONE DAY

"Did…I come back yet?" Had his younger self returned?

Uxie answered.

NO

Hideo went silent for a few moments. He could still remember when he'd gone back to his camp after his Darkest Day, how he had to tell his Pokemon what'd happened. How he just wanted to be in the company of his Pokemon.

Something happened that stopped him from coming back.

Had his younger self-

Alive

The word hit his mind like a truck, interrupting his thought. "...you know what happened?" he asked Uxie. "Where's my younger self?"

He felt Uxie grab his hand, lightly tugging. "...bring me to me."

And with that, Uxie teleported itself and Hideo away.

The stench of antiseptic and the beeping of monitors made it easy for Hideo to guess where he'd been brought to this time; he was in a hospital, though he had no idea which one he was in.

Which did raise the obvious question of how he was going to find his younger self in here; asking staff was out of the question, since he didn't exactly enter the place through the front door. Navigating these places always felt like a maze.

Fortunately, a familiar set of squeaky footsteps caught his attention, gradually approaching him.

Oh thank goodness, Elga was alright. Though before he could speak, he felt Elga urge him to follow…in a way that left his mind a little uncomfortable? It felt strange.

But he followed along, noticing an oddity in his Beheeyem's steps, like it was slightly staggered, one side bearing more weight than the other. And his Beheeyem had always led him by the left, on his non-dominant side - but Elga was on the right this time.

He almost began to question if this really was his Beheeyem, but Uxie assured him it was - and that his questions would be answered soon.

So he followed, until he was led into a room. Elga informed him he was here - his younger self.

Hideo stood there for a moment, trying to think what to say first - he considered scolding his younger self for going out against his warnings, but he knew he wouldn't want that if he was in the same place.

He had been in the same place - or at least a similar one.

"You awake?" were the first words that came out. He didn't know what to do if he didn't get a response, but it was worth asking.

"Yeah…" The reply was quiet, exhausted, but it was an answer.

Hideo took a seat in the nearest chair he could find. "Don't think I ever got hospitalized like this before. How're you…" He trailed off, unsure what to end that with.

"I'll be fine." He could hear his younger self shift in the bed, though only partially. "Doc says my leg's gonna take a while to heal. Can't even start therapy for a couple months. But it'll heal eventually."

"That's…good." He'd managed to get out of that with only some bruised ribs. "Guess you won't need a brace like Andy did?"

His attempt at levity failed. He realized it wouldn't have gotten any reaction after he'd spoken.

There was an uncomfortable silence.

"...what happened?" He could still remember how it'd gone for himself in his own timeline - and as far as he could tell, this went even worse.

"I…I tried to stop Necrozma when it appeared. There were a lotta people that did the same, and I tried to stay away from all the stuff you got caught in…but…"

His younger self took in a deep breath - Hideo knew it wasn't an easy thing to think about.

"It did…something to Rocky. I don't know what, but Elga said he got coated in something…and then he started attacking everyone."

Hideo felt his heart sink; what'd happened to his Gardevoir, happened to his Lycanroc. Hideo didn't know what'd happened

"He went after Pinky first…and when he was done, he tried attacking me."

He could fill in the blanks himself; his Ribombee died.

"Squeeze fought him off, but she got hurt bad. And when Necrozma started attacking everyone, she pushed me out of the way."

His Ariados died protecting him…history repeated, even if it were in a different context.

"When those weird symbols appeared, Elga and Pom rushed me over while Aaron kept me covered. I just kept running…even when I couldn't hear Aaron's steps anymore."

His Aggron died covering for him.

"We got to the circle, and the Lake Trio appeared. They tried to bind Necrozma, and they did it…'til the second one came…Rocky came back with a lot of corrupted Pokemon and attacked Uxie. Pom was able to draw some of them away, but Rocky was persistent, and he got her…"

Pom also died trying to stop Rocky.

"He came back for us. Elga did his best to fend him off, but a Rock Tomb hit me in the leg…which is kinda why I'm here now. Elga got badly hurt too."

Explained why Elga was moving so strangely. "...how badly was Elga hurt?"

He could hear the footsteps approach him. In spite of his trepidation, he reached out to Elga, feeling the Beheeyem lead his hand over to its right side, towards its right arm.

Towards the empty space its right arm should be. Onto the bandage that covered its shoulder.

"Oh…"

Elga was maimed in the fight.

Silence lingered in the air, a weight crushing them both. Each waited for the other to say something first, but neither knew what to say next.

Until the younger Hideo broke that silence.

"You were right. I shouldn't have gone. You gave me every warning you could, but I couldn't even listen to myself. And it got my Pokemon killed." His younger self let out a sigh. "Rocky, Pom…the only one I still got now is Elga, and he lost his arm for it. I failed them all."

"You still have everyone back at camp. They're worried you didn't come back. I was worried too. We can take you back there, maybe even get Vines to heal your leg up. Maybe even-"

"I'm not going back."

That declaration had the most energy the younger boy showed yet. It was enough to catch Hideo off guard. "What do you mean you're not going back?"

"I mean what I said. I'm not going back to my camp. I failed the Pokemon closest to me…I can't show myself to them anymore."

"So what're you gonna do? Just stay in the hospital the rest of your life?"

The younger Hideo remained silent for a short time, before giving his answer:

"I'm going home."

"...what?"

"I'm going back home. To Mom and Dad. They were right; I shouldn't have left home. If I didn't leave, Rocky'd still be here. So would Pom and Squeeze and Pinky and Aaron. And Elga wouldn't be crippled like this."

"You…you know what'll happen if you go back, right? Mom and Dad'll never let you leave again. I know it hurts losing them, but you can't-"

"I called them ten minutes ago."

Hideo's protests ended there. "I told them I'm here…I told them what happened. And I told them I want to go back home. They're gonna be here in ten minutes to pick me up...transfer me to a hospital in Slateport."

Any energy Hideo had to protest with fizzled out then and there. He'd considered doing that himself several times before, but never went through with it. If he had, he never could've become a Gym Leader, he never could've met so many new Pokemon, and he never would get a chance to help protect Hoenn like he did now.

"...you're really done?"

"Yeah. I think the adventure's over. It was nice…but I think you had the right idea; I never really had what it took to be Champion. And…I don't think I can bounce back from what just happened. I just really want to go home right now."

"...what do you want me to do with the Pokemon back at our camp."

"Let them know that I wasn't the kind of trainer they needed me to be. That I'm going home. They can do whatever they want."

Hideo sat, quiet. He didn't know how long he sat there, trying to think of some way to salvage this - and coming up with nothing.

His dream had died once again - perhaps forever in this timeline.

All because of his own stubbornness.

"...alright." He sat up. "If that's what you really want, what I want, then I'll go tell them."

"Thank you."

Hideo made his way out of the room, holding himself together as best he could, even as the tears began to build in his eyes. He'd had a chance to change his past - and all he did was make it worse. Had he never tried to interfere, he still would've been hurt - but not nearly to this extent.

It didn't seem like there was any winning move here.

He'd been in this timeline long enough.

He heard his Beheeyem trail behind him. As he turned, he felt the Beheeyem walk into him, wrapping its one remaining arm around him. He knelt down, hugging it back.

"Thanks for staying with me, Elga," he said, trying his best to hold himself together. "You've always been reliable…you think there's any chance he'll get better?" The message he received was that of uncertainty - but not denial. "Just…try not to push yourself too hard. You gotta recover too. And I got a feeling it's gonna take time."

He could feel a small dampness on his shirt…he didn't know his Beheeyem could cry.

He knew his own tears weren't going down that far.

"Whatever happens…I'll always adore you, Elga."

Summary of this timeline:

- Hideo was warned of the events of League Barracks E1. He doesn't go to Lilycove, averting the loss of his Ariados.

- As a result, he's able to complete the Gym Circuit, obtaining all 8 badges he'd need to challenge the Elite 4. However, he never challenges them.

- Despite being warned otherwise, he chooses to fight Necrozma during the Darkest Day.

- His efforts result in the corruption of his Lycanroc, the deaths of his Ariados, Ambipom, Ribombee, and Aggron, and the maiming of his Beheeyem. Hideo himself is injured and is hospitalized after the battle.

- As a result of his losses, Hideo gives up on the Gym Circuit and chooses to return home.