Having surpassed one of the greatest challenges I've ever faced, I soon see a hill up ahead. [i]I must be getting close to the town by now...[/i] I think to myself. Climbing to the top, I notice a small settlement down by the ocean. The buildings look like nothing I've ever seen before. Some of them aren’t even buildings - just tents! "Ohh, I need to see this!" I exclaim as I begin running down the hill towards this settlement. Perhaps this is a camp that keeps guard over the town nearby. Although, I haven't actually seen the town yet... That's strange. It should be right around here.

	Soon, I find myself slowly walking along the dirt road, taking in all the exotic sights and sounds of this strange place. Several of the buildings (or tents, I can't really tell which they are) are shaped like Pokémon I've heard of. To my right is one up on a hill shaped like a Wigglytuff, and just down to my left is one made to look like a Chansey. Scattered around in a few places are totem poles carved to look like Pokémon stacked on top of one another. One of them I recognize as a Pidgeot, although most of the others are new to me. It takes a while before I realize that I should move on from this settlement soon. The town I'm heading for shouldn't be too much further south, but I decide I should find out the name of this place before I move on.

	"Hey," I begin to ask a Kangaskhan working at a shop, "What's this place called?"
	"Hello there, sweetie!" she replies cheerfully, "This is Margret's Storage; I'm Margret! If you have any items that you need me to take care of, feel free to ask!"
	"I- uhh... Sorry, no. I meant this settlement. You know, with all the tents around and stuff..."
	"Oh, you mean the town? This is Treasure Town, and Allure Town is just down the road there."

	I laugh at her joke, but then the confused look on her face tells me she's serious. I stop laughing and the smile fades from my face as I stare blankly at her. [i]Wait... This...[/i] "This is a TOWN!?" I exclaim in astonishment, louder than I meant to. [i]How can this be the town I was heading for!? I thought a town would at least be half as big as Scale City... This place is tiny![/i] I look around again and notice all the Pokémon nearby. I had been so preoccupied with the strange buildings and art that I completely ignored everyone. Firstly, I notice a few of them are staring at me. Secondly, I realize that I seem to be the only dragon type around. If those two observations don't embarrass someone, then I don't know what would.

	I gulp and look back at Margret, who asks, "Are you okay, sweetie?" My mouth hangs open, as though I'm trying to say fifty different things at once and none of them are coming out. My attempt at an apology probably comes out as an inaudible mumble, and I lower my head as best I can to walk away towards the ocean. Hopefully, they all soon forget about what I said...

[hr]
	I get to the bluff overlooking the ocean and see a Dugtrio shouting maniacally at it. "Sea! Oh, beautiful sea! We long to see your shimmering blue water again! We miss the mighty roar of your waves crashing against the cliff face!" I'm about to stop him, but decide it would be a bad idea. Getting closer to the cliff edge, I notice that the ocean is a lot darker than it looks in paintings. Actually, it doesn't even look like water... Instead of light blue, the ocean is a dark mixture of black and deep purple; the colors seeming to swirl and refract around each other as I look at it from different angles. Occasionally, I think I can see movement somewhere inside it, but it's never clear enough for me to be sure. The most unnerving part about the ocean, though, isn't what it looks like. It's the deafening silence emanating from it. There's no calming sound of the waves or the faint cries of Wingull flying above it - there's hardly even any wind. This is definitely not how I imagined the the sea would be.

	"I thought the ocean would look more... I don't know... bluey? Is that a word?” I ask the Dugtrio beside me. He pauses his shouting to look in my direction, then looks back down at the ocean.
	“The ocean [i]is[/i] blue! Well, it should be... You don’t seem like you’re from around here.”
	“I’m not. I came from Scale City; I’ve never been this far south before.” I admit. The three heads look me over for a moment, noticing the bag loosely hanging from my shoulder and the stick in the side pocket.
	“Hmph. That much is clear.”
	“So...” I begin, eager to change the topic, “What’s wrong with the water? Why’s it not blue?”
	“We don’t think there is any water down there, anymore. That’s the void.”
	“The void?” I ask, confused.

	“Well, that’s what everyone’s been calling it, at least. Apparently there’s these things called void crystals. They’re sort of like time gears - ever heard about those?” He asks. I nod my head, pretending to know what he’s talking about. The name sounds familiar, but I don’t remember reading too much about them. He continues his explanation, “So, when a time gear is taken, time stops in that area. When a void crystal goes missing, that... stuff starts appearing and taking over the mystery dungeon. We don’t know what happens to Pokémon who are stupid enough to go into it, but it can’t be good. In fact, when the ocean first disappeared, a Wailord washed up on the beach trying to escape it.”

	“That’s... horrible.” I take another cautious look over the edge of the cliff. Noticing a beach down there, I can’t help but imagine how terrified that Wailord must have been to beach itself there. “Is it usually like this around here?” I ask. The Dugtrio thinks for a moment before answering.

	“Depends.” he replies. [i]Yeah, that’s reassuring...[/i] I say goodbye and head back into Treasure Town, hoping to buy the food I came here for. [i]I knew that adventuring would be dangerous... But I honestly didn’t expect something like this! Everyone around here seems so unaffected by it... Maybe they’re used to the void by now? I don’t know how anyone could get used to something like that sitting on their doorstep. It’s a wonder they haven’t started moving away yet...[/i] I look over a few of the stalls lined up in town. [i]Now, which of these sell food?[/i]