Foggy Forest, that's what this place is called. It really earns its name. The thickness of the fog prevented sight beyond five feet. This proved disastrous for the guild members. Everyone was getting lost, except Kyle and Calida. Kyle's unnatural familiarity with the dungeon and the behavior of the rooms enabled them to get through the dungeon and into a large open area with a few water falls. The fog had thinned out considerably now, but not enough to see anything far away. The beauty and mysterious feel of the area captivated the two explorers.
"Hey Calida, you check over there." Kyle said while pointing to the left, "and I'll check over there." He pointed to the right. "Meet back here when you're done."
"OK," Calida said with a smile. "I can't wait! You think we'll find some amazing, priceless artifact? Or maybe, we'll find a large room full of money!"
"You are such a greedy vixen." Kyle said with a chuckle as he ruffled the tuft of fur on top of her head. "I agree with you though. We'd better find something amazing here. I didn't travel all this way just to leave empty handed."
- (Line break) -
Kyle walked through the area, searching for anything that could give him a clue as to where to go or how to proceed. He checked behind bushes, under rocks that looked big enough to hide something important, and found what looked like a really wide and tall stone tower without an entrance. While he was looking around, Calida searched her part but didn't find anything either. They kept on searching, but found nothing of value. They were about to leave, disappointed that they didn't find anything, when they heard a voice yelling at them to wait up.
They turned around and saw Corphish waving a pincer in the air. The duo ran up to the water type and asked if he'd found anything.
"You bet I did, hey hey. There's this huge statue of a Pokemon I don't recognize just behind those trees." Corphish said. "It has a big hole in its chest and strange writing on the base."
"Show us," Calida said with stars in her eyes. This could be a clue as to where the treasure is. Corphish nodded and directed them to a small group of trees, and in the middle stood a ten foot tall stone statue. Kyle froze and stared at the statue. It was so familiar.
"Hey Corphish did you read what the writing said?" Calida asked.
"No, I didn't," He said. Calida shook her head at the water type's forgetfulness and went to read the writing on the statue's base.
"It says 'Reignite the life that burned within Groudon... Then the Sky shall blaze with the sun's heat... Then the path to treasure shall be revealed.'" Calida said. She smiled and looked at her friends. "That's incredible! There's really treasure here!"
"But how are we going to get to the treasure, hey hey?" Corphish asked in exasperation. Calida tilted her head in thought and looked from Kyle to the stature then back to Kyle.
"I've got it!" She exclaimed. "Kyle, touch the statue. If you do, you may have one of those dizzy things like during the Drowzee incident and at waterfall cave!"
Kyle just nodded at her and walked up to the statue. He examined it closely before placing a paw on the base. Immediately his vision became black, only to have it explode in a sudden flash of white.
"That's it! It's here! It's here!"
"I see. Place the heart close to the hole in Groudon's chest, and it will do the rest! Good job, partner! Now let's move out!"
Kyle's vision returned to normal, allowing him to look at the hole in the statue's chest again. It all makes sense now. The heart is the key, and the statue the lock. He turned to Corphish and Calida and smiled a toothy grin.
"I figured it out." He started with a triumphant look in his eyes. "Calida, I need you to place the heart close to the hole in Groudon's chest. Something will happen once you do that that will lift the fog."
Calida pulled out the heart and walked up to the statue, placing the strange stone organ as close as she could to the hole in its chest.
The heart began to glow and floated up into the air. It entered the hole in Groudon's chest and the statue started shaking. Little stone tubes connected where the veins and arteries would be located, causing red lines to appear on the statue. All the lines converged at one spot, Groudon's heart. Its eyes flashed ominously as the shaking went from small vibrations to intense tremors.
"Everyone get back!" Kyle yelled as they turned around and ran several feet away. They tried to get away, but a large flash of light blinded them. Calida screamed, Kyle grunted in pain and clutched at his face and Corphish fell flat on his face.
When the light faded, the fog had cleared. Tall stone pillars that weren't there before follow a stone path which leads to an opening in the tower Kyle had found. On top of the tower sat a large bowl-like platform what appeared to be more than double the width of the tower. Some holes in the sides of the platform allowed water to pour out, forming the waterfalls the group had found earlier. A faint mist coated the top of the tower, giving it a mystical feel.
"Wo~w," Calida exclaimed in shock. "Look at that thing! How is it still standing despite the tiny base?"
"It could be the types of stone used in the base and the connection with the top, but I'm not really sure..." Kyle whispered in awe. Corphish just nodded, no words were capable of leaving his awe silenced mouth. He kept trying to form words until he finally got over the shock of their discovery.
"I need to tell the others hey hey." He quickly stated. "Don't wait up, head to the top immediately, hey hey."
"Understood," Kyle replied. "Calida lets move out, time to find that treasure."
"Well what are we waiting for," Calida asked hurriedly. "Let's go! I'm so excited that I'm shaking!" And she really was, Calida was so excited that she began shaking like she was in an earthquake. Kyle laughed and motioned for Corphish to get moving. He nodded and ran down the path back to base camp.
"Chaw haw haw! Just wait a minute there, you two!"
"Oh fuck no..." Kyle growled as their path was blocked by a group whose color was predominantly purple. The trio had huge shit eating grins on their faces as they looked over the area quickly.
"Well well well. It seems you two solved the mystery! Well done, but now its time for us to take over! Woah ho ho!" Koffing said.
"Heh Heh, yeah it's time for you two to book it! This is our time to shine now. Hey boss, why don't we make sure they can't follow us?" Zubat asked Skuntank, not even trying to disguise their idea. The large skunk nodded and glared at Kyle and Calida.
"Chaw haw, I agree Zubat. I think a little payback is in order." Skuntank replied with a malicious gleam in his eyes.
"Stand down," Kyle growled. Zubat and Koffing flinched back, obviously afraid of the easily pissed off Riolu and how easily accessible the sharp objects he had with him were. "This is our discovery. Leave us alone and stop being such dicks already." Koffing and Skuntank stepped up and looked at the two in amusement.
"You remember our Noxious Gas Combo from before, right?" Koffing asked with a smirk.
"You were down and out in an instant! Chaw haw haw! Now, take this!" Skuntank roared.
"NO! PERFECT APPLE! PLEASE, COME BACK!"
All five of the Pokemon present froze and stared as a large apple rolled in between the two groups, a bright pink Pokemon following it closely with a frantic look in his eyes. He picked up the apple and sighed in relief. It looked around, and smiled at them. Though, the smile didn't look real, but rather a fake one used to hide one's intentions. Kyle noticed this immediately and his left paw twitched towards his stock of spikes instinctively.
"Ah, Kyle and Calida, and my three friends who got me my apples are here too! How are you guys?" Wigglytuff asked.
"Um, we're doing good sir... how are you?" Kyle asked, a sweat drop forming on the back of his head. Wigglytuff smiled back and nodded.
"I'm doing really well, thank you. I was just chasing my apple since it fell out of my grasp a little ways that way." Wigglytuff said while pointing a little over fifty feet away. The group felt their jaws drop slightly when they saw how far away the apple had rolled.
"How is that possible?" Zubat asked, his wings faltering slightly in their beats out of shock.
"Guys, this is Wigglytuff we're talking about. How did it not roll that far?" Calida asked in amusement. They expected a comeback from Wigglytuff, but he just laughed and nodded.
"I know right? I was out checking up on my teams, since I know they'll be anxious to get to the treasure, and I was out making sure nothing went wrong." Wigglytuff answered with a very quick look at Skuntank's group out of the corner of his eye. The movement was so small, that Kyle barely managed to notice it, but the others missed it completely. "I accidentally dropped my Perfect Apple when I tripped on a tree root and it started rolling away." The Riolu nodded and relaxed his stance as he motioned for Calida to follow him.
"Well, I'm glad you got it back sir. If it would be alright with you, Calida and I would like to go explore the tower now." Kyle said. Wigglytuff smiled at him and nodded in the direction of the entrance, a clear sign to get moving.
"B-but what about-" Caldia began, only to be cut off by Wigglytuff.
"You won't listen to your team leader? Oh boo hoo, I thought you were such a good team too. Don't make your guild master sad, and go find that treasure already." Wigglytuff said with a pout. Calida flinched and nodded, hoping not to upset her partner or the guild master. Kyle placed a paw on her shoulder and nodded at Wigglytuff.
"We won't let you down sir."
- (Line break) -
"So, someone was here before..." Kyle muttered as he observed the tunnel entrance. Calida shot him a curious look, but chose to ignore it. They walked through the entrance and immediately entered a dungeon. The first room of the dungeon was a monster house, something Kyle took to be a bad sign.
"Let's go Calida; we have a job to do! Take them down!" Kyle ordered as he charged a group of Magby with his staff out. He did a sweeping strike to knock the first five off their feet, allowing him to strike the sixth with a bash to the face. The strike knocked out a couple of teeth and KO'd it immediately. He used a Bone Spire on one of the bigger ones and used Extreme Speed to break through their line to strike at them from behind. A Yanma tried to use Aerial Ace on him, but was knocked from the air by a fireball thanks to Calida's Ember. Kyle used the opportunity to grab the Magby in front of him and flip it over his shoulder. It smashed into one of its group members and knocked them both out.
Calida used the confusion of the enemy to strike one of the Magby with a Feint Attack, followed up by a Quick Attack. This, however, put her in the middle of the Magby group. They tried using fire based moves on her, but quickly realized that they wouldn't work. Calida was about to knock out another one when she was hit from behind by the Yanma she'd burned earlier. It used Super Sonic and Quick Attack to swarm her with strikes, leaving Calida little opportunity to strike back. Eventually, she'd had enough. She opened her mouth and yelled as she used Over Heat, bathing the area in extreme heat. The Yanma screeched in pain, along with the nearby Magby as they were bathed in what some would call Hell-fire. Kyle watched this with a smile, not caring that his partner may have just melted the rocks around her.
"That's that," Kyle started as he smashed a Magby's head into the ground. "Now, I would love to know what is with all the freaking Magbies."
"Yeah, I've never seen so many in one place before." Calida muttered in annoyance. They moved on to the next room and spotted the stairs. "Now, let's keep going."
- (Line break: Wigglytuff) -
"Lalala, hmhmh, falala~," Wigglytuff sang lightly to himself as he stared at Team Skull. The three poison types squirmed under his unblinking stare. Finally, he turned around and looked at some trees in interest.
Koffing leaned over to Skuntank and whispered, "Chief, this is really pissing me off. Team Charlie is going to find the treasure soon!"
"I know, but listen to this." Skuntank whispered back, Zubat leaning in to listen too. "This guy is said to have a lot of money and a key to some rare treasure area."
"Really," Zubat whispered in shock.
"Yeah, and I've been planning to mug the little shit for it. What do you say we do that now?" Skuntank suggested with a smirk. The other two nodded and laughed cruelly.
"Did someone say a funny joke over there?" Wigglytuff asked as he turned back around to face them. They nodded at each other and Skuntank stepped forward.
"We would just like to know if we can go join Team Charlie on their exploration of the tower."
"No no no," Wigglytuff replied very quickly. "I couldn't burden my friends with this. You three just stay right here. We'll leave the work to those two." He looked back at the tunnel with a thoughtful expression. "But if you're bored, we could play a game."
"That sounds good, guild master." Skuntank said as he motioned for Koffing to step up next to him. They stood side by side and nodded. "Though, I would like to try out a new game, if you don't mind."
"And what game would that be," Wigglytuff asked. Unknown to the three before him, he began charging up his Hyper Voice attack.
"Just a game I made up, and it's called TAKE THIS!"
- (Line break: Team Charlie) -
"Well, we're halfway there." Kyle said to Calida. She nodded, her head drooping from a lack of energy. They'd fought through so many Monster Houses, and almost fainted multiple times. Kyle placed a steadying paw on her shoulder and smiled gently at her. "Let's rest for a bit. You did well so far Calida."
"Thanks," Calida mumbled as Kyle sat down. She collapsed next to him and stretched. She then pulled out some drinks she'd made back at the guild. They were made from Oran, Chesto and Sitrus Berries that were lying around in the guild's larder. She asked if she could use them to make special drinks and the guild master said yes. The drinks originally were just good tasting smoothies, but when some herbs that Calida's mom taught her how to make were included, the drinks became potent energy drinks.
The herbs added to the smoothie, after being ground into a paste and stirred into the berry smoothie, combined the Oran, Sitrus and Chesto Berry effects to make a the body generate more energy for quicker repairs and prevent sleep. The substance also contains carbohydrates, proteins and fats to be supplied with the energy production substance. Basically this drink increases the rate energy is created and supplied to the body, and supplies the materials needed for the body to produce the energy in the first place.
"Ah, your miracle drinks, I love these things." Kyle said in relief as he downed one like a drink at a bar. "You really are good at this. I'd love to meet your mom, since she taught you how to make these. If we were in the human world, she'd be a millionaire in less than a day with these things."
"They don't have good energy drinks in the human world?" Calida asked.
"There are some good energy drinks, but not a lot of them." Kyle replied. "Most are harmful, because we can't seem to get it quite right. Berries like Oran Berries don't exist in the human world, so we have to create our own substances that would have their effects first."
The conversations between the two slowly faded as they sat back and rested. When they started to get up and move out, a loud earth shattering roar shook the tower, stray bits of stone and small clouds of dust obscured their vision.
"W-what the hell was that?" Calida asked in shock. Kyle ignored the fact that his partner willingly swore, and focused on the fact that a beast had just roared loud enough to be heard through several hundred feet of stone.
"I don't know..." Kyle said as he picked up his bag. As they were about to leave, another roar shook the tower. They knew something was waiting for them, but they chose to continue on anyways. Calida started walking, but ten feet ahead she noticed Kyle was still standing there, eyes wide.
"Kyle," Calida asked, breaking him out of his daze. "Are you alright?"
"Y-yeah," Kyle muttered. "There's just something I think you should know."
"OK," Calida said as she walked back over to him. "What is it?"
"I, think I've been here before..." Kyle said, shocking Calida. "At the statue, I heard a voice that sounded exactly like mine talking about the statue. And before that, I felt a feeling deep inside me when we got here, and it just kept telling me I knew this place. The trees, the stone, it was all so familiar. This place might allow me to unlock more of my memories!"
Calida smiled softly at him and said, "then we should hurry so you can get those answers. You already have some stuff coming back to you. This may shed some light on who you really are."
Kyle nodded and they moved on to the next floor.
- (Line break) -
Kyle and Calida had finally made it out of the dungeon. There weren't many enemies in there, the tunnels were just long and winding, making navigation hard. When they emerged from the dungeon, they were greeted with bright sunshine and fresh air.
"GRO~H!"
"Another one," Kyle groaned as he held his ears. "That one was really fucking loud though."
"WHO DARES TRESPASS UPON MY TERRITORY?!"
Kyle pulled out a spike and summoned his staff in his other paw. Calida entered a combat stance and began charging a Flamethrower.
"I'm Kyle, and my partner is Calida. We were sent up here to try and gain access to Fogbound Lake." Kyle stated in a clear voice.
"FOGBOUND LAKE? GRO~H! IMPOSSIBLE! YOU SHALL NOT BE ALLOWED TO ENTER FOGBOUND LAKE. DEPART IMMEDIATELY!"
The sound and vibrations of something large walking could be heard and felt as a large figure walked out into the open. Kyle's eyes widened in shock and Calida gasped.
Standing before them was Groudon himself!
"Ho. Ly. Fuck..." Kyle whispered as he stared at the impossibly tall Pokemon. Calida couldn't seem to form words let alone a sentence. The beast looked down at them and roared again.
"I AM THE GUARDIAN OF FOGBOUND LAKE! I AM GROUDON! NOW LEAVE, MORTALS! THERE IS NOTHING HERE FOR YOU!"
"Yeah yeah, fuck you." Kyle yelled back. "I came here to get to fogbound lake, and I intend to do so. Now step aside damn it!"
"INSOLENT LITTLE... I SHALL TEACH YOU A PAINFUL LESSON ON SHOWING RESPECT TO THOSE GREATER THAN YOU!"
"Oh yeah, well go fuck yourself!" Kyle growled. Calida's face was a mix of horror and amusement at the moment. Amusement at the fact Kyle told a legendary to go fuck itself, and horror at the fact he told a legendary to go fuck itself.
"I'M GOING TO CRUSH YOU TO A BLOODY PULP!"
Groudon charged at Kyle, roaring angrily. Kyle grabbed Calida and jumped out of the way when the enemy got too close. It impacted a wall with enough force to almost collapse it.
"Now this party is getting started," Kyle stated with a grin. "Let's see how crazy we can make this get."