-Chapter 12: The Secret of Fogbound Lake-
-Grovyle's POV-
I looked into the wall of mist that was in front of me, and I decided to see how far it went; I leapt straight into the air, to see over the top of the wall of murky haze. I looked out while I leapt up, and I saw nothing but fog; It blocked out the trees and everything else. I landed, and Galvantula scuttled up to me, "Ya see anything?"
I shook my head, "Only fog; We aren't making it through there without Connor guiding us."
Connor walked out of the fog right next to me, and I backed up slightly when I saw him. He laughed, "Alright, let's get going! We need to join hands so we don't lose each other; Navigation is horrible without aura vision."
Galvantula joked, "Do any of your powers not involve aura?"
Connor shook his head, "Nope. All of my power comes from within me. My teacher taught me well."
Galvantula smiled, "Well, I'll need to send kudos to Lucario then! He has done some excellent work!"
Connor's smile faded slightly, and he said, "Yeah… Lucario."
Celebi took hold of my hand, and Tyranitar smiled in a teasing manner as he kept looking forward. Galvantula took hold of my other hand, and after everybody was joined, we walked forward. After walking into the fog, I knew what it was like to be blind. I couldn't even see my arms through the misty wall. If we weren't holding on to each other, we would have gone in circles. Luckily, Connor guided us through the forest with little difficulty. Before we knew it, we came to a clearing that had slightly less thick fog. There were tents set up that looked like a club or something… The tents matched each other, and as we looked around and in them, we saw pokemon sleeping, frozen in time. There was a Croagunk, Chimecho, Sunflora… A Chatot… And others that I didn't recognize.
Connor frowned as if he remembered something, and Celebi voiced his expression, "Is something wrong…?"
He shook his head, "No… It's just… They shouldn't have been here when time stopped…"
Galvantula looked through the tents, "Who's they?"
Connor looked at the tents with a troubled look in his eyes, "These pokemon." He turned his head back to the woods rapidly, "We need to get out of this place..."
Something clearly bothered him about the tents and the pokemon, and we kept moving. The fog was slightly lighter, so I could at least see a few feet ahead, but I still was almost running into trees every few feet. After stumbling, I heard Connor's voice call out, "That's it! It's here! It's here!"
I ran to where I heard his voice, and tripped over a small red stone.
What is this…? I picked it up, and I could see through the fog like it wasn't there.
Alright, so the fog's gone? I saw Connor in front of a huge statue, and he was inspecting some writing on it.
I looked at Tyranitar and Galvantula, but they were wandering around like they were blinded still.
Guess it only affects me… I turned back to Connor, and strode up to him. He smiled as he read the inscriptions, "I see! You place the Drought Stone in Groudon's heart! That lifts the fog!"
I read the unknown runes, making sure he read it right, and I turned to him, "Very well done! Good job, partner!"
He turned to me, "Partner?"
I nodded, making a mutual understanding between us, and I turned to the statue, "So… Is there a hole or something in the chest of the statue?"
Galvantula grabbed the drought stone from me, and I was blinded again. Galvantula must have been able to see while holding it as well, because he beamed, "Holy crap, I can see! Praise to the legendary trio that controls eyesight! Hold on, I got this…"
I heard him climb up the statue, and heard a stone sliding against the crystal. As soon as it stopped, Galvantula dropped down next to me, "Aaaaand it's done. Now what?"
As he said that, I felt warmth on my back as the entire area became slightly brighter. The clouds didn't move, but I felt a warmth like I did in my dream of the sun. The fog seemed to sink into the ground, and immediately I saw where the lake was. There were waterfalls all around us, suspended in the air, and there was a cave leading up the narrow spire that lead to the lake, I guess. I knew it was up there, because when Connor pulled out his wonder map, he pointed to the cave, "Fogbound lake is that way…"
We went into the gaping entrance, and walked through. There was extremely hot water, along with lava, and I was sweating in no time, which I had never experienced due to the cold of the world.
I panted, "Connor… We have to go all the way up there?"
He nodded, "Yeah… No turning back anyways."
I turned around, "What do you mean… Oh."
When I looked at where we came from, the cave had closed behind us silently. Connor murmured, "Mystery Dungeons. No escape until we reach the top… Or the bottom of it. Or get defeated. Or use an Escape Orb."
Galvantula replied rather hastily, "That's a lot of rules that I have never heard of. Why the heck are they suddenly an issue?"
Connor smiled, "It's because the entire Hidden land itself is a mystery dungeon, with a few located within it… Sub-dungeons. There shouldn't normally be a way to escape from it, but my power combined with Victini's buff special thing allowed us passage out of there."
Celebi nodded, "That makes sense…"
Tyranitar looked around nervously at the dull grey frozen pokemon, like magmar and kricketune, "This is weird, Connor… I want to get out of here as soon as possible."
Connor nodded, "Yes, I know… We need to find Uxie, though. And whatever you do, don't make eye contact with him. He'll erase memories of this place and all that was associated with it."
Galvantula replied, "Wait, I thought the lake trio consisted of only girls!"
Connor shook his head, "Although most would speculate that, Mesprit is the only female of the Trio."
Tyranitar walked through, making sure not to fall behind, and Connor stopped us suddenly. He gestured for us to be quiet as he walked up the stairs, and he closed his eyes as he swept the room using aura-detecting pulses that I felt run through me.
He opened his eyes, "Time is not frozen here… Be careful..."
I nodded, and walked forward. Immediately, I was sprayed with some mud from a hidden trap, and I stepped backwards, tripping over my leaf hair, and fell on my back I tried to get it out of my eyes, rubbing aggressively, and Connor used his aura to pull the mud from my eyes. I blinked the tears away, and he scowled, "Ugh… I said be careful."
Galvantula smiled, "Check it out, these holes blow steam out!" He stood next to one, and listened closely. It started rumbling, and he chuckled, "It's gonna blow!"
Then a little bit of steam poured from the hole. He laughed slightly, "This place is great."
Connor smiled, "Galvantula, we need to get to the-"
I heard shuffling movement, and before anybody could react, Connor was hit from behind with a shadow ball, knocking him out cold. Victini rushed over to him, and he was knocked out by an invisible force as well.
I extended my leaf blades, expecting Dusknoir's voice to echo around the chamber. I glanced around the dimly lit cave, extremely wary, but a voice that I didn't recognize filled my head, "You! Why are you here?!"
I looked around, but it seemed to be communicating with telepathy, "Who are you?!"
The voice, male, by the sound of it, shouted back, "You know fully well who I am, Grovyle, son of Basileus!"
I looked around the cave for any signs of movement, "There's got to be a mistake! I haven't even been here before!"
The voice hesitated, but quickly replied, "Do not lie to me! We were told that your capture would result in lasting peace! That YOU were the sole cause of the Planet's Paralysis!"
I shook my head in confusion, "Wait, I'm going to the past to save it! What the heck are you talking about?"
The voice wavered, "What do you mean…? You stole the time gears! Time has stopped, and you're to blame!"
Galvantula walked around the edge of the chamber, and pulsed electric waves from his body into the air. The voice shouted, "Quit trying to locate me, you insect!"
Galvantula didn't take to kindly to name-calling, mostly being called an insect or bug in a non-joking manner, so he visibly frowned, which I had never seen before, "Why don't you show yourself then?!"
The voice receded, and Galvantula was thrown into the wall by an invisible force. He hit the wall, cratering the stone, and fell to the floor. The voice boomed the loudest so far, "You do not command me!"
Galvantula tried to get up, but he was thrown into the ceiling this time, and landed on the floor again. He groaned, "Alright, I get it… Stop, please…"
Connor must have gotten hit hard by that shadow ball, because he was still out on the floor. I only noticed that he was down because normally the threat would be revealed by now, as ungrateful as that sounds. Tyranitar ran to Galvantula and shielded him using protect, shouting, "Don't touch him!"
The voice changed locations, now being on my left, "No matter... My quarrel is with Grovyle…"
Oh nuuu! Cliffhanger again! The next Chapter is going to be a good one for those of you that have read both stories... Anywho, leave a Quick Review if you enjoyed or see something that I should adjust, and PM me anything else! See you tomorrow, in the next update! Much Love!
-PL
