I probably should have mentioned this before, even if it was obvious, but I do not own Pokemon. Pokemon belongs to Game Freak, so...yeah.

"Hey hey, what are we standing around waiting for?" Corphish said. "I'll go back and let everyone in the guild know what happened!" Turning to Amber and Jasper, he added, "You two should come with me, too!"

"Wait, hold up a second!" Amber tried to protest. Corphish ignored her and was already scuttling off, Jasper sprinting after him. Amber groaned. "Don't I get any say in this?" she grumbled as she ran after them. Amber turned to yell over her shoulder, "You guys better not leave without us!"

Gina and Soren exchanged a glance. "I wonder why Corphish wanted them to go with him?" Gina said.

"He'd have had to go through Foggy Forest again," Soren pointed out. "He probably wanted Amber and Jasper so he wouldn't have as much trouble getting through."

Gina nodded, then walked over to the slope that led to the plateau. "Well, come on, we've got no time to waste! Let's get to Fogbound Lake already!"

"But Amber said we should wait for them to get back."

"That'll take too long. Besides, who cares what Amber says? They'll catch up, right?"

Soren rolled his eyes. "Okay, fine. Let's go."

As they began to make their way to the slope, a sharp voice froze them in their tracks.

"Hold it!"

Gina and Soren whirled around, and their eyes widened in shock and frustration when Team Skull raced towards them. Skuntank, Koffing, and Zubat all wore similar cruel smirks on their faces.

"Well, well, where do you kids think you're going?" Skuntank sneered.

"We're going to Fogbound Lake," Gina said, her voice carrying a slight edge to it. "We found a way to lift the fog!"

Koffing chuckled hoarsely. "Well, good for you! You kiddos finally solved the mystery. You're no longer of use to us!"

"Heh heh! Thanks to you, we'll be the ones going to the lake and swiping the treasure!" Zubat added.

Soren stepped forward to stand at Gina's side. "Is that why you idiots joined the expedition? So you could betray everyone in the end? Is that what you've been planning all along?"

"No, we came to discover the wonders and magic of friendship!" Skuntank said sarcastically. "Did you really expect anything less of us?" He laughed darkly. "I'm sorry to say it, actually I couldn't care less, but we're going to get rid of you here right now."

"Well, bring it on then!" Gina shot back. "You really think we're scared of a bunch of cowards like you?"

"You won't get past us," Soren put in. "There's no way we're letting you jerks get to Fogbound Lake!"

The three members of Team Skull laughed. "Looks like someone's feeling optimistic today!" Koffing jeered. "Look at 'em! Thinking they're so strong!"

"They must have forgotten how our last battle ended," Skuntank said. His eyes narrowed, and his lips curled into an even crueler smile than before. A row of sharp fangs was now showing. "Let me remind them how they lost to us the first time."

He and Koffing came towards them, and Gina and Soren backed up warily. Gina indeed remembered how they lost the last battle again Team Skull, and she didn't want to have to go through something like that again.

"You were defeated by our noxious gas combo, weren't you?" Skuntank asked. When they didn't respond, his fur raised on end and he asked, harder this time, "Didn't you?!"

Soren gulped, but remained steady. "Yes. We did." Taking a deep breath, he shouted, "But don't think we'll go down so easily this time! We're ready for you!"

Skuntank shook his head condescendingly. "Such brave words. But you're destined to fail to us again! Chaw-haw!" He and Koffing sprang into a ready position, with Gina and Soren doing the same. "Enough talk! Take this! Our noxious gas com-"

"Wait! Wait! Wait for me! Come back!" a voice shrieked.

They all jumped at the sudden noise. Koffing and Skuntank relaxed slightly out of their attack positions. Gina and Soren would have taken this moment to attack, when a large Apple suddenly rolled in between the two teams.

"What the…?" Skuntank trailed off, letting his eyes rest on the Apple.

"Perfect Apple!" the voice called again. "Perfect Apple!"

A large pink shape ran up to the fruit, Gina recognizing the Pokemon as Wigglytuff, and hugged the Perfect Apple to his face. "I finally caught you, silly!" he exclaimed. "Silly Perfect Apple!"

"Um, Guildmaster Wigglytuff? What are you doing here?" Skuntank asked. Through gritted teeth, and a short, frustrated glance at Gina and Soren, he added, "Shouldn't you be back at the base camp? With Chatot?"

The Guildmaster looked up from the Perfect Apple; he didn't realize that Team Skull and Team Diamond were there, it seemed. "Oh! It's you two!" he said, addressing Team Sky. He turned to Team Skull. "And my friends, too? Yay! Everyone's together!" He danced around in a small circle, oblivious to the mystified stares he was getting from the teams.

"Yeah Guildmaster, why are you here?" Soren said, referring to Skuntank's question. "We thought you'd still be back at the base camp waiting for everyone."

"Well, you see," he began. "Chatot was getting really boring, going on and on about Chimecho's story about Uxie, and how Pokemon these days just don't listen to true stuff anymore, so I decided to go for a little walk. It was totally fine, but then I tripped! My precious Perfect Apple slipped out of my grip and went rolling and rolling away! So I chased after it, of course! I ran and ran and ran and…here I am!"

Gina exchanged a bewildered glance with Soren. "It's a good thing he came here, huh?" she whispered when Wigglytuff turned his back to them, facing Team Skull. "We could've been goners!"

"Yeah, really," Soren mumbled in response. "Let's just be thankful he loves Perfect Apples so much."

"Oh, right!" Wigglytuff suddenly said. He whirled around to speak to Soren and Gina. "You two shouldn't be dawdling around here! You need to go explore the forest, don't you? Go, go! Go explore!"

Soren fumbled for a reply. "Well, we actually, um, Amber and Jasper said for us to wait for them to get back, and we really shouldn't-"

Skuntank's ears perked at the sound of Amber's name, and he smirked. "Oh, yes. They should stay," he interrupted. "Waiting for Amber and Casper to come back would be an excellent idea, chaw-haw!"

Gina raised an eyebrow. "His name is Jasper," she corrected.

"Right, whatever."

Wigglytuff stuck his tongue out at them. "What, you're not going to listen to your Guildmaster? Don't be silly! Go on, get exploring already!"

Soren bit his lip. He figured he and Gina should obey, if only to get away from this awkward scene. "Well, okay." He turned to Gina and jerked his chin to the slope heading to Fogbound Lake. "Let's get going."

Gina tried to protest. "But we still have to wait for-"

"This'll only get even weirder the longer we stay," Soren muttered quickly. "Besides, you said Amber and Jasper would catch up, didn't you?"

Gina sighed. "Fine. If we're going, we'd better hurry. I just really wanna see what the lake looks like!"

"Agreed!"

He and Gina ran off to the plateau, and Wigglytuff called after them, "Good luck! Have fun exploring!" The Guildmaster danced again, a wide grin plastered across his face. "I sure hope we get some news soon!" he said, before humming tunelessly.

Skuntank stared at the Guildmaster, his mouth hanging open. He shook his head and whistled quietly to Koffing and Zubat for a huddle.

"Chief, this is really starting to get weird," Zubat whispered. "Can't we just go after Team Diamond? There's really not much else we can do here."

Skuntank rolled his eyes. He wanted a chance to speak with Amber, perhaps get her as interested in him as he was with her. The thought nearly made him chuckle, but he figured Koffing was right. There was no reason for them to be there, and if they didn't go soon, Team Diamond would beat them to the treasure. He turned around to face Wigglytuff, who was still singing and dancing.

"H-hey, Guildmaster," he said as casually as possible. "We should really get exploring, too, shouldn't we?"

Wigglytuff gasped and spun around. "And trouble my dear friends with that kind of work! No, no, no! Let's just let those two do the exploring! Besides, you said you wanted to wait for everyone else, didn't you? Let's do that, instead!" He immediately went back to his dance, his back facing them again.

Skuntank scowled. "No good," he said to Koffing and Zubat. "Doesn't look like we're going anywhere."

"Team Diamond'll beat us to the treasure if we don't leave now," Koffing muttered. "What are we gonna do?"

"Well, I for one am not going to take this," Skuntank hissed. "Didn't think it would come to this, but that pink idiot's given me no choice. We'll have to take Wigglytuff down right now." He smirked devilishly. "After that, Team Diamond's ours."

Zubat looked a bit uneasy. "Is that really gonna be okay?"

Koffing nodded in agreement. "Wigglytuff is, you know, creepy."

Skuntank glared at them. "Don't worry about it. You really think he's such a big deal? Look at him! Besides…" Peering over his shoulder to make sure Wigglytuff wasn't listening, he mumbled, "Rumor has it Wigglytuff has an amazing treasure with him right now."

"Really? Treasure?!" Zubat's voice became high-pitched with excitement.

"Quiet, you!" Skuntank swatted the Poison-type across the head. He glanced at the Guildmaster again, who hadn't heard his teammate's outburst. "Yes, he has a treasure. It's apparently so precious, few have even caught a glimpse of it. I was planning on mugging him for it anyway, so it looks like we have a window of opportunity here."

"How are we gonna get it from him?" Koffing asked.

"Prepare for the noxious gas combo," Skuntank instructed. "I have no doubt that this'll work." Koffing nodded, and he and Skuntank took a step towards the distracted Guildmaster. Zubat flitted off farther to the side, hoping he wouldn't get caught in the fumes again.

Wigglytuff was still completely unaware of the team behind him. Koffing smirked. "Wigglytuff's really gonna get it!"

Skuntank laughed darkly, baring his fangs in a wide grin. "No hard feelings…" he murmured. "But the great, legendary explorer Wigglytuff…is finished! Chaw-haw-haw!"

~o~o~o~o~

"Look, Soren! I think that's the entrance up ahead!" Gina exclaimed, pumping her short legs harder. "Come on! Hurry up!"

"I'm trying to pace myself!" he insisted. "If we use up all our energy now, we won't have enough to make it through!"

"Excuses, excuses!" she yelled. She slowed to a halt when she made it to the entrance. Her mouth gaped open when she looked up. The plateau was atop a high, pillar-like cave. The pillar looked so thin it were as though the plateau would lose its balance and fall off. Steam spewed out of several vents in the sides of the cave. "Wow! This is so cool!" she squealed. "Soren, are you seeing this?"

Her partner came up beside her and nodded. "It'll be quite a while before we make it to the top. We have to make sure we're ready."

Gina tilted her head to the side, until the joint in her neck cracked. "I'm ready. How about you?"

Soren cringed at the noise. "I'm ready, too. And you really shouldn't do that, it's bad for your bones."

"I've had a knot in my neck all day," she complained. "It's better that I get it out now instead of complaining about a sore neck all day, right?"

Soren rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He tightened the Power Band around his neck until he felt comfortable with it. "If we're ready, then let's get to it!"

Gina smiled and bounced ahead into the crevice. "Yeah! Let's go find Fogbound Lake!"

~o~o~o~o~

Amber and Jasper were running farther back from Corphish, who was rushing as quickly as he could to the base camp. They had seen Wigglytuff earlier in the forest, going the way they had come from, but the Guildmaster hadn't paid them any attention when they tried to call him over.

"Amber, wait!" Jasper said.

The Vulpix stopped and turned around to see her brother had done the same. "What now?"

"Maybe we should go back to the Groudon statue," he suggested. "Maybe there's been trouble, and Wigglytuff's going there to-"

"Jasper, calm down," Amber snapped. "I'm sure everything's fine. If there's been trouble…" She forced herself not to bring bitterness into her voice, but to no avail. "Gina and Soren will take care of it."

"But what if they're the ones who are in trouble?" Jasper insisted. "Or worse! What if Wigglytuff, Soren, and Gina are all in trouble? What if they're… What if they're-"

"You're overthinking things!" Amber hissed. "Look, we'll prove it. We'll go back to the Groudon statue, only so we can prove that nothing is happening! After that, we'll all go to Fogbound Lake together."

Jasper nodded. "Thanks, sis."

"Don't mention it." With a firmer tone, she added, "Ever."

She glanced up ahead at Corphish, who was completely obscured by fog. "All right, let's go."

~o~o~o~o~

Zubat nudged Skuntank. "Psst, hey Chief! What's going on?" Skuntank didn't answer; the leader stood rigid, and his eyes were blank. Wigglytuff had turned around not too long ago, and stared at them confusedly.

"Chief, hey wake up, Chief," Koffing whispered. "You've been staring Wigglytuff down long enough. Come on, let's give him a good dose of the noxious gas."

Skuntank whipped his head around to glare at Koffing. "Will you shut up already?!" he hissed, louder than intended.

Wigglytuff tilted his head to the side. "Friends? Are you all okay? You've been making such scary faces at me!"

As Wigglytuff's bright green eyes bore through him, Skuntank gulped. I was wrong… So, so wrong… This guy's the real deal…

The Guildmaster gasped. "Oh! I get it! You're trying to make me laugh with silly faces, aren't you?" He laughed. "Well, I bet I can make you guys laugh, too!" He put his hands on his faces, stretching it around this way and that. "Haha! This is fun!"

Koffing's eye twitched. "Chief, this is really starting to creep me out. Can we please just do the attack now?"

Zubat nodded in agreement. "I'm not sure how much more of this weirdness I can take."

Skuntank gritted his teeth angrily. "Fine. We've run out of options. Let's get this done." He stepped forward, squaring his shoulders. Koffing came up beside him, while Zubat returned to his hiding place behind the statue. "Hey, Wigglytuff!" Skuntank yelled.

Wigglytuff paused in the middle of pulling his eyelids down, in an attempt to make them laugh. "What? What is it? What is it?"

Skuntank's signature fang-showing grin returned, and his eyes narrowed. "No hard feelings, 'friend', but…" He prepared himself to let loose the Smog attack in unison with Koffing. "You're going down!"

The poisonous and foul-smelling gas completely engulfed Wigglytuff, and not even his silhouette could be seen through it. Skuntank snickered. "Well, that's the end of the great and powerful Wigglytuff!"

"Heh heh, about time, too!" Zubat added.

"Woah-ho, now it's about time we tracked down those little Team Diamond brats," Koffing said.

Skuntank nodded, turning away from the cloud of gas. "Right! Let's move out, boys!"

"Wow! Dear friends, you sure are strong!"

Skuntank came to a dead stop, looking back over his shoulder. To his horror and dismay, Wigglytuff was still standing, looking completely unaffected by the attack.

The Poison-type stumbled toward him. "But…how did you…?"

The Guildmaster grinned widely. "If you really wanted to have a battle with me, friends, you could've just asked! I've seen lots and lots of strong Pokemon in my adventures, but you guys almost caught me off-guard!"

Koffing and Skuntank exchanged nervous glances. "This isn't going to be good," they muttered in unison.

Wigglytuff put his stubby hands on his hips. "Well, if you want a battle so badly, we'll start at the count of three, okay friends? One…"

"Chief, what do we do?" Zubat whispered urgently.

"Two…"

"We'll defeat him," Skuntank said quietly back. "He might have been able to shrug off our noxious gas combo, but he's about to feel the wrath of Team Skull!"

"That's right! Seriously, how tough can he be?" Koffing scoffed as he and Zubat went to flank each of their leader's sides.

Wigglytuff raised his hands, which had curled into fists. His facial expression changed from it's usual happy-go-lucky self, to that of a serious opponent. All hints of amusement had completely vanished in a matter of seconds. "Three."