Barty skidded with his chest on the ground as he made it out of the plains. He spotted the other Project Pokemon and exclaimed, "Help me! There's a horde of wild ones back there!" A select few other Project Pokemon came afterward, dashing out of the way. Barty picked himself up and followed.
The Pokemon guarding the children got up and charged to the entrance, sending out jets of water and gusts of wind, among other abilities, to fight the oncoming Pokemon. The wild Pokemon coming out roared and hissed with irritation as they fought their way to the Project Pokemon, but unlike before, they were ready to meet these foes, and were more spread out.
It took a long time, but the final Growlithe was driven back into the dungeon, to sleep again until morning and to have a full stomach. Barty was hiding in a tree, too scared to even send out a leaf against the onslaught of Pokemon.
The lead Garchomp kicked the tree, forcing Barty to fall. He stomped next to the Grovyle and lifted him by his head leaf, fuming with anger, purple fumes coming from his throat.
He roared out, "What happened in there!" Barty shrunk in fear.
"I-It was Matheus, he did it! He woke up the Pokemon in the dungeon and made them chase us! It happened so fast!" He blabbered out. The Garchomp groaned, and set him down.
He pointed a claw at his chest and said, "You're the sorriest Guildmaster I've seen. If you expect Arthus to let you live, you're dead wrong; you had Matheus and you let him get away!" Barty tried to protest, but he was quickly quieted by the fangs glinting in the moonlight.
The Garchomp continued, saying, "I report to Arthus, and you'd better find him before I let him know about what happened here; at least you'll have the chance to prove yourself." Barty stood up fearfully, not wanting to suffer the wrath of the massive Pokemon.
"Do I get any help? I'll die if I go in there again!" He responded. The Garchomp laughed, and turned to the captive children.
"I don't care! You lost us a good deal of Project Pokemon under your leadership. Let's see how you do by yourself." He exclaimed. He turned around quickly and punted Barty to the entrance of the Plains, where the roars and hisses of various angry Pokemon could be heard.
Barty turned around, hoping for some chance of redemption. Other Project members looked intently, wondering what the usurper Guildmaster would do. The members of Dragonite Guild went away in shame, wondering why they had ever chosen to follow such a Pokemon.
The Garchomp grinned and waved him off with his wing. "While you're in there, see if you can find Gregorius; Arthus won't be happy if he was eliminated while in there under your orders." Barty looked sadly to him, and turned back to the Plains. He gulped, and stepped inside, turning the corner. A loud scream could be heard, and Barty Grovyle was no more.
Aram Electivire stomped through Electivire Guild as he ordered Pokemon about, getting them ready for the long journey to Deity Continent. He wanted the entire Guild there because of its importance, leaving behind a select few to guard and go out on an occasional mission.
He passed by a group of Pokemon gathering food, with a Munchlax shoving all the berries he was carrying in his mouth. Aram clouted the Munchlax an exclaimed, "If you want to have your rations now and not on the trip, by all means go ahead. I'll make sure that you don't get a thing if you eat any more." The Munchlax whimpered, pulling out the berries he had nearly swallowed.
He marched to his room, seeking peace from the clamor. All night he had been gathering, so that he could make it to Deity as soon as possible. Many Pokemon, including himself, had been irritable from the lack of sleep, and that has often lead to some accidental electrocutions from his discharges.
He went into his room and shut the door, sighing in relief for the solace. A bottle clattered on the floor, and he perked up.
"Who's there? This is private quarters!" He exclaimed. Paper flitted into the air, spread by some invader hiding in the corner.
Aram's prongs fizzled, and he approached the invading Pokemon. More papers flitted through the air, hitting his face. With a yell of fury, he tore them off and lunged for the Pokemon, grabbing its legs with his massive arm.
In his grasp was a Tranquill, with a single folded paper in his beak. His feathers were ruffled, and he was flapping madly to get out of Aram's grasp. In the dim light, Aram could have sworn that the eyes were red.
Aram looked a little closer, and stared in disbelief. "Remus?" He asked, stunned. The Tranquill let go of the paper and jabbed his beak into Aram's fist. Aram growled with pain and let him go. Remus snatched the paper and flew into the air, heading toward the open window.
Aram shut the shutters quickly, leading the Tranquill to ram into them. The Tranquil screeched and flew wildly through the room. Aram roared, letting loose a discharge of electricity. It struck the Tranquill and caused it to stop moving, falling to the floor with a thud.
Aram sighed, picking up the Tranquill. "It can't be you, Remus. It just can't be." He took the paper from its beak, and read the title: "Legendary Artifacts and Their Locations". He opened it up, seeing a list of assorted items: Hoopa's Bottle, the Red Orb, Wish Stones, et cetera. He read it quickly, and saw that all the locations were in ancient dungeons that no longer shift.
He saw a certain line that caused him to shudder: "The Cocoon of Destruction". He remembered that one well, but there seemed to be something escaping his mind involving it. He noticed that it was underlined with ink, and recently too; what seemed to be Remus must have marked it.
He looked over to where the papers were flying, and saw that they were hidden away in a trapdoor in the floor. He looked down into it, seeing nothing but a vast spread of paper. He stepped down, looking back temporarily to make sure Remus was unconscious, and searched the strange room.
Inside were various chests along the wall, many of them open. Some were filled with Seeds, others with Orbs, Wands, and so on, all of them being Dungeon Items. Some chests were filled with papers on various subjects, from cookbooks to poems.
He dug through a chest of Wands, seeing plenty of rare sorts of wands, such as Guiding and Paralysis. On all the bundles of Wands was a little white tag, marked with some words. He picked up one of the bundles, and read the faded words:
"Property of Electivire Guild, subsidiary of Lucario Guild."
Aram linked, and his head began to ache, he set down the Wands and held his head, wanting the sensation to stop. After some moments, it passed, leaving him to wonder why it happened in the first place.
He continued looking, the thought of this Lucario Guild lingering in his mind. He moved past the chests and saw assorted items covered in a white cloth; pinned to them were sheets of paper. He looked at one, seeing a story:
"We trekked for miles to find this, and little wonder too, given that Hoopa hidden this himself. His Bottle is one of a kind, and without it he can't go into his Unleashed form. He never did like tapping into that dark side of himself, and I wholeheartedly agree; nothing so feared should be let loose. Regardless, we decided to hide this here along with other artifacts in case of emergency, especially with these times ahead; you-know-who has begun doing strange things, and it isn't safe at Lucario Guild now.
Aram
Aram blinked, and the sickening pain occurred once more, causing him to send electricity through the room. It coursed through the metal in the chests, and affected the metal in the pin that held the note on the cloth, and on various others. The cloths began to move, and slip off their hidden contents. In front of Aram was a large ornate bottle, with insidious nature, and inside the room lay other rare artifacts of the Legends and Myths.
Aram turned, his eyes tightly shut to try and ease the pain. He opened them temporarily, seeing the same image as what was up in his room, only different: A Lucario and Zoroark sat on top of Martre Metagross, and in the corners, was a Gengar and Magmortar. He roared in pain, and fainted.
He was on the shore of a mist-filled lake, and next to him stood his fellow Guildmasters: Larry Ludicolo, Debra Delphox, Martre Metagross, and Carla Dragonite. Around them the mist obscured all view, so much so that the sky couldn't be seen; the only thing within they could see was the lake, it's other side too distant to see.
In front of them was a shaded figure, but Aram thought he recognized him. The figure raised his arms in the air, and called out, "Uxie, please come and speak to us, we have a request of you!" The lake began to bubble, and from the bubbling came a yellow figure in an otherworldly light.
Uxie approached them floating in the air, with her eyes shut, as they always were. She held out her hand, and said, "What is your request, Deity Elect?" The figure lowered his arms, and kneeled. Aram and the other Guildmasters followed his example.
"Great Uxie, we have need of you. Arthus has turned to the worse, and has ransacked a village in the Lucario Guild's name. If word gets out, more like when, the reputation of the Guilds will be ruined, and Pokemon will refuse our acts of service. We ask you to eliminate all memory of the Lucario Guild across Equivos, so that the others may be saved." The figure requested. Uxie considered this, leaning back in the air, twirling her tails.
She then replied, "What you ask goes against the gift I granted to all who came to me generations ago. Why should I do what you say?" The figure kneeled lower, as if to avoid her invisible gaze.
"All my life, I wanted to explore the world and help others. The Guild system has been the ultimate culmination of that goal, and in one fell swoop, it can be ruined. Arthus used to be good, and I have tried my best to convince him of the error of his ways, but refuses to listen. Please, to make the world a better place, I ask you to eliminate my memory, and that of Lucario Guild." The figure said. Aram squinted, and he began to recognize this figure that stood before him.
Uxie floated higher and waved to the other Guildmasters. "Do you, Guildmasters of Equivos, share his same wish?"
Aram and the others nodded, with Aram replying, "We do, and request that our memories be gone with the others." The figure turned to them with a look of amazement.
"No…we agreed for all but us! We were going to work together to bring down Arthus in secrecy!" He exclaimed. Aram stood up and shook his head.
"We can't do that. Doing so would have us lie to our Guilds about what happened here, and we can't have that weight on our heads. We deserve the same fate as the rest of the region." Aram replied, the others nodding. The figure stood still, his mouth agape, but he soon corrected himself, and returned to Uxie.
Uxie leaned against her arm, deep in thought. "I can grant your wish, Deity Elect, but I warn you: memories can never go away, no matter how small. Pokemon you have a deep connection with or have met with often will suffer weaker effects, and I believe that what remains of Lucario Guild will not forget themselves, including Arthus. I will grant your wish, and ask Hoopa to bring you back to your homes to continue with your lives. Be warned that your memories of Matheus may come back, and when they do, be on your guard; Arthus will search for him and the Seal of Creation, and ultimately the Cocoon of Destruction. If you remember, help him in his quest, and bring this world the Future of Life." Uxie opened her eyes, them being blindingly bright, and the vision ended with that light.