The fog clears by the time both pokemon reach the last step. As Riolu said, there were sounds of water and mini waterfalls up ahead. Mana and Riolu run towards the noise and stop. The water surrounds them from both sides, small droplets flickering towards them in a harmless manner. Riolu sets down their bag and pulls out two apples for him and Mana. Sitting down, they eat their fill. Riolu is the first to speak up.

"Do you think we are still in the forest? There doesn't seem to be any fog or anything like what we came out of," Riolu says before taking another bite of his apple. Mana chews thoughtfully, still glancing around. It's true that we have no idea where we are, but maybe Riolu is right? We got out of the fog, so does this mean that we are close to our destination? However, Mana can't help but feel like she's been here before.

"I don't really know. Maybe we got out of the dangerous path and this is what the forest really looks like." Mana finishes the last of her apple and walks over to the water. Washing herself after her meal, the cyndaquil lets the cascading noises soothe her. What is it about this place that brings back familiarity? She felt this feeling before when she entered the base, but there is no way for her know why she has this déjà vu feeling. Could it be I've really come here before? As a human instead? If she meets this legendary Uxie, will he be able to shed some light on what happened to her? Will he really be able to bring back her memories…? Or at least answer some questions?

"…Oi, you guys found this place too? Did ya find anything interesting?" Mana pulls her head out of the water, surprised. She and Riolu face towards the voice and watch as Corphish waves his claw at them. Looking at each other, Riolu grabs the bag and both he and Mana walk up to Corphish.

"Any clues? Me and the team came up here first, but we couldn't find anything that might be useful to the mission. What 'bout you guys?" Mana and Riolu shake their heads, a little upset.

"Eh don't worry about a thing! We're gonna keep trying so you guys try too. See ya soon," Corphish nudges Riolu and glances at Mana. The rookies watch as Corphish disappears ahead of them before turning towards each other smiling.

"We shouldn't be too upset Mana. We just started this thing so there's bound to be some disappointments along the way right? Yeah, I shouldn't be too upset." How much you've grown in these last couple of months, Mana thinks as she glances at her friend. Even though Corphish is right, Mana still can't but feeling strange. This place, this mission… Why is everything suddenly feeling so old to her? She has no memories of anything except that she is human. So why…? Why am I feeling so weird about this place? What is it about this mission that is so familiar? Was I also seeking Uxie in this place as a human? Why would I be searching for him if I already had my memories? Or could it be there is something else here that she was seeking then? Something more important than a legendary pokemon?

…Like a time gear… "Mana, come look at this!" Riolu's voice startles Mana, the last thought disappearing from her. She catches up to him where he stands in front of a statue that leans sideways into the ground. She turns her head sideways, trying to figure out what the statue is.

Riolu points, watching Mana. "It looks like a pokemon, the statue I mean." "Do you know what pokemon it is?" Riolu shakes his head when Mana asks. He remembers that she is not looking at him and he clears his throat.

"Well, I know it's a pokemon but that's all I know about it. I've never seen any pokemon like this at all… Do you think Diglett or Dugtrio might know who it is? Or maybe even Chatot?" Mana is quiet, still observing the statue. She notices a small hole in the center of the pokemon statue, but thinks nothing of it. Riolu watches as she walks around the cement, moving to the side and looking around before trotting back. She takes another turn to right until she is behind the statue and Riolu follows her, keeping quiet. He watches as she turns the corner her, still following behind her…

…And smacking right into her. He is knocked back while Mana holds onto the cement for balance. Riolu pats himself down, the dirt and pieces of grass falling off him. "Why'd you stop? Did you find anything… Oh!" "You know what this is?" Mana turns to her friend, patting the strange shapes in front of her. She moves aside as Riolu's paw roams over the shapes, his demeanor changing a bit.

Smiling widely, the riolu says, "These are footprint runes! It's been awhile since I've seen them before."

"Can you read what it says?" "Of course! Wow Mana, this is great! It looks like we found something after all!" Mana nods, hiding her true feelings behind her smile.

"Okay, umm… 'Reignite the life that burned within Groudon, then the sky shall burn with the sun's heat and the path to treasure shall be revealed.' Huh. I guess this pokemon statue is Groudon, but I don't really know what all that means. Do you, Mana?"

"Well, 'the path to treasure' might be Fogbound Lake's treasure, but before we can even figure that out, we need to know how to 'reignite the life that burned within Groudon.'" Mana ponders over it and Riolu also thinks about that meaning.

"How would someone go about reigniting a life?" Riolu asks. "I mean, is it like bringing something back to life?" "Maybe, but then how-"

"That stone could be a trap!"

"That's it!" Eyes widening, Mana Immediately explains to Riolu her idea, telling him that the key could be in the stone that she had picked up at the start of their mission. Riolu looks unconvinced, but he allows her to rummage around until she finds the red stone and in the midst of her growing excitement, Mana trips. The red stone drops to the ground as her back touches the cement, the contact between cold and warm becoming stronger than when she had first touched the rune shapes. Exhaling in shock, Mana struggles to reach for her friend's outstretched paw. It's only a fall, nothing crazy, but it feels more like a plummet down a steep cliff and she falls into darkness.

"That's it! I knew it, I knew it was here all along!" A voice echoes, rippling through Mana. She absently wonders who is talking, but the voice fades out and another vision pierces into her.

"W-what are you doing? You wanted to lift the fog didn't you? That's why you put the Drought Stone in Groudon's heart so he can clear away all of the effects. What…are you…waiting for par…tner…

"Mana…Mana! Mana!" "I can hear you perfectly so stop shouting in my ear," Mana opens her eyes, suddenly feeling drained. Riolu continues talking to her, babbling about his worries and demands an explanation for scaring him like that. Mana tells him she was exhausted and it had caught up to her when she fell. She dares not tell him about the vision she had because she is still unsure about what happened.

'That's why you put the Drought Stone in Groudon's heart…' Drought Stone? Mana picks up the red stone and looks at it, turning this way and that as Riolu still goes on talking. Could this be the Drought Stone? Mana shoves down her vision, drowning it deep within her until there is no trace of it anywhere in her mind. Holding up the stone, Mana glances at Riolu, who seems to be done ranting.

"Are you ready?" "I'm always ready to get some treasure," Riolu says, smiling down at his friend. Mana accepts his reply and starts to walk away from him. She comes back around to the front of the Groudon, searching for that hole she had seen in the beginning. If that is where Groudon's heart should be, then putting the stone in there should 'reignite' Groudon's life.

"Oh, so that must be where you put the stone in right? It looks like it might fit," Riolu says, pointing up at the hole in the statue. Mana nods. She pushes the stone in Riolu's paws, asking him to place it into the statue. While not admitting it, Riolu understands that he would have a better chance of climbing up and reaching to put the red stone into the hole. He smiles a little at this and begins to climb the statue. The second his paws push the stone into the hole, the ground begins to shake tremendously.

"Mana, watch out!" Riolu jumps from the statue just as Mana backs up and the two of them watch the scene unfold in front of their eyes. White light flashes and the statue's eyes glow a dark red. A sinister feeling overcomes Mana, but she is too distracted to get a grasp as she and Riolu close their eyes at the blinding light that explodes around them.

The ground underneath begins to rumble, each ripple growing stronger and stronger as it passes through the area. Bidoof and his team pause in the thick fog, suddenly scared by the moving ground. One of his teammates shouts something, but it is blocked by the growls of the ground and the bidoof closes his eyes, ready for his life to end.

Wigglytuff had finally gotten his hands on a perfect apple, thanks to the trembling ground underneath. He skips happily, singing about perfect apples until another tremble echoes. A tree's root lifts from the ground and Wigglytuff being distracted, steps into the thick root.

"Ah, my perfect apple! C-come back~! The delicious red apple rolls away from the pink pokemon and the ground shakes again as if it was guiding the fruit to a specific destination.

All around the forest, pokemon hidden glance up and around, unsure of what to feel. This has happened before, long ago, but it was too long for even the oldest of pokemon to remember if this was a good thing or a bad thing.

A light flashes in one spot farther ahead, but it's too blinding for anyone to look past that. All the pokemon in the forest, in the caves hidden, and the guild members prepare for the worst as the light rains down on the area.