Shortly before the expedition began, a lone figure ran through a cavern filled with Limestone, ignoring the pleas of a Ditto that tried to trick him as he managed to get to his prize.
"Aha! There it is. The second Time Gear!" said the voice of Grovyle, the slightly injured Ditto looking at him in concern.
"P-Please... don't take it..." he begged, Grovyle frowning.
"I'm sorry, but I need to. It's for the good of everyone," Grovyle frowned before then grabbing the Time Gear and for Ditto to gasp at that and for Grovyle to then use an Escape Orb after.
"W-Wait! Why are they needed for the good of everyone?! OH SHIT! RUN! EVERYONE RUN!" Ditto shouted to every single Pokemon in the caverns and the caves outside, all of them then trying their hardest to escape the blast. Of the lot, only three Pokemon got caught in the aftermath, them then looking at the caverns from the outside with looks of sadness.
"Our home... it's all destroyed. And for no reason!" shouted an angry Aggron... but the Ditto knew there had to be something weird with all of this. Why would the Pokemon say that stealing Time Gears was needed for the good of everyone? What did that mean?
"I can see your thoughts, Ditto," said the voice of someone that made the pink blob gasp. It was none other than Gardevoir from Team Charm.
"T-Team Charm? What are you doing here?" Ditto asked.
"We were coming here to say hi for old time's sake, and then we saw the entire cavern get coated in frozen time," Lopunny frowned.
"W-Well... why would that Pokemon say that stealing Time Gears were for the good of everyone before then stealing it?" Ditto asked, but that made Medicham think a bit.
"Hey, Lopunny? Remember that flyer we were told about? Misses Invisible?" Medicham asked her.
"Yeah, the one that had that creepy riddle, right?" Lopunny asked, remembering that said riddle actually had a memory of music attached to it, as Gardevoir saw that the message had some bizarre-sounding music. Some that sounded unlike anything that could be made in this world. And the tune was an edited version of another song, but regardless, it made the group think.
"It said Super Old, Time Control, Hair Gold... but I don't know of any Pokemon that has golden hair... and that the other part was Darkened Skies, Dirty Lies, Shadow Guy... you think that this Pokemon looked shadowy at all?" Gardevoir asked Ditto, the little blob frowning.
"No, he didn't look shadowy. In fact, he was quite green. Leaf on his head and even one in his mouth," Ditto explained.
"Hmm... we'll need to let Magnezone know about this. Who knows if this Pokemon is the one responsible, but if someone is stealing Time Gears... it's gotta be for some reason. We have to make sure it isn't a bad intention," Medicham said.
"Are you serious, Medicham? Stealing Time Gears are forbidden! Why would you say it's anything other than a bad intention?" Lopunny asked her partner in annoyance.
"You forget, Lopunny, that the same letter also said the world would become frozen in time come December of this year. The area here isn't spreading out, so maybe we don't need to worry yet," Medicham explained, which Lopunny frowned at.
"I see... good thinking. Sorry, Medicham... We just need to show our findings and get a match to know which Pokemon is stealing these Time Gears. We can't leave anything up to chance, after all," Lopunny sighed.
"Let's head to Treasure Town, then," Gardevoir smiled as everyone of the Pokemon that lived in the Caverns then went back into the caverns and found they weren't getting stopped in time after the initial blast, so they simply went back inside, minus Ditto. He went to Treasure Town alongside Team Charm.
It took us about two hours of trekking to even reach the Craggy Coast, but upon doing so, we managed to get through easily thanks to our combined power in moves and boons from our special items, which included Diancie using the Mega Evolution for the first time when we were getting into a scrape against a Seel and Stunfisk duo. Once we did that, we then made it to the end of the cave and found ourselves at the start of Mount Horn, it being a central mountain that was in a mountain range and a clear cut through to the Foggy Forest on the other side.
"Let's take a quick break before we get going, rest up, get some lunch and all," I said, the other three nodding as we then made a small camp of our own and started to have some fun talking about things. And I even told the gist of the message that I'd made at the cafe, but I had to fib to Bidoof and say that it was made by somone called Misses Invisible.
"Golly, so something bad's going to happen by December? And it's going to freeze everyone in time?" he asked, me nodding.
"That's what the message said. And I heard from Flutter that this Misses Invisible character actually comes from the future and asked her personally to spread word to find out the meaning of that secret message," I said, which the duo on my side pretended to be concerned while Bidoof really was.
"Gee... that's kind of concerning... so, did you get a general time of when that would happen?"
"From Flutter's description, the exact date was the November 23rd, but we'll know when it starts to happen, as time will start to freeze at a more rapid pace across the world closer to the date," I said, the little beaver nodding before getting serious eyes.
"Well, by golly, I'm going to help spread word, too!" he said, me smirking as we then finally finished our rest stop and proceeded to trek through Mount Horn. And once we did, we found that the place actually had Pokemon that dropped treasure chests that had quite the strong locks on them.
"Tinkton should be able to handle these treasure chests, so, if we find a Kangaskhan Rock, we should drop it off in there and it'll magically go to the storage in town," Bidoof said, me smiling at that.
"I see, sounds pretty cool," I smiled as we then ascended the numerous floors, even finding a couple tough foes in the form of Aerodactyl and Pineco, as the latter was good at self-destructing in our faces and the former had the ability Pressure and had strong moves like Ancient Power and Wing Attack. But we only ended up losing one Reviver Seed when we had a toolbox filled with 13 of them left! And finally, after going to the final floor (15), we then found ourselves something that was awesome. It was a simple hill of dirt down to the Foggy Forest, me smirking as I turned myself into a circular sled and the trio looked at me in concern.
"Is this safe? What if we fall out?" Bidoof asked.
"Don't worry, I'll keep you strapped in," I smirked, them then reluctantly getting in before I then strapped them in with some seat belts, them looking confused before I then sent us down the sandy hill, the three then screaming from the acceleration and the fact that I ended up spinning accidentally.
"HAHAHA! This feels amazing!" Diancie laughed out loud.
"Ooh, I think I'm-a-gonna lose my lunch!" Bidoof admitted with a gag.
"Not inside here, you're not!" I said to him, me then righting myself with some conjured hands so that they wouldn't spin anymore. And when I looked forward down the mountainside, I gawked at what we saw.
"Look! I see Wigglytuff and Chatot! They're almost at the Foggy Forest! Can we go faster?" Bidoof asked, me smirking at that.
"Hold on tight, because your wish is granted!" I smiled as I then turned myself into something else from my recovering memories, it being a very big tank with a rocket on the back, with my allies in the top and sitting in special seats! And I then rocketed down the mountain and managed to reach the base of the Foggy Forest mere seconds before Wigglytuff and Chatot, me then having my members disembark and for the duo of leaders to look at my group with a smile.
"Well, would you look at that! We actually got beat to the punch, Guildmaster! And look, they're having a blast," Chatot chuckled.
"Haha! I'd like to ride in something so fun like that!" Wigglytuff admitted as our group then looked at the duo and smiled.
"We almost didn't get to first place, but we did it! WHOOHOO!" Kiba shouted happily.
"It wasn't a race, but I will admit, it is quite an impressive showing to arrive at the expedition spot before my group does. I have high hopes for you in the coming future, friendly friends!" Wigglytuff said happily, us then helping out with setting up the camp, needing to wait through the sunset and overnight in order for all of the other members of the Guild to join up, including Team Skull. And after this, we then agreed that we'd need to have a good night's sleep. And since we were out in the wild, we'd need to have a duo of Pokemon to watch over the others while we slept. And we agreed that the two would be Wigglytuff and Croagunk, as both of them were very attentive and both slept with eyes wide open.
Also, the other good thing, Team Skull was split among the other tents with the other Guild members, with none of them being in the tent that housed our team, meaning Kiba's Relic Fragment was safe. And after a good rest, we then got up the next morning on our own without need of Loudred's voice, which was quite a relief, especially for the other girls that were in our tent, those being Sunflora and Chimecho.
"Ah... finally, getting to wake up on our own instead of Loudred. It's quite a rare and pleasant experience, yay!" Chimecho smiled happily.
"That's one thing I still need to get used to... oh my gosh, he could at least be a little bit quieter when he does that, y'know?" Sunflora said with a giggle, us then finally exiting and seeing that everyone else was now awake and we were the last ones to get up.
"Ah, everyone is awake now, Guildmaster," Chatot smiled, me then looking around and smirking at the fact that the others were having a fun time and then, after we were prepared, we then lined up and Chatot proceeded to address the crowd.
"Okay, now to get into the brass tacts. We're currently in a place that is reportedly very close to Fogbound Lake. Unfortunately, the fog here is very thickly coated, so finding the lake will be very tricky," Chatot said, which Diglett then asked a question.
"Um, would the lake happen to be underground? Maybe that's why no one has found it?" he asked.
"Ah, my son, a very smart idea!" Dugtrio smirked, but then Chimecho spoke up.
"Ahem, I wanted to let you know something that I heard on the way over. Well, actually, it's two things," Chimecho said, which the group looked at her with confusion. "On the way over, we happened to hear a creepy riddle from Teddiursa, it being a random job that was placed at the Cafe. If it isn't solved by December, then the world would actually be frozen in time," Chimecho said, the entire group gasping at that.
"The whole world?! Frozen in place?! But... wait... does this have to do with the Time Gear thief?!" Chatot asked in shock.
"That, I am unsure about. It said that the culprit was a shadow guy and that the one who made the job was a very old woman called Misses Invisible. And her hair was golden, and she had come from this horrid future," Chimecho explained, which the group looked at in confusion, but Chatot then looked at me specifically, but then shook his head. He had seen my human form and, as such, he knew that I had gold hair (blonde). And after that, Chatot then cleared his throat.
"Well, regardless, we should focus on the task at hand. After all, the note said it wouldn't happen until December, which is a whole 10 months away from now. Anything else?" he asked.
"I heard a rumor about Fogbound Lake. It has a guardian called Uxie. And if anyone happens to find the lake, then Uxie locks eyes with them and wipes their memories clean! It's the reason why Fogbound Lake has eluded everyone for so long. Even if someone does find it, they lose all their memories afterwards," Chimecho said.
"Isn't that a bit extreme? I mean, if you lost every single memory, you'd basically be reverted to the mind of an infant, right?" I said, which Chimecho frowned at.
"Huh... the person who said that said that he lost all his memories and that it happened recently, but he was still able to talk and all that, had quite the story of how he thought he'd found Fogbound Lake, but then he forgot everything about the lake and its location after encountering Uxie," Chimecho said.
"Then obviously it isn't as bad as foretold. But it is still a sign of caution," I smirked, Chatot speaking after.
"Lisette is right, again. As you can see, the entire forest is coated in a thick fog, where it's difficult to see anything past a certain distance. So, our mission here is twofold. One, try to find anything relating to Fogbound Lake. And two, try and find some way to lift the fog. We should spread out in groups to maximize our effectiveness. Now let's do this!" Chatot smirked, all of us cheering after.
"HOORAAY!" And after that, we then dispersed, but not before Kiba found something on the ground.
"Hey, look at this. It's some kind of red rock," Kiba said before he then picked it up. "Ooh! It's warm! I think I'll keep it with me," he smirked, me then seeing it... and remembering that it was crucial to the lifting of the fog! This place, after all, was home to a Time Gear!
"Kiba, read my thoughts on the way, and we'll get down to business," I said, him nodding as I showed him the thoughts, him then gawking at how I knew that the stone he'd found was called the Drought Stone, and that we needed to find a statue shaped like a Groudon and place the stone inside of it. That would permanently lift the fog and allow us to find the lake much easier.
"Okay, I got it, but how did you know this?" he asked me.
"Remember the riddle?" I asked, him frowning at me.
"Quite a creepy riddle you made, especially when I see your thoughts and see that it's quite a creepy-sounding music that it was inspired by," he admitted.
"It's considered as catchy in my world, and in my opinion. The original was basically from a show where two characters from different universes, all fictionalized, would have a fight to the death. But it was all fake, not at all real," I said, that making Diancie confused.
"Who would want to see that, though?" Diancie asked.
"Quite a lot, actually... my world is kind of chaotic compared to this world, a lot more bad guys," I said, remembering that much from Arceus's description. "But it's just for entertainment, and a lot of time goes into each episode." I then remembered one of my favorites and I knew I had to explain it. "And one of my favorites was of two characters that happen to come from space, those being Stitch and Rocket. The former is a super-powerful alien that is able to react at 1 million times the speed of light and the latter has weapons strong enough to melt the face of someone able to survive a black hole with minor injuries," I explained.
"Um... what's a black hole?" Kiba asked.
"A very deadly abnormality that sucks up everything around it before collapsing into nothingness. It usually happens at random, but only because of an abnormality in space. And as such, we need to find and defeat whoever is behind the destruction of Temporal Tower. Because, from what I can recall, if he happens to be going after stopping time, and if he were to fail, you can bet they'll try to stop space next," I frowned.
"That's... honestly kind of freaky," Diancie admitted. By this point we'd gotten through the entirety of Foggy Forest and, after doing so, we had managed to level up significantly, with our whole group being up to 28 total for each of us. And the fog was actually even thicker in this part, but we could hear running water all around us.
"Ooh, that running water sounds very fresh. If only I could see it... I need a drink," I admitted as we then heard someone.
"Hey-hey! Kiba, Diancie, and Lisette! Come over here, it's me, Corphish!" the crabby Pokemon said from ahead, us then following his voice and seeing that he was right next to a Groudon statue, me then smirking at it. "I found this neat statue, and I have a feeling it's quite important, hey-hey!" Corphish said, me smiling and nodding as I then touched it while Kiba then read the footprint runes that were on the base of it.
"Uh-huh, I got it now! It says, 'place back the heart of Groudon and the way to the treasure shall be revealed'. And I think I have it right here," Kiba smirked as he then put the Drought Stone into the recess and, after the statue came to life, I gawked as I felt the dizzy feeling, me then running with the others as my Dimensional Scream activated!
I saw in this dream the sight of a trio of Pokemon that had been to this place before, it being none other than the Guildmaster-ranked Team Raider, were actually here before us and had just managed to defeat a Groudon, only to find it was an illusion. And after that, they then were told by an unseen force to leave. And they said they were hoping to find a treasure, at which point a small, spritely Pokemon appeared in front of them and stuck them in place with a Disable attack. And after that, the Pokemon then revealed his eyes to them, which all three of them gasped after before being teleported away, each one forgetting everything relating to Fogbound Lake, and ONLY about Fogbound Lake.
"Gee... what were we doing, Roserade?" asked the Gallade.
"I... I think we found something important... but then we got mind-wiped... it must have been a legendary or mythical Pokemon that did that to us... we may be good, but we should probably call it a day. Our coda has to be upheld, never go after a treasure guarded by a guardian protector," Roserade said, Rhyperior then speaking after.
"I remember that there was a Groudon involved... but why would we have taken it on?" he asked.
"I don't remember... maybe it hurt us, maybe it wanted to kill us, or maybe we could see right through it... regardless, let's get back to town... at the very least, we did find a golden mask, so it wasn't a total loss," Gallade said, them then finishing the dream, just in time for me to wake up to a gorgeous sight.
"Look, Liz! Look up!" I heard Diancie say in excitement, me shaking my head awake before then doing so, me gawking at the sight. A gigantic tower of rock, and with multiple waterfalls consantly flowing from the very top.
"That's gotta be it! Fogbound Lake has to be at the top of that structure! Where there's water, there's always a lake to go with it!" Kiba said, me nodding as I then took a drink from the stream... and I gawked at how it tasted... so good! The water tasted sugary-sweet and had a distinctive fruity taste to it!
"MMM! This water tastes so good! Even though it's warm, it tastes super good and- BOOOORP!" I burped loudly afterwards, me then blushing as I recalled why it tasted good. "Um... it's carbonated, that's why... eheh," I giggled in embarrassment.
"I'll go tell the others back at camp that you got the fog lifted! You go on ahead, hey-hey-hey!" Corphish smirked, him then scuttling off and our group about to go to the top, but then a trio of Pokemon appeared out of nowhere and blocked us off, me frowning at them.
"Ah. The bullies have returned. I thought I smelled garbage nearby," I frowned.
"Peh! You think you're all big stuff, don'tcha? We've been meaning to get some revenge against you for what you did to us," Skuntank grumbled at us.
"What WE did to YOU? Bitch, you did that all on your own! You spray us with a foul stench, then you eat the food stock, then you come after us and try to ruin our Perfect Apple run for no benefit to anyone, not even you! And when we show every piece of evidence to Chatot - which you were horrible at hiding, by the by - you think that WE are the ones at fault? If you would just think for yourselves instead of think about us all the time, then maybe you could actually do something productive!" I growled at them, the trio frowning and backing up at my statement as I spoke every item on the list. And then came the princess to say even more choice words.
"Yeah! Why do you have to bully us instead of do something different? I heard you tried to steal Kiba's personal treasure! What kind of Rescue Team are you, anyways?! You're not only uncouth, you're also detestable, despicable, smelly, disgusting, disrespectful, AND slobs! If I ever see you again after this, I'm going to turn into Mega Diancie AND WIPE THE FLOOR WITH YOU PUNKS!" Diancie shouted, the trio then backing up to the wall at her impressive outburst. And only after that did we get a visit from a Perfect Apple, followed by Wigglytuff, him looking at us in confusion after.
"Oh? Is something the matter?" he asked, me frowning at that.
"Nothing much, just a verbal argument, Wigglytuff... we were actually just about to head up to that lake up there. Think you can watch over Team Skull until the others get here, per chance?" I asked, him smiling after that.
"Of course, friendly friend! I'll be sure they don't get into trouble, haha!" Wigglytuff said in a happy state, my group then leaving and proceeding up the hill, which Kiba actually giggled at as we did so.
"Now, that was actually karmic justice. Now we're the ones schmoozing up Wigglytuff while they're the ones that can't say a thing," Kiba smirked at me.
"Yep, funny, and nice work on getting them spooked, Diancie. I could feel their fear from your words of anger," I smirked.
"I don't like them, at all. They're the opposite of what a Rescue Team should be. I just worry about what may happen with them being alone with Wigglytuff," she admitted.
"I wouldn't worry too much, Diancie. Wigglytuff is able to lift a boulder that even a Machamp couldn't lift, absolutely destroyed all three members when they got rid of his Perfect Apple supply, and, when he explored here, he admitted he was asleep for over half the trip, and he managed to get there barely before we did. He's got it in the bag," I smiled at her as we reached the base of the structure for Fogbound Lake and we saw that a bunch of steam was emitting from the cracks in the wall.
"Eep, that steam looks very hot. We can probably expect a lot of fire types. We'll get up there once we place our collected treasure chests in the storage," I said, the group nodding as we did so and then grabbed some oran and rawst berries to supply our trip. And after that, we then proceeded into the first true test, going through the entirety of Steam Caves and seeing if I could convince Uxie that we weren't a danger.