PMD: Warped Skies

by Team Ion

Playing the part of the hero sounded fun at first, until he took a meaty punch to the face. Stranded in a world reminiscent of a game he once knew, a human-turned-Meowth struggles to retain his humanity while filling the shoes of the game's protagonists. However, this is not a game. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers, SI-OC/Isekai. Cover by Bograbbit!

12. When Time Goes Missing

Chapter 12! I won't ramble on as long this time. Huge chapter, hugest chapter easily (only one that comes close is 6), thank you to everyone!

I've hit 100,000 words! Woo! I'm not even close to done yet :D

---

"Ow," Sean grunted as Chimecho removed the bandages.

"And… there we go!" Chimecho had taken them off as gently as she could, but the bandages tugged at Sean's fur a bit and he didn't enjoy that. "Your wounds look healed, I'll just clean the rest of the blood off."

Sean sat still as Chimecho did her work, the basin of water she had growing steadily pinker as she scrubbed dried blood off his body. "Those pokémon did quite a number on you," she commentated. "And it looks like you haven't been good," she tutted.

"Pardon?" Sean asked.

"You have a lot of scars underneath your fur," Chimecho said, brushing several faded lines she had found between the fur. "Here and here and there and here."

While she counted the scars, Sean mused. "My head still hurts but thank god for a pokémon's healing rate. If I was still human those scratches would take weeks to disappear."

He blamed all the pokémon that seemed magnetized to attack him for everything else.

"And… done!" Chimecho pulled back, formally white cloth pink and red and black. "All spick and span and ready to go!"

"Thank you Chimecho," Sean said smiling. He stretched and stood up with some regret. The bed was so much more comfortable than the straw piles he had been getting used to.

"Here are the items you were wrapped in." Chimecho hovered over Sean's Joy Ribbon and Rai's Defence Scarf. "All cleaned and ready to be worn again!"

"Thanks again," Sean said politely, taking both. He fiddled with the pair, not wrapping either of them around his neck just yet.

"Chatot would like to speak to everyone again," Chimecho said, leading him out of her tent. "While you were sleeping he went over a few things, but said he'd talk again once you were ready."

"Kind of him," Sean said as he stepped out into the glorious day. Fog was still there, glorious fog.

"Sean!" Rai called, bounding over to him. "How are you feeling?"

"Better," he said, brushing non-existent dirt off his shoulder. "How about you?"

"Better cause you're better!" Rai said, nuzzling him along the side that hadn't been wounded. "Was weird sleeping without you there."

"Here's your scarf back, thanks for giving it to me." Sean began to hand the scarf over before realising Rai couldn't really put it on himself. "Should I?" With an affirmative nod from Rai, Sean clumsily tied the Defence Scarf back around Rai's neck before putting the Joy Ribbon around his own.

"Ahem, attention please." Chatot called to gain Sean and Rai's focus, everyone else was already waiting quietly, but old habits die hard. "With everyone now at the base camp safe and sound, rested and recovered." He didn't look at Sean, but everyone else did. "We will now proceed to our exploration of Fogbound Lake!"

Smiles were shared, and glances spun as Chatot turned around. "As you can see, we are in a densely forested area. Somewhere within this forest, Fogbound Lake is supposably concealed… but so far, that has been nothing more than a rumour."

"Exploration teams of all types and pokémon have mounted many attempts at finding the lake," Wigglytuff cut in, Chatot bowing out gracefully to let the Guildmaster speak. "But so far the lake hasn't been found. No one has been able to crack the mystery."

"Hey-hey-hey, so is it there or what?" Corphish started, taking the limelight for himself. "Is Fogbound Lake really there or have we come this way for nothing?"

"Silly Corphish," Sunflora said, shaking her head. "You'll wreck the hopes and dreams saying stuff like that."

"YEAH!" Loudred roared. "DON'T SPOIL THINGS NOW!"

"Hey-hey…" Corphish hunched down in his shell.

"Um, may I?" Chimecho asked. "Um… while we were travelling, I heard about a certain legend."

"A legend you say?" Chatot asked.

"Yes." Chimecho nodded, swaying in the wind. "A legend about Fogbound Lake. According to the legend, Fogbound Lake is home to a pokémon called Uxie. Uxie is supposably exceedingly rare, perhaps even a Legendary Pokémon, and has the power to wipe the memories clean of anyone who meets its eyes. That is why, even if someone was to find Fogbound Lake, they wouldn't remember it after Uxie removed their memories, effectively muzzling any attempts to reveal the truth about the lakes existence."

"G-golly, that sounds terrible." Bidoof shook in place. "Positively hair-raising yup-yup."

"Meh-heh-heh, I've heard of this legend myself," Croagunk said. "I grew up in the Bubbling Swamp that we passed by. That legend's been around for some time, no one has ever proved it, but, how would they? It's never completed faded either. Meh-heh-heh, perhaps there is some truth to it?"

"What would we do if our memory was erased?" Dugtrio gasped. "The implications are terrible!"

"Are you… talking about we as in all of us, or we as in you?" Sunflora asked curiously.

"We as in Dugtrio! We might forget our love of the ocean, that would be an utter outrage!"

"You're so weird sometimes you make me go eek!" Sunflora exclaimed, shaking her head.

"Ahem," Chatot coughed politely. "You should all realise that places of this sort can be expected to have a folktale, or a legend attached to them. Our guild has overcome difficult challenges and obstacles when conducting successful explorations before!"

"That's how the guild earned its reputation of first-class right?" Rai asked.

"That's right." Wigglytuff nodded. "We never give up. Never surrender! Yoom TAH!" His voice nearly blew the guild away, but everyone managed to hold firm, getting a satisfied nod from Chatot in the process. "Hahaha so don't worry. Everything will be alright. Let's believe in success for this adventure too, and let's try! Let's try!" His overwhelming positivity reinvigorated the whole guild.

"HOORAY!"

"Let's move on with our plan," Chatot said, bringing the conversation back to its role. "The Guildmaster and I shall remain here to gather intelligence from the teams in the field. You. All of you shall go off in teams to explore this forest. Be aware that this forest is enshrouded in a deep fog. Once you enter it, your visibility will be severely restricted. And electric attacks." Chatot turned to Rai. "Will be affected by this to a degree as well, so be aware your attacks may not be as effective as normal."

"Right." Rai nodded.

"The Guildmaster and I believe that Fogbound Lake has defied discovery due to this constant fog. There has never been a recorded time of this fog being lifted, possibly meaning it is being kept in place by some means. Therefore, your search is twofold. One, search for Fogbound Lake. And two, find a way to lift this fog."

"I'm guessing Defog wouldn't work?" Sean asked as the apprentices nodded.

"No Defog has ever been able to shift the fog," Chatot answered, shaking his head. "If you accomplish either task, return to base camp and inform the Guildmaster or myself. That is all. Alright everyone, let's give it our best as always!"

"HOORAY!"

"Let's all try our best!" Sunflora said right after the cheer.

"It'd be nice if we made a discovery or two," Bidoof agreed, sharing a smile with Sunflora.

"We'll find the LAKE!" Loudred roared. "AS MEMBERS OF THE WIGGLYTUFF GUILD THERE IS NOTHING LESS WE CAN ACCOMPLISH!"

"We'll find the lake," Chimecho agreed as everyone staggered from Loudred. "I'm sure of it."

"Dad?" Diglett asked, coming to his fathers side. "I was thinking, maybe we should try looking under the ground. Maybe the lake is underground?"

"Not this one," Sean thought as Dugtrio beamed.

"Ah my son, my pride and joy, you make me proud. Let's look underground." He nodded with all his heads at Diglett before looking to the group. "Alright everyone, we will be off. A lot of ground to cover." And with that, Diglett and Dugtrio disappeared into the ground.

"Hey-hey-hey, we can't afford to dawdle either!" Corphish hopped to his feet.

"Yup-yup, we need to hurry."

"Meh-heh-heh, let's give it our best shot."

"Let's get this done Sean!" Rai turned to the meowth and received a nod from Sean. "No way we'll let this go undiscovered!"

"You two," Grovyle said, stepping up to them. "Forgive me for this, but I believe it'll be better for us both if we were to split up. Cover more ground that way."

"Oh." For a moment Rai was crestfallen, but he covered it up with a determined nod very quickly. "We're all in the same area anyway! Let's make sure to do this right!"

Grovyle nodded back. "You two will be fine, keep working on that Night Slash," he said to Sean who smiled back.

"Thanks for all your help up to this point."

"Yeah, thanks a whole heap!"

"You're welcome, now we should get going."

Grovyle hopped into the forest first, following the foggy pathway and being lost to sight within moments. "That's really foggy," Sean pointed out and Rai gave a weak chuckle.

"Heh, yeah. Well, there's no point in just waiting around. So, let's do this!"

They waved to Chatot and Wigglytuff as they went by.

"Chatot I'm bored."

"Please don't do this already."

"But Chatoooot."

Their voices fell quiet quickly though as Team Ion wandered the mist.

"Creepy place," Sean observed, withholding a shiver. "Charming."

"So, I was thinking," Rai began, not looking at him. Sean didn't move his eyes off the trees either, it felt like something was watching them. "What Chimecho said about the legend, Uxie I think she said."

"Yeah?" Sean asked when Rai didn't continue.

"She said that Uxie could remove memories… do you think that's what happened to you? You came here, and then Uxie took your memories?"

Sean frowned, the topic wasn't a huge surprise, but he hadn't looked forward to it either way. "Maybe," he said, not willing to just say no. "I don't feel any déjà vu or anything. It doesn't feel like I've been here before."

"Probably would be part of Uxie's goal though?" Rai said, feeling confident in his points. "Maybe if we meet this Uxie, we can ask them? Even if they didn't take your memories, they might have an idea on what did or a way to get them back!"

"Let's focus on finding Fogbound Lake first," Sean said, rubbing the sudden chill off his arm. "If Uxie's there, it would be a good idea to ask him."

"Good, let's find Fogbound Lake then!" Rai didn't rush off like he normally would, sticking close to Sean instead. They both preferred it. The forest was difficult to see through, and very quiet.

A subtle shift in the feeling the place gave out caused them both to avert their eyes and glance to each other. The trees in the mist became more oriented to positioning and the fog only seemed to grow heavier.

"I think we entered the dungeon," Sean said.

"Yep." Rai nodded. "No doubt."

"Let's get to this then." Sean gave Rai a confident smile he actually felt. Grovyle was not with them, the fog was still there, everything was coming back to the way he liked it.

Except.

Sean's smile fell as Rai began leading him through the dungeon. There was something niggling in the back of his head. "I feel like I'm forgetting something," he thought to himself as Rai began zapping a buneary. "But what could it be?"

In a different part of the dungeon, Grovyle began his journey to the Groudon statue. "Alright," he said to himself, patting his bag and the key hidden within it. "Time to do this."

---

"Um… Rai?" Sean asked once they had gotten well into the dungeon. "You don't need to work so hard."

"What do you mean?" Rai asked, sending a furret to the land of dreams with a powerful zap.

"You are kind of doing… everything for me."

Sean and Rai had been storming their way through Foggy Forest for nearly an hour at this point. Sean had his claws ready, ignoring the occasional jab of pain through his abdomen, and had a plan of attack.

Rai electrocuted every enemy they had come across. From the Flying-types to the Normal-types to the Grass-types. He had refused to allow anything to get even within talking distance to Sean, exerting his electricity through the fog.

He was even carrying the Treasure Bag.

Sean, being completely honest with himself, didn't exactly mind having less work to do, but this was getting excessive. Rai's electrical attacks were being dampened by the fog and the shinx was having to push himself a lot harder to make them work.

"Well, you know." Rai shrugged, rolling his shoulders and avoiding the question. "I'm pretty strong, and I attack from a distance all the time! I don't see the problem!"

"The fog IS making it harder for you to hit stuff," Sean pointed out, literally pointing a claw to multiple scorch marks across the room they were in. "Took you four tries to hit that noctowl."

"I'm still getting better with my aim!" Rai insisted. "Thunderbolt takes some time to master, that I know."

He demonstrated his greater proficiency by striking down a zigzagoon on the first shot. "That's all well and good," Sean said, crossing his arms. "But you're doing everything. I'm not even carrying the bag, and I'm the one who uses items."

"I didn't think you needed the weight on your back," Rai continued to insist upon his point. "It's not like I can't get an item out if I need it."

Sean stared him down for a moment. "Rai, please," he said softly and the shinx wilted.

"I… you got really hurt in Mount Horn," Rai said shamefully. "Part of that is because of me, I just want to make it up to you."

"Rai I'm fine." Sean stressed the word. "And I forgave you as soon as I woke up."

Rai shifted, still looking a bothersome mix of guilty and defiant.

"Can I at least have the bag?" Sean asked, stretching out a paw to Rai. "I mean, if something happens and you can't protect me, what am I supposed to do without it? It has all the seeds that I use, like that Sleep Seed I used on the aerodactyl that carried me away."

Sean's light, almost flippant, tone towards getting carried off caused a small shiver through Rai, but he did concede the point. "So that's what happened to the Sleep Seed I had packed," he said as he shrugged out of the bag.

"Crammed it down the beasts throat." Sean grinned proudly, feeling a lot better with the Treasure Bag slung around his shoulder. "And this isn't even heavy, I'm sure I can manage," he added to Rai's concern.

Smiling at his friend, Sean decided to lead the way for once. "I've got a paw on three seeds right now," he said as Rai shot him a mixture of annoyed and concerned looks. "And I'm fine. Barely even have any scars under all this fur!"

Sean's bravado remained as they made their way further into the dungeon. Fog was still smothering everything in its oppressive embrace, but it could do nothing to Sean.

"Here comes a hoothoot," Sean said, spotting the bird flying towards them. Rai squinted, trying to get a lock on the slow bird and began to charge electricity. "Let me take this one," Sean said, sweeping a paw out to block Rai's line of sight.

"What?" Rai asked as the claws in that paw extended.

"Let me," Sean repeated before dashing forward.

Heart pumping furiously in his chest, Sean readied his claws as the hoothoot spotted him and swooped down at him. "Scraaah!" Sean yelled, beginning to say the name of the attack before just slipping into a battle cry.

Hoothoot's beak shone white as Sean's claws did and Scratch met Peck in an almost embarrassingly underwhelming moment. Hoothoot's dive had given it some extra force and Sean yelped as his paw was pecked hard.

Recoiling, he managed to sidestep the hoothoot tackling him and the bird landed in the dirt. "Ow-ow-ow!" Sean yelped hopping on his feet and shaking his paw. "Ow!" With his other paw's claws glowing white, Sean slashed out with that one, delivering a much better blow upon hoothoot's face.

The feral pokémon screeched loudly and darted back, right as Rai decided to step in and shock it with Thunderbolt. Hoothoot crumpled like a sack of bricks and Rai came trotting over to his side.

"Good battle!" he said politely as Sean stopped making a fuss. Admiring his paw, he quickly found there was only a small spot of blood and even then, it wasn't flowing.

"You didn't need to step in," Sean said first, causing a small frown to twitch on Rai's face. "But thank you anyway. I'm glad I have you to back me up always."

Rai brightened again and nodded to Sean. "And I'm always happy to know I have you to do the same."

"Yeah," Sean sighed, rubbing his paw against his hip. "Let's just get going alright?"

"Right."

Without any more dawdling around, Team Ion stormed the Foggy Forest with the force of a stiff breeze.

Pokémon fell before them once Rai had shocked them enough times or Sean threw X-Eye Seeds with the precision of a shot-putter. In a feat of great irony to the pair, Sean did have the stronger presence in this dungeon.

The eyes of the meowth were keen and sharp and were able to spot things that even Rai's eyes didn't pick up on. A sharp slash with his claws or a precise seed thrown at the right angle was enough to ward a considerable number of pokémon off.

Needless to say, Sean was feeling much better about the hoothoot from earlier.

"And that makes twelve," Sean said as a furret scampered off into the fog. He flexed the claws on his left paw at the retreating figure for a moment before retracting them and beaming in delight. "Scared that one off for a while I bet!"

"You're doing fantastic!" Rai cheered, simultaneously happy for his friend, reassured Sean was in-fact healed, and relieved that he could restore some of his energy. Shocking enemies through all this fog was really dragging him down.

"I know, I know," Sean said waving him off facetiously. "You're too kind."

"How can I be too kind?" Rai asked, cocking his head as Sean gave him a bright look of adoration.

"Never change," he said beaming. "You are far too cute as you are."

"Change is good though," Rai insisted before fluffing up and barking. "Stop calling me cute!"

"Who's going to hear me?" Sean laughed, running forward through the empty room they had entered.

"I AM!" Rai yelled, chasing down the slower pokémon.

Sean dodged Rai's first pounce, but he couldn't avoid the second one due to laughing far too hard. "Ah, you're too heavy, help! Help!"

Giggling, Rai leaned down. "Who's cute now?" he asked.

"You," Sean replied without hesitation, even with his mouth pushed into the grass.

Rai growled, but he wasn't the only one. "Eep!" Was all Rai managed before something tackled him.

"Pleh, what's going on?" Sean yelled spitting out grass, tone changing to alarm as he pulled himself up. Yips and barks from the two pokémon wrestling. One was Rai, Sean could tell, especially when the yellow light of electricity blasted the other one, off Rai.

"Oh, go to the Mirrored Land!" he yelled at the pokémon that had attacked him. Sean had to bury a snort of amusement once he saw Rai's face, all concern being washed away. A big blotch of green paint was striped across his face and he gave Sean an equally filthy look for the laughter.

Rai shot off a Thunderbolt, but the smeargle avoided it by rolling to the side. It's tail waggled in a few rapid positions, green paint somehow remaining in the air as the tail swept through.

"What's it doing?" Sean asked in surprise, he could guess but this was just weird.

"I don't know, but I don't like!" Rai answered, charging a second Thunderbolt. Before he could, however, the smeargle finished sketching Rai's Thunderbolt and the green paint turned bright yellow before it sunk into the smeargle's body.

"That's weird," Sean said, backing away as the smeargle turned to him. "Looks like it's going to AH!"

The smeargle used Thunderbolt, blasting Sean off his feet.

He landed with a crash and a groan. "Why does this feel familiar?" he asked before twitching as the remaining electricity caused his limbs to spasm.

Even now, the smeargle made no noise, simply stared forward with glassy eyes narrowed into a foggy fury.

Rai, upon Sean getting blasted, abandoned charging electricity and instead chose to just charge the smeargle himself. "BACK OFF!" he roared, slamming headfirst into the smeargle's chest.

With contact made, Rai unleashed the built-up electricity and for a moment the fog lifted from the light and energy the attack gave off.

Smeargle did not get back up.

With the threat unconscious, Rai calmed down and turned to where Sean had fell in a panic. To his surprise, Sean was already up and rubbing his neck.

"Ow," Sean said to Rai's wide-eyed staring. "Also, wow. You really took that thing out."

Sighing in relief, Rai trotted back over to Sean. "Glad you're alright," he said, rubbing against him for a moment. "When you got shocked I…"

"I get it." Sean nodded. "I tend to react the same way when someone attacks you! Glad to know you think as highly of me as I do of you." He grinned, giving a wink and laughing at Rai's reaction.

"Shush," Rai said, but without any heat to it. "You really are pretty tough. That Joy Ribbon must really be doing some work because of all the times you've been…"

Rai trailed off, but to his relief Sean laughed. "Yeah, this thing was a great idea." He fiddled with the bow the Joy Ribbon had been tied to. "Not quite as snazzy as my Silver Bow, but much more useful really. I'll be stronger than you in no time!"

"I don't think it works quite like that." Rai began but shrugged as Sean pointed the way. "As long as we are both alright!"

"I survived Boulder Quarry AND the disaster that was Mount Horn," Sean pointed out as they left the room. "I think I can take some Foggy Forest and come out swinging."

They continued fighting through the dungeon, beset at every turn.

Multiple pokémon began to appear at once and Sean and Rai were forced to fight back to back to divert and defeat several enemies all at the same time.

Try as he might, Sean couldn't quite form a Night Slash yet. His claws would glint black for a moment as he tried to remember what Grovyle had said, but his mind continued to flip back to the aerodactyl or worse the parasect and distract him.

Rai was getting tired. He had eaten most of their supply of Oran Berry's to keep his energy going and two of their three apples. Sean didn't mind, he was the one who suggested it. Even with his better capacity to fight, Rai was still the powerhouse of the duo.

To Sean's dismay he accidentally used the Blast Seed they had on a duo of pokémon. Except he missed his throw and the explosion occurred a few feet before the noctowl and skiploom, it managed to scare them flying off however.

They fought their way deeper into the dungeon until the roaring sounds of water attracted them. The walls of the dungeon began to melt away into proper trees and plants, the oppressive air of the dungeon drifted away, even the fog was a bit lighter here.

"Wow," Rai gasped as they entered a wide clearing. The fog, while thinner than the dungeon, was still quite thick when looking up, but had mostly lifted on the trail to a large stone statue. "Water is coming down in waterfalls all over the place."

All around them, lined with shrubs and pleasantly cool grass, water fell from great heights. It splashed out in a fine misty trail, invigorating the pair as they were cooled and refreshed by the falling water.

"But, where are we?" Rai asked, glancing around. "Is this the deepest part of the forest?" He looked around a little more, but there was no object of interest barring the very back.

Sean smiled as the thunderous sounds of water crashing down filled his ears and he shivered pleasantly. Rai caught that.

"Are you cold?" he asked, concerned.

"Nah," Sean replied, shaking his head and rubbing an arm. "I just enjoy the sound of water. Gives me goose bumps."

Before Rai could ask what those were, they had stepped to far into the clearing and the sound of water crashing down completely pushed out all other noise.

Sharing a look, they walked forward quickly to escape the loudest part of the waterfalls.

"Meh-heh-heh, what do we have here?"

Both Sean and Rai jumped in alarm once the low voice reached their ears. Spinning around they found Croagunk standing inches from them both. "How long have you been there?" Sean gasped, clutching his chest dramatically as Rai wheezed.

"A few minutes," Croagunk answered. "Exited the dungeon about a minute after you. I said hello, guess neither of you heard me. Meh-heh-heh."

Sharing a nettled look with Sean, Rai pushed a smile forward. Croagunk was unsettling occasionally, but he was a good guy still. "Sorry, the waterfalls were so loud."

"Meh-heh-heh, no offence taken." Croagunk waved them off and they stepped aside as he walked forward, eyes trained on the statue. "I'm more curious about this sunken statue to be honest."

They were much closer to it now and the pair hurried to keep up with Croagunk. The venomous frog was surprisingly quick, striding through the softened, squelchy, ground as if he'd grown up in it.

"Very possible," Sean thought as the three of them came to a stop. "That's fun." Sean grimaced as he got a firsthand look at Groudon.

Or second-hand look, this was a statue. A gargantuan statue that was likely nothing in comparison to the real thing. Sean's mouth curled in a few bizarre directions as he looked over it.

Face: Gigantic and snarling, mouth wide enough to eat him in one gulp.

Body: Rough and spiky all over, perfect for battering his feeble meowth form into paste or impaling on any one of those barbs.

Hands: Thick and crushing, wide enough to crush the organs out of him.

Feet: Broad and also spiky, capable of crushing or spearing in equal measure.

Everything: Absolutely terrifying. This was the form of a true deity, the embodiment of the planet, the creator of the landmass, a being so ancient and powerful Sean was nothing in comparison.

"W-what is this?" Rai squeaked, almost as terrified of whatever the statue could be of. He feared the unknown aspect of the statue, wondering what the beast could do. Sean feared the known, he had an unfortunately good idea what this thing could do if it was real.

"Dunno," Croagunk answered, shrugging. "Has to be a pokémon, but what kind?"

"I've never seen a pokémon like THAT before," Rai said, taking a deep breath and calming his nerves. "Okay, it's just a statue, maybe there's something to this thing?" He stepped forward without, much, hesitation and began looking over it closer. "Sean, you've got good eyes, take a look!"

Sean's instincts told him not to stop looking at the monsters face, but the rational part of him mutinied and he shook his head. "Just a statue," he confirmed and strode forward with his own confidence. Now was not the time for dilly dallying, he knew where to look.

"Rai, here," Sean called once he had gone around to the statue's left side. "There's something here I can't read."

Feet. He found lots of feet and had no prompts or really any idea how to read footprint runes.

"Is this an inscription?" Rai asked, gaining Croagunk's interest enough for him to come around himself.

"Meh-heh-heh, looks like it," Croagunk confirmed. "Footprint runes, local dialect too. It says…" Croagunk stared at it for a brief moment, Sean was a little surprised but had nothing to say about this. "Reignite the life that burned within Groudon. Then the sky shall blaze with the suns heat. The path to treasure shall be revealed."

"The path to treasure!?" Rai gasped. "Croagunk that's incredible! The key to finding Fogbound Lake could be right here!"

"Meh-heh-heh, this is a mystery we've got to solve than."

"Shouldn't be too hard," Sean said, smiling lightly as the events all fell into place. He gave Rai a meaningful look, only to receive a questioning one back.

"Shouldn't be too hard?" Rai repeated, frowning. "Um… reignite the life that burned within Groubon. Then the sky blazes with heat. The path to treasure shall be revealed. This seems pretty tricky; do you have some idea Sean?"

Sean, a little annoyed at his partners foolishness, opened his mouth to point out the warm object Rai picked up at the start of Foggy Forest. Then he froze, mouth open, eyes widening in a sudden jab of pure horror. "HE DIDN'T GET THE STONE! THAT'S WHAT I WAS FEELING, WE FORGOT THE BLOODY STONE!"

"Uh… Sean?" Rai asked as Sean had gone very still indeed. "You figured something out?" He could be optimistic.

"Uh no." Sean's voice was very hoarse, and he cleared his throat. "Nope. I thought you might have an idea, seen anything, felt anything. I mean, you know more about stuff than me! Does reignite the fire sound familiar to you?"

"Uh…" Rai frowned and looked around, settling on the statue for a moment. "Maybe a Fire-type attack? Are there any that… burn ash or something?"

"Not that I've heard of," Croagunk answered, stepping back from the statue. "Meh-heh-heh, this could be the key though, I think we'd better get back to base camp. Maybe the Guildmaster has an idea?"

"Yes, that's right!" Rai nodded. "Wigglytuff is a legendary adventurer, he'll know something I'm sure!"

Sean gave his own nod. Wracking his brain, he was reasonably sure the Fire Stone, whatever it was called, was located near the beginning of Foggy Forest. He could look around there if he needed.

They began to walk back, passing the thunderous waterfalls and enjoying the spray of water again. Rai was energized, Croagunk was… Croagunk, he was difficult to read at the best of times.

Feeling uneasy about the whole thing, but determined to get this done right, Sean glanced back to the statue.

"Oh." He blinked, but a flash of green only reaffirmed his belief. "Oh, you son of a bitch."

He thought fast, but his mouth moved faster. "Hey Rai?" he asked, mind going blank as he had nothing prepared.

"Hm?" Rai asked, stopping and glancing back to Sean.

"Maybe we should look around here for a bit?" he asked, eyes trained on where he saw movement. "I mean, we only just got here, and it isn't like all three of us need to go back to base camp?"

Rai looked to Croagunk who shrugged. "Could be a good idea," he said.

"Yeah good idea Sean!" Rai smiled and broke from Croagunk's side to join Sean's. "We might see everyone back at the statue!" he said and Croagunk nodded.

"Good luck," he said, giving a wave and disappearing into the mist.

"Okay," Rai said, walking back with Sean. "Where should we look first?" he asked, quickening his pace once he realised Sean was powerwalking.

"To the right I think," Sean said firmly, still acting on autopilot. His mind was yelling at him to slow down, but Sean was not listening to Sean at the moment.

"Uh okay," Rai agreed, turning right as Sean was already crossing the path. He glanced back to the statue, but Sean didn't pay it a second look. "Where are we going?" he asked, a little alarmed. "Shouldn't we look around the statue first?"

Sean came to a stop, breathing raggedly for a moment before shaking his head. "Sorry, I think I saw someone go this way," he admitted, gesturing forward with his paw. The claws were extended, and Sean made a conscious effort to pull them back in.

"You saw someone?" Rai asked. "Who?"

"It looked a bit like…" Sean hesitated, but he'd already said so much. "Grovyle. But I don't think he saw us, he probably didn't even realise we were here."

"Grovyle?" Rai cocked his head, and for once Sean didn't call him cute for it. "He probably would be this far, if not further. Maybe you're right, if he's around he might have some idea!"

Smiling suddenly, perhaps a little too much in Sean's opinion, Rai bounded forward. "Hey Grovyle? Are you here?" he shouted, voice carrying in an echo but drowned in a waterfall before long.

"Doubt he'd be able to hear you," Sean said, figuring Grovyle wouldn't emerge even if he did. "We should just look."

"You're probably right, okay let's go."

From here, Sean felt flatfooted. Part of his mind couldn't help but believe that they had simply missed the stone and he shouldn't have said anything and gone back with Croagunk. Another part was mad at Grovyle for some reason he couldn't quite fathom, it was just upset.

Yet another piece of his mind was panicking, but this happened most of the time, so he ignored it. The rest of it was nervous as he didn't recognise the area, and not just because of the mist.

"Do you even see the path to Steam Cave?" Sean wondered as he and Rai walked carefully. The fog had grown incredibly thicker in a few short moments, limiting their vision to just a few meters. The sound of water falling slowly began to drift away as the fog seemed to drown it all away.

"Where are we?" Rai whispered. Whispering seemed right, the area had gone eerily quiet.

"Somewhere," Sean answered, falling back to sarcasm in face of his nerves.

"Yes, I can see that," Rai grumbled.

"I can't," Sean responded, smiling despite himself.

Rai gave a small giggle and he felt justified.

"I think we should stick to the left," Sean said, angling them in the direction he chose. Their feet squelched in soft ground. It wasn't quite mud yet, but it was right on the edge of it. Sean had left the horrific feeling in the back of his head as the fog was of a greater concern.

"Normally we'd be able to find the entrance no problem." He frowned, thinking further. "Should we even look for it? Can it be found with all this damn fog? Okay, I'm going to call out."

"Grovyle?" Sean called, voice almost immediately being lost to the fog. "GROVYLE?"

"GROVYLE?" Rai joined in, voice only a little shrill. "GROVYLE?"

"Good lord this place is unsettling," Sean commented after their shouting did nothing.

"I'm amazed we can even breathe fog this thick," Rai mumbled.

"A charming thought," Sean said dryly, stepping forward into new territory. "Wha?"

He froze, and Rai froze with him, having also stepped onto new ground. They looked down, even this close the fog still fuzzed up their features. Still, both could see they stood onto ground no different than what was before, except it was different.

"Is the ground warm?" Sean asked after a moment of them staring at their feet.

"Yeah," Rai answered, after testing the ground out a little more. "Really warm."

"It wasn't warm before," Sean said, mind automatically thinking about horrible land monsters, which led him to thinking about a real Groudon being right underneath them.

Rai thankfully spoke, moving him away from such thoughts. "No, it wasn't. This is… weird."

"Could be…" Sean paused as a thought slammed into him. "Steam Cave! It must be warm, we might be close!" He held his tongue, not sharing that amount of knowledge. Instead he nodded firmly to Rai. "There might be something ahead. Remember what the statue said, about reigniting fire or something. This is warm, this might be what we're looking for."

Rai's eyes widened before he grinned widely. "That's really clever!" he said, genuinely impressed. "I hadn't even considered that."

Sean blushed, under the fur, and looked away in a mix of joy and guilt. "Let's just go on," he said.

The fog began to thin as they walked forward as the air itself began to heat up. It didn't go away completely, but the hotter air caused it all to rise a bit further and the pair were able to see further.

They were able to see the death and/or pain coming in time due to this.

"Woah!" Rai froze and grabbed Sean with his teeth, causing the meowth to yelp. "Sorry," he said, spitting out white fur. "That pool of water just ahead, that must be boiling hot."

Sean grimaced, both in pain in his leg and from the realisation he had gotten unfortunately close to stepping in that. "We'd better be careful," he said, backing away and going a safer route.

Sean and Rai pressed together, confident the other would spot any danger they missed, and stepped forward carefully. They reached a few dead ends in terms of boiling water and had to back away.

"I didn't think there would be a maze here," Sean grumbled as they had to carefully turn back again.

"Wish one of us could fly," Rai said, agreeing with the sentiment. "Chatot would be really helpful here."

They continued, making their way further and further, turning back, going way back, going further, circling back, going further and further and further until finally.

"There!" Rai called, pointing forward with a paw. "I think I see something!"

The pools of water suddenly seemed to part, instead of the frustrating maze there were simply two large pools on either side. Neither raced forward just yet, wary of a trap, but nothing happened as the two walked up to a cave opening that was positively belching at them.

"Mouth of the beast much," Sean said, frowning at the fissure-like opening.

"We can go in through here I'm sure," Rai said, stepping up to look over it. The heat from the cave had caused a blind spot in terms of fog, but steam was also wafting out of it anyway.

"It's going to be so hot in there," Sean moaned. "Steam from a cave opening? Oh my god."

"It's too late to get cold feet," Rai joked, getting a Look from Sean. "Heh."

"You are funny," Sean said completely flatly. "Hilarious."

"Thanks." Rai smiled, blissfully ignoring the expressions of bemusement that crossed over his friends face. "Whatever is in here probably lifts the fog, my pulse is racing just thinking about this."

"Maybe it's the real entrance," Sean joked, being completely serious. "And we've just bypassed the lifting of the fog?"

"Could be," Rai agreed, surprising Sean. "Either way, something important is in there and I can't wait to find out!"

Sean nodded, smiling at the enthusiasm of Rai. "Right," he agreed, nodding. "My pulse is going like crazy myself. Whatever's up there…"

Rai glanced to Sean, but the meowth was staring forward with a fixed expression of determination. "Let's go Sean. Let's go inside and move forward!"

With that, Team Ion entered Steam Cave.

---

"Ah Croagunk," Chatot chirped when he spotted Croagunk emerging from the forest. "Have you something to report?"

"Meh-heh-heh, indeed Chatot sir." Croagunk nodded. "At the end of the Foggy Forest there is a statue of a pokémon apparently known as Groudon."

Chatot blinked. "Groudon you say? Hmm, curious."

"You know of it?" Croagunk asked.

"Well of course!" Chatot scoffed. "Who do you take me for? I am the head of intelligence for the guild. Groudon is a Legendary Pokémon whose myth claims as the being responsible for creation of the land by raising it from the sea."

"Meh-heh-heh. Sounds like a powerful being," Croagunk said.

"Indeed. I think it may be a good idea for me to view this statue myself, the Guildmaster has already gone ahead…"

"I spotted the Guildmaster racing to the end of the dungeon," Croagunk said. "I said hello, but he didn't seem to hear me."

"Probably chasing a Perfect Apple," Chatot muttered under his voice. "Nonetheless, we should go forward from here. No one else has returned, so they are likely still moving through the dungeon themselves. Will you accompany me Croagunk?"

"Sure."

Once Chatot was ready, not taking too long, they strode forward back into Foggy Forest, leaving the camp defenceless. But little was actually left there to begin with, only the tents.

"So, Sean is a human?" Croagunk asked right as they entered the dungeon.

Chatot squawked, flapped his wings, feathers going everywhere. "He told YOU?" Chatot screeched before calming himself. "Uh, of course. I know how… close you two are?"

"Meh-heh-heh, nah I just overheard him telling you back at the guild. Thought my ears might have been playing tricks on me, seems not. Meh-heh-heh."

Chatot was aghast for a moment, frozen in a half-flap as Croagunk went ahead, paused, and glanced back at the frozen Chatot. "I will not tell anyone," he said conversationally. "I was just curious. Makes sense, considering how weird he is. Liking Plain Seeds, meh-heh-heh."

Chatot slowly relaxed and nodded, unable to say anything. He quickly joined Croagunk and they began their trek through the dungeon.

---

"Oh my gosh!" Sean howled, channelling Sunflora. "This is the worst. Possible. THING!"

Rai had no words, he was too busy rolling around on the damp floor, crying with laughter.

Their initial entry into the hot and humid Steam Cave was even more unpleasant than Sean had feared. It was hot. It was humid. It was very uncomfortable.

He was reminded of the fact that felines don't sweat and had to pant a lot to keep his temperature at a reasonable level. As did Rai, although his discharges of electricity were able to serve a similar purpose, to the meowth's jealously.

The moistness of the ground was unpleasant, but nothing more than wandering the heated quagmire previously.

The issue that Sean faced, however, is that after a little while his fur began to stick up. And up. And up some more until he had the appearance of some ballooned out puffball.

"My fur isn't even this long!" Sean shrieked, Rai collapsing ever harder into laughter. "Even after getting shocked in Mount Horn my bloody fur wasn't this puffy! AH!"

Coughing now from all the air he took in too harshly, Rai staggered to all fours, blinked the tears out of his eyes, spotted Sean and fell back to the ground in hysterical laughter.

It hadn't helped that Sean had crossed his arms, put on his sternest glare, and pointed it right at Rai. Giving him the best view of the stern puffball.

Soon enough, however, Sean couldn't put up the façade any longer and laughter began to build in his own chest. "He's so amused," he thought as he burst into laughter himself. "That's worth any embarrassment." Sean wasn't shy about making fun of himself for the amusement of others, and with Rai's reaction he felt pretty good.

Eventually the novelty wore off and Rai was able to at least stand and laugh. He faced away from Sean and the pair began the journey again, sniggering occasionally after a funny thought of spotting Sean out of the corner of his eye.

The further they went in, however, the more relentless the enemies became.

Unlike Foggy Forest, this time the pair were prepared.

Without any Grovyle having softened the dungeon up for them previously, Rai and Sean knew from the get-go they had to fight to win.

To both of their surprise, not that either would say such a surprise out loud, they made an effective team.

"Get ready Rai!" Sean called, delivering three brutal Scratches to a snubbull's head, reeling it back with red lines over its skin as Sean darted back, distracting the snubbull enough for Rai to blast it to dreamland.

"Duck," Rai commanded right after blasting the snubbull away. Sean followed suit, feeling the puffed-up fur on the back of his neck move as something zipped past.

"YAA!" a yanma buzzed, sending off a green shockwave that sent both members of Team Ion sprawling.

Sean got to his feet first, having been better braced for the attack, and he sprinted forward, catching the Bug-type's attention.

Buzzing in some common but unexplained anger, it dove after him glinting white. Sean dived to the side, avoiding the Tackle, and rolled until he could return to two feet.

Extending his claws, he yelled. "Come at me then!" And the yanma came for him.

Sean grinned and ducked down again, giving the recovered Rai a clear shot to fry the yanma and knock it unconscious.

"Awesome!" Sean cheered, doing an awkward shake and high-five with Rai. "Yeah."

"Hoo." Rai blew a bit of fur out of his face. "We've come pretty far, how much further do we need to go?"

"No idea," Sean said cheerfully. Without the existence of actual floors as per the game, he could only guess. And he had but one guess. "Hopefully not to far. I really want to stop looking like something you pull out of a shower drain."

"What's a shower drain?" Rai asked as they left the battlefield behind them. A few pokémon twitched as electricity still was being grounded, others were just lying around unconscious.

"Basically, it's a bath that moves constantly. Much cleaner, faster than bathing too."

"THAT'S why you never bathed," Rai said, realisation flooding him. "You don't know how to bathe!"

"I DO SO!"

"Then you prefer this shower thing?"

"Eh… baths are more relaxing, but showers are better to get clean with."

"Oh. So, then what do you-?" He paused as the ground changed. "Huh. I think we're farther than I thought."

"Oh, please let this be over," Sean said, rushing forward. He slowed quickly, remembering what lurked above, and Rai caught up as they entered a waypoint.

"This is a fun room," Sean commented, looking at all the nothing. No Kangaskhan Rock here, Sean noted. "They definitely don't exist. Wouldn't make any sense anyway."

"Why?" Rai asked. "There's nothing in… oh sarcasm, gotcha."

Sean smiled, gave Rai a pat. "The training is going well," he said vacantly, receiving an amused look from Rai. "Right now, I think I want to have just a small break."

"We have climbed way up high," Rai commented, nodding. "Can't be much further from the top!" At Sean's pleading look he relented. "We should take a small break so the last leg of it isn't too hard."

Sean sighed, sitting down and leaning against a wall. Rai joined him, unable to stop a groan of relief when he laid down as well. "Heh, you're tired too," Sean said, and Rai poked his tongue out at him.

"grr."

Rai blinked as Sean's heart clenched. "Huh? What was that?" On his guard, Rai looked back and forth carefully. No one was now. "Did you hear that or am I hearing things?"

"GRR."

"No, I heard that," Sean said, voice an octave higher than normal. "Yep, that sounded big. And scary." He cleared his throat, shook his head, and stood up. "But no matter what, we shall prevail!"

He clenched a paw and raised it at the roof and shook it vigorously. "Hear me foul phantom, you cannot scare us off!"

"Uh…" Rai cocked his head at Sean's antics but decided to put it aside for now. "Okay. It's not that far to the top I'm sure, should we get going?"

"Yes," Sean said, still glaring at the roof. His heard was pounding, his paws were clammy from all the steam, but he knew what was coming. This was right. This was correct. This was supposed to happen.

"Oh, wow that is a loooooot of endoprhins," he thought as waves of just good flowed through him. "Things are back on track now and no one can stop us! Ahahahahahahahahaha!"

While Sean laughed maniacally, Rai dug a pair of apples and an Oran Berry out of the bag Sean wore. "Here," he said, passing an apple. "We should eat before we go."

While laughing between glorious bites of delicious apple, Sean nearly choked, and he decided to end the madness.

"One Oran Berry?" he asked once his breath was caught.

"Cut it in half please." Rai smiled, and Sean quickly sliced it in twain.

"Love doing that," he admitted as he took his half. It was their last Oran Berry, and both felt a bit better once it was down.

"Shall we be off?" Sean asked once they were up and going.

"We already are," Rai answered and bounded forward, Sean racing to match his speed within moments.

A distant, almost high-pitched, bellow rocked the entire cave, causing both of them to stumble. "That sounded like…" Sean trailed off.

"Wigglytuff."

They shared a nod and raced forwards.

---

"My-my, what is this?" Chatot gasped and even Croagunk was impressed.

"Meh-heh-heh, did those two manage a miracle?" he wondered out-loud as the fog melted away.

The rest of the dungeon was a breeze and only moments after they had exited the dungeon, did another voice reach them. "Oh my gosh Croagunk and Chatot!"

They turned to find Sunflora and Loudred rushing to them.

"By golly, the fog's just plume faded away." Bidoof and Corphish joined them quickly.

"Well-well, someone has clearly made an excellent discovery," Dugtrio said as he and his son emerged from the ground.

"Wow look up there!" Diglett gasped, causing everyone present to look up.

"M-my word!" Chatot squawked. "With the fog gone it seems only one reasonable conclusion can be made. Fogbound Lake is in the sky!"

"Everyone over here!" The familiar voice only belonging to Chimecho called out and the eight pokémon looked down and then forward. Chimecho bobbed up and down in greeting, floating by a fearsome statue and two other pokémon.

"Guildmaster!" Chatot called, easily deducing the pink pokémon to be his long-term friend.

"And Grovyle too oh my gosh," Sunflora swooned as the eight of them rushed forward.

"Hello everyone," Wigglytuff greeted as they got close.

"Guildmaster, are you responsible for the lifting of the fog?" Chatot demanded, fluttering up to him. To his surprise, Wigglytuff shook his head.

"No, no. Not me, I couldn't figure this one out. It was Grovyle! Grovyle!" He pointed a stubby arm to the Grass-type, who had been standing a little apart from Wigglytuff. "And Chimecho too!"

"It was nothing," Grovyle rumbled. "Merely a trinket I picked up that Wigglytuff and Chimecho deduced the value of."

"Indeed?" Chatot asked, turning his gaze from the two to the floating Psychic-type. "You also assisted in the discovery here?"

"Oh, it was nothing," Chimecho sang, smiling at everyone individually before turning back to Chatot. "I was simply admiring the statue here and noticed there was a large hole in its chest." Looking now showed no such hole, but a gleaming red stone instead. "Wigglytuff asked if either of us had found anything that could fit, and Grovyle offered up a stone he had with him."

"It was really warm too," Wigglytuff giggled. "When I put the stone in, the statue's eyes went really red like it was going to stand up and attack us! But instead it just got brighter and brighter and I had to look away, like this." Wigglytuff demonstrated covering his face and diving to the ground. "Then once the light was gone, the fog was gone too! Then you were here and our friends all found each other!"

"Incredible work you two." Chatot nodded to Chimecho and Grovyle. "And the Guildmaster of course." Everyone nodded to Wigglytuff, who waved them off.

"But we're missing some friends." Wigglytuff almost frowned. "Meowth and Shinx, this is terrible, this is terrible!"

"Meh-heh-heh, if I may Guildmaster?" Croagunk asked, stepping forward. Chatot stood out of the way to let Croagunk speak. "Those two remained here when I came to alert Chatot of the statue. They said they'd look around for clues, you didn't see either of them?"

Wigglytuff and Chimecho shook their heads.

"Perhaps they went further?" Grovyle suggested. "It'd be easy to get lost in that fog after all."

"Then we must go forward then!" Wigglytuff declared, pointing to the right. "After Team Ion. They must have found their own way, they are very brave and very skilled. But we cannot let them take all the glory, everyone let's go!"

"HOORAY!"

The guild thundered and began running forward.

"Hey-hey Chatot?" Corphish asked as they began storming forward.

"Yes?"

"Do you know what that statue was?"

"Of course," Chatot huffed. "As I said to Croagunk earlier, that was Groudon. The Legendary Pokémon whose myth states created the earth by rising it from the sea. He is inconceivably powerful."

"Ooh imagine fighting someone like that," Wigglytuff said, shivering. "That'd be so scary and so fun!"

"Please don't go looking for Groudon," Chatot begged.

"Aww…"

"This way." Grovyle said, racing forward faster than anyone else. They arrived at a steaming quagmire, boiling water in all directions, but a path could be found.

"Chatot, we don't have any time to spare," Wigglytuff said and Chatot nodded.

"Correct sir," he flew up and over and quickly directed the guild along the quickest path, his keen eyes missing no path.

They continued going until the reached the yawning mouth of a very hot cave.

"Hey-hey, that's the way in!"

"We can't just stand here! Oh my gosh, we've got to hurry!"

"We'll need to go in smaller groups," Wigglytuff said, frowning. "It'd take far to long with this many, plus how dungeons react when more than four enter. No, everyone split yourselves into groups of four! Chatot and Grovyle, you take someone's place each. Bidoof and Diglett, you come with me."

With the steadiness of Wigglytuff's orders, everyone was ready within moments. The group led by Grovyle entered first, then Chatot's, lastly Wigglytuff smiled to the two members of the guild he had asked to come along with him.

"Excited?" he asked eagerly, getting rapid nods and no words in response. "Yay! This'll be so much fun. Yoom TAH!"

With the whole cave shaking for a moment, undoubtably stirring the feral pokémon within, Wigglytuff lead Bidoof and Diglett into Steam Cave.

---

After battling what felt like three whole swarms of Bug-type pokémon in a very hot place filled with Fire-type pokémon, Sean and Rai were ready for this to be done.

"We've climbed way up," Rai said as the entire cave yawned open, allowing into a canyon of sorts. "This place." Rai frowned as Sean felt it. "This place feels… strange, somehow."

"Everything feels tense," Sean said. "Like the air itself if waiting for something."

"It's making my skin crawl all over." Rai shivered. "This place feels dangerous, I feel like…"

"You're getting crushed?"

"Yeah."

"Me too."

They shared an uneasy look and Sean attempted a smile. Something flashed.

"Ah!"

Something flashed again, and a bellowing roar shook the entire plateau. "The roaring! Something's HERE!"

Something stepped forward. A single stride, shaking them to their bones.

"S-something is," Rai whimpered, stepping back with each thump. "Is c-coming."

Every step caused them to bounce on the ground with the sheer intensity, the footsteps grew more rapid and soon enough the entity emerged.

"W-w-what is that?" Rai squeaked, unable to even yell it. "It looks like the statue," he whimpered, fear tears welling up. "That thing really exists? Groudon?"

Sean was similarly flat-footed and barely able to think in the presence of such an overwhelming creature. Every instinct urged him to run, every little voice that ran through his head told him to run.

Groudon was massive in comparison to him. His bulk blotted out the sun where they stood, each breath he took was loud enough for them to hear, each twitch and shiver that ran across his body was perfect in its realism.

Only. Groudon would be certainly larger than this behemoth. Large indeed, but frankly Sean was a little unimpressed.

"You! Have you come to desecrate this place? DEPART NOW!" It's voice shook the plateau, each tone rumbling with the ancient power of an eternal being.

"W-wait, we've only come for Fogbound Lake," Rai said, words spilling from him in panic. "That's all we're here for, to see if the legend is true, we just want to see it!"

"WHAT!?" Groudon's voice rose to a bellowing roar. "I AM THE GUARDIAN OF FOGBOUND LAKE! I AM GROUDON! YOU WILL NEVER LEAVE HERE ALIVE INTRUDERS!"

Groudon flexed into a battle position, to Sean it looked like he was going for a hug.

"Urk, scary stuff," Rai whimpered, shivering like a leaf. His eyes were wide, and pupils were dilated, yet no matter how he tried, he couldn't move.

"PREPARE FOR MY WRATH!" Groudon roared and Sean was officially done with this.

"How about no?" he said coolly, cutting across Groudon's excessive volume and Rai's squeaky fear.

His brazenness seemed to stun the massive creature for a moment. "You… YOU DARE CHALLENGE GROUDON?"

"Not in the least," Sean replied, crossing his arms and smirking at the screwed-up look Groudon's face took. Even now he could see the plastic nature of this, Groudon didn't have a confused or perturbed expression and so its face just froze into its angry expression. "You are not Groudon."

"W-wha?" Rai managed, tearing his eyes off Groudon to stare incredulously at Sean. "WHAT?"

"Yeah." Sean nodded, still smirking. "The real Groudon couldn't possibly be this small, and really, the sun isn't looking too strong here."

Rai's expression turned to puzzlement at that last comment as Groudon regained his composure.

"YOU DARE CHALLENGE GROUDON?" The sunlight suddenly grew more intense.

"You just said that," Sean said, rolling his eyes. "Wow. Just… wow, this is getting a little embarrassing." He waved a hand in the sunlight with a pitying look. "That's the best you can do? I don't think I should even be talking to you, since you are not a you and are just a thing."

"S-Sean, I really don't think you should be saying this," Rai whimpered, spotting the building anger.

"It's fine Rai." Sean shot him a confident grin and extended his claws. He was down to fight an illusion with Rai. This was exactly how things were meant to be and it made him tremendously more confident. "How about we show this fake what fo-OOOOORRRrrrrrr."

Groudon had stepped forward and kicked, slamming into Sean and punting him back into the dungeon. "HOW IS THAT FOR REAL?" it roared as Rai gaped in wide-eyed horror.

"SEAN?" he yelled, but there was no response. "You." As if a switch was flicked, Rai turned from frozen terror to burning fury. "RAGH!" Rai unleashed the thunderstorm, unleashing his most powerful Thunderbolt to date.

It did dick diddly to Groudon.

"HA. IS THAT ALL?" Groudon rumbled and Rai's bravado changed again.

"Eep," he squeaked, dodging a kick for him before sprinting off in a Quick Attack to avoid Groudon's fist coming down to flatten him.

Groudon leered down at Rai, face distorting and turning in a horrific mix of grotesque and terrifying. Rai couldn't help but freeze as a dark shadow fell upon him. He blinked and saw Groudon generate a glowing silver sphere that he fired right at Rai.

The shinx tried to move, but his legs felt sluggish. His mind cried for him to move faster, but he was unable to and the Ancient Power smashed into him.

Rai cried out as he was sent body-first into one of the rocky cliffs and crashed to the ground, a perfect target for Groudon's next attack.

It breathed in deeply, drawing power from the earth around it, and summoned a wave of mud that blasted shinx back and down.

He hit the ground hard and couldn't get back up again. Rai tried, but the mud was sticky and slippery, and he fell each time he tried. The dizziness probably didn't help.

"DO YOU UNDERSTAND!" Groudon rumbled, stomping closer as not even the mud shivered from its false steps. "AND NOW FOR YOUR ARROGANCE YOU SHALL-"

Movement caught the awareness of Groudon, but its form no matter what form that is, was still sluggish and unwieldy.

Sean had exited Steam Cave once more, and he was rather perturbed at being kicked away as if he was a football.

With both paws dripping with Dark energy, long sabres of darkness formed and sharpened past the claws that bore them.

Sean came running out of nowhere with speeds Rai hadn't seen him demonstrate before, having been unconscious or away.

Groudon's eyes widened when it saw what Sean was doing but was unable to stop him as Sean jumped onto and off from his knee, carving six deep gashes in the Groudon's chest.

It roared, and the voice changed, becoming a higher pitched, but lower voice, for just a moment. Sean kept running up Groudon before kicking off and doing a backflip off its head. He landed on all fours and scoffed at Groudon.

"See Rai?" he called, staring forward with a victorious grin. "See what I mean?"

Rai looked up and gasped. The form of the Groudon was almost blinking in and out and its arms were trying to shield its chest. But instead of blood pouring out, it was sliced holes that opened into nothingness.

"What IS that?" he asked, and Sean nodded in victory.

"An illusion."

Rai perked up, pulling himself from the mud as if it wasn't even there. His body still hurt, whatever this thing happened to be was still enough to cause actual damage, but his spirits bolstered Rai ran forward charging another Thunderbolt.

"Rai listen very carefully," Sean said as he began to run forward. "Aim for the gouges!" His right paw generated another Night Slash as the fake Groudon roared its defiance. "Do it when I say." Sean darted to the right, avoiding a kick, and ducked under an Ancient Power. He stabbed forward with Night Slash before slicing up, opening another hole in the illusion. "NOW!"

Rai let off a battle scream as he flooded the gaping hole with electricity. Despite striking the Groudon earlier and doing nothing, striking the inside of the illusion did something massive.

The Groudon screeched before collapsing utterly into nothingness as the electricity suddenly exploded outwards, blasting Sean back and knocking Rai off his feet himself.

"GYAH!" A different voice yelled out as something else flashed and another form hit the ground.

"Ugh," Rai groaned, picking himself off the ground. "Sean? Sean!" He turned around to find Sean weakly raising a paw and doing his best to give a thumbs up.

"This doesn't work without a real thumb," he groaned, and Rai sighed in relief.

Sean began to pull himself up, steadying himself on Rai once the shinx was there to provide his support. Together they limped forward, staring warily at the yellow pokémon that had appeared after the false Groudon had been destroyed.

"I do not believe that was completely necessary," Uxie sighed, picking himself up. Sean immediately shut his eyes, but Rai did not, cocking his head at the pokémon.

"Who are you?" Rai asked, too tired to really demand answers.

"Like I said earlier, I am the guardian of Fogbound Lake. And I cannot allow you to pass."

"Rai close your eyes," Sean snapped, throwing a paw up to try and shield Rai from Uxie's gaze. He followed Sean's demand, remembering something Chimecho had said earlier.

"Hmm," Uxie said, looking at them with crimson eyes. "You know of my power then?"

"You're… Uxie?" Rai ventured.

"Yes. I am the protector of the treasure here. Many have come to claim Fogbound Lake's bounty, but all have been repelled. Often by the fog, often by the dungeon, often by the illusion, lastly there is no one who has escaped my gaze. And yet here you are, exhausted and weary, while I have only taken a small blow from your trick."

"How did that work anyway?" Sean demanded, he wasn't too tired to sate his curiosity.

"The illusion I create requires a steady link to control it and supply it energy to form its moves," Uxie explained, he had no issue in answering questions. As the being of knowledge, he enjoyed it. Very few adventurers had ever really asked him anything. "Unfortunately, that means I need to have a mental connection to it. Normally it would be as powerful as I can empower it and any wound inflicted on it would not be passed to me, simply draining of my Power. But your usage of the Dark powers damaged my control and staggered my safeguards, the electric attack didn't quite strike me directly, but I did feel it. None have managed that, so I suppose that is commendable. Pity you won't remember."

"Wait we're not here to take anything!" Rai insisted, cringing as they both felt Uxie summon his Power. "I'm being honest! Yes, we are adventurers, but we are with a guild and the entire guild is on its way. All we wanted to do was find Fogbound Lake, sure a treasure would be nice but if it is so important to you than we'll all leave without it."

Sean and Rai held their breaths. Sean wasn't completely certain about Uxie, he was rather sure that Uxie had emerged unscathed in the game, so he may be more ticked off at them than normal.

"Well… okay, I believe you," Uxie said plainly, causing them both to sag. He lowered his Power and closed his eyes. "Very well, let me welcome you to Fogbound Lake. I am Uxie, as you both appear to know."

"Great!" Rai opened his eyes and beamed as the pixie-like pokémon. Sean was not so trusting and kept his eyes closed, but Rai began to trot forward, and he was forced to feel around. "Don't mind him. I was hoping to ask you a question or two?"

"Indeed?" Uxie almost smiled, but emotion wasn't what he was known for. Voice even and tone as level as it was before, Uxie said. "Very well, it might be best to discuss on the way."

"Sure." Rai nodded and began trotting alongside Uxie and Sean reluctantly opened his eyes. Uxie wasn't facing him and he kept close to Rai without getting super close to the Legendary Pokémon. "My friend has lost almost all his memory and I was wondering if you might have taken it?"

"Hmm." Uxie turned to Sean and he quickly glanced away. He had seen Uxie's face, the jewel on his head was quite alluring, and he had kept his eyes closed, so Sean buried the doubt and looked back. "The last pokémon who came through here was several years ago and was a ledian. I have only taken the memory of a meowth twice, and both occurred decades ago."

The sun was setting as they walked, and Rai shot Sean a questioning look. "Well what about a…" he trailed off, giving Sean another meaningful look and Sean started as he realised what Rai might be asking.

"Uh… okay," he said, cringing on the inside.

"What about a human?" Rai asked proudly, catching the tiniest change in Uxie's expression. "Have you taken the memory of a human recently?"

"…No. It has been a great many centuries since I have seen a human," Uxie said, causing Rai to wilt. "Whatever is the cause of your friends memory loss, I am not it."

"Do you have any idea what it could be?" Rai asked, clutching at straws now.

"My apologies, but no. Either way, I only erase memories of Fogbound Lake. I am unable to erase a greater amount more memories, at least I cannot anymore since the Legendary Pokémon sacrificed a great deal of their power to preserve the world."

Rai sighed but smiled anyway. "Thank you for answering at least."

"You're welcome. Now look forward, we have arrived."

Rai aimed his gaze forward and smiled as they came up to the dark waters of a lake at dusk. "Wow it's getting so dark outside now. This is… this is Fogbound Lake isn't it?"

"Indeed." Uxie confirmed. "It may be a little difficult to see at night but, behold." He turned around, keeping the exact same voice as he gave the grand announcement. "Fogbound Lake and its treasure. Can you guess what it is?

In the dusk's light, the clear water of the lake twinkled as if the stars had fallen into it. Above the water were hundreds of glinting lights and volbeat and illumise danced in the sky. In the centre of the lake a great azure shine welled up, casting further beauty in this natural place.

"This lake is so big, imagine a place this big on the top of a plateau?"

"This place is beautiful," Sean said, stepping close to the waters edge. "It's like the stars are in the sky, water, and air."

"Water constantly wells up from far below this place," Uxie said, sounding not quite bored but close to it. "It flows up so heavily it has long formed this enormous lake." Uxie turned back around. "Now cast your eyes to the glowing centre of the lake. You see it?"

"I see it." Rai confirmed. "That blue, sort of green, light coming from below?"

"Step forward for a closer look," Uxie said and they did as he asked.

Sean swallowed painfully as his eyes fixated on the glow that the Time Gear emanated. Just like back in the Limestone Cavern, his pulse quickened, eyes dilated, and he was nearly overwhelming by the Need to have it.

"That's awesome." Rai beamed. "A Time Gear! And it's all safe here too, that's incredible! No one would find it here."

"And with my protections in place, the Time Gear has remained safe," Uxie said. He turned slightly to where Sean was creeping forward, Rai catching his friends movement as well. "I guard it, it is the sole reason why I am here."

"Sean?" he asked, but the meowth didn't hear him. "Uh… buddy?" He stepped forward and shook Sean slightly, causing him to jump.

"Woah! What was that for?" He thumped his heart as it thumped fast and hard in his chest.

"You seemed out of it again," Rai explained, cocking his head. "What was that?"

"Just… trying to get a closer look," Sean said, looking down. "Sorry, shiny things distract me a bit."

Rai giggled, and he felt better.

"A Time Gear!" a high and cheerful voice cried. "A Time Gear! Oh well, that's too bad." Rai started as Wigglytuff came trotting up to them, Bidoof and Diglett barely keeping pace with him and panting for breath.

"Hoo, golly that wasn't easy," Bidoof groaned, lying down in relief.

"The Guildmaster is…" Diglett puffed. "So strong, and so fast. It's incredible, it feels like we had to fight most of the enemies though."

"We can't take a Time Gear," Wigglytuff said, pouting. He spotted Uxie and raced up to him. "WOW fantastic lake friendly friend!"

"And who might this be?" Uxie asked, of Rai since Wigglytuff was staring out at the lake in open-mouthed amazement.

"That's Guildmaster Wigglytuff," Rai said, then glanced back to the others. "And Diglett's the one in the ground, Bidoof is the one lying down."

"Glad to meet you, friend!" Wigglytuff cheered, shaking both of Uxie's arms. "Friend! Friend! Friend!" He danced around a bit before going back to the lakes edge. "Gaze upon this amazing view friends! I'm delighted we came, right everybody?"

As Wigglytuff began to hum and sing a bouncy tune, Uxie detected more pokémon arriving and sighed. "It appears even if I had chosen to erase your memories, it may not have helped."

"By golly this place is gorgeous," Bidoof gasped, having gained the energy to trudge the last steps. "Those lights are beautiful yup-yup."

Uxie turned to face him and Bidoof cringed. "Mighty fine place, all thanks to you I bet!"

"Hm."

"Oh my gosh, we are finally here!"

The crowd of pokémon raced forward, relieved to be out of the hot and damp of Steam Cave, besides Croagunk who rather enjoyed it.

"Hello to one and all!" Wigglytuff beamed as the guild came forward, cautiously upon siting Uxie.

"Guildmaster," Chatot squawked, flapping his wings. "You got ahead of us, we're here now, who is this and what is going on?" He spotted Sean and Rai and sighed in relief. "Good you two are here as well."

"Impressive work you two," Grovyle said, stepping up past Wigglytuff. He gave a short nod to Uxie before making his way directly to Sean and Rai. "It appears you were far ahead of us all."

"It was tricky, going through the fog," Rai admitted, beaming up at Grovyle. "We actually left that Groudon statue because Sean thought he saw you!"

"Indeed?" Grovyle asked, turning to Sean. "You have sharp eyes then."

"You were there?" Rai gasped as Sean thought of what to say.

"Yes, I had found something I thought could be of help so I quickly returned to the base camp to alert Wigglytuff. I found him on the way, however, and he and Chimecho discovered the way to lift the fog."

"What was it?" Sean asked, hoping he sounded perfectly curious.

"A curious stone I found," Grovyle answered. "Warm to the touch, by placing it in the heart of the statue the fog was lifted."

"Ooh," Rai hummed. "That would have been cool to see!"

"Bit bright at first," Grovyle said smiling. "But the area is beautiful with the fog lifted. You'll need to look around once you are down."

"Never mind all that," Wigglytuff said, waving them closer as a rush of sound boomed from behind them. "Look out there! It's spouting, pretty-pretty!"

The volbeat and illumise had scattered temporarily before flying in practised routines around the absolutely stunning vision that was the lake spouting.

"Yes, the lake geyser erupts every once in a while. It sends up water, just like a fountain. And the Time Gear casts illumination from below. This is how the lake is refilled," Uxie commented, but no one really heard him.

"Holy MOly."

"Oh my gosh, even Loudred is amazed."

"Hey… hey… that's beautiful."

"Oh my, so shimmering. Absolutely lovely, I'm so happy I came here."

"Heh, even I gotta admit that is stunning."

"Dad… I think I get why you love water so much."

"My son, this is… astounding, even for water."

"Yup-yup, that's the prettiest gosh darn thing I've ever done seen."

"What an incredible find Guildmaster."

"Pretty, so pretty. I'm glad we all came here! This is treasure enough."

"Sean?" Rai asked, catching Sean's attention away from the water and light show. "Are you looking at this? This is too magical."

"Astounding." Was the only word Sean could gather.

Rai glanced away from the lake and to Sean for a moment. "Sean? I-I was wondering..."

"Truly magnificent," Grovyle's deep voice didn't even manage to shake one person out of the glory of the Time Gear Spout. "Sean, could I have a word with you?"

"Hm?" Sean grunted, transfixed by the deluge of water with the azure light show.

"Perhaps some other time," Grovyle sighed, glancing around. Far too many pokémon really to have a private conversation. "But as it seems, I believe it is time for me to go."

His first words didn't shake anyone, the second sentence caught the whole guilds attention.

"What?" Was the general consensus.

"Indeed." Grovyle nodded. "While the time I have taken here has been a treasure I will remember always, I do have urgent business back in Treasure Town. I do not regret coming along and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for the opportunity to explore with you, Wigglytuff Guild. But it is time for me to leave, and I will be my swiftest when alone."

"It was great having you," Wigglytuff said, stepping forward. "Thank you for coming friendly friend." Grovyle braced, but it was barely enough to withstand Wigglytuff's hug. "Hopefully we will see you again soon."

"Yes," Grovyle grunted, coughing from his lungs being manually constricted. "I shall have to stay in Treasure Town a little longer. Sean, I hope to see you soon. But I have to go now… please?"

Wigglytuff released him, not without another squeeze, and Grovyle shot a shaken smile across the guild. He nodded to Sean and Rai and disappeared into the night, Sean's eyes following him until he was out of sight.

"Wonder what Grovyle wanted to talk about?" Rai wondered out loud, Sean paid him no mind.

"Well... shit," he thought, but he had no time to dwell as Wigglytuff was addressing the guild.

"So sorry to have disturbed you," he apologised to Uxie. "Had a fantastic time, ten out of ten, would go again! Friend, friend, friend!"

"I shall not take away your memories of this place," Uxie said, startling a few guild-members who hadn't realised who he was. "You have earned my trust. But I must ask you keep this place a secret, trusted to no one but each other."

"Surely." Wigglytuff nodded. "Thank you. We all know what we need to do. You know, another Time Gear has been stolen! This one must stay safe. We won't breathe a word to anyone about this place, I swear it on the name of Wigglytuff's Guild! But maybe if you permitted, occasionally a guild member could check up on you?"

"Please hold true to that promise," Uxie asked. "And I am not certain if repeated visits are a good idea. If someone is indeed stealing Time Gears, raising the chances of being followed and discovered are perhaps not worth it."

"I understand," Wigglytuff said.

"But I am not amiss to the company of the guild," Uxie added. "Not commonly, but I would permit it if someone were to come covertly every few months or so. You will not have to face the Groudon I materialise to do so."

"There was a Groudon?" A few members of the guild cringed.

"An illusion of one," Uxie confirmed, generating the illusion and spooking most of the guild.

Except Sean, Rai, and Wigglytuff. "Hello friendly friend!" Wigglytuff cheered, coming up to shake the illusions massive hand.

"G-guildmaster?"

"This is one of my defences for Fogbound Lake," Uxie said, having the Groudon roar and stomp its foot. "It is quite formidable."

"The Guildmaster defeated this?" Chimecho gasped and swooned.

"No," Uxie answered. "The shinx and meowth did in an impressive form of teamwork. They did surprisingly well after a bad start."

Wigglytuff wrapped Sean and Rai up in a hug themselves while beaming. "Well done you two! Three cheers for Team Ion!"

"Hip-hip HOORAY!" Wigglytuff tossed them both into the air. "Hip-hip HOORAY." He caught them and tossed them again. "Hip-hip HOOOOORAAY!" He caught them one last time and let them down.

While the pair of them staggered into the arms of the other apprentices, Wigglytuff turned his affection on Uxie.

"Great work!" Wigglytuff beamed and hugged Uxie. "We'll make sure the Time Gear stays safe! So safe! Even safer!"

"Indeed. If you would release me now?"

"Okay." Uxie floated back for some space. "Let's be on our way. Chatot, if you will?"

"I'll hop to it Guildmaster!" Chatot affirmed, fluttering his wings and turning to the guild himself. "Everyone, we are going back to the guild. This operation, Quest to Find Fogbound Lake has been a rousing success!"

"HOORAY!" The whole guild, including Chatot and Wigglytuff for the first time, cheered.

"Take care Wigglytuff Guild," Uxie said, seeing them off with closed eyes.

---

"For the first time in centuries, I allow my guard to drop," Uxie muttered as he shook in place, barely able to support himself with his normally formidable Psychic powers. "And on the day, I am injured as well? How foolish can I be?"

"Uxie? UXIE!? Talk to me, what is going on?" a feminine and passionate voice reached Uxie's mind.

"My Time Gear has been discovered by the Thief," Uxie answered, consciousness beginning to fade as things began to flash black and white.

"Uxie, listen to me, focus on my voice." A steadier voice overcome the panicked yelling of the first. "Can you move? You have to get out of there quickly, has the gear been taken?"

"The thief has reached the middle of the lake," Uxie replied, mental voice equally as even and unbothered even when in considerable distress. "It won't be long now. I do not know if I can escape in time."

The azure light of Fogbound Lake was snuffed out as the thief snatched it from its resting place. Grovyle breathed in deep as he breached the water and climbed onto the lakefront.

"My siblings know," Uxie said as Grovyle began to walk, pausing him in his steps. "You shall not succeed."

"I am saving the world," Grovyle answered and Uxie sneered, raising Grovyle's eye-ridge. He didn't realise Uxie knew how to sneer.

"You would end it," Uxie said, voice still flat. "Like you would end me."

"For what it is worth," Grovyle said, stepping forward as Uxie tried to rise up straight and blast him with Psychic. "I am sorry, but you will understand soon."

Uxie opened his eyes as the glint of green cut him down and the Legendary Pokémon of wisdom fell. Grovyle sighed sadly, having closed his eyes to avoid Uxie's final attempt, watching as time began to stop along the lake. Uxie would not escape, he would not move any further to warn anyone else.

"I had best hurry, lest the guild discover my presence and actions." He darted off, as Uxie's mind became crowded with his siblings shouting at him.

"Uxie move!" Azelf commanded and Uxie found the willpower to move, but not the energy.

"Uxie MOVE!" Mesprit screamed, pushing all the Power through to her brother as she could. Uxie found a reason to flee and began to float.

He glanced behind his shoulder and grit his teeth. It was moving fast, faster, too fast.

"Cancel the connection," Uxie demanded through their link. "Quickly if I am frozen while still connected to you, you wi-"

Time froze.

The lights of Fogbound Lake grew still, yet ever there. The volbeat and illumise's glow's still remained, yet now their light cast a shadow across the frozen, but not ice, water.

Uxie stilled, mind locking into place, going blank, heart freezing, but not stopping, eyes opening, yet not shining.

Mesprit screamed in agony as the connection to her brother was frozen in place, she unable to end it, her mind unable to comprehend the inconceivable wave of Blank from her yellow brother. Things went black and white and purple and colours that do not exist as she writhed in agony, the Underground Lake shaking as her Power began to unleash a reckoning on it.

Azelf cried out in no less pain as Uxie did not go silent, he did not go quiet, but he went anti. He grit his teeth and pushed his whole Power into resisting the agony, into ending the connection the ever-present nothing that he was now joined too. Whether it took him a second, an hour, a day, or longer he wasn't sure, but Azelf refused to be dragged down into the scream he heard from Mesprit.

The Being of Willpower resisted until it was gone. But once it was gone, he wept for his brother, his sister, and for the world.

---

So, I wrote most of this in one sitting. I write in big chunks. I really need a beta, I can never catch all the little word errors.

Hey, did you all know that a shinx cannot actually learn Thundershock? At least not in generation 4 or 7. I had no idea, hahaha. Oh well, we'll just assume he was using Thunderbolt the entire time but just wasn't very strong, so it looked like a Thundershock!

And I am now SO EXCITED! We all know who's coming :D