Everyone surrounded the statue, looking curiously at the scaly Pokemon with large, sharp claws. As Explorers, they knew something so unique must be hiding some secret. And sure enough, after circling halfway, they found a writing on the statue's base.
"It's in footprint runes, let me read it out."
Chatot stepped forward, eager to redeem himself in the Guildmaster's eye after the earlier mistake.
"Reignite the life that burned within Groudon, then the sky shall blaze with the sun's heat. The path to treasure shall be revealed."
"Hmm, it seems to be a clue to lift this fog. Reignite the life within Groudon…Groudon!?"
Chatot stepped back, his hackles rising as he stared at the towering Pokemon statue. Upon seeing his reaction, everyone looked at him in surprise.
"Guildmaster, if I may suggest, maybe it's not the best idea to continue with our exploration."
"Huh? Why?"
Wigglytuff tilted his head, looking at Chatot with a puzzled expression. They've already reached this far, why do they have to give up now?
"...I have read it once in the archives of the Exploration Federation, a myth about the Legendary Pokemon, Groudon. He is said to have raised the land from the sea. And that he built up the continents!"
"Built the continents!?"
Dugtrio, Pikachu, and Azumarill had a shocked expression. They can't imagine that this gigantic continent, which they haven't even fully explored, was made by a single Pokemon. The size of that Pokemon must be colossal!
"Indeed. Not only that, according to the myths, every time Groudon awakens, another Legendary Pokemon called Kyogre will awaken with him. Kyogre is the Legendary Pokemon in charge of the sea. Every time the two arise, a massive battle will occur that will last for weeks!"
"At the end of their battle, the two Pokemon will again find a place to slumber. The continents and the seas rearranging in the wake of their battle."
Chatot paused, looking at everyone with a somber expression before continuing.
"Based on the hint left by the statue, we may need to awaken Groudon to remove the fog from this place. But in doing so, we could be the cause of another war. Therefore, Grandmaster, I think it might be best to retreat for now and inform the Exploration Federation about what we found."
"Hmmmmmm."
Wigglytuff stared at Chatot, his face expressionless. Pikachu, Azumarill, and Dugtrio looked at the Guildmaster, holding their breath while waiting for his decision. Only Dante was looking at Chatot with a dumbfounded expression.
Chatot got a completely wrong interpretation! If they stopped the expedition because of this, he wouldn't know whether to laugh or cry. After all, he needed to meet with Uxie to ask about something.
Now, Dante must think of a way to convince the Guildmaster to continue. Worse comes to worst, he'll look for the groove in the statue and put the Drought Stone there before the two can say anything.
"Hmmmmmm, but Chimecho said the fog lifted many times in the past, right? And that the explorers returned alive but without their memories?"
"Err, yes?"
"Then it's ok~ we'll continue the exploration. Everyone, search the statue and look for any unusual clues."
Hearing the Guildmaster's order, Dante heaved a sigh of relief. As expected of Wigglytuff, he was able to easily see the flaws in Chatot's reasoning.
After a brief discussion with Pikachu, Azumarill, and Dugtrio, Dante dived into the shadows and started searching for the groove in Groudon's statue beginning from the head.
"Guildmaster? What do you- oh! I see! Yes, if other teams had already lifted the fog in the past without any repercussions, then it's likely we don't need to really awaken Groudon. How stupid of me."
Chatot looked at the ground, feeling ashamed of his earlier deduction. However, he quickly cheered up. Following the Guildmaster's lead, he flew around the statue to find a hint about what the writing meant.
"I see something. Here, in the statue's chest."
After just a short while, Chatot already found a clue with his sharp vision. At the location where he is pointing, there is a hole that seems out of place.
"Based on my experience, we must place 'something' to fill this hole to 'reignite' the life within Groudon. I suggest we look around for any strange items around this location first. If we find nothing, we can regroup with the other apprentices tomorrow to search more effectively."
"Wait! Let me try something."
Dante stopped Chatot from wasting any more time. Sliding down from the statue's head, he stopped at the hole's location.
Everyone watched as Dante began rummaging through his bag. And when he took out the red stone he found yesterday, Chatot's eyes widened.
That was the stone Dante told him yesterday that could lift the fog in the forest. Looking at the shape of the stone, and then at the hole in the statue's chest, they were clearly a perfect match!
And indeed it was.
Shortly after Dante inserted the stone, the statue's eyes started to glow red. Yellow lines lit up from its body, starting from the heart. The ground began to shake, like a massive earthquake.
Dante released his grip and landed beside Pikachu and the others. They distanced themselves from the statue, cautiously watching the yellow lines spread all over.
The statue suddenly flashed a blinding, yellow light, causing everyone to shield their eyes.
As the shaking began to slow down, Dante slowly lowered the tail that covered his eyes and peeked. He gasped in amazement.
At this time, the fog around them had disappeared. The lush green trees were now clearly visible, down to the water droplets on their leaves.
Looking above, he finally saw the source of the waterfall.
It turns out that his memory was a little mistaken. The island was not floating, instead, it was connected to the land through a small, tubular rock. It was more like a plateau than an island.
However, given the thin rock supporting it and the big platform up above, Dante estimated that there was probably another principle at play here that could allow that rock to remain stable after such a long period.
"Excellent work! It seems the stone you found yesterday was the key to solving the mystery of the fog."
Chatot came forward and patted Dante's back, his eyes shining in a similar light to when he looked at Wigglytuff. The intuition Dante displayed reminded Chatot of the Guildmaster when he accompanied him in their exploration.
It seems he found the reason Team Omnipotent Travelers can accomplish so much in just a few months. With the potential they are showing now, he daresay they may even have a chance to reach Guildmaster Wigglytuff's level in the future!
At this time, the sun was already high up in the sky. Their team ate lunch beside the statue before continuing to proceed with the exploration.
Since they had already confirmed that the lake they were looking for was in the sky, they headed toward the circular rock that supported it. There, they saw a large fissure, serving as the entrance to a Mystery Dungeon.
—
"...the fog has been lifted."
At the top of Fogbound Lake, a small, gray, fairy-like Pokemon with two gray tails that are each encrusted with a red gem can be seen. It has a partially yellow face with another red gem encrusted into its forehead.
This Pokemon is Uxie, the Being of Knowledge.
Uxie spread his psychic energy, his perception covering the clearing where the Groudon statue was. There, he saw the group of six Pokemon entering Steam Cave- the Mystery Dungeon which will lead them to this location.
"It would seem a group of Explorers have finally found the last Drought Stone in the forest. Now then, let's see whether you'll be able to make it past the last obstacle."
Uxie smiled, his closed eyes slightly curving while he used his psychic powers to watch the Explorer's progress through the dungeon.
As the guardian of Fogbound Lake, Uxie has been staying in this location for more than ten thousand years. To pass the time, he had created a trial for other Pokemon in which they could reach him.
During the first hundreds of years since he made the trial, Uxie would watch all would-be trial takers try to take on the challenges. Seeing their confusion, joy, anger, and all other emotions as they undertake the challenges never failed to entertain him.
However, as he watched the progress of this latest batch of explorers, he couldn't help but have a confused expression.
Is his psychic energy deceiving him, or is the new generation of Explorers now so strong?
Uxie watched the Azumarill take out Weezing with one punch, Pikachu knocking down all the Pokemon in the room with a Discharge, Zorua emerging from Flareon's shadow and defeating him in one hit with Shadow Claw.
Finally, there was the Wigglytuff, who was hopping and laughing as he knocked down every Pokemon that came his way. Only the Chatot and the Dugtrio were normal, taking down their opponents in two to three hits.
"Hmm, it would seem this group of Explorers is much more capable than any of the previous trial-takers. Should I increase the difficulty of the final trial?"
Uxie placed a hand underneath his chin in contemplation as he watched the trial-takers reach the final floor.