Tracey's Story Chapter Seventeen: Cloud Cover

The only thing the map neglected to tell them about base camp was the fog. It clung to their fur and blocked their vision, making Tracey nervous. She thought about using Ember to clear a line of sight, but didn’t want to burn anything down at the same time. “Ruby, you’ve got better eyes than I do. Can you see base camp from here?”

Ruby blinked a few times and stared intently at the path ahead. “Yeah, there are some tents or something up ahead. We’d better hurry,” he meowed. They pressed on in slightly awkward silence.

“Finally!” Chatot squawked when they reached the clearing. “Everyone else got here long ago! Go put your things down in a spare tent; we’re about to start our strategy meeting. Quickly!”

“Yes, sir,” Ruby meowed, slightly hurt. He and Bidoof moved up the path with the rest of the guild. Tracey stayed put; she felt a strange tingling as all the fur on her body stood on end. Why am I feeling this way? I’ve never been here before…right? The landscape seemed familiar to her, like she’d visited a long time ago and forgotten about it until now.

Bidoof waved a paw in front of her eyes. “Tracey? Are you OK?” he asked. “You’re not scared, are you?”

Tracey shook herself to flatten her fur. “Nah, it’s nothing. Just got déjà vu for a second.” She followed her teammates up the path to a different, larger clearing.

“Attention, everyone!” Chatot whistled. “Now that we’re all here safe and sound, we can begin our exploration of Fogbound Lake! Stories say that the lake is hidden deep within this forested area. Many exploration teams have tried to find it, but so far, no one has succeeded.”

“So is it real or what, hey hey?!” Corphish demanded. “I didn’t come all the way out here for nothing!”

Sunflora sighed. “Corphish, don’t say things like that. You’re ruining everybody’s good mood!”

“Yeah, don’t be a spoilsport!” Loudred added. Corphish sweatdropped.

Chimecho rang patiently in the wind. “Um…while Sunflora and I were traveling, we heard an interesting legend about Fogbound Lake…” she said. Everyone turned to her, eager to listen. “They say that an exceedingly rare Pokémon called Uxie lives in that lake. Uxie can supposedly wipe your memories clean if you look into its eyes.”

“What?!” Tracey gasped. Could that have been what happened to me?

“And that’s why nobody KNOWS whether Fogbound Lake is REAL, because Uxie wiped the memories of everyone who GOT to it.” Loudred nodded. “That makes sense…but it’s a pretty hair-raising explanation. What’ll I do if my MEMORY is wiped clean?”

Sunflora laughed. “I don’t think you have much to worry about, Loudred. You’re so forgetful anyway, it’s almost frightening! Eek!”

“You have to understand that places like this always have a folktale or legend of some kind attached to them,” Chatot put in. “Our guild has overcome some very tricky obstacles on expeditions before. Why should this be any different?”

“That’s how we got our first-class reputation,” Dugtrio rumbled.

Wigglytuff beamed. “See? Everything’s gonna be fine! Let’s try and hope for success on this mission!”

“All right, guild, here’s the plan,” Chatot chirped. “The Guildmaster and I will remain here to gather intelligence from our fieldwork teams. Those would be all of you, split into groups to explore this forest. Visibility will be severely limited because of the fog bank, another possible reason Fogbound Lake has remained hidden. Therefore, our goals are to find Fogbound Lake and a way of removing the fog. Return to base and let either of us know if you do either or find something else that seems important. Any questions?”

Sunflora raised one leaf. “Do we use the same groups we were assigned to on the way here?”

“That’s an option,” Chatot nodded. His tail bobbed back and forth. “Let’s give this expedition our best, as always!” Everyone thrust a limb into the air and shouted “HOORAY!”

“I hope we make some discoveries,” Bidoof smiled. “This is so exciting!”

Diglett hummed thoughtfully. “Dad, do you think Fogbound Lake could be underground?” he asked Dugtrio. “That could also be why no one’s found it. I was thinking maybe we could check there.”

All three of Dugtrio’s faces lit up. “Ah, my son, you make me proud. It’s certainly worth a shot. Everyone, we’re off to caves unknown.” The pair of mole Pokémon vanished below the earth.

“Hey, hey, hey, let’s get a move on!” Corphish said. “We can’t afford to dawdle either!” One by one, the other guild members (and Team Skull) left up the path leading to the forest.

Tracey didn’t move right away. OK, fact check: I recognize this place from…somewhere, she thought. According to the legend Chimecho mentioned, Uxie can wipe your memory clean if you look it in the eye. So, logically, I might have found this place by accident while I was human, and Uxie erased my memory to protect the lake’s existence. I’ll ask if we find Uxie, since I’m not sure that’s why I don’t remember being human. It doesn’t explain how I got to the beach below Treasure Town, for one thing. Or why I turned into a Vulpix. Still…we can always try, right?

Ruby nudged her. “Tracey, come on, stop standing around! We need to get ready and head out for the lake.” Tracey stored the strange red box she’d found in Mt. Horn, some extra Geo Pebbles, and a Pecha Berry via the Kangaskhan Rock and tightened the Sky Blue Bow around her neck. Ruby took out an extra Apple from storage and saved their progress.

At the forest entrance, Ruby spotted a smaller pathway veering left. “Check it out, another side pathway. Wanna go there first?”

“No thanks,” Tracey said. “We have a specific mission, and I doubt we’ll find anything important on a tiny path that loops back around to the start.” Or a key to my lost memories, she mentally added. “Let’s head into the forest and see what happens.”

The intrigue started before they even entered Foggy Forest, as Tracey decided to refer to it. Halfway up the path (or so), Ruby veered left to examine something in a small patch of flowers. “Hey, Tracey, look what I found!” he meowed excitedly. “I think it might be a gemstone!”

It looked more like a sparkly red rock than a gem to Tracey. She touched it with a front paw, and gasped at the comforting warmth that flowed through her. “It feels good!” she smiled. “I don’t know if it’s cause I’m a Fire-type or not, but I love this warmth!”

“How’s it doing that?” Ruby wondered idly. “It didn’t burn this place down, so I guess the heat’s contained within the stone somehow. That’s really weird. Tracey, you hang onto it; it might burn me.”

Foggy Forest felt similar to Mt. Horn, but a bit simpler. The trees were white and there were large pools of water from the third floor onwards. The fog didn’t have any negative effects on her, Ruby, or any of the wild Pokémon except the Pachirisu. And the Skiploom; they had Synthesis, which she knew was affected by weather conditions. She didn’t have a clear advantage over most of the locals, either. The Skiploom and occasional Cherubi were easily handled, but they were the only two Grass-types. The later floors (after 6F) got more interesting; Noctowl, adorable Buneary, Breloom (whom Tracey enjoyed fighting), even Stantler!

When they cleared the eleventh floor, Tracey and Ruby found themselves in a clearing full of large waterfalls. Not as big as the one in front of Waterfall Cave, but still pretty big. “It’s incredible!” Ruby exclaimed. “I’ve never seen this many waterfalls in one place!”

“I hope this is the deepest part,” Tracey commented. “The darn fog’s so thick I can’t tell which way to go. Wait…” She waved her right paw in front of her face. “OK, good, I can still see my paw.”

“Hey, hey, hey!” Corphish called from up ahead. “Follow the sound of my voice! Did you two find any clues?”

The two ran up to him. “No, not yet,” Ruby said. “How about you, Corphish?”

“Well…I found something interesting. Dunno if it’s a clue or not, hey,” said Corphish. “Follow me.”

The “something interesting” turned out to be a massive, fallen statue of a Pokémon Tracey had never seen before. It looked like an armored lizard with a tail at least as wide as Tracey and Ruby put together. Spikes decorated the sides of its thick neck. “What the heck is that?!” Ruby cried, raising his paws defensively.

“I’m not sure. It must be important, though,” Corphish said. “Only really cool Pokémon get statues made of them.”

Ruby walked up to examine the statue’s sunken square pedestal. It was pockmarked, strangely smooth, and covered in moss, as could be expected from a statue in proximity to several large waterfalls. He noticed some words carved into the right side (from his perspective). “Take a look at this, guys,” he meowed. “Something’s inscribed here…”

Tracey and Corphish walked up to him. The side he was investigating had a little carved box near the top with strange symbols carved into that box. It almost resembled a paragraph. “It’s in old footprint runes,” Ruby said. “Gosh, I haven’t seen this style in years. Let’s see…it says… ‘Reignite the life that burned within…’ Ground? No, wait, that says Groudon. ‘Then the sky shall blaze with the sun’s heat…and the path to treasure will be revealed.’ Wow! That’s incredible!”

He turned to Tracey with glittering eyes. “You think this could mean the treasure of Fogbound Lake?!” he meowed excitedly. “It said the path would be revealed…that means the secret to opening Fogbound Lake could be right in front of us! This is fantastic!” Then he hugged her.

“Hey, hey, hey! We found a mystery!” Corphish cheered. “So what was that about Groudon?”

“I’m guessing Groudon is the Pokémon this statue’s of,” said Tracey thoughtfully. “Dunno what the ‘reignite the life’ part means, though. How do you bring a statue back to life, anyway?”

Ruby stroked his chin thoughtfully. Then he clapped his front paws together. “Tracey! I have an idea; touch the statue. Maybe you’ll see something!”

“What?” Corphish asked.

“It’s a long story,” Tracey replied. “Just roll with it for now, OK?” She reached up and patted the edge of the text with her left paw. The familiar dizzy feeling washed over her, but something was different. Huh? It’s stronger than before…something’s wrong…I can’t move…!

Her vision went black. She heard a voice she didn’t recognize saying “That’s it! It’s here! It’s here!”

Another one answered, “I see! Place the Drought Stone in Groudon’s heart, and the fog lifts!”

“Nicely done. Good work, partner!” said the first voice.

Tracey was still dizzy when she “snapped back” to the present. What in the world was that? she thought. I’ve never been dizzy after a vision before! And those voices…whose were they? I didn’t even get a sense of who could be saying them.

“What’d you see, Tracey?” Ruby asked.

The dizziness cleared up, and she turned to Ruby. “I didn’t see anything,” she said. “I heard two Pokémon talking, though. They said to place something called the Drought Stone in the statue’s heart and it would lift the fog. You know what that is?”

Ruby shook his head. “Why are you asking me? You’re the one with the special power.”

“Yes, but you’re the one fluent in old footprint runes,” said Tracey. “Is that what the writing in Treasure Town was in? It looked like plain English to me. And how’d you know what they were, anyway?”

“To your first question; no, that was Poké-script, which I guess looks like ‘English,’” Ruby meowed. “To your second one…that’s a story for later. It’s very personal.”

Just then, Tracey felt a rush of heat coming from her bag. “The heck?” she asked. She pulled out the rock Ruby had found, which was now glowing brightly. Place the Drought Stone in Groudon’s heart, huh? She walked around to the front of the statue and looked closely at its chest. Oh! There’s a hole in the middle! “I hope this works,” she said. Tracey bit down on the stone, climbed up the pedestal, and gently fit it into the indentation.

The statue’s eyes turned red the moment her paws left the stone. “Everybody run!” Ruby warned. He, she, and Corphish all ran away from the now-glowing statue. The glow greatly intensified, blinding them for a moment or two.

When they could see again, they noticed that everything looked much clearer. “Hey, the fog is gone!” Corphish exclaimed. “Ow, bright sunlight right in the eyes, ow…”

Ruby looked at something beyond the statue. Then he gasped. “Look! Look up! Both of you!”

Tracey and Corphish looked up and were completely struck dumb. Atop the newly-seen cliff was a river and small marshland. Beyond that…a massive stone formation shaped like a goblet, with water pouring down the sides and clouds rolling off it. “Oh my God…” Tracey whispered.

“It’s beautiful…that must be where the lake is…” Ruby meowed quietly. “I can’t believe this…”

Corphish jumped up and down a few times. “Hey! We’ve got more important things to do than gawk! I’ll go tell the guild what happened. You two go on ahead.” And he scuttled away back through Foggy Forest.

“Hold it!” a rough voice commanded. Team Skull sauntered out in front of the statue.

“You!” they hissed.

“Us,” Zubat deadpanned. “Nice work on solving the mystery, by the way.”

Skuntank laughed. “We’ll take over from here, kiddies. Treasure is our business, after all.”

“I knew you were up to something when you joined our expedition, you greedy rotten sacks of pond scum,” Ruby hissed.

“Ruby, be fair to the pond scum. At least it creates oxygen for us to breathe,” chided Tracey. “It also smells nicer in the process. Trust me on that.” To Team Skull, she remarked “Grab your napkins, boys, because you’ve been served.”

“…that was pretty good, actually,” Koffing admitted. “You’re still gonna lose. Remember last time?”

Tracey took a deep breath, preparing an Ember. Zubat flew out of the way, and the other two moved in. “Chaw-haw-haw! Hope you’re ready for this!” Skuntank laughed. “Noxious gas combo, take—!”

A big beautiful red apple bounced in between the adversaries. “Oh come on!” Koffing shouted. “Now what?”

“Perfect Apple~ Perfect Apple~” Wigglytuff hummed. He waddled (there really was no other word for it) into the clearing, completely oblivious. “Finally caught up to you! I’m so glad it didn’t go missing!” Then he picked up the Perfect Apple and placed it on his head. “Hi, friends!”

“Uh…Guildmaster, what are you doing here?” Skuntank asked, very confused indeed. Tracey hid a giggle behind her paw.

“I was taking a walk through the forest,” Wigglytuff explained. “Then my Perfect Apple rolled and rolled away from me. So I ran and ran and ran, and here I am now.” He turned to Tracey and Ruby. “You two have a job to be doing, right? Exploring the forest? Go on, get to work,” he smiled.

“Well, you see, Guildmaster…uh… you know what? Never mind, I’ll tell you later. Let’s go, Ruby,” Tracey yipped. The two headed off toward the cliff face.

“Good luck!” Wigglytuff called after them. “Oh, I hope we get good news! La la la! La la, la~” And he started dancing in place, lost in Wigglytuff-land.

“Er, Guildmaster, I think my group should go exploring too,” said Skuntank.

Wigglytuff looked shocked. “Oh, no no no! I can’t trouble my friends like that! Ruby and Tracey know what they’re doing. Let’s wait here for their report~”

Zubat flew up and whispered “Chief, this is getting weird…”

“Yeah, Team Spectra’s gonna beat us to the prize if we don’t do something…” Koffing added. “What do we do?”

Skuntank rolled his eyes. “We don’t have a choice. We take out Wigglytuff now and then go chase those two,” he muttered. “Besides, I hear he has a really precious treasure. Now’s as good a time to get it from him as any.” Zubat flew behind the Groudon statue again.
“Hey, Wigglytuff, no hard feelings!” said Skuntank. “You’re finished! Chaw-haw-haw!”