*Riku's POV*

*Mt. Avalanche, 19F*

It just keeps getting colder and colder... Are we almost at the top of this mountain?

I turned to Alakazam, and he, too, seemed to be losing body heat from the intensely chilled air.

"Brrr... Alakazam, what do you suppose we..."

"Shhh..." He put a finger to my mouth. Before I could ask why, he pointed to a figure in about a dozen yards away. It hadn't noticed us yet and was clawing at the icy walls of the cavern, like it was leaving a marking for another Pokemon. I took a closer look,

Wait a minute... That's a... A Weavile! Could this be the one that escaped with Gengar that one day?...

"Alakazam, do you think that..." I tried to whisper, but the acoustics of the cavern carried my voice much farther than I'd have liked them to.

Be quiet, Riku- please. A voice echoed inside my head, forcing me to stop talking. Hopefully, the Weavile hadn't heard my voice...

Too late. The Pokemon turned its head from its work and pointed a hooked claw at me.

"You..." it hissed at me,

"Riku!..." The Pokemon practically spat out the name, as if it the mere thought of my existence was tearing it up inside. Its body shook with rage, and it lunged at me with blinding speed. I barely had time to dodge the attack, and the Pokemon still managed to grab my left shoulder as it leapt past me.

The barbed claw latched onto my shoulder and ripped a large chunk of skin off the area, carrying the same momentum as the Weavile that wielded it.

I crumpled to the ground in pain, looking to Alakazam for help. The Psi Pokemon had its eyes shut, and I couldn't help wondering,

Is he asleep??? Come on, Alakazam, now isn't the time for that!

Alakazam's eyes suddenly opened, glowing a familiar blue color.

"Take this!" His brow furrowed, and he released an odd-colored beam from his forehead. I watched the ray of pulsating energy gradually float towards the Weavile, who had conveniently lodged its claw in a block of ice. The Pokemon looked up at the incoming "magic missile" and panicked, trying to dislodge its claw from the ice. However, by the time it had successfully freed itself, the attack was already too close to avoid it...

It all happened in less than a second- the beam was absorbed into the struggling Pokemon's skin, and it was instantly helpless on the ground, seizuring and convulsing. I looked back at Alakazam in both pain and alarm,

"What did you... What did you do to it?"

"Signal Beam," he responded casually,

"Interferes with brain action, effectively causing what you see before you," he said, motioning to the Weavile, whose insane actions slightly disturbed me.

"We should probably get going before it regains control of itself," Alakazam told me before walking toward the stairs in front of us.

Clutching my damaged shoulder, I hobbled along after him, wondering what would kill me first- the wound, or the cold.

*Mt. Avalanche, 20F*

The cave suddenly opened into an enormous ring around us, and light filled the chamber. I looked upwards and realized that we had reached the summit- I could finally see the stars!

They're so pretty from up here... I stared at the sky with awe, until Alakazam turned my attention to the object on the other side of the peak, a small blue tube with holes in the sides. I wondered what anyone could possibly do with it?"

"Is that... the Icy Flute?" I asked, the intense cold slowing down my speech.

"Yes, that is the last of the Seven Treasures, the Icy Flute. But... where is Articuno? It should be here, guarding the object from harm. Articuno!" Alakazam shouted, toward the sky. We waited for a response, but, instead of a Pokemon, the only reply was in the form of an enormous snowstorm forming over the top of the peak. Eventually it grew in size, until it hid the sun from our view.

Everything went dark, until Risk's pendant began to shine around my neck.

That glow... Risk said it only glows in dire situations! Something's about to happen to force this exploration to take a turn for the worst!

Then, the Icy Flute began to emit a blue glow, almost matching the color of the pendant. I watched as the light increased in volume, until I had to avert my eyes to avoid being blinded.

When I opened my eyes again, the light was gone, and, in its place, was a Riolu, clutching the Icy Flute like his life depended on it. Moreover, Alakazam had disappeared completely. I looked around for him and even tried calling his name.

Finally, after a few minutes, my gaze settled on the Riolu in front of me. His eyes were closed, but I took one look at him, and I knew it was him.

Risk! But... How?

I approached the Pokemon, and he turned when I drew near. I tried to remain coherent through my immense joy and asked,

"How?... You survived, Risk, I..."

"It's a long story..." He scratched his head,

"After you left, I figured that I was as good as dead, dissolving away inside that Serperior. That is, until a green Pokemon cut its horn right through that snake's gut and made a path for me to escape. But I didn't get out without a cost..." He showed his numerous wounds to me, and I gasped at the severity of them. The looked more like claw marks than acid wounds, but I doubted that it made a difference.

"Riku, can you heal these?" he asked, his green eyes reflecting off the glow of the pendant.

Surely, I can't deny him this, after he was on death's row for me!

Quickly, I pulled a leaf from my pack and was just touching the Riolu when a new voice reached my ears,

"Riku... Wait!"

I recoiled in confusion,

That was... Risk's voice? But he's standing right here in front of me!

Then, a green deer-like Pokemon emerged onto the summit, carrying a small blue Pokemon slumped over its back. As the majority of its body was burned, I could barely recognize what it was, so I really paid it no heed. Then, the Pokemon said something that felt like a knife through my heart,

"Riku..." the Pokemon said, although its voice was gravely strained. I could see the fire in its green eyes, and that made me take a second glance at it.

When I did, my heart practically flip-flopped in my chest. Angered burned in my chest toward whoever this other Riolu was.

Turning to the "Risk" holding the Icy Flute, I finally understood what had happened.

"You're not Risk! You're an impostor- a Ghost!" I shouted at him, my voice inundated with both pain and anger.

I backed away from the Riolu, but not before he grabbed me, gripping me tightly with both paws. His grip on me seemed much stronger than it should have, and I went silent when the Pokemon's form began to change.

In a few moments, instead of a Riolu, a massive Ghost with large, meaty arms and a mouth on its stomach was staring me in the face, grinning evilly at me.

The Ghost laughed,

"Ohohoho, figured me out so quickly, hmm? But you're too late to stop Master Spectre!" it said, and its second mouth opened.

Is he going to pull me into it? My body tensed- I did not want to be in another stomach again. I tried to free myself from the Ghost's hold on me, as a ball of energy began to form inside the mouth. I closed my eyes and braced myself for what I knew was coming next.

*Risk's POV*

"No! You can't have him!" I couldn't help but shout. Leaping off of Virizion's back, I formed an Aura Sphere between my paws and fired it at the Ghost with as much power that I could muster.

Luckily, my sudden attack caught the Ghost by surprise, forcing its own attack down the throat of its second mouth and most likely causing extreme pain to it.

The Ghost roared in agony,

"You annoying little pest! You... You can barely stand with those dissolved legs of yours! Hah, what could possibly make you think that you stand a chance against me?!"

"Risk, take this!" Riku yelled, and he threw my pendant through the air toward me.

"I don't need to 'think' that I stand a chance against you!..." I said.

I turned to catch the pendant, and, quickly slipping it on, finished my ultimatum,

"I just know that I 'must!'"

"Bah, then let the mighty Dusknoir send you to the spirit world right here and now!" the Ghost taunted, seconds before it disappeared.

You don't fool me! I can still see your Aura, even if you're not visible!

I turned to my right and grabbed at the air. My grip closed around something, and Dusknoir rematerialized, a worried expression on its face.

"How did you...?" was all I let the Ghost say, until I threw it across the room into the wall.

Dusknoir collapsed to the floor, obviously still weakened from the Aura Sphere lodged in its gut.

"You think you can best me with physical attacks?!" Dusknoir bellowed.

"I have plenty more strength than you do!"

Immediately, the Ghost had righted itself and charged at me. I didn't have any power left to dodge the attack, and I cried out in pain when the ghostly fist slammed into my gut and flung me backwards a few dozen feet. A small trickle of blood was forced out of one of the openings in my dissolved skin, but that was the least of my worries.

Dusknoir approached my fallen body, and an eerie aura surrounded its right hand. Grabbing me in its left, Dusknoir chortled, slowly bringing its glowing fist towards me.

"I promise that this will hurt as much as it possibly can!"

"Hmph," yelled a greatly-angered Alakazam from the distance.

"You may possess physical power, but your mind is lacking!"

Dusknoir lowered its guard for a second,

"But I..."

"Yes, that's right," Alakazam continued, as his silhouette became visible,

"You did seal me, Dusknoir. Your mistake is that you underestimated my power! Now, I'm going to make you regret that mistake! Tell your 'Master Spectre' that Alakazam is not amused!"

The Psi Pokemon's eyes glowed a bright blue, and Dusknoir was surrounded by a blue field of energy, slowly closing in on it. However, instead of reacting with fear, the Ghost laughed at its predicament.

"I... I may have not been able to kill you here, but I have done my duty to Master Spectre! The Icy Flute is mine! Ahaha..." the Ghost laughed, clutching the object with its left hand.

"You're not getting away!" I lunged at the Pokemon, but, as soon as I drew near, it knocked me to the ground with a single punch.

I lay in the ground, dazed from the blow.

"See you later, Crusaders!" Dusknoir smiled, disappearing into the night sky.

...

"Risk!" Riku ran over to me and embraced me, tears of joy in his eyes.

"Risk! Risk, you're alive!" The Shaymin could barely contain himself.

"I... I never thought I would see you again!"

I didn't think I would, either, to be honest. It's all thanks to Virizion that I'm still here... I thought, in the back of my mind.

As if on cue, Virizion approached us, and Riku stood between me and her, defensively planting his paws in the snow.

"Don't come any closer!" the Shaymin screamed at her. She seemed to take offense and backed away slightly.

"No, both of you, please..." I barely managed to say.

"Riku, that Pokemon you see there... Isn't a foe... That's Virizion, the... The Pokemon that saved me. What that impostor said... Was true... A green Pokemon did save me from death- that was Virizion. I suspect Dusknoir learned that from the Necromancer... And I'm willing to bet it's the same one that caused the snake to attack. Please... Don't fight!"

I was beginning to lose my voice again, and Riku rested my right arm on his head,

"You'll be safe soon, Risk. We all will be. But first, I need to give these back to you..."

The Shaymin untied my red scarf and placed it around my neck, pinning my Explorer's Badge to it as well.

Finally, Virizion asked,

"So, is this 'Riku' part of your exploration team, Risk?" I nodded my head in reply. She was about to say something, until Alakazam addressed the group,

"This is not good... If the Icy Flute so easily escaped us, then I fear to find out what happened to the other two groups..."

"You split again?!" Riku asked despondently. I doubted he will be open the idea again for a long time, considering splitting up practically resulted in my death. Alakazam responded nonchalantly, although I could detect a faint sense of urgency in his voice,

"Yes, Riku. We has no choice- Spectre is making a move on all three remaining Treasures as we speak. I just hope the other two groups had more success than we did... In any case, we must return to the Guild. Staying out here in the cold will do none of us any good."

None of us objected, so we turned to descend the mountain. However, before we got very far, a shrill cry from above us froze us in our tracks, quite literally...

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