*Riku's POV*

Our group continued to walk and walk and walk for what felt like an eternity, and, as we watched the body of water that Risk directed us to, Blade wanted us to take a short break and rest, to which I happily obliged. While we all sat down to watch the reflection of the sun on the water and the marine life, Tania spoke up,

"I just remembered something very important! Mystery Dungeons become very unstable when four Pokemon journey as a group at once; therefore, unfortunately, we must split up. Risk, you, Riku, and Paul will be our first group, while Blade and I will venture together." Before I could object, I decided not to try to supplant the rules of a Mystery Dungeon, as I had heard that a lack of compliance could result in death. Nevertheless, I was still concerned,

"Will you two be OK out there?"

"Don't worry- I've got Blade with me. We can do this!" Tania said enthusiastically, turning to the Absol,

"Isn't that right, Blade?"

"Y-yes! Of course- we will be fine!" He tried to hide a faint blush, and I almost laughed, seeing Risk also trying not to crack a smile.

"Alright, good luck, you two!" Risk bade them farewell, and our group continued towards the Aegis Cave.

...

"There, I see it! Look, in the rock- there's a passage here!" We ducked into the small cave entrance to see a large monument in the middle of the room. I tried to decipher it, but I couldn't read the language that it was printed in. Seeing my puzzled expression, Risk examined the monument,

"Hey, this is written in Unown! I'll handle this!" he said, as he began to translate the ancient text.

Reading the inscription, Risk concluded that we needed to find three stones to pass to the next area of the cave.

"So we need to look for small stones with letters on them..." Paul started,

"Well, I'll keep my eyes open then!" The Zangoose soon offered to hold on to each and every stone we found, and we walked into the next chamber.

*Ice Aegis Cave, B1F*

"It's so cold here... I think my ears are going to freeze at this rate!" I grew distressed as we walked through the frigid cave, before Risk stopped us,

"Wait! Don't move! Do you see that over there?" He pointed to the black Pokemon in the distance.

"Hey, that looks just like the letters on the..." Paul started.

"Shhhh!" Risk held his hand to his mouth, silencing the Zangoose. Unfortunately, the Polemon, an Unown, started to advance on us, bringing with it a horde of other various Unown that swarmed us. We were attacked by various bolts of energy, as the group struggled to beat back the oncoming Pokemon.

After a long, hard-fought battle, all the Unown disappeared, and the ground was littered with small stones, each bearing an inscription of an Unown (or a letter, whichever it was).

"Look at all those stones! I wonder which three we need..." Risk was lost in thought, until Paul jokingly said,

"Let's just grab 'em all and try each combination until one works!" as he stuffed the plethora of rocks into his bag.

Walking on for a while revealed a few more angry Unown, which were quickly dispatched, and the stairs.

"Come on, let's see what else this cave holds!"

*Ice Aegis Cave, B2F*

"Brrr... It's getting colder and colder... I don't know how much more I can take!" Even Risk was shivering, although Paul didn't even seem to notice the cold, simply continuing to look for stones and the stairs.

...

"Guys, I found the stairs!" the Zangoose triumphantly returned a few minutes later.

"They're only one room away from here!"

As much as I wanted to scold Paul for running away, even for such a short time, I wanted even more to get out of this frigid cave, so we happily descended.

*Ice Aegis Cave, B3F*

Huddling as close as we could to conserve body heat, the team continued their search for the end of this frigid nightmare, until a hole in the ground opened under me, and I tumbled a small distance into the darkness below. Luckily, my reflexes kicked in, and I grabbed a metal bar sticking out of the wall. I was suspended there, clinging to the metal edge, trying not to think about the bottomless abyss only one slip away from me.

"Riku, grab my hand- we'll get you out!" Paul reached as far as he could into the hole, but he was still too far away for me to grab ahold of.

"I have an idea!" Risk shouted,

"Paul, lower me down there- I should be able to get close enough to catch Riku!"

"Are you crazy?! If I slip, we all die!"

"What other option do we have?! Let Riku die in that hole?" Risk practically spat the words like they were poison,

"I can't accept that!" he said, tying the Zangoose's tail to the ground.

"There, use that as a base, and you won't slip!" Paul sighed and proceeded to grab hold of Risk, gently lowering himself down the hole. I could see the Riolu descending, upside-down, towards me, and my spirits were uplifted.

"Riku, grab my hand!" I stretched and strained, but my arms still couldn't reach- I was so close!

"You have to jump off that bar!" I sighed and thought,

Alright, Riku, it's do-or-die time! as I jumped.

...

I didn't think I would make it, but I somehow gained enough height to grab the Riolu's outstretched paw, holding on for dear life. When Risk was certain I had a proper hold on him, he shouted,

"Paul, haul us up!" and the Zangoose pulled until we resurfaced from the bottomless void. Once Paul had untied himself from the ground, his face reflected both distress and concern simultaneously, a first for him,

"We need to get out of this cave now- it isn't safe here!"

Trekking through a few more rooms of unruly Unown, we finally reached the stairs.

"Thank goodness, I can feel the air warming up again!" However, when we reached the other side, we were all astonished- we were back where we started- at the monument again!

"Wait, WHAT?! How does that work? We're back here again! Does that mean we have to go through it again?!" I was very confused,

"Riku, just wait a moment. Just let me read the statue again." While Risk was perusing the inscription, I noticed three small holes near the statue.

"Hey, take a look at these! I'll bet this is where the stones go! But we still don't know what stones to place there... Does the writing tell?" I kept asking Risk questions, but he always answered with,

"Give me a moment...," not taking his eyes off the statue. Finally, Paul had grown a bit impatient,

"Why not just place stones that spell out "cold" in there? That's all that place was!"

"Cold... Cold... Wait a second, Paul- I think that might work. If not 'cold,' try a three-letter for it." The Zangoose understood instantly,

"I-C-E!" he said, placing the stones in their respective slots. At first, nothing happened, but, then, the passage in front of us shifted to reveal a sleeping golem made of ice. Hesitantly, we entered the new room, as the golem, made of ice, woke to our footsteps,

"INTRUDER ALERT!!"

Risk and I exchanged nervous glances,

This doesn't look good...

EXTERMINATE!"

"Well," Paul spoke up,

"If it's a fight this hunk of ice wants, it's a fight he'll get! Let's go!" he said, as we charged the Pokemon.

The strange Pokemon began by covering the room in ice, making maneuvering very difficult. Nevertheless, I was able to land a few hits before slipping past it, as did Paul with his skills at Close Combat. Luckily, the Pokemon was very slow, and, even though it began firing Ice Beams at us, we were skating around on the ice so much that it couldn't hit us. Eventually, the Pokemon fell to the ground, and the ice covering the room evaporated. Then, a loud voice echoed from the Pokemon, despite its apparent lack of mouth or other orifice,

"I AM REGICE, ONE OF THE THREE GUARDIANS OF AEGIS CAVE. YOU HAVE PROVEN YOUR STRENGTH- YOU MAY PASS!" At its words, a stairway emerged out of the wall.

"Well, if there's three, then let's keep going!" I said, and we continued onward, straight into another monument room.

"Oh, for crying out loud, not another one..." Paul did not like these puzzles at all.

"Wait," Risk told him, quickly scanning the inscription.

"The puzzle is the same, but now there is four slots... Wait a minute, didn't that Pokemon say that its name was Regice?"

"Yea... But what does that mean..." I started, until Risk continued,

"I heard an old legend about that Pokemon. Regice is part of a trio of Pokemon that represent the bodies of ice, rock, and steel. By that logic, if the solution to the last puzzle was 'I-C-E,' then the solution to the others must be 'R-O-C-K' and 'S-T-E-E-L,' respectively." I was dumbfounded at how quickly he seemed to understand the puzzle, and even more amazed when his proposed solution turned out to be correct, as we spelt "rock" in the holes, and the cavern opened to reveal yet another chamber. However, in the next room, another golem was waiting for us, this time, the body of rock.

"INTRUDER ALERT!"

Not again... I thought, but I also wanted to try to reason with the Pokemon,

"Listen, we're not here to..."

"EXTERMINATE!!"

I guess it doesn't listen to conversation... Oh well, I tried... I couldn't help thinking, as the room suddenly became extremely hot, like a desert. The Pokemon immediately began sending waves of rocks that arose from the sand at us, which Paul and I narrowly dodged. However, Risk wasn't so lucky- a stray boulder rock hit him square in the head, knocking him unconscious. To make matters worse, "Regirock," as Risk named him, opened a hole of quicksand in the center of the room. Quickly, Paul grabbed Risk's body before it could be taken under the sand, while I focused on Regirock. I launched an Energy Ball at the Pokemon, not expecting to do much damage to it at all, but, surprisingly, the green sphere's collision completely deactivated the golem, and it was pulled under the quicksand, revealing a hidden stairway in the wall.

"Two down, one to go!" I grew hopeful,

"We're almost to the treasure Tania talked about..."

"Speaking of Tania," Paul interrupted,

"How do you think she and Blade are doing?"

"I think they're fine!" I tried to reassure the Zangoose through the best facade I could muster- in reality, I was scared stiff with worry for those two.

"Nevertheless, we need to wait until Risk regains consciousness..."

We left Regirock's "chamber" into another monument room. I immediately got to work preparing a fire, while Paul watched Risk until he woke up, hours later.

"Hi guys..." The Riolu tried to stand up, but he tripped over his own legs and hit the ground face-first, obtaining a nasty bruise in the process.

This is a problem! He has a concussion, and I don't know if my healing powers can even remotely diminish this type of injury... Well, I might as well try! I thought, rummaging through the now-unconscious Risk's pack until I found some leaves to start healing him. However, before I could start, Risk suddenly sat bolt upright, eyes still closed, screaming my name and sweating.

"Risk? What's wrong, buddy?"

He didn't seem to hear me, and, instead, my action seemed only to elicit more screams. I became anxious now, sending a slight Psychic pulse to him in an attempt to kickstart his brain,

"Risk!! Snap out of it! I'm still alive, right here!"

At the word, "alive," the Riolu left whatever trance he was in, and, miraculously, the adrenaline spike seemed to deter his body's attention to the concussion, at least for now.

"Why the long faces?" Risk looked at us like nothing had happened, and I couldn't help but laugh- he was just screaming for me a few seconds ago, and, now, he's perfectly fine. Then, he fell to his knees, crying out at an invisible force,

"No! Go away! Leave him alone! He's my responsibility!"

Wait a second! He said something like that before, back when my life was threatened by Blade!

Instinctively, I pressed my paw to his shoulder, and I could feel the presence of spirits inside him.

However, drawing them out proved harder than it normally was for me, taking all of my concentration and energy, until I was on the verge of passing out myself.

Eventually, after expending most of my healing powers, I was able to free four young Gastly that had accidentally trapped themselves in Risk's body, and he calmed down again. At first, I thought nothing of the event, but, later, I thought to myself,

That couldn't have been just an accident... Why do I feel like there is a trap involved here?... Regardless, we still have one more guardian to take down!

However, although my mind was ready, my body was not, and I passed out shortly after, under the watchful eyes of Paul and Risk.

Upon my waking, I was greeted with some cooked food,

I guess they just used the fire that I started... and a sarcastic,

"Morning, Sleeping Beauty," from Paul.

"Well," I started, completely ignoring his satirical remark,

"We only have one more guardian left to take down," and, without a pause, I added,

"Did you guys figure out this room's puzzle?"

"Actually, it wasn't hard, thanks to Risk over here..." He pointed to the Riolu bent over looking at the statue, who turned a little red in response to the flattery.

"Anyway, the answer was just what he thought it would be, 'S-T-E-E-L!' We already laid most of the stones we had where they fit into the monument, but we were waiting for you to awaken before we disturbed the last golem. Are you ready?" I nodded in reply, and Risk placed the final "L" into it's slot, opening the door to the next room.

Stepping through the door revealed a small cavern, with a Pokemon that reflected the light with its body, and composed of pure steel. I decided that the rest of the team would hang back a bit, until I deemed that the Pokemon was safe. It seemed to be dormant, so I decided to take a closer look. However, at first, I thought it was broken or malfunctioning, as it did not attack instantaneously. Consequently, when I touched the golem, it finally activated and scared me half to death.

"INTRUDER ALERT!" Scampering back to the group in fright, I told them that the golem was ready for a fight, and we all engaged the Pokemon.

"EXTERMINATE!!"

Well, this is our last obstacle- let's make it count! I thought, launching an Energy Ball at the Pokemon, as, to my shock, it was not fazed at all. The golem raised its arms and charged at me, surprisingly quickly for a hunk of metal-I had barely enough time to dodge it!

"I'll bet it's a Steel type- this is where I can finally shine!" Risk stated, before slamming his fist into the Pokemon's side and sending it across the room. However, the Pokemon was still standing, readying its next attack.

This thing sure is built for punishment- it doesn't even seem to mind our assaults!

"I've got an idea," Paul stepped in,

"Let's see if it can stomach this!" he said, before charging the golem and unleashing a flurry of punches that should have fainted any normal Pokemon from the sheer trauma of impact. Amazingly, the Pokemon simply picked up Paul and threw him across the room, and he hit the wall with a loud thud.

This is hopeless... How can we beat it!?! I thought, about to give up, when a circle of fire erupted from the monument chamber, arcing over our heads and engulfing the Pokemon, and the smell of burning metal filled the room. After a few moments, the steel guardian fell, its armor spent,

"I AM REGISTEEL, LAST OF THE GUARDIANS OF AEGIS CAVE! YOU HAVE PROVED YOURSELF IN COMBAT! YOU MAY PASS!" After Registeel had finished, I heard a female voice from behind us,

"Are we late?" I heard Tania ask jokingly, as she and Blade entered the room. I could not have been more happy to see them in a thousand years, wrapping my paws around Blade, who acted a bit uncomfortable about the gesture with Tania around, but I just couldn't contain myself- they were alive!

After our countless jovial reunions and stories of our respective journeys through the ruins, Blade began to relay his plan of action.

"Now that we are all back together, we can finally focus on reaching the bottom of this place and finding that treasure, supposed to help us...."

I couldn't properly focus on him, as I was still pretty tired, and, soon, I nodded off...

*Risk's POV*

"Well, Riku's out cold again, and that brings us to our next dilemma- if we wait for him to wake up, we either have to split up again, or run the risk of dying by disobeying the rules of this place. Personally, I vote that we just bring him along while he's sleeping- who's with me?"

As much as I didn't appreciate the small, impending heart attack Riku would get from waking up in a different place, I couldn't think of a better solution, so the group decided to just try it. We had to move most of the things in my pack to others' to make room for the Shaymin, but we eventually found a way to fit him inside without hurting him.

"There," I said, trying not to move my arms too much and risk waking him up,

"Now we can move on!"

"Good. We should only have one area left, the Aegis Cave Pit. From what Tania has told me, it shouldn't be very deep, and the treasure lies at the bottom. Let's go!!"

*Aegis Cave Pit, B5F*

We've walked a long way into these ruins, but I believe that we're almost at the bottom! My thoughts were interrupted by Blade tapping me on the back,

"Risk, there's some more runes on the wall here... Can you read them?" the Absol asked me.

"Hmmm... More Unown letters- I should be able to decipher this!" I took a deep breath and started to read,

"'A body of rock... A body of ice... A body of steel... When gathers the three Pokemon, the king shall appear.'... What do you think that means..."

"Wait a second," Tania spoke up,

"Didn't we just fight Pokemon that represented rock, ice, and steel? So, shouldn't we already have the power to find this 'king'?" The Flareon asked, rhetorically, as the rest of us exchanged nervous glances. However, before we could do anything, Riku walked up to the runes and touched them.

As if reacting to the touch, the wall that contained the runes suddenly crumbled, revealing a stairway leading downwards.

"Wait," I warned,

"I sense a large amount of Auras down there... I assume that the treasure will be in that next chamber, but we must be very careful! Stay sharp!" I said, as we tentatively descended to the next room...

*Aegis Cave Pit- "Treasure Chamber"*

"... I see some light, way down here! Could this be the treasure chamber?" Making my way into the room, I could see a few pillars with torches on them, as well as a plethora of Pokemon statues, all eyeing me creepily.

"This place doesn't feel right... There's auras coming from all those Hitmonlee and Bronzong statues, but no Pokemon are in sight- and what is that large statue over there?..."

Paul interrupted me, as he was quickly rummaging through the cavern's many trinkets in an attempt to finish the journey as fast as possible,

"Is this it?" he asked, pointing to a small, green jewel in a glass box. As he pulled the box and its contents out of the pile of wealth, the earth began to shake, and I feared the cave would collapse on us. Then, all the lights disappeared at once, quickly being re-lit to illuminate the Pokemon statues, who were now very much alive and breathing.

"Zut-zuuuuuut!" The large statue in the middle of the room began to move- it didn't seem to like other Pokemon invading its privacy.. At first, I was scared of the colossal Pokemon, but, then, I saw how slow it moved- I could outpace it by just walking! However, the other Pokemon were not joking around- a Hitmonlee practically flew over my head with a high-powered Mega Kick. Then, before anyone could react, I was telekinetically picked up by a Bronzong, while Paul was knocked out by another Hitmonlee's Hi Jump Kick aimed at his chest. Only Blade, Tania, and I were left standing in the cold room.

"It's... Choking... Me...! Help!" I barely managed to squeeze out, as the Psychic grip on me grew stronger and stronger.

"Tania?" Blade looked at the Flareon.

"Yes?"

"You know what to do?!" he asked her. In response, she sent another Fire Blast that completely incinerated one of the Bronzong, releasing me from its "death grip" and leaving me gasping for air.

"... Thanks... Tania!" I gasped, crumpling to the ground.

Not long after uttering those two words, I passed out from the strain on my body.

Good luck, you two! was my last thought before losing consciousness...

*Blade's POV*

This is not going well... We're horribly outnumbered, and we just lost another of the team! Even I am starting to lose hope... No- I can't leave them like this!

"Tania, dispose of the Bronzongs as quickly as you can!" I yelled, as a few of them tried to telekinetically grab me.

Hmph! They can't harm me... Good to know... I thought, as another Hitmonlee kicked through the air towards me.

"You'll have to do better than that!" I taunted the colossal Pokemon that I assumed to be their leader, slicing my would-be assassin in two with Psycho Cut. The broken parts crumbled back into dust, and I was confident that we were turning the tide of the battle. Meanwhile, Tania had reduced the entire troop of Bronzong to ash and was busy torching a few of the Hitmonlee before one of them caught her from behind with a well-placed kick, and she went down.

"Why, you...!" I growled. It was one thing to attack me, but when you attack her...

Flying into a rage, I ripped through the remaining Hitmonlee until the only two Pokemon left standing were me and that other Pokemon. I stood there, almost laughing, as I remembered its incredibly slow start to the battle. Then, it addressed me,

"WHAT BRINGS YOU HERE- TO MY DOMAIN, THE CHAMBER OF REGIGIGAS?!" Seeing the green jewel in the unconscious Paul's hands, Regigigas roared,

"YOU DARE ATTEMPT TO STEAL OUR TREASURE! YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS TRESPASSING WITH YOUR LIFE!!" and charged me. However, it was much faster than before, slamming into me and knocking me through the wall before I could even blink.

Escaping from the rubble that fell on top of me proved to be too difficult, so I decided to use Regigigas's own power to my advantage.

"WHERE ARE YOU, PUNY ABSOL? LET MY CRUSH YOU FOR YOUR TRANSGRESSIONS!!" From the next room, under the debris, I shouted,

"Over here, you monster! I'm the one you want!" As Regigigas lumbered over to me, I braced myself for another trip through the wall, but, suddenly, the colossal Pokemon stopped moving completely, paralyzed.

"WHAT DID... HOW DID YOU...?"

Regigigas was interrupted by a smug-faced Risk, who had awoken only moments earlier.

"Force Palm works wonders, doesn't it?" the Riolu laughed, in the creepiest voice I had ever heard.

"Let's see how it works on you next, Blade!" Before I could process what was happening, a possessed Risk slammed his fist into the bandage that hid my near-death wound. I reeled from the pain,

Riku... Maybe I should have him heal this wound at last- I can't fight with such an obvious weak spot... Ugh!

"Oh, Blade, do you need a doctor for that? Too bad Riku is..." His speech suddenly stopped, and the real Risk's voice emerged, if only for a second,

"Blade... Riku is..." Risk gasped, fighting for the very air he breathed,

"Shut up, you are my puppet now!" the very distinguishable Gengar's voice, coming from Risk, bored itself into my mind.

"No, Gengar! He is Risk, and he doesn't need your help to be himself!" A defiant Riku shouted, appearing behind him, leaf in paw, ready to help.

Instantly, he attempted to pull Gengar out of Risk, but he only struggled in vain, as Risk simply turned around, tossed the Shaymin across the room, and laughed again,

"Fool! Do you think that you can stop me with that petty show? Hah, you had better try harder! Risk, how about we show these hapless newbies how I deal with rejects?!" Risk started advancing on me, but he stopped mid-stride,

"How about..." Risk was visibly struggling with Gengar's control over him,

"How about I do this?!" Risk, who had somewhat gained the ability to move his arm, defiantly stated, as he plunged his own Force Palm into his chest, instantly paralyzing the Riolu and knocking him unconscious. Gengar was forced to leave his body and disappear into the shadows once more,

"Ugegege... You win this one, Crusaders..." Gengar, although still invisible, was greatly weakened from his internal battle with Risk,

"Next time, you won't be so lucky!... But first, why don't I release your 'friend' from his paralysis?!" At first, I was confused,

Is Gengar being nice for once?... Then, I remembered Regigigas and knew exactly what the infernal prankster had done...

Now able to move again, Regigigas refocused its attention back to us,

"NOW I WILL FINISH YOU ONCE AND FOR ALL!" it said, charging for the unconscious Risk.

No, you won't! was my only thought as I slammed my horn into the Pokemon's side, intercepting it mid-charge and making it roar in pain.

Finally, Paul regained consciousness from the earlier fight,

"Wha... Where am I..umm, what is that?!"

"No time to explain! Also, what I'm about to do is the most dangerous thing that I've ever done. I may have just endangered us all, but this is my only option!" I said, grabbing the stone out of Paul's hand and throwing it at the nearest wall. The Zangoose, clearly exasperated, was even more dumbfounded when I grabbed Riku and Risk, pushing them straight into the same wall, and, to my surprise, they actually passed right through the wall.

So what Tania said about the treasure was true... Wait a sec, Tania!! I turned around to see Regigigas waking up Tania simply to grab her brittle form, slowly crushing the Flareon in its massive fist, as she was too exhausted to fight back.

"Why you little..." I charged the giant, ready to sink my fangs into its arm, but, as soon as I was in range, Regigigas simply swatted me into a wall, burying me under more rubble.

Urgh! I just can't beat him... Wait a second, that's it! I slammed into the debris pile, dislodging several large parts of the wall in the process. Then, I mentally broke down the boulder, flinging the remains at Regigigas with Psycho Cut. The giant's ensuing tirade gave Tania just enough time to escape with Paul and I through our homemade portal. Where we will end up, I had no idea, but I knew that we were at least safe from Regigigas...