-Chapter 7: The Sky's the Limit-

-Atlas' POV-

After Nocturne and I both came out with our trainees at the same time, we decided to call it a day. We met up in Spinda's Café for a drink to heal our fatigue from the intensity of it all. I learned bulk up, Dual Chop and Cross Chop while training.

Caroline had actually gotten a lot stronger in the dungeon, finally being able to bring down a Piloswine without being knocked out herself after she learned light screen to lessen the power of its ice attacks. Even if it did take until our second-to-last attempt, she still did good.

Speaking of that… "Hey, Noc, how did Alice's training go?"

He sipped on his grass gummi smoothie, "Meh. We figured out she's not a fighter. That's about it. It's not that she's unable, but she doesn't really like it."

I coughed on the sip of drink that I had begun swallowing, "Huh?"

"You heard me."

How the-?! She doesn't like fighting… I never even thought about that possibility!

Noc must've read the surprise in my face, because he said, "Hey, relax. We're in a café! Kind of the perfect place for that. She's part of our team. Not everyone has to be a fighter."

I nodded slowly. That's true… But what can she do, then?

She spoke up, "I can fight if I have to! I just don't really like it…"

I looked at her, "Oh. Okay. That's… Better."

She seemed kind of upset at that statement. I realized what I had said and quickly scolded myself, "Sorry about that. It's the fighting-type in me.. I always think everybody likes to tussle."

She tilted her head, "Like the food?"

Noc shook his head, "No, that's a Truffle."

She turned to him, "Like the plant?"

"No, that's a brussel." (1)

While they continued talking about that, I tried brainstorming ideas for what Alice could do if she didn't like fighting… Wow… I never actually thought about it… Not fighting… How would you go about it?

Thinking like that made my brain hurt, so I gave it a rest. I bet Connor or Vulcan would know how to deal with it better than me.

Noc took another sip, "How'd Caroline's training go?"

I looked at her sipping her oran shake, and I couldn't help but smile, "It went good. She finally knocked out a Piloswine. Her first Ice type opponent."

Nocturne chuckled, "Oh, Arceus, Ice types… In their own way, they are almost as bad as fire types. That's pretty impressive for your first day of training!"

She smiled sheepishly, "Thanks…"

Afterwards, Magnus and Mirage walked into the café. He was carrying a Rhydon and Bonsly, and Mirage was hefting around a Chingling. One of Magnus' wings seemed to be bent, and when Nocturne asked about it, he grunted, "Don't you f***in' worry about it."

Mirage went ahead and explained. "Rhydon nailed him with rock throw three separate times. One of the stones broke his wing."

I cringed slightly, "Ouch…"

He looked at me, "I don't need your f***in' sympathy. It'll heal up in no time." Then he looked at Caroline, then Alice, who were both staring at his wing, "And what are you two lookin' at? This isn't a staring contest."

They both diverted their gazes, and he nodded, then grunted with relief as he shrugged the unconscious Rhydon off of his back and onto the floor.

-Connor's POV-

After Shaymin cleared up that little incident with the Carnivine, and Team Frontier apologized for jumping into a fight instead of listening, we continued up the mountain. When we made it to the 6th station pass, the area started to get more rocky than grassy. Once we reached that clearing, team Frontier said that since the rest of the mountain was covered in snow, they wouldn't be able to set up any more bases. They also said that they were going to make a serious effort to reach the top.

Breloom waved, "See you along the path!

Vulcan and I both packed extra items and prepared for Ice-type enemies just in case. We made sure to stock up on Oran Berries and Apples to keep our energy up, then closed the massive drawer at the base of the statue. Vulcan wrote down in the adventure log, and when he did, we noticed drawings on the pages in the blank spaces that matched what was written down. We saw a really good sketch of us beating down team Skull, of us facing Groudon, and even of Grovyle jumping into the portal back to the future with Dusknoir.

We both looked to Vincent, who had turned back into a Smeargle, and he shrugged, "What? If this is the record of our team, then I want it to be amazing for our successors to read, or maybe even for us to look back on when we're old like elder Torkoal!"

Vulcan closed the book, "How'd you know what the old ruins looked like?"

He shook his head, "I didn't. You guys wrote a lot, so I drew what you wrote."

I smiled, "That's really cool! Thanks!"

We all nodded, and set off again. Shaymin just walked on top of the snow because of how light she was, but we started lagging behind when the snow started to get waist deep. After a while, Vulcan just superheated his skin to melt the snow in front of him as he walked, so we just followed him up the path. A blizzard actually happened at one point, and Vincent turned into a Piloswine, saying, "I'm not about to freeze my tail off."

After we made it through, I was surprised. No Ice types, but a lot of flying types. When we made it to the seventh station clearing, we found team Frontier in front of Sneasel, and he was passed out on the ground. Judging by the hole in the packed snow, he had been laying there long enough to be nearly buried by the snow, and they'd dug him out. Shaymin ran up to them, "What happened?!"

Breloom shrugged, "I don't know. He had fainted before we got here. I don't know if it was because of the cold, or if he ran out of items, but this is dangerous either way."

Shaymin examined Sneasel, "This isn't good at all… I'll go get help."

Mawile turned to her, shocked, "Huh?! Who are you going to call for help up here?!"

"There's a rescue expert at the 8th station clearing. We don't call him for the little things, but emergencies are different. Could you please keep an eye on Sneasel? We're going on ahead!"

Team Frontier nodded and began treating him with a reviver seed, but it didn't want to latch on, which was strange. Normally those would heal you right up.

Shaymin turned to us, "We have to hurry!"

We all nodded and plowed through the flurry again, making excellent time through the ever-deepening snow. Pretty soon Vulcan was melting the snow until we were walking through snow drifts higher than our heads. After a while, the snow began thinning out until we saw a cave up ahead. Shaymin shouted, "The 8th station clearing! Hurry!" When we went into the cave, I shook the frost off of my skin and Vincent turned back into a Smeargle.

Shaymin ran forward, "Ampharos!"

The Ampharos in front of the fire looked towards us, "Oh! A Shaymin from the village! I was wondering who it was. It's been a long time! How have you been?"

Shaymin nodded urgently, "It has been a long time, Ampharos. But there's no time to chat. We're in a hurry!"

Ampharos tilted his head, "Indeed. Did something happen?"

"At the 7th station clearing!"

"Ah… And here I thought I was going to have more guests, but it sounds like that will have to wait."

He began walking out with a small bag, and looked over his shoulder, "Wait for me here."

Shaymin nodded, "We're counting on you!"

We ended up lounging around for maybe half an hour before he came back with Sneasel in his arms and Team Frontier following.

Over the next few minutes of sitting by the fire with Ampharos tending to his wounds, Sneasel eventually coughed, "Oof… Urrgh…"

"Oh! He's awake!" Shaymin said with relief. "Sneasel! Are you alright?!"

"Uh… Where am I?"

Mawile leaned in, "You fainted at the 7th station clearing."

Breloom added, "If Ampharos hadn't carried you here, things would not have gone well for you."

Sneasel looked at the pokemon, who was tending to his wounds, "You did that for me?"

Ampharos shook his head, "Oh, no. It wasn't just me. Everybody here came to your rescue."

"I see… I… Unnh!" He grimaced and clutched at his chest.

Shaymin shook her head, "It's all right. You don't have to say anything. You should really take it easy and rest."

Sneasel complied, not saying anything else as he laid back and closed his eyes. Ampharos turned to us, "I can take care of him. You all can go on through the mountain pass. You were headed to the summit, I'd presume? Well, this is the 8th station clearing. You're almost there! Do your best!"

Mawile crossed her arms, a worried expression on her face, "B-but…"

Ampharos cut her off as he held up his hand, "There's nothing to be accomplished by all of you standing here. I can handle this on my own. Go on ahead."

Breloom stepped forward, "Are you sure…?" Ampharos nodded and Breloom nodded back, "All right… We'll leave Sneasel in your care."

Team Frontier began talking amongst themselves, and I turned to Vincent and Vulcan, "Well, let's go. Ampharos is right. Nothing's gonna get done just standing here."

They nodded, and we prepared for the final stretch before heading back out into the snow.

-Caroline's POV-

After we all went back to the tent for the night, I was laying on my top bunk, "Shouldn't Connor, Vulcan, Rose and Vincent be back already?"

Nocturne's voice replied, "They'll be fine. They've been through tougher times than some mountain. Mystery dungeons speed up time for those inside, so they may be gone for a couple days. Who knows?"

Atlas' voice spoke up as well, "I hope they're not gone for a couple days. I want to know how to approach you and Alice's skillset so we can start making a training schedule or something!"

Magnus grunted, "Can you all shut up? I'm trying to sleep!"

I piped up, "Can you stop being so rude? We're just talking!"

I heard him begin to get up and growl, "And I suppose you're gonna make me, shortstop?"

"Wait 'till I evolve! Then you'll be the shortstop!"

"F*** you!"

Mirage said, "Hey, relax, Magnus. Your wing won't heal if you go around picking pointless fights with your own team."

"...Fine. Whatever." I heard him lay back down.

-Connor's POV-

We had reached the 9th station clearing with almost no trouble. Vulcan had begun talking with Shaymin while Vincent scribbled in the adventure log. In just a few strokes of his tail, he had drawn a giant mountain with a small village at the base.

I looked at it, "Wow… That's impressive."

He closed the book and put it back in its slot, "Thanks."

After a little bit, Shaymin said, "It's only a little further to the summit! Let's keep at it!"

We all nodded and moved forward again. We got real lucky, almost always appearing in the same room as the stairs. When we made it up, Shaymin said, "Oh! I can see it! The summit!"

We came into a foggy, dark purple, sludged up area, and Shaymin gasped, "Th-this is terrible… All of this happened while I was away for so long…"

"Looks like someone else got here first…" Then team Frontier walked up behind us and Breloom looked around, "But what's this?!"

Mawile gasped, "...This is the summit?!"

Shaymin shook her head frantically, "No! Th-this is-!"

She was cut off by some groaning and whining from up ahead. Out of the fog, lots of shadowy figures appeared, three of them larger than the rest.

(1)- RWBY reference.

As always, hope you enjoyed! I'll see you guys in the next update! Much Love!

-PL