Author's note: Hey! It's been a bit... actually it's been about half a year from when the first part of this story had been written ; But with a teensy bit of inspiration from the new PMD 2 I finally got it done! D

Snake of the Rose, in the review, made a comment on capitalizing the pokemon's species name... well, I figure I better explain to clear up any confusion. I don't capitalize the pokemon's names in this story because later, when we meet celebrities from the game who's name is the same as their species... it may get a bit confusing... like if I were to have another Alakazam in the stories... well, people may confuse him with THE Alakazam... or something like that... I figured this to be the easiest solution, if not the best one I could

think of.

I have an incredibly long (and sometimes deep) storyline in mind for this, and even plans for a PMD 2 crossover! But it may take some poking, prodding and such to keep me writing... that means PLEASE READ AND REVEIW! It'd be much appreciated! --

--

Monica and Charming had been walking for a few hours since they left the beach they met on.They weren't really talking to each other, more just lost in their own thoughts.

"So..." Monica tried to break the silence, "You're a prince, huh?"

"Yeah," Charming answered. Monica looked dismayed. He may be a prince, but he was no conversationalist.

"So, uh... what's it like being a prince?" She tried again.

"Boring," Charming replied. Monica waited for him to continue, but he never did. She was getting annoyed with the one word answers.

"Why's it so boring," the squirtle tried to sound curious, and to hide her annoyance.

"Alot of studying," Charming sounded bored right now.

"Ug... I hate studying... Math especially... What do you study?" Monica asked, interested in the life of someone brought up to be royalty.

"Eh... Politics and stuff," Charming shrugged.

Monica wasn't usually one to have a short temper, but once in a while, there was a person who could push her past annoyance.

"Talk, damn it!" she erupted in fury.

Charming looked shocked. She had seemed like such a nice squirtle before, "Well, uh... I really want to study battling! I got loads of books and stuff my dad gave me before he disappeared. I know most type match ups, and quite a few of the moves that different Pokemon can use!

"I've never been one to actually want to battle, though... I more like to watch from the sidelines and try and guess what everyone else is doing... I used to watch the castle guards when they trained. It was so cool watching them battle each other. Sometimes I'd even pick a side and cheer for them! It was so cool! First the commander of the guards would come out to the middle of the training ground, then give a signal for the troops to begin fighting. Then I'd try to guess what each side was gonna do, then yell out to the group I was cheering for what they could do to beat the other side! It was so much fun! And then--"

Monica was trying desperately to keep up with the charmander's talking. She didn't think she could get a word in while he was talking as fast as he was. First she couldn't get him to talk, now she couldn't get him to shut up! Giving up on conversation, she merely nodded and added the occasional, "yeah," and ,"Uh-huh" to make it look like she was still listening.

Soon, dusk began to fall, and the two thought it wise to find shelter for the night. After a half hour's worth of scrambling around, it grew too dark to see very far in front of them and they gave in. Charming pointed out a nice place under a tree in case it rained. So the two decided that they would sleep there for the night.

--

By the time Charming had woken up, it was light out. The sky was overcast with light grey clouds. The wind was blowing rather fiercely, coming from the south... where that frozen mountain was. Charming's stomach grumbled. He would have to find some fruit or something for breakfast. He looked around at the trees and bushes, trying to see if he could find anything. But the species of the few plants he could identify weren't the types that bore fruit. He'd have to begin searching elsewhere. He got up and then turned to wake Monica up... but the squirtle was gone!

"Ha--" Charming looked confused, When did she leave? Why didn't she wake me up? Was she really that mad at me?

Charming sat down on the ground and sighed, I guess I'm not very good at keeping friends...

A bright red apple rolled up to his tiny clawed feet. His eyes opened wide in surprise as he looked up to see where it came from. Monica stood in front of him with an armload of apples, and a wide grin on her face.

"I found these a ways up the road!" she said happily, "You weren't awake yet, and I didn't want to bother ya..."

Charming smiled and took the apple, biting into it. So she didn't leave him after all... that made him happy.

"And we're not really far from that mountain, either!" she added, "I haven't seen any other Pokemon around, but there was a sign down the road, about where I found these apples. It said 'Mount Freeze 5 miles.' I figured maybe you might of heard of a place called that..."

Charming shook his head, "Nothing much more than fairy tales my dad used to tell me... The Mount Freeze in his stories was a mystical place where a really powerful fire pokemon was supposed to live. But they were just stories... "

--

The two Pokemon finished their breakfast quickly, and gathered up the remaining apples to take with them, eager to begin their little adventure. They had a long way to walk... for a pair who never had to walk that far before, it felt like forever that they were walking.

The terrain around them began to change drastically in those five miles. The air was getting much colder. Snow covered the ground, and got deeper the closer they got to the mountain. Charming didn't like the cold. He was used to the tropical weather in the castle town of his country.

"HA-CHOO!"

"You ok?" Monica laughed.

"Ye-uck," Charming replied, wiping his nose, "I hate the cold... I hope this whole continent isn't this way..."

"Well, we won't know 'til we get to the mountain peak," Monica smiled, "We're not that far from the mountain n--whoa!"

The pair looked up at a huge cave. The boulders that surrounded it seemed to be made of pure ice. Cold air was blowing out of the entrance. Charming shuddered, but more of fright than the cold. He didn't like the looks of this place.

"It's bound to be a lot colder in there..." Monica noted.

"Ugh... I don't wanna think about it... let's just go..." Charming said, taking a step into the cave. They began walking down the tunnel. It was dark, but Charming took lead, using his tail to light the way. They climbed quite a ways, but eventually they got to the peak. They left the tunnel, and entered a large chamber, dimly lit by an odd green light. The two small Pokemon marveled at the sight. The flame on the charmander's tail glowed brightly, and the clear ice of the chamber captured the glow, causing light to dance across the chamber, lighting it up in alternating green and orange flashes. Charming looked around.

"There's no way to go up any farther... and no way to see outside..." he trailed off, defeated.

Monica stood silently for a moment, before speaking up, "This place has almost a magical feeling to it, doesn't it?"

"Huh?" Charming was threw off by the squirtle's odd statement.

"I don't know why, but I can feel a weird power...I wonder if anybody is here?" the squirtle cupped her hands over her mouth and called, "Hello?"

Monica's voice echoed across the chamber.

She called out again, "Hello? Anyone here?"

Echoes filled the chamber again, but they were not responded to.

"Guess there isn't anyone here..." Charming said.

"Well... should we go then?" Monica suggested, pointing to a tunnel on the other side.

"What?" Charming looked confused.

"Well, we didn't find what we wanted here, so I guess we'll just have to keep going, right?" Monica smiled, "It's not like there is anything waiting for us the way we came!"

Charming nodded. She was right. They weren't going to find any answers sitting around here. He headed toward the other tunnel, but stopped.

"What's the matter?" Monica asked.

"This place... this tunnel leads to a mystery dungeon..." he said.

"Mystery dungeon?" the squirtle raised a brow.

"Yeah... they're these places that change every time you go into them. You never know what you'll find in one... and you can only go one way until you find the way out... there's no backtracking once you leave a floor." Charming shuddered.

"So, ya mean we gotta go in head first, with no looking back?" Monica said with a laugh, "Sounds like fun!"

"But... there could be strong Pokemon inside... we really don't know where we are? What if we walk into a monster house or something?" the charmander panicked.

"A 'monster house?'" the squirtle inquired, "What the heck is a monster house?"

"Well, you see, its a room where some vicious Pokemon hide in great numbers and ambush anyone who walks in. Even the strongest of adventurers have met their match in monster houses... "

"They sound pretty scarey," Monica nodded, "But we'll just have to chance it. I didn't see any other way around this mountain, did you? It's impassible all the way around. So, we either sit here and freeze to death, or go inside."

"I vote we go back to the beach... at least it's warm there..." Charming replied.

"Fine, chicken, go back to the beach. I'm going in." the squirtle said as she pushed the charmander aside and disappeared into the dark tunnel.

"Hey! Uh, wait for me!" the charmander hurried after her, not wanting to be left alone.