A/N: YESH. IT'S DONE, IT'S HERE, WHOO! *confetti rains down* Thank you all for being so patient, I know it was a long wait, but I think you'll like this chapter! But what happened last chapter, you ask? Well, to recap, Duke gave us stuff to think about, Horizon was her slightly sassy self, and Clay had a nervous breakdown! FUN, RIGHT?

Well, this chapter Dune, Clay, and Horizon travel to Rainbow Summit to discover the cause of the strange gold light they saw...is it connected to Lugia's violent appearance in Alpha Town? READ ON TO FIND OUT!

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Imagination is king: ...Well. I guess you gotta blame SOMETHING, right? XD

Dranicus101: Well, I hope you're ready indeed! Like Southern Savanna, this chapter's gonna be LONG. Get the popcorn!

Chapter 7: Rainbow Summit

During the trip to Rainbow Summit, Clay and Horizon occupied themselves in the most logical way possible- gossiping about Dune.

"So, he hasn't been out exploring in years?" Horizon asked, shocked.

"Uh-huh," Clay replied.

"But...do you know why?"

"Nope! It's kinda a hush-hush topic with him."

"Well, clearly..."

Dune found it almost amusing how the two talked as if he couldn't hear them. Dune just shrugged- his week was already taking a turn for the strange, Pokémon talking about him was the most normal thing yet!

"Single-handedly?" he heard Horizon shout. "Okay, now I'm embarrassed. I gotta single-handedly take down an enemy to balance out the universe now!"

"Good luck!" Clay chuckled. "Not sure you could one-up what Dune did."

While they talked, Dune paid close attention to the map, making sure they were going in the right direction. The last thing they needed was to get lost in the twisting, stone trails that weaved around the mountains. Who knew what stuff could jump out at you at night?

Well, I do, but that's besides the point. Dune thought. Then, he heard several footsteps moving quickly towards him, Clay, and Horizon. Dune looked up to see a group of six small Pokémon walking down the trail. These Pokémon had a black torso with two small blades on each side, connected by metal ribs. Their round heads were red and black with a large silver blade protruding from them. They had thin red arms that each ended with a long blade instead of hands, and their legs were also thin and red. They had gray faces with yellow eyes.

Yes, there was no doubt in Dune's mind- these Pokémon were Pawniards. But what was a whole group of them doing here? At first, he thought they were about to challenge him and the others to a fight, until he noticed they didn't seem interested in the trio. In fact, Dune could tell the Pawniards didn't even acknowledge in any way the presence of the three Ground-types.

Well...that was until one of them ran into the Krokorok, causing him to stagger back. Dune could've sworn he heard the sound of paper tearing as well.

"Hey, what gives?" Dune shouted, glaring at the Pawniard. Then, something on the ground caught his eye. A small piece of paper that appeared to have been torn from a much bigger piece. The Pawniard reached for it, but was too late to stop Dune from snatching it from the ground. He gave the small black Pokémon one last death glare, sending him running back to his friends.

"What?" Clay spoke up. "Who were those guys?"

Horizon shrugged. "Pawniards, but I'm not sure what a group of them are doing here. Hey, Dune, what's that?"

Dune studied the paper. All that was on it was what appeared to be a point on a location in the ocean, so he assumed this was part of a map. A fragment of an arrow pointed from one unknown location to the point, then another line (probably a second arrow) pointed somewhere to the south. However, because this was only a small piece, Dune was unsure where the arrows were coming from and pointing to.

He eventually decided now wasn't the best time to figure that out. He answered, "No idea."

Dune put the paper in his bag before continuing up the trail to Rainbow Summit.

"We have to climb that?" Clay asked, exasperated.

Horizon frowned. "It's a mountain. What did you expect?"

"I know, but..." Clay grimaced. "I don't really do well with heights..."

Dune groaned. "Hey, YER the one who said ya wanted an adventure!"

"Yeah..." Clay lowered his head.

"Oh, come on, it's not like you'll be by yourself," Horizon pointed out. Then, she added with an amused smile, "Do you want me to hold your hand?"

"What- NO!" Clay shouted indignantly before running onto the steep path that led up the mountain. Horizon stifled a giggle before following.

Dune looked up, observing the mountain. Rainbow Summit's name spoke for itself- the gold-tinged stones appeared to reflect the vast rainbows that shone all around it. There were lots of rainbows.

"Is it possible for one place to be this colorful?" Dune muttered. He followed Horizon up the path.

"Hey, look!" Clay shouted. "I found a cave!"

Horizon and Dune caught up to the Excadrill and stood in front of the yawning mouth of a cavern. It seemed to lead inside of the mountain, with a stone path stretching ahead of them.

Finally, Dune spoke. "Well, what're we waiting for?" He entered the cave, with Clay and Horizon close behind.

It wasn't exactly dark; Dune was able to make out where the path went, and the same goldish rock that made up the cave walls. The path veered to the left, then opened up into a large chamber. Two more caves revealed paths- one ahead of them, and one to the right.

"Hm...which one do we go into?" Horizon pondered eyeing the two paths. Her thoughts were interrupted when two angry cries pierced the air.

"GET OUT!"

"STAY OUTTA OUR CAVE!"

Two shadows swooped down on the trio. Both Pokémon were blue and batlike, with purple on the underside of their wings and huge, gaping mouths. These Pokémon were Golbats, and they weren't happy about three random intruders coming into the chamber.

They both lashed out with Air Slash, but Horizon dodged and took them both out with Gyro Ball.

Clay walked up to the path in front of them. "Let's try this one!" he suggested.

Horizon shook her head. "No way, the one on the right's gotta be the one!"

"Okay, hold up. Before this turns into some doggone big argument, and I KNOW it will," Dune said, stepping into the center of the chamber. "I'LL decide which one we go into."

"How?" Clay and Horizon asked.

Dune examined the two paths before pointing to the one ahead, then saying: "Eenie, meanie, miney, blah blah blah, Luxray's toe, blah blah blah, mother...AAAAAND, we go into the right tunnel!"

As Dune casually walked into the tunnel, his two companions blinked.

Horizon tilted her head. "Did he..."

Clay shrugged. "Seems...legit?"

Eventually, they followed Dune down the tunnel, which the branched into two directions: left and right.

"LEFT!" Dune declared and turned that way.

"Why?" Horizon asked.

"'Cause I said so," Dune replied, still walking. Horizon frowned, but followed. Clay also seemed reluctant, but did the same. They were soon fought by another Pokémon: a Noctowl, with its brown plumage and tan trident-shaped "horns" above its eyes. The Flying-type hovered above the ground in front of the cave leading into another room, and it seemed like it had no intention of moving.

Noctowl lashed out at Dune with Air Slash, but he took it down with Stone Edge. With it gone, the cave was clear to walk into. The chamber was slightly smaller than the last one, and only had one path that led to the right. Naturally, they went down that one.

It kept going straight before opening into a third room. On the far end, another cave opened up to reveal stairs leading upwards.

"Huh, there they are," Horizon remarked, glancing at the stairs. "How'd you know the stairs were this way?"

Dune shrugged. "Well, bein' an explorer yerself, I assume you know the answer to that already."

Clay frowned. "She does?"

"Think. When yer in places like this, which are pretty much big mazes, you really don't have a way of knowing where to go," Dune said. "On that case, you just gotta take yer best guess- wing it, and hope yer right."

"Well, I knew that!" Horizon replied. "But it usually takes me a few tries before finding the right way, and you did it instantly!"

"Eh, just luck I guess," Dune replied nonchalantly. He walked up the steps with Clay and Horizon in tow.

"Remember," Clay said to Horizon. "Dune's had more experience in Mystery Dungeons than us. It makes sense he'd be better at tracking stairs than us."

Horizon sighed. "Yeah, I know..."

The trio entered into a new room, small but long, that only had one path leading to the left. They followed it, and it turned another left before opening into bigger chamber. This one had a cave that lead to other parts in all three walls. This created many paths Dune, Clay, and Horizon could go down- but only one would be correct.

"Well...there are three paths, and three of us," Clay suggested. "How about we split up- one of us goes down one path! One of them's bound to lead to the stairs!"

Dune shook his head. "Didn't ya learn anything from Southern Savanna? It's a bad idea to go in alone."

Horizon nodded. "Besides, how are we supposed to know if one of us did find the stairs? Who knows how big this floor is!"

"Oh, okay," Clay replied, frowning. "So, what should we do here?"

Dune examined all three paths. "Let's go...to the left again."

"You sure?" Clay asked.

"Yup."

As they approached the path, the dark red and dark blue feathers of a Braviary emerged from the path. It glared at the intruders and lashed out at Clay with Crush Claw. Clay blocked with Metal Claw, then shot the Braviary with Focus Blast. Horizon finished it off with X-Scissor.

After that encounter, the trio headed down the path, which opened up into a small room. No stairs here. There was, however, another Golbat. It was sleeping in the corner, though. Horizon raised her claws and stepped forward, ready to attack. She was then stopped by Dune.

"No. We don't wanna start a fight we can avoid," he growled. "Just turn around and walk away."

Horizon hesitated for a moment before following Dune's command. They backtracked into the large chamber before deciding to go into the path to the right. The path was long, and they encountered another Noctowl before coming into another large room. This time, the stairs were in here, and they ascended.

"Ya know, I'm pretty sure ya'll have been exploring around before," Dune remarked. "Do I really need to explain some of the stuff I have to you?"

Horizon frowned. He must be talking about her and Clay. "Well, in our defense, we've never traveled with a group before. At least, I haven't."

"No, you're right, I haven't either," Clay agreed. "I guess we're just not used to working together like this. We usually just did our own thing."

Horizon nodded. Dune shrugged "Eh, you'll get used to it."

"Huh? Were YOU ever part of a team?" Clay asked.

Dune frowned. "Um...at one point,"

"You? Seriously?" Horizon gasped. "No offense, but you don't really strike me as the social type..."

Dune growled. "Well, it was a long time ago, so drop it."

Horizon turned to Clay, confused. He simply shrugged. Dune, for whatever reason, was extremely reluctant to discuss any part of past. Eh, who knows.

Maybe it was best to keep it like that...

The stairs opened up into the exterior of Rainbow Summit, on a ledge lead to another cave a few meters away. From their vantage point, one got a pretty good view of the land below. However, the area above them was covered in thick clouds, so they couldn't see how far they were from the peak.

Clay backed as far away from the edge as he could. "Okay great, we made it here, let's keep going!" He moved briskly away towards the cave.

"I thought you said you wanted a bit of adventure," Dune remarked, following.

Clay frowned. "Yes, but I planned to stay away from really high places!"

Horizon walked past. "Well then, just stay away from the edge, and don't look down. Simple as that."

Clay nodded and continued along the ledge, staying at a far distance from the edge. As they walked, a small shadow appeared overhead...and then another. Soon, two Pokémon- a Braviary and a brown and cream-colored Pidgeot- dropped from the sky onto the ledge. Pidgeot lashed out with Twister while Braviary used Slash. Dune countered Twister with Stone Edge while Horizon defeated Braviary with X-Scissor.

Clay ran into the cave. "Sorry, but I don't want to risk falling off! It's a steep fall, you know!"

Dune rolled his eyes. "Glad we can count on you for support!"

"I can help out in here!" Clay replied. As if fate summoned it, a Golbat swooped from the ceiling towards him. Clay hit him straight in the face with a Metal Claw. "See?"

Dune and Horizon followed him in. Almost immediately, the path opened into a massive room, and the stairs were on the far right corner from them. The problem- a Pidgeot, two Noctowl, a Golbat, and now the grayish-brown feathers of a Staraptor were blocking the way.

Dune sighed. "Well, looks like it's gonna be one of those situations, eh?" With that, he attacked one of the Noctowls with Iron Tail, knocking it into a wall and causing the other Pokémon to rush at Dune.

"You mean running into an angry mob of Pokémon and trying not to get overwhelmed?" Horizon asked, knocking out the Golbat with Brick Break. "Good idea!"

Clay ducked under the attack of the Staraptor and hit it in the belly with Focus Blast. "At least we're not at the risk of falling to our doom!"

Horizon slammed into the Pidgeot with Gyro Ball just as it used Wing Attack, while Dune finished off the other Noctowl with Crunch. The Krokorok dusted himself off. "Yeah, sure. Be thankful this place wasn't what I call a 'Monster House'."

Horizon looked up. "Hm?"

Dune walked over to the stairs. "Meh, I'll tell ya another time."

They came out into a small chamber that only had one path- right. They followed it and, surprisingly, this floor was somewhat tame. The paths criss-crossed in several locations, creating a multitude of plus-shaped crossroads and making the floor a very confusing maze. Not to mention the chambers were pretty small too. Oddly enough, they didn't really run into any Pokémon. One or two may have passed through paths up ahead, but they didn't notice Dune and the others.

Finally, when it seemed like they had explored the entire floor ("THESE PATHS NEVER END!" Clay had shouted at one point.), they found a small room containing the stairs.

"Well, FINALLY," Horizon sighed and sprinted up the stairs.

Dune frowned as he followed. "I hate it when Dungeons have floors like these..."

Clay also sped up the stairs. "I thought we'd never leave!"

The trio came out into a narrow chamber that had a path on all four sides. The western path had a Braviary sleeping besides it, so they decided to ignore that one for now. They tried the southern path, but that one just went around in a circle before coming out through the same opening again. That just left north and east.

When they were about to start debating which path to follow, a Staraptor cannoned through the northern path towards Dune, Clay, and Horizon. Horizon sent it flying with X-Scissor while Clay finished it with Aerial Ace. Horizon glanced at the path the Staraptor had come out of and declared, "We're going north!"

Dune tilted his head. "How come?"

Horizon shrugged. "It's an old strategy I came up with- whichever path the Pokémon come out of, that's where the stairs are. Well, sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't, but it's worth a try."

"I guess, right?" Clay agreed. Dune just grunted, but nodded. They headed down the path, which then turned right, then opened up into another room. This one had only one path that led straight ahead. They followed it, until it split into a second path that led left.

"Er...where now?" Clay asked as he stood in the intersection of the two paths. Before Dune or Horizon could answer, a Pidgeot soared down the path towards him as a Golbat attacked the other two Ground-types. Clay attacked his opponent with Metal Claw, but missed. Pidgeot raked its talons across the Excadrill's snout, but Clay fought back with Aerial Ace, then used Metal Claw again to finish the fight.

Meanwhile, Dune was slamming the Golbat with Iron Tail while Horizon lashed out with Gyro Ball. Once the two Pokémon were defeated, Horizon said, "The Pidgeot came from the left, so...let's go left!"

So they did. They followed the path that led left, but it led to nothing more than a dead end. They backtracked and followed the other path that led straight ahead. This time, the room did have the stairs in it.

Clay shrugged. "Well, Horizon, your plan was half right."

Horizon nodded. "Better than nothing."

Dune ignored the conversation and walked up the stairs, soon followed by Clay and Horizon.

They came out into another exterior area. They were above the clouds this time, and the trio could see a multitude of vibrant rainbows at the peak of the mountain.

Horizon stared in awe. "WOW! These ones look even prettier up here!"

"It's called 'Rainbow Summit' for a reason," Dune grunted.

"Imagine what it'll look it when we get to the top!" Clay shouted, running up the ledge. It seemed he had forgotten about his fear of heights for a little while.

Amazingly, they didn't encounter any other Pokémon while on the ledge. As a matter of fact, the ledge didn't even go into another cave- just a long set of stone stairs, spiraling around the mountain. They seemed to lead all the way up to the summit.

"Yes, we're nearly there!" Horizon shouted as she bounded up the steps. Clay seemed more reluctant, probably remembering his fear.

"C'mon already," Dune growled as he practically dragged Clay with him up the stairs. The steps spiraled around for a little while, and the peak got closer and closer. Eventually, the steps ended as the trio stood on solid ground.

All around them, vivid rainbows glowed with brilliance, and the gold-tinged stone of the mountain shone so bright, anyone would think it was actual gold. There was no doubt in their minds- this was the peak of Rainbow Summit.

A/N: Long chapter is long, I know. Hey, it's a Dungeon chapter, it has to be long. And descriptive... think I did pretty well on description. Maybe a little too well...? Well, sorry if some parts seemed boring to you guys. Trust me- next chapter is gonna be all action-packed!

Now, quick note...I now have a Tumblr blog. Yeah, got one a few weeks ago, so that took up a little time. So, if updates are a little later than usual, that's probably why. I haven't forgotten about this story, though, so don't worry about a thing! Read, review, whatever you need! Constructive criticism is always welcome! See you next chapter, everybody!