A/N: Oh look. Chapter. *blows horn* I have no idea why I did that...sorry for the late update. Part of it was writer's block, the other part just me being lazy...(-_-') It's here now, so...*blows horn again*

So last time, Dune, Clay, and Horizon traveled to Rainbow Summit, with all its rainbow glory! And now that they're at the top, will they figure out what caused that strange glow in Chapter 6? Let's find out, shall we?

Night-Waker: IT'S ABOUT TIME YOU REVIEWED. Took ya long enough...and I'm not telling you if you're right or not. You'll have to wait like everyone else!

Imagination is king: RAINBOWS ARE MAGIC! YEEEEEEAAAAAAAH! *flies out on a rainbow jet pack*

Miplets: Seriously? Thanks! And I'll be sure to do better with my descriptions of where the characters are future chapters!

Dranicus101: Well, every group needs that one mysterious character! Anyways, glad you found that part funny, and yes...describing everything from the Pokémon to the Dungeon does take lots of patience. And lots of time...IT'S WORTH IT IN THE END, THOUGH!

Chapter 8: The Source of the Problem

"I don't see anything up here," Dune remarked, patrolling the circular platform that was the peak of Rainbow Summit. "Not counting the rainbows and such..."

"Hey," Horizon spoke, looking behind Dune. "What's that over there?"

Dune turned to where Horizon was looking. On the other side of the summit was something tall and black, sharply contrasting with the bright gold of the ground. The three of them walked over to it. Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be a small obelisk of sorts, maybe about six feet in height, made from a dark black stone. It had strange, rectangular patterns on all four sides, and the top appeared to have been broken off completely.

"Hey, look at this!" Clay called as he hoisted himself up higher onto the obelisk so he could get a clear look at the broken top. "The inside...is hollow."

Horizon stood up on her toes, trying to get the best view possible. Eventually, she nodded. "He's right- the inside of this thing is completely hollow."

Dune peered into the obelisk and could confirm what Clay and Horizon had said. "Huh...weird. Why is this thing hollow?"

Clay shrugged. "Maybe there's something inside?"

Horizon shook her head. "If there was, it's gone now. There's nothing in there except dust."

"Well...wait. Y'all remember that gold glow we saw comin' from here?" Dune asked. "Maybe this thing is where it came from. I mean, doesn't it look kinda out of place up here?"

Horizon pondered this for a moment, then nodded. "That's probably the closest theory we'll ever have right now. Question is, what exactly is 'this'?"

Then, Clay had an idea. "Horizon! Why not check that old book of yours? There must be something in there that can tell us what this is!"

Horizon shook her head. "Trust me, I've read through this book so many times, I've practically memorized it. I'm pretty sure I'd remember something about a creepy black obelisk."

Whatever this was, Dune was certain they had found the source of the strange gold glow they had seen back in Alpha Town. Still, Horizon was right- what really was this mysterious object? What was it doing here? It seemed important somehow, that was for sure...but how?

There was something else that bothered Dune. The top of the obelisk...it seemed as though something had been there before, a top of some sort. It was gone now, a large chunk of the jet black stone gone from this top. Something must have broken it off, but how? More importantly, why? To create that beam? That didn't answer Dune's question...why?

Clay stared hard at the obelisk. "Huh...hey, maybe it's-"

It was at that moment that a golden glitter slowly rained down from the sky.

One sparkle landed on Clay's nose and caused him to sneeze. "What the heck?"

Horizon swiped a claw at the glittering light, but it simply dissipated on her hand. "It's...raining...glitter?"

Dune shook his head as the golden shine floated onto his nose. "Well then, now I've seen it all..."

Then, what sounded like a furious screech cut through the sky as a massive shadow soared over the trio.

Clay yelped at this. "ACK! No, not again!"

"Not again?" Horizon asked. "I know what you mean, but...hey, maybe it's not bad! Maybe it's a...nice...shadow...?"

Another deafening screech tore through the air.

"Oh, forget it!" Horizon snarled, glaring at the sky. At once, a gleaming shape was beginning to take form. It looked distinctively like a large bird, and each flap of its wings caused more of the gold light to rain down.

"Could that be...another Legendary?" Dune wondered out loud. Lugia was one thing...but seeing (and possibly fighting) a second Legendary was...no. Just no.

Clay yelped in shock as the bird dive bombed the three of them, creating a huge cloud of dust. They dodged the blow, but wound up scattered on three sides of the peak. As the dust cleared, the features of the Pokémon became visible.

It had mostly red and gold feathers with yellow tail feathers, with a yellow feathered crest on its head. Its underside was white, and it had green feathers at the end of its wings. It has a green stripe on its neck, and black rings around its eyes, which had the same red haze as Lugia had. It opened its yellow beak in another screech.

"Horizon!?" Clay shouted, stepping back from the large Pokémon.

"On it!" Horizon replied, already flipping through her book. "Okay, I think- LOOK OUT!"

The bird Pokémon opened its beak again and scorched the ground with Flamethrower. Horizon used Dig to dodge it, Dune used Stone Edge to counter it, and Clay just ran for his life.

Horizon emerged from the ground after the attack was over and said, "Like I said, this Pokémon-"

The bird Pokémon swooped down on Horizon, its dark talons outstretched, and the Sandslash dove away. Their opponent crashed into the rock, kicking up gravel. Dune ran over an lashed out with Iron Tail.

Horizon slashed with X-Scissor before speaking again. "Its name is-"

The Pokémon once again interrupted her by firing a powerful Extrasensory at Dune. Like last time, it didn't effect him. Horizon growled in frustration before she leaped at the Pokémon.

"WILL. YOU. LET. ME. TALK!?" she roared, hitting it with Gyro Ball with each word. The Pokémon screeched and flew back to avoid another attack. Horizon turned to Dune and quickly said, "ThatPokémoniscalledHo-oh, itcanresurrectthedead, aaaanditseemstolikerainbows."

Dune blinked at this new information. "...Ho-oh? That's a weird name..."

"You're a weird name," Horizon replied, catching her breath after spouting out all that info at once. Dune just stared with a What? expression.

Ho-oh turned back around and charged at them with Punishment. Horizon ducked under the Rainbow Pokémon, the slashed its underbelly with another X-Scissor. Ho-oh flew up and attempted to grab Horizon in its talons, but Dune intercepted this with Stone Edge. Ho-oh then lit up the air with another Flamethrower. Horizon and Dune ducked beneath it, but they could still feel the intense heat on their backs.

Clay, on the other hand, was still running around frantically. In his panic, he didn't notice the flames heading his way...

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

...until he got incinerated by them. Horizon turned around, concerned. "Clay! Are you okay?"

Clay, who was lying on the ground near the obelisk, replied, "More or less..."

Ho-oh flew over Dune and Horizon and went straight for Clay. The Excadrill looked up at the multicolored Pokémon, terrified. Ho-oh screeched, opened its talons, and divebombed Clay. Panicked, he fired a Focus Blast right into the Rainbow Pokémon's belly, causing it to stagger back. This gave Clay the opportunity to run away...

...but not before Ho-oh fired an Extrasensory at him. Then, Horizon sprinted up and used Gyro Ball, hitting it in the chest and causing Ho-oh to lurch sideways. This caused the Extrasensory to be fired to Clay's far right, hitting rock instead of Excadrill. Clay, after getting over the initial shock, turned back and fired another Focus Blast at Ho-oh, this one hitting it square in the beak. Horizon then used Gyro Ball once more, uppercutting the large Pokémon's wing.

Meanwhile, Dune had come up behind Ho-oh and was currently attacking with Stone Edge. After taking a few attacks, the Rainbow Pokémon flew around towards the Krokorok and aimed a Punishment at him. Dune attempted to counter with Iron Tail, but wound up being flung back. He skidded along the ground before jumping back to his feet.

Ho-oh fired Extrasensory at Horizon, who used Dig to avoid it. While Clay was trying (and failing) to hit it with Metal Claw, Horizon emerged from the ground behind Ho-oh and flew at it with X-Scissor. However, her opponent flew straight up, so the Sandslash could only graze its tail feathers. Then, Ho-oh swooped down again and grabbed Horizon in its talons.

"NononononoNO!" Horizon shouted, trying to dig her claws into the ground. Ho-oh, however, was too strong and had a grip too tight for her to escape. Clay ran forward and slashed the Legendary with Aerial Ace, but that only seemed to make the situation worse. That's because, when Clay slashed at its side, Ho-oh seemed to get even angrier, if that was at all possible. As a result, it proceeded to chase the terrified Excadrill around the summit while firing Flamethrower after Flamethrower. All while holding Horizon in its grasp.

"I think I'm gonna be sick!" Horizon yelled as she was dragged around the mountain summit with Ho-oh. Clay was still dodging attacks and attempting to blast Ho-oh with Focus Blast, but to no avail. Then, Dune sprang forward and used Crunch. The first time, the Rainbow Pokémon dodged and left him to eat dirt. The second time- close, but not close enough. Third time- hit! Dune dug his fangs into Ho-oh's neck. It screeched in pain, flung Horizon across the stone, and threw Dune off onto the ground.

Dune rolled over just as Ho-oh seared the ground with Sacred Fire. It flew over the Krokorok and was about to deliver another attack- but was then hit in the face with Gyro Ball.

"THAT WAS FOR MAKING ME WANNA PUKE!" Horizon roared angrily as she rebounded off Ho-oh. As she hit the ground, she used the momentum to propel her so that she was directly in front of Ho-oh's beak. As she came down using Brick Break, she growled, "AND THAT'S FOR TRYING TO SET US ON FIRE!"

As Dune and Clay stared, Horizon managed to deliver two more powerful Brick Breaks to Ho-oh's face. That seemed to finish the battle...since the Legendary staggered to the ground, dazed. Horizon delivered one last kick to its chest, knocking it down at last. Clay stared, then said, "Welp, I have no plans to get on your bad side any time soon..."

"Smart," Horizon replied, dusting herself off. As she walked over to the two of them, Ho-oh suddenly became enveloped in a glow similar to that of Lugia, only this one was gold. It got up, shook its head, then took off into the sky.

"Wait, what-" Clay said as Ho-oh took off. When the Legendary flew off into the distance, he scratched his head. "Why does that happen?"

Dune shrugged. "I don't know...why is any of this happening?"

Horizon glanced back at the dark obelisk. "There's a good chance that thing has something to do with it, but..."

"We have literally no idea what it is," Clay stated flatly.

"Well, standing here won't solve anything," Dune said, crossing his arms. "I...may have an idea, actually."

Clay and Horizon stared at him.

"Well, remember them Pawniards we saw before we got to the mountain?" Dune asked. "Well, Pawniards aren't from here, otherwise we woulda seen some on our way up here."

"So...what?" Horizon replied, cocking her head. "You think those Pawniards had something to do with this?"

"Maybe, maybe not," Dune replied. "It's something, to say the least."

"I guess..." Clay replied. "But...what do we do? Follow them? We don't know where they are."

Dune took out the torn paper from before. "I think I have an idea of how to do that."

Clay glanced at the paper. "What's that?"

"You'll see," Dune replied. He walked over to the slope that had lead up to the summit. "Now, let's get outta here before something else goes wrong."

A/N: And that's Chapter 8, folks! Ho-oh and strange black obelisks! And much more confusion as to what's happening in Pokéa! Also, if anyone remembers the Pawniards Dune, Clay, and Horizon ran into at the beginning of Chapter 7, congrats! You win a free plushie! *throws various Pokémon plushies at people* Also, since school is starting up again, I may not update as frequently as I usually do. But never fear! I haven't forgotten this story, and I doubt I will anytime soon!

So, for now, thank you all so much for the great feedback! It really helps to know you guys love this story so much, and I love writing it! Thanks for standing by it thus far, and for...over 250 views!? WOW, THAT'S AWESOME! That's not to say over 250 of you clicked on this and LIKED it, but still! Thanks everyone! I'll update soon, I promise! See you all then!