//------------------------------//
// The Grand Mountain Mystery 
// Story: Pokémon: Equestrian Champions 
// by Banshee531 
//------------------------------//

Continuing their journey to the Crystal Empire, the group now reaching the edge of the forest. And as they found themselves leaving it, they saw a line of mountains that went further than any of them could see in both directions. "Wow..." Spike whispered, "That's a lot of mountains."

"And that line of mountains is only one of many," Cadance sighed, "We'll need to get past them if we want to get to the Crystal Empire. But first," she reached into her bag and took out a pair of binoculars, "Hmm....there!" She pointed at one of the mountains, "There's a Pokémon Center at the base of the mountain. It also acts as a store where we can get the items we need to traverse the mountains."

The others nodded, the group following Cadance as she took the lead. It took them the better half of the day to reach the center, the mountains behind it getting more intimidating with every mile they crossed. And when they reached the Center, the sun was beginning to set.

"Hello?" Twilight asked as they entered the building. "Anyone here?"

From out of the back room, Nurse Redheart stepped out. "Hello, welcome to the Pokémon Center. What can I do for you today?"

"We're planning on scaling the mountains tomorrow," Cadance replied, "Is it okay if you make sure our Pokémon are ready for the trek?" Redheart nodded and summoned a Chansey, which came in pushing a cart full of Pokeball trays that they loaded up. Once the Chansey left, Cadance continued, "Is it true you also sell more weather resistant clothing here?"

The nurse nodded and directed them to a nearby room. Inside, they found rows upon rows of different clothing that looks perfect for scaling cold frozen mountains. "Please, pick out whatever you need." Nurse Redheart commented while they began looking for stuff.

"I won't need much, right?" Flash asked the others before gesturing to his current clothing, "I could probably get by with just this."

Twilight shook her head, "I'd grab a scarf and maybe some gloves." Flash nodded and grabbed a red scarf and gloves that also came with a wool hat.

He soon headed out, waiting ten minutes before Spike and Doc showed up. Spike had zipped his jacket up, and was now wearing blue pants instead of shorts and had a green puffball hat. Doc looked almost exactly the same except he and Spike had both traded their normal shoes in for strong boots, and he also had gloves and a scarf on.

The three were now sitting on a bench, waiting on the girls as Nurse Redheart returned with their Pokémon. "What's taking so long?" Spike moaned as he scratched Peewee's underbelly.

The sun was now completely set as Flash and Astro had a tug of war with his toy bone. "You know how girls are when it comes to clothes, Spike."

"But its taking so long!"

Doc shook his head, "Well, we'll just have to-"

"What do you think?" The boys looked up at the sudden voice, now seeing the girls sporting completely new looks. Cadance was now wearing a purple fur jacket with blue thermal leggings under her skirt. Meanwhile, Twilight was wearing a blue jacket over purple clothing with blackish-blue leggings and blue boots, and both were wearing pink earmuffs.

"It took you that long to find that?!" Spike yelped, Twilight and Cadance rolling their eyes.

"Boys..." Cadance whispered before Doc and Flash handed them their Pokeballs. "Anyways, we should start working on finding the best route to get to the train station."

Spike sighed, "Why couldn't the station be on this side of the mountain range?!"

"Sorry, but its not." Cadance replied as she removed her earmuffs. "There's gonna be a series of tunnels that cut through the mountains that they can lay train tracks down. But they haven't gotten to that yet, so for now, we'll have to get through the mountains on foot."

They nodded, but before Twilight could take out her journal, the doors behind them opened and a voice they recognized spoke up, "That was close." Flash's head shot up at this, his eyes shrinking at this, "Good thing we got back here before it got too dark."

His face paled as he turned around, now seeing Grand Hoof, former Champion of Equestria. He was now walking in with a brown skinned man with black hair wearing bulky red clothing and a miner's hat.

"Flash?" Grand asked before chuckling, "It's good to see you my boy." He walked up to the teen, Flash shivering as Grand looked him over, "You've certainly changed since the last time I saw you. Very nice look." Flash slowly nodded back, not responding while Grand turned to the others. "Twilight, Spike and Time Tuner. It's great to see you all as well."

"Hey Grand." Twilight replied, turning to Cadance as she was about to introduce her.

"Grand!" she moved over to hug him, "It's so great to see you again."

"And you," he embraced her back. "It's been a while."

The group exchanged glances at this, Flash staying still and now looking away as Doc asked, "So, what are you doing here?"

Grand let out a sigh at this, "Nothing good, unfortunately. I'm here because there have been rumors of Team Shadow activity in the area." This made everyone go wide-eyed, now remembering their encounter with them in the Grand Desert. "We can't be sure, but they may be on the hunt for an ancient tomb located in one of these mountains."

"Another ancient tomb?" Twilight asked. "First the Hidden Temple, now this? This isn't good."

"Indeed," the man with Grand nodded, the former champion gesturing to him.

"This is Rocky Road. He's an archaeologist who's been searching for this tomb for a long time."

Rocky tipped his hat to the group as he sat down. "I have reason to believe that the tomb is on one of the mountains. In fact, it's the mouth right behind this center. If I'm right, then there may be a treasure trove waiting to be found within its heart. Unknown relics and other objects of historical significance, hidden for a millennia."

"And you think Team Shadow's after one of those items?" Doc asked, the two nodding.

"What the heck are they after?" Spike added, "Why are criminals interested in old tombs?"

"There's only one way to find out," Grand replied, "Capture some of their members and make them talk. That's why I'm here. To help Rocky find the tomb, and capture any Team Shadow lowlifes that try and cause problems."

"Well, you're not gonna be alone," Twilight responded before turning to the others, "We can help them find the tomb and stop Team Shadow, right?"

"YEAH!" Spike and Doc cheered while Cadance grimaced at them.

"Are you sure about this? It sounds dangerous."

"Maybe," Doc replied, "But we can't let Team Shadow just get away with whatever they want."

"We're gonna take them down!" Spike punched his fist into his hands, "Right Flash?" They all turned to Flash, the teen still looking away, only for Spike to repeat, "Right?"

Flash snapped to attention, "Right. We'll find that tomb and make them regret ever messing with us."

"That's the spirit," Grand nodded. "Alright, then tomorrow we'll head up the mountain and start from where we left off."

"Then we'd better get some sleep," Flash responded as he got up and gestured to his Pokémon, the two soon leaving the room as the rest stared at the fleeing teen.

And as this happened, a pair of individuals glanced into the window the center. "Great..." one of them groaned, "Like this wasn't hard enough with the old geezer around."

"We have to find a way to get rid of them," the other added, "If we don't, we'll never achieve our mission." The two stood up, allowing the light of the Center to reveal their identities as Team Shadow Grunts. "Our leader has given us express orders to find this tomb. We cannot fail him." The other nodded and ran into the darkness, heading into the mountains.





The next morning...

As soon as the sun was up, Flash and his team left the Pokémon Center. It took over an hour to get to the trail that lead up to the path they needed, another hour passing as they climbed the path. As this happened, they found an area with a large flat rock-face that appeared to circle the entire mountain.

"This is it," Rocky commented, "If my research is correct, the entrance to the tomb should be somewhere around here." He moved over to the rock-face, the others seeing several pegs that had been hammered into the wall with red ribbons tied around the ends.

"What are those?" Twilight asked.

"These pegs tell me what parts of the wall I've checked," Rocky replied as they strolled down the path. Twilight counted thirty-eight pegs, spaced six feet apart. "Somewhere on this wall, a hidden entrance exists. It's just a matter of finding it." He then took out a Pokeball, "Thoray, come on out!"

The ball opened up, a humanoid Pokémon standing at around four and a half feet appearing. It looked like an older version of Electhor, its body being the same black and yellow combo, only larger and more muscular. Its helmet was also larger, with the horns being replaced with a pair of wings. Poking out from under the helmet was a short amount of hair and the front of its chest also had four metal disks that were fitted in a square pattern. It had a small red cape, which was tied around its neck. The mallet was also replaced with a square metal hammer with a foot long wooden handle.

"Whose that's Pokémon?" Flash added while taking out his Pokedex.

Name: Thoray
Category: Thundering Pokémon
Type: Electric
Info: The evolved form of Electhor. Its hammer is made from a mysterious alloy. Though it can absorb and store electricity, it is not conductive.

"Thoray is my excavation partner," Rocky replied, handing Thoray a peg that the Pokémon took before moving until it was six feet away from the last peg, then used its mallet to slam the peg into the rock. They waited at this, only for nothing to happen, causing Rocky to tie a red ribbon around it before handing Thoray another peg.

"So this is what you've been doing this whole time?" Flash asked, "Slamming pegs into the wall?"

"Archaeology is all about trial and error," Rocky responded, "Sometimes your research sends you to the right spot, sometimes it doesn't, and sometimes it can only give you a rough idea of where it is. When that happens, you just gotta grit your teeth and keep looking until you either find something, or there's no stone left unturned."

"So what do we do?" Spike asked, Grand turning to them.

"We'll stake out the area and try to locate those Shadow grunts. If they're here, they might be searching for the tomb as well. I suggest we travel in teams of two."

"Good idea," Flash instantly replied, "How about Spike and I go this way?" He grabbed Spike by the back of his jacket and pulled him away, Peewee and Springer following as everyone raised an eyebrow at the sight.

"Oookay," Grand slowly said, "Then who wants to help me patrol the other path?"

"I'll go," Twilight volunteered before turning to Doc and Cadance. "Maybe you two should stay and help Rocky search for the entrance."

"Good idea. Plus, it's probably not a good idea to leave him alone. If he finds the entrance on his own, those Team Shadow Goons could sneak up on him." Doc commented before Twilight and Grand headed off on patrol.

And as they split up, on a higher ridge was the two Team Shadow Grunts, one whispering, "Perfect. They just made it so much easier to take 'em down."

"Who should we take down first?" The other one asked, his partner scratching his chin in response.

"Hmm...let's split up and take them both down at the same time. Then we can focus on those last two. Once they're gone, that archaeologist will be easy to subdue and force 'em find the tomb for us." They both shook hands, shining big grins at the same time.





Flash, Spike, Springer and Peewee had been walking for ten minutes, heading down the path around the mountain. As they did this, Flash had Springer riding on top of his shoulders. "Find anything, bud?" He asked, the Riolu closing his eyes before opening them later, shaking his head, "Figures," he groaned, "They gotta be around here somewhere."

"Question," Spike raised a hand, "What do we do if we find these guys? The last time we met them, we didn't exactly have them on the ropes. If it hadn't been for Owlicious, we probably would have been in serious trouble."

"We'll be fine," Flash replied, "Our Pokémon are stronger now and we have Grand and Cadance with us."

"We had Shining with us last time and they still managed to get away with whatever it was in the Hidden Temple."

Flash shook his head, "Its fine. I'm not gonna let them get away this time," Flash punched his fist into his hand. "I'm gonna take down any Shadow Grunt I find." This made Spike raise an eyebrow, the two continuing through the mountain path.

As they did this, one of the grunts looked down at them before turning to a large group of rocks on the ledge above them before shining a big grin, "Perfect."





Meanwhile...

Twilight and Grand were now going down the opposite path, Grand turning to the teen, "Twilight?" the girl glanced back at him, "Do you know what's going on with Flash?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well...he won't look at me. Did I do something wrong?"

Twilight blinked at his comment, only to let out a hum as she replied, "Huh. Yeah...he's definitely acting strange. He's probably hiding something."

"Really?" Grand asked, "How can you tell?"

"After all the time we've spent together, it's not hard to tell what he's thinking." Twilight did a small sigh at this, "Though...its kinda like what happened earlier, but not as bad."

"What do you mean?" Grand responded.

"Oh, he avoids people when he feels like he's failed at something." Twilight put a finger to her chin at this, "That or something is eating him up."

Grand raised an eyebrow at this, "Why avoid me though? What did I do?"

Twilight did a small shrug, "Not sure. Though if he is avoiding you..." A certain thought entered her head, making her grimace, "Then again, I think I know why he's avoiding you."

"Why?"

"He uh...well, he failed you." Twilight replied, turning to the former champion. "Remember?"

"Oh." Grand slowly said, his face paling as he added, "I see. I didn't hurt the lad asking that, did I?"

Twilight saw the frown on his face, her brain thinking about a lie before shaking her head as she slowly responded, "It didn't help. After the Battle Tournament, Flash...didn't take losing to Lightning well."

Her words hit him, making him frown as he asked, "How bad was it?"

Twilight glanced away at this, "Well, right after he lost, Hopper left his team and...he started pushing his Pokémon a little too hard. Like...almost abusive levels of pushing, and he started to become like..."

"Like Lightning?"

Twilight nodded back. "It was really bad. He pushed everyone away, thinking he had to break his Pokémon." Twilight looked back at Grand, showing a slight glare despite trying to show a worried frown, "Lightning really hurt him."

"I see..." Grand sighed, glancing away, "I should have never asked him to save Lightning, shouldn't I?"

Twilight did a small nod, "You did put a bit too much pressure on him."

"And now he's avoiding me." Grand looked back at her, "Would Flash take it that far?"

Twilight nodded again. "Anything concerning Lightning happens to...eat at him. A lot. Its not as bad as it used to be, but Lightning's still done a lot." She scratched the side of her head at this, "That and Flash doesn't like letting others down, so he probably doesn't want to confront you. I know I would want to avoid Celestia if I failed to do something she asked me to do."

Grand let out a long sigh at this, but before he could say anything to apologize, a sudden rumble went under their feet. "Hmm?! What's happening?!" He asked as both him and Twilight ran to the wall, not wanting to fall over the edge as the ground shook.

"Earthquake?" Twilight asked, knowing those were possible on mountains, but very rare.

And as they did this, they didn't notice the figure right above them. "That's it Donphan," the shadow grunt smirked as the Armor Pokémon beside him continued to slam its feet into the ground. "Keep using Earthquake until this entire part of the mountain collapses!" And as he said that, the rocks beneath the two's feet began to crack,

"We need to get out of here!" Grand yelled, Twilight nodding and pushing off the wall to run back the way they came. No sooner had they done this, the spot they were standing on broke off the side of the mountain, all now falling to the ground. The two kept running as fast as they could, the crumbling ledge behind them breaking apart.

"We're not gonna get away from it in time!" Twilight screamed.

"Of all the times to not bring a Flying-type," Grand grumbled, the statement making Twilight gasp as she took out a Pokeball.

"Owlicious!" She threw the ball, her Owlolar now appearing. "HELP!" As she said that, the ground beneath them broke apart, the pair screaming as the owl turned to them. The Pokémon sent out a Psychic attack grabbing both in mid-air before pulling them onto his back.

And as the owl began to fly away, Twilight let out a long sigh, "Phew. That was close." She patted Owlicious on the head, "Thanks for the save."

Owlicious hooted while Grand stared at the mountain that had almost killed them. "I don't think that was an accident." Twilight turned to him, "Have him fly higher." Twilight nodded and Owlicious flew them up, only to find nothing. That is, till Grand pointed to a section of the rock that was cracked in two places, "There! I think Team Shadow know we're here."

"So they tried to get rid of us before we became a problem," Twilight replied, "Flash and Spike might be in danger."

"Then we need to find them," Grand retorted with Twilight nodding, Owlicious flying back to the main work site.





On the other side of the mountain...

Flash, Spike and their Pokémon were still going down the path, the Shadow Grunt now ahead of them. He stared down at the group as they got into range of the rocks before turning to his Primeape beside him. "Alright, get ready to use Strength." The monkey punched its fists together as its body began to glow. "And...now!" Primeape turned to the rocks and with all its strength, thrust its fists into the boulders. The push knocked the rocks into a domino effect, the whole pile rolling forward and over the edge of the cliff.

Flash had his eyes peeled, only to feel a sudden shaking. A small pebble fell in front of him, making him slowly glance up as he felt the ground continue to rumble. An the sight made him gasp, as now a barrage of boulders came tumbling down.

"RUN!" He yelled, all four quickly sprinting back the way they came. They ran as fast as they could, the rocks crashing and breaking to pieces as they hit the ground, "Hurry!"

Spike glanced back, now seeing the rocks hitting the floor just a few feet away as he yelped, "We're not gonna make it!"

"No, we're not!" Flash added as he pulled out a Pokeball. "Riptide, come out and use Aqua Break!" He threw the ball upward, Reptidal now appearing.

"Rep!" He roared as he formed a pair of water swords, now slashing the closer falling rocks. Springer added by firing several Aura Spheres, knocking the boulders back. And as they pushed the volley of rocks back, the rumbling starting to stop as the slowed down.

"That was close," Flash whispered before turning to Springer and Riptide. "Nice work you two." They both nodded and gave a thumbs up, Flash then looking up at the cliffs above, "I don't think that was a natural rockslide."

"You think someone tried to crush us?" Spike asked, getting a nod from Flash.

"We should tell the others. Come on." They cut into another sprint, soon reaching Rocky, Doc and Cadance as they were now about a hundred feet from where they had left them. "Guys, we got a problem."

"We have a problem!" He suddenly heard Grand yell, making him look up to see him and Twilight flying down on Owlicious. "Those Shadow Grunts are trying to off us."

"We were almost shaken off the side of the mountain!" Twilight exclaimed as Owlicious landed.

"We were almost buried under some rubble," Spike added, making the others grimace.

"Maybe you should hold off the expedition," Cadance told Rocky. "At least until you can get some more security." Rocky frowned at her, only to let out a sigh.

"Fine. Come on Thoray. Finish that peg and-"

"Thor?" the Pokémon asked as he pushed his hammer into the peg, now feeling little resistance. He then tapped it, a new ringing sound coming out.

"That sounds hollow." Rocky commented, "That means there's a space behind that point." He put his ear to the wall and knocked at it. "Definitely. There's something behind this."

"You mean you found it?" Spike asked.

"Looks like it," Rocky chuckled, "If we can get through this piece of rock..."

"Allow us," Flash chimed in as he turned to Riptide. "Rock Smash!" Riptide nodded, his legs glowing as he ran up and slammed his foot into the wall below the peg. The rock-face cracked, soon spreading along the wall as they broke apart. This revealed a dark passageway that went so far into the mountain that no light showed the end.

"The entrance to the hidden tomb," Rocky whispered, the thoughts of postponing the expedition flying out of his head as him and Thoray suddenly ran in.

"Rocky! Wait!" Grand yelled as he tried to follow him, Flash following next along with the others.

And as this happened, the two Shadow Grunts growled at the sight, "Oh, come on! If we only managed to get rid of those other guys, that scientist would be leading us into the tomb right now!"

"We'll just have to follow them," the other added, "Once they find the treasure, we'll simply trap them inside. Then in a week or so, we'll come back and they'll be so weak from hunger they won't be able to stop us."

"Nice idea. Let's do it!" They both shook hands again, soon climbing down the rocks.





The was now blinded by the darkness, Rocky activating his head-light while Doc reached into his bag and pulled out several glow-sticks that had string around them so the group could wear them like necklaces. Putting them on, they headed further into the darkness, soon coming to a new impasse. It was a triple path, the tunnel splitting off into three directions, all filled with darkness.

"So...which way do we go?" Spike asked, Rocky now glancing at all three.

"Hmmm...I'm not sure. There's no clues here. All of these tunnels could lead to the tomb, or just one. Maybe none of them lead to it. The only way to find out is to travel through them."

"Then let's go!" Flash exclaimed before running down the middle one.

"Flash!" Grand yelped as he ran after him, "Wait a minute. This could be-" He didn't finish as the tunnel around them began to shake, "Trapped." Before they or anyone else could do anything, something shot down from the roof, blocking them from the group.

"GUYS!" Twilight cried as they now saw a large steel door between them, the group quickly trying to lift the door. But a clicking sound rang out, signifying it had locked itself. "Metal? Mechanical locks? How old is this tomb?!"

Rocky turned to her. "It's supposed to be the tomb of the last Emperor of the Crystal Empire." This made Cadance go wide-eyed as he continued, "That kingdom was supposed to be highly advanced." He then noticed writing on the metal, squinting his eyes, "What's this?"

Cadance walked up to it, "Wait...I recognize this." She reached into her bag and took out a book, opening it up to show the same writing that was on the door. "This is a Crystal Empire tomb. This writing is from the empire."

"Can you translate it?" Doc asked, Cadance doing a small nod.

"Just give me a minute..."

"Flash!" Twilight cried, "Grand! Can you hear us?!"

"Yeah!" Flash called back, "But barely..."

"What happened?" Grand added.

"You must have set off some kind of sensor," Doc replied, "Those Crystal Emperors must have been well ahead of the curve. Can you see anything in there?"

"It's really dark," Flash held his glow-stick up before staring at the door, "Wait a minute, there's something written on the door." He described the shapes carved into the metal, which were the same images on the other side that Cadance began to decipher.

"Alright..." she slowly said, "This is telling whoever's reading it that the first to reach the treasure will become its worthy owner and those that don't will be at that owner's mercy."

"What does that mean?" Spike asked, Twilight humming at this.

"I think that if we go into another one of the tunnels, they'll close too. And they won't unlock unless we reach the treasure room...which means it's possible it'll only unlock for the first people to reach it. But I'm betting there'll be a button or something that'll let them open those tunnels."

"But we can't be for sure," Grand added.

"What other choice do we have?" Twilight asked before turning to one of the tunnels. "Let's go. We'll meet you guys in the treasure room and let you out if we get there first."

"Alright," Flash nodded, "Just be careful."

"Same with you two," Twilight responded before she, Cadance, Doc, Spike, Springer Peewee and Riptide headed into another tunnel. As soon as they did, a metal wall flew down, sealing them inside.

"Come on," Grand told him as he began to walk down the tunnel. "Let's get there as soon as possible. I have a bad feeling about this."

And as they began to walk into the darkness, the Team Shadow Grunts appeared, shining huge grins as one commented, "This is perfect. If we get to that treasure room first, we won't have too fight them at all."

"We can just seal them in their tunnels," the other laughed before they headed down the one remaining tunnel, soon sealing themselves inside. The race was on.





In the first tunnel...

Flash and Grand carefully strolled down the path, tiptoeing as Grand watched Flash slowly take the lead. And as they did this, Grand spoke up, "Flash."

"Yeah?" the teen replied, looking back at the former champion, only to glance away, "What's uh...what's up?"

"I need to talk to you."

Flash bit his lip at this, "Um...sure. What do you wanna talk about?"

Grand stared at the teen, seeing Flash now unable to look at him in the eye. Letting out a sigh, he slowly said, "I...talked to Twilight, and she believes you're hiding something from me."

"Me?!" Flash yelped before looking back at Grand, "I'm not hiding anything. I just want us to get through this tomb and-"

"WATCH OUT!" Grand suddenly yelled, the ground disappearing right before Flash's feet. The teen yelped before Grand grabbed his back, pulling him back before both stumbled and fell over. Both let out groans at this, Grand asking, "You okay?"

"Yeah," Flash responded as both stood up. "Sorry about that." The two glanced down, now seeing there was a curved staircase under them, "Looks like the tomb's deeper underground."

"Yup. Just watch your footing." Flash nodded, both beginning to descend the stairs. But as they did this, Grand said, "Flash...about the Battle Tournament." Flash flinched at this, "I just wanted to say-"

"I'm sorry." Flash blurted out, his tone lowering as he continued, "I'm sorry I failed you. I couldn't beat him and then I thought I could maybe make it up for you with helping with this, but...I just keep failing-"

"Stop." Grand interrupted, making Flash look back at him as they both came to a stop on the stairs. "Don't. Its my fault you lost."

"What? But you didn't-"

Grand shook his head, the sight making Flash's words mumble out, "Before you fought Lightning at the tournament, I confronted him. I...I tried to help him, make him understand he couldn't continue the path he's going down." Grand let out a long sigh, "But as I thought about it after he beat you...I just made things worse. By asking him to stop pursuing power, it made him want it more. It was something no one in that tournament could stop, even if he did lose. He was already gone."

"Grand..." Flash whispered, seeing the huge frown form on the former champion's face.

The old man then stared down at the floor, "It wasn't right to ask you to save him. We had just met, and he's my grandson. I should have stopped him at the start." He put his hand to forehead and clenched it, "I just...I didn't see it till it was too late. I didn't understand why he chose that path. I should have known it was my fault, my loss to Shining Armor." He glanced away at this, "That's why I thought that maybe being beaten by someone his own age would show him what he needed to do."

"Oh...yeah, I get ya." Flash replied, letting out a sigh, "I just wish I hadn't failed you."

"You didn't fail me." Grand responded, "Lightning...he's lost to me now. I just didn't realize he was lost to me before that tournament. In fact, I think I lost him the moment I lost to Shining Armor." Grand closed his eyes at this, "Perhaps I should have put him in his place when we first met Flash, but...I was just too soft on him."

"Maybe. I mean...I kinda fought him at a different kind of battle and won and it didn't do anything." Flash added, making Grand raise an eyebrow. That is, till he saw Flash take a deep breath, the teen staring at Grand with narrowed eyes. "But I'm not gonna give up. I promised you I'd beat him, and I'm gonna keep that promise. And not because I made you that promise, but because I need to show him he's wrong." He took out a Pokeball, holding it up, "He said the way I raised my Pokémon made them weak, but I refuse to believe that. I won't let that become the true way of training Pokémon. If Lightning becomes champion, it'll just make younger kids think they should treat their Pokémon the same way..." He looked away at this, "And I know what it does. I...I can't let that happen."

Grand let out a small chuckle, "I knew I liked you for a reason. Come on, let's keep going." Flash nodded, both now going back down the stairs. And as they did this, Grand added, "Flash...I want you to promise me something else though."

"What?"

"Don't let beating Lightning become an obsession." Flash raised an eyebrow at this, "Twilight told me what happened after you lost. You lost sight of what matters, just like him." Grand glanced back at him, "Please don't do that."

"I won't. I already promised someone else that."

"I figured." Grand replied, "After all, winning isn't what matters when battling. It might be the aim of the battles, but not the most important thing. Its a game. And what's the most important thing about games?"

"They're supposed to be fun," Flash answered, both chuckling as they reached the end of the stairs. And as they did this, they saw a light at the end of the tunnel.

"Look!" Grand began to run, Flash following as they went into the light. And as they got there, they found themselves now in a tunnel that went into a large chamber. It was big enough to fit a house inside, round in shape with torches lining the walls that had crystals on the ends instead of flames. The crystals were emitting a light, illuminating the room. There were two other holes in the wall besides the one they came through, and no sooner had they walked in that metal doors came down, sealing them in.

But as this happened, they saw that in the center of the tomb was a large stone coffin with the statue of a sleeping man on top, though he probably wasn't snoozing. And around the coffin was the hidden treasure. "Books?" Flash asked, moving over to pick one of them up. Despite possibly being a thousand years old, it was in remarkably good shape.

Grand moved over to the sealed tunnels, now seeing a kind of button next to them. He pushed the button on one tunnel and it opened back up, Grand glancing down and now seeing their friends. "Seems Twilight was right, though they must in the other one tunnel."

As he moved over to the other door, Flash put the book down and looked up, now seeing a painting on the wall that showed the image of a blue heart-shaped object that was broken in half by some kind of black spear. The image also showed a kind of energy exploding out of the heart when it was split in two. "What's this about?"

"FLASH!" He spun around, now seeing his friends coming out of the tunnel a few seconds after Grand opened it.

"Hey guys!"

"You okay?" Twilight asked, getting a nod back from Flash.

"Hey! Where's the treasure?!" Spike suddenly yelled, Flash turning to him and gesturing to the books, "Books?! Where's the gold, jewels and cool looking artefacts?"

"Are you insane?" Rocky yelped, "This is the greatest treasure of them all." He took one of the books and opened it up, "These books hold many secrets of ancient times. They may even hold the secret to the Crystal Empire's great technological advancements before it was lost."

Cadance and Twilight nodded, the professor then noticing something on the coffin. "What's this?" She then saw a book in the hands of the statue. She reached out and carefully pulled it free, seeing it was some kind of diary as she opened it up, "Hmm...maybe this'll help us understand why the city was abandoned," she whispered as the others looked up at the mural.

"What is that thing?" Spike asked, pointing to the painting.

"I'm not sure," Doc replied, "Looks like a spear that's being stabbed into a heart."

"Kind of graphic," Twilight grimaced, only for two more people to suddenly run up to the room.

"A-ha!" One of them yelled, making them turn to see it was a pair of Team Shadow grunts. "We...win," he commented, only to go wide-eyed as he saw the full group already in the chamber. "Uh-oh."

"So, you are here." Grand growled, taking a Pokeball out, "How many more of you are here? You Shadows usually travel in large groups of at least five or more, so where are the rest of your pals?!" The two glanced at each other for a second, making Grand raise an eyebrow, "Wait...its not just you two, is it? What, did the rest of your team take a vacation?"

"Like we need anyone else!" one of the grunts barked back, before pointing at himself, "Our leader specifically assigned us to find this tomb and acquire its treasures." He then stared at the room, "So where is it? The gold, the jewels, the rare items that can be sold to fund our team! Where is it?!"

"You're looking at it," Flash picked up a book, "Ancient writings from the Crystal Empire."

The grunts went wide-eyed, making one of them yelp, "What?! That means...its a library! Our team can't make money with this!"

"Our leader won't be happy," the other gulped while Grand chuckled.

"So you know who your team's leader is," he walked in front of the group, "Good. Then you two will be coming with me to answer a few questions."

The pair backpedaled, "I-I-I don't think so! You're not taking us in, and you can't fool us either," he let out a hiss, clenching his fists, "There's real treasure here, you're just hiding it!" He took out a Pokeball, "And we won't stop until it's ours! Primeape!" He threw the ball, the hairy arm and legged furball soon appearing.

"Donphan!" The other yelled as he threw his Pokeball, summoning the tire based elephant.

The others got into a battle-stance, but Rocky let out a yelp, "No! If we battle we could end up destroying the books."

"Flash and I will handle the battling," Grand replied as he turned to the teen, both nodding. "You all make sure the books stay safe." They nodded and Grand threw his Pokeball, "Hariyama!"

In a flash, the sumo Pokémon appeared. "Hari!" It yelled as it landed in front of Grand.

"Riptide, you're up!"

"Tidal!" Riptide ran over to Hariyama's side, the two nodding to each other.

"You won't beat us! Use Rollout!" Donphan rolled into its tire form and charged at the two.

"Block it with Force Palm!" Hariyama thrust its palm, unleashing a burst of wind that struck the Donphan back.

"Mega Punch!" Primeape charged with a glowing fist, but Riptide got between it and Hariyama.

"Aqua Tail!" Riptide spun around as his tail was wrapped in water, using it to knock Primeape's fist away, making the monkey stagger. "Now, Rock Smash!" Riptide then thrust a glowing leg into it, smacking it away.

"Prime!" It cried, Donphan now racing past the ape.

"This'll shake you up!" The Shadow Grunt yelled, "Earthquake!" Donphan roared and it leapt up, then slammed its feet into the ground. The entire cave began to shake, causing tiny pieces of the ceiling to break off.

"Are you nuts?!" Twilight yelled, "That move will bring the whole place down!"

"And bury you losers!" The Shadow Grunt laughed. "And then we'll get the treasure!"

"No you won't! It'll bury you as well!" Doc countered, "And even if you could escape up the tunnel, that would probably cave in as well." The grunts blinked at this, their laughter stopping as Doc added, "You two clearly didn't get into Team Shadow because of your staggering intellect."

"Shut up!" One of them yelled before pointing ahead, "Stone Edge!" Primeape slammed its fists together before punching the ground, causing it to unleash a line of rocks that shot out of the ground. Riptide and Hariyama dodged the oncoming attack, only for the rocks to go for the books.

"NO!" Rocky screamed as Cadance threw her Love-Ball.

"Crystardian, Protect!" The Crystal and Rock Pokémon appeared, using its crystals to create a forcefield that blocked the Stone Edge, protecting the books.

"Ice Punch!" Flash called out next.

"Hidden Power!" As Riptide clenched his fist, Donphan glowed and the light flew off to form spheres of energy. It roared as the spheres shot toward Riptide, who easily ducked under the spheres before slamming his fist into the elephant.

"DON!" It cried, staggering back as part of its trunk suddenly froze over.

"Strength!" Primeape charged at Riptide, ready to slam him with all its might. But before it could reach him, Hariyama jumped between them.

"Stone Edge!" Hariyama thrust its glowing fist into the ground and caused a large stone to shoot out and block Primeape's punch, breaking the stone apart. "Knock-Off!" Hariyama raised its fist and threw it down, conking it on the head.

"PRIME!" It screamed in pain, staggering back while Riptide charged at Donphan.

"Rock Smash!" Riptide's legs began to glow as Donphan managed to break the ice off its trunk.

"Defense Curl!" Donphan quickly rolled itself up, seconds before Riptide slammed his feet into it. Donphan was knocked flying, but remained curled up. "Rollout!" Donphan began to spin as it landed on the ground, ready to go from the Water-Type.

"Dodge it!" Flash yelled, Riptide jumping straight up. Donphan rolled beneath him, now going straight for the books and coffin. "Look out!"

"Springer!" Twilight exclaimed as the Riolu leapt between the Donphan and its targets. He let out a bark as he used Drain Punch to smash the spinning wheel, which ground him to a halt before knocking him flying back.

"Aqua Tail!" Riptide leapt at Donphan, swinging its water covered appendage into it. Donphan cried out as it was knocked back again, landing near Hariyama and Primeape.

"Mega Punch/Force Palm!" The two Fighting-types threw their attacks, Primeape barely able to push against the sumo Pokémon.

"Just give it up!" Flash added as Donphan began to get up, "Even if you beat Riptide and Hariyama, we've got other Pokémon to use."

Grand nodded in agreement. "You can't win this. We outnumber and out-skill you. You're done." The grunt growled at this, only for Grand to continue, "Make it easier for you and give up. Tell us everything you know about Team Shadow and you might get off with a light sentence."

"I'll never betray out team!" The shadow grunt barked back, "I'd rather bury myself before I let you get in my team's way! Donphan...EARTHQUAKE!" Donphan hesitated for a moment, but then did as commanded and smashed its feet into the ground. This made the cavern violently shake, causing them all to cry out. The walls even began to crack apart, specifically the mural wall.

"We've gotta stop him before he brings the whole mountain down!" Grand yelled.

"Riptide, use Aqua Break!" Riptide nodded and with as much balance as he could, he leapt straight up into the air. There, he wasn't bothered by the shaking, now bringing his hands together to draw his sword.

"Rep!" He roared as fell toward Donphan while holding the sword back-handed, "REPTIDAL!" With that, he swung the blade, smacking Donphan flying back, hitting the wall with a thud as swirls appeared in its eyes.

"Donphan!" The grunt cried, his partner growling at this as he saw Donphan get returned.

"You'll pay for that, you-"

"Knock-Off!" Grand interrupted, Primeape turning to see the sumo inches away, raising its fist before slamming it down on its head. The monkey screamed in pain as Hariyama then backhanded it, Primeape being smacked into the air. "Now Flash!"

"Aqua Tail!" Riptide leapt up and swung his water covered tail down, slamming into Primeape. It smashed into the floor, spirals appearing in its eyes.

With both their Pokémon down and out, the grunts' jaws hit the floor before seeing the group now all glaring at them. The grunt returned his Primeape as they began to backpedal, only for Flash to say, "Springer, Extreme Speed!"

The Riolu suddenly vanished, practically teleporting behind the criminals. "RIOLU!" He roared, swinging his legs and dealing a kick to each of their heads. They both cried out in pain, falling unconscious while moaning in pain.

"We did it," Flash commented, "Good job Springer."

"Ri." Springer gave him a thumbs up.

"Alright." Grand chuckled as he pulled out some ropes from his backpack, "Let's keep these two out of trouble when they wake up."

But as he said that, the cracks formed on the mural by the earlier Earthquake increased before part of the wall broke apart. They turned to this, Rocky gasping. "The mural!" But as the rocks fell off, they saw something beyond the wall. Another tunnel. "Huh?"

They all shared a glance before walking up to it, now going wide-eyed as they saw another room. It was filled with treasure, golden coins, silver cups, bronze trinkets and tons of gems. Large chests filled the area, showing even more treasure while they also saw a doorway on the other side of the room.

They went through it and found another tunnel, this one lit by more crystal torches, which they followed for about ten minutes until they came to a dead end. But before they could turn back, Rocky noticed a small light, seeing that the wall was actually a large boulder. "Thoray, smash it!"

"Thor!" It nodded before using its hammer, hitting it with enough force to shatter it in one blow. The rock now gone revealed a tunnel straight to the outside, the group now finding themselves surrounded by mountains in front and behind them. The tomb had allowed them to go straight through the mountain to the other side.

"Awesome," Spike whispered, the others nodding in agreement. They went back in, now seeing Grand finishing tying up the grunts as they came around.

"Well, looks like we owe you our thanks." Grand chuckled, "Not only did you help us find more treasure, you also helped us find an easier way out of this tomb."

The grunt let out a low laugh, "You're...welcome?"

"Don't suppose this means you'll let us go?" The other asked, only for Grand to shake his head. "Figures."

Everything after that was a blur, Grand and Rocky soon contacting their colleagues. Police and archaeologists would soon be arriving at the mountain to claim their prize as Flash and his friends had saved themselves a trip up one of the mountains.

"Perfect," Cadance commented as she and Twilight checked the map. "There's a pathway close by that we can use to circumvent the second road of mountains. After that, we'll be two mountains away from the train station."

"Great," Twilight replied, "That means we're almost at the Empire."

"I look forward to seeing you all there," Rocky told them. "Once the books and relics have been properly gathered and catalogued, we'll prepare to transport them to the Empire at your earliest convenience."

Cadance nodded back, "They did originate from there. Only right that they be returned there." She then looked down at the diary she had recovered, "Is it okay if I take this? I might be able to translate it and learn why the city was abandoned."

"Sure."

While this happened, Flash and Grand were watching over the grunts. "Come on," Grand sighed, "You'll be saving yourself a lot of trouble if you just tell us who your leader is."

"Never!" one of them replied, "We'll never tell! Our leader is a great man who will remake this region! Betraying him would be betraying Equestria's future!"

"So it's a male who runs Team Shadow," Grand smirked while the grunts hissed back.

"That's all you're getting from us," the other grunt added.

Grand shook his head before turning to Flash. "Don't worry. We'll get them to talk."

"I know you will," Flash replied before Grand put a hand on his shoulder.

"You did well down there. You should be proud." Flash nodded back, "And just remember what we talked about. And know that I'll be rooting for you the whole time."

Flash nodded again, "Thank you. I will."

"I know you will." Grand chuckled before glancing back at the grunts. "There's just one thing I don't understand."

"What's that?"

"Why did Team Shadow entrust such an important task to these two? They're clearly low level grunts, so why were they picked to fulfil this mission?"

Flash scratched the back of his head at this before joking, "Good point. Think recruitment isn't going well for Team Shadow? Maybe being evil doesn't pay the bills as much these days."

Grand laughed at this, the grunts growling at them as the authorities soon came to take them away.





Somewhere else in Equestria...

In a dark office, the leader of Team Shadow sat staring at a computer. Sombra let out a low hum as the screen changed, only for a knock on the door to ring out, "Enter." Doom Raizer stepped into the room, a frown on his face as Sombra turned to him, "Problem?"

"Do you remember those two you sent on that fool's errand? It seems they actually managed to find the tomb."

This made Sombra raise an eyebrow. "Oh? Seems fools can find things if they try hard enough."

"Not quite." Doom sighed, "They...got captured by the former champion."

"Ah. That makes more sense." Sombra chuckled, "And here I thought the legends about that tomb were just that. Who would have thought it was actually real."

"What should we do?" Doom asked, "If those two talk-"

"They won't. They might be idiots, but they're loyal idiots. Besides, we have bigger issues to worry about." He turned the computer around, Doom's eyes going wide at this.

"Is that-"

"Yes. Just got confirmation of it," Sombra nodded as he spun the computer back, "Now that we know where it is, all we have to do is acquire it and we'll have everything we need to achieve our goals." He then glance back up at Doom, "Except for the altar."

Doom nodded back, "I think we might have a possible lead on its location, and it's not too far from the Empire. We believe it might be at Mount Tartarus." Sombra raised an eyebrow, "But it's a big mountain, and might take some time to find what we're looking for."

"Just find it," Sombra grumbled as he stood up, "Chrysalis is preparing for the retrieval mission and I think I should also go and make sure everything goes smoothly. I do have a standing invitation from Professor Cadance. Might as well see the legendary city before it gets destroyed." They both chuckled at this, the two slowly heading out of the room. They may have lost two of their numbers, but they were far from defeated, and Equestria was far from safe. As the journey continues