It's one thing to get helped by the Top Rangers and admire them. It's another thing when you have to be the one that helps them.

Crepe was found severely wounded outside of Vientown. His Turtwig alerted them at the nearby base and they were able to get him inside before more damage could be done. Ice stayed by his side as he woke up.

"Ow..." He opened his eyes and looked around. He noticed Ice sleeping beside him and gulped. "I-ice...?" The blue haired boy woke up and saw him.

"Crepe... how are you feeling?" Crepe paused as he looked at him.

"Everything hurts..." Crepe whispered admittedly. "W-what happened?" Ice hummed.

"We're not sure. Your Turtwig led us to you and we found you wounded just outside town. We were hoping you could tell us." Crepe murmured something as he started falling asleep. "Stay with us, Crepe. We need to know if there's something we need to be alerted about." Crepe paused before realization hit him.

"The others... me and the Top Rangers were on a mission somewhere when we were attacked... Dijon must've used the Kirlia he caught to get me out of there... they're probably still there... getting hurt or worse..." He trembled at the thought. Ice pulled him into a hug.

"Shh... we'll send a message to the union to see. Maybe they're ok and waiting for you." Crepe huffed as he fell asleep. Ice frowned before laying him back down and going out. He alerted Barlow about what had happened and Barlow made the call. And then the bad news hit.

All four Top Rangers; Admiral, Dijon, Sven and Wendy; had all fallen off the grid. The only thing they had on their possible condition was Dijon, Sven and Wendy's partner pokemon had returned in critical condition. They were currently getting treated for their wounds while the operators were trying to regain connection with the quad.

The Vientown rangers got Crepe to the Ranger Union to get treated as well as getting the information. Apparently the group was looking into a problem at the Almia Castle and then all of a sudden something happened which made them disappear. They were currently pondering about what to do.

"I don't want to just send any ranger. I need one that can get in there with no problem."

Ice studied the layout. The mountains were very much his territory, meaning he could navigate through with no problem. His parents were glad because they had a poor sense of direction through harsh conditions. He also slightly remembered going through as his corrupted form. It wasn't a great picture in his head as it was extremely blurry and was missing several parts, but it was there. He also knew he regularly was helping lost ice types that were wandering into the forest back to either an older ice type or his Froslass he had bonded with so they could get back to the mountains. Barlow hummed somewhere next to him as they looked at the map.

"What about Ice? I've seen him with ice types that have been getting into the forest lately. He knows what he's doing." Ice's eyes drifted over to his captain as the chairperson turned to him.

"Well... Ice... how well can you get through the mountains?" He opened his mouth to answer when Crepe's voice hit the air.

"Better than most." They turned to see him walking over, heavily leaning on a crutch. He went over and sat down in a chair that Crawford offered him. Barlow frowned.

"You're not going to try and get back up there, are you?" Crepe huffed and frowned.

"In this state? I yell at Admiral and Dijon about doing anything in similar states. Why should I go against my own words?" He sighed. "No... I'm just here doing what I can as a unit." Erma smiled.

"That's good to hear. Glad to have you back on board." She turned to Ice as he straightened himself up from Crepe's words. "So you do well in the mountains?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Then we'll have you lead this. You'll go up there and investigate this disappearance. We'll send back up if needed." He nodded as she turned to Crepe. "Are there any details you can remember?" He gulped.

"From what I remember, after I thought about it, we were in a large area. Admiral shouted something to Eevee, Luxray and Staraptor were struck followed by me and Buizel. I don't remember anyone else getting hurt after that since I was basically thrown out of the fight by Dijon. It was practically a blur..." Ice gulped as Shedinja hugged his arm. That was going to be fun.

"Then be careful, Ice. We don't know who we're up against." Ice nodded.

~_~

The journey up took little to no struggle. He almost did it with his eyes closed after he was sent to the camp near the castle. Following that, he bonded with the Empoleon near the lake and swiftly navigated through the cold waters to the castle. He got up there and saw something that caught his eye.

Admiral's Eevee.

The small pokemon was shaking near the entrance as it saw him. It froze before racing inside. He gulped as he ran after it. It hid somewhere as he reached the first large room. He huffed as he called out gently so he wouldn't disturb anyone else.

"Eevee? I was sent by Crepe to come get you, your partner and the other rangers that are here. Where'd you go?"

A Glaceon poked its head out from around a corner before racing over to the door on the other side of the room. He paused as it backed up and a huge ice shard blocked the doorway. He gulped as he saw Eevee peek out. Was this going to be a battle against Admiral's full partner squad? That was going to be annoying... He sighed before something tapped his shoulder. He turned to see Froslass there. It floated over to one of the side halls. He was about to run over when Crepe's voice came from his styler.

"Ice?"

"Crepe... you feeling better?"

"For the most part. How's the journey?" Ice huffed.

"I just gained eyes on Admiral's Eevee. Sadly, I don't think it likes me because it had a Glaceon block the way up the main part of the castle. I have to find another way around." Crepe made a soft sound.

"Oh boy... be careful." Ice gulped as he followed Froslass.

~_~

He was glad ghost types were so knowledgeable about problem solving. Froslass led him to a Ninetales that he was able to use to get through the ice. He had to borrow Mismagius's powers to get through a door that he presumed an Umbreon left for him.

He went up and saw a Vaporeon quickly place water on an ice floor. He raised an eyebrow at it before gracefully sliding over. His actions caught it off guard as it bolted through the door behind it. He followed, only to be met by a Leafeon. Where'd the others go? The grass type quickly had vines grab it so that he had to shift his focus so it could run.

He cursed lightly under his breath as Froslass and the Gengar he had bonded with helped him out. He went over and saw another door. He frowned before having Mismagius tear it down. He went through and saw Eevee slowly sliding over to a door at the end. There were sections of the floor missing from its travel. It was shivering as it tried to not go off the edge. He paused.

"Eevee?"

It turned to him. He saw the word 'help' written across its face as it stopped moving. He gulped as he raced forward. With the good start he was able to jump over the large hole and get to the normal type. He picked it up as he slid over to the door. He grabbed the door frame and held it close.

"It's ok. I got you."

It trembled as he looked around. From what he was assuming, an Espeon was doing the shifting of Eeveelutions. He went through the door and froze. He grabbed his styler and spoke softly.

"I found the battlefield."

"Really?!" Seafoam's voice raced through as Barlow took over.

"Ice, is there anything that can tell us what happened?" Ice gulped.

"Other than the damage of this room?" He went over as Mismagius brought four items up from some rubble. "I have their stylers and Eevee. That's it. I still have some more places to look."

"Hold on to those stylers. Those will be handy for knowing what happened." Ice gulped as Mismagius made them vanish.

"Copy that." He put his styler away and rubbed Eevee's back. "How are you feeling?" It paused for a moment as warmth returned to it. It smiled at him. Clearly the cold had messed with its head. He smiled before looking ahead. He looked at Gengar. "Can you slip through and see if there's anyone?" It nodded before vanishing. He waited before it came back.

"There are 7 people in the second room. 4 rangers and 3 others I don't know." He nodded. He turned to Froslass and handed Eevee to it.

"Keep it safe for me. I need both arms for this." It nodded as it hugged the normal type. He turned to Shedinja. "Be ready. I'll need you if they pull anything." It nodded as he went forward.

He peered in and saw the rangers badly damage off to the side. Three Dumbbells were talking about something. He met Dijon's eyes as he started waking up. He put a finger by his mouth, making sure Dijon knew to stay quiet. He brought out his styler as Gengar had a Ghastly they met near the front go scare them. The trio jumped and whipped around.

"You! You were at the Pueltown docks! What are you doing here?" Ice hummed.

"Let's see... I was originally looking for what happened to the rangers that went missing, but now I think tearing your plans down is getting added to the list." The trio gulped.

"Oh really? You just used your Ghastly. We're not scared!" He raised an eyebrow. "Glalie! Tear him apart!"

They did realize that they were shaking more than he was and he had less layers than they did, right? Apparently not. The Glalie almost knelt to him with how fast he captured it. Gengar was able to back him up with removing them by bringing a Haunter and scaring them out. He smiled before going over to the rangers.

Wendy was shocked by their savior while Dijon and Admiral gave him big hugs. Well... big as they could with their injuries. Sven was still asleep as he checked for a pulse. He gulped at the faintness of it. He grasped his styler as he took a deep breath.

"This is Ice to the Ranger Union. I have the Top Rangers. I will need help getting them out." Barlow's voice came through, almost proudly.

"Alright. We're on the way. Can you have a pokemon aid us in getting through?" He glanced at Shedinja, who nodded and headed out.

"Shedinja will be waiting for you."

"Thanks Ice. Backup is on the way. Stay with them until we get there."

"Copy that."

~_~

Barlow, Luana, and Crawford got to them in no time thanks to Shedinja. Admiral was hugging Eevee as Luana picked her up. Crawford helped Wendy to her feet as Barlow took Sven from Ice. Ice grabbed Dijon and they were able to get them to the Staraptor that were waiting for them thanks to Crepe. They got to the union and the quad was taken by medics and mechanics. Ice handed the stylers over to the professor, who thanked him and took them inside. Barlow turned to Ice with a smile.

"With all that happened, I only have one thing to say about it all... Mission Cleared!"

~_~

The rangers were able to be seen within only a few minutes. Admiral's arms were being treated by Crepe as she smiled at them.

"My favorite group of area rangers! How are you guys?" Luana smiled.

"Other than Crawford's still got stars in his eyes from carrying hi-"

"Luana..." Crawford growled, making the dark haired girl gulp.

"Uh... we're great, Admiral! Thanks for asking!" The others giggled at that. She turned to Ice and smiled.

"Thanks for what you did at the castle. I really thought we were done for." Barlow hummed.

"What did happen?" She gulped.

"From what I remember, Dijon had gotten the group of Kirlia he had gathered and used them to get the wounded group out. There's some parts I don't remember, but I do remember trying to get my Espeon-"

"That no one remembers you having..." Crepe cut through her words. She scoffed and kept going.

"-to teleport us out. I don't know why, but we were separated and the teleport wasn't successful." She sighed as Crepe finished up. Barlow nodded.

"Rest up, Admiral. You need it."

She smiled as she laid down and fell asleep. They went to check on the others. Wendy didn't remember anything that happened other than screaming. Sven was still asleep. Dijon gave the most info. He smiled at them as they entered.

"Hey guys..." He said softly. The Chairperson was at his side when they went in.

"Hey Dijon. How're you feeling?" He smiled.

"I'm doing better. I'm in a lot of pain, but at least I'm here and safe." Ice tried his hardest to not flinch. You could almost hear the pain in Dijon's voice. His eyes didn't comfort him any more than he wished. "Thanks for the help guys..." They nodded as he took a deep breath. "You know... if I was a lot more careful and took notice of the strangeness in the pokemon, I would've been able to prevent that from happening... oh well..." Crepe frowned.

"That better not be a guilty conscience I hear from you." Dijon hummed.

"What are you talking about?"

"Dijon, I know you. A guilty conscience with you is almost worse than what happened at Altru. No argument." Dijon huffed as he looked away.

"Jeez Crepe... you don't have to say it like that..." Ice hummed as he looked at Dijon.

"What did happen? Almost no one knows." Dijon hummed.

"What do you know?"

"You guys got attacked, you teleported the wounded people out, and Admiral failed at getting the rest of you out. Wendy can only get screaming from her experience and Sven is still asleep." Dijon hummed.

"There was a lot... Sven tried to take a large scale attack for us. Admiral and Wendy were knocked out shortly after and they tore me apart not long after." And I'm not even going into details..." He shuddered rather violently at the thought, making him pause to regain a stable condition. Ice gulped.

"Go to bed, Dijon. You earned it." Dijon smiled weakly as he fell asleep. Crepe gulped as they left him to rest.

"Yeah... he's going to be in the clouds for a while until he's released..." The others giggled at his distress. "I just can't believe a bunch of Dumbbells would do such a thing..." He shuddered at the thought. Ice smiled.

"At least everyone is ok..." Crepe nodded as Crawford nudged Ice.

"Last one to the base has to take the Ranger School class." Ice narrowed his eyes.

"Bring it on." The duo were outside before Crepe could say anything. Luana giggled.

"Don't worry, Crepe. They won't get mad at each other or anything like that. Most likely they'll get to the base, collapse onto each other and laugh it off until they fall asleep. They are just being the little nutcases that they are." Crepe hummed as he waved the other two off. He felt a hand on his shoulder after they left.

"I take it the Vientown rangers have already left?"

"Yes." A hum followed.

"Is your Starly open for sending a message?"

"Yeah... why?" A letter appeared in front of him.

"I need that to get to at least one of those rangers." He took it and the hand vanished. He turned to see Erma walking upstairs. He hummed before slowly making his way outside.

~_~

Luana and Barlow arrived at the base to find the duo asleep outside the base. Luana giggled softly.

"What do you think happened?" Barlow asked as she paused.

"If I'm right... Ice was probably way too tired after the mission that his body surrendered early. Crawford, being the good sport that he is, probably backed up a little bit and helped him the rest of the way. They were both tired, so they passed out here." Barlow hummed as Ice shifted slightly.

"Let's get them to their beds so that they can truly fall asleep." Luana smiled as they grabbed the duo and carried them inside.

~_~

Ice woke up to Shedinja and Froslass shaking him. A Starly was waiting for him with a note out with the others. He went to it and recognized it from Crepe's group. He took the note from it with shaking hands as he looked at it. He glanced at the others. They shrugged, not knowing what it was or what to say. With what it said, the reaction was worth it.