Chapter Text
Act 1
This was a miserable affair. After all this time, I still couldn’t take the first step towards my dream. I wasn’t ready to even step onto the security grate. Pathetic, right? The adventurer’s daughter, too timid to follow her family’s footsteps, no matter how dearly she wished to. How was I supposed to become a world-class explorer like this?
Breathing deeply, I turned left at the crossroads, making for my favorite place. The sun was low in the sky, nearly about to begin its blazing dance with the horizon, the crimson sky above burning brightly as I followed the pathway through the trees. Other Pokémon cleared this way out long ago, probably to see the beach or explore the cavern at the end of it, but nowadays it isn't used all that much, aside from myself. A little odd, considering how small of a town this is, but it’s fine by me- keeps my special place peaceful. The pathway cut through the clearing, between the great stones that marked the path’s end and the sand’s beginning. Stepping quickly across the glassy sediment, I turned to face the sunset, breathing a sigh of relief as the bubbles slowly filled my view.
It was the most beautiful sight I had ever known, more relaxing than anything in my corner of this wide world. Here, on this cragged, minuscule beach, was a pocket of calm. Every evening, the local Krabby community and other related crustaceans came out to blow bubbles across the sea. I wasn’t sure why, but it was consistent enough for me to come here every evening, gazing upon the crimson sphere’s reflection in the glistening orbs, sparkling prismatically as they caught the sun’s blessing.
After last night’s storm, the greatest which our region of the continent had seen in many cycles, it was reassuring to see that the beach’s routine had returned to normal. I still recalled it vividly– the howling winds, crackling thunder and heaving buckets of rain, the kind which you only heard about from a campfire tale, this time without the horrific monster fused together with a bolt of lightning. Much of the towns were rattled by the storm, various debris scattered across the trails and roads between settlements.
I’m not sure how long I was sitting there for when I first noticed them, though.
Scanning the horizon for anything of interest as I contentedly watched the bubbles float across the cove, I caught something along the beach from the corner of my eye. I ignored it at first, assuming it was nothing, but my curiosity gradually got the better of me. I turned to face the azure lump along the coast, squinting. I couldn’t quite tell what it was, but it seemed… well, as large as anyone my age, I suppose. Perhaps it was a larger Pokémon’s, but a pinch in my gut told me otherwise. Trusting that pinch, I stepped forward, trying to get a closer look.
I quickly bounded towards the lump when I realized just what it was.
Another Pokémon, the waves still crashing over them, lying in the wet sand and covered in ocean spray. I’d never seen anyone like them before, their features now coming into focus as I closed the distance. Their body consisted of an azure and black coloring, with two black bipedal, digitigrade appendages ending in canine paws. At their sides stuck out two same-colored appendages in comparison, ending in hand-like paws with rounded, bony spheres embedded into the back of their hands. Sprouting from a tanned, collar-like neck was a similarly azure head bearing what looked like a black mask with two fluffy, canine ears sprouting from the top.
It was a rare creature, especially around these parts. I’d never seen a Riolu in person before today, and it… I couldn’t tell whether or not it was breathing. How long was this body here? I came here so often, I’m certain I would have noticed them at some point. I gripped its scruff in my maw, heaving it away from the coastline in the event of high tide seawater rising above its resting place. Its fur tasted of saltwater, which I spit onto the sand after letting them lie back down in the warmer, sun-glazed sediment. Now that I’d retrieved them from the water, I took to further examination of the comatose Riolu.
They seemed a little taller than what I read about and how the townsfolk spoke of their kind. Those black, bulbous teardrops from the side of their head, sensors I believe they’re called, were a bit smaller than I expected. Still pondering this, a soft, cyan glow from the Riolu’s chest caught my eye, and I leaned in to examine. They bore some kind of necklace, one paw holding a brilliantly blue crystal at the end, shining gently. The crystal couldn’t have been doing that before, could it? It must’ve just started, else I would have noticed its presence earlier.
I placed a paw on the unconscious Riolu, gently trying to shake them awake. I had no idea what kind of Pokémon was waiting for me on the other side of consciousness, but I figured they shouldn’t be left to meet their end all alone like this, right?
“Hey… hey, are you okay?”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My first feeling was excruciating, untold quantities of pain, with both ears crying out their agony with an incessant, calamitous ringing in my head and a horrendous stinging sensation in my nose and throat. Everything burned, my head throbbed. It felt as though I’d been crushed and compressed thrice over, and I could hardly breathe. I tried to get up, tried to open my eyes, but to no avail. My body felt heavy, felt wrong; too small, too light, and absolutely not mine. I tried to gasp for air, yet my throat caught. I tried to cough, but the pain swelled once more, conducting the buzzing in my head to a crescendo. Gradually, however, the crescendo reached its climax, and I began to catch... waves? Sounds of deep, deep water crashing upon the shore, with a great sensitivity at that. I could hear the frothing waters retract across minuscule, sedimentary grains, like sand. Sand… So I was on a beach, then? I couldn’t make sense of it. And the smell, too— was that salt? Or water? Water had a smell? That didn’t make sense. At least I wasn’t fading in and out of consciousness in a desert or the side of a cliff, or worse. Despite my decrepit, paralyzed agony, the thought of a beach’s briny, overwhelming scent gladdened me. I felt an odd swell of relief rise deep in my breast— which too felt tiny in comparison to what I should be used to. Why did something as mundane as a beach, an everyday commodity in communities by the ocean, bring me so much joy? My relief quickly swelled to elation, much to my confusion. I felt an odd sense of accomplishment, of unbridled euphoria. Why in the world was I so glad to— a deafening throb erupted in my head once more, and I felt my grip on consciousness slip right through my fingers. Before I had even opened my eyes, it all went blank, and I felt the darkness claim me once more.
The next I came to, the pain hadn’t stopped. The throbbing migraine, the ringing in my ears, the briny, intense smell, but below that ringing, I heard… something aside from the waves. Moreover, I could feel something aside from the waves. As if I had some sort of third eye, a voice quietly reminding me of a presence. Whatever it was, it was drawing closer from further down the beach, I think. But it wasn’t enough to distract me from the pain. The soreness in every limb I felt, the tightness in my head was deafening and the searing feeling across my body, but most of all, my lungs and nose burned like all hell, as though they were freshly branded with hot, searing iron- imprinted with a blazing mark along their insides.
The presence I felt across the beach had come closer, standing right over me. Once again, I heard that sound, and it slowly began to resemble a voice as the ringing in my ears cleared with my slow, shallow breaths. Whoever it was, they were calling out to me.
“Hey… hey, are you okay?”
Even if I wanted to respond, I could hardly think straight. Even beyond the pain, there was something deeply wrong about the way I felt in my own body. I felt much, much smaller than before. Before…
…
Before what?
What happened?
I… I couldn’t remember.
The other individual on the beach began shaking me, and I snapped back to attention from my dulled state of mind. Fighting through the pain to focus, I gradually opened my eyes to a blurry sight as the ringing in my ears cleared even further. They called out again, asking if I was alright with a sort of… anxious feeling? I couldn’t describe it, nor make sense of it. It was as if I could feel their emotions, their intent, but that made no sense. I blinked slowly with some effort, trying to make sense of what I was seeing as my vision slowly began to clear. Above me stood some sort of brown-furred creature, with a cream-colored mane or tuft of fur sprouting around where their neck would be. Slowly, I tried to form words, but they died on my tongue. Of all the things to feel different, this was one such thing. My teeth were never this sharp- and definitely not arranged this way. My tongue wasn’t this thin, either, so why was it now?
What in the world happened to me?
“Y-You’re awake! Stranger, are you okay? Say something!” Struggling with my unfamiliar biology, I tried to speak, but the words died on my tongue. All that left my mouth was a sort of canine whine, one I don’t think I’d heard before and certainly not something that I made… right? Regardless, the creature seemed relieved that I was at least conscious, but still frightened. “Stranger, are you hurt? Come on, get up!”
Slowly, I felt the creature roll me onto my back, its voice growing more and more distressed as it attempted to rouse me fully. I was made keenly aware of something being crushed behind me, and whatever it was, it sorely ached beyond the pain I felt in the rest of my body. It certainly wasn’t one of my arms and definitely not one of my legs, either, so what else was there? Couldn’t have been a tail– I didn’t have one.
“O-Oh, sorry- I know, tails are super sensitive…”
Never mind.
I felt the creature shift my weight around, and that object behind me no longer ached, instead resting at some uncomfortable angle. Struggling, I straightened the object behind me as if it were an appendage. It responded like one, so maybe that comment about the tail… I tried sitting up, and much to my surprise, I slowly began to rise from the ground. Immediately, I was beset with a throbbing migraine and an onslaught of new sensations. I held a hand to my head, though I could only feel a creature’s paw rather than the familiar five fingers I’d known. It had small, phalange-like protrusions resembling fingers, with one akin to an opposable thumb, but they only amounted to four in total. Either my hand had been horribly deformed, or… I didn’t know what else could have happened. The pain didn’t subside one bit, even as the creature exclaimed their relief and surprise at my rising, so I began the fight to open my eyes. Heavy as they were, I managed to pry them open bit by bit. The blurred sights of brown, blue, white, cream and green colors fluttered about my vision as I tried to blink with some effort to get my bearings. My eyes felt… larger, much more sensitive than normal as coherent shapes slowly began to assemble themselves. Stunned and groggy, I futilely attempted to wait for the pain to subside as I tried to make sense of what I saw. The creature was overjoyed at my awakening now, seeing as how I was regaining consciousness. They seemed content to wait with what appeared to be a tail flicking behind them as I sought out my bearings. I tried to move my legs, but they weren’t responding as I needed them to whilst I was still blinking to try and clear my vision. As the confused shapes finished coalescing, I found myself sitting upon a beach, the ocean’s cool waves rocking back and forth to my left, splashing onto the shore and onto my feet, which felt similarly reduced to my hands. The creature in front of me began to take a shape I could understand, that being some sort of mammalian organism with brown fur, a cream-colored mane around its neck and a similarly auburn tail. Towards the end of the tail was a rounded, cream-colored pattern resembling bubbly clouds, or perhaps a flower’s petals. Big, round eyes adorned its face, accompanied by tall ears of matching color to the rest of its body. It resembled some sort of blend between a feline or vulpine, I think? They were… difficult to describe. It spoke again soon after, seeming to recognize my return to clarity.
“Hey, can you see me? Are you okay?”
Slowly, ever so slowly, I nodded. I was shocked to see such a creature in front of me, especially one that could speak, though that wasn’t as surprising as it could have been. My head and neck were disproportionate to what I was used to. They were… smaller. Thinner. My eyes felt much larger in my head than before, and something wasn’t quite right with my nose. As I nodded, I realized that there were two odd, dangling weights on the sides of my head where my ears were. Or… should be. I raised a hand up to one absentmindedly, and immediately recoiled. That was a part of me, whatever it was, and it was sensitive. Best not to touch it. “Oh, thank goodness! I-It’s not often that I see Riolu, what with how rare they are! Do- do you have a name?” Slowly, I opened my mouth to speak, though the words came to me with great difficulty due to the unfamiliarity of my own mouth. The creature’s ears were straight and upright now, likely listening intently. “You can call me… um...”
Immediately, the fog in my mind intensified. I couldn't tell what I was trying to say, what the exact word I was looking for was. That wasn’t right. This was my own identity which I wanted to communicate. Which… caused panic and anxiety to set into my mind. My answer was not immediate.
For what felt like forever, I scoured my mind in a panic, before a cacophony of voices pierced the misty veil. Multiple voices of varying degrees of familiarity rang out in my mind, echoing off of one another. Some of these voices were affectionate, caring, determined, joyous, while others were filled with rage, sorrow, venom or desperation. Vague, echoing memories of a single word, reverberating across my mental barriers over and over and over, their variance multiplying with each utterance. My uncertainty over myself was quickly lifted, though the fog remained, and I opened my oddly-formed features to utter that word.
“...Skye. My name is Skye.”
“Right. I’m Lysa. Can you tell me where you’re from?”
Slowly, I shook my head, beginning to shiver. Whether it was from the cold waves that had drenched my body, or something else entirely, I wasn’t sure.
“What about when you arrived?”
I began to sweat, holding my head in my hands, only to realize that my body had been completely transfigured. My legs, starting at the knee downward, were jet black and ending in a paw. Likewise, my hands were blue paws with pink prints, and my body… wasn’t quite normal. Above where my knees would have been were a set of fur that could have resembled shorts, the azure color continuing midway up to my abdomen until it split into a zigzag of blue and black, my abdomen and chest being split into those separate colors respectively. “I… I’m sorry. I couldn’t tell you. I don’t know.”
How long had I laid here in the sand? Hours? Days? Weeks?
“Anything at all?” Lysa said.
Slowly, I began to shake my head, much to my horror.
“Um… you’re not trying to trick me, or something, right?”
The creature- no, Lysa regarded me with those round eyes of hers. Theirs? I didn’t know for certain, not yet. I quickly shook my head, though she didn’t drop her gaze for a bit. After a short while, I spoke up.
“This isn’t right- this isn’t me. I’m not…”
I looked over my hands again, just to make sure, but nothing had changed. I was still in an unfamiliar body in an unknown place, speaking with an inhuman creature I’d never seen before in my life. I was far, far from home.
Instinctively, I knew that conclusion was incorrect. I’d definitely seen it before, but couldn’t remember where. In fact, I couldn’t recall anything at all. My memory had been completely wiped, aside from my name. That is… if I even had a memory before this. Where did I come from? Who was I?
“What? You’re not… what?”
I almost choked on my words as I tried to speak again, the realization of what was really going on finally starting to sink in. “I’m not… this. Where am I? What’s going on? What are you? What am I?”
She seemed bewildered by my question, as though she didn’t quite understand it. Lysa began to back up, shaking her head.
“You’re a Riolu- a Pokémon, just like me. Have you forgotten even that much? What happened to you out there?”
“But I’m not! At least, I wasn’t. I’m not supposed to be. I'm... I'm a human.”
I felt my throat begin to tighten from the pressure. I really, really didn’t want to prove myself to someone while I was like this- I was hardly even able to tell who I was. I looked down a bit, my eyes staring past Lysa towards the craggy stones and palm trees lining the beach, leading further inland. Where shadows must have been, what with the evening sun over the horizon slowly sinking towards the waves, I could see clearly. I found that odd, sure, but odder still were the shapes I saw moving in those shadows as this Lysa character continued to speak. “You’re not trying to pull a fast one on me, are you? I’m not going to fall for some trick.” Vehemently, I shook my head, trying to stand up as those shapes pushed forward. Whatever they were, they had me on edge, and I felt a need to warn this Pokémon of what might be coming, but would they even believe me? I had to try and win their trust if I was to warn them, but this was a faraway dream considering the speed of the approaching figures.
Some lumpy, spherical creature, accompanied by what looked to be some sort of ball with wings, two long appendages sticking out beneath it. As the shapes grew bigger, I realized they were approaching us behind Lysa. I didn’t quite know what I was looking at, nor what their purpose or intention was. All I could do was watch as the creature with wings shrieked, cackling as it dove towards Lysa. The vulpine cried out as the winged creature flew right away after, holding some sort of stone on a cord of sorts, the one she had been wearing, just not noticed. I was too focused on my apparent transformation to take it into proper account.
The spherical creature bellowed out a laugh as Lysa backed up, and I realized I could feel her fear. It was palpable, washing over me much like the very ocean that I presumably washed up from. I glared at the thieves who kept on laughing, just out of our landlocked reach. One of them, presumably the sphere, began to speak, loudly chuckling. “What’s wrong, the little explorer’s too afraid to stand up for herself? Ha! She’s too weak to do anything, anyway! It’s pointless!”
The winged creature responded in turn, though I filtered them out, my attention on the now-shivering Pokémon beside me. This wasn’t the first time these two had harassed her like this, and the confrontation frightened her to no end. Slowly, I began to understand. Was I some kind of empath? Was this some sort of Pokémon thing?
“Lot of good that all that wishing and dreaming’s doing for you now, kiddo, huh? Why don’t you go ahead and tell your little friend just how much of a pathetic wimp you really are! Ha!” The two sped off through the air, past the both of us and into a cavern behind me, obscured by the crags and sand. They left naught but what I could only describe as an overwhelming, disgusting scent behind— one that racked my senses and left me gagging until it cleared.
What in the heavens’ name was that all about?
I turned to face Lysa again. She was sitting on her haunches, now, looking down at the sand. She seemed like she was about to cry. I felt her sorrow, her stress, anger, frustration, all of it. Slowly, I reached out a paw, resting it on her shoulder. As I did, I felt the brunt of her stress, her inner struggle. I grit my teeth for a moment as Lysa looked up at me, tears on the edges of her round, dark eyes. I spoke quickly, peering into her eyes. “Let me help you get that back.”
She froze, her shuddering and shaking coming to a halt. I felt her disbelief through my paw, followed by bewilderment, then relief. A smile slowly came onto her face. “R-Really?!”
I nodded.
“Oh, thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou! Come on, they went that way!”
She bounded off into the cavern, and the last I saw of her was the cream-colored tip of her fluffy tail. I tried to chase after, but tripped on myself over and over, struggling to even walk. This body was so, so small. Why couldn’t it have been more familiar? Granted, it was at least bipedal, but these legs felt weird. I didn’t feel my heels touch the ground- was my new form digitigrade?
Whatever. After some struggles, I was able to catch my balance and walk, albeit slowly. Once around… twenty or so seconds had passed, I saw Lysa run out of the cavern, staring at me as I struggled to take my first steps. “Did you forget how to walk too…? Or... Alright- straighten out your tail, it’ll make things a lot easier for you. Come on!”
She ran into the cave again, and I turned to look behind me. Sure enough, a blue, blade-shaped tail matching the rest of my fur was lowered. It took me some effort and a dozen or so tries, but after a short while I succeeded in shakily raising it. It was an odd feeling, to say the least, having such a fluffy thing where you’ve never had anything before. Well, I don’t think I did, at least.
It was strange. Even though I couldn’t exactly recall anything related to my past, I had a rough idea of what my body should feel and look like. I suppose I couldn’t forget something as important to who I was as my own biology, could I? With my tail newly straightened, I found catching my balance to be more or less automatic. I stood it up behind me and quickly sped up, now confident enough to at least jog into the cavern.
Given that my earliest memory at the time was the freezing waters of the ocean, I found it frustrating to be returned to such an oppressively frigid environment. The cavern was dimly lit, only brightened by the occasional alcove’s sunlight reflected in moisture, but the time of day had certainly dampened its luminous glare. My vision, however, didn’t seem to have been hindered by the darkness, with each physical characteristic of our environment grasping for my undivided attention just as much as the outside did, as though I was being told where things were. Our surroundings were barren, save for water and stone, and there were no signs of any sort of invader or explorer like us, as far as I could tell, but that didn’t stop Lysa from charging ahead in the cavern. I didn’t understand it– a part of me felt as if doing this was somehow insane. Like there was some clear and present danger that I simply couldn’t see, and yet… nothing. Things were as peaceful as could be.
Until the walls began to twist and contort around me.
Immediately, I found myself in a sprawling labyrinth of a cavern, hallway-like pathways suddenly boring themselves into the cavern walls in front of Lysa and I as we walked. I froze, baffled at the sight as the vixen-like creature marched on for a brief period before turning back to look at me. “Would this be your first time in a dungeon, Skye?” Confused by the question, I stepped forward, head cocked to the side. Slowly, I began to nod, not quite sure what my companion meant by that question. Thus, I had to ask one of my own, but Lysa cut me off before I could. “They’re called mystery dungeons. Lengthy name, I know. Labyrinths of treasure and the unknown, dungeons are a gateway to exploration. While they do change their layout every time someone enters, they have a distinct start and end to them. Those two will surely be at the end of this cavern- look for a flight of stairs.”
What? Stairs? In a cavern such as this? Surely, I’d found myself in some sort of twisted dream, and things would return to normal when I awoke, but the pain I felt was real. The cool stone and soft sand were real. My difficulty to move was real- and my new(?) appendages were real. Most of all, I felt familiar with the concept of such perpetually shifting labyrinths. Bizarre as it was, it struck a chord in me- I had surely been to places like this in a past life, or maybe my current life, before whatever had happened to me, well, happened. While this feeling struck, a soft, azure glow – some shade of cyan? – began to emanate from an odd weight I now noticed was hanging from my neck. Grasping around its origin, I felt my paw wrap around an odd, cut stone attached to some sort of cord. Feeling around, I lifted the rounded shape up to the edge of its cord, revealing to myself a small, azure gemstone. It appeared to be some sort of crystal, softly pulsating with that same glow as I stared into its center. Within the teardrop-shaped jewel, I spied… some kind of bark, or piece of a branch? Said piece glittered prismatically as the gem refracted the cavern’s limited light, catching the rays of the sun in a brilliant display.
This was mine. I couldn’t remember ever laying eyes upon it, but the words echoed in my mind as I stared into the crystal’s depths. This was mine, and I couldn’t let anything happen to it, but why? What made this object so important to me that I’d know what it was beyond my amnesia? I let go of the jewel, letting it fall and rest against my chest as Lysa spoke. “Judging from your inspection, is it right to assume that you’ve got no idea what that gem is?” I shook my head. “Figures. Come on- let’s go this way. Tell me if you see anyone else, alright?” I nodded before asking a question of my own.
“What even was that object those two stole from you? It looked like some sort of relic," I asked.
She paused, contemplating that question before diving into one of the hallways, flicking her tail behind her. As I followed, she replied, “It’s a… personal treasure of mine. Nothing important, but it means a lot to me. Help me recover it, and I’ll be in your debt, okay?”
“Sure,” I responded with some difficulty, still battling with my sore throat and unfamiliar airways. I would've questioned more, but I didn't believe it to be my business.
Not long afterward, the hallway opened into another room, one which was connected to another hallway with some sort of saltwater stream that cut through the room, a stream which ran through a minuscule cove in the wall, sourced out to sea. It was a pretty sight, to be quite honest, and one I would have been much more appreciative of if not for pressing matters. Emerging from the stream was some small arthropod Pokémon with beady red eyes, a brown shell encasing its body with four short yellow legs sticking out from beneath it as it clambered out, approaching the pair of us. My companion froze, glancing back at me as she spoke. “Dungeon Pokémon, like this one here, will usually attack intruders like us on sight. Get ready- if you really don’t remember anything, that includes how to fight. This is a time for you to learn.”
“Huh?” I replied, “That thing’s just minding its own business, why do you want me t-” My attempted protest was quickly cut short as the odd creature lashed out at Lysa with one of its legs, the edge glimmering with a bright shine as it scratched into her sandy fur. Gasping in pain, she quickly whipped around with a growl, sweeping the creature up as she quickly whipped her tail beneath it, knocking it off balance with some air time.
Before I could even process what was happening, my unfamiliar form manipulated itself on its own, black legs taking two quick steps across the cold, wet stone as an azure paw rocketed towards the creature, pushing through and flinging it into the wall with a slight gust of air. As it collided with the stone, the creature’s shell cracked, revealing soft, obsidian flesh beneath. Shrieking, the creature dove back into the salty stream of water, from which it did not emerge.
Was that me? Did I do that?
As I caught up to exactly what I just executed, I held both paws up in front of me, examining them. They were just as I last checked– azure and printed, nothing had changed. Lysa’s familiar voice soon followed, “It’s called Quick Attack, it’s just a small technique you used to capitalize off of my tail whip. Quick-footed strikers like Riolu use it to close gaps and start their assault.” I turned to face her, cocking my head to the side as she continued, “Pokémon fight using Moves- techniques and abilities that wield various powers and skills to strike at our foes. By breaking its guard with a tail whip, I opened it up to your Quick Attack. Each one does something different, and when used in conjunction between multiple Pokémon, a formidable force arises. Does that make sense?” Slowly, I nodded. The concept of moves was familiar to me, so maybe all hope wasn’t lost quite yet. “Thank goodness… If you have any questions, just ask, okay?”
That was reassuring. Did she believe my story about my amnesia? That I wasn’t always a Riolu? I opened my mouth to ask something, but it wasn’t related to either of those topics. “Why can’t we just talk it out with them?” I queried, “We’re the intruders here, it seems kind of wrong to barge into their territory and assault them. This is their home, isn’t it?”
Lysa paused, contemplating how to answer before responding, “Not all Pokémon are that reasonable. Some are territorial, others are just hostile. Not every Pokémon in a mystery dungeon can talk like we can– most of them are constructs created to defend the dungeon from outside threats, after all. Don’t worry about that Kabuto, by the way, their shells are easily repairable, and if they’re a dungeon construct, they’ll just disappear, as if they were never there. Now, I think I see the staircase we’re looking for down this hallway- come on.”
Thus, I followed suit once again, now aware of the threats posed to us within these Mystery Dungeons. Didn’t seem too scary, though. I stepped past Lysa as we went into the next room, looking around at our surroundings. I indeed spied a staircase in the spacious alcove, perfectly masoned and layered gray stones stacked upon one another in the descending pattern, leading deeper into the ground below.
“You weren’t lying about the stairs, huh?” I muttered, baffled by their presence.
"This is just… one of those things that Pokémon have learned to live with. Nobody knows why or how these dungeons form in the first place- we only know the rules.” Answered my partner, stepping towards it. “Every floor is different, every time you enter, the floors shift, only some of the Pokémon inside are actually real, the ghastly winds will expel you if you stay for too long… they’re called Mystery Dungeons for a reason.”
I stood there slack-jawed, staring at Lysa.
“Excuse me?” I asked.
She only nodded, continuing on. “Go on- you heard me about the wind. We need to keep moving,” she said, promptly dropping down the staircase. I followed close behind soon after, the stairs leading only to a pitch void. Once we stepped through, the void cleared, opening into another cavern of similar elevation and geography to the last floor. As we took the last step, I looked back to ensure we weren’t followed, only to find a complete absence of the staircase.
“Lysa?” I questioned, concern dripping from my words, “Where’d they go?”
She only smiled at me, passing through the room. “You can’t take the same stairs backwards in a dungeon. The only way out is with a special tool or reaching the end, it’s just another one of those bizarre rules. Try to keep up, okay, Skye?”
I could only nod, shaking my head as I chased after the odd… lupine… vulpine… feline… thing. I felt like I should know what kind of Pokémon Lysa was- something starting with “E?” Regardless, I followed close behind, my ears perking up as I caught an odd squelching noise echo from further in the cavern. “Lysa, there’s something up ahead. It sounds… like some kind of mollusc?” She nodded, stepping forward into the next room before responding. “That’d be a Shellos. They’re native to these caves, usually more docile than other Pokémon, but dangerous nonetheless. Dungeon, after all.” She paused, turning to face me. “Tell you what- you take point. Something shows up, you beat its lights out, and we keep moving. I’ll be there to support you, but you need to get used to your body, right?” I nodded. “Good. It’s settled, then.” The brown-coated Pokémon weaseled her way behind me, pushing me forward with a paw before I broke into a walk, glancing about. I scooped up some sort of orange seed off the ground, feeling it in my hand–well, not a hand anymore–as I felt my companion freeze behind me, her voice querying incredulously. “Skye, is that a blast seed?” I paused, looking at the seed in my paw. “Is that what this is?” I held it out for her to see.
She stepped forward, sniffing the air as she eyed it. “...Yeah. That’s what it is. Throw that as hard as you can at your next target, you’ll see what happens,” she said, returning to her pace as I walked on. A blast seed? Was that some kind of explosive? From the way Lysa spoke, that’s certainly how it sounded. How much power was contained in this little pinch of plant matter?
Sounded like a plan to me. If we had a foe coming up, like those odd sounds suggested, then it was the perfect time to try it out. I stepped forward to the end of the hallway, gripping the seed tightly in my paw as I peered around the corner. Sure enough, there lay another creature, sliding along the ground. It bore an amorphous form with black, oval-shaped eyes with yellow outlines, wide yellow lips that trailed onto a mantle-like carapace, turquoise in color with two flap-like protrusions extending from its back. I didn’t hesitate, slinging the hard seed in my paw at the creature with a crack of force, a small shockwave kicking up the dust around me as the seed impacted with the creature’s side. With a sharp, deafening echo, the seed burst with a flash of light, a bright explosion rocking the creature and blowing it into a saltwater deposit on the side of the room, from which it did not rise much like the other creature from before. I stared dumbstruck at the smoking, black marks left by the blast seed, in awe just how much power was contained in that minuscule object.
My companion, however, wasn’t as surprised. She pushed on, grinning at me. “I did say you’d see what happens, didn’t I? They blast. Not too rare, either- so they’re a mainstay in any explorer’s toolkit,” she said, unconcerned for the creature’s safety. “Is it… will it be okay?” I asked, questioning whether such a burst of energy would have permanent consequences on that poor thing. “Oh, of course. Pokémon are quite resilient, you know, especially water-types like that Shellos you blew up. Additionally, these dungeons… well, you’ll see that, too, but they have restorative qualities, too,” she answered, as though I should understand what those qualities were without being told or instructed.
Well, she would have been correct in that regard. I should know these things if I lived once, but my lack of identity seems rather more important than lacking knowledge, to be honest.
Shaking my head, I continued on, clenching a paw into a sort of fist. Not knowing anything about yourself or the world you dwelled in was infuriating, but I had to press on. I promised this little Pokémon that I would help them, didn’t I? They seemed eager to teach me what they knew, too, so maybe this little relationship would be beneficial in the long run.
The stairs were just up ahead as we cleared the next hallway, dipping further into the caverns once more. I felt another presence from their direction, despite the lack of any in the room aside from Lysa and I. This must be where the spherical and winged creatures fled to.
“They’re just up ahead, I think,” I claimed, pointing through the staircase’s void.
“That makes sense,” answered Lysa. “This dungeon isn’t very long at all- there should be a pit at the end we can corner them at.”
I nodded. If they had nowhere to run, it would be trivial to beat the two into submission and retrieve my companion’s personal effects. Neither creature had any limbs from what I saw, so any potential battle effectiveness was rather slim, or so I thought.
As Lysa and I stepped through the stairwell, the dungeon opened up into a single sandy pathway, surrounded on all sides by saltwater with a cove view of the setting sun shining inward. Our targets stood– no, they floated at the edge of the path, talking amongst one another as they stared at the stolen item in the sand.
I felt the ears atop my head perk up as Lysa and I approached, stepping quietly along the pathway while the tail end of the duo’s conversation reached us.
“I’m tellin’ ya! This hunk of junk’s useless to us, it’s just some crybaby’s special rock!” whined the winged assailant, “The boss’ll have our hides for wastin’ time like this!”
The sphere coughed, expelling beige fumes from the porous orifices that littered its lumpy body. “Nuh-uh!”
“What do you mean ‘nuh-uh?!’”
“I mean nuh-uh! ‘S gotta be worth a fortune! We’ll be rich!”
Lysa and I stood just a bit behind them. I tensed, clenching my paws as I motioned for her to step forward. This was her business, wasn’t it? Her stolen item. She padded along the sand, gritting her teeth.
“Hey! Give it back, damn you!” She barked, drawing their attention as the ruffians turned to face us. “That’s my personal treasure, it’s not yours to keep!”
She should’ve chosen different words, in all honesty.
“Treasure!? So it really is worth something! Ha!” The sphere hollered, butting its winged companion in the side. “Nuh-uh! Ours now!”
The winged one cackled. “You want it so badly, then just take it, wimp! You’re nothing! You’ll never amount to anything anyways, why not just let Pokémon that can actually make use of it keep your little relic?”
Lysa flinched, taking a couple of steps back. I, however, had no such reaction.
I had grown sick of listening to their prattle.
I leapt forward, kicking up the briny sand with similar speed to my unfamiliar dash as I gripped the sphere by the side, watching in amazement as I whirled around in a quick pirouette to convert the momentum of my leap, whipping it into its companion. The violet thing reeked, and I couldn’t help but cough into my furred arm as they tumbled through the air. Eventually, the sphere was able to right itself, but the winged pest wasn’t so lucky as it sailed into the cragged walls, screeching in pain as a couple of stones were dislodged from the formation.
Did I really just do that?
Before I could answer that question, the same sphere slammed into my left with an expulsion of gas, knocking me on my side as I skidded across the sand. I quickly kicked off the ground to right myself, launching off of wet sand on the edge of the path as I ran to meet my foe. At least, so I tried to as fangs plunged themselves into my shoulder. I yelped in pain, stopping in my tracks as I reached behind me to try and squabble with the royal-blue, winged pest once more, but it only stayed put as it cackled, muffled by my fur in its mouth. I felt my stamina drain– as though it was being leeched by the fiend attached to me.
The sphere bellowed again, its vile laughter echoing throughout the cove. Its pained howl did too as Lysa’s sandy frame collided with it, launching it at me and the winged fiend. In a frustrated, quick motion, I ripped the pest off my back, gripping it by one of the tendrils trailing beneath it. With a shout, I beat the sphere into the dusty sediment with the winged creature, kicking up another cloud of sand from the force of my strike.
For minutes, everything was still. The ruffians lay in a small heap, the force of the impact having blown out a small crater in the pathway’s sand.
Our victory was clear.
Lysa ran after me, scooping up the odd stone the two had been talking over and slipping it onto a cord hanging from her neck.
I stood by her side, panting as I raised a paw to my shoulder. The place where I was bit stung, but… I didn’t feel any opening or wound. Nothing that throbbed when I poked or prodded at it. I pulled my paw away, and it was stained with rust. I surely bled, but there wasn’t any wound left over. How bizarre.
The two ruffians groaned, quivering in their heap on the floor before rising into the air once again. Wordlessly, they fled through the cove opening, uttering not a sound.
Honestly, I’d have done the same if I received the same beating.
Lysa quivered beside me, nuzzling my side. “Skye… thank you. I wouldn’t have been able to do this without you. Come on- let’s get out of here, we’ll talk then!”
"Didn't you say we can't go back the way we came?" I asked, tilting my head to the side. "How do we get out of here?"
"Actually, we already did!" Said the mammal. "If we turn around from here, this is a tunnel that'll lead us back to the beach. It's the actual cave that we entered, before the dungeon swallowed us."
Was it really? What about the mystery dungeon? Wouldn't we have to fight our way through that labyrinth again?
Before I could voice any of these questions, the vulpine-looking creature bounded off, and sure enough there was a dim light at the end of the passage. I didn't have much say in the matter, so I followed suit after a few moments.
After exiting the tunnel, Lysa and I stood at the coast of the beach, gazing upon one another. She thanked me once more, but I remained silent.
I only helped her because I just happened to be there at the time. While it was righteous, I’m certain, I couldn’t help but wonder whether that was really the best idea. Seeing this four-legged, tan creature in front of me smile, though…
Well, it felt fantastic to be appreciated.
Lysa stepped forward once, turning to grip the cord off her neck, untie the rock and set the object on the sand before us. “Here. This is what they stole,” she said, setting the stone down. I knelt to get a better look. “I call it a relic fragment. It’s a... personal treasure of mine.”
A relic fragment, huh? The name fit. The chunk of stone was smooth-faced on one side, bearing a strange symbol on the front. Four parallel… wings? Waves? Whatever they were, they were intersected by these odd, branch-like protrusions, coming together to form a ring in the front.
“You see the inscription on the front? How it cuts off at the ends, here?” She asked, and so I took an even closer look. It was true– the inscription was incomplete. “It’s… inspiring to me. I’ve always wanted to be an Explorer- to find hidden truths, uncover ancient secrets, discover lost treasures and relics… it’s like holding proof of that dream in my own paws.”
I nodded along. I could see how that dream matched such an object, especially someone who seemed as adventurous as the creature in front of me.
“I see,” I said, “Well, I’m glad that I was able to help you retrieve it. I… I should go.” Go where? I had nothing. No memories, no belongings, certainly no money… nothing.
“Do you even have a place to stay?” Asked Lysa, her head cocked to the side.
I didn’t know what else to say. Lie? Act like I had it under control? I didn’t want to make my personal issues this Pokémon’s problem. Lysa pondered my lack of an answer for a short while as she restrung the chunk of stone, slipping it back over her neck. I couldn't help but wonder how she did it, seeing as how her digitigrade paws lacked independent fingers.
“If you don’t, I, uh, I have an idea. It’d give you a job, too, but you’d be taking on some responsibility. You’ll need money and supplies if you wanna find out who you are, though, right? Names like ‘Skye’ aren’t exactly common in this region, so you might be from quite far away.”
I wasn’t exactly sure how much I needed any of that, but… well, it couldn’t have been a horrible idea. I slowly nodded, standing up. “I don’t have… anything, so… I don’t have the option to be picky. What’s your idea, Lysa?”
The mammalian took a deep breath, pawing at the ground as she looked to the side for a moment. After a brief period to gather her courage, she shut her eyes, bent her head down, and asked…
“Would you… would you like to form an exploration team with me?”
Huh?
“It’s… it’s a little selfish of me to ask, but it’s always been my dream to join one, and it’s probably your best bet to find out who you are,” she elaborated, “It’s a stable job with bed and board, so long as you follow your guild’s demands, and you’d be able to travel the whole continent on your guild’s missions.” Finally opening her eyes, she looked up at me pleadingly, sitting back on her haunches.
The idea didn’t sound bad at all. I was going to need resources if I was going to travel. I knew nothing about where I was, much less how practical living as a wandering vagabond would be. A stable source of income and supplies that would allow me to travel in pursuit of answers… There was only one problem with Lysa’s idea.
“Uh… sorry, what is that? An exploration team, I mean.” I asked, much to my proposed partner’s surprise. I sensed what little remained of her doubt in my amnesia melt away in an instant as she stared deep into my eyes before shaking her head.
“An exploration team is a… a group of two or more Pokémon that explore Mystery Dungeons,” she answered, “They almost always operate after its members are trained by an Explorers’ guild, from which they take jobs to delve into dungeons for various purposes.”
I felt a sort of awestruck whimsy emanate from the Pokémon before me as she spoke. Lysa clearly held these explorers in extremely high regard, her words dripping with wonder. “So, I’d be mercenary?”
She nodded, though I felt as if my summarization had barely scratched the surface of what it meant to be an explorer. “Pretty much. You get paid by the job, and your guild is responsible for providing work and living quarters in exchange for a tax on your earnings. So… once again, will you form an exploration team with me, Skye?”
Her eyes peered deep into mine. I looked away, unable to process the expectant nature of Lysa’s stare while I thought about her proposition. Becoming an explorer… I wasn’t sure why, but the thought filled me with excitement. Adventuring across untold expanses of land, uncovering relics and treasures thought lost to time and getting paid to do it didn’t sound all that bad. I could learn more about this world I found myself in, gather supplies, and pursue my identity all at once– it was a perfect opportunity, but I was still confused.
“Why me?” I questioned. “Out of all Pokémon, why make a team with me? We just met. How are so sure that I'm not lying to you?”
She paused, looking back to the setting sun, then back to me, staring deep into my eyes. “I… I want to believe your story about being a human, Skye. Even if you’re lying, the first thing you did was help me recover something important to me. Me, a complete stranger, a Pokémon you’ve never met before. I owe you a debt now– and I want to help. You showed me kindness where not many other Pokémon would have– you willingly put yourself in danger for someone you just met. That… that inspires me. So please- please form an exploration team with me, Skye. Let me pay you back for this– let me help you find out who you are!”
It would’ve been a mistake to not take Lysa’s offer, even if I didn’t have nowhere else to go or nobody else to help me. Who knows? Maybe one of the Pokémon at these guilds will know something about my name, or about this teardrop-shaped gem. I didn’t have anywhere else to go. I had no memories, no possessions, nothing– much less a sense of direction or a clue for what to do next. I turned back to face her, and nodded.
Immediately, I was suffocated in a wave of bubbling, vibrant energy as the bundle of tanned fur tackled me in a hug, having knocked me to the sand whilst thanking me over and over. With some struggle, I was able to roll her off of me, standing back up.
“So, where do we go to form one? There wouldn’t happen to be one of these guilds within our immediate vicinity, would there?” I asked. Surely we’d have to travel to reach one of them, right? They sounded like huge institutions, and I didn’t count on my luck, having just been transformed with a newly-missing memory.
“Well, there is, actually. That’d be the Wigglytuff guild. It’s not that large compared to some of the other Explorers’ guilds out there, but it’s quite well-respected. Come on!” Exclaimed Lysa, bounding off through the sand and onto a dirt path flanked by palms trees. I walked after her, the earlier battle exercise having helped me get used to this small body’s stature. My new blade-shaped tail still did most of the heavy lifting for me- in fact, keeping my balance now felt second nature, now that I'd gotten the hang of manually directing it.
Even if I wasn’t in my own body anymore, this new form was incredible.