EDIT: If you hate sloppy writing, skip ahead to Chapter 2 and a half.

-0-

Sand. Waves. The smell of the sea.

…

…A…Beach?

…

…

…...Can't…move…

With that, I lapsed back into unconsciousness, the saltwater licking my feet.

-0-

This time, I awoke to someone shaking me.

"Hey!"

An enemy, perhaps?

With that thought ringing in my head, I stiffened, rolled to my right and jumped to my feet.

"Are you ok- oh, thank goodness!"

I, ready to fight or flee, gave the speaker a quick one-over.

It was a Vulpix, female, by its voice, not yet big enough to be an adult, with large, caramel eyes.

It was looking at me with concern.

"You weren't moving at all! Are you alright?" Asked the Vulpix, pressing a paw to her chest.

Ignoring her for a moment (having ascertained that she meant no harm), I examined my surroundings.

Mmm, large, red sandstone bluffs surrounding a beach, with the only exits being a dirt and sand road, a mossy cave behind me, and…

I looked at the rolling breakers and shivered.

The sea.

"Well, you're a little cold, by that shiver. Why don't we drop you by Kangas's and get you some hot Taf?"

"No, no, that won't be necessary," I coughed. Ugh, my joints. "Instead, would you mind telling where I can find the nearest human? I think I'd be safe amongst my own own people."

"Uh, what? Human? But you look like a perfectly normal Riolu to me!" the Vulpix chuckled, nervous.

Wait, Wha-

I looked at my legs and torso.

-AAAAAAAT?!

"You're…a little strange…are you playing a trick on me?" murmured the Vulpix, now staring.

"No! How could I play tricks when I don't remember a thing!" I screeched at the nameless Vulpix, giving her a start (I felt a little bad, taking out my frustrations on her like that).

"…You're not? N'yeah, doesn't feel like it." muttered the vixen. "Anyway, what's your name? Can you remember that, at least, so I don't have to call you 'the nameless Riolu?'"

My name? That's right, my name is…uh, Caleb! That's right, Caleb! But how do I know that?

"Your name's Caleb, huh?" asked the Vulpix. "Mine's Carmine. Nice to meet you!"

Wha- Gah! I spoke aloud?

"You don't seem to be a bad pokemon, at least," Carmine went on. "Sorry that I doubted you."

You're forgiven, seeing as I thought you were going to loot my body, or something.

I looked past Carmine's shoulder, and watched two pokemon, -a Zubat and a Koffing- advance, -flying and floating respectively- toward us.

Bad pokemon, eh? They must have a bit of a problem, otherwise-

"Yowch!"

Huh?-

I frowned at Carmines stunned body, -Dang, that hurt!- and rubbed my muzzle, the spot where her skull had collided with my face.

Then, I looked up at her attackers, who were hovering over a little bit of carved rock, sneering at us.

"Well, I do beg your pardon," Koffing chuckled.

Carmine got up, whipping up sand as she turned around.

"Hey, what was that for?!" shouted Carmine, red in the face.

I can practically see the smoke coming out of her ears…

"Heh-heh-heh!" Zubat cackled. "Can't figure it out? We wanted to mess with ya!"

"What? Why?" asked Carmine, now taken aback.

"Well," Zubat murmured, turning his gaze on the piece of carved rock. "That's yours, isn't it?"

Carmine made a choking noise. "That's…!"

"Sorry, kiddo, we'll take that!" the Zubat cackled, swiftly grabbing it and stuffing it into a sack.

"Aaaah!" Carmine wailed.

Oh, I see, this is a robbery!

"Whoa-ho-ho!" Koffing taunted. "Not gonna make a move to get it back? I didn't expect you to be such a big coward!"

Then Koffing turned to Zubat. "C'mon, let's get out of here."

"Aye. See you around, coward!" called Zubat as he and Koffing made began escape through the lichen-encrusted cave behind me.

After they were out of sight, Carmine gave a sudden moan of despair. "…Ohhh…" Then she turned to me.

"Wh-what should I do? That stone was my treasure; it means everything to me."

Tears started gathering in her eyes. "If lose that…" Then she shook her head violently, her tears fading, her countenance changing. "No! There's no time to waste! I must get it back!"

Then she gave me a pleading look. "Caleb, will you help me?"

Her determined expression sure is cute, I noted offhandedly. Well, why not?

"Certainly."

"Thanks, Caleb! Let's get going!" shouted an emboldened Carmine, already halfway to the caves mouth.

I started running after her, much to the displeasure of my already groaning joints.

"Hey, wait up!"

We plunged into bluish twilight.

-Beach Cave- B1F

The first "room" (the walls were compromised of stalagmites and lichen, and were thus easy to see through) was slightly cramped, about five paces by seven. The redstone walls were almost hidden by lichens that thrive above the tideline. The little light that made it in from outside bounced off water pools inside, causing lighted watery patterns to form on the ceiling.

Amongst the flurry of stalagmites, I noticed a dozen or so Shellos, Anorith and Lileep, sleeping, swimming, and generally enjoying life.

However, upon my entry and Carmines ill-informed charge, the ones nearest to us zeroed in on us, eyes slitted, slowly advancing.

My lips curved upwards into a feral grin.

This is going to be fun.

Carmine, unaware of the danger she was in, continued her headlong rush, head whipping back and forth.

Is she looking for Koffing? I wondered. Well, I hope she realizes there's an Anor-

"Arrgh!" Carmine cried out in shock as she was hit by a Bubble attack that dealt considerable damage

…too late.

Well there was nothing for it but to copy Carmines "charge,"and hit the Anorith from the side.

(…Mind, I use "hit" as a loose term, seeing as, really, I used a Quick Attack to get in range, then I used Bite repeatedly. Ouch.)

"Mmm…" I looked at the Anorith, then at Carmine's fainted form. "…what, was I too violent?"

After throwing the body of the Anorith into a random pool, I examined Carmine, wondering what to do.

Turns out, I needn't have worried. Carmine opened her eyes, right when…

"What are you doing?"

…I was about to tip her into one of the saltwater pools.

"Oh, nothing, nothing." I said, trying to put on an innocent expression. "I was just…ah…"

"Trying to do what, exactly?" asked Carmine, rising to her feet.

I looked vainly for something to distract her with. "I was just…ah, um…ah!"

"Yes?" Carmine inquired pleasantly.

"Ah! L-look! Stairs!" I squealed (yes, I did, much as I hate to admit it), pointing through the vegetation at some plain grey stone steps, leading into a slightly darker twilight.

I fervently hoped that it might distract her long enough for me to escape.

Expressionless, she glanced though the columns, then at me.

"Alright, I guess I don't need to know." she muttered, almost inaudibly. She raised her voice. "From what I've heard, stairs lead to the next floor. I haven't seen Koffing anywhere around here, so we should continue to the next level."

I nodded. "Aye."

She nodded back, and then trotted through the leftmost "corridor" and descended the staircase.

I, of course, followed.

-Beach Cave-B2F

This floor was generally the same as the last one, the only difference being that it was slightly darker.

"Wait…" Carmine said, staring at something.

What is it? I thought. Slightly irritable, I followed her line of sight. We need to get a move o-

…

"…I guess the stairs aren't always in a different room." Carmine suddenly realized.

I nodded slowly, feeling rather stupid. Right…

-Beach Cave-B3F

This time, upon our arrival, a group of about four pokemon saw us.

"Uh-oh," Carmine whispered to me. "They see us, c'mon, we ou-"

Unfortunately for Carmine, I wasn't listening.

Once again, that feral smile found its way onto my face.

This…is going to be great.

Barely thinking, I rushed towards the closest foe, a Chingling.

"Caleb! What are you-!" Carmine's shout registered somewhere in the back of my head, but I was beyond caring.

I Bit into one of the Chingling's scarf-like appendages, and heaved it across the room. Before it even hit the wall, I grabbed the Anorith and hit it wildly with a blue fist until it went limp.

When I looked up from my "work," I saw one of the remaining Shelloses flying towards my head. Taking hold of the closest thing to paw, I used the half-delirious Anorith as a sort of wet, bony stick to flatten the airborne Shellos against the floor.

I let go of the Anorith and straightened.

Hmmm, it seems that this brief skirmish has carried me down the corridor a ways…

I reflexively checked my surroundings, examining each point of interest in turn.

The Anorith was now seemingly half-dead, half-in half-out of one of the pools, with a Shellos poking out from under it.

The other Shellos was feigning unconsciousness, not realizing that its shivering gave it away.

Meh…it's not like I don't know what mercy means, but at the moment, I don't feel like taking a chance.

With that thought in mind, I slowly advanced toward the petrified Shellos. Halfway to the second "room," I stopped, the pink slug fleeing from my thoughts.

Stairs!

Indeed, they were situated right smack-dab in the middle of the next room.

Great, now, where's Carmine?

I turned back to the first room, and froze. There was Carmine, lying with her back against the incapacitated Chingling, fainted dead away.

…

Is this going to happen every time?!

-Beach Cave-B4F

"Caleb…" Carmine began, tentatively.

"Yes?" I asked absently, my attention on a seed I just picked up.

"Do you always fight so…viscously?" Carmine asked, her tails waving back and forth anxiously.

I turned to face her. "I suppose so. Hey, Carmine, do you know what this seed is?"

"Uh? I think it's a Blast Seed." Carmine said, staring at me thoughtfully.

"A Blast Seed, eh? What does it do, exactly?"

"…" She stared into the distance, vacant as a Slowpoke.

"Hey, Carmine." I frowned. "Hey!"

"What?" She flicked some water off her paws, as she came out of her thoughts.

"What does it do?" Impatient, I waved the seed in front of her face.

"Oh, that? Upon impact, the Blast Seed will explode violently, if you try to eat it, huge flames will burst from your mouth. It isn't used amongst higher level exploration teams, however, because it only does thirty-five or so damage." she explained, frowning through the stalagmites.

Exploration Teams? They actually have measurements for damage?...

I grinned at the seed, not noticing Carmine shudder.

This could come in handy.

-Beach Cave Pit-

We leapt down the stairs, turned right, passed through the last vestiges of blued twilight, and rushed into a well-lit cavern.

Koffing and Zubat were berating each other in front of an enormous opening, which looked out across the waves of the sea.

Wait, what? By my reckoning, we should be at least ten meters underwater!

"You lummox! Fancy trying to use a Mystery Dungeon as an escape route! How, in the name of Darkrown, are we going to get out of here!?" Zubat screeched angrily.

"We can't leave," Koffing moaned. "Those two have probably sent for Officer Magnezone by now! We're bottled up like Krabbies in a sand-trap!"

Personally, I would have thought it amusing to watch them squirm a little longer, but Carmine wasted no time.

"Uh…hey!" She shouted, her voice reverberating throughout the carvern.

Both Koffing and Zubat turned around.

…

Koffing was the first to smile. "It seems they didn't send for Magnezone after all," He muttered to Zubat. "How foolish."

Carmine made a choking noise. "Urk! Give-…give me back what you stole from me! That's my personal treasure! It means the world to me!" Her voice slowly gained confidence.

Carmine, Carmine, Carmine. Criminals being criminals, the instant you said "treasure" is almost certainly the instant they decided to refute your nicely worded statement.

"Treasure, you say?" Zubat smirked. "So that thing is really valuable, huh?"

"It could be worth more than we hoped for, I'd say." said Koffing with a wide, unpleasant grin. "We should try selling it. Who knows what kind of price it'll fetch?"

"What? No! You can't!" Carmine shouted, almost swallowing her tongue.

See what I mean?

"If you want it that badly…" Zubat smiled, watching Carmines ears perk up. "Come and get it!"

With that, he rushed us.

-Boss Battle-Zubat and Koffing

That is what I was waiting for.

"Carmine!" I yelled. "Distract Koffing!"

"Eh? Ah, sure!" Carmine said, somewhat surprised. She launched an Ember at Koffing.

"Whoa-ho-OW!"

I watched Carmine's antics out of the corner of my eyes, but my real attention was on Zubat. The blue, eyeless bat sped across the cave, shouting obscenities at me.

Instead of answering (or listening, really), I ripped something out of the fur behind my right ear, held it up to my mouth, and, when Zubat was about 2 paces away, swallowed it.

The reaction was instantaneous and violent; it felt like scorpions were biting the inside of my mouth. Without thinking, I opened my mouth to let the "scorpions" escape.

CRUMPT!

Huge, billowing flames shot from my muzzle, lighting up the cave bright as day. Zubat, caught up in the ridiculously huge blast, was thrown across the cave, and into the seawater.

Sizzle.

Ouch, that has got to hurt.

"…"

I smiled and clapped my paws, drawing every eye.

"Next."

-0-

I and Carmine stood over the beaten and charred forms of Zubat and Koffing, the once-proud duo trying to cling to any scrap of dignity they had left.

"D-dang it!" Zubat squeaked, trying to look intimidating. "Here! You can have your worthless lump of rock!"

He threw the carved stone at Carmines feet.

"Ho-hack! Hack! D-don't look so awesome! Your victory was a fluke! Hack!" coughed Koffing, as he floated "to his feet" (See what I did there?).

Fluke? Nah, it was more a result of good planning, although they were much weaker than expected.

"Aye! Just you remember that!" shouted Zubat, turning to flee.

Immediately after they were out of sight, Carmine peered at the piece of stone they'd thrown at her.

"…"

Well?

"Ah! Yes, this is my Relic Fragment!" Carmine suddenly grinned, picking it up and stowing it. "I can't believe I actually managed to get it back!"

Well, I helped a little, didn't I?

As if reading my thoughts, she turned to me with tears in her eyes. "This only happened because you helped me, Caleb."

Well, true as that may be, you performed admirably under the circumstances.

"Thank you, Caleb!" Her unformed tears vanished, and she treated me to a very grateful look.

I smiled right back.

"Anytime, Carmine, anytime."

-Pearl Beach-

"Again, thank you so very much." Carmine smiled, but somehow, to me, she seemed…anxious.

"Like I said, you're quite welcome." Why should she be anxious? With the amount of "thank you's" I've heard in the last thirteen minutes, she should be…

Wait, I thought, suddenly suspicious. Don't tell me she's buttering me up for something?

"Anyway," Carmine said, not noticing my careful look. "I guess I should you what we've been chasing after this whole time…"

She placed this "Relic Fragment" on the sand.

"…this is what they stole," she began grandly. "I call it a Relic Fragment."

I glanced down at it once, looked up, than jerked my head back down so fast I felt my neck crack.

I gaped. What a bloody pattern! It's so intricate I thought they were just oddly symmetrical cracks!

Carmine grinned, seeing the look on my face. "That's right, isn't it amazing?" She joined me, staring at the Relic Fragment, then turned her gaze towards the sea.

"You see, I've always loved legends and lore," she reminisced, staring out over the waves. "I would always get so excited when the Elder came to town, and I can remember each story he told quite clearly."

"The mountains of treasure in Gawer range," she murmured, a light entering her eyes. "The broken lines of the Kawesha map," her voice got louder. "The never-ending, uncharted ruins of Zenan!"

"Such places must be full of ancient items, of gold and adventure!" she shouted. "To make historic discoveries! To chart Zero Isle itself! Such a life is the life for me!"

Caleb, surprised by the passion in her voice, snapped his head up at the mention of gold.

Gold? I remember gold. It was like…a sunset, frozen like ice.

Abruptly, Carmine turned from the sea. "Don't you feel the same?" She looked at me, but her eyes were elsewhere.

Adventure? History? Ruins? Yes, I understand you. Is this what you're going to try to talk me into?

"I feel this fragment might be the key to such place," Her eyes practically glowed. "This is what made me make the decision to join an Exploration Team!"

Oh, so does an Exploration Team do all that sort of stuff? I wondered. I don't think I would mind joining one of those. After all, maybe all the exploring and travelling to different places would help my amnesia, since nothing looks familiar around here.

"So I headed to Wigglytuff's Guild to become apprentice," She went on. "But, ah…" The glow slowly faded from her eyes, and traveled to her cheeks. "I chickened out…" She muttered, abashed.

Somehow, I could almost see her anxiousness, like a grey mist, building to a fever pitch.

Here it comes…

"So, uh, Caleb." Carmine said in a too-normal tone. "What are you going to do now? You've lost your memory, and you've, er, somehow turned into a pokemon…" She stared at him, skeptical. "Do you have any place to stay?"

"If I do, I don't remember." I replied, waiting for the inevitable request.

"Thought so." She murmured quietly. "Good, in that case…" Her voice returned to its normal volume. "Caleb, can I ask you a big favor?"

I nodded. Go ahead.

"Will you form an Exploration Team with me? You can be the leader if you want; I'm not much for tactics."

I was astonished. Me? The leader of an Exploration Team? Wha-?

I calmed myself. Well… I let my gaze travel across the sandstone bluffs. Why not? I already said I wouldn't mind joining an Exploration Team, why not form my own?

"Very well, Carmine, if you wish." I voiced my concurrence.

"Really?!" Her eyes lit up once more. "Really and truly?!" At my nod, she literally squealed in happiness, and, after she calmed down a little, she said, "Thank you so much, Caleb! You don't know how much this means to me!"

While she jumped about, I swiftly checked the sun.

"Er, Carmine…"

"Yes, Caleb?" She turned to me, still wearing that huge grin.

"Seeing as the sun is setting, we should…ah, do what? What are our choices here?" I asked. I'm bone tired.

"Well…" Carmine mused. "We could sleep at my place, but I think we should go apprentice before our momentum slows."

"What, now?" I asked for confirmation. When she nodded eagerly, I asked; "How far away is it?"

"Oh, a minute or two that way." she said offhandedly, gesturing at the much-traveled dirt road behind me. "You'll see it when we get the crossroads."

"Ah…" I sighed, and wondered what I had gotten myself into.

Carmine chuckled. "Well it's no use waiting out here, c'mon!" She said, already running towards the road.

I chased after her, wondering if all our adventures were going to begin like this.

-0-

I'll rewrite this one of these days.

You see, I wrote this with almost NO earlier attempts at writing, so it sucks.

Shame.

Signed, BrazenVulpine~