AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is probably a bad idea. Writing this means that, at the current time I am writing this, I will be working on four stories at once. That will drastically slow updates for stories, but I just can't resist. If you've been reading one of my other stories, this may tell you why updates don't always come soon. The stories I'm currently working on are: "Infestation and Medicine?" for The Legend of Zelda, "Luigi's Mansion As Told By King Boo" for Mario, and "Blooper Mario Sunshine," also for Mario. Again, sorry for the impending lack of speedy updates.

Okay, now that all of that woe-is-me stuff out of the way, let me explain the characters of this story. Charizard is the main character for two reasons: #1, Charmander is the poster child for Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team, and #2, Charmander was, oddly enough, my first character. Feraligatr was my first partner, or rather, Totodile. Also, Charizard is named "Aether" because that's what I named my Pokemon, Torchic, in my latest game file. Razon, similarly, is the name of my current partner (who is actually a Chikorita, but never mind).

Does that clear things up? So, to the show.

--

"Hey. Buddy. Wake up."

A Charizard opened his eyes groggily. He was lying on a large rug in a dome-shaped house. The house had two sides: One was for the Charizard, which had some pits of fire to suit his needs, and the other side had a little pool of water for his partner, a Feraligatr.

The Charizard's name was Aether, and he was the captain of a rescue team. The Feraligatr, who was once just a small Totodile, had found Aether, who was once a Charmander, out in the Tiny Woods, conked out. It was after helping to rescue a Butterfree's son that Aether decided to help create a rescue team with the Totodile, whose name was Razon.

Of all of Aether's peculiarities, the biggest one by far was that he was once human. Remembering zilch of his past, he had been turned into a Pokemon for the sole purpose of saving the world of Pokemon from an impending meteor about to crash into the Earth. His memory had been erased to put him to the test. The spirit of a Gardevoir had found him capable, as a human, of saving the world. Aether hadn't believed this and had asked to be turned into a Pokemon to prove if he was really capable. Based on his voice and behavior, he had likely been a kid in his early teens.

Aether wasn't his real name. Since, of course, he didn't remember his real name, he had come up with it on the spot.

"What?" Aether asked, slightly grumpy, rolling over and looking at Razon.

"More rescue job offers. Sort through them with me."

Aether sighed through his nose and took some of the pieces of paper from Razon with his clawed hand. Aether's rescue team, Team Pyronight (also known as just Day of Fire, as Aether had insisted), was widespread in popularity. Pyronight was a Platinum-ranked rescue team, which was the fifth-highest out of seven ranks. Aether had once been falsely accused of being the one causing the Earth's impending destruction and had been a fugitive. Once proven innocent, that only boosted his popularity more.

"I'm sick of these errand boy jobs," Aether grumbled, finding the umpteenth "Heal Seed Wanted" request. "This is a rescue team, not a grocery store. I thought I told everybody that."

"You really are different, Aether."

"'S'at supposed to mean?"

"Well..." Razon paused, still sorting through the rescue requests. "When I first found you in the Tiny Woods, you were, I dunno, kinda timid, shy...you've grown up. Or something. You're Mr. No-Nonsense now. I kinda admire that, though."

Aether said nothing and continued sorting through the requests. He put a few in a pile beside him unofficially marked as accepted requests. Rescue requests weren't as steady rolling in these days ever since the whole big crisis thing had stopped and Pokemon had regained their sanity, but there were still some nutjobs who had decided to bungee jump the Silent Chasm without actually having a bungee cord.

"What's this?"

Aether reread the rescue request he had just seen. It had been written rather hastily--heck, they all were--by some Pokemon who was concerned for another. Only, the person the Pokemon was concerned for was a human being.

"Razon. Check this out."

Aether handed the request to the hulking alligator and let him read it. "'There's a human being attacked by some large beast! She looks really hurt! I...' Uh, it's pretty hard to read here...'I've never seen a monster like that!'" Feraligatr tossed it back into Aether's lap. "Sounds interesting. Considering there are no humans on this dang continent."

The whole entire continent Aether was standing on had rarely seen a human being, ever. It was strictly Pokemon grounds.

"Razon. Top priority. We're going to the Lapis Cave."

Aether sat up and marched towards the opening of their rescue team base. Razon hopped up into the air about half an inch and dashed after him.

"Hey! What about the other job offers?"

"They can wait."

"Is this because you feel a connection with the girl or something? Humans, and all?"

Aether hesitated. "Yes. I haven't had contact with a human since...well, I guess since I lost my memory." He stopped and turned toward Razon. "I'm kind of tingly. Plus, humans are humans. They don't...they don't spit flames or crush steel with their jaws." Razon glanced down at his iron-hard maw. "They're defenseless. I know this is sudden, but we're going."

Razon stopped and glanced back at the base. "Tell you what. How about I go back and take care of some of the other job offers, and you handle your mission? We can get things accomplished easier that way. Besides, I dunno if you want alone time or whatever."

Aether gave a short, simple nod for Razon to go back. Despite being a large, powerful Pokemon, he still had the same energy and high spirits he did as a small Totodile. Extending his wings, Aether hopped off of the ground and took off through the air at a hundred and fifty miles per hour.

--

The stones around Aether's feet shattered as he crashed down in front of the entrance to Lapis Cave. This was the first big stop he had gone to as a fugitive. Brushing the memory aside, he dashed in the cave, preparing to flame anybody that stood in his way.

"Ether!"

"Aether."

"Aether!"

A Nidorino had stopped right in front of the Charizard. Its eyes were wide and panicked. "You're that captain of that famous rescue team, right?"

"Right. Isn't there supposed to be some sort of trouble here involving a human?"

The Nidorino looked puzzled. "Human? I dunno about that, but some really, REALLY mean-looking Pokemon's wipin' the floor with whoever's dumb enough to go down to it. Oh, gosh. I haven't ever seen anything like it before."

"Were you the one who sent that rescue letter, then?"

"What rescue letter?"

"Forget it."

Aether pressed his wings against his back and dashed off, heading down through the Lapis Cave via large holes carved into the floor acting as slopes and stairways. As he got farther and farther down, the ground rumbled more, and loud roars could be heard. Aether set his jaw firm and ran even faster.

At last, he slid to a halt at the bottom floor. In the middle of the large room was a girl, possibly in her teens, lying on the ground, unconscious. A towering beast was standing over her, looking...hungry. It was a dark black color and had bright-red wings on its back. The outer rim of the wings were covered in spikes. It had two long tails that ended in spears. Those tails were, apparently, very prehensile, as they were curling and uncurling themselves anxiously. It stood on two legs like some sort of T. Rex.

"Hey, freak-show!" Aether shouted.

The towering dragon slowly craned its head over in Aether's direction and looked him right in the eye. This only strengthened Aether's courage, and he tightened his fists.

"Rather low to be picking on prey that doesn't fight back," he shot.

The dark beast lowered its neck, opened its jaws, and bellowed a loud roar that made the ground shake and some rocks fall from the ceiling. Aether leaped off the ground, stretched out his wings, and launched himself at the creature's head. He gave it a good punch that knocked its head to the side. The monster's response was to, quicker than an edgy Jolteon could time, grab him with one of its tails, slam him into the ground, and throw him against the far wall. He left a sizeable mark on the wall he had hit. The dragon lunged forward again. Aether opened his mouth and exhaled a steady stream of fire in a Flamethrower attack. The hot flames did no damage to himself as they flew through and under his teeth. The dragon covered its face with its wings, completely shielding itself from Aether's attack. It walked forward slowly, still holding its winged in front of it. Aether quit flaming the beast and flew into the air. In a swift motion, he dived onto the monster's back in a Fly attack, then scratched at the enemy using Slash. He got smashed in front of the dragon with another quick thrust of one of its tails. Before he could recover, the dragon had picked him up in its teeth and was biting down, hard. Aether let out a painful groan as the teeth protruded through his wings and into his back. As a last resort, he used a special technique few other species of Pokemon could learn; Blast Burn. Focusing all his energy on creating fire around him, he created three rings of ensuing explosions around him. Some of these, of course, blasted the inside of the monster's head, forcing it to let go of him and recoil.

"What is this thing?" Aether breathed, flapping his injured wings weakly.

He launched himself at the beast's head, crashing into it with his back. He let out a cry of pain as the bite marks on his back were hurt again. Before the dragon could attack again, he unleashed the rest of his energy into a final Flamethrower attack. The hot fire pushed the dragon backwards and knocked it onto its back. Aether didn't have the energy to fight anymore. So naturally, he was relieved when the dragon unsteadily rose to its feet and crashed through the cave, seeking an exit.

After a few minutes of the dragon not returning, Aether turned his eyes to the limp human girl lying on the side of the room. She was still unconscious. He walked over to her, put her on his back, and exited the Lapis Cave. Still not entirely sure what he would do with her, he flew her back to his rescue base and laid her in the shallow pool of water usually meant for Razon, her clothes still on. He looked at her the entire time, wondering how it was like to be a human.