So hello, readers! Welcome to my very first PMD fic.

I decided to start a PMD fic because I really liked the idea and plot of these side games, and how pokemon would interact if they inhabited an entire world. I'm going to keep this at a T-Rating because there will be infrequent swearing.

Warning: Death is common in this world. If you do not like the idea of death or if you're going to puke at rare mentions and presence cannibalism, then this isn't for you.

And then here it is! The very first chapter of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rings of Distortion.

Unknown Location

"God…Where the hell…?" He looked around, suddenly gasping. "WHA—!"

Colour. That was all saw…every possible shade in the entire universe.

He did not make a sound. The colours swirled in the air, occasionally transforming into different shades. It felt as if there was a wave of colours flowing over his body…but then he looked at himself.

He had no body!

As far as he could tell, he was just a nebulous spheroid of light. His body, or whatever, seemed to exude power and rays of sunlight were escaping from him like quills being ejected out of a Quilladin.

"H-How…?" he muttered. "What's the meaning of this?"

"Fufufufufufufufufu…"

"W-Who's that?" He rotated about his spot and saw the vermillion quickly turning to scarlet. "Where – What are you? Why am I like this?"

"Ha." Then, it spoke, "Quite a journey you've been through, little one. My, very few have been able to do that."

"Do what?" No response. He grew frustrated; he felt like ripping his hair off, provided he had hair. "TELL ME SOMETHING!"

The voice simply chuckled. "In due time, in due time…"

He gulped. His mind was racing, trying to recollect what previously happened. He had so many questions buzzing in his mind but he didn't know where to start. Memories flocked back to him, and he paused. Yes…he was a human…a human! A normal human who wasn't a ball of light, one who was in his mid-teenage years…he remembered seeing stacks of papers, but nothing was clear about what was written on it…the memories stopped. Then something else rushed past his mind, and he got a glimpse of it…him falling through a…an ovular disk? Yes. And then…only darkness…

He was brought back into the current situation by the voice talking once again. "Shall we begin?" it said.

"Yea…"

"What?" he asked, and once again he strained on his mind…His name, his name…what was his name? Burton? No, that wasn't it. Something with an unusual letter…X…Xavier! Yes, Xavier. "I-It's Xavier."

"Good, good." The voice once again chuckled. "Now, what—"

"Excuse, me," he interrupted, "but can I ask you a question?"

The voice laughed. "No! I shall ask the questions, not you." Its voice was a bit sterner now. "Question number one: Do you find yourself humming or singing often?"

"What?" What a weird question.

"Do you or do you not?" it enforced.

Shithead…Okay, um…I don't even like singing? Why… "No, I guess."

"Oh, alright." The voice seemed disappointed. "Well then, next question: How do you blow up a balloon?"

"WHAT?"

"You heard me."

"Okay…Big, but not too big, y'know?"

"Do you think lies are necessary sometimes?"

That is deep. Well, I guess… "Yes, I think. Well, mostly because—"

"I don't want an explanation," it dismissed. Xavier felt belittled. "Next: The phone rings! What do you do?"

"Wait for a while," Xavier replied confidently and immediately. "I don't want to sound desperate, so I do that…a lot."

"Next, you find something at a great bargain! What do you do?"

Xavier thought for a moment before giving his answer. "I guess I'd better think if I really need it."

The voice cleared its throat. "That's all then. I have a good idea of what you'll become."

"What do you mean by that?" he asked, alarmed.

"You'll find out, chum!" he laughed wildly. "I hope to see you soon, Xavier. Until then, get ready to explore a new world!"

"W-W-What…? What d'you mean by a 'new world'?" No reply. "Come on, TELL M—Woah!"

The colour around him disappeared and turned into a clear shade of purple. He let out a scream as he sped up, as if rushing towards a black dot miles ahead of him…no, not a black dot. It kept getting bigger and bigger, and he let out a yelp as he was sucked into a black void of unending darkness.

Morning [10:17 AM], Corsola Coast

"Ngh…Where…am I?"

Xavier opened his eyes and repeatedly blinked to accommodate to the light that was entering his eyes. He groaned as he took into account his surroundings, and it seemed to be that he was at the outskirts of a thick, dense forest.

Xavier grunted as he pushed himself up, his arms still weak and his eyelids still heavy. He looked around, screwed his eyes shut and balled his fists. I swear I'm going to beat that guy behind the voice… "Eh, I guess I'll just have to explore a bit and call for help…"

A few minutes passed as he walked around, finally landing at the beachside and looking at the azure water. Simply looking at it made his throat dry, and he winced as he rubbed his head. "Gosh, I better drink some water…"

He walked over to the edge and peered into the water, but he almost jumped as he saw his reflection in the clear water.

He was what a normal organism would describe as a small, green bipedal pokémon with yellow eyes and narrow pupils. His hands and feet had three digits each while his stomach and throat were blood red. A line across his stomach made it resemble a pouch, and his large, dark green tail with two separate lobes twitched nervously as his previously calm demeanour broke out into an expression of pure horror.

"W-What the…" He held his head in despair. "I…I'm a bloody Treecko!"

Why am I a Treecko?! He thought to himself in his mind. Eh, forget it now. There's no use.

Then, he bent lower and touched his lips to the water, slurping it down until he finally realised what it was and spat it.

"SCREW THIS DAY!" he cursed as he looked up in the air and threw his arms about. "First, I'm called to this weird voice who asks me stupid questions; then, I'm magically transformed into a bloody Treecko, and then I drink down salt water! GAAAAH!

"I hate this!" He sighed, and looked down at the water that perfectly reflected his appearance. "Aw, hell…I'd better find someone who can help me with this problem."

Xavier turned and put his arms on his waist, walking along the coast as he headed towards the dense forest. He contemplated on his arrival here, constantly cursing himself, his bad luck as well as the unknown voice.

"Grr…" He kicked a pebble as he walked. "Things couldn't get worse than this."

He really wished he hadn't said that.

A few seconds later, he stopped midway as he felt something wet hit his head. Groaning, he looked up, only to feel another raindrop hit him between his eyes, and an array of water struck anything below it.

"GYAAAH, I HATE THIS!"

Xavier covered his head as he ran with all his speed, trying to escape from the continuous rainfall and seek for shelter in a secluded place.

"Come on, quickly!"

Two pokémon were walking alongside each other, the smaller one jumping with excitement while the other one had a bored expression on his face.

"Arceus, we'll get there in time," he replied in a tired voice. "Besides, we can get there whenever we want!"

"The sooner the better," the other pokémon replied with an undertone of command. Her partner simply sighed. "Oooh, I'm so excited! I can't wait to get to Gem Town and meet Mrs—Oomph!"

She and her partner were knocked down by a speeding pokémon, and the three rubbed their rears in agony as they waited to identify each other…

"What…" – Xavier paused – "…the bloody hell hit me?"

"Excuse me, mister!" a voice perked up, full of anger and disbelief. "You hit us!"

Xavier looked up to see a small, chick pokémon with stubby, downy, yellow wings. Her body was covered with an orange plumage and an orange/yellow crest on her head that resembled a flame. Her two thin legs and short beak was a shade of a very light brown, and the three toes in the front of her feet were dug in the ground along with the one toe behind. On the right of her forehead was a pink bow that would've looked cute on her if she wasn't having such an expression on her face: she was glaring at Xavier and her beak was just a metre away from his face. Xavier went through his mind and correctly identified the female pokémon in front of him as a Torchic.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Xavier genuinely apologised. "I-I didn't mean to—"

"Save your apologies for my beak," she replied with a ferocious snarl.

"Whoa, whoa!" Her companion interrupted the hostile situation as he held his hands up and separated the two. "Easy there, Yvette!"

He was bigger than the two and froglike, with yellow eyes surrounded by black markings. He had orange pouches on either cheek, and he showed off part of his wide and flat teeth as he gave a calm grin. A black mark encircled his upper arm and chest, with two white bands on his chest too. The pokémon's palms, which he saw up close, had three fingers with only the middle one orange and the other two black. His toes were similar to his fingers, except for the fact that there were no orange toes. He gave off a calming aura as he continued to stand between the two.

Xavier deduced him to be a Croagunk, and his guess was rightfully correct.

"Come on, Yvette!" the Croagunk reasoned. "You don't want to get bashed up before we reach the Guild!"

The…Guild? What were they going to a guild for?

"Oh." The Torchic seemed to give up. "Alright, but you better hurry Zac!"

He chuckled. "Yea, yea, let's get going." He turned to Xavier and whispered. "Sorry for the trouble we caused ya. She's a bit short-tempered, but she's come around." The Croagunk winked at him as he tugged onto Yvette.

Should I travel with them? Xavier asked himself. I'd better. I don't know anything about this world; I could use some help! He nodded in approval. But…should I tell them that I am—err, a human? He shook his head after a minute. No, they'll probably freak out and do some other stuff. No, I'd better just go with them.

He regained his calm and shouted, "Hey!"

"What is it?" Yvette snapped as she whipped around.

"Well, um…" – He fidgeted with his fingers – "…could I…come with you to this…guild?"

The Torchic looked like she was about to explode, but Croagunk simply waved his hand. "Yea, 'course you can come with us! And by seeing your expression and tone, it seems that you don't know what the guild is." Zac cleared his throat. "The Guild is basically an organisation of explorers perform rescue missions, tasks for other pokémon, fight outlaws or even hunt for treasure." His eyes glinted at that. "That's all we know."

"And speaking of which," Yvette butted in, "what do you mean by 'come with us'? Do you want to come with us to see the guild, or form an exploration team with us?"

"Huh?" Xavier asked in confusion as he tilted his head.

"Yes. While guilds are full of explorers who work together, many of the explorers work mainly in groups as small teams. These are exploration teams. When we join, Zachary and I will be our own exploration team."

"If you want, though," the Croagunk said, "you can be a part of our team."

"ZACHARY?!" Yvette sputtered.

"Well, the poor guy seems lost, and the more the merrier!" Zachary justified.

"Uh…" Yvette shifted nervously in her spot. "Okay then…"

"Okay, so we're a trio then!" Zac said enthusiastically. "Let's get a move on, shall we?"

The other two nodded, and they collectively walked towards Gem town, which held the famous Zairian Guild, which in turn was not too far away from their current position…

So, how was it? Slow? Fast? Tell me what you think.

If you noticed, the initials of their names start with X, Y and Z. I thought it would be cool, so I did it!

As always, review! I'll most probably update the day after tomorrow, or even tomorrow, so favourite and follow!

'Kay bye!