PMD: Explorers of Light and Shadow

Prologue: Enigma on the Beach

"Whoa! Hang on!" Lightning boomed around us, making building size waves tower over our ship.

"Brace yourself!" A voice cried next to me and the wave crashed down onto us, burying my body under gallons of saltwater. When the wave receded, I was left spluttering and choking on the deck. A blast of wind blew me off my feet and I crashed into the ship's railing before tumbling down to the merciless sea below. At the last second, I grabbed the edge of the boat's barrier and held on for dear life.

"Hang on! I'm going to help you!" The voice I heard earlier cried out frantically, but my hand was beginning to slip. My strength was fading away.

"I… I can't hang on!" I yelled.

"Just a little longer! Don't giv-" The voice abruptly stopped as my hand finally gave out and I tumbled down the ship and into the dark waves. The moment I hit the water, my vision slipped away.

"Ughhh…" I blinked my eyes open for what seemed like years later. A gentle sea and waves splashed nearby me. The sand was hot in my palms "W-where am I?"

Immediately, my eyes began to droop and my vision went dark "Losing... consciousness…"

On a hillside overlooking the town, a lone Eevee paced anxiously in front of a large tent designed after the Pokemon Wigglytuff.

"Okay, I think I can do this" The Eevee took a deep breath and stepped onto the grate covering a hole in the earth.

"Pokemon detected! Pokemon detected!" A voice called from below.

"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?" Another voice called.

"Eek!" The Eevee leaped off the grate in fear and stood far from it, trembling.

"I… I can't do it. I'm such a coward…" She murmured then reached into her bag slung over her body. She pulled out a rock and placed it onto the ground next to the grate. There was a pattern on the stone that glowed with white light.

"I swore that I would unravel the mystery of my Relic Fragment, but…" The Eevee sighed, pitiful about herself and slipped the rock back into her bag "I can't do it. I'm too much of a chicken to even stand on a grate…"

Upset about her timidness, the Eevee made her way off the hillside and walked towards the beach. However, two Pokemon, who were hiding behind the tent, were watching her. A Koffing and a Zubat.

"Heh-heh-heh. Did you see that girl there Koffing?" The Zubat snickered.

"Whoa-ho-ho. I sure did Zubat. Did you see that rock she was holding?" The Koffing replied.

"Looks high value to me. Should we go take it?"

"We do"

The Eevee headed down to the beach, where Krabby were blowing bubbles into the sunset. The view was breathtaking. The orange sunset lighting the whole sea ablaze, the swirl of bubbles flying high in the sky and the calm waves making light splashes against the cliffs of Beach Cave. The Eevee smiled. She always came here if she was feeling sorry for herself. The view always calmed her down.

"Ah, what an amazing sight…" She gazed towards the sun setting below the horizon, starry-eyed. She glanced to her left and noticed something different about the beach. There was someone lying in the sand! The Eevee quickly rushed towards the unconscious Pokemon in the sand and rapidly shook his shoulders.

"Hey! Are you awake? Can you hear me?"

I groaned and groggily opened my eyes to a beautiful Eevee staring down at me, her face frantic with worry. She lit up with relief when she saw me open my eyes.

"Oh thank goodness you're awake! Are you okay?" The Eevee asked, her voice calm and soothing.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. But… how are you able to speak to me? I don't remember Pokemon learning to speak..." I said, shaking the sand off my head. The Eevee looked at me, dumbfounded.

"Err.. what are you talking about? All Pokemon can speak to each other" She said, staring at me with a perplexed look.

"But I'm a human! How can I suddenly hear Pokemon speak now? Am I in some fever dream?" I pinched my arm to make sure I wasn't hallucinating. To my horror, I saw that my arm was blue and my hand was like a dog's paw "What the-"

"A human?! Uhh... you look like a completely normal Riolu to me" The Eevee said, her voice strained with unease.

"A Riolu?" My eyes widened as I gazed over my body, my blue paws having rounded bumps on the forearms. Black floppy ears dangled beside me and my tail swished to the hot summer wind. The Eevee wasn't kidding. I really was a Riolu! Before I could scream in panic, a Koffing and a Zubat came behind the Eevee and knocked her down, dropping a jagged rock in the process.

"Hey! What was that for?!" The Eevee got up and glared daggers at the two Pokemon.

"Whoops, sorry! Is this yours?" The Koffing approached the strange rock.

"Yes, give it back please" The Eevee said, but the Zubat approached the rock too. He picked it up and threw it into his bag. The Eevee jumped in shock.

"Hey! What are you doing?!"

"Heh-heh-heh! Too chicken to get it back?" The Zubat taunted while the Koffing laughed.

"I…" The Eevee stood paralyzed in fear.

"Whoa-ho-ho. She's more of a coward than we thought! Looks like the money's going to come rolling to us now!" The Koffing cackled.

"Let's get out of here" The Zubat said and the duo went towards the nearby Beach Cave "See you later, chicken"

After they left, the Eevee shook with rage.

"Those jerks! I need to get my Relic Fragment back!" The Eevee growled with determined malice "But… I'm too weak and cowardly to do it on my own. Can you please help me?"

"Well, I just got turned into a Pokemon and I have no idea what to do now, so it wouldn't be a bad idea to help this girl out", I thought.

"I'll help you, but you owe me an explanation after this is done, alright?" I said and the Eevee jumped for joy.

"Thank you! Oh, I haven't even asked for your name yet. Mine is Priscilla"

"I'm Silvin. Now then, shall we go?"

"Yes, of course. Let's hurry before those two get away!"

Once we were inside, the walls and terrain shifted like a mirage, creating a set of rooms and hallways.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you this" Priscilla caught my look of surprise and smiled "This world has tons of "mystery dungeons" scattered over the land and every time you enter, the layout will shift, making each exploration different"

"That's pretty cool" I admitted "So do we just scourge around here until we find a staircase?"

"Putting it bluntly, yes. Every floor in the dungeon has one staircase that leads to the next floor. Rooms found within the floor may contain Pokemon, items or those tiles on the floor, which are called "Wonder Tiles" Priscilla explained.

"Alright, I got it. You can explain all this to me later. We have to catch those two thieves" I said, making my way towards the hallway to my left.

"Yes, you're right. Let's get moving" Priscilla nodded and followed me through the left hallway. As we were walking, Priscilla continued explaining information to me.

"Pokemon that inhabit this place will attack us because they think we're intruding on their territory, so be careful" the Eevee advised "Every Pokemon has a set of "moves" which are special attacks that have increased power, typing, accuracy or even an effect"

Suddenly, a blue and green slug came towards us and shot a blast of Water Gun towards me. The force of the blast smacked me in the face and I stumbled into Priscilla, but she managed to stop me from toppling over.

"That Shellos just used Water Gun at us. Maybe you got something to retaliate?"

On instinct, white aura surrounded my body and I lunged at the speed of light towards the Shellos, hitting it in the head with my fist. I followed up with a swift bite to the skull while the slug with stunned, taking it down. Priscilla stood behind me, impressed.

"Wow, you already got the hang of it. You're a good fighter" The Eevee grinned brightly "And a quick learner too"

"You don't need to dump praise on me" I said, although a silly smile managed to stick on my face "We need to get that rock back, right? Let's find the stairs"

We continued moving throughout the dungeon, picking up items along the way and battling other Pokemon. We found a Blast Seed on the BF2 (which stood for Bottom Floor 2) and Priscilla described it as a seed filled with explosive substance. When it collides with an object or surface, it'll explode in a small blast range.

"A little strange this small seed holds the power of a stick of dynamite" I said, careful not the drop the explosive seed "It makes me scared to even hold it"

"Only with enough impact will the seed detonate. I wouldn't worry if I were you" Priscilla assured me.

Later on BF3, Priscilla found an Oran Berry on the ground, which was then explained as the main food source of this world, alongside Apples. I was seriously wondering how this berry was still fresh after being in a damp cave for who knows how long, but the berry looked fine. Not a scrap of dirt or grime to be found.

"Mystery dungeons are weird. Seemingly, they preserve organic items like apples and berries, which is why so many Pokemon live there" The Eevee explained "Probably something to do with the magical nature of dungeons"

"If you say so" I shrugged. Better to just accept than question it at this point. Finally, we found the stairs and they lead down to a clearing with a gushing waterfall. Two figures were gazing at the torrent: A Koffing and a Zubat. The same ones who robbed Priscilla.

"Hey!" Priscilla yelled angrily at the two and they faced us, surprised.

"Whoa-ho-ho! I'm shocked to see you here. Thought you were too chicken to come fight us" The Koffing cackled.

"Give back my Relic Fragment! It's valuable!" Priscilla's paws dug into the sand beneath us hard.

"Heh-heh-heh. Valuable huh?" The Zubat grinned and then laughed wildly "All the more reason not to give it back!"

"What?!" Priscilla got even more angry. If looks could kill, the waterfall would be turned into lava and Koffing and Zubat would be sent straight into it.

"If you want it back, come and get it!" Koffing taunted and prepared to fight.

"Oh, I'll get it alright. Through sheer force! Let's do this Silvin!" Priscilla rushed towards Koffing and hit him hard with a Tackle. Koffing countered with a puff of poisonous Smog, blinding Priscilla with toxic smoke. Koffin knocked her to the ground with a hard Tackle. I smacked Zubat out of the way with Quick Attack and threw by Blast Seed at Koffing to keep him away from Priscilla. The Blast Seed collided with Koffind and exploded, leaving him staggering around aimlessly. Priscilla managed to bat away the Smog and lunged into the air with Quick Attack, striking Koffing to the ground with Tackle. Koffing crashed and tumbled to the ground.

"Over here!" Suddenly, Zubat came behind me and slashed me with Wing Attack. I clutched my arms to my chest and braced myself with Endure while Zubat collided another Wing Attack against me.

"Silvin, take this!" Priscilla knocked Zubat away with Quick Attack and handed me the Oran Berry. While Priscilla was fighting Zubat, I bit into the Oran Berry. I was rather sweet, with a hint of blueberry taste in it. It immediately healed me up and I was back in the fight. Priscilla pushed Zubat back with Tackle and I followed up with a Bite to his wing, sending the bat flying to the ground, his bag dropping in the process.

"Urrg…" Koffing and Zubat groaned and got up, their movement sluggish and slow. Not way they were able to continue fighting us. Priscilla retrieved her Relic Fragment from Zubat's bag and held it close, wary of the two thieves.

"Whoa-ho-ho. You're pretty tough, aren't you?" Koffing said, feigning impression.

"Heh-heh-heh. This will be the last time!" Zubat promised and snatched up his bag, flying out of Beach Cave alongside his partner. With them gone, we took our leave too and made it out to the beach.

"Phew, thank you so much for helping get my Relic Fragment back!" Priscilla smiled affectionately at me "I really wouldn't have been able to do it without you"

"Well, it's the least I can do" I laughed "Now, I believe you owe me an explanation of how this place works"

"Yes, I'll tell you how everything goes here" Priscilla nodded "But I have to ask you one more thing"

"Hm? What is it?"

"Do you… want to make an exploration team with me?" Priscilla immediately dropped her head "It's okay if you don't want to, but I feel like me and you made a good team back there. Maybe we discover so much more if we're together!"

"Well, how can I say no? I'll be lost if I didn't have someone to lean on" I said, making Priscilla grin with joy.

"Thank you! We can make our team at Wigglytuff's Guild atop the hill over there" Priscilla pointed to a pink coloured tent on top a cliffside.

"Alright, let's go then. Thought of a name?"

"What about… Team Skylar?"

"Team Skylar… has a good ring to it. I like it"