POKÉMON MYSTERY DUNGEON:
STRONG HEARTS
Pokemon © Nintendo, Game Freak
Story and characters © Me
Summary- Based off the comic that I created. When a boy named Tory finds himself transported to the world of Pokemon in the body of a Rockruff, he must find a way to get himself back home while avoiding the clutches of an evil witch. However, it seems there might be a reason why Tory was brought to this world in the first place.
A long time ago, back when I was small, my parents would tell me stories of a Pokemon that was once a human...
He saved our world from certain disaster and protected many innocents. He was beloved by all and revered as a hero. These days, though, his name has faded away into legend. Some say that he didn't even exist.
Then, one day, things changed...Pokemon were going out of control and attacking innocent folk. Homes were destroyed, lands ravaged...and lives were beginning to dwindle.
All one can do is hope...and sometimes, hope comes in the most unlikely of ways.
Of course...that's only if one believes in such a thing.
~Prologue~
It was a dark, windy night. The leaves rustled in the trees and the Hoothoot were flying about, making their calls. The Kricketot and Kricketune were gently chirping away and the Volbeat were floating about with their hindquarters glowing in the night.
However, the night seemed anything but peaceul.
Somewhere, in the highest tower of a stone castle, there sits a Delphox with the mark of a crescent moon on her thighs, sitting at a desk while writing on some parchment with a Staraptor quill and the light of a candle. As she wrote, she heard a knock on the door behind her, causing her to growl in irritation as she heard it open, revealing a small, timid, and rather pathetic-looking Eevee with bandages wrapped around the right side of his face, covering his eye. By the looks of it, he looked quite young...in fact, he seemed about eight or so.
"M-Milady!" he exclaimed. "I'm sorry to bother-"
"LEAVE. NOW," the Delphox hissed as she glared at him. "I'm starting to lose my patience with you, boy!"
"A-a thousand pardons, milady," said the Eevee, "but-"
"But WHAT?!" the Delphox questioned.
"The...the boy, milady," the Eevee stammered. "Shazar says he'll be here, soon."
The Delphox's eyes went wide...before a toothy grin suddenly creased across her muzzle.
"I see..." she said with a wicked chuckle. "Excellent, then." She then pulled away from her desk and approached the window, her paws folded behind her back. "Bartholomew, my dear...please go and alert the scouts. Someone should go out and welcome our new guests..." She then gave another chuckled while the Eevee, Bartholomew, bowed his head.
"Y-yes, milady," he said before he closed the door.
Chapter 1- The Arrival
"Ugh..."
His eyes slowly opened his eyes and saw nothing but the blue sky and green leaves over his head. At first, he didn't seem to think much of it...but then he gasped as he sat up, panting heavily as he did so. As his vision began to clear up, he noticed something strange: instead of a pair of bare hands, he saw brown paws and tanned fur.
'Hey, wait...fur...and paws? Since when did I...?!' He then glanced back at his hindquarters...where he saw a grayish-white, bushy, curly-Q tail sticking out. 'And where'd this tail come from?!'
He then gasped as he began to process the truth: he had become a Pokemon...a Rockruff, at that!
"No...no, no!" he cried. "This isn't happening! This isn't real! I-I'm dreaming! Y-yeah, that's it! I'm dreaming, and I'll wake up soon!" He paused for a moment. "...Very...soon..."
An even longer pause.
"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY!" he shouted. "MOM?! DAD?! RUSTY?! GRAMMA, GRAMPA! ARE YOU OUT THERE?! IT'S ME, TORY! SOMEBODY, PLEASE ANSWER ME!"
But no answer did come...and the boy's heart sank into his stomach.
"...No," he muttered. "I'm alone...all alone!" On that, he sniffed as tears formed in his eyes, then he whimpered as he lied down on the grass, curling up into a ball of fur. "M-Mom...Dad...Rusty...Gramma, Grandpa...! I'm scared!"
On that, Tory soon broke down crying...all alone in this vast forest. Or at least, that's what he thought.
Soon, he heard the sound of a loud twig snap, causing him to gasp as he looked up at some nearby bushes, which were rustling.
"H-hello?" asked Tory as he wiped his eyes. "Is somebody there? Can you please help me?"
A pause...but then, a long, brown-furred paw stepped from the bushes, followed by a deep growling sound, which caused Tory to gasp as he backed away, for it was revealed to be a pair of Mightyena, one of which was a shiny one with some sort of lavender tag around his neck that bore a crescent moon.
"W-who are you?!" he asked.
"You do not need to know my name, boy," said the shiny Mightyena. "All you need to know is that we are under orders to capture you."
"C-capture me?" Tory repeated. "Why?!"
"That is none of your concern!" the shiny Mightyena barked. "Now...come quietly. Resist...and it won't be pretty."
Soon, three more Mightyena appeared from the foliage, growling viciously and licking their chops.
"Don't even THINK about running away," said the shiny Mightyena. "There's five of us and only one of you. You're surrounded."
Tory whimpered as he looked all around, only to be met with gnashing fangs and glowing red eyes.
"So...what's it gonna be, Tory?" asked the shiny Mightyena. "Surrender and live...or flee and die. Your choice."
Tory whimpered as he looked around...but then he spotted an opening between the two Mightyena coming from his left. Then he glanced toward the shiny Mightyena, who growled as he began to advance, as well. Then, he put on a determined face as he stood to his paws.
"I choose," he started, "to flee...AND LIVE!"
He then darted to the left and barely managed to duck under one of the Mightyena, who were unable to grab him before he ran deeper into the forest.
"Don't just stand there, you idiots!" the shiny Mightyena barked. "Get him!"
"Yes, boss!" answered the other Mightyena as they soon began to give chase. As for Tory, he panted as he ran as fast as he could, screaming at the top of his lungs while the pack chased after him.
"HELP ME!" he cried out. "GET THEM AWAY! SOMEONE!"
But meanwhile, not too far away, inside a cave in the forest, an Arcanine was curled up on the floor, snoring away as he slept. However, as he kept sleeping, he soon heard the sound of screaming, causing him to be roused from his slumber.
"SOMEONE, HELP ME!"
"Hmm?" the Arcanine hummed before he got to his paws, stretched his back and legs and gave a loud yawn before he walked out of the cave with an irritated grumble. "Cripes...who in the hell is screaming at this time of day?"
That's when he noticed Tory, running through the forest with the Mightyena pack still in hot pursuit.
"What the...?" the Arcanine muttered. "Who the hell is that kid?"
"HELP!" Tory cried as he kept running. "HELP ME, PLEASE! SOMEONE!"
The Arcanine blinked before he growled and began to run after the pack. As for Tory, he attempted to climb up over a hollow log that sat upon an overhang, but then, one of the regular-colored Mightyena clamped his jaws on his tail before pulling him down to the ground.
"Oof!" Tory cried as he felt his chin hit the ground.
"Hehehe!" laughed the Mightyena as he held Tory in his mouth by the tail. "Got him, boss!"
"Excellent," said the shiny Mightyena.
"H-hey, boss!" said the Mightyena next to him. "I'm hungry, boss! Let's eat him!"
"Yeah!" agreed one of his packmates, hungrily licking his chops. "I'll take a leg!"
"STOP RIGHT THERE!" the shiny Mightyena barked, causing his pack to tense up. "We are not eating the boy, you fools! We have our orders! Lady Selena wants him alive! After we bring the boy back to her, then we can eat!"
"B-but, boss, we're hungry!" the Mightyena holding Tory complained. "Can't we just-"
"I SAID NO!" the shiny Mightyena barked.
"Hold up."
The pack turned around to see the Arcanine from earlier approaching, his eyes dark and shadowy and his posture imposing. Tory gaped in quiet awe upon seeing the huge canine Pokemon, practically towering over the Mightyena, some of which seemed a bit intimidated by his presence. However, the shiny Mightyena showed no fear or hesitation at all.
"Who are you?" he asked. "If you won't speak, then leave! This has nothing to do with you."
"Oh, I beg to differ," the Arcanine countered. "You see...you guys are in my turf."
"I see," said the shiny Mightyena. "Please forgive us. We will take the boy and leave as soon-"
"The kid stays here," the Arcanine interjected, to the surprise of Tory, the confusion of the Mightyena...and the ire of their leader, who narrowed his eyes at the fire-dog.
"Excuse me?" he asked.
"You heard me," said the Arcanine. "The kid's not going anywhere." He then raised his head...revealing a scar going down his right eye, and a further look saw that it kept going down his right side.
"Now...GET. LOST," the Arcanine growled as his hackles began to rise. "I MEAN IT!"
ABILITY ACTIVATED: INTIMIDATE
The Mightyena that was holding Tory by the tail gasped in fright, so much so, that the dropped the pup on the ground. As soon as Tory was free, he looked up and saw the Arcanine beginning to fight the Mightyena pack off. A couple of them were already on the ground while the shiny Mightyena and two others were jumping at him from all sides, biting and clawing at him, savagely, only to get knocked away by his huge paws. The one that held Tory captive did manage to leave a sharp bite on the Arcanine's right front paw, but that only made him angrier. Before he could escape, the Arcanine grabbed him by the tail.
"Why you...!" the shiny Mightyena growled as he lunged for the burly dog with fangs sparking with electricity. "DIE!"
The Arcanine growled before he swung the Mightyena in his mouth at the leader, and because of the sheer force...he ended up ripping his tail right off.
"AAAAGH!" the Mightyena howled as he slammed into his boss, who both landed on the grass, his now stubby tail dripping with blood. During the commotion, Tory soon got up and hid behind the Arcanine, who growled as he held the severed tail of the Mightyena in his mouth before he spat it out.
"Consider that a warning!" the Arcanine shouted. "The kid stays here with me...and if you ever come after him again while I'm around, I'll see to it that you lose more than just a damn tail!"
"Damn you...!" the shiny Mightyena cursed.
"NOW BEAT IT!" the Arcanine ordered.
"This. ISN'T. Over," the shiny Mightyena growled before he turned and walked away. "LET'S GO!"
On that, his pack, beaten and battered, followed after him, the one with his tail ripped off still whimpering.
"And stop your impertinent whining, Loki," said the leader. "You still have some of your tail left."
As the pack left, Tory only blinked after them as he watched them depart.
"Hey, kid," the Arcanine spoke up, causing Tory to look up. "You okay?"
"Oh!" Tory replied as he looked down to the ground, somewhat nervously. "Y-yeah, I guess so."
"Good," the Arcanine said as he began to limp away. "See ya later, kid."
"Huh?" Tory muttered in surprise. "W-wait, what?! But-"
"I only helped you because I happened to be nearby," said the Arcanine.
"But what if those Mightyena come back?!" Tory asked, worriedly.
"They're not," said the Arcanine. "I made sure of it. Now go home."
Tory gasped silently...before he growled in frustration, so much so, that tears began to form in his eyes again.
"I WOULD GO HOME IF I KNEW HOW TO!" he shouted, causing the Arcanine to freeze in his tracks and glance back at him. "...I don't know where I am...or how I got here..." He then started sniffling. "All I know is that for some reason, I'm being chased, and that I somehow turned into a Rockruff!" He then began to break down sobbing. "I...I...I WANNA GO HOOOOME! I WANT MY MOMMY!"
Upon hearing the poor pup's heartbroken cries, the Arcanine suddenly felt his heart sink with guilt as he heaved a small sigh.
'Great...' he thought, and not long after, he heard a rumbling sound coming from the skies above, causing him to look up and see gray clouds beginning to form, and not long after, raindrops began to pelt the earth. Then, the Arcanine looked down at Tory, who sniffled as he wiped his eyes.
"...Hey, kid," said the Arcanine with a gentle smile, causing Tory to look up at him. "You think we can, maybe...get outta the rain?"
Tory blinked up at his savior before he smiled up at him and nodded his head.
"Okay then," said the Arcanine. "Let's go."
On that, he led Tory back to his cave.
"You got a name?"
"It's Tory."
"Hey, Tory. I'm Trent."
"Trent? That's...really cool."
"Yeah...it is, huh?"
~PMD~
Inside Trent's cave, the Arcanine and Rockruff sat within the cavern, both of them looking outside as they watched the rain fall with no sign of stopping.
"Well, Tory, get comfy," Trent said, a green leaf wrapped around his paw from when Loki bit him. "I doubt this is gonna let up, anytime soon."
Suddenly, he heard another rumbling sound...but this one was not coming from the clouds in the sky, but rather, from the belly of a little Rockruff who was curled up beside him, glancing down at the cave floor in slight embarrassment. Trent only chuckled as he stood up and walked away for a moment.
"Wait right there," he told him as he left, then after a few seconds, he returned holding a folded up leaf in his mouth, which he put down and opened up to reveal several berries and an apple inside. "I was gonna save these for myself, but I think you better have 'em. Go ahead, dig in."
And dug in, Tory did. He noisily scarfed down the berries faster than one could even blink, and Trent just watched with a warm smile on his face. Before too long, Tory had finished eating and was lying on the cave floor with a rounded tummy. All that was left was some crumbs and an apple core.
"Wow," Trent said in slight surprise. "You sure were hungry, weren't you kid?"
His only response was a slight burp from Tory, which caused Trent to chuckle. As Tory was beginning to relax, he couldn't help noticing the scars on Trent's side and eye. They looked rather deep, as well, not to mention quite old.
"...Hey Trent?" asked Tory. "Where did you get your scars from?"
"Huh?" Trent muttered before he realized what he meant. "Oh, these? I, uh...I did something stupid."
Tory blinked at the Arcanine before he simply decided to ask about it a bit later.
"Anyway," Trent began, "now that you're full, I think it's time we thought of a plan. We know this much: you're lost and you're being chased. Why, we don't know. And as far as getting you back to...well, wherever you came from, I can't really help."
Tory looked down, feeling dispirited. He figured that would be the case.
"But I do know a place that can keep you safe," Trent said as he looked out the cave. "Not too far away from here is a village called Windfall Village. When you get there, you'll meet the guild master in charge: Ethan, leader of the Gallade Guild. Ethan is highly regarded throughout the land as a hero."
"A hero...!" Tory whispered with starry eyes.
"The Gallade Guild is a group of special 'mons that are known for exploring Mystery Dungeons," said Trent.
"What are Mystery Dungeons?" asked Tory.
"Mystery Dungeons are strange, mysterious places," Trent answered. "Some can be a bit harmless...but others can be dangerous."
Tory gulped nervously at that.
"Explorers often go to these places to find treasure, or to rescue lost Pokemon," Trent explained. "They even go to apprehend criminals."
"That's...amazing!" Tory exclaimed. "But...how do you know all that stuff?"
"Eh," Trent shrugged. "Word spreads quickly around here, that's all. Anyway, I'm sure Ethan will take you in. By tomorrow, this rain will lift, and we can start making the trip to Windfall Village. Who knows? Maybe they can help you get home."
Hearing that caused a hopeful smile to appear on the Rockruff's face.
"Once we get to the village," Trent continued, "I'm sure those Mightyena won't bother you. The trip will take at least 2 days, so you better get some rest, kiddo."
On that, Tory gave a big yawn before he curled up on the cave floor, closed his eyes, and drifted off to sleep, while Trent smiled warmly at him.
'Tory, huh?' he thought. 'I never thought I'd see the day...that another human would come here.'
TO BE CONTINUED...
I decided I'm gonna try again with the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon stories. I actually hope we get another one, soon.
Review, please!