The Relic Fragment hanging around Buizel's neck does nothing to ease his fears and anxieties – it would have been no different if he'd left it at home altogether. He still can't bring himself to step into Wigglytuff's Guild, no matter how much he paces back and forth before the grate.

Finally, he manages to steel himself and steps onto the grate, taking a deep breath. "Pokémon detected!" cries a shrill voice, and Buizel jumps about a foot into the air.

"Whose footprint?" demands another.

"The footprint is Buizel's!" the first voice answers.

With a shriek, Buizel steps off the grate. Without a doubt, guild members are coming for him now, and there's no guarantee that he'll make it out and away from Wigglytuff's Guild without them spotting him.

When he runs, he doesn't notice the Koffing and the Zubat that follow him.

Consciousness returns to her slowly. Her face feels weird and cold because of the wind, and a voice calls out to her. "Are you okay?" It's more of a struggle to open her eyes than she'd like to admit. She's lying on cold sand, and she can hear water rushing behind her. "H-Hey…" Suddenly, she's being lifted into the air, and a Buizel stares down at her in concern. "Oh no, this is bad… This is really bad…"

As her strength returns, she fidgets in his arms a bit so that she's sitting in his arms, as opposed to lying down. "Where… Where am I…?"

The Buizel sighs in relief and smiles. "Thank goodness… I was seriously worried about you!" He turns slightly, allowing her to see a vast expanse of sparkling blue water, with bubbles floating lazily in the air. The sky is pink and yellow and orange, and a large sun falls slowly to the water. Before she knows it, she's crying, but she feels happy for some reason. "H-Hey!" the Buizel cries. "What's wrong?" The sudden rush of emotion doesn't fade, but she puts an effort into controlling it nonetheless. She lifts a hand to dry her tears…

… and a rose promptly smacks her in the face. "Wh-What?" She squirms in his arms, trying to get a good look at herself. Somehow, her body is green all over, and the only thing covering her torso is a large leaf. It suddenly occurs to her that she must be rather small for the Buizel to be able to lift her and carry her so easily, because from what she knows, Buizels reach only about up to her knees. And on top of everything, her hands are roses. "Wh-What happened to me?"

"Huh?" the Buizel asks. "What's wrong?"

"I'm supposed to be a human!" she blurts out before she can stop herself, and the fact that she's crying only makes things worse.

"But you look like a totally normal Roselia to me…" the Buizel says.

She stares forlornly down at her new hands. Did I… really turn into a Roselia? But… how? What was I…? Her mind hits a wall there, and as she tries to recall what she was doing before ending up unconscious, nothing comes. Oh no… I can't remember anything… This only makes her cry harder.

"H-Hey…" the Buizel says a little awkwardly as he places her on the ground. He practically towers over her, but she can't sense any ill will or malice from him. Hanging from his neck by a black string is a stone with a strange pattern on it – she's sure she's never seen it before in her life, and it has nothing to do with the memory loss. "It'll be okay. Uh… What's your name?"

"Um…" Thankfully, she can at least remember her own name. "Celia. My name is Celia."

The Buizel tilts his head to the side. "Celia, huh? Yeah, that does sound like a human name… And you don't look like a bad Pokémon…" The smile he gives her is so earnest and carefree that she feels like crying again. "I'm Buizel. It's nice to meet you!"

"And my name's Koffing," says another Pokémon as it rams into Buizel from behind. Buizel's stone goes flying, landing a little ways away in the sand. "Well, I do beg your pardon."

"And I'm Zubat!" says Koffing's companion as he swoops down and grabs Buizel's stone by the string. "Now, if you don't mind…"

Buizel does nothing, and it isn't until after Koffing and Zubat are long gone that the reality of the situation sinks in. "No… That's my personal treasure! If I lost that…" He slaps his face with both his hands and squeezes his eyes shut. "No… I'm going to get it back. Celia, will you help me?" It occurs to Celia just how lucky she is that it was Buizel who found her, instead of Koffing and Zubat, and to thank him, she agrees. "R-Really? You'll help me? Th-Thank you! Come on, let's go!"

The beach cave isn't nearly as colorful as the beach at sunset, but Celia can't bring herself to complain – all the browns, greens, yellows, and blues around her still somehow take her breath away. "We need to be careful," Buizel says. "A lot of the Pokémon in here are really territorial." But the Pokémon she runs into don't appear murderous at all – they're a lot nicer than she expected. Buizel finishes off a Corsola with Sonicboom. Celia's body moves on instinct, and she knocks out a Shellos with Absorb.

And after traversing deeper and deeper into the cave, they finally come to a clearing of water, rocks, and sand. Koffing and Zubat are there, and something tells her that she's seen Pokémon that have done a lot worse. "Uh…" Buizel says uncertainly. "Hey! G-Give it back! That's my personal treasure!"

"Treasure, you say?" Zubat sneers. "Huh… Looks like it is valuable!"

"It could be worth more than we hoped for, I'd say," Koffing says. "We ought to try selling it!"

"N-No!" Buizel protests weakly. His whole body trembles as he takes a fighting stance. "If you won't give it back… I'll take it from you!"

As Koffing and Zubat snicker, Celia taps Buizel with one hand. "I'll take Koffing," she says. "My attacks won't be very strong on either of them, but they'll do more to Koffing, since he's just a poison type instead of a poison and flying type."

Buizel nods. "Good idea. I'll try to be quick so I can help you out." He takes down Zubat with one Water Gun, and, predictably, Celia's Absorb does almost nothing to Koffing. Buizel has to bail her out with a Water Gun of his own. "Give it back," he says again as Koffing and Zubat groan pathetically.

Zubat flings the stone to them, and Celia has to dodge so that it doesn't hit her on the head. "Take it, then!"

"D-Don't think you're so awesome!" Koffing says. "You just got lucky!"

As Koffing and Zubat leave, Buizel practically dives to the ground to pick up his stone, and the look of sheer happiness on his face makes it impossible for Celia not to smile. "My Relic Fragment! I actually got it back!" Celia almost screams when he lifts her into the air and spins her around. "Thank you, Celia! Thank you so much!"

Buizel's glee is downright infectious. I only helped because I happened to be there, Celia thinks, but it feels good all the same.

Buizel doesn't put her down, choosing instead to let her sit on his shoulder. "You shouldn't push yourself too hard," he says. "Well… I guess it's kind of late for that now. But still!"

Celia leans tiredly against him, careful not to prick him with her thorns. "What is that?" she asks, pointing to his stone.

"Oh, this?" Buizel asks, lifting his stone. "It's my Relic Fragment. At least, that's what I call it. I just found it one day. See the pattern? There has to be some significance to it, and I'm going to find out what it is! This Relic Fragment must be the key to some legendary place, where you can find ancient treasure!"

"Hm…" Celia straightens up a bit to get a better look at the Relic Fragment. "I think you're right. Usually, patterns like that mean something. It would be weird if that didn't mean anything."

"So you agree, then!" Buizel says cheerfully. "That's why I want to join an exploration team, but… I didn't even have the guts to become an apprentice." By now they're out of the cave, and it's dark outside, with stars shining in the sky. "Are you okay?"

"H-Huh?" Celia realizes with a sinking feeling that she's crying again, and she mentally kicks herself because she's done enough crying for one day, and she shouldn't be getting so emotional so easily. "I-I'm okay… The sky's just really pretty."

Buizel stares up and smiles. "Yeah, it is… Say, Celia… How did you end up unconscious on the beach?"

Nothing comes – not even the tiniest whisper of a memory. "I don't know… I can't remember anything…"

"And you don't have anywhere to go, right?" Buizel asks a bit worriedly. Celia shakes her head. "Um… Can I ask a big favor? Would you be willing to… form an exploration team with me? I mean, we did so well against Koffing and Zubat, so I just thought…"

Celia panics. She doesn't know what an exploration team even is. She's barely known Buizel for an hour. She doesn't know what she is or where she came from, and Buizel still trusts her enough to recruit her. "I-I… I guess?"

"Really? You'll do it?" Buizel looks downright ecstatic. "Yes! Thank you!" Celia smiles uneasily in return. "First, we need to sign up as apprentices at Wigglytuff's guild. They'll train us, and feed us, and give us a place to stay, and everything!" It's strange how one decision that should affect the rest of her life barely fazes her at all. "Let's give it our all, Celia!"

Celia smiles more easily and nods. "Okay!"

Wigglytuff's Guild is an imposing building that looks – whether ironically or unironically, Celia can't tell – like a Wigglytuff, with flaming torches on either side, metal bars covering the entrance, and a circular metal grate in front. "So…" Buizel says as he puts her down. "Here we are. Welcome to Wigglytuff's Guild. We need to register and train here before we can become our own exploration team." He squeezes his eyes shut and takes a deep breath. "Here goes…" And with that, he steps onto the grate.

"Pokémon detected!" cries a shrill voice, and Buizel jumps about a foot into the air.

"Whose footprint?" demands another.

"The footprint is Buizel's!" the first voice answers.

Buizel is visibly trembling. "It's okay…" he says shakily to himself. "I can do this…"

"You may ENTER!" the second voice from under the grate says. "Someone's with you! So get that stranger to stand up THERE!"

Buizel steps off the grate hesitantly. "Come on, Celia…" He holds her red hand as she steps onto the grate so that her feet don't fall through the holes.

"Pokémon detected!" cries the first voice.

"Whose footprint?" demands the second.

"The footprint is…" the first voice starts to answer. "Um…"

"What's the matter?" the second voice yells. "Sentry! What's wrong, sentry Diglett?"

"Um…" Diglett mumbles. "The footprint is… maybe Roselia's!"

"What?" the second voice bellows. "MAYBE?"

"B-But it's not a footprint that you usually see around here!"

"Isn't checking the footprints of visiting Pokémon your JOB, Diglett?"

"Y-Yes, but I don't know what I don't know!"

"Wh-What's going on?" Celia asks Buizel hesitantly.

"Sorry to make you WAIT," bellows Diglett's companion. "You don't seem like a bad Pokémon… You may ENTER!" The bars blocking the entrance rise, and Celia and Buizel sighs in relief.

"Okay, first barrier passed…" Buizel says. "Let's go, Celia. Um… Is it okay if I hold your hand?"

The guild is underground, but it's so bright inside that Celia can't even tell. There are Pokémon everywhere – a Sunflora, a Bidoof, a Swellow, a Seedot – and not a single one looks hostile.

"Excuse me!" squaks a bird Pokémon that flies over to them. "It was you two that just came in, correct?"

Celia does her best to not look pathetic while hiding behind Buizel. "Y-Yes!" her companion answers.

"I'm Chatot!" says the bird Pokémon. "I am Guildmaster Wigglytuff's right-hand Pokémon! Now, shoo! Leave the premises! We have no need for salespeople or silly surveys!"

"Wait, we're not…" Celia says quietly.

"Th-That's not why we're here!" Buizel explains. "We want to form an exploration team!"

"Forgive me, but have you seen the hoards of Pokémon that run away from our rigorous training?" Chatot asks.

"Well, if it's that difficult…" Buizel says slowly.

"Oh, did I say rigorous?" Chatot stammers. "N-No, no, no, that's not true at all! Our training is very easy, in fact! As easy as can be!"

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Celia whispers to Buizel.

"Right this way, please!" Chatot says, flying toward one of the ladders at the corner of the room. "Chop chop! Time for your registration!" He leads them down the ladder and into a room with a Wigglytuff facing the back wall. Clearing his throat, he hops forward. "Guildmaster! I present to you two Pokémon who wish to join our guild as apprentices."

Celia lets out a shriek when Wigglytuff whirls around with a giant grin on his face. "Hiya! You want to form an exploration team? First, you need a team name!"

"Oh crap, I forgot!" Buizel says. "Uh… Any ideas, Celia?"

"I-I don't know!" Celia squeaks, mentally cursing Buizel for putting her on the spot. "Team… uh… Awesome? I don't know…"

"Team Awesome it is, then!" Wigglytuff says excitedly.

"W-Wait!" Buizel protests.

"No take-backs!" Chatot says with an infuriating grin.

"B-But Team Awesome is so lame," Buizel moans.

"It's not like you had any better ideas!" Celia snaps.

"YOOM-TAH!" Wigglytuff yells. "Congratulations, Team Awesome! From now on, you're an official exploration team!" He skips to one of the chests in the room and pulls out a yellow satchel. "I present you with this commemoration!"

"Th-Thank you!" Buizel says, taking the satchel from Wigglytuff. "We'll do our best!"

Their room is a circular area with one window and two grassy beds, with vines snaking down from the ceiling and weeds sprouting up from the ground. The bed is the most comfortable one Celia's had in her entire life, but she still can't get to sleep, somehow. "Hey, Celia," Buizel whispers, turning onto his side to face her. "Are you still awake?"

"Yeah," Celia whispers back, scooting as close to him as possible without falling off her bed altogether.

"I'm so glad I finally made it here," Buizel says with a grin. "I thought Wigglytuff would be scary, but he's seems nice."

"He is," Celia agrees. She sighs as she rolls onto her back. "Thanks, Buizel."

"For what?"

"For… everything."

Buizel rolls onto his back as well and sighs contentedly. "Yeah… Good night, Celia."

And though he falls asleep soon afterwards, the questions racing through her mind don't quiet down. Who am I? How did I get here? What happened to me?

So… this is more me practicing writing in present tense than actually writing a story for the sake of writing a story. I got bored of Persona, so YAY POKÉMON MYSTERY DUNGEON! Explorers of Sky is one of my favorite games EVER, and don't shoot me, but I kind of like it more than a lot of main series games. The last time I played (which was a while ago, so almost everything that goes on in this comes from Youtube Let's Plays), my player character was a female Eevee, and my partner was a male Riolu, but to spice things up, I've decided to make the player character and partner Pokémon that aren't really options in the game.

I'm going to try and work the Darkrai/Cresselia plot into this and not make it just a post-game thing.

PLEASE REVIEW!