Disclaimer: This fanfiction is rated "T" for mild language and disturbing themes. Pokémon, Mystery Dungeon and all related trademarks and copyrights are the property of Nintendo, Game Freak, Creatures, The Pokémon Company, Spike Chunsoft, and/or Genius Sonority.

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RESURRECTED MEMORIES: A MYSTERY DUNGEON STORY
By "Enigma149" (a.k.a. "SlopeHoke")
Prologue
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Bond Bridge, Kin Island, Sevii
February 4th, 2015, 2:29 pm
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Violet St Jaques skipped along Bond Bridge, humming a tune to herself. Her Bulbasaur bounced alongside her, balancing a basket on his bulb. Both Trainer and Pokémon enjoyed a snack of Bluk Berries as they made their way back toward town. The oversized fruits grew in abundance in the Berry Forest, and since they had no known healing or strengthening properties, Trainers tended to ignore them. That was fine, as far as Violet was concerned. They might not be worth much to her as a Trainer, but their sweet taste more than made up for their so-called "uselessness".

The wooden bridge beneath her feet shifted slightly as she made her way across it. Unlike the rough seas around most of Kin Island, the sheltered strait between it and the Berry Forest enjoyed calm waters. Swimmers frequented its shores even in the winter months (not that it got very cold here, or anywhere else in the Sevii Islands, for that matter). On most days, Violet would share her harvest with her best friend, Tisha, and together they would talk about fashion and boys and Pokémon and whatever else was happening around town (usually not a lot). No one would be swimming today, though; a storm was due to pass through that afternoon, and waves were already starting to crash against the wooden bridge.

A raindrop landed on Violet's hand as she took a bite of fruit. Another followed, then another; soon, it began to drizzle. Judging from the front clouds hanging in the southern sky, she would have to hurry if she wanted to avoid getting drenched. "Alright, Bulbasaur," she said as she reached for his Poké Ball, "at least one of us will be able to stay dry." She turned toward the Seed Pokémon…only to find he had vanished. "Bulbasaur?" she asked, looking around. "Where did you go?"

"Bulba," she heard, coming from behind her. Bulbasaur had stopped some fifty feet back, staring intently out across the water. The basket of Bluk Berries rested next to him; a few had fallen out, scattered across the bridge around him.

"Bulbasaur," she said as she jogged back to her Pokémon, "why'd you stop? Come on, we've got to get back before the storm hits."

"Saur," the Pokémon replied, nodding.

By now, the rain had started to come down more briskly, and it was getting difficult to see. Forget getting home unsoaked; if she stayed out too much longer, she would have to turn back and seek refuge in the Berry Forest. "This is no time to admire the view, Bulbasaur."

"Saur," Bulbasaur replied again. He raised a vine, and motioned out toward the water.

Violet squinted, using her free hand to shield the rain from her eyes. A dark object splashed in the water; probably a Magikarp or some other fish. Violet never really thought about what happened to fish in a storm. Hopefully, it would be okay, whatever it was; for now, she had herself to worry about. "I'm sure the Pokémon will be fine, Bulbasaur. Now get in the ball!"

She raised the Poké Ball. As she tried to activate the recall feature, Bulbasaur knocked it out of her hand with a vine, sending the Poké Ball toppling into the surf. "Saur!"

"Ow!" She rubbed her wrist. "What's gotten into you? Now we'll have to get you registered to another ball!" She looked out at the water. The waves were getting bigger now, and a streak of lightning flashed in the distance. The dark shape bobbed in the water again. She turned toward Bulbasaur and got down on her knee. "I get that you're worried," she comforted, "but we've really got to get going! Whatever it is, we'll check back on it when the storm's over, okay?"

"H…" echoed across the water, followed by another splash.

"See? It's a Horsea. I'm sure a Water-type like it will be fi —"

"Help," she heard, more clearly this time.

Violet looked back toward the water. Lightning continued to flash, approaching much, much faster. Now, though, Violet had more pressing concerns — the silhouetted shape, now somewhat closer, was clearly much, much too big to be a Horsea. It struggled to stay afloat before another large wave knocked it back below the surface.

"Bulbasaur! Use Vine Whip!" she commanded, now alert. "See if you can lift them out of the water!" As Bulbasaur sent two vines across the water, she turned toward the figure, once again struggling to stay up. "Just try to hold on!" she shouted. "Keep you head up, or something!" With the storm rapidly closing in, Bulbasaur struggled to keep his vines straight. Violet started to doubt if he could lift the figure. Even if he could make it, he would probably be unable to get a firm grip in the turbulence. Dropping them would probably ruin any sort of rescue she attempted.

Violet reached for her other Poké Balls. Bulbasaur might not be strong enough to battle a storm, but maybe her other Pokémon would be. Soon, an Ivysaur and Venusaur materialized next to her, looking mildly irritated by the rain. Both turned to their Trainer for commands. Bulbasaur, meanwhile, continued struggling to keep his vines on course in the storm's winds.

"There's someone in the water!" she exclaimed, pointing. "We have to get them out!"

The Pokémon nodded, and four more vines followed Bulbasaur's. Venusaur's, thicker and stronger than both Bulbasaur and Ivysaur's, fought wind and wave to reach the drowning figure. As it fell out of sight following a particularly large wave, Venusaur's thick green vines plunged below the surface. Oh, that wasn't good, was it? What good would Venusaur's strength do if he couldn't see what he was supposed to grab?

To Violet's relief, they returned a few seconds later, tightly wrapped around what looked to be a child her age. Venusaur quickly retracted his vines as lightning continued to flash, gently depositing the child onto the boardwalk. Just wait 'till she told Tisha about this! She was a hero! Well, her and Venusaur. She would have to get him something as a reward — maybe a plate of Occa Berries (Venusaur loved Occa Berries).

She turned toward her rescue, her heel catching a puddle on the now rain-drenched bridge. With a yelp, she slipped, shielding her head with her arms as she toppled to the ground. She would have to be more careful; how embarrassing would it be to rescue someone from drowning, only to fall into the surf? With a groan, she looked up, and found herself just a few inches from the child.

It was a boy, wearing a light blue shirt and some yellow shorts. He had to be ten at most, probably younger. Where did he come from? She knew everybody on Kin Island, and the only people this young were girls. Maybe he was visiting from some other island…but if so, where were his parents? Surely they would have stuck around to make sure their child got back safely…or, if they lost him, started a rescue party. But the bridge and mainland were completely deserted, and even outsiders must know not to go swimming while a severe storm is rolling in.

"Come on kid," she said, shaking his shoulder as she climbed to her knees. "We've got to get going before the storm gets worse." As if to punctuate her point, a bolt of lightning cracked across the water, turning the water an electric blue and sending a percussive wave that made her vision vibrate. "Come on, let's go! Do you want to avoid drowning only to be killed by lightning strike?" As she climbed to her feet, she prodded the boy with her toe. When he remained still, she took a closer look.

He was not breathing.

Oh. Oh crap. That was bad, wasn't it? Was he dead? He didn't look dead, but maybe he actually was… What should she do? How did you tell if someone was dead? If only she had a Pokégear, then she could call for help.

What did they do in medical shows? Pound on the chest? Or was it the ribcage? Yes, that was it. You were supposed to break the ribcage. That meant it was working. Ribcage compressions. That was simple enough. She started compressions through his shirt. There was a hard lump on the left side of his chest. Oh no — did he have cancer? Wait. Cancer had nothing to do with drowning. Okay. Back to pumping.

Darn it, why wasn't it working? Was she doing something wrong? Maybe you weren't supposed to do this. Maybe she was just making it worse. Why didn't she pay more attention during health class? Was it here where you did mouth-to-mouth? Or was that when they were choking? It couldn't hurt, could it? She completed a final compression and propped the boy's mouth open. Taking a deep breath, she pressed her face to the boy's mouth and exhaled as hard as she could.

Eugh. It tasted like saltwater. Not how she pictured her first kiss to go. Okay, maybe Tisha wouldn't know about this…but there would be more time for worrying about that after the boy breathed. "Come on," she said, returning to compressions.

There was that lump again. Was it something in his pocket? She reached in, and pulled out a Gym Badge she had never seen. Okay, so he wasn't from around here. Good to know. But not important right now. A wave crashed against the beach, sending a spray of seawater into them. She put the Badge into her pocket and resumed compressions. With the obstruction removed, she could press much harder now. That didn't seem to have much effect.

She pressed faster. Another lightning bolt struck nearby. Maybe she should just leave him out here. Didn't hospitals use electricity to restart hearts? If he got struck by lightning, maybe that would save him! Wait. Maybe she should check for a heartbeat first.

Violet held a finger to the boys neck. One…two…okay. He had a pulse. That was good. That meant he was alive. Then why the hell wasn't he breathing? Another crack of lightning. Why couldn't this storm just wait? What was she supposed to do? Nothing was working!

"Aargh!" she exasperated. "Come on, you stupid kid, breathe!" She pounded on his chest with her fist. Then again. And again. "Just…breathe!"

"Kack!" Another spray of seawater filled her face. She wiped it off with her hand. Why couldn't the waves stop? Why couldn't she — "Kack! Ack!"

She looked down. The boy coughed out a blast of water, as his chest began to move up and down. She did it! He was breathing! Well, coughing, but at least oxygen was flowing now. As the boy continued to cough, Violet rolled onto the boardwalk next to him, exhausted. Who would have thought saving somebody's life would be so tiring?

"So," she started as rain and seawater continued to shower them both, "what were you thinking going out in a storm like that?" The boy continued to breathe, and stared weakly at his arms. "What's your name, anyway?"

After another fit of coughing and moaning, she heard a mumbled, "Hands."

"Hans?" she asked. "Is that your name?"

The boy shook his head. "Tyler," he coughed. "Tyler Sind."

"Tyler…" Nobody on Kin Island had that name, Violet was certain. That was strange; the Sevii Islands had never been particularly big for tourism. That was starting to change on Knot Island, she heard, but certainly nowhere else. She raised herself with her elbows. "How'd you get here, anyway? Where're your parents?"

"Anne."

"Anne? Is that your mom's name?"

"No," he replied. "Boat."

A boat? Did he fall overboard? That would make sense, except the Seagallops were all docked today because of the storm. And as far as she knew, none of them had names — well, names beyond Seagallop Hi-Speed, anyway.

A flash of lightning and an immediate cacophony of thunder put an end to her pondering. In the distance, she heard a tree tumble to the ground. She could worry about Tyler later. For now, they both had to get shelter, or one of them was bound to wind up getting killed. She reached for her Poké Balls to recall both Ivysaur and Venusaur, pausing once she saw Bulbasaur sheltering himself under Venusaur's rafflesia. Recalling Ivysaur, she turned back toward Tyler. "We've got to get going. The last thing we want is to have you rescued only to be struck by lightning."

After another cough, Tyler replied, "Right. I think I can." Slowly, he struggled to his feet (without the use of his arms, Violet noticed). Violet helped him steady himself once he made it up. He took a few awkward steps, then suddenly looked around. "Where's Treecko?" he panicked. "Did you save him with me?"

Oh dear. If this boy was a trainer, that would explain the Badge. And if his Pokémon was missing…Treecko were not exactly known for their swimming. "Is that your Pokémon?" she asked.

"No, he's…he's…a friend, I think." Tyler replied, still searching. "It's getting hard to think. But he's important." Once he saw her Pokémon standing on the boardwalk, he shouted, "You two — have any of you seen a Treecko around here?"

The two Pokémon shook their heads, both replying with their names. The boy seemed startled at this. Had he never seen Venusaur before? Maybe not, if he was from somewhere far away. "I'm sure Treecko's fine," she lied. "He's probably safe and sound on that boat with your parents."

She looked around. Getting back to town would take too long, but if they hurried, they could probably make it back to the forest. "Here", she said, taking the Badge back out of her pocket. "You had this in your pocket. Now come on — we'll be safe in the forest." That was probably true. Lightning usually struck the tallest things around, right? So surrounding themselves with trees should protect them, and help keep them dry. Unless one of the trees caught fire…but the rain would put that out, right?

She shook her head. Just another thing to worry about later. For now, getting out of the open was a priority. Once that was taken care of, they could start worrying about better shelter, and reuniting Tyler with…whoever he needed to be reunited with.

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Author's Notes: Years ago, I started writing a fanfic, Memories of Friends: A Mystery Dungeon Story. Unfortunately, like far too many people, I stopped writing it, and eventually forgot about it altogether. Years passed, and a few of my friends found my account. One of them started reading it, which prompted me to remember, and consider finally finishing the story. Unfortunately, upon my reread, I noticed quite a few problems. Character motivations didn't make sense. The story was poorly written. Some characters were thrown in to just solve plot holes, with more characters thrown in to cover up their plot holes. There were inconsistencies. All-in-all, it just…wasn't very good.

This time around, things should be different. Whereas before, I took the "gardener" approach to writing, seeing how the story went along as I wrote it, with only a vague idea of where the story would finish. This, as it turns out, was a terrible, terrible idea, as I soon lost track of the plot and started throwing in new characters just to have things work out right. Not so this time. Every major event has been outlined from beginning to end, so all I have to do now is write out how exactly those events happen. I also have someone proofreading it, so theyr're should be far fewer grammatical errors.

If you read Memories of Friends years ago, I'm sorry for the terribly long wait, and hope you like this version just as much as you like the last one (unless you didn't like it, in which case, I'm glad you're giving me a second chance). If you haven't, I hope you enjoy. As always, I enjoy whatever comments and criticism you have.