PMD: Fateful Saviors
Prologue: Enigma in the Forest
All around me was darkness. I felt like I was floating in water, yet I could breathe normally. Was this a dream? I didn't remember falling asleep anywhere. I didn't remember anything actually. My mind was a complete blank. The only thing I remembered was my name: Alfrin. Was this a lucid dream? Maybe if I pinched myself awake, I could-
"Excuse me. Please wake up. You shouldn't be sleeping in the woods unless you want bugs to feast on you" Something tapped my side and I blinked my eyes open, seeing a clear blue sky and the bright yellow sun passing by. All around me were short trees. I guessed I was in a forest and a small one at that.
"Oh, you're finally awake. That's good. I wouldn't need to call the doctors on you" The owner of the voice smiled, amused. She was small and yellow, with red spots on her cheeks and a heart shaped tail. Despite my apparent amnesia, I somehow figured out she was a Pikachu. One of the most famous Pokemon in the world "I found you passed out here. Any idea what happened?"
"I… I don't know. All I remember was that I was floating in a dark space like water and that my name is Alfrin. I was a human too" I suddenly realized that the Pikachu looked strangely taller than me. Shouldn't it be the reverse? I should be towering over her as a human. Did I shrink?
"A human? You're definitely not from town if so. Nobody's that weird" The Pikachu shrugged "Because you look like a completely normal Mudkip to me"
I looked over myself, realizing that I was on all fours, my body was light blue and I had small orange spikes poking out of my cheeks. No wonder I felt so… watery. It was like my body wasn't completely solid.
"So if you're a human as you claim… do you have any idea how you got transformed into a Mudkip?" The Pikachu asked before pausing "Oh whoops. I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Erdalla. Nice to meet you"
"Nice to meet you too. To be honest, I have no idea what happened. Like I said, my memory's a complete blank, aside from my name and that I was once human" I tapped my head in an effort to try and knock up some more memories "Mm… Yeah, I got nothing"
"Weird. So you got amnesia? That means something hit you on the head REAL hard" Erdalla crossed her arms and murmured under her breath "And that explains why you think you were once human"
"What was that?"
"Nothing. I guess I can help you find a place to stay for a while until-"
"Help! Somebody help me!" A shout came from behind me and Erdalla ran to meet the Butterfree frantically running towards us in panic "I need your help!"
"Slow down and breath. Tell me what happened" Erdalla said in a stern, but soothing tone. The Butterfree took some deep breaths and nodded before explaining what happened.
"A fissure opened up in the ground and my baby Caterpie fell in! He's too young to crawl out by himself!" The Butterfree explained worriedly "When I flew down to rescue him, wild Pokemon attacked me!"
"What? Pokemon attacked you while you were trying to rescue your baby?" Erdalla gritted her teeth "The natural disasters are getting worse than I thought…"
"Can you help me? You're a rescue team, right?"
"Of course we will. We'll rescue your baby and bring him back safe and sound" Erdalla turned to me "Alfrin, if you know how to fight, can you join me? I'd rather not go in there alone"
"I… I think I can fight. I'll come along" Truthfully, I didn't have much other choice. Erdalla seemed to be my only way right now of getting answers and I needed to stick with her. At least I knew that even with my memories gone, I still knew how to fight. Just bash into the wild Pokemon with my body. Easy peasy.
"Alright then. Miss, just stay here and we'll be back with your baby. Come on Alfrin!" Erdalla ran into the forest beside us and I followed as quick as I could. When the shade of the trees fell over us, solid earthen walls appeared out of nowhere and created a maze-like structure.
"What the- What are these?" I asked Erdalla in surprise.
"Oh, I forgot you had amnesia. This is a mystery dungeon, Alfrin. A magical building that changes it's layout every time it's entered. Us rescue teams are also explorers, bent on exploring mystery dungeons to hunt for treasure and glory" The Pikachu explained "Naturally, the wild Pokemon here dislike us wandering into their territory, so we have to fight them if they attack us first. I assume Caterpie's at the end of the dungeon, so our goal is to reach the end to rescue him"
"... What? Magical buildings that change every time someone enters? Who even made such a thing?"
"I don't know. All I know is that we have to go through here to rescue Caterpie. So stop asking questions and let's go!" Erdalla urged and ran headfirst into the labyrinth of the dungeon. I did my best to follow her and keep her within my sights. If I lost her now, I doubted I could ever find her again. The Pikachu was thankfully slowed by the enemy Pokemon who snaked out of the trees to attack her.
"Jeez, took you long enough to catch up. Help me fend off these wild Pokemon!" Erdalla pulsed with yellow electricity briefly before calling down a single lightning bolt to smite a Pidgey to ash with Thunder Shock "You better know how to use moves by now!"
"I have amnesia. Cut me some slack!" Despite this, Erdalla's harsh command style angered me. I didn't like being expected to do something if nobody told me how to do it. She wanted to see moves? I'll show her one. I felt a large mass of water gather in my mouth and I blew a strong stream of water at a nearby Wurmple, blasting it against a wall and knocking it out cold.
"The stairs leading deeper into the dungeon are in this room" Erdalla scattered a group of Exeggcute with Quick Attack before turning to me "Before you ask, stairs are an integral part of every mystery dungeon. They either ascend or descend you into the dungeon's upper or lower floors and are always present, even if the environment doesn't fit it"
"Like how we're in a forest and that there are stone stairs that take us underground?"
"You'll see when we go down" The Pikachu looked slightly annoyed at my amnesiac nature "Watch your back for wild Pokemon. I'll watch the front"
"Alright. I'll try not to disappoint"
We continued moving through the dungeon. I wanted to ask Erdalla why the dungeon looked the exact same, despite us going underground. Shouldn't we be surrounded by dirt and grime? Why was I able to still see the sky through the shade of the trees? Why were there even trees if we descended deeper into the dungeon? But I didn't want to irritate Erdalla further. She seemed to be conflict with what to do with me.
"A Pokemon who claims to be human and has amnesia. One that I've never seen in town before. Clearly not a Pokemon Square native" The Pikachu murmured to herself "Mudkip don't live in the local area, so he couldn't have come from Tiny Woods either. Maybe he has something to do with all the natural disasters lately…"
"What was that about natural disasters?" I asked and Erdalla turned, surprised.
"Huh? Oh, you caught me murmuring to myself. It's a bad habit of mine" The Pikachu said sheepishly "But I may as well explain. Right now, natural disasters are happening much more often than they should be. Caterpie falling into a crevice is an example of such. This is causing wild Pokemon to become agitated and attack travellers going through mystery dungeons"
"Any idea what's causing these natural disasters?" I asked and Erdalla shrugged.
"No clue. Some, especially the religious folk, say it's divine punishment from the gods while others say it's climate change. Nobody's completely sure and Pokemon are still investigating the issue" The Pikachu held out her hand and expelled a short blast of lightning at an incoming Pidgey "Us rescue teams have a role though. To rescue the Pokemon caught in these disasters because nobody else would"
"You said the natural disasters agitated wild Pokemon into attacking Pokemon travelling through mystery dungeons. What makes you, Butterfree and Caterpie so different from the wild Pokemon living here?" I asked and Erdalla sighed.
"I don't know what I don't know. Just be thankful that not all the Pokemon in the world are going mad because of these disasters" Erdalla turned her back to me "The stairs are just up ahead. They should lead up to the crevice Caterpie fell in"
We went down the stone stairs and arrived in a small grotto with a deep jagged crevice running through it. It looked completely out of place and unnatural in such a peaceful forest like this. Fortunately, the crevice wasn't deep and me and Erdalla could climb out of it easily. It was just Caterpie who had trouble.
"Waahh… Where are you Mommy…?" The Caterpie sniffled "Help me…"
"We came here to rescue you. Are you okay?" Erdalla called from atop the crevice and Caterpie turned, instantly shivering with fear.
"G-go away! Don't hurt me please!"
"Don't worry. We're not going to hurt you!" The Pikachu leaped down the crevice and landed in front of Caterpie without a flinch "Your mother's waiting outside the dungeon for you. Come on, get onto my arm and we'll get you out of here"
"O-okay…" Caterpie climbed onto Erdalla's arm and she began scaling the crevice back to the surface.
"Alfrin, take Caterpie from my arm. It'll make it easier for me to get back up" Erdalla stretched the arm Caterpie was on and I took the caterpillar gingerly and gently, setting him down beside me. Erdalla climbed out of the crevice and we made our way out of Tiny Woods.
"My baby's safe… I don't know how I can ever thank you properly" Butterfree cried tears of joy when she saw us back with Caterpie "I'm afraid I don't have much to pay you"
"That's alright. It's been dangerous lately with all the sudden quakes and fissures like this one. If you don't have much to pay us with, it's okay" Erdalla reassured "I'm sure you have your own issues with resources at home"
"Can I at least have your names?" Butterfree asked.
"I'm Erdalla and this here is Alfrin" The Pikachu pointed to me.
"Thank you, Erdalla and Alfrin!" Caterpie squeaked and I went red with blush, mostly because Caterpie was staring at us with adoring eyes. Still, it didn't feel bad. It was like I was a hero. Or more like, Erdalla was the heroine since she did most of the rescuing work.
"It might not be much, but please take this at least. A token of our appreciation" Butterfree handed Erdalla three berries: an Oran Berry, a Rawst Berry and a Pecha Berry "Thank you again. Good bye"
"See you guys around!" Caterpie called and the two Pokemon walked away.
"Well, guess I'll have to say thanks for helping me" Erdalla turned to me "You were able to pull off a move in the dungeon and you could be a serviceable fighter. Impressive for someone with amnesia"
"Praise isn't easy to earn from you, isn't it?"
"Praise is not something to throw around like dirt, you know" The Pikachu gave me an amused smile "So since it seemed like you dropped in here out of nowhere, I don't believe you have a place to stay?"
I shook my head in denial.
"Come with me then. I have a spare bed for you" Erdalla led me out of the woods and to the outskirts of a town, which I assumed to be Pokemon Square. The house was like a wooden dome, with rough stone surrounding the base. Inside were four stone pillars holding the dome up. Outside the house was a courtyard of sorts, with a square plot of stone with wooden fences lining the perimeter. A basic mailbox was in front of the house.
"Well, here it is. A house fit for two Pokemon" Erdalla gestured to the mailbox "Here's the mailbox, where Pokemon who desire the service of a rescue team drop requests here. Pelipper from Pelipper's Post Office will occasionally drop newsletters here as well"
"Where's the rest of your rescue team? I wouldn't think it's just you if you said it was a team" I said and Erdalla rubbed her head, embarrassed.
"I tried forming a rescue team, but nobody would join me. So I acted as a solo rescuer for a little while" The Pikachu replied "But two Pokemon is the bare minimum for an official rescue team. I asked all except you, so how about it? Want to form a rescue team with me?"
"I don't really have a choice, don't I? I mean, I dropped into this world with amnesia and with how things are at the moment, it doesn't sound like I'll get help from anyone else" I shrugged "Joining you could be the best way for me to find out the truth, so sure. I'll join up. You're giving me a place to stay anyways"
"Excellent. We should come up with a team name before we officially register" Erdalla thought for a moment "Have any ideas?"
"Uhm… maybe Team Lazulian?" I offered, then bit my tongue "Sorry, that sounds dumb. It was just the first thing that came into my mind"
"No actually, that sounds fine. I like it" Erdalla nodded "Rescue Team Lazulian. Alright, I'll register us as an official team. You make yourself comfortable and get some rest. Your bed's on the left side of the house"
Erdalla handed me the key to the house before dashing off into town. I went into the house and shut the door behind me, locking it. I hoped Erdalla's knocking was loud enough for me to hear otherwise she'll REALLY be angry with me in the morning. Realizing my fatigue has just struck me now, I laid the keys on a table next to the door and collapsed on my bed. It was a hay bed like a bird's nest.
"Who even designed these…? They aren't comfortable at all" I groaned as the hay pricked into my body when I tried to lie down on it "Ugh, I guess I'll have to get used to it. The only other option is sleeping on the ground"
And with that, I dozed off as the sun set behind the house. I prayed that this was all just a dream and I would wake back up as a human the next day. Interesting as it was, it was surreal to be a Pokemon. Despite my power, I felt so fragile. More fragile than I did as a human.
"Thinking about it is just going to keep me awake…" I murmured to myself "Go to sleep and forget it all…"
My eyes closed and my mind faded into darkness as slumber claimed me.
Our team:
- Erdalla, Pikachu
Leader of Team Lazulian
Level 8
Moves: Thunder Shock, Quick Attack, Thunder Wave and Tail Whip
IQ Level: **
- Alfrin, Mudkip
Newly joined member of Team Lazulian
Level 5
Moves: Water Gun, Mud Slap, Tackle and Growl
IQ Level: *
Welcome to my new Pokemon Mystery Dungeon novelization, this time centered on Red/Blue Rescue Team aka PMD1. This novelization will be significantly shorter than Explorers of Light and Shadow since PMD1's post game is nonexistent in story content and the main story itself is much shorter than PMD2. Still, I hope I can write to impress and generate the same love for these characters as I did in Explorers of Light and Shadow. If you want to be notified of when a new chapter comes out, follow and favorite. If you want to give me constructive criticism or praise, leave a review. Until next time!