Hello, all! ^_^ How are you? I know, it's been a long time since I've updated, and I know this probably isn't the update you guys wanted. It's probably unusual seeing something that's not Sonic from me. However, I started playing Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time again, and I thought the story would make for an excellent yaoi story. So here's an adaptation of the game with a special focus on yaoi! Enjoy!

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers

Unusual Love

Chapter One: I'm a… Pokémon?

Ugh… Where… am I…? Waves… I can hear waves… Am I… on a beach…? That has to be where I am… I think… Who knows…? I'm too groggy to tell anything… And I'm… slipping back into… unconsciousness…

A lone and unconscious Skitty lay on the beach as the waves from the ocean washed under him, his pink and peach fur already soaked by seawater from being washed up on shore. Nothing was known about this Skitty; he had not been seen anywhere before, but there was something different about him. It was not something that one could immediately put their finger on, but there was something odd about this Pokémon…

Quirkily and nervously, a young and shy Piplup walked toward an odd tent with a Wigglytuff on it. This Piplup, named Pepp, was quite the youngster, only thirteen years old, and while he was quite timid, he was going to steel his courage that day, for he was going to attempt to become an explorer. Explorers were often looked up to, and for him to be looked up to… Well, it was his dream.

"C'mon, Pepp… You can do this…" He kept contemplating whether he should go… All he needed to do was stand on the grate in front of him. "I need to do this… I can't stand being made fun of anymore…" Often times, because of his bashful nature, he would get picked on and bullied, and after he had confessed a crush he had on another boy, things only got worse. He had to do this. He needed to prove to himself and the world that he wasn't a waste.

Eventually, he summoned up the courage he needed… or so he thought. When he stepped on the grate, he was utterly startled by a voice that rang out, "Pokémon detected! Pokémon detected!" The small penguin Pokémon cried out in surprise, but he tried to keep his cool as the voice continued, "Whose footprint? Whose footprint? Footprint is Piplup's! Footprint is Piplup's!"

He couldn't take it anymore! It was too startling! He ran off the grate before turning back to face it and sighing. "What a chicken I am…" He looked down at the brown bag that was slung around his shoulder, and he opened it to reveal a stone with an odd-looking inscription on it. "I… thought having this would give me some courage… So much for that…" That stone had been Pepp's lucky charm for some time now, about two years.

He sighed once again before closing the bag, turning around, and leaving. Little did he know, there were two other Pokémon there watching the entire scene: a Zubat and a Koffing.

"Hey, Koffing, did you see all that?" asked the Zubat.

The Koffing nodded. "Sure did. That wimp of a Piplup had something valuable."

Zubat's lips curled into a smile. "And that valuable thing looks like it could fetch a good price. What say we go take it from him?"

Pepp made his way south to the local beach. The sun was just setting, and it was the time that the Krabby would come out and blow bubbles over the ocean. To Pepp, this normally looked beautiful, but he wasn't in a very good mood. He felt just the opposite.

"Goddammit…" He didn't swear much, but when he did, he was really angry, and it was usually at himself that he was mad. "I'm such an idiot and a coward. How did I even think I had a chance of becoming an explorer?" He walked to the edge of the shore, letting the waves wash over his feet. "Sometimes, I wish I could drown. Then, all my problems would just be over. Why did I even have to admit that crush in the first place? Things would have been so much better if I had kept my mouth shut." A couple tears fell from his eyes. For being only thirteen years old, he had seen and been through a lot.

"No, I can't cry. My dad said I need to be strong no matter what!" He wiped away his tears before he heard a groan coming from his left. He glanced in that direction to see a drenched Skitty laying on the ground, most likely just coming back into consciousness. "Whoa! What the heck happened?" He dashed over to the Skitty and knelt down next to him. "Hey, you okay, there?"

Pepp heard more than a few groans as the Skitty tried to ascertain what was going on. As his senses slowly returned, he saw a worried Piplup looking at him. "Ugh… W-where am I? What happened? And who are you?"

Although he wasn't exactly in a good mood, he tried to look like it as he smiled and replied, "I'm Pepp, and I found you just lying on this beach here, South Beach. I think you were probably washed up on shore, but I don't know what happened to you."

"Right…" Everything was still a bit fuzzy for the kitten Pokémon, but in a few seconds, he realized something very odd. Wait a sec… That's a Piplup! I'm talking to a Pokémon! I'm a human! I can't talk to Pokémon!

Pepp noticed something weird about the Skitty's face, like a whole bunch of thoughts were racing through his head. "Are you all right?"

"I have to be hallucinating…" mumbled the pink cat as he stood up. "I can't possibly be hearing you speak. I'm a human, for Pete's sake."

The blue penguin cocked his head a bit. "Human? What on Earth are you talking about? You look like a normal Skitty to me."

And the Skitty was stunned speechless. I-I-I'm a Skitty?! How the hell?! What happened to me?!

Pepp's sweat dropped at the cat Pokémon's silence. "You're really weird. So, do you have a name?"

That one, he had to think about for a second. What is my name? Do I even have a name? Who am I? Damn… I have amnesia… First I get turned into a Pokémon, and then I get amnesia. How awesome. After a couple seconds of thinking, however, he finally was able to recover his name from scrambled bits and pieces of memory that he couldn't quite put together. They didn't even make sense by themselves, but they at least gave him a consistent name. "Cameron. My name's Cameron…" he paused, trying harder to search his memories for some kind of nickname, "but just call me Cammie."

"Cammie, huh? That's an unusual name… but I like it! Nice to meet you, Cammie!" Pepp held his hand out for me to shake, and Cammie was about to do so, but then he two other Pokémon sneaking up behind the penguin.

"Pepp, look out!"

"Wha?!" As soon as he turned around, he was hit by a Tackle, knocking the stone that was in his bag away from him. Cammie was about to try and deal with the two other Pokémon, a Koffing and a Zubat, until he saw Pepp struggling to get up, and he figured he should probably help him first.

He walked over and helped the blue Pokémon stand up before the two others took the stone. "It really does look valuable," said Zubat. "Sorry, Pepp, but we're gonna have to take this… Actually we're not sorry! Have fun without your special stone, fag!"

As the two of them rushed into a cave, Pepp yelled, "Hey, give it back!" He fell to his knees and started crying.

"Pepp…" Cammie didn't know if he would offend the Piplup with this or not, but he had to say something. "I know I'm probably not in a position to say this, but why would you just sit around and take getting your special stone stolen and getting called a fag?"

Pepp started drawing in the sand. "'Cause I've gotten used to being called that word… and it's true anyway, so why should I give a damn?"

Cammie didn't have any idea why, as his memories were still scrambled more than breakfast eggs, but he hated seeing someone just take insults. It hit him in his very core. "Stop feeling sorry for yourself," he stated sternly. "You're just as important as the next guy, if not more. Don't cry over something if you still have a chance to fix it. Now I want you to go in there and stand up to those bullies. I'll even help you."

The blue penguin looked up at the pink kitten with hope in his eyes. "Really? You'd actually help someone you just met?"

Cammie smiled. "Why not? You seem like a good Pokémon, and I don't really have a reason not to help you."

Pepp stuttered as he gave thanks to the Skitty, and after that, the two of them were off to retrieve the stolen stone…

After fighting hordes of wild Pokémon, the two boys reached the end of the cave that Koffing and Zubat were waiting at, facing the wall in front of them. Pepp summoned up some courage and yelled, "H-h-hey! Koffing! Zubat!"

The two Pokémon being referred to turned around, and Koffing smirked. "Well, well, if it ain't our favorite fag and chicken."

As offended as Pepp was by that statement, he couldn't let it get to him. He had to be strong this time; he hadn't gone through that entire cave just to come back empty-handed. "Y-y-you gimme b-back what you s-s-stole from me! Th-that's my personal treasure! It… It means everything to me!"

Zubat smiled as well. "Oh, so this is treasure after all. Looks like it'll be worth more than we bargained for!"

"You're right," responded Koffing. "All the more reason we're not giving it back!"

"W-w-w-what?! But I…! But…!" After all that, they wouldn't give it back… The blue penguin was starting to lose hope.

"Would you just give it back to him?" Cammie didn't want to see those Pokémon just get what they want, and he didn't want to see Pepp give up so easily. "Why would you take something that's not rightfully yours?"

"Who's this guy?" asked Zubat. "Never seen him around before… but if you and the faggot want it so bad, why don't you come take it from us? Unless you're too chicken."

"We will," replied Cammie. "C'mon, Pepp, we're gonna get your lucky charm back! Don't be afraid and don't give up now! You can do this!"

The penguin Pokémon was stunned, to say the least. This was the kindest anyone had been to him in the past two years, and he felt as if there was some sort of special bond between him and Cammie. If Cammie wanted him to fight, then he would! "You're right, I can do this! Let's get it back!"

The Skitty smiled. Who knew he could have that much of an influence on someone he just met? "All right, you two, get ready to get beaten down!" Immediately after he said that, he launched himself at Zubat with a Tackle.

"You're pretty cocky, pink boy," responded Zubat with an equally cocky smile. However, he was so focused on his own insults toward Cammie that he didn't noticed that same Pokémon hitting him dead on, knocking the bat Pokémon out in one shot.

Both Koffing and Pepp stared in awe at the scene that had just unfolded. "How about not paying attention to your insults so much? And what's wrong with pink? I think it's a good color."

Then Pepp started thinking, If Cammie's fighting, then I've gotta do what I can, too! "Hey, Koffing! Heads up!" As soon as that Pokémon turned around, the blue one slammed right down on him with a Pound, almost driving him to fainting.

Almost immediately after that, Cammie rushed in with a normal attack, knocking Koffing out, too.

In a few seconds, after the two bullies had recovered from the daze of fainting, they groaned out of pain, and Koffing said "ow" repeatedly.

"Jeez… They packed more of a punch than I thought…" mumbled Zubat. He threw the stone that he took from Pepp toward the two other Pokémon. "Here, take it back."

As Zubat and Koffing got up, Koffing commented, "Just remember that your victory was a fluke!" And the two of them ran off.

Pepp sighed out of relief. "Thank goodness my Relic Fragment is safe… I thought I had lost it to those guys. Thanks so much for your help, Cammie. I don't think I would've been able to do that without you."

"I-it was nothing, Pepp!" exclaimed the pink cat out of embarrassment from Pepp's praise. "Don't worry about it."

"What do you mean it was nothing? You helped me get my most prized possession back. I seriously can't thank you enough…" the penguin scanned around himself for a second, "but this really isn't the place to talk. Let's go outside."

When the two of them arrived outside, Pepp once more thanked Cammie. "Seriously, thanks so much."

"Again, it was nothing. I just thought you could use some help."

"Well, whether you think it was a big deal or not, I do." Cammie didn't understand why Pepp was so grateful for this. Was he really bullied so much that any act of kindness was that important to him. And the two Pokémon back there had called him faggot and gay… so Cammie began to wonder if that might not have been the root of Pepp's suffering.

"Um… I, er, don't mean to pry, but those Pokémon… They called you gay. Did they… y'know, actually mean that you're…?"

"You don't have to beat around the bush about it. I've been asked this question so many times. Yes, I'm gay, but it's not something I'm necessarily proud of…"

Cammie immediately felt ashamed for asking such a question. "I-I'm sorry, Pepp! I didn't mean to make you—"

"Cammie, don't worry about it. It's fine." To further reinforce his point, Pepp smiled. "I don't blame you for wanting to know, and that's kinda the reason I wanted to get that stone back anyway." He opened his bag and took the stone that was in there out of it and set it on the ground. "You know what this is?" The Skitty shook his head. "I really don't know either, but I call it a Relic Fragment. It's my lucky charm and my treasure. I think it's something from ruins or relics or something of that sort, and I really like legends and lore. Do you, Cammie?"

"I wouldn't really know… I kinda can't remember anything… but I guess it could be interesting."

"You have amnesia?! I had no idea! No wonder you didn't hesitate to help me."

"Don't go assuming that. Maybe I would've helped you even if I didn't… but anyway, what were you going to say about legends? Why do you like them?"

"Well, a lot of them give me hope that there are hidden treasure troves, uncharted territories veiled in darkness, and new places waiting to be discovered. Those places would be full of gold and treasure and history! And whoever would find them would probably make history, too! Wouldn't that be awesome?! I always dream of making those discoveries. It's exciting…! And it gives me hope that, with those discoveries, I'll finally be accepted… That's why I like this fragment so much. Look at the pattern on top."

Cammie looked at the pattern. It looked almost like a sun with four rays, each one curled at the end, and where there weren't rays, it looked as if there was light shining from it. "All right, but what's so special about it?"

"Don't you see? This could be a key to legendary and undiscovered places! To places where there are treasure and discoveries waiting to be found! Because of that, I want to join an exploration team. They go around exploring different dungeons, making discoveries almost every day. I want to make those discoveries, too! And this fragment must go somewhere! If I could just discover where that "somewhere" is, then I could finally be accepted!"

"So why don't you join an exploration team? You seem more than fit for the task."

Pepp sighed and looked at the ground. "That's the problem… Earlier today, I tried joining one, but… I chickened out…" Before he got too depressed again, he changed the subject. "So, Cammie, what are you gonna do now? I mean, you got turned into a Pokémon and lost your memory. Do you have anywhere to stay?"

Cammie didn't respond, as he was trying to think if he had anywhere to go. Nothing came to mind.

"If not, can I ask a huge favor of you?" Cammie nodded. "W-would… Um… Would you wanna… um… f-f-form an exploration t-team… with me…? I… I think you and I… w-would make a good team together… So… could you? Please?"

To tell the truth, Cammie was shocked. He was being recruited out of the blue by someone he barely knew… Granted he barely knew anyone right now… but still, it was quite a request. He didn't even really know what exploration teams did besides explore… but he didn't have anywhere to stay, and Pepp seemed like a really nice Pokémon. Maybe he could even discover who he was by hanging around the penguin Pokémon. "All right," he said with a smile. "I'll form a team with you."

"R-r-really?" asked Pepp, tears of joy forming in his black eyes. "You'll form an exploration team with me?" Cammie nodded his head and smiled wider. As soon as he did, Pepp nearly tackled him with a hug and started crying. "Thank you so much! You have no clue how much this means to me!"

The Skitty chuckled. "I think I can guess."

After a minute or two, Pepp let go of Cammie, wiping away his tears as he did. "All righty, then! Let's do this! The training at Wigglytuff's Guild will be hard, but I know we can handle it! Let's give it our best shot!"

So, how was it? Good, bad, okay, weird? Any reviews are appreciated, especially since this is my first Pokémon fic. I hope it was an enjoyable read for you guys, and I should be getting an update of one of my existing stories to you guys soon. Till then, auf wiedersehen!

-Tails Luv-er