Welcome, welcome. Not much to say, other than hope you enjoy!

Edited on March 20th, 2019.

"Another day," a shinx sighed as he walked downhill. "Another failure. Wigglytuff wouldn't accept someone who can't bring themselves to apply anyway." He batted at the pendant he wore around his neck and sighed.

It was yet another day for this particular shinx. Didn't matter how long he'd lived in Treasure Town, how long he'd wanted to do something, how badly he wished to grow a spine and just step forward. No, just another day of the same.

Deciding to clear his head, the shinx walked south. Heading down the steps, down the trail and down even further, until the ground turned from rough dirt to soft sand.

Dusk was nearing and the krabby had emerged. Blowing their bubbles in some enchanting ritual; the beach looked gorgeous and the shinx breathed in the salty air.

"Wow." Shinx smiled, looking out as the dying sunlight bounced off the waves and through the bubbles, creating a sparkling image just for him. Breathing deeply, he tried to let all the tension flow into the ocean to be washed away.

"The beach is always at its most beautiful after a storm. And last nights was a doozy." He said, speaking to no one but himself. Hearing his own thoughts gave him some peace, it didn't seem so lonesome when there was talking to be had.

"This is always where I end up feeling sorry for myself." He smiled ruefully, tasting the salty air. "But it makes me feel better to be here. This is my spot." It helped there was a dungeon close by; the risk, however small, that one could be attacked by a feral that wandered out kept most of the town away.

He took another deep breath before glancing in the direction of the dungeon, just in case something had decided to emerge, and frowned. "Wait… what's that?"

Heart suddenly lurching, Shinx took a hesitant step forward, then another. "What's going on over… oh yikes!" Stepping closer allowed him perfect view, of pale fur and a motionless form. "Someone's collapsed in the sand!"

Dropping any sense of hesitation, the shinx bounded over to the fallen pokémon. He'd been on this beach many times, and while once or twice there had been a rogue feral he needed to fight off, never before had there been someone unconscious.

He was certain of it too, no sane pokémon would lie in the way of the waves for long enough to be half buried.

Stomach leaping into his throat, he reached the side of the fallen pokémon. "Hey? HEY?" He gently shook the meowth, the tail gave it away, and then roughly shook them until he got a response.

"Ugh…" the meowth groaned and the shinx sighed in relief. He'd been building a charge to shock them in case they didn't react to the shaking.

"What happened?" Shinx asked. "Are you okay?"

"Pleh." The meowth coughed, spitting out sand. "Ugh… what happened?"

"That's what I'm asking you!" the shinx half-shouted. "What are you doing, lying asleep in the sand?"

Rubbing his face, as there was sand all over it, the meowth tried to focus on whoever was shouting at him. "I… what?"

To the shinx's surprise, the visitor to his beach jumped back with a fearful yowl. Spinning behind him shown nothing was on the attack, leaving the culprit to the meowth's terror to be him.

"Hey, hey." The shinx tried to wave the panic down, just in case the stranger lashed out. "I'm not going to hurt you, calm down!"

"Calm down? Calm DOWN? Where the hell am I?" the meowth shouted. "What the hell are you? What is going on?"

"I, I, I," the shinx stuttered. "I'm sorry," he said on reflex.

Pausing at the reflection of his own panic on another's face, the meowth paused. "Um… sorry for yelling." He felt his face heat up. "I wasn't expecting… uh… to meet a shinx today… or ever," he added under his breath.

"It's okay." Shinx smiled, hoping it'd put the jumpy stranger at ease. "I was just worried, you weren't moving, and outside a dungeon, so… yeah. Hello." He gave a small wave with a paw. "You seem to know I'm a shinx. I think you're a meowth right?" Cocking his head, he looked the stranger up and down before nodding. "Yep. Don't see many meowth's around here but I'm pretty sure you are one."

Realising he was speaking his thoughts out loud again, the shinx gave a small chuckle. "Ah, sorry. I meant to ask; how did you wind up unconscious here? Did you try the Beach Cave dungeon or something?"

His sandy companion didn't hear anything past meowth. As the shinx babbled on, getting more and more distressed at the complete lack of reaction, the meowth carefully poked himself in the leg.

"Huh," he said, looking down. His lovely human hand was much smaller, somewhat furrier, and had a disturbing lack of digits comparatively. He wiggled them, hoping that his fingers would reappear. The most curious feeling occurred when he tried to move either his pointer or thumb, both attempted actions would move just one of the three digits.

Glancing down further, more cream-coloured fur. Trailing down to hind paws that were tipped with brown fur. He tried to clench his toes, and claws popped out. Trying the same with his hands would cause his new paws to also unsheathe claws.

He felt up, without unclenching his hand, and felt his forehead. The feeling of metal was most unwelcome.

The talking shinx had stopped talking now and was staring at him in confusion as the stranger just began to touch all over himself in mounting concern. "Excuse me?" he asked, the meowth just kept poking himself. "Hello? Meowth? Are you okay?"

Wetting his lips with a horrifically rough tongue, the meowth said one word. "Huwah?" And then fainted.

The shinx stared in confusion as the meowth toppled face first into the sand. He stared in silence for a moment before glancing around, just checking if this was some sort of bizarre trick. When nothing out-of-the-ordinary occurred he carefully stepped forward and nudged the meowth with a paw again.

This time he shot right to his feet upon the slightest touch. "DREAM! DREAM!" he shouted, startling the shinx. He rubbed his face with paws victoriously before freezing. "Oh."

The sand out of his eyes portrayed the ugly truth. A very concerned shinx staring at him and cream fur and paws remaining. Thankfully the claws had retracted when he lost consciousness.

"H-hey, are you?" the shinx began to say, strongly wanting to run and leave the lunatic to his lonesome. He fidgeted with the pendant he wore, trying to gain courage from it. Before he could finish his sentence, however, something slammed into him from behind, knocking the shinx flying with a cry of shock.

The meowth started back, but not quick enough, when the shinx was violently launched in his direction. The weight of the small pokémon shouldn't have been so bad, but as he was currently lighter than the shinx, the impact knocked them both into the receding wave.

"Well I do beg your pardon," a deep voice chided them.

Hissing in anger, the shinx pulled himself off the crazy meowth to turn on those who attacked him. "Hey what was that for?" he snarled as he got a look at the pokémon who shoved him.

A floating round, cratered, ball and an eyeless bat. The meowth groaned as the smell from the koffing reached his nose.

"Heh-heh-heh can't figure it out?" the zubat laughed. "We wanted to mess with you cause you can't face up to us. Am I right?"

"W-what?" All indignation seemed to flow from the shinx as he realised he was outnumbered.

"That's yours, isn't it?" the zubat asked, nodding to a distinctive stone fragment. The shinx gasped and clutched at his neck, the string holding his pendant had been snapped and flung from him when he was shoved.

"My Relic Fragment!" Shinx said before growling. "That's mine."

"Sorry kiddo," the zubat laughed. "We'll be taking that." With that he flew over to the stone and picked it up with his mouth.

"Woah-ho-ho," the koffing laughed. "Not going to make a move to get it back?" Shinx hesitated. "What's the matter, too scared?" He received a noise suspiciously similar to 'gurk' from the shinx. "Woah-ho-ho, you really are a coward. See you round little kitty."

"Yeah, see oo' awound," the zubat said, voice slightly muffled from holding the pendant in his mouth. With that, the pair flew off into the cave beyond the beach.

"…Awe… what should I do?" the shinx whimpered. "That's my personal treasure. Without that I'm… no… NO!" Standing up he shook the sand and water off him. "I have to get it back. It's MY treasure." Building up a head of steam, he went to rush off.

Then paused.

"I… ah… hey?" the shinx called, looking to the meowth he had found, and crashed into. "I know this is a lot to ask, but would you help me?"

"Me?" he asked, blinking furiously. Koffing's stench had remained and felt like it was only growing stronger with the longer he sat still.

He had been dazed from the impact but had still observed the exchange in a mixture of silence and abject frozen indecision. He had a pretty good memory, and this all looked very familiar.

He'd never had a shinx before. Nor had he been a meowth.

The shinx's expression was slowly crumbling at the continued silence and he began to bend his head and turn away, finally the meowth found a voice that wasn't screaming and demanding answers.

"Yes."

"Really!" the shinx shouted excitedly, before calming. "R-really? You'll help me get my treasure back? We'll probably have to fight those guys."

"Yes." He swallowed to clear his throat. "Yes, I'll help you. But first, who are you? I'm Sean."

"S-Sean that's your…? That's a- no we don't have time for this, just call me Shinx. Come on!" He turned and charged forwards, aiming to enter the Mystery Dungeon.

"Wait up!" Sean yelled, hastening to run across the sand. It wasn't easy even with shoes and long legs, scampering along the sand was easier when he fell forwards and decided to awkwardly copy Shinx on all fours.

Once the sand turned into steady ground, he stood back on two feet again and they quickly approached the entrance to the dungeon. "Ugh, this place smells," he groaned, feeling up and then realising he had no proper nose. "My nose!"

Shinx gave him a baffled look and shook his head. "It's just Koffing, we'll need to deal with it when we find them anyway." Under his breath he added. "What nose?"

"Exactly," Sean said as they entered, causing Shinx to cringe from embarrassment.

Beach Cave was not like Sean had expected, although he had never really thought there would be a time he'd be expecting to see it firsthand.

A yawning chasm that seemed to slope down and continue going down. Shinx hesitated for a brief moment before pushing forwards, Sean hesitated for a longer moment, but he didn't want to be left behind and he hastened to catch up.

It was difficult to run to catch up, since claws would seemingly randomly unsheathe themselves from his hind paws.

It was strange trying to get them to retract. A sensation similar to pushing spikes into his toes, but without the ungodly agony from doing so.

They continued moving down until the floor evened out. Once it did, Shinx paused completely. He took a deep breath as Sean looked around, then choked from the smell.

The walls were not too far from what the game had textured them like. Bluish stone, a damp light-magenta ground and deeper pits of water all around. The trip downwards had been somewhat dim, but strangely now they were truly at the beginning everything was perfectly visible. A light shone from nowhere, but it was something Sean decided was best not pondering on.

"Wow, we're really in the dungeon," Shinx whispered before a reverberating sound startled him and he squeaked, popping off a jolt of electricity that, thankfully, didn't hit Sean.

"This place feels even weirder than I thought," Shinx muttered before bumping into Sean. He jumped, and sparked with electricity, before realising it was the same pokémon he had begged to come along. "Oh, it's just you."

Sean licked his lips, tasting the air, and decided Shinx was right. This place did feel weird, and the smell was even worse. Salty and foul.

"Have you ever been in a Mystery Dungeon before?" Shinx asked, taking a tentative step forward.

"No," Sean answered. "Not that I remember at least," he corrected, thinking over it.

"Why wouldn't you remember?"

"I don't remember anything really. Just my name…"

"What! Really?" They were walking at a steady pace now, just following a passageway.

"Well, I remember you waking me up on the beach and freaking out."

"Me? You were the one going crazy… although I guess that explains why." He frowned as he imagined waking up in a place he had no idea where he was. "I know I wouldn't take it well. Hmm…"

He looked over at the meowth stepping awkwardly to avoid particularly slimy parts on the ground. "If you don't remember much of anything, does that mean you don't remember what a Mystery Dungeon is?"

Sean took a moment to respond. This was all too bizarre, and frighteningly lifelike, for a dream. He never had fantastic dreams like this, the most he ever dreamed about was flying. And even those felt floaty in a way this experience didn't.

This was just like a game he had played many times, perhaps too many, if there was such a concept. The first game staring pokémon he had ever played. This was almost painfully unusual, and he barely knew how to respond to the question. He knew what a Mystery Dungeon was for sure, but remember it in the scope of a being who had existed here the whole time?

"No," Sean answered, shaking his head.

"Oh, that's a bit awkward…" Shinx frowned, turning away. They continued walking for a minute before Shinx turned back, holding an exceptionally guilty expression. "I feel terrible. I've dragged you in here and you don't have any idea what's going on."

"It's okay." Sean waved him down.

"No, it's not!" Shinx protested, with enough heat to startle Sean. "Mystery Dungeons are dangerous. Look we haven't gone that far in yet, if we backtrack we should be able to find the exit before it changes on us."

"Changes?" Sean asked, genuinely interested. "How?"

"Well uh… the thing with Mystery Dungeons is that they are different each time you go in. This corridor we are walking right now probably won't be the same if we leave and come back in. Unfortunately, pokémon live in these areas, usually before they become Mystery Dungeons, and staying too long in a place like this can make someone… feral." Shinx whispered the last word as if it was the filthiest of swearwords.

"Feral?" Sean frowned, glancing around. "Like what?"

"THIS!" Shinx yelled, causing Sean to jump. Shinx fired a bolt of lightning that raised the fur on the back of Sean's neck and a horrific zapping sound and a scream brought him right to the threat.

Already it was fleeing, but a shellos had tried to jump him from behind.

Panting slightly, Shinx gave him a crooked smile. "Pokémon in dungeons are almost certainly going to attack adventurers. They don't listen to reason, they don't even seem capable of talking anymore." He shook his head. "It's really sad, and nothing seems to be able to help them. According to some really strong adventurers, sense can sometimes be knocked into them, but it seems to come down to pure luck on if it happens or not."

"How long does someone need to be in one of these things before they go… feral?" Sean asked once his heart had stopped pounding. He could still hear the electricity surging and the scream from his would-be attacker.

"I'm not sure exactly," Shinx admitted, causing a rather unpleasant jolt of panic to thump Sean's heart. "But usually a few days. Most adventurers are pretty safe, but if you get knocked out and NOT eaten or killed, and you are stuck in a dungeon for too long, it's been known to happen." He shivered slightly.

The matter-of-fact nature of how Shinx spoke about getting eaten sent a shiver down Sean's spine, but he ignored it in favour of smiling. "Sounds like risky business."

"It is," Shinx agreed, nodding his head. "But the rewards!" His head shot up high with determination blazing in his eyes, along with literal electricity crackling through his fur. "The romance of the adventurer. The skills you need to face the trials. The treasures you can find. Dungeons always have the best loot, some pokémon believe it's a way of luring us in, but if so the rewards are still worth it!"

"Sounds like you want to be an adventurer?" Sean laughed, causing Shinx to blush and fluff up his fur.

"…Maybe?" he admitted quietly "Is that bad?"

"How should I know?"

"I dunno, you seem like the confident type. You accepted coming into a strange place with a strange pokémon without, well… much hesitation."

"I was just thinking to myself," Sean said, shaking his head. "I heard you talking to yourself when I was drifting in and out of consciousness, so you're no better."

"You heard that?" Shinx's ears fell flat. "How much?"

Sean gave a chuckle. He hadn't heard much, and he couldn't really remember much of what the partner said at the beginning of the game. "Something about liking bubbles."

Shinx gave him a flat look. "Oh. Just that huh?"

"What do you want me to say?" Sean grinned.

"DUCK!" Shinx suddenly shouted. Sean just blinked at him dumbly, he wasn't used to following immediate orders for life-preserving measures. Not his own life at least.

Seeing he wasn't moving, Shinx tackled him out of the way of a powerful jet of water, it clipped Shinx's tail but did no harm.

Sean felt the wind be knocked out of him when Shinx used his chest as a springboard to leap up and fire a jolt of electricity, sending something else scampering with a cry.

"Ow," Sean moaned, rolling to his feet. "You're strong, you know that?"

"What?" Shinx's face went so red Sean could see it through the fur. "No, I'm not! They're just weak!"

"They'd probably take me out in a single hit, right?" Sean smirked, taking advantage of his obvious weakness to gain what he loved most. Minor abashment from friends and acquaintances.

"W-well," Shinx stuttered. "N-no. You're not weak. I j-just didn't want you to get hurt. Getting hit in the back isn't fun, I can tell from experience."

Sean nodded sagely. "Getting hit in the front isn't much better either. So, thanks for hitting me in the side." He paused for a moment and dropped the sage look. "Oh! I meant that genuinely! Sorry, I don't want to seem ungrateful. I really am thankful you saved me from getting hit by… something. What was it?"

"A Water Gun," Shinx mumbled. He clearly felt bad for tackling him and Sean reaped the consequences of his enjoyment. Guilt.

"Hey, I really do mean it," he said, scratching an arm awkwardly. "Thank you. That's twice you've saved me from getting attacked from behind. And so, I'll repay the help by helping you get that, uh… thingy back. Your treasure?" He had almost said Relic Fragment, and Sean didn't want to spill any accidental knowledge. He'd look creepy.

"You really will help?" Shinx beamed and Sean had to bite back a sarcastic remark.

"Yep." He nodded happily. "I'm still here aren't I. Thanks to you even, gotta pay you back somehow."

Nodding determinedly, Shinx continued leading the way through the dungeon, this time Sean kept a much closer eye on his surroundings. Already he'd been nearly hit twice already.

They entered a room that was suspiciously bare. No monsters descended upon them and they moved on unmolested.

Part of Sean was looking out for stairs, and wondered if he should ask Shinx about them, but held his tongue. They continued on for much longer than Sean gathered a standard Beach Cave floor to be, so he reasoned the dungeons were more related to the Mystery Dungeon animated specials rather than strictly the games.

They stumbled across several enemies, each time Shinx zapped them with electricity and sent them scurrying back into the pools of water. The pokémon creeped Sean out, the emptiness of their eyes, viewing but not seeing, and their complete lack of sound besides angry, or pained, screeching made him all the more uncomfortable.

An anorith dropped something after Shinx blasted it and Sean felt the overwhelming urge to grab it, pick it up, keep it tucked to his chest and purr on it forever. He shook the feeling off after only twelve seconds, did his best to ignore the small snort of amusement from Shinx, and they continued on.

It was a seed, not as big as the game would have implied, but still large enough that 'seed' was an odd choice of name. He wondered if it would grow into anything, then pondered where the seeds came from.

"What is this?" he asked as they entered another room. Shinx gave him a curious look before remembering the amnesia.

"Looks like a Blast Seed to me. Keep hold of that, but not too tight. They can explode… actually that's entirely what they are for. A good weapon, I think it'll be useful later."

Later. It struck a nervous cord with Sean as he realised what must be approaching soon. He could even distantly smell the sour, putrid, stench that the koffing had left even from the brief interaction that was had earlier. It bothered him the scent hadn't faded yet, it was even more unpleasant than Koffing earlier had been.

Determined to keep hold of the Blast Seed until the time was right, Sean continued following Shinx and letting him do all the work.

It wasn't like he didn't want to help. But he was having trouble just keeping claws unsheathed let alone actually fighting. The fact a battle was coming up left him feeling nervous.

"I don't know how to fight like this!" he thought to himself in mounting worry, paw holding tightly on the Blast Seed.

The ground began to change. Turning from the magenta flooring to sand as they drew closer to the sound of waves.

"Here we go," Shinx whispered. "They came in before us. So, they should be at the end here."

Sure enough, a pair of Poison-type pokémon floated before them, backs turned and facing the waves.

"Nothing but waves past here." The lighter voice that belonged to Zubat rang out. Sean palmed the Blast Seed, considering giving the pair a taste of their own medicine and attacking from behind, but Shinx spoke up before he could decide.

"Uh… HEY!" he shouted, causing the pair to swivel around to them.

"Well, well," Koffing boomed. "If it isn't our old friend, the kitten."

"Give me…" Shinx mumbled, he glanced to Sean for support and received a nod. "GIVE ME BACK WHAT YOU STOLE FROM ME!"

Even Koffing and Zubat were surprised by his volume. "That's my personal treasure," he continued, at a more reasonable tone. "It means everything to me."

"Treasure you say?" Zubat asked, interested. "Hmm. This piece of junk may be more valuable than we thought." Zubat was wearing the Relic Fragment and the image instilled an amount of anger in Sean that surprised him. His claws flexed.

"It could be worth more than we had hoped I'd say," Koffing agreed. "We ought to try selling it. We may just get a high price." The pair sniggered. "Woah-ho-ho, imagine what the boss would think? All the more reason not to give it back."

"What?" Shinx's expression mixed anger with desperation. "Give it to me NOW!"

"If you want it so badly, why not try and take it. Heh-heh-heh." Zubat snickered before the pair of them suddenly attacked.

Zubat opened his mouth and screeched, a horrible shockwave erupted from him knocking the balance off both Sean and Shinx. As they staggered from the audio onslaught, Koffing belched a terrific amount of smoke from the holes on his body, covering the pristine battlefield in a choking miasma.

"Woah-ho-ho take a load of this!" Koffing spat globules of deadly poison, firing indiscriminately into the smog.

A shout of pain from Shinx made him focus his shots, but the concentration kept him in place. Prime for Shinx's retaliation.

"Who-ho-hurg!" Koffing grunted as he was hit by a Thundershock attack, knocking him back and nearly deflating him for a moment.

Coughing, Shinx and Sean ran to safer air, taking it gulps of oxygen that wasn't flooded with smog. "You bastards," Shinx coughed, gasping for breath. "You play dirty."

"Heh-heh, what did you expect?" Zubat asked instead of attacking. He received a face of electricity for it.

"Gyah! Enough of this." Koffing came zooming back, slamming full-bodied into Shinx and knocking him down. "Eat some Sludge!" He took in a gulp of air to gather as much Power as he could, and Sean took his shot.

Koffing coughed; a brief feeling of puzzlement flew through his mind before everything went black.

"YES!" Sean cheered. He had thrown his Blast Seed aiming for Koffing's mouth and got it in one shot. It wasn't a Blast Seed after all, but a Sleep Seed was almost as useful.

Shinx unleashed electrical hell on the snoozing Koffing enough to wake him briefly, before unconsciousness claimed him once more.

Zubat screeched again, disorientating both of them, and dove into a vicious tackle. He slammed into Shinx and bit down, tearing a scream from Shinx.

Hearing Shinx's scream, Sean forced his eyes closed and focused on just where the sound was coming from. He toppled as soon as he tried to walk, but he toppled in the right direction.

The Smokescreen had faded but the stench was still there, it was building further.

Shinx tried blasting Zubat, but he had already released him and flew circles around the wildly-aiming Electric type. He screeched again and dove into another tackle, sending Shinx into the water.

"Heh-heh-heh," Zubat laughed, mouth spotted with a small bit of blood. He turned his attention to the meowth and swooped him again.

The sound of winging fluttering under wind brought back severely bad memories for Sean and he dove out of the way on reflex.

Zubat didn't mind, he sailed up and moved to try again. Only to be blasted out of the sky.

"GYAH!" Zubat cried as the electricity overwhelmed him and he plummeted to the ground.

Shinx was soaking wet, and had shocked himself to do it, but the unplanned swim had cleared his mind and allowed him better aim.

"Give me," Shinx panted, prowling forward and Zubat tried to flutter to the air. "MY TREASURE!" He pounced but missed as Zubat managed to rise into the air.

"Never," Zubat hissed and blasted him with another Supersonic. "Weaklings like you deserve to be taken from by the strong. So, this is wh-"

He didn't finish his sentence. Sean, having recovered from his own ailment, had taken his chance and finished Shinx's pounce. He snatched Zubat out of the air with his superior bipedal grip and pinned him to the ground.

"Shinx I got him!" He shouted, heart pounding as Zubat struggled. Zubat tried flapping his wings but Sean refused to let go. "This is just like holding a chicken, this is JUST like holding a CHICKEN!" he repeated in his head.

Zubat tried a Supersonic but wasn't angled right and the noise bounced harmlessly off the ground. Holding onto Zubat has tight as he was caused Sean's claws to extend and his captive hissed in pain but did stop struggling.

"G-great," Shinx said, still dizzy from Confusion that the Supersonic had inflicted on him. "Just give me… okay." He dunked his head in the water and pulled himself up, eyes no longer rolling and focused on the task at hand.

"You've lost," Shinx said, running forward. "Now I'm taking my treasure back." He yanked the Relic Fragment off Zubat's neck with his teeth and caused the bat-pokémon to eep with fear.

Sean looked to Shinx with questions and Shinx nodded. Taking a breath, Sean threw Zubat away from him and scuttled back to draw some distance between them. Zubat did not take this as a time to attack, simply glaring with a scathing look and fluttering to Koffing's side.

"Weh…" Koffing groaned, waking up and slowly floating up. "How did we get roughed up so badly by THEM?"

"I dunno," Zubat answered, looking past Sean and Shinx. "But they're gonna look worse in a moment."

"Wuh?" Koffing's eyes focused and he laughed. "Oh. Woah-ho-ho I see what you mean."

Sean and Shinx looked up from where they were checking the Relic Fragment for damage, narrowing their eyes. "What are you talking about?" Shinx asked as Sean's claws unsheathed again. "We beat you easily."

"If it were just us you'd be right, strangely enough," Koffing said smugly, causing Shinx to frown in confusion and Sean to gasp in horror.

The Smokescreen was long gone, and the piles of sludge weren't giving off much smell at all. Yet the putrid smell of utter horror was only getting stronger. It had been only getting stronger through the whole dungeon.

"SHINX," he shouted, spinning around to where they had entered from. "SKU-"

That was as far as he got before Skuntank descended upon him.

A meaty claw cracked Sean across the head and knocked him flying, Shinx could barely turn in time before Skuntank breathed right in his face.

The sheer stench was utterly overpowering, and he lost consciousness. The last thing he heard was a strange laughter. "Chaw-haw-haw…"

"Ugh… what happened?" Sean mumbled as he blinked his way back to the world of the conscious. "Ah arg!" He moved his head and then suddenly had sharp, stabbing, pains erupt from his chin, right side of neck, and his ribs.

"Ooh…" another sound caught his attention long enough to divert the pain for a moment.

Blinking away tears of pain, Sean forced himself to his feet. He was distantly aware that he was still very short, very furry, and very much not human. But most of his awareness was focused on Shinx, curled up in a ball and quietly sobbing.

"Shinx?" he called out softly, not sure what do say or do in the least.

Shinx heard him, despite the weak call, and uncurled, standing up. "Come on," Shinx muttered, turning tail and began walking out of the clearing.

Sean hastened to catch up with him, although there was no need. Shinx walked so slowly even with one leg going numb, Sean was able to keep up with him easily.

They exited the room and found themselves back at the room where they had started. Slope moving upwards to freedom.

Sean glanced behind him in confusion, but there was just flat wall where they had just come. Sensing his confusion, Shinx spoke.

"According to the experts, getting to the end of a dungeon and then leaving the last room will bring you to the entrance again." He spoke every word with a distressingly flat tone, one that made Sean want to reach over and hug him. Shinx was already trekking up the slope, so Sean hurried to join him.

They reached the exit to the cave. Dusk had arrived and was bathing the entire beach in beautiful colours. Shinx didn't seem to notice, he just trudged forwards.

Sean tried to find the words to say, but his mind was entirely fixated on something else that he couldn't. Shinx reached the gouge in the sand, marking the spot where his treasure had been stolen from him, and completely broke down.

"WHY DID THIS HAVE TO HAPPEN?" he screamed, burying his face in the sand and screaming harder. Sean stood frozen, awkwardly trying to move forwards and comfort the shinx, but his mind was too selfishly fixated on his own problems.

He traced his aching jaw, wincing at the sharp jab of pain he received for doing so. Skuntank had slammed into him, but he hadn't fainted until after Shinx had. He had felt the pain as sharp and clear as real life.

Sean had had dreams where he had fallen and hit the ground from great heights, been slammed into a shed once and knocked into the air. Not once had he felt pain.

His heart made various flips and clenches as the reality of his situation began to dawn on him. Not only was this not a dream in the slightest, but the story he knew was already going wrong.

Panic began to grip at him as Sean tried to remember every titbit of the plot at once, but each thread slipped away from him as Shinx cried harder. There were more important things to deal with than his own thoughts.

"Shinx." Sean found his words again. "I'm so sorry." He carefully stepped forward, then another, until he was by the Electric-type's side. He gently laid a paw, not a hand as he reminded himself, on the quivering ball that was supposed to be the spunky partner pokémon and sat down, remaining on the beach with him until he had cried enough.

"I'll never be an explorer," Shinx muttered not long after he stopped crying, bringing Sean out of his reverie.

Uncurling he came to his feet and gave a brief shake to get the sand off but gave up halfway. "What does it matter?" he mumbled and began to walk away. "Thanks for being there, but you've probably got better things to do than waste time with me."

"H-hey," Sean said and scurried over to him. "Shinx, don't say that. You will be an explorer and you're not a waste of time!"

Shinx paused and looked up at him, eyes bloodshot, but worst of all there was no spark to him. Literal or otherwise.

"Why do you care?" he asked. "I mean, you don't even know me. You told me your name and I didn't even tell you mine. I got you into trouble when you didn't know what you were getting into and then knocked out in a dungeon. I'm lucky you're not spitting on me right now, but instead you're putting paws on me and telling me I'm everything I'm not."

Sean didn't really know what to say to that. He knew the words were somewhere and desperately tried to find them. "W-well. I mean, we were in a hurry. I'm Sean." He put on a cheerful tone and stretched out a paw. "I woke up today with no memories except I'm pretty sure I used to be human. Who are you?"

The shinx blinked at that. "Human?" he asked, some liveliness returning to his expression. "You didn't say anything like that before…" he drifted off and eyes wandered a bit before he righted them back on Sean's face. "My name… well, everyone who knows me calls me Rai… which is just my sister. You can call me Shinx if you want to, strangers and all that."

"I know your name, and you know mine." Sean put a grin on, he knew Rai saw right through it though. "So, we're not strangers anymore."

"You're… very strange." Rai shook his head. "But I guess I'm not much better. I've had that Relic Fragment for years you see, it's the only thing I have left of my… well it's the only thing I really have. Had, I suppose." His ears drooped, and he sighed. "I was sure it meant something, something big for me. But I guess not."

He hesitated for a moment before going for broke. "You said you were human?"

Sean nodded, hoping he'd play this right. "Yeah. That's why I was so confused when I woke up. A talking shinx is, well, not what I was expecting. Having paws and a tail is weird too." Sean had mostly ignored the extra limb up to this point, everything else happening one after another. Now that he had time to focus he couldn't help but notice it.

"It's like having an extra arm," he said, swishing the tail up and down and side to side. "Except it can bend much more and doesn't have any fingers. This is really, really, weird for me."

"Not having a tail would be weird for me," Rai said, swishing his own tail in chorus with Sean's. "But I guess I can see your point… well uh… humans are kind of a myth around here."

"I could be wrong." Sean shrugged, defaulting to passively agreeing with the person doubting his claims. "I don't remember much of anything. Just that I'm Sean and that I'm supposed to be much taller and not have a tail. Or fur. And have five digits on each hand. And, well… I'm rambling."

"Heh." Rai smiled briefly. "You ARE a strange person."

"For sure," Sean confirmed, immediately working to get that smile again. "And you barely know me yet. Just think how weird I'll get later."

Rai raised an eyebrow as Sean revaluated what he had just said. "Um… not in a bad way? Sorry, I tend to talk a lot when I'm feeling nervous."

"Maybe I could use that," Rai said with the briefest smile. Twitching his tail and turning back around he said. "You've probably got nowhere to go. Walk with me for a bit."

As they walked, Sean took this as his chance to try and restore the track a little. "As I was saying, you are totally going to be an explorer. I mean, did you see how you handled yourself in that dungeon!"

"You mean getting knocked out by getting breathed on?"

"Not that part." Sean cringed, chiding himself internally. "I mean everything else. You walked us both through a Mystery Dungeon, protected both of us, fought two dirty bastards and beat them both." He paused and said. "I'm saying 'both' too much."

Rai gave a tiny smile again and Sean powered onwards. "The only thing I literally did was get in the way, hit Koffing with a Sleep Seed and hold Zubat. You battled them yourself, and everything before that." With the words flowing, Sean finally felt confident again. "Even at the end, Skuntank had to get you with a cheap shot after fighting his flunkies. He wasn't game to even fight you head on. What does that say about a coward like that?"

"Smart I guess, smarter than me," Rai said, looking away from Sean. "They were right about ME being a coward though. You say I'll be some adventurer, but I can't even gather the nerve to step on the guild grate to just get into the guild let alone ask to join."

As Sean gathered the words of his rebuttal, Rai added. "Um. The guild I'm talking about is the Wigglytuff Guild. They are one of the best guilds on the continent, I bet the world! If anyone wants to become an explorer, it's best they go through a guild."

"I don't think you're a coward," Sean said. "I mean it!" he added when Rai gave a bitter laugh. "Look at what you did today. No, seriously. Cowards don't do that. They roll over and take it. You charged in. That's brave."

"I had you there," Rai said, although there was less certainty in his voice now.

"And look how useful I was," Sean thumbed a digit at himself and laughed. "I wouldn't have made it through the second room without you. And honestly, until the very end, I was having fun. If you were an explorer I'd ask you to teach me."

"What are you saying?"

Sean swallowed and summoned all his nerve. "If you want, we can make a team together. The two of us can go to the, what was it? Wigglyfuff Guild and join together."

"Wigglytuff," Rai corrected. "And… and…" tears welled up in his eyes and he angrily brushed them away. "I completely failed today. You got knocked out and I failed to get my treasure back. Why would you want to make a team with me?"

"I like you." Sean shrugged. "And I think, I really do believe, you'll be a fantastic explorer. I can only hope I can keep up with you."

"You mean it?" Rai's voice was tinny and filled with the kind of hope that was almost painful to hear.

"One hundred percent yes!"

Beaming suddenly, Rai tackled Sean, repeating thank you until the sun set.

And so, the beginning comes to a close.

I don't plan on this being a plain retelling of Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky. I think I can do it right, still have the story we love, but change it as well. Right off the bat, the partner has lost the Relic Fragment. What other changes will a self-insert-style protagonist bring to this story? I hope you'll stick around to find out!