Wow, it's been a while since I've written for PMD! I don't own Pokémon, but as you probably know, I do own some OC's and the concept of Mountain Pass Town. Also, this is the setting of Explorers of Sky like I always have it. I got this idea when thinking about how weird and funny it is that Zangoose and Seviper are in the same Egg Group, but are rivals by genetics. It'd be like Romeo and Juliet (credit for that goes to Shakespeare). And then I thought, "Hey! I should write something like that!" So, here it goes.
Enjoy!
Chapter 1: Midnight Merry Melody
It was a cool, sunny day in Mountain Pass Town, a small town residing at the foot of four mountains in the eastern mountain range of Mystery Dungeon. Mystery Dungeon was a world inhabited by Pokémon with the mental capacity of humans. It was a world filled with wonder and excitement, and where there are wonder and excitement, there are explorers to engage them.
In Mountain Pass Town, there was a guild. It was grand for its youth, and for being run by youths. Piplup and Chimchar, the founders of Team Poké Pals, not only graduated from Wigglytuff's Guild in Treasure Town, but they reached the highly esteemed Guild Master Rank. Thus, they decided that there wasn't enough room in one town for two guilds and moved. They've rallied a nice bunch of Pokémon to join them as apprentices since then.
That is beside the point right now. A Seviper with a scar under his left eye slithered into the Poké Pals Guild, looking for a job. He was an explorer and a one-Pokémon team ever since he had a spat with his last team. He hissed, "Which job would pay the mossst? Hmm?" A certain job on the Job Bulletin board caught his eye. "'Help Zangoose! Last seen in Midnight Forest! Reward: 10,000 Poké'?! Heh! That'sss rich! I get a huge load of cash and I get to prove who is of the sssuperior speciesss!" He hated Zangoose, especially the one that led Team Razor Wind.
With thoughts of hatred and anger fueling his fury, Seviper used his sharp fangs and blade-like tail to take down every enemy in his sight. He did run into a couple of monster houses, but he was clever enough to lure them into a thin passageway in the woods where they could only get at him one at a time. He struck down enemy after enemy, pretending that each enemy was a member of Team Razor Wind.
Finally, he made it to the part of the woods where the missing Zangoose was supposed to be. Suddenly, he heard the most beautiful singing and was nothing short of charmed. As if he was hypnotized, he slithered toward the voice. It was sweet and gentle, yet strong and firm. It was also female.
When the singing grew louder, he knew he was close. He poked his head through a bush and saw a heavily injured female Zangoose singing as she held her wounds. Normally, he would have attacked her on the spot, but he didn't. He couldn't. He wasn't sure why, and he didn't want to, but he felt…an attraction towards her. Was it a trick? No, she was in too poor a condition to pull a trick like that.
"Excussse me, Missss…" Seviper hissed as he slithered out. "Are you, perhapsss, in need of a ressscue?"
"G-get back!" the injured Zangoose yelled and started hissing at him. She stopped when her wounds flared up in pain. "Darn it all! I can't…" She was crying in pain and humiliation. Seviper felt guilty, but why? He normally hated Zangoose. What was so special about this female? Did he pity her? No, it was something else that he couldn't put into words.
"No need to worry. I'm here to bring you home," Seviper explained, trying to sound soothing. It wasn't easy when your species naturally had a hissing lisp, not to mention physical features that one would normally find menacing.
"W-what…?" the she-Zangoose stammered questioningly, which Seviper found cute. "Is this a joke…?"
"No! No, I ssswear it's not! I'm an explorer! Look!" Seviper pulled his badge out of his Treasure Bag.
"A Silver Rank…?" Zangoose said as she squinted. She was dizzy and unable to move. "It's over for me…"
"No, it's not. I'll keep you sssafe, now that I found you," Seviper promised intently. The more he thought about it, the more his hiss seemed like a turn-off. He would have to do something about it. He wasn't sure why he sounded so intent, but he was determined to keep this female out of further harm's way, even if she was a Zangoose. He coiled himself around her and maneuvered himself to prop her up. Then, he used the Escapist skill that was essential for every explorer to know for a rescue and got the two of them out.
Back at the guild, none other than the members of Team Razor Wind were waiting for the rescue of that female Zangoose. The Zangoose that led Team Razor Wind was growing impatient. "I swear, if anything happened to her—"
"Zangoose, calm down!" Scyther pleaded. "Word is that a capable lone explorer went out to look for her. You know as well as I do that you'd have to be the strongest of the strong to make it solo in this world."
"Doesn't she have a nickname to tell you two apart?" Sandslash asked.
"…Razara. We always called her Razara when we were little," Zangoose admitted. "If anything happened to her…"
"I assure you, the explorer who came in is a semi-regular here, and he's really strong," Piplup assured. "He'll go Gold Rank after this. I'm sure of it."
"Who is he?" Zangoose asked. "Who's rescuing Razara?"
"The explorer Seviper!" Piplup proudly informed him, completely forgetting about the feud encoded in the genes of the species of Zangoose and Seviper.
"WHAT THE—?!" Zangoose was livid.
"Did I say something I shouldn't have?" Piplup asked innocently.
Sandslash checked Zangoose's blood pressure. The quill-covered mouse was shocked. "210 over 80?! Holy Mother Mew on the head of a rampaging Steelix! Wait a second. Is that good or bad?"
"I don't remember. I think that's bad…" Piplup answered hesitantly, having no memory of what he learned about blood pressure when he was a human.
"You're such an amnesiac," Scyther commented harshly.
"I can't help it…" Piplup whined.
"Guild Master! Guild Master!" Little Azurill bounced over hurriedly. "The rescuer and rescued are back in town, but the rescued Zangoose was found gravely injured by the rescuer Seviper. He brought her right over to Audino's for treatment."
"Okay! Good job, Azurill! Thanks!" Piplup nodded and urged Team Razor Wind to follow him to Audino's Hospital and Daycare.
"RAZARA!" Zangoose burst into the hospital to find the female Zangoose with the male Seviper. With one look of the scar adjacent to the snake's eye, the male Zangoose snarled, "You!"
"You!" Seviper hissed with an equal amount of disgust and loathing.
"Brother!" the female Zangoose, evidently Razara, exclaimed cheerfully.
"Brother?!" Seviper gasped in shock.
"Razara, did this mush-for-brains snake hurt you?" Zangoose demanded, furious about the presence of the scarred Seviper. Razara! Seviper nearly oozed at the sound of her name.
"No, Brother. Actually, he was very good to me in spite of our heritage," Razara reported. "He said I have the voice of an angel!"
"Well, that's just stating the obvious! He's not just any Seviper! He's the one I fought before from Team Grand Serpent!" Zangoose snarled.
"You two…you've fought before?" Razara questioned.
"Yeah. I'll never forget it. After all, that wasss the fight that almossst took my eye," Seviper hissed.
"Awkward," Piplup muttered. Yes, it was awkward. Very awkward. "Ah, I don't know what to do… The one who is kind of good with this stuff is—"
"Piplup, come here! You've got to see something!" Chimchar yelled as he pulled Piplup out of the tent. Before them stood a Riolu with glasses. "Do you know who this is?"
"A fan boy," Piplup guessed.
"No! This is Thomas! Our Thomas from the human world! It's his spirit! I can feel it!" Chimchar insisted.
"But Thomas is a Turtwig!" Piplup argued.
"I don't know, either, you guys. All I know is now I am what would be technically considered a 'baby Pokémon', but I do kind of like this form better," the Riolu stated. Sure enough, it was a voice they recognized.
"Tom, it is you!" Piplup gasped. "How—who—what the…? I need to lie down!"
"Like I said, I have no idea. I just thought I'd come back and say hi and…I came back as a Riolu," Thomas claimed.
"Do you feel different?" Chimchar asked.
"I wouldn't say so. I'm sure my speed, strength, and moves have changed, perhaps for the better, but I don't feel like anything else has changed. My IQ, nature, level, and all that other good stuff remained constant," Thomas stated. "Let's see… I tested out my moves earlier. I can use Iron Tail, Force Palm, Reversal, and Copycat."
"Okay, I'm convinced. You're probably going to cause some heart attacks later," Piplup informed him.
"That's a given, old friend," the Riolu said with a smirk and a laugh. He heard shouting from inside the hospital. "Uh…what's going on in there?"
"A feud," Piplup sighed. "Can you please do something? This is kind of up your alley."
"Alright," Thomas sighed and went in. The shouting ceased, and a grumpy Zangoose was dragged out by his teammates. The Riolu came back out.
"What did you say?" Chimchar asked, curious.
"That they'd sacrifice their integrity and reliability as explorers if they started a slaughter-fest in a hospital," Thomas answered, adjusting his glasses.
Meanwhile, inside, Razara was ordered to get plenty of rest. She apologized on her brother's behalf. "Seviper, I am so, so, so sorry about that! I-I think you're actually not half bad for a Seviper! Uh, I-I didn't mean it as an insult!"
"It'sss okay. I know what you meant," Seviper told her reassuringly.
"Well…" Razara blushed. "Thank you for rescuing me. This, along with your reward, is a token of my appreciation!" She then kissed him on the cheek, which caused the viper to blush. "I promise I'll come up with a cute nickname for you!"
"I-I don't think that's necessssary, but thank you," Seviper thanked her as he slithered out of the hospital. Out loud, he said, "I think I'm in love…"
