Hellooooooooooooooo Fanfiction! It's been quite a while since you've seen me. I trust everyone had a merry Christmas, and a happy New Year's? I got a laptop, so now I'll be belting out chapters of this new story and Winds of Change like no tomorrow! So, this is a fic for Pokemon: Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky. This is my favoritest team, whose name I shall not yet reveal. Also, this story will contain heavy spoilers, so I'll warn you in the before-hand author notes when the chapter will take place. So, if you haven't beat Beach Cave - which I highly doubt - you won't want to read this chapter.

Everything was black. I could see only darkness, except occasional white flashes, which revealed nothing. I heard the voice of the one grasping my hand. "Whoa! Are... are you okay?" I opened my mouth to speak, but I only managed a strangled noise. "No! Don't let go! Just a little longer... Come on! Hang on!" Finally, I found my voice again. "N-n-no! I can't... hold on...! Waaaaaah!" I yelled as the hand slipped out of mine, and I tumbled into unconsciousness.

Urrgh... Where... Where am I? The first thing I became aware of was sounds. The splashing caused by the ebb and flow of waves in a sea. A salty breeze creating an odd sound. I also became aware of the water sprayed onto my body by aforementioned breeze, and the feel of sand underneath me. I opened my eyes slowly, and found my vision impaired and blurry. I attempted to lift my head and instantly was overcome by dizziness. "I can't..." I murmured. My voice sounded distant. "Drifting off..." My chin hit the sand, and I laid senseless on a beach I did not know.

Once more, the first sense that became useful again was my hearing. I heard the sea, and the breeze, but this time, there was a voice. An unfamiliar voice. I tried to make out what it was saying. "Hey! What happened? Are you okay?"

"Ugh..." I opened my eyes and once more was met with a fuzzy, unclear picture. As everything settled into focus, I leaped to my feet in surprise. Standing before me was a creature that resembled a small mouse hybrid, which, oddly enough, was taller than me. The main color of its pelt was yellow. Its ear-tips were black, and it had a lightning bolt-shaped tail with brown at the base, and two brown stripes on its back. But the most interesting things were the Pikachu's eyes. Unlike a normal Pikachu, its eyes were electric (no pun intended) blue, striking, but... they were fearful. Concerned, even. I got a feeling that this was a friendly Pokémon.

He - as I realized the Pokémon was male - smiled warmly. "You're awake! That's a relief! I thought you might be dead!" I noticed a few spikes of fur sticking out on top of his head, which I had to admit made him look kind of cute. Then I blinked and looked around. There was no one else around. Sure enough, that Pokémon had talked. We stared silently at each other for a few moments, as it sank in that a Pikachu was talking. A blood-curling shriek split the air – courtesy of yours truly. I attempted to dart off, but it seemed my height had taken a toll on my ability; I ended up with my nose in the sand. The Pikachu came rushing over and crouched down. "A-are you okay?" I struggled to my feet. "Oi! You- you're a talking Pokémon! How are you talking?" The Pikachu looked at me with a puzzled look. "Um... What do you mean? Who are you?"

"A human trying to figure out what's going on," I answered. The Pikachu cocked his head and replied, "But… you look like a shiny Eevee to me in every way."

"What are you going on about, strange speaking being?" I yelped and bounded over to one of the many tide pools next to the sea. Slowly, I leaned forward. Staring back up at me was a silver feline face, slightly rounded. The ears were long and pointed, rather like a rabbit's. There was a very slightly fluffy collar around the neck. The only things I recognized were the bright green eyes, foreign on this face. I shrieked and fell on my back in the sand, flailing wildly. "I-it's true! I've turned into a shiny Eevee!" I wailed. I felt a paw grab mine and haul me up. The Pikachu's gaze was suspicious. "You're… a little odd. Are you pulling a trick on me?"

"I beg to differ!" I retorted indignantly with a lash of my bushy tail. The suspicion slowly faded. "Well… you don't seem to be a bad Pokémon… I'm Endeavor, by the way." This Endeavor tilted his head slightly. "What's your name?"

"My name? My name… Right, my name is Ghost." The name felt like an alien word, coming out in the voice I had received with my new body. It was a higher pitch than my human voice.

"Do you remember how you ended up unconscious out here?" I opened my mouth, then closed it, as I realized I didn't remember. My memory was blanker than a new, clean slate. "Sorry, can't."

"Oh… Well, sorry for doubting you a few minutes ago." Endeavor rubbed the back of his neck. "There have been a lot of bad Pokémon appearing lately. The world's become somewhat lawless." Suddenly, the Pikachu flew forward and knocked me over. "What in the name of Arceus?" I yelled and pushed him off. Floating in front of us were a Zubat and a Koffing. "Well, I do beg your pardon!" The latter announced, much too emphatically. A vein in my forehead pulsed, but I just got to my feet. "Hey, why'd you do that?" Endeavor growled. The Zubat cackled and said, "Heh-heh-heh! Can't figure it out? We wanted to mess with you! Can't face up to us, can you?" I blinked, wondering. Endeavor stepped back. "Wh-what?" The Zubat turned to a good-sized rock sitting on the sand. "That's yours, isn't it?" We all put our focus on… A… rock? "No! That's…" I looked at Endeavor in confusion. Why would he care so much about a rock?

The Zubat flapped forward and grabbed the rock with his foot. "Sorry kiddo," he chuckled, not seeming sorry at all. "We'll take that!"

"Aah!" Endeavor cried. The Koffing grinned. "Whoa-ho-ho! Not gonna make a move to get it back? What's the matter? Too scared? I didn't expect you to be such a coward." Seeing the upset look on Endeavor's face, I stepped forward boldly. "Oi! That's not yours! Give it back!" To my utter annoyance I was ignored as the Koffing turned to his companion and said, "Come on. Let's get out of here."

"See you later, chicken. Heh-heh-heh." The two Pokémon flew and floated past us, entering a cave that I just noticed. I tilted my head back to view the gaping entrance and fell on my haunches. "Wow…" I turned to Endeavor, and blinked in surprise at his worried expression. He looked like he was about to burst into tears. "Ohh…" He moaned and turned to me. "Wh-what should I do? Th-that's my personal treasure." A rock is his treasure? Pitiful, I must say. "It means everything to me. If I lose that…" Tears appeared in the corners of his eyes. Whoa! He is going to cry! But he didn't. Instead he shook his head, and a look of defiance contradicting his mood moments ago appeared. "No! There's no time to waste! I've got to get it back!" His startling gaze pinned me to the ground, and my paws felt frozen to the cold sand. "Ghost, can you help me?"

"Me? Wh-what should I do?" I was being asked to help on the spot, while I was struggling to remember more than my name! "Help me! Please. If I lose my person treasure, I'd…" The tears began to appear. I sighed over exaggeratedly and said, "Fine. I'll help, just stop being such a crybaby!" Endeavor sniffled and nodded. "They went into Beach Cave." What an original name. "Let's go, then!" I shouted and turned towards the wide mouth of the cave. I hesitated for a moment, staring into the darkness, then walked slowly in, still getting used to my four paws. Why couldn't I have at least been turned into something with two legs? Like, a Riolu. That would have been cool. But nooo, I had to turn into an Eevee! Judging from what little I remembered about Eevees, I was pretty sure I only knew Tackle and Flail. Perfect.

Endeavor took the rear guard and I felt his breath on my risen tail. Inside the cave, it wasn't quite as dark as it appeared from the outside, but the tunnel was still dimly lit. The Pikachu kept a paw rested on the tip of my tail so we wouldn't get separated. I saw a bigger light ahead and began bounding towards it, Endeavor jogging next to me. We emerged into a large clearing, and standing in front of us was a Shellos. It looked angry. "Um… I'm sorry, is this your home? We're just passing through." I offered a smile, knowing it appeared more like a forced grimace. Smiling was not something I was good at.

"Shellos!"

I yelped as a Mud Bomb knocked me on my back. This Pokémon can't talk? "Ghost! Are you o-" Endeavor stopped short as I leaped up. A vein in my forehead pulsed. "Oi! That was uncalled for!" I leaped at my opponent, using Tackle. I was surprised when the Shellos fainted after that one attack. "Am I really strong, or…"

"Pokémon here are pretty weak," Endeavor answered. "But still, to get a one-hit KO, you have to be level five or up." I nodded, and then my eyes focused on something over the Pikachu's shoulder. "Shiny!" I shrieked and bolted over. It was a piece of gold, with a 'P' engraved on the center. "What is it?" I asked, eyes wide with glee. Striking azure eyes looked at me oddly, and then their owner replied hesitantly, "It's Poké." When I gave no response, he said, "Money."

"Oooooh. Okay." We continued on until we reached a staircase leading downwards. "Stairs like these go to the next floor," Endeavor explained. I nodded and began descending the stone stairs.

The rest of the trip went off more or less without a hitch. I picked up an Oran Berry, and Endeavor an Apple. We split the Apple when we began to feel hungry, then he picked up a Blast Seed. Also, at one point, I found a small brown CD. "Wha?" I looked at Endeavor for an explanation, holding the CD curiously. "It's a TM. A Ground-type move, by the look of it. There should be a small word on the rim." Sure enough, there was. "It's... Dig." I replied. And through a process I have failed to recall, Dig became part of my move set.

Finally, we came to the end of the dungeon. It was a wide cave, with only a small peninsula of sand to stand on. Everywhere else was water. There were tall, jagged rocks jutting up at random around the water, and a shiver rang down my spine at the thought of landing on one of those, if it came to a fight. And as if they wanted to be snuck up on, the Zubat and Koffing were hovering nearby with their backs turned, muttering to themselves. The Pikachu stepped forward bravely. "Uh… hey!" The two Pokémon turned with astonished looks on their faces. It was priceless.

"Well, well…" The Koffing said, with that ugly smirk on the thing he called his face. "If it isn't our old friend, the big chicken."

"Urk!" Endeavor stepped back. I replaced him, the vein in my forehead pounding. "Oi! Give him back what you stole from him, you big ugly thieves!"

"Yea, that's my personal treasure! It means everything to me!" I could have slapped the Pikachu upside the head. Unfortunately, the Zubat caught what I did. "Treasure, you say?" An evil smile appeared on the flying Pokémon's face. "So that thing really is valuable, huh?"

"It could be worth more than we'd hoped for, I'd say. We ought to try selling it. Who knows? It might get a good price. Whoa-ho-ho! Just more reason not to give it back!" Gassy, as I silently called the Koffing, chuckled.

"What?" Endeavor exclaimed, mouth open in aghast. "If you want it that badly…" Ugly, the Zubat, started. "Come and get it! Heh-heh-heh!" I stepped forward, my tiny Eevee fangs bared. "Okay, but I hope you two uglies aren't afraid to weep!" I sprang forward and dove under the ground, using Dig. I heard Endeavor use ThunderShock, and Gassy cry out in pain. I leaped out of the dirt and rammed Ugly in the stomach. "Gah?" I cried out in surprise, when I saw that he was barely hurt. "Heh-heh-heh! I'm a Flying-type! Ground-types don't work too well against me!" I yelled as his fangs sank into my shoulder. I felt my energy being drained away, and when he flapped backwards, Ugly seemed renewed. Meanwhile, Gassy had poisoned Endeavor, and my battling partner looked in pretty bad shape. "Endeavor, throw me the Blast Seed!" I shouted. The Pikachu nodded and tossed the little yellow seed. I caught it in my mouth, and spurted a blast of red fire onto Ugly. He fainted just like that.

I turned my attention to Gassy. He had tackled Endeavor and the Pikachu looked banged-up and weary now. I tossed him the Oran Berry. He ate it and clenched his fist. "You're going down, now!" He used Quick Attack. "Owowow!" Gassy whimpered as he fell to the ground next to his partner. "We got roughed up," the Zubat muttered as they slowly got back in the air.

"Blast it! How'd we get wiped out by wimps like them?" The Koffing wondered, in a half-whining tone. "Bah!" Ugly shouted. "Here you go. Take it, then!" He threw the rock on the ground. "Whoa-ho!" Gassy said. "Don't think you're so awesome. You're victory was a fluke!" Sure it was, I thought, feeling quite proud of myself. "Yeah! You remember that!" Ugly added. I stepped close to the two thieves and whispered, "You know who should remember what? You should remember me." I backed up, and grinned as they ran away.

Endeavor ran over to the rock and picked it up, his eyes shining. "Oh! It's my Relic Fragment!" Relic Fragment? What? "Am I ever glad! I managed to get it back!" He turned to me, tears forming again. "It's only because you agreed to help me, Gh- Ow!" He yelled as my balled-up paw connected with the top of his head. I landed on all fours and rolled my eyes. "Stop being such a weakling. Now let's get out of this heckhole." Our journey out of Beach Cave was worse than the way in. The Pokémon came swarming, but with Dig, most of them were easy enough to handle.

Finally, we were back on the beach. Endeavor smiled. "Thank you, seriously!" … I only helped because I happened to be here, and I hate seeing anyone I don't hate cry... Was that the right thing to do? I guess so. Endeavor is clearly grateful. I grinned back and then asked, "So what's this special rock I put my life on the line to save, anyway?" The Pikachu set his treasure down on the sand in front of us. "Here's what those thugs stole. This is a Relic Fragment. Or, at least... That's what I started calling it... But, anyway... It's my precious treasure." And here's where I was confused.

"You see, I've always liked legend and lore. I always get so excited when I hear tales from the past! Don't you feel the same?" Okay, yea, I had to admit I felt the same. The past had always interested me. Endeavor continued, looking out over the sea, "Hidden troves full of treasure and strange relics... uncharted territories veiled in darkness... and new lands just waiting to be discovered!" His eyes shone, and I couldn't help but smile. "Such places must be full of unimaginable gold and treasure! And history! Wouldn't it be amazing to make a historic discovery, Ghost?"

The intensity died down as he turned to face me. "That's what I always dream of. It's all so exciting to me. So one day... I happened upon my Relic Fragment. I admit that it looks like junk, but take a closer look." I leaned over and noticed an odd pattern on the top of the rock. Not so junky, after all. That's really cool. "See? The inscription forms a strange pattern. There must be some significance to this pattern. This Relic Fragment must be the key to legendary places! Areas where precious treasure lies!" He chuckled softly. "At least, that's the feeling I get." There was silence for a few moments, then Endeavor said, "That's why I want to join an exploration team." I tilted my head slightly, thinking, An... exploration team...? It sounded familiar, I just couldn't place it.

"This fragment must fit into something... somewhere! I want to discover where that is." I nodded. Natural curiosity had taken a hold of me, also. "I want to solve the mystery of my Relic Fragment. So earlier, I tried joining a guild as an apprentice..." He sighed heavily. "But... I chickened out." Not hard to believe, I couldn't help the thought crossing my mind. "What about you, Ghost?" My name snapped me out of my thoughts. "What are you going to do now? You lost your memory, and you somehow transformed into a Pokémon... Do you have anywhere to go after this?"

"...No." I replied flatly, keeping my curiosity hidden. Where was the Pikachu going with this? "Then, can I ask a big favor? W-would you be willing to form an exploration team with me? I think I can form an effective exploration team with you, Ghost. So will you? Please?" I stepped back, surprised. I barely understood what an exploration team was, and I was being recruited out of the blue? What should I do? After careful consideration, I realized I had nowhere to go, no idea who I was. Maybe teaming up with Endeavor wasn't such a bad idea. I nodded. "Sure, I guess."

"R-really? You'll do it?" I nodded, somewhat reluctantly. Endeavor grinned and laughed, almost triumphantly. "Yes! We'll be the best combination ever! We'll make it work! But first, we need to sign up at Wigglytuff's Guild as apprentices." I looked at the darkening sky and said, "Well... maybe we should camp out here tonight, and go first thing tomorrow." The Pikachu looked at me, then the sky, and nodded. "Alright, there's an alcove I know of that would make a perfect place."

I followed him to a natural shelter of rock, not quite a cave, but almost. I made a comfortable bed-like circle and curled up on it. As Endeavor did the same across from me, I asked him why we needed to sign up at Wigglytuff's Guild. "It's where we need to train to be a first-rate exploration team. The training will probably be tough, but we'll try our best!" I nodded and yawned. "Alright, good night." I knew that tonight would be a sleepless night by the cold breeze ruffling my fur. Not only was I a useless Eevee, I was a useless Eevee with short fur.

It was as I expected, I tossed and turned and shifted, trying to find a warm, comfortable position. I longed for a soft, fleecy blanket. But somewhere during the night, I felt myself being lifted, and warmth crawled throughout my body. Not bothering to open my eyes and find out what was holding me, I fell asleep.

Alright, that wasn't as bad as I'd expected. It was a lot of fun writing it! And yes, a shiny Eevee is impossible in the Mystery Dungeon games. Fanfiction.