Author's Note: This story is based on the Mystery Dungeon 2 games, but there are several alterations to the plot, so you hopefully will not get bored due to "knowing" the story in advance. Please read and review!

(A single line break indicates a shift in the location of the story)

The Messenger

Five figures crouched in the undergrowth, laboring to keep their breathing soft, to remain unnoticed. In the silent era of darkness, one had to be extremely stealthy to remain undetected. They watched the scene unfolding before them carefully.

A dark ghoul like figure conversed with three other Pokemon, a yellow upright humanoid Pokemon with a white ruff and a pendulum in his hand, a ghostly chandelier whose flames were an eerie blue and a yellow spider who had blue eyes and several blue markings on his body.

The ghoul-like figure was the first to speak. "So, my loyal lieutenants, how have you fared in your individual jobs?"

The spider, a Galvantula, spoke first, boldly, yet respectfully. "My lord, I scoured my squadron till I found a suitable Pokemon for the job you gave me, a Jynx. She reported to me a few…err…hours back and informed me that she was successful in obtaining the… first object from the place formerly called Zero Isle North. In the meanwhile, I made another attempt at Destiny Tower, and successfully found the other object you were looking for at the top. He took off a bag that he had been wearing like a handbag, and began to sort through the objects in it somewhat awkwardly.

The next to speak was the yellow humanoid, a Hypno. "My lord, I have found a way to breach to defenses of the Lunar Realm. My squad managed to enter the base of the rebels and obtain some of their reserves of the precious substance you were looking for, but…" he ended somewhat unsteadily.

Darkrai was interested. "Elaborate. I understand the circumstances my dear Hypno. Even if they are a group of deluded gnats, it would be a sheer impossibility for a single squadron to beat them on their home ground."

More confident, Hypno continued his report. "My lord, we managed to reach their reserves undetected. The amount they have is unbelievable. I would not be surprised if the vault they store it in stretches for miles under the ground. Unfortunately, after we gathered as much as we could and turned to leave, we were detected, and ambushed. We escaped without any casualties on either side, but we couldn't escape with all of the Dream Dust. About half of it returned to their hands." He genuinely looked sorrowful as he ended his report, but the ghoul just smiled and reassured him that it was all right.

Now he turned to the Chandelure, the third of his fanatically loyal lieutenants. The Chandelure made his best attempt at a bow, before he started in humble tones, "My lord, my squad has not been as successful as my colleagues'. Genesect eluded us when we ambushed him, but we have not completely failed. We found something in his lair that he had left behind, and it appears to be of use to you. Please forgive us."

The chandelier called for his second in command to bring him the object they had retrieved, and a monkey whose body appeared to be on fire came in, holding a box in his blue hands. When he reached Darkrai, he sunk to his feet, and held the box above his head in offering it to his overlord. He had yellow greaves at his shoulders and knees, and parts of his body were white.

At the same time, Galvantula finally located the objects he was looking for, and holding them tenderly between his front legs, offered them to Darkrai as well. The dark ghoul smiled, thanking his lieutenants warmly, assuring them that they had met his expectations. He tied the dark scarf-like object that the spider had offered him around his waist, held the globe he had given him in his left hand, the black plate that the monkey had given him in his left.

His cackle of laughter rung out in the silence, and he raised his hands to the dark heavens, and teleported himself and the other Pokemon with him out. The five Pokemon that had been hiding now emerged from the undergrowth, ears peeled in case of any other Pokemon that might be nearby.

The five were a strange set. The first of them was a pink pixie that looked a bit like an onion, with round eyes framed by black corners. She had two small wings on her back, which fluttered noiselessly all the time. Next to her was a green, upright lizard, with a red chest. He had leaves emerging from his hands and a long leaf coming out of his head. He wore a bag, not unlike the one Galvantula had been wearing, and he sniffed the air warily.

The third was a tall reddish-orange bipedal bird, with strong legs, a white "hair" that went down his back till his waist, and two grey clawed hands. He wore a sash on his head, and like Grovyle, he had a bag over one shoulder. The fourth was an odd purple insect-like robot, who had a lighter-colored purple cannon on its back. The cannon looked somewhat like the frustum of a cone, with a circular opening. Both his arms ended in a sharp claw, and the backside of his cannon had a "drive" plugged in.

The last was the oddest of them all. He was the sole non-Pokemon, and was nearly six feet tall with a fair complexion. He was on the thinner side, wearing a completely black outfit from neck to toe, which contrasted sharply with his pleasant face. He did not wear a bag, but instead held a yellow box similar to the ones Galvantula had offered Darkrai.

"I think the Passage is unprotected right now. Darkrai was standing by it for all this while, and there doesn't seem to be anybody else here" said Grovyle.

Genesect was more cautious. "Look", he said in his rather harsh voice, "we don't know what Primal Dialga might have done in this area. He might have sent henchmen to guard the place, since currently, this is the only way we rebels can time travel."

Blaziken, however, was a bit of a daredevil, and replied, "Doesn't solve the problem. We'll need to reach the Passage in any case. Why not just run and jump in before anybody can do anything?"

The human Marcus advocated caution like Genesect, but to the surprise of all, the pink fairy just giggled and said, "Grovyle has the right idea."

The bug had a wary look as they began to move on tiptoe down to the Passage, but his fears appeared unfounded. Blaziken, Grovyle and Marcus formed a triangle, holding each other's hands, and prepared to jump into the passage.

"The best of luck to you three. I wish we could accompany you, but the rebels need us. Arceus be with you" said Genesect, more touched by the moment of parting than his stoic face would reveal.

The fairy just giggled again, then said the same. As the trio leapt into the tunnel however, Grovyle could have sworn she winked.

Genesect and Celebi then went back the way they had come, disappearing into the undergrowth. Neither of them noticed the ghoul reappearing outside the Passage, and neither of them saw his pulse of dark energy enter the tunnel.

Nor would they know for quite some time.

"Whoa! Wh-wh-whoa…!"

"Marcus, what happened?"

"Are…are you OK?"

"Snap out of it!"

"No, don't let go! Just a little longer…"

"Blaziken we're going to be separated! Take…care…of…him…"

"Waaaaah!"

Two figures landed in the water. After a few seconds, the stronger orange one grabbed the other, and managed to pull him to shore. But just as they reached the shore, a soft white light surrounded the human, and the Blaziken immediately let him go.

Marcus' eyes became unfocused and dreamy as he collapsed, and his body began to shrink and take a new form. Horrified, Blaziken stayed still, not wanting to do anything in case it caused something worse.

At the end of it, where a human had originally been now lay a much smaller blue mudfish. On his head was a blue fin, and on both his cheeks were what looked like orange "hair", though it was really a solid clump. Part of the front of his body was white, and he was unconscious.

Blaziken rose to his feet. "Marcus, old friend, I will not forget what you did for us in the tunnel." An uncharacteristic tear welled up in his right eye, which he wiped away.

He took one of the objects out of his bag, a Dream Dust, and swallowed it. It was nearly tasteless, with just a tinge of sweetness. He sat by Marcus to wait till the dust would show its effects.

It was a long, boring hour, and he had been very tempted to leave, but Marcus was more important. He kept watch by him till his ears, so sensitive out of living years in the dark, dangerous future, picked up footsteps coming down by the beach. Satisfied that Marcus would be discovered by this person, he began his journey to carry out the mission he had been entrusted with.

The Dream Dust had finally taken its effect, and as he ran and ran, he felt his speed steadily increasing, until it peaked, and he managed to reach a desolate spot, somewhere in the shade of a bluff. There he sat, and began to study a map from his bag.

Back at the beach, a yellow bipedal lizard stood near the rocks to the eastern end, admiring the Krabby blowing bubbles. There was an extra fold of skin around the lower parts of his body that could be pulled up. His torso was a paler color, with a red line running down his front a red projection from the back of his head. To round it out, his extra skin stretched into a tail behind him.

He happened to look at the western end of the beach, and panicked when he saw a blue figure, lying unconscious. He paced there as fast as he could without tripping, and began to shake the figure, and tried to speak to it.

"Waaah! What happened here! Come on…get up! Please get up…"

His shaking and speech got the response he wanted, and Marcus opened his eyes, shook the sand out of his ears, and got up. His mind was very hazy, and when he tried to remember what had brought him there, all he saw in his mind's eye was blackness. Confused, he began to look around, in the hope that something might be nearby to explain to him what had happened.

Roy the Scraggy was relieved, and it showed in his expression as he spoke to the Mudkip, "Thank goodness you're awake! I was really worried when I found you knocked out on the beach. But anyway, who are you?"

Most of his memories seemed inaccessible to him, but Marcus found he knew his name, the fact that he was a human, and basic skills like speech and locomotion. Indeed, it seemed to him as though he had lost his experiences, not his knowledge. He replied, "I'm a human."

Roy was taken aback when he heard that. What was this Pokemon saying? "Really? You look like a totally normal Mudkip to me!"

Now it was the blue mudfish's turn to be surprised. He observed himself, and realized that somehow, he had been transformed into a Pokemon. But how?

Roy overcame some of his shock when he posed his next question to the Mudkip, "So what's your name?"

At least I'm sure this won't be wrong, thought Marcus as he gave his name.

Roy's face broke into a friendly smile. "Ok, so you're Marcus. Well, you don't look like a bad Pokemon to me."

Observing the skeptical look on Marcus' face, he quickly added apologetically, "Sorry! There've been a lot of outlaws lately, and it's rather unnerving…"

It was now the former human's turn to pose questions. "Hey – err, what's your name? – where exactly is this place?"

Roy introduced himself politely, and explained that they were on the beach next to one of the multiple Pokemon settlements of the land. This particular settlement was called Treasure Town.

Managing to get a grip on reality, Marcus nodded, soaking up every word Roy said. As the two turned to go to the settlement the Scraggy had mentioned, three Pokemon rushed into them, and one of them, a blue bat, knocked a grey stone away from the Scraggy, while another, a purple poison ball with several holes on his body and a skull and crossbones sign below his mouth, picked it up just as quickly. The third, a purple being that seemed to be composed of sludge entirely began to cackle with laughter, and was joined by the other two.

Roy, who was somewhat timid, shook a bit on hearing the laughter, but soon mastered himself. He shouted at them, "Give me back the stone you stole from me! It's my – my – personal treasure!"

But he had committed an error. The three thugs spoke collectively in a mocking tone, "Treasure? So that really is valuable huh? All the more reason not to return it!"

The trio rushed into the cave by the beach, leaving a bewildered Mudkip, and a very angry, yet intimidated Scraggy behind. Roy quickly turned to his companion.

"That means a lot to me. That's my personal treasure! Hey, can I get you to help me? Please?"

Marcus had been thrown off balance by the chain of events, but he had retained his acute survival intelligence from his unbeknownst earlier days, and he realized that by helping Roy, he would benefit from an ally who he could trust. He hoped he would be able unravel his past if he worked with the Scraggy. He nodded, and the two of them took off into the cave in pursuit.

The interior of the cave was a very odd place, somewhat like a maze, but much simpler. There were pools of water lining parts of the passages from one room to the other, which Marcus found he could walk on comfortably, but Roy could not. There were also several Pokemon that inhabited the cave. Some of them came out to fight with the newcomers, but they were able to fight them off comfortably. Marcus noted that they had seen Shellder, oyster-like purple Pokemon with a tongue sticking out, Kabuto, a Pokemon whose interior was black, with only two red eyes visible, and six legs coming out of its brown shell, Corsola, a pink and white Pokemon that looked like a coral, Shellos, blue Pokemon with white lower portions, a rather slug-like appearance, and two "tufts" for ears, and Basculin, a black and green fish that had one narrow red stripe around his body. The information could be of use later.

In one room, they found a set of stairs leading downwards. Marcus enquired of his partner, "Hey Roy, what gives? There's a staircase sitting smack in the middle of a cave by a beach?"

The lizard replied, "This isn't just a cave, it's something called a Mystery Dungeon. They're very strange places. I'll explain it to you later."

They repeated the procedure three more times, searching the floor for a staircase, and taking it down to another level. By the end of it, they were significantly stronger than they had been when they entered.

At the lowermost level, they cornered the thieves, who had found a dead end. They were talking among themselves.

The bat said, "Well, this is the end of this cave. Looks like we'll have to rub those wimps' face in the mud before we can go back. What do you say?"

Both his partners agreed, and then the trio turned around to find their pursuers across them at the other end of the floor.

"Ho-ho-ho so it's the wimp and his new friend!"

"Whatcha come here for? Think you can cry your stone away from us? Think again har-har!"

"Once we're done with you, we're going off to sell that heh-heh-heh!"

Roy turned to his partner and whispered, "There's no use arguing with those creeps. The only way to get back my Relic Fragment from them is a fight."

The both of them stepped forward, ready for the battle that was to unfold.

Now focused, Blaziken pulled out a map from his bag, and began to compare the locations marked on it with a list in his left hand, speaking aloud.

"Let's see. The nearest of the three places I need to visit is Mt. Avalanche, to the southwest. That's a dungeon mainly filled with Ice-types, so I should be able to beat it without too many problems. From there, it should be easy to access the Southern Cave; it's not too far off, and if my mission in succeeds, I should be able to reach the island it's located on and pass through it successfully, even if Ground types are common there."

He paused for a breath, before he continued, "Finally, I'll have to go to Mystery Jungle. Since it's mainly populated with Grass-type Pokemon, it shouldn't be a problem to traverse. But if I want to finish my job there, I'll need all the help I can get."

Satisfied with his overall strategy, he began to work on the finer aspects, something he normally didn't do in the future, as there were others who he frankly thought did it better. But beneath the daredevil's skin – or was it feathers? – there was a good brain, and now he put it to use.

He would need to find a way to cross the sea to the icy island where his first target lay. That was an unexpected complication. He wasn't sure how to solve it, but decided to get back to it later. He was evaluating his supplies, and just as he was done, he heard voices speaking some distance away.

"Hey, if we want to visit Blizzard Island, how are we supposed to cross the sea?"

"That's not a problem. I have an old friend who lives in the ocean, and he can take us with him."

The second voice then whistled loudly thrice, and then he heard a rumbling in the distance. Peering out of his hiding place, he saw a gigantic Wailord appearing from beyond the horizon.

Quickly packing up his belongings, he walked up to the two Pokemon waiting for the Wailord, and asked them, "Hey, do you mind if I join you? I'm going to that island as well."

The first Pokemon, a blue-and-black upright jackal with spikes coming out the back of his hand, opened her mouth to say something, but her partner, a grey ghost with bright eyes and a zipper for a mouth interrupted her with a "Oh sure! The more the merrier! By the way, what's your name?"

Think fast. "It's – err – Kentucky. The name's Kentucky."

"Oh hi Kentucky! Come along, my pal Wailord can carry you as well with no problems!"

Hardly believing his luck, Blaziken, now Kentucky, hopped onto the giant blue whale. He did not miss the glance of distrust from the Lucario, but pretended as though he had.

Marcus opened hostilities by flinging a yellow ovoid Stun Seed he had found straight at the Zubat. The Zubat became paralyzed on the spot, incapable of motion. This did not faze his partners however, who approached their opponents with a Poison Gas and a Sludge Bomb. Roy took the status attack, and cringed due to the poisoning, while Marcus dripped the poison.

Marcus then began a direct offense, Tackling the Grimer. Despite the poisoning, Roy followed up with a Low Kick that tripped Grimer over, causing his second Sludge Bomb to miss. Koffing's next attack, a regular tackle, failed to connect. This gave Marcus the window to knock out the Grimer, while Roy proceeded to run into the Koffing with a normal tackle.

Dancing around Koffing's moves, the pair teamed up and took out Koffing as well.

The last of their opponents was still paralyzed, so the duo got close to him, before subjecting him to a barrage of tackles. It was a tough battle, but they managed to win, and stood triumphant over their opponents, who groaned in pain.

"Here…take it if it means so much to you!"

"Don't think you've seen the last of us ho-ho-ho! Your victory was a fluke!"

"Har-har, we'll be back! But for now, let's skedaddle!"

These words were followed by their swift escape, while Roy went to pick up his stone which the trio had dropped.

"Thank goodness I got that back! If I'd lost that, I don't know what I'd have done…"

"Err, I understand you're happy you got it back, but can we go back to the beach now?"

"Oh yeah, let's get back!"

And they did not talk until they made their way out of the dungeon.

On the beach, they sat comfortably by the waves, and Roy brought out his stone and placed it on the sand between them. He began to talk about it, while Marcus listened somewhat distractedly, his attention riveted by the strange carving on the rock, which somehow seemed familiar. Yet, since he could remember nothing before the moment when he had woken up, where he might have seen it?

"This is what they stole from me earlier. I know it looks like junk, but take a closer look. See this inscription? Pretty strange pattern isn't it? It's my dream to one day solve the puzzle of my Relic Fragment – that's what I call this stone."

"…"

"Er, Marcus?"

"Oh, yeah! I was just really interested in that symbol. I heard you, don't worry!"

"So Marcus, I noticed you were really good in the dungeon. You seem to have a natural knack for exploring, and you were awesome against those three thugs. I know this might come out of the blue but…would you like to form an explorer team with me?"

Err…what do I do? I'm still new to this whole thing, I guess having an ally won't do any harm. I guess it won't hurt to team up with him for the moment.

"Alright, I guess I'll go with you, since I don't know anyone or have anybody to stay with…" said the blue Pokemon.

But any trepidation in his voice was completely ignored, as Roy positively beamed, and took Marcys up a road till they reached an odd building. The building was shaped like the upper part of a Wigglytuff's body, with an iron gate protecting its interior, and a grate in front of the building.

"This is where we can sign up for Wigglytuff's Guild. Hang on, there's some kind of sign put up outside…"

Roy and Marcus got closer to the sign, which read

On account of the large amount of apprentices in the Guild at present, the Guild will not be accepting new apprentices until expansions can be made, which will likely take another week. We thank you for your patience.

"Oh crud…we'll have to wait a week. Hey, I have an idea, come with me…"

"Well, I'll be off! Take care!"

"See you later Blue!"

Three Pokemon waved goodbye to the giant whale, which slowly sank out of sight. The three then walked up a dirt path till they came to a place where it forked. The right path went downwards, and seemed to head towards a cave, while the left path remained at around the same height. Blaziken parted from his companions here, and went down the left path.

Hmmm, I rather like the name Kentucky! I think I'll call myself that from now. Also, damn, that Lucario chick was cuuute…"

Pushing forth through the biting cold, Kentucky kept a firm grip on his belongings. In heavy snowstorms like this one, it would be suicidal to lose all his supplies and other items. His pace was reduced to a crawl, but when he finally reached the entrance of the cave, he managed to sit down beneath the sheltered entrance and allow his body to get used to the cold.

When he was confident that he was rested enough to climb the mountain, he took the band he had been wearing off his head, put it into his bag, and instead took out a pair of dark colored spectacles, and wore them.

When he entered the cave, he felt the familiar sensation of the mystic forces of the dungeon taking hold, and when he turned around to see what kind of room he had been warped into, he found an unusually large number of items around in that room. Something wasn't right…

And just as he thought that, there was a huge cackle. A few moments later, realizing he was now surrounded by a group of Pokemon that had dropped from the ceiling, he realized he had entered the dungeon in a Monster House room.

Oh ****.

Thinking quickly, he dug a blue sphere out of his bag, and broke it on the floor. A gas leaked out, wafting all over the room, paralyzing every Pokemon that inhaled it except the fiery bird. He quickly ran out of the room into the corridor, and was relieved to find the staircase in the next room he entered. There was also a Foe-Seal Orb in that room, which he quickly added to his bag to replace the one he had just used.

With the aid of his spectacles, he saw a PP-Zero Trap hidden right next to the staircase, and carefully avoiding it, he made his way up the next floor of the dungeon.

It wasn't too bad after that. He didn't run into another room with a large quantity of items, the cardinal sign of a monster house, for the next fifteen floors, so he could take on the inhabitants of the mountain comfortably, and stocked himself with the items he had found, including a pair of Gold Ribbons. That would keep him out of money worries if he found a Kecleon shop!

On the seventeenth floor, as he ran down a corridor, he noticed a room with several items. He got as close to the entrance of the room as he dared, and looked around the room through his black spectacles. As he had suspected, there were four traps. However, the room was also the one where the staircase was present, meaning he was going to have to deal with another monster house, a proposition that he was not particularly fond of.

Nevertheless, he entered the room, waiting for the familiar cackle before Pokemon dropped from the ceiling, but none appeared. Somewhat surprised, he looked up and noticed there were no Pokemon on the ceiling.

"Score! A whole bunch of items ripe for the picking!" he exclaimed, quickly gathering up a Red Gummi, a Huge Apple, two Oran Berries, and a Trawl Orb. After he packed them all in, he noticed that his bag had been completely filled. The eighteenth and nineteenth floors did not have anything special; outside of a Kecleon shop where he sold his Gold Ribbons and added four thousand Poke to his stock of money.

On the topmost floor, he walked forwards, through a heavy blizzard, and found what he was looking for; a huge blue avian figure. He fell on one knee, and began to speak.

"Immortal Articuno, lord of the snowstorm, savior of the mountaineers, I humbly beseech your permission to speak.

"Speak then. I am listening."

"Noble Articuno, there is a matter of grave importance that must be shared among all of the immortals. It concerns the breaking down of time."

"Elaborate."

"First, I must let you in on something that you may not readily believe."

There is Chapter 1. I hope you liked it! Like I said earlier, please read and review! This is my first real attempt at fanfiction, so I need all the help I can get.