*strike*
"Whoa! A-are you okay?" The storm fiercely howled on, pelting us with freezing rain and hail. It was pitch black, the only source of light being the bolts of lightning, which threatened to take us off our path. "NO! ...Don't let go!" His grip tightened, but I continued to fall nonetheless.
*strike*
"I-I can't!" I was quickly losing my grip on my partner. If I didn't hold on, I would be lost forever! "Help me!"
"It's just a-a little longer!" he panted. I desperately clung to him but it was to no avail.
*strike*
"I can't... Hold on..." With that, my grip was completely lost, sending me into a black void.
Along the coastal side of a small settlement known as Treasure Town, not a single pokemon dared to leave their homes on a night like this. With the waves crashing against the rocks, sending salty water flying into the windy air, and howling wind stirring up the feral pokemon outside. Relentless rain fell into the unforgiving sea, while thundering lighting lit up the sky.
A lone shinx sat in his nest, gazing in wonder at the dreadful storm. Unable to sleep comfortably, the shinx couldn't wait for the storm to end.
"It doesn't seem to be letting up, though," he sighed. He sat up in his nest, his tail flicked irritably behind him as he glared at the rain.
Sheltered inside the rocky cave he should have felt safe; however, the roaring thunder wouldn't allow him to rest. I don't think I've ever seen a storm this bad. He glanced skeptically at the dark sky, praying it would end soon. I hope it hasn't caused any damage. I have such a big day tomorrow, I don't want a storm to ruin it for me!
Thoughts like this would keep him up for hours upon hours, as he had been planning this day for months. I have to get some rest.
With a happy sigh, the shinx turned in his nest, burying his face into the straw in an attempt to ignore the terrifying storm outside.
"Ugh... Where... Where am I?"
On the soft, warm sand lied a small fox like pokemon. He was unable to see, much less move due to his throbbing headache. The brightness of the sun wasn't much help either, so there wasn't anything he could do but lie there helpless.
"I can't... Drifting off..." he let out a long breath, slowly giving into the blackness.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" the shinx asked. The Kecleon brothers shook their heads, staring at their damaged shop.
A large tree had toppled over, landing onto their shop. Berries, TMs, and other items were thrown about by the wind. Duskull's bank was damaged also, but it wasn't nearly as bad; the same goes for Kangaskhan's storage. Although, Ditto's Dojo took massive damage and repairs probably wouldn't be done for months.
"There's no need lad, Timburr and Excadrill are already on their way," the purple kecleon mumbled. His brother placed a claw on his shoulder and sent him an assuring look.
"Thanks for the offer though." With that, the two brothers turned to their totaled shop, letting out a few sad chirps. I guess there was more damaged than I thought. The shinx shook his head and continued on towards the intersection.
He stopped in the center of the intersection glancing down the three other paths. He knew for sure that the one leading south went to the beach since he goes there nearly every morning to watch the Krabby spit out bubbles. He dared not go down the one heading east, which lead into many uncharted areas and Mystery Dungeons. But the one he was taking lead north, leading to Wigglytuff's Guild.
With a nervous sigh, the shinx walked up the stairs, going slower with each step he climbed. Get over this! You do this every time!
He had come here many times before; however, he always bolted in the other direction. The shinx was feeling more nervous than the last trip. He couldn't even step on the grate most of the time! But he couldn't let this...pathetic fear stop him again. I left my clan to join this guild! I have to do this!
The grate sat just in front of the gate, embedded into the ground. He couldn't even see the bottom, it was just a pitch black void down there! It terrified him to know that a pokemon sat down there just...watching us, waiting for us to step on the grate. He shivered, nearly tempted to just leave again. He continued to pace in front of the grate before letting out a loud sigh. I have to do this!
He placed a rock with strange symbols on the dirt, just before the grate. "My treasure..."
Just after he left his clan, he saw a strange rock embedded in the dirt. He didn't know why he dug it up, but there was a strange pull towards it. He had kept it with him ever since then, it was supposed to give him a reason... No. It was supposed to give him the confidence to join the guild.
"I want to find the meaning in this stone. It could even be worth a lot of money, or even lead me on new adventures," he paused his tail curling nervously behind him. "If I didn't find this stone, I might have returned to my clan..." He shook his head, placing his treasure back in his bag. Why am I talking like this? I'm here to join the guild! Without a second thought, he confidently stepped onto the grate.
"Pokemon detected! Pokemon detected!" He nearly leaped out of his fur at the loud pitched voice deep below him.
"WHO'S FOOTPRINT!" Another voice boomed, almost sending him running.
"The footprint is Shinx's! It belongs to Shinx!"
The Shinx backed off immediately, too frightened by the voices. "Th-that was way too shocking!" He sighed in relief at the silence but was soon disappointed at his own cowardness.
"I just can't... My fragment was supposed to inspire me!" he hissed. He backed away from the grate, then solemnly followed the path leading south. I'm too much of a coward. "I told myself that today was the day, but I couldn't work up the courage."
With a final sigh of disappointment, the shinx trotted toward the southern path.
... ...
"Hey, did you hear that Zubat?"
Of course, the shinx wouldn't have noticed the two pokemon hiding behind the bushes. A Koffing and Zubat peered at the shinx with malicious interest.
"You bet I did," he laughed, a grin swiftly spreading across his face.
"That little wimp was pacing around, got some sort of treasure, didn't he?" The koffing laughed. Zubat flapped his wings eagerly and flew down the path a little.
"He said it was some sort of treasure, that's for sure." He paused in thought before laughing hysterically. "I say we go after him, knock this little wimp out and take that treasure for ourselves."
"I say that's a great plan," the Koffing hissed.
Without another word, the duo followed the path that the oblivious shinx took.
The sound of voices is what woke me up. It was the same one, at least that's what I thought. "Err..." Where am I?
I struggled to my feet, nearly falling over due to nausea. Is that... Is that sand? I kept my eyes shut to stop feeling dizzy, but that odd feeling beneath my hands was definitely sand. I could even smell salt from the waves, I was definitely on a beach.
"You're awake!" It was a male's voice, it must've been the same voice from before. "You weren't moving at all, so I was seriously worried! Do you remember how you ended up here? Were you caught in the storm? And why are you alone, did your pack leave you?"
"S-slow down!" Was I unconscious? My pack? Just what is he talking about? I was going to ask but when I opened my eyes, I only saw a shinx. Was I hallucinating?
"Oh, I'm sorry." My eyes widened in shock. I have to be hearing things! Pokemon don't talk! "Do you at least remember your name? Mine's Thunder, what's yours?"
"S-stay away from me!" I yelled. I went to back up but toppled over my own feet. Why am I walking so weird? And why is this shinx so big!
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you, really. I just want-"
"I-I don't understand! You're just a... Just a shinx!" I yelled. I forced myself into a sitting position, too dizzy to run away. "You're not supposed to talk!" The shinx tilted his head, narrowing his eyes in confusion.
"Umm... Of course, I can. All pokemon can talk... Well, feral pokemon can't, but that's different." He stared at me, his tail flicking back and forth. "Have you hit your head?" I shook my head.
"I-I have to be dreaming. There's no such thing as a talking pokemon!" He stared at me, with his head tilted, for a moment before finally deciding to speak up.
"You know, you're strange for a Zorua," he said. I stared at him in shock. Zorua?
"Just what are...you..." He glanced down, finally noticing the red stumps in place of my hands. Wait... Those are paws! I looked again at my footprints, but they were just little circles.
In a rush of panic, I ran over to the water and looked down into my reflection. Only, I saw a zorua staring back at me. "It's true! I-I've turned into a Zorua!" I fell back into the sand, a few tears dripped into the salty water. How did this happen? I don't remember anything!
"W-wait, hold on! Turned into a Zorua? I know Zorua can turn into other pokemon, but what you're saying is..." He muttered. He narrowed his eyes and took a step back. "Are you playing some sort of trick on me?"
"N-no, I'm not!" I growled, getting frustrated with everything happening so fast. "I'm really not, It's just... I'm a human, or at least I was one."
"Human! I'm sorry, you had to have hit your head! Humans went extinct years ago," he replied. E-extinct? He took a step forwards, an uncertain look on his face. "Are you telling the truth?"
"Of course I am!" He flinched, sending me an apologetic look. "I was a human, but now... Now I'm a Zorua." I went silent for a moment, but the shinx slowly began to talk instead.
"Well, I suppose it doesn't matter right this moment," he started. He walked forward and hesitantly sat beside me. "Do you at least remember your name?"
"My name?" What is my name? It's... Gosh, what is my name? Oh! I remember now! "It's Nate. My name is Nate," I repeated. Thunder sighed, moving to give his chest an embarrassed lick.
"Sorry about that. There have been so many bad pokemon showing up lately, I just wanted to make sure you weren't fooling me," he admitted. "I'm glad you're okay though, even though you-" He started, but was cut off by a Zubat crashing into his side, causing a rock to fly from his bag.
"Hey!" I yelled but was ignored by the duo.
"Well, I do beg your pardon," the Koffing sneered. I moved closer to Thunder, trying to help him up.
"Why did you do that!" He replied. The Zubat cackled, keeping a tight grip on the item.
"Heh-heh-heh! Don't you get it?" He flapped his wings in excitement, while his partner laughed in response.
"We want this treasure you have, you see? Might be worth lots of money." The Koffing towered over us, a grin widely spread through his face. I went to talk but was silenced by the Zubat.
"This is your buddy's isn't it?" he turned to Thunder, holding out the item. "Can't stand up to us, can you?" Neither of us moved.
"Not gonna make a move to get it back I see? We'll take that then." The duo moved towards the cave, laughing the entire way.
"Wait, that's my-"
"You must be new around here, Zorua. Come join us in the cave if you want, leave that wimp to cry. I'm sure you can do much better than him," Zubat said. With that, the duo entered the cave, leaving us on the beach. W-what just happened?
I turned to Thunder, who had tears streaming down his face. "That... That was my personal treasure! I-It meant everything to me!" He sunk into the sand, burying his face into his paws. "If I lose that..."
The irritation I felt earlier for him was gone, replaced by sympathy. I bet they were just attacking him for no reason. I turned to the cave, then back to the wailing cat. He said it was his personal treasure... I... I can't let those guys get away with this!
"Let's go," I said. I stumbled over to him, nudging him up with my nose. "Let's go after them, it was your treasure, wasn't it?"
"Y-you'll help me get it back?" He looked at me in shock. I wanted to know what happened to me, but this was more important.
"Of course, you were willing to help me on the beach, even though I could have been deceiving you." Besides, he seems like a nice guy.
"Thank you! You don't understand how much this means to me!" He ran in a little circle before pointing into the cave. "They went into Beach Cave, hurry!"
Beach Cave B1F
I shouldn't have been surprised by how cold and wet it was, I mean, it was called Beach Cave. It was really big though, and empty. We ran into a dead end a few times, but I'm pretty sure we were going in circles. "So... How do we find them?" I asked. Thunder paused, then slowly started to answer.
"Sorry, I forgot you lost your memory. We're in what we call a Mystery Dungeon. In order to find our way out, we have to find a set of stairs." That's odd, why would a staircase be in a place like this? "But it's not just a labyrinth we have to navigate, there are tons of feral pokemon in each one!"
"Feral pokemon?" He said something about this before, but I don't really understand what he meant.
"They are pokemon who were driven to insanity. The natural disasters many years ago caused this, but we're still suffering from it. Any pokemon can become feral though. Too much stress causes it." He paused, looking behind a corner then turning back to me. "There's no talking sense to them, the only way to escape it to knock them out," he explained.
"That sound's awful."
"It's not all bad though, there's plenty of rare items and money to find in them. There's even a Guild that-" He paused.
"What's wrong?" I head a rock fall, but we're in a cave that's supposed to happen. "Thunder..."
"T-there's a Shellos!" He backed up behind me, leaving me to look at the pink slug in the distance. It was far away, so what was the problem? "Don't you see? It's blocking the stairs!" Oh... While it was sitting next to the stairs, it was only one shellos. Plus there were two of us, so it shouldn't be a big deal.
"We can take it!" I walked forwards, turning back to the cowering lynx. "Aren't you an electric type?" I asked. He nodded but sighed in defeat.
"I...don't actually know any electric type attacks yet," he admitted. He looked ready to cry again.
"Just use your wits than, that's what you told me to do. We have claws, you said we can use moves like scratch and bite. If we both attack it, then we shouldn't have a problem," I said. It might not be as easy as I was making it out to be, but Thunder needed some sort of confidence.
"If you're sure..."
The shellos was staring in the other direction, it had a few berries on the ground. Perhaps it's protecting its food? Even if it was, it wouldn't matter. We needed to go down those stairs! I walked on one side, while Thunder went to the other. Just as I was about to attack, it turned, spraying me with a powerful stream of water.
"Nate!" Thunder screamed.
I was knocked backward, completely out of breath. I wasn't expecting it to be so powerful! I stumbled to my feet, just barely missing the tackle from the shellos. I took a step back, letting the oncoming pokemon shoot next to me. Why is it so fast?
I crouched down, preparing to leap at the slug, when another shellos, a blue one, attacked me. I landed on the ground with a thud, landing next to a terrified Thunder.
"Woah!" I looked back to Thunder, who stood by the stairs panting.
"L-let's just run! They won't follow us down the stairs!"
I didn't want to just run from it, but Thunder had a point. I had a funny suspicion that he would be fighting later on, so it would be better if we didn't get hurt.
Beach Cave B5F
"Hey, it's them!" I exclaimed. The duo turned to us in surprise; however, it swiftly went away.
"Well well, if it isn't our old friend, the big chicken," Koffing sneered.
Thunder flinched but shook it off. "I... I want my treasure back! It's my personal treasure, it means everything to me!"
"Treasure you say? Then we definitely won't be giving it back," Zubat laughed. "I suppose we'll sell it, don't you think so Koffing?" The other pokemon laughed and nodded.
"Whaaaaaat?" Thunder gasped. "P-please don't sell it!" The Zubat threw the rock to the side and flew closer to us.
"Perhaps if you want it so bad. Heh-heh-heh, come and get it!" Like a...fight? I wasn't exactly prepared to fight, I mean we did fight a Shellder earlier, but I can really only scratch, tackle, and bite. It didn't look like we had a choice either.
The Zubat attacked first, by flying into the air then rushing at us with immense speed. We both dodged, but we hardly made it. The next thing I knew, there was a thick cloud of black smoke surrounding us.
"It's burning my eyes!" I coughed. I forced my eyes open to see the duo, but it was becoming more and more difficult.
"Koffing used smokescreen, we won't be able to see through it while we're in here!" Thunder yelled.
"Then you'll be easy targets!" A large body crashed into me, hurling me into the rocky wall. I looked up, seeing the fierce grin from Koffing. Shakily I stood up, ready to attack the Koffing.
"Just admit it, you're no match for us!" While he prepared for another smokescreen, I charged at him with a tackle. Although, it didn't do too much damage to him. "Is that all you got?" I just have to keep him distracted while Thunder deals with Zubat!
"I could say the same to you," I spat. As he laughed, more smoke thick, black, smoke seeped out of his craters.
"You don't act like any pokemon I've ever met. A real pokemon would have attacked me already!" he sneered. H-how could he know He wasn't around during when I told Thunder! I shook my head and growled. He's playing me!
I was going to charge at him again, but something stopped me. A strange energy was flowing through my body, it almost felt like I was never damaged to begin with. "Err... What are you doing?" I didn't exactly know what I was doing, but something was telling me to send all that energy towards Koffing. What's going on? The longer I waited, the more energy flowed throughout my body. "Is that... Extrasensory!" I released the pent-up energy, sending Koffing hurling onto the other side of the cave. He floated up for a moment and glared at me before finally collapsing onto the ground.
"We did it!" Thunder rushed to my side, his cuts leaking a small amount of blood. "I-I can't believe we did it! I didn't know you knew Extrasensory!" he cheered. Is that was that strange energy was? I turned towards the thieves, who lied in pain on the sandy floor. It must have been some sort of move.
"Ugh... We got roughed up," Zubat groaned. The duo rose to their feet, or well, floated anyways. Cuts and bruises covered their bodies, and they seemed to have a hard time standing. Zubat glared at us and with a fling of his wing, he hurled the nearby treasure at Thunder. "Take it then," he hissed.
"But don't act so special, if that Zorua didn't hide that move, we'd have won on a heartbeat," Koffing said.
"Yeah, you just remember that!" Zubat added. "This isn't the last you've heard of us!" Seemingly in the speed of light, the duo fled past us disappearing from our site.
"My Relic Fragment!" He checked the rock over, then sighed in relief and placed it in his bag. "I'm so glad, thank you, Nate!"
"There's no need to thank me," I replied, uncomfortable that my tail was wagging. "It wasn't a big deal." He returned the smile and walked towards the exit.
"We better head back, it's getting late. I don't want to get stuck in here at night, especially with the feral pokemon."
"Alright, let's go."
"Really Nate, thank you." I rolled my eyes at Thunder.
"I already said it's fine." He chuckled sheepishly, then turned towards the sunset.
"I know, but I'm just so happy!"
I smiled, but I couldn't help but think about earlier. I only helped because I happened to be here. I glanced at Thunder, who stared intently at the ocean. Was it the right thing to do? I couldn't help but think of how happy he was when we got it back. That was nice, but he wouldn't have gone if I wasn't there.
"Hey, Thunder? Why is that Relic Fragment so important to you?" He gave me a confused look before pulling out the rock.
"I always liked mythology and adventure, even as a cub," he sighed. "Everyone in my clan made fun of me because of it, so one day I left. ...I wanted to go back after a few hours if I'm being honest, but I felt a strange pull towards this rock." He placed it carefully back into the bag, probably to protect it from the waves. "It had all these weird patterns on it, so right away I knew it was something special! Then when I arrived in Treasure Town, I heard about a place called Wigglytuff's Guild." He paused, a dejected look on his face.
"I tried to join their guild to figure out the secret, but I... I chickened out. I think that's why Zubat and Koffing knew about it," he admitted. "A-anyway Nate, what do you plan on doing after this? You lost your memory and somehow transformed into a pokemon. Where are you going to stay?"
I froze, I didn't think about that part. I didn't have anywhere to go and the only pokemon I knew was Thunder. Either way, I was kinda screwed.
"If not," he mumbled. "Would... Would you be willing to form an exploration team with me? I-I think we would make a pretty good pair, I mean, with how we dealt with Zubat and Koffing earlier. I just thought..."
I stood in shock, unsure of how to answer. I mean, I don't have anywhere to go. But I'm getting recruited out of the blue! I looked back, noticing his pleading eyes. I guess it wouldn't hurt to team up with Thunder, at least for now. With a sigh, I nodded.
"Well, I don't have anything else to do, so why not?"
"You'll... You'll really form a team with me?" I nodded once again. "Yes! Thank you! I promise we'll be a great team!" He turned, pointing his nose towards a path leading north. "We'll sign up as apprentices, that's where we'll make our own team!" He was ecstatic, already bounding towards the path.
"Alright, Let's do it!"
