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Chapter 1


The stillness of space. One might find the silence peaceful. The stars shimmered brightly from afar, wherever they might be in the universe. The peacefulness, however, was disturbed by a streaking comet, carrying it's passenger to the Pokémon world. The passenger, a Deoxys, noticing that the comet had brought it to it's destination, departed the comet by leaping, and descended, closing the distance between it and the planet.

"…! Wait, is that..?!" gasped the Deoxys, halting it's flight down abruptly.

Deoxys guarded himself by holding his arm over his face, as the great emerald serpent raced past the DNA Pokémon. It gave a mighty roar. It spared no moment to look at the Deoxys, as it continued it's flight into space.

"Impossible. Is that the Legendary Rayquaza? I've heard of the legends surrounding it, but this is my first encounter with it. It's extremely intimidating, yet it's also quite majestic. What I heard must be true...I could sense it's power, if only for that moment."

The Deoxys nodded, admiring the Rayquaza, before it finally flew out of view.

"Odd. I thought it only inhabited the ozone layer. Yet it's come past the stratosphere. And it seems in quite the hurry."

The Deoxys turned back to the world which he had descended towards. He glanced over it. It was a beautiful world, with the landscape a vibrant green, and the oceans, which covered most of the planet, were bright blue. The Deoxys mused a bit, before coming to a conclusion for Rayquaza's behavior.

"This is my first visit to the planet. But if Rayquaza is fleeing from it...then something strange must be afoot, here on this planet. Perhaps I am too late, then...but I must see for myself. There is no more time to waste."


There was the sound of a flowing waterfall, and the rustling of leaves. Pokémon such as Pidgey, and Tailow hummed their morning songs. Everything was the same as it had always been in this area, save for one thing; a new, and perhaps unwelcome, guest.

"...Ugh...where…?" muttered the human, rousing himself. "Where am I…?"

The human steadily got to his feet. He noticed a bit of a height difference today, but he was far too concerned with where he was to give this more thought. The human attempted to recall what happened the night before, with no success.

"Ugh..what's going on..? I can't remember a thing...wasn't someone just calling me? I'm not sure...my head hurts..."

The human's head was throbbing terribly. The only thing the human was able to recall was a name, and the fact that he was a human. Not much help to him now, of course. Of course, the name wasn't exactly much help either. It was simply the name of a Pokémon: Charmander.

"What an odd thing to remember. It's really not much help right now either!" the human muttered angrily. "Ugh...I'm thirsty. I need to find some water."

The human turned his attention to the flowing waterfall, and the lake that was reflecting the morning sun. The human walked over to the lake, knelt, and began to drink.

"Whew...alright, calming down now..." the human said, sighing "It's surprisingly refreshing. I've never really tasted water as good as this."

The human, after finishing his drink, and admiration of the water, got up.

"Now, to figure out where I am...and who I am...wait a second, what's that, in the water?"

The human focused on the object being reflected by the water surface. It was a humanoid shaped Pokémon, with an orange body, blue eyes, and small fangs protruding from the ends of the Pokémon's mouth.

"Hey, that's a Charmander. Man, those are kind of rare in the wild. But what's it doing in the water?"

It didn't take long for the human to realize how dumb that sounded.

"Charmanders are a fire type, they wouldn't be caught dead inside a lake. Especially with that tail of theirs. But then, what's being reflected?"

The human turned around to check if there was a Charmander somehow standing behind him. Obviously, there wasn't. What was there is the tail, with a small flame burning at the end of it. Putting two and two together, the human realized; he had been turned into a Charmander.

"GAAAAH! I'm a CHARMANDER! That's not possible..! I'm a HUMAN! A HUMAN!"

The human flailed it's new Charmander arms wildly.

"Does that mean...the fact that I remember the word Charmander...?! Gah, is that my name? I guess it has to be my name, I'm obviously a Charmander right now, but...I remember being a human! This doesn't make any sense!"

Turning around, the Charmander realized that he had been snuck up on. There were three brown Pokémon, staring straight at the Charmander. They were terrifyingly silent. The Charmander sensed the new tension being spawned by the three Pokémon, who have not said one word.

"Uh...how's it going?" Charmander said, sheepishly. "Nice day, huh?"

The three Pokémon continued to stare, then they turned to one another, and flashed the lights that were on the tips of their hands. The lights were sinister in the way that they flashed violently.

"Uh...anything wrong?" Charmander asked, confused by the whole situation. "I didn't wake you up, or anything with my screaming, did I?"

In response, the closest of the three Pokémon to Charmander took a swing at him. Charmander ducked quickly, dodging the attack narrowly. Charmander noticed a curious increase in reaction speed, most likely from his transformation into a Pokémon.

"Hey, can't we talk about this? Listen!"

The second of the Pokémon swung at him, obviously not interested in listening to the poor lizard Pokémon's cries. As Charmander ducked the second Pokémon's attack, he saw the third Pokémon move in to strike him. Charmander reacted accordingly, fleeing from the three Pokémon, and heading down the path, into the nearby forest. The three Pokémon gave chase, determined to hunt the Charmander down.

"Gah..they don't give up, do they? What did I do, anyway?" the Charmander muttered, running along the forest path. "Hopefully they don't catch me...just got to keep running!"

Further along the path, the Wily Pokémon hummed a tune to himself. "This here path is always my favorite. The scenery, the Pokémon you see. I reckon this was the perfect time to take a trip. Can't stay in that ol' Serene Village all the time, hm?"

The Wily Pokémon turned the corner, and saw something barreling towards him. There was no time to get out of the way, however, and the two collided, sending both tumbling to the ground.

"I reckon you should be watching where you're going, kid! You tryin' to run me over or somethin'?" the Wily Pokemon said as he stood up, dusting himself off.

"D-D-D-Did you just...TALK?" the Charmander shouted, jumping up off the ground.

"Well of course I just talked! Every Pokémon can talk, can't they? Ow! Watch those claws of yours! I reckon you should stop flailing around like that!"

"Ah! S-Sorry!" Charmander gasped. "I'm just...surprised, is all! And I'm in a hurry!"

"Ain't nothin' to be in a hurry for, all the way out here. Reckon I should introduce myself. Name's Nuzleaf. Now, what's going on?"

As if to answer his question, the three brown Pokémon emerged into the light, flickering their sinister lights. They turned their attention directly towards Charmander.

"That's what's going on!" Charmander shouted. "They're trying to capture me, or something! Maybe even something worse!"

"What, those Beheemyem? They're gentle Pokémon, they wouldn't harm a fly."the Wily Pokémon said, approaching the three Beheemyem. "See? Ain't nothing to be afrai-"

The first Beheemyem struck the Wily Pokemon, causing it to stumble back. The other two moved in for a follow up attack, still eerily silent.

"I don't think they're very gentle." Charmander said, getting ready to run.

"Me neither. Let's get out of here!" the Wily Pokemon stated, running along with the Charmander deeper into the forest.

"...Our mission was a success. Let's get out of here." the first Beheemyem said.

"They've wandered into a Mystery Dungeon. No point in pursuing them, anyway," the second Beheemyem added. "I say we did our job pretty well."

"Of course we did. All in the name of our Master. Let's go." the third Beheemyem said proudly.

The three Beheemyem, utilizing the move teleport, left the forest. The second Beheemyem spoke truth, however. Charmander and his newfound ally had wandered into an area that has since become a Mystery Dungeon.


Open Pass B1F

"Wait! Hold on a moment! I reckon I need to get my bearings!" the Nuzleaf gasped.

Charmander stopped running, and turned towards the panting Nuzleaf. "We can't stop now, those Beheemyem will catch us!"

"I think we lost 'em. Just let me take a glance around..." Nuzleaf replied.

The Nuzleaf looked around, then thought to himself.

"Well, that ain't no good, no good at all." Nuzleaf muttered to himself.

"What is it?" Charmander asked, confused.

"Take a good look around. This here's one of 'em Mystery Dungeons. I reckon we ran right into this one. I wasn't payin' no attention."

"A Mystery Dungeon? What's that?" the Charmander said, crossing his arms. "Looks like a normal forest to me, nothing mysterious about it."

"That's because we haven't gotten too deep into it yet. Listen-er, what's your name again?"

"It's Charmander."

"Well, Charmander, listen. A Mystery Dungeon is a extremely mysterious area. No one knows what causes it, but all I know for certain is that we need to get out of here quickly, or we'll be lost in it forever. If you do get lost, or stuck, in a Mystery Dungeon, well...you'll starve to death, unless someone rescues you. Luckily, I have a few apples in my bag. Just stay close to me, and I'll lead us out of here. I reckon we'll probably run into a few ferals, though."

"Ferals?" repeated Charmander.

"Aye. Wild Pokémon that is, with no social skills whatsoever. Must be because the Mystery Dungeon affects their brains, devolves them into a irredeemable primal state, and makes them violent and territorial."

"That sounds bad...we're going to be alright, are we?" the Charmander asked, concerned.

"Yeah. The ferals out here are nothing to be worried about, after all. Just the usual grass types, is all. You can fight, right?" Nuzleaf said, looking further down the path into the dungeon.

"...Uh, fight? I don't exactly, uh..know how to fight. I...lost my memories. I really don't remember anything, except for a few things..." Charmander replied, discouraged.

"Alright. Nothin' to be worried about, Charmander. Fighting is all in a Pokémon's instinct, after all. I'll teach you a few basics, so you stick to me like a bad stain as we're exploring, alright?"the Nuzleaf said, almost in a fatherly tone.

The Charmander nodded in response. Nuzleaf lead the way into the dungeon, with Charmander staying close to him. He noticed the subtle changes in the forest as they continued deeper into the dungeon. The forest trees had gotten a bit darker in coloration, a change that couldn't be noticed unless you looked closely. Charmander noted this change for future reference, hoping it would come in handy later.

The Mystery Dungeon was fairly linear. Nuzleaf stated that Mystery Dungeons change every time you go into one. They never stay the same, right down to the wild Pokémon you encounter, and the treasures you find within them. The two continued on, before Nuzleaf stopped short. Charmander looked over his shoulder.

"Wild Paras. Stay back, Charmander. I'll handle this." Nuzleaf ordered, crouching into a battle stance.

Charmander nodded, and watched Nuzleaf closely, trying to see if he could figure out how to fight from observing Nuzleaf.

The Nuzleaf's legs tensed, then he leapt into action. The Paras, noticing the Nuzleaf closing the distance between the two Pokémon, braced itself for Nuzleaf's attack. Nuzleaf's hand was enveloped in a black aura, and it slammed the Paras with it. The Paras stumbled back, taking severe damage. Before the Paras could counter attack, however, Nuzleaf made a quick follow up attack, slamming the Paras with both hands this time, knocking the Paras into the bushes. Nuzleaf made a quick survey of the area, then motioned for Charmander to follow him.

"Come on, Charmander. I reckon the coast is clear." Nuzleaf said, taking one last glance around.

"That was really something, Nuzleaf! I didn't know you could fight like that!" Charmander said cheerfully.

"Oh, that was nothin'. Now, come on. I reckon we found the stairs...Yep. Here they are. Come on, Charmander." Nuzleaf said, stepping onto the stone stairs that were in the middle of the Dungeon room.

"Why are there stone stairs in the middle of the forest...?" Charmander asked, tilting his head.

"Well, it's called a MYSTERY Dungeon, after all. That's just one of the many mysteries about them. Just remember-if you want any hope in getting out of a dungeon, look for stone stairs."


Open Pass B2F

The two continued on through the second floor of the dungeon. The occassional Paras bugged them, but Nuzleaf handled them himself. All was well until the two came to a room containing the stone stairs.

"Wild Doduo." Nuzleaf sighed. "Flying type. I don't want to have to fight it if it's necessary..."

"Why is that? Are Grass types weak to Flying types or something?" Charmander asked.

"That's right. I'm sure I could handle it, but if it gets a lucky hit on me, I might be toast. Think you could handle this one, Charmander?" Nuzleaf asked, hopeful.

"...Alright, I guess I'll have to try some time.." Charmander finally replied. He stepped in front of Nuzleaf.

"I don't expect you to know how to use your fire type moves, but you have claws and fangs. You should be able to use the basic scratch and bite. Just let your instics take over." Nuzleaf said, attempting to cheer Charmander on.

"Yeah...instincts..." Charmander repeated, not entirely confident.

The Doduo had noticed the Lizard Pokémon and approached slowly. It was getting ready to attack.

"Make the first move, Charmander! Go on, now! Just scratch and bite your way to victory!" Nuzleaf shouted.

The Doduo made a growl, then charged at Charmander. Charmander leapt into the air, without so much of a thought crossing his mind. His body had done it for him. Now it was up to him to utilize the opportunity.

"Right...scratch or bite, huh..?" Charmander muttered to himself.

Charmander tried to do a scratch attack. He inched closer to the Doduo's left head, and wildly slashed at it. His first two attacks whiffed, but the third connected. The Doduo stumbled back, growling in pain. Charmander fell to the ground, and landed on his feet. The Doduo, recomposing itself, launched itself at Charmander, it's beaks glowing white. Charmander run towards the Doduo, and then slid underneath it. The Doduo stopped, looking around, confused. Charmander launched himself once more at the Doduo, using scratch once more on the Doduo, with more confidence.

One, two, three hits connected. The Doduo stumbled back, and collapsed, defeated. Nuzleaf clapped, and Charmander turned towards him, smiling.

"Now that was some impressive fighting, kid! I reckon you showed him a thing or two. Looks like you got the hang of fighting now, huh?" Nuzleaf said, revealing a sort of fatherly pride.

"I...guess. I felt so alive...that was kind of fun!" Charmander replied.

The two climbed the stone stairs, smiling all the way until they had fully exited the Dungeon.


Road to Serene Village

"I reckon we can rest here. Looks like we've made it out of the Mystery Dungeon." Nuzleaf said, surveying his surroundings.

It was about noon, from Charmander's guess. The sun was shining on the path ahead. They were in the middle of a small clearing, with the path leading further on. Behind them was the entrance to the Open Pass Mystery Dungeon.

"So, Charmander. You said something about not remembering anything? That would mean you're amnesiac, right?" Nuzleaf asked, sounding worried.

"Right...I should explain from the beginning, I guess..." Charmander said. "I woke up near a waterfall and a lake, in a small little grotto. I couldn't remember anything, really. Just the fact that I was a human before, and my name; Charmander. Of course, I don't know if that's really my name, but it's the only name I could remember. And seeing as that's what I am, I suppose that's going to be my name for a bit..." Charmander sighed, crossing his arms.

"Hm. Sounds troubling..." Nuzleaf said. "Well, I reckon I can't pay no nevermind...certainly can't leave a child here, stranded all alone. Do you have a place to go anywhere?"

The Charmander shook his head. There was nowhere for him to go.

"Then you can always come and live with me in Serene Village, I reckon." Nuzleaf said, nodding. "It's not too far away, and the village is quite peaceful. If you want, you can definitely come along with me."

"Like I really have a choice. Of course I'll come live with you, Nuzleaf." Charmander said, smiling.

"Truly? Then I reckon we should get goin' then! Come on, and don't wander off, now!" Nuzleaf said, genuinely happy.

The two walked the path down the hill, and continued on towards Serene Village. The journey took two nights, and the two camped out underneath the stars when nightfall came. Until at last, the two exited a large cavern, and stood on the top of a hill.

"Look over there, Charmander. I reckon that there is Serene Village." Nuzleaf said.

"...Wow! It's amazing!" Charmander said cheerfully.

The village was small, but there was a kind of welcoming air about the village. Houses dotted the village on the left. On the right was a large building which many Pokémon seemed to travel into and out of. There was a feel of genuine tranquility, most likely how the village earned it's name.

"I reckon we should get going, Charmander. I'll lead you to my house." Nuzleaf said, starting on the way down the hill.

The Charmander followed closely, noticing the hill near the entrance to the village. There was a large tree that stood on the hill, offering shade from the sun. The tree appeared to call out to Charmander, and he made a note to visit it in the future some time. Eventually, the two entered the village.


And that is how...

Charmander...with no memories of his past-save for the fact that he was a human..

Came to Serene Village...

Within the Village, he is destined to meet a certain Pokemon...

Who will become the partner of a lifetime...

in the adventures that is to come.

...

CharEmblem presents:

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Expeditioners of the Sea.