Smash Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Subspace

Chapter 2: A Storm at Sea

The very faint sound of ocean waves reached her ears, and she slowly opened her eyes, which took a lot of strength, and all she could see was the bright blue sky. She wasn't able to hang on for very long as she could feel her vision fading again.

'N-No...I-I can't...blacking out...' she thought as she fell into unconsciousness.

On a cliffside at dusk, a small blue turtle nervously paced back and forth. He looked up at the building that stood in front of him, and he shook his head as his nervous face turned to a determined one.

"No, I'm not chickening out this time! I'm gonna go in there, walk right up to the Guildmaster, look at them straight in the eye and tell them that I want to be an explorer!" he told himself, and he stepped forward and when he stepped on a metal pad, and then a small machine that looked like a camera popped out next to it and scanned him and a voice spoke.

"Visitor detected! Visitor detected! The visitor is Squirtle! The visitor is Squirtle!"

The Squirtle gasped in surprise and fell backwards, and the small machine retreated back into the ground. He got up and sighed sadly. "Why can't I do this? I kept telling myself that today would be the day." He then took out a small stone with a strange pattern on it and stared at it. "I thought my personal treasure would inspire me, but I...I just can't do it. I'm too cowardly." He then picked up the stone and began walking away from the building. In the bushes nearby, two figures watched him go. One of them was short and fat and had purple overalls and a yellow hat with a W on it, and the other was tall and lanky with purple clothes and a hat with an upside-down L on it.

"Did you get a load of that, Wario?" the tall and lanky one asked.

"You bet I did, Waluigi."

"And did you see what that little squirt had?"

"Yeah, it looked like some kind of treasure. I bet it'll be worth big bucks!"

"Do we go after him?" Waluigi asked.

"We do." Wario replied as they began to follow the Squirtle.

The sun was setting on the beach south of the town. Several Krabby were perched on the rocks and began blowing bubbles, creating a beautiful scene as the light from the sun reflected off the ocean waves and the bubbles.

The Squirtle walked along the shore when he noticed the bubbles floating in the air and stared out at the sea as he smiled and sighed. "What a beautiful sight." He always came here whenever he was feeling down, and the sight of the beautiful sunset with the bubbles made him forget all about his troubles for a moment.

He then noticed something farther down on the beach. As he got closer to it, he could see that it was an unconscious body and he gasped. "Oh my gosh!" He quickly ran over to them and began shaking them. "Hello?! Are you okay?! Can you hear me?!"

They slowly opened their eyes and got up. "Where...Where am I?"

"Oh, thank goodness you're all right! You had me really worried there! I thought you were dead for a second, but you were just unconscious."

'I was...unconscious? How did that happen?' she asked herself.

"Anyway, I'm Chrono. I don't think I've seen you around here. Pikachu aren't very common in this area."

She became confused at that last bit. "Pikachu?"

"Yeah, that's what you are."

"No, I'm not a Pikachu! I'm a human!"

Now Chrono was confused. "Human? You look like a perfectly normal Pikachu to me."

"What are you..." She looked at her hand and then realized that it was a yellow paw. She then looked down at her body and she saw that she now had yellow fur, and then looked behind herself to see that she had a long tail with a heart-shaped indent at the end. 'It's true! I have been turned into a Pikachu! But...how did this happen?'

"You seem pretty odd. Are you trying to trick me or something?" Chrono asked.

"N-No, I'm not lying!" she exclaimed as she quickly shook her head.

Chrono still looked a bit skeptical. "Okay then, can you tell me your name?"

'My name?' She thought for a moment, and then she remembered her name from the back of her mind. "My name is Terra."

"Well, nice to meet you, Terra!" Chrono smiled. "You don't seem to be a bad Pokémon. Which is good, because a lot of rogues have been roaming around lately. I don't what's been going on, but something's causing people to become corrupted or something."

Just then, Terra could see two figures sneaking up on Chrono and before she could warn him, they pushed him and he rammed right into her. The stone that he had in his bag flew out and landed on the sand.

"Oops, sorry! Didn't see ya there!" Waluigi said in a mocking tone.

Chrono quickly got up and glared at the two angrily. "What was that for?!"

"Just messing with ya. Can't you figure that out?" Wario asked. "And we'll be taking this!" He grabbed the stone and then he and Waluigi ran off to the cave behind the two Pokémon while laughing.

"No, wait! Stop!" Chrono shouted as he tried to run after them, but they were too fast for him and they disappeared into the cave. "What am I gonna do? That was my personal treasure. It means absolutely everything to me." He then started to tear up. "If I can't get it back..." He quickly shook his head and became determined. "No. We have to go after them and get my Relic Fragment back!" Chrono then turned to Terra. "Will you help me?"

Terra was a bit surprised at this, but he looked like he really needed help right now. "Yes. Yes, I will."

Chrono's eyes lit up. "Really?! Then let's go!" The two Pokémon then ran into the cave to retrieve the stolen treasure.

As the two went through the cave, they had a few encounters with various water-type Pokémon that lived in the beach cave. Terra discovered that she now had the power to use electric-based attacks, which allowed her to defeat the water creatures with ease.

After going through a few floors of the dungeon (which Terra found to be pretty odd that there were staircases in a cave), the two of them made it to the pit of the cave where they found the two scoundrels that took Chrono's treasure.

The two then turned around and grinned upon seeing them. "Well well well, if it isn't our old friend the chicken!" Waluigi teased.

Chrono looked like he wanted to cry, but he managed to hold back his tears and he shouted, "Give me my Relic Fragment back! It means everything to me!"

"Oh, is it really?" Wario asked with a sneer. "Well, if really is worth that much then maybe we should just sell it. It could get us some good cash! All the more reason to not give it back!" he snickered, making Chrono gasp in shock.

"You want it? Come and get it!" Waluigi taunted.

Terra couldn't bear to see these two constantly teasing Chrono, and she quickly jumped up and fired a bolt of electricity at the two of them, causing them to fall to the ground completely fried.

"O-Ow...we got beat..." Waluigi groaned.

"How did we lose to those whimps?" Wario asked as the two of them got up. "Bah, fine! Have it back!" He threw the stone to the two Pokémon. "Don't forget, your victory was just a fluke!" he shouted, and then the two made a run for it out of the cave.

"We...We did it. We got my Relic Fragment back!" Chrono cheered. "And I couldn't have done it without you!"

Back on the beach, Chrono thanked Terra for her help.

"Thank you so much for getting my Relic Fragment back!"

"Oh, it was...nothing." Terra muttered. 'I don't know who exactly this Pokémon is, but he's very grateful for my help.'

"So Terra, do you know what to do now?" Chrono asked. "You lost your memory and you've somehow been turned into a Pikachu. If not, then I would like to ask you something. I've been wanting to join the Smash Guild for a long time now. Exploring dungeons, finding treasures, making new discoveries and all that. I heard all kinds of stories about the guild and it's been my lifelong dream to become an explorer. Then one day I found this."

Chrono placed the stone between them on the sand and they both stared at the strange inscription.

"I call it my Relic Fragment. I figured that that pattern has to do with something, and I thought that maybe I could figure it out if I join the guild. But I...I chickened out. When we went through that cave, I felt much braver with you with me, and I thought we would make a good team. It seems like you don't really have anywhere to go, so would you like to form an exploration team with me?"

Terra didn't really know what to say. 'It's true. I don't really have anywhere else to go, but what do I do? I don't know anything about myself other than that I was once human. Maybe I'll figure out my origins if I join Chrono.' After some thinking, she made her decision and she nodded. "Yes, I'll join you."

Chrono's eyes lit up. "Really?!" She nodded again. "Alright, first we need to go to the guild and get ourselves registered. That's where we'll train to become an exploration team. The training may be hard, but we'll give it our best!"

And so, Terra and Chrono formed an exploration team. This was their first step into many discoveries and adventures that awaited them.