Chapter 2 - 1st Challenge
The next morning, Maria awoke recharged and reenergized.
"Feels like when I slept in those beds that recharged not only my energy, but my Pokemon team's," Maria noted as she slipped out of bed. Out of habit, she rearranged the sheets so that they looked at least somewhat like the bed hadn't been slept in. She figured that someone might come by later and fix her handiwork, but Maria didn't mind if they didn't.
As she looked around the room, she noticed that a couple things had changed: the sign that was next to the warp panel had been switched out for a neater script, the sign now reading "Dining Hall," and there was some sort of video screen next to it that looked like some sort of message board.
Curious, Maria walked over to the message board and pressed the power button that was in the center of the bottom of the frame. It instantly sprang to life, a small group of paragraphs appearing on the screen:
"Welcome to the Smash Worlds Tournament!
"This contest is run very much like a series of games that will test people from across the Multiverse. Some will win, some will lose - that comes with any kind of tournament.
"As this is a different type of tournament than Marvel vs. Capcom or Smash Brothers, things are going to be run a little differently: a challenge will start the tournament, and it will involve an area from a world that most of you are most likely familiar with, if this was covered in the conversations you had the night before.
"The place is a Mystery Dungeon. The rules are simple: get to the end without getting knocked out, and you will continue to the next challenge. You may use items you find along the way to assist you.
"The challenge starts after breakfast. Good luck!"
The message was left without a signature, and after about two minutes, the entire message disappeared as the message board shut itself off.
Maria blinked, looking a little bewildered upon seeing the message. Seconds later, her eyes widened. "Mystery Dungeon - they're taking a maze from the Pokemon World!" She turned and dashed for the warp panel, appearing in the dining hall soon after.
Maria quickly made her way to her seat, noticing that there were a few people at the table already - Scarlet and Keith among them. When she plopped down into her seat, food - french toast - appeared on the plate that was there, and she promptly started eating. She knew that she would be needing the energy.
Scarlet looked over upon hearing Maria's silverware clank against the plate. "Hey. You look like you're in a hurry."
Maria paused mid-bite and looked over at the Mobian. "Yeah. You should eat something, at least. According to the message board-thingy in my room, we're going into a Mystery Dungeon today."
The midnight-furred Mobian that Maria knew to be Keith looked surprised. "A Mystery Dungeon? How did they managed that?"
"I don't know, but it probably has something to do with spacial warping - most likely thanks to Palkia."
"What is a Mystery Dungeon, specifically?" Scarlet asked, frowning.
"A maze," Maria replied. "The walls constantly shift, so you can't create a map of it. The number of floors that make up the maze never change, however, but they do vary from place to place - as few as five to as many as one hundred or more. Wild Pokemon hide there, and only four Pokemon can go in as a team at most, depending on their size - Pokemon as large as Dialga are one-man teams, so to speak."
"You said Pokemon, not Trainers," Scarlet stated, a slight frown coming over her face.
Maria nodded. "Pokemon can enter Mystery Dungeons. No one else. If we're going to be entering one for a challenge today, something tells me that we're going to get turned into Pokemon ourselves. Momentarily."
Scarlet and Keith looked at each other.
"Well, so long as it isn't permanent," Scarlet grumbled. "I'd hate to be stuck as a Stunky or something."
"I doubt you'd end up as one of those," Maria responded. "It's got to fit your personality, powers, or appearance. I'm a Vulpix, Sonic's a Sandslash, Knux is a Lucario..." Maria trailed off for a moment. "The trick is figuring out what could fit you, can considering that there's over 600 different species, that's going to be difficult."
Scarlet and Keith started to throw out possible species that either one of them could be while Maria finished off her breakfast and the other participants started to file into the dining hall. There was a soft murmur of conversation as the message was mulled over; Maria didn't bother to add her two cents as Keith and Scarlet were capable of spreading the statement around. There was a yellow blur going around on the opposite end of the table, and Maria thought that it looked oddly familiar.
Chaos suddenly appeared out of nowhere at the head of the table, causing all conversation to stop short.
"Today, it has been decided that you are to be tested," Chaos stated. "You are all, thanks to be one of my allies, are going to be transformed into creatures from my home world. It will be temporary, so don't worry about being trapped in a for recent body for the rest of your life."
"What's the point of the test?" Rock asked, giving the Pokemon a curious look. He seemed to be a little nervous, as well - most likely because of Chaos' sudden appearance.
"The Hands wish to pair up those who make it through the Mystery Dungeon for the tests that are ahead. They plan to pair you randomly through this test, and as Pokemon, it will be hard for you to identify others. To make it even more difficult to identify others, you will be kept from revealing your name to your fellow competitors."
A large, blue portal suddenly appeared behind Chaos, and a large, pink and white dragon stepped through, a regal air about him.
"Greetings," the Pokemon stated. "I am Palkia, controller of space. I'm here to lend a hand in your little excursion. For those of you who are Pokemon - or have been Pokemon - already, you will remain in your present form or return to the form you had been in before."
Maria's gaze moved around quickly. She caught sight of Sonic and Knuckles, further down her side of the table, exchanging glances and looking up at the Dragon/Water-Type with an eager (Sonic) and a curious (Knuckles) look on each of their faces.
"However, only those present will participate. Meaning that those of you who brought teams of Pokemon will be unable to use them."
Sonic frowned and snapped his fingers.
Palkia's gaze moved to Dr. Light, who was looking up at him with awe. "And you will not participate, either. Your creations will be fine on their own."
Maria stiffened a little, then looked around Dr. Light, catching sight of Roll and Blues, the latter looking like he was indifferent about the whole situation.
Dr. Light looked over at Rock, who gave him a quick nod. The roboticist then turned to look at Palkia and gave a nod. "Very well."
Palkia nodded. "Good. Now we may begin. You might feel some discomfort as you transform."
The pink jewel on the Pokemon's arm started to glow, and everything in the dining hall seemed to warp and merge together.
Maria blacked out.
Spacial Break
When Maria came to, she found herself lying on what felt like rock. She started to get up, only to discover that her form had been changed to force her to stand on all four limbs.
After quickly looking herself over, she found that she was indeed a Vulpix.
Maria grinned, delighted. "Familiar form - good. Now to figure out if I'm in a familiar place."
The rest of the world pulled into focus, revealing dark stone walls and an open passage in front of Maria, next to a statue that looked like a beefed-up kangaroo.
Maria trotted over to the kangaroo and tapped on one of the creature's feet. A recorded voice came out of a speaker on the pouch: "This is Spacial Rift."
The Vulpix smirked. "What better place is there for a test? All right. Let's see if I can find a spare Treasure Bag and some Reviver Seeds." She nosed around at the base of the statue, only to come up with nothing.
Maria frowned. "Well, looks like I won't be getting any help from there." She looked over at the opening in the wall in front of her. "I've got no other choice other than to go in unprepared." She trotted over to the opening and entered the Dungeon.
Almost instantly, Maria sensed - and saw - that something was up. There were hardly any Pokemon in the area, and those that were had been knocked out cold. Obviously, someone - or something - had come trough there earlier and decimated the inhabitants, and whoever it was happened to be up ahead.
Maria quickened her pace, running through the narrow passageways and larger corridors that made up the Dungeon. Whoever it was that had knocked out these Pokemon, she was curious about meeting him.
Suddenly, there was a loud roar that shook the air around her, followed not too long after by a thorough ground-shaking, forcing Maria to run in a zig-zag pattern in order to avoid the boulders falling from the walls and the cracks that appeared in the ground, coming from somewhere ahead of her.
Someone's using Earthquake! Maria identified. She sped up her pace as the shaking continued. Could be a Rhyperior, but those aren't really seen around here. Neither are Dugtrio or any other Ground-Types. Unless...
Maria came to a screeching halt as the end of the corridor neared and the Earthquake subsided. Cautiously, she stepped forward and into a chamber. Within it, Magnezone, Electrivire, and Magmortar were either fleeing to other places or lying fainted on the ground. The only Pokemon that was standing was a large blue, mud-fish like creature with white spikes coming out of its cheeks, and red fins on top of its head and serving as a tail.
Maria recognized the Pokemon instantly. Must be one of the contestants... She approached the figure carefully, then sat down a few feet away from him; the Vulpix was surprised that she hadn't remembered that this kind of Pokemon could look so big or intimidating to someone of her present size.
"Excuse me," Maria calmly stated.
The Pokemon's head turned, and it caught sight of Maria. "Who or what are you supposed to be?" it asked.
Maria made a mental note that the Pokemon was a male before she responded, "I'm a Pokemon known as a Vulpix. As for my real name, you remember what Chaos said before we ended up here."
The Pokemon frowned. "Chaos?"
Maria realized he didn't know who she was referring to. "Mewtwo. I know him by a different name."
"Oh." The large Pokemon brought his head down to get a closer look at Maria. "If you're a Vulpix, then what am I?"
"A Swampert," Maria replied calmly. "You're capable of using attacks that are based off of ground or water elements. I'm a Fire-Type, so I can use fire-based attacks, and my Type is weak to yours."
The Swampert nodded slightly. "I guess I could call you Vulpix, then?"
"For now," Maria replied, nodding in agreement. "And I'll call you Swampert." She got to her feet and trotted around the larger Pokemon, ears up and alert as she looked around. Spotting another opening, she started trotting over to it. "Come on. We probably don't have much time."
The ground rumbled slightly as Swampert followed. "You've been here before, haven't you?"
"Yup," Maria replied, not bothering to glance back as they entered the corridor. "This place is called Spacial Rift. It is known to be the home of Palkia - the creature that brought us here and changed our forms. I've come down here a couple times to do a few things for the Pokemon in the area."
"Can you-"
"Mystery Dungeons are known to shift and change, so it's impossible to map them. However, I can sense where we can gain access to the next level."
Swampert let out a snort of surprise. "That's useful."
"Comes from a lot of experience in places like this." Maria stopped as they reached another chamber, catching sight of an opening in the ground that had stairs leading down it. "There. That leads to the next floor." She turned around and looked up at Swampert. "We keep going until we reach the floor Palkia's hanging out on, and then we're done. It's going to be difficult, however, considering that we're probably going to be attacked on all sides by wild Pokemon and the other competitors."
"You think that is going to happen?" Swampert frowned.
"You were surrounded by Pokemon that were weak to your Typing before I got to you," Maria pointed out. "I wouldn't be surprised if we ran into someone else."
Swampert let out a grunt, looked around for a moment, then stepped forward and started down the stairs. Maria trotted after him.
The next floor was, once again, the same gray rock as the last floor had been. Only, this time, they were confronted with something new: a pair of figures that didn't look like they belonged in the area.
A black bat with four wings, his eyes a pure white and a yellow stripe wrapped around his middle, was perched on top of a red, silver, and gold metal Pokemon that was levitating. The bat Pokemon looked annoyed.
"You two."
Maria looked up at the bat Pokemon, cocking her head slightly in curiosity.
"Do either of you know anything about what's going on around here?" the bat asked.
"And what either of us are?" the metal Pokemon added.
Maria looked over the two Pokemon for a moment. "The bat Pokemon is a Crobat and you are a Metang. I am a Vulpix and my friend is a Swampert." She nodded to the gray walls as she continued, "This place is called Spacial Rift. It's the home of Palkia, the creature that brought us here." The Vulpix looked back at the two as she continued, "I believe that we have to reach him in the deepest part of the Rift in order for the test to be finished off. The trick is surviving the trip down."
"So we gathered." Crobat took off from his perch, and flew down to get a closer look at Maria. "You've been here before, haven't you." The question was said in such a way that Maria almost mistook it as a statement.
The Vulpix launched into an explanation as to what a Mystery Dungeon was, adding that there were about fifteen floors that they had to get through in Spacial Rift.
"We could end up getting kicked out of the competition if we just hang back and talk," Maria warned. "We have to keep moving."
"We?" Metang blinked. "Are you suggesting that we work together?"
Maria looked up at Swampert. "The more of us that stick together, the more likely that we'll end up moving on."
Swampert frowned, then nodded in agreement. "That's a good idea. I've found that working in teams can give an advantage."
"I prefer working alone," Crobat responded flatly. He turned and started for an open corridor, only to suddenly stop short a few feet away from Maria when an Electrivire appeared out of nowhere, blocking the entrance.
Swampert started to raise his front feet. "Let me-"
"No!" Maria jumped in front of him. "Metang and I are weak to an Earthquake! Use that and he and I could both be knocked out!"
The Water/Ground-Type paused, then slowly lowered his paws. "What are you suggesting we do to get rid of that thing, then?"
Maria turned to face the Electrivire. "I can take him." She walked forward, stopping in front of Crobat.
The Electrivire stepped forward, as well. Electricity started to travel up and down the Pokemon's arms.
"Extrasensory!" Maria yelled. A psychic wave of energy flowed out from her and into the Electric-Type, causing it to stumble back a little as the energy came back to Maria and formed an illusion around her - that of a larger Vulpix.
Electrivire shook his head, then sent a ball of electricity in Crobat's direction. Swampert moved in front and created a shield of blue energy that had red on the outer edge and a white star in the center.
"Faint Attack!" Maria called. She vanished, then reappeared a moment later when something smacked into the Electrivire, causing it to stumble out of the way of the passage. The Pokemon collapsed a moment later.
The three Pokemon that were with Maria looked at the little Fire-Type in surprise.
"That's a lot of power for a kid your size," Metang noted.
"I'm a level 80," Maria responded dismissively. "Of course I'd have a lot of power." She turned and looked at the opening, then back at the other three. "Are we going to keep going or not?"
"We're going," Crobat stated flatly. He flew forward into the corridor, Metang following close behind.
"Something tells me that Crobat has seen a lot," Maria remarked to Swampert as they started down the passageway.
"I'm getting the same feeling from you," Swampert responded, looking down at Maria with a curious expression. "How old are you, anyway?"
"Ummm..." Maria frowned. "Seventeen." She looked back, only to see that Swampert had stopped short in surprise. "What?"
"I never thought that someone so young would get pulled into this," Swampert admitted, starting forward again. "It's too -"
"Dangerous?" Maria gave the Water/Ground-Type an amused look. "I've done and seen things that could make you look at me differently." She turned and started forward again, hearing the plodding footsteps of Swampert behind her start up again.
They met up with Crobat and Metang again, only to find the two of them staring down a Ditto who was colored in two different shades of pink. The Normal-Type clearly looked confused and disoriented.
Maria trotted over, her ears straight up as she tried to discern whether or not the Ditto was a threat. It seemed to her that the Pokemon was trying to see the same thing about them, because it hadn't transformed yet.
Or, it didn't know how to transform.
The Ditto looked around warily, watching the other Pokemon approach. When Maria got into a crouch and looked like she was ready to pounce, the Normal-Type let out a yelp and started to take in a deep breath, only to stop short and start coughing.
Maria frowned and cocked her head to one side in confusion, getting out of her crouch and into a sitting position.
Then Ditto pounced, its form suddenly increasing in size as it aimed for Crobat, who flew up to avoid the Pokemon.
Maria reared back, then fired a stream of flames at Ditto, who jumped away to avoid it, putting Metang in the line of fire. The flames parted, however, leaving him unharmed.
"Hey!" Maria barked, glaring daggers at Ditto. "You just made me waste a good Flamethrower!"
Ditto looked at her in alarm upon hearing this.
"Allow me." Crobat brought back his wings, then thrust them forward, creating a large blast of wind that sent Ditto careening. A moment later, the Flying/Poison-Type vanished with a burst of speed, reappearing a moment later with a blast of dark energy as he slammed into Ditto.
The pink blob collapsed, swirls replacing its eyes. It disappeared in a blast of light a moment later.
"Nice use of Gust and Faint Attack," Maria offered, looking up at Crobat. "Have you been in a situation like this before?"
"No," Crobat replied shortly. He looked over at Metang, then flew over to a corridor entrance and stopped there.
Metang glared at Crobat, then let out a sigh and looked over at Maria and Swampert. "Looks like he wants us to split up. See you at the finish line?"
"Sure," Maria replied coolly.
Metang gave a nod, then followed after Crobat, both disappearing down the corridor.
"Now what?" Swampert asked, looking down at Maria.
"Now, we find those stairs." Maria closed her eyes, and her ears swiveled towards another corridor - opposite of the one that Crobat and Metang had gone through. Opening her eyes, the Vulpix declared, "That way."
"Are you sure?" Swampert looked back in the direction the other two Pokemon had gone.
"I'm positive." A frown came over Maria's face. "However, there is still a chance that we might end up having to go a different direction. The floors are designed to be mazes, so there's dead ends all over the place."
"Joy," Swampert stated with a deadpan expression.
"Don't worry about it; so long as we move quickly, we should be fine." Maria started off down the corridor confidently, the Water/Ground-Type following close behind. "And if we run into anybody, we do have abilities that we can use to take them out."
"You mean like the earthquakes I can cause?"
"Exactly. That's the name of the attack, as well. Pokemon can have four techniques to use in battle at most, but I've heard rumors of others who have been able to call upon multiple movesets." Maria looked back. "And I saw you put up a Protect shield earlier, so we know at least two of your attacks. You should probably have a Water-Type move in your arsenal, as well, meaning that Magmortar have two things to fear about you."
"What do you mean?"
Maria looked back at Swampert, who had a bemused expression on his face.
A smirk appeared on her own. "Looks like I'll have to explain to you about Type match-ups."