Ion: This is the chapter I've written. I think we're going back and forth?
Hero: I think that's for the best. Welp, things are about to get interesting...
The sun warmed his fur, probed his eyelids, and pressed its ever-burning presence along his entire body, from the top of his head to the tip of his tail.
He rolled over, making a pained sound. There was an overpowering feeling of foggy weight on his brain, everything hurt, and he didn't feel like dealing with life at the moment.
Falling back asleep was a mercy.
One that would not be kind for long. With the sun in his eyes and the roar of something right next to his ear, a lone Meowth sleeping in Sharpedo Bluff found himself coming to.
"Mmm…wha-?"
He rolled over, thankfully to his right and away from the cliff, and blinked. He raised a hand to scrub at the sleep in his eyes and got about three seconds into scrubbing before realising something was wrong.
His hand was awfully fluffy, and he didn't have five fingers anymore either. Green eyes snapped open, and he gasped, staring at what was an oversized, overly dextrous, cat paw.
He stared at it in silence, gawking, shock for more than a few moments before slowly closing his mouth and getting to his feet. He wobbled for a moment on two legs, his body sore and aching all over. It felt like something had beaten him over the head with a dictionary before giving a haymaker to his chest.
Taking a moment to look over himself, this curiosity in the shape of a feline determined a few things.
He was a cat.
He was not just a cat, but a Meowth.
He had a tail.
The tail was kinda fun, like having a snake attached to him.
His mouth was like sandpaper, and his tongue WAS sandpaper and he tasted something coppery.
He had a nose, despite the memes.
Strangely enough, this figure was awfully calm about this despite the confident knowledge that he was not a pokémon when he went to bed last night.
When did he go to bed last night, actually? Trying to think of it sent a stabbing pain through his head and he gasped. "Okay, ow, no thinking." He paused. That actually hurt a fair bit, but the pain was already gone like it wasn't there in the first place.
Brushing it off for the moment, he took to the most likely answer. "I don't normally dream like this…and I normally wake up once I realise I'm dreaming. Hm."
He was at a cliffside, there were trees dotting the path neatly before a sheer cliff looked out into the water beyond and below. It looked…familiar, there was even a large rock spiking out of the ground in the shape of a fin.
Deciding to roll with this for now, he started walking. His body felt heavy, weighted, and hard to move. The usual when he wanted to walk in a dream but couldn't go as fast as he wanted, this was relaxing rather than concerning. This was a dream, might be interesting to see where it takes him.
He glanced to where a heavy shrubbery of leaves was grouped in one place and recognised it. But from where exactly…? "Huh. Okay." Deciding to go there first, he began to move the leafy pile, claws coming out accidentally when he flexed his paws.
They weren't too nimble, not like hands, but it could be worse. Moving the pile, he found an entrance to a home. Wondering if anyone would be in, he entered. "Hello?" he called, walking down.
He found himself in a small area overlooking a waterfall. Cosy was probably the nicest description he could give it. It was open to the outside, spikes like teeth looking out into the water beyond, a pile of straw resembled a bed with a waterhole next to it. A few big yellow seeds and an apple was stashed in a corner, but there was nothing else.
"Hmm."
So, he left it. Back on the outside, his eye was caught by something flashing in the wind and he spotted a silvery length of fabric. A distant memory occurred to him. "Silver Bow?" Deciding to keep it, he looped it around a paw and took off towards Treasure Town.
Because it had to be Treasure Town. He enjoyed the accuracy of this dream. This was Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: The Explorers game.
The place was beautiful, he had to admit. Trees with deep emerald leaves swayed in the wind, up ahead as the land sloped downwards there was a bridge over a slice of seawater.
Treasure Town grew larger and larger until it was larger than life. Dozens of pokémon walked around, talking and playing and laughing and bartering. Pidgey. Zoroark. Beedrill. Greninja. Machoke. Sunflora. Sableye. Wurmple. Poochyena. Swellow. Litleo.
There were even pokémon he didn't know the species of, which filled him with brief excitement before remembering that this was a dream and that brown, yellow, and black pikachu-looking thing didn't actually exist.
Morpeko would be offended if she could hear his thoughts.
He passed by what was certainly Kangaskhan's Storage, and she smiled at his curious look. "Hello dear."
"H-Hello."
"Are you new around here?" she asked, cocking her head. "I haven't seen any Meowth around."
"Ooh…yeah, I came in last night."
"Oh my. Quite the storm last night."
He nodded, taking that in and remembering it.
"What brings you to this slice of the continent?" Kangaskhan asked, smiling happily at him. He came in close to where she stood behind a counter and looked up.
Kangaskhan was massive, built of firm muscle even if she might have been a bit older than some. Her claws were wicked but filed smooth, and a fang was chipped. But her face, despite being alien to him in many ways, was kind and welcoming as well. She smiled like a human did, despite a fang or two poking out of her mouth, her eyes were as soft as a mother, or perhaps grandmother, and familiar to him even if he'd never met her before.
"Uh…well, it's got the guild," he said, haltingly. "Oh, sorry, I'm Sean by the way."
Kangaskhan's reaction was...concerning.
She immediately coughed hard and spluttered. "I, excuse me?"
Detecting he'd done something wrong, somehow already, Sean flinched. "W-what?"
"Young mon, this is not the place to be saying those kinds of things," Kangaskhan said, firmly. "Oh, good gracious, did anyone hear?" She looked around concerned as Sean tried to figure out exactly what he'd done.
"Uh, s-sorry but what did I say?"
Kangaskhan looked sharply down at him but her features softened when it looked like he really didn't know what was going on. "I'm not sure where you're from," she began, gentler but still with a bit of force to it. "But we don't share names so freely around here. Those that share names freely share…anything and everything freely."
Sean began to flush hard enough to be seen through his fur. "O-oh. Oh! No, that's not what I meant at all! I'm so sorry!"
Kangaskhan nodded, breathing a sigh of relief herself. She smiled and then giggled at him. "Oh, don't worry. You must forgive me, but I will have to share this with my friends. Hahahaha, it's not often someone comes around not knowing that…actually this is the first time."
Still red, he nodded. That was fair enough, and it's not like it really mattered.
"Even in dreams I embarrass myself," he thought ruefully.
"Well, uh, I might head off. Check more of the place out, thanks for letting me know about that though."
"Any time, dear. If you do stick around, the guild and I have an agreement and you'll be able to store items with me for free! That's what I do in town, Kangaskhan's Storage, protecting and preserving anything and everything!"
He nodded and waved away, moving away with maybe a bit of haste. Kangaskhan was still chuckling.
Part of Sean wanted to talk to every pokémon he saw, but part of him wanted to see what was at the end of this dream.
Still, he enjoyed the chance to see what his mind thought up for pokémon nice and close. Maybe it was rude to stare, but you had free reign in a dream.
Pikachu were fluffy, it looked like. Marill too weren't quite as round as they may have looked in the game, Azurill was still a little ball balancing on that tail though.
Some grey fur in a Mightyena or extra muscles on Marowak. He definitely looked like he could train someone well, with a piercing stare and built form.
"I wonder if the guild put him out of business?" Sean wondered as he passed by, Marowak was legging some tools down the path towards the dojo. A few other pokémon were congregating there, carrying tools and lumber.
Regardless of why Marowak was being Marowak, he was free to do it.
Treasure Town was a lot bigger, Sean decided. The place was still recognisable, but the paths between shops were a fair bit more and there were lots of smaller, temporary, stalls set up by pokémon selling day-to-day. A Magmar roasted fruit on a stick and it smelled wonderful.
His stomach rumbled then cramped around nothing and he tasted something coppery in the back of his throat. Sean's stomach was telling him to dash over and steal something, but he didn't need to eat.
But maybe….
No. No, he wasn't an asshole, not even in a dream.
"I am dreaming, right?" he wondered. For a dream, this was going very straightforward and detailed. Things were progressing as he walked, but he didn't warp around closer or step into completely new situations. His eyes kept track of dozens of pokémon around him, feeling tense in the midst of so many. And when he turned around and looked again, they were still there, a little further away. The same figures as well.
Feeling a little bit of unease, he hastened his step away from the town. Sean brushed his whiskers down, enjoying the feeling and his tail flicked.
A few pokémon had stared after him and he didn't quite like the attention. Dreams could easily turn nasty and regardless of it, he didn't want to be afraid.
Duskull stared at him from the bank. The architecture all dark stone and warped in twisting patterns. He didn't like the empty eye bouncing between eye sockets, yet trained on him.
The geography continued to be accurate as Sean exited the town. He tugged at the Silver Bow around his paw, glancing around.
This place looked significantly more normal, he found. His heart was racing, but things were normal. Normal.
There was a watering hole, a trickle of water caused the surface to ripple. An old bell lay next to it, rusted.
Forwards left the civilised world for the untamed wilds. A set of signposts were up as well but Sean couldn't really make a whole lot of sense at it from a distance. He blinked, realising his eyesight was fine.
Positives of dreams, he supposed.
Could you dream of something you never knew?
To the left was a set of stairs carved out of the ground and flattened by countless feet. Steps were chipped from wear and tear and hanging over it all, peering over the town like a big pink protector, was the upper head of a Wigglytuff.
His sharp eyes could make out a bundle of feathers tied to it as well, along with what looked like footprints stamped above the eyes, two for each eye.
So much detail.
And to the right was a winding trail down a thickly wooded path. Feeling it to be the safest choice, Sean turned right. He'd go to the guild later if it was even still there when he got back.
Perhaps the 'partner' would be there. Or even the human, as he had woken up above the partner's house. Sean decided it'd be a good way to test the accuracy of this all.
It was no ten-second walk to the beach, rather it took him a good twenty minutes to stroll down the winding trail, ears pricked as the sound of waves grew closer and the ground began to turn from dirt to sand.
The beach was definitely pretty. The sand was as soft as sand commonly got, crunching pleasantly under his shoeless feet, his paw pads spreading a little and claws popped out by accident.
Sean shook that foot to clear off some sand, looking over the extended claws before trying to retract them. He had an idea of how it worked and slowly untensed his foot, the claws pulled back in.
His tail flicked happily before dropping back to drag against the sand. He was having trouble recognising it as a part of him and focusing on it too much turned his stomach with how confusing it was.
The tail for sure fit, it was like another arm on his body that could bend in a lot of ways. But at the same time, it felt like a fifth limb and he couldn't deal with that right now.
He wasn't sure what he was expecting to find here though. Sand, sea, rocks, krabby maybe. Maybe a partner on the sand, maybe a pokémon unconscious on the sand.
For a dream repeating the game, this was disappointingly inaccurate thus far.
"Well, maybe time to go to the guild?" he said out loud and turned around.
At least his dream had a sense of dramatic timing.
Something flashed in the sky, reflecting off the water and blinding him for a moment before a crash shook the whole beach, sand banks collapsing and causing Sean to scream and fall onto his back, kicking at the air and covering his face.
"Ookay, please no nightmare jump scare FNAF furry death machines please," he asked, uncovering his face to peak out. Some dust was blown up far across the rocks, right around where….
"Beach Cave, duh," Sean said, recognising that he'd just ignored the starting dungeon.
He glanced back the path he came, glanced up to see what looked like a portal closing, and then back to the dungeon.
"…Well, no time like the present!" he said, chuckling to himself. He could make so many time-related jokes no one would ever get.
Pity he wouldn't be here long enough to make them. Would his subconscious mind hate him for saying puns, or is he his subconscious mind and loves puns?
Philosophical questions aside, he was running to the mouth of the dungeon. Unlike the games, this looked rather foreboding.
Jagged cave pieces like the teeth of a monster, belching moist, warm, air like the breath of a creature, sliding down sharply with mucus-like slickness.
Yeah, this felt like the dream was about to rapidly turn into a nightmare.
Yet, he still went.
The ground was slippery but not impossible, sending those claws out definitely made a difference in gripping. How useful!
Beach Cave was not a nice beginning tutorial place. Or if it was, then he didn't want any part of this Dark Souls-esc world.
The place was lit by a sickly green glow from places he couldn't see. What cracks in the roof he could make out showed a vortex of red and black that left him feeling a little dizzy to focus on too long. There were puddles of water covered in grime and they rippled with hidden creatures.
And not-so-hidden creatures.
Shellos slid along the ground, faster than he was expected as they were aided by the slimy surface that made walking all the more difficult. He'd need to have a shower in the morning, the residual disgust of all this grime on his feet would stay with him forever.
Shellos were large, gross, slug monsters with boring mouths that widened uncomfortably wide. They appeared fuzzy on the inside and Sean realised they shared real-world snails quality of having hundreds, if not thousands, of teeth.
"Ah yes, nightmare land, population me. I knew my morbid tendencies would get me killed by slugs one day. Don't know how I knew, only that I knew."
It took a few tries to make his front paws bring the claws out. Flicking his wrists did something neat, his claws would shine white and grow a little longer. The more he did it, the less he had to flick.
"I guess this is a Scratch attack from the Scratch Cat Pokémon. Game set match." Shellos were neither swift nor agile and he could bop them on the head, and they'd rush off screeching an unpleasant wail.
It was to nails on a chalkboard that giant enemy spiders were to crabs.
And they oozed. Wasn't sure if it was blood or something else, but Sean was rapidly getting more disgusted with the revelations about the floor.
"I liked it better when the pokémon world was cutesy and innocent, not death-filled and depressing."
"It'd be cool if I could meet the Team Rocket Trio," Sean mused as he journeyed from room to room. What would be at the end of this? Koffing and Zubat? Team Charm? Sean?
He blinked before shaking his head. "I wouldn't meet myself," he said, laughing.
Well, it was a dream. Maybe he'd see himself as a riolu or something? Riolu were great.
He might have himself though if that was the case. Meowth were fine, but everyone knew riolu was the protagonist of everything PMD.
Everything. Even Rescue Team.
With his new mastery of his bodies natural inclination of scratch-based violence, Sean charged forth throughout the dungeon. He had a chance to pick up a very spicy-looking seed, however, it was drenched in goop and he had some standards, and that amount of goop did not meet them.
In a similar way to flying a plane, things were going well and then they weren't.
With how much carrying-on there was about to be, the metaphor about planes and the seriousness of plane crashes was probably accurate.
Shellos were slugs and therefore soft, weak, targets. Anorith with their many-twitching legs and frothy mouths were a completely different story.
Imagine an armoured spider. Now make that spider about thirty to sixty times larger. Make it magic. Fill it with a lust for the flesh of the innocent-and-Meowth-inclined. Place it in a dark, moist, dank pit.
And have it drop from the ceiling right as you walk into a room and land on your head.
That was what it was.
Sean developed a phobia for ancient pokémon right at that moment. In another timeline he might have taken as long as a hungry-hungry-aerodactyl to gain that amount of sense, but he learned right away here and now.
There was no Shinx to zap them and look at the roof for threats and be smart about dungeon crawling. None right here at least.
Anorith were significantly heavier than Meowth on average. Three times as much. And with their hard carapace, Sean was nearly knocked out by the blow to the back of his head, and he fell face-first into the muck.
Gagging and spitting out the ghastly ground goop, Sean rolled away from the menace and covered himself more in the horror he was walking in.
Resigning to being either absolutely clean or absolutely dirty, Sean screeched out his own furious yowl and clapped that evil horrible insect on the head with both paws before scratching the ever-loving hell out of its evil face.
Removing himself from any notion of mercy or restraint, Sean just attacked and attacked until there was more red than green on the ground and the beast managed to beat him in the stomach to knock him back, screaming it writhed on the ground before escaping through a tunnel, leaving a trail of blood for any hungry ferals to follow later.
Sean hissed at it, fur raised, claws out, charm shining before remembering himself. "Ewww," he said, looking over his arms. Ruined.
Forget just a shower, he was going to need to have a bath in real life after it.
Real life.
He began shaking some of the gunk off and moving rapidly, heart pounding as the adrenaline began to wear off and remind him that his body was aching and tingling.
His head pounded, actually, from that hit. His ribs ached too along with his stomach from that tackle, and damn did his claws feel weird. He could recall the sensation of ripping through chitin, feathers, and flesh. The feeling left him wanting to gag all over again.
Cats cleaned themselves with their tongues.
He'd never sleep again with that thought in his head.
He'd jump in a body of water, but it looked slimy too.
Sean's rapid thoughts were working well to distract him from the aches all over his body now. He found an oran berry that was only somewhat crusty and brought it along because why not.
Because otherwise there was pain and there was no pain in a dream. He knew that. He'd been tossed around in dreams before and not a twitch of an ache.
Dreams were usually not quite this…coherent either. Places where they should be, progressing at a natural pace, no weird jumps to completely different things. No random splashes of other stuff. No trippiness.
But…how else could this be? It had to be a dream.
It had to be.
It had to be.
It had to be.
It had to be.
It just had to be. There was no other explanation. Really, he was crazy to even be considering this while running along the locals version of a slip-n-slide.
At the end of this dungeon of horrors would be Treasure Town. Or he'd be human again. Or something weird and wonderful would happen and it would be a dream because dreams would like that.
"I sure would hate to be jump scared by a FNAF furry thing, I sure would," he said, tempting fate.
There was no jumpscare, instead he slid into a wall and cracked his nose. "Ow, fuuu! No cursing, this is a children's game." Rubbing his bleeding nose, he briefly admired the fact he had one despite being a Meowth, before returning to panic mode.
Now his nose hurt!
Oh, woe is Sean.
Beach Cave was not a large dungeon. Even for an amateur like Sean, he could make it to the end without much trouble. The floor began to change, less slick and more sand. A different kind of evil, but anything was welcome after the moist cave of horrors.
There was a natural source of light filling this final room. There were no answers, only questions, as a big crack in the roof before had crumbled to reveal an opening to the sea, with an injured Shinx that lay there out cold.
There had been that violent explosion. Did he try and blast his way out? Or was he the cannonball that blasted his way in? The various bits of stone and rubble surrounding him suggested that, but the impact he'd have to have suffered would have mulched him.
Sean then remembered this was pokémon and/or a dream and readjusted that thought. Mere explosive force capable of shearing through tonnes of rock was nothing to a cute little Shinx.
The Shinx suddenly spasmed and that was enough to snap Sean out of his thoughts and back into reality. He definitely did not look okay.
He rushed over, knowledge as a nurse bubbling into his head as some memories of humanity recurred to him and he wiped the oran berry off as best as he could.
"Now, as a medical mon I am aware that choking is a problem," he said, leaning down to the Shinx. "Hey? You okay?" he gave him a light shake. The Shinx was breathing at least.
Under that fur was a lot of bruises, and quite a bit of dirt. At least the water here looked cleaner, salt might purge the demons sliming his fur up.
Deciding that magical berries probably solved all problems, he sliced into it with claws, let some of the juice coat his paws to remove some gunk, before opening the Shinx's mouth and sticking a bit of mush in.
This caused the Shinx to leave the world of the unconscious and enter the world of people who weren't knocked out. The Shinx suddenly yelped in a male voice and jumped up, nearly giving Sean a heart attack.
The Shinx seemed very lost on closer inspection, and soon enough he fell back to earth, the wounds being too much for him to be able to stand.
He stared at Sean in confusion and more confusion before Sean gestured to the rest of the berry. "That might help, I hear they're magically healing."
He hadn't noticed the berry until Sean pointed it out. He looked hesitant for a moment, but then proceeded to consume the rest of the oran berry
"You're not you when you're hungry. Feeling better?"
"…A little bit…" The Shinx responded weakly.
"Well, you look like a half-drowned cat who got tossed through a cave but surviving that at all is probably pretty impressive."
"Who…?"
"Are you? Dunno." Sean shrugged. "I was kinda hoping you'd know. Something exploded in here, so I came in to look, and here you are, which is nice because I was just in the middle of a panic attack and-oh wait, there it is. I might give you some space, I am about to continue that."
The Shinx blinked at him as Sean began to hyperventilate. "Oh no, oh no, oh nononononononononononononono. I'm not French! There is no non! Oh my frickafrack a paddy wack how and why and what and when and why and why and why?"
"Oh woah, woah, woah!" the Shinx gasped, trying to wave his paws at him but he was four-legged and that didn't work. "Uh, are you okay?"
"Do I SOUND okay to you, lightbulb?"
Shinx had suffered enough force to break a lot of rock. Sean had had an Anorith land on him. It was justified that he be the one in peril at the moment.
"Uh, uh, uh," Shinx said on repeat, trying to think of something to say or do.
He was coming up blank. On…a lot of things actually. A lot of things. An alarming amount of things. What did he eat that day? Where was he? Why did he try and shake his hands…paws?
These were break-breakingly heavy questions, but he had no time to buckle under the weight as someone was freaking out in front of him and he had to do something.
"I'm Tristian," he said. Instead of 'What can I do to help?' Or. 'Hey, I'm a little confused as well, can you calm down for a tic so I can have my share of the panic attack?'
But he was a nice guy.
"T-Tristian?" Sean asked. "O-oh. Oh. Okay. I'm Sean."
Tristian pushed a smile forwards, he could worry later. His head hurt and he groaned. "Not to trivialise what you're going through, but…where am I?"
"You…Beach Cave," Sean managed, he began to breathe a bit better. This was helping, he could answer things.
"Where?"
"Treasure Town."
"Where?"
"I'll show you around when we get out!" Sean said, waving him down with his bipedal form and appropriately placed paws. "But…we should get out now. I took a hit to the head and I think you did too."
"Okay," Tristian agreed, nodding before wincing at moving his head at all. "How do we get out? Why are we in a cave?"
"It's a mystery dungeon."
"A what?"
Sean gave an internal sigh, this was going to take a while.
As it turned out, it didn't. Leaving that nice, sandy, room brought them right to the mouth of the cave. At least the incline to the outside.
"I was this close to the outside?" Tristian asked.
"No…," Sean said, puzzled for a moment. As Tristian was looking to him for answers, he quickly said. "Mystery dungeons are weird places, see. Their layouts change all the time and they're filled with aggressive pokémon who attack you. But when you leave, I guess you leave to the exit."
"You guess?"
"I haven't been in many dungeons before!" Sean protested. "Or…at all actually. This was the first one I went into."
"You went in to find me? Thank you."
"Ah, don't mention it. Let's just get out of here." Tristian had trouble climbing the slippery slope and Sean had to coach him through extending his claws for better purchase.
He was expecting the whole "I'm human" thing to come up soon, but Tristian seemed happy to just get out of Beach Cave, as was Sean. Bonding already.
"Oh the salty smell of clean air," Sean sighed as they exited the cave. They hadn't been in there for long, probably only a little past noon. How long had he slept anyway?
Or. Wait. Sleep? He was here. Oh no.
Before Sean could descend into the bad place again, he detected Tristian talking out loud and pulled back from the bubbling pot of panic to focus on his companion.
"-as really quite uncomfortable in there, and damn am I hungry. So, what's Treasure Town like, Sean?"
"It's nice," Sean said blankly. He shook his head. "Sorry, zoning out, probably got a concussion or lingering discomfort from the attack. I just got to Treasure Town today, I was just looking over the place and I was down here when I heard the chaos and went in."
"Wow, you're brave." Tristian beamed at him. "Thank you for coming in to get me and giving me the…what was that thing again?"
"An oran berry," Sean answered. "Nifty healing thing."
"Really?" He nodded and winced again, less this time though. "Seriously though, thank you. I'd still be in there, and if one of the attacking pokémon in there found me unconscious like that…."
"Yeah," Sean sighed, not really sure what to say. He looked away from Tristian and forwards sharply when the sounds of someone approaching reached his ears.
Tristian was a lot slower to react, but he heard it too and brightened up even as Sean felt an unusual amount of tension over the idea of someone knew approaching.
He was tired and on edge, so it was easily justifiable.
Still, there was a knot in his stomach up until the talkers came into sight.
It was another Shinx and a Vulpix, Sean recognised both species quickly. They were chatting something excited before paused when they saw them and shared a look before calling out and racing across the sand.
"Are you two alright?" the other Shinx called.
"You look really beaten up," the Vulpix added.
"Rachel," Rai chastised. "Don't make fun of them."
"I'm just saying what I've observed, not much else to it." They reached them and the Meowth and Shinx duo had wildly different reactions.
Shinx brightened up at the arrival of some friendly faces, and another Shinx was neat, he probably looked a bit like that. A little less scruffy though, he hoped.
Sean, however, had spotted two pendants jangling on the pair as they ran over. Both cut from the same stone, both painted with the same image, halved at the point, and split into two like twins who had a necklace made at birth and separated so they could find each other.
The Relic Fragment. Duos! Times two. He was seeing double, that Anorith really must have done a number on him. Selective doubles. Two Shinx, two fragments, but the other one was on the Vulpix. A combination of double vision and illusions making it look like his Shinx was NOT wearing one, because what the fuck was going on?
"Damn, I guess you're both out, no one else?" Vulpix said, Sean realised that Tristian was talking for the both of them. Well, this was getting embarrassing. He was recovering from being assaulted, but Tristian had possibly been a Shinx meteor and was talking fine, only a little slurring.
"It's not bad," Shinx said, although there was a tinge of disappointment in his voice as well.
"Were you two on a mission?" Sean asked, speaking up. Shinx and his eyes met for a moment and Sean couldn't help but glance at the half of the Relic Fragment Shinx wore. Shinx bashfully looked away, paw moving up to shield his treasure briefly.
"Yeah," Shinx sighed. "Duskull had come to the guild, he said he saw the impact of what shook the town and saw some light in the sky close. Team Lightbringers were on the case! That's us, by the way."
"Robert was probably hoping I'd get something interesting to do for my first day," Vulpix sighed. She cheered up though. "But that doesn't matter, it's more important that you're both okay! Was it just you two?"
"Just him," Sean said, pointing at the unsteady Shinx. "I actually went in because I was at the beach and saw it."
"Oh, you beat us to the punch huh?" Shinx said, although he grinned. "Damn, I thought I was fastest one in town!"
Sean chuckled. "Just lucky, I guess."
"You look lucky," Vulpix said, looking him up and down. "Who are you anyway? I'm Rachel, this is Rai."
Sean was a little surprised at the two offering their names so easily, Kangaskhan's words came back to him. To his relief, Shinx, or Rai he supposed, did look a little flustered at being named but he didn't say anything about it.
If Sean had to guess, that one was the real partner. Although Rachel was more excitable, like the partner was. They were both the real one? They both had a fragment.
Did they need more fragments?
Oh, by the demons in the dark places, time was collapsing!
Sean zoned back in when Rai nudged him. "Are you okay?"
"He got jumped by some attackers, he said," Tristian said. He'd already introduced himself, although he didn't say Sean's name.
"Yeah. I'm Sean, having an interesting day. How are you?"
"I think you should come with us," Rachel said, turning around. "You look like you could use a rest."
"I don't wanna go to school, dad."
Rai glanced worriedly at Rachel. "Yeah, Chimecho can definitely help. Are you okay to walk?"
"I'm fine," Sean said, but he began to step forwards anyway. "Just flipping between various states of panic."
"That isn't what I'd call fine."
"We'll get you there," Tristian offered, smiling up at Sean.
"Right. I can walk, I'm not made of glass." The four of them began to hurry, leaving the sand behind to climb the path.
Sean and Tristian's aching muscles protested with the walk and then they reached the stairs.
"I…don't know if I can get up those," Tristian said, embarrassed. Sean groaned, relieved he'd said it first, and sunk down into a pile of cat.
"I'll go get Chimecho!" Rai and Rachel said at the same time, moved at the same time, clonked their heads together, and yelped in unison.
Sean couldn't help but giggle at that and they also shot him glares in unison that just made him laugh harder. "Oh dear, pfftahha, I might be going, heehee, into some sort of shock," he said between gasps of laughter. "Please, hahahurry."
They raced off, not thinking to leave one of them there with the two injured strangers. Distantly, Sean picked up the sounds of Diglett reading feet and being yelled out and Loudred yelling back.
"DON'T PICK ON DIGLETT!"
Loudred was loud.
Chimecho came flying out to them a few moments later and she levitated them both into the guild.
Both pokémon appeared concussed but only Tristian reached the criteria there. Sean was given a clean bill of health, for a matter of clean. He still had Beach Cave mementos covering his fur. Fur.
"How am I going to clean this off?" he thought, bemoaningly. "Wait. There are hot springs somewhere! I'll need to go there."
While Sean was effectively fine, Chimecho still had come across him laughing hysterically to himself so she wanted to keep him in regardless. At least for the night.
Tristian was in much worse shape, fractures of many kinds across his body from what appeared to be extremely harsh entry through stone. So, he had been flung through time and space and rock.
Sean had been conked on the head and faced with the reality that he was not dreaming. That was a problem.
"How could I NOT be dreaming?" he thought, panicked again as Tristian stared at the roof. "But pain, and reason, but this is not reasonable. This is madness, but not the right kind of madness. Oh why, why, WHY? What if time collapses? What even am I here? Tristian's got to be the human. Portal, no memories, what pokémon is called TRISTIAN. It's not even Tristan, but he hasn't said anything about being human, but why would he? I haven't. Should I? But what am I? An outsider to all this I guess, but two, two, TWO Relic Fragments, two partners? It looked like it was cut in half. Is one of them the human? Are any of us? Is it me? No, I…I need to lie down."
He was lying down.
Whatever he was, he wanted to figure that out later. He just wanted to sleep now, but his mind was racing too much.
"Hey?" Sean said to the quiet, sterile, room.
"Hm?" Tristian said. He was wrapped in a lot of bandages and on a strict oran diet. Orans were all sorts of things, but sweet was not one of them.
"Are you alright?" Sean asked. "You were in rough shape in the dungeon, and I just freaked out all over you. Sorry, I should have been helping you there, but you wound up helping me."
"No, you helped me a lot!" Tristian retorted without heat. "Who knows what would have happened to me if you hadn't come in to help me."
"Those two, Team Lightbringers, would have found you not long after me."
"But what might have happened in that time?"
Sean couldn't really answer that. He couldn't see the future, even if he knew what it would end up if things weren't changed.
"How's your head?" Sean asked.
"Sore and fuzzy," Tristian answered, groaning. "I'm having a lot of trouble remembering stuff, actually."
That was interesting. Tristian=Human confirmed?
"What do you mean?"
Tristan frowned. "I know my name's Tristian…that's about it."
"That's it?" Not human?
"Yeah. I mean, I didn't even know what a dungeon was, and they must be common if there's a guild about exploring them."
"They are," Sean answered, nodding. His head was fine. "All over the world, lots of treasure and danger and such in them."
"Fair enough that a guild is made for them."
"You know what a guild is, then?"
"Yeah. I…still remember normal stuff. What a Shinx and a Meowth is. I can't remember how to use any moves though. Damn, I must be useless."
"And how did you wind up in the cave? There was some portal in a sky, I think."
"Really?" Tristian sounded genuinely interested.
Either he was a good liar or he really had hit his head extra hard. Sean decided to ease up on the questioning of the amnesiac.
He had to start figuring out his own story. He wasn't the human, obviously. Portal, no moves, amnesia? Oh yeah, Tristian was the human for sure. That made Sean the mysterious knowledgeable stranger.
He wasn't going anywhere. The partners were here, and things would start to happen, and he wanted to help, the world was in danger and he was one of the only people who knew it.
What could he do to help? Sean had to figure it out, but he needed to work out a story for when the questions came. Amnesia was Tristian's excuse.
He was already a foreigner, that would be the start. Some guy from far away and not as knowledgeable on things here. Young too, probably.
"I'm pretty tired, Sean," Tristian said.
"Yeah," Sean yawned. The sun was still out, but he wanted to go to sleep and dream away this bad dream. Or maybe it wouldn't be so bad. What PMD fan didn't dream of becoming a hero in the games at some point?
Pity he had to have anxiety over the absolute world-ending chaos rapidly approaching.
"Goodnight Tristian."
"Night Sean."
"You both appear well," Chimecho said, after scanning them over with her eyes, and light psychic probes that were mystical and nursery. "The morning assembly is about to begin, feel free to watch if you'd like or you can get ready to exit. Your choice. Shinx, you'll need to come back at least tomorrow to have your bandages changed." She floated out, as she needed to be at the assembly as well.
Sean felt unusually good. Well, also unusually bad. Mentally he was a bit shot, hoping he'd wake up in his own bed as a human, not as a furry little Meowth. It seemed that he had to make the best of this, and besides being depressing and panicking about things, he was growing excited with the idea of being in the pokémon world.
Mystery Dungeon edition.
So, physically, he was fine. He had noticed something a little odd, there were a great many scars under his fur, and he was rather thin as well, with his ribs sticking out fairly prominently. That was odd.
He wondered if his recovery was due to the regenerative abilities of staying still in a dungeon, but Tristian wasn't quite as well off as he was. The Shinx was still limping slightly as they got off the hospital beds and still needed to wear his bandages.
"Want to watch the assembly?" Sean asked. He wanted to, and his eagerness was perhaps not well hidden as Tristian smiled and nodded.
"Sure, seems interesting."
Sean's heart thumped in excitement as he walked the corridor to the guild's assembly. He didn't remember a hospital wing, but the place was on the way to the dining hall, taking a left directly after the sentry tunnel.
The guild was…fascinating to see from this angle. To his left and looming tall was the Croagunk Swap Shop, although the cauldron looked a little limp and lifeless. Connected to the side of it was a series of pullies, he assumed that's what Loudred used to raise the gate.
To the right was the tunnel down to the sentry grate, he did not look forward to going in there anytime soon.
The room widened out dramatically after that. They had seen it on the way down, but it was just a thrill to see it all over again from this first-person perspective. The room was fairly small, smaller than the middle floor, and comfortable with an open passageway near the end of the room, the same ramp up to the middle floor, and further past the crowd of pokémon was a pair of huge doors.
Pokémon. Real pokémon. Sean was giddy. They looked pretty damn close to how he would have expected them to. No black lines or sprites, these were living, breathing, pokémon. But Tristian looked just like a Shinx and Chimecho looked just like a chimecho.
He could almost bounce off the walls if it wouldn't wind him.
They approached the crowd of standing pokémon and hung back shyly as the morning announcements were done. Chatot and Wigglytuff were both out but Chatot was the one doing the talking with Wigglytuff rocking back and forth whistling a jaunty tune.
"And three! Smiles go for miles!"
"Okay pokémon, time to get to work."
"HOORAY!"
Sean's grin nearly hurt his cheeks at the nostalgia and joy of actually being in this world to see that. The apprentices to the guild all began to break off and get to their work.
The pair of strangers received nods from Loudred and Croagunk as they walked to their spots, not stopping to chat although Loudred did give Sean a lingering, not too friendly, look.
Diglett and Dugtrio disappeared underground as the rest of the pokémon barring Bidoof, Rai, and Rachel went for the ramp.
Wigglytuff also remained, staring over at Sean and Tristian as Chatot spoke to the three apprentices that stayed behind.
"Listen to Bidoof, he'll steer you in the right direction. Now shoo." Chatot gestured and Bidoof happily led the newbies along. Rai and Rachel both smiled as they met Sean and Tristian's eyes and paused to say hello.
"Looking much better today," Rai said cheerfully. "You were pretty rough looking yesterday."
"Haah, yeah that was a bit of a trip," Sean chuckled.
"You sleep well?" Rachel asked.
Tristian nodded. "Really well. The bed was very soft."
"Golly you four are acquainted already yup-yup," Bidoof said, and Sean couldn't stop another smile crest over his face.
"It's nice to meet you," he said and Bidoof beamed.
"I reckon it's a right pleasure to meet you two as well, Meowth and Shinx!" He glanced between Rai and Tristian as if realising there were two of them now. "Gosh, it's like you two are brothers."
Rai's face fell and Bidoof blinked, sensing something. "Uh…well, I uh should get you two to your next job I reckon!"
"Sounds good. It was nice seeing you two again," Rachel said, giving a wave with her tails.
"Yeah," Rai said, plastering a smile back on his face. "Hopefully, we'll see you around some more!"
"Definitely," Sean said, he had many-a-cunning plan already. Tristian smiled and nodded.
Once they were gone, they shared a look. Where to go now? That was decided for them, however, as a curt cough brought their eyes forward.
Chatot hopped forth, head raised imperiously as he looked them over. "Shinx, Meowth," he began. "Chimecho tells us that you two have recovered well. Follow me, if you please, the Guildmaster would like to see you."
"Is this about payment?" Tristian asked.
Chatot blinked but fluttering in place. "What? Oh no, no, no. The guild would not charge for medical aid, that would be barbaric!" he barked, looking genuinely offended at the notion that Tristian thought that of them.
"O-Oh. Well…that's really nice of you! Thank you."
"But of course," Chatot said, soothed by the compliment. "But we mustn't dally, the Guildmaster should not be kept waiting." He gestured with a wing and waited until they moved before leading the way.
The big oak doors were closed tightly but Chatot knocked smartly with a talon. "Guildmaster? It is Chatot. I am entering with guests."
Sean and Tristian shared a look. Didn't Chatot say they were asked to meet by Wigglytuff?
Thoughts of confusion were dashed as Chatot knocked the doors open. They were either light as one of his feathers or the flappy bird was considerably stronger than he looked as the doors were flung open.
Sean was willing to bet on the latter.
They entered a rather quirky room as Sean started to think of team names. It was beautiful at a first glance. Fresh flowers being set in pots. Light was streaming in from two windows, one was broken. Wigglytuff always refused Chatot's requests to get it fixed, claiming he liked the fresh air. Lavender drapes made by the best weavers around.
There were also a pair of treasure chests busted open and sprawled off to the side. Pink was the dominating colour of the room, except for splashes of green and orange, and Wigglytuff was there.
The big balloon pokémon was not facing them and was standing unnaturally still. Chatot took this in complete stride and hopped over to his side. "Guildmaster?" he asked. "I present to you the two pokémon you desired to see!"
Wigglytuff didn't respond.
Tristian cocked his head as Sean was busy glancing around in mounting excitement.
"Guildmaster?"
"HIYA!"
Wigglytuff spun around on them, startling everyone in the room. His voice was high and musical, fitting Sean's perception of the peppy, constantly cheerful, quirky wigglytuff he knew from the games.
"I'm Wigglytuff." He introduced himself. "I'm the guild's Guildmaster. You want to form an exploration team?" He didn't wait for their response, instead opening his arms like he wished to hug them. "Then, let's GO FOR IT! YOOM TAH!"
Powerful sound waves blasted from him, streaming over Sean and Tristian like a gale-force wind. Strangely the Hyper Voice didn't hurt, simply ruffled their fur a bit.
"A what?" Tristian asked, dazed from the noise.
"Shinx and Vulpix let us know about your impressive dungeon trip!" Wigglytuff said, voice remaining musical and carrying a rhythm. "Any dungeon is not an easy place when you're by yourself! And you saved Shinx!"
"Oh, well, it wasn't that hard of a dungeon," Sean said, brushing off the compliments.
"Nonsense," Chatot scoffed. "The Guildmaster is never wrong about these things."
"But…why did you think we wanted to make an exploration team?" Tristian asked. "I mean…I barely know what that is."
"Whaaaat?" Wigglytuff gasped, grabbing his own face and squeezing it in shock. "Oh no! I'll quickly go through it!"
Sean, and Chatot, braced for a whirlwind.
"The Wigglytuff Guild takes in and trains prospective pokémon," Wigglytuff explained completely levelly, although still musically. "Majority of the time these pokémon join on their own, but the occasional team does enter already with members in mind. These apprentices are trained through our accredited and well-respected course to become the top of the line in rescue teams, bounty hunters, treasure hunters, or even secrets explorers! We do it all here and we do it best!"
"Very…succinct, Guildmaster," Chatot said, impressed. "The Guildmaster is correct. The training offered by his establishment is among the best in the world, however, this does not come through merely average performers. The training here is very demanding as we put out the very best. Through persistence and dedication, anyone can pass, but such qualities are often quite rare."
"But I am SURE you can do it!" Wigglytuff sang, hopping off his big throne to do a dance around them. "Already I can see the makings of a great team in you. Meowth, bravely venturing forth to determine what had happened in that explosion. We sent Team Lightbringers out immediately, yet you got there first! You must not have hesitated."
"And me?" Tristian asked.
"Chimecho did a little bit of an interview on you both," Chatot clarified. "As it stands…do you have a place to go?"
Tristian frowned. So, Sean was all impressive and he was the carry-on?
"I believe," Wigglytuff said suddenly, cutting through the gloom taking Tristian. "There are few things more important in a successful team than partnership. I have my most treasured companion, Chatot and together there was nothing we could not do. Trust and bond is needed. I can't say for sure what has happened to you, but you did not know what a team is nor remember much. There is the beginning of a bond here between the two of you and it would be terrible of me not to try and foster it!"
"The Guildmaster sees potential," Chatot said, gazing over both of them. "In Meowth for his willingness to help and you, Shinx, for the possibilities that now are laid out before you. Make no mistake, the guild's training is not easy, but we are a supportive sort here. You will have bed and meals for as long as you tenure with us."
"I think it's a good idea," Sean said, smiling at Tristian.
"You think so?" Tristian whispered back. "You don't know if I can even do anything!"
"We'll work it out," Sean soothed.
"Even if I suck?"
Sean laughed. "I really doubt you'll be worse than me." He extended a paw. Tristian was quadruped, so he hesitated for a moment, but it wasn't too unnatural for him to lift a paw to shake Sean's.
"Alright."
"Fantastic!" Wigglytuff cheered, dancing around them. "Oh how exciting, Chatot! Four new pokémon in just a couple days, Yooooom-TAH!"
The whole building shook with his excitement and Sean clung onto Tristian when his balance left him.
"You'll need a team name!" Wigglytuff cried, returning to merely ecstatic. "Any ideas, ooh I have one!"
"Other than Team Thunderpaw," Tristian joked.
Wigglytuff paused. "…Okay, I might not have one."
"How about Team Ion?" Sean asked, he'd been trying to think of a clever one the whole time.
Tristian blinked and smiled. "Ooh, like the ion of an atom. Electricity. That's clever! I like that."
Sean grinned and nodded while Wigglytuff and Chatot shared a curious look missed by them. As they turned back, Sean noted that Tristian knew what an ion was.
"All settled then!" Wigglytuff cheered. "I'll register your team name as Team Ion. Registering," he sang. "Registering… registered. YOOM-TAH!" He nearly blew them away again, but his clear enthusiasm was making Sean and Tristian smile.
"Congratulations!" Wigglytuff applauded. "From now on, you two are an official Exploration Team! I present you this in commemoration. A Pokémon Exploration Team Kit." With that, he pulled out a box from somewhere. Sean blinked, one moment Wigglytuff's paws were empty, then he had something in them.
Chalking it up to Fairy-type nonsense, he stepped forward. Tristian joining him moments after.
"Wait. Is he a Fairy-type?" Sean wondered but was snapped out of it when the box opened by itself.
"A Pokémon Exploration Team Kit?" Sean asked as they peered in. Tristian didn't really seem to know what they were looking at.
"Yep," Wigglytuff answered. "It has everything an explorer might need. Quick, grab it all out."
With Wigglytuff nearly vibrating with excitement, Sean did the honours. He was the one with more dexterity after all.
"A badge," he said, pulling everything out.
"Two," Tristian noted, as a second badge fell out of the pile Sean held.
"A map." Sean unrolled it, noticing a highly detailed map of the Grass Continent. He could spot various towns and landmarks he never would have known of. Treasure Town and Capim Town in particular stood out. "And a Treasure Bag!" The satchel felt nice to hold and he swung it around his shoulder.
"Your badges will be your official guild identification," Chatot explained, hopping over to Wigglytuff's side. "The Wonder Map is a wonderful tool to have to find your way. And the Treasure Bag is yours to keep. Now, look inside before the Guildmaster pops from excitement!"
Tristian did so, finding a pair of cloth items. He dug them out as Wigglytuff gave a high pitched 'eee' sound in excitement.
"That one's a Special Band, it'll make your Power moves stronger." Wigglytuff pointed to the scarf-like azure cloth. "The other one isn't complete just yet. I saw you had that silvery ribbon!" He beamed at Sean.
Sean glanced down, realising Wigglytuff had spotted the ribbon he had wrapped around his paw. "But you have no way to wear it. If you hand it over, I can combine it with my one to make you something awesome!"
Sean hesitated for just a brief moment before rationalising that Wigglytuff was perfectly trustworthy. He pawed over the bow and the band to the excited pokémon.
"Lalala," Wigglytuff sang as he twirled around. Each time he spun, and Sean got a look at what he was doing he had made progress. He spun nearly fifteen times before stopping. "Ooh. Dizzy…." Wigglytuff wobbled a bit but was steadied by Chatot. "Here you go. A super nifty bow to wear. It'll do wooonderful thiiings." He handed it over before falling back, landing on Chatot.
"Guildmaster!" Chatot grumbled, unprepared for Wigglytuff's weight. "GUILDMASTER!"
Wigglytuff bounced right back onto his feet with a wide grin. "HIYA!"
"Thank you," Tristian said, and Sean gave his thanks. "I really mean that…I really don't have elsewhere to go and you're offering me, us, all this stuff. You're very nice, Guildmaster Wigglytuff."
"Oh you," Wigglytuff said before grabbing him in a hug. "We're delighted to have you!"
"So?" Sean asked as Tristian was released, Chatot made Wigglytuff let go as a Wigglytuff-hug could be a little overwhelming. "Where do we go from here?"
"You can get settled in!" Wigglytuff said. "There's no need to take on a job listing today, but Chatot can show you around there."
"That I can," Chatot said primly. "I assigned Team Lightbringers that Drenched Bluff mission and it went excellently." He paused. "Or, if Bidoof is still available, as I do have paperwork to do."
"I could do it!"
Chatot hesitated. "…No," he said, visibly trying to word this politely. "…no. I will do it."
"Okay!"
Sean and Tristian shared a smile as they stepped out, light on their feet. Step one, in the guild was complete. They weren't sure what step two would involve but it'd somehow lead to saving the world.
Hopefully.
Ion: Took me a fair while to get this chapter out. A little unusual for me, but ah well. I do have Warped Skies to put most of my focus on.
Originally I was going to have this chapter end with them going to sleep, a little tribute to how the early chapters of Warped Skies tended to end, but we decided it'd be best to carry onto forming the team officially since that's what happened with Rai and Rachel.
Hero: It's odd to exclude the Legendary section for this chapter, but it's not like much would've been changed for the pre-existing ones.
Look forward to next chapter, where things start happening much faster.