"Yoooooooo! Check it out! They have a Hoopa at the back!"
"…"
"Just gotta…get in there and….got em! Man, I'd almost forgotten about this little guy. But dang. This one, or Mimikyu….tough choice…"
"…"
"Hey, whatcha think? Which will join my ever growing army of plushies?"
"…"
"Agatha! Hey, Agatha!"
"Hm? Oh. Sorry. Was texting. What's up?"
"You know, it's cool if you wanna hang outside. I know Pokémon isn't really your thing. It's cool. Some people just can't appreciate art."
"Funny. You think I sat down and watched you play through Super-Sun just to-"
"It was ULTRA-Sun. Jeez, and that was, like, FIVE years ago now."
"Sorry. But, if I remembering right, the weird-looking Pikachu was on your team, right?"
"Weird looking Pikachu. Ya know, it'd probably be super upset to hear you say that."
"I can take a plushie being mad at me. But he was one of your favourites, right? So, get him. I've never even seen that weird looking one."
"I guess…but still, Hoopa's a legendary. That makes it, like, double as awesome."
"Well, are you going to stay loyal to your team, or go with the awesome one?"
"…the awesome one! Sorry Mimikyu. Man, always second-place for this guy."
"Good to see my brother is a disloyal-little monster. You want the cash for him?"
"Woah, seriously?"
"Ultra-Seriously. It's why I came in here. Take it."
"Hey, I'm not gonna say no to free stuff! Did I ever mention how cool you are?"
"And until some legendary something-or-other comes along, I'm sure you'll mention it a lot. I'll be outside. Come straight out, okay?"
"Yeah, yeah. You're the best!"
The smile dropped as soon as she left the store.
She checked her phone again.
Three Hours ago.
Did you pick Jack up from the party yet? I'm putting the chips in the oven now, so be home soon, okay?
Text me when you see this.
Agatha? Have you picked up Jack yet?
Come straight home after, okay?
Two hours ago.
Are you okay? Do you need me to pick you up?
Can you see these?
Mom
Missed Call
Please call back.
Mom
Missed Call(2)
Agatha
One hour ago.
Jack's friend said you picked him up, where are you?
Call me as soon as you see this. I'm scared.
Amy's family has agreed to help look for you two
Call me back
Please Aggie I'm not mad
The phone began buzzing, another call.
She pushed the guilt down and shoved the phone into her pocket
She wouldn't let herself cry.
"Hey, you okay?"
"I'm fine…you got a bag too?"
"It was like fifty-cents. We gonna head home? Mom's probably getting worried."
"In a bit. You wanna grab some ice-cream first?"
"Depends. Are you offering to pay again?"
"With the change you're about to hand me? Sure."
"Ahhh, spoilsport. Here."
"Cmon."
"…"
Another call.
"…"
She ignored it.
"So…who's calling you?"
"Hm? Oh, no one."
"There it goes again…'no one' is pretty persistent. Is it some creep? If you want I can take the call and then just, like, scream into the receiver or something."
"It's fine."
"Okay…"
"…s-sorry, I got something-"
"Woah, hey, are you crying? What's-"
And then reality shattered like glass.
/|—| Pokémon Mystery Dungeon |—|\
Waves Of Destruction
— — —
|— Chapter One: Waking Up, Breaking Out —|
—[ ? | ?]—
The first thing Agatha felt was how unbearably uncomfortable she was.
From head to toe, her entire body felt as if she had been thrown through several very hard objects. The soreness of her bones called out for her to stay still, on the horrible cold ground, because really, moving would only invite more pain. Briefly, she was tempted to listen, but the rest of the pain, the one that threatened to split open her head, forced her to move. To bring a hand up to her temple to try and massage it away.
But that's where the real trouble began. The movement itself not only sent pain striking through her, but her hands also felt as if they were being dragged down by some unknown weight, something more then mere pain. That pain however, only worsened when something that wasn't her hand bumped into her skull. And whatever it was, it was moving.
The surprise sent a jolt through her body, one that made her jump up from where she lay. Or at least she should have. Instead, she performed a sort of almost-jump, but instead of remaining standing, she stumbled a bit while her eyes opened, and her head smacked off the wall behind her.
Hunching over, barely leaning against that very wall, she began to blink away the blurriness that had taken her vision. Looking about, there didn't appear to be anyone else with her in the small room she had ended up in.
The walls were ugly and rough, jutting out at odd angles, all colored a dull grey. The only thing of note in the miserable area was the tall, metal door that was attached to the wall across from her. Light snuck through a small window that had been cut in it.
"Where-" Agatha began, but was silenced when, as she spoke, she attempted to soothe her headache again. Instead of the familiar sight of her hand popping into view, a large, pink thing appeared instead.
She managed a, "W-What?" as she inspected the thing. It was the blade of a large, pink and white scythe, that was attached to her arm. Or what should have been her arm anyway. That had turned stark white too. Her eyes traced along the changes that continued down her entire body.
Or, again, what should have been her body.
If the cave could have gotten any quieter, it would have. For as Agatha stared at the two massive scythe blades that had replaced her hands, something broke through the fog of pain that had taken over her mind. Her body hadn't just been transformed. It had been changed. Changed to something she recognized.
"Lurantis." Her mouth whispered, seemingly of it's own accord. "How…what…when-"
She looked around, hoping that an answer would present itself. However, when none did, she went back to the scythes, this time glaring at them. If it hadn't been for the overwhelming, all too real pain, she would have believed this to be a dream.
Finally standing up straight, she stumbled her way over to the door, peeking out the window. A long hallway stretched further then she could see. Her door was just one of the many that numbered it's walls, small. Odd little lamps were attached above each.
"Hello? Hey, is there anyone out there?" Agatha called, her voice echoing through the hall.
A few seconds passed, and she tried again. "Hey! T-There's something wrong with me! I need help!"
When nothing was all that answered, she growled, turning from the door, only for the room to give her the same answer. It was either scream into an uncaring hall, or sit miserably in an empty room. Either way, whatever she picked, she'd still be stuck as a large, pink, monster.
"A Lurantis." Agatha repeated, her mind still dazed. "Ugh. If Jack were here he'd-"
And just like that, it all came back.
The store. The cracks. Reality, tearing itself apart. That empty, terrible void that hid behind it. That horrible, horrible feeling as her body was pushed down by an impossible force, almost keeping her from moving. But she had. She had chased him as he fell into one of those voids.
Jack.
An ice-cold feeling cut through the fog and gave her focus.
Practically throwing herself back at the door, she called out again. "JACK! JACK, CAN YOU HEAR ME? ARE YOU IN ONE OF THE CELLS? IT'S ME, AGATHA!"
Again, there was no response, but that wasn't enough this time. Taking several large steps back, she stared the door down for a few seconds, before charging at it, shoulder first.
WHAM!
A "Gah!" of pain broke free as she fell. But as the door was still standing, she forced herself to get back up. Once again, she took a few steps back.
WHAM!
It didn't budge.
WHAM!
Agatha got up again.
WHAM!
She held back another yelp of pain.
WHAM!
Her sixth attempt was only stopped when a nasally, annoyed sounding voice yelled out, "OH MY LEGENDS, WOULD YA STOP THAT! WE'RE COMING!"
Panting, she stumbled forward and peered out the window, just in time to get a look at the voices owner. A small, blue duck with a red bandanna atop his head was being flanked by a bored looking fox and what seemed to be a small, round cactus with arms.
If she hadn't been desperate, Agatha would have gone right back to her dream theory. Still, at least the latter two weren't glaring at her like the Ducklett was.
"Jeez. I had a whole thing ready about how long it took you to wake up, but then you go waking us up? Talk about not fair." The Ducklett, somehow, said. "Eh? What's with that look in your eyes? Ohhh, I get it! You're just now realising the situation you're in, ain't you?"
"Yeah, ain't ya?" The Cacnea piped up, doing a little hop, having to fix his own bandanna after.
The Nickit on the other hand, rolled her eyes and gave Agatha a look that could only be described as utter disgust. "Eww. She looks even worse then when we dragged it out of the sand! Are we sure she isn't a feral? Her eyes are scary." There wasn't a hint of fear in her voice.
Biting back an insult, Agatha put aside the talking animals thing. "Look, I really have no idea what's happening here but-"
"Oh, you can lie all you want, but I can see it in your eyes. That fear you're feeling? Totally justified. Cause you, dear Lurantis, are indeed in the presence of-"
Ducklett struck a pose, sticking a wing into the air, as Cacnea hopped beside him, assuming his own stance. Nickit, once again rolled her eyes.
"…Nickit." Cacnea pleaded. "Get into position."
"I'd rather die." Was the fox's deadpan response.
"Ugh. Spoilsport." Ducklett said, wagging his wing at her, before turning back to Agatha. "Anyway. You're in the presence of three fully-fledged members Broken-Call. Feel free to quiver in fear!"
Agatha blinked twice, before shaking her head. "I have no idea what that is. But that doesn't matter, I need to know where-"
"Doesn't matter? Broken-Call is the largest crime syndi-…syndi…we're the biggest crime gang in the world!" Cacnea said, once again hopping for emphasis. "And you're in one of our bajillion bases!"
"Syndicate. But he's right. No use acting like you've not heard of us, lady. You thinking that'll somehow get you out of this?" Nickit scoffed, tilting her head.
"No-I…I have no idea what Broken-Call is! Listen, I'm not a Lurantis, I'm a human and I need to know if you've seen another one around." Agatha said, directing it at the Ducklett. Sadly, he seemed to be the most agreeable at the moment.
"…human? You serious?" Ducklett said, squinting at her. Surprisingly, this seemed to break Nickit from her bored persona. She looked at Agatha with a look of shock, her own eyes narrowing.
Cacnea, however, gasped. "B-Boss! A human! Can you believe it?"
"If I was a fool, sure." Ducklett huffed. "Listen Lady, I dunno what kind of stunt you're trying to pull here, but I ain't buying it. You look like any old Lurantis to me."
Another gasp. "You've seen other Lurantis boss?"
At this, Ducklett faltered. "Well…I have in pictures. And she looks just like those pictures, except you know…moving."
"But humans always get turned into Pokémon, don't they? Just like the stories!"
Now there was something that Agatha could latch onto. "Other humans? There's other humans around? Listen, is-"
"Hang on one sec, 'Human'." Ducklett scoffed, before turning back to Cacnea. "See, that's the thing, bud. Since they turn into Pokémon any old fella can claim to be a human. Like, what are the odds of us just finding one out in the jungle?"
As the two bickered, Agatha turned her attention to Nickit. The look of surprise was gone, her now stoic. "Beach. We didn't find her in the jungle, we found her at the beach."
It was now Ducklett's turn to roll his eyes. "Oh cmon, Nickit. What does that matter? Look at her, humans are suppose to be all heroic-like. She's totally lying."
"I am NOT LYING!" Agatha yelled, causing both Cacnea and Ducklett to hop back. "Now would you listen to me? I need to know if there's another human-…Pokémon turned human nearby. His name is Jack?"
Her yell had allowed some silence back into the hallway, before Cacnea whispered, "N-Name?"
"His name is Jack." Agatha repeated, forcing another yell back down. "…look. You said you found me at a beach right?"
"What's your name?" Nickit shot back.
"That's not what-" Deep breath in…and out. "Agatha. My name is Agatha. Now, was there anyone around when you found me at the beach?"
Once again, Nickit decided not to answer, instead shooting a meaningful look to the other two. "She's not lying. There was no hesitation in there. She's an actual human."
Ducklett's eyes widened. "Ohhhhhh! Cause she just gave away her name like it was nothing. Hey, nice thinking, Nickit. See, this is why you're second-in-command."
"Well, one of us needs to do the thinking." Nickit allowed herself a smirk. "Are we going to tell the Boss?"
"You kidding? With a human on our wings, we ain't gonna be calling him boss much longer!"
"W-Will I still be able to call you boss, boss?" Cacnea asked, terrified of the prospect.
"Course. Now listen. Soon-To-Be-Not-Boss has got one of those fancy-orb-things in his quarters right? We use that to talk to his boss, and then we get an ever bigger promotion!"
Nickit hummed, the smirk still on her face. "Sounds risky. If he catches us, we're dead."
"Boss always says that outlaws never get anywhere without a little risk!" Cacnea practically cheered.
"Darn straight! Right, so here's the plan. You two grab the human while I go-"
WHAM!
This time, all three jumped, as Agatha struck the door with the blunt side of one of her scythes. "Would you THREE LISTEN TO ME? I'm not going anywhere unless someone tells me WHERE JACK IS!"
WHAM!
She hit the door once again, staring down the three. Ducklett was the first to recover. "Hey! You're our prisoner lady! What makes you think-"
"So, the other Lurantis is your brother? Makes sense." Nickit hummed thoughtfully.
A spark of hope lit up within Agatha, and she pressed her face against the window. "A-Another Lurantis? And you found him where you found me, right?"
"At the beach." Nickit confimed with a nod. "Both of you were out like lights, so it's no surprise you don't remember anything. He hasn't woken up yet."
"I-Is he hurt? Please, you have to take me to him. T-There were these portals, and he looked scared to death and-" Agatha began, only to pause when Nickit raised a paw into the air.
"He's not hurt." Nickit said sweetly, before a cruel spark made it's way into her eye. "For now. But if you don't go along with what we say well…"
She slowly turned to the other two, who were both frozen. "Then something bad might happen to poor-old-jack. Right?"
A smirk crawled it's way onto Ducklett's beak. "Ohhhhhhhh. Jeez. Little dark for my tastes, but I guess that's one solution to two humans. If one doesn't work out…we can always axe the other one."
"But-" Cacnea began, but Ducklett placed a wing over his mouth. Whatever reason this was for was lost on Agatha, who was staring down the two Pokémon in front of her.
"If you hurt a single hair on his head-" She growled, before Nickit began laughing.
"Ha! HA! Hair? Jeez, just goes to go show how in the dark you are. Lurantis don't have hairs, moron. I mean, I know you're new here, but at least figure something as basic as that out before you start making threats."
"Right again, my friend." Ducklett sighed, before turning and having the gall, the utter gall, to wink at Agatha. "Look lady, we'll give you some time to think through being a good little human. It'd be too dangerous to let you out while you got that scary look in your eye. We're on prison duty for, oh, another hour? Decide by then if you ever wanna see your brother again and-"
WHAM!
"Jeez what good are you hoping-"
Agatha let the annoying brats protests fade away as she hit the door again and again, with as much force as she could muster. The flame of hope that had lit up inside her was now a full fire, roaring at her to knock the door down before the little freaks behind it could hurt Jack.
WHAM!
"Seriously? Give up. If you keep doing that, we may go pay your brother a-"
WHAM!
Agatha had no clue what was going on. She had no idea why cracks in reality that had led her into one of Jack's video-games, but she had hauled herself into those cracks to save him. It didn't matter what Broken-Call was. It didn't matter if she wasn't even in her own body. And it sure as hell didn't matter if that body was screaming out in pain.
WHAM!
"B-Boss? I-I think the door just creaked."
"Cacnea, don't be a moron, there's no way she can-"
WHAM!
All that mattered was that her brother was in trouble. And if that meant she had to move some annoying little plushies out of her way to save him, then she would.
The flame in her agreed, and turned into a brilliant wildfire, as she once again slammed into the door with all her might.
WHAM!
"What the-"
With a thunderous crash, the metal door fell from it's hinges. A second after it hit the ground, Agatha's body moved with a speed unknown, even to her, out into the hallway. All three Pokémon had jumped back. With another burst of speed, she towered over Ducklett, who looked up at her with utter fear in his eyes.
"N-Now listen-" Was all he managed to get out before Agatha brought the blunt of her scythe down onto him. Once. Twice, then a third, before she delivered a brutal kick to his side, sending him flying into the nearby wall.
"DUCKLETT!"
"BOSS! WHY YOU-GAH!" Cacnea barely managed to move in time to dodge Agatha's strikes. Rolling backwards, he met her gaze, bravery flashing in his eyes. It lasted but a moment, before Agatha's body launched her at him, a primal roar tearing free from her. She began to pummel him into the ground, the fire inside roaring in triumph. One. Two. Three. One. Two. One-
A blast of water from behind freed her from her trance. Ducklett had somehow recovered, though barely. To his credit, he still looked terrified, even seeming to flinch as Agatha looked him down. But he held his ground.
"Nickit! Tell the others that the prisoner-"
It was odd. Once again, Agatha's body moved on it's own, simply striking the air in front of her. But as she did, a scatter of leafs formed, before flying at Ducklett. In seconds, he had fallen onto the ground.
Not even having time to figure out how she done it, the flame roared at Agatha to continue. Nickit had indeed began to flee down the hallway, and if she alerted some other Pokémon then Jack might be in trouble. Leaving the two unconscious forms of Cacnea and Ducklett behind, she gave chase.
It seemed that Nickit too was surprised with how fast Agatha began to catch up. The little fox had barely rounded the corner when Agatha herself practically threw herself around it, her arms somehow knowing to stab one of her scythes into the wall to stop herself from crashing.
Nickit fled into a far larger cave. Natural light seemed to find it's way into this one, some holes littering the far-above roof. Various wooden tables were scattered about the stony area, along with boxes of different sizes.
Agatha arrived just in time to see Nickit's tail disappearing under the tables. Her eyes snapped forward, seeing that across the cave was another passage, one leading to another dimly-lit hallway.
Automatically, she leapt forward, striding across table after table as if it was the most natural thing in the world. By the time Nickit made it through the tables, she caught sight of Agatha kicking off one, soaring high into the air and over Nickit.
Landing directly in front of the exit.
"Woah! H-Hang on a second." Nickit pleaded as Agatha strode towards her. "I-I'm sorry we locked you up, it was Ducklett's idea and I told him-"
"Jack." Agatha's voice spat. "Where is he?" Her scythe cut it's way through the air, forming yet more leafs. Nickit gave a yelp of fear, only for the leafs to narrowly brush past her, cutting into the tables.
"Y-Your brother? L-Listen to me, we didn't find a-anyone else at the beach. That-that was us trying to a-a-act tough, alright? W-We needed a way for you to go along with us, and you seemed to c-c-c-care about him so I thought if I…I…" Seeing the look that was forming in Agatha's eyes, Nickit's tail flew between her legs. "T-T-This place is full of other members of B-Broken-Call. If you hurt me then-ah!" Having begun to walk backwards, she tripped over her own feet, falling onto her back.
"P-Please don't hurt me."
"Liar." Agatha spat, the fire egging her on. Raising the blunt of her scythe high into the air, before bringing it down on-
"NOW HOLD YOUR HOUNDOOMS!"
Immediately, Agatha's body spun round. The voice that had cut through the air was far more dangerous then any of the trio's had been. It hadn't been laced with fear, but instead a firm confidence. A problem.
Before her, at the mouth of the passage was an Excadrill. A yellow scarf hung around his neck, crossing over the clear handle of a satchel, that lay at his hip. The Pokémon's fur was lined with dirt and signs of battle, but his face, oddly, was one of almost polite concern.
Agatha felt her body pause for a second.
"Now. I ain't the biggest fan of Broken-Call either, believe you me. But that's no reason to scare the weaker ones have to death, ya hear? Definitely ain't reason to hit a weakling as strong as you were gearing up to." The Excadrill spoke calmly, before taking a step forward.
Instantly, Agatha's body assumed a defensive stance. But the Excadrill kept lumbering forward, regardless.
"Easy now. I ain't gonna hurt ya. I ain't with these folk, see?" He motioned to the yellow scarf around his neck. "In fact, I''m here to put a stop to em. But that doesn't mean I'm gonna go smacking the weaker ones with everything I got. Just enough to put em down, ya get me?"
Agatha tried to calm down, but the fire fought back. Her body tensed up, preparing to launch itself at the new mon. Seeming to realise this, Excadrill did come to a stop, just a few feet from her.
He gave a nod. "Look, I can tell ya got something against the little bugger, and I'm guessing rightly so, by the crowd she runs with. But once ya put the fear of Arceus himself into em like you did, that's really all you gotta-oh, there she goes."
Agatha snapped round to see that, indeed, Nickit had taken the opportunity to scamper not just under the tables, but had managed to run all the way back to the other end of the cave.
Roaring in fury, Agatha meant to set off after her, but instead, her body made the primal choice to instead lunge at Excadrill, scythes moving in a blur of speed.
Excadrill raised his own claws to block the strike. More importantly, he did so with enough force that Agatha was made to stumble back a few feet.
"Listen, either we can duke it out or go after-oh, alright then." Excadrill barely stopped in time to block two more vicious swings from Agatha. "Not bad. But ya got too much of a wind up."
Another roar and Agatha leaped high up into the air, before coming back down with the intent to strike. But once again, Excadrill was faster then her, grabbing her from the air just before she could, and throwing her into the nearby tables. Agatha crashed through them, hearing Excadrill's voice as she clumsily moved to get back up.
"Look. Last chance. Either you calm down and we sort out whatever's going on here like civilised mons…" He spread his claws wide. "Or, I knock the lights out of ya. Your call."
Agatha ordered her body to stay put. But the fire said otherwise, and her body agreed. Dashing forward, she brought her scythe low, preparing a brutal slam right to Excadrill's chin.
But it never made contact.
Excadrill struck first. One strike, then another, into Agatha's chest with his claws, knocking the wind right out of her. Before she could even move backwards, he hit her with the flat side of his own claw from above, slamming her into the ground, and sending a shock wave through her body that knocked the fire right out of her.
Crumpling to the ground, Agatha felt the darkness of unconsciousness taking her. The last thing she heard before it swallowed her whole was Excadrill's voice, growing further and further away.
"Sorry kid. But hey, you're lucky I found ya before he did."
Notes:
Wouldn't it be awesome if the easiest part of the story was the beginning? Or maybe it is. Probably different for each person. Anyway, next chapter should be out soon-ish. I'm like 90% sure.
Thanks for reading!