Hi! This is an idea I've had for quite awhile. I took a chance and typed this all down and now I wanted to share it with you. Now this isn't really a proper story format, it's more of a description of events. This idea is inspired by two episodes in the Pokémon Series: XY. Those two episodes involved the Malamar trying to change the world to their own ideal environment. When I got a chance to rewatch these episodes, I thought about something.
If they had succeeded, but things went wrong, what would have resulted from the change?
My answer: The Birth Of The Mystery Dungeon World!
Well, I'll leave it at that. Enjoy reading my notes and this short piece!
Title: PMD: Distortion's Emergence
Type: Story
Summary: During Ash's Kalos journey: What if the Malamar had succeeded in their attempts of altering the world? But those plans didn't go as expected. The world has been altered yes, but it's beyond their understanding. Welcome to the emergence of Mystery Dungeons!
Idea: From the Pokémon XY Series & Kalos Quest, the nefarious Malamar attempted to take over their world through their strange inventions. (Refer To These Episodes: Pokémon The Series: XY "A Conspiracy To Conquer!" / "The Conspiracy of Madam X! The Calamanero of Fear!" & Kalos Quest "Facing The Grand Design!" / "Calamanero VS Maaiika! The Bonds That Would Save The World!" for reference.) I kinda thought, since they were trying to change the world, what if they had succeeded and this was the start of what caused Mystery Dungeons to emerge in the world. This began the history of Humans and Pokémon experiencing this world, and the slow demise of the humans to being reduced to fairy tales and myths.
Sub-Ideas: Look For Rest At The Bottom
Shared Originally: February 12, 2022
Date: February 14, 2022
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A few seconds of hesitation is all it takes for the biggest changes to occur. That was the case here, when our heroes thought they could stop the plans of the nefarious group of Malamar attempting to alter the world and distort the environment to change it how they see fit. But even the most intelligent masterminds must know to be prepared for the unexpected. That was what certainly happened when Officer Jenny was too late to notice the floating computerized crystals and called out Manetric too late. The electric canine released thunder, but instead of disrupting the machine, the ball of energy received the extra surge of power. The world was changing, yes, but the calculations of the Malamar found they could not control what was happening. Yes, the world was distorting as they had envisioned, but also it wasn't. The changes weren't bending to their will. So the group pulled out a tactical retreat, choosing to abandon their machine instead of destroying it like they normally would.
The group of heroes, Team Rocket, and officer Jenny, along with all the wild Pokémon who came to help, they all fled Grace Tower and escaped into the forest. They all watched as the skies turned a deep orange color, swirling like oil stains on the street. The world was bathed in this light, colors blended together until everything was covered in it. The group hid with the Pokémon and waited to see what would happen. This change had lingered for the whole of the day. By the night's arrival, the atmosphere slowly dissipated and the starry night could be seen throughout the region. Bonnie, who was scared of this at first, was the same one to complain that nothing seemed to have happened. They agreed and thought, maybe the Malamar had failed. Officer Jenny, seeing there was nothing was wrong anymore, decided to go back to the main headquarters to report this strange phenomena and get help securing the strange machine by those Pokémon. They said their goodbyes as well as Team Rocket who claimed next time they see them, it was back to the usual business. The group decided to camp there for the night and rest.
The next day, the group went about their morning routine of training, eating, and putting away their camping gear. Then they moved on. But something was wrong as Serena checked her map. The map was looking much different than it did yesterday. Where there were once clearly labeled cities, forests, and other landmarks, now the map was nearly blank. Very few of the cities were even placed on the map. She wondered if her device was busted, then that's when Clemont decided to try another one of his inventions which immediately blew up in their face. He didn't even get a chance to give it a name before that even happened. The girls could only sigh at this expected failed attempt. So they continued on their journey blind. They'd find a town and get everything fixed there hopefully.
Pikachu was quiet the whole time. Something in the atmosphere felt different, he wasn't sure what changed. All he knew was that his cheeks sparked differently and he didn't like this feeling. Dedenne didn't seem to notice, but then again, the little one was carefree most of the time. It wasn't until they came to an odd cave is when his suspicions became much more heightened. The group entered the cave together and a gale of wind blasted past them, no, through them. Everyone shut their eyes and when they opened them up again, they found themselves in a cavern with connecting tunnels. Serena's map beeped and showed the design of the cave they were currently in. As they progressed, her map was filling in the places they had been previously and they weren't sure why this was happening.
They wandered around a little until they found something out of place in this cave. It was a set of stairs leading upwards. Why stairs? Who knows? Ash along with Pikachu were the first to climb up and see another cavern. When the rest of the group got up, they found themselves ambushed by several cave dwelling Pokémon. They seemed to be agitated more than usual, and so they ran. But they came to a dead end and were forced to attack. Though, when they attempted to call out their Pokémon, the balls wouldn't open, none would come out. So they had to rely on Pikachu and Dedenne the whole time. Another strange thing happened too, when Pikachu unleashed a Thunderbolt at a Noibat, it was bathed in a strange light and disappeared completely. The group didn't think too much about this and instead ran until they found another set of mysterious stairs to climb upwards again.
They were at this routine for a few more flight, Bonnie kept count and they were now on the 5th level. This was the first time they finally found something other than wandering Pokémon who disappeared in a strange light when defeated. They found items scattered about on this floor. Some were Oran berries, others were strange looking seeds, and finally a bunch of sticks that looked a little like kunai. Bonnie and Dedenne picked the items up and brought it with them, thinking maybe someone lost their stuff when they came through here. By the 7th set of stairs, they're immediately welcomed to the sight of the forest. They had exited the strange cave successfully. Bonnie though, she was concerned cause she didn't see anyone and so she couldn't give these items back to whoever owned them.
It took most of the day before they reached a small town and entered inside. It was mostly quiet, but once they entered the Pokémon center, it was noisier than usual. The front lobby alone was filled with many Pokémon and trainers. Some were tired, others were trembling while hugging their Pokémon, others were crowding the phones, and others were focused on the giant flat screen on the wall. The group went over there and saw a news program was on. On the program, several people were talking about the strange occurrence of every map from all the regions being changed, lots of towns had gone missing, new landmarks and land masses appeared out of nowhere, and most of all, these strange distortions appeared to lead to places that were much bigger than geographically possibly. For the first time that day, the trio finally were getting answers to the strange things that they experienced and what was happening. The world was changed, the Malamar had succeeded, but not in the way they hoped. Everything must have been beyond their control at this point, and that's why they abandoned everything.
When they came out of their thoughts, the noticed another program was playing. They listened to the news again and heard something interesting.
Reporter: "So these strange spaces, ones where you enter and are stuck in a labyrinth until you find these stairs to ascend or descend and eventually leave, they all originate from the odd surges of distortions popping up all around the world?"
Scientist: "Yes, according to the many scientists, they can confirm that these strange distortions are the cause. But the origins remain unknown at the moment. What we do know is that Pokémon in these places behave strangely and because of the distortions, cannot be caught in any way due to these spaces disrupting the Pokéball's functions. Also, each of these spaces where distortions occur have been found to display their own unique properties. According to people who have shared their experiences of passing through these places, some Pokémon outside their balls have experienced getting weaker in in these places, as if their strength was sapped to the lowest of their fighting level. They had forgotten many moves while inside, but once out, they were back to normal, as if it never occurred."
Reporter: "This is both astounding news and at the same time quite frightening."
Scientist: "Indeed. Now to all you who are watching, I must ask you all, keep at least a single Pokémon at the ready while outside. We do not know where these distortions will pop up, so be on guard, especially because you can't call out your Pokémon."
Reporter: "Thank you so much, our segment is about to end. But before we go, I must know, what should we be calling these odd occurrences should they be reported."
Scientist: "Unfortunately it's not up to me to decide such a name. But their appearance and behaviors do remind me of the games of my childhood, where my friends and I would play as a group of heroes traversing the fantasy dungeons in order to make discoveries and find treasures beyond our wildest imagination. If it were up to me, I'd tell you this, 'Welcome to the emergence of Mystery Dungeons!'"
TBC? Maybe?
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Sub-Ideas:
- A few seconds of hesitation is all it takes for the biggest changes to occur.
- Ash and Co will be experiencing the changes in the world.
- The maps on the technology have been altered, the satellites are now reading the maps as uncharted and many landmarks have been erased, or renamed.
- The terrain has changed to accustom the PMD map worlds and many towns and wild areas have been swallowed by Mystery Dungeons or you need to pass through a dungeon in order to reach the town, village, or area of interest.
- Because of what the Malamar did, their world changing design also caused the Pokémon to change as well. Some became as wild and dangerous as a true wild animal while others have gained more intelligence than usual.
- Some are beginning to want to create what people have created, a society of their own.
- Main focus, Ash (Satoshi) and Co. navigating the PMD world along side their Pokémon.
- Throwing Objects and Wands are still scattered in the dungeons and are mainly used by the group to assist their Pokémon.
- Group discovers that even item properties are really different when applied within a mystery dungeon.
- Fun with seeds, gummis, looplets, emeras, galore!
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So? How was this little idea? It's a one shot, but who knows. If I like it, I may write more? But yes, this is basically my idea for how the Mystery Dungeon world came to be in one of the many alternate realities and how it started. If I made this more of a story, it would mostly focus on the beginnings and give an origin story for how PMDs came to be. This distortion also spread to some other planets and or realties affecting their history to be a mostly Pokémon world later on.
There may be lots of mistakes I didn't catch on this, but I'm sharing it anyway. So this is all I got for now! Any thoughts on this idea? If you like it and want to try expanding it in your own fanfic, I say go for it! Just let me know, cause I'd like to read you take on this idea.
So that's it! Thanks for reading!
