Chapter 2: New Arrivals at Dawn

After the whole debacle at Temporal Tower, Palkia was exhausted and somewhat annoyed at her temporal brothers attitude. She decided that, before she headed back home, she would visit the beach near Treasure Town. Treasure Town is one of the biggest towns on the Grass continent, and is home to the legendary Wigglytuff guild. But that's not why she went there. No, she went there to look at the bubbles the Krabby where blowing, the bubbles reflecting the light from the sun, making for a beautiful sight.

She grinned to herself 'This is why space is great, because without space, such views would never have existed.'

But her peaceful sightseeing was disrupted by the appearance of a time portal. She was not in the mood to deal with anything that had even a small connection to her brother. So she sent a wave of spatial power at the portal with a flick from her finger, disrupting the portal before it vanished with a flash of blue and purple particles of temporal and spatial energy.

'That takes care of that! Space is cooler than time, as always.' Palkia proudly proclaimed.

After an hour of watching the beautiful scene, the sun was starting to vanish and the Krabby's went home. With the bubble-show over, and her temper returned to normal, she decided to head back home to the Spacial Rift.

It's the next day and on the top off Sharpedo Bluff, a small Vulpix was standing, looking out over the sea. 'This time I will not chicken out. I will join the guild!' she said to herself.

This wasn't the first time that she has tried to join the legendary Wigglytuff guild, but every time she got near the guild, she got cold feet and retreated back home. This time would be different...

Before the Vulpix could leave however, she was greeted by a Kangaskhan that was going on a walk. 'Hello Rachel! Where are you going today?'

'Oh? Hi Gen.' Rachel responded. 'I'm going to try to join the guild again. I hope my Relic Fragment might give me the confidence to join.'

Gen, smiled and wished her the best of luck. Rachel returned the smile and gave a polite thanks, before resuming her sprint to the guild. She had her most prized possession with her, so this time she couldn't fail.

Rachel arrived at the entrance of the Wigglytuff Guild, which had a very imposing Wigglytuff on the top of the tent. It certainly was made to test the nerve of anyone who wanted to enter the guild. If someone wanted to join the guild, or even enter it for that matter, they needed to stand on the grate in front of the guild. It was an odd system, apparently used to identify outlaws trying to enter the guild.

Rachel, however, was doubtful. 'Well this is certainly the farthest I've ever gotten before running back home… but would they even accept a coward like me?'

But Rachel quickly pushed those thoughts away and became resolute. 'No. I refuse to be paralysed by this any longer! This is it. I have to steel my courage today.'

She then proceeded to stand on the gate.

From beneath the gate, someone started yelling, almost as if it were an alarm. 'Pokemon detected! Pokemon detected!'

This was enough to make the Vulpix jump up in the air, but she tried to stand her ground…

The voice continued… 'Whose footprint? Whose footprint?'

…She couldn't give up now, not after getting this far…

And the voice continued… 'The footprint is Vulpix's! The footprint is Vulpix's!'

This was enough to make Rachel's resolve shatter like glass. She jumped away from the grate in a panic. 'Waah! That was too shocking!'

After the shock had settled down she took a small breath. 'Whew…' But the return to normality didn't make Rachel happy. '...I can't... I can't work up the courage to go in, after all... I told myself that this is the day, bu-'

Before she was able to finish talking to herself, something flew through the air and caused a loud impact near the beach.

Rachel jumped even higher than last time. ''OH MY ARCEUS! Wh-what was that?'

After she got over the heart attack she nearly had, she started to wonder if there was anyone present at the beach when the impact happened. 'I-is someone hurt? Or in danger? Oh what do I do, what do I do?'

Rachel was having a hard time making a decision about what to do about it. ''It-it could be dangerous if I went there. But what if someone's hurt? But what if I get hurt? Oh no, oh no…'

In the end, Rachel's curiosity won over her fear and she immediately sprinted towards the beach.

From behind one of the totem poles, a Zubat and a Koffing flew out of cover. The two had been shadowing Rachel after she told Gen about having her 'Relic Fragment' with her to give have more confidence. The two were looking to make a quick profit by stealing it from her.

Koffing turned to Zubat. 'So… should we go after the wimp? Maybe she has some valuables on her.'

Zubat shook his head and replied. 'No, everyone will be running to the beach to see what just happened. If we mug her there, we will be caught, and you remember what the boss said, right?'

Koffing gave his best 'remembering face' before answering Zubat's question. 'That he wouldn't be there to bail us out if we got caught again?'

'Exactly!' The Zubat almost screamed. 'Besides, the wimp might not even have anything on her. She just isn't worth our time.'

That could've been very well the case. Who knew what a 'Relic Fragment' even was? It could've been something completely useless. 'Very well then, let's go somewhere else.' Koffing said after thinking for a while.

And with that final decision made, Koffing and Zubat left the premises of the guild. It would've been foolish to just hang around the guild entrance looking all suspicious.

There were a lot of Pokémon from Treasure Town present on the beach, all looking for the point of impact. Some of the people Rachel did recognize, like the Keckleon brothers, Monaco the Marowak, Gen the Kangaskhan, and Clefable, of whom she didn't know the name.

Someone then approached from behind her. 'Ah, Rachel! Nice to see you.'

The voice belonged to Robert the Duskull, owner of Duskull Bank. He's Rachel's older brother, having been adopted by Rachels parents two years before she was born. It is Robert who helped her find the opening in Sharpedo Bluff that she has been using as a home ever since she had come to Treasure Town. It's not known how Robert makes a profit with Duskull Bank, but with that money he supports himself and Rachel.

Rachel smiled as she returned the greeting. 'Hey Robert. Do you have any idea what just happened?'

Robert chuckled, being a bit mysterious as always. 'Well, I was actually coming over here to tell everyone what I saw.'

This sentence caused the rest of the Pokémon to turn around to face Robert, all wanting to know what had happened.

Gen was the first of the group to speak. 'Well what did you see Robert?'

Robert gave a sly look. 'Well, you see. I was just flying around in the shade, minding my own business, when suddenly I saw something in the sky. It looked a bit like a portal or something like that.' Robert was enjoying the attention everyone was giving to his story.

'And what did you see?' Asked Monaco.

Robert rolled his eye at the interruption, but then got to the point. 'I saw a Pokémon falling out of that portal, straight into Beach Cave.'

The entire crowd was surprised at that, with Rachel being the first one to break the silence. 'Wait! Someone fell from the sky, straight into a Mystery Dungeon!?'

'That's what I said, yes.' Robert responded, starting to take the situation a bit more seriously. 'And I'm pretty certain that they are unconscious too. Who wouldn't be? It was quite a fall from what I saw.'

This caused the group to start murmuring with each other, asking things like 'Why?' or 'How?'. This murmuring was interrupted by Clefable making a shocking revelation. 'That Pokémon most likely doesn't have a SOS on hand, otherwise one of the Exploration Teams would already have arrived to deal with the problem. We need to get them out of there, or they'll end up a feral!'

This caused the arguing to go from soft to loud, with everyone arguing over what to do about this Pokémon.

While the arguing was taking place, Rachel's mind was jumping all over the place. She wanted to help this person, but she didn't know if she could do anything to help. She might just make it worse, with her inexperience dooming the both of them.

This conflict continued until someone suggested that they get the Wigglytuff guild to save this Pokémon, reminding Rachel of what she wanted to do, becoming an explorer. In that single moment, Rachel forgot the meaning of self-preservation and sprinted right to Beach Cave.

Gen was the first one to notice Rachel's bold action and ran right after her. 'Rachel! What are you doing!?' But it was already too late. Rachel was now stuck inside the Dungeon.

The group went from loud discussion to very loud panic. This Pokémon just went into a Mystery Dungeon without any supplies, equipment, or preparation.

The green Kecleon was the one to silence the crowd. 'Listen, if we all go in at once, then all of us will be stuck in there!'

Gen, still shocked by Rachel's rash action, wasn't happy with that, even if she knew that he was right. 'But what do we do then? Can Rachel survive that?'

Robert just glanced away, one of the few Pokémon to not jump into panic after what had happened. 'You people really underestimate her chances of getting out. I've know her the longest out of all of us, and even though she might be scared easily.' He stopped there for a moment and hid a smile while chuckled under his breath. 'Which I might have used to get a few laughs.' Clearing his throat, the Duskull continued with a determined look in his eye. 'she will keep on going till there's nothing more to give.'

Most Pokémon there didn't look convinced. Robert wasn't known to be a liar, and they knew that he and Rachel were family, but most Mons there also knew that Rachel wasn't the sturdiest when it came to being brave.

Clefable decided to break the silence. 'Well whatever happens, we're going to need my hospital equipment. Certainly for the Pokémon who fell into the dungeon, and maybe Rachel if she's…'

Before Clefable could finish, Gen interrupted. She wasn't convinced by Robert that everything would be fine. 'You better be right about Rachel, or you'll have something else coming!' As a mother, she had a natural caring instinct for all the Pokémon in Treasure Town, moming the citizens in the town a little bit too much sometimes.

Robert turned to the Kangaskhan with an unimpressed expression. 'I wouldn't be saying what I have said if I didn't believe it. She will be fine.'

The purple Keckleon decided that a call to action was needed, and started to speak up. 'Alright everyone, listen up! We need someone to go warn the guild about this, and we need some Pokémon to help Clefable get her equipment here. Am I clear?'

After a bit of silent discussion everyone agreed.

The Keckleon continued his call to action. 'Alright then. Robert, Monaco, you two will get the guild. Me, my brother and Gen will help Clefable get her equipment. Alright everyone, let's move out!'

And with that, the town started to move out.

Beach Cave B1F

While all that was happening on the outside of the Dungeon, inside it Rachel had stopped to catch her breath. While she was getting her bearings, she realised how big of a mistake she had just made. Not only was this Dungeon a nightmare because of all the water and water types, but also because she had no easy way of getting out of the Dungeon.

Rachel stood in silence while still regretting her actions. 'Why… why did I do that? I'm going to get myself killed like this, or worse…'

Rachel had no time to ponder about these issues however. She was now, for the first time in her life, inside an actual Mystery Dungeon, and getting out wouldn't be easy. Her priority list was simple, find the wounded Pokémon and reach the end of the dungeon. On the final floor should be a teleporter back to the entrance of Beach Cave.

Rachel was starting to calm down a bit. 'Deep breaths. You can do this.'

She had a hard time believing that herself.

As she started walking, she decided to inspect her surroundings. The dungeon itself comprised of a sandstone like floor and blue walls with bits of moss covering parts of it. There also were a lot of bodies of water all around her, however, even through the muddy, blue surfaces, she could tell that they weren't all too deep. She turned a corner through one of the hallways and found a Shellder and a berry. The Shellder noticed her presence and before she knew it the fight had begun.

The Shellder started it's attack using a Tackle, which Rachel Dodged without any issue. Rachel had to attack now that she had the chance. She had the choice between an Ember, a small flame which could burn Pokémon, but it would've had little effect on the water type. The other offensive option was Feint Attack which wasn't particularly effective, but was guaranteed to hit the Shellder and is more effective than Ember.

This strategizing however left Rachel wide open and the Shellder went for a normal attack. Rachel wasn't able to dodge this one, taking some damage.

This didn't stop Rachel however, who immediately after recovering used Feint Attack on the Shellder. She must have hit a weak spot, as this was enough to take the Shellder out. The Shellder proceeded to disappear in a cloud of blue smoke.

'That could've gone better' Rachel murmured to herself as she went over to grab the Berry. The berry in question was an Oran Berry, which could lessen the pain from wounds and even heal them a little bit. It wasn't a replacement for visiting the doctor for injuries however.

'Not much, but it could come in handy.' She thought before going further through the dungeon. After a while of exploring she found the staircase. She had already looked throughout the entire first floor, yet there was no sign of the Pokémon.

Rachel swallowed a bit 'I hope I'll find that Pokémon on the next floor, and didn't just walk right past them…'

Despite her worries, she moved onto the next floor…

Beach Cave Rest Spot

The one thing Rachel didn't expect to find on the next floor was a Rest Spot, and that in Beach Cave of all places. Rest Spots often appear in very long dungeons, Which allows Exploration Teams to catch their breath for a bit, organize everything they have, and then continue forward. It got weirder as she noticed a natural source of light filling the room. Rachel soon found the answers to her many questions in the form of an injured Shinx that lay there out cold.

Rachel started to go on a mental tirade. 'That's odd, that Shinx must've been launched at high velocity to make a hole in the Dungeon. Now I wonder, will this spot now be permanent, or will the dungeon repair itself. There isn't a Kangaskhan statue here, so it isn't a fully functional Rest Stop…'

The Shinx sudden spasm was enough to snap Rachel out of her Waterfall thoughts and back into reality.

'I have to check if they're aright.' Thought Rachel, as she started to look for a heartbeat.

The rhythmic booms of the Shinx heart were enough confirmation for Rachel. She was happy that this Shinx was still among the living. She then started to look for any wounds, which weren't hard to find. The Shinx was covered in bruises and its fur was completely dirty.

Rachel started to worry about the condition the Shinx was in. 'This Shinx isn't dead, but I don't know if they will be able to wake up. What can I d…'

Then she pulled out the Berry in a stroke of genius. 'Oh wait a minute! I have a Oran Berry on me!'

She then proceeded to put the berry in the Shinx's mouth. It was a good thing that you didn't need to eat the berry to let the healing properties do their thing. 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 Rachel 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.

Rachel was very cautious of this strange Pokémon, but she knew that the Shinx would need her help to get out of here. 'Hey… just a tip. If you want those wounds to not weigh you down, you might want to eat the berry.'

He hadn't noticed the Berry until Rachel pointed it out. He looked hesitant for a moment, but then proceeded to consume the rest of the Oran Berry

'So, do you feel any beter?' Rachel asked with a patient smile.

'…A little bit…' The Shinx responded weakly.

Rachel gave a weak laugh at that response. 'Yeah, you're going to have to visit the hospital after we get out…' Rachel didn't feel confident in the chances this Shinx had to survive in Beach Cave. 'Just give it a bit of time to heal, then you should at least be able to move.' Normally staying still in a Mystery Dungeon is just asking for trouble, but seeing as this Shinx made his own Resting Spot, it was less of a problem.

One of the biggest rules in exploring a Mystery Dungeon was that you and the person you were traveling with had to have 100% faith and trust in each other, otherwise it could end in disaster. Because of this, Rachel decided to start a conversation with the Flash Pokémon. 'So, how did you end up here?'

She had figured that starting off with a simple question would be fine. The opposite was true however, as the Shinx seemed to have trouble recalling something. Eventually, he spoke again. 'I… have no idea…'

Rachel didn't like the implications of that. 'How much do you remember?' She proceeded to ask.

The Shinx tried once more to give an answer. 'I… I…' But the Shinx couldn't even finish before he started to panic as he failed to recollect anything about himself. 'I have no idea!'

'Please calm down!' Rachel almost screamed, startling the poor Shinx. Rachel immediately felt bad for that and sat down again. 'I'm sorry. I lost my temper there. Please tell me, what do you remember?'

The Shinx was still shaking, both from the realization that he didn't know who he was, and Rachel's sudden outburst. But he got a hold of himself and succeeded in remembering something.

'I remember… my name…' He almost whispered.

Rachel leaned in a bit. 'And your name is?'

The shinx took a second before giving an answer. 'My name… is Tristian.'

Rachel didn't feel any different after that, but maybe her expectations were just a bit too high. She gave a smile before talking again. 'Tristian huh? Well, I guess it would be rude if I didn't return the favour, my name is Rachel'

Rachel's happy delivery helped ease some of the fear and stress that were still in Tristian, making him relax a bit. 'That's… a nice name.'

Rachel let out a small chuckle before replying 'Thanks, I guess.'

Then Rachel had an epiphany. If Tristian truly didn't remember anything except for his name, did that also mean he didn't know what Mystery Dungeons were? She decided to ask. 'Now, Tristian. I need to know something, so please answer honestly.'

Tristian didn't expect such demands were going to be made, but Rachel didn't seem like a bad person. So he gave a little nod.

Then Rachel asked the big question. 'Do you have any knowledge on Mystery Dungeons?'

'Whaaaaa-'

Rachel sighed, stopping Tristian's display of confusion. 'Alright, this will be difficult.'

Tristian, being unaware of the situation they were currently in, asked a simple question. 'Why?'

'Because we are currently IN one.' Rachel said in an almost annoyed tone.

'….oh' Said Tristian, which roughly translated to "Oh man, this can't be good…"

Rachel sighed, realizing that this was going to take a while. 'Let me try to give you a brief summary. Mystery Dungeons are… well, Dungeons that constantly change in layout.'

To Tristian, this sounded bad and illogical. How could a dungeon do that? 'That sounds complicated.' But then he got a terrifying thought. 'How do you get out of one then!?'

'Calm down, we aren't stuck here forever if that's what you're thinking.' Rachel said, trying to calm Tristian down.

Tristian had a mental sigh of relief at the news that he wasn't stuck here forever.

Rachel continued her explanation. 'Mystery Dungeons can be left by either using an Escape Badge, which I don't have. Using an Escape Orb, but the chances of finding one here are laughable. And finally, just getting to the exit, which is what we are going to do.'

Tristian was following along fine, but something bugged him. 'Why can't we just walk back the way you came from?'

Rachel shook her head. 'That's because the layout changes, remember? Whenever you go to a new floor, the way back to the previous floor will be blocked.'

Tristian nodded. 'Okay, anything else I should know.'

'That depends. What is your current Level?' Rachel asked, hoping that Tristian maybe still remembered that.

To no one's surprise, he didn't. 'Huh, level? Like the level of a building or…'

Before Tristian finished, Rachel burst out laughing. Tristian realised he had said something dumb or nonsensical. She noticed him starting to look down, and practically immediately started to feel bad. 'Sorry, I just can't believe you said building of all things!'

Rachel then cleared her throat and continued. 'A long time ago, some Pokémon discovered that you can get stronger from surviving Mystery Dungeons. Pokémon needed a way to refer to this experience and someone came up with Level. The higher your Level, the more moves you can do and the stronger you'll get.'

Tristian blinked a few times in confusion. 'How do you know so much about this?'

Rachel looked up for a bit. 'There are books on Mystery Dungeons in the Eeveelution Library. It's a library run by a family of Eeveelutions, and they have a lot of knowledge there.'

Then one of the things Rachel said started to come to Tristian's attention. 'Wait, you said something about "surviving Mystery Dungeons". What do you mean with survive?'

Rachel gave a bit of an awkward smile. 'I guess I should have mentioned that a bit sooner, eh?'

Rachel stood up and started to wander around the room 'Mystery Dungeons have a defence mechanism, and that's in the form of "clones"'

'Clones?' Tristian said, ever confused.

'Yup! Clones.' Rachel said in confirmation. 'Clones of Pokémon to be exact. I might tell you more about the why and how, but for now you should know the basics.'
'One: The clones can't think for themselves and don't have self-preservation instinct… for the most part.'
'Two: Defeating Clones is not murder. You can't murder something that wasn't really alive to begin with. So don't worry about being seen as a murderer if you have to apply self-defence.'

This surprised Tristian. 'Really? No one cares?'

'Nope.' Rachel said. 'They don't even care if you hunt them down on purpose, which does sound morbid but…'
'Three: Defeating Clones gives you progress to the next Level. Enough said.'

It wasn't hard for Tristian to understand the things Rachel had now told him, but he was confused about one thing. 'I have another question?'

'…You know that this isn't a school or anything like that, right?' Rachel said, a smile forming on her face.

'Oh! Sor-'

Rachel immediately stopped Tristian. 'It's okay. What is your question?'

Tristian gave it a second, and then proceeded to ask: 'How do you defeat Clones?'

Rachel almost looked dumbfounded. 'Using moves! What? Are you trying to say that you don't know your moves?'

Tristian looked away in shame.

Rachel wasn't expecting Tristian to mean it. 'You… are…oh right, your memories are kinda gone. I Guess I should ask Volt if he can fix that.'

'Who's Volt?' Tristian asked.

'That's important for later.' Rachel said, doing a little swiping motion with her paw. 'Do you have any more questions?'

Tristian shook his head. 'No, not really.'

Rachel, relieved to finally be able to get out, let out a sigh. 'Okay, then let's get out of here.'

And with that, Rachel and Tristian moved to the entrance of the second floor.

Back in Treasure Town, Robert and Monaco arrived at the Wigglytuff Guild entrance.

The ghost type turned to the normal type. 'Aight Monaco, how about you step on the gate, I don't really have the limbs to do that'

'Very well, I just hope Diglett isn't away again' Monaco said in a bitter tone, as he proceeded to step on the gate.

Once again, the voice beneath the grate spoke like an alarm. 'Pokémon detected! Pokémon detected!'

'At least he's here this time' Monaco thought.

The voice continued... 'Whose footprint? Whose footprint?'

And the voice continued... 'The footprint is Marrowak's! The footprint is Marrowak's!'

'…You may ENTER!' A loud voice inside the guild confirmed.

But before they could move a muscle, the loud voice spoke once more. 'Someone's with you! So get that stranger to stand up THERE!'

Robert laughed almost sheepishly. 'I wish I could friend, but I lack the… how should I say it… form to complete that request.'

'That voice! It's Robert' The voice below them said.

'You'd better be RIGHT about this Diglett.' The voice in the guild screamed. 'You may ENTER!'

And with that, Monaco and Robert where allowed to enter the guild and took the ladder down to the second floor. There they saw two boards with papers on them, and multiple exploration teams and guild members looking at these boards.

They were then greeted by the guildmaster's right hand man, a Chatot.

'So, what do you two need done?' Chatot asked. '…Or did one of the Guildmembers forget to update their license with your bank?'

Robert shook his head on that last question. 'Actually, there's an emergency over at Beach Cave, and we need the Guild's help.'

This had Chatot intrigued. What could possibly happen in such a low level Dungeon? 'What kind of emergency?'

Monaco then proceeded to give an answer in a passive aggressive manner. 'The kind where two weak Pokémon are stuck in the Dungeon with no way out and no SOS on them!'

Robert sighed before saying. 'For the last time. Rachel isn't weak. She'll be fine.'

'Well better safe than sorry!' Monaco retorted.

'Quiet, both of you!' Chatot said in a stern tone. There was obviously an emergency going on, and the two of them fighting would help no one. 'Let me get this straight, there are Pokémon stuck in the dungeon without an SOS, correct?'

'Yes' Monaco replied pretty aggressively, while Robert just shook yes.

Chatot rubbed his feathers together before jumping into action 'Then we shall be going there immediately! I'll inform the guildmaster!

Beach Cave B2F

Tristian and Rachel made it to the next floor, the way behind them disappearing in the process. Although he had a type advantage, Tristian still acted very cautiously and wary, which could cause problems when they had to potentially fight off clones. Rachel decided it would be a good idea to reassure him that everything would be fine. 'That wasn't so hard now, wasn't it' Rachel said to Tristian.

Tristian was caught off guard with the sudden statement, but he quickly recovered. 'That went… alright.' Tristian said, confidence lacking in the delivery.

This wasn't going to be easy. Tristian must've been in shock because of everything that had happened ever since he had woken up. She proceeded to try to lift Tristian's spirits a bit. 'We need to find two more stairs and then we will be out of here.'

Tristian let out a small sigh. 'I guess you're ri-'

Before Tristian could finish his sentence however, Rachel got hit by a particularly strong water gun, the attack coming from a Shellos. Rachel let out a yelp as she was launched against the wall.

Tristian watched in horror as the one guiding him got rammed against the wall, leaving nothing standing between him and this… thing. The amount of space he had to move was also small, since they were currently in a hallway. The hallway was also adjacent to a pool of water, making moving either direction completely useless.

Tristian, in a panic and a little bit of rage, used Thunder shock against the Shellos, which fried the water type to medium rare, causing the Shellos to vanish into blue clouds. Tristian stood there as the victor, panting from all the adrenaline still pumping through his body.

Rachel let out a small cough before standing back up again. 'That… was pretty impressive.'

This was enough to wake Tristian from his first 'kill', after which he proceeded to panic. 'Are you alright! What do I do! You're not going to die, right!'

Rachel raised her paw to indicate for Tristian to stop panicking 'Stop the dramatics already! I'm fine.'

Tristian wasn't calmed down, however 'How can you be certain! You were just launched into the wall by that attack!'

Rachel sighed. 'Yes, that would've been a problem, if it wasn't for the fact that wall was only a few meters away. The attack was one of blunt force, I'll be fine Tristian.'

Tristian inspected Rachel and saw a bruise on the spot where she had been hit, but there was no further damage.

Tristian finally calmed down, to the delight of Rachel. 'Sorry for freaking out on you…'

Rachel just laughed it off. 'It's fine, don't worry. Let's keep going now.'

Tristian nodded in agreement. It seems that a battle with a clone was the thing he needed to calm himself down. Rachel laughed at that thought.

And the duo went onwards, and they soon enough found the staircase.

Beach Cave B3F

For their first time in a Mystery Dungeon, things were going pretty smoothly for the two Pokémon. 'Only one more floor and we'll be out of here!' Rachel celebrated.

She turned to Tristian to see his response, only to find the Shinx completely enthralled with something on the floor.

He inspected the round yellow objects with extreme interest. It was pretty though and very shiny. He needed to know what it was. 'Hey Rachel! Do you know what this thing is?'

She walked over to the side of Tristian, and recognized what it was immediately. 'Oh, that's Poké. It's the currency we use.'

He was overwhelmed with the urge of grabbing it and running before the owner catches him, despite the fact that there was no owner. He resisted however, not wanting to make a mistake so soon. '…Can I take it?'

She was surprised by Tristian's sudden hesitation, but she just laughed it off. 'I don't see why you can't. Nobody here is going to miss it.'

Tristian's face almost literally lit up at Rachel's answer. Tristian proceeded to grab the Poké, which turned into 40 smaller Poké! 'Wow! It just turned smaller! How much is this worth?'

She frowned. 'It's not a lot I'm afraid.'

And with that, his excitement faded away. 'aawh.'

'Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. You looked so excited for a moment. Almost like you forgot that we are fighting for our lives.'

Tristian knew that Rachel was right, now was not the time to just stop and grab small trinkets to keep. 'Sor-'

Rachel however, was a bit done with Tristian's constant apologies, certainly when they were unnecessary. 'Don't say sorry for that! You did nothing wrong.'

This had the intended effect and Tristian looked away a bit sheepishly. 'You're… right. I should probably stop doing that every minute. So, shall we get going?'

She nodded. 'Sure.'

They met little resistance along the path, and soon enough they had reached the final staircase.

Beach Cave Pit

It was then that Rachel and Tristian had found themselves at the end of the dungeon. There were no more paths left to take.

Tristian turned to his guide. 'So… what happens now?'

Rachel gave her feline friend a grin. 'Now, we use an idea you had earlier and head back the way we came.'

She then turned around, facing away from the dead end, back to the opening they just came from.

This left Tristian a bit baffled. 'Wait, that's it?'

'Yup, we've survived our first Mystery Dungeon!' Rachel celebrated.

Tristian let out a sigh of relief. 'Finally… Thanks allot Rachel. I don't know if I could've gotten out of here without you.'

'Hey, it's not a problem, and I would certainly not have returned if you weren't there. That uhh… what was it that attacked me? You know what, nevermind. point is, without you I wouldn't have returned.'

Tristian gave a grin. 'Let's not hold a competition right now about who helped the other the most, alright.'

'Sure, Let's get out of here!' Rachel said.

On the outside of Beach Cave, Robert and Monaco had just returned with the entire guild right behind them. There were only a few Pokémon left on the beach as they arrived, which included Clefable, Gen, and the Kecleon brothers.

'Have they come out yet!' Monaco asked to Clefable.

Clefable shook her head. 'Nope, they still aren't here.'

Chatot then walked over to the group of Pokémon. 'So! What is the situation!' He asked in a stern voice.

Gen stepped forward and explained everything that had happened, from the Pokémon that crashed into the Dungeon, up to Rachel running into the Dungeon. 'And that's what has happened up to now.'

Chatot rubbed over his beak for a second and then jumped into action. 'Alright everyone, listen up! I want Loudred, Sunflora, and Bidoof to go in and find these missing Pokémon. Remember, they don't have SOS's on them, so we have no clue where they actually are. Still, I want you to try to find them to the best of your ability, got that!'

The three guild members all stepped forward.

'I got it, oh my gosh!' Sunflora responded.

'Understood, yup, yup.' Bidoof responded.

'LOUD and CLEAR!' Loudred responded very loudly.

Chatot looked at the three of them before continuing on. 'Alright. Then le-'

'There they are!' The purple Kecleon shouted, interrupting Chatot in the process.

Everyone turned to the entrance of Beach Cave, where they saw Rachel and a Shinx exiting it.

Gen was the first of the group to react. 'My dear you're alright!' She said before giving Rachel a tight hug.

Robert floated over to Gen's side. 'I told you that she'd be fine.'

Monaco then stepped forward, making Gen end her hug. 'What were you thinking! You could've gotten yourself killed!'

And then it turned into a shouting fest with the population of Treasure Town arguing about this whole situation. It was stopped however, by a quake caused by the guildmaster, Wigglytuff.

'G-guildmaster? What are you doing?' Chatot asked.

But Wigglytuff ignored Chatot's question and walked over to the duo of Tristian and Rachel. 'Hiya! So, can you tell me what happened in there?'

She was caught off guard by the sudden question, and the fact the question came from the guildmaster himself. But it didn't stop her for long. 'Uh… yeah, sure.' She then proceeded to tell about the journey she and Tristian just went through.

Wigglytuff patiently listened to the entire story, and only after Rachel was done did he speak again. 'And you did all with no prior experience?'

'Well, I read some books on mystery dungeons, but that was about it.'

Then a Diglett moved forward, who was also a member of the guild. 'Wait a minute, you're that Vulpix from earlier today. Why did you run away from the grate?'

Rachel didn't want to say it, but everyone's anticipation was too much for her, causing her to capitulate. 'I… wanted to join the guild and become an explorer. But I got scared at the sudden alarm and that was just too much for me.'

There were some murmurs from the crowd, yet Wigglytuffs face still had a big smile plastered all over it. 'But you did handle yourself in the Dungeon, right?'

'well…'

'Yes!' Tristian suddenly said, surprising everyone. 'She did it very well. If it wasn't for her, I would most likely be dead.' He had seen how Rachel handled herself in Beach Cave. While he was panicking and scared, she was helping and guiding him through it, being akin to an encyclopaedia of how to survive Mystery Dungeons.

While everyone was still recovering from the Shinx's sudden vouch, Wigglytuff came to a decision. '…Okay! Welcome to the guild friend'

She nearly jumped in surprise. 'W-wait, really?'

'Yup!' Wigglytuff said in a cheery tone.

The crowd was silent for a moment, before they started cheering, congratulating Rachel on finally joining the guild.

She couldn't believe it, she was now an official member of the guild. Rachel was left ecstatic. But then something dawned on her. She turned to the Shinx next to her. 'Hey, Tristian?'

'Yeah Rachel?'

'What will you do now that you're out of the Dungeon?'

Tristian looked like he was going to give an answer, but then he looked a bit difficult, as he remembered that he forgot everything about himself. He didn't have any idea of what to do now. He had no memories, no idea what to do, and no goal. 'I don't know…'

The Kangaskhan stepped forward, face filled with concern. 'What's wrong dear? What do you mean with that?'

He started to realise the weight of the fact of what having no memories meant for him. 'I… can't remember anything. Not about my past, nor about my goals, or even where I came from.'

Everyone was left silent after that. Until Wigglytuff once again activated positivity mode. 'I hope you don't mind if I ask, but how was your first time in a Mystery Dungeon?'

Tristian calmed down a little bit before answering Wigglytuff. 'It was intense, but also… exiting? I mean, I was ecstatic when I found something, while I didn't even know what it was used for.'

'He also saved my fur when a Shellos attacked me out of nowhere.' Rachel added to the conversation, repaying him for the vouching he gave to her a few moments ago.

Wigglytuff started to lean back and forth. 'So, you two are saying that the other was critical for your own success, riiiight?'

The two turned to each other before Tristian responded. 'I guess that you're right.'

'Then why not join the guild as a team!' Wigglytuff said.

Tristian looked a bit sceptical. He had nowhere to go and nothing to achieve. Meanwhile he's being offered a chance to form a team with Rachel, someone he likes and seemed like a good friend, to then go on and explore unknown places, find hidden treasures, and help those who were in a unlucky situation, like he was a little while ago. The decision wasn't that hard to make in the end. 'Okay, I'll join the guild.'

This caused Wigglytuff and the guild to let out a cheer. 'Hooray!'

While everyone was celebrating, Tristian turned to his now partner in exploration. 'I hope you don't mind us being a team.' He said in a jokey tone.

'I was kinda hoping for it, really.' Rachel admitted.

Chatot then jumped forward, interrupting the celebrations. 'Guildmaster. While I do not have any problems with them joining the guild, I think we should do the rest of this back at the guild.'

The guildmaster nodded. 'Alright Chatot, but I want to talk with the recruits for a moment.'

'Of course guidlmaster. Loudred, if you could.'

Loudred gave a thumbs up. 'No problem.' Loudred knew what to do. 'ALRIGHT EVERYONE! SHOW'S OVER! GO HOME!'

And with that, everyone left, leaving Wigglytuff, Tristian and Rachel alone.

Wigglytuff then turned to the two new recruits. 'I know Chatot wants you to do this back in the guild, but I'm so excited to know what your team name is going to be, I just couldn't wait!'

Rachel's started to look down a little bit. 'Team name… I didn't really think of one. Never thought I would be part of a team to be honest. Tristian, do you have any ideas?'

He let out a chuckle. 'I don't think it's a good idea to ask the amnesiac for ideas in this case.' He joked.

Wigglytuff then started to dance. He had a great idea! 'Oh, oh, oh, oh! I have an idea! I have an idea! How about team Lightbringers?'

Rachel and Tristian pondered about it for a bit before agreeing with the suggested team name, with Rachel being the first to show her approvement of the name. 'I think it fits, with fire and lightning both involving light. What about you Tristian?'

'You won't hear any complaints from me.' He said.

'Then it's settled. YOOM-TAH!' The earth proceeded to quake a bit because of Wigglytuff excitement. 'Now! Let's head back to the guild so I can give you your equipment, and so that you can have something to eat. You two must be famished!'

Rachel agreed with that 'I-'

But before Rachel could finish her sentence, her belly finished it for her, by grumbling like an angry Meowth.

Tristian was withholding a laugh. 'I think your belly said "yes" for you.'

And then Tristian's belly did the same.

'Same for you Tristian.' Rachel said, barely holding her laughter in.

And after one more laugh, they headed towards the guild.

Mt. Bristle Peak

Somewhere else, two Pokémon are standing atop of Mt. Bristle peak. One of them very big, and the other pretty small. The small one was carrying a weird stone with symbols all over it.

'Alright, this is it. Here is where we shall hide my artefact.' The big one said, pointing towards a hole in the wall.

The small one was confused. 'But… how do we get in dad? The hole is way too small for me, and certainly for you.'

This made the big one grin, before saying. 'Who said we needed to walk?'

With that, the big Pokémon summoned a portal for them to use. They went through and found themselves in an ancient worship site for Giratina. Filled with statues and symbolism of the Renegade Pokémon. By the age of the idols, it could easily be assumed that they were made a very, very long time ago. It was a small room, with one long hallway right in front of the small hole.

The small one stared in awe at all the symbolism, and then turned to the the bigger Pokémon. 'Wow dad! Were all those built for you?'

Giratina laughed. 'Yes Mimikyu, they were all built in my honour.'

'But I thought a thief's treasure was hidden here, at least, that's what I heard that in Treasure Town.' Mimikyu said.

Giratina sighed and shook his head. 'Don't believe everything you hear Mimikyu. Some people want to see others work hard to reach a non-existent goal, or even like to watch them suffer as they try.'

Mimikyu turns to his father in surprise, having difficulty accepting what he just heard. 'That's just mean! What kind of Pokémon would do that?'

'Some, but not many. There are bad people out there, sadly.' Giratina lamented. There have been many in history to spread rumors and lies, just to forward their own goals, or even just for their amusement. Giratina once was one of these people, which was one of the reasons he was banished by Arceus to the Distortion Realm.

Mimikyu nodded and the duo proceeded to walk further down the hall. The hall was filled with more decorations dedicated to the Anti-matter Pokémon, becoming more impressive as they walked further down the halls.

'Hey dad. Why did you choose this place?' This question had been stuck in Mimikyu's mind the moment they got here. Why were they going to put the artifact here specifically?

Giratina knew this question would've come up eventually, so he had an explanation prepared. He stopped moving and started to explain. 'I had a few reasons for that. First, it will be harder for my siblings to find out what I'm doing. Second, I asked that Xatu from Treasure Town when someone would show up here, and he told me that someone will be here in two days. Third, if that Pokémon is able to get in here, then they will have the skills needed to be able to complete this mission without much hardship.'

Mimikyu looked a bit confused at that. 'But… how will anyone get in here? The hole is too tiny for any normal Pokémon to get through.'

Giratina laughed for a moment before giving his son an answer. 'That's partly the point. Either they are small enough to fit through, or they force their way in.'

'But what about all the statues and such? What if they get damaged in the process?' Mimikyu said, while pointing to all the statues and idols.

Giratina looked a bit difficult, but then he realised that this would be a perfect opportunity to teach his son about letting things from the past go.

Giratina cleared his throat. 'I… will be… fine. I don't need them to be the mi-'

Before he even finished that sentence portals appeared beneath every statue and piece of symbolism, teleporting them all to safety.

There was a moment of silence between the father and son.

Then Mimikyu broke the silence. 'You couldn't let go of it, couldn't you?'

'…No…' Giratina said, letting out a defeated sigh. 'Let's just keep going.'

The two then reached the end of the cave. It was an empty room (Thanks to Giratina's removal of everything not bolted to the floor) with two puddles of water on both sides.

Mimikyu, with no clue about what to do next, turned to his dad. 'So… where shall I put it?'

'Put it on… that altar I just summoned.' And with that, an altar fell out of a portal, landing at the end of the room in between the two puddles.

As Mimikyu was placing down the artefact, he had one more question for his dad. 'Hey dad?'

'Yes Mimikyu?'Giratina responded.

'What will this artefact even do?' Mimikyu asked, since he had been very quiet about the purpose of the artifact ever since he made it.

Giratina stood still in silence for a moment, before shaking his head. 'I'm afraid I can't say that. I have spoken too much already, and I don't want to take any chances with my siblings, or the fence…'

Mimikyu looked disappointed, trying to make Giratina share something about it in pity. It was super effective! 'Alright! I'll tell you one thing about it.'

Mimikyu's face shot up, as he was filled with glee. 'Yay!'

Giratina took a breath. 'It is… complicated, in how it works and what it does. I needed to break many rules of time and space to make this work, so it'll be hard to understand at first. I just hope the Pokémon that finds this will get the hang of it very quickly. This might be our only hope to stop time's degradation.'

Although it wasn't the kind of answer Mimikyu was looking for, he decided that it would not be wise to push his father for more info, since that could very well make grandpa angry with him.

After a little bit, Mimikyu had placed the artifact neatly on top of the altar. 'Alright, I'm done!'

Giratina let out a sigh of relief. He was already breaking many rules, and if this didn't help at all, then the degradation of time would be the last of his problems. Better to leave now, before anyone got the chance to find out what they were doing. 'Then let's get out of here, pronto!'

Mimikyu jumped up in agreement 'Yup, this place is to dank for me.'

And with that, the two Pokémon left Mt. Bristle. Leaving an artifact behind, waiting for someone to use it...

And that's chapter 2 done. This was fun to write, but boy did it take a while.

I want to thank Miner7365, Dvovm, RibbonDove and Makkuro for proof-reading my story. It made this chapter just that bit better.

Till the next chapter. (I might first rewrite chapter 1 first though)