Chapter 5: Descent into Mystery

I've gotten a few reviews since the last chapter came out, and I'd like to thank FabledTiefling, TheJellyfishPal, and Navarchu for their inspiring reviews of the story! I really enjoy knowing that people are reading and enjoying this story of mine, and I will continue to write these in the future!

I felt myself falling. And falling, and falling, and falling a bit more. As I careened down the crevice I thought about how avoidable this all was. I could've been a bit more careful, I could've not called those rats Pikachu, I could've trained a bit more at the Dojo, I could've even not left that town at all. I did leave, though, and because of that I kept on falling until I hit the ground with a smack.

I felt some pain somewhere in my chest, though I wasn't sure what got injured. I'd closed my eyes while falling, but the jolt of the landing was enough to make me pass out entirely. I'm not sure how much time passed while I was knocked out, but I don't think it was long. Eventually, I found it in me to open my eyes. I had a throbbing headache from getting hit in the head by that homing star, but I knew I had to get up and look around, so I did.

I was laying with my belly down in a very dark place. I looked up, and was surprised to see a ceiling above me. Didn't I fall down here? Where did I fall from, then? I don't see a hole in the ceiling. Did someone find me knocked out and bring me here? This is... terrifying...

As I slowly got up and stretched out my wingsuit, I took another look around and saw that I was in a room with multiple exits, each leading to some kind of short hallway. It seemed oddly artificial for a cave. I walked over to one of the hallways and looked through it. The hallway led to what looked like another room, so I walked through. Before long, I found myself in another room very similar to the one I woke up in. Suddenly, I realized I wasn't alone here.

"Hey! What're you doing in OUR cave?!" I looked to the side, and saw some kind of... brown mouse? It was somewhat circular and stood on its hind legs, but its claws looked sharp. I couldn't see it very well, though.

Next to them was a... gray rock with a face. Okay then. It also had two arms jutting out of it in a weird way. All of a sudden, the two of them started running towards me, poised to attack. I screamed in terror, my face red with shock.

"AAAAAHH! NO! STOP! GET AWAY! PLEASE, DON'T DO THIS!"

I started trying to go down the hallway I had entered from, but my walking speed was much slower than their running speed. The sharp-clawed mouse managed to scratch me right in the abdomen, and I yelped. The gray rock chucked a rock at my head, and before I knew it I was on the ground.

They slowly approached my wounded body as I cried out in pain. Closer and closer... soon, the mouse had its claw right near my face, ready to slash.

"You'll learn your lesson. You'll never go into our cave again!"

I began to tear up, and closed my eyes. Suddenly, I heard a deeper voice call out.

"SHELL SIDE ARM!"

I opened my eyes again, and watched as the clawed mouse and faced rock were blasted with some kind of purple liquid. They collapsed on the floor, then got up and quickly ran away. Bewildered, I looked over to the source of the liquid.

A large pink... animal with what looked like purple markings on their head was staring at me with a worried look. They had a shell on their left arm that looked like it had just finished spewing something, as the residue of the purple liquid dripped out of it. On their head was a purple scarf, attached at the neck. They shook their arm a bit, stopping the dripping, and walked up to me somewhat slowly.

"You okay, little buddy? I heard you screaming earlier." They took a closer look at me. "What are you doing here... without some kind of bag? Did you... fall down here from above... or something?"

This Pokémon definitely took their time talking. I got up slowly, trying not to look at my injuries.

"I'm... not okay," I replied, "those guys hit me really hard."

The pink creature slowly grabbed the bag I didn't notice on their back, and took out a familiar looking blue fruit. That's the berry Machop gave me earlier. What was it called again, an Olun Berry? Oram? Ofum?

"It's... an Oran Berry," they explained as if reading my mind, "and it'll help you... buddy."

After I had scarfed down the berry with some difficulty and felt my strength return, I realized I had some questions for this guy, like where we were and why I was attacked.

I decided to begin questioning. "Wait, where are we, anyway? What are you doing here?"

The friendly Pokémon sighed. "We're in... the Copper Crevice. It's... a Mystery Dungeon. Also... what are you doing here... Gligar?"

"I fell down from above... wait, what's a Mystery Dungeon?"

The creature sighed again. "Do you really... not know what a Mystery Dungeon is? Are you... one of those humans, or something?"

That reminded me of everything Medicham had told me. "Yeah... yeah, I'm one of those humans."

I explained to them all the stuff that had happened to me so far, as they listened on silently with an expression between cluelessness and curiosity. As I finished the story, they reached into their bag and pulled out a small device that looked like a cell phone.

"If you don't know... I should explain to you what a... Mystery Dungeon is, shouldn't I?"

The device lit up and began to display a strange maze, alongside some text.

Copper Crevice B6F

"That's the dungeon name... and the floor we're on," the creature explained, then pointing at the strange maze, "and here's the map of our current floor."

"What's that thing called?"

"It's... a Dungeon Charting Device, or… DCD for short. Everyone just... calls it a Dungeon Charter."

"What's up with these 'Mystery Dungeons?'"

"Mystery Dungeons are... areas that are spatially distorted... to shift their walls every now and then. The laws of space... don't work quite right here... that's how you fell down into a place with a ceiling. They're... split up into multiple maze-like 'floors', and typically... have only a few exits. The Pokémon that live here... have become kind of irritable... thanks to the distortions."

I took in the new information. So we were in a labyrinth of a cave below that crevice, and the walls of this place "shift" every now and then. As I was pondering what the strange Pokémon told me, they took out another device that looked like a tablet.

"What's that?"

"This is a... Squad Status Checking Device, or SSCD. Everyone calls it... the Status Checker. It helps you... see your squad's condition... and health."

"What's a squad?"

The large creature huffed. "You ask too many... questions. This is probably where... we gotta part ways. We have to leave this floor before the walls shift... and I want to go deeper into this dungeon."

"So are you just gonna leave me here?"

"Not without... a bit of help. Take this, I've got... spares."

They tossed a small bag, a Dungeon Charter, and a Status Checker at me. I took the bag and devices, and thanked them for the gift.

"No problem. Now get out of here... quickly."

Waving goodbye, the Pokémon lumbered away toward one of the hallways, as I realized I forgot to ask their name. I went down the hallway in search of them, but they'd already left.

With a sigh of disappointment, I looked down the east hallway from the room I was in, and saw some stairs. Looking down at the Dungeon Charter, I saw that I was registered as a yellow dot on the maze. The stairs just looked like, well, stairs. Seeing nowhere else to go, I ascended up the stairs that went into the ceiling.

Copper Crevice B5F

I found myself in a square room similar to the ones I had seen on the last floor. Looking at the Dungeon Charter confirmed it: all these floors seemed to have similar winding rooms and hallways. It almost felt like some kind of video game with how same-y everything looked. I quivered worriedly. What if another creature attacks me, while I'm alone like this? There won't be anyone to save me this time...

Staving off my fears for a second, I walked down a hallway and while doing so, checked inside the small bag that nice Pokémon had given me. Inside the bag were a few of those Oran Berries, a purple berry I didn't recognize, and some apples that looked just like the ones at home. Well, at least some things haven't changed. There were also a few drinks with dark blue markings on the bottle, and I wondered what they did for a second before tossing them back in the bag and moving on.

Eventually, I saw a set of stairs that looked like the last set I had gone up. Ecstatically, I walked over to them, but didn't notice as I glided past a small crystalline rock with a face. Only a few steps away from the stairs, I was tackled down by that rock as it started screeching at me.

"OUCH! STOP THAT, YOU... what are you?"

I took a closer look at my assailant as they sent me to the ground with a precisely thrown rock. It had somewhat long "ears" protruding from a crystalline body with small, beady blue eyes. Between its eyes and its body was what looked like a fluffy mane of sorts. What looked like crystals jutted out from the rock's body, and it hovered above the ground a bit. I gulped out of fear. Just what was this thing? Why'd it want me dead so badly?

Suddenly, an idea appeared into my mind.

The stinger on your tail, Doug! Go on the offensive and sting them!

That's it! I snagged an Oran Berry from the bag and scarfed it down to restore my energy a bit. Then, feeling a sort of animalistic side of me take over for a second, I swiftly glided up to the cranky crystal and latched onto it with my wingsuit. It attempted to shake me off, but the mysterious crystal couldn't stop me from jabbing my stinger right into the middle of its rocky body. I could feel some kind of liquid seeping out of my stinger and into the crystalline Pokémon.

A look of shock appeared on its eyes as it finally shook me off, and it ran away, a look of fear on its face as the part I had struck began to corrode. The adrenaline from the fight finally wore off, and I looked down at my stinger that was still dripping with that corrosive, deadly purple poison.

W-what did I just do to that thing?

Trying to divert myself from that morbid thought, I ascended up the set of stairs in front of me.

Copper Crevice B4F

I still felt a bit queasy after what I'd done that last floor, but I knew I had to keep going if I wanted to leave this place. So, holding back the unsettled stomach I had, I walked down hallway after hallway, looking across the identical rooms of copper and dirt that stretched on. Fortunately for my well being, I didn't find any angry Pokémon that wanted to attack me.

I looked down the last hallway I hadn't explored yet as my stomach rumbled a bit. Thinking about it, I realized I hadn't eaten anything in this new world except for Oran Berries. Pulling the small bag and taking out an apple from it, I devoured the red fruit excitedly.

Tastes exactly like I remember. Just like the apples I used to eat at home...

I was snapped out of my nostalgic thinking by a familiar voice calling out.

"GLIGAR?! GLIGAR, ARE YOU THERE?! I'M HERE TO SAVE YOU!"

The noise came from down the last hallway, so I went down it to search for the source. Before long, I'd found Machop in the room with the staircase. He gasped as he saw me, and ran over to me, looking me over once we were face to face.

"Are you okay?! You didn't get hurt, did you? Dad wouldn't like it if I wouldn't even be able to escort someone to the capital safely..."

I sighed. "Don't worry, I'm fine… just got roughed up by some things on the way here."

After reassuring Machop that I was okay and able to keep moving, I explained to him everything that had happened, from the large Pokémon that had saved my life to me receiving the devices and bag to me discovering the power of my poisonous stinger. I cringed a bit at recalling that last part, but he beamed with excitement.

"You learned how to use Poison Sting and fought off that Carbink all by yourself? Not bad, Gligar!"

Poison Sting? Carbink? I guessed Poison Sting was how I injected poison into that Pokémon, but what's a Carbink? Was that the rock that attacked me? I presumed so.

Machop refocused himself. "Anyway, let's get outta here. I don't wanna be here any longer than I have to! I scouted the way out, so this should be a breeze!"

I sighed. "Alright then. I don't wanna stay here, either. Let's go."

The two of us ascended up the stairs.

The last few floors went by like a blur. As we traversed from floor to floor, I saw knocked out, bruised, and beaten up Pokémon in the corners of the rooms. Had Machop knocked out all these guys? Just how strong was he? When I asked him about it, he shrugged and said something about how living in a dojo makes you tough.

Either way, before long we were near the exit of the Copper Crevice. A simple hole in the ceiling, with a rope ladder connecting to where we were. Machop climbed up the ladder, and motioned for me to follow. Seeing no other choices, I flew up to the hole and climbed my way out.

The sunlight was blinding. After what felt like hours in that dark cave, it took my eyes a couple minutes to adjust to how bright it was outside. It did look like it was going to set soon, though, so Machop urged me to move faster so we could get to Smackbone before night time.

We made our way back to the familiar Southern Pass, and turned north. I could see it from where I was now: huge sky-colored walls surrounding skyscrapers, with one in the middle larger than the rest.

"That's the Palkia Council's tower," Machop explained, "their headquarters for governing the Neo Continent!"

"Palkia Council? Neo Continent?"

Machop faltered. "Oh, I never did tell you about those..."

He prepared his explanation. "Ahem..."

"The Palkia Council is a council of six Pokémon that governs the continent we live on, the Neo Continent!"

"Are they like, elected or something?"

"They're descendants of the original Palkia Council, created over ten thousand years ago…"

He began to ramble on about the Council and the continent, but I'd tuned out by then due to my own exhaustion and the fact that we were approaching the entrance of the city. A large Pokémon with a shield-like metal face was keeping guard at the city's checkpoint.

"Name, identification, sir?"

"Machop, here's my ID. My friend here's a human, so he doesn't have one..."

He pulled out a card from his small bag, and handed it over to the guard. I took a quick glance at the card, revealing to me that it had a picture of Machop on it and some information like where he lived and such. The guard scanned the card on a reader that looked similar to the ones at home, then gave the card back to Machop.

"You can come on in, sir. I can make an ID for your friend here, if you want…"

Machop lit up. "Really? Thanks, Bastiodon! Alright, so he's a Gligar, he was found in the Red Woods, he plans to live here..."

Machop kinda said everything about me for me, and I was left without much of a chance to speak. Before long, though, the guard had taken a picture of me, done some typing on a device accustomed to him, and handed me an ID card. I took a look at it.

GLIGAR (human)

AGE: ?

HATCHED: Red Woods

LIVES IN: Smackbone City

Below those details was a picture of myself, or at least what I looked like now. I stared at the picture for a minute or so, trying not to quiver in fear when I looked at that purple gargoyle's face, but was snapped out of it by the guard.

"Hello, Gligar. Welcome to Smackbone City, shining star of the continent."

Machop kind of dragged me through the checkpoint as we approached the capital of the continent. As we finally made it past the sliding doors of the checkpoint, I stared at the colossal city before me, dumbfounded and awestruck.

I'd finally made it to Smackbone City.

This was a bit of a longer chapter compared to the ones before it, because there's a pretty good amount of exposition in it! I do hope you liked it, though. Without further ado, this is Ketchup, signing off!