Chapter 1 : It's Just Begun

"…"

"..ey, ar… ay?…"

"Hey! Wake up!"

I awaken with a start. My head feels groggy, and my body feels strange. On a sensation level, it's nothing out of the ordinary, but my proportions feel… off, somehow. As though my arms and legs are a lot shorter than they should be.

Looking at myself, I notice that I'm not quite what I expected to be. I'm definitely not a human, that's for sure. The word Snivy comes to mind, in fact.

I stretch, my observations finished, and from the ground look up to see whomever it is who's woken me up.

I find myself in the company of a Pokémon, much like myself. Their orange feathers and yellow poff on their head indicates to me a Torchic. They look concerned, big marble-like eyes looking down on me, as they step a little closer to me whilst I lay on a grassy floor.

Their beak is scrunched up in a little frown, and they say, "Uh… hey there. Are you okay?" after a short pause.

I note their high, slightly scratchy voice. They sound boyish to me, young. I can't help but compare them to… well, I suppose it reminds me of… of… huh. Welp. I can deal with that later on my own, I have to talk to this Pokemon in front of me.

I open my mouth, take a short breath, and reply with, "Yes. I think." I get up from the ground, standing up right on my stubby little snake legs.

"Oh good!" they say, letting loose tension and softening their frown a touch. They step back just a bit, before saying, "I was kinda worried! You don't see a lot of Pokemon just passed out in the forest, y'know? It's not exactly the safest place to get some shut eye." They pause for a second, and tilt their head curiously. "What are you doing out here, anyways?"

I pause. I'm not quite sure how to answer that. Quite frankly, I don't remember. And what I do remember doesn't exactly apply to current events, so I have a hard time puzzling together an answer. I end up not saying anything, as I can't think of anything that would satisfy the Torchic in front of me.

I look down as the moment drags on uncomfortably, lips in a tight line. I notice the grass underneath my feet as the Torchic shifts in place, allowing us to further stew in awkward silence.

I glance up and see Torchic open their beak to speak again. "Oookay then, uh… well, my name's Cole. You don't seem like you're from around here; we don't get a lot of easterners out here. What's your name?" they ask curiously, though with some discomfort as he attempts to move on from the awkward moment. His face has returned entirely to what I would imagine to be his neutral expression.

This question is much simpler for me, as I actually remember the answer, I think. I breathe in, feet shifting outward a little as I say, "… my name is Arthur." I can't help but pause for a moment, but I do get this sentence out of my mouth before I can cause another uncomfortable moment. Looking at Cole, he seems vaguely pleased that I responded to his question in a timely manner. I look down again at the grass.

"Okay Arthur, hi! So, h-"

Before he can complete his question, though, someone crashes into us. We go sprawling on the ground as this buggy torpedo knocks us on our backs.

I rub my skull, slightly dazed from the impromptu tackling endured.

Quickly getting to my feet again, I see that another Pokemon has joined us. Big red compound eyes, purple pigment, yes, that certainly is a Butterfree. It strikes me as odd that I can remember what Pokemon are, and their distinctive individual traits, but not anything from the past before I woke up a few minutes ago.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" the Butterfree exclaims. "I didn't mean to knock you two over," she flies frantically around us, seemingly in a panic.

"There was an earthquake! The ground collapsed and my baby fell into a Mystery dungeon! Oohh…" The mother flits around nervously, antenna hanging low around her head as she flies in an anxious circle. I look over to see Cole, standing up. He looks up at the Butterfree and opens his mouth to speak, but before he can, she speaks up again.

"You two! Please, you have to help me! I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to my baby. I'll reward you, I promise, but please find my child!" Her pleading voice and desperate eyes are impossible to ignore. I say nothing, but I look at her fretting face and know that I simply can't turn her down.

I glance over at Cole, and it seems to me he feels similarly. With a sympathetic look on his face, he says, "Okay, we'll find your child lickety-split, don't you worry! We'll be back before you know it."

Cole grabs my hand with his feathers, and with gratitude at our backs, drags me down into the surrounding shrubbery, presumably to this so-called 'Mystery Dungeon'. I don''t know what a Mystery Dungeon is, exactly, but seeing as how both Cole and the mother behind us both seem familiar with it, I think it's safe to assume that it's common knowledge. I'll find out one way or the other what these things are, so I decide to not ask and save myself the embarrassment.

Either way, deeper into the great unknown we go…

Mon, what a weird guy.

I've known this guy for, what, maybe a half-hour? Already, I can tell he's an odd one. He's just so… quiet, I guess. I keep asking this dude questions, and I just keep getting brick-walled.

"So where are you from?" Silence.

"What was it like coming here?" Silence.

"Do uh, do they have good food where you're from?" Silence.

It's so weird! I know he can talk, I've heard him, but whenever you try to ask this dude a question more complicated than what color the grass is, he goes mute. I haven't really met someone quite this shy before!

I'm leading this guy, Arthur, to the mystery dungeon. I've been holding his hand so that he doesn't get lost, because he's really not watching the path. I've looked back at him a few times to ask some simple questions, but it always seems like his gaze is somewhere else. He's always looking at the grassy floor, or the canopy of trees above us, or the bushes all around us.

After awhile, I notice he stops. I turn around and see him pointing to our left. "… What's- what is that?" he asks.

I look to where he's pointing, and at first, I don't see anything strange. As I look more closely, though, I can kinda see some weirdness. The leaves and grass are a slightly different shade of green, and the plants all seem a bit less… there? Sorta like they're less… depth-y? They seem more flat. The light just isn't hitting them quite right. I raise an eyebrow. The spot Arthur pointed out may actually have something special about it after-all! Looks like the entrance to our mystery dungeon. What a catch!

"Woah, yeah. That's a mystery dungeon entrance. How'd you spot it?" I ask, surprised. That really is impressive. Dungeon entrances are pretty subtle 'cause they blend in so well, but this guy caught it like that! He must have a pretty keen eye to just pick one out of the blue like that. Now, if only he'd answer one of my questions, that'd be gre-

"Well, uh… I was just, well, looking around. Paying attention. It just looked weird to me, so, just, I uh, I pointed it out. To you," Arthur said, kinda fidgeting in place. Needless to say, I was shocked. He finally gave me a response! Progress! Though, that still seems odd. This guy is so strange, mon. I give him a smile and say, "It takes a pretty keen eye to pick a mystery dungeon outta nowhere, dude. You must be pretty sharp, huh?"

Arthur just blushes and looks at the ground. I guess he's still pretty shy, but at least he spoke to me this time. I really do mean the compliment, too. It's kinda hard for any random Pokemon to pick a mystery dungeon out of its surroundings. Heh, maybe if they 'paid-attention' like this guy, it wouldn't be such a problem. Either way, we've found our destination. Now, let's see if Arthur is still willing to talk.

"So, Arthur," I start, walking closer to him. As sunlight filters through the leaves above us, I ask "Have you ever been inside a mystery dungeon?" and he freezes up immediately. While he was pretty stiff before, now he seems like a metal pole. I see his mouth go into this really tight line as he fixes his gaze at what I think is my feet. I glance down at my feet, but there's nothing there but grass, so I look up again and see him blushing. Is Arthur… embarrassed?

I try to soften myself a little bit, seem a bit more friendly. "Arthur, dude," I say, before tilting my head with a small smile, "You don't have to be embarrassed! Plenty of 'mon don't go into these things." I notice him loosening up a bit at that. Score one for me! His eyes kinda dart from side to side.

He moves a bit closer, and I start talking again, "I just need to know so I can explain whatever it is you don't know! A lot of Pokemon know the basic maze stuff, not a lot of 'mon know the subtleties, though, like not to eat food from a dungeon when you get out."

Arthur quirks an eyebrow while looking at the mystery dungeon entrance. "Why should you not eat food from inside a dungeon? What- does something happen?" he asks curiously. I smile and nod at him, and he looks over at me.

"Well, yeah! You'll get sick. It's like eating old food. Time doesn't pass in a dungeon the way it does out here," I explain, gesturing to all the foliage around us as I get closer to the entrance. "So while the food is fine to eat in there, when you get out, however long it's been in there catches up to it. It might still look good on the outside, but once you bite into it, you'll find out just how long it's been on the floor."

I shudder, remembering the time I tried to eat a beautiful looking Big Apple, only to get a mouthful of mold.

"Trust me, Arthur, don't try it." He has his little leafy hand on his chin, thinking. I guess this might be weird for someone who doesn't do a whole lot of dungeonering. Seems strange that he'd be all the way out here if he didn't have any experience, though. It's a long way from the east coast to get here without going through a single mystery dungeon. He did spot the entrance to this one, though, maybe he avoided them all?

After a moment with no response, I turn back to Arthur. "Okay dude, let's get going! Butterfree's kid isn't gonna rescue itself!" I proclaim. He nods at me with this kinda determined look on his face, and we head into the dungeon.

Ah well, maybe I'm just being dumb. He's probably like any other east coast 'mon…