Dude.

Let it be known, Snizzy's cooking is absolutely, totally bomb. As. Heck.

Like, look, this guy can take three berries - just three! - and make one of the best dishes I've ever eaten in my life. Snizzy's stew was already tangy and sweet from the bluk berry, but then you put that subtle spice from the persim berry and that savory chesto? My mom couldn't cook this good with so few ingredients, mon!

And my mom is pretty awesome, so, y'know, eat that!

Anyways, so I'm over here, an empty bowl by one side, and a fire by the other. Arthur's laying on his back with a bowl of his own to the side. He's kinda using his big ol' scarf as a sort of pillow, I guess. He's just staring up at the sky, being quiet, and we're chilling in the fire's warmth together. It's nice.

At times like these, where you got the fire going, and you got the stars in the sky, and everything is coming together just right, you just kinda feel good. Whether I'm alone, or with a couple 'mon, or a whole bunch of them, nights like this make me feel alright.

As Arthur and I chill under that big giant moon, I relax. I just sit back, smile, and enjoy myself.

I can hear Snizzy doing something or other on the other side of the fire pit. Sounds like he's putting everything away, what with the pot banging around. Guess we must be going in soon.

Ah well, whatever.

I get up off the ground and stretch a little. Looking at Arthur, I ask, "Hey dude, I think we're going in soon. Can you get my bowl for me?"

I see Arthur look up at me. He doesn't say anything back, which I guess I expect now after having spent so much of the day with him. No, instead he just gets up, dusts off his scarf, and puts back on. He grabs his bowl, before walking over to me and grabbing mine as well.

Snizzy walks out from the other side of the fire pit. He looks at me, looks at Arthur, and then looks at the fire. Without a word, Snizzy kicks some sand onto the fire, which deadens the flames a bit. He puts a fist up to his mouth, making a little tube with his hand, and uses his icy wind technique to cool the temperature of the log and pit to the point where the fire goes out.

With that done, Snizzy turns back to us and says, "Alright, both of you, inside."

Snizzy walks past us, heading towards the house. Arthur follows close behind, and I follow Arthur as we head back to Snizzy's house.

"Tomorrow, I want you two up first thing in the morning. We will train, and once we are done, Cole and I will be going on a mission," Snizzy says to the both of us as we enter into his humble abode.

"As for you, Snivy, you will clean the house, wash the dishes, and when you have completed those tasks, you may take a break and continue training," Snizzy continues. "Is this clear?" he asks us both seriously.

Arthur simply nods, while I opt for a "Yessir!" and a solute instead.

Snizzy smirks at us. "Good," he says, before going over to the table and turning off the lamp. "If you are unsure about something, it will likely be explained in the morning."

The Sneasel walks to one of the beds, and then lies down before he says, "Now get some sleep - you'll need it."

With that, I go over to my bed as well. I hop on in, nestling myself into the straw and getting comfy. As I do this, I look over to see Arthur still standing by the table, looking at Snizzy and I longingly. For a second, I'm not sure what exactly his deal is before it hits me.

Arthur doesn't have a bed!

He looks at the floor around the table, and pulls one of the sitting cushions out. While he does this, I open my beak and ask, "Hey Arthur, you gonna be alright, mon? You can sleep in my bed, if you want. I can handle sleeping on the floor - I used to do it all the time!"

Arthur vigorously shakes his head at my offer. "Oh, no no no, it's fine. I'm - I'll be okay."

He takes off his big scarf and gets on the floor. Scootching up to the sitting pillow he pulled out, he let's his head rest on it as he lays down. He kinda curls up a bit and shivers, before he grabs his big scarf, unfolds and unrolls it all the way, and uses it as a sorta makeshift blanket.

Honestly, I feel kinda bad for the guy. Here I am, nice and cozy in my bed, and this guy's sleeping on the floor. I really want to trade places with him, because frankly I don't mind the floor, and I'd rather Arthur sleep on something comfortable.

Especially considering how cold Snizzy likes his house to be.

I'm not sure how to convince Arthur to sleep in my bed, though. I don't think he'd be cool with me sleeping on the floor either, if he's so insistent on sleeping on the floor in the first place…

'Mon, whatever. It's hard to make sense of this guy, y'know? Like, he seems pretty sharp. He's observant, he's clearly got at least a tiny bit of battle potential, but… I dunno, something just isn't clicking about this guy.

Like, okay, first off, he's a Snivy. Clearly, there's some kind of Aguarian descent there, 'cause Snivy aren't native to this side of the continent - they come from Agua. He doesn't have that accent, though, and he isn't related to those blue Snivys who live in town, so he's probably from the East Coast, right?

Well, if he's from the East Coast, and he ended up all the way on the other side of the continent and over the Silver Mountains somehow, why does he lack so much knowledge? Like, he's clearly not a dumb guy, I saw him reading his opponent in that first battle, I've seen him improvise - heck, he even pointed out that stuff with Caterpie that I wouldn't've even thought of!

And yet… he's doesn't get the idea of *floors* in a mystery dungeon, or the staircase, or even what TM's are! It's like… it just doesn't make sense, mon. You mean to tell me that this guy crossed a whole continent, but he's never seen a training manual? Not once ever?

It's not like he's a wildling either! He can talk, he's curious, and it's pretty clear that he's never been in a dungeon before.

So what gives?

Like, what could've possibly led to this guy? What circumstances need to be in your life for you to be like him? Discounting his demeanor, like, not even talking on a personality level, how does an Arthur happen?

I mean, clearly there's something going on with him. He's so cage-y and quiet, there has to be! I mean, normal pokemon don't act like he does. There's shy, there's awkward - and then there's Arthur.

It's like he's an alien or… some… thing…

Wait.

…

No, that's dumb. That'd be like something out of a story book - silly. There's gotta be a better explanation than that!

But what?

I shake my head tiredly as I lay back in bed. This is getting me nowhere.

As I shift to lay on my side, though, I still can't help but wonder. I guess I should count myself lucky, seeing as how he's not really, like, a hostile threat or anything. He's certainly a mystery, though, that's for sure.

I close my eyes, allowing myself to rest for the night.

Heh, it'd be pretty cool if I knew an alien dude, though…

The floor is… very cold.

As I lie on the floor of Snizzy's house, scarf around me and pillow beneath head, I find myself slowly regretting not taking Cole up on his offer.

It turns out that, I being both a snake and a Grass Type predisposes me to strongly disliking the cold. I suppose I should have seen this coming, but I guess this is what I get for being an idiot and not thinking ahead. I should've put these factors together earlier

Either way, inspite of the cold, I do find myself in a less uncomfortable state of mind than earlier today. With the other two asleep, I find both that my previous feelings of nervousness has subsided, and that being functionally alone for the first time all day allows me time to pause and consider my situation more thoroughly.

As my eyes wander the dimly moonlit room, I decide to bring myself back to the beginning.

Let's see… what do I know?

I know I feel that I should be a human, though I can't say why that is. I also know that I don't remember anything from before today, for better or for worse. I'm terrible at combat and Dungeon diving as well.

So what happened to me?

I trace the faint outlines of tiles on the cieling with my eyes as I curl deeper into my scarf.

That is the million dollar question. What happened?

I don't know enough about the world around me at the moment to really be able to make an educated guess. This is… admittedly slightly frustrating, as I don't know the consequences of what happened to me either.

What if I had a family I was supposed to meet or return to, but now I can't or won't because I don't remember? Or, on the other hand, what if I owe someone dearly and I was given a beat down from lack of payment?

The second one may be less likely, but all the same, if it is true and I don't remember, that could 'cause some major issues - especially for Cole and Snizzy!

My nerves begin to gnaw at me again as I consider the possabilities. That I lack so much vital information is almost scary, in a way. The number of situations, possible bad scenarios - it nearly makes my head spin.

I heave a sigh as I consider my situation. Being as quiet as possible, a move little further up the pillow to try and get comfortable in spite of my ruminating. And the cold.

There really is not anything that I can do at the moment. I cannot just leave and ask random people. That would be very stupid of me, especially if one of them is responsible for what happened.

If it were to happen that I ask the perpetrators of my situation, then, well, I simply can't imagine it ending well.

I also cannot just go to Cole and Snizzy and tell them outright I'm an amnesiac. What kind of Rescue-er/Dungeonier could an amnesiac be? They would likely just send me away. Cole has too much respect for this Snizzy person to just up and leave him for some incompetent stranger he's known for a few hours tops.

So… I cannot do anything. Not right now, at the very least.

No, all I can do is just… be on this Rescue Team, I suppose. Go through Mystery Dungeons, travel, train. That's my life now.

Well… I guess that isn't so bad, then. That would probably help me figure out what happened to me. Maybe, at least. I don't know, but…

… it's a shot.

It's the best I have right now, so I suppose I just have to take it.

Yeah, maybe - I yawn - maybe it'll all work out…

…

…

…

I dodge to the left.

Fear, the taste of perspiration, physical tiredness - what I'm experiencing in the moment.

I'm somewhere I do not fully recognize. The dull yellow buildings around me are what I know as portable classrooms. I do not know how I know this, but much like the names of Pokémon, the information comes to me all the same.

Caught between two classrooms and a chain link fence, I wipe the sweat from my brow.

The desert heat bears down upon me as I dodge another strike from my assailants. Hopping to the right, a fist flies past my shoulder - where my face would have been had I not seen the punch coming so clearly.

Truth be told, this dance between my enemy and I is an old one. A tired tradition, the likes of which I am intimately familiar - and have become skilled in mitigating.

I know this. Somehow. I don't know this.

What's going on?

I jump back and hit the fence. A kick stops just short of my stomach.

With little thought, I reach out as quickly as I can. My hands reach his leg, and I've gotten ahold of my attacker.

They struggle. I wobble a bit as a result, but I realize fairly quickly what it is that I need to do.

I do not have the strength to throw, I do not have the will or power to break the leg, and I do not have the tools to do other forms of damage. My options are limited, but luckily for me, the option I do have is fairly simple in execution - and fairly reliable in reward.

I brace my shoes against the concrete beneath my feet, and my eyes lock on to something behind my attacker - a tree.

The tree is fairly small, rough bark, thin leaves, and fairly average in that respect.

The tree itself is not what is significant, however. No, rather, what has me interested is directly below the tree. There, I find a diamond shaped perimeter around the tree, wherein the concrete ends and soil begins so that the tree may grow.

That means a change in elevation, which to me, translates to a potential tripping hazard.

With leg in hands, I push forward.

My opponent seems surprised momentarily, and hops back unsteadily on one leg to try and keep balance. Every ounce of pressure I give, I recieve gains of ground in return.

This person is big. Overweight, I'd say, and certainly strong too. That means they must weigh more than they appear. While I am taller than them, it would be unfair to describe them as anything other than big.

And, well, the bigger they are and all that.

He falls backwards as he steps onto the edge of the diamond.

He begins to tilt. Behind his glasses, his eyes widen. My hands lets go of his leg as he reaches the apex of his backwards movement.

Ultimately, he hits the tree with the back of his skull, creating a painful 'konk' sound.

I decide it unwise to stick around, to either be blamed for the fight once again or suffer injuries from this gormless rube. Thus, I run.

And I run.

And I keep running as I hear shoes on grass behind me.

And I keep running as the sky turns black.

I run as the sun disappears, as the ground and buildings bleed together in a technicolour mess.

I run as the ground turns gradually less solid. As the air becomes thick. As the water fills my lungs, I don't stop running.

Distantly I hear a voice. Someone familiar. A friend?

Do I have one?

"H…"

"…ey…"

"Du…"

And then it hits me.

Y'know, for someone who's so nervous, this dude's a really heavy sleeper!

To be honest, I'm almost a little worried myself.

Like, look, I live here. I've been a part of the Aurora experience for like, what, a month now? I know to get up before Snizzy does, but Arthur?

Well, he's new, 'mon, he doesn't know the Snizz way of life yet.

So here I am, standing over this guy. I give him a nudge, but that doesn't do much. I give a poke, I do a prod, I even open his eyelids!

No response!

So, just like with the logs from yesterday, I'm stumped - though I guess kicking him in the face would wake him up.

No, no, I can't do that. That'd be a real jerkish thing for me to do. And it'd only be kinda really funny! Like…

Actually, note to self, find good reason to wake someone up with a face-kick…

While I'm over here planning this hypothetical kick thing that I'll totally definitely not do, I start considering other options, 'cause apparently some 'mon are just bad at waking up.

"Uh, hey," I start, talking to Arthur quietly. "Dude."

I lean in closer, kinda right next to his ear now. "Dude, Arthur, hey, wake up 'mon. Snizzy's gonna be annoyed if you don't get up soon, and that's gonna suck."

I see him kinda wriggle for a second, before mumbling out some gobbledygook about water or whatever.

Alrighty, talking isn't gonna work either!

In that case, what to do… ?

While I'm over here, I realize that there's some light coming from the window. Window light means sun, sun means it's the crack of dawn, and the crack of dawn means…

"Cole. Is the Snivy up yet?" I hear from a deep, and deeply impatient voice, behind me.

I spin around real quick to face Snizzy, and he doesn't look happy one bit. He's got on his classic scowl, the crossed arms, but when you mix in that weird tired-frustrated he gets in the morning, he somehow looks more irritated than usual!

"No, I can't get the guy to wake up! He sleeps like a rock," I say to Snizzy as I walk over to where he is, and away from Arthur's depressing non-bed.

He let's out this irritated sigh with a nose pinch. Snizzy's face scrunches up, and he says, "Here, just… go outside, I'll wake him up."

I tilt my head at him, with the droopy crest feathers for added effect, before opening my beak to ask, "So, uh… what're you gonna do to the guy?"

Snizzy shakes his head at me, and says all curt, "Just go outside, Cole."

Not liking the weirdly ominous vibes in the room, and definitely not wanting an earfull from an irritated Snizzster, I decide to just do what he says.

With a not-unenthusiastic "Yessir," I walk past Snizzy and over to the door.

I open the door, step outside, and close it. Then, with no other 'mons watching what I'm doing, I scurry over to the side of our house and peep in through the window to see what Snizzy's gonna do.

It's kinda hard to stay on my tippy-talons without falling over, but I manage and am able to see into the house.

Then, I see Arthur finally get it.

And by get it, I mean Snizzy blows an icy wind into his hands to make a snowball, and beans Arthur in the face with said snowball.

There's this loud 'pomph,' and I see Arthur panic and get all tangled up in his scarf. He rolls around a little on the floor, kicking and pushing the thing off him, before he finally gets free from his blue cacoon.

He hops up onto his feet while he frantically wipes the snow from his face. I giggle from my spot at the window.

Maybe I should take a page out of the Snizz book. If the other 'mon a bit more fragile, something less, uh… cool than a face kick might still be funny.

Once Arthur gets the snow off his face, I see Snizzy say some stuff to him. He seems kinda annoyed, and while he's talking Arthur sorta shrinks in on himself a little, doing that thing where he stares at the floor.

Suddenly, Snizzy glares at me through the window. Surprised, and a little startled, I lose my balance and fall over backwards, hitting my head on the ground.

Ouch.

I slowly get up from the ground, shaking off a little dirt from my feathers. As soon as I get myself clean, I hear the door to the house open, and a moment later, Snizzy comes 'round the bend - scowl and Arthur in tow.

Snizzy just passes me by as he and Arthur walk, saying to me as he passes, "C'mon, we're going to the training grounds."

With an "Okay!," I follow the two, walking right beside Arthur as Snizzy leads us behind the house and into what seems like a small wood, to the untrained eye.

Luckily, me having a slightly trained eye - and also living here - let's me know that this isn't any ordinary wood, no. This, y'see, is an advanced wood.

And by that, I mean that it's got a bunch of training stuff in there, and it's where we train.

While we're walking, I notice that Arthur's giving off a weird vibe today. Looking at him, he doesn't seem like he's doing that thing where's just looking everywhere all the time constantly. He's just staring at the ground.

Well, okay, I guess that isn't super weird for Arthur by itself, but I swear there's something off today, 'mon. Something about his face, his posture - he seems, I dunno, down? Not quite that, but y'know, something in that area.

Guess there's only one way to figure out what's going on, huh?

"Hey, Arthur, dude, what's up?" I ask as Snizzy leads us through some bushes n' brushes.

Arthur's head snaps up to look at me briefly, before he looks away real quick. I see him open his mouth to speak, close it, and then open it again.

"Um, well… nothing really. I'm si- thinking about… certain things, um…" he says quietly to me, while he looks at the back of Snizzy's head with an expression that I can't quite identify.

Okay, so it probably has something to do with whatever Snizzy said to him.

I wave a feather at Arthur to catch his attention. He looks at me, and I gesture to Snizzy with my head, before I raise an eyebrow.

I can tell that he doesn't get it at first, because his face scrunches up all confused. A quick moment later, though, I see his mouth make an "O," and he nods slowly.

Damn, dude, what'd Snizzy say? I hope he wasn't all super harsh, or whatever. I'm pretty sure Arthur's still new to all this - don't want this guy getting all discouraged, right?

As I'm thinking through this, we come to an Oran bush. It's big, it's bushy, and most of all, this is the gateway. Beyond this door lies a world of imagination. Beyond this bush is…

… the Training Zone!

We find ourselves in a clearing.

As I step out from behind Snizzy, I take in my surroundings more fully.

We are surrounded by a circle of tall trees. Each tree is much bigger than the house we left, and full with leaves tinged a limey green. Underneath, grass, roots, and the occasional mushroom can be found growing in the rich brown soil.

I find myself leaving my two partners behind as I wander the perimeter of the clearing. I hear the occasional crunch of leaves underneath, which I interpret as being a sign that we're in the very beginning of autumn - especially when taking the colour of the tree leaves into consideration.

It feels refreshing to gaze at shrubs, trees, sprigs of grass, and other manners of foliage. After yesterday, the imperfect nature of the plants around me has a somewhat calming effect.

Just seeing knots in wood, leaves partially eaten from the local population of bug Pokémon, and partially bent or broken branches makes me feel more at home, somehow. It feels… familiar.

It feels, unlike the Mystery Dungeon, like somewhere I am supposed to be.

It's only when I feel a pebble collide with the back of my head that I realize that I had, once again, gotten too caught up in my surroundings.

Rubbing the spot on the back of my head where I was struck, I turn around to see Cole standing at attention and Snizzy crossing his arms and subtly glaring at me.

"Get over here, Snivy. This is training. Show some discipline," he says sternly.

I quickly scurry over to Cole, somehow having already disappointed Snizzy twice today - first this morning, and now this.

Snizzy stands before us, silhouetted and imposing, shadow stretching over us from the rising sun. Only the red of his blunted ear-feather and the gleam of his fang can be seen clearly - an intimidating image.

"Alright, if we're all done sight-seeing -" he pauses to level me an irritated look, to which I respond by boring a hole into the ground with my eyes - "… We have some training to do."

"We have a new member, so I will go over our routine once again. If you have questions, you may ask, so long as it isn't stupid," he says.

I look back up, and see him turn around and walk a few paces into the center of the clearing. Bringing his arms to his sides, he says, "Today, we will be focused on assessing your weaknesses and figuring what you can improve on - by any means necessary."

Raising a claw with a singular blade up, he continues, "This means we will undergo a hodgepodge of physical conditioning, mental evaluation, and sparring."

"Normally, we'd only focus on one for a day - today is a special case. Should you chose to give anything less than your full effort and undivided attention, I will chose to give you any number of painful - but nonlethal - injuries," he says, with a sneer.

"Showing anything less than the utmost discipline for and dedication to the fine art of combat, rescuing, and or dungeoneering is… ill advised, in my presence," Snizzy says, voice going low.

This illicits small stab of anxiety in me.

"With that out of the way, do either of you have any questions?" he says, crossing his arms once again, the sun now having risen enough to give a clear picture of his cutting smirk.

I glance over at Cole, to see his feather raised in the air and waving about wildly.

"No Cole, you are not learning a new technique today. We don't have the time," he says, shooting down Cole before he can even ask the question.

I look at Snizzy and see him looking intently at me with a raised brow.

Feeling uncomfortable, and glancing away, I slowly raise my left hand. I don't have a question to ask - at least, not one that Snizzy wouldn't qualify as stupid - but it seems as though a question is expected of me.

"Snivy?" he questions curtly, nodding my way.

I swallow a lump I hadn't realized formed in my throat, before opening my mouth to say something. Unprepared, and uncomfortable, I just let a mess of words tumble out of my mouth.

"I, um… S-so we're, um, we're - what are we going to start with. For today, um… Snizzy… ?"

I close my mouth and blush, forming a tight line with my lips.

What an absolute mess of a question. I shouldn't have said anything at all. This is why I do not speak if I have nothing of value to say. It just comes out as this garbled mess of nonsense and idiocy.

"Ah, he speaks," Snizzy says. His smirk slowly morphs into a sharp, toothy grin.

"Let me answer in a… demonstratory fashion," he nearly growls out, claws unsheathing.

Uh-oh.