Chapter 2: Beached

Max struggled to open his eyes after gaining consciousness and even after achieving this he could still barely focus due to a splitting pain on the side of his head.

"Wha- where am I," the Minun thought, his vision still being blocked by the bright light flooding in all around him. He made an earnest attempt to stand up but only managed to nearly make it onto his feet before staggering forward and crashing into a metallic wall and being returned to the floor.

"Owwww…" he let out a soft squeak, feeling a pang of defeat but refused to give up and instead, tried to open his eyes again, this time to much more success. From what he could see he was in a completely demolished room, shards of metal and glass littered the floor, twisted pipes sprung from the walls, and all the furniture was completely obliterated. Max once again stood up while placing a paw against the surface behind him, granting him the balance he needed to stay on two paws. The doorway out of the room he had found himself in was utterly destroyed, the roof had collapsed in on it ensuring that even a creature as small as he was couldn't even make it through. Now that the feeling of fear and isolation was starting to set in his mind he gave out his loudest shout. "Rose! Lucas! Anyone there?" Much to his own fear he heard no response. Unsure of exactly what to do next, Max figured escaping this place was probably the only thing he could do. The Minun looked around and saw an escape route on the wall, a porthole which had been smashed in while still being large enough to crawl through.

The blue mouse walked below the hole and prepared his legs to jump up the five or so feet needed to make it. With a powerful leap, he sent himself into the air, grabbing hold of the edge and securing himself in the air. Despite the fact he could painfully feel smash shards of glass and metal digging into his paws, he was still able to push himself through, trying his best not to get cut further. Once outside he tumbled down the hard surface of the ship before landing in some shallow water and muddy sand. The Pokemon laid there in pain for a moment, staring at the bright blue sky and fluorescent white clouds hovering idly by above.

Max, fully aware that he couldn't just lay there forever, pushed himself up and took in his surroundings. He was next to the ship, that much was obvious, although the yacht seemed to have seen better days. It was caught on an outcropping of rocks, some even piercing into its hull. As for himself, he was on what appeared to be an island; an off-white flat beach stretched far in front of him until being cut off by a dense forest of brightly colored tropical plants. The Minun took a dozen or so steps forward, just enough so that the side of the yacht didn't block his vision and he no longer stood in the shallow water.

The Pokemon twisted his head to the side to and once again his fears were realized, he was completely alone on the beach. Slowly a creeping feeling of anxiety started growing into his head, he hated being alone, that much was true, but now that he was actually isolated, he began to feel sick. The fear grew stronger with every moment slowly manifesting itself from a slight worry in his head to strong nausea pushing him down against the ground. Just as he was about to give up on all hope he sensed a familiar scent that gifted him comfort. The aroma belonged to none other than Rose and created an almost tangible trail leading into the woods. With a renewed energy granted by his snout, Max got up and began trailing this sense which led into the tropical forest in front.

He pushed through some initial bushes that stood at the very edge of the tree line, navigating over roots and few fallen logs until he had completely disappeared into the tropical forest. As he went deeper and deeper the scent grew stronger and stronger until he was nearly on top of it, Max pushed himself through a final thorn riddled bush, scratching his skin as he popped out the other end and into a clearing. He quickly looked around, spotting, twenty-or-so feet away, a group of recognizable creatures sitting down around a fire. He was attempting to find an awkward way to join them when, before he even realized it, one of them had already noticed him and was bolting towards the Minun. He tried to step out of the way of the charging creature but was tackled to the ground before he could even do anything.

"So- sorry," said the Plusle that had brought him down, now pulling herself off of him and standing up.

"It's just that- when we woke up on this island, we couldn't find you anywhere. So we started to think you had fallen off the ship or even-" her voice had gained more and more momentum with every word and was now at a point where he could no longer make any sense of her speech.

Rose must have picked up on this because she just provided him a warm look before coming close and wrapping her arms around his body. Max didn't even get a chance to reciprocate the action as his arms were squeezed against his torso tightly. Although the Minun did enjoy the affection greatly he couldn't keep himself from getting embarrassed. This culminated with him giving off a goofy smile when she finally let go.

"I- I- Thanks," he clumsily forced out, his hypersensitivity only growing by the moment.

Luckily he was saved by Roses's attention being stolen by something else.

"Hey look! Max is over there," he heard Jae shout which was more than successful in attracting the attention of the whole group.

"Oh thank Arceus we found you," Lucas started speaking, "we were just about to give up on ever seeing you again."

By this time he was surrounded by the entire party minus Landen who was still off in the distance sitting around the fire.

"But now that we're all together, safe and sound, I think we should really start working on a plan for what we're going to do."

Everyone had started looking at Lucus fervently for the directions he always guides them with.

"On the bad side of things were stranded here seemingly indefinitely but this is essentially what we were aiming for all along, so there is more than enough food and supplies back on the ship to last us for quite a while."

"What you were hoping for, maybe," Max thought begrudgingly to himself.

"So I think it would be in our best interest to try to get a lay of the land. I believe it would be best if you split up in pairs while I unloaded a few things off the ship and set up camp here for the night."

They all nodded in agreement and Landen had turned to listen in on the conversation.

"I'm guessing Rose and Max would like to make up one group so that leaves Jae and Landen to go together as another."

"Aww," Jae started to mock, "why do I have to be with Landen, he never talks or does anything."

Lucus shot the fire type a glare which seemed sufficient in quieting him down.

"I'm thinking it be best if…," the human paused for a second to mimic contemplation, "one pair circles the island to get an idea of how large it is while the other headed deeper into the woods and see what plants grow here and if we're alone or not."

Jae started hopping with excitement as he began to speak, "I call going to the shore! It'll be easy cause I won't need to worry about getting scratched by all the thorny plants and stuff, unlike you guys."

Rose turned to face Max, " I guess that leaves us to go into the woods, it should be fun."

The Minun nodded to Rose, albeit he really wasn't anywhere near excited about it as the rest of them.

"Then that settles it, you all should head out now as to cover as much ground as possible, just try to be back before night sets."

With that, they all departed with Max and Rose heading much deeper into the dense shrubbery of the jungle. It didn't take the pair long until they stumbled across a stream cutting through the forest and rumbling hard as it carried water forward.

"Thank Arceus," Rose started in a sportive tone, "I had been dying for something to drink since we got off the ship." The Plusle then cupped her paws together before dunking them into the stream and slurping the water from her hands.

Max, being in much the same way as Rose, decided to do the same and slowly walked up to the stream, positioning himself a few steps to the side of the Plusle. He then dipped his dark blue paw into the water, feeling the cold liquid rush itself against his appendage. Mimicking the red pokemon next to him he started to drink from the stream, first with his hand but then he found himself naturally going onto all fours and using his tongue to ingest the fluid.

The Minun enjoyed the serene environment greatly, the still air, the steady push of the stream and the relaxing noise it produced all went to creating a sense of peace in his mind that he hadn't felt for a long time.

"I like this," Max began to think to himself while he went to take another drink from the river, "why can't things just be more like this, simple and calm… it's just nice."

As the small blue mouse approached the stream, he saw something ripple in the corner of his eye but ignored it and instead lowered himself as close as possible to drink from the water source. In almost the same instance that he did this, a green fish-like Pokemon shot straight up from under him. This caused him to fall back with a stagger, but his problems didn't end there. The Basculin had gripped onto his leg and was trying to pull the Minun into the stream. Max kicked at the predator in a panicked fashion but it didn't even seem to phase the fish. He was rapidly losing ground as the aquatic creature was winning out in the fight, his entire body had almost been fully plunged into the water.

Just as Max lost the last little bit of traction with the ground, he felt a surge of electricity shoot through him, coursing out of his body and into his attacker. The Basculin let out a low growl as it released his leg, allowing him to clamber back onto solid ground.

"You know you could've done that yourself," Rose joked as she stretched out her paw to help him up. She then gave out a light smirk before teasing, "Oh, Max, what am I going to do with you."

After brushing off the mud that had accumulated on his fur, the pair were, understandably, not feeling thirsty anymore so they continued onward deeper into the jungle.

"D- Do you think there's any more predators in these jungles…" Max asked shyly as the two navigated through a natural passage in the forest.

"Mmmm probably," Rose replied, and much to the Minun's chagrin his fears were worsened. "Relax, predatory Pokemon only ever hunt alone, and last I counted there were two of us," she said trying to calm him down.

"But what if their a ground type or a dragon type or a-"

"What if," the Plusle cut him off, "we don't come across any other Pokemon, everything goes fine, and we return to Lucus safe and sound."

Max attempted to figure out some comeback to this but was stopped when he tripped over a rock, face planting into the ground and receiving a giggle from Rose. While on the floor he looked over at the stone that his paw had gotten caught on and saw that it didn't look very much like any piece of earth he had seen before. He stood up and picked it up, observing the object that seemed to fit perfectly into his paw. The item's exterior was in the shape of a hexagon, perfectly cut and extremely smooth to the touch. There was a seam that ran down its horizontal center that connected to a hinge. With a little force, he was able to flip it open and see its inside. On the lower half of the object was a clear glass panel over a set of four points with an arrow loosely dangling at the bottom. The top half had a single inscription that had far worn away from anything legible.

"What you got there," Rose piped up while attempting to look over his shoulder.

"I… I think it's like a compass or a clock or some other object that humans like to use."

The Plusle looked at the small open device in his hands before replying, "it can't be, it's way too small for anyone but a Pokemon to use, and anyways it looks like its broken, the pointer on it just falls with gravity." Rose then proceeded to prove her point, grabbing it straight out of his paws and rotating it around in her own.

"I- I guess that's true but I'll still hold onto it, Lucas might know what it's for."

"Alrighty," she said as she handed it back to him, "we should continue pushing forward, it'll be dusk anytime now."

With that, the pair once again continued on, the sun starting to reach its final leg before disappearing behind the horizon.

They both had covered a considerable amount of distance and the thought of heading back was beginning to set in both of their minds. Albeit, this was before they encountered a rather odd location.

"Rose, I really think we should go back, I think we would be lucky you make it back before night if we wait any longer."

Rose replied to this quickly and calmly, "see that's the problem, you think too much. If it becomes night while we're still out here, then that's a problem for us to deal with."

"I rea-"

"Hold that thought, I think I see something," Rose said over him while getting on all fours and bolting ahead of him.

Max duplicated this gesture, knowing that he definitely didn't want to be alone when night set it and began to chase.

This only went on for a little bit as Max caught Rose standing on two paws in a massive clearing and looking awestruck at what stood in front of her.

"Max are you seeing this," she spoke without moving her head.

A massive stone temple sat in front of them, towering over them with its size peaking into the clouds. The rocks used to construct it were almost green in hue, vines, and moss covering a large portion of the structure as well as a stone staircase that leads to its top.

"Come on, let's see what's inside," Rose said, once again running forward before Max could even get a word in.

The pair rejoined at the base of the staircase, an intimidating challenge to climb up, but not one that seemed to even slightly put off the plusle who began navigating it one step at a time. Max followed suit, expanding a large chunk of his energy with every step as the spacing between them was nearly as high as his own body length.

Eventually, the duo reached a small ridge that existed as one of the floors of the temple, Max was heavily out of breath and panting as he stood behind Rose who seemed to be just as full of energy as when they started climbing.

"Look over there, it's a way inside," Rose shouted happily as she turned and headed along the rim to a large arch opening to a dark chamber.

Max wasn't too far behind as she entered, the room was almost pitch black, although the blue mouse could make out enough to see that the room was grandeur in scale, some form of ancient writing lined the walls and a massive open-pit stood in the middle of the space.

"Woah," Rose exclaimed as she looked at one of the walls, observing the strange carvings that completely covered every single vertical surface in the temple. "This doesn't look like English or whatever it is humans use. Either way, I don't have the slightest idea what it could mean."

The Minun walked up behind her and started gazing at the wall as well, finally having regained his breath after his chase up the staircase. Strange amalgamations of symbols stood next to crude depictions of Pokemon, some which he could recognize, and others that stood completely foreign to the mouse, a few of them completely dwarfing the size of others. This slightly unsettled Max who quickly jumped as he heard a metallic CLANG come from deep below him.

"Quick Max, look over there," the Plusle to his side shouted at him while pointing to the giant hole in the center of the room.

From the hole rose a couple of creatures, each with a black frame and a singular white eye in the center of its body. The being in its entirety looked eerily similar to the letters that were on the wall he had looked at only moments ago. The entities quickly hovered towards the pair, surrounding them and circling them slowly, each giving off an ominous, low, almost mechanical-sounding noise.

"This, uh, doesn't look too good," Rose let out as she and Max walked slowly backward, pressing their bodies firm against the stone wall behind them. "Well I guess there's only one thing we can do," she said in a whisper while providing him a quick wink. The Minun had picked up on the clue, already preparing himself for what she had planned. In one smooth movement, the Plusle shot her body to the side, and immediately after that Max followed suit, allowing there two mathematically symboled tails to connect and for energy to easily pass between the two. He could feel the energy being bounced back and force between their bodies, growing in strength each time until it was finally ready to be unleashed, the two disconnected there appendage and letting out a fierce electrical attack.

This seemed to work as the few black beings that had surrounded them dropped to the floor with a grating metallic noise. But they both knew they were far from safety as they heard more coming from deep inside the ruin, raising to their current position. In almost an instant they were surrounded again, this time by dozens of the beings who slowly started to glow blue.

"I think there preparing an attack," Rose shouted to Max as she pushed them both down to the ground, his vision becoming completely enveloped by a blinding light. Slowly the Minun could feel his body get overtaken by a slight burning sensation that slowly grew into a fierce heat before he blacked out into oblivion.

Author's Note: Well I guess this is going to be a weekly thing, which shouldn't be too much trouble for me to keep up with. As for this chapter it ended at what I think is a nice cliff hanger: will Max and Rose survive, how have Jae and Landon been faring during their expedition, and what secrets could this seemingly deserted island be hiding. Make sure to come back next chapter to find out!