Chapter 2
"Are you two sure you're ready?" Celebi asked. The three of them were standing in front of the Passage of Time. Grovyle and Sky were hand-in-hand, and Grovyle looked up to Sky.
"Sky? You ready?" he said. Sky was staring into the Passage, and looked down to Grovyle and nodded.
"No turning back," she mumbled. They were ready, so they walked into the Passage together, like they had done everything since they had met. Celebi watched them to make sure they had gotten in safely, wiped a tear from her eye, and was about to close it when a Pokémon came and knocked her down.
"No need to get emotional," the Pokémon said, and launched a Shadow Ball at the Passage, which caused it to distort and close.
"Whoa! D-don't let go! Hang on! No, can't… Grovyle!"
~Meanwhile~
"C'mon, pull yourself together," mumbled a Pokémon. She stood there for a moment, then got discouraged and turned back. "Oh, I can't do it," she said sadly, and walked away, gazing at the small item she had. "I thought we could do it today…"
The Pokémon walked down to the beach and saw someone lying down in the sand. She ran over, and started to shake the Pokémon to get them to wake up.
"Huh? Where am I?" Sky said, rubbing her forehead and sitting up.
"Oh, thank Arceus! You're awake!" the Pokémon next to her said. They looked at each other for a second, and the Pokémon spoke again. "You must be new here. I'm Chikorita. What's your name?"
Sky looked at her, slightly confused. "I'm Sky," she said, with a little hesitation.
"Oh, odd name for an Eevee," Chikorita said, "So why were you KO'd on the beach?"
"What?" Sky said, surprised, "I'm not an Eevee, you must be seeing things. I'm a human girl."
"Whatever you say," Chikorita said, "Anyway, do you know why you were here, instead of wherever you're supposed to be?"
Sky pondered for a moment, and realized she had nowhere to really go. She panicked a little, and then tried to calm herself. "So, what are you doing here?" she asked.
Chikorita took a deep breath before answering quickly, "I was supposed to do something, but I kind of failed and now I don't know what to do."
"Welcome to my world," Sky mumbled, and then said, "What were you trying to do?"
"I was trying to join the nearby guild, but I couldn't help but chicken out," Chikorita said sadly, "I thought carrying my lucky charm with me would help, but it didn't." She placed the small item she was carrying between them. They both stared at it for a little while.
"Wow," Sky said, "I've never seen anything like it." She was baffled at the sight of the rock, star struck at the intricate details carved and painted onto it.
"Yeah, I just kind of picked it up," Chikorita said, "I call it my little Relic Fragment." She was about to put it away when a Pokémon bumped into her.
"Whoops, sorry about that!" the Pokémon said. He was about to help Chikorita up, but instead took the Relic Fragment and ran off into the Beach Cave that was nearby. The Pokémon that was with him followed.
"Whoever those jerks were, we should get your thing back," Sky said.
"That was Zubat and Koffing. They're like little playground bullies who take others' stuff," Chikorita said angrily, but she then looked disappointed. "I'll never get my Fragment back."
"No way," Sky said, "They won't get away with this, and I'll make sure of it!" She grabbed Chikorita and dragged her into the dungeon with her.
Once in the dungeon, Sky realized she had done nothing like this before. "Uh…" she mumbled to herself, trying to think of how to catch up to Zubat and Koffing.
"Have you ever even been in a dungeon before?" Chikorita questioned. "It doesn't seem like it."
"Oh… uh, yeah, not really," Sky said, rubbing the back of her head. She had been experiencing many firsts that day, and wasn't quite sure what to do next.
"Lucky for us, I've studied about Mystery Dungeons like this," Chikorita said proudly, "We just need to head for the stairs, and then we'll get to the Beach Cave Pit, which is the end of the dungeon."
"I call leader!" Sky said, and she raced in front of Chikorita. Sky led them to the stairs on each level, with a few foes here and there.
"You know," Chikorita said, "if we beat enough Pokémon, we'll level up!"
"Nice to know," Sky said.
"Ooh, what's this?" Sky said, as she picked up a bluish berry.
"That's an Oran Berry," Chikorita said, "It heals you when you get hurt from an attack. I'll hold onto it."
Once they reached the pit of the dungeon, they saw Zubat and Koffing with Chikorita's Relic Fragment. They didn't notice Sky or Chikorita, and were talking about something that they couldn't hear.
"H-hey!" Chikorita said. Zubat and Koffing turned around. "G-give back what you stole from me!" she shouted.
"Okay, no offense, but you're not that menacing," Sky said. Zubat and Koffing seemed to agree.
"Heh, if you want you're thing back, come and get it!" Zubat said. Sky and Chikorita accepted his challenge, so the battle began.
"Tackle!" Sky charged into Zubat, and he was sent flying backwards.
"Razor Leaf!" Chikorita attacked Koffing with sharp leaves, and he and Zubat were defeated.
"H-how'd we get beat up by wimps like them?" Zubat muttered, "Take it then!" He threw the Fragment out at Chikorita, and she caught it.
"Just remember, your victory was a fluke!" Koffing said, as they exited the dungeon.
"Alright! I got it back!" Chikorita cheered, "Thank Arceus." She turned to Sky. "This only happened because you helped me Sky, thank you so much."
"Eh, no problem," Sky said, "At least you got your thing back."
"My Relic Fragment is so special to me, since I've always liked legends and such," Chikorita said once they were back at the beach. "Don't you feel the same way?" she asked, "Uncovering treasure in far-away places, and new lands just waiting to be discovered!"
"That does sound pretty cool," Sky said.
"And I found this Relic Fragment, with the cool pattern on it. So, it's really special to me," Chikorita said, "And if I could join an exploration team, I could figure out where it fits to unlock treasure. I want to solve this mystery! But… whenever I try to join, I chicken out… So, Sky, what are you going to do now? You don't have anywhere to really go… But, if you can, can I ask you a favor?"
"Sure, anything," Sky said.
"I think we'd make a great team, Sky," Chikorita said, "Could you join an exploration team with me?"
"That would be awesome," Sky said, "Let's go!"
