The Pokémon took in gasping breaths as he ran through the dark, compressing tunnel. He figured a low tiered item retrieval mission in a fairly easy mystery dungeon would be a piece of cake, so he didn't bother with packing something absolutely essential as an Escape Orb.

Suddenly, he slammed into another wall. He felt in front of him and spread out his hands left and right. He couldn't feel anything on either side, and he gritted his teeth at his realization. Darn it, he thought to himself, Another intersection. I can't get turned around at a time like this! He screamed at the top of his lungs, or he tried to, but no sound came out of his mouth. Instead, he slammed his fist into the wall, causing a loud, resonating smack to echo through the tunnel.

The Pokémon flinched at the loud sound. Crud! Why did I do that? He broke into a flat-out run towards the right, not even caring how much noise he was making, just as long as he made it to the exit.

Suddenly, he burst into a room and gasped in joy. There it was, the stairs leading to the next floor of this mystery dungeon, and since this was the final floor, all he had to do was make it to the exit and he'd escape, free from the dungeon and the danger he was currently in.

However, his hopes were cut short as an energy blast, of what type he couldn't tell, shot him in the back, essentially knocking the wind out of him and sending him sprawling on the ground. He hacked and gagged, trying to get his breath back, while slowly trying to crawl to the exit.

Suddenly, he was overshadowed by a figure in front of him. He looked up, but with the darkness of the surrounding atmosphere and the tears blurring his vision, he couldn't make out what he was.

The figure chuckled. "So, you're the legendary Exploud from the Wigglytuff Guild, eh? The one who could single-handedly take on pretty much any mission and come out successful?"

Exploud grit his teeth in frustration, and the figure chuckled once more. "What's the matter? Meowth got your tongue? Or, rather, is my Silencer Orb causing you a bit of trouble?"

Exploud took a wild swing at the figure in front of him, but it smoothly dodged the attack and wrapped...some type of appendage around his arm. "Tsk, tsk. You should act a little more civilized than that," he said, talking down to him like a schoolchild. "Now, I'm going to have to teach you some manners."

The mysterious Pokémon flung Exploud into a nearby wall, causing the nearby rock to explode outward at the sudden great force. Exploud tried to recover himself, but the mysterious figure was upon him again, and suddenly a bright light shone through the cavern. Exploud then realized what he was facing, and tried to shield his eyes, but the figure grabbed both of his arms and forced the explorer to look at him.

He attempted to close his eyes, but it was too late. He gazed into the light, completely mesmerized. His eyes soon lost their light as his mind was soon lost, and he slumped in the Pokemon's grip. As soon as he saw his victory, he let go of the fallen Normal-type, and soon the light faded, leaving the room possibly even darker than when he started.

"Well, that was a good chase, my friend," he said, rubbing the back of his appendage across Exploud's face, "But, you're mine now. Mine, forever."

A wicked laughter erupted from the villain's throat, soon carrying the sound throughout the entire tunnel system, becoming a maddening chorus of crazed voices screaming their apathy which sent the local Pokémon scurrying for cover, afraid of this dark force that's entered their lives.

Kevin the Totodile woke up in a cold sweat, his terrible nightmare still fresh in his mind. It took him a moment to realize that he was no longer in a dark cave, but rather in the 'mouth' of Sharpedo's Bluff, where he and his best friend, Treecky, lives.

Suddenly, just like that, he saw Treecky walking down the stairs with a smile on his face. The same smile which said he saw something exciting. "Oh, hey there, Kevin. Glad to see you're awake!" He settled down on his straw bed before continuing, "Someone just had a batte right above our heads, and I just watched the whole thing! You see, first there was was this Natu, who had- Hey, are you okay?" He cut himself off when he saw the worried look on Kevin's face.

The Totodile looked up at him, and said simply, "I had a bad dream."

Treecky's expression turned serious then, his eyes gaining a cold sense of concentration after having things like this being said to him time and again. "Tell me about it."

Kevin smiled lightly. If he had said this to anyone else, they would've just dismissed it as nothing but a dream. But not Treecky. No. Not after what they've been through together.

Kevin then began to explain the dream he had. As can happen with dreams, he already forgot some of the details, but the main message was clear and thorough.

As soon as he finished, Treecky looked at him with shock. "So, you're saying that Exploit has been kidnapped?! But, he's one of the strongest members of the guild, and that was even before he evolved from Loudred!"

Kevin gave a defeated sigh. "I don't think it would've mattered. He was silenced, so he couldn't use any of his sound attacks. And, then there was that light..." His voice drifted off as he became consumed by his own thoughts.

"Possibly some type of Psychic move? Maybe like Hypnosis?" Treecky proposed.

"Maybe..." Already this morning, he had scrutinized his dream three or four times, looking for any possible details he might have forgotten. He looked up to his partner. "We have to tell Guildmaster Wigglytuff right away."

Treecky nodded his agreement. "Alright. We should hurry." Both of the Pokémon jumped out of their beds and charged off up the stairs, heading straight towards the Guild.

Meanwhile, Devon and Lucas stepped onto the crossroads heading into Treasure Town, and the Shinx stood and gawked at his surroundings. Around him were several small buildings and colorful tents lined up alongside the roads, with Pokémon lined up in front of these establishments, laughing and smiling with content.

"Wow, what is this place?" Devon asked Lucas, his eyes filled with wonder.

Lucas chuckled. "This is the Spinda's Plaza! A while ago, this place was just a small-time café. But, as it grew in popularity, the place just kinda, well, grew up around it. It's really awesome! There are all kinds of specialty shops and services that are available here, and the number only grows once you get into town."

"Cool!" Devon looked around. "So, which one of these places is the guild?"

Lucas' face momentarily showed confusion, but he then understood and burst into a little fit of laughter. "It's none of them," he said simply.

"Huh?" Devon looked confused.

Lucas pointed up the road to their right, which soon turned into stairs going into a steep incline up the hill until it leveled off to somewhere he couldn't quite see. "That," Lucas exclaimed, "is where the guild is. Just up that hill, and we'll be there."

Devon turned to Lucas. "And then we'll be able to find out why I'm here, right?"

Lucas nodded. "We'll certainly try our best! Come on! Let's- Oof!" Lucas suddenly for bowled over when a Pokémon slammed into him. Devon tried to go over to help, but he found himself colliding with another Pokémon, sending the both of them sprawling on the ground.

Devon groaned and looked up at the Pokémon lying next to him. It was a lantern-like Pokémon with two prongs from either side of him that served as its arms, and a purple flame emanating from within his semitransparent head. Suddenly, the Pokémon managed to come back to himself and it backed off quickly, floating a few feet off the ground.

"Crash, you idiot! We have to get moving! We don't have the time for this!" The Lanturn rambled off to his partner, a Pokémon who had beige scales on his main body, red scales funning down his belly, and yellow scales making up a hood-like impression on his large head and very baggy pants around his waist, which also connected to his tail.

The Scraggy got up, pulling his pants up. "Hey, you think I wanted to run into this guy? Besides, you did it yourself, Burn!"

Lucas got up, rubbing his head, and said, "Hey, are you guys okay?"

Burn glared at the Riolu, causing him to back off slightly. He then turned to Crash. "Let's go, before you do anything else to bring attention to us."

Crash nodded, and the two of them ran off, not even turning back.

"Wow," Devon said, finally, picking himself up, "those guys were jerks."

Lucas shrugged. "Well, not everyone's a saint. Plus, from bad types like them, it doesn't really surprise me all that much."

Devon turned to Lucas. "Wait, what do you mean by 'bad types?'"

"You know, types like Poison or Ghost, and especially Dark. There have been several Pokémon just in recent history that have done some really bad things that were amongst those bad types, like Dusknoir or Skuntank or Darkrai. One of them even..." Lucas stopped, his paws visibly shaking. Devon wondered if he should ask him what was wrong, when Lucas suddenly exclaimed, "Anyways, he have to get to the guild. Let's go!" And he ran off towards the stairs leading up the hill.

Devon looked after him as he ran off. I think...I shouldn't try to mention it. Not yet. But...I know it's troubling him. I just wish I could help him. Devon shook his head roughly and ran off to go join his friend at the top of the hill, trapped between his feelings of sympathy and excitement, with his curiosity ruling his thoughts overall.

Whew! I'm finally done with these! I'm sorry for the long delay with this, and really, it's this story's fault. You see, I had originally meant for the first part of this story, the dream sequence, to be set from the point of view from Kevin the Totodile in an ethereal state as he watched the whole thing with Exploit and his mysterious attacker, but it never felt right in my opinion, so I had to take some time to think it over in order to make it right, and I think I did it.

Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed it. I'll attempt to update these stories soon, but I can't make any promises, so, for now, stay tuned to find out what happens next!