First of all, I must warn you that this is the first time I write a fic. I have some experience with writing, but not with PMD and... Not in english, so I'm sorry for any weird stuff you notice because of how I express myself.

This story aims to be a different take on the classic PMD fanfic, as there is no human protagonist, there's not amnesia and there's not a guild (even if guilds have an important role in backstories and stuff). There will be some heavy themes every now and then, such as violence or serious mental health issues, but the tone aims to be mainly positive. With all that said, I hope you enjoy this story!

Also, thanks to Rioni for the cover art and to GoldMaster for the logo!

As the sun rose, the forest became alive once again. The pokémon left their little shelters and started doing their daily routines. Some went to get some food, other trained with their friends, most of them enjoyed a quiet and peaceful life as wild Pokémon. Most.

In that same forest, a Riolu ran. Long fur in his neck, with a red pearl showing in front, tail ended in a black star with another red pearl on the tip, and a black spout on his forehead. Yup, a perfectly normal Riolu. He ran, until he eventually stopped in a clearing, looking back to his pursuer. A Scyther looked angrily at him.

"Can't we talk this out? I really don't want to do this" the Riolu said.

He was greeted with a sudden strike with fury cutter, which passed harmlessly near the riolu as he jumped to his side. The Riolu sighed.

"Well, you asked for it" and then he attacked. His paw generated claws out of nowhere that looked reflective, and the metal claw scratched the Scyther in his back. The scyther flinched from the pain, but quickly got to his feet and launched towards the aura pup, aiming to strike with a wing attack, which was immediately blocked by a protect. He learnt that move without a TM, but why did he learn that instead of detect? He had no idea, but he surely was weird among his species. Riolu then took his chance and punched the foe hard with rock smash, which launched the Scyther a few meters away.

The Scyther smirked. "That barely did any damage!" But that wasn't Riolu's intention. Scyther looked around, he couldn't spot the Riolu now. Suddenly, from one of the trees, Riolu jumped on top of him and bit him, a shadowy aura emanating from his fangs. Flinching from the pain, Scyther tried to shake himself to take the Riolu off him, until he let go.

Tired from all that, Scyther started running in circles around Riolu at a high speed, forming clones of himself with what looked like a double team. Riolu grinned and began charging a sphere of energy in his hands. His signature move was ready. He launched the aura sphere, which chased the real Scyther and hit him, and even it was ineffective, it was enough to make the copies disappear. Scyther didn't have time to think before the Riolu was upon him, his quick attack being fast enough to reach him and land a hit, finally ending the battle.

Riolu was quite proud of his moveset. He was a Riolu, so he shouldn't be able to use aura sphere, but somehow, he was. He knew that, a long time ago, pokémon could only learn up to four moves and needed to forget one in order to learn a new one. It was a good thing that investigations lead to uncover the true potential of pokémon, which made it possible to learn more than four moves.

Riolu approached the Scyther, who lied in the ground, defeated and clearly grumpy. "I already told you, I didn't steal any food!" The Riolu said. He then opened his bag and emptied it in front of him. "See? There are no berries here!"

Scyther raised his head from where he lied, looking at the items scattered on the ground. Some seeds and orbs, two scarves, a badge, a few wands and five little sacks. Riolu took one sack and opened it for Scyther to see that there were just mixed ingredients, mostly vegetables.

"Oh… So you're not the thief?" Scyther asked.

"Of course not! I tried to explain, but you didn't listen! I was just passing by," Riolu answered.

"Ah. Well… Oops. I'm so sorry. I got so mad and hungry I couldn't think straight."

The Riolu sighed and put the scattered items back in his bag. He then took one of the sacks with food and offered it to Scyther.

"Take this. It really seems like you need it more than I do. (I really don't know why I'm doing this after you attacked me…)"

Scyther took the sack and smiled fondly. "Really? After all this, you're giving me this?"

"Yeah, why not… But please, think before attacking anyone you see next time, 'kay?

Scyther nodded rapidly before taking flight and disappearing from Riolu's sight. Riolu kept watching as the bug type left, and started wondering what to do next. He had left his team and the guild months ago, wanting to go see the world and find his own purpose in life. He missed them so much, but knew this would be good for him. But he'd go back eventually, he was sure… Even if it's just a visit.

Riolu kept walking, analyzing his map and trying to guess where he was. Running from that Scyther was very inconvenient, and now he was lost. But as he walked, he started hearing noises coming from the north. It sounded like pained screams, but even worse. The emanation pokémon was afraid sometimes, but he pushed himself to be brave. He had dealt with horrible things in the past, he couldn't be scared of a random shouting mon.

After a couple of minutes, the shouting got worse. It began sounding almost like it wasn't a pokémon anymore. And it was getting CLOSER. Riolu looked everywhere, tense, and closed his eyes to try and use his aura. He could feel his surroundings, other pokémon hiding in their little treehouses, most of them scared for the same reason as him. He could also feel something falling from a tree above him. It almost felt like it wasn't-

A bird-like pokémon landed on the Riolu, shouting uncontrollably, and started hiting him with his wings. Riolu tried to stop the bird, an Archen it was, but luckily he wasn't using a move, just shaking randomly. The aura pup tried desperately to pull him off, but the bird quickly got a grip on him, by just… hugging the Riolu.

"What's wrong? W-what are you doing?" Riolu asked.

The Archen then calmed himself, his breathing getting a bit slower.

"H-h-help… Help me…"

"What? But what happened to you? Why were you shouting like that?"

The Archen didn't let go, but did relax a little. "I… I don't know… There was something, and I… Uh…"

Riolu looked at him, a puzzled expression in his face. "There was… What?"

"I can't… remember…"

"What do you mean you can't remember? You're like… amnesiac or something?"

"No, I know who I am… I just don't know what I'm doing here…"

"Uhhhh... I see…" Riolu said as he patted the Archen uncomfortably. He then noticed a wound on the bird's left wing. "Well, uh… I don't think there's any danger here, I couldn't sense anyone else nearby, so I guess you're good?"

Archen looked at him with watery eyes. "Really? Am I… safe?"

"I already told you. You can… Uh… Get off me now."

Archen didn't let go. Instead, he hugged him tighter.

"But I'm scareeeed… And there's something calming about you."

Riolu's expression was priceless. "Huh. I… guess? You do realize we don't even know each other, right? I could very well be an outlaw, or worse, a pinap berry enjoyer."

"But you feel safe."

"Why."

"Dunno."

"Oh for the love of… Uh, alright. Let's start from the beginning. You said you don't remember what happened to you, right?"

The Archen loosened his grip a bit and looked away. "Yeah… I'm always moving, finding food and just living each day by my own, but… The last thing I remember was sleeping near a lake and… then I think I saw something horrible. I don't know what it was, it just…" Archen shook nervously.

"Are you okay?"

"No… I can't get this horrible feeling out of me. It won't go away…"

"That sounds like PTSD. Whatever it was, you sure got a trauma or two. You need some therapy."

Archen hugged the Riolu again, looking uneasy. "But I can't ask for therapy, I'm scared…"

"Why would you be scared of that? It's therapy, it just… helps."

Archen sighed. "I'm scared of everyone. I can't talk to other pokémon, or get close, I always feel like they're gonna do something bad to me…"

"But you're literally hugging me. A stranger."

"Oh. I am."

Riolu stared at him for a long time, not knowing what to say.

"And you're not… Scared of me?"

Archen thought for a moment. "No, for some reason you don't scare me."

"... Okay, let's try to make this less awkward by at least knowing each other a bit. My name is Ari, nice to meet you!" Ari the Riolu extended his paw offering a handshake, which Archen took from the uncomfortable position of hugging him.

"I'm Nimb…"

"Good, and now that we know each other… Do you need me to accompany you to somewhere safe?"

"But… Where is it safe?"

"Uhhhh… I don't know, just… Away from here I guess."

Nimb didn't look too convinced, and he made it clear by not releasing his grip on Ari, who sighed. "Let's just… Move, then," Nimb said.

"Right, but first…" Ari then opened his bag and took one of the scarves he owned, the striped green one, and tied it around the wound on Nimb's left wing. "This is better. You don't want to get an infection."

"Oh, thank you…"

Ari and Nimb started walking, the former holding his map and trying to pinpoint their current location. Nimb had eventually released Ari, but he stayed really close, occasionally gripping his arm with his wing while looking everywhere in fear. Ari didn't like silence, so he was the first to talk.

"So… You have anything to do? Any destination you want to go to?"

"Not really… I just go wherever I feel like."

"Well, just like me then. I left my guild some time ago to discover new places. Back where I lived, we haven't got any of those 'mystery dungeons' you have in this country now. Still, people need help sometimes, and outlaws are a common issue, so guilds are very valuable even there. I used to go on a few missions every week."

"That sounds dangerous."

Ari put his map away and looked at Nimb. "It is if you go alone, but I had my team. That's why you're so scared all the time, you're alone. You could really use some help from a friend, you know?"

"I suppose you're right, but I just can't help it…" Nimb looked very sad, and Ari regreted bringing up that topic. He patted him in the back.

"It's okay, you just need time. Don't worry about it now."

Ari then suddenly stopped, so Nimb did too. "What's wrong?"

The air around them became dense, and weird bluish aura could be seen above them. Ari took his map and inspected it. "Oh. Oooohh. Good news, I know where we are now!" He then faced Nimb, smiling. "We're in Reverb Grove, a mystery dungeon. Funny, huh? Hehe. Hehehe. Whoops."

Mystery dungeons were… mysterious. They started popping up in Syftelia a bunch of years back, and no one knew why. Those places were home to many pokémon, but one day, some kind of energy or radiation appeared in the area and started turning the pokémon who lived there into ferals, creatures that could no longer talk, or think for that matter, and attack aggresively anyone that dares to step in their territory. In fact, anyone that spent too much time in there ended up turned into ferals too. It was kind of worrying that new mystery dungeons kept appearing more frequently lately.

Nimb started panicking as two Morelulls jumped on them from behind the trees. Ari quickly stood in front of Nimb, using protect to keep the bird safe. He then slashed them with metallic claws, keeping them away, but then the Morelluls surrounded them and attacked at the same time, launching a flash of energy.

Ari took Nimb and jumped to the side, barely avoiding the dazzling gleam. Ari quickly got to his feet and decided he had enough, and so he launched two aura spheres in a row. The Morelluls were hit and flew a few meters away, making them run away in panic. Ari sighed in relief.

"Didn't see that coming… Hey, are you okay?" Ari asked.

Nimb looked as scared as before, so one couldn't tell. "I… I…"

"Don't worry, it's a mystery dungeon, but for what I know, this one is not really dangerous. Okay, I'll admit I've never been in a mystery dungeon before, but I've studied them and I know we just have to keep walking and we'll eventually get out. And in the meantime… Fight these creepy feral pokémon who lost all their sanity and want to tear our skin off. Easy task, right- aaaand you fainted."

Nimb had panicked so hard he just couldn't take it anymore, and so he lied unconscious on the ground. Ari picked him up and carried him on his back, then started walking unsteadily.

"Don't tell me I'm going to have to carry you all the way through the dungeon! As if I didn't have enough…"

Ari kept going forwards, ignoring the noises from feral pokémon that lurked nearby. The trees extended infinitely, giving a sense of depth that looked like a labyrinth, even if it wasn't. If you enter a mystery dungeon, its weird radiation makes you feel disoriented, which makes it hard to find the way out, and if you stay for too long… You become a part of it. The idea alone was terrifying enough for Ari, but he had to keep pushing onwards. He had been in much worse situations, it would be stupid to chicken out now.

Carrying Nimb limited his movement, but he could rely on his aura sphere to drive away any feral, as it was his only ranged attack. It worked fine, the attack never missed and he only needed one hand to use it, but it was beginning to wear him out.

Out of nowhere, a Corvisquire hit them from behind, launching Ari and Nimb a few meters away. The impact made Nimb react, opening his eyes and watching in horror as Ari tried to defend himself from the Corvisquire, who was caught off guard and was receiving a fury attack without being able to block it.

Nimb started panicking again. "Ari! Uh… Do something!"

"I… Can't! HELP!" Ari begged.

"B-but…"

The Corvisquire intensified its attacks, making Ari yell in pain, but the Archen was frozen in place. He couldn't stop watching, even if he wanted to. Ari was unable to move, the bird was attacking nonstop and wouldn't let him do anything.

"PLEASE!" The Riolu yelled.

Right after the bird readied his finishing move, Nimb generated a sheer amount of rock fragments out of the air. And so, he used rock throw on the Corvisquire, who took the hit and finally got separated from Ari. The Riolu tried to stand up, trembling by the pain, and then saw the feral quickly approaching Nimb, who just stared frozen in place (again).

"Nimb, watch out!" Right as he yelled, Ari's neck and tail pearls started glowing, and a reddish aura enveloped him. In a blink he pointed his arm forward and the red aura was launched onto Nimb, enveloping him too. The Corvisquire used fury attack again, this time on Nimb, who stood there with his arms raised, but… He felt too little pain.

"Now, attack!" Ari yelled.

Confused, Nimb then launched another set of sharp rocks on the assaulter, who couldn't take it anymore and fainted. Ari and Nimb sighed in relief. Ari limped towards Nimb, who stared at him with a puzzled expression.

"Are you okay?" It was Ari who asked.

"I… Uh… I should be the one asking! You took most of the damage, and I wasn't doing anything, and…"

"It's alright, I'll tough it out. I'm more worried about you. You fainted out of fear before, and you clearly look like you barely know how to fight."

Nimb looked down guiltily. "I only know rock throw and wing attack, I always try to flee whenever there's a battle…"

Ari rested a hand on Nimb's shoulder, trying to reassure him. "It's okay, I don't like fighting either. I had to learn and get better because sometimes you just can't avoid problems."

"Yeah… Anyway, what was that?"

"What do you mean?"

"That… Thing… Red weird aura that you had, and then I had it and… I felt stronger."

"Oh, yeah, I haven't told you. That's kind of my power, I can boost my strength, defense or speed… Or I can do it with others."

"Wow, that's so cool! How come you have that power? You're a Riolu, and if I remember correctly, that wasn't a thing with other Riolus…"

"It's because of these pearls I have, but I don't know more than you do. It just happens."

"I see… For some reason, it felt really good. If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't have been able to react and attack that feral, so… Thank you."

Ari blushed. "Heh, it's nothing."

"Have you always had that power?"

"Actually, nope. I looked like a normal Riolu before, but almost a year ago my body just… changed out of nowhere."

"Weird…"

Ari started walking again, still limping a little. "Come on, we gotta keep moving if we want to get out of here."

"Oh… Wait!" The Archen quickly reached Ari and gripped ari's arm again. Ari simply smiled and kept walking.

After an hour of dungeon crawling, fighting weak ferals and running when there were many of them, Ari and Nimb reached a point where the bluish energy felt less dense.

"Okay, judging by the air quality, we must be reaching the exit. Come on!" Both ran forward, and before they could notice, they were out of Reverb Grove. Ari looked around, trying to determine where they were, and studied his map.

"Mhm… Okay… Yeah, it seems we made it out of the dungeon! And this time I know where we are!"

"That's good, I guess…" Nimb sighed in relief, feeling safer, now that they were out of the dungeon, but still not safe enough.

"Well, we're definitely far away from were you were screaming all weirdly, so… You're safe now! And I guess that means it's time to say goodbye. Take care from now on!"

Nimb looked anxious. "You're… Leaving me?"

"I uh… Yes? I mean, I helped you out of there and… Well."

Nimb quickly enveloped Ari, trembling. "Please… Don't leave me alone… I don't want to be alone again…"

Ari didn't know what to say. He kept his worried expression while looking everywhere thinking on what to do now. Nimb insisted. "I know I've always been alone, but… I can't go back to it now. I don't know why… I just can't."

The Riolu tried to suppress the discomfort and hugged the Archen back. "Okay, okay, I won't abandon you. Please, take deep breaths. I'll stay with you, alright?"

Nimb sniffled. "You… You mean it?"

"Of course, I can't see you like this. If it makes you feel better, you can come with me."

"T-thank you… It means a lot."

Ari patted Nimb on the back weirdly. "Don't mention it. Now we should find a spot to rest for the day, we went through a lot."

It was already nighttime, both Ari and Nimb were exhausted and decided to rest under a dense tree near a clearing. The Riolu was a bit sore, having taken the worst part of that Corvisquire's attack, so he didn't bother with getting wood to start a campfire. The moonlight was enough, so at least he could see a bit of his surroundings. Most of his range of view was covered in feathers, as the Archen still wouldn't let him go, and rested by his side, half-hugging him. Ari was weirded out by this at first, but he was getting used to it.

"How are you so strong?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"You carried me most of the way through the dungeon, and defeated all the ferals…"

"Not the Corvisquire."

"Okay, not that one, but still."

"I don't know, I just have a lot of experience. I already told you, I was part of a guild before. Two guilds, in fact, but I have better memories from the second one. It's a long story, really."

"I see… But even after being so hurt, you were so brave back there. You kept encouraging me, and you said it was the first time you were in a mystery dungeon."

Ari smiled at Nimb, but there was a hint of sadness there. "I… I was afraid too, you know?"

"Really?"

"Of course. I'm not a superhero, I get scared. A lot, actually. I told you that I don't like fighting, right?" Nimb nodded. "Well, it's for a good reason. I won't get too much into details but… Let's just say violence scared me a lot. I didn't have a good experience with that."

Ari stayed silent for a long moment, deep in thought. Then, he continued. "I had to fight because I wanted to protect my friends. I couldn't see them suffer like I did. So, I trained and stopped trying to avoid all conflicts. I still hate it, but if it helps my friends, then it's worth it."

"Helping your friends?" Nimb pondered that for a while. What was it like? Would he want to protect someone if he trusted them? No, he would definitely run away, like always. That's all he ever di-

"Just like you did before in the dungeon."

"Huh?"

"When the Corvisquire attacked me. You know, you defeated it. I still haven't thanked you for that."

"What? No! You took care of the rest of the ferals, I should be the one thanking you! And I spent most of it unconscious…"

"Yes, but you said before that you always flee from battles. You didn't."

"I guess…"

They stayed silent for a long while. This time it wasn't an awkward silence, but pleasant. Ari was finally enjoying the company without feeling uncomfortable. After a while, Nimb spoke.

"How does it… Feel to have friends?"

"Huh? That's a weird question. You're weird, hehe."

"I'm weird?"

"Not as much as me, though. But I see it's contagious…"

"You haven't answered the question."

"I was getting there. You see, it's like… Knowing someone enough to trust them and want to be with them… And wish them the very best."

"But you had friends, right?"

"I still have them, they're not dead."

"Why would they be?"

"You spoke of them in past tense."

Nimb sighed. "You know what I meant."

"Okaaay, sorry dude. But yeah, what about that?"

"You said that when you have friends, you want to be with them. How come you left them behind?"

"..."

Ari thought silently, searching for the right answer. It just never came.

"I don't know. I do want to be with them. I miss them a lot, you know? I…"

Nimb noticed Ari tearing up, and saddened a bit. "Are you alright?"

Ari wiped his tears and smiled back at him. "Yes, don't worry. I just don't know what to say." He looked up to the sky. "Somehow I feel like I can't come back now, not until I become the pokémon I need to be. If I stayed, I wouldn't make any progress. I would have felt miserable in the end. When you have a goal in life, sometimes it's better to just… Follow it. Even if it means leaving everything behind."

"I see." Nimb was starting to feel his eyelids heavier. "I wish I could… Ever feel… That."

"Well… Now that you're staying with me for now, we might as well be friends, right?"

He got no answer. When Ari looked to his left, he found Nimb asleep, resting on his shoulder. Ari smiled and closed his eyes too. He has been all alone for months now, he also missed having someone to explore with. And until he gets to see his friends back at the guild… He could use a new friend, as weird as it is.

He reminded him of a certain noibat he once knew.

As the night went on, a big figure approached a Riolu and his Archen companion, who were sleeping peacefully.

'These two will do,' he said to himself. Before no one could say anything, the figure took them and ran away.

Not too far away, another figure limped erratically, trying to move forwards, not knowing where to go. Not knowing what to do. They stopped, and the flame in their head burned more intensely, changing colors. First it was red. Then it was white. They started moving, trying to move forward. They didn't need to know where to go. They didn't need to know what to do. They just had to choose a new victim.

That was the first chapter of this story! I know things seem too cheesy at first, but I swear there's a reason to be like this. I'll try to upload a new chapter every 1/2 weeks for now, but after chapter 6 I can't promise it will be that frequent. See you next time!