And we finally begin proper. Sorry to those who felt a bit off put by the opening sections.
Chapter 1: Unforeseen Valor
- Hall of Ordination -
Despite the turbulence the previous night, Traximus found it rather easy to get around the schoolyard. However, he couldn't entirely shake the experience of yesterday, so he opted to file it away in the back of his mind. His adventure around the school brought him to a certain lecture hall. Before he could approach to enter, however…
"Yo!"
A quick turn of his head reintroduced him to a certain gold scaled Charmander that he was all too familiar with. Part of him felt relief at the sight of a familiar face, but another felt uneasy having to eventually explain the events of yesterday.
"Hey. You got this class early in the morning as well?" Traximus yawned, stretching his body as much as possible.
"Yeah. Let's get in here and get history over with."
A nod from Traximus led the duo to enter the classroom, where most other pokemon had already taken their seats. Sitting down, the pair noted that the seats, made of some sort of odd material, felt oddly comfortable to sit in.
"Hey, Trax," Neltharios started, "Check this out." A slip of paper was placed in between the two boys.
"Hmm… Our teacher is Dr. Mamado, who is a… Mee… Rydon?" Traximus squinted at the paper then looked back at Neltharios, "What on Groudon's green earth is a Mee-Rhydon?"
"Actually, I think it's pronounced Myr-Rhydon."
"We'll figure it out later." The sound of an opening door drew the attention of the guys near the door.
What came through the door was a strange purple and yellow serpentine looking creature. He had a glowing purple underbelly with strangely mechanical parts of his body. What was most interesting to them was the fact that he appeared to have thrusters attached to the end of the trunk of the body. Topping it was the lightning bolts protruding out of his eyes.
"Good morning students," An oddly deep, yet cybernetic voice beckoned, "Apologies for the rather late arrival." The serpentine floated closer to the podium and made a noise that made him seem like he cleared his throat.
"I am Dr. Mamado," he briefly observed the room with some skeptical and some tense looks, "And I am a Miraidon, assuming you haven't seen one before."
There could be more of him? Traximus thought, tapping his nubs to the armrests of the seat. I don't really know if that's a good thing or not.
"Now, I could walk you though a boring overview of what we're studying this semester, or…" Dr. Mamado pressed a button on the podium, signaling the reveal of an emerald-green orb in front of all the seats, "We could do the overview my way. What would you prefer?"
Chatter erupted in the classroom. Some students panicked, thinking some horrible fate was to befall them should they choose to play along. Other students argued for it, debating for the chance for an interesting class.
"I'm down for it!" Neltharios declared, the entire class's attention now drawn to him.
"That's great, but I cannot proceed without expressed consent from every-"
"I'm IN! Beats being in a SNOOZE fest!" A Loudred barked.
"I'm surprised that you can snooze with how loud your voice is!" The Eevee adjacent complained.
"Sounds like fun, 'ow bout you?" A Rufflet questioned the Heiloptile in front of her.
"As long as nobody gets hurt…"
The crowd of students then suddenly turned from being skeptical to endorsement, much to the amazement of Dr. Mamado.
"Okay students," The Miraidon concluded, "It appears we have reached a consensus. When you are ready, place any appendage you may have onto the charged orb in front of you."
Hmm. What will this thing do to me? Traximus stared at the orb for a good second. The orb had a great sheen to it, glowing vividly. The reflection on Traximus's scales was rather blue in tint. Well, I signed up for this. Better make use of it.
With a touch of the orb, Traximus's vision briefly went white. And then, a split second later, a whole bunch of colored lines going in multiple directions spread across his vision. His body felt a wave of weightlessness to it as the lines sped past his body. The little Bagon for a moment felt as if he was a Salamence, flying through… whatever it was that he was flying through.
Woah! Am I flying?! What's going on here?! It's amazing!
Further down, he noticed some strange spheres with what appeared to have images of cities plastered on them. Some had strange looking castles, others had windmills with surrounding houses, and many, many more. Traximus tried his best to take it all in but couldn't keep up with all the new wonders he had just been introduced to. However, distracted by all the sights, he failed to realize what was ahead of him and his vision went white once more.
Upon regaining his bearings, Traximus found himself in a strange pokemon village. There was no university, there wasn't a city, or even any facilities he was familiar with.
"Ah, you have made it. Please take my hand and join the rest of your fellow students."
Traximus looked up to see Dr. Mamado extending a hand to him. Taking it, he stood up and shook his head. "Dr. Mamado, where are we?"
"We are in Pokemon Square, roughly thirty-five years ago."
All the students's mouths went agape. The realization of where they were sent some students into apprehension.
"Now students calm down," Dr. Mamado turned to them, "We are not literally in Pokemon Square, but rather this is a projection. It's all happening within your minds in less than a fraction of a second."
"Now then." Dr. Mamado then turned to and led the students towards a hut on the west end of the town. The tent has the distinct outer appearance of the head of a Squirtle, and there was a moat surrounding the entrance. "The opening can finally begin. Initializing explanatory sequence…"
The Miraidon's eyes flashed a brilliant purple color. His voice, after giving a sound like he was clearing his throat, began speaking in a slightly more robotic tone.
"Thirty-Five years ago, one of four calamities befell our world. The origin was pointed to a meteorite that was set on a collision course with the planet." The Miraidon pointed to the sky, indicating a strange object in the sky. The voices of several students murmured, and then promptly quieted down when Dr. Mamado continued. "At the same time, the strange phenomenon, known as Mystery Dungeons, became more and more commonplace. Back then, nobody could pinpoint what exactly causes them, but evidence suggested they are distortions of time and space."
The Miraidon then turned back to the base, attempting to draw the students' attention to it. "Speaking of time and space, at this team base lies a special Pokemon. One of the four Heavenly Monarchs."
"Um, who are the Four Heavenly Monarchs?" The Eevee asked.
"A good question." The Miraidon acknowledged the Eevee, "The Four Heavenly Monarchs are humans who were brought here through mysterious circumstances and reincarnated as Pokemon. One such instance is here. The leader of team Go-Getters, once a Squirtle now Blastiose, is King Inigo."
"WOAH! You mean the leader of the LEGENDARY Go-Getters is a HUMAN?!" The Loudred bellowed.
"Correct. Team Go-Getters', and therefore King Inigo's exploits, aided the Pokemon on the island in dodging their fate. It even involved taking down the mighty Rayquaza, the Lord of Galeforce and bringing him to reason." The Miraidon then fiddled with a strange blue orb, "We may now proceed to the next part of the presentation."
After another round of bright white lights, the group found themselves standing atop the pinnacle of a tower, looking down upon the world. Other students found themselves either squealing at the height they were at or joyous at the view they were able to attain. Neltharios found himself staring over the edge down at the scenery below.
"Wow! What a view!" Neltharios bellowed, "Where are we now?"
"We are at Temporal Tower. The domain of Dialga and one of the many recorded destinations of Team PokéPals and the second Heavenly Monarch."
"And who is it this time?"
"Queen Aversa, a Turtwig turned Torterra. She was a human from a dark future on a mission to save Temporal Tower, along with her long partner Grovyle." The Miraidon turned towards the altar behind the class pointing out the features. The altar had the semblance of a steel-clad quadruped, with a gem implanted in its chest. "Their mission; to retrieve all the Time Gears and plant them in the spire, reversing the planet's paralysis and reverse the insanity of Primal Dialga."
These humans were really something else! Traximus pondered. If one was able to take down Rayquaza and another was able to take down Dialga, then how powerful were these humans before being turned into Pokémon?
"These events took place roughly 3 years after Team Go-Getters defeated Rayquaza atop Sky Tower. And at this point, the world thought it was finished with calamities. However, four years would pass and would introduce two concurrent events."
The Miraidon then attuned the orb in his hands, causing the scenery to change once again. All the students huddled around him, in anticipation of what he was to show next. Another bright flash followed, but this time, the scenery was split in two. On the north end, a strange object made of ice was floating in the distance, in a dark, starless sky. On the south end, an odd tree with markings on it was on full display with a red, swirly sky.
"Class, if we may look to the north," The Miraidon turned to the icy object, "In the interest of time, I will explain quickly. What you see here is the Bittercold, a strange manifestation of negative energy. It was Queen Lyndis's job, an Axew part of The Phalanx, to fight it alongside the Voice of Life, a Hydreigon."
The Miraidon then looked south, the students followed suit. "Then at a similar time, King Basillo, a Chespin, teamed up with the Expedition Society to investigate the appearance of Dark Matter." Dr. Mamado then addressed the class, "Soon, both events would be resolved, however, tensions from the events never died…"
"Huh, what do you mean by that?" Neltharios asked.
"During a period of ten years following the destruction of Dark Matter, two very opposing groups formed. To this day, historians debate what the root cause was, but many communities on both sides banded together to form the countries of Talgeria and our very Gullveria." The Miraidon explained. "Tensions came to a head and started what was called the Kalgore War."
"W-WAR?!" The Loudred exclaimed, "Like, civilized Pokémon FIGHTING each other!?"
The other students started to fall into disorder. Some ran in circles in fear, others began shakingly mumbling to themselves.
"Students! STUDENTS!" The Miraidon called to order as the students fixated their attention onto him, "You are not going to see too much of the fighting, only a teaser of what we will be studying."
Changing the scene once again, Dr. Mamado then showed the students a still frame of a scene of battle from afar. A black dragon with glowing crimson eyes, and a white dragon with glowing aqua eyes were visible, fighting on the same side. From the opposing side, nothing of the sort appeared to be visible.
"This battle was the fight on Dellos Bay, the turning point in the war in which Gullveria was initially losing. Talgeria had the upper hand prior, employing the help of the four Heavenly Monarchs and their tactical prowess. Fortunately for our country, we had the keys of Truth and Ideals, enabling us to summon Reshiram and Zekrom respectively. With their power backing us up, we were able to fight to a standstill. Eventually, both sides called for a truce and the war halted."
The Miraidon tilted his head downward, "Unfortunately, a byproduct of the war was that a weapon was developed, known as the Eternarift."
"Eterna…Rift? What's that?" Traximus asked.
"An Eternarift… it is spawned by an orb infused with an alien energy that…" The Miraidon paused and stared directly at Traximus for dramatic effect.
"…creates entirely 'mon-made Mystery Dungeons."
"W-W-WHAT!?"
The students fell into disorder once again, this time, even more panicked. Several attempts were made on behalf of Dr. Mamado to cull the crowd, and on the fourth time, the students finally fell silent.
"Ahem. The weapon was created using the research of an Umbreon and Espeon that were familiar with entercards. Eternarifts, unlike natural Mystery Dungeons, do not eject civilized Pokémon. As a result, thousands of Talgerians and Gullverians went missing or were presumed dead due to the weapon. Following the war, its use was outlawed, and most instances of the weapons were destroyed." The Miraidon then invoked the orb one last time, "I believe this ends the presentation and the teaser into this semester. We will now return to our native locations. Ending explanatory sequence…"
Dr. Mamado's eyes flickered off the state they were previously in, and the last moment in the presentation was spent covering their eyes as much as possible. When the bright flash cleared and after the segment with the strange floating colorful lines had finished, Traximus found himself back where he was, and in nearly the exact same position he was in prior.
Woah. That was some out-of-body experience. Traximus looked up at the clock. Weird, only five minutes appeared to have passed. It felt like it lasted hours! I wonder how Nel feels about-
"That… was AWESOME!" Neltharios yelled from beside Traximus, causing him to flinch.
A wave of cheering and clapping overtook the class. The students immediately took to chattering with their peers.
"Yo! History's something else!" A Morgem declared.
"'Cause we got an actually good instructor! That's why!" The Rufflet shouted.
During all the chaos, Traximus raised his right nub as much as he possibly could.
"Yes? What is it?" Dr. Mamado asked, his voice returning to normal. The class quieted down and glared at Traximus as he put his nub down.
"If the Eternarifts were so dangerous to both sides, then why would one go through the effort of making them and deploying them?"
Dr. Mamado opened his mouth to say something, but then quickly shut it. He then put his metal hand to his chin and began rubbing it, making a quiet metal scratching noise. After pacing back and forth for a moment he floats still. "I cannot discern the motivation one would have to create such a weapon. Similarly, we have no records of the individual who made it, so it remains uncredited. All we know is that they exist, and that they are dangerous due to the prevalence of threat actors."
The Miraidon then returns to the podium, "Any more questions?" Seeing or hearing no other students with questions, he continues, "Seeing none, I end class here. I understand that the information presented is a lot to process in such a short time, so our first class will be snappy. Next class will be two days from now." Dr. Mamado waved his hand, dismissing the students. Students began filing out, sweeping up Traximus and Neltharios in the crowd.
- Champion's Field -
Kruler stretched herself in an off chute of the field, away from all the other students. Having training early in the morning is going to be some level of hell. She lifted her smaller arms in the air, drawing out multiple pops from her joints. It beats being trapped in some room for hours on end though. I wonder how Palla is doing. Or how about that Charmander? Neltharios, I think his name was. She was so lost in thought that she didn't notice the approaching Passimian coming from her right.
"We got the same class, and at the same time too." Kroto said.
"This class apparently has a new instructor." Kruler continued stretching by rolling her neck, straining. "According to Palla, he handpicked most of his students."
"Huh? I didn't even notice that." Kroto slipped his hand into his bag and pulled out a sheet of paper, "Let's see here…"
A moment passed in silence as Kroto read the document. A moment so long that Kruler stretched most of her body in multiple ways. Shifting the document back into his bag, Kroto looks up at Kruler and shakes his head.
"Does his name ring a bell?" Kruler asked, yawning while stretching the last part of her body.
"Nope. Not a clue who this guy is. Supposedly he's something called a 'Koraidon'." Kroto responded. "Any idea what that may be?"
"Got me beat. Hopefully he won't be one of those instructors, ya know?" Looking at Kroto's confused expression and shrug lead her to continuing, "Like one of those guys who-"
"Good morning, fellas!"
A bright golden light suddenly appeared from behind the two following the booming voice. Placing their hands in positions to block the light, they turned to face what was making the light. What they saw past their hands was the silhouette of a bipedal lizard looking…thing with what appeared to be feathers down his head and back. He also had a weird round thing protruding out of his neck.
"I, Coach Setzo, shall make your brittle bones into sprawling muscles!"
The light died down when Setzo jumped down from the hill, revealing his crimson red scales, his white chest, the feathers on his head, and the strange wheel-like protrusion in his neck. The other students reacted by crowding the Pokémon, while Kroto and Kruler followed but from a distance.
"That's right! I will be your instructor for this class! HAAA!" The Koraidon flexed his muscles, "Just like I do on all the ads!"
Neither Kruler nor Kroto were impressed. The latter crossed his arms and tilted his head in confusion. The former grunted and said, "For what?"
"My personal PR! Spikeball!" Setzo puffed out his chest. No reaction came from either of the other two. "Come on, don't tell me you really haven't heard of me!"
Kroto and Kruler shot a glance at each other. Kroto then turned and responded, "First time hearing of you, so that's news to us."
"Haven't heard of the Crimson Menace?" The Koraidon huffed.
Kruler shook her head.
"The Feathered Fighter?"
Kroto shrugged.
"Y'all are boring…" Setzo deflated, letting his arms drop to his sides. The crowd of students gave a disapproving gaze towards the duo in response.
THIS is our professor. Kruler put her hands to her temples. Arceus help me, please.
"Therefore you two can be our first team!" Setzo declared, puffing back up and pointing towards both Kroto and Kruler, causing both to stagger in shock.
"H-Huh?!" Kroto sputtered.
"For what?" Kruler grunted.
"Our intro assignment. It's a simple one that tests your teamwork skills!" Setzo explained and pointed westward, "You are to find a simple orb in the fields out back, and using teamwork retrieve it and return it here!"
Kruler looked towards the field westward and then back to Setzo, "That sounds a little hefty for a first assignment, but anything that gets my blood pumping."
"That's the stuff!" The Koraidon pampered, "As for the rest of you, I will divide you up into teams. Once everybody's divvied up, we'll head out!"
About three minutes of preparation passed. Several teams were drafted from the Pokémon in the selection. After the teams got settled, they all lined up near the east edge of the gate leading to the outer fields. After being given the signal to leave, all the teams departed into the field. Kroto and Kruler moved inward towards their objective.
-Twist Forest – Pathway-
"Any idea what or where this orb could be?" Kroto asked.
"How would I know? He never gave us a description." Kruler fiddled with her bag, "And he barely gave us a direction, so for all we know it could be a prank!"
"I wouldn't be surprised if it was a prank, given his, uh… personality."
Kruler pointed in the direction of a path leading through a lining of trees. "That look like a good place to start?"
"Couldn't hurt."
Passing into the line of trees through a dirt path, the duo intensifies their search, making sure to take note of the things around them. Their annoyance comes to a head when the scenery begins to grate on their minds.
"Hey, found anything yet?" Kruler asked, scanning a line of bushes for any clues.
"Nothing yet," Kroto replied. He then looked behind him, noting that the path that they had just come down had suddenly disappeared. Kroto abruptly froze and stared in the eastern direction.
"Then what are you standing around for? Help me with this!"
"The path, it's gone!"
"What," she whirled her head to peek, "Impossible! How could it just… vanish!"
"Hell if I know!"
"This is your fault!" Kruler pointed an accusatory finger at him, "Had you been keeping a keen eye on the path, we wouldn't be here!"
"My fault?! It was your idea!"
"So? You were supposed to keep watch and clearly you failed!"
"Don't get it twisted, I was keeping watch!"
"Alright Mankey brain, then how did we get lost?"
"I. Don't. Know!"
With Kroto's last shout, it drew the noise of some snarling coming from the bushes from where Kruler was investigating. Both Pokémon fell silent immediately, froze and went wide-eyed. Seconds later, the duo's attention was drawn to a pair of red eyes gazing back at them through an opening of the bushes.
"Kruler… Back away slowly…" Kroto whispered. Kruler did as instructed, forgetting the temporary animosity that was presented.
"A-Are these the locals?" She quipped, nervously, "They're in serious need of a bath, goodness gracious…"
None less than a split second after Kruler made her comment, a Nidorino popped out of the bushes. Though, to the duo, something was off about it. Its skin was a more saturated purple, the spikes appeared to be longer, and its horn extended a bit more than either of the duo had seen. That's not to mention the beaming red eyes and the more jagged facial structure.
"I don't think Nidorino are supposed to look like that…" Kruler noted.
"That's because it's a feral," Kroto snarled, balling his fists up, "Ferals have more exaggerated features than civilized 'mons."
"Ferals? Does that mean…"
"Yeah. We stumbled into a Mystery Dungeon."
Kroto lunged for the Nidorino at breakneck speed. Kruler had only a fraction of a moment to glimpse the Passimian striking the Nidorino from multiple angles. That wasn't any fighting type move I've ever seen before. She pondered.
There was no time to think for too long, however, as the Nidorino missed Kroto as he was leaping in the air and was now on a collision course with Kruler. She rolled to her left as quickly as possible and watched as the Nidorino skidded to a halt near a tree on the other side of the clearing. Charging a Poison sting in its horn, the Nidorino then charged at Kroto once more. Kroto sprung into the air using his tail, dodging the incoming attack gracefully and retorted with another volley of speedy attacks. The Nidorino, following the barrage of attacks, fell to the ground, motionless.
"What attack was that?" Kruler stared wide eyed.
Kroto wiped the sweat off his forehead and sighed, "Acrobatics. Been a while since I've used it." Kruler's bewildered expression momentarily confused him before he continued, "Anyway, we're in a dungeon now. The Ferals here will likely be agitated cause of our presence. Which means-"
"I can finally let loose!" A devilish grin appeared on Kruler's face as her voice deepened to match her tone, "And I didn't even have to wait that long!"
"Yeah. Sure. But we need to stay together. Wouldn't wanna get overrun, seeing as we got no helpful items."
"Then get behind me!" Kruler bellowed, "Cause once I start, I ain't gonna stop!"
Sprinting ahead, Kruler made her way further into the dungeon, ignoring the protests of Kroto. Seeing what she thought was a clearing, she beelined for it. Hoping for either a release or more Pokémon to fight, she entered in a fighting stance, but found nobody in the immediate area.
"Hey! What gives?" She complained, "Where are the ferals?"
The ambient sound of cracking sticks and crunching leaves to her left put her on edge. Riling up an attack, she peered to her left, sighting nothing.
"Over here."
Kruler found her gaze turning in the direction of Kroto, but something was off. He was standing next to a strange staircase made of stone, moss and other materials. Hold up. There's no way that can be right. Who places stairs in the middle of a forest?
"If we take these, we'll get closer to leaving this place," Kroto waved her on.
"How do you know that?" Kruler challenged as she approached him.
"Dad taught me about dungeons. Never thought I would find myself in one so quick."
"Right." She started up the stairs, "Let's get a move on, I wanna fight these-"
Suddenly her vision went white. She felt a certain weightlessness in her body as she seemed to be transported somewhere. When the whiteness cleared from her vision, she found herself surrounded by... more forest. Like where she just was.
"Wait, weren't we just here!?" She yelled.
"Relax, we're just getting started. We just need to reach a few more stairs and we'll be outta here in no time!" Kroto responded. "And perhaps we'll find more of those ferals you wanna fight so much!"
The rustling of bushes near Kroto put the duo on alert. They barely had time to contemplate a plan before a pair of Shroomish leaped out, taking Kroto by surprise with a combined tackle attack. Rebounding from the attacks, Kroto dashed backwards, but Kruler, in turn, charged headlong into the Shroomish.
"Wait! You're a water type! You have to-"
Kruler's right fist channeled frigid air from the surrounding area, the entire segment of her arm encasing itself in solid ice. Upon direct contact with the Shroomish on the right, the solid ice spread onto it, in addition to sending it flying towards a nearby tree. The other Shroomish attempted another tackle attack while Kruler's left hand was preparing a follow-up. Though she merely side-stepped to her right, slugging the other Shroomish in a similar method and likewise, sending it flying.
"You like the double Ice Punch?" Kruler smirked. Kroto merely sighed and picked himself up.
And we see our first dungeon of the story.
Next: Type advantages mean nothing without a plan; The gang's all together now