The next morning, back in the Pokémon world
At Rocky's house
Ace (in his dream): - (Where am I?)
?: - Talking to someone that appears to be Ace's human mom
Ace: - (Mom?!) Runs up to her, but can't seem to catch up
?: - Goes to stand next to Lisa
Ace: - (Who are you?)
?: - Turns around and waves at Ace
Everything starts to disappear into a dark void
Ace: - (NO, WA—-!)
In the real world
Ace: - Jolts awake WAIT! Tries to reach for something that isn't there
Ben and Kenny get woken up by Ace's yell
Ben: - Are you ok, Ace?
Kenny: - What was that?
Ace: - I don't know. I saw a shadowy figure standing next to our human mom.
Ben: - Was it dad?
Ace: - No. it was about our height, but I couldn't make out any other details.
Kenny: - Maybe it was Alex or any of our other friends in the human world.
Ace: - It could be.
Rocky came in to see what the screaming was
Rocky: - What was that noise?
Ace: - That was me, sorry.
Rocky: - Oh, you three are finally awake.
Ben: - Finally?
Rocky: - Yeah. I've been up for a full hour. I just got done making breakfast for us
Ace: - Oh, thank you
Ben: - We're heavy sleepers
Rocky: - Very heavy I see
Kenny: - We'll get ready now
Kenny, Ben, and Ace all get up, and head to the table to eat breakfast
Ace: - Thank you for doing this.
Rocky: - No worries, Ace. You three are my guests. It's the least I could do.
Ben: - Starts eating This is really good
Kenny: - Also starts eating Yeah, this actually beats my mom's cooking
Ace: - Eats as well It rivals our human mom's cooking
Rocky: - Glad you all like it
Ace: - Though, I noticed a certain lack of caffeine.
Ben and Kenny slowly turn their heads towards Ace
Ben and Kenny: - You cannot be serious.
Ace: - What? I want my daily coffee.
Kenny: - You already used Splat's money for coffee last night
Ace: - I know, and I'm going to pay him back after our first mission
Ben: - Alright, but you don't need more coffee now, do you?
Ace: - Of course I do
Kenny: - You can get some during our first mission
Ace: - Fine
Ben: - By the way, what will our first mission be?
Ace: - It's a rescue mission
Ben: - What is the mission?
Ace: - We have to find two eeveelution sisters who got separated in a mystery dungeon, and escort them out of the dungeon safely
Kenny: - How long will it take to get to the dungeon?
Ace: - Splat looked at the travel time. It takes 2 days to get there.
Kenny: - Will we be given anything to start?
Ace: - We'll be given some amount of food and items to start.
Rocky: - We can get stuff on our way to the guild. I have my bag we can use.
Ace: - We'll be given bags once we depart for our first mission. You can bring yours as well
Rocky: - Alright then
Ben: - Well, shall we get going?
Ace: - Let's freshen up first
Kenny: - Yeah. I think I still feel some grease I missed, from the banquet, in my tail fur
Ace: - Now I get why you sometimes smell like fish after practice
Kenny: - Excuse me?
Ace: - Because you probably get some of it stuck in your hair
Kenny: - Well, I'm not the one with dementia. You're why I smell like grease during practice, cause you sometimes slather it in during lunch, after you finish your pizza, when you mess with my hair after I say something you think is childish.
Ace: - Touché, Kenny. Anyway, let's freshen up so we can look presentable for our first mission.
Ben: - Ok, let's go
Ace, Ben, and Kenny all go up to take a shower, then head back downstairs
Rocky: Ready?
Ace, Ben, Kenny: - Yes
Everyone heads to the guild, where everyone else going on the mission is waiting
Splat: - Took you long enough
Ace: - Sorry, we slept in
Rocky: - Well, 3 of us slept in points back to Ace, Ben, and Kenny
Ace: - Yeeaaaahhh Looks at Rocky with a sour face
Splat: - Uh huh. Anyway, I put in the request for the time extension.
Ace: - And…?
Splat: - It's been approved.
Ace: - Yes.
Splat: - So we have 3 weeks to complete this mission
Ace: - Right, but let's get the others first
Splat: - Everyone is here
Ace: - They are?
Everyone else walked out from behind the walls next to the entrance
Max: - We've been ready for 45 minutes
Rocky: - I was awake for 15 minutes already at that point. You can thank these 3 for the delay
Max: - Yeah, sure. You were always the heavier sleeper between us. Don't pretend you also were sleeping in on us
Rocky: - Oh, like how you kept me awake by showing me every new move you learned?
Max: - It wasn't that late when I was showing you those moves.
Rocky: - It was 2 am every night that happened.
Max: - It wasn't that late
Rocky: - You're not the one with the alarm clock
Max: - Whatever, let's get back to business
Rocky: - Pouts
Kenny: - You two act a lot like Ace and Ben
Ace, Ben, Rocky, and Max: - Hey!
Jeff: - Are we done now, children?
All 5 of them stop
Jeff: - Good
Clover: - Here are your starting items for your first dungeon. Since the dungeon you're going to has 10 floors, and you're a party of 9, you'll have 90 perfect apples to start with. There's space for 300 total items in here, so you can take 210 additional items to start with. You will be billed for what you take, which you will pay in increments depending on your rewards for missions until you've paid it back in full.
Ace: - How much would we have to pay back?
Clover: - 10% of the reward's monetary value, until you've paid back the total cost of all the items you took from our store.
Ace: Ok
Clover: - Follow me to the shop
Everyone goes to the shop
Ace: - Wow, it's huge!
Kenny: - Probably as big as the mall we always go to when we want more games to play
Ben: - And this is all one store?
Clover: - I don't have much idea as to what you're talking about, but yes, this is one store. So pick out what you'd like to bring.
Ace: - I'd say we should split up
Splat: - Right
Everyone splits up and grabs several items to bring with them to the dungeon
Ace: - Ok, let's put them in the bag
Everyone puts the items in the bag. Total bag space reaches 280/300 items.
Ace: - There seems to be room still. Grabs some extra items to fill the bag completely
Splat: - Is that all?
Ace: - Yes
Splat: - Says with a sly face Ok. Let's go see what the damage is
They walk up to the Kecleon counter
Kecleon: - Scans all the items in the bag Total is 1,985,600 poké
Ace: - 2 MILLION?!
Splat: Snickers a little Yeah, items are expensive. Especially when you have a lot of them
Ace: - Stares at Splat with glowing red eyes
Splat: - Hey, you were the one who picked out 20 Ultra apples, which cost 75,000 poké each
Ace: - Ultra apples?
Splat: - The rarest apples that can be grown. Even rarer than Perfect apples. They take 2 months to grow.
Ace: - What does the pokémon get after eating an Ultra apple?
Splat: - They work like the other apples with that you get more of the next tier lower.
Ace: - How many does it give?
Splat: - 500 Perfect apples each
Ace: - Will we not have enough room for that?
Splat: - You will. The 300 spaces are for what you start with. The bag will expand based on the item divisions I mentioned to you last night. You can't add new items until space has been made, but dividing items that already were in the bag is fine.
Ace: - You said we can't add to our temporary bag.
Splat: - And that is correct, but the fact about the bag expanding for replacement items is true for all bags.
Ace: - I see. So it's like having 500 spaces filling up the one space that was emptied
Splat: - Exactly
Ace: - Anyway, about the cost…
Splat: - Yeah?
Ace: - Pulls out some human world money he had in his fur Would this work here?
Splat: - Looks at the foreign money Sorry, but that currency doesn't exist here. You'll have to earn Poké like everyone else here. Pulls out some Poké to show Ace Like this
Ace: - Sees the notes look different I see, but isn't there an exchange rate between this and poké?
Splat: - Sorry, but this world only uses poké
Ace: - Well, I guess I'm gonna be grinding for a while.
Splat: - It will get much easier for you to pay the guild back once you can go on higher rewarding missions.
Ace: - (There should be a currency exchange building here so I can just pay with human money. Then again, how much poké would 1 dollar be?)
Max: - Are you two bank tellers done?
Ace: - Yes
Splat: - Yeah, let's get going
Max: - Thank you
Ace, Ben, Kenny, Splat, Max, Jeff, Rocky, Citrine, and Red all head out on their mission
They all reach the ocean
Ace: - How are we getting across this?
Rocky: - Max and I can swim across.
Splat: - You're gonna need your strength for the dungeon
Rocky: - Right
Splat: - I have a better idea
Citrine: - What do you have in mind?
Splat: - Yells out to sea Riptide!
A Lugia appears out of the water
Ace: - What is a Lugia doing here?!
Riptide: - You called for me, Splat?
Splat: - To Ace Riptide is our ticket across the ocean. To Riptide Yes, we need to get to Mt. Magma.
Riptide: - Got it. Hop on my back, all of you
Splat: - Hops on Come on.
Everyone else gets on Riptide's back
Riptide: - Hang on
Everyone grips on one of Riptide's back fins
Riptide speeds off towards Mt. Magma
Ace: - How many connections with legendaries do you have?
Splat: - I have connections with a lot of legendaries.
Ace: - Do you have connections with a Suicune?
Splat: - I may have connections with one.
Ace: - Could you take me to one?
Splat: - looks at Ace, who is panting like a puppy and has stars in his eyes I can try, but don't expect a pleasant first encounter.
Ace: - Why not?
Splat: - Let's just say that Suicune don't take kindly to new pokémon
Ace: - Well, I was human, so Suicune shouldn't mind
Splat: - Uh, did you forget that you were born a pokémon?
Ace: - Right
Splat: - (Should I tell Ace the real truth about his past?)
Ace: - Sees land Hey, we're almost there
Splat: - (I'll tell him later)
Ace: - Splat, I said we're almost there
Splat: - Huh? Oh, right
Ace: - Are you ok?
Splat: - Yeah, I'm fine
Riptide: - Reaches the shore Here we are, Mt Magma.
Everyone hops off of Riptide
Splat: - Thanks Riptide
Riptide: - Anytime Submerges and swims away
Max: - So, how are we going to tackle this dungeon?
Splat: - We should separate into groups, it'll be quicker if we split up to search the dungeon for the lost pokémon.
Rocky: - What pokémon are we looking for?
Splat: - One is a Shiny Sylveon, and the other is an Autumn Leafeon
Jeff: - How should we divide up the team?
Splat: - I will go with Ace and Ben, Kenny and Rocky will go with Max, and Jeff will take Citrine and Red. Any objections?
Everyone shakes their heads "No"
Splat: - Alright then
Ace: - If that's all we need to talk about, let's go.
Everyone: - Yeah!
They all head in the dungeon entrance
Mt Magma: Floor 1
The first room they arrive in is completely empty of wild pokémon
Ace: - Three pathways
Splat: - Perfect for us. Let's each take a path
Everyone else: - Right
Each group goes down one of the paths out of the room
With Red, Citrine, and Jeff
Red: - Stops shortly going into the room when he sees it's filled with wild pokémon Woah!
Jeff: - Looks like we found a monster house
Citrine: - Why is it called that?
Jeff: - Rooms that are filled with wild pokémon are called monster houses
Citrine: - Will we be ok?
Jeff: - Ace has your temporary bag, but I have my team's bag. We have plenty of items in here.
Red: - Maybe these mons will like a taste of my Pyro Ball Kicks up a rock and sets it a blaze, then builds up the fireball, then sends it into multiple mons' faces
Several mons retreat or faint, while most stay put
Jeff: - Nice one, Red. You got some of them
Citrine: - Let's see if I can get in on this Uses Discharge
All of the wild pokémon look like they've been completely fried, and are sparking a little
Citrine: - Yes! Looks back at Red and Jeff Did you see that, they all- eh heh Sees that Red and Jeff also fried in his Discharge
Red: - Unamused Yeah, we saw.
Red and Jeff shake off the soot
Citrine: - Sorry about that, hehe
Jeff: - Anyway, let's move on
They continue to the next room
With Kenny, Rocky, and Max
Kenny: - So, what were you two like when you were younger?
Rocky: - We had a great sibling relationship. Even though we've had our downs, we've had plenty of ups as well.
Max: - I remember when you first hatched, the first thing you did was water gun me in the face
Rocky: - Well, you did think it was funny
Max: - Yeah, it was
Kenny: - Did something happen that made it not so great? Cause you said it was great
Max: - Mom and dad left us years ago. They didn't abandon us, but they've been missing for many years. We don't know where they are.
Rocky: - Then Max joined the guild without telling me, and also hadn't returned for a few years.
Max: - Which I regret doing. Not the 'joining the guild' part, but I regret not telling Rocky I joined one.
Kenny: - Oh, well I hope you two find your parents soon.
Max: - We hope so too
Kenny: - Sees a staircase going up Hey, we found the stairs to the next floor.
Rocky: - Cool, just watch out for wild Rattatas
Kenny: - Why?
Rocky: - During my mock dungeon trial with Ace, Ace jumped up to the top of the stairs, only to have Rattatas bite into his wrists, bleeding heavily
Kenny: - Oof, really?
Rocky: - Mhm
Kenny: - Ok then, let's stay alert while we climb up to the next floor
Max: - Will do, and let's also look for items to fill your actual bag
Kenny and Rocky: - Will do
They continue to the 2nd floor
With Ace, Ben, and Splat
Ace: - Reaches a room with 2 Rattatas in the middle of it Oh come on. My wrists just healed from the mock dungeon.
Ben: - Well, just keep them off your wrists and you'll be fine
Ace: - Thanks for the info, Captain Obvious
Splat: - Are you two always like this?
Ben: - Gives Ace a "special tap" on his tail
Ace: - YIPE! Stares angrily at Ben Really?!
Ben: - Hey, Kenny didn't mind them. Throws an electro ball at the Rattatas
Splat: - I guess that answers my question
Ben: - Huh, were you saying something, Splat?
Splat: - Stutters with an eye twitch
Ace: - Anyways, let's move on
Splat: - Yes, let's go before Ben gives you another tap, which he's charging up right now
Ben: - Stops Ehehe
Ace: - HHHAAAA, GET BACK HERE, BEN! Chases Ben into the next hallway
Splat: - Sigh Electric pokémon are fun Runs in after them. (Should I tell them now?)
Ace and Ben are continuing to fight like siblings
Splat: - (I'll tell them after they've sorted out their issue)
Everyone manages to find the stairs and climbs up
Mt Magma: Floor 2
After a brief pause at the top of the stairs to regroup, they split off again to continue their search
With Jeff, Citrine, and Red
Red: - I wonder what wild pokemon we'll find on this floor
Citrine: - Maybe it'll be more Rattatas
Jeff: - Mt Magma isn't known for its rodents
A wild Combusken approaches them
Jeff: - It's th- Gets a flamethrower to the face fire pokemon you have to worry about
Citrine: - It would seem so
Red: - I'm not worried. I'm a fire pokemon myself
Jeff: - I'm a fire type too, but you still should be careful
Red: - Yeah, yeah, I got it. Dashes at the Combusken using Flame Charge
The Combusken stays put, but has a few marks
Citrine: - Let's try something else uses Thunderbolt on the Combusken
The Combusken faints with paralysis
Red: - Well, at least you didn't hit us this time
Citrine: - You're getting better as well
Red: - Thank you
Jeff: - Let's move on
Red and Citrine: - Nod their heads
They all run down the next hallway
With Max, Rocky, and Kenny
Rocky: - What pokemon will we be fighting on this floor?
Max: - It's always a mystery
Kenny: - Well, what isn't a mystery is how well you two are getting alooooOOOOoooOOOooOOOoOONG. Trips over what felt like a rock as he said the last syllable
Rocky: - Kenny, are you alright?
Kenny: - Yeah, what did I kick?
Max: - Sees a hole right behind Kenny More like who did you kick
Kenny: - Huh?
A wild Diglett popped out of the ground, headbutting Kenny in the chin
Kenny: - OOWWW!
Rocky: - Oof, got hit good by a Diglett
Max: - Tricky little mons
Kenny: - I'll say, ack!
Rocky: - You ok?
Kenny: - I'll be fine
Diglett appears again
Kenny: - But that mole is done for Uses his psychic to summon a mallet, and gains an evil looking smirk as he taps the head of the mallet in his paw a few times
The Diglett doesn't seem phased by the mallet at all
Kenny: - HHAAAAAAA! Goes in for a swing, but the Diglett goes back into its hole before the mallet has made contact.
The Diglett goes back to the surface
Kenny: - That was a fluke. Looks behind him, and dashes at it again for another swing This time I got ya Missed again
The Diglett popped up again and started taunting Kenny
Kenny: - Oh, we're playing that game, aren't we
Kenny repeatedly tries to hit the Diglett, but it keeps slipping to another hole
After a minute of swinging the mallet at empty holes, Kenny becomes exhausted
Kenny: - panting Slippery…little…mole
Max: - Are you good there? Do you want some help?
Kenny: - Would you please? Summons a mallet for Max, and one for Rocky
Max: - Ready, bro?
Rocky: - Ready
Both of them also charge in and start swing their mallets at the Diglett who pops around everywhere
Max: - That Diglett is tough
Rocky: - Not tough, it's just fast
Kenny: - Wait a minute, I have psychic powers. I could just hold the Diglett in place
Max: - Right
Rocky: - You didn't think to use it before?
Kenny: - I wasn't thinking like a pokemon
Max: - Ok, well now it's time to start thinking like a pokemon, and use your moves
Kenny: - Right
The Diglett pops up again
Rocky: - Now!
Kenny uses psychic to hold the Diglett still
Rocky: - Now faint! Swings at the Diglett, fainting it with one swing of his mallet
Max: - Nice, that's how it's done
Rocky: - Awesome work, Kenny
Kenny: - Thanks. Let's find the next staircase
Max: - Mhm
They run down the next hallway
With Ace, Ben, and Splat
Ace: - Now, what pokemon will I get 'special tapped' by here?
Ben: - about to tap him again
Ace: - Other than you, Ben
Ben: - Pulls back Well, let's see
A pokemon pops out of the ground in front of Ben
The pokemon looks like a Diglett, but it's taller and white
Ace: - What kinds of pokemon is that?
Splat: - Racing to catch up Did you two find the next room?
Ben: - Yeah, and we found this weird looking pokemon
Splat: - Catches up to everyone Weird pokemon? Sees the pokemon Oh. It's a Wiglett
Ben: - What's a Wiglett?
Splat: - It's a kind of pokemon known as paradox pokemon, which are mostly found in the Paldea region.
Ben: - Is it related to a Diglett?
Splat: - Mhm. It's the paradox version of Diglett
Ace: - Well, let's just kick its long body Double kicks the long body of the Wiglett
Ben: - Right Double kicks the Wiglett
Splat: - That's not gonna do much
Ace and Ben both keep double kicking
The Wiglett barely shows signs of having taken damage
Splat: - Sigh This will take forever at this rate Uses Dark Pulse on the Wiglett, weakening it a lot Finish it off
Ace and Ben Swift it at the same time
Ace and Ben: - HHAAAAA!
The Wiglett faints and retracts into its hole
Ace: - Ok, I think that should be it here
Splat: - It appears so
Ben: - Good, let's keep going
They all run down the next hallway
All the groups find the stairs to the next floor and climb up
Mt Magma: Floor 3
After a brief pause at the top of the stairs to regroup, they split off again to continue their search
With Jeff, Citrine, and Red
Red: - How many floors have we gone up?
Citrine: - I don't know. I guess 5 floors?
Jeff: - No, we've only done 2 floors. We're on our 3rd one. Don't tell me you both are already tired from going up only 2 floors.
Red and Citrine: - No, we're not!
Jeff: - That's good, since we still have 7 floors ahead of this.
Red: - So Jeff, what made you decide to be an explorer?
Jeff: - Oh, my older brother was one, and my parents were also explorers as well. They were both famous explorers for a while before they retired when my brother was born.
Citrine: - So, I guess you joined cause you want to follow the footsteps of your parents and brother. Did I summarize that right Jeff?
Jeff: - Yes, that's right, Citrine. I hope I can be famous just like my parents.
Red: - I'm sure you can, Jeff.
Jeff: - Thanks you two. Now, what are we fighting on this floor?
Just then, a swarm of Beedrills buzz in from the walls
Red: - Looks like Beedrills
Citrine: - I think we found another monster house
Jeff: - And we're the pest control
Jeff and Red use Flare Blitz and Citrine charges in with Iron Tail
Several Beedrills take damage
Citrine: - This is going to take a while
The fighting continues
With Rocky, Max, and Kenny
Kenny: - I hope the others are having better luck than we are with these wild pokemon encounters
Max: - Hey, it's part of being on an exploration team.
Kenny: - I know, and it was fun hitting those Digletts.
Rocky: - Well, trying to at least. Your accuracy could use a little work
Kenny: - I hit the holes every time. They were just a slippery little bunch of moles. I was really good at whack-a-mole in my world
Rocky: - Whack a- what?
Kenny: - Oh, is Whack-a-mole not a thing here?
Rocky: - I think I've heard that before, maybe not in the way you're thinking of.
Kenny: - Ok, at least you've heard of it
After some time with nothing happening
Max: - So Kenny…
Kenny: - Yeah?
Max: - Rocky told me that Ace told him about a sport he played in the human world
Kenny: - Oh yeah, he plays a human sport called Football. I'm on Ace's team for that, so is Ben, though Ben is temporary so he doesn't play much
Max: - I see
Rocky: - Wait, how can there be teammates that are not players?
Kenny: - Because a Football team has more members on the team than are allowed on the field.
Max: - Why have so many players on the team if they can't all play?
Kenny: - They do all play, just not all at the same time. They rotate out throughout the game.
Rocky: - Why do that? For our world's main sport, we have our whole team in for the entire match
Kenny: - Sometimes it's because of players using up all their stamina, sometimes it's to preserve our best player for important player matchups with our opponents, and sometimes it's to allow for unexpected plays that our opponents don't see coming. The reason varies each time.
Max: - I see. Well, this "Football" of yours sounds intriguing. Maybe if you go back to the human world, we could come with you, and see one of those matches
Kenny: - I hope we can go back there soon, and maybe Nathan will bring you too. As for that match, Ace, Ben, and I have a match coming up soon, so maybe you could spectate that.
Rocky: - That would be so cool to see
Max: - Yeah, it sounds interesting. I wonder how it compares to what pokemon do here
Kenny: - Anyway, I think we got off easy on this floor
Max: - Mhm. They must've heard the pounding and scampered
They continue into the next hallway
With Splat, Ace, and Ben
Ace: - What pokemon are we fighting this time?
Ben: - Prepares yet another special tap
Ace: - Pokemon that aren't you, Ben
Ben: - Puts it away
Ace: - Keeps an eye out for any wild pokemon, but sees none Looks like this floor is empty.
Ben: - Well, that's easy for us. Let's just head for the stairs now
Ace: - Agreed
Splat: - (Ahhghgh, I can't keep this to myself any longer) Runs in front of Ace and Ben
Ace and Ben pause
Ace: - Uh, Splat?
Ben: - Are you ok?
Splat: - Sigh I have something to tell you
Ace: - And that is…
Splat: - Ace, remember when I told you that I watched you hatch from your egg?
Ace: - Yeah?
Splat: - That wasn't entirely true
Ace: - Wh-what do you mean?
Splat: - You and Ben are both born pokemon, but you two were not born here. You were born as pokemon in the human world
Ace and Ben stare in shock over the news
Ben: - H-h-how? How were we not born here, but we were both born pokemon?
Splat: - Both of your parents are pokemon, but Teresa and Oliver are not your real parents
Ace: - Huh? You said she was our real mother
Splat: - I didn't want to ruin the moment of her mistakenly reuniting with her kids, who are also a Boltund named Ace and Pikachu named Ben
Ace: - What's the difference between us and her real kids?
Splat: - Her Ace and Ben are both Shinies, you two are not
Ben: - And who are our real parents?
Splat: - They're a male Alolan Raichu named Jake and a female Boltund named Lisa
Ben: - Those are the names of our parents. Thinks for a minute Wait, does that mean…?
Splat: - nods
Ace: - Ben?
Ben: - Ace, our parents in the human world, they're actually pokemon!
Ace: - What?!
Splat: - Yup, your parents were pokemon before they too went to the human world
Ace: - When did they cross over?
Splat: - That's a long story. A lot happened that caused them to go to the human world
Ben: - Could you tell us what happened? At least what you know
Splat: - Sigh Alright, but like I said, a lot happened on that day, cause it was also the same day Nathan and Devon became Mews
Ace: - Those events were that close?
Splat: - Mhm
Ace: - Must've been one heck of a day
Splat: - Indeed, it was
End of Chapter 13