Chương 1: The World Of Mystery Dungeons
Before this whole story kicks off, just wanted to say that this story is definitely a type of story I probably am not used to writing. I personally have not exactly played the Mystery Dungeon games as much as I have the core games, so my knowledge may be a bit slanted here and there. Though, this story isn't based on any of the games. It has its own original storyline.
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"Speech"
'Thoughts'
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"Shit... what the hell is this?"
A young male voice could be heard panting slightly from the clearing of a forest, the voice belonging to a humanoid entity that had a lower body that consisted of rounded hips. It also had a thin green torso along with sharp, red horns sticking out of its chest and back.
Its arms were shaped like tonfas with extendable blades in its elbows. and its head resembled that of a gladiator's helmet with a white face, crimson red eyes, and a teal head crest. It also had spikes on either side of its face.
This pokemon was a gallade, or more specifically, a gallade going by the name of Aaron. Aaron stumbled as he walked down onto the open path area within the forest, his left hand gripping his head as his right hand supported himself by leaning on the tree beside him.
"This is on messed up dream..." Aaron muttered under his breath as he got his breathing under control. He looked at his hands in confusion as he picked up a small rock before crushing it in his hands. "A gallade, huh? This feels really damn real if this is a dream..."
His words may bring some confusion, but perhaps some clarification is in order. Aaron here is a young HUMAN, someone who was just in the middle of training with his father before this all happened. He wasn't entirely sure how, but he had found himself waking up in this body. Either his father hit him too hard, or it was real.
Aaron was open to the whole supernatural things of the world, but had never actually witnessed anything considered supernatural in his life. So, seeing this whole situation he was in was rather damn shocking to him. Perhaps he was just dreaming, he didn't know.
However, he was finding it hard to believe it was truly a dream or some kind of illusion as everything he felt was way too damn real. The pain he was feeling before should have knocked him awake if it were a dream, and he was having doubts it was a dream at this point.
"Gah... my head!" Aaron whispered in a shout as he shook his head slightly, he felt as if a hammer had struck him in the head, though the feeling was going away slowly. He looked around at where he was and seemed confused, he was in some kind of forest, but it was anything but normal.
The forest he was in had trees that twisted in unnatural ways, along with having strange formations of crystals of varying colors, shapes and sizes all over the ground and some on the trees. A forest like this definitely would have been reported in the news if it were to be discovered. The fact that he was a pokemon and this forest was completely unnatural, it lead him more and more to believe that this really wasn't his damn world...
As crazy as it sounded.
Aaron's life may have been pretty much solely focused on training both physically and mentally for joining the military in the future, courtesy of his family, mainly his father. But, he did have some form of basic knowledge on things about pokemon. This was mainly thanks to his friends who brought their games and such to school so they could play
Aaron's father never exactly let him play games as he was told they were apparently major distractions, and he couldn't have that if he was going to be focusing on military training, according to his father. Most of his knowledge was only thanks to his friends, and even then, it was still very much limited.
"You, the gallade there! Run~!"
"Huh...?" Aaron blinked his eyes as he looked up and to the left to see who had just shouted towards him. When he did, he saw a pokemon running on all fours, having a black body with golden rings on multiple areas of their being. 'That's... an umbreon, right? What the heck is it running from...?'
Aaron narrowed his eyes as he that the umbreon was running away from what appeared to be three other pokemon, much bigger than itself and with what appeared to be red boxing gloves on their hands. He recognised those easily to be hitmonchen, it's pretty hard to forget them after seeing them for the first time. Especially with those natural gloves.
From what he was seeing, the three hitmonchen were chasing after the umbreon for whatever reason. It was obvious they were hostile, and along with those cruel smirks that they had on their faces, he didn't like them a single bit.
'Might as well test out this body...' Aaron thought to himself as he dashed towards them at incredible speeds, surprising the umbreon and the hitmonchen. The umbreon had rushed past Aaron as he came towards them, though skidded to a stop and looked back to see Aaron facing the three down.
"So, you want a beat down as well, huh?!"
"Getting in our way isn't the smartest of moves!"
"Let's see how you deal with the three of us, fellow fighter." The last hitmonchan snorted as the three of them got into boxing position. Aaron just scoffed as he gave them a small smirk, taunting them to come at him as they grew tick marks on their heads out of annoyance from the action.
One of the hitmonchen rushed towards Aaron, throwing a fast punch forwards towards Aaron's head. However, he easily managed to turn his body to the side to dodge as the hitmonchan sailed past him, though he didn't get far before Aaron quickly gripped him by the lower half of his face before slamming him to the ground before stomping on his head, effectively knocking him out.
The other two widened their eyes at this, though quickly began glaring at him before rushing towards him at the same time. They began sending countless punches, though Aaron was parrying them and countering them with his own punches and also kicks. He even noticed one of them encase their hand in some kind of orange energy, though he easily redirected the attack, effectively killing a great amount of power in the punch.
He then kicked away one of them, causing them to stumble back before falling to the ground due to losing balance. He then proceeded to fight the other one in a boxing match, which he was easily overwhelming the hitmonchan as he then delivered a powerful uppercut, sending him flying a few meters into the air, to which the pokemon crashed to the ground unconscious.
Boxing was one of the many fighting styles that his father had taught him, he didn't use it often, if at all, but it seemed to prove useful to him as it allowed him to know how to deal with boxers in general. Knowing how to fight like a boxer helped in knowing how to fight against one as well.
Aaron then quickly began dashing towards the last hitmonchan that was stumbling back up onto their feet, to which they looked to see Aaron quickly dashing at him. The hitmonchan didn't get to react before Aaron jumped and began bicycle kicking at incredible speeds. Hitmonchan was unable to block them before Aaron sent more power into one of the kicks, effectively striking the hitmonchan's head, sending it skidding across the floor limp.
'That was easy.' Aaron thought to himself as he looked at the unmoving forms of the three fighting-types. He then looked at one of his hands before clenching it a few times, though he did smile after a few seconds. 'It seems that my body is far stronger and flexible compared to my human body. Not surprising.'
Compared to his human body, this body felt far stronger and far more flexible. He noticed how his speed more than tripled, along with his physical strength as well as flexibility. This was a pokemon body though, and they generally have far stronger bodies compared to humans, though not every single one.
This was obvious from the way he fought just now, his punches and such were far stronger compared to what they were normally. Along with the number of kicks he did in that final bicycle kick combo he did, which he easily did over twenty before falling back down. He would normally only be able to perform six or eight.
"That was totally epic!" Aaron snapped out of his thought and awe of his newfound power as he heard the voice of the umbreon from before. He turned around to see the umbreon running over towards him, to which the pokemon looked up at him with sparkling eyes. "You didn't even need to use any moves and you beat them so easily! You're incredible!"
"Yeah, thanks. So, you okay?"
"I'm totally fine. The name is Night, a pleasure to meet you."
"I see, nice to meet you as well, Night. I'm Aaron." While he was a bit weirded out by the fact that he was speaking with a pokemon, he wasn't surprised considering he was turned into one. So, knowing how to understand and speak to other pokemon wasn't surprising. "So, why were they chasing you?"
"Well, I was honestly just minding my own business before those three attempted to jump me. They wanted to take some of the rare crystals I found deeper in the forest." Night explained as Aaron nodded his head in understanding. Night then gave a sigh. "I swear, these Mystery Dungeons are getting more and more dangerous."
"Mystery Dungeons? What are those?"
"Eh...?" Night froze as he looked at Aaron as if he were dumb. Aaron just blinked at the look, he was really damn confused. Were these Mystery Dungeons common knowledge here or something? "Y-You don't know...? But, we're literally in one right now!"
"Uh..." Aaron wasn't exactly sure how to respond to that.
"W-Well, Mystery Dungeons are mysterious and dangerous places, some more so than others." Night began explaining as Aaron listened intently. Any information was important. "They can be found all over the entire world, no one really knows where they came from. Though, it's even stranger as whenever you enter it again, the layout changes."
"So, it's completely random upon entry?" Aaron asked with a raised eyebrow, to which Night nodded. Aaron could think of many problems that could cause. Such as there being no possible way of creating a map to remember how to traverse them. "Do the exits and such lead somewhere else than when they change?"
"Nope. Don't know how it works, but they always will lead to the same place depending on where you enter and exit from." Night shrugged as he responded to the question. Aaron crossed his arms, a thoughtful expression on his face as he mulled over this. "Anyway, if you didn't know, how come you're in this place then?"
"Hm? Well, I kinda just woke up in here." Night blinked dumbly at this. "Speaking of which, do you know if there is any kind of settlement around these parts? I don't exactly know where it is I even am, so finding someplace to stay is on my list of things to do first..."
"Oh, you can come along with me back to Starlake Town! It's just at the end of the dungeon."
"Starlake?"
"Yeah, it's the town that I live in. Since you don't know where you even are, why not come along?"
"Sure, I guess. Not like I have much of a choice."
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The dungeon that they were getting out of didn't take long at all as only twenty or so minutes had passed as they were now exiting. From what Night had told Aaron, the forest they were in was called Crystalline Forest, which wasn't surprising considering all of the crystals around the area.
As they made their way through, they were intercepted by a number of pokemon, though they were all able to easily take care of them. Night had proven to be decently tough, and Aaron was pretty certain that the guy could have taken care of those hitmonchen. Why he didn't, he wasn't sure.
Along the way, Night had explained a few things about the place they were going. This Starlake Town had existed for a number of decades now, and while it hasn't been around for long compared to the other places, had built a reputation for its festivals that it holds every two months. Though, the main reputation came from a certain lake that they were now looking at from a cliff.
"Woah... So, this is Starlake Town." Aaron muttered with surprise and awe as he looked down towards the lake. The lake was located at the center of a rather massive town that surrounded it. The buildings were probably made from some kind of polished stone from what he could see from here. His eyesight seemed to have greatly improved as well in this body.
Aaron could also see why the town was called Starlake. The very lake that it surrounded wasn't shaped like a star, but it was perfectly round and the water seemed to sparkle as if it was the night sky. The water looked as if there were small stars scattering all within, and the sun's rays seemed to make shine even more beautifully.
"Beautiful, ain't it?" Night smiled as he stood beside Aaron. Night was proud to live in this town, it was such a beautiful and calming town to live in. Along with having the crystal-filled forest, their source of income for the town wasn't bad at all. "By the way, I've been to ask. Why is it that I haven't seen you using any moves while in the forest?"
Aaron blinked at this as he contemplated whether to tell the truth or not. The thing is, a decision like this can cause a lot of effects for the future. There is a saying of 'The truth can lose you something. But a lie can lose you everything'. In this case, if he were to tell the truth now to Night, the risk of trust issues can be avoided in the future.
While it may make him sound absolutely crazy the things he could tell Night, he felt that it was probably best to let it out now instead of letting it linger for too long. If it turns out Night figures out in the future that he's been keeping secrets, it wouldn't bode well. Though, maybe he would be understanding that just outright saying things like 'I'm actually a human' would have made him sound insane.
Well, perhaps it's better to just out it right now.
"The thing is, I don't exactly know how to use my moves..."
"..." Night just stopped moving as Aaron did the same. They had begun moving down the hill towards the town when Aaron said this, which was the cause for why Night suddenly stopped moving and looked at him with a dumbfounded look. "What do you mean...? How don't you know how to use moves?!"
"Would you believe me if I said I used to be a human?"
"W-Wait, human?" Night blinked as his mouth dropped slightly as he heard this. From the expression that Night had, Aaron wouldn't be surprised if the guy thought he was insane. However... instead of a look of disbelief, the guy had an excited look in his eyes. What the heck? "That's awesome! If what you're saying is true, then you're one the Abnormal Ones!"
"Wait, you believe?" Aaron blinked as he said this with his own disbelief. Didn't what he just said sound absolutely insane? He could have sworn he sounded totally crazy... "Wait, what do you mean exactly by 'Abnormal Ones'?"
"Well, the thing is, the news of humans turning into pokemon isn't all too crazy anymore." Night explained as they continued walking. Aaron just rose an eyebrow in confusion at this. "Don't get me wrong, it's incredibly rare that it happens. There have only been probably four or so instances and reports of such a thing happening. They were all on separate continents."
"So... other humans have become pokemon as well?" Night nodded his head at this as Aaron blinked in surprise at this. It seems that he made the right decision of telling Night the truth, otherwise he might not have known this for a damn long time, and it lifted quite a lot of weight off of his shoulders of potentially telling the guy in the future. "I guess that's a lot of weight off my shoulders... so, back to the moves thing. How would I exactly be able to use my moves?"
"It's not exactly about you being able to, it's more about how you can use them. Your body can technically use any move that it can, it's just that you don't know how." Night explained as Aaron nodded his head in understanding. "You're a physical attacker. So, your species uses a lot of moves that directly hit. The knowledge of how usually either randomly comes to you out of instinct, or you're taught by someone who already knows how."
"So, pray basically..." Aaron frowned. Unless he found someone who could teach him how to use some moves that he could potentially use, he would have to pretty much hope that his body uses a move and he learns from the experience. Until then though, he could probably rely on his fighting styles. It's been doing him just fine as of right now.
"Don't worry! From what I've heard from reports, the other pokemon that were previously humans all struggled the same way you did at the start with moves, though it turned out fine. I'm sure you're the same!" Night smiled as they continued down the path. He then excitedly stated. "Also, every single one of them became part of top-tier rescue teams! The best of the best!"
"Rescue teams? I don't know what that is..."
"R-Really?! Oh, right, you were a human... No wonder you don't know." Night blushed slightly in embarrassment as he recalled. "Rescue teams, which are also sometimes known as exploration teams, are formed groups of pokemon that do things like exploring those mystery dungeons I told you about. We also can take on jobs that pertain to taking on criminals, looking for treasure. There's a lot of things."
'It sounds like one of those adventurer's guild things in RPGs...' Aaron thought to himself as he heard the explanation. He had never personally played any kind of RPG games, but he had some knowledge of some basic things. Mainly thanks to schoolmates. These rescue teams sounded like teams formed within those guilds and such, probably the same thing.
"Though, not every continent has the same system and such when forming teams."
"What do you mean?"
"Some continents have different systems for how a team is formed. For example, in the Grass Continent, pokemon join a guild to form teams. Unlike in the Mist Continent, where I think they just need to set up a request board for other pokemon to put in requests. I'm pretty sure it's up to them to get the name of their team spread out to the land so they can grow. There are many different ways in the different continents."
"What about here then? In... whatever continent this is."
"Ancient Continent."
"Why is it called that?"
"Well, it's because our continent is apparently the first continent to be formed here in the world. We have a ton of history compared to other continents, and most of it is still a mystery." Night explained as Aaron nodded with an interested look. "To the previous question. To form a rescue team here in the Ancient Continent, you need to pass an exam that is held every year. There are usually hundreds of pokemon who participate, though only an average of five to eight teams even manage to pass. The teams can also only reach up to four members during the exam."
"You say 'during the exam', so they can obviously increase in members after you become official, right?"
"Yep! There's no set limit to the number of members that can be a part of a team, it's entirely up to the team itself to decide on how many members and who to take on their jobs." Aaron nodded at this. The team would have to decide what would be for the best, such as if having too many members on a job would be a benefit or not as too many members at the same time could cause trouble. "The exam, from what I've heard, is pretty damn difficult. Though, it'll be totally worth it!"
"You sound excited. Are you perhaps in a team that's going to be participating?"
"W-Well, not at the moment..." Night sighed as they were nearing the entrance to the town. Aaron could see a number of pokemon walking inside, along with a few hanging around outside. "I want to form a team myself, though I haven't exactly found anyone to join yet. You need a minimum of two people in your team, of course, otherwise, it's not even a team, to participate."
"I see, then what kind of members are you looking for?"
"Well, I want members that I can actually get along with well. Friendship between members is important as that will affect how well we can work together." Night stated as Aaron fully agreed on that. Teamwork is essential, otherwise, the team would just break down. "Oh, I know! How about you and I form a team!"
"Huh...?"
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