Pokémon Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Research of the Past

[LutherAmarine]

Hey'ya! So... I've been wanting to write my own PMD story. At first I was wanting to do my own variation of Rescue Team's story, but I wasn't really feeling my idea for it. So instead, I've decided to go for my own storyline. I will admit, this is my first time writing a proper fanfic, although I have roleplayed and played D&D a few times in the past. If anything, I feel this might be a good experience for me to get into writing. (Also, I am hoping that I stick with and commit to this!)

Anyways, do feel free to give any criticisms, especially involving spelling and grammar issues! While I did reread and proofread, sometimes I do get the feeling that I missed a mistake or two.

I'm not sure if a content warning is necessary, but just in case, this chapter contains a small fight scene and a near death experience.

EDIT: Decided to change the name since I... honestly didn't like it! And realized that the story wouldn't just focus on the Warlock.

---

Chapter 1 – A Stressful Awakening​

Music: Final Fantasy VI - Awakening

It was another tiring and depressing day at school today. Another usual round of being bullied and another usual round of being alone. Ever since my friend disappeared a year ago, I just couldn’t bring myself to approach others again. I just didn’t want to talk to anyone today, or even play my usual games. I just wanted to go to bed immediately. I opened the door to my apartment, thankfully my mom always let me have a spare key. Walking in, it already feels lonely. The TV was playing my mom’s usual favorite lifetime drama shows and already she was passed out on the couch. I couldn’t help but to feel bad for her, I know how stressful things have been for her. Life have been rough ever since dad left us.



Well, either way I didn’t feel like thinking about it right now. I just wanted to go to sleep already. I flopped onto bed without a second thought, not even bothering to cover myself in blankets. And almost immediately, I began to drift off into sleep…



My bed felt so cozy and comfortable… I could lay here for the rest of the day. Homework? Dinner? Setting up an alarm? Forget about those. I just want to sleep as long as I want. I don’t want to think about anything.



...Except for maybe… the heat. I don’t know why, but it starting to feel like it was getting hot… I’m glad that I didn’t sleep with my blankets on, but… why does it feel like it’s getting hot all of a sudden?! I’m starting to find it hard to keep sleeping… I don’t want to wake up… but… ugh, I can’t take it anymore!



Upon opening my eyes… I was unable to comprehend what I was seeing. All I could see was red, orange, and black. All three of those colors are merging and mixing together. It felt extremely hot, a loud beep was going off, and I was hearing a bunch of incomprehensible screaming. What was going on?!

Music: Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon - Welcome to the World of Pokemon!

Everything went so fast, when all of a sudden… I found myself in a strange ethereal zone. It was very wavy with meshes of blue and green flowing through each other. My sudden displacement happened in a blink of an eye. In fact, it feels like everything is happening in a blink of an eye! Was this a dream? Or maybe a nightmare?! Soon after, I heard a voice call out to me… I couldn’t understand everything they were saying. All I could hear was “We need a hero… one with a human heart…” I… couldn’t find myself able to respond. I was still feeling severely hot from earlier. The only thing I could do… was to shake my head.



“Listen… we don’t have much time… we need a hero… plus, I saved your life!”



I wanted to clench my head. It was in pain, but… I couldn’t find myself able to move my arms.



“We cool? Okay, we cool!”



Wait, NO! I’m not cool with suddenly being taken away like this! I shook my head and tried to protest.



“Look buddy… we don’t have much time… besides, you owe me!”



…I suppose I’m not in a position to refuse. Although I just couldn’t understand what they meant.



“Alright… just remember… Look for The Warlock… that is your mission.”



Look for The Warlock… okay… is that all?



“Oh, but first… look for a blue star… and walk away from it… got it?”



...I guess? I could only nod in response.



“Alright, off you go, hero!”



Suddenly, I found myself falling… and falling… and falling! The waves of blue and green rushed by me with extreme speed. I tilted my head downwards to see where I was falling into within this mysterious, colorful void… and what I saw was a large, golden ring. I closed my eyes and grit my teeth as I fell through the ring… and soon after I felt my descent was slowing down. I slowly opened my eyes again and saw that my body was slowly going through the ring… not only that, but I felt like my body was… changing forms… I wasn’t sure what was happening to me! And soon after the golden ring passed by my head, I soon found myself in another location. I wasn’t in my room, no… I was outside, looking up at the night sky.

Music: Breath of Fire III - Sandy Sound

I put my small, stubby claws on this soft and coarse ground to push up my upper body, going from laying down to sitting down. Shaking my head and regaining my senses, I immediately took a look at my surroundings. All I saw… was just sand. Loads of sand. Plains of sand and dunes of sand, everywhere. Some cacti and rocks scattered here and there… and a bone sitting right next to me. I couldn’t help but to be fixated on this bone. Normally I’d freak out to randomly come across a bone lying next to me, but… something about it felt like I should grab it.



I reached for the bone, grabbing it with my small, brown, scaly hand… wait… what now?! I immediately jumped up to my feet and looked all over my body! Not only was I smaller and stubbier, but my skin looked smooth and scaly. I even looked behind myself… and saw that I have a little tail. Lastly I felt my head, as I feel like I was wearing a strange mask. It was covering my face completely, but it felt like it was made out of bone. Once again, I looked at my hands… my tiny little hands and claws… it was when I realized that I was no longer human.



I was a Cubone… and alone in the middle of the desert!



This… was bad. I quickly grabbed my bone, knowing that it’s all I got to defend myself, and that’s assuming that I even know how to fight! But honestly, I have even worse problems, as I am stuck here with no directions to find any safe civilization! I paced around and began to panic… what was I gonna do? Where was I gonna go? And if I get jumped, I’m all alone, and I don’t have… have… someone… to defend me… someone did protect me back then… but… I can’t remember them! And I knew I was a student, but… what was I doing? And did I have any family? The more I thought about it, the more I panicked. I continued to spiral into my despair, until I shouted…



“Come on, Tristan, pull yourself together!!”



Tristan… yeah. That’s my name. Okay, that’s what I remember at least! So I didn’t forget everything, that’s at least a relief! But first… I need to find a way out of this desert. I tapped my skull helmet with my claw, trying to think of a solution… that’s when I remembered that mysterious voice…



“Look for a blue star… and walk away from it…”



It is night time, so the stars must be visible. Especially since there’s no excessive amount of light to block out the night sky. Oh yeah, that was a thing I remember dealing with back at home… anyways! I need to find the blue star in the sky. I scanned the night sky to look for that blue shining dot… there was the moon… a red star… another red star… and… bingo, the blue star, shining high above the sky! I wasted no time facing away from the blue star and making my towards what I hope is someplace safe. It was the only lead that I had.



I continued to walk in this direction, hoping to come across something. So far it’s just been cacti and dunes of sand. Despite being night time, it wasn’t that hard to see where I was going. It must be due to the clear skies and the moon shining down onto the vast desert. I kept walking across the dunes of sand, hoping to find something in the distance. It wasn’t too long until I could see an orange glimmer in the far distance. That, I could only assume to be a settlement of some sort. I suppose that I should be thankful that whoever teleported me didn’t place me too far away from it. Either way, all I can do is just continue walking. Thinking about it, it’s probably going to be a very long walk…



All I could do is just walk and think about the situation I’m in. Considering that this is going to be a very long trip, I’ve decided to ask myself, “What do I remember?” Well, I was formerly a human and a student, my name is Tristan, and I had a close friend that would protect me. That’s all I can seem to remember about myself specifically. But what else do I remember? Anything about my home? Well, I do remember being in the city and excessive light pollution. That always made it hard to see stars in the night sky, and it always made the nights feel so dull and dreary. I did yearn to see the starry skies like I saw in photos that I’ve seen. It feels strange, it feels like my memories just have various holes in them. The only thing I could recall are just bits and pieces, at least until something reminds me of my past. Actually, now I wonder, how do I know what a Cubone is? Was it just instinct, or did these species exist back home? I thought about it for a moment… and managed to remember seeing various creatures back home. I think… they were called Pokemon? I vaguely recalled the term “Pokemon Trainer”… Oh! Yeah, that I do remember. I had no idea what I wanted to be when I grow up, but I do remember being disinterested in being a Pokemon Trainer. I think I’m starting to get somewhere…



Another thing I wonder to myself: Who is this “Warlock”? Whoever sent me here intends for me to become a hero that will stop this so-called Warlock. I don’t understand why they picked me, or why someone with a human-heart is necessary to defeat someone like that. They could’ve told me more, but it seemed like they were in a rush. I just can’t help but to feel that they have picked a poor choice for a hero...



I snapped back into reality as I realize that I almost walked right into a purple stinger. I let out a shocked gasp as I jumped away from it, nearly getting pierced by it! The mysterious assailant leaped out from the sand, hissing right at me! It seemed to resemble a purple bug with two pinchers and a stinger… I do believe that’s a Skorupi. I began to sweat and panic, realizing that not only do I have no experience with fighting as a Cubone, but I’m all alone and in the middle of the desert! If I lose this fight, or get poisoned… no, I mustn’t think about that! I need to focus!

Music: Suikoden V - Time for Confrontation

I gripped my bone club tightly in my hand, trying to stay calm. I kept my eyes on it to anticipate their movements. It let out a low hiss… and it attempted to stab me with its stinger! It didn’t reach me, but it certainly felt like it could! I let out a gasp as I jumped back on reaction, feeling unsure on how to approach them. I would rather not fight them, but they’re standing in between me and potential civilization. I tried to step to the side to walk around it, but it also stepped to the side to keep in front of me. No matter what, it always tried to block my attempt to walk past it. Thinking that maybe it’ll go away if I leave, I attempted to back away from it. As I backed away, it followed after me anyways. At that point, I knew that there was no way I could run away from this fight.



“Pl-please, just go away!” I stuttered towards the Skorupi. It didn’t seem to acknowledge what I said, as it did not change its stance. It raised its tail up, looking like it was going to strike. I shouted at them, “I don’t want to fight, go away!” It hissed then suddenly lunged right towards me with its stinging tail! I tried to jump out of the way, but it ended up piercing my shoulder. I let out a scream as I felt the sharp pain. Words of panic start to fill my head upon being struck.



Oh no, please tell me that I didn’t get poisoned!

I’m gonna die here!

Please, just go away, I don’t know where I even am!



??????, PLEASE HELP!!



Fear and panic overtook my mind as I screamed. I ran towards the Skorupi with reckless abandon, swinging my bone club around wildly. Every pinch, every sting, I felt them. I couldn’t tell what was happening as I wildly struck and bashed the scorpion. I wasn’t even sure if I was even hitting them. It all happened so fast, that the next thing I knew, I was exhausted and woozy. I was breathing heavily, staring at my opponent. The Skorupi looked like it was exhausted, as much as I could tell anyways. Its tail was lowered, looking like it was about to back away… and thankfully, it fled. I could not gather the energy to chase after it, even if I wanted to.



I wasn’t sure how, but… I managed to fend off my opponent. But I could not make it out unscathed. Looking all over my body, it seemed that I have sustained a lot of damage. Suddenly, I clenched my right shoulder in pain, finding myself unable to move it much, if at all. It may have been likely that I’ve been poisoned… the reality of the situation started to sink in within my mind.

Music: Final Fantasy IV - Suspicion

I might actually die here.



But I couldn’t give up here. Not yet. I held my bone club in my hand, trying to head towards the orange glimmer. At least, I think I was. Everything was starting to become blurry in my eyes. I was feeling weak and in severe pain. I kept trying to walk… and walk… and walk…



Until I couldn’t walk anymore.

I collapsed into the sand, unable to stand up anymore.

“Please… help me… anyone… I’m dying here…”

Nobody came.

“Please… somebody… HELP!!”



I laid in the sand for what felt like forever. I didn’t know if anyone was going to come to my rescue, or if I was going to succumb to my wounds, or if a wild Pokemon was going to finish me off, or worse…



I then began to hear someone in the distance. I slowly turned my head towards their direction.

“Hey! Dude, you okay?!”

I could not respond.

“Dude, don’t die on me!”

It felt like I was being lifted up. I could not tell who it was. Everything felt numb to me and everything was blurry. It wasn’t too long that my world began to be covered in darkness.



“Arlene, quick! We’re going back to Sahra Town!”

“Yeah, hang on, Jason!”



Not too long after… I could see nothing but darkness as my consciousness faded away...

 

[canisaries]

Hi! Decided to check this out at random.

For the beginning, I appreciate that the reader's time isn't wasted with getting to the inciting event, but I could have done with a little bit more detail. I suspect that detail was kept scarce on purpose so that the protagonist rediscovering his past would also bring new revelations to the audience once it happened, but I think there are still details that could give roughly the same amount of raw information but help in immersing the reader further. Like, how was the protagonist bullied? Name-calling? His things being hidden or stolen or ruined? Physical violence? Ultimately the result is still us learning that he was bullied, but the picture painted is more vivid. It could help engage the reader in the protagonist's struggles further.

Though, saying that, I don't think there is any huge issue with stakes or engagement as things are now. Putting a kid characterized as just a regular kid through a bizarre and later life-threatening experience is a tried-and-true method to get the audience on the protagonist's side. He's also given a very clear goal for this chapter, walk away from the blue star, so when an obstacle happens (the Skorupi), we know he has to face it or he might be wandering in the desert forever.

I don't have much else to say yet as the chapter wasn't too long, but I wouldn't mind catching more of this when more is uploaded. Oh, and forgot to mention, but Cubone is a based pick for the protag's species. Especially if he's dealing with the loss of someone very important to him - makes thematic sense.

See you around!

 

[Negrek]

Congrats on getting your first fic posted! I hope you've been having fun with it. I think coming in from a roleplaying background is pretty common with fanfic!

I'm guessing that Tristan's life pre-Isekai won't end up being very important, given their degree of amnesia, but I was intrigued by the brief glimpse we got and how much of it seemed to be defined by absence, with his friend missing and his dad out of the picture. And now his mom's lost him, too--pretty bleak! Doesn't seem like she's coping well as it is. But while "divorced father" isn't something it seems a magical Pokémon adventure would be able to fix, I do kind of wonder whether that disappeared friend might make an appearance later.

Once we get to the Pokémon World, the events are pretty familiar; mysterious voice, waking up with amnesia, meeting a partner(s). I do like the use of a cubone protagonist here and the desert setting, both of which are fairly uncommon (and cool!) choices for a PMD story. It's also nice that we're kind of getting the typical opening material out of the way quickly, so we move into the parts that are original to this story faster. Since you decided not to do a retelling of one of the games, I'm excited to see what called to you instead.

As far as spelling/grammar issues go, one thing to look out for is changes in tense. Most of the fic is in past tense, but now and again you slip into present tense for a while. In this paragraph, for example:

I even looked behind myself… and saw that I have a little tail. Lastly I felt my head, as I feel like I was wearing a strange mask.

The bolded words are in present tense, when they should be in past tense; the correct wording would be "I had a little tail" and "I felt like I was wearing a strange mask," respectively.

Another example here:

This… was bad. I quickly grabbed my bone, knowing that it’s all I got to defend myself, and that’s assuming that I even know how to fight! But honestly, I have even worse problems, as I am stuck here with no directions to find any safe civilization! I paced around and began to panic… what was I gonna do? Where was I gonna go? And if I get jumped, I’m all alone, and I don’t have… have… someone… to defend me… someone did protect me back then… but… I can’t remember them!

Correcting everything to be in past tense, this passage should read more or less like this:

This… was bad. I quickly grabbed my bone, knowing that it’s all I had to defend myself, and that’s assuming that I even knew how to fight! But honestly, I had even worse problems, as I was stuck here with no directions to find any safe civilization! I paced around and began to panic… what was I gonna do? Where was I gonna go? And if I got jumped, I’d be all alone, and I wouldn't have… have… someone… to defend me… someone did protect me back then… but… I couldn’t remember them!

If you don't already, I'd recommend you try reading your story aloud as a proofreading step. It can sometimes be much easier to literally hear when sentences like these "sound wrong" when spoken aloud.

Anyway, curious to see where the story goes from here. I'm especially hoping to get to know Tristan and the new world he finds himself in a bit better, since we haven't gotten much chance to explore either of them yet. Good luck with your next chapter!

 

[K_S]

Chapter 1 – A Stressful Awakening​

Music: Final Fantasy VI - Awakening

Unfortunatly I can't listen to the music so no comment on that I guess...

It was another tiring and depressing day at school today. Another usual round of being bullied and another usual round of being alone.

winces.

That type of protag huh? I get the allure, but yipe.

While reading I noticed you used the same terms or almost, within the same lines. While i get day and today arent exactly the same, its close enough to be jarring. Ususal round being used twice in one spot was enough to snap me out of immersion and get me hunting up my red pen.

Ever since my friend disappeared a year ago, I just couldn’t bring myself to approach others again. I just didn’t want to talk to anyone today, or even play my usual games. I just wanted to go to bed immediately.

Hello depression, the social shut down and barely scraping by. It makes me thinknof the begining of Stranger Things, without wills friend group as backup.

I opened the door to my apartment, thankfully my mom always let me have a spare key. Walking in, it already feels lonely. The TV was playing my mom’s usual favorite lifetime drama shows and already she was passed out on the couch. I couldn’t help but to feel bad for her, I know how stressful things have been for her. Life have been rough ever since dad left us.

Wonderful. It definitly feels like that this is def a rough patch for the whole family. For different yet interlocking reasons... but still.

Well, either way I didn’t feel like thinking about it right now. I just wanted to go to sleep already. I flopped onto bed without a second thought, not even bothering to cover myself in blankets. And almost immediately, I began to drift off into sleep…

Kiddo went to bed w his backpack on. Ouch. If he transfers to a new world as a squirtle (i cant think of any other starter with a heavy shell like back) i'd be tempted to call it self inflicted karma.

My bed felt felt so cozy and comfortable… I could lay here for the rest of the day. Homework? Dinner? Setting up an alarm? Forget that about those. I just want to sleep as long as I want. don’t want to think about anything. And veg out.

So since p.o.v. is depressed and borderline offline i fogure a fun way to show that is to tweek the text. The section aboves been altered a little.

Basically i cut down as much as i could. This shows that p.o.v. is so done he's not bothering with the mental effort beyond bare minimum and tracks with thier "exhausted dont care" mojo.

I also cut out a duplicat of want that was right next to another want in my culling.

...Except for maybe… the heat. I don’t know why, but it starting to feel like it was getting hot… I’m glad that I didn’t sleep with my blankets on, but… why does it feel like it’s getting hot all of a sudden?! I’m starting to find it hard to keep sleeping… I don’t want to wake up… but… ugh, I can’t take it anymore!



Upon opening my eyes… I was unable to comprehend what I was seeing. All I could see was red, orange, and black. All three of those colors are were merging and mixing together. It felt extremely hot, a loud beep was going off, and I was hearing a bunch of incomprehensible screaming. What was going on?!

So i saw a reference to heat/hot 4x in 8 lines... you might wanna thing them down a bit or even just show how our p.o.v. is toasting. Sweats, fanning self, ect you get the idea...

Music: Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon - Welcome to the World of Pokemon!

Everything went so fast, when all of a sudden… I found myself in a strange ethereal zone. It was very wavy with meshes of blue and green flowing through each other. My sudden displacement happened in a blink of an eye. In fact, it feels like everything is happening in a blink of an eye! Was this a dream? Or maybe a nightmare?! Soon after, I heard a voice call out to me… I couldn’t understand everything they were saying. All I could hear was “We need a hero… one with a human heart…”

my inner cynic is going... what makes a human heart so special... also have you seen the state of this one's psyche? I dont think the hood can hold more suffering.

Bet arc' doesn't care tho. Or hoopla. Whoevers running this koddoe hero abduction hotline...

Though, thought, i'm wondering if this isnt where our p.o.v.s friend got ghosted to?

I… couldn’t find myself able to respond. I was still feeling severely hot from earlier. The only thing I could do… was to shake my head.



“Listen… we don’t have much time… we need a hero… plus, I saved your life!”



I wanted to clench my head. It was in pain, but… I couldn’t find myself able to move my arms.



“We cool? Okay, we cool!”

Our abductor sounds a mite desperate.

I'm imagining the legends arceus meme...

where (before we knew the games timeline) people assumed Arc' gently dropped a kiddie protag into the french revolution squealing "i messed it up,fix it!"

Tjis has that vive and i feel nothing but sympathy for our protag right now.

Wait, NO! I’m not cool with suddenly being taken away like this! I shook my head and tried to protest.



“Look buddy… we don’t have much time… besides, you owe me!”



…I suppose I’m not in a position to refuse. Although I just couldn’t understand what they meant.



“Alright… just remember… Look for The Warlock… that is your mission.”



Look for The Warlock… okay… is that all?



“Oh, but first… look for a blue star… and walk away from it… got it?”



...I guess? I could only nod in response.



“Alright, off you go, hero!”



Suddenly, I found myself falling… and falling… and falling! The waves of blue and green rushed by me with extreme speed. I tilted my head downwards to see where I was falling into within this mysterious, colorful void… and what I saw was a large, golden ring. I closed my eyes and grit my teeth as I fell through the ring… and soon after I felt my descent was slowing down. I slowly opened my eyes again and saw that my body was slowly going through the ring… not only that, but I felt like my body was… changing forms… I wasn’t sure what was happening to me! And soon after the golden ring passed by my head, I soon found myself in another location. I wasn’t in my room, no… I was outside, looking up at the night sky.

Music: Breath of Fire III - Sandy Sound

I put my small, stubby claws on this soft and coarse ground to push up my upper body, going from laying down to sitting down. Shaking my head and regaining my senses, I immediately took a look at my surroundings. All I saw… was just sand. Loads of sand. Plains of sand and dunes of sand, everywhere. Some cacti and rocks scattered here and there… and a bone sitting right next to me. I couldn’t help but to be fixated on this bone. Normally I’d freak out to randomly come across a bone lying next to me, but… something about it felt like I should grab it.

Hmm is he a cubone. If he is that feels unnecessay mean.

I reached for the bone, grabbing it with my small, brown, scaly hand… wait… what now?!

Called it. Ohh boy the meme bait. The comparisons to poor Tim in detective pikachu...

I immediately jumped up to my feet and looked all over my body! Not only was I smaller and stubbier, but my skin looked smooth and scaly. I even looked behind myself… and saw that I have a little tail. Lastly I felt my head, as I feel like I was wearing a strange mask. It was covering my face completely, but it felt like it was made out of bone. Once again, I looked at my hands… my tiny little hands and claws… it was when I realized that I was no longer human.

Feel and felt are nearly touching. I dont know if you want to fix it or not... but i bolded it to help you find it if you do.

I was a Cubone… and alone in the middle of the desert!

Seriously i get it's the lonely mon but this is a bit over the top...

This… was bad. I quickly grabbed my bone, knowing that it’s all I got to defend myself, and that’s assuming that I even know how to fight! But honestly, I have even worse problems, as I am stuck here with no directions to find any safe civilization! I paced around and began to panic… what was I gonna do? Where was I gonna go? And if I get jumped, I’m all alone, and I don’t have… have… someone… to defend me… someone did protect me back then… but… I can’t remember them!

I see the amnesias kicked in. Interesting that its progressive. They got a glimmer of oldword data... but it almost seems to be smearing out as they try to access the finer pionts.

And I knew I was a student, but… what was I doing? And did I have any family? The more I thought about it, the more I panicked. I continued to spiral into my despair, until I shouted…



“Come on, Tristan, pull yourself together!!”

Well at least he's got a name. Interesting way to drop it on the reader...

Tristan… yeah. That’s my name. Okay, that’s what I remember at least! So I didn’t forget everything, that’s at least a relief! But first… I need to find a way out of this desert. I tapped my skull helmet with my claw, trying to think of a solution… that’s when I remembered that mysterious voice…



“Look for a blue star… and walk away from it…”



It is night time, so the stars must be visible. Especially since there’s no excessive amount of light to block out the night sky. Oh yeah, that was a thing I remember dealing with back at home… anyways! I need to find the blue star in the sky. I scanned the night sky to look for that blue shining dot… there was the moon… a red star… another red star… and… bingo, the blue star, shining high above the sky! I wasted no time facing away from the blue star and making my towards what I hope is someplace safe. It was the only lead that I had.

Glad he was able to keep that lead. Hopefully theres water at the end of this hike.

I continued to walk in this direction, hoping to come across something. So far it’s just been cacti and dunes of sand. Despite being night time, it wasn’t that hard to see where I was going. It must be due to the clear skies and the moon shining down onto the vast desert. I kept walking across the dunes of sand, hoping to find something in the distance. It wasn’t too long until I could see an orange glimmer in the far distance. That, I could only assume to be a settlement of some sort. I suppose that I should be thankful that whoever teleported me didn’t place me too far away from it. Either way, all I can do is just continue walking. Thinking about it, it’s probably going to be a very long walk…



All I could do is just walk and think about the situation I’m in. Considering that this is going to be a very long trip, I’ve decided to ask myself, “What do I remember?” Well, I was formerly a human and a student, my name is Tristan, and I had a close friend that would protect me. That’s all I can seem to remember about myself specifically. But what else do I remember? Anything about my home? Well, I do remember being in the city and excessive light pollution. That always made it hard to see stars in the night sky, and it always made the nights feel so dull and dreary. I did yearn to see the starry skies like I saw in photos that I’ve seen. It feels strange, it feels like my memories just have various holes in them. The only thing I could recall are just bits and pieces, at least until something reminds me of my past. Actually, now I wonder, how do I know what a Cubone is? Was it just instinct, or did these species exist back home? I thought about it for a moment… and managed to remember seeing various creatures back home. I think… they were called Pokemon? I vaguely recalled the term “Pokemon Trainer”… Oh! Yeah, that I do remember. I had no idea what I wanted to be when I grow up, but I do remember being disinterested in being a Pokemon Trainer. I think I’m starting to get somewhere…



Another thing I wonder to myself: Who is this “Warlock”? Whoever sent me here intends for me to become a hero that will stop this so-called Warlock.

Now technically that wasnt quite the marching orders. It was to find warlock. Methinks mr. Heros memory is a bit patchier than they think..

I don’t understand why they picked me, or why someone with a human-heart is necessary to defeat someone like that. They could’ve told me more, but it seemed like they were in a rush. I just can’t help but to feel that they have picked a poor choice for a hero...



I snapped back into reality as I realize that I almost walked right into a purple stinger. I let out a shocked gasp as I jumped away from it, nearly getting pierced by it! The mysterious assailant leaped out from the sand, hissing right at me! It seemed to resemble a purple bug with two pinchers and a stinger… I do believe that’s a Skorupi. I began to sweat and panic, realizing that not only do I have no experience with fighting as a Cubone, but I’m all alone and in the middle of the desert! If I lose this fight, or get poisoned… no, I mustn’t think about that! I need to focus!

Music: Suikoden V - Time for Confrontation

I gripped my bone club tightly in my hand, trying to stay calm. I kept my eyes on it to anticipate their movements. It let out a low hiss… and it attempted to stab me with its stinger! It didn’t reach me, but it certainly felt like it could! I let out a gasp as I jumped back on reaction, feeling unsure on how to approach them. I would rather not fight them, but they’re standing in between me and potential civilization. I tried to step to the side to walk around it, but it also stepped to the side to keep in front of me. No matter what, it always tried to block my attempt to walk past it. Thinking that maybe it’ll go away if I leave, I attempted to back away from it. As I backed away, it followed after me anyways. At that point, I knew that there was no way I could run away from this fight.



“Pl-please, just go away!” I stuttered towards the Skorupi. It didn’t seem to acknowledge what I said, as it did not change its stance. It raised its tail up, looking like it was going to strike. I shouted at them, “I don’t want to fight, go away!” It hissed then suddenly lunged right towards me with its stinging tail! I tried to jump out of the way, but it ended up piercing my shoulder. I let out a scream as I felt the sharp pain. Words of panic start to fill my head upon being struck.



Oh no, please tell me that I didn’t get poisoned!

I’m gonna die here!

Please, just go away, I don’t know where I even am!



??????, PLEASE HELP!!



Fear and panic overtook my mind as I screamed. I ran towards the Skorupi with reckless abandon, swinging my bone club around wildly. Every pinch, every sting, I felt them. I couldn’t tell what was happening as I wildly struck and bashed the scorpion. I wasn’t even sure if I was even hitting them. It all happened so fast, that the next thing I knew, I was exhausted and woozy. I was breathing heavily, staring at my opponent. The Skorupi looked like it was exhausted, as much as I could tell anyways. Its tail was lowered, looking like it was about to back away… and thankfully, it fled. I could not gather the energy to chase after it, even if I wanted to.



I wasn’t sure how, but… I managed to fend off my opponent. But I could not make it out unscathed. Looking all over my body, it seemed that I have sustained a lot of damage. Suddenly, I clenched my right shoulder in pain, finding myself unable to move it much, if at all. It may have been likely that I’ve been poisoned… the reality of the situation started to sink in within my mind

Music: Final Fantasy IV - Suspicion

I might actually die here.

Pretty high odds actually. Unless that psychic call for help connected?

But I couldn’t give up here. Not yet. I held my bone club in my hand, trying to head towards the orange glimmer. At least, I think I was. Everything was starting to become blurry in my eyes. I was feeling weak and in severe pain. I kept trying to walk… and walk… and walk…



Until I couldn’t walk anymore.

I collapsed into the sand, unable to stand up anymore.

“Please… help me… anyone… I’m dying here…”

Nobody came.

Nice nod to undertale.

“Please… somebody… HELP!!”



I laid in the sand for what felt like forever. I didn’t know if anyone was going to come to my rescue, or if I was going to succumb to my wounds, or if a wild Pokemon was going to finish me off, or worse…



I then began to hear someone in the distance. I slowly turned my head towards their direction.

“Hey! Dude, you okay?!”

Nah i like flopping in the sands.. dying via poison... care to join in?

I could not respond.

“Dude, don’t die on me!”

It felt like I was being lifted up. I could not tell who it was. Everything felt numb to me and everything was blurry. It wasn’t too long that my world began to be covered in darkness.



“Arlene, quick! We’re going back to Sahra Town!”

“Yeah, hang on, Jason!”



Not too long after… I could see nothing but darkness as my consciousness faded away...

Huh well looks like theres a few good Samaritans here. Wonder if either or are going to be his partner or not?

Thanks for sharong this fic. Its an interesting entry to at least what looks like to be a mon fic that is dealing with wildly different bioms than the standard beach, forest, prairie drop off. I can count on one hand how many casts deal with sand deserts, its quite a treat even if this was a first taste of it.

 

[LutherAmarine]

Hello everyone, thank you for all the comments! I shall be posting the next part, but first, some responses.

For the beginning, I appreciate that the reader's time isn't wasted with getting to the inciting event, but I could have done with a little bit more detail. I suspect that detail was kept scarce on purpose so that the protagonist rediscovering his past would also bring new revelations to the audience once it happened, but I think there are still details that could give roughly the same amount of raw information but help in immersing the reader further. Like, how was the protagonist bullied? Name-calling? His things being hidden or stolen or ruined? Physical violence? Ultimately the result is still us learning that he was bullied, but the picture painted is more vivid. It could help engage the reader in the protagonist's struggles further.

Oh yeah, I wanted to keep it vague and have details reveal overtime during the adventure. Admittedly I did have struggles on how I wanted to keep it vague, since past drafts I've had the protagonist just simply wake up all of a sudden.

If you don't already, I'd recommend you try reading your story aloud as a proofreading step. It can sometimes be much easier to literally hear when sentences like these "sound wrong" when spoken aloud.

I'll definitely keep that in mind! In fact, I did that when proofreading Chapter 2 and fixed up a few mistakes here and there.

Called it. Ohh boy the meme bait. The comparisons to poor Tim in detective pikachu...

(and also I never played Detective Pikachu and only remembered bits, pieces, and the general plot of the movie oops)

But yes, I will keep the feedback in mind! Whenever I can, I'll probably fix some grammar issues and inconsistencies within Chapter 1. Thank you all so much for commenting!

(I will also admit to a bit of a quirk of mine, I tend to get motivated to work on things at night, but whenever its late night my brain gets all mushy and I end up making quite a number of mistakes, oops. Especially if I get tired after work >_>;;;)

 

[LutherAmarine]

Hello, and Happy New Year to everyone! I got Frost Prime in Warframe and started to get into Final Fantasy XI, hope everyone is doing well 'w'b

So are you all ready for exposition? Yes? Good uwu

Some content warning for mild swearing! And a rather crass joke.

---

Chapter 2 – Friendly Faces, I Hope​

“Hey! Give that back!”

“As if! We lost that last game thanks to you!”

“But the ball was about to hit me in the face!”

“Maybe if you stop slacking off all day and actually PRACTICE, maybe you wouldn’t be such a pussy!”

“HEY! Cut that shit out!!”

“Ugh, whatever. Next time, catch the damn ball!”

“…………”

“You okay, Tristan?”

“I think so… thanks… J --”




“Jason, will you just shut up?!”


Music: Ys II Complete - Apathetic Story


My eyes opened as I heard someone shouting. Turning my head towards the noise, I soon realized that I was laying down in a bed made out of straws. I observed my surroundings and soon realize that I’m inside a room made out of stone, with a stone table and chair placed towards the wall. Next to the table was a bookshelf with several books lined across it. The room looked like it had a round and circular shape to it, rather than being square-shaped. On the other side of the room was the door, and at the table was a pink looking creature with a white tuft of hair on them. I could see that was an Audino.




Soon after, he turned towards the direction of the shouting and yelled “Will you both shut up?! It’s always you two causing such a ruckus!” An angry huff from outside the room was said back in response.




I slowly got up, sitting down on top of the pile of hay. The Audino looked towards me, his face brightening up. “Oh! Welcome back to the realm of the living!” he said in a rather snarky tone. “You should know that the desert isn’t a playground.” He was wearing a pair of glasses, in which he pushed it back up towards his eyes. I wasn’t so sure how to respond to him, or what to say, even. Instead, I just looked at my own body. It looked like most of my wounds were gone, although I have a bandage wrapped across my body and towards my shoulder – “OW!” I exclaimed as I felt a sharp pain. “Careful” the doctor said “I got most of your wounds taken care of, but that shoulder of yours is still pretty bad.” I still kept silent, not wanting to respond. “Do you want your friends to come in?” I looked at him, feeling confused. Friends? I think I was alone… right? I don’t know of anyone here…




I kept silent, looking down at myself. “I guess I’ll take that as a yes.” he said “Jason! Arlene! You two can come in now!” Jason and Arlene… I think those two are the ones who saved me? “I’ll prepare a Pecha Berry for you, okay?” the Doctor told me as he walked over towards a nearby table.




Soon after, two Pokemon walked in. One was a rodent with yellow fur and red cheeks. I immediately recognized them, it was a Pikachu! He was wearing a blue bandana around his head, his ears folding downwards as the cloth overlaps them, and he had a pair of sunglasses over his eyes. He had a strap hoisted around his shoulder with a bag being carried on his back, and he was wearing a blue ribbon with a bonze medal in the middle of its knot around his neck.




As for the other Pokemon, it appears to be a horse. At first I thought it was a Ponyta, but… they had fluffy purple and blue mane instead of fire. Even their tail looks very fluffy, and they even had fluff around their four ankles. They were wearing a saddle on their back and appeared to have a device attached to the side of their head, the device having a single lens in front of their right eye. The Ponyta also had what seemed to be a toolbox attached to the side of their body, and they too were wearing a blue ribbon with a bronze medal, which was placed around their front right leg.




“Hey’ya, dude!” the Pikachu said in a casual tone “Ya rest well?”

I nodded in response.

“Nice! I gotta say, we didn’t expect to do a rescue mission immediately after leaving! The odds of that, ya know?”

“Don’t worry” said the Ponyta, their voice feeling soft and gentle in comparison, “We won’t charge a single coin from you!”

All I did was smile. Well, sort of. I wasn’t sure if they could see my face with this bone mask on.

“So dude,” the Pikachu proudly points towards himself as he speaks, “I’m Jason! And this here is --”

The Ponyta interrupted Jason before he could introduced her “And I’m Arlene.”

Jason paused for a moment before continuing “Anyways… who are you, dude?”




I was hesitant on introducing myself. I have no idea who those two are, or where I am, and my friend wasn’t even here for me. Should I say who I am? What if they’re kidnappers? What if – no, no. Don’t be ridiculous. They’ve just saved your life. If they had bad intentions, they probably wouldn’t take you to a doctor, right? I took a deep breath to calm myself, getting ready to answer.




“My name is Tristan. I don’t know how I ended up in here, but I was once a human.”




The two just stared at me in response. Should I have really said that to them? What if being a human was considered a bad thing? Arlene shifted her eyes towards Jason, who I can only assume was still looking at me. The Audino, meanwhile, didn’t seem to pay any mind, as he was busy preparing a berry I’m guessing. It got quiet for a few seconds… until Jason just suddenly… laughed?!




“Hahaha, a human? Come on man, don’t make weird jokes like that!” he said.

“N-no, really!” I exclaimed “That’s all I remembered before I got here!”

“Seriously man, cut that out! Humans disappeared a long time ago.” The Pikachu then gave a smug feeling shrug. “Unless you’re, what, a time traveler or something?”

I gave a confused look towards the Pikachu. Did I happen to time travel several years into the future?!

“Oh come now, Jason.” Arlene interjected “The guild hasn’t found any definitive proof that they’ve --”

Jason quickly interrupted her and continued. “Alright, whatever! Just don’t tell the guild about it, dude. Don’t wanna give them false hope, after all!”

I just sighed and rolled my eyes.




Soon after, the Audino walked towards me, carrying a bowl of what I assume to be a pile of minced pecha berry. “Can you eat on your own?” he asked. I nodded in response, taking the bowl of chopped berries. I wasn’t so sure why he offered me a snack instead of medicine, though. “If you don’t remember,” he explained “pecha berries are good for purging poison out of your body. I can only assume that you got a nasty sting from a Skorupi.” After being told this, I decided to pick up a piece of the berry and take a bite.




It had a rather soft texture… and it tasted… sweet! I found it delicious from taking that first bite. I just couldn’t help but to eat it all, piece by piece. Who would’ve thought that medicine could double as a tasty snack?




“Well,” Jason said as he began to turn around “since you’re all well and good now, we’re just gonna go on our way!”

I looked up from my bowl, starting to feel distressed. “Wait!” I exclaimed “I… well… I don’t know if I want to be alone… and um…”

Jason cut me off before I could continue. “Sorry, got some artifact hunting to do!”




I could only sigh in response and look down in disappointment. I guess I’m going to be alone again, huh? Stuck in a strange new town, within an unknown world, and with nobody by my side. Ugh, if only she was here… whatever her name was… darn it, why couldn’t I remember?!




Soon after, I heard Arlene speak. “Actually, Jason… I think I should stay here.”

“What?” Jason seemed disappointed by her decision. “Why? Ya know I can’t solo this, girl!”

Arlene just huffed and said “You can just go with Taylor this time.”


Music: Final Fantasy V - What?


Jason stood there for a moment… and soon gave a smirk. He spoke in a teasing tone, “Oh, I see how it is… you actually want him to rub your horn, eh?”




...I couldn’t help but to wince upon hearing that. And judging from Arlene’s stomp on the floor, it seems like she wasn’t happy to hear that, either! Soon after, her horn glows a mystical blue color, with the Pikachu also glowing blue and being lifted up!




“W-wait!” The Pikachu begged as he was being lifted up with his sunglasses slowly sliding off. “I mean the horn can heal others, you know that’s what I mean!! Right? ARLENE??” Jason flailed about as he was panicking!

Arlene began to trot on her way out of the door, with Jason being dragged along. “Excuse us, Cubone.”

The Audino just sighed. “Just don’t start another fight out there, you two.” Afterwards, he went over towards a nearby table placed against the wall, sitting down onto the chair. He just quietly hummed to himself as he begins to work on what I assume are some paperwork for my sudden visit.




That was a very awkward moment to say the least. All I can do right now is just sit on my bed made out of straws as the doctor takes care of his busywork. So far, however, I’m not sure what to make of those two. That Pikachu, Jason I believe, seemed rather quick to leave, not to mention a little bit crass. And as for Arlene, I think I can trust her, seeing as she was willing to keep me company. I just hope that I don’t say anything to earn her ire.




Thankfully, it wasn’t too long until the Ponyta came back, this time without the Pikachu. “Sorry about that,” she said “Jason can be annoying sometimes.”

I just stayed quiet. I honestly didn’t know what to say to her, if I’m being honest.

“Well then,” said the Audino “I suppose I’ll leave you two alone. Do you want a report delivered to the guild?”

“Go ahead. That would be appreciated.” Arlene responded.




The Audino soon left, carrying some paperwork in his arms. It was just me and Arlene sitting in this room. I didn’t really know what to say to her, plus she still look rather irritated from what Jason said to her. We just sat there quietly for the most part, at least until Arlene decided to break the ice.




“So… what did you say your name was, again?” she asked.

I looked up towards her and responded. “Tristan.”

“Tristan. Did you really use to be a human?”




I gave it some deep thought. My memories are very hazy, but I definitely remembered that I used to be a human. I also remembered that I used to carry something like a club, too. Was it for a game, or was it for self-defense? Actually, that reminds me…




“Oh! I almost forgot.” I said “Where’s my bone club?”




Arlene’s eyes widen in surprise. “Right! I forgot about that, too. It should be in my toolbox.” She walked up towards me and turned towards the side, showing off said toolbox. “Go ahead and take it.” I put a hand on the tool box and opened the lid, taking a look inside. There were two blue berries, a single seed, and my trusty bone club. I reached in and took it, holding it in my hand. It just feels right keeping this with me.




“Thank you. But anyways… yeah, I do remember being a human.”

“What else do you remember?” she inquired.

I tried hard to remember any other details about my past life. “I remember that I used to live in a city.”

“A city, huh… is that like a town, but bigger?”

“Something like that.”

“Were there any Pokemon?”

“Sort of… if there were any, they usually belonged to a trainer.”

“A trainer? Is that like… a coach?”

“Huh? Oh, it’s… something like that, yeah. Some Pokemon do stay with humans.”

“So that does line up to what the research team has found so far.” She said confidently.




A research team? Now that I think about it, her, Jason, and the Audino were talking about the guild earlier, and Jason did offhandedly mentioned something about finding artifacts. Hearing and thinking about this got me curious.




“What do you mean, Arlene?” I questioned.

“Oh! That’s going to be a long explanation.” She warned.

I just shrugged and said “Well it’s not like we have anything else to do today.”


Music: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky - Time Gear Remix


Arlene cleared her throat before explaining what she meant. It turns out that her team, consisting of Jason the Pikachu, Arlene the Psi Ponyta, and Taylor the Absol, work for the Archaeology Guild. Specifically, they are a field team who search through places of interests to find artifacts, especially human artifacts. Jason is the leader of the team, responsible for managing the team’s funds and deciding on what missions to take. Taylor works as the scout on field missions, looking ahead for any traps or incoming disasters. She’s also an apothecary, gathering herbs and ingredients to brew and mix potions. And as for Arlene herself, she’s in charge of carrying any excess items if all three of them are going, or just carrying the supplies if it’s just her and Jason. After they get as much as they can carry, they bring it back to the Archaeology Guild for the research team to examine.



The guild so far has made a numerous amount of discoveries, like how Pokemon used to be companions for humans and how current Pokemon civilization is similar to how humans once lived. Even some old human made items were rediscovered and are still in working condition, such as electricity containers, double-wheelers, voice boxes, and most famously, Technical Machines. While not every item are in working condition and are usually just junk in the end, there have been major advancements in recreating or even building off of old technology. For an example, Pokemon have discovered how to recreate vitamin mixtures like Protein, which apothecaries like Taylor specialize in. There’s even a group in another continent that have built off of old technology to create a map that automatically updates when new information has been gathered.




The guild is still working hard at researching the past, however. They are still trying to figure out how some Pokemon, especially those that can only thrive in water or are gigantic in size, could travel comfortably with humans. There’s even a possibility that some Pokemon could achieve even greater strength when they are partnered with a human, far more powerful than just using the rediscovered mixtures. Just how much more powerful they become is not fully understood currently, nor are the methods. It’s been theorized that it might have something to do with certain magical items, perhaps even similar to the equipments that many Pokemon themselves wear on their adventures.




Most of all, however, they aim to answer the question that eludes them all to this very day: When did the humans disappear, and why?




This was… a lot to take in, I will admit. Not only was I transported to another world with most of my memories gone, but there used to be humans here. I still wasn’t sure if this was the same world I’m from but in a different time period, or just outright a different world. What also threw me off is when she mentioned magical items. That sounded like something out of a fantasy, but at the same time… aren’t there also stones that cause certain Pokemon to evolve? They could be considered a magic item as well, now that I think about it…




However, since we’re on the subject of humans...




“So what if I were to tell the Guild that I used to be a human?” I asked.

Arlene shook her head immediately. “I agree with Jason on this, don’t tell them that you used to be human. Especially around one of the research teams that we talk with often.”

I felt a little scared. “Why not…?”

“The Rhydon is fine, but the Gardevoir and especially the Pachirisu tend to get very excited. Maybe too excited. And if they found out that you used to be human…”

“Say no more.” I said. “Say. No more.” The thought of being questioned relentlessly terrified me.




Speaking of which, I do have more questions myself that I wish to ask. How did her and Jason end up on the same team together? Why does she look different than most Ponytas? And thinking back to that mysterious voice, does anyone within the Guild happen to know who this “Warlock” is? I could ask more, but… I am feeling rather tired and still sore from my injuries. I don’t even know what time of day it is right now. I suppose what’s important at the moment is getting some proper rest.




“Well, I think I should lie down. I’m still tired.” I said.

The Ponyta just gave a smile and nodded. “Just take all the rest you need, Tristan. You gonna be okay by yourself?”

By myself…? To be honest, the thought of being alone here made me shudder. But at the same time, I didn’t want to keep Arlene too busy. I just wasn’t sure what to say…

“...That’s okay, I can stay with you for now.” she stated all of a sudden.

“Wait!” I exclaimed “Are you sure? Aren’t you busy?”

She just made a light chuckle and replied with a flat “No.”

“Well… okay then.”


Music: Secret of Mana - I Closed My Eyes


Soon after saying that, I laid down onto my bed made out of a pile of straws. I don’t really find this very comfortable, but I think I may as well get used to it, if this is what my life is now. If anything, I just hope that I’m with good company here. Despite Jason’s weird comment, he doesn’t seem like a bad Pokemon, but he was quick to write off and doubt my predicament. At the very least, I feel like I could trust Arlene. She seemed rather caring and was more curious about my past rather than thinking “whatever” on it. The only Pokemon I don’t know right now is the one named Taylor.




I suppose all I can do is just hope for the best.