Welcome! This is the portal that leads to the world inhabited by pokemon. Many adventures and new experiences await your arrival. Before you enter, I need you to answer a few questions. Please, be truthful. Now, ready? Let the questions begin. Do you like going to the beach? No. You stub your toe while getting a chair for a friend. What do you do? I pretend my toe doesn't hurt. You are getting ice cream. Everyone gets vanilla, but you want chocolate. What do you get? Chocolate! Walking through a door you see a person far behind you. What do you do? Hold the door for them. Have you ever heard someone say your name even though no one did. Yes... Your best friend eats the last of the cookies you two are sharing. How do you feel? Arghaaaaa! Boooo! Did I scare you? Maybe a little... Do you ever go to resturants alone? No. Do you want me to ask any more questions? No. Thank you for answering the questions. Now I'll analyze your aura. This is the energy every living thing radiates just by being alive. Relax. Take a deep breath... Now exhale. Ah. Purple. You are shy, yet bold and loyal. You like to listen to people. Sometimes you worry about small things even when they don't matter. Don't be so nervous. Around people you know well, you talk more, speaking your mind. People trust you and in return you always do your best for your friends. Yes... shy, bold, loyal... an axew! Now, which pokemon do you wish to be your partner?
Mystic Forest 3F "Ow! What are you doing. Wait, don't hit me. I'm not going to hurt you, I promise." The hit came from the hand of a small dog like creature with black fur creating a mask on its face: a riolu! "Huh? Oh, you're not wild. You must have gotten lost in the mystery dungeon. Uhhh, come with me, I'll get you out of here. It shouldn't be much further out." Mystery dungeon? It just looked like a clearing in a forest of old knotted trees; the sky was blue above. I was still lost though. "Do you need help getting up?" I guess I had been lying there for a minute. "I'm okay, give me a second. Wait..." My arms were green! I had tusks and a tale. "Are you sure? I hit you pretty hard. You look a little, uh, unstable." "Ok. I could use a hand." The riolu made a weird face. Was that not a saying pokemon said? Ahhh, that's of no matter. I've turned into an axew. Oh, no, oh no. Think, what was I doing before. Do I remember anything? My name? Now's not the time. First I have to get up with this awkward tale. "Great. Pokemon heal faster in mystery dungeons so I'm sure you'll feel better in no time. Hold my paw, I'll guide you for now." "Thanks." My new stubby arms and fingers could barely grasp, but the riolu's grip is strong. At least standing isn't that hard. Now to walk.
"So, do you feel a bit better now? I don't mind holding onto you, but if we come across a particularly mean pokemon, I'd like to know you can run back while I fight it." "I think I can." Walking isn't too hard as an axew. "Great, try to keep up! Look over there! You see those white stairs down the path? That's our way out." "Cool." How strange. They look so out of place. Maybe that's why they are called mystery dungeons. Wait, is that "Lookout! There's a venipede over there; it looks angry!" "Huh?" The venipede launched itself at the riolu, just missing as the riolu turned out of the way. It then started running down the pathway. It's coming at me. The riolu started running after the venipede. It's hand glowing an orange energy. Then the riolu hit, right at the venipede's tale. The purple bug crumpled for a moment, still keeping it's eyes focused on the axew. The riolu recoiled back standing still, wincing. His hand had grazed the venipede's tale spike and was now quickly spreading a dark purple through the riolu's body. No, the riolu. "Rahhhhhh!" A deep blue, purple energy roiled in the axew's throat. It swelled up for a second moving into the axew's mouth. Then opening his glowing maw a purple beam released at the venipede, hitting the left side of its face. The bug tumbled into a tree trunk with a wet crunch as it hit. It simply layed there unmoving, leaving a small purple puddle in the grass around it. That energy, that raw feeling of rage, is that what it is to be a pokemon? The venipede, did I just kill the venipede? "Hey, axew!" The painful squint in the riolu's eyes was gone. He looked as healthy as before, walking over eating a pink dotted berry. "Don't worry about your heads up. The wild pokemon in dungeons always attack regardless." "Is the venipede going to be okay?" "Oh, it's just knocked out. The mystery dungeon will heal it, it does for all the wild pokemon. The pokemon live in the dungeon, decorating it, populating it, fending off invaders like us. I guess it's like a little gesture of thanks from the dungeon. It's kind of crazy how much energy these things have. Great attack by the way. Forget running, looks like you're a natural at battling!" "Yeah, thanks... again. Is your hand going to be okay? The venipede's poison looked like it was taking hold." "I'll be fine. I always bring a couple petcha berries when going to this forest. Also, just like the wild pokemon, the mystery dungeon heals us faster too. I don't have a reason for that one though. Maybe we make its life a bit more interesting? Anyway, we should get to the stairs now. The way looks clear." "Okay, let's go. I don't see anything either."
Townside Meadow The axew and riolu walked out into a small clearing with series of pink pokemon with green wings and yellow eyes floated by in the wind. The sky was starting to turn orange, just before sunset. "Come with me. I live just down that way in River Town. I'll get you some dinner before you go." The riolu was pointing at a collection of small wooden buildings, some round huts, others resembling various pokemon. One looked like one of those pink pokemon in the sky. Pokemon houses are so pretty. No wonder the riolu seems to cheerful living somewhere like that. Maybe people, no pokemon, there will know sometime about other pokemon like me. I'm also hungry... The axew nodded. "I know you're hungry" the riolu smiled, "mystery dungeons make you get hungry faster than normal. Anyway, I realized I haven't asked you your name yet. Mines Rio!" Think, think. Still nothing is coming to mind. "I don't remember. The last thing I remember is waking up in the forest." The riolu kept walking, thinking for a moment. After a little while they asked, "Do you remember anything else?" "The only other thing I remember is that I'm not an axew. I'm a human." "Huh. I've never heard of that before. I do hate to say it, but you are most certainly an axew right now. Even if you were once human... Humans were have supposed to have left Waleira long ago. I know they still exist. I've heard of a small few pokemon having travel to human lands. But never humans coming here." The riolu stopped talking and the pair kept pace back towards River Town. Waleira must be where we are. A land of only pokemon. I wonder what that could be like. If there are no humans, then maybe I'm alone. But that can't be. There are so many pokemon out there. One of that has to also have been a human. One that would know why I'm an axew. The two pokemon walked in silence for a few more minutes. The purple in the sky had turned to a full orange and pink. The sun cast long shadows of the forest down on the meadow. The clouds reflected off the river. The river itself running, making soft spashes as it did. The hoppip were gone from the sky, but the cool breeze remained. River Town in the distance, next to the comforting sound of the water seemed so homely. The trek back from the forest the end of a day of work, the meadow a place of transition. "Pokemon often get names by taking parts of their species name" Rio suddenly said. "Mine is Rio, the first part of riolu. I know you don't remember you're human name, but you are a pokemon now. You should choose a pokemon name. That way pokemon know what to call you." "A pokemon name? Huh, I don't know how I'd make something out of axew. You're a pokemon. You've probably met axews before. What is a common axew name?" "Actually you are the first axew I've met." "Still choose something. I just need ideas. Making names is hard. I'll tell you how much I like it." "Ahh, so much pressure. Asking me to choose your name. Uhhh, how about Yew. It's from the end part of axew." "Oh, that's pretty. Like the tree? Because you found me in the forest? So cool! I like it. Great, I'm Yew, nice to meet you" the axew said, sticking out his hand. The riolu sighed and put on a smile again. "Nice to meet you too" he said without shaking the axew's hand. "Shake my hand! I guess it is just a human custom. Makes sense, not all pokemon have hands." Yew grabbed the Rio's hand and the axew made a firm handshake, with his small limbs. "So, Yew, think it's fair to assume you have nowhere to stay? If you want, you can stay with me for a while. I'll try and help you find out about why you became an axew. In return you just have to help me a bit with my work. I help pokemon around the area who loose things, or sometimes who get lost, in mystery dungeons. It can be hard, but you had a pretty strong attack when we came across that venipede. If you could do that just a few minutes after becoming an axew, I'm sure if you trained, you would be a really strong pokemon! How about it?" "Uh, sure. Yeah, thanks a lot." "Don't worry about it. Trying to figure out why you are an axew will be more interesting than looking for pokemon's lost rocks anyway. Plus, I'm not just going to leave a human stranded in Waleira." Rio seems so nice, and Waleira is so pretty. Well, except for the mystery dungeon. They seem out of place, bending the rules of space and time, changing how our own bodies work. It's kind of scary.
River Town The two pokemon walked up to a small home. The walls were a light brown wood, painted in zig-zag patter of reds and greens. A round thatch roof, pointed at the top, sat on the walls. The door was wood and rounded at the top swinging open to reviel a single room. On the left was a couple of rocks, looking almost like a table. On the right there was a collection of pots and plants. They looked to hold food, mostly berries, and some plants. A big window hovered over the pots. In the back of the house, right in front of the pair of pokemon as they walked in was a pair of staw beds, the left worn than the right. "This is my house!" exclaimed Rio. "There's actually already a bed for you. The house has two. That set of stones over there is where I eat dinner. Sit down, I'll get some berries." As the axew walked to the table, the riolu walked over to the pots picking out a couple smooth purple berries and pair of blue berries with dark and light splotches on them. He then took an apple out of a larger pot and brought everything to the table, he said "There you go!" I never would have thought of a meal of just fruit. Who knows, maybe pokemon taste differently than humans. "Thanks," the axew said, before tentitively taking one of the purple berries. It tasted sour and slightly sweet. It was okay. Then the axew then took one of the blue berries. It was also sour, but not at all sweet. The texture made it almost meaty. The axew finished the berry in just two bites. "The blue one is so good" he said. "Yeah, yache berries are always really refreshing at the end of the day. I thought you would like them. I always perfered the payapa berries myself though. Maybe I just have a bit of a sweet tooth" Rio laughed, "Here, you can have the first bite of the apple." "Sure" Yew replied taking a bite. After the berries and apple, Yew was surprised how much he felt he had eaten. The apple seemed to fill half of his stomach. It was all quite good. Pokemon do taste quite differently than humans. Maybe it also helps how small I am. The two pokemon sat, eating for a number of minutes until both looked at each other with a satisfied smile. "So you really don't remember anything. I'm sorry, it really just sounds like a tale out of legend." "Ah yes, the legend of the human wandering into the forest, getting lost, and inhabiting a pokemon." "So you do remember something?" "No." "Well, there are at least a few legends which go like that. Maybe you are remembering something deep down from your past." The riolu seemed hopeful at that. "Or maybe I just made it up" the axew replied with a smirk, slowly softening into a smile. "Why would there be humans in pokemon legends?" "Oh, a lot of pokemon legends are about humans." Rio looked almost surprised. "I'm sure your human legends have pokemon in them." "Fine, tell me one." "You know, sure." The riolu got up with a small sigh. His ever radiant smile shrunk a little, continuing almost solemnly, "I was going to tell you this story anyway. It's pretty important for you to know, especially if you're going to be living here with me. You know how I said what I do is I go around helping people in mystery dungeons. That isn't the whole truth..."
By this point the sun had all but set. It was a full moon, streaming enough light through the windows to see without candle light. The little riolu stood illuminated looking grand in the night. "So, I'm not the only one helping out with mystery dungeons. I'm part of a bigger group called the Crawlers. We exist all over Waleira in little towns, traveling, or something just all alone. The first Crawler I met was a purple typhlosion, Ty. She kind of trained me, taught me about the mystery dungeons and the Crawlers. We were teammates for a time. But she was a wanderer; she left and I stayed here in River Town. She would tell tales of her adventures, the crawlers she had worked with, and big bases of crawlers. The Red Base, where she came from, the Blue Base, the Green Base. And stories about the Crawlers long ago." It made sense that Rio wasn't working by himself. It would be hard to be believe just a riolu could learn all that about mystery dungeons. I guess this is going to make me a Crawler too? Yew kept thinking to himself as Rio talked. The more he listened, the Crawlers felt like a regal empire, distributed all around the continent, or maybe the world, however pokemon understood their spaces. At times, they felt like thieves of justice, stealing from a mysterious "Dark," and other times like a town just working on helping their neighbors. But what does this have to do with humans. The riolu seemed to be able to talk for so long on the Crawlers, telling stories he must have listened to told just the same by Ty. "There is one thing I really meant to say." The riolu looked sheepish, apologizing, "Sorry, I guess I rambled around it for too long already. It's that, the Crawlers, Ty said, where once more than the spread we are now. They, we, were an empire ruling over Waleira, ruled by a human king. It's said that then humans and pokemon worked together as one to build a kingdom of peace. The pokemon and humans built temples for the king, buildings of scale us pokemon could never imagine. The kingdom had magical torches which would never go out or carts which could move the weight of a thousand pokemon all on their own. Under the king, there were no mystery dungeons in all of Waleira. It was in happiness that the pokemon and humans lived. Then one day the king called his counsel. It was the first sighting of a mystery dungeon. Gisela, a ghost of sword and shield, and then the youngest member of the counsel, had been traveling from the south forest up to the northern kingdom when she became lost. The forest around her seemed wrap into a nonsensical maze. All of the pokemon attacked ferociously, the unnatural white stairs, it was the same as the mystery dungeons of now. Upon hearing the of this, the king left that night in secret for he feared to be followed. To his fault, the king had a kind heart and wished nothing less than any pokemon or human but himself venture into the danger. It was a week, traveling in secret from the kingdom the king stumbled across Dark Chasm, a mystery dungeon still around, which few Crawlers have ever returned from alive. The king entered. We can only presume he made it to the bottom of Dark Chasm. He was never heard from again. Without the King, the kingdom fell into disarray. With it, the number of mystery dungeons began to increase, and the number of humans began to fall. It wasn't long before only pokemon remained and the Crawlers, now taking up their name, dispersed as they are now. For that, the Crawlers pledged to try and maintain the ideals of the human king and to protect pokemon from mystery dungeons." The axew stared blankly at the riolu. "Rio, is that why you are taking me in? Because I'm human?" The riolu looked at his feet, then back up at the axew. "You looked lost. You know, there's this rhyme, I've already talked too much, but every pokemon in River Town knows it. I think they say it to all the babies when they are young. That's how I heard it. I think everyone who lives here picks it up like that: once upon a time, not so long ago there was a deerling, a little doe who ventured past the meadow's ring following a hoppip on the wind's flow "such a nice walk" she said, her voice a sing her hooves hitting rocks with a ping. so she ventured on for hours a little quest from flowers to flowers amongst her sides, the trunks of trees grew above her as giant towers a maze around with bugs and bees until the doe could not feel at ease lost in the forest alone in the wild she heard the cry of a little child she ran to it to see the worry to find the scene, a mess of dirt piled an next to it cut down in a hurry the stump of a tree with red eyes blurry the stump shrieked louder rustling leaves away ran the deerling, faster than the breeze until she couldn't run any more until her breath stopped with a wheeze there the deerling looking so poor look around for food, scoured the floor yet more hours she would look but came only bugs, nothing to eat or cook so she went to sleep late that night on an empty stomach, oh so long it took that morning she stood up in the light but then stumbled over for she had no might never was the doe seen again trapped in the forest's pen this is why you must never go when playing north of the river bend playing of in the warm meadow up into the trees where the hoppip blow No one gets trapped in the Mystic Forest by mistake. It's not just because you are human." The two pokemon didn't say anything else. They went to their beds. Yew instinctually curled up with his tale. To his new, green skin, the loose collection of sticks and brush lulled him right to sleep. Rio laid down and pretending to sleep, stared restless at Yew. Eventually he too, fell into dream filled sleep.