Pokemon: Mystery Dungeon: The Story of Arceus

Chapter 1

A nameless, formless entity floated in a pitch black void. The void was empty. The entity was alone. The entity was afraid.

The entity attempted to speak. It tried to say anything or to call out to whatever could be in the void, but the entity found no strength to do so.

The entity floated a while longer. The entity had done something bad. It wanted to leave this void and tend to some problem right away. The entity felt a longing, but for what, it could not remember.

Then, in the midst of the entity’s thinking, a bright light shone from deep within the void. Its glow was sharp. Sudden. The entity wanted to shield its eyes from the light, but could not. The light, despite the slightly unwelcome entry, was comforting to the entity. If nothing else, the light was something in the void with the entity, so the entity was not entirely alone.

But something else accompanied the light. There was a sound. It was a faint sort of sound, so quiet that one would wonder whether they actually heard anything at all. Then, there were voices. The entity could only make out a few words.

…this one?

…stable…

…didn’t answer my…

…something that…can relate…

The voices ended. The entity was left in silence for a moment longer.

Then, another voice came. It was loud, clear, and booming, but not at all frightening.

“Human…” The voice rang out, calm and soothing. It was deep and exuded a silent power that was easily left unspoken. The human kept silent in the voice’s presence and probably didn’t have the energy to speak in the first place. “Do you know why you are here?”

The human kept silent. It had no idea where it was or why.

“Do you know who or what you are?”

The human said nothing. He had no answer a second time. The voice let out a sigh and the human couldn’t tell if the sigh was annoyed or satisfied.

“Do you remember your name?”

The human simply stared at the light in the void and gently craned its head left and right to tell the voice that no, it did not know its own name. The voice was silent for a moment, and the human could hear a few more sounds of shuffling coming from the farthest parts of the void.

“Then we will start from the beginning, and give you everything you need.” The voice paused before continuing. “Your name is Richard. Remember this, as it will be the only thing from your previous life you will remember.”

Richard blinked. He remembered his name and nothing else.

“You have been taken from your human world,” The voice explained. “for I have chosen you to go to another world far removed from your own. They…need a hero. I need you to be a hero, Richard.” The voice let out a breath, and asked “Do you accept?”

Richard stayed still for a moment, unsure how to respond. Not wanting to anger the only voice in the void, fearing it would abandon him, Richard nodded. The voice seemed to give a sigh of relief.

“Thank goodness…then we shall now choose a more…suitable form for you; a human in Tulaan would be a great disturbance. Are you ready?”

Richard gave another weak nod.

Then, the voice was silent. After a moment of quiet, the voice came back. It was somehow…different, but Richard couldn’t place how.

“Have you ever made a pitfall trap?”

Richard was confused by the question. What did it have to do with anything? Slowly, he shook his head. The voice was silent for a moment before continuing.

“Do you dream of lounging around idly without much excitement?”

Again, it was a seemingly arbitrary question. However, Richard found this idea vaguely attractive, so he carefully nodded his head, playing along with the voice.

“It's the summer holidays! Where would you like to go?”

Summer holidays? Richard was unsure about this one. His mind was blank, but his mouth subconsciously opened a delivered an answer.

The word “Spas” came from a ragged, raspy voice from the void. It was a scratchy sounding horror, like it originated from a throat that hadn’t touched water in years. It terrified Richard.

Was that…his voice? Why would he answer with that? It’s like it was just…natural. Like some forgotten ghost of the past resurfacing briefly to answer a pointless question.

“Finally, there is a bucket. If you put water in it, how high will you fill it?”

“Half” croaked Richard’s voice again. There was a shuffling sound. A distant metallic screech.

The voice didn’t come back. The light in the void faded.

Richard was alone again.

As Richard floated in the void, he began to notice something. He didn’t know when it happened, but something changed. Something about himself felt…different.

Before he could figure out what it was that changed, the light burst to life again. But Richard noticed it was much more distant this time.

“Save them, Richard.” The voice said, ringing out from the void once more. “Save them all”.

The void began to burn away. The image a pure darkness gave way to a blue sky, with clouds hanging lazily below him.

The wind was picking up.

He was falling.

Richard dreamily looked around him, watching clouds rush past him. He was terrified, but it was like he couldn’t work up the energy to express it. It was as if he was asleep, looking at the landscape that spread out in every direction slowly sliding towards him as he fell. Mountains Richard once towered over soon began to overtake him as he rocketed toward the ground at an alarming speed.

Richard’s body gently spun, his eyes looking towards the clouds high above. He didn’t feel the impact, or could even tell that he stopped for a while. He simply stared up at the clouds, tall blades of wild grass hanging around and over him and swaying in a gentle breeze.

Richard closed his eyes and consciousness slipped away.

Chapter 2

When Richard’s eyes opened again, he was greeted with the same sky as before. The clouds drifted gently above him, whereas moments ago he had been sailing over them.

That is, if that had been only moments ago. He had no idea how long it had been since…whatever it was that just happened. All he knew was that his body felt stiff, like he just awoke from a long sleep. With effort, he lifted his head.

It was then he noticed he felt the same here as he did in that void: strange, like something had changed. He tried craning his neck to look over the wild grass, but the blades were still too tall and didn’t allow for much visibility. Richard bent forward, trying to sit up, but found himself oddly restrained, like his body couldn’t twist that way. Confused, he looked down at himself, wondering if there was something holding him back.

He was greeted with blue skin and a white underbelly. Four stout legs sat, curled and facing up as Richard lied on his back.

Richard’s breathing stopped.

He tried moving one of these appendages, and he almost vomited as he felt the movements of the legs. They felt more restrained and absolutely inhumane. Weakly, Richard rolled over and tried to right himself up on these alien legs. It was shaky, as he slowly lifted himself. His legs buckled and he almost fell, but the human managed to stand up on the four legs.

He had a vague idea or memory of what being a human was like. This was nothing like it.

Richard exhaled, realizing he had been forgetting to breathe. His mouth felt large, and there was a sensation of having strange growths…everywhere on his head. Doing everything he could to keep balance, Richard looked over himself.

Blue skin. White underbelly. Four small legs. A flat, triangular tail. Richard felt his new tail and moved it a bit; that made him feel sick again.

Desperately, Richard looked to his surroundings for any clue as to what was happening. The human found himself in the middle of an enormous field, stretching for miles in every direction with nothing in the field itself other than grass and the very occasional shrub.

Richard lifted his head, looking towards the horizon. Towards the north, he saw a rounded-out mountain in the distance which stood tall and proud over Richard, with twin snow-capped peaks at the top. As far as he could tell, there was nothing there. Looking down from the mountain, Richard could see a very distant tree line surrounding the entire field, which turned into rolling hills of forest as the line approached the mountain to the north.

Then, to the west, just beyond the tree line, Richard could make out some more jagged, rockier mountains. They were far enough that they appeared to be a gentle shade of light-blue. What caught Richard’s attention, however, was a spire on one of the flatter hills of those distant mountains. It appeared to be a tower, exceptionally large if it could be viewed so clearly from this distance, with embrasures lining the top. At the base of the tower, the human could just barely make out vague, unnatural structures.

Civilization. Richard heaved a sigh. He was about to start panicking for a moment there. At least he wasn’t totally alone…wherever he was. He felt a pang of worry, as it may be strange for him to wander into a human settlement looking this nonhuman, but he figured he could explain himself.

Gingerly, Richard put a foot forward, trying to walk with this twisted, misshapen body. It wasn’t the most comfortable he had ever been, and despite being in no pain, everything still felt sickeningly wrong. Still, he found himself slowly acclimating to his form, the steps starting slow before picking up a decent pace.

Getting a good rhythm down, Richard looked back towards the structure sitting on the mountains far away. He could see it was a long and, most likely, lonely trudge to civilization.

The human walked for a while, staring at shrubs, stumps, and the occasional rock as he passed them, just to occupy his mind. He waded through the tall grass, brushing by horsetails, feeling the gentle wind on his face. It was so silent out here.

When Richard finally found himself nearing the tree line at the edge of the plain, his legs were already starting to hurt. The rolling and forested foothills blocked his view of the structure now, so he could only rely on his sense of direction. It was then he noticed something odd about the forest’s edge.

What appeared to be a dirt path ran along the edge of the forest. It went in either direction, stretching far beyond the low hills of the plains. Richard couldn’t tell what either end lead to.

The human then looked to the tree line, a think grouping of pine trees running parallel to the road. He could see it was a little darker in the forest, and the hill the forest rested on sharply rose high above him. Despite this, Richard continued forward, crossing the dirt road, approaching the forest. To him, the road was convenient but indirect; Richard decided to trust his own sense on this. He knew where the tower was, he had seen it himself. There was no guarantee the road would actually lead to the town. He believed in his own perception to take where he needed to go; he was human, after all.

In the forest, the silence was deafening, with no sounds other than the faint rustling of leaves. Richard’s legs were aching which only became worse as the ground began to incline. The human kept walking, the forest looking as if he was traveling the same few feet over and over. Trees looked familiar, bushes looked the same, and the ground seemed to be repeated. The only indication that he had actually gone anywhere came when Richard finally crested the hill.

A gap in the trees in this area afforded Richard a view of the mountains just beyond. They were much clearer from here, grey and jagged mountains sat at the opposite end of a small valley from where Richard was standing. He could also see the tower from before, and it looked like it was massive from here as well, like a man-made manifestation of defiance toward nature. The human could see buildings and farms haphazardly scattered around the tower, amidst small hills. From this distance, Richard could pick out small movement from the town every so often.

It was strange. Right here, at the edge of civilization, Richard was hit with a pang of loneliness. He felt more isolated now than when he was miles from the only possible human habitation he could see. His legs burned, but this sudden drive only allowed him a short break before he trudged down the hill, the forest canopy obscuring the nearby mountains once more.

Richard was rushing now. Branches cut and scratched him, mud splashed up at his face, and the hill soon became so steep that Richard was more or less sliding down to the valley instead of running.

The human quickly cleared the valley, wading through a shallow creek. He took another break at the base of the mountain to look up at the tower that seemed to tantalizingly close yet forever away. The valley was covered in shadow, the sky starting to burst into orange and purple, signaling the approaching nighttime.

Resolve renewed, Richard trudged up the rocky foothill, towards the tower. Loose rocks and gravel made the climb a slippery and uncomfortable one, but the human managed to inch his way up to his destination.

Reaching the top of the hill, Richard looked out towards the settlement. The tower he had seen from so far away was dizzying from this distance. It was unimaginably wide and seemed to cut straight up into the sky. Before he fell over, Richard quickly averted his gaze back to the town. It was a quaint farming town with wooden buildings and patches of fenced-off farmland dotting the scenery. Wherever he was, it was homely enough. From here, Richard could clearly make out movement in the town’s street; it was busy and bustling but also plain to see the residents were packing in for the night. The light was getting dimmer, and Richard felt that his window of opportunity to find help was slipping, so he quickly made his way towards the town boarders.

The human ducked under a fence and strode into what seemed to be either a square or, at least, a major crossroads. The dirt streets were clearing out. Richard looked around for someone to help him. A group of figures were walking towards the square. The human was stunned when he saw them.

One was a green quadruped with what looked like a flower at the base of its long neck. Another was a white, bipedal creature with appendages that made it look like it had a moustache.

Richard looked to the other end of the square. A plump, red creature with a wide head, curly antennae and wings was lifting wooden boxes onto a wagon while a pink, bipedal creature with what looked like a shell on its tail slowly and ponderously carried bags out of a house next door.

Richard looked at another end of the square to see more creatures of various shapes, sizes and colors working, packing up, locking up and departing. The human blinked.

He knew what these were. Terms began filling his mind: Meganium…Mienshao…Volbeat…Slowbro.

These were Pokémon. Not a human in sight.

Richard felt more lost than ever. What could he do now? Surely he couldn’t simply walk up to one of these Pokémon and speak to them. Could he? Would they understand him? He timidly looked around for someone to ask, hoping he’d eventually build up the courage to reach out anyone.

He looked over at a particularly nice looking building, adorned with flowering bushes. A few covered carriages were parked under a wooden roof, while another sat in front of the build itself, hitched up to a Sawsbuck. A few Pokémon hoisted themselves along with some boxes into the back of the carriage. Richard tentatively approached the group of passengers.

He could hear the Pokémon talking to one another. Three of them got into the carriage, while a fourth Pokémon, a Charmander, lagged behind while dragging a bag half his size. With limited options, Richard approached this fourth Pokémon.

“E-excuse me…?” Richard wheezed out softly. He was still tired from the trudge up the mountain. The Charmander turned its head to look at Richard with a sort of unreadable look.

“Uhm…” The Charmander hummed, taking a subtle step toward the bag he was dragging as if Richard may try and steal it at any point. “What is it?” It spoke with a slightly high-pitched boyish voice.

This felt so bizarre.

“I…need help.” Richard began. “I don’t know where I am or what’s going on and now I’m talking to a Pokémon…” The Charmander blinked, looking uneasy.

“Oh…I’m not sure I can help you.”

“Can you at least tell me where I am?” Richard pleaded. The Charmander tilted his head.

“You don’t know?” The Charmander asked. “How did you get here if you didn’t know? Have you lost your memory?”

“I…guess?” Richard said, looking around the unknown town. “I’m not sure.”

“Well…what do you remember?”

Richard thought on this. He knew he was a human, so he tried to think about what brought him here and in this odd body. There was the mountain he just climbed up. Before that was the forest. Before that, the field. Before that, falling. Right before that, the void. Then, before that…

…nothing.

Richard frowned, trying to comb his brain for anything before the void. But there was nothing he could remember.  Richard slowly lifted his head, seeing the Charmander looking half like he was concerned and half like he wanted to run for the hills.

“I just remember a void, then I fell…”

“Fell? Like, you fell down?”

“No, I fell from thousands of feet in the air!” Richard said, eyes widening. He could see disbelief creeping on the Charmander’s face. “And I landed in the middle of a field looking like…this.”

“Like what?” The Charmander asked, confused. “You look pretty okay. For a Mudkip, anyway.”

Mudkip?

“No, no, I’m not a Mudkip…” Richard said, waving off the comment. “I’m a human. That’s all I can remember about myself…other than my name, of course.” He could see the Charmander’s face scrunching up in even more skepticism. 

The conversation suddenly felt a lot more awkward.

“Humans like…” The Charmander began. “…the kid’s scary stories?” Richard slowly looked away, unsure how to respond. The two stood in silence until they were interrupted by the Sawsbuck in front.

“Oi!” The Sawsbuck looked back, annoyance apparent on her face. “All passengers, get aboard already! Quit wastin’ me time or you can walk to Arceliaze!” The Charmander jumped. He looked to the carriage, then to Richard, then back to the carriage, and then back to Richard. The Charmander opened his mouth with a look on his face saying that he wanted to abandon the mad Pokémon and get on with his business more than anything. Richard winced, waiting for the Charmander to tell him to go away.

But, the Charmander’s face softened at the last minute, like he was suddenly overcome with some better nature in himself. He sighed, looking defeated.

“Come on,” The Charmander said. “You can come with me to Arceliaze if you have nowhere to go…” It was Richard’s turn to let out a sigh, though this one was of relief.

“Thank you…very much…” Richard said. The Charmander hoisted himself up into the carriage, trying to lift his heavy bag with him. Richard decided to make himself useful to his savior, and used his head to help push the bag up onto the carriage. The Charmander mumbled a ‘thank you’ as Richard clambered up into the carriage as well.

The carriage, on the inside, was lightly filled. About six other Pokémon were riding, by Richard’s count. They all glumly kept to themselves as The Charmander sat in an empty spot near the back. Richard made his way to the gracious Charmander and sat down beside him. The fire-type made no attempt to conceal his slight discomfort.

There was a slight jolt, a call outside the carriage, and then they began to move.

Chapter 3

The carriage gently rocked and bumped as it moved. At the other end of the covered carriage, the flaps were kept open, allowing a view outside. Although, there wasn’t much to see; the sun was quickly sinking behind the mountains and it was getting dark.

Everyone on the carriage was silent, save for the occasional throat-clearing and sniff. Richard looked over at the Charmander, who simply fiddled with the bag he had been carrying, not saying a word.

“So what’s your name?” Richard asked in a hushed voice. The Charmander looked up, looking worried. Richard smiled in response. “There’s nothing wrong in asking that...right?” The Charmander look at him for a moment before giving a small smile himself.

“My name’s Zaeron.” The Charmander said, finally. “Yours?”

“Richard.” The human said, happy to break the silence a little. Saying ‘Richard’ right after the Charmander’s name made his own name seem a little dull in comparison. Zaeron’s face fell and he looked puzzled.

“Rih…churd?” Zaeron whispered slowly. “What’s that name? Quayoffi?”

“Is it what now?” Richard asked, confused himself. “It’s…just my name. It’s human, I’m pretty sure.”

“Oh, right…” Zaeron said, frowning with more disbelief. “…of course.”

“Zaenon-” Richard sighed.

“Zaeron”

“Right, sorry…” Richard sheepishly corrected. “I don’t want you to think I’m crazy. I mean…is this really that far-fetched?”

Zaeron said nothing. Richard grunted and he felt embarrassed again. He quickly altered course.

“So, where is this carriage going?” Richard asked quietly.

“Arceliaze.” Zaeron said plainly. “I have a home in lower market. It’s not much, but it’s a lot better than nothing.”

“Oh…” Richard nodded, but he had no idea how to pronounce that. “What’s…uh…that place like?” He saw Zaeron squirm in his seat a little. Richard gave a sideways glance at the other passengers in the carriage, and a few of them looked like they were briefly glaring at the two of them and then looking away. The human felt Zaeron put a claw on his shoulder, making Richard turn his attention back to the Charmander.

“How bad is your memory loss, anyway?” Zaeron quietly hissed, a look of worry crossing his face. “I’d figure you’d know about Arceliaze at least.” Richard grunted, feeling his face getting hot again.

“I…” Richard began, trying to think of something to say. He wanted to remind Zaeron that he wasn’t a Pokémon, so he wouldn’t know anything about this place. The human held his tongue, as it was obvious mention the whole ‘human’ thing was only alienating Zaeron.

The Charmander sighed, giving Richard a small smile, patting him on the back.

“Don’t worry, Rih-kurd-“

“Richard.”

“Richard, sure,” Zaeron corrected. The human detected a little sarcasm in Zaeron’s voice. “We’ll get to Arceliaze soon and maybe it’ll jog your memory.”

“You think so?” Richard asked, confused. “Why?” The Charmander shrugged lightly, looking unsure.

“I mean, you sound and speak Arcean…” Zaeron said. “Surely you’ve been around long enough to know Arceliaze. So seeing it will jog your memory.” Zaeron closed his eyes, obviously pleased with his logic. Richard wasn’t so sure, and all these weird words were starting to make his head spin. Richard simply mumbled an ‘okay’, not wanting to press the issue further in the presence of the other passengers in the carriage.

The rest of the ride was long and uneventful. The only part that stuck out in Richard’s mind was a stretch in the journey when the carriage was tipped forward by quite a bit. It was obvious that they were going down a steep hill, and it was a drop that lasted for a long time. Richard was relieved when the carriage finally leveled out, so he didn’t need to be pressed against the back of the carriage anymore.

Eventually, the carriage came to a stop, and Richard could hear the Sawsbuck unhitching herself. The other Pokémon in the carriage gathered what luggage they had and began hopping out the back. Zaeron lifted his own luggage, motioning for Richard to follow.

The two exited the carriage, and the human got a good look outside. It was nighttime, the moon hanging above amongst some clouds which were slightly illuminated in the pale glow. Richard saw the carriage had stopped in front of a medium-sized building, a few torches lighting the exterior and a large covered area where other carriages were kept.

“Anything yet?”

Richard turned to see Zaeron staring at him expectantly. The human’s eyes lazily took in the surrounding area. The two were standing in a wide and darkened street, with large buildings adorning each side. An occasional pine tree decorated the roadside in-between buildings and the street itself was made of cobblestone. Other than that, the details were hard to make out in the dark, with torches on all the buildings only serving to show a small number of Pokémon walking to and fro down the road.

None of it looked familiar. Richard looked back at the Charmander and shook his head. Zaeron’s face fell and he sadly looked away, almost as if he was upset that he’d have to actually go through with letting Richard stay at his house. Richard was starting to feel weird about the whole situation as well.

“Oh well…” Zaeron muttered after a brief, defeated silence. He perked up again slightly, looking back at Richard. “Maybe a good night’s sleep will help.”

“M-maybe…” Richard replied. The Charmander said nothing for a moment, starting at the human with a thoughtful look.

“If you really have nowhere else to go…” Zaeron sighed finally. “Follow me; I’ll take you to my house.” The Charmander hoisted the heavy bag over his shoulder and used his tail to illuminate the path ahead. Richard sighed with relief, scurrying behind Zaeron.

The streets were mostly empty and quiet, and Richard could only make out vague silhouettes of buildings of various sizes on either side of the street, as the few burning torches present on the street were quite dim. Whenever the pair passed another Pokémon, Richard would walk slightly closer to Zaeron, as he seemed to be the one who knew his way around this place, whatever its name was. The human forgot.

At last, Zaeron approached a quaint, one-story house nestled in a small, grassy space surrounded by other, larger buildings.

“Here we are, ‘Rih-kurd’,” Zaeron said, using his tail to light a torch beside the front door, which showed off more of the outside décor. Some knick-knacks on shelves and multicolor, triangular flags adorned the front of the house, giving it a sort of carefree vibe, even in the dark of night. Zaeron took a key from his bag and unlocked the front door. “Make yourself at home.”

Richard walked through the door that the Charmander held open, treading lightly in the pitch-black house. Zaeron followed after the human, lighting protected candles that were set in the walls as he passed them. Slowly, the house began to come alive, and Richard found himself in a lightly furnished and humble home. The entryway led to a living room with two couched with a table between them and not much else besides.

The human shuffled over to one of the couches, plopping himself on the cushion.  Zaeron set his bag down beside the other couch and looked up at Richard.

“Uh, I don’t usually have other Pokémon over…” He admitted, idly scratching at his arm. “...so I’m sorry if my house isn’t much.” Richard smiled weakly.

“It’s a lot better than sleeping outside, for sure...” He said. Zaeron said nothing for a moment, so Richard added, “…it’s fine, Zaeron. I like it here.” That seemed to half relieve and half agitate the Charmander. Zaeron gave his own half-smile and began walking into another room off to the side.

“Are you hungry, Rih-churd?” Zaeron asked. “I think I might have a few fruits left.” The human’s head perked up. Now the he had finally settled down, he finally realized just how hungry he was. He was definitely riding on an empty stomach since the carriage ride began, he just hadn’t thought about it as much.

“Sure, yeah, I’d love to have something,” Richard replied, “if it’s not any trouble?” Zaeron shook his head, disappearing in the doorway. Richard heard the Charmander shuffling around in the kitchen for a while and then heard Zaeron mutter something.

Zaeron came back in with a shiny red apple in his claws and tossed it to Richard. The human fumbled with the fruit before settling it in front of himself.

“There you are,” Zaeron said, sitting on the couch opposite of Richard, “my last one.”