Scarlet Skies

NOTE: This is a Pokémon Mystery Dungeon story, but even if you don't know a lot about Pokémon, it will still make sense.
This fanfiction does not follow the plot of PMD and I will try to keep it spoiler-free.


PROLOGUE

The fear shot through her, making her freeze. Her breathing came heavy and she gulped twice as she continued.

Quickly, she slammed the book closed. Pelly sighed, throwing it onto the ground by her feet, tense. Note to self, she thought. Never read an epic book before bed.

The title stared back at her, written in its golden letters, with a majestic font that seemed to cause it to leap out of the page.

"SHADOW'S REIGN"

Just those two words pushed the memories back into her head, the memories of the chase, the darkness... what was the darkness? She didn't want to think about it, but if she tried to think of something else, it was always the capture of... "the prey."

The prey. Those two words floated in her mind, and she knew exactly what "the prey" was. But she did not want to, would not think about it. She needed something. A distraction...

Suddenly, there was a deafening sound, and a flash of bright light. What was it... thunder? Lightning? No, it was way too loud! But she was not aware of anything else. She only knew of the darkness and the light conflicting. The darkness and the light of two mysterious beings.

Shivering, she struggled. But there was still nothing that she could feel, could sense! Her eyes were shut tight, but she began to feel change. It was not just like growing up. It was rapid, very speedy. Had she fallen back asleep? No, this was definitely not sleep. It was different... half-consciousness? No, she was changing, transforming. That was the part that worried her. What in the world was happening?

Finally, it felt as if she had fallen asleep again. She couldn't tell... was it peaceful or a nightmare? But of course, she wasn't dreaming, so she couldn't feel that either. She couldn't even think.

And, all at once, Pelly's eyes flew open, towards the sky that was dimming with the coming of dusk. But... it was... dawn last time she had checked. About six in the morning, perhaps?

One of the first things Pelly noticed was that she was immensely hungry. She only wanted to eat, but she didn't know how much she needed to fill herself. But she could only think of sweet, valuable food... she didn't feel like she cared about the taste, as long as it got into her belly...

Oddly, it was a struggle to stand up. With a start, she realized that she was very short. She knew she was small, but exactly how small? Maybe this was part of the metamorphosis she had felt... and her arms were short, too, with only three fingers. She checked down to look at them, but pretty much only got a face full of long, blue-gray fur.

Screaming, she jumped back. What was this? Finally, she could feel the soft, warm sand below her feet. But the didn't feel like feet... she couldn't see them -- they were probably under her fur -- but she knew that they had three toes and were much more round than usual.

Pelly scuttled to the right as a wave licked at her left foot, or paw -- she couldn't tell at the moment -- away from the water that seemed as hungry as she was. For the moment, she had forgotten about her lack of food, but now she was reminded of it by a protest from her belly. Groaning, she looked up at the sky, frustrated, sad and confused. With a sigh, she examined the clouds that were becoming a beautiful spectrum of pink and golden.

"Who are you?"

She flinched at the voice, dropping her gaze directly forward with a small gasp. In front of her, a bipedal lizard stood, its red scales reflected in the water. Oddly, there was a small candle-like flame at the tip of its tail.

"I haven't seen you around. What is your name?" It persevered.

Pelly thought for a moment. With this confusion, she couldn't remember her name immediately, but as soon as she grasped it, it slipped out of her mouth as if it had fallen on ice. "Pelly..."

The yellow-bellied lizard closed his blue eyes and shook his head. "Nope, haven't heard of you. I'm Cyrus."

"W-What are you?" Pelly stammered, eyes widened with shock. This was definitely odd...

"Wh..." Cyrus hesitated, "Why, I'm a Charmander, of course."

"And... what am I?" The confused twelve-year-old -- or at least she thought she was still twelve -- asked slowly.

"How could you not know that you're a plain Munchlax?" The Charmander retorted, a hint of annoyance in his voice. "Except for that four-pointed star on your forehead."

Pelly crossed her eyes upward but still did not find what he was talking about. She lowered her sight again; her eyes had begun to hurt. Not to mention she had a headache from all the thinking. The fear from the book was still inside her, and it had grown again, combining with bewilderment to become a huge emotion that Pelly could hardly handle.

There was something approaching from the waves, but Pelly did not see it until right before the attack.

It was a long, dragon-like creature that appeared enraged, its light blue body twisting. "What in the world is that?!" Pelly shouted, jumping back.

"G-Gyarados!" Cyrus shouted.

"What?" The Munchlax cried, but the stranger did not have time to reply before he was hit with an attack of the sea monster's.

A memory flashed in Pelly's mind. It wasn't clear, but she knew of one word: Bite.

Bite? What was that supposed to be? The name of the attack?

As Pelly recalled what this thing called the "Gyarados" had done, she realized that maybe, the word "bite" was correct.

The problem was, she didn't know how to fight very well, if at all. She had only just became a... what was it called? Muchbacks? No, Munchlax. Therefore, she had no idea what to do.

Randomly, she waggled her finger around, bored. Suddenly, a beam of something bright yellow, crackling like electricity, shot from her and hit the Gyarados full speed. Somehow, this seemed to weaken the monster greatly, and it didn't twist as much, appearing to struggle every time it wanted to move much.

"Lucky shot!" Cyrus gasped, confounded. "How did you manage a ThunderShock on your first try?"

Of course, Pelly didn't really understand. "Look, I don't really know what you're talking about, but I think we should get out of here."

The fire lizard nodded, and began running off. Pelly could hardly keep up. The monstrous dragon let out a furious roar, but could not chase after them.

Then, suddenly, Cyrus bumped into something as he was running, and he looked up fearfully, having been knocked off his feet.

"What are you little ones doing out here at dusk?" The thing was brown and mouse-like with a white belly and tough hide. There appeared to be some kind of glint in his eye.

"Blast it!" Cyrus whispered to himself. "It's this bully Sandshrew again!"

Actually, the Pokémon source I use (veekun.com) says that they're the same size. If a Charmander is sitting down, it's smaller than a Sandshrew. And Sandslash would be a bit hard to defeat early on, anyway.

I promise Chapter 1 will come soon.

CHAPTER 1

"You should be heading back home," the Sandshrew sneered.

"Bruce! Please get out of our way so we actually can leave!" Cyrus snapped.

"It was you who bumped into me. You should be saying sorry."

"I apologize," Cyrus growled. "Now please leave."

"I have... business to do at the beach," Bruce protested. It did not look like he would be leaving anytime soon.

"There's nothing to do down there." Pelly was surprised as she noticed that it was her who had spoken. How would she know that? "It's only sand and water. Plus, there are Gyarados."

"Why should I be afraid?" Bruce replied persistently.

"Come on, let us through!" She continued, angered. But the Sandshrew did not move.

"We'll have to take him out by force," Cyrus lamented, glancing towards the mouse-like bully. "Let's go!" He swung his tail through the air, creating a few embers that flew towards the brown-skinned Ground-type. Bruce flinched, stepping back, and curled up slightly, preparing for the next attack.

The attack I used last was pretty good, Pelly thought, recalling the electricity. I should try that again. She wiggled her finger in the air, as if to scold, and determinedly released the attack. This time, it was not the ThunderShock, but a different attack. A boulder exploded out of Pelly's hand and slammed into Bruce. He struggled with just a few points of health left.

"Rock Wrecker!?" Cyrus cried. "That's amazing. You seriously have a lot of luck with Metronome." The Charmander swung his tail in disbelief.

But the Munchlax was left tired and she sat down absentmindedly. She couldn't so anything when Bruce leaped at Cyrus with his claws forward.

The Fire-type cried out, stepping back. There was a cut on his left shoulder. But I won't let that stop me! He charged with the same attack that his enemy had just used: Scratch.

Bruce shouted out, then staggered backwards, falling on his back. At that same moment, Pelly stood up, breathing heavily, but relieved that they had gotten through.

"You just got real lucky," Bruce hissed, waddling back towards the town.

"He's actually right," Cyrus confirmed truthfully. "We have to be careful if we see him again."

Pelly nodded approvingly, her two large, rounded ears that sat on the top of her head stiff but alert. Her relaxed nature allowed her to stay calm, even though she was excited. As her stomach growled again, she frowned. "Can we just get something to eat?"

"Come to my place," Cyrus offered, grinning and holding out a hand. "I've got some delicious berries there."

As the two walked west, they chatted. "What's your favorite flavor?" Cyrus asked, curious.

"I don't really care," Pelly replied, shrugging. "But I do have an appetite for sour things..."

"Perfect!" Cyrus suddenly said. His friend cringed as the Charmander's hand shot into the air. "I've got tons of those! Personally, I dislike sour foods, so they've kind of built up over time. I hope you're hungry!" Cyrus grinned.

"Sure am!" The Munchlax smiled back. She hardly noticed that she was walking faster out of happiness. The lizard was, too, she could see. Perhaps he was as hungry as she was, but that was one rare sight that they wouldn't find again for a while.

Finally, the scent neared her. It was not only the scent of many berries, but again, there was an ocean's aroma. Perhaps this was some kind of island, not a country or continent as she had expected. But she had only explored a small part. She couldn't say that there wasn't a lot more.

All at once, the berries' images flooded her. There were small, pink ones scattered in one corner of the round hut made of sandy-colored stone, and plump yellow ones in another. They had the most attracting scent, in Pelly's opinion... the sour scent wafting from them was marvelous, absolutely appetizing. Quickly, she raced over to the pile, but stopped after a few steps and turned towards Cyrus, as if asking for permission. The Charmander wandered over to the pink ones and nodded. "Eat up, my friend."

Grinning, Pelly gingerly bit one in half and placed it on her tongue. Its immensely tangy flavor would make others cringe, never wanting to eat one again, but for her, it was enchantingly strong, with a lemon-like taste. It was some kind of citrus fruit, she knew, or it at least looked like it, and tasted like it also. It was only a few seconds before she popped the second half into her mouth.

Meanwhile, Cyrus was slowly enjoying his own. He was definitely making less progress than Pelly, who was already on her third berry. The Fire-type, however, was still savoring his first peach-like fruit. Blinking, the Munchlax wondered how he could resist it.

Finally, Cyrus finished, with only three berries filling him. But Pelly had eaten her whole pile of Nomel berries.

He smiled affectionately. "Don't be ashamed. That's just the nature of a Munchlax, to be hungry."

Pelly laughed nervously. She turned to the exit. "What now?"

"I've been wanting to join the exploration team guild," Cyrus replied thoughtfully. "Perhaps we could give that a try?"

The blue, bear-like Munchlax nodded. "Let's head!"

(Huh. I always thought the Sandshrews were smaller. And I noticed you are making up moves- every few sentences. Rock Wrecker? Never heard of it.)

It's Rhyperior's signature move. Check here: Rock Wrecker

I actually do use a randomizer for numbers, then check the number of the move and use that one, just so Metronome's fair.