★ Dungeons & Druddigons

[Kaiju Bunny]

Tuk with a tiny canteen: "You need a sip? Try not to drink it all in one gulp! I should have spun a larger water sack when I had a chance..."

Looking at the notice, Gollo felt something rise in them… expeditions… travel… new holes to dig. They would have to go to Luxistia City. Looking at the three Pokémon around them, they could see similar feelings in their faces, a certain hunger for adventure. A question came to their mind:
“Uh guys, we should bring this notice. But there’s 4 of us? And one notice?”
Eyebrows raised; the others looked at them confusedly.
Unable to make anything of their expressions, they just decided to swallow any doubt and voice their idea, however half-baked it might have been: “Should I just… cut this notice into 4 pieces? So we can each bring one?”
The hooded orange-brown one who introduced himself as Starke raised his voice: “Look, I’m all for some destruction, but I ain’t sure whether they’ll accept that.”
“Give me a second”, a small voice squeaked beneath them. The tiny Joltik who had sneaked up on them before had taken out a brush that seemed way too big for his soft, hairy body. “I can draw us something!”
A few surprisingly quick brushstrokes later, each member of the newly-formed group held their own ‘perfectly-forged’ copy of the notice in their hand.
Holding up his own copy while still clutching a microphone in the other Elgie-S turned to the others: “Okay, let’s make our way to Luxistia City.”

“Can anyone try and help me drag my rock collection though?”

 

[Kaiju Bunny]

Tiffy wandered through the dark forest, lonely and afraid of her surroundings. Suddenly, a strange melody pierced the haunting silence, and Tiffy thought, “Could that be mother’s voice?”. She hurried to investigate the singing, frantically dashing through the brush until she found an open clearing dotted with Pokemon, a message board, and a singing Noibat…?

Siren sang his little heart out to the crowds of Pokemon gathering at the message board. The recent announcement has gathered some attention, meaning this would be the perfect opportunity for Siren to show off his skills. And his looks. And his everything else. He chose a rather unique human song from his songbook, which is full of human songs, and put his vocal cords to work.​

 

[Leavannite]

[Reserved!]

 

[Kaiju Bunny]

​

Lurking through the woods, Opal couldn't help but glare towards a shiny rock in the distance... wait! 2 shiny rocks! And so - she was on her way, as if her hammer weighed air.
​

The four surrounded the fire, at least, Mo, Lars and Opal did. Kite was up in a tree, making himself comfortable. Though, he at least looked serene. Despite the initial tension, it all seemed resolved by a common love for the fresh soup made from the forest berries and herbs. In the foreboding trials, 'this is our team', they all hoped. They'd be in for ups and downs - What would Opal discover? What was Mo thinking? Would Lars keep everyone together? And what was going on with Kite's eye? The flames burst. Their eyes close. Tomorrow it all begins.​

 

[Kaiju Bunny]

As the night progressed, it all seemed so surreal to our new adventurers. It was impossible to ignore the new senses of curiosity, nervousness, and yet also... Excitement. The once tranquil and otherwise humble forest was now ushering in fresh new life. Little did it know it would birth one of the greatest adventures of the century, and little did our heroes know they had secured in a place in making history.

Throughout the night, it had appeared some had had second thoughts in regards to the gravity of the note before them. Though they had been drawn to it initially, it was difficult to pass up the comfort and safety of usual day-to-day duties they had known for so long. After all, the trip to Luxistia City would take at least 3-4 days. Afterwards, it would be impossible to know what would lay in wait in the bustling, crowded city. Playing it safe wasn't an unwise decision.

For the rest of the Pokemon, they had successfully been acquainted with one another and had seemed to split off to their respective groups. Now fast asleep, each Pokemon had been having similar restless dreams; mostly normal involving dreaming of the unknown. Did they have everything they needed? Were they aware of each others' strengths and weaknesses?

Be that as it may, there was one dream in particular that stuck out much more harshly than the others... It was almost painfully vivid, though to some, it made no sense besides a few strings of broken sentences.

​

?: ...

?: ... You made it... You actually heeded the call...

After these simple words, the sentences made less and less sense
​

?: ... Dream... Earthquakes. The ci-... -fore the end... home... Me...

The more one may have tried to understand, the more painful it became. Eventually, one by one, the Pokemon opened their eyes, a warm sun shining through the foliage being a very warm welcome to see first thing in the morning, though the pulsing pain of the night, and of the strange dream, still hung heavy in many of the Pokemon's minds. What did this mean? Had anyone else had such a bizarre dream? Did anyone risk not sharing, in fear they'd be outcast as crazy? Everyone had barely known one another, but maybe there was a chance they'd understand.

With this in mind, a breakfast was in order. Whether the Pokemon had some food prepared or not was yet to be found out, but the group understood one thing: daylight was burning! Now is the time to make the most of the days to come.​

 

[Kaiju Bunny]

Dawn broke and Hortis felt like he had another weird dream, but he can't seem to recall what. He decides it's best to just set it aside for now and goes looking for food to have for breakfast. Cosmo notices Hortis foraging around and offers his help...

Cosmo had a good feeling about his dreams recently, didn't care how or why. However, as it turns out, the travel was longer than he thought. Helping out Hortis with berries, Cosmo struggled to find anything edible (for the others that is), but manages to find a bunch of berry bushes after sneezing a bit too hard.

Helios had the strangest dream about the sky. It was something he did not want to wake up from, as every passing second felt like he was being told important messages that he would miss out on when he woke. Helios felt a nudge, then another. Everyone else was gone, with no one other than Ruby to greet him. It seemed like she had something important on her mind as well.

After waking up from an odd dream by falling to the ground and hitting her head Ruby felt like she needed to talk to someone. When she managed to wake Helios they sat down on a log and she started telling him. "There was a something that talked about me becoming safe in Luxistia and the end of my home, and it was really unsettling." When she had finished telling Helios, he just told her to relax, that it probably just was her mind playing some trick because of her being nervous and afraid of doing this journey and joining the guild."Relax Ruby, this will be okay."​

 

[Kaiju Bunny]

Tashi finds a nice soft spot of grass to rest after their long day.

Tashi with newfound motivation sets off to find Luxistia with the new strange team. Using Infernal Parade; he summons his little ghast to carry his bindle.

Siren woke up last, after the same strange dream. It was no doubt some kind of warning, but something about it was suspicious. He's not quite sure why it is suspicious yet, but everything about this situation just seems weird to him. Why did he have this dream the night he joined a team? Did everyone else have the same dream? Maybe he's just reading into all of this too deep. Or is he? (He probably is.) Regardless, for now, he'll stick with his new team to see how this all goes.​

 

[Leavannite]

Dawn is just breaking, everyone is sleeping soundly... until,

Miles: HOME!!

Miles awakes with a shout, trembling.

Miles: H-home... I have to get home! They need me!

Awakened by the sudden noise, Lucent groggily looks over to see Miles mumbling to himself and shaking.

Tentatively, she floats over to check on him.

Lucent: H-hey, it's okay! What's wrong?

Miles: H-home... I have to go home!

Lucent: Why's that?

Miles: I... I had a dream. There was a voice, talking about home, about earthquakes... My home must be in danger! I have to go back!

Lucent: Home...? Earthquakes...? Hey, wait a second...!

Lucent: I had that dream too!

Lucent: I remember there definitely was a mention of incoming earthquakes. They sound horrible, although I've never seen one!

Lucent: Actually, earthquakes aren't tourist attractions so maybe I haven't experienced one is more accurate. Yep.

A brief moment of further recollection of her dream dredges up further memories, and Lucent waves her miniscule arms in a curved motion.

Lucent: Oh and there was a lovely rainbow! Ethereal, luminous, hey it's lucent like me, it has light! I liked that. Very pretty, and I've seen rainbows before but I liked seeing one again. You know, it'd be cool if it was a double rainbow. Hmm. Was it?

Lucent's various gems and trinkets swirl furiously as she engages her mind in considering her own inquiries. She eventually decides this is a matter that would best stay unresolved, as her mind was not yielding the information she wanted. Oh well. Another mystery to ponder on some other time.
With a shake of her head, she dismisses the last of her vibrant imaginations and speaks further of her dreams.

Lucent: Right, back to the dream. A bird. Most surely some flying entity. Of what sort I'm not sure, perhaps it's friendly though. Would make sense, it did warn of earthquakes. Yeah, so that was my dream!"

As Lucent babbles on to Miles about their shared dream, Azar begins to stir.

The three continue to talk about their shared dream, when they suddenly hear a crash!... And then... A booming voice!

Arceus: YOU THERE! GREEN ONE! THOU ARE NOT FOR THIS FELLOWSHIP, YOU HAVE ELSEWHERE TO BE!

Azar & Miles: H-HUH?!

Arceus: APOLOGIES. THE LITTLE ONE WAS NOT MEANT FOR YOUR TRIBE. FEAR NOT, SHE SHALL FARE BETTER WITH A DIFFERENT CLAN.

Azar: O-o-okay! If you say so!

Arceus: I SHALL NOW TAKE MY LEAVE. FAREWELL.

And with that, the God of all Pokemon was off...
... And despite all that, Dip still hadn't woken up!

Azar: H-how strange...

Miles: How terrifying!

Azar: You've got that right... Though it begs the question, can we really trust what Lucent had to say, if Arceus themselves whisked her away?

Miles: Arceus...? Is that their name...? I've never seen another Pokemon like it...

Miles: Oh, but, back to the question... I-I'm not sure... It won't hurt to keep in mind, but... I suppose we should treat that story with caution...?

As the two puzzle over the events that had just unfolded, Dip finally begins to awaken!

Dip: H-HAH… Wah…

Dip jolts awake, obviously excited.

Dip: GUYS! YOU’RE NOT GONNA BELIEVE THIS!

Miles: W-whuh... huh...?

Dip: Ok okay… so I had this dream right..? It was crazy just listen- So I was dreaming of this EPIC COOL FIGHT SCENE right?! Really punching the strong guys like WAH- HUH- POW! Yeah! Well- then there was this Pokémon I’ve NEVER SEEN BEFORE! It was like a three-eyed Pidgey with weird legs… OH and they said something about earthquakes! Dangerous ones! Real bad stuff! Something about Lusta-whatever its called; the city we’re going to! And- and that’s like a safe haven from the earthquakes?! I think? I dunno I forgot- What do you guys think?

Miles: Um, that sounds... nice?

Azar: Did you catch any of that?

Miles: Not really.

Azar: Interesting story, Dip. We... Kind of have more important things to talk about right now, though.

Dip: …oh.

Dip: Yeah- just a funny dream I had. Was real crazy though!

Dip: Well, whatever I guess it was kind of silly anyway. How about we hurry up and get this show on the road?!

Miles: W-works for me, I suppose...

Azar: I think... that would be for the best.

Dip: Hey, wait a sec... Where's Lucent?

Azar & Miles: W-well, about that...

 

[Kiwi]

Reserved for team 5

 

[Kaiju Bunny]

It was around midmorning when the teams began their departure. Though they had plenty of resources to help them get through the journey ahead, most of the team members had to admit to themselves - it was odd to take these woods as anything but a friendly forest where numerous young Pokemon would run, play, and explore to their hearts content. Who knew today would be the day where this ever expansive forest would be used for an actual journey?

The remnants of the dream seemed to stick like glue as well. Would more dreams come to pass? It was definitely something to keep in mind.

Each Team took one last look at the clearing that was the beginning of it all. As they looked before them, two paths met each team

Each team realized that, while many were somewhat knowing of the general layout of the forest, the exact map of it wasn't so certain... They would be entering the deeper parts of the woods blindly, but then again, each team was more than aware of the risks. The time for second guessing was over. After all, the woods were friendly enough - as far as each Team knew, the worst that could happen was them accidentally getting lost... Right?

Food? Check. Health? Check. Resources? Check!
It was time to choose their path! The first dungeon begins!​

 

[Kaiju Bunny]

Hitting a fork in the road, hortis & his new friends take some time to deliberate which way to go. Not being familiar with the surroundings, they can't come to a unanimous decision. That is, until...

The team had been lost for a while, with Cosmo suggesting an "alternative" method of finding their way. Helios didn't find the idea of launching a hyperactive ball of fire through a wooded area very appealing, and they decided to continue on the same path they had been using: the southeast route.

As Cosmo was about to launch himself deeper in the forest, he is stopped by Hortis holding his ears, definitely watchful of Cosmo after the previous gathering experience. Despite that, Cosmo was still running around, and heading left into the unknown.

after walking on the southeast route for half an hour, Ruby spots some beautiful gracideas behind some bushes. When trying to get to the flowers she sadly looses her sense of direction, and becomes really frightened. While crying she sees Helios peeking over the bush and wondering why she was crying, and he makes her so happy that she almost keeps crying, but because of happiness. after that they continue walking.​

 

[Kaiju Bunny]

Looking back at the clearing each of the three team members felt a little sting of melancholy – they would have to leave their familiar surroundings behind and enter someplace new. Something entirely unknown. While surely adventures would await, so would new challenges and, potentially, dangers.

Each team member started approaching one end of the clearing in their own manner: Elgie-S led the way, his brow furrowed, lost in thought, while Gollo and Tuk lagged a little behind, still attempting to drag the entire rock collection they insisted on bringing. “I’m telling you, if this ends with me having sore muscles tomorrow, you owe me some berries”, Gollo blurted out, eager to get Elgie-S’ attention.

“Huh”, he replied, shaking whichever part of his body might reasonably be classified as a head, “look, yeah, sure, whatever, there’s a sign…”. And truly, there was – splitting one end of the clearing cleanly in half like a well-aimed Cut would split a tiny tree, there it was – a wooden signpost with two signs pointing opposite directions. “Hold on, let me see – “, Tuk scuttled down from the pile of rocks he had previously sat on and eagerly climbed the sign. “Yup, that’s two almost-identical routes, two possibilities, where should we go?”

“Whichever path is flatter, I don’t wanna drag this pile up another hil-“

BANG

Gollo couldn’t even finish his sentence before a sharp crack, like something had broken through the sound barrier, interrupted them. A sharp, acrid smell of flame and ozone filled the air, and all of Team 2 turned their heads, confused as to what had happened- There it was – a streak of flame, painted across the morning sky, was rapidly getting bigger, falling towards the path on their left. Tuk was the first to speak: “I guess that settles that”, and made his way towards the mysterious falling object.

When they arrived, they didn’t find a crater full of treasure from outer space like one or the other member secretly hoped for. Instead, a much stranger sight presented itself – a gelatinous, semi-transparent blob of greenish hue, encasing a… head? body?, had landed softly on the forest floor. The surrounding stumps still bore charred marks, while some leaves still burned from its impact. Still confused, the Duosion shook her head in a hope that one more shake would get her the clarity she desired. “Good Lord Arceus, what just happened?”

Three pairs of eyes were fixed on her, half hidden in the surroundings. Gollo was the first to step out of their bush. “Heyo, welcome to Team 2!”​

 

[Kaiju Bunny]

As the two groups say their final farewells, they decide to head onwards towards their destination. They couldn't go back now!

Team 2 / Team 3

Click here for your portion of the story!

As you take the Northeastern path, you quickly discover why this path isn't taken nearly as much as the other... The lack of use has left the ground misshapen and covered in roots and loose stones, making it difficult to keep track of where you're going. With the amount of tall grass around, it was almost hard to keep track of team members as well, but both teams managed.

Strange sounds, barely sounding familiar, echo throughout the dense woods, enough to keep any Pokemon on edge. Besides the fact that the ground was difficult to walk on, at the very least, each Pokemon was filled with the sense of false hope, desperately clinging to all the bravery they could muster. After all, this was still the calm and comforting Novasilv Forest, right? Even if they were taking a beaten path, there were never any instances of attacks happening in the woods, so there wasn't a reasonable explanation to be nervous.

As the Teams press on, they notice the woods seem to darken, perhaps from the denseness of the trees? But something was clearly wrong as a sudden, faint, hum is heard, followed by soft rustling nearby in the tall grass. Was something there? The Pokemon suddenly felt more than a pair of eyes on them. Were your senses playing tricks on you? Or was there something to be confronted? Only one way to find out.

Team 1 / Team 4 / Team 5

Click here for your portion of the story!

As the Teams took their journey through the Southeastern path, it was generally smooth sailing. A faint breeze played with the foliage above, the sound filling the teams with familiarity, yet the fear of the unknown still bit at them inside. What could they expect from this? What dangers would they face?

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary as the Pokemon continued on, the path below them slightly sunken and well defined from decades of use and travel. It was almost exciting!

Suddenly, each Pokemon heard soft weeping. It was unclear where it was coming from, but upon closer inspection, each Team inevitably found the source: a Dedenne crying softly in the tall grass.

Dedenne: W-What do you want..? I-I'm not looking for any trouble...

The little Pokemon had clearly been crying for a while. The fact that he immediately thought you were going to hurt him was concerning as well... Would you try to figure out what was going on? Or maybe leave him be?​

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